1 THE CALGARY FLOOD The Calgary Herald has a morning update on the situation. Close to 100,000 people have been evacuated. The federal government is pledging support. Social media is being used. A kitty was rescued. Tigers almost went to jail. Scary news: today’s forecast is for rain. CBC, The Canadian Press, The Globe And Mail, CTV and even CNN have more. Our thoughts are with the city, its people and everyone who has friends or family living or staying there. I know a lot of folks who are in Calgary right now for the Sled Island music festival right now. Hang in there.
2 THE WORLD WE LIVE IN There’s another flood, in India, that’s killed 500 people; Two million Brazilians are protesting a bunch of shitty stuff; Syrian chemical weapons accusations can’t be confirmed while rebels get new weapons; and China has dog meat festivals and abused porpoises.
3 THE CITY WE LIVE IN Rain and fire.
4 THE SASKATCHEWAN WRITER’S GUILD GETS BRIDGE FUNDING Thank goodness, and read all about it.
5 MANDRYK AND GORMLEY Murray and John have some columns for you about Brad Wall’s Regina woes and MP speaking fees. (I have to say something about John’s lead sentence: Prairie Dog and Planet S are worker-owned businesses so I’m pretty sure that makes me more of a businessperson than “lonely capitalist” and mere employee him.)
6 HOLY SHIT, IT’S OFFICER McLIBEL Remember the McLibel case, in which McDonald’s sued British activists? Turns out the supposedly libelous brochure was written by an undercover cop:
An undercover police officer posing for years as an environmental activist co-wrote a libellous leaflet that was highly critical of McDonald’s, and which led to the longest civil trial in English history, costing the fast-food chain millions of pounds in fees. The true identity of one of the authors of the “McLibel leaflet” is Bob Lambert, a police officer who used the alias Bob Robinson in his five years infiltrating the London Greenpeace group, is revealed in a new book about undercover policing of protest, published next week.
You’ve got to read this. It’s unbelievable. Governments need to stop spying on activists and protesters. It’s idiotic and expensive.
VIDEO: REAL BATS SINGING THE BATMAN THEME? Holy ultrasonic harmony!
