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~ Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

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Tag Archives: Trump

The future is History

14 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Alt-Right, China, history, Masha Gessen, Putin, Russia, Trump, USA, USSR

A strange title for a book, The Future is History, remember in 1989 we were told that history had ended because the Cold War had ended and Communism was defeated. Rather naive to believe that then, it was merely a re-ordering of politics. In this book, the author attracts our attention to her thesis or her reality that Russian history today is a simple repetition of what happened in the XXth Century Soviet Union with a hiatus between 1989-1999.

This is the latest book I am reading, the author Masha Gessen, a Russian citizen, journalist and author, born in Moscow in 1967 and living now in New York City.

In The Future is History Masha Gessen follows the lives of four Russians, born as the Soviet Union crumbled, at what promised to be the dawn of democracy. Each came of age with unprecedented expectations, some as the children or grandchildren of the very architects of the new Russia, each with newfound aspirations of their own – as entrepreneurs, activists, thinkers and writers, sexual and social beings. Gessen charts their paths not only against the machinations of the regime that would seek to crush them all (censorship, intimidation, violence) but also against the war it waged on understanding itself, ensuring the unobstructed emergence of the old Soviet order in the form of today’s terrifying and seemingly unstoppable mafia state under Vladimir Putin.

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She makes the distinction in her book between Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism, the two words are different in political terms.  The first is about the rule of one person through personal authority (dictatorship) but devoid of ideology, i.e. Chile under Pinochet, Spain under Franco, Greece under the Colonels, Germany under Hitler, the dictator rules using terror and violence on the masses to enforce compliance. In the case of the Nazi dictatorship, Gessen explains that Nazism was not so much an ideology it was terror used to silence anyone opposing the regime, a regime which borrowed its ideas from the writings of the dictator like the one on racial superiority but overall maintained itself in power by terror and nothing else.  Where Totalitarianism is dominated by Ideology, the Bolcheviks and Lenin used terror but justified it with the ideology of class warfare as described by Karl Marx an ideology which proclaimed world revolution by the workers against other classes. The Communist party then constantly tweaked the ideology to maintain itself in power.  Stalin and Mao proclaimed the exclusive authority of the Communist Party as the only correct ideological source for their society. Stalin then tried to impose this model on other countries after 1945 in Eastern Europe and Mao did the same in Asia in Tibet, Cambodia, Mongolia, North Korea etc. it continues today in China.  Gessen tells us in her book that since 1999 under Putin, Russia is returning to the good old ways of the Soviet Union but under a new guise. It would be too crude now to reimpose a Soviet model, so Putin instead has married the nostalgia for the Czarist regime, the Supremacy of the Orthodox Church with the Totalitarian ideal of the Soviet regime which gives stability Russians crave. Giving us a new Czar Putin who unites factions within his authority and glorifies the exceptional nature of Russia in an ideology of nationalism which echoes the old glories of Imperial Russia. What Gessen is also showing us is how Russia never was a democracy and had no democratic institutions, the Russian knew Imperial orthodoxy under an absolute ruler with the Russian Orthodox Church as co-ruler then they simply moved into a new system aping the old with the Bolchevik and then Communism.

It’s a fascinating book, a great read and explains a lot about Russia and Putin today. With the gradual withdrawal of the USA from the World stage, an inept President who is too intellectually lazy to understand how the USA is simply being eclipsed, Russia is stepping into the void like China is doing and they are not losing time.

But Gessen in her book also shows us the danger of a population who is willing to give up on a more inclusive open form of society and government for the security of stability at all cost. In a way she is saying that we in the West are also at risk. Countries like Poland and Hungary are falling back into the old ways. The rise of the Alt-Right and Christian-Conservative movements in the USA with a President who shows openly his contempt for the Constitution puts the USA on a similar path. A good read and one that makes you think about what is going on around us.

 

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Climate change

25 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Canada., Disney, immigration, PEI, Trump, US ambassador

Well we are almost at the end of October and the weather here on PEI is so warm we are busting all manner of records. Everyone is happy with the warm weather 22C today and 24C tomorrow and with the humidex around 30C. It should normally be no more than 12 to 15 C in day time. You see the problem, well most people don’t and I somewhat feel like the passengers on the Titanic, oh look more ice for the bar.

Talking of cruise ships, the Disney ship made its first inaugural visit to Charlottetown PEI yesterday. Hundreds of people lined up the shore to see it arrive at 07:30am. It is a beautiful ship and has the look of the old ocean liners. The two chimney stacks have the Mickey Mouse Logo on them. If was somewhat cloudy and foggy for the arrival but within an hour the sky cleared, blue with loads of sunshine.

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It was quite the event here in town. We had some 50 + ships this past Summer but this one was special for many people.

The departure at 5pm was no less dramatic, the tradition is for the captain of the ship to blow the horn of the ship 3 times as they depart, in a way to say goodbye to the Port of call. The Disney ship horn plays If you wish upon a star, it could be heard all over the downtown area, it put a smile on the face of a lot of people.

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This photo was taken as the ship exited the harbour before turning left and out unto the Strait.

