#fiona nova week 2020

[atlanticcanada]

North American Indigenous Games set to bring competition and culture to Nova Scotia

A milestone has been reached in the lead up to what’s being billed as the largest multi-sport and cultural gathering in Atlantic Canadian history.

“We are 100 days out from the beginning of the North American Indigenous Games,” says Fiona Kirkpatrick Parsons, the Host Society chair for NAIG.

Roughly 5,300 Indigenous youth from 756 nations across the continent will participate in the week-long event.

These games were to be held in 2020 but were derailed by the pandemic.

“We will have 16 sports held at 21 venues. It is 50 per cent sport, 50 per cent of cultural experience, so participants and spectators can expect to see the sports and also come and enjoy some of the cultural offerings that we have to share with everyone,” says Kirkpatrick Parsons.

As with any major event, volunteers will play a vital roll in ensuring success.

About 3,000 volunteers are needed, and so far 2,700 have registered, offering 35,000 hours of their time.

“Honestly, we are looking for people who are open to learning, people who want to provide the best experience to all these youth and really show that Maritime pride,” says volunteer coordinator Laura Seaboyer.

The games are open to all spectators.

“People want to be an ally and that is the point of the event, to bring everybody together. We’re saving a seat for everybody,” Seaboyer says.

This will be the 10th edition of the North American Indigenous Games. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 16 at ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/XPRICJh

[mollymauksworld]

Fiona Nova Week 2020: Favorite Outfit(s)

[ltwilliammowett]

The Hector

In early July 1773, the fluyt Hector sailed from Lochbroom, Scotland bound for Pictou in Nova Scotia. On board the Hector were nearly two hundred men, women and children. By all accounts, The Hector was not in the best shape. It had already seen twenty years’ service as a cargo vessel.

The Hector replica (x)

As the Hector approached the coast of Newfoundland, a fierce storm blow the ship far off course. It took two weeks to regain the ship’s previous position.

(x)

Today, it is estimated that there are more than one hundred and forty thousand descendants of the ‘Hector Scots’ living in Canada and the United States. In 1990, the Pictou Waterfront Development Corporation began the construction of a life size replica of the Hector. The ship is now moored in Pictou Harbour.

(x)

Due to the fact that the replica was 30 years old, it had to be fundamentally repaired. The repairs were supposed to start in 2020, but were postponed due to the pandemic and storm Fiona. Now they have been resumed and the plan is to lift the vessel back into the water on 15 Sept. 2023. That day will mark the 250th anniversary of the Hector's arrival in Pictou.

[hiddenblockclub]

Fiona Week 2020, Day 2: Happy Birthday!   ↳ Happy 24nd Birthday Fiona Nova! (July 21, 1996)

[fionaweek]

Fiona Week 2020 FAQ

what’s fiona week?

fiona week is a fan run event spanning from july 20th to july 26th dedicated to appreciating fiona nova. we picked this week because fiona’s birthday is the 21st. 

do you have prompts?

yes. our schedule post can be found here, but here’s a rundown: 

monday: favorite moment

tuesday: birthday (that’s her birthday!)

wednesday: favorite outfit

thursday: fiona + an au

friday: favorite team

saturday + sunday: free spaces to make whatever you want. 

do i have to post something for every single day?

nope. you can make things for as many or as few prompts as you’d like. 

what kind of content is allowed?

anything! gifs, art, graphics, fic, videos, and a text post about how much you love her are all fair game. 

how do i participate?

if you’re interested in participating, just tag your work with #fionaweek (no space) and we’ll reblog it. easy as that!

i missed the deadline for a prompt :(

no problem! prompts are more suggestions than hard and fast rules. go ahead and post it and pop the #fionaweek tag on it (no space) and we’ll reblog.

ragehappy?

fiona’s stance on ragehappy is our stance on ragehappy. in her own words, “yes and plz send it to me cause ive never been in a fanfic before and would like proof to show off to my mom. [...] let me remind you that if you write me as a bottom i will find you and beat u up.”

that being said, this is a fiona appreciation week, not a fiona ships appreciation week. anything you create should be fiona focused. if you’re going to lean into the slashier side, try to keep it fiona based, and please limit it to content you make for team day. :)

i have an idea for a fiona appreciation/birthday project that would involve community participation!

awesome! you can send us an ask if you want to organize with us, or you can make a post about your idea and let us know and we’ll reblog it. 

who runs this blog?

this event is a joint effort between fornhaus, who came up with the idea, as well as micooll (also our graphics person) and juggey. 

i have a question that’s not on this list.

send us an ask and we’ll address it asap.

