Today's News: The stupid, it burns!

Evan Scrimshaw sent out a newsletter tonight talking about Skippy and the Conservative so-called "debate" last week and its worth quoting from: 

 ... It's a busted ideology and a party infected by more than just bad opinions but stupidity at its core. 

To save Canadian conservatism, you first have to be willing to have an honest conversation about its main ill. It’s not the pro-lifers or the social conservatives or the fact that the debate last week was impolite and loud. 

 Conservatism’s real ill in Canada is that it’s so fucking stupid. And until they fix that, they’re done for.

Why are you minimizing the incredible sense of FREEDOM I felt as I opted out of inflation and lost half my savings?!🤔

— Michael (@Michael42065888) May 10, 2022

This is the proper response to virtually anything PP says #cdnpoli #Conservatives https://t.co/42EEJmiOYW

— Vic Said That 🇨🇦🌻 (@victoriaswells2) May 10, 2022

Here's the kind of quality governance that Canada is getting from Conservative MPs these days:

#cdnpoli https://t.co/AFSQOmeoKk

— Diane Marie 🇺🇦 (@DianeMariePosts) May 10, 2022

Today's news: One of those days

Yes, it was Mother's Day. And lots of political tweets that relate:

Are we still calling it Mother's Day or is it now just Domestic Infant Supplier Day?

— Keri Blakinger (@keribla) May 8, 2022

The slope, it is slippery. https://t.co/VLXjIVDtJN

— Helen Kennedy 🌻 (@HelenKennedy) May 8, 2022

I’m not sure I can ask actors or crew members to travel and work in a state where an ectopic pregnancy would sentence my employee to death.

— Bruce Miller (@BrooseMiller) May 6, 2022

I am SO GLAD Margaret Atwood is speaking out:

‘Enforced childbirth is slavery’: Margaret Atwood on the right to abortion https://t.co/qkHbOjqseB

— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) May 7, 2022

I also looked for recent editorial cartoons about the re-criminalizing abortion in the US -- the ones I found weren't particularly funny, because its no laughing matter.  But here's a few that I liked: 

(Washington Post)

(collected by Political Change.org)

Today's news: Just some weekend stuff

No particular theme today - so let's get going! 

Too late, Candice - that ship has sailed:

WHAT?#CPC leader Candice Bergen is worried about this?

"And lastly I promised caucus I would not do anything and we would not do anything that would make the general public think that we lost our ever-loving minds." #cdnpoli #cpcldr pic.twitter.com/SJOs7WVACI

— Jason Pugh 🏳️‍🌈 (@TheJasonPugh) May 7, 2022

#BoycottTimHortons is so stupid, yall wanna cancel Tim Hortons because they wont let your unvaccinated kid into a camp full of already sick and immunocompromised kids. Thats like being mad that you cant bring peanuts to a camp full of people severely allergic to peanuts

— Apoppets (@APoppets) May 7, 2022

Hmm, why is #BoycottTimHortons trending...

*checks*

Oh, it's anti-vax morons.

— Mcmacladdie (@Mcmacladdie) May 6, 2022

#BoycottTimHortons is trending because the scum of society are fine with their--and other peoples'--kids catching a highly contagious, deadly disease?

Hahahahaha

Alright well I'm off to my nearest @TimHortons to thank them for their decency by buying something.

— Luminous Path (@Path_Luminous) May 6, 2022

Today's News: Children of Ukraine

Mother's Day is coming up so here are some photos I have been collecting showing some of the children in Ukraine:

7-year-old Angelina, just arrived from Russian-occupied territory pic.twitter.com/3jxeI8FcXd

— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) May 2, 2022

Here is a beautiful photo of children playing with bubbles, in central Lviv on April 7:

Mauricio Lima for The New York Times 

In these Paschal days we cannot but be with our hearts and minds with many people throughout #Ukraine who have lost their dear ones and their homes. Especially we keep praying for children who experience the tragedy of the war so hard but yet with their innocent resillience. pic.twitter.com/0coN9M60Ig

