Attribution Unknown

(((( stealth mode ))))

[Peter Armstrong @armstrongcbc]

Had a chat with PBS tonight about the escalation in the trade war

[Mark Ruffalo @MarkRuffalo]

The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people. This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel. To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect.  Everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life.

This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country. Scrutinizing the Ellisons, including Oracle’s business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary. The $111 billion deal would hand one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for serious national security review, and regulators still haven’t given the public a real answer. Until they do, the merger shouldn’t move forward. Now is the time to dive boldly into all these issues, not step back or concede.

[Christopher Hale @ChristopherHale]

A Michigan Catholic deacon stands up for Muslims in Dearborn after a Christian nationalist rally called for their removal from the country:

“To the men and women protesting in the name of Jesus, hurling hate at our Muslim brothers and sisters — not in his name, and certainly not on my watch.

“I count many Muslims as my friends, my neighbors, my associates, and yes, my barber. Men and women of integrity, of family, and of faith. We may not be brothers in faith, but we are certainly and absolutely brothers and sisters in humanity.

“And freedom of religion is not a footnote to being an American. It is a cornerstone. The same First Amendment that protects my right to go to Mass protects your right to the mosque.

“It grieves me that in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace is being used as a weapon to spread fear, intolerance, and hate. That is not the gospel. That is not the cross. And that certainly is not of Christ.

“So let me be clear. In the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke this spirit of hatred and division. Scripture does not leave us confused about this. We are called to rebuke evil, and tonight, this is evil — using the name of the Savior who dined with outcasts to cast out our neighbors, good people.*

“John tells us exactly how Christians should be known: by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another — and your neighbor.

“He makes it even plainer: if anyone says “I love God” and hates his brother, he is a liar.

“So no. You do not speak for me. You do not speak for my church. And you do not speak for Christ when you chant hate at people of God, no matter the faith.

“To my Muslim friends in this room and in this city: you are welcome here. You belong here. Your freedom to worship is my freedom to worship, and I will stand for it because my faith demands it.

“We can disagree — and we probably will — on theology, and still defend each other’s dignity. That’s not weakness. That’s Christianity. That is American.”

[Chuck D @MrChuckD]

Damn 👊🏿

[Attribution Unknown @CrisisPointGame]

Nicely done.

[Dominique de Villepin @Villepin]

Cet été, je vous fais découvrir ma playlist.

Dans Let England Shake, l’album que PJ Harvey a consacré, en 2011, à la guerre, j’aurais pu tout recommander. Mais je choisis une seule chanson : The Words That Maketh Murder.

C’est la guerre vue d’en bas, celle des soldats de Gallipoli en 1915, celle des corps abandonnés, des membres arrachés, des jeunes hommes fauchés par vagues entières pour quelques mètres de terrain. Et l’horreur absolue chantée sur des mélodies presque enfantines, par une voix haut perchée, sur un air de comptine, comme ces chansons de marche que fredonnaient les soldats pour ne pas devenir fous.

J’ai passé une partie de ma vie à étudier la guerre, à la côtoyer dans l’exercice de la diplomatie, à tenter de l’empêcher. PJ Harvey a compris ce que bien des chancelleries oublient : la guerre commence toujours par des mots. Des mots qui déshumanisent l’adversaire, des mots qui promettent une victoire facile, des mots qui fabriquent le meurtre avant la première balle.

J’entends dans cette chanson le rappel que, face à la barbarie, il n’existe que deux voies : la vengeance infinie ou le droit, seule invention humaine capable d’interrompre le cycle du sang. À l’heure où la guerre est revenue en Europe et déchire le Proche-Orient, écoutez cette chanson. Écoutez tout l’album. C’est l’œuvre d’une poétesse qui dit non.

[Dominique de Villepin @Villepin]

Je voudrais vous parler d’un livre qui déplace nos certitudes.

Dans Les Mots et les choses, Foucault montre que chaque époque pense à l’intérieur d’un cadre invisible, d’une grammaire du possible, et que cet ordre change sans que nous en ayons conscience.

Il nous dit que nos débats portent sur des cadres de pensée avant de porter sur des opinions, et que contrôler le savoir, c’est contrôler le possible.

Il nous dit aussi qu’une société qui oublie que ses catégories sont construites les transforme en essences, ce qui constitue le premier pas vers la déshumanisation.

Lisons Foucault et gardons quelques gestes simples d’humanité : quand un débat s’enflamme, demandons-nous qui a le pouvoir de nommer, de définir, de classer. Quand une technologie promet l’objectivité, demandons-nous quel tableau elle construit et à qui il profite.

Quand une société devient dure, demandons-nous quel « homme » elle fabrique. Notre époque se croit moderne parce qu’elle possède des machines puissantes.

La vraie modernité serait de garder la liberté de penser autrement qu’elles, de rappeler que derrière les mots il y a des choses, et derrière les choses des vies. Si nous perdons ce lien, nous perdrons plus qu’un débat, nous perdrons notre humanité.

[MAGA Cult Slayer @MAGACult2]

He’s about to enter a new stratosphere of popularity. Abdul lip-syncing #TaylorSwift

[Anonymous @YourAnonNews]

Elon is actively trying to suppress this account, and this video.
They're losing and they're trying to steer the narrative by censoring. Post this video everywhere. Fuck Elon. Fuck Trump.

[Tim Miller @Timodc]

This is all so sickening.

[Samsara 🎤🎵🎹 @SamsaraSings]

Tori Amos live tribute to Glen Hansard in Boston “Falling Slowly”

Just when you think you’re done crying!

@AmericasCousin

[J Hunter🍁 @MrJoKeR604]

I didn't delete the Shopify app when Tobi made his anti-democratic comments. I assumed he'd apologize.

I deleted it when he tried to play the victim.

I deleted it when Shopify's board circled the wagons, defended him, and tried to gaslight Canadians.

[Matt Elliott @GraphicMatt]

Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to demand Doug Ford give the city back the land the province took for island airport expansion CARRIES 25-1.

[julie k. brown @jkbjournalist]

I dont usually post clips from TMZ but this is worth watching.

[Jennifer Keesmaat @jen_keesmaat]

This article is flawed.

It provides no credible evidence that Toronto’s business community broadly supports expanding Billy Bishop Airport. Instead, it relies on commentary from Giles Gherson, a former Ontario deputy minister under the Ford government who now leads the Toronto Region Board of Trade (a connection that deserves greater scrutiny and context).

As a Toronto business owner deeply invested in this city’s long-term success, I do not recognize the supposed consensus presented here. Many Toronto business owners understand that a green, liveable downtown is fundamental to the city’s economic performance.

Expanding the island airport and introducing the additional noise, congestion and disruption it would bring would undermine the very qualities that make downtown Toronto attractive and competitive.

Businesses that depend on proximity to a major airport already have Pearson and its surrounding employment district, one of the largest in the country. Downtown Toronto serves a different purpose.

Pearson is also less than 30 minutes from Union Station on the UP Express and is itself undertaking a multibillion-dollar expansion.

This reads like airport-expansion advocacy presented as the position of Toronto’s business community.

Yesterday I wrote that the golden goose was safe, for now, and that those who wanted a piece of it would be back.

This article proves the point.

https://t.co/yjgl55pwsZ via @torontostar

[Aliya Pabani @aliyapabani]

"His robotic callousness reflected what Shopify’s one-time head of communications, Darrell Etherington, referred to, in TechCrunch, as Lütke’s 'basic inability to empathize with the situation of many employees under his company’s charge.'"

[Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) @adamscochran]

Climate change.

Canada’s boreal forest is far north.

Most parts of it only reach 64F (18C) averages in the heat of the summer.

Its density and climate also means it gets very little evaporation compared to its rainfall, and is subject to frost 9 months of the year, and heavy fog the rest of the time.

This kept this biome very humid, kept soil damp, and left most of the low level foliage coated in dew all day long.

Some parts of the forest even had thick levels of permafrost beneath the topsoil that on rare hot days would seep water back into the ecosystem.

Just as many wildfires started by lightning strike in previous decades as now.

The difference is they struggled to catch and spread in this damp environment.

Now extreme dry weather, record breaking heat, northern thaw, erode that protective moisture barrier, leaving the boreal forest vulnerable especially in the more southern parts.

Boreal forests previously went through this process naturally when an over density caused a drier environment you’d get high-intensity crown fires that were cyclical. Every 50-200 years depending on region.

Now we get them annually.

Boreal forest fires are much more severe than others too. The long history of cyclical burns means the soil contains charcoal, the thick multi-layer foliage adds fodder and causes the fire to spread quickly, and pine, spruce, and aspens are all some of the trees with both the most density and the best for wood burning.

It results in towering forest fires of immense heat and rapid spread.

These forests are denser than anything else in North America or Europe, and the current fire in Ontario alone, is the same square mileage as the entire state of Delaware.

From the time it ignited, to covering that size, took less than 20 hours.

While some in the US still think climate change is a hoax, we are all going to deal with the consequences of it, as we’ve turned the largest forest in the world into a tinder box, and fires in less than 0.01% of it drowns the entire continent in smoke.

[Mark Evans @markevans]

The more you learn about the so-called "plans" to expand Billy Bishop Airport, the worse it gets.

When will the federal Liberals stop playing politics and tell Doug Ford & JP Morgan that a bigger airport isn't going to happen?

Toronto deserves better.
https://t.co/Sr2Z3vmJjl