Today's News: Here's another fine mess

I seldom pay much attention to the latest right-wing anti-Liberal hate-fest -- from SNC Lavelin to WE, they started out with the Trudeau government looking awful while the national media huffed and puffed to try to blow Trudeau's house down, and in the end, Meh! 

This time the story is a really awful one -- that our Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly abandoned Canada's Ukrainian embassy employees last winter in spite of threats of their arrest by Russia. 

The Globe and Mail reported yesterday that Global Affairs was still following an old Harper government policy, so they not only refused to do anything last winter to help our local embassy staff in Ukraine but didn't allow embassy leaders to inform the staff that Russia had threatened to arrest after the invasion. Then today we were told that Minister Joly "didn't know" that embassy staff had been threatened. 

Looks pretty bad, eh?

But in a press conference today, Joly said that's not what happened. 

In today's St. Catherine Standard, Immigration Reporter Nicholas Leung reported in some detail about what Joly said: 

On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly was asked if her office was aware of the intelligence that Ukrainian staff for foreign embassies were allegedly on Russia’s list of targeted individuals — and deliberately withheld the information from the local staff at the mission. 

“Never did I or the department have any information targeting locally engaged Canadian staff. We never got that information, nor me or my team or the department,” Joly told reporters at a joint news conference with her visiting German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, after the two met to discuss the energy and food security crises as well as trade. 

“I know we have a specific duty of care. I know this is in conversations within the department whether that duty of care applies to locally engaged staff. I would say that morally we have an obligation toward locally engaged staff.”

...Joly said she had spoken “directly” with the locally engaged staff about their safety and security during her visits in Ukraine in January before the war and followed up with the department and Canadian ambassador in Kyiv, Larisa Galadza, on this issue, throughout, including on Feb. 24, when the war was declared. 

“Ukraine is a war-torn country, we wanted to make sure that they had options. They were offered options to come to Canada. Some of them have decided to come. Some of them have decided to stay,” said Joly, who praised the contributions of the local Ukrainian staff members. 

 “They were also given full payment and compensation and benefits, although for some time the diplomats were outside of the country.”

In other news, the CPC had another leadership debate tonight. 

I didn't watch it because Poilievre wasn't there - it doesn't matter what any of the other candidates say because Poilievre is going to be the next CPC leader anyway.

Reminds me of... pic.twitter.com/f8yg3oLUBH

— Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) August 4, 2022

Scrimshaw has been on fire lately when it comes to the leadership contest - which he says is no contest at all: 

 ... for my selfish self-interest, I want people to be pretending this is a close race, because then it makes me look more prescient when Poilievre wins easily. This race has been called in the pages of this site perfectly from the day the campaign started, with Poilievre a clear and obvious winner, with Charest and Brown jokes, and with Lewis a theoretical danger but probably not one, because Poilievre was always going to eat her lunch... 

Every time someone tells to subscribe to the @NationalPost I ask, Have you read it lately? Why don't you ask me to subscribe to Pierre Poilievre's digital media scripts about wood or woodpeckers of whatever he thinks Canada's bird brains want to hear? https://t.co/MhbZnjgK3H

— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) August 3, 2022

Our P.M gets a haircut. Conservatives & their media go berserk.
The P.M takes his family on vacation the conservatives & their media go berserk.
The Liberals rack up a 5.3 billion surplus nothing.
Pierre Poilievre is afraid to debate Charest, Nothing. Welcome to Trumpland

— Clay Thompson (@harryt59_harry) August 3, 2022

Today's News: Incredible or incredibly stupid!

Incredible!

Tonight has shown, beyond any shadow of doubt, that universal access to safe and affordable abortion care is incredibly popular. When Kansas votes 2:1 to support abortion care, I think the conversation on “public debate” is pretty much over.

— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) August 3, 2022

Republican men don’t realize how many pro-choice Republican women there are. I’m including the ones who tell pollsters they are pro-life.

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) August 3, 2022

No one is hating the results in Kansas more than six members of SCOTUS tonight.

— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬 (@antifaoperative) August 3, 2022

“Let the states decide.”

…5 weeks later…

“No, that’s not what we meant!l!”

— Obama Event Horizon (@44EventHorizon) August 3, 2022

This is every Republican elected official who's been mouthing pro-life pieties for years, has become more extreme in his proclamations recently as he drifted along with currents on the Right...and who's now hearing about the Kansas referendum results. pic.twitter.com/S6pVCIM31D

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 3, 2022

I’m a one issue voter. When I see the word “Republican,” I ignore the candidate.

— Jesse D.Lifson (@DoYouEvenLif) July 31, 2022

Today's News: A problem with definitions

Some chatter these days about how conservatives and progressives aren't talking to each other very much anymore.

Another day of nightmare oppression in communist Canada 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/msNUsft7Se

— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) July 17, 2022

We don't agree on some basic definitions anymore, do we. 

