Landschlacht, Switzerland, Friday 5 February 2021
When I was young there were many things they tried to teach me
Son, you must be grounded, find some strong stability
Be rooted and secure to live long and endure
Don’t seek out chance or circumstance and never try if you’re not sure
There was a harmony I heard when I shut my eyes
Like advice from some strange voice I seemed to recognize
Build dreams or chase behind their shadows in your mind
You can choose to give or lose, take what you get or seek to find
Live like a traveller, only passing through
Don’t let your baggage weigh you down through all you need to do
Faith, Friends, and Freedom, they will always be with you
If you live like a traveller, only passing through
I looked out from the windows of my school and parents’ home
There was so much new to learn,
I got an itch to roam
It wasn’t long before I unlocked the old back door
And I was roving in the world to learn and to explore
Live like a traveller only passing through
Don’t let your baggage weigh you down through all you need to do
Faith, Friends, and Freedom, they will always be with you
If you live like a traveller, only passing through
I look back in all honesty, my parents weren’t all wrong
It’s important to know who you are and where you best belong
Roots don’t grow in boxes, dreams wither out of range
Cash in the bank can’t buy success if you’re afraid of change
And that old world stability must mean something else to me
Because I feel it underfoot each step I take when I am free
Live like a traveller only passing through
Don’t let your baggage weigh you down through all you need to do
Faith, Friends, and Freedom, they will always be with you
If you live like a traveller, only passing through
Every once in a while a story idea generates from actual events and other sources to intrigue my imagination with possibilities.
Begin with an actual event.
On 5 February 1958, the United States Air Force (USAF) lost a 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 nuclear bomb in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia.
During a practice exercise, an F-86 fighter plane collided with the B-47 bomber carrying the bomb.
To protect the aircrew from a possible detonation in the event of a crash, the bomb was jettisoned.
Following several unsuccessful searches, the bomb was presumed lost somewhere in Wassaw Sound off the shores of Tybee Island.
The B-47 bomber was on a simulated combat mission from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida.
It was carrying a single 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) bomb.
At about 2:00 a.m., an F-86 fighter collided with the B-47.
The F-86 crashed after the pilot ejected from the plane.
The damaged B-47 remained airborne, plummeting 18,000 feet (5,500 m) from 38,000 feet (12,000 m) when the pilot, Colonel Howard Richardson, regained flight control.
The crew requested permission to jettison the bomb, in order to reduce weight and prevent the bomb from exploding during an emergency landing.
Permission was granted, and the bomb was jettisoned at 7,200 feet (2,200 m) while the bomber was travelling at about 200 knots (370 km/h).
The crew did not see an explosion when the bomb struck the sea.
They managed to land the B-47 safely at the nearest base, Hunter Air Force Base.
Colonel Richardson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after this incident.
Some sources describe the bomb as a functional nuclear weapon, but others describe it as disabled.
If it had a plutonium nuclear core installed, it was a fully functional weapon.
If it had a dummy core installed, it was incapable of producing a nuclear explosion but could still produce a conventional explosion.
The 12-foot (4 m) long Mark 15 bomb weighs 7,600 pounds (3,400 kg) and bears the serial number 47782.
It contains 400 pounds (180 kg) of conventional high explosives and highly enriched uranium.
The Air Force maintains that its nuclear capsule, used to initiate the nuclear reaction, was removed before its flight aboard the B-47.
As noted in the Atomic Energy Commission “Form AL-569 Temporary Custodian Receipt (for maneuvers)“, signed by the aircraft commander, the bomb contained a simulated 150-pound cap made of lead.
However, according to 1966 Congressional testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense W.J. Howard, the Tybee Island bomb was a “complete weapon, a bomb with a nuclear capsule” and one of two weapons lost that contained a plutonium trigger.
Nevertheless, a study of the Strategic Air Command documents indicates that Alert Force test flights in February 1958 with the older Mark 15 payloads were not authorized to fly with nuclear capsules on board.
Such approval was pending deployment of safer “sealed-pit nuclear capsule” weapons, which did not begin deployment until June 1958.
Starting on 6 February 1958, the Air Force 2,700th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron and 100 Navy personnel equipped with hand-held sonar and galvanic drag and cable sweeps mounted a search.
On 16 April, the military announced the search had been unsuccessful.
Based on a hydrologic survey, the bomb was thought by the Department of Energy to lie buried under 5 to 15 feet (1.5 to 4.6 m) of silt at the bottom of Wassaw Sound.
In 2004, retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Derek Duke claimed to have narrowed the possible resting spot of the bomb down to a small area approximately the size of a football field.
He and his partner located the area by trawling in their boat with a Geiger counter in tow.
Secondary radioactive particles four times naturally occurring levels were detected and mapped, and the site of radiation origination triangulated.
Subsequent investigations found the source of the radiation was natural, originating from monazite deposits.
As of 2007, no undue levels of unnatural radioactive contamination have been detected in the regional Upper Floridan aquifer by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (over and above the already high levels thought to be due to monazite, a locally occurring mineral that is naturally radioactive).
Above: Flag of Georgia
Aside from the “what if the Tynbee bomb had exploded” scenario, the conflicting reports as to whether the lost bomb (“broken arrow“) was indeed nuclear capable does raise a number of questions.
Why the discrepanices between the reports?
Did someone lie?
If so, why?
In February 2015, a satirical news web site ran an article stating that the bomb was found by vacationing Canadian divers and that the bomb had since been removed from the bay.
The fake story spread widely via social media.
On 12 February 2015, the entertainment web site World News Daily Report published an article claiming that a couple of amateur scuba divers had discovered a long-lost nuclear warhead off the coast of Georgia:
A couple of tourists from Canada made a surprising discovery while scuba diving in Wassaw Sound, a small bay located on the shores of Georgia.
Jason Sutter and Christina Murray were admiring the marine life of the area when they stumbled upon a Mark 15 thermonuclear bomb that had been lost by the United States Air Force more than 50 years ago.
The couple from London in Ontario, was on a two week vacation in Georgia and Florida to practise their favorite hobby, scuba diving, when they decided to dive near the shores of Tybee Island.
While admiring the plants and fishes near the sea floor, they noticed a large cylindrical item partially covered by sand.
They investigated the object and found out that it was actually a sort of bomb or missile, so they decided to contact the authorities.
“I noticed an object that looked like a metal cylinder, which I thought was an oil barrel” says Jason Sutter.
“When I dug it up a bit, I noticed that it was actually a lot bigger and that there was some writing on the side.
When I saw the inscription saying that it was a Mk-15 nuclear bomb, I totally freaked out.
I caught Christina by the arm and made signs to tell her we had to leave.
We made an emergency ascent, went back to shore and then we called 911.”
However, World News Daily Report is an fake news web site that does not publish factual news material.
A disclaimer on the site states that all of the information contained therein is for “entertainment purposes only.”
Still there is some poignancy in a memory I have of the movie Men in Black….
In upstate New York, an alien illegally crash-lands on Earth, kills a farmer named Edgar, and uses his skin as a disguise.
Tasked with finding a device called “The Galaxy“, the Edgar alien goes into a New York restaurant and finds two aliens (disguised as humans) who are supposed to have it in their possession.
He kills them and takes a container from them but is angered to find only diamonds inside.
After learning about the incident in a tabloid magazine, K investigates the crash landing and concludes that Edgar’s skin was taken by a “bug“, a species of aggressive cockroach-like aliens.
Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones): Anything about that seem unusual to you?….Let’s check the hot sheets.
Agent J (Will Smith)(looking at K buying a newsstand’s row of tabloids): These are the hot sheets?
Agent K: Best investigative reporting on the planet. Go ahead, read the New York Times if you want to. They get lucky sometimes.
Agent J: I can’t believe you are looking for tips in the supermarket tabloids.
Agent K: Not looking for. Found.
Now, gentle readers, don’t panic.
I am not suggesting that tabloids should be trusted or conspiracy theories believed.
The fact that many actually do take tabloids and theories seriously causes me great concern, for there are those who may believe and act accordingly to their belief that the parody, that the conspiracies, are real.
There are disturbingly too many Americans, for example, who firmly believe (still) that Donald Trump was cheated out of his re-election and should still be President.
They choose to believe the lie, which conforms to and confirms their preferred world view, than the facts of unpleasant reality.
Though I don’t fully subscribe to all of American George Carlin’s viewpoints, there are certain validities in the philosophies he espoused.
“I live by certain rules.
First rule.
I don’t believe anything the government tells me.
Nothing.
Zero.
And I don’t take very seriously the media and the press in this country, who are nothing more than the unpaid employees of the government and who most of the time function as a public relations branch of the government….
And all you ever hear about are our differences, what separates us, what keeps us apart from one another.
That is the way the ruling class operates in any society.
They try to divide the rest of the people, keep us fighting with each other, so that they can run off with all the money.
Fairly simple concept.
Happens to work.
Anything different, that’s what they are going to talk about: race, religion, national background, job, income, social status, sexuality….
Anything they can do to keep us fighting with each other.
This is why the wealthy don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking.
They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people aware of how the System has failed them.”
Above: George Carlin (1937 – 2008)
Generally, I believe that we are born to love, but taught to hate.
This is how wars work.
Convince the populace that the enemy is less worthy than they are, that the enemy must be perceived as a threat which threatens our very survival.
Talk about the flag, religion or our children and watch the masses scramble to the recruiting stations, dehumanize the enemy and hate those they neither know nor care to know.
In times of war, even the hint that you may sympathize with the enemy – because they too are human beings – may cause countries to ban or imprison other groups and may even find communities denying their own heritage to be deemed more acceptable to the nationalist spirit.
Canada is considered to be a very liberal and cosmopolitan country, but this has not always been so……
St. Thomas, Ontario to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday 13 January 2020
One thing you have to understand about Canada is that it exists, for the most part, because not all Americans wanted to abandon being British.
Certainly, there was a small minority of English speakers who remained to govern and settle in Canada after France ceded Nouveau France to Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris.
But the population of English speakers in Canada greatly increased with the influx of United Empire Loyalists from an America that no longer tolerated them.
Part of that loyalty to Queen and country is evident in the choice of names these Loyalists gave to the communities they founded:
Above: Images of Victoria
Above: Images of Regina
Above: Images of London
Above: Stratford City Hall
Above: Kingston City Hall
These are just a tiny sample of the many places across Canada that are named after England or the English monarchy.
And though Canada has evolved into a nation of its own after Confederation (1867) and especially after WW2 (1939 – 1945), the Head of State of Canada still remains the British monarch, represented by the Governor General when the monarchy isn’t upon Canadian soil or if a major constitutional change requires a signature from the Crown.
Above: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
I have always advocated that a place name should either reflect its original settlers or geography, so Kitchener‘s original Anglicized name of Sandhills is quite acceptable to me.
In 1784, the land that would develop into the town of Kitchener, was a 240,000-hectare area given to the Six Nations by the British as a gift for their allegiance during the American Revolution.
Above: Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy
Between 1796 and 1798, the Six Nations sold 38,000 hectares of this land to Loyalist Colonel Richard Beasley.
The portion of land that Beasley purchased was remote, but of great interest to German Mennonite farming families from Pennsylvania.
They wanted to live in an area that would allow them to practice their beliefs without persecution. Eventually, the Mennonites purchased all of Beasley’s unsold land, creating 160 farm tracts.
Many of the first farms were least 400 acres in size.
The payment to Beasley, in cash, arrived from Pennsylvania in kegs, carried in a wagon surrounded by armed guards.
By 1800, the first buildings in Berlin had been built, and over the next decade, several families made the difficult trip north to what was then known as the Sandhills.
One of these Mennonite families, arriving in 1807, was the Schneiders, whose restored 1816 home (the oldest building in the city) is now a museum in the heart of Kitchener.
Above: Schneider House
Other families whose names can still be found in local place names were the Bechtels, the Ebys, the Erbs, the Weavers (better known today as the Webers), the Cressmans, and the Brubachers.
In 1816, the government of Upper Canada designated the settlement the Township of Waterloo.
Much of the land, made up of moraines and swampland interspersed with rivers and streams, was converted to farmland and roads.
Wild pigeons, which once swarmed by the tens of thousands, were driven from the area.
Apple trees were introduced to the region by John Eby in the 1830s, and several gristmills and sawmills (most notably Joseph Schneider’s 1816 sawmill, John and Abraham Erb’s grist- and sawmills, and Eby’s cider mill) were erected throughout the area.
Schneider built Berlin’s first road, from his home to the corner of King Street and Queen Street (then known as Walper Corner).
The settlers raised $1,000 to extend the road from Walper Corner to Huether Corner, where the Huether Brewery was built and the Huether Hotel now stands in the city of Waterloo.
A petition to the government for $100 to assist in completing the project was denied.
Later named the founder of Berlin, Benjamin Eby (made Mennonite preacher in 1809, and bishop in 1812) arrived from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and purchased a large tract of land consisting of much of what would become the village of Berlin (named about 1830).
The settlement was initially called Ebytown, and was at the southeast side of what later became Queen Street.
Eby was also responsible for the growth of the Mennonite church in Waterloo County.
By 1811, Eby had built a log Mennonite meeting house first used as a school house, but later also housing religious services.
A new meeting house, known as Eby’s Versammlungshaus (gathering house), near Stirling Avenue, replaced the log house in 1834, while a schoolhouse was built on Frederick Street about the same time.
Benjamin Eby encouraged manufacturers to Ebytown.
Jacob Hoffman came in 1829 and started the first furniture factory.
John Eby, druggist and chemist, arrived from Pennsylvania in about 1820, and opened a shop to the west of what would later be Eby Street.
At the time, settlers commonly formed a building “bee” to help newcomers erect a log home.
Immigration from Lancaster County continued heavily in the 1820s because of a severe agricultural depression there.
Joseph Schneider, from that area, built a frame house in 1820 on the south side of the future Queen Street after clearing a farm and creating a rough road.
A small settlement formed around “Schneider’s Road“, which became the nucleus of Berlin.
The home was renovated over a century later and still stands.
The village centre of what would become Berlin (Kitchener) was established in 1830 by Phineas Varnum, who leased land from Joseph Schneider and opened a blacksmith shop on the site where a hotel would be built many years later, the Walper House.
A tavern was also established here at the same time, and a store was opened.
At the time, the settlement of Berlin was still considered to be a hamlet.
Immigration to Berlin increased considerably from 1816 until the 1870s, many of the newcomers being of German (particularly Lutheran, and Mennonite) extraction.
Some were from Switzerland, like the founder of the Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company.
In 1833, the town was rededicated Berlin because of then-prevalent German immigration from the Breuckmann family, and in 1853, Berlin became the county seat of the newly created County of Waterloo, elevating it to the status of village.
The Smith’s Canadian Gazetteer of 1846 describes Berlin as:
“Berlin contains about 400 inhabitants, who are principally Germans.
A newspaper is printed here, called the “German Canadian” and there is a Lutheran meeting house, a post office, post twice a week.
Professions and Trades.—One physician and surgeon, one lawyer, three stores, one brewery, one printing office, two taverns, one pump maker, two blacksmiths.”
The Township of Waterloo (smaller than Waterloo County) consisted primarily of Pennsylvanian Mennonites and immigrants directly from Germany who had brought money with them.
At the time, many did not speak English.
There were eight grist and twenty saw mills in the township.
In 1841, the township population count was 4,424.
The first cemetery in the city was the one next to Pioneer Tower in Doon.
The first recorded burial at that location was in 1806.
The cemetery at First Mennonite Church is not as old, but contains the graves of some notable citizens, including Bishop Benjamin Eby, who died in 1853, Joseph Schneider, and Reverend Joseph Cramer, founder of the House of Friendship social service agency.
Above: Pioneer Tower
Previously part of the United County of Waterloo, Wellington, and Grey, Waterloo became a separate entity in 1853 with Berlin as county seat.
Some contentious debate had existed between Galt and Berlin as to where the seat would be located.
One of the requirements for founding was the construction of a courthouse and jail.
When local merchant Joseph Gaukel donated a small parcel of land he owned (at the current Queen and Weber Streets), this sealed the deal for Berlin, which was still a small community compared to Galt.
The courthouse at the corner of the later Queen Street North and Weber Street and the Gaol were built within a few months.
The first county council meeting was held in the new facility on 24 January 1853, as the county officially began operations.
The Waterloo County Gaol is the oldest government building in the Region of Waterloo.
The Governor’s House, home of the “gaoler“, in a mid-Victorian Italian Villa style, was added in 1878.
Both have been extensively restored and are on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
Above: Waterloo County Jail and Governor’s House
The extension of the Grand Trunk Railway from Sarnia to Toronto (and hence through Berlin) in July 1856 was a major boon to the community, helping to improve industrialization in the area.
Immigrants from Germany, mostly Lutheran and Catholic, dominated the city after 1850, and developed their own newer German celebrations, and influences, such as the Turner societies, gymnastics, and band music.
A new streetcar system, the Galt, Preston and Hespeler electric railway (later called the Grand River Railway) began to operate in 1894 connecting Preston and Galt.
In 1911, the line reached Hespeler, Berlin, and Waterloo.
The electric rail system ended passenger services in April 1955.
In 1869, Berlin had a population of 3,000.
On 9 June 1912, Berlin was designated a city.
It was renamed Kitchener in 1916, after Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, a British Empire field marshal killed during the First World War.
Kitchener was the first city in Ontario to get hydroelectric power in long-distance transmission lines from Niagara Falls, on 11 October 1910.
Because citizens with a German heritage were viewed as a threat by some in Canada during the First World War, many in the city, particularly its business people, feared a backlash against the name Berlin.
A 2016 news report summarized the situation as:
“Some questioned the loyalty of a city with strong German roots, and business leaders worried about a potential boycott of goods stamped Made in Berlin“.
A referendum was held on 19 May 1916 as to whether the city name should be changed.
That passed with a small majority and another referendum led to the name change from Berlin ro Kitchener, effective on 1 September 1916.
Prior to the War of 1812, the township of Waterloo was predominantly settled by German speaking Mennonites from Pennsylvania.
German-speaking immigrants from Europe began arriving in Waterloo County during the 1820s, bringing with them their language, religion and cultural traditions.
Berlin and Waterloo County soon became recognized throughout Canada for their German heritage.
These German immigrants became Berlin’s industrial and political leaders, and created a German-Canadian society unlike any other found in Canada at the time.
They established German public schools and German language churches.
In a speech given by the Governor General of Canada, the Duke of Connaught, while visiting Berlin in May 1914, said:
“It is of great interest to me that many of the citizens of Berlin are of German descent.
I well know the admirable qualities – the thoroughness, the tenacity, and the loyalty of the great Teutonic Race, to which I am so closely related.
I am sure that these inherited qualities will go far in the making of good Canadians and loyal citizens of the British Empire“.
Above: Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850 – 1942)
The 1871 Canadian Census reveals that 73% of Berlin’s 2,743 residents were of German ethnic origin and almost 30% had been born in Germany.
Berlin at this time was a bilingual town with German being the dominant language spoken.
More than one visitor commented on the necessity of speaking German in Berlin.
These German-Canadians had strong ties to Europe, and on 2 May 1871 held a Friedensfest (peace festival) to celebrate the victory of Germany over France in the Franco-Prussian War.
More than 10,000 – mainly German – people attended the celebration.
This was one of the earliest German festivals for which Waterloo County became known – Saengerfest, Kirmes, and Oktoberfest would soon follow.
Above: Images of the Franco-Prussian War (1870 – 1871)
Frequently unknown to some Kitchenerites now is that their German names actually came from Alsace-Lorraine in Eastern France which was ceded to Germany in 1871.
It switched again in both world wars but has been part of France since 1945.
Above: Flag of Alsace- Lorraine (1871 – 1918)
Some roots of nearby Maryhill, Ontario, for example, lie in Soufflenheim and other parts of Alsace, France.
Immigration from continental Germany slowed in the 1880s and 1890s.
First and second-generation descendants now comprised most of the local German population, and while they were proud of their German roots, most considered themselves loyal British subjects.
The 1911 Census indicates that of the 15,196 residents in Berlin, about 70% were identified as ethnic German but only 8.3% had been born in Germany.
By the beginning of the First World War in 1914, Berlin and Waterloo County were still considered to be predominantly German by people across Canada.
This would prove to have a profound impact on local citizens during the war years.
The fact that many of the original settlers of Berlin were not directly German but were Mennonites from Pennsylvania did not help, as their refusal to join the war effort (because of their pacifism) only increased tensions.
The slow pace of recruitment for the local 118 Battalion led to suspicions of disloyalty.
A bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany, set up in Victoria Park long before the War, was thrown into Victoria Lake in August 1914 (the main lake in the park), and then vanished forever on 15 February 1916, after the 118th Battalion broke into the Concordia club, taking the statue with them.
Above: Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797 – 1888)
History professor Mark Humphries summarized the situation as:
Before the war, most people in Ontario probably didn’t give the German community a second thought.
But it’s important to remember that Canada was a society in transition – the country had absorbed massive numbers of immigrants between 1896 and the First World War, proportionately more than at any other time in our history.
So there were these latent fears about foreigners.
It becomes very easy to stoke these racist, nativist fires and convince people there really is a threat.
War propaganda is top-down driven, but it’s effective because it re-enforces tendencies that already exist.
Above: The Oktoberfest Timeteller, a traditional display in Waterloo
In 1916, a movement began to change the name of the city.
Two groups formed in Berlin in 1916 – those in support of the name change and those opposed to it.
The British League was in favour of changing the name Berlin and included city councillors and members of the Berlin Board of Trade.
Many manufacturers also supported the name change as they claimed it was difficult to sell goods labelled “Made in Berlin” during the War.
Soldiers from the 118th Battalion championed the British League as a matter of patriotism.
The Citizens’ League was organized to promote the best interests of the community.
This committee also included manufacturers and city councillors but they felt that the name change was being pushed through for purely financial reasons.
Members of the Citizens’ League were highly critical of the methods used to bring about the name change.
A referendum was held in May 1916.
On 19 May 1916, 3,057 residents of the town cast their vote, with 1,569 favouring a change to 1,488 voting to keep the current name.
W. H. Breithaupt the following day lamented in a letter:
“We had a citizens vote yesterday on the question of changing the name of our city, a name it has had for nearly a hundred years, and I regret to say that those who want to change won by a small majority.
No new name is as yet selected.”
A special committee was set-up by the city council with the express purpose to suggest possible names.
A nationwide contest to choose a new name for the city was launched in May 1916.
A $300 prize was offered for a new name.
Names like “Bercana” (a mash-up of “Berlin” and “Canada“) and “Hydro City“, a nod to the city’s connection to hydroelectric were offered.
Some of the proposed names, such as Huronto, Dunard, Renoma (which means famous in Esperanto), Agnoleo (an obscure Italian masculine name), prompted humorous newspaper stories around the continent.
Editorials in several Ontario newspapers outside Berlin were critical of the unusual names:
One newspaper asserted that it seemed like someone had chosen letters from a hat at random.
In the face of scrutiny, a committee of 99 people was created to come up with a shortlist to create the final six names that appeared on the ballot.
Just weeks after the vote to change the name of the city from Berlin, on 5 June 1916, British war leader Lord Kitchener was killed when his ship hit a German mine and sank off the coast of Scotland.
Kitchener had been popular among the general public, but was a controversial military figure, due to his creation of deadly concentration camps during the Boer War.
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850 – 1916) was an Irish-born senior British Army officer and colonial administrator who won notoriety for his imperial campaigns, most especially his scorched earth policy against the Boers and his expansion of Lord Roberts’ internment camps during the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902) and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War (1914 – 1918).
Kitchener was credited in 1898 for winning the Battle of Omdurman (2 September) and securing control of the Sudan for which he was made Baron Kitchener of Khartoum.
As Chief of Staff (1900–1902) in the Second Boer War he played a key role in Lord Roberts’ conquest of the Boer Republics, then succeeded Roberts as commander-in-chief – by which time Boer forces had taken to guerrilla fighting and British forces imprisoned Boer civilians in concentration camps.
His term as Commander-in-Chief (1902 – 1909) of the Army in India saw him quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord Curzon, who eventually resigned.
Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General (de facto administrator).
In 1914, at the start of the First World War, Kitchener became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister.
One of the few to foresee a long war, lasting for at least three years, and with the authority to act effectively on that perception, he organised the largest volunteer army that Britain had seen, and oversaw a significant expansion of materials production to fight on the Western Front.
Despite having warned of the difficulty of provisioning for a long war, he was blamed for the shortage of shells in the spring of 1915 – one of the events leading to the formation of a coalition government – and stripped of his control over munitions and strategy.
On 5 June 1916, Kitchener was making his way to Russia on HMS Hampshire to attend negotiations with Tsar Nicholas II when the ship struck a German mine 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Orkney, Scotland, and sank.
Kitchener was among 737 who died.
Above: Horatio Herbert Kitchener (1850 – 1916)
Kitchener’s name was placed on the final list, leaving Brock, Kitchener, Adanac (Canada spelled backwards), Benton, Corona, Keowana as the city’s choices.
The vote to choose a new name was held on 28 June 1916.
“Kitchener” received a total of 346 votes, and it was declared the winner.
On 1 September 1916, the name of Kitchener was officially adopted.
Berlin was not the only place in Canada to change its name during the First World War.
In Saskatchewan, Kaiser became Peebles.
In Alberta, Carlstadt was changed to Alderson.
Berlin Street in Calgary was renamed 2nd Avenue.
A similar trend existed in Australia, where dozens of “German sounding” towns had their names changed.
The California town of Genevra, whose original name was Berlin, got its present name under the same circumstances.
However, at other locations in the US, more than 20 towns called “Berlin” or “New Berlin” retained their names through both World Wars.
Kitchener is one of the few names that persisted beyond the period of anti-German sentiment.
When the city was building its new city hall early in the 1990s, a small movement to change the city’s name back to Berlin was unsuccessful.
There was a great deal of anti-German sentiment, not limited to local ruffians.
Anti-German sentiment was widespread in the local 118th Battalion, for instance.
Clashes between local citizens and soldiers in the 118th Battalion increased in early 1916.
There was a belief that the intimidation would not end after the name was changed.
Four incidents in particular increased tensions in the city:
On 5 March 1916, Reverend C. Reinhold Tappert was dragged from his home and beaten by a group of soldiers from the 118th Battalion.
Tappert, an American, was the pastor at Berlin’s St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church.
His numerous pro-German remarks – “I am not ashamed to confess that I love the land of my fathers – Germany” – caused a great uproar in the city.
Two soldiers, Sergeant Major Granville Blood and Private Schaefer – received suspended sentences for the assault.
Tappert resigned from St. Matthew’s and returned to the United States.
During the first few months of the war, services and activities at Lutheran churches in Waterloo County continued as they always had.
However, as anti-German sentiment increased throughout Waterloo County, many of the churches decided to stop holding services in German.
2. The Concordia Raid:
The Concordia Singing Society was founded as a choral group in 1873 by German immigrants.
The group was instrumental in organizing the Sangerfests (singing festivals) for which Waterloo County had become famous in the late 1800s.
In May 1915, members of the Concordia Club unanimously decided to close their doors for the duration of WWI.
Stored in their hall was the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I which had been retrieved after being thrown in the lake at Victoria Park in August 1914.
On the evening of 15 February 1916, members of the 118th Battalion broke into the club, stole the bust and smashed many of the club’s possessions.
Furniture, German flags, sheet music and pictures were all destroyed in a large bonfire on the street.
On 16 February 1916, members of the 118th stole the medallions from the base of the Peace Monument in Victoria Park, where the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I had previously been.
3. Waterloo’s Acadian Club:
During the summer of 1916, the 118th soldiers were at it again.
After a recruiting rally held in Waterloo’s town square, about 30 members of the battalion broke into the Acadian Club on King Street in Waterloo.
The Acadian was a social club for single and married men of German background.
Once again, the club’s possessions were damaged or destroyed.
Club president, Norman Zick, seemed particularly shocked – by July 1916 roughly half of the club’s members had already enlisted, many in the 118th.
He also stated that the Club, since the beginning of the War had been very patriotic, always welcoming soldiers in their midst, and never giving cause for offense to anyone.
Both raids on these local German clubs were investigated by military authorities.
The clubs asked for damages – around $300 in each case – to be paid by the army.
The court found that the Concordia Club had not been closed as claimed and that conditions were allowed to prevail in Berlin that loyal British citizens found impossible to tolerate.
It concluded that since both soldiers and civilians were equally responsible for damages, members of the 118th who participated in the raid would not be charged.
The Acadian Club did not receive much better news.
The court found that the 118th soldiers were responsible for the damage but that the battalion should not pay in case further ill-feeling might be engendered.
The bill for the damages was ultimately sent to the Department of Justice who replied that the claim could not be entertained.
Similar claims in Calgary, Winnipeg and others were also not entertained, as the Minister of Justice viewed that there was no legal responsibility on the part of the Crown.
The final incident occurred during the newly named Kitchener municipal election held on 1 January 1917.
The majority of the newly elected council had been opposed to the city’s name change and rumours spread that they would try to change “Kitchener” back to “Berlin“.
Soldiers from the 118th were in the city on Christmas leave during the election and did not take kindly to the rumour of reverting to the name Berlin.
A riot broke out, led by Sergeant Major Blood.
The Berlin News Record newspaper office was broken into and damaged.
Two aldermen-elect – Nicholas Asmussen and H.M. Bowman – were beaten up.
Members of the battalion were allegedly hunting for the new mayor, David Gross, throughout the city.
Around 100 men from the 122nd Battalion stationed in Galt quickly arrived and stopped the riot.
They escorted the 118th soldiers to the train station and remained on guard in Kitchener for the next few days as calm eventually returned.
A city wide petition was launched in the summer of 2020 to initiate a referendum on changing the city’s name once more.
The petition drew parallels with the original changing of the city’s name, a possible return to the name Berlin, and additionally played upon sentiments within the city highlighting various controversity that have painted the legacy of Lord Kitchener.
In conjunction with the Black Lives Matter movement, the element of racism associated with the controversial figure has coloured this referendum on changing the name of the city once more.
The main organizer of the petition, Nicholas Roy, has highlighted that the main purpose of the petition is not necessarily to demand a rename, but to generate conversation around the possibility of said option, contrary to fears of forcing the erasure of history.
In an official response, the city of Kitchener initially responded with the statement of:
It is not surprising that recent world events have us contemplating the origin of our city’s name.
While we in no way condone, diminish, or forget his actions, Kitchener has become so much more than its historic connection to a British field marshal.
Our name is not a celebration of an individual leader’s hurtful legacy.
Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic touched on the topic during an interview on “Staying At Home with Bourke and Farwell“.
I think what’s more important than what the name was, and the reason it was chosen back then, is really what our city has become.
The fact that it’s a modern city at the western end of Canada’s innovation corridor, one that over many decades, has been very resilient in terms of responding to changes in the global economy, has been home to hundreds of thousands of residents over the years, and has a proud history of being a great community.
Above: Berry Vrbanovic
A document in the Archives of Canada makes the following comment:
“Although ludicrous to modern eyes, the whole issue of a name for Berlin highlights the effects that fear, hatred and nationalism can have upon a society in the face of war.“
Above: National Library and Archives of Canada
On this Monday 13 January 2020, nine days before the first case of the corona virus pandemic was diagnosed in Canada, the Toronto Star (bought earlier at the London train station) was focused on:
Above: Flag of Ontario
Above: Flag of Haiti
(As of 24 August 2020, Erin O’Tool is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.)
Above: Images of 2019 – 2020 Australian bushfire season
Above: Flag of Hong Kong
By 1912, Kitchener’s City Hall was in the two-story building at King and Frederick Streets that had also been used as the Berlin town hall, completed in 1869.
During its tenure, the structure was also used as a library, theatre, post/telegraph office, market, and jail.
That building was demolished in 1924 and replaced by a new structure behind it, featuring a classical-revival style and a large civic square in front.
Demolished in 1973, and replaced by an office tower and shopping mall, the old City Hall’s clock tower was later (1995) erected in Victoria Park.
The building was not replaced by the current Kitchener City Hall on King Street until 1993.
Above: The old City Hall clock tower in Victoria Park
In 1869, the County built a very large so-called poorhouse with an attached farm, the House of Industry and Refuge that accommodated some 3,200 people before being closed in 1951.
The building was later demolished.
It was on Frederick St. in Kitchener, behind the now Frederick Street Mall, and was intended to minimize the number of people begging, living on the streets, or being incarcerated at a time before social-welfare programmes.
A 2009 report by the Toronto Star explains:
“Pauperism was considered a moral failing that could be erased through order and hard work.”
A research project by the Laurier School of Social Work has amassed all available data about the house and its residents, digitized it, and made the archive available online.
According to Sandy Hoy, a director of research projects, the “inmates” included not only the poor, but also those with disabilities, women, and children.
Some were single women who had been servants and became pregnant.
Since there were no social services, they were sent to the House.
“We saw a lot of young, single mothers in the records,” said Laura Coakley, a research co-ordinator.
The archives also indicate that in addition to food and shelter for “inmates“, in return for labour in the house and on the attached farm, the house also donated food, clothing, and money for train tickets to enable the poor to reach family that might be able to support them.
Two cemeteries for the poor also were nearby, including “inmates” of the house who had died.
The Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower built in 1926 commemorates the settlement by the Pennsylvania ‘Dutch’ (actually Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch, or German) of the Grand River area of Waterloo County.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest is a remembrance of the region’s German heritage.
The event includes beer halls and German entertainment.
The second largest Oktoberfest in the world, the event is based on the original German Oktoberfest and is billed as “Canada’s Greatest Bavarian Festival“.
It attracts an average of 700,000 people to the county.
During the 2016 Oktoberfest parade, an estimated 150,000 people lined the streets along the route.
It is held every October, starting on the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving and running until the Saturday after.
It is the largest Bavarian festival outside of Germany.
While its best-known draws are the beer-based celebrations, other family and cultural events also fill the week.
The best-known is the Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade held on Thanksgiving Day.
As it is the only major parade on Canadian Thanksgiving, it is televised nationally.
Another icon of the festival is Miss Oktoberfest.
This festival ambassador position is selected by a closed committee of judges from a panel of local applicants; community involvement and personal character are the main selection criteria.
Some people do not consider Oktoberfest to be indicative of German culture in general.
“The fact is, Oktoberfest in Germany is a very localized festival.
Oktoberfest in Kitchener really is a Munich festival, celebrating only a ‘tiny aspect’ of German culture [Bavarian]”, according to German studies professor James Skidmore of the University of Waterloo.
Kitchener’s economic heritage is rooted in manufacturing.
Industrial artifacts are in public places throughout the city as a celebration of its manufacturing history.
While the local economy’s reliance on manufacturing has decreased, in 2012, 20.36% of the labour force was employed in the manufacturing sector.
Above: Downtown Kitchener
The city is home to four municipal business parks: the Bridgeport Business Park, Grand River West Business Park, Huron Business Park and Lancaster Corporate Centre.
The largest, the Huron Business Park, is home to a number of industries, from seat manufacturers to furniture components.
Kitchener’s economy has diversified to include new high-value economic clusters.
In addition to Kitchener’s internationally recognized finance and insurance and manufacturing clusters, digital media and health science clusters are emerging within the city.
Above: Market Square, Kitchener
Beginning in 2004, the City of Kitchener launched several initiatives to re-energize the downtown core.
These initiatives included heavy investment, on behalf of the city and its partners, and the creation of a Downtown Kitchener Action Plan.
Above: Aerial view of downtown Kitchener
The modern incarnation of its historic farmers’ market, opened in 2004.
The Kitchener Market is one of the oldest consistently operating markets in Canada.
The Kitchener Market features local producers, international cuisine, artisans, and craftspeople.
This famous market enlivens Kitchener on Saturday mornings (as well as Wednesday mornings in the summer), where one can find arrays of sausages, cheese, eggs, poultry, fruit, vegetables and flowers, and such Mennonite dishes as shoofly (molasses) pie, Kochkase (processed curd cheese) and Kimmel Kirsche (pickled cherries).
The Kitchener Stock Yards Farmers’ Market, just northeast of the city, is held Thursday afternoons.
In 2009, the City of Kitchener began a project to reconstruct and revitalize the main street in Kitchener’s downtown core, King Street.
In the reconstruction of King Street, several features were added to make the street more friendly to pedestrians.
New lighting was added to the street, sidewalks were widened, and curbs were lowered.
Movable bollards were installed to add flexibility to the streetscape, accommodating main street events and festivals.
In 2010, the redesigned King Street was awarded the International Community Places Award for its flexible design intended to draw people into the downtown core.
In 2009, Tree Canada recognized King Street as a green street.
The redesigned King Street features several environmentally sustainable elements such as new street trees, bike racks, planter beds that collect and filter storm water, street furnishing made primarily from recycled materials, and an improved waste management system.
The street was reconstructed using recycled roadway and paving stones.
In September 2012, the City of Toronto government used Kitchener’s King Street as a model for Celebrate Yonge – a month-long event which reduced Yonge Street to two lanes, widening sidewalks to improve the commercial street for businesses and pedestrians.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy and downtown health sciences campus took place on 15 March 2006, and the facility opened in spring 2009.
The building is on King Street near Victoria Street, on the site of the old Epton plant, across the street from the Kaufman Lofts (formerly the Kaufman shoe factory).
Hamilton’s McMaster University later opened a satellite campus for its Michael G. DeGroote Scholl of Medicine next to the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy.
The Health Sciences Campus has been central to the emergence of Kitchener’s health science cluster.
Above: University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy
In 2007, Cadan Inc., a Toronto-based real estate development company, bought what had been the Lang Tannery for $10 million.
Supported by the local government, Cadan repurposed the building for use by commercial firms.
Since its refurbishment, the Tannery has become a hub for digital media companies, both large and small.
Desire2Learn, an e-learning company, in the Tannery as the company expanded.
In 2011, Communitech moved into the Tannery.
Home to over 800 companies, Communitech is a hub for innovative high-tech companies in the fields of information technology, digital media, biomedical, aerospace, environmental technology and advanced manufacturing.
Also in 2011, high-tech giant Google Inc. became a tenant of the Tannery, furthering its reputation as a home for leading high-tech companies.
The Kitchener office is a large hub for the development for Google’s Gmail application.
In 2016, the University of Waterloo-sponsored startup hub Velocity Garage relocated to the building, bringing over 100 additional startup companies into the Tannery.
Above: the Lang Tannery building
The Province of Ontario built a new provincial courthouse in downtown Kitchener, on the block bordered by Frederick, Duke, Scott and Weber streets.
The new courthouse created new jobs, mainly for the courthouse, but also for other businesses, especially law offices.
Above: Waterloo County Courthouse
In the downtown area, several factories have been transformed into upscale lofts and residences.
In September 2010, construction began on the ‘City Centre’ redevelopment project in downtown Kitchener.
This redevelopment project includes condominium units, new retail spaces, private and public parking, a gallery, and a boutique hotel.
The former Arrow shirt factory has been converted into a luxury, high-rise apartment building, featuring loft condominiums.
In 2012, Desire2Learn, in downtown Kitchener, received $80 million in venture capitalist funding from OMERS Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
The downtown area was in a boom phase by late 2017, with $1.2 billion in building permits for 20 new developments completed by the end of February 2019.
That added 1,000 apartments and 1,800 condominium units.
The City indicated that the development would be a “mixture of high-density residential buildings with ground-floor retail, and office buildings with ground-floor retail“.
Since the Ion rapid transit (light rail) system, operated by Grand River Transit, was approved in 2009, “the region has issued $2.4 billion in building permits within the LRT corridor“.
Kitchener’s cultural highlights, many of which are free to the public, include:
The festival was started in 2010 and has since expanded to include a free concert on Friday and a full day of performance Saturday and Sunday. KOI features more than 100 rock bands every year, with a large focus on local, independent musicians.
Notable past performers include:
![Protest the Hero live at Southern Ontario Metal Festival, August 2011[1]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/ProtestAtSOMF.jpg)
…..and several hundred more.
Kitchener is also home to venues such as:
Homer Ransford Watson (1855 – 1936) was a Canadian landscape painter.
He has been characterized as the painter who first painted Canada as Canada, rather than as a pastiche of European painting.
He was a member and president (1918–1922) of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, as well as a founding member and first president (1907–1911) of the Canadian Art Club.
Although Watson had almost no formal training, by his mid-1920s he was well known and admired by Canadian collectors and critics, his rural landscape paintings making him one of the central figures in Canadian art from the 1880s until the First World War.
Homer Watson House National Historic Site of Canada is located in the hamlet of Doon, which is now part of Kitchener, Ontario.
This modest, 19th-century, one-and-a-half-storey house that sits within a generous property, was the home and studio of Canadian landscape artist Homer Watson.
The house was designated for its dramatic gallery and studio addition that contains works of art and creative spaces associated with Watson’s career.
The designation refers to the original house with its Watson-era additions on its legal property as of 1980.
He purchased this house when he married in 1881, and lived in it until he died in 1936.
Although the house is a typical 19th-century brick farmhouse built in 1834, Watson personalized its facilities to pursue his art, and made two additions: a studio addition on the rear of the house (1893) and a gallery (1906).
Particular value lies in those rooms and places associated with his art, his studio and gallery spaces, viewscapes and features of the surrounding site associated with his paintings, and location of the residence within the historic community of Doon.
Some of Watson’s most respected works are views of the surrounding countryside from various vantage points of the property.
The house later became the Doon School of Fine Arts and a privately maintained memorial to Watson.
Since that time it has been operated by the City of Kitchener.
This is a permanent collection of about 200 works of art, including oil paintings and sketches by Homer Watson. Among the works on permanent loan from the National Gallery of Canada are Split Rock Georgian Bay by Tom Thomson and Winter Moonlight by A.Y. Jackson.
Above: Split Rock Georgian Bay, Tom Thomson
Above: Winter Moonlight, A.Y. Jackson
Formerly the Waterloo Regional Children’s Museum, THE MUSEUM opened to the public in September 2003 following eight years of planning and fundraising.
The Museum, as it was renamed in 2010, offers a range of permanent interactive exhibits and rotating temporary exhibits designed for all ages to touch and enjoy.
William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874 – 1950), commonly known as Mackenzie King or WLMK, was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms (1921–1926 /1926–1930 /1935–1948).
A Liberal, he was the dominant politician in Canada during the interwar period from the 1920s through the 1940s.
He is best known for his leadership of Canada throughout the Second World War (1939–1945) when he mobilized Canadian money, supplies and volunteers to support Britain while boosting the economy and maintaining morale on the home front.
With a total of 21 years and 154 days in office, he remains the longest serving prime minister in Canadian history.
Trained in law and social work, he was keenly interested in the human condition – As a boy, his motto was “Help those that cannot help themselves“. – and played a major role in laying the foundations of the Canadian welfare state.
King acceded to the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1919.
Taking the helm of a party bitterly torn apart during the First World War, he reconciled factions, unifying the Liberal Party and leading it to victory in the 1921 election.
His party was out of office during the harshest days of the Great Depression of Canada (1930 – 1935).
He returned when the economy was on an upswing.
He personally handled complex relations with the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) while his top aides Ernest Lapointe and Louis St. Laurent skillfully met the demands of French Canadians.
Above: Ernest Lapointe (1876 – 1941)
Above: Louis St. Laurent (1882 – 1973)
During the Second World War, King carefully avoided the battles over conscription, patriotism and ethnicity that had divided Canada so deeply in the First World War.
Though few major policy innovations took place during his premiership, he was able to synthesize and pass a number of measures that had reached a level of broad national support.
Scholars attribute King’s long tenure as party leader to his wide range of skills that were appropriate to Canada’s needs.
He understood the workings of capital and labour.
Above: King, while writing Industry and Humanity, 1917
Keenly sensitive to the nuances of public policy, he was a workaholic with a shrewd and penetrating intelligence and a profound understanding of the complexities of Canadian society.
A modernizing technocrat who regarded managerial mediation as essential to an industrial society, he wanted his Liberal Party to represent liberal corporatism to create social harmony.
King worked to bring compromise and harmony to many competing and feuding elements, using politics and government action as his instrument.
He led his party for 29 years, and established Canada’s international reputation as a middle power fully committed to world order.
King’s biographers agree on the personal characteristics that made him distinctive.
He lacked the charisma of such contemporaries as Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill or Charles de Gaulle.
He lacked a commanding presence or oratorical skill.
Above: King (far right) together with (from left to right) Governor General the Earl of Athlone (1874 – 1957), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) and Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965) at the Octagon Conference, Québec City, September 1944
Above: Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970)
King’s best writing was academic, and did not resonate with the electorate.
Cold and tactless in human relations, he had many political allies but very few close personal friends.
He never married and lacked a hostess whose charm could substitute for his chill.
He kept secret his beliefs in spiritualism and use of mediums to stay in contact with departed associates and particularly with his mother, and allowed his intense spirituality to distort his understanding of Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) throughout the late 1930s.
A survey of scholars in 1997 by Maclean’s magazine ranked King first among all Canada’s prime ministers including Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
As historian Jack Granatstein notes:
“The scholars expressed little admiration for King the man but offered unbounded admiration for his political skills and attention to Canadian unity.”
On the other hand, political scientist Ian Stewart in 2007 found that even Liberal activists have but a dim memory of him.
Woodside, a large gray brick house in which Prime Minister Mackenzie King lived as a boy, is set in 11.5 acres of park grounds.
It was leased by King’s father from 1886 to 1893.
A group of citizens purchased it in 1943 and undertook to restore it to the condition in which King had known it as a boy.
It was deeded to the government of Canada in 1954 and designated as a National Historic Park.
The L-shaped house is a good example of Victorian English country style transplanted to Canada and is in many ways typical of upper middle class Ontario homes of that period.
The house has ornamental gables and bargeboard with an intricate feleur-de-lis pattern.
It was heated by stoves – there were no fireplaces – and had no basement, although one has been added and contains displays relating to King’s life.
One is a document he treasured: a government proclamation putting a price of 1,000 pounds on the head of his grandfather, William Lyon Mackenzie, leader of the 1837 rebellion in Upper Canada.
Above: William Lyon Mackenzie (1795 – 1861)
The rest of the ten-room house is furnished in the cluttered comfortable fashion of the Victorian era.
It has the look of a home, not a museum.
Among the highlights are a marbletop table that belonged to King’s grandfather, a fine old kitchen cookstove, a white timber wolf rug, a Royal Doulton washstand set, a gleaming brass bed and a grand piano that King willed to be returned to Woodside.
There are also brass spittoons, scores of doilies, various bric-a-brac and a stereopticon, a picture-viewing device giving a three-dimensional image.
Paper and shoemaker’s wax is provided for visitors to make rubbings of a brass plaque of King.
Kitchener is also home to independent music label, Busted Flat Records, which features the music of many Kitchener–Waterloo based musicians.
Various locations in Kitchener and Waterloo were used to portray the fictional Ontario town of Wessex in the filming of Canadian television sitcom Dan for Mayor.
A local folk group, Destroy All Robots, wrote a tongue-in-cheek song jibing the city of Kitchener, “Battle Hymn of the City of Kitchener, Ontario“.
Destroy All Robots – “Battle Hymn of the City of Kitchener, Ontario” – YouTube
Kitchener’s oldest outdoor park is Victoria Park, in the heart of downtown Kitchener.
Numerous events and festivities are held in this park.
A cast-bronze statue of Queen Victoria is in Victoria Park, along with a cannon.
The statue was unveiled in May 1911, on Victoria Day (the Queen’s birthday) in the 10th year after her death.
Another significant beauty spot in the city is Rockway Gardens.
Adjacent to the Rockway golf course, the gardens occupy a long narrow strip of land alongside King Street as it rushes down to meet the Conestoga Parkway and becomes Highway 8.
Here there are many fountains, ponds, waterfalls and rock grottoes.
It is a popular site for wedding photos in the summer.
Kitchener has an extensive and safe community trail system.
The trails, which are controlled and run by the city, are hundreds of kilometres in length.
Due to Kitchener’s close proximity to the Grand River, several community trails and paths border the river’s shores.
This convenient access to the Grand River has drawn nature-seeking tourists to the city.
However, Kitchener’s trails and especially natural areas remain underfunded by city council and as a result, many are not adequately maintained.
In 2011, a bike park at the newly constructed McLennan Park, in the city’s south end, was hailed as one of the best city-run bike parks in southern Ontario by BMX nad mountain biking enthusiasts.
The bike park offers a four-cross (4X) section, a pump track section, a jump park, and a free ride course.
McLennan Park also features an accessible play area, a splash pad, basketball courts, beach volleyball courts, a leash-free dog area, and a toboggan hill.
Chicopee Ski Club is also within the city limits.
Kitchener is home to sports teams:
Kitchener has produced a number of world-class athletes in the fields of basketball, darts, ice hockey, blind lawn bowling, swimming, golf, lacrosse, soccer, pole vaulting, judoka, boxing, football, wrestling and skiing.
Kitchener Station lies a short distance west along the track from the junction with the Waterloo Spur.
The current station building dates from 1897 and is a heritage structure which is owned by Via Rail, Canada’s national passenger railway.
Via Rail service consists of two trains per day in each direction along the Toronto–London–Sarnia route.
One westbound train terminates at Sarnia while another terminates at London, while both eastbound trains terminate at Toronto Union Station.
As the train idles by the station, I search my mind for memories of Kitchener and none come, save that I had preferred Waterloo and the Mennonites communities in the region more.
Kitchener, for me, is not a place to immediately be smitten by, but rather it seems like a place that over time could grow in favour for the long-term resident.
When I see Kitchener in my mind’s eye I see a film noir with hard-living private eyes scouring the violent city for clues, for Kitchener was the boyhood home of Keith Millar (1915 – 1983) (better known as Ross Macdonald of the Lew Archer series) and the birthplace of Keith’s wife, mystery-suspense writer Margaret Millar (née Sturm) (1915 – 1994), the “Master Gatherer” John Robert Colombo renowned for his reference works on all things Canadian especially Mysterious Canada, novelist David Morrell (whose First Blood would spawn the Rambo movie franchise) and cartoonist Dave Sim of the Cerberus graphic novel series.
Above: John Robert Colombo
Macdonald’s works (particularly the Archer novels) have received attention in academic circles for their psychological depth, sense of place, use of language, sophisticated imagery and integration of philosophy into genre fiction.
Tom Nolan in his Ross Macdonald, A Biography, wrote:
“By any standard he was remarkable.
His first books, patterned on Hammett and Chandler, were at once vivid chronicles of a postwar California and elaborate retellings of Greek and other classic myths.
Gradually he swapped the hard-boiled trappings for more subjective themes: personal identity, the family secret, the family scapegoat, the childhood trauma, how men and women need and battle each other, how the buried past rises like a skeleton to confront the present.
He brought the tragic drama of Freud and the psychology of Sophocles to detective stories, and his prose flashed with poetic imagery.“
In a 2017 book review, the Wall Street Journal provided this summary of the author’s style:
“It is the sheer beauty of Macdonald’s laconic style—with its seductive rhythms and elegant plainness—that holds us spellbound.
‘Hard-boiled,’ ‘noir,’ ‘mystery,’ it doesn’t matter what you call it.
Macdonald, with insolent grace, blows past the barrier constructed by Dorothy Sayers between “the literature of escape” and “the literature of expression.”
These novels, triumphs of his literary alchemy, dare to be both.”
Margaret Millar’s books are distinguished by depth of characterization.
Often we are shown the rather complex interior lives of the people in her books, with issues of class, insecurity, failed ambitions, loneliness or existential isolation or paranoia often being explored.
Unusual people, mild societal misfits or people who don’t quite fit into their surroundings are given much interior detail.
In some of the books (for example in The Iron Gates) we are given insight into what it feels like to be losing touch with reality and evolving into madness.
In general, she is a writer of both expressive description and economy, often ambitious in conveying the sociological context of the stories.
Millar often delivers “surprise endings,” but the details that would allow the solution of the surprise have usually been subtly included, in the best genre tradition.
Her books focus on subtleties of human interaction and rich psychological detail of individual characters as much as on plot.
Millar was a pioneer in writing about the psychology of women.
Even as early as the ’40s and ’50s, her books have a mature and matter-of-fact view of class distinctions, sexual freedom and frustration, and the ambivalence of moral codes depending on a character’s economic circumstances.
Read against the backdrop of Production Code-era movies of the time, they remind us that life as lived in the ’40s and ’50s was not as black-and-white morally as Hollywood would have us believe.
The theme of violence is indirectly reflected in the performance of one Kitchener actor:
Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker) (1927 – 2007) was a Canadian actress, best known for her portrayal of Miss Moneypenny in all the first 14 Eon-produced James Bond films (1962–1985).
She was the first actress to play the part.
The films in which she played Miss Moneypenny were:
Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won the Golden Globe award for most promising newcomer for her performance in That Hagen Girl (1947).
Following a number of small film roles, she became dissatisfied and travelled to Italy, where she worked in film from 1951 to 1955.
After her marriage, she moved to the United Kingdom, where she appeared in several television productions.
As Maxwell’s career declined, she lived in Canada, Switzerland and the UK.
In 2001, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer and moved to Perth, Western Australia, where she lived with her son until her death, aged 80, in 2007.
Above: Perth
Mel Brown (1939 – 2009) was an American-born blues guitarist and singer.
He is best remembered for his decade long backing of Bobby Bland, although in his own right, Brown recorded over a dozen albums between 1967 and 2006.
He died in Kitchener.
Courage My Love is a three-piece rock band from Kitchener.
Formed in 2009, the band consists of twin sisters Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn, in addition to bassist Brandon Lockwood.
Glennon Ricketts Jr. (professionally known as Glenn Lewis) is a Canadian neo-soul singer-songwriter.
Lewis earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2004 and has also won a Juno Award.
Messenjah are a Canadian-based reggae group that flourished to become one of the most successful and popular reggae groups in the history of Canadian music
Danny Michel is a Canadian songwriter and producer.
Between 2006 & 2015 Michel performed over 70 times as the musical guest on Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Café.
In 2008 “Feather, Fur & Fin” landed on the Playlist for the Planet released by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Michel performed on Suzuki’s Blue Dot Tour as well as his 75th birthday party in 2011.
In 2019, Michel performed for Dr. Jane Goodall at her 85th birthday party in Toronto.
Steve Strongman is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.
He has released several full length blues albums, Honey, Blues in Colour, Live at the Barn A Natural Fact, Let Me Prove it to You and No Time Like Now.
Tasha the Amazon (née Tasha Schumann) is a Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter, and hip hop producer.
She is best known for her debut EP Die Every Day, which was nominated at the 2017 Juno Awards for rap recording of the year.
Dawud Wharnsby (né David Howard Wharnsby) is a Canadian Universalist Muslim singer-songwriter, poet, performer, educator and television personality.
A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his work in the musical/poetic genre of English language nasheed and spoken word.
JJ Wilde (born 1992) is a Canadian rock singer from Kitchener.
She is most noted for her single “The Rush“, which simultaneously reached #1 on Canada’s modern rock, active rock and mainstream rock charts in May 2020.
Despite the variety of genres of music to be found in Kitchener, it is difficult to image a genre of literature from Kitchener that isn’t hard-boiled as Macdonald, Millar, Morrell or Sim….
The poet William Wilfred Campbell was born in Kitchener (then Berlin), the second son of the Reverend Thomas Campbell, an Anglican minister.
A national historical plaque at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate commemorates Campbell’s birth and honours him as the author of several of post-Confederation Canada’s most influential volumes of poetry, including Lake Lyrics (1889), The Dread Voyage (1893), Beyond the Hills of Dream (1899) and Collected Poems (1905).
When Campbell was only a year old, his family moved from Kitchener to Wiarton.
He is often classed as one of the country’s Confederation poets, a group that included fellow Canadians Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carmen, Archibald Lampman and Duncan Campbell Scott.
Campbell was a colleague of Lampman and Scott.
By the end of the 19th century, he was considered the “unofficial poet laureate of Canada.”
Although not as well known as the other Confederation poets today, Campbell was a “versatile, interesting writer” who was influenced by Robert Burns, the English Romantics, Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Carlyle and Alfred Tennyson.
Inspired by these writers, Campbell expressed his own religious idealism in traditional forms and genres.
Above: William Wilfred Campbell (1860 – 1918)
“How One Winter Came in the Lake Region” by William Wilfred Campbell
For weeks and weeks the autumn world stood still,
Clothed in the shadow of a smoky haze;
The fields were dead, the wind had lost its will,
And all the lands were hushed by wood and hill,
In those grey, withered days.
Behind a mist the blear sun rose and set,
At night the moon would nestle in a cloud;
The fisherman, a ghost, did cast his net;
The lake its shores forgot to chafe and fret,
And hushed its caverns loud.
Far in the smoky woods the birds were mute,
Save that from blackened tree a jay would scream,
Or far in swamps the lizard’s lonesome lute
Would pipe in thirst, or by some gnarlèd root
The treetoad trilled his dream.
From day to day still hushed the season’s mood,
The streams stayed in their runnels shrunk and dry;
Suns rose aghast by wave and shore and wood,
And all the world, with ominous silence, stood
In weird expectancy:
When one strange night the sun like blood went down,
Flooding the heavens in a ruddy hue;
Red grew the lake, the sere fields parched and brown,
Red grew the marshes where the creeks stole down,
But never a wind-breath blew.
That night I felt the winter in my veins,
A joyous tremor of the icy glow;
And woke to hear the north’s wild vibrant strains,
While far and wide, by withered woods and plains,
Fast fell the driving snow.
Kitchener is probably worth a daytrip, but a day in Kitchener is not something I can afford at this time.
The train whistle makes a mournful sound as we pull away from the station.
An undiscovered town will have to remain an undiscovered town.
But curious feet sometimes return….
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Reader’s Digest Explore Canada / Albert and Theresa Moritz, The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to Canada / Toronto Star, 13 January 2020 / Dawud Wharnsby, “Live Like a Traveller”
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Monday 25 January 2021
Anytime I think of singing that ole sad song of “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrows” all I need to do is to pick up a newspaper or read some historical tome to be reminded of how great my life really is.
Problem is, it is this same reading of the news or historical accounts that reminds me of my humble status on this little blue marble sailing through space.
This is the day where back in Canada, back in Ottawa, I would have been tempted to attend a Burns Supper (if it wasn’t already held on the Saturday night before), a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robbie Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems.
Above: Robert Burns (1759 – 1796)
My family name is that of a Scottish clan so attendance at a Burns night is highly encouraged.
Oh, to see obese men strutting about in kilts!
Oh, to pretend to like a traditional meal of haggis (a savoury pudding containing sheep’s pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach), neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (potatoes)!
Oh, to feign being a fan of the bagpipes that echoes the screams of a feline frying in flames and leaves no one wondering why bagpiping soldiers were sent to the front of the battle lines – either frightening the foe away or being the first to fall to the fury of those who for inexplicable reasons don’t like the pipes!
Oh, to fake enjoyment of Burns classics like “Selkirk Grace“, “To a Mouse“, “To a Louse” and the “Address to a Haggis“, wondering to oneself whether watching Ross Geller of Friends playing “Celebration” on the pipes might not be funnier at home rather than in the cinema of memory!
Oh, to celebrate Scottish heritage and yet never have seen Scotland itself!
Ach, so tragic it be that the scourge of the pandemic and the many miles twixt Canada and Switzerland have prevented my attendance at Burns Night 2021!
On this day:
Above: Coat of arms of the University of Moscow
Above: Nellie Bly
Meanwhile, in the here and now….
Above: Impeachment managers (L-R) Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and others walk through Statuary Hall while heading to vote to impeach President Trump for the second time in little over a year in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump on the charge of Òincitement of insurrection” after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol where Congress was working to certify the Electoral College victory of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 6. 10 Republicans voted to impeach.
Above: Flag of Turkey
The shipment, comprised of 6.5 million doses of the vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, coincides with the start of inoculation of people at the age of 80 and above.
An initial consignment of 3 million doses of CoronaVac arrived last month and the country has so far vaccinated 1.27 million people, mostly health workers and elderly people, according to Health Ministry data.
The latest shipment, part of a second consignment which will total 10 million doses, arrived at Istanbul Airport early in the morning on a Turkish Airlines flight from Beijing.
About 600,000 people were vaccinated in just two days when the vaccine rollout began in mid-January, but the pace later slowed as it moved beyond health care workers.
Nursing home residents and staff were next to be inoculated.
The drive later expanded to people, age 90 and older, who are unable to go to vaccination centers.
Medical crews had visited them at home for first jabs.
The Health Ministry will test the new shipment, which medics say takes around two weeks, before the vaccines are administered.
That means Turkey would be constrained to around 100,000 inoculations per day for the next two weeks.
People who received the first jabs will have to wait for four weeks before the second jabs.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca and other eligible top officials have already received their first shots of the Sinovac vaccine.
Above: Turkish President Recep Erdogan
Turkey has recorded more than 2.4 million infections and 25,073 deaths due to COVID-19.
(According to the Turkish Ministry of Health, as of 4 February 2021, there have been 2,508,988 corona cases and 26,467 deaths.)
Above: #38, face masks, 5.00 TL
A rise in cases over recent months led the government to introduce weekend lockdowns since December, but daily cases have dropped to below 6,000 in recent days, from a high of more than 33,000 in early December.
A website set up by the Health Ministry following the arrival of vaccines offers up-to-date information about the vaccination process.
A map on the website shows the highest number of vaccinations were conducted in Istanbul, the country’s most populated city.
A total of 232,113 people were vaccinated as of Monday.
Istanbul is followed by the capital Ankara where 126,219 people were inoculated and Izmir, the country’s third-largest province where 79,031 people received first jabs.
The map shows vaccines were administered to thousands of people in all 81 provinces.
A report by the Sabah newspaper says that the country plans to vaccinate at least 4.4 million people by the end of March.
The Health Ministry has drafted a road map on vaccination priorities.
According to the plan, the elderly, who are at higher risk from the disease, are prioritized.
After people in their eighties, those in the age bracket of between 70 and 79 will be inoculated.
People working in critical jobs, like soldiers and police officers, will be next in the vaccination drive after the elderly.
Whether this means I might get vaccinated during my six months there remains unknown….
Not much for me to do: no restaurants, no cafés, no museums, no cinema, no teaching….
But there is time to read, there is time to write.
London, Ontario, Canada, Sunday 12 January 2020
Finally, I arrive at London, the cornerstone of southwestern Ontario, with an area population of over 400,000 people.
London appears as an affluent and booming city.
It has a well-developed downtown, with tall buildings, wide streets, a large shopping mall and a convention centre.
The ever-expanding suburbs are full of the usual large modern homes, malls and big box stores.
Above: Images of London
London is located on the Thames River.
Can there be any doubt that this region was first settled by the British United Empire Loyalists?
Cities are called London, Stratford, Cambridge and Chatham.
Rivers are named the Thames and the Avon.
The townships are Oxford, Perth, Norfolk, Essex and Middlesex.
Every town in these parts has a familiar King, Queen, George and Charlotte Street.
I respect tradition and I honour the notion that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but calling yourself, for example, “London” brings up the expectation that the Canadian town should emulate the English capital, and therein lies my problem.
Firstly, Canada’s London and its Thames does not remotely resemble Britannia’s London and the river that flows through it.
Secondly, why should it?
Personally, I feel indigenous placenames are more appropriate to the New World, for, after all, the indigenous peoples of the Americas were there first.
I have no problem with settlements being named after those who first settled there, or with descriptive nomenclature that identifies the place by its natural features.
The area was formed during the retreat of the glaciers during the last Ice Age, which produced areas of marshland, notably the Sifton Bog, as well as some of the most agriculturally productive areas of farmland in Ontario.
The Thames River dominates London’s geography.
The North and South branches of the Thames River meet at the centre of the city, a location known as “The Forks” or “The Fork of the Thames.”
The North Thames runs through the man-made Fanshawe Lake in northeast London.
Fanshawe Lake was created by Fanshawe Dam, constructed to protect the downriver areas from the catastrophic flooding which affected the city in 1883 and 1937.
Would it have been so terrible had this town been named Iroquois Forks or Hagerman Marsh?
London and the Thames were named in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe, who proposed the site for the capital city of Upper Canada (Ontario).
Above: John Graves Simcoe (1752 – 1808)
The first European settlement was between 1801 and 1804 by Peter Hagerman.
The village was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1855.
Since then, London has grown to be the largest southwestern Ontario municipality and Canada’s 11th largest metropolitan area, having annexed many of the smaller communities that surrounded it.
Above: Coat of arms of London
As aforementioned, the current location of London was selected as the site of the future capital of Upper Canada in 1793 by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, who also named the village which was founded in 1826.
It did not become the capital Simcoe envisioned.
Rather, it was an administrative seat for the area west of the actual capital, York (now Toronto).
Locally, it was part of the Talbot Settlement, named for Colonel Thomas Talbot (1771 – 1853), the chief coloniser of the area, who oversaw the land surveying and built the first government buildings for the administration of the western Ontario peninsular region.
Together with the rest of southwestern Ontario, the village benefited from Talbot’s provisions not only for building and maintaining roads but also for assignment of access priorities to main routes to productive land.
Crown and clergy reserves then received preference in the rest of Ontario.
In 1814, the Battle of Longwoods near London during the War of 1812.
In 1832, the new settlement suffered an outbreak of cholera.
London proved a centre of strong Tory support during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, notwithstanding a brief rebellion led by Charles Duncombe.
Above: Charles Duncombe (1792 – 1867)
Consequently, the British government located its Ontario peninsular garrison there in 1838, increasing its population with soldiers and their dependents, and the business support populations they required.
London was incorporated as a town in 1840.
On 13 April 1845, a fire destroyed much of London, which was then largely constructed of wooden buildings.
One of the first casualties was the town’s only fire engine.
The fire burned nearly 30 acres (12 ha) of land, destroying 150 buildings, before it burned itself out later that day.
One fifth of London was destroyed in the province’s first million-dollar fire.
Sir John Carling (1828 – 1911), Tory MP for London, gave three events to explain the development of London in a 1901 speech:
Above: Sir John Carling
The population in 1846 was 3,500.
Brick buildings included a jail and court house, and large barracks.
London had a fire company, a theatre, a large Gothic church, nine other churches or chapels, and two market buildings.
In 1845, a fire destroyed 150 buildings but most had been rebuilt by 1846.
Connection with other communities was by road, using mainly stagecoaches that ran daily.
Also, a weekly newspaper was published and mail was received daily by the post office.
St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Anglican seat for the Huron Diocese, was built in 1846.
Built in 1854, the Metropolitan United Church is a downtown church of red brick.
On 1 January 1855, London was incorporated as a city (10,000 or more residents).
In the 1860s, a sulphur spring was discovered at the forks of the Thames River while industrialists were drilling for oil.
The springs became a popular destination for wealthy Ontarians, until the turn of the 20th century when a textile factory was built at the site, replacing the spa.
Records from 1869 indicate a population of about 18,000 served by three newspapers, churches of all major denominations and offices of all the major banks.
Industry included several tanneries, oil refineries and foundries, four flour mills, the Labatt Brewing Company and the Carling brewery in addition to other manufacturing.
Both the Great Western and Grand Trunk railways had stops here.
Several insurance companies also had offices in the city.
The Crystal Palace Barracks, an octagonal brick building with eight doors and 48 windows built in 1861, was used for events such the Provincial Agricultural Fair of Canada West (Ontario) held in London that year.
It was visited by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathern (1850 – 1942), Governor General John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar (1807 – 1876) and Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald (1815 – 1891).
Above: Prince Arthur
Above: Lord Lisgar
Above: John A. Macdonald
Nothing like naming a town London to get royal attention.
Since 1939, London has been visited by British royalty at least seven times.
Long before the Royal Military College of Canada was established in Kingston in 1876, there were proposals for military colleges across Canada.
Above. Flag of the Royal Military College
Staffed by British Regulars, adult male students underwent three-month-long military courses from 1865 at the School of Military Instruction in London.
Established by Militia General Order in 1865, the school enabled officers of militia or candidates for commission or promotion in the militia to learn military duties, drill and discipline, to command a company at battalion drill, to drill a company at company drill, the internal economy of a company and the duties of a company’s officer.
The school was not retained at Confederation, in 1867.
Nevertheless, London’s role as a military centre continued into the 20th century during the two World Wars, serving as the administrative centre for the Western Ontario district.
In 1905, the London Armoury was built and housed the First Hussars until 1975.
A private investor purchased the historic site and built a new hotel (Delta London Armouries, 1996) in its place, preserving the shell of the historic building.
In the 1950s, two reserve battalions amalgamated and became London and Oxford Rifles (3rd Battalion), Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) (Canada’s oldest regular infantry regiment).
This unit continues to serve today as the 4th Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.
Above: Badge of the Royal Canadian Regiment
The regimental headquarters of the Royal Canadian Regiment remains in London at Wolseley Barracks on Oxford Street.
The barracks are home to the First Hussars militia regiment as well.
The RCR Museum in Wolseley Barracks has more than 700 exhibits showing the RCR’s role in Canadian history from the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 to modern UN peacekeeping.
On Victoria Day, 24 May 1881, the stern-wheeler ferry SS Victoria capsized in the Thames River close to Cove Bridge in West London.
Approximately 200 passengers drowned in the shallow river, making it one of the worst disasters in London’s history, and is now dubbed “the Victoria Day Disaster“.
At the time, London’s population was relatively low.
Therefore it was hard to find a person in the city who did not have a family member affected by the tragedy.
There is a memorial in Riverside Park to the Victoria sinking.
St. Peter’s Basilica, seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of London, dates from 1881.
Two years later, on 12 July 1883, a devastating flood in London killed 17 people.
On 3 January 1898, the floor of the assembly hall at London City Hall collapsed, killing 23 people and leaving more than 70 injured.
Testimony at a coroner’s inquest described the wooden beam under the floor as unsound, with knots and other defects reducing its strength by one fifth to one third.
The fortress-like stone courthouse was built in 1827.
On 26 April 1937, another flood destroyed more than a thousand houses across London, and caused over $50 million in damages, particularly in West London.
Annexations (1961 – 1993) made London one of the largest urban municipalities in Ontario.
Intense commercial and residential development continues in the southwest and northwest areas of the city.
Opponents of this development cite urban sprawl, destruction of rare Carolinian zone forest and farm lands, replacement of distinctive regions by generic malls, and standard transportation and pollution concerns as major issues facing London.
As previously stated, the City of London is currently the 11th largest urban area in Canada and the sixth-largest city in Ontario.
London is a regional centre of healthcare and education, home to the University of Western Ontario (which brands itself “Western University“), Fanshawe College, and several hospitals (including a University Hospital).
Now, it is easy to be confused here, for western Ontario is not really in the west, but this is how folks in southwestern Ontario describe it.
The name goes back to the early days of the province when it was limited to a narrow band of land across the north shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
Thus, Kingston was in the east, London and Windsor in the west, the shores of Georgian Bay in the north and Toronto in the centre.
Heaven forbid that you thought Toronto might have been in the south, rather than the centre.
By definition, there is no south here.
The city hosts a number of musical and artistic exhibits and festivals, which contribute to its tourism industry, but its economic activity is centred on education, medical research, insurance, and information technology. London’s university and hospitals are among its top ten employers.
London lies at the junction of Highway 401 and 402, connecting it to Toronto, Winsor and Sarnia.
It also has an international airport and train and bus stations.
The campus of the University of Western Ontario is one of the most impressive in Canada.
Its large limestone buildings are similar to Queen’s (Kingston, ON), McGill (Montréal) and Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), but there seems to be more open space and parks here.
Academic quality and physical beauty are combined on this 500-acre campus.
A plaque on the administration building honours the Reverend Isaac Hellmuth, Anglican Bishop of Huron (1872 – 1873), primarily responsible for founding the University in 1878.
The University’s McIntosh Memorial Art Gallery has over 500 works, most of them by Canadians.
Among these are:
London is also home to the Museum of Ontario Archaeology, owned and operated by Western University.
It is Canada’s only ongoing excavation and partial reconstruction of a prehistoric village — a Neutral Nation village (Lawson site)in this case.
This is the land of winter and cold weather, smack dab in the middle of an area that stretches from Western Ontario to Québec that is filled with huge volumes of wet snow.
A town often intimate and inanimate with buses stalled, traffic stopped, cars buried in snow banks, airport closed….
And then there is the Highway 401 phenomenon.
For reasons difficult to define simply, it seems as one travels from Montréal to Windsor along Highway 401, the north side of the freeway in winter is usually covered in snow, while the south lanes are often snow-free.
Long lengthy explanations about winds off the lake and all that….
London’s economy is dominated by medical research, insurance, manufacturing, and information technology.
Much of the life sciences and biotechnology-related research is conducted or supported by the University of Western Ontario, which adds about C$1.5 billion to the London economy annually.
Since the economic crisis of 2009, which gutted many of London’s manufacturing jobs, the city has transitioned to become a technology hub with a focus on the digital creative sector.
As of 2016, London is home to 300 technology companies that employ 3% of the city’s labour force.
Many of these companies have moved into former factories and industrial spaces in and around the downtown core, and have renovated them as modern offices.
For example, Info-Tech Research Group’s London office is in a hosiery factory, and Arcane Digital moved into a 1930s industrial building in 2015.
The Historic London Roundhouse, a steam locomotive repair shop built in 1887, is now home to Royal LePage Triland Realty, rTraction, SmartWebPros.com and more.
Its redesign, which opened in 2015, won the 2015 Paul Oberman Award for Adaptive Re-Use from the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.
London is also home to Diply, video game companies Big Viking Games, Big Blue Bubble and Digital Extremes.
Voices.com provides voiceover artists a platform to advertise and sell their services to those looking for voiceover work.
Other local tech companies include HRDownloads, Mobials, Race Roster and Zomaron.
The largest employer in London is the London Health Sciences Centre, which employs 10,555 people.
The headquarters of the Canadian division of 3M are in London.
The London Life Insurance Company was founded here, as was Imperial Oil, GoodLife Fitness, and both the Labatt and Carling breweries.
The Libro Financial Group was founded in London in 1951 and is the second largest credit union in Ontario, employing over 550 people.
Canada Trust was also founded in London in 1864.
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) builds armoured personnel carriers in the city.
GDLS has a 14-year $15-billion deal to supply light armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
There are 2,400 workers at GDLS Canada.
McCormack Canada, formerly Club House Foods, was founded in 1883 and currently employs more than 600 Londoners.
Once upon a time, London employed an old friend of mine at Western and I was later employed here at a Goodyear Tire processing plant to finance my walking adventures.
London is also the site of employment of my friend and fellow LRHS (Lachute, QC) alumni Terry, for whom I had come to visit.
I have few memories of my time in London.
It was winter 1991, the job was stacking tires, and a co-worker – a Hungarian named Milosh – I would later help find a job that summer at a winery on Pelee Island.
(He may still be there for all I know.)
1991 was the final year of the Cold War that had begun in 1947, the Gulf War, the South Ossetia War and the Yugoslav Wars began, there was a coup d’état in Haiti and another in Thailand, a successful Singing Revolution in Lithuania, Eastern Airlines and Pan Am ceased their operations, a civil war ended in Papua New Guinea and another began in Somalia, there were plane crashes and earthquakes, violence and protests….
Just another year on Planet Earth….
I recall visiting Western and I remember parks and walking Main Street, but beyond that London did not make a huge impression on me and I cannot even recall where I lived at the time.
I was young and London was merely a pit stop to replenish my wallet and finance further travels.
London is home to many festivals including:
London has a rich musical history.
Guy Lombardo, the internationally acclaimed Big-Band leader, was born in London, as was jazz musician Rob McConnell, country music legend (Canada’s country gentleman) Tommy Hunter, singer-songwriter Meaghan Smith, pop icon Justin Bieber, the heavy metal band Kittie and DJ duo Lord Luxury.
Above: Guy Lombardo (1902 – 1977)
Above. Rob McConnell (1935 – 2010)
Above: Meaghan Smith
Above: Justin Bieber
Above: Lord Luxury
It is also the adopted home-town of hip-hop artist Shad Kabango, rock music producer Jack Richardson and 1960s folk-funk band Motherlode.
Above: Shad
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American country-music icon Johnny Cash proposed to his wife June Carter onstage at the London Gardens — site of the famous 26 April 1965, 15-minute Rolling Stones concert — during his 22 February 1968 performance in the city (the home-town of his manager Saul Holiff).
Above: Johnny Cash and June Carter
Above: The Rolling Stones
Avant-garde noise-pioneers the Nihilist Spasm Band formed in downtown London in 1965.
(Between 1966 and 1972, the group held a Monday night residency at the York Hotel in the city’s core, which established it as a popular venue for emerging musicians and artists.
The York Hotel, now known as Call the Office, served as a hotbed for punk music in the late 1970s and 1980s and continues to host college rock bands and weekly alternative-music nights).
Above: Nihilist Spasm Band
In 2003, CHRW-FM developed the London Music Archives, an online music database that chronicled every album recorded in London between 1966 and 2006.
In 2019 the CBC released a documentary entitled “London Calling” which outlined “the Secret Musical History of London, Ontario” (including its importance for the massively popular electronic music duo Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva).
London also had (and still has, in an unofficial capacity) a professional symphony orchestra — Orchestra London — founded in 1937.
Although the organization filed for bankruptcy in 2015, members of the orchestra continue to play self-produced concerts under the moniker London Symphonia.
In addition, the city is home to the London Community Orchestra, the London Youth Symphony, and the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada.
London artists Jack Chambers and Greg Curnoe co-founded The Forest City Gallery in 1973 and the Canadian Artists’ Representation Society in 1968.
Museum London, the city’s central Art Gallery, was established in 1940 (initially operated from the London Public Library, until 1980, when renowned Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama was commissioned to design its current home at the forks of the Thames River).
Museum London occupies a chunkily modernist structure that looks like a giant bicycle shed.
A permanent collection of paintings is displayed here, including:
A plaque on the museum grounds honours Paul Peel (1859 – 1992), a Londoner who was a prominent early Canadian painter.
Above: Self-portrait, Paul Peel
The Secrets of Radar Museum was opened at Parkwood Hospital in 2003, and tells the story of the more than 6,000 Canadian WW2 veterans who were recruited into a top-secret project involving….wait for it…. radar.
The London Regional Children’s Museum in South London provides hands-on learning experiences for children and was one of the first children’s museums established in Canada.
The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame has its headquarters in downtown London and features a medical history museum.
Eldon House is the former residence of the prominent Harris Family and the oldest surviving building in London.
This white frame house was built in 1834 by Captain John Harris (Royal Navy) whose descendants gave it to the city.
It now is a memorial to 19th century London, its rooms furnished with Harris family household goods and personal possessions.
An English bed in the blue bedroom was made in 1780, the dining room’s copper tea urn in 1795.
The dining table and chairs are Canadian.
Fine examples of Waterford glass adorn a mahogany sideboard.
In a room decorated with shields, spears and horns is a walking stick stand made from an elephant’s foot.
The entire property was donated to the city of London in 1959 and is now a heritage site.
An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate the Eldon House’s role in Ontario’s heritage.
The Banting House National Historic Site of Canada is the house where Sir Frederick Banting thought of the idea that led to the discovery of insulin.
Banting lived and practised in London for ten months, from July 1920 to May 1921.
Above: Frederick Banting (1891 – 1941)
The life style of the pre-railroad era of the 19th century is reproduced in the crossroads Fanshawe Pioneer Village.
Here are the log cabins, barns and general store, the blacksmith, the weaver, the barber and carriage make shops from more than a century ago.
On Village grounds stands the Labatt’s Pioneer Brewery, a 18th century brewery that has been restored to its original appearance with kegs, brew kettle, hop jack and fermenter.
London is also the site of the Flame of Hope, which is intended to burn until a cure for diabetes is discovered.
A plaque in front of his London residence honours Sir Adam Beck (1857 – 1925), who pioneered Ontario’s hydroelectric power system.
Beck was mayor of London (1902 – 1904).
In Sir Adam Beck Collegiate is Herbert Ariss’ mural The Image of Man through the Ages.
In addition to Museum London and the Forest City Gallery, London is also home to a number of other galleries and artspaces, including the London ARTS Project, and various smaller galleries such as the Thielsen Gallery, the Westland Gallery, the Michael Gibson Gallery, the Jonathon Bancroft Snell Gallery, the Art Exchange, the DNA ArtSpace, the VibraFusionLab, and others.
London also hosts an annual Nuit Blanche every June.
Once upon a time, London had a Centennial Museum, a social and cultural centre completed in 1969 in the shape of Canada’s centennial (1867 – 1967) symbol.
It was demolished on 31 August 2005.
