SpaceDogs

Apparently Canada’s sovereignty is at risk.

This is not surprising for my school because if you’re familiar with my posts you’ll recall the neo-Nazi library display I shared around a year ago.

This flyer is definitely not an official university poster as it’s not the same size or paper quality. Someone random must have put it up, they’re either a lone wolf or part of the “Ukraine club” at my school.

My day was already pretty shit but this is just annoying to see.

Edit: here are the QR code links:

https://u24.gov.ua/

https://youtu.be/2mEZsgQh54U

This is the same aunt I got into a screaming match with many months ago, the same aunt my grandmother defended while claiming I was influenced by the devil and I was forced to apologize to. She is technically my great aunt (grandma’s sister in law) but I call her aunt because it’s easier.

Anyway when I got home from school I noticed my grandma wasn’t home and was told she was out with the aunt. I immediately felt dread as I knew that meant when my grandma came home the aunt would also be here visiting. She does this all the time and I usually just ignore her (with a cordial hello but that’s it), but I knew with the election results she’d yap away.

Almost immediately after she arrived at my house she was cackling, calling my name and telling me she was going to make me mad: “my friend trump won! Haha! My friend trump one!” Says the Portuguese immigrant in Canada. I just replied in the most deadpan voice “okay???” And left it at that. My grandma laughed and I was screaming in my head.

When we first had our argument and I flew off the handle, she went blabbing to my mother about my behaviour when my mom was visiting her place. She told my mom that we were having a nice discussion and she didn’t know why I got so angry (nice discussion my ass), my mother defended me by telling my aunt to never speak politics with me ever again because I know a lot more about this stuff than she does. I remember immediately after the fight I called my mom crying, so she already knew what went down before.

So why in gods name did this removed come cackling in the kitchen trying to drag me into a fucking argument? Probably because she knows I can’t fight back, I’m not allowed to, because last time I did I was forced to apologize to her after getting a verbal lashing from my grandma (this did not happen on the same day, my grandma picked me up from the bus stop a few days later and tore into me while driving home, it was a horrific experience especially because in her anger she pivoted away from the aunt situation into other grievances she has with me and my dog, it made me feel like a fucking monster). Sometimes I feel like my grandma loves this aunt more than me, and it makes me think “why don't you go live with her than if she’s so damn important to you?”

Anyway that’s my rant. I hate it here.

This is mainly for Portuguese comrades as they’re probably the most familiar with him but anyone can answer. I see this man constantly on SIC Notícias and all he really talks about is the Ukraine/Russia/NATO war. He’s also got a segment called “Guerra Fria” which comes on frequently enough. Mind you, I can’t understand most of what he and the other people say but I can read the headlines underneath and can pick up context words. He’s always talking about Ucrânia and that got me curious about him due to how seemingly passionate he is about the topic.

I looked him up and from what I can gather he’s a journalist (obviously) who used to be a communist and lived in the USSR. Apparently his time living in the Soviet Union pushed him away from communism and he is now a staunch anti-communist, someone on Twitter called this being “vaccinated.” He has a blog and he even made an entry back in 2014 about the neo-Nazi problem in Ukraine. He switched up real quick. In 2022 he even said that the difference between Putin and Hitler is that Putin has nuclear weapons… what?

Obviously there’s the language barrier (there shouldn’t be but my family was not great in teaching me) that’s keeping me from having a deeper and better analysis so that’s why I’m asking here. Is anyone else more familiar with this guy? Why is he such a big deal in Portugal? Also does anyone know why he’s like this? Is there anything about his cohost Nuno Rogeiro?

Maybe this isn’t important, but I get annoyed every time I see him on screen and I want to know if anyone else feels the same. I ask now because he was brought on to talk about the recent terrorist attack in Moscow, I don’t know what he said about it, or how he feels, but he did talk about it.

Before I get started, if you don’t know what the Library display is here is my initial post about it.

So I did say i would ask my professors about this display to see if they knew who put it up, why it was put up, and if they even knew what the red and black flag meant.

The first professor I talked to was my Political Science one. I entered his office to chat and before I could ask him about the display he asked me about my paper, then proceeded to give me lots of advice for it. That was not what I was ready for it whatever. I then asked him if he saw the display in the library, he said no. I asked if he knew what it was about even if he hadn’t seen it, again he said no. He told me to explain it to him and I did, it was the “soldier of freedom” display with a bunch of posters. He seemed to sort of know what I was talking about. I asked him if he knew who put it up, he didn’t know but thinks it may have been the Library itself or thee Ukrainian “club” at school (its more official than a club but I don’t know what to call it without outing my location). Before i showed him the photos of the posters with the OUN flag I gave him a disclaimer that I was asking a very fair question, and while he is allowed to feel however he wants I would appreciate not being projected on. After he was primed I showed him my phone and asked him what the flag was, in the picture I showed him the Ukrainian flag was also there and he pointed it out, I had to say I was asking about the red one specifically. He looked at it for a bit and said he didn’t know. I tried to push him on it a bit more but he seriously didn’t know. He then asked me if I knew what it was and I said no. He told me that because its on a soldier display it might be that specific militia’s insignia. I wasn’t super happy with this but tried to play it cool.

He then asked if I was interested in this and I said yes. He then said he is a part of the Ukrainian “club” and can take me to the office to ask them about it, I shot this down right away. I tried to push again, “you really don’t know?” He said that he is anti-war and doesn't involve himself with military stuff so he’s unaware of what the insignia means, he finds war and stuff like it objectionable. With that I asked if he found the display objectionable, he got a little thrown off by this and said that we have a large Ukrainian diaspora here and this is their way too show support to their soldiers fighting to protect their territory. He then brought up the surge in Russophobia in Canada, during a heritage day event the Russian pavilion was banned from appearing which is horrible (we both agreed on that) was one of the big ones, and than many Russians have to stay quiet nowadays even if they support Ukraine (this probably isn’t what he meant but is the only good Russian the one that supports Ukraine?). He then asked me if I found the display objectionable, I had to lie and say I didn’t really know. It was an odd and very disappointing conversation.

I couldn’t really find an opening to ask Tovarish Tomato’s question but I did when I asked my History professor about it. (I don’t know how to tag people)

During office hours for my History professor I spent the first half discussing the class material (which I wont talk about here to save you guys from that). After that I asked him if he saw the display in the library, he said no. I then explained it to him to give him an idea. After he undertook I skipped the question about who could’ve displayed it as he had no idea it even existed. So I skipped to telling him that four out of the 24 flags had this symbol on it and I wanted to know if he knew what it was. When I showed him the flag he also said he didn’t know, he asked if I knew and I lied saying I didn’t know (I don’t know if he believed me). He then opened his computer and looked it up. He went to the Wikipedia and skimmed it a bit, coming to the conclusion that it is associated with Ukrainian nationalism, with far right connotations, and neo-Nazis. He knows I’m planning on writing my history paper about the genocide in the Donbas and he thought maybe this interrogation was related. He went on to explain that because of the famine many Ukrainians had their nationalism fuelled and sided with the Nazis. I tried to explain away my motivations because I am not about to put a target on my back with the school.

This all happened on Wednesday, today I went back and asked Tovarish Tomato’s question.

When I entered his office I cut right to the case saying that my question had nothing to do with class and it was about the poster display and the symbol used in some of the posters. I said that it was really bothering me and I would appreciate a historian’s perspective because I’m having a hard time. I then asked “do you think it is appropriate and responsible to showcase an artist that utilizes neo-Nazi imagery in his works in the university.” I know that wasn’t Tovarish Tomato’s question word for word but I think we all know I have to rephrase things for my own safety. He then said that he isn’t sure and that he would need to know more about what that OUN flag means to the people who put up the posters. If it means fascism then it’s bad to display, but if the flag means Ukrainian freedom from Russian oppression then it’s fine. He then said that symbols change meaning and this one could very well mean something else so we have to keep that in mind. If it was the swastika or the confederate flag then it would be an actual issue. He then asked if I had a problem with this display, and I really tried to play it off, saying I didn’t care anymore, but I don’t think he believed me one bit because he pushed on it and I just told him that I just have to deal with whatever the university approves of whether I like it or not. He then explained that he was not a historian on Ukraine so he isn’t the best authority on this subject, I then brought up Ivan Katchanovski as a source for information if I wanted to know more. He didn’t know who he was so I told him again and I guess he’s going to look into him more. He then told me about Timothy Snyder, an American historian who apparently knows a lot about Ukraine, he then said I might not like him. I asked if he’s American, he said yes, I then said “yeah I might have issues with him.” As a little dig because American scholars can be the absolute worst. So with us exchanging scholars our chat ended and I went to the Library to study.

And what do you know? The display is still there….

Here is the artist and his bio:

“Originally from Jõhvi, Estonia, the artist now lives and works in Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014 he has been involved in creating political posters, highlighting important events of the war. In 2022 alone, he has created over 500 posters on the theme of war and invasion. His works are widely recognized worldwide, and his poster exhibitions have been showcased in the US, Estonia, Lithuania, Japan, and Germany. In 2022, the museum of Ukrainian Poster recognized him as the best poster artist in the country. In 2023, he was included in the list of 100 most influential people in Ukraine during the war, according to the Ukrainian Pravda publication. Nikita has received awards for his volunteer activities.”

These were on display at my school… no shame.

This made me realize just how alone I am here.

I saw this on a tiktok slideshow about Alberta’s anti-rat propaganda posters and I knew I just had to share.

Here’s a map of rat-free places if you’re curious:

I’ve only caught clips of it and I’m not strong enough to watch in full so I ask how any of you felt about it if you watched it.

Portuguese news went over it briefly but I can only understand bits and pieces, from what I’ve gathered the whole thing was a shit show.

Is that the fucking black sun?

Okay so please let me know if this is or isn’t allowed here. I know it’s a Canada community but if province specific posts aren’t allowed I will happily remove it.

Well, my province is officially fucked. I mean, we have been for a very long time, plagued by conservatives and only really catching a break when the NDP won back in, I think, 2015. Rachel Notely has never been a good leader, out of all the NDP leaders she’s the most right wing of her counter parts. I think that’s why she lost this election too. I only had three parties to vote for: UCP, NDP, and the Alberta Party (the dreaded centrists). The NDP in alberta lead by Rachel Notely has been alienating their real audience and I believe that’s why we still got stuck with Danielle “I love Ron DeSantis” Smith. There are some cool people in her party, Janis Irwin would’ve been a better pick for leader in my opinion. Now that Smith has solidified herself as premier of the province I’m truly worried for what’s to come: private healthcare, energy costs skyrocketing, bailouts for the oil sector, etc. it’s insane how the parts of Alberta that would benefit the most from a Marxist government (not the NDP by a long shot) are those that salivate whenever a conservative leader breathes in their direction.

I’m truly worried for myself and my Vavó and tia. They are on pensions while I am on AISH. Both pension and AISH are well below minimum wage and therefore not enough to survive on. No amount of seniors discounts is going to making life any easier. We need a significant boost in benefits. Let’s not forget the virulent hatred Smith and her base has for LGBTQ+ folks, which also puts me in danger as I am queer and just starting the process of getting gender affirming healthcare. With her admiration and love for DeSantis I fear our education system will fall just as hard as Florida's, serious book bans, attacks on minorities (which was already happening but it’s going to get even worse), and many more horrors to come.

I remember a phone call campaign of hers explicitly stating their hatred for communists. Smith herself believes universities are a cancer that are spreading communism so I can only imagine how my education is going to be affected when I go back in September. Little does she know, universities don’t talk about communism at best and at worst demonize communism to hell and back. She’s a fucking idiot but her base doesn’t seem to understand that. Her and her conspiracy theories are going to be emboldened and I’m terrified at what’s to come.

If anyone has advice on what I can do please let me know…

Once a week my friends and I play dungeons and dragons, using DnD Beyond for our character sheets and dice, and Roll20 for our world (maps, player characters, NPCs, etc.). I’m playing a dog folk girl based heavily on the blonde dog in my profile pic with the same name, look, and sassy attitude too. She’s fourteen, and in our campaign dog folk and humans age at the same rate. She’s a full blown communist and I’m not shy about voicing her ideals, while I don’t say the word “communist” during role play, it is explicitly stated in her character sheet. Using the term “Marxist-Leninist” would be inaccurate considering Marx and Lenin don’t exist in the world of our campaign, unless my DM pulls something. Hell, my character’s last name is Luxemburg.

I’m writing this post because I’m looking for some advice on how to play a revolutionary leader? For context, my character is the daughter of two revolutionaries, Clara Luxemburg and Sacha (no last name). Both parents lived outside a dog folk town where they acted as Robin Hood-esque figures. At one point enough was enough and they began plans for an uprising against the nobles of their town. To make a long story short the revolution failed and Sacha and Clara were executed to send a message to the other revolutionaries. My character fled, to be on her own after witnessing their deaths, and ten years later she finds herself in a city building a revolution with the homeless population against the noble families, the church, and the royals. This plan was interrupted when our party was arrested and I broke an anarchist out of prison (yes, shame on me, but in my defence I didn’t know he was an anarchist). But after a bunch of shit and an Ace Attorney court scene, my girl is back on track to leading the revolution once more and going back to her dog town to prevent a genocide. The genocide is because I accidentally sparked a race war between the humans and the dog folk.

Now I’m nervous and unsure on how to go about this. While I am well aware that this is a fantasy game and I could just do whatever I wanted in terms of leading the revolution (the rest of my party weren’t involved in this part of the game, but now they might be) but I wanted to do it accurately to how our real world revolutionaries have done it. Is there any reading material on how Lenin, or Castro and Che Guevara, or Sankara (etc.) went about planning, building, and carrying out their revolutions? This sounds silly as hell but playing this character actually helps make concepts stick better in my head, it also feels nice to act out scenarios I know I never could in real life.

Anyway I know this was rambly, goofy if you will, but I hope you were at least somewhat entertained reading a little bit about my little commie dog. If you need more background information or are just curious about the campaign itself please don’t hesitate to ask. I truly love interacting with you all and look forward to seeing the numbers next to that bell in the corner.

Note: Sorry for any spelling and/or grammatical mistakes, the keyboard I’m using is very small and weird. It’s for an iPad.