Stan MacDonald
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stanmacdonald.bsky.social
Stan MacDonald
@stanmacdonald.bsky.social
170 followers 540 following 2 posts
Movies, toys, books, comic books, television, comedy, music, friends, trying to stay positive, more…
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Reposted by Stan MacDonald
westendphoenix.bsky.social
Happy IKEA Monkey Day to all who celebrate
December 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
apnews.com
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
bit.ly
November 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
jslaterwilliams.bsky.social
The LINDA LINDA LINDA 20th anniversary press tour is my Oasis reunion
September 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
donmoyn.bsky.social
Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."
My resignation letter from CDC. Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested. This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough. While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles. The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people. It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC. Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc. I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information. The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun. The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed. For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision. Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically. Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.
August 28, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
spacing.bsky.social
With the city's RapidTO bus lane plan on life-support, the city and council need to find a better way to get complex policies out the door, writes @johnlorinc.bsky.social spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
Rip the bandage off rapidly, please - Spacing Toronto
There’s a glaring irony about the city’s messily disintegrating priority bus lane plan, which landed at executive committee yesterday accompanied by a half-hearted compromise. Not only is this scheme ...
spacing.ca
July 17, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
gregjhunter.bsky.social
I'm at @comicsjournal.bsky.social for the first time in a minute, covering NIGHT DRIVE by Richard Sala. The first steps of a giant. www.tcj.com/reviews/nigh...
Night Drive - The Comics Journal
Richard Sala was comics’ most reliable artist of criminal masterminds and colorful lowlifes; of mystical mediums and femme fatales. Informed by surrealism and monster movies, his work landed somewhere...
www.tcj.com
May 20, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
willsloanesq.bsky.social
RIP Gailard Sartain, one of the great character actors
June 20, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
katebeaton.bsky.social
My daughter and her friend go to a Gaelic immersion primary school
June 12, 2025 at 8:26 PM
stanmacdonald.bsky.social
I can’t read this, but the headline is, we caught too many people speeding so we are going to stop trying to catch them? It’s literally doing what you wanted. Things that make you go hmm….
thestar.com Toronto Star @thestar.com · Jun 12
Have Vaughan’s new automated speed cameras become a victim of their own success?

The municipality says it will pause issuing fines to speedy drivers after the city’s launched automated speed enforcement program appears to have exceeded expectations.
‘That’s a lot’: Vaughan pumps the brakes on photo radar after a deluge of speeding tickets raises hackles
The city says it will pause handing out fines to speeding drivers caught by automated speed cameras.
www.thestar.com
June 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
ttcriders.bsky.social
We’re setting the record straight on dedicated lanes. Red lanes on Dufferin and Bathurst will make our travel faster, safer, and more accessible. They will also help cut congestion and reduce pollution.

Read this thread to get the facts ⬇️

1/5
Graphic of a bus stuck in traffic Transit only lanes mean better commutes and a better Toronto. Get the facts about transit-only lanes on Bathurst and Dufferin
June 3, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
nowtoronto.bsky.social
A Toronto city councillor is urging the city to throw its contracts with Astral Media in the trash and revamp its Street Furniture Program after voicing concerns about poorly maintained public garbage bins. #Toronto

nowtoronto.com/news/toronto...
‘They’re disgusting,’ Torontonians blast city for broken and overflowing garbage bins, councillor says contracts aren't working - NOW Toronto
A city councillor is urging the city to throw away its contracts with Astral Media after concerns about poorly maintained garbage bins.
nowtoronto.com
May 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
lumberjackwharfie.bsky.social
It doesn't get reiterated enough that "human on a bicycle" is not only the most efficient way that a person can move, it's the most efficient form of motion ***ever observed in land animals***.
exp-log scale chart showing various animals and forms of human motion with the X-axis being kilograms on an exponential scale and the Y-axis being cost of transport in calories per gram per kilometer on a logarithmic scale
May 23, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
johnlorinc.bsky.social
#topoli #onpoli Today on @spacing - How to dial back Ford’s bike land attacks with empirical policy research. spacing.ca/toronto/2025...
Reversing the Ford government's biking backlash - Spacing Toronto
At a time when Washington has launched a scorched earth attack on virtually all federal climate policies, the Ford government’s hyper-partisan campaign to tear out Toronto bike lanes feels, well, posi...
spacing.ca
May 22, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
shawnmicallef.bsky.social
The Dufferin & Bathurst bus priority lanes are the only way to break the transit death spiral in Toronto. They must happen & the mayor needs to make sure they’re a raging success. Mission critical as future fixes rely on their success. My column this week. Pls read n share.
Shawn Micallef: How this transit plan could finally make ‘Sufferin’ Dufferin’ a thing of the past
There are 'RapidTO' plans to create transit priority lanes on Dufferin as well as Bathurst streets.
www.thestar.com
May 19, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
aidanknight.bsky.social
Made the local news 🙂

