Wednesday Night #1947

SO proud of our two OWN Wednesday Nighters taking action on this critical health issue! Cannot think of a better team.
Can’t find a doctor? Civil rights lawyer set to take on ‘unfair’ permit system penalizing Montrealers
Julius Grey going to court to challenge how Health Ministry decides where doctors can hang up their shingle
“The system is regionally unfair,” said Grey. “It produces [an] egregious effect especially unfavourable to Montreal — and to all the population, really — and that is open to challenge.” [Dr. Mark] Roper says the method the government uses to calculate the number of PREMS it will issue, and where they will be allocated, is harming Montrealers.
Since the news was published, numerous Wednesday Nighters are asking what they can do to help.

Also, very proud of this brief profile Marc Nicholson, founder of 1880 private members’ club “Built out of a desire to connect and converse, the Timothy Oulton-designed space opened to much fanfare, attracting the jetset, creatives and suits. Inspired his parents’ salon sessions which took place every Wednesday in their home, Nicholson has brought a chunk of what he grew up with to the multi-hyphenates that connect in 1880.” We look forward to WN #1949 (24 July) when the Singapore family will be with us!

While Julius Grey has taken up the PREM battle, Me Catherine McKenzie is in court seeking a temporary injunction pending a more complete review of the Bill 21’s constitutionality. The court appearance follows the embarrassing report that the Quebec education minister says Malala can teach here if she removes headscarf. Jean-François Roberge had posted a photo taken with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate while they were taking part in planning meetings to discuss education during the G7 in France this coming August. The photo and quote may be embarrassing, but what is even worse is that he will be representing us at the G7 meeting. If you have not read Martin Patriquin’s   A sad end to Tracy Bounil’s Montreal dream, you should. It encapsulates the tragic, farcical outcome of Bill 21.

João Gilberto has died at the age of 88. The Guardian’s obituary is one of the best.  Its reference to the November ’62 concert brought back so many memories.
“In November 1962 he played in New York at an historic concert that also featured Jobim, Mendes and other Brazilian artists including Carlos Lyra, alongside Byrd and Getz.”
No, I did not go to it, but a few days before, there was a ‘preview’ concert in Washington sponsored by the Brazilian embassy. I and a couple of friends were asked if we would like to be ushers and attend a reception afterwards at the embassy – it was amazing, especially the reception which turned into a jam session, as the musicians were more at ease with their instruments than with social chitchat. Sadly, not only was that long before selfies, but as a private reception, not even an official photographer to record the event.

As it turned out the 4th of July Salute to America production was not as awful as it could have been.
Producer-in-chief puts on a 4th of July show — with emphasis on the military
“With subdued remarks, which touched on everything from the founding of the country to the civil rights movement to America’s ingenuity and its military, the president for the first time in recent history made himself part of Washington, D.C.’s longstanding, non-partisan Independence Day celebration.”
However, there were some questionable historical references and critics seized on President Trump’s revisionist history including his reference to Revolutionary War airports to the internet’s amusement. Trump’s Fourth of July history speech: Turns out there weren’t airports back then and the twittersphere went wild (and often wildly funny), e.g. The Redcoats Are in a Holding Pattern Over La Guardia. Preoccupation with the celebration of Independence Day may have overshadowed the leak of devastating comments about Trump from the British ambassador. Jonathan Chait presents an intriguing take on Why Trump Fears the Secret British Memo Calling Him a Clown.

So now we can turn our attention to major concerns, notably the face-off between the U.S. and Iran. Let us hope that Trump and his people read and absorb the advice of Nobel Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams Here’s How to Stop War With Iran who remind their readers that Iran wants its economic sanctions lifted. The United States wants an assurance that Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons. It is time to talk. Whether influenced by the Laureates or not,  the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, plus the European Union’s top diplomat have called for an urgent meeting of the parties to the agreement to discuss Tehran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA . Writing in Slate, Fred Kaplan argues that  Iran Is Right —  Thanks to Trump’s violation of the nuclear deal, the U.S. is no longer in a position to criticize the mullahs’ nuclear program. So, will the U.S. respond favourably to the European initiative?

Roger Cohen: Greece Is the Good News Story in Europe
Greek resilience through crisis demonstrates that reports of democracy’s demise are exaggerated.
If you’re looking for an optimistic story in Europe, try Greece. Yes, you read that right. Having lost a quarter of its economy in a devastating recession, Greece has turned the corner, its democracy intact, its extremist temptations defeated and its anti-Americanism defunct.
Meanwhile,
Turkey’s Long, Painful Economic Crisis Grinds On
Most economists maintain that [Erdogan] must accept interest rates above the now-stultifying level of 24 percent to dissuade investors from abandoning Turkey. That should prevent the lira from falling further, limiting inflation. But it would also deprive businesses of capital, yielding bankruptcy and joblessness, while constraining economic growth.

With increasing emphasis on the Climate crisis and the awfulness of the Trump anti-environment policies (U.S.: Environment & energy 2019), there is a persistent undercurrent of hopelessness – what can one individual do when government-abetted policies continue to wreak havoc? Nonetheless, there are individuals who are making a difference. One inspiring story is that of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado and his wife Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado who have Planted 2 Million Trees In 20 Years To Restore A Destroyed Forest And Even The Animals Have Returned. And another: Morgan Freeman Converted His 124-Acre Ranch Into A Giant Honeybee Sanctuary To Save The Bees
Meanwhile, here is what a national government can do: Ethiopia Begins Nationwide Project Of Planting 4 Billion Trees To Fight Deforestation and in case you missed it: Paris se déclare en “état d’urgence climatique”– La mairie a aussi annoncé deux nouvelles mesures: la création d’une “Académie du climat” et d’un “GIEC” parisien.

Not a Human, but a Dancer
What Snowball the parrot’s spontaneous moves teach us about ourselves
… dancing requires strong connections between brain regions involved in hearing and movement, and that such mental hardware would only exist in vocal learners—animals that can imitate the sounds they hear. That elite club excludes dogs, cats, and other primates, but includes elephants, dolphins, songbirds, and parrots. This story has gone viral and with good reason; it is fascinating.

Two important reads from Project Syndicate
In What’s Driving Populism?, Profesor Dani Rodrik argues If authoritarian populism is rooted in economics, then the appropriate remedy is a populism of another kind – targeting economic injustice and inclusion, but pluralist in its politics and not necessarily damaging to democracy. If it is rooted in culture and values, however, there are fewer options. He concludes: Ultimately, the precise parsing of the causes behind the rise of authoritarian populism may be less important than the policy lessons to be drawn from it. There is little debate here. Economic remedies to inequality and insecurity are paramount.
Power and Interdependence in the Trump Era
By Joseph S. Nye Jr.
States will increasingly need a framework to enhance cooperation on the use of the sea and space, and on combating climate change and pandemics. Referring to such a framework as a “liberal international order” confuses choices by conflating promotion of liberal democratic values with the creation of an institutional framework for promoting global public goods. China and the US disagree about liberal democracy, but we share an interest in developing an open, rules-based system to manage economic and ecological interdependence.

Your WN grammar nerd at work
CBC’s Day Six Interview with the authors of
That Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means
The 150 Most Commonly Misused Words and Their Tangled Histories
By Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras
Illusion or allusion? Let these word nerds help save you from these common language mistakes