Women of ABpoli: Hot Flashes - (happy?) new year!
This Week in AB
Kids are back to school January 10
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced January 5 that K-12 students would return to in-person learning next week.
Schools are expected to receive additional tools - including a two-week supply of N95 masks and rapid tests - to facilitate a safe environment for staff and children at some time during that same week.
"Schools will continue to notify families when Alberta Health Services confirms a positive case of COVID-19 within a school while infectious. However, since the province is moving away from offering PCR tests to Albertans and encouraging families to use rapid tests, we expect most positive cases will no longer be confirmed by AHS to the Division. This means families will no longer be notified about most cases in schools," read a bulletin from Edmonton Public School Board.
Alberta Education will also make pre-recorded videos available for grades 1-3 to assist with learning gaps. LaGrange said the program will expand to include higher grade levels and live tutoring sessions, which will be a blessing to parents who leap-frogged elementary school math on their way to becoming facebook medical advisors.
Meanwhile, AHS is readying staff for redeployment to help cover increased need during the fifth wave, so... back to business as usual in Alberta.
Former Calgary Mayoral candidate arrested after illegally crossing U.S. border in attempt to flee consequences
“Kevin J Johnston is the never ending g(r)ift we all need right now. https://t.co/i2NpF25f1c”
Maybe you don't remember Kevin J. Johnston, or maybe you never knew him at all because you aren't a conspiracy theorist and everything about this guy seems like satire.
He makes Larry Heather look like a sane choice for mayor. But I digress.
Johnston self-describes as "CANADA'S MOST CENSORED MAN!", "the #1 expert on Bitcoin & Ethereum", and "Canada's best and most renowned public speaker and podcaster". He also sells coffee (online only) and is a self-published author with his most recent work being "written in jail!"
In September of 2021, he was sentenced by a Calgary judge to serve 40 days in jail, on weekends, for breaching court orders. He also spent time in jail in May and June for harassing an Alberta Health Services inspector, and he's being sued by AHS for $1.3 million.
Also in September, Johnston pleaded guilty to a 2017 charge of inciting hate against Muslims.
In April of 2021, he was sentenced to 18 months after continuing to harass and defame a Toronto restauranteur despite losing a $2.5 million-dollar defamation suit from the same in 2019.
The 18-month sentence was scheduled to begin in January of this year.
So, Kevin J. Johnston decided to make a run for it.
Some nutter on the other side of the border was supposed to pick Johnston up after he illegally crossed the 49th - allegedly with the intent to seek "political asylum". We know this because the Mensa-candidate broadcast herself talking about it for like 45 minutes while she was driving to go get him.
Apparently, he didn't bother to actually plan this little trip, didn't have any gear or appropriate clothing for -25, got himself lost in the wilderness and, worried about his safety, his ride called border patrol to go find him. They did.
After locating the criminal, who had a warrant out of his arrest after failing to show up for his Christmas weekend jail schedule, U.S. border services contacted Calgary Police to arrange delivery.
Johnston released a statement through his lawyer, who has to be in this for the steady pay.
"I entered the USA with the intention of seeking political asylum due to the treatment I have experienced over the last five years because of political persecution by the Canadian Government," he said.
"I have been under constant state surveillance because of my podcast, the Kevin J. Johnston Show, where I express my views and conduct interviews with other activists.”
Also, when you record your every move, and thought, and post it on social media, those pesky constitutional protections aren't hard to get around.
“Ok. Here’s the new directors cut lol https://t.co/5KW3F5RJZQ”
Concordia University Administration agrees to resume bargaining before weather improves
It was blistering cold in Edmonton this week as Concordia University faculty were picketing but the good news is that bargaining will resume just as our three-week cold snap ends and people can stand to be outside longer.
Canada
"Party Plane" passengers get extended vacation after Canadian airlines refuse them passage
“I'm sure they can influence their way home...
So, around 130 people get a free trip, break lots of rules, and post it all on social media. The group's organizer said "Sunwing agreed to offer his group a return flight — only to backtrack when they couldn’t agree on the flight’s terms."
Then other airlines said they weren't going to deal with that garbage either. So, most of them are still stuck in Mexico, some have lost their jobs, and a Montreal moving company is offering a deal on "moving" from Mexico if you can't, you know, fly.
Learning about "woke culture"
Tara Henley was a producer at CBC in Toronto, freelanced for other publications, and published a book herself called Lean Out; a meditation on the madness of modern life after being diagnosed with anxiety.
In her first article on her substack Lean Out, she explains that she left the CBC because of "woke culture". Her article details - somewhat - how deliberately (ie. "checking boxes") change is being implemented, and makes the complaint that it's about the appearance of diversity rather than a diversity of thought.
I accept the possibility of this being true because I don't watch news, I read it.
My first impression was immediately uncharitable but partly because I was operating under the impression that "woke" only had one meaning.
Henley's podcast debut - with Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor at Newsweek - does offer a specific (albeit different) definition.
Ungar-Sargon explains the word's origins as "Black slang" in the 70's (I did not know this) for being aware of systemic racism (and that's what I thought it still meant because words shouldn't change their meaning and neither should listeners be reliant on knowing the background of who is speaking to understand wtf they are actually saying). Deep breath.
In the co-opted version (which Ungar-Sargon admits is fair criticism) for her book Bad News: How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy, "woke" refers to elite white liberals who have stopped listening to those they claim to be advocating for.
I have thoughts: a) that is absolutely deserving of criticism; b) holy crap, I finally understand why it's being used as an insult, and; c) I hope the irony of appropriating that word for this purpose weighs heavily upon every person who uses it.
Re-reading Henley's article, I still don't think all of her criticism of the CBC is fair, or even true, and I'm not sure if she intends to start platforming bigots and conspiracy theorists in her quest for diversity of thought, but her first guest piqued my interest and I'm still paying attention.
When you decide to be decisive
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Sunday night that schools would be closed an additional three days this week, but said Monday that it “took (him) about 30 seconds to make a decision - that was a decisive decision”... that people were waiting for almost a week to hear.
Final thoughts
“In Alberta we watch the ball drop 365 days a year”
“What I learned in 2021 is that I’m going to have to knit another dumpster fire ornament.”
cover photo credit: @jantafrench