Richard Switzer
@rswitz.bsky.social
380 followers 960 following 190 posts
Product guy, bike riding pinko, x-country socialist, hockey-playing Torontonian. CBC, Globe and Mail, TWG, eCampusOntario, Bad Gateway, PaymentEvolution. Old hipster-> hip oldster.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Richard Switzer
kayehm.bsky.social
Y'all knew about most of these last week, but here are some more recent photos from the Chief Planner.

Add'l info:
Harbord is done from Queens Park to Grace. To Ossington should be done by early November with bike 🚦
Queens Quay - new bike🚦is also imminent
Esplanade - so much much more coming
jasonthorne.bsky.social
Toronto’s Cycling and Pedestrian Projects Team continues to hit it out of the park. Out for a ride today and here’s just some of the new cycling facilities that I came across. New concrete planters and permanent curbs on Harbord Street. /1
Reposted by Richard Switzer
billkristolbulwark.bsky.social
Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation
Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.
www.cbsnews.com
Reposted by Richard Switzer
gwensmith.com
Fuck, man. This is water in a desert.

Thank you, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social. I’m rooting for you.
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
Reposted by Richard Switzer
schmutzie.com
Are you listening, Canada? @mark-carney.bsky.social?
anneapplebaum.bsky.social
President Macron:
“We were very naive to leave our public space to social media networks controlled by US or Chinese companies that don’t share our interests and not interested in survival of our democracies.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggN...
French President Macron Speaks at German Unity Day Ceremony | WION LIVE
YouTube video by WION
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Richard Switzer
jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
As the administration goes all in on an alternate reality about portland that bears no resemblance to fact and rule of law, continuing radical (and just plain funny, ridiculing) acts of the imagination along with other ways of getting out the reality on the ground may help curb their momentum.
fake film poster with a sunset and the portland frog protestor with words The Portland War, A Film by Ken Burns
Reposted by Richard Switzer
Reposted by Richard Switzer
ecmclaughlin.bsky.social
This weekend, I went to a talk on what true nonviolence can accomplish— about how using your voice while refusing to stoop to their level come what may has changed the trajectory of nations.

It’s for exactly this ⬇️ reason. It makes totally plain who the enemy is no matter the propaganda.
asharangappa.bsky.social
We’re in a moment now where it would be worth people taking three hours to watch Gandhi, particularly the scene of the salt march. There is value to making the brutality of your opponent so plain as day that no one can argue with it. The clarity of that brought down an empire
Reposted by Richard Switzer
ourshallowstate.bsky.social
(1/2) It's quite a phenomenon that a 79-year-old man struggling with speech and gait, can tell an audience that prices are down when they're up, that tariffs make other countries pay which they don't, that he has solved wars he hasn't, over and over again, and it gets reported as sane utterances.
Reposted by Richard Switzer
humanrightsindex.bsky.social
📍 Portland, Oregon 🐸✊🏼✊🏾
A demonstrator dressed in an inflatable frog costume stands infront of law enforcement officers during a protest outside of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) headquarters in south Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos.
Reposted by Richard Switzer
lanefab.com
So, here's our vision for the 'New Vancouver Special':

Existing owners redevelop their lot, building 6 "family size" flats, and keeping 2 for themselves

4 additional families buy in as co-developers

City provides "outright" zoning so the permit can be had in the same timeline as a house
Reposted by Richard Switzer
ryanmarino.bsky.social
This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
leahmcelrath.bsky.social
⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes
A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.
interestingengineering.com
Reposted by Richard Switzer
isosolies.bsky.social
The great thing about renewable is how cheap and easy they are to deploy and scale up. You can power cities or individial houses with something like solar. How difficult is it to replace or fix a wind turbine, compared to a fuel burning power plant.
Reposted by Richard Switzer
drpauldorfman.bsky.social
IPCC reports #renewables now 10 times more efficient than new #nuclear at #climate mitigation.
92.5% new power generation capacity added worldwide in 2024 was from renewables - with new nuclear nowhere.
New nuclear vastly over-cost and over-time.
rswitz.bsky.social
To be clear, the Koho partnership is a good example of creative thinking of how to better serve Canadians by leveraging CP’s unique infrastructure, particularly in rural Canada:
bsky.app/profile/cana...
canadianinnovators.org
When KOHO and Canada Post launched the MyMoney account, the goal was clear: make everyday banking more accessible for more Canadians.

It's a practical, Canadian-made alternative for people in rural, remote, and underserved communities.

www.canadianinnovators.org/content/bank...
rswitz.bsky.social
Talk to a couple of Posties (they’re not hard to find) they’ll tell you that package delivery has mostly been shifted over to Purolator, a seemingly deliberate attempt to starve Canada Post of revenues. And look at the nascent forays into postal banking that Koho is doing with Canada Post.
Reposted by Richard Switzer
rswitz.bsky.social
You should make a Starter Pack with all your favourite people! Or ask if any of your followers will do it for you.
Reposted by Richard Switzer
enjohnston.bsky.social
Between this & zero traffic deaths in Helsinki last year....

The simple truth that's somehow utterly unintelligible to capitalism & those in its thrall is that doing the right thing by the vulnerable (be they houseless, pedestrians, or anything else) makes the world BETTER FOR EVERYONE.
brenttoderian.bsky.social
“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

It costs a lot less to house people.
Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me
In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.
thebetter.news
rswitz.bsky.social
I know there’s a lot of darkness in the world right now, but it’s nice that Celebrity Family Feud is really having a moment. 🤐 #Sinclair
Reposted by Richard Switzer
justinwolfers.bsky.social
Lemme spell it out. Trump's only leverage over Jimmy Kimmel and ABC came from FCC regulation. His direct power over H1-B visas gives him similar leverage over tech, higher ed, and others.
justinwolfers.bsky.social
Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.

Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.