Wednesday Night #2222

While Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving, 14 October is Indigenous Peoples Day in the U.S. Both fall on the second Monday in October. We hope that everyone enjoyed their respective holidays -or both.

1880 Hong Kong opens on 8 November -stay tuned!
In related news: Hong Kong cuts liquor tax in an effort to reignite its nightlife industry

Prominent public intellectual Robert Fulford was a champion of Canadian arts
In 1954, when the black art of industrial psychology was gaining a foothold in Canada’s more voguish executive suites, Robert Fulford submitted to two days of personality probing – Rorschach, IQ, aesthetic appreciation tests, etc. – designed to ascertain his sociability and fitness for management at Canadian Homes and Gardens, where he was then on staff.
“He is very alert and appears better at tasks which require quick, accurate thinking, than sustained concentration,” the resulting report read, according to an account of the episode Mr. Fulford provides in his 1988 autobiography, Best Seat in the House: Memoirs of a Lucky Man. The attention deficit disorder divined (if not diagnosed) by the consulting psychologist may have doomed Mr. Fulford in school – he had dropped out in frustration before graduating Grade 12 – but his restless need to seek out a never-ending array of new subjects also proved one of his greatest natural gifts.
Over a career that spanned more than seven decades, Mr. Fulford wrote himself into being as an agile public intellectual, pronouncing with encyclopedic knowledge on contemporary art, film, books, urban planning, jazz, geopolitics and dozens of other subjects.

Observers of the U.S. presidential campaign remain on tenterhooks (who, without Googling, knows where that expression came from?). According to the most recent Marist National Poll
In the presidential contest, Vice President Kamala Harris leads former President Donald Trump by five points among likely voters, including those who are undecided yet leaning toward a candidate. The race gets closer, however, among registered voters nationally. Here, three points separate the two candidates.
See also Playbook PM: A swing-state status report
“With just 19 days left until Election Day, every day will be dominated by coverage of the few opportunities that Harris and Trump have to tip the scales in their favor across the handful of true swing states left across the country. Here’s a check-in on where things stand in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan and … Nebraska?”
and
Trump’s dark rhetoric about big cities returns to the campaign trail
The former president’s recent trashing of Detroit continues a long-running theme, and where Democrats see a cruel attack, Republicans see a play for suburban and rural voters. – Byron, comments?
and
News from Jeff Jackson‘s campaign for North Carolina Attorney General
Congress is out of session until after the election. We’re all back home, in campaign mode:

We have no words for Israel‘s continuing onslaught in Gaza and Lebanon. Nor can we understand the continuing supply of US military aid as the Netanyahu government continues to flaunt its defiance of UN peacekeeping forces (U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon pledge not to give in to Israeli demands to ‘get out of harm’s way’), and disregard for all humanitarian concerns
U.S. Warns Israel of Military Aid Cut if Gazans Don’t Get More Supplies
The demand from Israel’s closest ally came amid reports that the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip has grown still worse in recent weeks.

At least -and to our surprise- Canada condemns Israeli attacks on Gaza infrastructure and UN peacekeepers
The statement – issued by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and International Aid Minister Ahmed Hussen – reiterated Canada’s call for an immediate ceasefire and also condemned attacks by both Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel.
At the same time, we are picking a fight with India: Trudeau: India made ‘horrific mistake’ in violating Canadian sovereignty
Canada prime minister testifies at public inquiry amid worsening diplomatic row over murder of Sikh separatist
Canadian police accuse India of working with criminal network to kill dissidents
Modi government agents alleged to have collaborated with syndicate run by mob boss Lawrence Bishnoi

As George Kestevan was saying last Wednesday: Surrey and its 10 ridings key to B.C. electoral victory. “With the NDP and the Conservatives running neck and neck in the polls, Surrey’s 10 ridings and its residents’ history of swing voting means the city has been prime battleground turf.”

We are saddened by the ruling of the Quebec Superior Court on the request of Bilingual Quebec communities for a temporary injunction to suspend Bill 96 rules, but confident that when the case makes its way through the courts, Julius Grey and his clients will prevail.

Robert Libman: From bad to worse for Legault. Can he turn it around?
It might not be all bad news for the premier, with the latest poll showing just how fickle Quebec voters can be — two years to an election.
During Legault’s visit to Paris last week, he provoked shock waves at home by suggesting the federal government should force half the asylum seekers in Quebec to be transferred elsewhere, including would-be refugees who have already settled in the province.
Other than the contentious asylum seeker quagmire, his government posted the largest budget deficit in Quebec history. There have been serious problems related to his big gamble in the EV battery industry — investing heavily in the Northvolt plant while the company now faces financial troubles. And he lost a key pillar in the cabinet, economy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon.

Pumpkin Cookies Fundraiser! – no, not Girl Scouts’
A special request from Fellow*.
This is a fundraiser for the Frontier Animal Society (SAFAS) http://www.safas.ca located in Ogden (Stanstead), Quebec. Frontier Animal Society is a registered charity rescuing dogs/cats and giving them best chance to live their best lives. Deadline to order is Friday, October 18th, 2024 at 9:00 AM EST.
*SAFAS was Fellow’s rescue home before he came to me. I am forever grateful! And the cookies are great.

Varia
More clues in 100-year-old Mount Everest mystery as climber’s foot found
Foot, boot and sock believed to belong to Sandy Irvine, who disappeared in George Mallory’s 1924 expedition, discovered on glacier
NB Jeffrey Archer’s Paths of Glory is based on the life of George Mallory, the English moutaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s.
Why French President Emmanuel Macron and the Mayor of Rome Are Fighting Over Emily in Paris
“We will fight hard. And we will ask them to remain in Paris,” said Macron
A hilarious debate has ensued between French President Emmanuel Macron and the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, for one reason: Emily Cooper.
In an interview with Variety published on Wednesday, Oct. 9, Macron shared his response to Emily (Lily Collins) leaving Paris to head off to Rome in part 2 of season 4 of the hit Netflix series Emily in Paris.
“We will fight hard. And we will ask them to remain in Paris! Emily in Paris in Rome doesn‘t make sense,” said Macron about Rome becoming a setting for the show’s upcoming fifth season.
Priceless!
When Julie Andrews Turned 79, she performed “My Favorite Things” with These Lyrics
Botox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things. …

Long reads
Heather Cox Richardson October 13, 2024
“He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country…a fascist to the core.”
Where are the voters who could decide the presidential election?
When you hear the term bellwether, you might think about states in the presidential election that always vote with the White House winner. The true meaning of a bellwether is an indicator of a trend. And for that, you need to be thinking about counties.
In a closely contested presidential election, as many expect 2024 to be, the results in a few bellwether counties in the key battleground states are likely to decide the outcome, just as they did in the past two general elections.
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
These five tumultuous years in Montreal shaped Kamala Harris
One of the least-known chapters in the life of the Democratic presidential nominee was while Quebec was being torn apart by a separatist movement.