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.
669 posts
601 followers
238 following
Getting Started
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
A few early ones have popped up in our yard too, along with the crocuses. We have a big patch of Scilla in the front yard, and when they're in bloom the aroma is amazing... it always reminds me of Welch's grape juice (i.e., Concord grapes). 🙂
comment in response to
post
Oops, my bad... on closer inspection, the hardhat person is not a guy. Time to get some sleep...
comment in response to
post
The guy in the hardhat looks unimpressed. It actually reminded me of this iconic photo from the Oka Crisis in 1990.
comment in response to
post
There's a bigger problem: the vast majority of the electorate do not appreciate such nuances in campaign verbiage.
comment in response to
post
The phrase "during COVID" is ambiguous. I hear it frequently, and it's usually clear from the context that it's used to refer to a past event that has ended. Unfortunately, I don't think there is an unambiguous shorthand way to get the point across other than a phrase such as "ongoing pandemic".
comment in response to
post
The Globe uses the carefully chosen code word "stricter", but we know it means much more than that.
comment in response to
post
Harper may or may not have said "you won’t recognize Canada by the time I’m done with it”, but that was certainly his intent, and PoiLIEvre's ambition is to finish the job. This would be an unmitigated disaster for Canada, as our fate would be to join the ranks of autocracies around the world.
comment in response to
post
This is the depressing reality that we live in today. I also frequently hear "since COVID" and "during COVID", with the latter used in the context of a historical event. This is now so entrenched that I think it's virtually irreversible. The enlightened few just have to soldier on as best we can.
comment in response to
post
Yeah, but don't forget Ford also gave us that phone number we can call where an operator will direct you to Maple, owned by one of his oligarch backers.
comment in response to
post
Science often conflicts with the free market trickle-down greed-based economics that the Cons embrace, especially when it comes to domains such as resource extraction, environment, and health care, so being anti-science is a core part of their belief system.
comment in response to
post
My modus operandi as well - thanks! I've seen some quite misleading projections from 338 in the past (albeit in Ontario provincial elections), but the CBC poll tracker provides a good sanity check from a reliable source.
comment in response to
post
Paywalled. Any chance you could gift a link?
comment in response to
post
Subtitle: The Great Escape.
comment in response to
post
Carney's participation aside, Harper 1.0 was a disastrous period for Canada, and Harper has only become more scary and dangerous since he was deposed in 2015. Harper 2.0 must be avoided at all costs.
comment in response to
post
I sit corrected. I'm a Linux guy myself - I don't own or use any Apple products or services.
comment in response to
post
I'm generally very wary of polls, but when they are aggregated and analyzed by someone with experience and acumen, they are the best guidance we have in voting strategically. It would also be helpful if you could give us links to your poll sources so others can explore them for their local areas.
comment in response to
post
"Mr. President, Tim Cook on line 1"...
comment in response to
post
The "free enterprise" they speak of is the unfettered freedom to exploit resources, human and otherwise. Nothing new here at all, it was always thus.
comment in response to
post
🎯 And many of these people are not uneducated in general. They choose to put blinders on and be willfully ignorant about matters that might impinge on their lifestyles.
comment in response to
post
I don't live in Carleton, but I donated to the Fanjoy campaign today. I've never seen someone put so much time and effort into a riding-level campaign, and if there's any justice in this world, the voters there will chose him as their MP over the guy who is endorsed by many far-right extremists.
comment in response to
post
Among PP's many character flaws, he seems to be devoid of empathy and his sense of humour is severely impaired, if not absent.
comment in response to
post
I endorse this message. My wife and I were in and out at our local EC office in a couple of minutes - no line-up, no voter card needed.
comment in response to
post
Looking forward to the first one in... 2029?
comment in response to
post
Like many others I've noticed a major increase in bad/dangerous driving in the past few years, and strongly suspected a link to COVID infections, which are known to cause cognitive impairments. This is the first study I've seen that provides some evidence, and yet another reason to avoid infections.
comment in response to
post
Good point. The study found that "the risk associated with COVID-19 was found to be analogous to driving impairments seen with alcohol consumption at legal limits". There is no way such cognitive impairments would be limited only to driving - they would affect all kinds of decision making.
comment in response to
post
I've heard of stagflation, but this is clearly MAGAflation.
comment in response to
post
Been there, done that (last Monday). No lineup at all, just a driver's licence for ID, easy-peasy and quick.
comment in response to
post
Ugh. Alliteratively speaking, PostMedia is a predominantly a purveyor of propaganda.
comment in response to
post
I haven't seen the full list, but I'm guessing that current mayors from large and medium-sized cities aren't on it, with the notable exception of Montreal. Still, it's a start... Carney in particular needs to hear this message loud and clear (the Conservatives are a lost cause).
comment in response to
post
On our one and only cruise in 1998, we all became ill. I and my daughter recovered quickly, but my wife had a long post-viral episode that was eerily similar to what we now call Long COVID (loss of taste & smell, etc). It was well over a year before she started to feel normal again. Lesson learned.
comment in response to
post
It's so sudden, I think someone flashed a cue card at him.
comment in response to
post
Count me (and my wife) in. Mind you, we don't wear our masks every day, since some days we remain at home (where we have a Corsi-Rosenthal type air cleaner running) or are outdoors in crowd-free places.
comment in response to
post
And while you're getting rid of that useless monoculture lawn and making your yard nature-friendly, plant some edibles for humans too!
comment in response to
post
"Don't believe everything you read in the Globe & Mail"
- Mark Carney
Truer words were never spoken.
comment in response to
post
We could be a solar superpower, if we had the political will. The biggest impediment in a nutshell: Conservative provincial governments that are firmly wedded to fossil fuels.
comment in response to
post
PP is a phoney, trying to hide the emptiness and coldness within.
comment in response to
post
Gotta disagree with you on "evil is evil". Like most traits, it's not a binary thing. There are degrees of evil... as evidenced by what's happening in the US, Ukraine, Gaza, etc. compared with our domestic situation.
comment in response to
post
Same! Whenever his ugly mug appears on the screen, we scramble for the mute button.
comment in response to
post
Please sir, may we have some more abuse? Apparently the MA in MAGA also stands for MAsochist.
comment in response to
post
I put mine away last weekend. You can thank me, along with all those folks who took their snow tires off, for that last dump of snow. 😏
comment in response to
post
Ding dong! Party pooper grammar police here... "pair" is singular. 😏
comment in response to
post
There are many things that, once broken, are unfixable - entropy prevails. I do believe that the American system of government is broken to the extent that it has passed the point of no return.
comment in response to
post
Point taken, but life is full of compromises, and that includes many "lesser evil" decisions. It's not 2015 anymore. And maybe I'm naive, but I do think Carney is not quite the same kind of closet conservative as Starmer - he's made of tougher stuff. Time will tell, but I've already cast my vote.