London is home to the Grand Theatre, a professional proscenium arch theatre in Central London.
The building underwent renovations in 1975 to restore the stage’s proscenium arch and to add a secondary performance space.
The architectural firm responsible for the redesign was awarded a Governor General’s award in 1978 for their work on the venue.
In addition to professional productions, the Grand Theatre also hosts the High School Project, a program unique to North America that provides high school students an opportunity to work with professional directors, choreographers, musical directors and stage managers.
The Palace Theatre, in Old East Village, originally opened as a silent movie theatre in 1929 and was converted to a live theatre venue in 1991.
It is currently the home of the London Community Players.
The Original Kids Theatre Company, a nonprofit charitable youth organisation, currently puts on productions at the Spriet Family Theatre in the Covent Garden Market.
London serves as a core setting in Southern Ontario Gothic literature, most notably in the works of James Reaney (1926 – 2008).
Reaney was a Canadian poet, playwright, playwright, librettist, and professor, “whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol.”
Reaney won Canada’s highest literary award, the Governor General’s Award, three times and received the Governor General’s Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.
Reaney was born on a farm in Easthope near Stratford to James Nesbitt Reaney and Elizabeth Henrietta Crerar.
Almost all of Reaney’s poems, stories, and plays are articulations of where he grew up.
At a young age he was interested in theatre, and created a puppet show for children while in his early teens.
Reaney studied English at the University of Toronto, receiving his MA in 1949.
Above: James Reaney
The same year he also received the Governor General’s Award, the first of three, at the age of 23, for his first book of poetry, Red Heart.
After teaching English at the University of Manitoba (1949 – 1956), Reaney returned to the University of Toronto to complete a doctorate awarded in 1958.
Also in 1958 Reaney released a second book of poetry, A Suit of Nettles, which again won the Governor-General’s Award.
During the 1940s and 1950s Reaney also wrote and published short stories.
While not published in book form until years later, his stories were influential in establishing the style of writing later called Southern Ontario Gothic (later made world-famous by Alice Munro).
In 1960 Reaney began teaching in Western University’s English Department.
Also in 1960 he put out the first issue of his journal, Alphabet: A Semi-Annual Devoted to the Iconography of the Imagination, which he would edit until 1971.
This journal published a variety of poets.
For Reaney, the new decade also coincided with “a shift of emphasis from poetry to the public and communal form of drama” starting with The Killdeer.
Though he had been interested in drama since childhood, he was encouraged by a friend to write a piece for the University of Toronto’s Alumnae Theatre and the work he created, The Killdeer, launched his drama career (and won a prize in the Dominion Drama Festival).
In 1962 he won the Governor General’s Award for Poetry or Drama a third time, this time for both his newest book of poetry, Twelve Letters to a Small Town, and his first book of plays, The Killdeer and Other Plays.
Reaney followed up The Killdeer with Colours in the Dark (1969), Listen to the Wind (1972), Masks of Childhood (1972) and plays for children.
His play Colours in the Dark was produced at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1967.
From 1973 to 1975 Reaney wrote the trilogy The Donnellys, which the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia calls “one of the nation’s most important dramas.”
The three plays debuted at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre.
The St. Nicholas Hotel, Part II of the trilogy, won the Chalmers Award.
The Donnellys toured nationally in 1975, from Halifax to Vancouver with the NDWT Theatre Company.
(The Donnellys is about the murders of an Irish immigrant family in Lucan (ON)(north of London on Highway 4) in the 1880s.
On 4 February 1880 about 30 people attacked the James Donnelly farm – killing Donnelly, his wife, a son and a niece – and then destroyed the farm buildings.
Another son was killed on the same night in a nearby town.
Although the alleged perpetrators were twice tried, no one was ever convicted of the deaths, which had resulted from a blood feud that James Donnelly had brought to Canada from his home in Tipperary, Ireland.
In 1857, Donnelly had killed a neighbour in the Lucan district over land rights and although he served seven years for the murder, his sons continued to conduct violent disputes with local farmers while he was in prison.
In Lucan’s St. Patrick Cemetery, a granite tombstone marks the original black marker that had identified the family members as victims of murder.)
As well, Reaney coauthored several operas with musician John Beckwith, including Night-Blooming Cereus (1960), The Shivaree (1982), and Crazy To Kill (1988).
Other notable Reaney plays include Names and Nicknames, which premiered at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in 1963, and Alice Through the Looking Glass, which played at the Stratford Festival in 1994, 1995 and in 2014.
Reaney also enjoyed painting and drawing and his art works, from the 1940s to 1990s, were put on exhibit at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg (ON) in 2008.
Reaney died on 11 June 2008, in London.
His books from London include Twelve Letters to a Small Town (1962), The Dance of Death at London (1972), Selected Shorter Poems (1975) and Selected Longer Poems (1976).
In 1995, rockstar David Bowie based his “Nonlinear Gothic Drama Hypercycle” Outside in London, subtly and suggestively reaffirming its status as a core setting of Southern Ontario Gothic works.
Author David Southwell (perhaps in reference to David Bowie’s character in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks) likened London to the setting of Lynch’s weird and wonderful TV show and a woodsy “Mirror London” akin to China Miéville’s underworld-wonderworld UN Lun Dun.
Above: David Bowie (1947 – 2016)
Pioneering psychologist Richard Maurice Bucke, author of Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind and Walt Whitman’s literary executor, lived and worked in London, where he was often visited by Whitman.
Above: Maurice Bucke
Bucke was raised on a farm near London, where his family had settled in 1838 after emigrating from England.
Richard Maurice Bucke was born in 1837 in Methwold, England, the son of Rev. Horatio Walpole Bucke (a parish curate) and his wife Clarissa Andrews.
The parents and their children emigrated to Canada when he was a year old, settling near London.
Horatio W. Bucke had given up the profession of religious minister, and trusted his family’s income to their Ontario farm.
A sibling in a large family, Richard Maurice Bucke was a typical farm boy of that era.
He was an athletic boy who enjoyed a good ball game.
When he left home at the age of 16, he travelled to Columbus (OH) and then to California.
Above: Modern Columbus, Ohio
Along the way, Bucke worked at various odd jobs.
He was part of a travelling party who had to fight for their lives when they were attacked by Shosone natives, on whose territory they were trespassing.
In the winter of 1857–1858, he was nearly frozen to death in the mountains of California, where he was the sole survivor of a silver-mining party.
He had to walk out over the mountains and suffered extreme frostbite.
As a result, a foot and several of his toes were amputated.
He then returned to Canada via the Isthmus of Panama, probably in 1858.
Bucke attended London Grammar School, but studied at home before entering McGill University’s medical school, graduating in 1862.
Above: Logo of McGill University, Montréal
After studying abroad, Bucke practised medicine in Sarnia and London, settling here in 1877, when he was appointed superintendent of the city’s Asylum for the Insane.
He held that position until his death in 1902, by which time he had become one of the world’s leading alienists (psychiatrists).
In Bucke’s time the London Asylum for the Insane was on Governor’s Road, two miles outside the city.
Bucke’s home was on the Asylum grounds.
None of the Asylum’s 19th century buildings remain, but the Asylum’s successor institution, the London Psychiatric Hospital, commemorates Bucke in its Teaching and Research Museum, which contains a re-creation of the famous alienist’s office.
(The Maurice Bucke Archive is part of the Special Collections in the Weldon Library of Western University, as Bucke was associated with the University for many years as professor of mental and nervous diseases.)
A student of mysticism and an avid admirer of Walt Whitman, Bucke attributed to Whitman’s poetry a mystical experience that convinced him of the hopeful order in the universe – which he proceeded to describe in his later writings.
Above: Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892)
Whitman visited Bucke in London twice:
His first visit in 1880 is described in Walt Whitman’s Diary in Canada with Extracts from Other of His Diaries and Literary Notebooks (1904).
In 1883, Bucke published the first biographical study of his friend, Walt Whitman, which incorporated revisions made by the poet.
As one of Whitman’s literary executors, Bucke prepared several posthumous volumes of the poet’s work and was one of the editors of the Complete Writings of Walt Whitman (10 volumes, 1902).
Cosmic Consciousness was Bucke’s most ambitious presentation of his conviction that mystical illumination about cosmic order united all the world’s great thinkers and provided hope of a future millenial age of universal harmony.
According to Bucke:
This consciousness shows the cosmos to consist not of dead matter governed by unconscious, rigid, and unintending law.
It shows it on the contrary as entirely immaterial, entirely spiritual and entirely alive.
It shows that death is an absurdity, that everyone and everything has eternal life.
It shows that the universe is God and that God is the universe, and that no evil ever did or ever will enter into it.
A great deal of this is, of course, from the point of view of self consciousness, absurd.
It is nevertheless undoubtedly true.
For Bucke, cosmic consciousness is an interconnected way of seeing things “which is more of an intuitive knowing than it is a factual understanding“.
He pointed out that, for scholars of the purist camp, the experience of cosmic consciousness is incomplete without the element of love, “which is the foundation of mystical consciousness“:
Mysticism, then, is the perception of the universe and all of its seemingly disparate entities existing in a unified whole bound together by love.
Bucke died in 1902 and is buried in London’s Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
I wonder if he found the future he was seeking.
Another childhood resident of London was the novelist Arthur Stringer (1874 – 1950), who moved here in 1884 from Chatham (ON) at the age of ten.
In 1886, he entered London Collegiate Institute with the highest entrance examination marks ever recorded.
While there Stringer founded a school magazine called Chips.
The brick house to which Stringer’s family moved in 1890 still stands at 64 Elmwood Avenue.
Stringer’s first book of poetry, Watchers of Twilight and Other Poems, was published in 1894.
After studying at the University of Toronto and at Oxford, Stringer began his newspaper career with the Montréal Herald.
At this time he was also publishing in Saturday Night and the Canadian Magazine.
In 1898 he got a job with the American Press Association, moved to New York City, and began publishing in The Atlantic and Harper’s.
His first poem in Harper’s, “Remorse“, appeared in February 1899.
His first novel, The Silver Poppy, came out in 1903.
In the same year he bought a farm at Cedar Springs (on the shore of Lake Erie, on Highway 3 east of Leamington) and married actress Jobyna Howland (1880 – 1936), known as the original Gibson girl.
They divorced in 1914.
(The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson (1867 – 1944) during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States.
The artist saw his creation as representing the composite of “thousands of American girls“.)
Stringer married his cousin, Margaret Arbuthnott.
In 1921, the Stringers moved to Mountain Lakes (NJ), where Arthur continued to write.
Stringer wrote crime fiction and wilderness adventures, mainly using conventional formulae.
He wrote as well in many other genres, from social realism (his “Prairie” trilogy, 1915 – 1921) to psychological fiction (The Wine of Life – 1921).
He wrote early science fiction novels, The Story Without a Name (1924) with Russell Holman, and The Woman Who Couldn’t Die (1929).
Much of his writing was for films.
Film scripts (22 in total) on which he worked include:
Stringer remained a resident of New Jersey until his death in 1950, aged 76.
Stringer’s novel, Lonely O’Malley (1905), follows the career of an orphan boy growing up in Ontario in the 1880s, based on the author’s childhood in Chatham and London.
Stringer’s crime and adventure stories were later criticized as stereotypical and containing inaccurate representation of Canadian settings.
However, his prairie trilogy – Prairie Wife (1915), Prairie Mother (1920), and Prairie Child (1921) – has been called “an enduring contribution to Canadian literature.”
The trilogy uses a diary form to tell the tale of its narrator, a New England socialite who marries a Scots-Canadian farmer.
The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature described Stringer’s poetry as “undistinguished verse.”
However, author John Garvin said of his poetry “there is maintained a standard of beauty, depth of feeling, and technical power, which in Canada have had all too little recognition.”
Garvin also similarly praised Stringer’s blank verse drama Sappho in Leucadia.
Stringer’s chief claim to poetic fame today rests on his 1914 book, Open Water, the first book by a Canadian poet to use free verse.
In its preface he proclaimed that the modernist movement of which he was part was a “natural evolution“.
Louis Dudek and Michael Gnarowski, who reprinted the Open Water preface in their anthology The Making of Modern Poetry In Canada, remarked on it:
This book must be seen as a turning point in Canadian writing if only for the importance of the ideas advanced by Stringer in his preface.
In a carefully presented, extremely well-informed account of traditional verse-making, Stringer pleaded the cause of free verse and created what must now be recognized as an early document of the struggle to free Canadian poetry from the trammels of end-rhyme, and to liberalize its methods and its substance.
Stringer is commemorated by Arthur Stringer Public School in London, which opened in 1969.
The house in which Stringer lived as a boy in London, Ontario has been preserved as a historic site, Arthur Stringer House.
Peter Gilchrist McArthur (1866 – 1924) was a farmer and writer.
A national historic marker dedicated to McArthur can be seen in a roadside park on Highway 2, east of the Highway 80 intersection and west of London.
McArthur grew up and spent the last years of his life on his family’s farm in Ekfrid Township near Appin (ON).
He left the University of Toronto in 1889 to become a reporter for the Toronto Daily Mail (1872 – 1895).
The following year, McArthur moved to New York City.
He was editor of Truth (1881 – 1905) from 1895 to 1897 and also wrote articles, poems, and humour for various publications.
In 1902, he moved to London, England, where he contributed to Punch (1841 – 1992), the Review of Reviews (1890 – 1936) and The Daily Paper.
In 1903, he published To be taken with salt: being an essay on teaching one’s grandmother to suck eggs.
McArthur returned to New York in 1904, working as a partner in an advertising agency.
In 1907, he published The prodigal, and other poems.
He subsequently moved back to Ontario, settling in Ekfrid in 1908.
There he worked a small farm and contributed to the Toronto Globe (1844 – 1936) and the London Farmer’s Advocate and Home Magazine.
He published selected articles from those publications as In pastures green in 1915 and The red cow and her friends in 1919.
From 1910 to 1912, he published eight issues of a journal called Ourselves: a Magazine for Cheerful Canadians.
The poet Anne Wilkinson (1910 – 1961) was born in Toronto, but spent much of her childhood in London, where she was privately educated by tutors.
She was part of the modernist movement in Canadian poetry in the 1940s and 1950s, one of only a few prominent women poets of the time.
By 1946, several of Wilkinson’s poems had appeared in literary journals and subsequently she published two collections of poetry: Counterpoint to Sleep (1951) and The Hangman Ties the Holly (1955), the latter has been described as a volume of “poetry of particular importance“.
She also published two books of prose before her untimely death from lung cancer in 1961:
A founding editor and patron of the literary quarterly The Tamarack Review, her work appeared in several prominent Canadian publications of the day, including Northern Review.
It was anthologized in The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse (1960), The Penguin Book of Canadian Verse (1975), Canadian Poetry 1920 to 1960 (2010) and was broadcast on CBC Radio’s Anthology, and was recorded on the album Six Toronto Poets.
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Her close friend A.J.M. Smith edited and introduced The Collected Poems of Anne Wilkinson and a Prose Memoir, which was posthumously published in 1968.
Her writing was celebrated by artist/filmmaker Joyce Wieland and author Michael Ondaatje, and set to music by composer Oskar Morawetz.
In the early 1990s it was re-examined by Joan Coldwell, who edited a new edition of the poems, as well as a volume of Wilkinson’s autobiographical writings.
Wilkinson’s work has enjoyed a revival since the publication in 2003 of Heresies: The Complete Poems of Anne Wilkinson, 1924–1961, with appearances and discussion in more recent anthologies such as An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English, Modern Canadian Poets, Wider Boundaries of Daring: The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women’s Poetry, and Earth and Heaven, An Anthology of Myth Poetry.
Selwyn Hanington Dewdney (1909 – 1979) was a Canadian author, illustrator, artist, activist and pioneer in both art therapy and pictography.
He was born in Prince Albert (Saskatchewan) and was the son of the Anglican bishop of the diocese of Keewatin.
His family moved to Kenora (ON) in 1924 and received his secondary education there.
He attended the University of Toronto where he received a BA in Astronomy and English.
In the summer of 1928, he accompanied his father on a 3,800 mile journey to visit the Ojibway and Cree missions in Northern Ontario.
Much of this venture was travelled by canoe.
This experience established his interest in native culture and love of the bush in the Canadian Shield.
In 1933, he was hired by the Geological Survey of Canada, assigned to survey the transition zone between the Precambrian formations of the Canadian Shield and the Hudson Bay lowlands.
Among the muskeg and the blackflies, he sketched the landscape and produced pencil portraits of the traverse crew at the survey camp.
His inspiration and dramatic style as an artist came from the great northern landscapes that he loved to visit.
In 1936, he began teaching at Sir Adam Beck Secondary School, London, Ontario, but resigned in protest at the demotion of a colleague in 1945.
This experience was the subject of his first novel, Wind Without Rain.
With a growing family of three sons, he turned to illustrating books, writing, researching, editing and painting commissioned murals to support them.
It was during this time that he became interested in art therapy when he was commissioned to illustrate Lionel Penrose’s psychiatric ‘M’ test.
In 1947, while working at Westminster Veterans Hospital in London, Dewdney began giving art instruction to some to the psychiatric patients.
The positive results of this eventually afforded him the position of Psychiatric Art Therapist.
He and his wife Irene were pioneers in the field of Canadian art therapy.
His work, and particularly his wife’s, led to the development of an art therapy training program at the University of Western Ontario in 1986.
During the 1950s, his ongoing exploration of Northern Ontario introduced him to the ancient native pictographs painted in red ochre on the rocks.
A chance meeting with Kenneth E. Kidd, curator of the ethnology department of Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum, led to an opportunity to join Kidd and help record the pictograph sites.
By 1957, eleven rock-painting sites were recorded in Quetico Provincial Park.
Between 1959 and 1965, with two of his sons as field assistants, he discovered and recorded rock art from the foothills of the Rockies to the Atlantic coast.
By 1978, he had visited 301 sites in Canada and the US.
In 1962, the first edition of Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes was published, with Kenneth Kidd as co-author.
Dewdney learned of a secret society within the Ojibway, the Midewiwin, which purportedly embodied traditional ceremonial rituals of healing and sorcery and included four degrees of initiation.
It is believed that some essential elements of the Midewiwin, which was first documented by Europeans in the early 18th century, were “elaborations of traditional Anishinaabe beliefs and practices“.
Elements of this belief system were recorded on scrolls made of birchbark, sewn together with cedar roots.
His The Sacred Scrolls of the Southern Ojibway (1975), remains the only volume dedicated exclusively to this subject.
In 1978, Dewdney published his second novel, Christopher Breton.
He died in 1979, following heart surgery.
In 1980, two stands of white pine were planted at Agawa Bay in Lake Superior Provincial Park by the Ministry of Natural Resources to honor his memory.
A plaque erected by the family stands against the Shield rock he loved so much, a few meters away from the Ojibway pictograph Mishibizhiw, the great horned lynx.
In 1997, Selwyn’s son, Alex, published Daylight in the Swamp, based on his father’s bush diary, field notes and letters.
Selwyn had been working on the original manuscript for the book at the time of his death.
Christopher Dewdney, born and raised in London as the youngest son of Selwyn Dewdney, is a prize-winning Canadian poet and essayist.
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His poetry reflects his interest in natural history.
His book Acquainted with the Night, an investigation into darkness was nominated for both the Charles Taylor Prize and the Governor General’s Award.
In 1988, when he published his book Last Flesh, he was teaching at the McLuhan Institute in Toronto.
In 1992 he was writer-in-residence at the University of Western Ontario.
In 2002, he published The Natural History, a book-length poem which brings together and interprets several scientific disciplines.
In 2007, he was presented with the Harbourfront Prize at the International Festival of Authors.
In 2008, he was writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto.
Soul of World, Unlocking the Secrets of Time was listed at #4 in the Globe and Mail′s 100 Books of 2008.
Acquainted with the Night was released as a feature documentary in 2010, and in 2011 the film received a Gemini Award.
Dewdney appeared in the classic documentary Poetry in Motion.
He is currently a professor at the Glendon Campus of York University.
Dewdney’s poetry has been described as post-modern and experimental.
He frequently uses poetry to highlight the wonders of science.
Author Karl Jirgens praises his ability to “articulate the link between the empirical and the mystic.”
In his 1986 book, The Immaculate Perception, Dewdney describes nature as “divine technology,” and language as a “cognitive prosthesis“.
In this same book he refers to language as an “organically derived software downloaded into a child’s mind at an early age“.
He writes that this process leaves a wound, “language acquisition trauma“, in the unconscious.
His two subsequent non-fiction books, The Secular Grail and Last Flesh, deal with consciousness, media and a possible future evolution of humans.
Dewdney credits his father with awakening him to the special aspects of nature that he emphasizes in his poetry:
“On a summer evening, as we drove down into the Grand River Valley near Paris (ON), he explained that the limestone was almost entirely composed of the shells and skeletons of underwater creatures, millions of years old, compacted and turned to rock.
His explanation transformed the rock into a miraculous substance.“
Thomas Graeme Cameron Gibson (1934 – 2019) was a Canadian novelist.
He was a Member of the Order of Canada, a Senior Fellow of Massey College and one of the organizers of the Writers Union of Canada.
He was also a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada’s writing community.
Gibson’s family frequently moved around during his childhood, going from Halifax to Ottawa to Toronto where he attended Upper Canada College.
As an author, Gibson wrote both novels and non-fiction.
His first novel, Five Legs (1969), widely regarded as a breakthrough in Canadian experimental literature, is set in London on the university campus and follows the tragic careers of a professor and two of his students.
His other novels include Communion (1971) where one of the two Five Legs students reappears, Gentleman Death (1993), and Perpetual Motion (1982)(set in rural Ontario during the 19th century, the hero hopes to create a perpetual motion machine).
His non-fiction included Eleven Canadian Novelists (1973) and more recently, The Bedside Book of Birds (2005) and The Bedside Book of Beasts (2009).
Gibson was awarded the Toronto Arts Award (1990) the Harbourfront Festival prize in 1993, and he was made a member of the Order of Canada.
His environmental advocacy was largely focused around his longtime love of birds.
He was a founder and chair of the Pelee Island Bird Observatory, served on the Council of the World Wildlife Fund, and with Margaret Atwood, as co-chair of Birdlife International’s Rare Bird Club.
Above: Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, Pelee Island
He was a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, which awarded him a Gold Medal in 2015.
Gibson was married to publisher Shirley Gibson until the early 1970s, and together they had two sons, Matt and Grae.
He later began dating novelist and poet Margaret Atwood in 1973.
They moved to a semi-derelict farm near Alliston (ON), which they set about doing up and where according to Atwood they were making “attempts at farming, writing and trying to earn enough to live”.[10]
Their daughter Eleanor Jess Atwood Gibson was born there in 1976.
The family returned to Toronto in 1980.
Atwood and Gibson stayed together until his death in 2019.
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Modern writers from this city include:
Above: R. Scott Bakker
Above: Kelley Armstrong
Above: Bonnie Burnard (1945 – 2017)
Above: Joan Barfoot
Emma Donoghue, whose 2010 novel, Room, was adapted into a 2015 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, also lives in London.
WordFest is an annual literary and creative arts festival that takes place each November.
London is teeming with writers.
Let’s add Elizabeth Waterston to the list, an English professor turned novelist, member of the Order of Canada and the Royal Society, who is still writing and publishing at the age of 89.
And let’s not forget Barbara Haworth-Attard, award-winning author of 16 novels of historical fiction, fantasy and mystery for middle-grade and young adult readers.
Or Penn Kemp, London’s first poet laureate, celebrated as a foremother of Canadian poetry as well as an accomplished playwright and essayist.
And even still, that’s just scratching the surface.
Statistics Canada data indicates that over 500 people make their living exclusively from writing in London, which means writers are the single largest group of culture workers in the city.
That still doesn’t include writers who have a non-writing day job.
London writers have formed several highly-visible and successful communities, says Ben Benedict, a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) London Chapter and a freelance journalist who has over 1,000 publishing credits on the arts.
In addition to PWAC, these groups include the London Writers’ Society, Poetry London and the London Poetry Slam.
The Writers’ Union of Canada, a national organization representing professional book writers, also has many local members.
Of the many media professionals, songwriters, playwrights, novelists, poets and academics in the city, Benedict points out that many work in isolation and obscurity.
“It’s this obscurity,” he maintains, “not being recognized at the grocery store for instance, that gives London its charm for many writers, along with its low cost of living and many amenities.”
According to Waterston, who has perhaps the longest publication history of anyone in the city, London has always nourished its writers.
When she retired, she moved back to the city from Guelph, partly because of the friendly artistic milieu.
Even though writers in London, like elsewhere, now have opportunities to connect electronically with colleagues around the world, many continue to value local, face-to-face contact both with each other and their readers.
As their numbers grow, London writers may not be able to enjoy their obscurity for long.
London is currently the home of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, who play at the Budweiser Gardens.
The Knights are 2004–2005 and 2015–2016 OHL and Memorial Cup Champions.
During the summer months, the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League play at Labatt Park.
London City of the Canadian Soccer League of the Canadian Soccer League, is the highest level of soccer in London.
The club was founded in 1973.
It is the oldest active professional soccer franchise in North America.
The squad plays at Cove Road Stadium at the German Canadian Club.
Other sports teams include:
Football teams include the London Beefeaters (Ontario Football Conference).
London’s basketball team, the London Lightning plays at Budweiser Gardens as members of the National Basketball League of Canada.
Finishing their inaugural regular season at 28–8, the Lightning would go on to win the 2011 – 2012 NBL Canada championship, defeating the Halifax Rainmen in the finals three games to two.
The University of Western Ontario’s teams play under the name Mustangs.
The university’s football team plays at TD Stadium.
Western’s Rowing Team rows out of a boathouse at Fanshawe Lake.
Fanshawe College teams play under the name Falcons.
The Women’s Cross Country team has won three consecutive Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships.
In 2010, the program cemented itself as the first CCAA program to win both Men’s and Women’s National team titles, as well as CCAA Coach of the Year.
The Western Fair Raceway, about 85 acres harness racing track and simulcast centre, operates year-round.
The grounds include a coin slot casino, a former IMAX theatre, and a Sports and Agri-complex.
Labatt Memorial Park, the world’s oldest continuously used baseball grounds, was established as Tecumseh Park in 1877.
It was renamed in 1937, because the London field has been flooded and rebuilt twice (1883 and 1937), including a re-orientation of the bases (after the 1883 flood).
The Forest City Velodrome, at the former London Ice House, is the only indoor cycling track in Ontario and the third to be built in North America, opened in 2005.
London is also home to World Seikido, the governing body of the martial art Seikido, which was developed in London in 1987.
Research by Michael Andrew Arntfield, a police officer turned criminology professor, determined that on a per capita basis, London has had more active serial killers than any locale in the world from 1959 to 1984.
Arntfield determined there were at least six serial killers active in London during this era, some unidentified, but known killers in London included Russell Maurice Johnson (“the Bedroom Strangler“), Gerald Thomas Archer (“the London Chambermaid Slayer“) (1932 – 1995) and Christian Magee (“the Mad Slasher“).
Perhaps this is why the city’s cost of living is low compared to other southern Ontario cities.
According to the London St. Thomas Association of Realtors, the average price of a home in the London / St. Thomas area in 2016 was $274,383, which is substantially lower than the national average of $467,082.
It was also well below the average home prices of nearby cities including Toronto ($736,670), Hamilton ($510,204), and Kitchener-Waterloo ($364,290).
The 2015 average rental rate for a one-bedroom apartment was $781.
London has nine major parks and gardens throughout the city, many of which run along the Thames River and are interconnected by a series of pedestrian and bike paths, known as the Thames Valley Parkway.
This path system is 40 km (25 mi) in length, and connects to an additional 150 km (93 mi) of bike and hiking trails throughout the city.
The city’s largest park, Springbank Park, is 140-hectares (300 acres) large and contains 30 km (19 mi) of trails.
It has a bird sanctuary, flower gardens, a zoo and Storybook Gardens, a family attraction open year-round, a child’s fairyland of animals and nursery tale characters and scenes.
Covent Garden is a farmers’ market with fresh produce, home baking, flowers, ethnic specialities and handicrafts.
The Sifton Botanical Bog is not a swamp but a true bog, having existed for 10,000 years.
In the centre of the Bog is a floating mat of sphagnum moss which shelters bird, animal and insect life.
In the centre of this blog is a point I like to make:
There is more than meets the eye.
From Walt Whitman’s Diary in Canada:
London, Ontario, 18 June 1880
Calm and glorious roll the hours here – the whole twenty-four.
A perfect day (the third in succession), the sun clear, a faint fresh palpable air setting in from the southwest.
Temperature pretty warm at midday, but moderate enough mornings and evenings.
Everything growing well, especially the perennials.
Never have I seen verdure – grass and trees and bushery – to greater advantage.
All the accompaniments joyous.
Catbirds, thrushes, robins singing.
The profuse blossoms of the tigerlily mottling the lawns and gardens everywhere with their glowing orange red.
Roses everywhere too.
A stately show of stars last night.
As the train pulls into London Station, it is a perfect evening, the skies clear, a fresh invigorating air blowing in from the northeast.
Temperature here hovering around 0°C.
Everything feels new and promising.
Never have I travelled here by train.
In ’91, I walked into town, worked a bit, walked out.
All the emotions anticipatory.
Cars, taxis and trucks compete for parking space at the station.
Above, a stately show of stars.
Through the station and out into the night, my old friend Terry is waiting.
Calm and glorious is the night.
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / “6.5m more doses from China add pace to Turkey’s vaccination drive“, Daily Sabah, 25 January 2021 / Paul Cavanagh, “London Ontario is teeming with writers“, http://www.notthatlondon.com, 7 December 2011 / Albert and Theresa Moritz, The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to Canada / Reader’s Digest Explore Canada / Rough Guide to Canada / Barry Stewart, Across the Land / http://www.londontourism.ca
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Saturday 23 January 2021
Linus van Pelt, Professor Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr., and Blaise Pascal were pragmatists.
Pramatism is the theory that finding true beliefs is less important than finding beliefs that are useful in our daily lives.
According to Linus van Pelt, the Great Pumpkin is a supernatural figure who rises from the pumpkin patch on Halloween evening, and flies around bringing toys to sincere and believing children.
Linus continues to have faith in the Great Pumpkin, despite his friends’ mockery and disbelief.
The Great Pumpkin was first mentioned in the Peanuts strip on 26 October 1959.
Above: Linus van Pelt
Every year, Linus sits in a pumpkin patch (a place Linus believes is the most sincere and lacking in hypocrisy) waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear.
Invariably, the Great Pumpkin fails to turn up, but a humiliated yet undefeated Linus stubbornly vows to wait for him again the following Halloween.
Linus acknowledges the similarities between the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus, the existence of which Linus considers to be ambiguous.
(In the television special, Linus tells Charlie Brown he will stop believing in the Great Pumpkin when Charlie Brown stops believing in Santa Claus, while admitting that Santa Claus has better publicity).
Charlie Brown attributes Linus’s belief in the Great Pumpkin to “denominational differences“.
Above: Charlie Brown
The Great Pumpkin has been cited as a symbol of strong faith and foolish faith, leading to vastly different interpretations of creator Charles Schulz’s own faith.
Above: Charles Schulz (1922 – 2000)
As described in the book on Schulz’s religious views, A Charlie Brown Religion, Schulz’s views were very personal and often misinterpreted.
Linus’ seemingly unshakable belief in the Great Pumpkin, and his desire to foster the same belief in others, has been interpreted as a parody of Christian evangelism by some observers.
Others have seen Linus’ belief in the Great Pumpkin as symbolic of the struggles faced by anyone with beliefs or practices that are not shared by the majority.
Still others view Linus’ lonely vigils, in the service of a being that may or may not exist and which never makes its presence known in any case, as a metaphor for mankind’s basic existential dilemmas.
Linus cannot prove the Great Pumpkin’s existence but then neither can the rest of the Peanuts gang prove the Great Pumpkin’s non-existence.
Pascal’s wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the 17th century French philosopher, theologian, mathematician and physicist, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).
Above: Blaise Pascal
It posits that humans bet with their lives that God either exists or does not.
Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God.
If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas if God does exist, he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell).
But did Pascal do his math wrong?
Doesn’t choosing to walk “the straight and narrow” in the service of an imaginary deity actually come at a cost?
Theists argue that they have better lives than secularists, not because God is blessing them as some kind of reward, but because belief simply has inherent benefits: the security of feeling that the world is organized and meaningful, that someone is always looking out for us, that death isn’t the end.
Pascal suggested that you essentially brainwash yourself into true belief, so that what started out as self-interest can actually grow into honest conviction.
Fake it until you make it.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana (Harrison Ford), Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery), Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), and Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir (John Rhys-Davies) catch up with the surviving Nazis, led by Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) and Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), who have found the temple where the Holy Grail is kept but are unable to get past the first trap.
Donovan shoots and mortally wounds Henry to force Jones to risk his life in the traps to find the Grail and use its healing power to save his father.
Using the information in his father’s diary and followed by Donovan and Elsa, Jones safely overcomes the traps (which include fast-moving saw blades, a word puzzle, and a hidden bridge over a bottomless pit) and reaches the Grail’s chamber.
Indiana is, at best, an agnostic, but when the three traps can only be avoided by an application of faith, including a leap of faith across an impossible abyss, faith becomes pragmatically wise for him to follow.
Pascal’s philosophical successor, Soren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) wrote:
“I believe because it is absurd to believe.“
Kierkegaard’s fideism suggested that religious belief has to come from faith alone, that arguments and evidence actually kill what is great about religion: its wonder and mystery.
Kierkegaard suggested that the fantastic thing about belief in God is that it is entirely irrational, that you can’t do it with your brain, that it is a leap that defies reason.
Above: Soren Kierkegaard
We jump and hope like hell that God will catch us.
We surrender reason to faith.
Believing in something because it is expedient frees you from having any reasons at all, though this line of thought still has its risks.
If you give up on reason and evidence then all beliefs become philosophically equal.
We count on evidence and justification to help us adjudicate between beliefs, to decide what we value.
If we throw that out and simply fall back on faith alone, then the sum of your arguments is going to end up being:
I have faith in what I choose to believe in.
I believe it, so that settles the argument.
No one can tell anyone that their belief is wrong or dangerous or unjustified, because faith cannot be justified.
How does one come to belief?
Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, writer and Catholic theologian.
He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen.
Above: Birthplace of Blaise Pascal, Rouen
Pascal’s earliest mathematical work was on conic sections.
He wrote a significant treatise on the subject of projective geometry at the age of 16.
He later corresponded with Pierre de Fermat (1607 – 1665) on probability theory, strongly influencing the development of modern economics and social science.
Above: Pierre de Fermat
In 1642, while still a teenager, he started some pioneering work on calculating machines (called Pascal’s calculators and later Pascalines), establishing him as one of the first two inventors of the mechanical calculator.
Above: A Pascaline
Pascal also worked in the natural and applied sciences, where he made important contributions to the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalising the work of Evangelista Torricelli (1608 – 1647).
Above: Evangelista Torricelli
Following Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) and Torricelli, in 1647, he rebutted Aristotle’s followers who insisted that nature abhors a vacuum.
Above: Galileo Galilei
Pascal’s results caused many disputes before being accepted.
Pascal also wrote in defense of the scientific method.
Above: Aristotle (384 – 322 BC), the inventor of the scientific method
In the winter of 1646, Pascal’s 58-year-old father broke his hip when he slipped and fell on an icy street of Rouen.
Given the man’s age and the state of medicine in the 17th century, a broken hip could be a very serious condition, perhaps even fatal.
Rouen was home to two of the finest doctors in France: Monsieur Doctor Deslandes and Monsieur Doctor de La Bouteillerie.
Above: Images of modern Rouen
The elder Pascal “would not let anyone other than these men attend him.
It was a good choice, for the old man survived and was able to walk again.“
But treatment and rehabilitation took three months, during which time La Bouteillerie and Deslandes had become regular visitors.
Both men were followers of Jean Guillebert, proponent of a splinter group from Catholic teaching known as Jansenism.
This still fairly small sect was making surprising inroads into the French Catholic community at that time.
It espoused rigorous Augustinism.
Above: Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)
Blaise spoke with the doctors frequently, and after their successful treatment of his father, borrowed from them works by Jansenist authors.
In this period, Pascal experienced a sort of “first conversion” and began to write on theological subjects in the course of the following year.
Pascal fell away from this initial religious engagement and experienced a few years of what some biographers have called his “worldly period” (1648 – 1654).
His father died in 1651 and left his inheritance to Pascal and his sister Jacqueline, for whom Pascal acted as conservator.
Jacqueline announced that she would soon become a postulant in the Jansenist convent of Port Royal.
Pascal was deeply affected and very sad, not because of her choice, but because of his chronic poor health.
He needed her just as she had needed him.
Suddenly there was war in the Pascal household.
Blaise pleaded with Jacqueline not to leave, but she was adamant.
He commanded her to stay, but that didn’t work, either.
At the heart of this was Blaise’s fear of abandonment.
If Jacqueline entered Port Royal, she would have to leave her inheritance behind, but nothing would change her mind.
By the end of October in 1651, a truce had been reached between brother and sister.
In return for a healthy annual stipend, Jacqueline signed over her part of the inheritance to her brother.
Gilberte had already been given her inheritance in the form of a dowry.
In early January, Jacqueline left for Port Royal.
On that day, according to Gilberte concerning her brother:
“He retired very sadly to his rooms without seeing Jacqueline, who was waiting in the little parlor.“
In early June 1653, after what must have seemed like endless badgering from Jacqueline, Pascal formally signed over the whole of his sister’s inheritance to Port Royal, which, to him, “had begun to smell like a cult.”
With two-thirds of his father’s estate now gone, the 29-year-old Pascal was now consigned to genteel poverty.
For a while, Pascal pursued the life of a bachelor.
During visits to his sister at Port-Royal in 1654, he displayed contempt for affairs of the world but was not drawn to God.
Shortly after the death of Blaise Pascal in 1662 at the age of 39, a servant was sorting through Pascal’s clothes and noticed something sewn into a coat that Pascal had often worn.
Out of curiosity the servant cut open the cloth and found a parchment, inside of which was a faded piece of paper.
The parchment and the paper both contained, in Pascal’s handwriting, nearly the same words.
Evidently the paper was the original draft and the parchment was a carefully prepared copy.
In addition to the text, both the paper copy and the parchment contained hand-drawn crosses.
The words written on the original piece of paper (from an English translation given in Marvin O’Connell’s book “Blaise Pascal, Reasons of the Heart”) were:
“The year of grace 1654, Monday 23 November, Feast of St. Clement:
Above: Pope Clement (r. 88 – 99)
From about half-past ten in the evening until about half-past midnight….
Fire.
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
Above: The Angel Hinders the Offering of Isaac, by Rembrandt, 1635 (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
Not of the philosophers and intellectuals.
Certitude, certitude, feeling, joy, peace.
The God of Jesus Christ.
Forgretfulness of the world and of everything except God.
One finds oneself only by way of the directions taught in the Gospel.
The grandeur of the human soul.
Oh, just Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.“
November 1654 was certainly a turning point in Pascal’s life, because this is when he finally renounced his “self-serving” activities (including mathematics and physics) and resolved to devote the remainder of his life to the worship and service of God.
He retired to the monastery at Port Royal and employed his talents in writing polemics supporting the Jansenists against the Jesuits.
(Jansenism was a theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace and predestination.
The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen, who died in 1638.
Above: Cornelius Jansen (1585 – 1638)
It was first popularized by Jansen’s friend Abbot Jean du Vergier de Hauranne of Saint Cyran en Brenne Abbey, and, after du Vergier’s death in 1643, was led by Antoine Arnauld.
Above: Abbot Jean du Vergier de Hauranne (1581 – 1643)
Above: Antoine Arnaud (1612 – 1694)
Through the 17th and into the 18th centuries, Jansenism was a distinct movement away from the Catholic Church.
The theological center of the movement was the convent of Port Royal des Champs Abbey, a haven for writers including du Vergier, Arnauld, Pierre Nicole, Blaise Pascal and Jean Racine.
Above: Pierre Nicole (1625 – 1695)
Above: Jean Racine (1639 – 1699)
Jansenism was opposed by many in the Catholic hierarchy, especially the Jesuits.
Although the Jansenists identified themselves only as rigorous followers of Augustine of Hippo’s teachings, Jesuits coined the term Jansenism to identify them as having Calvinist affinities.
The spirituality practiced by the Jesuits, called Ignatian spirituality, ultimately based on the Catholic faith and the gospels, is drawn from the Constitutions, The Letters, and Autobiography, and most specially from Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, whose purpose is “to conquer oneself and to regulate one’s life in such a way that no decision is made under the influence of any inordinate attachment“.
Above: Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556), the founder of the Jesuits
The Exercises culminate in a contemplation whereby one develops a facility to “find God in all things“.
This Catholic spirituality founded on the experiences of the 16th century Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.
The Exercises are intended to give the person undertaking them a greater degree of freedom from his or her own likes and dislikes, so that their choices are based solely on what they discern God’s will is for them.)
Above: Logo of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)
On the subject of his former activities Pascal wrote:
“Reason has its own sphere, mathematics and the natural sciences, but the truths which it is really important for man to know, his nature and his supernatural destiny, these cannot be discovered by the philosopher or the scientist.
I passed a long time in the study of the abstract sciences, but the scant communication which one can have in them (that is, the comparative fewness of the people with whom one shares these studies and with whom one can communicate) disgusted me.
When I began the study of man, I saw that these abstract sciences are not proper to man.“
In many popular books on famous mathematicians the story of Pascal’s final religious conversion is even more melodramatic.
One of the best known such books, originally published in 1893 and followed by several later editions, is W.W Rouse Ball’s A Short Account of the History of Mathematics.
According to Rouse Ball:
Pascal attended parties where gambling was being conducted, and unfortunately became distracted by this lifestyle.
On 23 November 1654, Pascal had a dramatic near-death experience during a lighting storm while crossing the Neuilly Bridge in Paris.
His horses got scared and jumped over the wall of the bridge.
The horses plunged to their deaths, but because the leather straps that connected the carriage to the horses broke, Pascal was saved.
Convinced that it was God who had saved him, Pascal reassessed how he was living.
His belief and religious commitment revitalized, Pascal visited the older of two convents at Port Royal for a two-week retreat in January 1655.
For the next four years, he regularly travelled between Port Royal and Paris.
It was at this point immediately after his conversion when he began writing his first major literary work on religion, the Provincial Letters.
Under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte and written in the midst of the controversy between the Jansenists and the Jesuits, the Provincial Letters are a defense of the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld from Port Royal des Champs, a friend of Pascal who in 1656 was condemned by the Faculté de Théologie at the Sorbonne in Paris for views that were claimed to be heretical.
The first letter (of eighteen) is dated 23 January 1656.
In these letters, Pascal humorously attacked casuistry, a rhetorical method often used by Jesuit theologians, and accused Jesuits of moral laxity.
(Casuistry is a process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or extending theoretical rules from a particular case, and reapplying those rules to new instances.
This method occurs in applied ethics and jurisprudence.
In other words, ethics are circumstantial.)
In his Provincial Letters, Pascal vigorously attacked the moral laxism of Jesuits who used casuistic reasoning in confession to placate wealthy Church donors, while punishing poor penitents.
Pascal charged that aristocratic penitents could confess their sins one day, re-commit the sin the next day, generously donate the following day, then return to re-confess their sins and only receive the lightest punishment.
Pascal’s criticisms darkened casuistry’s reputation.
Being quickly forced underground while writing the Provincial Letters, Pascal pretended they were reports from a Parisian to a friend in the provinces, on the moral and theological issues then exciting the intellectual and religious circles in the capital.
In the letters, Pascal’s tone combines the fervor of a convert with the wit and polish of a man of the world.
Their style meant that, quite apart from their religious influence, the Provincial Letters were popular as a literary work.
Adding to that popularity was Pascal’s use of humor, mockery, and satire in his arguments.
The letters also influenced the prose of later French writers like Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Above: François-Marie Arouet (aka Voltaire) (1694 – 1778)
Above: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778)
Brilliantly written by Pascal, the Provincial Letters would not have been possible without the work of theologians from Port Royal.
Indeed, most of the arguments Pascal deployed were already to be found in Arnauld’s Théologie morale des Jésuites, something which led the Jesuit Nicolas Caussin to reply to Pascal’s perceived libel.
Above: Nicolas Caussin (1583 – 1651)
Pascal’s main source on Jesuit casuistry was Antonio Escobar’s Summula casuum conscientiae (1627), several propositions of which would be later condemned by Pope Innocent XI.
Above: Antonio Escobar (1589 – 1669)
Above: Pope Innocent XI (né Benedetto Odescalchi) (1611 – 1689)
Paradoxically, the Provincial Letters were both a success and a defeat: a defeat, on the political and theological level, and a success on the moral level.
The final letter from Pascal, in 1657, defied the Pope himself, provoking Alexander VII to condemn the letters.
But that didn’t stop most of educated France from reading them.
Moreover, even Pope Alexander, while publicly opposing them, nonetheless was persuaded by Pascal’s arguments.
Just a few years later, Alexander condemned “laxity” in the church and ordered a revision of casuistic texts.
Above: Pope Alexander VII (né Fabio Chigi) (1599 – 1667)
Pascal believed that imagination is the most powerful force in human beings.
And one of our chief sources of error.
Imagination causes us to trust / distrust people despite what reason tells us.
For example, because lawyers and doctors dress up in special clothes, we tend to trust them more.
Conversely, we pay less attention to someone who looks shabby or odd, even if he is talking good sense.
Above: Olin Levi Warner, Imagination (1896). Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Bldg, Washington DC
What makes things worse is that, though it usually leads to falsehood, imagination occasionally leads to truth.
If it were always false, then we could use it as a source of certainty by simply accepting its negation.
Pascal goes on to write that:
“Imagination decides everything.
It produces beauty, justice and happiness, which is the greatest thing in the world.”
Rather than praising imagination, Pascal’s intention is very different.
As imagination can lead to error, then the beauty, justice and happiness that it produces can also be false.
I recall how puzzled I was, how uncertain I felt, when en route to London last year, I was confronted by the legacy of the Big Cheese….
Toronto to London, Ontario, Canada, Sunday 12 January 2020
West of Woodstock and east of London, Ingersoll is a town in Oxford County on the Thames River, situated north of and along Highway 401.
Oxford County Road 119 (formerly Ontario Highway 19) runs north diagonally through the town.
A Canadian National (CN) rail line bisects the town east to west through its centre.
Passenger service from the Ingersoll train station is provided to other stops in Southwestern Ontario by VIA Rail.
To the south is a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line, with spurs into local industries, which provides freight service to points in the region.
Ingersoll’s founder, Thomas Ingersoll (1749–1812), was a native of Westfield, Massachusetts who moved to Great Barrington, Massachusetts in the early 1770s, and then to Queenston in the Niagara District, Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1795, where he operated an inn while organizing his grand venture to create a new settlement deep in the Upper Canadian wilderness.
In 1793, Ingersoll and associates received the grant of Oxford Township, which became the site of the community of Oxford-on-the-Thames, where he opened roads, established a farm for his family and settled dozens of other families on their own farms nearby.
Further rights to the Township were revoked in 1798 and Ingersoll’s own grant was limited to 1,200 acres (486 ha).
Above: Statue of Thomas Ingersoll
Discouraged by this and the resulting slow pace of the settlement, Thomas withdrew his family from Oxford in 1806 and took up operation of a government-owned inn and ferry at Port Credit, but after his death the family decided to return to the Oxford homestead, at first Thomas Jr. (1796-1847) with James (1801-1886) in 1818, then his widow Sarah and his other children in 1821 along with eldest son Charles (1791-1832) and Charles’ wife and children.
Together Thomas Ingersoll’s four sons laid the foundations for the hamlet of Ingersoll.
Above: Modern Port Credit
Thomas’s eldest daughter, Laura Secord (née Ingersoll) (1775 – 1868), who married in 1797, distinguished herself as a heroine of the War of 1812, and remained with her husband and children in Queenston.
Above: Laura Secord
Laura was the eldest daughter of Thomas Ingersoll and wife of James Secord, who served in the militia under Isaac Brock.
The couple lived in St. Davids (now Queenston) where American troops stopped at their home seeking supplies during the War of 1812.
On 21 June 1813, Laura Secord overheard plans of a surprise attack on British troops led by Lt. James Fitzgibbon at Beaver Dams.
Secord walked 20 miles (32 km) through the woods, in newly controlled American territory in the Niagara Peninsula, to Beaver Dams to warn the British.
As a result of this information Lt. Fitzgibbon’s small British troop and a larger contingent of allied Mohawk warriors were able to intercept and defeat the attack.
Although not initially recognized for her role, Lt. James Fitzgibbon later certified that the informant was Laura Secord.
Secord’s story has been embellished over the years, but her role in Canadian history has since been established by various historians.
Secord was never a resident of Oxford County, but on hearing her father had suffered a massive stroke in early 1812, she hurriedly made the 60-mile (96 km) journey to Port Credit and arrived the day before his death.
In the fall of 1818, her home in Queenston became the focus of many family gatherings as Thomas Ingersoll’s brother-in-law John Whiting visited from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, travelled to Port Credit to visit his sister Sarah (Thomas Ingersoll’s widow), and took Sarah back with him to Great Barrington for further family reunions.
Above: Laura Secord Homestead, Queenston
(It is believed that her son Charles Ingersoll went to Great Barrington in early 1819 to accompany his mother back to Canada, while sons Thomas Ingersoll Jr. and James Ingersoll were busy rebuilding the family farm in Oxford).
Above: Great Barrington, Massachusetts
By the start of the 1830s the hamlet had extended beyond the Ingersoll family ventures clustered around their millpond, and families from Ireland, Scotland and England were setting down roots, particularly on the vacant land north of it, which had remained dormant in the hands of speculators until then.
Between them, the Crottys (from Ireland, 1831), the Carnegies (Scotland, 1834) and the Rothwells (Ireland, 1834) became the owners of most of it.
McNab, from Scotland via Ireland, probably came with or around the same time as Crotty.
McNab and his wife fell victim to the cholera epidemic of 1832.
James Ingersoll (1801–1886) became guardian of the five orphaned McNab children.
Holcroft, from England, commanded the Royal Artillery regiment in Upper Canada during the War of 1812, and became owner of large blocks of land including what is now the Ingersoll golf course.
Above: Badge of the Royal Artillery
These families soon joined in collaboration with the Ingersolls and others to steer projects to improve the community.
Crotty in particular led the effort in the 1840s to ensure the area’s first railway would be built through the centre of the growing village rather than bypassing it.
Charles. E. Chadwick, a farmer and businessman who witnessed the next half-century of growth in Ingersoll, predicted the future belonged to immigrants from many ethnic groups who would, with the aid of Canada’s institutions, be moulded into a new people “not second to any in the world.“
In the early 1800’s many settlers arrived in Oxford County.
Many of these settlers were dairy farmers or looking to become dairy farmers.
As there was no refrigeration at this time, the excess milk that would otherwise spoil would be turned into butter or cheese.
In the home these tasks would be done by the women.
It was a woman named Lydia Ranney who came to Oxford County from Vermont in 1834 that helped to shape cheese making in the area.
To help pay their way Lydia began teaching and eventually, when their dairy prospered, she began teaching cheese making.
Her many new ideas and innovations spread to the young women of the area as the cheese making industry began to bloom.
Ingersoll has the distinction of having been Oxford County’s cheese capital from the mid-1800s to early 1900s, producing and packaging a good deal of the county’s renowned cheddar.
By the 1860s, dairying was an emerging industry, sparked farm-wife production of cheese and butter, and then by the introduction of the factory system of cheese production in 1864.
In 1866, three local cheese makers got together to hatch a plan to sell their product in England.
The chief concern was how to gather attention for their Oxford County cheese.
No one would notice if they sent a number of 90 pound wheels of cheese.
All the other factories in England were making much the same.
The solution?
Go BIG!
HUGE!
MAMMOTH!
In 1866, to promote Ingersoll cheese as a high-quality, standardized brand, a cheese producer, James Harris, and local businessmen produced a 7,300-pound mammoth cheese, exhibited it at the New York State Fair in Saratoga, NY, and then exported it to England.
James Harris (1824–1885) was the owner of the factory in which was built the Big Cheese.
Sponsorship of the venture came from a newly formed private corporation, the Ingersoll Cheese Company, whose shareholders included Harris, farmers who supplied the milk and expertise for construction of the mammoth, and businessmen.
The milk of 2,400 cows from more than 250 area farms was needed to produce 35 tons of milk to make the
mammoth cheese.
On 23 August 1866, after being aged and cured for three months, the 7,300 pound block of cheese was paraded through the streets of Ingersoll to the train station.
After a rousing send-off from the Ingersoll townspeople in early September, it was shipped by rail to the New York State Fair at Saratoga Springs, then brought to the Ontario Provincial Exhibition in Toronto in mid-September, and exhibited at the Fall Races, Hamilton, in early October.
There is no record of its prizes won, if any, at Saratoga, where the mammoth was entered in a competition for its cheese, not its size.
At the Provincial Exhibition in Toronto, James Noxon won first prize for his cheese press.
However, the Ingersoll Cheese Factory was awarded what must have been a profoundly-disappointing 3rd prize for “best factory made cheese” – which may have scuttled plans for giving the mammoth a tour of England and exhibit at the Paris World’s Fair in 1867.
In any event, after its stops in Saratoga, Toronto, and Hamilton, the cheese arrived back in Ingersoll in late October.
There, James Harris & Co. offered shares in the mammoth to the local public, as a prelude to breaking up and selling it on the English market in 1867.
![Moving To Ingersoll? The Ultimate Guide To Living In Ingersoll [2019]](https://u.realgeeks.media/homesinlondonontario/Ingersoll-Ontario-Sign.jpg)
The “Big Cheese” was the project of a consortium, which formed a provincial cheese marketing association with the mammoth an instrument to promote Ontario cheese in the English market.
The principals were:
(James Noxon (1833–1906) was born in Bloomfield, Prince Edward County, Upper Canada.
He moved to Ingersoll, Canada West in 1856.
With his brothers and his father’s financial backing, he established one of the largest manufactory of agricultural implements in the province (Noxon Company Ltd.) and the chief industry in Ingersoll.
In 1878, he built a mansion which was later to become the town’s Alexandra Hospital (1909).
He was Mayor of Ingersoll (1884 – 1885 / 1887).
As president of the firm and its largest shareholder, James lived beyond his means, running up credit and draining the company’s resources to pay the bank interest.
To save the firm, his brothers ousted him in 1887.
He moved to Woodstock to become plant manager of Patterson & Brother, an agricultural implements firm (1887 – 1891) and then to Toronto, to serve as Provincial Inspector of Prisons and Charities (1891–1905).
Meanwhile, in Ingersoll, the Noxon Company’s Noxon-family ownership ended in 1898, the company lost its prominence of early years, and the company was shuttered in 1916.)
(Adam Oliver (1823–1882) was born in the Scotch Lake settlement, near Fredericton, New Brunswick and moved to Ingersoll in 1850.
There he established himself as a lumberman, mill owner, contractor and politician.
He developed businesses in Orillia and Thunder Bay.
He was Mayor of Ingersoll (1865 – 1866), Warden of Oxford County (1866). MLA for the Oxford riding (1867 – 1875).
His daughter Belle Chone Oliver (1875-1947) became a medical doctor and devoted her life to improving health care in India.)
Above: Adam Oliver
The Ingersoll cheese held the record for size until 1893, when the Dominion Experimental Farm at Perth, Ontario, manufactured an eleven-ton behemoth for exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair.
Ingersoll Chronicle, 10 August 1866
THE BIG CHEESE
Many of our town readers have heard of the big cheese being manufactured at the Ingersoll Cheese Factory by Messrs. Ranney and Harris.
It is the largest ever made.
It measures six feet eight inches in breadth and three feet in thickness.
The milk used in its manufacture weighed 35 tons, and was furnished by 800 cows.
The weight of the cheese itself is three and a half tons.
For the sole use of this cheese a house has been built sixteen feet by eighteen, very substantial, and so constructed that the cheese can be turned over in three and a half minutes.
We had the pleasure of inspecting the monster on Tuesday.
Those of our readers who can make it convenient should visit the Ingersoll Cheese Factory and inspect this “wonder of the age.”
The proprietors, we learn, intend exhibiting this biggest of all “big things” at the Provincial Exhibition to be held in Toronto next month, and at the New York State Fair to be held at Saratoga early next month.
The cheese will afterwards be sent to England and will probably be exhibited at the Paris Exhibition next year.
Toronto Globe, 17 September 1866
News from the New York State Fair.
Whether the prospect of another “Mammoth Cheese” arriving from Canada frightened the men of Oneida and Herkimer, or not, I cannot tell, but there were only 13 entries of cheese and seven of butter.
Mr. Harris’s giant cheese arrived safely and found an attractive and lucrative sideshow all by itself.
Its weight, “7,000 pounds!” conspicuously placarded outside, excited general attention and wonderment.
Toronto Globe, 25 September 1866
PROVINCIAL EXHIBITION, Toronto:
THE MAMMOTH CHEESE
At the west end of this department the mammoth cheese made by Harris & Company makes its appearance.
The freight to New York State and back on the occasion of it being brought to the State Fair for exhibition, cost, we are told, $200.
Some idea of this wonderful specimen of a cheese, given us by one of the owners, who showed us some of their small cheese near, weighing 50 pounds each, said that it would take 80 of them to make up the large one.
In making it, help has to be got from the two factories owned by the Company in Dereham and West Oxford.
It took the total milk from between 600 and 700 cows for four and a half days, as well as that of 200 other cows, and was such a monster when made that a house had to be specially built for it, and even the trucks on which it rests were made to accommodate it.
It is surrounded by a framework of galvanized wire as a protection, and an apparatus was invented by Mr. C.P. Hall, Ingersoll, for turning it, by which that process can be accomplished within thirty seconds.
When it is taken from this Exhibition, the proprietors intend, we believe, to turn it, put on a fresh cover, and fit it for the Paris Exhibition next year.
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Ingersoll Chronicle, 26 October 1866.
The Mammoth returns to Ingersoll, owners offer to sell shares
We neglected to mention in our last issue the return of our old friend, the Big Cheese, after its public exhibition at Saratoga, Toronto, and Hamilton.
Having been transported upwards of one thousand miles, it returns as perfect as when it left, without a flaw of any kind.
The Big Cheese has been a capital advertisement for the Town of Ingersoll, having been viewed by thousands who never heard of the place before.
It has given the greatest satisfaction in its exhibition and a world-wide reputation to the manufacturer which produced it.
As many individuals in this vicinity, and wherever it has been shown, have expressed a desire to obtain an interest in it, we understand it is the intention of the present owners, Messrs. Harris and Pendleton, to comply with this desire, and have instructed Mr. D. Phelan to make the necessary arrangements for carrying this out.
We hope the people of Ingersoll, and Oxford County generally, will mark their appreciation of this public spirit on the part of Messrs. Harris and Pendleton, and secure a large interest in it.
We believe the intention is still to send it to the World’s Fair at Paris next year, as also the principal cities of Britain, and during the winter to exhibit it at some of the principal cities of Canada and the States.
We would urge upon our businessmen in this vicinity to take an interest in it and support the movement.
Arriving in Liverpool it travelled the English countryside before being eventually sold off in small pieces.
The cheese had aged so well in its journey that everyone loved the flavour and texture so much that they ordered more.
The next year some 300,000 boxes of 90-pound rounds of cheese were exported to Great Britain.
To meet that demand, the number of cheese factories in Oxford County rose from 6 to 100 by the year 1900.
That mammoth cheese had created an industry!
In 1977, Ingersoll erected a more lasting tribute to its cheese making history, the replica Cheese Factory
Museum.
James McIntyre was born in Forres, Scotland, and came to Canada in 1851 at the age of 24.
He worked as a hired hand to begin with, performing pioneer chores that formed the basis of a number of his works.
Later, he settled in St. Catherines, Ontario, where he dealt in furniture.
There he married and had a daughter and son John William McIntyre.
He later moved to Ingersoll, then a town of 5,000 on the banks of the Thames in Oxford County, the heart of Canadian dairy country at the time.
He opened a furniture factory on the river as well as a store which sold furniture, along with such items as pianos and coffins.
He was well loved in the community, from which he often received aid in hard times, due in part to his poesy and oratorical skills.
He was called on to speak at every kind of social gathering in Ingersoll.
The region seems to have inspired him, and it was in celebration of the proud history of Canada, the natural beauty and industry of the region, and especially (as noted above) its cheese, that the majority of his oeuvre was written.
Oxford Cheese Ode
The ancient poets ne’er did dream
That Canada was land of cream,
They ne’er imagined it could flow
In this cold land of ice and snow,
Where everything did solid freeze,
They ne’er hoped or looked for cheese.
A few years since our Oxford farms
Were nearly robbed of all their charms,
O’er cropped the weary land grew poor
And nearly barren as a moor,
But now the owners live at ease
Rejoicing in their crop of cheese.
And since they justly treat the soil,
Are well rewarded for their toil,
The land enriched by goodly cows,
Yie’ds plenty now to fill their mows,
Both wheat and barley, oats and peas
But still their greatest boast is cheese.
And you must careful fill your mows
With good provender for your cows,
And in the winter keep them warm,
Protect them safe all time from harm,
For cows do dearly love their ease,
Which doth insure best grade of cheese.
To us it is a glorious theme
To sing of milk and curds and cream,
Were it collected it could float
On its bosom, small steam boat,
Cows numerous as swarm of bees
Are milked in Oxford to make cheese.
Ode on the Mammoth Cheese
We have seen the Queen of Cheese,
Laying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.
All gaily dressed soon you’ll go
To the great provincial show
To be admired by many a beau
In the city of Toronto.
Cows numerous as a swarm of bees
Or as the leaves upon the trees
It did require to make thee please
And stand unrivalled Queen of Cheese.
May you not receive a scar as
We have heard that Mr. Harris
Intends to send you off as far as
The great world’s show at Paris.
Of the youth — beware of these
For some of them might rudely squeeze
And bite your cheek, then songs or glees
We could not sing, oh, Queen of Cheese.
We’rt thou suspended from balloon,
You’d cast a shade, even at noon;
Folks would think it was the moon
About to fall and crush them soon.
McIntyre was uninhibited by minor shortcomings — such as his lack of literary skills.
The Toronto Globe ran his pieces as comic relief, and the New York Tribune expressed amusement, but their mockery did not dampen his enthusiasm.
He continued writing until his death in 1906.
He published two volumes of poetry:
McIntyre was forgotten after his death for a number of years, until his work was rediscovered and reprinted by William Arthur Deacon — literary editor of the Toronto Mail and Empire and its successor the Globe and Mail — in his book The Four Jameses (1927).
In recent years a volume of his work, Oh! Queen of Cheese: Selections from James McIntyre, the Cheese Poet collected his poems together with a variety of cheese recipes and anecdotes.
However, the greatest boost to his fame probably came from a number of his poems being anthologized in the collection Very Bad Poetry, edited by Ross and Kathryn Petras (Vintage, 1997).
An annual poetry contest is held in Ingersoll, Ontario, to honour McIntyre.
The contest is sponsored by the Ingersoll Times and the Corporation of the Town of Ingersoll, and includes a cheese-themed poetry competition.
In 1977, Ingersoll erected a more lasting tribute to its cheese making history, the replica Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum.
The museum showcases the town’s unique history.
The Sports Hall of Fame showcases the town’s athletic history.
“Path of the Giants” – a 20-foot (6 m) “fully round” wood carved scene by the late Wilson Johnston, depicts the pioneer trek of his ancestors, the “Dunkards” from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Cambridge, Ontario in the 1700s.
The agricultural barns were built from lumber and timbers taken from barns found in Oxford County.
It required the barn board and beams to be reclaimed from three existing barn buildings in the area.
The buildings were disassembled by Reg and his crew and materials transported to the site where these building now stand.
Construction was done by hand like the original process.
No power tools were used in the construction of these buildings.
Reg worked from a single photograph of the original Old Ingersoll Cheese Factory.
The buildings were completed within 3 months by a crew of approximately 6 people from the Ingersoll area.
The hamlet of Ingersoll was proclaimed a village in 1852 and a town in 1865.
Lt. Col. William George Wonham (1819 – 1887), was a Provincial Land Surveyor, who was born in England and was residing in Ingersoll by 1851.
He drew the 1857 Tremaine Map of Oxford County.
Married with four children, he became a widower in 1861.
During the early 1880s he left Ingersoll for the Northwest to take employment with the Dominion Department of the Interior.
In 1884, in an interview with the Winnipeg Times, he described his work in the Rocky Mountains in surveying Banff National Park for the Dominion Government:
“Some time ago I received instructions from the Department of the Interior to proceed to the Rockies and survey a park in the Cochrane Ranch Company’s timber limit, using my own judgment as to the best location.
The spot I located is about four miles from East Padmore and about 64 miles from Calgary in the first range of the Rockies.
The scenery is grand and beautiful in the extreme, rivalling everything I have ever seen.
The surface of the park, which is traversed from one end to the other by the main line of the CPR. is heavily timbered and contains one large lake and several smaller ones.
The surface is very rocky and broken and the hills are picturesque in the extreme.
As the train service does not extend past Calgary the journey west of that point has to be made by hand car.
On the return journey the pumping apparatus broke, and owing to the strong wind and the track being on the downgrade, we ran the car at the rate of 13 miles per hour for seven hours by standing up and holding our coats sail fashion to catch the wind.”
Above: Banff National Park
Wonham died in Winnipeg after surgery for a stomach tumour.
He is buried beside his wife in Ingersoll.
Wonham Street is named for him.
Above: Wonham Street, Ingersoll
Robert Stuart (1852 – 1926) was born in Embro and raised in Ingersoll.
Robert’s extended family of origin comprised three Stuart brothers who emigrated to Canada from Banffshire, Scotland, and had businesses in Ingersoll: John, a miller (1825–1899), Peter, a miller (1827–98), and Robert, a grocer (1834–1913).
Robert’s father, John Stuart, operated mills in Embro and Ayr during the early 1850s.
In 1858, John bought Elisha Hall’s sawmill in Ingersoll, which he converted into an oatmeal mill (named North Star Oatmeal Mills).
In 1873, John sold North Star Oatmeal Mills to his brother, Peter.
John moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with his son, Robert, and opened a second North Star Oatmeal Mills in Cedar Rapids.
In 1874, John and Robert entered into partnership with a railroader, George Douglas Sr., of Cedar Rapids.
In 1876, Robert married Maggie Shearer, a niece of George Douglas.
In 1877, Robert Stuart and George Douglas of Cedar Rapids Iowa became co-partners with the father, John Stuart, and an Ingersoll miller, W.S. King, in founding a new steam mill in Ingersoll, on the north side of the River Thames.
Above: Images of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The father and son team, John and Robert, later opened a second mill in Chicago.
There, in 1899, Robert became a co-founder of the American Cereal Company, which was renamed the Quaker Oats Company in 1901.
Robert’s progeny did well with that company.
His son, Robert Douglas Stuart (1886–1975) became CEO of Quaker Oats in 1922 and served as United States ambassador to Canada from 1953 to 1956.
His grandson, Robert Douglas Stuart Jr. (1916–2014) was CEO of Quaker Oats from 1966 to 1981 and served as United States Ambassador to Norway from 1984 to 1989.
Whereas Woodstock, the county seat, was Oxford County’s administrative centre, Ingersoll became the county’s principal industrial centre, in 1871 home to all four of the county’s industries that had 50 or more hands.
Noxon Brothers and the Eastwood foundry, both manufacturers of agricultural implements, employed 103 and 70 hands respectively.
With 4,022 in population in 1871, Ingersoll’s population surpassed that of Woodstock (3,982), although its advantage was not to last.
![Moving To Ingersoll? The Ultimate Guide To Living In Ingersoll [2019]](https://u.realgeeks.media/homesinlondonontario/Downtown-Ingersoll.jpg)
Above: Downtown Ingersoll
Stroll into town from the railway station and marvel at what is not seen.
Elisha Hall House was the first constructed of brick in the hamlet of Ingersoll in the 1830s and the centrepiece of a large property near to what is now Royal Roads Public School (210 King Street East).
This was the home of Elisha Hall (1800-1868), rival to James Ingersoll for the title of first child born in the village.
Above: Elisha Hall
Hall was a farmer and sawmill owner, the local rebel leader in the Rebellion of 1837, confidant of William Lyon Mackenzie during his exile, head of the local Masonic lodge, an advocate for the emancipation of slaves and for fair treatment of the local black community, and he was a figurehead of the Reform Party in Oxford for the remainder of his years.
His house was demolished in 2017 without any public comment, a sad example of the lack of protection for heritage properties in Ingersoll.
Like the Mammoth Cheese, the Hall House is no more.
Ingersoll has been losing its historic landmarks to the process of ‘demolition by neglect‘.
The proud old 19th century CN passenger station in the middle of town has deteriorated to the verge of collapse.
Residents of Ingersoll and surrounding area have been in a militant state of opposition since the announcement in 2012 that the international conglomerate Carmeuse intends to give a 20-year lease to Walker Industries to operate a megadump taking in garbage from Toronto and London to fill the spent portion of the limestone quarry operated by Carmeuse on nearly 2,000 acres (809 ha) stretching east and north from Ingersoll’s eastern boundary.
Walker has referenced plans to use the quarry site for a multi-use ‘campus’ for garbage and recycling operations.
Carmeuse has also announced plans to switch to burning garbage in its kilns, which must be heated to 1,000 °C to process limestone into industrial lime.
As a preliminary step, it will conduct a pilot Alternative Low-Carbon Fuels (ALCF) project to assess pollution levels that result from burning ‘engineered‘ garbage to be trucked in from New York State.
Longterm, ALCF garbage to be burned would include non-recyclable paper and plastic packaging materials, cardboard/paper sludge, non-recyclable rubber and plastic from automotive manufacturing, nylon tire fluff/belting, waste materials from diaper manufacturers, and wood refuse.
This could also include farm waste.
The impact of all this on quality of life for the surrounding human population will be immense, and could continue for centuries.
The New England settlers of Oxford-on-the-Thames brought with them an early version of the stick and ball game now known as baseball.
This was played in the Great Barrington area in the 1790s, and was a part of the Queen’s Birthday celebrations in pioneer Oxford, as immortalized in the writings of Dr. Ford which gave nearby Beachville its fame as the birthplace of baseball in Canada.
By the 1860s a Canadian championship circuit had been developed from Oxford.
Ingersoll’s team took the title in 1868 and went on to display its prowess in matches against American teams in the 1870s.
By the 1930s Ingersoll had a semi-pro team that recruited Oscar “Lefty” Judd (1908–1995), a phenomenal pitcher from Nissouri Township who helped propel the team to the provincial championship before launching his career as a professional player in the United States.
Lefty appeared in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox (1941 – 1945) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1945 – 1948).
His career totals for 206 games (161 as a pitcher) include a 40–51 record, 99 games started, 43 complete games, 4 shutouts, 32 games finished, and 7 saves.
He allowed 334 earned runs in 771.1 innings pitched for an ERA of 3.90.
As a hitter he was well above average for a pitcher, and was used 42 times as a pinch hitter.
His lifetime batting average was .262 with three home runs, 19 runs batted in, a .322 on base percentage and a slugging average of .356.
He only grounded into two double plays during his entire career.
Judd finished in his league’s top ten five times for wild pitches, leading the National League with eight in 1947.
Judd died in 1995 at the age of 87 in Ingersoll.
Judd was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, in St. Marys, Ontario, in 1986.
Oxford County’s greatest year for organized hockey was arguably the 1954 -1955 season, when the Woodstock Warriors recruited the sensational young Bobby Hull for its Junior B team and went on to win the provincial championship.
His energy was infectious.
Bobby was known to hang out at the pool hall in downtown Ingersoll with the other Warriors.
(Bobby Hull is a Canadian former ice hockey player who is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
His blonde hair, legendary skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot the puck at very high velocity all earned him the name “The Golden Jet“.
His talents were such that one or two opposing players were often assigned just to shadow him—a tribute to his explosiveness.
In his 23 years in the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA), Hull played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Winnipeg Jets, and Hartford Whalers.
He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player twice and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading point scorer three times, while helping the Black Hawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961.
Above: Hart Memorial Trophy
Above: Art Ross Trophy
Above: Stanley Cup
He also led the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets to Avco Cup championships in 1976 and 1978.
He led the NHL in goals seven times, the second most of any player in history, and led the WHA in goals one additional time while being the WHA’s most valuable player two times.
He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame (Toronto) in 1983, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (Toronto) in 1997, and received the Wayne Gretzky International Award in 2003.
In 2017, Hull was named one of the ‘100 Greatest NHL Players‘ in history.)
When bicycling exploded in popularity in the 1890s, the sign of prowess was to complete a ‘century‘ during free time on the weekend, meaning completion of at least 100 miles of travel.
The town’s undisputed all-time great was Doug Carr (1910 – 1994), who made a round-the-world bicycle tour of over 60,000 miles from 1937 to 1939, followed by a speaking tour celebrating the feat, before settling into his career as a book and china store operator in Ingersoll.
In 1937, Douglas Carr (1910 – 1994) travelled from Ingersoll, Ontario to England to be there for the
Coronation of George VI.
Above: King George VI (1895 – 1952)
Once over there, he decided to ride his bicycle further.
That he did, travelling across Europe, Africa, Iran, India, south-east Asia, and China.
He was in Germany as Hitler rose to power.
He met Dale Carnegie in China, a meeting that Carnegie related in his syndicated column.
(Dale Carnegie (1888 – 1955) was an American writer and lecturer, and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills.
Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), a bestseller that remains popular today.
He also wrote How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948), Lincoln the Unknown (1932), and several other books.
One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people’s behavior by changing one’s behavior towards them.)
Carr returned home after a journey of 30 months, in time to enlist for military service during World War II.
He wrote a detailed travel journal, ‘Thirty Moons Around the World’ and created a travelogue of his slide imagery.
The physical artifacts Carr saved are housed at the Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum.
His diaries, photographs and papers from his years of adventure are at the Ontario Archives.
Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944) (née Aimee Kennedy) was born on a farm near nearby Salford.
Raised in the Salvation Army barracks of Ingersoll and converted at an Ingersoll Pentecostal revival, Aimee (age 17) married Robert Semple, a Pentecostal exhorter.
The couple left Ingersoll for the mission fields in China, where her husband died.
Then she remarried – twice in her lifetime.
As part of the Full Gospel Assembly in Chicago, McPherson became known for interpreting glossolalia, translating the words of people speaking in tongues.
Unable to find fulfillment as a housewife, in 1913, McPherson began evangelizing, holding tent revivals across the Sawdust Trail.
(The sawdust trail or the sawdust circuit consisted of a series of temporary buildings or tents used by itinerant ministers for revival meetings.
Tabernacle floors were covered with sawdust to dampen the noise of shuffling feet (as well as for its pleasant smell and its ability to hold down the dust of dirt floors), and coming forward during the invitation became known as “hitting the sawdust trail.”)
McPherson quickly amassed a large following, often having to relocate to larger buildings to accommodate growing crowds.
She emulated the enthusiasm of Pentecostal meetings but avoided their unbridled chaos, in which participants would shout, tremble on the floor, and speak in tongues.
McPherson set up a separate tent area for such displays of religious fervor, which could be off-putting to larger audiences.
In 1916, McPherson embarked on a tour of the Southern United States, and again in 1918 with Mildred Kennedy.
Standing on the back seat of their convertible, McPherson preached sermons over a megaphone.
In 1917, she started a magazine, Bridal Call, for which she wrote articles about women’s roles in religion.
She portrayed the link between Christians and Jesus as a marriage bond.
Along with taking women’s roles seriously, the magazine contributed to transforming Pentecostalism into an ongoing American religious presence.
In Baltimore in 1919 she was first “discovered” by newspapers after conducting evangelistic services at the Lyric Opera House, where she performed faith-healing demonstrations.
During these events the crowds in their religious ecstasy were barely kept under control.
Baltimore became a pivotal point for her early career.
In 1918, McPherson moved to Los Angeles.
Mildred Kennedy rented the 3,500-seat Philharmonic Auditorium, and people waited for hours to get into the crowded venue.
Afterwards, attendees of her meetings built a home for her family.
At this time, Los Angeles was a popular vacation destination.
Rather than touring the United States, McPherson chose to stay in Los Angeles, drawing audiences from both visitors and the city’s burgeoning population.
Her ministry to tourists allowed her message to spread nationwide.
For several years, she traveled and raised money for the construction of a large, domed church in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, named Angelus Temple, in reference to the Angelus bell and to angels.
Not wanting to incur debt, McPherson found a construction firm willing to work with her as funds were raised “by faith“, beginning with $5,000 for the foundation.
McPherson mobilized diverse groups to fund and build the church, by means such as selling chairs for Temple seating.
Raising more money than expected, McPherson altered the plans and built a “megachurch“.
The endeavour cost contributors around $250,000.
Costs were kept down by donations of building materials and labour.
Enrollment grew to over 10,000, and Angelus Temple was advertised as the largest single Christian congregation in the world.
According to church records, the Temple received 40 million visitors within the first seven years.
McPherson intended the Temple as a place of worship and an ecumenical center for all Christian faiths.
A wide range of clergy and laypeople consisted of Methodists, Baptists, the Salvation Army, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Adventists, Quakers, Roman Catholics, Mormons, and secular civic leaders, some of whom were featured as guest speakers.
Because Pentecostalism was unpopular in the United States during the 1920s, McPherson avoided the label.
She practiced speaking-in-tongues and faith healing in her services, but kept the former to a minimum to appease mainstream audiences.
Discarded medical fittings from faith-healing services, such as crutches and wheelchairs, were gathered for display in a museum area.
McPherson also developed “lighthouses” or satellite churches.
Based in Los Angeles, she prospered as a radio evangelist and founder of the Foursquare network of churches.
The premier woman evangelist of her time, sensational in preaching, controversial in her family life.
In her time she was the most publicized Protestant evangelist, surpassing Billy Sunday and other predecessors.
She conducted public faith healing demonstrations involving tens of thousands of participants.
McPherson’s view of the United States as a nation founded and sustained by divine inspiration influenced later pastors.
McPherson developed a church organization to provide for physical as well as spiritual needs.
McPherson mobilized people to get involved in charity and social work, saying that “true Christianity is not only to be good but to do good.”
The Temple collected donations for humanitarian relief including for a Japanese disaster and a German relief fund.
Men released from prison were found jobs by a “brotherhood“.
A “sisterhood” sewed baby clothing for impoverished mothers.
In June 1925, after an earthquake in Santa Barbara McPherson interrupted a radio broadcast to request food, blankets, clothing, and emergency supplies.
Drawing from her childhood experience with the Salvation Army, in 1927 McPherson opened a commissary at Angelus Temple offering food, clothing, and blankets.
She became active in creating soup kitchens, free clinics, and other charitable activities during the Great Depression, and fed an estimated 1.5 million.
Volunteer workers filled commissary baskets with food and other items, as well as Foursquare Gospel literature.
When the government shut down the free school-lunch program, McPherson took it over.
Her giving “alleviated suffering on an epic scale“.
By early 1926, McPherson had become one the most influential women and ministers of her time, influential in many social, educational and political areas.
McPherson crusaded against Darwinian evolution and became a supporter of William Jennings Bryan during the 1925 Scopes trial, about local laws prohibiting the teaching of human evolution.
Bryan and McPherson worked together in the Temple, and they believed that Darwinism undermined morality, “poisoning the minds of the children of the nation.”
McPherson organized an all-night prayer service, preceded by a Bible parade through Los Angeles.
On 18 May 1926, McPherson disappeared from Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica, CA.
Presuming she had drowned, searchers combed the area.
McPherson sightings were reported around the county, often many miles apart.
The Temple received calls and letters claiming knowledge of McPherson, including ransom demands.
After weeks of unpromising leads, Mildred Kennedy believed her daughter to be dead.
As the Temple was preparing a memorial service, on 23 June, Kennedy received a phone call from Douglas, Arizona.
McPherson was alive in a Douglas hospital, and relating her story to officials.
McPherson said that at the beach she had been approached by a couple who wanted her to pray over their sick child.
After walking with them to their car, she was shoved inside.
A cloth laced with a drug was held against her face, causing her to pass out.
Eventually, she was moved to a shack in the Mexican desert.
When her captors were away, McPherson escaped out a window and traveled through the desert for 11–13 hours and an estimated 20 miles (32 km), reaching Agua Prieta, Sonora, a Mexican border town, at around 1:00 a.m.
