Today's News: Refugees, and kindness

Remember this? 

That terrible photo of Alan Kurdi, age 3, washed up on a beach in Turkey when he and his family tried to escape Syria in 2015. That little drowned child is one of the main reasons Harper lost the 2015 election. Canadians were saddened and shocked to find out that maybe we could have saved him, because his aunt lived in Coquitlam. I have never forgotten that photo, and neither has the rest of Canada. 

 And here's another one, from two years later:

A luckier child finds help from a kind RCMP as her family runs across the border in 2017, escaping from Trump to claim refugee status. These types of irregular border crossing have been shut down now, apparently, though I suspect we'll see an increase in desperate people now that Trump is president again. 

And I expect that once again, Canadians will react with kindness.  Today I saw this story:

Cornwall, Ont. prepares for potential influx of asylum seekers following U.S. election https://t.co/FdlmGrtt6g

— CTV News (@CTVNews) November 10, 2024

Walking away from Trump's America

Well, I don't know if this feeling is just my own, or something others share. 

But I realized today that I just don't care what Donald Trump does anymore. 

In his first administration, every day there was a "he said WHAT??" news story and a "he's really THAT STUPID???" analysis story, and it was just exhausting.

This time, everybody already knows he is a stupid, cruel, ignorant, and violent man, profoundly undeserving of the office to which Americans elected him. He will continue to be an asshole, his administration will be a shitshow, and millions of Americans will suffer because of it, including the people who voted for him. 

But I just can't care anymore. 

So I have unsubscribed tonight from several substacks and columns. It doesn't really matter to me who the new Secretary of State might be, nor am I interested in Trump's pick for chief of staff or attorney general or head of the CIA any of the other make-weights and incompetents and grifters who will foul his administration. Obamacare repeal, tarriffs and tax cuts for the rich will mash the American economy. Hurricanes and fires and floods will strike with escalating fury and the federal government won't send help anymore. No point in getting outraged about any of it. So it doesn't matter to me anymore whether the Democrats keep the House (likely not) nor do I care whether scattered American mayors and governors will fight the good fight against Trump - maybe they can do something, or maybe they'll just get themselves arrested for not bending the knee.

For some perspective, I highly recommend reading LeGuin’s short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”.

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD🕷️ (@Nnedi) November 9, 2024

[link to "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas"]

So tonight I'm walking away from Trump's America. The country I care about is Canada. And the issues that concern me now are how our country can survive the end of American democracy. 

Posting about all of this will be quite enough to keep me busy. In fact, there will likely be very little else of greater importance over the next decade than this battle all Canadians will have to fight -- to stand on guard for Canada, and to keep our Canada glorious and free.

Today's News: More comments on the Trump election - Jonathan Chait, Tom Scocca, Cooper Lund, Jimmy Kimmel, Mark Hamill, and Black Cloud Six

More comments about why the Trump election happened, and how to (maybe) survive it:

New York magazine, Jonathan Chait: Trump’s ‘Unprecedented and Powerful Mandate’ Is a Lie Do not surrender in advance.

...There is a quadrennial tradition in American politics for the winning party to insist its victory amounts to an endorsement of its entire platform by the American public, while the opponents chalk the results up to personality or fleeting events.

In part, the mandate talk reflects this familiar ritual. In the big picture, Trump won because literally every opposition party running for office anywhere in the world is winning right now. Every single governing party in the developed world that has stood for reelection in 2024 has lost, the Financial Times notes. This has never happened before in the 120 years of data it has followed.

Trump exploited economic discontent and, just as he did eight years before, will almost certainly rebrand the economic recovery he inherits as a booming wonderland of prosperity. The program that Trump claims America voted to implement is a combination of promises Trump never had the slightest intention of fulfilling (no taxes on tips or overtime pay), promises Trump will probably try to implement in some form but would be catastrophic if carried out in full (funding the government through tariffs, deporting every illegal migrant or asylum seeker), and promises Trump rarely talks about but will almost certainly pursue (giving rich people a huge tax cut, reducing health-care subsidies for the poor and people with preexisting conditions). The mandate rhetoric is in part a traditional effort to gull the opposition party into withholding criticism and treating the enactment of the president’s plans as a natural outcome of the election.

Yet the 2024 version of the mandate question has far more serious overtones because Trump’s highest priority has nothing to do with policy. Trump has made it plain that his highest priority in office is to take revenge upon his enemies and intimidate his critics. ...

