Nostr notes by JNL

all I can say is that I have altered nothing, and I don't ...

2026-09-11T13:38:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…t9q5
_________________________

all I can say is that *I* have altered nothing, and I don't think my colleague did either. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Your line is pretty much how I feel about this entire year.

continually in search of more foods to use as vehicles for sesame ...

2026-07-02T03:54:17Z

continually in search of more foods to use as vehicles for sesame dressing

teen2: [playing Bartok in extremely high register while we beg ...

2026-04-24T01:29:38Z

teen2: [playing Bartok in extremely high register while we beg him to stop]

teen1: [narrating the history of nuclear proliferation while we beg him to stop]

this is, for real, our last 30 minutes if you wonder what the un-fun parts are

Wow, I did not know this. Alright, I will tolerate slightly more ...

2026-03-23T22:08:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…q3yt
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Wow, I did not know this. Alright, I will tolerate slightly more tree-hate. While nevertheless pointing out that I actually don't know ANYONE who has planted one in the last decade- they are literally banned in multiple states.

I will also say that while almost certainly ecologically destabilizing and probably not to be encouraged or cheered, the trees' means of reproductive escape is also kind of cool- they original cultivars are, as I thought I remembered, not able to reproduce with one another. The new, abundant offspring are found in wild places and not next to the original trees because the cultivated trees had to find wild species with which to interbreed ... and eventually, they did! The "invasive" offspring are actually self-created hybrids that can only exist because of extant local trees to breed with. ie, Life Finds a Way.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/714b/1639404e7ef9d2477189c4ea279ed6344155.pdf

Nearly every fruit tree you can plant in the US is ...

2026-03-23T12:30:21Z

Nearly every fruit tree you can plant in the US is "invasive." It really is not necessary to hate bradford pear trees quite as loudly as people do. We had an absolutely magical one in our front yard in Kansas- it was excellent in every way.

I don't go from place to place planting them, and I don't widely lament that they're on their way out, but you are subscribing to socially sanctioned hatred-as-sport in ranting and it's honestly fairly unreasonable. There are fewer and fewer of these trees every year; they are absolutely not coming to get you.

Speaking of smell stuff ... are there smells considered to be ...

2026-03-15T22:24:39Z

Speaking of smell stuff ... are there smells considered to be objectively bad that you actually kinda like or have good associations with?

(Don't make me regret asking this, y'all 😬)

What is Ranch Mart, you ask? Is it like Tractor Supply, but ...

2026-03-12T03:04:33Z

What is Ranch Mart, you ask?

Is it like Tractor Supply, but focused on the open range?

Is it a western apparel shop in the spirit of Wrangler?

Is it a boutique real estate concern where people peruse ranch land for sale?

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

WHAT IF I TELL YOU IT'S IN LEAWOOD KANSAS, OFF ROE

ahhh of course say no more; frou frou strip mall with absolutely zero context for chosen name; nine dollar cupcakes are available from more than one on-site establishment 👍🏻👍🏻

Readers, I cried 😂 ...

2026-03-06T20:16:20Z

Readers, I cried 😂

I am about to set up a database. The goal is to get to ...

2026-02-25T00:39:57Z

I am about to set up a database. The goal is to get to multifactor viz quickly; I will eventually need viewer interactivity and pop up info display for virtually every piece. Thoughts about how you'd begin as you mean to go on?

As a non-coder (though I'm not hell bent on continuing as such) I am tempted to just throw things in Tableau and figure out a step up later, as needed.

That said, I am very open to musings.

why did my committee make me do a Leninist comps analysis instead ...

2026-02-17T03:07:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…tahp
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why did my committee make me do a Leninist comps analysis instead of a feminist one ☠️

i am not even appealing on feminist grounds except insofar as the feminine is what it has always been which is to say unrecognizedly USEFUL

how do I frame all of this as economy; can I just use ...

2026-02-17T03:04:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…7mus
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how do I frame all of this as economy; can I just use Gibson-Graham or do we have to get into fucking fetish

how will we make an account of the hands of the institution when ...

2026-02-17T03:02:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…dndf
_________________________

how will we make an account of the hands of the institution when institutional action both is and is not simply a group of individual humans using their bodies in sync

what the fuck is 'care,' really

2026-02-17T03:00:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…q0lk
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what the fuck is 'care,' really

May the spirit of Susan Leigh Star descend and help me figure out ...

2026-02-17T02:59:30Z

May the spirit of Susan Leigh Star descend and help me figure out this categorization tangle

and elite institutions actually get coopted FIRST where the main ...