— Dečani Monastery (@DecaniMonastery) April 27, 2022

Goodnight my dears 😘 please pray for the valiant ppl of Ukraine 🇺🇦
Especially for the Elderly & the disabled with no one to help them. And the frightened children. #PeaceforUkraine 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/i8yVPqdJ8p

— Broken Spirit Horse (@Gspirithorse) April 27, 2022

This is Hassan, a brave 11-year-old boy who journeyed a thousand kilometres in March by himself to get to his family in Slovakia - his mother had to remain in southeast Ukraine to look after his grandmother who cannot travel, but she sent Hassan to safety.

Finally, this sweet little angel child. I don't know where this photo was taken but I first saw it in early March:

Here's an unusual follow-up:

Cast as the girl in the red coat in “Schindler’s List,” Oliwia Dabrowska, now a 32-year-old woman living in Krakow, is personally helping Ukrainian refugees who fled to Poland. Seeing Ukraine’s refugee children, she says she “saw the little girl in the red coat in every child… pic.twitter.com/Glsk9KJXS4

— Stephen Puddicombe (@sdpuddicombe) May 5, 2022

And of course, from the Oval Office:

🐾 Do not underestimate the pawer of furry friends. Pets are family and these brave, amazing children know it! In this soulless darkness Putin unleashed over Ukraine’s brave hoomans, pets bring a ray of light and hope. Support animal rescue orgs in 🇺🇦: https://t.co/WN6tu7Alw3 pic.twitter.com/4WJZUE4AQx

— The Oval Pawffice® 🇺🇸 DOTUS Fans (@TheOvalPawffice) May 5, 2022

Today's News: Skippy will just wave his magic wand!

Lots of comments tonight about the first Conservative debate -- apparently not an "official" debate though I'm not sure why that mattered. 

The big loser was, I think, Patrick Brown -- this would have been his first opportunity to introduce himself to the CPC members and the nation, because outside of Ontario nobody knows who he is. But he was too busy to show up. 

Comparing the only two candidates who mattered, I think Poilievre bested Charest. 

Charest did an good job, I thought, explaining how he could implement policies within the complexities of provincial and federal politics. But his actual experience running a party and a province was criticized as "elitist". 

On the other hand, Poilievre's utter lack of any management or leadership experience didn't seem to concern this audience at all - as Poilievre described it, when he tackles problems and controversies, he will only need to wave his magic wand and everything will be fixed with "simple and direct" processes that he will invent whenever he needs them.

Easy peasy!  

The Globe and Mail reports: 

Mr. Charest was met with boos that nearly drowned out his comments when he criticized Mr. Poilievre for supporting the trucker protests, that shuttered downtown Ottawa for most of February and prompted intermittent closings at several border crossings. 

Mr. Poilievre “supported an illegal blockade,” Mr. Charest said. “You cannot make laws and break laws.” 

“The average trucker has more integrity in his pinky finger than you had in your entire scandal-plagued Liberal cabinet,” Mr. Poilievre said in response, referring to Mr. Charest’s time as Quebec Premier. 

The Globe also noted recent fundraising totals of the candidates: 

So far, Mr. Poilievre has attracted the largest crowds and the most cash. Newly released fundraising numbers show that by the end of March, Mr. Poilievre had raised $545,298 from 3,336 donors. Following close behind is Mr. Charest, who raised $490,088 but from just 572 donors. 

At $225,751, Ms. Lewis fell well short in the total cash raised but attracted far more donors than Mr. Charest with 1,456 people contributing to her campaign. 

By the end of March, Mr. Brown raised $115,775 from 73 donors; Mr. Aitchison raised $90,945 from 70 people; and Mr. Baber $53,987 from 475 donors.

