Clearing The Plains: Chapters 1 - 4 Recap

James Daschuk, Clearing The Plains

https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains

Nick Estes, Our History Is The Future

https://www.versobooks.com/books/2953-our-history-is-the-future

Howard Adams' book, Prison Of Grass, is currently out of print. Hopefully that changes soon, but in the meantime, check your local library. If you're in Canada, it's likely they have it, and if they don't they can transfer it in from another library.

Episode 14: Jesus Christ Superstore

Picking up where ep 13 left off, hunkering down in last April's blizzard, waiting for Spring...

//Kung Fu Movies//Sci Fi Roundup//Baby Mobile vs Batmobile//Crafting Through The Blizzard//Winnipeg Transit Isn't So Bad If You Don't Need To Be At Work On Time//Ultrasound Week//What Being Pregnant Is Like//Abolishing Easter As A Bit//Evangelical vs Heathen Easter//Verboten Jesus Movies//Hiding Chocolate In The Dryer//Catholic Holidays Are More Fun//Easter Is About Killing God//Ham Rules//Jill's (Secretly Jewish?) Ukrainian Family//Great Grandmother Owned A House And Worked On The Railroad//Convincing Your Husband To Move To Saskatchewan//All Family History Is Told By Unreliable Narrators//

Episode 13: One's On The Way

We were stuck inside during the (previous) April blizzard so we hit record on the ole podcast machine and hung out on the couch all afternoon. This is part 1, with the Big News, and we'll post the back half sometime in the next few weeks. Enjoy!

//The Big News//Tiny House Logistics//Give Us Your Used Furniture//The Secret To Being Able To Own A House//Testing Positive For Baby And Covid At The Same Time//Of Course Long Covid Is Real//Spring Break//Getting Back Into The Teaching Swing//

*Some of the views expressed in the song, "One's On The Way" by Loretta Lynn, may not necessarily reflect the podcasters' own views on child rearing.

//Hibernation//Garden Vibes//We Were A Table Family//Snow Drifts Above My Head//Flood Of The Century//Flood and Drought In The Same Year//The Floodway//Sandbagging McMansions//Bird Talk//Big Owl Year//The Scout Goose Has Landed//Movie Roundup//Boredom Is Severely Underrated//Coaching Kids Basketball//Substitute Teacher Survival Rate//

Ig & twitter @xmas_tomato (Jon)

I (Jon) attended two rallies related to the Russian war on Ukraine on March 6, 2022. One I attended on purpose, the other, accidentally.

I thought it was a good opportunity to try to show how ordinary people can use the tools we were talking about in the previous episodes - awareness of history, class consciousness, and a united front strategy - to understand more deeply what's happening at these types of political rallies and how ordinary people can safely participate in them.

Jon ig & twitter xmas_tomato

Canada flouting international law by continuing Saudi arms sales, report says

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canada-flouting-international-law-by-continuing-saudi-arms-sales-new/

Details emerge about alleged human-smuggler, amid questions about one family’s ‘desperate decision’

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/21/manitoba-border-deaths-details-emerge-about-alleged-human-smuggler-amid-questions-about-one-familys-desperate-decision.html

More local podcasts on this topic:

Victor's Children, Episode 15: Understanding Russia Today

https://soundcloud.com/user-737267994/episode-15-understanding-russia-today

Solidarity Winnipeg Podcast, Episode 14: Russia Out Of Ukraine and No To NATO Too!

https://soundcloud.com/solidarity-winnipeg-sw/swpod-ukraine-ep-final

Talking about the aftermath of the far right occupation in Manitoba, Clara Zetkin's strategy for a united front against fascism, and how we can build resistance to far right influences in our families, communities, and workplaces.

Twitter@LifeIsSweetPod

Canada Goose Union: a recent, local, real life example of how ordinary people can start building a better world for all! Every one of us is capable of following their example and doing the same in our workplaces and communities!

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/A2r4i

Clara Zetkin, The Struggle Against Fascism (speech excerpt)

https://www.marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1923/06/struggle-against-fascism.html

Clara Zetkin, Fighting Fascism, How To Struggle And How To Win

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1088-fighting-fascism

Follow up to the previous episode on the Freedom Convoy, Mennonites, & Fascism.

