Large Fierce Mammal

” … the anecdote goes, a Canadian immigration official was asked how many Jews displaced from what was left of Europe Canada would accept as immigrants, and was said to have replied, ‘None is too many.’ Whether or not the story is true in its placing the speaking of those words in the mouth of a single individual, the sentiment was widely held at the time, notwithstanding 21st century attempts to expunge it from the history of peace loving, cosmopolitan, all accepting Canada.

” … our family has been having trouble with immigrants ever since we came to this country ….” ~ Dark Sentiments 2015 – Day 19: The Year in Zealotry – Part 1 of 2

At a press conference held on 11 November 2015, newly minted Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said –

“ISIS is a threat, no doubt about that. Should we fear it? No. The Canadian population should have full confidence in all the security services to keep us safe.”

I agree with the Right Honourable Defence Minister’s statement that fearing ISIS is decidedly not the thing to do, but what concerns me is the thought that his French counterpart may have been inclined to say something similar only last Friday afternoon. As you all know by now, Defence Minister Sajjan made his statement two days before a series of ISIS credited attacks in Paris left 129 dead at last count, and scores wounded.

Here in Canada, the secretive, bullying, vindictive oddity that was the Stephen Harper style of governing has, we are assured, left the building in the wake of the political bloodbath that was last month’s federal election. And now, one Friday night in Paris but two days ago has left the freshly minted hope that is the virgin Parliament headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a magnificent bag of shit to hold. As I understand one of his campaign promises, Mr. Trudeau has pledged, and continues to pledge, teasing out the legislative legacy of Stephen Harper’s anti-terrorism laws to separate legitimate and necessary national defense and law enforcement measures from those that might too easily serve as a platform for quietly silencing all forms of civil dissent and political opposition. In this enterprise, I wish him bon courage. (more…)

On this Day of Remembrance I will be offering you three poems. Two have previously appeared here on other dates, but I deem them suitable for purpose and so, here they are again. The third, appearing as the final act on today’s playbill, was written specifically for debut here. I will leave it to you, Goode Reader, to fathom how these brain droppings of mine relate to the matter under consideration, however I will certainly entertain any and all comments and queries with the utmost pleasure.

Our first perspective is that of A Choir of Crows, a timeless sentiment first uttered here on 24 October 2012.

A Choir of Crows

By LFM

Deep within a forest once
I heard the strangest thing.
What must have been a hundred Crows
Had gathered there to sing.

What some might find disturbing
And offensive to the ear,
I heard to be an ode of joy
To all that Crows hold dear.

Curious, I closer crept
To watch the swirling choir,
And seek to learn what wondrous thing
Such passion could inspire.

Then as though it would explain
This joyous song to me,
One member of the choir came down
To perch where I could see.

Within its beak it held a ring
That glittered in the sun,
And through it was the finger
That the ring had rode upon.

With twinkling eye my messenger
Seemed calling me to follow,
And soon atop a hill I came
To gaze into a hollow.

The winter wind was at my back,
So not the slightest breath
Of charnel stench assailed my nose
Affording news of death.

Yet fifty men or more slept there
On crimson beds of snow,
Beneath the serenade of joy
Well known to every Crow.

The Crows sang on, as they will do
Whenever sabres rattle,
For such as they know more than most
The greatest joy of battle.

My next offering was released into the wild on 19 April 2015. Take the Fight to the Enemy is viewed through the lens of a Man’s perspective, and asks a more timely question. As I said at the time, “Mark Twain said, ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.’ This poem does neither.”

Take the Fight to the Enemy

By LFM

“The sky is falling!” came the cry.
“Enemy at the gates!” echoed from the hills.
“War! Fear! Doom!” boomed from the ramparts.
Ears ringing, I left my work and made haste to the wall.

Mounting the stair to the battlement, I stood
And looked across the plain, the sweet wind in my face.
Upon the land below, cattle grazed, and men moved about their business –
Some good, some bad, most neither and both.

Of the Dread Enemy spawning warnings so dire,
None could be seen, and yet every act of mayhem is Theirs.
In the streets, Their name is spoken in whispers hidden in shadow
For fear that to name Them is to invite being marked as one among Their number.

