kar0ling

Posts

Bigger dreams for a livable city

A message to a mayoral candidate Just a few thoughts arising from the BW ride with the ED. 1) That bridge connecting Edmonton and Scott across the Assiniboine would be nice, of course. But we don't have the money to even build it, much less to build all the other bridges that would be desired. The reason that a downtown AT bridge is so greatly desired is because the city *somehow* failed to put a bike lane on the Osborne Bridge when they rehabbed it in 2010ish, despite the fact that is was in *all the plans*. Meanwhile there *are* three bridges downtown. Yes, they all have their challenges for cyclists, but there *are* three bridges. Whereas Maryland to Omand's Creek is a *very* long stretch with *no bridges whatsoever* (except that sewage bridge at Aubrey taunting every pedestrian or cyclist who has to bike kms out of their way to connect from Cambridge to Sherburn. Poop can cross here but humans cannot.). Since we do not have all the money in the world to...

But it's Canadian?!

11 seniors. 11 white haired grandparents of young people were arrested today for the crime of telling the Prime Minister truths he didn't want to hear. We are supposed to be different than the USA. The fact that the arresting officers were "polite" is not good enough. The fact the 11 seniors were released within the hour is not good enough. These people should never have been arrested. These people have never had to make their epic trek across the country to go to Ottawa to express their feelings of utter betrayal that the calm, competent man so many believed would be the saviour of Canada has instead jammed his foot on the accelerator toward both fascism and climate catastrophe. You have no mandate for this, sir, and these people were here to tell you that. The fact you arrested them says you know but don't care. This is completely unacceptable. This is not the Canada anyone voted for. Sent to PM, leader of CPC, leader of Greens, l...

Two years and counting without news on Facebook, all for naught

It may not concern others quite as much as it does me that ad revenue dried up for newspapers because with all the traffic Facebook was soaking up from the traffic it got from sharing news articles on their platform (especially when they add in algorithmic creepiness targeting). Not everyone is journalism adjacent and likes getting paid for their work. It may not concern others quite as much as it does me that they added insult to injury by making it so we can't post news on Facebook here in Canada. Not everyone makes a good half of their posts around news articles. But it should bother all of us that the tech giants raking in billions of revenue are able to squirrel out of an obligation to pay reparations to Canadian media. And you can blame our dear Mr Carney who made it one of his first acts as Prime Minister to just let the tech bastards off scot-free seconds away from them finally paying up. Nothing changed but there was no money. So, when Tax Fairness offered a l...

Global Affairs' words written on toilet paper

With the help of France and Britian, Canada took the teeniest tiniest calcium pill today for its gelatinous spine and “agreed on the need to take action to prevent further damage” because “The Government of Israel’s actions in the West Bank are undermining the possibility of a two-State solution.” (Where have they been the past 30 years?) With the support of Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK, Canada has found the courage to “confirm their intention to introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures.” Wow. So bold. So decisive. I'm sure it'll be effective. Ready Global Affairs' statement here I saw it online and couldn't restrain myself from snarking off on Bluesky: Violent settlers have been rampaging through the ...

Funny how friendly we are with a supposed enemy

As its name suggestions, World Beyond War, like me, doesn’t think war effectively solves any problems and would best not exist. But one must at least engage with the premises, so here, I’ve added some of my own spice to their letter urging Canada to at least not cooperate with the military of a country we’re at war with, even if it’s “only” a trade war. Dear Mark Carney You seem to think Canadians are stupid. It's embarrassing how correct you are, but not all of us are asleep. You warned us you'd try to undermine our best interests and even use the law against us, but all most people heard was your obviously false promises on election night to "fight for us." Or did we only hear a proposition where there was none? Because it seems you are in fact fighting alongside our greatest threats. At your press conference on Saturday to announce the suspension of trade talks with the US and the imposition of countervailing tariffs, you were asked: “Why does it feel like, to...

Stand up for Canadian Health Care (such as it is)

Canadian health care is far from perfect — it has never achieved all Tommy Douglas dreamed for it: from tip to toe (teeth are still missing, as are a lot of drugs) — but unleashing unfettered two-tier is the opposite of fixing it. So I joined with the Canadian Medical Association in pleading for the Canadian government to grow a spine and stop unhinged Smith's attempt to violate our own rules within her province. As someone on Bluesky observed, if Stephen Harper tried to do this, we'd be at the gate with pitchforks. Where is the outrage. Daddy Warbucks Carney’s latest just-barely satisfactory performance in trade negotiations should not blind us to his failure to prevent this from happening. The letter to the health minister, CC my MP and the shadow ministers: The Canadian Medical Association says the Canadian government must stand up for Albertans and all Canadians to ensure Alberta's new legislation doesn’t create a new normal of health care haves and have-no...