Knee Surgery, Day 3

Daily life / Personal ReminiscencesLeave a comment

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If you want to see just how bad the roads and streets are in the Town of Collingwood, just drive over them a few hours after knee or other surgery. The roads around the hospital are excruciatingly painful, almost nausea-inducing when you hit one of the *many* deep ruts, potholes, or bumps, and the pain explodes. I know, because this was my experience two days ago. But so are the rest of the streets we drove on, on our way home. Some of these streets have ankle-deep potholes, others have been left to decay for decades. But the town doesn’t ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Surgery Day Two

Daily life / Musings / Personal ReminiscencesLeave a comment

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Well, I’m back from the hospital following my knee surgery. It was a “Total knee arthroplasty (TKA), also known as total knee replacement,” described as a “surgical procedure that involves replacing the damaged surfaces of the knee joint with artificial components made of metal and plastic.” I am now the bionic man. First time I’ve had artificial bits embedded in me, but it’s common with my age cohort who get their knees and hips done.*  I came home just after 5 p.m. yesterday. I could have stayed in the hospital overnight, but I’m sure the hospital staff preferred to see ……… click below for more ↓

Godzilla Minus One: Some Thoughts

Film & Reviews / GodzillaLeave a comment

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I have been watching Godzilla films since the late 1950s or early ’60s, when the edited American version (1956) of the 1954 Japanese original was released and was finally shown on TV. I have since seen all 37 films in the franchise at least twice, some even more, and still enjoy watching them (readers here will recall my previous posts about Godzilla and the films…).* The ’54 original film became my favourite of the franchise when I first watched it in the early 2000s (it was not released to North American audiences until 2004; until then all we had was ……… click below for more ↓

The Disappearing Semicolon; Has English Education Failed Us?

Grammar / Reading & Literacy / Style & usage4 Comments

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The media, both legacy and online, continue to herald the death of the semicolon. Perhaps this is meant merely as a distraction from the events unfolding in world politics, particularly the death of democracy as fascism rises in the USA. I’ve previously lamented the misuse and unuse of the semicolon here, but usually in the context of sloppy local media and townhall writing. However, judging at least by the linked articles below, it is a much larger issue than differences over usage and style, and it affects English writers worldwide. It may be the metaphorical ‘canary in the coal mine’ ……… click below for more ↓

The Troubling Lack of Empathy Among Conservatives

MAGA cultists / Psychology & Sociology / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / What I'm Reading Now9 Comments

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Empathy is a nasty word to conservatives. Elon Musk recently showed his contempt for the very notion of considering another’s feelings, calling it “civilizational suicidal empathy.” And then, to make sure everyone knew his views, the technocrat added in an interview with fellow rightwing MAGA cultist Joe Rogan, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit.” Which means he sees empathy as a weakness he can exploit. Information-warfare.com noted, “Musk’s perspective on empathy aligns with certain ideological frameworks, particularly technocracy and the Dark Enlightenment [DE] movement. These ideologies do not prioritize empathy as a guiding principle but ……… click below for more ↓

What if Julian Jaynes Was Right?

Evangelicals / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / US PoliticsOne Comment

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In 1977, Princeton University psychologist Julian Jaynes published his controversial book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Hardly a title that should have captured the public imagination, but it managed to create a stir in the media, among Jaynes’ peers, as well as among other scientists. And, surprisingly for an academic work, it sold out its first printing. It went through new printings in 1990, 1993, and 2000. It was criticized, attacked, and debunked at the time, but also praised, debated and discussed. It still is, albeit not with the same vigour that attended its ……… click below for more ↓

The Honeymooners: The Imaginary Greatness That MAGA Wants to Return To

Culture / Culture wars / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap2 Comments

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Ever see The Honeymooners? Unless you’re at least as old as I am, it’s unlikely you ever saw the TV show when it was first broadcast in the mid-50s. It starred Jackie Gleason and, in lesser but crucial roles, Art Carney, Audrey Meadows, and Joyce Randolph. I was young, and today can barely recall seeing it on our TV set at the time; it wasn’t a parental favourite like some other shows, but I have since seen many episodes, most lately through the DVD set of the series. I watched several of them recently because I wanted to look back ……… click below for more ↓

WTF Canada? We Needed to do Better!

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap6 Comments

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The Canadian federal election is over and the counting has finally finished. The Liberals under Mark Carney got 168 seats, four short of a majority. That’s disappointing because it weakens our government’s ability to cohesively manage the Canadian response to the assault from the fascist dictator Trump and his administrative cabal. A strong majority would have sent a better message about Canadian resistance to the MAGA cult. We should have showed MAGA we are strong, we are united, we won’t be bullied. Instead, CONservatives showed Trump that a large number of us share his MAGA views. It’s disappointing and somewhat ……… click below for more ↓

No, Elon, We Won’t Be Going to Mars Soon

Behaviour & Psychology / Books & Reviews / Science & Technology / Space and space travel / Technology & Gadgets / What I'm Reading Now13 Comments

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Delusional SpaceNazi and democracy destroyer Elon Musk says his company will launch its first rockets to Mars in 2026, and could have human missions sent to the Red Planet as early as 2029, but for sure by 2031. Well, that’s piffle for a lot of reasons. We won’t see a human flight to Mars for many, many more years and not likely to happen within my remaining lifetime (a couple of decades at least, I hope). But despite the ridiculousness of his posturing, sycophantic media continue to shill for Musk and his wacky ideas by publishing his words without actually ……… click below for more ↓

Collingwood’s Mystery Councillor

Collingwood / Council / Ethics and behaviour / MusingsLeave a comment

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Who is Ian MacCulloch? We were only told by the town that he’s the newly-appointed councillor, chosen this month by council to fill the seat vacated by Brandon Houston, who quit his responsibilities and resigned back in January. But unless you dig deeply, you won’t know anything more about the newbie other than his appointment. The town’s announcement about him was vague and insubstantial, although not surprising for a townhall that prefers secrecy over openness. In fact, the town said nothing about MacCulloch’s experience, his past, his relation to the community, his qualifications, his plans and priorities, his family — ……… click below for more ↓

Can Mark Carney Save Canada From Trump? Let’s Hope So.

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap9 Comments

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Mark Carney, our new Liberal leader, is campaigning to be Prime Minister of Canada. His main opponent, the rage-farming, grievance-mining Trump mimic Pierre PoiLIEvre, is campaigning to be governor of a 51st state. Canadians generally think PoiLIEvre is the candidate most likely to cave in and do whatever is necessary to appease Trump. That includes giving away our country just for a pat on the head from the US dictator. PoiLIEvre’s party caucus all know this, they know how their leader has aligned himself with Trump, and has mimicked Trump’s words, behaviour, and disinformation campaigns. Canadian media knows it too. ……… click below for more ↓

Trump Mimic PoiLIEvre Voted The Most Likely to Roll Over to Trump

Canadian Politics / Ideologies / Politics / Rightwing claptrap6 Comments

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The grievance-mining, rage-farming, puerile Trump mimic Pierre PoiLIEre was voted by Canadians the political leader most likely to cave in to Donald Trump rather than stand up for Canada against the fascist bully. That’s not surprising, given the piffleswipe PoiLIEvre has been using Trump’s playbook since Trump started his own campaign some years back: lie, deflect, gaslight, accuse, lie again, insult, never take responsibility, attack, lie some more, and blame everyone else. PoiLIEvre’s own corrosive mix of far-right bombast and bumper-sticker slogans gained him a solid following among the gullible grievance magnets in his Maple MAGA and convoy insurrectionist followers. ……… click below for more ↓

Rage-Farming Trump Mimic Poilievre Scrambles to Pretend He’s Pro-Canada

Canadian Politics / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / Trump fascism / US Politics13 Comments

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The trade war that the racist and fascist felon and Putin asset Donald Trump initiated against American allies Canada and Mexico, as well as against China, Colombia, and other nations has brought out the stark differences between Canada’s conservative parties and our centrist and leftist parties. Suddenly caught like deer in the headlights by Trump’s attacks, the federal CONservatives are flailing to try and convince Canadians that they aren’t really the rightwing Maple MAGA extremists they’ve been pretending to be for the last few years. Instead, they are eager to tell us, they’ve been real Canadians all along. Just as ……… click below for more ↓

WTF Ontario?

Politics / Provincial Politics4 Comments

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Seriously, WTF? How could such a corrupt grifter like Doug Ford not only get re-elected, but get his party of lackluster cons, conspiracy cultists, Talibangelists, and ne’er-do-wells elected as the government again? It’s almost like the majority of voters in this province don’t read the news, don’t care about what he’s done, are apathetic about democracy, and are too lazy or stupid to bother to vote. Oh, wait… The voter turnout in the 2025 Ontario provincial election was an appalling 45%. FORTY FIVE PERCENT! That means less than half of eligible voters gave a shit about voting. The percentage turnout ……… click below for more ↓

Chaucer’s House of Fame

Chaucer / Musings / Poetry2 Comments

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Recently, while I was reading in bed — as is my nightly habit — I came across some lines (641-660) from Book II of Chaucer’s early poem, House of Fame, in a recently purchased book on his prologue to the Canterbury Tales (a small 1960 reprint of a 1903 original picked up at the local used book store). I’ve seen the 2,158-line poem (Wikipedia says 2,005 but that’s wrong) in my Riverside Chaucer, but never paid it much attention and can’t recall ever reading it beyond the opening lines. I’ve always focused more on the major works: Canterbury Tales and ……… click below for more ↓

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