Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
@brianbanks.bsky.social
Scribbler (mainly nature, conservation, critters, science, climate); Geographer (Fellow, Royal Canadian Geographical Society); Soy nature boy. https://brian.eco/
From Lori Marino, founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project; also of @safinacenter.bsky.social (gift link). www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/1760cd5...
The age of keeping whales and dolphins in captivity must finally come to an end
Research shows it is not possible for captive cetaceans to thrive in concrete pools
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:31 AM
From Lori Marino, founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project; also of @safinacenter.bsky.social (gift link). www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/1760cd5...
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
After his parents died, Stiller found a stash of their audio recordings. Those tapes of comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara are at the center of the documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost. n.pr/3LMKkkj
In Ben Stiller's showbiz family, there was little separation between home and stage
After his parents died, Stiller found a stash of their audio recordings. Those tapes of comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara are at the center of the documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.
n.pr
November 18, 2025 at 6:24 PM
After his parents died, Stiller found a stash of their audio recordings. Those tapes of comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara are at the center of the documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost. n.pr/3LMKkkj
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
parents freed a hummingbird from a skylight with a coleus flower attached to a pole
November 9, 2025 at 12:05 AM
parents freed a hummingbird from a skylight with a coleus flower attached to a pole
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
US citizen Maria Greeley, a Latina who was adopted, was walking home from work downtown when masked agents zip tied her. They said she “doesn’t look like a Greeley.” This is how the government treats people under current deportation policies.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
November 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
US citizen Maria Greeley, a Latina who was adopted, was walking home from work downtown when masked agents zip tied her. They said she “doesn’t look like a Greeley.” This is how the government treats people under current deportation policies.
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
I got the video. We shouldn't get acclimated to this racist, edgelord shit.
November 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I got the video. We shouldn't get acclimated to this racist, edgelord shit.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
The new French minister for biodiversity wants to ignore European law (dating from 1979) and support net- and glue-trapping of wild birds, "so as to preserve this way of life in the countryside"...
😡
😡
French minister publicly committing to defend illegality.
Its hard to fathom how damaging this is to democracy, the rule of law, citizens' trust in institutions, the credibility of the European project.
Shameful.
www.lpo.fr/qui-sommes-n...
Its hard to fathom how damaging this is to democracy, the rule of law, citizens' trust in institutions, the credibility of the European project.
Shameful.
www.lpo.fr/qui-sommes-n...
Le Ministre délégué chargé de la transition écologique en...
En visite dans les Landes à l’invitation de la Fédération départementale des chasseurs, Mathieu Lefevre a répété sa détermination à défendre le piégeage des...
www.lpo.fr
November 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The new French minister for biodiversity wants to ignore European law (dating from 1979) and support net- and glue-trapping of wild birds, "so as to preserve this way of life in the countryside"...
😡
😡
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to the people.
Techbros, through AI, are stealing fire from the people and using it to warm themselves.
What precious fucking irony that is.
Techbros, through AI, are stealing fire from the people and using it to warm themselves.
What precious fucking irony that is.
Jeff Bezos will be co-CEO of AI startup Project Prometheus
Jeff Bezos will be co-CEO of AI startup Project Prometheus
Jeff Bezos has a new job.
buff.ly
November 17, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to the people.
Techbros, through AI, are stealing fire from the people and using it to warm themselves.
What precious fucking irony that is.
Techbros, through AI, are stealing fire from the people and using it to warm themselves.
What precious fucking irony that is.
The UK Labour Party under Starmer is such a shitshow, unrecognizable as anything remotely related to the values of most of its members and supporters.
Just wilful performative cruelty that is entirely out of step with the majority of British people.
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
November 17, 2025 at 2:23 PM
The UK Labour Party under Starmer is such a shitshow, unrecognizable as anything remotely related to the values of most of its members and supporters.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
We must stop industrial-scale fishing destroying marine ecosystems.
But we must also stop eating fish, in richer countries where we have good alternatives - and that's a less popular message!
But we must also stop eating fish, in richer countries where we have good alternatives - and that's a less popular message!
Did you know multi-million pound fishing companies are overfishing UK waters?
Leaving nothing for more sustainable small-scale local fishermen.
The UK government has total control over how many fish are caught and who gets to catch them. They’re choosing corporate greed over our national heritage.
Leaving nothing for more sustainable small-scale local fishermen.
The UK government has total control over how many fish are caught and who gets to catch them. They’re choosing corporate greed over our national heritage.
November 17, 2025 at 11:18 AM
We must stop industrial-scale fishing destroying marine ecosystems.
But we must also stop eating fish, in richer countries where we have good alternatives - and that's a less popular message!