One striking thing about GOPers obsessing about the definition of words like women and recession is that they use "woke" as a blank-check placeholder for anything from "gay" to "black" to "against kids raped by their fathers being forced to bear their children" and don't care.

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) July 30, 2022

For example, "freedom" to some conservatives seems to mean that they should be "free" to not have to follow any rules or laws about how to treat people.

This message of "freedom" is a powerful one, even though what it actually means is letting Canadians be racist and sexist, underpay workers, operate unsafe factories, fire teachers, & dismantle any other "state interference" that actually gives us all real freedom.

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) July 3, 2022

And second, I don't know who is selling this fantasy, but pro-life conservatives in the US are pretending now that US state laws against "abortion" really only ban the pregnancy terminations they don't approve of, while the terminations they DO approve of - ie, the terminations that save a woman's life - aren't really abortions at all and therefore are still legal.

Terminating an ectopic pregnancy is not abortion.

Ectopic pregnancies are not sustainable and life-threatening. They REQUIRE a termination.

The idea that banning abortions includes ectopic pregnancies is ABSURD.

Know the facts. #AbortionIsMurder

— Michelle 🍊 (@DecertifyWI) July 29, 2022

I’m not, any termination of the fetus is an abortion. And yes it is, the right is now scrambling to redefine the terminology because they fucked up.

— Brett Booth (@Demonpuppy) August 1, 2022

No, talk to a pro life OB-GYN, they will explain why Abortion and treatment that requires termination of pregnancy are not the same thing.

— Cliff Wilson (@CliffWi53826478) August 1, 2022

The extent of right-wing - conservative anger is getting frightening - it was bad enough in Canada in 2019, throwing gravel at Trudeau, but the FluTruxKlan extravaganza this winter seems to have created a fury of hate. 

 Recent example -- last week in Canmore Alta, a guy destroyed his family business just because he couldn't resist sending an unnecessary transphobic insult email.

The Town of Canmore is reinforcing the community’s values of love and inclusivity after a local business, Valbella Gourmet Foods, faced backlash for a transphobic email to Pride organizers. https://t.co/XG33GZhmP0

— CityNews Calgary (@citynewscalgary) July 27, 2022

The incredible thing about this email from the owner of Valbella’s is that he could have simply not sent it. He could have chosen not to reply to Canmore Pride at all.

He’d be enjoying a relaxing Tuesday night right now, and looking forward to a normal day at work tomorrow.

— Matt Blair (@mjblair) July 27, 2022

Watching Valbella learning in realtime that 'cancel culture' and 'fuck around and find out' are really just the same thing is glorious.
Tip of the hat to all the businesses out there making a stand for inclusiveness and against hate.

— Luke Fevin (@According2Luke) July 27, 2022

Here's a good analysis of how this could happen - mainly, because of the right-wing bubble that these people live in, where they believe they are in the mainstream and everybody secretly agrees with them:

The Valbella Gourmet Foods drama is a good example of how the radical right's bubble has made them hilariously overconfident. The language Jeff von Rotz used is straight from right wing online discourse, which means he's spent enough time on social media to be aware of the--

— Allan Mott: Beloved by Dozens (@HouseofGlib) July 27, 2022

is in full damage mode, it's reputation permanently marred, while it loses business in a way that can probably only be rectified by their giving a huge chunk of money to the organization he denounced. Apparently von Rotz was a big vocal supporter of the ridiculous--

— Allan Mott: Beloved by Dozens (@HouseofGlib) July 27, 2022

assholes he follows rail against "cancel culture". He truly thought nothing would happen to him because everyone he knows seems to agree with him--not realizing that circle of people is much smaller than he imagined and not at all representative of the whole.

— Allan Mott: Beloved by Dozens (@HouseofGlib) July 27, 2022

But there are even hate-crimes happening in little ole PEI, for heaven's sake, just because Trudeau happened to drop in to a Charlottestown pub one day. What is the matter with people like this?

A P.E.I. pub that received a barrage of harassment after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited last Friday just had their delivery van vandalized.

“The hate is still there, and this time it has gone way too far,” the pub wrote in a social media post. pic.twitter.com/mRGRlvlt0J

— Rachel Gilmore (@atRachelGilmore) July 31, 2022

Its hard to figure out how this type of ill-will can end, or where we will be when it does. 

A random collection of oddities

For Saturday night, here's a collection of odd tweets and commentary from the last week or so:

I think one thing they didn't count on was that even Newsmax couldn't resist a Jon Stewart hit.

— Schooley (@Rschooley) July 30, 2022

Which group was ACTUALLY disrespecting our vets? pic.twitter.com/gOpv07jN7D

— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) July 30, 2022

Michael de Adder, The Washington Post @deAdder #January6thHearings pic.twitter.com/PqX2WTlRq6

— Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) July 30, 2022

This is why I am on social media. pic.twitter.com/yuk8ZQcN85

— Cindy BLaw BLaw BLaw (@blawgg) July 26, 2022

Today's News: From All Over

Reconciliation visit: 

The final stop for Pope Francis in Canada was a visit to Iqaluit. The Globe and Mail reports: 

On Friday, [Pope Francis] met with several school survivors In Iqaluit before an outdoor performance that included traditional throat singing and drum dancing. 

His speech before hundreds began with another apology for the “evil perpetuated” on Indigenous people by church members. Speaking in his native Spanish, Francis’s speech was translated into English and Inuktitut. 

He told them he was sorry in Inuktitut, a meaningful gesture to many in the audience. “I thank you for having had the courage to tell your stories and to share your great suffering that I could not imagine,” he said in Spanish. 

“This only renewed in me the indignation and shame that I have felt for months.” 

The pontiff’s tour has fostered healing for some school survivors and anger in others. 

 ...Early on Friday, before his flight to Iqaluit, Pope Francis held a private meeting with an Indigenous delegation at the residence of Quebec Archbishop, Cardinal Gérald Lacroix. After the meeting, Ghislain Picard, Assembly of First Nations regional chief for Quebec/Labrador, said it will be up to each person to decide if the Pope’s trip met their expectations. “It’s really up to them to take the measure of all this, whether it’s going to provide that kind of way for their healing,” 

Mr. Picard said after the meeting. “It’s going to take time.” 

 

The Pope still has not committed to saying the words that critics of his apology are demanding to hear — that it was the Catholic Church as an institution that was responsible for the residential school abuses and that those included physical, psychological and sexual abuses.

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) July 29, 2022

Saskatchewan: 

For some reason that nobody has yet explained, Saskatchewan has asked the feds for the authority to determine which immigrants will be allowed to settle here, and also they want the feds to give us all the money.

pic.twitter.com/jGuHv0UBeA

— Robbert Glennjamin (@BobbGlenn) July 28, 2022

It ain't gonna happen, of course, but maybe the Sask Party thinks they can gin up another grievance against the Trudeau Liberals?

Today's News: "Rescind the Doctrine"

The Pope's reconciliation events were in Quebec today - above is a photo of a delegation from the Innu community of Mashteuiatsh, where the last Quebec residential school closed in 1991. The group of a dozen people walked 275 km to reach the Quebec City reconciliation events, and included members of the Innu, Anishinaabe, Naskapi, Wendat and Atikamekw communities.

Launière-Mathias, the executive director of the non-profit group Puamun Meshkenu, said the seven-day adventure cultivated a sense of "collective pride." 

"It was teamwork. Each person travelled the kilometres that they could. When they weren't walking, they were supporting each other emotionally and spiritually," he said. "It was a reflection of our communities, our nations."

It was another example, I think, of the remarkable sense of community evident in this reconciliation visit. 

In spite of the words of Trudeau and Simon, below, I don't think we are going to be seeing anything more now from Pope Francis and the Catholic Church than has already been given. 

But this visit created a sense of community among Indigenous people across the country -- it was one of the things that made this visit worthwhile and it will have an impact on the future.  

I also hope the Pope will remember how seriously Canadians believe the Catholic Church needs to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery.

I sat down with both @Pontifex and Cardinal Pietro Parolin yesterday afternoon. We spoke about the importance of the Roman Catholic Church’s continued work with Indigenous Peoples to advance healing and reconciliation – and the need for the Church to take real, concrete action. pic.twitter.com/SJVtA8LL5P

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 28, 2022

“[…] you said that reconciliation is ‘a grace that must be sought.’ To that I would also add that reconciliation is a grace that must be earned through continuous hard work and understanding.” – #GGSimon pic.twitter.com/f72tkv1huj

— Governor General of Canada (@GGCanada) July 28, 2022

They painted the banner late last night, Chelsea Brunelle said. It was a bit of a last-minute decision but felt necessary. "A missing piece of reconciliation in this visit of the pope, his pilgrimage, is action."

— Anna Mehler Paperny (@amp6) July 28, 2022

The banner was facing away from the Pope, toward the congregation, but they think he got the message. The Prime Minister said he raised the issue and Canadian Bishops say they're "working with the Vatican ... with the goal of issuing a new statement from the Church."

— Anna Mehler Paperny (@amp6) July 28, 2022

'It's not enough to just apologize' -- Protesters urge @Pontifex to rescind Doctrine of Discovery, holding up banner during mass near Quebec City, by @AntoniNerestant @vestevie https://t.co/OnOoKMlxgI via @cbcnews #PapalTour #reconciliation https://t.co/62c9fFIZGy

— André Picard (@picardonhealth) July 28, 2022

PM Trudeau
“For decades First Nations, Inuit, and Métis have been calling on the Pope to recognize the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse their children endured while attending these residential schools. For decades, they have been waiting for an apology.”

