Marika
@marikapea.bsky.social
Book nerd, library yeller, kitchen witch, puzzle dork, embroidery novice, prairie settler, leftie queer, lapsed poet, kinda Blind
Pinned
Marika
@marikapea.bsky.social
· Mar 21
Is there any more perfect food than a little wedge of potato, browned and salted outside, tender and creamy inside?
Reposted by Marika
I once taught a whole lesson on the narratives of deservedness in the very strange concept of “stealing” books from something conspicuously branded as a “free” little library. The students struggled with it. A lot of internalized beliefs about poverty and worth. But I think it was a good lesson.
If you are concerned about people swiping books from your little free library and reselling those books, I ask you to go to your local used bookstore and sell a book
Okay?
Understand?
Alright, next question
Okay?
Understand?
Alright, next question
November 26, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I once taught a whole lesson on the narratives of deservedness in the very strange concept of “stealing” books from something conspicuously branded as a “free” little library. The students struggled with it. A lot of internalized beliefs about poverty and worth. But I think it was a good lesson.
I generally assume my interest in the US Supreme Court is my own perverted business, but I really recommend last week's episode, a 45 min trip through a 90s immigration case to my fellow Canadians
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam
Podcast Episode · 5-4 · 11/18/2025 · 45m
podcasts.apple.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:35 AM
I generally assume my interest in the US Supreme Court is my own perverted business, but I really recommend last week's episode, a 45 min trip through a 90s immigration case to my fellow Canadians
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Reposted by Marika
Mandela effect is the logical culmination of conspiracy theory brain, you would rather construct an entire fictional parallel universe than admit you misremembered something.
November 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Mandela effect is the logical culmination of conspiracy theory brain, you would rather construct an entire fictional parallel universe than admit you misremembered something.
I have been trying for years to find an excellent article I once read on Omstrom's work debunking the tragedy of the commons--a concept I still hear lots of informed radical people invoke. I don't think this is it, but it is very good also, and worth reading.
it's funny that "the tragedy of the commons" was essentially a myth created so that private ownership and corporations could seize control of the commons to actually create the tragedy
November 25, 2025 at 4:16 AM
I have been trying for years to find an excellent article I once read on Omstrom's work debunking the tragedy of the commons--a concept I still hear lots of informed radical people invoke. I don't think this is it, but it is very good also, and worth reading.
Solved a week mystery that's been plaguing my department for months, did all my errands before the snow comes this week, and now I have to make dinner too? Unbelievable.
November 25, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Solved a week mystery that's been plaguing my department for months, did all my errands before the snow comes this week, and now I have to make dinner too? Unbelievable.
Reposted by Marika
The entire difference is we accept death on the road and don’t attempt to engineer our roads and laws to avoid it. That’s it. Places that have earnestly tried have succeeded in eliminating road deaths.
November 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM
The entire difference is we accept death on the road and don’t attempt to engineer our roads and laws to avoid it. That’s it. Places that have earnestly tried have succeeded in eliminating road deaths.
Reposted by Marika
It is wild to me that automobiles and airplanes are like two decades apart in invention, and one causes thousands of deaths of people both within and around them, and it’s not the one where people fly through the air in a metal tube.
I see the comprehensive NTSB investigations for even solo occupant light aircraft crashes, and the standard of diligence and responsibility required is a world away.
November 24, 2025 at 6:22 PM
It is wild to me that automobiles and airplanes are like two decades apart in invention, and one causes thousands of deaths of people both within and around them, and it’s not the one where people fly through the air in a metal tube.
Reposted by Marika
We could do this on Osborne. The reason we don’t is to make it faster to drive *through* Osborne Village and South Osborne, not to make it easier to visit or better to live in those places.
Something everyone should be asking their DOTs about is raised crosswalks! Such a simple design solution that gets drivers to slow down where people are!!!!
November 24, 2025 at 5:12 PM
We could do this on Osborne. The reason we don’t is to make it faster to drive *through* Osborne Village and South Osborne, not to make it easier to visit or better to live in those places.
Sometimes I'll restart my work computer on Monday morning, re-encounter the last page I had open in some database (today: Marking Fish with Fluorescent Dyes), and just think, what on EARTH was I doing on Friday??
November 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Sometimes I'll restart my work computer on Monday morning, re-encounter the last page I had open in some database (today: Marking Fish with Fluorescent Dyes), and just think, what on EARTH was I doing on Friday??
