The Maple Leaf Lounge

[carcinoGeneticist]

I have a friend who legitimately thinks Trudeau is a dictator. She's also vehemently pro-life (should be called pro-death, really) and a bunch of other awful stuff. It's getting ridiculous, honestly. She won't shut up about politics to me and I can't put up with it because her entire personality is rapidly being replaced by just conservativism. Great to know that not only my best friend is being ruined by Poilievre but our entire country is.

 

[Marc]

I have a friend who legitimately thinks Trudeau is a dictator. She's also vehemently pro-life (should be called pro-death, really) and a bunch of other awful stuff. It's getting ridiculous, honestly. She won't shut up about politics to me and I can't put up with it because her entire personality is rapidly being replaced by just conservativism. Great to know that not only my best friend is being ruined by Poilievre but our entire country is.

that's she conservative can be handled but the ignorance and using the dictator label is where things can be hard to handle.

sadly too many people simply outsource their think to others and simply regurgitate because if you asked her how he's dicator she would ever recycle talking points or not be able to give an answer.

 

[Timewalker]

Somehow a FB conversation about Trudeau and calling an election devolved to some indigenous woman in Alberta calling me a colonizer and settler and accusing me of seeing her as "conquered." Then she started piping up about "we were here first" and why was I even talking about this since I'm not indigenous.

I reminded her that she's not staff there, and unless one of the staff tells me I'm not allowed to comment, I will comment where and when it pleases me to comment. All that carrying on is NOT the way to win my support for indigenous causes. I already try to vote responsibly for that, and I call out the residential school deniers - one of whom is my own MLA, Adriana LaGrange (she's the current Minister of Gutting Public Health Care).

I can't wave a magic wand and make the cultural genocide go away. I can't turn back time and not be born in Canada.

All I said that triggered her was that Mary Simon isn't qualified to be the Governor-General, whereupon this woman started ranting that "speaking French is archaic."

WTAF? I don't often defend francophone language rights since so much of it is rooted in anti-English bigotry (on the part of most of the premiers of Quebec, dating back to 1976), but in this case she's way out of line.

So next thing, she's saying she loves me and wishes me peace... and half an hour later she's ranting at me again. She finally summoned the admin, presumably to toss me out of the group, but I'm not remotely worried. She started ranting at me, going off-topic, and getting hostile. Some of the staff have been posting there since, and nobody has indicated any problem with my comments, so I'm not going to be concerned about it. It's just so friggin' ANNOYING.

Not to mention creepy. Who tells strangers they love them, right after they've been arguing? That's just weird.


As for Adriana LaGrange, some people have nicknamed her "Madam Umbridge" because so help me she has an uncanny resemblance to Umbridge from the Harry Potter movies - especially when she wears pink. Somebody photoshopped her face onto Imelda Staunton's body one day and I never even noticed at first. That's how close the resemblance is.

Her other nickname people call her is "LaGarbage." I've never called her that, but it fits. Anyone who serves on the Catholic Board of Education in Red Deer (before going into provincial politics) and approves a "field trip" to bus students to an anti-abortion rally in Edmonton is garbage as far as I'm concerned. Gotta teach them how to hate and harass and intimidate and bully while they're young and not fully able to do the critical thinking stuff yet or develop a sense of empathy. After all, they won't learn any younger in how to hate innocent women and girls.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm not really a fan of Trudeau at this point, but I prefer him much, much more than Poilievre. My hope has always been that this government could limp along until the mandatory election next fall, under the premise that the more people see of Poilievre, the more they would realize he'd be an awful prime minister, and maybe, possibly, holding them to a minority in the next election.

Same. That's been my feeling as well. But given the amount of pressure Trudeau is facing, that might not be possible. But assuming Trudeau can hold off until next Fall, that would give enough time for the parties to unite against Polievre. But what gives me pause is the fact that the NDP no longer support the Liberals

Poilievre has the same lack of knowledge that the Freedumb Convoy truckers had about how Parliament functions. But try to explain it to any of them and their supporters, and you get called names, accused of being Liberal (even though the Liberal party is basically extinct provincially here, and on life support federally).

He's playing by their playbook, and no doubt they would be voting for him in the hopes of ousting any Liberal influence, and don't forget he supported them during the blockade, along with some American right-wingers like Musk who donated to their cause.