— carol (@GrandmasRus) July 27, 2022

#RevokeDoctrineOfDiscovery
Hide no longer pic.twitter.com/FO2llooR9G

— Brian E Noble #ArticulateBeings (@ArticulateDinos) July 28, 2022

Holding the banner : @sarainfox and her cousin. Hear her words as relayed to @jenngyoon https://t.co/eMgwqxZsbB pic.twitter.com/p5oHq6ZNz9

— Sarah Leavitt (@sarahleavittcbc) July 28, 2022

First Nations leaders to meet Bishops to talk papal bulls, Church records: https://t.co/hiwUwvv5fU

— 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓛𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂 (@ChitkwesuManetu) July 28, 2022

It was a powerful moment during the Pope’s visit to Treaty 6 on Monday, as a woman stood in her regalia and sang an emotional rendition of O Canada in Cree directly to the leader of the Catholic Church following his apology to residential school survivors. pic.twitter.com/LO3eIiT8ac

— APTN News (@APTNNews) July 26, 2022

Papal Visit: Singer at peace after captivating world with protest song https://t.co/twYB0eogpK

— 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓛𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂 (@ChitkwesuManetu) July 28, 2022

These two saved my spirit today. It has been a long week but seeing Stevie and Abigail dance by in their jingle dresses at St. Anne de Beaupré was soothing. Grateful for Indigenous women, for standing strong, for being seen. #allmyrelations . Pix by ⁦@JoleneBanning⁩ pic.twitter.com/ZMhs9jGVwU

— Tanya Talaga (@TanyaTalaga) July 28, 2022

Jim Yellowhawk art

Remember ⚫️🔴🟡⚪️🦅 pic.twitter.com/iVXCeL1JgF

— 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓛𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂 (@ChitkwesuManetu) July 29, 2022

Today's News: "A whisper in our minds"

In the end, the Pope's apology is important, though it will not ease the pain.

Pope Francis was able to give the long-awaited apology, speaking in his language, but most of us do not have that ability any more. Our language is a whisper in our minds, familiar but at the same time, foreign. It was an apology that left us wanting. https://t.co/a7Ta4RadcV pic.twitter.com/LMbwSRrX8Z

— Tanya Talaga (@TanyaTalaga) July 26, 2022

“It is important to underscore that the Church was not just an agent of the state, nor simply a participant in government policy, but was a lead co-author of the darkest chapters in the history of this land,” said Murray Sinclair in a statement on Tuesday. https://t.co/OgwquBZ5TL

— APTN News (@APTNNews) July 26, 2022

The apology fell short because it did not deal with the the actions of the Catholic Church overall: 

The chief commissioner of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has issued a blistering critique of Pope Francis’s apology to Indigenous people, saying “it left a deep hole in the acknowledgment of the full role of the church in the residential school system, by placing blame on individual members of the church.” 

Mr. Sinclair issued a press release just moments before Pope Francis appeared before thousands of people at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium for a mass commemorating St. Anne, grandmother of Jesus. 

In 2015, the commission issued Call to Action #58, asking the Pope to deliver an apology in Canada for the church’s role in the residential school system. On Monday, seven years later, Pope Francis heeded the call, but apologized for individual Catholics who participated in the schools, not for the church as a whole. 

 ...the Pope told the delegation [to Rome in April] he was sorry for the “deplorable conduct” of church-members who abused children in residential schools and vowed to bring the sentiments to Canadian soil. 

Many Indigenous leaders had been hoping he would expand on his words in Rome and provide an institutional apology, not just express sorrow for the actions of individual Catholics. 

But the apology reiterated much of what he’d said in Rome. “I am sorry. I ask for forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities co-operated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools,” he said on Monday 

...Spectators gave the speech a warm reception, clapping and cheering after his expression of sorrow. Afterward, however, many onlookers said they expected more. “I’m happy to hear that he said the words ‘I’m sorry,’ but it wasn’t as encompassing as it could have been,” said Kukdookaa Terri Brown, residential school survivor and founding chair of the survivors circle with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation She also noted the Pope declined to mention sexual abuse or the Doctrine of Discovery in his speech.

#papalapology My thoughts are with Survivors who heard the apology from the Pope yesterday. But despite this historic apology, the Holy Father’s statement ignores the full role of the Church in the Residential School system. pic.twitter.com/BU5RGYq0ue

— Murray Sinclair (@Sensincmurr) July 26, 2022

It’s a healing time for us. I didn’t expect mom & Aunty to be here. Kohkum lives on in the memories of the water, sand & air here. Pope Francis on the lands of my ancestors 2 pray 4 forgiveness is a powerful thing to witness. I take my healing. I take my power & I give love back pic.twitter.com/zrw8XoCluJ

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) July 27, 2022

Today's News: Updates

Papal reconciliation visit:

An apology from Pope Francis.

