Another day, another dollar . . . or in the case of Canada, another 80 cents! We were to have rain yesterday and last night but it passed over my area. The US gulf coast won’t be so lucky as hurricane Harvey looks like it will bring storm surges and flooding to parts of Texas and other gulf states. Please be safe all of you in those areas! And tomorrow, my little girl will turn 9 years old so we will be having a celebration of fresh roasted chicken breast which is a real favourite with the furbabes!
Short Takes
CBC — It’s taken more than 150 years to erect a monument honouring the 40,000 Canadians who fought in the American Civil War, and Rob McLachlan is hoping next month’s unveiling near Cornwall, Ont., won’t be delayed by the controversies swirling around memorials to the Confederacy south of the border.
The founder of the Grays and Blues of Montreal, a Civil War re-enactment group, doesn’t think the Sept. 16 unveiling will be controversial. After all, some 90 per cent of Canadians who fought in the Civil War served with Abraham Lincoln’s Union forces.
“It’s not propagating Robert E. Lee or the Confederacy or what have you,” McLachlan told CBC News.
“It’s propagating the fact Canadians were involved, and the majority were in the North. It just recognizes that historical fact.”
Of those estimated 40,000 Canadians who fought south of the border, around 4,000 Canadians fought for the Southern Confederacy.
Prior to the recent deadly clash between far right protesters and anti-racist activists in Charlottesville, Va., over a Canada has a statue dedicated to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the only media paying attention to their monument on the grounds of the Lost Villages Museum in Long Sault, Ont., was the Cornwall newspaper.
I had no idea that Canadians had fought in the American Civil War, mostly for the Union side. The terminus of the underground railway, spiriting slaves and others from the South, also was in eastern Canada. During the American Revolution, the United Empire Loyalists fled the US and headed up to Canada. Canada has a very long association with the US, including the War of 1812 when the British (Canada) beat the Americans.
Huffington Post — A science envoy for the Department of State sent a resignation letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday with a not-so-subtle secret message: “IMPEACH.”
Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley, told Trump in a letter dated Wednesday that his decision to quit his State Department post is “in response to your attacks on core values of the United States.” As one example, he cited Trump’s reaction to the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, calling the response “consistent with a broader pattern of behavior that enables sexism and racism.”
But it’s Kammen’s acrostic — the first letter of each paragraph spelling out a word — that sends a blunter message to Trump: IMPEACH.
A number of higher profile people have or are in the process of leaving various positions in the US federal government in protest over Trump policies. This letter is from Prof Daniel Kammen and the first letter of each paragraph spells out “IMPEACH”. There is a similar acrostic in a resignation letter from the Arts and Humanities Advisory Council which spells out “Resist”. You can see that letter at the link. And in true Drumpf style, after the entire committee resigned, Drumpf dissolved the committee which had already ceased to exist. Drumpf always seems to want the last word. The last word I want Drumpf to utter is “I quit!”
Robert Reich — If you voted for Donald Trump, I get it. Maybe you feel you’ve been so badly shafted by the system that you didn’t want to go back to politics as usual, and Trump seemed like he’d topple that corrupt system.
You voted to change our country’s power base – to get rid of crony capitalism and give our government back to the people who are working, paying taxes, and spending more just to survive. Lots of Americans agree with you.
But now, the president is turning his back on that idea and the many changes he promised.
He did not drain the swamp. After telling voters how he would take control away from special interests, he has surrounded himself with the very Wall Street players he decried. Now, those who gamed politicians for tax loopholes and laws that reward the rich don’t even have to sneak around with backroom deals.
An excellent piece that even a Drumpf supporter should be able to understand.
CBC — Rain lashed down at a solemn ceremony in Ottawa today to mark the 75th anniversary of one of Canada’s bloodiest battles of the Second World War.
Shielding himself with an umbrella, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to those who fought and died with “grit and valour” in the Dieppe raid and to the parents, siblings, spouses and children who were left heartbroken.
Of the 5,000 Canadians who landed at Dieppe on Aug. 19, 1942, 907 were killed, 586 wounded and almost 2,000 were taken prisoner.
Trudeau said at that time, boys were forced to quickly become men — men of “tremendous bravery and fortitude, dedicated to country.”
“We often learn more about ourselves in our losses than our victories. We grow, we persevere, we learn hard truths,” Trudeau said. “The Dieppe raid was a devastating engagement for Canadian troops, and their loved ones back home. But, ultimately, our soldiers learned lessons that would help secure their victory two years later on the beaches of Normandy.
