Mike Hager

“… a beautiful celebrity, a questionable use of words, a whiff of outrage, and just enough ideological fuel to let both sides of the spectrum have a perspective.”

“According to Google Trends, “ #SydneySweeney” outpaced searches for #Gaza, #Trump, and #Epstein all week. Not because the clamor had any serious substance, but because it had all the ingredients the modern media ecosystem thrives on…” @thelever.bsky.social

David Byrne came to my band’s show at a gay bar in Bed-Stuy and sang This Must Be The Place with us and I still haven’t processed it

Labor activist Chris Smalls is back in the United States (via Chuck Modi)

going to keep saying: important for a society that would like to keep functioning to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities

How a Nazi-obsessed amateur historian went from obscurity to the top of Substack Tucker Carlson has called Darryl Cooper the “most important popular historian working in the United States today.” His background is more extreme than previously reported.

Daryl Cooper—the current #1 History Substacker—in 2016: “Think of how most people you know got here. It wasn’t from basic American ideology to reading Mein Kampf and then, boom, they’re onboard. It’s a process, and you have to initiate people without scaring them off."

This is endorsement of open white supremacy by Trump’s former right hand man and the richest man in the world.

And the colonial practice of testing plans/technologies in poor communities is alive and well

If and when the Big One hits close to Canada's West Coast, Dr. Goda said his research shows a worst-case scenario of a 10-metre tsunami could wipe out half of the properties dotting Tofino’s many beaches.

Carney says Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September Prime Minister says the decision is based on the Palestinian Authority’s commitments to essential reforms

Carney says Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Nanaimo city council considers whether to demand closing of next-door overdose prevention site Mayor says municipal politicians are responding to growing skepticism over harm reduction projects

"She [chief medical health officer for VIHA, Réka Gustafson] added that recent data from the BC Centre for Disease Control estimated that between January, 2019, and October, 2024, Island Health’s overdose prevention work helped avert 2,140 deaths."
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Nanaimo city council considers whether to demand closing of next-door overdose prevention site Mayor says municipal politicians are responding to growing skepticism over harm reduction projects

“Can you name a part of the province where this isn’t an issue?” said Nanaimo Mayor Krog, who was a long-time provincial NDP MLA before becoming mayor.

"There's simply nowhere for people to go: You can't use anywhere," NANDU volunteer Ann Livingston told me.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

A photo of labor activist Chris Smalls, talking into a mic

A spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition tells me:

“Chris Smalls is still in Givon Prison and despite repeated requests to meet with the U.S. Embassy has been ignored by his country after being abducted by the IOF in international waters.”

Doesn't this quote essentially admit that the CBS News settlement was a bribe to get the Paramount merger through?

www.ft.com/content/b077...

So… I don’t recall Switzerland as a neutral state during World War II. I don’t know why anyone would compare themselves to Switzerland. Intrepid Jewish investigators proved a long record of Swiss complicity in the Holocaust, hidden behind their “neutrality.” www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/f...

Gaza: 'I witnessed war crimes,' former worker at GHF aid site tells BBC A retired US soldier reveals why he quit working at Israel and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid hubs.

"I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians," a retired US special forces officer told the BBC when asked he resigned from his work with US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution centres. www.bbc.com/news/videos/...

Opinion: No, politics haven’t become polarized. Only one side has moved to the extremes Many became attracted to fringe ideas and conspiracy theories on the right, but there hasn’t been a similar shift, of any significant scale, on the left

From Doug Saunders, one of Canada's best columnists: www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Met up with a young Black woman today who recently graduated from J-school. A friend of mine is her mentor and he mentioned that she really admired my work, so we set up a meeting. She was so sweet and smart and came prepared with what she wanted to ask me, and it was so, so lovely.

Drug-User Groups Fight BC Recriminalization in Court Health Canada rushed through its approval of recriminalizing possession in BC public spaces without consulting PWUD, lawyers argue.

Should BC have consulted people who use drugs before changing the rules around where people can use drugs? filtermag.org/drug-user-gr... via @godfrey.bsky.social

Text reads: "What to Know About Starvation in Gaza and Deadly Violence Near Aid Sites" over a photo of people holding pans and other containers at a charity kitchen in western Gaza City. Photo by Saher Alghorra for The New York Times.

Palestinians have been forced to routinely choose between risking death by starvation or risking death by gunfire to reach food aid sites where Israeli soldiers have repeatedly fired at the crowds, killing hundreds of people over the last two months, according to the UN. nyti.ms/3GLjBCH

Update on treatment of Handala detainees:

“Christian Smalls reported severe physical violence by Israeli forces. Several female activists described similar abuse and deplorable detention conditions.”

Alden Global Capital fails in its attempt to get its tentacles on The Dallas Morning News A late bid to disrupt its sale to Hearst is foiled by a fourth-generation newspaper owner turning down more money.

Alden Global Capital fails in its attempt to get its tentacles on The Dallas Morning News www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/alde...

Fantastic news: more than 1,100 people stepped up this week to support The Narwhal’s lawsuit against the RCMP, donating $108,000 — and counting — to defend press freedom in Canada! 🎉🎉🎉 thenarwhal.ca/support-press-freedom

UPDATE: Israeli soldiers have BOARDED the Handala aid flotilla.

Cameras being shut down.

Volunteers’ hands are up.

The ship seeking to give aid to Palestinians is carrying volunteers from the US, France, Italy, UK, Spain, Australia, and more.

Also: No, I did not get a dog.

The tacos at Mestizo Taqueria, however, are 10/10, would recommend.

Globe and Mail reporter targeted by online campaign, photographed surreptitiously in public settings An anonymous X account posted photos of Alberta reporter Carrie Tait and described her movements as she reported on a health authority controversy

Hi, yes, g'morning. This is awkward.

But targeting a reporter - hi! - with
surreptitiously obtained photos and details of her tooling around town is an attack on the public's right to know.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Is this cancel culture?