The walls have ears, but none are Theirs, and few notice
That the spears of defense have come to point ever more inward rather than out.
Soldiers are sent with great fanfare to deal pinpricks hailed as triumph –
Muzzled War Dogs best kept leashed if they are not to slake their ravening thirst in blood.

In lofty halls, forked tongues entwine the words of conflict,
At once invoking the name of War whilst insisting the Soldiery
Stand upon the field for reasons otherwise.
That a Soldier exists as the bloody finality of his Nation’s tolerance is forgotten.

An Enemy so offensive yet so weakly pursued,
In concert with the noble quest for avoidance of offense.
So empowered that we must fear our own children, and throw open our homes
To the benevolent vipers sent to lurk protectively beneath our beds.

That the Enemy hath power to change the hearts of men
And turn them to ignoble cause seems strange to me,
For have there not always been those among us who would
Cleave to any cause offering excuse to release whatever particular evil they hold dear?

Standing there upon the wall, the wind stirs my hair
As I ponder how such an evil is granted the power of cowering fear
Instead of a righteous outward vengeful flood with but one goal –
To ride until we find them, and kill them all.

Now on to the main event, Black Devils,  inspired by the First Special Service Force.

The 1st Special Service Force (also called The Devil’s Brigade, The Black Devils, The Black Devils’ Brigade, and Freddie’s Freighters), was an elite American-Canadian commando unit in World War II, under command of the United States Fifth Army. The unit was organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana in the United States. It fought in the Aleutian Islands, Italy, and southern France before being disbanded in December 1944.

The modern American and Canadian special operations forces trace their heritage to this unit. In 2013, the United States Congress passed a bill to award the 1st Special Service Force the Congressional Gold Medal

The nom de guerre “Black Devils” is a matter of legend and some controversy, but no matter the reason or origin, its effect on the minds of those who had to face them in battle is undeniable.

While carrying out beachhead operations at Anzio, legend has it that a member of the Force uncovered the journal of a German lieutenant from the Herman Goering Division. The journal contained the following entry: “The Black Devils are all around us every time we come into the line. We never hear them come.” This legend was never verified as fact by any member of the brigade; however, the force was known as the Black Devils and as the Devil’s Brigade. The members of the brigade preferred the latter. General Frederick had cards printed up with the unit’s insignia on them and the words Das dicke Ende kommt noch! or “The worst is yet to come” printed in red ink down the right side which the Force would leave on the bodies of dead Germans as a form of psychological warfare. This was so effective that Sergeant Victor Kaisner reported hearing a German soldier whisper “Schwarzer Teufel” (“Black Devil”) as the German’s throat was being sliced on the beachhead. However, recent historiography surrounding the unit debates whether or not Frederick and his general staff made up the nickname in order to instill fear in the enemy.

After you’ve soaked up what follows, I encourage you to peruse the official website of the First Special Service Force. The documentaries on their video page offer a cornucopia of history, and as the ranks of the unit’s members dwindle before a common enemy more relentless and sure than any faced in their youth, bear a message that won’t be heard spoken by any of them for much longer. Read, then watch, learn, and never forget.

Black Devils

By LFM

Six comrades sit beneath the moon,
Through anxious hours ere comes the sun.
Dawn will find but three that live –
We’ve taken every other one.

We find you where you seek repose,
We find you where you stand on guard,
We hunt you as you hunt for us,
And leave you with our calling card.

We Devils black who hunt by night,
You never see nor hear us come.
Your vanguard of the “master race”
Now lives despair, with fingers numb.

So any morn you see the sun –
It doesn’t mean we’ve dropped the fight.
That’s just because we let you live
To bleed for us another night.

Believe the grin from ear to ear
Your comrade wears ‘neath lips struck dumb,
And heed our mark upon his brow.
Believe – The worst is yet to come!

Vincent is a short film employing stop motion animation made in 1982, the same year my Wife was born. The years notwithstanding, both she and I are dyed in the wool Tim Burton fans, this delightful item being designed and directed by Tim Burton, and produced by Rick Heinrichs.

At approximately six minutes in length, there is currently no individual release (Vincent) except for a few bootleg releases. It can be found on the 2008 Special Edition and Collector’s Edition DVDs of The Nightmare Before Christmas as a bonus feature and on the Cinema16 DVD American Short Films.