This was the best part after the apology that is.#PopeFrancus crowned with Indigenous headress, While crowd erupts with approval.
👏👏👏 #PapalVisit2022 pic.twitter.com/14cYlrTWfo

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) July 25, 2022

Giving the Pope a headdress is not being well received online, however - I am seeing some negative tweets on this tonight.

The pope got a warbonnet meanwhile many Indigenous people (myself included) are structurally denied access to our homelands, cultural patrimony, and ceremonies.

Hurts, man.

— Dr. Kali Simmons 🦬👖 (@SimmonsKali) July 25, 2022

The apology was generally welcomed, with some comment also that the Discovery doctrine has not yet been revoked.

"This apology, offered today by Pope Francis, will lend itself to the healing we all need so that we can find ways to confront the charge of genocide and the legacy of residential schools in Canada." - Chief Robert Joseph.

Click here to read: https://t.co/PC4tGAg1t1 pic.twitter.com/gqeDt0kbCu

— Reconciliation Canada (@Rec_Can) July 25, 2022

I’m troubled

Pope’s apology neither about Church nor Papacy over last centuries, only individual bad Christians who “cooperated with”assimilation moves “promoted by govts of the time”

By omitting #DoctrineOfDiscovery, he ducks complicity in instigating such schools@RussDiabo https://t.co/CuNyX5Ju0g

— Brian E Noble #ArticulateBeings (@ArticulateDinos) July 25, 2022

Put together a video of one of @Pontifex meeting the Chief’s of the Four Nations of Maskwacis & visiting former Ermineskin Indian Residential School site where children died & many who got out alive still carry the pain. I was only a few feet away. Was like a funeral procession. pic.twitter.com/2WjPH8uSVv

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) July 26, 2022

Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors felt a mix of emotions towards the Pope’s apology. @CreesonCTV reports. https://t.co/bP2P6PpBfJ pic.twitter.com/lzxWNLJlLW

— CTV News (@CTVNews) July 26, 2022

A useful reference:

Anticipating more residential school denialism last year, Daniel Heath Justice and I created a primer on how to identify and confront it. We hope this continues to be a helpful resource, this week and moving forward: https://t.co/jpfQCef4KI

— Sean Carleton (@SeanCarleton) July 22, 2022

On a side note, an update on the "boil water" advisories - the Trudeau government has made a huge difference.

I heard 'boil water advisories' mentioned on @CBCNews. While no-one should have to go w/o clean water in Cda, it's important to note (IMHO) that nothing done before fed Libs formed govt Nov 2015, and so far: 82% lifted, plus 8% complete pending lifting, plus 7% under construction pic.twitter.com/stcrkndTSk

— Kathryn Mathias (@KathrynMathias1) July 25, 2022

3/
To be clear, it was briefly mentioned by various guests. I'm not criticizing CBC. The guests were making broad, sweeping statements about there being water issues, then changing the topic, so I thought details about what progess had been made would be helpful.

— Kathryn Mathias (@KathrynMathias1) July 26, 2022

Plus, many were added after the original list was created. The original list had 105 advisories; this government has lifted 135. More progress than I have seen in my lifetime. https://t.co/hLCVV625uc

— Adrian Wilson (@AdrianW123) July 26, 2022

CPC leadership campaign:

So this morning Angus Reid released a poll showing that the Conservatives would have a better chance of winning government with Charest rather than Poilievre. 

And then within a couple of hours, former PM Stephen Harper took the wind out of Charest's sails by releasing his endorsement of Poilievre. 

So, just another day in Canadian politics, I guess.

pic.twitter.com/bxotv7QpL1

— Angus Reid (@AngusReid) July 25, 2022

This is the first "bad" poll for Poilievre. It shows Charest would win Atlantic Canada, would be competitive in Quebec, would do better than Poilievre in Ontario... all at the expense of losing some Prairie and Alberta votes (which the CPC could afford). pic.twitter.com/zkCscjShPT

— Philippe J. Fournier (@338Canada) July 25, 2022

Here’s Stephen Harper’s endorsement video for Poilievre https://t.co/fS4GeNctm4

— Harrison Lowman (@harrisonlowman) July 26, 2022

Jean Charest reacts to Stephen Harper's endorsement of Pierre Poilievre. https://t.co/8wwUeECIfb

— Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) July 26, 2022

There is bad blood between Harper and Charest, in part because when Charest was premier, he sold Harper on the so-called “fiscal imbalance” Quebec suffered. When Harper tried to buy peace and give Charest the money, Charest turned it into a tax cut. Harper was furious. https://t.co/8soQtlMWBa

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) July 26, 2022

Today's News: Pope Francis arrives in Canada

#PopeFrancis arrived in Edmonton on Sunday to an honour drum song ahead of what he describes as a "penitential" trip aimed at advancing reconciliation with Indigenous people over the lasting harm suffered in residential schools.#PapalVisit2022 pic.twitter.com/YWRJ7YUPX8

