My balcony in Kentville.

Spring!

I'll be speaking in Halifax on Tuesday to Robert S. Wright's criminology class at Saint Mary's University, about how 2SLGBTQIA+ people – like African Canadians and Indigenous people – are constructed as criminal identities by systems of law enforcement.

NEW!! After centuries of genocide and slavery, did you think we couldn't up our game? Try our latest product launch. It's to die for. See link in first comment, to remarks by Dr Cornel West.

I'll be part of a panel on local Queer history Tuesday night, 8 July at 6:30 on Zoom. Here is the link to register: smu-ca.zoom.us/.../register...

I don't know enough to vouch for this Trans Lifeline, but if it is reputable, I'm sure it serves a critical purpose. The US number is (877) 565-8860. The Canada number is (877) 330-6366. Monday–Friday, 10 AM to 6 PM Pacific, 1 PM to 9 PM Eastern, 2 pm to 10 pm Atlantic. Comment if you know more.

Living here in America right now feels like that time. Stuck riding shotgun in a car with a drunk driver. – Chuck Wendig

Halifax Regional Municipality's Council has approved a staff recommendation to leave X and to migrate its public account to Bluesky. www.halifaxexaminer.ca/government/c...

Their ambulance came under Israeli fire on the way to collect injured people from an earlier airstrike. 13 of the dead were in a convoy dispatched to retrieve the bodies of their colleagues. One was a UN employee. A Red Crescent paramedic is still missing. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

I like the sound of this bottle in the US section of a Newfoundland liquor store.

Wondering whether to travel to the US? You may end up in a prison-like detention centre being treated like an animal. It happens to white Canadians with a passport. People of colour & those from less privileged countries face far worse. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trans women in men's prisons face dire and life-threatening circumstances. The US govt is murdering Trans people. Some Canadian conservatives support such policies. People I love would suffer and die under a Poilievre govt. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Mayflowers with buds ready to bloom when the weather warms.

Elbows up, Canada.

We've got a new anthem! And you can dance to this one. With thanks to Gloria Gaynor. Lyrics Gord Moran; vocals Sonya Zaback; produced by Wayne McFaul www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pei...

party time!!

A clear warning from three distinguished analysts at McGill. Time for a new defence alliance among the remaining democracies. www.policymagazine.ca/trumps-attac...

Trump's thugs escorted Zelenskyy out after a public shouting match. This is not good news, but better than signing over Ukraine's mineral resources to the US. Time for NATO-minUS to rally behind Ukraine, as Denmark's Mette Frederiksen has called for. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Artist Kelly Mark died on 21 February. Each of her works – economical, playful and challenging – was a Zen koan manifested in an object or performance. Her company was as witty and stimulating as her art. She will be sorely missed. The art will endure. Photo: Exist, 2009. Ph: Steve Farmer.

This is very bad news.

Earth First. Just met with people from 5 continents to monitor the ecosystems in which we live. Proud citizen of the most beautiful, miraculous planet in the known universe. Grateful to share it with my fellow humans and all other life forms. We have a lot to do. Now let's get to work. Photo ESA.

Twelve Basic Observations I am reposting this as a single thread. I am still learning the interface (I did very little on Twitter), and posted it here first as 12 separate posts.

Some mobilising energy to encourage our American friends. AOC was a waitress when she beat a major Democratic machine candidate with a $3 million kitty. You can see why when you hear her talk.

Baby needs a safety seat.

I've kept fuchsias for years – outside during summer, indoors during winter. They seem happy enough to bloom through all seasons. This past year, they've produced a lot of berries – which are edible, and quite delicious. I plan to eat this one after I've posted its picture.

Charlie Angus (@charlieangus104.bsky.social) has long been a fearless champion for justice. Since the Trump/Musk takeover, he has emerged as one of Canada's most eloquent spokespeople. charlieangus.substack.com/p/on-yeats-t...

The revolution may not be televised, but the collapse of civilisation will be posted on social media.

