Anyone who handled constituency correspondence in the 1980s will recall xeroxed pamphlets outlining Pearson's links to the KGB through a "homosexual cabal" (I recall this as I had to look up the definition of cabal for a francophone colleague) from his university days at Oxford. The leaflet also referred to the orgies in the attic at Sussex Drive, which were presided over by (then Clerk of the Privy Council) Michael Pitfield, and stated that Margaret Trudeau's discovery of this was what drove her over the edge. One version had a rather detailled description of the orgy, but I did not take note of the narrative sufficiently to retail it to shipmates.
Lubor Zink, then of the Toronto Sun, referred obliquely to these accusations in IIRC two of his columns, copies of which were helpfully atached to the pamphlets.
Life was not innocent before the Internet, but at least they had to Gestetner or photocopy their nonsense and put it in envelopes.
To balance this, Georgia Straight (the Vancouver alternative paper, then in its pre-restaurant review days), would provide us with information on how Trudeau, Pearson's chosen successor, was Nixon's stooge and collaborator in his war crimes. Fortunately the arrival of disco shifted public discourse.
I recall that the father of a friend of mine was obsessively anti-PET. When it was mooted that Trudeau would return from exile to lead the Liberals again (as he eventually did), said father said that he would publicise broadly PET's alleged bisexuality, ensuring that PET's reputation would be in irreparable tatters. He had the money and connections to do it, but never did. Perhaps there was a quiet scotch at the club after dinner. Of course, now that would barely twitch an eyebrow.
Orgies in the attic at 24 Sussex? Rather draughty for that, I should think. Or so I'm told.
Mention of Zubor J. Link brought me a wistful grin of nostalgia.
Indicative of the different times. At a café yesterday, my friend said, "Did you hear that François Arnaud came out as bisexual?" "Well, " I said, "he did make his name as a Borgia."
My point remains, though, political pamphlets aside, Pearson wasn't 'Bolshie' in any meaningful, self professed rdemonstrable way. the mutterings of political opponents aside. And I say that while sitting 200m from the manse he once lived in.
I know genuine Trots. The only trots Pearson had were the horsey kind.
Georgia Straight (the Vancouver alternative paper, then in its pre-restaurant review days)
In 1987, the old CBC show The Journal did a piece about the Straight's 20th anniversary, and made it sound like something that would get its readers placed on a CSIS list. When I finally got around to looking at the paper years later, I was like "Okay, so how is this different from the arts papers in Edmonton that review Shakespeare productions at the Citadel theatre?"
To balance this, Georgia Straight (the Vancouver alternative paper, then in its pre-restaurant review days), would provide us with information on how Trudeau, Pearson's chosen successor, was Nixon's stooge and collaborator in his war crimes. Fortunately the arrival of disco shifted public discourse.
The more things change etc. These days, some of the criticism of Chrystia Freeland comes from the "far-left"(for lack of a better phrase) who think she's conspiring with George Soros to impose her grandfather's nazi ideology on the world.
Apart from that, though, the vast majority of crticism of Ms. Freeland comes from people who are pretty close to being literal Nazis, and who think she's conspiring with Soros to impose Communism on the world.
I recall that the father of a friend of mine was obsessively anti-PET. When it was mooted that Trudeau would return from exile to lead the Liberals again (as he eventually did), said father said that he would publicise broadly PET's alleged bisexuality, ensuring that PET's reputation would be in irreparable tatters. He had the money and connections to do it, but never did. Perhaps there was a quiet scotch at the club after dinner. Of course, now that would barely twitch an eyebrow.
IANAL, but I would also think that, in Canada at that time, revealing or alleging things about a politician's sex life could get you sued, even if the alleged sexual activities were not technically criminal. And in 1980(which is the year we're talking about) saying someone was homosexual was pretty much the worst thing you could say about their sex life, short of things that were illegal.
Oh, and speaking of the often oddball intersection between politics and nostalgia, Marci Ien, the Liberal candidate to replace Morneau in Toronto Centre, was once a cast member on Circle Square.
