#Johnson City Golf Course

[productionsbyfaith]

[foone]

Goldfinger is the most Bond movie, fight me.

Bond blows up a drug lab and then goes for vacation in Miami. He's told there's a gold smuggler there, so he stops him cheating at gin rummy by seducing his spy? Then Bond is talking shit about, of all hands, the Beatles, and then he's knocked out. When he comes to, oh no! The spy girl is dead. She was killed with BODYPAINT. No, not poisoned body paint or anything, the film just says that body paint itself can kill you.

So Bond goes back to London, and they send him to learn more by playing golf with Goldfinger, the smuggler. Goldfinger tries to cheat, Bond stops him, then Goldfinger's henchmen shows how strong he is by crushing golfballs.

So Bond goes to Switzerland and meets a girl who turns out to be the sister of the dead body painted spy girl, and she's trying to kill Goldfinger. She fails, dying to the henchman's DEADLY HAT, and Bond is strapped to a table about to get his dick lasered off. He lies that his organization knows something they don't, so Goldfinger decides not to kill him.

Bond gets flown to a stud farm in Kentucky by a pilot named Pussy Galore. Bond wakes up, hears her name, and goes "I must be dreaming"

At the stud farm, Goldfinger is telling a bunch of mafia guys his plan: he's gonna use knockout gas on the whole city where Fort Knox is, then run off with the gold reserves. The mafia guys say "this is stupid", one leaves (he gets put in a car that goes through a car crusher) and then Goldfinger gasses them all, to death.

Bond goes to Goldfinger and points out this is an impossible plan: they'll never get all the gold out in time, the army will just show up from some other town and stop them. Goldfinger goes "of course! That would be silly. I'm just gonna nuke the gold."

Yeah he's already got a lot of gold, which will be much more valuable if a huge portion of the world's gold gets blown up/irradiated. And that knockout gas? It's just deadly poison.

Anyway the plan is launched, and Pussy Galore's All Female Flying Circus sprays gas over the city and we see all the army guards falling over dead, and Goldfinger's minions place the bomb in the vault of Fort Knox... Then the army guys get back up! They're not dead!

Yeah it seems Bond seduced her and convinced her to tell the authorities about the plot and also swap the Deadly Poison for something harmless.

Bond gets locked in the vault with the nuke and deadly hat guy, as Goldfinger's minions fight the army, with Goldfinger dressing up as a US Army general to escape.

Bond manages to kill the hat guy by electrocuting him through the hat, and Bond rushes over to figure out how to stop the bomb, as the timer counts down. He's lost, but fortunately a specialist from the army comes in and just hits a switch, stopping the bomb at 007 seconds to go.

With the army in control of the situation, Bond gets on a plane with Pussy Galore to go meet the President (given when this film was made, that'd be Lyndon B. Johnson) but then Goldfinger pops up. He's hijacked the plane, and he's got a gun!

They fight for the gun, and a window ends up getting shot out, and Goldfinger (who is not a small man) gets sucked out the plane window.

Bond and Pussy parachute out, and decide to ditch THE PRESIDENT in order to have sex in the woods, even as a rescue helicopter flies over them.

Credits roll.

It's just endlessly silly and over the top and fun.

Two final notes:

1. The whole thing of stealing vs nuking the gold is a change from the book. In the book, he was just gonna steal the gold, but the movie changes it to the nuke plot, but puts the idea to steal it in the film as an "obviously silly idea that would never work", which is slightly hilarious to me

2. The film also drops the fact that Pussy Galore is supposed to be a lesbian. This is certainly for the best, given that Bond still seduces her into betraying her boss. It's still somewhat implied in the film, though.

[a-brunette-floridians-world]

I rarely post here, but this is too important not to discuss. My home state is now on the verge of losing its state parks. Florida loses around 120 acres of natural land to development every day, 44,000 annually. Now they want to go after our state parks.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced that it will allow construction and urbanization, an unfortunately hideous and common sight in Florida these days, within nine of our state parks. These nine state parks are:

- Hillsborough River State Park, Tampa

- Honeymoon Island State Park, Clearwater

- Oleta River State Park, Biscayne Bay

- Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Stuart

- Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, Fort Lauderdale

- Anastasia State Park, St. Augustine

- Camp Helen State Park, Panama City Beach

- Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and Grayton Beach State Park, Santa Rosa Beach

The department wants to add golf courses, glamping areas, pickleball courts, etc. This proposed plan would destroy delicate ecosystems and strip plants and animals of their habitats, as if there isn't enough strain on our natural ecosystems already. It'll be disguised as "increasing accessibility," it's not.

Now is the time to stand up and say no. On August 27th from 3 to 4, there will be meetings taking place to discuss this proposition. If you live in those areas and want to go, the addresses are available on the Tampa Bay news article linked below. If you live outside of the area, call the Governor's office at (850) 717-9337 and let them know that Floridians are going to oppose the destruction of our state parks.

My family has been here for nine generations. I'm a descendant of the first settlers to Florida, and I'm tired of my home's natural wildlife being destroyed in the name of greed and corporate interests. Enough is enough. I will be attending the Hillsborough River State Park meeting if anyone wants to join me. On top of that, I will be calling the Governor's office. Every Floridian needs to oppose this and save the real Florida for future generations.

Tampa Bay Article:

Credits:

Fight for Those Without a Voice: https://www.instagram.com/v.steiner?igsh=Y3M3YWU1OHh4dzhy

Speak for the Parks: https://www.instagram.com/tannicroots?igsh=aWtkcmx2NzE4Mmly

Spinster Abbott: https://www.instagram.com/spinster_abbotts_st_aug?igsh=MXRxZGp0ZndmaDl2Mg==

Save Our Scrub: https://www.instagram.com/thickpaint?igsh=MTI0MHd2N3pkczBpYw==

F*ck Your Golf Course: https://www.instagram.com/oldfloridavibes?igsh=c3psN2h6dDhiNmk=

Keep Florida State Parks Wild: https://www.instagram.com/oona.seas?igsh=Z3B6ZnNvMmh4cTZt

Don't Tread on State Parks: https://www.instagram.com/offthegridjohn?igsh=N3ZwNXI5Y3JxMnF

[saydams]

from the article:

"The state agency is giving the public six days to digest the park plans before it hosts simultaneous, apparently in-person-only meetings across the state. All meetings are scheduled for 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday. Agendas obtained by the Tampa Bay Times from the parks Tallahassee office are scarce in detail, but show there will be a brief presentation followed by a public comment period."

[...]

Eric Draper, who served as the director of Florida’s state parks between 2017 and 2021, said it appears the state’s environmental agency is skirting the legal process and the parks system’s own internal operations manual for updating park management plans.

“This appears to be something that has been planned in secret, and it doesn’t appear to have involved the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are volunteers in the parks, the citizen support organizations, or the many people who have been involved in helping to create and develop Florida’s award-winning park system,” Draper said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times. /end excerpt

if you are in florida, the comment period is apparently this tuesday, August 27 2024 from 3-4pm, in person

locations for the in-person meetings are below the cut, and in the full article

Hillsborough River State Park, Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave., Tampa, Community Room D

Honeymoon Island State Park, The District, 11141 U.S. 19 N., Suite 204, Clearwater

Oleta River State Park, Florida International University, Biscayne Bay campus, Kovens Conference Center, Room 114, 3000 NE 151 St. North, Miami

Jonathan Dickinson State Park, The Flagler of Stuart, 201 SW Flagler Ave., River Room, Stuart

Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park, Downtown Event Center, 416 NE First St., Fort Lauderdale, Lecture Hall, Building C, second floor (enter at Main Entrance B — clearly marked on the outside of the building)

Anastasia State Park, First Coast Technical College, The Character Counts Conference Center, Building C, 2980 Collins Ave., St. Augustine

Camp Helen State Park, Lyndell Conference Center, 423 Lyndell Lane, Panama City Beach

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and Grayton Beach State Park, The Lakehouse at the Watercolor Inn, 238 Watercolor Blvd. W., Santa Rosa Beach

[cuzikan]

"Rules Of The Blues"😉😎😎

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch--ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and company motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chompin' on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:

a. Highway

b. Jailhouse

c. An empty bed

d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:

a. Nordstrom's

b. Gallery openings

c. Ivy league institutions

d. Golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

13. You have the right to sing the Blues if:

a. You older than dirt

b. You blind

c. You shot a man in Memphis

d. You can't be satisfied

14. You don't have the right to sing the Blues if:

a. You have all your teeth

b. You were once blind but now can see

c. The man in Memphis lived

d. You have a pension fund

15. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

16. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues

17. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:

a. Cheap wine

b. Whiskey or bourbon

c. Muddy water

d. Nasty black coffee

18. The following are NOT Blues beverages:

a. Perrier

b. Chardonnay

c. Snapple

d. Slim Fast

19. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broke-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

20. Some Blues names for women:

a. Sadie

b. Big Mama

c. Bessie

d. Fat River Dumpling

21. Some Blues names for men:

a. Joe

b. Willie

c. Little Willie

d. Big Willie

22. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

23. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Melon, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jackleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

24. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own even one computer, you cannot sing the blues.

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

PETER MULLAN IS RED JACOB MACKENZIE

Peter Mullan is a Scottish actor and filmmaker, he was born in Peterhead, a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 UK. He was interested in directing films at the age of 19 and he made several shorts. He decided to dedicate himself to acting and made his debut in the theatre in 1988 before moving to cinema and television.

His feature film work over the last several decades stretches across every genre, including roles in Riff-Raff (1991), Braveheart (1995), Trainspotting (1996), Miss Julie (1999), Young Adam (2003), Children of Men (2006), The Red Riding Trilogy (2009), War Horse (2011) The Vanishing, the Harry Potter film series (2010–11) and The Vanishing (2018).

Although his part in Braveheart was a small recurring role as one of the Scottish army foot soldiers, Mullan was to go on to enjoy a breakthrough shortly after Gibson’s classic film hit cinemas.

He followed Braveheart with his part as the drug dealer Mother Superior in Trainspotting, then found himself being fêted by Martin Scorsese when he won the best actor award at Cannes for Ken Loach’s film, ‘My Name Is Joe’ (1998), filmed in Argyll and Glasgow.

Trainspotting 1996 ‧ Crime/Thriller

Mullan has a vast body of work but is probably best known for his portrayal of Joe in the 1988 Ken Loach film ‘My Name is Joe’. For this work, he won the highly prized Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Mullan in My Name is Joe, directed by Ken Loach. Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

A few years later, in 2011, the Sundance Film Festival awarded Mullan a World Dramatic Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performances for his role as Joseph in Paddy Considine’s Thriller/Drama ‧ ‘Tyrannosaur’ (2011) with Olivia Colman.

Since then, Mullan has gone on to work with directors like Steven Spielberg (War Horse 2011 ‧ War/Adventure ) alongside Jeremy Irvine and with Alfonso Cuarón popped up as a totalitarian crank in Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men, goading the dispossessed into parading their “refugee face”. On Mullan suggestion, Cuarón swapped his character’s weapon of choice for something less obvious, but more threatening, and has become one of the most respected modern film and TV actors.

War Horse 2011 ‧ War/Adventure ‧ Film of the Year 2012

He has also made his name as a director, with acclaimed movies such as Neds, Orphans and The Magdalene Sisters.

His other film credits include ‘Hercules’ 2014 ‧ Action/Fantasy alongside Dwayne Johnson as General Sitalces, Commander of the Thracian army. Lord Cotys's second-in-command right-hand man portrayed by the late John Hurt.

