Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Trump should be leading, not lying.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

This fight is for everything.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Happy Canada Day!

Reader Interactions

95Comments

  4. 4.

    Svensker

    Ford has been back 2 days and he’s already had 2 days of controversy. Gaaahhhhh. It was so nice not having him around.

  5. 5.

    catclub

    I suspect the McDaniel/Cochran thing is petering out. They will have to come up with real, disputed votes in large numbers to drag it out, and given the lack of evidence being presented to the public, I figure they got nothing.

  7. 7.

    Eric U.

    @catclub: damn, I figure Karl Rove could figure something out. He had a history of such doings before hooking up with Bush the lesser

  10. 10.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Pedant alert:

    Discreet is that which is kept quiet or subtle, while discrete is something that is distinct or separate.

    But all Rob Ford stories tend to be amusing.

  11. 11.

    Mike in NC

    Let me just note that Halifax, Nova Scotia is one of the most fabulous places in North America. We’d move there but the wife hates snow…

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Anya: In Columbus, yes, for women. Oddity of the way nudity was described in the municipal code. Every once in a while strippers would show up at a parade. Or some lesbians would go topless at a Pride event. No one ever pushed it too far lest the city council make a change.

    ETA: This was still true as of 2008 when I moved back to Wisconsin.

  21. 21.

    Emma

    Many years ago I spent a lovely Canada Day in Prince Edward Island. We were invited to ride along to the fishing grounds during the Blessing of the Boats ceremony. Lovely people, Canadians.

  22. 22.

    the Conster

    OK, this thread is all about me. I’m leaving Thursday for a 10 day road trip through the Maritimes starting in Maine – New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia. My father’s family is all from Lunenburg. My grandmother on my father’s side was Captain Angus Walters’ niece – the captain of the original Bluenose. We used to go to his sea captain house to visit him and his “housekeeper” when we were kids back in the 60s along with about 50 other old relatives who were all related because everyone had 12 or 14 kids. Anyway, July 10th is my 37th anniversary and we’re going back there because that’s where we went on our honeymoon. It’s going to be great.

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Emma: A few years ago, I arrived in Victoria, BC, on Victoria Day. I was welcomed by pipers and military bands. More cities should afford me these courtesies.

    ETA: One of the restaurants there served me smoked cod (to be fair, it is what I had ordered). All things considered, I preferred Vancouver.

  25. 25.

    RaflW

    We had a fantastic Canada Day! On vacation in Toronto, went to the public clothing optional beach on the islands just off downtown. A quick ferry ride to the park, and a 1km stroll. We hadn’t planned to skinny dip, but it was quite warm and the water was perfect. So nice to be in less-prudish not-America, where not planning ahead to think bring a swimsuit to a park, isn’t a problem! (We loved that the official signage made it very clear where the optional part was, and where the clothing is mandatory, and no one seemed fussed either side of the fence).

    Back to repressive USA tomorrow. :(

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Mike J: As it happened, there was a huge exhibition from the British Museum at the BC Museum when I was there. It was worth the twee. Vancouver, though, was awesome.

  27. 27.

    danielx

    Any of youse guys familiar with tree ailments? A river birch is about a third dead and the rest is dubious. I was told by a horticulture guy it needed additional iron…..it’s gotten LOTS of water in the past month, I’ve put down iron both in deep holes and via the usual ground fertilizing, and the leaves are still yellow…..i could really use a recommendation about iron supplement fertilizer, since the info on the intertubes is all dimethyl-ethyl-gobbledegook and i don’t do chemistry….

  28. 28.

    Suffern ACE

    Is it just me, or is this summer really boring music wise. There has to be something out there.

  29. 29.

    Xecky Gilchrist

    You guys are waaaay too discrete about your holidays

    Indeed, holidays should be continuous.

    (Sorry for piling on the pedantry, after so many other people have.)

  30. 30.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Suffern ACE: Well, according to Elon J. White, Iggy Azalea’s Fancy* is the song of the summer. I also learned the term ratchet from the same podcast.

    *I won’t link. I try to obey the Geneva Conventions.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @the Conster: @JGabriel: As long as we are going there, my earliest North American ancestors came to New France before 1610. My fondness for poutine may be genetic.

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @the Conster: Link no work. You fix.

    ETA: Never mind, it works now. And that is not a thing; that is an abomination.

  37. 37.

    YellowJournalism

    Spent Canada Day invading my home country. I flipped off a Hobby Lobby store for all my fellow slutty ladies. One of the best parts of the trip so far. Gonna blow stuff up and celebrate the US and Canada later this week.

