Carney plans to cut 15% to the arts. Here is a letter template to send to politicians to oppose this. nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
Writer, science communicator, maker/mender. I like to spin yarns.
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Carney plans to cut 15% to the arts. Here is a letter template to send to politicians to oppose this. nwmd.social/s/copylink/4...
Same here! No name is too improbable for minerals, it seems.
My coworker in the office across the hall did his PhD dissertation on perovskite so we're all team Borg around here! www.irocks.com/minerals/spe... #MinCup25
My coworker across the hall from me did his dissertation on Perovskites so we’re pro-Borg around here. www.sciencephoto.com/media/653331...
My office whiteboard is ready! #MinCup25
Starry Nights is ONLINE tonight! Join us 9:00-10:30pm Pacific on YouTube for views of the Triffid and Eagle Nebulas, galaxies far far away and a live chat with @rascvancouver.bsky.social and a special guest sharing new research. youtube.com/live/AA43BR7... 🔭
How did they get so many of my interests into one video?
New study on #BlueSky for #SciComm. “Bluesky posts demonstrate substantially higher levels of interaction (likes, reposts, replies, and quotes) and greater textual originality than previously reported for X, suggesting both stronger interactive and more interpretive engagement.” 🦋🦫🌱🐋🧪 #philsci
I wish my PR job included llamas 🦙
Will have to investigate for next year! I usually just go for the wool auction so I miss a lot of stuff, but Sunday looks like it has cow and goat costumes.
@kwardvancouver.bsky.social Vancouver doesn’t have 4H competitions anymore but Maple Ridge still does. They don’t have a specific category for llama costumes but they do have one for “llama performance” and “llama public relations” — whatever that is!
Today at work Matthew Broderick allegedly stars in SFU pretending to be University of Washington.
HAPPENING TODAY: Join 500+ people who have already registered to learn how to stop Bill C-2! 🗓 August 27th, 7 PM ET (4 PM PT/6 PM CT/8 PM AT) 📎 Register to get the webinar link: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi... Unless we mobilize in force now, Bill C-2 will likely pass into law this fall.
Nearly all federal funds for gender equality could disappear in the next two years. If the funding isn't renewed, Canada's Department for Women and Gender Equality could see its budget shrink by more than 80%. pressprogress.ca/federal-fund... via @pivot.quebec
Breaking! City of Burnaby just became first city in Canada to join arms embargo movement against Israel AND the first Apartheid-Free City, breaking ties with Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism. We've been organizing for months towards this precedent in colonial Canada.
Here's my video on why Vancouver's Integrity Commissioner ruled that Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver councillors violated the city's code of conduct also i got some sun on grouse mountain yesterday and didn't go to our makeup studio before filming hahahaha whoops
“Heat Warnings have been issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada for inland sections of the North Coast, the Fraser Canyon, and the South Thompson areas.” www.emergencyinfobc.gov.bc.ca/event/heat-2... - Emergency Info BC #BCHeat #Kamloops #Kitimat #Lillooet #Lytton #Penticton #TerraceBC
Just lick it. Problem solved.
Hanif Abdurraqib 💙 from A FORTUNE FOR YOUR DISASTER (Tin House) Day 24 - #SealeyChallenge @tinhouse.bsky.social @sealeychallenge.bsky.social
i think this is good to cite because whether you think it’s merely the aesthetics of fascism or actual fascism; whether you stay or flee; whether you’re scared, or angry, or sad; your duties to one another are the same. we all owe ourselves and our community to reject and resist this every step
SO thrilled to publish this fantastic piece outlining the problems with age verification and "child safety" by Pratika Katiyar and Rebecca Williams at the ACLU and Cynthia Conti Cook who leads the Surveillance Resistance Lab.
Nice! This one was willow. The one I’m working on right now is ivy and hops with some other things mixed in. If you ever want some basket weaving company you’re welcome to come to one of our EartHand open days.
Aww
I’ve been contemplating posting/trolling it on my LinkedIn as a professional accomplishment because I hate LinkedIn. My mittens are also the best.
I’ve been way too busy this year to keep you all up to date on stuff I’ve been working on this year, but since we’re talking about fairs… I made the best basket.
I think all good fairs are a mix of earnest, hokey cringe and sublime talent manifested in unexpected ways.
I love love love country fairs. I wish Vancouver still had one.
we had a reasonably functional system where you paid $60 a year to have access to the work of several great writers. Paying $60 for each individual writer is not a scalable model.
“Environment Canada has issued an alert warning of a multi-day heat event for parts of southern B.C., with temperatures expected to reach the high 30s in some regions.” www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar... - @ctvnewsvancouver.bsky.social #BCHeat #Kamloops #Kitimat #Lillooet #Lytton #TerraceBC
Quelle suprise. Of particular note: Former VPD officer Montague refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Between this & the slow-rolling of FOI requests on "stranger attacks" during the election is highly suggestive of a culture of unaccountability at the VPD, & probably the model for ABC.
a thought i have reading @clintsmithiii.bsky.social’s wonderful piece is that one reason the administration wants to erase any mention of the worst of our past is because it is intent on recapitulating those atrocities www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Louisiana has to build three new natural gas power plants to accommodate the "AI" data center that Meta just crammed through because said center will use *Three Times* as much electricity (and, thus, attendant resources) as the *Entire City Of New Orleans*, every year. Y'all this isn't sustainable.
We need Mamdani's approach at the civic level, provincially, and federally all across Canada. The recent AC strike demonstrates there is a demographic and a need for this style of politics, and broad support among a majority of Canadians ("fairness").
Make some science friends!
Vancouver folks: City of Vancouver is doing a budget consultation: vancouver.ca/your-governm... Also, Fed Gov of Can is also doing a budget consultation: www.canada.ca/en/departmen... Let them know where they stand
Text from a friend just now: "Why are “travel disruptions” the only part of this Air Canada story the CBC deems worthy of coverage? What about union busting & expecting a whole cohort of women workers to perform unpaid labour? WTF. How do these people think strikes work?" #cdnpoli #aircanadastrike
I'm at Vancouver Airport where CUPE's Air Canada Component is picketing. Air Canada flight attendants are still on strike, defying a back-to-work order from the federal government.
88% of Canadians support Air Canada flight attendants, new poll confirms cupe.ca/88-canadians...
Big rally underway at YVR as Air Canada flight attendants defy a federal back-to-work order Flight attendants are very riled up and sending a message to the feds: butt out www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...
Members of the seed industry lobbying the federal government include multinationals with foreign ownership, such as Swiss-based Syngenta, owned by Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. 🍁🌱
solidarity www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
This story is shameful and enraging. SFU was warned about this contractor many, many times. Will they finally give these workers the respect they deserve and bring them into direct employment?
You got this!
ICYMI: This piece by @lukewsavage.bsky.social names the political moment in Canada with power and precision. Mark Carney's lurch to the right is endangering us all. Instead of investing in Canadian self-sufficiency, he's deepening integration with the US financial and military model.
Please sign here for your delivery of one (1) Manul Monday, thank you!
The BC government is on Bluesky!
How is it already August??? Bracket will be released around Aug 20, so get in any suggestions for minerals soon!
it'd be great if folks can support The Lantern and the Night Moths for #WomenInTranslation month invisiblepublishing.com/product/the-...
Many of the AI-generated images firefighters are seeing this year exaggerate the size and intensity of the blazes burning around B.C., stoking fear as a result. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
The replies to this post, even on here, even moreso on X, are so depressing to me. We live in a world where cities have never been safer and a minority of people are denying themselves a lot of delightful experiences because they’ve gone mad online.
Worried about hunger in Gaza? This Vancouver-based parents group has made it easy to donate to a food/kitchen provider. actionnetwork.org/fundraising/...
Kamchatka earthquake highlights the advances in tsunami early warning systems 🌊 🛰️ BGS Prof David Tappin, Marine Geologist & tsunami expert explains how the Kamchatka event highlighted the improved mitigation measures now in place. www.bgs.ac.uk/news/kamchat...
