Always the middle

Never the side.

Okay, settle in.

There will be books about the fall of the American Empire that will eventually be written, but we are living in the midst of it. The felon Cheetoh Buffoon (fCB) down south is doing things that is sinking the economy of the United States. For a little while at the start of fCB’s administration, we, in Canada, held up hope that we could negotiate to remove irrational tariffs that were laid upon us. In Jan 2026 Canadian prime minister Mark Carney made an historic speech in Davos at the World Economic Forum that indicates that there has been a rupture in the global rules based economic order. He proposed that as a middle power, Canada could partner with other middle powers to become a third global power. In fact, he said it was necessary as the alternative is all of us middle power nations in silos where we would all be poorer.

2026 begins with nations like China, Japan and south Korea gradually selling the US bonds that as a government they had bought in the past as the US bond was the most reliable financial product out there. Now that the US economy has begun to tank, the selling of those bonds will accelerate further economic declines. Of course, with Canada’s economy so intertied with the US economy, where they go, we go, so Carney has been working quickly to get trade deals with numerous other nations. Recent deals include a strategic partnership with China, a more open trade deal with Indonesia, getting on a military industrial deal with the EU and other deals that yet young, will hopefully soon get businesses in partner nations to start to work together with our Canadian businesses, to the benefit of Canada, to decrease our reliance on the US economy.

There are some who are hopeful that once the fCB is no longer POTUS, that things can possibly return to normal, however, many of us feel that the fCB is a symptom of what has happened in the US population, that an equivalent to the MAGA movement will persist long after the Buffoon is turfed or has expired.  Many of the comments that I see on YouTube videos about this show Canadian (and other non-US country people) vowing to not ever travel to the US for tourism, and to cease buying US produced goods or services. This is yet another by product of the fCB doing what he has been doing. These video commentors will often state that irrespective of what happens next in the US politically, their personal boycott of everything US will continue in perpetuity.

Perhaps the other side

In another topic, homelessness is on the rise in Canada, and perhaps in the global western world. The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) is proposing to have the government to ‘get out of the way’ to allow the market to help solve this problem. I think this is particularly idiotic as the market won’t build social or affordable housing without government support. The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) is going to release a new Housing Initiative in the coming months with a goal of getting into the provision of social housing and affordable housing in concert with provinces and municipalities. This is good, but is slow, especially if municipal level NIMBY forces cause a ruckus.

The root cause of this homelessness crisis, as far as I am concerned, is out of control capitalism. There is too much wealth being accumulated at the very top of society, with companies well beneath that high level scooping up apartment buildings as part of real estate investment trusts (REITs) that try to extract as much value out of the properties as possible. They buy the building and raise the rents at the earliest legal opportunity by 20% to 30% which ends up pushing people out of the building with no where else that is affordable.

Additionally, our food grocery environment in Canada is an oligopoly and so the prices that the grocers are setting have also increased over the last few years. So if a person’s rent and food represent 85% of their income, and both go up by 20-30%, their rent and food could end up to be 105% of their income, or more. Being compelled to spend more than you earn never ends well.

There is a group called Patriotic Millionaires Canada that want to push forward the idea of taxing the wealthy more, for the common good of Canada. CPC supporters would be against this as any increase in taxes is anathema. I am in full support of this idea, however, as those who are at the very top ought to be compelled to pay more into the government coffers. Their involvement in capitalism has gained them a fortune at the cost of putting 100s of thousands of Canadians into the street.

The top, not the bottom

So here are my thoughts about what to do. Definitely increase the trade with other nations, develop a CANZUK free trade network since these four countries are so clearly aligned in many ways. Accelerate the development of the port of Churchill, the St. John port in NB, the container port in Contreceour QC. Improve the Trans Mountain pipeline but do not build a new pipeline to the Pacific Northwest. Expand the LNG terminal that is already being expanded on the west coast. Accelerate BitCrude to get raw bitumen out to Asia for road building and to keep our bitumen mine workers working.

Work with the CANZUK to have a tax-the-wealthy plan that we apply across all four nations. With the funds that our government raises from these wealthy capitalists, pay to improve things like healthcare, education, public transport and social housing.

With respect to social housing, have the provinces work with the municipalities to situate the locations of the social and affordable housing units and put into law that given the urgency of the issue, that local public consultation is limited and not binding. Have the federal government pay for all of the infrastructural expenses and the foundations of these new buildings. Have the province and the municipality pay for the remainder. Still collect rents from the tenants, but tied to 30% of income.

In the building of these buildings, use advanced lumber products to both embed carbon, and, to support Canadian businesses that produce the advanced lumber so as to support our lumber industry.

With respect to food prices, fortunately there is already a plan to invest in, to increase, food production in Canada, specifically with efficiencies for existing farmers, and also, expansion of greenhouses. The latter are most important given our limited growing season. We should also expand our food processing ability, so as to have our own products be produced in large volumes so as to lower their prices. And finally, change regulations, specifically one that allows a grocery store to limit how close another grocery store can be, such that new competitors can enter the market, especially small ones that carry 80% of food necessities but not dozens of versions of similar products for each type of product. These small grocery stores can be directed to be built first in the most food desert places in Canada, but eventually, to be all over.

I have more thoughts about all of this, but this is sufficient for this post.

When an electric scooter has been painted

A clandestine advertisement was even still noticed by those gifted with third-sight who were more than half persuaded to take advantage of the offer offered.

One by one they would spend their par currency in units only deftly defined to obtain the serviceable product of whose hidden ad they had seen.

This gift of third-sight, as such gifts usually go, comes with a curse, too - the idiopathic tendency to pay slightly more than normative diffuse amounts for serviceable products.

bit who, him?

In two separate videos I watched in the last two or three weeks, the most recent one today, I heard about a company out in Alberta that has developed a system of collecting raw mined bitumen, wrapping it in essentially a plastic bag, piling the bags in a shipping container, and then by rail bringing them to a port off of BC's coast, to then be shipped to points in Asia where this bitumen is ideal for both road repair, road repave and new road construction.

As I understand it, the company needs help to get those Asian customers and to expand their facility to get their production up to a meaningful way, so the new Major Projects Office ought to get involved.

The video I watched today, the analyst mentioned that the MPO and the Albertan provincial government are both only considering a diluted bitumen pipeline to the west coast and will not provide the assistance this company needs.

I find this infuriating. If I had 100M$ I would approach the company and try to help them in any way I could.

The other thing the analyst mentioned was about this diluted bitumen pipeline to the Pacific northwest that is in the dreams of the Alberta premier Smith and CPC leader Poilievre. The analyst said that both China and India are heavily electrifying and so the need for the diluted bitumen may not even exist by the time a pipeline gets built and the diluted bitumen would start to flow. So it does not make economic sense to build that out. I have known this before this analyst mentioned it, and is the biggest reason why I am against the building of such a pipeline.

However, I did learn something new from this video - that after the felon Cheetoh Buffoon took away the Venezualan leader and took over the oil tankers that had been shipping the heavy crude to China, and now the heavy crude can begin to go to the Gulf of Mexico US ports for refining. Those refineries get the bulk of their oil through pipelines from Alberta, so if the Venezuala crude displaces the Canadian crude, this could be very bad news for Alberta, and for Canada. We do have the TMX pipeline that can be expanded to add an additional 200-400k barrels per day, but this closing of the tap in Louisiana and nearby states puts added pressure on building a new pipeline to the Pacific northwest that I mentioned earlier in the post I disagree with building. Even with this new information I think that pipeline ought not to be built.

And finally, there is a national electricity plan that will come out soon; I really hope it means a beefed up intertie between Quebec and Ontario so that we can export hydro power there and they can export nuclear power here when each of us have needs.

that it isn't known, or

Last week our prime minister Mark Carney delivered an historic speech that I needed to listen to numerous times to catch everything he intended for us to understand.

My best interpretation is that Canada as a middle power, is becoming a leader of other middle power countries, to band together to face the unfair and unbalanced situations that the hegemons have over us.

We, as middle power countries, will form parternships and mutli-laterals, so as to make each of us less reliant on the relationships we have with the hegemons so that the hegemons have less power to make us subserviant.

Though the felon Cheetoh Buffoon was never named, that idiot is the impetus for the speech. Most interpretations are that this speech is specifically in answer to him, however, I interpret it to also mean China. In the previous week Carney signed an agreement with China to allow 49000 Chinese made EVs into Canada in exchange for lowering significantly the tariffs they had placed on Canadian agricultural products. 

Some are concerned that allowing China a foot in the door could eventually mean China floods our market, however, using a 49k quota, instead of a simple tariff, seems to be a better solution. This number of incoming cars is less than 3% of Canada's car purchase annual number. And honestly, their BYD sub 30k$ EVs are filling a market that has no equivalent here in Canada.

