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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

This is a dance off. If you see this, post a dance.

west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Really got into it last year on Discus, summarizing Henry's reign over 2 viral outbreaks. I never named her—figured most wouldn't recognize her by name & wanted to focus on the horrific absurdity of it all—but someone else from Vancouver who responded did, saying she'll never forgive Henry. SAME!

Incoming rant with unfunny punchline:
I live in BC, Canada, where our PHO lied to parents that their kids were safe from covid at school, while using her govt appointed powers to exempt herself from an ethics review to participate as co-author on an academic study outside the purview of her govt job that used those same kids as a case study.

Already a conflict of interest, but the kicker is she did this after having been informed by higher health authorities that children were indeed at great risk from covid and likely to also transmit it to vulnerable family members (many of whom did die...imagine feeling guilty as a 10 year old about giving grandma the bug that killed her). Children are also facing a huge uptick in covid-fostered illnesses like diabetes, brain damage, etc. Many young adults are suddenly dealing with issues that usually hit much later in life, including strokes, dementia...

Meanwhile, she shilled for multiple products that leaned on her sudden fame as a cutesy soft-spoken lady doctor (look at her funky costume jewellery! check out those Mary Janes, so adorbs!) who told the masses what they wanted to hear (s'fine! toss that mask! live your life!); at least one of which was her own side-hustle business. She also sold more of her books, one of which came out I think early 2021 about how she rose to the challenge of saving us from covid (lol), wherein she also admits that her decisions on mitigation were somewhat based on protecting her own job security. She even got a glowing review only a few months into the pandemic from the New York Times.

Meanwhile, she was making it very hard for people to access effective testing kits or assess risk in general, or be approved for appropriate treatment once you'd been infected. (I was really sick from covid for 2 years even with being vaxed a month or so before I got it, and just had to ride it out on my own.) She also resisted acknowledging for the longest time (and barely still) that covid is spread primarily by aerosol contact, not droplet, even though that had also been established early on. (She had already written a book that leaned heavily on droplet dogma, so it was again a matter of self-interest to ignore the science around aerosol transmission.) She also refused to acknowledge Long Covid in her press briefs. She used barely veiled racist comments as part of her justification for dropping the mask mandate prematurely. She was heavily influenced by the Swedish approach, which basically threw vulnerable groups to their premature deaths.

Before she got the gig as PHO of a province, she was previously Toronto's operational lead of the team that mismanaged the first SARS outbreak. She was criticized for her role when the team's poor response to that crisis was reviewed I think within a year by a special govt commission. Yet she was still allowed to fail upwards into a much more significant position four provinces away, where she could escape her spotty reputation in Toronto and risk the health of an entire province.

All this to say how disgusted I was when she was awarded The Order of Canada this year! (It's one of the highest honours Canadians can receive.) Not to mention an honourary degree or two, and all the glowing non-investigative reports in the mainstream press. And now she's rumoured to be the next Chief Public Health Officer of all Canada!

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

If anything could get Trump to ride a horse, it would be his indefatigable need to copy Putin. Even if he could get himself up on a saddle, I bet he's too afraid of horses. And women in uniform. 😏

Russian President Vladimir Putin is dressed causally and rides a brown horse along with formally attired female police officers on white horses, as he visits a mounted police regiment ahead of International Women's Day, Moscow, March 7, 2019. Photo by Alexey Nikolsky

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Even in a wide-open fictional universe that has space for so many different kinds of stories and perspectives. But at least there's *one* female character they can relate to...

Dedra Meero, a fascist character from the Star Wars series "Andor"; a white woman in an Imperial uniform, with blonde hair pulled back in a severe style, and a sour expression on her face.

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

It's so Pride & Prejudice, when the most exasperating ego proposes to Elizabeth Bennet and refuses her refusal. I was sympathetic to the possibly autistic guy above for being confused after what he saw as signs of interest, til the part where he's planning proposing thru her mom after *2* blocks. 🤦‍♀️

Excerpt from chapter 19 of "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen: "I am not now to learn," replied Mr. Collins, with a formal wave of the hand, "that it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favour; and that sometimes the refusal is repeated a second, or even a third time. I am therefore by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long."

