Several Kinds of Chills
Jan. 28th, 2022 07:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dewlineThis is a bit of a muddle. I apologise for that right now.
In downtown Ottawa, we're trying to deal with two messes at once. It's not the first time for our city, not since the original Euro-settlement on top of Algonquin lands in the 1820's.
The extreme cold warning is nothing new. Nor are protests in general. Not for Ottawa the city or Ottawa AKA "shorthand for the federal government". This particular protest feels like part of the ongoing war against multi-ethnic, democratic civil society in some respects.
Sidebar: Justin Ling interviewed by Matt Galloway about some of the roots of the "Freedom Convoy" over here:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-jan-28-2022-1.6331041
And, Ling also details those issues more directly here:
https://twitter.com/Justin_Ling/status/1487112260636053509
I worry for friends whose homes and jobs are in downtown Ottawa. And, for the wider world. But that's not new either.
Organized racism is still afoot, as many of you already know far better by more direct and horrific ways than I. So are people who define civilisation as being exemplified by the ability to force others to live as you demand, whether motivated by bigotry or something else.
There's more ground to cover, I'm sure...
In downtown Ottawa, we're trying to deal with two messes at once. It's not the first time for our city, not since the original Euro-settlement on top of Algonquin lands in the 1820's.
The extreme cold warning is nothing new. Nor are protests in general. Not for Ottawa the city or Ottawa AKA "shorthand for the federal government". This particular protest feels like part of the ongoing war against multi-ethnic, democratic civil society in some respects.
Sidebar: Justin Ling interviewed by Matt Galloway about some of the roots of the "Freedom Convoy" over here:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-jan-28-2022-1.6331041
And, Ling also details those issues more directly here:
https://twitter.com/Justin_Ling/status/1487112260636053509
I worry for friends whose homes and jobs are in downtown Ottawa. And, for the wider world. But that's not new either.
Organized racism is still afoot, as many of you already know far better by more direct and horrific ways than I. So are people who define civilisation as being exemplified by the ability to force others to live as you demand, whether motivated by bigotry or something else.
There's more ground to cover, I'm sure...
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 04:22 am (UTC)I suspect there are some genuine protestors. But by now they are so massively outnumbered by the goons and the loons that I fear for their safety as much as anybody's.
And some people are just objecting to COVID, like it's a fashion trend that has hung on too long. I've noticed this in some reporters, too, expecting "them" (gov't, medical experts, etc etc) to be aware of and prepared for each newness that is a viral pandemic.
Anyway. Beware of people looking for an excuse. Stay safe.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 01:09 pm (UTC)I am not planning on travelling any further westward - in the direction of Centretown - than St. Laurent Shopping Centre and Transit Station today. Which angers me, because there are friends and businesses - friends working in those business, more precisely - in Centretown and points further west that I would have liked to visit.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-29 09:04 pm (UTC)Hoo boy.