The direction of society lately

[72gmc]

The worst thing is that every time one of these happens we hear “ the perpetrator is known to police …” , this guy has seemingly had 30 interactions with police in the last couple of years.

Is it an issue of law, or has Canada joined the general trend of shuttering mental health and other services while expecting law enforcement to provide services beyond their training and capabilities?

[zachateseverything]

It's because all alcohol sold in Ontario, other than beer, is wholesaled and/or retailed through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO, affectionately known as Lick-Bo). You can get wine and beer in retail grocery stores but their selection isn't so great and those stores deal with the LCBO wholesale monopoly. Also no hard liquor is sold in grocery stores. There are a few privatew wine importers but those are not big volume purchases. So pretty much all booze, except for beer, goes through LCBO. I've been told that Quebec, which has a similar system, is the 2nd largest buyer of alcohol in the world.

A number of US states have a similar setup. I'm just surprised that Ontario comes out on top.

[thollandpe]

It’s coming fast and furious, but here’s one thing that frightens me about what we have become:

In Oklahoma City, ICE shock troops—20 armed agents—staged a no-knock pre-dawn home invasion, forced a woman and her two young daughters outside in the rain and in their underwear, while they tossed the contents of the house and seized their laptops, phones, and cash as “evidence.” The woman and her kids are US citizens, and had recently moved in. Their names do not match what was on the warrant, ICE was looking for someone else. No word on when they will get their property back, just an admission from ICE that they “know it was a little rough this morning.”

”What if I would have been armed? You’re breaking in. What am I supposed to think? My initial thought was we were being robbed—that my daughters, being females, were being kidnapped. You have guns pointed in our faces. Can you just reprogram yourself and see us as humans, as women? A little bit of mercy. Care a little bit about your fellow human, about your fellow citizen, fellow resident. We bleed too. We work. We bleed just like anybody else bleeds. We’re scared. You could see our faces that we were terrified. What makes you so much more worthier of your peace? What makes you so much more worthier of protecting your children? What makes you so much more worthy of your citizenship? What makes you more worthy of safety? Of being given the right that they took from me to protect my daughters?”

’We’re citizens!’: Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren’t suspects | KFOR

There are many elements of our government currently out of control and doing real harm.

[htwoopup]

It’s coming fast and furious, but here’s one thing that frightens me about what we have become:

In Oklahoma City, ICE shock troops—20 armed agents—staged a no-knock pre-dawn home invasion, forced a woman and her two young daughters outside in the rain and in their underwear, while they tossed the contents of the house and seized their laptops, phones, and cash as “evidence.” The woman and her kids are US citizens, and had recently moved in. Their names do not match what was on the warrant, ICE was looking for someone else. No word on when they will get their property back, just an admission from ICE that they “know it was a little rough this morning.”

”What if I would have been armed? You’re breaking in. What am I supposed to think? My initial thought was we were being robbed—that my daughters, being females, were being kidnapped. You have guns pointed in our faces. Can you just reprogram yourself and see us as humans, as women? A little bit of mercy. Care a little bit about your fellow human, about your fellow citizen, fellow resident. We bleed too. We work. We bleed just like anybody else bleeds. We’re scared. You could see our faces that we were terrified. What makes you so much more worthier of your peace? What makes you so much more worthier of protecting your children? What makes you so much more worthy of your citizenship? What makes you more worthy of safety? Of being given the right that they took from me to protect my daughters?”

’We’re citizens!’: Oklahoma City family traumatized after ICE raids home, but they weren’t suspects | KFOR

There are many elements of our government currently out of control and doing real harm.

Let me shock you more....alongside the comment of I could free him (meaning Garcia) with a phone call but I won't, the EO he issued yesterday (STRENGTHENING AND UNLEASHING AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT TO PURSUE CRIMINALS AND PROTECT INNOCENT CITIZENS) removes all oversight and possible holding accountable any police officer etc for improper behavior AND instructs the Attorney General and SecDef to figure out how to make it possible to use the military domestically to "aid" local law enforcement in taking action in a "non-lethal" way. I think we are both old enough to remember Kent State and how non-lethal is only a legal cover that turns lethal. It is absolutely the authoritarian playbook. Absolutely the end of every freedom.

[BBB]

Pathetic!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ws-terry-moran

For all this make america great again BS, has he ever actually articulated when the country stopped being great and the reasons why? Has anyone (ie a journo or another politician) actually pressed him on this issue? Or is it just a BS slogan the terminally stupid swallow?

[robin3mj]

I read the below article in the Atlantic today and cannot wrap my head around the insanity.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...voters/682645/

It’s like saying the Hippocratic Oath is boring and you just want the doctor to do something dramati, like you see on Greys Anatomy. Then after the fact, bragging that while boring old Biden just recommended RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) for your twisted ankle and Trump accidentally-on-purpose amputated the wrong leg, at least The Donald is doing stuff.

[ldamelio]

Pathetic!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ws-terry-moran

Or is it just a BS slogan the terminally stupid swallow?

I believe you answered your own question.

[72gmc]

I read the below article in the Atlantic today and cannot wrap my head around the insanity.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...voters/682645/

It’s like saying the Hippocratic Oath is boring and you just want the doctor to do something dramati, like you see on Greys Anatomy. Then after the fact, bragging that while boring old Biden just recommended RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) for your twisted ankle and Trump accidentally-on-purpose amputated the wrong leg, at least The Donald is doing stuff.

This happens a lot, in my experience, in big tech. There are a lot of people, perhaps “trained” by digital media, who seem to genuinely believe that motion equals progress in all circumstances. Even with clear evidence that some motion is just wasted, just the illusion of goals being achieved or value being delivered, there are people who will insist on action before (or in spite of) thought. I equate this to the room full of ninjas scene from the movie From Russia with Love, e.g., we have no clear ninja-based need at this time, but let’s just invest in a room full of dudes dressed as ninjas with so that we can say we’re doing something.

[j44ke]

That's a line being repeated on radio and television. "At least he's doing something." Before the line was "it might be tough going for a while but it will be worth it." Marketing to lower expectations and create an identity group containing others with similarly lowered expectations.

[BBB]

I believe you answered your own question.

Still, someone should challenge Grandpa Mango on when America ceased to be great.

[Scott G.]

That's a line being repeated on radio and television. "At least he's doing something." [snip]

America has spun the "Regime Change Wheel of Chance" for itself instead of a foreign country
and being Americans we figure things will turn out all right.

Trump is merely the Jay Garner of America.

[Marvinlungwitz]

I will be buying my wife only two Hermes handbags this Christmas instead of thirty.

[j44ke]

I will be buying my wife only two Hermes handbags this Christmas instead of thirty.

In these times, we must all make sacrifices to assure the successful future of the country as a whole and of our faithful leader.

[rec head]

For all this make america great again BS, has he ever actually articulated when the country stopped being great and the reasons why? Has anyone (ie a journo or another politician) actually pressed him on this issue? Or is it just a BS slogan the terminally stupid swallow?

MAGA is BS but it is a great slogan. It means everything and nothing at the same time.

[gregl]

In these times, we must all make sacrifices to assure the successful future of the country as a whole and of our faithful leader.

Sounds like you are describing China and Mao during the Great Cultural Revolution. That's a great model for 21st century America, since it worked out so well for the hundreds of thousands to possibly millions who were killed...

Greg

[Doug Fattic]

Sounds like you are describing China and Mao during the Great Cultural Revolution. That's a great model for 21st century America, since it worked out so well for the hundreds of thousands to possibly millions who were killed...Greg

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic

[gregl]

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic

Yes, I realized it was sarcasm. Just adding some context for those who aren't aware of the history.

Greg

[72gmc]

[thollandpe]

This from the director of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) in North Adams:

On Friday night, the National Endowment for the Arts sent Mass MoCA an email notification of the termination of our awarded grant for the support of Jeffrey Gibson's commission POWER FULL BECAUSE WE'RE DIFFERENT.

The NEA grant for this exhibition was awarded last year under the prior federal administration in accordance with the rigorous standards of the funding criteria of the NEA. Specifically, it was awarded on November 9, 2024 with an expectation that receipt of funds would happen this Spring. The NEA's notification by email reads, in part:

"The NEA is updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation's rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the President. Consequently, we are now terminating awards that fall outside these new priorities. Funding is being allocated in a new direction in furtherance of the Administration’s agenda."

The President's priorities and agenda are mentioned vaguely, and the notification emphasizes their right to terminate a federal award "by the greatest extent authorized by law."

In reading our notification multiple times, I am struck by the words being used, how important they are to absorb, and is why I am sharing them here with you as supporters of Mass MoCA.

Mass MoCA is not the only arts organization, nor NEA grant recipient, to have received this termination notice of awarded funds. These are being sent en masse—not only from the NEA, but from multiple federal agencies that award and redistribute taxpayer dollars for education, science, health, research, humanities, libraries, historic preservation, parks, etc.—all of which stem from the current President's many Executive Orders.

Mass MoCA has also received a grant termination notification from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for staff training on technology. They too emphasize that our previously awarded funding "is no longer consistent with agency priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States."

Please take a moment and read that last sentence again… no longer serves the interest of the United States…

The loss of these crucial funding awards for projects at Mass MoCA (pending appeals) is real and will throw us into greater financial strain. As painful as this is financially, what is more so is the diminishment of our revered national agencies and their staff after decades of service in elevating our national creativity, innovation and cultural contributions. These actions in combination with their rhetoric are unnerving, and are but one of many challenges at hand and to come.

Mass MoCA is a not-for-profit contemporary art museum that supports the visionary work of artists in all disciplines and cultures. We warmly welcome everyone as audience members and visitors and will continue to do so. We generate dynamic spaces for artistic expression to be created and shared with a global public, and we are a place of creative encounter with the extraordinary world in which we live. At our core, we are part of the beating heart of an artistic and creative ecology as it is being lived and made.

POWER FULL BECAUSE WE'RE DIFFERENT is proudly on view and will be luminously alive for our visitors through August 2026, as will all other exhibitions and programming planned and forthcoming.

Mass MoCA is here to do what our mission and charter serves for the Commonwealth, artists, our employees, and our public good.

Support MASS MoCA

Stay engaged (below are useful advocacy orgs), and thank you for your ongoing support.


Kristy Edmunds (she/her)
Director, Mass MoCA

Take Action:
Urge Congress to Protect Legally Awarded Funding

Additional national organizations to follow for updates:
National Council of Nonprofits
American Alliance of Museums
Americans for the Arts
New England Museum Association

[gregl]

Fixed it for you. Snip:

Please take a moment and read that last sentence again… no longer serves the interest of Donald J. Trump…

Welcome to the first months of the dictatorship. If you haven't seen this coming, you're totally unaware of human history.

Greg