Links - 9th December 2024 (2 - Housing in Canada)

Kitchener breaks ground on $144 million rec complex - "Shovels went into the ground Friday at RBJ Schlegel Park for Kitchener’s new multi purpose indoor recreation facility. The facility is boasted as being designed as one of the most sustainable recreation facilities in Canada. When completed, it will be Kitchener’s first net-zero carbon building... The federal government invested $9.7 million into the project while Ontario put in over $8 million. The remaining $126.2 million was funded through development charges collected by the city."
Clearly, developer fees on new housing are needed to build critical infrastructure
"Sustainable" projects are not sustainable without massive subsidies

Matt Spoke: The Trudeau government is asking first-time home buyers to shoulder more debt to kickstart Canada’s housing industry - "On the one hand, Canada’s homebuilding industry is experiencing record low levels of new housing starts, and this policy could theoretically kickstart demand for new homes. Because of this, Freeland framed this policy as a “supply-side measure.” That said, the underlying problem facing Canada’s housing market is a problem of affordability, which this policy does nothing to address. In fact, by effectively allowing families to take on more debt (backed by government guarantees), the new policy is a highly-costly way to finance the launch of new housing construction.  This stands in stark contrast to the past position of the Trudeau government which—a few short years ago, with federal deficits growing at incredible rates—famously argued that it was running deficits to save Canadians from taking on personal debt."

Gone baby gone: Toronto is losing its young kids - The Globe and Mail - "Over the 12 months to July 1 of last year, the Toronto area saw a net loss of around 14,600 kids (14 and under) on an intraprovincial basis. Put differently, 14,600 more kids left Toronto for other parts of Ontario than moved in.  Outflows from urban areas are common in Canada – think couples starting families and moving to the suburbs – but the exodus has become especially large in Toronto in the past few years. Similarly, Toronto is not unique in seeing a shrinking population of its youngest residents; the same trend is found in Montreal, Vancouver and elsewhere.  On the flip side, some parts of Southern Ontario have experienced a recent influx of kids. Since 2019, the population of babies and toddlers has risen by 10.9 per cent in the Oshawa area, 8.3 per cent in Brantford and 7.9 per cent in the Niagara region."

'This a bright red warning light': Toronto's housing crisis to get worse as development applications drop off, BILD says : r/toronto - "An oversupply, bild is just a developer shill of course they want to build more."
"The rental vacancy rate in Toronto is 1.4%, which is very low. I don't think Toronto has too much housing."

'This a bright red warning light': Toronto's housing crisis to get worse as development applications drop off, BILD says : r/toronto - "It's almost like there is a conspiracy to keep prices high among the private sector.  It's almost like the actual solution is for government to step in, and appropriate land and build the housing we need to alleviate the problem."
"It's extremely common for developers to be forced to shrink down projects (i.e., build less housing than they see demand for) due to opposition from neighbours and council. We could start by not forcing that."
'This a bright red warning light': Toronto's housing crisis to get worse as development applications drop off, BILD says : r/toronto - "By far the biggest increase in builder's costs over the last decade is municipal development fees. Average fee for a condo unit is over 120k in the GTA. The real conspiracy is keeping property taxes artificially low by jacking up development fees."
'This a bright red warning light': Toronto's housing crisis to get worse as development applications drop off, BILD says : r/toronto - "You can't "pass on the savings" with a good that is market priced. A $700k house with development fees will still sell for $700k without development fees. You'd have to be a fool to believe anything property developers say."
"Why not raise development fees then? What about development fees of $500,000 per home?  An extreme example, yes, but one that shows that development fees obviously impact what kind of housing is feasible to build."