2026-02-16T17:32:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…ulxl
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and elite institutions actually get coopted FIRST where the main driver of change is the shifting desires of global capital

If you have a strong background in GIS and an interest in climate ...

2026-01-17T14:13:38Z

If you have a strong background in GIS and an interest in climate resilient cities and have been wondering about a PhD, I know someone who likely has funding for next year. You, too, could experience the wonder and curse the difficulty that is the island of Newfoundland. ✨

I will tell you also that the ACTUAL, IN PERSON neighborhood ...

2026-01-08T21:08:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…kq8n
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I will tell you also that the ACTUAL, IN PERSON neighborhood gathering in Minneapolis looks like salty old lesbian couples stoking the big outdoor fire and neighbor upon neighbor upon neighbor showing up and feeding people and getting fed and then people singing songs together. There is hugging. There are tears. There are dogs.

I am a person who believes that online community is real community, and sometimes tending to those structures has been my actual paying job.

But truly, if *this* is gonna matter as movement space there has to be a place where people can get warm and be fed, and raising our voices together in song wouldn't hurt any either.

Stop shitting on the movement gathering speed.

Build the fire. Offer song.

This truly isn't good enough for what has to happen, ...

2026-01-08T21:00:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…veq7
_________________________

This truly isn't good enough for what has to happen, y'all. And it's not good enough for us, now, either. And I don't mean 'not good enough' in the shame way.

Fuck shame.

I mean not good enough in the beloved community way.

In the we need all of us to make it way.

In the way that means you are a beloved child of god and so is everyone here and what does it look like to practice muscles together that believe it?

Our movement has gotten so SMALL across the last century that it is able to tolerate small behavior, small vision, small welcoming.

But we cannot afford to be small in any of those ways right now.

What does muscle toward expansive, welcoming love look like, right now?

I mean ACTIONS.

What does deep care as ACTION look like while people are freezing their fucking asses off taking to the streets in a dictatorship they were not born to, look like?

We gotta figure it out fast and the old way won't cut it.

How will you practice WELCOME

Now project this shame onto every new potential member of this ...

2026-01-08T20:50:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…fz0w
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Now project this shame onto every new potential member of this movement

Gossip. Gatekeep. Use side eye.

You will be part of us for real when every action you are part of ...

2026-01-08T20:47:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…lfx9
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You will be part of us for real when every action you are part of feels shitty, you loudly bewail any sign of incremental progress and berate those working on it, you never feel like you fully belong at any table, and you carry moderate hatred for everyone you're working with and especially for yourself

Especially, ESPECIALLY your earlier self

Goddamn your earlier self

Hey, I see that you've found our movement, given that you are ...

2026-01-08T20:41:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…aydy
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Hey, I see that you've found our movement, given that you are now out in the streets by your own choice, in the January winter in Minnesota

We're not sure that you mean it enough tho; would you like to be punched in the face or stabbed in the back as a sign of your allegiance to the cause

Hello and welcome to Social Skills 101: we on the left can use ...

2026-01-08T20:27:45Z

Hello and welcome to Social Skills 101: we on the left can use them, too 💫

New Brunswick, Canada August, 2025 #silentsunday ...

2026-01-04T12:23:15Z

New Brunswick, Canada
August, 2025
#silentsunday

I have felt annoyed and aggrieved by the 'let's be ...

2026-01-01T20:03:25Z

I have felt annoyed and aggrieved by the 'let's be honest: we had no idea how bad this was gonna be- it's SHOCKING' year in review posts.

Motherfuckers, this is because you live in willful denial. Many of us told you and we aren't fucking Nostradamus- we knew because we simply **listened to what they said they planned to do** **knew and cared about people and communities who had been horrifically impacted last time** and **maintained a basic awareness of the last 100 years of Western history and noticed the places it rhymed**

This is not rocket science and I'm fucking pissed that amnesia and stupidity get to meme 'reality.'

I have been holding that in for weeks; whew.

Yesterday we went to an art exhibit that was literally roombas ...

2025-12-29T01:42:09Z

Yesterday we went to an art exhibit that was literally roombas driving through glitter and I somehow had glitter INSIDE MY PANTS later that day 🤷‍♀️

San Francisco December, 2025 #silentsunday ...

2025-12-28T16:22:51Z

San Francisco
December, 2025

#silentsunday

I love these days between Christmas and New Years. As a teacher, ...

2025-12-26T16:22:31Z

I love these days between Christmas and New Years. As a teacher, as a religious professional, and now as a scholar, this week has always been sacred "time off," and it coincides with a break for my spouse and kids as well.

I have now witnessed the annual reanimation of the post that suggests that we all do nothing, think nothing, be nothing and "become a couch" ... good advice for some, I'm sure, but a miss for me.