But we must also stop eating fish, in richer countries where we have good alternatives - and that's a less popular message!
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
"The good octopus" - a decade after Canada opened its doors to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, four key members of Syria's postwar government are either citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
Can those ties influence the direction of the new Syria?
My report from Damascus
Can those ties influence the direction of the new Syria?
My report from Damascus
Syrians with close Canadian ties play outsized role in postwar government
Syrian-Canadians in President al-Sharaa’s cabinet say they look to Canada as a model for peaceful, multicultural society
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:22 PM
"The good octopus" - a decade after Canada opened its doors to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, four key members of Syria's postwar government are either citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
Can those ties influence the direction of the new Syria?
My report from Damascus
Can those ties influence the direction of the new Syria?
My report from Damascus
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
In the same interview where she admitted that death threats are (no longer) not cool, she also suggested Nick Fuentes should be interviewed by CNN. How does a fellow landsman say this?
Look, if MTG wants to vote with Dems on things, by all means take her vote, but being a Democrat has to…
Look, if MTG wants to vote with Dems on things, by all means take her vote, but being a Democrat has to…
Raskin: We are a big tent. We must be a huge, vast tent. I say this is a party that’s got room for Marjorie Taylor Greene if she wants to come over.
November 17, 2025 at 1:47 PM
In the same interview where she admitted that death threats are (no longer) not cool, she also suggested Nick Fuentes should be interviewed by CNN. How does a fellow landsman say this?
Look, if MTG wants to vote with Dems on things, by all means take her vote, but being a Democrat has to…
Look, if MTG wants to vote with Dems on things, by all means take her vote, but being a Democrat has to…
Love this. www.electrive.com/2025/11/15/i...
Tata Motors opens manned public charging stations in India - electrive.com
Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited (TPEML), the passenger EV subsidiary of Tata Motors, has opened 14 manned Tata.ev MegaCharger sites in India. The
www.electrive.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Love this. www.electrive.com/2025/11/15/i...
Trudeaumania > Obamamania
The Grey Cup is on, so it's time, once again, to remember that Pierre Trudeau rolled up to Grey Cup in 1970 looking like this.
November 17, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Trudeaumania > Obamamania
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
A quarter of the entire deployed US Navy is now stationed in the Caribbean.
That goes way beyond frighteners.
That goes way beyond frighteners.
November 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
A quarter of the entire deployed US Navy is now stationed in the Caribbean.
That goes way beyond frighteners.
That goes way beyond frighteners.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
November 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
Have to be careful what I say here, might get a 72-hour ban.
NJ man's death is first tied to 'meat allergy' caused by tick bite, researchers say
www.fox29.com/news/new-jer...
www.fox29.com/news/new-jer...
Researchers confirm first death linked to 'meat allergy' from tick bite
Researchers at the University of Virginia have confirmed that a New Jersey man died from an "allergic reaction" to meat he developed after being bitten by tick larvae.
www.fox29.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Have to be careful what I say here, might get a 72-hour ban.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Priests being arrested
November 14, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Priests being arrested
Hey, it's #ProjectFeederWatch season. Mine are going up today. www.birdscanada.org/you-can-help... #birds
Project FeederWatch
www.birdscanada.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Hey, it's #ProjectFeederWatch season. Mine are going up today. www.birdscanada.org/you-can-help... #birds
Now do Trump.
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Now do Trump.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
That's a great one! Glad to see Minister Guilbeault connecting to nature through birds no matter where he is! Millions of Canadians love birds too, and urban parks will be another great way to appreciate them.
Spotted the magnificent Golden Parakeet at Utinga Park in Belém! 🦜
Bringing nature closer to people is key to halting biodiversity loss, and in Canada, we’re committed to creating 15 new urban parks so families with the natural world right where they live.
Bringing nature closer to people is key to halting biodiversity loss, and in Canada, we’re committed to creating 15 new urban parks so families with the natural world right where they live.
November 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
That's a great one! Glad to see Minister Guilbeault connecting to nature through birds no matter where he is! Millions of Canadians love birds too, and urban parks will be another great way to appreciate them.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
Defunding scientists for the nationality of who they co-author with or who they train.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Defunding scientists for the nationality of who they co-author with or who they train.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
Reposted by Brian Banks Ⓥ 🇨🇦
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
November 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
Canada is calling.
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
Quest to find another Earth brings renowned researcher home to Toronto | CBC News
Canadian astronomical research is getting a big boost with the return of Sara Seager to Canada after around 20 years at MIT. Her research includes looking for life in the clouds of Venus and searching...
www.cbc.ca
November 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Canada is calling.
www.cbc.ca/news/science...
www.cbc.ca/news/science...