How Self-Aware Are We, Really?

My cynicism is never far from the surface, but during election campaigns, it is front and centre. For me, those are times in which my faith and belief in my fellow human beings are sorely tested. And believe me, I do not exclude myself in my darker deliberations about our nature.

For the past few days, I have been reflecting upon self-awareness, which evolutionary pathways defines as the following:

Self awareness basically describes a situation where the light of awareness is turned onto ourselves. While awareness is our ability to take note; self-awareness is our ability to take note of ourselves.

When we turn our awareness to shine on ourselves, we may become conscious of a great deal of internal activity. We may notice specific thoughts or thought patterns. We may notice particular emotions or flows of energy. We may awaken to physiological processes happening in our body such as heartbeat, heat, sweating. We may notice intuitions or gut feelings.

Awareness, on the other hand, is this:

Simply put, awareness is our capacity to notice things. We may be aware of the time or aware of a particular situation - we may notice that we are late or that someone is watching us. Being aware of such things means we have taken note of them.

All of which leads me to think that many of us are merely aware, a condition traditionally attributed to lower animal forms. The inability to reflect means there is no possibility of positive change. Only by being able to rise above ourselves and recognize others as important components of existence can anything substantive be accomplished.

Where is this leading to? How about a screed against that thing called "Ford Nation'? Touted by Doug Ford as 'for the people'or 'for the little guy.' they are people to whom the bromide of new efficiencies, tax cuts and better service appeal. They are people who, apparently caught in a solipsistic feedback loop, seek to impose their view of reality on all. How else to explain their rowdy support for people like PC London West candidate Andrew Lawton?

A longtime radio host and blogger whom Ford chose to be the Progressive Conservative candidate in London West, Lawton used his platforms from 2010 to 2015 in ways opponents say disparaged the disabled, homosexuals, Muslims and the mentally infirm, among others.

He now attributes those denigrations to mental illness.

As someone well-familiar with depression, I can tell you that mental illness is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, just as drunkenness is hardly the genesis for racist screeds.

Here are some of the things Lawton said when "he wasn't in his right mind."

-In 2015, Lawton responded to a poll that found homophobia was a concern for London’s gay community, writing on Facebook, “Number of sexual orientation-motivated hate crimes in Canada per year: 185. Number of HIV/AIDS infections from men (who) have sex with men in Canada per year: 1,450. Who is the real enemy?’

-Accused of mocking the deaf on his show in 2015, he tweeted, “I don’t think anyone impacted heard the segment.”

-In a 2010 podcast, when his guest, flame-throwing conservative Ann Coulter, said of censorship, “It’s sad to see ‘retard’ go, but at least we have ‘negro,’ ” Lawton laughed and said, “Yeah. Exactly.”

-A screen grab of an apparent Lawton tweet from October 2011: “An immigrant, a Muslim and a communist walk into a bar. The bartender says ‘Hello Mr. President’”

-A screen grab from an apparent Lawton tweet in November 2011: “I left the Anglican church when they made the decision to allow gay marriage.”

-A screen grab of a Lawton tweet in July 2011: “The official internet code for gay sex is ‘ENTER : ###’ (sound it out)”

There is yet another dandy of a Ford candidate running in Kanata-Carleton, Dr. Merrilee Fullerton:

According to her website, Fullerton is a doctor who stands for “values of responsibility, compassion, integrity and accountability.”

A look at her past writings provides some guidance regarding these values. A tweet in November 2015 pulled out a quote from a story on Islamic radicalism: “Usually it is not the first generation (of refugees or immigrants) that is the most dangerous, it’s the second.”

Before that was a tweet referencing Breitbart News exhorting people to watch a march by thousands of supporters of the anti-Islam group PEGIDA in Dresden, Germany.

Another tweet reads: “the ghetto.” And it goes on to define that as “home to almost 20,000 immigrants, overwhelmingly Muslim, almost half of them jobless.” This tweet, which appears to refer to the Rosengard housing scheme in Sweden, is taken out of context from a story in the Guardian five years prior about a Swedish backlash against immigration.

