iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Between this and Ford pulling out bike lanes in Toronto, modern Canadian conservatives are just feckless, corrupt, anti-urban dictators that deserve no respect and no quarter.

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I'll bet you that the residents of each and every one of those neighbourhoods are people that think this is overblown because their home will just go to some "nice young family with children" once they have to sell. (Never mind the average homebuyer is in their 40s in both cities.)

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I swear this looks like an AI model thought cars were our prison guards, watching over us in different dystopian settings.

Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Nothing like a cutaway that tries to convince people that planter boxes would survive fully shaded under an overpass.

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She is a horrible representative, but vastly better than the alternative.

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A campus chapter of, say, Circle K might have toxic people or uncomfortable power dynamics, but they don't have the same resources or social capital.

000

Sure, but it's that power imbalance that's the problem, not simply just male-oriented organizations. Sports teams can share (and have shared) some of those same issues with power imbalance.

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None of that is required for all of the advantages you just noted, and all of it is linked to why they're toxic. There are some that are better than others, but it's the disproportionate power that's the issue more than it's just dudes chilling together.

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Generally, that's fine... but it's rare for other campus organizations to own off-campus housing for it's members, rely on an extensive alumni network for political power on campus, and have opaque recruitment and membership standards.

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"In a faceoff with a heavily armed, religiously driven regime that’s threatening a critical waterway" That doesn't narrow it down.

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Even a broken clock is right, blah blah blah...

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

He does such an unintentionally great job of coordinating good interviews with people whose intelligence and common sense are extremely overrated.

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This is what I wish we had everywhere.

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It was Naomi Wolf level bad

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Dr. Sam Becket never returned home.

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I could list so many systems that need massive investment though - healthcare, childcare, transportation, housing, sewer/water, etc. Until we have a very real reckoning about how the upper class has devastated public infrastructure for private wealth, we're never going to get anywhere.

Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Kicking the can down the road.

Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

After listening to Jensen Huang talk about AI safety and how we don't need regulation, I'm even more convinced we're all going to die.

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

After listening to his recent Ezra Klein interview, I'm convinced we're all going to die at the hands of AI.

000

My nickname in secondary school, but probably for different reasons.

And if the buyer's remorse is setting in because of fuel prices and not because Republicans support war crimes, that's not great.

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If the only reason why Trump is losing so much is gas prices, that's one lever they can pull in a few weeks to tamper with the results. Republicans are also sitting on massive war chests with billionaires' wallets open for them. Swagger is good but that number can move a lot in a couple weeks.

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This is a dangerous perspective though. If he manages to eke out a "win" with the Iran conflict and he strongarms oil companies to support his campaign, he's going to be in a better position going into November.

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It keeps Sim from running in his riding if he loses the mayoral race in Vancouver. The conservative implosion is the main reason but all the political stars were aligned with this call.

While it's absolutely repulsive, top to bottom, the worst part is just that it's so dull and boring. Nothing about this effort proposes good solutions or provides insightful discussions.

Some of the stories wouldn't have worked in the same way without more time to breathe, but it feels like in aggregate the series would have worked better. The flipside is that series designed for streaming feel like they need a LOT more time in the editing bay due to the lack of time constraints.

It's also just so... banal. It's obvious that it has Nelson's greasy fingerprints all over it, not just because it's so biased but also because it's lacking any real critical thinking or insight.

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The worst is that it's operating as a force multiplier for Nelson on behalf of business interests to ensure that they get better coverage of their interests. Not a single note in that story suggests that this could improve outreach to communities of color, social advocates, etc.

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Up and down, this is a case where AI is being used for evil and not good. It is exposing unreviewed information to the public, it's actively stealing from news and opinion sources, it's displacing staff writers and policy wonks who can provide clear reviews, and it's inserting clear bias.

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As a tool this is something that is surprisingly easy to create, and I've actually created something like this to track several Seattle metro area cities that are not well reported on. While AI is a bit of a grey area, it does allow the processing of a lot of data quickly. However...

Which is good until you realize that it's just another asset for private equity to own

Never said getting rid of cars, just people owning them.

Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Shades of prewar Germany... I'm assuming the next step will be to cater to the far right to prevent the left from pushing this agenda

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

What other data are you tracking with respect to the use of property tax exemptions? And is this through leasebacks?

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Which was funny enough caused by a huge corporate bailout of a company deemed "too big to fail" in the British Empire

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Andrew B @andrewmb.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

What I'm saying is to break the wheel and prevent court packing by one party or the other.

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That's not exactly what I'm talking about though. The current system doesn't rely on giving a veto to both parties.

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In fact, whenever I'd have those expenses folded in as a percentage "just in case", we never landed on the nose and often left money on the table.

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Oh sure. In practice it seems like trying to account for disbursements/expenses as part of contracts is only useful if you're envisioning very clear expenses that you cannot absorb -- licensing fees, rentals, transportation, etc.

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I believe there is, but as you mentioned there is a focus on clarity in small-ball accounting. You actually need to get your rates approved, and they require that you split out the components of an hourly fee.

City cracked down on Vancouver venues after lobbying by bar and club groups, emails reveal

I have thoughts, and asked a question about this: www.vancitylookout.com/p/city-crack... Still having things marinate in my head about this and how it applies more widely... but it definitely highlights how urban planning can continue to a LOT of failures in development.

vancitylookout.com

Independent operators say nightlife ‘monopoly’ threatens to once again make Vancouver ‘No Fun City’

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Uytae does a good job at moderating discussions like these! #vpl

A panel discussion at the Vancouver Public Library with Uytae Lee and four panelists on stage.

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The Q+A section was very interesting though. There was a former urban planner responsible for the strategy to concentrate Vancouver nightlife on Granville, a historian, and an owner of a queer mixed use arts and events space in downtown.

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If they pass through a bipartisan review where there is an equal number of Democrats and Republicans chosen by party leadership, both parties will essentially get a veto.

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As cities have developed, it's meant that these places have often been pushed out of residential areas, or concentrated within areas where large corporations / businesses can monopolize and "McDonaldize" nightlife.

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In short - while people are complaining that younger people are not going out as much, our cities are no longer set up like they were in the 70s-90s, where large vacant commercial and industrial buildings were repurposed into bars and clubs and other third places.

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