Wideleft

“You can’t fall into the trap of potential. I had a receiver coach one time tell me ‘Potential just means you haven’t done anything yet,’” - Dalton Schoen. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/featured/2023/05/15/nfls-loss-is-bombers-gain

Her fortune is from dad's Amway money, so close enough.

Another Manitoba book- this one written by a friend. Great read about a really good small-town curler (with amazing recollection) who couldn't quite break into the next level. Available only on amazon (as far as I know). Everyman - noun - an ordinary or typical human being. You don't have to be a pro to be rewarded by the game of curling. The Everyman Curler is told in a very relatable curler's voice. With humour and humility, Kujanpaa describes a unique blend of life events that shaped the way he experienced the game. You'll be introduced to memorable real-life characters, intense rivalries, and the life long quest to climb the competition ladder. The link between curling, animal tranquilizer, helicopters, and psychology is unexpected, but it's all here in this highly entertaining memoir. It'll make you smile. https://www.amazon.ca/Everyman-Curler-Stories-Could-Tell-ebook/dp/B08WR73LSQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PCDHGB0WUX02&keywords=Rae+Kujanpaa&qid=1684426984&sprefix=rae+kujanpaa%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1

I read almost exclusively non-fiction and this book about a couple of Manitoba brothers had a huge impact on me. As someone who grew up in the country (but not in their area), it really reinforced the fact that you really never know the full story about your neighbours and no one should judge them too harshly because you don't know what they are going through. It really is an incredible and heartbreaking story. The true story of David and Dennis Pischke and how they survived more than a decade of starvation and abuse at the hands of their violently unstable step-father. Disturbing, heart-wrenching account of survival that becomes a surprising testament to the strength and adaptability of the human spirit. First released in 1996, Where Children Run became an instant best-seller. A timeless, important book that once picked up, can't be put down until the final page is turned. A story not easily forgotten. https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/9780968124260/karen-emilson/where-children-run?gclid=Cj0KCQjwmZejBhC_ARIsAGhCqncGRH6AmFgqkfoI39zv8KAvcHKMLrwEXY3aPXlT8ETAns7FyoYZfO4aAi7iEALw_wcB

