Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 5hThere is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o... 6842941287
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Liberalism.org @liberalism.org · 38mAccording to Matt Zwolinski, democracy is essential to classical liberalism because it keeps rulers answerable to the people they govern. www.liberalism.org/p/democracy-...liberalism.orgDemocracy Belongs on the ListClassical liberalism has sometimes been suspicious of democracy. But it shouldn’t be. 021
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 3h@mattzwolinski.bsky.social on making classical liberal support for democracy explicit and a central commitment @liberalism.orgliberalism.orgDemocracy Belongs on the ListClassical liberalism has sometimes been suspicious of democracy. But it shouldn’t be. 032
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 6hJust saying that the best contestation of Christian nationalism is a better politics, not a better religion. 6649
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 9h"If America ends up an autocracy, Trump will not be its culmination but something closer to its forerunner." And the next one probably won't be such an extraordinarily delusional and incompetent buffoon. Disgrace and disincentives on him and his enablers have to be imposed now, while we still can.theunpopulist.netAmerica Can Pull Back From the Slippery Slope to RomeThe decline of the rule of law and our republic is not inevitable 413241
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 9hMerely being unpopular at the end isn't enough. Lots of two-term presidents left office unpopular only to then be rehabilitated and remembered as history's winners, or at least within the acceptable bounds of mainstream politics. That's the real danger for where we'll be 20, 30, 40 years from now. 2495
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 9hDespite his best efforts, Trump isn't going to establish a consolidated autocracy before he's gone, thankfully relatively soon. But it matters how much he's repudiated as a disgraceful aberration. Because if not, he's just setting the floor for what the next wannabe dictator can get away with. 39124
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Justin Ling @justinling.ca · 28/09/2026NEW DISPATCH: When the going gets tough, legitimate opposition is needed more than ever. www.bugeyedandshameless.com/p/good-leade...bugeyedandshameless.comGood Leaders Need Candid FriendsLegitimate opposition spurs innovation, even if it irks 03110
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 23hThe event was held on the 98th anniversary of Judith Shklar's birth. 032
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It serves as the meeting room for the weekly reading group meetings of the RGCS Charles Taylor Student Fellowship (and includes a complete collection of the works the Fellowship has read together since it was established in 2010). 132
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Thanks to the 265 donors who have supported the Fellowship and the Reading Room where it meets, making it possible for us to name both in honour of two of McGill's most distinguished alumni in political theory and philosphy! 143
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Research Group on Constitutional Studies, McGill University @rgcs-mcgill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026On September 24, students, alums, postdocs, and faculty of RGCS came together to celebrate the naming of our central shared intellectual space as the Judith Nisse Shklar (BA '49 MA '50) Reading Room. 182
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 29/09/2026A Turkish media outlet is reporting the fake AI journalist “Daniel Robson,” who was published by the Ottawa Citizen, Policy Options, Western Standard and The Hub, was targeting a “critic of the Moroccan ruling elite” The dissident suspects “Daniel Robson” may have links to “Moroccan intelligence”turkiyetoday.comExclusive—Fake AI columnist dupes Canadian press to target Moroccan dissidents, and a Turkish 'middleman' - Türkiye TodayThe phantom writer communicated exclusively via email and rarely phoned Canadian publications, who were oblivious until Türkiye Today unraveled the matter 34820
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Jennifer Robson 🇨🇦 @jrobson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026USTR is carrying some heavy buckets of water these days. Recall (per USTR), only 2 countries retaliated against Trump tariffs: 1) China; 2) Canada. This presser suggests USD$30B in forthcoming tariff relief for imports from China. On Tuesday, ~$1B in booze from Canada will banned from import by US 0148
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 28/09/2026For the first time Thing 1 (7yo) and Thing 2 (4yo) both requested a garden purchase (spring bulbs) and followed through with the project the same weekend, rather than demanding I not do it without them until I have to panic-complete the task alone before winter. 🌷🪻 130
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Happy Stanislav Petrov Day He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.” If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it. @gchalliance.bsky.social @docsforclimate.bsky.socialsammatey.substack.comHappy Stanislav Petrov DayTake five minutes to not destroy civilization 252099926
