Businesses will need to support community during pandemic: Ont. official, Le Bloc veut une équipe nationale du Québec, mais ne garantit rien
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Thu, Dec 1, 2005 at 9:58 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
Today was Bert’s funeral. We slept in 1 and a half hours past when we
had set the alarm clock. We had to. We were up until 3. Tried some of
the new wine at happinez, the South African Goats Do Roam and the
Malbec by Trapiche, both nice wines. Finished off with some CC at
home. We’ve started collecting and tagging TH cups from around town;
they are everywhere. We are still modifying the project; soon it will
include stencils and spray paint. Today at the hospital I picked up
some surgical gloves. You don’t know where these cups have been.
Errands this morning included picking up my black pants from Ruthie
the Tailor; she had to mend the rips from my Fight Night. Apparently I
tore them in three places and lost the clasp. I picked up my shoes
from the building and some fresh coffee from Java Moose in the market.
Made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. We have no toaster but
the grill in the oven does the trick in a jiffy.
We med Judy and Danika and Robyn at the hospital, preparing Mary for
the handi-bus. I drove the Element out to Rothesay. Tracy, the funeral
director, greeted us and handled everything with poise and in a manner
similar to a flight attendant. I mean this in a good way. The ceremony
was quite touching, especially when Judy got up to speak about her
dad, her voice quavering yodel-fashion the whole way, the raw emotion
and sheer love causing many a Kleenex box to be emptied.
After the ceremony there was a reception in the new gymnasium attached
to the church. Lots of sandwiches and vegetables and cheese and
crackers and even Rice Krispie Squares and Nanaimo bars and other
chocolaty goodies. Then we were assembled again to take Bert to the
cemetery. It was raining and the terrain muddy but Mary wanted to be
there until the end, so the handi-bus maneuvered to the best spot and
Mary appeared wrapped in a black shawl, descending on her platform
like some regal empress, and we helped her wheelchair all-wheel drive
to Bert’s plot. Some final words, white roses on the casket and c’est
fini.
We drove back to St. Joe’s, a little bit emotionally drained. then we met my mom and grandparents, nanny and poppy, at the bar, having a bottle of Little Penguin shiraz, before I started my shift. Karina stopped by for a visit as well, after picking up her “homemade supper”, and the family went off for supper at D’Amico’s and had desert—divine chocolate truffles from Opera—when they returned to the bar for another little visit, this time with my dad, who was supposed to ref a basketball game but it was postponed so he came in town to meet us.
The vibe in the bar as of late has been really interesting; little gatherings, not terribly busy but steady, good regulars and repeat customers, plus lots of folks from out of town. I just met an old friend, Cindy, who has been in close touch with Krishna in London. Anyway, I’m at work at the moment, so I’d best get going, polish some glasses, replace some candles, you know the drill.
-chris
Bank hikes interest rates, Martin promet plus d’argent pour les garderies à compter de 2011
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Tue, Dec 6, 2005 at 12:34 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
I am probably just missing you; I read you are in Saint John this
morning. I thought about hanging out in the Market to see if I’d bump
into you but I’ve been at home working on the media release and
posters for Colin Turner’s upcoming exhibition at Third Space. We
FINALLY got our Internet working at home. By chance we stumbled upon
an employee of Aliant who was actually knowledgeable AND helpful AND
friendly. A first time for everything, I guess. And I bought a
wireless router and that installation pretty much took care of itself.
Easy as pie.
So last night Claudine prepared an amazing supper, a pork roast we cut
up and used in a recipe designed for veal. She originally was going to
use veal, but couldn’t find any in this city. I’m not sure if that is
due to an ethical decision amongst all the groceries and butchers not
to use such meat, coming as it does from young calves that have had
their legs broken and are confined to small cages for the few days of
life they experience, or whether they just can’t be bothered. En tout
cas, it would only be something we eat once in a blue moon, or even
rarer, like once every passing of Halley’s Comet.