(Cheezy Christian kids's show from the 80s. Heavily evangelical in orientation.)
My point remains, though, political pamphlets aside, Pearson wasn't 'Bolshie' in any meaningful, self professed rdemonstrable way. the mutterings of political opponents aside. And I say that while sitting 200m from the manse he once lived in.
I know genuine Trots. The only trots Pearson had were the horsey kind.
Well, he was on the Salonika front in WWI, where sanitary conditions were likely on the dicey side, but we have no evidence on that, I think. My point, which perhaps I did not make clearly enough, was that the allegations of Bolshieness was demented, or insanely partisan, or both. In spite of exteme opinion to the contrary, Pearson was nothing more than he seemed to be, a son of the manse who found employment in universities and the diplomatic service and somehow ended up as Prime Minister.
My own connexion with him is not as direct as yours. After WWII, most countries refused displaced persons with a history of tuberculosis (as did Canada), and they were not getting any better in the DP camps. Pearson prevailed over Immigration and obtained the admission of several hundred tubercular DPs to a sanitorium just to the east of Cornwall, where they were treated, cured as much as could be with scientific knowledge at the time, and then went on to rebuild their lives. This particular piece of humanity took much pushing and finagling, and hundreds were able to build new lives on account of his initiative. My mother, in her early teaching years, earned a bit of extra money teaching English to the last of the inmates and then to the Hungarian refugees who were housed there after the 1956 rebellion.
the allegations of Bolshieness [were] demented, or insanely partisan, or both.
As I've recently read in the Comments section of the Globe and Mail, regarding Freeland. One this week 'argued' that being the descendent of those who resided in a communist country, she carries socialism in her DNA, and so seeks to distribute all Canada's wealth to the world, beggaring us at home. Zink lives!
Turning away from such diverting topics, I might note that, emboldened by 5 days of sun and jonesing for a swim, I tried the waters at Westboro beach about 4 pm yesterday. As soon as I waded in, it became clear that gradual acclimation to the waters was not practical, so I just fell in and began to swim; and immediately jumped back out to avoid a heart attack through temperature shock. I think I managed two strokes. Several dog walkers and a group of Somali youths playing with a ball recognized my efforts as heroic and cheered me as I exited. I had hoped to make it to Michaelmas this year.... o well. It was refreshing.
A simple abstinence-day dish of cherry tomatoes, garlic, and shrimp, washed down with a glass of Navarrese rosé, helped to restore me.
That sounds delicious, A the A - the tomatoes and shrimps, not the swim ...
It's an easy one: handful of chopped garlic cloves to simmer in a bit of olive oil for a minute, toss in the cherry tomatoes and let them cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin bursts, a healthy knob of butter, followed by the shrimp. Let them cook for another 2-3 minutes and serve on rice or flat noodles. 5 minutes prep and 6-8 minutes cooking. Harissa or ginger if you want to energize it.
As soon as I waded in, it became clear that gradual acclimation to the waters was not practical, so I just fell in and began to swim; and immediately jumped back out to avoid a heart attack through temperature shock. I think I managed two strokes.
That was a slightly worrying juxtaposition on first reading...
We are in Ottawa this weekend for family reasons - the weather is beautiful though in a decidedly autumnal way.
Augustine's mention of Michaelmas put me in mind.... does anyone here observe the roast goose at Michaelmas tradition? Not this year, of course, but ever?
Re swimming at this time of year. I did some major exertional work at our cabin. The sun out and it being warm, I checked the water temp with a thermometer after my quick immersion. My landing gear had retracted into my fuselage. 12°C.
Augustine's mention of Michaelmas put me in mind.... does anyone here observe the roast goose at Michaelmas tradition? Not this year, of course, but ever?
I had no idea roast goose was a Michaelmas tradition, but a friend of ours keeps threatening to roast a goose for St. Martin's Day (November 10). Not likely to happen this year, for obvious reasons.
