And Now, A Word From Kermit

H/t Greg Perry

Still not convinced? Perhaps these letter-writers can help:

Local governments all over the world are declaring a climate emergency, so stop using the neutral term “climate change” in your coverage. There’s nothing neutral about the looming disaster for our “life support system” (aka the environment). Let’s call it “climate breakdown” or “climate chaos.”

It’s not balmy “global warming,” it’s “critical planet overheating.” The oil and gas industry once successfully lobbied the media to call their nasty tarsands project the cleaner-sounding “oilsands.” Clearly, words matter. The emotional urgency of these words matter. Our future is at stake.

Pike Krpan, Hamilton

There are so many ways in which we need to fight the environmental injustice of climate change, but at every turn, governments in Canada are moving backward on the existential issue of our time.

Bill C-69 is one way to counteract the wave of retreats in the battle against climate change and other potential environmental damage. The fossil fuel industry is well aware that it stands to lose economically from this bill and they have mounted a misinformation campaign aimed at convincing the Senate to water it down or delay it until the federal election.

Canadians expect our governments to act to protect our rights, including Indigenous rights, and to act in the best interests of citizens and residents, not multinational corporations. The Senate needs to do their job and pass this bill, which has already been three years in the making.

Amy Scott, Toronto

Tom Scanlan, Toronto

Rob Strang, Orangeville

Does This Make Me A National Security Risk?

I think this is worth the risk:

via GIPHY

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

But after reading Michael Coren's article and then watching the Mrs. Betty Bowers video, I think you will agree, it is all for the best.



For some context, Michael Coren writes about Franklin Graham, son of the late Billy Graham:

Franklin is president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the charity Samaritan’s Purse. For the latter position he is paid $1 million a year. He enjoys enormous support in the conservative Christian world, with more than 5 million Facebook followers, and has many supporters in Canada.

In response to the 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who describes himself as a gay Christian, Franklin engaged in his favourite jihad, the one aimed at such 'sinners.'

"As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized.”

He continued, “The Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman — not two men, not two women,” and “the core of the Christian faith is believing and following Jesus Christ, who God sent to be the Savior of the world — to save us from sin, to save us from hell, to save us from eternal damnation.”

Some may be forgiven for thinking the good reverend has an unwholesome preoccupation with the sexual practices of others. In the past, he has argued

... that LGBTQ people be barred from churches because Satan “wants to devour our homes.” He also roared that the election of Donald Trump was due to the “hand of God,” has lauded Vladimir Putin for “protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda,” and condemned Planned Parenthood as being “Hitleristic.”

If you have the time, please read the entire article, as Coren goes on to write how the Bible has almost nothing to say about same-sex relationships, and the few references there are must be understood in their proper contexts.

And now, for your viewing pleasure and edification, I give you Mrs. Betty Bowers:

According to Facebook, this video reached over 1,500,000 people. I feel almost Russian. pic.twitter.com/ztw2JhpnFf

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) April 29, 2019

Speaking of Doug Ford And His Ilk ....

H/t Patrick Corrigan

Paul Rapoport of Ancaster, Ontario, has some advice well worth the consideration of Canada's Conservative premiers:

Keep your Enemies List current. Cut their funding. If you want to remove 50 per cent, make it 100 per cent. In three years, give back 10 per cent and you’ll be ahead and hailed as a hero.

Meanwhile, when you’ve created crises in those enemy sectors, blame them for the bad results.

Go after environmental groups, to keep the big polluters’ donations flowing. Fire anyone who uses the words “climate change.”

Take away women’s rights, because women are smarter than you and must be controlled.

Remember to cut education, because well-educated people tend not to vote for you, and others will more likely believe your spin.

Doctors and nurses are well educated, so cut health care.

What you can’t cut, privatize for your richest cronies. They need more money and power.

If your capital city has called you incompetent, with years of evidence, take over or ruin it.

That’s good for business and “for the people.”

And, given that it is Sunday and you may be in the mood for a parable, letter writer Maurice Sacco of Toronto offers this lesson:

Have we created a new nursery rhyme character complete with a story and moral?

The story of a young man, the Sign Maker’s son, who grew up in a life of unchallenged privilege. He dreamt of one day becoming a king who would ride the subway anywhere in his kingdom and his people stood and applauded him each time he opened his mouth to speak.

He would shower them in beer and they would truly love him. The boy grew to inherit the sign-maker’s business and sold it for a chance to be king.

The people rejoiced at his coronation and sung his praise as cheap beer was now made available throughout the kingdom at every shop at every corner at every hour.

Once crowned, he decided the kingdom’s treasury of health care, education and environmental protection was of little value and traded them for more cheap beer, subways and vanity plates for all in the kingdom to enjoy.

With time, the subways became too expensive to maintain and fell into disrepair, the cheap beer lost its flavour and caused many to become sick and weak and the vanity plates no longer drew attention from anyone.

People became sick and the kingdom was devastated by storms and famine.

Without education the people didn’t know how to change things back to the way they were before. The kingdom fell to ruins.

The king became disappointed with his sick and weak-minded people and eventually abandoned them to return to his sign-making business.

The moral of the story – you get what you vote for.

Who Is Really Running The Show In Ontario?

