Dr. Tanya Pobuda

@tpobuda.bsky.social

1151 Followers 2330 Following

PhD. Northerner. Settler. Snoop. Maker of lists. Best friend to genius type guy. Mother to fierce daughter. She/They. #BLM #COVIDisNotOver #MaskUP http://drtanyapobuda.substack.com/

It is so painful now that magic
is gone.

We are all blessed beyond measure that she was
in our lives.
That we all remember her magic. Her art.

Violet was an artist. And a great one at that. She wielded a sort of magic, it always seemed to me.

It is the kind of magic that when you are around it, it lulls you into taking it for granted. Like it has always been there and it will always be there for you.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if more people were like Violet? People caring that much about how to treat people? How to do better? How to be kind?

Violet took such delicate care with people too. She cared so deeply. She’d worry that she’d hurt or offended people.

That’s because Violet was magic.

Her precision and care was right there in everything she did. For my wedding, she made intricate, delicate crocheted doilies by the 100s. Every tiny, white stitch was perfect. She did all this while being legally blind.

Violet was an artist. She wielded a sort of magic, it always seemed to me.

Her precision and care was right there in everything she did. For my wedding, she made intricate, delicate crocheted doilies by the 100s. Every tiny, white stitch was perfect. She did all this while being legally blind.

Violet was meticulous. Violet was an artist. Her artistry was in everything she did.

Her magic was in making a home. Making a meal. Baking. Crocheting. Making you feel important. Making you feel welcome. Cared for.

“Successfully working from home is a skill, just like programming, designing or writing. It takes time and commitment to develop that skill, and the traditional office culture doesn’t give us any reason to do that.”
– Alex Turnbell

Nine out of 10 jobs in Canada will require digital skills (OECD & Conference Board of Canada).
70% of small and medium-sized business owners surveyed have a hard time hiring employees with the necessary digital skills (KPMG, 2021).

Universities and Colleges Are Going Off the Demographic Cliff.

Online Learning is the Parachute.

“Just turn around and not look. Let's get back to work."
Said a manager at an Amazon distribution center in Troutdale, Oregon commanding workers to work around the dead body of their coworker.

Remote work does not just benefit parents, either. It saves workers’ time in commuting, improves well-being and can increase workplace productivity and performance.

25% of workers over the age of 50 are contemplating retirement more seriously in light of Return to Work mandates.

Source: The Status of Older Workers in America (2023)

Online learning works:
Enhances equity in education
Expands access for working parents, early- and mid-career learners
Increases learner retention

📌 💔 Today, my heart is heavy. I am remembering the 42 students who have died at hashtag#TorontoMetropolitanUniversity since 2021. They were my classmates and colleagues.

🖼️ I care about these young people. I think about them all the time. Some of them were my friends.

With Cancon in the news these days, there’s a new book on the subject.
June 10, 2025
Alan Cross

The Canadian Government and the CRTC are finally looking at the definition of Canadian content for the digital age. The last time anyone seriously talked about this was in 2005 (when nothing was done) and before that, 1996 (before the internet took hold). Add in the debates over Bill C-11 (which would require streamers to chip in for Canadian content development and news coverage), Cancon is going to be in the news a lot for the balance of the year.

Derek Schraner has a new book on the subject which is part of a trilogy of books on Cancon–but it’s not a stuffy academic book. Instead, it gamifies things in an interesting way. Here’s Derek talking about Operation CanCon: Canadian Classics Music Shopping Gamebook.

Fewer international tourists are
visiting the U.S. - economic losses
could be 'staggering,' researchers
estimate
PUBLISHED WED, MAY 28 2025.6:00 AM EDT I UPDATED WED, MAY 28 2025.12:59 PM EDT

An image of Sam the Record Man storefront with the big record neon sign.

Launching Operation CanCon 90s Edition. Celebrate the brilliance of Canadian music and save Canada

Poilieve trailing in his riding.

CBC Declares Liberal Government

Re Elect Salma Zahid Scarborough Centre - Don Valley East Liberal

Operation CanCon already #31 on Amazon Canadian History Best Sellers

The cover of Operation CanCon A Canadian Eighties Music Shopping Gamebook.

I don't tend to like surprises even the good one without some warning.

Hikikomori
https://lockdownludonaut.com/2025/03/08/hikikomori-released/

A Mission to Save the Music and the Future of a Nation

Dive into the interactive world of Operation CanCon, where your mission is to collect Canadian Content. Navigate Eighties music stores in search of iconic songs. The hope of a country’s future will depend on preserving its cultural artifacts.