Last night we rented The Ring 2. What a yawner. It just picked up
where the first one started falling apart, only #2 fell apart a lot
faster and further. I don’t know what was more disappointing: the
probability holes in the plot big enough to swallow a bus, the
recycled, wooden and perpetually pained expressions on the actors, the
lack of chemistry between all the actors, the CGI hackjob with the
deer sequence, or the complete lack of suspense and/or horror,
something a bit vital in a horror movie, wouldn’t you think?
So yesterday there was an interesting announcement. Hardman Group, a
local development company, announced plans to invest $75 million into
redeveloping the former Coast Guard site here in Saint John. The
10-year plan will involve a major hotel, condos, townhouses,
commercial and retail space, as well as an undefined post-secondary
technical school. All very exciting, until one looks at the proposed
renderings published in the newspaper today, which look like (yawn)
any other basic condo development in any other North American city.
Hopefully we will have a good turnout for Colin’s presentation next
week and inspiring discussions about urban renewal.
-chris
Harper targets drug crime, Jean Charest et André Boisclair feront campagne dans Outremont
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Tue, Dec 6, 2005 at 12:37 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
Sorry I didn’t write yesterday. You know how it is with me. Claudine
and I slept in, but only a little bit. My grandparents drove into town
with the table and chairs my parents are giving us. They were on their
way back to Lunenburg. We unloaded and then ran around the uptown on
our own separate errands, checking out health clinics, banks,
returning chairs (a long story that is, and one I probably won’t get
into with you). Then I was at work and didn’t have a chance to write,
even though my computer was just under the bar. It wasn’t a crazy busy
Friday; it wasn’t even all that busy, but just steady enough to hamper
the attempt to write. After closing time a bunch of us hopped into
cabs to a party in the North End. Drank some nasty rummed eggnog. When
Klo and I got home we polished off her bottle of CC during one of our
soon-to-be-patented late-night conversations. I think we were up until 5.
I don’t know how she managed to do it, but Claudine was up in time for
yoga this morning. I barely got up in time to meet her for brunch at
Cora’s, and for that I can thank Bill, who called to say he was coming
over to work on the crackfilling in the studio.
Collected and tagged more TH cups, worked on a stencil design, and
completed a few frottage paintings before heading to work. It is
exciting to be working on art projects again.
Anyhow, I’m enjoying a lovely soup at Opera Bistro for my break this
evening, and should get back to work soon, before it gets busy.
-chris
Martin targets handguns, Martin annonce l’interdiction des armes de poing
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Thu, Dec 8, 2005 at 12:59 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
We built the shelves in our kitchen yesterday. Added the bathroom
mirror above the sink, in between and under the shelves. Borrowed
Judy’s Element and picked up a bucket of paint for the apartment and a
bucket for the gallery. Claudine and I have been striking the
exhibition, packing up Lisa’s pins, and re-painting the black wall.
I’m currently on coat #4.
Stopped at O’Leary’s after a slow night in the bar last night. Hung
out with Katie and Jason; talked about warerfront development. Jason
was born on a leap year, which still amazes Claudine. He was telling
us about the hassle he received from the province when he was trying
to operate his Awful Falafel And Not So Bad Waffle stand. He was shut
down because he didn’t have a commercial kitchen; when he tried to
argue the point, saying that the hot dog vendors didn’t have
commercial kitchen, he was told that hot dogs, being a highly
processed food, didn’t need one; that they could be eaten raw. Hello!
Jay’s falafels were made from organic chick peas, which one can
certainly eat raw. They are completely natural, non-processed, and
high in protein. I guess they just don’t meet the exacting standards
of the NB health board, which must hold the Hot Dog in high esteem as
a good source of vitamins and minerals. Say, isn’t NB one of Canada’s
fattest provinces? Interesting coincidence.
