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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 15h

I'm from Van and when folks there tell me why they don't like TO I suggest maybe they just don't like big cities. They are aghast pointing out that they live in Vancouver after all. 😐

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 15h

Incredibly accurate but at least Toronto has gotten this far with those folks. Those same people are what's holding other Canadian cities becoming big cities.

Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 19h

There's a lot to criticize about Toronto (waves hand broadly at my life's sad work) but like 50% of of it just people who don't like big cities & don't want to admit it.

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 1d

I feel everyone needs to try making croissants just so when you buy one at the bakery you can think "$6 for a single croissant, that's more than fair."

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 2d

It's almost like providing more and improved services is a good revenue generation tool. I'll still expect the same raise in membership cost for the same craptastic service we get north of Bloor though.

Oliver Moore @oliver-moore.bsky.social · 2d

Fun fact: the $1.7M in increased revenue generated by putting Bixi stands on Toronto island cancelled out a $1.7M loss in on-street parking revenues due to heavy snow in February
secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Agenda Item History 2025.PA16.1

secure.toronto.ca

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 4d

Also appreciate the photo for that list is just a robot cop arresting someone.

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 10d

If it were up to the folks at the globe all government services would need to run a profit, except the military and police obvs.

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...

Globe editorial: The Liberals push the envelope, finally, at Canada Post

A decade after scuppering sensible reforms, the Liberals propose an overdue shakeup of the struggling Crown corporation

www.theglobeandmail.com

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 11d

Lists like that are intended for the bar, cafe, or just any where with your friends where you loudly explain why the Backyard Baseball game you played when you were 11 was in fact the greatest game to grace this earth.

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Reposted by John Griffin

dr rv 🚐 (spooky 🎃) @rinewithoutacat.bsky.social · 13d

For those who missed it, Kneecap...wasn't banned.

MP Gasparro, Parliamentary Secretary for Combatting Crime, just said it on Twitter—which is worrying on many levels, incl that this is a big Privacy Act red flag. (Govt officials DO NOT comment on immig apps in Canada!)

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 28d

This.

The other impact of forcing all high density buildings on arterials is they share with commercial pushing costs to businesses up as well. It's absolutely bonkers to say "most of our people and businesses all have to share space on these few busy streets"

Bryn Davidson - Lanefab @lanefab.com · 28d

Bike / Park Oriented Development (BPOD?) !

A motion from OneCity councilor @lucymaloney.bsky.social aims to end the apartment ban next to bike streets and parks!

We need liveable density on quiet leafy streets. Don’t like arterial density? Want alternatives to towers?

Speak in support sept 17

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · 28d

This is a good read for Canadians too, where for some buck wild reason the "paper of record" ran a piece similar to Klein's celebrating Kirk's legacy.

Kirk was a bad person.

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 28d

In this week’s newsletter I have thoughts on Ezra’s Klein value judgements about the “right way” to do politics.

How to Canonize a White Supremacist

On the brutal murder of Charlie Kirk, the certain blowback, and this country’s raging gun problem.

www.thenation.com

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Sep 10

*Looks at 80% of homes in Vancouver...

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Sep 9

That and the dismal state of the rest of Canadian print media

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Sep 5

Specially when we consider that the sidewalk is much more then simply a way to move from A to B. The sidewalk is where we get to interact and experience the city and its people.

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 28

I personally love when the two things that currently receive 100000% more funding then they should team up.

jon mothman @jonchristian.net · Aug 27

NEW: After numerous tragedies, OpenAI says it's scanning users' conversations, escalating to human readers, and contacting law enforcement where necessary

futurism.com/openai-scann...

OpenAI Says It's Scanning Users' Conversations and Reporting Content to the Police

OpenAI has authorized itself to call law enforcement if users say threatening enough things when talking to ChatGPT.

futurism.com

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 22

Bike to Wards, objectively one of the better beaches on the island. Post up in chairs we forgot to air out from last week. Drink beers from collective arts.

Man sitting in chair drinking a beer on the beach with lake in front of him.

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 22

We've gotten to the point we really consider ourselves experts at beach in #toronto. Packed and biked onto the ferry to Hanlans + hotdog for the journey

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 22

Data residency is no longer sufficient, next is the very hard job of untangling ourselves from the behemoth us tech giants, who are honestly shit regardless of this.

Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · Aug 22

This article, by Carleton PhD student Alexander Rudolph, should be on the front page of every Canadian newspaper. It highlights how the US can access all data on the government and military’s Microsoft servers, Canadian laws be damned.

www.digitaljournal.com/tech-science...

Microsoft says U.S. law takes precedence over Canadian data sovereignty

Microsoft representative says US CLOUD Act comes before other country's sovereignty.

www.digitaljournal.com

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 21

The police are a PR agency they are not an agency committed to providing useful accurate date. It's like asking the tobacco companies to report on the impact of smoking to your health.

karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · Aug 21

why would anyone ever believe a word they say after all this

only a fool would trust the VPD.

They made a choice’
Mark MacLean, a mathematics professor at the University of British Columbia, found the department’s explanation questionable.

“You’ve already reported one year’s worth of data, you don’t have a leg to stand on to tell me you have to wait for three years of data,” said MacLean.

He argued fluctuations are not a reason to delay reporting, and noted the VPD shares fresh statistics on a wide variety of crimes every month on its website, with caveats about their accuracy.

A year would have been a “reasonable time frame” to produce an updated daily rate of stranger assaults, MacLean said, particularly if the department had provided a similar caveat.

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 20

Didn't think it was a storm that warranted a power outage #toronto

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 17

25 kg of cukes from PAT equals 36 jars of pickles.

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 17

Walking through the already excellent Berczy Park the other day and remarked how a little kiosk serving coffees and cold drinks would be absolutely perfect.

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Shawn Micallef: Ice cream in the park? Why Toronto can’t find the sweet spot on private businesses in public spaces

Finding the right line in a grey area is tricky. Surely the occasional private event can happen in public spaces, even parks, but how much is too much?

www.thestar.com

John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Aug 17

I'm most curious how you got it from the terminal up there, specially given the chaos that is that bike lane up bay.

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John Griffin @jagrif.bsky.social · Jul 29

I wonder what's going on here? Probably just speaks to how popular this is.

Screen shot of quoted post with 5 reposts, 100 quotes, and 8 likes circled