Miss Myrtle’s End of Life Decision

Miss Myrtle’s End of Life Decision

Dear Family, Friends and Twitter Resistance Family,
Am an intensely private person, but the events of the past 5 years have made me revisit that fact. The World has changed forever, and we have changed with it.
Cancer has played a big part of my life for the past 20 years. Tree major cancer surgeries over that time period, each for a different cancer, have finally worn me down.
Am a fighter, not a quitter but my final surgery last November solved one problem, but created many more serious ones. Add to that while the 35 rounds of radiation a year ago solved no problems, it too created more serious ones.
Cancer research and surgery have blinkers on – they focus on narrow areas they are familiar with
Why has there been no research on the effects of chemo and radiation on menopausal and post-menopausal women??!!! But I digress.
Am so very lucky to live in a Country and a city where the Medical Assistance in Dying Program is an option

The Cancer on the Presidency has contributed to my bad health, and am willing to bet that it has affected you adversely too.
I have lived a long and interesting life. Have faced battles since being born as a premature baby. Am a fighter – Not a quitter, but have finally met a challenge I cannot win.
There is no way to sugar-coat this. Was in hospital for major cancer surgery, then Palliative Care at home. While the surgery killed my tumor, it also created more serious problem. I had an anal rectal carcinoma, and now have a stoma – colonoscopy bag.
My initial gut reaction (pun intended) when the surgeon made his case to have surgery, was no. The young arrogant surgeon laid it out this way: “ No surgery, 6months to a year to live. With surgery, complete cure and 10years to live.”
I initially said no, because my last major cancer surgery and chemotherapy regime resulted in an acquired brain injury in 2014. The brain injury went undiagnosed for a number of years, and turned my life upside down.
I kept falling and breaking things at different times. Broke my collarbone, wrist, fractured the kneecap, then a medial malleolus fracture of the ankle. Was in a full leg walking cast for 6 months.
Was wobbly on my feet, sometimes slurred my words, forgot to go to meetings, forgot what was said at meetings, forgot to pay bills, forgot appointments and forgot parts of speeches I’d been giving for years. Forgot to pay rent and was eventually evicted. Slept in my car and office. My behaviour was bizarre. I almost single-handedly turned a successful project into a failure.
Colleagues began whispering that I was on drugs or alcohol. I was eventually fired. It was only when a friend of mine forced me to tell her what wrong- she was sure something was was. City Councillor Adriane Carr immediately intervened. She introduced me to the Deputy Director of Social Development for the City of Vancouver. Jennifer Standeven held my hand and fast-tracked me for government financial and other support. She found a wonderful condo mixed-market apartment in the Olympic Village. I could walk almost everywhere and am close to buses and Sky Train and the Canada Line. In 150 steps, am on the seawall. The market value of my suite is over $2,500 per month. I pay $343 per month. Jennifer literally saved my life, and we are now good friends.
A year later, was finally diagnosed with the brain injury. Was fast-tracked for the GF Strong Acquired Brain Injury program. AS an out-patient went three times a week. For the next year, learned how to walk, talk, be steady on my feet and so much more. GF Strong is the gold-standard for rehab in North America. Mine was an invisible wound. When I’d walk into the rehab, people were whizzing around in their wheelchairs, shouting “Hi, have a good one!”. People with no arms, no legs, both, a Pakistani woman whose face was destroyed with acid. They all inspired me to stop feeling sorry for myself – and kick my own butt (while I still had one).
I have finally found the fight I could NOT win. I would rather go with all of my mental faculties in tact, than face a long, drawn out painful death, where I would end up hating everyone.
I am proud to say that I am donating my body to University of British Columbia Medical School for teaching and research. Truly hope that All of You Will Consider doing the same thing. The need is so great, not just for organs but for bodies.
That being said, as my extended family, I send you the biggest hugs and Much Love,
Miss Myrtle (aka Pat Bayes – our secret),

Miss Myrtle’s Vancouver: Pomegranates Part 2

Before Daroo moved to Vancouver, he lived in Edmonton, Alberta. His sister had moved there, thanks to the UN Refugee Resettlement Program. A Canadian family sponsored him, so he travelled from Syria and Turkey to Canada, full of hope and expectations…

Edmonton had a thriving LGBTQ Community. He volunteered with a refugee support service, so thankful to be in Canada. Within a year, he met the man who would become his boyfriend. But it was very difficult to find a job. Daroo was unprepared for the open racism and discrimination that he faced in ultra-Conservative Alberta. He was not just called a fag and faggot, he was targeted as a Terrorist, after giving a public speech about the situation in Syria. He received death threats. He refused to remove the fact that he volunteered within the LGBTQ Community in Edmonton, from his resume. Finding a job became nearly impossible.

Daroo’s boyfriend was accepted into the Masters Program in Architecture at UBC, the University of British Columbia, and suggested that Daroo move with him, to Vancouver. He did, and immediately felt more at home in the City. Vancouver was more far more expensive and crowded than Edmonton. His frequent nightmares also put a strain on his relationship. Daroo and his boyfriend eventually parted ways.

Another door opened. Daroo applied to work at Save-On-Foods. His resume contained his volunteer work within the LGBTQ Community. The Manager who interviewed him, coaxed out the story of Daroo’s life in Syria, and his reasons for fleeing. He was hired on the spot.

With a job, came a shared apartment in a neighbourhood closer to work. More space to breathe and a sense of greater security. He built a small group of friends. His BA in English Literature lit a spark within Daroo. He wants to continue further studies at University, while continuing to work.

