Bears

 

Sometime in the night we had another visit from our neighbourhood bear.

That’s the fourth time that we know of, and we know because each time (s)he knocks over one of our compost bins.

The first time the bear harvested the wormy pears. The second time it removed our candle-cooked pumpkin. I have no idea what it’s after now; perhaps it has discovered a taste for quince?

Anyway, this morning, as I was shovelling very soggy and largely undecomposed compost in the drizzle, I discovered the joy and humour of the moment and situation had eluded me.

It’s getting on to late November, time for bears to start denning up.

Although, judging from the footprints after a snowfall some years back, I’m not sure they do in our climate.

On the subject of bears, I saw a mom and two cubs while I was walking in the Beaver Lodge Lands this morning.

I stopped when I saw mom, and started to talk to her as I was removing my phone from my coat. Then I saw her cubs.

They clearly wanted to go where I was, but I wasn’t leaving, so eventually mom turned down the log and ambled into the bush, followed by the cubs.

The photo shows only one cub; you have to imagine the other behind the greenery.

Last thoughts on an election where we got snookered by the Con campaign.

Well, I wasn’t wrong: North Island elected the toxic Con.

Just as predicted.

He got less than 39%; the NDP candidate achieved 32.5%; the Liberal candidate got 26%.

In much of the rest of Canada the NDP vote would have collapsed and the Liberal would have beaten the Con.

But not in North Island-Powell River!

We reverted to the days of John Duncan/ Stephen Harper, split the vote, and elected the Con-Reform-Alliance, etc. (6 times.)

I’m still trying to wrap my head around what we think we achieved by running a viable campaign we were always bound to lose.

And search in vain for a principle we upheld, a platform we promoted.

Nothing comes to mind.

Good candidate, though. Hope she runs provincially, next time.

Last thoughts before e-day

The election is almost upon us, and the “polling” numbers strongly suggest a Conservative win in North Island-Powell River.

I have no trust in the numbers cited, but still... John Duncan won 6 times in our predecessor riding by splitting the opposition.

The only antidote appears to be potential Liberal and NDP voters pooling their votes to defeat the Cons.

Like everyone else, I’m guessing here, but...:

1) We’re not changing the minds of people who are determined to vote Con.

2) People who traditionally vote Liberal are going to vote Liberal. They’re very used to losing so that’s not a disincentive. I’ve never been a Liberal, so cannot explain their unaccountable optimism or fear of “socialism”, but there are people who, for whatever reason, could never bring themselves to vote NDP, so they won’t.

3) That leaves potential NDP voters. We have our core of dyed-in-the-wool socialists, who pine for the days of Tommy Douglas, David Lewis, and Ed Broadbent, but they’re a distinct minority. Most of us have come to terms with the fact that we’re living in the 21^st century, and that the political landscape has changed. We tend towards flexibility.

We could vote Liberal without becoming Liberals if that denied the Cons.

And, in this election, in North Island where the Con candidate is particularly Con and the issues could not be more important, I think that’s worth a shot, even though we all like and admire the NDP candidate and Liberals haven’t won for decades.

This time, I'm voting Liberal

Northern Vancouver Island is in every daily Canadian news source again. At this rate, we’re bound to develop a reputation!

Recently, Campbell River’s City Council, in high dudgeon about drug use on city streets, managed the feat.

This time Aaron Gunn is the Conservative candidate. His incorrect and intemperate comments involving residential schools have resurfaced to bite him and his electoral chances, while exciting the interest of the federal press.

Will his party dump him? Hard to do when he’s clearly in the lead and his comments are only slightly more odious than the past utterances of Mr Poilievre regarding the work habits of First Nations people (uttered before he lost his glasses and adopted contacts!) .

But as I said, the little polling that has been done in North Island-Powell River (338.ca) suggests he has a significant lead, and the seat is described as “CPC Safe”.

That, of course, was before a number of influential First Nations voices started to demand his removal from the ballot. So all is not lost.

I’m literally a life-long NDP member, having been an activist, both provincially and federally since the 1960’s.

But this time, I’m voting Liberal.

Because this time the issue isn’t one of policies, it’s literally existential: whether Canada will continue to exist as a country.

The federal NDP, which has every chance of losing Official Party Status after this election, cannot prevent (only possibly dilute) the threat of an American takeover.

Mr Carney and the Liberals can prevent it, and tackle the many problems of the Canadian economy at the same time.

Fortunately, Jennifer Lash, the Liberal candidate, would not be out of place running for the NDP. She has outstanding credentials as an environmentalist and entrepreneur. She was Senior Advisor to the Trudeau government. It would not be an embarrassment for a died-in-the-wool NDPer to vote for her.