... It is both the nature of human life in general and democracy in particular that sometimes bad guys win. Winning does not make them cease to be bad.

Never forget that, regardless of what he wants to do or tries to do, Trump will be utterly incompetent at his job, and will hire incompetent people too:

I keep saying this to remind myself it's real, since not one person in the legacy media mentioned this at all in the past year, but HE QUIT ON THE JOB LAST TIME, he gave up on bumbling through thing after thing he couldn't handle, just wrote "EXECUTIVE TIME" on the calendar, and watched TV all day

[image or embed]

— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca.bsky.social) November 7, 2024 at 8:27 PM

Of course, being incompetent also makes it easier for the Bannons of the world to manipulate him. But still, at least this time the American media and civil service won't be giving him or his flying monkeys the benefit of the doubt. "Slow-walk" may well be the word of the next four years. 

Today's News: What the hell happened, and what will happen next?

Here are some tweets and comments and blog posts, reading the tea leaves.

The election: 

No More Mister Nice Blog Steve M Trump is toxically masculine...

...Trump is seen by millions as a capable problem-solver because most Americans experienced at least the first three years of his presidency as a reasonably nice time, and because decades ago he was the main character in fictionalized books and a fake reality TV series that told us he has the magic power to make great deals without breaking a sweat. They don't know that he knows nothing and that he lucked into a good economy, and that he presided over a sustained period of relative stability because he'd surrounded himself with capable people of a kind he'll never hire again....

I have a friend. His mother is an undocumented immigrant. He admitted today that he voted for Trump due to concerns about inflation.

I just don't even know what to say anymore: he's college educated, but he still thinks Trump wasn't talking about his mom. https://t.co/EshJMSUwz2

— numbers fuckstein stan (@numfuksteinstan) November 6, 2024

Your parents green card just got revoked and the family across the street just got sent to a detainment camp but at least you owned the libs, good job. 👏

— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) November 6, 2024

Oh, dear....America has just Brexited itself

So sad.
America just Brexited itself.

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 ✍🏻😷🏳️‍🌈 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@CathieCanada) November 6, 2024

And the impact of a Trump win on Canada is incalculable -- on tarrifs, cross-border manufacturing, refugees, Ukraine, Gaza, NATO...

Hope!

Beautiful photo of (I hope) President Harris and the First Gentleman.

“Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” —Me right now

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) November 2, 2024

 

Post by @sunday_driver_in_ny

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My fellow Americans-

If you do not have an emotional support Canadian, now is the time sign up before supplies run out.

There is a backlog of orders because of the hate rally today, so please be patient. A Canadian will be assigned to you shortly. pic.twitter.com/rltsUY4cD0

— Tom Chapman 🇺🇸🇨🇦 (@realTomChapman) October 28, 2024

Report: 90% of Canadians plan to spend U.S. election day rocking back and forth while moaning softly https://t.co/0E948YEmSL

— The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) October 27, 2024

Friendly reminder that from now until Wednesday, we are living in the metaphorical equivalent of an airport lounge. Calories don't count. Money doesn't matter. No one will judge you for having a beer at 10am.

— Katie Howland (@katieshowland) November 4, 2024

Keep Kamala and Carry On-a-la

The closing moments:

The Next President of the United States #SNL #NailedIt

pic.twitter.com/tMl8iFdD5o

— Abraxsys (@Abraxsys) November 3, 2024

Kamala’s SNL hit was a Slamala Dunkala!

— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) November 3, 2024

Trump's final campaign message? It seems to be "Hawk Tuah!"

Things are certainly weird in the Trump campaign these days: 

I grabbed this great photo combo from an X post

Trump seems to be unable to stop himself now from talking about sex all the time -- first it was Arnold Palmer's junk, then it was another "Grab her by the pussy" moment.

Donald Trump just made a “grab her by the pussy” reference on the stump just now.

TRUMP: “In the old days I would have said like you grab your…..now I don’t say that anymore.”

Really going out with bang. pic.twitter.com/MUUtDFYym7

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) November 2, 2024

Finally, there was his blow job with the microphone:

He's completely fucking lost it.
How will Fox News explain this away? pic.twitter.com/UvtRgvXf62

— CONVICT TRUMP AGAIN & LOCK THEM UP! (@Christo12919382) November 2, 2024

Today's News: It's FAFO time!

I think we're reaching "Fuck Around and Find Out" time: 

In Canada, Poilievre's blithe "Of course I'm going to cancel programs to fund a GST reduction on new houses" and his equally-blithe "of course I'm not going to get a security clearance" is starting to tank his favourables. 

