Latest news with #JimKerr
South China Morning Post
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
When Simple Minds first played US and why, for singer Jim Kerr, the band is ‘a crusade'
When the Scottish band Simple Minds made their live debut at the Satellite City club in Glasgow on January 17, 1978, it is fair to wonder just how big the four teenagers in the band dared to dream. 'That's a good question,' says singer Jim Kerr, who along with guitarist Charlie Burchill, are the only founding members of Simple Minds to have stayed in the band for the 47 years since that first gig. 'And it's one that we've been reflecting on a lot recently, because Charlie and I have just finished off a book on the history of the band.' At the time, Kerr and Burchill were both 18 and had been friends for a decade, Kerr says. 'By the time we became teenagers, with Brian (McGee, the original drummer), we were in the same class at school. That's when you start to identify your tribe, especially walking around with vinyl albums under your sleeve you find out, oh, these are the guys I've got something in common with,' he says on a recent call from Los Angeles, where Simple Minds were rehearsing for a US tour. Play Burchill had a guitar, McGee had a drum kit, and Kerr would have done anything to be involved with music or a band.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Two Iconic Classic Rock Bands Join Forces For Epic Colorado Concert
80s rock legends Simple Minds and Modern English recently joined forces for an epic concert in Denver, Colorado on May 27. The two bands played together as part of Simple Minds' 'Alive and Kicking' tour, which stopped at Denver's Ball Arena. The members of both bands appeared to be in great spirits and were active during the performance, really getting their rock on. 80s synth duo Soft Cell — who are most famous for their 1981 cover of "Tainted Love" — is also part of the tour. Simple Minds, who are responsible for the hit song 'Don't You Forget About Me' from the 1985 film The Breakfast Club, consists of frontman Jim Kerr, 65, and guitarist Charlie Burchill, also 65, who are the two remaining original members of the band. Joining them on tour are a group of collaborators, including Gordy Goudie on guitar, Ged Grimes on bass, Cherisse Osei on drums, and Sarah Brown on backing vocals. Modern English, who put out the 1982 hit 'I Melt With You,' consists of vocalist Robbie Grey, guitarist Gary McDowell, bassist Mick Conroy, and keyboardist Stephen Walker, all original members of the band. They are joined by Gabriel Sullivan on guitar and Richard Chandler on drums. In the coming days, the tour will play several dates in Texas and then move on to other areas of the United States through late June, where the tour will close out at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. From there, Simple Minds heads to Europe, where they will play the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands through the end of July. As for Modern English, the band does not have any shows scheduled after the 'Alive and Kicking' tour just yet, at least not according to their official website. Simple Mind has released a whopping 21 studio albums since they were formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1977, as well as seven EPs. For their part, Modern English has eight studio albums to their name and an additional three EPs since their own formation in Essex in 1979. Two Iconic Classic Rock Bands Join Forces For Epic Colorado Concert first appeared on Parade on May 28, 2025
Epoch Times
27-05-2025
- Epoch Times
RCMP Visit BC Ostrich Farm to Prepare for Potential Cull Enforcement and Arrests
RCMP liaison officers have visited a British Columbia ostrich farm to prepare for potential arrests at the property where protesters are trying to prevent a cull of about 400 birds ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Multiple livestreams broadcasting from the Universal Ostrich Farm, in Edgewood, B.C., on Wednesday morning showed three officers in police liaison jackets and another in uniform at the farm. They told protesters and the farm's owners they wanted whatever happened at the farm to be lawful and peaceful, with one telling livestreamer Jim Kerr they wanted to ensure the group understands what's happening. 'If there is enforcement that takes place, we want to make sure that it happens in a very peaceful manner. If you guys want to be arrested, if there's an injunction that's issued, we just don't want anyone to get hurt,' the officer said. He added that there was a right to protest in Canada. 'Sometimes that's lost in policing, and it has in the past. It's our job to ensure that our teams are all very calm and that things go off without anyone getting hurt. That's the biggest goal.' Related Stories 5/19/2025 5/17/2025 Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, told officers in the meeting that lasted less than an hour that 'people are on edge,' as she asked police not to bring weapons onto the property. The Regional District of Central Kootenay said last week that its landfill would not accept any ostrich carcasses without further testing for avian flu, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Saturday the cull will still proceed, and the timing will not be made public. Pasitney's mother, Karen Espersen, is seen in one of the videos streamed Wednesday standing behind a fence with the ostriches and telling the officers that the group does not stand for aggression. An officer was asked when the cull might happen but he said he had 'no idea.' The RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the visit. In a statement issued later Wednesday, the family said their goal was to save what they say are healthy animals from 'an inhumane and unjustified death' and that the policies around the cull do not serve the public interest. 'Farmers are juggling biosecurity measures, animal care, community concerns and so much more — this isn't about avoiding hard conversations, it's about supporting those who work tirelessly as farmers and for what is right,' the statement says. The food inspection agency ordered the birds destroyed in December after an avian flu outbreak that killed dozens of ostriches, and a Federal Court judge recently upheld the decision. In a response to questions about whether the current health of the remaining birds had any impact on the decision to cull, the agency said Tuesday that a single laboratory confirmed case of avian flu 'is sufficient to declare a premises infected, given how easily the disease can spread to other birds.' The agency said Saturday that under the Health of Animals Act, if an owner refuses to meet 'depopulation' requirements it could move forward itself or use a third-party contractor and potentially withhold part or all compensation from the owners. Last week's court decision says the farm could be compensated up to $3,000 per ostrich, potentially representing a payout of about $1.2 million if all are culled. The family disputes the $3,000-per-bird price tag in their statement, saying a rooster is worth $7,500, while an 'antibody-producing hen' is worth $93,000. The farmers say their flock has developed herd immunity against avian flu and is valuable to science.