I use this time for dreaming and noticing, usually amid different landscapes from those where I live. Part of my practice during this week is "Year End Review," which just means finding ways to surface and reflect on what has been and what is in the process of becoming.

If YOU do some sort of year end review ... what pictures you took, what recipes you relied on, what you read or watched or wrote ...I'd love to hear about it.

Are you trying something new this year?

What feels toothy and important as you surface what you've learned and who you've been?

#YearEndReview

That feeling when you see a person deploy a fantastic metaphor in ...

2025-12-18T14:52:48Z

That feeling when you see a person deploy a fantastic metaphor in service of a very questionable argument

Rutland, Vermont Dec 2025 #silentsunday ...

2025-12-14T18:50:48Z

Rutland, Vermont
Dec 2025
#silentsunday

-I'd like a gentle hike through a grassy field HikeFinder: ...

2025-11-22T23:07:16Z

-I'd like a gentle hike through a grassy field

HikeFinder: Great; tons of those

-with dramatic, emotive skies

HikeFinder: Can do

-I want there to be sea urchins in the grass

HikeFinder: What

-And I want to be able to fall from the grassy field

HikeFinder:

-to my death

HikeFinder: Ah. You mean you want to hike in Newfoundland

I really appreciated this one ...

2025-11-21T02:50:01Z

I really appreciated this one

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/history-professor-ai-cheating-students_n_69178150e4b0781acfd62540

If you know the words to Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" ...

2025-11-18T23:33:04Z

If you know the words to Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" such that by reading this post, you could finish Reznor's line "I want to __" but also you know why in polite company you ought not:

Mizzen Pond, Newfoundland November 2025 #silentsunday ...

2025-11-16T16:45:14Z

Mizzen Pond, Newfoundland
November 2025

#silentsunday

I was recently thinking about a similar line of reality in ...

2025-11-12T18:11:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…vqkw
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I was recently thinking about a similar line of reality in confronting the argument that bean counters at my university are making about grad student education. Grad students are, in this view, merely a drain on resources, and faculty are better supported where resources simply go to teach undergrads.

Leaving aside the oversights, even just fiscally speaking, of this mental model (and they are myriad), WHERE, PRECISELY, DO YOU IMAGINE THAT FACULTY TO TEACH GRAD STUDENTS COME FROM

Like AI mints them? Able teachers of college students emerge, fully formed, from the depths of LinkedIn?

I am (perhaps unappealingly) going to point out that Andrew is ...

2025-10-31T21:51:06Z

I am (perhaps unappealingly) going to point out that Andrew is being put forward again and again as the object of your ire in hopes that you'll be satisfied and thus distracted from the superstructure of the thing

**Any time** something becomes this exclusively individualized, pause to ask yourself who and what benefits from that perspective

I'm sorry; this is hilarious ...

2025-10-24T13:44:16Z

I'm sorry; this is hilarious

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/23/german-firm-campaign-lift-louvre-heist-bocker

Having contemplated war, I now want nothing but pet photos and ...

2025-10-07T22:31:55Z

Having contemplated war, I now want nothing but pet photos and seascapes and lake shots and mosses various

send them

THEN WHAT HAPPENED, BOT

2025-09-26T02:06:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…fle6
_________________________

THEN WHAT HAPPENED, BOT

One of the things I learned during today's ethics discussion ...

2025-09-24T23:35:26Z

One of the things I learned during today's ethics discussion is that I have to use the university letterhead for anything I hand to anyone as part of this research.

So, I just downloaded their template, and let me tell you, it exceeds my wildest expectations. Hardest I've laughed in awhile.

Collective care has been made very nearly impossible even to ...

2025-09-18T15:12:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…df55
_________________________

Collective care has been made very nearly impossible even to speak of. The lines are laid such that being asked to take personal responsibility for risks to others is a valid source of personal outrage rather than a point of thought and (ideally shared) reflection.

I observe that it's hard for many or most people to understand how these abdications of care are a strong throughline to where we are, socially and politically, deeply in danger in this moment

Once you see the connections, though- what parts of truth, what norms of care we are willing to erase or deny or punish to avoid inconveniencing or angering a) power and b) mob energy, it's hard to unsee

In a discussion with a ministry colleague who has active covid ...

2025-09-18T15:04:58Z

In a discussion with a ministry colleague who has active covid and feels like she probably shouldn't be in the pulpit this weekend because coughing "is a bad look," but that being present and preaching with active covid is itself fine.

This is a dear, dear friend, and yes, I did call her in as gently and honestly as I could. About which she is now pissed (though she is also not feeling well, so that's hard.)

