For a big picture view of the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela, listen to Heather Cox-Richardson’s latest explainer. Her analysis of the US political scene is insightful. Maduro was not a good guy, but the approach deployed here has troubling implications. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu9Q...

REMINDER - Tomorrow (Fri Dec 12) is the deadline for Canadian consumers to apply for a portion of the $500m grocery price-fixing settlement. Each claimant is eligible for $50 or more. https : // www. cbc. ca/news/business/bread-price-fixing-settlement-deadline-9.6978171

A new life for a former neighbourhood grocery store! Glad to see a new, Spanish-flavoured addition to the little commercial node at W16th and Heather. Via Noms: get scoop - nomsmagazine.com/slice-of-spa...

Geneviève Bergeron Hélène Colgan Nathalie Croteau Barbara Daigneault Anne-Marie Edward Maud Haviernick Maryse Laganière Maryse Leclair Anne-Marie Lemay Sonia Pelletier Michèle Richard Annie St-Arneault Annie Turcotte Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

A great "fireside chat" on surveillance tech and shadowy nature of the surveillance economy. @rondeibert.bsky.social in conversation with Michael Vonn and Charles Campbell. Can't wait to dig into Diebert's book on the work of @citizenlab.ca !

Sitting on a park bench, under the moonlight. #DevonianPark #Vancouver

Nice!! A brilliant campaign by Mamdani pays off. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A tough loss for the #BlueJays for sure... but a fantastic game and and epic World Series overall. Both teams played solidly throughout, and tonight the better team won. Well done #Dodgers. It's ours next year. Logo by Kory Parkin

"The liberal-progressive D66 party was forecast to become the largest in the Dutch parliament, after a snap general election in which Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom party was predicted to lose a third of its seats" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Listened to a fantastic conversation on human rights between @alexneve.bsky.social - who delivered this year's #CBC #MasseyLectures - and @globalreportingcentre.org ED Andrea Crossan. Link to the dialogue here: www.crowdcast.io/c/a310u7zofbh0 Organized by #BCLibrariesPresent

Reclaiming the City Through Care: Public Urban Cultures of Care (open access) Practices of #care become ever more important in times of multiple societal crises in which the quality of life of individuals and communities is significantly under stress. www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplannin...

"Researchers found achieving 4,000 steps per day on one or two days a week was associated with a significantly lower risk of death and lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), compared with not reaching this level on any day." www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

What a game!! An incredible 7th inning turnaround by the Jays with a three run homer by George Springer... and Toronto is heading back to the #WorldSeries for the first time in 3 decades! #GoJays

"The human cost of what the UN commission of inquiry recognises as a genocide is of course incalculable, but fewer are aware of how much rich history and archaeology has also been destroyed in these horrific months." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Some of the faces that you meet -- on Mississaga St, #Orillia ON.

Another great example of a new use for an old corner store: Pique-nique in #StCatharines ON, a popular little bakery, cafe and wine bar, tucked away in a residential neighborhood.

Monorail! (Okay, "Automated People Mover"). #Pearson #YYZ #Toronto

A favourite on my annual cultural calendar - the return of #VIFF! Tonight, caught #RichardLinklater's #NouvelleVague. A movie about a movie, retelling of one of the most pivotal moments in cinema history: the making of Godard's "Breathless." Guillaume Marbeck does a great turn as JLG.

If you're around Vancouver this coming Saturday, you should definitely check out this event. The annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival - by Still Moon Arts Society. www.eventbrite.ca/e/renfrew-ra...

"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

"Canada claims to be a country of freedom, democracy, equality, rights, dignity, and the rule of law, but there was a price that was paid for Canada's existence, and that price was paid by First Nations. We're still paying that price." (Reuben George. It Stops Here.)

Two things to note about the Minneapolis airport: (1) they have a surprisingly well curated book store (Open Books), and (2) there is a shop devoted exclusively to selling Prince merchandise.

Vancouver! Monumental urbanist and Messy Cities co-author @Zahra Ebrahim will speak at the VPL with @fabulavancouver.bsky.social Oct 14. It's going to be a cracker. vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/68b20...

Portraits. #StreetArt #Graffiti #ReggioEmilia #PlacemakingEurope

Buonanotte, Claudia.

The west and east sides of Piazza di San Prospero, Reggio Emilia.

I arrived in #ReggioEmilia yesterday for the #PlacemakingEurope conference. There is a bit of time yet before activities get underway, so this afternoon, I am going to take a #walkaroundthecity - with a focus on the historical boundaries of the old walled city.