"Ever since I became a dad and wanting to ride with my kids, it’s just been a game changer for us here, just having a safe place to ride with our whole family."

Thank you to everyone who rode down to join us in celebration!

cheknews.ca/game-changer...
'Game changer': Victoria cyclists celebrate 8th birthday of Pandora bike lane
A group of cyclists gathered on Pandora Avenue in downtown Victoria Sunday to throw a birthday party — for a bike lane.
cheknews.ca
May 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
isaacrowlett.bsky.social
Did you know the “weekend” and working only 8 hours per day used to be considered a radical, liberal idea?

139 years ago today, in Bay View, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 7 workers (including a 13 yo) lost their lives to advance this revolutionary idea.

A 🧵
Black and white etching-style triptych showing 8 hours for work on the left, 8 hours for rest in the middle, and 8 hours for “what we will” on the right
May 5, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
westendphoenix.bsky.social
If you find yourself in the West Bend with an unsolved Rubik’s cube burning a hole in your pocket, Oliver’s got you.
May 2, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
torontoplex.bsky.social
New - TIFF selection BONJOUR TRISTESSE, doc SECRET MALL APARTMENT, queer pop romance QUEENS OF DRAMA (all of which open Sat), more! Now playing in Toronto: letterboxd.com/torontoplex/... #toOpening
Opening in Toronto: May 2, 2025
New movies opening this week in Toronto. Usually rolls out Wed for the following Fri, but will be further updated for theatres who are late in updating their own sites (usually Kingsway, Albion, Woods...
letterboxd.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
pressprogress.ca
NEW: CTV cancelled a fact-checking segment in response to political pressure from Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives

An audio recording obtained by PressProgress shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives
CTV Cancelled a Fact-Checking Segment in Response to Political Pressure From Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives
Audio recording shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives
pressprogress.ca
April 1, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
wired.com
“We’re going to have patients die,” says Jade Pagkas-Bather, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Chicago who also specializes in HIV prevention. “Unnecessary, preventable death.”

