Thanks for publishing this. I'm one of the few people my age (47) who had a father who was a soldier in WWII, as well as being named after my uncle who was a soldier as well but died during it. In contrast to the baby-boomer parents of the vast majority of those my age, I got to grow up hearing about the lead-up to WWII (What is Hitler going to do next? Will it be war?) and what it was like living through it, which I think is one of the reasons for my interest in all things historical.
But I wanted to comment on your latest podcast. Not so much about your interview with CJ Hopkins (with whom I, as usual, couldn't agree more), but the one with Jacqueline Bynon. Having lived for a time in California in recent years, where I saw first-hand how bad the "homeless" situation can get, I have a great deal of sympathy for what those such as Jacqueline are having to deal with. However, as much as I would like to have hope that such situations will get better, I don't think it will. In fact, I'm sure it won't. I'm old enough to remember when such situations were unimaginable in Canadian cities. Not only would the police have shut these kind of encampments down long ago, but even the mentally ill would not have thought they could get away with camping in the middle of a city. Civilizationally, we have passed a threshold where the "rights" of people to camp in urban parks, regardless of the mess and mayhem they create, will take precedence over the rights of those who live nearby to peace and order. And as you say on the podcast, if cities did actually try to clean these parks up by clearing away these kind of encampments, the activist class, aided and abetted by the media, would protest and sue to protect them, labeling those advocating for cleaning them up as heartless, racist, NIMBYs, etc. And the courts would undoubtedly go along with them.
I wish I were more hopeful, but I just don't see much basis to think that things will get better. In Santa Cruz, CA, where I once lived, the city made a partial attempt to clean up a semi-authorized urban encampment after a number of people were found dead in it due to overdoses and violence, but this merely shifted the problem into smaller pockets, including throughout the forested park I would go for runs in.
I now live in the countryside west of Thunder Bay on an old farm my wife and I bought and are in the process of renovating and renewing. Although I spent over a decade in Montreal (a city I will always miss and love) getting an MA and PhD, I left academia and big cities, having seen the downward direction both are heading.
My advice for you, Jacqueline and others in similar situations is to get out while your property is still worth something, taking what you can and rebuilding a life in the many rural parts of Canada where property is still relatively cheap, like here in North-Western Ontario. No, it's not fashionable or trendy, but at least one can still live a good life, away from the ever-increasing madness of big cities.
There are some maybe difficult facts about the "veterans" of the contemporary world at least in USA and those of the Second World War. Lest we forget, the troops were sent to Iraq to kill and steal, so that well fed people could stuff their faces. And most of them were into it and are. Speaking only of USA here [sic], which dictates what some other countries do [sic], and creates and maintains countries to serve itself [sic].
Trish. You and CJ spoke of propaganda. I think of it as an invasion of ear worms. If ear worms represently enter your mind, they eventually take up residence in your psyche as a den of mind worms. Once there, the mind of the host is too deranged by the content that the victim manifects attitudes and beliefs that are immune to critical arguments and critical thinking.
Thanks so much for the reminders Trish. I am the first generation of my family to go through life without participating in war. I have always been thankful for this happy coincidence born out of the sacrifices made by so many to destroy the brutal Nazi and Japanese war machines. I would not exist but for my grandparents meeting while both working in a field hospital in France during WW1. I can’t help but point out the irony of your honouring the veterans of our wars while downplaying the horrors perpetrated by jihadists so recently. Regarding the comment about Christins supporting Israel, the commentor is apparently unaware that Israel protects the Holy Land from Islamist’s who would kill all the Christians there as well as the Jews given half a chance. Trish, have you seen the videos? I’m sorry, but there is no nuance here. These monsters are religious fanatics trained from birth to be heartless murderers. Anybody who harbours or celebrates them has no right to call themselves Canadian. The usual site of our Remembrance ceremonies in Halifax has recently been used for pro-Hamas demonstrations. The November 11 ceremony was cancelled there this year. Not sure if there is any connection but suspect there was. I don’t agree that Gaza should flattened, but Hamas must be destroyed. Also, the UN and all other NGOs that promote and support Hamas and other radical islamists should not be funded by our taxes. Sorry this is disjointed. Grandson is climbing all over me. Not optimistic for his future in the current geopolitical environment.
