The Milagro Beanfield War: A Story That Still Speaks to Our Times 🌱

 🌱 The Milagro Beanfield War: A Story That Still Speaks to Our Times 🌱

I first read The Milagro Beanfield War while pregnant 🤰, and it left an indelible mark on me. Later, watching the movie adaptation 🎬 brought that vibrant story to life in a way that felt both intimate and epic. Robert Redford’s film perfectly captures John Nichols’ unique blend of humor 😄, heart 💖, and biting social commentary.

At its core, The Milagro Beanfield War is about more than just a small town in New Mexico 🏜️. It’s about water rights 💧, land rights 🌾, and the clash between development 🏗️ and community—issues that remain incredibly relevant today. It’s a story of ordinary people standing up ✊ to powerful interests, of activists who refuse to be silenced ✨, and of elders who carry the wisdom and traditions of generations 👵👴. And yes, there are even moments of magic 🕊️—angels, unexpected miracles, and that beautiful sense of hope 🌟 that blossoms in the most unlikely places.

What I love most is how the story celebrates resilience, community, and the courage to protect what’s rightfully yours 💚, even when the odds are stacked against you. It’s a reminder that change often starts with one small act of defiance—sometimes as simple as planting a beanfield 🌱.

If you care about justice ⚖️, the environment 🌎, and the quiet power of ordinary people, this book and movie are must-sees. They’re funny 😆, touching 🥹, and profoundly moving, weaving together the personal and the political with warmth, wisdom, and a touch of magic ✨.

💚 Watch it, read it, and let it remind you that even the smallest voices can make a difference 🌱💧.

Build Canada Homes: Hope, Urgency, and 10 Questions Canada Must Ask 💛

 Build Canada Homes: Hope, Urgency, and 10 Questions Canada Must Ask 💛

In recent months, the federal government has launched Build Canada Homes (BCH), a new housing agency aimed at building more homes faster, using modern construction methods like prefab and modular units and unlocking partnerships across provinces and cities. The initial $13 billion investment and emerging partnerships — including in British Columbia — show that real work is underway.

So first: thank you to the leaders, civil servants, and community advocates working to translate policy into homes. I mean that sincerely — including Mark Carney and others trying to bring more housing into Canadian communities. Your efforts are necessary. 👏

But this moment also needs clarity.

We’ve spent the last few posts exploring who affordable housing actually serves (Parts 1–3), what solutions might work (Part 4), and what success or failure could look like (Part 5). Today, I want to tie those ideas together and ask hard questions we all need to wrestle with.

---

🧱 What’s Happening Now

Yes — Build Canada Homes is moving.
Yes — partnerships and funding agreements are starting to produce housing projects.
Yes — construction of supportive and transitional housing is beginning in the next 12–24 months.

This is progress, and it’s welcome.

But Canada still faces:

• Thousands of people experiencing homelessness in cities like Vancouver.
• Thousands more who can’t find housing they can afford.
• Shelters that turn people away because there is simply no space.

The structural crises we face are urgent and human. And good intentions must meet real results.

---

🧠 Why This Matters

Build Canada Homes is more than a construction program. It should be a turning point — not just in the number of homes built, but in who gets them and how fast.

To be worth it, BCH must:

• Reach the lowest income Canadians, including people on social assistance.
• Deliver housing that is actually affordable, not just “below market.”
• Include rapid response solutions like tiny homes or modular villages.
• Ensure that eligibility rules don’t filter out the most vulnerable.

We know supply matters. But supply without accessibility leaves people behind.

---

❓ 10 Hard Questions for Canada (Not Just Leaders — All of Us)

These questions aren’t easy. They require reflection, honesty, and empathy — whether you’re a policymaker, a renter, a homeowner, an employer, or someone early in your career:

1. What does “affordable housing” really mean if people on social assistance still can’t afford it?
   Is tying rent to market rates enough, or must we tie it to actual incomes?

2. How can we expect people to thrive if they are housed — but still living paycheck to paycheck?
   Should affordability benchmarks change?

3. If thousands are homeless now, why do so many housing plans focus on long-term supply rather than immediate shelter?
   What does urgency look like in practice?

4. How much are we willing to invest in truly affordable housing versus housing for “middle-income” households?
   Is there room for both?

5. Do we value housing more as an investment asset or as a basic human right?
   How would that choice change policy?

6. Are we prepared to rethink land use, zoning, and community resistance — even when it’s uncomfortable?
   What kind of country do we want to be?

7. What does success look like 1 year from now? 5 years from now? 10 years from now?
   Are we setting goals that truly reflect human dignity?

8. If modular and tiny homes can be built quickly and affordably, why aren’t they central to the plan?
   Whose voices are shaping those decisions?

9. How do we measure the success of housing programs — by units built or by people sheltered?
   What story does each metric tell?

10. Are we willing to hold leaders accountable when progress is slow — even when we want them to succeed?
    Accountability shouldn’t be about blame; it should be about results.

---

🧩 Final Thought

Build Canada Homes can make a difference — but only if we insist that housing is defined by access, dignity, and urgency. It is not enough to build more homes. We must build homes that people can live in, afford, and thrive in.

So thank you, truly, to everyone trying to make this work — including those inside government. But let’s not let good intentions become excuses for delayed impact.

Housing is a human need. And Canada’s future depends on meeting that need now, not just promising more in the years ahead.

💛 Let’s keep asking the hard questions — and demanding answers that change lives.

---

What Does “Industrial” Actually Mean?

 What Does “Industrial” Actually Mean?

Post Tomorrow

When people hear “industrial,” they imagine loud, dirty, stinky.

But I worked industrial laundry.

I worked in processing plants.

I’ve seen how these spaces operate.

Industrial zoning includes:

Production

Distribution

Repair

Storage

Film sets

Equipment yards

These are jobs that don’t require tech degrees.

They are working-class infrastructure.

Only about 6% of Vancouver’s land is zoned industrial.

Ninety percent is residential.

When industrial land gets rezoned, land values rise.

And when land values rise, small operators disappear.

The city becomes:

Service work

Real estate

Hospitality

Is that resilience?

Or fragility?

Public Service or Public Privilege?

 Public Service or Public Privilege?

I’ve been thinking about pensions.

In Mexico, President Claudia Sheinbaum has proposed capping very large pensions for former high-level officials. Some reportedly received close to a million pesos a month. The proposal would limit them to about 70,000 pesos monthly — still comfortable, but no longer extraordinary.

This isn’t just about numbers.

It’s about principle.

What is public service supposed to mean?

In Canada, Members of Parliament can receive pensions that average around $80,000 a year. Meanwhile, many seniors live on $20,000 to $25,000 annually through CPP and OAS. That gap isn’t illegal. It isn’t hidden. But it raises questions.

It’s the distance.

The distance between those who govern and those who count every dollar.

And then I think of José Mujica.

Before becoming president, he was a guerrilla fighter in the 1960s. He was imprisoned for nearly 14 years — much of that time in solitary confinement under Uruguay’s military dictatorship. He endured isolation, harsh conditions, and psychological strain. He later said he survived by talking to ants and imagining conversations in his mind.

After prison, he didn’t pursue wealth. He returned to farming.

As president, he chose to live on his small rural property, where he and his wife grew flowers — including carnations — and vegetables. He drove an old Volkswagen Beetle. He donated about 90% of his presidential salary.

He rejected the presidential palace.