Collapsing near a house, the evangelist was taken by locals to adjacent Douglas.
Her return to Los Angeles was greeted by 50,000 people, a greater turnout than President Woodrow Wilson’s 1919 visit to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles prosecutors had varying theories why she disappeared, among them a publicity stunt, and finally contended that McPherson ran off with a former employee, Kenneth Ormiston, staying with him in a California resort town cottage he had rented.
After leaving the cottage at the end of May, the pair traveled for the next three weeks and remained hidden.
Around 22 June, Ormiston drove McPherson to Mexico, dropping her off three miles outside of nearby Agua Prieta, where she walked the remaining distance.
In contrast, McPherson consistently maintained her kidnapping story, and defense witnesses corroborated her assertions.
Much of the evidence asserted against McPherson came from reporters, who passed it on to police.
The bulk of the investigation against McPherson was funded by Los Angeles-area newspapers at an estimated amount of $500,000.
The secrecy of California’s grand jury proceedings was ignored by both sides as the Los Angeles prosecution passed new developments to the press, while the evangelist used her radio station to broadcast her side of the story.
On 3 November, the case was to be moved to jury trial set for January 1927, charging McPherson, her mother, and other defendants with criminal conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice.
If convicted, McPherson faced a maximum prison time of 42 years.
However, the prosecution’s case developed credibility issues.
Witnesses changed testimonies and evidence often appeared to have suspicious origins or was mishandled and lost in custody.
On 2 January, Ormiston identified another woman as the companion who stayed with him at the cottage.
All charges against McPherson and associated parties were dropped for the lack of evidence on 10 January.
However, months of unfavorable news reports produced enduring public belief in McPherson’s wrongdoing.
Allegations of love affairs directed against McPherson started during the 1926 kidnapping trial.
Suspected lovers generally denied involvement.
Alarmed by her style of dress and involvement with Hollywood, a Temple official hired detectives in 1929 to shadow McPherson.
The detectives found no evidence of affairs.
After McPherson’s death, unsubstantiated allegations of affairs continued to emerge.
Canadian journalist Gordon Sinclair claimed a 1934 affair in his autobiography.
Above: Gordon Sinclair (1900 – 1984)
Another claim by comedian Milton Berle alleged a brief affair with the evangelist.
Berle asserted that he met McPherson in Los Angeles where both were doing a charity show.
Another book by Berle published during McPherson’s life did not claim an affair.
Biographer Matthew Sutton asserted that Berle’s story of a crucifix in McPherson’s bedroom was inconsistent with the coolness of Pentecostal-Catholic relations during that era.
Other contradictions in Milton Berle’s story were noted as well.
During that period, from publications, church and travel records, the evangelist’s appearances and whereabouts could be traced almost every day, and there was no record of the charity show Berle alleged.
Above: Milton Berle (1908 – 2002)
McPherson had her own charities.
Moreover, she was incapacitated with illness a full five months of that year.
By 1931, McPherson kept herself chaperoned to guard against allegations.
After the kidnapping, McPherson remained nationally famous and continued her ministry, but fell out of press favor.
The media, which once dubbed her a “miracle worker“, focused on disturbances in her household, including difficulties with her mother.
Despite this, up to 10% of the population in Los Angeles held Temple membership, and movie studios competed to offer her contracts.
Believing that film had the potential to transform Christianity, McPherson explored Hollywood culture and appeared in newsreels alongside Mary Pickford (1892 – 1979), Frances Perkins (1880 – 1965) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945).
Above: Mary Pickford
Above: Frances Perkins
Above: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
She lost weight, cut and dyed her hair, began to wear makeup and jewelry, and became known for stylish dress.
This solicitation of fame was off-putting to some church members who preferred her former uniform of a navy cape over a white servant’s dress.
In 1927, McPherson set out on a “vindication tour“, taking advantage of the publicity from her kidnapping story to preach.
She even visited nightclubs, including Texas Guinan’s speakeasy, where she addressed the crowd.
Above: Texas Guinan (1884 – 1933)
Her visits to bars added to McPherson’s notoriety:
Newspapers reported heavily on them.
Rumours erroneously implied she was drinking, smoking and dancing.
Mildred Kennedy did not agree with McPherson’s strategy of tearing down barriers between the secular and religious.
In 1927, Kennedy left the Temple, along with other church members including 300 members of the choir.
Attempting to curtail her daughter’s influence, Kennedy initiated a staff-member confidence vote against McPherson, but lost.
The two had argued over management and McPherson’s changing dress and appearance.
Kennedy’s administrative skills had been crucial to growing McPherson’s ministry and maintaining Temple activities.
A series of management staff replaced Kennedy, and the Temple became involved in various unsuccessful projects such as hotel building, cemetery plots, and land sales, plummeting into debt. In response to the difficulties,
In 1928, after a dam failed and the ensuing flood left up to 600 dead, McPherson’s church led the relief effort.
Kennedy returned in 1929, but because of continued disagreements with McPherson, resigned again in July 1930.
The following month, McPherson suffered a physical and nervous breakdown.
For 10 months, she was absent from the pulpit, diagnosed with acute acidosis.
When she returned, she introduced her “Attar of Roses” sermon, based on the Song of Solomon.
In the 1930s McPherson and the Foursquare Gospel Church explored pacifism, a component of Pentecostalism.
McPherson also considered Gandhi’s views on pacifism, and Clinton Howard, chairman of the World Peace Commission, was invited to speak at the Temple.
In October 1931 McPherson held a revival in Boston, a city with large Unitarian, Episcopalian, and Catholic populations, traditionally hostile to Pentecostal messages.
On opening night, McPherson spoke to fewer than 5,000 in the 22,000-seat sports arena.
The following day, her campaign’s tone shifted and attendance climbed sharply.
The final day of afternoon and evening services saw 40,000 people attending, exceeding the stadium venue’s capacity and breaking attendance records.
McPherson’s revival in New York City was less fruitful due to her sensationalistic reputation.
McPherson went on to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia, and visited 21 states.
A full crew of musicians, scene designers, and costumers accompanied McPherson.
In 1932, she promoted disarmament.
Foursquare leaders, alarmed at rapid changes in military technology, drew up an amendment inclusive of varied opinions on military service.
Two views were held acceptable:
McPherson monitored international events leading up to the Second World War, believing that the Apocalypse and the Second Coming of Christ were at hand.
Above: The bombing of Guernica, Spain, in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939), sparked fears abroad in Europe that the next war would be based on bombing of cities with very high civilian casualties.
In 1932, the commissary was raided by police, allegedly to locate a still used to make brandy out of donated apricots.
As a consequence, the commissary was briefly shut down, and the staff was let go.
However, students from her Foursquare Gospel Church’s L.I.F.E. Bible College filled in.
As McPherson refused to categorize the “deserving” from the “undeserving” her temple commissary became known as an effective and inclusive aid institution, assisting more families than other public or private institutions.
Because her programs aided nonresidents such as migrants from other states and Mexico, she ran afoul of California state regulations.
Though temple guidelines were later officially adjusted to accommodate those policies, helping families in need was a priority, regardless of their place of residence.
In 1933, an earthquake struck and devastated Long Beach.
McPherson quickly arranged for volunteers offering blankets, coffee, and doughnuts.
McPherson persuaded fire and police departments to assist in distribution.
Doctors, physicians, and dentists staffed her free clinic that trained nurses to treat children and the elderly.
To prevent the power from being turned off to homes of overdue accounts during the winter, a cash reserve was set up with the utility company.
In her last national revival tour, 1933–1934, two million persons heard 336 sermons.
The Boston Evening Traveler newspaper reported:
Aimee’s religion is a religion of joy.
There is happiness in it.
Her voice is easy to listen to.
She does not appeal to the brain and try to hammer religion into the heads of her audience.
Fundamentally she takes the whole Bible literally, from cover to cover.
McPherson was not a radical literalist.
She believed that the creation story in the book of Genesis allowed great latitude of interpretation, and did not insist on young Earth creationism.
In another meeting with students, McPherson heard an assertion that Christianity had outlived its usefulness.
The encounter persuaded her to travel and gain new perspectives.
In 1935, McPherson embarked on a six-month world tour, partly to study the women’s movement in connection with India’s independence struggle and speak with Mahatma Gandhi, who gave her a sari made on his spinning wheel.
Above: Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)
Impressed with Gandhi, McPherson thought he might secretly lean toward Christianity.
Other highlights included visiting Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar, hearing Benito Mussolini speak in Italy, and sitting on a wrecked military vehicle on a still-uncleared WW1 battlefield in Verdun, France.
Above: Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar
Above: Benito Mussolini (1883 – 1945)
Above: World War 1 cemetery, Verdun
McPherson’s political alignment was undisclosed.
She endorsed Herbert Hoover, but threw support behind Franklin D. Roosevelt and his social programs after his election.
Above: Herbert Hoover (1874 – 1964)
She patronized organized labour, but was more cautious when labour strikes resulted in violence, and worried about Communism’s influence in labour unions.
McPherson opposed both Communism and fascism as totalitarian rule divine authority.
McPherson did not align herself consistently with a broad conservative or liberal political agenda, but wanted Christianity to occupy a central place in national life.
The Foursquare Gospel Church currently qualifies the evangelist’s views “in light of the political and religious climate of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s“, drawing a contrast between her approach and “today’s extreme fundamentalist, right-wing Christianity.”
She was also among the first prominent Christian ministers to support the establishment of a Jewish homeland.
McPherson reassigned staff in an effort to address the Temple’s financial difficulties.
This worsened tensions among staff members.
Rumors circulated that charismatic evangelist Rheba Crawford Splivalo, who had been working with McPherson for years, planned to take the Temple from her.
McPherson asked Splivalo to “leave town“.
In the course of the staff controversy, McPherson’s lawyer issued a strongly worded press release that upset Roberta Star Semple, McPherson’s daughter, and led her to initiate a $150,000 slander lawsuit against him.
Splivalo also sued McPherson for $1,080,000 because of alleged statements calling her a Jezebel and a Judas.
The two lawsuits filed by Semple and Splivalo were unrelated, but McPherson saw both as part of the Temple takeover plot.
McPherson’s mother sided with Roberta Semple, making unflattering statements about McPherson to the press.
McPherson’s defense in a public trial was dramatic and theatrical.
She testified tearfully about how her daughter conspired against her.
Her daughter’s lawyer, meanwhile, mocked McPherson by imitating her mannerisms.
The trial estranged McPherson from her daughter.
The judge ruled for Semple, giving a $2,000 judgment in her favor.
Semple then moved to New York.
Splivalo and the Temple settled their suit out of court for the “cause of religion and the good of the community.“
Above: McPherson’s daughter, Roberta Semple (left); McPherson (middle); and Rheba Crawford Splivalo, assistant pastor of Angelus Temple (right), at a parade in 1935
With Kennedy, Semple, and Splivalo gone, the Temple lost much of its leadership.
However, McPherson found a new administrator in Giles Knight, who brought the Temple out of debt, disposed of 40 or so lawsuits, and eliminated spurious projects.
He sequestered McPherson, allowed her to receive only a few personal visitors, and regulated her activities outside the Temple.
This period was one of unprecedented creativity for McPherson.
No longer distracted by reporters and lawsuits, she developed her illustrative sermon style.
The irreligious Charles Chaplin secretly attended her services, and she later consulted with Chaplin on ways to improve her presentations.
McPherson’s public image improved.
Above: Charlie Chaplin (1889 – 1977)
Her adversary, Robert P. Shuler, who previously attacked her, proclaimed that “Aimee’s missionary work was the envy of Methodists“.
He also expressed his support of her Foursquare Church’s 1943 application for admittance into National Association of Evangelicals for United Action.
Above: Robert P. Shuler (1880 – 1965)
All-night prayer meetings were held at the Temple starting in 1940 as Germany occupied Europe.
She asked other Foursquare churches around the country to follow suit.
She sent President Franklin Roosevelt’s secretary, Stephen Early, an outline of her plans, and various officials expressed appreciation, including the governor of California.
Above: Stephen T. Early (1889 – 1951)
At the outbreak of World War II, McPherson rejected the Christian pacifism popular in the Pentecostal movement, saying that:
“It is the Bible against Mein Kampf.
It is the cross against the Swastika.
This is no time for pacifism.”
The Temple itself became a symbol of homefront sacrifice for the war effort.
Its white dome was painted black and its stained-glass windows covered in anticipation of air raids.
To advertise the need to conserve gasoline and rubber, McPherson drove a horse and buggy to the Temple.
Rubber and other drives were organized, and unlimited airtime on her radio station, was given to the Office of War Information.
She asked listeners to donate two hours a day for such tasks as rolling bandages.
Money was raised to provide military bases with comfortable furnishings and radios.
Newsweek published an article about McPherson, “The World’s Greatest Living Minister” in 1943, noting that she had collected 2,800 pints of blood for the Red Cross.
Servicemen in her audience are especially honored, and the climax of her church services is when she reads the National Anthem.
McPherson gave visiting servicemen autographed Bibles.
She wrote:
What a privilege it was to invite the servicemen present in every Sunday night meeting to come to the platform, where I greeted them, gave each one a New Testament, and knelt in prayer with them for their spiritual needs.
She insulted Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) and Hideki Tojo, and became involved in war bond rallies.
Above: He Who Must Not Be Named
Above: Hideki Tojo (1884 – 1948)
McPherson sold $150,000 worth of bonds in one hour in 1942, breaking previous records, then repeated the performance in 1944.
The US Treasury awarded her a special citation and the army made McPherson an honorary colonel.
Her wartime activities included sermons linking the church and patriotism.
She felt that if the Allies did not prevail, churches, homes, and everything dear to Christians would be destroyed.
McPherson’s embrace of the total war strategy of the United States left her open to some criticism.
The line between the church as an independent moral authority monitoring government became blurred.
Japanese Americans’ internment in relocation camps was overlooked, and she refused to allow her denomination to support Christians who remained pacifist.
Church members and leaders were expected to be willing to take up arms.
The pacifist clause, by her proposal, was eliminated by the Foursquare Gospel Church.
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Her efforts toward interracial revival continued.
She welcomed black people into the congregation and pulpit.
While race riots burned Detroit in 1943, McPherson publicly converted the black former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson on the Temple stage and embraced him.
Above: Jack Johnson (1878 – 1946)
On 26 September 1944, McPherson went to Oakland, California, for a series of revivals, planning to preach her popular “Story of My Life” sermon.
When McPherson’s son went to her hotel room at 10:00 the next morning, he found her unconscious with pills and a half-empty bottle of capsules nearby.
She was dead by 11:15.
It was later discovered that she had called her doctor that morning complaining of feeling ill from the medicine, but he was in surgery.
She then phoned another doctor who referred her to yet another physician.
However, McPherson lost consciousness before the third could be contacted.
The autopsy did not conclusively determine the cause of McPherson’s death.
She had been taking sleeping pills following numerous health problems.
Among the pills found in the hotel room was the barbiturate Seconal, a strong sedative which had not been prescribed for her.
It was unknown how she obtained them.
The coroner said she most likely died of an accidental overdose compounded by kidney failure.
The cause of death was listed as unknown.
Given the circumstances, there was speculation about suicide, but most sources generally agree the overdose was accidental.
Forty-five thousand people waited in long lines, some until 2 a.m., to file past the evangelist, whose body lay in state for three days at the Temple.
It later took 11 trucks to transport the $50,000 worth of flowers to the cemetery.
Though they had left McPherson’s employ on bad terms, her former assistant pastor Rheba Crawford Splivalo, daughter Roberta, and her mother Mildred Kennedy were also in attendance.
An observer, Marcus Bach, wrote:
A thousand ministers of the Foursquare Gospel paid their tearful tribute.
The curious stood by impressed.
The poor who had always been fed at Angelus were there, the lost who had been spirit-filled, the healed, the faithful here they were eager to immortalize the Ontario farm girl who loved the Lord.
Millions of dollars passed through McPherson’s hands.
However, when her personal estate was calculated, it amounted to $10,000.
To her daughter, Roberta, went $2,000.
The remainder to her son Rolf.
By contrast, her mother Mildred Kennedy had a 1927 severance settlement of as much as $200,000 in cash and property.
The Foursquare Church itself was worth $2.8 million.
McPherson is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Following her death, the Foursquare Gospel church denomination was led for 44 years by her son Rolf McPherson.
The church claims a membership of over 7.9 million worldwide.
After her death, the largely negative aspect of her media image persisted and became the dominant factor in defining McPherson for many in the public.
Robert P. Shuler, whose caustic view of McPherson softened over the years, wrote that McPherson’s flaws were many, yet she ultimately made a positive lasting impact on Christianity.
He recognized her appeal as a combination of identifying with average citizens and an ability to preach in simple terms.
Her legacy continued through the thousands of ministers she trained and churches planted worldwide.
McPherson helped to reshape evangelical Christianity faith, making it relevant to American culture and personally involving for listeners.
McPherson was the subject of or inspiration for numerous books, periodicals, films, and plays.
Characters who were modeled on McPherson included Sharon Falconer in Sinclair Lewis’ novel Elmer Gantry (played by Jean Simmons in the film adaptation), faith-healing evangelist Big Sister in Nathaniel West’s The Day of the Locust (played by Geraldine Page in the film adaptation) and Upton Sinclair’s Eli Watkins, a corrupt small-town minister.
They were all based on events which occurred in her life.
A musical titled AIMEE!, by Patrick Young and Bob Ashley was played in 1981.
Two musicals about McPherson, Scandalous and Saving Aimee, both by Kathie Lee Gifford, David Friedman and David Pomeranz, were produced, the former was performed on Broadway, with McPherson being portrayed by Carolee Carmello.
An Evangelist Drowns (2007), a one-woman play based on McPherson’s life, includes fictionalized accounts of relationships with Charlie Chaplin and David Hutton.
Spit Shine Glisten (2013), loosely based on the life of McPherson, was performed at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.
The musical Vanishing Point, written by Rob Hartmann, Liv Cummins, and Scott Keys, intertwines the lives of evangelist McPherson, aviator Amelia Earhart, and mystery writer Agatha Christie.
It was included in the 2010–2011 season at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh.
Frank Capra’s film The Miracle Woman (1931), starring Barbara Stanwyck, was based on John Meehan’s play Bless You, Sister, which was reportedly inspired by McPherson’s life.
A television film about the events which surrounded her 1926 disappearance, The Disappearance of Aimee (1976), starred Faye Dunaway as McPherson and Bette Davis as her mother.
The movie Sister Aimee (2019), starring Amy Hargreaves, is a fictional account of McPherson’s 1926 disappearance.
Alfred Lucking (1853–1925), James Thompson McCleary (1853–1925), and Frank McDonough (1846–1904) were “Ingersoll Old Boys” who made good in the United States.
In 1904, Lucking was a Democratic Congressman for Detroit, McCleary was a Republican Congressman for Minnesota, and McDonough was a Wisconsin State Senator.
On meeting each other on the floor of Congress, Lucking and McCleary discovered that they had been born within two blocks of each other, in Ingersoll.
“Forty years ago,” recalled McCleary, who had been educated in the Ingersoll high school, “I knew and was known by nearly every person in Ingersoll, my native town.”
Above: James Thompson McCleary (1853 – 1924)
Lucking, not so much:
His parents moved to Michigan when he was aged two.
Above: Alfred Lucking (1856 – 1929)
McDonough moved to Wisconsin at age 17.
In the 21st century, heavy manufacturing is Ingersoll’s largest industry, including CAMI Automotive, a General Motors car manufacturing plant, originally a joint venture established in 1986 with Suzuki Motors of Canada, that has produced millions of vehicles.
Ingersoll is twinned with Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
In my mind, Ingersoll is tinged with uncertainty.
What should one believe?
I cannot disprove the existence of the Great Pumpkin, Santa Claus, the Big Cheese, or God.
Do they therefore exist?
Can I believe in following the examples of Laura Secord, Doug Carr, Lefty Judd, Bobby Hull?
Or are their legends larger than life?
Can success emerge from wee places or is success separate from one’s environment?
Is the past worth preserving?
Can the future survive?
The quiet station offers no answers.
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Sunday 13 December 2020
There is a creative essential I have learned:
“Don’t wait until you know the meaning of life to get started.“
And there is a secret I have learned:
One day a famous artist, who was much younger than he is now, picked up a call from a collector who had acquired one of his early paintings on the secondary market.
Having kept the work in storage ever since, the collector only recently discovered that there was a small area of cracked paint in the corner of the canvas, which did not look so good.
Before returning the painting to storage, the collector thought he would contact the artist and ask him whether, for a modest fee, he would repair the damage.
The artist said yes.
A few days later, the painting arrived at the artist’s studio.
Still in its wooden packing crate, the art handlers heaved the large-format painting up against a wall and removed the front panel so the painting faced outwards and could be worked on.
Looking at the painting, the artist realized two things:
First of all, he didn’t like the work any more.
It was not how he remembered it.
Secondly, in order to repair the damage, the artist decided he might as well rework the entire surface and blend in any cracks, making them less visible.
Over the course of the day, he applied layer after layer of fresh paint, turning a monochromatic abstract work into a representative image of a cow in a field.
Not even a good representation.
The next day, the art handlers retunred to the artist’s studio, closed the crate back up again, and the painting – now completely different – was carted off to storage.
Years have since passed and the artist has yet to hear from the collector….
From the blog of Mitch Teemley, Saturday 6 June 2020:
“It is easy to vilify names, faces and images.
Online.
On social media.
In the news – real, fake or a mix of both.
The only way to know the truth is to know someone.
To listen, to learn and to care for them despite what we thought we knew.
May we ignore the sound bites and discover the real, hurting, angry misunderstood people in our midst.
Only then will there be true healing….”
Kingston to Napanee, Ontario, Canada, Thursday 9 January 2020
The news was not good this day.
(On 8 May 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal, reinstating sanctions against Iran.
Iran’s oil production hit a historic low as a result of these sanctions.
Above: JCPOA Iran nuclear deal agreement in Vienna. From left to right: Foreign ministers/secretaries of state Wang Yi (China), Laurent Fabius (France), Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Germany), Federica Mogherini (EU), Mohammad Javad Zarif (Iran), Philip Hammond (UK), John Kerry (USA)
According to the BBC in April 2019, US sanctions against Iran “led to a sharp downturn in Iran’s economy, pushing the value of its currency to record lows, quadrupling its annual inflation rate, driving away foreign investors, and triggering protests“.
Iranian officials have accused the US of waging hybrid warfare against the country.
Above: Flag of Iran
Tensions between Iran and the US escalated in May 2019, with the U.S. deploying more military assets to the Persian Gulf region after receiving intelligence reports of an alleged “campaign” by Iran and its “proxies” to threaten US forces and Strait of Hormuz oil shipping.
US officials cited intelligence reports that included photographs of missiles on dhows and other small boats in the Persian Gulf, supposedly put there by Iranian paramilitary forces.
The US feared the missiles could be fired at its Navy.
The US began a buildup of its military presence in the region to deter what it regards as a planned campaign of belligerency by Iran and its non-state allies to attack American forces and interests in the Gulf and Iraq.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and Kata’ib Hezbollah were targeted by US airstrikes, claiming their proxy belligerent role on the orders of Iran.
Above: Flag of the PMF
Above: Logo of the Kata’ib Hezbollah
In June 2019, Iran shot down an American RQ-4A surveillance drone, sharply increasing tensions and nearly resulting in an armed confrontation.
In July 2019, an Iranian oil tanker was seized by Britain in the Strait of Gibraltar on the grounds that it was shipping oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
Above: Strait of Gibraltar (Spain on the left / Morocco on the right looking east to the Mediterranean Sea)
Iran later captured a British oil tanker and its crew members in the Persian Gulf.
Both Iran and the UK later released the ships.
Meanwhile, the US created the International Maritime Security Council (IMSC), which sought to increase “overall surveillance and security in key waterways in the Middle East“, according to the US Department of Defense.
The crisis escalated in late 2019 and early 2020 when members of the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, which is part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, allegedly killed an American contractor in an attack on an Iraqi base hosting American personnel.
In retaliation, the US conducted airstrikes against Kata’ib Hezbollah’s facilities in Iraq and Syria, killing 25 militiamen.
Kata’ib Hezbollah responded with an attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad, which prompted the US to deploy hundreds of new troops to the Middle East and announce that it would preemptively target Iran’s “proxies” in Iraq.
Days later, the commander of IRGC’s Ouds Force Oasem Soleimani and PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were both killed in a US drone strike, resulting in Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pledging to exact revenge on US forces.
The US deployed nearly 4,000 troops in response to the tensions and Israel heightened its security levels.
On 5 January 2020, Iran ended its commitments to the nuclear deal and the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution to expel all foreign troops from its territory.
Above: Coat of arms of Iran
The US and Iran nearly entered into an open conflict on 8 January 2020 when the IRGC launched missile attacks against two US / Iraqi military bases housing US soldiers in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani, a rare direct Iran–U.S. confrontation and the closest to the brink of war between the two nations in decades.
Upon initial assessments of no US casualties, the Trump administration curtailed tensions by temporarily ruling out a direct military response but announcing new sanctions.
It was later revealed that more than a hundred US troops sustained injuries during the attacks.
Above: Satellite image, showing the damage to at least five structures at Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq in a series of precision missile strikes launched by Iran
During the crisis, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down after departing from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport.)
![According to a May 2017 report by the Tehran-based newspaper Financial Tribune, over 20,000 people are killed and 800,000 injured annually in road accidents in Iran [File: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/f577fa11692848f695ed62497e8e746f_18.jpeg?resize=770%2C513)
Above: According to a May 2017 report by the Tehran-based newspaper Financial Tribune, over 20,000 people are killed and 800,000 injured annually in road accidents in Iran
Above. Carlos Ghosn
Are we on the brink of another war?
Is Ghosan innocent as he claims or a thief and a fraud as he is accused?
Is Britain going to continue with its insane decision to leave the EU?
Lots of questions fill my mind as the train pulls into Kingston’s VIA Rail station in the Cataraqui suburban area.
The station is staffed, with ticket sales, baggage check, snack bar, vending machines, telephones, washrooms, and wheelchair access to the station and trains.
There are two tracks, one of which is accessed through a tunnel.
Short-term and long-term parking is available on the east side of the station.
A taxi stand is located on the north side of the station.
At the platform Big J S, Queen V S and cabbie A are waiting.
A (a friend of the S family) is not there to drive me to Napanee, but she is working the station today.
The Napanee sadness has begun and I am not even in Napanee as yet.
A is one of those people in my life that I must accept because those I know more intimately accept them.
I think everyone has folks like A in their lives and I am sure that I am like A as other people see me.
I never know how to respond to A, for truth be told A is a bit too plebian for my liking.
She speaks her mind, her opinions are fixed and she does not belong in my life any more than a goat belongs in a banquet hall.
But I say nothing of this to A, Big J or Queen V, for A is good-hearted despite her manner.
I feel the Napanee sadness, which is that feeling of not belonging to the place where I am, despite the longing to fit in.
Above: Dundas Street, Napanee
We drive into Kingston to pick up Princess K S (Big J and Queen V‘s only child) at the apartment she shares with a roommate and K‘s cat.
The apartment is a dark, dank disaster zone of dirt and decay, feline feces, feminine frenzy and chaotic clutter.
I look at the Family S and I am saddened.
Big J is age-weary, Queen V is frumpy, Princess K tragic.
They once again strike me as a sad and sorry travesty of lost potential.
But I wonder are they truly as I see them or am I putting my own doubts and fears upon them unjustifiably?
Either way I feel that I have stumbled into a pathetic purgatory of lost souls seeking salvation.
You look like… a perfect fit,
For a girl in need… of a tourniquet.
But can you save me?
Come on and save me…
If you could save me,
From the ranks of the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone.
‘Cause I can tell… you know what it’s like.
A long farewell… of the hunger strike.
But can you save me?
Come on and save me…
If you could save me,
From the ranks of the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone.
You struck me dumb, like radium
Like Peter Pan, or Superman,
You have come… to save me.
Come on and save me…
If you could save me,
From the ranks of the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone,
Except the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone,
But the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone.
Come on and save me…
Why don’t you save me?
If you could save me,
From the ranks of the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone,
Except the freaks,
Who suspect they could never love anyone,
Except the freaks,
Who could never love anyone.
I want to love this family whom I have known for much of my life (and certainly Princess K‘s life).
I feel I want to help and yet I am held back by an inner voice that cautions me not to judge others, not to tell others how to live their lives by my standards.
K‘s cat M is pushed into a cat carrier which she (the cat) does not like.
The car faithfully ferries us out of town along King’s Highway #2.
King’s Highway 2, commonly referred to as Highway 2, is the lowest-numbered provincially maintained highway in Ontario (there is no numbered Ontario Highway 1) and was originally part of a series of identically numbered highways in multiple provinces which together once joined Windsor, Ontario to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Formerly the primary east–west route across the southern portion of Ontario, most of Highway 2 in Ontario was bypassed by Ontario Highway 401, completed in 1968.
Virtually all of the 837.4 km (520.3 mi) length of Highway 2 was deemed a local route and removed from the provincial highway system on 1 January 1998, with the exception of a 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) section east of Gananoque.
The entire route remains driveable, but as County Road 2 or County Highway 2 in most regions.
County Road 2 takes us through Loyalist Township and the towns of Odessa and Ernestown.
Odessa, originally named Millcreek, was renamed in 1855 by its postmaster to commemorate the 1854 British siege of the Black Sea port at Odessa in the Ukraine during the Crimean War (1853 – 1856).
Above: Images of Odessa, Ukraine
The village is home to Ernestown Secondary School, which services about 650 students from Loyalist Township (formerly Ernestown Township), Napanee and Stone Mills.
Ernestown Secondary School (ESS) is a Canadian public, comprehensive school located in Odessa.
The school services about 450 students from Loyalist Township, Napanee and Stone Mills.
The town is in the eastern Ontario county of Lennox and Addington approximately 24 kilometers west of the city of Kingston.
The school offers classes for students in grades nine through twelve and is a member school of the Limestone District School Board.
The school motto at ESS is Amor Doctrinae Floreat (Let the love of learning flourish.)
Above: Ernestown Secondary School
As we drive through Odessa, I think of how similar-looking this school is to Laurentian Regional High School where I did my secondary studies in Lachute, Québec.
Both were built in the 1960s and one almost wonders if they were designed and built by the same architect.
My thoughts turn to Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands) and ESS alumni Aaron René Doornekamp, born in Napanee of Dutch heritage.
Doornekamp is a professional basketball player for Iberostar Tenerife of the Liga ACB.
He was one of the greatest players in the history of the Carleton University Ravens men’s college basketball team (2004 – 2009).
Above: Logo of the Carleton Ravens
(In men’s basketball, the Ravens have won 15 of the last 18 national men’s championships, more than any top division college in Canada or the United States.
The Ravens went on an 87-game winning streak from 2003 to 2006.
They also had a 54-game home winning streak.
The Ravens finished 2nd in the World University Basketball Championships in 2004.)
Doornekamp is also a member of the senior Canadian men’s national team.
At a height of 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) tall, he can play at both the small forward and power forward positions, with power forward being his main position.
I wonder:
Had my folks been not so stingy with letting me join the basketball team in Lachute (10 km away from where we lived in Marelan, which meant having to pick me up by car and fuel costs money) would I have had a sports career as successful as Doornekamp’s?
Like Doornekamp, I too towered over my classmates (6 ft 5 in) and still tower over the heads of many.
Did Doornekamp experience similar emotions to mine in his school years?
Above: Logo of my alma mater, Laurentian Regional High School
After finishing his college career, Doornekamp signed his first pro contract in Italy, with Pepsi Caserta (Campagna, Italy – the toe of the boot that is the Italian peninsula).
He played three years with the club.
Above: Logo of Pepsi Caserta
While sidelined with injury in the 2012 – 2013 season, Doornekamp was the assistant coach of the McMaster Marauders men’s basketball team.
Above: Logo of the McMaster Marauders, Hamilton, Ontario
In August 2013, he signed with the New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig (Germany).
In June 2014, he parted ways with them.
Above: Logo (2006 – 2014)
(New Yorker, despite the American-sounding name, is a German clothing retailer headquartered in Braunschweig that primarily addresses the target group of 12- to 39-year-olds.)
On 29 June 2014, he signed with the German club Skyliners of Frankfurt, for the 2014 – 2015 season.
He won the European-wide 3rd-tier level FIBA Europe Cup’s 2015 – 2016 season championship with the team.
In June 2016, Doornekamp left Germany, to sign with the Spanish team Iberostar Tenerife.
He won the Basketball Champions League’s 2016 – 2017 season championship with the team.
He was also named to the BCL Star Lineup Best Team.
Above: Logo of Iberostar Tenerife
On 27 June 2017, Doornekamp officially opted out of his contract with the Spanish team.
The same day, he signed a two-year contract with Valencia Basket.
On July 8, 2019, Doornekamp re-signed with Valencia Basket for another season.
He re-signed with Iberostar Tenerife on 15 July 2020.
With Canada’s senior team, he played at the following tournaments:
Doornekamp was married on 13 July 2013, in Burlington, Ontario, to Jasmyn Richardson.
The couple has two children.
Above: Brant Street, Burlington, Ontario
I wonder:
Beyond height, would Doornekamp and I have much in common to talk about if our paths ever crossed?
Is Doornekamp’s home in Tenerife filled with trophies and medals and memorablia of past athletic achievements like my sprinter cousin’s home?
How must it be for Jasmyn and their children?
Another ESS alumni is Adnan Virk, a Canadian sportscaster for MLB Network and DAZN.
He previously worked for ESPN and TSN.
Virk also produces and hosts the weekly podcast Cinephile with Adnan Virk show covering cinema news and interviews with entertainment celebrities, as well as co-hosts the football podcast The GM Shuffle with former NFL executive Michael Lombardi.
Virk was born in Toronto to Zakaria and Taherah Virk, who immigrated to Canada from Pakistan.
In 1984 the family relocated to Kingston, then in 1989 to Morven, a small town just outside Kingston, where his parents owned and operated a gas station and Zack’s Variety store.
After graduating from Ernestown Secondary School, where he played basketball and soccer, Virk studied Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University in Toronto.
Above: Logo of Ryerson University
From 2003 to 2009, Virk hosted several programs on The Score and was an associate producer for Sportscentre at TSN.
Above: Logo of the Score (2002 – 2013)
He was also the co-host of Omniculture and Bollywood Boulevard at Omni Television.
In 2009, he joined Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) as a host and reporter for Raptors TV, Leafs TV and Gol TV Canada.
In April 2010, Virk joined the ESPN family of stations in Bristol, Connecticut.
After joining ESPN, he became one of three main anchors for Baseball Tonight.
During 2014 spring training, he began calling play-by-play for an ESPN affiliate.
In the baseball off-season, he hosted SportsCenter and Outside the Lines.
He would also fill in for Keith Olbermann on Olbermann.
Above: Keith Olbermann
He was the host of a movie podcast Cinephile on ESPN.
In addition, he was also the main studio host for ESPN College Football and also hosted College Football Final.
On 3 February 2019, Virk was fired following an investigation regarding leaks of ESPN information to the media.
Virk and ESPN later agreed not to pursue litigation against each other.
In March 2019, it was announced that Virk would host the new MLB studio program ChangeUp for DAZN, a subscription streaming media service based in London.
In addition, Virk appears on MLB Network.
He also hosts boxing events.
Virk was born to a Pakistani Canadian Ahmadi Muslim family and considers himself a practicing Muslim.
He lives in New Jersey with his wife Eamon, whom he married in 2007.
They have four sons.
ESS has spawned not only athletes or those who cover athletic performance, but as well Gord Downie (1964 – 2017) of the Tragically Hip, and Brett Emmons of the Glorious Sons were alumni of this school in the middle of Nowhere.
(The Tragically Hip’s final tour’s final concert was held at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, on 20 August 2016, and was broadcast and streamed live by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on television, radio and on the Internet.
It was viewed by an estimated 11.7 million people.
Even I, living in distant Switzerland, heard about this final concert and the demise of Downie to brain cancer on 17 October 2017.)
Above: Gord Downie, 2013
Thoughts of Doornekamp and Virk, Downie and Emmons, remind me that a person can rise above their origins no matter how humble the start.
The township offices and fire hall on Odessa’s Main Street do not suggest fame and fortune nor do they whisper much of a world far beyond Loyalist Township.
There is nothing to my Canadian eyes in Odessa, Ontario, that suggests the exotic.
The quiet streets of Odessa do not feel pregnant with promise.
Above: Odessa’s Main Street
There is a small fairground.
An Ontario Provincial Police detachment serves Highway 401 and home to the Tactics and Rescue Unit of Eastern Ontario.
The water supply of the community of Odessa within the Township of Ernestown was studied in 1972, which led to the planning of infrastructure improvements.
The highest point in the village is the water tower.
Visible for several kilometres in all directions, the water tower has been outfitted as a wireless communications facility.
The village bills itself as “home of the Babcock Mill“, which historically was powered by Millhaven Creek which runs through the heart of Odessa.
The Babcock Mill planing mill and basket factory is the last standing mill, of three, at this Odessa historical site.
Known for its “Babcock baskets”, you can see where John Babcock’s designed and patented basket-making machinery in the early 1900s.
Built in 1856, this historical three-mill site once included a woolen mill (on Factory Street) and a saw mill.
Above. Babcock Mill
Napanee is a town of nearly 16,000 people, but it feels smaller than that stat.
Napanee is approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of Kingston and is the county seat of Lennox and Addington County.
It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte, a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter “Z” on the northern shore of Lake Ontario.
The Bay, as it is known locally, provides some of the best trophy walleye angling in North America, as well as most sport fish common to the Great Lakes.
The bay is subject to algal blooms in late summer.
Zebra mussels as well as the other invasive species found in the Great Lakes are present.
The Quinte area played a vital role in bootlegging during Prohibition in the United States, with large volumes of liquor being produced in the area, and shipped via boat on the bay to Lake Ontario finally arriving in New York State where it was distributed.
Illegal sales of liquor accounted for many fortunes in and around Belleville.
Tourism in the area is significant, especially in the summer months due to the Bay of Quinte and its fishing, local golf courses, provincial parks, and wineries.
The first recorded settlement in the area of Greater Napanee is Ganneious, an Iroquois village, settled temporarily by the Oneida from 1660 to 1690.
The village was located on or near the Hay Bay area and is one of seven Iroquois villages settled on the northern shores of Lake Ontario in the 17th century.
The exact location of the village has not been determined.
The area was settled by Loyalists (Americans during the American Revolution who did not wish to stop being British subjects) in 1784.
Napanee was first incorporated in 1854.
The first Loyalists settlers arrived at Adolphustown on 15 June 1784.
Their landing spot and site of the first Loyalist cemetery in the area has been preserved by the Loyalists.
Napanee developed at the site of a waterfall, the head of navigation, on the Napanee River, where early industry could utilize the power potential of the River.
Above: Napanee Falls
The River (25 km / 15 miles long) transported logs from the interior north (up past the village of Colebrook) of the town.
Sawmilling, gristmilling and other farm service industries were established.
Napanee was first known as Clarksville after Robert Clark, who built a grist mill there.
Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, practised law in Napanee.
Above: Sir John A. Macdonald (1815 – 1891)
Napanee’s downtown core (along Dundas Street) is also lined with historical buildings dating back to the 1800s.
The Town of Greater Napanee’s Self-Guided Historic Walking Tour provides locations and information on these sites as well as other historical locations nearby.
At 180 Elizabeth Street, the visitor can find a ball of wood fiber paper.
This ball at the Allan Macpherson House (Lennox and Addington Museum) was preserved by John Thomson after his first successful attempt to duplicate the wood pulp process he had learned in the United States before settling here.
In 1872, on the Napanee River, Thomson built the first mill in Ontario designed to make paper from wood pulp only.
Also in the Museum is a British army lieutenant’s account of a 1784 trip up the St. Lawrence River from Sillery (near Québec City) with Napanee’s first white settlers, a group of Loyalists.
The Museum is a many-windowed Georgian mansion built in 1826, reflecting the affluence of its original owner, Allan Macpherson, the town’s first industrialist.
Furniture includes a Regency couch and a Sheridan love seat, both dating from 1830.
Above: Interior of the Macpherson House
Half-cousin to first Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, Allan Macpherson operated the grist and saw mills at Napanee Falls starting in 1818.
For almost three decades, Macpherson was one of Lennox and Addington’s most civic-minded and politically active entrepreneurs.
He created fine-quality flour shipped to Montreal and England and became Postmaster at Napanee in 1820.
Macpherson’s gentry-inspired house, built north of Napanee Falls, remained in the family until 1896, long after he had returned to Kingston.
In 1962, the Lennox and Addington Historical Society began a visionary labour of love to restore this home to its 19th century character.
True to its roots, the Macpherson House has been restored to its original splendour both inside and out.
The Macpherson House now functions as additional gallery space for the Lennox & Addington Museum and Archives.
Above: Allan Macpherson House (Lennox & Addington County Museum and Archives)
Two blocks away is a privately owned house that was the Red Tavern, built in 1810.
The white-columned town hall dates from 1856, the courthouse from 1864.
Above: Napanee Town Hall
Above: Lexington & Addington County Courthouse, Napanee
Gibbard’s, the oldest furniture factory in Ontario, has operated since 1835.
For over 180 years, the Gibbard Furniture Factory has been an iconic landmark in Napanee.
It’s a focal point for the town that’s rich in history.
Honouring this legacy, it has been transformed into a highly anticipated waterfront community where contemporary amenities enhance the charm of small-town simplicity.
With retail opportunities and a platform for local gatherings, Gibbard District is more than a residential space where every suite is just steps away from a private kayak dock.
It’s a vibrant hub for families, friends, and neighbours, one where they can share the moments that make lasting memories.
Built on a historic foundation, Gibbard District is a local destination that will inject energy and opportunity into Napanee.
Above: Gibbard’s District
Napanee unfortunately shares the fate of far too many towns in Ontario.
Step away from its historic quarters and you find yourself in zones of shopping malls and fast food joints, gas stations and repair garages.
The S Family lives just beyond this zone.
We have burritos at a Quesadas before heading to their trailer home.
(Does Napanee have a local dish?)
J and V and K and I share a common problem of being heavier than we should be.
We also share the seductive sorrow of turning to things that help us only if we allow them to.
We are unwell each in our own way.
We fear that which we cannot define.
For V and K it is the uncertainty of the unknown.
I fear familarity and the fetters that fealty forces upon its followers.
K‘s phobias are more real than reality.
K is unmotivated to change her clothes, to change her ways.
Her fears paralyze her.
For J it is the fear of not being of use.
J needs to be needed and he has always remained the loyal servant in their Majesties’ service.
J is nearly 20 years my senior, V is 14 years older than I, K is a little over half my age.
And yet J still caters to V and K, when he is at an age and body condition that suggests he should finally be the one who is pampered.
I understand J only too well.
I will surrender to aging only when I am physically incapacitated and unwell to fend and fetch for myself.
Neither J nor I plan to exit life without a struggle.
But I see the tolls of age upon his face and frame and in his movements.
Problem is he has been of such use, such utility, that I fear that their Majesties may find themselves unable to function without him should J fall and not rise again.
His love for his ladies is too great in that their reliance on him has diminished their abilities to become self-reliant.
He is butler, valet and chauffeur.
He lifts the heavy objects, he does the dirty deeds, he is man about the house.
He remains through his pension the breadwinner of this collective.
I have always been impressed by J’s quiet strength, his unending devotion to the damsels that are his destiny.
I have always marvelled at men who presevere despite every incentive to quit.
J is Endicott.
Endicott’s up by 5 o’clock
Endicott’s givin’ it all he got
Endicott’s job is six to nine but
Endicott’s home by nine O five
Endicott helps to cook the steak
Endicott helps to wash the plates
Endicott puts the kids to bed
Endicott reads a book to them
(Why can’t you be like Endicott?)
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Endicott loves Tribena sole
Endicott puts her on a pedestal
Endicott’s wish is her command but
Endicott don’t make no demands
Endicott’s always back in time
Endicott’s not the cheatin’ kind
Endicott’s full of compliment
Endicott’s such a gentleman
(Why can’t you be like Endicott?)
Cause I’m free
Free of any made-to-order liabilities
Thank God I’m free
Cos it’s hard enough for me
To take care of me, oh-oh
Endicott’s carryin’ a heavy load
Endicott never really ever moans
Endicott’s not a wealthy guy but
Endicott pays the bills on time
Endicott’s got ideas and plans
Endicott’s what you call a real man
Endicott always will provide ’cause
Endicott is the family type
(Why can’t you be like Endicott?)
![Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Stool Pigeon (1982) [videoclip] - YouTube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C3xU0fnjUcg/hqdefault.jpg)
Cause I’m free
Freer than a pirate on a frigate out at sea
Thank God I’m free
Driftin’ all around just like a tumbleweed, oh-oh
Maybe I need me someone
Someone who isn’t undone
Maybe an older woman
Will tolerate me
Maybe that certain someone
Older and wiser woman
Maybe the perfect someone
To satisfy me
Endicott keeps his body clean
Endicott don’t use nicotine
Endicott don’t drink alcohol
Endicott use no drug at all
Endicott don’t eat any sweet
Endicott don’t eat piggy feet
Endicott’s frame is mighty strong
Endicott make love hard and long
(Why can’t you be like Endicott?)
Endicott loves Tribena sole
Endicott walks her to the sto’
Endicott likes to hold her hand
Endicott’s proud to be her man
Endicott stands for decency
Endicott means formality
Endicott’s the epitome
Endicott stands for quality
Endicott
Endicott
Endicott
Endicott
I’ll never be, I’ll never be like Endicott
Said I’m not.
I’ll never be, I’ll never be like Endicott.
No Endicott in me.
![SD > Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Endicott [TG] [1985]](https://s019.radikal.ru/i608/1702/b9/61ae0fdf3e53.jpg)
There are three things (and three fingers pointing back at myself) men need to understand if they are to get it right with women:
Most modern men, myself included, when faced with their wife’s anger, complaints or general unhappiness, simply submit, mumble an apology and tiptoe away.
(Which, of course, is still preferable to being the kind of man who handles his differences with violence and intimidation.)
If most modern men grumble, they do so into their beards.
For the most part we act conciliatory and apologize for being such dopes.
“I’m sorry, dear!“
“Yes, She Who Must Be Obeyed!“
Everywhere, you look around,the “husband as a lovable dope” is an agreed-upon type.
But real life doesn’t work like the comics, TV shows or movies.
Millions of men who adopt this stance find that it rarely, if ever leads, to her happiness or his.
Women with dopey husbands are not happy.
Actually they become more dissatisfied, more complaining.
Some psychologists suggest that, often without even realizing why, the henpecking behaviour escalates – for a simple reason.
Deep down, they say, women want to be met by someone strong, as strong as many of them have to be outside the relationship.
They want to be debated with, not just agreed with, for they are not always right (despite what they may say or think).
(To be fair, they are often right.)
Women hunger for men who can take the initiative sometimes, make some decisions, tell them when they are not making sense.
It’s no fun being the only adult in the room.
How can a woman relax or feel safe, when the man she is teamed with pretends to be weaker and softer than he can be, just for the sake of peace and harmony between them?
So many strong, capable women who once they finally find the sensitive, caring New Age man they thought they wanted now find themselves bored stiff with his complacency.
Above: Scene from Bedazzled, where Elliot Richards (Brendon Fraser) is rejected by Alison Gardner (Frances O’Connor) for being too sensitive
So many decent men are able to say to their women:
“I feel your pain.
I consider your life as important as mine.
I will take care of you and comfort you.”
So many men give so much of themselves to their relationships and in the process lose the self that she fell in love with.
They can no longer say what they want and stick to it.
It is that sense of resolve that drew her to him.
It is that sense of resolve he sold out for peace with her.
One of the things that marks out a mature man versus a male still not there is the discovery that women are as human as men.
Sometimes they are dead right and sometimes completely wrong.
Women are not devils (though they certainly have their moments) nor angels (despite how angelic they may appear, despite how divine they look).
They are mere normal, fallible human beings.
Being married means a man must keep his head on straight.
So many men just drift along and let women decide everything.
Marriage is not an excuse to stop thinking.
A woman can be as wrong, as immature, as perverse, as prejudiced, as competitive, or as bloody-minded as any man can.
Sometimes a man and a woman will see things differently because men and women are different.
What is right for her may often be wrong for him and vice versa.
Women often don’t understand men,
(Hell, often we of either gender don’t understand ourselves.)
You have to keep negotiating, for avoidance will not bring harmony.
To have a happy relationship, a man has to be able to state his point of view, to debate, to leave aside hysteria, to push on until something has been resolved.
To be fair, it is frightening to find strength, to speak up for oneself knowing that this may lead to confrontation with someone you fear losing.
But all that is gained by retreat or automatic compliance she that she enjoys having the upper hand and being able to manipulate her man into doing what she wants, until this becomes so facile that it becomes boring to her and futile for him.
It is not that a woman wishes a man harm (well, not always) it is just that boundaries need to be set in regards to what to what she can or cannot do regarding what is his responsibility to himself.
Often it is enough to say:
“Hey, you are crowding me.“
“Don’t make up my mind for me.“
“Let me choose my own clothes.“
(Good luck with that last one, lads!)
“When my King is weak, I ask my wife or children what is the right thing to do.
I have had strange adventures in buying sweaters.” (Robert Bly)
It is a mistake to think that a perfect marriage is harmonious, sweet and loving.
If a couple is happy 100% of the time, chances are someone is lying,
The passionate, heated European-style marriage has more going for it.
Carl Jung said:
“American marriages are the saddest in the whole world, because the man does all his fighting at the office.”
Above: Carl Jung (1875 – 1961)
Conscious fighting is a great help in relationships between men and women.
When a man and a woman are standing toe-to-toe arguing, what is it that the man wants?
Often he does not know.
He wants the conflict to end, because he is afraid, because he does not know how to fight, because he “doesn’t believe in fighting“, because his boundaries are so poorly maintained that every sword thrust penetrates to very centre of his soul.
Men are afraid because they sense that both men and women have the capacity for blind rage which achieves nothing.
“I have had it with men!“, she says.
“Women!“, he cries, “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them!“
Such frustration, to need someone so much and yet…..
All men hate all women some of the time and all women hate all men some of the time.
There is a long history of male-bashing by women and female-bashing by men.
But boundaries must be set to ensure that this hate is not more than is deserved.
We must fight, debate and be true to ourselves, otherwise our closeness is merely an act.
But in fighting, we must show great restraint and respect for one another.
Above: Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) / Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan), Laws of Attraction (2004)
And it is here where the outsider to someone else’s relationship knows not how to react.
I judge the Family S by my own standards.
I don’t see them as they may see themselves.
I see them as I wish they were, not as they are.
I see the present moment, not the events that led them here.
I feel that their situation is sad.
Too much TV watching, too much game playing, too little reading, too little exercise, lives unlived.
I find myself repulsed, for I see this potential in myself and I silently scream against this.
The trailer home is small and I am relegated to a fold-out sofa within a space cluttered by the unnecessary stuff that people eagerly collect, more to possess than to have permanent purpose.
K‘s cat does not seek my company.
V‘s cat and I share the warmth of the sofa bed.
No words are needed between us.
The cat demands nothing from me but respect and restraint.
I expect the same from the cat.
It is peace in our time and a silent night.
I read the Napanee Beaver, hoping it will distract me from my depression.
I learn that:
The cat purrs and lies across my chest.
Reading rendered impossible.
Lights out.
The purring before the loss of consciousness.
Napanee, Ontario, Friday 10 January 2020
Another sad day in the news and too much time on my hands to read it:
At a news conference on Friday, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAOI) chief Ali Abedzadeh repeated his view that a missile was not the cause of the crash.
“The thing that is clear to us and that we can say with certainty is that this plane was not hit by a missile,” he told reporters.
“As I said last night, this plane for more than one and a half minutes was on fire and was in the air, and the location shows that the pilot was attempting to return.“
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had received intelligence from multiple sources indicating the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, adding that it was possible that this was unintentional.
“This reinforces the need for a thorough investigation,” he said.
“Canadians have questions and they deserve answers.“
Victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians as well as nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany.
But he said it was too early to apportion blame or draw any conclusions and refused to go into detail about the evidence.
(It isn’t clear whether the loved ones of the 82 Iranians, the 11 Ukrainians and the nationals from Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan and Germany deserve answers.)
Above: Flag of Pakistan
A suicide bombing took place inside a Taliban-run mosque located in Ghousabad neighbourhood during Magrib (first morning) prayer in Quetta’s Satellite Town area.
The bomb had been planted inside a seminary in the mosque.
Among the dead was a Deputy Superintendent of Police, the apparent target of the attack, along with 14 civilians.
At least 19 others were injured.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing.
They said the bombing caused 60 casualties, including 20 dead.
(It is so easy to forget that those who cause death and destruction in the name of Islam often target more Muslims than non-Muslims.
No matter how often the name of God is used, its use does not make an act of violence godly.)
Above: Ali al-Sistani
A lot of war talk, a lot of sabre-rattling, a lot of innocent blood waiting to be spilled by young folks sacrificed in the name of nations, represented by leaders who remain far from any chance that they themselves are in danger.
Fear-mongering, defence of country, words like honour and glory, lives betrayed so the powerful can maintain or increase their power.
What baffles me is that we are supposed to believe that Iraq is a threat to the USA.
Above: Location of Iraq
Let’s compare, shall we?
Military power ranking: US #1 / Iraq #53
Population: US 329 million / Iraq 40 million
Manpower: US 144 million / Iraq 16 million
Fit for duty: US 119 million / Iraq 13 million
Military personnel: US 1.2 million / Iraq 165,000
Reserve forces: US 360,000 / Iraq 0
Tanks: US 6,287 / Iraq 309
Armored vehicles: US 39,000 / Iraq 4,700
Self-propelled artillery: US 992 / Iraq 44
Towed artillery: US 864 / Iraq 120
Rocket projectors: US 1,056 / Iraq 30
Air strength: US 13,400 / Iraq 327
Fighters: US 2,362 / Iraq 26
Attack aircraft: US 2,831 / Iraq 59
Transport aircraft: US 1,153 / Iraq 24
Trainer aircraft: US 2,853 / Iraq 78
Helicopters: US 5,760 / Iraq 179
Naval strength: US 415 / Iraq 60
Frigates: US 22 / Iraq 0
Destroyers: US 68 / Iraq 0
Corvettes: US 15 / Iraq 0
Submarines: US 68 / Iraq 0
Patrol craft: US 13 / Iraq 25
Mine craft: US 11 / Iraq 0
Oil production: US 9.3 million barrels / Iraq 4.4 million barrels
Oil consumption: US 825 million barrels / Iraq 19 million barrels
Oil reserves: US 142.5 million barrels / Iraq 36.5 million barrels
Labour force. US 160.4 million / Iraq 8.9 million
Merchant marine: US 3,611 / Iraq 77
Ports / terminals: US 33 / Iraq 3
Roads: US 6,586,610 km / Iraq 44,900 km
Railroads: US 224,792 km / Iraq 2,272 km
Airports: US 13,513 / Iraq 102
Defence budget: US $716 billion / Iraq $6 billion
External debt: US $17 trillion / Iraq $73 billion
Foreign gold: US $123 billion / Iraq $48 billion
Purchasing power: US $19 trillion / Iraq $680 billion
Nuclear warheads: US 4,000 / Iraq 0
By the numbers, which country is the greatest threat to the other?
I may not find the idea of the theocratic government of Iraq a comfortable notion, but let us not paint the US as an innocent victim.
Above: Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf, Iraq: One of the holiest sites in Shia Islam
At least two people have been killed and six injured after an 11-year-old boy entered a school in northern Mexico with two handguns and opened fire.
The shooting took place on Friday morning in the city of Torreón, in Coahuila state.
Above: Images of Torréon, Mexico
One of the dead was reportedly a female teacher, with some reports suggesting she had been the shooter’s target.
The other was the shooter, who police said had killed himself.
A graphic photograph published by Mexican news outlets showed what appeared to be the body of a young boy splayed out in a pool of blood, with a handgun lying on the ground.
Police chief Maurilio Ochoa told reporters six people had been wounded – five schoolchildren and a teacher – with two in a “delicate” condition in hospital.
Ochoa said the shooter was believed to have entered his school with two weapons: a small-calibre handgun and a high-calibre weapon.
The boy’s parents and grandmother, with whom he lived, had said they had no idea how he acquired the guns.
“This is really regrettable,” Ochoa said, as anxious parents gathered outside the school’s entrance.
He suggested backpack searches might be needed to prevent future tragedies.
Torreón’s mayor, Jorge Zermeño, told reporters the causes of the attack were still unclear.
“They tell me he was a boy who had very good grades, who lives – lived – with his grandmother and who certainly suffered some kind of family problem.”
He added:
“It is very serious, so, so sad, and lamentable to see a primary school student do something like this.”
In an interview with the Mexican news channel Milenio TV, Zermeño called the shooting an “atypical situation” that did not speak to the “peaceful society” that was Torreón.
“This is a city that likes to work and likes to live in peace,” he said.
Above: Jorge Zermeno
Coahuila state’s governor, Miguel Ángel Riquelme, told reporters there were suspicions the shooter had been influenced by a video game called Natural Selection.
Above: Miguel Ángel Riquelme
Before carrying out the shooting the boy – who has not been identified – reputedly told classmates:
“Today is the day.”
Despite suffering some of the world’s highest murder rates, school shootings of the kind that blight the US remain relatively rare in Latin America.
The Sack ScoMo protests, organised by Uni Students for Climate Justice, were held in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne — where the rain did little to dampen the mood of the large crowd.
They went ahead despite calls from Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Victoria Police who expressed concern that police would need to be pulled away from bushfires to monitor the large crowds.
Above: Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews
A sea of umbrellas could be seen along the steps of Victoria’s State Library and protesters spilt across Swanston Street and towards Melbourne Central Station.
Some used megaphones to speak to small groups who sheltered from the rain.
T-shirts, selling for $40 each, read F*** SCOMO.
Placards help by protesters read:
“We deserve more than your negligence.”
“This is ecosystem collapse.”
“We can’t breathe.”
Protesters told news.com.au they were pleased with the turnout.
“There are so many people here, despite the weather.
It proves that people really care about the cause and are tired of waiting for action,” one young woman said.
In Sydney, thousands more gathered outside Sydney Town Hall to hear from speakers.
Organisers Uni Students for Climate Justice wrote on Facebook they want to “make the climate criminals pay” and “keep up the pressure”.
It comes as NSW authorities warn of a “long night” with almost a dozen fires flaring up across the state.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said besides the two new fires, everything else was playing out as forecast with the hot and windy conditions on Friday.
But she urged communities remain vigilant.
“In essence, we know it’s going to be a long and difficult night,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We won’t know the extent of the impact of these fires until early tomorrow morning.”
Above: New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian
Starting from September 2019, fires heavily impacted various regions of the state of New South Wales, with more than 100 fires burnt across the state.
In Victoria, large areas of forest burnt out of control for four weeks before the fires emerged from the forests in late December, taking lives, threatening many towns.
Significant fires occurred in South Australia and parts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Moderately affected areas were southeastern Queensland and areas of southwestern Western Australia, with a few areas in Tasmania being mildly impacted.
On 12 November 2019, catastrophic fire danger was declared in the Greater Sydney region for the first time since the introduction of this level in 2009 and a total fire ban was in place for seven regions of New South Wales, including Greater Sydney.
The Illawarra and Greater Hunter areas also experienced catastrophic fire dangers, as did other parts of the state, including the already fire ravaged parts of northern New South Wales.
Above: Images of 2019 – 2020 Australian bush fires
The political ramifications of the fire season have been significant.
A decision by the New South Wales government to cut funding to fire services based on budget estimates, as well as a holiday taken by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, during a period in which two volunteer firefighters died, and his perceived apathy towards the situation, resulted in controversy.
Above: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Williamson said that her lack of elective office experience does not disqualify her from being President.
She implies that not having held office before is, in part, what makes her uniquely qualified.
She stated that the belief that only experienced politicians can lead the US is “preposterous“, arguing that experienced politicians led the US into unfounded wars, extreme income inequality and environmental harm.
Above: Marianne Williamson
She has called for her expertise in empathy, differentiated thinking, and political vision to be valued on par with elected experience and cited President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 statement that:
“The Presidency is not merely an administrative office.
That’s the least of it.
It is preeminently a place of moral leadership.”
Above: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 – 1945)
“Throughout her campaign, Williamson talks more about ideas than plans.
Some people might see that as an inability to lead, but when inciting the darkest parts of humanity helped win the previous election, trying to appeal to the light side doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
She’s doing her best to move the conversation to one of peace and love instead of anger and division.
What is so laughable about that?
Campaign promises – plans for Medicare, plans for how to curb climate change – are great.
But promises without a fundamental shift in thinking will simply become empty promises.
Williamson is trying to teach us that our mind-set needs a new baseline, one of true empathy, so that it becomes impossible to deny people basic health care, so that Americans would never for one second think that separating breastfeeding mothers from their infants at the border is in any way acceptable.”
(Kerry Pieri, Harper’s Bazaar)
Williamson believes that the Presidency of Donald Trump inspired increased visibility and political participation of White nationalists and is therefore unique and requires “more” than past political experience to be defeated:
When we look at the role that emotion plays in White Nationalism, the role of emotion in those movements is undeniable.
Hate is powerful and hate is contagious.
And it is not enough to meet it simply with an intellectual analysis or rational argument.
The only way you can defeat them is by overriding them through an equal force is exerted when people are awakened to those positive feelings and positive emotions.
Williamson stressed that she meets all the requirements to be President as laid out by the US Constitution and implied that those who dismiss candidates without elective office experience are elitists impeding the country’s democratic process and values.
She has appealed for a process that excludes media favouritism in favor of bringing forth candidates to voters, allowing those candidates to “do their best” and then “allowing voters to decide for themselves through their own intelligent analysis“.
If the Founders wanted to say ‘That Presidential candidate needs to be a governor or a senator, or a congressman or a lawyer,’ then they would have.
But they didn’t, because they were leaving it to every generation to determine for itself the skillset that that generation feels is most necessary in order to address the challenges of their time.
I think we need more than someone who’s just qualified because they understand how Washington works.
We need someone today who understands how “we” work.
And I think my 35-year career gives me those qualifications.
I must admit I am torn between the idea that if any American wants to be President desire should be enough, and the importance of political experience.
President Kais Saied has ten days to select someone else to build a new government.
I can’t imagine forming a cabinet is easy.
Above: Flag of Tunisia
Above: Location of Tunisia
At the time of his death, Said was the longest serving head of state in the Middle East and Arab world.
Above: Qaboos bin Said al-Said (1940 – 2020)
The high military council of the Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces called on the Omani royal family to convene to name a successor to the late Sultan within three days.
A three-day period of national mourning was declared.
Above: Flag of Oman
Above: Location of Oman
I compare my life with world events since I arrived in Napanee:
Instead I watch with sadness the activities of the family S.
Happily, Big J is not as obsessed with games and TV as the females in the place.
In the early afternoon J and I walk to A & W.
I had forgotten how much I missed A & W root beer.
A few hours later I retrace our steps to the creek J had showed me and then treat myself at the local Denny’s.
In the evening, cabbie A with her daughter S show up and more games are played.
S is like my cousin Steve, a natural winner in any competition.
It is easy to love folks like Steve, except when competiting against them.
Being winter, it is difficult to play tourist in Napanee.
Being five years apart and away from the family S means escape must be done in a manner that does not offend.
There is a great irony that dominates my thoughts before the cat and I return to the sofa bed.
I am leaving as planned tomorrow for Toronto.
Above: Images of Toronto
It will again be years before I see the family S again (barring disease or disaster unforeseen).
I am simultaneously relieved and anxious to be leaving.
I love these people and yet they fill me with sadness.
So much wasted potential, I think.
They are my soul’s mirror.
I am discomfited.
Napanee to Kingston, Ontario, Saturday 11 January 2020
48 hours it has been between arrival and departure at the station.
I loathe myself and my eagerness to leave.
Before we packed J, V, K, her cat and I into the family car, I gave prefunctionary presents of what I had on hand that I acquired and carried since my return to Canada nine days ago.
It is a drizzling grey day that matches my mood.
My mood lifts at seeing Canada geese in a Kingston park.
Shouldn’t they have already flown down south?
We drive by the Kingston Penitentary, still impressive, still imposing.
Above: Kingston Pentientary
Somewhere on the way we stop for milkshakes (in January!).
At the convenience store next door, I buy today’s Kingston Whig Standard newspaper and two magazines on writing (something to read on the train ride to Toronto).
As K‘s cat needs medical attention (It won’t eat as it should.) I am left alone at the station one hour before departure, a farewell that felt forced, I fear my face telegraphed my feelings.
As I wait for the train, I eat the sandwiches that Big J made me last night (ham and cheddar upon leaves of lettuce between slices of dry bread).
I hope that the Napanee Sadness will eventually fade.
All I know is that as much as I love the family S, as much as they are my family, I do not belong with them.
The skies are grey, within and without.
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / YouTube / http://www.lyrics.com / The Napanee Beaver, 9 January 2020 / Reader’s Digest Explore Canada / Steve Biddulph, Manhood / Frank Bodin, Do it, with love / Thomas Girst and Magnus Resch, 100 Secrets of the Art World / Esther Vilar, The Manipulated Man
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Thursday 2 July 2020
Swiss Miss, let me compare thee to an elephant.
No, this is not a comparison of size, but of a mentality that tourists may be said to also possess.
From John Gimlette’s Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka:
“It is not difficult to see why people have fought over this Island for thousands of years.
Six centuries ago, a papal legate noted that “from Seyllan to Paradise, according to native legend, is a distance of 40 miles, so that, ’tis said, there may be heard the sound of the fountains of Paradise“….
Everyone has wanted a piece of Paradise….
Above: Paradise (1620), Jan Brueghel (1601 – 1678)
Indeed, looking back over the last two millennia, it is hard to spot a century in which Taprobane or Ceylon or Sri Lanka was neither occupied, invaded nor riven by catastrophic civil war….
It hasn’t helped that it sits at the axis of the Indian Ocean and its neighbour is India, a land 60 times its size and – now – with 60 times its population.
Nor has it helped that there are always rich picking for the predatory.
As the military historian Geoffrey Powell wrote:
“A country doesn’t have to be rich to invite invasions, but Ceylon was always wealthy: a treasure house of spices and gems, elephants and rice.”
Above: Flag of Ceylon
You only need to look at a map to get a sense of this country’s fecundity.
It is all to do with the island’s shape, like a planter’s hat.
Around the coast, there is a brim of brilliant green, but towards the centre, an enormous hummock of rock appears, about the size of Cornwall and over 7,000 feet tall.
It is not hard to imagine the clouds off the Indian Ocean, hitting this and turning into torrents.
Sri Lanka is completely wrinkled in rivers.
They even wriggle through the dry zones, feeding great blotches of blue.
Above: Topographical map of Sri Lanka
All this explains the bewildering wildlife.
Although Sri Lanka is only the size of Ireland, it is home to a startling array of creatures, from crocodiles and leopards to the “ashy-headed laughing thrush“.
Even more remarkable, not only does it host the biggest creature ever found on the planet (the blue whale), it is also home to the world’s biggest land creature.
Just one wild elephant would cause a stir, wandering about in the Irish Republic (or for that matter the Helvetic Confederation)…
And yet Sri Lanka has over 5,800.
Unsurprisingly, elephants have loomed large in the island’s history.
For much of it, the ali has been seen as a symbol of power and authority, but also a pliable servant.
The Sri Lankan elephant has always been mysteriously easy to train….
A mere 140 remain in captivity.
Perhaps the wild elephants say more about the complexity of this Island than anything else.
It is said they follow the same paths all their lives and from generation to generation.
These paths are everywhere and are often unknown to human beings.
This means that Sri Lanka is densely criss-crossed with invisible corridors that have remained unchanged for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years.
Sometimes an alimankada (elephant path) won’t be used for a while and people will forget that it is there.
But once the elephants are back on their path, there is little that will divert them.
They will break through fences and pickets.
They have been known to sweep aside huts and little houses.
Zoologists are uncertain whether to describe this as obstinate or determined.
All that is clear is that, in the collective elephantine mind, there is a great plan of this Island.
Elephants go on seasonal migrations in search of food, water, minerals and mates.
Elephants like their regular paths and they may well have been taking the same route since the fall of Rome.
They won’t have come far.
Elephants don’t migrate and have a range of only around 20 square miles, but, within that, they are always on the move.
When your body needs 550 lb of foliage a day, along with 22 gallons of water, life is a constant meal in motion.
Science tells us that these magnificent beasts have no particular insight, no greater understanding of the world all around.
But it never looks that way.
Maybe the human mind works in the same way….”
Above: Phrenological map of the brain, Friedrich Eduard Blitz (1842 – 1922)
The elephantine mind is one we cannot read, except to surmise that elephants instinctively follow paths only they know exist.
Something in their genetic code tells them that here is a path that must be followed, regardless of what manmade structures now possess that path.
Compare this mentality of fixed surety with the mentality of another herd of mammals: the human tourist….
Sri Lanka and the Corona Virus
Right now, Sri Lanka, like so many other places on this covina-plagued planet, has been under lockdown conditions.
On 25 January, Sri Lanka’s first reported case was identified and the victim was reported to be a Chinese woman.
On 10 March, the first Sri Lankan local national tested positive for Covid-19.
On 12 March, all schools were closed until 20 April.
On 14 March, the Sri Lankan Government declared Monday March 16 as a public holiday following the rapid rise of coronavirus positive cases in the country.
Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon said the decision was taken following the spread of the virus aiming to help government institutions to control the spread of the disease more effectively.
The Minister also said that he is prepared to extend the holiday if necessary.
Above: Janaka Bandara Tennakoon
Following are the other measures taken by the government to keep the virus at bay.
Above: Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith
Above: Emblem of Sri Lanka
On 12 March 2020, false reports were claimed by few individuals in social media that the son of 52-year-old tour guide who was infected with COVID-19 virus also deemed to have infected with the virus.
However, the allegations were refused by the Ministry of Health and was evident that the boy who was falsely alleged to have infected with the virus was reported later that no symptoms were identified after thorough checking and was revealed to be the student of Ananda College.
Above: Ananda College logo
Sri Lankan Police have requested the general public to not mislead themselves from rumours which are spread across social media platforms.
Above: Logo of the Sri Lankan Police
On 12, 13 and 14 March, the general public rushed to the supermarkets and grocery shopping centers with the intention of bulk purchases speculating that the country could face possibility of lockdown amid corona virus fears, rumours were also spreading in social media that there was a shortage of products in the country.
The Sri Lankan government later insisted the public to not unnecessarily panic about the corona virus pandemic and revealed that there was no shortage of essential items in the country including petroleum and food.
Sri Lanka Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry chairperson Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson revealed that there was no shortage of essential pharmaceutical products and drugs.
There were rumours regarding the house-to-house quarantine in the social media but the government refused the allegations.
On 16 March, opposition MP Rajitha Senaratne made a controversial statement that 10 school students being infected with the virus, while MP Sarath Fonseka claimed that there three deaths due to the corona virus.
Above: Dr. Rajitha Fonseka
However, on 18 March, Sarath Fonseka accepted it was a mistake and that he was merely quoting false information on Facebook.
The police began an investigation on the two MPs.
Above: Sarath Fonseka
Former Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa promoted Plaquenil as a drug superior than Hydroxychloroquine.
Plaquenil is the brand name of Hydroxycholoroquine and is the same drug.
Due to its serious side effects self-administration is not recommended.
Premadasa also claimed Azithromycin can treat side effects of Hydroxycholoroquine.
Azithromycin is an antibiotic and is not used to treat side effects of Hydroxycholoroquine.
Sajith Premadasa later apologised for spreading misinformation.
Above: Sajith Premadasa
On 24 March, Sri Lanka records 100 infected patients.
On 27 March, the first Sri Lankan national died from Covid-19.
Above: Symptoms of Covid-19, Dr. Mikael Häggström
Sathasivam Loganathan (59) was living in Switzerland with his relatives.
He had been advised by the Swiss police to self quarantine, which he did.
This did not help.
Above: Sathasivam Loganathan (1961 – 2020)
On 16 April, it was announced that Sri Lanka was the 16th highest risk country prone to the pandemic, but, despite this, it was also named the 9th best country in the world for its successful immediate response on tackling the virus.
On 29 April, Sri Lanka recorded 600 Covid-19 patients.
On 11 May, it was announced that Sri Lanka’s state and government businesses should open from 10 am, though partial curfews will continue, the President’s office said.
“Civilians except those who are essentially required to report to work are requested to remain in their homes,” the President’s office said.
Sri Lanka’s state and government businesses should open from 10 am on 11 May, though partial curfews will continue, the President’s office said.
“Civilians except those who are essentially required to report to work are requested to remain in their homes,” the President’s office said.
“While the curfew is in force in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam, the resumption of civilian life and state and private sector activities will begin from Monday 11 May.
“People are allowed to leave their homes only to purchase essential items such as food and medicines.
Corona prevention health recommendations should strictly be followed at each instance.”
Curfew in other districts of the island except in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam will only be effective from 8 pm to 5 am everyday till Wednesday, 6 May, the President’s office said.
The curfew which will be imposed at 8 pm on Wednesday 6 May will continue till 5 am on 11 May.
Above: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka has been aggressively contact tracing to contain a corona virus outbreak, but cases surged in April amid a denial of corona virus tests to high risk groups and infected navy officers on leave were allowed to travel out of the red zone in the Western province to other areas.
On 11 May, nine new patients were confirmed by late afternoon, the state information office said.
Five were close associates of Sri Lanka Navy personnel, three were Sri Lanka Navy officers and one had been reported from Colombo.
By 2100 hours the total count had gone up to 690 persons.
Sri Lanka has since recalled all military officers on leave and testing has been widened to include some high risk groups.
But voluntary tests are still denied to ordinary citizens.
“As a measure to prevent the spread of the corona virus the public must refrain from unnecessarily coming to roads and gathering at various other places,” the statement said.
“Buses belonging to Sri Lanka Transport Board and railway carriages can only transport employees who are reporting for work.”
Resumption of civilian life and office work begins from 11 May.
While the curfew is in force in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam, the resumption of civilian life and state and private sector activities will begin from Monday 11 May.
In order to ensure return to normalcy in civilian life and to revive the economy including continuous provision of essential services in these districts, both public and private sector entities should resume their work from Monday 11 May.
Heads of institutes are advised to make necessary arrangements taking into consideration of the required number of employees to run their organizations.
The head of each entity should ensure strict adherence to the guidelines issued by the Director General of Health Services and other health authorities to control the spread of COVID – 19 virus while carrying out their operations.
The responsibility to decide who should come to office work and their number lies with head of the each state organization including departments, corporations and boards.
The private sector entities are requested to open for work at 10.00 am daily.
As a measure to prevent the spread of the corona virus the public must refrain from unnecessarily coming to roads and gathering at various other places.
Buses belonging to Sri Lanka Transport Board and railway carriages can only transport employees who are reporting for work.
Civilians except those who are essentially required to report to work are requested to remain in their homes.
People are allowed to leave their homes only to purchase essential items such as food and medicines.
Corona prevention health recommendations should strictly be followed at each instance.
Curfew passes issued by the Police authorities are valid only if the driver and passengers wear facemasks.
Curfew in other districts of the island except in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara and Puttalam will only be effective from 8 pm to 5 am everyday till Wednesday 6 May.
The curfew which will be imposed at 8 pm on Wednesday 6 May will continue till 5 am on 11 May.
On 21 May 2020, a stampede occurred near a Muslim Jumma residence in Maligawatta, Colombo-10, amid lockdown and curfew which was imposed in the area due to COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The incident happened around 1 o’clock in the afternoon while charity donation program was conducted to distribute money for the Maligawatta area residents on the eve of Ramadan.
![A crime scene officer inspects the place where the stampede occurred in the capital, Colombo [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2020/5/21/7b10671aaeb34432843ee13fe81349ad_18.jpg "Women crushed to death in Sri Lanka stampede for $8 handout")
Above: A crime scene officer inspects the place where the stampede occurred in the capital, Colombo (Dinuka Liyanawatte, Reuters)(Aljazeera, 21 May 2020)
Nearly 300 – 400 people were reported to have gathered in a queue during a private charity donation program conducted by popular businessman Zarook Hajiyar based from Dehiwala with the purpose of distributing money at least 5,000 rupees (CHF 25 / $26 / € 24) per person for the area residents especially to the poor people.
Around three women died due to the stampede and it was revealed that the massacre happened due to the panic situation and careless behaviour among women.
Nine people were severely injured including seven women and four women who were injured in the stampede have been reported to be in critical condition after being admitted to the Colombo National Hospital.
Six suspects who were involved in relief distribution have been arrested mainly for conducting such an event amid corona virus and for not maintaining proper hygienic measures, ignoring the ban on public gatherings.
That same day, a protest was held by prison inmates in Anuradhapura to separate themselves from each other after the identification of four reported corona virus cases in Anuradhapura.
The protest became violent during a shooting incident resulting in the death of two prisoners, leaving a further six injured.
On 30 May, Sri Lanka recorded 1,600 Covid-19 patients.
On 5 June, Sri Lanka reached 1,800 Covid-19 patients.
On 9 June 2020, Black Lives Matter protests were staged by the activists, followers and supporters of the Frontline Socialist Party as a part of the international George Floyd protests calling for justice of murdering George Floyd in front of the US Embassy in Kollupitiya, Colombo.
However the protests became violent when police arrested nearly 20 people for violating the health and quarantine regulations.
On 15 June, Sri Lanka reached 1,905 Covid-19 patients (11 deaths), nevertheless, national parks and zoological gardens throughout the country were reopened with a visitor limit in line with government health regulations.
To all intents and purposes the Sri Lankan lockdown has mostly eased, though Sri Lankans have been asked to maintain social distancing until further notice.
Public gatherings and festivals remain banned.
Schools will reopen on 7 July and exams have been postponed until September.
Understandably, all of this has further affected the downfall of Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, which was recovering slowly from the impact of the 2019 Easter bombings.
Add to this, a decrease of Chinese tourist arrivals and the suspension of flights and pilgrimages to India.
Kandy to Ella (via Matale), Sri Lanka, Thursday 7 February 2019
What Came Before
As regular followers of this blog and the Swiss Miss Chronicles know, Heidi Hoi was in Sri Lanka in 2019 before the Easter bombings, she has not returned since, and I have recently been informed that she has no plans to return until September 2020.
But when she does return, she intends to repeat (this time with a different friend) the train journey she took on Thursday 7 February 2019 from Kandy to Ella, but whether social distancing rules or a resurgence of the pandemic (Heaven forbid) will interfere in these plans is difficult to predict.
Swiss Miss and Wogga Wogga Woman rode the Matale and Main Lines of Sri Lankan National Railways on the aforementioned Thursday and remained in Ella for five days.
Above: Logo of Sri Lankan Railways
From Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family:
“Ceylon falls on a map and its outline is the shape of a tear.
After the spaces of India and Canada, Ceylon is so small.
A miniature.
Drive ten miles and you are in a landscape so different that by rights it should belong to another country.
From Galle in the south to Colombo a third of the way up the coast is only 70 miles.
When houses were built along the coastal road it was said that a chicken could walk between the two cities without touching ground.
Ceylon is cross-hatched with maze-like routes whose only escape is the sea.
From a ship or a plane you can turn back or look down at the disorder.
Villages spill onto streets.
The jungle encroaches on village.
Above: Colombo
The Ceylon Road and Rail Map resembles a small garden full of darting red and black birds.
Sri Lankans wear the Railway as if it is a public suit of clothes.”
Like the instinctual movements of elephants that they follow through generations uncalculable, tourists tend to follow the path of previous tourists before them.
And previous tourists there certainly has been.
From John Gimlette’s Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka:
“Countless outsiders – from Chekhov to Jan Morris – have written of the island’s mystique.
Leonard Woolf talked of a “curious mixture of intense reality and unreality“, though Britons have taken all of this simply for granted.
Above: Bust of Leonard Woolf (1880 – 1969), Monk’s House, Rodmell, England
Perhaps Americans are more sensitive to it.
Certainly, they have tended to write about Sri Lanka as if it were a labyrinth.
As author Mark Meadows put it:
“The circumstances are so complicated, detailed and delicate that no one individual can comprehend them.”
For another American correspondent, exhausted by war, Sri Lanka was a maze all right, but a maze of deceit.
William McGowan wrote:
“Sri Lanka was shot through with a psychology of avoidance and denial, linked, in part, to the crucial process of saving face.”
