I got to tell someone about the Great Ottawa Sewer Explosions of 1929 and 1931 today, I have done well, I will have a Cookie

https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/publications/ottawa-stories/changes-in-the-city-s-landscape/the-ottawa-sewer-explosions

133: Pink Wine // Pink Wine

Pink Wine Pink Wine 2013, P. Trash (Bandcamp)

Toronto spiked-soda-punks in the vein of the revered Exploding Hearts—and given the tragic shortage of Hearts material, anything that stakes out the same melodic buzzsaw territory is more than welcome. Pink Wine’s not nearly as consistent as Guitar Romantic (few albums are), but at its best I get that same defibrillator kick: “Cold Sweats,” “Ghost Eddy,” and the perfect “Better Half” still do it for me ten years down the line, goofball tunes to blast from your beater while your prom date’s father scowls through the peephole at you on the doorstep in your black denim, slugging from a flask and holding a wilted bouquet of flowers. Pink Wine weren’t much longer for this world, but guitarist Liam Doyle and vocalist Joey French would go on to be charter members of Sam Coffey & the Iron Lungs, a Thin Lizzy-necromancing Toronto rock institution. I don’t know the writing credits on the Lungs’ records, but I’d be surprised if Doyle and French didn’t have a big hand in crafting Coffey’s boisterous major key singalongs.

One gripe: on the vinyl edition, the A-side is 33 rpm and the B-side is 45, which has more than once fucked me up. I ran into bassist Joey Parenteau at a show a few years after Pink Wine had gone on permanent hiatus (their final recording was 2015’s Anxiety EP) and he claimed this was at least partially a joke on the band’s part. Got my ass, but I’ll hang onto this one anyway.

133/365

https://nationalpost.com/news/no-joke-ottawa-to-give-ukraine-4-million-to-fund-gender-inclusive-demining

The press release that went out Saturday makes mention of $3.02 billion in financial and military support to Ukraine in 2024, but it also outlines a number of smaller, targeted initiatives.

One of these, listed as “Gender-inclusive demining for sustainable futures in Ukraine,” has a funding budget of $4 million.

“This project from the HALO Trust aims to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians, including women and internally displaced persons, by addressing the threat of explosive ordnance present across vast areas of the country,” the item reads.

“Project activities include conducting non-technical surveys and subsequent manual clearance in targeted communities; providing capacity building to key national stakeholders; and establishing a gender and diversity working group to promote gender-transformative mine action in Ukraine.”

The buzzword-laden final phrase caught many off-guard, and social media began filling up with queries and jokes about what it could mean.

People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier was perhaps the most straightforward when he tweeted a picture of the policy in question, adding: “No joke! YOU’RE ALL PAYING TO PROMOTE GENDER-INCLUSIVE DEMINING IN UKRAINE”

While the phrase “gender-transformative mine action” proved the biggest stumbling block, with some on X wondering if landmines themselves had a gender, the notion of gender-inclusive demining is actually quite simple.

As the website of The HALO Trust explains, “Clearing landmines inspires confidence by making land safe. It is also empowering for men and women alike. With training and a living wage, they can take control of their destiny.” The HALO Trust is a U.K.-based non-governmental organization dedicated to clearing landmines in conflict zones around the world.

Canada’s announcement does seem to be somewhat fixated on gender issues, with the word “gender” appearing seven times in the press release, including a mention of “gender responsiveness” in funding for resilient food systems; fighting gender disparity in Ukrainian media; and “gender-responsive” community priorities in reconstruction efforts.

Charlotte MacLeod, a spokesperson with Global Affairs Canada, told the Post that, thanks to HALO’s lobbying efforts, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence in 2017 approved the employment of women as deminers, something that was previously banned by Ukrainian labour laws.

In a factsheet on the country, HALO notes: “Ukraine has seen the heaviest landmine and unexploded ordnance contamination in Europe since WW2, with an estimated 6.1 million people at risk.”

It estimates there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of actives mines in the country, and notes there have been more than 1,000 civilian casualties from mines there to date, and around 300 fatalities.

Because of social and economic roles, men and boys are more likely to be injured or killed by landmines. However, in some societies women and girls are expected to take on a caregiving role for survivors, or they may be taken out of school or married at an early age in response to the loss of a provider.

>men most likely to be killed and injured by landmines

>women most affected

Seventy-five years after two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan — killing hundreds of thousands of people in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — one small community in the Northwest Territories is still haunted by its connection to the blasts. Across Great Bear Lake from the 533-person hamlet of Délı̨nę sits the historic mining site of Port Radium. [...] [T]he Canadian government quietly called for uranium production as part of the country's involvement in the Manhattan Project. That uranium was sent south to help the United States with the race to build a nuclear bomb. [...] [N]ear Great Bear Lake, workers would eventually wonder about the risks they took delivering sacks of ore on their backs as they sent it south — without being told what they were about to be complicit in. [...] Days after the blasts, the Canadian government announced the country's role in the explosions, citing the Great Bear Lake mine's uranium as a key ingredient for the project, said Geoffrey Bird, a professor at Royal Roads University in Victoria who studies tourism and the history of remembrance. An English-language sign connecting Port Radium to the atomic bomb was photographed in Délı̨nę in December 1945. [...] While the Canadian government hasn't apologized to Délı̨nę, the community has apologized to Japan. [...] Locals in Délı̨nę say many ore workers and their family members developed cancer later in life. [...] In the book If Only We Had Known, which tells the story of Port Radium from the eyes of the Sahtúot'ine, elders remember workers' clothing covered with dust, windy days when ore was caught up in the air and children playing games in mine tailings.

Text by: Katie Toth. “Spectre of atomic bomb still looms over N.W.T. community 75 years after Hiroshima.” CBC News. 5 August 2020.

