16 July 2026
31 Days in Canada
In honour of CANADA DAY I plan to post a daily image of Canada and a link to a random Canadian location we have visited.
15 July 2026
I Can't Make This Stuff Up!
BREAKING: Pete Hegseth Announces Mandatory Testosterone Testing Of All US Troops - Women Too - And The Creation Of "The High T Dept of War." I Wish I Was Kidding.
You can’t parody this administration anymore. They keep beating you to it.
Dean Blundell (Canadian) - full post with videos.
Jul 15, 2026
Let me walk you through the last 90 days at the Pentagon — sorry, the “Department of War” — because if I just told you the ending, you’d assume I was drunk. (I’m not. Yet.)
This morning, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth — a Fox News weekend host the United States put in charge of the largest military on Earth — posted a three-minute video announcing that every active-duty service member aged 30 and up will now be screened annually for “testosterone deficiency.” Mandatory. Baked right into their yearly health assessment. Under 30? You can volunteer for it, champ. And if the doc says your T is low, they’ll happily hook you up with testosterone replacement therapy to keep you — and this is a real quote from the actual Secretary of War — on the “leading edge of lethality.”
He captioned the whole thing “The High-T Department of War.”
The part where it gets genuinely insane
Now, on its own, “government hormone-screens its soldiers to make them better killers” is already a headline from a rejected RoboCop script. Hegseth insists it’s not about “artificial enhancement” — it’s about “restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities.” Sure, bud. That’s also what every juiced-up gym bro tells his doctor. The treatment is “entirely your choice,” he says — which is adorable, because if you’ve spent five minutes around the military you know exactly how “optional” anything is once your command knows your bloodwork came back “insufficiently jacked.”
But here’s the thing that should make your head spin clean off your shoulders: this is the same guy who just spent three months telling troops that the government has no business making medical decisions for their bodies.
Let me lay out the timeline, because it’s a masterpiece:
April 21, 2026: Hegseth scraps the military’s flu vaccine mandate — a requirement that had been in place since 1945. Eighty years. Why did the military mandate flu shots for eighty years? Oh, no big reason, just the small matter of roughly 45,000 American soldiers dying of influenza during World War I — nearly as many as died in combat. The Army literally helped invent the flu vaccine because a respiratory virus almost crippled it. But Pete knows better. He called the mandate “overly broad and not rational” and told the troops “your body, your faith and your convictions are not negotiable.”
Your body. Your choice. Medical freedom, baby. Remember that phrase.
June 2026: A flu outbreak rips through Lackland Air Force Base in Texas — you know, the place where thousands of recruits live shoulder-to-shoulder in barracks, a.k.a. the single most perfect flu incubator human beings have ever constructed. First it was 160 recruits sick. Then 222, with four hospitalized. Turns out when you make the shot optional, only about 40% of trainees get it — down from the 100% it used to be, on account of it not being optional.
Also June 2026: The Pentagon, very quietly, with none of the chest-thumping video content, grants an “exception” to Hegseth’s own policy and starts requiring flu shots again — first at Lackland, then for basic trainees across the Army, Navy, and Air Force, with the Army preparing to extend it to deploying troops, first responders, health care workers, and more.
So to recap the “medical freedom” arc: Hegseth removed a vaccine mandate for ideological clout, soldiers got sick exactly the way every epidemiologist said they would, and the mandate came crawling back through the side door while nobody was filming. No apology. No, “my bad, the 1945 guys had a point.” Just a quiet memo and a prayer, nobody connects the dots.
And then, three weeks later, the same man stands in front of a camera and announces the government will now be mandating annual hormone screening so it can offer to pump troops full of testosterone?
Laughable.
So let’s be clear about what “medical freedom” actually means here
It means:
A flu shot that’s been protecting soldiers for 80 years and costs about twelve dollars? Tyranny. Your body, your faith, your convictions.
Mandatory annual bloodwork so Uncle Sam can check whether you’re man enough, followed by a friendly offer of hormone therapy to sharpen your “lethality”? Freedom, apparently.The principle was never “the government shouldn’t touch your body.” The principle is “the government should touch your body in ways that flatter Pete Hegseth’s Instagram feed.“ Vaccines are for libs. Testosterone is for warriors. That’s it. That’s the entire medical philosophy of the United States Department of War in 2026, run by a guy whose most notable pre-Pentagon achievement was co-hosting Fox & Friends Weekend.And it’s not happening in a vacuum. This is the same administration where the Health Secretary went on TV to announce that Dr. Oz reviewed Trump’s medical records and found the highest testosterone levels he’d ever seen in a man over 70 — a sentence assembled entirely out of things that cannot possibly be true. This is the same Hegseth who stood in front of hundreds of generals last fall complaining about “fat troops” and “fat generals” like a substitute gym teacher who just discovered pre-workout. Masculinity isn’t a trait for these guys. It’s a procurement program.
