Also:

I was soooo good, folks.

The bookstore in the tech mall called, but I only pressed my head to the glass like a kid in... well... in my case, in a bookstore.

Toronto folks who remember the old Yorkdale, it once had three bookstores, now merged into one lifestyle reading experience. When I was a wee sprog, whenever I got "lost" my parentals knew where to look. They were my version of "find a trusted adult". 🙂 Still are. (Gorgeous edition of Cortázar in this one.)

#AllBookstoresAreCool

I think legacy media might be playing on my last nerve, because recent reports about Saudi Arabia pursuing oil market growth have been pitched as a revelation of undercover reporting when they are anything but - and when writing the story that way *completely* distracts us from interrogating the failure of Western leadership that has allowed oil-rich countries to exacerbate the #ClimateCrisis for us all in the first place.

Anyway, here's today's news brief for OnlySky:

https://onlysky.media/mclark/saudi-arabia-surprises-no-one-with-its-commitment-to-boosting-oil-markets/

😔 I'm sorry, gang.

I really wanted to join in on the #Caturday fun, but all I could find in the park today were these weird birds. Or squirrels?

Squirrel-birds.

Maybe next time! 🤷‍♀️

CoSo! Who needs a good reprieve from the nonsense of the world? 👀

Well... sorry to say that my latest newsletter, which reflects on Wag the Dog (1997), might not be a good escape. The film originally pointed to how easily politics could be gamed in an age of 24/7 TV media...

And I'm afraid this film cushioned the blow a bit. Today, I reflect on the media lessons that we never learned - and why we're often in no rush to learn them. 🙃

#MediaLiteracy
#BetterWorldsTheory
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/wag-the-dog-and-media-lessons-never

Oh CoSo. 💛

What'd I do to deserve a crew like you?

Off to write through a weird, firework and truck-horn-tooting night. Do good crimes!

How's everyone doing this afternoon?

Feeling good? Fam time going well? Enjoying your peace, if feasting alone?

...No?

Well, here's some "nudes", if it'll help.

🤗 Hope your day improves.

#NudiPics

Morning CoSo. 🕯️

As promised, today I have a piece that explores the history of political kidnappings, in war and for profit, with an eye to pushing back on armchair analysts.

As "easy" as these exchanges might look at a distance, there is a lot of pain and fraught history behind negotiating ceasefires and prisoner/hostage swaps.

There also isn't a great success rate.

This weekend, may we all be thankful for our safety, & grieve for those still waiting for their own.

https://onlysky.media/mclark/wartime-hostages-and-armchair-analysts/

One thing that routinely gets me down is how many people do tremendous harm with impunity--even supporters!--while so many of us are out here haunted by our "smaller" transgressions.

Was I a constructive presence today?

Did I own up to where my presence caused harm?

What've I done to mitigate the chances of doing harm anew?

Have I given grace to others, knowing my own flaws?

Self-accounting gives us a sense of agency in a cruel world--but try not to tip the scales against yourselves, eh? 🫂

Morning, folks! 💫

Today's news brief is - you guessed it! - on Argentina. But if you think I'm going to boggle over the far-right leader himself... maybe you've never read my work?

Don't fall for the superficial here; Milei is a terrible choice who also reflects a terrible financial reality - but not *just* for Argentina. In a world of rising debt-servicing to private creditors under neoliberalism, this won't get better until we tackle the systemic problem.

#Economics
https://onlysky.media/mclark/argentina-and-the-politics-of-desperation/

:) I remembered that I had a backup computer in storage. It often glitches but is better than nothing while I await the fate of my laptop. Fingers crossed I can get back into all my accounts.

Last time I booted it up was... two years ago? Three?

This is what popped up right away on the saved browser tabs from my last session. (Safe for work, don't worry.) What on Earth was I researching? And for what?

#War

I couldn't finish my piece on propaganda today, but there's a beautiful note from the editors of Tablet in this piece from 2014 about Hamas in al-Shifa. (Yes, 2014!)

I've said it before - when writing on poor science & global news reporting alike - but most media is *not* well-structured right now to support rigorous fact-checking before rushing to clickbait posts.

And it's been that way for years.

Again, this is from 2014.

Read - and disseminate! - carefully.

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/top-secret-hamas-command-bunker-in-gaza-revealed

Oh shoot--

Also, happy International Men's Day! 👨

Today's a day for reflecting on whether our cultural healing excludes key issues facing the fellas:

More likely to be incarcerated & treated as troublemakers.
Disproportionately enduring some of the most dangerous jobs.
Mocked by peers, partners, & family for emotional vulnerability.
More likely to suicide, yet less served by mental health initiatives.

There are *so* many wonderful masculinities in the world.

May you always be safe in yours.

I made a goof in my #poetry submission this week, so I'm extra-unsurprised it was rejected, but--

This one was written in honour of an article about Japanese haiku poets, reflecting on how climate change has disrupted the classic connection between a single word and a whole season in the work.

What will happen to the practice, they wonder, when seasons can no longer be reliably signified by the same imagery?

Here are four seasonal haiku gesturing at what comes next.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/14/lost-to-the-climate-crisis-japan-haiku-poets

Alas, a natural feature is getting the urbanizing treatment near my apartment. For years, it was just a beautiful slice of nature here. Now there's fencing going up - no idea if as a precursor to a building project. The fence line supposedly comes with lighting to make the site safer at night, but it'll also block grounds access to the merry moo cows who wander this route from farm to other urban pastures.

Adiós to a lovely view, and to a happy compromise between humans and the rest of nature.

We have an exemplar here on CoSo, of everyday patience and presence with the full, messy wonder of humanity.

@Minholkin shows up for so many of us so often - with kindness, with reminders to give ourselves and others grace, and with the courage of compassion in a hard, hard world.

I know how hard it is to show up with ourselves the same way as we do with others - so if you can drop a gif her way tonight, please do.

Min! We see you!

You're not alone, and this inferno, too, shall pass. 💙

Take a look at my extra student in class tonight. 🙃 Can you believe I had to teach under these circumstances? So cruel!

And currently reading...

WILSON'S GHOST: reducing the risk of conflict, killing, and catastrophe in the 21st century - by Robert McNamara

Bittersweet reading?

Yes, yes it is.

#CoSoBooks #Politics #War

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/robert-s-mcnamara/wilsons-ghost/9781586481438/

My favourite sign of Christmas here: the giant walls of anchetas, food baskets that folks give as gifts. The food usually isn't fancy (though some alcohol-and-dessert numbers exist, too), but it's enough to ensure someone can have a decent meal for the holidays.

My parents were of the lower-middle class set that would *rage* if someone dared to try to help them out. Who said they needed handouts? They weren't charity cases!

I love a culture that appreciates food as a gift, not an insult. :)

All right, folks. 🌎🕊️

Sorry for the delay.

Today's brief summarizes National Climate Assessment 5.

It's pretty rough news - climate change is here, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, and even though there are changes they're not happening fast enough... BUT!

This report also highlights how much climate change is THE issue, at the heart of healing so many of our other problems. Tackle it properly, and you can't help but tackle other social issues, too.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/a-grim-sort-of-hope-notes-from-the-fifth-us-climate-assessment/

#War

The news is really news-ing tonight.

Just finishing newsletter edits, but I had to put my restless energy and urge to follow updates somewhere, so--

#Poetry 🕊️

(Inspired by Neruda, who wrote his most famous work as a teen and resented the shadow those love poems cast over all his political writings in later years.)

Watch your hearts.

Back to work with me.