In short, Canada should think like Finland.
05.03.2026 11:26
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I was a bay leaf skeptic before picking up a bay laurel plant, which grows innocuously in a window awaiting occasions when it is asked to sacrifice a leaf or two. Fresh bay leaves really do add an extra note of flavour -- am adding their magic tonight to a late winter leek and potato stew.
Indeed, "Keep your promise," defined many of the chants, spoken by people holding signs and banners bearing the images and names of some of the 30,000+ Iranians killed by the current regime in the past two months. "Alternative for Iran; democracy for Iran." Yes.
Yesterday I participated in this march, which was cordial, determined, and MASSIVE. Iranians, possibly the least naïve people in the world, hope Reza Pahlavi will bring freedom and democracy to Iran. Large marches like this one will help hold him + other western defenders to this promise.
It's not just about the regimes we elect. it's also that ordinary citizens are complicit in the destruction, having been manipulated into becoming foot-soldiers sowing ideological division. If democracy is to be salvaged, ordinary citizens need to stop following the scripts. 3/3
Russia's propaganda machine "encourages us to vilify our neighbor and amplify our differences because, if we grow incapable of compromising, there can be no meaningful democracy. Russia has dug in for a long campaign. So far, we’re helping them win." 2/3
I first shared this article 5+ years ago. It's dismaying to see how much, despite so many warnings about foreign influence campaigns via social media, the IRA and its successors have since succeeded in their goal of tearing the US (and western democracy more generally) apart. 1/3
It's also yet another urgent cautionary tale about the ways vulnerability in the digital era scales all the way up and down, from the loss of privacy to fundamental risks to the functioning of democracies.
Distributed systems (in economies and governance, especially) are required to keep checks and balances in place -- just as biodiverse environments are also usually healthy + robust environments.
In the immediate sense this is absolutely a security issue of great concern. More broadly, it's a reminder of how quickly complacency + dependency can turn into threats to sovereignty. And more broadly still, it's a warning of the ways economic monopolization + state coercion can end up coalescing.
Southern Ontarians: if you felt last night's magnitude 3.7 earthquake (exciting; epicentre near Lake Simcoe, but reportedly felt as far away as Rochester NY), you can complete this NRC-GC questionnaire.
This article, about the Challenger shuttle disaster (40 years ago tomorrow), is an almost immeasurably sadder read because it depicts large institutions and a government which were, however imperfect, then still somewhat accountable and capable of self-correction.
Also vital reading right now is Hannah Arendt's incisive, utterly unsparing book On the Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). Its relevance to contemporary totalitarian movements is astonishing.
For anyone who values democracy, freedom, and the rule of law: an urgently important watch on this International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
reminiscent of this:
More in the study published in Nature (Oktaviana, A.A., Joannes-Boyau, R., Hakim, B. et al. Rock art from at least 67,800 years ago in Sulawesi. Nature (2026).
Great shot!
I do consider building shadows a valid planning issue, but agree it's not about expression as such. Yes to better by-laws, from someone who used to write them. :)
P.S. Native plant gardens can be quite tidy and nicely kept -- but even an unruly native plant garden provides vital ecosystem services + is drought-resistant + provides shelter + food to beneficial insects + attracts birds + feeds soil + improves groundwater retention + benefits whole ecosystem.
Goldenrod is unreasonably maligned. It's an important native plant that supports beneficial insects, it doesn't cause hay-fever (ragweed does), and while some goldenrods (like Canada goldenrod) are aggressive, many types are not (e.g., zig-zag goldenrod, white upland goldenrod). 3/3
Noxious weed legislation in Ontario does need to be updated, though, both to stop outlawing important native plants like goldenrod and to restrict invasive weeds (like dog-strangling vine) and invasive garden plants (e.g., periwinkle / vinca) that do considerable harm. 2/3
I'm glad the court sided with this gentleman's right to grow a natural garden -- the City of Mississauga's policy was wrongheaded on several counts -- , but have concerns about the creep of Constitution-invoking litigation. 1/3
Such lovely hair in this painting. And her lovely, weary face.
Nine hours of daylight today -- 17 more minutes than at the Solstice. Light returns to the hemisphere.
Love this! My daughter collects OREKS sightings (as well as LUMI, which often appears alongside).
Leo Gestel's painting 'Herfst' (or 'Autumn,' 1909), showing shafts of sunlight illuminating a Dutch landscape. The painting's principal hues are yellow and blue.
A few notes on the work of Dutch painter Leo Gestel, 1881-1941.
www.amylavenderharris.com/2026/01/02/in-the-studio-the-work-of-leo-gestel/
Correction: This painting is titled 'Atelierhoek, or 'The Studio Corner,' and was titled, signed and dated Winter 1910. Source: www.christies.com.cn/en/lot/lot-6...