Not because he had to.

Because he believed power should not distance leaders from ordinary people.

One of his most quoted reflections was:

“Poor people are not those who have little. They are those who need infinitely more.”

That idea lingers.

This conversation isn’t about punishment. It’s about alignment. About solidarity. About whether leadership should reflect the lived reality of the majority.

Should the highest public pensions mirror the economic reality of ordinary citizens?
Or should our focus be on ensuring no senior lives on $20,000 a year?

Maybe both.

Perhaps the real measure of a country is not how comfortably its leaders retire — but how securely its most vulnerable citizens live.

Public office is a responsibility. Not a reward.

And maybe the richest leaders are the ones who need the least.

---

Reflective Questions

1. What does “public service” mean to you?
2. Should elected officials retire with benefits significantly higher than the average citizen?
3. Does a leader’s personal lifestyle influence your trust in them?
4. Is solidarity symbolic — or should it be structural?
5. What would economic dignity look like for everyone, not just those in power?

The Elder Brothers Tried to Tell Us (1990

The Elder Brothers Tried to Tell Us (1990)

Back when we only had television — no scrolling, no doom feeds, no algorithm pushing the next outrage — I remember watching a BBC documentary that has never left me.

It was called From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers’ Warning by Alan Ereira, featuring the Kogi of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

The Kogi are deeply private. They rarely speak to outsiders. But in 1990, they chose to.

They sent one of their own — someone who had learned some English — to deliver a message to the “Younger Brother.” That’s what they call the rest of us.

The message was simple.

If there is no snow at the top of the mountain…
there is no water below.

If the high places dry out, the rivers will not flow.
If the rivers do not flow, life below suffers.

It wasn’t dramatic.
It wasn’t political.
It wasn’t angry.

It was observational.

They showed receding snow. They spoke about imbalance. They warned that the world was being destabilized by human behavior — long before climate change became a mainstream headline.

They trusted a filmmaker.
They trusted television.
They trusted that we would listen.

We didn’t.

---

We Knew

That’s the part that stays with me.

People talk like climate change is some new revelation. But it isn’t.

In 1990, Indigenous elders were already explaining the water cycle collapse in spiritual and ecological language. Scientists were publishing data. Environmentalists were warning about fossil fuels.

The Kogi didn’t use graphs.

They used mountains.

They said: when the snow stops falling at the top, the balance below breaks.

And now?

Wildfires rage across the U.S.
Snowpacks shrink.
Reservoirs drop.
Forests burn.
Communities choke on smoke.

It’s not abstract anymore.

It’s happening.

---

The Grief of Being Ignored

There’s something deeply sad about remembering that program now.

They broke centuries of silence to speak.

They believed we would hear them.

Years later, they made a second film — Aluna — because they realized the message had not been understood.

Imagine carrying that grief.

Imagine watching the mountains dry while the “Younger Brother” debates economics and growth

The Land Remembers

 

In my last post I wrote that no one is illegal on stolen ground. Today I want to talk about what happens to that ground after it is taken, rezoned, and built upward.

I once worked in a 100-year-old industrial building near False Creek.

It was the operational guts of Expo 86. Costumes, computers, uniforms, cleaning equipment — all of it moved through that warehouse.

Years later I learned that during WWII, parts of Vancouver’s industrial lands were used to process Japanese Canadians before internment. Much of that happened at Hastings Park, but the broader waterfront and warehouse district carried that era’s weight.

Land remembers.

Then came the transformation after Expo 86 — when industrial waterfront became global real estate.

Now, council has approved a residential tower on industrial-zoned land in the Mount Pleasant industrial area.

We are told this is progress.

But what is lost when industrial land becomes housing?

Industrial doesn’t mean smokestacks.

It means:

Bakeries

Industrial laundries

Film studios

Repair shops

Recycling centres

Trades yards

Food distribution

It is the backstage of the city.

When we erase backstage space, we change the economy itself.

I’m currently on a housing list near 12th and Cambie. So yes — I understand housing need.

But I also understand infrastructure.

And I wonder:

Can a city survive when everything becomes residential?

No One Is Illegal on Stolen Ground

 🌎 No One Is Illegal on Stolen Ground — So Why Do Borders Still Decide Our Worth?

Lately I’ve been feeling angry.

Not just annoyed.
Not just frustrated.

Angry.

After watching Bad Bunny’s performance and the symbolism people were explaining — the history, the resistance, the pride — something clicked for me.

A wake-up call.

Because the truth is simple:

No one is illegal on stolen ground.

And yet… governments keep acting like we are.

---

✈️ The “Land of the Free”… with a data checklist

Recently I saw a list of personal information travelers may soon need to give the U.S.:

Social media history.
Emails from ten years back.
Family members’ names.
Biometrics.
Fingerprints.
Faces.
Iris scans.

Like entering a country is applying for parole.

Even though I have zero desire to go to the U.S., it still made me mad.

Because it’s not just about travel.

It’s about something deeper.

It’s about who gets treated like they belong — and who gets treated like a suspect.

---

🌿 My family didn’t cross borders. Borders crossed them.

Here’s the thing.

My own family history makes these rules feel ridiculous.

My relatives moved:

East Coast
Quebec
down to the Willamette Valley in Oregon
then later up to what we now call BC

This was the early 1800s.

There were no passports.
No visas.
No interviews.

People just… moved.

Because humans have always moved.

Later, in the 1950s, my mom’s sister left Vancouver at 16 and went to live in California.

No drama.
No surveillance.
No digital trail.

Just life.

And in the 1970s?
Europeans could come to Canada, have a short interview, and voilà — work, stay, become Canadian.

Easy.

So what changed?

---

🧭 The hypocrisy

Let’s be honest.

When Europeans arrived: “Welcome! Take land! Start a life!”

Now? “Prove you deserve to exist here.”

The same countries that:

• colonized continents
• crossed oceans freely
• redrew maps

… now criminalize movement.

It’s backwards.

It’s historically absurd.

And it’s cruel.

Especially on land that was never theirs to control in the first place.

---

😔 But it’s complicated too

Here’s where it gets messy — and real.

Because I also see the other side.

When tens of thousands of students or newcomers arrive without planning or housing?

Rent explodes.

Locals struggle.

Communities get stressed.

And people start blaming each other.

But let’s be clear:

That’s not immigration’s fault.

That’s:

• governments not building housing
• corporate landlords
• speculation
• greed

Newcomers become scapegoats while the system cashes in.

Divide people.
Keep profits.

Same old story.

---

🎨 Why art matters

Maybe that’s why art feels so important right now.

Art questions borders.

Art questions ownership.

Art tells the truth governments don’t want to say out loud.

Watching artists like Bad Bunny speak about identity and land reminded me:

Culture survives.
People survive.
Borders are temporary.

Humans aren’t.

---

🌎 What I believe

I don’t have all the answers.

But I know this:

No one should be treated like a criminal for moving across land their ancestors once walked freely.

No one should need to hand over their entire digital life just to visit somewhere.

And no one should be told they don’t belong when the ground itself carries stories older than any flag.

Borders are political.

Belonging is human.

And those two things don’t always match.

---

We’re living in strange times.

But I’ll keep painting.
Keep writing.
Keep speaking.

Because art is how I fight back.

🎨✊

#FightBackWithArt
#WarriorUpWithArt
#Borders
#Belonging
#NoOneIsIllegal
#LandBack
#ArtHeals
#MigrationStories
#CulturalResistance
#Zipolite

Bad Bunny no solo actuó — recordó por todos nosotros ❤️🔥

🇪🇸 Spanish (Español)

Bad Bunny no solo actuó — recordó por todos nosotros ❤️🔥

Ayer me perdí feliz viendo clips de la presentación de Bad Bunny 🎶

No era solo la música.
No era solo el baile.
Era el simbolismo.
La historia.
El orgullo. ✨

Personas explicando cada detalle, cada referencia, cada mensaje escondido — como si todos estuviéramos aprendiendo la historia que intentaron borrar 📚

Y lo entendí:

Esto no era entretenimiento.

Era preservación.
Era resistencia.
Era AMOR. ❤️

Porque cuando los sistemas intentan borrarte…
cuando se elimina la historia…
cuando familias se esconden de ICE…
cuando vecinos viven con miedo…

Hablar tu idioma en voz alta se vuelve revolucionario 🗣️🔥

Cantar en español se vuelve político 🇵🇷
Bailar se vuelve desafío 💃🏽
La alegría se vuelve protesta ✊🏽

Toda la presentación en español.

Sin traducción.
Sin disculpas.
Sin hacerse pequeño.

Solo: Aquí estamos. Siempre hemos estado aquí.

Y eso es PODER ⚡

La cultura vive en la música 🎶
en el idioma 🗣️
en la danza 💃🏽
en la memoria 🕯️

Y la memoria es más fuerte que el miedo.

El arte sana.
El arte recuerda.
El arte lucha.

Porque el amor es más poderoso que el odio. ❤️✨

#FightBackWithArt
##WarriorUpWithArt

---

🇫🇷 French (Français)

Bad Bunny n’a pas seulement performé — il a porté la mémoire pour nous tous ❤️🔥

Hier, je me suis perdue à regarder des extraits de sa performance 🎶

Ce n’était pas seulement la musique.
Ni seulement la danse.
C’était le symbole.
L’histoire.
La fierté. ✨

Des gens expliquaient chaque détail, chaque référence — comme si nous réapprenions une histoire qu’on avait essayé d’effacer 📚

Et j’ai compris :

Ce n’était pas du divertissement.

C’était de la préservation.
De la résistance.
De l’AMOUR. ❤️

Quand un système essaie de t’effacer…
quand des familles vivent dans la peur…

Parler ta langue devient révolutionnaire 🗣️🔥

Chanter en espagnol devient politique 🇵🇷
Danser devient un acte de défi 💃🏽
La joie devient protestation ✊🏽

Aucune excuse.
Aucune traduction.
Aucune réduction.

Juste : Nous sommes là. Nous avons toujours été là.

La culture vit dans la musique 🎶
dans la langue 🗣️
dans la danse 💃🏽
dans la mémoire 🕯️

Et la mémoire est plus forte que la peur.

L’art guérit.
L’art se souvient.
L’art résiste.

Parce que l’amour est plus fort que la haine. ❤️✨

#FightBackWithArt
##WarriorUpWithArt

---

🇮🇹 Italian (Italiano)

Bad Bunny non si è esibito soltanto — ha ricordato per tutti noi ❤️🔥

Ieri mi sono persa a guardare i video della sua performance 🎶

Non era solo musica.
Non era solo danza.
Era simbolismo.
Storia.
Orgoglio. ✨

Persone che spiegavano ogni dettaglio, ogni messaggio nascosto — come se stessimo recuperando una storia che avevano cercato di cancellare 📚

E ho capito:

Non era intrattenimento.

Era conservazione.
Era resistenza.
Era AMORE. ❤️

Quando il sistema cerca di cancellarti…
quando le famiglie vivono nella paura…

Parlare la tua lingua diventa rivoluzionario 🗣️🔥

Cantare in spagnolo diventa politico 🇵🇷
Ballare diventa sfida 💃🏽
La gioia diventa protesta ✊🏽

Nessuna traduzione.
Nessuna scusa.
Nessun ridimensionarsi.

Solo: Siamo qui. Ci siamo sempre stati.

La cultura vive nella musica 🎶
nella lingua 🗣️
nella danza 💃🏽
nella memoria 🕯️

E la memoria è più forte della paura.

L’arte guarisce.
L’arte ricorda.
L’arte resiste.

Perché l’amore è più forte dell’odio. ❤️✨

#FightBackWithArt
##WarriorUpWithArt

English Version 

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Bad Bunny Didn’t Just Perform — He Remembered for All of Us ❤️🔥

Yesterday I fell down a beautiful rabbit hole watching clips of Bad Bunny’s performance 🎶

Not just the music.
Not just the dancing.
But the symbolism.
The history.
The pride. ✨

People breaking it down online — explaining every detail, every reference, every hidden message — like we were all in class together learning the history they tried to erase 📚🧠

And it hit me:

This wasn’t entertainment.

This was preservation.
This was resistance.
This was LOVE. ❤️

Because when systems try to erase you…
when history gets deleted…
when families hide from ICE…
when neighbours are afraid…
when artists, photographers, and everyday people are terrorized just for existing…

Speaking your language out loud becomes revolutionary 🗣️🔥

Singing in Spanish becomes political 🇵🇷
Dancing becomes defiance 💃🏽
Joy becomes protest ✊🏽

The entire performance in Spanish.

No translation.
No apology.
No shrinking.

Just: We are here. We have always been here.

And that is POWER ⚡

It reminds me of Canada’s reckoning at 150 — when Indigenous voices said,
“Celebrate what exactly? You erased us.” 🧡

Every country has to face its ghosts.
The U.S. is in that moment now.
Puerto Rico has lived it for generations.

And here comes Bad Bunny — not with a speech, not with hate — but with art 🎨

Art that says:
You can’t erase us.
You can’t silence us.
You can’t delete culture.

Because culture lives in music 🎶
In language 🗣️
In dance 💃🏽
In memory 🕯️

And memory is stronger than fear.

A year from now, when the news cycle moves on…
when people feel tired or defeated…

I want to remember this moment.

I want to say:

“What about Bad Bunny?”

Look what he did.
Look how he told the truth.
Look how many people felt seen.
Look how love filled that space.

Because love is louder.
Love is older.
Love is more powerful than hate. ❤️✨

Always.

Art heals.
Art remembers.
Art fights back.

And yesterday, a stage became a history book. 🌎📖🔥

#FightBackWithArt
##WarriorUpWithArt
#BadBunny #PuertoRico #Cultura #ArtIsResistance #MusicAsProtest #LoveWins #Remember

When Instagram Moves Too Fast:

 Update:

After feeling sick watching the fast, flashing clips, I wrote to the organizers to let them know.

They responded kindly and said they hadn’t realized the edits could affect people this way — and they’re going to address it.

That meant a lot.

It reminded me that accessibility isn’t about blame.

Sometimes people simply don’t know.

But when we speak up, things can change.

If something online makes you feel unwell, it’s okay to say so.

Your comfort and your brain health matter too.

‐----------

When Instagram Moves Too Fast: Flashing Graphics, Seizures, and Why Our Brains Need Gentler Media

The other day I tried to watch clips from a local art fair on Instagram.

I was excited.
Friends were posting.
Paintings, music, sunshine, community.

But I couldn’t watch.