Sunset Song, 2015 ‧ Romance/Drama Terence Davies’s adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbons’s novel, stars Agyness Deyn as Chris, a Scottish farm worker who sees family trauma merge into global catastrophe as the First World War devastates her village.

Starring Peter Mullan, as Chris’s abusive dad. was filmed at various locations across Scotland in Aberdeenshire, including Fettercairn and the Glenmuick, Glen Tanar, Invercauld and Ballogie estates. Sunset Song is certainly a masterpiece of Scottish/ British literature and was voted Scotland's favourite book.

Scots Quair is actually three books, Sunset Song, Cloud Howe and Grey Granite, that tell the story of Chris Guthrie, a young woman in the North East of Scotland, moving from the hard, rural life of her adolescence to adulthood and marriage. A Scots Quair is one of the most important works of Scottish literature.

Tommy's Honour 2016 ‧ Sport/Romance is based on the powerfully moving true story (and novel of the same name by Kevin Cook) of the challenging relationship between “Old” Tom and “Young” Tommy Morris, the dynamic father-son team who ushered in the modern game of golf.

Tommy's Honour 2016

Peter Mullan stared as Tom with Jack Lowden playing his son. The film was filmed in the Edinburgh city region including Peebles and Musselburgh golf course.

He also played Yaxley in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, parts 1 and 2. In TV, he’s played characters in ‘Westworld’, ‘Top Of The Lake’ and Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ as Jacob Snell. [Netflix]

In 2020 He was great in #Ozark portraying local crime lord Jacob Snell, The crime boss of Osage Beach until he died in season two of the Netflix hit.

Ozark 2017 ‧ Drama ‧ 4 seasons

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (TV Series 2022– ) - Peter Mullan played Durin III king of the dwarves and builder of the great halls of Moria.

Moria is introduced in Tolkien's novel The Hobbit and is a major scene of action in The Lord of the Rings. In the fictional world of J. R. R. Tolkien, Moria, also named Khazad-dûm, is an ancient subterranean complex in Middle-earth.

On the big and small screen, from sci-fi to action and comedy, there are plenty of Scots actors who have made a huge impact on the world of acting. Just take a look at the right place where you will find them in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

#PeterMullan #Scotland #actor #filmmaker #Peterhead #RedJacobMackenzie #BOMB #Braveheart #Trainspotting #MartinScorsese #bestactor #CannesFilmFestival #KenLoach #MyNameIsJoe #Tyrannosaur #OliviaColman SundanceFilmFestival #ChildrenofMen #WorldDramaticSpecialJuryPriz #Hercules #DwayneJohnson #GeneralSitalces #book #SunsetSong #Scottishliterature #TerenceDavies #LewisGrassicGibbons #Tommy'sHonour #novel #Kevin Cook #TommyMorris #Musselburghgolf #Netflix #Ozark #JacobSnell #DurinIIIking #Moria #RingsofPower #Tolkien'snovel

Posted 5th April 2024

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

Oof, beans vs tea xd

Nah I get it jot at the same time

But maybe if y'all weren't arguing you'd get it done xD

Hi Morton lol

SLFJDHS nah eggs is real, good for him xD

Oh hiii :D!

Do we know them already? I feel like we might

Maybe y'all shouldn't be fighting in front of the HR rep xD

"The what?" XD

LOL everyone putting their hands down for "not about me" xD

Oof good luck Jacob xdd

Byeee guys

Awww y'all 🥰

You are openly talking about this in the hallway though, gotta say xD

Awww guys 🥰🥰🥺 look at them <33

Oop?

Nahh Janine doesn't want to o.o 👀

Interestinggg

OOP lol o.o

Ava xD

Nahh she won't

Yep lol!

Hmm interesting guys xD

Ope?

What's happening here?

Uhhh

UH OH

That looks too bloody 😬

OPE O.O OH GOSH

Ohhh noo

Frozen 😳

Oh gosh that sucks D: yeah not having gas would do that xd

The poor cafeteria ladies (and men) :(((

Food workers go through enough as it is xdd

Yeahh take em down

D: because of the golf course?

Ahh just these days

"Which I suppose is a good sign" xDD yeah I suppose lol xD :)

Nahh bro she's in love with you

Or yeah she likes you a lot lol 🥰

Aww yeah she is in like with you xD

You guys are so silly

Awww hi Janine 🥰

Her outfit is slaying

Ohh no D:

I mean it's gonna be around somewhere right?

Ohh is Gregory gonna go get it :O

AAAHHHHH he iss 🥰🥰🥰

That's so cute

STOPPP THAT'S SO CUTE 😭❤️🥰

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH CHEEK KISS!!! SO C U U U T E ❤️❤️😭😭😭🥰🥺🥺

Awww look at them 🥰

LOL the lipstick :p

SLFJSKD JACOB NO

XD the idiot <33

Oop nice Melissa has tea!!

OPE ohhh gosh :O non unionized workers

Nahhh they messed uppp with that one :o >:D that's a big one

Nice okay calling the city :D

"My cousin can kill their pets" EXCUSE ME 💀💀😭 XD

LOL their reactions, exactly xD, perfect

Lol yeah, hey - she did give you options xD

Yayyy

Ohh nice go Barbara :D!

Oop okay lol?

SLDKFJS their booger/snot make up??

XDD "huh?" "*sigh* BOOGERS" "Ohhh!" XD

Ooop uh oh Janine D:

Ohh noo

Nah she's about to finish xD- yep lol

Oof 😭

Maybe Jacob will jump forward?

