Paul db Watkins

As O’Connor/Sadaqat wrote: “And if there ever is gonna be healing / There has to be remembering and then grieving / So that there then can be forgiving / There has to be knowledge and understanding.”

May we all carry Sadaqat’s courage to speak out. But more than that, may there be a ceasefire. May peace—lasting and just—still be possible. #freepalestine

The UN reports that one-third of people go multiple days without food—and where over 1,000 have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid.

Even more alarming: 85% of the population is now in the “fifth stage” of malnutrition—often irreversible, even if food becomes available.

“Famine” draws a direct line between patriarchal power structures, colonialism, and the British starvation of the Irish. A fierce advocate for Palestine, Sadaqat would be appalled by the inhumanity of the current “famine” [Genocide] in Gaza.

Shuhada’ Sadaqat (Sinéad O’Connor) left this world on this day in 2023. Her music and legacy remain a powerful testament of speaking truth to power. Today I’m spinning 𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 (1994), which includes the devastating “Famine.”

“‘In Brand’s work, the political cannot be separated from the aesthetic,’ the scholar Saidiya Hartman, a friend of Brand’s, explained to me … Brand probes our habits of arrangement, and rejects the customary conflation between dominance and rightness.”

I love trains, so travelling through Japan by rail was delightful. I want to go back already.

Pope condemns ‘barbarity’ of Israel’s war in Gaza After pontiff calls for peace, Gaza’s health ministry says 73 Palestinians waiting for aid have been killed Pope Leo XIV has condemned the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza and the “indiscriminate use of force” as Gaza’s health ministry said at least 73 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food. The Hamas-run ministry said on Sunday that the victims had been killed in different locations, mostly in northern Gaza. Continue reading...

Pope condemns ‘barbarity’ of Israel’s war in Gaza

85% of Gaza’s population have entered the "fifth stage" of malnutrition — the most critical and dangerous phase, which is often irreversible even if food becomes available in the future.

I think this is the most horrifying post I have ever read.

Happy to share this great review of Soundin’ Canaan in The Malahat Review: "Soundin’ Canaan is a wholly moving creation. This is what committed scholarship and critical artistry can be: meditative, far-reaching, humming, love-centred:" @wlupress.bsky.social Review: soundincanaan.com/wp-content/u...

Audible unveils plans to use AI voices to narrate audiobooks Amazon brand will offer more than 100 artificial intelligence-generated voices in English and other languages

Fuck this, absolutely fuck this, everyone who loves audiobooks loves their favourite narrators because they are great at their jobs and interpreting the author's words and they make the experience what it is www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

👏

Looks like he’ll be perceived as another “woke” Pope. Although really this is just the basic level of human compassion that should be required for such a role.

I’m honored to receive the Pulitzer Prize today. I dedicate this success to my family, friends, teachers, and students in Gaza.
I’m praying for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and justice.
🍓🍓🍓🍓

Alberta First Nations issue cease and desist order against Danielle Smith's attempt to create a national unity crisis. Alberta is on treaty lands.
Those treaties were signed 30 years before Alberta became a province.

Also, it took just two minutes. Try to go early before it gets busier if you can.

VOTED!

Fellow Canadians, make sure you vote today — let’s keep MAGA and hate out of Canada.

I believe the world is for everyone, disharmonies and all. Our world can be for more than borders, military, colonization, geno**de and ethnic cleansing, commodification, private prisons, extraction, monopolies, slavery, white supremacy, and fascism. It can be beautiful.

The only record I grabbed for RSD was 𝕀𝕫𝕚𝕡𝕙𝕠 ℤ𝕒𝕞 (𝕄𝕪 𝔾𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕤) by Pharoah Sanders. Mastered by the legendary Kevin Gray, it sounds incredible. If you’re a fan of Karma, you’d like this one which also features vocalist Leon Thomas.

We lost the only true moral leader on the world stage.

It's immense.

But Pope Francis led by listening to the grassroots, lifting up the people's demands.

He put "ecological debt" in the climate encyclical, a concept that emerged in Ecuador's oil-poisoned jungle.

Millions of leaders remain.

Opinion | Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf When a private meeting goes unexpectedly.

Larry David: My Dinner With Adolf www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...

Whatever your view of the Pope or the Catholic Church (and I have many about the Church and organized religion), this legacy of justice is one worth emulating.

Pope Francis preached compassion and justice, and continued to call for a ceasefire in Gaza—even in his final address. He also spoke out about the existential threat of climate change and the ongoing imperative to end poverty. 🕊️

Sliman Mansour, The Nazarene (Suolil), oil on canvas, 1993.

Mansour: “Palestinians hold onto hope, dignity, and resistance, believing that even from the darkest tombs, life and freedom will rise again.”

Speaking the fascist’s language: Pierre Poilievre’s perfidious rhetorical appeal for working class votes There is a long history of antagonism between the words and actions of fascist politicians, both those of our time and of the 20th century. Although Poilievre is not a fascist himself, his rhetoric re...

Pierre Poilievre follows in a long right-wing tradition of intentionally appealing to the masses while actively working against them. The antagonism between his words and his actions is a purposeful lie—torn out of the fascist playbook.

Yes, it is indeed.

So many of the people who voted for this will be in church today and again on Sunday. The hypocrisy is incredible.

The #WPPh2025 Photo of the Year is ‘Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine’ by Samar Abu Elouf, for @nytimes.com. The jury was moved by this portrait of a Palestinian boy which speaks to the devastating long-term costs of war on civilians. worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2025/Samar-Abu-Elouf/1

It’s Friday—give the drummer some. 🥁