A rare victory for artistic freedom and common sense. Proof that everything could be different.

Thank you, Anne, for the thoughtful review. ivereadthis.com/2026/01/12/b...

A very merry Feast of the Ass to all who celebrate.

Peering out my window to see if the city crew will actually remove the Christmas tree sticking two feet out of my green bin.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Today I interviewed Wet Arm Willy and The Mailman to answer the age-old question: "What if a bunch of art school kids started an indie wrestling promotion?" Story upcoming in @cangeo.bsky.social.

@wordfest.com is hosting @trinamoyles.bsky.social in Calgary next Thursday. Come see her. She's amazing. wordfest.com/2025/show/wo...

So far he’s absolutely correct.

No kidding. The TFW program wasn’t conceived or designed to ensure workers are treated fairly. Or even well. That’s not the mandate. The explicit purpose of the program, as described by the government itself, is to supply employers with labour. Full stop.

The number of ways this is unconstitutional lunacy is…a lot

Suck it, Adam Smith, whoever you are!

Amazing. In the four years of working on Precarious, I never once heard of an employer being jailed for abusing TFWs. I hope this case sets a precendent and puts the fear of prison time into potentially terrible bosses. calgaryherald.com/news/crime/c...

Breaking international law really tuckered the little guy out.

As a Canadian, I sure feel lucky I don’t live in an oil-rich country that Trump accuses of allowing drugs into the US.

Canadian conservatives waste no time washing Trump’s balls.

What if the apocalypse didn’t hate us? What if it just wanted to help? Pluribus ends with a village deemed obsolete and an atom bomb delivered on request. Gilligan’s calmest horror about uniformity and AI. www.waleed-shahid.com/p/pluribus-f...

That's great, but I'd also like to see provincial governments properly fund post-secondary education so we might create some of those world-leading researchers here.

In recent days, Israel has: • extended its ban on foreign media access to Gaza for another 2yrs, til 2027 • banned 37 humanitarian aid orgs from Gaza: Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) among them. STILL no sanctions by AUS Govt #auspol #IsraeliTerrorism #GazaGenocide

"After much personal reflection, I've come to the realization that I actually hate the environment and don't believe places should be protected." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Truly depraved.

Strange year for me, with a single ghostwriting gig making up nearly half of my income. Ghostwriting 49% Bylined writing 21% Book income 16% Teaching/speaking/panels 9% PLR & Access Copyright 4% Awards 2%

How many other Canadian authors’ girlfriends made them Christmas ornaments crafted to resemble their book covers? None. That’s how many. Thank you, @plynn.bsky.social.

crazy that mary and joseph thought they could just waltz in and book a room during the holidays

Gifts for those of the Utilitarian faith

Hey Canadians: as you unwrap your gifts this week, know that your Christmas tree was very likely grown by a migrant worker.

My Christmas wish is to know which phlegmy cough or bone-rattling sneeze will be my last one so that I can properly honour it.

A hill on which I will die: Calvin and Hobbes is one of the great pieces of 20th-century American literature in no small part because it was never turned into anything aside from a comic strip. Leave it be.

As usual, Alberta stands embarrassingly alone. www.businessinsider.com/canada-us-al...

“Mistakes.”

No big deal, but the Alberta government just increased the fee to submit a citizen initiated petition from $500 to $25, 000. After the separatism initiative was approved, but before Corb Lund's coal mining petition gets re-approved. No political shenanigans going on here.

Heavy rains have turned an Iranian beach on Hormuz Island bright red after iron-oxide-rich soil from the area washed into the sea.

Anyone who has visited the West Bank has seen, with immediate and absolute clarity, the injustice Palestinians suffer at the hands of Israel’s occupation. This is why Israel doesn’t allow entry. www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

Pungent assessments, indeed.

One more addition to the "Calgary Election Fiasco" file: Election workers, of which I was one, have just been informed that our payment will be mailed out on December 19th. That's two full months after the election.

In which the Literary Review of Canada calls Precarious "coherent." reviewcanada.substack.com/p/bookworm-n...

Any slob can keep the Christ in Christmas. But only Demetrios can Christ the Christ in Christchrist.

Sounds about right.

Can’t change, won’t change

I’m so glad @wordfest.bsky.social posted this event. What a thrill to share a stage and conversation with three people I greatly admire. wordfest.com/imagine-on-a...

Whining about Secret Santa etiquette is peak 2025 CPC.

Talking migrant labour in Canada on the CBC. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

STRANGER: *steps out of time machine* i come from the fewtch ME: the fewtch? STRANGER: yeah we call it the fewtch now

I traveled to Leamington in October with @nahlahayed.bsky.social to record an episode of Ideas. “Precarious: Mapping the Lives of Migrant Workers” will air this Thurs at 8pm on @cbcradiocanada.bsky.social. The show will also be available on the Ideas podcast. www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas

It's grading season. Like most polisci profs, I'm inundated with essays on the state of democracy. Here is a transcript of Danielle Smith's remarks on her radio show yesterday. Let's break down her comments to see just how problematic and uninformed they are.

Joy Division vs Charlie Brown dance party also slaps...

I bet you a zillion dollars Danielle Smith sent Trump a letter congratulating him for winning the FIFA Peace Prize.

BREAKING: Premier Smith to use the notwithstanding clause to force @theglobeandmail.com to mind their own damn business. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...