Nope xd

LOL another hand for Barbara xD

And for them

Hey some of them are trying lol

And nice they did it for Barbara again

Yeahh you got this Janine :D Barbara did it quick and easy and you can too :)

Oh no xD

XDDD What is an aquarium LOL

True, that one has some merit as a filibuster

PHEW

Ope

Uh oh

Okay I don't think this is too incriminating-

Okay y'all are making it worse by not being casual 💀

The fake kitchen xD

Um okay guys just- NOPE NOT LIKE THAT XD

Guys you are idiots lol

"Jacob!!" XDD he wants to know, and be done with this

OOP Mr. Johnson going off 💀 XDD

Leave them aloneee

STOP STOP THEY'RE ALREADY DEAD

Y'all are desperately trying to save this and I respect that xD

Ohh nooo y'all

I'm dying this is SO funny XDD

A DUFFLE BAG 💀 come on Gregory, be so fr guys xD

Wait no he's misreading it isn't he-

DRUG DEALERS O.O 💀 SKFHLSJGLDS THAT'S CRAAAZY XDD

LOL

Not great for your look for HR either XD

"We're not dealing drugs we're having sex" OOPE O.O XDD

Y'all lol

You're such idiots xDD all of you

I love you but xD

[holliscavnersite]

Hollis Cavner 3M Open will have a Competitive Tour

It’s labeled as Minnesota’s golf event of the summer. Tournament officials hosted media day on Monday at the course, and Executive Tournament Director Hollis Cavner quickly addressed the elephant in the room that's challenging PGA Tour fields: The LIV Tour.

The new Saudi-backed golf tour has attracted some of the game’s best players, including Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuisen. PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan is suspending any current players headed to the LIV Tour, meaning they can’t play in any tour events, such as the 3M Open.

The LIV Tour is a series of eight events that are 54-hole tournaments without a cut. The winner of the first event, Charl Schwartzel, won more than $4 million. The last place finisher gets $100,000. Players are also put on teams, which are paid for their group’s performance. Some players got paid hundreds of millions of dollars to join.

This year’s field will include 32 players who have won a tournament within the last 12 months, including six winners so far this season. The biggest of those names includes Sungjae Im, Tom Hoge and Tony Finau. Their most recent commitment, Sahith Theegala, took second to Xander Schaufelle on Sunday at the Travelers Insurance Championship.

The 3M Open will also feature 11 players who have finished in the top 10 in the tournament the last three years. They include Adam Hadwin, Lucas Glover, Spring Lake Park native Troy Merritt, Charles Howell III and Finau.

Fans will also see three major champion winners, most recently Danny Willett, the 2016 Master’s champion. Cavner said he’ll release more big names coming to Blaine in the three weeks leading up to the tournament. TPC Twin Cities will play to a 7,441-yard par-71, and the field will be cut from 156 to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes. The winner gets $1.35 million, and 500 points towards the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Edina native and former professional tennis player Mardy Fish, now playing on a celebrity golf tour, ha also been given a sponsor's exemption to play. The event, with its corporate sponsors, will also raise more than $1.5 million for local charities M Health Fairview, The First Tee Minnesota and Greater Twin Cities United Way.

"I feel good about where we’re at. We want this to be the happening of the summer. We’re going to have the best tournament ever this year I think," Cavner said.

[frankkorzo]

Rules for the Blues

(with thanks to Sue McGrath) 1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning."

2. "I got a good woman," is a bad way to begin the Blues, 'less you stick something nasty in the next line, like "I got a good woman with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes ... sort of: "Got a good woman - with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher - and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues are not about choice. You stuck in a ditch: You stuck in a ditch, ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys and Cadillacs and broken down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, adulthood means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City, but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in St. Paul or Tucson is just depression. Chicago, St.Louis, and Kansas City still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cuz you skiing is not the blues.

9. Breaking your leg cuz a' alligator be chomping on it is.

10. You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

11. Good places for the Blues: a) highway b) jailhouse c) empty bed Bad places:  a) Ashrams b) gallery openings c) Ivy League institutions d) golf  courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a' old black man, and you slept in it.

13. Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if: a) you're older  than dirt b) you're blind c) you shot a man in Memphis d) you can't be satisfied. No, if: a) you have all your teeth b) you were once blind but now can see c) the man in Memphis lived. d) you have a retirement plan or trust fund.

14. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Gary Coleman could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

15. If you ask for water and Baby give you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are: a) bad wine b) bad whiskey or bad bourbon c) muddy water d) black coffee. The following are NOT Blues beverages: a) mixed drinks b) kosher wine c) Snapple d) sparkling water

16. If it occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the  electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or getting liposuction.

17. Some Blues names for women: a) Sadie b) Big Mama c) Bessie d) Fat River Dumpling Some Blues names for men: a) Joe b) Willie c) Little Willie d) Big Willie Persons with names like Sierra, Sequoia, and Rainbow can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

18. Make yer own Blues name (starter kit): name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)  first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)  last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example, Blind Lime Jefferson, or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc.

19. I don't care how tragic your life: you own a computer, you cannot  sing the blues. You best destroy it - with fire, a spilled bottle of Mad Dog, or get out a shotgun. Maybe your big woman just done sat on it. I don't  care.

[dry-valleys]

Your vigorous youth with upright shoots, Your verdant age, your glowing fruits, Your glossy leaves, and columns gray Shall live the favorites of my lay! Francis Noel Clarke Mundy.

Allestree Hall was owned by the Mundy family, who also owned Markeaton, from 1516 until 1781, when Francis Noel Clarke Mundy sold to Thomas Evans, an industrialist who worked at Darley Abbey.

It part of a chain of country houses (I went to both Darley, Markeaton, Allestree and Kedleston in a single day’s walking, albeit a long one), proving right Daniel Defoe’s claim that “This is a fine, beautiful, and pleasant town; it has more families of gentlemen in it than is usual in towns so remote, and therefore here is a great deal of good and some gay company”

The Evans family, who also (from 1812) owned Boscobel, Staffordshire, set themselves up as country gentlemen and William Evans’ son Thomas Willam Evans became a Member of Parliament at the same time as his neighbour George Nathaniel Curzon, from Kedleston (please see here for that fine house, whicch I went to on the same day) albeit the Evanses were Liberals and the Curzons were Tories.