In case you missed the federal gov't stuff today: JT says
-the second wave is here and could be worse than the first
-get the flu shot
-download the COVID-19 app
-wear a mask
-don't get together for Thanksgiving because there's a chance to save Christmas
The last thing I want is to give the government a tool to track me wherever I go. Not happening.
With 1 active case in our county, the second wave is either restricted to the big cities, or it is pretty mild.
If you have an Android or iOS cell phone, location turned on, and have not specifically added an app which will block such things, you're much more tracked by corporations, mostly non-Canadian, than the COVID app does.
COVID Alert does not use GPS or track your location.
It has no way of knowing:
your location
your name or address
your phone's contacts
your health information
the health information of anyone you're near
Nobody will get any information about you or the time you were near them.
Noting the functionality is: Bluetooth to exchange random codes with nearby phones.
Every day, it checks a list of random codes from people who tell the app they tested positive.
If you've been near one of those codes in the past 14 days, you'll get a notification. So it is all up to you.
Does that mean that it only knows your location in relation to someone else's phone? When I was reading that, I couldn't understand how it would know that you were near someone else unless it knew where you are, but I think I see what they're doing now.
I was happy enough to download the Scottish version, as I'm inclined to think that (assuming it works better than the shambolic English version) the positives of stopping the spread of the virus outweigh any worries I might have about the government knowing where I am.
In case you missed the federal gov't stuff today: JT says
-the second wave is here and could be worse than the first
-get the flu shot
-download the COVID-19 app
-wear a mask
-don't get together for Thanksgiving because there's a chance to save Christmas
The last thing I want is to give the government a tool to track me wherever I go. Not happening.
With 1 active case in our county, the second wave is either restricted to the big cities, or it is pretty mild.
As it stands, your location is known by your carrier, anyway. And if they know where you've been, the government can know where you've been. I'm not arguing for acquiescence, in the least, just pointing out that if you're in the habit of carrying your phone all the time, as most people are, then the battle has been lost.
And so far, at least, you're right that the second wave (if this is the second wave) is so far a big city phenomenon.
As far as I understand @Piglet the info is the user of the phone who is being informed they may have been exposed. It's via "bluetooth". Not internet (wife or data) or cell network.
You cellphone company will triangulate your location from cell towers. However it is the trackers, facebook, googleads, doubleclick, adsense, pixelbox, others which collect the info. Unless you block. The gov't doesn't know. Police could with a warrant or on arrest.
Those who are interested in John Turner's funeral can tune in to CBC on Tuesday morning from 11.00 am. It will be held at Saint Michael's Cathedral in Toronto. I mentioned a time in a previous post but my interlocutor either gave me the wrong information or confused a private family service with this.
Incidentally, his death notice was in the Globe yesterday. Not much that wasn’t already in the obit, but apparently he was also very involved in Anglican circles.
I see the Green party elected a new leader yesterday. I had never heard of her before yesterday (obviously, wasn’t following the leadership race), but her Wikipedia bio looks interesting.
The new Green leader is interesting in her Judaism, which I only discovered myself through an article (https://jewishindependent.ca/tag/annamie-paul) from the Jewish Independent (the wonderful old Canadian Jewish News having disappeared from our world). I wonder how she will do in Toronto Centre... It is on October 26, which is not that far away.
Toronto Centre is my riding. It's been a safe Liberal seat since 1993, and I expect that Marci Ien will win by default. I might go to an all-candidates meeting, but I anticipate a rather dreary affair. Ien was anointed rather than having to face competition, and there were at least two others interested in the nomination, but alas, they were both bankers. JT seems to have developed an aversion to the species. The NDP nominated the same fellow as last time around, whose only competition for the nomination was a fellow who proclaimed his pansexuality or bisexuality (I forget which) in his campaign profile. It would seem that the Conservatives haven't nominated anyone yet. What does make this a little more interesting is that tony Rosedale is no longer part of the riding, and Paul's much higher profile this time around. I might vote for Paul. Or perhaps a Communist or Marxist-Leninist so that I could say that I did it once. My father would be proud.