“For those lessons, we look back on the Dieppe raid with unshakable pride.” …
If you click on the “full screen” icon in the lower right corner of the video after you have started it, you will get the full picture. CBC videos seem to split when they are embedded.
“As we stand here 75 years later with this duty and this act of remembrance, it is all too fitting. Today and every day, we recommit ourselves to the pursuit of peace and justice for all. Today and all days, we remember.”
The battle at Dieppe is often overlooked, being outshone by D Day in June 1944. In truth, Dieppe was a precursor to D Day, a failed attempt to free Europe from Nazi control, and from which much was learned. Thank you for your service hardly seems adequate for those who were killed, wounded or captured.
My Universe — I know, I know! It’s a dawg! The dawg’s name is Rudy and he just loves going to school!
And now for cat lovers . . . my kind of people!
6 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 25 August 2017”
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CBC – I had one ancestor in the Civil War that I know of (on the Northern side of course) – If there were more, it would be on my father’s side of the family, as both my mother’s parents were immigrants. I didn’t know there were so many from Canada who fought, but it doesn’t really surprise me. I’m a little surprised there weren’t more fighting for the South, since the South had good, strong trade relations with Britain, and got some aid from there, which the Union did its best to put a stop to.
HuffPo – Yes, this was a good one.
Reich – Well, I understand he is being tactful, but those he is surrounding himself with are not the VERY same players – they are a whole lot worse players! But he hit a good point when he said they need to stand up and “speak out for the things you voted for” – not against or for any particular person. We can all learn from that.
CBC2 – Yes, without Dieppe there might well not have been a D-Day. Too bad we have such short attention spans here.
Universe – (a) Very – um – ENTHUSIASTIC woozle!
(b) WHERE’S MINE ???!!!?!??
When The Catnip Kicks In: ROTFLMAO!!! You should see my fur babies Aida and Helena when I give them catnip, especially fresh ‘nip.
My critter is in that 33% group that doesn’t react to catnip.
And boy … if I ever wanted one TO benefit from it, this is the one!
*sigh*
HuffPo: The science envoy for the U.S. State Department Dan Kammen has resigned in protest of President Trump’s refusal to quickly condemn the deadly white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month. In his resignation letter, Kammen, referring to Trump, wrote, “Your presence in the White House harms the United States domestically and abroad and threatens life on this planet.” The first letter of each paragraph of his resignation letter spells out the word: “Impeach.” We speak with Dan Kammen, professor of energy at University of California, Berkeley. Text & Video (CC) . Meet the State Dept. Science Envoy Who Spelled Out “Impeach” in His Resignation Letter to Trump Part 1: Meet the State Dept. Science Envoy Who Spelled Out “Impeach” in His Resignation Letter to Trump https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/25/meet_the_state_dept_science_envoy . Science Envoy who Resigned in Protest of Trump: Climate Change Makes Storms like Harvey More Severe Part 2: Science Envoy who Resigned in Protest of Trump: Climate Change Makes Storms like Harvey More Severe https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/25/science_envoy_who_resigned_in_protest .
You can keep the 4,000. We’ll take the rest!
Wonderful letter!
Great minds fall in the same ditch.
Dieppe was horrid! Those Canadian boys entered a meat grinder.
It’s party time!
Good one, Squatch!
CBC: Learned something new here today: 40,000 Canadians fought in America’s Civil War, of which only 10% fought for the Confederates. Those ar huge numbers, considering how thinly populated Canada must have been at that time. I can understand that Canadians want to commemorate their contribution, but I’m no fan of those reenactments, though. War is never play nor game.
HP: I think I’ve seen the acrostics in this resignation letter and that Drumpf’s Art Council mentioned on TV in a comedy news program. While all these resignations are excellent gestures, they’re also turning the whole Drumpf administration into a farce, and using acrostics like this only seems to make it more farcical in they eyes of outsiders.
RR: Spot on, as usual. Wish all Drumpf voters were open minded enough to at least look at this video. It would help them to change their minds by seeing that they’re not alone, that there’s no shame in standing up for the principles Drumpf had promised to stand for while dropping the hypocritical promise breaker.
CBC: The Dutch are thankful for the Canadians helping to liberate their country in 1945, and Dieppe was the first step in that liberation.
MU: Although I’m a cat person I do like the doggie that’s so eager to learn
, but of course I liked the cats best; more my kind of people too. Made me miss my cats back home in Holland, though.