Jack’s Walk

Mt. Joli with the Perce Rock in the background ©voyager, all rights reserved

Well, it’s not raining. In fact, it’s a hot, sunny day here which just goes to show that weather forecasting is an inexact science. Jack and I haven’t gone for a walk today partly because of the heat and partly because Jack got a bit over-excited last evening while playing with his best friend Leo (who is only 4 and half Jack’s size) and he’s limping a bit on his right back leg. It’s not serious, Bubba has a bit of arthritis in that hip and sometimes it gives him a bit of grief. Maybe tonight when the temp goes down a bit (it’s 30° C right now) I’ll take him down to the end of the street and back, but for now Jack has positioned himself in front of the A/C vent and is happily asleep. Our photo today is where Jack and I wish we were. This is the beach across the street from my mother-in-law’s house in Perce, Quebec.

The Art of Book Design: Dainty Bits

Dainty Bits. Water Lily Series. Edited by Miss L. Penney. New York, The National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1891.

A children’s book full of stories and rhymes about the evils of alcohol. Some of the chapter titles include “Old Pussy’s Advice”  and “Thoughtless Dick.”

 

Source – University of Florida, George Smithers Libraries, where you can read the entire book

Supporting Punching Nazis but Condemning Punching Antifas is not Hyppocritical

I, for one, support assaulting Nazis but I do not support assaulting Antifa, yet I do not consider that stance to be hypocritical in the least. Do you know why? Because there is a stark asymmetry in the comparison, those are not two sides of the same coin, those are two different coins. Antifa and Nazis differ in principle.

Firstly, Antifa are a reaction to Nazis. If there were no Nazis, there would be no Antifa, so there would be no-one for Antifa to assault. But if Antifa disappear overnight, there still will be Nazis assaulting LGBTQ and POC etc. Secondly, Nazis are historically proven to be inherently violent. If not violently and consistently opposed to the point when they have no real power anymore, they will only use compromises and dialogues to slowly normalize more and more extreme measures, they will get bolder and bolder – right until the point when they run the government and war and/or extermination camps become official policy.

The asymmetry here is that Nazis are active, whilst Antifa are merely reactive. Argumentum ad absurdum to illustrate the point: It is not hypocritical to condemn Operation Barbarossa whilst condoning Operation Overlord.

Appeasing Nazis does not work, they can’t be content without killing those they deem inferior. Debating Nazis does not work, they can’t be reasoned with. Ridiculing Nazis does only work to a limited extent, they can’t be shamed.

The only thing that works is to scare them into hiding. In Europe, this is today mostly done by outlawing Nazi speech. It is not perfect, but Nazis here have learned to be coy and to hide their Nazism, because they know they are treading a very thin line and that a word out-of-order could put them in jail. Is it perfect? No, racism and xenophobia unfortunately still abound ana fascism and nazism still rear their ugly heads again. Is it better than leaving them spout their bile publicly whilst flying Nazi flags as they do now in USA? Hell yes.

And until the USA sorts out its idiotically naive notions about “freedom of speech”, violence is one of necessary ways of opposing Nazis. If you do not take it early on, you will be forced to do so sooner or later. They won’t give you another option, the have proven that in history, extensively.

On the other hand a Nazi who whines when one of their lot gets punched but cheers when one of our lot gets punched is hypocritical, because – as I said – Nazis are inherently violent. They venerate violence in the best tradition of toxic masculinity. Violence is at the very core of their political stance that violence against any opposition is desired and heroic course of action. They only pretend to be peaceful when it suits them, but peaceful coexistence with anyone is never their goal. Their goal is extermination of “the other”.

I was warning about Trump being outright Fascist from the day I learned about his candidacy and how he runs his campaign. Now, mere two years later, USA has outright concentration camps and finally some of those  who initially thought comparing Trump to Hitler is over-the-top started to wake up to that reality. But there are still nearly two years left until next election. And we are debating whether to punch Nazis or being polite to them? Gimme a break.

Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s been ridiculously humid here today and it’s given me a good dose of double gravity. Even Jack was moving slowly on our walk this morning and without his usual wagging wiggle. He’s normally so puppy-like that I forget he’s 11 years old, but watching him this morning I saw every one of those 11 years in his plodding slowness. Normally, I’d say tomorrow will be a better day, but it’s supposed to rain for the next 4 days so it might be better, but probably not.

Tree Tuesday

Embers and the Giants by Canadian artist Kelly Richardson – source CBC Arts

Canadian artist Kelly Richardson loves trees, especially the trees in the old growth rain forests on Vancouver Island where her latest work Embers and the Giants was filmed. Richardson fears for the future of these ancient trees and with good reason – deforestation is happening at an alarming rate and it’s recently been announced that another 109 hectares of pristine forest will be auctioned off.

Richardson’s work may prompt you to consider how we relate to nature as a species and to consider what the future may look like if we don’t choose a different path. In this video made by filmmaker Lisa Wu, you’ll travel to the forest with Richardson and get to see her at work making the landscape come alive in Embers and the Giants. The film was commissioned to participate in the XL Outer Worlds project celebrating the 50th anniversary of IMAX.

Canadian artist Kelly Richardson – source CBC Arts

Embers and the Giants will be at the Toronto Biennial of Art in Fall 2019, and then it’s travelling both across Canada and internationally. You can find out more about Kelly Richardson and her work here.

I’d like to thank rq for pointing this story my way.

via: CBC Arts

Free Carola Rackete

I don’t know how big a story this is outside of Germany and Italy, but the Sea Watch III captain Carola Rackete has been detained by Italian authorities, facing up to 10 years in prison. Racktete is part of the civil sea rescue operations that safe migrants in the Mediterranean, because our collective governments have decided to simply let them all drown. Rackete had rescued over 40 people and Italy simply denied her access to their harbours (as did Malta) while other countries simply ignored her requests to access their harbours (France, I see you).

As the situation on board became worse and worse, with people threatening suicide, Rackete decided to land in Italy, despite warnings and bans ( you can read up the whole thing in English here). She has quickly turned into a symbol figure, not the least because the Italian fascist in charge, Salvini, has decided to make her an example and because she really, really gets to him, because we all know that nothing threatens a fascist dude more than a young woman who simply won’t know her place and who is standing up to him.

So please show your support to this brave woman by signing the petitions and/or by donating to her support fund.

#FreeCarolaRackete

Jack’s Walk

Happy Canada Day ©voyager, all rights reserved

Last year on Canada Day Jack and I celebrated our 100th Jack’s Walk. This Canada Day we’re celebrating walk #358 …and still counting. We had a lovely, slow walk around our little forest this morning and I would love to show you a picture from there, but I forgot to take my camera. It’s one of those days when I’m just glad I remembered shoes (I have been known to show up in slippers) and water for the dog. To make up for the lack forest, here is a photo of Jack and I on our front porch as we wish you our annual Canada Day greeting. I wonder how many walks we’ll be at by next July 1?

Just for PZ (and assorted arachnophiles)

Lasz week I came up the stairs from the cellar and look what I found!

I have no clue what species this is, apart from “fucking big”, as it is about two inches across. I took some pics and then carefully relocated it to where it was less likely to lead to demands of “immediate violent death” from other people.

In case you’re wondering the strange surface, the previous owners glued carpet scraps to the stairs. If there’s a hell for bad DIY, the dude is going to spend eternity scraping glue off things. Pics below the fold.

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Teacher’s Corner: School’s out for Summer!!!

Let’s start with the obvious sentiment:

The last day of school was on Friday and now we’re all free for six wonderful weeks of holiday. The last week was damn hot and since we had a lot of excursions planned it was also exhausting.

There were report cards on Friday and one of the boys did absolutely not agree with his grade for behaviour and thought he deserved a better grade. To inform us of this great injustice he yelled swear words, threw things through the classroom and kicked over the dustbin. That particular kid often feels like Pratchett’s Carcer in the making and it’s our job to try and prevent it.

My own kids’ report cards were something to brag about, with one “C” in PE between the two of them.

Now for the first time in my life I also get paid for the summer holidays, which is a nice thing to have. On Sunday we set out for Spain, so don’t expect me to catch up on my blogging duties soon ;)