Ontario's premier Doug Ford has called these 'Spy Cars' indicating that they will pass all sorts of data to China. I think this is ridiculous; many cars have cameras now to help with backing up, with keeping the distance from the car in front while in cruise control, and so on.

Parliament resumes on Monday, tomorrow, the new session to begin. It is still a Liberal minority government with just two additional MPs needed to get a majority. Rumour has it, based on what I have seen on Power & Politics, that it is possible one, two or three more CPC members will floor cross, giving the LPC the majority. This may only happen somehow in coordination with the CPC convention and leadership review happenening later this month. If it doesn't happen I suspect we may have a federal election in 2026 which I think is a terrible idea given we are to negotiate CUSMA this summer.

bing bang bop

So at work, for perhaps 25 consecutive weeks, or more, up until the end of 2025, every Friday, from 17h to 18h I would chat through Teams with another WFH coworker who lives in BC, one of the few anglos on my team, just to be friendly. This past Friday I did not initiate, and I got nothing from this coworker. 

Things are working out that maybe I won't need to work for too much longer. I do hope so as this job I currently have is offering me too little in terms of social interaction.

Let's Dance?

Yep, it's been 10 years since David Bowie died.

As a teenager I first found him by his most popular 'Let's Dance' song, but since then came to know a bunch of other songs he's made.

He was rather influential on other artists that came after him.

I, for one, was impressed with all of the different characters he made use of throughout his musical career, but in particular, how his release of Blackstar and some of the songs on that album coincided with his death.

Maybe this ought to be made a 'David Bowie' day.

uggh... Greenland

I feel strongly about this so I had to post about it. The felon Cheetoh Buffoon down south is talking more fervently about occupying Greenland, making it a part of the US. Obviously the Greenlanders themselves are against this, but what can they do about it? Denmark has a play in this too, but also, what can they do about it?

If I had any say in the matter I would threaten the US with a united isolation. Canada, the European Union, the UK and any other like minded partners can threaten to cease all trade with the US if they go forward with such an action. This means Canada stops shipping electricity, oil, metals, car parts and lumber down to the US and that we do not buy anything from them. For the EU and others, same thing - cease all trade with the US.

Obviously this would be very hard on Canada and the EU as the consumer base in the US is a large force that helps to feed our families, but honestly, this US president needs to be put in place.

There is already a US military base on Greenland; why not simply expand that a little bit and increase the forces that are stationed there? This is obviously an acceptable solution.

that it wasn't two, or maybe

So I've discovered this game, Foundation: Galactic Frontier. I saw the ads for it on YouTube for a week or two and then decided to download it to my laptop and start playing it. It is loosely based on the Foundation series from Isaac Asimov, but also taking some elements from the AppleTV+ TV show rendition of same.

It has been fun to read about Hari Seldon, Bel Riose, The Mule and a few other characters and place names. The game is set in the Korell collection of solar systems perhaps 100 years after Terminus is first settled. There is an adversary group called the Ascendancy and we (the players) as Traders have to fight them off while we also do our job of trading.

There are in-app purchases that could help speed along different aspects of the game, but it can be played (as I have been) without spending any money at all.

I am not a video game player by any stretch of imagination, but this game has been intriguing with a complexity that has kept me engaged since I downloaded it about ten days ago. Part of the game involves joining a guild - this is actually optional within the game, but there are definite advantages to doing so.

The guild I chose to join just randomly from a list has as leader a young woman living in Perth, Australia. I know this about her because we started chatting through the game, and then moved our chat to Discord so as to have an easier time of chatting.

With the exception of the Resources mobile game that I have been on for almost three years now, this may be the longest I've played any video game in my life, having attempted others in the past and having lost interest somewhere along the way. We shall see if I eventually lose interest in this one.

Sorry, I left my apocalypse at home

That we are nearing the end of the year 2025 speaks nothing to the number of pairs of unequal socks I may have owned within the last half decade.

That we are so close to arriving at the halfway mark of my trip around the sun means very little to anyone who knows how to tie shoelaces while chewing gum and also having a conversation with someone concerning the best time of day to order a book of coupons to be used in an online shopping spree.

That I've started all three sentences in this post with the word 'that' should be an offense punishable by a prime number of floggings with a licorice stick that has been partially chewed by that barn dog named 'Barry'.

news like a duvet

There is a political story that perhaps not a lot of Canadians are paying much attention to. On Thursday, Michael Ma, an Ontario MP of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) crossed the floor giving the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) one more seat, and bringing them very close to changing the nature of parliament - going from a minority to a majority.

There are numerous reasons for at least one more CPC MP to cross:

1. That Ma, and earlier D'entremont both crossed means ths next person is going as part of a group, and not so much as an individual, making it psychologically easier to cross
2. This CPC floor crosser will no longer have to behave in a very specific way with Poilievre as CPC leader, which could mean a breath of fresh air
3. The very next CPC that crosses brings the LPC to have a majority government which makes it so that an election now would only be in 3-4 years so the crosser gives them self (and every other MP) a full term in government. If it stays a minority, there could be an election as soon as this coming spring.
4. Both Ma and D'entremont came from ridings where the vote was split very close to 50/50, and so if the CPC crosser comes from a similarly split riding, it is easier to tolerate as about half the electorate wanted an LPC member anyhow
5. If the crosser is crossing so that more of the bills being propose pass through the House, this crosser helps to accelerate this as with a majority, there are enough votes to pass everything the government puts forward, if every LPC member votes accordingly

In Canada's history there have been floor crossings infrequently and sporadicly and never in a situation that it would be possible to move a government to or from a majority. With two members already having done this in the last six weeks, and with parliament suspended for six weeks due to the Christmas holiday closure, there is plenty of time for CPC members who were on the fence, to check in with their constituents to see how it would be received if the member crossed.

On Power & Politics that I watch regularly, the analysts have mentioned that some LPC members, including PM Carney, are speaking with those CPC members that are considering the change. So I, along with all of the political media people, are paying close attention over the next six weeks to see if there is one more crosser, and the likelihood seems pretty high. 

keeping the three but not the side of the dice with five dots

To those who, and then, yes, like it was imagined only by the third five year old alphabetically by middle name,.

Filling the dyke, flying a kite, 

Using a broken banjo as a plate to serve KD with chopped hot dogs and ketchup.

Dip pip sip lip tip yip rip wip hip oip

when the turnip and the Tetris

I have been listening to CPAC lately while I work, the Budget 2025 is being discussed, with the CPC focusing on how it does little to immediately assist people in Canada, but with the LPC touting all of the things it does do. The federal government is in a deficit spending mood and there is some funding towards housing that was part of the impetus for what I worked out with the Copilot AI. Another impetus is the idea of using Canadian steel and lumber and CLT in construction. I asked the AI about income inequality and how to address it, and we came up with the plan below.

Policy Blueprint: Reducing Income Inequality in Canada (2026–2030)

Executive Summary

Canada faces rising income inequality driven by stagnant wages, high living costs, and housing shortages. This blueprint proposes a five-year integrated strategy combining tax reform, cost-of-living reductions, and housing expansion to create a fairer, more inclusive economy.

---

1. Tax Reform: A Fairer System

Goal: Increase disposable income for low- and middle-income Canadians while maintaining revenue neutrality.

• Inverse-Proportion Basic Personal Amount (BPA)
  • Start at current BPA (~$15,000) and gradually increase for low-income earners while phasing out for high-income earners over 5 years.
  • Formula:
    $$BPA = \max(0, Base \times (1 - \frac{\text{Taxable Income}}{\text{Phase-Out Threshold}}))$$
    Example: Base = $20,000; Phase-Out = $150,000.
• Small Boosts to CCB and GIS
  • Target families and seniors for immediate relief.
• New Worker Benefit
  • Refundable credit for low-income adults without children or retirement benefits.

Impact:

• Progressive tax system without sudden shocks.
• Immediate support for vulnerable groups.

---

2. Lowering Cost of Living

Goal: Reduce essential expenses for households through increased market competition.

• Groceries
  • Lower barriers for foreign entrants and independent grocers.
  • Enforce anti-collusion laws.
• Telecom & Internet
  • Mandate wholesale access for smaller providers.
  • Encourage MVNOs and regional ISPs.
• Banking
  • Promote low-cost and zero-fee digital banking options.

Impact:

• Lower grocery and telecom bills.
• Increased consumer choice.

---

3. Housing: Building Stability

Goal: Eliminate chronic homelessness and expand affordable housing.