GTA faces widest housing gap in over 50 years - "The Greater Toronto Area‘s (GTA) housing crisis is intensifying, with new data revealing that high municipal fees and prolonged approval processes are driving up the cost of new homes. The latest Municipal Benchmarking Study from the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), developed by Altus Group Economic Consulting, warns that the region’s housing supply is lagging dangerously behind population growth, signalling an impending crisis if immediate action isn’t taken. According to the study, the gap between housing stock and population growth in the GTA is the widest it has been in over 50 years... A key factor contributing to this issue is the length of time it takes for new housing projects to receive municipal approvals. The study found that, on average, it takes 20 months for housing projects to gain approval, adding significant costs to developers and, ultimately, to homebuyers. For each month of delay, an additional $2,673 to $5,576 is added to the cost of each unit. Based on average approval timeframes, this results in an increase of $43,000 to $90,000 per new home.  Adding to the burden are high municipal fees, taxes and charges that account for almost 25 per cent of the cost of a new home in the GTA. The study notes that since 2022, municipal fees alone have increased by an average of $42,000 per unit for low-rise developments and $32,000 for high-rise units. As a result, municipal fees now add an average of $122,387 to the cost of a condominium and $164,920 to the cost of a single-family home in the GTA."
There were people claiming that 2 years to wait for approvals was reasonable

GTA faces widest housing gap in over 50 years amid soaring population growth : r/TorontoRealEstate - "I know plenty of people with a downpayment ready - but will never but a one bedroom condo.  They are just poor value for money. Everyone I know is looking to move - you really have to love your job to lock yourself into such garbage living conditions."
"I dunno what to tell these folks. They have the opportunity to get into the market and build equity. Yet, they will complain that "prices are too high." Reality is not everyone can't afford or should be buying an SFH as the first home. I find it annoying the same people who complain about high prices are focusing on McMansions and such when they could easily buy something affordable like SFH in suburbs."
Apparently singles shouldn't buy one bedroom condos, and if they can't build equity, it's proof that capitalism has failed

Toronto Protects 225 Buildings Along The Danforth From Development
Might as well declare everything older than 10 years old is "heritage" and you can never build never things

Ontario wanted ‘massive density’ around its transit projects. Then the plan vanished - "Almost 900 pages of internal documents, obtained by Global News through freedom of information laws, show the government had done detailed work on minimum height requirements around subway and light-rail stops."
Of course, people were claiming that this didn't happen because Doug Ford's buddies couldn't get rich. But he also gets bashed for touching the greenbelt (even though there're no NIMBYs or "heritage buildings" there). Why are left wingers so terrified of change?

Pierre Poilievre: Justin Trudeau rewards NIMBY gatekeepers - "Trudeau and his Housing Minister, Sean Fraser, have been touring the country, handing out your money to the local gatekeepers who drive up home prices by blocking homes from being built.  In Vancouver, $1.3 million is added to the cost of a home by government gatekeepers, according to CD Howe. That means the number one cost of a new home in Vancouver is not land, labour or lumber. It’s bureaucracy and taxes. What did Justin Trudeau do? He handed the very same gatekeepers a cheque to say, “job well done.”  In Winnipeg, the NIMBY municipal government deliberately delayed, according to a court ruling against the city, the approval process for a massive new housing project that would have meant more homes for Canadians. When one planner flat out refused to help with this unethical plot, they were replaced by a gatekeeper who would. Justin Trudeau and Sean Fraser rewarded this behaviour by cutting the local gatekeepers another cheque for $122 million for doing a “good job” of building more homes... We know that Justin Trudeau isn’t afraid of imposing his agenda on Provinces and cities. Earlier this week, radical Liberal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced that the Federal government was going to stop funding roads.  They won’t be happy until you live in a million-dollar mud hut and spend all your days stuck in traffic on pothole-ridden roads, or even better, don’t even drive or own a home at all."