---

[O]n 6 August 1998, 10 members of the small Sahtugot’ine Dene community of Deline (Fort Franklin) in the ‘Northwest Territories’ apologized in Hiroshima for the atomic destruction of that city – and the death of over 200,000 civilians – exactly 53 years earlier [...]. Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd. [was] placed under state control during World War Two. They [the Dene] were allowed only to help it [uranium] on its long and winding way, 3,000 miles by river, lake, road and air, from Port Radium on Great Bear Lake to Port Hope on Lake Ontario, where, from 1942-45, the suddenly precious ore – the ‘new gold’ of the atomic age – was, together with ‘Belgian’ uranium from the Congo, refined and dispatched to Los Alamos, the desert lab in New Mexico secretly building the new, city-smashing Superweapon. [...] Beginning in the 1970s, and spiking sharply in the 1980s, many of the men who had handled and carried the ore – and the men who had mined it – began to die from cancer [...]. The “Dene,” the CBC ‘revealed,’ “were never told of the health hazards they faced, even though the government knew … as early as 1932 that precautions should be taken in handling radioactive materials”. Instead [...] “workers [were] dressed in casual clothes and uranium dust [...] covered the men like flour.” [...] [A]s detailed in a December 1998 article [...] in First Nations Drum: [...] [T]he mine was kept running at a very high pace [...]. The Dene were employed as ‘coolies’ packing 45-kilogram sacks of radioactive ore for three dollars a day, working 12 hours a day, six days a week. This at a time when the ore was worth over $70,000 a gram. [...] In 1998, the Déline Dene Band Uranium Committee released a 160-page [...] report, “They Never Told Us These Things.” In a 2011 article in Maisonneuve, Salverson recounts a community meeting in Deline to discuss the report, “where [non-Dene] lawyers delivered a year’s worth of uranium-impact research from the archives in Ottawa,” revealing that in “the mountain of papers we dug up … there is not one mention of the Dene, your people.”

Text by: Sean Howard. “Canada’s Uranium Highway: Victims and Perpetrators.” Cape Breton Spectator. 7 August 2019.

Daily update post:

In my daily update post yesterdy, I mentioned two attack drones sent by Hezbollah, that invaded Israel's north. It was later published that one of the drones managed to carry out its attack, and it killed a 53 years old man, Yechezkel Azaria.

It's not surprising anymore, but the IDF found another terror tunnel shaft hidden underneath a baby's crib in Gaza.

The Iranian Islamic regime, which has been murdering girls and women for "immodesty" (meaning, if they happen to wear their hijab improperly), has been using a network of Iranian girls to seduce Israeli soldiers with nude pics of themselves, while fishing for info, according to the Iranian oppositionary website, Iran International.

For the first time since the start of the war, aid trucks entered Gaza directly from Israel, rather than be checked here, and go into Gaza through Egypt.

Two days after rockets were fired from Gaza into Jerusalem, some of the debris was found, including in a kindergarten's playground.

A Canadian teenager has been arrested for his part in an intended terrorist attack against Jews in Ottawa, for passing on instructions regarding how to build explosives, and orders to carry out the attack. This teen is the fifth to be arrested for terrorism related activity in Canada since June. Looking forward to people condamning Canada as a terrorist state for arresting kids.

Just a small reason to smile... Israeli soldiers from the Jewish Yemenite community, were walking through the Machne Yehuda market in Jerusalem, when they happened to catch Jewish Yemenite music being played, and they spontaneously started dancing to it. One of the steps they're doing is known in Israel as "the Yemenite step" and it's very popular among non-Yemenite Jews, too (this is also the daily reminder that Israeli Jews are not European. As a side note, based on their shoes, they're either paratroopers or completed a parachuting course).

Here's a vid from Daniel Ryan Spaulding, a gay, non-Jewish comedian, who has decided to take a firm stance against antisemitism. Most of his vids are hilarious, this one is from a serious panel he participated in, and he speaks about the rage people felt, when he dared go to the UN to hear the testimonies about the sexual violence committed by Hamas on Oct 7.

Lastly, this is 27 years old Inbar Haiman.

Inbar was a student, who was volunteering at the Nova music festival when Hamas invaded. She was taken hostage, and yesterday we got confirmation that she was murdered in captivity.

The past 70 days have been a nightmare of on going trauma and grief, because every single day, we learn of more people we've lost due to the Hamas massacre. Every single day I listen to the news, to the loved ones of those who are gone, giving interviews, or their eulogies being broadcast, I hear their voices breaking, and my heart breaks along, and it's 70 days of this hell, and it's not going to stop any time soon. Nothing that I write on Tumblr will ever convey the full impact, loss and pain of Oct 7, lasting 70 days and counting.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

Heyo! As a Canadian, are there any particular ways we can help Palestine? Also, who are the companies actively shipping shit to israel?

Hello! Thank you so much for the question. I'd first like to take the opportunity to state that the federal government in Canada right now -the Trudeau Government -has been terribly consistent with supporting the IOF. For DECADES -since the creation of the settler state (which should not be a surprise to anyone, of course), Canada has a LONG 'diplomatic' history of being pro-Isnotreal. For folks who don't know/aren't aware, since we often hear about/talk about the US's imperialistic policies and actions against many communities around the world (which, again is understandable given the billions in military aid they give to Isnotreal and the sheer amount of militaristic aggression and violence the US unleashes daily to people they deem a 'threat' to their empire) -but I always remind folks to not forget that Canada is equally awful and problematic.

The Trudeau government, like many MP's across party lines, have supported the IOF and the Trudeau government has denied genocide 'allegations' against Isnotreal at the ICJ. Trudeau is also the one who advocated for a "humanitarian pause," after stumbling on his words a few months ago, and has, from time to time, 'condemned,' the IOF military for going 'overboard' when he trickles in his little empathetic 'we are so concerned for the people in Gaza,' while in the same breath saying the IOF didn't strike hospitals... (side eyes).

These are some recent examples (the first in June, and December of 2023, respectively) -which shows proof that Canada exports weapons to the IOF (but often through the US -the article below addresses this). Since you asked about about which companies are shipping to Isnotreal, the only one I can reference is CN Rail [Canadian National Railway] (which is where some protests have happened), but there aren't any other particular companies I can reference because shipments are done relatively in secret, so there's not a strong/direct paper trail, so to speak. this is an except from the first article below:

"Canada doesn’t normally release many details on defence exports to Israel or other countries. Since 2015, however, the largest annual categories of shipments fall into three categories: bombs, torpedoes, missiles and other explosive devices; aircraft, drones, aero engines, aircraft equipment for military use and electronic equipment; spacecraft and components." "A 2020-2021 study by the House of Commons foreign affairs committee obtained records that shed some light on the goods Canadian firms were seeking permission to export to Israel, including transport vehicles, circuit boards for Israel’s fleet of F-15 and V-22 aircraft and components for radios." "The Canadian-made components that go into each F-35 don’t show up in Ottawa’s records of military goods exports because they are shipped to the United States, where the aircraft’s manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, is based, and Global Affairs Canada does not publish the full value of annual military exports to the U.S."