To me, this is ultimately the intellectual reason that should genAI a nonstarter in libraries and ed. Even if some of the environmental research is squishy, even if we could amend the labour equity issues, ultimately critical infolit is about provenance, and genAI is the context-killer
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
To me, this is ultimately the intellectual reason that should genAI a nonstarter in libraries and ed. Even if some of the environmental research is squishy, even if we could amend the labour equity issues, ultimately critical infolit is about provenance, and genAI is the context-killer
Reposted by Marika
Ah, the problem is not that we fail to provide everyone with adequate housing or services for people with addiction, the *real problem* is that the rest of us are forced to see the results of these things, under the label "social decay". Got it.
"The longer visible signs of social decay are allowed to fester, the more inclined those with means will be to simply check out ... leaving those without the ability to relocate to deal with playgrounds littered with drug paraphernalia." www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: We have normalized delinquent, disorderly behaviour in our cities for too long
There is nothing normal about an encampment forcing toddlers in the daycare next door to stay inside
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Ah, the problem is not that we fail to provide everyone with adequate housing or services for people with addiction, the *real problem* is that the rest of us are forced to see the results of these things, under the label "social decay". Got it.
Reposted by Marika
If you read the article here, what seems to have happened is that the FBI had direct access to a person who was in the group. It doesn’t say whether the person was an infiltrator or whether the FBI got them to share info some other way.
A “joint situational information report” from the FBI and the New York police department (NYPD), dated 28 August 2025, quoted from a chat on Signal, the encrypted messaging app, and also characterized the court watchers as “anarchist violent extremist actors.”
The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:30 PM
If you read the article here, what seems to have happened is that the FBI had direct access to a person who was in the group. It doesn’t say whether the person was an infiltrator or whether the FBI got them to share info some other way.
Reposted by Marika
I know people are closely following what's going on the US and the horrors of ICE, but do you know how Canada is quickly and quietly is growing its deportation machinery?
Canada plans to increase deportations by 25 percent over the next two years. 25 PERCENT!!!
Here are 5 other things to know:
Canada plans to increase deportations by 25 percent over the next two years. 25 PERCENT!!!
Here are 5 other things to know:
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I know people are closely following what's going on the US and the horrors of ICE, but do you know how Canada is quickly and quietly is growing its deportation machinery?
Canada plans to increase deportations by 25 percent over the next two years. 25 PERCENT!!!
Here are 5 other things to know:
Canada plans to increase deportations by 25 percent over the next two years. 25 PERCENT!!!
Here are 5 other things to know:
Reposted by Marika
This is like when I saw a young person express genuine surprise that you can plug a Gibson guitar into a Fender amp, and after I thought about it I realized that if electric guitars had been developed in that person's lifetime, you *wouldn't* be able to without an expensive adapter
November 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
This is like when I saw a young person express genuine surprise that you can plug a Gibson guitar into a Fender amp, and after I thought about it I realized that if electric guitars had been developed in that person's lifetime, you *wouldn't* be able to without an expensive adapter
Reposted by Marika
I get why people riff on this (and a lot of the riffs are funny!), but honestly my reaction's a little different: the screenshot's just another example of the way living in a world where everything is monetized content has completely fucked with people's expectations
Turning into my father one "the problem is no one reads enough books these days" grumble at a time
November 20, 2025 at 7:32 PM
I get why people riff on this (and a lot of the riffs are funny!), but honestly my reaction's a little different: the screenshot's just another example of the way living in a world where everything is monetized content has completely fucked with people's expectations
This sounds pretty bad, but given that influencers are here defined as everyone from independent journalists to far right social media personalities, I'm not sure it's particularly meaningful without more splitting. What it's really indicative of is consolidation of news publications.
During the 2025 federal election, influencers accounted for 47% of political content, compared with 28% from news outlets and 18% from politicians, found the Media Ecosystem Observatory. @jenstden.bsky.social reports. #CdnMedia #CanPoli
Canadians Are Turning to Influencers for Information on Politics | The Tyee
A study shows that social media creators have overtaken news media and party campaigns.
thetyee.ca
November 19, 2025 at 11:17 PM
This sounds pretty bad, but given that influencers are here defined as everyone from independent journalists to far right social media personalities, I'm not sure it's particularly meaningful without more splitting. What it's really indicative of is consolidation of news publications.