After Thomas died childless in 1892, the estate was left to his nephew William Gisborne, who lived here full-time for six years; Gisborne’s son Lionel inherited on William Gisborne’s death in 1898, but had little interest in the house and rented it to Herbert Raphael, a businessman and fellow Liberal politician.

Raphael was evicted in 1913 (he went on to fight with distinction in World War 1, rising from private to major) because Lionel wanted to sell to Colonel Herbert Johnson. Johnson died in 1923 and his wife Ethyl in 1928; after this, there were no more full-time residents.

Like many country houses, Allestree span through different uses but none stuck; the home of a building company, a fire service, a golf course (1947- extended in 1955), and a planned museum (Derby city council, which had owned the site since 1946, tried to set this up in the 1980s but it never happened), and a park, which it still is.

Excitingly, the golf course shut down in 2020 (I have never had any time for golf) and a new rewilding project is underway; my first visit was in (2,6,9) August 2022 and it is, as you can see, changing in unpredictable ways so I don't know what I'lll find on my next visit, except that it will be good.

It’s now possible to start along the River Derwent, through Darley, and barely see a road before striding into Allestree (it’s easy to see why the Evanses wanted to join up their holdings) and this is what I look forward to doing again as I see what leaps forward nature has taken as the rewilding joyfully spins out of the control of the tidy-minded men who think golf is a good idea.

[ladyscroogeblr]

Trump,

Trump is nothing compared to our President Joe Biden! Trump wss the worst president, ever! He has no idea what he was doing, most of the time! Trump was clueless how are government ran! Still doesn't! Handled the covid pandemic by pretty much ignoring it except when he told people to inject bleach into their bodies! Never cleaned the swamp! Watched tv, usually 8 hours a day! Wanted to get the US out of NATO! He lost the most jobs as president since Hoover! Trump is stupid. A very bad business man! Tried to run the presidency like a business. Made over a billion as President! He paid more taxes in China then here! Refused to released his taxes. Cheated on his taxes. He looks and acts like he cognitivity is gone down hill! Can't remember what city he is in. A lot of times he babbles about things we have no idea what he's talking about! Gets Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley confused! Says Obama is the current president more then once! Said he ran against Hilary and Obama in 2016! Keeps saying Biden is the most corrupt president ever when he actually was! Most world leaders hated Trump and laughed at him and the United States when he was in office! Is a convicted sex offender. Has 91 criminal indictments against him! Is unhealthy! Knows the McDonald's menu then the employees! Eats unhealthy all the time! Says he looks better then Biden! Doesn't exercise because he believes it wears down the body! He worst excuse I've ever heard not to exercise! Most people who worked in the White House could not believe how stupid is was! Trumps says he was everyone's favorite president! Doesn't like soldiers who end up as prisons of war! He calls them losers! Especially John McCain who was a prison of war for 6 and a half years! He's he's head of the MAGA Republicans! Has Mike Johnson eating out if his hand! Tried to sensor Jimmy Kimmel because was telling jokes abouthim! Trump his a bully! An insecure brat! A whiner! Every other word out of his mouth is a lie! Never pays his bills. Brained washed Michael Cohen! Has hired the worse lawyers on the planet! Truth Social is a big joke! He said it would over take Twitter! Buried 1st wife Ivana on his New Jersey golf course to get a tax break! Her grave site is totally neglected! If he could and get a way with it, he'd have sex with daughter Ivanka! Trump is a pervert! A fascist! A bigot! A racist! Arrogant! Pathetic! Disgusting! Unhinged! Still says the the 2020 election was rigged! Trump is head of his own cult! Has cheated on all his wives! Had sex with a poor star he tried to pay off without anyone knowing! Treats Don Jr and Eric badly! Both are pretty stupid! Jr acts like is on drugs! Trump loves Fox News! Loves diet Coke! Sold tons or President documents after he left office. Keep most of TBE documents at Mar a Lago.. Pictures have shown the documents where in the Ballroom and a bathroom for example! He said he took them because he wanted to and said he has presidential immunity! No he does and no president has! The judge head if this case is a hard core Trumpster! This case might not making to count until after 2024 election! Doesn't read. Never has released his school records. Is not religious even though A lot of religious people say he is! The guy us Satan! Played down how serious his covid case was! Wears orange make up which makes him look like a clown! Trashed NFL players for taking A knee during the National anthem! Tried to get involved with this matter with the NFL! Didn't like it either when the NBA and MLB did it! Back in the day he tried to buy the Buffalo Bills. Couldn't do it when he could not get a bank loan! Hated when sports teams won championships and refused to go the White House! Hated his vice president Mike Pence. More later!

[thebusinesspress]

Team USA Arrives in Rome for Advanced Scouting Trip Ahead of Ryder Cup

The Americans are gearing up for the 44th Ryder Cup as they embark on an advanced scouting trip to Rome’s Marco Simone Golf Club. With limited exposure to this particular course, Captain Zach Johnson and his team are determined to familiarize themselves with the challenges it presents. As they set foot in the historic city, excitement and anticipation fill the air. Leading the way, Captain…

[golfoklahomamagazine]

Roden earns berth in U.S. Senior Amateur with 68 at Winter Creek

Ron Roden of Oklahoma City shot a 4-under 68 in a USGA qualifier at Winter Creek Golf Course in Blanchard to capture a spot in the 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur. First alternate is Albert Johnson Jr. of Lawton and second alternate is Brian Szymanski of Oklahoma City. The 2023 U.S. Senior Amateur is August 26-31 at Martis Camp Club in Truckee, Calif. U.S. Senior Open Qualifier Winter Creek Golf Course,…

[near-lawrenceville-ga]

Why Should You Hire a Divorce Lawyer?

