Quillipede

A close-up photo of a tiny plant with reddish stems, long paddle-shaped green leaves, and tiny bluish-white flowers contained in reddish-pink bracts.

I came across quite a few of these charming little flowers in the Okanagan. These are Collinsia parviflora, the small-flowered blue-eyed Mary.

#flower #plant #collinsia #macrophotography #inaturalist #bcparks #okanagan #britishcolumbia #canada

A French ICC judge sanctioned by the US over the Netanyau arrest warrant says all his accounts with US companies have been closed, making it “like being sent back to the 1990s.”

“Without sovereignty – military, health, financial and digital – we can no longer guarantee the rule of law,” he says.

US tech imperialism is a real problem, and this is a great example of why.

I'm open to there being better alternatives; what are some formal mechanisms you've seen that are better at providing responsible levers for the public to participate in or challenge governance?

Danielle Smith Goes Nuclear on Trans Rights | The Tyee Alberta’s premier is overriding Charter protections. Here’s a fact check on her claims.

@melwoods.me: We must not overcomplicate what’s going on here.

This is the Alberta government saying the rights of trans kids to receive life-saving health care, go by their own pronouns at school or play on sport teams don’t matter as much as the Smith government’s right to dictate their lives.

🚨NEWS: NDP Leadership Candidate Tony McQuail had a message for his donors on my podcast today:

Don't send him any more money, for now.

Send it to fellow candidate @votetanille.bsky.social until she raises enough to survive the next cut off.

Watch as Tony made news (and almost made us all cry):

YouTube thumbnail for my podcast shows an image of me, Tanille Johnston and Tony McQuail. There’s also a small image of former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh. The background is hot pink with bubbles and the tagline on the thumbnail reads: “the underdogs in the NDP leadership race.” The image also features the Bubble Pop podcast logo and the NDP logo.

🚨 LIVE AT 12:00PMET TODAY 🚨

The NDP leadership candidates will soon face off in a first debate.

I’m thrilled to welcome two of those candidates on the show: @votetanille.bsky.social and Tony McQuail.

I’m calling them The Underdogs.

That’s why you should listen — underdogs can come out on top.

Huh, nice job holding him to account! I'm not used to reporters doing that on the CBC. Love to see it.

What's happening over there is brutal. I hope the recall efforts can help trigger an election earlier to help translate some of the frustration and anger into organizing.

Frankly, even those who don't care for biodiversity ought to remember that cats roaming outdoors unattended are much more likely to catch serious diseases and die younger, more violent deaths.

(I assume that's the same in the UK, though I recognize you don't have the large predators we have in NA.)

My cats are indoor-only unless they're on a leash, and if I ever own a house (haha... ha) they'll get an enclosed catio for spending time outside.

Trans youth who are hurting in Alberta right now, please know SO many of us see you, care about you, and know you deserve to be protected.

We’ve got your back and will do everything we can to keep you safe in the face of attacks from craven, pathetic politicians ❤️

I recently replaced my "smart" wall plug that I was using for lighting schedules with an old-fashioned mechanical outlet timer, and it's been a vast improvement over the smart device. No need to worry about software issues, app compatibility, wifi network changes, etc.

Go Tanille! I'm really looking forward to this. Not only is it extra important to shine a spotlight on the candidates that don't have big political machines backing them, but these are both great candidates with distinct and compelling approaches and views. #cdnpoli #canada

Use of the notwithstanding clause is a betrayal of the duty of a government to its people. If you can't enact your agenda without violating the rights of your citizens, you are either stupid and unimaginative or vicious and cruel.

Wondering why the UCP is waiting until Wednesday to strip trans rights using the notwithstanding clause?

The Auditor General is releasing his report into the Dynalife fiasco on Wednesday. www.oag.ab.ca/news-section...

They don't think Albertans can chew gum and walk at the same time.

I attended portions of the excellent @bcgreens.bsky.social convention over the weekend. Tons of positive energy in the room, and lots of great people!

Case in point, the article calls her a "community organizer" right before saying she has no "meaningful" management experience. There's a very clear ideology around what counts as "management" and what doesn't.

I must say, "no meaningful management experience" feels like a selling point to me, not a criticism.

There are lots of individual managers who are great people and do good work, but the structure and ideology of "management" as I've experienced it is not one I find conducive to good outcomes.

Ultimately, and I think the conclusion of the article agrees with this too, I think we need to let go of the distracting question of whether technologies are quantitatively or qualitatively new and just look at what they are actually doing and determine how to best regulate those actual effects.

I would caution that I've seen people argue that the effects of tech are nothing we haven't seen before, and therefore attempts to regulate it beyond what is already regulated are misguided or authoritarian, and that it doesn't actually pose a threat at all.

Fully agreed. The idea that living in safety and dignity is something that must be "earned" (and thus can be rightfully denied to someone who has not "earned" it) is pretty appalling to me.

I guess my most woke opinion is that the concept of "earning your living" is outdated to the point of being inhumane. The way technological progress is going, we will either accept that we should provide decent living for everyone for the good of all society, or continually descend into nightmare.

"UBI-related experiments consistently find evidence that no participant responds to UBI experiments by dropping out of the labor force. Yes, some people reduce their hours of work, but the decline in work effort (if any) is clearly within a sustainable range."

BC billionaires hoard more wealth every year — and it’s making life worse for…literally everyone else. 2 minutes on how we got here and our game plan to fund the future⚡️Share & join us: bcgreens.ca/join/

Breathfire Cave 🔥

Much like UBI, wealth taxes are another policy where evidence keeps piling up that they don't have the negative effects scaremongers use to argue against them, and often have more positive effects than anticipated.

Abolish the stock market, and all private companies should be fully and equally owned by their employees, or their customers, or some combination thereof.

Companies like X will twist themselves into all kinds of knots to avoid complying with the law, even when there would seem to be a clear ethical imperative.

The US straight up saying that fascism is a foundation of Western civilisation wasn't on my bingo card but OK