But mostly this:

Turn out per cent: 33.36

Voter apathy pisses me off. 😡

I feel it's our old friend vote splitting again. Leiper and Saravanamuttoo both did very well - both candidates I considered, one I voted for.

Do-nothing phone-it-in incumbents swept councilor and school board in my ward. Suckcliffe for mayor again.

If you need me I'll be out screaming at the sky in the backyard.

#Ottawa #OttPoli

Thinking out loud time again.

Premise: "The same reasoning behind why Canada and all other non-US countries are focusing on digital sovereignty actually applies equally to the United States, also."

So you're the head of a US administration - do you really want somebody like Elon Musk deciding when or if you get data connectivity, based solely on their own personal ideology? Maybe Microsoft decides they don't like a regulation bill and your O365 access has suddenly been degraded? Sure there's legal recourse in the US, but they've got a lot of money and it could drag it out for years in the courts.

Likely more an issue for Democrats than Republicans, but truly it could be a problem with both given how often their right-wing fractures into ever-more-extreme cliques, usually centred around tech.

And it's not like billionaires have any fealty to any nation state; theirs is a nation of one.

Too much power in private hands is a threat to everybody.

See this is why I hate Mastodon. I woke up feeling tired and cranky, forced into a pointlessly early meeting on a pointless subject before my coffee even kicks in.

Then I come on here looking for a fight and all I see are smart people saying reasonable things.

Damn you all.

Feeling jaded today. Alberta referendum went pretty much as I thought it would. The entire 10 questions could have been rolled into one:

Do you want the government of Alberta to
A) remain racist within Canada, or
B) be racist as an annexed territory of the USA?

Media and federal politicians celebrating that the people chose option A.

My golden rule: Nationalize everything where the free markets don't serve us.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/ndp-calls-nationalize-stelco-9.7379251

And no, I didn't get the damn Obama cookies lol. The place was packed, mostly what looked like tourists looking for Obama cookies.

I spend so much time checking out new places that I forget how freaking' good the old favourites are.

Slice of mixed fruit tart from Le Moulin de Provence in the Byward Market. Everything in balance, not too sweet, nothing overpowering. Simple perfection.

#Ottawa #SupportLocal

RE: https://journa.host/@stevebenen/117412646429850762

Trump is literally an enemy combatant at this point.

How long before they start doing their public executions during football half-time shows, I wonder.

People! Stop going there!

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/canada-records-60-per-cent-spike-in-arrests-detentions-of-canadians-in-united-states/

I feel a lot of what holds Western governments back from confronting Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign has to do with:

First, a disconnect of governments being accountable to the people who elect them. They feel far more pressure from lobbyists and donors than they fear the wrath of their own voting base.

Second, fear of backlash from other Western governments.

To that second point, I see it like Twitter lock-in. They all hate it. They all don't want to be there and know it's wrong. But somebody has to make the first move, and the first person to move runs the risk of being cut-off from everybody else if nobody follows.

Note, Western governments still all use Twitter, too.

PostMedia opinion pages flip from calling for the death of NDP Leader Avi Lewis to promoting residential school denialism.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/sco-condemns-winnipeg-sun-mayoral-candidate-ceo-for-column-questioning-deaths-at-residential-schools-9.7369087

Why do we put up with them again? Something-something freedom?

Yay, the city gave me a sticker. Very cute, obviously drawn by a kid and I love this design so much!

I like how the arm and hand putting ballots into the ballot boxes can be mistaken for axes stuck into chopping blocks.

Or maybe that interpretation was just a reflection of how I voted today.

#Ottawa #OttPoli #JustVoteAlreadyDamnYou

We're a week away from the first special advanced polling dates for Ottawa municipal elections.

https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/elections/learn-more-about-municipal-elections/key-dates-2026-municipal-elections

C'mon people! Municipal elections are what affect us most directly but they always have the worst turnout. This is why we always end up with the most dysfunctional councils.

Turn up and vote! Help your friends and neighbours vote!

Here, I made this to inspire you, even.

#OttPoli #Ottawa

One connection I, personally at least, didn't see anybody making was that Trump's 'superintelligence' shtick was cribbed directly from OpenAI's marketing department. Sam Altman's been going on about that for at least a year now.

The most frightening thing to me about AI isn't the technology, it's the death cult around it, complete with the faithful, the heretics and the apostates - the incoming economic implosion and future ecological emergencies are their march to final judgement. Glory be!

These people are cultists, citing scripture.

I owe Denmark an apology.

Guys, I'm truly sorry for what I was thinking after seeing that orange fascist crowing about getting all he wanted in Greenland and then seeing the Dane delegation smiling and nodding along enthusiastically. Thankfully I never said anything publicly because I was waiting for details.

But I should have known the evil clown was desperately looking for the appearance of a win in the lead-up to the mid-terms and that the deal would be an empty sandwich. It should have been obvious given that I counted no fewer than 20 outright lies elsewhere in his words, and probably missed 20 more.

In solidarity.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-greenland-denmark-9.7353817

"It is equally unacceptable that with all genuine atrocities in the world, the UN human rights officials still spend their time criticizing the United States from [sic] protecting our children from transgender mutilatization [sic] and transgender insanity."

The ICC: "They are an evil group of people. I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution."