Ambassador Goodale also told a reporter they are working on setting up a Royal Visit to Canada now.Over at Canada House, there was a considerable gathering of Canadians to watch the coronation on large television monitors, a gathering which included many Indigenous visitors. A witness to the proceedings, verified by another person present, reported that the most striking thing to happen during the live broadcast of the service was when the King was crowned and later during the playing and singing of God Save the King, Indigenous members in the gathering all stood in respect. Most of the non-Indigenous viewers stayed glued to their seats.This suggests interesting days to come in the story of Canada, especially when the King and Queen make their next visit.
"Do not go gentle into that good night. Blog, blog against the dying of the light"
Monday, May 08, 2023
Coronation Highlights: Canada Indigenous Leadership in London
Another day for thoughts and prayers
Don't lose sight of this. After Uvalde, Texas cops at every level, including and especially DPS, are aware their state is mass shooter central and now mostly see the aftermath as a PR problem. A news cycle to be managed. https://t.co/ObAkQWGqPY
— zeddy (@Zeddary) May 7, 2023
And from Chris Rock:WE'RE TOO STUPID TO HAVE GUNS https://t.co/caiS1ssoYk
— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) April 29, 2023
It’s time to seriously consider Chris Rock’s gun control plan since they’ll never do anything about the guns pic.twitter.com/4eI3CHcHio
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) May 7, 2023
Sunday, May 07, 2023
"...the moment is struck, a pact is sworn"
Here is the Coronation photo where Charles and Camilla really looked happy -- they're on the balcony, it's over, they made it, and nobody stumbled, collapsed, or dropped the Crown Jewels.
The poem follows the story of a woman invited to attend a coronation and uses lines from Samuel Pepys diary, which described his encounter with the coronation of King Charles II, pointing to the historical significance of the occasion.
She’ll watch it again on the ten o’clock newsfrom the armchair throne in her living room:did the cameras notice her coral pink hator her best coat pinned with the hero’s medal she gotfor being herself? The invitation is proppedon the mantelpiece by the carriage clock.She adorned the day with ordinariness;she is blessed to have brought the extraordinary home.And now she’ll remember the house sparrowshe thought she’d seen in the abbey roofarcing from eave to eave, beyond and above.
What. A. Day.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 6, 2023
Thank you to everyone who made it happen #Coronation pic.twitter.com/qaYFXSjjli
Thursday, May 04, 2023
Today's News: The Story Behind The Story?
Alexandre Trudeau: I hoped this could be a forum for the truth to come out.
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 3, 2023
A House of Commons committee? A forum for truth? Oh, heavens no. It hasn’t been for a loooooooong time. #ETHI
Evan Scrimshaw (Scrimshaw Unscripted) notes the real issue isn't the Trudeau family at all, its Canada's intelligence agencies: CSIS' Leaking Ship A National, not Political Crisis:When WE Charity tried to clear itself by hiring a former senior judge and a top forensic accountant to go over its governance and finances, the media and politicians said the experts were conflicted and compromised. So I understand Mr. Trudeau’s frustration.
— Mark Bourrie (@MarkBourrie) May 3, 2023
...why is nobody else able to see what has been obvious for the last two months, which is that the real story here is a RCMP-CSIS war?...I don’t have national security sources who can clue me in on this shit, but what I do have is a bullshit detector and a functioning brain, and this is the only theory of this story that adds up. CSIS, or elements within it, are mad at the lack of action that’s been taken on foreign interference and they’d like it to change. The RCMP has not listened to them, for reasons unclear. And now there’s a turf war....the matter at hand when it comes to CSIS is not why is the Prime Minister sitting on all of this incredibly important intelligence but why isn’t CSIS acting on this information if it’s as valuable and credible as the way it’s reported out suggests? Why can’t CSIS persuade the RCMP to do something about any of this if it is credible, and if it’s not credible enough for the RCMP to do anything why is it being given to Bob Fife?...Trudeau said today that the reason Chong wasn’t told, and implicitly why he wasn’t told, was that CSIS made the determination that it did not rise to a sufficient level for it to be disseminated broadly. Maybe that call was right, maybe it wasn’t, argue with a rock for all I care. But what matters in that is that CSIS doesn’t get to have their cake and eat it too. Either these leaks are justified by the truly important nature of the information disclosed, or the information disclosed wasn’t important enough to disclose to the PMO or to Chong....We have an unserious spy agency at war with either our political government, our national police force, or both. We have a spy agency willing to leak things to the press they deemed insufficiently important to brief the PMO about. We have a pundit class eager to make the Prime Minister to blame for things he did not know about. And we have an opposition accusing the Prime Minister of knowingly holding back information when the PM never had it.