Tanille Johnston is an excellent NDP candidate. In fact, I voted for her when she was seeking the nomination. However, I can no longer see a path for her to be effective as our MP. As part of a rump of fewer than 10 members, lacking a leader (as Mr Singh will almost certainly lose his seat), facing a huge Liberal caucus, the very best we could hope for if we elect her is that she would represent North Island individuals in their dealings with the bureaucracy. Further, I cannot see how she can convince her fellow citizens to join her in defeating Mr Gunn: Liberals are unlikely to abandon their candidate, and Johnston’s already well behind. I don’t see any way for her to make up the significant difference that now exists.

Ms Lash, on the other hand, has the advantage of a good federal campaign and an excellent leader, who most Canadians would choose to confront the Trump regime. If Jennifer Lash can gather enough reluctant NDPers like me to the cause, Mr Gunn is done.

At least, that’s my take and theory.

letter to our MP

 Dear Rachel,
Congratulations on your imminent retirement: you've been, in our opinion, and exemplary representative.
This is an appeal to continue just a bit longer. There's a good deal of unfinished business, and we are worried that Mr Poilievre would do as he promised, and undo all the progress you and the Liberals have made.
As you well know, the Conservatives may do so anyway. But holding off the election makes that more difficult.
I was recently talking to my brother, who lives in Ms May's constituency. As usual, I complained about Mr Singh parroting Conservative talking points. He's a much more devout NDPer than I, and  said he's a fan of Mr Singh, particularly crediting him with the dental program, to which both he and his wife subscribe. (Of course, that's gone, if the conservatives form the next government and do as promised!)
There are numerous other reasons why waiting till the end of the term is appropriate. But you already know this.
So I hope and trust you're with Charlie Angus, when he says he hates Mr Poilievere more than he dislikes the Liberals and will not vote with the Conservatives to overthrow the present government.
Yours,

irrelevant joke

 Saw my GP yesterday. I hadn’t seen him for some time, he being unusually busy, and I, after spending some time in our (excellent) local hospital, having been referred to a number of specialists.
Our brief conversation went something like:
“So how are you doing?”
“Just fine, but I suspect I’m being propped up by the handful of pills I take every morning. I’ve become a good example of ‘Better living through chemistry’!
He could tell I had just made a small joke; I could tell it probably didn’t register.
Time is short when you’re talking to your GP. We went on to the business at hand.

Today while walking in the Beaver Lodge Lands as I do most days, I thought back to that conversation.
That little joke, a favourite of Simpson J, my colleague at the Island Centre for Child Development and a whole generation of other serious hippies, is probably out of reach for my own kids, now in their 40’s, never mind a person who had grown up in South Africa!
Not to even mention that the passage of time has rendered it entirely irrelevant.

I’m glad I didn’t try to explain it.

Radioactive

Here’s an anecdote that’s almost certainly apocryphal. But it’s not entirely impossible either, and was passed on by a reliable source. 

Anyway, I like it:

On Monday I presented myself to the Comox Valley hospital, Medical Imaging Nuclear Medicine, to be injected with a small dose of pyrophosphate, a radioactive substance. I was advised not to travel out of the country for two weeks.

Why? you may well ask, as I did.

By way of answer we arrive at the driver of a 16-wheel truck, who was crossing into the USA with a load that was urgently required.

He’d been given the same advice, but he needed to deliver his load. so he thought he’d give crossing a shot.

Everything was like normal. Until the last set of wheels.

Which showed up as a large black area on the border scan.

He was instantly pulled over, and swarmed by people in hazmat suits.

The explanation? 

There was no radioactivity found in those tires and wheels. But he had needed to relieve himself earlier in the day, so he had briefly pulled over, gotten out of the cab and urinated on the truck’s rear wheel.

That’s some sensitive equipment! of which the people who do the PR at the Pacific Northwest National Lab are, I would say, justifiably proud.

(And no, PNNL is not my source.)

Wildfires and Social Media: a letter

Isn't it bizarre that various levels of Canadian government have come to rely on American social media to communicate with their citizens? 

And how now suddenly we see the catch? 
But there's a logical solution, which I haven't yet seen described anywhere: the CBC. 
It's a public broadcaster, heavily subsidized by Canadian taxpayers, available to anyone with an internet connection: surely the CBC could be "encouraged" to have a dedicated space for public service announcements! 
When we lived in the Cariboo in BC's interior in the 70's, local radio had a program (quite the most popular program among that listenership) which involved intensely local news, gossip, and information especially for people living in the outlying areas who had no telephone access. Obviously people in the area knew exactly how to operate the system, and as far as I know, it worked just fine. 
The CBC already runs a fine online digital news service. A dedicated add-on should be no problem, and we'd quickly get used to consulting it. 