Using dice and a checklist, take your chances with the Sweep minigame, a treasure hunt where every roll reveals another hit. It’s not all random chance, however. Your decisions really matter. Choose which tracks to target, which stores to visit, and how long to search. How will you spend your limited time in Toronto? Whether you play a single game or a multi-day campaign, you’ll discover opportunities for tactics and strategy. Advanced modes, tweaks, and New Game Plus provide even more challenges.

Perfect for gamers, music lovers, and fans of Canadiana, Operation CanCon is a new take on nostalgia. With an interactive narrative, flexible gameplay, and customizable goals, it’s more than a game, it’s a retro celebration.
Sample https://lockdownludonaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250303-occ-sampler-20250330.pdf

https://lockdownludonaut.com/works/

Hikikomori: A Lucky Lockdown Life Sim captures the boredom, despair and joys of a life led in quiet resistance to a world that uses and discards people to accelerate the rise of the New Robber Barons.

This ground-breaking game book, art experiment and conceptual worker protest captures the repetitive daily grind of basic survival in a world gone mad. While you play, you will uncover and capture glimpses of the designer’s real life, laced through the game play like whispered secrets. You will experience a life spent in safe and often happy isolation …but your time is running out.

The game Hikikomori: A Lucky Lockdown Life Sim by Swiss-Canadian game designer and author Derek Schraner is a post-capitalist meditation and gamebook on the drudgery of daily survival in a world of extreme income inequality, epidemics and pandemics.

https://www.amazon.ca/Hikikomori-lucky-lockdown-life-sim/dp/B0DZWCH5JX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11L73FLHZP7ZY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qZm5cUMcd0oL1hNmycSU7Q.9aKHcy3WFxAor5fazVQWgJV5lEdQW7MOLHQrLWYOauw&dib_tag=se&keywords=hikikomori+schraner&qid=1741978183&sprefix=hikiko%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1

2,158,952 Ontarians Voted
for this.

https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/ontario/2025/results/#/

They want to prevent you from voting.
Ontario, Please, Fight back and Vote.

💰 Reason 12 to #Vote in #Ontario: #DougFord has defunded #public #healthcare in the province, and is now paying for-profit hospitals and clinics MORE in an effort to divert funds away from public healthcare.

🤑A chief of surgery said: "The overpayment for these minor things is egregious."

🗳️Reason 8 to #Vote in #Ontario: Ontario's unemployment rate now is 7.6%, higher than Ontario's long-term average of 7.37%.

🔓DougFord's leadership has been a disaster for jobs creation in #Ontario despite the slogan: "Ontario: Open For Business".

Under #Liberal govt, unemployment rate was 5.4%.

🔌Reason Seven to #VOTE: Doug Ford ran on a campaign of lowering home energy and electrictity costs. Now, these costs to Ontarians are higher than ever and they are about to get WORSE.

Ontario #Energy Board (OEB) has approved a 20% increase, resulting in spiking energy bills.

🚨 🚨 🚨Reason 6 to #VOTE:🔌❌ Doug Ford premier of #Ontario has pulled the plug on #wastewater #surveillance, a program that only cost the province $15 million in 2023-24.

Now all #Ontario government-funded #wastewater analysis ended six months ago in #Ontario 🚨 🚨 🚨

😷 🐓 With COVID19 cases ongoing in #Ontario and #H5N1 spreading in the U.S., the timing could not be worse.

Reason Five to Vote in #Ontario: #DougFord ran on a campaign promise of eliminating #hallway #healthcare. Instead he made the problem SIGNIFICANTLY worse.

Before Doug Ford took over from #Liberal Kathleen Wynne 1,000 people in Ontario a day were kept in hallways, storage rooms and other unconventional places in #hospitals..

It got as low as 826 patients in June 2018 under #Wynne's government before Doug Ford took power.

Now, hallway #healthcare is UP DRAMATICALLY under Doug Ford. There are now 2,000 patients a day experiencing 'hallway healthcare' under Doug Ford.

234,000 Ontarians are now experiencing homelessness due to skyrocketing rents in Ontario

Jan. 20th Day of inaction. Don't watch the inauguration. Don't stream, don't shop, don't go to work, don't buy anything.

Donald Trump pardoned 247 people including Those who Trafficked drugs, Committed War Crimes, Acts of torture, Blackmail

1 in 41 people in #Ontario have an active case of #COVID19 right now.

Compared to the lowest point of the pandemic:

Wastewater, infections are 28.7x higher
#LongCOVID estimates are 29.1% higher
Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are 29.8% higher
Deaths are 23.74% higher

An editorial cartoon showing Trump shooting a cannon saying, "Take that China!" and an advisor saying, "This is Canada"

H8 Democrats @tamparocks.bsky.social 168 followers 9 following 485 posts US Army Veteran Posts Replies Media

An image close up of Robert F. Kennedy's face.