My Morning Ride.

 

NotDrinkingBeer

InTheWarmSummerRainVille


After all the weeping Lotuslandian rain of yesterday, which hopefully will help with the fires to come, it was really nice, and a bit of a relief to be honest, to ride to work under this morning's increasingly sunny skies.

But nothing like the relief that my brothers and I felt back in the summer of 1974 when the skies finally cleared as we slogged our way north on the Westcoast Trail back in the days before the bridges and the cable cars.

It's amazing to look back and see how rudimentary the gear was then, not to mention being reminded how important garbage bags and bungee cords were.

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Earworm in the subheader? Also from the mid-70's...This! 


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Will We Never Be Rid Of These Fine Folks?

TheKloutKlubRidesAgain

KindaSortaMaybeVille


It looks like the dregs of the Soccer Party, led by the fine fellow who first helped put Kevin Falcon in charge of the provincial version of the party and who later made Mr. Sim the Mayor of Lotusland, now wants to put the band back together with the old name from the back in the GordCo days.

Postmedia's Cheryl Chan has the story, such as it is, here: (web archive link):

Kareem Allam, a longtime political strategist who helped propel ABC Vancouver to power, is launching the city’s newest political party with a goal of unseating Ken Sim, the mayor he once served as chief of staff.

Allam — ABC’s former campaign manager and more recently, its most outspoken critic — has publicly mused in recent weeks of running for office and had set up committees made up of mostly former B.C. Liberals to gauge the level of support he’d have in 

a run.

On Thursday, the Vancouver Liberals was officially registered with Elections B.C... 

Gosh.

If you've been paying attention lo these many years you just might think that the folks who have their thumbs affixed to the media wurlitzer 'round here have a vested interest in forever suckering the local citizenry into this so called big, beautiful faux centrist tent.

Or some such thing.

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The Survivor In Mr. Norquist's Bathtub.

TheLongGame

RevisitedVille

Grover Norquist, pictured above, on the right, with fellow travellers Ronald Reagan and Jack Abramoff way back in 1981 has been out to end the US'ian government in the name of a mythical taxpayer for a long, long time:

"I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub..."

Grover Norquist, 2001.

And, with the final passage of a certain omnibus bill of a very large size in congress today, Mr. Norquist has gotten his wish.

Except for one twisted sister that has separated itself from the writhing, gasping mass that has magically grown gills and vanished down the drain into the sewer where it is mutating as you read this so that it can grow exponentially before it bursts through the grates, masked, to terrorize increasing numbers and segments of the non-citizenry and citizenry alike:

...The Senate’s version of the bill steers an astonishing $130 billion into immigration enforcement, detention, and border security, according to the American Immigration Council’s tally, which includes funding for Trump’s border wall. In the buildup to passage in the Senate, this funding became the central MAGA sales pitch. “Everything else” — including the bill’s staggering cuts to the social safety net — “is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions,” Vice President J.D. Vance posted on X Monday night, Vance’s post preceded, by hours, his casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate...

Oh boy.

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A Podcast For Canada Day.

NewFranceWasNotNew
InnuAlgonquinHuronVille

The podcast is about the early days of Canuckistanian colonization by the French and how Indigenous peoples turned the tables on them in real time and real world terms.

It's by the 'Empire' folks, and I must say that I enjoyed listening to a couple of Brits, Anita Anand (not our Minister of Foreign Affairs) and William Dalrymple, come to terms with the fact that their lot were quite far behind in this endeavour.

Empire: Colonizing Canada: Why Does Quebec Speak French.


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They also get into the life and times of Étienne Brûlé...quite fascinating.

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Rope-A-Dope Or Taking A Dive?

TheOngoingRumbleInMrTrump's

TariffJungleVille


From Benjamin Lopez Steven of the CBC (and 3,713 other outlets this morning):

The federal government announced late Sunday evening it is rescinding the digital services tax, days after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded it gone and cut off Canada-U.S. trade negotiations.

 In a press release, the federal government said it would rescind the tax "in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States."

"Prime Minister Carney and President Trump have agreed that parties will resume negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal by July 21, 2025," the press release added...

Personally, I'm not entirely certain that Mr. Carney is our Ali in this scenario:

The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting technique in which one contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring to draw non-injuring offensive punches in an effort to tire their opponent out and, while they are on the ropes, try to execute devastating offensive punches. The rope-a-dope is most famously associated with Muhammad Ali in his October 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against world heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire...

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Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, even Mr. Starmer is saying No! No! No! to requests that he, too, go to digital tax Rehab...At least so far.


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The Orange Juice Double-Down Rebellion.

TakeThatMsBryant

SouthAmericanSunshineVille


From today's Guardian:

Donald Trump has announced he is ending trade talks with Canada, one of its largest trading partners, accusing it of imposing unfair taxes on US technology companies in a “direct and blatant attack on our country”...

{snip}

...The US has been negotiating a trade deal with Canada, one of its top two global trading partners, for months. Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, met Trump at the G7 summit of world leaders in Alberta earlier this month...

Why would anyone bother to negotiate in good faith with or, for that matter, sign anything with that man?



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Highway Patrolman (B Springsteen Cover)

BarracksNumberEight
NotObamaVille


If you have a certain musical inclination the algorithm has likely already served you up the trailer for the Springsteenian biopic about the making of the album Nebraska, which sits between the turn of the River and the bombast of of Born In The USA.

Will I go and see it?

Not entirely sure, although, as Bigger E. put it, at least T. Chalamet was already burned on the Dylan movie so at least we get the guy from the Bear instead.

Here's a cover of the tune from the album about the patrolman working up near the Canadian border and his wayward brother...

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Otis Gibbs talks about the apparent long lost electric version of Nebraska while feeding the squirrels...Here.

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My Morning Ride...Nonsensical Graffiti.

SomewhatPhysical
ButNeitherAHouseNorHolyVille


Taken at 16th and MacDonald in near western Lotusland.

And, unless I'm missing something, it would appear that the graffiti makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.


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Subheader?...This!


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The Shape Of Things To Come?

Where'sCurveball

ChalabiPartDeuxVille

From this morning's Jerusalem Post:

As fighting between Israel and Iran continues, more analysts are raising the possibility that the war will lead to regime change and bring an end to the Islamic Republic. Many have raised the possibility that exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi will lead a new Iran, and Pahlavi himself told the Iranian people on Tuesday that he has a plan in place for a 100-day transitional period to follow the fall of the regime...

Now.

The above quoted piece is not the kind of thing that is so far being seriously bandied about in the pages of the New York Times and/or the Wall Street Journal.

After all, according to today's version of the Trump regime, the most recent US'ian bombing mission was about weapons of mass nuclear destruction, not regime change:

US secretary of state Marco Rubio spoke on Fox News, saying that the US “is not looking for war in Iran”.

He added that the “world is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago” and that if Iran retaliates, “It’ll be the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”

Rubio also said that regime change in Iran is not the US’s goal...

However, if the bots start chattering cacophonously while super-fine neanderconnish-type folks like, say, Paul Wolfowitz are simultaneously given airtime on cable TV and the good Mr. Pahlavi suddenly pops up on a Sunday show or two followed by wall-to-wall coverage on Fox News?

Well, if that happens, I reckon that it will only be a matter of time before the Sulzberger family gives the green light to the Friedmans and the Brookses in their stable to have at it.

And who wins then?


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Emptywheel said something pretty darned prescient on Friday while speaking with Nicole Sandler, "You can't make a military parade as sexy as going to war".

Subheader?....This....And don't think we don't see the good Mr. Bremer lurking at the back of that photo.

Tip of the Toque to an Anonomouse commenting at the last post that got me to thinking about how things went down in 2003....I mean, what's next...Billmon starts posting again?

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The PNAC Devolution.

Where's

WolfieVille


Shorter Driftglass:

“...As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time...”

Donald Rumsfeld, 2004.

“...You’ve got to go to war with the president you have..."

William Kristol, 2025

Meanwhile, the president the neocon mob currently has has shortened the Friedman Unit from six months to two weeks.

Imagine that!

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Acronym in the header?...This.

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Bruno Gerussi's (Real) Medallion.

Where'sRelicWhenYou
NeedHimVille



A few weeks ago e. and her friend (i.e. not her sister) E. took me to a show at the Vogue theatre.

