Benjamin Boles
@benjaminboles.bsky.social
I cut hair and sometimes make music. Retired music journalist.
He/they
Toronto
https://on.soundcloud.com/z1Wx4
He/they
Toronto
https://on.soundcloud.com/z1Wx4
Pinned
Benjamin Boles
@benjaminboles.bsky.social
· Nov 26
Ambient Heat
Stream Ambient Heat by benjamin boles on desktop and mobile. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud.
m.soundcloud.com
A few months ago I decided to try making some electronic music at a much slower tempo than I’d ever worked with before. Here’s the result of those 76bpm experiments:
m.soundcloud.com/benjamin-bol...
m.soundcloud.com/benjamin-bol...
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Cops were frequently getting caught planting drugs in 2017 because body cameras were new and many of them didn't understand how the technology worked.
When cops hit "record" it saved the 30 seconds from *before* they hit the button. Eventually, they figured it out.
When cops hit "record" it saved the 30 seconds from *before* they hit the button. Eventually, they figured it out.
Why Cops Frequently Got Caught Planting Drugs in 2017
Look. All technology comes with a learning curve.
gizmodo.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Cops were frequently getting caught planting drugs in 2017 because body cameras were new and many of them didn't understand how the technology worked.
When cops hit "record" it saved the 30 seconds from *before* they hit the button. Eventually, they figured it out.
When cops hit "record" it saved the 30 seconds from *before* they hit the button. Eventually, they figured it out.
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
What I love about these posts is every time I see a new one it’s somehow lower
February 5, 2026 at 9:02 PM
What I love about these posts is every time I see a new one it’s somehow lower
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
As every recognised respected scientific expert has RELENTLESSLY said!
If you’re against trans ppl in sport, you are supporting bigotry. Facts matter - looking at you IRFU & RFU.
If you’re against trans ppl in sport, you are supporting bigotry. Facts matter - looking at you IRFU & RFU.
The participants were assessed across a number of key criteria. Read 👉 buff.ly/FcLpvWW #GCNnews
February 5, 2026 at 9:03 PM
As every recognised respected scientific expert has RELENTLESSLY said!
If you’re against trans ppl in sport, you are supporting bigotry. Facts matter - looking at you IRFU & RFU.
If you’re against trans ppl in sport, you are supporting bigotry. Facts matter - looking at you IRFU & RFU.
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
In case you're wondering why major news channels keep booking the same (sometimes idiotic) men again and again on their 24-hour newscasts, here's some insider intel:
I can tell you why, at least at CTV. I used to chase produce for Newschannel when Power Play was off air.
You'd show up for work, making (in my case) less than 50K a year, and you'd have like, two hours at a time to find someone to speak about XYZ, on national TV, with next to no notice.
You'd show up for work, making (in my case) less than 50K a year, and you'd have like, two hours at a time to find someone to speak about XYZ, on national TV, with next to no notice.
February 5, 2026 at 7:00 PM
In case you're wondering why major news channels keep booking the same (sometimes idiotic) men again and again on their 24-hour newscasts, here's some insider intel:
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
The funny thing about the Ontario tow truck mafia situation is that it's been a story for many years.
The government literally instituted a centrally managed market for tow truck services on major highways and explicitly said it was because of all the organized crime. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
The government literally instituted a centrally managed market for tow truck services on major highways and explicitly said it was because of all the organized crime. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
February 5, 2026 at 8:25 PM
The funny thing about the Ontario tow truck mafia situation is that it's been a story for many years.
The government literally instituted a centrally managed market for tow truck services on major highways and explicitly said it was because of all the organized crime. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
The government literally instituted a centrally managed market for tow truck services on major highways and explicitly said it was because of all the organized crime. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
"Jonathan English, the founding principal of Infrastory Insights, told the board that overhauling streetcar speeds and signal rules would be one of the cheapest and most effective ways to revolutionize transit in the city."
