Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 14/10/2026It's nice to vote in a competitive municipal election today -- for years in Mississauga, I just picked a random not-Hazel candidate, knowing they wouldn't win. This time there were five(!) solid choices, three of which could win. 010
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 13/10/2026I have to admit, I love these gossipy biographies.... Can't wait> www.thestar.com/opinion/star...thestar.comAndrew Phillips: Chrystia Freeland’s book spills the tea on her ‘Unreliable Boyfriend’ and Justin Trudeau does not come off wellThe reality is there are at least two unreliable boyfriends (Trump and Trudeau) in Freeland’s story, a compelling mix of personal memoir, political insider gossip and policy vision for a 000
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Can I also just point out how racist this whole falling fertility shit is? If you're worried about having fewer people to support an aging population, get young, working-age people from elsewhere? The world doesn't have a falling birth rate, you know.... 120
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Aw, hell no! This is how my views compare with the candidates in the 2026 Ontario municipal elections according to @votecompass.bsky.social. Try it for yourself! #onpoli share.votecompass.com/b5fe8f6411d7...share.votecompass.comMy Vote Compass Results - 2026 Ontario municipal electionsVote Compass calculated my alignment with the candidates running in the 2026 Ontario municipal elections. Try it for yourself! 000
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The point is correct, of course, but the music linked in the thread is just awesome.... 010
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Yup. www.thestar.com/opinion/star... #canadathestar.comHaroon Siddiqui: No, Mark Carney, Canada is not the most European non-European countryWe might have a shared history with Europe, but we don’t have a shared present 011
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Sci. Fi./Fantasy: The Other Valley, by Scott Alexander Howard. Historical fiction: The Adversary, by Michael Crummey 120
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Is it just me, or is Jays pitcher Brendan Celucci a spitting image of Frank Viola? #baseball #bluejays 010
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Rumen Methane Discourse Bot @cowburpsbot.bsky.social · 26/09/2026A gentle correction: ruminants do not primarily emit methane via flatulence. The primary pathway is microbial methanogenesis in the rumen. The gas exits via oral eructation — colloquially, belching. (Source: IPCC AR6, Agriculture chapter; also basic ruminant physiology.) 052
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Assuming that the Mississauga LRT functions as planned, this could be a boon for the immigrant communities in Mississauga and Brampton. But, does it make more sense to expand the Eglinton cross-town instead, replacing the existing BRT? www.thestar.com/news/gta/may...thestar.comMayoral candidate Bonnie Crombie wants the TTC subway extended to Mississauga’s city centre. But will Doug Ford buy in?Mississauga mayoral candidate Bonnie Crombie is pitching a Line 2 subway extension. Can she convince Doug Ford to help fund the massive project? 010
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Erica Ifill @wickdchiq.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The whole merit conversation has to be thrown in the garbage. People get to where they are because they conform, not due to merit. There are many people who have the merit to hold positions or spaces of affluence. The determining factor is “fit” which is actually compliance 59827
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Ontario Liberals screwed up in Scarborough Southwest, a riding which the NDP had held because of Doly Begum, not because it was NDP territory. Nate Erskine-Smith would've won easily..... 020
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 28/08/2026We live in a simulation designed to maximally torture one Pierre Poilievre. 311012
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 28/08/2026edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...edmontonjournal.comHome again: Edmonton man returns to Canada after U.S. ICE detention with changed viewFor nine months, Curtis Wright was detained in a U.S. ICE detention centre, but he's now back in Canada, and ready to regain his life. 000
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Analysis | Hakeem Jeffries' meeting with Jared Kusher is a crucial first step toward winning back former Democrats who left the party when they personally married the daughter of the nation's most prominent Republican. 744346
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Catelli @catelli.bsky.social · 26/08/2026It's the people in the videos trying to flee that stab me through to the soul when seeing the clips of the massive flash flood in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and China's Tibet. 192
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 26/08/2026I'm sorry, but I need to take a mental health day. I'll be in my garden, but don't contact me if you need me. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/au...theguardian.comTim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Stephen King’s It, dies aged 80A prolific performer across stage, screen and TV, the actor starred in Legend, Clue and It, but will always be associated with the flamboyantly camp rock’n’roll musical in which he made his breakthrou... 100
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 26/08/2026youtube.com/shorts/r4BDO...youtube.comA special tribute to Dolly PartonYouTube video by Ministry of Defence 000
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 25/08/2026I am uncommonly saddened by this news. What a talent: www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a... Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80theguardian.comDolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80Songwriter of I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes 000
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Racism and labor at Bates: the other side of the story open.substack.com/pub/thedrift...open.substack.comRacism and labor at Bates: the other side of the storyAndrew Baker responds to Tyler Austin Harper 010
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 06/08/2026Really? Because I keep seeing them in charge of everything from car dealerships to the White House, and they seem to doing just fine despite their obvious handicaps. 1234397592
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/08/2026The arguments trotted out against leaving fossil fuels in the ground are strikingly similar to the arguments trotted out against ending the slave trade, 230 years ago. 1. If we stop trading slaves / extracting fossil fuels, Britain’s economy will collapse 🧵 281423540
