Some up: June 14th – 20th

It’s very warm here. We currently have all our fans going and our little town is under a special heat advisory. I’m not good with the heat so this is a day late and may not even make any sense at the end of it. To summarize: I am not a hot weather seeker.

Article/Video: ‘I don’t belong here’: NDP MP alleges racial profiling, barriers during time in office (Global News)

This is such a sad end to the political career of a young indigenous person. It is not enough to allow members of diverse communities into political spaces, their voices need to be heard and their experience and knowledge needs to be respected.

MP Qaqqaq summarized her experience within the house with these words: “It would be easier for me to be told that I am wrong and that you disagree than to be told that I am right and I am courageous, but there is no room in your budget for basic, basic human rights that so many others take for granted.”

This is Canada in 2021. This is so disappointing.

Editor’s note: Why CBC is turning off Facebook comments on news posts for a month (CBC)

The comment section of almost any news source are generally filled with racism, general willful ignorance, hatred, and spam bots. I applaud the CBC turning off the comments and hope they make this move permanent. I truly believe that there is nothing of value in the comments section, and we are losing nothing by getting rid of them.

Podcast: The Unlikely Pioneer Behind mRNA Vaccines (The Daily)

What an awesome story of tenacity and trusting the science. Amazing!

Opinion: We’re not the good guys: Osaka shows up problems of press conferences (the Guardian)

You know something has to be big for me to post about sports.

I think this article sums up why I support Osaka’s choice to withdraw from the French open, but ultimately, I don’t believe she should have been forced to do so.

There is a strange level of ownership over the lives and bodies of famous people. These people are not publicly owned. They are not commodities. Their choice to protect their mental health is absolutely appropriate.

Article: Women starved themselves to reach Victoria’s Secret ‘virtually inhuman’ standard of beauty. Now the iconic Angels are gone. (The Lily)

This feels like… at least half a decade too late.

Article: The Canadian Military’s Sexual Misconduct Crisis Explained (Chatelaine)

This problem seems insurmountable. With chatelaine investigating this in 1998, 2014, and now again in 2021, it feels like another sad chapter in a devastatingly long book.

Article: They lost their loved ones to Covid. Then they heard from them again (CNN)

I think what this article shows is that grief, especially one where you never got to say goodbye, is even more complex than we imagined. We hope for seven steps but it is more than that – we’ll need to learn and adapt to new ways of grieving. All around the world is a shared grief and sadness that is almost incomprehensible in the scale of it. My best wishes to those who are struggling with a loss right now.

Book: The Starless Sea (Erin Morgenstern)

My book club was mixed on this one, and I was too.

But I am recommending it because I think as adults, we forget the beauty that comes with a book filled with magic.

As we rush from picking up groceries to an appointment, and why didn’t I leave ten minutes sooner, we don’t have time to give time to a world that is lovely and delicate and beautiful.

And I think it’s ok to make time for a bit of extra magic in our lives. I recommend you step into this book looking not to make sense but to hear a story, and I think you will be delighted. It’s a lovely book and I think it’s worth the read.

An image of the cover of the starless sea. A warm yellow brick wall opens into a rounded doorway that faces onto a deep navy sea. An old fashioned boat with sails is on the sea.

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