-chris
No word as deadline passes, Climat: Une entente est conclue à la Conférence de l’ONU de Montréal
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Sat, Dec 10, 2005 at 12:08 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
I hear you’ve been running around the country in pre-election mode
slamming the US on pollution issues. Tsk-tsk; you must know that the
UN conference which just wrapped up in Montréal, and sure the US is
the world’s biggest polluter, and sure the Bush administration is
adamant in their refusal to sign Kyoto, but their emissions did drop
in the past five years while Canada’s climbed. Still on target for
2012 are we? How so? Let’s make THIS an election issue, shall we?
Because, like, if we completely fuck up our environment then health
and education and day care and the economy are pretty much moot
points, right? Maybe a step in the right direction could be taking
those huge subsidies that go to the oil and gas industries and shift
them to sectors that are researching and developing alternative energy
sources. Just a thought.
Anyway, I’m puttering around the house in cleaning mode; was up late,
late last night, as it was a busy night at the bar. There are gallery
things to attend to today; Colin was by last night and Claudine helped
him with gallery prep and he installed some of his maquettes, but
there is more to do. There is always more to do.
-chris
Families await word, Une bisbille sur les publicités des libéraux au Québec retient l’attention
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mon, Dec 12, 2005 at 2:14 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
Saturday night was slow at the bar. It is impossible to try to
anticipate how and when or why people in Saint John go out. Friday was
one of our best nights yet, and Saturday one of the worst. But still,
there is something nice about a smaller crowd, more intimate, more
opportunity to talk with people, not just watch people get drunk and
obnoxious. It’s funny, because my own desire to get drunk every now
and then has dropped significantly since working at the bar. It’s like
some sort of therapy. Maybe AA could develop a program where former
addicts work shifts in busy bars.
Jess stayed over the other night, as the roads were a bit icy.
Claudine made crêpes for us all Sunday morning, a real delicacy. The
weather was warm and mild and the snow that fell the other night all
but melted away. We worked at the gallery in the afternoon, testing
the projector we borrowed from Tel/Av and hanging Colin’s drawings and
moving around his maquettes. Had a coffee and a rather bland grilled
faux cheese sandwich at Pugsley Park, a “green space” located directly
in front of where the cruise ship passengers disembark and get their
roses. A “green space” that consists of an asphalt base and some
shrubbery in wooden boxes.
Cooked supper for us Sunday night, baked salmon and vegetables, and
spent most of the evening making Xmas cards. The holiday season makes
me both depressed and anxious, how about you? I dislike the hype.
We watched ‘Goodbye Lenin’ last night. A nice flick, good
cinematography, solid story about an East German woman and
super-supporter of the Socialist Party who suffers a heart attack and
is in a coma when the wall comes down. When she awakes her son and
family try to re-create a pre-1989 world for her, amidst dramatic
cultural changes. A story about the fictions we tell ourselves and
others, in order to elevate higher ideals.
Finished the cards this morning, after sleeping in, and then Peter arrived with a truckful (or Element-ful) of my crap from his house, all the files and papers and receipts and art and suitcases and clothes and other bits of crap I’d left there and hadn’t retrieved yet. Now we’re off to collect chairs from the NBM and finish preparing Colin’s show for the opening and talk tonight.
-chris
Laval officer killed during routine call, Une policière de Laval est décédée dans une opération policière
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Thu, Dec 15, 2005 at 8:49 AM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
Sorry. What else can I say? I’m lazy.
The other night we drove out to the valley in a snowstorm with my dad
after work and had supper with may parents. Afterwards we set up and
decorated the tree and watched “A Christmas Story”—you know how it is
one of our family classics, with Ralphie in his quest for the Red
Rider 200-shot BB gun. Found a new favourite line: “You used up all
the glue on purpose”, uttered by Ralphie’s dad immediately after his
the leg-lamp is ‘accidentally’ broken.
I’d write more but I was on deadline. I was called back yesterday
afternoon by the CBC to do a review of the new King Kong movie, which
meant I had to leave work early last night, Jess and Peter closed up.