 

Currently watching the latest offering by the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players".#cpcldr #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/FziPFkhPgH

— Shane McDonald 🌎😷🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@mcshanehedges) May 6, 2022

For those tuned into debate I've two observations from in depth polling we have been doing . 1) PP has a massive lead with CPC and PPC voters and is steaming to victory 2) supporter profile on climate denial, opposition to vaccines/mandates, immigration , vis min, etc. to follow

— Frank Graves (@VoiceOfFranky) May 6, 2022

Lots of criticism of “woke culture” and “cancel culture” and “mandates” —just interesting. Not a single word about the Canadians who died during the pandemic or the health care workers who worked overtime. It’s all been about anti mandates and anti lockdowns. #cdnpoli

— Evan Solomon (@EvanLSolomon) May 5, 2022

Today's News: Fuddle Duddle

A 1972 Merle "Ting" Tingley cartoon

Today turned out to be the perfect day for this old cartoon

The original remark, from 1971: pic.twitter.com/aLLy1r13Q1

— Sarah Sears (@iamSas) May 4, 2022

 

Trudeau dropped the f-bomb when he apparently got fed up with stupid Conservative conspiracy theories about a Canadian Forces surveillance plane that flew over Ottawa on Feb 10, during the Trucker Insurrection  - just proving how very very mean Trudeau really was to those poor poor truckers, I guess. 

It's all so stupid it makes me tired to even write about it so I can imagine how pissed off Trudeau is to put up with the constant catcalls and meaningless smear tactics from the Conservatives. He snapped. I don't blame him.

Yet another reason why I support @JustinTrudeau #FuddleDuddle https://t.co/8whbqtNqI3 #CanPoli

— Keshav Das (@keshavuvacha) May 5, 2022

Right! A’ho!🪶👊🏽❤️ #Fuddleduddle #IStandWithTrudeau #NeverVoteConservative pic.twitter.com/k4AKrCro0e

— Indigenous Voices Matter🪶🇨🇦🇺🇦🌈 (@Voic6Indigenous) May 5, 2022

Today's News: "Abortion is a fundamental right"

(Photo of Supreme Court protest today, by Jabin Botsford, WashPost)

Today lots of comments and discussions about how the United States is criminalizing abortion again.

I'm not sure which Justice the Washington Post Editorial Board is trying to speak to with this strong editorial, but I think perhaps it was for precisely this reason that the draft decision was leaked, in time to get one of the Justices to reverse course: 

 ....If the justices embrace the sweeping document, they will deal a grievous blow to freedom in the United States — and to the legitimacy of the court itself.

...the draft ruling’s dreadful reasoning and extreme potential consequences are far more concerning than what the leak says about the court’s internal dynamics. 

Written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., the document would declare Roe “egregiously wrong,” obliterate its guarantees of reproductive choice and empower lawmakers to abridge at will this long-held right.

...The court’s legitimacy rests on the notion that it follows the law, not the personal or ideological preferences of the justices who happen to serve on it at any given time. 

Americans rely on the court to exercise care and restraint against making sharp turns that might suddenly declare their everyday choices and activities unprotected or illegal. Over the course of nearly half a century, the court not only issued Roe but upheld its bedrock principles against later challenges. Throughout, the original 1973 decision enjoyed broad and unwavering public support. 

What brought the court to its current precipice was not a fundamental shift in American values regarding abortion. It was the shameless legislative maneuvering of Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who jammed three Trump-nominated justices onto the court.

...Justice Alito’s draft claims that the court’s ruling would not imply that other constitutional rights, such as same-sex marriage or access to contraception, are in jeopardy. 

But given the brazen abandon with which he would discard abortion rights, his assurances ring hollow. He would inaugurate a terrifying new era in which Americans would lose faith in the court, distrust its members and suspect that what is the law today will not be tomorrow. 

They would justifiably fear that rights will be swept away because a heedless conservative fringe now controls the judiciary. 

