#War

A strikingly intelligent maneuver today.

Iran needed to show *some* formal response for the hit on its consulate in Damascus. But this delayed, heavily telegraphed, and ultimately moderate military display establishes it as the cooler head *even if* its action today emboldens other actors to act with greater force.

This isn't a game of chicken; this is military powers trying not to be the one to make *the* tipping point move.

May we all rest a little easier in our armchairs, for now.

#War

This is an Israeli op-ed on having lost what could have been an opportunity for real change, thanks to Netanyahu.

The grief work & shame that many in the US had to cope with in the '00s, amid relentless Jingoism that springboarded from one "mission accomplished" to the next, is ongoing today in Israel.

Do you remember how state lies then made Western military and civilians alike complicit in ignominious history?

That's what we need to heal from now--*together*.

https://archive.ph/6hAz2

I don't know what kind of spud you all are, and I wouldn't dare to hazard a guess at what other taters you all eye (if you all eye other taters at all!).

But whether you like a good roasting, are just down to mash, or are looking for someone to stew with for a long while...

It's been a bushel of fun to share this strange little shelf with the whole cool lot of you--you utter #potatoes, you.

Keep your skins up, and carry on. 🥔💛

3.5 hours for book readin' before evening classes. Time to focus!

#Colombia has pension problems, too, but the causes are so different:

Right now, only 2 out of 10 seniors are receiving an allowance at all.

According to the head of a pension oversight group, the crux of the problem is that 58% of the working population earns less than minimum wage.

Worse yet: 80% of the 20% with pension plans make between 1 and 2 times min wage, and are only in pension programs for 9.1 years when they need 30 years for a full payout.

Piecemeal private solutions don't work.

Hot diggity dog, a new paid subscriber! 🎉

I'm always a bit shocked when people who don't know me personally (or see how ridiculous I am on social media) support the work.

Call it imposter syndrome or what-have-you, but any time *the work itself* seems to earn high praise from an internet stranger, I'm left wondering what alt-universe I just slid into.

(At this rate, if another multiverse portal does open up, I might not hop through!)

Some days it do be like that. 🙃

Oh #Colombia. 🙃 I picked up a paper I didn't have time to read this weekend, and found two striking articles about ongoing struggle in this country (seven terrorist attacks from an ex-FARC outfit called EMC in 66 hours, and a 1,000% increase in people confined to their rural homes in my department from regional conflict, along with upticks in individual and mass displacement)... but I also found a great recipe for sancocho! And said hello to a merry moo cow! So it all balances out. 😊

This silly boy tried to nibble on my fingers this morning. I hope your day has started with good vibes, too. #Nature

The only kind of dicks I like to see on my timeline. 👍

#YMMV

Killer headache from this morning's protest is finally receding.

The traffic is still backed up something fierce, so I suspect it's added to pollution and heat factors, but at least I can read my screen again! More soon.

Ah. Now I know.

It's a protest for eliminating a toll booth for commuting workers from the small towns that support the main city with daily labour. These are surging semi-rural populations hit hard by that toll to work.

This protest has closed the highway and cars are backed up, emergency sirens and trucks tooting. It is *very* hard to concentrate, so I'm just out for a quick pace before revising today's piece. 👍🏻✊

#ElPuebloUnido #Colombia

I missed notice of a highway protest, apparently, and I can't tell what this one is about yet... but they're blasting the Colombian anthem, they have a police presence, and they're wearing shirts that at a distance look like Ghostbuster swag 🚫, so... it's anyone guess. I'll find out more after finishing today's newsletter.

Life in Colombia: Never dull!

Any day when I get to talk to a campesino is a good day. This one was filled with good energy, and had vallenato blasting from his trusty radio, strung up alongside his mulera, under his giant sombrero vueltiao. He was on his way from tending cows to work at a local farm.

When a farmer here asks my origins, they tend not to give a hoot about urban details. They want to know what Canada produces. "Tell me about the crops! The livestock! What do your people *make*?"

Right to the good stuff. 👌🏻

Okay, this might be a record.

I just received an email responding to an email I sent 14 years ago. 🙃 And as if not a moment had passed!

Anyone have me beat?

So did everyone have a good encounter with their rabbits today? 👀

(I'm pretty sure the moral of these manuscript details is "careful what you hunt today, lest you be hunted tomorrow." Either that, or "bring the scribe more beer while they're working, if you don't want them to play out their boredom on the pages of important ecclesiastical documents." 50/50! 🙃)

😂

Okay, Fico - the mayor of Medellín - is a character, but he certainly doesn't hold back when he thinks something is unacceptable.

In a prior term in office, he'd have helicopters go around shouting the names of violent criminals with a reward for information leading to their arrest.

And now he's calling for a hotel to be condemned, not just fined for ten days, after a US tourist was found sexually abusing two minors on its property.

You can see why he's popular with the locals!

#Colombia

All my love to a special group of wonders today.

Some nonbinary folk also ID as trans, but not all. Gender for me is simply the weird expectations imposed on me based on my junk.

But some beauties in this world feel gender strongly in themselves.

Some of those are lucky: their sense of self matches the cash & prizes they were born with.

Others walk a hard road, made even harder by cruel politics today.

*All of us* deserve peace and safety.

But you knew all that already, no? :)

😂 Conversation between me and a nine-year-old cousin:

I: I love my books, but sometimes I click through them so fast that the program tells me Stop! Too Fast! And then I have to go back and wait before I can do the quiz at the end which is my favourite part.

Me: Oh, neat, you're reading eBooks in school. Sometimes it's really hard not to rush through them. Do you have any other kinds of books?

I: Yeah, sometimes I read reality books, too, but then you can't just click them to get to the quiz.

And now... we write!