There may be some who wonder if this by-election might be a repeat of the 1981 Spadina by-election when Pierre Trudeau's Principal Secretary was parachuted into the riding and defeated by worker-priest Dan Heap (who really should be in the diocesan kalendar but that's me).
While such a result is not impossible, Dan Heap was sui generis but I have no idea what will happen. It is Ms Paul's second run-- in 2019 she got 7% and will likely do much better this time as with the new boundaries it's a very idiosyncratic place. Only the LIberals (57%) and NDP (22%) kept their deposits in 2019; that year, the Communist vote was split among two candidates one of whom, I think, was the pansexual candidate mentioned above.
The riding has three cathedrals in it, but I don't expect that will have an effect on the vote. It's been nigh a century since Canon Cody beat the streets.
A deposit is no longer required by Elrctions Canada though. The requirement fell to a Charet challenge in 2017. More to the point, it was useless given the rebates available.
Rather, only the Liberal and NDP Campaigns were receiptable, in today's parlance.
I had the same thought. Perhaps Charter challenges could be determined in the basis of who brings the best claret? Even with Bordeaux prices being what they are, it would probably still end up saving a lot of money.
Claret challenges brought to mind a high-priced drinking game.
When John Marshall was Supreme Court Justice, it was felt that the Brethren were consuming far too much wine, so they decided to drink only when it was raining. When it was dry, they would send a Justice from a distant state to the window, who would affirm that it was indeed raining in Tennessee (or wherever in the Republic).
European sporting goods giant Decathlon opened a pop-up store in my neighborhood, a mere three weeks before I set sail again for Spanish residence. Was going to hit up Decathlon in Guadalmar when we landed, but this saved me a trip and a few $$ because $CAD is depressed vs $EUR.
Hope this chain can find a toehold in Canada because it's just great.
European sporting goods giant Decathlon opened a pop-up store in my neighborhood, a mere three weeks before I set sail again for Spanish residence. Was going to hit up Decathlon in Guadalmar when we landed, but this saved me a trip and a few $$ because $CAD is depressed vs $EUR.
Hope this chain can find a toehold in Canada because it's just great.
AFF
They have an outlet in Brossard, Québec, on the south shore over from Montréal.
I was not surprised that we've been returned to Stage 2 (sort of Mk2). Given the way the numbers were trending, and our politicians attending the experts, I think the return was inevitable. Not that I had done much to take advantage of Stage 1, but the backsliding did cause my heart to sink a little.
I'd like to wish you all as happy a Thanksgiving as you can manage under the circumstances.
I heard via Facebook that there was some kind of anti-mask protest in Moncton the other day - I'd have given Canadians credit for more sense than that.
Thanks @Piglet . It was unseasonably warm yesterday and we were able to have a friend over for backyard takeout. Will try to get out for a walk today and tomorrow as the trees are turning.
We have had the occasional anti-mask demonstration here as well. Unfortunately there are stupid people everywhere.
Watching the Turner state funeral. It's bit odd that the streaming service on CBC began with a viagra commercial.
Shipmates might be interested to learn that I wrote to the CBC on this, and they have just replied to me, saying that this would be flagged to the online ads team. Knowing bureaucracies, this is not unsatisfactory-- the ads team were clearly careless and must now explain themselves. Not a flogging offence, but drawing the unwelcome attention of the bosun.
Snow on the ground as I opened the door this morning to get my Globe. I went back to bed for an hour and found that it disappeared when I re-emerged. I am so pleased with the success of this strategem that I intend to repeat it through the winter.
Surprisingly cold here too. Snow in Boston and Calgary apparently, according to my Facebook contacts in both places. Not totally surprised about Calgary, but Boston?!
Comments
Lubor Zink, then of the Toronto Sun, referred obliquely to these accusations in IIRC two of his columns, copies of which were helpfully atached to the pamphlets.