The film is narrated by actor Vincent Price, a lifelong idol and inspiration for Burton. From this relationship, Price would go on to appear in Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. Vincent Price later said that (Vincent) was “the most gratifying thing that ever happened. It was immortality — better than a star on Hollywood Boulevard”. ~ Wikipedia

If there ever was a dark drama prince, it’s Vincent, and you may want to watch his story more than once. For us, the narration by Vincent Price himself is sheer genius. (more…)

Welcome back Goode Reader. While last night’s Dark Sentiment proferred no small amount of snicker fodder, the concerns it conveyed dovetail into tonight’s offering, which is a whole lot more serious.

Clarke’s Third Law states that, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”. From long study and observation on my own part; otherwise known as paying attention; I would also add that with every generation there inevitably comes a population of hand wringing parents who fear whatever technology, music, and/or system of belief has come to be adopted by their offspring, and by so doing grants it a status where it might as well be magic.

Right now we have the internet and all its dark, gnarled, root entangled paths leading to child predators, sexting, bullies, teen rampages, Slenderman, the “knockout game“, performing dangerous stunts just to post a video of it happening, song lyrics that speak of suicide, and ISIS recruiters, to name a few in no particular order. In the face of that are a disappointingly large number of parents who can barely navigate facebook without getting their own ass in the wringer. That being said, it cannot be denied that the quite right, proper, and predictable propensity of adolescents and young adults to try on the dark and risky side for size leaves them open to exploitation by those who would consume them. Before the internet, as now, we have always had adults with their own agendas who were ready, willing, and more than able to “assist” the young on their quest for adventure, to no good end. These days, that end might include strapping on a suicide vest.

As I’ve written and quoted at the start of this year’s season of Dark Sentiments, “Darkness, as it inspires me, isn’t limited to expressions of evil, mayhem, and bad outcomes. Something can also be considered “dark” if it is unknown, misunderstood, or incorrectly interpreted.”

In a world that makes pretense of no longer hysterically pursuing witch trials for those deemed to be actual witches, Nazis, or Communists; the pot still simmers and so now we have a renewed zeal based upon some new words that are equated with evil, mayhem, and bad outcomes; while being unknown, misunderstood, or incorrectly interpreted. Islam and Jihad being two. My purpose here tonight is neither to vilify Muslims, nor to excuse what has been done, and continues to be done, in the name of Islam, or any other system of belief for that matter.

Steven Weinberg said, “Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” I personally maintain that the quality of another is to be judged by his or her conduct toward others, and not by whatever beliefs they may hold and visibly or invisibly practice that led them to the desirable behaviour. A friend, a comrade, is that regardless of the path they trod that brought them to that state. Nevertheless, it’s hard to take a wide ranging stance of disagreement with Dr. Weinberg’s statement in a world that can justify some of the actions I highlighted, only in part and only in the present year, in the second installment of my recent piece on zealotry. Religion is an insult to human dignity if it is internalized or applied as such.

There is an excellent CBC Radio documentary programme called Ideas that never fails to impress me with the clarity of thought it brings to controversial topics, and tonight’s Dark Sentiment relies upon a recent episode to shed some light through the cracks of something even its adherents seem doomed to grapple with.

Titled The Struggle Over Jihad, its introduction reads –

For many non-Muslims, jihad is synonymous with violence. We’ve all seen images of ISIS and other extremists using the term to justify their butchery. But jihad is traditionally defined as a noble endeavour — more about how to live than how to die.  Contributor Naheed Mustafa looks at the origins of jihad, how it’s been transformed into a narrowly defined call to fight — and what can be done to reclaim it.

Jihad. I wish the best of fortune to those who grapple with it by any definition.

Whatever you choose to sip for this one, make it strong, and then click here to listen.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” ~ Mark Twain

Tonight’s Dark Sentiment is a terribly rendered documentary that apparently, though not surprisingly, only aired once in 1971. I ask you though, Goode Reader, to suffer through it, if only for its startling resemblance at times to out-takes from an episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Beyond that, I will tell you that for me, some of the opinions recorded in The Power of the Witch echo back to those sage words of Mark Twain quoted above.