• Pipeline Construction Model
  • Specialized teams rotate through many sites across major cities.
  • Modular and mass timber builds for speed (up to 12 stories downtown, 4–6 stories in suburbs).
• Three-Tier Housing Strategy
  • Transition Housing: Rooming-house style with embedded social workers.
  • Social Housing: Rent geared to income (≤30%).
  • Affordable Housing: ~70% of market rent.
• Funding Model
  • Federal: CAPEX for construction.
  • Provincial: Social services and staffing.
  • Municipal: Building management; pooled rents cover maintenance.

Impact Timeline:

• Year 1: First transition units + hotel conversions online.
• Year 3: Majority of transition housing complete; social housing scaling.
• Year 5: Chronic homelessness eliminated; ongoing affordable housing builds.

---

Governance & Accountability

• Build Canada Homes Agency: Centralized expertise for modular builds.
• Annual Review: Adjust BPA formula and housing targets based on progress.
• Public Dashboard: Transparency on milestones and spending.

---

Expected Outcomes by 2030

• Income inequality significantly reduced.
• Cost of living stabilized.
• Housing security for vulnerable Canadians.
• Stronger, more inclusive communities.

---

I did the anlysis for the housing part in Montreal, with about 3000 people who are homeless, it would take about 25 buildings worth of transition housing with the soonest available within a year and with all homeless put into transition housing, and off the street by the end of five years. Any homeless who are able to work once they have an address, they can move up to social housing within the same building, freeing up another transition space. Social workers can be embedded in the building to help all of the people that are in the transition and social housing units.

a bucket of symphonies

Being as old as I am, around 19500 days, I wonder sometimes how my life would be different had I

joined the CAF as part of the navy, this would have had me travel more, take my basic training away from home, perhaps be retired already from the forces, be out at sea at various times for perhaps long durations, but with the crew. I don't know if this existed back then, but what exists now is a one year program that begins with basic training in either the east or west coast of Canada, and then over the next year I get placed into a large variety of different positions to learn which ones are available or are in need, then I suppose I would pick one or two and then get the training for whichever one I would then be assigned to do. There would be X number of years subsequent to receiving training that I would have to commit to remaining in the forces, but I would have committed to stick it out until I retire, perhaps moving up some ranks.

even in the career path I followed (doing mostly software support for various enterprise level software packages) I could have join the reserves at a young age which would have put me into a group of people annually with whom I train, but this never occurred to me until much later in my life

trained to be an STM bus driver - earn a pretty good salary, but have shift work that would make having a family more challenging, maybe also retire by now, or within the next few years. I would be unionized and after a certain number of years I would reach the max salary which as I understand it is double what I am earning now (though my job now is an easy 9 to 5 weekdays). I could have applied for this job soon after high school, though, my french language skills would have to have been perhaps better than I had at the time.

trained to be a nurse - with this being a very female dominated domain, I would have more quickly overcome my discomfort in interacting with the girls in the training program with me. I would work in hospital settings until perhaps my mid-40s and then get a job at Hema-Quebec where I simply take blood donations from people, an easy and stable job, though also an occasional Saturday and evening I would have to work. This might have been the easiest thing to have done, since the CEGEP I went to in Sciences, had and continues to have a nursing preparation program.

trained to be a teacher - my middle child C-Ling is doing this now, to become a primary school teacher. This has also become a very female dominated role where having a man do it would be welcome. I would aim to be an early year secondary school teacher and see if I could teach at the school I went to. I know that in various jobs throughout the last thirty years I was placed in a position to provide a five day training to customers to use our software, and I quite enjoyed that aspect of my job at that time. I would have enjoyed having summers off, perhaps to see about having a small cottage to spend summers in.

trained to become a psychotherapist, I knew even at that young age that I was a good listener and as this comes naturally to me it would have helped in this role. Being an English speaker in Quebec, a province with a large minority of English language speakers, I think I could have found a place to work in a location where there are many English speakers, or, I could have moved anywhere else in Canada. I believe there has always been a shortage of people in this role; I just hope that I could have succeeded in the training.

become a Jesuit Priest - the high school I went to was a Jesuit Catholic school so this possibility was front and center, but I didn't have it in me to make that committment at that young age. If I did, my housing and meals for the rest of my life would be managed by the parishioners for whatever church I am pastor. Being a part of the Jesuits, I could be placed anywhere in the world that the Jesuits decide to place me. Also, there isn't really a retirement age as many of the priests that I have encountered have practiced well into their octagenarian years. 

If you happen to read this, do you ever think about what alternative careers you might have considered at the start of one's life given the knowledge you've learned since then?

oh the ways that tumble

I have been paying closer attention to politics lately, including watching House of Commons on TV. I have learned that on some days they start at 10am with just a handful of MPs in the House, where they take turns making 10min speeches followed by questions and feedback for perhaps another 10 minutes. Other MPs trickle in over the next few hours until at around 2pm the House is full, and now it is shorter debate between mainly the prime minister and the opposition leader, though different government cabinet ministers can respond too. This portion of debate is sometimes childish, and it disapppoints me this way that these elected officials behave this way.

As an example, Pierre Poilievre as opposition leader insists over and over that the indistrial carbon tax is causing food price inflation. For the longest time, PM Mark Carney wouldn't address this directly, he would tout a different benefit that his government has provided to address affordability. I think over and over Carney needs to point to specific studies that show that the industrial carbon tax has extremely small impact on food costs, that climate change has the biggest impact.

This week they are debating the Budget 2025 that the government published last week. When a Liberal Party of Canada (LPC), the governing body, has an MP who stands to do a speech for 10 minutes, they use concrete examples of how the budget improves the lives of the people in their riding. When a Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), the opposition, has an MP who stands to do a speech for 10 minutes, they talk about the rise in people going to food banks, the affordability problem of housing, food price inflation, too many regulations and the $78B deficit for this budget.

I agree that the budget doesn't do enough around income inequality that could benefit people in the lowest income bracket to remove their need for accessing a food bank. However, I disagree with the CPC that the deficit is problematic. Much of the spending of this deficit is going towards projects that will create jobs, grow the economy and as a result, gather more income tax that can help pay down the deficit and eventually the debt. A lot of the projects have a 3-5 year timeline, or longer, and so unfortunately not a lot of what is in the budget addresses directly the issues that the CPC are raising, but there are no easy and quick solutions to address the concerns the CPC raises.

Tomorrow the Federal government and the Alberta government are having an announcement event in Calgary about an MOU that aligns the two governments about a bitumen pipeline from Alberta to the Prince Rupert area of British Columbia. CBC has reported that some regulations will ease to allow for the pipeline, but that there are some environmental conditions attached. The government of BC and First Nations on that part of the coast are vehemently against a bitumen pipeline, and as I understand it, the MOU releases the federal government from trying to get them onside for this pipeline, that the responsibility has been given to Alberta. As I see it, this improves the relationship between Albertans and the federal government, as it is in indication that the federal government has gotten out of the way. It is a win for Alberta Premier Smith as she can go to her party's convention this coming weekend to say she got a qualitative win from the federal government.

Given the conditions and the resistance, I think the probability of this bitumen pipeline getting built is actually very low, and so Premier Eby in British Columbia won't have to deal with this issue apart from opposing it; and all of the environmental people across Canada will be pleased that this pipeline doesn't get built.

I am against this pipeline being built. There is already a methane pipeline project on the Major Projects Office (MPO) that will go to the northwest coast of BC with a floating LNG terminal there. Additionally, there is a TMX pipeline to Vancouver that can be optimized to allow for a greater flow from Alberta; let's do that rather than build a new pipeline.

There are some economists who say the need for fossil fuels will continue for decades, while there are others who say that the peak of demand for fossil fuels will happen within the next five years and will make a new bitumen pipeline from Alberta to Prince Rupert a white elephant. Both power generating wind mills and solar panels have dropped in price below the price of fossil fuel electricity generation and their uptake has been exponential in the last two or three years. At that rate they will greatly reduce the need for fossil fuels.

Anyhow, I am interested to see how the MOU works out tomorrow; and if there is eventually a private proponent for a pipeline project that most of Canada doesn't want.

We remember

It isn't every November day that reminds us of the past, but this one does.

It was originally called 'Armistice Day' to commemorate the armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Then in 1931 it was renamed as 'Remembrance Day'. This is a day to honour and remember the men and women who have served, and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace.

I don't personally know any such men or women, but today is a day to think about all of them anyhow.

On this day at 11AM I took a pause to remember the sacrifice and service that these men and women have provided.

there isn't much to say

Okay, well then.

It is raining on this day of Halloween.

Municipal elections across Quebec are happening on Sunday.

An STM strike is starting tomorrow to span all of November. I have an opinion about this; bus drivers in Montreal earn on average 114k$ (the average salary in Montreal is between 50-70k) and are asking for a big pay increase while at the same time the ARTM is under extreme stress due to not having enough income for the operations of the transit agencies. I do support the idea of labour unions to combat the excess of corporate greed; but in this particular case I am on the ARTM's side.