It is very concerning how the Canadian government operates this way, and we should all be demanding more transparency about arms transfers to the US. Project Ploughshares, the research committee that they spoke about in the first article, is a resource I would look into if you want to learn more about this. They focus on "disarmament efforts and international security specifically related to the arms trade..." I've attached their website below. You can also access previous webinars, reports, and commentary on their page on these topics.

There were 2 successful direct action protests in Canada, one in Winnipeg and the other in Montreal, in November and December of last year, respectively. Both of whom were blocking railways in an effort to raise awareness about Canada supporting and sending arms to Isnotreal.

This also happened recently:

Now, what can be done on our ends? Plenty -sharing and creating posts about what is happening -and telling the world we won't remain silent on the genocide happening in Gaza.

This is the most updated BDS movement list for you to boycott companies and brands that either profit off of or indirectly support the genocide of Palestinian people:

Oxfam also created this small article about what we can do to help which I find is a great start:

Some of the actions include emailing the Prime Minister (they have a template for you to work with), and I wanted to also include emailing your MP's (Members of Parliament), to demand a ceasefire.

There is also a current petition in parliament right now you can sign -it's a demand to a ceasefire, and also demands an investigation into Canadian arms deals/sells in Isnotreal -and for more transparency into this, generally speaking (you can read everything the MP outlines below). This is open until February 19th, 2024. I may also make a separate post about this too:

There are some petitions on change.org I know people have set up, so you can take a look there of course. There is also a source that Oxfam links -they have a section of current events/resources where you can take action. The most recent national march for Gaza was in December 2023 (it took place in Ottawa, on unceded and un-surrendered Algonquin territory -Parliament Hill), and I am sure more will be planned for those able to attend/what is accessible to you.

I know this was quite long, but I hope this offers some direction and clarity, if not encourages more people to look into some of these topics and issues more deeply. Thank you once again for sharing this today. I will also be updating my page soon.

As always, free Palestine!

✨💗 JJLNSSS ⸺ 01.) Have your SI / OC introduce themselves.

Shayleigh Disa Malmsteen

“Whad’ya mean ‘introduce myself’? If ya know me, ya know me. If ya don’t, it’s stayin’ like that. Now get outta my way! If I don’t fetch what Enya sent me for soon I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Hailing from Miami, Shay is one of a set of identical twin girls born to a Swedish motorcycle mechanic, which is where she gained her fondness for them. She’s since estranged from her father, being kicked out at seventeen and turning to a life of crime in an outlaw motorcycle gang to keep herself afloat. She is twenty three during the events of Stardust Crusaders. Finding herself in Cairo after fleeing the USA to escape possible gang retaliation after an “accidental” murder, she acts as a ‘gofer’ or errand girl of sorts for DIO and Enya. She’s most often sent around the city for various reasons, but sometimes also for tasks that would require great stealth (i.e. retrieving the Anubis sword from a museum).

Quiet Riot

Gained after being shot with a stand arrow, Quiet Riot is a fairly powerful short range stand. It’s main ability is to completely silence all noises from any person or object, with two ‘intensities’ — it can either mute within a 10 meter radius of itself, or focus all of its energy into one foe for a maximum of 100 meters. Its limited in that it cannot mute anything that is physically untouchable or dangerous for shay to be near (i.e. thunderstorms or explosion blast waves).

Richelle Angelique Sambora

“Bon soir. I’ve been instructed to aid in your demise.”

Born in Ottawa and later raised in Orange county, Richelle is the only child of a California native and a mother from Gatineau. Her parents split while she was still a baby, but remained under one roof to raise Richelle during her formative years. After her mother remarried a much older and much richer man, she and Richelle relocated to Beverly Hills which kickstarted a very turbulent period in her life. Between being in a new place with no friends and being “forced” into show business (by forced I mean politely declining her stepfather’s offer only to be berated by her mother for turning down “an offer that many girls would kill for”), it all led to a mental break in late 1988 when she was only nineteen. Her stepfather suggested she throw a dart at a map and go for a little vacation wherever it landed… You guessed it, Egypt. She wasn’t in Cairo long before encountering DIO, running into him just after sunset one night. She remembers being afraid, and then eerily calm, before suffering an ‘inexplicable’ gap in her memory.

Satet

Satet was also awoken by a stand arrow and is named after an Egyptian goddess of hunting. It was named by Enya as Richelle refused to name it. Satet is not a stand suitable for combat. It’s main ability is a tracker type stand, used to pinpoint the precise location of the Joestar party via small objects carefully planted on their persons. This information was be relayed to the other agents for them to formulate their assaults.

Omg yes!!! You are SO right!! Those were exactly my thoughts!

Like, when I saw your tags my first thought was „who’s what?“ and at first I was like „okay sid is the moon and Claude is the sun“. Because claude is energetic and loud and fun and warm and extroverted. And Sid is more introverted, hiding his personal self away from the media, a calmer personality yet powerful enough to change the tides.

But then at second thought I was like „no, wait. What if it was actually reversed?!“ because Sid is the shining star who’s pulling everybody in, whose over-shining others, who might burn you if you fly to close. He’s fire in the way he can light up the ice but also in the way he can (or could) hold a grudge. He’s the source of life and growth (and by that success) for the penguins. When’s he’s not there the team will suffer. Kinda like in winter the world suffers. And one day, when he retires, it will be like a supernova, a stars explosion, the end of the sun. And it might just leave the pens lifeless for a while.

