Stephen Tweedale
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stephentweedale.bsky.social
Stephen Tweedale
@stephentweedale.bsky.social
740 followers 1K following 870 posts
Rawlsian social democrat. Interested in politics, philosophy, aviation, and lots of other things. President, North Vancouver-Capilano NDP & Membership Secretary, North Vancouver-Lonsdale BCNDP. CUPE and BCGEU member. Personal views only.
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stephentweedale.bsky.social
"Here we go again" Robert Redford says to himself as he wearily gazes at the sunset while sitting with one hand on the wheel of a sailboat
December 14, 2025 at 10:48 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Just discovered that my computer will no longer run The Long Dark. After 13 years, I must sadly conclude that the dear old clunker's time is up
A cartoon by Bill Mauldin depicting a soldier covering his eyes and looking away while pointing a pistol at the hood of his busted jeep
December 6, 2025 at 5:41 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
More like Springfield and Shelbyville
December 4, 2025 at 3:51 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Bedtime reading of Fleischacker's commentary on The Wealth of Nations has sent me tumbling through the wiki wormhole into the byzantine world of British lighthouse administration
A painting by Turner of Bell Rock Lighthouse in a stormy sea
November 29, 2025 at 7:23 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Up and at ‘em bright and early for volunteer duty at the BC NDP convention in Victoria, where I’m also a delegate
November 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Sunday reading - the only cure for the nuclear blues
The cover of the book Moral Paradoxes of Nuclear Deterrence by Gregory Kavka
October 26, 2025 at 7:19 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
I’m not sure what “254% precipitation”entails but I’m excited to find out
CBC weather page reporting “Precipitation: 254%”
October 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Screencap from the Cinco Phone ad featuring Ed Begley, Jr. in which he demonstrates how to enter "zero" on the one-button phone by simply pressing NO times
October 20, 2025 at 5:53 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
There is indeed no better kept secret than the islands of southeast British Columbia - even cartographers are unaware of them www.vogue.com/article/gali...
Screenshot of the first paragraph of the article, which reads: "A smattering of more than 300 densely wooded islands off southeast British Columbia, the Southern Gulf Islands are home to flora found nowhere else in Canada: the flowering yellow Lindley’s False Silverpuffs; the rare Triquetrella californica moss; the coast-clinging Arbutus menziesii—Canada’s only evergreen deciduous tree, known for its flaky cinnamon-hued bark that peels away every summer to reveal a smooth olive-green skin."
October 18, 2025 at 7:28 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
👎 A province cannot "tax billionaires out of existence". Best we can do is tax them out of the province. That could be worthwhile (levelling down can be okay!) but it would raise no provincial revenue for equality-promoting public services or redistribution.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
A screencap from a CBC article about the new BC Green party leader. The text reads: "I think what I have made clear over the course of this campaign is that I want to tax billionaires out of existence, not regular people, middle, upper-income people," she said, when asked how her message might land with wealthier voters in Green ridings. "We have a select subset of billionaires in B.C. and they are scattered across the province," she added. "This campaign and my message and platform should be a wake-up call to them in the ways that they have hoarded wealth and aren't paying their fair share back to regular people in B.C."
September 25, 2025 at 3:43 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Good show. Nice venue.
Worf with a cup of tea in the TNG episode “The Survivors”
September 7, 2025 at 4:12 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
The assembled residents of Springfield giving wide-eyed, gape-mouthed stares of disbelief
September 4, 2025 at 1:44 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Shopping for a calculator. Even though it is totally unsuitable for my purposes, I'm so happy to find that these babies are still on the market sharp.ca/en/product/b...
