***It’s not my intent to make this blog into a ‘current events’ commentary. This is mainly because there’s so much weirdness happening right now that I’d burst a vein in my head trying to keep up, but also because, while I may have a layman’s grasp on a pretty wide variety of issues, I’m only … Continue reading Some Thoughts on Protests…
13-Has Douglas Bland even _seen_ the movie version?
By now Alex Gabriel has been walked from one end of the super-secret command post to the other, something we’re told the people who work here don’t get to do thanks to an army of security guards who themselves have the run of the compound. He has passed through several of the colour-coded work areas, … Continue reading 13-Has Douglas Bland even _seen_ the movie version?
Film Studies – In the Name of the Father
The 1993 movie ‘In the Name of the Father’ is a film based on the real life story of Irishman Gerry Conlon, who was one of the ‘Guilford Four;’ a group of innocent men wrongly convicted of a lethal IRA bombing. The whole movie is excellent (although not without controversy given that the script departed … Continue reading Film Studies – In the Name of the Father
12-Super Secret Command Post
***A lot of the material discussed in this next section deals with the Akwesasne Reserve and makes reference to the the Mohawk Nation and Oka Crisis of 1990. For a detailed military history of these events, I can recommend Timothy Wineguard’s Oka: A Convergence of Cultures and the Canadian Forces as an excellent military history, … Continue reading 12-Super Secret Command Post
Why Am I Losing My Shit Over a Stupid Book?
***So this is my 20th Post! I'll have next part of the deconstruction coming up tomorrow, but since this is a (modest) milestone for me, I figured this was a good time to post a slightly more philosophical essay.*** ***Also, like I said in a previous post here, I wrote the first draft of this … Continue reading Why Am I Losing My Shit Over a Stupid Book?
11-Sheeple say “Baaaaah!”
"It was late in the afternoon when Will joined a small group of tourists on a trip to the great generating facility, to view, in the inviting words of Hydro-Quebec commerical, “the splendid nothern vistas and colossal hydro-electric structures” that, together with the mechanics of the generating system, are the heart of the La Grande … Continue reading 11-Sheeple say “Baaaaah!”
A Break for the Cops…
This is a follow on to my examination of The Break, which becomes a better and better novel the more I think of it. There’s a couple of other aspects of the novel that I wanted to raise that I’m going to want to reference as we go on with Uprising. Since they didn’t really … Continue reading A Break for the Cops…
Additional Reading: ‘The Break’ by Katherina Vermette
***This is going to be both a review of a novel dealing with violence against women and girls, as well as a discussion about alcohol use and abuse both within Indigenous communities and within the CAF. These are uncomfortable subjects and I think I managed to discuss it with care and tact, but be warned … Continue reading Additional Reading: ‘The Break’ by Katherina Vermette
10-The Important thing is to establish dominance…
We return to Will Boucanier’s mysterious mission by temporarily hopping into the shoes of one of his future subordinates, a local Cree from the Rangers by the name of Joe Neetha. Since he’s got an obviously native last name, we know he’s not one of the super cool native protagonists that we’re supposed to go … Continue reading 10-The Important thing is to establish dominance…
The Canadian Rangers (in real life)
Before we get into this next part, it’s going to be necessary to give some background information about the Rangers. I’ve had the privilege of serving with these amazing men and women on a couple of our longer ‘Winter Warfare’ exercises, and encountered them by chance on a couple of other occasions during my career. … Continue reading The Canadian Rangers (in real life)
Putting Down Uprising 