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

The fascist first family in their unnatural habitat. 🤑

Donald, Melania and a young Barron Trump posing in their gilded apartment overlooking New York City. Barron is sitting on a tall plush male lion, with toy cars at its feet, two of which are limousines. Every possible surface of the room is covered in cheap looking gold. Donald has a wide smile but his wife and son look miserable, as always.

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Have you seen these comic panels by @haridraws.bsky.social? I think he really gets these two! =) 1/2

Three panel comic by Hari Connor: Garak, a reptilian alien, gazes at Star Fleet doctor Bashir as he blathers on about that time he would have been top of his class if he hadn't flubbed a basic diagram label on the final. Garak realizes "This man is an idiot," and concludes with a resigned sigh, "I love him."

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

"Friend of Garak" is the bi version, so there's even a 2nd star trek fandom version of "friend of Dorothy" 😊⭐✨

"Star Trek: Lower Decks" giving fans the ship we really wanted, even if it had to happen in an alternate timeline on an animated show 25 years after DS9 ended. Animated slide showing Garak and Bashir engaged in a kiss.

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

CBC News: What people with disabilities want to hear from party leaders in this election; Activists call for changes to disability amount, qualification process from parties www.cbc.ca/news/politic... Thank you, @mouhamadrachini.bsky.social, for giving a platform to disability issues this election

screengrab of two quotes from the CBC article linked below: "We're looking for real concrete commitments from all the politicians and all the parties on key issues that matter to over eight million people with disabilities and everyone else in Canada who's gonna get a disability later in life." and the second quote: "I wish each candidate had to live our lives for one week, only then do I believe things would change."

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

But did you even consider Chuck, the giant catfish in Selkirk? 🤪

Photo of giant cartoonish catfish on a formal stone pedestal, titled Chuck The Channel Cat. There's text on the side explaining: Selkirk calls itself the "Catfish Capital of North America" because of the record size catches fished from its stretch of the Red River. The 11-metre high fiberglass statue, landed in Selkirk May 1986, is named for local fisherman William Charles "Chuck" Lawrence Norquay, a local angler who played a significant role in promoting catfishing on the river.

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Why is CBC selling us all out? ‪Ian Hanomansing‬ has already been grossly irresponsible by trivializing other subjects (like the covid pandemic) on his Sunday show, but even including his misogynistic behaviour on X, turns out I could still have an even lower opinion of him. THIS is so messed up:

Promo headline as seen by American viewers:
CBC News Simulcast of Canada as the 51st State Proposal.
Description: C-SPAN simulcasts a special Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) production on Pres. Trump's proposal to make Canada the 51st state. The special is a joint production of the radio shows Cross Country Checkup and The Middle with Jeremy Hobson. WATCH LIVE AT 1:06 PM PST FEBRUARY 23, 2025 ON C-SPAN.ORG

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

I've been a bit obsessed with orangutans since binging all the newer Planet of the Apes movies this summer. Look at this fine gent with the stylin ginger beard. 🦧🧡

Male Bornean orangutan in Taman Safari park
(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bornean_orangutan#/media/File:Orangutan_Kalimantan.jpg)

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west end girl (in a dead end world) ♪♫ @koanside.bsky.social · 16/10/2023

TIL "Texas Has More Intense Laws Restricting Dildos Than Assault Rifles" I came across a reddit comment about this that seemed too outlandish even for Texas, but I looked it up and... www.sheknows.com/health-and-w...

quote from report by by Katherine Speller for SheKnows: Sen. Ted Cruz openly and proudly defended this law when he was the state’s solicitor general, filing a lengthy and absurd 76-page brief that compared having a sex toy to “hiring a willing prostitute” and asserting “there is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.”

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