[newstfionline]

Monday, September 26, 2022

Canadian military to help clean up Fiona’s devastation (AP) Canadian troops are being sent to assist the recovery from the devastation of storm Fiona, which swept away houses, stripped off roofs and knocked out power across the country’s Atlantic provinces. After surging north from the Caribbean as a hurricane, Fiona came ashore before dawn Saturday as a post-tropical cyclone, battering Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Quebec with hurricane-strength winds, heavy rains and huge waves. Defense Minister Anita Anand said Saturday that troops would help remove fallen trees and other debris, restore transportation links and do whatever else is required for as long as it takes.

Inflation, spending cuts undermine Biden’s hunger policy (Reuters) Grace Melt made her first visit to the Nourishing Hope food pantry on Chicago’s North Side in August. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she used food stamps issued by the federal government to buy groceries while out of work for a knee injury. But this summer, the food stamps couldn’t keep up with the grocery store’s rising prices, sending her in search of a food donation for the first time. “It’s definitely not enough. It never lasts ‘til the end of the month,” she said of the food stamp benefits. “And now they’ve increased prices... So now you have to resort to coming here to a food pantry, to fill in.” Rising hunger is a problem for U.S. President Joe Biden as he gears up to host the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in more than 50 years and pledges to eliminate hunger in the United States by 2030. The Biden administration increased funding for food stamps nearly a year ago, but at the same time has purchased about half as much food as the Trump administration did in 2020, for food banks, schools and indigenous reservations. Escalating food prices are eroding the reach of food stamps, sending more people to food banks, that are in turn receiving less food from the government.

Florida monitors a growing Tropical Storm Ian in Caribbean (AP) Authorities and residents in Florida were keeping a cautious eye on Tropical Storm Ian as it rumbled through the Caribbean on Sunday, expected to continue gaining strength and become a major hurricane in the coming days on a forecast track toward the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for all of Florida the previous day, expanding an initial order that had covered two dozen counties. He urged residents to prepare for a storm that could lash large swaths of the state with heavy rains, high winds and rising seas. The National Hurricane Center said Ian was expected to strengthen before moving over western Cuba and toward the west coast of Florida and the Florida Panhandle by the middle of the week.

Italy poised for glass ceiling-shattering vote, hard right turn (Washington Post) Italy is poised on Sunday for a norm-breaking election that’s expected to give the country its first-ever female prime minister—and its farthest-right government since the fall of Mussolini. The vote is forecast to deliver victory to a coalition that includes two far-right forces, including the Fratelli d’Italia party of Giorgia Meloni, a once-marginal figure who vows to defend “traditional” social values, close off pathways to undocumented immigrants and push back against the “obscure bureaucrats” of Brussels. While the rise of Meloni and the far right could ultimately turn into an epochal event in European politics—pushing Italy into an illiberal bloc with Poland and Hungary—it’s difficult for leaders to hold on to power in Rome, where zigzags are the norm, and the typical government lasts no more than 400 days. Meloni would face immediate tests at home and in Europe, given fatigue over soaring energy prices and divisions within her own coalition on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.

In Ukraine’s South, Fierce Fighting and Deadly Costs (NYT) Ukraine’s southern offensive was the most highly anticipated military action of the summer. But the south remains a different story from the northeast. Interviews with dozens of commanders, ordinary soldiers, medics, village leaders and civilians who recently escaped the conflict zone portray a more difficult and costly campaign: The fighting is grinding, grueling and steep in casualties, perhaps the most heartbreaking battle in Ukraine right now. The Ukrainian government does not usually disclose casualty figures, but the soldiers and commanders interviewed in the past week portrayed the battlefield losses as “high” and “massive.” They described large offensives in which columns of Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles tried to cross open fields only to be pounded mercilessly by Russian artillery and blown up by Russian mines. One Ukrainian soldier, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to publicly discuss casualties, said that during a recent assault, “we lost 50 guys in two hours.” In another place, said the soldier, who works closely with different frontline units, “hundreds” of Ukrainian troops were killed or wounded while trying to take a single village, which is still in Russian hands.

As Ukraine’s fathers fight, mothers go it alone with their children (Washington Post) Millions of women with children have faced wrenching scenarios since Russia invaded. Many have left the country, becoming refugees with all the immense challenges that entails. Yet for those who stayed put in Ukraine as their husbands or partners fought, there are separate struggles and dangers. Some mothers have thrown themselves into volunteering and fundraising for their loved ones’ units. Others are consumed by child care, financial worries and family expectations. After more than half a year of fighting, the social services and networks that once helped to sustain the prewar country of more than 40 million people have largely broken down. NGOs are trying to house and assist newly single, displaced and widowed mothers. Their needs are daunting. And the start of the school year in September brought little respite: Just over half of schools reopened for in-person learning.