Today's Ekos study found a drop of 12 points in Conservative voting intentions. They are still ahead of the Liberals, but not by as much as they used to be:

Combine this with Skippy's HORRIBLE favourability numbers we're seeing from other pollsters and... ruh roh.

So much for that big saccharine ad blitz, Pierre.

— David Brown (@OrbitStudios) November 1, 2024

No wonder Poilievre is desperate to get a non-confidence motion passed right away. 

Poilievre likely thought his bright idea to eliminate the GST on middle-class new houses would be a big winner and everybody would start talking about how much money the Cons would save them.

But then the media started asking PP how he would pay for the GST cut and he fumbled out something about how easy-peasy it would be to just cut some Liberal programs.

In a rare press conference, Pierre Poilievre was cornered on his cuts plan.

His answer?

"We're going to cut two programs for sure, and more beyond that."

Here’s what Conservatives will take away from your family:

Affordable childcare that saves a family in Pierre’s riding… pic.twitter.com/p3Kl0RlHxd

— MP Ryan Turnbull 🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@TurnbullWhitby) October 28, 2024

So instead of getting lots of publicity about his GST cut, Poilievre got complaints that he was threatening popular Liberal programs:

Canadian economist Mike Moffatt explains why Poilievre’s new housing GST tax cut on certain homes misses the mark; it cuts new Liberal programs that make those homes possible in the first place. Again, Cons miss the mark and fail.

WATCH ▶️ https://t.co/lAjMO6BcEZ

— Stephano Barberis (@HelloStephano) October 28, 2024

Halloween Apples!

We always used to yell "Halloween Apples" when I was trick-or-treating, I'm not sure why because if anyone ever gave us an apple we threw it out because razor blades. 

Anyway, Halloweening is a great memory - circling through the neighbourhood, running to keep warm under the frosted streetlights, plotting our route, checking with the other groups we met about where the best house was - there was always one giving out real full-size chocolate bars! 

(One year the dentist who lived across our street handed out toothbrushes for heaven's sake!  The next summer he set his garage on fire because he thought he could use gasoline to kill the weeds in the walkway, which gives you a good idea of how bright he really was!)

Anyway, the challenge was always to assemble a costume that could be worn to the costume parade at school but would also accommodate a winter jacket underneath, so you didn't get too cold and have to go home too soon.

Then when the pillowcase was full we would tear home and dump the bags to sort out our loot, what a sweet confusion, to decide what we wanted to gobble down first.

When my own kids were halloweening, we used their loot bags as "back-ups" to our own stash, deftly sorting out the candy they didn't like so we could supplement our own handouts, and make sure we didn't run short.

When we lived in Victoria, fireworks were a Halloween tradition and we always assembled with the neighbours to set off some fireworks in the cul-de-sac and hand out sparklers to swoop around in the dark - great fun. When we moved back to Saskatchewan, we did miss that there were no fireworks here-- so much of the time, it is just too cold on Halloween night to spend extra time outside! 

I'm glad we never ran into these guys!

Best Halloween video ever!

Worth the read: Upside-down maps; Russian spy stories; Presidential election thoughts; and Canadian ghoulies & ghosties

Just a short post tonight, to highlight some remarkable articles published recently. 

First up, look at this "corrective map" of the world: 

It is one of the fascinating maps from this great article at Everything is Amazing by Mike Snowden Why All Our Maps Are The Wrong Way Round Head-spinning lessons from rebellious cartography. 

Snowden concludes:

....Is it fair for any country to be geographically regarded as “the lowest of the low,” as Chile, Argentina and Australia are? How would a south-upwards map of the “bottom half” of the world change the way we treat each other and see ourselves?

Or we could just throw all caution to the wind, as Melbourne University student Stuart McArthur did, and turn the whole damn thing upside-down for good:

(This map [shown above] launched on Australia Day in 1979, has now sold over 350,000 copies.)

However you choose to see the world, never forget that it’s a choice. Maybe not exactly yours, for practical reasons, but certainly someone’s, at some point in time.

And if that’s true, what other elements of our “basic common sense” views of the world are up for grabs, if we choose to look at them a bit differently? It might be fun to find out.

