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Goldfinch and the Drop of Water

I was about to post another sparrow photo—I've got so many good ones, it’s hard to choose. But then I came across this image of a goldfinch (Spinus tristis) pausing for a drink at the birdbath, and I knew this was the one to share.

"A goldfinch perches delicately on the rim of a circular birdbath—its feet gripping the smooth, perforated surface with quiet precision. The birdbath itself is pale and metallic, dotted with evenly spaced holes that catch the light like tiny moons. Against a stark white background, the goldfinch’s plumage blazes with color and clarity. Its head and chest are a brilliant yellow, like sunlight distilled into feathers. The wings are a tapestry of black and white, with crisp markings that resemble brushstrokes on a fine canvas. A warm brown hue softens the transition between its vibrant torso and the darker wings, adding depth to its compact frame. The bird’s beak is slightly open, and from its tip hangs a single, glistening drop of water—suspended in a moment of stillness. The droplet catches the light, a tiny jewel poised between gravity and grace. Whether the bird is mid-song or mid-sip is unclear, but its posture suggests alertness and ease, as if it’s both present and poised to take flight. The white backdrop isolates the scene, drawing all attention to the goldfinch’s vivid colors and the quiet drama of the water droplet. It’s a portrait of balance—between motion and pause, color and calm, life and light." - Microsoft Copilot

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This Beaverton ( /s ) piece is really on the nose
thebeaverton.com/2025/12/is-th…

Is The Temporary Foreign Worker Program working? We asked 4 Tim Hortons franchise owners, and one slum landlord - The Beaverton

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers to fill temporary jobs when qualified Canadians are not available, and that's why it is completely uncontroversial and nobody has any issues with it.
Ian MacIntyre (The Beaverton)
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Aceh Tamiang, #Indonesia
A woman stands in a waterlogged street after a flash flood.

Photograph: Yt Hariono/AFP/Getty Images

#photography
#floods
#ClimateDiary

A woman stands in a waterlogged street after a flash flood.
#Photography #indonesia #floods #ClimateDiary

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#ArtAdventCalendar Day 02 (still late..lol)
Snow Mother hasn't been around that much this year, but she's starting to catch up this week. #winter #pagan #Latvian #animist #snow #garden
A close view of a couple of remaining apple-crabs on a snowy tree. The apples have frozen and thawed repeatedly for a couple of months so though maybe partly/frozen at the moment they look soft, melted. A criss-cross of snow dusted branches is behind the fruit, and circles of light come through the blurred/shadowed trees behind. I've slightly tinted these violet, pinkish, orange. The edges/corners have a white vignette effect applied.
#winter #garden #snow #Pagan #ArtAdventCalendar #latvian #animist

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Germany’s prosthetics exports to russia hit $52.6M in 2024 (vs. $27.5M in 2023), with 100+ tons shipped - double pre-war levels.

$56.7M exported in 9 Months 2025. russia’s 2026 prosthetics budget: 98B rubles ($1.5B+), up from $621M in 2024, as 180K+ amputations drive demand.

united24media.com/latest-news/…

Germany’s Prosthetics Exports to Russia Soar as Amputations Surge From War in Ukraine

Germany's prosthetic exports to Russia surged sharply, reaching $52.6 million in 2024, amid rising demands for rehabilitation equipment.
Dariia Mykhailenko (UNITED24 Media)

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What would Scrooge be today? With AI you can do so much better than "Bah Humbug"
🤔
thebeaverton.com/2025/12/opini…

OPINION: The AI Crash will all be worth it if I just get to lay just a few thousand people off - The Beaverton

by Jameson Varner, CEOI'm the CEO of a major accounting firm, and so I have my finger on the market's pulse.
Ian MacIntyre (The Beaverton)
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Unmasking 'Dr. Evil': The russian Prison Medic Accused Of Torturing Ukrainian POWs

Ukrainian ex-prisoners of war say they endured sadistic beatings and torture with electric shocks at the hands of a medic they called "Dr. Evil." In an award-winning investigation by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, the prison doctor was identified as ilya sorokin and now faces EU sanctions.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty / YouTube 📽️ youtu.be/uOwRPSXh6oo

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
youtu.be

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On this day 26 years ago, demonstrators blockaded and shut down the summit of the World Trade Organization in Seattle—demonstrating the power of direct action and horizontal, decentralized organizing.