The Blue Jays are playing the LA Dodgers in game six tonight; if Toronto wins, they win the world series. If they don't, the deciding game 7 is tomorrow night.

On Tuesday the Mark Carney government will be releasing their budget. He is dividing the government finances into operations and capital projects with the goal of lowering the cost of government operations and increasing the investment in capital projects. As I understand it, the government expenses have been rising about 7% per year; if that can be reduced to 2 or 3% per year it would be more in line with inflation. 

Felix Auger-Alliasime is playing in a quarter final match in Paris, his match begins in about half an hour from me composing this post. It is an indoor tournament, perhaps in the future I will see if I can attend this tournament in person.

Over night this weekend we are to change our clocks to move back to standard time. I am of the opinion that we should do away with the time change. I am indifferent if we should keep standard time year round or day light savings time year round.

The Quebec government introduced a reform to how Quebec doctors are paid and the doctors are very angry about this new law. At the same time the Alberta government introduced a law that affects teachers, and in that province there is talk of a general strike.

Ontario premier Doug Ford had his government pay for a TV commercial to play in the United States with a minimally edited speech from Ronald Reagan touting the advantages of free trade; this in opposition to the Orange Cheetoh Buffoon's tariff heavy trade policy. There has been back lash, the ongoing talks between Canadian and US trade negoticators were terminated, and now it isn't clear what will happen. I have an opinion about this. I feel we should ignore the US, continue to trade under the CUSMA deal, do nothing about the sectoral tariffs affecting aluminum, steel, automotive, lumber and so on but do what can be done to support those industries from projects built in Canada.

I'll end off with Mark Carney being in south Korea presently and has met with the Chinese president. At this moment we have 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs and China has set tariffs on Canadian canola very high also. I have an opinion about this; if we can lower the tariff on incoming Chinese EVs to 50% and lower Chinese tariffs on our canola and other goods, we can increase trade. Ontario premier Ford would hate this idea, of Chinese EVs coming in to Canada; but with the US trying to break up the integrating automotive sector between Canada and the US, I get the sense the days of a Canadian automative industry are beginning to close. 

I guess that's about it for now.

Orion up in the sky

The Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday is just around the corner.

I am not certain what corner it is around; perhaps in a calendar, since the days are often marked in squares, the corner being referred to is the corner of the date that Thanksgiving is.

Or, more likely, it is just a manner of speech stemming from the idea that something that is just around the corner is literally, just around the corner so it isn't too far away, but not immediately evident.

In some city blocks, depending on the city, the next available corner can be quite a distance away, so 'around the corner' in that specific scenario is no indication whatsoever that what is going to happen is going to happen anytime soon.

Growing up my nuclear family didn't do much to celebrate Thanksgiving. In my own nuclear family we didn't do much with it either; would occasionally eat at my mother-in-law's house, but we'd have the habit of doing that on a fairly regular basis anyhow, so it wasn't anything really special.

Well, if you are reading this, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving (yes, I know I'm early, but let me be the first).

that it wouldn't be too far to

There isn't much I can say about serendipity, or the colour of my left shoelace.

It is also impossible for me to know the correct time of day to consider what time of day ought to be the best time of day to do something that is best done at that time of day.

That the top of the bottom is not related to anything at all is up to this author.

bucket of sludgeless spa mint

If you haven't yet flossed your ankles, you can put it off to another day.

If you don't know what day of the week it is the moment you first awake in the morning, worry not, you are not alone in this blissful ignorance.

If you recognize that this post contains only sentences that start with 'If you', then it shows that you are reasonably attentive.

If you didn't recognize that this post contains only sentences that start with 'If you', you are remarkably inattentive.

If you have read to this last sentence, you will have read to this last sentence.

boo, pp

So, Pierre Poilievre has been elected in a safe Alberta riding to resume his role as Opposition Leader for the Conservative Party of Canada.

In his media appearances since the election, he again has claimed that inflation and immigration are still issues and that the Liberal government are responsible.

He also has begun his character attack on PM Mark Carney. I have no problem with the Opposition Leader being critical of the policies of the current government, but personal attacks on politicians, there ought to be a way to curtail this behaviour. 

why all of the vacancies are made of

Everyone else thought that youth, when applied to a pancake, would relate sideways to the cistern that is not equitable with a vote to the nary.

That a sentence devoid of any words that contain the letter 'Q' would be used as a first sentence of a post comes as no surprise to the author. If you found a 'Q' in the first sentence, consider yourself rewarded with that fantastic ability of letter recognition.

One would have to have been made delirious to understand the fast speaking unnaturally emotive existential professor who spoke often in epithets using anagrams. Not all of the rhymes rhyme.

The strangest of all things seems only to be compared to strange things. Comparing a strange thing to something perfectly natural or normal (like an apple, or a chair) is much like using a shoe horn to mimic a tenor horn.

All of the cryogenically frozen people who (before they were frozen) were predominately right-handed ought not to count the number of Mickey Mouse t-shirts they would have owned had they not frozen themselves at the time they did.

Microbial insects, if that is what they can be called when such a creature is that small, are occasionally felt on odd surfaces of my skin and I immediately scratch or rub it or them away.

Strength as a function of length as an aptitude of stench while being measured on a bench is observed by a wench using a wrench.

If the YMCA was to have been spelled the JQPF, it would have scored much higher in a Scrabble game.

Communal living in Generation Forward

I have had more thoughts about getting a pro-natal non profit going in a communal way instead of the individual condo -> house method I posted about a few days ago.

I would use the same applicant / candidate / selected method previously described, though I would revise it as an ad for young men and women, in couples or single. I learned that asking for specifically aged 18yo women and 24yo men could be age discriminatory. Also; I am not to specify gender roles in terms of the man having the bigger income; I will allow for the couple to work out for themselves this arrangement. Though, in the selection process I will look for situations where the guy is safely employed as most likely the woman would stay home due to pregnancy, maternity leave and child rearing.

At the first presentation, if there are any existing couples, who, after the presentation are interested in participating in the program, they will be part of a cohort that can be selected first. Couples that are selected, up to five of them, will be given the choice to follow the individual condo plan I outlined previously, or to enter the communal plan I describe below.

Any single individuals who come to that presentation who end up forming a couple with two prescheduled dates in the subsequent three weeks, we will touch base with them for three weeks. For couples still together and still interested in participating in the program, we will get all of them together to attend weekly homemaking lessons for things like cooking, what to expect at child birth, what to expect after birth in the first few months, personal finance, budgeting, RRSP, RESP, TFSA, etc. that will last another three months or so. If after that they still want to participate in the program, they will become cohort 2 using a selection process to get five couples.

From the original individual plan, once the non profit organization owns 15 condos and a few houses that we own outright and for which we receive rent payments, we use that to assist in getting a loan and to finance (with some of our own money) the construction of a purpose built communal building of about 15 storeys.

The ground floor will be a gym and pool and a locker room between them as well as the main entrance, mail boxes, access to the elevators and perhaps a management office.

Each residential floor above will be constructed in the form of a U shape with residential units all along the outside wall of the building on three sides, but having an opening in the middle with floor to ceiling windows on the fourth side. This communal area in the middle will have things like laundry machines, a large kitchen, and folding chairs and tables so that they can be moved aside outside of eating times to allow for the space to be multi purpose. Perhaps too there could be a balcony sticking out of the building on that fourth communal side.

Levels 1 and 2 will have a mix of two bedroom condos and what I'll call family units. The family units will have four or five bedrooms and be generally larger to accommodate families with 4-6 children. There will be 15 two bedroom condos so as to have a cohort of five couples move into units 1-5 as cohort 1, a year later cohort 2 moves into units 6-10, a year later cohort 3 moves into units 11-15 and during that year, the families of cohort 1 who ought to have two kids by now, move into a family unit where they will stay for the remainder of their time in the building. So the fifteen two bedroom units will have new couples cycle through about every 2-3 years.

Levels 3 to 15 are all family units, still in that U shape, though, mixed among the floors are two lounges that are to be of use for the whole building, rather than just that floor - one, a teen lounge and another, an adults lounge.

As with the individual condos, we will charge each family 30% of their income to rent their condo which will include electricity and internet. They will need to pay for insurance and food and with respect to food, all of the families on the floor are to work out how they will use the communal living area - is it every meal every day? Is it only dinners? Who takes charge? Do different families take different nights? How is the communal food paid for?

