#October Crisis

[madnessinthemayhem]

I often think about how cousin Rob from Derry Girls said that he hadn’t returned to Northern Ireland for 20 years because Derry got too “bomby”.

Rob grew up in Montreal in the ‘60s. If you know Canadian history, and specifically Québecois history, you’ll know that the ‘60s wasn’t exactly a peaceful and bomb-free time for Montreal.

While it was on a completely different (much smaller) scale than the Troubles, the civil unrest of the 7 years leading up to the October Crisis of 1970 was definitely violent and unsettling. The Crisis was actually one of only 3 times the government of Canada broke out the War Measures Act, the other 2 times being WWI and WWII.

Of course, by 1977, things would have cooled off. I just always found it funny that Rob would consider Canada such a safe place considering where he was from and when he was born.

[spockvarietyhour]

FLQ communique found last night was in this trash can in Montreal; says radio station CKAC reporter Jacques Payacx who shows how he rummaged through the container to find it after woman phoned anonymous tip to station. 1970 [TPL Archives]

[immaculatasknight]

The destabilization of Canada

[jinx-rants]

Just finished listening to blowback season 2 and can’t recommend it enough to folks on the left who’ve alway had the vague idea that America has been fucking over Cuba, but also still hold some of the common assumptions about the Cuban revolution, leadership, and ussr involvement. The recordings of the American leadership from the missile crisis are shocking in just how psychopathic everyone sounds. I feel like the common narrative is JFK was this incredible statesman for preventing nuclear war…when really he was just the only one in the room who wasn’t a full on psychopath. Like he was capable of summoning an ounce of empathy, and that was truly unique in that war room. Anyway, 10/10 recommend.

See you back here in a few weeks when I finish season 3 and want to gush about how good it was as well

[crisisaegyl]

Welcome to October everyone!!

I've claimed Kiki for my october calendar page and it's honestly the only themed illustration I'm doing 😅🎃🎃

[deadpresidents]

Is there any truth to the 1980 October surprise theory?

The New York Times published a story earlier this year where Ben Barnes -- a Republican supporter of Reagan's in 1980 who had once served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, and protege of former Texas Governor John Connally -- confirmed that the Reagan campaign absolutely encouraged Iran not to release the American embassy hostages before the election because Reagan would give the Iranians a better deal if he was elected President. Barnes admitted that he was present as Connally passed that message around while on a trip to the Middle East in order to get word to the Iranians. It's not exactly a smoking gun because virtually everyone seemingly involved in implementing the October Surprise is dead other than Barnes, but it's a weird thing for Barnes to lie about 45 years later, especially considering how close his relationship was with Governor Connally. Plus, we know that there were shady contacts between people in the Reagan Administration and Iran because of the Iran-Contra scandal.

I think there is definitely some truth to the theory, but I also believe that the Iranians were more than happy to spite President Carter by not releasing the hostages until literally the moment Reagan took the oath of office. The Iranians were still furious with the Carter Administration for letting the Shah come to the United States for medical treatment after he was forced to leave Iran as the Iranian Revolution exploded and Ayatollah Khomeini returned to become Supreme Leader. Carter had also helped broker the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, which also infuriated Iran and much of the Islamic world. Plus, Carter had ordered Operation Eagle Claw -- the failed attempt to rescue the hostages by force -- and that was seen as an act of war. So, the Ayatollah and leaders of Revolutionary Iran had no love lost for President Carter and weren't interested in doing him any favors before he left office.

The October Surprise that many people overlook is the one which took place in 1968 shortly before the Nixon vs. Humphrey election. When it looked like there might be some progress made in peace talks to bring the Vietnam War to a close, Nixon and his advisers got word to the South Vietnamese to hold off on working toward peace until Nixon was elected and could give them better terms. It was such an egregious act that LBJ actually told people around him that he felt Nixon had committed treason and that he had the blood of American soldiers on his hands for sabotaging peace talks. We even have the tapes of LBJ's phone calls after finding out about Nixon's actions where President Johnson straight-up says, "This is Treason!"

[nando161mando]

More than 100 dolphins dead in Amazon as water hits 102 degrees Fahrenheit | CNN

[runerapier]

R&R (red and roasting) these images are like 6 months old, I just never had the energy to touch them up until recently

[sunnibits]

40 degree weather in early January…. in New England…… literally no snow on the ground…….

[regsswimminglessons]

the fact that october is almost over and i still don't have a gf is homophobic

[artkadukan]

And I present to you

✨vampire boi✨

[museofvoid]

In honor of asexuality awareness day I think we should all throw rocks at this man for genuinely making me question my sexuality for a while there

[spockvarietyhour]

about 2,000 people attended memorial service at Nathan Phillips Square yesterday for Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, who was murdered by FLQ 1970 [TPL Archives]

[immaculatasknight]

Canada's unresolved trauma

[captain-price-unofficially]

T-80UD near the House of the Soviets during the 1993 Russian Constitutional Crisis, 4 October 1993.

[cordiallyfuturedwight]

let your spotify on repeat predict your 2024!

OKAY I’M DOING IT!!! bc so many lovelies tagged me 🥰 @eoieopda @aprylynn @cosmicdreamgrl @jkvjimin @livelocks @rjshope @raplinenthusiasts

january- chill kill by red velvet

february- rodeo by wayv

march- she calls me back by noah kahan

april- will anybody ever love me? by sufjan stevens

may- broadview by slow pulp

june- first time by hozier

july- 1 billion views by exo-sc & moon sujin

august- my love mine all mine by mitski

september- space invader by the national

october- damage gets done by hozier and brandi carlile

november- dimple by BTS

december- underwater by red velvet

i’ll tag whoever is reading this 🤍