bdmclarnon.bsky.social
Retired engineer (electrical/communications), frequent N95 user, organic gardener, heat pump owner, green energy + clean air advocate. Like: hiking, canoeing, geocaching, wine, food, music (esp: singer-songwriters), Linux.
862 posts
622 followers
253 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
Trump gets all the headlines, but autocracy begins at home. Ontario is chock full of blind fools... it's the Ohio of the North.
comment in response to
post
Why would anyone pay attention to anything written in that right wing propaganda rag? Well, maybe if you need guidance as to what NOT to do...
comment in response to
post
PP is cosplaying a normal, well-balanced human being, but he's so far from that reality that he's unable to pull it off.
comment in response to
post
PP = Pigeon Poop.
comment in response to
post
ALT text: blithering idiot posing in front of his alma mater, The School for the Gleefully Insane.
comment in response to
post
Of course, "more nimble" actually means cutting funding and becoming more reactive rather than proactive. Being reactive means calling for help from other jurisdictions when you inevitably get into trouble.
comment in response to
post
Absolutely. In my (much) younger days, I was actively involved in an organization called Zero Population Growth, which was stimulated in part by an influential study called Limits to Growth by the Club of Rome. That effort fell by the wayside, but I still believe in it.
comment in response to
post
The only thing I miss about Xitter is the handful of people there that I enjoyed following who for some inexplicable reason have yet to abandon that toxic platform.
comment in response to
post
Imagine if we actually had enough creative, thoughtful, and progressive-minded people in government at all levels to allow us to escape the conservative mindset that binds us to such small-minded mediocrity.
comment in response to
post
True, and boosters are needed more than once a year, since vaccine efficacy wanes substantially within 6 months. And a vaccine-only policy is inadequate to halt the growing problem of Long Covid - upgraded indoor air quality standards and masking in settings such as health care is also needed.
comment in response to
post
Unfortunately, this is incorrect - follow the link and you'll find that the Conservative candidate won, by exactly the same margin of 12 votes as the Liberal won the initial count.
comment in response to
post
Unfortunately, this is incorrect - follow the link and you'll find that the Conservative candidate won, by exactly the same margin of 12 votes.
comment in response to
post
It's sad the way our society has normalized and dismissed Covid. It remains prevalent, non-seasonal, and dangerous, and not just to those who have been stigmatized as "vulnerable". Failure to take any measures to mitigate it means that the health of the population is gradually declining.
comment in response to
post
I was born without the raconteur gene, so if I tried that with my daughter at that age, she would've groaned and said "dad, please read me a book". 😏 So, I read her works such as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which she really enjoyed, and she did evolve into a well-rounded and kind human being.
comment in response to
post
You've heard of the Tragedy of the Commons? This is the Tragedy of the Cons, who are selfishly focused on wealth creation and retention.
comment in response to
post
I had one of these dudes approach me while I was working in the yard last fall - the pitch was exactly as described in the article. I said no, and this spring had a reputable local company come to inspect. No repairs required - all defects in the foundation (e.g. parging) were strictly cosmetic.
comment in response to
post
Meh. To have ten such days in a row makes it common and boring. Here in Canada, we've already had our exclusive, one-and-only palindromic day of the year on Feb. 5: 5/2/25.
comment in response to
post
Add to that the family groups with toddlers milling around, and dogs being walked that could suddenly dart into your path. Shared use pathways can be scary places, especially when they get busy.
comment in response to
post
I see plenty of bad/illegal behaviour on the roads from motorists and cyclists (and sometimes pedestrians) alike. They're always sizing up the situation and deciding what they can get away with. When you're continually making judgement calls like this, sooner or later something bad will happen.
comment in response to
post
True, it's a farce as currently written. It's like requiring the officer to use his/her discretion to judge whether someone has been driving while impaired by alcohol instead of administering a breathalyzer test.
comment in response to
post
Yep, due to the restrictions imposed by the provincial government, photo radar in Ontario is a joke. Conservatives regard any serious attempts to enforce speed limits and other rules of the road as government overreach and an assault on freedom (to be an idiot and endanger lives).
comment in response to
post
I'm guessing that the OPH and OPP have no capability in most, if not all, of their cruisers to test the transmissivity. They just don't care. Similarly for the large number of illegible licence plates on vehicles in Ontario - they ignore them.
comment in response to
post
One of my many lack of enforcement pet peeves is car windows that are so heavily tinted that they're virtually opaque - no chance to make eye contact or to see through for oncoming traffic or pedestrians. Here's a thought: if the drone can't see inside, pull 'em over and test the tint level.
comment in response to
post
Agreed - as much as some folks would like to think that their vehicle is an extension of their private residence, it ain't so. If drones are what it takes to reduce distracted driving, I'm for it. The level of enforcement of traffic regulations in general these days is truly pathetic.
