Tracker

Some things should stay dead.

My all-time favourite C&W songs: " I'm goin' back to Beethoven 'cause country music sucks" and "She's got sawdust on the floor of her heart". Believe it or not, these are real songs.

As I previously mentioned, it has and will to an extent in the future, but the economic impact is not critical to our wellbeing as a society, We can survive that so long as no more than a few percent of Canadians do not adulate and try to re-create the toxic society the Americans have. I think we have enough bulwarks in our culture that they confer a significant degree of immunity to that.

As an FYI on Russian tanks, the t-72, their most prevalent tank has a deadly design flaw- the ammunition is stored beneath the occupants with only a thin sheet of metal separating them. Almost any direct hit which normally might disable the tank but leave the crew alive will detonate the magazine, killing the crew instantly and hurl the turret several stories in the air. The T-90 corrects that flaw but is in very limited supply. Several Russian regiments comprising several thousand of Russia's elite troops have apparently refused to deploy to Ukraine in spite of threats. There are persistent rumours of plots in the military to unseat and/or kill Putin who has assumed personal control of military actions. much as Hitler did in the dying days of WW2, and we know how effective that was.

Just another day in America. Apparently the attacker was a fanboi of Chappelle who somehow turned on him.

Economics are all well and good, but do not determine the health of a society. America is a militant society and that translates down to their politics, religion and view of each other. In the last 100 years, the US has been involved in more foreign wars than any other country on Earth, and that impacts their cultural lives.

That is like trading the clap for crotch crickets. Whatever happened to good old Gregorian chants or Inuit throat singing?

I know we get all giddy every spring at the wealth of talent, much of which does not live up to the hype, but this year we seem to have a bumper crop of potentially great receivers. If this is indeed the case, several CFL teams will be picking through our leavings. I particularly like how Dixon celebrates his catches without rubbing defenders' noses in it. To me, that is class added to talent.

I think we do have a degree of insulation from the current insanity in the US but it is not absolute. We have a parliamentary system of government, bans on massive corporate political donations and a three-party system. We Canadians live in a country that was created by legislation not a violent uprising and were not as dependent on slave labour and all the evils that came with it and still echo in the US. We are not devoted to firearms and the metaphorical mindset that comes with them. We are not as fanatical (for the most part) to religious/dogmatic extremist beliefs that compel us, as articles of faith to foist our beliefs on others against their will. All of this, I believe contributes to a culture that tolerates diversity and even encourages it. None of this is set in stone. Nothing in the nature of tolerance guarantees continued existence. All progress must be nurtured and defended.

Stuff like this does not even cause a ripple in the sewage lagoon that is American politics these days, and further evidence that their country has passed the tipping point of no return.

Jeanine cites ridiculously false abortion 'stats' that would mean most women get an abortion every year Fox News propagandist Judge Jeanine defended the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion expected to strike down the constitutional right to abortion by making an extremely false claim that would mean statistically, on average, almost every woman of childbearing age gets an abortion every year. Her numbers are way off. In 2018 there were about 72.7 million women in the U.S. considered to be of “reproductive age,” 15-49, according to The Guttmacher Institute, “a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide.” According to Judge Jeanine, there are 63 million abortions every year, which is false. “And my stats that I have are that there are 63 million abortions a year in this country. Those are the stats that I heard! That’s a little too much!” She clearly couldn’t be bothered to spend a few minutes googling her stats, which are wrong. In fact, when NCRM googled “63 million abortions” the first result was a Fox News article from 2021 titled: “An estimated 62 million abortions have occurred since Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.” https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/jeanine-pirro/

Ron Johnson falsely claims it 'may be true' that COVID-19 vaccines cause AIDS Although Wisconsin is a battleground state that went to former President Donald Trump in 2016’s presidential election but favored President Joe Biden in 2020, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson obviously has no desire to embrace the center in the 2022 midterms. Johnson, seeking a third term in the U.S. Senate, is running as a far-right MAGA culture warrior — and he was clearly pandering to anti-vaxxer extremists when he said that COVID-19 vaccines “may” cause AIDS. The Wisconsin State Journal’s Alexander Shur, in an article published on May 4, reports that during a recent video interview, attorney and anti-vaxxer Todd Callender claimed that COVID-19 shots “caused vaccine-induced AIDS” and “purposefully gave people AIDS” — something there is absolutely no proof of. In fact, COVID-19 vaccines are saving lives; it’s quite possible to be fully vaccinated and still get COVID-19, but infections among the vaccinated tend to be milder infections. When Callender falsely linked COVID-19 vaccines to HIV and AIDS, Johnson responded, “Let me challenge you there. That’s way down the road. I mean, you gotta do one step at a time. Everything you say may be true, OK. But right now, the public views the vaccines as largely safe and effective, that vaccine injuries are rare and mild. That’s the narrative, that’s what the vast majority of the public accepts.” Johnson continued, “So, until we get a larger percentage of the population with their eyes open to ‘woah, these vaccine injuries are real, why?,’ you know, it’s gotta be step by step. You can’t leap to crimes against humanity. You can’t leap to another Nuremberg trial.” https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/ron-johnson-falsely-claims-it-may-be-true-that-19-vaccines-cause-aids/

Tyrell Ford it is!