It goes without saying, that the young man who had lived through so much turmoil and terror in Syria, carried that same turmoil deep within himself, as he bravely navigated relative freedom, and a new life in Canada.

Daroo feels guilty that he is here, and his parents, other siblings and their families are still in North West Syria. As the impending Kurdish Genocide begins to unfold, he is filled with remorse for thinking only of his freedom. He wakes up in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, worrying about his family and friends.

Rarely do those who suffer with PTSD, realize that it manifests itself without warning, dragging them into the darkness. This great challenge now facing Daroo, is one that so many other Canadians battle. Our mental healthcare and general healthcare systems are overwhelmed. There is a serious shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists. Getting an appointment to see one, requires a referral from another doctor.

The opioid crisis, the increase in refugees coming from oppression and war zones, plus our military and first responders need for psychiatric care, comes as a whole generation of doctors are retiring, and those who are now establishing their practices, are unable to take on new patients. This has all come together to create the perfect storm.

There is also serious shortage of general practitioners. I’ve tried to get Daroo into my exceptional Family Practice, but they are unable to take on new patients, even as the drastic need grows. Vancouver has some of the best coordinated healthcare in North America, thanks to Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health. They are desperate for more funding to meet the growing need.

Once again, am proud that Canada has welcomed so many Refugees in the past four years. The Federal and Provincial governments must address this healthcare crisis now, not down the road, and provide the additional funding needed. It is short-sighted not to do so. The long-term effects of untreated mental health issues, will push healthcare and related costs, through the roof. Daroo and Canadians across the Country, deserve the help they need NOW.

@UNHCR UN Refugee Agency @Refugees Cdn Council Refugees @ccrweb

Miss Myrtle’s Vancouver: Pomegranates

He smiled. Daroo had always seemed very serious, almost unapproachable. He struck me as being in his late 20’s, and he never cracked a smile. Ever.

Until the morning I put down my only grocery purchase – two large pomegranates. He smiled. I asked if he liked pomegranates, and he answered wistfully “We have two pomegranate trees in the garden, back at my home.” When I asked him where “home” was, Daroo responded “Syria”.  When pressed further, he added “in a small village near Aleppo”. Instantly, I understood the underlying sadness that his face always expressed. Hoping that Daroo might share the story of how he had come to Vancouver by way of Aleppo, asked if we could meet for coffee. He agreed.

Daroo was born in a Kurdish village near Afrin. It sits near the north-west border of Syria and Turkey. The region is called “Kurd-Dagh”, the Mountain of the Kurds. His parents still live there. The village is famous for its bountiful olive, fig and pomegranate trees. Daroo says that once you taste Afrin’s fruit, all others will forever pale in comparison.

“Neighbouring Azaz is also home to many Turkmen and Arab communities. Almost everyone, Kurds included, is Sunni Muslim. Kurdish identity is based not on religion, but on ethnicity and cultural heritage. Overlooking the Afrin River, within sight of the Turkish border, sprawl the vast Roman ruins of Cyrrhus” –  Diana Darke, BBC

The thriving, ancient Syrian city of Cyrrhus was founded in 300 BC, by Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander The Great’s generals. Its history over the centuries includes Roman, Armenian, Byzantine/Justinian, Muslim and Crusader rule.

Daroo was born into a family of five sisters and one brother, with lots of aunts and uncles. He played with his brother, sisters and friends in the family garden and roamed the streets of his village and Afrin. He remembers that when he was a child, all the members of his family had to sign an Oath of Allegiance to the ruling Ba’ath Party, led by Hafez al-Assad. The family avoided politics, and the community was largely left to its own devices.

Daroo also remembers, that even as a young boy, he knew that he was “different”. He knew early in his life that he was gay. He was not alone – when he eventually went to work and study in Aleppo, he discovered a large, vibrant underground LGBTQ community, where he fit right in. The Hafez al-Assad Regime enforced Article 520 of the penal code of 1949, which prohibits “carnal relations against the order of nature”, and provides for up to three-years imprisonment. Members of that community have been and continue to be jailed, beaten and often executed. Neighbors and even family members continue to inform on others.

Someone reported Daroo in 2008. In jail for 5 days, in an underground cell, he and several friends were packed into “a shithole” where he often had to sleep standing up, hearing endless beatings and screaming. He himself was beaten so severely, that he passed out. The five days felt like five years. His frantic family pooled their resources and paid the local police and judges, expensive bribes. He, his two gay and one transgender friends, were finally released from jail. Even though he was released, he had to go back and forth to court for a year. Fortunately he was given parole.

In 2011 The Arab Spring, which had given so many in the Arab world hope, was hijacked by radicals, but all that the Kurds really wanted, was a secular Syrian Democracy. Life began to change for the worse. Even in the face of all of these challenges, Daroo found something that would underpin his life forever…

Daroo fell in love with the writings of William Shakespeare. He majored in English Literature at Aleppo University. The Bard’s plays transported Daroo to another time, another place – but they also spoke of the very contemporary treachery, horror, loves, lives, wars, births, deaths and laughter that were life in Kurdish Syria. Daroo and his classmates wrote their final exams in 2013. While he sat in the eerily quiet exam hall, with pen in hand, the Russians carpet-bombed the University.