Fascinating study about the effects of using ChatGPT to write. It shows that using AI might have negative cognitive impacts (lower likelihood to remember what one wrote) compared to writing without AI support
By putting these conditions on the table, I don’t see how it doesn’t incentivize any number of bad actors and/or factions who stand to lose ground from doing something between now and September to derail this from happening
It’s #WorldEmbroideryDay ! I make #SciArt #embroidery of #anatomy and #symptomatology. After I got sick with #MECFS in 2015 I started stitching as a more restorative creative practice than my previous music and theatre work.
There are some other aspects of these trade issues not mentioned: 1) US Producers receive much more, and much more significant incentives (subsidies) than CDN producers, so the playing field doesn't start out even; 2) US ag regulations have been decimated 3) Imports cost more than domestic products
Let this free tip sheet be your guide to deciphering research studies. It can be done! 🧪
In which I learned that Atlantic ferries are subsidized by the Feds to the tune of $300 a person, but BC's are $1 per person.
Last week, I got an email from Microsoft. It told me I’d be paying 46% more for my Office subscription, starting next month. But when I tried to cancel, it offered me the same price I was already paying — without the generative AI features I never asked for in the first place.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... ‘With the conclusion of current funding programs, WAGE Canada’s budget is set to decline by a whopping 80% between 2024-25 and 2027-28’ @policyalternatives.ca @kjscott.bsky.social
A Quebec fisherman who was fishing 15 kilometers north of the US border was essentially kidnapped by US Border Patrol, who capsized his boat and dragged him to an American prison cell. In any normal time this'd be quite the international incident, y'know? www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...
Huge climate win from the ICJ that sharply rebuked Canada which argued it was not bound by international law to seriously fight climate change. Going forward “Canada's pursuit of mega fossil fuel expansion projects stands in stark defiance of the ICJ." www.nationalobserver.com/2025/07/23/n...
www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency. "Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die" Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
I'm back home with my dad and have thoughts about being an Indigenous scientist and academic. I'm writing this in real time so it might get disrupted and will have typos. I am fairly successful by academic standards. I have a tenure track job, wrote papers, have grant funding, mentor students.
I made a spreadsheet of all of the alerting systems used by Cities/Municipalities in BC, as well as the regional districts and started on the first nations communities. If you wanted to travel around BC and receive emergency notifications wherever you are you'd need 5 different apps.
A reminder that Facebook blocks all news in Canada which interferes with emergency messaging and vital news about weather, local fires, outbreaks etc because most of our governments are afraid to use wireless emergency alerts.
City of Vancouver is updating its transgender, gender diverse and Two-Spirit (TGD2S) action plan - since 2016 was a while ago. City has an online survey out for folks to weigh in on work to come, open until Aug 10: www.shapeyourcity.ca/tgd2s/survey...
There’s a lesson here for Canada, if the good people at the CBC want to learn it.
Carney is doing all of the things Poilievre promised he would do. Even cutting CBC readthecatch.ca/public-broad...
As promised, in light of the WaPo report of Everglades camp detainees being swarmed by mosquitoes in the shower and unable to sleep at night due to being bitten, I want to briefly address concentration camp history and mosquitoes. I won't be comprehensive but will give a few examples. [1/17]
My friends @actionnetwork.bsky.social & @leadnowca.bsky.social & myself are not in favour of the Progressive Conservative, er liberal, government cuts. Why do citizens keep getting cuts while industry & corporations keep making record profits? #cdnpoli #canada actionnetwork.org/letters/no-c...
Oh god. We grew up in a public park and dad was constantly at war with ice cream trucks parking outside our house and blasting their obnoxious music without a permit.
What does a poet laureate actually *do*, you ask? They offer informal summer listening to the amphibian chorus, of course. Go listen to frogs with @eleekg.bsky.social!
