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I love that the ibuprofen knows where to go

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Not anymore, at least for the moment

Is the baby in gay baby jail

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I'd just like to clarify some things about Senator Cory Booker's marathon Senate speech in protest of the present administration and everything they are doing to the American people.

Senator Booker was NOT allowed to sit down, eat, or use the bathroom during his speech. Sitting or leaving the room to use the bathroom would be considered yielding the floor. Eating would have interfered with his speaking and the person who has the senate floor must continue to speak, except when listening to questions that they will then answer.

He only took occasional sips of water.

The person who previously held the record for longest speech on the Senate floor did have bathroom breaks and also did things like read from the encyclopedia.

Senator Booker did not do that. His speech was to point out the damage that this administration is doing and he stayed on that subject.

Senator Booker's speech did reach many people. It wasn't a silly stunt that was done so that he could take the record for longest speech. He wanted to show the country that democrats will do something to bring attention to the problems we are facing. That democrats are listening to them.

Senator Cory Booker spoke for 25 hours and 4 minutes to "make good trouble."

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Senator Cory Booker is holding the floor of the Senate and says he “will speak for as long as I’m physically able to lift the voices of Americans who are being harmed and not being heard in this moment of crisis”.

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**IMPORTANT**: CANADIANS, PLEASE READ

(non-Canadians, please share)

Okay, since there's no doubt going to be a huge amount of Trumpist misinformation coming our way, and since most provinces don't have a civics curriculum, let me explain to you how our electoral system works.

Canada operates what's known as a Westminster Parliamentary System--essentially identical to the one that the United Kingdom uses. The main feature of such a system is that the branches of government that are responsible for setting policy (known as the executive branch) and for making laws (known as the legislative branch) are one in the same.

Basically, how it works is this: at least once every four years*, the people of Canada get together to elect members to a deliberative body known as the House of Commons**; the HoC currently has 343 seats, with each seat representing a geographical district known as a riding.

When an election is called, the people living in a riding go to their appointed polling places and cast ballots for one of the various candidates vying for the seat. The candidate who wins the most votes wins. You will note that I said the most votes, rather than a majority of votes. If there are three or more candidates vying for the seat, this means that it's possible (indeed common) for a candidate to win even if most people in their riding voted for someone else. This is called First Past the Post, and it's a problem, but every time we have a referendum on whether to change it, the "no" side wins. *grumble*

Anyways, most of the candidates belong to parties. The parties are as follows:

The Liberals: A centrist political party (represented by the colour red), currently headed by Mark Carney. This is the party that is currently in power, and has been for most of the last 10 years.

The Conservatives (also known as the Tories): A right-wing political party (represented by the colour blue), currently headed by Pierre Poilievre. Besides the Liberals, this is the only other party to have formed governments at the federal level in Canada. If you remember Stephen Harper, he was a Tory.

The New Democratic Party (generally known as the NDP): A left-wing political party (represented by the colour orange), currently headed by Jagmeet Singh. Because we're currently in a minority parliament (I will explain what that means in a moment), the Liberals have been dependent on NDP support to pass bills for the last few years, but they have never themselves formed a government at the Federal level.

The Bloc Quebecois: This is a French-Canadian nationalist / separatist political party (represented by the colour light blue) that only runs candidates in Quebec. Currently headed by Yves-Francois Blanchet. They structurally cannot form the government.

The Green Party: An environmentalist political party (represented by the colour...well...green). Currently headed by Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault (they have a "co-leadership" model). They have never had more than 3 seats in the House of Commons.

The People's Party: A far-right political party (represented by the colour purple). Currently headed by Maxime Bernier. They have never had any seats in the house of commons.

There are a lot of smaller parties as well, but as none of them have ever attracted more than a few thousand votes.

Anyways, after the votes have been tallied and the elected representatives--known as Members of Parliament (MPs)--are selected for each riding, then the Governor General*** asks the leader of the party that was in power before the election whether they can still form the government. In general, in order to form the government, a party needs to have enough support not to be immediately defeated on what are called confidence votes--these are particularly important votes in the House of Commons on things like the budget or the government's overall policy direction. If a party can't pass votes on these issues, then they're effectively unable to govern and either one of the parties will be asked to form the government, going in order of priority depending on the number of MPs that each party elected. The leader of the party that forms the government is known as the Prime Minister.

There are a few things to note here. First of all, Canadians do not vote for the Prime Minister directly; they vote for the individual MPs from each party, and the leader of the winning party becomes the Prime Minister by default. That's why Mark Carney was able to become Prime Minister even though the general public never voted for him: the members of the Liberal Party did vote for him, and it's the Liberal Party that is in power right now.

Secondly, the easiest way for a party to be sure that it can pass all votes will be for it to win the majority of the seats in the House of Commons. This is called a majority government, and, for a variety of reasons, is what Canada usually ends up with. Under a majority government, the party can continue to lead without concern until the next regularly scheduled election in four years. On the other hand, it's possible for a party to win the most seats but not a majority, in which case it will generally have to negotiate with some of the smaller parties for continued support. This is called a minority government, and is what we have had under Justin Trudeau since 2019; the Liberals could still govern, even though they no longer controlled the majority of the House of Commons, by agreeing to support NDP priorities like taxpayer-supported dental care and prescription drugs. A minority government can never be certain of its own future: even if there's an agreement between two parties, it can be suspended at any time. If the government in such a situation is defeated on a confidence vote, then either the GG will ask one of the other parties if they can form a government, or more typically, dissolve parliament and call a new election. A minority government can also "defeat" itself, by asking the GG to call a new election. This is known as a snap election, and is what we're in now.