I’m a student who has recently come back from a solo trip to front line Ukraine. I’ve just published a new piece on my experiences and thought readers here may appreciate it. Please do see what you think. https://irongoose.substack.com/
There's been a lot in legacy and independent/social media in the buildup to Remembrance Day in the UK as many other countries with the genocide in Gaza taking place simultaneously, hatred filling the air, and the politics surrounding various events in London adding further layers of division to the mix.
Reading this https://x.com/TheLionGlass/status/1723247806222065811?s=20 on twitter got me thinking about how this occasion has shifted from being an opportunity to grieve a particular loved-one who lost their life in war into a more general mourning for the casualties of war as a whole (which is why this year holds especial resonance). And also how it permits the Tony Blairs of this world to showcase their hypocrisy and the general hangers-on to continue their nauseous virtue-signalling which has built up in recent years. So much for progress.
Today, as we remember the dead, let us not forget to take a moment to honour the living, many of whom brought home scars, both physical and psychological, that shall never fully heal.
Today as before this day, my lapel, wherever I go sports the White Poppy of peace. It was started by women after WW1. Then when WW2 ended, there were the Nuremberg Trials, where the West collectively said: "Never Again!" Well like COVID, like Ukraine, like all we are mercilessly fed by this American perpetual war machine with whom Canada is complicit through our silence and a gutless amoral Fiberal government, we are devastating Lester Pearson's legacy, a UN tradition of Canada being peace keepers.
My kids, two girls aged 8 and 14 at that time, didn't know what to make of this excursion. First we went to the War Museum, with full-wall depictions of soldiers, reinactments and sounds of gunfire and bombs and tragic music, if I recall correctly. I believe my brother thought he was providing us with an educational experience. He hadn't even informed me as to where we were going when we headed out that morning. It was a complete and shocking surprise. He and his Belgian wife have no children nor any common sense for that matter. I thought the entire experience was inappropriate, but I was too afraid of his potential reaction were I to have expressed my true feelings. My girls and I were guests (trapped) at his home for one month, so we had to endure whatever he presented to us. Fortunately, my girls and I took a week for ourselves in Paris and a week in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland to visit my father and this part of our trip was wonderful. I have barely spoken to my brother or his wife since then due to the general nature of these relationships.
I had no idea we were going to a war museum. That was the problem. It was a surprise my brother thrust upon my two young daughters and me. Of course I would have known what we would experience had I been informed beforehand. I would like to have had the opportunity to refuse. I would never have elected to take two young children or myself to a place like that. It says more about my brother's cruelty and obsession with war than about the museum itself.
Today I remember my father who trained to be a bomber pilot in WWII. He never got to Europe to fight as it was already known by the end of September 1944 when his training was done that the war was won and he was put into reserves. One incident related in his letters of the time sticks in my mind. He had been dating a very beautiful young lady who told him she did not want him wearing his uniform on a date. The reason: it was all-too-common in the Quebec of those days for French Canadians to oppose the war and she was one of them. He instantly dumped her. Not long after, he began seeing my mother and they remained married for 67 years till she passed away. My father was a very principled man all his days, never afraid to stick to them even when it cost him the top job at Hydro-Québec after the separatists were elected, as he was a federalist through and through.
Thank you Trish, I wept reading your words and listening to the videos this morning. Remembrance Day in the small town in Manitoba where I grew up was so special. At this time, in our world, when so much of what we fought for seems so easily dismissed, I mourn for those families who made such a sacrifice.
Hi Trish,
It's a month old now, but this seems important for Canadians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHDbMgZeySY
Thanks for publishing this. I'm one of the few people my age (47) who had a father who was a soldier in WWII, as well as being named after my uncle who was a soldier as well but died during it. In contrast to the baby-boomer parents of the vast majority of those my age, I got to grow up hearing about the lead-up to WWII (What is Hitler going to do next? Will it be war?) and what it was like living through it, which I think is one of the reasons for my interest in all things historical.
But I wanted to comment on your latest podcast. Not so much about your interview with CJ Hopkins (with whom I, as usual, couldn't agree more), but the one with Jacqueline Bynon. Having lived for a time in California in recent years, where I saw first-hand how bad the "homeless" situation can get, I have a great deal of sympathy for what those such as Jacqueline are having to deal with. However, as much as I would like to have hope that such situations will get better, I don't think it will. In fact, I'm sure it won't. I'm old enough to remember when such situations were unimaginable in Canadian cities. Not only would the police have shut these kind of encampments down long ago, but even the mentally ill would not have thought they could get away with camping in the middle of a city. Civilizationally, we have passed a threshold where the "rights" of people to camp in urban parks, regardless of the mess and mayhem they create, will take precedence over the rights of those who live nearby to peace and order. And as you say on the podcast, if cities did actually try to clean these parks up by clearing away these kind of encampments, the activist class, aided and abetted by the media, would protest and sue to protect them, labeling those advocating for cleaning them up as heartless, racist, NIMBYs, etc. And the courts would undoubtedly go along with them.
I wish I were more hopeful, but I just don't see much basis to think that things will get better. In Santa Cruz, CA, where I once lived, the city made a partial attempt to clean up a semi-authorized urban encampment after a number of people were found dead in it due to overdoses and violence, but this merely shifted the problem into smaller pockets, including throughout the forested park I would go for runs in.
I now live in the countryside west of Thunder Bay on an old farm my wife and I bought and are in the process of renovating and renewing. Although I spent over a decade in Montreal (a city I will always miss and love) getting an MA and PhD, I left academia and big cities, having seen the downward direction both are heading.
My advice for you, Jacqueline and others in similar situations is to get out while your property is still worth something, taking what you can and rebuilding a life in the many rural parts of Canada where property is still relatively cheap, like here in North-Western Ontario. No, it's not fashionable or trendy, but at least one can still live a good life, away from the ever-increasing madness of big cities.
I wish I'd never commented at all.
There are some maybe difficult facts about the "veterans" of the contemporary world at least in USA and those of the Second World War. Lest we forget, the troops were sent to Iraq to kill and steal, so that well fed people could stuff their faces. And most of them were into it and are. Speaking only of USA here [sic], which dictates what some other countries do [sic], and creates and maintains countries to serve itself [sic].
Trish. You and CJ spoke of propaganda. I think of it as an invasion of ear worms. If ear worms represently enter your mind, they eventually take up residence in your psyche as a den of mind worms. Once there, the mind of the host is too deranged by the content that the victim manifects attitudes and beliefs that are immune to critical arguments and critical thinking.
Thank you!
Thanks so much for the reminders Trish. I am the first generation of my family to go through life without participating in war. I have always been thankful for this happy coincidence born out of the sacrifices made by so many to destroy the brutal Nazi and Japanese war machines. I would not exist but for my grandparents meeting while both working in a field hospital in France during WW1. I can’t help but point out the irony of your honouring the veterans of our wars while downplaying the horrors perpetrated by jihadists so recently. Regarding the comment about Christins supporting Israel, the commentor is apparently unaware that Israel protects the Holy Land from Islamist’s who would kill all the Christians there as well as the Jews given half a chance. Trish, have you seen the videos? I’m sorry, but there is no nuance here. These monsters are religious fanatics trained from birth to be heartless murderers. Anybody who harbours or celebrates them has no right to call themselves Canadian. The usual site of our Remembrance ceremonies in Halifax has recently been used for pro-Hamas demonstrations. The November 11 ceremony was cancelled there this year. Not sure if there is any connection but suspect there was. I don’t agree that Gaza should flattened, but Hamas must be destroyed. Also, the UN and all other NGOs that promote and support Hamas and other radical islamists should not be funded by our taxes. Sorry this is disjointed. Grandson is climbing all over me. Not optimistic for his future in the current geopolitical environment.
