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Lisa Kadonaga

@tapirtrouble.bsky.social

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Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · Sep 4

Please circulate -- U of Regina has stepped up to host displaced female Afghan students, with a safe place so they can complete their degrees and not be sent back to Afghanistan from school in Qatar. (Lost funding due to destruction of USAID.)
Hoping to raise $500k.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

'Gives us some hope': Afghan women at risk of deportation due to USAID cuts look to find home at U of R | CBC News

The University of Regina and a Vancouver-based non-profit are looking to raise $500,000 to bring 25 Afghan scholars facing deportation in Qatar to Saskatchewan

www.cbc.ca

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Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 5h

I'm just hoping that stuff that's been destroyed isn't "the custom wedding ring for when we get married later this month", or "mom's ashes".

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 7h

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 5h

It's because they're hoping that people will drink so much, they forget they booked on Air Canada.

CNN @cnn.com · 6h

Air Canada is offering free beer and wine to economy class passengers on all its flights — even short-haul domestic routes — making it the only North American legacy carrier to do so.

The only airline in North America to serve free alcohol in economy on all flights | CNN

In our weekend digest of travel and aviation news: air traffic control problems in the US, free economy-class alcohol in Canada, plus a jetliner eclipses the Boeing 737 as the most popular plane ever.

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by Lisa Kadonaga

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 10h

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

She was certainly a great judge of character!

Justin LaLiberty @jlalibs.com · 15h

What an absolute treasure Diane Keaton was. Her wit never tired, nor did her style.

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

I confess that I bought a life-sized gummy rattlesnake at Bulk Barn -- just as well that I only finished half of it at a sitting. A cautionary tale from this guy. I didn't realize how dire the side effects of "too much gummy candy" could be.

Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 22h

I don't know why, but this is, from start to finish, one of the funniest things I have read in ages. I hope this man is living his best life now.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Barnsley man in hospital after three-day cola bottles binge

Nathan Rimmington ate his way through 3kg of sweets - and doctors were shocked he survived.

www.bbc.com

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

Saying the quiet part out loud.
centeredamerica.substack.com/p/news-trump...

NEWS: Trump Privately Stated Stephen Miller Wanted “Only 100 Million Americans Who Look Like Him”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Donald Trump once joked in a closed-door meeting that “if it were up to [Stephen] Miller, there’d only be 100 million people in this country, and they’d all look ...

centeredamerica.substack.com

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

Geez. That's lower than in 1920.
No surprise that he wants them all to be white, too.
centeredamerica.substack.com/p/news-trump...

NEWS: Trump Privately Stated Stephen Miller Wanted “Only 100 Million Americans Who Look Like Him”

centeredamerica.substack.com

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

I'm in Canada, and I admit -- we dropped the ball a lot. (If the Conservatives and their whacko libertarian wing had been in charge, I don't know what would have happened -- if Harper or whoever was in, would have overruled them.) But it's shocking to look at the disparity.

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

I used to think, what rotten luck it was, that SARS-CoV-2 showed up during Trump's term. Just a year and a three months later, and someone else would probably be in charge. I still think that -- but if it arrived in late 2025 instead of late 2019, imagine how much worse.

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

Imagine if SARS-CoV-2 showed up in late 2025, instead of in 2019. No monitoring, probably no contact tracing, no measures like masking, social distancing, or lockdowns. Maybe no vaccine either.

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 18h

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

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Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

I used to think what incredibly bad luck it was, that SARS-CoV-2 showed up during Trump's term. I still think that ... but appearing in late 2025 would have been even worse! And who knows what might arrive before all this mess can be fixed.

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

And Dr. Jane Goodall, and if we count earlier this year, David Lynch ....

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 6h

Throw in a few chiropractors too!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_...
torontonewswire.com/history-of-h...

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 9h

well, if it has nuts on it ...

A pair of bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) acorns on the branch. These are large round acorns (the largest of any North American oak!), still green, mostly enclosed by caps with a fringe.
Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/goat_mountain/29747575877/

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 9h

Yup. It's all about the favors.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 16h

Schatz: They’re stopping wind and solar because this guy has some very strange ideas about the energy mix. And it’s consistent with the rest of his political and economic philosophy — if there’s less of everything, it gives him more authority to dole out favors

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 10h

to Australia's CSIRO, for example. I know I heard grad students talking about this back in the 1990s and oughts.

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 10h

I wonder if the slight drop for Canada (despite confident predictions that students would opt to study here rather than the US) could be because one of our advantages was proximity to US institutions (for conferences, collaborations, etc.). Also, our funding/support may not compare well

Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · May 30

No words

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Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 10h

We have a Governor-General role in Canada, where the appointee can sign documents and greet foreign dignitaries, and declare events officially open. They can even wear a special fancy hat if they like!

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 11h

A strong beginning like that is very important!

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 11h

If only I could say I spent the past week counting communists -- it would make my volunteering for the transportation planning group sound much more exciting!
www.crd.ca/government-a...

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 12h

Geez -- it gets worse and worse!

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 13h

There could be multiple frogs at upcoming protests!
bsky.app/profile/tapi...

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 16h

Lol -- that's a lot of inflatable frog costumes! "Currently unavailable", but don't worry -- there are other Amazon vendors selling the same item, and also some similar designs.

Amazon listing depicting the fully-covering inflatable frog costume worn by a protester in Portland, green with black spots and white tummy, and a blue scarf. Shows "800+ bought in past month", "currently unavailable".

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 13h

dilemma faced by a lot of non-profits. And those billionaires often have strong views about what they want to support -- it's not "noblesse oblige". (Feudalism isn't great, and Neo-feudalism even worse.)
People having to rely on GoFundMe for health care is another variant of this.

Exclusive: Peter Thiel in talk on 'Antichrist' says he told Elon Musk not to give wealth to charity

Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and early supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, has urged long-time associate Elon Musk to quit the Giving Pledge under which signatories leave the majority of their wealth to charity.

www.reuters.com

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 13h

Another thing that was happening in the late Roman Empire -- infrastructure like grand public buildings was becoming increasingly dependent on funding by wealthy benefactors (often people running for public office who wanted attention and votes). This is disturbingly like the "beg a billionaire"

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 14h

Many historians of Rome identify Roman generals becoming the personal sources of payment for their armies as a key step in the downfall of the Republic, since it personalized military authority and freed armies to fight for their immediate leader, who paid them, instead of for the Republic

Lisa Kadonaga @tapirtrouble.bsky.social · 13h

Circulating for people who haven't seen it yet -- Tom Tomorrow's 2020-present cartoon collection is for sure coming out, because it's fully funded! And they will ship to Canada. Only available on Kickstarter (not in stores).
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...

Our Long National Nightmare by Tom Tomorrow

Relive the trauma of the last five years through the cartoons of Herblock Award winner and Pulitzer nominee Tom Tomorrow.