A thing she said: "The people in chemo are wearing masks, and we have air filtration."

For myself, personally, I am feeling the pain of this in my body, ...

2025-09-14T01:30:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…lqse
_________________________

For myself, personally, I am feeling the pain of this in my body, more than I would even have imagined. A breath-stealing gut punch to start, and since then, like I'm being flayed.

I know this feeling won't last.
I know we are coming through and moving with hard things all the time.

No one asked me to bleed for this place, or to suffer for its people.

I'm trying to keep it in context.

But y'all what I study is literally institutional loss due to austerity

So this pretty much IS my context

And it's real, real bad

I am out of the country on fieldwork; I know this did not go over ...

2025-09-14T01:28:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…pn4e
_________________________

I am out of the country on fieldwork; I know this did not go over well with faculty but I'm not sure how much people are hurting ... which I guess is one way of saying I don't know who realizes how "over" it is and who imagines this is just a thing to be waited out

In two years, whatever is left standing may or may not be part of ...

2025-09-14T01:26:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…urvx
_________________________

In two years, whatever is left standing may or may not be part of a grand revised budget plan, revamping the university (to be smaller and less comprehensive--again, it is literally the only university in the entire province) based on what is then valued out of what has survived

Again, not embellishing this at all

Institution-provided funding for grad students is also ending, ...

2025-09-14T01:25:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…jewl
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Institution-provided funding for grad students is also ending, forever, for anyone not currently in a program and covered by contractual funding

This is, of course, all being "guided" by a ...

2025-09-14T01:24:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…un0h
_________________________

This is, of course, all being "guided" by a "financial consultant," who is herself receiving dollars that could meaningfully be used by students, faculty, capital maintenance, recruitment, the list goes on

Rather than taking its fight to have its funding restored to the ...

2025-09-14T01:23:44Z

Rather than taking its fight to have its funding restored to the province, which really does have plenty of money to meet its people's needs, my university has decided to convene the Hunger Games, targeted at humanities and social sciences. Departments are now locked out of their own classrooms and--I swear I am not making this up--required to PAY RENT for every hour of access to the classrooms in their own departmental hallways.

bad things: my basement apartment is giving "think of the ...

2025-09-08T15:55:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…q4xy
_________________________

bad things: my basement apartment is giving "think of the shittiest place you ever lived as an undergrad" vibes and lacks a desk or even a chair; the Central Missouri landscape causes me low-grade panic in a way that is surprising but also immediately understandable (I am a prairie kid- I need huge sky and clear vantage points or I basically fight through a low key embodied panic attack until I get those things); I have the sort of pressing academic task list with immediate and urgent deadlines that makes it seem like literally everyone around me has made better life choices

Good things: I think I slept fairly well last night. I am ...

2025-09-08T15:50:16Z

Good things: I think I slept fairly well last night. I am ensconced amid the stacks in an academic library and feel sensorily grounded in a way that I need at the moment. I have wifi at Mizzou through eduroam, bless the collectivity I sometimes make fun of known as the academy.

I have this song stuck in my head, which is annoying and also ...

2025-07-31T14:33:31Z

I have this song stuck in my head, which is annoying and also kind of prickly poignant.

I was finishing elementary school when all of this went down, and I remember the hope for a world made new--the hopeful energy that imbued most of the 90s, in fact, at least in the Western world.

I realize that we are just in one particular chapter right now, and another one will come ... but it's hard not to regard past hope as a lost world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ

Y'all, I have several times failed at learning to use ...

2025-07-28T12:14:08Z

Y'all, I have several times failed at learning to use chopsticks to eat and have to figure it out before we head to Japan next summer.

I would especially love to hear from anyone who struggled mightily and then "got it"-

WHAT HELPED YOU

Fogo Island #SilentSunday ...

2025-07-27T22:37:51Z

Fogo Island
#SilentSunday

I am not agreeing that "Canadian wildfires are bad, actually, ...

2025-07-14T12:51:18Z

I am not agreeing that "Canadian wildfires are bad, actually, and because of air flow circulation patterns their smoke harms midwestern US cities terribly" gets to be a Trumpist talking point or a problem we aren't going to discuss.

Canadians, this is the clearest example of "your shit does actually stink, too" I have ever seen- feel free to develop some capacity to be rightly criticized. It will help you to protect what you care about far more than self-righteous defensiveness.

911 person: what's your emergency me: I can't seem to get ...

2025-07-06T00:34:47Z

911 person: what's your emergency

me: I can't seem to get off the floor. or move my leg. or use my spine

911: can you tell me what happened

me: I *almost* stepped on the cat

Rejected packing suggestion ...