In others tweets, she rails against a “wear-a-hijab” day in Ottawa in 2016.

Not surprisingly, those endearing tweets by the good doctor no longer exist.

So, to end where I began, there are questions one can ask about voters who are attracted to such candidates:

Do they believe that by electing a Lawton or a Fullerton, they will be advancing anything other than hatred and racism? Are those the values that define them?

Do they believe that having such people in the legislature will somehow send gays scurrying back into the shadows, and that Muslims will be put on notice that they are under suspicion and surveillance and thus be recognized for the 'threat' they pose to all 'good Christians'?

Do they believe electing such miscreants will lead to a new world order that will reflect their 'values'?

Those are but a few questions one could ask of a benighted group of people who do not even seem to be making an effort to achieve true self-awareness.

Of course, to them, any criticism I or others make simply means we are part of the 'elites.' But then again, why would I care what they think?

Truth In Advertising

I don't know why, but I find something extraordinarily appealing about this campaign. The cynicism it has engendered, however, is sad.

This Should Make Us Cringe

Yes, unfortunately this is the face of Canada too.

The woman identified by Lethbridge News Now as Kelly Pocha from Cranbrook, B.C., told the news site the men “were kind of talking to each other in their own language and then they all started laughing at me.”

“We were speaking in our own language,” Omerzai tells me. “Talking about ... playing video games. And some parts were funny, so we were laughing. This lady looked at us two or three times. My friend was sitting across from me. I did not see him glare at her. She thought we were talking about her and that’s how the whole thing exploded.”

Lethbridge News reports:

On his personal Facebook page, Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman writes, “I am embarrassed to learn that this incident happened in Lethbridge. We are working hard to address racism and bigotry but can not prevent ignorance and the hostile behaviour of individuals. Most Lethbridge citizens are proud of our reputation as a city that welcomes immigrants and refugees."

Dodge Chrysler in Cranbrook, B.C. has now posted a message to its site, indicating that Pocha is no longer employed there. Here is the statement in full:

"We have recently become aware of a disturbing video that involves one of our employees. We are deeply concerned about the content of this video and want all of our friends, families, colleagues, and customers to know that this behaviour does not reflect the values of Cranbrook Dodge in any way. We strive to be a welcoming and inclusive company with no room for hate or intolerance.

The employee in question has been terminated and we deeply apologize for her actions.

It is chastening but probably ultimately good to be periodically reminded that we, as Canadians, shouldn't be so smug when we decry racism to the south of us, eh?

Much To Scream About

Edvard Munch had it right:



Toronto Star letter-writers tell us why:

Tues., May 8, 2018
Earth’s carbon dioxide levels reach highest point in 800,000 years, May 5

The front page of the Sunday Star includes a large colour photo of the Raptors game and an article on left-handed hitters in baseball. It’s not until page four that we learn of Earth’s CO2 levels reaching a historic high. Is there really no one at the Star who understands the extent of the impending disaster facing global human civilization caused by the war against the biosphere in general, and climate change in particular? How might the public’s consciousness change if this were front-page news every day of the week, every month and every year?

Raphael Vigod, Toronto

If you are sure climate change has already begun, as I am, then you know how deep the denial of vested interests goes. Their denial is more about money probably than smarts, I bet. But they are playing with fire nonetheless. If Greenland were to melt the oceans would rise 20 feet and even worse if Antarctica were to melt ocean levels would rise another 200 feet. This would be unconscionable and simply cannot be allowed to happen in a logical world. The vested interests will not let go of their entrenched capitalist views. Even the oil companies such as Exxon and BP are currently being sued for rising sea levels. It is too late to change the trend toward CO2-caused climate instability, but that does not mean we cannot turn things around before the big melt.

