Don Curren 🇨🇦🇺🇦

Agreed!

By subject matter alone, my new #favourite #painting …

#Coffee, #EdwardHopper, 1955 #art #painting

all of this shit is a flagrant violation of bribery and corruption law, I don’t care what the Supreme Court says

RIP writer Flannery O’Connor, died this day 1964.

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd.”

“All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.”

The Proud Republican History of Paranoia and Anti-Semitism About Government Statistics: From Nixon’s Jew Counting at the Labor Department to Trump Firing the BLS Commissioner

“Just as Nixon’s Jew counting was driven by his life-long antisemitism, Trump’s #rage against #McEntarfer is driven by bizarre paranoia.” open.substack.com/pub/deanbake...

Yes. The parallels are uncanny.

Thanks!

‘He has trouble completing a thought’: bizarre public appearances again cast doubt on Trump’s mental acuity Joe Biden was hounded for his age-related gaffes, but Trump’s increasingly strange behavior has largely been ignored

“Segal said another characteristic of Trump’s questionable mental acuity is confabulation. ‘It’s where he takes an idea or something that’s happened and he adds to it things that have not happened’.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘He has trouble completing a thought’: bizarre public appearances again cast doubt on Trump’s mental acuity Joe Biden was hounded for his age-related gaffes, but Trump’s increasingly strange behavior has largely been ignored

“ #Trump proceeded to speak, non-stop and unprompted, for two minutes about #windmills, claiming without evidence that they drive whales ‘loco’ and that wind energy ‘kills the birds’” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The Politics of Fear As a Presidential candidate, Donald Trump made his world view plain: there was “us” and there was “them.” Once he was in the White House, the fear factor would prevail.

“What lessons #Trump learned from #Cohn were entirely malevolent: Never show weakness. Never apologize, never explain. Attack, never defend. Engender loyalty through intimidation.” www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

August 2, 2025 Republicans in the Texas legislature are working to redistrict the state before the 2026 midterm elections.

“ #Trump and the #Republicans would not be trying to rig the system if they thought they could win a majority of voters” open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

Interesting Books and discussion in the comments, my reading list grows when I read these posts but time doesn't:
📚

"Investors+CEOs must speak out—because the ability to explore, question, +discover isn’t just essential to academia. It’s the engine of innovation, the foundation of markets, and the key to our long-term growth."

silence of pharma, tech CEOs since day 1 against $ interest suggests other interests

University sidelines scientist who exposed toxic metals in Lake Maurepas The SELU scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in Lake Maurepas was abruptly removed from her research position without explanation.

A university scientist who discovered alarming levels of toxic chemicals in a lake in southeastern Louisiana was abruptly removed from her research position this week without explanation

I cannot express how deep my love for PBS goes. They raised me.

No surprise at all.
Trump's America Summer of Tourism

a sarcastic Bernie Sanders: "Why not? When you get bad news, fire the guy who delivered the news. I think that's sensible policy."

Opinion | Trump should heed, not hide, the jobs numbers Firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner won’t improve the U.S. economy.

Such a transparently authoritarian strongman move. (Gift link.)

The province reported Friday that there are now 1,656 measles cases in Alberta.

Canada could lose its measles designation by October: experts https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/canada-measles-designation-october

𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁

'Moon Rise.' (1891) George Inness distinguished himself among the Hudson River School painters by pursuing a more modern aesthetic of landscape painting. He said that: 'it was the artist's function, even his obligation, to interpret nature and not merely depict it.'

Yes, that surfaces in a weird way in Titus Alone. I don’t mean to be too negative about the sequels - it’s just that they don’t quite live up to the high standard of Titus Groan.

It really is. The trilogy goes downhill somewhat after Titus Groan, although I think the sequels are still worth reading.

I’m reading a biography of Winston Churchill by Roy Jenkins. I’m learning a lot and it’s quite well done, but the length is kind of discouraging. I’ll likely break it up with at least one foray into lighter reading.

It does sound like a good read. I put it on hold at the library - apparently 28 other people had the same idea, so it will likely be a while until it gets to me. I haven’t read that Turchin book - I’ll put it on hold, too.

a red white and blue canadian flag with a maple leaf ALT: a red white and blue canadian flag with a maple leaf

Go, Canada.

Most of us here in the United States love you guys and hope that you'll be patient with us until we can get rid of The CombOverlord and his minions.

Rudbeckia and Crocosmia. Five yellow flowers fully open with dark centers, blurred orange Crocosmia and greenery.

Garden shot. Rudbeckia and Crocosmia. 💛🧡

Thanks. I’ll have to look into that one.

Regarding #NPR and #PBS: If you're an American overseas like me, you might find that giving to NPR/PBS, at national or local level, is difficult due to US-only donation forms. I contacted my hometown NPR and after a couple days they sent a link to a form that accepts international addresses.