Assisted dying bill to be reintroduced Monday as court deadline looms

CATHOLIC POLITICIANS 

OTTAWA — Facing a looming court-imposed deadline, the federal government will reintroduce Monday legislation to amend Canada's law on medical assistance in dying.  

  

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The government has until Dec. 18 to amend the law to comply with a Quebec court ruling last fall, which found it was unconstitutional to allow only those whose natural death is "reasonably foreseeable" to be able to get medical help to end their suffering.

Justice Minister David Lametti introduced a bill in response to that ruling last February but it didn't get beyond the initial stage of the legislative process before the House of Commons adjourned in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That bill died when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prorogued Parliament last month.

Lametti has now given notice that a new bill — presumably identical to the previous one — will be introduced on Monday.

His office has said Lametti is determined to meet the Dec. 18 deadline, which has already been extended twice by the court. That leaves just two months to get the bill, which is bound to be controversial, through both the Commons and the Senate.

The previous bill scrapped reasonably foreseeable death as a requirement for an assisted death. Nevertheless, it retained the concept in setting out easier eligibility rules for those who are near death and more stringent rules for those who aren't.

For those deemed to be near death, the government is proposing to drop the requirement that a person must wait 10 days after being approved for an assisted death before receiving the procedure. It would also reduce the number of witnesses required to one from two.

As well, it is proposes to drop the requirement that a person must be able to give consent a second time immediately prior to receiving the procedure.

People not near death would face higher hurdles.

Such people would face a minimum 90-day period for assessments of their requests for an assisted death. One of the two medical practitioners who assesses a request would have to have expertise in the person’s particular medical condition. And the person would have to be able to give final consent immediately prior to the assisted death.

The bill also explicitly prohibited assisted dying in cases where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition.

Some legal experts and advocates for medically assisted dying feared the bill would actually make it harder than the existing law for some people to receive the procedure, or even take away their access to it entirely.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2020.

Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

Dionne Warwick will host a 'National Day of Remembrance' for the 200,000 Americans lost to Covid-19

By Chiamaka Ofulue, CNN 

As the US surpasses 200,000 coronavirus deaths, Dionne Warwick, Grammy Award winner and former US Ambassador for Health, will host the first

 'National COVID-19 Remembrance' at noon on October 4.

© Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival Dionne Warwick

Families of Covid-19 victims, advocates, faith leaders and health care workers will join virtually and in-person in Washington, DC.

"It's time to stand with all the survivors and Americans who have been devastatingly impacted. It's time to thank the essential workers and treat this pandemic as it is: an incredible tragedy. And most of all, it's time to pray for those still suffering and for our Nation to unite and come together to mourn and honor the precious lives lost," Warwick said.

COVID Survivors for Change, a grassroots, non-partisan organization connecting those affected by Covid-19 with resources, organized a National Day of Remembrance to honor the victims and demand that elected officials do more.

"Behind every statistic and every number is a real person whose life was cut short or changed forever. The National COVID Remembrance will carve out a public space to tell their stories and demand our elected officials honor their deaths by doing what needs to be done to stop the spread of disease," said Chris Kocher, founder of COVID Survivors for Change.

"There will be 20,000 empty chairs on the Ellipse on October 4. These chairs will be a visually stunning art installation representing a fraction of the heartbreaking and unimaginable loss of 200,000 lives to COVID-19 in six just months," Warwick said.

Warwick has used her platform to raise public awareness of the AIDS epidemic and went on to serve as a global health ambassador during the administrations of President Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

Along with the 20,000 empty chairs, there will be a call for a National Moment of Silence, musical performances by artists, speakers and memorial tributes where loved ones will be honored virtually.

Carolyn-Freyer Jones, the creator of #thefridayminute, a 60-second opportunity to honor those affected by the coronavirus every week at noon EST/ 9 a.m. PST, has endorsed this National Day of Remembrance. Freyer-Jones said "#thefridayminute was birthed out of my father's passing -- and my father is one of many."

"The goal and mission of #thefridayminute has regarding The National Day of Remembrance is to both promote the event and continue to grow the awareness about the people all around us who are being impacted by Covid every single day -- there's the loss of life which is profound, and there's the loss of understanding that is occurring because of the numbers of people," said Freyer-Jones.

Kocher said the goal is to come together as a nation and to stop and pause for those impacted by the pandemic. Kocher was in Queens, New York, when the state had one of its biggest spikes in Covid-19. "When the first wave of the pandemic hit in New York City in March, I had friends who had Covid and families that had been impacted," said Kocher.