Finding a family lawyer Lawrenceville GA is the first step in moving on with your life. While this may be a thing that you do not want to deal with, divorce may be the necessary evil to end your miseries. Since matrimonial law and family court are complex issues, you need the guidance of a professional divorce lawyer Lawrenceville GA to help you through the process. Your Lawrenceville divorce lawyer will also provide you with the right legal advice so that you will not be deciding based on your current emotional status. Since a divorce attorney Lawrenceville GA is very knowledgeable with the law, the professional can offer you with all the possible options to handle your current situation. A family lawyer Lawrenceville GA will also take care of all the paperwork so that you do not stress yourself with all technicalities of your divorce.

Attorney Sharon Jackson LLC

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Lawrenceville, Georgia

As the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, Lawrenceville is one of the most livable cities in the state. Its humid subtropical climate is an attraction to many people who love the outdoors. Most of its residents are Black or African American followed by the White and Hispanic. There is also a small number of Asians living in the area which makes the community highly diverse. People are fond of arts and festivals and this can be seen with the annual Polish Pierogi Festival where live music performances and food booths dominate the city. It is also interesting that Lawrenceville has booming economy offering several opportunities for job seekers.

Alexander Park

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Divorce Lawyer Shot Dead by Client’s Husband

The work of a divorce lawyer can be rewarding especially if you are able to win the case of your client. But for Doug Lewis, this may not be the case. His victory ended into a tragedy after his client’s husband shot him in his office in Lawrenceville, Georgia. According to reports, the suspect is obliged to pay $170,000 of divorce settlement. But instead of paying, he poured gasoline all over the attorney’s office and started a fire. Allen Tayeh, the estranged husband of Lewis’ client, now faces felony murder and first degree arson charges. He is now under the custody of Gwinnett County Jail without bond.

Link to maps

Alexander Park WX7W+V6, 800 Old Snellville Hwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30044, United States Head north toward Old Snellville Hwy 2 min (0.3 mi) Take Johnson Rd and GA-8 N to Langley Dr in Lawrenceville 7 min (3.5 mi) Continue on Langley Dr to your destination 52 sec (0.2 mi) Attorney Sharon Jackson LLC 175 Langley Dr Suite A1, Lawrenceville, GA 30046, United States

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

[This is a fantastic and sympathetic piece about an important struggle in downtown Kingston, Ontario, that cuts right to the heart of conflicts over land use, housing, capitalism and those it harms, and wetlands - with a vile local capitalist developer as the villain of the piece. It’s long but read it, please.]

“On a sunny December afternoon in Kingston, Ont., about a dozen people gather by a massive white oak tree a few metres from the shore of the Great Cataraqui River. Poems and other written messages are attached to a fence in front of the oak. “She sits among friends/The targets of their stupid greed/Let their beauty be,” proclaims one message sealed in a Ziploc bag.

Laurel Claus-Johnson, a Mohawk elder, has organized a gratitude ceremony for the 220-year-old tree. The developer who owns the vacant property on which it stands won’t let anyone on the site, so Claus-Johnson and her friends have tied a length of yellow ribbon to the fence, signifying their solidarity.

Midway through the ceremony, Claus-Johnson asks a woman lingering nearby if she’d like to speak. She is Latoya Powder, a planner and de facto spokesperson for the developer, who says she has come as a private citizen but seems eager to defend her employer. “Man has scarred this site for years, I agree,” she says. “It should be protected, and it deserves to be cleaned up.”

“Man does not know how to clean up,” Claus-Johnson retorts. “Man knows how to destroy.”

The sparring that ensues reflects years of discord over the future of the site, a 15-hectare parcel known locally as the Davis Tannery, after a leather-making factory that was located there. It closed and was abandoned in the mid-1970s, leaving a legacy of grievously poisoned soil and sediment. The wrangling has intensified since 2017, when a local developer submitted a proposal to the city that includes decontaminating the site and constructing more than 1,500 housing units in medium-rise buildings near the riverfront. In recent years, formal and informal groups have sprung up around the health of the river, the protection of trees and wildlife, gentrification and homelessness.

But it’s more than a local flashpoint: the debate over the future of the Davis Tannery echoes existential issues facing communities globally. Depending on your vantage point, it’s a story about economic inequality, the climate emergency, resource exploitation, environmental degradation, species bias and the denial of fundamental human rights. It’s a reminder that sometimes you don’t need to look any further than your own backyard to see the forces that shape our world, for better or for worse. ///

Over the years since it was abandoned, the former tannery lands have mutated into a site of contradictions and complexities. Atop the wretched, toxic soil and sediment, a thicket of vegetation, rushes and trees has sprouted alongside the faithful old oak. Squirrels, rabbits and birds scurry under felled limbs, and in the warmer months, turtles lay their eggs nearby and share the shoreline with huddling ducks and herons. More recently, they’ve been joined by unhoused people who’ve been evicted from community encampments and have made temporary homes on the tannery lands.

To the north, the site is bordered by Belle Park, which was a landfill and later a golf course before being turned into a public park. To the south are residential, commercial and recreational centres, including rowing facilities. Its eastern edge is located along the widening of the river known as Inner Harbour, while a mix of small businesses, light industry and housing borders its western perimeter.

The site has been closed off since the 1980s, but the damage to its soil and groundwater had been done decades earlier. Tannery operations on the property date back to the mid-19th century. Its proximity to Lake Ontario, the Rideau Canal and rail transportation caught the attention of A. Davis and Son, which purchased an existing tannery operation on the site after a fire destroyed one of the company’s other plants in 1903. It was one of Kingston’s largest employers and one of the biggest tanneries in Canada. A lead smelter also operated on the site.

The tannery shut down in 1973 and was eventually demolished. The land was subsequently declared a brownfield site — a provincial designation for properties that are “vacant or underutilized places where past industrial or commercial activities may have left contamination (chemical pollution) behind.” Dangerous levels of chromium, lead, mercury and PCBs have been detected at the site. A 2019 report to Kingston City Council described it as “arguably the largest and most contaminated brownfield property within the city of Kingston.”