His passion for Shakespeare shaped Daroo’s decision to remain in his family’s Aleppo home, even after they had returned to the relative safety of Afrin, because the Bashir Al Assad – Putin regime stepped up bombardments of Kurdish communities and “rebel strongholds” like Aleppo. On that fateful day in 2013, all around him, many of them friends as well as classmates, 80 students, died. Daroo kept his head down. He kept writing. “I studied so hard and so long I wanted to graduate or die. I wasn’t afraid, I was fatalistic.”

Daroo passed. Aleppo University exams were suspended for a month. Although he didn’t realize it, he was still in shock. The day he was awarded his BA in English Literature, he also received an official notice from the Syrian government, saying that he was drafted into the Syrian military, and must report to basic training. Then and there, Daroo made one of the most difficult decisions of his life. Leaving his beloved family, he fled to Turkey.

Months before, Daroo met a farmer who transported tea and cigarettes into Turkey, in bags on the backs of several donkeys that he owned, in order to support his family, including small children. The man lived in the next village Sheeh, one village over from Afrin. Daroo helped carry some of those bags across the border into Turkey.

His sister had married a Turkish man and was living in Turkey. She had a passport and met Daroo after he crossed the border. He sat, emotionally exhausted, as she drove back to her family home. Daroo lived with his sister and brother-in-law for the next year. They all worked cutting fabric 12 hrs/6 days/per week for 600 turkish lira ($140 Cdn), to survive.

Daroo had applied for a passport before fleeing Syria. Amazingly, a year later, his passport in Aleppo was ready. He stole across the border to Afrin and bribed someone to steal his passport and bring it to him in Afrin. Passport in hand, he fled Syria for Turkey, and eventually made his way to Canada, Vancouver… And a New Life.

To be continued … Pomegranates 1

Footnote. Have never been a chest-pounding smug Canadian, but am very proud of our Country for taking in over 50,000 Syrian Refugees over the past four years. Many people came to Vancouver, and in spite of facing so many challenges, continue to enrich our Community in many ways. Yes, our social support systems are stretched – but life for those who fled the horrors of the Syrian war and impending Kurdish Genocide, is now bearable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrrhus

Three Mass Murders in One Week – In Trump’s America

It’s hard to describe the range of emotions we feel at this moment. Deep sadness, shock, anger, hopelessness, helplessness, revulsion, horror, rage. We, your Canadian cousins, share those feelings.

Racist-In-Chief, White Supremacist-In-Chief Donald Trump, encourages these very attacks at his frequent Nuremberg 2.0 Rallies and in his daily Twitter and TV comments. He also distances himself from them, accusing Democrats of causing the turmoil. His anti-immigrant, anti-people of color dog whistles are no longer subtle. His base knows what he’s talking about. Trump’s flying monkeys delivered the same Joseph Goebbels propaganda talking-points across Sunday TV news programs today.

Putin’s GOP talking heads, joined White House advisers like Mick Mulvaney and Kelly Anne Conway in gaslighting Americans yet again. Make no mistake, the Republicans have become the American White Supremacist Party. Make no mistake, this is all part of Vladimir Putin’s Long Game – Destroy America From Within.

The Kremlin has directly bankrolled the NRA, its leaders, GOP politicians, armed militias and Alt Right fringe groups, with cash. Indirectly, Putin has weaponized the internet and social media – the platforms of choice for these Second Amendment Bible-thumping extremists. And let’s be clear, these extremists ARE Domestic Terrorists. They are White Supremacist Domestic Terrorists.

Anarchist, Trumpanzee and Putin Proxy Steve Bannon, was one of the Vice Presidents of the SLC hybrid Cambridge Analytica Aggregate IQ, the Big Data firm that Robert and Rebekah Mercer created. While he was working with Kellyanne Conway, Brad Parscale and others on the Trump Campaign, Bannon was also working with Nigel Farage, Arron Banks and others, on the British BREXIT debacle. Through him and the Brexit Party, Putin helped install Kremlin hack Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, ousting Theresa May.

The ubiquitous Steve Bannon has also been fanning the flames of White Supremacist Populism in Europe: Italy (Matteo Salvini) France (Marine Le Pen), Germany (AfD Bjoern Hoecke) and Hungary( Prime Minister Viktor Orban). Anarchy after all, is chaos, and creating chaos is Steve Bannon and Vladimir Putin’s most effective weapon. 

Vladimir Putin was a KGB intelligence officer for 16 years before becoming the head of the FSB, the post-Soviet incarnation of the KGB, under the late President Boris Yeltsin. He was “re-elected” for a fourth term as Russian President, in March 2018. There is nothing that Putin wants more, than to re-absorb the former Soviet satellite states, preside over the demise of America and Britain, and Make Russia Great Again. That – and become Emperor For Life.

We are living through Undeclared World War Three…

Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin – Stalin 2.0

Miss Myrtle’s Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame Poll 46

It’s Miss Myrtle’s Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame Poll 46. YOU pick those who leave us dumbfounded, dumbstruck & dumbf**ked. Some Nominees appear frequently in the poll. Most are men. No explanation needed.

There are not enough words to Thank Aussie Cousin David Rowe, for permission to use his brilliant political cartoon as Miss Myrtle’s RCIHOF avatar. Tip of the hat to former Guantanamo Prosecutor Colonel Morris Davis, for coining the phrase Rectal Cranial Impaction…

It is impossible to exclude Traitor-In-Chief, Racist-In-Chief, Fake President Donald Trump from any RCIHOF Poll. His daily Twitter meltdowns, press gaggle comments and Nuremberg 2.0 Rallies provide more than enough fodder for alarm and ridicule. He drags us, kicking and screaming, into his endless 24/7/365 dystopian nightmare.