I'm not sure Kavanaugh or Barrett or Alito or Thomas are intelligent enough to understand what they are doing but maybe Gorsuch can be convinced.

Here in Canada, Freeland made a strong statement in the House:

All Canadians—especially all Canadian women who care about a woman’s right to choose—need to be active, vigilant, and speak out.

See my comments from today: pic.twitter.com/f2rxQOw6JP

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) May 3, 2022

Freeland gives a full-throated defence of a woman’s right to choose.
Standing ovation except for the Conservatives, most of whom sat silent. A couple of Conservative women MPs clapped fairly quietly, but that was it. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 3, 2022

Support https://t.co/hpfQUD4cMB

— #SHIFT (@TheGentYYC) May 4, 2022

The unspoken part of this is that under the Conservative government, abortion access was not a precondition for Canada Health Transfers, and provinces who restricted access faced no clawbacks. They do (theoretically) under this government (but the pandemic had them refund them). https://t.co/hXXxJ8auhC

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 3, 2022

Just your Tuesday morning reminder that 88 out of 119 elected MPs from the Conservative Party of Canada, which received the most votes in the last two federal elections, are anti-choice.

Don’t think for a moment that it couldn’t happen here.#RoeVWade

— Dr. Amit Arya (@AmitAryaMD) May 3, 2022

Remember way back in history when every single Saskatchewan Member of Parliament voted to make certain abortions illegal?
That was 335 days ago.

— Kyle Anderson (@DrKyle) May 3, 2022

Today's News: It's the end of choice in America

A draft SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe V Wade on a 5-4 vote leaked tonight, and of course we saw the usual pearl-clutching toonight about how unseemly it is to leak a draft Supreme Court decisions:

What is that line from Shakespeare? Oh yes, “Fuck their feelings.”

— Mark Sumner🌻 (@Devilstower) May 3, 2022

The LEAKER is not damaging the integrity of the Supreme Court

FIVE JUSTICES are

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 3, 2022

Digby writes: 

The Republicans are having a fit about this Supreme Court draft decision overturning Roe. 

Needless to say, it’s not about the decision itself. It’s about the leak. 

You’d think there would be dancing in the streets but no. They’re freaking out. 

The left is neither surprised nor upset - we all knew this was going to happen as soon as Trump appointed anti-abortion judges to replace Kennedy and Ginsburg. 

I'm only surprised it took 18 months after Barrett was confirmed to get an abortion case to the Supreme Court - I thought it wouldn't take more than a year. 

Of course, Alito also throws in some gratuitous questioning about the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. So I guess that's next:

Alito's draft opinion explicitly criticizes Lawrence v. Texas (legalizing sodomy) and Obergefell v. Hodges (legalizing same-sex marriage). He says that, like abortion, these decisions protect phony rights that are not "deeply rooted in history." https://t.co/4690k0KG1F pic.twitter.com/urF7A02INU

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) May 3, 2022

Anyone who wasn't considered a person with rights back in 1776 should be afraid --

Requiring civil rights to be “deeply rooted in history” is a great way to say “if you didn’t always have civil rights, then you should never have them.”

— Steve Kenson (@SKenson) May 3, 2022

Make no mistake what Alito’s “deeply rooted in our history” test means. If you’re a woman, a person of color, LGBTQ, an immigrant, or from a religious minority, the Radical Right’s Constitution excludes you — you no longer exist to them (and you never did).

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) May 3, 2022

And by the way, birth control isn't in the Constitution either. Neither is Social Security. Or disability rights:

Rep. Jamie Raskin on the #GOPHandmaidsTale "The phrase right to privacy doesn't appear in the Constitution, so this would appear to be an invitation to have Handmaid's Tale type anti-feminist regulation and legislation all over the country." pic.twitter.com/ff3tnooTTb

— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 3, 2022

"The conversation must include apology. But it must not stop there"

Tonight I wanted to conclude my coverage of the visit to Saskatchewan by the Archbishop of Canterbury the Reverend Justin Welby, and his apology for the residential schools.

