Ok after almost two weeks in the Netherlands and Belgium, my husband is now ignoring me every time I point out a bollard and/or there are no police to "provide security" for pedestrianized streets.

Christine Mitchell 🇨🇦@cmitchellsask.bsky.social · 3w ago

In Amsterdam for the first time since 2017. And, shockingly, if you live in Toronto like I do, there are pedestrianized streets with not a cop in sight to "provide security" & extort gobs of money from the city. Instead there are retractable bollards. Pretty sure bollards are cheaper than cops.

In Amsterdam for the first time since 2017. And, shockingly, if you live in Toronto like I do, there are pedestrianized streets with not a cop in sight to "provide security" & extort gobs of money from the city. Instead there are retractable bollards. Pretty sure bollards are cheaper than cops.

I just did this! If you live in Toronto, please consider using the site to send a letter to your MP. (Mine is Evan Solomon, for my sins.)

Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 3w ago

A group of TO civil society leaders (in a sea of people who aren't saying a peep) have created TO Reality Check to oppose the Island Airport expansion. Give them some time + share where you can. They've made it easy to send a letter to Liberal MPs who could stop all this today. torealitycheck.ca

TFW you get a book delivered from the library's off-site storage, and it's clear that the book (12 years old, in German) has never been opened.

Daniel Alfredsson is now dead to me. He could have gone anywhere, but not to the Maple Laffs.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Opinion: On its 250th birthday, the United States has turned heel

Lessons on America from the world of professional wrestling

theglobeandmail.com

Canadians should know this history, what I think of as the real history of the revolution, because it led to the creation of Canada in a way. I'm grateful to the Toronto Star for giving me some space to write about it today. t.co/5re4gUxMvt 17/19

Alternating today between Aramaic texts and outrage over Toronto being stupid about urbanism.

The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon has gotten a facelift and is even better than before. cal.huc.edu

Last night talking to my daughter, she's telling me about this professional development course she's taking. She's by far the youngest in it, everyone else is in their 50s (like me). Good course. But all the other participants are all in on LLM AI. She is not and finds it sad and discouraging. 1/

If we took Elon's net worth, turned it into an endowment, and used the very conservative annual draw of 4%. We could almost double the amount of money all Canadian governments spend on higher education every year.

This is wisdom for life right here.

Brian Hawkins@brianhawkins.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Crow friends are vastly preferable to crow enemies!

Just discovered that my cat does NOT like the Cure.

If you live in the GTA, you should do this survey as part of Transport Canada's consultation on the future of Billy Bishop airport. I just did. tc.canada.ca/en/corporate...

The CSBS President, Alicia Batten (Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo) presents her presidential address, "Textile Topography: Dress, Bodies, and Ancient Christ Followers."

SAVE THE DATE for the next TST Conference! Nov 13, 2026 at Knox College, Toronto. Coming soon....Call for Proposals! Open to TST students and faculty *AND* non-TST students and faculty. Theme: "TST Asks: How Does Theology Respond to Our Complex World?" Details to come!

Investments in public art are never just aesthetic. Where public art is placed is as important as the public art itself. Whether explicitly or implicitly, the placement of public art communicates who municipalities (& their stakeholders) consider deserving of beauty and public joy.

A reminder that the United States is not a democracy and not safe and you shouldn't be travelling there.* *recognizing, of course, that some of you have to for work or you have family living there and so... who am I too judge. But the rest of you? Don't be stupid. Or evil. Vacation somewhere else.

This is very niche, but I genuinely laughed out loud. (The Ontario flag has a Union Jack in the top left, for my non-Canadian follows. And Toronto is the capital of the province of Ontario.)

Oliver Moore@oliver-moore.bsky.social · 4mo ago

It appears Toronto just outlawed the Ontario flag at city hall.. "council decided to 'eliminate flying flags of foreign nations, or any flags which include the depiction of a foreign nation’s flag'.” www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor...

This was the story I needed to read today. Maybe you do too. Gift link.

Out at sea, a Canadian whale scientist witnessed something close to a miracle

Two decades of research brought Shane Gero close enough to observe something few humans have ever seen

theglobeandmail.com

🤯

University of Toronto@utoronto.ca · 5mo ago

Hitting rewind: @utm.utoronto.ca professor runs tech-free, '90s-style class to boost engagement. 💾 https://uoft.me/cgc

I have wonderful students. That's all. That's the skeet.

The award for best press release goes to.... #canpoli #chillax

Well this is a deeply unsettling read for your Friday evening.

Canada Is Already at War with the US—We Just Don’t Know It Yet | The Walrus

Conflicts don’t always start with an invasion

thewalrus.ca

"Anti-Americanism flourishes in the United States."

Doug Saunders@dougsaunders.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This is a profound continental divide. Canadians overwhelmingly view other Canadians, even those unlike them, as being good people. Americans, more than any other country, view their neighbours and fellow citizens as bad people. Anti-Americanism flourishes in the United States

I don't intend to ever travel to the US again. And I'm not the only one. Frankly, it's not safe.

Shaily Patel@vox-magica.bsky.social · 5mo ago

i’m biased, but i actually think it’d be fine if SBL recognized that covid permanently changed the game + folks don’t want to travel to the US. why not downsize the conference?

I suppose I would ask why this is an "if" situation.

Ottawa warns of legislation if OpenAI doesn’t make changes after chat history raised red flags

Ministers were disappointed that company didn’t bring concrete proposals to meeting about Tumbler Ridge shooter’s ChatGPT posts

theglobeandmail.com

At least there was this small win

All of Canada right now

Gretzky will be thrilled