Sister Sage's Musings

Archive for the ‘Special events’ Category

How Conveeenient!!  Dana Carvey’s the Churchlady would say on Saturday Night Live in the 80s & early 90s.  As puritanical as the Church lady was, one has to wonder if  she would have been as nutty as Pastor Terrence Jones of Gainesville, Florida is.  He’s the wingnut who plans to commemorate 9/11 in a whole new way–by burning the Quran.  Ain’t that special? I see that  the Evangelicals of America still haven’t given up the traditions of good ol’ fashioned book burnings of literature that just doesn’t suit their puritanical maintenance of ignorance and in many cases, white supremacy.

General Petreaus  has already come out against this event, citing that this would endanger the lives of  the troops fighting in Afghanistan.

But with about 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans “is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems — not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.”

And one of his deputies, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, told CNN’s “The Situation Room” that the event “has already stirred up a lot of discussion and concern” among Afghans.

“We very much feel that this can jeopardize the safety of our men and women that are serving over here in the country,” said Caldwell, the head of NATO efforts to train Afghan security forces.

Caldwell said American troops “are over here to defend the rights of American citizens, and we’re not debating the First Amendment rights that people have.” But he added, “What I will tell you is that their very actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of the young men and women who are serving in uniform over here and also undermine the very mission that we’re trying to accomplish.”

Of course, much of the right wingnut faction, including, of course, Kathy Shaidle, and this fool who really shouldn’t be loose in society,  much like Stevie Spiteful, show how they stop supporting the troops when it’s no longer conveeenient for them to do so. In fact, the latter has his own way of directing General Petraeus:

Petraeus would do better to tell the Afghans that in America we have freedom of speech and expression, and that we put up with speech and expression that we dislike without trying to kill the speaker. He would do better to tell them that their likely murderous rage over this event is an outrageous overreaction, and that any bloodshed over this would be a heinous crime, far dwarfing any crime they think the people in Florida are committing.

Oh yeah! Better still, Robert of “Jihad Watch”, since you claim to know more about how to run a war and conduct NATO troops in this effort, how’s you enlist and fly down to Afghanistan and you just go and tell the good general how it’s done? Even better still, how’s about you tell the Taliban and whomever else you perceive to be the “enemy” what you just said above and everything else in that blog of your’s and let’s see exactly how well that would go over?

Our dear self-designated Jihad vigilante doesn’t quit while he’s behind:

Petraeus should be defending the Florida church’s right to do as they please, and using it as a teaching moment in Afghanistan to say, We are going to defend our vision of society, no matter what you bring against us.

More like impose your vision of society, it would seem. Ok, then, we’ll see if his “subjects” would be fast learners here.  Say they adapt DeBeauxOs of Dammit Janet’s massively excellent idea and they burn bibles. I would also add that they should burn Torahs.  I wonder how our Jihad vigilante, Robert would feel about that? After all, it’s what your vision of society that you’re imposing on others is all about, right? Burning books you just don’t like?

As for Jesus Christ, well, he has been twisted around to suit the new right, hasn’t he? I mean, let’s face it, he’s just been too damned liberal with his healing the sick, helping the poor and teaching about love and peace toward our fellow man.  It is why Andy Schlafly is rewriting the bible, isn’t he?

And now, Pastor Jones  has told ABC News in a special interview that

If Jesus Christ were here today, he would support burning the Quran.

I guess Jesus Christ doesn’t support the troops neither, or at the very least, shouldn’t, if he were still among us (I’m aware that many of my readers are non-believers and when I do blog about Jesus, I’m not imposing my views on anyone).

I wonder how Robert, the Jihadist vigilante feels about the 9/11 first responders having had their health care funding cut by 77%  and, in December of 2007, when Dubya cancelled a health monitoring and treatment program for Ground Zero workers?  Does Pastor Jones think Jesus Christ would have supported that in his psychotic mind? I wonder why Pastor Jones doesn’t commemorate 9/11 in a more constructive fashion like raising money through his church to help these victims and their families? Oh yeah! That would be evul soshalism, now wouldn’t it?

In the wonderful delusional world according to the evangelical far right cult and their flock like Pastor Jones and Andy Schlafly as well bungling fools like the socon element here in Canada, Jesus Christ is whomever they would like him to be; whatever suits their whims.  I wonder if Pastor Jones and his ilk even knows how to read; let alone read the bible. After all, actually sitting down and taking the time to read it before Schlafly and his Conservapedia friends butcher it beyond recognition, would just be inconveeeenient.

Well, the Reseau Liberte Quebecois, aka The Tea-bagger hit parade, the Quebecois edition, as I’ve mentioned, is having their launching luncheon at Hotel des Gouverneurs Ste-Foye in Quebec City come October 23.  For those who haven’t caught the details of this extravaganza, details here.

Now, if I were catering the event. I think the most fitting meal that can be served would be….

Feeling green around the gills yet?

That meat, green; moldy and oldy just like Steve’s and those tea-baggers’ politics and ideologies. That oughta war their hearts (if they had any) and stick to their ribs.

Only fitting a meal, naturally. For the extra 10$ the meat won’t be as green, perhaps.

The pork is, of course, cured at the same butcher shop as  Steve’s meat baloney.

Whew! After creating that monstrosity and having seen the package of Steve’s baloney over at Pale’s, am I glad I don’t eat red meat! Yeah, I know, pork is considered white meat. It crawls on four legs, it’s gross; I don’t eat that neither.

What is is it with white conservative losers when they don’t get their way invoking Martin Luther King? We, in Canada, saw it not long ago with the bimbo, Sa-wah Palin look-a-like, Sarah Landriault when she discovered she couldn’t jump to the top of the employment ladder with no marketable skills, certificates, education or experience. That was nothing short of dispicable.