Here's your place to discuss your favorite books, great books, interesting books, upcoming books and books in between. I don't consider myself well-read because I only read in bed and always fall asleep, but I have read a lot of interesting stuff in my life. This book review has piqued my interest and thought I'd share via a new thread rather than burying it in another thread. A terrifying, riveting portrait of the KKK in the 1920s Timothy Egan’s ‘A Fever in the Heartland’ recounts how one man sparked the group’s resurgence in Indiana Review by Richard Just May 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EDT Why are people drawn to demagogues? Why have millions of citizens of democracies chosen, from time to time over the centuries, to pledge fealty to leaders whose actions — political and personal — are obviously repugnant? What could possibly be the appeal? These questions hover over Timothy Egan’s excellent new work of narrative nonfiction. “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” is a highly readable chronicle of how the early-20th-century Klan resurrected itself following decades of dormancy; how it obtained millions of converts, not only in the South but throughout the country; and how, by the 1920s, it had infiltrated all levels of the U.S. government. But it is also a terrifying study of one particular Klan leader — a rapist and bigot who managed, in a matter of years, to acquire a vast popular following and to become the unelected boss of Indiana politics, all while formulating plans to propel himself to the White House. D.C. Stephenson, born in Texas, was a drifter with an amoral entrepreneurial streak, and he happened to find himself in Evansville, Ind., in the early ’20s, a moment when the national Ku Klux Klan was rapidly expanding and seeking inroads in Northern states. “He was a young man on the make, and a quick learner,” Egan writes. “His new life in Evansville was a dash and a dodge, just a few steps ahead of the multiple lives he’d left behind.” Stephenson was hired by a Klan recruiter, and he “presented a plan to leadership: He would conquer all of Indiana for the Ku Klux Klan, not just a bridgehead in Evansville.” He fulfilled this plan with shocking speed. The Klan’s agenda of white supremacy turned out to be all too popular among rank-and-file Hoosiers, who began joining the terrorist group en masse. Many institutions — especially Protestant churches, whose ministers the Klan bribed — were quickly co-opted. Within years, “the Klan owned the state, and Stephenson owned the Klan,” Egan writes. “Cops, judges, prosecutors, ministers, mayors, newspaper editors — they all answered to the Grand Dragon. … Most members of the incoming state legislature took orders from the hooded order, as did the majority of the congressional delegation.” And this hate-filled reign might have continued if not for the decision of Madge Oberholtzer, who was raped by Stephenson in 1925, to speak out. Her bravery set in motion a trial and conviction that ensured that Stephenson would spend decades in prison. The Klan was humiliated in the eyes of the public, and its power in Indiana began to wane. Egan is a meticulous researcher and, perhaps especially, a skilled storyteller. His reconstruction of Stephenson’s deplorable arc — his lie-fueled rise, his vile charisma, his ultimate fall — is a master class in the tools of narrative nonfiction: high stakes, ample suspense and sweeping historical phenomena made vivid through the dramatic actions of individual villains and heroes. But it was the question of “why” — why did so many people place their trust and admiration in this self-evidently horrible man and his fellow terrorists? — that I found myself returning to in the days after finishing this book. The most fundamental answer, unfortunately, is that bigotry — xenophobia, antisemitism and particularly racism — has always managed to find a receptive audience in American life. Depending on the moment and the context, that audience can be large or small, but it invariably seems to exist in some form. “A vein of hatred,” Egan writes, “was always there for the tapping.” Yet the Klan benefited from other factors as well. William Simmons, founder of the 20th-century Klan, said his group was aided by early attempts to discredit it, including congressional hearings. “It wasn’t until the newspapers began to attack the Klan that it really grew,” Simmons said. “And then Congress gave us the best advertising we ever got.” As for Stephenson, Egan notes how adeptly he manipulated the public: “He discovered that if he said something often enough, no matter how untrue, people would believe it. Small lies were for the timid.” Egan also suggests that Stephenson’s abhorrent personal behavior may have actually, for a time, reinforced his popularity. The year before he raped Oberholtzer, he was briefly detained after attempting to rape a manicurist at a hotel and severely beating a bellhop. In the wake of this episode, Egan notes, many Klan members “chose selective amnesia,” and “some were even impressed. For here was a man liberated from shame, a man who not only boasted of being able to get away with any violation of human decency for his entire life, but had just proved it for all to see.” More sensible citizens, meanwhile, may have been caught unaware. Stephenson and his allies demonstrated what demagogues throughout history have discovered: Odd-seeming movements can migrate from the fringes to the center in the blink of an eye. Egan quotes Robert Coughlan, from Kokomo, Ind., who wrote about the town’s embrace of the Klan. “It first appealed to the ignorant, the slightly unbalanced and the venal,” Coughlan explained, “but by the time the enlightened elements realized the danger it was already on top of them.” A press that inadvertently makes itself complicit in the rise of demagogues by showering them with attention; habitual liars who successfully blur the distinction between truth and fabrication through endless repetition of falsehoods; leaders admired by loyal followers in part because of their moral transgressions; a movement that begins with the unbalanced and venal before conquering the mainstream: Maybe this all sounds depressingly familiar to you in 2023. Egan mostly resists making explicit parallels to the present, but they lurk just below the surface of this well-crafted and thoughtful book — a grim, necessary reminder that the difficult-to-fathom appeal of the most unappealing extremists never really goes away. Richard Just is a former editor of The Washington Post Magazine, National Journal magazine and the New Republic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/05/18/fever-heartland-ku-klux-klan-timothy-egan-review/

I realize "evil" is often too strong a descriptive for a human being, but the shoe fits with Erik Prince.