Claude on the other hand has always spent his career kinda in the (night) shadows of others. Sid being the prime example. He has pulled people in, can pull people in, look at how his team loved him when he was captain, look at how Ottawa loves him now. But he’ll also push them away, loose them eventually. There is a shine to him cause he’s good enough at hockey for it but no golden brilliance cause the throphies are missing. His career has kinda been periodically, an up and down. His relationship with Sid definitely has. And despite all that he’s still here, still a constant, still pulling people in, still calming and guiding them.

So yeah, I think you’re right. Sid is the sun and claude is the moon. To the world and to each other.

and all claude can do is circle sid. his orbit never brings him any closer to his source of light, so all he can do is watch from a distance. the only constant claude can seem to have is the distance between him and sid.

BECCI.

YOU 👏 GET 👏 ME.

Any headcanons about how many homes America and Canada have?

Yes! They have many homes.

⭐ America ⭐

In New York City, America spent decades jumping from place to place. As the city grew, he moved from a house in Manhattan, to a Brooklyn apartment, to a flat in Queens, etc. Now, despite his best efforts, his current apartment is just a box with an AC unit sticking out the window. He wishes he could have a nicer place in NYC, but the market is too hot even for him.

In Los Angeles, he managed to snag a gorgeous Santa Monica house in the early Hollywood days before prices exploded into the stratosphere. Just a short walk to the Pacific ocean, he never sold it and it’s worth its weight in gold by now.

His spot in Washington D.C. is the one he most uses; a stately, historical home that would probably be turned into a small museum if he ever decides to sell it (but he never will). Sometimes, the place can get a bit messy, with papers, file folders, and take-out containers scattered about, but he’ll tidy up when company is coming.

A farm in Ohio that has seen better days. In the early 20th century, he used the barn as a workshop to tinker with automobiles and flying machines. As a result, the barn is quite damaged, but America won’t repair it. He thinks the oil stains “add character”.

A lively hotel in Louisiana with a restaurant on the first floor. Yes, he owns the whole thing. It’s been managed by humans for generations within the same family. They cook massive Creole feasts whenever America drops by.

America doesn’t seek solitude often, but when he does, he goes to his mountain home in Colorado.

He stubbornly hangs onto his Texas ranch even though he doesn't raise cattle anymore.

Once he owned a beachfront property in Florida, but sold it after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, his childhood home in Boston caught fire after the Revolution and burnt down. The land it was on is now a popular public park with swing sets, monkey bars, and a huge curly slide. Many local children say it’s their favourite park in the city.

There are many more, of course, but those are some of his standout homes.

🍁 Canada 🍁

Of all his homes, Canada stays at his Ottawa house most often. The backyard is filled with a rainbow of tulips and it’s within cycling distance to Parliament Hill. He keeps several pairs of ice skates for himself and whoever visits during the winter, so they can go skating over the frozen Rideau Canal.

Canada’s Toronto flat is the most modern-looking of his dwellings, but that isn’t saying much. It’s an industrial loft with mismatched furniture still stuck in the 1980s. It really isn’t his favourite place, but he likes the view of the skyline at sunset.

One of his childhood homes is still standing; a humble, stonework Montreal house. It’s been restored by historical societies; fresh paint on the door, a tidy lawn, and black soot swept away. He made an arrangement to lease it as a museum, but has the opportunity to return and stay there whenever he chooses.

There’s a ramshackle log cabin he built himself in Algonquin park, many years before it was designated as parkland. To quote my NedCan fic: “... a stone base decorated in moss. Turn-of-the-century windows and an amber-stained porch pleasantly frame the main door, while the modernized roof and chimney stack create a mishmash of different eras... like a favourite worn blanket; too beloved to be discarded, and so instead is repeatedly patched.”

On the east coast, he has a home in Halifax proper. Sadly, his original was destroyed in the Halifax Explosion and was rebuilt to the standards of the 1920s. He misses his older house, because it was where Scotland would visit during his childhood.

In St. John’s, he has a very colourful building, painted bright red with white window frames and small gardens in both the front and back.

A simple, suburban bungalow in Red Deer, Alberta. Perfect for business and relaxation, because it’s halfway between both Edmonton and Calgary and keeps the Rocky Mountains within reach. Piles of hiking gear are stored in the attic, basement, and the garage. When he can spare the time, he’ll drive out to the Rockies for weeks of camping, climbing, hiking, or skiing.

His British Columbia home is surrounded by old-growth trees.

Overall, Canada tries to have at least one home in each of his provinces and territories. If, at the time of travel, he doesn’t, he'll try to lodge in a wildlife research centre. The scientists, who usually work for the government, don’t mind his presence at all.

Thank you for the ask!! 💜

i might be naive but i dream about world peace every day. i remember asking my mom if we won the war after learning what it meant to live somewhere called suomi finland and my mom said wars have no winners. i am thinking about this while following the news on the current armed conflicts around the world. last week i read a column by a peace activist in which they critisized the finnish and swedish conversation on "preparing for war" by going to the gym and stocking our pantries while the press and politicians in both countries refuse to face the horrors of war and the discussion never reaches a point of how war is always a humanitarian crisis. my 72h food reserve will warm me for a few days but my boyfriend will be very quickly called to defuse explosives, which is what he was trained for. we were discussing anti-personnel mines with him because the ottawa mine contract has been a point of discussion in the election and my boyfriend just said "that would be what kills me." i don't want to have this serious undercurrent to these conversations and i don't want to think about the 1300 km of border with russia every time i think about my future and i don't want the state taking away my right for privacy by exploiting the rekindled fear of russia finns have. the fist is tightening around us.

News from Newfoundland and Labrador, 14 July

1. Police continue to investigate stabbing in St Johns in Topsail Road.

A 34-year-old man was seriously injured in a stabbing in the west end of St. John’s.

The assault took place between Bay Bulls Road and Topsail Road.

Police are urging anyone with information or video footage of the area during the specified time to come forward.

2. A man from Bell Island is facing charges after being caught on 12 July with drugs in a car which was pulled over for speeding.  He was driving while his licence was suspended and showing signs of driving impaired.

3. Near miss at Braya refinery.  A Stop-work order has not been issued by the department. 

Occupational Health and Safety is investigating a "near-miss" incident at the Braya refinery in Come By Chance, involving drilling on a repurposed line that had previously been in nitrogen service.

