white text on black COMMUNITY: CAN WE HAVE A SAFE ROUTE FOR OUR KIDS TO WALK/BIKE/ROLL TO SCHOOL? CITY: NO, A DRIVER MIGHT GET MAD. THAT'S THE ENTIRETY OF THE DISCUSSION

the discussion

How Paris swapped cars for bikes – and transformed its streets Under Anne Hidalgo – mayor for 12 years until last week – the French capital added bike lanes, cut traffic and reclaimed public space, but not without resistance

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

How Paris beat the car Though chaotic, the city’s transition has become a global role model

“The city’s transition away from the car, tho fantastically chaotic, has become a global role model. Under mayor @annehidalgo.bsky.social, Paris was ‘the most influential city in the world’ says Canadian urbanist Brent Toderian. Hidalgo, stepping down after 12 yrs, exulted: ‘The bike beat the car.’”

He spent years investigating Opus Dei, a Catholic group accused of a vast conspiracy of abuse. Then Pope Leo asked to meet Gareth Gore’s 2024 book Opus alleges decades of manipulation, which the group has denied. He believes the pope wanted to send a clear message

A must-read. "Opus Dei within the Maga...movement is one of the pre-eminent forces...several very high-ranking figures inside the White House and the wider Maga ecosystem who are...full-on members or big supporters."

All 👀 on Vance and Hegseth....

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

April Events: Conversations That Matter Each month, the Canadian Citizens Care Alliance hosts a series of in-depth discussions that explore critical issues in health, science, law, and policy. These events bring together leading experts and independent thinkers to provide evidence-based insights and foster informed dialogue. Most of our events are available exclusively to CCCA members, but each month we will be offering one session with open public access to encourage broader participation and informed discussion.

List of upcoming CCCA talks. I've highlighted the Apr 8 talk by Joseph Ladapo. The topic is "Medical Freedom."

The Canadian Citizens Care Alliance is a "heterodox" org that evolved out of a doctor-led COVID denialist group (also called CCCA).

They heavily promote anti-vax, pseudoscience disinfo and sovcit-leaning anti-govt propaganda.

Next week they're presenting a Joseph Ladapo talk on "medical freedom."

Iran claims attack on Oracle data centre in Dubai after targeting Amazon in Bahrain Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed it targeted an Oracle data centre in Dubai, following an earlier claim of striking an Amazon cloud facility in Bahrain, in what it describes...

Here we go. Amazon yesterday. Oracle today.

www.indiatoday.in/world/story/...

Pam Bondi will be remembered as the AG who watched videos and saw images of powerful men raping kids and decided to protect the men.

The Netherlands just launched a platform in the middle of the North Sea that converts wind electricity into green hydrogen fuel without the electricity ever touching land.
The NortH2 offshore hydrogen platform sits 200 kilometers off the Dutch coast, directly connected by underwater power cables.

Canadians, please consider supporting this campaign led by the Society for Queer Momentum!

www.womenfortransrights.ca?recruiter_id...

FCC chair threatens broadcasters over Iran war coverage FCC Chair Brendan Carr said news broadcasters coverage of Iran war could impact their license renewal.

18) Right-wing elites literally believe they are in a cultural war. It's not just a metaphor. They want to extinguish all media outlets that don't worship Trump. Don't believe me? You need to pay a lot more attention to Brendan Carr.

They literally want regime media.

They want to police our genitalia and run tests on our bodies to “prove” we are women, at which point they will still deny it. This is why the only feminism is trans-inclusive and why transphobia and anti-trans discrimination should be a top political priority.

Imagine being more outraged by a comedian dressing as the widow of a podcaster than by the President of the United States celebrating the death of a decorated Marine and public servant.

[Interview] Journalist Szabolcs Panyi: ‘Being accused of espionage after exposing Hungarian foreign minister’s Russian links is a sign of weakness’ In an escalation of Hungary’s campaign against independent media, award-winning journalist Szabolcs Panyi has been accused of "espionage" following his investigations into the Budapest-Moscow hotline....

It is increasingly clear that Viktor Orbán is afraid of losing next month's election and is pulling out all the stops to rig his victory.
euobserver.com/208735/inter...

I present to you the mighty United States of America, people.....

What Was Actually in the Mueller Report There is an enormous amount of misinformation circulating about former Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S.

7 years ago, we learned about Bob Mueller’s conclusions. Today, there are a lot of posts on social media claiming it was a farce, or worse, a fraud. But those posts are disinformation. Here is the actual information, with links for those who want to do a deep dive.
open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

GOP sheriff seizes 650,000 ballots in challenge to California redistricting vote The California attorney general has informed the sheriff that it is “unacceptable” for the sheriff’s staff members to conduct a hand count of the ballots without training or experience.