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Tu Thanh Ha @tuthanhha.bsky.social · 25/09/2026"The three of us abandoned the car and dove separately into the nearby fields. It was a tactic we’d learned at drone safety courses that are now de rigueur for anyone working near the front lines in Ukraine. The drone is likely to be faster than your car, so best to abandon it ..." 0143
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Tu Thanh Ha @tuthanhha.bsky.social · 25/09/2026"Our drone detectors – a tool that any journalist heading near the front line now needs to be trained to use – were beginning to beep warning sounds ... As we sprinted away from Kramatorsk, the number of beeps from the drone detectors grew into a cacophony." www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...theglobeandmail.comIn the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, drones rule the skies and everything belowThe last Ukrainian-controlled corner of Donbas has become a focus for both sides 1165
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I’m thinking particularly of the overlap between “we’ve got to do something about the wokes” and “we’ve got to bring back civility in political discourse.” You can have the one or the other, but I don’t see how you can have both. 2193
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 25/09/2026And why, with a strong commitment to liberalism, our utopian visions can become a positive force in politics. 1115
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Liberalism.org @liberalism.org · 25/09/2026Adam Smith's "man of system" is usually invoked against central planners. @janetbufton.ca on why liberals should be honest about how often it applies to themselves. www.liberalism.org/p/the-libera...liberalism.orgThe Liberal Spirit of SystemThe “man of system” is a famous figure in the work of Adam Smith, and not in a good way. And yet we all think in systems. They can be both beautiful and helpful. What gives? 063
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 24/09/2026If Zuck manages to create something else useful (early Facebook and the Portal TV were pretty great) then I have full faith in him to kill it. 010
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Paul Matzko @paulmatzko.bsky.social · 23/09/2026An aside here but a key feature of talk radio was that it was mostly impenetrable to deep analysis by researchers because of the sheer volume of time required to analyze the thousands of hours of output produced every week. But now, AI makes it feasible. www.wsj.com/politics/ele...wsj.comMAGA Podcasters Are Tuning Out Trump. We Tracked What They Are Talking About Now.The Wall Street Journal analyzed nearly 70,000 hours of podcasts, using a new AI tool, to find out why conservative creators appear to be losing interest in the president. 415056
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Jane Lytvynenko @janelytv.bsky.social · 24/09/2026In Oleshky, a town on Russian-occupied territory, residents are starving. There are no shops. A husband and wife returning with bags of food from another town were killed by a drone. Children are malnourished. The Russians are imposing a "full blocade," Ukraine says. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comOleshky: Residents eating garden weeds in Russian-occupied city cut off from food and waterThe BBC has spoken to residents in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky who say they are being "constantly shelled". 68164
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Steve Lafleur @stevelafleur.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Imagine you were a car insurer and decided to get rid of all of your customers who hadn't been in car accidents. 314030
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 22/09/2026A lot of authoritarian politics is exactly trying to make fetch happen, then judging people by their fetch. 051
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻In Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 18/09/2026davebarry.substack.com/p/michelle?r...davebarry.substack.comMichelleA tribute. 1214
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻In Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 18/09/2026I agree with QP. However, if you view trade as submission, this matters in the same way that a spousal abuser doesn’t want his spouse to leave. Trump has a grim mental model of the world 4599
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Liberalism.org @liberalism.org · 17/09/2026The wealthy don't just compete in markets. @mattzwolinski.bsky.social on why classical liberals can no longer afford to look away from what concentrated wealth does to political power. www.liberalism.org/p/the-power-...liberalism.orgThe Power of WealthIn every political system, wealthy and powerful people will try to write the rules to favor themselves. Liberal democracies should use a range of policy tools to resist elite capture. 02014
