Quebec Anti-Anglos At It

We interrupt this solid month of rememberances of Gerry Ford to bring this other recollection from the 70s:

The Quebec Sovereigntist group, the FLQ, which carried out a string of bombings in the 60s and 70s in Quebec, is threatening to kill English-speakers in Montreal, for the month between February 15th-March 15th.
> They're targeting West-Island locales where people gather -- shopping malls, highways, and specifically businesses with signage which is not French-first, that sort of thing. It's not really clear what's bringing this out now. In the last election, the Sovereigntists did poorly -- following a scandal which brought down the ruling Liberal party, most Quebeqers changed their vote rightward -- to the Conservatives, who now rule Canada -- instead of leftward (ie., toward the sovereigntists, in the form of the Parti Quebecois).

So, other than this being horrendous, I'm not horribly worried. I live downtown, not on the West-Island (although, strictly speaking, by French Montrealers standards, downtown is the West Island). Sure, I work at the prime English language university downtown, so, maybe that's a target. Even so, the police don't believe the group is necessarily capable of carrying out the attacks; and I'm sure publishing that in the paper just discouraged the FLQ, and they'll probably just give up.

yikes.

2007 + 1 = 2008

It was only today that I realized - it is less than a year until 2008, the year we elect the first post-Bush President.

(Ford knew about lame duckhood - after the Nixon pardon, when his 70% approvals dove to the twenties... the current occupant does not have the sense to go as gently.)

The Onion as Prophet

Apropos our former President, I wonder what he would make of the transformation of the satirical publication The Onion from humor rag, to political commentary, to out and out prophet.

They're running a special feature marking six years of W, and it's a wonder to behold: Link.

A Month of Ford

In honor of the former President, all posts this month will be explicitly Gerald Ford-related.

A moment of silence, please, while we contemplate his contributions to our nation as President, football player, golf fanatic, and inflation-fighter.