Aubrey Graham is like most of us in a lot of ways.

He had jobs and pursuits growing up, dabbled in a few things here and there, earned a paycheque doing different things until finally settling into something that now, looking back, he’s been doing for sixteen years and counting.

He’s done okay for himself these sixteen years, finding himself, at age 36, wondering where it will all lead.  And lucky enough to say that, financially anyways, he appears to be set.  So set that he’s actually thinking about retiring from his day job.  To do what after?  Not really sure about that, but if anything, Graham has always demonstrated an ability to stay busy and productive, if that’s what he wants to do.

Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds is in the news again.

The Vancouver-based actor has been busy in the past couple of years, doing the things that he seems to do best, which is to make people laugh and be happy.

This is not a story about Reynold’s involvement in the proposed purchase of the Ottawa Senators NHL franchise, although that’s a big deal, especially with the team sitting forty minutes down the road from us here in Renfrew.

What this is about is Reynold’s assisting in the design and marketing of a t-shirt to commemorate Canadian hero Terry Fox in advance of this year’s annual Terry Fox Run.

CBC Television and BET Plus got together to produce an eight-part series called The Porter that centres around the plight of Black railway porters working the Chicago-Detroit-Montreal line back in the 1920’s.

The series has been nominated Wednesday for nineteen Canadian Screen Awards (CSA), a very impressive achievement for the historical period piece.

And then it got cancelled.

“Like, who are they to tell us?”

Not an uncommon reaction of Ukrainian soldiers when Canadian troops arrived to take over their training. Initially skeptical, the Ukrainians adapted quickly to a more western style of combat, command, and control.

A lot of these Ukrainians were and are combat veterans, some fighting for over five years in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region. Mostly, but not officially, against Russians.

They were basically ordered to change their combat mindset, and that’s where the Canadians came in, along with the British, the French, the Belgians, and others.

Previously, Ukrainian soldiers were almost identical to Russian soldiers, both having a shared connection with former Soviet military doctrine and tactics. They were often fighting against each other using identical tactics, thinking, and using more or less the same weapons.

Two things Canadian soldiers drilled into their Ukrainian counterparts stuck with many as being critical.

The Canadian approach to casualty management has been recognized by Ukraine as a difference-maker, saving many lives on a personal level for the soldiers, but a strategic level for the army.

Secondly, the development of an entire command layer that doesn’t exist in the Russian army, that being the non-commissioned officer class. For western armies, sergeants and other non-coms were the meat and potatoes of the command structure. They had tactical license and could decide on-site to take a certain action. This contrasted with Russia’s super-top-down doctrine that demanded that higher authority be consulted before making a move.

Ukraine surprised us a year ago with how well they fought the Russians off. Their national resolve is nothing short of inspirational.

We, like others, have helped Ukraine’s military get stronger with weapons. We’ve done stuff that gets no attention, like the half-million winter kits for Ukrainian soldiers, the very latest in winter combat clothing and accessories.

But perhaps the most noticeable addition we’ve made to this whole thing is the training that our troops have provided theirs.

Ukrainian soldiers have proven especially adept at using our tactics with western weaponry to achieve superior battlefield results.

So, rather than it being all over in a couple of days, like a lot of the Russian big-boys were hoping, here we are one year out.

And we, like our allies, continue to train Ukrainian troops.

Even his own people hate him.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, they all hate him. That has to mean something right there.

Newly-minted House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has trouble gaining respect from a lot of people, and that situation extends deep inside his very own Republican caucus.

It only took fifteen rounds of voting, but McCarthy is now the very thing he most desperately wanted to be, Speaker of the House.  And now, after getting rid of the Big Orange One, at least for now, we have another American demagogue thrust upon us.

Pîhtokahanapiwiyin, a Plains Cree chief known as a peacemaker, will be reunited with two of his most cherished possessions after 138 years. The Royal Ontario Museum has announced that it will return a saddle bag and ceremonial pipe to his ancestors.  The museum had been sold the pieces in 1924 and 1936 respectively. 

Also known by the name of Poundmaker, this leader of the Plains Cree died at Blackfoot Crossing, North-West Territories, in July of 1886.  Prior to his death, he had spent seven months of a three-year sentence at Stony Mountain Penitentiary for treason.

His role in the Riel Uprising, or North-West Rebellion, was often portrayed inaccurately by Canadian historians in the period and in the years following the rebellion.  It may well be that Canada sent an innocent man to prison.

In April of 2018, Renfrew town council voted, with one dissenting vote, to sell the iconic downtown post office building to Rob Thompson Hotels for $100,000.

Rob Thompson Hotels are in the business of retro-fitting heritage type properties so they can be rented out as boutique hotel space.  It’s a good idea for a property the town couldn’t afford to maintain, especially in light of the approximately $1.285 million in repairs needed to just get the place up to code.

The NEW START treaty was signed a decade ago between the United States and Russia.  The treaty limited both sides in the number of nuclear warheads available and the number of missiles available to transport them to targets.  Yes, it’s a very important treaty between the world’s two primary nuclear powers.

Vladimir Putin just pulled Russia out of the deal.

Should we be alarmed?  Yes, of course, any time a major nuclear power pulls out of an agreement like this, we should all take note.  But to be honest, if Putin wanted to use nuclear weapons in any capacity for any purpose, he wouldn’t let the niceties of a treaty hold him back.  It’s not like the guy has ever passed an integrity test.

Putin’s all boo-hoo because his gamble that the west wouldn’t respond to his invasion of Ukraine has proven to be a major miscalculation.  His miscalculation.  Yes, aided and abetted by self-serving cronies, but ultimately his.  So he wears the embarrassment of his military’s primitive and shockingly inept pursuit of the war.  And this guy doesn’t wear embarrassment well.  In fact, he will never wear it at all.

Along its entire length, Argyle Street has a fairly dubious distinction.  It is, by far, the most badly beat-up piece of roadway in Renfrew.  In particular, the stretch of Argyle between Patrick and Monroe is downright criminal.

If you are forced to drive down this stretch of road, then you are forced to take the operational health of your vehicle into earnest consideration.  Unless you’re driving a tractor, a tank, or a large pickup, this little minefield of a road is hazardous for vehicles and operators alike. Whatever you do, strap that seatbelt on.

And it’s been like this for years!

Damnit, I can feel something going on. Have for the past couple of days.

I noticed it first in my sinuses, then my neck, that certain kind of neck pain you get when you’re feeling like you’re sick. Then it got into my gums.

I don’t feel like I’m going to get full-blown sick, just peripherally under the weather.

I still wash my hands when I come out of any place outside my home. I use the stuff they sell with the high COVID- killer content. I don’t have COVID (had it before, so know how it feels) so I think that’s working out fine.

I believe I have myself a virus of some sort. I don’t wear my mask anymore so maybe that’s part of it. I got absolutely blasted by snow while doing my driveway, maybe that’s part of it too. I also have three shots, so maybe that’s part of the mitigation of it. I just feel that I’ve caught something that’s hitting me around the edges, not coming right at me. Why would that be? I don’t know but I’ve experienced it before.

Sometimes we wear ourselves down, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. Being worn down is exhausting all by itself. And that presents a chink in the armour, a weak spot that diabolical viruses could exploit.

That’s where I am. In the grip of a diabolical virus.

But I’ll lick it.