Fundamental LGBTQ Rights Also Under Attack In Leaked Supreme Court Draft Amid his criticisms of Roe v. Wade, Justice Samuel Alito eerily ripped landmark civil rights cases that legalized marriage equality and private, consensual sex. Millions of Americans were shocked Monday night by a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade — a decision that, if finalized, would reverse 50 years of precedent ensuring a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion. But that’s not the only stunning attack on established constitutional rights in the court’s draft majority opinion, first obtained by Politico. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the draft opinion, also specifically criticizes the landmark civil rights cases that legalized marriage equality, Obergefell v. Hodges, and that legalized private consensual sex, Lawrence v. Texas. Referencing those two cases, Alito eerily says that, like abortion rights, “None of these rights has any claim to being deeply rooted in history.” Both Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas have already publicly called for revisiting same-sex couples’ constitutional right to marry. In October 2020, they described the court’s 2015 decision on marriage equality as putting “a novel constitutional right over the religious liberty interests explicitly protected in the First Amendment.” “By doing so undemocratically, the court has created a problem that only it can fix,” Alito and Thomas said at the time. “Until then, Obergefell will continue to have ruinous consequences for religious liberty.” That Alito is now tying his criticisms of marriage equality to an actual draft court opinion to overturn a 50-year precedent on abortion rights should be a blaring siren for anyone concerned about constitutionally protected LGBTQ rights. “The concern for us is what’s next with this right-wing Supreme Court,” Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told HuffPost. “I can tell you Obergefell is on Justice Alito’s and Justice Thomas’ hit list.” As Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern points out on Twitter, at the heart of Alito’s opinion is a scathing repudiation of “unenumerated rights” that are not laid out in the Constitution. “The Supreme Court may only protect these rights, Alito says, if they are ‘deeply rooted’ in history. Abortion is not. Neither is same-sex marriage,” Stern says. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lgbtq-rights-roe-v-wade-leaked-supreme-court-opinion_n_6271425ae4b01131b127b198

The tricky thing is that healthcare (including abortion services) is provincial area of responsibility, so the Feds must tread carefully.

The Liberals could score some BIG political points right now by introducing a motion in parliament confirming women's right to choose. That would force the troglodytes opposite to support the motion, vote against it or suddenly come down ill and miss the vote.

It has become very obvious for some time that there is literally nothing that the GOP will not stoop to in order to gain or retain power, reward themselves and placate their followers. As an example, in Alabama, if a woman chooses to undergo an abortion, she is required to advise the biological father, even if he impregnated her by rape or incest, and he can apply to have her be refused the procedure.

'Inclined Toward Treason': More And More Russian Soldiers Reportedly Refusing To Fight In Ukraine A stamp that was purportedly placed in the military-service booklet of one soldier who refused to serve in Ukraine. “Inclined toward treason, lies, and deception,” the official-looking stamp reads. “They called me one morning from the office of the division commander in Amur Oblast, where Pavlik served,” said a woman from Russia’s Tambov region who asked to be identified only by her first name, Yelena. “The man said: ‘Do you know that they are searching for your son, that he is AWOL?’ Pavlik was supposed to board a troop train, but he didn’t. And five other soldiers were with him.” Yelena’s son, Pavel, was serving in the Far Eastern Amur region when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Almost immediately, his unit was sent to the front, and he served almost 40 days in combat. Then his unit was sent back to Russia to regroup, Yelena told RFE/RL’s North.Realities. When his unit was preparing to return to Ukraine, Pavel refused. “If he doesn’t want to go back, am I supposed to push him, to tell him, ‘Grab your weapon and go,’” Yelena said. “Those who haven’t been there have no right judge those who have.” Yelena’s son is one of a significant but unknown number of Russian contract soldiers who have refused to either fight in Ukraine in the first place or who have fought and do not want to return. Lawyer Pavel Chikov, founder of the Agora legal-aid NGO, has written on Telegram that more than 1,000 military personnel and National Guard troops from at least seven regions have refused to go to Ukraine. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-treason-soldiers-refusing-to-fight/31806466.html

The Christo-fascists are doubtless beside themselves with glee. Trump was worth every penny they paid for him, and democracy has taken a body blow in the US.

Depression is something many of us go through and can actually be helpful. Melancholic depression where the individual is actively considering self-harm is the critical one- if the person has a plan and a time, it is time to get that person to a hospital or call EMS or the police. RIGHT NOW. Do not accept that s/he will be all right- someone committed enough to formulate a time and a method will lie.

Country Icon Naomi Judd, 76, Died by Suicide, Report Says Multiple sources have confirmed to People magazine that country star Naomi Judd, 76, took her own life. The news follows an announcement made Saturday by her daughters, Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd, that their mother had died. “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered,” they said, without elaborating. Naomi Judd was candid throughout her career about her struggles with mental illness and depression, as chronicled in her 2016 memoir, River of Time: My Descent into Depression and How I Emerged with Hope. Regarding suicidal depression, the Grammy winner told People, “Nobody can understand it unless you’ve been there.”