Canada's housing affordability crisis may persist for years despite rate cuts - "Calculations based on average house prices from the Canadian Real Estate Association show that monthly interest payments on a five-year fixed rate mortgage are still 40% higher than in January 2020, even after a drop in mortgage costs from last year's highs. During the same period, real or inflation-adjusted household income has risen by 2.3%, while nominal income has increased by 21%, according to estimates from Statistics Canada. For affordability to return to pre-pandemic levels, house prices would need to come down by at least 10% and mortgage interest costs would have to drop by half from current levels. Home sales in Toronto - often considered the bellwether of the Canadian real estate market - are at about 20-year lows due to sky-high prices, said John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty, a Toronto-based real estate brokerage... the government changed one of its rules on mortgage payments, allowing first-time buyers or people purchasing a newly-built home to take loans with 30-year amortizations, instead of 25 years. Although the move is intended to lower monthly payments and make home ownership affordable to more people, critics say it may have opposite effect by boosting demand and raising prices."

Rents could exceed $7.5K in Vancouver, $5.6K in Toronto without massive spike in building: Study - "“I think there is no government who could take this burden on its own,” Yönder said. “So you really need the capital markets” in the form of REITs, developers and investors, he says. Vacancy rates are currently so low that “the traditional relationship between economic factors is disrupted,” the Concordia study says, with demand so high that rents are likely to keep rising even when more supply is initially added. The model shows rents starting to drop only when annual completions reach about 11 to 12 per cent of existing housing stock in a given area. The report notes that annual completions in the Toronto area were 1.1 per cent in 2023... “Our findings highlight the importance of developing location-based policies and the urgency of easing supply restrictions. It is increasingly clear that achieving a healthy supply/demand relationship will depend heavily on the private real estate sector, more specifically those capable of large-scale development.”"

Canada’s rent growth slows as international student enrolment drops
Weird how landlords become less "greedy" when there're fewer international students. It's almost as if prices are set by supply and demand, rather than "greed"

Ottawa’s mortgage changes will be a ‘double-edged sword,’ TD economist warns - "For the typical homebuyer, Sondhi estimates the expanded 30-year amortizations will lead to an increase in purchasing power of around nine per cent. Sondhi projects that the pair of moves aimed at loosening mortgage conditions in Canada will help stimulate homebuying in the first half of 2025. He expects that both sales and home prices will be two to four percentage points higher by the end of 2026, were it not for Ottawa’s mortgage changes. But Sondhi told Global News in an interview Thursday that, thanks to rising prices tied to the policy itself, the initial bump in affordability tied to longer amortizations will be “completely eroded” in the next two years. “It’s a bit of a double-edged sword there,” he said. “They do get that near-term boost to activity. But at the same time, affordability is worse than it would have been absent these policies, which then limits the impact.”... Policies that will result in more high loan-to-value mortgages can also add some “fragility” to the Canadian financial system, Sondhi argued in his report. He cites Bank of Canada research that shows higher loan-to-value ratios make homeowners more prone to defaulting on their mortgages... Canada already has a highly indebted society, Sondhi noted, and these polices could see debt levels rise. Measures that encourage more Canadians to take on higher-risk loans could intensify the risks to the financial system if a downturn were to hit the economy and household incomes take a hit, he said."

The taxman is coming for our homes - "Governments’ extraction of value from our homes has accelerated in recent years as they have became more desperate, both to raise revenue and to find scapegoats to deflect blame for their own starring role Canada’s housing shortage. As the byzantine extractions multiplied, our homes, once considered our main assets, have morphed for many into our main liabilities. Once upon a time, “safe as houses” was a no-brainer investment strategy. Anyone who now sees a house as a safe investment needs his head examined."

