iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 2h

TFW you've got a classical radio station playing in the background while you work and you recognize the song that comes on from the original Europa Universalis soundtrack.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 3h

/2 Once he resigned, I just kept watching b/c the instability of their partisan system had me hooked. Expanded my regular checks to Tshwane and Cape Town. Haven't caught much of interest out of the Durban/eThekwini metro over the years, oddly.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 3h

Eons ago when Mashaba was in office, I was fascinated by how he kept confusing everyone looking for tidy ideological labels - denounced as a rich neoliberal, he was also aggressively insourcing contracted services into the City's public service, for example. 1/2

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 3h

Is it just me, or does the fact that the language of the fake endorsement mirrors the Manchurian Candidate line ("Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life") sort of an odd coincidence here?

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 7h

I admit, this is not a problem for any local government that I've been aware of in recent memory.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 7h

It's always a good day to be an okra producer

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 8h

Paris. Ugly loss. I was just reading about this place the other day.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 8h

If there's a word that went from meh to 'makes me choke on my own bile' in the 2020s, it's "preferences." It means the opposite of what it means. It means reducing life to a series of toggles and sliders.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 9h

Ok, fellow Canadians: time to launch some attack ads on the Swiss

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 9h

Urban v. exurban/rural politics, in Montreal/Quebec. I think there are simpler solutions to the problem they raise than vague, implausible calls for city-state status - but this imbalance of urban and rural ambitions is a constant problem in Canadian politics, and democratic politics generally.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 9h

Responding with hybrid counterattacks is an even more appropriate response to Russian hybrid attacks.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 9h

And to put that short but realtively long term of office in local (Winnipeg) perspective, it means that Dada has been Mayor three times (3x) longer than Kevin Klein was a cabinet minister.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 9h

*** Morero's approval ratings are in the gutter as escalating complaints about broken local services reach a breaking point. However, he has survived (counts) 787 days, making him the longest-serving Mayor by far since Mashaba from the DA, taking their mayoralty down with him.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 10h

** Calling Zille 'a former Cape Town Mayor' reflects my local govt bias but also sells her short; she is also a former national DA leader and former Western Cape Premier. As a reporter in the Apartheid era, she famously broke the story that Stephen Biko had been beaten to death in prison.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 10h

* I follow Johannesburg politics b/c of its chaos, chewing through mayors/cabinets faster than my kid outgrows new shoes. Here's a story from 2024 in Morero's rise, hinting at the short lifespan (in one case, literally) of his several recent predecessors. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

reuters.com

Johannesburg gets new mayor after protests and party deals

Johannesburg elected a new mayor on Friday, the seventh in three years to lead South Africa's biggest city as residents complain of worsening crime and basic services.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 10h

- and the ANC counter punching with a complaint which argued Zille hadn't fully met residency requirements to run in her move from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Popping corn and watching. For my new followers:

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 10h

All I want for Xmas is a reliable Johannesburg local govt source that doesn't feel like it'll choke my phone with ads and bias. Scanned for JoBurg* last night and saw multiple stories about former DA Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille** clocking a big polling lead over ANC incumbent Dada Morero*** -

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 19h

OMG I'm just going to bed Bad timing

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 21h

what if I'm repeating it critically

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Bacolod City (pop. 625k) and waste management

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

No. I can assure you that they are not just bots.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Next step: as bot posts plummet in the US, Alberta and other elxn-imminent jurisdictions, the US govt will denounce Ukraine's strike on the extreme-right spam servers as "unfair election interference."

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Good moment to tee up my ninety-ninth "The Third World War is already underway, it's just that only one side knows it's been fighting it" warning, no?

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Unusual local events, in Hamilton, ON

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Wuhan, in Hubei. Notably, Zhou was also in office when Wuhan was hit with the brutal first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Will leave it to readers to judge whether this conviction is really for bribery, failing the Party's regime and the City, or both.

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Singapore, air quality, and major public events

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Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

The Region of Halton, ON (Burlington, Oakville, Milton)

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