Ozempic for cars (in Canada) is just doing things like updating the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

A great dive on how American Senate procedure means the death of an odious troll is far more complex and impactful than it might seem on the surface. I’ve followed Martin’s analysis of USPol for a very long time and he’s often spot on.

Popularism and populism both derive from the same essential impulse, which is to construct a synthetic version of The People that will cure democracy of the need to adjudicate between competing claims.

the issue with chasing public opinion on all issues is (1) you are part of an ideological party, for better or worse and (2) most partisan voters basically have a select few issues that they consider the most salient, everyone else, not so much

Managed the 15 km ride to and from @grandparade.bsky.social book club meet at Lawrencetown beach with only one small tumble and 2/5 bars of battery to spare on the tern. Legs now very wobbly but great for practicing new cycling skills - and the e-assist does indeed cover up many small mistakes.

Dear Apple Store what the actual fuck is this?

I think ive kind of convinced myself we should be mandating heating district stuff in new developments

For those who skipped class: you don’t invest in a long term asset for short term profits; you invest in the expectation that a combination of economic value and inflation will let you recoup your investment over a long span of time.

Electric cargo bikes are the optimal vehicle for suburban navigation.

The true @techconnectify.bsky.social was the friends we made along the way 🤔

Lindsey Graham died last night of cardiac arrest. This is the major reason the fire service has won the requirement that every elevator in buildings over three stories (or apartment buildings of any height in some states) must accommodate a 7-ft. hospital stretcher. But the uncomfortable…

Great financial crisis was a legit challenge that many states failed and did massive damage to people entering or seeking to exit the workforce And also overall environment was so good it basically didn’t matter which is why everyone immediately forgot the lessons learned

"i wish we didnt have one delusional power" monkey paw curls

Multi-model outlook into late July: plenty of sun. Becoming warmer & more humid by mid week. Just spotty aftn showers; but a front Tuesday night might have some heavy showers/thunder. The front returns a more comfy air later this week. Back to a more warm & humid air next week; maybe heavy rain?

CANDUs remain a much better option than any of the SMR hype but no one wants to talk about "old" technology because it's "not novel". I have many such annoyances.

www.cbc.ca/news/science... - some amusing cope here from the heavy trucking industry. Electrification is coming for you too, you’re not special. One reason I’m ok with TKMS is the Hanwha bid had a big H2 fueling infrastructure element. That would have been a blunder.

Yeah definitely a negative that the US has been so loose with war/international law, its just not binding in a serious way anymore

Given that council used this change to justify a fare increase, it’s pretty gross to go ahead with the fare increase with no improvement in service

Area politician discovers supply as well as demand, flummoxed

I predict an England victory over Norway, who will then go on to play against France, at which point Halley’s Comet will appear, and the English team captain will catch an arrow in the face

Crazy how rush hour commuting dominates our perception of traffic and how many lanes are needed. If you need to drive outside of that, traffic can be surprisingly light, even in big cities.

Electrification just makes sense. If you can heat a space you can cool it, and the easiest way to do both is heat pumps plus renewables.

Yesterday the Telegraph reported on my comments about air conditioning. The comment section is quite something. I have apparently become a hero of the anti net zero crowd by saying something what I think is sensible about air con. Allow me to point out three ironies in this 🧵

Are we sure it’s been hacked 🤔

It's the same reason per capita GDP comparisons between Canada and the US are so bogus. Super-profits of US tech oligopolies certainly lift US GDP & apparent productivity. Yet the median Canadian has more income & wealth, better health, and lives longer. centreforfuturework.ca/2025/05/06/p...

UBS 2026 Global Wealth Report confirms the typical (ie. median) Canadian is 2x wealthier than the median American. Cda ranks 7th on median wealth, US 28th. Galactic hoards of Musk, Bezos, et al inflate the US average but virtually none flows to most Americans. #canlab #cdnecon /2

Shame was apparently the load bearing wall beneath our entire democratic experiment and the "has cancel culture gone to far" people blew it up. It turns out you can have democracy or say slurs but actually not both. And they chose the slurs.

If you get bitten enough times, you will be unable to make use of a lot of medical stuff. Also you can't pet or be near mammals. I used to think alpha-gal as a vegan, because it was also phrased as an allergy to eating red meat. Interacting with anything derived from mammalian animals is different.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... - I’ve been allergic to dairy since I was a toddler so while I know how tough it is, also fuck this disability phobia bullshit. Avoiding dairy is not the end of the world.

#BikeHFX, happening right now, and tomorrow:

If you gaze into a mirror and say "Affordability" three times, Adam Smith appears behind you and gives you a wedgie.

Charges dropped. Cops hit a guy with a car and his charges have since been dropped. Definitely worth wrecking a cop car and setting the city up for a huge lawsuit. High fives all around.

www.mlb.com/bluejays/tic... what

www.cbc.ca/news/politic... - “a time when Canadians farmers continue to lose land and struggle to convince the next generation to take up the mantle.” - wow if only an farm policy activist had recently made a video about why rural gentry is not a firm foundation for agricultural production!

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... - would not be surprised if the Americans get some of the toll revenue right away; the agreement for building this bridge was foolishly one-sided and basically begging to be sabotaged.

"Here's another press release about the bridge we release press releases about every six months" Thanks.

For all the effort that goes into new forms of urban housing design or ownership rules I continue to think "legalize skinny rowhouses" would have the highest bang-for-buck very nearly everywhere

substack.com/app-link/pos... - just what we needed, an analysis of housing market failures through the lens of an early-2010s memetic econorap.

Look I’m sure Canada’s “strong” climate policies didn’t result in us matching this kind of growth because Germany has favourable latitude and more available land. Now to take a big sip of coffee and look at a globe.

There’s some good points in the globe and mail article Terri’s linked to, but there’s also nothing wrong with Halifax that wouldn’t be solved by being willing to spend money in a sustainable manner to pursue and support density.

So when thinking about decarbonizing canada. The first thing you need to think about is industry and industrial heat (hence my interest in deep geothermal)

That’s some sour grapes

“The rapid spread of antifeminist ideologies is not only a women’s issue, but a societal issue, she emphasized, and a multifaceted approach is required to stop it.”

“Build a space bridge” 🤣

Good

Pictured structure is extremely cute, build more of these in Halifax please.

Toronto is slow rolling provincially required zoning changes and its own plans, that the former chief planner is going on podcasts saying a cap on minimum lot size will be a revolution that sparks enormous backlash, and meanwhile Edmonton is just like townhouse machine go brrrr.

These lovely rules should apply everywhere in life, not just at the rec centre. Respect, cooperation, participation. But far too woke for those nostalgic for “warrior culture.”

The average rent among those 62,411 units is $1,745. That is a huge difference from that websites number. While Halifax isn't cheap, it is NOT the most expensive in Canada and rents are actually decreasing.