Some Things That Bug Me

[ed_rex]

In no particular order:

1. That my stupid cat insists on chewing any and every exposed wire. My internet connection was down after I wrote this morning's piece and then took a break with the Sunday Star (I don't really miss the Sunday Times, but see below). I called Bell, at which point my cellphone connection died and I decided to use the (inconveniently-placed - because of the cat! - telephone.
   
   No dial-tone. So I went hunting and quickly came up with the dead wire. Fortunately, on my current budget, it was one for which I had a ready replacement. I also wrapped every exposed cord in great huge masses of duct tape.
   
   Stupid cat;


2. that after what seemed three months, but was more likely one, They have stopped delivering the Sunday New York Times more or less to my door. Since I haven't paid for a renewal, I don't blame them, but I did enjoy getting it for free while it came;


3. headlines like this one and the wishy-washy knee-jerk liberal kind of thinking they represent: "Quebec soldiers' bodies arrive in Canada".
   
   No, this isn't a grammar rant (the grammar seems fine), but a political complaint.
   
   This about it: Quebec soldiers, not Canadian soldiers. Did these men fight in the Quebecois Army or the Canadian Army? (Hint: the answer is #2.)
   
   Granted that it's a small thing, but that headline utterly buys into the separatists' thesis, which is that Quebec is not a province of Canada, but a separate "nation".
   
   Since Trudeau last stared down the separatists, Canadian federalists have mostly bent over backwards to appease the separatists, as if anything but full independence would ever satisfy them.
   
   Thank god most Quebecois are, in fact, quite happy to be Canadians, because the federalist cause has long seemed utterly incapable of explaining why Canada is actually a Pretty Good Country. (Note to self: that's an essay for the website);


4. The fact that the West (meaning, mostly, the incompetent imperialists in the Pentagon and White House) seems incapable of learning from history and so is busy doing its best to turn Pakistan into another Afghanistan - haven't they figured out that supporting dictators only breeds their own enemies?

All right, that's it. I might even feel better now.

Comments

[sooguy.livejournal.com]

Good rants.

I am still pissed that no one was taken to task after the last referendum, during which some bonehead issued a memo to "Quebec" soldiers asking them to join a "Quebec Army" if the referendum went through. You think a statement like that would be tantamount to treason in any other country. Sorry another rant all together separate from the one you started.

I miss having the time to read the paper. I just picked up the Sunday Star for the first time in ages today and guess what I have read one article so far. Maybe after I get off the computer.

I love it when people share crazy cat stories. I repeat them to wife so that it helps make my own cat look sane by comparison.

[maryweasley.livejournal.com]

The cat stories is great. Yesterday my parents' cat wanted to pack inside my bag to go with me to Cracow. Whole story ended with few scratches on my forarms and one bite on my ankle.

I think there should be phrase like Canadian soldiers from Quebec or something similiar.

Quebec Army?

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

Are you sure that wasn't a separatist issuing the memo? I vaguely remember that story, but if you're right about the origin of the memo, I would very much appreciate a source. (If it was a separatist, I won't call it "treason"; what most countries call treason, Canada has - rightly, in my opinion - decided is part of our democratic rights, ie, to agitate for the destruction of the country as it exists today.)

Another Cat Story

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

The first time I traveled with Chet (my cat), he was still my ex, ex-girlfriend's "animal companion".

We'd rented a car and understood that cats are not fond of that mode of transportation, so - with effort - got him into a soft-bodied traveling-case. He didn't like it from the moment I zipped him up, and continued to make enormous noise as we drove out of the city.

By the time we reached the highway we had had enough and Siya reached back to unzip him and see what happened.

And what happened was that he loved it. He made the car his own and spent the whole trip wandering about, rubbing himself on every protruding object and only becoming a nuissance when, near the end, he decided he wanted to explore the space between the floor and gas pedals and brakes. (Fortunately, my foot was fast enough to - not too roughly - nudge him out of the way.)

As for "Canadian soldiers from Quebec", there is such a phrase - and you just used it! :)

Re: Quebec Army?

[sooguy.livejournal.com]

Yes it was a separatist issuing the memo. Why did I imply otherwise? I still think it's irresponsible for someone in power to advocate for such disobedience.

I just looked it up on wikipedia and it was actually Lucien Bouchard's office that issued the memo, which is why at the time I thought it was so inflammatory.

On October 27, Bloc Quebecois leader Lucien Bouchard's office sent a press release to all military bases in Quebec, calling for creation of a Quebec military and the beginning of a new defence staff in the event of Quebec's independence. Bouchard tried to entice soldiers to defect to a new Quebec army after a "Yes" vote.[11] Bouchard declared that Quebec would take possession of Canadian air force jet fighters based in the province.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Quebec_referendum

[maryweasley.livejournal.com]

Really there is such a phrase?? It's something weird about such a phrases. Some time ago there was a big row between some Polish politicians and one of the American newspapers about the phrase "Polish concentration camps". I still think that should be "Nazi concentration camps in Poland", cause Poles weren't organising it, but they were the same prisoners as Jews (who mostly had Polish citizenship).

Re: Quebec Army?

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

Thanks for clearing that up.

I agree it was inflammatory and irresponsible, but I still don't think that charging him with Treason would have helped the Federalist cause - the Separatists would have just used that to turn him into a martyr. Which isn't to say that, technically, it probably wasn't treason, only that it was a provocation better ignored than acted upon.

Why did I imply otherwise?

Re-reading your initial response, I admit that you didn't imply it was a Federalist memo, I inferred it. Sorry about that.

On The Importance of Being Precise

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

Really there is such a phrase??

I was being literal, meaning that "Quebec soldiers" is a phrase that people use, not that it is accurate, as your example of the use of the phrase, "Polish concentration camps" makes clear.