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Justin Ling @justinling.ca · 17/09/2026Over the last two weeks in Europe, I heard lots of solidarity around Trump's threats against Canada — and painfully little recognition that the American president is an existential threat to Europe, too. www.thestar.com/opinion/star...thestar.comJustin Ling: On his latest trip abroad, Carney needs to warn Europe: Trump is coming for you nextDuring my own recent Euro trip, I kept meeting people terrified by the U.S. president's autocratic turn yet blithe to the threat he poses to them. 817769
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Trump thinks that it's a hostile act against the US if other countries trade with the US, and also if other countries trade with each other without the US. 2026559
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 17/09/2026Teaching the kids about Eurovision in preparation for whatever Associate EU membership means, which means reviewing the Most Eurovision entry.youtu.beLet 3 - Mama ŠČ! (LIVE) | Croatia 🇭🇷 | Grand Final | Eurovision 2023YouTube video by Eurovision Song Contest 010
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 16/09/2026Pierre Poilievre said: "We will NEVER be the 51st U.S. state. And we will NEVER be the 28th EU state." I have more thoughts on this but the biggest one is that a lot of people on the Canadian right (and the anti-Trump U.S.) right have forgotten how foundational EU opposition is for the new right. 1435
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 16/09/2026One thing I learned from Hungary is that moving on the free press requires overwhelming dominance. If an authoritarian can't shutter the vast majority of opposition media quickly, voters will simply shift to different free outlets — and get angrier at both the state and its would-be mouthpieces 46214
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 16/09/2026If you go into moderate, anti-Trump but firmly right-wing U.S. (and Canadian) political circles, many will assure you that The Free Press is an excellent outlet. TFP represents an aspirational standard and helps define the range of views they see. 1144
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 14/09/2026No party getting to 30% would be wild. www.thewrit.ca/p/pq-lead-ho... 2316
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 14/09/2026Filing out a volunteer form and required abilities include "endure varied weather, including temperatures ranging from -30 to 38 degrees C (humidex to 45 C), rain and snow."static.klipy.comWaving Canadian FlagALT: Waving Canadian Flag 230
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Seabird @seabirdreader.bsky.social · 13/09/2026From @janetbufton.ca: "Canadians have decided, it seems, that we won’t go quietly. The trade war has morphed, in some ways, into an information war." capx.co/canada-is-fi...capx.coCanada is fighting back against US tariffsThey are willing to pay some price simply as an act of defiance 034
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 13/09/2026My pal Sarah has said from the first time we talked about it that the thing we have not to do with AI is outsource what makes us human. Work doesn't make us human. But what we work on is part of what makes some of us human. What makes you human might not do it for me. 140
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 12/09/2026I started reading The Murderbot Diaries because people were raving about the show. But at the end of Network Effect I think I care too much to let a TV show do anything with it in my brain. 040
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 12/09/2026From @aaronwherry.bsky.socialcbc.caANALYSIS | Trade 'war' or not, are Canada and the United States now dug in? | CBC NewsJamieson Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative, might not like to think of it as a trade 'war.' But whatever you call it — a difference of opinion? an incongruity? the unpleasantness? — it's been going... 000
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 12/09/2026People say (or used to) that they don't agree with Trump but he's funny. I've never found Trump funny. So I just assume that watching Trump is for those people like watching Chretien often is for me. 111
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 12/09/2026The very end of this isn't what is getting the headlines but it is the part that made me exhale hardest. 161
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 11/09/2026Love it.cbc.caAlberta First Nation wants to set up safe haven for gender-affirming care | CBC NewsSaddle Lake Cree Nation says its aiming to defy Premier Danielle Smith's government by establishing a safe haven for gender-affirming care. Chief Dale Steinhauer described the law as dehumanizing and ... 090
Reposted by Janet Bufton 🍁🌻Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026 A $1 trillion fiscal stimulus— in an environment of high debt, high interest rates, and high upside risks of inflation— with no forward-looking incentives at all, no possible supply-side effects, in the overt service of vote-buying. Which center-right economist will be the first to praise it? 28921
Janet Bufton 🍁🌻 @janetbufton.ca · 10/09/2026Thinking of the economists from the free market movement sure they can do some good by working with this US administration.ca.finance.yahoo.comPortuguese economist Ricardo Reis dropped by IMF after criticising Trump tariffsRicardo Reis warned that tariffs could drive up prices in the United States and potentially trigger a new wave of inflation.View on euronews 000