Tuesday, May 02, 2023
"So I'd best be on my way In the early morning rain"
Gordon Lightfoot has died at the age of 84.
— Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx (@CraigBaird) May 2, 2023
Calling him a Canadian icon or legend is an understatement.
He was one of our greatest singer-songwriters.
Born in Orillia, Ontario on Nov. 17, 1938, he had several #1 albums & songs.
He won 16 Junos.
RIP to a legend. pic.twitter.com/2VBKMZvo0o
The 3 Gords are now reunited ❤️🇨🇦
— 🍁Canadian Fletchy☘️ 🌻🇺🇦 (@Darth_Pingu) May 2, 2023
RIP Gordon Lightfoot pic.twitter.com/B6ujxmheUS
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Weekend funnies: Nostalgia and Dark Brandon and Orcas
A little nostalgia:
As I contemplate our problems in 2023, I have to keep remembering:The reason you think things were better when you were younger is that you were too stupid to know how bad things were then.
— Dennis Detwiller (@drgonzo123) April 28, 2023
- when I was 8, we were practicing hiding from a nuclear war by scurrying under our school desks when our civil defense air raid siren sounded.
- when I was 13, JFK was assassinated.
- by the time I was 15, tens of thousands of American boys were fighting in Vietnam.
- when I was 17, RFK and MLK were assassinated, and there were riots in Chicago and Detroit and Los Angeles, and Nixon was elected.
- when I was 19, the Ohio National Guard killed four students at Kent State; the FLQ kidnapped James Cross and Pierre LaPorte, and Trudeau pere declared the War Measures Act
It will just be more stupid little Harperian wedge issues, only with more conspiracy theories and culture wars.
— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) April 28, 2023
I absolutely loved this:That's what they said about Doug Ford. Ontario is now going backwards on climate issues, dismantling the healthcare system, underfunding education and social services and turning the province into a cesspool of corruption. Don't worry, they said. Ford will be fine.
— suebaker37 #WomenAgainstPoilievre (@suebaker07) April 28, 2023
My president.pic.twitter.com/yVkloHzJsj
— Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) April 30, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023
COVID Update: Life Expectancy, Long Covid, and World Immunization Week
Thus far, recorded Covid-19 deaths worldwide are at 6.86 million. This is likely an underestimate, given the underreporting of fatalities in countries, such as China. More importantly, based on excess mortality calculations there’s mounting evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a massive toll on global life expectancy. Not since the famine in China in 1959, have we seen such a sharp decline in life expectancy worldwide....In sum, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to global increases in mortality and declines in period life expectancy that are without precedent in modern times. Historically, countries have generally recovered within two years from mortality shocks, such as the 1918-20 influenza pandemic and the two world wars. And so, we can expect many countries to soon return to pre-Covid-19-pandemic life expectancy. However, each country’s ability to bounce back differs, and some, like the U.S., will likely have more trouble than others because of underlying health trends that had been in place before the pandemic.
“Global life expectancy has dropped two years in a row for the first time since 1959, and if it drops again in 2022 this will be historically unprecedented in modern history.” pic.twitter.com/jFEX68wahI
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) March 4, 2023
2) Life expectancy of Canada 🇨🇦 vs US 🇺🇸 during the early pandemic. One failed miserably in 2020 and 2021 pic.twitter.com/AviNyvirke
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) March 9, 2023
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Weekend funnies: From steam-punk to Ted Lasso to a golfer dog
And Peggy Atwood loved hers:4. Farley Mowat
One of Canada's most beloved writers, his books have been translated into 52 languages and sold 17 million copies. His best known books are People of the Deer and Never Cry Wolf. His books often had an environmental focus.5. Rita Joe
— Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx (@CraigBaird) April 23, 2023
Called the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq People, Rita Joe survived Residential School and relearned her language & culture. Her poems often outlined her experiences at the school.
Rita Joe Day is celebrated in Nova Scotia every Feb. 20.
🧵5/10 pic.twitter.com/GcF53hwZYD
🧵4/10 pic.twitter.com/Ea7ABY8q7z— Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx (@CraigBaird) April 23, 2023
I loved this one, too:This is pretty wonderful! Who did it? Artist or a i ? Where can I get one? :) love the ticking hat… https://t.co/xEhprF6uCz
— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) April 23, 2023
This is the Twitter content that I am staying here for 👇 https://t.co/7A0wTx8viw
— Dr. Fiona Mattatall 🪩 (@FionaMattatall) April 22, 2023
Friday, April 21, 2023
Today's edition of "Christ, what an asshole"
I'll never be as rich as this man, but at least I'll never be as pathetic either pic.twitter.com/g7ulABeWbo
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) April 20, 2023
this is honestly the most comically ridiculous thing ever. paying? please. there's still verification, only now it's some kind of weird passive aggressive thing Musk personally decides on? https://t.co/Y8JhC2U9Bb
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 21, 2023
There used to be actual value to the blue marks, like showing people who to listen to when they needed help.Musk is pretending that celebrities like Stephen King and LeBron James, who said they would not pay for Twitter, are paying for Twitter, got called on it, and admitted he is paying their fees.
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) April 20, 2023
Feel like they should be labeled "Musk funded media" pic.twitter.com/2xFbEqWpLz
Like, for instance, the City of New York.
The Elon clusterfuck is ON pic.twitter.com/4dRlYq8GLz
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) April 20, 2023
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Around the Substacks: from Van Gogh Sneakers, to Delaware courts, to Pierre Poilievre and the CBC
The first thing people try to do with AI is what it is worst at; using it like Google...Second, they may try something speculative, using it like Alexa, and asking a question, often about the AI itself. Will AI take my job? What do you like to eat? These answers are also terrible.If people still stick around, they start to ask more interesting questions, either for fun or based on half-remembered college essay prompts: Write an article on why ducks are the best bird. Why is Catcher in the Rye a good novel? These are better. As a result, people see blocks of text on a topic they don’t care about very much...They usually quit around now, convinced that everyone is going to use this to cheat at school, but not much else.All of these uses are not what AI is actually good at, and how it can be helpful. They can blind you to the real power of these tools.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Weekend funny stuff: Some stories, some writing, and some animal crackers, of course
Next, this is absolutely terrifying:Last year, a coworker randomly asked me to hand-deliver an antique violin across the country. I said yes, because why not. I had no idea what I was getting into, and now I need your help. A 🧵
— Latif Nasser (@latifnasser) April 15, 2023
Don't we all identify with this guy?Today in 1969, an incensed and intoxicated President Richard Nixon ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to attack North Korea with a nuclear weapon after its fighter jets intercepted and shot down a US EC-121 reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 crew members. pic.twitter.com/NceuVmWrNg
— Stephen Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst) April 15, 2023
This guy is a legend. pic.twitter.com/DdvhgrP4ng
— 🇺🇲 (@MrRJNKNS) April 15, 2023
Friday, April 14, 2023
Just another "friendly sausage maker"?
The incident itself was terrifying. The media’s handling of the incident was worse!!!
— Graham Barker (@sob_er2dayz) July 7, 2020
And the meme goes on:Armed "friendly sausage maker" who stormed Rideau Hall to confront Prime Minister has his 6 year sentence upheld by Court of Appeal. https://t.co/iAJk75mgEl
— Stephen Lautens (@stephenlautens) March 17, 2023
And now in America we are seeing the same thing today, a determined effort to minimize the danger:This downplaying by @DeanBennettCP @CdnPressNews, of the seriousness of the charges against former Russian organized crime operative, Pawlowski, is yet another absurd “friendly sausage maker” level of excusing the seriousness of what both Smith & Pawlowski have done. #ABpoli
— @HeatherMoAndCo@mastodon.online (@HeatherMoAndCo) April 10, 2023
Tonight I am wondering if the motivation is the same, downplaying the problem to protect the reputations of military who apparently let this guy gather up, take home, and copy so much classified material.The lemmings have all gotten their cues from the cult leaders.
— Jim Stewartson, Anti-disinfo activist 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@jimstewartson) April 13, 2023
Jack Teixeira is going to get trustwashed like Manning and Snowden and portrayed as some kind of whistleblower.
He is decidedly not. He’s a traitor and a groomer. https://t.co/RSbzWttv3t
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Today's Comments: Just wondering who will be next on the hit list?
Canada continues to watch Poilievre and the CPC shoot themselves in the foot every time they open their mouths.