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 02/08/2026After Israeli settlers invaded a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian who snatched a settler’s weapon "was killed while unarmed, videos show." Homicides by squatters targeting lawful residents of the West Bank are a near daily occurrence. Video and photographic evidence972mag.comPalestinian who snatched settler’s weapon killed while unarmedAnalysis of four videos capturing different angles of the shooting incident in the West Bank village of Tel calls into question Israel’s version of events. 54417
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 01/08/2026This is an amazing thread. The emperor has no clothes. 032
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)🇨🇦 Bernice Hillier 🇨🇦 @bernicecb.bsky.social · 30/07/2026"Would-be future American leaders who recognize the value of allies and think all will be forgiven when the White House has a new occupant need to appreciate the depth of the damage being done by its current resident." #GiftArticle www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/o...nytimes.comOpinion | ‘You Aren’t Going to Like What Comes After America’ (Gift Article)Remember when ‘blame Canada’ was a joke? 87443
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 28/07/2026"All of this reeks of Christian privilege. These kinds of stunts would never be tolerated—even for a moment—if the evangelists weren’t Christian" open.substack.com/pub/friendly...open.substack.comChristian preachers are turning airplanes into unwanted worship servicesEvangelists are exploiting captive audiences who can’t walk away—and broadcasting it online 001
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)M a r c u s 🏳️🌈🇧🇧🇬🇧 @marcusjdl.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Just seen that Burnham is an avid Morrissey fan and has put up a gold disc of The Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead” in No.10 North the guy who has a whole section on “racial comments” on Wikipedia Yeah this dude doesn’t care about racism in the slightest. 421029176
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 24/07/2026What? You mean the poor weren't filling up their Dodge Rams and Ford 150s to crawl through the urban traffic? You don't say. 010
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 24/07/2026he’s gutting the public sector, he’s holding back on pharmacare deals, he tried to pull money out of daycare, he’s letting two-tier healthcare gain a foothold in alberta, and now he’s coming for public healthcare funding too 10359197
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Tim Bousquet @timbousquet.bsky.social · 24/07/2026OMG. They charged and convicted the wrong man for child luring. It was someone else using a similar social media handle. And the wrongly convicted guy spent 18 months in jail. 166437
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦 @jbroschek.bsky.social · 24/07/2026All options have always been on the table, it just depends on who you ask on "Team Canada" at any given point in time. For example, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources versus.... globalnews.ca/news/1181583...globalnews.caCanada will use energy sector as leverage in CUSMA talks, minister says - National | Globalnews.caIn his second year as energy minister, Tim Hodgson said he will focus on creating a 'coherent strategy' for electricity and nuclear energy. 2197
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026And the OECD report is here: www.oecd.org/en/publicati...oecd.orgOECD Employment Outlook 2026Where people live shapes their chances of finding good jobs and moving up the income ladder. The OECD Employment Outlook 2026 documents large and persistent gaps in employment, unemployment and dispos... 000
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026A link to the Beaudy and Green article is here: www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/a33ecad...theglobeandmail.comAmerica is booming. Canada lags. So why aren’t Americans happier?Analysis of over 20 years of economic data shows U.S.’s higher productivity has not produced better earnings for most 113
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026.... not only about the "size" of the economy, but how that pie is distributed. 7/ 101
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Admittedly, Canadian economic growth over the last 20 years has been anaemic, and, the wage growth figures are nothing to crow about. But equally, if we care about well-being, not some accounting measure (which is what GDP per capita is), we need to think carefully.... 6/ 111
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Well, no. The OECD shows that real wages in Canada were flat over the last five years. But in the US, real wages actually fell by 1.4% over the same period (this is for all workers, not just the bottom 90%). 5/ 100
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026But what of the last ten years of Liberal (mis)rule, you may ask? Surely Canada has done much worse over the last five years, when Trudeau lost his mind and opened the floodgates? 4/ 100
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026In a Globe and Mail editorial this week, they showed that real wages for the bottom 90% of workers in Canada grew at about 0.75% per year over the last twenty years. The comparable figure for the US? 0.5% per year. This, despite substantially higher GDP growth in the US over the same period. 3/ 1114
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026In all of this, it seems like some Very Serious People™️ have forgotten what they learned (or ought to have learned) about the limitations of GDP per capita. Recent work by Paul Beaudry and David Green shows just how misleading the GDP per capita comparisons are. 2/ 160
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 23/07/2026There has been so much hand-wringing in Canadian circles about the widening gap between Canada and the US in GDP per capita (Canada is poorer that Alabama, etc.). 1/ 244
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Shannon Proudfoot @sproudfoot.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Here @acoyne.bsky.social, as usual, nails it: "If there’s nothing we can do – if we lose no matter what – then we might as well do what we want." www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...theglobeandmail.comOpinion: There is no appeasing Donald Trump, or deterring himTrump’s latest tariffs have liberated Canada, in a strange sort of way 118939
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 21/07/2026He's not an economist, he just plays one on TV.... 132
Azim Essaji (he/him) @aessaji.bsky.social · 21/07/2026That tempest early has wreaked havoc through my garden. Oof. 000
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)I support Somali-Americans @adamrothman.bsky.social · 19/07/2026I'm not posting Odyssey memes because one must be wary of GIFs bearing Greeks. 9142901050
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 20/07/2026This is the part I really don't understand, in the end. He's the GOAT, but he also wears the armband & does apparently nothing to change the constant ugly behavior of his team, tournament after tournament, & escapes all criticism for it. 519317