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) July 24, 2022

The Pope has arrived in Edmonton, Canada, planning to apologize for the Catholic Church’s participation for more than a century in a Canadian government campaign suppressing the language and culture of indigenous peoples. @marcusmoore reports from Canada. https://t.co/dD3a6MLPSV pic.twitter.com/4jqQrlwJX1

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) July 24, 2022

Pope arrives in Canada for 'penitential' visit aimed at Indigenous reconciliation https://t.co/WdyOG8W3r6 pic.twitter.com/2pckwV2yRC

— CTV News (@CTVNews) July 24, 2022

Reporting from Ermineskin Cree Nation for international media. I say it like it is & will not sugar coat the atrocities the Catholic Church perpetuated against Indigenous children. Yes, I called it “the evils of the Catholic Church” on world media. This is reckoning. pic.twitter.com/UffoW6vpWZ

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) July 25, 2022

Papal Visit: Pope takes first step toward apology https://t.co/cpgZvhNoMl

— 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓛𝓲𝓵𝓵𝔂 (@ChitkwesuManetu) July 25, 2022

The world is watching. So let it be known that genocide was committed against babies & children here in Canada by the state & churches, the majority player being the Catholic Church. Truth needs to be known far & wide. That’s why @Pontifex is here- for penance. Reckon & heal.

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) July 25, 2022

“Some 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and forced to attend in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes, Native languages and cultures and assimilate them into Canada’s Christian society.” https://t.co/K6vhCqqIHc

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) July 25, 2022

Music and poetry and funny stuff

But first: what a race!

🔥🔥🔥 Gold for 🇨🇦 in the 4x100 at the Worlds!!

Big tip of the cap to our dudes @KingsleySC and @De6rasse big backstretch from Jerome Blake, shoutout Brendon Rodney!! 🇨🇦🔥🇨🇦
pic.twitter.com/1Gf88AmRMn

— Tim Micallef (@tim_micallef) July 24, 2022

Now, some great dances:

Fred Astaire said this Nicholas Brothers number was "the greatest dancing he had ever seen on film."

 

This is the number where Rogers said the beaded sleeve of her dress smacked Astaire in the face in their first twirl but they just kept on dancing. 

 

I always thought the Shoe Shine song from The Bandwagon was one of the greatest dances Astaire ever did. The shoe shine man in the number is Leroy Daniels, who actually did shine shoes for a living.

 

On to the poetry -  

The problem with Twitter is that everything gets jumbled up and I am not on it often enough to follow every account that I want to, so I am constantly missing great posts. 

So now I have set up several lists, and particularly one I just call "A Poetry List" so I can gather and keep track of what is new. Like these:

in another realm, the good guys win. the clouds are the color of a song. the air smells like laughter. there is always enough to eat. enough stories, enough soup, enough. the trees grow rings that no children will count, because no adult cuts them down. they count stars instead.

— tiny fairy tales✨ (@tinyfairytales) June 30, 2022

in a cottage in the forest there is a witch who can take you back to your lost childhood places. all the tea parties and spell-castings, the blanket fortresses of your crayon-colored heart— all those forgotten kingdoms you built with just your imagination and a few acorns.

— tiny fairy tales✨ (@tinyfairytales) July 19, 2022

"11", a poem by Lao-tzu, translated from the Chinese by Red Pine | https://t.co/0WaiJUM74V via @Poetry_Daily and @CopperCanyonPrs pic.twitter.com/hkPLq56fG5

— WinningWriters.com (@winningwriters) July 7, 2022

Retweeted by Poetry Daily, because its just a beautiful statement:

Always always always read the letters pic.twitter.com/NHAIMpzHFw

— Gordon Russell (@GordonRussell1) July 5, 2022

Today's News: Ukraine update

Lots of news from Ukraine lately: 

First, a new deal was announced today to move Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea:

New: A deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea has been signed in Istanbul, the UN SecGen says. The agreement will include three Ukrainian ports, including Odesa, and will involve a Joint Coordination Center established in Istanbul. via @TimListerCNN

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) July 22, 2022

“There is to be no large-scale demining of Ukraine’s ports, a process that was considered too time consuming. Ukrainian pilots will guide commercial vessels from the ports. Minesweepers will be used as needed”https://t.co/2psD1VWgGz

— Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) July 22, 2022

Gee, what a coincidence that the grain deal was signed today. https://t.co/HfPI9Lr2ZE

— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️‍🌈 (@aravosis) July 23, 2022

The Lithuania foreign affairs minister:

The agreement to unblock Odesa would have been impossible without HIMARS. It's now very clear that the war will end earlier if we arm Ukraine faster.