In the midst of a flare-up over a 2016 Chinese donation to the Trudeau Foundation in 2016, the Leader of the Opposition is asking a foreign-owned (incl Saudi prince) social media co to discredit 🇨🇦’s national broadcaster.#cdnpoli
— Sandy Garossino 🇨🇦🌻 (@Garossino) April 12, 2023
If Pierre Poilievre was a secret Liberal plant, I’m unsure he’d be acting any differently at this point
— Evan Scrimshaw (@EScrimshaw) April 12, 2023
Are him and Jagmeet *trying* to re-elect Trudeau? https://t.co/LZoAQs37f5
At this point, I just have to ask, who is going to be next? Twitter has some suggestions:Conservative/Corporatist/Republican operatives did a nice job of destroying WE. Now, they've set their sights on the Trudeau Foundation.
— DerekZoolander85 (@dzoolander85) April 11, 2023
It's a rough ride for charities these days, as the worldwide fascist movement to dethrone moderates like Trudeau is gaining steam. #CdnPoli
Next up on the Conservative’s hit list:
— Douglas B. Rogers 🎣🏌🏻♂️ (@Rogers26B) April 12, 2023
- PIERRE Cardin
- ELLIOTT Group
- TRUDEAU Corporation
- JUSTIN Timberlake
🙄🥸🤣🤪
And what about the Pearson College of the Pacific. That sounds like a Liberal charity.
— Bruce Barnett (@blbarden1) April 12, 2023
If the media is looking for another charity to take down, I recommend the Fraser Institute. They are nothing but foreign influence in our society. They exist to funnel republican money into Canada to screw us out of our healthcare. #cdnpoli
— DJ Chocolate Milk (@DJChocolateMLK) April 12, 2023
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Today's Random Comments: from Liberals to Conservatives, from Tennessee to Twitter, plus a little Joan Baez
Moving on to the US:The left benefits from being able to pitch two visions in two different parts of the country to two different sets of voters. The NDP gets to use their anti-establishment message to win regional cities and towns, and the Liberals get to use the NDP as a rhetorical triangulation point to seem moderate in the suburbs. It’s a relationship that maximizes the left’s vote share, which given the two parties have 50% of the vote and 54% of the seats, is a win.A merger is an unserious proposition that even on political terms would fail, ignoring all the policy ramifications and the political fallout of a party that would be at war over internal control at the start.
CANADA WATCHING US NEWS pic.twitter.com/l6QO7pqRwe
— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) April 4, 2023
A mystery to me is why so many liberals are desperate for there to be good conservatives, and often became very angry if you inform them that their favorite good conservative it not, in fact, good.
With no other frame of reference, young conservatives are starting to think it’s normal to be jerks....Because they have no frame of reference, no meaningful political experience or memory of politics prior to this shabby era, they think being shabby is normal and smart. Last week, the New York Republican Club issued a moronic and monstrous statement in solidarity with Donald Trump. In response to my criticism these domestic birds of prey behaved monstrously and moronically. (I won’t link to it because attention is the currency they covet.) I’ve since learned that the D.C. chapter of the Young Republicans is equally asinine, embracing the goons and dupes who stormed the Capitol as martyrs and political prisoners.Indeed, they’ve literally ditched the Republican elephant in favor of a silhouette of Donald Trump.I don’t call attention to this because I think they are somehow worthy intellectual adversaries or anything like that. Rather, I call attention to it because it’s evidence that the corruption of conservatism isn’t just bad for conservatism—which it obviously is—but because it’s bad for these kids. Surrounding yourself with people who think it’s a sign of courage and strength to be coarse or bigoted is how you become coarse and bigoted.
Saturday, April 08, 2023
Missing the Boomers
The Line offers this commentary on the story:My latest article....Canadian troops in Poland not being reimbursed for meals https://t.co/GCKdKM4T84 via @ottawacitizen
— David Pugliese (@davidpugliese) April 3, 2023
This military fiasco is alarming because it’s a sign that our state-capacity issues are now extending into areas that previously worked. Not only are we struggling to do new things, we’re forgetting how to do things we used to be able to do. This goes beyond what our typical gripes about state capacity. This is something else. This is state atrophy, or rot.Now that the public is paying attention, we suspect we’ll see some reasonably rapid progress. The government will throw bureaucrats and maybe consultants at the problem until it goes away. This is how they have reacted to similar issues: we hurled ground staff at airport delays until they cleared, and bureaucrats at passport offices until the backlogs eased.But we have to ask why we now require exceptional redeployments of staff to maintain typical levels of service. And we don’t like the answers we can come up with. Ottawa has added tens of thousands of civil servants, at an annual cost of tens of billions, in recent years. During that time Ottawa has also sharply ramped up spending on consultants; the annual cost now surpasses $20 billion.And yet.What the hell is going on?