B.S.W. Barootes

“Fix your hearts and live.”

The first is that the Liberal government screwed the pooch on immigration; this is now a fairly consensus opinion — and one we’ve talked about at some length here at The Line. It’s no particular mystery to us why the longstanding pan-partisan consensus on immigration is breaking. In short, we’ve taken on far too many, especially temporary foreign workers and questionable international “students,” without any real plan for how to improve basic infrastructure or social services to compensate. The problem, here, is a real one. And all of the provinces — not just Alberta — are struggling to keep up. That acknowledged, it is nothing short of appalling for a government to blame immigration for its own fiscal mismanagement especially when that same government has been welcoming and even demanding that immigration until all of five seconds ago.

I'm getting very tired of this framing. The only reason there is "consensus" that the Liberals screwed up immigration is because we are allergic to holding any premier to account for a) demanding more immigration; b) doing fuck all about housing and healthcare; and c) let scam colleges run amok. 1/

a Jacobin interview with NDP Candidate Avi Lewis, who attended the most expensive prep school in Canada as a youth, but he’s claiming: “ Well, on the democratic socialist left you don’t inherit money or power or property. If I’m lucky, I’ll inherit not too much debt, quite frankly, in terms of the material conditions of inheritance.”

tfw you attended the most expensive private school in Canada

"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind."

Ride the bewildered
footnotes of being

Alysa Liu telling 60 Minutes “I love struggling, it makes me feel alive” is a legit revolutionary statement from a Bay Area native in a time when copious amounts of time and resources are being put toward convincing us to opt out of experiencing struggle, friction and self-actualization

Just looked it up on AbeBooks, too!

Fix Your Hearts or Die It's a invitation, not a threat. The path to liberation for lonely men is feminism.

"Loneliness *is* a problem. I am inviting you to contemplate how frequently it is treated as a problem for men and only for men, to be solved by everyone else, by doing work on their behalf that can only ever be considered repair if they do it themselves."

www.the-reframe.com/fix-your-hea...

To incoming University President Mnookin: Please don’t let artificial intelligence devalue the liberal arts Last month, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin <a href="https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2025/12/uw-receives-approval-to-move-l-ss-largest-majors-to-new-ai-focused-school...

The student-author of this piece is Grace Kaste, who should be widely applauded for writing it.

www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2026...

It is one thing for professors to resist AI in education; it is far more powerful when students do. Only a coalition between the two groups of students and teachers —and not the antagonistic one between “cheaters” and “cops”—will be powerful enough to create a movement.

The French word ‘aujourd’hui’ (today) consists of ‘au’ (on the), ‘jour’ (day), ‘de’ (of) and ‘hui’ (today). It was formed during the late Middle Ages.

However, many Romance words come from even older combinations. Some are hardly identifiable as such anymore.

Click my new graphics to explore them:

How does "Kill it with fire?" sound?

Minister of Al and Digital innovation Ministre de l'IA et de l'innovation numérique The horrifying tragedy in Tumbler Ridge has left families with unthinkable losses and shaken communities across Canada. Like many Canadians, I am deeply disturbed by reports that concerning online activity from the suspect was not reported to law enforcement in a timely matter. Canadians expect online platforms, including OpenAI, to have robust safety protocols and escalation practices in place to protect online safety and ensure law enforcement are warned about potential violence. I am in contact with OpenAl and other AI platforms regarding their safety protocols. Our government is closely monitoring this situation as the RCMP investigation takes place, while reviewing a suite of measures to ensure the safety of Canadians, particularly children. All options are on the table to ensure that public safety and the protection of our children are the cornerstone of any technology built into these systems from the outset.

Evan Solomon’s useless statement on OpenAI not alerting police about the Tumbler Ridge shooter.
What an absolute waste of space at the Cabinet table.

too much power

My latest video on Ford's "basket weaving" OSAP comment has reached the "Study whatever you want but don't expect the gov to pay you for it" crowd, and I don't think they grasp how desolate their lives would be if there was no art, no culture, no history. We can't have a society of only STEM majors.

My partner bumps into a lot of things at home. There are just two of us (formerly three, but the cat departed in June—she was definitely a ln active obstacle). I had never considered that this tendency for collision was perhaps a factor in her election not to drive, lo, these 44-ish years.

No one has flopped harder at being a Catholic than JD Vance.

Off by about two centuries there, eh?

A tool is always intrinsically simple, however elaborate its mechanisms may be, but a work of art, which is a complex of many stages and levels of crisscrossed intentions, is always intrinsically complicated, however simple its effect may seem.

Not all that Kubler wrote has stood the test of time (pun intended) but this is perhaps the most fitting diagnosis of creative endeavors for the times of AI

Ancient crocodile species named Jones after teacher from Cardigan A researcher has named a newly-identified species in honour of his

One of my undergrads messaged me to say that the same teacher is the reason he is at university studying Plant Biology. Sounds like a remarkable chap.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

BREAKING: King Charles has dispatched Andrew to Calais.

Updates soon...

Oh, the grand old duke of york
He ██████████████████
He ██████████████████
And he ██████████████████

A movement that cedes moral high ground to Jason Kenney.

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.

I will believe that Canadian governments are actually serious about our prosperity and role in the world when they start funding our universities at an actually effective level rather than constantly cutting them.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces fall referendum on immigration, constitutional questions | CBC News Premier Danielle Smith wants to hold a referendum in October on measures to limit immigration to Alberta and changes she believes would give the province more rights under the Constitution.

Absolutely batshit.
Dangerous fucking batshit.

The premiers will destroy the country

There is so much to unpack from Smith's TV address. It was a firehose of information. But one thing I need to emphasize. A referendum question to introduce an Alberta head tax on immigration!

Students begin Covid compensation claim against 36 more universities It comes after University College London settled a claim from students there over lost learning in the pandemic.

I feel so miserable about this. Nearly broke myself working 16, 18 hour days during the pandemic. We did everything we possibly could, then doubled it, tripled it. HE is still struggling to get back off the floor, years later. Now another financial punch in the face.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ford 'doesn't know what he's talking about' when it comes to basket weaving, Indigenous artist says | CBC News A third-generation Indigenous basket maker is setting the record straight about his craft — it's a part of his culture, it's valuable, and artists can make a living off of it.

I absolutely love this response to DoFo.