The Davis Tannery lands were the subject of numerous studies, consultations and community initiatives as they sat derelict and in tax arrears for decades. An attempt to clean up and redevelop the site failed in the 1980s. In 2004, the province passed legislation that allows potential developers to purchase brownfield lands and write off municipal taxes and other expenses against the cost of cleanups. The legislation breathed new life into efforts to rehabilitate the site. A developer purchased the property from the city in 2006 and spent several years trying to cobble together a redevelopment scheme. It failed to materialize, and in 2017 the site was sold to Patry Inc. Developments.

///

Owner Jay Patry is well known in Kingston as a multi-unit residential developer and property manager. In 2013, his company made national headlines when a student housing complex under construction near Kingston’s downtown caught fire and burned to the ground, stranding a crane operator high above the flames. The operator clambered out onto the crane boom and suffered burns to his legs, buttocks and hands before being rescued by a military helicopter. Patry’s company and three individuals including company owners later pleaded guilty to numerous workplace safety infractions and were hit with fines totalling $74,000. Patry made news again in 2018 when he climbed to the summit of Mount Everest, then less than 24 hours later, scaled nearby Mount Lhotse, the fourth-highest peak in the world. Patry, who was 39 at the time, claimed he was the first Canadian, and one of only 30 climbers worldwide, to have climbed both mountains in a 24-hour period.

His plans for the tannery lands are no less ambitious. To build the housing he proposes, he wants to clear the site of vegetation — including the oak tree that was the focus of last December’s gratitude ceremony — grub the ground of debris and remediate an estimated 550,000 tonnes of soil by disposing of it off-site, stabilizing it on-site or reusing it. One of the more contentious aspects of Patry’s plan involves capping a marsh area on the north end of the property — part of a provincially designated “significant wetland” — with a layer of clean soil, which could result in a redrawing of the wetland’s boundary and a revision of its zoning status. The price tag for the cleanup is estimated to be a staggering $70 million, with Patry eventually recouping up to nearly $64 million in tax rebates and other concessions under the city’s Brownfields Community Improvement Plan.

Kingston City Council unanimously approved the financial component of the cleanup plan in 2020. Patry’s development proposal, including adjustments to a number of local bylaws, is currently under review by city staff. Rob Hutchison, the councillor for the ward that includes the tannery site, thinks Patry’s asks are too grand. But he says the approvals process has to play out. “Staff would say it’s a new development application and we, under the Planning Act, have to consider it as such.…By law, we have to take this application on its face value.”

///

Requests for comment from Patry were directed to his staffperson Latoya Powder, who declined to be interviewed for this story.

Nearly everyone agrees that the site would be better off decontaminated. The devil is in the details — when you unpack them, you see a multitude of global struggles creeping into a local concern.

Case in point: Mary Farrar and her turtles. The president of a community group called Friends of Inner Harbour, the 81-year-old Farrar was at the December oak tree ceremony. A week earlier, she told me how she came to be known as Kingston’s “turtle lady.” For more than a decade, the city considered extending a street through a park next door to the tannery. Farrar, concerned about the impact of paving over part of a waterfront park, was looking for allies to help stop the extension. She found turtles.

Turtles are threatened almost everywhere you look on the planet. The northern map turtle — so named because the lines on their upper shells resemble the contours on a topographical map — was included on the list of species at risk in Ontario in 2008 and again in 2013. About 100 of them nest on lands that would have been decimated by the street extension project. Farrar dedicated years to studying the turtles and protecting their nesting grounds. Walking through the area, I noticed small wooden structures topped with chicken wire, testimony to her efforts to protect turtle nests from predators and stomping.

Farrar’s advocacy work eventually won out; the street extension is all but dead, and the turtles are beloved local fixtures. But they’re still threatened. Decontaminating and developing the tannery shoreline would uproot a favoured basking place. “If the development goes ahead, the turtle habitat will be obliterated,” says Farrar. Her group’s Facebook page urges residents to register their concerns with local politicians. “The shoreline should be left to Nature to remediate,” it declares. “It is arrogant to think that humans know better.”

Farrar also belongs to a group called No Clearcuts Kingston, which opposes the removal of an estimated 1,800 trees from the Davis Tannery site as part of the decontamination project, and which rebukes the city for allowing the site to be deforested when expanding the urban tree canopy is part of Kingston’s official response to the climate emergency. No Clearcuts shares common cause with another recently formed organization, River First YGK, an advocacy group focused on the impact on the river and wetlands of the tannery proposal as well as a proposed cleanup of lands owned by Transport Canada adjacent to the tannery site.

On a late November afternoon whipped by wind and wet snow, historian Jeremy Milloy, River First YGK’s co-ordinator, gestures past the chain-link fence along the tannery’s marshy northern side. “We live in a climate emergency, and what is this?” he says. “This is a wetland. It’s a river running through a wetland into a lake, and it’s extremely at risk of flooding as our weather becomes wetter and wilder over the next 50 to 100 years.”

Like his counterparts in No Clearcuts, Milloy worries that removing trees on the site will encourage erosion and increase the risk of flooding on the catastrophic scale experienced in British Columbia last fall. The challenge, he says, is to convince civic leaders and the local population that Kingston is a frontline community in the climate emergency. “There’s not a pipeline. But people here are river people. This is a watershed community.” Just as grasping the scope of the climate emergency demands a holistic appreciation of the planet and its natural systems, the city and developers need to shift from a top-down view of the local ecosystem, Milloy says. “We’re trying to take the river in all its complexity and contingency and conflict, between being a very beautiful, vibrant space and a toxic, compromised space, and have it dealt with on its own terms rather than just another parcel of land.”