#ToPoli
#ToPoli
February 5, 2026 at 6:07 PM
"Jonathan English, the founding principal of Infrastory Insights, told the board that overhauling streetcar speeds and signal rules would be one of the cheapest and most effective ways to revolutionize transit in the city."
#ToPoli
#ToPoli
Watched a documentary about CFNY last night, and they mentioned that the reason they started playing the Violent Femmes was because teenagers wouldn’t stop requesting them at the dances they ran. Which makes me wonder how us kids found out about them in the first place. Was it just word of mouth?
February 5, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Watched a documentary about CFNY last night, and they mentioned that the reason they started playing the Violent Femmes was because teenagers wouldn’t stop requesting them at the dances they ran. Which makes me wonder how us kids found out about them in the first place. Was it just word of mouth?
This song blew my mind when I first heard it
February 5, 2026 at 4:47 PM
This song blew my mind when I first heard it
More details. Looks like the four suspended officers are among the ones charged, which means several of the charged cops aren’t even suspended
Toronto police officers arrested in plot to murder Ontario corrections officer www.cp24.com/local/toront... #TorontoPolice #TPS #TOpoli #VisionZero #VisionZeroTO #ZeroVision #ZeroVisionTO
WATCH LIVE: Toronto police officers arrested in plot to murder Ontario corrections officer
At least eight current and former Toronto police officers have been arrested following a “lengthy” investigation into organized crime and corruption north of the city.
www.cp24.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:45 PM
More details. Looks like the four suspended officers are among the ones charged, which means several of the charged cops aren’t even suspended
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Yes and no.
Just as a business itself, tow trucking is very lucrative if you can always be the first truck on the scene, so there are wars over "turf".
But on the illicit side, it's also tied in with fraud (they stage collisions, collude with auto body shops, overcharge insurance companies...)
Just as a business itself, tow trucking is very lucrative if you can always be the first truck on the scene, so there are wars over "turf".
But on the illicit side, it's also tied in with fraud (they stage collisions, collude with auto body shops, overcharge insurance companies...)
Canadians: is this just about the business itself or is the business used for smuggling/dealing in the way that, say, the Glasgow ice cream wars were actually about the heroin trade?
I knew about the tow truck wars in Toronto but I did not know that MORE THAN 1 IN 8 bullets fired by guns anywhere in Toronto in the year 2024 were related to tow truck driver turf wars???
And the police force is not just complicit but LEAKING INFO TO HITMEN????
And the police force is not just complicit but LEAKING INFO TO HITMEN????
February 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Yes and no.
Just as a business itself, tow trucking is very lucrative if you can always be the first truck on the scene, so there are wars over "turf".
But on the illicit side, it's also tied in with fraud (they stage collisions, collude with auto body shops, overcharge insurance companies...)
Just as a business itself, tow trucking is very lucrative if you can always be the first truck on the scene, so there are wars over "turf".
But on the illicit side, it's also tied in with fraud (they stage collisions, collude with auto body shops, overcharge insurance companies...)
I don’t know why this hasn’t been talked about more.
Privatizing car licensing offices in 2019 let the mob into the car registry which preceded our recent boom in car theft. This is all in plain sight.
February 5, 2026 at 4:23 PM
I don’t know why this hasn’t been talked about more.
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Watching people today saying “wait, are you suggesting that the Toronto Police have ties to the MOB?” is real teeth-gritting for any of us who’ve paid attention to this city for the last three decades 😡
Mel Lastman’s whole office was crooked. Rob Ford hung out with gangsters, and big brother Dougie was a drug dealer. If Doug Sr’s label business was clean, I’ll eat my hat.
February 5, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Watching people today saying “wait, are you suggesting that the Toronto Police have ties to the MOB?” is real teeth-gritting for any of us who’ve paid attention to this city for the last three decades 😡
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Love the idea of hiding your shame of calculating behind the cool of smoking.