Then, we saw not only Glenn Beck and Sa-wah Palin, herself, scheduling their wingnutty hate festivities on the anniversary of Dr. King’s march for civil rights in the US, but actually invoke him to push their all white, Christian, intolerant, far right agenda. Man, Dr. King must be turning over in his grave about now. As Boris over at The Galloping Beaver describes this ironic message of Palin (and Beck’s):

It doesn’t need to be said that Palin’s “restoration” would seek a return the America that squeezed the trigger on MLK.

Disturbing doesn’t even begin to describe the theme of “Restoration of Honor”.  What I don’t get is why Alveda King would’ve even entertained the idea of speaking at Beck and Palin’s hate festivities. She must be the relative they don’t talk about.

However, unlike the 9/12 festivities of last year, I don’t think this tea-party had the energy. In fact, it’s to the point where I wonder if the tea-bagging movement is becoming a passing fad.

As yet another Glenn Beck extravaganza drew nearer, this time with Sa-wah Palin, I was looking forward to checking out the colourful misspelled signs of all shapes and sizes with such hateful, yet such stupid slogans as to be somewhat amusing. Call it morbid curiosity, much like the way many will stop to watch the aftermath of a car crash or train wreck.  I would learn that Glenn Beck had banned signs for the occasion, but that didn’t seem to stop a few from doing just that. Check out the link: a great diary with some amusing slogans.

I was checking the Twitter feed and the American blogs as well as some online media pages for some mishap or misstep, but, again, not much. Checked out Sa-wah Palin’s speech; but turned it off as I felt a migraine coming on. Honestly, she just has one of those voices that can feel like she’s drilling nails in your head.  She was just boring this time. Stupid can be funny, but Sa-wah has ceased being funny since comparing herself to William Shakespeare last month.

For me, to summarize the Glenn Beck / Sa-wah Palin extravaganza; boring! One big snore! And I don’t seem to be alone, neither. So much for all of Beck’s predictions of this extravaganza being the “turning point” and  “defibrillator on the heart of America”. I suggest you click that link and read Glenn’s predictions on how “miraculous” this event would be: I think that’s the most entertaining part of it: it all just went to snoozeville from there. Much of the audience looked like they could use a jolt of that defibrillator. So boring!

Other than the fact that Glenn Beck was wearing a kevlar vest under his shirt, his speech at first didn’t seem to offer anything of entertainment value and the audience was quite subdued. Then I read Jymn’s piece last night, where he observed Beck changing directions; one toward the more evangelical. I listened to the speech again and I have to say that Jymn is probably on to something.

He has turned his evil upside down so that it looks smiley face Stepford wive-ish. He has presented his rally as an open book (mostly the bible) for all people to join. The only stipulation it would seem is that you are all very, very religious, preferably Christian. He asked attendees to leave their signs at home (like true Beckbots, most did – great response from NAACP: “Dr. King never had to ask his followers to leave hateful signs and guns at home”.)

Beck made pains too to make the rally about the troops, of course. All immaculately planned and organized, Beck’s rally positions the tea party and the radical right to further their goals in turning the US into a theocracy.

Well, if as Jymn suggests, Beck is going from pathetic pundit to Revvin’ Reverend, I don’t think even that will succeed for too long. Hell, his message might have sounded outrageous and hateful, but he didn’t say anything different than what other American televangelists over the years have been spewing. He offered nothing original.  He bawled his eyes out, as usual. Big Deal. He has always done that.And by the by, the secret to Beck’s crocodile tears, apparently, is Vicks Vapo Rub. Take a look a the video here, if you dare, you will see that even his eyes and nose are starting to develop a tolerance toward the strong smelling cold remedy.

I remembered growing up, on Sunday mornings, before the days of satellite and digital cable; the days when we could access but a handful of channels and Sunday tv was pretty dismal, my partents would tune into American Televangelists like Popoff and Ernest Angley for the entertainment of it. We used to laugh at how these people would miraculously ‘rise from their wheelchairs’ or their ”cancer and diabetes and blindness was mysteriously cured’. We would chuckle at how these buffoons would hit people on the forehead, as it was suppposed to be a ‘touch from God or Jesus’ and they would all drop and faint on cue. Couldn’t Glenn Beck at least have done that? Would have made it more entertaining.

The point I’m trying to make here is that while there will always be an audience for evangelism and the preaching to bring America back to “fundamentalist values”, I think Beck may well have shrunk his own audience.

This brings me to my next point. After watching this non-event; Sa-wah playing the mom of a vet which was nothing more than her parading her kids into the spotlight, as she usually does, and Beck turning into Reverend Beck and sucking badly at it, the seemingly much lower than projected turnouts, I have to wonder if the American tea-bagger hit parade is becoming a passing fad?

There will always be that fringe Christian Evangelical far right element who will always attempt to push their agenda on everyone else and in American politics. There will always be tea-baggers whining that same refrain of “less taxes-smaller government”, grossly misusing words like ‘socialism’. They’re never going to go away completely and yes, they will more than likely make a splashy come back as they did when President Obama was about to introduce health care reform, but for now, I think they’re just a tired, pathetic movement.  As this Daily Kos blogger, who was at the ‘restoring dishonor’ festivities  put it:

In giving credit where it is due, they were mostly well-behaved and teh crazy was at a minimum.  They may like to speak of “revolution” and “replenishing the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants and patriots,” from the safety and comfort of their dial-up internet, but I don’t see that happening.

I would say that would sum it up best. I think the numbers have dwindled. Perhaps because they are tired of being shown to look like idiots when they can’t answer even the simplest of questions when asked by reporters as we’ve seen on YouTube at various Tea-bagger events in the past.  Maybe  they’ve (with the exception of those usual wingnuts where hope springs eternal and will die trying; those must be kept an eye on; very dangerous people)  even discovered that they can never move back to ‘restoration’ or ‘fundamentalism’ or ‘Christian reconstructionism’.

This time last year, Sa-wah and the newly self-proclaimed Reverend Beck along with bloated bleached buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Bachman, were all brainwashing an already paranoid, uneducated American population with the impending end of the world if President Obama passed health care reform.  That was the main catalyst (certainly one of the tops) for the surgence of the tea-bagger hit parade.   Now, Obamacare, such as it is, has passed and I think most, no matter how against health care reform they may have been and still may be, they have seen that the sky hasn’t fallen down.

Sure, many Rethuglicans are planning to repeal the reform following the 2010 elections, but first, this motley assortment of misfits the tea-baggers have voted through various primaries have to get elected.   With the exception of the bible belt and states like perhaps Kentucky, I can’t see too many of them getting elected.  If anything, the tea-baggers are victims of their own success…or failures, depending which way you look at it.

I expect that mainstream Americans rude awakening is already happening, as they begin to see exactly what the shrieking of “smaller government and less taxes” brings them–paved, unlit streets in their cities and towns, as well as a rapidly deteriorating public education system.

I suspect that many Americans, after extended periods of unemployment and no prospects of future employment despite all efforts to find work, are now seeing that that whole “Anybody can achieve the ‘American Dream’ of prosperity if they simply worked hard and didn’t rely on their government” is nothing more than bull-shit propoganda.

Again,  while Beck transforms from potent pundit to roarin’ reverend representing the evangelical Christian far right sub-culture, while worrisome and never to be underestimated; I would also take this as a sign that  the weepy Glenn Beck may well be on his way to becoming a has been, as mentioned above, the Vicks Vapo rub ain’t even working anymore. I noticed that in Sa-wah as well during what little of her speech I heard; don’t know about you, but I got the feeling that she was straining to stay relevent. She talks about being the parent of an Iraq war vet. Big deal, so are thousands of people in America today. Many of whom have lost their children in these senseless wars, yet we don’t hear most of them shrieking her stupidities. They’re too busy trying to somehow pick up the pieces of their lives.  She offered nothing new. Not even any fun stuff like cheat notes smeared all over that white suit jacket!

The blogger from Daily Kos concludes this:

Put simply, this is a crowd of mostly older, white-folks-in-lawn-chairs™ who fear change, even if for the benefit of themselves, their families, and the country at large.  They are the heels in the sand of progress and like it or not, we progressives will drag them forward, kicking and screaming, to a better day, as we have always done.

I wish them all the luck in the world with this endeavor.   Lord knows they’ll need it.

Go read Apost8′s diary at Daily Kos, many fun pics and a poll over there.

Sidenote: Good to see that there was another group led by Reverend Al Sharpton, who not only continued to honor Martin Luther King’s memory and reminded the next generation of what he did and how they must continue his fight for civil rights and equality for all, but also   didn’t  allow Beck’s and Sa-wah’s  desecration  and perversion of  Dr. Martin Luther King’s memory. Turns out, both events simultaneously happened with little incident, other than the usual taunting between the two groups. Little skirmishes like:

“One woman from the Beck rally shouted to the Sharpton marchers, “Go to church. Restore America with peace.” Some civil rights marchers chanted “don’t drink the tea” to people leaving Beck’s rally.

Sharpton basically appealed to his group to take the high road; to not take their bate.

“The folks who used to criticize us for marching are trying to have a march themselves,” he said. He urged his group to be peaceful and not confrontational. “If people start heckling, smile at them,” Sharpton said.

After reading the above quote as well as the rest of that passage in the Huffington Post story, I got the feeling that Sharpton as well as the other civil rights’ marchers,  may almost (“almost” being the key word here) feel sorry for Beck and the tea-baggers.  I could be wrong, but that’s my impression, thus further giving me the idea that the tea-bagger hit parade in the US may well have hit its’ peak and is dwindling, that is, until their next crisis, whatever that may be.

Now for something entertaining. No, no painful videos of either Glenn Beck or Sa-wah Palin. How about a little segment of Psycho Talk with Ed Schultz , demonstrating how both Sa-wah and Beck have a combined IQ in the single digits.

Well, I remember how the Blogging SupposiTories were mercilessly chiding Iggy for getting down and boogying in front of the Much Music building during the Liberal Bus tour.

Now, Stevie Spiteful does it in the Arctic; some native dance. Betcha Hunter, Sandra Dee Crux and the rest of those  Shrieking cheerleaders known as the ‘ladies’ of the Blogging SupposiTories are going to fawn, faint and perhaps cream their panties over their Steve is oh so dreamy over the following video:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/video/stephen-harper-dances/article1685888/

Sorry, couldn’t find a copy on YouTube. Just click the link above. You know ya wanna!

Perhaps this is his way of scaring those evil Russians from flying near our air space?  Yes, must fend off those evul commie spirits now!

I’m taking a break from politics. At least, for the time it takes to complete this post anyway.  I could easily (and probably will) go to Twitter afterwards and catch a newsbreaking story or better yet, drop by the Blogging SupposiTories and see who would deserve a good verbal bitch slapping from your’s truly. You get the idea.

A co-worker of mine retired as of 15;30 this afternoon. A woman who worked for the agency for over 30 years as an adminstrative assistant in various departments. Someone loved by all. She was the worker who could handle the most difficult of co-workers with ease while the rest of us would just clench our teeth to keep from using some rather choice words. Dear readers who have been following me, you can only imagine what I could be holding back under certain circumstances.

