neil21

Thai PM dissolves parliament to 'return power to people' The dissolution order comes after Anutin Charnvirakul lost the support of the largest opposition bloc.

Thai PM dissolves parliament to 'return power to people'

So Thailand starts a small border war with Cambodia over casinos and brothels, then dissolves parliament? Going Great.

*THAI PRIME MINISTER ANUTIN SAYS HE PLANS TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT
*THAI PM SAYS PARLIAMENT DISSOLUTION TO PAVE WAY FOR NEW VOTE

Electric bus rapid transit, in Vitoria which has lots of similarities to #VictoriaBC. #yyj

It’s 2025 and this land use plan still looks like the sprawl version. #bcpoli #canpoli

That’s hilarious. 2025 and we’re still doing the segregated pods on the left.

bsky.app/profile/lane...

The exterior stair can/should be partially weather protected (shown here with spaced aluminum louvers). The question is how much it can be enclosed while still allowing any potential smoke to dissipate.

So, if our theoretical single stair 6 storey building had an exterior stair, and allowed access from suites directly to the landing, then the core area per floor could shrink from ~400sf per floor to ~250sf per floor (even keeping the super wide 5' stairs).

So let's see what that does...

The interesting question will be how much enclosure the stair can have (shown here with louvers)

The exterior stair gets rid of the smoke control and pressurization issues, but adds some challenges with rain, freezing, etc

Not insurmountable, but the stair needs to not be exorbitantly expensive

What kind of opening is required? Would arrowslits vent smoke adequately?

Vancouver firefighters enthusiastically endorse #singlestair - a continental first!

#yvrpoli #bcpoli #canpoli

1️⃣5️⃣ countries downgraded in new ratings report:

🇦🇷#Argentina 🇧🇮#Burundi 🇸🇻#ElSalvador 🇫🇷#France 🇬🇪#Georgia 🇩🇪#Germany 🇮🇱#Israel 🇮🇹#Italy 🇱🇷#Liberia 🇲🇬#Madagascar 🇴🇲#Oman 🇷🇸#Serbia 🇸🇩#Sudan 🇨🇭#Switzerland 🇺🇸#USA

Read more in #PeoplePower2025 report: web.civicus.org/PeoplePower2025

🇩🇪#Germany downgraded to 'Obstructed' in ratings report:

🟡Berlin police filed nearly 9,000 criminal charges linked to pro-Palestinian protests
🟡Police brutality & language bans at demonstrations
🟡Raids & surveillance of NGOs critical of Israel

Press release:
web.civicus.org/GermanyRating25

🇫🇷#France downgraded to 'Obstructed' in new ratings report:

🟡Peaceful protests met with tear gas & mass arrests
🟡NGOs dissolved under weaponised anti-separatism law
🟡Journalists & activists face harassment and harsh sentences

Press Release (#PeoplePower2025): web.civicus.org/FranceRating

Paris syndrome - Wikipedia

The flipside of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_s...

Post-Japan Depression. “People feel it after coming home from a trip that feels magical, safe, clean, punctual, aesthetic, peaceful… and suddenly — boom — back to reality.” (Not sure if this person is kidding but yep! 💯🎯) [threads.com]

This @ainsliecruickshank.bsky.social article in @thenarwhal.ca does a really good job re fail of climate adaptation by Eby's NDP. But where is the connection to the related fail of abandoning the #CleanBC plan to reduce carbon pollution? Are both de-facto climate denial? #bcflood #bcpoli

YouTube video by Tim Minchin White Wine In The Sun by Tim Minchin

But it does result in great art youtu.be/fCNvZqpa-7Q

Downtown Eastside Women's Centre's Wishlist | Listful View Downtown Eastside Women's Centre's wishlist on Listful. Find the perfect gifts they actually want for birthdays, Christmas, and special occasions. Free wishlist sharing platform.

Hey #Vancouver - feeling the giving spirit? The DEWC needs more gifts for the 200 holiday hampers. They made it easy - you can order online and ship directly to them.

Bring a little joy to someone

@cbcstephenquinn.bsky.social (maybe share?)

www.listful.com/dewc/list/de...

Robert Jago (@rjjago) I’ve got an article coming out tomorrow on the stalewasem bridge - the bridge replacing the Pattullo. In the article I mention the village of qiqeyt (Qayqayt), which was located at the base of the bri...

I've got an article coming out tomorrow, and in it, I mention the historical Kwantlen village of qiqeyt (Qayqayt), and just in case people confuse the real village with the manufactured Indian Band that appropriated the name, I wrote an explainer here: substack.com/@rjjago/note...

PechaKucha is fun. Come be fun with us on Saturday February 7th, 2026.
#newwest

Taxes – 2024 We are getting into the 2025 budget cycle in New West Council. We have already done some preliminary fee and charges setting work, but the workshops to discuss utility and tax rates for 2024 start …

And I'll finish with last year's summary, showing #NewWest is a bit below regional average for tax burden per resident, and that our increases over the last decade have been less than our closest cohorts in the region. www.patrickjohnstone.ca/2024/11/taxe...

What is a Mil worth? There were some recent letters in the Record, lamenting New Westminster’s out-of-scale property taxes. Some feel we have the highest property taxes in the region, one fellow last year even op…

Here's one from before I was elected (nothing for me to gain there!) talking about Mil Rates, why ours is high & why that doesn't mean people in #NewWest necessarily pay more tax: www.patrickjohnstone.ca/2013/01/what...
(I added Utility charges to the mix):
www.patrickjohnstone.ca/2013/01/what...

Talking Taxes (pt.1) For those who were paying attention, the City of New Westminster’s new 5-year Financial Plan just went through public hearing, and passed three readings at Council. After months of work, seve…

I've been writing about these comparisons (using BC Gov't stats, not our own) for more than a decade. Here in a thread🧵 are some examples (with links to data sources!) starting with a two-parter from 2015: www.patrickjohnstone.ca/2015/04/talk...
www.patrickjohnstone.ca/2015/05/talk...

Sometimes I write about #SD40 because I love #NewWest and my kid loves her school.

I believe in transparency, honesty, open communication, and long-range planning, which are values our school board champions.

Basically nothing is being required of these municipalities, but they are going to whine that the sky is falling to ensure that nothing ever is required of them.

Addressing the housing crisis requires mandates at the Metro/provincial level. Asking nicely hasn't worked.

For those of you outside of Vancouver, Josh is the city’s Director of Planning.

I think we are fairly fortunate to have alignment across staff, council, fire dept and industry.

In 30 yrs of covering marginal and distressed companies, I have never seen a CEO as astonishingly corrupt and incompetent as Elon Musk personally enriched so incredibly & yet, with billions in subsidies from taxpayer dollars to keep his companies afloat for now 20 yrs, still fail so spectacularly.

Poster advertising Pecha Kucha New Westminster, Saturday February 7, 2026.

Save the date for #pknw Saturday February 7th. Be there or be square #newwest !

Saying "based off of" will be a capital crime.