The past two weeks are no exception. Trump has relentlessly targeted Black Democrats with overtly racist rants. You don’t need to be a psychiatrist to see that his unhinged screeds always target those of whom he is most afraid. He creates trending hashtags for his victims. Most recently four freshman Congress members, all women, became “The Squad”. AOC – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, drew the Wrath of Trump.

Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar

The racist dog-whistles to his base, that these women ” Hate America” and are conspiring with America’s enemies, to destroy the Republic, take a page from the Joseph Goebbels playbook. Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty, has become Trump’s default response to critics and those he fears. Crooked Hillary, Fake News, Sleepy Joe are just a few of his gems. His base eat this stuff up. All four of these lawmakers have received hundreds of death threats, some of them credible. Trying to divide Dems and the Nation, is one of the aims.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings also incurred the Wrath of Trump, as his Committee criticizes the Trump Administration for it’s Family Separation policy at the Southern Border, and has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner emails and texts, for its ongoing Trump Family corruption investigations. The Committee recalled former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who gave damning public testimony against the President Trump re the Mueller Report. Trump attacked Cummings on Twitter on July 27, tweeting that “Cumming(sic) District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place”, and generally denigrating Baltimore itself.

From left, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., hold a newss conference after the back-to-back hearings with former special counsel Robert Mueller who testified about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Trumpanzee and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell earned new hashtags this week – #MoscowMitch and #MoscowMitchMcTreason. He successfully blocked a bipartisan bill from Amy Klobuchar and James Lankford, providing Election 2020 security and integrity. The normally unruffled McConnell called these nicknames “McCarthyism”. How ironic, in invoking Joe McCarthy’s “Witch Hunt”, which looked for “Reds UNDER the bed”, Mitch and his wife Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, are actually IN bed with them.

Adam Zyglis toon @adamzyglis Mitch, Elaine, Xi Jinping

McConnell directly helped lift Obama Sanctions on Russia. Mitch McConnell staff actively lobbied Russia and Putin Oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s company RUSAL, who are now building a $200,000 million aluminum mill in #MoscowMitch’s home state of Kentucky. Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has long-standing family business ties to the Xi Jinping regime, in China. She and her father are share-holders in a number of American projects, and while she agreed to divest her interests in them, she has not. The Cindy Yang “Pay to Play” scandal at Mar A Lago has connections to Chao that are being investigated. Yang is being called a Chinese Asset.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Cindy Yang at Mar A Lago

If you see a thread connecting all four of Miss Myrtle’s Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame Poll 46 Nominees, you are correct. Vladimir Putin’s sticky fingers are everywhere – From Putin’s GOP to Bolshevik Buffoon Boris Johnson. Putin just installed Johnson as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain, ensuring a swift Brexit – withdrawal of the UK, from the European Union, and the destruction of British Democracy.

This Blog was designed to help you choose your Nominee for Poll 46. There is no All of the Above option. Pour a dram or glass of bubbly. Try not to get depressed. Vote and Retweet the Poll. Tweet me your Nominee suggestions for Poll 47 @missmyrtle2.

@MissMyrtle2 in Twitter Jail Part 1 Feb 8 2019 – The Rachel Maddow Show

Normally, I would be parsing the Rachel Maddow Show for my Tweeps on Twitter tonight, as I do every weeknight. Sadly, my Twitter account has been temporarily suspended. That is a story for another time. Am going to do the parsing here:

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW — Pictured: (l-r) — (Photo by: Ilya Savenok/MSNBC)

Rachel is on fire, following up the ground-breaking post by Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. His bombshell revelations about Mueller – cooperator, Trumpanzee David Pecker, and his media company AMI, threatening to expose sexually explicit photos and news about Bezos’ private life, have far-reaching repercussions.

Rachel gives context to the fact Robert Mueller had entered into a Plea Agreement with National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, that would mean no prosecution in return for his truthful testimony and cooperation, related to Donald Trump. That Agreement was entered into, based on the rule that Pecker & AMI must NOT commit any criminal acts in the interim before the cases he is assisting with, are fully prosecuted and discharged.

Pecker predictably picked the wrong folks to try and outsmart. What Jeff Bezos did, was to not only reveal the threats against him, but the fact that his own reputable private investigators had discovered Pecker and AMI’s connection to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

This is the same Mohammed bin Salman who arranged the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The same financial resource for Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and the rest of the Trump Crime Family. Buying good PR meant that AMI published The New Kingdom, a glossy ad mag for bin Salman. Pecker sought out that business, through Trump.

Time Person of the Year 2018 Jamal Khashoggi

The sheer hubris of thinking that their blackmail business model would work on The Richest Man in the World, and other investigative journalists, dovetails perfectly with that of the Traitor-in-Chief, fake president Donald Trump. They are mobsters. Just like Vladimir Putin.

Trying to silence the Washington Post, and its ongoing investigations into Trump-Russia Collusion, the Trump-Russia Conspiracy, the Trump Corporation, the Trump Foundation, the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the oppression of dissidents and activists within Saudi Arabia, might work elsewhere. Not in America. Not even in the America that is under relentless attacks by Enemies Foreign and Domestic. Democracy Truly Dies In Darkness…

Today’s contentious appearance before the House Intelligence Committee, by “Acting” Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, is part of the same attempt to subvert Democracy, and allow an installed puppet-government to continue it’s “Domestic” destruction of American institutions, including The Constitution.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Matthew Whitaker

What gives me hope, is that Robert Mueller and His Team, working with other judicial and law enforcement agencies across America, is building the most critical far-reaching and prosecutable case possible together. They are being aided by the best investigative journalists, allies around the Word and concerned citizens like you and me. The very reason that their efforts will eventually succeed, is that this is NOT Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or other entrenched autocracies.