I got there a few minutes ahead of them and thus got to stand around on Granville Street in Downtown Lotusland watching the river flow for awhile

I found the plaque, above, in an eddy in the stream.

****

So...

Who did we go see?

Why it was Sharon Van Etten, someone whose all three of have liked for a while now for a bunch of different reasons.

Van Etten is a little like Neil Young used to be.

Not in musical substance or style but instead in the way she has to keep reinventing herself to move forward.

As such, most of her set was, to my mind at least, a somewhat bizarre simulacrum of Gary Numan and his synthesizers forever stranded on the set of the movie Cabaret.

It was interesting, but it sure was a long way from the earlier cosmic cowboy(ish) tunes of Ms. Van Etten's early period.

Here is a cover of one such tune...

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Header explained?....These guys.

Ms. Van Etten talks about the writing of the tune...Here.

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Announcing The Occupation.

WillThePeopleBe

AwokenVille


I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts the other day. It's by two smart guys who are politically aware but who mostly talk about other things that pique their interest.

Things like bird calls, geo guesser, guitar pedals, the difference(s) between lakes and ponds, and the world's most awesome skylines.

Anyway, this week, one of the pair, who lives in Los Angeles, mentioned how, except for occasional snippets on the news, he wasn't even aware of the ICE/National Guard/US Marine activities in his city.

Again, this is coming from someone who is very politically aware.

Which is why the incident with with US Senator Alex Padilla really matters.

And not just because of the outrageous actions of overzealous uniformed officers who led the senator away, forced him to the ground, and hand-cuffed him.

But because the resulting hullaballoo has ensured that everyone has also now heard the following statement by a senate-confirmed member of Mr. Trump's cabinet about the situation in Los Angeles:

"...We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city..."

In other words, this particular cabinet member was announcing that the Trump administration was using the military to occupy a city where the explicit, stated goal is to destroy that city's democratically elected government.

And now every American, not just the fine folks who watch FOX News, knows of that statement thanks to Mr. Padilla.

Which means that every American also now knows that the Trump administration is an autocracy.

Of course...

Whether every American understands what they now know is, unfortunately, another matter.

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As Long As There Are Stars Above You.

MoreThanJustPendletones

AndHamburgerStandsNowVille

Brian Wilson has died.

Ben Sisario has an excellent omnibus obituary up at The New York Times (web archive link):

..“Being called a musical genius was a cross to bear,” he (Wilson) told Rolling Stone in 1988. “Genius is a big word. But if you have to live up to something, you might as well live up to that.”...

Indeed.


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Earworm in the header?...This.


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Who Goes MAGA?

They'reOutThereHavingFun

InTheWarmCaliforniaSunVille

Who goes MAGA?

"...Sometimes I think there are direct biological factors at work—a type of education, feeding, and physical training which has produced a new kind of human being with an imbalance in his nature. He has been fed vitamins and filled with energies that are beyond the capacity of his intellect to discipline. He has been treated to forms of education which have released him from inhibitions. His body is vigorous. His mind is childish. His soul has been almost completely neglected..."

The passage above is from a famous essay that was written by Dorothy Thompson.

In August of 1941.

Given the timing of the piece, Ms. Thompson was writing about the joiners, enablers and go-along-to-get-alongers of a different, but not entirely ideologically dissimilar, group that was also identified by a four letter acronym.

In other words, at present there is nothing truly new happening under the Southern California sun.


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Subheader earworm?....This.

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The Fifty-Five Percent That ABC Vancouver Is Not Really Into.

OurPollingSays
ABCVille


From a 2023 Daily Hive piece by Kenneth Chan that itself was based on a Metro Vancouver Regional District report released that same year:

..(I)n 2021, there were 305,335 households in Vancouver, including 138,845 ownership households (45%) and 166,490 renter households (55%)...

So.

What does ABC Vancouver think they should do for renters who have, say, difficulty with their landlords?

Absolutely nothing according to a piece by Jen Schuermann who covers city hall for Rogers:

Vancouver city council has decided against bringing back an agency designed to protect renters.

Coun. Lucy Maloney’s motion to bring back the Renter Office was voted down on Wednesday.

Established in 2018, the Renter Office provided information and assistance to tenants about their rights.

In 2023, however, ABC Vancouver voted to defund the office, despite city staff recommending that the service be continued...

Quelle surprise!

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