Penny Markland
@penm99.bsky.social
SK librarian (retired), trying to stay optimistic in this world. Hoping a step back means 2 steps forward soon.
Reposted by Penny Markland
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Massive shoutout out to whoever handles the Royal Canadian Air Force’s social media account. They responded to every single comment on their already very solid Trans Day of Remembrance post and they responded like this…
Just a tragic, rotten shame
After unprecedented autism-vaccine messaging change, scientists, CDC no longer trustworthy www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
@pauloffit.bsky.social: CDC has devolved into “a propaganda machine for RFK Jr.'s fixed, immutable, science-resistant theories."
"...a tragic day for public health."
@pauloffit.bsky.social: CDC has devolved into “a propaganda machine for RFK Jr.'s fixed, immutable, science-resistant theories."
"...a tragic day for public health."
After unprecedented autism-vaccine messaging change, scientists, advocates say CDC no longer trustworthy
www.cidrap.umn.edu
November 21, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Just a tragic, rotten shame
More theatre of the absurd
These quotes are hilarious. Years from now legal scholars will reference them. They'll be in history books.
Big day at U.S. District Court in D.C. where Sean Dunn, the D.C. Sandwich Guy, is on trial for misdemeanor assault of a federal officer.
Border Patrol agent Gregory Lairmore is on the stand narrating surveillance video of the sammie toss.
'Now he’s struck me with the sandwich,' Lairmore says.
Border Patrol agent Gregory Lairmore is on the stand narrating surveillance video of the sammie toss.
'Now he’s struck me with the sandwich,' Lairmore says.
November 6, 2025 at 2:21 PM
More theatre of the absurd
Stark
If you think the #COVID19 pandemic is done and ever-evolving variants pose no significant threat, consider these two realities, writes contributing editor Andrew Nikiforuk.
This Physicist Says We Don’t Take COVID Seriously Enough | The Tyee
We downplay the virus at our peril, warns Yaneer Bar-Yam. And children are more at risk than we thought.
thetyee.ca
October 31, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Stark
Oh those Scandinavians. So practical!
August 10, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Oh those Scandinavians. So practical!
Seems like worth a try!
1/ 🚨Surprise, new game just dropped! 🚨
Today, Slate is debuting Pears, a brand-new word game to freshen up your puzzle routine. It’s fast. It’s fun. And it’s got a little attitude.
Today, Slate is debuting Pears, a brand-new word game to freshen up your puzzle routine. It’s fast. It’s fun. And it’s got a little attitude.
Introducing Pears, a New Word Game From Slate
Wordplay that’s smart, satisfying … and a little juicy.
slate.com
July 24, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Seems like worth a try!
Reposted by Penny Markland
So what’s my point?
I guess my point is that in the current media environment, there are people who refuse to know what is already known, and refuse to acknowledge what should already be acknowledged, about people who have already said what they intend to do, and are already doing it.
I guess my point is that in the current media environment, there are people who refuse to know what is already known, and refuse to acknowledge what should already be acknowledged, about people who have already said what they intend to do, and are already doing it.
July 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM
So what’s my point?
I guess my point is that in the current media environment, there are people who refuse to know what is already known, and refuse to acknowledge what should already be acknowledged, about people who have already said what they intend to do, and are already doing it.
I guess my point is that in the current media environment, there are people who refuse to know what is already known, and refuse to acknowledge what should already be acknowledged, about people who have already said what they intend to do, and are already doing it.
This is a longer piece, but a powerful one.
On my country's 249th birthday, I wrote about the problem of sharing a nation with millions of evil people, and how to live a human life in the face of overwhelming inhumanity.
Oh and the Beastie Boys make an appearance.
www.the-reframe.com/so-shines-a-...
Oh and the Beastie Boys make an appearance.
www.the-reframe.com/so-shines-a-...
So Shines A Good Deed In A Weary World
Dark isn't the opposite of light, it's the absence of light.
www.the-reframe.com
July 5, 2025 at 12:47 PM
This is a longer piece, but a powerful one.
Reposted by Penny Markland
No book in the history of the world has made a child gay or straight or trans or cis. But they have provided hope and a future for those that already are. But of course, under Reform, all hope must be crushed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Kent council bans transgender books in children’s library section
KCC says the move came after a
www.bbc.co.uk
July 4, 2025 at 8:32 AM
No book in the history of the world has made a child gay or straight or trans or cis. But they have provided hope and a future for those that already are. But of course, under Reform, all hope must be crushed.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.reddit.com/r/saskatoon/...
The comments on this are enjoyable
The comments on this are enjoyable
From the saskatoon community on Reddit: Saskatoon woman arrested trying to commandeer the Prairie Lily
Explore this post and more from the saskatoon community
www.reddit.com
June 26, 2025 at 12:30 AM
www.reddit.com/r/saskatoon/...
The comments on this are enjoyable
The comments on this are enjoyable
Right?