Sharp brand business calculator with big chunky buttons, fluorescent digital display, and a little printer spool
August 31, 2025 at 6:57 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Rarely have I felt so let down after clicking on a trending topic

#metaethics
A list of trending topics on Bluesky that includes "Meta Ethics"
August 30, 2025 at 5:33 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Out on the water with my dad, moments after he hoisted the colours: “Now we’re ready to take on the Yanks”
Elderly white man at the tiller of a wooden boat with the Canadian flag behind him
August 21, 2025 at 8:04 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
I'm sure I'm not the only one who was praying for the camera to spin around and reveal Benjamin Sisko, alien slayer
A screencap from Alien: Earth showing a character entering a room full of baseball memorabilia, with a baseball on a pedestal in the centre foreground
August 15, 2025 at 5:14 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
I was there with some Saskatchewanians who got an unexpected taste of home on the way in: some old S-2 Tracker submarine hunters, converted to air tankers for the government of Saskatchewan, and now apparently consigned to the boneyard for use by UFV’s aircraft maintenance program
The front fuselage of a very beat-up S-2 Tracker in green and white Saskatchewan government livery. One of the engines appears to have been ripped out
August 10, 2025 at 3:52 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Electric Beaver, seen here with non-electric dweeb
Me, smiling, behatted, and sunburnt, next to the Harbour Air Electric Beaver floatplane Electric Beaver ground display, seen from the left side with engine compartment opened
August 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Can't believe I burned two Kanopy tickets on Skippy and the Intruders (1969) before I got to the part of the Wikipedia article that reveals Skippy is hardly in it at all. A movie that lived up to this poster would be among the greatest films ever made
A poster for the movie Skippy and the Intruders, featuring images of scuba divers, a shark, a helicopter, a speedboat, a little kid, and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
July 29, 2025 at 3:15 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Please God let the local orca population hold on long enough that we get some epic great white shark vs. killer whale battles happening on major ferry routes
Marge, Homer, and Maggie Simpson praying over a meal
July 13, 2025 at 9:38 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Good news, everyone www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Headline: "50 years after Jaws, will B.C. ever see more great white sharks?" Subhed: "B.C.'s cold coastal waters make great whites rare, but experts say warming seas may one day change that"
July 13, 2025 at 9:34 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
#grok
Gabbo from the Simpsons doing his "I'm a bad widdle boy" pose
July 9, 2025 at 1:18 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
doog
Smiling golden retriever getting scratches from a woman in a teal dress Golden retriever shaking paws/hands with a woman in a teal dress and blue sweater
July 4, 2025 at 4:27 AM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Summer fundraiser for Bowinn Ma is coming up fast! Saturday, July 5, 2-5pm. Get tickets: secure.bcndp.org/civicrm/even...
Event poster with details (2-5pm, Saturday July 5th, Tickets $100) and a picture of Bowinn Ma speaking with someone on a bench outdoors
June 28, 2025 at 6:49 PM
stephentweedale.bsky.social
Thinking about the appeal of "authentic" and "unfiltered" politicians in light of this observation from A Theory of Justice about the importance that the virtues of integrity assume in morally disordered societies, and their inability to bear that weight

#trump #rawls #philosophy
A passage from pages 455-456 of the revised edition of A Theory of Justice by John Rawls: Here we should note that in times of social doubt and loss of faith in long established values, there is a tendency to fall back on the virtues of integrity: truthfulness and sincerity, lucidity and commitment, or, as some say, authenticity. If no one knows what is true, at least we can make our beliefs our own in our own way and not adopt them as handed to us by others. If the traditional moral rules are no longer relevant and we cannot agree which ones should take their place, we can in any event decide with a clear head how we mean to act and stop pretending that somehow or other it is already decided for us and we must accept this or that authority. Now of course the virtues of integrity are virtues, and among the excellences of free persons. Yet while necessary, they are not sufficient; for their definition allows for most any content: a tyrant might display these attributes to a high degree, and by doing so exhibit a certain charm, not deceiving himself by political pretenses and excuses of fortune. It is impossible to construct a moral view from these virtues alone; being virtues of form they are in a sense secondary. But joined to the appropriate conception of justice, one that allows for autonomy and objectivity correctly understood, they come into their own. The idea of the original position, and the principles chosen there, show how this is achieved.
May 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM