O Canada

[Vrede too]

Rona Ambrose, Canada's former (Conservative Party) health minister, joins e-cigarette company Juul's board of directors
In 2014, Ambrose urged Canadians not to use e-cigarettes until more studies were done

[O Really]

[Vrede too]

Well sure, but you would think that with her resume she’d have lots of ways to cash in without selling her entire soul.

[billy.pilgrim]

"You are the kindest country in the world. You are like a really nice apartment over a meth lab."
Robin Williams

[O Really]

Rstrong's old hometown - best covid record in any major city. A grand total of 215 cases have been reported in Winnipeg. Five of those patients died.

Winnipeg has been spared the fate of Canada's largest cities due to no fewer than five factors: Geography, timing, government action, collective behaviour and presumably, luck.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba ... -1.5593521

[Vrede too]

Rstrong's old hometown - best covid record in any major city. A grand total of 215 cases have been reported in Winnipeg. Five of those patients died.

Winnipeg has been spared the fate of Canada's largest cities due to no fewer than five factors: Geography, timing, government action, collective behaviour and presumably, luck.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba ... -1.5593521

Plus, no one visits that isn't already stuck there.

[O Really]

(sigh) I know - first world complaints, but still...

Our space in Victoria is one of those places where, to get in in the summer you pretty much have to wait for somebody to die and even then there's a wait list. Two years ago, we were ridiculously lucky to get a space as a sublet and then the regular lessees decided to give it up, so this year it's ours. Now our choices are (a) stay in the space, which we can't get to; (b) pay for it even if we're not there, which is ridiculously expensive for something you're not using; or (c) give it up and probably never get the chance to get it back. But it was going to be a short season in Victoria anyway, because we were going to get there by cruising the Trans-Canada highway 1 from Calgary, with a couple of weeks in Banff and Lake Louise. When Banff reservations opened online, I was ready - took a couple of hours since 35,000 or so others were trying, got booted off the site a time or so, but ended up with good campground reservations. Now worthless and must be cancelled. Since there was a line a mile long to get into Banff earlier this week when it opened, It occurred to me that such prime reservations might have a high scalping value. But no - each reservation is connected to a person's personal "CGKEY" number and can't be sold. Cancelling reservations for a summer camp space in Banff is like giving up your March Madness tickets - except at least I get a refund.

So we'll hang in the wilds of northeastern WA until we see what happens if/when the borders open, theoretically maybe 6/21. But there's no real point in going into Canada if Alberta still has a 2-week quarantine for entry, then BC has one for people coming in from Alberta and the US has one for entrants. On the bright side, if you have to hide from the covid anyway, this is a good place to do it. In the meantime, it's a beautiful sunny day and we have places to hike, scenery to enjoy, and health to enjoy it. Life is still good.

[Vrede too]

(sigh) I know - first world complaints, but still...

Our space in Victoria is one of those places where, to get in in the summer you pretty much have to wait for somebody to die and even then there's a wait list. Two years ago, we were ridiculously lucky to get a space as a sublet and then the regular lessees decided to give it up, so this year it's ours. Now our choices are (a) stay in the space, which we can't get to; (b) pay for it even if we're not there, which is ridiculously expensive for something you're not using; or (c) give it up and probably never get the chance to get it back....

Can you sublet?

Maybe this will cheer you up:

Philadelphia Removes Controversial Statue Of Ex-Mayor Frank Rizzo After Protests
Mayor Jim Kenney called the statue of the late mayor and police commissioner a “deplorable monument to racism, bigotry, and police brutality.”

[O Really]

Can you sublet?

Maybe this will cheer you up:

Normally, maybe, but the irony of this year is that with all the travel/quarantine restrictions,and given that Vancouver Island is an, umm, island, and the limitations on use of facilities, there may not be much of a market. We're going to try to get our space back for next year and just hope nobody bumps us out of it. Under "old-normal" circumstances, once you get a space, you can keep it until they see you leave without a reservation. But this is a different circumstance for all, so we can hope. And maybe toss some money at them for future consideration? Or just move from Victoria to Vancouver-ish. It's a big province.

Yeah, Rizzo was an asshole fershure. Shouldn't have been memorialized with a statue to start with. But it is Philadelphia.

[Vrede too]

Definitely Canada, I think Toronto:

[O Really]

Maybe we're glad they wouldn't let us in.
"Tennis ball" sized hail??

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/weather/topst ... &ocid=iehp

[O Really]

Happy Canada Day to all.

[Vrede too]

Happy Canada Day to all.

The BRD excitement is overwhelming.

I can even hear a few fireworks in Hooterville, I'm sure they're for Canada Day.

[Vrede too]

‘Toronto Is In Canada’: Twitter Fires Back At Laura Ingraham Tweet
The Fox News host insinuated that Joe Biden has some control over Toronto city policy.

...

... First of all, Big League Politics was founded by former Brietbart employees and has frequently trafficked in conspiracy theories. It has been described by the New York Times as “an obscure right-wing news site [...] which has promoted conspiracy theories and written favorably about white nationalist candidates.”

The story Ingraham shared was inaccurate. In reality, the archbishop of Toronto modified the eucharist rite to observe safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s now a modified version of communion where a priest delivers the blessing from a safe distance, hands the congregant their wafer, and they then move more than two metres away from the priest before removing their mask to consume it.

So no, Toronto is not banning Catholic communion....

Toronto is in Canada. The president of the United States does not have any control over anything in Toronto. So that makes your entire tweet kind of stupid.

If this gets out, Biden will never carry Toronto.

You haven’t seen the newest, Trump approved map yet.

...

Many more great tweets at the link.

[Vrede too]

Canadians are so unfailingly polite that even graffiti on a monument to Nazi troops is a hate crime.
https://news.yahoo.com/canada-police-in ... 26401.html

[O Really]

Border lock-out extended to at least late August.

And in a touch of irony, Mexico has closed part of its Arizona border to people from the US.
And the Bahamas closed to people from the US.
Actually there aren't many places that allow Americans in without restriction. Thanks Trump.

Albania
Dominican Republic
Kosovo
Maldives
Mexico
North Macedonia
Serbia
Tunisia
Turkey

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/us-i ... index.html

[Vrede too]

Canadian sandwich:



Nttawwt.

[billy.pilgrim]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... r-1038463/

Build a wall

[Vrede too]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/p ... r-1038463/

Build a wall

... According to NPR, “Canadian border patrol has effectively prevented caravans of Americans” from crossing the border. Most are arriving by sailboats and luxury yachts....

[Vrede too]

Chainsaw-wielding men covered in blood arrested on Toronto beach