What is the far right and why are there so many Mennonites there? We'll explore this question while meandering through Russian Mennonite history.

Notes & Corrections -

- Around 1:28:19 when I refer to the Russian army, I meant to say the German army. (fixed)

- When I refer to 1 Indigenous peson arrested, in fact 2 Indigenous people were detained.

- When I refer to a Mennonite colony in Mexico, the situation I'm referring to actually occurred on a colony in Bolivia. The Miriam Toews book, Women Talking, was based on those events and was set in Mexico.

- At the end when I mention the popular front, I actually mean the united front. I had the two confused. I will update the audio for this soon, as this is an important distinction. We'll be talking about the united front next episode, not the popular front. (fixed)

Twitter @LifeIsSweetPod

Links:

Battle Of Billings Bridge - Ordinary People Successfully Block And Repel Convoy!

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/battle-of-billings-bridge-attracts-hundreds-of-volunteers-traps-convoy-for-hours

Winnipeg Police Detain Two Indigenous Counter Protesters (Correction - I said 1 person was arrested when 2 people were detained.)

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/two-indigenous-counter-protesters-detained-by-winnipeg-police-1.5781394

RCMP Arrest Armed Protesters At Coutts Blockade

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/mounties-arrest-11-armed-militant-protesters-at-coutts-blockade

Canadian Special Forces Personnel In The Freedom Convoy

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/what-were-members-of-canadas-special-forces-doing-at-the-freedom-convoy-occupation

The Hard Right And The Far RIght

https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-far-right-the-hard-right-and-our-fight-against-them

Systematic Sexual Abuse in Mennonite Colony in Bolivia - I mistakenly referenced Mexico when I was referring to this situation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-48265703

Mennonite Central Committee & Nazi Collaboration -

https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/mcc-initiates-research-historical-connections-national-socialism

https://mcccanada.ca/media/resources/12017 (link to a page to download a pdf)

Winnipeg Based Mennonite Fascist: J.J. Hildebrand - explores fascist conceptions of sex and racial purity

https://anabaptisthistorians.org/2017/04/27/mennonite-fascism/

Battle At Old Market Square - Fascists And Mennonites in Manitoba in 1934

https://stopracism.ca/content/battle-old-market-square-winnipeg

American Fascists by Chris Hedges - a good read on the history of the American evangelical movement. Predicts many of the conditions leading to the rise of the far right today.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/American-Fascists/Chris-Hedges/9780743284462

Thoughts on the Freedom Convoy, fascism, and the role of Mennonites from Southern Manitoba in the far right. Exploring the roots of home grown reactionaries.

For anyone concerned about the continued slide to the far right among people in their communities and wondering what ordinary people can do about it.

Correction - Candice Bergen (nee Hoeppner) was born in Morden, Mb and represents the riding of Portage-Lisgar. Portage La Prairie is in this riding.

Twitter @LifeIsSweetPod

Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” Is a Front for a Right-Wing, Anti-Worker Agenda

https://jacobinmag.com/2022/02/canada-freedom-convoy-conservative-right-wing-anti-worker-anti-vaccine

Police arson unit probes Ottawa fire allegation in heat of anti-mandate protest

https://www.thestar.com/politics/2022/02/07/police-arson-unit-probes-ottawa-fire-allegation-in-heat-of-anti-mandate-protest.html

Clara Zetkin: The Struggle Against Fascism

https://www.marxists.org/archive/zetkin/1923/06/struggle-against-fascism.html

Fighting Fascism, How to Struggle and How to Win

by Clara Zetkin

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1088-fighting-fascism

Teaching During Omicron//Birthday Sweaters//More Seeds & Dyes//Pandemic Fads//Wordle//Designer Games//Going Outside In Winter Is Actually Good//Jill Breaks The Wholesome Rule//

Departures (2008-2010) Two friends visit parts of the world tourists usually pass over. Think Anthony Bourdain but he's two hosers. Unexpectedly educational, humane, and heartwarming.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1320363/episodes?ref_=tt_eps_sm

Chapter 4: Despair And Death During The Fur Trade Wars, 1783-1821

Prison Of Grass by Howard Adams

https://www.fifthhousepublishers.ca/search-results?q=prison+of+grass&LEAP_SearchSubmit=Submit

Take it out from your local library or ask them to carry it.