The Anglican Church committed grievous sins against the Indigenous, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.

I commit to walking with you on the long journey of renewal and reconciliation for as long as the Lord gives me strength to do so.https://t.co/KiAUOKtT5R

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) May 2, 2022

Rev. Welby spoke in Prince Albert yesterday, and here are some excerpts from his talk: 

 I am sorry that the Church was not there for you when we should have been your greatest friends. 

And even if we were powerless, and I will come back to that, we should have been willing to suffer alongside you. That is better than nothing. 

 I am sorry that the Church belittled your spirituality, denigrated and undermined your culture, traditions and above all your languages, and abused your rights. 

And I am sorry that an eagerness to share the good news of Jesus Christ we committed an indefensible sin of the arrogant assumption that we ‘brought God to you’ rather than understanding and seeking to listen. 

I’m not sure who has more right to be offended - the God who was already here, or you who knew that God..... 

I hope that what I have said may be the beginning of the beginning of a deeper conversation in words and action. The conversation must include apology but it must not stop there. 

In humility, in deep sadness, I end as I began: by apologising unreservedly and unqualifiedly, and saying again to you that even where I cannot change things, I will do everything I can to stand alongside and continue to learn from you.

Good coverage generally of his visit, but I was most affected by Leanne Sanders' detailed story in APTN News.  She noted:

Welby expressed his remorse for what they went through.

“I am sorry. I am more sorry than I can say. I am ashamed, I am horrified,” Welby said. 

“The grace shown by the survivors is so extraordinary. The graciousness. One came up to me this morning and said I slept well last night. I felt the lifting of the burden. It’s only the first step in a very long journey, but it was a great blessing to me,” Welby said. 

“It was a very gracious step to say that to me.”

Finishing his remarks, he says what he is saying is inadequate.

Chiefs are now presenting him with a blanket and a medallion pic.twitter.com/VgIUwHJMXn

— Nathaniel Dove (@NathanielDove_) May 2, 2022

And the Archbishop gives the Grand Chief and Chiefs a replica of the Cross of Nails.
The original is in Coventry and made of the nails of the original cathedral, which was destroyed in the Second World War.
Coventry, he says, is a centre of reconciliation

— Nathaniel Dove (@NathanielDove_) May 2, 2022

The Archbishop of Canterbury apologized to residential school survivors in Prince Albert on Sunday.https://t.co/DRR877HzXj

— 650 CKOM (@CKOMNews) May 2, 2022

This photo shows Rev. Welby speaking with Rev. Helen Northcutt of the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton, a residential school survivor. (photo by Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

Andrew Chang (CBC News) speaks to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rev. Justin Welby, about what he’s sorry for in his residential schools apology and how the Anglican Church plans to approach compensating survivors for what they endured...https://t.co/HlDxVC1FyF

— Gordon Burton Hill (@QueeredR) May 3, 2022

A few zingers and a little truth

Just a few miscellaneous but somewhat funny tweets today:

Mr. Squirrel approves of the new Ukrainian postage stamp. pic.twitter.com/Vm6cXomrnc

— Lorenzo The Cat (@LorenzoTheCat) May 1, 2022

'landlord' and 'landlady' are needlessly gendered words. pls be more inclusive by using 'landbastard' instead

— wolf alex (@gothtacular) April 28, 2022

I miss the days when I didn’t give a single shit about the security of my passwords, because I didn’t have any fucking passwords.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) May 1, 2022

XKCD had a contest for cute-sounding scientific names:

Congratulations to the bouba/kiki effect, officially the cutest-sounding scientific effect! https://t.co/1EA9k5jNAx pic.twitter.com/Xtrjc6vSL9

— Randall Munroe (@xkcd) April 29, 2022

Today's News: A long time coming

Today the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby arrived in Saskatchewan, to apologize for the Anglican Church role in Canadian residential schools. 