February 5, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Love the idea of hiding your shame of calculating behind the cool of smoking.
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Fentanyl trafficking! The allegations in this Toronto police scandal are outrageous. Police are $1.43 billion of Toronto's $18.8 billion budget. Second only to transit. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
WATCH LIVE | Police speak after sources say officers charged in tow-truck violence investigation
York Regional Police are holding a news conference at 10 a.m. ET Thursday after what they call 'a lengthy investigation into organized crime and corruption.' This comes after multiple sources told CBC...
www.cbc.ca
February 5, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Fentanyl trafficking! The allegations in this Toronto police scandal are outrageous. Police are $1.43 billion of Toronto's $18.8 billion budget. Second only to transit. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Discontinued Food News! This will be especially devastating for those of you, who like me, have the childhood sensory memory of clunking a cylinder of orange slush around in a plastic pitcher of water with a wooden spoon to produce the most underwhelming OJ imaginable, burned into your brain!
The iconic, slush-filled tubes of orange juice concentrate, which have been around for 80 years, are being discontinued, the Coca-Cola Company says.
Minute Maid discontinues frozen juice concentrate after 80 years
The process to make juice concentrate was invented by the research team C.D. Atkins, Edwin Moore and Louis MacDowell in the 1940s.
nbcnews.to
February 5, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Discontinued Food News! This will be especially devastating for those of you, who like me, have the childhood sensory memory of clunking a cylinder of orange slush around in a plastic pitcher of water with a wooden spoon to produce the most underwhelming OJ imaginable, burned into your brain!
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Toronto is dedicated to affordable housing (for cars).
The policies council implements to ensure parking remains affordable would make even the most strident housing advocates blush.
The policies council implements to ensure parking remains affordable would make even the most strident housing advocates blush.
February 5, 2026 at 6:32 AM
Toronto is dedicated to affordable housing (for cars).
The policies council implements to ensure parking remains affordable would make even the most strident housing advocates blush.
The policies council implements to ensure parking remains affordable would make even the most strident housing advocates blush.
13% of Toronto gun crime in 2024 was tied to organized crime that Toronto police were involved in. Maybe the best way to reduce gun crime is to cut the police budget?
CBC: Towing-related violence has been a major issue in Toronto. In 2024, there were 63 shooting and firearm discharge incidents related to tow-truck disputes, accounting for almost 13 per cent of all such incidents that year. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
9 Toronto police officers facing charges related to tow-truck violence: source | CBC News
Nine Toronto police officers are facing charges related to violent incidents involving tow trucks and operators across the Greater Toronto Area, multiple sources tell CBC News.
www.cbc.ca
February 5, 2026 at 2:19 PM
13% of Toronto gun crime in 2024 was tied to organized crime that Toronto police were involved in. Maybe the best way to reduce gun crime is to cut the police budget?
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
CBC: Towing-related violence has been a major issue in Toronto. In 2024, there were 63 shooting and firearm discharge incidents related to tow-truck disputes, accounting for almost 13 per cent of all such incidents that year. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
9 Toronto police officers facing charges related to tow-truck violence: source | CBC News
Nine Toronto police officers are facing charges related to violent incidents involving tow trucks and operators across the Greater Toronto Area, multiple sources tell CBC News.
www.cbc.ca
February 5, 2026 at 1:50 PM
CBC: Towing-related violence has been a major issue in Toronto. In 2024, there were 63 shooting and firearm discharge incidents related to tow-truck disputes, accounting for almost 13 per cent of all such incidents that year. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
For people who don’t live in Toronto: there’s been a war between corrupt tow truck companies in Toronto for possibly decades, and this is at least the second time it’s come out that they’ve been working closely with corrupt cops.
"Officers are accused of trafficking, leaking addresses to hitmen, and leaking police officer addresses, the sources said.
The investigation also uncovered a conspiracy to kill a unit commander at the Toronto South Detention Centre, the sources said."