Gratitude from Belgium , we owe them so much...🕯🕯🕯
I’m a student who has recently come back from a solo trip to front line Ukraine. I’ve just published a new piece on my experiences and thought readers here may appreciate it. Please do see what you think. https://irongoose.substack.com/
Keep on writing!
There's been a lot in legacy and independent/social media in the buildup to Remembrance Day in the UK as many other countries with the genocide in Gaza taking place simultaneously, hatred filling the air, and the politics surrounding various events in London adding further layers of division to the mix.
Reading this https://x.com/TheLionGlass/status/1723247806222065811?s=20 on twitter got me thinking about how this occasion has shifted from being an opportunity to grieve a particular loved-one who lost their life in war into a more general mourning for the casualties of war as a whole (which is why this year holds especial resonance). And also how it permits the Tony Blairs of this world to showcase their hypocrisy and the general hangers-on to continue their nauseous virtue-signalling which has built up in recent years. So much for progress.
Thank you!
Today, as we remember the dead, let us not forget to take a moment to honour the living, many of whom brought home scars, both physical and psychological, that shall never fully heal.
Today as before this day, my lapel, wherever I go sports the White Poppy of peace. It was started by women after WW1. Then when WW2 ended, there were the Nuremberg Trials, where the West collectively said: "Never Again!" Well like COVID, like Ukraine, like all we are mercilessly fed by this American perpetual war machine with whom Canada is complicit through our silence and a gutless amoral Fiberal government, we are devastating Lester Pearson's legacy, a UN tradition of Canada being peace keepers.
I was so proud of that.
My kids, two girls aged 8 and 14 at that time, didn't know what to make of this excursion. First we went to the War Museum, with full-wall depictions of soldiers, reinactments and sounds of gunfire and bombs and tragic music, if I recall correctly. I believe my brother thought he was providing us with an educational experience. He hadn't even informed me as to where we were going when we headed out that morning. It was a complete and shocking surprise. He and his Belgian wife have no children nor any common sense for that matter. I thought the entire experience was inappropriate, but I was too afraid of his potential reaction were I to have expressed my true feelings. My girls and I were guests (trapped) at his home for one month, so we had to endure whatever he presented to us. Fortunately, my girls and I took a week for ourselves in Paris and a week in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland to visit my father and this part of our trip was wonderful. I have barely spoken to my brother or his wife since then due to the general nature of these relationships.
I'm genuinely curious as to what you expected to see at a war museum?
I had no idea we were going to a war museum. That was the problem. It was a surprise my brother thrust upon my two young daughters and me. Of course I would have known what we would experience had I been informed beforehand. I would like to have had the opportunity to refuse. I would never have elected to take two young children or myself to a place like that. It says more about my brother's cruelty and obsession with war than about the museum itself.
Today I remember my father who trained to be a bomber pilot in WWII. He never got to Europe to fight as it was already known by the end of September 1944 when his training was done that the war was won and he was put into reserves. One incident related in his letters of the time sticks in my mind. He had been dating a very beautiful young lady who told him she did not want him wearing his uniform on a date. The reason: it was all-too-common in the Quebec of those days for French Canadians to oppose the war and she was one of them. He instantly dumped her. Not long after, he began seeing my mother and they remained married for 67 years till she passed away. My father was a very principled man all his days, never afraid to stick to them even when it cost him the top job at Hydro-Québec after the separatists were elected, as he was a federalist through and through.
He and I could have been be friends. Sounds like a great guy.
Thank you Trish, I wept reading your words and listening to the videos this morning. Remembrance Day in the small town in Manitoba where I grew up was so special. At this time, in our world, when so much of what we fought for seems so easily dismissed, I mourn for those families who made such a sacrifice.