The New India: Expanding Influence Abroad, Straining Democracy at Home (NYT) On the margins of a summit meant as a show of force for a Russian leader seeking a turnaround on the battlefield, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India leaned in with a different message. “Democracy, diplomacy and dialogue”—not war—is the answer, he told Vladimir V. Putin as the cameras rolled this month. It is India’s credentials as the world’s largest democracy that Mr. Modi rides on the global stage. But at home, diplomats, analysts and activists say, Mr. Modi’s government is undertaking a project to remake India’s democracy unlike any in its 75 years of independence—stifling dissent, sidelining civilian institutions and making minorities second-class citizens. While past Indian leaders exploited religious divisions and weaponized institutions to stay in power, Mr. Modi’s focus has been more fundamental: a systematic consolidation of power, achieved not through dramatic power grabs but through more subtle and lasting means, aimed at imprinting a majoritarian Hindu ideology on India’s constitutionally secular democracy. Mr. Modi has bent to his will the courts, the news media, the legislature and civil society—“referee” institutions that guarded India’s democracy in a region of military coups and entrenched dictatorships. As he has done so, the country’s indispensability on major global issues, coupled with challenges to democracy in both the United States and Europe, has ensured little pushback from Western allies.

Why Japan Is Angry About a State Funeral for an Assassinated Leader (NYT) Nearly three months after Shinzo Abe, Japan’s most influential and longest-serving prime minister, was gunned down in broad daylight at a campaign stop, his death is still reverberating, though in ways few would have predicted. An outpouring of anger prompted by the assassination has been directed not at the killer, his ability to make and deploy a firearm in a country where guns are tightly restricted, or the security detail that failed to protect Mr. Abe. Instead, the public has turned its ire toward the slain leader’s long-governing Liberal Democratic Party and its plan to hold a state funeral for him next week. Fumio Kishida, the current prime minister, is suffering his worst approval ratings since he became the party’s leader last fall. Any sense of public mourning seems to have faded as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets or signed petitions opposing the state funeral, complaining that the ceremony is a waste of public money and was unilaterally imposed upon the country by Mr. Kishida and his cabinet. Azumi Tamura, an associate professor of sociology at Shiga University, said that those critical of the state funeral believed it would wrongly elevate a politician who was involved in a number of controversial decisions and scandals, including accusations that his government had improperly granted favors to political friends and mishandled the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Poverty and inflation: Egypt’s economy hit by global turmoil (AP) Egypt, a country of more than 103 million people, is running low on foreign currency needed to buy essentials like grain and fuel. To keep U.S. dollars in the country, the government has tightened imports, meaning fewer new cars and summer dresses. For the nearly third of Egyptians living in poverty, and the millions more in poor conditions, the country’s economic woes mean life is much harder than off-season shopping—they’re finding it harder to put food on the table. A decade after deadly protests and political upheaval rocked the Middle East’s most populous nation, the economy is still staggering and has taken new hits. Fatima, a 32-year-old cleaner in Cairo, says her family stopped buying red meat five months ago. Chicken also has become a luxury. She’s borrowing from relatives to make ends meet. She’s worried about the impact of high prices on Egypt’s social fabric. Asking to be identified only by her first name for fear of reprisal, she worries that crime and theft will increase “because people won’t have enough money to feed themselves.”

Speeding Up Your Daily Walk Could Have Big Benefits (NYT) Many of us regularly wear an activity tracker, which counts the number of steps we take in a day. Based on these numbers, it can be hard to make sense of what they might mean for our overall health. Is it just the overall number of steps in a day that matter, or does exercise intensity, such as going for a brisk walk or jog, make a difference? In a new study, which looks at activity tracker data from 78,500 people, walking at a brisk pace for about 30 minutes a day led to a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia and death, compared with walking a similar number of steps but at a slower pace. These results were recently published in two papers in the journals JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Neurology.

[atlanticcanada]

North American Indigenous Games set to bring competition and culture to Nova Scotia

A milestone has been reached in the lead up to what’s being billed as the largest multi-sport and cultural gathering in Atlantic Canadian history.

“We are 100 days out from the beginning of the North American Indigenous Games,” says Fiona Kirkpatrick Parsons, the Host Society chair for NAIG.

Roughly 5,300 Indigenous youth from 756 nations across the continent will participate in the week-long event.

These games were to be held in 2020 but were derailed by the pandemic.

“We will have 16 sports held at 21 venues. It is 50 per cent sport, 50 per cent of cultural experience, so participants and spectators can expect to see the sports and also come and enjoy some of the cultural offerings that we have to share with everyone,” says Kirkpatrick Parsons.