I sat through a three-hour megalomaniac film director’s tribute to the
original 1933 classic. Full of pathos and humour and lots and lots of
digital insects and dinosaurs and cars hurtling through the air. A bit
much.
Anyway, I was in the studio by 7AM this morning, had a chance to read
the paper and discover that Saint John’s last remaining downtown movie
theatre has closed. Building sold, we don’t know to who or for what
purpose until after the deal is sealed. The last time this happened
uptown the former King Square Cinema building was razed and a snazzy
new parking lot paved over. I guess for the time being we can keep our
fingers crossed that someone bought the building with some sort of
great idea in mind, something that will keep the city humming.
Like building a great big working sculpture of a humming bird.
BTW, I like your style recently of using GWB as a punching bag for
your electioneering. Opportunistic and crass, but thoroughly enjoyable
as well. Here’s a suggestion for you: next time you get the chance,
sucker-punch David Wilkins. That would be an unequivocal end to your
‘Mr. Dithers’ routine.
OK, off to make Xmas cards. Really.
-chris
Ambassador plays down feud, Les commandites et les promesses dominent le débat des chefs en français
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Fri, Dec 16, 2005 at 12:29 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
I received this link from Luis Jacob and I feel I just must share it
with you. Maybe after reading it you’ll feel even more confident in
your games of Bush-Bashing. When people ask why or accuse you of
political posturing, you can look them dead in the eye and say: “Well,
he’s a war criminal”. Wouldn’t that be something? I’d love to hear
that in a scrum.
So the following is an excerpt from a speech the British playwright
Howard Pinter and 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature winner gave at his
Nobel Lecture last week:
“Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any
of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence
available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the
maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that
people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth,
even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a
vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.
As every single person here knows, the justification for the invasion
of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of
weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45
minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that
was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship
with Al Quaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York
of September 11th 2001. We were assured that this was true. It was not
true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We
were assured it was true. It was not true.
The truth is something entirely different. The truth is to do with how
the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses
to embody it.
But before I come back to the present I would like to look at the
recent past, by which I mean United States foreign policy since the
end of the Second World War. I believe it is obligatory upon us to
subject this period to at least some kind of even limited scrutiny,
which is all that time will allow here. Everyone knows what happened in the Soviet Union and throughout
Eastern Europe during the post-war period: the systematic brutality,
the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent
thought. All this has been fully documented and verified.
But my contention here is that the US crimes in the same period have
only been superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone
acknowledged, let alone recognised as crimes at all. I believe this
must be addressed and that the truth has considerable bearing on where
the world stands now. Although constrained, to a certain extent, by
the existence of the Soviet Union, the United States’ actions
throughout the world made it clear that it had concluded it had carte
blanche to do what it liked.
Direct invasion of a sovereign state has never in fact been America’s
favoured method. In the main, it has preferred what it has described
as ‘low intensity conflict’. Low intensity conflict means that
thousands of people die but slower than if you dropped a bomb on them
in one fell swoop. It means that you infect the heart of the country,
that you establish a malignant growth and watch the gangrene bloom.
When the populace has been subdued – or beaten to death – the same
thing – and your own friends, the military and the great corporations,
sit comfortably in power, you go before the camera and say that
democracy has prevailed. This was a commonplace in US foreign policy
in the years to which I refer.
The tragedy of Nicaragua was a highly significant case. I choose to
offer it here as a potent example of America’s view of its role in the
world, both then and now.
I was present at a meeting at the US embassy in London in the late 1980s.
The United States Congress was about to decide whether to give more
money to the Contras in their campaign against the state of Nicaragua.
I was a member of a delegation speaking on behalf of Nicaragua but the
most important member of this delegation was a Father John Metcalf.
The leader of the US body was Raymond Seitz (then number two to the
ambassador, later ambassador himself). Father Metcalf said: ‘Sir, I am
in charge of a parish in the north of Nicaragua. My parishioners built
a school, a health centre, a cultural centre. We have lived in peace.