  45. 45.

    burnspbesq

    @Anya:

    How come the wingers didn’t celebrate today’s loss because Obama was cheering the US team?

    They did, but they were being discrete about it.

    Anybody else think DeAndre Yedlin has played his last match for Seattle? There is a greivous shortage of quality outside backs in European football. Some manager somewhere has fallen in love with Yedlin’s speed, you can count on it.

  46. 46.

    burnspbesq

    @Suffern ACE:

    Is it just me, or is this summer really boring music wise. There has to be something out there.

    Name a genre, and I’ll try to come up with some recommendations. Or try NPR First Listen, or Press Play at the NYT site.

  47. 47.

    the Conster

    @Suffern ACE:

    The fiery sweet BBQ, the Screamin Dill Pickle, or the tangy Buffalo Wing ones? The gelatinous beef gravy would go good with them all I think.

  50. 50.

    ulee

    @burnspbesq: Remember when Chicago lost it’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics? There was a collective orgasm at the Weekly Standard and every wingnut in the land celebrated. These fuckers don’t give a rat’s ass about the USA.

  52. 52.

    burnspbesq

    @ulee:

    To be honest, I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about Chicago pulling a billion dollars out of the school budget and other places to pay for all the infrastructure it would have needed to host the Olympics.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    True the Vote sues Mississippi and the state Republican Party over “double voting” (*by black people) in the GOP primary run-off.

    They misspelled both “honorable” and “district” Just a typo, but still.

    They’ll learn to hate them in Mississippi too:

    The right-wing group True The Vote has been prohibited from monitoring elections in voting stations around Columbus, Ohio, and may soon find itself under investigation for fraud, the Columbus Dispatch reported Tuesday.
    The Houston-based group, which is dedicated to challenging the legitimacy of voters it considers suspect, had its status as an official vote monitor denied in Franklin County, after the necessary number of candidates to assign poll observers withdrew their support for the group, according to the Dispatch.
    Elections officials in Franklin County told the paper that some of application forms requesting observer status for the group’s Ohio branch, the Voter Integrity Project, appeared to have supporting names that were falsified or forged.
    True The Vote has come under fire lately for appearing to focus its energies largely on minority voters. Last week, ABC News reported that True The Vote had been taking minority voters in Cincinnati to court to force them to prove the validity of their registration, and had plans to send observers to minority-heavy polling areas to confront voters on Election Day.
    As far back as 2010, the group faced accusations — and even a Department of Justice investigation — into reports that its hunt for voter fraud is tantamount to organized voter intimidation.

    Is this the worst primary in history, or what? It just gets more insane every day, and it’s over. Technically!

  57. 57.

    LT

    “Happy Canada Day”?

    More like, “Happy unincorporated USA North Day”.

    Surely Canadians know the score (eh?). It’s not a matter of if, but rather, when.

  58. 58.

    burnspbesq

    @Kay:

    As long as the clerk’s office is open and accepting complaints for filing, it ain’t over (shudders).

  59. 59.

    Belafon

    @Kay: We are in a battle to return this country to the early 1900s, when black lost all their rights they had gained after the Civil War. This is a front in that war. Yes, they are carrying it on in Mississippi against one of their own, but they now consider him a traitor.

  60. 60.

    Violet

    @burnspbesq: I thought Yedlin was great. He sparked the team every time he set foot on the pitch and he did a great job today. He’s still young and has stuff to learn but he’ll learn it. Talented guy. I think some European teams will be after him.

  61. 61.

    ulee

    @Belafon: They wanted to end the Clinton presidency and now they want to end Obama, despite the fact that these guys won fair and square.(so did Gore) And they are willing to trample and fuck over anyone who would rather seek solutions and build a stronger union.

  63. 63.

    burnspbesq

    The new John Hiatt album (due out in two weeks) is streaming at the NYT Press Play site. Sounds pretty good.

  64. 64.

    Mandalay

    @Kay:

    Is this the worst primary in history, or what?

    Well I rather think it is the best primary in history (with the possible exception of the circular firing squad Republican presidential primaries in 2012).

    Long may it continue. And I mean for months and months.

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @burnspbesq:

    They haven’t certified it yet, so I guess he’s till waiting to throw his victory party. Mississippi has some weird state rule where they redact the birthdates of voters when you make a demand for the voter lists. The person who wants the lists has to pay to have the dates redacted. True the Vote objects to that. Among other things :)

    It’s so weird to have freelance self-appointed voting inspectors out of Texas. What the hell. Can we get some order in this country? It’s just complete chaos.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @Belafon:

    The person who won, what’s his name, may be the worst voting rights advocate in history. He’s basically apologizing for his voters at this point. I had never heard of him prior to this race and now I know why. He never says anything. He’s more of an observer of the political process, really.