The videos were cut into tiny pieces and sped up — flash, flash, flash — jump cuts, strobe transitions, white screens, red screens, half-second clips stacked together.

Within seconds I felt dizzy.

My stomach turned.
My eyes hurt.
I had to look away and close them.

And I thought:

Why does something as simple as watching art make me feel sick?

---

It’s not “just sensitivity”

For a long time I wondered if it was just me getting older or “too sensitive.”

But it isn’t.

Fast flashing graphics and rapid edits can trigger very real neurological reactions.

Even in people who don’t have epilepsy.

Symptoms many people experience: • dizziness
• nausea
• headaches
• eye strain
• anxiety
• disorientation
• brain fog

It’s your nervous system saying:

This is too much.

---

The Pokémon incident many of us remember

If you grew up in the 90s like I did, you might remember this.

In 1997, a Pokémon episode aired in Japan that used intense flashing red and blue lights for about 12–15 seconds.

Over 600 children experienced seizures.
Hundreds were taken to hospitals.

It became one of the largest mass photosensitive seizure events ever recorded.

After that, broadcasters created safety rules about flashing lights on television.

But here’s the strange part…

Those rules don’t really exist on social media.

Now anyone can post rapid strobe edits directly into our faces — with zero warning.

---

Our brains didn’t evolve for this

Think about nature for a moment.

The world we evolved in looks like:

🌿 waves rolling in
🌿 wind moving leaves
🌿 slow clouds
🌿 sunrise light
🌿 steady motion

Not:

⚡ strobe flashes
⚡ 20 cuts per second
⚡ bright white screens
⚡ red/black flickers
⚡ hyper-speed edits

Our brains process natural movement smoothly.

But flashing contrast and rapid visual changes can overload the visual cortex and nervous system.

It’s not weakness.

It’s biology.

---

Social media rewards “faster, louder, more”

Platforms like Instagram now push:

• faster reels
• shorter attention spans
• constant stimulation
• flashy transitions
• visual shock

Because it grabs attention.

But grabbing attention isn’t the same as being healthy.

Sometimes it feels like our feeds are becoming tiny casinos — lights, noise, flashing, everything competing to hook the brain.

And some of us pay the price physically.

Especially: • people with epilepsy
• migraines
• concussions
• autism or sensory sensitivity
• anxiety
• PTSD
• or simply tired nervous systems

Accessibility matters.

And right now, a lot of content simply isn’t accessible.

---

Art shouldn’t make us sick

What really struck me is this:

These were posts about an art fair.

Art.

Something that’s supposed to feel inspiring and joyful.

But the way it was edited made it unwatchable.

When did we decide that everything has to be sped up?

Why can’t we just see a painting for a few seconds?

Why can’t we breathe?

Why can’t we look?

Not everything needs to flash.

Not everything needs to shout.

Sometimes slowness is more powerful.

---

Choosing gentler media

Living here in Zipolite, I notice how different life feels.

I wake up at 5am.

I watch the ocean.

I paint slowly.

I photograph light moving across sand.

Nothing flashes.

Nothing screams for attention.

And honestly?

My nervous system feels better.

So maybe we need more:

• slower videos
• longer shots
• softer transitions
• fewer strobe effects
• more calm

Media that respects the brain.

Media that includes everyone.

Media that heals instead of overwhelms.

---

A small request to creators

If you make videos or reels, please consider:

• avoid rapid flashing
• avoid strobe effects
• avoid extreme contrast flickers
• slow down cuts
• give the eye time to rest
• add content warnings if needed

It’s a small change that can make a big difference for someone.

You might help someone avoid a migraine.

Or a panic attack.

Or a seizure.

---

If you feel sick watching fast videos…

You’re not dramatic.

You’re not old.

You’re not “too sensitive.”

Your brain is protecting you.

Listen to it.

Look away.

Choose calmer spaces.

Your nervous system deserves care.

---

Maybe art doesn’t need to be louder.

Maybe it needs to be kinder.

🌿

---

Our Sunday Something — Better Than Doing Nothing

 Our Sunday Something — Better Than Doing Nothing ☀️🌊🎨

This morning I woke up at 5am with the roosters 🐓🌅
No alarm clock. Just soft light and quiet air.

Coffee in my hands ☕
Ocean breathing in and out 🌊
Paint on my fingers 🎨
Bare feet on warm sand 👣

Zipolite mornings feel peaceful in a way that’s hard to explain 💛
The kind of peace that slows your heart and makes you smile for no reason 😊

Today there’s an art festival in town 🎉🖌️
So I lined up my paintings outside against the wall 🌈
Color everywhere — blues, pinks, sunsets, waves, faces, stories 🩵💙🧡

Hot sun ☀️
Warm breeze 🌴
Cool water 💦
Simple things. Beautiful things.

Then… I check my phone 📱
And wow.

So much negativity 😞
So much fear 😣
So much drama 😵‍💫

It’s exhausting.

Sometimes it feels like the internet wants us stressed all the time.

So today I tried something small and different…

I searched: “cheerful things” 😄🌸🌻

And you know what happened?

More art 🎨
More nature 🌿
More dogs 🐕
More gardens 🌺
More smiles 😁
Less doom ❌

It actually changed my feed.

It made me think…

What if we all did this?
What if we trained the algorithm toward hope instead of outrage?

Not fighting ⚔️
Not arguing 🗯️
Just quietly choosing light ✨

Maybe most people don’t notice the negativity.
Maybe some of us feel it too deeply.

But we can try something better 💛

Search something kind 🤍
Share something beautiful 🌅
Post your art 🎨
Show the ocean 🌊
Show your garden 🌱
Show your dog 🐾
Show your joy 😄

Little things matter.

“Our Sunday Something” — better than doing nothing 🙌

Because honestly…

We can change the world 🌎
One post
One search
One smile
One painting at a time 🎨✨

For better or worse — it’s always a choice.

Today I choose better ☀️💛🌊

From Zipolite with love 💕
— Tina

#Zipolite #ArtHeals #CheerfulThings #FightBackWithArt #SundayVibes #OceanLife #GoodEnergyOnly #ChooseJoy #WeCanChangeTheWorld 🌈✨

The Portrait, The Politics, and the Group Nobody’s Heard

 🎨 The Portrait, The Politics, and the Group Nobody’s Heard Of

The other day I saw Stephen Harper’s official portrait.

You know the kind.
Soft lighting.
Calm expression.
Slimmed down.
Statesman vibes.

The kind of painting that says: 👉 “Trust me. History already approves of me.”

And I couldn’t help thinking…

Who is this guy supposed to be?
Because it sure doesn’t look like the Harper I remember.

It looks like the rebrand version.

Which got me thinking about something even stranger.

Not the painting.

But what Harper is doing now.

---

Wait… what’s the IDU?

Quick question.

If I stopped you on the street and asked:

“Have you heard of the IDU?”

What would you say?

• IUD?
• DUI?
• some tech startup?
• a new bank fee?

Most people have never heard of it.

But here’s the part that surprised me:

Stephen Harper is the Chairman of the International Democracy Union (IDU) — a global alliance of conservative and centre-right political parties.

Not local.

Not Canadian.

Global.

They share strategy.
Messaging.
Campaign tactics.
Political relationships.

Basically a worldwide political network.

And hardly anyone talks about it.

---

Why does this matter?

I’m not saying it’s a secret society or anything dramatic.

It’s public.

It has a website.