A few months ago a Contra force attacked the parish. They destroyed
everything: the school, the health centre, the cultural centre. They
raped nurses and teachers, slaughtered doctors, in the most brutal
manner. They behaved like savages. Please demand that the US
government withdraw its support from this shocking terrorist
activity.’
Raymond Seitz had a very good reputation as a rational, responsible
and highly sophisticated man. He was greatly respected in diplomatic
circles. He listened, paused and then spoke with some gravity.
‘Father,’ he said, ‘let me tell you something. In war, innocent people
always suffer.’ There was a frozen silence. We stared at him. He did
not flinch.
Innocent people, indeed, always suffer.
Finally somebody said: ‘But in this case “innocent people” were the
victims of a gruesome atrocity subsidised by your government, one
among many. If Congress allows the Contras more money further
atrocities of this kind will take place. Is this not the case? Is your
government not therefore guilty of supporting acts of murder and
destruction upon the citizens of a sovereign state?’
Seitz was imperturbable. ‘I don’t agree that the facts as presented
support your assertions,’ he said.
As we were leaving the Embassy a US aide told me that he enjoyed my
plays. I did not reply.
I should remind you that at the time President Reagan made the
following statement: ‘The Contras are the moral equivalent of our
Founding Fathers.’
The United States supported the brutal Somoza dictatorship in
Nicaragua for over 40 years. The Nicaraguan people, led by the
Sandinistas, overthrew this regime in 1979, a breathtaking popular
revolution.
The Sandinistas weren’t perfect. They possessed their fair share of
arrogance and their political philosophy contained a number of
contradictory elements. But they were intelligent, rational and
civilised. They set out to establish a stable, decent, pluralistic
society. The death penalty was abolished. Hundreds of thousands of
poverty-stricken peasants were brought back from the dead. Over
100,000 families were given title to land. Two thousand schools were
built. A quite remarkable literacy campaign reduced illiteracy in the
country to less than one seventh. Free education was established and a
free health service. Infant mortality was reduced by a third. Polio
was eradicated.
The United States denounced these achievements as Marxist/Leninist
subversion. In the view of the US government, a dangerous example was
being set. If Nicaragua was allowed to establish basic norms of social
and economic justice, if it was allowed to raise the standards of
health care and education and achieve social unity and national self
respect, neighbouring countries would ask the same questions and do
the same things. There was of course at the time fierce resistance to
the status quo in El Salvador.
I spoke earlier about ‘a tapestry of lies’ which surrounds us.
President Reagan commonly described Nicaragua as a ‘totalitarian
dungeon’. This was taken generally by the media, and certainly by the
British government, as accurate and fair comment. But there was in
fact no record of death squads under the Sandinista government. There
was no record of torture. There was no record of systematic or
official military brutality. No priests were ever murdered in
Nicaragua. There were in fact three priests in the government, two
Jesuits and a Maryknoll missionary. The totalitarian dungeons were
actually next door, in El Salvador and Guatemala. The United States
had brought down the democratically elected government of Guatemala in
1954 and it is estimated that over 200,000 people had been victims of
successive military dictatorships.
Six of the most distinguished Jesuits in the world were viciously
murdered at the Central American University in San Salvador in 1989 by
a battalion of the Alcatl regiment trained at Fort Benning, Georgia,
USA. That extremely brave man Archbishop Romero was assassinated while
saying mass. It is estimated that 75,000 people died. Why were they
killed? They were killed because they believed a better life was
possible and should be achieved. That belief immediately qualified
them as communists. They died because they dared to question the
status quo, the endless plateau of poverty, disease, degradation and
oppression, which had been their birthright.
The United States finally brought down the Sandinista government. It
took some years and considerable resistance but relentless economic
persecution and 30,000 dead finally undermined the spirit of the
Nicaraguan people. They were exhausted and poverty stricken once
again. The casinos moved back into the country. Free health and free
education were over. Big business returned with a vengeance.
