N Taylor

Boring aging white guy pretending to know something about meteorology & decision support, food & cooking, guitar & music. Go Oilers. Opinions my own.

[Jeromy (Pathfinder) Farkas @JeromyYYC]

It's time to cut through the bullshit about the Cowboys tent. Stampede succeeds because Calgarians welcome millions of people into our city. That goodwill matters. A few operators do not get to treat neighbours like garbage and damage the reputation of an event that belongs to all of us.

By now you've seen the coordinated smear campaign from out-of-town politicians. They think you're stupid and want you to believe that we're somehow cancelling Stampede by asking the big tents to use the same rules in place at Coachella, Lollapooloza and all the other world class festivals.

That's the first piece of bullshit. We're not talking about Stampede at all. We're talking about a few off-site tents that have been treating their neighbors like garbage.

Here's the truth. In the last few years, the tents were given a special exemption way above and beyond what was in place up until about 2019. People living near these tents were told to call 311 and wait. Their windows shook and broke. Their shelves rattled. Music ran on weeknights until 2 or 3 a.m. They dealt with property damage, public disorder, and excessive intoxication outside their homes.

Thousands of Calgarians raised their concerns. And just like when we repealed blanket rezoning, the city chose to listen to the people rather than answer to the money.

The second piece of bullshit is that Calgary's rules suck compared to everywhere else. In fact, the changes are modest. There's no change on weekends. But on weeknights, concerts now need to wrap up by 1230am. Even with this change, it means that Calgary still allows outdoor music later than anywhere else in North America.

The third piece of bullshit is that this was done last minute. This wasn't a last minute change. The big tents knew in February that their exemption was under review. Cowboys was told again in May. Their exemption depended on managing noise, safety, and impacts on nearby residents. They did not meet that standard.

But what isn't bullshit is that as your mayor I'm fighting for you. I want you to know that a permit is not a licence to bully a neighbourhood. It is not a profit guarantee. I was elected to stand up for Calgarians, not to take orders from wealthy donors, lobbyists, or politicians protecting their friends.

I am more than happy to seek compromise and work with operators who respect Calgarians. But I answer to the nurse on an early shift, the parent getting kids ready for school, and the worker who needs sleep.

So no. We are not cancelling Stampede. We are protecting it. Stampede succeeds because Calgarians welcome millions of people into our city. That goodwill matters. A few operators do not get to damage the reputation of an event that belongs to all of us.

If you want to do business in Calgary, respect the people who live next door.

[TheRealThelmaJohnson @TheRealThelmaJ1]

I fixed the new Trump $250 bill

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016, and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic and depraved he is.
I don’t wonder anymore. I think he won for that exact reason. Because he carried at least one broken shard to reflect the broken shards in millions of others.
If you’re a racist, you found your guy. If you’re a misogynist, you found your guy. If money is your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart is armored shut, you found your guy. If you mock the disabled, you found your guy. If intelligence makes you insecure, you found your guy. If you’re a sexual predator, you found your guy. If you trade in humiliation and conspiracy and filth, you found your guy.
If you’ve never done a single hour of emotional inventory, you found your guy. If you cheat, stiff contractors, bankrupt your obligations, and call it savvy, you found your guy. If you lie as easily as you breathe, you found your guy. If cruelty feels like strength, you found your guy. If white grievance is your comfort food, you found your guy. If your ego is a black hole no title can fill, you found your guy. If warmongering fuels your ego, you found your guy, If empathy feels like weakness and dominance feels like oxygen, you found your guy.
If he’d only carried one or two of these pathologies, he might have been dismissed as just another loud, damaged man. But he carried a buffet of them. That was the appeal. Millions could locate themselves somewhere in the wreckage. They didn’t have to agree with all of it. They just had to recognize a piece of themselves in it.
It was never really about him. It was about the validation. The absolution. The permission. He didn’t invent the resentment; he amplified it. He didn’t create the cruelty; he normalized it. He gave millions the intoxicating relief of hearing their ugliest impulses echoed back at rally volume.
Trump is a symptom. The deeper illness is collective. If there’s one sentence that defines his power, it’s this: “He says the things I’m thinking.”
And that’s the part that should chill us.
Because what does it say about us that so many were thinking those things? That tens of millions of Americans harbored resentments so deep, so seething, that they were simply waiting for a demagogue to baptize them as virtue? That after decades of supposed progress on race, gender, and equality, so many white men felt so threatened, so displaced, so furious, that cruelty became a political platform?
Maybe we were living in a fool’s paradise, mistaking silence for healing, politeness for progress.
Now the mask is off. Now we know.
And knowing is a far more dangerous place to stand.
– Michael Jochum, Not Just a Drummer: Reflections on Art, Politics, Dogs, and the Human Condition.