Today I took the car in for servicing and had the winter tires put on, I felt silly about it, the weather being so warm. The forecast for the Maritimes is for an abnormally mild winter this year with next to no snow. In Central Canada heavier snow than normal and in the West extremely cold weather.

The new US Ambassador has arrived in Ottawa and she is a horse breeder from Kentucky, a personal friend of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, 3 times married gold digger who gave millions to Trump and also supported Marco Rubio. Her husband is into coal, her name Kelly Craft, I am not impressed with her at all. She is only here because she gave mucho dollars to Trump. Her speech when she presented her Credentials was full of idiotic statements, i.e. I believe both side of Science in the climate change theories, for and against. or this gem, Canada is the best country in the world, strange thing to say coming from a foreign ambassador. She also believes that both sides are right on NAFTA. She did not mention lollipops and unicorns but I am sure she loves them also.

The census is also out and it shows that most immigrants to Canada come from the Philippines, India and China. They now represent 22% of the make-up of the country. It is predicted that by 2030 immigrants would represent 33% of the total population. Toronto is no longer the magnet it once was, having been replaced by cities like Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta. A reflection of simple economics and changing job markets moving West.

What is interesting is that China use to be no. 1 just a few years ago now has fallen into third place and will probably continue to fall.

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PEI has had an enormous population growth due to immigration and is leading all the Maritime provinces in this field. The population of the Island in the last 3 years has gone from 145,000 to 152,000 today. Quebec attracts mostly Africans and Muslims immigrants, interesting to note that Quebec unlike all other 9 Canadian provinces, chooses its own immigrants and selects French speaking candidates. Unfortunately the general population is not very open to immigration and is very poorly informed on how the process works, failing to understand that it’s own provincial government has set up this process now since 1962.

The rest of the week looks quiet, a visit to a friend in Belle River and a lunch on Sunday.

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The past week in the World

28 Sunday May 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Free Trade, G7, NATO, pope, Sicily, Trump, Vatican

The German Magazine BILD quoted the German Chancellor Angela Merkel today in a Speech she gave in Bavaria at a political rally of her party CSU: We can’t rely on the US anymore. I have experienced this in the last days. We Europeans should take destiny in our own hands. ~@BILD

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In the past week we have seen Donald Trump destroy 70 years of diplomatic relations and turn the USA into a laughingstock that no one can trust. He went to Saudi Arabia where he has business interests and made his speech again on terrorism thinking that the Arab leaders will fall for it. They are far more astute than he and saw right through his words. What he really wanted to do was sell weapons with no other objective in mind. Not understanding that singling out IRAN when there is already an agreement on Nuclear weapons is not wise and plays against US interests.

Then on to Israel and Palestine where under the guidance of his son-in-law Jared K. he gave full support to the right wing government of Netanyahu without a thought to the consequences. He believed he had left the Middle-East, it was not clear where he thought he was presently as if Israel was a continent. Trump wanted everyone to believe that he had the Peace solution in hand.  Again petulant and arrogant, ignorant of the issues of the region, unable to grasp the complexities. What Trump knows is what his prejudices have taught him and what he sees on television, he does not want to see further or ask questions.

Goes to see the Pope at the Vatican and the photos speak volumes, what a disaster again. The Pope gave him the document, encyclical letter Laudato Si, he wrote on the topic of care for one another, in light of the battle to repeal Obama care a rather pointed message. Visits to the Vatican are highly organized, choreograph affairs, the Holy See has 1400 years of diplomatic experience, Trump barges in as if he is at the OK Corral, his beliefs and attitude are highly insulting and in direct contradiction with social justice, human rights and the agenda of the Pontiff. Under the guidance of US diplomats Trump could have modified his message to be more appealing and avoid the worst but no, why bother, we are dealing with Archie Bunker here.

At Nato in Brussels, he lectured and insulted the other World Leaders, why? Trump like his supporters believes that the USA tells the World what to do and how high to jump. The new French President Macron said today that the handshake he gave Trump at their meeting  was tight on purpose, he does not like the man. So you can see the USA-France relationship cool and become difficult.

Trump’s attitude is that the USA saved the World and the World owes the USA everything. As one American tourist said on a trip we took on the Danube, the Germans need our money, we saved them from Hitler. Problem is Germany and the EU today are strong economies and the Second World War ended 70 years ago and the Cold War ended 28 years ago. The world has changed and Trump is unaware. To make the statement to other G7 members that he found investing in Europe difficult because the Europeans are too difficult when he is negotiating to build new golf courses, is hardly an intelligent economic argument. That Chancellor Angela Merkel has to explain to him that German car manufacturers create thousands of jobs in several plants in various US States and that Americans want to buy quality German products is not a bad thing, it is called the Free Market and Capitalism. It reminds me that the US Armed Forces have a special program to allow its personnel to buy at reduce cost tax free BMW cars. I am sure Trump still does not understand, he does not want to believe that we live in a interconnected world, there is no one way street. Europe is an important economic power of 500 million people, we are no longer in the 1950’s, John Wayne is dead.