2025-06-23T03:30:11Z

Rejected packing suggestion

Has such a protest sign ever before existed, across all of human ...

2025-06-17T20:17:55Z

Has such a protest sign ever before existed, across all of human history

#EventuallyTheyCamefortheAccountants

My takeaway from the last week is that you have to live in ...

2025-06-06T12:47:58Z

My takeaway from the last week is that you have to live in Vancouver or St. John's to breathe in Canada during the summer

https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

hilariously, I hated both home ec and shop my 7th grade year (and ...

2025-06-02T02:43:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…urx0
_________________________

hilariously, I hated both home ec and shop my 7th grade year (and our school district did just as you wish yours had- we did a survey of both), but I ended up taking two more full years of home ec for schedule reasons and I tell you what, three decades later I am still using that shit. Honestly I still use the semester of shop, too. We should probably stop acting like vocational ed is something only some humans need.

And I say that as one of the most nerdy, bookish, grad-school-of-words people you will ever meet 😂

It's honestly very annoying (and unhelpful) that home ec has ...

2025-06-02T02:31:16Z

It's honestly very annoying (and unhelpful) that home ec has been dropped from basically every public junior high school. Those skills were important and BOY am I seeing their lack in our teens.

We have, as a case in point, a rising 9th grader who has taught himself to do incredible things in the kitchen (the best cheeseburger, filet mignon, and french omelettes that I have ever had have been from his hands) but he doesn't know how to use a butter knife to check for brownie doneness or how to level a measuring cup without making a giant mess or how to integrate basic clean up into prep.

Yes, these things can be taught piecemeal as they pop up, but it's really an issue of missing basics.

Those were once taught as a social leveler for all kids, whether they were also coached at home or not.

In Alberta I found a bathroom that is, itself, trans ...

2025-05-24T18:15:44Z

In Alberta I found a bathroom that is, itself, trans

And Johnisue and Bob nod like this is a reasonable name, and then ...

2025-03-31T02:52:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…frs3
_________________________

And Johnisue and Bob nod like this is a reasonable name, and then Johni says, and I quote:

"Well, John, I hope you make it big someday."

He says the Goo Goo Dolls.

2025-03-31T02:51:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…pjjw
_________________________

He says the Goo Goo Dolls.

Oh neat. We're in town because our nephew is getting married. ...

2025-03-31T02:50:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…amx3
_________________________

Oh neat. We're in town because our nephew is getting married. Family reunion. Blah blah blah.

Just casual conversation, a solid morning of hiking, and eventually they all made it back to the base. Where they say goodbye.

And then my husband's aunt asks John what his band is called.

For many hours. They talked about all kinds of things. Hiking. ...

2025-03-31T02:48:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…7slj
_________________________

For many hours. They talked about all kinds of things. Hiking. Travel. Pets. Jobs. This guy, John, is a guitarist in a band and he's actually in town because his band is going to play a show.

My husband's aunt and uncle are super midwestern friendly- ...

2025-03-31T02:47:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…umz5
_________________________

My husband's aunt and uncle are super midwestern friendly- originally from Iowa- and they and this man, who introduced himself as John, struck up a joking conversation. Finally, the three just ended up hiking together.

For those who haven't done it, Camelback is intense. Like, ...

2025-03-31T02:45:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…wf3s
_________________________

For those who haven't done it, Camelback is intense. Like, not for the poorly conditioned. Also a very long process.

They started early in the morning, and soon found that they were meeting up at rest stops, like a tag team, with the same guy over and over.

One from this latter category: My husbands aunt and uncle are big ...

2025-03-31T02:44:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…09l7
_________________________

One from this latter category:

My husbands aunt and uncle are big into hiking and mountain biking. They live in Texas but came to Phoenix for a wedding and family reunion, and while there decided to take on Camelback.

Like most adult humans I have a long list of my own mortifying ...

2025-03-31T02:35:31Z

Like most adult humans I have a long list of my own mortifying events that I can reference at my convenience and leisure.

However. I also have a couple of things THAT DID NOT HAPPEN TO ME, BUT TO OTHERS that are so cringe that SOMEHOW I AM ALSO EMBARRASSED BY THESE THINGS

I did indeed read that thread.

2025-03-14T15:17:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…dagz
_________________________

I did indeed read that thread.

"Ok but what other perspective is there; we are under ...

2025-03-14T15:13:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…va89
_________________________

"Ok but what other perspective is there; we are under attack"

Yes. As are we.

The only framework that makes sense to me, as a conceptual theoretic and in the long run, is that we are all under the same attack, by the same thing, though we are differently positioned.