Greg Prince, Toronto

Surely, An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I wonder what is stopping the wider propagation of this technology:

A Damning Documentary

Active Measures is the name of a new documentary about Donald Trump and his ties to the Russian mob. It is also a term used to describe a series of covert measures (Twitter examples of which you can find here) Russia uses to influence global policies. According to documentary-film maker Jack Bryan, Trump was the perfect vehicle for the latter.

Active Measures shows how foreign investments made by Russian oligarchs bolster the Kremlin's ambitions to exert influence in the west. The key is money laundering — the export of Russian wealth with the knowledge and approval of Putin.

In an interview with Day 6's Brent Bambury, which includes a podcast, Jack Bryan says that Russian money-laundering efforts with Trump go back to at least 1985:

"He sells three condos to a man named David Bogatin, who's a Russian mobster," Bryan says. "This is in Trump Tower. And the reason they did Trump Tower is that it was the second building in New York where a shell company could purchase a condominium. And so it makes it much more easy to launder dirty money."

When the fortunes of the self-described real-estate genius begin to falter, the Russians go for the kill:

"Once he loses out in Atlantic City, once he can't get a loan from a bank, that's when the Russian mafia says: 'We have an opportunity here,'" says Bryan.

That's when Trump becomes less of a partner for Russian mobsters and more of a mark.

Bryan's film alleges that Trump needed Russian mob money to reinvent himself after his disastrous string of bankruptcies. Without it, the film alleges, he would never have won the presidency.

"The Russians saved him. They rescued him. He would not have gotten back in business without them," journalist Craig Unger says in the film.

Essentially, as revealed in the following, the Russian mob is an arm of the Russian government:


Trump's bankruptcies multiplied; the Russians were presented with an unparalleled opportunity, and Bayrock Group moved into Trump Tower:

"Bayrock Group is a Russian real estate firm. The manager was this guy Felix Sater, and he is very connected to the Russian mafia," Bryan says.

Sater, a convicted felon, also has ties to Trump's recently fired attorney, Michael Cohen. Bryan says Cohen entered the Trump organization at the same time as Bayrock.

"Cohen is childhood friends with Felix Sater. They went on their first date together," Bryan says. "They did a lot of business together."

Bayrock operated from offices two floors below Trump's and partnered with him on a wide variety of real estate deals from 2002 to 2011. Bryan says Bayrock likely didn't see Trump as a political player or a potential president. They saw him as a shield.

"I think, at that point, they're seeing him as: he's a really famous guy and it's great cover because nobody's going to question a lot of money going into the Trump organization. And they knew that he needed the money. And also they knew he's really litigious. And so it would be really hard to go after him. And I think that he just became this sort of perfect place to stash money."

Through this period, Sater remained in contact with his old friend Michael Cohen. A series of emails between the two, written during the campaign, appeared last year in the New York Times.

The FBI raided Michael Cohen's office and home on April 9th. Bryan says it could mark turning point in the investigation of the president.

Al Capone was ultimately imprisoned due to tax evasion.The noose around Trump is tightening, and he may well go down, not for campaign collusion with the Russians, but for the more prosaic crime of money laundering.

And given what he knows, Michael Cohen should be very, very careful of what he eats and drinks well into the future.

Will We Ignore The Evidence Until The End?

Yesterday, Southern Ontario saw some pretty wild weather, with winds reaching 110 km per hour. Power outages were widespread, trees were felled at an alarming rate, Pearson Airport had to shut down, and at least two people lost their lives. I have not yet checked my roof for damage.

Meanwhile, in New Brunswick, flooding continues.

I do wonder, as these events become increasingly frequent, and it dawns on even the dimmest among us that we are screwed, how people will react. Will some continue to party like there is no tomorrow? (In that, their predictive capacity will likely be proven right.) Will others fall on their knees, seeking a deus ex machina deliverance from their tribulations? Will some get angry and ask why no one did anything to prevent this? Or will some look in the mirror and see a rueful but knowing image staring back at them?

I fear that far too soon, we will know the answers.