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

@TSGainer @Sportsnet @ByRobertMurray 😂

[Jo @JoJoFromJerz]

It’s the year 2025 and Americans have to watch a bootlegged international version of a news program because it was censored here in our country to protect a criminal president.

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

@pdmcleod I am living this frustration as well

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

@VinceMancini Would have been nice if it had an ending

[Dominic Beaudry @DhkBeau]

In Ojibwe our word for blue jay is gwiingwiish (pronounced gweeng-gweesh). Haida art by Glen Rabena.

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

@rose2d2 Congratulations Rose! Great news 👍🏻🇨🇦

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

@theBurlyChef An Edmontonian but have enjoyed Bonterra and Alloy.

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

@BadWeatherKyle Ha! Haven’t been there in years but used to always order the same.

[Jesse Westfall 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @JesseLebert]

Don't do this. Official weather warnings in Canada are issued by Environment Canada only.
Other parties can & should rebroadcast OFFICIAL warnings to reach as many people as possible. Confusion in emergency situations as to the validity of warnings is dangerous #skstorm #abstorm

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

Over 4 years since my first Covid mRNA shot.

What's supposed to have happened to me by now

😕

[The Breakdown @TheBreakdownAB]

Can Danielle Smith of this week arrange a chat with Danielle Smith of…

A whole six months ago?

#abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

Trump’s Tariffs Have Nothing to Do with Economics—They’re About Control

They’re about power and authoritarianism.

What Trump is doing is using tariffs the same way authoritarian leaders use taxes and subsidies: to reward loyalty and punish dissent.

Here’s how it works:

He imposes broad, painful tariffs that impact industries across the board. Then, when the pain hits, companies have to come crawling to his administration for relief.

That’s where the real game starts.

Trump can say: “Sure, we’ll help you out… but what are you doing for us? Are you speaking positively about our agenda? Donating to the right causes? Keeping your employees in line politically?”

That’s not economic strategy. That’s political blackmail.

It’s terrifying, and it’s right out of the autocrat playbook. And if people don’t start calling it what it is, we risk walking blindly into the collapse of democratic norms.

We’ve already seen Trump use government funds to pressure colleges, law firms, and local officials. Now he’s expanding the pressure campaign to business.

Think about it: when every major industry is forced to play nice just to survive, how can any of them afford to speak out?

That’s the point.

This isn’t about winning a trade war. It’s about silencing critics. It’s about building a system where Trump controls not just government, but the economy too.

This is how democracies get hollowed out from the inside.

But here’s the good news: it’s not too late.

Just last night, a few Republican senators joined Democrats to push back against one of these tariff measures. That might not seem like much—but it shows that pressure works.

If we call this out for what it is—not trade policy, but an authoritarian loyalty test—we can rally public support and force more lawmakers to act.

This is about protecting democracy. And the only way we lose is if we stay quiet.

So no, Trump’s tariffs aren’t some bold new economic idea. They’re an old, dangerous strategy—designed to make dissent more painful than submission.

And if we want to stay a free country, we have to fight that with everything we’ve got.

[Joseph Allen @j_g_allen]

Now economists know how scientists felt when he said “inject bleach”

[N Taylor @MeteoChef]

Gold, Jerry (Richard). Gold.

[Richard Woodruff 🇺🇦 @frontlinekit]

If Ukraine 🇺🇦 really did attack Twitter, I think the only logical thing is for @elonmusk to sign a cease fire immediately, give them half of Twitter and make sure he says thank you to @POTUS.

[Stéphanie Chouinard @DrSChouinard]

We got punched.
We punched back.
That’s not escalation. That’s defending ourselves. Learn the difference. #cdnpoli

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Thank you for your support.

[Justin Trudeau @JustinTrudeau]

You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.