We focus this week on three main events: F&O marks Remembrance Day this year with a photo-essay by Greg Locke, thoughts on the poppy by Alex Kennedy, and a feature by Jonathan Manthorpe on the WWII Battle for Hong Kong. We have a story about Canadian poet, rocker and mystic Leonard Cohen, who died this week, age 82. And of course we report on America’s gut-reaching election, which ended as divisively as it began: see our reports on its medieval carnival aspects, the forgotten class who rose up in anger, and columns by Penney Kome, Jim McNiven, and Tom Regan. Details:
Reports:
Leonard Cohen, Poet, Rocker, Mystic, Dead at 82, by Alex Dobuzinskis Report
Leonard Cohen, rock music’s man of letters whose songs fused religious imagery with themes of redemption and sexual desire, earning him critical and popular acclaim, died on November 10, age 82
The US election as Medieval Carnival, by Anastasia Denisova Report
The consumption of fast food media advances fast politics, the swift, screaming and scandalous sort of politics that is so tempting to share and receive “likes” for. So the real winner of this election, in fact, is the viral state of mind.
US Election: Revenge of the Forgotten Class, by Alec MacGillis, ProPublica Report
Donald Trump’s stunning win Tuesday, defying all the prognosticators, suggested there were many people so disconnected from the political system that they were literally unaccounted for in the pollsters’ modeling, which relies on past voting behavior.
Commentary:
Remembering War, by Greg Locke Photo essay
I can’t do Remembrance Day anymore. Just don’t have it in me. I don’t mean it to be disrespectful.
Canadians and the Battle for Hong Kong, by Jonathan Manthorpe, International Affairs Column
On this day 75 years ago, 1,975 men, and two female nurses, of the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers were steaming across the East China Sea in the New Zealand liner-turned-troop ship, SS Awatea. This small rough-hewn and makeshift expeditionary force was bound for the British colony of Hong Kong.
Poppy: medicine, or opiate? by Alex Kennedy Loose Leaf
America’s Dark Hour, by Tom Regan Column
We were wrong. So very wrong. We thought there was no way that Americans would elect a man so totally unfit to be president.
Welcome to Trumpland, by Penney Kome Column
President Donald J Trump? The mind reels. The gorge rises. In vain, many political observers have searched for a saving grace.
Changes in Attitudes: The Best, and Worst of Times, by Jim McNiven Column
To be Dickensian, it is the best of times and it is the worst of times. There is a lot of speculation that maybe America’s new President won’t really do what he said he would do. I wouldn’t bet on that.
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Notebook:
Events elsewhere you might have missed include, in no particular order: Daesh (Islamic State) left behind death and mayhem as it was ousted from Mosul. (Reuters) In Marrakech Morroco is hosting the latest round of climate talks, COP22 (UN). A science report suggests high levels of Vitamin D arelinked to better odds of surviving breast cancer. The European Union’s top diplomat received the International Democracy Prize for peace and democracy globally (Deutsche Welle), and space junk fell on a Myanmar jade mine. (Deutsche Welle)
Finding:
Canada’s National Film Board pays homage to Leonard Cohen with this documentary, Ladies and Gentlemen, Leonard Cohen, which follows him on a visit back to his home of Montreal at age 30.
Ladies and Gentlemen… Mr. Leonard Cohen , Donald Brittain & Don Owen, National Film Board of Canada
And, as we also did last year, we recommend Leonard Cohen’s reading of the John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields.
Last but not least, Leonard Cohen’s Closing Time: