Mel Sweetnam

I made the fermented iron gall ink by precisely following Isaac Newton’s own 350 year old recipe.

2+ years ago, I gave a friend some of my handmade inks which, at that point, were a year old. Historically, inks were made just before they were needed, but while they had airtight containers, they didn’t have our modern refrigeration to expand lifespan. She just tested them yesterday…#naturalink

They're Coming for Our Daughters The conservative plan to shrink girls’ futures

The Heritage Foundation has released a 250-year roadmap to “save America.”

The document is a how-to guide for subjugating girls & young women: a detailed plan to push them out of college, funnel them into early marriage and motherhood, and then trap them there.
jessica.substack.com/p/theyre-com...

YouTube video by Billy Bragg BILLY BRAGG - CITY OF HEROES

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOW...
#minneapoliscityofheroes

Not sure. But your MPP should know. Try emailing/calling them and asking if there is an equivalent in Ontario to the NS Guard (which was created/funded through our last provincial budget). Good luck.

Nova Scotians can join the Nova Scotia Guard. It's a civil emergency response organization which, when necessary, will be activated to help in any type of crisis. www.nsguard.ca

Many Nova Scotians are looking for ways to defend & protect our country from emergencies & threats. The Nova Scotia Guard was established last year to ensure that people & supplies are available in an emergency, critical incident or other time of need. Sign up to volunteer on the web site.

Lovely work, Jude. I just finished a cardigan (not naturally dyed, as I used gifted wool). Now it's on to my long list of Christmas knitted gifts...

A new independent news source, from the investigative journalist who broke the FB/Cambridge Analytica data scandal...

These folks put so much great work into providing guidance for those who want practical ideas about how to fight fascism. #BOYCOTTDISNEYABC

Cancel cable/streaming services that carry ABC &/or Disney. Consumers have so much un-exercised power in this fight for democracy.

"The response must be loud and sustained. Viewers should boycott ABC and Disney until the show is restored and a public commitment to editorial independence is made."

This is my back yard. The Englishtown name is just the most recent for this community. It's the site of the very first Jesuit mission in North America, and one of the oldest European colonial settlements, too. The Acadian French regions on our island are predominantly on the NW and S coasts.

And that's a huge problem nowadays - so many people who don't read, explore, digest, analyse beyond the measly few words of a headline, but assume they know the whole story.

It's never about actually addressing a problem in an evidence-based way, otherwise no straight white man would be allowed to own firearms. Instead, the far right leverages every disaster to scapegoat and target already marginalized communities.#banstraightwhitemenfromowningfirearms

What a lot of the overly entitled whiners don't realize is that while the fire ban was communicated by government, it was based on a request/recommendation from the fire departments - i.e. the front line. Pathological entitlement conflated with freedom is just another ploy of the far right.

Language of eugenics. Setting the stage for rounding up unhoused mentally ill folks (who, apparently, aren't part of the 'your' to whom the streets belong), to create another feeder stream for the spy tech/prison industry/deportation pipeline, to benefit the likes of his sugar daddy, Peter Thiel.

Gloves Off with Stephen Marche An eight-part podcast series about the threat to Canada’s sovereignty and what we can do about it. Hosted by journalist and author of The Next Civil War, Stephen Marche. What we may be witnessing is t...

I highly recommend this excellent podcast series. It says out loud the thoughts troubling most Canadians &, perhaps un-intuitively, is reassuring in the way that clearly facing any problem provides the possibility of a way forward. #truenorth #canadasovereignty

www.youtube.com/@Gloves-OffPod

I'm in the extreme area. No real rain in months. Down to 3 minute showers every 3 days. Used dish washing water goes on my outdoor plants. It makes me think of my time in Africa, & the endless labour of women there walking hours each day to access water. #climatechange #canadadrought #conservewater

If the GOP really wanted to know who the other predators are, they would a) listen to survivors, & b) release the official files. Pardoning a pedophile & human trafficker in exchange for testimony signals they're buying testimony they want to hear - i.e. the names of adversaries only. #coverup

So in your world, such an endeavour should be finished in 4 months (the short time Carney's been in office)? Maybe you only do easy projects. Leading a country, getting buy-in from the PTs & private sector, vetting proposals, etc., all while fending off fascists, is a little more complex.

'I Do Solemnly Swear' Audio Series - All Videos - YouTube ‘I Do Solemnly Swear’ is a series of first-person accounts from over a dozen current federal employees across agencies like the FAA, CDC, EPA, IRS, and more ...

A brilliant and harrowing series of short witness statements.

#publicservicematters

A great, thoughtful resource list...

YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson How Trump’s Bill Creates a Super Police Force

With the passing of the US billionaire bonanza bill yesterday, supercharging ICE/the gestapo, companies like Thiel's Palantir will get ever richer, and I think we'll also start seeing widespread corporate slavery/forced labour in the camps, as in every internment/concentration camp that ever was.

Engineered Estrangement | An Interview with Cory Doctorow The author, activist, and technology critic Cory Doctorow on reckless broligarchs and what their 'enshittified' platforms are doing to our future

Great read. I'm stumped as to why more of my FB friends haven't migrated to Bluesky. It's so easy to recreate desirable online connections here (or, heaven forbid, real connections in the offline world), but without all of the enshittification of FB.

www.bylinesupplement.com/p/engineered...

The neighborhood is getting ready for tomorrow

Canadian citizen/resident? Please sign this petition requiring all party leaders & other holders of high office (I didn't write the petition, but assume this means Ministers) to get security clearance. It's outrageous that PP is refusing to get his.

Personal data stolen in N.S. Power breach? Here's how to protect yourself from fraud | CBC News Jeff Horncastle, a client and communications outreach officer with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the RCMP, says it's up to impacted customers to ensure they don't become victims of identity fraud...

I'm one of the 300K whose data was stolen in this awful failure by the utility. Called my credit union, credit card company, & credit agencies. I recommend folks also call the CRA, who were so helpful & can place multiple levels of additional protection/alerts on your accounts: 1 833 995 2336

In every area of US federal administration, felon47 has installed someone who will kill as many people as possible... #fightfascism

Why any head of state, or any serious person, is agreeing to an on-camera oval office 'meeting' with these fascists is beyond me. Mark Carney survived his, but every decent person needs to stop participating in these propaganda stunts. It's always, always, a set up by these ghouls. #fightfascism

YouTube video by The New York Times We’re Experts in Fascism. We’re Leaving the U.S. | NYT Opinion

A good summary of where things are at the moment. #fightfascism