Finally, because of the aforementioned problem with First Past the Post voting, the seat totals in the House of Commons will rarely, if ever, directly reflect the percentage of votes that each party won. In particular, FPTP has a way of magnifying both victories and defeats, such that, in general, the threshold for winning a "majority" government is actually ~40% of the vote. Since I know that this will come up in Trumpist propaganda if it happens again, please note that it's also possible for a party to lose the popular vote and still win the most seats--Trudeau's Liberals actually received fewer votes than the Tories in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but still got to form the government. Yes, it's bullshit, but again, every time we hold a referendum on changing it, people vote "no", so it's the system we have (*grumble*)

Anyways, election day is on April 28th. You can register to vote here. Please ensure that you do so.

________________________________________

*The law says "four years" but the constitution actually allows for five; but this isn't important now.

**There's also a second house, known as the Senate, which, instead of being elected, consists of members who are appointed by the government for terms that last up to mandatory retirement at the age of 75. This effectively allows previous administrations to have influence lasting long after they've been voted out of power. Yes, it's a problem, but it also has substantially less power than the House of Commons and can do little more than modify bills.

***The Governor General (GG) is the King's representative in Canada. This position nominally has a lot of power, but is entirely ceremonial in practice. The GG is appointed once every five years by the King, on the advice of whoever is Prime Minister at the time. Her other duties include cutting ribbons, handing out awards, and reading speeches on policy--known as speeches from the throne--written by the Prime Minister. It is, by all accounts, a pretty sweet gig if you can get it. Right now, the GG is a woman called Mary Simon. You don't know her name because she hasn't done anything scandalous and doesn't affect your life in any way.

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Last weekend my husband and I drove to western New York. We saw Lake Ontario, we stayed the night in a tiny village, saw some geese, and then brought something home for the family.

This is Artemis.

She’s now 10 weeks old. She’s been getting to know us and slowly building a relationship with Apollo. We’re so happy she has come to join us!

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Just before Christmas I made an “emotional support chicken” as a gift.

Finally in February I took the two additional patterns (for chicken accessories and for little chicks) and made those to coordinate with the original chicken.

Now the set is done - back to my never-ending scrap blanket and figuring out the next project.

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and obviously you find yourself thinking oh i do wish i could get severed to do this one thing. would you actually maybe not. but you do wish you didn't have to undergo medical procedures you do wish you didn't have to do the things that give you anxiety you do wish you didn't have to do tedious tasks that barely even require you to be present for them. it's tempting. that's why the premise works. but the premise is also that somebody has to do it. somebody has to go to the dentist and somebody has to get on that plane and somebody has to write those thank you notes. just like somebody has to clean the house and somebody has to harvest the food you eat and somebody has to make the clothes you wear. you can't eliminate inconvenience you can only delegate it. you can't eliminate suffering you can only delegate it. and always the easiest way to live with this is to see that somebody as less than. less than you less than people. and if that somebody has to wear your body to do it well maybe it's not all that different. they're not a person. you are. it's capitalism all the way down baby

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could i perhaps humbly request apollo pictures. becca does not provide enough of them

There. Pictures. Enjoy!

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I finished another project!

They did go right from my needles to being used - so if they looks a little lumpy in places then you know why items are usually washed after they are finished.

The color is somewhere in between these two, neither shows it completely accurately.

It took me three tries to get the gauage and pattern options to match up and give me the right size. I ripped out a mitten twice before I split the thumb off, and then was able to get it right. My daughter chose the yarn, chose the charts to use, helped me troubleshoot, and was available for many fit checks as I worked. She is now rewarded with warm hands.

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Guys I have an image that will blow your miunddddddd

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“Fuck #Ice shoutout to my Mexicans , pass this shit”

-  Fabio Ochoa @QuePasaWindow

UPDATE! HOW TO GET / PRINT THEM!!!

kropotkinisrecruitin

Hey! This is the link to the cards, a good resource for anyone who needs them or wants to provide them to their community. https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards

https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards

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^what he said

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I’m trying to stay informed but keep my mental health in a good place. Crafts (while listening to audio books, watching shows and movies, or visiting with others) definitely help me with that goal.

I’ve been working on a brioche cowl/hood with two gradient yarns. The blue/black yarn was spun by me, but was dyed by spunky eclectic. The white/yellow/orange/brown was dyed by me using things from my yard mostly and then spun by me. I’m running out of it though!

Luckily I still have some dark yellow wool and light/natural looking wool from that original lot. I took some and dyed it with black walnuts. After it dried I blended some of it with dark yellow in order to keep the gradient style.

While that was simmering in the dye and drying, I also started another cowl. I’ve made this one before with the same yarn and pattern - but since I have a lot less left of one of the yarns, I’m changing the stripe pattern. I’m now doing a 4/2 pattern instead of the 2/2 one I did the first time.

Now off to spin the brown wool…

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Good food, puzzles, and side eye from Apollo. It’s been a good winter break.

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I think one of the best things I've learned since getting into fiber arts is that something can be absolutely not my taste and I can still be impressed and delighted for the person who made it and people who love it. Almost every time I look through patterns or projects, I have a thought like, "I hate that and it's magnificent" or, "I wouldn't wear that, but HOLY CRAP it's amazing that you made it."

We need more of that.

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via NYPost: Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to launch a “big f–king operation” across sanctuary cities — including Chicago and New York — immediately after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, multiple sources told The Post.

Starting Jan. 21, multi-day “ground operations” will be launched across cities that have served as safe havens for migrants because the local authorities do not cooperate with the federal government when it comes to immigration issues, sources said.