Seeing how much the pandemic was affecting people in the nation inspired Kocher. "It was devastating to know how many people have been impacted and that there is so much more we can do to prevent these needless deaths," said Kocher.

The 'National COVID-19 Remembrance' will be streamed online. Kocher assures the event will be safe and follow social distancing guidelines.

Greens choose Toronto's Annamie Paul as new leader

OCT 3, 2020
OTTAWA — Green Party of Canada members have chosen Toronto's Annamie Paul as their new leader.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Paul won a bare majority of votes in the eighth round, defeating Dimitri Lascaris.

Paul, who is Black and Jewish, took the microphone in an Ottawa art gallery after her win was announced and declared herself the descendant of slaves and an ally of those, such as Indigenous people, who are fighting for justice.

She stands on the shoulders of female leaders like the NDP’s Audrey McLaughlin and the Conservatives’ Kim Campbell, and Black female leaders like the Liberals’ Jean Augustine, she said.

"Tonight, we have to recognize that this is an historic moment," Paul said.

"We as Greens, once again, are leading the way. We have done something that has never been done before in Canadian politics, and I congratulate us."

Paul is a non-practising lawyer who has spent much of her career in international institutions, including at the International Criminal Court and in Canada's mission to the European Union.

She said she’s driven in politics partly by her father’s death of an avoidable infection in May, especially as we face a crisis in the earth’s climate and a planet ravaged by COVID-19.

"We must constantly ask ourselves, what is a life worth?" she said.

We’re seeing the price of recklessness in floods, wild fires, and the boom-and-bust cycles in resource-extraction industries, she said, and current politicians don’t know what to do.

"They are intellectually exhausted and they are out of ideas," she said.

The moment calls for boldness and audacity, she said.

"We have a good-news story," she said. "This is the chance of a lifetime for us to move toward a more just, a more resilient society."

Nearly 35,000 people were eligible to vote, almost 10 times the turnout in the last leadership election in 2006, and nearly 24,000 ballots were cast, according to the party.

The Greens used a ranked-ballot voting system, which quickly redistributed members’ second-choice votes if their first-choice candidate came last and was cut.

Paul took 12,090 votes on the last ballot, just more than the 11,939 needed to win.

Paul led on the first few ballots, slipped behind Lascaris for two, and then regained a lead she never gave up on the sixth.

Yellowknife doctor Courtney Howard came a distant third and former Ontario cabinet minister Glen Murray finished fourth.

The race suffered several hiccups, including the disqualification of one candidate, the disqualification and then reinstatement of a second, and a bookkeeping error that the party says kept thousands of dollars in donations out Murray's coffers.

Paul succeeds Elizabeth May, who stepped down last fall after leading the party for 13 years.

May’s electoral success has masked divisions in the party, whose members’ environmentalism ranges from business-minded support for market mechanisms to cut pollution to ecosocialism that rejects capitalism as inherently destructive to the environment.

May will remain a force in the party, as she is still one of its three MPs and as of now, intends to remain as parliamentary leader in the House of Commons.

Before the race concluded, she emphasized that given the latitude the Greens afford their MPs, the new leader wouldn’t be her boss.

May gave something of a farewell speech as leader before the results were announced, though she officially turned over the top job to interim leader Jo-Ann Roberts after the last election.

Roberts thanked May for all she’s done. The two gave each other socially distanced hugs, their arms encircling air as they stood well apart.

May was the Greens' first elected MP in 2011 and since then the party caucus has grown to three. Greens are the Opposition in Prince Edward Island, held the balance of power in British Columbia and elected an MPP in Ontario.

"I am deeply aware of the reality that although people talk about me as if I did all this stuff, it’s not true. I am part of a movement," May said.

She paid tribute to provincial Green leaders, especially B.C.'s Sonia Furstenau, who is in the middle of an election campaign.

Her voice cracking at times, May condemned the world's continued inaction on climate change and the rise of white supremacy as a political ideology.

"The leader of this party must continue to shine a light on hypocrisy," she said.

"We don't have time for despair — it's an enormous threat," she added.

The Greens stand for pharmacare and a universal basic income, she said, as concrete expressions of Canadian values of caring for each other.

The country needs more Greens in office to fight those fights and stand up for science, especially in the era of a global pandemic, she said.

