Steve Lafleur

Jeffries: "Article 1 of the Constitution provides Congress with the sole authority to declare war. Framers made that decision b/c they were concerned about kings plunging their people into unnecessary wars to pillage resources of others for the benefit of a tyrant and his family. Sound familiar?"

Start a war, then become insurer of last resort.

How have crime rates in the United States changed over the last 50 years? Both violent and property crime are far below their 1990s peak, but some crimes see periodic rises.

Looking at the 2024 crime figures, it's absolutely insane how Trump, tech billionaires, and centrist pundits fooled everyone into thinking Biden had turned the U.S. into some Hobbesian hellscape.

50-year lows for violent crime, armed robbery, property crime. Second-lowest homicide rate.

Just to recap from my soda-straw perspective:
My government started a war of choice that led to my home being bombarded by missiles and drones depleting our air defenses which they refuse to resupply while telling us to evacuate after our airspace was shut because their war put us in danger

My partner, who assumed I was watching Heated Rivalry for the hockey rather than the soundtrack, asked me what the appeal is.

I paraphrased one of the guests here: it's basically an alternate history of the past decade, where shit doesn't go dark.

Nostalgia for Milennial optimism.

YouTube video by Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud Why is 2000s Canadian indie music hitting so hard right now?

The YouTube algorithm pushed this to me a few weeks ago (it knows me too well), and I went down a rabbit hole that involved reading a history of Canadian music (2000-2005) and mainlining Heated Rivalry.

youtu.be/gIBEZqkGptY?...

guessing we’re tapping the strategic petroleum reserve again even though it’s down ~50% from pre-Russian invasion levels and oil is $70 a barrel. guys it’s supposed to be for emergencies not whenever you get scared your foreign policy is unpopular

The author of Hillbilly Elegy must be furious.

Cheap rent enables so much creativity, risk-taking, etc.

I’ve sometimes wondered if the relative lack of urbanist YouTube channels based in NYC — given the population and enormous transit ridership — is related to housing being so expensive.

Reading Michael Barclay's fantastic history of Canadian music from 2000-2005 (Hearts on Fire).

One thing that really jumps out is how often musicians of the era credited their success to cheap rent. Small grants and a few bucks from shows go a long way when you're paying three hundred a month!

I know, I know. People are focused on more important things than what personally inconveniences Steve. But, well...we still have a city to fix.

The King Streetcar has been working nicely for an extended period of time. Grateful as I am for that, I'd really love to have the 503 back too. Makes for a much more pleasant trip out to Upper Beaches.

Just as the Framers intended

I actually saw a guy get pulled over on King street for driving by open streetcar doors a few months ago. It was kind of shocking to actually see traffic law enforced.

a cartoon character is sitting at a table with a bunch of food and holding her head . ALT: a cartoon character is sitting at a table with a bunch of food and holding her head .

We don't speak of such things.

The Rule of Law(n).

If you freeze buildings from changing, rich people just take up more space.

An extreme version of what is happening across wealthy cities

What happens when political speeches collide with economic data? This clip pulls together the real economic State of the Union using the key statistics that hit your wallet: inflation, jobs, economic… Justin Wolfers: The Real (Economic) State Of The Union

I tuned in to the State of the Union, and saw nothing but a firehose of lies.

If the President won't tell you the state of the economy, I will: Here's an honest assessment of the (economic) state of the union. No reality TV gimmicks, just nerdy numbers.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKA...

I've had good mom & pop landlords. But even if they are dilligent and well meaning, they're still limited in their ability to respond to things, to provide long-term assurances, etc.

My last non-pbr landlord was an excellent guy, who found ways to make things work. A lot to put on one guy, IMO.

Pulling this shit while the president extracts billions for his family and is currently demanding taxpayers give him $10 billion is pretty goddamned rich.

Kansas informs trans residents their driver’s licenses become invalid on Thursday Some transgender Kansans said they had received the letters from the Department of Revenue. Others hadn’t by Wednesday evening.

“‘The persecution is the point,’ said Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Legislature, who received the [Kansas Dept of Revenue] notice on Wednesday.” To underscore that: a Kansas state legislator is among those whose driver’s license will be voided. (🎁 link:)

Depends on the company, I suppose. In my case, they own like two city blocks and have enough permanent staff that they can cover off absences and have maintenance people permanently on-site. There's no like call the plumber or I hope buddy picks up his phone cause I'm locked out.

I would *much* rather live in a purpose built rental owned by a large REIT than rent some guy's condo and hope he fixes stuff on time and doesn't decide to sell at an inconvenient time.

Which is, incidentally, exactly what I do. There are advantages to having a landlord with resources and scale.

Rhinegeist is one of my favourite breweries to visit. Cool space, right on the Cincinatti streetcar loop.

The whole Binner did nothing wrong thing is turning me into the Joker. Doing nothing specific wrong is not the job. The winning team probably needs a goalie to steal it, which is what happened!

If Team Canada replaced Connor McDavid with Connor Brown, would we just say not his fault for missing?

I know we all want to move on from the Olympics. But it's kind of hard when Logan Thompson is back to winning games and Jordan Binnington is back to riding the pine.

Maybe starting a Vezina callibur goalie wouldn't have mattered. But are we sure he wouldn't have made one extra save? Hellebuyck did!

I usually see a headline and have a pretty good idea what they're trying to pull, even if I don't think it'll do them any good. This one's a total head scratcher.

A White House Staffer Appears to Run Massive Pro-Trump X Account A popular right-wing account that called a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes "a masterpiece" appears to be run by a White House staffer, according to records reviewed by WIRED.

A popular right-wing account that called a video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes "a masterpiece" appears to be run by a White House staffer, according to records reviewed by WIRED. www.wired.com/story/a-whit...

Trump's mass deportations really are a Forever War. It'll take 3 presidential terms at current pace. The prison camps are a new carceral state. It has its own growing public-private bureaucracy: Contractors, mercenary army, etc. 6/

(h/t @lioneltrolling.bsky.social)

newrepublic.com/article/2069...