National Observer
27-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Protesters are flocking to a BC ostrich farm. Is the government's bird flu response to blame?
Dozens of protesters are flocking to a BC ostrich farm that is the fresh darling of Canada's far-right media for its months-long fight against a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)-ordered cull. As the protests spread and become more extreme, some experts are questioning whether CFIA's overall response to the avian flu is as effective as it could be. Some researchers say the protesters might actually have a point — in part. In late December, the agency ordered the entire herd to be culled after some birds were infected with a highly infectious strain of avian flu. The farm fought back in court, online and in the media, arguing their birds should be saved — because they allegedly have herd immunity and are being used for antibody research. But their protest was unsuccessful. Earlier this month a federal judge ruled the CFIA's order was justified and the cull should proceed. The gathering has strong echoes of the Freedom Convoy, with key characters in that movement popping up on the farm. Take the far-right influencers Jim Kerr, Ron Clark and Colin "Big Bear" Ross, who have all boosted the farm's message to their sizable social media followings. Kerr was so deeply involved in the 2022 protests he was interviewed by Russia Today (RT) in 2022 when police cleared Freedom Convoy protesters from Ottawa. Clark — who bills himself a "Freedom Advocate" on his Facebook page — was part of a group who travelled to Ottawa in 2023 in an effort to replicate the convoy. Ross was one of the organizers of a planned "Freedom Convoy 2.0" in Winnipeg in 2023, but on Tuesday asked his social media followers to contribute thousands of dollars' worth of equipment and time. "We need your support — this is growing fast," Ross wrote last week, asking for food, fuel, firewood, first aid equipment, "oil-field grade" generators and light towers, porta-potties, caterers and cash donations. Even sound engineers were on the list because the group "needs your magic." As far-right protests spread and become more extreme in their support of a BC ostrich farm facing a CFIA-ordered cull., some experts are questioning whether CFIA's overall response to the avian flu is as effective as it could be. Two days later, he lashed out in a Facebook post at CBC reporter Andrew Kurjata for covering the protest, calling him "corrupt" and accusing him without evidence of lying and bending the truth, recalling the attacks levied on journalists during the 2022 occupation in Ottawa. As the freedom convoy tie-ins mount, the ostrich story continues to soar: On Thursday, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a letter to the head of the CFIA asking the agency to "consider not culling the entire flock." Videos posted to social media by Katie Pasitney, one of the farmers, Ross and other protesters showed a festival-like atmosphere at the farm over the weekend, with river dips and daytrippers. And overnight between Thursday and Friday, a second ostrich was mysteriously shot dead. In a Facebook live post, Pasitney said the farm had issues with drones but asked supporters not to speculate about any links between the drones and the shooting. In her Facebook live updates after the shooting, she insisted that only her statements and official statements from the farm should be considered accurate. The farm has welcomed the support, even as it has tried to distance itself from the maelstrom of misinformation and aggressive sentiments, like those shared by Ross and in social media posts about the situation. "Asking questions is much more productive than sharing unverified and misunderstood portions of information. Please consider that sharing false information and statements can be considered defamation, will damage the farm's reputation and increase our farm's exposure to harm," co-owners Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski wrote in a statement posted to the farm's Save our Ostriches website. Swirling throughout the social media posts, interviews and livestreams by the farm's owners and their supporters is the idea that the cull is a "sinister" example of government overreach. In an interview with Canada's National Observer, Pasitney, one of the farmers suggested the CFIA's order is part of an effort by "Big Pharma" to quash the farm's research into ostrich antibodies. The CFIA flatly rejects that assertion. In a statement, the agency said a single laboratory confirmed case of H5 avian influenza is sufficient to declare a poultry farm infected with the highly transmissible avian flu. Canada adheres to a so-called "stamping out" policy to cull all the birds on a farm, in line with international guidelines. Bird flu, the agency said, has to be controlled to prevent its spread to other birds, as well as humans. "All highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses … have the potential to infect mammals, including humans,' the CFIA said in a statement. 'Allowing a domestic poultry flock known to be exposed to HPAI to remain alive allows a potential source of the virus to persist.' But some experts say the protesters might have a point — sort of. "There's a right way to manage an outbreak, and there are probably 1,000 wrong ways," said Jeff Wilson, an epidemiologist and veterinarian. He taught at the University of Guelph and worked for the Public Health Agency of Canada for over 15 years before starting his own epidemiological consulting and outbreak response consultancy. "To be frank, what's happening now for avian influenza nationally, and on this ostrich farm, is not being done by best practices by a long shot." The problem is that the CFIA is applying a prescriptive, predetermined approach to the crisis by applying the same "stamping out" policy nation-wide, regardless of the size or type of poultry farm. He would prefer to see the agency pull together a group of external experts specialized in everything from the