Life was not innocent before the Internet, but at least they had to Gestetner or photocopy their nonsense and put it in envelopes.
To balance this, Georgia Straight (the Vancouver alternative paper, then in its pre-restaurant review days), would provide us with information on how Trudeau, Pearson's chosen successor, was Nixon's stooge and collaborator in his war crimes. Fortunately the arrival of disco shifted public discourse.
Orgies in the attic at 24 Sussex? Rather draughty for that, I should think. Or so I'm told.
Mention of Zubor J. Link brought me a wistful grin of nostalgia.
Indicative of the different times. At a café yesterday, my friend said, "Did you hear that François Arnaud came out as bisexual?" "Well, " I said, "he did make his name as a Borgia."
I know genuine Trots. The only trots Pearson had were the horsey kind.
Georgia Straight (the Vancouver alternative paper, then in its pre-restaurant review days)
In 1987, the old CBC show The Journal did a piece about the Straight's 20th anniversary, and made it sound like something that would get its readers placed on a CSIS list. When I finally got around to looking at the paper years later, I was like "Okay, so how is this different from the arts papers in Edmonton that review Shakespeare productions at the Citadel theatre?"
To balance this, Georgia Straight (the Vancouver alternative paper, then in its pre-restaurant review days), would provide us with information on how Trudeau, Pearson's chosen successor, was Nixon's stooge and collaborator in his war crimes. Fortunately the arrival of disco shifted public discourse.
The more things change etc. These days, some of the criticism of Chrystia Freeland comes from the "far-left"(for lack of a better phrase) who think she's conspiring with George Soros to impose her grandfather's nazi ideology on the world.
Apart from that, though, the vast majority of crticism of Ms. Freeland comes from people who are pretty close to being literal Nazis, and who think she's conspiring with Soros to impose Communism on the world.
IANAL, but I would also think that, in Canada at that time, revealing or alleging things about a politician's sex life could get you sued, even if the alleged sexual activities were not technically criminal. And in 1980(which is the year we're talking about) saying someone was homosexual was pretty much the worst thing you could say about their sex life, short of things that were illegal.
But the truly spooky is this Sesame Street bit from 1988 (which I remember in live broadcast, being in my prime Sesame Street years at the time.)
https://usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/03/21/sesame-street-v-trump-shows-long-history-mocking-donald-grump/99445290/
Well, he was on the Salonika front in WWI, where sanitary conditions were likely on the dicey side, but we have no evidence on that, I think. My point, which perhaps I did not make clearly enough, was that the allegations of Bolshieness was demented, or insanely partisan, or both. In spite of exteme opinion to the contrary, Pearson was nothing more than he seemed to be, a son of the manse who found employment in universities and the diplomatic service and somehow ended up as Prime Minister.
My own connexion with him is not as direct as yours. After WWII, most countries refused displaced persons with a history of tuberculosis (as did Canada), and they were not getting any better in the DP camps. Pearson prevailed over Immigration and obtained the admission of several hundred tubercular DPs to a sanitorium just to the east of Cornwall, where they were treated, cured as much as could be with scientific knowledge at the time, and then went on to rebuild their lives. This particular piece of humanity took much pushing and finagling, and hundreds were able to build new lives on account of his initiative. My mother, in her early teaching years, earned a bit of extra money teaching English to the last of the inmates and then to the Hungarian refugees who were housed there after the 1956 rebellion.
A simple abstinence-day dish of cherry tomatoes, garlic, and shrimp, washed down with a glass of Navarrese rosé, helped to restore me.
It's an easy one: handful of chopped garlic cloves to simmer in a bit of olive oil for a minute, toss in the cherry tomatoes and let them cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin bursts, a healthy knob of butter, followed by the shrimp. Let them cook for another 2-3 minutes and serve on rice or flat noodles. 5 minutes prep and 6-8 minutes cooking. Harissa or ginger if you want to energize it.
That was a slightly worrying juxtaposition on first reading...
