This is worth a read. It is a very frank and honest piece of diplomacy. One that shows more charity than I could personally muster in the circumstances. But also fairly remind the dictator that when Russia gets fatigued, change happens. Usually unpleasantly....

I wonder what a similar study might show here in Canada, seeing as how much of the country is hard igneous rock with, in a few areas, some sedimentary overlay....

This is an amazing feat of endurance and wisdom earned from living on ancestral land. The Canadian Rangers are simply outstanding, and the rest of the country has much to learn from them.

All Canadians should pay attention to this. The Putin playbook that led to the Ukraine War is being run against us, not just by Russia, but by the US regime. I hate to say it, but the BC Premier's use of the word 'treason' was accurate. This is foreign incitement. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

An quote from the Consis Canada: "That is the procurement lesson: every middle power facing a larger autocratic threat needs to build around dispersed, decentralized, multi-domain long-range strike capacity before the crisis arrives. Not after. Not when the border is already burning. Before.

The Economist has really been on a tear lately with their covers....

Now this is a cool photo. All credit to the photographer who was able to capture the comet as it passed nearby a trio of galaxies.

Per my previous post. This is what we are up against. This woman - iirc a US citizen - was dragged from her car by cosplaying blackshirts for the crime of looking brown. Canadians can never give in to this perfidy.

It is good to see that some rational Conservatives still exist in Canada, and Mr. Stratton's article here raises many pertinent concerns. The key issue is time. We just may not have much of it.

Apropos of all that's going on: O Lord Our God, arise And scatter our enemies Frustrate their politics Confound their knavish tricks God save the King And yeah, I know he's an oddball, but better a constitutional monarch than an unconstitutional tyrant.

Looks like the Economist is in a pretty foul mood about That Man's shenanigans....

This is really an epochal speech. It lays out a path for the 'rest of the world' away from hegemonic schemes. There is a glimmer of hope here. But words are easy. Action, persistence and resilience are hard. But you have to start somewhere, and this is as good a place as any.

I, too, have learned a new concept today....however reluctantly. The sad truth is that it totally fits current reality.

A tidy summary of the current paroxysm of imperialist lunacy coming out of the US.

This is a true statement!

Watching CDA Juniors. Olympic ice is the way the game should be played. You really see the speed and creativity of the players in a way the congested NHL rinks don't allow. This is what the game should look like!

Apparently, someone is trying to reenact the cyanogen panic from 1910's pass from Halley's comet; just this time in relation to 3I/ATLAS. It's utter nonsense now, same way it was nonsense then.

Stepping outside last night about 7pm when something swooped upward into the maple tree. It was an owl! First time seeing one around the house in 24 years! Likely a Barred Owl. Stood around looking handsome for a minute or so, then flew off as soon as a photo was tried....

Behold. The new US National Security Strategy condensed to, by my count, 17 words.

Checked the Spotify year end thingy. Apparently I am 87 years old. I guess when you average out Vivaldi and Corelli, plus Sidney Bechet, Artie Shaw, and Billie Holiday, that's kind of where you end up.

I am tempted to make these myself just to see if anyone recognizes it. Kudos to whoever came up with it!

Double star program completed last night. Caught HD 9336 in Cetus at culmination, and just before clouds rolled in! 18 months of persistence to complete. The RASC Double star is a marvel, and I encourage all visual astronomers - wherever you live - to give it a shot!

This is the definitive explanation of the loss of this storied ship. It's really more like a magazine article, for it covers everything from meteorology to metal. Outstanding work, and what the bookmark function was designed for!

There it is....actually, not for the first time.

Of all the many pun posts sparked by this accident, I like this one the most.

Honestly, I love the whimsy of the Condor livery. Everyone else is trying to be all sophisticated and arty...but Condor asks "what if stripes and colours?" I see this aircraft and the mustard one frequently around Toronto. Always makes me smile.

I am always amazed that humans build and send robots to other worlds, and they take pictures like THIS!

Another polished aluminum beauty. Who cares that it's basically a toy that flies when it looks this good! The alt text is right - it does have Ryan vibes, and maybe a bit of Chipmunk with a dollop of interwar fighter.....