But it’s one of those things that exists quietly in the background while regular people are busy trying to:

• pay rent
• buy groceries
• find housing
• survive

Meanwhile former prime ministers are networking internationally with political power players.

It feels like two different worlds.

Us… and them.

---

Portraits vs Reality

Here’s what gets me.

Governments commission flattering portraits.

Leaders look thinner. Kinder. Wiser.

History gets airbrushed.

But real life wasn’t so soft-focus.

Under Harper we saw:

• scientists muzzled
• media tightly controlled
• Parliament prorogued
• power centralized in the PMO

That wasn’t exactly watercolour serenity.

So when I see a polished portrait hanging on a wall, I can’t help thinking:

Art can either tell the truth… or polish the myth.

Sometimes satire tells the truth better.

Maybe that’s why protest art exists.

---

The bigger question

Why don’t we know about groups like the IDU?

Why do regular citizens know every celebrity breakup…
but not the international political networks shaping policy?

If democracy is supposed to be “for the people,”
shouldn’t we at least know who’s organizing the players?

---

A little street test

I’m tempted to do this:

Walk around Vancouver and ask:

“Do you know what the IDU is?”

I’m betting: 90% say no
5% guess wrong
5% actually know

That’s not exactly informed democracy.

---

Maybe art is the fight back

Maybe the answer isn’t just more news.

Maybe it’s:

• satire
• murals
• cartoons
• writing
• storytelling

Because sometimes a painting or a joke wakes people up faster than a policy paper.

Power loves polished portraits.

Citizens need messy conversations.

---

What do you think?

Have you heard of the IDU before today?

Should former leaders be quietly building global political networks?

And if we painted an honest portrait of modern politics…

what would it really look like?

Why Vancouver Needs the Right to Recall Its Mayor

 ✊ Why Vancouver Needs the Right to Recall Its Mayor

A call for democratic accountability in British Columbia

Something has been bothering me for a long time.

In British Columbia, if a mayor lies, breaks promises, ignores residents, or governs against the public interest…

We can’t remove them.

We are stuck until the next election.

Four years is a long time when housing is unaffordable, services are cut, and decisions hurt the most vulnerable.

And yet — we have no democratic “emergency brake.”

---

🧠 Did you know?

In B.C.:

• You can recall an MLA (provincial politician)
• But you cannot recall a mayor or city councillor
• Municipal leaders face almost no mid-term accountability from voters

That means even if thousands of residents lose trust, there is no legal mechanism to act.

We just have to wait.

In a healthy democracy, that doesn’t make sense.

---

🌎 Look around

Across North America and the world, we’re seeing:

• politicians who lie
• ethics violations
• conflicts of interest
• broken promises
• decisions that benefit developers or corporations over people

When trust breaks, democracy weakens.

If people feel powerless, they disengage.

And when citizens disengage, bad leadership thrives.

Accountability shouldn’t depend on luck or waiting years.

It should be built into the system.

---

🗳️ What is a recall election?

A recall allows citizens to:

1. Gather signatures (for example 25–40% of voters)
2. Trigger a vote
3. Decide whether an elected official stays or goes

Simple. Democratic. Peaceful.

No drama. No chaos. No protests required.

Just voters deciding.

Many U.S. cities and some provinces and countries already use this model.

So why not Vancouver?

---

🏙️ Why this matters here

In Vancouver we face:

• housing unaffordability
• homelessness
• social assistance gaps
• developer influence
• cuts to services
• growing inequality

If leadership fails on issues this serious, residents shouldn’t be trapped for four years.

Democracy should be responsive.

Not “see you next election.”

---

⚖️ This isn’t about one mayor

This is important.

This is not personal. This is not partisan. This is not revenge politics.

This is about future protection.

It’s about making sure:

👉 ANY mayor
👉 ANY councillor
👉 ANY party

knows they work for the people — or they can be replaced.

That’s how accountability works.

---

🛠️ What we could change

British Columbia could amend the Local Government Act to:

• Allow recall of mayors and councillors
• Require a clear signature threshold (ex: 30–40%)
• Hold a special election if triggered
• Prevent abuse with reasonable safeguards

The province already has recall rules for MLAs.

We could simply extend similar rights to municipalities.

The framework already exists.

---

🌱 What can ordinary people do?

You don’t need to be a politician.

Start small.

• Share this article
• Talk about it in classes
• Bring it to political science or civics discussions
• Discuss it in unions and community groups
• Connect with human rights lawyers
• Write your MLA
• Ask candidates where they stand
• Start petitions
• Start conversations

Big reforms start with conversations.

Always.

---

📚 If you’re a student, teacher, or organizer

Please use this topic:

• in political science classes
• in high school civics lessons
• in college debates
• in unions
• in advocacy groups
• in human rights spaces

Ask: 👉 Should citizens have the right to remove local leaders mid-term?

If the answer is yes — then we should build it.

---

❤️ A healthy democracy needs tools

Voting every four years is not enough.

Real democracy needs:

✔ transparency
✔ ethics rules
✔ free press
✔ and recall mechanisms

Without accountability, power drifts away from people.

With accountability, leaders remember who they serve.

---

🌊 Final thought

Democracy shouldn’t feel helpless.

It should feel participatory.

If we can hire our leaders, we should also be able to fire them.

Peacefully. Legally. Democratically.

Let’s start the conversation.

If this resonates with you, please share.

---

Reflective questions

• Should local officials be harder or easier to remove than provincial ones?
• What percentage of signatures feels fair?
• Would recall make politicians more accountable?
• What would Vancouver look like if leaders truly answered to residents between elections?

Affordability for Who?

 🤔 Affordability for Who?

Notes from someone who (half-jokingly) said she might run for mayor

I saw a post on X today from Mayor Ken Sim that said:

“Anyone who’s running for mayor or a non-ABC councillor… they all have said they want to increase property taxes… I’m a math guy and that just makes life less affordable for renters and homeowners.”

And honestly?

My first reaction was: 🤢

Not because I love taxes.
Nobody loves taxes.

But because every time politicians say “affordability,” I wonder:

Affordable for who?

---

🧭 My reality doesn’t match that math

I’ve been a renter most of my life.

I’ve:

• struggled to find stable work
• lived on very little
• navigated social assistance
• watched friends couch surf or leave Vancouver entirely
• seen seniors and disabled people choose between food and rent

So when I hear that freezing property taxes is the big solution…

…it feels disconnected from the reality I see every day.

Because here’s the thing:

Renters don’t get property tax savings.

Landlords don’t suddenly lower rent because their taxes didn’t go up.

If anything, rent keeps climbing anyway. 📈

So how is that helping the people who are actually struggling most?

---

🧮 Property taxes are only one tiny piece

Housing costs in Vancouver aren’t high because of property taxes.

They’re high because:

• housing became an investment market 💰
• supply is treated like a commodity
• wages didn’t keep up
• social housing wasn’t built
• speculation wasn’t controlled

Freezing taxes doesn’t fix any of that.

It just sounds good in a headline.

Meanwhile…

What pays for:

• libraries 📚
• community centres
• shelters 🛏️
• parks 🌳
• transit 🚍
• affordable housing programs

City revenue.

So if taxes don’t increase at all…

What gets cut instead?

And who feels those cuts most?

Usually not homeowners in million-dollar houses.

Usually renters.
Low-income folks.
People already hanging on by a thread.

