This article, 1980 Summer Olympics boycott echoes today, is far too interesting to let go without some sort of acknowledgement. “Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.”
“Let’s hope that the media gives some airtime to this historical parallel, lest the Games become just another prime-time venue to uncritically tout Canada’s military engagements abroad…”
I recommend reading it…
It was twenty  years ago today, December 6th, 1989, when “proven” misogynist and extraordinary needledick;
“… Marc Lépine, walked into École Polytechnique in Montréal, ‘armed with a legally obtained semi-automatic rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people, killing fourteen and injuring the other fourteen before killing himself.’ All the people that he managed to murder were women. And, here’s the kicker, those efforts were declared his attempts at ‘fighting feminism’…”
And as truly horrific and sadly tragic the events of that day really were, like that of last year, I’m still quite incapable of writing anything that would, even remotely, do the lessons of that day, 20 years ago,  justice. In fact, with the Canadian Government working so diligently to abolish the “federal long gun registry,” this years anniversary of the Montreal Massacre is ever more relevant. So much so, I am certain anything I would write would be nothing more than a bunch of much deserved douche bag references, directed at people who aren’t easily insulted, or, for that matter, care what people, namely me, think.
It’s an absolute exercize in futility, and I won’t be taking part in it, today…
November’s edition of Bill Blum’s monthly essay contribution is a “rager;”
“If machismo explains war, if men love war and fighting so much, why do we have to compel them with conscription on pain of imprisonment? Why do the powers-that-be have to wage advertising campaigns to seduce young people to enlist in the military? Why do young men go to extreme lengths to be declared exempt for physical or medical reasons? Why do they flee into exile to avoid the draft? Why do they desert the military in large numbers in the midst of war? Why don’t Sweden or Switzerland or Costa Rica have wars? Surely there are many macho men in those countries…”
Check it out!
Stephen Harper was at it again, talking his shit, this time, at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh last week. And I quote;
“We’re so self-effacing as Canadians that we sometimes forget the assets we do have that other people see. … We are one of the most stable regimes in history. … We also have no history of colonialism. So we have all of the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them. … Canada is big enough to make a difference but not big enough to threaten anybody. And that is a huge asset if it’s properly used.â€
Seriously? And, as arrogant as that “comment” truly was, what is so maddening is the lack of coverage it received. It took a random posting on Facebook, to a commentary, at Queen’s University’s, The Journal, for me, no stranger to Canadian news, to catch such a mis-characterization of Canadian history.
What the hell are you waiting for, Michael? Not that the Liberals are any better, but I’ve had more than enough of this Douche-bag, already…