Saturday, August 26, 2023

This week in stupid: from Sask Ed policies, to Trump-fatigue, to Trudeau polls

What a stupid week it has been! 
First, Saskatchewan is following New Brunswick's lead and requiring teachers to deadname trans students. 
But this isn't an issue of "parent's rights". It's an issue of respect for students. 
Teachers know this. 
Our Scott Moe government apparently does not. Rallies are being organized against Sask Ed: Star Phoenix reporter Julia Peterson writes a very comprehensive article about the Saskatoon rally this weekend: "I think there's going to be an army there': Advocates to rally in Saskatoon against new Sask. education policies
...Fran Forsberg is one of the organizers of a rally set to take place Sunday afternoon at Saskatoon MLA Don Morgan’s office, where she and others will voice their opposition to the policies. 
When Forsberg heard about the new policies on Tuesday, she recalled a conversation she had with now-Education Minister Dustin Duncan about rights and dignity for transgender people in Saskatchewan more than six years ago. 
“He said to me that he was a 40-year-old from (Weyburn), so he didn’t really understand or know about all this,” she said. “And I said, in this day and age, where this information is so readily available, his kind of ignorance is not acceptable. 
 “Now, he’s had a lot of time to learn. And I’m older than him by 20 years. I learned about transgender people. I educated myself and I understand how important this issue is. What’s his excuse?” 
 Jolene Brown, who sits on the board of Prince Albert Pride, says these new policies are “harming more than helping, while pretending to help.” Prince Albert Pride is calling on the government to rescind Tuesday’s announcement. 
 “To me, this policy change is not positive,” said Brown. “It solves no existing problem. It just shackles teachers’ ability to help (and) all this is doing is removing resources. It’s putting a cage around teachers, and it’s putting a cage around kids, too. I just can’t imagine how a parent would want that.” 
 Forsberg says schools need to be a safe place for children to be themselves — whether or not they come from an accepting home. 
 “Being a foster parent, I’ve seen so many kids literally kicked out of their homes because of their sexual or gender diversity,” she said. “I’ve seen physical violence towards these children and youth.
“The government is saying this is for the safety and well-being of children and youth, but I think they’re just pandering to the far-right. It’s ridiculous, and it’s so backwards.” 
Brenda Montgrand, who works as a school counsellor at Hector Thiboutot Community School in the village of Sandy Bay, says that especially in remote, isolated communities like hers schools need to be safe havens for LGBTQ2S+ youth. 
 “They hang out in the school, even after classes in the evening,” she said. “If I was doing something in the evening — even showing a movie and having a talk about it afterwards — they’ll stay for that. Because a lot of them don’t want to go home. It’s not comfortable there, or they may not feel safe. So it’s nice to have them here, and we don’t mind being there for them.” 
Some of Montgrand’s gay, trans and two-spirit students have recently started a GSA. She says these students are “brave, and they want to do something,” and eager to learn more about their own identities and those of their friends. 
“We want to be able to talk openly amongst each other,” she said. “We all need to be able to look and talk more openly. But we need more, in that area, for them to learn about what it is to live a gay life and to be more comfortable. And if these kids are getting treated differently because they’re changing how they want to be called, that’s going to have an effect on them.” 
 Forsberg also worries about how the changes to sex education in schools will affect the rates of STIs and unplanned pregnancies in Saskatchewan, which are already much higher than the national average.
“When we know better, we do better,” she said. “This education can do nothing but help kids make the right decisions for them. I know of nobody who has ever been harmed by too much education; quite the contrary.” ...
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Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Words of Wisdom: Hamilton Nolan, Dale Smith, Evan Scrimshaw, Robert Reich, Oliver Willis. And Pogo.



I've read a number of great substack articles and tweet threads recently by Hamilton Nolan, Dale Smith, Evan Scrimshaw, Robert Reich, and Oliver Willis, among others (and Pogo, of course).
But first, I have to start with this great tweet thread by a tweeter calling herself Aurelia Cotta:
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Saturday, August 19, 2023

Weekend Funny Stuff

Starting here:I saw these on Bluesky:





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Friday, August 18, 2023

21st Century Fire: “...there is no top end.”


I don't think there is anything more terrifying than a wildfire. 
If Canadians are now beginning to grasp the magnitude and imminent danger of climate change, then it is this terrible Canadian fire season that has done it. 
Today's Canadian fire news is bad, and its getting worse -- Yellowknife evacuated, and the Okanagan Valley is on fire tonight: Journalist John Vaillant has a new book out - Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast - about the Fort McMurray fire in May 2016 and the Literary Review of Canada has published Bob Armstrong's review titled Alarm Bells. 
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Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Today's News: It's been a great month for political cartoons!