The official photo is above and I'm sorry that I couldn't find a list of the Chiefs, Elders and others in this group.  Archbishop Welby is fourth from the left and I think Elder Dennis Sanderson is beside him, third from the left 

“A significant purpose of this visit is therefore to repent and atone for where our relationships
and actions have done more harm than good” says Welby.https://t.co/OoDwokQGxr

— Global Saskatoon (@GlobalSaskatoon) April 29, 2022

Welby visited James Smith Cree Nation along with Chakastaypasin Band of the Cree Nation and Peter Chapman Band. and tomorrow he will visit an Indigenous Gathering at the Prince Albert Exhibition at 2 p.m. after Sunday services at the St. Alban’s Anglican Cathedral:

The Archbishop of Canterbury has arrived #Sask pic.twitter.com/YjoaOslM3x

— Nathaniel Dove (@NathanielDove_) April 30, 2022

Members of James Smith Cree Nation lead the Archbishop of Canterbury into to community school for a meeting. pic.twitter.com/fpUUOoEV0J

— Olivia Stefanovich (@CBCOlivia) April 30, 2022

“How can we dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery in a way that it can never be used again?” asks the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in James Smith Cree Nation. pic.twitter.com/FIzgCFeEUc

— Olivia Stefanovich (@CBCOlivia) April 30, 2022

The Archbishop, holding an eagle feather, is now listening to survivors.
I won’t tweet the specifics so will just say survivors are detailing a range of abuses they suffered, including physical, emotional and sexual.

— Nathaniel Dove (@NathanielDove_) April 30, 2022

Here are some of his words of apology: 

 “I am sorry. I am more sorry than I can say,” Welby said. “I am ashamed. I am horrified. I ask myself, where does that come from — that evil. It has nothing, nothing to do with Christ.”

BREAKING: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby issues first ever global Church of England apology to residential school survivors here at James Smith Cree Nation. “I am sorry. I am more sorry than I can say. I am ashamed. I am horrified.” pic.twitter.com/nsKafz9ImO

— Jason Warick (@WarickCBC) April 30, 2022

Honour song/dance performed for survivors at James Smith Cree Nation and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby following his apology. pic.twitter.com/bdPIIFIkgI

— Jason Warick (@WarickCBC) April 30, 2022

It has been a long time coming.

Saturday stuff: funny, and of course dogs!

First up, boy is this ever true! Now that spring is here, the rabbits from the nearby park are making their evening circuts through our cul-de-sac and our dogs are going NUTS!

Audiences agree “Bunny On The Lawn” is the non-stop thrill ride of 2022! pic.twitter.com/GVvivrBMI1

— Ben McLean (@HeyBenMcLean) April 30, 2022

Afternoon recess! pic.twitter.com/XtxsyMTQ2S

— Scribulatora (@Scribulatora) April 27, 2022

Maybe you saw this already, but its worth seeing again:

Best game of chase, ever 😆 pic.twitter.com/6YDsMXq08P

— StrictlyChristo🇺🇦🌻 (@StrictlyChristo) April 24, 2021

Okay, but y'all...
One of the dogs goes and gets a toy and brings it for the baby...
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Animals are the best people we have. ❤❤❤ https://t.co/JgT9aZGPIS

— Sihaya 💖💖💖 (@sihaya74) April 26, 2022

This just gets better as it goes on 🦭😂😂 pic.twitter.com/OTvaJCv8Or

— CCTV_IDIOTS (@cctv_idiots) April 30, 2022

Today's news: TGIF

As John Oliver says, just a few things to wrap up the week: 

First up, so to speak, wasn't it great that the Mets pitched a no-hitter today -- I loved this tweet about it:

a neat thing about the covid vaccine is i watched the mets’ no-hitter at home and not in a hospital

— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) April 30, 2022

Yes, indeed. I do love that Pfizer glow! 

Next, there was an interesting piece on Ask A Manager this week about people noticing a significant increase in hostile, grumpy and rude behaviour lately -- check out the jerks in downtown Ottawa, for example.  

Commenters were blaming the anxiety about Covid, disruptions to schools and workplaces and family gatherings and everybody's social life going down the tubes. Yes, I know what they mean, I haven't been a ray of fucking sunshine myself either. 

Here's some of the Ask A Manager comments:

 ...there is a really weird level of – I don’t know – grandiosity and entitlement and prickliness and lack of empathy – that is grinding a lot of us down

.....something about the Covid-19 calamity caused certain people to be rendered incapable of self-regulating and to become the absolute worst, most despicable and harmful version of themselves. These outraged individuals of course have found each other, and formed a coalition; from that point forward they have lived in an evil echo chamber where they’ve incubated a grossly inflated sense of entitlement and collectively demanded extreme consequences that are wildly disproportionate to the situation at hand.... 

 ...There has been a definite increase in what I’d call incoherent anger. People are just MAD. At me, at the system, at everything, and too often I just happen to be the last straw for their fraying nerves. A big part of it is that everything takes forever these days. Every process I can think of has slowed down dramatically, and that is hard to deal with, especially when you’re already living on the margins.... 

...I have colleagues at libraries nearby who have had to call the police because grown adults have had complete meltdowns around mask/distancing policy [and] the person began yelling, threatening, cursing at, and physically intimidating the librarians..I had one patron yell that the Library “should have never even closed down, because we are supposed to serve EVERYONE and NOT EVERYONE believes in the pandemic.” (Yes, really, he used those exact words).... 

...Controversial, angry, divisive posts generate the most clicks and page views, and so the algorithms push those to the top of the feeds. It is not a bug. It is a feature. There’s money to be made by painting everyone who’s not you as an “other”, and blaming all your problems on “them”. You’ll keep clicking to get that rush of being right and being better than “those people”. It’s a vicious cycle that corrodes civility and the social contract. Why be polite to those who obviously don’t deserve it? Someone called it “irritainment”. It’s more dangerous than that...

... people came out of lockdown “feral.” I’ve noticed a general rudeness/impatience/unhelpfulness everywhere I look whether it’s at work or at the supermarket.... Perhaps we are all just burnt-out from 2 years of pandemic related anxiety, 2 years of realizing some of our fellow humans don’t care who lives and who dies as long as they get to do what they want, on top of 6+ years of noxious political turmoil..

But I am hopeful that maybe soon we can get our equilibrium back.  

Today's News: Explaining Norway to a duck

I think Elon Musk may finally be meeting his comeuppance. 

He's used to people telling him how brilliant he is:

A lot of the recent profiles of Musk read like the authors expect him to buy their paper/magazine and are auditioning to keep their jobs.

— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) April 29, 2022

But for all Twitter's faults, it doesn't flatter people.  Adoring tech-bros and greedy investors can get all fluttery when Musk invents subways and buses but Twitter reveals a person's essential personality very quickly - as demonstrated by Bret Stephens and Mark Hamill and Dolly Parton and J. K. Rowling and many more.

Each day on twitter there is one main character. The goal is to never be it

— maple cocaine (@maplecocaine) January 3, 2019

For the last couple of days, Twitter's main character has been Elon Musk. 

And the Twitter verdict isn't a flattering one.  "Sadly ill-informed" is one of the kinder takes. All in all, explaining Twitter to Musk is like trying to explain Norway to a duck:

Might as well try to explain Norway to a duck.

— Driftglass, Guardian of Inconvenient History (@Mr_Electrico) April 29, 2022

Here's some recent Musk antics:

elon musk spending $43 billion to stop getting bullied on twitter when he could’ve simply been less annoying is insane

— first-mate prance (@bocxtop) April 25, 2022

Normal: trying to overturn an election, rioting in the Capitol, banning books, opposing vaccines, siccing bounty hunters on women who get abortions, cheering Putin, getting rid of gun permits.
Extremist: suggesting billionaires maybe should pay more in taxes.