— Gabrielius Landsbergis (@GLandsbergis) July 22, 2022

However, some caution is warranted:

💯Russia created global food, energy crises:💯

Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau says he has no confidence in Russia to uphold its end of a deal to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports. #PutinFlation pic.twitter.com/Hq8870r56m

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) July 22, 2022

In other news:

UK MOD- In the last 48 hours, heavy fighting has been taking place as Ukrainian forces have continued their offensive against Russian forces in Kherson Oblast... Russia is likely attempting to slow the Ukrainian attack using artillery fire along the Inhulets River pic.twitter.com/QZhhb9Lpnl

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) July 23, 2022

I wonder if this can this be true?

⚡️Official: US may supply fighter jets to Ukraine.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, said that the Pentagon had already started evaluating the possibility of such a move.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) July 22, 2022

BREAKING: The U.S. is considering giving Ukraine A-10 Warthog ground-attack planes. 🇺🇦 🇺🇸

— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) July 22, 2022

All of the old arguments about the risk of starting World War 3 still apply, I think, but if Ukrainian pilots can be trained quickly enough this improvement in airpower might make a difference. 

Today's News: The elephant in the room

Tonight's Jan 6 Committee hearing made lots of news tonight. But as Brian Stelter reported in his Reliable Sources newsletter tonight, perhaps the most important comment came from Michigan Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger's closing remarks at the Jan 6 Committee hearing: 

The forces Donald Trump ignited that day have not gone away. The militant, intolerant ideologies. The militias. The alienation and the disaffection. The weird fantasies and disinformation. They're all still out there, ready to go. That's the elephant in the room....

Oaths matter. Character matters. Truth matters 

SAVE THIS VIDEO - WORDS FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS! @AdamKinzinger just nailed it! 🔥 🔥 🔥#Jan6thHearings #Jan6thCommitteeHearings #Jan6th

pic.twitter.com/pIxb0JYf9J

— ✨ The right time is .. NOW! ✨ (@JoeSteelerFan) July 22, 2022

Serious stuff. 

But there was also a little comic relief tonight too, provided by Josh Hawley - he's the doorknob senator who, from afar, raised his fist in solidarity with the mob. but then went running like a rabbit when the mob broke into the Capitol. The whole hearing room laughed:

Immediate reaction to the vid: pic.twitter.com/XAv4jc2tjr

— Dan Przygoda (@dprzygoda) July 22, 2022

And Twitter posted soundtracks:

Josh Hawley running away to a variety of soundtracks.

Pt. 9: Stayin’ Alive pic.twitter.com/YRf1fFMEJb

— Mallory Nees (@The_Mal_Gallery) July 22, 2022

Josh Hawley looked very athletic running away, didn’t he? #Jan6thHearings

— Al Franken (@alfranken) July 22, 2022

Some great stuff

 

I had never seen this before, its absolutely hilarious. 

Here's another great Twitter story:

Frank Slade was helping his Aunt Ethel run her gas station in Goldsboro, North Carolina, when there was a knock on the door.

Two men told him he had a choice between joining the U.S. Army for the Korean War orTrum returning to Canada.

What did he do? pic.twitter.com/8lAStYsa2R

— Canadian Forces in 🇺🇸 (@CAFinUS) July 20, 2022

Moving on, one of the bizarre things I noticed about the Trump administration is that things were ALWAYS worse than they first appeared to be. No matter how bad something looked when first reported or exposed - from the Muslim Ban to the Helsinki meeting to the child separation policy to Jan 6 insurrection etc etc - it always turned out to be even more senseless, cruel, abusive, greedy or criminal than it first looked. 

And Trump is still doing this, from beyond the grave, so to speak - it is now clear that misplaced loyalty and. I assume, the promotion of too many incompetents, has compromised the US Secret Service.

Here's the end of a long thread from Rick Wilson plus links that is worth reading - he also talks about Trump's ability to inspire the worst in everyone near him. 

It was Wilson who in 2016 coined the hashtag #ETTD - Everything Trump Touches Dies:

12/ I'll wrap this by noting that oversight by the Executive and Legislative in this matter is more than a little urgent.

Trump's shitbird superpower has always been to call out the worst versions of the people working for him.

The Service is gambling its reputation on HIM?

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 20, 2022

And what a grievance-hoarder Trump is:

Trump's claims that the 2020 election was rigged are best understood in the context of his repeated claims that the Emmy's were rigged as an explanation for his failure to win one for The Apprentice.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 20, 2022

I read the news today, oh boy

Today's news:

In the past few days our entire MSM has been preoccupied with:

1. The Prime Minister’s hair (not a typo)
2. A nonsense “Canada is communist” statement made by an American far right radio provocateur
3. A fully manufactured notion that there’s going to be an election this fall

— Scribulatora (@Scribulatora) July 19, 2022

Meanwhile, there are terrible wildfires and heat emergencies across Europe and in the Canadian Rockies, Hockey Canada is destroying itself, the increasing cost of renting is going to cause economic stress for millions of people, and monkeypox cases are rising exponentially. 