The Narwhal is suing the RCMP for unlawfully arresting a photojournalist, Amber Bracken, for doing her job in Wetʼsuwetʼen. Canadian taxpayers are funding the RCMP's legal defence; our non-profit newsroom relies on reader support to uphold freedom of the press. More in the thread 👇
"Over the next six and a half weeks, I found myself immersed daily in the love, beauty, resilience, and compassion of these women"
I'm sure most of you have seen this, but yeah, it's a bfd that it's coming from an Israeli, an IDF vet, a scholar of the Holocaust. I hope it (and Haaretz' stellar work) begin to move parts of my community that haven't been willing to hear up until now.
“In other words, the problem is not men; it is high‑consumption masculinity bound up with wealth. The richest 1% now emit more than the poorest two‑thirds of humanity combined.” lesglorieuses.fr/carbon-emiss...
Still very grateful to have an employer who offers pensions though, even if the idea feels kind of absurd.
Am I the only person that finds annual pension statements deeply funny? Like, you're telling me that I can retire in 2041 and society and pension funds will not have collapsed, and that I will have not died in the interim of heatstroke, stochastic violence or the next pandemic superbug?
Life's short. Do what makes you happy.
"Some of the fires currently burning in northeast B.C. have been burning since May of 2023." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
"the United States, which Canada relies on for 70 per cent of these inspections" A Prime Minister who was serious about protecting and creating an independent, resilient Canada would be expanding massively our regulatory capacity, not slashing it. There's more to security than buying all the guns.
My parents sued and won. Good reason to keep in touch with your neighbours.
@richardloyen.bsky.social: "No photovoltaic installations on agricultural land, some claim. Perhaps we should ask the sheep who enjoy the shade and the pollinators who thrive, to form a bio-logically informed opinion 😉"
pet peeve: I think the BC government has figured out that they'll still get good headlines even if they design a rebate program so that very few people actually benefit news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
"Canada’s economy worships at the altar of death. Necrocapitalism is pouring public resources into new energy corridors when we have what we need already, and the technology is there to replace the dirty fuels of the past."
Yesterday, a viewer emailed our newsroom to ask about something they saw online, a purported CBC report about a new investment platform by the federal government, announced by Mark Carney himself. "Is this real?" They asked. I wrote back and said no, and told them to keep their money.
Sure glad Canada doesn’t need a robust diplomatic corps to represent its values and interests at a time of great international threat www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/2025/...
Love it. Recognized that iconic building right away.
Hand for scale because I need you to appreciate how massive this bobbin is. #TourdeFleece #handspinning
The Maintainers have released their “Maintainers Study Guide: A Guide to Ground Your Practice in Principles of Maintenance, Repair + Care” — a resource that “reflects nearly a decade of work” across The Maintainers’ conferences, fellowships, research networks, etc themaintainers.org/study-guide/
Glad to say that the improvised lazy Kate is working! Speedy performance through Stage 6 and hoping that there’s enough room on this bobbin to ply everything. Things always get a little hairy after 100 grams. #TourdeFleece #spinning
I spent the Stage 5 time trials being annoyed with my lazy Kate and making a better one out of a box. Sometimes low tech is best! #TourdeFleece #spinning
My new column out today: All of us who work on climate have long walked a razor’s edge between hope and despair, and the last few months (or years) have made it near impossible to keep one’s balance. But I would put the current predicament differently. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/07/11/o...
Along with keeping coal oil and gas in the ground, we need to imagine and create a different relationship with water, wetlands, infrastructure, and land use patterns in my part of the world, maybe yours as well. vtdigger.org/2025/07/10/f...
This is probably the most important thing you can understand - drawing a direct line from Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent which, apparently, the right read and understood as an instruction manual and the left saw as grounds for intellectual discussion. Ugh.
“Three women were killed this week in BC at the hands of a domestic partner. If this was three stranger attacks, there would be a public emergency.” Make “partners” pay.
‘Globally, roughly a third more power is being generated from the sun this spring than last. If this exponential rate of growth can continue, we will soon live in a very different world.’ @billmckibben.bsky.social on the staggering pace of change for renewables. www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...