‘Democracy’ had prevailed.
But this ‘policy’ was by no means restricted to Central America. It
was conducted throughout the world. It was never-ending. And it is as
if it never happened.
The United States supported and in many cases engendered every right
wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second
World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay,
Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, and, of
course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in
1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.
Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries.
Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US
foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are
attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn’t know it.
It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening
it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The
crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious,
remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You
have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical
manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for
universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of
hypnosis.
I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show
on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but
it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its
most saleable commodity is self love. It’s a winner. Listen to all
American presidents on television say the words, ‘the American
people’, as in the sentence, ‘I say to the American people it is time
to pray and to defend the rights of the American people and I ask the
American people to trust their president in the action he is about to
take on behalf of the American people.’
It’s a scintillating stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep
thought at bay. The words ‘the American people’ provide a truly
voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don’t need to think. Just lie
back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence
and your critical faculties but it’s very comfortable. This does not
apply of course to the 40 million people living below the poverty line
and the 2 million men and women imprisoned in the vast gulag of
prisons, which extends across the US.
The United States no longer bothers about low intensity conflict. It
no longer sees any point in being reticent or even devious. It puts
its cards on the table without fear or favour. It quite simply doesn’t
give a damn about the United Nations, international law or critical
dissent, which it regards as impotent and irrelevant. It also has its
own bleating little lamb tagging behind it on a lead, the pathetic and
supine Great Britain.
What has happened to our moral sensibility? Did we ever have any? What
do these words mean? Do they refer to a term very rarely employed
these days – conscience? A conscience to do not only with our own acts
but to do with our shared responsibility in the acts of others? Is all
this dead? Look at Guantanamo Bay. Hundreds of people detained without
charge for over three years, with no legal representation or due
process, technically detained forever. This totally illegitimate
structure is maintained in defiance of the Geneva Convention. It is
not only tolerated but hardly thought about by what’s called the
‘international community’. This criminal outrage is being committed by
a country, which declares itself to be ‘the leader of the free world’.
Do we think about the inhabitants of Guantanamo Bay? What does the
media say about them? They pop up occasionally – a small item on page
six. They have been consigned to a no man’s land from which indeed
they may never return. At present many are on hunger strike, being
force-fed, including British residents. No niceties in these
force-feeding procedures. No sedative or anaesthetic. Just a tube
stuck up your nose and into your throat. You vomit blood. This is
torture. What has the British Foreign Secretary said about this?
Nothing. What has the British Prime Minister said about this? Nothing.
Why not? Because the United States has said: to criticise our conduct
in Guantanamo Bay constitutes an unfriendly act. You’re either with us
or against us. So Blair shuts up.
The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state
terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of
international law. The invasion was an arbitrary military action
inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the
media and therefore of the public; an act intended to consolidate
American military and economic control of the Middle East masquerading
– as a last resort – all other justifications having failed to justify
themselves – as liberation. A formidable assertion of military force
responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands and thousands of
innocent people.
We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable
acts of random murder, misery, degradation and death to the Iraqi
people and call it ‘bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle
East’.
How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described
as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than
enough, I would have thought. Therefore it is just that Bush and Blair
be arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice. But
Bush has been clever. He has not ratified the International Criminal
Court of Justice. Therefore if any American soldier or for that matter
politician finds himself in the dock Bush has warned that he will send
in the marines. But Tony Blair has ratified the Court and is therefore
available for prosecution. We can let the Court have his address if
they’re interested. It is Number 10, Downing Street, London.
Death in this context is irrelevant. Both Bush and Blair place death
well away on the back burner. At least 100,000 Iraqis were killed by
American bombs and missiles before the Iraq insurgency began. These
people are of no moment. Their deaths don’t exist. They are blank.
They are not even recorded as being dead. ‘We don’t do body counts,’
said the American general Tommy Franks.
