kar0ling

It’s not just Gaza anymore (it never was). The attempted erasure of Palestinians from the West Bank – the West Bank *of the Jordan River*, not of Israel – is ramping up. The spitefulness of the tactics is appalling: in a moment of climate change, in a precarious desert-adjacent ecosystem, would who uproot thriving olive trees that are 100s of years old, providing shade, water cycling and beloved food? And so, a letter to the foreign minister courtesy of Kairos Canada (not to be confused with Kairos Palestine).  I am deeply concerned that the Israeli military and settlers are escalating the displacement,  dispossession and violence of Palestinians in the West Bank.  Ms Anand, your failure to say anything substantive in condemnation of Israel’s denial of entry to 6 MPs deepens that concern. In a recent report (Dec 4, 2025) the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) provides the following update on the humanitarian situation in the West Bank (Januar...

...but sent anyway. I discovered the link to this message languishing in my inbox long after the budget had been voted on but I still wanted to get my voice out on this subject.  This message is too late, I know. The budget has passed -- because our silly system forces budgets to be nonconfidence votes, which is the exact opposite of collaboration and negotiation, which is how budgets should be approached by all parties seeking the best for Canadians -- and I didn't get this message to you in time to urge you to vote it down.  But budgets are always a plan not a fait accompli, so I'm writing anyway, in hopes there is the possibility to alter course.  I am alarmed by the federal budget tabled by the Carney government. The corporate handouts, vast expansion of military spending, and outright attacks on public services will hurt everyday people and put more public money in the hands of corporations and billionaires (who, in case you aren't following why that's a problem, ...

 This week saw all three bikes in use.  Tuesday night, Idid not listen to the little voice that suggested I ask if I could bring my bike in tothe lobby at Cinematheque. I was really late for the movie already and I don't know how to use the elevator while the stairs are tall and high so it is prohibitive to carry her up.  When I came out 1 hour and 40 minutes later, I swung my bag off my shoulder to put it on my rack only to discover the rack was gone, my cables were dangling loose from being cut and the front fender was loose.  After bellowing in rage and cursing loudly and repeatedly, I began a cold and angry walk home. A short chat with a homeless guy huddled in an alcove (beginning with a probably unwise "did you take stuff off my bike?!") cooled me down a bit as I realized how grateful I was to have a warm home to go to with food in the fridge to eat and no relationship drama preventing me from seeing beloved family members. The futility of the theft still makes...

Another adapted form letter:  As ICE invades American cities, schools, and workplaces, I am joining Microsoft workers and concerned citizens to demand that Microsoft stop aiding mass kidnappings in the U.S. and stop powering genocide in Palestine. All over the world, people are using Microsoft products daily, just trying to get tasks done, not thinking they are contributing to genocide.  Yet research from your workers and former workers has uncovered $20 million in third-party contracts through Dell for ICE.  This is on top of millions of dollars of support for the Israeli government and military.  This is unacceptable to me -- and probably most Microsoft users whose payments for your products add to the profits that allow you to build out these services for even more profits at the expense of lives.  I implore you to stop supporting ICE and Israel's ongoing genocide.  Click to send your own letter

Another letter calling for Canada to close the loopholes. This time, it’s Greenpeace getting in on the action. Mostly them, a little bit of me: Dear Prime Minister Mark Carney/ Minister Anita Anand, Although a ceasefire has been called, Israeli forces continue their assault on Palestinians while they are trying to rebuild from the ruins. What kind of ceasefire is that? Not surprising, though, from a government that lies frequently and fails to keep their side of the bargain. Ninety-two percent of human beings in Palestine have no home to return to; hundreds of bodies are still being pulled from the rubble; and 85,000 children have been orphaned. Let that sink in. Imagine your own children or grandchildren with no bed to sleep, no parents to comfort them, or worse, dead under a pile of rubble.  Prime Minister Carney, “peace” in name alone is not enough. Furthermore, the violence will not end with this ceasefire even if it is ever observed by Israel. Canada has a *lega...

Carney's budget sounds like a plan to destroy Canada, not to build it.  There is no future in oil and gas – and Carney knows it. Canadians by and large oppose this, which is why he wants to bypass their input. Stop it. We clearly voted *against* the politics of the Orange Man to the south. Why then is that exactly what Carney is giving us? Here’s what Environmental Defence Canada says: Bill C-5: Climate Action  is  Nation Building!  Building up Canada as a strong nation means being a strong climate leader, not backpedalling on progress in favour of polluting industries.  Yet that’s what our federal government is at risk of doing in response to Trump’s attacks. The Prime Minister has committed to making Canada an ‘energy superpower,’ but what does that  really  mean?  The rushed  Building Canada Act  or Bill C-5 gives the federal government sweeping power to fast-track mega-projects of ‘national interest’ without environmental re...