Today, as federal mercenaries attack our communities while state institutions strive even more blatantly to repress and impoverish us, we need the lessons of the Seattle WTO protests more than ever.

crimethinc.com/WTOEpilogue

A banner with an image of the World Trade Organization as Death. Much of the iconography of the movement that shut down the World Trade Organization framed global trade institutions as anti-democratic, enabling reformists—and later, nationalist reactionaries—to propose solutions that did not cut to the root of the problem.
An iconic photograph of the protests against the summit of the World Trade Organization in Seattle, 1999, showing a masked woman raising her hands in a victory sign in front of a blockade.

Epilogue on the Movement against Capitalist Globalization

22 years after the victory against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, what can we learn from the networks that gave rise to that movement?
CrimethInc.

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Water pollution in DRC attributed to Chinese mining company
globalvoices.org/2025/11/29/wa…

Water pollution in DRC attributed to Chinese mining company

While areas rich in rare minerals may be a blessing for the country’s economy, they can also be a curse for the local populations in the DRC.
Global Voices

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Whiter day today- still just a few cm/couple of inches, on top of the modest remnants from last week's minor snow. It will likely mostly stay for a while, as it is forecast to be a bit colder for a few days- a couple of nights around -20c/-4F- that's not extreme for this time of year nor is it early. Next week warmer again. Meantime, a flashback to early October! Native Cornus sericea/Dogwood catching afternoon sunlight
#autumn #nature #NativePlants #alberta #Canada #CountryLiving #photography
Late afternoon autumn light comes from qbove to the left, unevenly lighting a thin branch which comes into the view from lower left. The branch has several smaller twigs all bearing pairs of pointed obovate leaves a couple/few inches apart, all in a medium/dark burgundy-wine colour, a few are a bit crinkled and have a few round dark spots. Some leaves are brightly backlit by the sun, others that aren't catching the light appear nearly violet. In the middle background, catching the sun and blurred by the camera lens into a mass of gold-green circles, is part of some other plant. Beyond that, darker shadows with the suggestion of a few tree trunks and a few circles of bright blue where the sky shows through blurred and shadowed background vegetation.
#Photography #nature #canada #Alberta #autumn #nativeplants #countryliving

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In a community grieving five recent deaths after a decade of government inaction, Elders signal they’re done being ignored as development plans advance without consent thenarwhal.ca/onigaming-first-…

Onigaming First Nation says no to mining without consent | The Narwhal

In northwestern Ontario, a grieving Onigaming First Nation says it would blockade the highway if mining permits are granted without consent
Jon Thompson (The Narwhal)

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Um, what?

Alberta MP Shannon Stubb's press release appears to come from an alternate universe. I might like that one better.

townandcountrytoday.com/beyond…

That said, best wishes to MP Shannon Stubbs' recovery from the jaw surgery. I don't like her politics but she runs a great MP's office that will really help constituents with problems.

#Alberta #CanadaBudget

Facial recognition not an option for MP Stubbs during surgical recovery

www.townandcountrytoday.com

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Canada is Fossil of the Day
Canada: we expected better. Your people deserve better. And the world cannot afford your retreat.”
theenergymix.com/canada-receiv…
#Canada #COP30

Canada Receives Fossil of the Day Award at COP30 Climate Summit

Canada received Tuesday’s Fossil of the Day award at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil. The award, bestowed by Climate Action Network International, recognizes the country deemed to have done the most each day to slow down global progress in …
Mitchell Beer (The Energy Mix)

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Canada arming Israel via the US

Despite the government telling us, again and again, that Canada was no longer arming Israel, we now have proof of hundreds of shipments containing vital components of both Israel’s fighter jets and the bombs they are still dropping on j#Gaza: #genocide #embargo

armsembargonow.ca/exposing-the…

#genocide
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Prime Minister Mark Carney promised a clean drinking water law for Indigenous communities, but it has yet to materialize thenarwhal.ca/alberta-oilsands…

‘Unacceptable’: Alberta wants to treat and release oilsands waste | The Narwhal

Alberta is working on plans to treat and release oilsands wastewater into the Athabasca River. First Nations downstream don’t want that to happen
Carl Meyer (The Narwhal)

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A look at how environmental crimes are prosecuted in the Dominican Republic
globalvoices.org/2025/11/17/a-…

A look at how environmental crimes are prosecuted in the Dominican Republic

The functions of three institutions, linked by the common denominator of environmental protection, complement one another in the pursuit of environmental crimes which, though frequent, are also more frequently reported.
Global Voices

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