When a family reaches having four children, they will be advised that at any time between that time and having been in the communal living building for 20 years, that they will need to form an exit plan so as to make room for new cohorts. As a non-profit we will help them by paying up to 70% of a house that they move into; and they pay the remaining 30%. The candidates will be advised of this exit program at the time they are offered to join the program so that it does not come as a surprise.

As an option, the non-profit could build another building with a similar communal setup, intended for families that are no longer having young children, so it could be a mix of family units to take the families as they are from the first building, and also a mix of one or two bedroom or studio units that the kids can move into, to eventually move out and for the parents to move into, as their kids move out. Of course, it is possible that kids of the communal living from two different families end up forming a couple, these would automatically join a cohort since they already know what communal living is about. Once the very first few cohorts get to four children, we can survey them to find out if continued living communally was of interest to them; if it is, this will direct us to build the new building.

With respect to construction, I had the idea that the structure and the envelope and the first five two bedroom condos can be built at the start of the construction all together, but then a small construction team can be hired long term to build all of the remaining units one at a time for the entire building as our population grows.

For the pool I had the idea that once it is opened, I would hire a lifeguard to provide mom (or dad) and baby pool sessions. Then, once the kids are aged 3 or 4, start giving them weekly lessons. Once the oldest kids are aged 6 or 7 start having a free swim period and now hire two or three lifeguards to watch the pool. Eventually, teach all of the children not only the full swim lesson suite, but get all children (perhaps with the exception of any that are handicapped or willfully dislike the idea) to go through the certification necessary to make them lifeguards, so that not only can we start to hire them inside our pool in our building, but, they can get jobs outside of the building as lifeguards.

Once I am sufficiently advanced in this, and can show how effective my plan is to increase the birth rate, I can do two things. First I would contact the provincial government, present to them the findings from my program, and find out if they can help subsidize this program to help to expand it. Second, I would start a charitable foundation to accept donations from other individuals or corporations to as to promote this pro-natal program.

Then, I can expand this program to other cities in Canada with an ultimate goal of having 5000+ births per year. In 2022 there were 351,679 babies born in Canada, in 2023 it was 351,477, so adding 5000+ births would be a 1.4% increase in births which would indeed have a measurable impact on the national birth rate.

plaid rug under the carpet

A twig, a ranch hand and an 8x13 envelope crossed the train tracks (two pair owned by CN Rail), like a 

Unknown by anyone who doesn't read this post, 29c isn't the best time of day to lick a ceiling panel

It was such a great day to experience 15h21, that it jumped up and down like a

Incomplete the sentences, like it isn't, or it may not kept to have been undone.

+2 or +4

Further thoughts; for those who stick around at the end of the first session, and who also have formed a couple, I would give the couple 100$ to help pay for the two dates they do and suggest that one of them pays the balance for date #1 and the other pays the balance for date #2.

Once the winning couples have been chosen, I will have someone give them financial advice for things like budgeting, investments, TFSA, RRSP, RESP, Child Tax Benefit, etc.

+1 or +5

I watched a video yesterday about the population and/or birth rate decline that is showing most in Japan and South Korea, but that is happening in Western countries too, just like here in Canada.

So I had another idea if I was to win a big lottery jackpot to address this, at least here in my city.

I would post a notice somehow at CEGEPs looking for young women aged 17 or 18 who are uncertain about their future, but want to have children and would consider being a home maker. I would suggest she discuss with her family.

I would somehow try to reach men aged 24-25, who are safely employed, and who though may not feel they are ready, but do want to have a family someday. I am less certain about how to reach these.

I would pick a date and a venue and then do a presentation. The presentation would first explain Canada's dropping birth rate, and use Japan as the extreme example of what could eventually happen. Then I would explain that there are four spots available for couples to be formed to give them a big boost towards starting a big family, including assistance to buy first property and subsequent support.

At this point I would offer for anyone, now that they know what this is about, if they want to leave, they are welcome to leave. Then, I would have one or two ice breaker games to get the people to start to get to know each other, then I would have tables and chairs set up, in groups of four with two men and two women, they would take turns answering questions about each other. After 15 minutes, each person moves around to join a new four person group.

After 75 minutes of this it would be free for all with food and drinks, no alcohol so that these young adults are entering this with clear heads. I would encourage potential couples to exchange contact information and to schedule two subsequent dates. I would have a staff member take down their information as they leave. The staff member would also give them a questionnaire for them to take with them - it will have questions to let them focus their thoughts on what their new future could look like.

For those couples who complete the two dates - they send photos to me that are date stamped and at two different venues, we'll have another event at a smaller venue.

Now a more detailed presentation - if selected, my real estate agent will work with them, for them to choose a two bedroom condo; I will pay 50-80% of the price of the condo (depending on the price) and the employed man is to take a mortgage to pay the rest. I will let them know that there are four spots available for me to assist them to start their family and provide to them the notary prepared contract that they are to review. I will set a deadline for applications to be entered in, perhaps a few months later, to give these couples more time to get to know each other. Unbeknownst to them, if any woman in these couples is already pregnant at the deadline, she and her guy automatically become one of the couples that 'win' this opportunity. Some method of determination will be used to choose the other couples.

The union of the couple will be for a duration of 10 years with options to renew every 5 years after that.

As a couple they are expected to start their family with their first born within the first year of when they sign the agreement and to have at least three additional children.

The young man is expected to keep his job, to work hard, try to improve and to be there for the family.

The young woman is to take care of and raise the children, take care of feeding everyone in the family and be supportive. If she does not already know how to cook and clean and care for a home and a family, it will be up to her to take this on, but I will have someone provide assistance.

Of course, respect, honesty, loyalty and other aspects of a successful union will be important, and so I will have a marriage counselor prepare a multi week package to meet with these young couples to help them through the early months of their marriage.

The family will have their first two children in the condo they start in, once the second child is born, and when she is pregnant for the third, I will have my real estate agent work with the family to find them a bigger home where again I will assist with the funding. I will keep the condo for a subsequent cohort where their choice of where to live now becomes limited to the condos I already own, but to their advantage, I will ask them only for a nominal monthly fee.

After four years in the program I would provide the contact information of everyone in a cohort for them to meet with each other and to trade experiences. I would also have one or more of the women become 'big sisters' to new cohort women and have one or more of the men become 'big brothers' of the new cohort men.

So each year a new cohort will come in, and with each year I will offer temp employment to the young men and women who have already succeeded in the program to assist in the running the events and to give their own presentation as to how it has gone.

At the 10 year mark I will work with the notary to confer ownership of the house they bought to be fully owned by the family and with a marriage counselor find out if they are doing the five year renew. Going forward from there, the family has graduated from the program and have no more requirements to be big sister or big brother or help at presentations.

I have had the thought that I would need to consider what happens if the union dissolves within that 10 year period and I haven't been able to come up with a proper solution for this.

When I was 24 or 25yo, I would have definitely considered doing this signing up for this.

yes, subterranean

A few more ideas about the subterranean music venue from the previous post.

The stage where the band performs at the floor level of the cylinder will rotate at a very slow rate, so that the band faces everyone as it spins around.

The whole decor will be Tron based, even to the point of seeing if it is possible to have a uniform that the servers wear that have light strips on their sleeves, along the sides of their body and down their legs on each side of their body. A bonus feature would be if the light strip colour could be changeable and change in the same way that the light decor within the venue changes. We would used a standardized portable battery of which we buy 100 so that some are charging while others are in use.

Beneath the stage will be a service area to maintain the stage rotation system and for any wiring to get from the musicians to the audio control booth. The audio control booth will be on the first balcony above the stage.

Beneath the service area will be an extremely large cistern to catch any rain water or any water ingress. Anywhere that water could potentially get it, it will be directed to enter the cistern. Especially during our more extreme rain storms there is this risk; so I would have the cistern large enough that it can continue to accumulate during a major rain storm, and then, once the storm has well passed, the water there can be pumped up and out into a storm drain at a controlled rate.

I would aim the size of the venue to have a 500 guest capacity, with 50 servers and the band members. A further thought I had was to have an entry that is recessed into the commercial building but quite a distance, perhaps 12m. For the length of that passage, have a transition from a standard commercial decor to the Tron decor. On the wall where the elevator is, have a vertical strip of lights to the left and right of the door that light up in a vertical growing fashion (from bottom to top) if the elevator rises up to that level, is fully lit when the elevator is at the level, and the lit lights go out gradually downwards as the elevator descends.

Inside the elevators, have again vertical strips of lights, perhaps two on the far left and right side of the front and back wall of the elevator. Have a 10cm off 10cm on pattern of lights move in an upward direction as the elevator descends, and downward as it ascends and stay still when the elevator is stopped.

buried but not

The city of Montreal is proposing a new city law that manages sound levels from venues that have music shows. There is a movement against this as many of these venues have been around for decades and it is the result of NIMBYs who move in the vicinity who make complaints.