NEW: We have seen DOJ secure a search warrant to seize ballots in Georgia and a subpoena to seize ballots in Arizona. Now a sheriff is seizing ballots in California.

This is a crisis unfolding in real time.
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Toronto’s public recycling is going to the dumps Two Toronto councillors have tabled a motion to address the city's public recycling bins, which presently are sending recyclable products to the landfill.

When the province took over recycling from municipalities, that didn't include public recycling bins. That means now, no one is responsible for picking up that recycling + it's all going to the trash.

But that has actually been happening for longer due to contamination.

For @nationalobserver.com

again I point out how strange it is that high-level diplomatic negotiations of war and peace are being conducted by freelancers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both of whom have egregious conflicts of interest, and not the actual secretary of state

How Melany and Peet Viljoen flipped their US script — with Trump’s ‘help’ South African couple Melany and Peet Viljoen moved to America and overtly expressed their support for US President Donald Trump. Now, they face deportation back home, ironically in keeping with Trump’...

Is this what is called "poetic justice" or just plain stupidity (or both)? 😂

www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026...

A spy scandal upends Slovenia’s election campaign Slovenia holds a general election on March 22nd, with right-wing populist Janez Jansa leading polls amid controversy over videos allegedly produced by Israeli firm Black Cube.

Don't look now, but shady Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube has popped up in Slovenia to do some skullduggery.
www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

FOI requests made in Ontario in 2024 | Created with Datawrapper These figures were taken from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario's annual report and are the most recent figures.

Made this chart with numbers from the IPC's annual report. Though Ford's FOI changes will undoubtedly hurt journalists + therefore gov accountability, you can see here that the lion's share of requests come from businesses and individuals. Shows how widespread the impact of these changes are.

Thread on who Ford calls with his personal cell: tunnelling companies, Prime Minister Mark Carney + more.

Speaking about FOI changes, he says reporters want to expose the personal information of his constituents.

"You’ll do everything you can if you don’t see eye to eye with someone," Ford said.

Ontario to open carpool lanes to solo drivers despite congestion concerns The Greater Toronto Area is one of the most congested regions in North America, and Premier Doug Ford has repeatedly pushed highway expansions as a way to make traffic flow. But research shows more hi...

Ontario says its plan to allow single-occupancy cars in all carpool lanes outside of rush hour will lead to less traffic. But research has shown that more roads don't lead to less congestion in the long run.

For @nationalobserver.com

One data centre or one million homes? Mapping Ontario's proposed hyperscaler boom Canada’s National Observer found and drew from multiple sources to put together a map of planned data centres in Ontario, and found at least 15 projects with a combined capacity of 2,202 MW currently ...

The government wouldn't give us a list of data centres seeking power in Ontario.

So, we built one ourselves.

What @rorywh.bsky.social and I found: at least 15 projects drawing a combined 2,202 MW: more electricity than 2 million homes.

#OnPoli for @nationalobserver.com 🧵

New psychology research reveals the cognitive cost of smartphone notifications A recent study in Computers in Human Behavior provides evidence that a single smartphone pop-up derails mental focus for seven seconds. Researchers found that fragmented digital habits cause more cogn...

When I disabled all the notifications on my smart phone, I felt such an enormous sense of relief. It took me a while to figure out why. It was because I wasn't being constantly interrupted
New psychology research reveals the cognitive cost of smartphone notifications www.psypost.org/new-psycholo...

Venezuela beats US 3-2 on Suárez’s 9th-inning double to win first World Baseball Classic title MIAMI (AP) — Venezuela won the World Baseball Classic for the first time, rebounding from a blown eighth-inning lead to beat the United States 3-2 Tuesday night on Eugenio Suárez’s

And some good news.....
www.thestar.com/news/world/u...

It’s crystal clear now that Trump has lost control of this war. He badly misjudged Iran’s ability to retaliate. The region is on fire.

1/ I’m going to explain to you in this🧵what I’ve learned - in part from closed door briefings - about the four biggest current crises.

A fantastic caricaturization of Trump, delivered by @mrjamesob.bsky.social.
Trump as an ogre driven by nothing but a collection of insatiable wants. To that I would add: a demented ogre.

What’s worse than an ogre in power? An ogre in power with dementia. #TrumpsWar #IranWar #OperationEpsteinFury

Senator Tuberville on x writing a response to the @endwokeness account Original tweet from @EndWokeness - “less than 25 years apart” Image 1 - the twin towers as they are hit by a the planes on 9/11/2001 Image 2 - Mayor Mamdani sitting on a prayer rug while hosting an Iftar at city hall Quote tweet from Senator Tuberville - “the enemy is inside the gates.”

Let there be as much outrage from politicians in Washington when kids go hungry as there is when I break bread with New Yorkers.