She knew how everything worked, had the magic touch with photocopiers and mailing machines that I constantly fought losing battles with. She knew where everything was and knew where the bodies were buried so to speak.  She was the go to person. The kind you wanted on your team. Efficient, professional and did it all with class.

Part of my routine every morning  was to meet in her office (I started later) & we would shoot the shit. I can’t really talk politics with my husband, because he hates it.  Many of my other co-workers, as well as other friends and aquaintances  literally cringe; they look like they want to run for cover someplace; to crawl under furniture.  She is also left of center; maybe even further to the left than I am.  She also spoke proudly of her family; sons and grandkids. Yes, she would reminisce about the good ol’ days, but not that sick way ol’ PM Stevie spiteful and the Harpercons long for that ‘wholesome’ “Father Knows Best” or “Petticoat Junction” crap. I’m goin’ to have to find someone to discuss progressive politics with.

She was also there for me when I was struggling all those months coming into work with those migraines and other health issues; much absenteism during that time. She listened while I expressed frustration with the two neurologists I had consulted with or the prescriptions either not working or had terrible side-effects. She always looked out for me. It’s not often a co-worker will look out for you like that.

She tried to encourage me when I was smoke free. Yes, unfortunately, kids, I fell off the wagon over three weeks ago.  But, please! Don’t chastise me in my comments section and no scolding emails! I will probably end up quitting again, like when the deep cold winter rolls along again as it always does. But honestly, I feel much more like myself again.

Oh, the neuro put me on new migraine preventative meds, they’re working like a charm! I’ve been migraine free for over a month now!   I digress…

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, I will miss those morning gab sessions most, I think. It will most definitely be weird that she’s not there anymore.

It’s a new beginning in her life; retirement. She worked hard for many years and now she gets to enjoy the fruits of those labours. A new journey in life.

I have seen other co-workers retire. Amazing the projects some of them take on.  travel, piano lessons, book clubs, oil painting, full time photography, gyms;  I even spoke to one who has taken up tap dancing lessons. I don’t know if he’ll be the next Gregory Hynes, but I say if he’s fit, why the hell not? More power to ‘em.  As for the lady who left today, I think she’s going to take it easy for awhile. Why not? She’s earned it.

All the best and Happy Trails wherever you are! Now that you have the time, I hope you start following my blog.

Speaking of new beginnings; I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate two other co-workers (they know who they are) who are currently on maternity leave. Both had their babies in the past two weeks. Both are first children for them. I wish them nothing but the best as they embark on their new adventures as mommies.  One had a girl and the other had a boy just a few days ago. I hear both of the moms and the babies are healthy and happy.  All the best, ladies to you and your families!

Now, will I or won’t I go back to politics in 5 minutes? Hmmm

Thirty-one year old Dave Vasey was the only one charged under the controversial (ya think?)  Public Works Protection Act  (ya know; that one McGuinty was so sneaky about and the one Chief Blair decided to get creative, fast and loose with? Don’t forget that, kids)  while he was checking out the perimeter on June 24. He claimed he had no knowledge of the law. Given how underhanded the premier handled the whole thing, I see no reason to believe otherwise. He was arrested and held at the East street hell-hole for over 5 hours. He was subsequently released with a promise to appear in court last Wednesday.

Well, now, imagine his surprise when Mr Vasey appeared at the courthouse only to find that  the charges have somehow, magically, disappeared! Poof! Gone! Like they never existed!

“They didn’t have any record of it, either on paper or in the computer system,” Vasey said. “The justice of the peace herself looked and said, ‘This is highly unusual.’ ”

No shit, Shirlock!

I’m sure papers and documents get lost everyday at the courthouse like anywhere else. That’s why multiple copies and assortment of documents exist. However, not in this case it would appear.  Puzzling, ain’t it?

According to Vasey’s lawyer, Howard Morton, they still have five months to charge his client if they want to. Plus, he has no idea how his charge disappeared.

“There are only two possibilities. The first is there never was a charge,” he said. “The only other possibility I can think of is that the government simply didn’t want any further embarrassment over this regulation that was passed in secret and simply decided not to pursue it.

“If that’s the case, then they were just hoping the issue would go away.”

I wonder how vindictive the cops and/or the government will feel about charging Vasey? The cops appear to be attributing this to simply an administrative error.   Weirder and weirder. All his paperwork got lost? Fingerprints, mugshots (more than one photo is taken), all kinds of forms and documents, other forms regarding personal property. Vasey was arrested on June 24, on the Thursday, before the G8 henchmen even hit the real Muskoka.  I imagine that arrests would have been much fewer and far between and they would have had time, & it certainly would have been relatively quiet enough  to complete all arrestation procedures. What gives?

One would think Vasey, his lawyer as well as others who were disgusted at what happened at the G20 would just find the humour in this or rejoice.  And I’m sure most in Vasey’s shoes would be relieved that it was all over in a relatively painless way. Many have families and jobs to worry about, understandably. However, it all does seem suspicious. Particularly if the police are simply claiming “oops!” on the part of bureaucrats for the evaporation of any evidence of any charges of Vasey.  It also removes another reason for any inquiry or challenge to what the police or the government did.  Vasey and Morton are actually disappointed that the charges disappeared:

For Morton, his client has been the “ghost son of a ghost regulation.” Vasey said he is actually disappointed to see his charges disappear because he was looking forward to challenging the law in court.

Since Vasey was the only one charged under the Public Works Protection Act, don’t count on his charges coming back to haunt him in five months time. I don’t believe it was any administrative snafu for reasons I mentioned above.  I’m glad he could perhaps get on with his life, but on the other hand,  perhaps he, like so many others, will always be having more unanswered questions.

