Jim Mike
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whatfuntimes.bsky.social
Jim Mike
@whatfuntimes.bsky.social
Toddler dad and middle aged undergrad. Studies political science and environmental studies. Interests include climate resilience, national defence, urbanism, social equality, healthcare, Airedales, and plenty more. Canadian.
Reposted by Jim Mike
You could be a climate and/or political refugee tomorrow. No matter how safe you feel right now. That’s how fast the world is changing.

Act with that in mind—toward yourself, and towards others.
December 20, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
As a 2024 Economist article ranking walkable cities noted rather acidly, anyone who prizes walkability and wants to ditch his or her car “might want to avoid North America.”

www.cnn.com/2025/12/19/t...
Americans are hungry for community. So why don’t we have more European-style squares? | CNN
As travel abroad has become common for more Americans, many have enjoyed Europe’s vibrant squares. Why doesn’t the United States have more of that kind of gathering spot and is change afoot?
www.cnn.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:57 AM
They’ve got recall and anti-mining petitions and and threats of a general strike but no activism?

Last thing I read about families and Alberta was families with trans kids leaving.

No mention of fleeing healthcare workers and teachers.

I also don’t see an arrow chasing Skate Canada away.
December 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Totally the recruiting process of a legitimate and not desperate country. Keep supporting Ukraine. 🇺🇦
December 17, 2025 at 11:47 AM
***did gut MULTIPLE rural colleges
December 17, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Interesting! We should probably try to see if we can replicate this in other provinces by trying some things Quebec does differently with social supports and policy… but we won’t. #cdnpoli 🇨🇦
There’s a happiness gap between young people in Quebec and in the rest of Canada
Joshua Bujold, an upbeat psychology student in his first semester at Montreal’s Dawson College, was taken aback to find out that happiness among young Canadians has plunged.
www.ctvnews.ca
December 16, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
And again I return to the fact that the "hope" he says he's giving Canadians is just doubling-down on the failure of neoliberalism and trickle-down economics that created the situation we're in, and will do nothing to actually fix anything.
Poilievre says Conservatives' affordability focus unites party as Tories manage latest defection | CBC News
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party's focus on affordability "is what unites all Conservatives" as the Tories grapple with another MP crossing the floor and joining the Liberal governm...
www.cbc.ca
December 15, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
It is literally life and death if you speed
December 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
I updated my Canada-wide intercity transportation map for the end of 2025. I added a few new or previously-missed services, but this year, too many routes in Ontario disappeared. seanmarshall.ca/2025/12/10/c...
Canadian intercity transport at the end of 2025
Some progress and some disappointing losses in Canada’s intercity transportation links in 2025.
seanmarshall.ca
December 11, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Doug Ford is giving us the 102 day disappearing act—shutting down Queen’s Park until March 23 while Ontarians face a cost-of-living and jobs crisis

A government that won’t show up for work sure can’t fix the mess it made. Ontarians deserve better than this.

#onpoli

www.thestar.com/politics/pro...
Ford government extends Ontario legislature’s Christmas break until late March
Premier Doug Ford's government is giving the Ontario legislature an unusually long Christmas break, extending it until March 23.
www.thestar.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
If the Conservatives lose another MP and give the Liberals a majority, their death spiral is going to be ultra fun to watch. Polievre is done.
December 12, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Sad man sees successful leadership review slip further from grasp. #cdnpoli 🇨🇦
Poilievre has responded. In a post on X, Poilievre said Ma "was elected as a Conservative by the constituents of Markham-Unionville to fight against Liberal inflationary spending driving up the cost of living in his community. Today, he chose to endorse the very policies he was elected to oppose."
December 12, 2025 at 12:19 AM
This building looks great, but what I really love in the write up is the logic behind making the balconies narrower, deeper, and more private.

In addition to looking great and increasing privacy, in Canada this would really extend the balconies’ usability into fall, spring, and parts of winter.
December 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
If he wants to police the use of Times New Roman why doesn’t he just get a job teaching undergrads?

(I hate having to submit papers in Times New Roman so so much)
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Is Utah more progressive than Alberta?
December 10, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Folks might not know a lot of people are getting *very* upset that the materials they request are not available in the libraries/archives they're requesting from.

We're getting lots here at the Library of Virginia: requests of documents likely surfaced by large language models that *do not exist*.
December 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Congestion pricing improves your ride to work — and the air you breathe.
In addition to all of the other benefits already reported about NYC congestion pricing, "In the first six months of the program, air pollution – in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller – dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)"

news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
Congestion pricing improved air quality in NYC and suburbs | Cornell Chronicle
Cornell researchers tallied the environmental benefits of New York City’s congestion pricing program and found air pollution dropped by 22% in Manhattan, with additional declines across the city’s fiv...
news.cornell.edu
December 9, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Our new study provides rare causal evidence about NYC’s speed camera program. We find large reductions in collisions (30%) and injuries (16%) near intersections with cameras. www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... @astagoff.bsky.social ky.social @brendenbeck.bsky.social nbeck.bsky.social 🧪
Can speed cameras make streets safer? Quasi-experimental evidence from New York City | PNAS
Each year, approximately 40,000 people die in vehicle collisions in the United States, generating $340 billion in economic costs. To make roads saf...
www.pnas.org
December 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
"My animals drink the water, my mother drinks the water. So I'm not a guy flying in from L.A. on a private jet. I am a sixth generation rural Albertan, and I'm just trying to get the water clean." #abpoli #ableg #coal
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Country singer Corb Lund gets OK to launch anti-coal petition drive in Alberta | CBC News
Alberta singer Corb Lund has been given the go-ahead to start collecting signatures for a petition to ask the province to pass a law banning new coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountain...
www.cbc.ca
December 9, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Employment in oil and gas is in terminal decline and won’t be saved no matter what Carney and Smith cook up, according to new research from the Centre for Future Work provided exclusively to @nationalobserver.com.

The only responsible choice for governments is to plan for the transition.
Exclusive: Fossil fuel workers won’t be saved by Carney’s oil and gas boosterism
A new pipeline won’t lead to new jobs in the oil and gas sector, and the only question for government officials is whether or not to plan for the inevitable energy transition, according to new researc...
www.nationalobserver.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Rural Albertans are bravely speaking out about the orphan well crisis and the UCP's complicity in the clean up mess. I hope urban Albertans -- like me -- are willing to listen. ecojustice.ca/news/landown...
Alberta landowners react to well cleanup crisis
Rural landowners speak out about Alberta’s multi-billion dollar well cleanup crisis
ecojustice.ca
December 7, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
The latest trend in Facebook’s ever downward spiral down the AI slop toilet are AI deportation videos. And the Facebook algorithm is rewarding creators for it. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social reports.

Full story: www.404media.co/ai-generated...
November 17, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Russians use thermite dropped from drones to burn through anti-drone nets.

I have driven those roads all Summer and Autumn, the nets gave some sense of safety there.

Not anymore I suppose...
December 5, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Today I joined the All-Party Climate Caucus to discuss the realities Canadians faced this wildfire season — and why strengthening emergency management must be a shared effort as climate change creates new risks.
December 4, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Jim Mike
Drive as if someone will jump out on the street at anytime and then be surprised if that doesn't happen. Not the other way around.
December 4, 2025 at 1:40 PM