Well, the news has been so crazy lately there is only one way to make sense of it -- with political cartoons. Here's some:







Hey, do you know conservatives have no sense of humour? 
Just hum a few bars and I'll see if I recognize it!
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Monday, August 14, 2023

Today's News: Rescuing Maui Pets



I was going to do a post about Poilievre and his stumbles tonight, but then I saw posts about rescues of animals in Hawaii -- and they are so much more important right now. 
“I’m thankful for the people who made it out alive,” said Ms. Wong, who is also the chef and owner of the Koko Head Cafe in Honolulu, “but an entire town has burned down.” 
The Pioneer Inn was known for a parrot, Alex, who regaled guests. He made it out alive, Ms. Wong said, “but again, there are thousands of pets who didn’t.” 
Ms. Wong is now working out of the University of Hawaii’s Maui campus with World Central Kitchen, the global nonprofit organization founded by the chef José Andrés, as well as local business owners to prepare meals for evacuees.
The Maui Bird Conservation Center, a sanctuary for endangered bird spieces, was defended by a staffer and a neighbour until firefighters could get there. 
... The center houses about 40 ‘akikiki, a native songbird, and about 40 ‘alalā, also known as the Hawaiian crow. ‘Alalā are extinct in the wild, and only about five ‘akikiki are known to remain there. The only other members of these species live at the center’s sister facility on the Big Island. 
... As Ms. Pribble watched the fire in the distance, she felt reassured that it was in the forest, where a bed of thick pine needles seemed to be making it hard for the flames to spread. For a time, they actually reduced in size. 
But she grew increasingly worried as fire approached grasses closer to a road. 
If it crossed, she thought, the grasses on the 46 acre property would provide ample fuel. 
 ...“All of a sudden, basically, the fire jumped the road and it was on our property,” she said. 
 Ms. Pribble ran inside to get two fire extinguishers to douse the flames, but she worried it would happen again. She raced back in for more extinguishers and a garden hose. She texted the forest manager saying she needed assistance. “We just went out and kept it under control the best that we could, just so it didn’t cross back over the road, until the state firefighters could arrive.” 

Here's another post: Checking several of the posts at X (twitter) tonight, I see conspiracy theories by the dozen are already springing up all over the hashtags about the Maui fires. 
Sigh!
But if you are wondering how to help the real Hawaii, you can follow news updates at the Honolulu Star Advertiser, and at a new facebook page Maui Fires Pets Help Group set up by the Maui Humane Society.
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Saturday, August 12, 2023

Weekend stuff: Craig Baird history and Tevye stories and funny posts and animal crackers


Here's someone every Canadian should be following -- Canadian historian Craig Baird's X (twitter) feed (and the dogs in parliament AI photo above is from Craig's post here)
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Wednesday, August 09, 2023

Following up: Trudeau's funny posts, some pro-choice wins, and Online News act support

Here is Trudeau's follow-up to the Barbie post that drove Canada's right wing crazy (and Piers Morgan)
Ha ha!
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Monday, August 07, 2023

Ain't we havin' some fun now!

 
Seems like its been one of those crazy weeks, so I found some interesting comments to share.
First,Trump just cannot seem to shut up, and everyone is down for it: 
keep going, Donny.you’re about to find what it’s like to no longer be above the law. 
you’re going run your stupid mouth until you talk yourself into custody, and you’ll have no one to blame but your own reckless self. 
 Donald Trump has the right to remain silent. too bad he doesn’t have the ability. 
 pass the popcorn. this is going to be entertaining as fuck. 
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Thursday, August 03, 2023

It was one of those days

My keyboard driver died. Who knew such a thing could happen? 
So now I have an inexpensive keyboard plugged into my laptop and its working just fine. But trying to fix it before giving up was three hours of my life that I'll never get back. 
I intended to write a serious piece tonight - maybe about the heat dome destroying the southern US, or about Covid roaring back, or how startling it is to see Americans only now realize how close they came to losing their country on Jan 6 2021. 
Instead, I just assembled some of the funny stuff I have been collecting. Enjoy!

Speaking of three hours.... 
Enjoy these:
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Tuesday, August 01, 2023

Creating a three-ring circus?