12 There is no neutrality. Non-commitment is a betrayal of the responsibility we owe our fellow humans and the living world. Study history. Form discussion groups. Organise. Slava Ukraini! Black Lives Matter. Women, Life, Freedom! Free Palestine! Vive le Canada !

Two More 11 Keep your eyes on the prize; but prepare to get your hands and your principles dirty. We won't like all our coalition partners; may choose expediencies we had once ruled out. The task is to survive, enough of our principles intact to have a hope of rebuilding, better, a shattered world.

10 Expel the US from NATO now: there are ample grounds. It threatens other members with military aggression, supports Russia against Ukraine and subverts democratic processes in member states. Rename and expand NATO to include Japan, South Korea, Australia, Ukraine, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, etc.

9 Don't give the US time to further corrupt or destroy multi-national institutions. The General Assembly of the UN must suspend the Security Council and strip its permanent members of their veto power.

8 Liberal democracies must re-arm. We must seek anti-fascist alliances where we can on every continent. Assume that a world war is beginning. It has. Do we have the means to win this fight? We do, because we must. The choices are to fight or to die. Ask Ukraine.

7 The US piggy bank is smashed. Its military is in the hands of the enemy. The surviving liberal democracies must fill the gap: to fund UN programmes, defend Ukraine, deter Russian, Chinese and US aggressions. No truck, no trade with the US or Russia. Extreme caution with China.

6 Prepare for the corruption or destruction of public-serving institutions: universities, museums, libraries, archives, responsible media. Secure independent communication channels. Act now to duplicate, smuggle out, hide and safeguard all critical records, research data, cultural artifacts.

5 Don't pin hopes on the US judicial system or the mid-term elections. By all means, use any available instruments to delay the carnage and buy time for the resistance. But expect American democracy and the US constitution to be demolished before this summer.

4 Trump is a frontman: he is not the power behind the coup. The tech bros, Project 2025 and their ideologues are the real threat. Beyond Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg lie Peter Thiel, Russel Vought, Curtis Yarvin, Kevin Roberts. Learn their names. They are running the world now.

3 Trump cannnot be negotiated with. He is immune to diplomacy; he does not bargain. He may be tactically distracted or manipulated. Diplomacy is useful inasmuch as it gives him cover to retreat, but the only real options are to surrender to him or to defeat him.

2 The Musk coup is more than a national coup. The tech oligarchy seeks to consolidate a global corporate totalitarian dictatorship. A fascist alliance whose power transcends national boundaries seeks to destroy democracy and reduce the nation state to an instrument of its power.

Ten Basic Observations 1 This is not 1933 Germany. It's worse. The coup coincides with a civilisational crisis of climate change; it is nuclear armed. The USA is not a troublesome friend. Their government is our enemy, and seeks our destruction. The US is now the most dangerous nation in the world.

Okay, Google maps. You have a correction to make.

On 14 February 1979, officers of Pink Triangle Press received the first of three acquittals on obscenity charges. That summer, on my initiative, the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Rights Coalition declared the date an annual lesbian and gay holiday, Pink Triangle Day. www.robinmetcalfe.ca/pink-triangl...

Don’t assume Canada would lose the war if the USA tried to annex us. Putin thought he’d have troops in Kyiv in three days. thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...

It was the least we could do. You're welcome.

“You can’t keep doing the same mistake over and over again,” says Trump. Let's make new and much worse mistakes. Remember Trump Plaza? Prepare for Trump Gaza.

Canadian Labour Congress plan for Canadian action.

I've taken the pledge. Here's where you can sign up: actionnetwork.org/petitions/pl...

Who says quantum physics is hard to understand? Text by Samir D Mathur, International Journal of Modern Physics D, Volume 30, Issue 14, id. 2141001.

Not surprisingly, it appears that the privacy rights of Trans minors will not be protected by the US Justice Dept under Trump.

From the Mouths of Babes: an elegy for America. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mB...