Johnny “We have the meats” Renton
@johnnyrenton.bsky.social
470 followers 150 following 5.1K posts
Just here working at the posting factory. Meeting my 30% CanCon quota. A mix of being angry at the current state of affairs, transit, urbanism, design and shitposting. Anti-fascist (not affiliated with any organizations) https://johnnyrenton.substack.com
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johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Given that things are about to get really tough and dangerous it’s important to remember this….

If you think you see someone undertaking radical ant-fascist or anti-capitalist acts, no you didn’t.

Don’t post about it. Don’t talk about it. Just shut the fuck up and move on with your day.
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
I’m sure it was used in the US too (though I don’t think it’s common there now). I suspect it came out of a time when many many services had flag stops so calling out a “station” stop would have been a useful distinction.
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
It’s also worth noting that unlike Alberta in the 80s where they hated not just VIA but trains in general, the anti-VIA sentiment today is also happening alongside a renewed push for more reliable and affordable train service. People want better but they don’t feel like VIA can/will do it
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Its even becoming a kitchen table/garage issue in the region among normies. Kingston was one of the few places left where people overwhelmingly spoke positive about VIA (even when the reality of the agency was glaringly obvious). If sentiment is changing in Kingston thats a bad sign for VIA/the feds
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
It doesn’t look like the VIA issue is going back into the bottle even though the planned service reductions were halted. And that’s a very good thing. People have grown increasingly distrustful of VIA and it’s intentions for service on the lakeshore. And they are pissed about it.
kingstonist.bsky.social
#ICYMI
“I don’t think we can shrink back & be complacent,” said #Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson, urging other eastern #Ontario municipalities to voice their concerns.
“We are not going away on this issue.”
#YGK #KFLA #VIA #Train #onpoli #canpoli
Details: www.kingstonist.com/city-hall/ge...
‘Get your act together’: Kingston councillors chide VIA Rail over confusing business model
(Kingston, Ontario) The City of Kingston wants VIA Rail to ensure local passengers won’t get kicked trackside in future changes to its train service.
www.kingstonist.com
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Yeah it’s a politically popular project. But even if you oppose using money for buses, you could put it into a Mtl-Sherbrooke line instead which would have way more value and ridership.

As Marco said, plan for the spatial geography of today, with the transportation know how of today, not the 1950s
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
…restoring service to its original length will easily run over CDN1 billion. And to go a step further and bring it up to speeds that match that of us a bus will make it a CDN2 billion project. For a service that got 28K riders and to a region who’s growth has been minimal or non-existent for decades
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Marco has a point. After the Gaspe line was closed in the early 2010s a lot of people/nostalgists wanted it to be fixed and reopened asap. And yes Quebec has been working away at it for a decade. But the line was in awful shape and restoring service was never going to be cheap…
chittimarco.bsky.social
I know I'm not going to make a lot of friends with this, but maybe the problem was thinking that it's a good idea to invest $800+ million to (partially) reopen a railway that carried 28k per year with a trip time way longer than a bus.

ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/219...
VIA Rail en Gaspésie : petit train ne va pas loin
À l'initiative du député Alexis Deschênes, des élus du Bloc québécois se rendent en Gaspésie pour presser VIA Rail d'y prolonger son service.
ici.radio-canada.ca
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
The letter is focused on the context of VIA Rail in Northern Ontario (which is in a terrible state). But VIAs a mess everywhere and the concerns raised aren’t unique to that region. And VIA and the Feds won’t change unless the public gets angry, and makes their life miserable until there are changes
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
This letter addresses what I, and many people are feeling about VIA Rail. It isn’t just that agency is failing, it’s that they (VIA or the Feds) can’t even have honest conversations about it, or treat the public’s concerns in a way that isn’t arrogant and dismissive.
Reposted by Johnny “We have the meats” Renton
ryanwright.bsky.social
Bagels vs Not Bagels.
Pictures of a NY “bagel style substitute” and a Montreal bagel.

Text:

New York Dough Thing

Not a bagel.
Seriously, it's not a bagel.
It's... fine.

Montreal Bagel

Fantastic bagel.
Seriously, it's delicious.
Don't accept pretenders.
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
He’s right. My belief has been that even if Dems win in ‘28 (which is questionable) whatever tariffs are in place they will keep. Nothing I’ve seen in he past 9 months makes me feel any different about that.

This is why Canada can’t ride out Trump. It’s changed for good and that’s the reality
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Being integrated with the US auto industry isn’t helping things (especially when the US is so pro-oil, pro-coal, and anti-renewable and EV). Broadly speaking Canadians are fine with EVs. But getting BYD to set up shop and shifting away from the US would be a tipping point for EVs in Canada
Reposted by Johnny “We have the meats” Renton
photoblair.bsky.social
NOT BAY.

#Toronto #Subway #Photography
The Bellair Street exit to Bay Station in Toronto beside an outlet for Deciem cosmetics which cheekily signed their storefront NOT BAY using the same font as the TTC.
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Correct. It’s the same loophole that allows regular sized right hand drive Japanese vehicles like Skylines (a western Canada thing) or interesting Euro vehicles, to be imported (after a while). Older kei’s are just more popular in part because lower shipping costs make importing them more economical
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
It took them long enough and of course it happened just after the Bluesky team started to reveal their tech bros, fascist lite way of thinking. But, it’s still better than them not being on here and if they can move from the 10/10 fascist Twitter to the 6.5/10 fascist Bsky thats…an improvement lol
Reposted by Johnny “We have the meats” Renton
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Correction. I love this game!!!

Get fucked Yankees!!
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
This is my dream World Series. Those are two cities that will be absolutely electric if they get there.
Reposted by Johnny “We have the meats” Renton
Reposted by Johnny “We have the meats” Renton
jeremyzorek.bsky.social
Absolutely wild ad pull on an M3 today, I think car 9876?
Tattered Pan Am Shuttle ad stuck onto the back wall of a railcar with woodgrain paneling
johnnyrenton.bsky.social
Biden was fine up until his last year. He declined really quickly at that point. And yeah I know his past issues with stuttering but by the end there was more at play.

Though I think Trumps decline is pretty recent too. A lot of his strange behaviour before was just because he’s a huge narcissist