Full story here:
The CDC Has Been Gutted
Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.
www.wired.com
April 1, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
stephenlautens.bsky.social
Here's the link to the story about Anaida Poilievre's uncle crossing into Canada via Roxham Road and defying a deportation order. #cdnpoli breachmedia.ca/hypocritical...
March 28, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
mikeduquette.bsky.social
Some sad updates on the health of Drew Struzan, one of the great film artists of Hollywood.
From the Facebook page of Drew Struzan: Good morning all. I'm Drew's wife, Dylan Struzan. I come to you with a heavy heart. Several years ago, Drew was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. As you may know, the early stages are a slow progression of forgetfulness. This happens in the brain when the proteins in the neurons begin to fold improperly. They are called tau tangles. Neurotransmitters can no longer transmit a thought. Think of it as a log jam. Forgetfulness is often what we think of when this disease is mentioned, the brain malfunctioning. As the disease progresses, the hippocampus (seat of memory) begins to fail. Think of all the things you learned throughout life, simple things like how to stand (balance), how to walk, how to talk, how to control your bodily functions, how to make decisions, how to do most everything we do. The hippocampus forgets. It has been said this is the most vulnerable organ in the body. I can believe it. Some doctors believe this disease is reversible. For years, Drew and I have used the protocols that are supposed to, at the very least, arrest the forward momentum of the disease to no avail. His body has continued to decline. He is "still in there" as they say. It seems that specialized brains have an advantage as their knowledge is part of the structure of the brain, not just an add-on stored in the brain. Nevertheless, the loss of coordination of moving the information from the brain to a functional expression shortchanges abilities. Drew can no longer paint or sign things for you. He is not enjoying a well-deserved retirement but rather fighting for his life. He hears all the comments you have left here on these pages. It encourages him. At first he was able to express his thoughts but as time progressed it became infinitely more difficult. I rely on our 60 years of marriage working as a team to remember for him. Jon, who posts many things here, relies on research in the many hours of interviews both written and filmed to fill in Drew's thoughts. Drew has left a strong legacy of love and joy in the form of his work. It has always been a love letter of sorts. His aim was to make the earth a better place in which to live by creating something beautiful. But like a flower, his season is ending. I and Jon will continue to curate Drew's legacy. My vision here is to bring the creative community to the fore. That's what our live streaming and videos are about. Many creatives sharing their craft with an insider vision of the job Drew was a master at juggling. I hope you spread the word that will help others enjoy true creativity. They call this the humanities because it is something unique to our species. Art is meant to be enjoyed. Drew always wanted his work to be uplifting. From your comments, I believe he has succeeded. It was always his mission to move art forward being deeply influenced by the great artist and his professor at Art Center, Lorser Feitelson who introduced him to Modernism, a period of artistic and literary experimentation that began in the 19th century. It sought to create new ways of expressing ideas. Drew was also influenced by the Impressionists, as you most likely see above all in his art, the vibrance of color. His drawing skills were informed by the likes of Michelangelo and Pontormo and those in the Italian Renaissance, Composition will always be foundational from Cézanne. The love you send is received with appreciation and often tears of joy. Those of you who have been touched by his work are his legacy. Please keep sharing your thoughts and experiences. It keeps him smiling through these difficult days. Keep remembering for him.
March 26, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
theguardian.com
Hamdan Ballal: Oscar-winning Palestinian director released from Israeli detention
Hamdan Ballal: Oscar-winning Palestinian director released from Israeli detention
No Other Land director released a day after he was attacked by settlers and detained by Israeli forces An Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was attacked by Jewish settlers and detained by Israeli forces has been released from detention. Hamdan Ballal and two other Palestinians left a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, where they were being held on Tuesday. Ballal had bruises on his face and blood on his clothes. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
March 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
apnews.com
Israeli settlers beat up one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land” in the occupied West Bank on Monday, and he was then detained by the Israeli military, activists on the scene said.
Oscar-winning Palestinian director is attacked by Jewish settlers and detained, activists say
Activists say Israeli settlers beat up one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land” in the occupied West Bank, and he was then detained by the Israeli military.
bit.ly
March 24, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Stan MacDonald
nitratediva.bsky.social
It's Lawrence Tierney's birthday and, while he was a trainwreck in many ways, he did throw a Nazi sympathizer down the length of a bar on VE Day, so you gotta hand it to him for that.

As recounted by Shelley Winters:
When I got back to the bar, I interrupted a drunken political discussion and asked Mr. Baker why ha had chosen this particular restaurant. He replied, "Food's good here, and I know the owners." Tierney said to him, "I thought you lived in Bishop, California." "I do," Baker replied. "I don't want my children contaminated by the Hollywood Jews and n******." With that I was sober instantly. So was Tierney. But Baker continued, drunk and loud, "You know why this is such a lousy celebration today? We fought on the wrong side. We should have been fighting with the Germans agains the Russians." Lawrence Tierney saidm "And then today you could have had Louis B. Mayer's job, right?" Tierney took one look at my anguished face; then he casually picked up Mr. Baker and threw him down the length of the bar, crashing into all the glasses and beer bottles, just like in a western. Then he grabbed me, and we got out fast, into the parking lot, and got into the car and drove away. (I never entered the restaurant again until it had new owners.)
March 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM