Today's News: Birds!

Another miscellaneous collection of news items tonight from hither and yon. 

First up, birds! 

One of the people I now follow on twitter is Saskatoon's Tim Brown, who is doing a series of "Birds of Saskatchetoon" which is a portmanteau of "Saskatoon" and "Saskatchewan".  He has a blog, too - artgeekbrown. 

I love his bird artwork and how he also tells the story of how he spotted each one on his journeys somewhere in or near Saskatoon.  Here are some examples for you to enjoy:

Turkey Vulture#birbsofsaskatchetoon pic.twitter.com/iWlAl4sXNk

— Tim Brown (@timinsaskatoon) June 1, 2022

Yellow-Headed Balckbird.
It was kind of windy and a bad feather day for everyone.#birbsofsaskatchetoon pic.twitter.com/9CJG5BoiI7

— Tim Brown (@timinsaskatoon) May 23, 2022

Spotted Towhee#birbsofsaskatchetoon#spottedtowhee pic.twitter.com/4uimYtTebr

— Tim Brown (@timinsaskatoon) May 20, 2022

And speaking of birds, isn't this sweet?

Wait for it.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/QlwTFCg3Ri

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 31, 2022

Next up, Canadian politics -- 

The Ontario election is tomorrow and the polls are showing a majority Ford government and yes it is incomprehensible to me, too:

I absolutely don't get it.

Ontario is again poised to elect a high school dropout drug-dealer who then grifted off his dad's company, ripped off his brother's widow & is hell-bent on tearing down education, healthcare & the environment.

Just who the f*ck is voting for Ford??

— Dale Thompson (@daleethompson) June 1, 2022

The Ontario election has been a hopeless exercise in watching democratic decline and failure in real-time.

I have no hopeful addition or call to action here. It’s just shit. https://t.co/SXcsA504Ta

— David Moscrop (@David_Moscrop) June 2, 2022

Then again, here in Saskatchewan we have elected Conservative-type governments for the last 15 years - 15 YEARS! - and I don't understand that either. 

Maybe this will prove prescient:

Stay calm, Ontario.
The polls are based on 2018 results, which was a backlash against Wynne.
Those same electors are now going to vote against Ford.
Record high voter turnout tells us that he is toast.
Take a deep breath and just relax today.

— Thomas Yanuziello (@TYanuziello) June 1, 2022

Reporter David Reevely has some interesting comments about Bill Morneau's recent speech and its impractical suggestions for ways the economy can be managed by economists rather than mere politicians. Yeah, like economists could do such a great job....

Morneau wants to put (some?) policy matters beyond politics. By creating a permanent body to guide the future of the economy, with input from multiple parties.

We HAVE that, my guy. It’s called Parliament.

— David Reevely (@davidreevely) June 2, 2022

I have a feeling that this growth commission Bill Morneau imagines would propose things that Bill Morneau thinks are good ideas. The idea being to advance those ideas without being nibbled to death by, say, Pierre Poilievre. One can understand the appeal of this to Bill Morneau.

— David Reevely (@davidreevely) June 2, 2022

Moving next to the United States -

Most mass shootings don't get covered as national news anymore. There's simply too many. https://t.co/h3ciAr9AWF

— Greg (@waltisfrozen) June 1, 2022

It's about mental health alright. The delusions of the Republicans believing that guns aren't a problem.

— Cory Papineau (@Iam_Canadian) June 1, 2022

The Uvalde massacre story is getting stranger every day, and the odd police reactions are convincing more media that there's something being covered up:

This fuck was the one who made the decision to not breach the classrooms. He’s just walking around and going to work like normal.

Fuck this guy. https://t.co/IvcMohxs6F

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 1, 2022

Texas law enforcement said days ago that all the kids in Uvalde were shot by Ramos. This sent off red flags; that perhaps the police shot a kid. Now radio communications have surfaced with a kid saying "I got shot", and authorities saying "They shot a kid." What's going on?

— Don Lewis (@DonLew87) June 1, 2022

NEW - Journalists will face arrest, charges if caught reporting while on Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District propertyhttps://t.co/U8fgEjFlZJ

— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) June 1, 2022

Next, Europe - 

I thought this was an interesting comment about the European Union. I'm not sure whether this is correct, but it is something to consider:

The Franco-German age of the EU is ending. A Central and Eastern European age has begun

— Paul Massaro (@apmassaro3) June 2, 2022

The more I read about what is happening with Brexit, the less I understand, except to realize that Britain isn't capable anymore of "leading" Europe either. They might not even be able to sort out Northern Ireland. 

Did you know that Brexit benefits are zero in both Imperial and Metric measurements?

— Matty Erskine (@Matt72423) May 31, 2022

Finally, Ukraine --

It appears now that Russia is mostly bogged down. Here is Phillips O'Brian has a thread on recent fighting in the Donbas:

Hopefully the Ukrainians are calculating correctly. They do seem to think that they can really damage the Russian Army this way.

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) June 1, 2022

Putting the great Popasna breakthrough in perspective https://t.co/NpSBCELl8U

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) June 1, 2022