Posted by Michael Kovrig

https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/18/canada-davos-carney-middle-powers/

https://foreignpolicy.com/?p=1221011

Middle powers need real institutions to resist superpower gravity.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/18/canada-davos-carney-middle-powers/

https://foreignpolicy.com/?p=1221011

Posted by Tyler Roberts

https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/star-wars-tbs-imperial-remnant-at-rt-driver-coming-soon/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2368871

Return to a galaxy far, far away with some brand new collectibles from Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu 

https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/star-wars-tbs-imperial-remnant-at-rt-driver-coming-soon/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2368871

https://www.tvline.com/2102647/gilligans-island-creatives-negative-reviews-feelings/

Loved by audiences but derided by critics, Gilligan's Island is a classic of '60s TV., but how did the show's cast and crew deal with the negative press?

https://www.tvline.com/2102647/gilligans-island-creatives-negative-reviews-feelings/

https://www.tvline.com/2103684/sexiest-tv-shows-streaming-netflix/

Who said everything on TV needs to be PG-13? If you're hoping to get your metaphorical motor running, these aphrodisiacal Netflix programs might do the trick.

https://www.tvline.com/2103684/sexiest-tv-shows-streaming-netflix/

My interview with the alt-certification program wrapped up an hour ago. Since then, I've been snacking, snuggling the cat, and collecting my thoughts.

That went well, I think. My interviewer had prior teaching experience near the community where I live, so we had a good shared knowledge base at the outset. Vibes were good. My sample lesson hit all the notes I wanted within the five minute timeframe, and afterward my interviewer said he'd enjoyed learning more about the topic. I was particularly pleased with the results of the data review portion. In the Q&A section after I presented my documents, my interviewer mentioned that he'd had to skip a number of followup questions because I'd already addressed their contents. 

I know I'm a well-qualified candidate, and since my surgery last year I know I finally have the energy to do this work. So now we wait. I'll hear their decision in early March. If things go particularly well, I could be working under a provisional license alongside a professional mentor as early as August. Fingers crossed!

At this point I've done everything I can to positively influence the outcome, so all the pressure's off. In the absolute worst case scenario, I'll keep subbing while building application portfolios for the other alt-certification programs in my area. It feels so good to have momentum again after I was so sick for so long. Even the worst days now are better than operating at that level of constant pain.

I had to take a break from writing for almost a month to pour my free time and energy into getting my application materials together, so I'm very excited to have my hobby time back. And I guess I'd better get back to doing my full share of the household dishes now that I'm not buried in a heap of time-sensitive deadlines. Eyeing up the kitchen sink as we speak.

Title: The Quick Departure
Fandom: Miss Marple
Rating: G

Posted by Rich Johnston

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/party-late-at-comicspro-from-ignition-to-vertigo-to-massive-verse/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2369869

Party Late at ComicsPRO, from Ignition to Vertigo to Massive-Verse... even an In-N-Out truck...

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/party-late-at-comicspro-from-ignition-to-vertigo-to-massive-verse/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2369869

Posted by Ray Flook

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/fcc-chairman-carr-highly-entertained-by-colbert-cbs-controversy/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2369938

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says he's "highly entertained" by the controversy going on between Stephen Colbert and CBS that he helped create.

https://bleedingcool.com/tv/fcc-chairman-carr-highly-entertained-by-colbert-cbs-controversy/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2369938

Posted by Tyler Roberts

https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/lego-debuts-new-star-wars-the-mandalorian-grogu-at-rt-set/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2368694

Return to a galaxy far, far away with some brand new collectibles from Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu 

https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/lego-debuts-new-star-wars-the-mandalorian-grogu-at-rt-set/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2368694

Three minutes ago Sophia asked me how to spell "pregnancy simulator", and now I'm getting the regular buzz of notifications as she installs apps on her phone.

Posted by languagehat

https://languagehat.com/cateran/

https://languagehat.com/?p=19283

A MeFi post by clavdivs (who’s been a member even longer than I have, and whom I think of when my wife and I watch an episode of I, CLAVDIVS) sent me to Wilfred Scawen Blunt’s long poem “Satan Absolved,” written in odd-for-English Alexandrine couplets, and there I found this passage:

Tʜᴇ Lᴏʀᴅ Gᴏᴅ
And thou wouldst be incarnate?

