Imbroglior

@dkfoster.bsky.social

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Tweetdecker formerly known as @cityslikr or Former Tweetdecker known as @cityslikr Creator of, curator and writer for All Fried Up in the Big Smoke afuitbs.com

From a Toronto Star editorial by Ken Greenberg criticizing the federal government's weak-kneed approach to the proposed expansion of the Billy Bishop airport: "There is now speculation that the federa government may choose neither to approve nor reject expansion, but instead postpone the decision pending further study. That may appear politically attractive. In reality, it may be the most damaging outcome of all A decision delaved for several years could leave one of Canada's most ambitious urban redevelopment projects in permanent limbo. Every postponed housing project, every deferred investment, every event that cannot confidently plan for the future carries an economic cost. Those costs are rarely measured, but they are real."
A couple nasty storm cells magically appearing on the radar map after I heard the thunder.
The final paragraph in today's New Republic article, Elon Musk’s Race War Just Took Darker Turn—Time for a Global Response, Toby Buckle and Greg Sargent: :The world's richest man is participating in a trans-national terror campaign. Ultimately, what's really needed in response is a new mindset: We are now fighting a global battle against resurgent fascism. The fight is across nations and at every level of society. The response must be international as well. Any path to a free international order, unthreatened by fascism, must run in part through breaking Musk's power."
The federal Minister of Indigenous Services says something glaringly apparently and still manages to render it meaningless.
Under the guise of AI promotion, Mark Carney's federal government is doing its best to undermine Canadian commitments to climate action in an effort to help already obscenely wealthy people like Kevin O'Leary get even wealthier.
In a Toronto Star editorial, Mark McQueen talked to a bunch of oil and gas mucky-mucks and concludes that climate change is the least of our concerns. In many more words. And, in truth, I wouldn't even bother reading it.
Donald Trump says that everyone else should keep their hands off regulating the predictive market industry because he and his family are in the lucrative business. Or so says the lyin' New York Times.
2026 parliamentary calendar for Queen's Park where, with the number of days that there will be a session and the Ford government will face opposition questions marked in green, and by my count sits at a grand total of 84 days. 84 days, less than 3 months, 21 weeks of 4 day work weeks. Leaving another 31 weeks for Doug Ford to duck public accountability.
Toronto Star article about the growth of AI data centres: "Microsoft says there will be about 100 full-time employees in Ontario and roughly 150 contractors to maintain and operate its sites once construction is completed, raising questions about whether the benefits outweigh environmental and infrastructure costs for local communities."
Riverfront forest in Sabah, Borneo.
Mangroves along the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Borneo.
Former Liberal Big Shot, Lloyd Axworthy, isn't happy with the Mark Carney government: "We tell the world we'll fund the energy transition. We tell our producers we'l1 subsidize the opposite. We invoke middle-power diplomacy in speeches but lecline to attend relevant middle-power conferences. We tell Indigenous communities that reconciliation requires honouring their economic agency then reroute money intended to repair fnancial inequities toward fossil-fue. infrastructure. Our prime minister tells he elites in Davos that middle powers must unite to counter great-power coercion - then he keeps Canada out of he meeting at which middle powers are doing precisely that."
A new high-tech price tag at the local Freshco.
According to his resume, Frank Benedetto, the provincially appointed TCDSB supervisor, has vast educational experiences that span teaching Insurance Law at Queen's and, well, ummm, participating in Osgoode Hall Law School's practical component. That's probably education-related. Oh yeah, and some guest lecturing and volunteering for some community Boards.
The Information reports that OpenAI has bought a popular news tech show, TBPN, and it's 'enthusiastic embrace of AI and Silicon Valley' which surely won't impact the show's journalistic integrity.
From the Toronto Star, re the Carney government's Bill C-12: "The new law, supported by the Conservatives, has also given the government extraordinary power "to cancel, suspend or change a large group of immigration documents, pause application intake, or cancel or suspend application processing" if it's in the "public interest."
The lone detective still working the Sherman murder case 8 years after the fact admits under cross-examination that they have no idea where they are in the case and are now reduced to using AI in the hopes of some magical answer. More or less. From Kevin Donovan in the Toronto Star.
NDP leadership candidate, Heather McPherson dismissing calls for change in a Toronto Star article: "In an interview with the Star. said she is best suited to help the NDP build on its strengths and get election ready, but she would be open to implementing policy ideas from the other leadership campaigns 'We can promise everybody a puppy, but if we don't win more seats. if we don't welcome more people into our party, if we don't make Canadians see themselves at the NDP table, it doesn't matter.'
Umar Zameer's defense lawyer, Nader Hasan, calls bullshit on the OPP report clearing the 3 cops of perjury in the Jeffrey Northrup case, citing, among other things, an incident reconstruction report that only presents a conclusion that presents the exact opposite scenario than the one that was court tested.
Billboard advertising the legal services of the firm Menlove Law, barristers & solicitors
Sloan concert poster above the urinal at the Regent theatre in Picton.
Getting ready to see Sloan at the Regent in Picton.