The line was not in service or under pressure at the time of the incident, and internal analysis was conducted before sharing the findings with OHS and employees.

This incident comes almost a year after a fatal explosion at the refinery, which resulted in a criminal negligence investigation by the RCMP.

4.  Clean-up underway after an unexpected tornado in Half Moon Bay.

5. Electrically-serviced campsites in loops A and B of Newman Sound Campground in Terra Nova Park are currently without power.

6. Oceana Canada is concerned about DFO’s failure to close Capelin Fishery [via VOCM].

OC says that the Canadian government, specifically the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), is not effectively incorporating climate change data and research into fisheries management decisions, which is exacerbating the depletion of fish stocks.

7. Candidate Tony Wakeham is releasing his healthcare plan for connecting residents with a primary provider for healthcare.

Tony Wakeham's health care plan focuses on improving access to timely care in Newfoundland and Labrador by connecting every resident with a primary health care provider and establishing family health care teams.

The plan prioritizes job offers to health care professionals at the beginning of their training to address the shortage of healthcare providers in the province.

Wakeham emphasizes the urgency of addressing the lack of access to health care and believes that waiting for the long-term vision of the Health Accord is not feasible for the province.

8. Musgrave Harbour failed to respond to two access to information requests, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has found [per VOCM].

9. It is peak tourism for Newfoundland and Labrador right now. Business has picked up but the sector still faces challenges, including air access [per VOCM].

Small businesses in the hospitality industry, such as restaurants and tour companies, are relying on a busy summer season to help cover costs and repay loans taken out during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staffing shortages, inflation, and rising food prices are adding to the challenges faced by businesses in the summer, but increased tourism can help offset these difficulties.

Business owners are implementing strategies such as menu changes, hiring immigrants, and raising prices to adapt to the current economic conditions and make the most of the summer season.

CreativeMornings Ottawa: March 2023

Gaby el Ashkar and the link between corruption and creativity

For as long as Gaby el Ashkar has known corruption, he has known creativity.

Gaby grew up in Beirut, Lebanon in the throes of a civil war. While some see creativity as a calling, Gaby turned to it first as a coping mechanism. Art became a way for him to make sense of the world. Today, he is a multidisciplinary visual artist, interior architect, and award-winning designer.

Over the years, Gaby observed how the corruption in Lebanon was made possible by a devious creativity. Corrupt individuals relied on design principles such as scale, manipulation, placement of images, and repetition to distract and deceive. And it was working—like an inkblot creeping across the page, the tendrils of corruption extended from individuals to compromise society and systems. 

As Gaby shared during his talk, this system-level corruption culminated in two significant events: a financial heist in which Lebanese citizens found their funds diverted and squandered by a state bank scheme. Overnight, people lost almost their entire life savings and were denied the ability to withdraw what was left. The second event was the deadly explosion at the Beirut port in 2020, the result of ammonium nitrate stored in a residential neighbourhood.

Gaby had experienced enough. Convinced that feeling exiled at home is worse than an exile that takes one away, he made the decision to move to Canada.

Through his art and his words, Gaby continues to speak out against corruption. From the stage at Bayview Yards, he implored us to use our creative outlets to shed light on the darkness of corruption. To counter indifference and unaccountability in pixels and clay, through lyrics and brushstrokes. 

We’ll leave the last words with Gaby: “Don’t look the other way. Be the just creativity that counters the devious one in order to preserve the colours of the things you find beautiful and worth fighting for.”

Our deepest gratitude to Gaby for sharing his powerful, poignant story. To see Gaby’s multidisciplinary work, visit his website or follow him on Instagram, @gabyelashkar. 

Echoes of our Past | February 3rd 1923

Librarian Richard Forrest takes a look at news highlights published in The Echo 100 years ago this week.

Attack at Dunkettle During the night there was an attack on the military guard at Dunkettle Station, three miles east of the city. It was beaten off without much difficulty. During the skirmish a bullet entered the signal cabin through a window and damaged some instruments. The wires on the line to Youghal were also cut during the night and, as a result, the down trains this morning were delayed for about three hours.

Cork District Sessions

This morning, before Mr. D.B. Sullivan B.L. Denis Leary, 4 James Street, was charged with having been drunk and disorderly in Parnell Place last night. The disorderly conduct was that he made use of bad language outside a public house door. Defendant said he had come out of hospital only that day and that his head “was not very good”. Cornelius Cooney, an ex-soldier, was charged by Patrolman Moore with having been drunk and incapable on Half Moon Street at 1 a.m. this morning. Cooney said he had been wounded in the head and that whenever he took a pint or two he staggered. Defendant was lying on the footpath asleep. Both defendants paid fines at once and were discharged.

A Deserving Charity

A appeal will be held next Sunday for St. Mary Magdalen’s charity and a charity sermon will be preached at the North Cathedral by the Rev. J. Aherne. This charity is worthy of the best support of the citizens. Collections will be held in all churches. It is to be hoped that a generous response will be forthcoming. There are over a hundred penitents to be maintained and funds are very scarce. Many subscriptions will be needed if it is to continue its magnificent work.

 Joint Hospitals Board

Three tenders were received for the supply of a motor van. The lowest was that of W.J. Thompson, Mallow for £179 and this was accepted. The others were £188 and £201. A letter was read from the County Technical Committee asking the Board that when it makes appointments in cases where Irish is essential to accept the certificate awarded by them. The application was accepted. On the motion of Mr. O’Connell T.C., seconded by Mr. Golden (Rural District Council), the salary of Miss O’Doherty was increased by £15 a year.

Cork I.D.A. Meeting

Arising out of communication with the Marine Investigation Department, the Secretary informed the meeting that the butter on board the ss. Duchess branded “Lismore Castle Brand” was tested by experts and found to be Irish. As its origin was in dispute the Secretary had communicated with Paxman & Co., Lismore and received the following response, “We received your letter of the 24th and in reply beg to inform you that the 24 keels of butter which were shipped from Liverpool on board the ss. Duchess were Irish butter packed by ourselves. They were in storage in Bootle Cold Stores and we are getting them back for our Irish trade. We have no agent in Liverpool”. In view of the fact that Paxman’s were obliged to ship their butter to Liverpool for cold storage purposes, it was decided to get in touch with the company again and recommend the facilities offered in Cork by the Cork Pure Ice Warehousing and Cold Storage Co.

News from Around the World

112 bodies have been recovered so far from the Heinitz Pit near Beuthen, Germany after a violent explosion last Wednesday. It is feared there are still 28 bodies in the mine. Three earthquake tremors have been recorded near Ottawa. The epicentre being 6.5 kilometres away. The third was the most severe and occurred around midnight. There was some excitement in the South African Union House of Assembly caused by the close voting on the Women’s Enfranchisement Bill. It was defeated by 56 votes to 55. Some blame a woman in the gallery for shouting at the Prime Minister. Lord Carnarvon has said at Luxor that the “Ushahtl”, or small image of King Tuttankhamen is probably the finest piece that the sepulchre contains. A dredger turned turtle in the river Humber shortly after leaving the dock at Hull yesterday morning resulting in the loss of six lives.

An Arcadian Cork Ballroom

On a glorious night of light and melody during the week it was my good fortune to breathe the Arcadian atmosphere of a Cork ballroom. The laughter, the beauty, the inspiration. The sylphs who hither and thither floated. All were there. Colour and beauty of form abounded, and the world called Earth seemed far away. The soft, close-clinging garments that wrapped those swaying, slow moving figures attracted only by the beauty of their wearer. The brilliance that shone on hair and throat and delicately draped arm drew only admiration unalloyed. Beneath those bright lights, within the magic region of that sweet music, only one thought was shared, only one aspiration actuated - beauty, happiness. No queryings there concerning wealth or birth. No contemplation upon rank, station, affluence or influence. One objective guided. One inspiration sufficed. Unity of effort completed the perfect whole: “Let joy be unconfined”, and joy was the portion of all.

St. Finbarrs vs. St. Marys

The clash between St. Finbarr’s and St. Mary’s in the Poor Children’s Excursion Fund last Sunday was a strenuous contest throughout. The first half was altogether in the champion’s favour but the second balanced out. St. Mary’s is now a combination of St. Mary’s and Fair Hill players and they finally pulled together in that half though their scoring line let them down rather badly. With more practice and polish the amalgamation will take some beating. The full-time whistle left the Barrs winners by a comfortable margin. W. Aherne, Cork County Board, acted as referee and gave general satisfaction.

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

‘Perfect storm’ swirls as Canadians face hot inflation, rising rates (Reuters) At a warehouse on an industrial stretch in Ottawa, giant metal crates of donated groceries are piled high as volunteers sort canned goods, pasta and other foods to be distributed to pantries around the Canadian city. Demand has surged 33% at the Ottawa Food Bank from pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with visits up as spiraling grocery, gas and rent prices, along with fast-rising borrowing costs, leave more Canadians struggling to make ends meet. “We are absolutely seeing more people,” said Rachael Wilson, chief executive of the Ottawa Food Bank, adding the organization is now spending C$6 million ($4.4 million) a year on food, up from C$2 million pre-pandemic. “That’s because the cost of food has risen ... but also because of the number of people that are turning to a food bank right now,” said Wilson. “It is unfortunately a perfect storm.” Canada’s headline inflation rate has eased to 6.9% from a peak of 8.1%, but food costs are still accelerating.

Poll workers train for conflict (AP) Milwaukee’s top election official surveyed about 20 poll workers gathered in a classroom in a city building stuffed with election supplies, then spoke frankly about the tense environment they may face next week when the city expects more people watching their work than ever before. “So who is worried about observer disruptions?” Claire Woodall-Vogg, head of the Milwaukee Election Commission, asked the group. “Who has read things or heard things on the news, and you’re a little nervous? I am. I’ll raise my hand,” she said, smiling. A few of the workers raised their hands, too. They’re not alone in their concern: Election officials across the country are bracing for confrontational poll watchers fueled by lies about the legitimacy of the 2020 election spread by former President Donald Trump and others, even after Trump’s loss was upheld by repeated reviews, audits and recounts, and courts rejected legal challenges.

Brazil’s brash President Bolsonaro mum after election loss (AP) In Brazil’s capital on Monday, the silence was deafening. Nearly a full day after President Jair Bolsonaro lost his bid for reelection, the usually brash right-wing leader had neither conceded defeat nor challenged the results of the country’s closest political contest in more than three decades. Bolsonaro hadn’t spoken a word to reporters camped outside the official residence or the supporters who regularly gather nearby. Nor did he post on his otherwise prolific social media platforms. The only sign of protest came from Bolsonaro-supporting truckers who blockaded some roads across the country.

With Western Weapons, Ukraine Is Turning the Tables in an Artillery War (NYT) On the screen of a thermal imaging camera, the Russian armored personnel carrier disappeared in a silent puff of smoke. “What a beautiful explosion,” said First Lt. Serhiy, a Ukrainian drone pilot who watched as his weapon buzzed into a Russian-controlled village and picked off the armored vehicle, a blast that was audible seconds later at his position about four miles away. The war in Ukraine has been fought primarily through the air, with artillery, rockets, missiles and drones. And for months, Russia had the upper hand, able to lob munitions at Ukrainian cities, towns and military targets from positions well beyond the reach of Ukrainian weapons. But in recent months, the tide has turned along the front lines in southern Ukraine. With powerful Western weapons and deadly homemade drones, Ukraine now has artillery superiority in the area, commanders and military analysts say. Ukraine now has an edge in both range and in precision-guided rockets and artillery shells, a class of weapons largely lacking in Russia’s arsenal. Ukrainian soldiers are taking out armored vehicles worth millions of dollars with cheap homemade drones, as well as with more advanced drones and other weapons provided by the United States and allies. The Russian military remains a formidable force. Still, there is no mistaking the shifting fortunes on the southern front.

Russia’s security service works to subvert Moldova’s pro-Western government (Washington Post) When thousands of protesters gathered last month outside Moldova’s presidential palace calling for the country’s pro-Western leader to step down, the man behind the demonstration—an opposition party leader in exile in Israel—soon received plaudits from Moscow. One senior Russian politician praised the protest organizer, Ilan Shor, as “a worthy long-term partner” and even offered the Moldovan region led by Shor’s party a cheap Russian gas deal, according to Shor’s press service. Referred to as “the young one” by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the 35-year-old Shor is a leading figure in the Kremlin’s efforts to subvert this former Soviet republic, intelligence documents and interviews with Moldovan, Ukrainian and Western officials show. The documents—part of a trove of sensitive materials obtained by Ukrainian intelligence and reviewed by The Washington Post—illustrate how Moscow continues to try to manipulate countries in Eastern Europe even as its military campaign in Ukraine falters. The FSB has funneled tens of millions of dollars from some of Russia’s biggest state companies to cultivate a network of Moldovan politicians and reorient the country toward Moscow, the documents and interviews indicate.

At Least 140 Killed in India as Suspension Bridge Collapses (NYT) At least 140 people were killed after a century-old pedestrian bridge collapsed in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Sunday evening, sending hundreds plunging into the Machchhu River, officials said. About 350 people were on and around the bridge, a major tourist attraction, at the time of the collapse, said Brijesh Merja, a minister in the Gujarat government. A large number of those who died were children, women and older people, according to officials. The bridge collapsed four days after it was reopened to the public and about seven months after the start of renovation work. Built in 1880, during the Victorian era, it is about 755 feet long.

Shanghai Disney shuts over COVID, visitors unable to leave (Reuters) Shanghai’s Disney Resort abruptly suspended operations on Monday to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures, with all visitors at the time of the announcement directed to stay in the park until they return a negative test for the virus. The Shanghai government said on its official WeChat account the park was barring people from entering or exiting and that all visitors inside the site would need to await the results of their tests before they could leave. Anyone who had visited the park since Oct. 27 would need to test for COVID-19 three times in three days, it said. Shanghai reported 10 locally transmitted cases for Oct. 30, all of which it said were people without symptoms.

In Xi’s China, even internal reports fall prey to censorship (AP) When the coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019, reporter Liao Jun of China’s official Xinhua News Agency told conflicting stories to two very different audiences. Liao’s news dispatches assured readers the disease didn’t spread from person to person. But in a separate confidential report to senior officials, Liao struck a different tone, alerting Beijing that a mysterious, dangerous disease had surfaced. Her reports to officials were part of a powerful internal reporting system long used by the ruling Communist Party to learn about issues considered too sensitive for the public to know. Chinese journalists and researchers file secret bulletins to top officials, ensuring they get the information needed to govern, even when it’s censored. But this internal system is struggling to give frank assessments as Chinese leader Xi Jinping consolidates his power, making it risky for anyone to question the party line even in confidential reports, a dozen Chinese academics, businesspeople and state journalists said in interviews with The Associated Press.

South Korea begins probe into deadly Halloween crush (Reuters) South Korean investigators combed footage on Monday from more than 50 state and private closed-circuit TV cameras as well as from social media looking for answers to how a surge in Halloween party-goers trapped in narrow alleys killed so many. As the country began a week of mourning, the death toll climbed to 154. Another 149 people were injured, 33 of them in serious condition. Tens of thousands of revellers—many in their teens and twenties and dressed in costume—had crowded into narrow streets and alleyways of the popular Itaewon district on Saturday for the first virtually unrestricted Halloween festivities in three years. Chaos erupted when people poured into one particularly narrow and sloping alley, even after it was already packed, witnesses said. On Monday, people laid white chrysanthemums, drinks and candles at a small makeshift altar off an exit of the Itaewon subway station. Jung Si-hoon, a retiree, placed an old wooden cross at the altar, saying nothing could be done to bring back all the young people who had died. “Those poor people, all at similar ages to my grandchildren... What more should we say? We should pray for them and wish they rest in peace,” he said.

Iran charges female journalists who helped break Amini’s story with being CIA spies (Washington Post) The two female Iranian journalists who helped break the story of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman whose death in the custody of the so-called morality police last month sparked a nationwide uprising, were formally accused late Friday of being CIA spies and the “primary sources of news for foreign media”—the former a crime punishable by the death penalty in Iran. Journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi have been held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison since late September as Iran’s clerical leaders have struggled to contain an outpouring of public anger and protests calling for their overthrow. In the joint statement sent to Iranian media late Friday local time, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the highly-feared guardians of Iran’s security state, accused the CIA of orchestrating Hamedi and Mohammadi’s reporting, and said “allied spy services and fanatic proxies,” planned the nationwide, leaderless unrest. Both Hamedi and Mohammadi’s top editors denied the charges Saturday and said the journalists were only doing their jobs. “What they have referred to as evidence for their charges is the exact definition of journalists’ professional duty,” the Journalist Association of Iran said in a statement Saturday.

Tight race in Israel (AP) Israeli voters appear to be hopelessly deadlocked as the country heads to elections once again on Tuesday, with opinion polls saying the race is too close to forecast. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who governed for 12 years before he was ousted last year, is asking voters to give him another chance, even as he stands trial on corruption charges. The current prime minister, Yair Lapid, has billed himself as a voice of decency and unity. He hopes his brief term as head of a caretaker government has shown voters that someone besides Netanyahu can lead the country. In Israel’s fragmented political system, neither Netanyahu’s hard-line Likud party nor Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid is expected to capture enough seats in parliament to form a new government. Instead, each hopes to secure the required 61-seat majority in the Knesset, or parliament, with the support of smaller political allies. If neither succeeds, Israel could soon be facing another election, after already holding five votes in under four years.

Firsts

We are hosting our first guest from the Russian/Ukrainian conflict. At least the first one to make it as far as our house, by way of Armenia, Frankfurt, and Vancouver. Flights of 5, 10, and 6 hrs respectively over a period of 2 days. The place she was waiting in Armenia, where she travelled to get her Covid vaccine in order to travel further, was struck by explosions along the Azerbaijan border the day after she left. Just in time. Our guest is Svetlama, Russian-born but married to a Ukrainian citizen who is currently on the first leg of his long own journey of travel visas and the lottery of permissions.