The way he shoved his way to the front by pushing the Prime Minister of Montenegro, his refusal to walk with other leaders taking a golf cart instead, his condescending attitude and smug self satisfied smile on every picture is truly sad. His failure to re-affirm the NATO principle of mutual defence all the while demanding that countries pay up the 2% in defence spending because it is not fair to America. Excuse me but the 2% is a goal not an obligation and countries have until 2024 to reach it, so as the expression goes, Chill Donald just chill. Refusing to adhere to Principle 5 of the Alliance when the USA invoke it after September 11, again shows his complete ignorance of facts.

The last straw in Taormina, Sicily in the shadow of Mount Etna, could no one push him into the volcano and do the world a favour? Such Summits have a pre-determined agenda, Summits are highly scripted affairs and the final communiqué is always prepared in advance of the Summit. Only small changes are made before it is released at the end of the Summit. Everyone had agreed on the wording to re-affirm support for the Paris Agreement on the Environment and on other economic issues like Free Trade. Trump decides to say he will let everyone know by next week. Hello!!! Trump get with the program, this is not how Summit work. The G7 leaders said that the conversations were unsatisfactory, disappointing and no agreement was reached on anything, diplomatic speak, the translation this Summit with Trump was a total failure and he is an idiot.

It is now obvious that the USA cannot be trusted and Trump is an ignorant boor. So Angela Merkel is right in saying that the EU can no longer count or trust the USA. Canada is also now having to re-negotiate NAFTA, we cannot trust the USA, the current Administration has declared economic war on us and on Mexico. Canada and the EU must now look out for their own interests and count on ourselves and not the USA.

This last week the USA declined in the World, no longer leading, Trump is not interested in that role, going back to the isolationist policies of 1919 is pretty sad for a once such great country.

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the long slide

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

China, G-7, Putin, Russia, Syria, Trump, USA, war

You know the expression it is a slippery slope, a few months ago I was reading a book by Austrian author, journalist, poet, historian Stefan Sweig, 1881-1942. The book was entitled The World of Yesterday, it tells the story of life in Europe prior to the First World War 1914-1918, a world ruled by Emperors, Kings and old Empires, genteel and elegant, a world vanished by 1919, replaced by a frantic and disillusioned Europe gripped by economic chaos, revolutions, violence and hate, preparing itself for an even greater disaster the rise of Fascism and the Second World War 1939-1945.

The events of the last week makes me wonder if the world has not lost it’s mind. We learned that the Great Barrier Reef off Australia is now dead, a terrible ecological disaster with grave consequences. We have been warned for decades that this was going to happen if nothing was done, well nothing was done, no one cared and here are the results.

A passenger on a flight beaten by security goons in Chicago in what I call the Airport Security Circus, an airline unable to apologize and admit its fault. Only after a Public Relation nightmare did the CEO of United finally apologize. But what does that say about the world we live in, no one is safe now, Corporations use the police to beat people with impunity. In Canada our Minister of Transport in Parliament announces new security measures at airports, when asked during Question Period what they are, he refuses to answer stating Security reasons and State Secret to justify his non answer.

In Syria more atrocities, gas used on civilian population, a clear crime against humanity. In fact the use of gas or chemicals is strictly forbidden under International Law for civilians and military. In response US President Trump bombs an empty air base, provoking a strong warning from Russia, not to cross that line again because they will retaliate against the USA. China also condemns the USA the day the Chinese President leaves Mar-a-Lago after his visit with Trump. Secretary of State Tillerson is unable to get the G-7 countries to back more sanctions against Russia despite Canada and the UK support. Tillerson uses un-diplomatic language calling the Russian incompetent in controlling their ally Syria. Tillerson is to visit Moscow on Wednesday 12 April, what will that achieve and for what purpose?

War ships are being sent to the China Sea to threaten North Korea over the ballistic Nuclear weapons dispute. South Korean government is so worried that Trump will launch a pre-emptive strike against North Korea that it has to reassure its own people that a military strike won’t happen. Trump finally tells China that if they do nothing about North Korea he will retaliate militarily, however if the Chinese cooperate they might get economic concessions, such talk angers the Chinese.  So an erratic American Foreign Policy seems  to be the way Trump wants to play this game, which is confusing to all and dangerous.

Wars are started on pretext and incidents usually after an escalation of rhetoric. Russia will not be impressed nor bullied by the USA and China can flex its own muscle to harm the economic interests of the USA.

Like many now I am worried about war and the behaviour of this President who fails to appreciate that World politics is complex and delicate. Russia may very well call Trump’s bluff and he will loose face. China has, through its official newspaper The People’s Daily already ridiculed Trump. It looks like a new Cold War but without the old reserve and careful maneuvering of the past.

Worrying times

18 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

China, doomsday, korea, North Korea, nuclear weapons, Trump, war

The Chinese curse is ”May you live in interesting times” well we are living in such times now. Turkey a NATO country has been acting with great belligerence towards Germany and The Netherlands over the refusal of both countries,  also NATO members, to allow Turkish politicians allied to President Erdogan to campaign on the up-coming referendum to give him near dictatorial powers on their national territory and speak to the ex-pat Turkish community living there. Germany has a large and well established Turkish population going back 130 years. This behaviour by President Erdogan of Turkey and his rapprochement with Putin is destabilizing NATO and is difficult to understand.