If he had gotten his day in court, maybe we would learn what was under more rocks the government, both provincial and federal, as well as the Toronto police don’t want the rest of us to see.

I find it chilling that not only many seem to be ok with unaccountable government, so long as it is the Harpercons that are leading it, but they’re ok with unaccountable police. Chilling, because that is how police states get started.  So yeah, I think I can undertand Vasey’s disappointment.  He may enjoy his freedom–for now. But if Steve gets his coveted majority or if nothing is done about what happened at the G20, which looks likely as Censusgate takes over the airwaves,  Vasey, like every other Canadian, will surely lose all kinds of freedoms.

Read more here.

Here is the latest sunshine the Kory clan had to pump today:

No sooner was the sanitizer flying off the shelf than we received a harsh letter from Liberal MP David McGuinty — brother of Ontario’s Pinocchio Premier — taking us to task for the tone of our critique.

“Maybe your newspaper(s) should give Ignatieff’s bus tour a chance instead of writing it off before it starts,” wrote McGuinty. “What’s required is a little less anger and a lot more journalism.”

Really? For here’s McGuinty’s assessment of the raison d’etre of Ignatieff’s mid-summer’s dream.

“Where the Conservatives want to build more prisons,” wrote McGuinty, “Liberals want to help more kids go to college.

“Where the current government wants to add another $6 billion in corporate tax cuts to their record $54-billion deficit, a future Liberal government wants to reduce the deficit and help caregivers care for loved ones at home.”

Quick, someone on the bus pass us their Gravol.

McGuinty can mix apples and oranges all he wants — prisons and schools, like corporate tax cuts and home care, do not belong in the same sentence — but don’t try to pass this nonsense off as if Ignatieff has answers.

Schools and home care. I thought that crowd was always criticising the Liberals of having no ideas.  Now they present some and they still get chastised. But things like schools and home care; things that real Canadians like Jane and Joe Six pack can really get behind, probably much more so than prisons and corporate tax cuts,  just ain’t what the Kory clan think is sexy enough for average Canadians (Translation: Prisons and corporate tax cuts are better for Joe and Jane six pack in Master Steve’s world than schools and home care).  Hell, who needs a long census form when we have Kory and Sun Media and not to mention, of course, the rest of the Harpercon cheerleaders doing our thinking for us?

He’s making it up on the fly. There’s no substance.

This six-week dupe show is all about Ignatieff’s image being in the tank, and the Liberal Party plummeting in the polls.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Ask any journalist on the bus.

This glowing optimist doesn’t even sign his/her masterpiece.

Rob Silver over at the Grope & Fail  actually picks out Brian Lilley’s name (whether it was really at random or not is irrelevent here; what’s more relevent is that Mr  Congeniality who wrote that drivel obviously doesn’t communicate with his own colleagues as Silver so astutely points out).

Here’s a quip from the new darling of  the Kory clan, himself:

“If the crowds and the stump speeches on the rest of this tour turn out as well as Monday’s, the Conservatives may want to start checking over their shoulder.”

As many of my readers know, I actually did show up at the Town Hall in Papineau when Iggy came with Justin Trudeau. You can read about my positive experience here.

It is because of this experience I tend to look at those who continue to view Iggy as the arrogant, condescending  professor who is disconnected from real Canadians;  and the even more shallow still who seem to think he’s just too ugly to be PM, as extremely judgemental.  It is also quite laughable. They would also be quite disappointed if they ever got the chance to meet him in person or at the very least, get the opportunity to share common space with him; to watch and listen to him in person.  He is actually a very engaging, personable and approachable man. You look at him in person when he speaks, one can tell he is well intended.  As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, he answered many questions as time constraints allowed for,  clearly and fluidly without stumbling.  He never missed a step.

People have been accusing Iggy of not being able to connect to real Canadians. Well, he is attempting to do that now on that bus tour. Now he gets chided by the Harpercon cheerleaders for attempting to do so. Is it because he may well be succeeding and they just don’t want him to?  Which is it?

Friends and family in other parts of Canada who have had the chance to see Iggy during his bus tour have told me the same thing about him and the mood of the people who showed up. Commenter, Penlan had a chance to see Iggy in her riding yesterday; catch her remarks here. and they were similar to mine as well as everybody else I’ve been hearing from.

We’ll see how this translate into polling numbers.

I also have heard many outside of Quebec, as well as inside speak quite highly of Gilles Duceppe. That he has the most integrity out of the leaders. That may well be true, and maybe not. Yes, he will do what is best for Quebec and you would get no argument from me. But if one really thought  outside the box, they would also see that he plays games with both the Liberals and the Harpercons and knows how to further pit them against each other as if they needed help with that in the first place. Not trying to nit pick, I’m just sayin’ that things aren’t always as they seem.

I have met Gilles Duceppe awhile back at another event and he is the least approachable man one could come across. He could barely utter the word “bonjour” if  he passed you.  A very anti-social man. One can have off days, but I was told by a few friends who had met him in the past that that is his natural demeanor.

In all fairness, I have never met Steve, but his policies and his actions do speak louder than words, thus proving he has ice water running through his veins; that he is a very cold hearted man.

In addition, Deborah Grey, who was his boss and did work closely with him said  a long time ago what we pretty much already know today:

“People skills? He was more fond of policy. Constituency work seemed like a grind for him.”
- Long-time Reform and Alliance MP Deborah Grey on Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

But before anyone calls me a hypocrite, if  Steve were to come to Montreal to an event that wasn’t members only or 500$ rubber chicken dinner, but an actual  event like a town hall, yes, I would make a point of going, not only to see for myself what makes him tick, but to attempt to ask him some very difficult questions.

Oh and Frmgrl, you shrieking shrew prude you;  average middle class men don’t earn 6 figure salaries  and do you call buying fighter jets and turning major urban centers into police states  relating to average Canadians?  Deborah Grey above ended your little argument there.

It goes without saying that I would also grab the opportunity to meet Jack and Dizzy Miss Lizzy.

The lesson, here folks, don’t believe everything the media and the pundits tell you. If your MPs and the Leaders of any of the parties show up in your town holding public events, make the time to go to them and meet them for yourself. At the very least, watch & listen to them in person. It’s a whole other perspective than watching them on the big TV screen or listening to them on talk radio; much less so reading about them.

And yes, from the questions Iggy and his MPs have been answering on the tour and in the speeches; there are ideas and policies. One just has to stop reading things like Sun Media and start listening to Iggy and team Liberal themselves.

Something tells me Steve is getting nervous though, regarding the census long form and perhaps even the positive response Iggy is getting with his bus tour; the attacks have resumed yet again; new ones.  I only hope Iggy can avoid falling in Steve’s trap for the rest of the tour.

Yes, your’s truly played hooky from work today to attend. Well, no, I actually got permission from my supervisor to get the day off, but you get the idea. It’s nice to take a day off for a reason other than one of my migraines or a medical appointment, actually. I was kind of thinking and dreading a low turn out, but actually, the venue was too small! Many last minute stragglers.

To say the least, my arrival was dramatic. I was talking to my husband on the cell and all of a sudden, I tripped on a crack of the sidewalk a few feet behind where the Liberal tour bus was parked. I hurt both  my feet and one of my knees and I stubbed my toe on a sewer grate as well as broke a flip-flop. Let’s just say that my language was colourful as it usually is in these situations. Two of the volunteers or officials came rushing to my aid as I was in too much pain to get up on my own. Oddly enough, my cell phone survived. The officials were very helpful, I appologized for the language I used and they were perfectly understanding.  The TVA camera truck was just behind me and if anyone catches a fat chick in a black t-shirt and black sun hat  taking a  fall with her cell phone flying, it’s your humble scribe.

I went inside the restaurant and some people had to squeeze a place in for me.  The place was packed! The restaurant became standing room only! Hell crossing the room to go to the bathroom was an adventure that took 20 minutes. The media with their cameramen and other aids came in and the aids and volunteers for the Liberal party as well as Justin Trudeau’s secretary came in first and worked the room for about 20 minutes before the men of the hour walked in to a standing ovation. People grabbing them, literally! Hugging and kissing them! I can’t help but wonder if Iggy would have had as much of a warm reception without Justin though.  I swear, everybody in that room loved him; they hugged and kissed him. A very approachable, friendly man.

I couldn’t help but get a good laugh though. I thought Iggy would have been done with the plaid shirts after the Calgary stampede. I guess he now has a penchant for them.  Who knew? I also found out that he likes black sun hats after I bumped into him when I tried to cross the room.

I think Iggy is getting the hang of speaking to crowds though. He’s  losing the university professor persona and is less condescending. He certainly had the crowd’s attention and had a positive response. Although, one can tell that he does have difficulty with French although he gives it a valiant effort.  In the western part of Papineau where it’s mainly immigrants from Greece, India, Pakistan, Bengladesh, and other such places, the second language is mainly English. I don’t think too many people noticed, except for perhaps the French media, but I think they know that already. If Iggy is to gain traction in Quebec and try to steal votes from the Bloc Quebecois, he will need much help from French speaking star candidates in Quebec. There were no anti-Iggy conbot trolls in that room though. I was kind of expecting them.

Iggy did mention that centrist alternative; the big red tent. Ooh a damned if you do; damned if you don’t situation. Trying to please everybody. Hmmm. However, with the majority center being shifted rightward, thanks largely in part by media outlets like talk radio and CTV,  and his polling numbers going down at the gain of the Harpercons and not the NDP, nor the Greens, nor the Bloc,  I don’t see where he has a choice. Plus, between the volunteers, candidates, staffers and of course, MPs there is quite an assortment. I can provide two examples.

A young man, Matthew, who is a volunteer for team Justin, one of the officials who helped me after my fall, took a few minutes to talk to me.  I got the feeling he leaned a little to the right. He is for a stronger military in Canada and more fiscal conservatism.  I wanted to ask a question I didn’t get a chance to ask during the question period, but couldn’t because Justin was finally having his lunch.  A very nice young man, but I don’t think he would have much of a stomach for my blog.

I also met an aquaintance from the planning committee from CAPP (Canadians against proroguing parliament), Pascal Zamprelli (also one of my readers) who is hoping to be nominated in the riding of Jeanne Le Ber.  Oh yeah! That is a story in itself it would seem. Remember all the hoopla surrounding the comeback of Martin Cauchon and the coronation of that ‘star’ candidate, Nathalie Leprohon Denis Coderre wanted to put in Outremont? That hoopla that led to Coderre’s temper tantrum.  We all thought that Ms Leprohon would take the nomination in Jeanne Le Ber. Turns out something that MSM either never bothered to cover or gave a quick blurb in the back pages or somewhere else obscure. Ms Leprohon’s political career, it would seem, is finished before it even started. She turned it down. The riding is now open and the nomination should take place this Fall according to Pascal.

Pascal is clearly progressive. He is for a full inquiry into what happened at the G20. He is for maintaining universal health care.  He understands the concerns of the aging boomer population when it comes to pensions in spite of his young age.   He, like Iggy and Justin, don’t agree with Steve’s new purchases of military bad -assed toys like F-35s. Jeanne Le Ber is mainly a working class and lower income riding in south west Montreal, by the Lachine Canal. Currently, there is a Bloc MP there. I don’t think anyone there holds any particular attachment to him. I think Pascal would make a great candidate for Jeanne Le Ber, so I wish him all the best and I will surely be blogging about  him further as time goes on.