Early in the invasion there was a photograph published on the front
page of British newspapers of Tony Blair kissing the cheek of a little
Iraqi boy. ‘A grateful child,’ said the caption. A few days later
there was a story and photograph, on an inside page, of another
four-year-old boy with no arms. His family had been blown up by a
missile. He was the only survivor. ‘When do I get my arms back?’ he
asked. The story was dropped. Well, Tony Blair wasn’t holding him in
his arms, nor the body of any other mutilated child, nor the body of
any bloody corpse. Blood is dirty. It dirties your shirt and tie when
you’re making a sincere speech on television.
The 2,000 American dead are an embarrassment. They are transported to
their graves in the dark. Funerals are unobtrusive, out of harm’s way.
The mutilated rot in their beds, some for the rest of their lives. So
the dead and the mutilated both rot, in different kinds of graves. …
Let me make it quite clear that in quoting from Neruda’s poem I am in
no way comparing Republican Spain to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. I quote
Neruda because nowhere in contemporary poetry have I read such a
powerful visceral description of the bombing of civilians.
I have said earlier that the United States is now totally frank about
putting its cards on the table. That is the case. Its official
declared policy is now defined as ‘full spectrum dominance’. That is
not my term, it is theirs. ‘Full spectrum dominance’ means control of
land, sea, air and space and all attendant resources.
The United States now occupies 702 military installations throughout
the world in 132 countries, with the honourable exception of Sweden,
of course. We don’t quite know how they got there but they are there
all right.
The United States possesses 8,000 active and operational nuclear
warheads. Two thousand are on hair trigger alert, ready to be launched
with 15 minutes warning. It is developing new systems of nuclear
force, known as bunker busters. The British, ever cooperative, are
intending to replace their own nuclear missile, Trident. Who, I
wonder, are they aiming at? Osama bin Laden? You? Me? Joe Dokes?
China? Paris? Who knows? What we do know is that this infantile
insanity – the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons – is
at the heart of present American political philosophy. We must remind
ourselves that the United States is on a permanent military footing
and shows no sign of relaxing it.
Many thousands, if not millions, of people in the United States itself
are demonstrably sickened, shamed and angered by their government’s
actions, but as things stand they are not a coherent political force –
yet. But the anxiety, uncertainty and fear which we can see growing
daily in the United States is unlikely to diminish.
I know that President Bush has many extremely competent speech writers
but I would like to volunteer for the job myself. I propose the
following short address which he can make on television to the nation.
I see him grave, hair carefully combed, serious, winning, sincere,
often beguiling, sometimes employing a wry smile, curiously
attractive, a man’s man.
‘God is good. God is great. God is good. My God is good. Bin Laden’s
God is bad. His is a bad God. Saddam’s God was bad, except he didn’t
have one. He was a barbarian. We are not barbarians. We don’t chop
people’s heads off. We believe in freedom. So does God. I am not a
barbarian. I am the democratically elected leader of a freedom-loving
democracy. We are a compassionate society. We give compassionate
electrocution and compassionate lethal injection. We are a great
nation. I am not a dictator. He is. I am not a barbarian. He is. And
he is. They all are. I possess moral authority. You see this fist?
This is my moral authority. And don’t you forget it.’
A writer’s life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We
don’t have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is
stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the
winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a
limb. You find no shelter, no protection – unless you lie – in which
case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could
be argued, become a politician.…
When we look into a mirror we think the image that confronts us is
accurate. But move a millimetre and the image changes. We are actually
looking at a never-ending range of reflections. But sometimes a writer
has to smash the mirror – for it is on the other side of that mirror
that the truth stares at us.
I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching,
unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define
the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation
which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.
If such a determination is not embodied in our political vision we
have no hope of restoring what is so nearly lost to us – the dignity
of man.”
-(c) THE NOBEL FOUNDATION 2005
Not much I can say after that.