Almost Lewis Carroll level nonsense paragraph in a Toronto Star March 4th article describing PM Carney's wane justification for backing the illegal US and Israeli attacks on Iran: "On Wednesday, Carney said he regrets to take the position of supporting the strikes, which he argued were unfortunately justified because of how international talks and pressure through sanctions failed over years to prevent Iran from abusing human rights and trying to development nuclear weapons. He alleged Iran's support for proxy militias has threatened the Middle East region and beyond, while the regime in Tehran oppressed women and killed thousands of protesters earlier this year."
Opposing a multiresidential development in his ward, Scarborough city councillor Michael Thompson wrote in a letter to the committee of adjustment 'that the lack of parking outweighs the benefits of creating new affordable housing.'
Toronto Star Business headlines, February 26th. Summary: Big banks raking it in. TD reports $4.04B Q1 p profit, up from $2.79B ayear earlier RBC reports $5.79B first-quarter profit, up from $5.13B ayear earlier CIBC reports $3.10B first-quarter profit, up from $2.17B a year earlier
A cadaverous Prince Phillip in 2021.
Premier Ford, brushing off the request for a public inquiry into the years delayed, billions over budget Eglinton LRT, in the Toronto Star, February 13th: "I'm the first to come out and acknowledge the mistakes, but I'm not going to waste time on an inquiry and all the nonsense, tie all these people up ... (who) have more subways to build," Ford said at an opening event for the Crosstown on Feb. 6. "We all know the mistakes."
An X post from FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson with the letter he sent to Apple honcho Tim Cook demanding Apple News stop suppressing right-wing news article based on a claim by a right-wing news outlet. A 24-karat paper weight was not enough to placate the Emperor, I guess. Whodve thunk?
Toronto Star opinion piece on the Eglinton Xtown LRT, February 8th: "True, capacity will probably not be a huge issue in the east where the line is not a subway and runs above ground. As with the Finch LRT, it will not be fast. and so is unlikely to attract too many new riders, I guess one way to prevent crowding is to produce something onto which people don't feel the desire to crowd."
Toronto Star article, February 6th: "This consequential change in the way Ontario's electricity generation is built and paid for was made without any fanfare, and few even noticed it. Buried in bureaucratic legalese, when the obscure change to regulation 53/05 was first posted to the Environmental Registry of Ontario last year, even experts weren't entirely sure of its implications."
From the Toronto Star, February 5th, 2026: "This decision illustrates that the Premier and Solicitor General have clearly abdicated any meaningful sense of moral responsibility for the basic safety and welfare of people housed in Ontario's prisons - 82 per cent of whom are presumed innocent and in pre-trial detention."
From the Toronto Star: While the city signed a "new deal" with the province in 2023 to upload the Gardiner and Don Valley Parkway, the province has been conducting a protracted due diligence assessment that isn't yet completed. While the upload isn't official yet, the city is already allocating and spending the billions it's expected to save.
Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi speaking about the provincial separation movement in a January 30th Toronto Star: "This is Danielle Smith's fault. Danielle Smith caused all of this by pandering to the separatists, by coddling them, by cosying up to Trump, by cosying up to those who want Alberta to be the 51st state - all for her own political gain," he charged. "She couldn't even bring herself to denounce the people who are conspiring with Americans to take over our country."
From the Toronto Star article, Canada will refugees and asylum seekers to co-pay for health care starting in May: The co-payment model is a scaled-back edition of the previous Conservative government's failed attempt in 2012 to cut health care for refugee claimants from the 'designated countries of origin" that Ottawa considered safe.
Chrystia Freeland in a 2021 Atlantic article, The Rise of the New Global Elite: The lesson of history is that, in the long run, super-elites have two ways to survive: by suppressing dissent or by sharing their wealth. It is obvious which of these would be the better outcome for America, and the world. Let us hope the plutocrats aren’t already too isolated to recognize this.
The Toronto Star, January 18th, 2026: "Certainly, these fortunes have grown massively in recent decades. When Forbes magazine first published a wealth list in 1987, there were 140 billionaires worldwide, collectively holding wealth equal to 1.7 per cent of world GDP. In the latest Forbes list last year, there were fully 3,028 billionaires worldwide, collectively holding wealth that had swollen to the equivalent of an astonishing 14 per cent of world GDP..."
Some rather phallic looking window decorations celebrating the new year at a local coffee shop.
From the Toronto Star article: "The Ford government has blamed rate increases on the previous Liberal government's Green Energy Act, which paid a premium for renewable energy in an effort to kickstart a domestic wind and solar industry. The domestic renewables manufacturing sector failed to take off in the face of competition from China, which now controls more than 90 per cent of the world's solar panel manufacturing but more than 33,000 renewable projects remain on the grid at inflated prices on 20-year contracts."
From a Guardian editorial on defining and fighting fascism: "The central idea was, the lecturer explained that being able to define fascism is the first step in increasing our resilience to it. Despite some challenges in determining a definition we arrived at a few markers we could agree on: some attempt to create an ethnically `'pure" nation, the engagement of a paramilitary force and use of excessive violence. anti-liberal and anti-democratic sentiments. and the involvement of wealthy backers from the economic elite."
From the Globe and Mail's Adam Radwanski article on Federal Energy Minister, Tim Hodgson: "If we produce the cleanest. best version of those products, our allies want them,' he said. It's a point of national securitv. and we can use that revenue to pay for our $10-a-day daycare, our new dental care program and our school lunch programs .. or provincially pay for universal health care or subsidized postsecondary education. I think Canadians say, Hey, we should do that.""
From Allan Woods Toronto Star report, Mark Carney's journey from climate 'visionary' to pipeline promoter: To [Richard] Brooks's [head of climate finance with Stand Earth] mind, Carney knew about market forces and was a true believer in the need to move away from fossil fuels and toward low-emission energy sources 'My opinion was based on his historica record and what he had said previously,' Brooks said. "The truth is that I think his values have always been about being a banker first and foremost. and an investment banker in particular, and those values have been about making money.'
A witness report from a car crash in Richmond Hill that killed a pedestrian and injured 2 more: "That's when Teleki said a vehicle came at a "very high speed" through the intersection, "T-boning" another vehicle, before colliding with a street light. He said the momentum kept the vehicle going even after it hit the lamp post. "I almost got hit. I had to like jump over the (fence)," Teleki said, referencing the metal barricade that lines the street.
From the Tyee, February 2025: In Canada, a group of tech CEOs has come up with a political public relations effort called Build Canada, with the stated goal of strengthening the economy in the face of Trump's threat to impose punishing tariffs. Trump has repeatedly linked the tariffs to annexing Canada and making our country the 51st state.' So far. Build Canada's website offers a series of short policy statements calling for 110,000 jobs to be cut from the federal public service over four years, AI to be used in government services, interprovincial trade barriers to come down and the federak government to step in to compel provinces and municipalities to allow autonomous vehicles and delivery robots. There are alsc calls for immigration for humanitarian reasons to be sharply curtailed in favour of higher-income and highly skilled immigrants...
"The problem, of course, is this World Cup is taking place in America in 2026, under Trump's reign as the first baby king president, and he must be appeased. If you thought FIFA was corrupt before, you were right, but if you thought FIFA going to Brazil or Russia or Qatar dragged the game down, you ain't seen nothing yet."
Bevond that, the federal government agreed to cancel the planned regulatory 'cap" on emissions from the oil and gas sector, the industry responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas pollution in Canada. Ottawa is also suspending its national Clean Electricity Regulations - which are designed to reduce emissions from power production after 2035 - in Alberta alone. and commits to permanently removing them in the province if there is an agreement as planned on a stronger industrial carbon price for Alberta.
The 2025 calendar for the Ontario legislature scheduled session sittings with green marks indicating the 51 days that Premier Doug Ford has been expected to be in the legislature.
Used syringes and drug paraphernalia on the ground in an alley.
From the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Picture of a Lion, Rhinoceros and Camel.
A grey squirrel eating through the face of a jack-o-lantern.
Outside the front of St. Stephen's Church on College Street in Toronto where a former unhoused encampment has been cleared and replaced with a fence and cement blocks.
From the Toronto Star article, Canada, major fossil-fuel producers widen gap between output and climate targets: The expansion of oil and gas production also comes as Canada pulls back on some key climate policies, [Nichole] Dusyk said. "We're moving in the wrong direction in both fronts," she said. Prime Minister Mark Carney has repealed the consumer carbon price and paused the electric vehicle sales mandate. He has also been noncommittal on legally enshrined 2030 and 2035 emissions targets, though the government says it's still focused on hitting net-zero by 2050.
2 paragraphs from the Guardian story about the Israel government's attack on journalists in Yemen that killed 35 people: Killing journalists or media workers, even those who have an affiliation to armed groups, is against international humanitarian law unless they directly take part in hostilities. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had struck "military targets" in Sana'a that included the Houthi public relations department, which distributed #sychological terror" .
Male biology imparts a conservative outlook on life with a preference for the status quo. Because they are less verbal than women, they tend to act out their feelings which can lead to violence or addictions.
"There is a time in a game .. when you go hard in the corners, your elbows up," Mr. Carney said, using a hockey metaphor he leaned on heavily during his election tampaign earlier in the year. "But there's also a time in a game where you want the puck, you want to stick handle, you want to pass and want to put the puck in the net. And we`re moving later into the game. We're at that time of the game."
Maddison McKee, press secretary to Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange, said the government stands by its approach to the measles outbreak. "Alberta's government has always taken the measles situation seriously," Ms. McKee said in a Wednesday statement.
A painted, despairing face on subway tiles.
Ford also voiced support for Windsor's stance against allowing fourplexes in existing single-family neighbourhoods -a position that cost the city tens of millions of dollars in federal housing funding. The Trudeau government made the legalization of fourplexes a condition for receiving money from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, and Windsor's refusal to amend its zoning led Ottawa to reject the city's application last year. "Stay strong with that,' Ford told Dilkens. "People do not want that in their neighbourhoods."