Never Again Is Now! Remembrance Day November 11, 2018

Never Again Is Now!

Yesterday, Traitor-In-Chief, Fake President Trump stayed in his hotel and tweeted hateful comments to Californians while their state became an inferno. Others, REAL Leaders honored those who served and died, to defend Democracy. They attended memorial services across France.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Vimy Ridge Memorial, where he laid a wreath and made a heart-felt speech in the pouring rain. Vimy holds a special place in Canadian’s hearts and consciousness. 66,000 fought and died during World War One. The Canadian Expeditionary Force served with distinction.

They fought heroically at the Battle of Arras, wherein lies Vimy Ridge, and on other bloody battlefields across Europe. On the 11^th hour of the 11^th day, Armistice Day, we remember their sacrifice during the Great War. We said Never Again.

Canada itself had only become a nation in 1867. At the start of World War 1 in 1914, Canada’s population was just under 8 million. Over 619,000 Canadians enlisted and served, both at home and abroad. Putting that into context, our losses were staggering. While so many perished on the battlefield, many came home alive, but irreparably damaged.

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World War 1 was the first major global conflict in which chemical weapons were used. In this case mustard gas, phosgene gas, chlorine gas and tear gas were deployed with deadly and life-changing consequences. The newly invented machine gun and bombs propelled the permanent need for on-site amputations of arms and legs. The number of those surgeries was astronomical. Shell Shock became the euphemism for PTSD. Needless to say, those who survived the Great War, came home with serious untreated mental health issues that they never talked about. Those issues haunted them to their grave. The painting below is by renowned artist John Singer Sargent…

The Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and the Canadian Army Nursing Service performed heroically on the European battlefields. They had previously distinguished themselves attending to Canadian soldiers in South Africa, during the Boer War (1899-1902) and at home.

Canada Remembers because the Battle to Save Democracy NEVER Ends.

That is why my Russian grandfather fled the Jewish Pogroms, joined the French Foreign Legion, then joined the British Army and fought in WWI. He eventually made his way to Canada, where he worked and raised a family. My father, his son, served in the Royal Canadian Navy during WW2, working on dangerous North Atlantic convoys. Two of his brothers served in the Royal Canadian Air Force. One became an acclaimed war artist, whose paintings of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Hamburg and Hanover, hang in the National War Museum in Ottawa. What he witnessed, haunted him for the rest of his life.

Canadians have always had our American Cousin’s backs, never more so than today. We have served in the trenches of every major global conflict, with our American Cousins.

That is why it is so important, perhaps even more important today, to continue the Fight To Save Democracy. Make no mistake, nothing less than global Democracy is at stake in these perilous times. As Putin’s Puppet Donald Trump, meets with his master in France, the Republican Party that is no longer the Party of Lincoln, helped install him. We must understand that while many of the battlefields have changed, the battles are just as bloody.

Putin has weaponized social media and the internet. As he masses forces on Ukraine, Belarus, Polish, Finland & other borders, he has become the de facto ruler of Syria. He and Bashar Al Assad have bombed the Syrian People into oblivion. Putin is playing all sides against each other, hoping to draw America, Iran, Israel, Syria and Saudi Arabia into an all-out Middle East war. He has created chaos everywhere.

He finances and manipulates White Supremacists and domestic terrorists in Europe and North America, uses his own mercenaries in Africa and elsewhere. Very quietly, Putin has taken over much of the Arctic. His newest ice-breaking nuclear submarines have disappeared off the radar, but my money’s on them being in the Arctic, where drilling for oil has become a priority.

He and his cronies the Russian Oligarchs have looted and pillaged Russia. They have become obscenely wealthy, at the expense of the Russian people. The economy has fallen flat. His propaganda machine is in overdrive. Once again the Russian people are at the mercy of a cold-blooded tyrant who is murdering his opposition, with impunity. My Russian grandfather is turning over in his grave.

Robert Mueller, his team of Trump Russia Investigators, other intelligence agencies, judicial bodies, investigative journalists – foreign and domestic, Allies around the World and concerned citizens everywhere, have a part to play in the Battle to Save Democracy. Now is The Time For All True Patriots To Come To The Aid Of Their Country – On this Remembrance Day 2018, Never Again is NOW!

– End –

In Flanders Field was written by  Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, in 1915. It was written after the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. Since World War One, the Canadian Legion, Canada’s War Amps, the Vimy Foundation, Veterans Affairs and others have played an important role in addressing Veterans needs, and making sure that their contributions to preserving Democracy are honored, from generation to generation.

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Please donate to these organizations, so that the never-ending services and support that they give Our Veterans can continue: Lest We Forget

@RoyalCdnLegion https://www.legion.ca/ @TheWarAmps https://www.waramps.ca/home/ @vimyfoundation https://www.vimyfoundation.ca/ @CanWarMuseum https://www.warmuseum.ca/

Miss Myrtle’s Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame Part 9 – Update

Illegitimi non carborundum – Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down

Here for your edification and enjoyment are yet more Inductees into the Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame. These are the folks who leave us dumbfounded, dumbstruck and dumbfucked, in no particular order:

DISCLAIMERS: Any picture/Inductee duplication is purely intentional. You may also notice that the majority of Inductees are men. Dearies, that should require no further explanation. This blog post includes text and photos…because a picture is worth a thousand words.