Except to add that the former Paramount Cinema, which was bought by
the Sobey’s Empire a few years back, has been sold. Last of the
downtown movie theatres, gone. And of course Sobeys is gracious enough
to provide lovely incentives to the deal meaning that it cannot be
used as a grocery, drugstore or—get this—movie theatre. Well isn’t
that swell. Wouldn’t it be easier to keep a $600,000, 900-seat theatre
as a theatre? It would make a great rep theatre, or “off-imperial”
performance space. But I suppose, following in the grand Sobey’s
Empire footsteps, the new owner will probably raze the building and
put up a parking lot.
This must be what they mean by “the Sobey’s festive touch”.
I guess we’ll know more when the new owner is made public.
-chris
Gomery is Newsmaker of the Year, Harper veut donner un statut spécial au Québec, Martin dit non
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mon, Dec 19, 2005 at 11:26 PM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
My parents came over for supper yesterday evening. I had been painting
the office most of the day, so Claudine cooked a marvelous chicken
dinner. We walked to Queen Square afterwards to catch up with Kate
Kerr and about forty festive carollers, and we wandered around the
South End singing Christmas songs. Finished off with hot cocoa and
cookies at the Gothic Arches. When we arrived home we noticed my
parent’s car was missing. We soon determined that it had been towed;
they had parked in front of a miniature garage door. The most annoying
part—aside from the $168 fee—was that we couldn’t get the car back
last night. There was only an answering service available at Loyalist
Towing and the arresting officer never bothered to call us back. My
parents took a cab home and I borrowed Judy’s truck and met mom this
morning to go out to Ashburn Lake Road to retrieve it. Quite the
adventure. The best part was when the Road Warrior attendant answered
the partial door to the police department; he was a mix between a
hobbit and sgt. slaughter, and his twin animal was barking on a chair
at Loyalist Towing; a brutish little bulldog wrapped in a blanket.
Claudine and I took advantage of the wheels and picked up a slew of
groceries for our Christmas dinners at Superstore, then I spent a good
chunk of the day painting, making stretcher frames for paintings, and
collecting TH cups. We’ve gathered a good fifty or so just in the pat
two days, just from our regular walking routes. We don’t even have to
try to find them. It’s both fascinating and appalling.
So we’ve got a Christmas tree up, or Holiday Tree, or whatever the
heck you want to call it; live sacrifice to the gods of consumerism is
a good name too. We’ve decorated it with some of the eggshells
Claudine has been collecting and a variety of small birds purchased
from Dollarama. Hooray for Dollarama.
-chris
Boxing Day shooting rampage, John Gomery, personnalité de l’année de la PC, vit une “expérience unique”
chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Tue, Dec 27, 2005 at 8:25 AM
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Dear Paul,
Happy Holidays! I am so sorry for not having written, but I just
haven’t been bothered. You know what Clo and I often say: “If we can’t
be vulgar, we can’t be bothered”. So maybe this has been a less vulgar
holiday.
It’s actually been quite pleasant. We had Judy and Mary and Peter and
Robyn and Danika over for snacks and cocktails Christmas Eve, then my
parents came over for roast duck. Yes! We cooked a duck, and it was
delicious. Claudine found a recipe and collected the ingredients and
prepared it all; my dad and I came in at the eleventh hour to draw fat
and baste.
We’ve been showered with gifts of the housewarming variety and
needless to say feel very spoiled and well-loved. We went out to my parents for Xmas day and they loved the laptop that Trevor, Aaron and I secretly bought them. We had a Christmas Ham,
cooked to perfection. They headed out to NS yesterday. Jessie is not
doing well; throwing up from new arthritis medication. She’s a
bona-fide SJ limper now.
A storm’s a brewing, and we are heading out to Montréal this very
morning. It will be a long drive; last night the highways were closed
due to snow and ice up north. It’s just hitting us now. Don’t worry
about us; we’ll be careful, and drive extra safe.
-chris
DEAR PM 