Matthew and Pascal (although, not yet a candidate, but a member) are just two examples illustrated as to how diverse the Liberal party make up is.

Anyway, moving right along. In spite of that snafu last winter with his socon element like Paul Szabo, Iggy seems determined to ensure that women’s reproductive rights are always maintained. I’m not surprised though. No one in the room really reacted though, but then, keep in mind, I was in a room full of immigrants with old values instilled in them.  No, Iggy didn’t waffle.

He spoke of the importance of green jobs and of Stephen Harper’s waste like those F-35s

It wasn’t a long speech at all. It was obvious that long speeches weren’t part of the agenda.

It was more of a working the room, people with their cameras trying to get their pictures taken with Iggy and Justin, getting their cards signed by them, you get the idea, and the question period, of course.

I think the largest problem was crowd control. They took questions. But it was hard for the officials to see anyone at the back of the room or the sides of the room, it was so crowded. Naturally, due to the particular demographic, most of the questions pertained to immigration and affirmative action. There, Iggy was concrete. Suffice to say, Jason Kenney and Sara Landriault and all the Harpercon cheerleaders would turn 10 shades of purple. Too bad they weren’t there. I would have loved to have watched their reactions. First off, they want to keep employment equity programs in place in the civil service. Iggy says there is no reason to hire qualified people while at the same time hiring people who represent Canada’s multi-cultural population; no matter what colour they are.

They also said that Canada’s future depends on more immigrants. A few of them were showing frustration about being doctors back home but only working as taxi drivers and work like that.  That it was difficult to access courses to gain accreditation, especially when we hear of shortages of doctors and nurses here.  Iggy says better plans to mainstream these accreditation processes are needed.

Then there were frustrated Haitians with the Harpercons regarding aid in Haiti which I didn’t quite get.

I kept trying to advance so I can ask a question about universal health care that no one, surprisingly, (given the fact most of the room was filled with aging people) was asking about.  But I just couldn’t get close enough.  Dear readers, if and when Iggy and his bus stop in your town and if you go to the event, can anyone ask about his plans about maintaining universal health care? We already know Stevie spiteful will Americanize it.  I addressed this with Pascal, but since he is not even a nominee yet, he doesn’t have any inside knowledge.   He, too, was surprised no one asked about it, given the amount of elderly at the event.  He was also surprised no one asked about pensions, another issue that is a great concern, or at least should be.

The objective was clearly to get to know who Canadians were.  To meet and greet. Speeking for the town hall in Park Ex. I think that was accomplished.

They’re far from perfect, but hell, as I said, getting Stevie spiteful out of office should be our number 1 priority.

Thanks again Matthew and the other volunteers for helping me after my fall.

Well, I’m back and I survived to tell the tale. Turn out was ok, could have been better, but by the time I got there, skies were turning into thunderstorm clouds and they did announce thunderstorms this afternoon and yes, we caught caught in the pouring rain, the thunder and the lightening. I don’t know what was louder: the vuvuzuelas some  of demonstrators had  or the thunder.

We all gathered at Philip’s Square, started meeting people; many handed out litterature regarding their respective groups and their mandates. Many chatted amongst themselves.

Then, one thing that is annoying the hell out me these days.  This woman came approached a girl I had seen before.  This woman spoke English & I wasn’t sure how strong this girl’s English was, so I figured she might need help with the language.  The woman knew why we were gathered at Philip’s Square. Yes, many of the signs and banners were in French, but there were signs in English that were near enough for her to see and read. Honestly, I think the woman knew full well why we were gathered there; she was there to lecture the girl. The girl attempted to explain in English and I attempted the rest. Clearly, as is the case usually, the woman didn’t listen. That is what gets on my nerves. If you don’t want to know the truth, why come up and ask in the first place? She spoke over us every time we tried to get a word in edgewise.  Sadly typical these days. We present them with facts, in print! But they don’t don’t want to read it. We may present audio, but they refuse to listen.  We may have a visual but they refuse to look.  The woman ended up walking away quickly: I found myself yelling after her: “Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?” and “Nice to be stuck in a cocoon, ain’t it?” What are they so afraid of? I realize the truth can be a scary thing but not facing it is even more frightening. In fact, that is what sweater vest Steve and the Harpercons, as well as their cheerleaders count on.  Why don’t a lot of folks get  that?

Typical Steve. ‘Only I can keep you safe’ ; ‘Only I can save us from the recession’…the grandfather…the savior…

Anyway, back to the march.

We march. A young man leading us had no shortage of slogans; many of which were critical of the police and of course, capitalism; “La Bourgeoisie au Service de la Police” “Harper Out!” “Liberez nos camarades”  and many others .  Amazingly, the cops simply followed us by cars and bicycles, but no riot or cop car blockades; that is, until we reached Guy. It was a downpour. All of soaked.  There was a row of riot cops all lined up waiting for us just south of Rene-Levesque. Their cop cars waiting in the back.   I thought, oh SHIT!!! Now what?  And this was weird. We had marched a good distance and no blockades whatsoever until Guy, south of Rene-Levesque. Why was that? Was Steve in town and staying around there? Or some other dignitary? The next thing I knew, my umbrella popped on upside down with the spokes all sticking out.  I managed to fix it temporarily; for all of two minutes or so. Much to my relief and probably to the disappointment of the riot squad lined up south of Rene-Levesque, we turned east, so they ended up looking pretty silly.  The bicycle cops always in close range.  The rain was welcome though, as it had been muggy. All’s well, right?