The losing candidates for the federal leadership have all expressed interest in seeking House of Commons seats all the same.

Paul is the first to do that, after being acclaimed the Green candidate for the Toronto Centre byelection being held Oct. 26.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2020.

The Canadian Press

Greens in turmoil over handling of internal probe into executive director's past conduct

Ashley Burke 1 day ago

© Reuters/Stephane Mahe Former Green Party leader Elizabeth May. The party she led is being roiled by an internal conflict over harassment allegations against its executive director.

As it heads into its leadership contest, a struggle is playing out on the Green Party's federal council over whether the party's executive director Prateek Awasthi should resign over past behaviour and harassment complaints, CBC News has learned.

Multiple people on the party council tell CBC News the body is divided over whether Awasthi should continue in his current role. Party president Jean-Luc Cooke resigned, a council member quit the party entirely, two of Green leadership candidate Meryam Haddad's campaign staffers have quit and other grassroots members have threatened to leave the party over the dispute.

"I feel like there's a ticking bomb ... in the party," said Haddad. "Us, the party, the establishment trying to hide certain allegations ... The party's covering up all of this."

The party hired Awasthi in May. During his job interview, Awasthi disclosed his version of events that transpired at his previous workplace, Engineers Without Borders (EWB), but he did not tell the party that he'd personally faced harassment allegations at EWB, according to interim Green Party leader Jo-Ann Roberts.

Awasthi told the party he was part of EWB management's "efforts to disparage and ignore claims of sexual harassment and assault," according to an internal investigation report written by outgoing leader Elizabeth May and leaked to CBC News.

That report says Awasthi told the party he had ignored tweets about harassment based on legal advice and "in the spirit of loyalty without realizing that in doing so, I was unknowingly discrediting a survivor of sexual violence."

© CBC News Prateek Awasthi was hired as the executive director of the Green Party in May, 2020.

"I do not support what has happened," said former Green federal council member Lorraine Hewlett, who stepped down from the council, the human resources committee and the party altogether in response to the controversy.

"Part of my resignation was in protest against that. I do not want to be associated with the retention of this employee ... When it comes to the 'Me Too' movement, I wanted to come down on the right side of this issue."

Awasthi later told council he apologized to the complainant, took responsibility and resigned from EWB.

"I didn't know what I had done was wrong, but the moment I was called out, I stopped, I stepped back, did everything I could to correct my mistakes and took personal accountability for my actions (and inactions)," Awasthi wrote in a letter to the Greens' federal council on July 18.

"I feel disappointed in myself and others for not having adopted a survivor-centric approach from day one."

Awasthi said in his letter to the council that when he disclosed his "mistakes" at the EWB to the Green party officials vetting him, they "agreed that this experience would be an asset for the GPC if ever we deal with a similar situation in the future." He also said he offered to resign if the party thinks he's unfit for the job.

Roberts said she considers the matter a confidential human resources issue.

"The hiring committee looked into it and we determined that it did not disqualify Mr. Awasthi as a candidate," said Roberts.

The hiring committee did not share Awasthi's account of his experience at EWB with the party's council, however. According to May's report, it doesn't appear that anyone from the party tried to verify Awasthi's version of events.

"I do believe that this should have been brought to council, but I can tell you it was an oversight," said Roberts. "It wasn't intentional to hide this."

Two of the EWB complainants who spoke to CBC News accused Awasthi of harassment, saying he was aggressive in meetings, talked to employees in a demeaning tone and contributed to a toxic work environment.

According to internal emails viewed by CBC News, an internal EWB investigation found no evidence of harassment as of June 2019 and added the organization's human resources department concluded there was a workplace conflict in Awasthi's team.

A third former employee at EWB, Chelsey Rhodes, accused Awasthi of taking part in an effort to discredit her personal reputation and her work. Rhodes said she was a victim of harassment at EWB and that she broke her non-disclosure agreement to speak up about systemic harassment and cover-ups in the humanitarian aid, development and NGO sector. She said she launched an online project to gather stories from other alleged victims and tweeted several of her claims about Awasthi's workplace behaviour directly at May.

In a statement to CBC News, Awasthi said he's been "open" about his "brief role in the [EWB's] response to claims that it had failed to properly address a case of sexual harassment that occurred in 2011." He said that when he learned in 2019 that information he had was in dispute, he corrected the record and apologized.