At Bug Eyed and Shameless, Justin Ling writes So You've Become a Russian Asset I testify on the nature of Kremlin info-ops. Things get weird. He talks about some of the great gossipy history and recent revelations of Russian influence in media reporting, and concludes:

...In the same way that we ought to proactively disclose evidence of foreign influence operations here, we need to be careful not to make hasty and rash allegations based on insufficient evidence. In all cases, we should let the evidence to do the talking, or else we’ll wind up shadowboxing, growing more distrustful and paranoid. Then, we’ll be doing our adversaries’ work for them.

Yes, some instances of foreign meddling involve million-dollar payments and a clear paper trail. But lots of clandestine work falls into a gray zone.

At Scrimshaw Unscripted, Evan Scrimshaw writes US #ScrimshawSix, One Week Out On The Presidential Election And Other Races  He concludes:

...it is absolutely the case that Trump is a threat to democracy and is an absolute lunatic. We can’t become complacent or start failing to understand just how terrible he is. He is not just a run of the mill far right politician. He is a genuine threat to the Republic and lord knows he must not win. Please don’t fuck this up.

Finally, at Canadian History Ehx, in tribute to Halloween, historian Craig Baird is publishing articles about Canadian ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. Check out all his pieces including The Haunted Galt Museum, The Screaming Tunnel, The Coffin Surfing Ghost, and The Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes.

Carla came close

So NDP leader Carla Beck came close, but it doesn't look like she will be Saskatchewan's new premier:

Latest update from Saskatchewan election website
44.53% so far

270,000 advance
100,000 election day ? pic.twitter.com/a6mqROe2i7

— 🇨🇦🩸Jennifer vaxxed, masking (opt luvhkng cal) (@Iluvhikingjen) October 29, 2024

There are some very close seats, and the mail-in ballots still remain to be counted:

Elections SK issued 32K mail ballots. Returned ballots will be counted in the final count on November 9th. pic.twitter.com/O3GGTYmwqA

— Wilbur Turner 🇨🇦🌈 (@queergranddad) October 29, 2024

Sask Party's Greatest Screw-Up Hits!

I just saw this amazing thread from Regina Poster Boy about the Sask Party's parade of screw-ups and I had to share it tonight -- our Saskatchewan election is Monday!  Its very long, but I'll break it on Monday night when I post another tweet. The latest polls show Carla Beck and the NDP maybe winning a majority of the Sask seats, and this can't come too soon for me!

Today's News: Pre-emptive surrender from the gutless Washington Post and LA Times

Can't really describe how terrified I am about the US election -- I hope and pray that Harris can close the deal with the American people. 

Her rally last night in Houston was epic, as was the Kalamazoo rally today.

But talking earlier tonight with our son, we agreed how dark the situation is today compared to 2016. Then, people could say they didn't know what to expect with Trump, but now they know exactly what he will do, yet millions of Americans still want to vote for him.  

We are seeing both cowardice and courage in the United States now, and I just don't know whether the courage will be enough. 

Cowardice: 

The news that the billionaires who own the LA Times and the Washington Post are just too gutless to endorse Harris is discouraging -- can America demand more courage from its ordinary people than it is getting from its richest?

Billionaires spent all week making the best arguments I've ever seen for why they should be globally taxed out of existence.

— Patrick Spooky Tomlinson (@stealthygeek) October 25, 2024

Jeff Bezos being too afraid of Trump to allow the Post to endorse Kamala is probably a better argument for how dangerous Trump is than anything the Post's editorial board would've written.

— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) October 25, 2024

The billionaire class in America is making a very good case for its own demise. People, Americans in particular, don’t tend to begrudge someone for making a lot of money, especially if they did it making a product people find useful. But when they start buying elections, and… https://t.co/YhgtHh1hRg

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@acoyne) October 26, 2024

It turns out “democracy dies in darkness” was not a motto but a prophecy.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 25, 2024

Wrapping up the week with some great news for the Sask NDP and Carla Beck

Carla Beck may well be Saskatchewan's new premier, according to today's Mainstreet poll:

This is such great news:

Final Mainstreet poll predicts Sask NDP will win the popular vote in a close race to the finish. https://t.co/TKJNkMwQkg

— Sask Votes 🌾 🗳️ (@SaskVotes2024) October 26, 2024

I have been reading news snippets over the last week or so about how Carla Beck and the NDP are moving ahead of Scott Moe's tired old Saskatchewan Party but I couldn't really believe it. 

The Mainstreet poll highlighted above finally puts Beck ahead by more than the margin of error, from surveys completed two days ago.

Not only that, but hey...Carla Beck will make a great premier!