"Where's the line?" It lies somewhere between I will ...

2025-03-14T15:09:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…l5sn
_________________________

"Where's the line?"

It lies somewhere between

I will defend my country with everything that I have; you will take nothing from us without the fight of your lives

and

All of you presumptively deserve everything that is happening to you. It is not anyone's job to sort anyone out from the call for collective punishment. Anyone who says otherwise demonstrates the principle that fundamentally, you deserve this.

"every American deserves this," whether you say it out ...

2025-03-14T15:03:45Z

"every American deserves this," whether you say it out loud or just mean it in the subtext, is dehumanizing flattening of people already being flattened by their own government. Moreover, the reason you are moved to do it is to support your own growing nationalism, a project that requires you to move in opposition not only to Trump, Vance and their lackeys, but to Americans as a group and as a people. To blame and villify, so that you don't feel badly about the harm that happens next.

This is an old playbook. You did not invent it. It's necessary to stoke sufficient enmity to get people to fight each other.

But it goads you into becoming less fully human yourself. Always has.

People who are less in touch with their humanity are more easily moved to harm other humans.

Which is necessary.

For tools of war.

As batshit as this is (9 in 10 dollars that my family uses in ...

2025-03-12T12:09:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…anu6
_________________________

As batshit as this is (9 in 10 dollars that my family uses in Canada, to buy things in Canada, *come*from*the*US), I am going to join the boycott of US products when I'm in Canada.

(I just thought, should I join it when here in the US as well, and then TURNED MY BRAIN INSIDE OUT trying to understand what that would even mean. Which I invite you to consider as well. This is absolutely unhinged from the perspective of my family- we live in BOTH PLACES.)

And I note with great sadness, not just for the loss of possibility that our family and others like us are experiencing, but for the death of an era of openness and relative freedom, that "bothness" is quickly passing away from the realm of what is possible.

Tight borders and rearmament force everyone impacted to "choose."

What's being directed toward Canada right now is full-on ...

2025-03-12T12:02:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…dvd4
_________________________

What's being directed toward Canada right now is full-on aggression and threats to its sovereignty.

It contravenes everything any of us on either side have known or experienced.

I don't see a moral choice but to be against it.

It seems like Americans in Canada need to get clear that they are ...

2025-03-12T12:00:15Z

It seems like Americans in Canada need to get clear that they are likely to have to choose NOT to assist a hostile incursion, and probably sooner than seems possible.

Our relationships with each other haven't just been integrated trade. It has, to some degree, been an integrated continent with interdependent social and community relationships.

Relative peace and a high degree of personal and institutional freedom allowed for us, on both sides of the border, to live like siblings or at least cousins, sometimes not wholly understanding each other but never feeling like our ties were tenuous.

This last year has been tough, and obviously that predates this current administration. Increasing nationalism targeted at the borders of both countries and anti-immigrant swagger on both sides has made my family's life harder than it would have been a few years ago. Harder than it was last year.

I'm just over here in the middle of a PhD, but this is a changing time.

A different time.

Please tell me again that urban speed cams are actually ...

2025-03-11T15:16:49Z

Please tell me again that urban speed cams are actually racism-neutral ...

Y'all, surveillance tech is never, ever, ever neutral. And it's also never in your favor.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/ice-car-trackers-sanctuary-cities

The US sucks ass at this moment. Illegally and possibly ...

2025-03-10T12:01:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…kxsf
_________________________

The US sucks ass at this moment. Illegally and possibly unprecedentedly. (Which would be saying a lot; big if true.)

But it is also true that when it comes to border issues, the US can't leave people with zero options unless OTHER COUNTRIES agree to cooperate with it. Canada cooperated late last year, when Trump (who was not even in power) made a demand, in hopes of being seen as a good neighbor.

It got them precisely nothing and there are likely to be many more escalated situations catching real people and desperate families as a result of mutual border paranoia.

I also wonder if this situation would have been easily avoided ...

2025-03-10T11:56:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…w3a2
_________________________

I also wonder if this situation would have been easily avoided (and has been wholly avoided in every year prior) had Canada not caved to US pressure to end its own permit-at-the-border policies this past November. And if this person had already begun her trip at that point, which it sounds like she may have.

If you are not aware of this: if you are denied entry to the US ...

2025-03-10T11:51:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…2300
_________________________

If you are not aware of this: if you are denied entry to the US at any point, the consequences are a presumptive lifetime ban. You can get permission to visit after that, but it requires an in-person consular visit and then a visa.

Not a joke.

I'm not sure what the situation is that Canada refused her ...