If you prick your ears, and stop laughing long enough, you may recognize something familiar in the horrified descriptions of youth being lured into witchcraft covens. Hint: Today we have a new name for what they’re describing – radicalization. Before that, we had the twin spectres of drugs and rock & roll. I could go on, for the examples are legion, but I will limit myself to just those because they should be within the ken of anyone old enough to be reading this. (more…)

Directed by former Student Academy Award finalist Carlos Andre Stevens, voiced by the incomparable John Hurt and Eloise Webb, The Alchemist’s Letter is just what the chirurgeon ordered.

The Alchemist’s Letter is a 2015 animated short film that tells a story likely to echo in the darkest and most personal catacombs of what those who frequent here might call their spirit.

When Veridian, an estranged young man, receives his late alchemist father Nicolas’ inheritance (voice of Academy Award nominated John Hurt), he is exposed to the ill-fated reality that his father built a tumultuous gold making machine powered by his own memories. The film takes us on an enchanted journey through the vessels of the machine where we explore the contents of the alchemist’s most precious memories, all in an attempt to give his son one last life lesson and save him from following down the same fateful path.

Sit back, I would suggest with an exceptionally dark ale or the most chewy Merlot you can find, and enjoy this bit of genius. (more…)

“Alignment”, Ben Howe – 2014, Oil on Canvas, 100x168cm

Darkness, as it inspires me, isn’t limited to expressions of evil, mayhem, and bad outcomes. Something can also be considered “dark” if it is unknown, misunderstood, or incorrectly interpreted. ~ Dark Sentiments 2012 – Day 1: Another Harvest

2015 has so far been a year characterized by action, reaction, inadequate and inappropriate action, attacks on freedom in the name of Freedom … you know, pretty much the same as past years going back as far as the eye can see. Through it all, zealotry has been in the vanguard, in all its colours, flavours, and complexions. In accordance with what I said in the quote from a Dark Sentiment past that heads this piece, we have hit every benchmark of Darkness – expressions of evil, mayhem, and bad outcomes in the face of, and to no small degree because of, the unknown, misunderstood, or incorrectly interpreted.

“Through the eyes of an opponent, you are the villain… It just depends on your perspective.” ~ Ed (Ed’s Manifesto)

Ask the proverbial “man in the street” what is the greatest threat born of zealotry, and these days you’ll get answers falling into three general categories.

1. If the one giving the answer is white and of European ancestry or origin, the answer will most likely be Islam. Not necessarily “radicalized” Islam because, thanks to the excellent marketing and rebranding job done by ISIS, it’s become the same thing in the minds of this group.
2. If the one giving the answer is Muslim, or of such racial characteristics as might cause them to be presumed to be of Middle Eastern origin, the answer may be “radicalized” Islam, but in this case meaning exactly that. If the person consulted is also living – possibly even born – in a country that has attracted the enmity of such groups as ISIS by engaging them in battle on any level, then they may also face a threat born of zealotry every day from random people in the street, and worst of all, from their own government.
3. If the one giving the answer is Native or Black and living in Canada or the United States, the answer will likely be the Police. Everything else is secondary in immediacy.

They’re all right, and they’re all wrong, to varying degrees on an assortment of levels at which the Truth, as always, is a fluid and slippery thing to catch, particularly while you’re looking over your shoulder, being shot at, or both. I would posit that in the three examples given above, those in item 1 will most often not share a certain point of commonality with those in items 2 and 3; that being direct experience of the zealotry the identify, and its effect on daily life, in an up close and personal way. For people in the latter two groups, zealotry and its evils are never an arm’s length looming threat that may some day come to call if they aren’t vigilant. It’s already here. This being said, I should mention that all this gets a lot more complicated if the person being consulted in any of the three cases is, him or herself, a zealot. (more…)

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions

Meaning:

One meaning of the phrase is that individuals may have the intention to undertake good actions but nevertheless fail to take action. This inaction may be due to procrastination, laziness or other subversive vice. As such, the saying is an admonishment that a good intention is meaningless unless followed through.

A different interpretation of the saying is wrongdoings or evil actions are often masked by good intentions, or even that good intentions, when acted upon, may have unforeseen bad consequences.