Perhaps, the most troubling words of all come from a UN adviser, Australian Gordon Weiss, writing at the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war (1983 – 2009):
“I was warned before going to Sri Lanka that when I left I would know the country less well than when I arrived, and in a sense this is true.”
Foreign writers have never known quite what to make of Sri Lanka.
Some thought it hardly Oriental at all, whereas to Mark Twain it was Asia taken to extremes.
Above: Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)
For Anton Chekhov, it was a sensual place, replete with opportunity:
“I had a dalliance with a dark-eyed Hindu.
Where?
In a coconut grove on a moonlit night.”
Above: Anton Chekhov (1860 – 1904)
Pablo Neruda also found opportunities in 1929, although, the way he describes it, the encounters were fumbled and cold:
“The coming together of man and a statue.”
As the Chilean consul, Neruda was often lonely.
He conjures a world that is “lovely and sly“.
Above: Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973)
For many Sri Lankans, Arthur C. Clarke is the only writer who has ever understood them.
Above: Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – 2008)
Meanwhile, there was less complicated affection from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”
Above: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930)
Whether Heidi understood Sri Lanka in the month she was there in 2019, whether her comprehension will enlarge in September, or whether she will ever comprehend the country perhaps does not matter.
Her travels in Sri Lanka and the itinerary she followed was in large part formed by other travellers she met while she was there.
If they recommended somewhere, then Heidi would go where they had recommended.
Above: Flag of Switzerland
Tourists, like elephants, follow the routes others have travelled before them.
Above: Sketch of the elephant Hansken (1630 – 1655) by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 – 1669)
Though, in fairness, one should split the species of homo sapien turistico into two sub-categories:
Heidi and Wogga are of the latter category:
Travellers.
They would be very surprised and slightly amused if anyone imagined that they would only stick to Sri Lankan beaches.
Above: Weligama Beach, Sri Lanka
They had heard quite a lot about the train journey from Kandy to Ella and heeded the advice of those who had experienced it.
They were advised not to board the train in Kandy, but instead to hire a tuk tuk driver to take them to Matale where at the northern end of the line the train would not be quite as crowded, as everyone and her cousin seem to get on the train in Kandy.
Above: Kandy Train Station
They were told to purchase 2nd class tickets rather than 1st class tickets as the windows in 1st class, despite the astronomical difference in price between the classes (1st class: LKR (Sri Lankan rupees) 1,500 / 2nd class: LKR 310 / 3rd class: LKR 175) do not open – (air conditioning, perhaps?) – while part of the delightful experience is hanging one’s body outside the window.
(I am not certain why 3rd class was rejected, but perhaps livestock travel along with the passengers?)
They were told to sit on the right-hand side of the train heading to Ella for the best views.
Above: Platform, Kandy Train Station
Tourists resemble elephants in another way.
They tend to travel in herds.
Above: Elephants on parade at the Esala Perahera (Festival of the Tooth), Kandy
Trains in Sri Lanka lack privacy entirely.
There are no individual compartments and most of the passengers spend their time walking through carriages, curious to see who else is on board, or they stand for the entirety of their journey in cramped bone-jarring conditions unable to escape the herd that surrounds them, unable to actually see the scenery that is the reason for the journey.
Perhaps it is my Canadian-ness that shies away from the notion of travelling in a cramped and crowded train, the difficulty of being assured of a seat, the inability to be free of your fellow human beings regardless of how wonderful and social they might be.
Perhaps it is the notion of the great difficulty there is of disembarking the train – because of the crowd that blocks the aisle of each wagon – that causes me to reject taking this method when / if I ever get to Sri Lanka.
And though the distance between Kandy and Ella is a mere 162 kilometres as the crow flies, the journey itself, albeit spectacular, is a grueling seven-hour endurance test.
Somehow I don’t think my old body (55) in a large frame (194 cm / 6’5″) would enjoy this train very much.
From my research there seems to be a number of places en route between Matale and Ella that I would like to visit, though, in total fairness to Heidi, she, like most travellers, had to consider both expense and time when travelling.
But, in an ideal world, the notion of walking – slow as that might be – between Matale and Ella seems appealing, but whether that is even possible outside of the country’s national parks I am not sufficiently informed to contemplate.
Between Kandy and Matale, the Matale Line route map shows 15 stations.
I could garner very little information about these stations during the writing of this post.
Matale Railway Station is the terminus station on the Matale Line is the 65th station on the line from Colombo Fort (148.6 km / 92.3 miles away)(17 miles from Kandy).
As I have spoken of Matale in my last Swiss Miss post I will refrain from doing so here.
Above: Matale
So, let us pretend that we have all boarded the train in Kandy, rather than the tuk tuk taxi that Wogga and Heidi did.
Mind Your Language in Gambola
Instead let us speak of the most scenic part of the journey from Peradeniya Junction (where the Matale Line meets the Main Line) to Ella and what lies between.
Before the next station (Koshinna) is reached, the train crosses the Nanu Oya.
The Nanu Oya is a 27 km (17 mi) long stream in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.
It originates from Pidurutalagala at an elevation of over 2,000 m (6,562 ft) and drains into the Kotmale Oya at an elevation of approximately 1,200 m (3,937 ft).
The Kotmale Oya is a tributary of the Mahaweli River, the longest river in Sri Lanka, which finally discharges at Trincomalee after a combined distance of nearly 350 km (217 mi).
The river was dammed in 1873 to create the popular Lake Gregory in Nuwara Eliya.
The Nanu Oya discharges into the Kotmale Oya 2.5 km (1.6 mi) upstream of the Upper Kotmale Dam.
The stations encountered all bear strange sounding names replete with exoticism: Koshinna, Gelioya, Polgaha Anga, Weligalla, Gangathilaka, Kahatapitiya….
Gampola is a town located in Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council.
The road and the railway line into the Highlands cross this bazaar town, now insignificant.
Native innovations introduced some new subsistence patterns toward the agriculture and husbandry as well as sedentism.
The Mahawali River itself provided water while many other canals and rivers flow into the river too.
The flat terrain of Gampola’s paddy fields is cultivated by the water of an ancient irrigation called Raja ala.
Another paddy field of the area is famous as ‘Mahara‘.
This background of economic change is closely tied with the spread of Buddhism since the 3rd century BC.
The first such evidence of human settlements in the historic period are clearly defined by Early Brahmic Inscriptions (EBI), so the Gampola area could act as a support to identifying early settlements in the lower montane valley of the Mahaweli Ganga.
Vegiriya Devale, near Gampola, bears an EBI, so it could date to the 3rd century BC.
Though these EBI clearly shows human habitation and Buddhism in the region at the time, evidence can only be found here and there until the 13th century.
The South Indian adventurer, the despotic Kalinga Magha (r. 1215 – 1236), who instituted a chaotic reign of terror during which the Island’s complex irrigation systems gradually fell into disrepair, not only brought chaos and decay, but compelled in defiance the creation of two new centres of power in the north and south of Sri Lanka.
Above: Jetavanaramaya, Anuradhapura, one of the many massive stupas raided during Magha’s reign
Kalinga Magha, a South Indian with uncertain origins, identified as the founder of the Jaffna kingdom, invaded and captured the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.
He sailed from Kalinga 690 nautical miles on 100 large ships with a 24,000 strong army.
Unlike previous invaders, he looted, ransacked and destroyed everything in the ancient Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Kingdoms beyond recovery.
His priorities in ruling were to extract as much as possible from the land and overturn as many of the traditions of Rajarata as possible.
His reign saw the massive migration of native Sinhalese people to the south and west of Sri Lanka, and into the mountainous interior, in a bid to escape his power.
Sri Lanka never really recovered from the impact of Kalinga Magha’s invasion.
Sinhala nobles set off to Dambadeniya, southwest of the old capital of Polonnaruwa and founded a new capital under the rule of Vijayabahu III (r. 1232 – 1236).
His successor Parakramabahu III (r. 1236 – 1270) defeated Magha, who retired to Jaffna.
In the resulting period of tension, the capital was relocated several times, around 1340 the Kingdom was divided into the two rival principalities of Gampola and Dedigama.
As the Sinhalese gradually retreated further south to the safe Hill Country, the Tamils filled the power vacuum in the north of Sri Lanka.
They eventually took control of an area that stretched from the Jaffna Peninsula to Anuradhapura and founded the independent Kingdom of Jaffna there in the 13th century.
The two regions also developed further apart in religion and language.
Above: Flag of the Kingdom of Jaffna
The Kingdom of Jaffna continued to expand southward and even demanded taxes from the Sinhala regions.
But the Kingdom’s strength was short-lived.
To prevent further penetration on the west coast, the Sinhalese built the Kotte fortress southeast of Colombo.
Above: Flag of the Kingdom of Kotte
As one of the Sri Lankan capitals established amidst the green valleys and wooded hillocks of Gampola, settlements were extended from Gampola to Peradeniya and finally to Kandy.
Sinhalese Kingdoms:
Ambalam or resting houses are not rare and some still stand along the ancient road that once crossed Gampola.
As an example, Panabokke Ambalama dates back to the Gampola era.
Above: Kodumon Chilanthi Ambalam, Kerala
(From Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family:
Resthouses are an old tradition in Sri Lanka.
The roads are so dangerous that there is one every 15 miles.
You can drive in to relax, have a drink or lunch or get a room for the night.
Above: Weligama Rest House
It is important to understand the tradition of the Visitors’ Book.
After a brief or long stay at a resthouse, one is expected to write one’s comments.
It was on his travels by road that my father (Mervyn Ondaatje) waged war with a certain Sammy Dias Bandaranaike, a close relative of the eventual Prime Minister of Sri Lanka later assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
The Bandaranaike – Ondaatje feud began and was contained within the arena of Visitors’ Books.
Above: Michael Ondaatje’s parents, Mervyn and Doris?
What happened was that Sammy and my father happened to visit the Kitulgala resthouse simultaneously.
Sammy, as my side of the feud tells it, was a scrounger for complaints.
While most people wrote two or three lines, Sammy would have spent his whole visit checking every tap and shower to see what was wrong and would have plenty to say.
On this occasion, Sammy left first, having written half a page in the Kitulgala resthouse Visitors’ Book.
Sammy bitched at everything, from the service to the badly made drinks, to the poor rice, to the bad beds.
Almost an epic.
Above: Kitulgala Resthouse
My father left two hours later and wrote two sentences:
“No complaints.
Not even about Mr. Bandaranaike.”
As most people read these comments, they were as public as a newspaper advertisement.
(As John Gimlette puts it:
“A good joke goes round the Island in three days, but a good scandal takes only three hours.“)
Soon everyone including Sammy had heard about Mervyn’s comment.
And everyone but Sammy was amused.
A few months later they both happened to hit the resthouse in Avissawella for lunch.
They stayed there only an hour ignoring each other.
Sammy left first, wrote a half-page attack on my father and complimented the good food.
Mervyn wrote one and a half pages of vindictive prose about the Banadaranike family, dropping hints of madness and incest.
Above: Avissawella Resthouse
The next time they came together, Sammy allowed Mervyn to write first.
After Mervyn had left, Sammy put down all the gossip he knew about the Ondaatjes.
This literary war broke so many codes that, for the first time in Sri Lankan history, pages had to be ripped out of Visitors’ Books.
Eventually one would write about the other even when the other was nowhere near the resthouse.
Pages continued to be torn out, ruining a good archival history of two prominent Sri Lankan families.
The war petered out when neither Sammy nor Mervyn was allowed to write their impressions of a stay or a meal.
The standard comment on Visitors’ Books today about “constructive criticism” dates from this feud.)
One of the ancient routes for Sri Pada was tracked through this region.
Minister Devapathiraja, in the reign of Parakramabahu II, built a 35-cubit long (300 riyan) bridge and another 30-cubit long bridge across the Kanāmadirioya for the pilgrims of the route and also made a statue of the god Sumana at Gampola.
However, compared to the other capitals of the country, Gampola was neither highly populated nor developed, but could provide a resistance against an attack protected by its natural setting.
Though its value as a Kingdom only lasts with a brief period of a few kings, it considerably influences the contemporary politics, which was actually complicated as well as blurred.
The Gampola Kingdom formed around ‘Siduruvana Rata’ commanded supremacy on 14 other terrestrial divisions known as Rata’s and occupies an important place in history as it used to be the seat of government of the Sinhalese Kings during the period of 1314 – 1415.
Buvanekabahu IV (r. 1341-1351), the son of Vijayabahu V, moved his capital to Gampola.
Mahavansa mentioned it as follows:
“After the death of these two kings there reigned a 4th ruler of men bearing the name of Bhuvanekabahu, who was a man of great wisdom and faith and dwelt in the delightful city of Gangasiripura. (Gampola)
After his death, his brother Parakramabahu V (r. 1344 – 1359) reigned as King initially at Dedigama and later at Gampola.
He later lost the throne to the son of Buvaneabahu IV and fled to Java.
Vickramabahu III (1359-1374), son of Buvanekabahu IV, was installed as King in Gampola.
However, he was merely a figurehead as the real ruler was Nissanka Alakeswara who even defeated thr Tamil power of Arya Chakravarti, the leader of Jaffna.
Sinhalese troops defeated Chakravarti’s men at Mathake when they tried to attack Gampola.
Buvanekabahu V (1372 – 1408), the son of Nissanka Alakeswara and nephew of Vickramabahu III, was the next to rule.
He fled Gampola to Raigama in the face of attacks by Arya Chakravarti.
Vira Alakeswara then defeated the forces of Arya Chakravarti, but Buvanekabahu did not return.
Thus the Sinhalese kings installed his brother in law, Virabahu II (r. 1408 – 1410) as king of Gampola.
Meanwhile, when Buvanekabahu died, Virabahu’s brother Vijayabahu was crowned King of Kotte.
He made several attacks on Chinese missions resulting in his capture and being taken to China with his family.
Facing execution, the Chinese Emperor allowed Prince Sepanana to return to Sri Lanka to become king.
A new king emerged from the nobility of Gampola: Parakramabahu VI (r. 1411 – 1466).
He was the last Sinhala ruler to succeed in uniting the Island.
In 1450, he conquered the Tamil Empire and the independent Kingdom of Dedigama.
When he died, however, it did not take long for the two kingdoms of Jaffna and Hill Country to regain their independence.
One of the peculiarities of the later Gampola Empire was that it was ruled by a royal double leadership, recruited from the same family.
The co-rulers had to defend themselves not only against the expansive efforts of the kings of Jaffna, but also against the increasing demands for power by their own ministers.
Gampola later merged into the Kingdom of Kotte.
Three empires existed side by side: the Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna in the North and the Sinhalese kingdoms of Kotte and Kandy in the Hill Country.
The political or social value of the Gampola was not regained once it fell to upcoming Kotte and Kandy.
However, the short period of the Kingdom in power saw a new rise of Buddhism.
The longest sleeping Buddha statue in South Asia is located in the Saliyalapura Temple, Gampola.
Among the remnants of the Gampola era, the most famous temples are Lankathilaka, Gadaladeniya and Embekka Devalaya, which lie west of Kandy, built in this period.
The ancient stone scripts (Shila Lekhana) of Lankathilaka Temple helps reveal a considerable amount of vital information regarding the Gampola era.
The statue of Buddha of the temple indicates the style of South Indian arts.
The Ambekka Dewalaya possess a large collection of wood carvings, where no other temple in Sri Lanka owns such a collection.
The town is located amongst Sri Lanka’s central highlands, hence the climate stays mild throughout the year.
Located 3,567 ft. above mean sea level, Ambuluwawa Mountain hosts a hilltop tourist spot that houses a biodiversity complex celebrating environmentalism and cultural and religious diversity.
A notable feature of this complex is a large winding tower resembling a Buddhist stupa, which is located on the mountain peak.
Gampola has a lot of shops and a huge residential area.
There are some valuable archaeological remains located in the vicinity of Gampola which were built under its rule as well as in later periods:
Above: Migettuwatte Gunanda Theros
But what interests me more is the idea of paying my respects to an actor much beloved on British television, Albert Moses (1937 – 2017), best known for the role “Ranjeet Singh” in the television sitcom Mind Your Language.
Moses was born on 19 December 1937 in Gampola, Kandy.
He started to work at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya.
Then he moved to Africa for employment and finally to London to learn drama and theater.
He was fluent in English, Arabic, Tamil, Sinhalese, moderate German and Sanskrit and excellent in fencing, dancing, singing, motorcycle stunts, karate and judo.
He had begun to act by the 1960s in India where he appeared in several Bollywood films, then produced and directed his first.
From India, he moved to Africa where he undertook work on documentaries.
From the early 1970s, in Britain, Moses played small parts in several television series before being cast as Ranjeet Singh, a Sikh from Punjab, India, in the ITV sitcom Mind Your Language (1977 – 1979, 1986).
He acted in prominent roles in many theater productions such as Freeway at the National Theatre, Phædra Britannica with Dame Diana Rigg and Long March to Jerusalem at the Watford Theatre.
His final film was The Snarling (2018) in which he played tribute to his role in An American Werewolf in London (1981).
The Snarling is dedicated to his memory.
Among his accomplishments:
Moses died in September 2017 in London at the age of 79.
He was buried at St. Andrew’s Church in his native Gampola.
Teatime in Hatton
Onwards, through Wallahagoda, Tembiligala, Warakapitiya, Ulapane, Pallegama, Warakawa, Nawalapitiya….
A bridge crosses the Mahaweli River.
The Mahaweli River (“Great Sandy River“) is a 335 km (208 mi) long river, ranking as the longest river in Sri Lanka.
It has a drainage basin of 10,448 km2 (4,034 sq mi), the largest in the country, which covers almost one-fifth of the total area of the island.
The real creation of Mahaweli Ganga starts at Polwathura, a remote village in the Kandy District. and later joins the Hatton Oya and the Kotmale Oya.
The river reaches the Bay of Bengal on the southwestern side of Trincomalee Bay.
The bay includes the first of a number submarine canyons, making Trincomalee one of the finest deep-sea harbors in the world.
As part of the Mahaweli Development Programme, the river and its tributaries are dammed at several locations to allow irrigation in the dry zone, with almost 1,000 km2 (386 sq mi) of land irrigated.
Production of hydroelectricity from six dams of the Mahaweli system supplies more than 40% of Sri Lanka’s electricity needs.
One of the many sources of the river is the Kotmale Oya.
There is a misconception in Sri Lanka that the Mahaweli starts from the Sri Pada mountain.
The Mahaweli gets its source waters from Horton Plains in Kirigalpoththa and the Thotupola mountain range.
Onwards….
Hightenford, Inguruoya, Penrose, Galboda, Dekinda, Watawala, Ihala Watawala, Rozella….
Hatton Station is a railway station on the Main (Colombo-Badulla) railway line in Sri Lanka.
It is situated between Rozella and Kotagala railway stations.
It is 173.06 kilometres (107.53 mi) along the railway line from the Colombo Fort Railway Station at an elevation of about 1,262.5 m (4,142 ft) above sea level.
The Hatton railway station was opened on 4 June 1884 when the main line was extended from Nawalapitiya to Hatton.
The station was the terminus of the main line until the line was extended to Nanu-Oya on 20 May 1885.
The station has a reservation and train enquiry section, ticket office, cloak room, waiting hall, book stall, tea stall, toilet blocks and catering area together with a public car parking area.
The railway station has four platforms but normally only three of the platforms serve rail passengers.
Platform No. 1 caters for trains to Badulla that come from Colombo Fort or Kandy, whilst platform No. 2 is used for trains to Nawalapitiya, Kandy, and Colombo Fort or trains coming from Badulla or Haputale.
All trains that run on the main line stop at Hatton and the station handles a total of twelve trains daily.
Hatton railway station is the busiest railway station in the Nuwara Eliya District and the second-busiest railway station in the Central Province.
Approximately one million passengers use the station during the pilgrimage period to Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada) (which begins in December and ends in May).
The station provides a large waiting room, located outside of the station, especially for visitors/pilgrims to Adam’s Peak.
This facility is only open during the pilgrimage season.
The Sri Lanka Transport Board also manages a joint railway-bus service for pilgrims.
Hatton is a major town in the Nuwara Eliya District of Central Province, governed by the Hatton-Dickoya Urban Council.
Hatton sounds like British Lords and tea time.
And sometimes you actually feel like you are back in the Empire – for example, when you visit one of the many tea plantations with their sonorous English names.
Hatton is a major centre of the Sri Lankan tea industry.
From leaf to cup, a must is a visit to a tea factory, which takes about half an hour.
In this short time, the visitor learns a lot about the processing of tea leaves and tea’s different varieties.
You can visit the Mount Vernon Estate or Court Lodge Estate near Dambulla and Talawakelle as well as the Tea Research Institute on the St. Combs Estate.
Advance registration is not necessary.
In most tea factories, a freshly brewed cup of tea is served at the end of the tour.
Hatton is one of the busiest cities in the hill country of Sri Lanka and is colloquially known as the tea capital of the country, as it is the central point for most upcountry tea growing regions, such as Maskeliya, Talawakelle, Bogawantalawa and Dickoya.
It is located approximately 112 km (70 mi) southeast of Colombo and 72 km (45 mi) south of Kandy, at an elevation of 1,271 m (4,170 ft) above sea level.
The mountain village of Hatton not only attracts with a pleasantly fresh climate, a carpet of tea plantations and a number of clear waterfalls in the area, it is also a hiking paradise.
Hatton was founded during the British colonial times in order to serve the coffee plantations and latter tea estates.
The name of the town refers to the village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
A number of the surrounding tea estates are also named after Scottish villages.
In this part of the Central Highlands, called Upper Glenn, at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,600 metres, excellent Ceylon teas thrive in this the longest contiguous tea growing area on the Island.
Hatton serves as a gateway to Adam’s Peak (Sri Pada) and Sinharaja Forest Reserve, but is better known for its Ceylon tea plantations.
Over 48% of the town’s population is employed on tea estates.
Everything is so green and sparkling as the first morning of Creation.
The landscape of gently rolling hills is covered with tea bushes and dense emerald forests beneath the backdrop of majestic mountains.
A visit is particularly recommended between December and March, when there is normally hardly any rain and the air is pleasantly promising as the prospect of a fresh new day.
Above: Eden by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 – 1553)
Back on the train….
Tunneling Through
The Singha Malai Tunnel (or Poolbank Tunnel) is the longest railway tunnel in Sri Lanka.
There are 46 tunnels along the Main Line between Colombo and Badulla.
The longest tunnel is the Poolbank tunnel between Hatton and Kotagala, which is 562 m (1,844 ft) long, 5.5 m (18 ft) wide and has a curvature in the middle so that one end of the tunnel cannot be seen from the other end.
In the middle of the tunnel the gradient begins to decline, with the Kotagala railway station being approximately 23 m (75 ft) lower than the Hatton railway station.
The tunnel was designed by Sir Guilford Lindsey Molesworth, the first Director-General of Railways in Ceylon (1865-1871) and constructed by F. W. Faviell.
The tunnel’s construction represented a significant engineering feat at the time, as it was bored from both ends meeting in the middle.
The tunnel was named the Poolbank tunnel as it runs under the Poolbank tea estate, which was established in 1880.
It is also called Singha Malai tunnel, after a nearby rock formation, Singha is Tamil for ‘Lion‘ and Malai for ‘Mountain‘.
Through the Tunnel, onward, onward….
Galkandawatta, Kotagala….
From Henry William Cave’s The Book of Ceylon: Being a Guide to Its Railway System and an Account of Its Varied Attractions for the Visitor and Tourist (1908):
“After passing Kotagala, the loveliness of the scenery increases until it seems to reach its climax as the remarkable beauty of the St. Clair Falls unfolds itself just before we reach Thalawakele.
The Falls appear on the left and some vigilance is required to obtain a good view through the trees.
The passengers who alights at Talawakele should not fail to visit these Falls by walking to the 19 1/2 milepost on the Nawalapitiya Road.
Two miles further on the same winding road, one of the most beautiful landscapes in Sri Lanka is to be found, where, at an abrupt corner of the road another cataract, Devon Falls, bursts into sight.
No photograph can do it proper justice.
The charm of the view is the setting of the waterfall with its steep and rugged backdrop of rock and the estates at various levels towering above it, while the most distant ridges one by one recede till the farthermost is lost in rolling vapours.
Here are five miles of road that present exquisite landscapes seldom seen by visitors who usually push on with all speed to Nuwara Eliya.
A Bazaar Place
Thalawakale is an important station of Dimbula, the largest of all the tea districts.
The little town has a small population and includes among ist local manufacturing the various kinds of machinery used in the processing of tea and the preparation of rubber.
Some idea of its importance may be gauged from the fact that 20 million pounds of tea are despatched annually from Thalawakale alone.
Thalawakale Bazaar arrests attention, for it is one of the liveliest of native trading quarters.
Here the labourers – men, women and children – of a hundred estates, are supplied with their luxuries, which consist of jewellery, sweets, curry, and clothes of many colours which, without any tailoring, serve them as wearing apparel.
Here too the native rice contractors have their stores, which are of no small importance in a country where the soil is cultivated only for the production of luxuries for exportation and the food of the labourer is an imported article.”
Tourists, look up from your mobile phones and look out your windows.
A Dam Site Better
The Upper Kotmale Dam (also known as the Upper Kotmale Hydropower Project, or UKHP), located in Talawakele, within the Nuwara Eliya District, in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, the dam feeds the 3rd largest hydroelectric power station in the country.
The gravity dam measures 35.5 m (116.5 ft) tall, and 180 m (591 ft) wide, impounding the Kotmale River and creating the Upper Kotmale Reservoir.
Once filled, the reservoir will have a surface area of 250,000 m2 (2,700,000 sq ft) with an average storage capacity of 800,000 m3 (28,000,000 cu ft).
The minimum and maximum operating water levels are 1,190 m (3,904 ft) and 1,194 m (3,917 ft) AMSL (above mean sea level) respectively, while the tailwater level is 703 m (2,306 ft) AMSL.
Water from the reservoir will be used for both irrigation development and hydroelectric power generation.
The 4.5–5.2 m (14.8–17.1 ft) diameter, 12.89 km (8.0 mi) long Upper Kotmale Tunnel, the longest excavated tunnel in Sri Lanka, will be used to deliver the water to the powerhouse.
The tunnel begins at the dam site, and stretches north at a distance of approximately 7.4 km (4.6 mi) towards Pundaluoya, before stretching a further 5.5 km (3.4 mi) north-west towards Kumbaloluwa and ending up at its powerhouse at the Kotmale River near Niyamgamdora, at approximately two km (1.2 mi) downstream of the confluence of Pundal River and the Kotmale River.
Excavation on the tunnel was completed and ceremonially opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 4 November 2010.
The powerhouse measures 66.3 m (217.5 ft) long, 18.8 m (61.7 ft) wide, and 36.5 m (119.8 ft) tall, and is located underground at Niyamgamdora.
It has installed electrical capacity of 150 MW (megawatts) from two 75 MW turbines, capable of producing up to 409 GWh (gigawatts per hour) of power annually.
Water arrives at the powerhouse from the dam via the 12.89 km (8.0 mi) long Upper Kotmale Tunnel, which then feeds the 793 m (2,602 ft) penstock.
The initial 745 m (2,444 ft) of the penstock is single-lane, while the latter 48 m (157 ft) splits into two lanes, feeding the two 75 MW generators respectively.
The powerhouse consists of the two three-phase 77 MW, 88,000 kVA (kilovolt-ampere) vertical-axis Francis turbine-generators, two three-phase transformers, and a 220 kV Gas Insulator Switchgear (GIS) substation.
An outdoor switchyard measuring 36.5 m (119.8 ft) by 130 m (426.5 ft).
The 220kV transmission line of the Upper Kotmale Hydro-power Project connects the power station located at Niyamgamdora, Kotmale, to the national grid via Kotmale switch yard located in Atabage, Gampola.
The line consists of 45 towers and has a length of 15.5 km.
The double circuit transmission line has a capacity of 220 MW per circuit.
The construction of the dam, tunnel, and powerhouse, required the relocation of families from 495 houses.
New homes were built away from the site with access to vital facilities such as water and power.
The relocated families are provided with concessionary loans to start new self-employment ventures, while additional facilities such as the Talawakele Central College, places of worship, a cinema hall, a library, and a community centre, are being established.
Similar to most other dams’ impacts on rivers around the world, the Upper Kotmale Dam will periodically stop the St. Clair’s Falls, located 2.2 km (1.4 mi) downstream of the dam, and a further 2.9 km (1.8 mi) of the Kotmale River downstream of St. Clairs Falls, before the river is restored by water from the Devon River, the river forming the picturesque Devon Falls.
As ordered by the government, the St. Clair’s waterfall will maintain a continuous flow of 47,250 m3 (1,668,618 cu ft) of water for 10 hours and 30 minutes daily, between sunrise and sunset.
Heidi and Wogga have already experienced so much before they boarded this train on this day….
The Chaos of Colombo
The hustle and bustle of Colombo, which serves as the island’s Washington DC and New York, a place still fitting Robert Percival’s 1803 description:
“There is no place in the world where so many languages are spoken or which contains such a mixture of nations.”
Colombo is a city inside out.
That which should be on the inside – forts, parliament, embassies – are scattered about the edges.
That which should be on the outside – huge army camps, pelicans, a giant lake the colour of pea soup – sees cows in the courtyards, men chopping logs along the boulevards, cricket (the game not the insect) everywhere, and elephants chauffeured on trucks.
Colombo is Sri Lankan to the foreigner and foreign to the Sri Lankan.
The language changes from street to street – sometimes Tamil, sometimes Sinhala and often something else from somewhere else.
“Everyone makes their fortune, and leaves.“, wrote an English planter in 1948.
“Afghans with usury, Chinese with silks, Indian coolies with rickshaws, Sinhalese make their money and go back to their village, the British work only to retire.”
Colombo is a city built by invaders and invaded by commuters.
Tikak pissu.
(It’s a little crazy.)
The Main Line
It is in Colombo, at the Fort Station, that the Main Line starts.
A journey that once took 12 days by ox cart to complete now takes the sky-blue painted carriages of the Main Line train only nine hours to accomplish.
The first segment of the Main line was opened in 1864, with the construction of the line from Colombo to Ambepussa, 54 km (34 mi) to the east.
This was the first rail line in the country.
The first train ran on 27 December 1864.
The line was officially opened for traffic on 2 October 1865.
The main reason for building a railway system in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was to transport tea and coffee from the hill country to Colombo.
The Main Line was extended in stages with service to Kandy beginning in 1867, to Nawalapitiya in 1874, to Nanu Oya in 1885, to Bandarawela in 1894, and to Badulla in 1924.
Till 1953, the Main Line operated with steam locomotives.
In the 1950s, service was enhanced with diesel locomotives, under the leadership of B. D. Rampala.
Various types of diesel locomotives were added to the service.
In 2011, ExpoRail and Rajadhani Express began operating a premium section on trains on the Main Line.
These services were launched to improve rail transport’s appeal to the public.
Sri Lanka Railways also began importing new diesel-multiple units to replace the aging rolling stock previously used on the line.
Built by China’s CSR Corporation Limited, the new S12 trainsets are designed to work on the steep gradients of the hill country.
The commuter rail portion of the line, within the Colombo metropolitan area, is planned to be electrified, though no ground work has started.
The original Main Line required over 3,000 workers to construct it – many of whom died from cholera or malaria – using no mechanization whatsoever, through very rough terrain including ravines, gorges and mountains.
For a few rupees more….
Sri Lanka is a land not for the faint of heart.
It is a developing country, where the well-educated cannot find employment, where the average Sri Lankan makes less than €50 / $56 / CHF 53 / LKR 10,445 a month (which isn’t much even by Sri Lankan standards), where 20% of Sri Lankan children are malnourished.
And yet this same nation has produced gemstones that have graced the crowns of royalty, and much of the world’s tea.
While the production and export of tea, rubber, coffee, sugar, and other commodities remain important, industrialisation has increased the importance of food processing, textiles, telecommunications, and finance.
The country’s main economic sectors are tourism, tea export, clothing, rice production, and other agricultural products.
In addition to these economic sectors, overseas employment, especially in the Middle East, contributes substantially in foreign exchange.
Above: Tea plant
More on the Main Line
Heidi and Wogga travelled to Kandy, the city of the blue water lily given as sacrifice at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth (Buddha’s upper left cuspid) in 90-minute puja ceremonies to the accompaniment of drums and horns.
A city of dance performances and flying fox bats and meditation where one can contemplate the hare in the moon and the elephant tuskers on parade.
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Above: clockwise from left top: Temple of the Tooth, Bahirawakanda Temple, Entrance of Bogambara Prison, Kandy Clock Tower, Kandy Lake, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Sarachchandra Open-Air Theatre
From Peradeniya Junction, the Main Line then continues its climb through tea country, connecting local market centres at Gampola, Nawalapitiya and Hatton before reaching Nanu Oya.
This is the connection to the former colonial resort of Nuwara Eliya, known for its temperate climate, classic hotels and British-style gardens.
The Main Line continues its ascent to the summit at Pattipola, 1,898 m (6,227 ft) above sea level, before descending past Bandarawela to Badulla.
In the upcountry, passengers can view the tea gardens, mountains and valleys, cascading torrents and waterfalls.
And now Heidi and Wogga sit on this portion of the Main Line, said to be the most beautiful journey in the world.
They marvel at the local women in their colourful cotton, water-resistant, two-metre-long sarongs, as the train snakes higher and higher up the plateau of the Highlands.
What little wealth these women have is proudly worn in festive fabrics of tasteful artistry.
Past the Upper Kotmale Reservoir, the journey continues.
Watagoda, Great Western, Radella….
A Token Tale
At Nanu Oya Station, Station Master H.G.W. Ratnasini is prepared for the arrival of the train.
The Main Line is a single line, so precautions must be made that at this junction so that trains will not meet other trains coming at them from the opposite direction.
The Nanu Oya railway station is the 63rd station on the Main Line, and is 206.9 km (128.6 mi) away from Colombo.
All trains including Podi Menike and Udarata Menike express trains service the station.
The station was a junction and branching point for the Udupussallawa narrow gauge railway line connecting Nanu Oya with Ragala via Nuwara Eliya.
The original train station was built in 1885 as the terminus of the main line, as part of the 31 km (19 mi) rail line connecting Hatton to Nanu Oya.
In 1893 the railway line was extended from Nanu Oya to Bandarawela, and in 1903 the station became a junction station when Udupussallawa railway line was constructed.
In 1948 the government decided to close the Udapussellawa Railway, due to low traffic and the tracks were completely removed.
(The discontinuation of the Udapussellawa is somewhat disappointing.
Even though buses now routinely run the route where rail once ran, there is a feeling of loss, of stolen nostalgia, for is it not appropos for a town like Nuwara Eliya, beloved by author Hermann Hesse in 1911 and affectionately named “Little England“, to remain connected by an old narrow gauge line?
I digress.)
Above: Hermann Hesse (1877 – 1962)
The train pulls up to the platform and the train driver is handed a brass ring covered in leather beneath which hangs a pouch containing a metal disc token.
A practice that has been repeated train after train since 1901.
The driver in possession of the token knows that the track between Nanu Oya and the next station is clear, for within the station the Station Master has signalled the upcoming station of the train’s expected arrival.
A wooden box and bell system dominates the Station desk in a manner that a monkey set loose in a library would seem threatening atop a study table.
Ratnasiri pounds down four times on a extruding button reminding one of the pounding of a button in the game of Hungry Hippos.
Ratnasari’s pounding elicits the ringing of the machine’s bell in the same sequence of four, releasing a bottom drawer in the machine from whence a disc token is retrieved.
There is not enough time to discover the logic of a token transport system or the logistics of how the tokens are returned to the Station, for the journey must continue….
Moving to the Music
A young group of boys often gather at the Station and entertain themselves and others drumming and singing from the Sri Lankan King of Pop Clarence Wijeivardena (1943 – 1996).
Though like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, Wijeivardena has gone on to the Tower of Song, like his American counterparts, Wijeivardene’s music is never forgotten in the homeland he loved.
Above: Clarence Wijervardena
In First Class a guitarist rides the rails and plays folk tunes hoping to par from wealthier hands some precious rupees to keep his family fed.
He is not a musician by trade, but rather a qualified professional.
Perhaps he is an engineer or an architect or a teacher, but like so many young highly-educated men there is a surplus supply of young highly-educated men and a deficient demand for what they offer.
Still he plays his guitar with gusto and his songs are filled with joy, for he finds his life is still far more fulfilling than the back-breaking labour that his father and brothers endure in factories and fields.
His is a life of hope, and though the universal rule that the wealthy are rich because they are not generous usually applies, this is Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans are emotional romantics moved by music, literature and art in all their wonderful forms.
There is a television set in the first class compartment, but no one is watching it.
They are all watching him.
He smiles, he sings, he hopes.
Heidi and Wogga cannot hear television nor musician, for unlike Swiss buses and Australian trains where no one dares disturb the sound of silence, Sri Lankans are social creatures who are always animated in conversation with one another.
If someone is silent, chances are they aren’t Sri Lankan.
The train is packed tighter than sardines in a can, but the ladies don’t mind, for they are by the open window and the landscape of endless green in constant motion keeps their feelings of discomfort distracted and muted.
The train travels on….
Parakramapura….
And suddenly the passengers find themselves traversing a section of the Horton Plains National Park.
Historic Horton
Horton Plains National Park is a national park in the central highlands of Sri Lanka that was designated in 1988.
It is located at an elevation of 2,100 – 2,300 m (6,900 – 7,500 ft) and encompasses montane grassland and cloud forest.
It is rich in biodiversity and many species found here are endemic to the region.
Horton Plains is a popular tourist destination, with World’s End being the key attraction.
In the six months ending in August 2009, Horton Plains National Park earned a revenue of LKR 20.1 million (US$ 0.17 million).
The park is accessed by the Nuwara Eliya-Ambewela-Pattipola and Haputale-Boralanda roads, and there are railway stations at Ohiya and Ambewela.
World’s End is a sheer precipice with a 870 m (2,854 ft) drop.
It is situated at the southern boundary of the park.
Another cliff known as the Lesser World’s End of 270 m (886 ft) is located not far from World’s End.
Baker’s Falls, a waterfall formed by Belihul Oya, a tributary of the Walawe River is named after Sir Samuel Baker, a hunter and explorer who attempted to establish a European agricultural settlement at Nuwara Eliya.
The waterfall is 20 metres (66 ft) high.
Slab Rock Falls is another well-known waterfall in the plains.
The waterfall can be reached by walking on one of the main trails.
The trail is a bit steep at the end but the difficulty level is medium to easy.
The peaks of Kirigalpoththa (2,389 metres / 7,838 feet) and Thotupola Kanda (2,357 metres / 7,733 ft)), the second and the third highest of Sri Lanka, are situated to the west and north respectively.
The park’s elevation ranges from 1,200 – 2,300 metres (3,900 – 7,500 feet).
The soil is red-yellow and the surface layer is covered with decayed organic matter.
The mean annual rainfall is greater than 2,000 millimetres (79 in).
Frequent cloud cover limits the amount of sunlight that is available to plants.
The mean annual temperature is 13 °C (55 °F) but the temperature varies considerably during the course of a day, reaching as high as 27 °C (81 °F) during the day time, and dipping as low as 5 °C (41 °F) at night.
During the southwest monsoon season, the wind speed sometimes reaches gale force.
Although some rain falls throughout the year, a dry season occurs from January–March.
The ground frost is common in February.
Mist can persist in the most of the day during the wet season.
Many pools and waterfalls can be seen in the park and Horton Plains is considered the most important watershed in Sri Lanka.
The Horton Plains are the headwaters of important rivers such as the Mahaweli, Kelani, and Walawe.
The plains also feeds Belihul Oya, Agra Oya, Kiriketi Oya, Uma Oya and Bogawantalawa Oya.
Due to its high elevation, fog and cloud deposit a considerable amount of moisture on the land.
Slow moving streams, swamps and waterfalls are the important wetland habitats of the park.
The original name of the area was Maha Eliya Thenna (“great open plain“).
But in the British period the plains were renamed after Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton, the British governor of Ceylon from 1831 to 1837, who travelled to the area to meet the Ratemahatmaya of Sabaragamuwa in 1836.
The renaming was done in 1834 by Lt William Fisher of the 78th Regiment and Lt. Albert Watson of the 58th Regiment, who ‘discovered‘ the plateau.
Above: Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton (1784 – 1841)
Stone tools dating back to Balangoda culture have been found here.
The local population who resided in the lowlands ascended the mountains to mine gems, extract iron ore, construct an irrigational canal and fell trees for timber.
A six-metre (20 ft) pollen core extracted from a mire revealed that in the late quaternary period the area had a semi-arid climate and a species-restricted plant community.
Since Sri Lanka has a long non-written history, there is a significant and logical folk story.
It is believed that Thotupala Mountain in the Horton Plain is the place where King Rawana landed his aircraft, ‘Dandumonaraya‘.
According to the story King Rawana kidnapped Sitha, the wife of Rama, as revenge for cutting off the King’s sister, Suparnika‘s nose.
Sitha’s kidnapping provoked Rama in India and he led an army that consisted of Monkey-like humans, whose leader was Hanuman.
In the story, Hanuman set fire to the Horton Plains and that fire lasted for a long time.
The original name, Maha Eliya Thenna carries the meaning:
‘The hugely lit ground‘.
Even now the upper layer of soil bears a blackish grey colour.
There had been some soil tests done by local universities and they revealed that the upper layer contains a high amount of calcium carbonate and potash.
For Sri Lankans, the Horton Plains are very significant in their history and culture.
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker advised the British government “to leave all montane forests above 5000 ft. undisturbed” and an administrative order to this effect was issued in 1873 that prevented clearing and felling of forests in the region.
Horton Plains was designated as a wildlife sanctuary on 5 December 1969, and because of its biodiversity value, was elevated to national park status on 18 March 1988.
The Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, which lies to the west, is contiguous with the park.
Above: Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817 – 1911)
The land area covered by the Horton Plains is 3,160 hectares (12.2 sq mi).
The Horton Plains contain the most extensive area of cloud forest still existing in Sri Lanka.
On July 2010, the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, which incorporates the Horton Plains National Park, the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary and the Knuckles Mountain Range was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Horton, naturally….
Nearly 750 species of plants belonging to 20 families have been recorded from the park.
The forest canopy reaches the height of 20 m (66 ft).
Nearly 54 woody plant species have been recorded from the park, of which 27 (50%) are endemic to Sri Lanka.
Above: Myrtle tree
Frequent fire and grazing characterises the grassland flora.
Grasslands dominate.
Waterlogged swamps or slow moving streams are found in low-lying areas.
Bamboo thrives along the banks of the streams, and near the swampy areas grasses are common.
Tussock grasses are found in the wet hollows.
Perhaps the truly fortunate and gifted observer may spot the Ipsea speciosa (a rare endemic daffodil orchid).
Tree trunks and branches are ornamented with many species of ferns, lichens and orchids.
Old man’s beard hanging from branches adds to the beauty of the forests.
About 16 of the orchid species are endemic.
Other notable plants include shrubs, herbs and tree ferns, some of which had never been recorded in Sri Lanka before, were discovered here in 2007.
There are conflicting views on how the grasslands of the park came into being, whether man-made or natural.
It is now believed that the grasslands on the dry slopes were created by forest clearance and fires while grasslands in low-lying areas were naturally created by wet conditions, frost and soil erosion.
The vertebrate fauna of the region includes 24 species of mammals, 87 species of birds, nine species of reptiles and eight species of amphibians.
The Sri Lankan elephant disappeared from the region in the 1940s but has recently reappeared upon the Plains at the end of the century.
At present, the largest and the most commonly seen mammal is the sambar deer.
Some research findings estimate the population of sambar deer to be around 1,500 to 2,000, possibly more than the sustaining capacity of the Plains.
Other mammal species found in the park include Kelaart’s long-clawed shrews, toque macaques, purple-faced langurs, rusty-spotted cat, Sri Lankan leopards, wild boars, stripe-necked mongooses, Sri Lankan spotted chevrotains (mouse deer), Indian muntjacs (barking deer) and grizzled giant squirrels.
Fishing cats and Eurasian otters visit the wetlands of the park to prey on aquatic animals.
A subspecies of red slender loris, the Horton Plains slender loris is found only in the highlands of Sri Lanka and is considered one of the world’s most endangered primates.
In July 2010 a group of researchers from the Zoological Society of London was able to photograph the mammal for the first time.
In 2016, rusty-spotted cats were recorded in the Horton Plains National Park for the first time, at altitudes of 2,084 – 2,162 m (6,837 – 7,093 feet).
Along with Ohiya, Pattipola and Ambewela, Horton Plains forms one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Sri Lanka.
Together with the adjacent Peak Wilderness Sanctuary, Horton Plains contains 21 bird species which occur only on Sri Lanka.
Four – the Sri Lanka blue magpie, the dull-blue flycatcher, the Sri Lanka white-eye and the Sri Lanka wood pigeon – are found only in Horton Plains, along with other endemic species that include Sri Lanka spurfowl, Sri Lanka junglefowl, yellow-fronted barbet, orange-billed babbler, Sri Lanka bush warbler and Sri Lanka whistling-thrush.
Many birds migrate here in winter including swiftlets and alpine swift.
Crested serpent eagle, mountain hawk-eagle, black-winged kite, and peregrine falcon are among the birds of prey found in Horton Plains.
Harriers are among the migratory raptors.
This is a key wildlife area.
All six highland endemic birds are found here, including the dull-blue flycatcher, the Sri Lanka white-eye, the Sri Lanka wood pigeon and the Sri Lanka bush warbler.
Yellow-eared bulbul and black–throated munia are widespread throughout the highlands.
Sri Lanka is considered a herpetological paradise in the world.
Possibly about 15 amphibian species inhabit the park, including six endemic reptiles from the Plains, such as the rhino horn lizard, the common rough-sided snake and the rat snake.
Two fish species found in the park, common carp and rainbow trout, are introduced species.
Horton Plains is also home to many endemic crustaceans.
The endemic freshwater shrimp is found only in streams that have a temperature of less than 15 degrees °C and is now restricted to only a stretch of 10 km of one single stream.
Horton Plains was once a part of a large system of plains and forest cover that included Agra-Bopats, Moon Plains and Elk Plains.
Between 1831 and 1948, it became a sambar deer hunting ground.
Elephants and wild boar were also hunted to a lesser extent.
During this period lower slopes were cleared initially for coffee and then for tea plantations.
As a result, Horton Plains and Peak Wilderness became isolated from other forest and grassland areas.
Potatoes were cultivated in the grasslands but planting ceased in 1977.
After being declared a National Park, these areas were reinstated as grasslands.
Tourism-related issues, such as plant removal, littering, fires and noise pollution, are major conservation issues.
Gem mining, timber logging, the collection of plants for ornamental and medicinal purposes, encroachment, poaching and vehicle traffic are the other threats.
The spread of invasive alien species such as gorse, mist flower, Crofton weed, blue stars, brackens and others threaten the native flora.
The introduced rainbow trout may have affected endemic species of fish, amphibia and crustaceans.
Some sambar deer have died due to eating polythene litter that blocked their food passages, and visitors are banned from bringing polythene into the park.
The deer have benefited from the introduced Pennisetum grass species.
A recent threat, first reported in 1978, is forest dieback.
In some areas, especially in the peripheral region, this has been severe with nearly a 50% reduction in vegetation.
Water deficiency has been attributed as the main cause of dieback as droughts are becoming more frequent.
Regrowth of forest is hindered by frost which is increasingly severe.
The forest dieback has affected 22 species of plants.
A study has suggested that low calcium causes soil acidification and increased toxicity caused by metallic elements such as aluminium may be causing the dieback.
Leaching of nutrients and the resulting imbalance in soil micronutrients may also be contributing to the dieback.
Traversing the Horton Plains, the driver must exercise vigilance and caution, for despite his token and the regular patrol of the trolley car that regularly monitors the railroad, there is always the possibility of animals blocking the tracks.
As magical and delightful as it may be to see a Sri Lankan tiger or a wild boar or a sambar deer, a train has a schedule to keep.
Happily, nature is generally more afraid of man than man is of nature, but the driver has long ago learned that despite man’s technological advancements nature must always be respected.
Moody Mother Nature
Few Sri Lankans older than teenagers aboard this train will forget the tsunami of 26 December 2004 – corpses sprawled in fields or washed out to sea never to be seen again, the confusion, the shock, the fear, the sorrow and the suffering, prayers to deaf deities, waves 30 metres high reacting to an earthquake in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
But even before and certainly after the tsunami, wise men know that nature still speaks in volumes and laughs at the stupidity of man to think that he alone is immune from the power that surrounds him.
Heavy rains wash away roads.
Landslides and fallen trees block passages.
Fog and mist obscures vision.
Dew or frost may make rails and roads slippery.
A wise man knows that Nature is a woman and that she merely tolerates man for a time before she makes her power felt again.
She will not be ignored and Hell hath no fury than that of a woman scorned.
Life and the journey continues….
Ambewela….
Timeless Pattipola
Pattipola railway station is the 62nd station on the Main Line, and is 224 km (139 mi) away from Colombo.
It is the highest railway station in Sri Lanka with an elevation of 1,897.5 m (6,225 ft) high above mean sea level.
The station has one platform with a second track as a siding loop.
All the trains that run on the Main Line, including the Podi Menike and Udarata Menike express trains stop at the station.
There is an oddness to Pattipola that is hard to define.
It is as if time operates here on a different dimension.
I am reminded of the description of Mariposa in Canadian auther Stephen Leacock’s classic, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town:
“I don’t know whether you know Mariposa.
If not, it is of no consequence, for if you know Canada at all, you are probably well acquainted with a dozen towns just like it.
There it lies in the sunlight, sloping up from the little lake that spreads out at the foot of the hillside on which the town is built.
There is a wharf beside the lake, and lying alongside of it a steamer that is tied to the wharf with two ropes of about the same size as they use on the Lusitania.
The steamer goes nowhere in particular, for the lake is landlocked and there is no navigation for the Mariposa Belle, except to “run trips” on the first of July and the Queen’s Birthday, and to take excursions of the Knights of Pythias and the Sons of Temperance to and from the Local Option Townships.
In point of geography the lake is called Lake Wissanotti and the river running out of it the Ossawippi, just as the main street of Mariposa is called Missinaba Street and the county Missinaba County.
But these names do not really matter.
Nobody uses them.
People simply speak of the “lake” and the “river” and the “main street”, much in the same way as they always call the Continental Hotel, “Pete Robinson’s” and the Pharmaceutical Hall, “Eliot’s Drug Store”.
Above: Stephen Leacock (1869 – 1914)
But I suppose this is just the same in everyone else’s town as in mine, so I need lay no stress on it….
To the careless eye the scene on Main Street of a summer afternoon is one of deep and unbroken peace.
The empty street sleeps in the sunshine.
There is a horse and buggy tied to the hitching post in front of Glover’s hardware store.
There is, usually and commonly, the burly figure of Mr. Smith, proprietor of Smith’s Hotel, standing in his chequered waistcoat on the steps of his hostelry, and perhaps, further up the street, Lawyer Macartney going for his afternoon mail, or the Rev. Mr. Drone, the Rural Dean of the Church of England Church, going home to get his fishing rod after a mothers’ auxiliary meeting.
But this quiet is mere appearance.
In reality, and to those who know it, the place is a perfect hive of activity.
Why, at Netley’s butcher shop (established in 1882) there are no less than four men working on the sausage machines in the basement.
At the Newspacket office there are as many more job-printing.
There is a long distance telephone with four distracting girls on high stools wearing steel caps and talking incessantly.
In the offices in McCarthy’s block are dentists and lawyers, with their coats off, ready to work at any moment.
And from the big planing factory down beside the lake where the railroad siding is, you may hear all through the hours of the summer afternoon the long-drawn music of the running saw.
Busy?
Well, I should think so!
Ask any of its inhabitants if Mariposa isn’t a busy, hustling, thriving town.”
Station Master Sameera Leyanage knows how deceiving appearances can be.
Beneath the shadows cast by the afternoon sun, despite the calm stability of his trusted man assuredly stamping departing passengers’ tickets for the patient train settled at the platform, the Station Master knows how quickly calm can become chaos.
A missed train, misplaced luggage, foul weather, all and anything can transform this timeless scene of tranquillity into a tempest of turmoil.
The train starts up and rolls away….
It reaches the Summit Level and there a sign informs those who will read it that you are 1,888 metres / 6,226 feet above mean sea level, that you are 224 km / 139 miles from Colombo.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records (and they should know), here we are at the highest point ever reachable by broad-gauge railway in the world.
The train goes through the Pattipola Tunnel, just one of 42 tunnels along the Main Line.
The Pattipola Railway Tunnel or Summit Tunnel, is the 3rd longest and the highest railway tunnel in Sri Lanka.
From Henry William Cave’s The Book of Ceylon: Being a Guide to Its Railway System and an Account of Its Varied Attractions for the Visitor and Tourist (1908):
“The railway pierces the rock and as we emerge there is suddenly spread before us the grandest panorama in Ceylon, a vast mountain ledge of rolling downs, six hundred square miles in extent, forming an arena to the lofty blue mountains that surround it….
The transition is instantaneous and the spectacle startling, especially if, as often happens, we have been enveloped in deep mists in our approach to the tunnel.”
Oh, Ohiya!
The next town on the line, Ohiya, is one of the most scenic places in Sri Lanka.
On a clear day the view from the Ohiya Gap / Dondra Watch extends up to the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
From this vantage point, which looks out over the Haputale valley, the Dondra Head Lighthouse (101 km / 63 miles away) is occasionally visible.
(Dondra Head Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on Dondra Head, Dondra, the southernmost point in Sri Lanka and is Sri Lanka’s tallest lighthouse and also one of the tallest in South East Asia.)
Near Ohiya are:
Between Ohiya and the next station on the line Idalgashinna are 14 tunnels.
The 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge main line between Haputale and Idalgashinna is regarded to have a notably scenic view due to the land falling away steeply both sides.
The view on the northern side of the station extends beyond Boralanda and Welimada up to Udupussellawa and Hakgala, with the southern side encompassing Beragala down to the coast at Hambantota and the Udawalawa reservoir clearly visible.
The railway passes by the Thangamale Sanctuary.
The Thangamale Sanctuary is a bird sanctuary situated in Beragala close to Haputale.
The bird sanctuary is situated on an off the beaten path in Thangamale, also known as the ‘Golden Mountain’, and is part of the Glennanore Tea Estate.
Comprising of 131 hectares it was designated as a protected area in 1938.
It is a highland forest consisting of a walking track and amazing views at the top.
Nestled high in the lush green hill country of Sri Lanka, the Thangamale Bird Sanctuary may be one of the lesser known nature reserves in the country, however, it certainly does not lack in giving the wildlife junkie and adventure thrill seeker a unique experience.
Boasting of some of the more endemic and rare birds of Sri Lanka, along with other wildlife, the bird sanctuary serves to be an idyllic setting for the hardcore birder and wildlife enthusiast.
Coupled with some of the more serene views of the central highlands draped in a cascade of lush greenery, the sanctuary also serves to be ideal for the one looking for that perfect scenery, making it all the more enticing for the wide-eyed traveller.
The view from Haputale
Perched at the southern edge of the Hill Country, the largely Tamil town of Haputale clings to a long, narrow mountain ridge with the land falling away steeply on both sides.
On a clear day you can view the Hambantota lighthouse pulses in the distance.
On a not-so-clear day, great swaths of mist cling magnetically to the hillsides.
Either way, Haputale is a spectacular part of the country, with bird’s eye views in both directions – south to the plains and coast, and inland across the jagged lines of peaks receding away to the north.
The principal pleasure of a stay in Haputale is the chance to get out and walk in the surrounding hills – mostly up to (or down from) the magnificent viewpoint at Lipton’s Seat.
Specific sites around town include the tea factory at Dambatenne, the evocative old country mansion of Adisham and the impressive Diyaluma Falls.
The major drawback to Haputale is the weather, exacerbated by its exposed position.
The marvellous views usually disappear into mist by midday, while the town received regular afternoon showers of varying severity for much of the year – September to December is the wettest period.
In addition to evergreen mountains, tea plantations characterize the landscape around the wonderfully situated hill station of Haputale.
Unknown pearls are hidden under the tea gardens in the area.
For example, there is a co-operation between small entrepreneurs who have joined together to form the oldest organic tea plantation in Sri Lanka.
Their products are sold, among others, by the company ChariTea – which has made a name for itself in Europe with their trendy, fresh creations and stylish packaging design. (http://www.charitea.com)
The scruffy town centre is a dusty ribbon of traffic, three-wheelers and small-scale commerce.
But take a short walk and you will be rewarded with extraordinary views.
The railway hugs one side of the ridge in a minor victory for 19th century engineering.
Haputale is a useful base for trips to Horton Plains.
Views excepted, Haputale has little to detain you.
The town comprises a small but lively mishmash of functional concrete shops and cafés, while a small fruit and vegetable market straggles along the approach to the train station, offering the slightly surreal sight of crowds of loquacious Tamil locals in saris and wooly hats haggling over piles of very English-looking vegetables.
The Bard of Lanka
Sadly, little remains of Haputale’s Victorian past.
The principal memento is a simple neo-Gothic barn of a building with a rustic wooden interior.
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church lies just north of the town centre along the main road to Bandarawela.
The churchyard is full of memorials to 19th century tea planters, along with the grave of Reverend Walter Stanley Senior (1876 – 1938), author of the once famous Ode to Lanka, Victorian Ceylon’s great contribution to world literature.
Reverend Walter Stanley Senior was an English scholar, poet and member of the Church Missionary Society.
Popularly known as the “Bard of Lanka“, his works are still widely read in the island nation.
He was also Vice Principal of Trinity College, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Above: Logo of Trinity College, Kandy
Senior was a fine classical scholar with a remarkable gift for conveying his own enthusiasm for the best in literature to those who were privileged to be his students.
In the opinion of good judges he was the best English poet Sri Lanka has produced – for though he wrote when at Marlborough and Balliol, his best work was done in Sri Lanka and for Sri Lanka (then Ceylon).
A book of his verse was published under the title Vita Magistra (1937).
A common vein in many of his finest pieces is an appreciation of the diversity and beauty that is Sri Lanka.
Rev Senior also has the distinction of being the author of the famous Hymn for Ceylon as well as the Hymn of Trinity College, Kandy and that of St. John’s College, Jaffna.
His best known work however is the soul-stirring epic titled The Call of Lanka, which many consider to be arguably the finest poem dealing with Sri Lanka ever written.
The Call of Lanka
I climbed o’er the crags of Lanka
And gazed on the golden sea
When out from her ancient places,
Her soul came forth to me;
“Give me a bard,” said Lanka,
“A bard of the things to be.”
“My cities are laid in ruins,
Their courts through the jungle spread,
My scepter is long departed
And the stranger lord instead.
Yet, give me a bard,” said Lanka.
“I am living, I am not dead.”
“For high in my highland valleys,
And low in my lowland plains,
The pride of the past is pulsing
Hot in a people’s veins.
Give me a bard,” said Lanka,
“A bard for my joys and pains.”
I offer a voice O Lanka,
I, child of an alien Isle;
For my heart has heard thee and kindled,
Mine eyes have seen thee and smiled;
Take, foster mother, and use it,
‘Tis but for a little while.
For, surely of thine own children,
Born of thy womb, shall rise
The bard of the moonlit jungle,
The bard of the tropic skies,
Warm from his mother’s bosom,
Bright from his mother’s eyes.
He shall hymn thee of hoar Sri Pada,
The peak that is lone and tall.
He shall sing with her crags, Dunhinda,
The smoking waterfall.
Whatsoever is fair in Lanka,
He shall know it and love it all.
He shall sing thee of sheer Sigiriya,
Of Minneria’s wandering kine;
He shall sing of the lake and the lotus,
He shall sing of the rock-hewn shrine,
Whatsoever is old in Lanka,
Shall live in his Lordly line.
But most shall he sing of Lanka
In the bright new days that come.
When the races all have blended
And the voice of strife is dumb
When we leap to a single bugle,
March to a single drum.
March to a mighty purpose,
One man from shore to shore;
The stranger, becomes a brother,
The task of the tutor o’er,
When the ruined city rises
And the palace gleams once more.
Hark! Bard of the fateful future,
Hark! Bard of the bright to be;
A voice on the verdant mountains,
A voice by the golden sea.
Rise, child of Lanka, and answer
Thy mother hath called to thee.
The Master of Tea
Who doesn’t know them – the tea bags with the distinctive yellow label and red lettering?
Lipton Tea is widespread all over the world.
Less than 10 km east of Haputale is one of the cradles of this world famous tea brand in Dambatenne.
From the south side of the bus station in Haputale, opposite the Muslim Hotel, buses leave for Dambatenne every half hour.
His name lives on in the hot beverage aisle of your local supermarket, but Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton (1850 – 1931) was a major success even before he became the biggest player in the global tea industry.
From 1870 to 1888, Lipton grew his parents’ single grocery shop in Glasgow to a nationwide chain of 300 stores.
Recognizing the potential of tea, Lipton cannily bypassed the traditional wholesale markets of London and went straight to the source by purchasing his own tea plantations in Sri Lanka.
In 1890, Lipton bought five tea plantations (2,200 hectares) at Dambatenne.
His network of 300 stores provided him with guaranteed distribution to sell tea at lower prices to an untapped working-class market.
It also inspired the winning advertising slogan:
“Direct from the tea gardens to the tea pot“.
Thanks to an innovative marketing strategy – Lipton was one of the first to place advertisements in the print media – his name was soon unmistakably associated with tea.
In 1898, Lipton was made the exclusive purveyor of tea to the Royal Family and was ennobled by Queen Victoria as “Sir Thomas“.
Above: Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton (1850 – 1931)
He boasted that his secret for success was selling the best goods at the cheapest prices, harnessing the power of advertising and always being optimistic.
Lipton’s planet-spanning ambition was not only limited to trade.
Above: Depiction of Lipton by Spy, 1901
In 1905, he donated the Thomas Lipton Trophy for an international football Competition decades before the first World Cup.
The Copa Lipton or Copa de Caridad Lipton was a football friendly competition contested between Argentina and Uruguay national teams.
The competition was held 29 times between 1905 and 1992.
He was tireless in his (unsuccessful) attempts to win yachting’s America Cup.
His well-publicized interest in the two sports ensured his brand became a household name on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lipton was sometimes described in the press as ‘the world’s most eligible bachelor‘, and carefully cultivated a public image as a ‘ladies man’.
He never had a relationship with a woman, using as the excuse that none measured up to his mother.
Instead, he maintained a thirty-year relationship with one of his early shop assistants, William Love, with whom he lived.
When they parted other male companions followed, including an orphan from Crete whom Lipton met during a cruise in 1900.
A close friend was Maurice Talvande, the self-styled Comte de Mauny.
Above: Sir Thomas Lipton
During the First World War, Sir Thomas Lipton helped organisations of medical volunteers.
He placed his yachts at the disposal of the Red Cross, the Scottish Women’s Hospitals Committee of Dr. Elsie Inglis, the Serbian Supporting Fund, etc., for the transport of medical volunteers (doctors and nurses) and medical supplies.
In Serbia during the winter of 1914–1915 and the spring of 1915, several British hospital teams were working with Serbian military and civilian doctors and nurses.
A catastrophic typhus epidemic erupted, killing thousands of civilians, soldiers, and prisoners of war.
Medical staff, however, were among the first victims.
At the height of the epidemic, Sir Thomas Lipton decided to visit Serbia, travelling aboard his yacht Erin via Sardinia, Malta, Athens, and Thessaloníki.
Once in Serbia, he visited hospitals and medical missions in Belgrade, Kragujevac, Niš, Vrnjačka Banja, and elsewhere.
His modesty made him very popular among the people.
He asked only for modest lodgings and requested for meals only what the common people ate under war conditions.
He also liked to pose for photographs with Serbian officers and soldiers.
In addition to visiting many hospitals, where he encouraged doctors, nurses and soldiers, he found time to attend traditional fairs and to take a part in blackberry gathering and fishing.
Sir Thomas Lipton was proclaimed an honorary citizen of the city of Niš.
Above: Modern Nis, Serbia
Author Herbert W. Newby writes in a book about Southgate in 1949:
“Sir Thomas was proud of his successes in life, and any reference to him made in any publication was always carefully cut out and pasted into a book kept for this purpose.
These books formed a most interesting section of his library.
He was a very genial man to meet and always put a stranger quickly at ease.
I met him on several occasions and found him without any form of snobbery.“
Lipton was created a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) by King Edward VII in March 1901.
The following year, it was announced that he would receive a baronetcy in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902 for the (subsequently postponed) coronation of the King, and on 24 July 1902 he was created a Baronet of Osidge, in the Parish of Southgate, in the County of Middlesex.
Above: King Edward VII (1841 – 1910)
A portrait of Lipton appeared on the cover of Time magazine on 3 November 1924.
Until his death in 1931, Lipton visited Dambatenne again and again, which he loved especially because of its beautiful location.
The lifelong bachelor was happy to climb the 1,935-metre-high Lipton’s Seat named after him, from which there is a wonderful view.
He died at Osidge (a London borough) on 2 October 1931 and bequeathed the majority of his fortune to his native city of Glasgow, including his yachting trophies, which are now on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Sir Thomas Lipton was buried alongside his parents and siblings in Glasgow’s Southern Necropolis.
The Dambatenne Tea Factory, built in 1890 by Lipton, has a guided tour through the works that is an education on the processes involved in the Fermentation, rolling, dyeing, cutting, sieving and grading of tea.
It is probably the most comprehensive tea factory tour around and afterwards you can sample of a cup of Lipton’s finest.
The long white factory building is one of the most impressive in the Highlands and preserves some of its colonial-era equipment, which demonstrates the extent to which the tea-making process has remained unchanged for well over a century.
The state-owned building complex, situated at an altitude of 1,566 metres above sea level, measures an impressive length of over 105 metres (and a width of 12 metres), making it the longest tea factory in Sri Lanka.
Between artistically well-kept tea gardens, a narrow lane winds up to the point where the Master of Tea supposedly enjoyed the perfect 360° panoramic view in his few solitary hours.
From the tea factory, this marvellous walk leads up to Lipton’s Seat, one of the finest viewpoints in Sri Lanka – the equal of World’s End, but minus the hefty entrance fee.
The road offers increasingly expansive views the higher you go, leading steeply through a perfect landscape of immaculately manicured tea plantations with scarcely a leaf out of place, connected by flights of stone steps and enclosed in fine old drystone walls.
It is quite a strenous hike to the Seat – about 7 km by road – but it is definitely worth the effort.
Once at the top, the almost vertical abyss opens dramatically at the visitor’s feet.
The two-hour ascent (less if you are younger and fitter than your humble blogger) should be started early as the mountain is often covered in clouds by midday.
A life-size monument in bronze commemorates the entrepreneur from Glasgow for whom this mountain is named.
Adisham Jam
Just four kilometres west of Haputale, the grand colonial mansion of Adisham offers a misty-eyed moment of English nostalgia in the heart of the tropics.
Sir Thomas Lister Villiers (1869 – 1959) was a British planter in Ceylon.
He was appointed the European unofficial member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon from 1924 to 1931 and chairman of George Steuart Company.
Born in Adisham (Kent, England) to Rev. Henry Montagu Villiers and Lady Victoria Russell, daughter of Lord John Russell (1792 – 1878), the former British Prime Minister.
Villiers was educated at the Sherborne School (Dorset, England) and left to Ceylon to start a career as a planter apprenticing at the Elbedde Estate in Bogawantalawa.
He left Ceylon and spent four years in Brazil.
Returning to Ceylon in 1900, he purchased a tea estate, the Dickoya Group.
He joined the George Steuart Company in 1905 and in 1928 he became the Chairman of the George Steuart Company, a post he held until his retirement in 1949.
In 1929 he began construction of Adisham Hall, his country house in Bandarawela which was completed in 1931.
He left Ceylon after his retirement and died in Kent on 21 December 1959.
Adisham Hall, or Adisham Bungalow, was Villiers’ country house.
No expense was spared in the construction of the rather forbidding building, with its rusticated granite walls and vaguely Tudor-style windows.
The house was built in 1931 and designed in mostly Jacobean style on ten acres (40,000 m2) of land.
Adisham Hall played host to many prominent personalities of the colony until the retirement of Sir Thomas, after which it was sold to Sedawatte Mills owned by Vimala Wijewardene in 1949.
Vimala Wijewardene (née Silva) (1908 – 1985) was a Ceylonese politician and the country’s first female cabinet minister.
In June 1956 she was appointed as Minister of Health in the S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike cabinet.
In June 1959 she was appointed as the Minister for Local Government and Housing a position she retained in the subsequent Dahanayake cabinet.
On 21 November 1959 she was arrested by the police in connection with the assassination of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, which led to her dismissal as Ceylon’s Minister of Local Government.
The charges against her were subsequently dropped on 15 July 1960.
The incident effectively ended her political career and in her later life she turned to religion participating in Christian revival meetings.
Above: Vimala Wijewardene (1908 – 1985)
In 1961 Adisham was purchased by the Roman Catholic Church and was subsequently converted to a monastery.
At present, it houses the Adisham monastery of Saint Benedict.
It has a relic (a chip of a bone) of St. Sylvester at the chapel.
The house is well preserved along with its period fittings and furniture, but only the sitting room and library are open to visitors.
The rest is a closed area, wherein guest rooms are temporarily rented out to those seeking tranquillity for a small fee.
The property is surrounded by orchards and has a well-tended rose garden.
A small shop sells jams, jellies and liquers all made by the monks.
St. Benedict’s Monastery, managed by Father Michael Ekenuyake, is dependent upon this small shop to maintain Adisham.
The store offers elephant apple (also called wood apple) jam, strawberry jam and guava jelly, selling 1,000 jars per season, each jar storable for six years.
They also sell honey and oils.
Unripened fruit is also used as medicine.
Adhisham can be reached via a short detour from the B353 towards Welimada.
From the Monastery, you can alternatively hike to the village of Idalgashinna.
The idyllic path first leads along a ridge over three kilometres through forest and heath.
Groups of eucalyptus trees line the path.
In the valley you can see the train tracks and the Glenaroe Tea Factory.
The path continues down the mountain slope where it meets the railway line.
Alongside the tracks, follow the path back to Haputale, eight kilometres total walking distance.
Above: Idagashinna Train Station
Back on the train again, past Diyatalawa to….
The lost sheep of Bandarawela
A light drizzle makes the gently undulating green tea hills around Bandarawela glisten in the distance.
The tea bushes reach up to the chest of the pickers who are at work from sunrise to sunset.
They carry large baskets on their backs, into which they throw their yield.
Despite their strenous work, they laugh and tell jokes to one another and watch the train roll by.
Bandarawela is a busy bazaar town, regional transport hub and a centre for agricultural products, with an agreeable climate that makes a possible base for exploring the surrounding area.
At an altitude of 1,230 metres, Bandarawela is an important stage on the journey from Haputale and Ella.
However, it is cursed by heavy traffic as buses, trucks and three-wheelers all jostle for space, often piling up at the central triangle.
Each Sunday morning, an unforgettable experience is the market – next to the bus station – where you could easily spend several hours.
In addition to fruits and vegetables, there are plenty of spices and household goods to buy.
And the market also offers a great opportunity to talk to locals.
However, the price level in Bandarawela is not exactly low.
This applies to the prices in the shops as well as the room prices in the hotels.
So, tourists are drawn to Ella and Haputale.
But, that being said, Bandarawela is a good base for tours of the area and there are a number of passable accommodations here.
Especially noteworthy is the Bandarawela Hotel.
The Bandarawela Hotel is a 33-room British colonial two-star hotel located in Bandarawela.
The century-old British-built property is associated with the development of the hill-country railway and is situated within walking distance from the railway station.
Bandarawela Hotel’s origins date back to the turn of the 19th / 20th century when the railways were being extended by the British from Nanu Oya to the southern highlands as a railway hotel.
The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1893 for a tea planter’s club.
It was subsequently converted into a rest house and was used as a sanitarium by British soldiers and officers recovering from the Second World War.
In 1938 there was a refurbishment and extension of the building to its present capacity.
The hotel had a ‘European Only‘ policy until Sri Lankan independence in 1948.
To this day, it remains locked in time somewhere between the 1930s and 1950s and is an alternative to some of the more modern facilities in the area.
The hotel shows the influence of British architecture during the period of colonial era in this region.
The Bandarawela Hotel is situated over 1,230 m (4,040 ft) above sea level and is Sri Lanka’s first mountain resort hotel.
The hotel consists of 33 colonial rooms with British furniture.
Currently the Bandarawela Hotel is managed by the Aitken Spence group.
This venerable building, built in 1893, has served as a meeting point for plantation owners for many decades, where they would exchange the latest gossip and discuss current tea prices around the warming fireplace at teatime.
This 33-room hotel, surrounded by blooming gardens, is a jewel from the British colonial era.
From the mahogany-panelled bar, where you can enjoy an Arrack cocktail in the evening, to the large rooms with huge nostalgic beds, the visitor is reminded of the beginnings of the Hotel at the end of the 19th century.
So don your pith helmet, walking shorts and long socks and settle into one of the easy chairs and enjoy the classy bar, before returning to your room’s bathtub.
But away from the Hotel, Bandarawela hardly remembers the past.
Traffic roars through the congested streets lined with shops in the bustling market.
Were it not for the surrounding hillsides covered in tea bushes, an amnesiac could be forgiven in mistaking Bandarawela’s chaos with that of Colombo.
Bandarawela is a hub, much hustle and bustle, but in the chaos and cacophony of modern life, some souls get lost and homes destroyed from within….
A pleasant one-kilometre walk leading north from Bandarawela’s central petrol station along Senenayake Mawatha and Viskake Mawatha and past Tamil Central College, the only noteworthy (but very praiseworthy) sight in Bandarawela is the Nazareth Convent of the Good Shepherd.
Here good Catholic Sisters live, caring for two dozen children from broken homes at the adjacent House of Nazareth.
The Convent Chapel is very impressive with its exceptional harmonious aesthetics.
Built in 1962, according to plans by the renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, the Chapel incorporates modern imagination with tbe Church’s inconspicuous and defiant Norman castle look.
The Temple of Rock
In a wooded side valley, about nine kilometres east of Bandarawela, on the road to Badulla, lies the small and precious rock temple of Dowa Raja Maha Vitara.
This Buddhist sanctuary is known for its meditation grotto carved into granite cliffs and incorporating an eight-metre tall standing Buddha.
This gargantuan Buddha is said to have been created during the reign of King Vattagamant Abhaya (ruled 103 and 89 -77 BC) who resided in the former capital of Anuradhapura but was forced to flee here by Tamil invaders.
A long staircase leads from a beautifully designed gate down to the river.
In the three chambers of the grotto there are wall paintings and various Buddha figures, including one lying on his back.
The paintings in the front hall, dating from the 17th century, show scenes from the life of Buddha and the last three stories of the Jataka.
Other paintings are much more recent – and extremely cheesy.
One of the colourful representations shows the “three daughters of the Mara“, dancing around the meditating Buddha, who want to dissuade those who are about to become enlightened from their path with their wiles of greed, hatred and delusion.
Why the temple and the standing Buddha within were never completed remains an unknown mystery, but the Buddha probably embodies the Bodhisattva Martreya, dating from the 10th century.
A few smaller statues of Hindu deities and some impressive murals that have been carefully restored by the temple monks also deserve closer attention.
But besides the Dowa Temple, the primary reasons for visiting the Bandarawela Region are location, location, location.
Haputale is ten kilometres away and Ella a mere eight.
Horton Plains National Park and St. Catherine’s Seat (magnificent views similar to Lipton’s) are within easy reach.
Particularly scenic views are offered on a trip over the 1,600-metre high Haputale Pass, which leads through the nature reserve of the same name where wild elephants live in dense jungle.
On the plain below lies the Uda Walawe National Park with Uda Walawe Lake, one of the largest water reservoirs on the Island.
Back to Bandarawela Station and the final leg of the journey….
Kinigama, Heel-Oya, Kithalella…..
Mere stops ignored in the thirst to finally, nine hours later, reach their final destination of Ella.
The Girl Who Jumped
Despite Heidi‘s best intentions the backpack she uses on her travels is not always an asset.
It is bulky and does not easily fit under seats or in overhead racks.
She sometimes needs other people’s help with her luggage.
Seated near Heidi and Wogga is an Italian gentleman pure of heart.
He offers to help her with her luggage, getting it out of the crowded carriage and onto the platform.
Wogga and Giuseppe elbow and struggle and fight their way through the immobile aisle folks complainingly and begrudingly making way for those who would pass through.
Heidi is slow to organize herself so she is not as prompt in following Wogga and Giuseppe as she should be.
The train begins to pull away from Ella’s sole platform and now Heidi begins to panic.
Everything she needs is in her pack: her clothes, her money, her mobile phone.
She needs to get off the train….
Now.
She pushes through the stubborn aisle blockers and without thinking she leaps from the train.
There is a dangerous gap between the moving train and the station platform.
Two metres is already a chasm to be gingerly considered, but a two-metre leap from a moving train is a mad move, at best.
She leaps.
She is not as heavy as a horse (especially without the backpack) or as clumsy as an elephant.
She is not as graceful as a gazelle or a goat.
She flings herself across open space, heedless of the danger.
She flings herself fearlessly, for there had been no time to think.
She lands like a cat on the platform.
Within the space between heartbeats, she is:
The Girl Who Jumped.
And there must have been some risk to what she did, for both passengers aboard the train as well as pedestrians on the platform….
Screamed.
Above: The Scream (1893), by Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944)
Were they witnessing a suicide?
Suicide is accomplished by positioning oneself on a railway track when a train approaches or in advance, or driving a car onto the tracks.
Failed attempts may result in profound injuries, such as multiple fractures, amputations, concussion, severe mental and physical handicapping.
Unlike on underground railways, in suicides involving above-ground railway lines, the person will often simply stand or lie on the tracks, waiting for the arrival of the train.
As the trains usually travel at high speeds (usually between 80 and 200 km/h), the driver is usually unable to bring the train to a halt before the collision.
This type of suicide may be traumatizing to the driver of the train and may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.
In the Netherlands, as many as 10% of all suicides are rail-related.
Above: Logo of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways)
In Germany, 7% of all suicides occur in this manner.
To deal with an average of three suicide incidents per day, Deutsche Bahn is cooperation with a hospital in Malente offers specific treatment to traumatized train drivers.
In recent years, some German train drivers succeeded in getting compensation payments from parents or spouses.
Above: Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) logo
In Sweden, less densely populated and with a smaller proportion of the population living in proximity of railroad tracks, 5% of all suicides are rail-related.
Above: Logo of Swedish Railways
In Belgium, nearly 6% of suicides are rail related with a disproportionate amount occurring in the Dutch-speaking region (10% rate in Flanders).
The rate of direct death is one in two.
The location of many suicides occur at or very close to stations, which is also uncharacteristic of suicides in other European countries.
The disruption to the rail system can be substantial.
In Belgium where rail service is frequently interrupted due to a high level of suicide by rail, families are expected to cover the substantial cost of rail network standstill.
Above: Logo of Belgian Railways
Trains on Japanese railroads cause a large number of suicides every year.
Suicide by train is seen as something of a social problem, especially in the larger cities such as Tokyo or Nagoya, because it disrupts train schedules and if one occurs during the morning rush-hour, causes numerous commuters to arrive late for work.
However, suicide by train persists, despite a common policy among life insurance companies to deny payment to the beneficiary in the event of suicide by train (payment is usually made in the event of most other forms of suicide).
Suicides involving the high-speed bullet-train, or Shinkansen are extremely rare, as the tracks are usually inaccessible to the public (i.e. elevated and/or protected by tall fences with barbed wire) and legislation mandates additional fines against the family and next-of-kin of the person who died by suicide.
As in Belgium, family members of the person who died by suicide may be expected to cover the cost of rail disruption, which can be significantly extensive.
It has been argued this prevents possible suicide, as the person who is considering suicide would want to spare the family not only the trauma of a lost family member but also being sued in court.
However there is insufficient evidence to support this assertion.
Above: Logo of Japan Rail
According to the Federal Railroad Administration, in the US, there are 300 to 500 train suicides a year.
A study of completed suicides on railway rights-of-ways by the Federal Railroad Administration found that the decedents tended to live near railroad tracks, were less likely to have access to firearms, and were significantly compromised by both severe mental disorder and substance abuse.
Though it is more customary for men to commit suicide by train, there have been famous cases of women who ended their emotional pain in this fashion.
Besides the fictional titular heroine of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, who ended her life by throwing herself under a train….
There are a number of lady celebrities who chose to end their lives in this gruesome way:
Her shocked husband responded with “Blame it on the media hyenas.“, before he collapsed and was hospitalized.
In her suicide note, she wrote: “I am killing myself because I have never sincerely loved any human being all my life. I have accepted kindness and friendship, and given nothing in return.”
In her last communication with her family, she wrote: “I am all travelled out.”
According to David Gimlette (Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka):
“The Sinhalese have one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and yet they are also the happiest.
And the most generous.
Despite the poverty, they give away more money here than almost anywhere else.”
“By the time we got to the old engine sheds, the roofs had gone and the army was in control.
There were soldiers everywhere and rows of khaki cots.
Tom shrugged.
Life could be complicated and there were always obstacles ahead: money, pride, history, caste.
The way he described it, I imagined that, however vigorously a man might climb the tendrils of his garden, there was usually a fortress above or the rule of giants.
In this Jack-and-the-Beanstalk world, it was often suicide playing the role of the axe.
“Killing yourself is seldom a gesture of despair.“, said Tom.
Instead it is a bid for contentment, where the limits have been reached.
A few weeks later, I discovered how this worked….
Up in Kandy, a young medical student had tried to kill herself.
I met some of her friends on a train.
They were on their way to her funeral.
But it wasn’t the overdose that had killed her, they said.
She was recovering from that when her boyfriend appeared and gave her a glass of poisoned milk.
He then got a syringe, filled it with insulin and plunged it into himself.
What puzzled her friends was why the boy felt that he needed to die.
Hadn’t he jilted her and then killed her twice?
When I told Dr. Widger this strange tale, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
“Suicidal behaviour provides a legitimate means by which inferiors can respond indirectly to wrongdoing by their superiors.“, he wrote.
Suicide, it seemed, was the perfect revenge.
Even the threat of dying could wipe out debts, bring lovers home or blow away the constraints of caste.
Every year, for over one hundred thousand Sri Lankans, an attempted suicide was an expression of outrage.
It might be no more than frustration at the disappointments of adult life, a wife’s imperfect cooking, perhaps, or her overbearing family.
Meanwhile, some six thousand a year were dying (drinking weedkiller, mostly, or domestic bleach).
To kill yourself was to kill someone else, at least in part.
Once it was even a criminal offence to outlive an adversary, where he took his own life.
“By their law if any man causes the loss of another man’s life, his own is forfeit.”, wrote an English officer in 1803.
Above: Scene from The Shawshank Redemption
That must be a first for humankind:
Virtuous suicide and the crime of survival.”
Heidi had no suicidal thoughts.
She simply did not want to lose everything she needed for survival in Sri Lanka.
She could not ride the rails further without the greatest of financial losses.
Heidi and Wogga part company with Giuseppe and head to the hostel they have booked.
At the hostel, a woman taps Heidi on the shoulder as they are waiting in line at the reception to check in.
I saw you at the station.
Aren’t you the Girl Who Jumped?
Barely an hour has passed and already Heidi is a minor legend.
Five days lie ahead in Ella and the region.
The adventure continues….
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Wikivoyage / Sri Lanka, Muller Verlag / Sri Lanka, Dorling Kindersley / Sri Lanka, Stefan Loose Verlag / Sri Lanka, Baedeker Verlag / Sri Lanka, Lonely Planet / The Rough Guide to Sri Lanka / Henry William Cave’s The Book of Ceylon: Being a Guide to Its Railway System and an Account of Its Varied Attractions for the Visitor and Tourist / Anton Chekhov, Notebook / Arthur C, Clarke, The View from Serendip / John Gimlette, Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka / Stephen Leacock, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town / Arthur Lycett, Conan Doyle’s Wide World: Sherlock Holmes and Beyond / Michael McGowan: Only Man Is Vile: The Tragedy of Sri Lanka / Mark Meadows, Tea Time with Terrorists / Jan Morris, A Writer’s World: Travels 1950 – 2000 / Pablo Neruda, Memoirs / Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family / Robert Percival, An Account of the Island of Ceylon / W.S. Senior, Vita Magistra / Mark Twain, Following the Equator / Gordon Weiss, The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers / Leonard Woolf, The Village in the Jungle / “Women crushed to death in Sri Lankan stampede for $8 hand-out“, Aljazeera, 21 May 2020 / http://www.colombopage.com
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Thursday 2 April 2020 (Lockdown Day #17)
“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you…..”
Here in Switzerland and elsewhere around the globe it seems too many people have lost their minds.
Now this sort of behaviour one expects from the inadequately educated or the immature, but one expects better from administrators, whether they be private or public sector.
How many families fear that their income earners won’t have a job to return to when this corona virus crisis has passed?
How many employers will dismiss their employees and disregard their employees’ record of loyalty because this virus is affecting their stock portfolio?
Everywhere businesses have shut down without consultation with their workers about whether they think closing shop is a good idea or whether some compromise can be reached to partially work whilst obeying safety standards.
Even hospitals are not immune from this folly, for some are sending their non-ER, non-corona virus related staff home and refusing to admit the public unless they have an emergency or suspect they have COVINA-19.
There is no innovativeness, no imagination, no inspiration, no real effort from those who lead us, only worry and panic.
Take the news from Switzerland, for example:
The outgoing head of the Swiss Federal Railways says the corona virus crisis could lead to a change in the travel habits of the Swiss.
Andreas Meyer, who leaves the job on Tuesday, hopes people will realise that alternatives exist to help alleviate packed rush-hour trains.
“During the crisis, citizens, companies and education centres have tested teleworking, and it’s not out of the question – I hope – that there will be lasting traces of it,” Andreas Meyer said in an interview with Le Temps.
“This could, for example, be beneficial for a better distribution of travel between peak and off-peak times.”
Meyer, 58, explained that in response to the crisis, which he described in another interview with Blick link as a “nightmare”, the Federal Railways had reduced its services by around 25% in three stages and the number of passengers has fallen by up to 90%, but the financial losses could not yet be quantified.
He warned in Le Temps that the hardest thing would be to restart once the crisis is over.
“This will take time,” he said, as several projects have had to be interrupted to focus on priority maintenance work, which will have an impact on the schedule.
Pointing to the Ceneri Base Tunnel and Bombardier double-decker trains due to enter service in December, Meyer noted it would be a “big challenge” to keep on schedule.
He hoped, however, that people would now realise how many good options existed to avoid crowded trains at rush hour.
“You could get to work one or two hours later, for example,
Or a high school could from now on offer certain services digitally.”
Looking back at his 13 years in charge, Meyer cited successes such as the 50% increase in passenger traffic, the development of the real estate sector, and the restructuring of the pension fund and goods transport branch.
However, he recognised that improvements were needed regarding punctuality.
The problems “have been clearly identified and solutions are being implemented”, he said.
As for the criticism from staff and trade unions for having lost contact with them, he believes that “these feelings are linked to the digitisation of the company” and the establishment of a new dynamic.
“We were not always good at explaining to our staff what we were doing,” he admitted.
Meyer officially hands over to Vincent Ducrot, 57, on Wednesday.
Meyer’s response to this crisis is to suggest that folks are choosing to take the train and that it is their fault trains are crowded.
Normally, Mr. Meyer, folks take the train because either driving (and parking) is a total nightmare or they have no other options but to rely on public transport.
As for teleworking, not all jobs can be teleworked.
And quite frankly nor should they be.
When we become afraid of human contact then we begin to lose our humanity.
Passenger numbers have gone down not by public assent, but because we have been ordered by the Swiss government to stay home.
Train passengers, unless it is clear that their services are essential, are as welcome aboard a train as a fart in an elevator.
God forbid a person decides to take a train to simply go hiking, which is social distancing done outdoors.
If passenger service have been reduced then isn’t now the time to do this needed maintenance and not immediately after the crisis has abated?
Mr. Meyer, when you have 80% of Switzerland being asked to stay at home, do you honestly believe that they are going to stop taking the train once they can return to their Jobs and return to travelling?
Do you honestly believe that those folks fortunate enough to have a job are going to risk losing that job by showing up to work two or three hours late?
I love how he says problems of punctuality have been identified and solutions implemented and then doesn’t elaborate on why there are problems or what solutions will be attempted.
And why should he?
He’s leaving.
And if Meyer can be bothered to look beyond his perspective of privilege he might realize that staff dissatisfaction is normally not a result of digitalization but rather a result of poor communication in all aspects of an employee’s job not just his / her implementation of a new machine or system.
What amazes me about so many employers is how unappreciative they are of those that serve them, of those that make their profits possible.
Employers are complaining that they are losing money during this crisis.
But it is their handling of this crisis where the fault lies.
Nevertheless they will keep their positions while loyal employees will lose theirs.
Meyer,
The corona virus pandemic means Swiss ski resorts, hotels and restaurants are closed or at a standstill and jobs are at risk.
This may cause a CHF6 billion ($6.2 billion) loss to the tourism industry this year, a study has revealed.
The survey by the Valais University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HES-SO) found that tourism industry revenue could shrink by 18% in 2020.
The hotel sector alone could lose CHF2 billion between March and May.
During a typical year it generates CHF10.2 billion in revenue.
This loss is almost double an initial prediction by the head of the country’s tourism body, Switzerland Tourism, earlier this month.
On 17 March, the Swiss government announced that all non-essential activities and businesses should close owing to the spread of the virus.
Hotels are allowed to remain open, alongside grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies, banks and post offices.
But with the virus spreading worldwide and international travel impossible, tourism has come to a standstill.
Canton Ticino in southern Switzerland and the cities of Zürich, Basel and Geneva will be the worst hit, the report predicts, owing to a dramatic fall in business travel, conferences and other international meetings.
Turnover in this area is expected to plunge by 90% in April.
The current crisis is different from previous events such as 9/11, the SARS epidemic or the crash of the euro, which had more regional impacts, the authors said.
Some companies may be forced to close, especially in the Swiss hotel and restaurant sectors, which employ 250,000 people and generate annual turnover of CHF28.4 billion.
In Canton Graubünden in eastern Switzerland only 8% of hotels remain open, for example.
A local hotel official says the virus could cause a CHF200 million loss in the southeastern region.
Hotellerie Suisse, which represents the hotel industry, said earlier this month that member companies expected revenues to drop by at least 45% for March and April.
The authors of the Valais university survey interviewed 2,000 people active in the Swiss tourism sector, including those working in hotels, restaurants, lift companies and other hotel-related services.
My only response is:
Government leaders, you shut the country down.
Did you not consider that there might be consequences for doing so?
Are you ready for the repercussions of your reactions?
You may have saved the lives of 1% of the population but at the cost of many people’s livelihoods.
Don’t expect an avalanche of gratitude.
The current wave of corona virus infections sweeping across Switzerland should be over by early summer, a top Swiss health official said on Tuesday.
“We’re counting on an epidemic wave that will have not only a swelling aspect, but also one that wanes, and will not last for years, but rather has a visible time horizon,” Daniel Koch from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) told reporters in Lucerne on Tuesday.
“We’re assuming that this wave will be over by early summer.”
As of 31 March, 16,250 people in Switzerland have tested positive to the virus and 395 people have died, according to an aggregate of cantonal statistics.
Ticino, Vaud, Geneva and Basel City are the worst affected cantons.
Switzerland has so far carried out 123,000 tests and has opened a drive-through testing facility in Lucerne which may be rolled out to other parts of the country.
Health Minister Alain Berset warned that extraordinary measures to fight the virus would remain in force for some time, as vulnerable groups still need to be protected even once the number of infections began to fall.
An “extraordinary situation” has been declared by the government, which has issued a recommendation to all citizens to stay at home, especially the sick and the elderly.
It has announced a countrywide ban on gatherings of more than five people.
A ban has been imposed on all private and public events and the closing of bars, restaurants, sports and cultural spaces.
Only businesses providing essential goods remain open.
Schools are closed nationwide.
The measures are in force until 19 April.
Berset said it was “illusionary” to imagine that the situation would return to normal from 20 April.
He urged people to follow the government’s advice, keep their distance, stay at home and remain “resilient” and “united”, despite the good Easter weather on the horizon.
“The measures may be adapted at any moment.
We have to remain flexible,” he said.
Above: the number of corona virus (COVID-19) cases in Switzerland broken down by cantons as of April 1 – the darker the canton, the more cases therein
If one can wade through all the fancy talk, it seems to me that this lockdown will probably continue far beyond 19 April.
But, Mr. Berset, a few questions I must pose…..
If the corona virus is so damn prevalent how is it that neither I nor anyone in my circle of acquaintances know anyone who has been infected?
If we are supposed to remain at home, then how are we to be tested?
There are those who have been infected who won’t get tested because they foolishly believe that visiting a hospital will give them the infection if they actually didn’t have the infection before.
So some will wait until breathing comes an issue and by then, well….. it may be critical.
And, Switzerland, though not as large as my home and native land of Canada, is nonetheless a large land mass.
Pray tell, how can everyone everywhere be monitored for suspected gatherings?
And more importantly, Mr. Berset, a question every government official on the planet should be asked…..
Why in hell weren’t we better prepared?
Why, when a virus strikes anywhere in the world, are we not rushing in as a united international force to contain it there and then?
This all began as a zoonotic transmission from a Wutan market, but because the Chinese government doesn’t trust the rest of the world and the foolish games of national politics prevent nations from acting in unison, a local infection became a global pandemic.
Perhaps if we spent less money on trying to be ready for military invasion and more on actually taking care of the needs of the populations that governments are supposed to represent then perhaps our government leaders would not find themselves the targets of justifiable scorn and ridicule.
Our problem as peoples of the planet is not with the corona virus as much as it is with governments that do not act responsibly or in unison to prevent or manage a crisis.
(Mr. Trump, you’re responsible.)
In Geneva, the World Health Organization is citing “some evidence” that wearing face masks — if used improperly — could actually do more harm than good in the fight against the spread of the corona virus.
WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said he was unaware of a move by officials in Austria to require people to wear face masks when they go to supermarkets.
With some countries facing shortages of masks, Ryan reiterated that WHO believes generally they should be worn by people who are ill, to prevent them from spreading the virus, and by health care workers who really need them.
“But there is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any particular benefit — in fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite,” he said.
Ryan didn’t elaborate beyond citing “risks” linked to fitting masks improperly, though he appeared to be alluding to how hands can carry virus up to or near the face as the masks are put on.
And what of the rest of the world beyond the walls of Fortress Switzerland?
A 12-year-old girl died in Belgium of the corona virus, a spokesman for the health ministry said on Tuesday, and local media reported she was Europe’s youngest victim of the disease.
“It is a rare event but one that devastates us,” virologist Emmanuel Andre told Belgium’s official daily news conference on the spread of disease.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an EU agency, has also recorded deaths in the age range of 10 to 19 years old in Spain but did not provide details.
While the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the virus has affected the elderly more, the girl’s condition deteriorated after three days of fever, Belgian officials said.
The officials did not provide details on whether or not she had any previous medical conditions at the time.
Overall, Belgium’s death toll rose by 98 to a total of 705 people on Tuesday.
The country reported 876 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 12,775.
Some 4,920 people were hospitalized, meaning around a half of the medical services’ capacity was taken up by the corona virus.
Belgium expects the spread of the virus to peak in the coming days and weeks.
Above: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100.000 inhabitants in Belgium by province as of 1 April 2020 – the darker the province, the more cases therein
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will be extending his emergency declaration for another two weeks as the number of new cases continues to rise in the province.
Ford issued a state of emergency in Ontario on 17 March and on Monday, one day before the order was set to expire, the Premier confirmed it would be extended.
Speaking at Queen’s Park during his daily update on the province’s response to COVID-19, Ford said that the province will be assessing whether to extend the order on two-week basis.
The Premier added that he is willing to take “further action” if virus cases continue to spike in Ontario.
“It was a beautiful weekend.
The sun was shining, it was nearly 20 degrees out.
From what I saw and what my colleagues saw, the streets were packed and that is unacceptable,” he said.
“We need every person in this province to take a hard look at their habits because as I have always said, every option is on the table and we are prepared to take further action if we do not see the spread of this virus slow down in the coming days.”
Ford said he “won’t hesitate to pull the trigger” on further measures if the experts advise him to do so.
“I think we’ve shown as soon as I get and our team gets the advice off the chief medical officer of health, we act immediately,” he said.
“When they gave us the advice about the schools, we acted in an hour, similar to the emergency shutdowns.”
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said they are monitoring the situation to see if additional measures will be necessary.
“That is always on our mind as we are looking at what are the essential services that will allow Ontarians to stay at home, to keep up their social distancing,” he said at a news conference on Monday afternoon.
He added that if they are finding situations where health care workers and first-responders are being put at risk by members of the general population, enhanced measures could be considered.
“We are not ignoring the issue,” Williams said.
Ontario reported 351 new cases of the virus on Monday, bringing the provincial total to 1,706, including deaths and recoveries.
Ford warned that a “surge” in hospitalizations in the coming days could put a strain on the province’s medical supply inventory.
“The reality is, if there is a massive surge of people coming into our hospitals in the next two weeks, our supply lines will be seriously challenged,” he added.
“So every week, every day, every hour we can push back that surge, is another week, another day, another hour that we have to prepare.”
The Premier noted that the province is currently in the process of acquiring “massive amounts” of new inventory.
“We are working day and night, working every contact that we have to acquire medical supplies from every source possible, around the world, across Canada and here at home in Ontario,” he said.
“The hard truth is, the more time we have, the more lives we can save.
We can’t do this without your full support.
If you can, please, please stay home.”
A Canadian nursing home has seen seven COVID-19 deaths and at least 24 staff members infected.
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit says the outbreak at Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ontario is believed to be the largest in the province.
The health unit says 10 other staff members are awaiting test results, and another person in the community has died in a case linked to the nursing home.
Air Canada will temporarily lay off more than 15,000 unionized workers beginning this week as the airline struggles with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The layoffs will continue through April and May amid drastically reduced flight capacity from the Montreal-based airline.
Canada’s largest airline says the two-month furloughs will affect about one-third of management and administrative and support staff, including head office employees, in addition to the front-line workers.
The carrier is also cutting between 85% and 90% of its flights, canceling most of its international and US routes in response to the global shutdown.
Earlier this month Air Canada’s flight attendant union said 5,149 cabin crew would be temporarily laid off.
Shopkeepers in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the corona virus outbreak, were reopening Monday, but customers were scarce after authorities lifted more of the anti-virus controls that kept tens of millions of people at home for two months.
“I’m so excited, I want to cry,” said a woman on one of Wuhan’s major shopping streets, the Chuhe Hanjie pedestrian mall, who would give only the English name Kat.
Kat said she was a teacher in the eastern city of Nanjing and was visiting her family when most access to Wuhan, a city of 11 million people and the manufacturing hub of central China, was suspended 23 January to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“After two months trapped at home, I want to jump,” said Kat, jumping up and down excitedly.
“I want to revenge shop.”
(So do I, Kat, so do I.)
While other governments tighten travel and other controls, the ruling Communist Party has rolled back curbs on Wuhan and other areas as it tries to revive the world’s second-largest economy after declaring victory over the outbreak.
Wuhan in Hubei province is the last city still under travel controls.
Residents are allowed to go to other parts of Hubei but cannot leave the province.
Restrictions on other Hubei residents were lifted 23 March.
The final curbs on Wuhan end 8 April.
Wuhan became the center of the most intensive anti-disease controls ever imposed after the virus emerged in December.
The ruling party suppressed information about the outbreak and reprimanded doctors in Wuhan who tried to warn the public.
As late as 19 January, city leaders went ahead with a dinner for 40,000 households to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Local leaders held one more event, a 22 January holiday gala at which musicians and actors were sniffling and sneezing, before the government acknowledged the severity of the problem.
(What a difference a year and a virus makes…..)
The next morning, residents awoke to news that their sprawling city that straddles the Yangtze River was cut off from the outside world.
Police set up roadblocks at expressway entrances.
Only truckers leaving the city to collect food and a handful of other drivers with official passes were allowed through.
Bus and subway service inside Wuhan shut down.
Restaurants, shops, cinemas and other businesses were ordered to close, leaving streets empty and silent in a foreshadowing of controls that would spread to other countries.
Families were ordered to stay home.
Restrictions spread to cities around Wuhan and eventually expanded to cover some 800 million people, or more than half of China’s population.
Restaurants, shopping malls, factories and other businesses were closed nationwide and families were told to stay home.
Wuhan became the center of a massive effort to treat the sick, understand the virus and stop its spread.
Two temporary hospitals with more than 1,000 beds each were built and a third one was set up in an exhibition center.
Hundreds of military doctors and nurses were dispatched to the city, along with tons of medical supplies.
President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan for the first time 10 March in a show of official confidence that the virus was under control.
The next day, the government began to ease controls on Hubei, allowing some factories and other businesses deemed essential to the economy or to producing daily necessities to reopen.
On Monday, 70% to 80% of shops on the Chuhe Hanjie mall in the city center were open but many imposed limits on how many people could enter.
Shopkeepers set up dispensers for hand sanitizer and checked customers for signs of fever.
Buses and subways started to run again Saturday and the train station reopened, bringing thousands of people to the city.
At the same time, the ruling party has rolled out a massive propaganda effort to portray its leaders as the heroes of the outbreak and deflect accusations they allowed the virus to spread due to politically motivated foot-dragging.
Government spokespeople have suggested the corona virus’s origin is unknown, contradicting earlier official statements that it came from Wuhan.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the virus might have been brought to Wuhan by visiting American military officials, a claim that prompted an angry response from Washington.
Wuhan suffered 2,547 corona virus deaths, accounting for about 80% of China’s total fatality toll of 3,186 as of midnight Sunday, according to the National Health Commission.
The country had a total of 81,470 confirmed cases.
Officials are under orders to revive manufacturing, retailing and other industries while also preventing a spike in infections as people return to work.
This week, visitors to Wuhan were required to report how they arrived and their reason for coming.
Hotel guests were checked twice a day for fever.
They were required to show a code on a smartphone app that tracks the user’s health status and travel.
Authorities set aside five hotels to quarantine visitors including foreigners who lack Chinese identity cards.
Hotel staff and volunteers in protective coveralls sprayed guests and their luggage with disinfectant.
Passengers who wanted to board a public bus had to show a smartphone health code to volunteers in red vests.
Some of Wuhan’s major shopping malls reopened Monday.
Others planned to reopen later in the week.
Customers at the upscale Wuhan International Mall were greeted by employees who wore masks and carried signs that said:
“Please wear masks all the way.
Please don’t gather.
Please keep a safe distance.”
Cinemas, teahouses and some restaurants still were closed.
Automakers and other manufacturers in Wuhan have reopened but say they need to restore the flow of components from suppliers before production returns to normal levels.
Some are waiting for employees who went to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday and were stranded when plane, train and bus services in areas deemed at high risk of the disease were suspended.
On Monday, some parents were on the streets with children, but traffic was light on streets that normally are jammed with cars.
The owner of a candy shop on the Chuhe Hanjie mall said two of her four employees are back at work, but she wasn’t sure whether the others were willing to come back.
“We’ve only prepared a little stock,” said the owner, Li Zhen.
“Most people are still afraid of the virus.”
A poster at the entrance to the pedestrian mall asked customers to wear masks, cooperate with fever checks and show a smartphone health code.
A banner nearby said:
“Wuhan, we are coming back.
Thank you!”
Two women who wore protective clothing that identified them as medical workers were surrounded by pedestrians who waved Chinese flags at them in a gesture of gratitude.
Li gave them bags of candy.
“We may have to wait for a while to see when things can return to normal,” said Li.
China on Tuesday reported just one new death from the corona virus and 48 new cases, all brought from overseas.
The epicentre of Wuhan and surrounding province of Hubei again reported no new domestic cases, bringing the city closer to being re-opened to the rest of the province and, eventually, the country.
China has recorded 81,518 cases since the virus was first detected in Wuhan in December, and 3,305 deaths.
A total of 76,052 virus patients have been released, and 2,161 remain in care.
Above: COVINA-19 in Greater China by number of cases as of 23 March 2020
In a setback to the resumption of professional sports, the Chinese government issued an order Tuesday delaying the restart of the Chinese Basketball Association and other group sporting events, according to documents obtained by ESPN.
The CBA’s attempts to return to action after being shut down since January because of the corona virus is seen as a test case for American sports leagues, especially the NBA.
The General Administration of Sport, the body that issued the order, gave no timetable for when it plans to lift the new restriction.
The CBA had been making plans to split its 20 teams and send them to two cities to play each other in empty arenas within a month, a plan the NBA might consider down the line.
CBA teams have been informing players that they still intend to return to play and hope to have more clarity in a few weeks, sources told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
“It’s looking toward the end of April, for sure in May, based upon what I’ve heard,” Stephon Marbury told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on Monday.
“Because of the severity of it, they don’t want a resurgence of the virus to come back.
So they’re taking all precautions, making sure everyone gets tested.
I’ve already been tested twice.”
While the spread of the disease has slowed dramatically in China and some aspects of life are headed toward normalcy, sports officials are concerned about asymptomatic carriers, sources said.
The Chinese government announced this week that it soon plans to release official numbers about people who have been found to be asymptomatic, a category that has previously not been broken out in public statistics.
The government specifically shut down the possibility of marathons and encouraged citizens to work out by themselves and in groups connected through the Internet.
The CBA planned to house teams in quarantined hotels with multiple temperature checks per day to try to avoid the risk of exposure and spread of the virus.
More than a dozen American players, including Jeremy Lin and Lance Stephenson, returned to China within the past two weeks to start a 14-day quarantine with the expectation the season could begin soon.
The teams had begun holding practices as they waited for their foreign teammates to be cleared to join them.
It wasn’t immediately clear if these practices would be allowed to continue.
China reported 130 people over the past day who were infected with the novel coronavirus but don’t have symptoms, a sign that the group of people who can spread the virus without being detected is sizable.
The tally, the first daily count of so-called asymptomatic patients, establishes a new benchmark to measure the scope of the outbreak amid a growing chorus of domestic and international criticism of China’s data.
China late Tuesday said 1,541 asymptomatic people have been put under observation.
Wednesday’s data confirms that figure was a cumulative total, though it isn’t clear if the number represented people currently in medical quarantine or if it included those who were symptom-free but have since recovered and been released.
Cases of asymptomatic virus infections are still being found, local magazine Caixin reported, even after China said its daily confirmed case tally hit zero for the first time two weeks ago.
That has fueled doubt over whether the epidemic that broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December is truly over.
China says it tracks and quarantines asymptomatic cases and reclassifies them as confirmed cases if and when they develop symptoms.
On Wednesday, it said that two such patients have been reclassified.
Concern over China’s earlier refusal to disclose the number of symptom-free carriers grew as researchers found these patients can play an outsized role in spreading the pathogen to others, since there’s no easy way to tell they’re sick.
While it’s unclear what proportion of infected people do not display symptoms, scientists suspect it could be a substantial number and that these stealthy carriers are still infectious — a key reason why the pandemic has spread so widely across the world in a short time.
The new corona virus is even having an impact on Colombia’s armed conflict.
One of the nation’s last guerrilla groups — the National Liberation Army — has announced a unilateral ceasefire beginning 1 April.
The rebel group says in a statement it will cease hostilities “as a humanitarian gesture with the Colombian people, who are suffering from the devastation of the corona virus.”
The United Nations Secretary General had urged a ceasefire and welcomed the news.
Former President of the People’s Republic of the Congo Joachim Yhombi-Opango (1939 – 2020) died on Monday from COVID-19 at a hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
He is the first state leader (former or current) to have died from COVID-19.
He was an army officer who became Congo-Brazzaville’s first general and served as Head of State of the People’s Republic of the Congo from 1977 to 1979.
He was the President of the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD), a political party, and served as Prime Minister from 1993 to 1996.
He was in exile from 1997 to 2007.
The Cuban government will suspend all flights to and from the island, the US Embassy in Cuba announced.
According to a tweet posted just before 7:45 a.m., the suspension will go into effect at midnight Wednesday.
“US citizens in Cuba who normally live in the United States should arrange for immediate return with American Airlines today or be prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period,” the Embassy said.
The last flight departing the island is an American Airlines plane that leaves at 12:55 p.m. and is scheduled to arrive at Miami International Airport.
There are currently 186 COVID-19 cases in Cuba.
Denmark may gradually lift a lockdown after Easter if the numbers of corona virus cases and deaths remain stable, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Monday.
The Nordic country, which has reported 77 corona virus-related deaths, last week extended until after Easter a two-week lockdown to limit physical contact between its citizens that began on 11 March.
“Over the past week the number of hospital admissions has risen slightly slower than the week before and without the explosion in the numbers that we have seen in other countries,” Frederiksen told a news conference.
Last week, the number of hospitalizations for the corona virus in Denmark roughly doubled from 254 to 533, whereas admissions in the week before that more than tripled from the previous week, according to data from the Danish Health Authority.
The number of daily deaths slowed to five on Sunday from eight and 11 on Saturday and Friday respectively.
Denmark has reported a total of 2,577 corona virus infections.
Above: Map of the COVID-19 outbreak in Denmark as of 30 March 2020 – the darker the Region, the more cases therein
“If we over the next two weeks across Easter keep standing together by staying apart, and if the numbers remain stable for the next two weeks, then the government will begin a gradual, quiet and controlled opening of our society again, on the other side of Easter,” Frederiksen said.
Denmark has imposed less strict limits on daily life than in Italy or France where people are only free to leave their homes to buy groceries, go to work if essential or seek medical care.
But the Danish approach has been considerably tougher than that of neighboring fellow European Union country Sweden, which remains largely open for business.
Danish authorities have restricted public assembly to ten or fewer people, ordered the closure of schools, universities, day cares, restaurants, cafes, libraries, gyms and hair salons, and shut all borders to most foreigners.
A reopening would probably include people attending schools and work in shifts to avoid rush-hour traffic and too many people gathering in public at the same time, Frederiksen said.
“We do see signs that we have succeeded in delaying the transmission of corona in Denmark.
The transmission is spreading slower than feared,” she said.
Frederiksen said she hoped to be able to present a plan for the first phase of a reopening by the end of this week after consultation with the other parties in government.
More than 738,400 people have been infected by the coronavirus worldwide and 35,006 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
The countries that have suffered the most deadly outbreaks are both in Europe – Italy and Spain.
Dominican authorities detained a total of 19,517 people, 1,610 on Monday, for failing to comply with the curfew imposed on 20 March as a measure to prevent the spread of the corona virus in the country, the National Police said Tuesday.
The region with the most arrests on 30 March was La Romana (east), where 242 people did not comply with the rule in effect between 5 pm local time and 6 am the next day.
The regions with more than 100 detainees for violating the measure were Barahona and San Juan de la Maguana (southwest), San Francisco de Macorís and Santiago (north), and the municipalities of Santo Domingo north and east and the National District, the Police said.
France became the fourth country to pass the 4,000 corona virus deaths threshold on Wednesday, after Italy, Spain and the United States, as the government scrambles to stay ahead of the curve regarding ventilator-equipped beds that are quickly filling up.
French health authorities reported 509 new deaths from the disease, taking the total to 4,032.
But, after speeding up the previous two days, the rate of increase of deaths has decelerated in France, which is now in its third week of lockdown to try to slow the spread of the virus.
Above: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 per million inhabitants in France by Region as of 23 March 2020
Speaking by videoconference in front of a parliamentary committee created to hold the government accountable for the way it handles the crisis, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the lockdown would likely be unwound gradually rather than in one go.
The government has ordered people to stay in their homes except for essential travel from 17 March until at least 15 April.
“It is likely that we are not heading towards a general de-confinement in one go and for everyone,” Philippe said without indicating when the government might start to ease or completely lift the lockdown.
The daily government tally still only accounts for those dying in hospitals but authorities say they will very soon be able to compile data on deaths in retirement homes, which is likely to result in a big increase in registered fatalities.
State health agency director Jerome Salomon told a news conference that the number of cases had risen to 56,989, a rise of 9%, versus an increase of 17% Tuesday.
Salomon said 6,017 people were in a serious condition needing life support, up 8% compared with Tuesday.
France has increased the number of beds in intensive care units from 5,000 to about 10,000 since the start of the crisis and it is aiming to reach 14,500 as soon as possible.
“We are coping with a highly exceptional pandemic, that has an unprecedented impact on our health system.
A deadly pandemic, with a very contagious virus”, Salomon said.
With 13,155 deaths to date, Italy accounts for almost 30% of the global death tally.
Spain has 9,053 deaths and, just like France, the United States has just passed the 4,000-mark.
The four countries now account for about two-thirds of the total deaths – now at more than 45,000 – from the corona virus around the world.
Above: Map of the COVID-19 outbreak per capita as of 2 April 2020 – the darker the country, the more cases therein
The captain of a US aircraft carrier carrying more than 4,000 crew has called for urgent help to halt a corona virus outbreak on his ship.
Scores of people on board the Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the infection.
The carrier is currently docked in Guam.
“We are not at war.
Sailors do not need to die,” Captain Brett Crozier wrote in a letter to the Pentagon.
Captain Crozier recommended quarantining almost the entire crew.
In the letter Captain Crozier said that with large numbers of sailors living in confined spaces on the carrier isolating sick individuals was impossible.
The corona virus’ spread was now “ongoing and accelerating”, he warned, in the letter dated 30 March.
“Decisive action is needed,” he said.
“Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed US nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure.
This is a necessary risk.”
It is not clear how many crew members on the Theodore Roosevelt have the corona virus.
The San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported on the letter, said at least 100 sailors were infected.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, a US Navy spokesman said the service was “moving quickly to take all necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of the crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt”.
Hungary’s parliament on Monday passed a bill that greatly increases the power of the country’s far-right Prime Minister, Victor Orban.
The premier had said the move is necessary to fight the spread of the corona virus.
Orban has asked to extend a national state of emergency that would give his government the right to pass special decrees in response to the corona virus outbreak.
Lawmakers passed the bill with 137 votes against 52 in Hungary’s lower chamber.
Orban’s Fidesz party holds a two-thirds majority there.
The bill allows the government to indefinitely extend the country’s state of emergency and the attached rule-by-decree powers, according to a draft of the bill posted on 20 March on the parliament website.
Normally such extensions would need approval by Hungary’s parliament.
The draft also includes the introduction of jail terms of up to five years for people who spread “fake news” about the virus or measures against it, raising anxieties about freedom of press in Hungary.
Opposition politicians, human rights groups, and Europe’s leading human rights organization the Council of Europe have spoken out against the move, which does not make clear how long the emergency powers will be in effect.
“This is the only country in Europe that has unlimited power for an unlimited amount of time,” DW’s corespondent in Budapest Art Szoczi said.
Many governments around Europe have enacted similar emergency powers, but generally with a timeframe limited to between 30 and 90 days.
“Opposition parties are concerned that that means there could be an abuse of power,” Szoczi said.
“There were actually a number of opposition members who said they agree with the unlimited powers, but not the unlimited amount of time.”
Orban has gradually expanded his powers since taking office in 2010.
The 56-year-old leader has had frequent clashes with human rights groups and EU institutions.
The Council of Europe penned a letter to Orban earlier this month, warning that an “indefinite and uncontrolled state of emergency cannot guarantee that the basic principles of democracy will be observed.”
Victor Orban responded, urging Council of Europe Secretary General Pejcinovic Buric to study the text of the law.
He also stated:
“If you are not able to help us in the current crisis, please at least refrain from hindering our defensive efforts.”
EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders previously said the EU would assess whether the bill adheres to the blocs rule of law standards.
“We will verify what kind of text will be adopted and of course we will verify if it’s in line with our vision on the rule of law and fundamental rights, and if it’s needed to take an initiative,” he told Politico last week.
Hungary previously prolonged a state of emergency for several years when it extended measures instituted in 2015 over fear of mass migration, despite a decrease in the number of migrants coming to Hungary.
Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen, National Security Council Chief Meir Ben-Shabbat and the Director General of the Health Ministry Moshe Bar Siman Tov were all sent into quarantine on Thursday after Health Minister Yaacov Litzman was diagnosed with the corona virus.
The list of officials is basically the top leadership in the country currently leading efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 throughout Israel.
“The Health Minister is feeling well.”, a statement by the Health Ministry informed the public on Thursday.
Alongside Netanyahu, Litzman, Cohen and Ben-Shabbat, the head of Public Services Sigal Sadetsky and Professor Zev Rotstein, head of the Hadassah University Medical Centre, will also self-isolate after they all met in recent days with Litzman.
Yossi Cohen will be in isolation at Mossad headquarters, Litzman at his home, Bar Siman-Tov will be in an office at Sheba Medical Centre, Tel Hashomer and Netanyahu will be at their homes.
On Wednesday night, the Prime Minister completed a few days of self isolation after coming into contact with another official who had contracted the disease.
“We were prepared for such a possibility.”, Bar Siman Tov said in a statement.
“I will continue to manage my team through digital means.
The need to go into isolation can happen to all of us and we must obey instructions.”
He called on the citizens of Israel to follow the Health Ministry guidelines as well.
A full epidemiological investigation is being carried out and messages will be sent to anyone who came into contact with the Health Minister and are required to enter quarantine.
It is expected that other senior officials will be asked to home quarantine.
Above: Corona virus warning signs in Hebrew and Arabic in entrance to Terem first aid clinic in Lod, Israel
Litzman will continue to serve in his role from home, in accordance with medical recommendations.
Italy will extend anti-corona virus lockdown restrictions imposed last month to 13 April, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Wednesday.
“We must not confuse the first positive signals with an “all clear” signal.
Data shows that we are on the right path and thee drastic decisions are bearing fruit.”, Speranza told the Senate.
After days of steep rises in cases, data this week has suggested the pace of growth in the number of total cases in Italy is slowing, with new infections coming in at 4,053 on Tuesday. Deaths have remained largely steady at over 800 a day.
Speranza added that the “battle against the virus is still very long.”
Italy was the first Western country to introduce the restrictions and has tightened them week by week, banning all but core activities.
Above: Map of provinces with confirmed corona virus cases – the darker the province, the more cases therein
Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza says Italy will follow the recommendation of scientists and extend a nationwide lockdown at least until 12 April.
The lockdown decree currently runs until 3 April, and doctors and other health experts have been cautioning that Italy’s cases of COVID-19 haven’t reached their peak yet, despite some encouraging numbers.
Speranza says the national scientific technical committee recommended “extending the containment measures at least until Easter, 12 April”.
He added:
“The government will move in this direction.”
Italy has more than 100,000 confirmed cases of corona virus infections and nearly 11,600 deaths of infected persons.
“Rorschach’s Journal, October 12, 1985
Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach.
This city is afraid of me.
I’ve seen its true face.
The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over all the vermin will drown.
The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up around their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout:
“Save us!”
And I’ll whisper:
“No.”
Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody Hell, all those liberals and intellectuals – smooth talkers.
And all of a sudden nobody can think of anything to say.
Beneath me this awful city screams like an abattoir full of retarded children and the night reeks of fornication and bad conscience.
Tonight a comedian died.
Somebody knows why.
Somebody knows.”
Ken Shimura, a veteran slapstick comedian and onetime member of rock ’n’ roll band and comedy group The Drifters, a household name in Japan in the 1970s and 1980s, often called “the Robin Williams of Japan” has died of pneumonia caused by the novel corona virus, his agency said Monday.
He was 70.
Shimura last week became the first Japanese entertainment figure to announce their infection with the virus.
His agency on Monday announced his death from the disease known as COVID-19.
Shimura was hospitalized on 20 March after developing a fever and being diagnosed with severe pneumonia.
He tested positive for the virus on 23 March.
“I don’t think he imagined he would die a death like this,” a representative with his agency said.
“I am sure he was working hard with a sense of mission to deliver laughter to people.”
The surviving members of the Drifters — Cha Kato, 77, Boo Takagi, 87, and Koji Nakamoto, 78 — who also belong to the same agency, were too shocked to issue a statement yet, according to his management.
Famous Japanese songstress Naoko Ken tweeted of her friend’s death:
“I cannot think anything now.
I can no longer see Ken-chan.
This is too sad.”
“I was happy working with you.
Thank you,” Ms. Ken, who played Shimura’s wife in TV comedy skits, also wrote.
His death also made headlines outside of Japan.
Reuters reported that he “was one of the country’s best-known comedians.”
The BBC, CNBC and Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency also reported the news as did by media in other countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
A native of Higashimurayama in western Tokyo, Shimura, whose real name was Yasunori Shimura, replaced Chu Arai in the Drifters in 1974 after graduating from high school.
Formed by the late actor Chosuke Ikariya and four other men in 1964, the group, which opened for the Beatles in Japan in 1966, became one of the biggest successes in Japanese comedy history.
Shimura rose to prominence after starring in the group’s prime-time TV slapstick show “Hachijidayo Zeninshugo!” (“It’s 8 o’clock, assemble everyone!”) launched in 1969.
During that time, he became popular for his easy-to-understand gags and range of parodies, including the “mustache dance” and the song “Higashimurayama Ondo,” a reference to his hometown.
He later became known for the popular comedy characters he played on TV, including Baka Tonosama (stupid lord) and Henna Ojisan (strange uncle).
From 2006, he began leading a troupe for his theater show “Shimurakon” (“Shimura Spirit”).
Shimura, who said in a memoir that he drew inspiration from American comedian Jerry Lewis, captured the hearts of viewers from all generations with his penchant for funny faces and his ability to deliver jokes as if they were unscripted.
At the time of his death, he was starring in “Tensai! Shimura Dobutsuen” (“Genius! Shimura Zoo”), as well as other TV programmes and was scheduled to start work on a movie based on the book “The Name Above the Title” in April.
![Old news] Ken Shimura dies, due to new coronavirus infection ...](https://i.gzn.jp/img/2020/03/30/ken-shimura-passed-away/00.jpg)
“He was popular among a wide range of generations and was the No. 1 source of pride for locals,” said Minoru Hasegawa, 69, who lives in Higashimurayama.
“I’m the same generation and his death is very regrettable.”
Shimura had been expected to run in the Tokyo Olympic torch relay representing Higashimurayama.
Tokyo resident Toshio Takazawa, 70 — the same age of Shimura at his passing — recalled going to theaters to watch the Drifters’ live performances when he was young.
“He was our hero.
I wish he could entertain us more.”, he said.
“I’m sorry.
I just wanted to catch up and have a few laughs.
But there doesn’t seem to be that many laughs around these days.”
“What do you expect?
The Comedian’s dead.”
Malaysia has started sanitising some high-risk areas as part of a nationwide disinfection operation beginning on Monday 30 March aimed at curbing the spread of the corona virus, the national Bernama news agency reported.
The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) on Sunday conducted a mass disinfection exercise in the capital, particularly around the Sri Petaling area where a religious gathering at a mosque in February led to the spread of most of the country’s corona virus infections.
Over in Perak, local authorities have carried out disinfection operations in areas such as public markets, parks, places of worship and police stations.
The Ipoh train station and Tapah district police headquarters were disinfected by the Hazardous Materials unit and the Fire and Rescue Department on Sunday.
Similar clean-up operations focusing on markets, public toilets, food stalls, bus stations and jetties also took place in Selangor, Melaka and Johor.
States that will start the disinfection exercise on Monday include Penang, Terengganu and Kedah.
Malaysia on 18 March began imposing movement and travel curbs to contain the corona virus outbreak.
The Movement Control Order banned mass gatherings, including religious, sporting, social and cultural events.
Schools, universities and businesses were also shut, with people only allowed to leave their homes for essential goods and services such as food and medical care.
The order has since been extended from an initial two weeks to April 14.
Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Monday the second phase, taking effect on 1 April, will include tighter restrictions on business hours for eateries and supermarkets.
Meanwhile, the country’s police chief Abdul Hamid Bador said it will be deploying drones to monitor people in the Sungai Lui area in the district of Hulu Langat in Selangor, where enhanced MCO measures have been imposed.
“The drones will enable us to comprehensively monitor the people and the area,” said the Inspector-General of Police.
“So far, the residents are giving their full cooperation as they realised that the efforts by the authorities are for their own wellbeing,” he added.
Drones have also been used in the town of Simpang Renggam in Johor, where enhanced MCO measures have been in place since 26 March and will continue until 9 April.
Hundreds of people have been arrested for violating the first phase of the restrictions, including 649 people who were detained last Saturday.
Malaysia has reported more than 30 deaths from the corona virus and 2,400 cases, making up the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.
Above: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 per million inhabitants in Malaysia by state
Mexico’s government has broadened its shutdown of “non-essential activities” to the private sector and prohibited gatherings of more than 50 people to fight the spread of the new corona virus.
The one-month emergency measures will be in effect from 30 March to 30 April.
Mexico had previously stopped non-essential government services and banned mass gatherings.
The move came as the number of confirmed corona virus cases in Mexico reached 1,094, with 28 deaths.
Above: Map of states with confirmed COVID-19 cases – the darker the state, the more cases therein
Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell said Monday that Mexicans would be urged to stay off the streets for one month, but announced no sanctions for not doing so.
Mexico will ask older people at greater risk to stay home, even if they work in so-called essential sectors like health care or law enforcement.
López-Gatell said traffic in recent days appears to have fallen by about 60%, but added that more was needed.
The measures appeared to be largely voluntary and did not appear to prohibit the street markets that remain active in Mexico.
The mayor of St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, has ordered a wide-ranging lockdown.
The measure sets the same conditions as in Moscow.
Residents are ordered to stay at home except for medical emergencies, buying food and medication, disposing of garbage and walking pets within 100 meters (320 feet) of home.
It also allows people to go to their workplaces if required.
St. Petersburg, with a population of about 5.5 million, has reported 50 cases of the corona virus and one death.
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The Solomon Islands government has extended a school closure notice, previously only for institutions in the capital Honiara and Guadalcanal, to the rest of the country.
The Solomon Star reported the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education, Franco Rodie issued the directive, as part of the country’s Covid-19 response strategy.
Dr Rodie said the mass repatriation of people from the capital to their home provinces following the declaration of a State of Public Emergency last week was causing anxiety and confusion for schools and education authorities.
Because of this Dr Rodie ordered all schools to close with a tentative return date set for 27 April.
Franco Rodie urged all students to return home to their parents and advised teachers to return to their home provinces if they did not feel safe where they had been posted.
He urged everyone to remain calm and listen to the official advice from the government and health authorities.
Former Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein has died of the corona virus at a London hospital, the family told VOA’s Somali service.
Relatives of the former Prime Minister, popularly known as Nur Adde, confirmed his passing.
A family member said Nur Adde died at around 5 a.m. Wednesday.
He was 82.
Nur Adde was Prime Minister between November 2007 and February 2009.
During his term, he was credited with leading peace talks between the Ethiopia-backed government and Eritrea-based rebels.
The talks, held in Djibouti, led to the formation of a unity government in which the leader of the rebels, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, was elected as Somalia’s president on 30 January 2009.
Nur Adde competed against Ahmed in the election but lost.
Prior to entering politics, he served as Secretary General of the Somali Red Crescent for 17 years.
Nur Adde also served in the Somali police department, where he rose to the rank of colonel during the government of Mohamed Siyad Barre.
In a statement, the family said Nur Adde will be buried in London.
In Mogadishu, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo announced three days of national mourning, during which flags will be flown at half-staff.
Members of Somali communities in Britain and in Sweden have been severely affected by the corona virus.
Community leaders have blamed lack of awareness, crowded housing and a close-knit community for spreading the ailment.
Fourteen Somalis in Britain and six in Sweden have died of the infection.
They include a 13-year-old boy in Britain.
South Korean children will start the new school year at home beginning next week as schools prepare to move classes online in the face of the coronavirus threat.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Tuesday said authorities were finalizing plans to begin online classes at some schools on 9 April before expanding further.
He also said the country will have to reschedule college admission processes to ease disruption for high-school seniors.
He didn’t give an estimate on how long the unprecedented remote learning would last.
South Korea had postponed the beginning of the new school year at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools three times amid the spread of the virus.
The previous plan was to open on 6 April, which was five weeks later than usual.
Chung says officials decided to keep schools shut because it would be difficult to ensure the safety of children when “not a small number of new patients are emerging every day.”
The UN humanitarian chief is warning that the 10 cases of COVID-19 and one death confirmed in Syria are just “the tip of the iceberg” and judging from other countries “a devastating impact” can be expected on vulnerable communities.
Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council that “all efforts to prevent, detect and respond to COVID-19 are impeded by Syria’s fragile health system,” noting only around half of the country’s hospitals and primary health care facilities were fully functional at the end of 2019.
He said efforts to prevent and combat the virus are also are impeded by high levels of population movement, challenges to obtaining critical supplies including protective equipment and ventilators, and difficulties of isolating in crowded camps for the displaced with “low levels of sanitation services.”
The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan claims it has no corona virus cases.
But if you happen to utter the word “corona virus” while waiting, say, for the bus in the white-marbled capital Ashgabat, there’s a good chance you’ll be arrested.
That’s because the Turkmen government, run since 2006 by the flamboyant dentist-rapper strongman Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has reportedly banned the word, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Citing reports from Chronicles of Turkmenistan, which RSF describes as a rare independent media outlet in this notoriously secretive and restrictive country, the press freedom organization says Berdymukhamedov’s government has forbidden state-controlled media from writing or uttering the word and has ordered its removal from health brochures distributed at hospitals, schools and workplaces.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondents in Ashgabat report that plainclothes police officers are also arresting people who wear face masks or discuss the pandemic in public.
“This denial of information not only endangers the Turkmen citizens most at risk, but also reinforces the authoritarianism imposed by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov,” Jeanne Cavelier, the head of Reporters Without Borders’ Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said in a statement.
“We urge the international community to react and to take him to task for his systematic human rights violations.”
Turkmenistan’s neighbor to the south, Iran, is one of the countries worst hit by the corona virus.
Other neighboring countries in Central Asia have hundreds of confirmed cases.
Turkmenistan is ranked last in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index.
It’s a place where speaking out is punished and where the government frequently shuts down the country for no reason, says Alexander A. Cooley, director of the Harriman Institute at Columbia University and an expert on Central Asian politics.
“Banning the term ‘corona virus’ might seem to us obscene and extreme,” Cooley says.
“But in reality, when the state controls all of the media and all of the digital nodes coming in and out, it’s not that outrageous.
My sense is that they’ll try and keep the pandemic under wraps as long as they can.”
Cooley says the government likely anticipates a big post-pandemic economic collapse in a country highly reliant on the sale of natural gas to China.
“That probably spurred the government on to this new kind of more denialist type of posture,” he says.
Berdymukhamedov doesn’t want to look weak, he says, because he “portrays himself very much as a superman of all trades, the one in charge, the one to be revered and listened to.”
Before banning talk of the pandemic, Berdymukhamedov had reportedly offered remedies to battle the virus from a book he authored on medicinal plants.
Wimbledon, one of the centrepieces of the British summer sporting calendar, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the All England Club confirmed yesterday. It will be the first time the tournament has not be held since the second world war.
The Championships were scheduled to run from 29 June until 12 July but as tennis officials prepared for emergency talks this week cancellation swiftly became unavoidable.
Unlike one-day sporting events,Wimbledon functions more like a festival, held over two weeks in a vast complex with some 40 tournament and practice courts occupied by competitors and staff throughout the tournament.
Wimbledon requires at least two months of pre-event preparation, which would be incompatible with the government-mandated lockdown and guidance on social distancing.
Attention focused on the two most successful players at Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, both finalists in 2019.
Both 38 years old, they will not have many more opportunities to win another Wimbledon.
“I’m shocked,” posted Williams.
“Devastated,” tweeted the eight-times Wimbledon singles winner Roger Federer, adding:
“I can’t wait to come back next year.
It only makes us appreciate our sport even more during these times.”
The All England Club chairman, Ian Hewitt, said:
“This is a decision that we have not taken lightly, and we have done so with the highest regard for public health and the wellbeing of all those who come together to make Wimbledon happen.”
After January’s Australian Open and the French Open in May, Wimbledon traditionally marks the third major in the tennis calendar.
Last month, the French Tennis Federation shifted Roland Garros from its planned 24 May start to 20 September, just a week after the US Open ends on 13 September.
As grass is only a viable playing surface in spring and summer, postponement was not a realistic option for Wimbledon.
In coordination with Wimbledon’s announcement, the ATP, WTA and ITF tours announced that professional tennis would not return before 13 July after the cancellation of the other summer grass-court events.
The tour has been suspended since Indian Wells was cancelled on 9 March.
“While in some ways this has been a challenging decision, we strongly believe it is not only in the best interests of society at this time, but also provides certainty to our colleagues in international tennis given the impact on the grass-court events in the UK and in Europe and the broader tennis calendar,” said the All England Club’s chief executive Richard Lewis.
Beyond the practical sporting repercussions of Wimbledon becoming the first cancelled slam event so far, it is also a reflection of the continued decimation of summer entertainment.
Wimbledon has always stood as a curiosity in the world of tennis.
It is as much an annual fixture in the summer London social calendar as it is a sporting event. In 2019, aggregate attendance over the fortnight was 500,397.
They came from all corners of the globe, many attended as much for the experience of tasting strawberries and cream and being seen as much as seeing the tennis itself.
While most other tennis tournaments have attempted to modernise and adapt for a new generation of fans,
Wimbledon continues to tip its hat towards tennis’s traditional country club base wherever possible and each year it is dotted with spectators who arrive dressed in formal suits and gowns, topped off with elaborate hats.
They will have to wait another year.
The British government is facing growing pressure to ramp up corona virus testing, as the UK saw its biggest daily increase in deaths.
Some 2,352 virus patients had died in hospital as of 17:00 on Tuesday – up 563 in a day, the latest figures show.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said testing was “massively increasing” and it was “the way through” the pandemic.
Meanwhile a major international climate meeting, COP26, is the latest event to be postponed as a result of the virus.
The climate talks were due to take place at Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus in November – which is being turned into a temporary field hospital to treat coronavirus patients.
The UN’s climate body, the UNFCCC and the UK government said the summit would be pushed back to 2021.
In a video message posted on Twitter, the Prime Minister said Wednesday had been a “sad, sad day” due to the high number of deaths in the UK.
Johnson, who is self-isolating in Downing Street after contracting the virus, also reiterated the government’s commitment to “ramp up” testing.
He said:
“This is how we will unlock the corona virus puzzle.
This is how we will defeat it in the end.”
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The government has been under pressure to increase the screening of medics, so that those who are self-isolating unnecessarily can return to work.
More than 3,500 NHS frontline staff in England and Wales have been tested for the virus since the outbreak began.
But cabinet minister Michael Gove said a shortage of chemicals needed for the tests meant the NHS – which employs 1.2m in England – could not screen all workers.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the government was working with NHS England, Public Health England and other organisations to boost test capacity with an additional network of labs and testing sites.
Dr Yvonne Doyle, Public Health England medical director, told a daily corona virus briefing in Downing Street that there was currently capacity for about 3,000 tests a day for frontline NHS staff.
She said the “intention” was for testing for frontline staff to increase from “thousands to hundreds of thousands within the coming weeks”.
The World Health Organization has said the world is set to reach one million confirmed cases and 50,000 deaths worldwide in the next few days.
Dr Doyle said the UK was not in “as severe” a position as Spain, the US or Italy, but added there was “no reason to be complacent”.
She said while the spread of the virus was most advanced in London, the Midlands was “obviously a concern” too.
As of 9:00 on Wednesday, 152,979 people in the UK had been tested for the virus with 29,474 confirmed positive.
This includes 4,139 cases in the Midlands and 8,341 in London.
Dr Doyle added while use of public transport had gone down since the government enforced social distancing measures, an “up-tick” in motor vehicle use in the last 24 hours was “slightly concerning”.
She urged members of the public to stay home to “protect the NHS”.
The number of questions about the lack of testing at the daily press conference came as no surprise.
The government has been heavily criticised for not increasing testing capacity more quickly.
Dr Doyle said she was confident the UK would achieve the target of 25,000 tests a day by the end of the month.
Above: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK by country and NHS region
There is some way to go – over the past 24 hours just shy of 10,000 tests have been done.
The lack of tests means NHS staff have had to self-isolate at home when members of their household show symptoms.
News that there are going to be five drive-through centres for staff will also help.
Dr Doyle was also asked by how much more testing can be increased by in the long-term.
If the number of cases does come down, testing will play a crucial role in allowing the lockdown to be eased.
The plan would be to contain the virus by testing lots of people quickly.
That will require the UK to be able to tests hundreds of thousands of people a day.
The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted four resolutions, with its 15 members voting by email for the first time because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Members voted Monday to keep troops in Sudan’s restive Darfur region until the end of May and maintain the UN political mission in Somalia until 30 June.
They extended the mandate of the UN panel of experts monitoring sanctions against North Korea until 30 April 2021, and stressed the importance of supporting the UN’s far-flung peacekeeping operations.
The UN’s most powerful body has been meeting by video conference because of COVID-19, which has hit New York City, where the UN has its Headquarters, exceedingly hard.
The last council meeting at UN Headquarters was on 12 March.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government on Wednesday released hundreds of prisoners charged with lesser crimes amid fears that the coronavirus could spread through the country’s jails.
“More than 470 prisoners were freed from detention facilities in provinces under the legitimate government’s control, such as Dhalea, Al Mahra, Hadramawt, Shabwa, Marib and Taez,” a judiciary source told The National.
“These measures were taken according to the directives of the Attorney General.”
On Tuesday, chief prosecutors of provinces across Yemen were ordered to visit prisons and immediately release the prisoners, especially those who had served half of their terms.
“Such procedures were urgently implemented to avert the risk of contracting the corona virus in case the pandemic emerges in the coming days,” the judiciary source said.
On Monday, a media campaign was launched by Yemeni and international lawyers and human rights advocates, called Save Yemeni Prisoners.
The campaign demanded that the UN and the international community put pressure on the warring factions to free political prisoners as the Covid-19 spread globally.
“Prisons in Yemen are overcrowded and lack basic hygiene,” Yemen conflict analyst Nadwa Dawsari said.
“If an outbreak starts there, it will cause mass casualties and won’t stop at prison gates.
All sides to the conflict have a responsibility to prevent that from happening. They need to take immediate measure to release prisoners.”
Also on Monday, the UN international panel of human rights experts called for the immediate release of political prisoners in Yemen to reduce the risk of them contracting COVID-19.
The board of USA Rugby has voted to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy as a result of “insurmountable financial constraints” in the wake of the corona virus crisis.
The governing body suspended sanctioned competition and rugby activities indefinitely on 20 March due to the global pandemic.
USA Rugby will undergo a restructuring process with input from World Rugby, while the country’s men’s and women’s senior national teams will continue to compete as normal when rugby returns.
The governing body described the decision as the best way to “deliver a foundation for future stability”.
USA Rugby’s chair, Barbara O’Brien, said in a statement:
“This is the most challenging period this organisation has faced and all resolves were never taken lightly in coming to this determination.
While the current climate is of course much larger than rugby, we remain focused with stakeholders and supporters in the continued effort toward a balanced rugby community where the game can truly grow.”
Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the US, and both the women’s and men’s teams had qualified for this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo.
The Games have now been postponed until 2021 because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
A US Navy hospital ship arrived at New York Harbor on Monday to help relieve local hospitals being overwhelmed by corona virus patients.
The USNS Comfort will treat non-corona virus patients, freeing up beds so local hospitals can focus on COVID-19.
USNS Comfort has arrived in NYC.
It’s passing World Trade Center right now on the Hudson River.
I can hear cheering from Jersey City.
— Kevin Rincon (@KevRincon) 30 March 2020
The Comfort’s arrival in New York comes just two days after it left its home port in Norfolk, Virginia.
“This great ship behind me is a 70,000-ton message of hope and solidarity to the incredible people of New York, a place I know very well, a place I love,” President Trump said Saturday as he saw off the ship.
The ship has a capacity of 1,000 beds and is expected to be staffed by about 1,200 personnel.
The death toll in New York state from corona virus has surpassed 1,000, with the total number of confirmed cases nearing 60,000 as of Sunday night.
The US Navy operates two hospital ships, the Mercy and the Comfort, to help with relief efforts during crises.
The Comfort was last in New York after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks helping aid first responders.
USNS Comfort passes the Statue of Liberty as it enters New York Harbor.
(Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters) pic.twitter.com/scYz5gjeAC
— NBC News (@NBCNews) 30 March 2020
The Navy dispatched the Mercy, which is based on the West Coast, to Los Angeles with the same mission of relieving local hospitals fighting the corona virus.
The Mercy arrived in the Port of Los Angeles on Friday and began accepting patients Sunday.
The USNS Comfort seen sailing to New York Harbor from a NYS escort vessel.
The Comfort brings 1,000 much-needed hospital beds & 1,200 personnel to New York.
I’ll be in NYC to receive a briefing upon its arrival.
pic.twitter.com/VpHpjymsow
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 30, 2020
The District of Columbia has announced 94 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total to 495, with nine deaths.
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s government, in coordination with neighboring governors Larry Hogan of Maryland and Ralph Northam of Virginia, issued a stay-at-home order Monday for Washington’s approximately 700,000 residents.
Bowser has declared a state of emergency, shuttered all schools and ordered all non-essential businesses to close.
White House and Capitol tours have been cancelled and the National Zoo, Smithsonian museum network and Kennedy Center have closed.
The Environmental Protection Agency has a message for Americans — watch what you flush.
“Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging all Americans to only flush toilet paper,” the agency says in a statement.
Americans are using far more disinfecting wipes in the corona virus outbreak, the EPA noted, but disposing of them improperly threatens plumbing, sewer and septic systems.
EPA news statements on aspects of the pandemic shutting down economies and societies around the globe have been limited and include addressing the effectiveness of disinfectants.
The EPA says it’s critical that the nation have “fully operational wastewater services” to contain the virus and protect against other health risks.
President Donald Trump says America will be sending surplus equipment to European nations to help them combat the new corona virus.
Trump says as US companies ramp up production of ventilators, the US will be able to send excess ventilators to Italy, France, Spain and other hard-hit countries when possible.
Trump, speaking at a corona virus briefing in the White House Rose Garden, says he spoke with the Italian Prime Minister on Monday and that the US will be sending about $100 million in medical and hospital items to Italy.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says the US has tested more than one million samples for the corona virus — a number he says exceeds that of any other country.
It wasn’t clear if that figure represented actual patients or samples processed.
With a population of over 330 million, one million patients tested would represent about one-third of 1% of all Americans.
By comparison, South Korea has tested roughly twice as many people as a percentage of its population.
Public health experts have estimated the US should be testing between 100,000 and 150,000 patients daily to track and contain the virus.
Azar said the US is testing “nearly 100,000 samples per day.”
Governor John Bel Edwards says he will extend Louisiana’s stay-at-home order through the end of April as the number of Louisiana deaths from the COVID-19 disease jumped significantly overnight.
Louisiana’s health department reported 185 residents have died from the disease caused by the virus, an increase of 34 from a day earlier.
Edwards has said Louisiana has the second-highest COVID-19 death rate per capita among states, and he has warned the New Orleans region is running low on ventilators the hardest-hit patients need.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she wants the House to be ready as soon as it returns to approve a fourth bill boosting the economy and strengthening the response to the virus.
Pelosi and two House committee chairmen told reporters they want the package to improve broadband and water infrastructure, bolster hospitals and state and local governments and extend direct payments to Americans.
They said it should also strengthen safety requirements for first responders and medical workers and broaden workers’ leave for caring for relatives.
The House left Washington on Friday after approving the $2.2 trillion economic relief bill that President Donald Trump has signed, and plans to return as soon as 20 April.
Florida officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch after detectives say he held two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
According to jail records, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne turned himself in to authorities in Hernando County, where he lives.
He was charged with unlawful assembly and violation of a public health emergency order.
Bail was set at $500, according to the jail’s website, and he was released after posting bond.
The Pentagon has ordered an additional 8,000 ventilators, with delivery of the first 1,400 by early May.
The $84.4 million order was placed with several suppliers under existing Defense Logistics Agency contracts.
A Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Andrews, identified the four suppliers as Zoll, Combat Medical, Hamilton Medical, and VyAire.
Andrews said delivery locations will be prioritized by FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services.
These are in addition to the 2,000 ventilators that the Pentagon previously said it would make available to FEMA from Defense Department stockpiles.
The leaders of six San Francisco Bay Area counties are extending their shelter at home orders until May 1.
The region of seven million people was the first in the United States to issue such an order, and it has been credited for helping address the influx of corona virus patients at local hospitals.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed thanked residents for following the order during the weekend, saying compliance was much better than the previous weekend when some people flocked to parks and beaches.
At least 130 people have died in California from COVID-19.
Prosecutors charged a locomotive engineer who worked at the Port of Los Angeles with intentionally derailing a train at full speed near the Navy hospital ship Mercy because of suspicions over its activities surrounding COVID-19, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro, California, was charged with one count under a little-known train-wrecking statute that carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in the incident Tuesday, according to the 10-page criminal complaint filed in US District Court in Los Angeles.
Moreno, who was held overnight, was turned over to FBI agents Wednesday morning.
He was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors claim Moreno ran the train off the tracks.
It crashed through a series of barriers before coming to rest more than 250 yards from the Mercy in an incident that was captured on video.
Although the train leaked fuel oil, which required cleanup by firefighters and other hazardous materials personnel, no one was hurt.
A California Highway Patrol officer who witnessed the crash and took Moreno into custody told authorities that he saw the train, which is used to haul shipping cargo, smash through a barrier at the end of the tracks before it drove through several obstacles, including a steel barrier and a chain-link fence.
It slid through one parking lot and another filled with gravel and smashed into a second chain-link fence, according to the affidavit.
The complaint alleges that when the officer approached him, Moreno said:
“You only get this chance once.
The whole world is watching.
I had to.
People don’t know what’s going on here.
Now they will.”
(Perhaps Moreno thinks of himself as the engineer’s Eminem?
Look
If you had
One shot
Or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
In one moment
Would you capture it
Or just let it slip?
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
![Eminem - Lose Yourself [HD] - YouTube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_Yhyp-_hX2s/maxresdefault.jpg)
Carpe Diem?)
The affidavit said Moreno, who waived his right to speak to an attorney before being interviewed by investigators, admitted in two post-arrest interviews that he intentionally ran the train off the track because he wanted to bring attention to the government’s activities regarding COVID-19 and was suspicious of the Mercy.
In his first interview with Los Angeles Port Police, Moreno acknowledged that he “did it,” saying he was suspicious of the Mercy and believed it had an alternative purpose related to COVID-19 or a government takeover, the affidavit states.
Moreno also told investigators that he acted alone and had not planned the attempted attack, according to the affidavit.
He said he knew that derailing and crashing the train would bring media attention and that “people could see for themselves,” referring to the Mercy, according to the affidavit.
In a second interview with FBI agents, Moreno said “he did it out of the desire to ‘wake people up,'” according to the affidavit.
“Moreno stated that he thought that the USNS Mercy was suspicious and did not believe ‘the ship is what they say it’s for,'” it said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for the entire state Wednesday as it grapples with a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.
The order goes into effect at midnight Thursday and will last for at least 30 days, DeSantis said at a news briefing.
He said that the order would limit movement within the state and that unless residents are pursuing “essential” services or activities, they should stay indoors.
DeSantis had been criticized for refusing to implement statewide social distancing guidelines, particularly as beachgoers and students on spring break continued to gather in large groups.
DeSantis refused to close the state’s beaches even as other states were shutting down schools and nonessential businesses.
Florida has the fifth most corona virus cases of any state, reporting nearly 7,000 cases and 87 deaths, according to the state Health Department.
When the state surpassed 5,000 cases, DeSantis continued to balk at issuing a stay-at-home order.
Above: Map highlighting Florida counties where cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed. Counties with deaths attributed to Covid-19 appear in dark red
Other states that crossed that threshold, such as California, New York and Washington, issued sweeping mandates.
The governor had previously said it was up to the local officials to close nonessential businesses and beaches, saying last month that “no matter what you do, you’re going to have a class of folks who are going to do whatever the hell they want to.”
DeSantis had also dismissed concerns about frolicking beachgoers.
“These are our neighbors who may need to go out there, clear their head,” DeSantis said at a news conference last month after the sight of sunbathers soaking up rays caused widespread criticism.
“Because a lot of people are on edge now.”
But Wednesday, as the state’s cases continue to rise, the governor said “it makes sense to do this now” after President Donald Trump announced this week that the administration is extending its social distancing guidelines for 30 more days.
DeSantis, a Republican ally of Trump, said he took that as a “signal” from the president that it needed to be done in Florida.
DeSantis had previously said he would issue the order if the administration made the recommendation.
Trump said at Tuesday’s corona virus task force briefing that DeSantis “knows exactly what he’s doing” when asked about the governor’s hesitance.
DeSantis “has a very strong view on it,” Trump said.
“So unless we see something obviously wrong, we’re going to let the governors do it.”
The President on Tuesday projected a grim 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the US, even with strict mitigation efforts.
Above: Confirmed cases of COVID-19 per million inhabitants in the USA by state or territory
DeSantis has been under fire from local media and officials throughout Florida for having resisted ordering sweeping measures.
“Corona virus is killing us in Florida,” read the headline of a Miami Herald editorial last month that blasted DeSantis’ response.
“Act like you give a damn.”
The Herald noted that DeSantis did not join a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers in appealing to the federal government for more help.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential front-runner, criticized DeSantis’ response as “much too slow” in an interview Tuesday.
Biden warned that Florida would “become an increasingly dangerous place” unless it adopted stricter guidelines.
State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat who has been critical of DeSantis, praised his decision in a statement Wednesday.
“When I called for this stay-at-home order nearly two weeks ago, there was a reason. It was necessary to flatten the curve and save lives,” she said.
“I said then I would stand with the Governor when he issued the order, and I do so now.
Thank you, Governor, for making the right call.
Together, we will fight this virus and preserve the state we love.”
The government’s top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci, is now receiving security protection after becoming the face of the nation’s corona virus response — and a target of some supporters of President Donald Trump.
Health department leaders moved to give Fauci an armed security detail by last weekend after the 79-year-old immunologist received unspecified threats and uninvited attention, although the process took several days, said two individuals with knowledge of the decision.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar had grown concerned about the growing online attacks against Fauci — whose profile has soared since he started regularly flanking Trump at White House corona virus briefings, where he occasionally corrects the President — and asked the department to conduct a threat assessment.
The decision was then conveyed to the Justice Department, which approved the request to deputize security for Fauci.
Fauci declined to comment when asked at Wednesday’s press briefing about whether he was receiving security protection, referring questions to the HHS Office of Inspector General, which provides regular security to Azar and other senior officials as needed.
“I cannot confirm, at this time, that we are providing such services for Dr. Fauci,” said Tesia Williams, an OIG spokesperson.
Asked about reports of the security detail on Thursday morning, Fauci said he feels that he and his family are safe, telling NBC’s “Today” show, “I’ve chosen this life” and “I know what it is.”
“There are things about it that sometimes are disturbing, but you just focus on the job you have to do and just put all that other stuff aside and try as best as possible not to pay attention to it and just forge ahead,” he said.
“We have a really, really, very, very difficult situation ahead of us.
All of that other stuff is secondary.”
The Washington Post first reported that Fauci was receiving a security detail.
Some of Trump’s most zealous far-right supporters have targeted Fauci online, arguing that he has worked to undermine Trump by publicly disagreeing with the president, and have begun spreading conspiracy theories about Fauci’s role.
People may be dying and folks becoming ill, but violence and crime continue…..
A painting by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh was stolen in an overnight smash-and-grab raid on a museum that was closed to prevent the spread of the corona virus, police and the museum said Monday.
The Singer Laren museum east of Amsterdam said “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884” by the Dutch master was taken in the early hours of Monday.
By early afternoon, all that could be seen from the outside of the museum was a large white panel covering a smashed door in the building’s glass facade.
Singer Laren Museum General Director Evert van Os said the institution that houses the collection of American couple William and Anna Singer is “angry, shocked, sad” at the theft.
The value of the work, which was on loan from the Groninger Museum in the northern Dutch city of Groningen, was not immediately known.
Van Gogh’s paintings, when they rarely come up for sale, fetch millions at auction.
Police are investigating the theft.
“I’m shocked and unbelievably annoyed that this has happened,” said Singer Laren museum director Jan Rudolph de Lorm.
“This beautiful and moving painting by one of our greatest artists stolen – removed from the community,” he added.
“It is very bad for the Groninger Museum (pictured below), it is very bad for the Singer, but it is terrible for us all because art exists to be seen and shared by us, the community, to enjoy to draw inspiration from and to draw comfort from, especially in these difficult times.”
The 25-by-57-centimeter (10-by-22-inch) oil on paper painting shows a person standing in a garden surrounded by trees with a church tower in the background.
It dates to a time when the artist had moved back to his family in a rural area of the Netherlands and painted the life he saw there, including his famous work “The Potato Eaters,” in mostly somber tones.
Later, he moved to southern France, where he developed a far more colorful, vibrant style of painting as his health declined before his death in 1890.
Police said in a statement that the thief or thieves smashed a glass door to get into the museum.
That set off an alarm that sent officers rushing to the museum but by the time they got there the painting and whoever stole it were gone.
A team including forensics and art theft experts was studying video footage and questioning neighbors.
Van Os said the museum’s security worked “according to protocol,” but he added:
“Obviously we can learn from this.”
The Dutch government on 12 March banned large crowds among its measures to halt the spread of the virus, leading several museums to close temporarily.
Before the closure, the museum was hosting an exhibition titled “Mirror of the Soul” with works by artists ranging from Jan Toorop to Piet Mondrian, in cooperation with Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
The Singer Laren’s collection has a focus on modernism such as neo-impressionism, pointillism, expressionism and cubism.
It is not the first high profile theft from the museum.
In 2007, thieves stole seven works from its sculpture garden, including a bronze cast of “The Thinker” by Auguste Rodin.
The famous sculpture was recovered a few days later, missing a leg.
According to Libyan news sources, a Turkish warship fired missiles on Wednesday in the south of the city of Al-Ajaylat, west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
A Libyan news website reported that rockets fired by a Turkish warship from the sea fell in the agricultural area of Dhahra, on the outskirts of the army-held city of Al-Ajaylat, which is under the control of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Local news websites suggested that the Turkish warship may have intended to target Al-Watiya Air Force Base, which is located in the south.
However, the missiles were aimed and fired in the wrong direction.
Libyan newspaper Al-Marsad quoted a spokesman for the General Command of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Major General Ahmed Al-Mesmari, stating that a Turkish warship had fired rockets from the sea in the Al-Ajaylat area without casualties.
A local official in northeastern Somalia has been killed in a suicide bomb blast claimed by the al-Shabab armed group, according to police and medical sources.
Abdisalan Hassan Hersi, governor of Nugaal region, succumbed to his wounds after being rushed to hospital in Garowe, the capital of Puntland where the blast occurred Sunday.
“The doctors tried to save the governor’s life, but unfortunately he died from his injuries,” Mohamed Weli, a police officer in Puntland, told AFP news agency by phone.
“He was in a critical condition when he was admitted to hospital,” Mohamed added.
A source at the hospital, who did not wish to be identified, said the governor died less than an hour after being admitted to the intensive care ward.
“He was badly wounded in the blast, and he had little chance of surviving such serious injuries,” the source told AFP.
A former police commander and a civilian also wounded in the blast were being treated in hospital, officials said on Monday.
Several witnesses described the attacker running at the governor’s vehicle before detonating a suicide vest, triggering an explosion.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked armed group fighting to overthrow Somalia’s internationally recognised government, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.
The group was driven out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011 and lost most of their strongholds, but still control vast swathes of the countryside.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen carried out several airstrikes on Monday on the capital Sanaa, witnesses and media said, killing dozens of horses at a military school, reports Reuters.
A number of sensitive sites including the presidential palace compound, the school and an airbase close to Sanaa airport were hit, and loud explosions were heard across the city, residents said.
The coalition said the operation was aimed at destroying “legitimate military targets including Houthi ballistic batteries which threaten civilian lives”.
Houthi-run Al Masirah news said 70 horses were killed and 30 wounded in strikes on the military school.
Bombings in Sanaa city have been rare since September when Saudi Arabia launched indirect talks with the Houthi movement, which controls Sanaa and most of northern Yemen.
The warring parties had also welcomed a UN call for an immediate truce to help fight the corona virus outbreak on Thursday.
But fierce battles have resumed in al-Jawf and Marib provinces since last month as the Saudi-led coalition resumed airstrikes against several towns and villages.
And on Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted two ballistic missiles, part of a drone and missile attack the Iran-aligned Houthis said they had launched towards Riyadh and southern parts of Saudi near the Yemeni border.
The recent escalation has shattered more than three months of calm in the five-year-old conflict.
This had raised peace prospects after Saudi Arabia significantly reduced airstrikes on Yemen and the Houthis halted missile and drone attacks on the Kingdom.
On Sunday, UN Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths reiterated a call by the United Nations for an immediate cessation of hostilities to build momentum for a nationwide ceasefire.
“Yemen needs its leaders to focus every minute of their time on averting and mitigating the potentially disastrous consequences of a COVID-19 outbreak,” Griffiths said in a statement overnight, referring to the respiratory illness that the coronavirus can cause.
Yemen has not recorded any cases of the corona virus, according to the World Health Organization.
Airstrikes on Monday also hit several towns in Hudaydah province, including the Salif and Bayt al-Faqih districts, witnesses and Al Masirah said.
The UN has for more than a year been trying to implement a ceasefire and troop withdrawal from the strategic port city of Hudaydah.
Three days can show you so much about the world:
I am saddened that children are dying to the corona virus, but I am also aware that so many people die unnecessarily but not all receive the recognition their lives (and deaths) deserve.
I can’t help but feel the media give more importance to a dead Belgian girl than to a dead resident Somalian Brit boy.
As much as I find it hard to like Ontario Premier Doug Ford he seems to be trying to handle the corona virus in his province as responsibly as he can.
I feel hope in China’s recovery that other nations under the grip of COVINA – 19 will also recover.
I feel hope that armed Colombian rebels are willing to put aside their guns so their fellow Colombians can undistractedly combat the corona virus.
I feel hope in Cuba’s and Denmark’s struggles to deal with this deadly pandemic.
I abandon hope when I consider the (in)actions of one Donald J. Trump.
I know that I am not alone in feeling disgusted with his arrogance, his dishonesty, his corruption, his ignorance and incompetence.
I lose hope when folks like Moreno are so foolishly insane as to crash trains so as to warn people that a hospital ship has hostile intentions.
I feel hope that France, Italy and Spain will not only keep up the good fight against the corona virus, but will, against all odds, survive and beat this deadly disease.
I abandon hope when I consider the leadership of Hungary, Russia, Turkmenistan and the US who are more interested in maintaining power rather than preserving their peoples.
I feel sadness that two former presidents – imperfect pasts though they may have had – have died in exile far from their beloved homelands.
I feel sadness when works of art are stolen that will end up in private collector hands rather than on display for the public’s appreciation of their beauty.
I rage against the darkness of men who cannot refrain from killing while the world is dying around them.
Like rats on the Titanic they scramble over rotting cheese as the boat is sinking.
And mostly I am saddened that I never got to learn and appreciate Ken Shimura while he lived.
I long to laugh at the folly and absurdity of these days we are experiencing.
But I can’t.
Another comedian is dead.
Sources: Wikipedia / Google
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Sunday 29 March 2020 (Lockdown Day #13)
On Friday, for the first time in three weeks, I left the apartment and went for a walk.
I rediscover a forgotten world.
Certainly the streets are silent, most shops and businesses are closed and no one gathers together unless family or couples, I nonetheless find myself humming that Louis Armstrong classic “What a wonderful world ‘.
The sun is warm, the birds sing, folks walk their oblivious dogs, cats prowl, and I hum as I walk and drink in with all my senses the sensations of spring.
Certainly I have not completely recovered from my man cold – what man ever does? – still the occasional cough and sniffle – but my spirits are on the mend.
I think of this pandemic and tell myself with optimistic false confidence.
And this too shall pass.
I think of just how odd this lockdown situation is, of how we adjust to situations beyond our control, of how we choose to do what we do because it is the path of least resistance and of how we convince ourselves that we did what we did because it was “the right thing to do“.
I think of how fortunate I am – at least for now.
I think of others not so lucky.
I think of how Switzerland will probably run out of intensive care beds by 2 April owing to the progression of the corona virus pandemic, according to a study by the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich, and of how up to 1,000 additional beds may be needed throughout the country.
