no you’re crying

wrote about this last year and sure I wasn't in any way the only one but imo people voting for populist politics in the 21st century *is* a sign that they do just have too much faith in institutions, as opposed to not enough - they want to have their little tantrum but assume things will just hold

To the great prescription at the end of this piece, we need to agree upon the tools that are appropriate to use to respond to speech we disagree with and the tools that are bad and dangerous. That includes deciding when "noxious ideas" (as decided by gov't) are permitted in public spaces.

This is the way

If you don't have haters, who's going to be your waiter at the table of success? Gotta plan ahead.

83% of US adults haven't paid for news in the last year. About half (49%) say their main reason is they can find plenty of free news elsewhere. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

NEW: I wrote about how recent layoffs at Global underscore how the advertising business model underpinning major news institutions appears is disintegrating. It's bad! But maybe there is some reason to hope?

Smoke suddenly hit today.

Tonight at 11:30

Nope. Nope. Nope. In normal times there are some rational arguments for certain limits on harm-causing speech, even if I generally think they don't quite overcome the collateral damage the limits themselves can cause. And right now truly free speech needs defenders. The slope is really slippery.

a good arbiter of how close we are to bad hybrid regime shit is if the political comedy shows start getting pulled for whatever reason

Also, sure hold them accountable but this perpetuates common misconceptions that climate deniers use for their own arguments. Reckless campers aren't to blame for our wildfire crisis.

Guys… you run the government. You’re petitioning yourselves. Get it done or shut up.

I know it's not the first time I've said this, but my brain is weirdly susceptible to gaslighting. I know the Trumpers are lying liars who lie and I still pause when they step up to the podium and confidently declare "WELL YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING WHEN OBAMA FUCKED A WALRUS" and think wait, did he?

what I really like about this video is that the recommended practice isn't "log off forever" which, while obviously good advice, is not something I'll be doing it's "if you get angry from seeing something on social media, log off" I think that's implementable

So far it is like Fubar meets some fancy national geographic. A blast

A B.C. coroner ruled that two deaths in the Kootenays that occurred on the same day were accidental. Then a killer confessed. From Susan Lazaruk: vancouversun.com/news/bc-kill...

One of those days where I wish some billionaire would just drop $10K a week on our paper so we could hire one goddamn more reporter. Three to four reporters – when no one's on vacation, etc. – is not enough to cover a town of 200K people. Right now, people are on vacation. I'm so tired.

X is wild because you can post a link to a NYT feature story on this and no one will see it, but cuntycakes123 can make a post summarizing the main bullet points with no attribution and it will go viral and everyone will be like "OMG why isn't the media covering this?!?"

NEW: Residents in Merritt have launched a class action, alleging the city knew its dikes were fatally flawed but did nothing before the 2021 atmospheric river. The suit follows another class action by residents of Abbotsford. I go through the legal wonkery here: thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...

#Merritt residents displaced by flooding in 2021 have filed a class-action lawsuit against the municipality, alleging the city should have done more to fix dikes it knew were unstable. @tyolsen.bsky.social reports. #bcpoli

Free speech — which can do harm but is still better than the alternative — is a two-way street, example 42325111

The big reason I'm trying to hammer "civil conflict/political violence" here is because I've spent a substantial chunk of the last five years looking at mass graves. I want a society where people aren't plotting to kill their neighbors and throw them into one. That's where all this can lead.

Global News laid off 26 journalists in B.C. and Alberta today. In B.C. the layoffs include virtually all of the online team, along with many others. The business is increasingly cruel, and the hollowing out of newsrooms providing fair and reliable information continues to suck.

all signs point to this being just an incredibly destabilizing moment. very very bad stuff. we're in a very dark place.

Political violence is morally wrong, but I understand the human impulse not to see violence against other sides as a bad thing. But if you're a progressive who is supposed to be analytical in your job & you are posting like this is not a very bad thing for the causes you support, I will judge you.

It’s not simply important to denounce political violence because it looks bad not to. It’s the right thing to do on the merits. Even more specifically to this moment it’s important because the forces of fascism are inherently better at political violence than the forces of civic democracy.

If I have any credibility with you from 20 years of reporting on rightwing & fascist movements, please listen when I beg you not to celebrate Charlie Kirk getting shot. Leave aside morality: this isn’t a match in dry grass, it’s a torch. We do not want what this could ignite & we would not win.

@nickhunebrown.bsky.social DM'd you Also, this post has your bio stuff at bottom FYI thelocal.to/humanities-i...

A level-headed take on a level-headed take on an issue that, in the wrong hands, could create all sorts of unnecessary anger and friction. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...

Although (or maybe because) I see many uses of AI, I really really don't like the trend of media or think tanks using AI generated images of politicians to illustrate their story. It reinforced the view that all these images and stories are fabricated.

In February last year, BC’s Ministry of Forests wrote a letter telling CN rail it believed the company played a role in the fire that destroyed Lytton. It intended to seek costs. Six weeks later, it reversed course and closed its file. My latest for @thetyee.ca. thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...

Awful case underway in Edmonton: a couple is accused of criminal negligence for failing to help the woman's elderly mother after a fall. “They did nothing while they left (her) on the floor for seven to 10 days, while she slowly rotted in a pile of her own feces and urine.”

NEWS: School is back. Traffic sucks. Municipalities want to reduce car-dependency. And fewer parents let their kids walk to school. So why are school buses not seen as the catch-all solution? thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...

Thousands of bees seeking honey broke into a woman’s shop, and it took days for her to get rid of them www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

My original lede for this was "they caught him ridin' purdy" Man arrested after driving child-size Pink Barbie Keep through Prince George www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Honestly this guy was right about more than he gets credit for

For the first time this year, it's one of those days where, after two weeks of 38 C heat, the smoke has finally grown thick enough to block out much of the sun's heat so the temperature is bearable at 10am. Fun times!

I am inclined to want to think that there is value in hearing insight about how one's political foes think. But there are big logical problems in asking a guy like this to inform you. If your goal is to out-maneuver the people he supports, why do you think he'd really tell you the truth?

think this is kind of the whole ballgame re: social media! some of it is like how we are socialized to be on these networks but the other is that it’s like living in a thunderdome of conflict and arms-reach waterfalls of bad news at all times. hard to be your best self. now multiply by millions lol

Former MP used fabricated documents to accuse reporter David Pugliese of being a Russian asset open.substack.com/pub/theorcha...

With three more days of really hot weather, the Holding Creek wildfire west of Princeton is the most worrying fire out there right now. Still 25km from Princeton. But it's got a fairly clean shot, and winds tend to push fires to the east/NE in southern BC. 3 more days of 36C afternoons.

I know a guy

One of the best parts of the new job is getting to talk to @harrisonmooney.bsky.social

Let's try another callout: Have you noticed traffic is worse this week than last?

This is tied into the paradox that many moralistic (and genuinely good!) people tend to advocate tactics based on the premise that people aren't selfish while at the same time continually bemoaning the selfishness of people.

My biggest disagreement with people with pretty left politics is that I think they’re delusional about how popular their ideas are, not that they’re wrong on merit. And it’s truly a fucking exhausting conversation to have over and over and over.

Very much worth reading from @mattgurney.bsky.social www.readtheline.ca/p/matt-gurne...

I'm increasingly obsessed with the way the phone in your hand (and your Smart TV) is killing a whole lot of shit people used to do for fun outside of the very most popular things. (Plus, hilariously, hiking?)

Here's a callout: Do you drive your kid to school, but would you prefer to be able to put them on a school bus? If so, I'd love to chat with you.