"I have every confidence in the Green Party's internal processes," he said. "I will not comment further. Our focus is now on preparing the organization to welcome the new leader."

When CBC News reached out to EWB Canada for comment, the organization referred to an August 2019 public statement, in which it said it had conducted a full review with input from Rhodes, and two independent legal reviews confirmed its position that "EWB's duty of care was fulfilled through our mediated process."

The statement also said EWB has banned the use of non-disclosure agreements in personnel matters and established a "clear and accessible" complaints policy and procedure.

"However, we do acknowledge (Chelsey Rhodes') truth, and regret her negative experience with EWB," the statement said.
May's investigation

May launched her own internal investigation in July and spoke to former EWB employees. According to her internal report, May heard claims that Awasthi picked on a female EWB staffer, driving her to tears on occasion, and that there was one case of an inappropriate sexual suggestion at EWB.

"There was no reason to believe Awasthi was involved in sexual harassment or assault. Ever," said a confidential email from May on July 25 to the federal council.

"I do believe he bullied junior staff in the spring of 2019, but has amended his conduct and learned from his experience," she wrote. "We, as a party, are at a perilous moment. We are on the verge of a public lynching of an innocent human being."

May wrote in her report that the Greens needed to prepare for the media getting wind of the story.

"He has — as some could argue — done nothing that would damage us as an organization," she said. "Still, we know that there is a high degree of trauma around such incidents and the reputational risk may not be survivable. On this, I hope [the Green Party] gets expert advice."

May told CBC News her report was written months ago, was never "definitive" and a lot has changed since then. She said she was trying to help the federal council do its due diligence and not leap to any conclusions that would run "a risk of having a split within the party."

"Anything that was written in a confidential message months ago does not represent my current views," May said today. "We've done more investigation, we have to move toward consensus, and my view throughout has been that my own position was neutral."

The interim leader said May's report's findings were significant but should be subjected to an outside review.

"It does point to the need for us to have a third party investigate this further if we're going to take any other actions," said Roberts.
'Shocked and heartbroken'

The Greens' federal council privately voted in August to accept Awasthi's resignation, according to multiple council members. Party president Cooke — who supported keeping Awasthi in the job — resigned immediately afterward, tweeting that "an in-camera (closed doors) decision of council forced me into this decision.

"I offered to be reappointed if several members of council resign. I'll find other ways to help the world until then."

Roberts said that vote is in dispute now because it may conflict with a decision made at an earlier council meeting. She would not disclose the nature of that decision, calling it confidential.

May said proper notice of the vote wasn't given, the decision contradicted an earlier motion and more time was needed to try to come to a consensus.

Multiple council members who spoke to CBC News called it "deeply disturbing" that party executives did not respect that vote.

"I was very disturbed the democratic rules weren't being followed," said Hewlett. "The results of that voting process were ignored and not implemented."

The situation has also affected the Green leadership race. Haddad said she was encouraged by other Green members to send a letter supporting Awasthi and saying he had created a safe space in the party for individuals like herself — an immigrant lesbian born in Syria. Later, she said, she thought twice about the initial letter and sent a second one saying that the party should embrace a zero tolerance policy on workplace harassment.

Haddad said her campaign manager and press secretary — both of whom supported keeping Awasthi — quit her campaign over the controversy. She said the party's credibility as a champion of the marginalized is at stake.

"Green values are what we are representing on the outside. But what goes on inside, it's something hideous which is unacceptable," said Haddad. "Change must happen."

Green Party member Bonnie North told CBC News she was subjected to sexual harassment and sexual assault during her two decades in the Canadian Armed Forces. She calls the Greens vetting process one of "wild incompetence."

"I'm both shocked and heartbroken," said North, adding she and other members are threatening to leave the party over the controversy. "The Green Party of Canada is not the place for him to greenwash his reputation. If he needs redemption, then he should find redemption elsewhere."

May's local campaign manager in the last election, Michael Strumberger, recently stepped away from the Greens after six years. He said the party has a problem with top-down, opaque decision-making.

"There's no accountability," said Strumberger. "Members don't have a lot of visibility into the decisions that are made. More and more, our federal council, our governing board is operating in-camera and obviously not reporting what happens. So that's a pattern."

Awasthi's probationary period at work expires on Sunday — the day after the new leader will be announced.

