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John Concannon

@middleagedspread.bsky.social
86 followers 362 following 95 posts

He/him. Interested in bikes, woodworking, 3d design, risk, complex systems, analysis and hockey. YEG / Edmonton.

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Reposted by John Concannon
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 7h
No matter where you shop, you're getting screwed by Amazon. Amazon has found a way to make everything you buy - at Target, at a mom-and-pop shop, even direct from the manufacturer - more expensive. And they're not the only one: Expedia's done the same thing, but for hotel rooms.
A faded, scratched postcard advertising the 'Edge of Town Motel.' Next to the motel sign is a vast pink piggybank, out of whose slot rises a motel key on a diamond keychain, emblazoned with a metallic dollar-sign.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
static.klipy.com
On My Way: Steve McQueen Motorcycle Jump
Alt: On My Way: Steve McQueen Motorcycle Jump from the great escape
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Isn’t this an independent regulator making an adjudication? How is this on Carney?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
While you’re tackling poor parking, do you think you could do something about these dockless cars? They seem to get left everywhere.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Sometimes sweeping things under the rug is what England does.” That’s exactly what you wrote. You complain about an entire country based on the actions of the royal family, but whine when someone judges your country for electing someone far worse.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
So you’re saying an entire nation (England) should be condemned for the sins of its unelected representatives, but another entire nation (the US) should not be condemned for the sins of its elected representatives?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
N+1
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
3 steps for the first, 2 for the second, maybe?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
No, I think the first couple are both a tutorial and a warm up.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
What strategy should Canada be pursuing?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Wearing a helmet for sport cycling is obviously a good idea. The epidemiological evidence that they are useful for everyday cycling is far more limited, and despite the online flame wars, helmet wearing is largely cultural.
Public skating rink where small children wear helmets, but vast majority of teenagers and adults do not.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Healy did a bit more than that to fascists: he served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy in WW2, and was beach master at the Anzio landings.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Are we engineering physical activity out of everyday life? Where has the author been for the last sixty years?
static.klipy.com
Massive Traffic Jam in a Crowded City
Alt: Massive Traffic Jam in a Crowded City
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Reposted by John Concannon
Cheryl in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦🍁🍁 @minibubbly.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is gold 🔥🔥🔥🤣🤣 💪🏻🍁 clapping back at the US administration for their childish comments
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
And you are selectively outraged about other people’s very reasonable risk decisions.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Wearing a helmet for sport cycling is obviously a good idea. The epidemiological evidence that they are useful for everyday cycling is far more limited, and despite the online flame wars, helmet wearing is largely cultural.
Picture shows public skating.  Almost none of the adults and teens skating are wearing helmets, despite the incidence of falls being much higher than for non-sport cycling.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Wearing a helmet for sport cycling is obviously a good idea. The epidemiological evidence that they are useful for everyday cycling is far more limited, and despite the online flame wars, helmet wearing is largely cultural.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
If you want that one to land in Edinburgh, the AA meeting should be held in Glasgow.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
It’s wrong, and it’s bad public policy, but it’s only dumb if your intent is good public policy rather than selfish political gain.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
It’s not politicians’ ignorance. The evidence clearly shows bike lanes reduce traffic congestion and increase safety, and the politicians are briefed by competent public servants. It’s a strategic choice to exploit voter ignorance for political purposes.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Though I think we need a word other than empathy to describe this conceptual perspective taking, since empathy does entail the ability to share emotion, and some very intelligent strategic thinkers nevertheless appear unable to feel empathy.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Yes. Completely agree. It is the inability to perceive the perspective of others (and not just their lack of empathy in terms of human emotion) that marks the staggering strategic incompetence of the current US administration.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I feel the same way, but it’s also incumbent on the federal government to consider and try and mitigate the damage that Trump’s bullying could do; it’s easier for those of us with little skin in the game to stand on principle, but some Canadians would undoubtedly suffer.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I did look it up afterwards. I was a bit apprehensive, and glad I’d guessed right, which is probably a reflection of my lack of knowledge of poetry.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I’m not knowledgeable about poetry, so take my reply with a pinch of salt, but I preferred the first. That first line grabbed my attention, and the rest of the verse felt alive with imagery. The second verse just felt lifeless, and less rhythmic.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Thank you Emmet, that was a clear explanation for a lay person, particularly the point that a ‘new’ charter obligation could arise as a result of evidence obtained thanks to new policies or initiatives, preventing their reversal.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
It’s also annoying that people who oppose bike lanes then cite those zeros as proving no one cycles.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I’m not sure either, now that I think about it, you might be right.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Not before time
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
The “Golden goal” was used in overtime for both the 1998 and 2002 World Cup competitions. It was awful. I love sudden death overtime in hockey, but it just didn’t work for football.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Nonsense. It’s simulation, you get a yellow for that whether or not the initial decision was a bookable offence.
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Reposted by John Concannon
Rafe Culpin @rafeculpin.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Or try this one: youtu.be/ovsf7WlSnIM
youtu.be
Three Cheers for the Count
YouTube video by Frank Davies
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Excellent piece, but one minor nit which I must pick. Laws are flouted, not flaunted.
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Reposted by John Concannon
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 17/06/2026
It's so heartbreaking to see a 14 year old child have to write a piece detailing how abusive adults have been to them over being themselves. They got horrifying threats. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
I’m a 14-year-old trans athlete. No one should face the vicious attacks I have faced | Lina Haaga
People understand gender differently, and I was taught to respect all ideas. But the vitriol I recently experienced was not a healthy debate
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Of course it’s much worse for Alberta. The UK was already a sovereign nation state, with all the institutions of statehood, that, by leaving a transitional organization, was reversing less than fifty years of limited integration. Alberta separating would be devastating.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Highlander, by a country mile.
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Reposted by John Concannon
Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Given Trump’s Easter threats to carry out new war crimes in Iran, we should think one or two steps ahead about a coup attempt connected to the war. And then deter it. (1/17)
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
But that’s the largest ship in the world on a price spike: typically the Q-Max ship carry $50-$60M in natural gas (an order of magnitude less than claimed by Pollievre)
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Thanks Steve, I hadn’t taken into account the compression on natural gas, which would mean in the biggest ships it could be as much as 161,994,000m3 of natural gas, but converting that to MBTUs only gives me 5.7 million MBTUs, which is about $121M on a spot price of $21.3.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Not knowing much about the value of natural gas per cubic meter makes it hard for me to evaluate Pollievre’s claim that a single tanker carries quarter of a billion dollars worth of gas but that just seems off at least an order of magnitude.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Most points in a tournament by a Canadian NHL player. Harry Watson of the Toronto Granites had 37 goals and 9 assists in the 1924 Winter Olympics. He was a WW1 fighter ace as well!
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
You’re going to tell Glasgow Celtic FC how they should pronounce their name? A name that’s been pronounced with a soft c by the club and its Irish-Scottish fanbase since they were founded in 1887?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
While I use studs, rather than chains, you can recover from a back wheel slide, but not from a front wheel slide, so when I only have one studded tire, it goes on the front.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 29/11/2025
I’ve been using studded tires for years, but never seen chains on bike tires. Where did you get them, or how did you make them?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
I always thought the universes were autogenerated from pseudorandom numbers.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
I had no idea. I had the model B disc version. First computer game I was ever addicted to.
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
There’s an elite universe editor?!!!!!
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
White House reporters?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
… the current homeowner. Maybe I am misunderstanding your suggestion? Why would we want to preserve a particular type or style of property, rather than let our communities evolve to serve changing needs?
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John Concannon @middleagedspread.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
As a person with children living in a mature neighbourhood in sipiwiniwak, it strikes me as a poor use of funds. Loans maybe would be justified, as long as they have socially beneficial purposes, such as improving environmental performance, but under this proposal almost all the benefits accrue to …
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