TBH my guy, while OP’s comment was a non-sequitur and there is a lot of value to posting articles like this and making sure people are aware and stay vigilant of antisemitism and other issues within our own borders, your post history is kinda sus. Like, 90% reasonable and then 10% weirdly pro Russia/China.

The human propensity for ignorance should never be underestimated; I can also see the possibility (to use an example product from the antihate article) someone somehow stumbled into buying shotglasses with norse runes on them because they thought they were cool, not realizing the broader context of the site. Is that likely? No, but again, people are really good at doing dumb shit. :P

It feels like every time I go on the internet, I get reminded I need to be very explicit about what I’m saying. (Or develop a thicker skin. :P) Apologies if I sounded dismissive, I was just trying to say that I don’t know exactly how it was approved as I haven’t done the research to know, but that wasn’t surprised it had been, given the overarching issue with medical studies from the last century failing to be replicated. I’m not trying to imply that I’ll somehow dig up the absolute truth of the situation that was previously unknown, I just know I’m making a statement with incomplete information.

Eh… I’d need to look into this specific one more, and it’s a bit weirder than ‘normal’ given this is a drug for a common physiological symptom, but there was a lot of bad medical science done from roughly WWI to the turn of the millennium that nonetheless still underpins some of our commonly available medicines. Clinical psych has it especially bad, but the replication crisis is a problem everywhere.

If you want Canadian but about nerdy things instead of politics, LoadingReadyRun (Victoria BC) has a few, some actual-play tabletop stuff, some Magic the Gathering, some sketch and improv comedy (although they haven’t made a new one of those in a while, sadly), etc.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but I think perhaps you misread what I said (or I communicated poorly). I’m speaking about the funding incentive to purchase a heat pump. The carbon tax rebates, as you say, are designed to break even by or better for the majority of the population; I’ve got no issues with that. I was responding to the implication that a transition to electricity was trivial because households could purchase a heat pump for little to no cost. There are households for which the energy costs of resistive heating+heat pump are likely higher than their current heating costs, making this not the case. (Unless there are further rebates I don’t know about for people who have a heat pump, beyond covering initial costs?)

That is a true statistic, yes. Without a ton of relevance to the discussion at hand unfortunately. Most of Scandinavia is coastal, and while cold compared to the rest of Europe, has quite mild winters compared to the northern Canadian interior. Additionally, popular in this context is about a 50% adoption rate by household, without much information (that I can find, at least) on distrobution; I suspect most of those are in southern and costal areas, and the (less populated) northern interior primarily relies on other heating methods.

While not representing a majority of Canadians, there are people living in regions that get regularly cold enough for heat pumps to be inadequate. Which means running a standard electric furnace (expensive and inefficient) during the coldest months of the year. Which… is not ideal, especially for lower-income rural persons. (IE, most people living in these regions of Canada.)

The rebate is great, but there are persons for whom it is insufficient.

Do I think that’s a good reason to remove the carbon tax from heating fuels? No, not really. (Assuming I understand how the tax works, it really isn’t the burden people expect it to be. (You can debate about inefficiencies, but as far as manipulating economics to incentivize transfer away from fossil fuels without harming the general public, it’s reasonably sound.)) But people do have legitimate concerns that shouldn’t be trivially dismissed.

Whoof. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but damn. “Yeah, we made 9 bil in profit last year, but we’re too focused on the long term and transitioning away from energy sources that are actively reducing the habitabilty of our planet.” Do you fucking hear yourself speak? As-is, if we manage to get things under control before literally rendering huge swaths of the world unlivable within the next century, it’ll be near a goddamn miracle. I understand the need for a smooth transition and the capital to support green initiatives*, and that practically we will need at least some amount of oil for decades yet. Nothing here though gives me any confidence this is anything but a move to maximize shareholder returns.

