the watcher

A good article on Tina from the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/25/through-pain-and-joy-tina-turner-wrote-herself-into-pop-history-again-and-again

Wild path said " tend to read lighter fiction when I need something to calm down after a long day. Grisham, Crichton, stuff like that." I often read before I sleep to calm my mind. Lol My rule is when I start reading the same paragraph for the 3rd time, turn the light off and go to sleep. Last winter I found I was spending way to much time staring at screens so I self imposed some rules about reading instead. It was interesting to re- read The Lord of the Rings. I had read it in the 1970s then again in the late 80s or early 90s to my kids. What I really noticed this time was the difference between the movies and the books. All the characters and the story itself is so much richer in the books . Gandalf is more wizardry, the bond between Frodo and Sam is so much stronger, the elves more fantastical. It's an interesting example of how deeper and richer the written word can be. I think it is very rare that it is the other way around. Perhaps my only example would be The Commitments by Roddy Doyle. Perhaps because the movie( one of my favorites of all time ) is packed with some fantastic music. Anyway, great thread and thanks for some great reading suggestions everyone.

Hey thanks for starting this thread. I do most of my reading over the winter. Usually non-fiction but with a bit of fiction sprinkled in here and there. I've found myself diving back into a few that I already read and had buried deep in my cluttered office. A Fever in the Heartland looks interesting. Last winter I re- read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, American Fascists by Chris Hedges , Lake Agassiz by Bill Redekop and re-read The Pioneer Years by Barry Broadfoot.

One of my winter reads was Chris Hedges " American Fascists, the Christian Right and the War on America " Written in 2006 its a bit dated but still relevant. I wasn't that familiar with Domnionism and Dominionists but his 1st chapter covers it extensively. A couple of quotes: " Dominionism takes its name from Genesis 1:26 -31, in which God gives human beings " dominion" over all creation. This movement, small in number but influential, departs from traditional evangelicalism.........Dominionism seeks to redefine traditional democratic and Christian terms and concepts to fit an ideology that calls on the radical church to take political power. It shares many prominent features with classical fascist movements." " Dominionism, born out of a theology known as Christian reconstructionism, seeks to politicize faith. It has like all fascist movements, a belief in magic along with leadership adoration and a strident call for moral and physical supremecy of a master race, in this case American Christians.

When the biggest discussion about training camp is the depth of the press coverage , that tells me the Bombers are a damn good team going into camp.

The CNN version So how F##ked up does your country have to be to elect people like him and MTG.

I posted that song from his 1st album then listened to the rest of it. while pruning trees. And DAMN ! I I had almost forgot how good it was. It absolutely brilliant. While he had individual songs that matched or perhaps bettered it , the album as a whole was his best. Done simply yet runs the gambit from political commentary to heartbreak. RIP Gord.

Check out his voice here.

I was a huge Lightfoot fan. A brilliant writer and especially in his earlier years a great singer. His very first album was amazing. My son is a huge music fan but was so so on Lightfoot till he listened to it. It converted him. Like the obit says, Icon doesn't do him justice.

When I grew up I thought residential schools were just where indigenous kids went to school. Your damn right we ( including me ) need to be educated about the truth. A few " wasted resources " now can help correct the past or at least our view of it which can help future generations.

There are times when I wish I would get rid of the internet and TV. The written word is so much richer. All that reading , Christian, Buddhist, Taoist....texts and I ended up with a belief system that Iris Dement summed up in a couple of minutes much more eloquently than I ever could.

Back in the early 90s I did a deep, deep dive into religion. I consumed whatever I could about many religions, and the history of those religions. I had ditched my TV and it was pre-internet for me so I had lots of time on my hands lol. One of the things I did was read the Bible from front to back. Like one would read a novel. I found it really changed my perspective. While I no longer consider myself a Christian there is alot of good and positive things that can be taken from the Bible. But to take it word for word as God's rule is impossible. A bit of a deep dive into the history of the Christian church will yield the same results. I don't see any issue with a Christian believing in evolution.

Wide Left said: " One poll may show that, but polls can say a lot of things - like people don't really like either Trudeau or PeePee to any great degree." I am definitely in that group. I can't vote Liberal unless Trudeau removes himself and I can't vote for any party like the Cons that denies climate change led by a little shite that would sell his soul ( and maybe everyone else's) and join forces with what ever moronic movement that will get him elected. So I am limited to 1 party before an election is even called.

In the USA it's the majority. Around %60 if I recall correctly.

Americans always seem to need an enemy. I have a theory that if you are particularly inward looking, believe you are the best, the greatest, the ultimate nation then when the inevitable problems occur that all nations suffer it can only be blamed on subversives or outsiders trying to destroy you. Those in power know this and use it.

The CNP came up in a book I'm reading so I thought I'd read a bit on it. What really struck me about this article and about the CNP in general is how twisted it is that they are the very thing that alot of MAGA supporters think they are fighting against is what they are supporting. https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/10/25/god-trump-closed-door-world-council-national-policy/

I found this interesting: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/russia-ukraine-crisis-in-maps-and-charts-live-news-interactive

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/22/arizona-attorney-general-2020-election-vote-fraud-maricopa-county When a politician/ government official intentionally, knowingly tries to thwart democracy they need to be charged and dealt with harshly. Every time I hear things like this I think of the woman who thought she could vote ( an election official said she could ) despite having been in jail.They slammed her with 5 years in prison

A whole lot of folks wearing folks wearing red hats would give a deep sigh and mumble " Ah,the good old days "

I never said they were equal .No doubt the Republicans are disgusting. But if you remove about 4 items off that list then they are right there. It was the Democrats that instituted mandatory minimum sentencing. The Democrats have been perfectly willing to send their kids to unneeded wars that gain nothing but profits for corps under the guise of overblown patriotism.They had their chance to codify Roe vs Wade and didn't. I could go on. As I said ones a dung hill.The others a steaming rotten dung hill . Granted the latter is now filled with nutbars and lunitics

The trouble with the US is alot of that list could be assigned to the Dems as well. There is no real choice that will change the direction of that country other than lone wolfs like Bernie. It's like a choice between a dung hill and a stinking rotten dunghill. It's still all crap.

Scary sh##t to be honest.

Interesting research https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/09/crazy-interesting-findings-by-australian-researchers-may-reveal-key-to-covid-immunity

My tablet went frigging nuts lol. I actually wanted to say that doesn't excuse what he did in his non hockey life. It should be a reminder that our childhood heros are not what we imagined at the time.