///

A rendering of Patry’s proposed project in its finished form imagines four mid-rise buildings arrayed in the sunshine along the riverfront, with a green belt and walkway separating the structures from the shoreline. The development application calls for a total of 1,509 apartment and condominium units and about 5,000 square metres of ground-floor commercial space. It also includes private and public park space and a boathouse for a local rowing club.

Prices for the townhouse-style units envisaged in Patry’s plan jumped locally by more than 30 percent last year. Add to this the development’s prime waterfront location, and it’s a safe bet that the units Patry hopes to sell won’t come cheaply. Same with the units earmarked for rental. And that’s before the cost of decontaminating the site is factored in. “He has to be able to make so much money off the property in order to pay for the cleanup costs,” says Coun. Rob Hutchison. “Honestly, I don’t know why he bought the property.”

Housing — or lack of it — is a major issue in Kingston. In part due to large student populations at Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College, the city has historically registered one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in Ontario. A recent surge in housing starts has improved the outlook, but the increase in vacancy rates has been accompanied by a spike in rents.

Tim Park, Kingston’s director of planning services, says almost 4,000 new housing units are currently slated for construction in the city, but “like any commodity, it’s up to the owner to adjust rental rates.” While Park says the city has requested that the tannery development include affordable housing, he cautions that “right now, the city just has a statement that a certain percentage should be affordable units, but there’s no way to enforce or implement it.”

The tannery lands could eventually be home to several thousand people. At present, the only residents are people like Donnie. In late December, Donnie (who asked to be identified by a nickname as he’s camping on private property) spent his 28th birthday alone near the banks of the frozen Cataraqui River, in a green pop-up tent and some blue tarps set up among fallen trees. He’s been camped out for a few weeks after leaving a homeless shelter. A couple he knows is camping nearby, and he’s envious of the companionship. “I’d give my f—king legs to have someone to talk to and stay warm with in my tent,” he says. “Even just the heat from their body.”

Donnie was born on a First Nations reserve in northern Ontario but grew up in group and foster homes. After he was arrested and incarcerated in 2020, his marriage fell apart and he lost his kids. When he was released last fall, he had nowhere to go and no money. He stayed at the shelter for a while, but it wasn’t a great fit. In the woods, no one harasses him except the animals who also live there. A few nights after Christmas, Donnie skirmished with a fisher and raccoons who wanted his leftovers.

Donnie bristles when he hears about the proposed re-development of the tannery lands — and the suggestion that it could help with Kingston’s housing and affordability crisis. “Who’s it affordable for? It’s not going to be affordable for poor people and homeless people,” he says.

He even speaks up for his raccoon neighbours, asleep in a tree near his tent. Shouldn’t they be considered in this, too? “People already live here,” he says indignantly. “It’s where I live.”

Beyond the fences marking the edge of the tannery lie once-thriving working-class communities that slid into decline in the 1970s as industry closed or relocated. For years, the district was regarded as Kingston’s poorest, but like similar districts in countless Canadian cities, it’s now undergoing gentrification as house hunters and small businesses are lured by lower real estate prices.

In spite of the recent changes, the district is still where you’ll find most of Kingston’s unhoused population, many of whom gather and camp around the nearby Integrated Care Hub, a facility that offers food, safety, shelter and counselling services to the vulnerable. Only one adult emergency shelter remains in Kingston. In September 2020, after unhoused people set up an encampment in a park, the city evicted the residents and removed their belongings. Since then, the city has done little to address systemic housing issues, aside from funding a non-profit’s pilot project to provide 10 sleeping cabins and a warming centre during the winter months.

People who work with Kingston’s poor take a dim view of the time, energy and resources the city mobilizes in the name of private, for-profit developments like the Davis Tannery lands, but not for issues like the affordable housing crisis. An Inner Harbour man, who wants to be known only as Jordan because he fears for his job with a local shelter service, says arguments that laud the tannery development as a solution to Kingston’s housing problems ring false. “The people who are affected by the housing crisis are people who would never be able to even consider living [there],” he says.

In fact, he continues, it’s more likely that the plan would worsen the city’s already considerable wealth gap. “Building a luxury development in a traditionally low-income area is going to actually amplify the housing crisis when thousands of people with more money move into this neighbourhood,” he says. “It’s always the low-income areas near a downtown core that start to get more and more development until the people who have lived there for decades eventually have to move out.”

Canada and other nations recognize access to adequate shelter as a fundamental human right. But here as elsewhere, it often seems that it’s more of a right for some than it is for others.

///

A week before we met at the edge of the Davis Tannery lands, Jeremy Milloy of River First YGK had listened to a talk by journalist Andrew Nikiforuk. Something Nikiforuk said stuck with him: “The study of ecology is the study of consequences,” Milloy recalls. He continues, “The tannery is a really good example because of the legacies of colonialism and capitalism in this space, and how consequential each piece is to the other.”

On a map of the planet, the Davis Tannery is a tiny pinpoint. But it is a site of immense importance because it embodies such a wide spectrum of distinct struggles. It can feel overwhelming to parse through the site’s complexities, but that’s not a reason to avoid addressing them. “We’re not being called upon to solve,” says Milloy. “We’re being called upon to respond.”

Just as there’s no neat and tidy solution to global ills like climate change and economic inequality, there’s likely no silver bullet that will fix the problems of the Davis Tannery or scores of other hot spots across the country. But one thing is indisputable: failing to confront the ghosts of the past with a more just and ethical world in mind risks creating new ghosts for the future. The Davis Tannery can be a turning point or a point of no return.

The battle rages on. Meanwhile, the turtles lie dormant, hibernating in the riverbed while waterfowl go about their business along the shoreline. The rabbits and squirrels scamper through the bullrushes and around the trunk of the great white oak as it groans and creaks in the raw December wind, as if it’s trying to say something.

- Luke Ottenhoff, “Wetlands vs. developers: A small-town battle with national ramifications.” Broadview. March 17, 2022.

Notes left by land defenders on the tannery's fence. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen O'Hara)