Reposted by Marika
The real problem is these solipsistic media freakshows make regular people increasingly alienated from media, in turn making it easier and easier for billionaires to dismantle the media.
What do you tell a regular person when they ask why they should give a fuck whether Vanity Fair exists?
What do you tell a regular person when they ask why they should give a fuck whether Vanity Fair exists?
November 18, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The real problem is these solipsistic media freakshows make regular people increasingly alienated from media, in turn making it easier and easier for billionaires to dismantle the media.
What do you tell a regular person when they ask why they should give a fuck whether Vanity Fair exists?
What do you tell a regular person when they ask why they should give a fuck whether Vanity Fair exists?
I was talking to my parents about fruit flies recently and I mentioned how gross but useful it is that you can smell it if one lands in your beverage and both of them looked at me like I was insane. Does anyone else notice this??
November 17, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I was talking to my parents about fruit flies recently and I mentioned how gross but useful it is that you can smell it if one lands in your beverage and both of them looked at me like I was insane. Does anyone else notice this??
Top 5 movie genres
Bohemians in the City in Trouble
This House, This Man, and My Mind Are Conspiring Against Me
Struggling Against the Weight of the Past, Homosocially
A Cat and Mouse Game
They Just Don't Make Rom Coms Like They Used To
Bohemians in the City in Trouble
This House, This Man, and My Mind Are Conspiring Against Me
Struggling Against the Weight of the Past, Homosocially
A Cat and Mouse Game
They Just Don't Make Rom Coms Like They Used To
top 5 movie genres:
becoming who you are through the power of dance
heist
scary depiction of femininity is actually just relatable
guy with gritty origins thinks The Life won't find him
vehicle for major Parker Posey fashion moments
becoming who you are through the power of dance
heist
scary depiction of femininity is actually just relatable
guy with gritty origins thinks The Life won't find him
vehicle for major Parker Posey fashion moments
Top 5 movie genres are:
heist
intelligence/espionage thriller
pitch perfect
cerebral ensemble oscar fodder drama
heist some more
heist
intelligence/espionage thriller
pitch perfect
cerebral ensemble oscar fodder drama
heist some more
November 17, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Top 5 movie genres
Bohemians in the City in Trouble
This House, This Man, and My Mind Are Conspiring Against Me
Struggling Against the Weight of the Past, Homosocially
A Cat and Mouse Game
They Just Don't Make Rom Coms Like They Used To
Bohemians in the City in Trouble
This House, This Man, and My Mind Are Conspiring Against Me
Struggling Against the Weight of the Past, Homosocially
A Cat and Mouse Game
They Just Don't Make Rom Coms Like They Used To
Reposted by Marika
So saddened by the news that we have lost Alice Wong. It was an honor to know her and learn from her. May the lessons she shared continue to guide us for years to come.
November 15, 2025 at 4:36 PM
So saddened by the news that we have lost Alice Wong. It was an honor to know her and learn from her. May the lessons she shared continue to guide us for years to come.
Reposted by Marika
My favourite sentence in the #winnipeg budget (so far):
"The City's next multi-year budget cycle includes significant tax supported shortfalls starting at around $150 million in 2028 to $174 million in 2031. The next Council to be elected in 2026 will tackle this challenge. ”
#wpgpoli
"The City's next multi-year budget cycle includes significant tax supported shortfalls starting at around $150 million in 2028 to $174 million in 2031. The next Council to be elected in 2026 will tackle this challenge. ”
#wpgpoli
November 14, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Is something actually on fire near downtown Winnipeg or is this just fun festive football party air pollution?
November 14, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Is something actually on fire near downtown Winnipeg or is this just fun festive football party air pollution?
Reposted by Marika
Ohhh this framing really speaks to the current Canadian incarnations of these problems too. All the money and media and political attention going into corporate AI and Alberta separatism and petromasculinity and online gambling expansion and whatever the fuck wad happening at that ostrich farm in BC
we talk too much about the male loneliness crisis and not enough about the male suckerfication crisis maxread.substack.com/p/prediction...
November 14, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Ohhh this framing really speaks to the current Canadian incarnations of these problems too. All the money and media and political attention going into corporate AI and Alberta separatism and petromasculinity and online gambling expansion and whatever the fuck wad happening at that ostrich farm in BC
Longtime pals know I am an avered Santa Claus Parade hater, but this year is ridiculous.
November 14, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Longtime pals know I am an avered Santa Claus Parade hater, but this year is ridiculous.