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Trump’s FATAL DECISION today is Identical TO GREAT DEPRESSION

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 1h

A whole lot of economic wonkery, much of which is over my head, but none of it sounds good. Quite ominous, in fact.

Who could have imagined that Trump would wreck the economy... you know, except practically *everyone* that’s not in his insanely delusional cult.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=737u...

YouTube video by MeidasTouch

Zohran Mamdani Says He's Ready for Donald Trump | The New Yorker Interview

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 3h

Zohran Mamdani in conversation with “The New Yorker” Editor David Remnick about his mayoral run and the potential threats posed by the Trump (who insultingly calls him “my little communist”).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbq7...

YouTube video by The New Yorker

ICE Humiliated By Army Of Inflatable Animals At Protests

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 4h

Frog Man vs. the Nazis. Hilarious.

Moreover, exactly right form of mocking protest that Trump’s brainless Keystone Kriminalpolizei appropriately warrants.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsW2...

YouTube video by Really American

Steve Hackett - Shadow of the Hierophant

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 4h

Live version (w/ lyrics!) of Steve Hackett’s “Shadow of the Hierophant” featuring Amanda Lehmann performing on guitar and vocals (Also, former drummer Gary O’Toole wearing a suit... Don’t see that every day!)
#Musicsky, #ProgRock
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZPl...

YouTube video by Rulie Arifin

The War of 1812 presents the strange and awkward conflict that shaped the destiny of a continent.

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 5h

Highly informative PBS documentary from 2011 (narrated by Joe Mantegna) about another one of America’s failed invasions of Canada — the War of 1812, a misbegotten & bitterly fought three year conflict that’s “celebrated in some places and essentially forgotten in others.”
www.pbs.org/show/war-1812/

The War of 1812

www.pbs.org

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 5h

“Just as the words of the poet are formulae for life and beauty…so it appears to be true wizardry how in a successful outline, so much soul can dwell in a few delicate lines.” — A.W. von Schlegel

Excellent article from the RA on the work of John Flaxman (1755-1826): tinyurl.com/2fv2w55d

#art

Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 7h

Unfortunately, this evil tech ghoul isn’t trending for the reason most people were probably hoping for… just more of his insane pseudo-theological prattle about the Antichrist, which is attracting attention, for some reason. 😠

Veronica 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇺🇦 🇳🇴 🇲🇽 🇩🇪 @vero1986.bsky.social · 11h

Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’

www.theguardian.com

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 7h

I second that emotion. Disappointing, to be sure.

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Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 7h

Hey, if you have to be on the picket line, a big dog in jammies sure helps cheer things up.

His name is “Archie” btw, a 3-year-old St. Bernard who is, I was told, “very political” (some of which, his owner said is “bullshit” but, she went on, “what can you say?”). Oh and he loves strawberries! 😆

600 truckers just got fired in Donald Trump's failing economy.

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 7h

Crappy day to be on the picket line... Striking government workers at the Victoria Public Library.

The ones with the portable campfire and lawn chairs in the outer courtyard sure came well prepared!
#CdnPoli

Striking government workers (BCGEU and PEA unions) at the Victoria Public Library on a rainy day.

A very busy inner courtyard... for obvious reasons.

Outer courtyard of the VPL... Love that campfire!

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 7h

A pissed off trucker ranting about an Alabama-based transport company filing for Chap. 7 bankruptcy and ceasing operations, resulting in 1,000 employees (600 of them truckers) being immediately put out of work w/out any notice, all thanks to Trump's failed policies.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XIh...

YouTube video by The Enemy From Within

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Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 8h

Swing and a miss, CKKQ-FM, imho.

Still, perhaps it says something about the zeitgeist... tariffs being very much on the minds of a lot of folks these days. 🤷‍♂️
#CdnPoli

Bus shelter in front of the old HBC store (now the Victoria Market) with an advert for CKKQ-FM 100.3 FM (The "Q"... for some reason).
Bet they get free advertising, seeing the station is also owned by the Pattison Group, which has a signage division, which has numerous bus shelters around town, billboards, etc.