Today's episode of #walkaroundthecity has the unfortunate task of bringing to a close my visit to #Amsterdam. As with yesterday's jaunt, I'll be covering some parts of the city boundary on bike, and some parts on foot. We'll start here, on the western side of the Amstel.

After a morning, where the rain came earlier than expected, I took another wander through #AlbertCuyp market - and a stop at the liquorice vendor - before opting for some further exploration #Amsterdam explorations via bike.

"The idea is not to ask when and how these sculptures were made, or what they might mean, but to submit yourself to a pure aesthetic encounter, communing with Calder’s moving creatures in this curious submerged menagerie." www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

It's later in the afternoon, and I have decided to check out neighbourhood I've never been to before - #Betendorp. It's at the south end of #Amsterdam's Oost district, right on the city border. Much of the area was built in the 1920s, when the city was experimenting w new housing forms.

Scenes from this morning's visit to the #AlbertCuyp Market in #Amsterdam. A gentler start to the day. Sunny weather. People milling out, shopping, eating, hanging with friends. I had nice little chats with several of the vendors.

Good afternoon! After yesterday's 48km #walkaroundthecity in #Amsterdam and #AmsterdamNoord, today is going to be a little more slow-paced. I'm still in Broek en Waterland, and started with a #pannekoek brunch. Now it's time to head out and see how my hips and feet are faring!

Oh, and my goal is to walk a little of the Amsterdam boundary as it's found in #AmsterdamNord. And depending on how far I get, I'm trying to do the rest tomorrow. Very nice that my starting point at the bridge has this bit of graffiti . I *do* need to come back this way.

Okay #Amsterdam! It's time for me to get serious about a #walkaroundthecity. Today, let's check out some of the edges of the current boundaries. Now that we are walking 21st c lines, we can definitely start at Centraal. That's my old friend, Tram #2 in the background #wandelenrondomdestad

Good morning! There are more boundaries to explore today in my #walkaroundthecity. Yesterday, I covered the 11th-14th centuries of Amsterdam's growth. Today, it will be segments from the 15th-18th centuries. #walkaroundthecity #wandelenrondomdestad #walkaroundamsterdam #amsterdam

Late evening wander in #Amsterdam. Decided to detour and check out Dacostaplein, a quiet, circle-shaped plaza tucked in a residential neighbourhood. It's a little hard to see here, but a good example of local-serving public space.

For today's #walkaroundthecity, I am going to start, as I did yesterday, near the Munttoren - actually one of the old city gates (*and* briefly a mint).

When the scale of the buildings is relatively constant, the difference of their age seems to disappear. They cohabit the street amiably, each offering a bit of their personality to passersby - no one building overwhelms the other. #walkaroundthecity #wandelenrondomdestad #walkaroundamsterdam

Across from where I am staying, the buildings of Bosboom Toussaintstr. are chamfered. The 'opening' creates an opportunity for a small plaza. #walkaroundthecity #wandelenrondomdestad #walkaroundamsterdam

I'm in #Amsterdam for a few days. It's the city's 750th birthday. To mark the occasion, I thought it could be fun to to take a #WalkAroundTheCity, explore how the boundaries have changed, and see what I find along the way. #wandelenrondomdestad #walkaroundamsterdam

"Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a multicoloured three-dimensional mural that could date back 4,000 years... The sophisticated and stylistic imagery sheds new light on the beliefs and social structures of early civilisations." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Corner stores are just one type of small scale commercial or cultural use that can enliven residential areas. In #HastingsSunrise, these buildings are two short blocks from one another - providing space for grocery, cafe, massage therapy, and an esthetician.

Portraits from #AshtreyAlley in Vancouver's #DTES neighbourhood. #StreetArt #Graffiti

Good morning sunrise from #SpanishBanks. Some rose-orange hues over Burrard Inlet and the Vancouver skyline. A beautiful day for a #WalkAroundTheCity

"So how have cities changed between 1970 and 2010? Walking speeds have increased by 15%. People stand still less often. Dyads – pairs meeting and then walking together – have declined..." Carlo Ratti, in the @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"As the city changes, shop by shop, dollar by dollar, there is understandable anger." On digital nomads in #Lisbon and elsewhere... www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

"The objective world no doubt exists, but the world we experience is always an active construction, a kind of 'controlled hallucination' in which the brain uses sensory signals to update and calibrate its best interpretation of what’s going on." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A whole lot of corner stores in residential areas are independent businesses, but this popular one at 5th and Chesterfield in North Vancouver shows that there's a business case to be made for small local chains - like Bean Around the World - as well.