RASC Double Star program update - now at 109 of 110! Did 2 in Cetus (78 Cet and HD3125). Last one (HD9336) stubbornly refused to emerge from behind my apple tree before I quit at 1 am. Also did M103 on Messier Program and observed Saturn and (maybe?) Neptune....

Just a robot on Mars taking pictures that look like something by Ansel Adams. Other than that, nothing special....

I have never heard of this light aircraft before, but what a beautiful marvel of design it is!

One more observation done in the RASC double star program, this time HR 313 (77 Psc). Just 3 more to go, all in Cetus, so likely in October. Also did 4 Williamson moon observations, 3 around Imbrium/Copernicus, and then Longomontanus.

Here is a thing i have always wondered about. I am amazed at the research that shows we have - and in theory can use - pulsars as a natuarally-occurring space GPS. Marvelous work....

I find this oddly beautiful in its synchronicity. Kudos to the team that designed the drone footage!

This is absolutely awesome- in all senses of that word! Excellent work by all involved.

Photo of the close approach of Mars and the Moon. June 29, 21:53. Photo taken by cellphone at 3x in nightmode, cropped. Moon overexposed in order to show the planet

Finished the spring section of the RASC double star program with HR5397 and HR5816 in Libra. Bit tough with smoke still about. Now, just 4 left to go, but will have to wait until Fall. Also logged M29 in Cygnus. Remarkably, its nickname "Cooling tower cluster" is quite apt!

Edmonton 5-4 in sudden death overtime. That's playoff hockey! What a game! Coming back from 3-0 down in the first period to claw back and win. All the drama and tension you can handle, and then some....

Another classic lesson wrapped up in a discussion of fine watches. As previously stated, THIS is what social media should be about....

Also started RASC Messier program. Observed M13 and M92 in Hercules. Toronto's light pollution makes any "faint fuzzies" really difficult, even with a UHC filter to cut some of the glare.

RASC Double star program continues. Timed Corvus at culmination. Completed HD 109556 and HD 105590. Interesting pairs. One is a double in the midst of a triangular asterism, the other is a very tight triple system. Now at 94.5% completion - 6 more to go!

That is simultaneously terrifying and amazing.

“In Canada, he doesn’t sound like a troll. He sounds like a threat.” Adam Gopnik writes about how the 2025 Canadian federal election was won and lost on Trumpism and its perils.

This here is one of the great U-boat hunters of the Second World War. Grab a comfy seat and a glass of something pleasing. We're going on a journey...

This was the only combat mission my Uncle never felt qualms about. He was proudest of flying 3 ‘Manna’ missions dropping food into occupied Holland. /End

He had two reasons; 1 the target was morally uncomplicated, and 2, after Normandy, CDNs wanted payback on the SS. He wanted it so much, he ordered a go-around because the pilot didn't initially line up properly. This was done under AA fire the whole time, albeit safeguarded by 4 USAAF Mustangs. /4

Rumoured Nazi plans to lead a ‘Werewolf’ defence of the Reich from the Alps - while little more than the fever-dream of a few fanatics - meant the target needed to be hit. Though an experienced F/O and Bomb-Aimer, my Uncle volunteered to fly with a rookie crew on their first combat mission./3

80 years ago today at 09:52, my Uncle took this photo as his RAF 166 Squadron Lancaster - and hundreds of RAF, RCAF, RAAF and USAAF bombers - conducted high-altitude demolition of the Berchtesgaden SS camp and Obersalzburg Nazi compounds. Unusually for Bomber Command, this was a daylight mission /2

Good Friday dinner. Ecuadorian legume & cabbage soup called "Fanesca". Usually cooked with salt cod. Not a fan....but my wife brilliantly improvised pan-fried fresh cod medallions. Delightful! And all the fibre you could ever want in one bowl!

/2 One satisfying aspect was building skills at using mechanical setting circles on my EQ5 mount. Is it perfect? No. I hit targets dead on about 50% of the time, and about 30% could figure it out from the finderscope. But about 20% back to trial and error. Still helpful, though!