There is little question in my mind that in the depths of his shallow soul, Doug Ford, like his philosophical father Mike Harris, believes that government 'interference' is what makes the lives of people difficult. Indeed, that could help explain the following remarkable exchange, posted by Daniel Enright on Twitter. As you will see, it appears that within his own government, Ford seems to have contracted out his policy-making. That, of course, begs the question, "Who is really running the show in Ontario?"

Please forgive the duplication of each preceding message, as that is what the Twitter embed codes gave me.

2/ He said he was still at work and that’s why he was getting back to me so late. He said he had been making calls all night and seemed to think I was worried about teachers....(i am, but not why I texted).

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

3/ He started telling me how great a job “99.99% of the teachers do.” He said there would be an announcement tomorrow (Friday) that would clarify things and he further said that no teachers would lose their jobs.

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

4/ I informed him that my friend wasn’t a teacher and that she worked in autism service. He told me he “never promises anything 100%” but that he would try and make sure she got a job. I said that the governments cuts feel wide and deep and I asked if things were really that bad.

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

5/ He told me he was going through the budget line by line. That he’s investing more money here and there and that he’s cutting responsibly (!!) and that it could have been much worse (thanks I guess?) I asked about our social safety net. He changed the subject to the media:

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

6/ he said that the Toronto Sun gives him shit for not cutting enough, and the Star for cutting too much. I asked about his cuts, like today’s story about cancelling the planting of 50 million trees.... and here’s where it gets strange..... He had no idea. He just like, told me.

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

7/ The Premier of Ontario told me he saw that story about the trees and called his office to find out what that was all about. He said “my people told me” the best stewards of the environment are the Forestry industry, and they already have 60 million trees scheduled for planting

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

8/ he had no idea it was happening. Or that people were talking about it. It was the same thing when I asked about cuts to legal aid, “what I was told was that there were less cases, and more lawyers taking fees.” I asked where that # came from, he told me “it’s what i was told”

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

9/ I asked about saving legal aid as way to save money on the back end by investing in the front end. He said he would be happy to discuss the facts at another time. He didn’t have them at hand. We finally returned to the issue of my friend’s lay off:

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

10/he asked my name again and what part of town she worked in (?) I told him. He said he would help.... and here’s what he suggests: send a resume to premier@ontario.ca

and this is the insane payoff for Ford Inc.....

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

11/ Ford inc. picks up votes one at a time. They won’t make sure everyone has a job, or that everyone gets their sidewalk shovelled, they’ll make cuts and handle people who complain one at a time. And it works.
They vote Ford....he fixed a railing, he installed a speed bump.....

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

12/ when I raised a question on the Conservatives, I couldn’t believe how much effort he put into to distensing himself from “political parties.”
“The people vote for me and they voted for Rob. That’s who we work for.”
He said we’d stay in touch.....

You should call him up

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

13/ to be clear, I have no idea how or who is running this province. I spoke to a man who didn’t seem to have a grasp of the facts, the effects of his cuts, or how hollow his words sound. I wish I had the energy to keep talking. But it’s all so defeating. Maybe next time.....

— Daniel Enright (@Thisisupcountry) April 26, 2019

The Unkindest Cut Of All

Devolution. Debasement. Depraved Indifference. Apply whatever term you like, but the cuts coming furiously from the Ford government in Ontario surely bespeak a state that no ruling body, and by extension, its citizens, should promote or countenance.

While I hesitate to speculate on what pathology drives Doug Ford to dismantle programs that benefit our vulnerable planet and the people who live on it, it is interesting that many of the cuts target initiatives of the preceding Liberal government. Perhaps the unkindest cut of all is axing our tree-planting program, one that is needed now more than ever:

Rob Keen, CEO of Forests Ontario, said since 2008 more than 27 million trees have been planted across Ontario through the program, which saved landowners up to 90 per cent of the costs of large-scale tree planting.

It was started as a carbon sequestration program, Keen said, but planting that many trees also helps clean the air and water, protect shorelines and reduce erosion.

Meanwhile, as floods ravage Ontario and Quebec, the Ontario government has cut funding for flood management by 50%.

Ontario conservation authorities say the provincial government has cut their funding for flood management programs in half.

Conservation Ontario, which represents the province's 36 conservation authorities, said impacts of the cuts will be felt immediately, particularly in smaller and more rural areas.

"Cutting natural hazards funding is particularly problematic right now in light of the fact that — like everywhere else — Ontario is experiencing stronger and more frequent flood events as a result of climate change impacts," general manager Kim Gavine said in a statement.

"Using a watershed-based approach, conservation authorities deliver effective and cost efficient flood management programs across the province, partnering for many years with the province, municipalities and others."

This morning, I was trying to think of the right word to describe how I feel about what is happening in my home province, and I am still searching. Heartsick, apoplectic, outraged, none of these words seem adequate in light of the ravages being wrought by this renegade and his many enablers, a.k.a P.C. MPPs and Ford Nation.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The government you elect is the government you deserve.” If the citizens of Ontario sit passively by and allow this marauder to continue with his dangerous, short-sighted dismissal of the things that make life bearable, they need only take a daily look in the mirror to affix blame.

Trouble In The Principal's Office

H/t Theo Moudakis