2025-03-10T11:48:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…gcg6
_________________________

I'm not sure what the situation is that Canada refused her entry. Regardless, if you are refused entry to Canada and you are not a US citizen, I ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT ADVERTISE THE REFUSAL upon re-crossing the US border. Just enter, for whatever reason. On your way to Montana. Needed to talk with Canadian immigration and didn't realize they weren't flagpoling anymore. Spending a few nights in Vermont.

ICE has apparently disappeared a British tourist ...

2025-03-10T11:45:27Z

ICE has apparently disappeared a British tourist

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/british-comic-creator-r-e-burke-detained-by-ice-after-crossing-border/

I have hesitations about whether putting your personal info on ...

2025-03-09T23:42:52Z

I have hesitations about whether putting your personal info on political petitions in the US is an effective move right now, beloveds

Giving money (ie to a bail or defense fund) conveys the same information in terms of signing your opposition, and actually does something

the face of British Empire neoliberalism was not a highly ...

2025-03-09T23:00:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…e9h9
_________________________

the face of British Empire neoliberalism was not a highly exciting option to me as a spectator, but I'm commenting from adjacent space so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Am I to conclude that Canada is also sexist, or is Mark Carney ...

2025-03-09T22:59:10Z

Am I to conclude that Canada is also sexist, or is Mark Carney deserving of 85% to Chrystia Freeland's 8%?

remember last summer when bro was like 'yes this is a coup- ...

2025-02-24T00:01:50Z

remember last summer when bro was like 'yes this is a coup- and it will be bloodless if the left lets it be'

I confess I did not understand how much the left planned to let it be

A thing that has had me on edge for more than a year is realizing ...

2025-02-19T19:07:26Z

A thing that has had me on edge for more than a year is realizing that a huge difference between what we might call fascism of yore and fascism of today is that yesterday's autocrats needed our bodies to comply and do labor.

Today's autocrats think that they don't need anyone's labor and that people's bodies are mostly a hindrance and a security risk.

I appreciated knowing this. Thanks General Mills, Airbnb, Clorox ...

2025-02-13T03:48:15Z

I appreciated knowing this. Thanks General Mills, Airbnb, Clorox and Whirlpool.

https://popular.info/p/10-corporations-that-kept-their-promises

Nostr event nevent1qqsgmtv6m00e0dm8c7n8mtkrj2dx038tc30hq0l8p26dva2kp56k2zqzyr2azjudpmpvmwpcw99lel9q8qxsgnns087gesqfcehj6lvfrmpquvm0mel

2025-02-11T04:13:16Z

Considering being a little bit trans just because fuck off

I was shoveling a whole lot of snow and feeling moderately Alone ...

2025-02-10T21:51:33Z

I was shoveling a whole lot of snow and feeling moderately Alone In the World and then a guy I don't know (Rod from Georgetown, Newfoundland, in town to play hockey tonight) slow-rolled up to the front of my house, jumped out, and said if I'd hand him my shovel he'd help me. He suggested I go inside and get warm, but who does that and anyway I have a second shovel, so we worked together and I was SO GRATEFUL that I was glad to have the 'get the other shovel' excuse so I could get it together for a second. 😭

Then as we worked together another guy, this one driving a loader, cheerfully asked if we wanted him to dig us out. So then we both watched, and five minutes later: job done.

I have better, kinder neighbor stories about 'snow shoveling in Newfoundland' ...and a whole bunch of them ...than almost anything else. People just SHOW UP and get it done, both in town (whew buddy, and do not miss that) and out around the bay.

But I think also that we can all BE this kind of neighbor. 🥰

A few years ago a vegetarian friend showed me how you could sub ...

2025-02-09T02:13:44Z

A few years ago a vegetarian friend showed me how you could sub flax seeds for an egg in a recipe and I was like 'neat trick but why would you ever do that' 🙃

ha I did once, due to a confluence of bad events. I did not love ...

2025-02-08T00:59:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…r502
_________________________

ha I did once, due to a confluence of bad events. I did not love that day, but I do love that bag. 🤷🏻‍♀️

For sure. If I were YOU, I would boycott the shit out of the US. ...

2025-02-06T18:42:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…2nw2
_________________________

For sure. If I were YOU, I would boycott the shit out of the US. I would try to get everyone possible supporting a local-ish CSA immediately, especially in places that struggle particularly with food supply and thus food sovereignty. And I would push extremely hard for funding for education, childcare, preschool, universities, libraries, and the arts because this is how you invest in, maintain, and defend a culture that transcends public-private lines and is robust against fascism.

Y'all endanger my family, make us beg, throw shade our way, ...