---

⚽ And then there’s FIFA…

We’re told we can’t raise taxes because it hurts affordability…

…but somehow we can afford:

⚽ FIFA
⚽ mega-events
⚽ tourism branding

I’m not against celebration or sports.

But it’s hard not to notice the contradiction.

We can fund stadiums and spectacle…

…but struggle to fund housing and dignity?

That math doesn’t add up for me either.

---

🌱 If I ever seriously ran for mayor…

I joked recently that maybe I should run.

(Still joking… mostly 😄)

But if I ever did, my focus wouldn’t be:

“Keep taxes at zero no matter what.”

It would be:

• Housing first 🏠
• Protect core services
• Transparency on executive pay
• Support renters, not just property owners
• More co-ops and social housing
• Community gardens & food resilience 🌻
• Local jobs and small businesses

Because a city isn’t affordable if:

• you can’t find housing
• you can’t access services
• you can’t survive on your income

Even if your taxes are frozen.

---

💛 What affordability really means to me

Affordability means:

• sleeping safely at night
• not choosing between food and rent
• libraries staying open
• transit you can rely on
• seniors not isolated
• people not pushed out of their own city

It’s about quality of life.

Not just a line on a tax bill.

---

❓ Some questions I keep thinking about

• Does a property tax freeze actually help renters?
• What services would you give up to keep taxes at zero?
• Should mega-events come before housing security?
• Who benefits most from “affordability” policies?
• If you ran the city, what would you prioritize first?

---

I’m not a politician.

I’m just someone who has lived the edges of this system long enough to see the cracks.

But sometimes lived experience feels like better math than campaign slogans.

And maybe that’s where real affordability starts. 🌿

— Tina (Zipolita)

Japan’s “Dementia Money”: A Quiet Crisis the Whole World — and Vancouver — Should Be Watching

🧠💰 Japan’s “Dementia Money”: A Quiet Crisis the Whole World — and Vancouver — Should Be Watching

For years we’ve been told:

Work hard.
Save.
Be responsible.
Plan for retirement.

Put money away for “later.”

But what happens when later arrives…
and your mind can no longer manage what you saved?

Japan is now facing a reality few countries want to talk about openly:

Trillions of dollars are sitting in the hands of elderly citizens who are losing the cognitive ability to manage it.

Some economists call it:

👉 “Dementia money.”

And it may be one of the biggest hidden risks to modern economies.

Not war.
Not inflation.
Not stock crashes.

But memory loss.

---

🇯🇵 What is “Dementia Money”?

“Dementia money” refers to:

💳 savings
🏠 property
📈 investments
🏦 pensions

…controlled by seniors experiencing cognitive decline — dementia, Alzheimer’s, or age-related impairment.

Japan is the first country to hit this wall hard.

It is:

• the oldest population in the world
• nearly 1 in 3 people over 65
• holding most of the nation’s wealth

Over decades, money accumulated in older generations.

Now millions are entering their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

And many are slowly losing the ability to:

• manage accounts
• understand contracts
• avoid scams
• or even remember their PIN numbers

So the money doesn’t circulate.

It freezes.

Like a lake in winter.

Still there… but unusable.

---

❄️ When Money Stops Moving

Economies depend on flow.

Money needs to:

• be spent
• invested
• shared
• used to start businesses
• used to buy homes

But dementia money often becomes:

🚫 inactive
🚫 inaccessible
🚫 legally complicated

Families can’t access accounts.
Banks won’t allow withdrawals.
Guardianship requires courts and lawyers.
Paperwork takes months or years.

So the money just sits.

Locked away.

Some estimates suggest the total value of these vulnerable assets equals an enormous share of Japan’s economy — approaching half of its GDP.

That’s not just a family issue.

That’s a national system failure.

---

😟 The Human Side No One Mentions

Behind every number is a person.

An elder who:

• forgets their passwords
• trusts the wrong phone caller
• signs something they don’t understand
• feels embarrassed to ask for help

Cognitive decline doesn’t happen overnight.

It’s gradual.

Confusing.

Quiet.

And often hidden.

This makes seniors easy targets for:

📞 scams
💔 financial abuse
🧾 misleading contracts
🧍 predatory “helpers”

A lifetime of savings can disappear in weeks.

Not because someone was careless.

But because they were vulnerable.

There’s something deeply unfair about a system that tells people to save their whole lives —
then abandons them when they need protection most.

---

🌎 Why This Matters Everywhere — Including Vancouver

Japan is simply first.

But Canada is aging too.

And when I look at Vancouver, I see the same storm forming.

Think about it:

🏢 Seniors sitting alone in condos worth $1.5–2 million
💰 Large savings accounts untouched
🧠 Growing dementia rates
📄 Complicated legal systems
👨‍👩‍👧 Younger generations unable to afford rent

At the same time:

👩‍🎓 Young people can’t buy homes
👷 Gig workers can’t save
🏠 Families are pushed out of the city
🚐 More people living in vans or shelters

So we end up with something strange and painful:

Money exists.
Homes exist.
But access doesn’t exist.

We don’t have scarcity.

We have disconnection.

Money frozen at the top.
Need exploding at the bottom.

It’s not just inequality.

It’s paralysis.

---

🏦 Systems Designed for Perfect Minds

Modern finance assumes something unrealistic:

That everyone will always be: ✔ rational
✔ independent
✔ digitally fluent
✔ legally competent

Forever.

But aging isn’t neat.

It’s messy.

People don’t suddenly flip from “fine” to “not fine.”

There’s a long gray zone.

Our systems weren’t built for that gray zone.

So families end up fighting banks and courts — just to pay for groceries or medication.

Imagine needing legal permission to use your mother’s own savings to buy her food.

This happens.

Every day.

---

🧭 A Bigger Question We Avoid

This crisis asks something deeper:

👉 What is money actually for?

If:

• you can’t use it
• your family can’t access it
• it doesn’t help the community
• and it mostly benefits banks holding deposits…

Then what’s the point?

Maybe the goal shouldn’t be hoarding until death.

Maybe wealth should move earlier.

Flow earlier.

Support life while we’re alive.

Not sit untouched until memory fades.

Money shouldn’t die with the mind.

---

🌱 What Could Change?

Some possibilities:

✨ Early powers of attorney
✨ Simpler legal guardianship
✨ Safer banking protections
✨ Scam detection systems
✨ Intergenerational housing models
✨ Policies that encourage earlier sharing, not lifelong hoarding

And maybe something more radical:

✨ Rethinking what “retirement security” really means

Because security shouldn’t mean isolation.

And savings shouldn’t mean stagnation.

---

❤️ A Personal Reflection

Most of us have seen this already.

A parent confused by online banking.
An elder embarrassed to ask for help.
Someone hiding their memory loss.

There’s grief in that.

A quiet grief.

Japan isn’t failing.

They’re just ahead of us.

They’re showing us our own future.

They are the warning light on the dashboard.

🚨

The question is whether we look away…
or slow down and change direction.

---

🌿 Reflective Questions (Vancouver Edition)

Use these for journaling, discussion, or your own blog readers:

1. 🏠 How many seniors in Vancouver live alone in valuable homes but struggle day-to-day with bills or technology?
2. 💭 Have you ever helped an older family member manage money or passwords? What challenges came up?
3. 💰 What happens to wealth in our city when people become cognitively impaired — who protects them?
4. 📉 Could frozen wealth be one hidden reason younger generations feel permanently locked out of housing?
5. 🤝 How could communities — not just banks — support aging with dignity?
6. 🌱 Should we encourage earlier wealth sharing instead of waiting for inheritance after death?
7. 🧠 Why do our financial systems assume perfect mental capacity for life?
8. ❤️ What would a compassionate, human-centered economy look like for both elders and youth?
9. 🏘️ Could intergenerational housing or co-living reduce both loneliness and financial risk?
10. 🔮 If Vancouver is aging fast, what should we change now — before we reach Japan’s crisis point?

The Day I Realized Canada Doesn’t Own the Land

 🌿 The Day I Realized Canada Doesn’t Own the Land

Sharon Venne, Treaties, and Why History Feels Different Once You Learn the Truth

Sometimes you hear something that quietly rearranges your entire understanding of the world.

Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just one conversation… and suddenly nothing fits the way it used to.

That’s what happened to me when I learned from Sharon Venne.

Not from headlines.
Not from school textbooks.
Not from government “heritage minutes.”

From an Indigenous lawyer who simply explained history the way it actually happened.

And honestly?
It shook me.

---

👩🏽‍⚖️ Who Sharon Venne Is

Sharon H. Venne is a Cree lawyer, scholar, and international advocate for Indigenous rights.

She helped shape parts of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
She has spent decades working on treaty law, land rights, and Indigenous sovereignty.

But what makes her powerful isn’t just credentials.

It’s clarity.

She explains Canada in a way that makes you stop and say:

“Wait… why didn’t we learn this in school?”

---

📜 The Part That Changed Everything for Me

Here’s what really hit me.

She said:

Before the treaties…
Indigenous nations already had:

• governments
• laws
• education
• medicine
• trade networks
• diplomacy
• fully functioning societies

They weren’t “waiting” to be discovered.

They weren’t “undeveloped.”

They weren’t empty land.

They had everything.

And here’s the part most Canadians never hear:

They still had it after.

Because treaties weren’t meant to erase them.

---

🤝 Treaties Were Not “Land Sales”

This is where everything gets messy.

We’re taught that treaties meant Indigenous people “gave up” their land.

Like a real estate transaction.

Sign here → land is now Canada’s.

But Sharon explains that’s not how Indigenous law or understanding works at all.

Treaties were meant to be:

nation-to-nation agreements.

Sharing agreements.
Co-existence agreements.
Relationship agreements.

Not surrender.

Not extinction.

Not “thanks, we’ll take it from here.”

More like:

“We will live together. We will help each other. As long as the rivers flow and the grass grows.”

That’s not a land deed.

That’s a promise.

---

🧠 Then Came the Provinces…

And this is the part that really scrambled my brain.

Canada didn’t even exist when many treaties were signed.

The provinces were created later.

Which means:

Indigenous nations made agreements with the Crown, not Alberta, not BC, not Saskatchewan, not Ottawa bureaucrats that didn’t even exist yet.

So when provinces act like they “own” everything?

It raises a huge question:

Who actually gave them that authority?

Because from an Indigenous legal perspective…

The land was never surrendered in the first place.

---

🌎 Why This Matters Right Now

Learning this history feels heavy — especially when we look at current politics.

When you see:

• provinces fighting over “resources”
• corporations extracting land without consent
• or even foreign governments poking at Canadian unity
• separatist movements talking about dividing territory like it’s property

You suddenly realize…

Canada doesn’t sit on empty land.

It sits on treaty land.

On Indigenous land.

On agreements that were supposed to be honored.

So when politicians talk about borders and ownership like it’s a Monopoly board…

It feels wrong.

Because the foundation itself is misunderstood.

---

🌿 What Woke Me Up

What Sharon Venne gave me wasn’t anger.

It was perspective.

A deeper one.

A more honest one.

It made me realize:

Canada isn’t just a country.
It’s a relationship.

And relationships require:

• respect
• consent
• accountability
• memory

Not erasure.

Not rewriting history.

Not pretending the past is settled.

---

💬 Final Thoughts

The day before the treaties, Indigenous nations had everything.

The day after, they still did.

What changed wasn’t their legitimacy.

It was the story Canada chose to tell.

And maybe that’s what needs correcting most.

Not just laws.

Not just policies.

But the story.

Because once you really understand it…

You can’t unsee it.

And you can’t go back to believing the land was ever “empty” or “owned” the way we were taught.

---

“Foreign Hands on Canadian Soil: Alberta Separatists, U.S. Meetings, and a Sovereignty Wake-Up Call

🇨🇦 “Foreign Hands on Canadian Soil: Alberta Separatists, U.S. Meetings, and a Sovereignty Wake-Up Call”

Recent reporting has rocked Canadian politics and raised urgent questions about foreign influence, national unity, and what it means to be a sovereign nation.

Multiple credible news outlets — including Reuters, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and others — are now documenting that senior officials from the Trump administration have held multiple meetings with leaders of a separatist group from Alberta known as the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP). These meetings reportedly include three sessions with U.S. State Department officials in Washington since April 2025, where the group discussed its agenda for an independence referendum and the possibility of a massive U.S. credit facility (up to US$500 billion) to help bankroll an independent Alberta if such a referendum succeeds.

---

🔥 Political Fallout in Canada

The political reaction has been intense:

• British Columbia Premier David Eby didn’t hold back, calling the act of seeking foreign assistance to break up Canada “treason.” His comment reflects deep concern that going outside Canada to solicit backing for separation crosses a line into foreign interference.
• Other provincial leaders, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, have labeled the meetings “unethical” and insisted Canadians should settle their issues internally.
• Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have taken a more nuanced stance. Carney emphasized that the U.S. must respect Canadian sovereignty, while Smith — though opposing separation — said discontent in Alberta is real and deserves domestic attention.

These reactions reflect not just political disagreement, but real national security concerns about how international actors engage with internal political movements.

---

📍 What the Reports Actually Say

Here’s what’s verified so far:

✔️ APP leaders have met with U.S. officials in Washington multiple times.
✔️ Discussions reportedly included ideas about massive financial support for a future independent Alberta.
✔️ U.S. officials have not confirmed any formal commitment or agreed funding.

However:

❗ There is no scheduled referendum yet and no legal process underway to actually separate Alberta from Canada.
❗ The U.S. government has not officially adopted policies supporting Alberta independence.

---

🧠 Why This Matters

This isn’t fringe internet chatter. This situation touches on fundamental questions about:

🛡️ National Sovereignty

When a political movement engages with a foreign government — especially one with geopolitical leverage and economic interests — it blurs the line between political advocacy and foreign intervention.

💬 Foreign Influence in Domestic Affairs

Traditionally, Canadian democracy has managed regional discontent through internal debate, elections, and domestic processes. But when a separatist group goes to Washington, D.C., it raises uncomfortable questions about external political actors shaping internal outcomes.

🧩 Public Trust & Media Accountability

Public media outlets — such as CBC and Reuters — are doing essential work reporting these developments with scrutiny and context. Without them, it’s easy for narratives to be shaped by partisan or algorithm-driven platforms that amplify outrage without grounding facts.

---

🧾 What “Treason” Really Means

B.C. Premier Eby’s use of the word treason is powerful and provocative. But legal experts caution that under Canada’s Criminal Code, treason involves violent acts against the state or aiding the enemy in wartime — conditions not present here.

Still, the political and ethical debate is real: there’s a difference between personal advocacy and actively courting foreign involvement to alter the fabric of a nation.

---

🧠 Final Thought: Why This Should Make Every Canadian Pause

This story is more than a regional controversy. It’s a case study in:

• The fragility of democratic norms.
• The intersection of domestic discontent and international politics.
• The importance of informed public discourse over disinformation or superficial outrage.

It reminds us why independent journalism matters — not to tell us what to think, but to show us what’s happening, so citizens can make sense of forces that shape our future.

Before You Share That “The World Is

 📣 Before You Share That “The World Is Dumping the USA” Post… Read This

I just came across one of those long, angry viral posts claiming:

👉 “The world doesn’t trust the U.S. anymore”
👉 “Everyone is dumping U.S. bonds”
👉 “The dollar is collapsing”
👉 “Economic apocalypse is coming”

It was full of swearing, rage, and dramatic language.

So I did something simple:

I slowed down and fact-checked it.

Here’s what I found.

Yes — a few pension funds in Sweden and Denmark reduced some U.S. bonds.
Yes — some countries are buying more gold (which they always do during uncertain times).
Yes — China has slowly lowered its holdings over many years.

But that’s normal portfolio diversification.

It’s not “the world running for the exits.”

Meanwhile: ✔️ The U.S. is still selling trillions in bonds
✔️ The dollar is still the global reserve currency
✔️ Most foreign investors still hold massive U.S. assets

So why did the post feel so intense?

Because it wasn’t analysis.

It was emotional manipulation.

Big red flags: 🚩 Lots of profanity
🚩 “Collapse” and “end of empire” language
🚩 Cherry-picked facts with no scale
🚩 Very long rant designed to overwhelm
🚩 Blame + anger instead of explanation

Honestly, it reads like someone fed a few headlines into AI and said: “Write something inflammatory.”

And that’s the internet now.

Not necessarily truth.
Just outrage farming.

Remember: Fear spreads faster than facts.

Before sharing posts that make you feel panicked or furious, pause and ask: 👉 Is this informing me or provoking me?

Calm information empowers. Rage posts manipulate.

Let’s not help misinformation travel — even when it agrees with our politics.

Share wisely. 🌿

Imagine If We Spent the Money on Healing 💔

 Imagine If We Spent the Money on Healing 💔

Today I read a sentence that stopped me cold.

“Canada is quadrupling its defence spending.”

Quadrupling.

Not doubling.
Not a small increase.
Four times.

And my first reaction wasn’t strategy or geopolitics.

It was:

How many homes is that? 🏠
How many meals? 🍲
How many detox beds?
How many youth centres?
How many elders cared for with dignity? 👵🏽
How many people wouldn’t have to write “Emergency contact: NONE” on a form?

Because that’s what security looks like to me.

Not jets. ✈️
Not submarines.
Not bigger guns in the Arctic.

Security is a warm place to sleep. 🛏️
Security is food in the fridge. 🥖
Security is mental health care when you’re spiralling. 🧠
Security is knowing someone would pick up the phone if you called. ❤️

We’re told defence spending keeps us safe.

But safe from what?

And safe for who?

If even a fraction of those billions went into housing, treatment, and community care, we wouldn’t just be “defended” — we’d actually be stronger.

Healthier.
Kinder.
More connected. 🤝

I keep thinking about that young person entering assisted living with no family listed. No emergency contact. No one.

And I wonder what would protect them more:

Another fighter jet?

Or one stable adult.
One affordable apartment.
One counsellor who isn’t overwhelmed.
One system that doesn’t abandon them. 🌱

Sometimes it feels like our priorities are upside down.

We keep investing in how to fight wars.

But not in how to prevent despair.

If we really wanted security, we would defend people first.

Homes are defence. 🏠
Food is defence. 🍲
Care is defence. 🩺
Community is defence. ❤️

Imagine if we spent the money on healing instead.

Maybe that’s the kind of country I still hope we can build. ✨

When the Sun Sneezes and Humans Feel It

When the Sun Sneezes and Humans Feel It

Yesterday I didn’t feel like doing anything.

No errands. No plans. No ambition.
Just paint. So I painted.

Today felt… strange too. Heavy but buzzy. So I forced myself into “human mode”:
hand-washed clothes, cleaned the bathroom, did the responsible earth-dweller things.
Then I surrendered — straight into the hammock. 🌴

And then I read a post about what’s happening in the sky.

Apparently the Sun decided to throw a tantrum.
A big one. Like… historic solar storm big. 😬👀

Suddenly my “blah” made a little more sense.

I’m not saying solar storms control our moods — but I am saying we are walking, breathing electrical systems living inside a giant magnetic field that just got smacked by a cosmic wave. So maybe, just maybe, feeling off isn’t so dramatic after all.

What I love is how we still pretend we are separate from nature.

We accept that the Moon moves oceans.
We accept that seasons shift emotions.
But the Sun? Our literal life source?
“Oh no, that couldn’t possibly affect us.” 🙄

Meanwhile:

• People can’t sleep.
• Minds feel foggy.
• Emotions spike.
• Bodies feel wired or tired or both.

And I’m over here in my hammock like:
“Oh. So it’s not just me being lazy.”

What comforts me most is this:

Nothing is broken.
Nothing is wrong with us.
We’re just riding a wave — a solar one.

So today I’m not pushing.
I painted yesterday.
I cleaned today.
Now I rest.

And I let the Sun do whatever dramatic thing it’s doing up there, while I do my small, human thing down here — breathe, observe, and try to stay gentle with myself.

Because honestly…

If the universe is having a moment,
we’re allowed to have one too. ✨

When Your Tongue Gets Lazy: The Curious Case of Spanish “R”s

When Your Tongue Gets Lazy: The Curious Case of Spanish “R”s

Ever noticed how a single letter can be a whole workout for your mouth? Welcome to the world of the Spanish “r.”

I’m sitting in my hammock this morning, coffee in hand, roosters crowing 🐓, thinking about clay and whales and… pronunciation. Yes, pronunciation. Because I just realized: my tongue is lazy. Really lazy. And when it comes to rolling “r”s in Spanish, it’s a disaster.

Take this simple sentence I practiced today:

"Hola, ¿tendrás un poco de barro para modelar?"
(Hi, do you have a little clay for modeling?)

Sounds easy, right? But look at the variety of “r”s I have to juggle:

• No r at all → Hola, un, poco, de
• Soft trill / tap → tendrás
• Full rolled trill → barro
• Soft / end-of-word r → para, modelar

That’s four different “r” sounds in one tiny sentence! And if my tongue gets lazy… well, suddenly barro comes out sounding completely wrong, and people tilt their heads like, “What did she just say?” 😅

It’s funny, frustrating, and fascinating all at once. Language is alive — your tongue is like a tiny instrument, vibrating in different ways, making different sounds, and if you slack off, the melody gets lost.

I realized today that lazy tongue syndrome isn’t just a quirk. It’s a reminder that speaking another language is physical. Your mouth, your lips, your tongue, your teeth — they all have to train for new sounds. And some of us just need a little extra practice, a little patience… and maybe a lot of coffee while roosters cheer us on. ☕🐓

Even if my “r”s aren’t perfect, the attempt is part of the fun. It’s part of being human, part of learning, part of connecting — whether it’s asking for clay in Pochutla, chatting with local artisans, or just rolling my Rs for the sheer joy of sound.