Small rant: Whose smart idea was it to open up comments on
this article? Sheesh.
I don't even know why CBC has comments anymore. They're closed on most articles.
I recognize some of those names. I argue with them daily (no, my name on that site is not "Valka D'Ur"; I had to choose something that sounded more real since they put in the "real names rule" that almost nobody follows).
Lucinda Sanschagrin said:
Reply to
@Jason Martin: I am so much in favour of "slack" for the kids. Just don't mess with their heads by telling them they have PSTD and depression and need professional help. Buy some musical instruments . Bring in dance or sports. Give everyone some three day weekends.
This is one of the people I engage with occasionally. We've agreed a time or two, and other times I find her totally out to lunch. This is one of those times.
There are a lot of Alberta-bashers on that site, and people who have zero empathy for anyone who is less than 100% able-bodied and "able-minded" (as in not suffering from mental illness of some kind).
This is one of the most clueless comments I've yet seen about the Fort McMurray fire. It was horrendous, and I still marvel that the human death toll was so low (two teenagers fleeing the fire collided with a truck on the highway). Of course the animals didn't fare so well. A lot of family pets were saved, but there were some who weren't. One man provided footage to CBC of his home security camera recording the fire coming up on his house. The screen went dead right around the time when the fire boiled his aquarium fish alive.
That was a year when I was engaged in an ongoing argument on YT with some woman down in New Orleans; we were on opposite sides of several issues, and she annoyed the hell out of me by her continual 'splaining Canada to me (apparently we have an abortion clinic on every street corner and she informed me that I was wrong when I told her that was not true). But one day she posted that she'd just read about the fire in Fort McMurray and asked if I was okay (by that time the smoke had spread over a large area of North America). I thanked her for asking and let her (and the other regulars in that discussion) know that I'm several hundred miles south of the fire and although the smoke was bad (hazy skies and difficulty breathing; Environment Canada told everyone with respiratory issues to stay inside and keep the windows closed), I was in no danger from the fire.
It doesn't surprise me at all that the kids who escaped that fire would have PTSD, even years later. People fleeing that fire went to nearby towns and reserves, only to have to evacuate from there as well. There was only one usable highway south (another one was cut off by the fire), and it was only two lanes. Some people made it through by a whisker, as the flames were
thisclose to the vehicles.
Politically, Justin Trudeau couldn't win. He was lambasted for not going there immediately to show his concern and say what help the federal government would provide, but if he had gone immediately, he would have been lambasted (rightly so in this case) for getting in the way and hampering the firefighters' efforts. In a situation like that, the last thing they needed was the Prime Minister and his entourage making even more people who needed protection.
I don't remember why I got so many cans of clam chowder when I've never had it before. I tried it for the first time today.
My body and soul is not a fan.
1. Donate it to a food bank or shelter.
2. Trade it to someone for food you like, or something you need.
Seriously, you'd never had clam chowder?
Properly prepared, it's one of the best comfort foods I can think of.
EDIT: Re CBC articles that are closed to comments: They stopped opening the aboriginal/indigenous articles for comments because they expect there to be nothing but racist comments. This means that nice or supportive comments can't be posted, either. However, indigenous posters are still allowed to call non-indigenous Canadians "colonizers".
The moderators on that site are unaccountable. They can disable any post they want, for any reason, and they never have to explain themselves. There's nobody to even complain
to, as the "help" menu goes around in circles. Once in a blue moon I'll get an answer to some question or complaint, but it's never an instance when I've complained about draconian moderating.
The comment sections used to be kept open for 7 days. Then it was 3 days. Then they imposed the "real names" rule and the first few days of that meant that people were held in the moderation queue for most of the 24 hours the comments would be left open (one of mine was held up for 15 HOURS). Some comments are closed after less than 12 hours. And then they ballyhoo about the "submission guidelines"... there are posts there that are borderline hate speech, and definitely cross lines that would get the poster a temp ban if posted on any forum I'm familiar with. Those are allowed to stay. One of my posts was pinked just for
mentioning Margaret Atwood.
And the new way of keeping track of posts and people liking and replying? It's a joke. You can't even find the exact post to see what was said to you, because the link goes to the story, not the specific comment.
Oh, well. At least they have a mute feature now. I no longer have to deal with the worst anti-science idiots there.