Maxime Bernier admits to breaking COVID-19 public health orders in Manitoba Charges related to failing to isolate have been stayed Darren Bernhardt, Bartley Kives · CBC News · Posted: May 16, 2023 10:36 AM CDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago Maxime Bernier has been ordered to pay more than $2,000 in fines after admitting in a Winnipeg court on Tuesday to two violations of public health orders in Manitoba. The People's Party of Canada leader was charged in June 2021 for attending rallies with more people than allowed at the time under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Manitoba. Bernier, the PPC leader since the party's inception in 2018, travelled to Manitoba during the height of the province's third wave of COVID-19. In an agreed statement of facts, Bernier's lawyer and the Crown said the politician planned to attend 10 public events in Manitoba, both to campaign ahead of the 2021 federal election and to speak out against public health restrictions. On June 11, 2021, Bernier was slated to speak in Niverville, St-Pierre-Jolys, St. Malo, Morden and Winkler. Court was told provincial officials warned Bernier he could face fines if he made those appearances. Bernier nonetheless travelled to Niverville, where he was observed by Manitoba public health officers and RCMP. Police issued him one ticket for violating the rule against gathering and a second ticket for failing to isolate after entering the province without being vaccinated, court was told. In Niverville, Bernier was warned he could receive more fines if he attended another gathering. He continued to St-Pierre-Jolys, where police arrested him, placed him in custody for 12 hours and charged him with two counts of failing to comply with public health orders. Two more counts followed in January, replacing the tickets Bernier received in Niverville. Two of the four charges were stayed earlier this spring. Crown attorney Shaun Sass asked provincial court Judge Anne Krahn to issue Bernier $3,300 in fines, arguing the penalties should serve as a deterrent against violations of provincial rules and not just licensing fees for breaking the law. Sass also commended Bernier for admitting the violations and thus saving taxpayers the expense of a three-day trial. Stiegerwald, Bernier's lawyer, asked Krahn to simply issue reprimands, arguing the pending federal election constituted an exceptional and unique circumstance for the pandemic public health violation. People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier attends 3 Manitoba rallies, doesn't quarantine upon entering province People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier arrested by RCMP in Manitoba Krahn disagreed. Societies have rules and if citizens wish to challenge them, they ought to do so in court, she said. "Otherwise we end up in chaos: everyone can decide for themselves, 'I don't think the law is constitutional. I don't have to follow it,'" she said. Krahn issued a reprimand for the first violation and fined Bernier $1,296 — the ticket value — for the second one. Court costs and surcharges brought the total fine to $2,008.30. Steigerwald requested the fines be a donation to the Manitoba Association of Women's Shelters, but Krahn declined. It should not be up to the court to choose what charities are beneficiaries, she said, and she did not wish to allow Bernier one more opportunity to appear to protest. Bernier has 30 days to pay. In the courtroom, Bernier complained he was a victim of "political repression" and repeated misinformation about the lethality of COVID-19 and the efficacy of vaccines. "For me, it was important to do what I did. I'm not guilty of any crimes," he said. "It's too sad what happened in our country at that time. Censorship was everywhere." People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier leaves Manitoba after arrest for breaking pandemic rules Bernier told reporters outside the courthouse that his time in jail was a "big punishment for a non-criminal crime and for fighting for freedom of choice and freedom of assembly in a free country." Steigerwald, who clutched at his tie when Bernier spoke inside the court, called the outcome of the trial a success because 50 per cent of the charges against his client were dropped. Bernier said he saved Manitoba taxpayers money by admitting to two charges, thereby cutting short the court time that would have been required to fight them. Last week Bernier announced his intention to run in the federal riding of Portage-Lisgar in an upcoming byelection. The Manitoba riding was held previously by longtime Conservative MP Candice Bergen, who served as the party's interim leader last year and stepped down in February. Maxime Bernier says race for Portage-Lisgar byelection is between him and fake conservative Bernier is a former Conservative cabinet minister who quit the caucus in 2018 to found the PPC. He told reporters he believes the court appearance will help his bid for the federal seat. "I believe people in Portage-Lisgar will look at that saying that, 'Maxime Bernier's a politician that is standing up for us, for freedom, for our Constitution, for our values,'" he said. The Portage-Lisgar byelection is one of four that will be held June 19. Earlier this month, Conservative Party of Canada members nominated Branden Leslie, a former Conservative campaign manager in the riding, as their candidate. Asked what differentiates him from his Conservative rival, who also stands against vaccine mandates and COVID-related lockdowns, Bernier accused Leslie of only appealing to that base now. "I was the only national politician, the only one, who spoke against these measures during that time, when it was happening. And I paid the price," Bernier said. Southern Manitoba libraries battle defunding attempts over sex-ed content in children's books He also spoke out against "all that idea of transition and gender ideology," which he says the Conservatives are too afraid to speak against. Bernier said "there's only two sexes. That's based on biology and science." Asked what he thought of the push by some people to ban a few children's sexual education books from the southern Manitoba library system, Bernier said he was in full support of the effort. "Why [are we] pushing the sexualization of our children in our society? We don't need that," he said, adding he met on Monday with some of the parents who are leading the charge for the ban. Clarifications We initially reported that Maxime Bernier pleaded guilty. In fact, he admitted to a violation of public health orders. May 16, 2023 2:41 PM CT

