How to make a lazy narrative fit your desired hot take:

Columnists like the National Post’s Andrew Coyne and the CBC’s Robyn Urback were quick to point to the confusion surrounding the attacker’s identity as an example of the left and right engaging in the same game of premature speculation in order to prove ideological superiority. But this is a false equivalence; while it is important to wait for all information to come out in a dynamic situation, Muslims and their allies have different reasons for speculating than right-wing Islamophobes. Speculating that a white man may be responsible for a brazen hate crime is an act of self-defence, motivated by a desire to see their community’s oppression taken seriously. The far right, on the other hand, hopes to see a Muslim held responsible to push forward a bigoted narrative of a nation under attack by Islam. These identity differences may seem trivial, but one only needs look at how this attack was covered to see how the distinction manifests materially.

Thanks, Al. Good tips for sure.

Dancy happy song just so you are entertained.



Silent Circle-Don't lose your heart tonight

Sorry for getting ranty.

I have to be hopeful despite everything that has happened, is happening or going to happen.

History wise all our ancestors no matter their origin or place of habitation have been under outside conquerors, adversity natural and man made and who knows what else. What they all have in common is the will to survive and not only that but to thrive. What is happening now will affect me but I still have the next 40 or more years in front of me. I will survive and thrive I owe the ones who came before me that much. So I can't lose hope even when everything seems the bleakest.

Personally I've had surgery of my ACL, my nephew-in-law (RIP) committed suicide, layoffs still continue at my company. Despite this I just broke a personal record (pre-torn ACL) for a leg exercise, my niece was born and named after her cousin and aunt to carry on their spirit, and I have been promoted to run North America engineering for my product line. Life will continue and in many cases it does get better. The only thing we can do is move forward.

So cry, get angry, curse everything, grieve there is no shame in having this kind of reaction it is what you do after that will make the difference. Rally, protest, write letters, run for office even, or at the very least treat everyone with kindness. Anything you do will make a difference. Most importantly in times like these support each other, we can make it thru together.

So, for those who don't know, I had a fall on an icy hill last month and this happened (warning: graphic X-ray). (As an aside, to hear people make fun of me for it, listen to this episode of Stop Podcasting Yourself and fast forward to 62 mins in.)

And so, I've been sentenced to quite a bit of recovery (read: doctor's orders not to put weight on my right leg for three months, so sitting around at home a lot) and so I've had time to read about what's going on in the world these days. What a time to have time to soak the world in.

Sitting around, as I am, leaves me thinking about what to do.

Already we've written letters to our MP (find your MP's address here), the PM, the US Embassy (though the Ambassador was dismissed) and to the Cheeto-in-Chief. It takes time to write and send letters by hand, but I'm told they're more likely to get noticed.

Already we've attended our local Women's March and plan to attend a local Rally against Islamophobia. (Not easy with a broken hip, but the wheelchair wasn't bad for a limited amount of time.)

Next, for me, is asking you guys. What are your thoughts? Hopeless? Hopeful?

What suggestions do you have? What else can we all do?

Quote of the day:

When you burn enough bridges, the only way to move is forward.

-Martin Mertens

Specs

Thanks Par! Everyone is doing fine! I'm sure the grandparents already have a million pictures by now.

Congrats, Uncle Al. All the best to Chris and the new baby!

Just became an uncle today. Still trying to figure out what that means.