On the one hand Turkey has never had good relations with Russia in over 500 years. Continuous wars and conflict, Turkey joined NATO after the Second World War to counter Soviet influence in the Mediterranean since they control access from the Black Sea via the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Also in this diplomatic conflict with The Netherlands, Turkey risk loosing billions of Euros in trade and tourism. There is already damage but Erdogan does not seem to care, did Russia promise investments? Most probably and China is not far behind, clever Chinese silent but deadly.

Which brings me to a far more dangerous and deadly possible conflict, that involving North Korea and the USA. In the Nuclear age a doctrine was established that no country would ever be allowed to develop ballistic Nuclear weapons to be used against the USA and its allies, but more importantly against a direct attack against the continental USA, this includes Canada since the USA is directly responsible for our Nuclear defence in case of attack.

The Trump administration has made it clear this week that it is not interested in continuing negotiations with the North about its developing nuclear missile facilities. For many years the USA have negotiated with the North Korean leadership and provided a sweetener in the form of aid. China who is the nominal protector of the North Korean Regime since the truce* in the Korean War in 1952 has also used leverage with the Kim family, it is not working anymore and China is frustrated. North Korea has been developing ever more sophisticated nuclear weapons and now are about 3 years away from having Inter-Continental Ballistic missiles capable of reaching the Western Coast of the USA. This means that the US Government and the President must stop North Korea before it is too late, the afore mentioned doctrine dictates it. Such North Korean missiles could easily be fired and reach the USA in 20 minutes, not enough time to properly respond in kind and this is why a sophisticated computer program monitors 24/7 the world in case of such an attack, which could come from Russia or China but it highly unlikely for a host of reasons including leadership ones who understand all too well what it means in terms of survival for us all. The computer system detecting such an attack can automatically launch missiles in case the White House does not respond quickly enough.

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This week Secretary of State Rex Tyllerson was in South Korea and is then going to visit Japan and China. He has made it clear that the USA is considering a pre-emptive strike against North Korea if there is any further escalation or un-acceptable behaviour, what does that mean exactly is anyone’s guess. But the visit itself to China is to warn the Chinese President and leadership that President Trump is going to act differently from the past and a strike could come at any time, maybe even a nuclear one.

Trump is clearly after regime change in North Korea, the Kim family have for far too long teased the USA and made threats, testing missiles by launching them repeatedly to show they are capable of attack.

Rex Tyllerson is going to tell the Chinese that the time for discussion is over and if they do not act to change the leadership in North Korea, which they can easily do, given their enormous influence, the USA will strike. The big problem is that Nuclear weapons today are one thousand time more powerful than the one used in Hiroshima and then Nagasaki in August 1945. No one has seen the power of today’s weapons and it is truly terrifying. What would be the reaction of Russia in such a case, probably annoyance but not much more as long as their territory is not affected by the fall-out, though they border North Korea. What about China, major cities like DanDong across the Yalu river from North Korean, sharing 1000 Km border and they could suffer from the fall-out with all the horrors it entails. South Korea would certainly by affected given how close the Capital Seoul is to the North, only 22 minutes by air separate the two capitals or 121 miles.

Given that Mr Trump does not appreciate the power of Nuclear weapons nor the complicated balance between States and other great powers, such a pre-emptive strike could easily lead to a major catastrophe or doomsday for life on this planet. Most people do not want to believe this possible, but the unpredictability of Trump makes this quite possible.  At the same time Kim Jong Un is equally responsible for this state of affair and he is not without knowing that a direct nuclear threat to the USA invites automatically a terrible response.

 

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What a week

04 Saturday Feb 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

blood, Canada., intolerance, massacre, Muslims, PQ, Quebec, Separatist, Trump, violence

Lots of emotions this week which leaves me somewhat exhausted. Though I live in Canada the circus at the White House and the dangerous buffoonery, the constant stream of bluster politics is dragging the USA down into a level that is very difficult to understand. This is somewhat like an early dusk as day light slowly vanishes, it is very sad to watch. It also makes me fearful for what is coming.

Then this week we had an attack on the Grand Mosque of Quebec City, six men shot dead while at prayer and 19 others badly injured. The terrorist was a White young man, Roman Catholic, raised in an upper middle class family, well educated, still attending University. Again we saw the fake news phenomenon claiming early on that a second gunman, a Moroccan was also involved, FOX News reported this ad nauseam until the Prime Minister’s Office got involved and told them to remove the tweet in question since it was false, they did finally. This did not prevent alt-right groups in Canada to spread more false news and conspiracy theories to slander the dead and other muslims in Quebec City. The next day another mosque this time in Montreal was attacked and vandalized. The police have reported that more anti-muslim attack have taken place in Quebec.

The leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois, Jean-François Lisée nonetheless continued when interviewed by journalists with his Ethnic Identity speech and could not see how this type of speech could lead to actions by individuals like Alexandre Bisonnette. We have had decades in Quebec of such speeches by so called Nationalists. The day of the massacre Monsieur Lisée continued with a declaration on Economic Nationalism in Quebec clearly stating that those Foreigners who come to Quebec come here to take our money and this does not profit Quebec, that is no longer acceptable. The Parti Quebecois has a way of always positioning itself as they did in the past with their Quebec Values debate as a Us against them the foreigners. It is a seductive speech for many and the Alt-right groups and what is called the Radio poubelle (garbage radio) shows constantly attack anyone who appears different, Muslims have been a special target and constantly vilified. This is a disease in Quebec and it is very troubling how diversity has been rejected by many and cannot be accepted because of the threat it represents to those so called mythical Quebec values and the survival of the French fact, which is not in danger except in the minds of the Quebec Alt-right groups.

On the day of the funeral it was revealed that the Muslim community in the City of Quebec did not have its own cemetery, discussions for the establishment of such a place have been dragging on for 10 years, politicians were afraid to offend again the Nationalist groups. Now the Mayor of Quebec Regis Labaume who has been visibly shaken by the events of this week promised that a Cemetery for the Muslim community will be established soon.

I heard all the political speeches at the funeral of the 6 men and I thought that there was some grand standing but all the calls for tolerance, acceptance and respectful  co-existence will probably fall on deaf ears, you cannot change the hateful attitudes of the Nationalists in Quebec who are convinced of being a superior race.

Changing attitudes is according to psychologists one of the hardest thing to do for humans. Here we have ignorance fuelling prejudice which are deeply seated. I saw it in Gatineau which is across the river from Ottawa against the African community. Some in the White, French speaking town did not like the fact that these French speaking Africans were better educated and held it against them. There is wide spread and systemic discrimination in Quebec against the non-white non-Christian segment of the population in the Province. The current Provincial government has not been very forceful in moving against Alt-right groups or Radio stations in Quebec City whose well known and popular hosts have broadcasted hate speech often singling out Muslims or other minority groups.  This is turn has led to a view that it is normal and acceptable to have racist opinions because it is only your opinion.

You can read the comments on chat lines or in newspaper, to say that they are vile is putting it mildly. In Quebec, Donald Trump has lots of fans cheering for him, the hate of the other is that well anchored. That is not to say that other provinces in Canada are immune from hate, in other regions opinions run against Asians, Native groups, Blacks, Jews and Muslims and immigration in general. Our Conservative Party politicians like Kellie Leitch and her Canadian values speech, it’s not racist she insist or Kevin O’Leary who thought it was funny to show himself on YouTube shooting several high powered fire arms hours after the Quebec city massacre or other conservative leadership candidates trying to imitate Trump with pronouncements, fear sells by time. These people have aspirations to one day lead the country.

What I would like to know is how do you change attitudes, open minds, educate people. Is that possible at all when so many have closed minds and refuse to listen. They may be a minority group on the margin of society, they may be 1 in 10 but still they poison the social discourse with their nonsense and it leads like in this case to murder of innocent people whose only crime was to look different.

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photo of the funeral for the victims, a very large crowd came to pay respect and the political leadership was also present to honour the dead.   

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Saturday 4 February 2017, 1000 + march against Islamophobia in downtown Charlottetown. People do care about their neighbours safety and well being. Good for you PEI!

to clarify the record

30 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

#FakeNews, AK47, Alexandre Bisonnette, Canada., Fascism, FOX News, massacre, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy, Terrorism, Trudeau, Trump

 

I believe that I need to write this entry to clarify the record given that FOX News and other like minded news outlets in the USA including the White House are spreading #Fakenews on what actually happened in Quebec City last night at the Islamic Centre and Mosque.

It is important to set context in what actually happened last night. The City of Quebec is very old in terms of North American settlement, founded in 1608 and was the Capital of the French Empire in North America until 1763. It then became the Capital of British North America until we responsible government was established in 1867 in Canada and the new Capital became Ottawa.

Quebec City is a small town, a big village, every one knows everybody, its gossipy, it is also fairly conservative in terms of politics. There are the old families and the others, there is a divide between the Upper Town and Lower Town. My family lived in Quebec City in Sainte-Foy and then Sillery in the 1960’s I have a lot of relatives there since 1662 when my family first arrived in Canada.

Immigrants to Quebec City, they have been there since day one, nothing new. I remember when I was 6 years old that our family pharmacist was a Syrian Refugee that was in 1962, JFK was President then. Jews in Quebec City they go back to the French Colonial days of the 18th century, blacks also most came from France. Though Quebec or New France was suppose to be a Roman Catholic enclave of the French Colonial Empire, there were plenty of Protestants or Huguenots fleeing the wars of religion in Europe. There were also back then 10 men for each women, need I say more…

So the presence of a diverse population and a multiplicity of religions and culture is nothing new. In the last 50 years the Provincial Government of Quebec has recruited almost exclusively immigrants from French Speaking Arabic mostly Muslim countries, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and in Africa mostly from the former French Colonial Colonies, like Cote D’Ivoire, Sénégal, Cameroun, Benin etc…

So yes there are lots of Muslims in Quebec who happen to speak French and are usually well educated. Unfortunately and this is the very sad part, for the last 50 years we have had a lot of xenophobia and racism fostered by politicians on a nativist and populist line to gather votes and money, they will stoke fear of the other. The political line is about race, language and pure French ethnic stock not tainted by inter-marriage with none French ethnic background. Several commentators on the radio in Quebec City are also making a career by offering daily hateful diatribes against anyone who is not #purelaine. We also had a former Prime Minister Steven Harper who loved to single out Arabs and Muslims for his own hate filled speeches, trying to pass himself as the Canadian Donald Trump. Strangely enough he now jet-sets with the GOP in the USA giving the sort of lectures they love.

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Alexandre Bisonnette 27 years old 

The events of last night at the Centre Islamique in Sainte-Foy was the work of a young man, a loner, demonstrating anti-social behaviour, who apparently according to neighbours had been bullied in school as a child, though his classmate describe him as a boor and an obnoxious twit, he has an identical twin who lives somewhere in Canada. His name is Alexandre Bisonnette, 27 years old, lived at his parents in the small village of Cap-Rouge near Quebec City. He liked hunting and had a gun collection, this element surprises me because fire arms are strictly controlled in Canada and I hope we will find out how he got his hands on an AK-47 to commit his crime, a weapon that is strictly controlled and impossible to get, unless you have links to criminal gangs. His family claim tonight that they do not understand what happened, such a nice boy. Did they not notice that he spouted alt-right opinions, that he was in love with Marie LePen of LeFront National in France, that he was trolling websites about refugees and women and that he was spewing pure hate for them.

Apparently he had wonderful parents, I strongly doubt that, if the two previous criminal cases in Canada are any proof of parents who are distant and not involved with their child until disaster strikes.

So our criminal terrorist was white, Roman Catholic, French Canadian, living in the suburbs of Quebec City. He came from a comfortable well to do family, never lacked for anything, went to good schools and was a University Student at Laval. Amongst his victims was a Professor from Laval University. Sorry White House, sorry Prez. Trump, sorry Fox News not an Arab, no Islamist here, just a plain white, christian suburbanite jerk.

Prime Minister Trudeau in the House of Commons today spoke on the events and he re-asserted that Canada remains steadfast as a diverse and multicultural country, welcoming to all and that such horrible events will not change our course as a Nation. It is just tremendously sad that this event comes just after the weekend of that Fascistic decree by the Donald, which is an assault on human dignity and decency.

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Crowds on Parliament Hill in Ottawa tonight, a vigil for the victims, flags are flying at half-mast to honour them in Canada.

Things are unravelling

28 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

border, Canada., Decrees, mexico, NAFTA, Peace, refugees, Trump, UN, UNHCR, USA

We are Saturday night 28 January it is the Lunar New Year, one year ago tonight we were in Charlottetown with our friends looking for a place to eat, we went to the Delta Hotel and crashed the Chinese New Year Banquet Dinner, we then went to The Place Next Door because the Merchantman was full of diners and painters, it was a special evening of Art in the Dark. There we met Nathan and Katie who were moving out of what would become our home in Charlottetown on Water Street.

One year later, here we are with our friends at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery for the opening of the Winter show.

However all is not well, tonight because of the travel ban on 7 countries imposed by Trump, tens of thousands of Canadians can no longer go to the USA because they were born in one those 7 countries. Regardless of the fact that they are Canadians and hold Canadian passports, they are barred from entering the USA. The White House has not bothered to inform my government of this fact. Other Canadians who tried to enter the USA today have been checked to ensure that they do not hold hostile anti-Trump views, carrying an iPhone or a computer leads to verification of accounts, they are reviewed especially Facebook for any comment deemed anti-Trump. Many have been refused entry on the spot. This is what happens in totalitarian States not in the USA, but things have changed.

Our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shown great courage and decency by upholding the Canadian Value of welcoming those who need our help. At this point we should be reminded that Canada was the founding nation of the United Nation High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) and also of the UN Peace Keeping Corps, our former Prime Minister the late Lester B.Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for that initiative.

Though this week we heard a lot about Mexico and the wall, the fact that President Trump has said he now wants to renegotiate NAFTA, a treaty I worked on during the implementing phase all those years ago, without so much as giving a formal notification to Canada or Mexico and uses language that is condescending and patronizing as if we owed something to the USA, such language and attitude is totally unacceptable. The Government of Canada reminded the White House that 35 million American jobs depend on trade with Canada, we are your #1 Trading partner and Mexico is also equally important, trade imbalance not withstanding.

We will also remind the White House that the use of Torture is unacceptable to Canada and this policy of the Trump administration puts in jeopardy any military or intelligence operation.

When terrorists struck on September 11, 2001 all flights to the Atlantic seaboard of the USA were diverted to Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, we took care, fed and housed thousands of American passengers for several days, we did not have to do it but we did out of decency and in an act of friendship.

When in 1979 the revolution in Teheran cause the departure of the Shah and the US Embassy was overran, it was Canada who saved a group of American Diplomats and their families and sheltered them and eventually arranged secretly to have them leave Iran at great cost to us, I would also like to remind readers that the UK and France had refused to help those same Americans.

It seems that more than 200 years of good cooperation, trade and friendly relations are now forgotten in the blink of an eye because of the election of one man who is surrounded by a bunch of ignorant people, not to mention the Republican party who is silent and complicit. The actions and decrees of Mr Trump this week are a dark stain on the USA and the American people and a threat to World Peace, I am not exaggerating.

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Prime Minister Trudeau showing great courage and decency in welcoming Syrian Refugees to Canada, the very threat President Trump denounces.  

 

Changing Nation

27 Friday Jan 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

abortion, Canada., immigration, mexico, Muslims, NAFTA, Ottawa, refugee, Syria, Trudeau, Trump, USA

Contrary to what is happening in the USA and all the negative news this week coming from the White House which cause many to shudder and worry about the future of our little planet now that the Doomsday clock is 2.30 minutes from Midnight, loosing 30 seconds since last Friday. The reasons being lost opportunity to tackle climate change, pollution and nuclear proliferation, President Trump simply add to the toxic mix.

Today in Canada several articles gives Canadians hope, one being that the  Government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that they will set up a special fund and work with The Netherlands to offer support and services in reproductive rights to women who may loose out because of the Trump decision to cut funding on abortion. In Canada abortion is available under our Health Care system to all women from Sea to shining Sea and this for the last 35 years, in other words that battle has been over for a long time in our Dominion. This plan would extend aid to women in third world countries.

The other news also goes a long way to show how Canadians have governed themselves very differently if compared to the USA. In 1990 the Government of Canada at the time under a Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, the author of NAFTA, decided to open the flood gates of Immigration to all. Canada has always been a country of immigration, in fact the very first government department to be created by the new Federal Government after Confederation in 1867 was the Department of Immigration. The Prime Minister at the time Sir John A. Macdonald believed that a country as vast as Canada had to increase its population which stood at a few million people. Most immigrant then came from Eastern and Southern Europe. Number of immigrants from Europe started to dwindle seriously in the 1970’s, so a solution had to be found. Today on any given year 40% of our immigrants come from the Philippine, China and India, the balance come from Africa, South America and some from Europe. Many senior Ministers in Provincial and Federal Governments are themselves immigrants, the current Minister of Immigration was a Muslim refugee from Somalia. Our Minister of National Defence is a soldier who served in Afghanistan and Sikh immigrant from the Punjab in India. Others are from Afghanistan, Iran, Chile, etc, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs etc. Quite the mix of population and the same applies to Mayors of major Canadian cities, Canadians don’t care about your background as long as you have that popular appeal. We can understand the alarm and disapproval in Canada when we see how Mexico is being treated, our NAFTA partner. Close to one million Canadians live permanently in Mexico and another million visit each Winter.

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The latest statistics from the Federal Government shows that by 2036 in 19 years Canada will have a population mix of 50% brown and 50% white. One third of Canadians will have been born abroad, another 20% will have at least one parent who will be an immigrant. Every large city in Canada will have 33% of its population born abroad.

Canada is officially bilingual, French and English, however by 2036 only 18% will actually have French as a first language and around 53% will have English, the rest will have another language which is not French or English. Already it is fairly common in schools to have upwards of 40 languages being spoken by students.

Canada is losing its old-time religion. Ninety per cent of Canadians identified as Christians in 1970. Today, it’s 66%, and will be just over one 50% by 2036. Christianity is not being displaced by other religions – only 7 per cent, at most, will identify as Muslim by 2036 – but by no religion at all. A quarter of all Canadians today identify with no faith, and that number could reach 33% by 2036.  Religion simply does not play much in our Society and not at all in Politics.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcoming a group of Muslim women in Parliament

The fact that Canada has deliberately transformed the makeup of its population in a way no other country has managed, or even attempted, speaks to the tolerant, diverse society in which we live.

As for Canadian politicians who think they can exploit the Nativist trend like in the USA to get elected, this is very unlikely to work. There is no future courting the angry white vote in Canada. There just aren’t enough angry white voters.

Lastly on the Democracy index compiled by Economic Intelligence groups Canada ranks at #6 in the world in terms of the quality of its democracy and openness in governance. The other five countries ahead of us are the Scandinavians. The USA has dropped at #21 and is no longer considered a full democracy.

This news on the 150th Anniversary of our Confederation is great to hear and makes me happy as a Canadian. It is truly something to celebrate.

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Canadians on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Canada Day!

Doomsday clock

21 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by larrymuffin in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Canada., mexico, nuclear war, potus, President, Trump

Today I read the speech of President Trump after his swearing in on Capitol Hill. I only saw some images of the inauguration because I was working at the Art Gallery and was busy with visitors. The tone of the speech and the phraseology was very war like, references to life and death struggle, using the word carnage and rousing the crowd in a manner reminiscent of populist dictators use.

I also looked that the White House website page and noticed profound changes, there is no longer any mention of Climate change or the Environment, Equal Rights and Women’s Rights have also disappeared. It is all replaced with a new policy on more police and more army and a new arms race. The first Executive order this evening before going off to the first ball, Trump signed an Executive order dismantling Obamacare, not waiting for Congress to act. Trade deals like NAFTA will be renegotiated or countries will be made to heel, in this case Mexico and Canada. This tough guy policy does not seem to take into account the integration of the economies of Canada and the USA, the complex economic links and the millions of jobs in the USA dependent on trade with Canada, the number 1 trade partner. I also find it interesting to see the tone of those first Foreign Policy statements, in the case of Britain and Brexit, Trump said that all will be great. Now he has turned the tables on Britain and offers to help them out trade wise only if it suits the USA.