comment in response to
post
Yes, we have a pair of heat mats. We used one of them to heat the little greenhouse enclosure (the lettuce is less fussy about temperature). We use both heat mats when starting seeds for outdoor transplanting (in plastic trays with clear lids to keep the heat in).
comment in response to
post
They claim that this is "on the table", but you can generally count on the Ford government not to do the right thing. Instead they do whatever is most likely to enrich their wealthy friends in the private sector, which in this case is probably some monstrous "nation-building" infrastructure project.
comment in response to
post
It was pretty small scale. The tomatoes and basil don't like our typical winter basement temperature (13-14°C) so we set up a mini-greenhouse to keep them happy. We also used LED lights for the first time (we've used fluorescent lights for growing seedlings in spring for many years).
comment in response to
post
That's a lot of tomato plants! I approve - if I could only grow one veggie (perish the thought), it would have to be tomatoes. We managed to grow some dwarf tomato plants under lights this past winter (plus lettuce and basil), which was a new experiment for us.
comment in response to
post
Nice! We also use raised beds, but have to improvise barriers to keep the critters at bay. Looks like lots of trees around - how much sun do your veggies typically get? Reduced sun due to the growth of trees on neighbouring properties is an ongoing issue for us.
comment in response to
post
Sadly, it will take several years before it becomes apparent he has failed abjectly and is replaced by someone more competent.
comment in response to
post
What is worse is that he has completely dismantled nearly all of the progress made in renewable energy by the previous Liberal governments. He has locked us into fossil fuel power generation and enormously expensive foreign nuclear technology for decades to come. Ontario will become a pariah.
comment in response to
post
The conspiracy theories are fueled by social media campaigns run by fossil fuel industry lobbyists.
comment in response to
post
Both are con men and are thoroughly corrupt, but there are differences. Trump is a malignant narcissist who exhibits serious signs of dementia, while DoFo is a retail politician who is a useful idiot and front man for wealthy oligarchs.
comment in response to
post
When I was a kid, we had those instruments of torture like on the left, but not those fancy schmancy plastic things like on the right. Instead we had "monkey bars", those steel pipe structures where one slip could mean instant death or permanent paralysis. Ah, those were the days...
comment in response to
post
I'll wager lobbying from Mark Sutcliffe tipped the balance on nixing those Col By closures.
comment in response to
post
Those hoodlums sometimes take over our bird feeder and scare everyone else off - even Blue Jays are intimidated by them. Luckily, the grackles get bored quickly and soon move on.
comment in response to
post
One last thought: are you familiar with the great American singer-songwriter, Mary Chapin Carpenter? Several of her songs came to mind while reading L.A.R.T., but this one most of all. It's not a rollicking road trip song, but it has a quiet and heartfelt beauty.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnSH...
comment in response to
post
One American road trip stands out, given the central locale of the book. In August 2017 we flew to St. Louis and launched a looping road trip through eight states. Along the way, we paused in western Nebraska to witness the awesome total solar eclipse. The memories made are lasting and priceless.
comment in response to
post
I'm Canadian (retired boomer) and I'm currently boycotting travel to the US to protest the fascist Trump regime and its attacks on my country. Prior to 2025, however, my wife and I enjoyed many memorable road trips south of the border including several that overlap with those described in the book.
comment in response to
post
The narrative is also laced with foreboding, as it's set against the backdrop of the country's inexorable slide into authoritarianism. At its core, however, it mines the bedrock of America to uncover the innate beauty of the land and the goodness of its people, and in this it succeeds admirably.
comment in response to
post
Newly minted Liberal MP for Prescott-Russell-Cumberland in eastern Ontario, Giovanna Mingarelli, has said that she will be lobbying strongly for return of the WAGE Ministry, so we'll see how that goes...
comment in response to
post
I have a friend in Orleans (I live in the west end) who traps them and relocates them to Petrie Island or thereabouts. I think this is a pretty bad idea (and also illegal, I believe) but I haven't tried to dissuade him. I settle for using physical barriers to keep them away from some spots.
comment in response to
post
And a lot of Bloc supporters in Terrebonne who didn't bother to vote are deservedly getting a hard time from their family and/or friends.
comment in response to
post
There is an overabundance of squirrels in our 'hood, and in our household we are not impressed with the critters. They are a major pest in the garden, and we refer to them as 'tree rats' or just plain 'rats'.
comment in response to
post
Well, at least he's consistent. He's doing the bidding of the Ford regime by continuing to lie and insist that airborne pathogens don't spread in schools. The reason, as usual, is money: they don't want to spend any to monitor and upgrade air quality in the public school system.