Yesterday I read another media demand for the Trudeau government to undertake another "public inquiry" and I'm afraid this is getting to be too much. 
First, the drumbeat to investigate foreign interference - especially by China -- in Canadian elections has become so loud it drowned out Governor-General Johnson's May report. 
Next, there was the substack article Paul Wells published last week describing the extreme pressure to hold a public inquiry into Canada's COVID pandemic response -- even though the apparent source of this pressure (as The Globe and Mail also flagged today) was only a batch of articles in the British Medical Journal finding fault with our COVID policies in spite of our relatively higher vaccination rates and lower death rates.  
And finally, last night, I read about how we maybe will need to have a public inquiry into the sexual abuse of young athletes in Canadian sport organizations because too many of these organizations failed the children they were supposed to be training.
But I have my doubts that Canada is really going to set up three public inquiries at once

Looking at the recent history of public inquiries in Canada, there seems to be a range of justifications for them. Some -- like the Rouleau inquiry last winter into the Emergencies Act declaration in 2022 -- are required by legislation, so the government of the day doesn't have any latitude about terms of reference or scheduling. Others - like the Portapique Massacre inquiry in 2021 - seemed to be set up to hold authority to account for failing to protect people without actually finding fault.  And still others -- like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2009-2015 -- are a way to focus on complex issues and create public concensus for action.

All of these were useful exercises, I guess.  
But I'm not sure how useful it would be to create a three-ring circus right now. 
Because after the drumbeat to set up these inquiries, undoubtedly we would start hearing complaints from the Opposition parties and the media about how stupid they all are, and how the Trudeau govenment is just trying to deflect attention and delay action, and so on and so on.
Sigh.

So let's look at the rationales.  
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Saturday, July 29, 2023

Look up! Look way up!


Starting in the evening of July 30, until dawn July 31, may be the best chance to catch a glimpse of the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower, as long as the moon doesn't get in the way. This Smithsonian photo shows the Aquariids over Mount St. Helen's (photo by Diana Robinson Photography via Getty Images)
Carlyn Kranking at the Smithsonian magazine writes: 
Earth is currently traveling through multiple clouds of dusty comet debris, bringing a higher-than-usual amount of meteors to the night sky. When these fragments of rock and metal enter the atmosphere, the air around them heats up, creating a blazing glow visible from the ground. The Delta Aquariids coincide with a few other meteor showers, such as the famous Perseids, that promise to impress spectators for weeks to come. 
Also, the Perseids are starting now and peaking later in August, while the less impressive Alpha Capricornids are happening now as well.
If this kind of stuff interests you, you can sync your google calendar to the New York Times Space Calendar (gift link).
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Thursday, July 27, 2023

Keeping up with Canadian Security Stuff

One of the things that Twitter used to do -- though sometimes neither thoroughly nor well -- was to let everyone keep up with things in a general way. 
For example, we used to be able to scan relevant news and views about relevant issues, without needing to read a PhD-level 5,000-word articles. 
These days, we're on our own. 
One of Canada's recent topic areas is national security -- the main news recently has been about Chinese interference in elections, but we've also had news stories and leaks or whistleblowing about how our national security system is working. 
 And honestly, I have to admit, I just can't keep up with it. 
That's why I am so glad that I discovered Wesley Wark's National Security and Intellegence Newsletter. This month he has posted about a batch of issues that probably didn't make the news anywhere else: 
..."it comes down to the lack of a National Security (NS) culture in Canadian government, including around intelligence. Canadians just don’t take NS seriously, despite the dangerous security environment in which we find ourselves and all the events of the last two years (Afghanistan, Ukraine, the freedom convoy, foreign interference). Our major Allies seem to get it, but we don’t. Producing a strategy, creating a cabinet committee on NS, strengthening intelligence coordination at the centre, or being more transparent through public threat assessments and other similar measures, would put us on the same level as our allies. "...
The annual report from the National Security and intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians was tabled in Parliament on July 19. There was no one home to receive it. MPs and Senators are enjoying their summer recess and will not return to the Hill again until the end of September. A stealth release of this important committee’s report is in no one’s interest...
The RCMP have made some intriguing national security arrests recently. One involved terrorism offences. A second was based on charges laid under the Security of Information Act dealing with foreign interference. Both cases have unique features and are the product of long -run and, presumably, complex investigations. 
For anyone interested in the government’s handling of national security issues, the biggest news coming out of today’s Cabinet shuffle is the replacement of the much besieged Marco Mendicino as Public Safety Minister by Dominic LeBlanc. Next in line as big news is the move of Bill Blair from a minor Cabinet post (Emergency Preparedness) to Defence, replacing Anita Anand. Melanie Joly stays as Foreign Minister. This is the big three trio of Ministers with responsibilities for security and intelligence. 
As an addendum to news about the Cabinet shuffle, PMO is also announcing that the PM will create a National Security council-style Cabinet committee on national security and intelligence.
Here's a little more detail about the NSC:
Other newsletters which occasionally discuss Canadian security issues: 
Routine Proceedings by Dale Smith - parliamentary issues including security
Bug-eyed and Shameless by Justin Ling - includes coverage about far-right Convoy stuff
Phillips's Newsletter by Phillips P. O'Brien - particularly about NATO and the Ukraine War