As with any major event, volunteers will play a vital roll in ensuring success.

About 3,000 volunteers are needed, and so far 2,700 have registered, offering 35,000 hours of their time.

“Honestly, we are looking for people who are open to learning, people who want to provide the best experience to all these youth and really show that Maritime pride,” says volunteer coordinator Laura Seaboyer.

The games are open to all spectators.

“People want to be an ally and that is the point of the event, to bring everybody together. We’re saving a seat for everybody,” Seaboyer says.

This will be the 10th edition of the North American Indigenous Games. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 16 at ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/FuMRBy5

[atlanticcanada]

'Patience is wearing thin,' for Maritimers who question if utilities ready for storms

Some Maritimers who lost power for days after post-tropical storm Fiona are questioning whether power utilities have properly prepared their grids for the powerful storms that are increasingly battering the region.

"Most of Nova Scotia has the expectation that if the wind blows sideways, there's a potential to lose power," Amanda Dodsworth said in an interview Wednesday, as she spent a fourth morning in the dark.

She said in her neighbourhood 10 kilometres from the centre of Halifax, post-tropical storm Fiona landed with less ferocity than in northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, taking down branches rather than toppling large trees and snapping poles.

"There's a lot of damage where you can't figure out why it's taking so long to fix," Dodsworth said. "I think some of the issue is there's a lack of general maintenance of the lines and poles and things."

Meanwhile, Halifax Regional Municipality councillor Sam Austin said he has had a steady stream of emails from residents of Dartmouth Centre struggling to understand why the apparently limited damage has kept power out for close to a week, when damage from hurricane Juan in 2003 seemed far worse.

"People's patience is wearing thin," said Austin, whose background is urban planning.

"We're going to have start hardening our infrastructure, especially our electrical systems because doing things the same old way we've been doing it isn't going to cut it any more."

During a briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Matt Drover, who is managing Nova Scotia Power's response to Fiona, said the privately owned utility was coping with thousands of broken lines and hundreds of damaged poles. About 415,000 customers lost power during Fiona, and the utility said that as of Wednesday, the lights were back on for more than three quarters of those.

However, in recent years the utility has repeatedly come in for criticism, receiving a fine of $250,000 from its regulator in 2020 for failing to meet reliability standards, including standards for the frequency and length of power outages.

Drover said the utility, which is owned by Halifax-based Emera, has been making progress in strengthening its network. "What we focus on is tree trimming. We spend over $20 million (annually) on vegetation management throughout the province ... that is the best thing we can do to prevent power outages going forward," he said Wednesday.

He also said while some residents may see just a few branches down, it's possible the cause of the outage is a much larger tree that has fallen "further up the line."

Kevin Mullen, the chief executive of a Halifax-based renewable energy firm -- GreenQuest Power -- said he believes the oversight model for Nova Scotia Power has to change to give the regulator the ability to impose stronger penalties if reliability standards aren't met.

"The only way to solve the problem is to force Nova Scotia Power to be accountable .... You have to say, 'This fine is going to be more of a cost to you than non-performance.' When you bring it to that point, the company will start to turn around," he said in an interview Wednesday.

He said there are is a lot of "low-hanging fruit" available for improvements, including burying lines, increased tree trimming and upgrading transformers.

In Prince Edward Island, 90 per cent of customers were without power at the height of the storm on Saturday. Maritime Electric -- a subsidiary of Fortis Inc. -- reported Thursday morning that about half those outages, or 41,000 customers, had seen their power restored.

Terry Gamble, who owns a cottage in Canoe Cove, P.E.I., said Wednesday her community had been without electricity since the post-tropical storm struck late Friday.

She said she is one of the lucky ones because she also owns a condo in Charlottetown, which is on the hospital grid and had power restored within 48 hours.

However, rural areas have no streetlights leaving residents in pitch darkness and without heat as the days get shorter and chillier, she said.

"It is very frustrating," she said. "I mean, we are going back ... into the 1800s." Gamble said there is a lot of talk about burying power lines to prevent such widespread blackouts.

"It would be at an enormous cost. But then you I guess you have to weigh it (against other costs). I guess it all comes down to what we as individuals are prepared to invest in the moment, or potential in the future," she said.

Kim Griffin, a spokeswoman for Maritime Electric, maintains that the grid held up well overall. "The fact is we build to Canadian standards," she said at a briefing Wednesday.

She also said the utility is working on a study assessing the impacts of climate change in the coming decades that will be released later this year, and more planning on infrastructure will occur after that is complete.

"It's not something you can go and invest in your system overnight," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2022.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/ZqVORhS