Taking into account the current number of beds in intensive care units, estimated at 979, and the number of deaths linked to Covid-19, “our latest report suggests that the system is close to saturation, based on the available data”, said Thomas Van Boeckel from the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETHZ and co-author of the report.
In addition to Canton Ticino, bed capacity may already be exceeded in the cantons of Vaud, Geneva, Valais and Graubünden, he said on Friday in an interview with La Liberté and partner newspapers.
“According to our models, we will reach a wider shortage on 2 April.”
From this date, if no action is taken, 86 beds could be lacking in Zürich, he said.
“Shortages would also be felt in Bern and Solothurn. The situation could get much worse in Valais with more than 250 excess cases,” – or 1,000 in the whole of Switzerland, he added.
Van Boeckel stressed that this is an estimate, which is not based on the data that hospitals have been required to submit to the government since 13 March.
The beds still available in the north, centre and east of Switzerland, as well as in the large hospitals in cities, could partially absorb the surplus of patients from Cantons Vaud and Ticino, he reckoned.
The ETH Zürich researchers reconstructed the probable acute cases of Covid-19 to be expected, based on data from the Swiss Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the number of deaths in Canton Zürich and figures from http://www.corona-data.ch and by using differential equation models.
As of 27 March, almost 12,000 people had tested positive for Covid-19 in Switzerland and almost 200 people had died.
I think of how vulnerable we still are.
Swiss doctors are demanding improved access to vaccines following repeated shortfalls, not least during the corona virus pandemic.
Vaccine production has dwindled in Switzerland, leaving the country reliant on imports to meet its needs.
Carlos Quinto, a board member of the Swiss Medical Association (FMH), told the Swiss public broadcaster SRF that stocks of Pneumovax, which helps patients with respiratory diseases or immune deficiencies to ward off pneumonia, have run out.
“Patients are calling us and we then have to tell them that there is nothing left,” he said.
The Covid-19 pandemic is not the only instance of the supply of vaccines falling short of demand, he added.
National campaigns to fight against measles, mumps, rubella or the tick transmitted TBE have run out of vaccines before the end of the campaign.
The main problem is finding secure supplies of vaccines, which are made in countries such as India and China but hardly any more in Switzerland.
Vaccine production tailed off at Berna Biotech after it was taken over by Dutch biotechnology company Crucell and later Johnson & Johnson.
Novartis sold most of its vaccine unit to GlaxoSmithKline in 2015.
Switzerland applies different regulatory standards for vaccines than most of Europe, complained Quinto.
In addition, it does not have the bargaining power of European purchasing chains.
This makes it harder to get enough stocks of vaccines.
“The government has to sit at a table with us to find solutions,” demands Quinto.
And this is how solutions are found.
People sit themselves down and talk to one another, even if these days conversations are more virtual than physical.
And it was the anticipation of such a conversation I had during my visit to Canada that is the source of this blogpost….
Montréal, Québec, Canada, Epiphany Monday 6 January 2020
(Continued from Canada Slim and the Usual Route…..)
I sit in the Montréal Pool Room and I read the newspaper.
For two reasons:
I have with me inside this eatery, within my backpack, the 2 January editions of the New York Times (purchased at the Zürich Airport) and the Montréal Gazette (purchased from the Couche Tard in Lachute), but I had yet to stumble upon an English language newspaper since.
I have a Wikipedia app on my phone so I am not completely ignorant of the world beyond my footprints.
In the papers much is said of what 2019 was and what 2020 will be but little is said about what has happened on New Year’s Day itself:
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66063681/GettyImages_1197451354.0.jpg)
Hell, the only article in either paper that I find remotely interesting as a potential topic for Richard and I this evening is one that suggests that the lengthy family tales that we share with our children are often a window into our history.
But I will be damned how I could possibly work this topic into our conversation as neither of us is a parent.
![old family photos | home [www.chancefac.net] | Old family photos ...](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8e/c6/86/8ec686bb9b183239dfacb16988c6cff5.jpg)
Wikipedia is a bit more promising…..
![Updated] Somali Terrorist Group Attacks Manda Bay Airfield, Kenya ...](https://live.mrf.io/statics/i/ps/i0.wp.com/theaviationist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Camp-Simba-attack-top.jpg?resize=678%2C381&ssl=1&width=1200&enable=upscale)
I am in despair.
With the exception of Canada defeating Russia 4–3 to win gold at the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, last night, what in Heaven’s name will we talk about?
With news perused and poutine / Cola consumed, I return outside to the wicked winter chill and retrace my steps back to the B & B that should now be open.
My room is functional but comfortably furnished and clean, spacious and quiet.
The bed is large, the WiFi free, the location near Berri – UQAM ideal.
The mattress seems new and comfortable.
My room is lovingly furnished and decorated.
But I did not come to Montréal to sleep.
/best-skyline-views-montreal-FOTOimage-getty-59f7953d68e1a2001074e54d-d35342bd64334059bea2e9299e2cfcbc.jpg)
No sooner do I confirm my pre-paid reservation, collect my key and leave the bulk of my belongings inside Room #6, I am once again braving the cold and making my way towards my reunion with my good friend, “King” Richard.
I return to the Métro and ride it back to Bonaventure.
Bonaventure is a Montreal Métro station in the borough of Ville-Marie.
It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and serves the Orange Line.
It opened on February 13, 1967, four months after most of the initial network.
It served as the western terminus of the Orange Line for 14 years until the extension to Place Saint Henri Station opened in 1981.
The station is a normal side platform station, built by cut-and-cover in order to provide a large space for the heavily trafficked mezzanine.
As a key part of the Underground City, the mezzanine has ticket barriers on either side to allow pedestrians to pass from one end of the station to the other side.
Footbridges over the tracks below the mezzanine level allow passengers to cross from one platform to the other.
Until 1992, the station had only one outdoor entrance, in front of Windsor Station, and two additional accesses led directly to Place Bonaventure and Montreal Central Station (Gare Centrale) on one end, and the Château Champlain and Place du Canada on the other.
When 1000 de La Gauchetière was built directly above the station, additional accesses were added to the office tower and the Downtown Terminus (metropolitan bus terminal for Réseau de transport de Longueuil and South Shore buses) within it as well as a street entrance on the western side of the building on Cathédrale Street and improved access to Central Station and Place Bonaventure.
The station is intermodal with the Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM)’s commuter train lines through its underground access to Montreal Central Station, the terminus for the Deux-Montagnes, Mascouche and Mont Saint Hilaire lines.
(Deux Montagnes was where I spent my toddler years.)
There is also underground access to the Lucien L’Allier train station and Gare Windsor and to the Lucien L’Allier Metro station.
Elevators were added between the mezzanine and the platforms in November 2009, making the station more accessible to people with reduced mobility.
However, no step-free access to the surface was possible until 2019, when elevators were added connecting the mezzanine level to Terminus Centre-Ville and to the lobby of 1000 De La Gauchetière.
The elevators do not allow passengers to change platforms unless they exit the ticket barriers.
Another elevator connecting the station to Place du Canada and the Château Champlain, formerly the only elevator in the system, is separated from the mezzanine level by steps.
The station is equipped with the MétroVision information screens, which display news, commercials, and the time till the next train.
This station is named for Place Bonaventure, a major commercial complex containing businesses, the Hôtel Bonaventure (formerly a Hilton Hotel) and the Société de transport de Montréal’s headquarters.
This was named for Bonaventure Station, a former station on the Grand Trunk Railway, which in turn was named for its location on Saint Bonaventure Street, now Saint Jacques Street.
The first Bonaventure Station was built in 1847 as the main terminal for the Montreal and Lachine Railway.
That company was leased by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1864 in order to obtain access to a more centrally located Montreal terminal.
GTR subsequently purchased the company outright, becoming owner of the station.
Several other railways also used Bonaventure Station over the years, though it was not referred to as a union station.
Notably, the Intercolonial Railway obtained running rights over the Grand Trunk into Montreal at the end of the 1880s.
Bonaventure Station thus became its western terminal for service to and from Halifax and other points in the Maritimes.
In 1888, a new, larger Bonaventure station building was built on the same site, to the plans of architect Thomas Seaton Scott in a flamboyant Victorian take on the Romanesque Revival style.
During the railway boom from the 1880s to the early 1910s, railways considered their terminal stations to be “prestige projects“.
Around the time construction began on the new Bonaventure Station, the competing Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) started work just two blocks away on Windsor Station, an imposing Richardsonian structure opened in 1889.
As the CPR began work on expanding Windsor Station in 1900, the GTR, not to be outdone, seriously considered building a replacement for Bonaventure Station.
A design for a new station was commissioned from Chicago architects Charles S. Frost and Albert Hoyt Granger.
In the end, however, the new station was never built as the GTR began to focus on its Grand Trunk Pacific transcontinental railway project.
On 1 March 1916, a fire broke out in Bonaventure Station.
Firemen from Fire Station No. 3 on Ottawa Street arrived fast enough to save most of the building from complete destruction.
The GTR was in a dire financial situation and could only replace the original ornate roof with a flat one.
In 1910, the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) came to town and secretly purchased three entire blocks of downtown Montreal property for a major terminal and real estate development to coincide with the construction of its Mount Royal Tunnel.
A temporary terminal facility was constructed to coincide with the tunnel project.
However, financial difficulties at CNoR resulting from declining traffic levels following the commencement of World War I delayed completion.
In September 1918 CNoR went bankrupt and was nationalized by the federal government, merging the company with Canadian Government Railways that December to form Canadian National Railways (CNR).
GTR faced similar financial problems and by 1923 was also absorbed into Canadian National Railways.
As the two systems were not conveniently interconnected, CNR continued to use both the GTR’s Bonaventure Station and the temporary CNoR station at the southern end of the Mount Royal Tunnel line.
However it was clear that the new railway required a combined central terminal in Montreal.
In 1929, six years after absorbing GTR, Parliament approved the “Canadian National Montreal Terminals Act, 1929” which began the process of consolidating and rationalizing terminal trackage in the Montreal area.
The Depression, along with a government-imposed moratorium on the project, caused major delays.
Almost 15 years later on 14 July 1943, CNR finally opened Central Station on the former CNoR lands.
The temporary CNoR station was then closed.
Bonaventure Station remained in use for a few commuter trains after the opening of Central Station.
On 23 August 1948, an explosion followed by a massive fire destroyed most of the Bonaventure Station’s freight yards and impeded rail access to the station building.
All remaining passenger service was then moved to Central Station.
Bonaventure Station was demolished in November 1952.
The lands acquired by CNoR in the early part of the 20th century for its real estate developments had been inherited by CN and the federal government.
During the post-war years, CN commissioned a major urban redevelopment of the city’s downtown using these properties, focusing on its newly built Central Station.
In addition to Place Ville Marie, the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and the CN Headquarters, Montréal became home to one of the largest commercial retail/office developments in the world when Place Bonaventure was built above part of the Montréal Central Station terminal trackage.
Although the site was a few blocks northeast of the former location of Bonaventure Station, the name was chosen to commemorate it.
This development was built in 1966, in advance of Expo 67.
The newly commissioned Dow Planetarium was built on the actual site of the former Bonaventure Station.
A Montréal Métro station was built to serve Place Bonaventure, Central Station, and the CPR Windsor Station complex.
It opened on 13 February 1967 and is named Bonaventure Station.
The name is derived from St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century Italian philosopher and mystic, but I will be damned if I know why the saint was chosen as the Montréal namesake.
Bonaventure (Bonaventura) (1221 – 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian medieval Franciscan, scholastic theologian and philosopher.
The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also Cardinal Bishop of Albano.
He was canonised on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the Church in the year 1588 by Pope Sixtus V.
He was born at Bagnoregio in Umbria, not far from Viterbo, then part of the Papal States.
Almost nothing is known of his childhood, other than the names of his parents, Giovanni di Fidanza and Maria di Ritella.
Above: Saint Augustine Square with the Annunciation Church, Bagnoregio, Italy
He entered the Franciscan Order in 1243 and studied at the University of Paris, possibly under Alexander of Hales, and certainly under Alexander’s successor, John of Rochelle.
In 1253 he held the Franciscan chair at Paris.
Above: Logo of the Franciscan Order
A dispute between seculars and mendicants delayed his reception as Master until 1257, where his degree was taken in company with Thomas Aquinas.
Three years earlier his fame had earned him the position of lecturer on The Four Books of Sentences—a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century—and in 1255 he received the degree of master, the medieval equivalent of doctor.
After having successfully defended his order against the reproaches of the anti-mendicant party, he was elected Minister General of the Franciscan Order.
On 24 November 1265, he was selected for the post of Archbishop of York.
However, he was never consecrated and resigned the appointment in October 1266.
During his tenure, the General Chapter of Narbonne, held in 1260, promulgated a decree prohibiting the publication of any work out of the Order without permission from the higher superiors.
This prohibition has induced modern writers to pass severe judgment upon Roger Bacon‘s superiors being envious of Bacon’s abilities.
However, the prohibition enjoined on Bacon was a general one, which extended to the whole Order.
Above: Statue of Roger Bacon (1219 – 1292)
Its promulgation was not directed against him, but rather against Gerard of Borgo San Donnino.
Gerard had published in 1254 without permission a heretical work, Introductorius in Evangelium æternum (An Introduction to the Eternal Gospel).
Thereupon the General Chapter of Narbonne promulgated the above-mentioned decree, identical with the “constitutio gravis in contrarium” Bacon speaks of.
The above-mentioned prohibition was rescinded in Roger’s favour unexpectedly in 1266.
Bonaventure was instrumental in procuring the election of Pope Gregory X (1210 – 1276) who rewarded him with the title of Cardinal Bishop of Albano and insisted on his presence at the great Second Council of Lyon in 1274.
There, after his significant contributions led to a union of the Greek and Latin churches, Bonaventure died suddenly and in suspicious circumstances.
The 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia has citations that suggest he was poisoned, but no mention is made of this in the 2003 second edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia.
Above: Bonaventure receives the envoys of the Byzantine Emperor at the Second Council of Lyon.
The only extant relic of the saint is the arm and hand with which he wrote his Commentary on the Sentences, which is now conserved at Bagnoregio, in the parish church of St. Nicholas.
He steered the Franciscans on a moderate and intellectual course that made them the most prominent order in the Catholic Church until the coming of the Jesuits.
His theology was marked by an attempt completely to integrate faith and reason.
He thought of Christ as the “one true master” who offers humans knowledge that begins in faith, is developed through rational understanding, and is perfected by mystical union with God.
Bonaventure wrote on almost every subject and his writings are very numerous.
The greater number of them deal with philosophy and theology.
Like all the great scholastic doctors, Bonaventura starts with the discussion of the relations between reason and faith.
All the sciences are but the handmaidens of theology.
Reason can discover some of the moral truths that form the groundwork of the Christian system, but others it can only receive and apprehend through divine illumination.
To obtain this illumination, the soul must employ the proper means, which are prayer, the exercise of the virtues, whereby it is rendered fit to accept the divine light, and meditation that may rise even to ecstatic union with God.
The supreme end of life is such union, union in contemplation or intellect and in intense absorbing love, but it cannot be entirely reached in this life and remains as a hope for the future.
Bonaventure believed that it is possible to prove the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.
He offers several arguments for the existence of God.
His main argument for the immortality of the soul appeals to humans’ natural desire for perfect happiness.
Bonaventure did not believe that philosophy was an autonomous discipline that could be pursued successfully independently of theology.
Any philosopher is bound to fall into serious error, he believed, who lacks the light of faith.
A master of the memorable phrase, Bonaventure held that philosophy opens the mind to at least three different routes humans can take on their journey to God.
Bonaventure, however, is not only a meditative thinker, whose works may form good manuals of devotion, he is a dogmatic theologian of high rank, and on all the disputed questions of scholastic thought, he gives weighty and well-reasoned decisions.
He regarded theology as a practical science.
Its truths, according to his view, are peculiarly adapted to influence the affections.
On many points of scholastic philosophy the “Seraphic Doctor” exhibits a combination of subtlety and moderation, which makes his works particularly valuable.
In form and intent the work of St. Bonaventure is always the work of a theologian.
He writes as one for whom the only angle of vision and the proximate criterion of truth is the Christian faith.
This fact influences his importance for the history of philosophy.
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The problem is when coupled with his style, it makes Bonaventure perhaps the least accessible of the major figures of the 13th century.
This is true, not because he is a theologian, but because philosophy interests him largely as a praeparatio evangelica, as something to be interpreted as a foreshadow of or deviation from what God has revealed.
Bonaventure does not survive well the transition from his time to ours.
It is difficult to imagine a contemporary philosopher, Christian or not, citing a passage from Bonaventure to make a specifically philosophical point.
One must know philosophers to read Bonaventure, but the study of Bonaventure is seldom helpful for understanding philosophers and their characteristic problems.
Bonaventure as a theologian is something different again, as is Bonaventure the edifying author.
It is in those areas, rather than in philosophy proper, that his continuing importance must be sought.
Places and churches and schools in the US and the UK, the Netherlands and the Philippines, Canada, Mexico and Columbia, India and Pakistan are named in Bonaventure’s honour, but why this Montréal section of railroads and commerce is also so named is an enigma to which I do not possess an answer.
Above: Logo of St. Bonaventure University, Allegheny, New York
I ignore the info screens, save the elevators for those who need them and I make my way from the Metro Station to the VIA Rail Station.
I want to buy my ticket for tomorrow’s journey to Ottawa, not knowing how full the train might be should I wait.
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A few things interest me about where I am.
Place Bonaventure was the second largest commercial building in the world at the time of its completion in 1967.
1000 rue de la Gauchetière is Montréal’s tallest building at the maximum height allowed by the City – the elevation of Mount Royal – 205 metres / 673 feet – with 51 floors and an atrium that could contain an ice rink.
Montreal Central Station (Gare centrale de Montréal) is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Montréal.
Nearly 11 million rail passengers use the station every year making it the second-busiest train station in Canada.
The station is adorned with art deco bas-relief friezes on its interior and exterior.
The architecture of Central Station is modern.
It is a mixture of Art Deco and the international style.
Its large concourse is illuminated by large windows.
Originally, the concourse was cluttered by various ticket counters and kiosks, but, over time, they were pushed to the extremities of the room, which left much more space for the passing crowds.
The 14 underground tracks are accessible by seven stairwells, five of which are equipped with escalators.
The east and west interior walls of the station feature two large bas–reliefs depicting Canadian life, arts and industry.
Included in the bas relief are a few of the lyrics of O Canada.
The lyrics are in French on the east side of the station and in English on the west side.
There are three large chiselled stone reliefs depicting Mercury, Apollo and Poseidon on the station’s north exterior wall.
The representations of Mercury and Poseidon measure approximately 2,5m by 4,5m.
Apollo is larger but visual access is very limited.
These were obscured by the 1958 construction of the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
This is a hotel very close to a Beatles fan’s heart
In the year of their honeymoon, 1969, John Lennon (1940 – 1980) and his young wife Yoko Ono held two high profile events, known as Bed-ins for Peace.
This was their way of promoting world peace while the Vietnam War raged.
Although the first bed-in took place in Amsterdam, the second was scheduled for New York.
But the couple couldn’t go there as John was banned from the United States since his 1968 conviction for possession of cannibis.
The event was finally held in Montréal.
On 26 May, John and Yoko moved into the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, where they stayed for eight days.
The couple set up their nuptial bed in the living room of Suite 1742, in front of a large window.
In this big bed, dressed in white pyjamas and nightgown he and she, they were visited by hundreds of journalists while they expounded their pacifist view of the world.
The Montréal performance concluded with the recording of their anthem, Give Peace a Chance.
The 17th floor suite still attracts visitors, nostalgic Beatles fans and celebrities.
1742 has been renovated several times and is decorated with photographs and contemporary press cuttings.
On the front door, under the number plate, is a golden plaque discreetly marked:
John Lennon Yoko Ono.
Every year, on the anniversary of the singer’s death (8 December 1980), twelve red and twelve white roses are laid in front of the door of 1742.
Nobody knows who brings them…..
Central Station is at the centre of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, the busiest inter-city rail service area in the nation (marketed as the Corridor), which extends from Windsor and Sarnia in the west, through Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal, to Québec City in the east.
Inter-city trains at Central Station are operated by Via Rail and Amtrak, while commuter rail services are operated by Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM).
The station is also connected to the Montreal Metro subway system.
Central Station is the second busiest Via Rail station in Canada, after Toronto Union Station.
On 3 September 1984, a pipe bomb exploded inside a Central Station locker, killing three people and injuring 30 more.
The bomb was alleged to have been set by retired American armed forces officer Thomas Bernard Brigham, who claimed to have been protesting Pope John Paul II’s visit to Canada.
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A native of Rochester, New York who had served as an Army Air Forces navigator who flew 24 missions during the Second World War, and claimed his bomber was shot down over Germany on 29 April 1944, leaving him in a prisoner of war camp with minor injuries.
His son Paul, a priest in St. Louis, later explained that his father became mentally disturbed but was not violent.
Brigham was committed to American mental institutions four times, having had delusions believing he was Jesus.
He was also under surveillance by the Secret Service after it was determined that he was stalking President Ronald Reagan.
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A divorced father of 11 children, Brigham lived in Ohio and Boston before moving to Montreal in April 1984, after spending a great amount of time in the city.
He was detained a year before the bombings by Constable Norman Veskels, who was suspicious to see him wandering the streets of Montreal in the middle of the night.
He was released once it was determined he was not up to any trouble.
Brigham lived in the Princess Lodge rooming house four blocks from Central Station, and would spend his days drinking coffee and watching the trains pull into the station.
A week before the bombing, Via Rail police were called by a man speaking in broken French and told them to “be careful, it’s going to blow”.
Via clerk Marc Belleville later testified that a subsequent search of the premises had been made, but turned up no evidence of suspicious material.
Three days before the bombing, Via Rail received an anonymous letter addressed to the “director” of “Cosmic Amtrak, Dorchester“, warning of “the end of the Unholy Vatican”, which warbled between disjointed French and English sentence fragments that spoke of impending violence.
The back of the letter contained the names of Kathy Keefler, a local television journalist with the CBC, Clark Davey the publisher of the Montréal Gazette and Kathy May, a reporter with the Ottawa Citizen.
The Mentor, Ohio address of Brigham’s daughter Kathy Brigham-Herten was also written in the note.
Two minutes before the bombing, Canadian National officers were alerted when a “young man with long blond hair who had been loitering in the station” ran across the station with his hands cupped over his ears “as if to shut out noise“.
A pipebomb, consisting of gunpowder, dynamite and possibly gasoline, exploded in locker #132 at 10:22 am, killing three.
Thirty others were wounded.
Witnesses later testified that someone shouted “Le pape est mort!” (“The Pope is dead!“) just before the explosions, although Brigham did not speak French.
Urgences Sante Ambulance task force arrived four minutes after the bomb exploded lead by Paramedic Supervisor Anthony Di Monte, and the first fatalities were confirmed at 10:45.
Police initially reported the three deaths were of a man, woman and small girl.
It was speculated they may have been from the same family.
The original assumption was that the bombing was related to an ongoing labour dispute amongst railway workers.
A telephone call to the station between 11:35 and 11:40 warned that a second bomb had been planted in the building, but police initially reported that no such device was found.
A report released later that day said that a second device had been found in a locker near the one in which the first bomb was placed, and a third announcement at 4:45 pm again issued the story that no second bomb had been found.
Moments after the phone call, police arrested a man on Dorchester Boulevard who met the description of the one who had been seen prior to the bombing, but released him without charges.
By noon, police knew of the letter that had been sent to Via and had given a copy of the letter to reporters at the scene.
At 6:00 pm, the Île aux Tourtes Bridge to Montréal Island was shut down following a bomb hoax.
At 6:45 pm, Brigham was wearing glasses and a tweed jacket and cap when he found journalist Kathryn Leger outside the station and began speaking to her for twenty minutes.
He assured her that he had nothing to do with the explosion, although he believed the station’s clock pointed to 10:17 at the time of the blast, which he felt was a significant time for the papacy and began discussing numerology.
He also told her that he had written threatening letters earlier, and felt premonitions something was going to happen in the station today.
Leger excused herself from the conversation, and went inside the station to tell police, and a pair of homicide detectives took her to Montréal police station.
Sûreté du Québec officers confronted Brigham the evening of the blast, accusing him of writing two threatening letters, the one sent to Amtrak, and another found in a local hotel room that included comments such as “Time bomb set for 10:30 prox” and “Papacy ended with a bang – 3 September“.
Brigham again acknowledged writing the letters, but continued to deny he had been involved with the bomb.
He was brought into the Montréal police station.
At 11 pm Leger identified him in a police lineup and he was held as a material witness, although he was not charged with any crime.
The day after the bombing, the Montréal bomb squad was called to Central Station after an anonymous bomb threat.
Police found a styrofoam cooler and detonated it in a controlled explosion, but it simply contained food.
They held and questioned a man in relation to the hoax, but let him go.
Another man was detained by CN officers the day after the explosion because he was wearing a Fatima sweatshirt, raising alarm as the word had been prominently used in Brigham’s threatening letters.
Two days after the bombing, police announced that Brigham had been “ruled out”, stating that:
“He didn’t plant the bomb.
We know that.
We’ve checked it out.”
Police announced they were instead looking for “a bearded man in his late 20s or early 30s” who was seen immediately before the blast and believed to have befriended Brigham.
They suggested that somebody who knew Brigham had written threatening letters and may have taken the opportunity to plant a bomb themselves.
They also announced that fingerprinting had failed to identify the three corpses, but their passports indicated they were tourists from Paris, university students 25-year-old Marcelle Leblond and 24-year-old Michel Dubois, as well as 24-year-old artist Eric Nicolas.
A fourth tourist who was travelling with the group, Joel Mary, was in stable condition at Royal Victoria Hospital.
Police announced they were going to release Brigham on 12 September, ostensibly to wait for Coroner Maurice Lanielle to finish his inquest to determine the cause of death of the three French tourists, although there was acknowledgement there was an attempt to keep him in custody until the day the Pope ended his visit.
In November 1984, fellow prisoner Raymond Kircoff, a drug addict serving time for theft of a VCR, allegedly had discussions with Brigham about bomb construction while the two were being driven to court together from the detention facility.
He subsequently stated that it was so simple “a 12-year old could do it”, but during closing statements at Brigham’s trial it was argued that the design of a bomb that Kirkcoff claimed Brigham had shown him was completely unlike the bomb used in the station.
At his arraignment, Brigham pulled down his pants and stated that he was “not the bomb squad but the truth squad”, and that there could be as many as 30 other bombings in the city, focusing on its strip clubs, and suggesting that “Montréal is going to be the sacrifice to the second coming”.
In January 1985, the prosecution requested a hearing by sessions judge Claude Joncas into Brigham’s mental competence to see if he was fit to stand trial, a move that was resisted by the defence who felt it unfairly villainized Brigham.
During the trial at the Québec Superior Court, prosecutor Claude Parent called twenty witnesses, while attorney Pierre Poupart called nine including Brigham’s ex-wife.
During the course of the trial, the key to the locker was lost at the crime laboratory before it could be tested for fingerprints.
On 19 April, the court took a bus to the station accompanied by Brigham, who quoted that it was “nice to be a star”, referring to the rampant media attention.
This statement was later dismissed by overseeing judge Kenneth Mackay.
Summations wrapped up on 1 May 1985.
A jury of six men and six women deliberated for nine hours on 3 May before retiring for the night, and then eight more hours the following day before returning a verdict of guilty on all three counts of first degree murder.
In a statement after the verdict, Brigham spoke for 30 minutes referring to “cosmic forces” and stating that Our Lady of Fatima was due to appear in Montréal, and asking:
“If I were a bomber, would I have gone back to help people?”
Brigham was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Pinel Institute for the Criminally Insane with no parole for 25 years.
In May 1985, shortly after his sentencing, it was announced that immigration officials were obtaining a deportation order that would be served in 2009 upon his release from prison.
A successful appeal in 1989 led to a new trial in front of Justice Charles Phelan after it was determined that Justice Kenneth MacKay had made four errors in his handling of the case.
The verdict and sentencing of the second trial were identical, but led to another successful appeal request by attorney Jay Rumanek, arguing that an earlier defence attorney, Michael Kastner, had committed errors after learning Brigham could not testify to the jury.
Brigham died of a heart attack in 1993, at the age of 73, only days after consultations with his attorney.
His death between trials meant that due to presumption of innocence until conviction, he would be presumed innocent.
In May 2012, US Senators Charles Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Patrick Leahy, and Bernie Sanders sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to fast-track the approval of a US Customs pre-clearance facility at the station that would benefit US bound travelers on the Adirondack from having to stop at the railway station located in Rouses Point, New York for immigration and customs checks whenever they cross the Canada – US border.
Under the arrangement, the stop in Saint Lambert would be removed.
The agreement would also allow another Amtrak line, the Vermonter, to be extended from its current terminus at St. Albans to Montréal, though this agreement had to first be approved by the United States Congress and the Parliament of Canada.
This would enable direct travel by train from Montreal to Washington DC’s Union Station via Massachusetts and New York City, as well as the potential development of direct service to Boston.
On 16 March 2015, the United States and Canada signed an agreement that would allow for such a facility.
Enabling legislation was enacted by the United States on 16 December 2016, as the Promoting Travel, Commerce and National Security Act of 2016.
Frequent Corridor services offer multiple-daily departures on the following routes:
In addition, the following long distance/rural services are operated several times weekly:
(This service was suspended by Via Rail from 22 August 2013, due to infrastructure problems between Matapedia and Gaspé)
Unlike Amtrak’s other cross-border train, the Toronto – New York Maple Leaf, this train is operated solely by an Amtrak crew.
(In March 2020, the Adirondack service north of Albany – Rensselaer was suspended indefinitely as part of a round of service reduction in response to the ongoing corona virus pandemic.)
VIA Rail ticket to Ottawa purchased, I return to Bonaventure and resume travelling the remaining part of the Orange Line leading to the end station Montmorency where I had agreed to meet His Majesty.
I bought today’s Montréal Gazette at the Gare Central but I do not read the paper.
Instead I try to see the passing stations as if I were viewing them through the eyes of a child…..
[Refrain:]
Each station name has an origin.
Every passenger has a story.
Of the stations between Bonaventure and Berri – UQAM and of the station De La Concorde, I have previously written the rhyme and the reason why they possess the names that they do.
From Berri to Montmorency, save for De La Concorde, the origins of the stations’ names are listed below:
I arrive at Montmorency.
It is a normal side platform station.
This station has the highest ceilings of any station in the network.
The wall panels are decorated with tiling in diagonal stripes of retro shades of cyan, navy, straw yellow and brick red.
A large bus terminal with 10 platforms and an indoor waiting area adjoins the station.
The building, which is operated by the RTM features an RTM ticket counter as well as a convenience store and a coffee shop.
In addition, the station has parking for 1342 cars – 644 free outdoor park and ride spaces and 698 paying spaces (54 outdoor, 644 indoor).
All bus traffic enters and leaves on Boulevard de l’Avenir.
A few words about Laval…..
Laval is its own Canadian city north of Montréal.
It forms its own administrative region of Quebec.
It is the largest suburb of Montréal, the third largest municipality in the province of Quebec, and the 13th largest city in Canada with a population of 435,000 in 2016.
Above: Images of Laval
Laval is geographically separated from the mainland to the north by the Rivière des Mille Îles, and from the Island of Montréal to the south by the Rivière des Prairies.
Laval occupies all of Île Jésus as well as the Îles Laval.
Once upon a time Laval was a huge island covered by a forest of magnificent trees and was a crossroads, a meeting place for various indigenous peoples.
The first European settlers in Laval were Jesuits, who were granted a seigneury there in 1636.
Above: Logo of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Agriculture first appeared in Laval in 1670.
In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval gained control of the seigneury.
It was in 1701 with the Great Peace Treaty of Montréal that the countryside became populated, but it was only 250 years later that the Island came to be identified as massively urbanized.
In 1702 a parish municipality was founded, and dedicated to Saint-François de Sales.
In 1845, after nearly 200 years of being a rural nature, additional municipalities began to be created.
The only built-up area on the island, Sainte-Rose, was incorporated as a village in 1850, and it remained the main community for the remainder of the century.
Above: St. Rose of Lima Church
With the dawn of the 20th century came urbanization.
Laval-des-Rapides became Laval’s first city in 1912, followed by L’Abord-à-Plouffe, which was granted village status three years later.
Laval-sur-le-Lac was founded in the same year and had its tourist-based economy based on Montreal’s.
Laval began to grow throughout the following years because its proximity to Montreal made it an ideal suburb.
The introduction of train service and the advent of the automobile transformed this farming area into an urban vacation area for thousands of Montréalais who enjoy the beauty of the river.
The suburb saw rapid growth after World War II.
To deal with problems caused by urbanization, amalgamations occurred.
L’Abord-à-Plouffe amalgamated with Renaud and Saint Martin, creating the city of Chomedey in 1961.
The amalgamation turned out to be so successful for the municipalities involved that the Québec government decided to amalgamate the whole island of 14 municipalities into a single city of Laval in 1965, not without controversy.
At first glance, Laval seems nothing more than an urban business centre, but where there are humans there are stories.
The city’s longtime mayor, Gilles Vaillancourt, resigned on 9 November 2012, following allegations of corruption made against him in hearings of the provincial Charbonneau Commission (officially the Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry).
As part of the Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry, the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (Unité permanente anti-corruption/UPAC) inquired and searched Vaillancourt’s residence for evidence of corruption, as well as Laval City Hall and two other administrative buildings on 4 October 2012.
The inquiries occurred in a wide search for contracts which were attributed during Gilles Vaillancourt’s mandate.
On the evening of 5 October 2012, the UPAC searched Vaillancourt’s condominium, his other place of residence.
On 24 October 2012, Operation Hammer subjected the Mayor Vaillancourt to more raids.
Police from the Sûreté du Québec also raided more than ten safety deposit boxes rented by Vaillancourt at various financial institutions.
Later that same day, Vaillancourt announced that he would be temporarily leaving his function as mayor for health reasons.
On 9 November 2012, Vaillancourt resigned as mayor and denied all of the corruption allegations against him.
Following his resignation, the remaining Parti PRO des Lavallois councillors voted to dissolve the party on 19 November.
On 9 May 2013 Vaillancourt was arrested at his home by the police and charged with gangsterism.
Vaillancourt and two other municipal bureaucrats were among 37 people was arrested as part of a lengthy investigation into wrongdoing in Laval.
The former mayor was alleged to have organized an intricate system of bribes that had engineering and construction firms paying him to secure public contracts.
In the subsequent election to name his successor at Laval city hall, candidate Claire Le Bel went public on Radio Canada with a recording alleged to be that of Gilles Vaillancourt offering to fund her campaign with cash from questionable donors.
Mrs. Le Bel was subsequently placed under police protection after these revelations.
Vaillancourt was found guilty of fraud and corruption.
He was sentenced on 1 December 2016 to six years of prison.
City councillor Basile Angelopoulos served as acting Mayor until Alexandre Duplessis was selected in a council vote on 23 November.
Duplessis, in turn, stepped down after just seven months in office after facing allegations of being implicated in a prostitution investigation.
In May 2013, testimony at the Charbonneau Commission hearings also implicated Duplessis, along with virtually the entire sitting council, in the same corruption scandal that brought down Vaillancourt.
Duplessis asserted his innocence of the allegations, but requested that Sylvain Gaudreault, the provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs, place the city in trusteeship until the following municipal election.
In June 2013, Duplessis filed a police complaint claiming that a prostitute had attempted to extort money from him.
Reports that the Mayor filed a police complaint about an alleged attempt by a prostitute to extort money from him added to the woes of a city that had already seen the previous mayor charged with gangsterism.
A spokesman for Alexandre Duplessis said the mayor felt he was the victim of an extortion attempt and reported the 14 June incident to police.
He did not, however, confirm two media reports that the complaint to police was triggered by a dispute with an escort over payment.
“The mayor’s confirming that there’s been an extortion attempt against him,” said mayoral spokesman Pierre-Philippe Lortie.
“He immediately called the authorities.
As we speak, it’s in their hands.”
The Sûreté du Québec confirmed that they launched an investigation into a complaint about extortion involving an escort, but that no charges were laid in the case.
Police spokeswoman Sgt. Christine Coulombe wouldn’t disclose any details about the identity of the presumed victim in the matter.
“Regarding the individual, we never say who, nor the profession, nor their status,” she said.
“A man used an escort service.
There was a fight about the payment, then a complaint was filed about extortion.
We’re investigating.”
Radio-Canada cited police sources saying that the dispute allegedly began when one of two women, an escort and her driver, recognized the mayor.
It reported that he allegedly cancelled their appointment, triggering an argument about payment.
Montreal’s La Presse reported that Duplessis was allegedly approached at least three more times for increasingly larger sums of money in the days after the meeting before seeking police intervention.
The incident reportedly occurred about two weeks after the Quebec government appointed a trustee to oversee and vet the decisions made by Duplessis and city councillor in Laval, which along with Montréal has been identified as ground zero for the province’s corruption crisis.
Duplessis resigned as Mayor on 28 June 2013.
He was succeeded by city councillor Martine Beaugrand until the city’s current mayor, Marc Demers, was elected in the 2013 municipal election.
In 2017, Demers announced that a portion of the money repaid to the city by the convicted former mayors would be set aside to create a fund for disadvantaged youth in the city.
Laval’s diverse economy is centred around the technology, pharmaceutical, industrial and retail sectors.
It has many pharmaceutical laboratories but also stone quarries and a persistent agricultural sector.
Long seen as a bedroom community, Laval has diversified its economy, especially in the retail sector, developing numerous shopping malls, warehouses and various retail stores.
Laval has four different industrial parks.
One of these is the Laval Science and High Technology Park is located along Rivière des Prairies and Autoroute 15.
It is an internationally renowned science campus that houses the Biotech City and the Information Technology Development Centre (ITDC).
The Laval Science and High Technology Park is a beacon of the metropolitan economy, in an environment befitting the best technopolises in the world.
Nearly 500,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft) of space are available for development.
The Biotech City spans the entire territory of the Laval Science and High Technology Park and is a unique concept in Canada in that its residents comprise both universities and companies.
Alimentation Couche-Tard has its headquarters in Laval.
(As mentioned in a previous blogpost, Couche-Tard is equivalent to the Anglo North American convenience store chain 7-11.)
Laval is getting ready to welcome the 55th Jeux de Québec Finals this summer – (if the corona virus doesn’t cancel them) – gathering together over 3,500 athletes and their families.
Laval is also home to the Montréal Canadiens American Hockey League (AHL) affliate the Laval Rocket.
The franchise was previously based in St. John’s, Newfoundland as the St. John’s Ice Caps.
The team’s name is a tribute to Canadiens’ legend Maurice “Rocket” Richard.
The colours of the Laval Rocket jersey are red, white, and blue and were chosen to mirror the colours of their parent-club, the Montreal Canadiens.
As a further tribute to Maurice “Rocket” Richard, patches with the number 9 and a stylized flame appear on each of the sleeves.
The stylized flame is also found below the player’s number on the back of the jersey and on the back of the player’s socks.
Each sleeve also has a shield patch with the word Le Rocket found inside.
The name of the city the Rocket play out of, Laval, is displayed on each shoulder as well as in the neck tie region of the jersey.
In the 2017–18 season, Laval finished with a 24 wins – 42 losses record and placed last overall in the league.
In the 2018–19 season, Laval finished with a 30 – 34 record.
(On 12 March 2020:
With the health and safety of our players, officials, staff and fans of primary importance, the American Hockey League has announced the suspension of play until further notice, effective immediately, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AHL will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the 2019-20 season at the appropriate time.
Before the season cancellation, the Rocket played 62 games, winning only 30 of them.)
Every town has those that rise above the rest of its population and Laval is no exception to that rule.
In the world of sports, Laval is home to professional footballers, ice hockey players, figure skaters, heavyweight boxers, wrestlers, divers, ice dancers, kayakers, swimmers, sprinters, fencers and speed skaters.
Laval has spawned politicians, comedians, journalists, actors and even an astronaut.
He has been to space twice, spending months aboard the International Space Station.
He voted from outer space, conducted a live-from-space satellite chat with students attending school in London, brought the first bagels into space – three bags of 18 sesame seed bagels from Fairmount Bagels, his cousin’s bagel bakery, brought a velcro chess set and started playing games against mission control, which got quite competitive, filmed the first magic show in space and the first science-fiction movie made in space, Apogee of Fear.
During his ISS mission, he founded the Zero Robotics competition, where high school students program the robots, and made two spacewalks.
This is a birthplace of music:
In 1948, he created an instrumental group named The Three Bars.
The owner of the bar in which they performed suggested they select a vocalist, knowing that a singer would make the group more popular.
Berthiaume was chosen and became the group’s vocalist.
The move seemed to work, and the group was soon hailed as the best in the city.
They played in the high-class nightclub El Morocco (a 20th-century Manhattan nightclub frequented by the rich and famous from the 1930s until the decline of café society in the late 1950s), where Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Vic Damone had all performed.
He died of cancer in Montréal after being hospitalized for 10 days.
The painter Alfred Pellan, an important figure in 20th century Québec painting spent the last 38 years of his life in Laval.
He sold his first painting at the age of 17 to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
In 1926 Pellan received the first fine arts scholarship in Québec, which allowed him to spend several years in Paris and visit Venice.
He studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, then prolonged his stay in Paris while attending the Grande Chaumière, Colarossi and Ranson art academies.
He won first prize at the exhibition of mural art in 1935 in Paris and rubbed elbows with the most famous artists of the time.
Travelling Europe, he became “permeated by the mainstream art of the era”.
From 1943 to 1952 he taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montreal.
During the 1940s, Pellan illustrated poetry books and designed costumes and sets for the theatre.
His style matured and developed during this period.
Surrealism began to attract him more strongly:
His imagery became more erotic and his paintings, always vivid and striking, became larger, more complex and more textured.
No longer believing in art schools, in early 1948 he co-signed Prism of Eyes, a manifesto written by Jacques de Tonnancour advocating freedom of expression in art, speaking for a group that called for art free of any ideology.
Later that year, an even more radical group was formed, which produced the manifesto Refus global (Total refusal), which completely overshadowed the earlier manifesto.
(A few notes about Refus Global…..
In the 1940s, the authoritarian regime of Québec Premier Maurice Duplessis and the strong influence of the Roman Catholic Church paralyzed the freedom of expression of Québec artists.
It was the period known as the Grande Noirceur (the Great Blackness).
In 1948, painter / writer Paul Émile Borduas, along with 15 artist – members (including Pellan) of the Automatiste movement, drafted a manifesto that challenged traditional values and rejected the passivity of Québec society.
400 copies of the Refus Global, composed of nine texts and several illustrations, were published.
They had an explosive effect.
The text provides a ruthless description of the society of the time:
“We are a small and humble people clutching the robes of priests who have become sole guardians of faith, knowledge, truth and our national heritage.
And we have been shielded from the perilous evolution of thought going on around us, by well-intentioned but misguided educators who distorted the great facts of history whenever they found it impractical to keep us totally ignorant.”
Newspapers, journals and the clergy rejected the text.
It wasn’t until after Duplessis’ death in 1959 that the province began its Quiet Revolution, which lasted from 1960 to 1966.
Near Metro Berri – UQAM, there is a tribute to Borduas and the Refus Global.
In the past few years a number of murals have brightened up several of Montréal’s neighbourhoods.
Few of them, however, have a history as momentous and political as that of Place Paul Émile Borduas.
Inauguarted in 2010 for the 50th anniversary of the death of Borduas, the Refus Global mural incorporates visual elements from six of Borduas’ paintings and includes excerpts from the manifesto, written vertically in capital letters on the left side of the mural and in the same style of the original text.
The red birds swarming away, meant to represent the people, symbolizes those who signed the manifesto.
At the foot of the wall, a barcode illustrates the conformity of a consumer society and the criticism of its “utilitarian spirit“.)
(The Quiet Revolution was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in Québec, characterized by the effective secularization of government, the creation of a state-run welfare state (état-providence), and realignment of politics into federalist and sovereigntist (or separatist) factions and the eventual election of a pro-sovereignty provincial government in the 1976 election.
A primary change was an effort by the provincial government to take more direct control over the fields of health care and education, which had previously been in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church.
It created ministries of Health and Education, expanded the public service, and made massive investments in the public education system and provincial infrastructure.
The government further allowed unionization of the civil service.
It took measures to increase Québécois control over the province’s economy and nationalized electricity production and distribution and worked to establish the Canada/Québec Pension Plan.
Hydro-Québec was also created in an attempt to nationalize Québec’s electric companies.
French-Canadians in Québec also adopted the new name ‘Québécois‘, trying to create a separate identity from France and establish themselves as a reformed province.
The Quiet Revolution was a period of unbridled economic and social development in Québec and Canada and paralleled similar developments in the West in general.
It was a by-product of Canada’s 20-year post-war expansion and Québec’s position as the leading province for more than a century before and after Confederation.
It witnessed particular changes to the built environment and social structures of Montréal, Québec’s leading city.
The Quiet Revolution also extended beyond Québec’s borders by virtue of its influence on contemporary Canadian politics.
During the same era of renewed Quebecois nationalism, French Canadians made great inroads into both the structure and direction of the federal government and national policy.
Moreover, certain facets of the welfare state, as they developed in Québec in the 1960s, became nationalized by virtue of Québec’s acceptance and promotion.)
Pellan received a scholarship in 1952 from the Royal Society of Canada and returned to Paris until 1955, with his wife Madeleine, whom he had married in 1949.
During this stay, the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris presented an exhibition of 181 of his works, sponsored by the governments of France and Canada.
Pellan became the first Canadian to have such a solo exhibition in Paris.
Works by Pellan represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 1952.
Back in Quebec for two years, he resumed his painting classes in 1957 as a professor at the Art Centre of Sainte-Adèle while living in his house in Laval, where he took up residence in 1950.
His reputation continued to grow among Canadian art experts, he became more widely known through various exhibitions, both solo and group, and he received commissions for murals, which established his fame throughout the country.
Marc Aurèle Fortin (1888 – 1970), best known for painting watercolour landscapes of the St. Lawrence Valley, also impresses me very much.
He studied art in Montréal, working at the Montréal Post Office and at an Edmonton bank.
He studied art abroad and travelled around the St. Lawrence Valley by bicycle.
Fortin believed that:
“Canadian artists should take their inspiration from the countryside and progress towards a national art.
We should excel in landscapes, exactly as the French do”.
His works are displayed at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts.
Of course, what interests me the most are the writers that a place produces…..
Goldstein worked on radio programs and podcasts such as Heavyweight, This American Life and WireTap.
Goldstein’s work has been academically examined as representative of “the positioning of Jews and Canadians as potentially overlooked minorities in the late 20th and early 21st century United States“.
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In 2001, Goldstein’s debut novel, Lenny Bruce Is Dead, was published.
The story follows a lead character, Josh, through various events in his life, including a death in the family and his exploration of sexuality.
The novel includes multiple themes, such as love, faith, a dysfunctional family, and wavering faith.
Goldstein also co-authored Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley’s Jewish Roots with Max Wallace, an account of a Hasidic Elvis impersonator and rabbi’s quest to trace the Jewish roots of Elvis Presley.
Goldstein has also been published in The New York Times Magazine, Saturday Night, The New York Times, The Walrus, GQ, the Journey Prize Anthology and the National Post.
He has also self-produced a number of small publications, most notably carwash the size of a peach.
In September 2007, WireTap producer Mira Burt-Wintonick released “Superstar of the Netherlands”, a short film featuring Goldstein and WireTap regular Gregor Ehrlich, on YouTube.
In February 2008, Goldstein debuted the Internet project CBC Web 3.0 which features the short “The Future is Yesterday”, a comedic take on the impersonal nature of the Internet.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! is a 2009 book written by author and radio presenter Jonathan Goldstein.
The book is a comedic retelling of Old Testament stories such as Adam and Eve, Samson, Noah, and David & Goliath.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!includes a story narrated by Joseph, who is skeptical of believing in Immaculate Conception.
He grew up in Laval.
Yanofsky’s reviews and articles have appeared in The Village Voice, Canadian Geographic, Chatelaine, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star and The Montréal Gazette, among others.
He has earned the dubious honour of having once been evicted from the Ritz Carlton bar in Montréal in the company of John Updike…..
“This is a story with a happy ending.
More than a decade ago, I interviewed Canadian supermodel Monika Schnarre.
Although she was still a teenager at the time, she had already been a celebrity for years.
She was in Montreal to promote her memoir, which consisted mainly of fashion and makeup tips for girls who were just like her, though, let’s face it, not nearly as leggy.
All I recall now of Schnarre’s book is that it had more exclamation marks than pages.
(I counted.)
Still, as a book reviewer, I didn’t get to meet a lot of supermodels and this seemed like my best and perhaps last chance.
(I was right about that.)
So I proposed a story about Schnarre and her writing debut to a literary magazine, this one in fact.
We met at the bar of the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the waiters, well, hovered.
I don’t remember much about the interview except that the service was good – extremely good.
A few weeks later, at the same bar, I met John Updike.
This time when a waiter finally did come over it was not to take our order but to ask us to leave.
The reason:
I was wearing jeans, which were not permitted at the Ritz bar.
(Funny, no one had mentioned my jeans the last time I was there.)
“Do you know who this is?”, I said to the waiter, as I pointed to the tall silver-haired man beside me, the man who was and, arguably, still is the finest prose stylist in the English language.
The waiter shrugged.
I left with John Updike trailing behind me.
We did the interview in the lobby.
So where, you’re probably wondering, is the happy ending?
Well, consider this:
It’s 2002 now and Monika Schnarre has long since given up writing.
Meanwhile, John Updike has just published his 20th novel, Seek My Face, a wonderful novel-cum-meditation on modern art, aging, life, work, death, men and especially women.
Glamour is short.
Art is long.”
Yanofsky is also a journalism instructor at Concordia University.
His published works include:
His most recent book, a memoir entitled Bad Animals: A Father’s Accidental Education in Autism, was inspired by the experiences with his autistic son Jonah.
But of all the noteworthy folks that Laval can boast, a criminal mind amuses me the most…..
Lucien Rivard (1914 – 2002) was a Québec criminal known for a sensational prison escape in 1965.
Rivard had been engaged in robbery and smuggling drugs since the 1940s.
He has been described as a “petty crook” in his early years, but in the 1950s he moved to Cuba and operated a casino, and became involved in the heroin business (of which he controlled 75% of sales, imports and exports to North America).
He did business with the French Connection, which supplied him with heroin, throughout his criminal career.
As early as 1952, he was already a friend in Montréal for the Marseille heroin traffickers, the French Connection.
Faithful to the tradition that dates back to the coureurs des bois, Rivard served as a link between the French-speaking Corsican mafia and the English-speaking Italian-American mafia, both of them showing him a confidence that they did not grant each other, by exchange of a substantial commission to bilingual Quebecers.
In 1959, Rivard was in Cuba where he became an important figure in the island’s criminal fauna.
Nightclub owner, arms and drug dealer, he had to pay a weekly tribute of $20,000 to the Batista regime to keep his various racketeers going.
When Fidel Castro took power, the Quebecer was on the verge of being a multimillionaire.
The revolutionaries put him in solitary confinement with the intention of shooting him, but he emerged unscathed following a surprising intervention by the Canadian Department of External Affairs.
Five days later, Rivard is in Montréal to re-establish the French Connection and take over the management of the import of heroin, left vacant by the arrest of Peppe Cotroni.
Rivard prefers to go unnoticed.
Which doesn’t stop him from being a smart ass.
When he spots federal agents, he stops immediately and walks straight up to them to ask them what they are looking for with his sly smile.
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In 1959 he moved back to Laval and operated the business “Domaine Idéale” to continue dealing drugs and weapons.
The Domaine was a social club on the Banks of the Rivière Mille Îles where artists such as the Platters and Frank Sinatra performed.
Before becoming an escape novel, the Rivard affair was already a mess of influence peddling and bribes.
The story started in October 1963.
A Montreal courier attempted to smuggle 70 pounds of heroin into the United States.
He is arrested in Texas.
Questioned by customs officials, Michel-Joseph Caron sits at the table.
He delivers the name of his boss, Lucien Rivard.
In early 1964, the RCMP arrested Rivard following an extradition request from the United States government, which retained the services of Pierre Lamontagne, a young prosecutor from the Department of Justice.
The latter vigorously objects to any bond on behalf of his client, the United States Attorney, Robert Kennedy.
Lucien Rivard was not born yesterday.
His young 32-year-old wife is resourceful and the businessman has connections.
Within two days of Lucien being put behind bars, Marie Rivard raised $ 60,000 to guarantee his release.
It is Eddy Lechasseur, under the charge of perjury, who helps the young woman to pass around the hat to the friends and associates of the boss.
Marie comes into contact with Robert Gignac, a Montreal contractor accused of murder.
Gignac introduces her to his partner, Guy Masson, an ardent supporter of the Liberal Party.
On her own initiative, Rivard’s wife asked Raymond Rouleau, a Montreal insurer, to slip a good word from Lucien to his brother Guy Rouleau, a federal Liberal MP.
The time for the big visit arrives.
At the Ministry of Citizenship, Masson had no difficulty in persuading Raymond Denis to intervene in favor of Lucien Rivard.
Denis is one of the assistants to Minister René Tremblay.
A few days later, Pierre Lamontagne was surprised to hear the voice of his old friend from law school, Raymond Denis, who invited him to Ottawa.
The prosecutor accepts.
He is far from suspecting that his friend Raymond is about to offer him a sum of $20,000 so that he no longer opposes the release of Rivard.
Lamontagne’s refusal is as categorical as Denis’ proposal was firm.
The two friends pretend that nothing has happened.
At least, that was what prosecutor Lamontagne believed until he became the object of intensive harassment.
The phone never stops ringing.
First, it is Lucien Rivard’s lawyer who calls him twice.
Raymond Daoust is under the impression that the deal was concluded with Raymond Denis.
Guy Masson’s partner, Robert Gignac, is less evasive.
He urges Lamontagne to respect his commitments.
You got paid.
Deliver!
It is that simple!
The underworld passes the baton to politicians.
Guy Lord, one of Minister Guy Favreau‘s deputies, informed the young prosecutor of his minister’s displeasure.
André Letendre, another assistant to the same minister, comes back to try again.
Lamontagne is told that Minister Favreau is not very happy with his performance.
Deputy Guy Rouleau in his turn urges Lamontagne to do something for Lucien.
Above: Guy Favreau Complex, Montréal
The young incorruptible lawyer, who no longer knows where to give his allegiance, turns to the RCMP.
After a discreet investigation and a summary examination of the evidence, its director, George McLellan, closed the file, for lack of sufficient material to prosecute Raymond Denis.
The prosecutor Lamontagne is left with a lost reputation with the Ministry of Justice and with the underworld.
In both instances, it is a nightmare.
In 1965, Rivard was in a Montréal’s Bordeaux Prison.
Legend has it that on 2 March 1965 he climbed the wall with a garden hose, obtained under the pretext of watering the rink of the prison, when it was 10° outside.
Québec Attorney General Claude Wagner told the Assemblée Nationale:
“Sergeant Beaupré did not give any thought at all to the fact it was very mild outside and that it would be futile to water the rink.”
There were immediate suspicions of inside help.
Remarked Québec Premier Jean Lesage:
“There is something screwy here.”
Above: “Footprints tell story of Rivard’s escape“, Montréal Gazette, 4 March 1965
Rivard went missing for four months before being caught and extradited to the United States.
During his absence, he wrote letters to various people, telling the Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson:
“Life is short, you know.
I don’t intend to be in jail for the rest of my life.”
During all this time, the turkey of the farce is Minister Guy Favreau who ignores everything that is going on and everything that is going on behind the scenes of his party and his department.
Favreau is not a politician by trade.
He lacks breath, grip, thirst and experience.
He buries the whole affair, forgetting to watch his back.
The turkey became a clay pigeon.
The great inquisitor of the Conservative Party, Erik Nielsen, has only to burst the scandal in the House so that the Department of Justice finds its ass between two chairs and the government panties on the ground.
In mid-July, five months after his escape, the ineffable Lucien was taken by the police.
Poor Guy, for his part, has not been Minister of Justice since the end of June.
The moral of this story is not that the fish starts to smell by the head or that crime does not pay, but that in politics you have to know how to skate at all times, especially when there is no ice on the rink.
In 2006, it was announced that the Québec government would help sponsor the film The American Trap (Le piège américain).
The American Trap (Le Piège américain) is a 2008 Canadian drama film from Quebec, about Lucien Rivard, a Canadian working in the criminal underworld of Havana, who becomes enmeshed in international intrigue around the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
(This French language film can be seen in its entirety on YouTube.)
What do Jack Ruby, former federal justice minister Guy Favreau, and Cuban military leader Fulgencio Batista have in common?
They were all connected with Lucien Rivard, a Montreal-born drug smuggler with international crime connections.
‘He’s a fascinating guy.
He was a cowboy.
He’s like Quebec’s version of Jesse James,’ says producer Fabienne Larouche of Aetios Productions.
Larouche’s husband and coproducer Michel Trudeau discovered Rivard’s story after reading James Ellroy’s 1995 novel American Tabloid, which is about the John F. Kennedy assassination.
One of the protagonists in the novel is a French-Canadian crook, Pete Bondurant.
‘We started to ask ourselves, why is this character a French-Canadian?
We did some research into the period and we discovered Rivard,’ says Larouche.
Rivard, who was born in the Montreal suburb of Laval, lived in Cuba in the 1950s, where he ran a casino, trafficked in heroin, and had dealings with Ruby, who assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald.
The gangster returned to Quebec in 1958 and opened a beach resort in Laval that was a front for his drug-smuggling and arms-trafficking operations.
In 1963, he was implicated in a $35-million heroin seizure by US customs officials.
Awaiting his extradition, he was jailed at Montreal’s Bordeaux Prison, where he escaped with the aid of a garden hose used to flood the prison’s skating rink.
During his four months at large, charges of bribery connected with the escape resulted in a royal commission.
Justice Minister Favreau ultimately resigned over what became known as the ‘Rivard Affair.’
‘It’s incredible.
Rivard worked with Ruby and he knew Batista.
He was a Quebecer involved with people connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy,’ says Larouche, adding that the period in American history the film explores is still relevant today.
‘Americans kind of lost their innocence when JFK was shot.
It’s the first event that made them feel insecure.
That’s when their obsession with national security began.’
Larouche and Trudeau hope that the 2021 declassification of the documents surrounding the JFK assassination will allow the world to have a clearer picture of Rivard’s link to Kennedy’s murder.
Rivard was a gentleman easily unnoticed.
During his criminal career, Rivard is said to have circulated nearly $10 Billion in heroin through his Cuban casinos and bribes to Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
What follows below is from http://www.republiquelibre.org.
I do not know how valid, if at all, are the following revelations….
Convinced that the federal government had something to hide in this whole affair, several independent investigators launched their own investigations.
One of the most serious of them is undoubtedly the New Orleans attorney, Jim Garrison.
Everyone who has seen Oliver Stone’s “JFK” movie is familiar with the character.
His investigation showed that several suspects in what is now known as the Kennedy “assassination plot” had had strange connections to Montreal.
The man who was accused of the Kennedy assassination and who was killed in turn before being able to present his defense, Lee Harvey Oswald, told reporters that he was innocent.
Several independent investigations, including that of Jim Garrison, seem to lead to the conclusion that this was indeed the case.
Several eyewitnesses who were present at Dealey Plaza in 1963 stated that they had seen shots coming from several directions.
Ballistic tests proved that a single man could never have fired three shots in such a short time with such precision.
Oswald, first described by the Warren Commission as a lonely, violent and pro-communist man, soon turned out to be completely different.
It was discovered, in fact, that the former American navy, reputed among his former comrades to be a very intelligent boy although a very poor marksman, had participated in ultra-secret missions in Japan and Russia.
Oswald had only pretended to be a Communist to more easily enter the USSR.
He was nothing less than an American secret agent.
Other evidence showed that Oswald, as he himself had told reporters, was just a scapegoat.
Oswald had been seen in the summer of 1963 in New Orleans, distributing pro-Castro tracts titled “Hands Off Cuba!”.
Oswald probably believed that this scene was intended to facilitate his possible infiltration of the Cuban government, but the reality was quite different.
The American Secret Service was rather building their “patsy”, their pro-Communist and pro-Castro sniper:
The perfect scapegoat.
Shortly after the assassination, Jean-Paul Tremblay, an American customs agent working in Montreal, informed the American Secret Service that he had seen Oswald in Montreal in August 1963.
Tremblay says he saw Oswald with three other people distributing his famous “Fair Play for Cuba” leaflets during a demonstration.
The report was sent to the Warren Commission, which ignored it completely.
Indeed, it does not appear anywhere in the 26 volumes of testimony and evidence published by the Commission.
It is later learned that photos of Oswald had been taken in Montreal, but the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) refused to make them public.
Yet this is additional evidence that portrays Oswald as a Communist.
What did the Warren Commission and the Secret Service want to hide?
Maybe they were trying to protect the identity of the three people who were in the company of Oswald at the time?
Unfortunately, no physical description of these suspects exists, but it is known by whom Oswald was taken care of in the summer of 1963.
A well-known and respected New Orleans businessman, Clay Shaw is said to have been a CIA agent.
His investigation led prosecutor Jim Garrison to accuse him of having participated in the plot against Kennedy.
Garrison discovered that Shaw, also known by the pseudonym Clay Bertrand, had been director of the Centro Mondial Commerciale in 1963, a company that served as a front for CIA operations in Italy and Switzerland.
It was also discovered that the main shareholder of this bogus company had been a Montrealer: Major Louis Mortimer Bloomfield.
During World War II, Major Bloomfield served in the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the CIA’s ancestor.
He was also a powerful Montréal lawyer.
According to several witnesses, Clay Shaw was seen several times in the company of Lee Harvey Oswald in the summer of 1963.
Emilion Santana confided to Garrison that Shaw had worked with Jack Ruby in arms smuggling operations.
In addition, and at this time according to the testimony of CIA contractor Jules “Ricco” Kimble, Shaw had at least two stowaways in Montréal aboard a single-engine plane.
The pilot during these mysterious voyages was a very strange character, David Ferrie.
A mercenary, military instructor of far-right groups and a pilot who carried out several secret missions in Cuban territory, Ferrie was also seen repeatedly with Clay Shaw and Lee Harvey Oswald in the summer of 1963.
Ferrie was easily recognizable: almost completely bald by a rare disease, he always wore a strange red wig handcrafted and drew thick eyebrows in grease pencil.
In an interview with prosecutor Garrison, he was unable to explain clearly what he was doing in Dallas on 22 November, the day before the assassination.
He was turned over to the FBI, who released him almost immediately.
Ferrie died in mysterious circumstances just before being called to appear at the Clay Shaw trial.
He was found dead in his apartment, apparently deceased from “natural causes”.
However, two suicide notes were found at the scene in addition to a bottle of medicine which was strangely hidden from Garrison for years.
After his death, it was discovered that Ferrie had made long distance calls to Montréal and Toronto shortly before the assassination.
In 1991, in a documentary about the assassination of American pastor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Kimble confessed to having been a CIA contractor.
Kimble told how he had accompanied Clay Shaw in Montreal and how, a few years later, he had helped James Earl Ray (King’s alleged murderer) during his passage to Montréal.
Kimble also revealed that at the same time, he had infiltrated the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ) for the CIA.
In 1977, the CIA released more than 3,000 documents to the public.
One of them revealed that a Frenchman using the false name of Jean Souerte, but also known by the names of Michel Roux and Michael Mertz, had been expelled from Dallas to Mexico or Canada, 6 p.m. after the assassination of the president.
This individual was in fact Michel-Victor Mertz, agent of the French Secret Service and heroin trafficker who also had links with the Mafia.
It was learned later that in 1961, the French government had borne the costs of his installation and that of his family in Montréal.
Reporters learned in 1973 that Mrs. Mertz was a Canadian citizen and that she stayed regularly with her mother, who lived in Westmount.
In 1988, journalist Steve Rivele gathered in a manuscript the revelations of Christian David, a Corsican trafficker close to Mertz and who participated in the assassination of Algerian President Mehdi Ben Barka.
David declared that three supposedly Corsican killers, Lucien Sarti, Roger Bocognani and a certain “Le Blanc” (possibly Norman Leblanc, a Montreal trafficker linked to the Cotroni clan) would have been hired by the Mafia to take part in the assassination of JFK.
David also revealed that the Corsican escape had been facilitated by Montrealers from the Underworld who used to help people cross the border.
The same thing probably happened to Mertz.
Above: Norman Leblanc
Police took the testimony of Christine Melba Marcades on 20 July 1963 (before the assassination was committed) who explained to the police that she had travelled with two “apparently Italian” men (but who might as well have been Corsicans) en route to Dallas with the objective of killing Kennedy.
This testimony seems to corroborate perfectly with the account of David.
Marcades worked as a stripper in one of Jack Ruby’s clubs.
In 1967, Gordon Novel made contact with Garrison as the latter’s investigation of Clay Shaw gained momentum.
He said he had information about David Ferrie and the activities of Cuban exiles in Louisiana.
Garrison soon discovered that Novel was working for the Double Check Corporation, a CIA Florida facade that supplied planes and pilots to anticastrists and also paid pensions to the widows of pilots who died in the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
Novel was therefore a CIA agent sent to spy on him.
Unmasked, Novel fled the city so as not to testify at the investigation.
After he left, microphones were found that had been hidden in Garrison’s office.
Novel took temporary refuge in Montréal and declared that, when he had participated in an arms theft in Houma, Louisiana in the early 1960s, he had in fact participated in an operation ordered by the CIA to supply the anti-Castro forces.
In 1975, the Senate Committee on Intelligence, chaired by Senator Frank Church, investigated the activities of the CIA.
It was discovered that the CIA had close ties to the Mafia and that it was involved in a large number of projects of a horrible nature.
It was revealed that the agency was secretly experimenting with drugs on human guinea pigs, developing biochemical weapons intended to simulate the appearance of natural diseases such as cancer, propaganda, manipulation of media, sabotage and assassination of foreign political leaders.
Church Commission studies revealed that the CIA was funding a “mini concentration camp” in Montréal within the walls of the Allan Memorial Hospital, where patients unknowingly absorbed LSD and were dosed massive electroshock therapy, all thanks to the participation of Dr. Ewen Cameron and his colleagues from McGill University.
Following these revelations, President Gerald Ford appointed George H.W. Bush to head the CIA.
The latter, who had been a CIA agent since 1963, did a “big clean up“:
He deleted a large number of agency documents relating to the assassination of JFK and other murders.
As proof that his arrival at the head of the CIA did not change their questionable practices, in 1987 the “sanitized” CIA of Bush illegally supplied arms to the Nicaraguan Contras through a arms dealer in Montreal, Century International Arms, and by funding the operation through narcotic transactions.
The pistol Oswald had in his possession when he was arrested at the Texas Theater came from Montréal.
The Smith & Wesson came from Empire Wholesale in Montréal.
Several researchers, however, wonder whether Oswald ordered it by mail himself or rather if someone from the CIA provided it.
Indeed, it was later revealed that this company was the ancestor of the Century International Arms, the same company that supplied weapons to the CIA for the Nicaraguan Contras.
(The Iran–Contra affair – 20 August 1985 – 4 March 1987 – was a political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration.
Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the Khomeini government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo.
The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras in Nicaragua.
Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. )
A possible proof of these activities is a photo published in the magazine Soldier of Fortune in which Contras are seen carrying a crate of arms on which is written “CIA, Montréal, Canada”.
Lucien Rivard was, in the 1950s, one of the most powerful crime bosses in Cuba.
From 1959 to 1961, Rivard was considered by the RCMP as the most important Canadian arms trafficker on the Cuban market.
Indeed, Rivard exported so many weapons that they became almost impossible to find on the Montréal black market.
Would he then have known Clay Shaw and Jack Ruby?
Several strange circumstances suggest that this narcotic trafficker, an ally of the Corsican, American and Montreal Mafias, may have been involved at least indirectly in the Kennedy assassination.
It is known that the assassins who were hired by the Mafia for the Dallas operation were paid in heroin.
On 10 October 1963, a courier from Rivard was intercepted at the Mexican border with a large quantity of heroin, the second largest seizure of the time.
Was this drug to be used to pay the assassins of the president?
Lucien Rivard and his accomplices (Julien Gagnon, Raymond Jones and Charles-Émile Groleau) were arrested in Canada, in June 1964, after the Attorney General of the United States, Robert Kennedy, ordered them to initiate proceedings against them.
This arrest led to one of the greatest political scandals in Canadian history and illustrates the powerful connections of Rivard.
After their arrest, the Canadian government refused to extradite the criminals to the United States.
This maneuver exposed corruption within the Ministries of Justice and Immigration.
Two senior officials were accused of criminal maneuvers and the Minister of Justice Guy Favreau, who is said to have turned a blind eye to the whole affair, was forced to resign.
Favreau’s resignation had major repercussions on Canadian history.
Favreau was anticipated in the Canadian Liberal Party as the likely successor to Prime Minister Pearson.
After his disgrace, it was Pierre Trudeau.
The repercussions of these events on the history of Québec and Canada were therefore multiple and considerable.
Rivard served nine years in an American prison before he was deported back to Canada.
Returning to Canada in 1972, in the midst of the investigations of the Commission of Organized Crime (CECO), Rivard is never called to testify.
“The most important criminal in Canadian history was never questioned by the authorities when they had every reason to do so.”, exclaimed Trudeau.
“I don’t think he was brought before the CECO because some agencies didn’t want Rivard to talk.”
Rivard’s escape inspired the song “The Gallic Pimpernel.”
In addition, the Canadian Press voted Rivard the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year for 1965 – the first time a convicted criminal had been given that title.
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Rivard’s escape also inspired the song “A Government Inquiry” by the Brothers-in-Law in their album Oh, Oh Canada and comedian Rich Little to parody Prime Minister Lester Pearson singing “Old Man Rivard“.
Wow, Laval does not seem so boring after all!
Laval is home to a variety of vocational and technical centres, including the Université de Montréal à Laval campus.
Historical and academic contexts aside, Laval does have more to offer the visitor besides just an escape from the Island of Montréal.
Laval’s main attractions are:
But neither tourist attractions or celebrities have compelled me to Laval this day.
I am far far too early for our reunion, but there is not enough time for me to play tourist in the manner to which I am accustomed.
So I make my way to the Laval campus of the Université de Montréal, sit myself in the building’s cafeteria (Thai fast food from Baria Express) and read today’s Montréal Gazette while I wait for the time I can meet His Majesty.
In thinking about Laval, in thinking about how a place so common in appearance can possess such a remarkable array of experiences both past and present…..
I find myself thinking about Richard, a friend equally commonplace and seemingly ordinary, and yet a wellspring of amusement and inspiration to me over the many years I have known him.
I find myself thinking with great anticipation of the reunion to come.
Richard is a difficult man for me to describe.
He was born and raised in Chibougamau (a town I have visited).
Richard attended St. Lawrence College in Sainte Foy (a suburb of Québec City) where we met so many millennia ago.
He completed his studies at Champlain Regional College in Lennoxille.
His greatest passion remains curling – a sport I never understood or played – though we both enjoy watching a good game of hockey and eating out in restaurants.
He is married and lives and works in Laval.
He was (and remains) an older brother figure and I remain (and will remain) in awe of his unfailing good humour and preserverance in even the most difficult of times.
He is a man I quietly respect and, like many friendships between men, though communication between us is infrequent, his amity is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.
But here’s the thing…..
When I knew him at SLC, I was only then just learning to lose my introverted tendencies.
I did not try to learn as much about him as I could have or as I should have.
Over the years our life paths took us very different directions.
I would become restless and travel.
He would become restless and settle down to a life of familiarity that I once feared for so long.
In the three decades that have passed between us I have seen His Majesty perhaps five times – in Lennoxville and Montréal.
I have not seen him last in at least a decade’s time.
My good friend, my old pal, is a stranger to me.
Well, we all have a face
That we hide away forever
And we take them out
And show ourselves when everyone has gone
Some are satin, some are steel
Some are silk and some are leather
They’re the faces of a stranger
But we love to try them on
As I drink my cola in the food court of the Laval Campus, I realize that there are too many people whom I know (and love) who remain in so many ways strangers to me.
I have been a rolling stone for too many years.
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
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I have been a rock and an island for even longer.
Folks see me at Starbucks and all they see is an aging exuberant tall guy.
A commonplace guy working an ordinary job.
Even more so than I, Richard has been a role model of steadiness and constancy and responsibility.
Salt of the earth, a gens du pays, an ordinary man.
Commonplace.
But every person has a history.
Every person has a story.
The commonplace is merely a deception.
(To be continued…..)
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / New York Times, 2 January 2020 / Montréal Gazette, 2 January 2020 / Tourisme Laval / Montréal Gazette, 4 March 1965 / http://www.republiquelibre.org / Lonely Planet Canada / Rough Guide Canada / Philippe Renault, Secret Montréal: An Unusual Guide / Reamon, “Through the Eyes of a Child” / Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone” / Billy Joel, “The Stranger” / Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, “I am a Rock”
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Thursday 26 March 2020 (Lockdown Day #10)
If there is one constant in the universe, it is that there is so much that we don’t understand.
When I consider the past and remember all that I have seen, there is still much of what happened that I still do not comprehend.
When I consider the present and reflect on the world as it is, there is so much of reality I cannot fathom.
When I consider the future and anticipate the world as it could be, there are too many possibilities that I cannot predict.
I think of past travels and as I write I try to capture the significance of what I have seen.
I think of the world that is and I remain baffled as to the reasons why it is so.
I think of tomorrow and I wonder how foolish I am for trying to control fate.
All of these existential thoughts are the result of cabin fever (16 days housebound), news gathering (please see ongoing series “Rumours from my room”) and writing about past adventures in my blog.
At present I am housebound with my wife and there is no experience more revealing about the status of a relationship than to be cooped up together for an indefinite time.
Being the generous husband I am, I unconsciously decided to pass along my man cold to my beloved spouse.
A gift she could have nicely lived without.
As I consider my shared home situation I find myself thinking about friends and family back in Canada and I wonder how they will cope when their time comes to remain indoors together.
“Stuck in the middle with you” or “so happy together”?
Montréal, Québec, Canada, Monday 6 January 2020
Peter drops me off at the Côte Vertu Metro Station and I am once again on my own, fending for myself, without the support of friends or family for the first time in almost a week.
Ah, the Montréal Metro!
This rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving the second largest city in Canada.
This Metro of 68 stations on four lines totalling 69.2 kilometres (43.0 mi) in length, serving the north, east and centre of the Island of Montréal with connections to Longueuil as well as Laval.
This Canada’s second busiest rapid transit system and North America’s fourth busiest rapid transit system, behind New York City, Mexico City and Toronto, delivering an average of 1,367,200 daily unlinked passenger trips per weekday and 354 million trips on completed.
This system that has transported over seven billion passengers, the second-highest ridership per capita behind New York City.
This Metro inspired by the Paris Métro, clearly seen in station design and rolling stock.
I ride the Orange Line, 30 kilometres (19 mi) in length with 31 stations, the longest subway line in Montreal and the second-longest in Canada after Toronto.
Like the rest of the Metro network, it is entirely underground.
The line runs in a U-shape from Côte-Vertu in northwestern Montreal to Montmorency in Laval, northeast of Montreal.
Today I would ride its entirety.
Each station name has a history, a significance and I consider these as I ride towards the station where the Metro first began and where my first independent overnight accommodation of this trip to Canada awaits.
Above: Namur, Belgium
Above: Vendôme, France
Above: Sacramentary of Saint Henry II the Exuberant (973 – 1024)
Above: Lionel Groulx (1878 – 1967)
Above: Georges Vanier (1888 – 1967)
Above: Lucien L’Allier (1909 – 1978)
Above: St. Bonaventura (1221 – 1274)
Above: Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901)
Above: Place d’Armes, Montréal
I arrive, finally, at Berri – UQAM.
Berri-UQAM is named for both Berri Street, so called since 1663, and for the Université du Québec à Montréal.
The university has taken to using UQAM as its abbreviation, which it displays as UQÀM with a ` over the A as its logo, while the station retains the `-less UQAM form.
Until 1988, the station was named Berri-de-Montigny.
Rue de Montigny was the former name of boulevard de Maisonneuve in this area.
Small stubs of de Montigny street still survive in downtown Montréal between Saint Laurent Boulevard and Saint Urbain Street and in the Montréal-Est suburb.
Jacques Testard de Montigny (1663–1737) was an officer in the French Marines in Canada.
Above: Jacques Testard de Montigny (1663 – 1737)
Born in Montréal into a merchant family, Montigny first saw military action as a volunteer on the expedition against Schenectady, New York, in 1690.
Above: French soldier or militiaman of Canada in winter war dress around 1690 – 1700
Two years later he went to France with Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, and was in 1693 stationed the capital of Acadia, Fort Nashwaak, where he led the local Abenaki and Mi’kmaq in raids against the English.
Above: Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville (1661 – 1706)
While posted there he also engaged in trade and commerce, sometimes in conflict with his military duties.
In 1696 Montigny was on d’Iberville’s expedition against Pemaquid, an English fort on the northern frontier with Acadia.
Above: Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Bristol, Maine
In this action he began a close association with the Abenaki war leader Escumbuit, who also joined Montigny on d’Iberville’s Newfoundland campaign later in 1696, in which most of the English settlements on Newfoundland were destroyed.
Montigny was given an independent command by d’Iberville, in which he travelled along the coast, destroying settlements and fishing stages as he went.
Despite the destructive nature of the expedition, it had no long-lasting implications, as the English quickly returned, rebuilding and fortifying some of the settlements.
Montigny was promoted to lieutenant in 1700.
In 1704 he was sent back to Acadia, where he helped orchestrate raids against English settlements and worked to convince the Abenakis to resettle closer to French settlements.
In the winter of 1704 – 1705 he brought a band of Abenakis to Newfoundland, where they attempted to repeated d’Iberville’s 1696 expedition under the direction of Daniel d’Auger de Subercase.
Above: Daniel d’Auger de Subercase (1661 – 1732)
They once again destroyed a number of English settlements, but were unable to capture St. John’s, the English capital.
In 1706 Montigny went to France with Escumbuit, where they were received by King Louis XIV.
Above: King Louis XIV (1638 – 1715)
Montigny was a member of an expedition sent in 1709 to dispute a possible English advance on Lake Champlain.
The English never reached beyond the southern end of the lake, and the only action was a brief skirmish near Crown Point.
Above: Ruins of the Crown Point barracks
Montigny was awarded the Order of Saint Louis in 1712, and in 1721 was given command of a frontier fort on Green Bay, where he maintained good relations with the Fox tribe, and was visited by his friend Escumbuit.
By 1726 he had returned to Montreal, and in 1730 he was made commandant of Fort Michilimackinac, a post he held for three years before finally retiring.
He died in Montreal in 1737.
He was twice married and had seven children.
At the turn of the 19th century, a small lane way was created by the name of ruelle Guy, near rue Saint-Gilles, between Saint Louis Street, and Saint Antoine Street.
Starting on 13 August 1818, this lane way became known as Berry Street.
It was named after rich landowner Simon Després dit Le Berry.
Involved in a conflict at La Flèche (a town in the Loire Valley of France) in 1653, he was killed by the Iroquois in 1663.
Després owned a piece of land west of the street.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the piece of land upon which the modern Berri-UQAM Station sits was always known as la Berry.
200,000 people use this station every day.
13 million pass through its turnstiles every year.
Stuck in their daily routine, few passengers notice a curious bronze plaque set at eye level on one of the red tile walls.
Even fewer know of the mini museum hidden behind this plaque.
In 1991, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Metro’s inauguration, 25 transit employees placed 25 symbolic objects in a steel box that was later sealed within the concrete.
This time capsule was opened on 14 October 2016 for the Metro’s 50th anniversary.
Among the objects found in this little treasure box were a $38 monthly pass, a $1.50 single fare ticket, a transfer ticket, a list of all the employees working at the time, a copy of the Equal Employment Opportunities programme and an operator’s tie.
The items were removed and replaced with 25 new items, the capsule to be re-opened on 14 October 2041, the 75th anniversary of the Metro.
There are a number of odd things about the Montréal Metro:
The Montreal Metro consists of four lines, which are usually identified by their colour or terminus station.
The terminus station in the direction of travel is used to differentiate between directions.
These four lines are numbered 1, 2, 4 and 5.
Line 3 was to use Canadian National Railway (CN) tracks passing under the Mount Royal to reach the northwest suburb of Cartierville from the city centre.