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Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Opinion column roundup: From Trudeau to Barbenheimer to masculinity to climate change polling to the King of Spain

In spite of being late in July, there will be lots of news this week, particularly with the cabinet shuffle coming up. 
But I have also been learning some new stuff this week by reading some good columns - here's a selection:

First, even though Canadian pollsters keep producing convoluted stats about how Trudeau's government is past its best-before date, Trudeau just keeps on keeping on. At Scrimshaw Unscripted, Evan Scrimshaw writes about the Liberals' Lingering Longevity:
...Poilievre might have gone too early – that he might have been better off from the position of doing well while in the leadership had he waited a decade – is very real, because right now, he’s not ready. Allowing his candidate in Portage Lisgar to use a photo of Max Bernier at Pride as an attack, posing for a photo with the Straight Pride Guy, going to the East Coast to talk about gun rights the weekend before a suburban byelection, accusing Justin Trudeau of conspiring with China to commit treason … at some point we have to face the reality of his fundamental unseriousness.
[The Trudeau government] isn’t an unambiguously good government that is guaranteed a win on its merits, but that doesn’t matter if the opposition’s shit. Election are choices, not referendums, and Poilievre ... makes the electorate’s choice for them. ...
At the end of the day, the Liberals are where they’ve often been in this country’s history – in office, and likely about to stay there, not on the merits of their term but because the Opposition has not hit the threshold at which this country overcomes its inertia against toppling Liberal governments. Unless we see a lot of people taking their chance to leave soon – and we won’t – then the idea that this Liberal government is dying should make its way to a graveyard, and usher in a proper understanding of reality. 
Moving on, over at The Present Age, Parker Molloy writes 'Barbenheimer' Takes On the Online Rage Machine and Wins:
It’s been interesting to watch as the same outrage merchants who led the unhinged attacks on Target and Bud Light for the *gasp* scandalous decision to… hire a trans woman (BL) and sell some super generic Pride merch, have struggled to land hits on Barbenheimer....
Watching as professional crybabies like Ben Shapiro tried to get people to boycott “Barbie” because one of the actresses in the film (Hari Nef, who played Doctor Barbie) is trans, and seeing that has absolutely no effect on the film’s success demonstrates that the Bud Light and Target controversies and capitulations only became big deals because Bud Light and Target responded to the outrage as though it were genuine. It was not.
Had Bud Light and Target told the outraged weirdos to pound sand, they’d have avoided the mess, but in the rush to appease the far right, they handed Shapiro and the rest of his Daily Wire goons wins they thought they could use to reshape culture around their own bigoted and exclusionary beliefs. ...
Anyway, I hope that businesses around the country (and world, for that matter) realize that if you ignore these far-right goons or tell them to screw off, members of the Daily Wire’s hate machine will be the ones who come away looking foolish, as Shapiro has in his post-viewing tantrums.
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Saturday, July 22, 2023

Today's News: Grievances on parade


In a post about Poilieve's Shack of Seclusion, Evan Scrimshaw writes about why some people seem to absolutely HATE! Trudeau:
...It’s a movement of people who have been radicalized for various reasons – the importation of American culture wars, the general fact that the right has been losing the war for hearts and mind in recent decades, and COVID, which was a deeply traumatic event for a lot of people. We’ve never reckoned with the damage done, and even if you think draconian measures were required, there was a price for it. And it’s a movement that Poilievre has gone to great lengths to endure himself to.
It's an angry movement because for a lot of people, the world makes less sense now than it ever has before....
Poilievre has positioned himself as the leader of this movement, a movement that has overinflated the responsibility that the Prime Minister has on this country and therefore has pinned all their grievances, real or imagined, on him. It’s a movement that’s diffuse on specific grievances but united on their contempt for the one man...
More of that grievance was on display when Trudeau made a brief stop in Belleville, Ontario this week:
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