Protesters march through Montreal, calling for 'Justice for Joyce'

MONTREAL — Crowds of protesters marched through downtown Montreal on Saturday, calling for justice for Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who was subjected to insults as she lay dying in hospital.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman, filmed hospital staff insulting her and making degrading comments on Monday while she was in clear distress and pleading for help in a Joliette, Que., hospital.

Protesters called for the Quebec government to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism in the province and to take real action against the discrimination Indigenous people face.

Several speakers who addressed the crowd said the government has tools to act – the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the report of the Viens Commission, a provincial inquiry into the relationship between Indigenous people and certain Quebec public services – but hasn't put those into practice.

The protest came the same day that Public Security Minister Genevieve Guilbault announced that she has asked the coroner's office to conduct a public inquiry into Echaquan's death.

Echaquan's death took an emotional toll on some participants. Alisha Tukkiapik, the head of Quebec Solidaire's national indigenous committee, had tears in her eyes as she addressed the crowd.

"We are humans too, we have rights too," she said. "We often get called 'savages' but look at the people who are doing this."

Premier Francois Legualt has acknowledged that there is racism against Indigenous people in Quebec but has repeatedly maintained that systemic racism doesn't exist in the province.

But Ellen Gabriel, a prominent Mohawk activist present at the protest, said those comments are further evidence of systemic racism.

"(Legault is) ignorant of Quebec and Canada's colonial history and he should be held responsible as one of the people who continues to deny Indigenous people their dignity and human rights," Gabriel said.

Legualt's refusal to acknowledge systemic racism was also a sticking point for Picard, the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.

"I think the premier should wake up and look around," Picard said in an interview at the protest. "If we want to change things, we have to be able to name those things by name."

Picard was scheduled to meet Legualt on Friday morning but cancelled. He said the cancellation was because Legualt wouldn’t let him bring Atikamekw chiefs to the meeting — an allegation Legualt has denied.

However, Picard said he's willing to meet with Legualt in the future.

"There needs to be a political engagement. But we need to have the right conditions for it," he said.

The protest, which at times stretched for more than six city blocks, was the largest held in the city since it moved to Quebec's highest COVID-19 alert level.

Participants wore masks and organizers issued frequent reminders to maintain physical distancing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2020.

— — —

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press

AN ESTABLISHMENT VIEW 

Macpherson: A tale of two terrorisms in Quebec in October 1970


Don Macpherson GLOBE & MAIL
©

 Provided by The Gazette Forty years to the day after the War Measures Act was invoked by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, a monument to Quebecers incarcerated during that time was unveiled in Montreal, on Saturday October 16, 2010. Police arrested 497 people, of whom only 18 were ever convicted on any charge, Don Macpherson writes.

Monday is the anniversary of the kidnapping of the British trade commissioner in Montreal, James Cross, the start of the 1970 October Crisis. Earlier this year, however, there was another 50th anniversary that went overlooked, that of another historic event that puts the Crisis in perspective.

It’s the Quebec general election of April 29, 1970. Not only were separatists elected to the National Assembly for the first time, the pro-independence Parti Québécois received the second-largest share of the vote, establishing it as the real alternative to the federalist Liberals.

Violence is a great attention-getter, and in the 1960s, riots by indépendantistes and the sometimes-murderous bombs of the terrorist Front de libération du Québec had drawn attention to what was then the real oppression of French-speaking Quebecers.

By October of 1970, however, the progress of the democratic sovereignty movement, behind the leadership of René Lévesque, had eliminated any possible excuse for political violence.

That context is the most glaring omission from Les Rose , the one-sided, pro-FLQ documentary promoted by some indépendantiste politicians and media sympathizers as “history.”

The film spearheads this year’s inevitable revival of the sovereignist campaign for the political rehabilitation of the FLQ, or at least to use the undeniable wrongs committed by the federal government of the day to discredit federalism itself.

For it was not only the FLQ that acted as though the end justified the means. So did Pierre Trudeau, who was then prime minister, in dealing not only with politically motivated criminals, but with his non-violent, democratic nationalist opponents in Quebec.

And the terrorism emergency was not the only occasion on which Trudeau acted that way. Twelve years after the October Crisis, he had a new Constitution imposed on Quebec limiting its powers, over the objections of its democratically elected legislature.

In the Crisis, the great civil libertarian invoked the 1914 War Measures Act for the first time in peacetime. This unleashed police across Quebec, without warrants, to raid thousands of homes, often in the middle of the night with guns drawn. They arrested 497 people, sometimes abusing them and their families. Only 18 were eventually convicted on any charges.