 

[DEWLine]

If Canada became the 51st American state, I think I would move to Britain or somewhere.

I can't afford to leave.

So I guess that I'll just have to die of such a change if it happens during Trump's misrule. No suicide plan, that's not something I have in mind. I fully expect to be coerced into my death.

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ Virtually nobody wants this. Only 13% as of the last poll (admittedly higher than I expected), and most of them are conservatives. When you take out the "don't know/prefer not to answer" responses, 82% of Canadians oppose this. That's about as close as we get to unanimous about anything in this country.

There is so little support, that the only way this realistically happens is through force of arms. Maybe I'm naïve, but I don't think that's a line that even Trump would be willing to cross. So I tend to think that you (and the rest of us) will be safe regarding the annexation issue.

On that note, Kevin O'Leary can STFU. Nobody asked him to speak on our behalf, and I certainly don't want some self-styled business mogul usurping the role of government.

 

[Timewalker]

A long time ago I asked myself if there could ever be a time when I'd consider picking up a weapon. I concluded that yes, there could be, and that's if the U.S. decided to invade.

Not that my efforts would be worth anything, given my disabilities and the available technology in this day and age, if they were ever serious about it.

I did think it was interesting to watch Charlie Angus being interviewed on the Meidas Touch channel on YouTube. He was sitting in front of his bookshelf and I noticed one book that we have in common: On the Take - a book about Brian Mulroney, detailing Mulroney's shady shenanigans when he was Prime Minister (and presumably afterward).

O'Leary needs to stop pretending to be Canadian. He's Americanized himself just like Gretzky did.

 

[Owain Taggart]

O'Leary needs to stop pretending to be Canadian. He's Americanized himself just like Gretzky did.

In other words, only Canadian when it suits them. The real Canadians will always protect our values.

And Trump is really fixated on Canada right now, like a broken record, and he won't let it go and added Greenland and the Panama Canal to the mix. The man is loopy!

 

[DEWLine]

And there's always been the anti-Mexican hostilities in the Vulgarian's brain as well.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I was out in my store's parking lot today and I saw a car with a bumper sticker that had the logo of the Punisher (the comic superhero) but with Trump's hair.

I'm like, are you fucking kidding me? The actual Punisher would have hated Trump's guts!

 

[Owain Taggart]

This is a great video. I love how he lays it all out.

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And I had to share this from This Hour has 22 Minutes. Their Trump is spot on. They really have his manneurisms and intonation down.

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[Avro Arrow]

This is a great video. I love how he lays it all out.

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I generally like Erskine-Smith. However, to steal a gag from The Juice Media, the number of MAGA supporters who will a) watch this video at all and b) give it any serious consideration, is approximately:

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, I'd be surprised if any of them would watch anything that doesn't automatically subscribe to their points of view. However, I was posting it as I feel it's a great reminder in general of where we stand.

 

[DEWLine]

*sigh*

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

'Star Trek' now a Canadian enterprise. What made it so?

Today, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow leads a city that has become a second home to the "Star Trek" franchise.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[Owain Taggart]

Two words: Tax credits.

It's kind of funny since the article only mentions the credits in one line in the entire article.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I have to admit, I think it's kinda cool that Chow is a fan. I think I remember reading here some years ago that Layton had been, and it's good to hear that Chow is, also.

I'm assuming that model of the USS Toronto is a custom 3D print or something? I don't think it was ever commercially available, was it?

Kind of ironic, though, that the ship named after Toronto was from one of the shows that wasn't (as far as I know, anyway) actually produced there.

 

[Owain Taggart]

If that's from one of the animated shows, then it might simply have been done as a nod to the Trek shows being produced in Canada, but it is odd that it wouldn't elaborate on the connection.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

2025 Toronto Star Short Story Contest Information

www.thestar.com

 

[Avro Arrow]

If that's from one of the animated shows, then it might simply have been done as a nod to the Trek shows being produced in Canada, but it is odd that it wouldn't elaborate on the connection.

Yes, it appeared in an episode of Lower Decks.

If you haven’t watched the show: there was also an episode (in season 1, I think) where the USS Vancouver appeared. And in the most recent season, a USS Manitoba was mentioned (but not seen).