The punchline
Here’s what kills me. There is a boring, proven, dirt-cheap, 80-year-old intervention that demonstrably keeps a fighting force healthy and deployable. Hegseth torched it for content. Two hundred and twenty-two sick recruits later, his own Pentagon had to un-torch it in the dark.
And his takeaway from that entire humiliating episode wasn’t “maybe I should listen to military doctors.” It was “what if we tested everyone’s balls.”
A sick soldier can’t fight, Pete. That was the whole lesson. It was sitting right there. Instead, the most powerful military on the planet is now being run like a supplement company — MAHA-brand medical freedom on the label, mandatory bloodwork and hormone top-ups in the fine print.
The High-T Department of War. God help us all — and get your flu shot, because apparently the Pentagon’s going to make you anyway. They’ll just never admit it.
31 Days in Canada
In honour of CANADA DAY I plan to post a daily image of Canada and a link to a random Canadian location we have visited.
The mainland region of Labrador, Canada (known locally as "The Big Land") is one of the last untouched frontiers on earth.
Ferry to Labrador and Vikings - random post
Basque Whaling Station: During the 16th century, over 2,500 Basque whalers traveled annually to Red Bay, Labrador
.Industrial Oil Production: They produced thousands of barrels of whale oil to light up European lamps, serving as North America's first major export industry.
Underwater Treasures: The area is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site protecting 500-year-old sunken whaling ships, including the famed San Juan galleon.
14 July 2026
31 Days in Canada
In honour of CANADA DAY I plan to post a daily image of Canada and a link to a random Canadian location we have visited.
Lake Louise and Banff Alberta - random post
Royally Named: The lake is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.
Indigenous Roots: Before its royal moniker, Stoney First Nations people called it Ho-Run-Num-Nay (Lake of Little Fishes).
High Altitude Living: At 1,600 meters (5,249 feet) above sea level, Lake Louise Village is Canada's highest permanent community.
Strict Residency: To live in Lake Louise, you must either own a business in the area or work there.
Hollywood of the North: Its breathtaking backdrop is widely considered one of the most photographed places in the world.
Frigid Waters: The glacial waters rarely rise above 5°C (41°F), making it entirely too cold for regular swimming.
Bear Country: The area has one of the highest concentrations of grizzly bears to humans in North America, with sightings happening frequently during the summer months.
Manually "Painted": In 1915, the lake bottom was drained and artificially painted with non-toxic blue coloring to enhance the brilliant shade of the water.
13 July 2026
Tuesday Treasures
Harbourfront. We ate here once, probably in the 90s. It was stuck in a time warp even back then!! Grumpy old men servers carrying plates on a tray.
These photos of ours, were taken in 2013!
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Monday Mural
The Perspectives public art program transforms the pedestrian tunnel at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport into a vibrant celebration of the people, places, and stories that shape Toronto. Each edition highlights five artists, with four works per artist reproduced in a grand and striking format, turning the journey to the airport into an immersive gallery-worthy experience.
Now on Display: Perspectives 3
Our current exhibition (starting March 2026) explores Toronto’s migratory history, its natural landscapes, and its constantly evolving urban patterns, as well as the rhythms and subtle magic of everyday life. From evocative photography to bold digital cityscapes, the works capture the dynamism and diversity that define the city.
Callan Jaida Jones
@trailmxjones
Mx. Callan Jaida Jones is a queer artist and writer. Their multidisciplinary practice investigates points of contact between disparate forces, using shifting perspectives to cultivate empathy.
About their works in Perspectives, they say, “Blueprints is a series of photographs captured from a two-seater Cessna departing from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. My work attends to the city’s quieter spaces, where careful looking draws out hidden grace. For me, this reflects Toronto’s spirit as a city of possibility, experienced through movement and continual discovery.”
Pam Staples
@crackercrumbsstudios
Pam Staples is a digital illustrator with over two decades of experience creating vivid, story-driven visual works that celebrate the natural world, outdoor living and community spaces.
“Living in Toronto as a young artist, I learned the rhythm of a big city at a time when Toronto was evolving into the vibrant, diverse place it is today. Community is central to the city’s identity, and to my practice. Whether referencing the waterfront, the built environment, or the subtle patterns of everyday life, my work aims to honour people and their shared experiences.”
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