Along Rene-Levesque, my umbrella popped again and the spokes were in full view. I was nervous, because I remembered finding out following the Toronto G20 arrests, things like backpacks and bandanas with vinegar ( a defense against tear gas, by the by) were considered weapons. I can only imagine my skeletal umbrella; my black skeletal umbrella.  I stepped away from the group to the sidewalk so no harm would come to anyone and figured it was a lost cause, but no garbage can around, so I tried to fix it in a way I can carry it with the spokes hidden so as not to harm anyone. A cop stopped me and simply asked in normal tone if I was alright. I merely thanked him and explained that I scrapped my umbrella and to my relief, he biked away.  He left me alone, thank Gawd.

I had to carry that umbrella with the bent spokes for a long while. There was not a garbage can to be found.  Mayor Gerald Tremblay says he wants a greener Montreal but garbage cans seemed to be a rare commodity along the route we marched. Ended up carrying that thing for over 10 blocks!

All’s well that ended well. Like I said, I’m sure turn out would have been better had the weather been better. Many more, I’m sure, ducked out  at the first sign of rain. It is also worth mentioning that many of those who were arrested that I have spoken to, who are out on bail have a condition attached that they are not allowed to attend any kind of demonstrations. Wow! Another way for Harpecons to silence dissent.

I wonder how the bubble blowing event went in Toronto? How did the other events go in other cities and towns?  I can imagine Queen’s Park looking like something like an outdoor set of the Lawrence Welk show. Well, I hope a little better and a lot more tasteful.

Well, Officer “I collect human garbage” Bubbles certainly has gained notoriety. He not only has a cartoon, he now has a video game, courtesy of Pale of ACR.

My high score is 2730 points. See if you can beat it.

Click here to make your own Fyrebug game

I also want to add a song by Jeffery Shurtleff and Joan Baez that would suit the mood (insert Steve where he mentions Ronald Ray-guns) for the times we’re living in. The man they’re describing can certainly fit sweater vest Steve. Listen to the lyrics and let me know (except for his medals he won in the war; maybe not the leader of KKK, but damn close!). It was a song played in Woodstock, but as we can see, in so many ways, what’s old is new again. Yes, I posted this not too long ago. I want to post it again.  Enjoy!

Now, if my feet can stop hurting, my husband and I are going to catch a show at Just For Laughs tonite. I can use a few laughs about now.

Happy Saturday Nite!

Please continue to show up at the demonstrations in large numbers tomorrow.  In Montreal, We start at 13:00 at Philip’s Square.  We can’t afford to crawl back into apathy, in fact, we need to get more Canadians out of their apathy.

Below is a short version of a 17 minute video montage masterfully put together by Pierre Cote. The longer 17 minute version was plaid in a loop at the candle light vigil which took place last Saturday night, when we had the Montreal G20 detainees that were there light the tea lights that were set up on the ground.  It was indeed a moving ceremony.

Pierre took raw footage of cops trampling and beating protesters and it played of a screen for not only those who partook, but for any passersby who would actually choose to stop and see for themselves what actually happened rather than what corporate media tells them. I only wish more stopped by.

The last news I heard last Saturday evening was that 13 were still detained.

Watch the video below. Yes, it comes complete with the crazy cop lady, her ‘ colleagues’ and swords or whatever the hell they were.

A reminder as to why we must  show up to these events tomorrow and hereafter; why we must never give up insisting on an inquiry as to what happened.  The police are now scrambling looking for “Canada’s most wanted”; an effort in some whitewash; damage control. Me thinks we’re a gettin’ closer to the truth. Let’s continue plugging away before any kind of dissent is criminalized.

And speaking of criminalized, I did have a troll not long ago; he has a blog called Clancop. Now, you’ve really got to imagine the kind of winner he must be, calling himself “Clancop” (Klu Klux Klan Cop?).  And if you read the wingnutty blog length comments he published at my post  talking about the candle light vigil last week as well as this post, What If There Were No Black Bloc… I know I shouldn’t feed trolls and I probably broke every blogging rule, but in this instance, I made an exception. He is obviously even too nutty for Stephen Taylor’s Blogging Insane Assylum.   I wanted him to bring out the truth about what he really thought as it is the growing evil thoughts of today’s conservatives.

I will just bring you two highlights; one is he was perfectly ok with how the cops roughed up Mr John Pruyn as this idiot really believed Mr Pruyn was using his prosthetic leg as a weapon. I always knew many of today’s Harpercon cheerleaders were ok with it, but stopped short of condoning it out loud, until of course, Clancop. Hence, why I kept sparring with him.

The other is, he has great hope that the cops start reading my blog. Gee, I wonder if I should tone down the profanity and/or the vulgar metaphors I sometimes use? But, all jokes aside, Clancop is representative of  that Pinochet-esque hard right that is seeking to stamp out dissent.  Here is the quote from the charmer regarding his hopes for the police state:

Keep up the pathetic blog, it just allows the police to keep tabs on you and your radical readership… Hilarious

That had to take the cake for me. It’s laughable now, but in the future…who knows?  Again, that’s why we need to keep this going.  Please everybody, I hope you all show up to the various events in your respective towns and cities. And  let’s try to stay safe, ok? Be careful who you talk to; the July 1st CLAC march apparently had an issue with an agent provocateur. So apparently, agents provocateurs are here to stay.

Sidenote:  Is it just me, or does anyone (that is, those who have actually dared to visit Ezzy IrreLevant’s blog from time to time) actually point and laugh now when they see the sub-title: “Get the Uncensored Version of the Story Before it’s Banned!” Really rich, Ezzy!!  Yet, he’s probably amongst the Clancops who would shut dissenters like myself down.