(*as much as free-market solutions to problems related to common goods (like our goddamn climate) fundementally offend me, due to inherent inefficiency and misaligned incentives, an inefficient response is still better than waiting until we can fundementally restructure society >>)

Clearly, I need to find a Dane to get in a fight with. I could use a drink. :P

Yup. Until our technology and biological knowledge reaches the point where we can stop using (metaphorical) chainsaws and start using scalpels, everything is a tradeoff that’s going to vary greatly by individual. Personally, the only side effect I’ve noticed from my meds (diagnosed as a child, didn’t take medications for it until more recently), is appetite supression, and aside from a couple blood sugar crashes before realizing working out on an empty stomach was a dumb idea, I’ve seen no ill effects. On the other hand, a good friend of mine on the same medication experienced heightened anxiety and tachycardia. /shurg

There’s perhaps an argument to be made that the current state of healthcare leaves clinicians unable to provide the needed followup care and medication adjustment, but then the issue isn’t the use of medication, so much as the burden on physicians. /shurg

Eh, common knowledge if (and only if) you are someone chronically online and in the habit of trying to understand current events. :P

That said, rage bait is a bit harsh; while I’m not sure there’s much to be done (the calls to deport geriatrics into an active warzone are… a little silly, even if we can prove these people to be war criminals), there are questions worth asking wrt to the circumstances and legitimacy of the rulings and descisions around both their post war status and entrance to Canada. Some acknowledgement and reckoning with some of the questionable actions taken as a nation in the aftermath of WWII is likely past due. /shurg

Well done Scotland, now it’s Britain’s turn. :P (To much to hope, I know. :P)

The dude’s damn near a centenarian. Even if someone in government goes through the effort to circumvent protocol and allow the extradition of someone who has not (and likely can not, at this point) been able to be convicted of anything, even odds he passes away before the standard bureaucracy is done.

Similar the Conservative effort to pin blame directly on the Prime Minister instead of the House Speaker, this feels less like a genuine response to this really shitty thing that happened, and more like an attempt to use the situation to score political points. /shurg

Yeah. This is a major gaffe. I’ve seen the odd post villanizing this dude in particular, which I’m not sure is called for. (I don’t know it’s not, but I’m hesitant to yell at a 90 year old over what uniform they wore when they were younger than I am now.) Regardless of who the dude is or was though, it’s a bad look, and they do deserve to be called out on the eminently stupid oversight to not to the bare minimum of research before choosing someone to bring in.

They’re all over Youtube. Especially the shorts. I’ve given up on trying to report them, at this point, it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Started noticing them a month or two ago.

I find it curious, sometimes (not a direct comment on anything here, just reminded my of an observation I often have, when foriegn interference is a topic) how amero-centric we tend to be. If a forign country is going to interfere, nine times out of ten it’s going to be about ensuring their own wealth and power. Political party and ideology doesn’t matter, it’s about who they figure they can sweet talk into a better deal. Am I a little surprised Beijing figures that’s the Liberals and not the Conservatives? Yes. But only a little. :P It tracks either way. :P

The Royal Tyrell is a great stop, I remember going there when I was about that age to visit my great grandmother. The Alberta badlands in general are neat, worth stoping by some hoodoos or other similar formations if you get the chance.

As far as other stuff goes:

The Fraser River and Hell’s Gate in particular is worth a stop, when you get to BC. (Also a good menory from that trip.)

And while (as an Ontarian) I fully understand the desire to drive though the province as fast as possible, there are lots of great scenic spots in the western half of the province, along Huron and Superior. (As you get into the Sudbury>Thunder Bay stretch, in particular.) There are also some beautiful spots more in my neck of the woods (Thunder Bay>Manitoba border stretch) but by and large those are further from the highway and more of a trek to visit. :P

Layoffs happen, stock goes up, bonuses go out, services suffer; while profits stay basically the same, because the other options are doing the same thing, and we no longer live in a world where these services are optional. Such is the cycle of modern capitalism. >>

“Responsible, targeted” ah yes, because cutting spending below projections in literally all sectors during economic turmoil and high inflation is either of those things.