SPECIAL THANKS to Colonel Morris Davis, former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor for creating the phrase Rectal Cranial Impaction

F**K TWITTER! Part 2

Since taking out my frustrations about constantly being suspended after strong anti- Vladimir Putin tweets in a blog-post on October 5, 2016, much has happened. https://missmyrtle2.wordpress.com/2016/10/05/miss-myrtles-rectal-cranial-impaction-hall-of-fame-part-9/.

Just before Halloween of that year, posted the following tweet with this pic of Putin and the comment “Sometimes It Just Sucks Being #vladimirputin #EverydayVampireProblems”

Immediately my Twitter account was suspended again – this time for over 72 hours.

On October 19, 2016 – two weeks prior to this account lock, had concluded that Twitter (Canada) had a serious security issue: Russia. Never received any replies to my frantic requests that a real person contact me, not just a Twitter bot. I reached out to a business acquaintance high up at Google. He immediately connected me directly with the new Managing Director of Twitter Canada. Rory Capern has since mysteriously left the company. We talked via phone and emailed the week of October 19.

Capern connected me to his Director of Content, Christopher Doyle and his tech team. All of them had me answer many questions and ignored my responses and my clearly listed concerns. They inferred I was wearing a tin-foil hat. On October 21, the big East Coast Denial of Service (DDoS) Bot-Net hack occurred, affecting access to websites, social media, hundreds of corporations, infrastructure service providers, government agencies and others.

After the Halloween 2016 account lock-out, had multiple suspensions, well into the Spring of 2017. Had been tweeting relentlessly about the Syrian Genocide and the roles that monsters Putin and Assad were playing in it. Tweeted about Putin planning to invade Ukraine after annexing Crimea, and co-opting Netanyahu in Israel and Erdogan in Turkey. Included Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in some of those tweets. Also Putin Puppet General Mike Flynn. Used hashtags like #BackToTheGulag and #MakeRussiaGreatAgain

Always got the same automated response from Twitter:

Hello,

Your account is now unlocked, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience.

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My account was NEVER unlocked after receiving those messages. I had to bombard Rory Capern and Christopher Doyle with emails (to which they never responded), until 4 -7 days later, my account would finally be unlocked.

I lost over 5,000 REAL Followers as a result of the constant account suspensions (part of the hack attack) and have never been able to regain them, or rebuild that momentum. After Spring 2017 the account locks stopped. Maybe Twitter FINALLY improved its cyber security efforts.

In February and April of 2017, I posted Mike Luckovich cartoons re Putin, Trump, the GOP and James Comey: My account was locked soon after both times:

  

Kept a running riff going on the Boris and Natasha TV cartoon characters in the much-beloved Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.  Made Putin Fearless Leader, Melania Natasha Fatale, and Trump Boris Badenov. Was often shut down after tweeting them:

Boris&Natasha Screw Amerika:
Putin: My Evil Plan is Working Bwahaha
Melania: #FlynnLies #PenceLied
Trump: And #Snowdon’s tied up with a bow

           

My biggest concern is that Putin, in addition to weaponizing social media to spread dezinformatsiya – Fake News and cause global chaos, is also shutting down critics NOT just in Russia, but around the World. Miss Myrtle is just a tiny fish, caught up in a gigantic  Russian Bot algorithmic cyber net.

Twitter Canada, Facebook Canada and other social media platforms in this country, have NEVER been held to account for their failure to protect users from Russian bots not just spreading Fake News, but also stealing their private and financial information. Our CRTC (The Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission is a regulatory agency for broadcasting and telecommunications) per usual, it has its head in the sand. Wake Up Canada!

At least the House and Senate committees are looking into this situation. No matter how hard the Republicans try to obstruct the work being done, am hopeful the truth will prevail here.

This situation is also related to the recent Kremlinesque Trump Administration attack on Net Neutrality. Trump appointee Ajit Pai has gutted the FCC ( Federal Communications Commission, an independent agency of the US government created by statute to regulate interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable). He reversed consumer internet protections. It has been confirmed that during the Public Commentary period on the FCC’s website, over 1 MILLION Russian-based bots swarmed the comments page.

Shutting down Freedom of Speech and the freedom to choose the news and other content that you consume, is what Putin and other dictators do. It allows him to spread his propaganda 24/7/365 and consolidate his power. He has run basically unopposed in the current Russian “election” and will be elected Czar For Life. If that isn’t Back To The Gulag, what is…

This discussion is far from over. Putin’s megalomaniacal plan to destroy America from within, affects us all. It affects Canada even more so, given our geography and our history. We live in perilous times, and the young entrepreneurs, the Jack Dorseys and Mark Zuckerbergs of Silicon Valley, never dreamed in a million years that their innovative platforms for social communication would ever be weaponized to perpetrate evil on a global scale.

We cannot and must not let Putin’s Useful Idiot, Donald Trump succeed. The battlefield has changed, but we must acknowledge that We Are At War.

To be continued…

*** Please share your Twitter – Russian Bot experiences @missmyrtle2***

 

Where are Batman and Robin When You Really Need Them? In Honor of Batman Day 2019, Here Is A 2017 Blog Post

Have been feeling a bit depressed, irritable and overwhelmed lately, truth be told. Haven’t You?