Two Economies, With One Set of Flaws: The Economies of Australia and Canada | Econ

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 8h

“Heist Story” by Marianne Nicolson (2023).

Mural on the Hudson condominium building, Victoria, BC.

The artwork is a reverse depiction of colonization viewed from an Indigenous POV.
#StreetArt, #art

• More about the Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw tribe: mdtc.ca

“Heist Story” by Marianne Nicolson (2023).
Mural on the Hudson condominium building, Victoria, BC. (Used to be an ugly parkade for the old Hudson Bay Co. department store back when it was still in operation on the other side of the block.)

Plaque describing “Heist Story” by Marianne Nicolson (2023).

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Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 9h

Interesting comparison between Canada and Australia, two culturally related countries with much in common (both good and bad), along with very similar trade dependencies, economic challenges, and opportunities.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu5l...

YouTube video by Econ

MTG demands ‘English-official’ law be passed before Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 9h

In case you thought that MTG was actually starting to make some sense... Not so fast!

AOC: “They’re not mad because he’s speaking Spanish. They’re mad and she’s mad because she can barely speak English, and the idea of introducing any more words is too much to bear.“ 😆
tinyurl.com/2s7dzeem

The far-right congresswoman called Bad Bunny’s selection for the Super Bowl ‘perverse’ and ‘unwanted’ as she fumed about his impending halftime show

www.independent.co.uk

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Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 9h

Pretty ironic that NY Attorney General Letitia James is being selectively prosecuted over an $18K hypothetical “loss” to a bank by a vindictive asshole who is arguably stealing BILLIONS of dollars through his various grifts, corruption, and financial misconduct.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJOV...

Trump's BOGUS Indictment CRUMBLES UNDER SCRUTINY

YouTube video by Talking Feds with Harry Litman

LIVE: Trump Regime TARGETS AMERICANS…Dem STRIKES BACK

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 9h

A little bit of Greece on the side of the road.

Kind of a bright spot on a gloomy day... love the white rocks (nice touch, that). ❤️🇬🇷🏛️

Greek food truck (there's also a taco truck not pictured to the left). Cook and Mason Streets, Victoria, BC.

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Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 10h

LIVE: Fred Wellman and “White Dude” Mike Nellis talking about Trump’s war on half of America.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqSp...

YouTube video by MeidasTouch

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 10h

Well, it is just 302m from Royal Athletic Park, but it’s sure no mansion. In quite a state of neglect and disrepair, sadly. Wonder what it looks like inside... 🤔

Used to be an art gallery on the other side that displayed some cool sculptures (like Giacometti, but illuminated!).

Nice flag... 🍁

YouTube video by The Romano Report

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 10h

A former prosecutor and constitutional lawyer explains what a horribly flawed law the Insurrection Act is. Also, why Trump’s invocation of it will be immediately challenged in court because the required circumstances are wholly inconsistent with facts on the ground. 😆
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq2i...

this is GREAT!!

Carney announces automatic tax filing, makes school food program permanent

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Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 10h

Where dead people go up in smoke... literally.

Crematorium exhaust stack, Sands Funeral Chapel, Victoria, BC.

Such an incongruous building w/ its quasi-Spanish style architecture. Couldn’t find any info about it, unfortunately as it’s not listed as a historical building or heritage site.

Exhaust stack of the crematorium at Sands Funeral Chapel, Victoria, BC.

Sands Funeral Chapel, Victoria, BC. (1803 Quadra Street)
My mother actually worked here every weekend for over a decade as the receptionist until she retired at age 80 (for many years, she literally worked 7 days a week into her 70s... amazing woman!).

Martin Rayner @martinrayner.bsky.social · 11h

Brilliant move by Carney and the Libs, imho.

Would have been even better had the implementation timeline been sooner than 2027, however, seeing as this idea has been kicking around for the last 5 years! Still... 👍

More here: tinyurl.com/4rh77jvp
#CdnPoli
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3i...

YouTube video by CBC News