Mad Max late to right-of-centre festivities in Portage-LisgarP By: Dan Lett Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, May. 15, 2023 OPINION It’s not clear yet whether the good people of Portage-Lisgar should be honoured or concerned that Maxime Bernier wants to make this federal riding his home. In a thoroughly telegraphed but woefully underwhelming announcement last Friday, the People’s Party of Canada leader announced he was going to be a candidate in the June 19 byelection in Portage-Lisgar, one of four key byelections to be held that day in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. You could tell by the tone of his news release that he thought this was going to be big news; unfortunately for the PPC leader, the national media reacted with little more than a shrug. Still, Mad Max’s arrival in the middle of the country raises a couple of important questions. Will this riding serve as the fertile ground on which Bernier can grow the base of the PPC and make Canadian political history? Or, will his party’s fortunes — which have hovered just short of a breakthrough — wilt like wheat in a Prairie drought? In the final analysis, Bernier’s decision to play the political carpetbagger in Manitoba says a lot about the steep hill facing the PPC as it attempts to become the sixth party in the House of Commons. In theory, Bernier could have run in any of next month’s four byelections, including in Notre-Dame-de-Grace, the Montreal riding held for 15 years by former astronaut and Liberal cabinet minister Marc Garneau. Bernier is, after all, a native Quebecer and represented the federal riding of Beauce (south of Quebec City) for 13 years. However, he tried twice (in 2019 and 2021) to recapture Beauce and in both instances, he finished comfortably in second place. The thought of competing for a seat in a Liberal stronghold in ultra-urban Montreal was, in the final analysis, not all that appealing. The same predicament faced Bernier in Winnipeg South Centre, one of the longest-held Liberal seats in Canada. Ben Carr, son of the late Jim Carr, who held the riding for many years and served in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, is hoping to keep the seat in the Grit fold. Winnipeg South Centre is as inhospitable a riding for Bernier as Notre-Dame-de-Grace. The PPC ran a candidate against the elder Carr in 2021 and received only two per cent of the total votes cast. That leaves the Ontario riding of Oxford, which has been left open thanks to the departure of Conservative MP David McKenzie. Oxford is considered a Tory stronghold and the PPC captured a respectable 6,500 votes — 10 per cent of the total — in the 2021 federal election. But a right-of-centre voter in southwestern Ontario is perhaps not the same kind of right-of-centre voter likely to flock to the PPC. Even with anti-vax and anti-mask sentiments running hot across Canada, MacKenzie was still able to collect nearly 30,000 votes, overwhelming the PPC result. So, by default, that leaves us with Portage-Lisgar. Bernier knows full well that southern Manitoba has become a hotbed of far-right, libertarian activism, the core attributes of PPC supporters. With arguably the lowest vaccination rate in the country, it was not surprising the PPC and candidate Solomon Wiebe were able to collect some 9,790 votes in the 2021 election. Manitoba is also a province where Bernier got great headlines for being charged two years ago with breaching pandemic restrictions. It is a brilliant coincidence that on Tuesday, just four days after he announced his Portage-Lisgar candidacy, Bernier is scheduled to make a court appearance to contest his June 2021 arrest and charges for violating pandemic restrictions. When you’re campaigning on an anti-government platform, being arrested by the Deep State is priceless political marketing. And yet, even with all those positive signs, there is evidence the voters Bernier needs to win this byelection are already comfortable tucked into the folds of the Conservative party. For evidence of that, you need only look at the results of the recent Conservative nomination in Portage-Lisgar to see how successful the federal Tories, behind the hard-right leadership of Pierre Poilievre, have been at recruiting far-right voters. Former Tory MLA Cameron Friesen — a health and finance minister in the Progressive Conservative government who was considered to be a thought-leader for the far-right and ultra-religious sects within the provincial caucus — was considered to be a strong option for the nomination to replace Conservative MP Candice Bergen. However, when the final results were announced, Friesen was left behind in the dust of Branden Leslie, Bergen’s former campaign manager. Leslie, who organized pro-freedom rallies and is well-equipped to talk the libertarian talk, is a potent opponent for Bernier. And therein lies the rub for the PPC leader: riding voters who share the same ideological plain as the PPC leader are fully and completely embedded in the federal Conservative party riding association, and likely in the Tory voting base. Bernier can rail on about the “Fake Conservative party,” the “radical left” and “woke culture” all he wants. In Portage-Lisgar, it’s a song often sung by others with deeper roots in the riding. dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2023/05/15/mad-max-late-to-right-of-centre-festivities-in-portage-lisgar 0 PM CDT Monday, May. 15, 2023