It is all very condescending and imperialistic, language belonging to the World of 70 years ago.

So I then went to look at the time on the Doomsday Clock, yesterday because of the World situation the clock was moved up and now stands at 3 minutes to midnight. Even during the Cuban missile crisis when the possibility of a nuclear war between the then USSR and the USA was very real, the clock went from 12 minutes to 7 minutes to midnight. It only goes to show that it is far more dramatic now. The belligerent tone of Donald Trump is very dangerous for world peace.

With so many changes happening in the world, some are looking at 2017 as the year we finally see a nuclear war. A nuclear war would involve the deliberate use of a nuclear weapon against an enemy target. Such a use would necessarily result in thousands to millions of casualties, and possibly a retaliation. Could it be used to get rid of ISIS in one terrible blow, eliminating possibly ISIS but also killing millions of innocents at the same time?

The Doomsday Clock is a measurement of how close the world is to nuclear war. It is updated periodically as scientists from around the world assess the threats that could lead a nation to use a nuclear device.

Previously, the clock was at 5 minutes in 2012, and at 6 minutes in 2010, and 7 minutes in 2002. At the end of the Cold War in 1989, the clock was sent to 17 minutes.

The Doomsday Clock is merely an unscientific measurement, a tool used to convey the seriousness of the situation. Most Americans don’t even know what the Doomsday Clock is, or why it matters. Or more importantly, what’s causing it.

Rampant nationalism and the ambitions of politicians are pushing the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock closer to zero.

India, Pakistan, Iran, China, North Korea, Russia, and of course, the United States are all embarked on crash programs to develop or modernize their nuclear arsenals. President Trump is calling for a new arms race and mused about using nuclear weapons, what is the point of having them, to quote him.

At the same time Mr Trump has indicated he wants to flex the US military muscle, building or planning on exerting more force overseas than ever before, he has already made threats against China. This is a recipe for war.

All of this is to say nothing of terrorist efforts to create international chaos, like they have in Iraq, Syria, and parts of Africa.

The world has entered a dangerous time and it is very possible that 2017 could be the year we see a nuclear war.

What will the war look like? Fortunately, few people think it will look like it could have during the Cold War (1946-1989), with both the United States and the Soviet Union vomiting their entire arsenal around the globe. Such a war would have extinguished all life on Earth.

More likely, the conflict will be more limited, with a city or several cities reduced to ashes in a flash. It will still have worldwide consequences for the weather and health of billions of people. The losses will be staggering. And worst of all, it may not resolve anything.

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Palliser Pass

Stories, Excerpts, Backroads

Franco Bernardini architetto

Alberghi, Hotels, contract e altro..

Deep Tissue

what happens on the table stays on the table

Regard Live

La vie existera tant qu'un regard pourra la contempler

Roijoyeux

... Soyons... Joyeux !!!

Laurent Beaulieu in 2018

Municipal, Elections, Charlottetown, 2018

Island Musings

Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it

Ethical and Social Commentary on Life in PEI

LAURENT BEAULIEU FOR COUNCILLOR

LARRY'S CAMPAIGN 2018

Under a Grey Sky

Fearsome Beard

A place for Beards to contemplate and grow their souls.

Verba Volant Monumenta Manent

Tutto iniziò con Memorie di Adriano ..sulle strade dell'Impero Romano, tra foto, storia e racconti! It all began with Memoirs of Hadrian .. on the roads of the Roman Empire among photos, history and stories!

Spo-Reflections

To live is to battle with trolls in the vaults of heart and brain. To write; this is to sit in judgment over one's Self. Henrik Ibsen

Masculine Perspectives

Expressions of male masculinity, sensuality, and sexuality.

KREUZBERGED: BERLIN COMPANION

Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know About Berlin

DOGPOET

Speak Softly

(you know the rest)

STRAITPOST

The Early Postcards of Prince Edward Island

My Secret Journey

Newly Single, Exploring Life

Buying Seafood

A Resource on the Best in Fish and Shellfish

Creative Potager

Visit with painter and photographer Terrill Welch

Routine Proceedings

The adventures of a Press Gallery journalist

Heritage Calling

A Historic England Blog

Canadian Contemporary Artist Terrill Welch

Landscapes and more by impressionist painter Terrill Welch

this town is small

prince edward island's artist run centre

Larry Muffin At Home

Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Sailstrait

Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown

The Bowes Museum's Blog

Collections of Fine & Decorative Art & World Class Exhibitions

Charlottetown Stories

Explore Your City's Heritage

dennisnarratives

Stories in words and pictures

Willy Or Won't He

So Many Years of Experience But Still Making Mistakes!

myhusband&i

two guys making out & trying to make it

Palliser Pass

backroads, excerpts, photography

Prufrock's Dilemma

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”/Let us go and make our visit.

O' Canada

Reflections on Canadian Culture From Below the Border

Rome - The Imperial Fora: Archaeological News & Related Studies 2010-18.

domanidave.wordpress.com/

Procrastination is the sincerest form of optimism

theINFP

I aim to bring delight to others by sharing my creative endeavours

The Corporate Slave

A mix of corporate and private life experiences

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Join me as we wind back the time in Ottawa.

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