  68. 68.

    Punchy

    Ebola spreading like crazy in Africa. How long until it makes it to Europe? 2 years?

  70. 70.

    Eric U.

    does “true the vote” even have standing in this suit? I can’t imagine they will get anywhere

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Punchy:

    All epidemics of Ebola have occurred in sub-optimal hospital conditions, where practices of basic hygiene and sanitation are often either luxuries or unknown to caretakers and where disposable needles and autoclaves are unavailable or too expensive. In modern hospitals with disposable needles and knowledge of basic hygiene and barrier nursing techniques, Ebola has never spread on a large scale. In isolated settings such as a quarantined hospital or a remote village, most victims are infected shortly after the first case of infection is present. The quick onset of symptoms from the time the disease becomes contagious in an individual makes it easy to identify sick individuals and limits an individual’s ability to spread the disease by traveling. Because bodies of the deceased are still infectious, some doctors had to take measures to properly dispose of dead bodies in a safe manner despite local traditional burial rituals.[25]

    Link. Any reason to dispute that?

  72. 72.

    Yatsuno

    @the Conster: No. Just…no. Please to not insult my ancestors in such fashion.

    And you’re headed up RedKitteh’s way. I might batsignal her.

    Speaking of: Will be in Seattle on Thursday through Sunday but pretty much have plans. Then a pilgrimage to the ancestral homeland (well just BC BUT STILL!!!) in August. MAYBE Dallas in October and Georgia in November. Leave is a beautiful thing.

    @Xecky Gilchrist:

    Sorry for piling on the pedantry, after so many other people have.

    Liar. :)

  73. 73.

    LT

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): It’s like this, Simple Simon.

    I went for a cheap laugh, but instead ran into your profound sensibility. It put my militaristic, bang-bang-shoot-shoot words in their proper place. In other words, you snapped me to, and I am in your debt.

  75. 75.

    Roger Moore

    @Kay:

    They haven’t certified it yet, so I guess he’s till waiting to throw his victory party.

    If McDaniel keeps stalling, can Cochran sue to have the state declare him the primary victor and cite Bush v. Gore in his brief? Pretty please?

  76. 76.

    Comrade Mary

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): I’m not at all an epidemiologist. but given that deaths from Ebola have reached a new high this year, is it possible that a massive regional outbreak could turn into something broader?

    That article I linked blames the spread on the custom of washing bodies before the funerals, so it appears that doctors haven’t been able to replace these burial rituals with safer alternatives this time around. But despite the frightening quotes from MSF staff, the current outbreak still appears to be a regional calamity. I just wouldn’t be so sure that Ebola and similar diseases may yet become a broader threat.

  77. 77.

    ⚽️ Martin

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): There’s a number of strains of ebola. Some have symptoms that come on quickly. Those literally die out by knocking their hosts down in hours and basically not giving the infected any time to spread it.

    But others have longer periods before symptoms come on – up to a few weeks. Those are potentially more dangerous even though they’re less lethal. The strain currently being fought is the Zaire strain and is the most lethal and fastest moving. It should be the easiest to contain.

    The upshot with ebola is that it’s not air communicable, so it’s really hard to spread widely. It requires physical contact. I doubt it would present any widespread threat in the west unless it mutates into an air communicable form, which seems very unlikely.

  80. 80.

    Suffern ACE

    @burnspbesq: so just so we’re clear on the concept, the protesters find that detaining suspects is illegal? They only want locals detained?

  82. 82.

    Anne Laurie

    @Suffern ACE:

    so just so we’re clear on the concept, the protesters find that detaining suspects is illegal? They only want locals detained?

    Far as I can tell, the protestors are teabagger NIMBYs, convinced all those “undocumented children” are actually teenage drug mule gangbangers with scabies & leprosy (and, who knows?maybe ebola). No way those derty furriners shall be allowed to tread upon their sacred HOA ground!

  83. 83.

    eemom

    @LT:

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): If only for the sake of those in your orbit, I hope you don’t own a gun.

    delurking to note that such a comment, directed to one of the most consistently reasonable and even tempered folks on this blog, removes any vestige of doubt of what a clueless clown you are.

    /relurking

  84. 84.

    LT

    @eemom: My moniker (LT) is an abbreviation of my erstwhile alias, Long Tooth (aka ‘Sovereign Eye’ for you old timers).

    And I never lurk.

    So take it easy.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yatsuno:

    Georgia in November.