The city shouldn't be caving in to these complaints; the people who complain decided to move into that venue's vicinity, they have the option to move away.

My idea for this post is to create a subterranean music venue where the entry is on some downtown street occupying just the doorway size cropping of an existing commercial location that has a minimal beneath building occupation.

At street level we would cut out a rectangle to begin digging straight down at the street, propping up all sides so as to support the existing structures surrounding the dig site. Once we get maybe 15m deep, or, 10m below the lowest point of the building we are building beneath, start digging laterally to end up beneath the building. My idea is to have a dodecagonal cylinder where the exterior is welded in place such that these steel structures fulfill the role of structure and form. Have the center of the column empty and open to the air, have the music stage at the center at floor level of the music venue. Perhaps have a swelling out at the base of the cylinder to allow for more guests at the same level as the performers. Have two or three balcony levels that are around the perimeter of the dodecagon with seats or standing places right at the edge (of course with a protective barrier to prevent falling) so that guests can look down to see the band. Have on each floor a small bar that serves drinks with servers. Have an elevator that goes from street level to each of the levels. On the dodecagon, opposite the side of the elevator, have an emergency stair case that ends up at an emergency exit at the surface.

I would hire an acoustic engineer and/or technician to design the sound system that bands can plug into such that the sound quality is good at all levels of the venue. Similarly I would have a light designer/engineer to manage the lights to see the bands. Next, I could have reasonably large screens at the upper levels that show the performance down below.

By having this music venue subterranean there ought not to be noise complaints.

Maybe have the sound crew make it so that the volume is loudest at the level of the band, somewhat less loud on the first balcony above it, and further less loud as we progress closer to the surface. 

bah, like what the word would type

Advice I would give..

to any male person older than puberty and younger than within the last year of their life:

do not complain about being hungry, thirsty or tired, or feeling cold or hot. Ever. You can be hungry, thirsty, tired, cold or hot, for sure, and you can certainly feel that way, but complaining about it will not serve you.

Do be concerned about the women, children and elderly in your life and in your surroundings and if any of them feel hungry, thirsty, tired, cold or hot and see to their comfort as and when it is possible to do so.

to any YouTube creator:

do not at the beginning, at the end, or at any time, ask for subscriptions, likes, comments or Patreon. Constantly hearing from various creators that doing so 'will help the YouTube algorithm' or will help the creator themselves is useless, YouTube viewers already know this and will do it if they are so inclined.

Do thank the viewer for having watched your video at the tail end.

Anyhow, these are a few behaviour recommendations that I have thought about over the last few weeks and I thought I would put them down somewhere.

currency like a hammock

So Carney dropped the Digital Services Tax (DST) when the felon Cheeto Buffoon indicated trade talks would cease unless the DST was dropped. Though the pretty mouthpiece of the Frumpy said Canada 'caved in' to the demand; I don't see that Carney had a choice, in order for his trade team to continue engaging with the US trade team.

A few days later the felon posted a 35% tax, um, tariff,  on everything coming into the US from Canada; not indicating clearly if already cleared USMCA goods would be exempt. This is to take place on 1 August, unless a trade deal is done, and unless TACO happens again.

Once this announcement was made, my view on these matters flipped - previously I wanted Carney and his trade team to get the best deal possible with the USA under these difficult conditions. Now, I want us as a country to cut all trade with the US. I know this will be extremely difficult on thousands of Canadian  businesses, but we should accelerate not only trade deals with other countries (Mexico, Europe, UK, Asia, etc.) but get real contracts between Canadian businesses and those external country's businesses. Also, get going with the major projects within Canada to employ a lot of people that used to be in businesses with the USA.

The Orange Guy claimed again and again that they need nothing from Canada, so let's give them nothing. For things like electricity from Quebec and Ontario into the US, raise the prices in a predictable manner over the next few years until the prices are exorbitant. For lumber and critical minerals, treat preferably all of our non-US trade partners, and only sell to the US what remains at a high price. For the automotive industry, this is the trickiest one as the supply chain is so involved. Well, get Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and other foreign car companies with the exclusion of China, to have vehicles built in Canada for the Canadian market and gradually ween ourself off American manufacturers. Oil will be the most difficult one, as presently Alberta oil goes through the US to then eventually come back up again into Ontario. For this I see no other choice but to build an east-west pipeline.

And finally, we need to get immigration, housing, social services (education and health) on a plan to ramp up all of this; if we can grow our population in an accelerated way by way of pragmatic and smart planning, this is another way that our economy can grow that will make our market desirable to trade in by all of our non-US trade partners.

Do not forget your wrist watch at home

How many Spiderman movies are there? Three? Six?

How many octagons are there? More or less than Spiderman movies?

If I tied my shoes tightly enough, I am certain that they would be sufficiently tight.

That's about it.

Canada Day

Nothing more patriotic than a flag.

Nothing better than a nemesis to bring people together, though, with an exception of right-wing separatists out west.

That the felon Cheeto Buffoon should threaten us with a levity version of an extra state; American population meanwhile have his Big Beautiful Bill which will wreck Medicare and food stamps while giving tax cuts to the top income quintile.

In other news Israeli army keep shooting Palestinians who are simply queueing up, perhaps not orderly, but nonetheless, simply queueing up for delivery of desperately needed food and aid.

Oh well, we'll see what happens at next year's Canada Day.

Serendipity like a loose lozenge

Well, the days are getting shorter now. Not in terms of their actual length, but in terms of the number of daylight hours and minutes. Having passed the solstice just a few days ago we're already on our way to the shortest day; and, winter.

It isn't common to talk about winter near the end of June (in the northern hemisphere), but then, since no one is reading this, does it matter?

Hopefully June 26th will be at least as exciting as June 25th will have been.

Send forth the goop

Yesterday I went with my dad to visit with my mom who has end stage frontotemporal dementia, we arrived with her in the meal room, her lunch soon arrived, and we helped feed her as her coordination allowed for her to have the fork or spoon with food loaded arrive correctly at her mouth perhaps only one out of every five attempts.

The room had many elderly in various stages of inability, some who could feed themselves correctly, some who couldn't, with both staff and volunteers there to help those in need.

I could not help but get the feeling that this was just a place where people get fed, get cleaned up after they pee or poo, get wheeled in and out of their rooms and do various activities that people like my mom at end stage dementia can hardly be fully aware of what is going on, all with the ultimate purpose of doing what can be done before death.

I will need to eventually discuss this with my children, but as I am divorced and have no significant other, I am leaning towards, for myself, using Quebec's advance notification for MAID. I will just need to determine what is the specific condition where the trigger is pulled at the time that I am first diagnosed with dementia, presuming this happens at the end.

This isn't particularly Catholic or Christian of me to consider this, but as hurtful as it may sound, I see no value in continuing my existence if whoever I am now disappears leaving only my body to operate.

I do not know how much longer blogger.com will continue, but my plan is to write a bunch of future posts that I pre-post such that they come out piecemeal over the coming years. I will continue doing this right up to the end so that my blog will persist for who knows how long after I have passed.

top mop

There isn't much to be said about lozenges on a day like this.

So, Russia and Ukraine are at war due to Russia, Israel is committing a genocide against Palestine, Israel and Iran are at war, Haiti, Syria and Sudan are failed states with every day violence.

The G7 are in the midst of meeting here in Canada, and while the felon Cheeto Buffoon did arrive for the start of the conference, he left at the end of the first day to react to the escalating fight between Israel and Iran. His departure leaves a big hole in their conference, as he, when present, occupies way more space than he physically occupies.

I haven't made use of any kind of lozenge in many months.

The Quebec Liberal Party elected their leader this past weekend, his name is Pablo Rodriguez. Previously he had been a minister in Justin Trudeau's federal liberal party. He will have many different priorities as he tries to grow the membership, but what is top of mind to me at the moment is that the provincial government needs to provide new structural funding to public transit agencies across the province, but especially in Montreal for the operations bucket.

travel too far, or

a label maker, a pistol squat and trustworthiness walk into a bar.

an anchor hitch knot, a hypnotist and an Instagram post walk into a bar.

The trustworthy hypnotist used the label maker to create a label that describes what a pistol squat is and then posted this to Insta from the bar.

twist and crouch

I have been watching youtube channels that talk about male loneliness, and especially in younger men (of which I am not one). From it, one of the many things I have learned was about dating apps, how women on many dating apps get a match about one out of two positive swipes, while men get a match about one out of 40 positive swipes.

I created a free Bumble account to see how this would play out. I did get a match at about the rate of one out of 40 and met the woman this past Saturday. I did not find her particularly attractive, but we had chatted for many days and I wanted to meet her in person so as to practice the social interaction. 

Subsequently we both agreed we would not pursue a relationship. I then deleted my Bumble account. I found that most of the women I had been attracted to were 6-10 years younger than me and very or moderately pretty. Of the men they would see, I think it would take 1000 swipes for me before any of such women to select me, if even any would do so. I am not too bothered by this; I already managed to have had a marriage, have children, and have seen them more or less flourish. Being divorced and single now isn't great, but it isn't terrible either.

book took shook soup

So the meeting yesterday defined some criteria for projects, rather than specifying projects themselves. Each premier yesterday had to come with five projects that would be 'nation building'. At the end they all agreed on these criteria:

• Strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience, and security.
• Offer undeniable benefits to Canada and support economic growth.
• Have a high likelihood of successful execution.
• Are a high priority for Indigenous leaders.
• Have clean growth potential, such as the use of clean technologies and sustainable practices.

So in addition to what I posted yesterday about projects that I would like to see, another one I would add is to have the Government of Canada along with First Nations place a standing order for SMRs such that every remote indigenous community can have an SMR to replace their diesel power source. I would ask the Canadian government's nuclear approval team work faster to approve the SMRs and then open them up to foreign markets. In this way sales to other countries can help the manufacturing of these to become more streamlined to lower their costs. If we can mass produce SMRs we can be a leading supplier of them globally.

chicken without the horn

Terrible forest fires across the northern half of the prairie provinces. Makes me wonder how a methane pipeline to Churchill from Fort Mac would work - it would pass through exactly where all of these forest fires are.

There is a first ministers meeting happening in Saskatoon presently; each provincial and territorial leader is to present up to five nation building projects to propose. Then, PM Carney and all of the leaders will come to a decision as to which 2-5 of these will get selected to begin ASAP.

For me the important ones are to electricity intertie Quebec and Ontario, and, to accelerate the high speed rail project. Well, for Canadian Unity I would also propose the pipeline from northern Alberta to Hudson Bay so that we can ship LNG from there to Europe. As a Climate Change supporting person I am against any progress of fossil fuels, but at this time in Canada, I feel that Canadian unity trumps the need for addressing climate change in such a way that prevents a pipeline from being built.

I had ChatGPT help me with this next part - Hudson Bay ices over every winter to a 1 to 2m thickness which is difficult for ice breakers. So, if we use an ice breaker only during the shoulder seasons to allow for an expanded shipping period, during the four winter months tanks built at the Churchill LNG port can store a reduced flow of methane from Alberta, and then those tanks can be emptied into the LNG ships for shipment to Europe when the shipping season starts.

I also read about building a pipeline at around 58.75N latitude, not an easy project at all to make it both fireproof, and, to have it cross thousands of lakes, both small and big.

Royally spun

King Charles is here in Canada on invitation from PM Mark Carney so as to deliver the Speech from the Throne, a document spelling out the priorities of the government written by the PMO that Charles will simply read. The King will likely also introduce his own remarks that many of us are curious to know what he will say given the current geopolitical situation.

Some vociferous Quebecois are upset about the King being here, and about having a King at all in 2025. I don't feel strongly about having a monarchy; having a King changes nothing in my day to day existence. Even in our government having the King has no impact, he, or the governor general in his place, serve simply as a procedural placeholder.

That it isn't write or gong

So the bee's knees, the brought cot and the slimy fondu.

The death knell, the kite flung and the beer tossed.

The profile file, the filler donut, doughnut, knut.

Camping, skiing, dancing.

Looking up when you ought to have smelled left

Back in 2019 it was purported that climate change would wreak havoc with 2030 as a pretty hard deadline. Greta Thunberg had already spent a year and more since she began her student strike for the climate.

There were rallies and protests and marches and it was not at all clear at that time that governments, media or techno-moguls would do anything aggressive enough to prevent the global climate crisis from developing into very serious consequences for humanity.

It was about that time that I started thinking about getting rid of my car, having already decided to walk whenever possible, pushing the boundary of what is possible.

shout, twist and come on

You know you look so good
You know you got me goin' now
Just like I know you would

boat coat float soak

Yes, so a federal election has begun, here is what happened at the last election in my riding:

Given the big lead the Liberal had in 2021, it is highly likely he will win again, which is what my preference is.

The felon Cheeto Buffoon is having an impact on our election, one of the biggest election questions is which political leader is best suited to face up to the buffoon. The Liberal Party of Canada leader, Mark Carney, is who I see as being best at this.

Pi Pie pie pye

3.14159265358979323846264

In elementary school when I first learned about pi to calculate the circumference or area of a circle I generally stuck with 3.14.

Later on, I always used 3.14159. I felt that five decimal places was sufficient for the amount of accuracy that I would ever need.

Knowing pi to the twenty-third decimal places seems to me to be excessive and not particularly useful.

yep dep sep klept

So today is the day (well, yesterday since I started this post yesterday but didn't submit it until today), the felon Cheeto Buffoon starts the 25% tariff across all Canada and Mexico imports into the US with the exception of oil from Canada which is tariffed at 10%.

Canada introduced ~30B$ of retaliatory tariffs to take effect immediately. There is significant agreement among the politicians as to what to do, but I am uncertain if I agree to all of what is being suggested.

Retaliatory tariffs only have the impact of increasing prices of imports from the US here into Canada. Instead of doing that; simply stop buying as much as possible, US products. Already all of the alcohol stores across the country are removing or have already removed all US produced alcoholic drinks. An example of this, the LCBO is the biggest purchaser of Kentucky bourbon; so by stopping to buy this, will have an effect.

By having all levels of government do their procurement to the exclusion of US companies is another way to punish the American electorate for what their leader is doing.

Fortunately for me my job is in tech support to Canadian customers, so my job is not in jeopardy. I also have no major expense over the foreseeable future and so I will only see any increases in certain groceries. Others are not so fortunate with some job losses already having taken place; I hope that any funds raised during the retaliatory tariffs here in Canada can help those whose jobs are lost due to this fiasco. 

Well, then

A box, an isotope and a laundry hamper go water skiing. The driver of the boat with the engine that pulls them along had already drunk six servings of Jack Daniels and was in no condition to clearly monitors the water skiers he was dragging behind him. Fortunately, the box disintregated shortly, the isotope was not visibile and the landry hamper bounced around involuntarily but safely, so the driver didn't have anything to worry about until he crashed his boat into the pier at high speed.

that it wasn't

 sooo, if the sky isn't

when, that the floor

why, slouch the gruff

band - yep;

sloooooowwwww up? or is that kite?

breakfast cereal without telemetry

Amazon closing all warehouses and distribution centers in Quebec. This likely because one of the seven of them had workers who decided to become unionized and were in the process of negotiating their first contract. Now anyone in Quebec who orders Amazon will have to get trucked in from the nearest Ontario distribution center causing a lot more traffic from that location to various places across Quebec.

Trump more and more insistent on applying a 25% across the board tariff on Canadian goods going into the US. The latest update is that it could happen as soon as 1 Feb. I've been seeing news articles that this ought to jump start changes in Canada to allow for improved inter-provincial trade and to drive innovation to have more manufacturing here. Of course, the government here will put retaliatory tariffs on US imports into Canada, so some things here will become more expensive for consumers.

A saber toothed tiger and a nematode played speed chess together. The witnesses were amazed.

I had a dream this morning that I was making a really good choice. That's good. Of course, it would have been helpful if I could remember what the choice was.

The Canada Supreme Court decided to take on Quebec's Bill 21, which is a law the CAQ introduced that prohibits the wearing or religious symbols for public work jobs that face the public, so for teachers and nurses and so on. It is in essence a discriminatory xenophobic anti-Islamic law to prevent women who wear hijabs from being teachers. The CAQ is mostly propped up by rural and distant parts of the province who never see people like these Islamic women teachers, but in cities like Montreal, where I live, where the CAQ has no representation, there are a fair number and none of us Montrealais have any such prejudice (well, at least not in a majority). I hope the Supreme Court strikes down this law as a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Well, that is a short summary of what is going on at the moment.

Fifth anniversary

It was on this day five years ago that Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist of RUSH died after having suffered brain cancer for three years.

RUSH music definitely holds a place in my heart.

Thoracic Jurassic

Who would have guessed that this would be the very first day of a year that as a number is not a prime number?

I did not stay awake last night to witness the changing from the previous year to the current year; I was content to witness that as I awoke this morning.

My plans for this year are as yet vague, certainly for the first few months there is little that will change in terms of work, attending church regularly, having book group monthly, exercising regularly, writing blog posts and watching sports on TV.

I can still wish that for myself, and for the few readers of this blog, that we all have a pleasant next twelve months.

X cross

Get comfortable.