Letter to the Globe, sent August 21, 2023 

published in slightly abbreviated form August 23

Letter to the Globe

 

    I'm not even remotely Chinese, but if I were I'd be outraged that Globe journalists Chase and Fife have swallowed the apparent CSIS line, hook, and sinker that Canadian citizens of Chinese origin are so easily influenced that if China "tried to elect 11 candidates..." it had a reasonable chance of doing so.
    I remind the Globe that only Canadian citizens can vote in Canadian elections, and it is profoundly insulting to suggest that Chinese Canadians would be particularly susceptible to the blandishments of a foreign state.
    As a former Dutch citizen I can assure you that in the unlikely event that the government of The Netherlands wished to put its oar into Canadian elections, this would not influence me in the slightest!
    I would also point out that if we were truly concerned about foreign influences in out political life, we need look no further than the flood of MAGA propaganda and financing from south of the border, as evidenced by the recent "Freedom Convoy" protests.
    We have strict rules concerning election funding and influence in Canada. If any of those rules were broken by any group or government, that should obviously be dealt with in the usual way, not by rumour and innuendo.

submitted March 9, 2023

On losing your coffee maker and your mind

     Just a few days ago we narrowly averted a disaster.

        Or rather, I did.

    I’d just finished reading the New York Times, the “wire cutter” section, where the writers were discussing coffee makers. This attracted my attention because the reviewers were particularly unimpressed by the Keurig, and proposed several recommended alternatives.

    Excellent alternatives, several not as expensive as the Keurig. We have a couple in our cupboards. In fact, Sandy habitually uses the highly-recommended Aeropress, of which we have two, originally bought for use in the van. They do make exemplary coffee. 

    (You’re probably aware that one can buy packs of Aeropress microfilters. But did you know you can buy replacements for the rubber seal at the end of the plunger? The one that, if it wears excessively, renders the press useless? Anyway…)

    But the Aeropress is slower and not as convenient as my Keurig, which is consequently my go-to coffee maker, and, as far as I’m concerned, consistently makes an excellent cup of coffee. 

    In seconds, furthermore, which also feeds a preference.

    Of course we don’t use Keurig pods, which I wouldn’t dream of recommending and which, I suspect, is the reason for the Times columnist’s disdain. Rather, we use refillable cups, packed with freshly-ground coffee. 

    And that, as far as I am concerned, points to the real secret of making a great cup of coffee: it’s not the method; it’s the beans.

    Here’s a little byway/advertisement, en route to the averted disaster. 

    Back when we were considerably younger –– not to mention poorer –– we were already supporters of Oxfam Canada. And one of Oxfam’s initiatives and offshoots, called “Bridgehead” signed up Central and South American coffee growers to participate in “Fair Trade” schemes, in which they would be paid above market rates for sustainably-produced and harvested Arabica coffee beans. So although that coffee was considerably more expensive than the stuff you could buy in grocery stores at the time, we purchased it in 5-pound bags that Canada Post delivered.

    I suspect Oxfam probably borrowed the concept from the Max Havelaar company, with its Fair Trade coffee shops in Europe. Or vice-versa. 

    Eventually Bridgehead (https://www.bridgehead.ca/pages/copy-of-history) apparently became more than Oxfam was interested in maintaining, so it became its own company with a roastery and coffee shops in the Ottawa area. We have dealt with Bridgehead ever since. Still excellent coffee; still expensive; and still absolutely worth it.

    Back to the averted disaster.

    The Times column raised a little spectre of doubt. Should I be considering a different machine? Was the Keurig getting too long in the tooth to do an adequate job? Did I really appreciate the last cup it had produced? Should I maybe clean it?

    Clean it. I should definitely do that before deciding on something more, like replacement. And how does one clean a coffee maker? Vinegar, obviously.

    So I filled the reservoir with vinegar, turned on the machine, and waited until the cup was full. The vinegar was the right temperature and quantity, so everything appeared to be working fine. But the liquid was pretty brown, so go for another shot.

    At which point it balked. A dribble of warm vinegar, sputters of something that looked vaguely like steam…I shut it off. Had I broken it permanently?

    Remove vinegar, fill reservoir with cold water, and try again. And again. And again. And yet again.

    Very gradually the Keurig started to produce heated water, and eventually the brown disappeared. When I got it to make me a coffee, that worked, and the coffee was fine: no residual vinegar. Success!

    But here’s the kicker: some time passed, and I couldn’t get rid of that feeling that I’d been here before, that I’d maybe even written about filling your Keurig with vinegar. I went on a small search of previous posts, and look what i found! From as recently as October, 2020: https://occasionaljustus.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-vinegar-solution-meets-new.html

    So now I get to worry about losing my short-term memory instead of my coffee maker!