Clearly, Trudeau lied that there was an “apprehended insurrection,” the only pretext for invoking the Act in peacetime; the RCMP told the government there was none. And the prime minister lied again, the journalist Peter C. Newman wrote afterward, when he personally planted a false news story of a “conspiracy” of his leading opponents in Quebec, including Lévesque, to seize power from the province’s federalist government.

Those were the means Trudeau used, but to what end? The most popular theory in Quebec, and the most plausible one, is related to that PQ breakthrough the previous April.

It’s that Trudeau wanted to take advantage of the FLQ’s terrorism to halt the rise of the democratic sovereignty movement by using force, in the form of the police, and falsehood to intimidate and discredit the sovereignists — another form of terrorism, one might say.

As the 50th anniversary of the Crisis approached, nationalists demanded an apology from the present Prime Minister Trudeau for his father’s violation of civil liberties.

(Let’s pause briefly to appreciate this sudden, selective concern for fundamental rights and freedoms on the part of defenders of Quebec’s anti-hijab Bill 21 .)

A wrong on one side does not cancel out one on the other. But the nationalists have caught Trudeau the Younger in a trap he set for himself.

Only recently, while denouncing the toppling of the Macdonald statue in Montreal, he conceded that all past prime ministers are open to criticism, including his father.

And literally Canada’s sorriest prime minister, Justin Trudeau has established a precedent by frequently apologizing for historic injustices.

This apology would be uncomfortable for him to make, and not only because it would hand a victory to political adversaries. But the Trudeau who now speaks for Canada can’t decently refuse to make it, and still pretend to stand for the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms.
Related
Truth and myth: Tracing the roots of the October Crisis

Macpherson: Remembering Paul Rose, while René Lévesque is forgotten

There Are Robot Servers At This New Calgary Restaurant & We're Officially Over Humans


Stephanie Hilash NARCITY

© claypotriceyyc | Instagram, claypotriceyyc | Instagram


Human servers are a thing of the past thanks to the Calgary robot servers at Clay Pot Rice.

This rice and noodle palace that just opened up at the end of September is now fully operational and when you visit, you may be surprised by who greets you.

Clay Pot Rice has done away with human servers and instead, they have literal robots to greet, seat, and serve you.

Editor's Choice: A Calgary Pizza Spot Just Ranked In Canada's Top 10 & They Have Pickle Pizza


4515 Macleod Trail S.W.


Clay Pot Rice

Images of these real-life WALL-E’s have been posted on social media and they’re adorable.

They even have a little screen as a face that shows facial expressions.

Officially opening on Friday, September 25, this traditional Chinese spot offers clay pot dishes that you can enjoy with rice or noodles.

They even have beer and bubble tea on the menu so what more could you need?

This is the perfect place if you’re looking for a meal but want to social distance from other humans.

Clay Pot Rice

Price: 💸💸

Cuisine: Chinese

Address: 4515 Macleod Trail S.W., Calgary, AB⠀⠀

Why You Need To Go: There's no other place in the city like this.

Menu

Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Vandalized by Someone Dressed as the Hulk


Jordan Moreau VARIETY

© AP
President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed on Friday morning, reportedly by someone dressed as the Incredible Hulk.

The alleged green culprit used a pickaxe to vandalize Trump’s star some time early Friday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times. Police responded to the scene at 5:50 a.m. and have made no arrests so far. The destruction of Trump’s star came just a few hours after he announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus late Thursday night.

More than $3,000 worth of damage was sustained to the star, which classifies the crime as a felony. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will have to pay to replace the star, and repairs were already being done by Friday afternoon.

In a statement to Variety, the president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce urged people to voice their frustrations with their ballots.

“Any star which is vandalized or destroyed, no matter which honoree it belongs to, will be replaced by the Hollywood Historic Trust, a non-profit, non-partisan group. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which celebrates the professional contributions of the inductees. The stars, once installed, are considered part of the historic fabric of the Walk,” said Rana Ghadban, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. “When people are angry with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California state landmark. Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a real difference by voting and not destroying public property.”

Before Friday’s incident, Trump’s star was vandalized in 2016 and 2018. He received the honor in 2007 in the TV category for producing nationwide beauty pageants.