We are all getting to know one another, and there are many firsts. No language barrier, which was our first surprise, the odd colloquialism notwithstanding. She is the first in our household to test positive for Covid 19, likely picked up through one of her 3 flights, in stressful exhaustion, and in spite of full vaccination. Happily her symptoms are no worse than a mild summer cold, and the rest of the household continues to test negative. She will also heal first thanks to lots of ginger and zinc and juice and extra sleep according to a strange clock. It is her first time to Canada, where she had her first corn fresh on the cob instead of out of a can, and in the course of legal errands, her first taste of the infamous Canadian default of politeness. She is used to a much more direct and often demanding way of communication, and her first impression is that we are as a country, genuinely nice. And, that we have very few fences.

I have been thinking a lot about firsts. All of the firsts someone emigrating to a place they have only heard of must navigate after the physical transportation;  language, customs, rules and expectations that are required just to find a bed for the first night, and that first meal that likely lacks  and of the the comfort food of home. When Svetlana first talked about missing dumplings, we figured out that frozen perogies were our closest approximation. Courtesy of her culinary talents we had our first Russian salad of potatoes and beets and peas in mayonnaise and a concoction of garlic paste on a slice of garden-warm tomato that was easily the best of the new firsts for me.  The very first meal that we cooked together on her first full day was all around a centrepiece of mashed potatoes, the universal comfort food. Our first meeting was through the stutter of a video chat, but it was enough for all of us to feel reassured enough that when the time came, actual airport greetings were almost anticlimactic.  Svetlana’s first coffee on the early morning ride home from the Ottawa airport was of course Tim Horton’s, achieved in her very first drive-through experience.  When My Beloved’s employer R.K. Porter heard about our guest, their first thought was to  help with flight expenses, for which we all are grateful.

One can drive in Canada on a Russian licence for up to 60 days. Who knew?  Road signs and rules are pretty much identical. But one must get Canadian adaptations for things like lap tops and phone chargers to accommodate the differences in household voltage.Oh, and the chance of getting shot or  going  suddenly  missing after voicing a political opinion is pretty low here too.

This whole experience has come about because of war-driven firsts in the families from which my Beloved and her siblings spring; on the paternal side was a Marianovits grandfather who came from Russian-Ukrainian-Hungarian soil to make a better life here in Canada. On the maternal side were 3 Fletcher children, siblings sent from England to North America for their safety, two of whom ended up permanently in Canada. My Beloved remains indebted to all of those firsts and wants to keep alive the legacies of welcome and possibility in humble gratitude for the kindnesses extended to her own ancestors. Already, in our own little village there is a wellspring of support and resources on offer for Svetlana. Everybody wants to help because on some level, we all can appreciate the feeling of leaving home, of being the first, of having faith that we should never have to do so alone.

Sunday, May 12, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: 2024 BAFTA TELEVISION AWARDS (BritBox) NAKED AND AFRAID XL (Discovery Canada) 8:00pm INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (AMC Canada) 9:00pm THE CHI (Crave) 9:00pm TIME100: THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE (CHCH/ABC Feed/Check Local Listings) SMILING FRIENDS (adult swim) 12:00am

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT?: EXPEDITION FROM HELL: THE LOST TAPES (Premiering on May 13 on Discovery Canada at 8:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CBC GEM THE BORGIAS (Season 2)

NETFLIX CANADA PAIN & GAIN

IIHF MEN’S HOCKEY (TSN) 6:00am: Finland vs. Great Britain (TSN3) 6:00pm: Slovakia vs. Kazakhstan (TSN/TSN3) 10:00am: Denmark vs. Canada (TSN3) 2:00pm: Sweden vs. Poland

MLS SOCCER (TSN5) 12:00pm: CF Montreal vs. Miami

MLB BASEBALL (SN1) 1:00pm: Twins vs. Jays (SN Now) 4:00pm: Dodgers vs. Padres (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 9:30pm: Atlanta vs. Mets

NBA BASKETBALL (SN1) 3:00pm: NBA Draft Lottery (SN1) 3:30pm: Game 4 - Knicks vs. Pacers (SN360) 8:00pm: Game 4 - Nuggets vs. Timberwolves

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 6:30pm: Game 4 - Panthers vs. Bruins (SN/SN1) 9:30pm: Game 3 - Canucks vs. Oilers

RACE AGAINST THE TIDE (CBC) 7:00pm/7:30pm: It's fright night on the beach as the teams create the most terrifying monsters they can muster. In Episode Two, six teams still remain, and things will get frosty as the sculptors turn New River Beach into a winter wonderland.

CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE (CBC) 8:00pm: The four remaining teams swim the Rideau Canal locks in Ottawa; loyalty is tested as Brandon reveals a shocking twist.

GHOSTING (CBC) 9:00pm/9:30pm : Kevin Alves returns to the woods with Luke and Matthew as they explore the evil McDonald Log Cabin in Alliston, Ontario. In Episode Two, Katie Douglas joins Luke and Matthew as they investigate the sinister past of the Auchmar Manor in Hamilton, Ontario.

SULLIVAN'S CROSSING (CTV) 9:00pm: Uncertain about her own future as well as that of the Crossing, Maggie tries to find a way to help Sully.

ONE BAD APPLE: A HANNAH SWENSEN MYSTERY (CTV Drama) 9:00pm: Hannah meets a new side of law and order as she investigates a murder.

INTO THE DARK: SCHOOL SPIRIT (T&E) 9:00pm: A group of students, stuck in weekend detention, find themselves haunted by the school's legendary supernatural entities.

WHEN CALLS THE HEART (Super Channel Heart & Home) 9:00pm: Elizabeth confronts an imposing figure from her past; Rosemary helps Lee navigate a new leadership role; Lucas struggles to find bidders for his resort project.

PROSPER (Super Channel Fuse) 9:00pm: Explosive secrets come to light as the Quinn's prepare for the launch of U Star LA.

BRYAN'S ALL IN (HGTV Canada) 10:00pm: Zach and his mom, Joanne, need Bryan's help to transform an unused building into a boutique gym and upper-level apartment; with big dreams of entrepreneurship, Zach wants to inspire kids in his small town to stay on the right side of the tracks..

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND: DRILLING DOWN (History Canada) 10:00pm: Matty joins the team back in Traverse City to review all the incredible finds uncovered for the year and gets a head start on what's to come.