Holy Christ. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
The investigation also uncovered a conspiracy to kill a unit commander at the Toronto South Detention Centre, the sources said."
Holy Christ. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
9 Toronto police officers facing charges related to tow-truck violence: source | CBC News
Nine Toronto police officers are facing charges related to violent incidents involving tow trucks and operators across the Greater Toronto Area, multiple sources tell CBC News.
www.cbc.ca
February 5, 2026 at 2:14 PM
For people who don’t live in Toronto: there’s been a war between corrupt tow truck companies in Toronto for possibly decades, and this is at least the second time it’s come out that they’ve been working closely with corrupt cops.
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
The chair of the first law firm that bent the knee to Trump’s extortion and agreed to do pro bono work for him is featured in the Epstein Files, you say? Huh.
Brad Karp to step down as Paul Weiss chair after Epstein revelations ft.trib.al/H1vYT7B
Brad Karp to step down as Paul Weiss chair after Epstein revelations
Files released by US Department of Justice detailed his relationship with the child sex offender
ft.trib.al
February 5, 2026 at 2:04 AM
The chair of the first law firm that bent the knee to Trump’s extortion and agreed to do pro bono work for him is featured in the Epstein Files, you say? Huh.
Interesting to see a bunch of Toronto cops arrested for organized crime related stuff. Can’t help but wonder if any of them would be facing charges if the investigation had been handled internally like they used to be.
February 5, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Interesting to see a bunch of Toronto cops arrested for organized crime related stuff. Can’t help but wonder if any of them would be facing charges if the investigation had been handled internally like they used to be.
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
It’s insane how regulated and certified for safety every little aspect of an aircraft must be, but cars are out there trapping people inside as they burn to death is somehow a big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to regulators
NEW: Trapped Tesla Driver’s 911 Call: ‘It’s on fire. Help please’
Samuel Tremblett died in Easton, MA after his Model Y crashed into a tree and caught on fire. He managed to talk to a dispatcher. His remains were found in the backseat.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Samuel Tremblett died in Easton, MA after his Model Y crashed into a tree and caught on fire. He managed to talk to a dispatcher. His remains were found in the backseat.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Tesla Sued Over Crash That Trapped, Killed Massachusetts Driver
Samuel Tremblett pleaded with a 911 operator to be rescued from his burning Tesla Inc. Model Y SUV after a crash in October: “I can’t get out, please help me.”
www.bloomberg.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:31 AM
It’s insane how regulated and certified for safety every little aspect of an aircraft must be, but cars are out there trapping people inside as they burn to death is somehow a big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to regulators
Reposted by Benjamin Boles
Even in war, drones are used way more for surveillance than attack.
If you see ICE or another government force flying small drones domestically, you should think “they’re watching and recording,” not “they’re about to bomb.”
(I’m confident @faineg.bsky.social knows this, my comment is for others.)
If you see ICE or another government force flying small drones domestically, you should think “they’re watching and recording,” not “they’re about to bomb.”
(I’m confident @faineg.bsky.social knows this, my comment is for others.)
Since people are worried about this: I analyze the use of small drone tech in both peace and conflict for a living.
I believe there is simply very little strategic reason for US law enforcement to use kamikaze FPV drones (like those in Ukraine or Gaza) for internal purposes at this time.
I believe there is simply very little strategic reason for US law enforcement to use kamikaze FPV drones (like those in Ukraine or Gaza) for internal purposes at this time.
February 5, 2026 at 12:09 AM
Even in war, drones are used way more for surveillance than attack.
If you see ICE or another government force flying small drones domestically, you should think “they’re watching and recording,” not “they’re about to bomb.”
(I’m confident @faineg.bsky.social knows this, my comment is for others.)
If you see ICE or another government force flying small drones domestically, you should think “they’re watching and recording,” not “they’re about to bomb.”
(I’m confident @faineg.bsky.social knows this, my comment is for others.)