A source tells Variety that the vandal is not James Otis, who destroyed Trump’s star in 2016. A Twitter account, which appears to be run by Otis, echoes the same idea, saying Friday’s culprit is a copycat

This Is Why We Celebrate Halloween in the First Place
Marissa Laliberte, RD.com

© Photo: Poznyakov/Shutterstock

The spooky origins of Halloween

Modern Halloween is basically an excuse to dress up in outrageous costumes, load up on candy, and deck out the yard with spooky decorations. But long before Halloween became a family-centred day for tricks and treats (Ok, mostly treats), its origins verged more on the scary side.

Most people believe the roots of Halloween can be traced back about 2,000 years to the Celtic pagan “summer’s end” festival of Samhain, which landed on November 1. During that time, the Celts believed spirits would pass through the physical world and potentially ruin their crops. To protect their harvests, families would leave out food and drinks as offerings to the spirits, and people would often disguise themselves in white with blackened faces in hopes of blending in with the ghosts. (Check out these other creepy events that actually happened on Halloween.)

After the Romans conquered the Celts and started spreading Christianity, they likely figured flat-out banning pagan holidays like Samhain would lead to pushback, so scholars believe they instead combined those traditions with Catholic celebrations, in hopes of phasing them out. Around the 9th century, the Christian feast day for martyrs was moved from May 13 to the time of Samhain and was renamed Feast of All Saints. On October 31, the night before the festival, churches would hold a vigil for All Hallows Eve (“hallows” was another word for “saints”), which was later shortened to Halloween.

© Provided by Reader's Digest Canada
Horror Movies Inspired By Real Life

Eventually, the two celebrations became even more entwined. During the Christian All Souls Day, poor people would go “souling”: saying prayers for others’ deceased loved ones in exchange for pastries called soul cake that represented being saved from Purgatory—a church-friendly substitute for leaving food out for evil spirits. By the 1800s, the tradition was turned into a fun activity called guising, with children giving a performance of jokes, poetry readings, or music to earn rewards like fruit and money. (You can keep up the tradition with these corny jokes that are perfect for Halloween.) Irish immigrants eventually brought modernized versions of guising to North America, which morphed into trick-or-treating as we know it today. The days of hiding from real evil spirits might be long gone, but the fun of dressing up as ghosts lives on.

Now that you know the origins of Halloween, take a virtual tour of the most haunted places in Canada.

© Provided by Reader's Digest Canada

20 Pumpkin Carving Ideas

© Provided by Reader's Digest Canada
Can You Solve These Halloween Riddles?

The post This Is Why We Celebrate Halloween in the First Place appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Twitter bans posts wishing for Trump death. The Squad wonders where that policy was for them


By Donie O'Sullivan and Alaa Elassar, CNN

The four progressive Democratic congresswomen known as "The Squad" expressed surprise on Friday night when Twitter posted about its policy against wishing harm or death to someone in light of President Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis.

© AFP & Getty Images Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar have all spoken out about the social media threats they receive and say Twitter isn't doing enough about it.

Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts have all spoken out about the threats they receive on social media and say Twitter isn't doing enough about it.


Responding to media reporting Friday about people wishing death to the President, a verified account run by Twitter's spokespeople tweeted, "tweets that wish or hope for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against *anyone* are not allowed and will need to be removed."

"Seriously though, this is messed up. The death threats towards us should have been taking more seriously by [Twitter]," Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted in response.

Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Omar and Pressley also tweeted suggesting Twitter had not taken threats made against them seriously.

Members of The Squad have often been victims of brutal social media attacks, including posts that have expressed wishes for their deaths.

A quick Twitter search of their names followed by "hang for treason" results in tweets from users calling for the deaths of the congresswomen.

"I hope you both hang for TREASON!" one user tweeted in reference to Tlaib and Omar.

"@IlhanMN you should be tried for treason and i hope they hang you," tweeted another.

The policy highlighted by Twitter's press shop on Friday is not a new one. But tweets that violate Twitter's rules are often missed or not removed by the company, as CNN regularly reports.

"At Twitter, it is our top priority to improve the health of the public conversation, and that includes ensuring the safety of people who use our service. Abuse and harassment have no place on Twitter," a Twitter spokesperson told CNN.

"Our policies -- which apply to everyone, everywhere -- are clear: We do not tolerate content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual or group of people. If we identify accounts that violate these rules, we will take enforcement action."

Twitter said Friday that publicly wishing someone "death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease" does not result in an automatic permanent suspension from its platform. Users who repeatedly send tweets like this may eventually be permanently suspended, however.