We are in Ottawa this weekend for family reasons - the weather is beautiful though in a decidedly autumnal way.
I had no idea roast goose was a Michaelmas tradition, but a friend of ours keeps threatening to roast a goose for St. Martin's Day (November 10). Not likely to happen this year, for obvious reasons.
For the curious:
https://germanfoods.org/german-food-facts/martinstag-st-martins-day/
Ottawa weather yesterday went up to a decidedly non-autumnal 26 degrees or something. (It was cooler in the morning, honest...)
The last thing I want is to give the government a tool to track me wherever I go. Not happening.
With 1 active case in our county, the second wave is either restricted to the big cities, or it is pretty mild.
Noting @sharkshooter, have a look: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html#a1
Noting the functionality is: Bluetooth to exchange random codes with nearby phones.
Every day, it checks a list of random codes from people who tell the app they tested positive.
If you've been near one of those codes in the past 14 days, you'll get a notification. So it is all up to you.
I was happy enough to download the Scottish version, as I'm inclined to think that (assuming it works better than the shambolic English version) the positives of stopping the spread of the virus outweigh any worries I might have about the government knowing where I am.
As it stands, your location is known by your carrier, anyway. And if they know where you've been, the government can know where you've been. I'm not arguing for acquiescence, in the least, just pointing out that if you're in the habit of carrying your phone all the time, as most people are, then the battle has been lost.
And so far, at least, you're right that the second wave (if this is the second wave) is so far a big city phenomenon.
You cellphone company will triangulate your location from cell towers. However it is the trackers, facebook, googleads, doubleclick, adsense, pixelbox, others which collect the info. Unless you block. The gov't doesn't know. Police could with a warrant or on arrest.
I see the Green party elected a new leader yesterday. I had never heard of her before yesterday (obviously, wasn’t following the leadership race), but her Wikipedia bio looks interesting.
Edited to fix code - Piglet, AS host
Readies "Conservatives on bicycles with composters" and "Tofu Tories" quips....
While such a result is not impossible, Dan Heap was sui generis but I have no idea what will happen. It is Ms Paul's second run-- in 2019 she got 7% and will likely do much better this time as with the new boundaries it's a very idiosyncratic place. Only the LIberals (57%) and NDP (22%) kept their deposits in 2019; that year, the Communist vote was split among two candidates one of whom, I think, was the pansexual candidate mentioned above.
The riding has three cathedrals in it, but I don't expect that will have an effect on the vote. It's been nigh a century since Canon Cody beat the streets.
Rather, only the Liberal and NDP Campaigns were receiptable, in today's parlance.
When John Marshall was Supreme Court Justice, it was felt that the Brethren were consuming far too much wine, so they decided to drink only when it was raining. When it was dry, they would send a Justice from a distant state to the window, who would affirm that it was indeed raining in Tennessee (or wherever in the Republic).
European sporting goods giant Decathlon opened a pop-up store in my neighborhood, a mere three weeks before I set sail again for Spanish residence. Was going to hit up Decathlon in Guadalmar when we landed, but this saved me a trip and a few $$ because $CAD is depressed vs $EUR.
Hope this chain can find a toehold in Canada because it's just great.
AFF
They have an outlet in Brossard, Québec, on the south shore over from Montréal.
I heard via Facebook that there was some kind of anti-mask protest in Moncton the other day - I'd have given Canadians credit for more sense than that.
Hope you're all keeping safe and well.
We have had the occasional anti-mask demonstration here as well. Unfortunately there are stupid people everywhere.
Shipmates might be interested to learn that I wrote to the CBC on this, and they have just replied to me, saying that this would be flagged to the online ads team. Knowing bureaucracies, this is not unsatisfactory-- the ads team were clearly careless and must now explain themselves. Not a flogging offence, but drawing the unwelcome attention of the bosun.
At @stetson's request, I've split some of the last posts here and started a new Canadian Politics thread in Purgatory.
Now back to hockey and the weather ...
Piglet, AS host