We've heard a couple of speakers in support of the budget this afternoon, a change from yesterday when most people were opposed. I believe it took until speaker 225, Paul Beesla, to get to a supporter of the budget yesterday. (Speaker 111 pretended to be in support but satire doesn't count)

The headwaters of the St George Rainway. An actual current with riffles this morning, flexing the stems of the aquatic plants & bringing the sound of running water. This all-seasons park is the best thing COV's added to the neighborhood in my time here (25.5 yrs!)

It's not a Tardis

107: if you have concerns about budget survey process, fix it. If you think this is a brigade, where are your folks? Stuck in traffic? I think everyone is looking forward to the next election

Got a preview of the thinking behind the COV budget via the mayor's former bagel joint on the corner. Opened strong & seemingly credibly, then relentlessly hiked prices & cut corners, its revolving door of staff looking more & more miserable, til only tourists who didn't know any better ate there.

Ken Sim's austerity budget is so severe that they're going to be REMOVING EXISTING BABY CHANGING TABLES Vancouver, is this really who we are?

that’s just it. imagine if we were to reduce the VPD’s budget by 10% a year. police want more because increasing “social disorder, mental health issues, addiction” which are the consequences of not only cuts to social infrastructure but also of economic inequality I want a functioning society

was just thinking of their budget increase demand, but yup, that’s the total! really reasonable when you think about it— who wouldn’t rather have eight billion cops than a functioning society www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Nan Gregory, an older Point Grey resident, voiced what she wants her city to be. She’s opposed to the proposed property tax freeze, as all speakers so far have been.

Plato's REPUBLIC, trans. Allan Bloom. Missed in undergrad; read as a curious adult. Totally unprepared for its wild tonal shifts & unexpected humor. Thought experiment? Political program? Allegory? Any single critical POV refuses to cohere. Think I've read it a dozen times now. Still fresh.

Vancouver’s climate leadership exists because people across the political spectrum fought for it, putting planet before partisanship. Let’s do that again. 🌿

NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/11/p...

Bookstores, not Amazon. Proud of my US colleagues.

the city’s investment income in 2026 is projected to decrease by 23% why is that.

Sterlin Harjo: It’s not very hard to look out your window and see diversity, and it’s very lazy when you don’t try to understand that diversity around you. And it’s like, Well, are you a writer or not? That’s your job, you know?

Walking circles around the front room, touching everything, rapid-fire: -I've heard of this person. I've heard of this person. I have NO IDEA who this person is. I've heard of this person. I have NO IDEA... [& etc]

tell-ing on your-self just telling on yourself 👏👏

Like yah man put up that list of the 8 congressional dems who voted to end the shutdown. They’re really quaking as you power up your revenge: 8-72 hours of just whining about it online

“A vote in December to extend ACA subsidies”

it's low tide all over, today

[Stack of prominently displayed copies of "Mount Pleasant Walks" by @vanalogueyvr.bsky.social] -Are these for sale? -Of course! -How much are they? -$20 + GST -Huh. I dunno. Give you $5? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Gellman's "book on Cheney" ANGLER, is superb, & maybe more relevant to this historical moment than it was upon release. This article, no hagiography, is nuanced, thoughtful, & worth considering, even if, like many, you cheerfully imagine Cheney burning with Kissinger down below.

JCO is back on top

💫 New panelist alert! We're thrilled to have @tomflood.bsky.social joining @lucymaloney.bsky.social & @thewaroncars.bsky.social THIS SATURDAY for Life After Cars in downtown Vancouver, hosted by the incredible @uytaelee.bsky.social. A few tix still available! visionzerovancouver.ca/2025/08/01/l...

"[A] radicalized absurdist yokelfest in Edgewood, BC--"

I got up early to footnote a paper, and 30 minutes later, I’m now the world’s leading expert on the 1980s English pop band, ‘Wang Chung’.

Morning light

Today's thread

the billionaires aren't going to guillotine themselves, pals

the upside to trillionaires, or more generally a really high Gini coefficient close to 1, is that a 100% wealth tax (that's 100% of the total wealth all of it, every cent) brings in lots of revenue and only affects one person. Like Willie Sutton said, "that's where the money is".

Your cat when you're choking to death in your apartment

*This is really a whole lot like Russia's airports being harassed by Ukrainian drones, only it's self-inflicted *To be fair, if you're a Russian Imperialist then in your worldview anything involving "so-called Ukraine" has always been self-inflicted

Authors, I think you might enjoy this long interview with a independent bookstore buyer about how bookstores decide what books to stock and display: countercraft.substack.com/p/interview-...

Affordable 1-bedroom East Van apartment for rent; landlord is known to us.

Just announced: Monkey House Rarities Night: "career-spanning setlist"; 7 musicians on stage. MH led by Don Breithaupt, author of the "Aja" 33 1/3, Canadian singer / songwriter as talented as Randy Newman, Becker/Fagen, Joni, Carole King, Jackson Browne...

New: Google says it has discovered at least 5 malware families that use AI to rewrite their code and generate new capabilities on the fly, suggesting AI-powered malware is finally starting to take off. cloud.google.com/blog/topics/... Report also has interesting stories about state actors' AI use.

The Vancouver Police Department has already gone $17 million over budget. Now they're asking for a $50 million increase. The park board, meanwhile, is bracing for $15 million in cuts. #vanpoli www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Reunited and it feels so good.

this was his 9/11

Steps toward the new 2- or 3- year temporary public green space where Athens Pizza and Dandelion Records once stood. Indigenous plantings en route between now & spring 2026, & maybe a temporary screen / movie night(s) too. Perforated blue rent-a-fence GONE; nature is healing, & etc.

to be fair the police also brutalize poor people

Vancouver could be a real city but ABC would rather give cops $465 million a year. www.cnv.org/City-Hall/Ne...

"Enjoy every sandwich." - Warren Zevon.

STORY: Merritt loved its marmots. Then they were accused of robbing graves at the city's cemetery. My latest on rodents, dog-trampling deer, and park-defiling geese: thetyee.ca/News/2025/11...

I've probably eaten Part & Parcel (Victoria, BC)'s charred broccoli sandwich (ciabatta, blackened brocc, feta, pickled onions, sesame, date puree, chili garlic mayo, mint) 25+ times in a decade, & have also tried (unsuccessfully) to replicate it at home. Still, I think, my favorite sandwich ever.

JUST IN: Judge Immergut renews her block on President Trump’s National Guard deployment to Portland, saying her three-day trial showed there was no credible evidence justify Trump/Hegseth’s incursion on Oregon’s sovereignty. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Oh Vancouver you flirt

using the lay’s freestyle machine to make all dressed chips

If word gets out about this “library,” you’ll be ruined!!