Unlike the previous two lines, trains were to be partly running above ground.
Negotiations with CN and municipalities were stalling as Montréal was chosen in November 1962 to hold the 1967 Universal Exposition (Expo 67).
Above: Official logo of Expo 67
Having to make a choice, the city decided that a number 4 line (Yellow Line) linking Montréal to the South Shore suburbs following a plan similar to those proposed early in the 20th century was more necessary.
Line 3 was never built and the number was never used again.
The railway, already used for a commuter train to the North Shore at Deux-Montagnes, was completely renovated in the early 1990s and effectively replaced the planned third line.
The next line (Blue Line) would thus be numbered 5.
Above: Station walls of the Blue Line
But I wonder:
Did any construction start on Line 3?
Consider London’s Underground.
Is my question that completely far-fetched?
In 2017, Valérie Plante proposed the Pink Line as part of her campaign for the office of Mayor of Montréal.
The new route will have 29 stations and will link North Montréal with downtown, as well as the western end of NDG (Notre Dame de Grâce) and Lachine.
.
Above: Mayor Valérie Plante
Plante was elected Mayor on 5 November 2017.
The project is proposed to be finished by 2025, at a cost of an estimated C$5.9 billion.
Once finished, the Pink Line will turn a 50-minute commute by bus from Lachine to downtown into a 17-minute Metro ride.
The Pink Line will actively create money for the city, says Plante, noting how the construction project will create jobs.
The diagonal route of the Pink Line will also intersect with areas previously closed of by the metro, creating economic benefits.
Neighbourhoods will benefit by easier access to public transit and businesses will gain more customers, said Plante.
$1,800,000.
That is the amount of the Metro’s annual electric bill, which makes it Hydro Québec’s top customer.
Trains draw current from two sets of 750-volt direct current guide bar/third rails on either side of each motor car.
Nine-car trains draw large currents of up to 6,000 amperes, requiring that all models of rolling stock have calibrated traction motor control systems to prevent power surges, arcing and breaker tripping.
Both models have electrical braking (using motors) to assist primary friction braking, reducing the need to replace the brake pads.
The Metro’s electricity consumption could power 10,500 homes.
Mechanical brakes take over from the electrical ones in the last 20 metres of the train’s route.
They are meant to make the braking easier on the passengers.
The cherrywood brake shoes are coated in peanut oil, which creates a rather particular smell when the train brakes at high speed.
The maximum speed of a train is 72 km/h.
98% of passengers arrive at their destination on time or no more than five minutes late.
So the Metro is not a good excuse for those late for the office.
Metro service starts at 05:30 and the last trains start their run between 00:30 and 01:00 on weekdays and Sunday, between 01:00 and 01:30 on Saturday.
The Metro has only had to run all night twice in its history.
The first time was on 3 March 1971, due to the blizzard of the century.
The second was on 31 December 1999, for the change to the year 2000.
The Montréal Metro was the first in the world to run entirely on tires (nitrogen-filled, with valve).
This technique facilitates uphill climbs, starting and breaking while reducing noise and the vibrations felt by neighbouring structures.
The Montreal Metro’s car fleet uses rubber tires instead of steel wheels.
As the Metro runs entirely underground, the cars and the electrical system are not weatherproof.
The trains are 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 3⁄8 in) wide, narrower than the trains used by most other North American subway systems.
This narrow width allowed the use of single tunnels (for both tracks) in construction of the Metro lines.
The first generation of rolling stock in Montreal went beyond just adopting the MP 59 car from the Paris Métro.
North American cities building metro systems in the 1960s and 1970s (Washington DC, San Francisco and Atlanta) were in search of modern rolling stock that not only best fit their needs but also encompassed a change in industrial design that focused on the aesthetics and performances.
Until June 2018, some of the Montreal trains were among the oldest North American subway trains in service – the Canadian Vickers MR-63 dating back to the system’s opening in 1966 – but extended longevity is expected of rolling stock operated under fully sheltered conditions.
Unlike the subway cars of most metro systems in North America, but like those in most of Europe, Montreal’s cars do not have air conditioning.
In summer, the lack of cooled air can make trips uncomfortable for passengers.
The claim, stated by the STM, is that with the Metro being built entirely underground, air conditioning would heat the tunnels to temperatures that would be too hot to operate the trains.
Even with a valid ticket, you can be theoretically fined.
Fines of $100 can be issued for “disobeying an order or pictogram”, such as carrying a dangerous object or failing to use the escalator handrail.
On 29 November 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled in favour of a woman who was fined for refusing to hold onto an escalator handrail 10 years previously.
Bela Kosoian was coming down an escalator in the Montmorency Metro Station in Laval, on Montreal’s North Shore, in 2009 when a police officer ordered her several times to respect a pictogram on the escalator that was written, in French:
“Caution, hold the handrail.”
She replied that she did not consider the image, which also featured the word “Careful”, to be an obligation.
She refused to hold the handrail and tensions mounted after she also refused to identity herself.
She argued with the officer, who detained her for 30 minutes and searched her bag.
She was “taken by force” by the officer and another who had arrived as backup, according to court documents.
Kosoian was then released with a $100 ticket for failing to hold the rail and given a $320 ticket for failing to identify herself.
The story made British and American newspapers, generally with the angle that this was an example of petty bureaucracy run amok.
In March 2012, a Montreal municipal court threw the tickets out.
But Kosoian, an immigrant from Georgia when it was part of the Soviet Union, wasn’t ready to quit.
She sued the police officer Fabio Camacho, the city of Laval and the Montreal transit authority for $69,000, claiming she suffered from PTSD after the incident, had suffered minor injuries to her wrists and had developed a fear of police.
Her suit was rejected by the Québec Supreme Court in 2015 and by the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2017, which said Kosoian was the “author of her own misfortune.”
Above: Québec Court of Appeal
It took 10 years for Kosoian’s case to make it to Canada’s top court.
Above: Supreme Court of Canada
In the meantime, she moved to London, Ontario, and ran for the People’s Party of Canada, garnering over 1,000 votes.
Her Twitter profile describes her as a supporter of “the rule of law and personal freedoms.”
The SCC took up the case in 2018.
“A reasonable police officer in the same circumstances would not have considered failure to hold the handrail to be an offence,” the SCC stated in its judgment.
“The police officer, therefore, committed a fault when he arrested Kosoian.
The STM committed a fault by teaching police officers that the pictogram in question imposed an obligation to hold the handrail, a fault that explains — at least in part — the officer’s conduct.”
The SCC ruled that the city must also be held liable for the officer’s fault.
“As for Kosoian, she was entitled to refuse to obey an unlawful order, and she, therefore, committed no fault that would justify an apportionment of liability,” the judgment continued.
The court ruled that the “risk of abuse is undeniable” and therefore, there must “always be a legal basis for the actions taken by police officers; in the absence of such justification, their conduct is unlawful and cannot be tolerated.”
The judgment insisted that police officers cannot simply argue they were carrying out an order they “knew or ought to have known” was unlawful.
It puts some of the blame on the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) as it is up to the public transit authority to train the officers properly.
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/canada/2019/01/03/its-not-just-about-me-escalator-rider-whose-ticket-dispute-is-going-to-the-supreme-court-is-still-traumatized-by-arrest-legal-battles/bela_kosoian_with_pictogram.jpg)
“The STM had to ensure that the training would be appropriate and that it would reflect the law,” the SCC stated.
“If the police officer was at fault for believing that holding the handrail was an obligation, the STM was equally at fault for misinterpreting the bylaw and providing training accordingly.”
In a 9-0 decision, the top court found Bela Kosoian was entitled to refuse to obey an unlawful order.
Justice Suzanne Côté, writing for the court, said:
“The police officer committed a civil fault by ordering Kosoian to identify herself and by arresting her and conducting a search based on a non-existent offence, namely disobeying a pictogram indicating the handrail should be held.”
The pictogram appears on a yellow background.
It is well known that this colour generally corresponds to a warning,” Côté said.
Côté contrasted this with other kinds of pictograms that do constitute a prohibition: for instance, those that have a small red circle and a diagonal red bar, or those with a drawing of a judge’s gavel with the amount of a fine specifically indicated.
The SCC stated Kosoian must be paid $20,000 in damages.
The police officer and the STM were each liable for half the amount.
Kosoian told reporters she was pleased with the judgment, but thought it should never have gone to the Supreme Court and taken so long to be resolved.
“Ten years.
It’s not easy.
It’s not easy.
Ten years of my life to fight,” she said.
“It should have never gone to the Supreme Court but they were resisting.
They were pushing and they were resisting and I thought ‘no, it cannot be.'”
Berri-UQAM is the 2nd deepest station in the network and the only one to have three lines stacked on each other.
Berri-UQAM is also the busiest station in the network, transfers not included.
If transfers were included, the 13 million passengers number would rise to about 35 – 40 million a year.
Berri-UQAM overwhelms the visitor.
The work of five artists is exhibited in this station.
The largest work is a stained-glass mural by Pierre Gaboriau and Pierre Osterrath entitled Hommage aux fondateurs de la ville de Montréal (homage to the founders of the city of Montreal).
A gift of the Union régionale de Montréal des caisses populaires Desjardins and installed in 1969, it depicts Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, Jeanne Mance, and Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve.
It is located over the eastern portal of the Green Line tunnel.
Three paintings by Robert LaPalme are located over the main staircase leading to the Yellow Line terminus.
Originally located at the entrance to Expo 67, they represent three themes of the Expo: science, recreation, and culture.
A plaque by LaPalme and Georges Lauda, commemorating the inauguration of the Metro, is located at the centre of the mezzanine.
It is enclosed in a black circular bench, a popular meeting site, referred to as la rondelle (the hockey puck) or la pilule (the pill) or “le banc des fous“ (the crazy bench).
There is also a piece of work located in the newer Sainte-Catherine entrance pavilion, by architect Gaétan Pelletier.
The work is a statue of Mother Émilie Gamelin by Raoul Hunter, commemorating Place Émilie-Gamelin (also called Berri Square) in which the entrance is located.
The statue is owned by the City of Montreal.
The most recent art piece put in place inside the station is the Wall of Peace on the concourse level of the Yellow Line.
It consists of coloured metal plates bearing the word “peace” in multiple languages.
Berri-UQAM was the site of the Metro’s inauguration on 14 October 1966.
On Sunday 2 September 2001, a canister of tear gas was set off inside the station, forcing the evacuation of the 300 passengers inside.
Police officers from the Montreal Urban Community (SPCUM) did not find the people who detonated a tear gas bomb.
However, surveillance cameras spotted three young men in twenties near the bomb near the Berri-UQAM metro station.
More than 300 people were bothered by the gas, most suffering from eye irritation and difficulty breathing.
None were seriously injured.
Berri – UQAM is in the Quartier Latin (Latin quarter), historically the first area where the Francophone bourgeoisie (noble class) settled in Montréal at the beginning of the 19th century and various institutions have followed suit over the years:
In mid 1970, construction on UQÀM’s campus began in the Saint-Jacques neighbourhood.
The old St. Jacques Cathedral was condemned and the worshippers were moved to the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
The architect of the university, Dimitri Dimakopoulos, chose to graft the new construction around the wall of the nave of the church overlooking Saint Catherine Street and highlighting the bell tower and its gateway.
These remains are classified as historic monuments by the Québec government.
The new campus of UQÀM was inaugurated in September 1979.
With the addition of the Télé-université in June 2005, UQÀM, with a student population of close to 60,000, was the largest French-speaking university in the world.
On 13 January 2012, it was announced that the TELUQ would again become a separate university from UQÀM, but would remain in the Université du Québec system.
The Galerie de l’UQÀM presents exhibits by artists from around the world in a programme devoted mainly to contemporary art.
The Centre de Design is dedicated to architecture as well as industrial, graphic and fashion design.
Notable alumni are:
From 1939 until 1942 he worked at the Montreal Botanical Garden.
From 1943 until 1950 he taught at the Université de Montréal.
From 1950 until 1955 he worked at the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens.
From 1955 until 1961 he worked in the Faculty of Science and as the director of the Botanical Institute at the Université de Montréal.
In 1961 he returned to the United States as the assistant director of the New York Botanical Garden and as a professor of botany and geography at the Columbia University.
From 1972 until 1976 he was the Director of the Research Centre for Sciences and the Environment at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
In 1988 he was made a Professor Emeritus at UQAM, but he still worked there after mandatory retirement (in 1976, at 65 years old) to 2004, aged 93.
He was the subject of a 2001 documentary An Ecology of Hope by his cousin, Quebec filmmaker Fernand Dansereau.
On 28 September 2011, Pierre Dansereau died, one week before his 100th birthday, after 76 years of marriage and three months after his wife (a painter) became a centenarian — they had no children.
UQAM’s Complexe des sciences Pierre Dansereau is named for him.
He was born in Verchères, Lower Canada in 1823, grew up in Laprairie and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal.
He helped treat patients during the typhus epidemic of 1847 – 1848 at Grosse-Île.
In 1849, Fortin led a group of mounted constables that controlled riots after the passing of the Rebellion Losses Bill.
Above: Rebellion Losses Bill riots, burning of Parliament, Montréal, 1849
From 1852 to 1867, Fortin served as magistrate protecting fisheries in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
Fortin also served as customs agent in the Gulf and, with his ship, La Canadienne, was the sole guardian of law and order in this region.
During this period, Fortin also published a list of fish found in the Gulf region and prepared descriptions of marine mammals found there.
In 1867, he was elected to the federal and provincial legislatures for Gaspé.
He was named commissioner of crown lands in the provincial executive council, but resigned in 1874 after a scandal implicating the party in power.
In the same year, he resigned from federal politics after it became illegal to hold seats in both houses.
In 1875, he was named speaker for the provincial Assembly, but he was forced to resign in 1876 after allegations of improper procedures in his election.
Although he was later exonerated, a replacement had already been chosen.
Above: Québec Provincial Parliament, Québec City
While in office, he helped promote the development of the Baie de Chaleur Railway, telegraph service connecting the Gaspé peninsula to the rest of the province and the installation of lighthouses in the region.
Fortin also helped to establish formal education in navigation in Canada.
He opposed reciprocity with the United States and was a strong defender of Canadian fishing rights.
He helped found the Société de Géographie de Québec and served as its first president.
He died in Laprairie in 1888, while still a member of the Senate.
In 2002, the Quebec Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune named a wildlife reserve on the Richelieu River after him.
(The International Aerocity of Mirabel (widely known as simply Mirabel) (IATA: YMX, ICAO: CYMX), originally called Montréal International Airport and later Montréal–Mirabel International Airport, is a cargo and former international passenger airport in Mirabel, 39 km / 24 miles northwest of Montréal.
It opened on 4 October 1975 and the last commercial passenger flight took off on 31 October 2004.
The airport was intended to replace the existing Dorval Airport as the eastern air gateway to Canada.
Accordingly, from 1975 to 1997, all international flights to and from Montreal (except for flights to and from the United States) were required to use Mirabel.
However, Mirabel’s distant location, the lack of adequate transport links to urban centres and the continued operation of domestic flights from Dorval Airport made Mirabel very unpopular with travellers and airlines.
It did not help that Montreal’s economy declined relative to that of Toronto during the 1970s and 1980s.
As a result, passenger levels never approached the levels that had been anticipated, and indeed remained lower than what Dorval could handle when renovated.
When the decision was made to consolidate Montreal’s passenger traffic at one airport, Dorval was chosen, and Mirabel was relegated to the role of a cargo airport.
Mirabel thus turned out to be a white elephant.
Dorval Airport was renamed Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, after the Canadian Prime Minister whose government initiated the Mirabel project, the aim of which was to close and replace the Dorval airport.
By surface area, it was the largest airport in the world that had ever been envisioned, with a planned area of 39,660 hectares (396.6 km2; 98,000 acres).
In March 1969 the federal and provincial governments reached a compromise to locate near St. Scholastique, and proposals were drawn up to expropriate 39,250 hectares (97,000 acres), an area larger than the entire city of Montreal.
This area is served only by a long road link via Autoroute 15 and Autoroute 50.
An additional link via Autoroute 13 was planned but never completed.
Also planned was the connection of Autoroute 50 to the Ottawa/Gatineau area, a goal which would not be achieved until decades later, in 2012.
The airport’s operations zone, which encompassed what was eventually built plus expansion room, amounted to only 6,880 hectares (17,000 acres), about 19% of the total area of the airport.
The federal government expropriation by the federal government planned to use the excess land as a noise buffer and as an industrial development zone (which was never started).
This attracted the ire of the local people of St. Scholastique who protested vehemently against the expropriation of their land.
Nevertheless, construction started in June 1970.)
In Betsi Larousse, or the ineffable blindness of the otter, it only takes a moment for our life to be changed – a moose lands on the front seat of her car after smashing the windshield.
Hamelin has also worked as a journalist and literary critic for Le Devoir
His 2010 novel La Constellation du Lynx (October 1970), a fictionalized account of the 1970 October Crisis, won numerous literary awards.
(The October Crisis (Crise d’Octobre) occurred in October 1970 in the province of Québec, mainly in the Montréal metropolitan area.
Members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Deputy Premier Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross.
Above: Pierre Laporte (1921 – 1970)
In response, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the only peacetime use of the War Measures Act.
The kidnappers murdered Laporte and negotiations led to Cross’s release.
Above: Flag of the FLQ
The Premier of Québec Robert Bourassa and the Mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau supported Trudeau’s invocation of the War Measures Act, which limited civil liberties.
The police were enabled with far-reaching powers, and they arrested and detained, without bail, 497 individuals, all but 62 of whom were later released without charges.
The Government of Québec also requested military aid to the civil power and Canadian Forces deployed throughout Québec.
They acted in a support role to the civil authorities of Québec.
At the time, opinion polls throughout Canada, including in Québec, showed widespread support for the use of the War Measures Act.
The response, however, was criticized at the time by prominent politicians such as René Lévesque and Tommy Douglas.
The events of October 1970 galvanized opposition to the use of violence in efforts to gain Quebec sovereignty and accelerated the movement towards electoral means of attaining greater autonomy and independence, including support for the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, which formed the provincial government in 1976.)
His novel Le Soleil des gouffres was inspired by the collective suicides of the Order of the Solar Temple, which partly originated in Quebec.
(The Order of the Solar Temple (Ordre du Temple Solaire)(OTS) is a cult and religious sect that claims to be based upon the ideals of the Knights Templar.
Above: A Templar cross
OTS was started by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret in 1984 in Geneva as l’Ordre International Chevaleresque de Tradition Solaire (OICTS) and later renamed Ordre du Temple Solaire.
The OTS is perhaps most notorious for being associated with a series of murders and mass suicides in 1994 and 1995 that claimed several dozen lives in France, Switzerland and Canada.
There were Solar Temple lodges in Morin Heights (near Lachute) and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec, as well as in Australia, Switzerland, Martinique and other countries.
According to “Peronnik” (a pseudonym of temple member Robert Chabrier) in his book, “Pourquoi la Résurgence de l’Ordre du Temple? Tome Premier: Le Corps” (“Why a Revival of the Order of the Solar Temple? Volume One: The Body“) the aims of the Order of the Solar Temple included:
In October 1994, Tony Dutoit’s infant son (Emmanuel Dutoit), aged three months, was killed at the group’s centre in Morin-Heights.
The baby had been stabbed repeatedly with a wooden stake.
It is believed that Di Mambro ordered the murder, because he identified the baby as the Antichrist described in the Bible.
He believed that the Antichrist was born into the order to prevent Di Mambro from succeeding in his spiritual aim.
A few days later, Di Mambro and twelve followers performed a ritual Last Supper.
A few days after their Last Supper, mass suicides and murders were conducted at Cheiry and Salvan, two villages in Western Switzerland, and at Morin Heights—15 inner circle members committed suicide with poison, 30 were killed by bullets or smothering, and 8 others were killed by other causes.
In Switzerland, many of the victims were found in a secret underground chapel lined with mirrors and other items of Templar symbolism.
The bodies were dressed in the order’s ceremonial robes and were in a circle, feet together, heads outward, most with plastic bags tied over their heads.
They had each been shot in the head.
The plastic bags may have been a symbol of the ecological disaster that would befall the human race after the OTS members moved on to Sirius.
It’s also possible that these bags were used as part of the OTS rituals, and that members would have voluntarily worn them without being placed under duress.
There was also evidence that many of the victims in Switzerland were drugged before they were shot.
Other victims were found in three ski chalets.
Several dead children were lying together.
The tragedy was discovered when officers rushed to the sites to fight the fires that had been ignited by remote-control devices.
Farewell letters left by the believers stated that they believed they were leaving to escape the “hypocrisies and oppression of this world.”
A mayor, a journalist, a civil servant, and a sales manager were found among the dead in Switzerland.
Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over C$1 million to Di Mambro.
Another attempted mass suicide of the remaining members was thwarted in the late 1990s.
All the suicide/murders and attempts occurred around the dates of the equinoxes and solstices in some relation to the beliefs of the group.
Another mass-death incident related to the OTS took place during the night between the 15 and 16 December 1995.
On 23 December 1995, 16 bodies were discovered in a star-formation in the Vercors mountains of France.
It was found later that two of them shot the others and then committed suicide by firearm and immolation.
One of the dead included Olympian Edith Bonlieu, who had competed in the women’s downhill at the 1956 Winter Olympics.
On the morning of 23 March 1997, five members of the OTS took their own lives in Saint-Casimir, Quebec.
A small house erupted in flames, leaving behind five charred bodies for the police to pull from the rubble.
Three teenagers, aged 13, 14 and 16, the children of one of the couples that died in the fire, were discovered in a shed behind the house, alive but heavily drugged.
Michel Tabachnik, an internationally renowned Swiss musician and conductor, was arrested as a leader of the Solar Temple in the late 1990s.
He was indicted for “participation in a criminal organization” and murder.
He came to trial in Grenoble, France during the spring of 2001 and was acquitted.
French prosecutors appealed against the verdict and an appellate court ordered a second trial beginning 24 October 2006.
He was again cleared less than two months later on December 2006.)
Above: Michel Tabachnik
Hamelin’s latest novel Autour d’Éva….
After living in Montreal for ten years, Éva returns to settle in her hometown of Maldoror, Abitibi, more precisely in her father’s cabin on the shore of Lake Kaganoma.
What is she coming for?
Silence, peace.
But it turns out that this silence, this peace, are rare commodities and that, as always when there are scarce commodities, there is always someone clever to appropriate them and resell them, with profit, to the Americans.
But who says trade means development?
Who says development means trees that are cut and paths that are bulldozed in the forest?
What is left of peace, then?
This is how Eva engages in a protest movement launched by residents of Kaganoma, who mobilize to protect their treasure.
This crazy adventure will lead her to form an improbable quartet with three men:
It was reported in the Montreal Gazette, and picked up by the New York Times that Landry spoke disparagingly of immigrants on the night of the 1995 referendum.
It was reported that two employees at the InterContinental Hotel in the city planned to file a complaint against Landry with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
Anita Martinez, a night clerk at the hotel, said that Landry told her:
“It was because of you immigrants that the ‘no’ won.”
He added:
“Why is it that we open the doors to this country so you can vote ‘no’ ” to Quebec sovereignty?”
Landry firmly denied having ever been either impolite to the two women nor having ever made the comments regarding immigrants.
Landry became Premier of Quebec on 8 March 2001, following the resignation of Lucien Bouchard.
Landry was a Quebec sovereigntist advocating a supranational confederation of Québec and Canada, inspired by the institutions of the European Union.
As such, he was one of the most faithful followers of René Lévesque and the other sovereignty-associationists.
In 2001, Landry was critical about Québec receiving an extra $1.5 billion in equalization payments calling it degrading Québec status and accused Ottawa of short-changing the province for decades by stating:
“Receiving equalization payments for more than 40 years in a row is clear evidence that the central government failed in redistributing real wealth.”
During the Parti Québécois leadership race of 2001, Landry criticized the federal government’s policy of prominently displaying the maple leaf on federal government buildings and programs by saying:
“Le Québec ne ferait pas le trottoir pour un bout de chiffon rouge.” (“Quebec does not prostitute itself for a piece of red cloth.”)
Landry’s aggressive remarks were widely criticized for insulting the Canadian flag, particularly among English-language media which rendered chiffon as “rag”.
Landry subsequently apologized but insisted that his words had been mistranslated.
Landry’s opponents used the controversy to undermine his national political cachet.
In 2003, Landry lost the Québec general election to Jean Charest’s Quebec Liberal Party.
A renowned documentary named À Hauteur d’homme (The Height of a Man) about his viewpoint of the election was produced in 2003.
Lauzon was raised in a low-income household in Montreal.
His father abandoned the family in the late 1950s, when Lauzon was 12, and he was forced to work as a delivery boy for a pharmaceutical company to support his mother and two sisters.
Lauzon has said that the poverty of his early years helped him develop a strong social conscience, adding that he “didn’t have the time or the luxury of being a political revolutionary” while attending school.
He is a chartered accountant, having placed first among all students in Quebec’s 1970 examination.
He also finished first among 1,778 candidates in Canada’s 1974 certified management accountancy examination.
This has not prevented him from criticizing his profession.
In 1991, he said that “accounting is closer to the occult sciences than to exact mathematics.”
He has called for accounting students to be given a more humanistic learning approach, with the intent of creating independent thinkers who are effective at creating social change.
Lauzon published a book entitled Social Accounting in 1974, promoting a system of evaluating companies in terms of social responsibility.
Since then, Lauzon examined several companies in areas such as environmental protection, human relations, equal opportunities and consumer interests, making extensive use of corporate annual reports.
In a 1989 interview, he said:
“Being an accountant is an excellent training to criticize big business.
I know how corporate executives think because I have the same mentality myself.
The only difference is that I have a social conscience and most of them don’t.”
He added that he was “blacklisted in many business circles” and said that some of his colleagues were afraid to work with him because of his reputation.
Later the same year, however, Lauzon said that his research was gaining mainstream acceptance and that Le Journal de Montréal and the Québec Management Accounting Association were funding some of his work.
Lauzon has said that he is not anti-capitalist and supports private enterprise.
He describes himself as a social democrat.
Lauzon released a report in 1986 that showed strong disparities between Quebec businesses as regards the number of Francophones in key decision-making positions:
Most “decision makers” in some companies were Francophone, while in others they represented less than 10% of the total.
The study has been interpreted as showing the rise of a new Francophone business culture in Québec, rather than Francophone integration into traditionally dominant Anglophone companies.
In 1987, Lauzon oversaw a study indicating that less than 3% of top management jobs in Canadian companies were held by women, despite the fact that more women were entering the workforce.
At the time of the report’s release, he said:
“If you listen to representatives of the private sector, then we’re in the best possible world, and women hold important positions.
This research is based on facts that show clearly that reality is very different.”
He added that there was no valid reason for the numbers to be so low and that private sector firms were afraid of change in this field.
Follow-up studies found that female representation in top management had increased to only 6.7% in 1990 and 7.2% in 1992.
Lauzon noted that even these increases were misleading, in that some female executives held positions that were created solely to give a misleading impression of gender integration.
Lauzon led an academic study in 1990 that argued most Canadian companies did not supply enough information about their financial affairs and social performance in corporate annual reports.
He said that only 50 of the approximately 300 companies his team examined had “acceptable or better than acceptable” reports, covering items such as market and regional analyses, charitable donations, environmental records, and employment statistics.
Most companies, he said, reported only “the strict minimum required by law.”
Lauzon issued a study for Greenpeace in 1990, arguing that Canadian Pacific Forest Products, the owner of Canada’s most polluting mill, had made $550 million in profits over the last two years but was investing only $18 million to develop environmental technology.
Lauzon issued a report for Greenpeace in August 1992, arguing that Canada’s pulp and paper industry was more prosperous than Canadians had been led to believe.
As such, he argued that the sector should not be allowed to escape its financial obligations to clean its environmental pollution.
The Canadian Pulp and Paper Association strongly criticized the report, saying that its language was “offensive and unfounded.”
In 1995, Lauzon issued another report accusing Canadian pulp and paper firms of being much less efficient than their American and Scandinavian counterparts.
In 1994, Lauzon released a report arguing that privatizing provincial liquor boards would result in increased levels of alcoholism, higher prices and more smuggling.
He concluded that privatization would compromise government efforts to combat alcoholism.
In another study issued the same year, he accused cigarette makers of investing record windfall profits outside of Canada as their domestic clientele died.
Saying there was “no worse corporate citizen” than the tobacco industry, he called for higher tobacco taxes in both Canada and the United States of America.
Imperial Tobacco responded to Lauzon’s report with its own study:
One of its conclusions was that the premature death of some smokers yielded savings to the Canadian health sector.
Not surprisingly, this statement was widely criticized.
In mid-1998, Lauzon and Gino Lambert issued a study indicating that brand name drug prices had increased significantly over the last decade, rising from 10.7% of Canadian health spending in 1985 to 14.4% in 1996 and resulting in windfall profits for multinational medical companies.
The authors wrote that “while our governments work furiously to cut public expenses in the health sector, the brand-drug industry builds up billions in profits year after year,” adding that “government must think seriously of saving money on brand drugs, allowing more for other activities of our collective health-care system that need it greatly.”
Lauzon and Lambert also criticized the Canadian and Québec governments for giving extended patent protection and tax breaks to the industry.
A study issued by Lauzon in 2006 showed that Canada’s pharmaceutical companies had made an average 29% return on investments since 1995, largely due to increased prices.
In 1999, Lauzon and Martin Poirier issued a report arguing that the Québec government and the Roman Catholic Church made substantial profits by falsely certifying thousands of Québec orphans as mentally ill during the 1940s and 1950s.
The authors made a conservative estimate that religious groups received $70 million in subsidies (measured in 1999 dollars) by claiming the children as “mentally deficient”, while the government saved $37 million simply by having one of its orphanages redesignated from an educational institution to a psychiatric hospital.
A representative of a religious order involved with the orphanages accused the authors of making “false assertions”.
(The Duplessis Orphans (les Orphelins de Duplessis) were 20,000 Canadian children who were wrongly certified as mentally ill by the provincial government of Québec and confined to psychiatric institutions in the 1940s and 1950s.
The children were deliberately wrongly certified in order to misappropriate additional subsidies from the federal government.
They are named for Maurice Duplessis, who served as Premier of Québec for five non-consecutive terms between 1936 and 1959.
The controversies associated with Duplessis, and particularly the corruption and abuse concerning the Duplessis orphans, have led to the popular historic conception of his term as Premier as La Grande Noirceur (“The Great Darkness“) by its critics.
The Duplessis Orphans have accused both the government of Québec and the Roman Catholic Church of wrongdoing.
The Catholic Church has denied involvement in the allegations, and disputes the claims of those seeking financial compensation for harm done.
Above: Maurice Duplessis (1890 – 1959)
In 2004, Lauzon argued that Canada’s five major banks had avoided $10 billion in taxes since 1991 via offshore tax havens such as the Cayman Islands (in the Caribbean between Cuba and Jamaica).
The Montreal Gazette endorsed Lauzon’s findings, if not his specific recommendations, and called for the government to close Canada’s tax haven loopholes.
Lauzon’s work has been criticized by several business figures.
In 1989, an executive of Standard Life in Montreal said that he was overly dependent on annual reports and that such documents do not always provide a full assessment of a company’s social activities.
Against this, a representative of the Professional Corporation of Certified Management Accountants in Québec argued in the same period that Lauzon had played a prominent role in changing Québec’s corporate culture and forcing companies to seriously address social matters.
Lauzon has supported the principle of Québec sovereignty but has also criticized prominent sovereigntist politicians of the Parti Québécois in very strong terms.
In 2005, he said:
“We are very lucky we did not become independent with Lucien Bouchard, Bernard Landry, Joseph Facal.
They would have separated us from Canada and the day after we would have become a protectorate of the United States, like Puerto Rico.”
Lauzon himself ran for the New Democratic Party in the Montréal riding of Outremont in the 2006 Canadian federal election and was considered a star candidate for the party.
He argued in this campaign that he was tired of Quebec’s traditional dichotomy between federalism and sovereigntism, and was quoted as saying:
“What I believe first is in a federalism of compassion, of equity, of sharing. Now it’s time for the independence, the sovereignty of Canada.”
He received 17.20% of the vote, finishing third against Liberal cabinet Minister Jean Lapierre.
I don’t know if I would like Lauzon personally, but he has my respect for being the gadfly on the ass of “powers, princes and principalities.”
Born in Montréal, Marchessault worked in a textile factory in her youth before travelling extensively in the late 1950s on a journey of self-discovery that would inform much of her work.
By 1970, she was regularly exhibiting artwork in Montréal, Toronto, New York City, Paris and Brussels.
She published her first novel, Le Crachat solaire (Solar Spit) in 1975.
This would be the first volume in her Comme une enfant de la terre (Like a child of the Earth) trilogy, which also included the novels La Mère des herbes (1981)(The mother of herbs) and Des Cailloux blancs pour les forêts obscures (1987)(White pebbles for dark forests).
As a playwright, she published numerous plays.
Her early works Les Vaches de nuit (The cows of night), Les Faiseuses d’anges (The angel makers) and Chronique lesbienne du moyen-âge québécois (The lesbian chronicle of Middle Ages Québec) were also republished in 1980 in one volume as Triptyque lesbien.
Marchessault contributed as a journalist to publications such as Le Devoir, Châtelaine, La Vie en rose, La Nouvelle barre du jour, Fireweed and 13 Moon.
She co-founded the publishing house Squawtach Press, and was a lecturer in the theatre department at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
She has written:
Imprimés interdits : La censure des journaux jaunes au Québec, 1955-1975
In post-war Quebec, a new form of popular communication emerged: the “yellow newspapers”, so named because of the poor quality of their paper.
It contained all the gossip about artists, cabarets and nightlife, with content strongly dominated by sexuality.
Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People
Invisible Lives evaluates the erasure of transgender individuals by medical psychiatry.
It also draws on the daily lived-experiences of transgendered individuals and describes how their identity permeates every facet of their life from obtaining housing to health care.
The Library Journal wrote that Invisible Lives has “broken new ground with one of the first sociological studies of the TS/TG community.”
I cannot say I understand the idea of transgender individuals, but whether they have my understanding or approval does not diminish their rights and dignity.
Sex Change, Social Change: Reflections on Identity, Institutions, and Imperialism
This book utilizes case studies as a means to analyze elements such as human rights and prostitution in looking at transsexual politics in Québec and Canada.
Namaste asks what makes someone a woman and whether male to female transsexuals should be included in women’s spaces.
Namaste also explores how gender and sex are defined in our culture and discusses the everyday manner in which transsexuals face discrimination.
In the end, she recommends that feminists “integrate transsexual politics and theory into their work.”
One criticism that the journal, Hypatia, makes of the writing in Sex Change, Social Change is that Namaste is “at times antagonistic towards transsexual and transgender activists and theorists who work within gay, lesbian, or queer frameworks.”
Canadian Dimension writes that her book makes the subject matter “accessible to those unacquainted with the current body of work on transsexuality.”
C’était du spectacle! L’histoire des artistes transsexuelles à Montréal, 1955-1985
This book explores the lives of fourteen transsexual cabaret dancers.
It discusses how transsexuals and transvestites were largely responsible for cabaret’s culture.
Looking at the social changes that occurred in the 60’s and 70’s in Québec, this book examines working conditions for these cabaret dancers as well as police abuse of power.
In 2009, she was awarded the “Canadian Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights”, which is awarded jointly by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch.
In 2013, she was called as an official intervenor in a hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada on whether the ban on solicitation, prohibition of brothels and criminality of making a living from prostitution violate the Charter of Rights.
The feminist journal, Hypatia, has called Namaste’s work, “extremely important“.
Namaste considers activism more important than work within the humanities.
I cannot say Ms. Namaste’s writing is something that I gravitate towards, but it is good to know that should I ever encounter those of a transgender nature there is literature out there to aid in my understanding and compassion.
Her prolific fiction and non-fiction, primarily on the themes of identity and culture and on the sociological practice of literature, have earned a number of awards, including the Governor-General’s Award in 1986.
She has been described as “Montréal’s grande dame of postmodernism”.
Robin’s published works include:
I must admit I like the plots of some of the films Villeneuve has produced.
In the aftermath of a highway mishap, photo model Simone decides that conceiving a baby with her best friend Philippe is the only way to give her vacant life some meaning.
Philippe reluctantly agrees with the proviso that they conceive in a desert. (un 32 août sur terre / 32 August, Earth)
While being gutted alive by a fishmonger, a dying fish chooses to share a story that took place in Québec during the autumn of 1999.
A 25-year-old businesswoman named Bibiane Champagne, head of three clothing boutiques, has an abortion.
She is interviewed by a journalist about her success and being the daughter of a famous person named Flo Fabert. Bibiane claims business is good, but her partner, her brother Philippe, accosts her for numerous failures.
She is supported by her friend, Claire, but struggles with drugs and alcohol.
One night, while driving, Bibiane accidentally hits a 53-year-old Norwegian Canadian fishmonger, Annstein Karson, and subsequently flees the scene.
Injured, Annstein stumbles back to his apartment, where he dies at the kitchen table.
While at a restaurant, Claire and Bibiane order octopus but discover it is stale.
The restaurant investigates the poor quality of octopus and realize the usual octopus trapper, Annstein, is missing, and find him dead.
Bibiane reads confirmation of the death in a newspaper and considers turning herself in.
She confides in a stranger on a subway and consults him about turning herself in, but he tells her this will not bring the victim back.
She eventually decides to dispose of the evidence, driving her car into a river.
She survives and interprets her survival as a sign that she deserves to recover her life.
The fishmonger’s son Evian, a diver who was recently inspecting Manicouagan River, learns Annstein was cremated.
This went against his plans for burial at sea.
He encounters Bibiane by chance and she poses as his late father’s neighbour.
Evian falls in love with her and she takes him away from a planned flight to have sex at her apartment.
He later learns the plane crashed in Baie-Comeau with no survivors and realizes Bibiane killed his father.
Conflicted about his love for his father’s killer, a stranger in a bar tells him to marry her and never tell anyone.
Bibiane helps Evian sort through Annstein’s possessions and she accompanies Evian to Lofoten to dispose of the ashes.
Finally, the fish narrator decides to conclude his story by revealing the meaning of life, but is promptly killed mid-sentence. (Maelström)
Based on the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre (also known as the “Montréal Massacre“) this film re-enacts the events of the incident through the eyes of two students (Huberdeau and Vanasse) who witness a gunman (Gaudette) murder fourteen young women.
A young man prepares his rifle and leaves a message for his mother.
He then goes to Polytechnique Montréal, an engineering school, and enters a classroom during class with a rifle.
He orders the men to leave and the women to stay.
They comply after he shoots into the ceiling to show that he is serious.
He tells the women that he hates feminists.
Although the women deny being feminists, he shoots at them, killing some and wounding others.
He then moves through corridors and the cafeteria, specifically targeting women.
One of the male students is Jean-François, who was ordered to leave the classroom.
He does not merely flee, as he returns to try to stop the killer and/or help the victims.
Valérie and Stéphanie, two surviving women, play dead thinking the killer has returned, although Stéphanie later dies of her injuries.
Finally, the killer reaches another classroom where he kills a female lecturer.
He then commits suicide, and his blood mixes with the blood of his victim.
Some time after the massacre, Jean-François, feeling guilty for complying with the order to leave the classroom and abandoning the women, commits suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Valérie, wearing the Iron Ring, the professional ring of Canadian engineers, learns she is pregnant, planning to tell a potential son to be loving or a potential daughter that the world belongs to her. (Polytechnique)
(The École Polytechnique massacre (tuerie de l’École polytechnique), also known as the Montréal massacre, was a mass shooting in Montréal at an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal.
Fourteen women were murdered and ten women and four men were injured.
On 6 December 1989, Marc Lépine entered a mechanical engineering class at the École Polytechnique and ordered the women and men to opposite sides of the classroom.
He separated nine women, instructing the men to leave.
He stated that he was “fighting feminism” and opened fire.
He shot at all nine women in the room, killing six.
Lépine then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, targeting women for just under 20 minutes.
He killed a further eight before turning the gun on himself.
It is the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history.
In a search for a rationale since the attack there have been debates over various interpretations of the events, their significance, and Lépine’s motives.
Many characterize the massacre as an anti-feminist attack representative of wider societal violence against women.
The anniversary of the massacre has been commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
The incident led to more stringent gun control laws in Canada.
It also introduced changes in the tactical response of police to shootings, changes which were later credited with minimizing casualties at the 2006 Dawson College shootings.)
Jeanne Marwan, a graduate student in mathematics, explains the Collatz conjecture to a class of undergraduates, where every positive integer leads to a sequence that ultimately ends in the number two reducing to the number one.
Following the death of Jeanne’s mother Nawal, an Arab immigrant in Canada, Jeanne and her twin brother Simon meet with French Canadian notary Jean Lebel, their mother’s employer and family friend.
Nawal’s will makes reference to not keeping a promise, denying her a proper gravestone and casket, unless Jeanne and Simon track down their mysterious brother, whose existence they were previously unaware of, and their father, whom they believed was dead.
Jeanne accepts.
Simon, on the other hand, seemingly having had a more difficult relationship with Nawal and her apparently unusual personality, is reluctant to join Jeanne on this pursuit.
A series of flashbacks reveal Nawal came from a Christian Arab family in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, and that she fell in love with a refugee named Wahab, resulting in her pregnancy.
Her family murders her lover and nearly shoots her as an honour killing, but her grandmother spares her, making her promise to leave the village after the birth of her baby and start a new life in the fictional city of Daresh.
The grandmother tattoos the back of the baby’s heel and sends him to an orphanage.
While Nawal is at university in Daresh, a civil war and war crimes break out with Nawal opposing the war on human rights grounds.
Her son’s orphanage in Kfar Khout is destroyed by a Muslim militant, Chamseddine, who converts him into an Islamic child soldier.
After barely escaping the massacre of a bus full of Muslim refugees by Christian Nationalists, Nawal narrowly manages to join the Muslim fighters, and eventually shoots a nationalist leader.
She is imprisoned in Kfar Ryat and raped by torturer Abou Tareq, consequently giving birth to the twins.
After travelling to her mother’s native country, Jeanne gradually uncovers this past, and persuades Simon to join her.
With help from Lebel, they learn their brother’s name is Nihad of May and track down Chamseddine.
Simon meets with him personally, and he reveals the war-mad Nihad was captured by the nationalists, turned by them, trained as a torturer, and then sent to Kfar Ryat, where he took the name Abou Tareq, making him both the twins’ half-brother and father – as such, the two people they were seeking reduce to one.
Nihad had immigrated to Canada and Nawal only learned his true identity after recognizing the tattoo on the back of his heel at a Canadian swimming pool.
The shock of learning the truth caused Nawal to suffer a stroke which led to her decline and untimely death at age 60.
The twins find Nihad in Canada and deliver Nawal’s letters to him without speaking to him.
He opens both of them:
The first letter addresses him as the twins’ father, and is filled with contempt, as Nihad is written to by Nawal as her rapist.
The second letter addresses him as the twins’ brother, and is instead written with caring words, saying that he, as Nawal’s son, is deserving of love.
Nawal gets her gravestone in the aftermath of the letters being sent, which Nihad visits. (Incendies / Fires)
“Six visions, six stories, one universe” (Cosmos)
(Cosmos can be seen in its entirety on YouTube.)
Villeneuve is better known for his work on Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and the 2020 remake of Dune, and certainly these have attracted big name Hollywood stars – Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Isabella Rossellini, Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, to name a few – but I find myself preferring the lesser known films’ plotlines.
The plot of Mars et Avril intrigues me.
In Montréal, in the near future, humanity is about to set foot on Mars.
Jacob Obus, a charismatic musician, takes pride in slowing down time by playing instruments inspired by women’s bodies, designed by his friend, Arthur.
A love triangle develops when Jacob and Arthur both fall in love with Avril, a young photographer.
Enter Eugène Spaak, inventor, cosmologist and Arthur’s father, who unveils a new theory about man’s desire to reach Mars and helps Jacob find the true meaning of life and love.
CEGEP du Vieux Montréal
Her work is concerned with such topics as “sex, violence, menstruation and male/female issues.”
She began cartooning in 1987.
She was published in small-press comics and self-published her own comic called Dirty Plotte.
She used the photocopied zine to record “her day to day life, her dreams, angsts and fantasies.”
It was only when she was published in Weirdo, Robert Crumb’s magazine, that she began to attract critical attention.
Doucet began being published by Drawn & Quarterly in January 1991 in a regular sized comic series also named Dirty Plotte.
Shortly thereafter, she moved to New York.
Although she moved to Seattle the following year, her experiences in New York formed the basis of the critically acclaimed My New York Diary (many stories of which were taken from Dirty Plotte).
She moved from Seattle to Berlin in 1995, before finally returning to Montreal in 1998.
While in Berlin, she had a book named Ciboire de criss published by L’Association in Paris, her first book in French.
Once back in Montreal, she released the twelfth and final issue of Dirty Plotte before beginning a brief hiatus from comics.
She returned to the field in 2000 with The Madame Paul Affair, a slice-of-life look at contemporary Montreal which was originally serialized in Ici Montreal, a local alternative weekly.
At the same time, she was branching out into more experimental territory, culminating with the 2001 release of Long Time Relationship, a collection of prints and engravings.
In 2004, Doucet also published in French an illustrated diary (Journal) chronicling about a year of her life and, in 2006, an autobiography made from a collage of words cut from magazines and newspapers (J comme Je).
Also in spring of 2006 she had her first solo print show, named en souvenir du Melek, at the galerie B-312 in Montreal.
In December 2007, Drawn & Quarterly published 365 Days: A Diary by Julie Doucet, in which she chronicled her life for a year, starting in late 2002.
She remains a fixture in the Montreal arts community, but in an interview in the 22 June 2006 edition of the Montreal Mirror, she declared that she had retired from long-form comics.
She also said: “it’s quite a lot of work, and not that much money.
I went to a newspaper to propose a comic strip because I only had to draw a small page and it would be out the next week. For once it was regular pay and good money.
For once it was regular pay and good money.
I quit comics because I got completely sick of it.
I was drawing comics all the time and didn’t have the time or energy to do anything else.
That got to me in the end.
I never made enough money from comics to be able to take a break and do something else.
Now I just can’t stand comics.
I wish my work would be recognized by a larger crowd of people as more art than be stuck with the cartoonist label for the rest of my life.
That’s what’s killing me about a lot of those comics guys.
A lot of those guys, their drawing style never changes—the content neither—and it seems it never will.
I just don’t understand that, how you can spend fifty years of your artist life doing the same thing over and over again.
She had a book of poetry published by L’Oie de Cravan in 2006, À l’école de l’amour.
Her current artwork consists of linocuts, collage and papier-mache sculptures.
In 2007, Doucet designed the cover for the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
Most of the oddball stories in Dirty Plotte were autobiographical, often about the struggles of being a woman and being an alternative cartoonist.
Author Anne Elizabeth Moore summed up the comic this way:
These were the things that Dirty Plotte was about:
- the isolation of being a driven female creative
- the jealousy in personal relationships that come out of that
- the ever-present push from the outside to be maternal and nurturing, but the absolute interior knowledge that that is not your way
- the incredibly shifting sense of gender that a strong, smart woman must feel in order to move about in the world
Besides written works, there is also a large multimedia collection including 70,000 music CDs, 5,000 music scores, 16,000 films on DVD and Blu-ray, and 500 software programs, available for loan.
The library’s adapted book service holds more than 50,000 documents for the visually impaired, including Braille and audiobooks.
The library has 1,300 reading armchairs, 850 study seats and carrels, and 350 computer stations.
The basement contains a children’s library with special audio-visual equipment, the Espace jeunes.
Its extensive multimedia facilities include 44 audio stations and 50 video stations, as well as multimedia computer terminals and two music rooms with facilities for composing electronic music.
Other specialized services include a job and career centre, a business connection centre, a special service centre for newcomers to Québec, and a language laboratory.
In addition to its collections, reading rooms, and audio-visual facilities, the Grande Bibliothèque also contains exhibition spaces, conference rooms, theatres, and auditoriums.
The Grande Bibliothèque was a pet project of former Québec premier Lucien Bouchard.
Construction on the new 33,000 m² library, a $90.6 million project began in 2001 on the site of the former Palais du commerce.
It was officially opened 23 April 2005 in time for the World Book and Copyright Day, during a year in which Montréal held the honorary title of World Book Capital given by UNESCO.
The library was opened to the general public the following Saturday 30 April 2005, and loans began on 3 May.
The contemporary-styled five-storey building is clad with U-shaped plates of glass of a type never used before in North America, placed horizontally on the copper uprights that run the whole height of the building.
It is covered with over 6,000 plates of frosted and tempered glass and a ceramic Coating used for the first time in North America.
In June 2005 three of these plates of glass shattered.
In the first three weeks of July 2005, three more of these plates shattered, an average of one breakage per week.
Metal barricades and canopies were used to secure the areas until the problem was corrected.
The national and universal collections are each housed in one of two chambres de bois (“wooden rooms“), a reference to Anne Hébert’s novel Les Chambres de bois.
These multi-storey areas are demarcated by walls of wooden slats, either allowing indirect natural light or blocking it according to the conservation needs of the collection.
The walls can block or direct light as required for conserving documents.
The slats are made of Québec-grown yellow birch, the official tree of Québec.
In accordance with the Québec government’s policy on integrating art and architecture, the building contains several integrated works of art:
The Quartier Latin’s concentration of institutions, the numerous festivals held here and an effervescent nightlife make this neighbourhood one of the cultural highlights of the city.
With its many cafés, restaurants and bars, the district is also home to a dynamic student population.
I leave the Metro from the Gamelin statue exit and search for the bus station’s new location – the old being boarded up when I arrived.
A single solitary sign vaguely suggests that a replacement bus station now exists.
I never find it.
Above: The former bus station
Above: The bus station today
Prejudiced by my previous Greyhound misadventure in Lachute and finding the cold and snow disturbing and distracting, I stop trying to find the new bus station location.
With the assistance of Google Maps I manage to find my B & B, but I arrive before it has officially opened for check-in.
Rather than standing around in the cold, I drag my long-suffering suitcase through the snow and slush, shoulder my backpack and madly begin to search for an early lunch as my breakfast had already faded from my stomach’s memory.
I meander the streets of Montréal much like Billy in the old cartoon strip Family Circus.
Like Billy, my route from Point A to Point B is never a direct straight line.
I pass a place named Rage: Axe throwing / Lancer de haches.
Clearly the Office de la langue francaise (the tongue troopers) have not done their due diligence with Rage, but in fairness do you really want to annoy anyone who enjoys throwing axes?
Besides, the Office did a bang-up job changing Rage‘s street name from rue Amherst to rue Atateken (Mohawk for “brothers and sisters“), for better a name the average Francophone cannot identify with rather than the memory of Jeffrey Amherst (1717 – 1797). the commander of Britain’s successful campaign to conquer Nouveau France during the Seven Years’ War (1756 – 1763) and the first British Governor General of Canada.
To be fair to the Office, Amherst’s legacy is controversial due to his expressed desire to exterminate the idigenous peoples during Pontiac’s War (1763) by advocating biological Warfare in the form of giving the natives blankets infected with smallpox as a weapon, especially during the siege of Fort Pitt (modern Pittsburgh)(22 June – 10 August 1763).
Amherst became Atateken in 2019.
The towns of Amherst, Nova Scotia and Amherstburg, Ontario are also pondering renaming themselves in the light of recent movements by liberals to reconsider the naming of “towns, streets and monuments that celebrate past war heroes whom, seen through today’s ethical lens, are not people who behaved in ways that we can respect.”
Above: Downtown Amherst, Nova Scotia
Above: Downtown Amherstburg, Ontario
I find myself, as I always do, back on rue Sainte Catherine, the primary commercial artery of downtown Montréal.
The rue was probably named after the Catholic saint Catherine of Alexandria (287 – 305), a virgin princess (Aren’t they all?) and scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14 (Teenagers and their fads….), converted hundreds of people to Christianity (And this was before Instagram….) and was martyred around the age of 18 (Only the good die young?).
Catherine is said to have been one of the saints who appeared to Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc)(1412 – 1431) and counselled / consoled her.
By the end of the 19th century Saint-Catherine had garnered some notoriety as being the entertainment hub of Montréal.
By 1850, horse-drawn streetcars were starting to be seen on the street with growing frequency and in 1864 the first electric powered tramway provided by the Montreal City Passenger Railway was introduced on Saint-Catherine Street.
Above: rue Sainte Catherine, 1893
This allowed workers to get to and from their jobs in other parts of the city, as well as transporting many housewives to the many department stores that had started to appear on Sainte-Catherine in the 1930s like Morgan’s, Eaton’s, Simpson’s, Ogilvy’s and Dupuis as well as jewelry stores like Birks.
Above: rue Sainte Catherine, 1930
In 1890, there was also evening entertainment with both English and French theatres and the Academy of Music lining the street near the intersection with Victoria Avenue.
This helped usher in a new way of city life that evolved into how Montrealers now live.
For one weekend in July every year, Saint Catherine Street hosts Canada’s largest open-air sidewalk sale.
2 km (1 mi) of the street between Jeanne-Mance Street and St. Mark is closed to traffic, and vendors from nearby shopping centers bring out their sale merchandise.
There is also live entertainment along the street.
It is estimated that over 300,000 people visit the downtown during this event.
Montreal’s Place des Arts, the city’s primary concert venue, is located on Saint Catherine Jeanne-Mance and Saint-Urbain streets, in the city’s Quartier des Spectacles entertainment district.
The street was once home to many now-abandoned cinemas such as the Loews, Palace, Capitol, Cinéma de Paris, York, Ouimetoscope and the Seville Theatre as well as the demolished Montreal Spectrum music venue.
Above: Capitol Theatre, 1925
The street is also home to Christ Church Cathedral, the only church in Canada that sits atop a shopping mall, Promenades Cathédrale.
Another important church, Saint James United Church, has recently had its concealing façade of commercial buildings removed.
Other churches on the street include St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, affectionately called “St. Jax“.
The strip clubs which made their home on Saint Catherine have now declined in number, though a few prominent clubs remain.
Montreal’s Gay Village (Le Village gai) extends along Sainte-Catherine Street in the east end of downtown, between Saint-Hubert and Papineau.
Beaudry Metro station, on the Green Line, provides the most convenient access to the Village and sports a permanent rainbow decoration on its façade.
For most of the summer, from mid-May till mid-September, Sainte-Catherine Street is completely closed to vehicular traffic through the Gay Village, making it one large pedestrian area, allowing all the stores to sell outside and all the restaurants and bars to serve on large, open-air terrasses.
I pass a Dollarama store (These and Dollar Stores seem to be everywhere across Canada.) and an SAQ (a provincial liquor store – also everpresent across Québec.).
I smile at seeing the familiar.
I smile at seeing the ageless Archambault Music store sign on its flagshop street front at the Corner of rue Sainte Catherine and rue Berri.
Archambault is the largest music retailer in the province of Quebec, as well as a major retailer of books, DVDs, periodicals, musical instruments, sheet music, games, toys and gift ideas.
Its e-commerce site, http://www.archambault.ca, is the largest French-language retail site in North America.
Archambault currently operates 14 stores in Quebec.
Paragraphe Bookstore, an English-language bookstore, is also part of the Archambault Group.
I smile at seeing the Henri Henri hat shop.
At the corner of rue Sainte Catherine and rue Hôtel de Ville, the Henri Henri hat shop is an authentic Montréal institution that transports the voyeur right back to the 1930s.
Founded in 1932 by Honorius Henri and Jean Maurice Lefebvre, this business has always been a family affair.
Today, it is managed by Jean Marc Lefebvre, grandson of the shop’s co-founder.
The shop became famous thanks to its enthusiasm for sports, especially hockey.
In Québec, when a player scores three goals in a single game, it is called a tour du chapeau (“hat trick“).
In the 1950s and 1960s, Henri Henri took the expression literally, offering a free hat to every player who completed a hat trick at the Montréal Forum.
Famous hockey champion Maurice “Rocket” Richard had quite a collection of them.
Above: Maurice “Rocket” Richard (1921 – 2000)
The Montréal Forum, once home to the Montréal Canadiens, is also located on St. Catherine Street at Atwater Street.
It has since been turned into a shopping and movie theatre complex called the Pepsi Forum.
Due to the Forum’s presence on this street, St. Catherine was used as the parade route whenever the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.
This was once referred to as “the usual route” by Mayor Jean Drapeau, during the Canadiens’ dynasties of the mid-century, when a win would occur quite frequently.
The Forum hosted the Stanley Cup Finals in 1930, 1931, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1989, and 1993.
Only two visiting teams have ever won the Stanley Cup on Forum ice: the New York Rangers did so in 1928, defeating the Maroons, while the Calgary Flames defeated the Canadiens in 1989.
Above: the Stanley Cup, the Holy Grail of Hockey
On 11 March 1937, the Forum hosted its only funeral, for Canadiens great Howie Morenz.
Morenz died from complications due to a broken leg, sustained in a game between the Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks on 28 January.
Above: Howie Morenz (1902 – 1937)
On 8 September 1964, The Beatles performed at the Forum.
Four tracks including a live version of “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” for The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue were recorded here.
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Bob Marley and the Wailers played here on 10 June 1978 to support his Kaya Tour.
The Bee Gees played two sold-out concerts here on 1 – 2 September 1979 during their North American Spirits Having Flown Tour.
The first four tracks off the Journey live album Captured were recorded at The Forum on 8 August 1980.
In 1981, Canadian rock band Rush filmed (and recorded almost all of) their 1981 concert film and album, Exit…Stage Left.
That same year, British rock band Queen recorded and filmed their concert film, titled We Will Rock You (re-released as Queen Rock Montreal in 2007), by performing the final two concerts of The Game Tour there.
This had followed earlier performances by the band in 1977 for the A Day At The Races Tour, 1978 for the Jazz Tour, 1980 for the first leg of The Game Tour, and finally in 1982 for the Hot Space Tour.
On 4 August 1981, the Jacksons performed at the Forum during their Triumph Tour.
In March 1983, American musical duo Hall & Oates filmed and recorded their concert film, Rock ‘n Soul Live.
The live portions of Black Sabbath’s video for the song “Zero the Hero” were filmed in 1983.
On 7 – 8 July, the Forum hosted Madonna with her Who’s That Girl World Tour for two sold-out concerts.
In July 1983, David Bowie held a concert for his Serious Moonlight Tour to promote his new album Let’s Dance.
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Billy Graham held his Mission Quebec in 1990, before nearly 20,000 spectators, which was filmed for international television syndication as a TV special.
I do not know if any of these Forum performers visited Henri Henri, but it would not surprise me if they had.
After the Canadiens left the Forum in 1996, the building was used to film arena sequences for the Brian De Palma film Snake Eyes.
It was then completely gutted and converted into a downtown entertainment centre called the Pepsi Forum, consisting of an AMC Theatres multiplex theatre (sold to Cineplex Odeon in July 2012), shops and restaurants.
Centre ice has been recreated in the centre of the complex complete with a small section of the grandstand, along with a statue of a fan leaning forward in delight (removed in the summer of 2017), while original seats are used as benches throughout the complex.
A statue of Maurice Richard can be found next to the grandstand.
On the Saint Catherine Street entrance there is a Quebec Walk of Fame consisting of Richard and Celine Dion.
Both were on hand for their bronze star’s respective unveiling.
The Atwater street entrance has a large bronze Montreal Canadiens logo surrounded by 24 bronze Stanley Cup banners cemented into the sidewalk.
Inscribed in French are the words “forever proud”.
The entire building is themed after the Forum’s storied history with special emphasis on the Montreal Canadiens.
The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997 because:
“It was arguably the country’s most famous sporting venue.
It also serves as an icon for the role of hockey in Canada’s national culture.
The Forum is the oldest of Canada’s large-scale arenas and has, throughout its history, been the country’s leading site for major indoor cultural, political and religious events.”
— Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, June 1997
Today, Henri Henri no longer gives hats to hockey stars, but several celebrities still figure among its clients:
Robert de Niro, Bruce Willis, Johnny Depp and John Travolta have shopped there, as Marlon Brando and some Montréal mafia bosses did before them.
At Henri Henri’s, trying on hats is pure pleasure.
They stock all the major brands – Stetson, Biltmore, Mayser and Kango – in a wide variety of sizes.
The price of a felt hat ranges from $60 to $750, depending on its quality.
You will find all sorts of caps: classic peaked caps, newsboys, berets, fishermen’s caps and baseball caps.
And let’s not forget the complimentary accessories so essential to giving your look that final touch: scarves, gloves, canes, umbrellas, ties, cufflinks, wallets and more.
The shop also offers hat cleaning services.
Henri’s lower level is filled with rare tools from another era: wooden forms, moulds and strange steam machines.
In short, everything needed to give your aging headgear a second lease on life.
I once bought a hat here.
It is long since gone though the shop remains.
I remember with fondness this corner of rue Sainte Catherine and rue Hôtel de Ville, for it reminds me of my single bachelor days, alone and adrift, hormones high and life experience low.
One warm summer day I found myself following from this corner a young woman I had never met.
Long and flowing black hair that cascaded down to the hem of her mini skirt.
A blouse – a mere vest – that exposed her braless chest from the side.
I was smitten.
I followed her as far as I dared, praying I would not alarm her by doing so.
I wanted to see her for long as I could, never knowing if I would ever do so again.
(I never did.)
I spoke not a word to her and pretended to ignore her (and her companion boyfriend) as if she were a mere backdrop in the drama of life.
We walked to an address I refused to recall and rode the elevator silently inside the building that we entered.
She was excited, in love with love and life and her boyfriend.
They were searching for an apartment together, a place to start their new lives together.
I was only a lonely and hungry boy-man.
They were greeted at the door of their prospective apartment.
I turned towards a stairwell and descended back down to the street.
I never returned to the address nor did I seek her out along the length of rue Sainte Catherine.
But she filled many a fevered dream for quite some time to come.
My feet find themselves at the corner of Sainte Catherine and Boulevard Saint Laurent (the Main).
My eyes seek out the Montréal Pool Room.
The Montréal Pool Room abides.
It is a revered old school joint, a casse-croute (“greasy spoon”) famous for Montréal style hot dogs (“steamies“) and fries (“poutines” – golden fries covered with squeaky cheese curds and smothered with hotter-than-Hades brown gravy) and, despite its name, not having pool tables.
It was founded by a Bulgarian immigrant, Dako Filipov, in 1912.
Above: Montréal Pool Room, 1925
The only remaining evidence of its former billard hall status, aside from the name, are two boarded up tables now used for counterspace in the spartanly sparse eatery.
To be blunt, the place is badly maintained, unapologetically unhygienic and the famous food is nothing to write home about, but it is an institution.
It is a nostalgic piece of my past and one of the few surviving sites in the city that continues to resist the crass modern redevelopment and gentrification that delights in demolishing the working class past to make way for establishments that only the prosperous purvey.
When I think of Montréal as a former place I used to know.
Above: Gotye video “Just somebody that I used to know”
Berri-UQAM, the Quartier Latin, rue Sainte Catherine, the Main and the Montréal Pool Room are:
Home.
For a stone’s throw away, just past the Saint Laurent Metro Station, heading west along the Main between Maisonneuve and Ontario is a small street called rue St. Norbert.
Upon this street once stood a slumlord’s block of apartments wherein I once lived, that an English neighbour and friend – down the corridor from my one-room flat – nicknamed “Buck House“.
I resided in this once rougher quarter of the city for two years in the 80s.
Charles Dickens comes to mind every time when I think of this.
“It was the best of times.
It was the worst of times.
It was the age of wisdom.
It was the age of foolishness.
It was the epoch of belief.
It was the epoch of incredulity.
It was the season of light.
It was the season of darkness.
It was the spring of hope.
It was the winter of despair.
We had everything before us.
We had nothing before us.
We were all going direct to Heaven.
We were all going direct the other way.
In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”
Of these days I will one day recount, God willing.
As I read the day’s Gazette under the watchful glare of the annoyed cook of the Pool Room, my luggage claiming the floor and table space much like a conquistador claiming Mexico for Spain, despite the chill that is set in my bones and the hesitation to return back outside, I am content.
The poutine is piled high and the cola is cold.
Life is good.
I am back home.
As I recall the scene, now as I am locked away in isolation with my wife in a flat in this wee hamlet in far-off Switzerland, I marvel at how the concept of home changes over time.
I have no desire to turn back time, but as I remember Buck House and the Main and the usual route, it is yesterday once more.
And I am happy to remember.
Though the isolation of the moment, with the invincible and invisible corona virus raging outside my door, is not good for me mentally or psychologically, I am nonetheless content.
I have shelter, warmth, companionship, sustenance and leisure now.
I have my writing and memories of yesterday.
I am happy.
I am home.
(To be continued….)
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Lonely Planet Canada / Rough Guide Canada / Philippe Renault, Secret Montréal: An Unusual Guide
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 24 March 2020 (Lockdown Day #8)
Starting today, a new system of blogging.
I shall keep separate current news reporting from my regular blogging.
Current news reporting will appear under the headline “Rumours from my room #…“.
Due to the ongoing lockdown here in Switzerland all houses of worship are closed, but this does not mean that faith is faltering…..
Pope Francis said on Sunday he will this week deliver an extraordinary “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing – normally given only at Christmas and Easter – and called for worldwide prayer to respond to the corona virus crisis.
Francis made the surprise announcement in his weekly Angelus message, which he has been delivering from inside the Vatican over the Internet and television instead of before crowds in St. Peter’s Square.
His decision to make an exception and give a special “Urbi et Orbi” blessing underscored the gravity of the situation worldwide but particularly in Italy, which has overtaken China as the country hardest hit by the virus outbreak.
The Pope said that on Friday evening he would deliver the extraordinary blessing from an empty St. Peter’s Square.
The square, which is part of the Vatican, has been closed as part of a lockdown in Italy to try to contain the spread of the virus.
Catholics who receive the blessing, either in person or via the media, can, under certain conditions, receive a special indulgence.
An indulgence is remission of punishment for sins.
On Saturday Italy recorded a jump in deaths from the corona virus of almost 800, taking the death toll in the country to nearly 5,000.
Francis also called on all Christians around the world to stop at noon Italian time on Wednesday to pray the “Our Father” together.
“We want to respond to the pandemic of the virus with the universality of prayer, of compassion, of tenderness,” he said from the papal library.
“Let’s remain united”.
In its latest desperate effort to halt the epidemic, the Italian government ordered that all businesses must close until 3 April, with the exception of those essential to maintaining the country’s supply chain.
Here in Switzerland:
Swiss public transport has been widely reduced as of Monday, with the Federal Railways cutting back on services as part of nationwide anti-corona virus measures.
The scaling back of Europe’s most-used rail network in an effort to combat the spread of Covid-19 was announced last week as part of wider measures to reduce social contact and slow down the pace of life in the country.
As of Monday, the density of services on various major intercity lines has been reduced, while some smaller connecting lines will be scrapped altogether.
Federal Railways boss Andreas Meyer called it the biggest timetable change in the network’s history.
Some cross-border routes have also been affected, including the newly inaugurated Léman Express line connecting Geneva, in southwestern Switzerland, and surrounding France.
More changes and reductions in services are planned for Thursday 26 March.
In the meantime, timetables are being updated by 8:00 pm the previous evening on the network’s website.
The scaling back, which also affects local bus and tram networks across the country, is a proactive measure taken under the country’s anti-corona virus strategy.
It coincides with plummeting demand as many people now work from home, if at all.
Passenger numbers were estimated to have dropped by up to 20% in the first week of March.
On Monday, this figure could reach 80%.
Two out of five people in Switzerland are in favour of tighter restrictions by the government to stem the spread of the corona virus, according to a nationwide survey.
Younger respondents and residents in the French-speaking part of the country are especially keen for the government to clamp down harder, an online poll has found.
The poll was carried out by the Sotomo Research Institute over the past weekend and published on Tuesday – ten days after the government began imposing sweeping measures to shut down public life.
The measures have included the closure of schools, restaurants and shops selling non-essential goods as well as a ban on public and private gatherings of more than five people, but no blanket curfew.
Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly 70% of respondents in the Italian-speaking region of Ticino – which borders Italy, a hotbed of the viral infection in Europe – said the government acted too late to curb the spread of the Covid-19 disease.
This figure is slightly lower (64%) in the French-language region, while a majority in the German-speaking region (56%) found the government acted just in time.
The survey also found that the government restrictions have had an impact on everyday life in Switzerland, although not all the urgent appeals were particularly well heeded.
“An overwhelming majority of respondents did not stay at home last week, but most of them said they had been in close contact with fewer than five people,” says Michael Hermann, director of Sotomo.
Among the 65+ age group, which was particularly targeted by the government’s precautionary health measures, only about 25% adhered fully to the restrictions.
“The crisis appears to have had a particularly negative impact on the younger generations,” says Hermann.
He also said that only a very small minority of the 30,000 respondents are confident that life in Switzerland will go back to normal before the summer.
At the moment, an absolute majority assumes the corona virus disease will affect their personal health mildly.
Only a small percentage are afraid of as a result of Covid-19.
People aged between 15 and 44 are more pessimistic than the older generation about whether Swiss hospitals will be able to cope with an expected increase in patient numbers or whether they will face a situation like that seen in northern Italy.
Respondents in the French- and Italian-language regions are more pessimistic on this front than their fellow citizens in the main German-speaking region, the pollsters found.
Italy’s world-topping toll from the corona virus pandemic approached 5,500 on Sunday after the Mediterranean country reported another 651 deaths.
The latest daily toll was smaller than Saturday’s record 793 fatalities but still the second-highest registered during Italy’s month-long crisis.
The number of new infections rose by 10.4 per cent to 59,138.
Italy’s death toll now stands at 5,476.
“The figures announced today are lower than those for yesterday,” Italian civil protection service chief Angelo Borrelli told reporters.
“I hope and we all hope that these figures can be borne out in the coming days.
But do not let your guard down.”
Sunday’s figures suggest that strict containment measures imposed around the northern epicentre of the crisis near Milan on 8 March might be starting to bear fruit.
Milan’s Lombardy region reported just 30.4% of the new infections on Sunday.
It had been reporting about two-thirds of Italy’s corona virus deaths throughout the crisis.
The region of 10 million officially registered 55.5% of Sunday’s COVID-19 deaths.
“We must not get too enthusiastic or over-interpret things,” Italian government scientific committee expert Dr. Franco Locatelli said.
But “it is a sign that we welcome positively,” he said.
The pandemic has put northern Italy’s world-class healthcare system under massive strain.
Sunday’s figures showed the number of patients receiving intensive care rising above 3,000 for the first time.
The Russian military will start sending medical help to Italy from Sunday to help it to battle the new corona virus after receiving an order from President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Putin spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Saturday, the Kremlin said, adding that the Russian leader had offered his support and help in the form of mobile disinfection vehicles and specialists to aid the worst hit Italian regions.
Italy recorded a jump in deaths from the corona virus of almost 800 on Saturday, taking the toll in the world’s hardest-hit country to almost 5,000.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that military transport planes would deliver eight mobile brigades of military medics, special disinfection vehicles and other medical equipment to Italy from Sunday.
Russia will also send about 100 military specialists in virology and epidemics, the Interfax news agency cited the defense ministry as saying.
Russia itself has reported 306 cases of the virus, most of them in Moscow, and one corona virus-related death.
Holding the Cuban flag and wearing surgical masks, Cuban doctors arrived in Italy on Sunday.
The group of 36 doctors, 15 nurses and a logistics expert have been deployed to help with the corona virus at the request of the worst affected region, Lombardy.
Communist-run Cuba has one of the world’s highest ratios of physicians per capita.
Its doctors have been on the front lines in many crises, including the fight against cholera in Haiti and against ebola in West Africa, but this is their first medical mission in Cuba’s medical diplomacy to Italy.
Leader of the group Carlos Perez-Diaz said the medical brigade is ready to support the people of Italy.
Aware of the long days ahead of them, there is no doubt that it will be a challenge to stop the spread of the virus.
This is the sixth medical brigade that Cuba has sent out in recent days.
Armies of white robes have also been sent to countries, including Jamaica, Venezuela and others.
An earthquake has rocked Croatia’s capital Zagreb, damaging buildings and leaving cars crushed by falling chunks of masonry.
A teenager is in a critical condition after a roof collapsed, local media say.
The spire of the city’s cathedral also snapped off.
After Sunday’s tremor, Zagreb’s mayor urged people to return to their homes given fears about the corona virus.
The 5.3-magnitude quake is the largest to affect the city in 140 years.
Aside from the teenager, another sixteen people were injured.
Panicked residents ran out into the streets when it struck around 06:00 local time and were initially told to stay out by authorities.
“Keep your distance.
Don’t gather together.
We are facing two serious crises, the earthquake and the epidemic,” Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said.
However Mayor Milan Bandic later said they should return home.
“Eighty per cent of Zagreb residents live in structures that have reinforced concrete structures,” he said.
Several buildings were damaged, including the parliament.
It will be out of action until further notice.
Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic described the damage as “quite extensive”.
The earthquake acted as a cue for some residents to head for their holiday homes on the coast.
But by early afternoon police had closed motorway toll booths and set up control points to prevent people entering coastal districts because of fears of spreading the corona virus.
Croatia has more than 200 Covid-19 infections.
People in southern Austria and Slovenia also felt the tremor.
The strong earthquake in Croatia on Sunday caused panic, the evacuation of hospitals and widespread damage including to the capital’s iconic cathedral — all amid a partial corona virus lockdown.
A 15-year-old was reported to be in critical condition and 16 other people were injured, authorities said.
The European seismological agency, EMSC, said the 5.3 earthquake struck a wide area north of the capital, Zagreb, at 6:23 a.m. (0523 GMT).
The epicenter was 7 kilometers (4 miles) north of Zagreb at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
At least four weaker tremors followed the initial quake.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the earthquake was the biggest in Zagreb in the last 140 years.
Many buildings cracked and walls and rooftops were damaged. Streets were littered with debris.
Concrete slabs fell on cars and chimneys landed in front of entrances.
Footage from the scene showed mothers dressed in nightgowns hugging their newborn babies in a parking lot as they evacuated a damaged maternity hospital amid freezing temperatures.
The women, newborn babies and incubators were being moved to a new location with the help of the army.
Zagreb’s iconic cathedral was also damaged, with the top of one of its two spires collapsing.
The cathedral was rebuilt after it toppled in the 1880 earthquake.
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Power was cut as people ran out of their homes.
Several fires were also reported.
Residents shared photos of belongings falling off shelves, broken bottles and glass inside homes.
Officials first said a 15-year-old was killed, but doctors later said that she was in critical condition and that they were fighting to save her life.
They gave no immediate details on the extent of other injuries.
The earthquake struck amid a partial lockdown of the capital because of the spread of the corona virus.
People were told to avoid public areas, such as parks and public squares, but had little choice as they fled their residences.
Up to five people are allowed to be together while keeping a distance.
Health Minister Vili Beros warned people to keep a 2-meter (7-foot) “social distance” as requested by decrees passed by the government in an attempt to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
There are 235 corona virus cases confirmed so far in Croatia.
“Earthquakes are dangerous, but corona virus is even more so,” Beros said, as people rushed out of their homes to congregate in city parks.
Some of Zagreb residents disagreed.
”Earthquakes are more important than the coronavirus. If the earthquake hits, and you are under a door, you worry about yourself first and then the mask later,” Paul, a man from Peru who lives in Zagreb, told a local TV station.
He gave only his first name.
Plenkovic, the Prime Minister, urged citizens to remain calm and return to their homes where possible in the central parts of Zagreb, which sustained the most damage.
“We have two parallel crisis that contradict each other,” Plenkovic said after an emergency meeting of Croatia’s top officials.
Croatian soldiers wearing masks and carrying shovels could be seen helping efforts to clear the damage on the streets of Zagreb.
Top officials toured the damaged areas as some citizens criticized city authorities over the poor states of buildings in the old part of the city, some of which date to the 19th century.
“We will try to clear the streets as soon as possible,” the Prime Minister said.
“Stay outside your homes and keep a distance.”
Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said the situation was complicated by the restrictive virus-related measures in place.
“We face two simultaneous crises, one is unpredictable and the other is invisible,” Bozinovic said.
“There are rules for when there is an earthquake, but when there is an earthquake at the same time when there is a global pandemic, then it’s a much more complex situation,” he said.
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a nationwide lockdown starting Monday 06:00 a.m.
“It must be done in time before it is too late,” Mitsotakis announced on Greek television on Sunday and added:
“In the name of the common good, I proceed with this decision.
I have informed the President of the Republic and the leaders of political parties of my decision,” he said.
Mitsotakis thanked the overwhelming majority of people who understood the threat posed by the virus and stayed home.
“I will not, however, allow some frivolous, flippant people undermine the security of the many.
Because those few can harm thousands,” the Greek prime minister said.
All citizens are ordered to stay at home.
Exceptions are allowed for those needing to go to work and short trips to supermarkets, doctors, relatives in need, exercise (single or in pairs) or to walk their pet.
Specifically, Greek citizens must fill out and sign certain forms that will explain the reason they are outdoors.
The Ministry of the Interior is providing online all forms needed at forma.gov.gr and by text at 13033.
Specifically, all people who are outside must have their ID/passport on them.
They must have filled-out and signed forms of their place of residence and work.
People who commute to and from work must have a verification paper from their employer.
If they are freelancers, the must have a sworn statement signed by them and explain to their authorities where they are going.
A similar statement must be on hand if they visit a relative who is in need of help.
The same applies for visits to the supermarket, mini market, bakery and pharmacy.
If one needs to exercise outdoors, he must do so near his place of residence.
No more than two people can exercise or jog together.
The same applies to walking a pet.
Again, ID and a signed form are needed.
People returning to their permanent place of residence are exempt from the measure as they travel.
The move comes as health authorities earlier announced that two more people died on Sunday bringing the total number of fatalities to 15.
Confirmed cases have jumped to 624.
It is a response to many Greeks defying calls to stay at home.
Instead, over the last few days, thousands left Athens and other major cities for the countryside and the islands raising fears that they could spread the virus all over the country.
Spain’s death toll from corona virus soared to 1,720 on Sunday from 1,326 the day before, according to latest data from the Health Ministry.
The one-day rise in deaths of 394 was higher than the previous day’s increase of 324.
Spain is grappling with Europe’s second-worst corona virus outbreak.
The number of registered cases in the country rose to 28,572 on Sunday from 24,926 in the previous tally announced on Saturday, the official data showed.
Of those, 2,575 people have been cured of the virus, while 1,785 are hospitalized in intensive care units.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday that the government would do whatever was needed to combat the pandemic and warned that “the worst is yet to come”.
The Spanish government wants to extend for another 15 days a 15-day state of emergency it imposed on 14 March to try to curb the spread of the corona virus, multiple Spanish media outlets reported on Sunday.
London’s ExCeL centre will be turned into a makeshift 4,000-bed “field hospital” under NHS plans to cope when the peak of the corona virus epidemic leaves thousands fighting for their lives.
In a complex operation, the conference centre will be turned into a massive critical care unit far bigger than any such facility already in existence in any NHS hospital.
Staff will help those who are struggling to breathe, many of whom will be anaesthetised, intubated and put on a ventilator because their lungs have failed.
It will be staffed by a combination of military medical personnel and NHS staff.
NHS planners think they will need to press it into service in around a month’s time, when on current trends all the critical care beds in London hospitals are likely to be full, mainly with patients with Covid-19.
The plan to convert the ExCeL has been put together by senior NHS England officials who oversee services in London.
They are rushing to expand the availability of critical care beds in the capital, which has seen proportionately many more confirmed cases of corona virus, deaths from it and also people left in intensive care because of it than anywhere else in Britain.
“The ExCeL will become a field hospital of 4,000 critical care beds,” said one NHS official with knowledge of the plan.
“It will be staffed by military medics but it’s still unclear where all the nurses needed will come from.”
The venue, which opened in London’s Docklands in 2000, usually stages a wide range of conferences, trade fairs and sporting events, such as boxing matches.
NHS England London region planners have been forced to prepare to use the ExCeL as an auxiliary or overflow hospital because of the sheer number of people the virus will soon be leaving seriously ill.
They fear that, with the number of people left in intensive care with Covid-19 doubling across Britain every three or four days, such a dramatic move will be needed to save lives.
“Because it’s doubling everywhere every few days, and because London is two weeks ahead of the rest of the country in the severity of the impact of the disease, the ExCeL is part of the plan because that doubling means we aren’t going to have the beds,” the official added.