    Cool! Finally we might get around to having a proper Georgia Juice-a-thon. (Just wait until after Election Day, mmkay?)

  88. 88.

    the Conster

    @Redkitten:

    Not sure, but we don’t have much of a schedule. We’re spending two nights in Halifax and one in Lunenburg. I think it’s entirely possible. That would be great!

  89. 89.

    NorthLeft12

    @LT: I know I should not reply to your trollish, douchey comment, but if we took over you guys it would probably be the best thing that ever happened to you……although it would be the worst thing that ever happened to us, eh?

  90. 90.

    RedKitten

    @the Conster: Odds are good that you’ll be passing through here at any rate, There are only two ways to get from NB to NS. One is through Amherst, and is pretty straightforward, but isn’t as pretty of a drive. Although the Cobequid pass is rather pretty, where it’s up in the mountains (well, what we call mountains), and the scenery is nice. The other route is through Cap-Pele and down the shore, which is pretty, but would add a lot of driving time to your trip, because that route takes you down through Tidnish, then Pugwash, and you’d only be able to eventually get back onto the 102 from Route 361 near Wallace. It’s a gorgeous drive, though. So up to you.

    Halifax and Lunenburg are both solid choices for visits. If you want a really nice meal in Halifax to celebrate, go to The Bicycle Thief. There’s also a lovely little French bistro on Argyle Street, called Bistro le Coq, which has lovely moules frites. Actually, Argyle Street is a good place to go no matter what. Great restaurants and bars, with patios for people-watching, and funky little boutiques. It’s delightful. Spring Garden Road is also neat, and the Public Gardens are there, which are quite lovely. I lived in downtown Halifax for 10 years and still go there often, so I might be able to help give you some ideas on what to do/see/eat. Lunenburg, I’m not as familiar with,

    Where in NB will you be hitting?

  91. 91.

    the Conster

    @RedKitten:

    Such great info!! That’s so helpful, especially re: Halifax.

    In NB we’re going to St. John then staying in Shediac. We’ll go to Cocagne, then head to PEI and stay in Charlottetown. Then to NS from there, which puts us further east than where you are it seems.

    We’re staying at the Halliburton in Halifax, so from what I can tell that’s near Argyle Street and walking distance to everything you mention. I’m now officially excited!!

  92. 92.

    RedKitten

    @the Conster: It depends on how you come back from PEI to NS. When you’re coming off the bridge, you CAN swing through Port Elgin/Baie Verte, and then down the Tidnish shore. It’s a much more convoluted path, but is prettier. Or, you could stay on route 16 to Amherst, and then hop from there to the 104, which will bring you right to Halifax. Less complicated, but not as pretty.

    Halliburton House Inn is lovely. Very pretty. And yes, you’ll be quite close to the waterfront, and definitely within walking distance of Argyle and Spring Garden. Just two streets down, on Lower Water, you have Bishop’s Landing, which is a condo complex that actually has a lot of neat little shops and restaurants. That’s where the Bicycle Thief is. There’s also a really nice wine store there, and it’s just a lovely place to walk around and sightsee. The boardwalk is really quite long, and you can get onto it from there. The city’s quite safe to walk, day or night. Just use common sense. If you like craft beer, make sure to check out Stillwell Beer Bar on Barrington Street. It’s wonderful. Just tell me what you guys like, and I can totally make recommendations.

    Charlottetown is also quite neat. Gahan House pub is a great place to go eat. Good food, and they also do their own craft beer. Parking is a bit of a bitch-kitty, but I’m sure you’ll manage.

    Try not to drive in Saint John (not St. John) if you can manage it. Go to your hotel and then walk. It’s a lovely city, but there are more goddamn one-way streets, and you see where you want to go but you can’t get there. I’ve driven there numerous times, and it never fails to raise my blood pressure. DO check out the Saint John Alehouse. Fantastic food. Fan-freaking-tastic. It’s right in Market Square. Shediac is insanely busy in the nice weather, but you’ll love the beach. And there are lots of places to get fried clams (don’t settle for clam strips, get the whole clams).

    Drop me an email at kc977 at hotmail dot com and I’ll be more than happy to help you out!

  93. 93.

    the Conster

    @RedKitten:

    Will do! Not sure yet exactly what our Canadian data plan consists of, but we’ll have some way to stay in touch with the world. I will drop you an email before I leave so you’ll have mine and will recognize it before I show up on your door!

    ETA: clam strips are an abomination on par with Ruffles poutine. Bellies or nothing.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @RedKitten: I have never been to Saint John, but I have a name for that very thing. I call it: “You can’t get there from here.”

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