In the first category listed in the definition above, we have such examples as claiming one’s purpose is to “raise awareness” of the cause du jour as evidenced by the acquisition and display of a coloured ribbon. George Carlin put it best, so I’ll leave it to him to address this aspect. (more…)

During my six year stint as Emergency Measures Coordinator for the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, one of my areas of responsibility was overseeing creation and exercising of realistic emergency preparedness plans for two County hospitals, and five nursing homes. Up until then, the writing of emergency plans was always tasked internally to some administrative staff member with little to no training or experience in the area, simply to meet a licensing requirement, and seemed always to be viewed as either a punishment detail, or something akin to the results of drawing the short straw.

Coming out of that atmosphere into the new reality that included the Devil me, the people involved were at once relieved and mortified, particularly in areas that involved long held but completely inaccurate understanding of where their own responsibilities ended with respect to what the Police could and would do for them under an assortment of circumstances. One of these was a bomb threat called in or otherwise communicated to the facility.

Heretofore, every plan I read dealt with such an incident the same way – run. Treat the situation like a major fire and evacuate everybody as quickly as possible. There was much protestation when the dark Truth was revealed – that absent a known location where a device may be placed, or a close proximity in time between now and a stated time of detonation leaving no safe margin for alternatives, before leaving your own immediate work space, do a quick search of it for anything that doesn’t belong. If there was ever an inducement for keeping your office or other work space clean and tidy, this is it.

A plan was put in place to quickly and clearly mark cleared areas before evacuating, and likewise areas that contained suspicious objects. Staff were cautioned only to identify, not to second guess, NEVER to touch, and if anything was found, NEVER to presume it’s the only one. That anything unusual was to be reported to Police immediately.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, after years of absorbing from TV and movies that all you had to do was call the Police and the trusty Bomb Squad would do the rest, to learn that people familiar with the building and its accustomed contents could do in seconds what anyone unfamiliar with it would take hours, or even days to do, at no small peril to themselves through duration of exposure.

Well, bless their black hearts that the message got through to most in the end, but naturally there exists in every population a component of people who just don’t get the fucking message, and it is to those that Tonight’s Dark Sentiment is dedicated.

A Little Courage

By LFM

A little surprise comes to those who abide
Where there’s threat that a bomb has been planted.
Though help may be coming, and hearts may be drumming,
There’s something you shan’t take for granted.

None better than you knows the place where you toil
Morning bell to the late supper gong,
So you’ll need to inspect with an eye to detect
What is present but doesn’t belong.

So don’t you be rushing to head for the door,
And leave looking for others to do.
Where evil’s not seen doesn’t mean it’s not been,
And none knows the place better than you.

Ere you pass off the problem to somebody else,
Just be sure of the one that you pass.
That it’s real and true, and not offered so you
Can leave others to cover your ass.

So look to your kinsmen, and look to your Clan,
Your Friends and your Comrades withal,
And include as you do the stout hearted crew
Who are coming to answer your call.

My Boxing Day 2013 article, A Long Winter’s Night 2013 – Day 6: A Winter Lesson in Community, told the tale of a blizzard that buried my home town of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia when I was about 3 years old, and how the citizenry had no choice but to suspend all matters of commerce and social intercourse in favour of throwing their efforts into digging life back to functionality.

In that piece, I made mention of the concept of “Community” as I have come to know it, and closed with:

I was very young, but what I’ve brought forward with me, absorbed from the adults that surrounded me then, was a vibrant sense of urgency, adventure, and even what I might call a festival atmosphere. Would the townsfolk of Lunenburg have asked for this to happen? Of course not, but when it did, they didn’t need anyone to step in and tell them what needed to be done. They saw to their families, then their neighbours, and expanded outward from there. Personal animosities were set aside to the greater good of all. These are things we will need to do again, in the same order, when the excrement gets entangled in the ventilating appliance any time in the future.

Community requires sharing in ways and to depths that are hard to fathom while basking in the perfection of an Autumn morning. In today’s touchy feely world, it’s not uncommon for a word that speaks to the heart as much as the head to hold different meanings for different people, while each conducts him or herself as though everybody is on the same wavelength. Where resources are limited, one’s first responsibility must be to see to the welfare of those who look to you for their immediate well being and survival. Then to one’s Trusty Kinsmen and Clansmen (that “family that ain’t blood”). Then to Comrades who may simply become so in a time of urgency because they join you in facing a common foe. (more…)