One intensive care consultant said the conversion would be difficult to achieve, given the scarcity of trained critical care staff and ventilators.
“That would be the biggest ICU on the planet.
I’m not sure how feasible this is, given how much equipment, power and facilities are required,” the medic said.
Some of the staff of the ExCeL field hospital may be those who usually work in private healthcare.
NHS England concluded a deal with the sector at the weekend for it to put its resources at the disposal of a health service that leading doctors privately fear may well be overwhelmed by what some have said will be a “tsunami” of people who cannot breathe because of the infection.
There is also speculation that the coming peak of the corona virus epidemic could force the NHS to also use the O2 concert arena, which is nearby, although across the Thames from the ExCeL.
Asked about the planned future use of the ExCeL, NHS England did not deny the plan.
In a statement the NHS England chief executive, Sir Simon Stevens, said:
“NHS staff are working round the clock gearing up to deal with this unprecedented global health threat.
As well as ramping up treatment capacity across all NHS hospitals, we’re getting on with other options too, including new facilities as well as a landmark deal with private hospitals which has put 20,000 staff, 8,000 beds and 1,200 ventilators at our disposal.
But it remains absolutely vital that this huge mobilisation by the NHS is matched by action from the public which means following medical advice to the letter – please stay at home to save lives.”
A government spokesperson confirmed:
“To assist NHS England to prepare for a number of scenarios as the coronavirus outbreak unfolds, a team of military planners visited the ExCeL centre in London to determine how the centre might benefit the NHS response to the outbreak.”
The ExCeL centre has 87,000 square metres of space, drive-in doorways, and a waiting area for 300 vehicles.
It is usually used as an exhibition and conference centre and was host to several events during the 2012 London Olympics.
The most significant set of restrictions on British life in living memory were set in place as the Prime Minister ordered people to stay in their homes.
Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown in a bid to stop the corona virus outbreak and warned that the police would be called in to enforce it.
A swathe of businesses were ordered to close as part of the measures.
With notable exceptions, retailers followed pubs and restaurants in being told to shut their doors after a weekend during which many people were still out and about, despite government pleas to isolate themselves.
There was widespread support for the measures – but there were also calls for greater clarity.
Both the Labour party, which has been calling for such measures, and trade unions largely united behind Boris Johnson as he took the drastic step in what he termed a time of “national emergency”.
But political and trade union opposition also called on No. 10 to offer the British people more detail on how, exactly, its plan will work.
UK death toll increases to 335.
The Department of Health and Social Care released its latest figures, showing that 6,650 people have tested positive for Covid-19 and 335 patients have died.
FCO advises all Britons abroad to return home while they still can.
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab said the million or so British people on holiday or working abroad should return home now – before the option to do so disappears altogether.
Emergency corona virus legislation passed the Commons.
The bill, which will hand ministers wide-ranging powers as they try to get a grip on the crisis, will pass to the Lords after MPs decided they could wave it through without the need for a vote.
Ghana’s Ministry of Local Government as part of government’s efforts to manage the spread of the deadly corona virus, has conducted a disinfection exercise in 136 markets and other commercial parts of the Greater Accra Region.
This comes after an announcement of a planned closure of markets in the city was made by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly to pave way for the exercise conducted today.
In an interview with http://www.ghanaweb.com, the Mayor of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, said the exercise which was conducted with the help of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service who were on hand to ensure public compliance with the one-day ban on commercial activities.
The fumigation exercise, the Mayor added 1,300 spraying officers dispatched to the various markets across the city for the exercise.
He indicated that the assembly expects the exercise to be completed by the close of today to ensure trading and commercial activities resume to normalcy from tomorrow morning.
On the safety of the general public relative to the chemicals being used in the exercise, the Mayor told GhanaWeb that chlorine was the active chemical being used for the disinfection, which makes it safe for activities to resume the next day without any fear of human reaction to the chemical.
“It’s a chlorine, that’s what I am told of and though it is not a toxic chemical, in an operational area for health and safety purposes, we need to provide the space and comfort for the people who are working to ensure that they get the right environment to do the work.
We don’t want any chaos so that’s why markets have been totally closed temporally for today and by tomorrow morning, God willing, business will start again.”
He said among other things that based on the advice and recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee instituted by the president in the fight against COVID-19, the assembly may embark on other exercises.
Speaking on the panic buying which caused markets in the city to be overcrowded between Friday and Sunday, Adjei Sowah said the situation was a result of the misinformation done by some persons who interpreted the one-day closure of markets as a total shutdown of the city.
South Africa will impose a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from midnight on Thursday to try to contain the corona virus outbreak, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday, as the number of confirmed cases jumped by 128 to 402.
Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation that South Africa needed to escalate its response dramatically to curb the spread of infection.
“From midnight on Thursday 26 March until midnight on Thursday 16 April, all South Africans will have to stay at home,” Ramaphosa said.
People will still be able to go out to seek medical care, buy food or collect a social grant.
“While this measure will have a considerable impact on people’s livelihoods, on the life of our society and on our economy, the human cost of delaying this action would be far, far greater.”
Ramaphosa said health workers, emergency personnel and security services would be among those exempt from the lockdown.
All shops and businesses will be closed except for pharmacies, laboratories, banks, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, supermarkets, petrol stations and healthcare providers.
Soldiers will be deployed to support the police, and international travellers who arrived in South Africa after 9 March from “high-risk” countries will be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day period of quarantine.
Furnaces and underground miners will be required to make arrangements for care and maintenance, which means operations stop but are kept in a condition to resume in future.
Ramaphosa said a first phase of the government’s economic response would include assisting businesses in distress and a package of more than 3 billion rand (£147.5 million) of funding for industrial firms.
South Africa has the most confirmed cases of corona virus in sub-Saharan Africa and public health experts are worried that it could overwhelm the health system if infection rates continue to rise.
The President earlier this month declared a national state of disaster over the virus, imposing travel bans affecting countries like China, Germany, Britain and the United States.
Elsewhere on the continent, Zimbabwe closed all its borders to human traffic except returning residents after reporting its first death from the coronavirus.
The government also banned public gatherings indefinitely.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, closed its land borders after also registering its first death.
Ethiopia also closed its land borders.
Kenya’s confirmed corona virus cases rose by one to 16.
Senegal’s tally rose by 12 to 79.
African finance ministers also called for a $100 billion stimulus package, including a suspension of debt service payments.
Tunisia’s President Kais Saied on Monday ordered the army to deploy in the streets to force people to respect a lockdown imposed to halt the spread of corona virus, the office of the presidency said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Tunisia has 89 confirmed cases of the virus.
It imposed a curfew last week and a general lockdown from Sunday that keeps people in their homes except to buy necessities.
As the number of new cases of the corona virus shows signs of abating in China, a smattering of cinemas re-opened in a handful of provinces across the country this weekend.
On Friday, there were 486 movie theaters back at work, while Saturday the total was upped to 507, local reports say.
This represents just 4.5% of the Middle Kingdom exhibition infrastructure and brought in an estimated $4,355 on Saturday, per ticketing platform.
The biggest concentration of cinema-goers was in Xinjiang which had previously been the site of the first movie theater to open since the mainland shuttered all screens in January.
The other provinces where theaters opened include Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Qinghai, Henan, Fujian and Guangdong.
These small steps to get China back up and running come at a time when the rest of the world’s movie theaters are essentially all closed for business.
Today, Australia became the latest major market to shutter its cinemas.
Still in operation to a degree are Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Korea and Japan, though each with limitations.
The expectation for China is that theatres will continue to come back online through the end of this month and into April with the overall theatrical re-opening happening in waves.
The first is the re-release of older local titles including Wolf Warrior 2, American Dreams In China, The Wandering Earth, Wolf Totem and the Lebanese pic Capernaum.
Chinese exhibitors will keep 100% of the box office on those titles, and have been encouraged to set attractive pricing while also respecting safety measures issued by Beijing.
Hollywood studios have also been approached to bring catalogue films back to the Middle Kingdom as it works to get back on its feet.
Last week, Warner Bros said a new 3D 4K version of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone was due to release, though a date has yet to be set.
A second wave of titles could come in mid-to-late-April, including Hollywood pics that were cleared pre-shutdown like 1917, Dolittle, Ford V Ferrari, Jojo Rabbit, Bad Boys For Life and Sonic the Hedgehog.
The hope is that business finds more stability in time for the 1 May holiday.
According to China Global Television, a recent survey by Sir Film found that most respondents do not have immediate plans to go to the cinema, largely citing fear of crowds and leaving home just yet, as well as a preference to wait for new movies to be released.
There were 39 new COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday, China’s National Health Commission said.
Each was imported to the mainland (rather than having been transmitted domestically) where the total number of confirmed cases is 81,093 with 3,270 deaths.
No international flights will be allowed to land in India from Sunday for a week, the government announced on Thursday escalating measures to fight the corona virus.
In a notice hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation, the government also urged work from home for most and said those below 10 and above 65 should stay home.
Corona virus cases in India climbed to 173 on Thursday after 18 new cases were reported.
To check the spread of the corona virus, which has claimed over 8,000 lives globally and infected more than two lakh, India had already suspended visas for the vast majority of foreigners seeking to enter the country.
Millions of people across the country stayed indoors, streets wore a deserted look and bare number of vehicles were on the road on Sunday in an unprecedented shutdown on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for a ‘Janata curfew‘ to help check the spread of the corona virus.
The Janata curfew (or People’s curfew) an effort to combat the corona virus spread, was introduced by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.
On 19 March 2020, the Prime Minister implored all citizens of India to observe a self-imposed ‘curfew’ from 7 am to 9 pm IST on Sunday, 22 March 2020 to help reduce community spreading of corona virus disease in India.
The Janata curfew was a 14 hour curfew (7am-9pm) that was scheduled for 22 March 2020.
Everyone except people of ‘essential services’ such as police, medical services, media, home delivery professionals and firefighters were needed to take part in the curfew.
At 5 pm (22 March 2020), all citizens were asked to stand in their doorways, balconies or windows, and clap their hands or ring their bells in appreciation for the professionals delivering these essential services.
People belonging to the National Cadet Corps and the National Service Scheme enforced the curfew across the country.
The Prime Minister also urged youth to inform ten others about the Janata curfew and encourage everyone to observe the curfew.
Some auto and taxi unions in Delhi stated that they would not be providing service during the Janata curfew.
Some states took further precautions like the shutdown of Metro trains, suburban trains, buses, trams and monorail services.
Tamil Nadu would not allow visitors in jails during the Janata curfew nor was fishing allowed.
Only employees who work for essential services were allowed to board local trains in Mumbai.
Rail service was cut back causing the cancellation of more then 3,700 trains.
These actions however will end on 31 March.
In the case of Telangana, while supporting the Prime Minister’s Janata curfew call, the Chief Minister of Telangana, K. Chandrashekar Rao appealed to the people of Telangana to stay indoors for 24 hours from 6 am on Sunday (22 March 2020) in order to contain the possible spread of the corona virus.
Misinformation that the government was spreading an “anti-corona” drug in the country during the Janata curfew went viral on social media.
Film actor Mohanlal and many others shared the fake news that the vibration generated by clapping together during the Janata curfew would kill the virus.
One viral message said that the lifetime of corona virus is only 12 hours and staying home for 14 hours during the Janata curfew would break the chain of transmission.
Another message claimed that observing the Janata curfew would result in the reduction of corona virus cases by 40%.
A tweet by Rajanikanth – an Indian film actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema – claiming that a 14-hour stay home can stop the corona virus disease going from “stage 2” to “stage 3” was classified as misinformation and was taken down by Twitter for violating community guidelines.
Amitabh Bachchan – an Indian film actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician – was heavily criticised for one of his tweets, which claimed vibrations from clapping and blowing conch shells as part of Sunday’s Janata Curfew would reduce or destroy corona virus potency as it was ‘amavasya’, the darkest day of the month.
Iraq on Sunday imposed a total nationwide lockdown until March 28 to fight the novel corona virus, as the number of cases grew and the death toll climbed to 20.
Tens of thousands of people flocked to a cauldron with the Olympic flame in northeastern Japan over the weekend despite concerns about the corona virus pandemic.
The flame arrived in Japan to a scaled-down welcoming ceremony on Friday as doubts grew over whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead on schedule as the deadly virus causes chaos around the world.
The pandemic has already shredded the global sports calendar, with top sports leagues suspended and major tournaments postponed.
More than 50,000 people on Saturday queued to watch the flame displayed at Sendai station in Miyagi, chosen as part of the “Recovery Olympics” to showcase the region’s revival after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown.
Some had to stay in a 500-metre (1,650-foot) queue for several hours, local media said.
Many of them wore masks as they took pictures with the cherry blossom-shaped cauldron.
“I queued for three hours but watching the Olympic flame was greatly encouraging,” a 70-year-old woman told public broadcaster NHK.
But organisers, concerned about the bigger-than-expected gathering, have warned the viewing event could be suspended if a crowd becomes “extremely dense”, local media reported.
The nationwide torch relay begins on 26 March, starting from the J-Village sports complex in Fukushima that was used as a base for workers during the 2011 nuclear disaster.
But organisers have been forced to scale back the relay, closing daily ceremonies to the public and urging spectators to “avoid forming crowds” along the route.
The death toll in Turkey due to the corona virus rose to 30, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said late on 22 March, after nine patients died of the highly contagious respiratory illness.
Koca said on Twitter that 20,345 tests had been conducted so far, 1,236 of which came back positive.
“We are losing new lives.
The number of cases is increasing.
But it should not be forgotten that we made as many tests as possible.
With every patient under treatment, we are preventing the epidemic,” Koca said.
The minister also urged people to stay at home.
“Let’s not take risks.
Life fits in the home,” he said.
Long-haul carrier Emirates said Sunday it has dramatically cut its passenger flight destinations from 145 locations to just 13 countries.
It’s a pivotal move that reflects the dramatic slowdown in traffic through the airline’s hub in Dubai, the world’s busiest international airport, due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
The state-owned carrier said it will keep flying to the US, the UK, Japan, Australia and Canada, among a few other select destinations.
The company had just hours earlier announced a suspension of all passenger flights, but said it reversed that decision after receiving requests from governments and customers to support the repatriation of travellers.
The United Arab Emirates, which is home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, has all but closed its borders to travellers with exceptions for those transiting through or for returning Emirati citizens.
The state-owned carrier said it will continue to operate cargo flights through its fleet of Boeing 777 freighters for the transport of essential goods, including medical supplies across the world.
It also said the company would reduce salaries for the majority of its employees for three months, but will not cut jobs.
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Airlines around the globe have greatly reduced their capacity in response to the pandemic and travel regulations.
Many carriers are struggling to cover their costs and pay salaries with their fleets grounded and countries shutting their borders to travellers.
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Only a handful have completely suspended flights, such as Royal Jordanian, which is conducting only cargo flights to comply with government regulations and entry bans.
Panama’s Copa Airlines announced Saturday that it has suspended all of its flights until late April.
Austrian Airlines also terminated its regular flights this week on a temporary basis.
But some suspensions are permanent, given the drop in demand:
Trans State Airlines, which had already planned to close by the end of the year, will cease operations in April because of the impact of the corona virus.
In the Middle East, airlines have lost more than $7 billion in revenue as of 11 March, according to the International Air Transport Association.
The group says 16,000 passenger flights have been cancelled in the Middle East since the end of January.
Emirates said in a statement it has tried to maintain passenger flights “for as long as feasible” to help travellers return home amid all the travel bans, restrictions and lockdowns.
Emirates Group CEO and Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum had said in an initial statement Sunday that the company found itself in a situation where it “cannot viably operate passenger services until countries re-open their borders and travel confidence returns.”
He described the situation as “an unprecedented crisis” and said “the world has literally gone into quarantine” due to the virus and the illness it causes, called COVID-19, which has infected more than 300,000 people around the world.
Most people only experience minor flu-like symptoms and recover within a few weeks, but the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those who appear well.
It can cause severe illness, including pneumonia and even death in some patients, particularly in the elderly and those with underlying health problems.
Al Maktoum said the company was doing well financially at the start of the year, but the impact from the virus “has brought all that to a sudden and painful halt over the past six weeks.”
Emirates Group, which also operates an airport ground services company called dnata at locations around the world, had previously urged employees to take paid and unpaid leave.
Basic salaries for the majority of Emirates Group employees were being reduced for three months, with cuts ranging from 25-50%.
The company said employees will continue to be paid other allowances during this time.
Junior-level employees would be exempt from the basic salary reduction.
The president of Emirates, Tim Clark, and the president of dnata, Gary Chapman, will take a full basic salary cut for three months.
Emirates posted profits in its most recent fiscal year of $237 million, down from $762 million the year before.
The airline’s aggressive expansion and growth helped transform its hub at Dubai International Airport into the world’s busiest for international passengers.
Emirates carried around 58 million passengers last year.
Three days after the 2020 AFL premiership began, the season has officially been postponed until 31 May, the game’s chief executive officer, Gillon McLachlan, has confirmed.
McLachlan told to the media this afternoon clubs had been notified the season had been temporarily shut down.
“Today, after a meeting with the AFL commission, the AFL has moved to immediately suspend the 2020 Toyota AFL premiership season,” he said.
“We will conclude the NAB AFL women’s season as a result of the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“Today’s match in Perth between the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne will be the final match before the AFL season goes into a temporary halt.
Games will be suspended until 31 May 2020.”
McLachlan suggested the AFL competition could resume later than 31 May, depending on shifting circumstances in this “unprecedented” global health crisis.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Sunday morning that all non-essential travel would be cancelled, sparking discussion about whether the AFL classified as “essential” or not.
However, after South Australia revealed its borders would close from 4 pm Tuesday, it quickly became apparent the competition could not continue.
“The decision by various state governments to close their borders and travel bans and other measures meant it was time to immediately stop the AFLW and AFL competitions,” McLachlan said.
“All AFL club training will be suspended while we work with the clubs on the best way to manage players ahead of games being resumed.”
McLachlan also claimed the game was facing “the biggest financial crisis in AFL history”, but drastic measures needed to cut costs will be detailed in next 48 hours.
“Our key priority is to do everything possible to keep players, staff and supporters healthy and well through this pandemic,” he said.
“Our industry provides livelihoods for thousands and thousands of people, but our key focus at the moment, like every organisation in the country, is to do everything that needs to be done to slow the spread of this virus – to keep people as healthy as possible.
“To say that this is the most serious threat to our game in 100 years is an understatement. It is unprecedented in its impact.”
“I know that everyone involved in our game and our millions of supporters will be impacted by this decision,” McLachlan told reporters on Sunday.
“Many people will suffer significant hardship as are people right across our community.
“I want to thank the whole football community including broadcast and corporate partners of the AFL and our clubs and members, our supporters for their support and their understanding in what has been an unprecedented time in the game’s history.
“I especially want to thank our staff who have been tireless in working with everyone across football through this issue.
The only way that footy can find a way through is to continue to be agile, flexible and most importantly united.
“There are no winners today.”
A Channel 7 spokesperson released a statement following McLachlan’s announcement.
“We fully support the decision of the AFL to suspend the season, in the interest of player and community health and safety.
While we’re as disappointed as anyone else, we’ll work with the AFL and our partners to understand best next steps,” the statement read.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday morning all non-essential travel would be cancelled, sparking discussion about whether the AFL classifies as “essential” or not.
“We are moving immediately to recommend against all non-essential travel in Australia,” Morrison said.
“All non-essential travel should be cancelled.
“Essential travel, what we are referring to is work-related travel that could be essential, it could be compassionate grounds, but also, when it comes to essential supplies and other important arrangements needed to keep Australia running.”
The government will have zero tolerance for people ignoring these restrictions, and police will be used to enforce them if required.
A doctor has warned that increasing numbers of New Zealanders returning from overseas have corona virus symptoms and have likely been exposed to the virus.
Dr Kelvin Ward, an urgent care physician who on Sunday called on the government to trigger a level 4 lockdown of the country, said multiple returning New Zealanders had called his clinic concerned about Covid-19 symptoms.
“On Saturday and Sunday and Monday morning we were in contact with 23 NZ residents who had recently returned from overseas and who met the criteria to be swabbed for a Covid-19 test,” Ward said.
Currently, New Zealanders must self isolate for 14 days upon returning home, but this is not strictly enforced.
New Zealanders returning from Wuhan on a special chartered flight in February were placed in mandatory quarantine at Whangaparāoa Navy base.
Ward said the government needed to think about mandatory quarantine like this for returning Kiwis, given the chance that someone could break self-isolation and spread the virus.
“Why are we not quarantining these people when they’re coming from areas of the world that are being devastated by this thing?” Ward asked.
He was also concerned that many people returning from overseas would go through a hub like Auckland or Christchurch before transferring onto the domestic network of flights, potentially spreading the disease further.
Corona beers were clinked and the hand sanitiser flowed as one Auckland couple enjoyed a last-minute wedding before the country went into lockdown.
Lily and James Balderston were due to marry on 18 April, but decided to bring the date forward to 4 April as the Covid-19 outbreak worsened.
“Originally it was going to be 140 people in a field out in Wainui – we both work in the event industry so we had lots of big plans,” said Lily Balderston.
Then came Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement on Monday that New Zealand would be going into lockdown for a minimum of four weeks.
“We were like, let’s just do it.”
The couple scrambled to put together a small ceremony at home with their parents and siblings.
A friend baked them a cake, while Lily’s mum worked into the night to finish making her wedding dress.
The ceremony was livestreamed on Facebook for all the guests who couldn’t be there.
They would now spend their “honeymoon” self-isolating in their one-bedroom flat for the next four weeks.
“It will be a good test.”
Sarah and Nigel Stevenson and their three children Libby, Ashlyn and Cooper are halfway through 14 days of self-isolation after returning home to Auckland from Sydney.
Now the rest of the country is joining them in staying home.
So what have they learnt?
“Much as staying in your pyjamas all day is a nice idea, you do need to get on with things and try to have a normal life,” says Sarah.
“I’ve not been bored, but there’s certainly parts of the house which have never been cleaned before which have had a good clean.”
Canada began to shut down on Monday.
Both Québec and Ontario announced that non-essential businesses would shut down by midnight Tuesday.
“Québec will be on hold for three weeks,” said Québec Premier François Legault.
Provincial and territorial premiers were expected to hold a telephone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday evening to discuss further measures to contain the spread.
In a pair of back-to-back press conferences, Québec and Ontario — the two most populous provinces in the country — announced there would soon be full shutdowns of non-essential businesses as health officials grapple with the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus that has sickened more than 1,400 people in Canada and killed 20.
“This was a very, very tough decision, but it is the right decision,” said Premier Doug Ford, looking ashen at an early afternoon press conference.
“This is not the time for half-measures, this decision was not made lightly.”
Ford, who sounded frustrated at those who are flouting advisories to remain at home and instead of going out socializing, said further details — including essential versus non-essential designations — on the shutdown would be announced Tuesday, and that the 36-hour heads up would give business time to prepare.
A news release hinted at what would remain open, such as shops that sell necessities such as groceries and medicine.
Premier Ford’s order will be in effect for 14 days, he said, with the possibility of an extension.
More than 500 cases have been identified in Ontario, and six people have died.
A short while later, Toronto Mayor John Tory declared a state of emergency, which allows him to sidestep council in implementing unspecified measures down the road.
In Québec, 45 people are in hospital, 20 of them in intensive care; there was a jump of 409 cases from Sunday to Monday, with the provincial total reaching 628.
Québec public health director Horacio Arruda said Quebecers must stay home.
“I am not trying to scare people but it’s a question of life and death,” Arruda said.
The Quebec government said a full list of essential businesses would be published soon, but grocery stores, pharmacies, the news media and restaurant take-out/delivery were mentioned as essential.
The business shutdown will remain in place until at least 13 April, Premier Legault said.
Nunavut also banned non-residents and non-critical workers from entering the territory, beginning Tuesday at 11:59 p.m., and even then, they’ll only be allowed home after a 14-day isolation in the south, and when they are symptom-free.
The announcements came just hours after Nova Scotia put in place border controls for those coming into the province by sea, land and air, saying they would be stopped and told to self-isolate for 14 days; the province had declared a state of emergency on Sunday.
“We have no choice but to call upon the police and law enforcement agency to enforce self-isolation and social distancing,” said Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey.
Also over the weekend, the Northwest Territories was the first jurisdiction to slam shut its borders to non-residents, after the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed.
Yukon, which has two cases, has strongly advised against non-essential travel in and out of the province.
Elsewhere, British Columbia Premier John Horgan announced a $5 billion financial plan to help float the economy forward.
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Premier Jason Kenney, speaking at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton, announced tax relief for business to stay liquid during the crisis.
He also slammed scammers and hoarders, demanding that people stop such activities, and hinting that fierce penalties might be put in place if people continue to flout isolation orders.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Trudeau gave his sternest warning to date, speaking to the media outside of his home in Ottawa one day before parliamentarians return to address emergency legislation.
“We’ve all seen the pictures online of people who seem to think they’re invincible. Well, you’re not,” Trudeau said.
“Enough is enough.
Go home and stay home.
This is what we all need to be doing and we’re going to make sure this happens, whether by educating people more on the risks, or by enforcing the rules, if that’s needed.”
A prison riot in Colombia’s capital Bogota late on Saturday left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the justice minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of the corona virus.
Thirty-two injured prisoners are hospitalized, Justice Minister Margarita Cabello said in a video, while seven prison guards were also injured.
Two guards are in critical condition.
The Andean country will enter a nationwide lockdown meant to stem infections from Tuesday night.
So far 231 people have been confirmed infected with the disease and two have died.
“Today is a very sad and painful day,” Cabello said.
“Last night there was a mass criminal escape attempt at the El Modelo prison and riots in various detention centers around the country.”
Graphic cell phones videos were posted to social media late on Saturday showing what appeared to be the inside of the prisons.
Some showed small fires, others injured prisoners and guards.
In one video, a man says the incarcerated have been “abandoned like dogs” amid the virus outbreak.
No prisoners escaped during the riots, Cabello said.
“There is not any sanitary problem that would have caused this plan and these riots.
There is not one infection nor any prisoner or custodial or administrative staffer who has corona virus.”
The office of the human rights ombudsman called on the government to declare a prison emergency which could allow early release for older prisoners.
“This way there could be exceptional circumstances that would facilitate releases and temporary rules for those over 60 and with sentences of up to eight years,” the office said on Twitter.
Colombia’s 132 prisons have an 81,000-inmate capacity, but house more than 121,000 prisoners, according to figures from the Justice Ministry.
The second Colombian to die from corona virus was a 70-year-old woman in the city of Cali, the health ministry said on Sunday.
Her daughter arrived in Colombia from Cuba, where she had been in contact with a person from the United States who is positive for the virus.
The daughter currently has a cough, the ministry said in a statement, while the victim’s 74-year-old husband is hospitalized and positive for the virus.
Inmates’ fears that prison guards are not doing enough to prevent coronavirus outbreaks inside Colombia’s notoriously overcrowded and unhygienic prisons turned violent on Saturday.
According to media, violence broke out in the prisons of Ibague, Jamundi and Combita, in two prisons in Medellin and in another two in the capital Bogota.
Videos posted on social media showed that fire had broken out in Bogota’s La Modelo prison.
Neighbors told newspaper El Espectador they heard explosions and shots from inside the prison.
Newspaper El Espectador said it had heard Whatsapp messages from one prison guard requesting armed reinforcement as the situation had spiraled out of control.
Because the riots broke out almost simultaneously, security forces secured the neighborhoods around the prison presuming that the protests and riots could be a coordinated prison break.
Following the riots, inmates released multiple statements, demanding government action that would allow vulnerable and non-violent prisoners to be granted house arrest, reduce the prisoners’ inhumane living conditions and reduce the risk of infections with the corona virus.
We find ourselves with limited spaces, sleeping one on top of the other and vulnerable to the spread of diseases and the transmission of viruses or bacteria because of the hygiene.
The ombudsman’s office offered to mediate between the inmates and the prison guards to seek a solution.
Senator Rodrigo Lara urged Justice Minister Margarita Cabello on Friday to immediately grant house arrest to non-violent prisoners and inmates older than 60, and release them from the prisons that are effectively square petri dishes.
Overcrowded conditions are subhuman, very difficult and precarious and prisons are a vector for all diseases.
If we don’t take action now, we are going to have a prison crisis with great consequences.
Lara told weekly Semana that the minister had told him the government was already considering measures after reports of prison riots in Brazil and Iran.
Prisons in the US began releasing vulnerable prisoners on Thursday after prison reform advocates indicated that inmates are at increased risk of infection.
Colombia’s justice minister took no action, however, and prisons turned into war zones on Saturday as predicted.
Colombia’s overcrowded prisons were among the first to go into quarantine after the virus was detected in Colombia, which included a visitors’ ban.
Inmates, however, have no confidence in the prison guards of INPEC, the country’s notoriously corrupt prison authority, who are exempt from any quarantine measures.
A massive funding package to combat the impact of corona virus did not get enough votes in a key Senate procedural vote Sunday evening.
The stalemate came hours after Democratic leaders warned that the bill did too much to bail out companies and not enough to help workers.
Stock futures cratered as the two parties failed to agree on the terms of the package.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lambasted the Democrats.
“We’re fiddling with the emotions of the American people, fiddling with the markets, fiddling with our health care,” he said.
“Step up,” he added.
“Help us reach an agreement so we can do what needs to be done for the American people no later than tomorrow.”
The final vote tally was 47-47, well short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill.
Republicans hold a 53-47 edge in the chamber, although several GOP senators, including Rand Paul, who had tested positive for the corona virus, were not present to vote.
Others, such as Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, were in quarantine as a precaution.
President Donald Trump was decidedly optimistic in a corona virus task force press briefing Sunday that was unfolding as senators voted.
“I think you’ll get there,” he said.
Senate Republicans last week rolled out a roughly $1 trillion proposal after working closely with the administration in a bid to slow the potentially catastrophic impact of the corona virus on the economy.
As on Monday, more than 35,000 have tested positive for the illness in the United States, a number that is expected to surge as more tests are distributed.
The bill included small business loans, direct payments for individuals and billions in aid for industries like airlines whose businesses have been hit hard by the virus and efforts to stop its spread.
Republicans had hoped to come to a deal with Democrats by Monday.
Hospitals, workers, companies and states have all warned they need more resources.
The airline industry, which is expecting financial relief from the bill, has raised continued alarm that without getting money fast, it could face dire outcomes.
The pressure to forge a deal and pass the bill took on added urgency as several members of Congress have tested positive for the corona virus.
But negotiations that carried through the weekend had hit a sour note by Sunday afternoon.
Democrats had already been frustrated that Senate Republicans drafted a bill with the administration, excluding them from the proposed bill’s original formation.
“From my standpoint, we’re apart,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters earlier Sunday.
“Leader McConnell had to postpone his 3 p.m. cloture vote on the motion to proceed because, thanks to Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, he did not have the 60 votes required,” Pelosi said in a statement Sunday.
Democrats on Sunday called out a number of issues they had with the bill, including a $500 billion fund to support “severely distressed business.”
That includes $58 billion for passenger and cargo airlines and $17 billion for businesses critical to maintaining national security, according to a draft bill obtained by CNBC.
A previous draft bill allocated $150 billion for distressed businesses, in addition to $58 billion for airlines and cargo carriers.
The bill gave considerable authority to the Treasury to implement that fund.
It offered concessions to Democrats like a ban on stock buybacks for companies that receive federal aid while a loan is outstanding and maintaining payroll “to the extent practicable,” but some worried those stipulations weren’t strong enough.
One Democratic aide said opponents believe the bill gave Treasury the power to waive the ban on buybacks.
Other protections for workers and aid for hospitals were also not included.
“In the midst of an unprecedented national crisis, Republicans can’t seriously expect us to tell people in our communities who are suffering that we shortchanged hospitals, students, workers, and small businesses but gave big corporations hundreds of billions of dollars in a secretive slush fund,” said Senator Patty Murray, whose home state of Washington is one of the hardest hit by the disease.
Murray is ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
The panel is pushing for a number of additions, including more funding for hospitals and medical equipment.
It also wants the Department of Labor to create a regulatory standard protecting front-line workers, like nurses, during health crises.
The Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee previously criticized the Republican draft bill for “lack of supplemental funding for federal, state and local response.”
Airline companies were also disappointed in the bill, which offered aid primarily in the form of loans and guarantees, rather than the mix of cash grants and loans they have sought.
The bill also left open the possibility of the government participating in the gains of its loans, including through warrants, stock options or equity.
Trump has he would not be opposed to taking an equity stake in companies to which the government extends aid.
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The CEOs of American, Delta, Southwest, United and other airlines said Saturday the industry would have to furlough workers without $29 billion in “worker payroll protection grants.”
If they receive that amount in that form, they said, they wouldn’t furlough employees through 31 August.
Executives over the last week have sent out a series of grim letters to employees and congressional leadership, saying if the government doesn’t act fast, it could cost jobs.
Several unions also came out against the bill, urging more specific provisions to protect jobs.
“The Machinists will not support any relief package that does not put airline workers first,” said Machinists union President Robert Martinez Jr.
The union represents some 140,000 airline workers.
“Unlike the bank bailout, the airline industry did not create this crisis.”
Republican senators say they don’t expect a vote on a $2 trillion stimulus package until Wednesday as negotiators continue to refine language in the sprawling bill.
One senior Republican senator said “legislative drafting is going to go late into the night.”
A second lawmaker said the emerging consensus within the Senate GOP conference is that while a miracle might happen and a vote is possible tonight, it’s more likely that it occurs Wednesday.
GOP leaders are giving colleagues guidance that a vote is most likely Wednesday daytime even though some rank-and-file members want to vote after midnight to give employers guidance as quickly as possible about what assistance they can expect from Washington.
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have a deal mostly worked out but putting conceptual agreements into legislative text has turned into a time-consuming process.
Schumer told reporters Monday evening “we expect to have a deal in the morning” but by 5 p.m. Tuesday he had yet to announce it was done.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an MSNBC interview that she expects the Senate to vote Wednesday, although she observed a Tuesday vote would “hasten” getting legislation to President Trump’s desk.
“I don’t know if they can vote today,” she said.
“You have to put in legislative language.”
She said “what I was hearing is that there’s one possibility that if they reached agreement today, they would vote tomorrow.”
Pelosi said the precise drafting of language is critical to finalizing a deal.
“It’s one thing to say we agree in principle.
It’s another thing to see the language,” she said.
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Senator Bernie Sanders was declared the winner of the Democrats Abroad primary on Monday, nearly two weeks after American voters living outside of the US cast their final ballots.
More than 58% of the votes cast went to Sanders.
Former Vice President Joe Biden received 23%.
Sanders was awarded nine of the 13 delegates at stake in the primary, and Biden received the other four.
Sanders walked away with 69% of the vote in the primary four years ago, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won 30%.
Biden is widely seen as the likely 2020 Democratic nominee given his massive delegate lead over Sanders.
However, it could still take a number of contests for the former vice president to win enough delegates to officially clinch the nomination.
The corona virus outbreak has caused a number of states, including Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Connecticut and Kentucky, to postpone their primaries.
Biden’s campaign has since gone virtual and has taken to tele-town halls, online fundraising events and daily briefings on the crisis surrounding the virus.
Sanders’s campaign has said he will reassess his campaign but has yet to drop out of the race.
The Tokyo Olympics are to be postponed until 2021 after talks between Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and the International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, led to confirmation of a decision made inevitable by the coronavirus pandemic.
Abe said they had established that cancelling the Games was out of the question, and that Bach had agreed “100%” that a postponement was the most appropriate response to the global disruption.
“We agreed that a postponement would be the best way to ensure that the athletes are in peak condition when they compete and to guarantee the safety of the spectators,” Abe told reporters shortly after his conference call with Bach, adding that the Games would be held by the summer of 2021.
The Games “must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community”, the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee said later in a joint statement.
The Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will continue to be called the “Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020” even when they are held next year, and the Olympic flame will stay in Japan “as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times”.
Some IOC members have already raised the prospect of a “cherry blossom”
Games next April, however it is more likely that they will be staged in July 2021 when there are fewer sporting events due to take place.
World Athletics has already indicated that it will be happy to shift its 2021 championships, which are due to take place in Eugene to 2022, and Fina, the organisers of the 2021 swimming world championships, in Japan next July, have said they will also follow suit.
The postponement is a blow to the host country, which has spent more than $12bn on the event, while huge sums are also at stake for sponsors and broadcasters.
Goldman Sachs estimated this month that Japan would lose $4.5bn (550bn yen) in inbound and domestic consumption in 2020 if the Olympics did not take place as planned.
But the host nation greeted the IOC’s decision to postpone the Games by up to a year with a mixture of disappointment and resignation.
Opinion polls taken before the announcement indicated that the Japanese public had already accepted that Tokyo 2020 would be sport’s biggest victims of the corona virus pandemic.
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According to a Kyodo news poll last week, almost 70% of respondents said they did not expect the Games to go ahead this summer.
One Twitter user reacted with humour, posting an image of the “new” Tokyo 2020 logo with the zero crossed out in traditional Japanese style, its replacement numeral verified by the personal seals of the organising committee head Yoshiro Mori, Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike and Abe.
Others voiced disappointment that they would have to wait another year to watch their favourite athletes compete in Tokyo.
“I’ve been looking forward to the Olympics and feel like crying,” one user tweeted.
“But I understand it’s inevitable under the circumstances.
My heart goes out to the athletes who have been striving to make the Olympics over the past four years – or even six-and-a-half years since Tokyo was chosen as the host city.”
Yuji Ota, vice president of the Japan Fencing Federation, thanked everyone who had been involved in the Olympic preparations, telling them in a post:
“What you have done means a lot.”
He added:
“But first we have to get through the corona virus.
Health must come first.”
Benoît Vêtu, the head coach of the Japan track cycling team, said the IOC had made the right decision.
“It’s only just been announced, so I don’t know exactly how the riders feel about it, but we’ll discuss it in the morning during training,” Vêtu told the Guardian.
“I know for sure that they will stay motivated for another year.
We have a very big group with some talented riders, and now they have an extra year to keep improving.”
The decision was welcomed by the British Olympic Association’s chief executive, Andy Anson, who said the organisers had no choice but to cancel the Games.
“It is with profound sadness that we accept the postponement, but in all consciousness it is the only decision we can support, in light of the devastating impact Covid-19 is having on our nation, our communities and our families,” he said.
“It is time for them to stop thinking about Tokyo 2020 for now and be home and safe with their families.
It would have been unthinkable for us to continue to prepare for an Olympic Games at a time the nation and the world no less is enduring great hardship.
A postponement is the right decision.”
Sally Munday, the CEO of UK Sport, the Olympics and Paralympics funding body, promised to fully support British athletes and coaches amid the uncertainty of a “distressing period”.
“We also realise that today’s decision has significant financial implications for our high-performance system and we are working hard to identify the wide-ranging impacts and scenarios, and are in close contact with government to establish how best to support our summer Olympic and Paralympic sports and athletes to be ready for the Games when they do take place.”
Athletes were disappointed but broadly endorsed the delay, given health risks and disruption to their training as gyms, stadia and swimming pools shut down around the world.
“Waited eight years for this, what’s another one in the grand scheme of things?” Britain’s world champion heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson wrote.
“As an athlete, it’s heartbreaking news about the Olympics being postponed until 2021, but it’s for all the right reasons and the safety of everyone!
Stay indoors!”
However teenage Swedish pole vault world record holder Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, who was expected to be one of the stars of the Games, was more downbeat.
“It’s a bummer, it’s a bummer that I won’t be able to compete in the Olympics this year, but you have to understand the situation, understand that some things are a little bigger than sport, and I guess we’ll have it next year.”
The Games have never before been postponed in this way, but they were cancelled in 1916 and 1940 – the latter also a planned Tokyo Games – and 1944, during the First and Second World Wars.
So, why go to the trouble of recording all this down?
Why bother reading all that has been recorded?
Why and how does…..
…..matter?
They matter because they show mankind in all of humanity’s hubris and hope, folly and faith.
For millennia, mankind has remained uncertain of whether God exists.
And yet we pray.
We believe an invisible deity watches over everyone and that clapping might change everything.
A disease is ravaging our nations, invisible and invincible.
And yet we fool ourselves into thinking that all our planning will somehow save us from the inevitable.
We read of ever-worsening conditions in places near and far.
And for the briefest of moments we forget our political, national and religious differences and we help one another against disease and disaster.
We lock up and shut down.
We close up and close down.
We disinfect our streets and defend our borders.
We keep planes on the ground and citizens at home.
We throw money around in the foolish notion that we will live beyond tomorrow.
Babies are still being conceived and born.
Death is grappled with our final breath.
There is no certain future.
And yet couples marry, families huddle together, sporting events are merely postponed, theatres dare to reopen.
These are strange times and yet we find ways to adapt.
We fight for our lives in the face of death.
We demand our dignity in the face of fear.
And even though all is vanity and everything folly.
We fight, we struggle, we hope.
What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason
How infinite in faculty, in form and moving
How express and admirable in action
How like an angel in apprehension
How like a god…..
Who persuaded man that this admirable moving of Heaven’s vaults, that the eternal light of these lamps so fiercely rolling over his head, that the horror-moving and continual motion of this infinite vast ocean were established, and continue so many ages solely for his commodity and service?
Is it possible to imagine so ridiculous as this miserable and wretched creature, which is not so much as master of himself, exposed and subject to offences of all things, and yet dares call himself master and emperor of his own destiny?
We are such loveable fools.
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Swiss News
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 17 March 2020 (St. Patrick’s Day / Lockdown Day #1)
At first glance, a day into the corona virus lockdown in Switzerland, things don’t seem so unnatural.
The sun rose as it should, birds sing as they do, Highway 13 has cars driving to work.
But my wife and I will soon discover once we venture out of our apartment – we haven’t reached the Italian or Chinese stage of being forbidden to leave our homes yet – what we can and cannot do.
We have been told that the Lockdown in Switzerland will endure until 19 April.
Fifteen kilometres to the west of Landschlacht, the German city of Konstanz will be in lockdown until mid-June.
Above: Rheinturm, Konstanz
The Swiss government yesterday declared a state of emergency lasting until 19 April in a bid to combat the corona virus pandemic.
“A strong reaction is needed across the country.
And we need it now,” Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga told a press conference.
All shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure facilities are to shut down, with the exception of grocery stores, pharmacies and health facilities.
Above: Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga
Switzerland will also tighten its border controls with Germany, France and Austria at midnight (2300 GMT), having already ramped up restrictions at the southern border with hard-hit northern Italy.
Only Swiss citizens, Swiss residents and people traveling to Switzerland for business are allowed to enter the Alpine nation.
The government also approved the use of up to 8,000 troops to support the regional cantons in their hospitals, logistics and security.
This represents the largest army mobilisation since World War II.
Infections in Switzerland jumped on Sunday by nearly 1,000 cases in 24 hours to 2,200 and 14 deaths were recorded from the virus across the country.
“Given the accelerating spread of the corona virus, the Federal Council is further strengthening measures to protect the population.“, the government said in a statement.
“It reclassifies the situation in Switzerland as an ‘extraordinary situation’ which enables it to enact national measures, that is to say identical for all the cantons.”
The country has 26 cantons.
“All public or private events are prohibited from midnight tonight.
“All shops, markets, restaurants, bars, entertainment and leisure establishments such as museums, libraries, cinemas, concert halls, theatres, sports centres, swimming pools and ski areas are closed.”
Food shops, petrol stations, hotels, banks and post offices are among the facilities that will remain open.
Only businesses providing essential goods to the population – such as grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies, banks and post offices – are to remain open.
“We know that this decision disrupts the daily life of our country.”, said Interior Minister Alain Berset, warning that the situation would get worse before it gets better.
Above: Interior Minister Alain Berset
The new measures are in place until 19 April.
Hospitals and clinics must stay open but only for necessary procedures.
The authorities advised that individuals at higher risk of complications from the virus – “vulnerable populations” – must work from home or be put on paid leave when that is not possible.
On the education front, schools will be closed nationwide until 19 April.
Childcare centres may only be closed by the cantons if other suitable childcare facilities are available.
Meanwhile, the Swiss Federal Railways are suspending international services and reducing their domestic services.
Connections between larger towns will be available every hour rather than every 30 minutes.
Switzerland’s government announced Friday that it would make $10.5 billion available immediately to help companies and employees to make it through the crisis.
(I doubt whether income-dependent gastronomy workers will see a single Rappen.)
Earlier on Monday, Geneva declared a “state of necessity” due to the corona virus global pandemic, shutting bars and restaurants and limiting gatherings to just five people.
Geneva, home to many international institutions, including the United Nations’ headquarters in Europe and the World Health Organization, banned non-work gatherings of more than five people both indoors or outdoors.
Above: Geneva (Genf / Genève)
“The council took strong restrictive measures this morning to make haste. Geneva will be in semi-containment.“, Canton Council President Antonio Hodgers told a press conference.
Above: Antonio Hodgers
Shops, restaurants and bars were to close on Monday at 18:00 hours (1700 GMT) until 29 March.
Cinemas, theatres, sports centres and all other entertainment outlets will be shut.
Hotels, food shops, pharmacies, fuel stations and small kiosks will remain open along with food markets.
Only businesses providing essential goods to the population – such as grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies, banks and post offices – are to remain open.
“We know that this decision disrupts the daily life of our country.”, said Interior Minister Alain Berset, warning that the situation would get worse before it gets better.
Postal and banking services can remain open, as well as outlets offering take-away or delivery food, though hairdressers, barbers and prostitutes were among those told to shut down activities.
“Meetings of more than five people inside and outside are now prohibited.“, the cantonal authorities said in a statement.
Professional meetings can go ahead as long as state social distancing and hygiene guidelines can be respected.
The total of confirmed infections is at more than 2,000 as of Sunday 15 March on the basis of reporting from cantonal authorities.
The total jumped by over 1,000 – the largest single day rise since the crisis began.
As it stands, 13 people have now died of the virus.
Most victims were elderly people with pre-existing health conditions.
Above: The number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Switzerland broken down by cantons – the darker the canton, the more cases
The Swiss government said on Sunday 16 March, that the public should not give into fear over the virus.
Since the first case of Covid-19 was announced in Ticino on 25 February, other cases have been confirmed throughout the country.
On Tuesday 10 March, officials in Ticino prohibited visits to retirement homes as a way of protecting the most vulnerable from the spread of the virus.
Ticono has 261 cases of the corona virus.
Above: Canton Ticino
On Monday 9 March, authorities in Zürich said every doctor in the canton was now equipped to test for the virus.
Zürich has 148 cases of the corona virus.
Swiss health chiefs have said emergency measures will likely be rolled out across the cantons.
In all, 23 out of Switzerland’s 26 cantons have declared cases of the corona virus.
Above: Basel Children’s Hospital
The virus has already made an impact on the Swiss economy, with experts suggesting that healthcare spending is likely to rise to CHF1.7 billion as a result.
Health authorities report that most of the patients are doing well.
Several patients have been released after recovering fully from the virus.
Authorities have been careful to remind people not to panic, even if they feel symptoms.
“In most cases, the disease is mild and harmless.”, said Daniel Koch, head of the communicable diseases division at the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
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Above: The Federal Office of Public Health
The Swiss government has categorised the situation in the country as “special”, under the terms of the Epidemics Act.
This has allowed authorities to take over certain powers from the cantons and put certain measures in place across the country like banning large events.
Given the speed with which Covid-19 is spreading, the Swiss government is preparing to face a wide range of scenarios.
As of 15 March, among nations with at least one million citizens, Switzerland has the world’s 2nd highest per capita rate of positive corona virus cases at 256.2 cases per million people.
“What is true today may no longer be true the day after tomorrow,” Health Minister Alain Berset told Le Matin Dimanche on Sunday.
“There will be more cases, it is clear.“, he said, adding that the most important measure is to contain the evolution of the epidemic.
In an interview with the Sonntags Zeitung, Berset stressed that each person must follow precautionary measures, in particular by avoiding handshakes and kisses.
People are also be asked to reduce contact with each other, through “social distancing measures.”, Koch said.
Europe is the latest frontline in the global effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Several countries – including Italy, Spain and France – have already imposed stringent lockdowns in a bid to halt the disease.
In that context, some criticised the government for being slow to react.
“Faced with the sluggish reaction of certain political authorities and the complacency of the media, anger is brewing within the Swiss community of doctors, caregivers, scientists and other specialists who are called upon to help our population face the COVID-19 cataclysm,” Didier Trono, professor at the virology and genetics laboratory at the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), told Swiss public television, RTS.
Bertrand Kiefer, director of the Swiss Medical Review, took to Twitter to denounce the fact that the Swiss government has given up on testing all suspected cases.
“Now we don’t know the reality of the epidemic.”, he said.
The government appears to have taken such criticism to heart.
It also said on Monday it was changing its approach to testing now that Switzerland has the resources to test more people.
People showing a few symptoms are now eligible for testing, not just those displaying severe symptoms that require hospitalisation.
Local aid groups, organised by citizens or charity associations, are popping up in Switzerland in an effort to help those most vulnerable to the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The groups have been appearing for weeks, ever since the numbers infected by the coronavirus began to rise and Ticino became the first canton to impose strict measures.
At first, many of the groups – especially on Facebook – were about offering accommodation for Italian cross-border workers, especially those in the medical or healthcare sector.
Now, hundreds more such informal groups, mainly organised on WhatsApp or Facebook, are offering help to senior citizens across the country, who have been strongly advised to stay at home during the unfolding crisis.
Such vulnerable people are especially in need of practical help – such as with shopping for basic goods – and emotional or communicative support, so as not to become isolated.
One such initiative, Gärn Gschee – Basel Hilft (You’re welcome – Basel helps), enables older people to write a post outlining what they need help with, then others to offer their services.
“I’m looking for help collecting an order of 2.6kg of artichokes from the market.”, wrote a 74-year-old woman.
Soon afterwards, she got it.
The website hilf-jetzt.ch (help now) has gathered as many such initiatives as it could find, organised by locality and with links for those interested in helping.
As of 16 March there were some 347 initiatives across Switzerland.
Other groups have also been calling for solidarity, echoing the call by Swiss president Simonetta Sommaruga in an interview published on Sunday in the Sonntags Zeitung newspaper.
On Monday, the Swiss Red Cross and the Swiss Public Utility Society launched an app, called “Five up”, which aims to provide a space for the coordination of volunteer groups.
They said that in contrast to groups organised on social media, the app allows a direct overview of where help is needed and where volunteers are available.
Local chapters of the Red Cross, for example in Basel, have also organised delivery services for people quarantined at home – something they are also considering rolling out in other regions.
Switzerland’s main retailers, meanwhile, have called for a more concerted effort by the population when it comes to so-called “Hamster käufen” (hamster buying), the German term for the panic buying and stockpiling of essential products that has been seen in many supermarkets.
On Monday, a joint statement by Coop, Migros, Aldi, Lidl, Spar, Denner, Manor and Volg appeared in the Blick newspaper, with the retailers reiterating that stocks were full and that panic buying was not necessary.
“If people buy more than what’s necessary and stockpile, it could result in others going without.”, they wrote.
“This would also put extra strain on our staff – in an already highly challenging time.”
The wife goes shopping in Kreuzlingen.
Above: Kreuzlingen
Security guards limit the numbers of customers who can enter a store at one time.
Somehow this does not reassure.
Somehow this feels less about control over a virus as it does control over a populace.
And thus freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of dissent die, not with a bang, but with a whimper, all in the name of safety and security.
Quality of life and the economy be damned.
I can’t decide which has spread faster:
The pandemic or the panic?
It is the freedom of movement – to go where one wishes – that concerns me here.
I find myself thinking of Swiss Miss marooned in Morocco.
Above:
(Dark green) Undisputed territory of Morocco
Lighter green: Western Sahara, a territory claimed and occupied mostly by Morocco as its southern provinces
And I find myself thinking of a young woman with Wanderlust and her loving family in Montréal.
Above: Images of Montréal
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that Canada will be closing its borders to most foreign travellers in an attempt to limit the spread of the corona virus.
Speaking to reporters from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Trudeau said Canada is taking “increasingly aggressive steps” and will be closing its borders to people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
“I know that these measures are far-reaching.”, Trudeau said.
“They are exceptional circumstances calling for exceptional measures.”
Above: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Trudeau said the restrictions will come into effect Wednesday, but that exceptions will be made for air crews, diplomats, immediate family members and US citizens.
Trudeau said that air operators will ban anyone who is showing symptoms of the virus from getting on a plane.
“That means anyone who has symptoms will not be able to enter Canada.”, he said.
Trudeau said the government will set up a support program to assist asymptomatic Canadians seeking to return home.
“Canadian travellers will be able to get financial assistance to help them with the costs of returning home or temporarily covering their basic needs while they wait to come back to Canada.”, Trudeau said.
A statement from Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Monday evening detailed the creation of a the COVID-19 Emergency Loan Program for Canadians Abroad.
According to the statement, the program was created specifically for Canadians abroad directly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and that those using it can apply for an emergency loan of up to $5,000 to secure their return to Canada, as well as to “cover their life-sustaining needs” during the process.
Champagne’s statement also said that they will provide additional support to Canadians who are unable to immediately return home through both new “local and other organizational” partnerships and consular services.
Above: Francois Philippe Champagne
Trudeau said only four Canadian airports will receive international flights.
According to Trudeau, Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Vancouver International Airport, Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and Calgary International Airport will receive international flights.
He said domestic flights and flights from the US, Mexico and the Caribbean will not be affected and that the measures do not apply to commerce or trade.
“We will continue to ensure the supply of important goods to Canada.”, Trudeau said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said certain kinds of workers who need to cross the Canada – US border will be exempted from requirements to self-isolate.
Above: Marc Garneau
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who also spoke at the conference, was unable to specifically state why US citizens were not barred from entering the country, but said that when it came to the Canada – US border “we need to act with real care, with real delicacy and with real precision.”
“This is a situation we are reviewing constantly.”, she said, adding that forcing American tourists to self-isolate for 14 days was already a severe step.
Above: Chrystia Freeland
During the conference, Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair said that there will be enhanced security at all airports receiving international flights and increased signage at all points of entry.
Canada Border Services Agency agents would also be keeping an eye out for anyone showing symptoms of the virus and distribute instructional handouts to travellers from abroad, he said.
“Ill passengers will be identified before they arrived, isolated and reported immediately to health officials.”, said Blair.
“We will do what is necessary to keep Canadians safe.”
Above: Bill Blair
Speaking in British Columbia, the province’s Health Minister Adrian Dix voiced his concerns about Trudeau’s announcement and asked Americans to stay away from Canada.
“It’s our strong view and it’s our strong message that visitors from the United States should not come to BC.”, he said.
“Don’t come, because at this moment that is the wrong thing to do.
We understand that people are being asked to self-isolate, but better than self-isolating for visitors is not to come.”
According to Dix, the province confirmed a total of 103 cases and four deaths as of Monday.
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Above: Adrian Dix
Trudeau also reiterated the government’s recommendation that Canadians abroad return home via commercial means while they remain available.
“Let me be clear: if you are abroad, it’s time for you to come home.”, he said.
“If you have just arrived, you must self-isolate for 14 days.”
“And finally, all Canadians, as much as possible, should stay home.
By staying home, you can not only protect your health and that of those around you but ensure that our healthcare professionals and our healthcare systems can focus on those who need their help.”, he added.
When asked by reporters about the decision to close the borders, Trudeau said we have “now come to a point where the best advice from public health officials is that additional border measures on top of the social distancing measures that we are encouraging domestically is the right combination to move forward now.”
As of 00:00 hours on Tuesday, there were 424 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada and 16 probable cases.
The Public Health Agency of Canada reported that 13% of those cases required hospitalization.
Almost three-quarters of the cases were people who travelled outside of Canada recently, but public health officials also stressed there is community transmission happening now more frequently.
Above: COVID-19 outbreak cases per million in Canada (as of March 16) – the darker the province, the more cases therein
The first case of the corona virus disease COVID-19 in Canada was confirmed on 25 January 2020, when a man returned to Toronto after travelling in Wuhan, China.
As of 16 March 2020, there have been 441 cases of coronavirus reported in Canada, with four deaths and 11 recoveries.
Most of those cases are in Ontario (177 cases) and British Columbia (103 cases, 4 deaths).
Confirmed or suspected cases have been reported in every province of Canada, but none to date from the three northern territories.
Two cases were repatriated from the Grand Princess cruise ship.
Up until March, all cases were linked to recent travel history to a country with a substantial number of corona virus cases.
The first case of community transmission in Canada was confirmed in BC on 5 March.
Most provinces implemented school and daycare closures, prohibitions on large gatherings, as well as the closure of various leisure and entertainment venues in mid-March.
As of 14 March, Canada has recommended against international travel, and advised those returning to self-isolate for 14 days.
On 18 March, Canada will restrict entry into the country to those who are citizens or permanent residents, with exceptions (such as American citizens and the immediate families of Canadian citizens).
Sunwing Airlines said in a statement Monday they were cancelling all southbound flights from March 17 until April 9 to focus on repatriating customers abroad.
Customers who were scheduled to fly during that window period will receive either a full cash refund or a future travel credit.
They estimated their initial flights, which will be arriving from Honduras, Aruba, Panama and St. Maarten, will bring over 500 Canadians home from countries that have announced they will be closing their borders.
“Sunwing is working closely with the governments of all our destinations, in collaboration with Canadian government authorities, to continue repatriation flights in the coming days.”, the statement read.
On 11 March, Québec Premier Francois Legault recommended that a 14-day quarantine be imposed on all students and faculty returning from school trips to countries strongly affected by the pandemic (such as China and Italy), even if there are no signs of symptoms, and the cancellation of upcoming trips to such locations.
Above: Francois Legault
The same day, New Frontiers School Board stated that it had asked 18 students and two staff members of Howard S. Billings Regional High School — who had recently returned from a trip to Italy — to stay home from school until further notice.
New Frontiers stated that this decision was a precautionary measure based on Legault’s recommendation.
A teacher from Kénogami Secondary School, and a teacher and a student from Arvida Multipurpose School who had also returned from Italy, were also asked to quarantine.
The same day, Collège International Marie de France also suspended classes, pending the testing of a student who was suspected to have the corona virus.
On 12 March, Premier Legault announced that the province would take more stringent measures to control its spread, including a ban on indoor gatherings of more than 250 people, and that government workers returning from international travel, including teachers, would be required to self-isolate for 14 days upon return.
Legault advised residents that show flu-like symptoms, or have recently returned from international travel, to also do so.
On 13 March, a large number of precautionary cancellations and closures began to emerge across the province, including both Montreal and Quebec City’s St. Patrick’s Day parades (the former for the first time in its 196-year history), all public events of the province’s ruling Coalition Avenir Québec party, all Montreal Symphony Orchestra concerts scheduled through 5 April (including a planned performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall), and all Grand Théâtre de Québec events through 29 March.
Mayor of Montréal Valérie Plante announced the closure of public facilities, effective 13 March, such as arenas, libraries, sports facilities and swimming pools, as well as the Montréal Botanical Garden and Planetarium de Montréal.
In Québec, many public and private schools announced that they would voluntarily close on 13 March.
On 13 March, Premier Legault ordered the closure of all daycares, schools, and post-secondary institutions in the province for two weeks beginning 16 March.
On 14 March, Legault announced that Québec would prohibit visits to long-term care facilities and hospitals, and advised those 70 and over to avoid leaving their homes.
Later that day, the government announced that it would offer free emergency childcare services for people working in essential services, with up to 60,000 spots available, using the up to 400 schools that the government had closed.
By the evening of 14 March, it was reported that the city of Montréal would be dispatching employees to Montréal–Trudeau International Airport to advise travellers arriving from international destinations to self-quarantine for 14 days, frustrated with inaction from the federal government, which is responsible for the airport.
Further restrictions were announced by Premier Legault on 15 March, who ordered the closure of various leisure and entertainment venues, including but not limited to bars, cinemas, gyms, pools and ski hills.
Restaurants were also ordered to reduce their capacity by half and enforce social distancing.
WestJet has frozen all hiring and is offering voluntary departure packages to employees, with the goal of cutting 12% of its total capacity.
Air Canada and WestJet have cancelled most flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Rome.
They also cut back on flights to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul, with WestJet announcing on 16 March that all international flights, including to the US, will be suspended by 22 March.
Multiple fast casual restaurants, including Starbucks and Tim Hortons, have suspended the allowable use of reusable cups by patrons.
Tim Hortons simultaneously altered its popular “Roll Up the Rim to Win” promotion to a digital-only model (the chain had already announced its intent to increase its use of digital components for the promotion in an effort to combat litter).
Both Starbucks and Tim Hortons subsequently announced on 15 and 16 March respectively, that they would both suspend in-store dining and seating.
The major movie theatre chains Cineplex Entertainment and Landmark initially restricted the capacity of their individual cinema auditoriums by half (with Landmark using its reserved seating systems to also enforce social distancing, and enforcing a single use of each disposable cup or popcorn bag by using new ones for refills).
On 16 March, both chains announced that all locations will be closed until further notice, with Cineplex targeting an 2 April re-opening.
Almost all local museums, art galleries, theatres and other performance venues across the country have closed indefinitely.
On 7 March, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced that it had cancelled the 2020 Women’s Ice Hockey World Championships, which were scheduled to be held in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia from 31 March to 10 April.
They will instead host the 2021 edition.
The NHL suspended play indefinitely on 12 March, as did the three member leagues of the Canadian Hockey League.
Hockey Canada and its branches cancelled the remainder of the 2019–20 ice hockey season and suspended all sanctioned activities until further notice.
This included the cancellation of national championships such as the Centennial Cup, Telus Cup, and Esso Cup.
The Canadian Junior Hockey League, the governing body for the ten junior leagues across the country, announced on 13 March that it was cancelling the 2020 season until further notice.
U Sports similarly halted its men’s and women’s hockey championships.
The NBA suspended regular season play on 11 March due to the diagnosis of a Utah Jazz player with corona virus.
All teams that played against the Jazz within the past 10 days—including the Toronto Raptors (who played an away game against the Jazz on 9 March, in both teams’ final game before suspension)—were advised to undergo 14 days self-isolation.
On 13 March, it was reported that there had been no positive results among team personnel tested, but that they would continue to self-isolate by order of Toronto Public Health.
On 12 March, Major League Soccer announced that it would suspend play for 30 days.
On 13 March, the Canadian Premier League, which was scheduled to begin its season on 11 April, put a 14-day hold on preseason training in response to the outbreak.
The CONCACAF Champions League has also suspended play until further notice.
On 13 March, the Canadian Soccer Association suspended all sanctioned soccer events with immediate effect.
In addition, three upcoming national team matches that were scheduled to be played in British Columbia were cancelled: two senior men’s international friendlies on 27 and 31 March that were set to take place in Langford, and a senior women’s international friendly on 14 April that was set to take place in Vancouver.
The Toronto Blue Jays’ traditional pre-season series at Montréal’s Olympic Stadium was cancelled (which was to be against the New York Yankees), due to the suspension of the 2020 Major League Baseball Season.
Above: Olympic Stadium, Montréal
On 7 March, the Whitehorse 2020 Arctic Winter Games was cancelled following a recommendation given by Yukon’s acting Chief Medical Officer of Health.
The 2020 World Figure Skating Championships, which were scheduled to be held 16 – 22 March in Montréal, were also cancelled.
Nordiq Canada cancelled its Canadian Ski Championships, which were scheduled for 25 March to 2 April in Vernon, British Columbia.
The 2020 World Women’s Curling Championship in Prince George was also cancelled.
Multiple tourist attractions, including casinos, announced closures starting 14 March.
But, there is a ray of sunshine amongst the clouds…..
A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday in Seattle, according to a government official.
The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity, because the trial has not been publicly announced yet.
Above: Seattle
The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which is taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, the official said.
Public health officials say it will take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine.
Testing will begin with 45 young, healthy volunteers with different doses of shots co-developed by NIH and Moderna Inc.
There’s no chance participants could get infected from the shots, because they don’t contain the virus itself.
The goal is purely to check that the vaccines show no worrisome side effects, setting the stage for larger tests.
Dozens of research groups around the world are racing to create a vaccine as COVID-19 cases continue to grow. Importantly, they’re pursuing different types of vaccines — shots developed from new technologies that not only are faster to produce than traditional inoculations but might prove more potent.
Some researchers even aim for temporary vaccines, such as shots that might guard people’s health a month or two at a time while longer-lasting protection is developed.
For most people, the new corona virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead.
The death toll in the United States is more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states and the District of Columbia.
The vast majority of people recover.
According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three weeks to six weeks to recover.
So, what does all this mean for my friends and family back in Canada?
My friend in Red Deer, Alberta, is, like myself, in self-isolation but, like myself, in no danger.
Above: Red Deer, Alberta
As of 15 March, Alberta has reported 56 cases, and has completed 10,524 tests.
The first case was a tourist who was repatriated from the Grand Princess to Calgary.
As of March 16, cases have been reported in every Alberta zone.
Community transmission was first reported on 15 March, but is so far limited to seven people, six of whom attended the Pacific Dental Conference held 5 – 7 March at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
By 17 March, there are 23 new cases representing the “largest day-over-day increase yet in the province” resulting in total of 97 people in Alberta with the virus.
My friend in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, may be finding there are fewer customers for her to serve at the Dairy Queen where she works.
Above: Images of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
My friend in Winnipeg will, like myself, have to wait before she is able to once again teach overseas.
Above: Images of Winnipeg, Manitoba
As of 15 March, Manitoba has reported 7 cases, with the first three reported on 12 March.
All cases have been linked to international travel.
All of Winnipeg’s cases were identified after 12 March.
In total, 403 people have been tested in Manitoba.
The rate of testing was increased to more than 500 tests a day on 14 March.
In Manitoba’s first case, the person had returned to Winnipeg from the Philippines, and self-isolated at home.
All subsequent cases were found in Winnipeg.
My friend in St. Thomas, Ontario will miss his sports programmes as will my cousin in Lachute, Québec.
Above: City Hall, St. Thomas, Ontario
My friends in Toronto?
Above: Images of Toronto
My sister and her family in Napanee?
Hard to say.
Above: Dundas Street, Napanee, Ontario
Regarding my friends in Ottawa, Ontario, my friend at Canada Post and my other friend working for the Government of Canada may not be overly affected by corona restrictions.
For now.
Above: Images of Ottawa, Ontario
As of 18 March 2020, Ontario, the province with the first case in the country, has reported 212 cases with 5 recoveries and 1 fatality.
Most cases to date have been linked to international travel, including local conferences with international attendees, however at least three cases are being investigated for community transmission.
In total, 9,415 persons have tested negative, while 1,567 continue to be investigated.
The first case in Canada, was reported on 25 January in Toronto.
The person had recently returned from Wuhan, China, and had taken precautions in returning.
After admission to hospital, the person made a full recovery by 23 February.
Further cases imported from other countries were reported later in February, with the first case from Iran reported on 26 February, Egypt on 27 February, Grand Princess on 7 March, the US on 7 March, France and Germany on 8 March, Switzerland on 10 March, and Austria on 11 March.
On 12 March, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, became Canada’s first UK-linked case.
Both she and the Prime Minister have started self-isolation.
Above; Sophie and Sophie’s choice
On 17 March, it was announced that a man in his 70s, who had died in Barrie, was the first death in Ontario as a result of COVID-19.
Above: Barrie
My cousin and his family in Argenteuil County, Québec, must be greatly concerned for their aging matriarch and her health during this crisis.
My other friends in the Lachute region are also concerned for their elderly members and – as many of them are sports enthusiasts as well as Tim Hortons patrons – their lives have been altered by all the hullabaloo surrounding the pandemic.
Above: Lachute, Québec
The province confirmed its first case on 28 February — a 41-year-old woman from Montréal who had returned from Iran on the 24th on a flight from Doha, Qatar.
She was transferred to Jewish General Hospital on 3 March and released on 4 March.
Since then, she has remained in isolation at her home in Verdun.
On 5 March, the Ministry of Health and Social Services announced a second presumptive case, involving a man who had travelled to India in February, and was being treated in Mont-Laurier for symptoms similar to the corona virus.
On 4 March, the person was transferred to Jewish General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Hours afterwards, a third presumptive case was confirmed, involving a woman who had returned from France on 3 March.
A fourth case was confirmed 8 March, involving a woman from Longueuil who had recently returned from a cruise that had visited Mexico.
On 10 March, authorities stated that the person had used public transit between 24 February and 6 March, and had went through the Berri-UQAM, Champ-de-Mars, and Longueuil metro stations.
Premier François Legault initially classified the threat posed by the virus as being “weak“.
On 9 March, a Montreal resident who had recently returned from Ireland was reported as a fifth presumptive case.
Four new cases were confirmed on 11 March, including one who had returned from the Caribbean and Miami, a man that had returned from the Dominican Republic, a person who had returned from Italy, and a resident of Montreal who had returned from international travel.
By 18 March, 94 confirmed cases had been reported in Québec.
Of my friends in Montréal, I believe little has changed for my good friend Richard.
But today my thoughts are on the Nault family: Peter and Linda and Morgan.
Specifically, Morgan.
These are the lyrics to the Beatles’ song, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds“.
It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership.
Lennon’s son Julian inspired the song with a nursery school drawing that he called “Lucy – in the sky with diamonds“.
Shortly before the album’s release, speculation arose that the first letter of each of the title nouns intentionally spelled “LSD“, the initialism commonly used for the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide.
Lennon repeatedly denied that he had intended it as a drug song.
He attributed the song’s fantastical imagery to his reading of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland books.
And it is in this sense of wonder that I think of Morgan.
Morgan is the youngest member in the Nault household in Montréal.
She is a young lady of both grace and intelligence, a student of political science at Concordia University.
We get along almost immediately.
Don’t misunderstand me.
I like her mother, Linda and Peter very much.
Those that raise and protect her are fine and honourable parents and role models.
Peter is a man who reminds me of the Merle Travis-written, Tennessee Ernie Ford-performed song “Sixteen Tons“, especially the lyrics…..
Above: Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919 – 1991)
When Peter could walk, Peter could work, and soon after walking Peter began working.
He worked for Canadian Pacific, he worked in trucking – eventually reaching a management position in the truckers’ union, he now does building maintenance for a number of apartment blocks in the neighbourhood.
A hard man with a good heart.
Linda is a good woman, equally hard working, pragmatic and practical, salt-of-the-earth, a woman who does not suffer fools lightly.
An office administrator for Merck, Linda is too competent to dismiss, too clever to cuddle.
There is much of her mother and Peter that Morgan emulates, with one significant difference….
She’s the girl with kaleidoscope eyes, eyes that seek out the spectrum of experience, wandering eyes with a free spirit that is tempered by Linda’s pragmatism and Peter’s stubborn resilience.
It is to her this post is dedicated…..
Montréal, Québec, Monday 6 January 2020 (Epiphany)(Temperature: -6° C)
Monday, for most folks, is a workday and so it is for Linda and Peter.
Up at 0500 I find Peter already up and about, already showered and shaved, slowly readying himself to start his workday.
The kitchen is ours, the ladies of the house still abed.
We speak of his job and of his children from a former marriage, of how he loves and worries over them though “love and worry” aren’t the soft-shelled words he uses.
He speaks of how he met lovely Linda, a story best left for them to tell.
We drive coffee and chat until Linda descends and graces us with her presence.
Peter is king of the castle, when Linda gives her assent.
Only Delilah can weaken Samson.
Linda makes us mere men breakfast and we all talk until it is time for her to leave for work and Morgan has joined us.
Morgan brings her laptop to the dining table and works on her homework assignment.
Peter leaves and Morgan asks me about opportunities and possibilities to teach overseas.
She wants to use her degree but wants to spend some time seeing the world.
I tell her of Susan Griffith’s Work Your Way Around the World and Teaching English Abroad, of Jean-Paul Hachey’s The Big Guide to Living and Working Overseas, of SERVAS and Dave’s ESL Café, of TESOL and CELTA.
I have mixed feelings doing this service for Morgan.
On the one hand, travelling is learning about the world and about oneself.
On the other, once a person has been bitten by the travel bug it is difficult to return to a routine stable life.
I cannot decide whether I am doing her a service or a disservice.
We talk together until 10 when Peter arrives to whisk me away to the Côte Vertu Metro Station and the continuation of my adventures.
But Morgan remains in my mind.
Not for any creep factor involving her and me a man old enough to be her father, but out of compassion for a young person eager to see the world.
I think of her now (17 March 2020) in the context of the suspension of liberties I am seeing in Switzerland and an awareness of the censoring situation in Canada in these corona virus days, in this time of plague that hangs like a spectre over the world.
Morgan Armstrong is a university student whose university is closed and whose part-time job at IKEA is under threat of closure during this crisis of faith.
She has a deep Wanderlust (a need to travel and explore) and Fernweh (a desire to be in a place you have never been before), but she is a citizen of a country that won’t let her fly away.
Travelling to other parts of Canada is not impossible, but it is expensive.
So during this Pandemic Panic, Morgan sees the sense of remaining in Montréal at this time of Canada’s version of a corona virus lockdown.
But herein is another source of frustration….
All tourist attractions, all sporting events, all performances have been cancelled.
And who knows how more restrictive this lockdown might become?
In France, whose President views the conflict with Corona as threatening as an actual war.
France has ramped up its response to the coronavirus pandemic by banning all public gatherings and mobilising 100,000 police to enforce restrictions on movement.
President Emmanuel Macron said the country was effectively “at war” as he announced a 15-day lockdown beginning on midday on Tuesday.
“Never before in history has France had to take such exceptional measures in a time of peace.”, Macron said.
”You will no longer be able to see your loved ones or continue your daily routine.”
Above: French President Emmanuel Macron
The corona virus pandemic was confirmed to have spread to France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in Europe and France was confirmed in Bordeaux.
It involved a 48-year-old French citizen who arrived in France from China.
Two more cases were confirmed by the end of the day:
All of the individuals recently returned from China.
A Chinese tourist was admitted to a hospital in Paris on 28 January and died on 14 February, marking the first death from COVID-19 in Europe and France.
As of 16 March 2020, there have been 6,633 confirmed cases, 148 deaths and at least 12 recoveries in France.
On 12 March, President of France Emmanuel Macron announced on public television that all schools and all universities would close from Monday 16 March until further notice.
The next day, the Prime Minister Édouard Philippe banned gatherings of more than 100 people, not including public transportation.
Above: Prime Minister Èdouard Philippe
The following day, the Prime Minister ordered the closure of all nonessential public places, including restaurants, cafés, cinemas, and discothèques, effective at midnight.
As of 14 March, all but 2 departments have reported at least 1 case of COVID-19.
On 16 March, President Macron announced a country wide lockdown for 15 days starting 17 March midday.
Fixed checkpoints will be set up across the country and fines of up to €135 will be handed to anyone flouting the toughened restrictions, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.
Above: Interior Minister Christophe Castaner
Only trips to supermarkets, pharmacies and places of work will be allowed and all workers have been told to work from home where possible.
Similar nationwide measures are already in place in Italy.
It was Macron’s second public address in recent days, having announced school and university closures in a similar televised appearance last Thursday.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that all “non-essential” public places were to close, including shops, restaurants and cafés.
France has seen around 5,500 cases and 127 deaths, making it the seventh worst affected country.
The majority of cases remain active, meaning the death toll is likely to rise over the coming days.
Earlier on Monday, the country’s top health official warned that the situation is “deteriorating very fast” and that there is a severe risk that hospitals will be overwhelmed.
“The number of cases doubles every three days.
I want our citizens to realise that there are hundreds of people who are sick and in intensive care.”, he said.
“This is why we must do everything to slow down the outbreak.”
Supermarkets and pharmacies are already facing shortages, with long lines and empty shelves a common sight across the capital in anticipation of Macron’s announcement.
Macron condemned people for not following the government’s previous guidelines and said that anyone flouting the new regulations would be punished.
“We’re not up against another army or another nation.
But the enemy is right there: invisible, elusive, but it is making progress.”, he said.
“We are at war.”
Europe is now the “epicentre” of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the World Health Organisation, with more cases now reported each day on the Continent than China at the height of its epidemic.
Tomorrow, the 27 EU member states will vote on a proposal to ban the entry of all non-essential foreign nationals for a minimum of 30 days in an attempt to halt the spread of the illness.
As part of its accelerated fight against the corona virus outbreak, France is requiring people to produce a form justifying why they’re outside.
Starting at midday on Tuesday, France will be locked down for 15 days.
During the lockdown, people will be able to leave their houses only if necessary and must fill out a form that gives their reason for being outside.
The French government said that some 100,000 police officers would be deployed to enforce the measure and that people could be fined up to €135 ($150) for violating it.
The extreme rule came as people continued to gather after France closed places like bars and coffee shops and told residents to stay inside.
France’s ramped-up coronavirus measures now require people to produce a document that justifies why they’re outside — even just to go a walk or to the shop — after people ignored the government’s pleas to stay at home.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced a 15-day lockdown starting at midday on Tuesday, saying people’s journeys outside would be “greatly reduced.”
He said people should leave their homes only if it is necessary — for example, to go to work, to get medical care, to buy groceries in authorized shops, or to exercise alone.
But in order to do any of those things, people in France must download and fill out a form for every trip they want to make.
The police can check the forms and issue fines of €38 to €135 ($40 to $150) to people who don’t have one.
The document asks for a person’s name, birthdate, and reason for going outside:
“We are at war.”, Macron repeatedly said during his speech on Monday.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Monday that 100,000 police officers would be deployed to enforce the rule, according to Reuters.
“Stay at home.”, Castaner said.
Macron also announced restrictions on travel between France and other European Union countries for 30 days.
France has also closed most cafés, restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs and shops.
France has more than 6,600 corona virus cases and at least 148 deaths, according to a tally by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
The virus has infected more than 180,000 people and killed more than 7,000 people, prompting governments around the world to launch extreme measures and close their borders.
France has followed the pattern of many countries:
The government first urged people to stay home, but turned to increasingly strict measures when its warnings were ignored or not widely followed.
Hervé Berville, a French lawmaker and ally of Macron’s, told the New York Times that he was frustrated that many people were still crowding in shops and parks on Sunday.
“There was something shocking about it.”, he told The Times on Monday.
“The French are not respecting the security warnings.”, he added.
“People are not following social distancing.”
He said it was “shocking” that people ignored “the advice coming from the highest levels of government.”
Above: Hervé Berville
In announcing the closure of businesses like shops and cinemas over the weekend, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said:
“We have seen too many people in cafés and restaurants.
In usual times, this would make me happy, because this is the France we all love.
But for a few weeks, this is not what we should be doing.”
Reuters reported on Monday that people were gathering outside coffee shops even though the shops were offering only takeaway in a bid to stop people from forming groups or getting too close.
“Just getting a takeaway, they gather outside, chat, smoke a cigarette, drink their coffee.”, Frederic Monnier, the owner of Le Café Tabac in Paris, told Reuters.
“So they’re not respecting the rules.”
France’s adoption of stricter measures has brought its response closer in line with Spain’s and Italy’s.
Italy, which has been ravaged by the virus, has banned public gatherings, blocked all nonessential travel, and told people to stay at home.
The country’s system is similar to France’s:
People going outside in Italy also need to produce a form.
The Spanish government declared a state of emergency on Saturday, placing the country in lockdown.
It said people should leave their homes only if they need to buy food or medicine or go to work or the hospital.
So, Morgan, before Montréal follows Paris’ example and forces Montréalais to remain in their homes, you need to explore your backyard, your neighbourhood while you can.
Though you seek the foreign to escape from the familiar, you are forbidden at present to travel to faraway places with strange-sounding names.
So, to survive itchy feet that yearn to wander, to keep some semblance of sanity in an insane world, you need to find what is fascinating in the familiar.
This is somewhat challenging in that it is preferred that you do not go indoors anywhere besides the grocery store, the pharmacy or the hospital.
Museums and other tourist attractions, bars, cafés and casinos are or soon will be closed to you.
So, we are left the question of what one can see when what is normally seen is closed.
I lived in Montréal for a number of years, so what follows in my next post are places one can visit without breaking the present corona virus restrictions.
Above: Montréal
Challenge accepted.
(To be continued….)
Sources: Wikipedia / Google / Facebook / Hannah Jackson and Emerald Bensadoun, “Trudeau closes Canadian borders to most foreign travellers amid corona virus outbreak“, Global News, 16 March 2020 / “Update: What You Need to Know about the Corona Virus Crisis in Switzerland”, http://www.thelocal.ch, 16 March 2020
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Building Everest 