The World is going to Hell in a Basket of Deplorables. The 2016 Armageddon Election that installed a Traitor, Brexit, terrorist attacks, the Parkland School and New Zealand Mosque Shootings, Putin, Xi, MBS, North Korea, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, South Sudan, Ukraine, Crimea invasions, bombings, floods, earthquakes, forest fires, teachers strikes, drone strikes, melting glaciers, doomed species, political gridlock and enmity, cancer, suicide, death and destruction: The list goes on and on and on…It’s in our faces 24/7/365.

While listlessly draped on the sofa watching TV, quite by accident, flipped onto an old episode of Batman. Holy Bat Cave!!!

Laughed so hard for the next half hour, at the beautiful uncomplicated silliness of it all, and also cried for the sheer joy of remembering a kinder, gentler time. As a kid, never ever missed a single original show, and the absurdly wonderful humor is even funnier today, than it was then.

So many thoughts and memories: The Villains. Who can forget The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin and The Riddler?  Their dastardly evil plots were quite benign by today’s standards. The sheer joy with which Cesar Romero, Eartha Kitt,  Julie Newmar, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin and others played their roles, was not lost on us kids. No scenery was left unchewed, no cliché held sacred…KAPOW!!!

 

The sets were absurdly simple and whimsical. Yes, they had a sense of whimsy without cutting-edge technology getting in the way. The props were hysterical. From the looks of the old TV episodes, it must have cost $50 to make a show, excluding actors salaries (which by today’s standards would be absurdly low). That includes costumes and make-up. The wonderful cheesieness of it all, enhanced the shared experience. WE HAD TO USE OUR IMAGINATIONS.

Reminds me of the early Dr. Who and the TARDIS/Phone box from Britain’s BBC. The austere rough-hewn simplicity and boundless fun of its earlier incarnation was equally and wonderfully cheesy. These were after all, the same folks who brought us Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men.

The sheer darkness and introspection of what followed, the Big Screen versions of Batman and Robin, have to a large degree mirrored the ever darkening lens of world events. Early magical Super Heroes like Adam West and Burt Ward, have been supplanted by the likes of Michael Keaton, Christian Bale and Robert Downey Jr., worthy actors in their own right, commanding a larger, brooding stage.

 

The gazillion dollar budgets for each new Batman movie and its Super Hero cousins, become more obscene with every film. These budgets could lift several Third World countries out of poverty permanently. But I digress…

The witty repartee flew fast and furious with each Batman TV episode. Even as kids, we knew it was funny and as  an adult, it is even funnier.

Thelonious Armstrong compiled a list of some of “Adam West’s Funniest Quotes as Batman”. Here are a few of them. You probably have a favorite. It’s amazing how they relate to today’s global Gotham…

1. “It’s obvious. Only a criminal would disguise himself as a licensed, bonded guard yet callously park in front of a fire hydrant.”  Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin need to be tied to fire hydrants and forced to watch old Batman TV episodes.

 2. We’ve come a long way from the Prime Minister’s exploding cake. Or have we?” Actually Dear Hearts,  we are not even close. Political  character assassinations have become a way of life. In some ways, Mitch McConnell has become the Martha Stewart of exploding cake…

3. “A reporter’s lot is not easy, making exciting stories out of plain, average, ordinary people like Robin and me.” As Comrade Trump and Fox News never tire of telling us, media needs grist for its never-ending 24/7 mill. As Vladimir Putin’s minions at RT would tell you, hacking makes it a hell of a lot easier.

4. Robin: “You can’t get away from Batman that easy!”

Batman: “Easily.”

Robin: “Easily.”

Batman: “Good grammar is essential, Robin.”

Robin: “Thank you.”

Batman: “You’re welcome.”

Never has there been a greater need for both civility, and good grammar. Bigly! Canadian, American and European politicians are constantly breaking new ground in nastiness. In the Ukraine, they have all-out brawls. But No One has destroyed civility and good grammar with greater zeal and success, than the Traitor-In-Chief, Fake President Trump. Because he is a Very Stable Genius…

 

5. “Yes, he moves very quickly for an overstuffed and unlikely Egyptian Pharaoh”  THIS is my new go-to description for Don the Con… with apologies to the late Victor Buono.

6. Robin: “Let’s go!”

Batman: “Not you, Robin. They have strict licensing laws in this country. A boy of your age is not allowed in a drinking tavern.” Haven’t been in a ‘drinking tavern’ in years. Have left all that to Brett Kavanaugh. Funny how in the US you can do your grocery shopping and buy all the alcohol you need at the same time. Here in Cantada, well British Columbia to be exact, we have to go to the government liquor store to buy  champers and single malt whisky. But I digress…

7. Batman “Catwoman, I find you to be odious, abhorrent, and insegrievious.” Don’t know about you, but I just adore that word insegrievious. Am going to make it my word of the month. And how anyone could find the delectable Julie Newmar odious, is beyond me.

8. “Robin: Where’d you get a live fish, Batman?”

Batman: “The true crime fighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin.” Am firmly convinced that this is the perfect metaphor for Hero Robert Swan Mueller…

9.  “It is the duty of every good citizen of Gotham City to report meeting a man from Mars in a public park”. Will keep this in mind while watching jailbird George Papadopoulos lie his way through more TV interviews, or during the next wave of Border Patrol and ICE putting more Children In Cages in Trump Concentration Camps, as “illegal immigrants”.

10.   “No, Robin. With my head sticking out of this neosaurus costume, I might not appear like an ordinary, run of the mill crime fighter.”  Said Trumpanzee Alex Jones, to no one in particular – EVER.

11. .“Bartender, a bit of advice. Always inspect a jukebox carefully. These machines can be deadly.”  This ad hominem always worked well for Brett Kavanaugh, and in various pubs in Northern Ireland.

12. “Let that be a lesson. In future, be more careful from who you accept free lemonade.”  Dear Trumpanzees and Trump Base, Batman was speaking to you!

13.  (after coming through Barbara’s window): “We would have entered the building by more conventional means, but we didn’t want to startle the tenants.”  Am certain this was meant as a cautionary tale re Vladimir Putin and his army of Russian hackers.

All thanks to the Original Guys in Tights, those fearless and pithy crime fighters, The Caped Crusader and Robin.

They weren’t slick or technologically advanced. They just got the job done, and always saved the day. They brought us joy and laughter. Raising a dram to Adam West who will forever be my Batman, Burt Ward who played Robin, Alan Napier, who played  Alfred Pennyworth, and the rest of the glorious cast of unforgettable characters, May the Road Always Rise Up to Meet You!

Miss Myrtle’s Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame Part 11

Illegitimi non carborundum – Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down

Here for your edification and enjoyment are yet more Inductees into the Rectal Cranial Impaction Hall of Fame. These are the folks who leave us dumbstruck, dumbfounded and dumbfucked. DISCLAIMERS: Any picture/Inductee duplication is purely intentional. You may also notice that the majority of Inductees are men. That should require no further explanation. This blog post includes text and photos…because a picture is worth a thousand words.

SPECIAL THANKS to Colonel Morris Davis, former Guantanamo Chief Prosecutor, for creating the phrase Rectal Cranial Impaction

Breaking with tradition, am inducting only Canadians in this blog post. It’s a bit of an education for our American, Aussie, British, European and other cousins. Bear with me, there is more than enough stupidity to go around.

Well Dear Hearts, the American Election had shifted the focus off many Tea Party North nefarious shenanigans. And nothing says Tea Party North like the Conservative Party of Canada Leadership race and upcoming British Columbia election in 2017… with the Conservatives-In-Liberal-Clothing.

It is impossible to choose which of the flyweights and nincompoops running for the Leadership since Stephen Harper had his hateful arse kicked to the curb, is more deplorable. But the Conservatives are gathered around the campfire and they’re roasting their weenies…

 

My personal favorite is Dr. Kellie Leitch. She reminds me of Michele Bachmann, she of the Tea Party Tin Foil Hat Brigade. While Minister for Women under Herr Harper, Leitch’s accomplishments on behalf of her Canadian sisters were stunning. The high point was undoubtedly the removal of the 12% tampon tax. Kellie, a grateful nation will never forget your sacrifice! But wait – there’s more! Dr. Leitch stepped up to the podium with colleague Chris Alexander, then- Immigration Minister, to propose that Canadians rat-out each other and report on Barbaric Cultural Practices. I kid you not. Inform on your Muslim and other “foreign” neighbors.This was part of the fear-mongering hysteria the Conservatives whipped up as Election 2015 neared.

It turns out Dr. Leitch was just getting warmed up. Oblivious to the quote “physician heal thyself” she is running for the Leadership of the Canadian Conservative Party, in part on a platform she likes to call screening immigrants for anti-Canadian values. Does that sound vaguely familiar? It should.

In a tip of the hat to Donald Trump, bombastic, bloviating, bullying business buffoon Kevin So Bleary of Shark Tank fame, has thrown his hat in the ring, as have many others incompetents.

 

There is a special place in Hell reserved for British Columbia’s Minister of Social Development Michelle Stilwell and her colleague Peter Fassbender, Minister of Everything Else including Translink, our regional transportation network. Fassbender ground teachers into the dust as Education Minister. Just when you thought Donald Trump had set the bar as low as it could go by refusing to rent to African-Americans in the 70’s and 80’s and then courting their votes in the recent election … along comes Tea Party North, British Columbia branch.

Taking yet another page from the Stephen Harper – Joe Oliver  balance-the-budget playbook, Premier Christy Clark’s minions clawed back Disability Bus Passes from over 3,500 needy people. This forced people to choose between having enough food to eat or do without public transit. At the same time, the Ministry pretended they were increasing Income Assistance (Canadian welfare/The Dole) rates  that had been frozen for over the past 8 years, even as the cost of living rose dramatically during that time.

But wait – there’s more!  Then the BC Liberals launched relentless TV ads crowing about how fiscally responsible they are – with a huge budget surplus, nearly a year out from the election. It doesn’t get more cynically opportunistic than this, balancing the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable. But wait – it does! They launched their new election slogan “British Columbia – The Future Is Here“. Well, I say NO. It is fucking NOT, if you happen to be poor and disabled!

 

Don’t get me started on Site C Dam or the Kinder Morgan TransMountain Pipeline and Petronas LNG tanker terminals. British Columbia has some of the most breathtaking natural habitat in the world and it is under siege by Big Oil and Gas and other corporate entities. Will do another blog post about that shortly. Gawd, I need a drink. Fittingly, the BC Conservatives-In-Liberal-Clothing make me want to cry in my beer, then deny me the beer to cry in.

 

Would someone please explain to Betty Battenberg that Christy Clark did NOT deserve to receive an award at Buckingham Palace for saving The Great Bear Rainforest! The Great Bear Rainforest has been saved in spite of – not because of her. And it is not out of the woods so to speak, as she and the BC Liberal Caucus continue to allow annual bear hunts of endangered grizzlies in an elaborate bait-and-switch license scam.

Am stopping here before my brain explodes – the smoke is actually coming out my ears. And you thought it was easy being Canadian, eh.