science and data of the virus and its spread, like immunologists and epidemiologists, to political and communications experts. The goal would be to ensure the agency is gathering a wide range of expertise on the problem, and is leaving few opportunities to breach public trust, he explained. Gathering data about the problem, using it to evaluate whether response measures are actually working — and changing them if they aren't — is also key, he said. "To do it properly is as hard as brain surgery," he said. In a statement, the CFIA denied that its approach is ineffective and pointed to the federal court ruling that allowed it to proceed with the cull, which outlines the agency's rationale. Adopted by Canada's largest trading partners and enshrined into trade negotiations, the stamping-out policy provides broad guidelines for how the agency should approach the crisis, but leaves specific practices up to individual countries to determine. The approach, which requires countries to rapidly cull entire flocks on infected farms soon after discovering an infected bird, is meant to counteract the virus's ability to spread easily and rapidly before symptoms emerge, limiting the risks it poses to public and animal health, and Canadian farmers' ability to trade internationally. Anything short of a cull, the CFIA said, 'would increase the possibility of reassortment or mutation, particularly with birds raised in open pasture where there is ongoing exposure to wildlife. A human case of H5N1 in BC earlier this year required critical care, and an extended hospital stay for the patient, and there have been a number of human cases in the United States, including a fatality.' Science aside, Wilson said part of the problem is how the CFIA communicated its decision-making process about the ostrich cull, and the avian flu more broadly. The bodies responsible for managing an outbreak need to be communicating "truthfully and completely … in a language that everyone can understand, and it has to be two ways, not just a push of information," he said. Refusing to do so "utterly destroys" the CFIA's credibility, making it harder to gain public trust and support, he said. The problem is accentuated by the rise of the far-right and social media in recent years, added Shane Gunster, a communications professor at Simon Fraser University. The ostrich farm's basic storyline is relatable and social media-friendly, making it easy for the anti-vax, right-wing conspiracy world to graft that sympathy to their worldview, burnishing their credibility and providing a "'common sense' veneer to their more extremist views," he wrote in an email. And that has been exactly what has happened: far-right media, including The Rebel, have raised the farm's story to international prominence — and the story being amplified by the likes of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr spreads the message even deeper among the far-right. Meanwhile, the government's side of the story has been lacking. While Gunster hasn't analyzed in detail the CFIA's communications surrounding the ostrich farm outbreak, his perception of media reports show that the agency's storyline is more complex, and it hasn't provided a "strong, sympathetic spokesperson" to make the agency's case, effectively yielding ground in the fight for public opinion to the far-right's conspiratorial appeals. "If we have to start a revolution from the giant chickens, so be it. It's gotta start somewhere," said Clark, the self-styled "Freedom Advocate," in a May 2, 2025 Facebook livestream that received about 1,000 comments and over 350 shares as of May 23.
Global News
21-05-2025
- Global News
Ahead of ostrich cull, RCMP warn B.C. farm protesters of possible arrest
RCMP liaison officers have visited a British Columbia ostrich farm to prepare for potential arrests at the property where protesters are trying to prevent a cull of about 400 birds ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Multiple livestreams broadcasting from the Universal Ostrich Farm, in Edgewood, B.C., show three officers in police liaison jackets and another in uniform at the farm. They tell protesters and the farm's owners they want whatever happens at the farm to be lawful and peaceful, with one telling livestreamer Jim Kerr that if protesters want to be arrested, police 'don't want anyone to get hurt.' 2:04 Regional district bans ostrich carcasses from local landfills The officer says they want people's right to protest respected, but if arrests begin they want it to happen 'peacefully.' Story continues below advertisement Katie Pasitney, whose parents own the farm, tells the officers in the meeting that lasts less than an hour that 'people are on edge,' as she asks police not to bring weapons onto the property. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Regional District of Central Kootenay said last week that its landfill would not accept any ostrich carcasses without further testing for avian flu, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said on Saturday the cull will still proceed, and the timing will not be made public. Pasitney's mother, Karen Espersen, is seen in one of the videos streamed Wednesday morning standing behind a fence with the ostriches and telling the officers that the group does not stand for aggression. 2:01 B.C. ostrich farm cull upheld in court An unidentified officer is asked when the cull might happen but says he has 'no idea.' Story continues below advertisement The food inspection agency ordered the birds destroyed in December after an avian flu outbreak that killed dozens of ostriches, and a Federal Court judge recently upheld the decision. The agency said Saturday that under the Health of Animals Act, if an owner refuses to meet the depopulation requirements, it could move forward itself or use a third-party contractor and potentially withhold part or all compensation from the owners. The court decision says the farm could be compensated up to $3,000 per ostrich, potentially representing a payout of about $1.2 million if all are culled.
