Micheal J

Requiring cyclists to come to a full stop at stop signs just slows drivers down. I know because I, the canonical rule follower, come to a full stop, and then I have to slowly accelerate when it's my turn. Same with making cyclists dismount to cross the crosswalk - much slower than riding across.

Calgary senior killed in spate of weekend pedestrian collisions A Calgary senior has died after she was struck while walking in a marked crosswalk downtown Saturday afternoon.

Calgary senior killed in *spate* (read six!) of weekend pedestrian collisions.

“We’ve been getting used to the idea that we have to accept the risk of violent death or injury as part of quotidian life, thanks to cars.”

~ From Life After Cars
calgaryherald.com/news/local-n...

Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...

The AI failings "are systemic, cross-border, and multilingual, and we believe this endangers public trust."

"X shouldn't be political." OK but it is. Now what?

Sometimes questions are more revealing than answers.

The interview yesterday by Vassy Kapelos with Demetrios Nicolaides is one of those times.

Please enjoy these highlights.

! Someone is letting him have fun and not be the camera man anymore?!?

Today I paid tribute to someone who was a friend & inspiration to many of us, Darren Markland.

One of the best humans I’ve ever known.

In the shadow of the challenges our world faces today, we need more people like Darren.

Perhaps the best tribute we can pay is to be more like him. #abpoli

Instead of trying to green cars so much why don't we just invest in trains. city trains. under ground trains. above ground trains. trains between cities. trains between countries. TRAINS

THE PEOPLE CRAVE TRAINS

I'm the next few days, it would be a mistake to:
❌️ limit the resistance to the teachers' demands or saving public education
❌️ make labour/workers/unions the only faces of opposition

The UCP's pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause is much broader than one strike or one set of rights.

YouTube video by Legislative Assembly of Alberta Evening Session - Legislative Assembly of Alberta - October 27th, 2025

7:30 PM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry4q...

Populism, freedom, and democracy in Alberta (and beyond) Lessons from my grade fiver's homework assignment

Tonight's moves by the UCP are part of a trend: shifting Alberta away from liberal democracy toward illiberalism.

"Populists like Smith often invoke freedom, but their concept of it is tied to loyalty to the dominant group rather than universal liberties.+

open.substack.com/pub/drjaredw...

UCP will claim that the teachers strike is an emergency and parents want their kids back in school. This is true. But trampling over Charter rights is a bad precedent and will not end well.

Bill 2 is posted online now.

#ableg

docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files...

The UCP government knows that they are violating the Charter over labour rights. The know it cant be saved by Section 1. They don't even wait for the courts to say it; the are invoking it preemptively. It is constitutional, but it still wrong. Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.

Alberta Strong and Free, Notwithstanding The UCP's Bill 2 skirts the legislature and the courts, leaving it up to the public to push back swiftly

The UCP government has invoked time allocation and on a bill removing Albertans' Charter rights.

And they're using the notwithstanding clause to do it.

Here's why that is a dangerous precedent. And why real conservatives need to stand up against it.

open.substack.com/pub/drjaredw...

a woman says " my girl " while looking at something ALT: a woman says " my girl " while looking at something

Ganley: service? I object. I object on behalf of myself and my colleagues because we won't be given the opportunity to do it on the record.The reason that this is so problematic is because this is a govt trying to ignore the people they represent. It offends me. It should offend everyone.

If the govt can just dictate the terms of a contract—skipping past binding arbitration and legislating away recourse rights—and the public accepts that, well, then what reason would govt have to bargain in good faith with any public sector employees going forward?

Dark day indeed. Not acceptable.

Oh. Guess they're going to use the current motion to start the Bill 2 railroad show.

So <15 minutes until it drops.

... so we might see Bill 2 introduced in... 90ish minutes at this rate.

For the government motions - is division called once for them all or for each motion?

What's the hurry?

In just 6 years, the UCP has been responsible for nearly half of all time allocation motions in Alberta history.

They're promising to do it again today, this time ramming through a bill that removes Charter rights in a matter of hours.

Selective Causal Focus: Research produced and funded by tech companies often either frames problems as user-driven, or solutions as the obligation of users (E.g. community notes). Distracting us from their design, business model, interface, and other causes steering us away from their profit model

For example, Facebook scientists have published routinely in scientific journals yet never (to our knowledge) unambiguously disclosed harm from their platforms. Instead, they espouse benefits.

These findings get published even as they bury internal evidence of harm
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Science has faced these challenges before. However, many think manipulation happens through corruption of scientists. Instead, we highlighted a broader range of mechanisms:

-Burying Internal research
-Selectively publishing
-Design bias
-Selective funding and access.

Agnotology - Wikipedia

TIL “agnotology”

“agnotology is the study of deliberate, culturally induced ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product, influence opinion, or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data (disinformation).”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnotol...

Also, as two public health sources have told me, people who say they have low-grade asthma will get vaccinated, no questions asked.

In the era of the climate crisis, politicians campaigning against bike lanes aren’t fit for office Amid the climate crisis, politicians campaigning against bike lanes — as in Montreal municipal election campaign — aren’t fit for office.

“In the era of the climate crisis, politicians campaigning against bike lanes aren’t fit for office.” — @taylornoakes.com in @cultmtl.com

Also in an era of worsening urban traffic, urban pollution, urban noise, exploding public costs, competition among cities, & not nearly enough space in cities.

18th St?

…. FUCK

… FWIW, definitely mashing the like to communicate 💜