Happy afternoon, Saskatchewan! It’s -16, supposedly going down to -23 tonight. It’s supposed to warm up a lot by Thursday. In case you missed it, the sun came up this morning at 8:23 and hey, check this out: it sets at 6:00 p.m.! We’ve broken the barrier! Spring is almost here!
1. SASK HAS A $1.2. BILLION DEFICIT AND IT WILL BE USED TO JUSTIFY CUTS EVEN THOUGH THE WAY OUT OF RECESSIONS IS TO SPEND, WITHIN REASON Ugh.
2. SANCTUARY CITIES Should that be us and if so, what would it mean?
3. HALIFAX POLICE POLITELY PULL OUT OF PRIDE A perceptive and sensitive move given the divisions that’ve erupted over police participation in Pride parades. Still sad, though. I think about the RCMP marchers in Steinbach, Manitoba’s first-ever Pride parade this year—you can’t tell me they didn’t send the right message to community’s bigots. Bringing police into Pride was a historic win for the LGBTQ community. Hopefully the Halifax situation is a “step backward to leap forward” thing.
4. ARKANSAS IS BONKERS Morality-of-convenience Christians get more of their ridiculous, dangerous and medically unsupported abortion restrictions passed.
5. STOP FUCKING SETTLING IN PALESTINIAN TERRITORY FFS, Israel!
6. “PATRIOTS WIN, SO EVIL WON” The Patriots are Superbowl champs again. Here’s a column by The Stranger’s Spike Friedman that uses the word “goddamn” nine times in the first three paragraphs. And here’s the trailer for Stranger Things season two, which aired during the game. looks promising.
DEPT. OF SHITTY PRESIDENTS
DOSP.1 WHY DO THEY LIKE THAT ASSHOLE? There’s a good “talking to regular Americans” story on CBC. It’s easy to understand and sympathize with a lot of the frustrations that led to people voting for Donald Trump, although that said, the ignorance is massive. Plus Fox News really fucked America. When Budweiser faces boycotts because it’s not racist, you know that people who want a more civilized country have a lot of work to do.
DOSP.2 KREMLIN DEMANDS AN APOLOGY FROM U.S. MEDIA OUTLET The despicable Bill O’Reilly’s crows come home to roost.
DOSP.3 RACIST TRAVEL BAN BLOCKED For now.
DOSP.4 At least one Patriot won’t be going to the Trump White House.