— Helen Kennedy 🌻 (@HelenKennedy) April 29, 2022

When billionaires like Elon Musk justify their motives by using “freedom,” beware. What they actually seek is freedom from accountability.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) April 24, 2022

I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022

Now that Elon Musk has shared his deep thoughts on asymmetric polarization polarization, I'd like to pass along my equally sophisticated design for a new Tesla. pic.twitter.com/PpRs4jgeeg

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) April 28, 2022

Next I’m buying Coca-Cola to put the cocaine back in

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022

Coca-Cola fires back at Musk 🔥 pic.twitter.com/E09sTpH06o

— Back Rub - PLZ follow! (@FaithRubPol) April 29, 2022

Elon fucked around. He found out.

— Jeff Holcomb (@atjeffholcomb) April 28, 2022

It still not clear whether Musk is actually going ahead with the Twitter purchase deal or not. But as Josh Marshall notes: "My own sense is that the guy will likely rue the day he purchased Twitter." 

Today's News: Blundered by the Right

 

When I looked at today's news, I saw a lot of blundering today by conservatives - thus my 

title. 

But first, I want to do a Ukraine roundup. 

I thought this first tweet was very true and certainly something we all need to be aware of as 

the Ukraine Russia War continues:

The minute we allow the war in Ukraine to become background noise we lose. We must have the nerve to continue to stare pain down the barrel and envelop it with love. Our compassion has power. Don’t look away.

— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) April 26, 2022

Tonight, Kos writes: 

The May 9 Victory Parade should prove an inflection point: does Vladimir Putin use the occasion to call for a mass mobilization to bolster the war effort, or will he keep pretending that it’s merely a “limited military operation” that remains splendidly on track, dooming the entire effort? 

Ukraine’s regular army and Territorial Defense Forces have bought time for those 300,000 reservists out west to train and get equipped. A couple more months, and they’ll be riding into battle in Polish T-72s, American and European armored personnel carriers, and lots of sweet, sweet, modern artillery.

 How will Russia respond, even as it attrits its existing forces on the daily? 

Observers are increasingly concerned that the longer the Ukraine Russia War goes on, the more 

difficult it will be to keep it contained. See this whole thread, but here's the beginning and 

end of it:

2/ First is the superb Watling + Reynolds essay, which catalogues a disturbing shift in Russia "from presenting the war in Ukraine as a limited struggle for Donbas to a systemic struggle with NATO in which Ukraine was merely the military battlefield"https://t.co/PFfAFyxfiI

— Mike Mazarr (@MMazarr) April 27, 2022

20/ But it can't be discounted. If it happens, demands for knee-jerk US action will come thick + fast. The balancing act at the core of US strategy--support Ukraine and punish RU enough to win + enforce norms, w/o courting a larger war--will become acute + perhaps unsustainable

— Mike Mazarr (@MMazarr) April 27, 2022

But on the other hand, this:

A sign of a few things. 1) Ukrainian resistance and adaptability has impressed them no end. 2) they do think that Ukraine can ‘win’, 3) they seem to think that Russian escalation is not particularly likely.

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) April 27, 2022

 I thought this was a very interesting piece today:

Watching families fleeing Ukraine, clinging to their children, Meeka Alivaktuk resolved to do what she could to help.

The Pangnirtung elder rallied community members to start sewing amautis — Inuit parkas with large hoods designed to carry babies.https://t.co/07vm1N3a4A

— CBC Indigenous (@CBCIndigenous) April 27, 2022

And ain't this the truth?

Can white people please start to educate yourselves about Indigenous people instead of allowing mistakes to be your “teaching tools?” We don’t need more apologies, we need people to catch up and bring equal knowledge to the table.

— Angela Sterritt (@AngelaSterritt) April 27, 2022