Taking on more debt is not the solution to the housing crisis despite what the Liberals say - "One of the newest measures the federal Liberal government has taken to increase housing supply is to change the mortgage insurance rules to enable existing homeowners to take on more debt in order to create rental units within existing homes... I will stay in my tax lane and not address the obvious insanity of enticing an already indebted population to take on even more debt, with the carrot being the “incredible advantages” of becoming a landlord. But I will point out the complete disregard for the myriad complicated tax issues that come with such a housing conversion... Confused? You’re not alone. These areas of income and commodity tax confuse even the most seasoned experts, who must carefully look at the resulting consequences of such conversions. I have spent years in my practice explaining to homeowners the tax complications of converting a principal residence. It is not simple. It is irresponsible for governments to release proposals with a lot of fanfare (to create the perception that they are solving a housing crisis ) without any mention of the tax and other complications that will undoubtedly be created. I’m all for government incentives to help create entrepreneurs, but it needs to be done in a responsible manner with consequences fully thought through. In my experience, landowners and developers understand housing issues and concerns better than most. A lot of them tell me that the main reason for the lack of affordable housing is the inability to properly plan for and implement urban boundary expansions. The push to turn homeowners into landlords simply adds to the mountain of government interventions in our housing markets , such as the recent push for intensification within already crowded urban settings, the introduction of bans and taxes on foreign owners and numerous other silly taxation provisions. Given that, is more government intervention the answer? Absolutely not. “Contrary to the vision of the left, it was the free market which produced affordable housing — before government intervention made housing unaffordable,” renowned economist Thomas Sowell has said."

Moody: Another tax on properties won't help Canada's housing woes - "Climate change is an issue? Implement a carbon tax. Foreigners are buying too much Canadian real estate? A speculation tax, a purchase ban and underused housing taxes. Short-term rentals are a community problem and causing housing challenges? A prohibition on the tax deduction of expenditures. Wealth disparity is a problem? Let’s think about a wealth tax or an estate tax. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it,” former United States president Ronald Reagan once said. That’s a brilliant summary of our current government’s approach. For example, one of the “tax solutions” proposed by the federal government in the 2024 budget was that it would consider introducing a new tax on residentially zoned vacant land... I have acted for many owners of real estate, including land developers, home builders, commercial landlords and others. The key asset for these organizations is land. Once land is acquired, it can take years to develop, rent and/or sell. There are numerous factors — many beyond the owner’s control — that influence quick development, including municipal zoning restrictions, rising costs (such as interest rates that may be applicable on borrowed funds), contamination clean-up requirements, financial downturns in the economy and partner disputes. A proposed vacancy tax wrongly assumes that landowners are simply holding onto their properties until the time is right to maximize their profits. There is no doubt that most landowners wish to get proper returns on their investments, but to think they are simply hanging onto their properties at the expense of people who are lined up at the door to buy their finished product shows a complete misunderstanding of the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship. We shouldn’t be surprised by this kind of simplistic thinking from our current government and its supporters, but I am. If a vacancy tax is implemented, does anyone honestly think land owners would be able to influence all the situations to dispose of or develop their properties to avoid the tax? If so, you should spend even a week or so shadowing an owner of a home-building company. It’s not easy dealing with all the issues involving land development. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that there are indeed a large number of greedy landowners holding onto their land. Would the imposition of a vacancy tax move the needle to force them to sell or develop their land? Absolutely not. Instead, the imposition of a vacancy tax could cause significant liquidity problems for many landowners. It may force them to sell their holdings at prices far below their original acquisition costs, thus incurring losses. Those who can afford to pay the tax would simply pass along those additional costs to the ultimate buyers, thus forcing housing prices up. Want some research that shows government interference isn’t helpful? The NDP in British Columbia has introduced many housing initiatives ever since it came to power in 2017, including a speculation tax, housing targets for municipalities, short-term rental rules, historic zoning changes and a home-flipping tax (designed along the lines of the ridiculous federal flipping tax). Have those measures helped? “Despite countless measures and additional paperwork and other requirements, we’re exactly where we started,” Andrey Pavlov, professor of finance at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business, said in a recent interview that discusses some of his research on the matter... Additional taxes are rarely the answer. Instead, governments should look in the mirror to see if any of their policies are contributing to an issue. For example, government immigration policy contributes greatly to housing challenges."
Clearly, we need even more regulation

