"There’s no question there is a disruption in progress and that generative AI is implicated in it, but the desire of corporate executives to deskill and disempower workers is a far more consequential driver than any new technology." 👀
Toronto is a bench desert and really needs to get its act together and put up MORE BENCHES and more public seating of all kinds.
"Benches are where optimistic visions of civic life meet reality. To remove them, or to curate who gets to sit, is to abandon the work of defining a civic ideal and determining, together, how to live up to it."
NEW: Why benches are slowly disappearing from public spaces — and why we need them back:
Ford & the Cons continue to underfund public healthcare in order to accelerate the privatization of Ontario’s healthcare system, as directed by their corporate donors.
They must be stopped.
Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet.
This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.
How is this possible given the state of Ontario and all of Ford’s corrupt shenanigans? Is no one paying attention? This sort of thing just emboldens him.
"What we are trying to look at is, how do we use one problem which is water hyacinth to solve the other problem which is plastic waste pollution,” says Joseph Nguthiru.
“We work with fishermen who are affected [by it] and we contract them to harvest the water hyacinth for us.”
#GoodNews #Africa 🌱
Canada’s elbows-elevated ambition to secure digital & technological sovereignty faces a lot of practical hurdles.
But, at a minimum, it requires disentangling government and public services from at least this one company. If they continue to operate here, everything else is just hand-waving.
I hate to hand it to him, but the Pope makes some really good points.
American Kestrel deep dive. Toronto, Canada, April 17th 2026.
Photo by Jose Raposo
It's the opposite of his intention, but the Idiot Emperor is forcing the world off fossil fuels. This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The English name, dandelion, is a borrowing of the French dent de lion, meaning "lion's tooth", referring to the coarsely toothed leaves
The English folk name "piss-a-bed" (and the equivalent French pissenlit) refers to the strong diuretic effect of the plant's leaves
“When you say no to something, you’re saying yes to something else.”
Excellent article pointing to the tech ecosystem of private interests in the service of the US gov and shareholders rather than the public good. Hope someone in the Carney gov pays attention.
SCOOP: An investigation by The Narwhal and Point Source shows LNG Canada burned 350 million cubic metres of gas in 2025, making it one of the worst polluters for flaring emissions globally and undermining Canada’s environmental claims. @writermjs.bsky.social #lng thenarwhal.ca/lng-canada-b...
A beleaguered oil and gas company has left behind 4,000 orphan wells and, The Narwhal has learned, an estimated $476M cleanup bill in Alberta.
We called to hear their side of the story. They answered. thenarwhal.ca/alberta-long...
🟢 The energy shock is now going global This is the part many people still underestimate. Economist Steve Hanke warned the conflict has restricted the free flow of critical goods from the Gulf — including helium and fertiliser. Energy analyst Ketan Joshi suggested fuel rationing and work-from-home rules could become enforced measures as governments urgently try to reduce reliance on complex global fossil fuel supply chains. Multiple countries showed signs of the spreading impact: Sri Lanka ordered street lights, neon signs and billboard lighting switched off to cut energy consumption by 25%.
It is very fun to get google alert hits for my own name now that reveal completely fabricated statements / quotes thanks to reliance on chatbots. Absolutely wild how the choking pollution of our information environment is being powered by literal choking pollution from fossil fuelled data centres
Proposed federal transparency changes could shield some Government of Canada emails and text messages from access to information requests. It has opponents asking a parliamentary committee to "urgently" consider the issue. thenarwhal.ca/canada-acces...
Oil & Gas profits incur huge costs to human health, global heating and environmental degradation
IMPORTANT: “$30 million an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds. Climate action blockers [excellent term] including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026.”
Remember that when we’re pressured to drop tiny gas taxes.
Pope Leo: "The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.”
People are asking ChatGPT things I would normally just ask a friend, parent, mentor, therapist or medical professional for or about. It takes work to build and maintain those relationships, and figure out who is the right person to ask, but the alternative is a digital tool known for lying to users.
This isn’t a debate between “development”& “conservation.”
It’s a war between short-term greed and long-term survival.
Our forests aren’t luxury green spaces,they are life-support systems.
Destroy them,& we destroy the air we breathe,the water we drink,& the climate that keeps us alive.
Ontario's drinking water is protected by little-known groups, closely tied to conservation authorities. As the Ford government consolidates the watershed agencies, a leaked document and 12 sources show their role is now unclear. thenarwhal.ca/ontario-sour...
And the dismantling of Ontario continues and the corruption grows. Don't know how we make it through the next few years. Thank you for keeping the spotlight on.
The Evergreen Conference May 6-7, 2026 Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto Cities Bursting With Life Whose neighbourhood is it, anyway? Public space, power and the fight for liveable cities Four photos of Lanrick Bennett, Dr. Madeleine Bonsma Fisher, Perry King and Dr. Serene Tan
Whose neighbourhood is it, anyway? Public space, power, and the fight for livable cities May 7, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM CRH Gallery Making space for democracy, equity, and dialogue Talk About the Session From petitions against bike lanes to pushback on school renaming and housing projects, the public conversation about urban space is increasingly shaped by reactionary voices claiming to represent “common sense.” But whose voices are missing and whose vision of the city is being upheld? This session unpacks the current battle for neighbourhoods in transition, exploring how public discourse, policy decisions, and grassroots advocacy collide in the making (and unmaking) of livable, equitable communities. Through a moderated panel discussion with city builders, advocates, and policy leaders, we’ll examine the tensions between progressive planning goals, like climate resilience, affordable housing, and inclusive mobility and the political and cultural backlash they often provoke. The session will offer examples of resistance and resilience from Toronto and beyond, highlighting how we can reclaim the narrative around urban transformation and make space, literally and figuratively, for democracy to flourish. This talk is for anyone working to move bold ideas forward in the face of loud opposition, and for those committed to building neighbourhoods that serve more than just the most resourced or most vocal. Speakers Lanrick Bennett Jr Avatar Lanrick Bennett Jr Urbanist-in-Residence, University of Toronto School of Cities Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher Avatar Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto, Sustainable Systems Research Group Perry King Avatar Perry King Author, Urbanist Dr. Serene Tan Avatar Dr. Serene Tan School of Cities, University of Toronto
The Evergreen Conference Cities Bursting With Life May 6-7, 2026 Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto
#IdeasAtWork
I'll be at @evergreencanada.bsky.social on May 7th @ 11am
'Whose neighbourhood is it, anyway? Public space, power, and the fight for livable cities' w/ @mbonsma.bsky.social @kngprry.bsky.social & @serenet.bsky.social
Get your tickets today: lnkd.in/g2FXETiB #EvergreenConference
During 1970s Oil Embargo, automakers said they'd build smaller cars. We were going to walk, cycle + take transit. A half century later, we're in same predicament
Public $ should go to renewables, transit +cycling --not subsidizing gaso + filling pockets of oil comps
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Gentoo penguins family doing their thing…
#photography #art #nature #antarctica
In his analysis, @drandrewthaler.bsky.social traces a shift in his own thinking—from cautious openness to firm opposition. The deeper he looked, the clearer it became: we cannot move forward with deep-sea mining without risking irreversible harm to a wilderness we barely understand.
A must read: 👇