Sᴀᴛᴀɴ
            As the least strong thing,
The frailest, the most fond, an insect on the wind,
Which shall prevail by love, by ignorance, by lack
Of all that Man most trusteth to secure his back,
To arm his hand with might. What Thy Son dreamed of Man
Will I work out anew as some poor cateran,
The weakest of the Earth, with only beauty’s power
And Thy good grace to aid, the creature of an hour
Too fugitive for fight, too frail even far to fly,
And at the hour’s end, Lord, to close my wings and die.
Such were the new redemption.

I was pretty sure I’d never seen the word cateran before; the OED (entry from 1889) has:

1.a. † As a collective noun. Common people of the Highlands in a troop or band, fighting men. Obsolete.
(?a1513) Full mony catherein hes he chaist..Amang thay dully glennis.
W. Dunbar, Poems (1998) vol. I. 133 [Composed ?a1513]
1768 Ask yon highland kettrin what they mean.
A. Ross, The Fortunate Shepherdess, A Pastoral Tale 120 (in Jamieson’s Dictionary)

1.b. One of a Highland band; a Highland irregular fighting man, reiver, or marauder.
1371–90 Of Ketharines or Sorneris. They quha travells as ketharans..etand the cuntrie and..takand their gudis be force and violence.
Stat. 12 Robt. II (in Jamieson’s Dictionary)
[c1430 Per duos pestiferos cateranos et eorum sequaces.
Bower, Contn. Fordun anno 1396 (in Jamieson’s Dictionary)]
[…]
1832 These overgrown proprietors with their armies of catherans.
Blackwood’s Magazine 65/2
1887 Plundering Caterans always ready to flock to those who promised booty.
Duke of Argyll, Scotland as it Was vol. II. 6

And the etymology:

Lowland Scots catherein, kettrin, appears to represent Gaelic ceathairne collective ‘peasantry’, whence ceathairneach ‘sturdy fellow, freebooter’ (McAlpine); Cormac has Irish ceithern, which O’Donovan renders ‘band of soldiers’, thence ceithernach ‘one of a band’.

Notes
The th has long been mute in Celtic, and the Irish ceithern /ˈkeərn/ is phonetically represented by English kern n.¹ It is not easy to account for the preservation of the dental in Lowland Scots, unless perhaps through the intermediation of medieval Latin as in Bower’s cateranos. (Stokes refers ceithern to Old Irish *keitern, Old Celtic keterna, a feminine ā-stem.)

I’m dubious about “the preservation of the dental in Lowland Scots,” but it certainly does look like the same word. The eDIL entry is here, Wikipedia has an article that doesn’t add much (it’s one of the ones based on an old 11th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica entry), and M-W says “Middle English (Scots) ketharan, probably from Medieval Latin katheranus, from Scottish Gaelic ceithearn band of fighting men.” An odd word that doesn’t seem especially appropriate to the context of the poem and was certainly not needed for the rhyme; I presume Blunt was just showing off.

https://languagehat.com/cateran/

https://languagehat.com/?p=19283

Here is a living collection of links to things that I think are cool or helpful! This post was last updated on 2/18/26.



The Vintage Fit: Expert Tips for Knitting a Well-Fitting Garment by Susan Crawford

 

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https://www.tvline.com/2104535/swat-exiles-season-1-cast-photos-shemar-moore-spinoff/

Sony Pictures Television has released new photos from S.W.A.T. Exiles, offering a glimpse at Shemar Moore back in tactical gear as Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson.

https://www.tvline.com/2104535/swat-exiles-season-1-cast-photos-shemar-moore-spinoff/

March 1 is just weeks away, so that means the kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge will be taking place soon! The challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation, plus there will be some prompts for creating new meta.

Feel free to ask questions here about the challenge, locations, etc. Otherwise subscribe to marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!

March 1 is just weeks away, so that means the kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge will be taking place soon! The challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation, plus there will be some prompts for creating new meta.

Feel free to ask questions here about the challenge, locations, etc. Otherwise subscribe to marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!

Posted by Tyler Roberts

https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/things-get-deadly-with-the-g-i-joe-classified-series-cobra-overkill/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2368808

Prepare to take on Cobra in style as Hasbro has unveiled their newest selection of G.I. Joe Classified Series figures

https://bleedingcool.com/collectibles/things-get-deadly-with-the-g-i-joe-classified-series-cobra-overkill/

https://bleedingcool.com/?p=2368808