When I die I’d like the @nytimes.com editorial board to lower me into my grave so I can be let down one last time.
June 16, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Right?
Reposted by Penny Markland
UK’s Women’s Prize Trust has announced the winners of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction.
Here are the winners of the 2025 Women’s Prizes in Fiction and Nonfiction.
Today, the UK’s Women’s Prize Trust announced the winner of the 30th Women’s Prize for Fiction, which “champions excellence, originality, and accessibility in women’s writing,” and is awarded to th…
buff.ly
June 14, 2025 at 7:01 PM
UK’s Women’s Prize Trust has announced the winners of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction.
3 episodes into Murderbot, I think I’d be enjoying it more if I hadn’t read the books. Alexander Skarsgard is so very far from the image of Murderbot that I had in my head. #murderbot
May 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
3 episodes into Murderbot, I think I’d be enjoying it more if I hadn’t read the books. Alexander Skarsgard is so very far from the image of Murderbot that I had in my head. #murderbot
AI - Accuracy Iffy www.cbc.ca/news/world/c...
Chicago newspaper prints a summer reading list. The problem? The books don't exist | CBC News
The Chicago Sun-Times is being roasted online after it confirmed that a freelancer used AI to generate a summer reading list made up of real authors and fake books. The newspaper called it "a learning...
www.cbc.ca
May 21, 2025 at 1:28 AM
AI - Accuracy Iffy www.cbc.ca/news/world/c...
So upsetting I couldn’t get through the whole article in one sitting.
"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean the fascists and revolutionary nationalists will not take an interest in you.
Once the seven steps have been completed and your democracy looks like a melting ice sheet, “your individual life will become a difficult place to live.”
Once the seven steps have been completed and your democracy looks like a melting ice sheet, “your individual life will become a difficult place to live.”
Every democracy believes it is exceptional, Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran wrote, until it isn’t.
May 5, 2025 at 2:49 PM
So upsetting I couldn’t get through the whole article in one sitting.
Theatre of the absurd.
Despite seeing several people I totally trust say this was real I still felt I had to verify it with my own eyes. And having done so I still can't believe it's real.
April 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Theatre of the absurd.
I mean, it could be a whole reality show!
"now son do you know why i pulled you over tonight?"
"no officer, what seems to be the trouble?"
"well it's just a routine checkpoint son, i'm going to have to ask you a few questions. first off, in herman melville's moby-dick what is the white whale an allegory for?"
"no officer, what seems to be the trouble?"
"well it's just a routine checkpoint son, i'm going to have to ask you a few questions. first off, in herman melville's moby-dick what is the white whale an allegory for?"
WHITE HOUSE: TRUMP WILL SIGN ORDER ON ENGLISH LITERARY TESTS FOR TRUCKERS IN U.S.
April 29, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I mean, it could be a whole reality show!
Basically how most kids perceive the large and terrifying mall bunnies
Happy Easter to those celebrating! Here is my very favorite Easter painting: “Happy Easter” by Michel Sowa.
April 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Basically how most kids perceive the large and terrifying mall bunnies
-2 but being treated with a meadowlark serenade with my coffee this morning makes it feel like spring
April 17, 2025 at 12:47 PM
-2 but being treated with a meadowlark serenade with my coffee this morning makes it feel like spring
Great idea that should be copied
What Wab Kinew sorcery is this?
**stares blankly in Albertan**😶
**stares blankly in Albertan**😶
April 12, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Great idea that should be copied
Yes, indeed
A tricky thing about modern society is that no one has any idea when they don’t die.
Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.
Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.
April 7, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Yes, indeed
Going on my TBR list.
Douglas J. Penick considers time, transitions, and the unfamiliar world of aging.
Suddenly Old, Suddenly the Other: On the Unfamiliar World of Aging
All at once and much to my surprise, I am old. I did not expect it, and it is not what I expected. The world in which I worked, struggled, dreamed, and loved now regards me quite differently than i…
buff.ly
April 3, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Going on my TBR list.
Absolutely terrifying. Poor soul
The video of federal agents ambushing a student and disappearing with her should chill you to your core.
It’s Hard to Believe This Video Was Filmed in the United States. It No Longer Should Be.
It shows, clearly, the explicit and proud policy of the Trump administration.
slate.com
March 27, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Absolutely terrifying. Poor soul
Interesting article. Needs to be read by lots of American doctors. Come to Canada.
“Access to care is worth the wait.”
Protecting publicly funded health care is at the tippy top of my list of important shit to do. Get private health services the fuck out of Canada.
canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/03/25/i...
Protecting publicly funded health care is at the tippy top of my list of important shit to do. Get private health services the fuck out of Canada.
canadahealthwatch.ca/2025/03/25/i...
I traded my U.S. medical career for life in Canada. Here’s how the…
The differences hit me immediately, and are profound.
canadahealthwatch.ca
March 26, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Interesting article. Needs to be read by lots of American doctors. Come to Canada.