michael5mackay.bsky.social
Eclectic Curmudgeon
Bookstores and libraries are my happy places.
On the internet, no one knows you're a Canadian.
403 posts
602 followers
590 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
As a teenager, I walked into the deer park at Marineland in Niagara Falls with a box of popcorn. A herd of deer looking very much like that photo pinned me up against the fence. One deer is cute. A swarm of deer looking like furry Midwich Cuckoos is scary AF. I threw the box of popcorn and fled.
comment in response to
post
Your pithy observation nails it!
comment in response to
post
Sorry dude, but this post is so phenomenally stupid, I'm unfollowing you. Abortion is not killing a baby. It just isn't.
comment in response to
post
The phone call is coming from inside the house.
It's a terrible situation when the thing you have to be most afraid of is your own government.
When that happens, you are no longer free. Sorry, America.
comment in response to
post
Exactly. Many forget that there was a robust plan in place to prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons -- until Trump 1.0 tore it up.
comment in response to
post
Seems accurate. My country, Canada, scores relatively poorly -- probably because a significant percentage of the media is run by a conservative New Jersey hedge fund.
comment in response to
post
Thanks for the correction. My bad. Someone said it was. I guess you can't trust social media.π
What was said matters more than who said it, IMO.
comment in response to
post
Good on him. I loved this speech when I thought he was just some random eloquent guy.
comment in response to
post
I'm following you because anyone with your handle has to have something worthwhile to say.
Good dog, too.
comment in response to
post
For sure. The stock price of Tesla is based, like so much of the American economy [case in point - all crypto], on magical thinking.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, indeed.
comment in response to
post
Not available in Canada until July 21, 2025, but it's now on my Wishlist.
Although, I sometimes feel that my desire to understand fat Hitler and his fascist supporters is, in a sense, perverse and futile.π€·ββοΈ
comment in response to
post
There's no need. You wrote the book. He just provided the source material. A doctor who develops a vaccine doesn't thank the virus, because the virus was just doing what a virus is gonna do.
Congratulations. I hope this means > $.
comment in response to
post
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ig...
comment in response to
post
Reminds me Swan (Paul Williams) at the end of Phantom of the Paradise. A "what happens if The Picture of Dorian Gray catches fire" scenario. IYKYK.
comment in response to
post
They used to have them in Writer's Digest as well. May do so still.
comment in response to
post
They're the same picture:
comment in response to
post
I always ask (1) what's the sample size; (2) has the study been replicated.
IMO John Ioannidis has a lot to answer for. Yes, science isn't perfect, but it's the best we've got. You don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
comment in response to
post
I'm 62 and haven't been watching legacy media for decades.
When I was a lad, I read 3 newspapers a day, so you could fairly call me a news junkie.
comment in response to
post
Well, in Canada most of that stuff is legal, which is another reason why Trump's 51st state talk is b*llsh*t.
comment in response to
post
Biden has prostate cancer, not brain cancer.
Of course, MAGA think people's brains are in their ass, because that's where it is for them.
comment in response to
post
Reminds me of the kids joke:
Q: Where was Magna Carta signed?
A: At Runnymede
Q: No, silly: at the bottom.
(TBH it probably wasn't signed at all; only sealed)π€·ββοΈ
comment in response to
post
Simple Minds always had a pocket of rabid fans in Toronto ever since Love Song ruled the dance floor in 1981.
I honestly thought they would be the Scottish equivalent to U2. New Gold Dream and Sparkle in the Rain were as good as anything Bono & Co. were putting out in the early to mid 80s.
comment in response to
post
comment in response to
post
You're an imbecile who doesn't know what words mean.
comment in response to
post
Well, Trump does think that paying for stuff that you buy is losing*, so yeah.
*see his claim that America is subsidizing Canada and getting ripped off, when all it is is American companies buying Canadian products.
comment in response to
post
I don't think you're being fair to toads here, Max.π
comment in response to
post
I too thought it was 1215, but it was even earlier -- 1166.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_...
comment in response to
post
I saw this story yesterday:
www.ctvnews.ca/world/articl...
comment in response to
post
Conservative Stephen Harper was Prime Minister of Canada at the time.
Stephen Harper now leads the IDU, an international organization dedicated to promoting authoritarianism, not democracy.
comment in response to
post
I'm not a Freshman hanging out in my dorm hall trying to avoid studying, so for me too, this entire conversation is a hard pass.
I'd rather argue about duck-sized-horses versus horse-sized ducks, to be honest.
comment in response to
post
I too am not Catholic, but I respect the office, and some Popes more than others. When John Paul came to my town, I lined the street to watch him pass by in his Popemobile.
comment in response to
post
π
comment in response to
post
The madness of King Donald.
BTW, one of the advantages of growing up in Ontario in the 70s was being able to watch gems like SCTV on Global: that AI abomination reminded me of this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xW...
comment in response to
post
It could become Trump's St. Helena.
comment in response to
post
So if Trump watches The Rock, he will do a 180.
comment in response to
post
Trump Tower Alcatraz.
comment in response to
post
Further proof that about a third of any given population are batsh*t crazy.
comment in response to
post
Just checked their Canadian website -- the same sportcoat seems to be $648 Canadian with HST (13% Harmonized Sales Tax in Ontario). Today $648 Can = $470 US.
comment in response to
post
Your post reminded me of this John Maynard Keynes quote (one of several iterations):
βWhen my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?β
He's got a lot of good quotes, which I'm going to spend some time mulling over today, including this one:
comment in response to
post
I'm guessing multiple choice would not be a fair method of evaluation.βΉοΈ
comment in response to
post
TBH, all those people in the pictures who are "just following orders" should be smiling: *most* of them enjoy what they're doing.
We make a mistake when we assume they think like us and share our values.
comment in response to
post
And it's only access to education that would be free. The students still have to show up and do the work. Going to college or university is, in a way, a job.
comment in response to
post
A nice read Swingline stapler.
comment in response to
post
I found this version of the same article (originally in German).
Poilievre followed the formula in Canada. The result was too close for comfort, though there were many good results. I'm decompressing today, since I spent 19 hours yesterday working for Elections Canada.
truestoryaward.org/story/230
comment in response to
post
I just rewatched it Sunday. It holds up.