But hey, let's keep talking about news that isn't actually happening - its a lot less stressful. 

Since his haircut, Trudeau is going out and about more -- thus providing even more opportunities for Canadian media to focus on trivialities:

Trudeau, one of the only Western leaders to mandate masks on trains, spotted maskless on train https://t.co/tH6PTLgUeP

— National Post (@nationalpost) July 19, 2022

at the end of the day folks

If him not wearing a mask on this train upsets you so much - then don't vote for Justin Trudeau in the next election

My suspicion is the majority of those outraged on this thread have never and will never vote for JT

— G.T. Lem (@gtlem) July 20, 2022

This thread about Trudeau-bashing, however, is much more serious:

Long 🧵 on threats posted on Twitter with impunity against the @CanadianPM.
After watching the Jan. 6 proceedings yesterday regarding Trump’s Twitter incitements to violence, one reflected on analogous incitements in 🇨🇦Canada by like-minded people…

— David Hamer🇨🇦🇺🇦🇨🇦 (@DavidHamer_1951) July 13, 2022

And on a side note, how outstanding is Chef Andres and his World Central Kitchen? They are everywhere when they are needed:

As wildfires burn through an intense heatwave across Spain, firefighters are working around the clock to put out the flames. To support first responders in Zamora, WCK is on the ground serving sandwiches, coffee, sweets, fruit, gazpacho & cold water. #ChefsForSpain pic.twitter.com/CsT6U09Q1T

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) July 20, 2022

Today's News: Updates from all over

Uvalde Massacre update: 

The Uvalde preliminary report is out and it is damning.

pic.twitter.com/1pIjB5hVwX

— mrs.LHS 🇺🇦🍀🌻☮️ (@ABPC84) July 18, 2022

We’ve gutted education financing to fund police departments just so nearly 400 Uvalde cops in full military gear could stand around while 19 children and 2 teachers were killed and Texas police chiefs are still blaming the school for not having a better fence and locked doors. pic.twitter.com/JjhG1rm8jI

— Andrew Wortman 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇸 (@AmoneyResists) July 17, 2022

They're talking about the Interim Report 2022 on the Uvalde massacre in May. 

In spite of all the talk in the report about school fences and unlocked doors, Lawrence O'Donnell at MSNBC pinpoints the key sentences, on page 73: 

There was no legal impediment to the attacker buying two AR-15-style rifles, 60 magazines, and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition when he turned 18. The ATF was not required to notify the local sheriff of the multiple purchases. 

As O'Donnell noted in his commentary, it was fear of this armament that prevented almost 400 police from trying to stop the mayhem sooner.

Nothing says ban assault rifles like 5 school officers, 8 federal DEA officers, 13 U.S. Marshals, 16 sheriff’s deputies, 25 Uvalde officers, 69 officers of nearby law enforcement, 91 state police officers plus 149 U.S. Border Patrol agents being scared of 1 shooter with an AR-15.

— Andrea Junker (@Strandjunker) July 18, 2022

We also had news about this self-serving BS.

A document prepared by Uvalde officials and labeled “narrative” was obtained by @nytimes after a FOIA request. It lays out a desired telling of events after the mass shooting that praised officers for rushing toward gunfire and saving hundreds of children.https://t.co/2BVWeFe9sm

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 17, 2022

And now even more stuff is coming out:

Days after Texas Public Safety Director Steve McCraw criticized the way law enforcement handled the Robb Elementary shooting, officials sought a more positive portrayal of the police response, according to a memo obtained by ABC News. @ABCMireya reports. https://t.co/6cN1DC7Ycp pic.twitter.com/X7khJdnuhx

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) July 19, 2022

On a side note, this just may result in more realistic views of police:

In private, many police officers are told “No matter what, the goal is to get yourself home.” Anything that’s a threat to that is either to be eliminated or avoided. It also elevates what they might see as a threat, hence why the first move for many is to shoot. /3

— Marcelius Braxton (@Marcelius_B) July 18, 2022

Years ago, I read of a sociologist who studied police. He wrote a paper saying that police mostly stopped cars full of young men & figured out something to charge them with.
The sociologist was shocked when his police buddies got mad about this observation.

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) July 19, 2022

The people of Uvalde are strong, and getting stronger:

The saddest display of books in a public library is in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/C7aRaImsMs

— nancypjohnson (@nancypjohnson) July 18, 2022

The Uvalde community really finding their voices tonight.Speaking out tonight at the school board meeting. Demanding the school board clean house.Demanding Pete Arredondo be fired by noon tomorrow. They say they are prepared to keep their kids out of school until changes are made

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) July 18, 2022

The failure in Uvalde took many forms. We still need a lot more answers. But let’s be clear. It began with a culture that accepts gun violence as just a part of modern life.

— Dan Rather (@DanRather) July 18, 2022