Even the old guys had it right. “If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.” ― Francis Bacon, The Oxford Francis Bacon IV: The Advancement of Learning “I like the scientific spirit—the holding off, the being sure but not too sure, the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine—it always keeps the way beyond open—always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance to try over again after a mistake—after a wrong guess.” ― Walt Whitman, Walt Whitman's Camden Conversations

There is a reason why all major political parties contract their own polling services and also a reason why some polls are leaked or minimized. The persuasion game in politics has many tentacles.

You piqued my interest. "The final problem threatening societies like the US concerns the pervasive bias in favour of privately produced goods and services at the expense of those provided by government. Inadequate public provision, Galbraith argues, hampers the most effective use of society’s expanded productive capacity while unnecessarily impoverishing most citizens’ lives. This outcome is due to an amalgam of the factors and forces identified earlier in the book – namely, the debt-fuelled process of want creation, the malign impact of vested interests, the ideology of market fundamentalism and the associated attack on the proper economic role of the state. Galbraith’s analysis raises issues that have recently resurfaced in heated debates over privatization. It also strongly resonates with recent developments in environmental economics and policy. In short, Galbraith’s theory of social balance remains one of the enduring contributions of The Affluent Society, fifty years after its publication and counting."

Just to recap. If any Albertan is even considering voting for Danielle Smith, they are either a True Believer, totally ignorant of her character (she had a popular radio talk-show, after all) or voting against the NDP out of spite. Don't be offended if people call you out for waffling on this one when the choice is so clear and don't blame people who call you out for waffling as your reason to keep voting for the "Conservative" brand. Same goes for the Federal Cons and the American Republicans. This s**t is getting existential.

Not what he said.

Hopefully, there's an app for that.

Don't you know that privatization ALWAYS leads to lower costs to the consumer? /s

I do believe it's mentioned in the article that she feels she is better at "finding" the conservative vote. Whatever that means. This ain't the Stelmach election.

Polling done between May 1 - 11. How many stupid things has she said since? Also, how many people actually pay attention to those stupid things? Also:

Pricing breakdown available here (specific examples on page 3): https://www.mbllpartners.ca/sites/mbll_b2b/files/pdf_pamphlets/Pricing Information Manual 2020.pdf

Because I don't trust a thing you say, I checked for myself. Definitely not on page 1. Can't find it in the other 105 pages either. Not even in the index. Maybe you can. https://5021.cupe.ca/files/2016/09/CA_Local_5021_2015_10_01_2019_09_30_searchable.pdf

I don't understand how the unions could be withholding tax revenue numbers for Liquor & Lotteries. They don't even have access to that information. If unions had access to financials, we wouldn't see a labour disruption last more than an hour, because the unions would know exactly how much the government could afford.

I would love to see Nenshi as Prime Minister one day. There is no substitute for his level of intelligence.

This is worth the 10 minute listen. Jeromy Farkas and I don't agree on anything other than the UCP under Smith is a disaster. Nenshi is Nenshi - so awesome! Calgary Eyeopener with Loren McGinnis, Angela Knight - May 12, 2023: Nenshi and Farkas on local politics https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-5/clip/15984327

And also works for the party whose supporters are trying to ban books and defund libraries.

Is there a special kind of parasite that only chews on Conservative brains?