2025-02-06T18:07:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…4rj8
_________________________

Y'all endanger my family, make us beg, throw shade our way, say 'oh we didn't mean you' when you target racially minoritized students and equity-deserving populations, and then expect me to be willing to throw a punch across the border that will not hurt Trump at all, but will hurt other families?

It just doesn't square with what we actually experience.

I'm having trouble bringing multiple threads together, too, ...

2025-02-06T18:05:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…j4gl
_________________________

I'm having trouble bringing multiple threads together, too, and I'm wrestling with what else is here. (For example, I was going to say something earlier about borders being part of what is hurting my family, and that is true while also not telling the part--and I don't think we even wholly understand this part because it's made invisible in a lot of ways- where borders and exclusion have also benefited my family.)

One piece that I know is real, though, is that I am not part of your collective, and response to this post has highlighted what I already knew, having experienced being at the administrative mercy of your government and the institutional will of your austeritized universities and the narrative inclination of your media and larger politics. I am not included in your 'we' in any real way, but y'all want me to be where it suits you, and then you call that solidarity.

It isn't.

If you want solidarity from and with your international students, practice it.

In conclusion, while it makes all the sense in the world for ...

2025-02-06T16:23:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…zfrq
_________________________

In conclusion, while it makes all the sense in the world for Canada (and Canadians) to collectively throw punches, diversify revenue streams, and seek new allies and also different modes of self-provisioning, the fact that it largely does not make sense for me to join you highlights something at risk of getting lost amid all this high nationalist talk on all sides:

nationalism isn't for or about people.

it isn't for or about families.

and the point at which I am supposed to hurt my own family to help with nationalism is a nope for me, and probably for most humans, regardless of who thinks they own our citizenship or are owed our allegiances

I've had some deeper sidebar conversations and I appreciate ...

2025-02-06T16:15:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…s3fh
_________________________

I've had some deeper sidebar conversations and I appreciate all of your hearts and thinking amid all of this pain. And that's what it is: pain, diffused more widely and more heavily than usual.

Definitely thinking also about the places, and communities, where pain is placed outside of these wider 'crisis' moments as well, and how easy things are to ignore until it is OUR place, OUR family, OUR community.

'If you're in Canada, you should boycott US goods, ...

2025-02-06T15:21:04Z

'If you're in Canada, you should boycott US goods, too.'

Whew, let's chat.

Here's the thing: boycotts are intended to build POLITICAL LEVERAGE and they do so by CAUSING FINANCIAL PAIN.

Boycotting US goods is intended to send a message OF PAIN to the US.

This makes a great deal of sense to and for most Canadians at this time: send a message early- you hurt us and we will hurt you back. We don't care if you aren't going to tariff us, even- you attacked us without cause, broke international law, and lost our trust.

And now we are going to hurt you.

Y'all: fine. No argument. I'd probably do similarly in your shoes.

But I'm not in your shoes: I'm in mine. And that's not a bad thing- we all have our own shoes, and we get to be true to them.

CAUSING FINANCIAL PAIN TO THE US CAUSES FINANCIAL PAIN **TO** MY** FAMILY.**

It would be absolutely nuts for me to join you in that.

I never will.

We are differently situated on pain points.

But also.

We are more connected than you know.

Maybe now you understand better. Fascism isn't a popcorn ...

2025-02-05T02:03:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…6cad
_________________________

Maybe now you understand better. Fascism isn't a popcorn watching event. It doesn't stay local. It's not something you can turn off or ignore.

It will come to you.

Canadians, it's not that you don't have a point, and on ...

2025-02-05T02:02:10Z

Canadians, it's not that you don't have a point, and on the big things I am wholly in your corner. I want to remind you, though, that a whole bunch of you acted like the US election was LITERALLY A SPORTING EVENT and also something you could turn off and on at will and also something we shouldn't talk about or resist in ways that made you uncomfortable or felt like it was bringing our problems into your orbit. Then Trump won and we were in grief and deep shock and you acted like the sporting event was over and moved on to the next thing and wondered why we were so dramatic.

All of this was not great friend or solidarity behavior, which I know you pride yourselves on. And now, frankly, you are being assholes to the regular Americans who move among you, and there are many, and every one of us chose NOT to live under this regime.

Maybe stop? We're with you.

You, meanwhile, wanted to be with us when it wasn't depressing or inconvenient.

Anyone else watching: this shit will affect you.

Dear Canada, Please hit the US with everything you've got. ...

2025-02-01T22:54:08Z

Dear Canada,

Please hit the US with everything you've got. Punch our leaders in the face. Really put your hockey swing into it.

Thank you,

The majority of your neighbors to the south