Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac) header
Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac) profile picture

“Be strong, be gentle, be beautiful in mind, body & spirit” — Keiko Fukuda

Toronto
Joined October 2008
Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)Photo by Michelle MacAleese (@m_mac)
Blast from the past ❤️🇨🇦
I should be sleeping but I fucked around and mistakenly clicked on a link I wasn't even interested in and went down the most insane rabbit hole and now I know everything about Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue and their 22 years of figure skating together and how they are both straight and married to other people but Scott still worships her in interviews and Scott and Tessa even have a book together called Our Journey from Childhood Dream to Gold which is like $13.37 for the hard cover but $7.45 for the paperback and gosh have you seen how they hold each other in cover photo, but anyway, you know Scott went and married another skater-turned-physician assistant called Jaclyn so it wasn't that he didn't want to marry a skater and even crazier, on the day Scott and Jaclyn were getting married Scott admitted to talking too much about Tessa even though Tessa was somehow not invited to the wedding or was invited and chose not to go, who knows, then like shortly after Tessa went and married an NHL player Morgan and now both Scott and Tessa have kids with their respective partners and there are people with social media accounts dedicated to waiting for Scott and Tessa to divorce Jaclyn and Morgan so they can finally get married and people have done videos with clips from interviews over 20 years where Tessa is looking at him the way I looked at the first copy of my first book when it arrived and I was finally able to tear it out of the carton with too much padding, and gosh have you seen the way they held each other each time they won a medal and I know I should be sleeping or working or finding a Valentine but I was breathless the whole time I was reading this shit and I don't think I will ever be the same again so I thought I must share this and the cover photo of their $13.37/$7.45 book with you so you see what the hell I have been dealing with.
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Michelle MacAleese retweeted
Oh, be careful, Merriam-Webster, lest we suffer vertigo from the dizzying heights of our lexical ground.
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Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking. Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.
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My father Stephen Lewis is spectacularly uninterested in social media, so I’m posting this myself (though he has read it and is prepared to suffer the indignity of all I'm about to reveal). When he was Canada’s ambassador to the UN from 1984-88, Dad was truly shocked by the regularity of open, vitriolic antisemitism in the cocktail parties and ambassadorial receptions that surround that crucial but flawed institution. For this reason (among others) he’s always been the one in our family with the deepest atavistic fear of antisemitism. He was sympathetic to the idea of Israel as a refuge longer than the rest of us. This is no longer the case. Like so many Jews who for decades adopted the dominant narratives of Zionism, he can no longer defend the current actions of the state of Israel. He now regards Israel as a rogue state, committing genocide and other crimes against humankind, which ought to be opposed by every tool and tactic in Canada's diplomatic arsenal. To return to the personal, seven years ago my Dad was diagnosed with a vicious cancer and was given as little as 3 months to live. It’s a sublime understatement to say that he’s a fighter - but he has persevered in life with a tenacity familiar from his political, diplomatic and humanitarian pursuits. Which brings us to this morning, when at 87 years old, he spent an hour standing at the side of the road in his old riding of Scarborough West. Standing up as a Jew against genocide. Standing up for justice for Palestine. Standing up on the right side of history, where the vast majority of humanity currently stands. I’ve never been prouder, never more humble before the stubborn principle and insistent moral clarity of the guy I’m so lucky to call Dad. People of Canada: don’t stop talking about Palestine. Starvation as collective punishment can never be forgiven. Burning and burying children alive can never be defended. Stand up against genocide until we make it stop! Thanks Dad. And special thanks to @CharlieAngusNDP for shining his spotlight on Ted Schmidt and the other excellent folks who gather every Thursday at 8 am at the corner of Victoria Park and Kingston Road in Scarborough.
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Poor Francis must be kerning in his grave
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I agree. We do ourselves a disservice when we use AI. It may produce results, but we skip the opportunity to use our thinking and writing skills.
It’s a mistake to outsource most writing to AI. Even if the output is accurate and engaging, something valuable is lost in the process. Jotting down intuitions and spelling out hunches is how we develop and refine our ideas. Writing is where we do our best thinking.
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Chantal Hebert is a national treasure.
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Lots written about Poilievre's restrictions on the press, but I'm not sure the public knows that local Conservative candidates across the board are refusing interviews. I wrote about why that's a problem. thelocal.to/conservative-par…
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“For generations, our trade agreements w the United States have recognized the exceptional cultural & educational value of literature by keeping books tariff-free…Books are not mere commodities but essential vehicles of knowledge, culture &understanding.” thespec.com/business/impendi…
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At work, men can be disliked but still respected. Women don't have that luxury.
A sign of maturity is caring more about being respected than being liked. Liking is shallow affection. It comes from being pleasant—you bend over backwards to accommodate others. Respect is deep regard. It's earned by being principled—you consistently stand up for your values.
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Our front page today. Happy 181st birthday to Canada's national newspaper.
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"A new Scottish tartan has been created to honor the thousands of people—primarily women—executed for witchcraft in Scotland between the 16th and 18th centuries.” wildhunt.org/2025/02/newly-a… #folkloresunday
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Michelle MacAleese retweeted
Acceptance isn't resignation and it's the actual opposite of passivity. It is willingness, a choice to engage with what is. Many times that means choosing to remain open to pain or suffering, even when it is difficult.
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Michelle MacAleese retweeted
Someone asked what do about the growing number of unhoused using the Toronto library system and I deeply appreciate the top voted answer is a staffer giving a very firm, kind, and complete response.
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I can. In fact, the Canadian version is so great, I can't think of an American equivalent. 🧵
Can you think of a Canadian product that’s better than an American one? Honestly curious.
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Michelle MacAleese retweeted
Beyonce tears up in this interview after winning "AOTY" at the Grammy's #GRAMMYs
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#Imbolc is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of spring, held on 1 February. A time of celebration and ritual, often honouring Brighid, the goddess of the hearth Mary Delany, Galanthus Nivalis, Snowdrop, 1777 #WomensArt
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"The robber barons of old built railroads and monopolies; today’s tech barons shape reality itself. If we fail to hold them accountable, the price will be not just economic inequality, but the very fabric of democracy...a cost we cannot afford to pay." theglobeandmail.com/opinion/…
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During Joe Rogan’s podcast on January 9, Mel Gibson promoted drugs that are not scientifically proven cancer treatments. Misinformation on cancer treatment is dangerous, cruel, irresponsible and gives false hope to people with cancer and their loved ones. Researchers around the world dedicate their lives to uncovering the best cancer treatments. Surgery, radiation and approved cancer drugs like chemotherapy are safe and proven to stop cancer cells from growing and spreading. Choosing to use an alternative therapy can have serious health effects, such as the cancer spreading or getting worse. The Canadian Cancer Society provides credible, independent, trusted information on cancer treatments, in easy-to-understand language. You can find this at cancer.ca or and we are also available on chat or by calling 1-888-939-3333.
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