celticcanuck.bsky.social
@celticcanuck.bsky.social
The province of Ontario just demonstrated how to waste 3.5billion. Looks like the REM is much better at actually providing a useful transit system. Ontario not so much…
Just realized that the 50km end to end travel time of the Montreal REM is the same as the 10km end to end travel time of Toronto's Finch W Tramway (55 min).
December 14, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Reposted
And he’s tree-spreading too
I can’t believe that in this day and age, people are still wearing fir.
December 14, 2025 at 3:00 AM
One of the great things those of us who have more than we need to pass it on to make our communities better places (coincidentally John Scalzi is one of my favourite current authors )
One of the cool things about having the @scalzifamily.foundation is that it makes it easy to do local "improvement of life" stuff like this. We also paid off school lunch debt in town, donate to local libraries and museums and generally try to make where we live a little bit nicer all around.
Found at my favorite Miami County Park (Maple Ridge). Thank you @scalzi.com & @athenascalzi.com for your donation! My dad's science teacher, WW Coy, owned the property when dad was young and he fondly remembers fishing in the river & the pond as a teen. The bench rests by Coy Pond.
June 13, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Canada should reevaluate our decision based on current events. Saab anyone?
March 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Feels about right for the times.
Portuguese editorial cartoonist Zez Vaz reaches back to Tiananmen Square to call on American defiance.
February 16, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Reposted
A mobile bicycle-trailer pop-up library ... with hammocks. Genius.
February 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
A great sci-fi podcast for those who might be interested in such fare! Highly recommended
The Creatures That Time Forgot by Ray Bradbury - Ray Bradbury Short Story Audiobook
Listen to The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast here https://lostscifi.com/all-episodes-of-the-lost-sci-fi.../ or wherever you get your podcasts.

#SpeculativeFiction #VintageSciFi #RetroFuturism
February 8, 2025 at 11:36 PM
🧩 Puzzle #550

🤔 5 guesses

⏱️ 32s

🔗 alphaguess.com
alphaguess: a word game
Guess the word of the day. Guesses reveal where the word is positioned alphabetically. Everyone plays the same word each day.
alphaguess.com
January 25, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Been an interesting exercise watching this policy collapse. And I find none of the guilty parties offering a viable alternative to avoid more L.A.s burning to the ground in the next few decades.
A price on carbon emissions isn't unpopular because it's the wrong policy, it's unpopular because anti-gov't, anti-evidence, anti-climate critics successfully lied to Cdns about its effectiveness and its impact on their pocketbooks. Real leaders would fight back, not cave like simpering cowards.
January 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Very sad endorsement on our times.
The supply of clean water and the removal of sewage and human waste are two of the most important functions government provides for its citizens, but in the public realm, the working ends of each system, the water fountain and the toilet, are apparently no longer public responsibilities.
Starbucks is no longer "America's Bathroom." It never should have been.
We have no problem spending millions on highways, but never seem to have the money for public services like bathrooms that meet human needs.
lloydalter.substack.com
January 17, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Ours would probably only pick up 1000 per day. Great idea more jurisdictions should adopt.
Miami's school buses were outfitted with cameras that automatically identify and ticket car drivers who blow past a bus when it stopped (illegal and a major safety risk).

The cameras caught 1,500 violations *per day* -- just in Miami-Dade County.

Automatic enforcement FTW
Cameras Are Now Fining Drivers For Illegally Passing School Buses In Florida County - The Autopian
Down in Florida, Miami-Dade County is famous for three things—sun, sand, and school bus traffic cameras. The city has implemented an automatic camera system on its school bus fleet known as BusPatrol....
www.theautopian.com
January 17, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I completed alphaguess.com in 28 seconds after 5 guesses today! (Normally it takes me 12 - 18 guesses to solve)
alphaguess.co
January 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Very prescient observation by the oldest president. Our Canadian system is much preferable to the obscene expenditures on politics in the US.
Jimmy Carter in 2015 on the role of money in American politics: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery."

Spot on.
December 31, 2024 at 5:38 AM
Great article explaining how authors get paid. I also like John singling out local literacy programs. Luckily there are some great ones in Victoria, BC
I am frequently asked what is the "best" way for people to buy my work so that the most money gets to me, enough so that I've finally written a primer about it to point people toward, and it also covers my opinions re: libraries, used bookstores and pirating:

whatever.scalzi.com/2024/12/30/a...
Acquiring My Work: A Primer
Several times a month I get an email or social media message from someone who wants to know what the “best” way to buy my work is so that I, the writer, get as much of their money as po…
whatever.scalzi.com
December 31, 2024 at 4:40 AM
A clever piece of infrastructure to reuse precious rainfall during dry periods. Deserves to be emulated!
This drainage feature on Stationsplein in Zwolle collects rainwater during heavy downpours in an underground reservoir. The stored water later flows underground to nourish green spaces when the weather is dry. Smart design for climate adaptation.
December 18, 2024 at 6:54 PM
Alas we have an artificial tree, so do not get to participate in the tree hauling festivities. However some of our large bamboo was delivered by bike. One of many glorious uses for a cargo bike!
Did you haul home your Christmas tree by bike this holiday season?

Share a photo using the hashtag #TreeByBike, and join the movement spreading around the world.

📹 Agnes Fox: www.instagram.com/p/DDBuL6yoF1I/
December 18, 2024 at 5:30 PM
I have had the privilege of cycling in Copenhagen. A significant new milestone. And of the 38 %, many use the excellent public transport.
“Copenhagen reported that 62% of its residents are now commuting to work or school by bike — an increase from 52% in 2015 & 36% in 2012, when the City Council launched a 14-year-plan to improve the quality, safety & comfort of cycling.”

#Copenhagen chose. They keep choosing even better every year.
Copenhagen has taken bicycle commuting to a whole new level
Cycling has been a part of that good life in Copenhagen for decades. In recent years, it has enjoyed yet another unfathomable surge in popularity — taken to the next level thanks to constantly improvi...
www.latimes.com
December 14, 2024 at 6:51 PM
Reposted
One of the MOST IMPORTANT THINGS your city could do to become more healthy, sustainable, livable, affordable, equitable, successful — stop pretending to “balance” transportation modes, and commit to PRIORITIZING walking/rolling, biking, public transit. HT @dublincycling.bsky.social’s graphic
December 14, 2024 at 4:27 AM
Another wonderful Icelandic tradition the world can benefit from
In Iceland, on Christmas Eve, people give each other books so they can spend the evening drinking cocoa & reading. It’s called, Jolabokaflod, the Christmas book flood. I’ve never been more in love with Iceland than I am right now ♥️♥️
December 14, 2024 at 6:09 PM