I watched this video over a year ago and this one more recently; both concern the idea of removing rail level crossings to improve the passenger rail traffic speed which can also raise the frequency.

So in the last day or so I had the idea of creating a company that does this. With the help of Chat GPT4.0 I got some refinements to my ideas and some answers to questions that troubled me about the idea.

The idea of the company is to have a majority of people on a salary, rather than on a per project, as there are hundreds of level crossings that need to be removed which could take 5+ years. Ideally we would get federal and provincial governments to kick in some of the funding, as well as the rail companies and municipalities.

In terms of staff we would have

• a project manager who would treat each level crossing we remove as a separate project, to oversee each one that it sticks to budget and timeline and coordinates between the various teams and liaises with stakeholders (the federal and provincial governments for funding)
• a geotechnical engineer to conduct soil testing and analysis to assess ground stability during excavation
• a structural engineer that specializes in the design of both temporary and permanent structures and ensures compliance with safety standards and load requirements
• an environmental consultant to assess environmental impacts and ensures compliance with environmental regulations, works with geotechnical engineer to plan for drainage systems
• Safety officer to implement and enforce workplace safety standards and conducts safety audits and safety training sessions for all employees both onsite and at the factory
• traffic management coordinator to develop and implement traffic management plans in coordination with the local municipality
• Community engagement specialist to communicate with local residents and businesses to address concerns and keep them informed, to handle public relations and manage complaints
• Rail operations coordinator to work directly with the rail company consultants to schedule rail closures to ensure minimal disruption
• Heavy machine mechanic to keep all of our heavy machinery in good working order and do all required maintenance
• Procurement specialist to manage the sourcing of supply of materials and equipment for both the factory and for on-site needs
• Survey team - conducts initial and ongoing site surveys to guide excavation, structural placement and alignment
• Crane and heavy equipment team to operate the cranes, hydraulic jacks and any heavy equipment
• QA/QC team to inspect completed work to ensure it meets design specs and regulatory standards
• Electric and Utility team to handle the relocation or adjustment of utilities
• Drainage and Erosion control team to install drainage systems and stabilize surrounding terrain to prevent erosion
• HR and Recruitment - to manage hiring, payroll, benefits and employee relations
• IT specialist to maintain digital infrastructure including design software, project management tools, communication systems and anything else
• Legal advisors to handle contracts, permits, regulatory compliance and advise on liability and risk management, to make contractual offers to rural land owners to close permanently any private level crossings
• Insurance specialist to assess and arrange needed insurance for equipment, workers and liability coverage
• Accountant to work out the accounting and reporting for the company
• Rail Signal Specialists to advise on rail signaling adjustments during and after crossing removal including the removal of the crossing signals
• Design consultants - assist with the adaptation of standard designs to unique site conditions and to provide 3D modeling and simulation as needed
• General Workers - broken up into different teams:
• Excavation team, with excavators, for any ground removal for example, doing an underpass under an elevated ground raised rail bed
• Temporary structure team; to create, put in place and remove any temporary structures, for example, to support the rail bed using a temporary system to then allow for digging and then for permanent structural components to be installed beneath the rail bed
• Construction team to put the new factory built permanent structural components into place
• Road and ground finishing team to pave the new road section and do any ground scaping work once the actual new structure that removed the level cross is complete
• Factory workers who build the standardized and non-standard structural components

Let us say that the very first level crossing we do is a pair of CN tracks that are flat and level with the surroundings. The project manager will have already enlisted funding from the different sources, 33% from the federal government, 33% from the provincial government and 34% from the rail company.

Then visiting the site will be:

• The surveyor team to get all of the required measurements to develop a plan
• the community engagement specialist will engage with the community around the level crossing,
• the designer, structural engineer, environmental assessor, traffic management consultant and the rail consultant will develop the plan for a bridge to go over the train tracks

After formulating a site and project plan for the bridge that will go over the train tracks:

1. The traffic management consultant and the project manager would coordinate with the local municipality to propose the level crossing project and to enlist their help to put in place a traffic management plan for the location, that the city will provide detour signs 
2. The road gets closed
3. The on-site office is placed, this is for the engineer, foremen and so on to have the plans, a desk and computer and anything needed
4. the road and ground team move in to destroy the road that is immediately adject to the train tracks and works with the rail operations coordinator to remove the crossing signals and the pavement that exists between and around the train tracks, this would require a short rail traffic  unavailable window
5. the construction team would install the standardized components that are delivered from the factory to put in the support structures on the North and South sides of the rail tracks and to create the up and down ramps on either side
6. Working with the rail operations coordinator, the crane crew will install the pre-fabbed span pieces that connect the supports that are already in place on the N and S sides, this will require a 4-8 hour window of rail traffic unavailability
7. The road and ground scape crew comes in to pave what is needed, ensure there is work done to manage drainage system and erosion control

The second level crossing removal we have is a pair of CP tracks on a raised ground elevated rail bed that is high enough that very little digging will need to be done beneath the tracks to have an appropriate height to pass beneath it. A slope up towards the crossing exists on both sides.

Once the traffic management consultant has finished developing and implementing the traffic management plan for the project 1 above, this consultant and the project manager can coordinate with the local municipality to propose this level crossing project and to enlist their help to put in place a traffic management plan for the location.

Once the site and project plan is done for project 1, the designer, structural engineer, environmental assessor, traffic management consultant and the rail consultant will develop the plans for the rail overpass that will now have the car and pedestrian traffic pass beneath. Some of these people will travel back and forth between project 1 and 2 as they are needed.

For project 2:

1. The traffic plan developed will get put into place and the road gets closed on both sides of this ground elevated rail bed
2. The excavation team will remove the slope material on both sides leaving and/or shoring up enough to keep the elevated rail beds sufficiently supported
3. The temporary structure team will, with the help of the excavation team, excavate what is needed to put support posts and put in the temporary structure which is made up of four support beams, on the left and right side of both the N and S sides which have a span beam secured to them at the top as close to the rail bed as possible
4. Dig near the rail bed as much as possible that can still maintain rail structural integrity in preparation for the rail traffic down time
5. close rail traffic, raise gently and by a small amount the rails, dig out from beneath them, put supporting cross braces that rest on and are secured to the temporary span beams, lower the rails, inspect and test the rails, open rail traffic
6. Fully excavate under the temporary structure, monitor frequently the temporary support structure to check for settlement or movement
7. once crane team is done with project 1 that team can come to project 2 to help move into place the standardized prefabricated support posts on the left and right side and the new span that goes beneath the rail bed
8. close rail traffic, raise gently and by a small amount the rails, remove the temporary support structure, and then lower the rails, inspect and test the rails, open rail traffic
9. The road finishing and ground scaping team, once finished from project #1 can come to project #2 and pave the new road passing underneath the train tracks

So as each project phase is reached, releasing the consultants and teams, they can move on to the subsequent project. Conceivably the project manager and the traffic management consultant will always be three to five projects ahead so as to have scheduled work available to every team in quick succession. By doing this over and over, each of the teams will gain more experience and find ways to improve efficiency, both to lower the total project time, and more importantly, to lessen the duration that rail traffic is interrupted. As a goal we would want to have a project completion time that is well under what can be reasonably estimated. Another goal would be to have any level crossing removal site idle as little as possible. This might include having certain teams work overtime at specific times; for example, if it is a large excavation compared to normal we might bring in an additional excavator and work much longer shifts.

The factory would be located in an industrial zone to receive cement either already formed in the shapes and sizes we need, or, we fabricate them into our own standardized shapes. Similarly, we would receive steel and either fabricate what we need, or receive what we need and modify it slightly as needed. The factory will also have a distribution organization to ship out to work sites the various components as they are needed.

In some cases the level crossing comes at an angle to the rail tracks, where possible, we would alter the road to now go below or above the rails at a 90 degree angle so as to facilitate the construction and to continue to use standardized structural components.

We would do our best to schedule any rail traffic stop durations to be as short as possible and at times where it would be least impactful to rail traffic, which includes overnight work.

As we move from level crossing to level crossing, wherever there is excavation required, we would contract with local excavation companies to have their dump trucks come and pick up all of the excavated material. The actual excavators themselves we will move from site to site. In special cases the excavated material from a rail over pass can be used to build up the slope to a road overpass over rails at a subsequent cross level removal project site.

And finally, as mentioned earlier in the law section, there are some private level crossings out in rural areas that join a farmer's two parcels of land. We would devote funds to buy out farmers in cases like this to have land exchanges done such that the need for that crossing is eliminated. Similarly, in some cases where two level crossings within a small town exist very near to each other, we would remove one of them altogether since the other will no longer be a crossing, but a bridge or rail overpass that makes crossing always possible.