Single family homes still reign supreme - "64 per cent said they prefer a single family home with 38 per cent preferring to live in the suburbs and 34 per cent preferring urban areas. More than half (64%) are looking for homes that are already updated with modern features and finishes – an indication that household budgets are tight, he said... “There were a lot of people who thought they could just park themselves at a farm or lake house during COVID and never see people again, but the reality is economic opportunities are in the city,” he said. What stands out most from the Ontario portion of the survey, he added, is the disconnect between the reported ‘dream home’ and the majority of the product currently being built by developers in the GTA and surrounding areas, which is heavily geared towards condos and townhomes. Home builders have to respond to what people can afford and that means even though buyers aspire to own a three-bedroom, renovated, single family detached home, most are forced to start with something else. “Perhaps people’s first home isn’t the dream. It’s a ladder into the housing industry,” said Katchen. “Given the affordability restraints we’ve had … that dream may not come alive for some people until a little bit later in their career or when their kids are older.” Atlantic Canada was the only region surveyed where the majority of respondents reported a desire to live in a rural setting (58%). One reason could be that one in two Atlantic Canadians already live in rural areas, according to a recent Government of Canada statistic. Not surprisingly, the preference to own a single family home was highest in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (82%), Atlantic Canada (77%) and Alberta (72%) where home prices remain affordable."

BoC official warns against playing with mortgage rules to make housing affordable - "The central bank official says improving housing affordability ultimately requires reaching a balance between supply and demand, which she says will take time."

Surrey council rejects townhouse project for tony Fleetwood neighbourhood - "Council heard that 95 per cent of the neighbourhood – some 484 residents – signed a petition against the proposal. Residents complained it would increase traffic, density, noise, overburden local schools and parks, drive down land values, be an eyesore, bring “criminal activity” and transiency and otherwise wreck their quality of life. “It will destroy the character of our neighbourhood,” Gary Dhadda said. “Our neighbourhood consists of 10,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet half-acre lots with large luxury homes so putting 58 townhomes right in the middle of these houses is not appropriate. Our neighbourhood is quiet, peaceful, lush green and safe. “This development will cause great harm to the quality of life we enjoy in this neighbourhood,” he told council. “We need single-family quarter-acre lots that flow with the overall layout of the neighbourhood and complement this existing, well-established character. We don’t need townhomes.” Resident Barb Kinsella said the proposed townhouses “do not fit in the culture of our area.” She noted that a horse farm occupied the area before the existing houses were built and “it was a lovely area before our houses came in.” “Nobody wants to look out their back window and see a group of townhomes staring back at them,” she said. Still many speakers also spoke in favour of the project, pointing out that single-family homes are financially beyond reach for many Surrey families, that council must be alive to the affordable housing crisis and that these dwellings will make home ownership possible for people otherwise priced out of the market. “Maybe my son can afford one some day,” Magic Dhaliwal told council... Arman Rai didn’t care for the tone of some speakers’ remarks. “Hearing a lot of the concerns today regarding the safety, demographic and characteristic of the neighbourhood, it almost seems like a federal prison is getting built in the middle of the neighbourhood,” he told council."
Damn greedy companies and landlords keeping housing expensive! Of course, there're no costs to a developer of a housing project not being approved, but they will just use that as an excuse to jack prices up

Here is the income bracket you have to be in to afford a home in Toronto right now : r/TorontoRealEstate - "In October 2024, the average home price in Toronto decreased slightly from $1,068,700 in September to $1,060,200, a drop of $8,500. Correspondingly, the income required to purchase a home in Toronto also decreased from $199,800 to $195,420, reflecting a $4,380 reduction. In Vancouver, the average home price fell from $1,179,700 to $1,172,000, a decrease of $7,700. The income required to buy a home in Vancouver also dropped, from $219,000 in September to $214,460 in October, representing a reduction of $4,540."
"But our income tax brackets tax someone making $200k like they are the next Jeff bezos. You know shit is broken when someone on the highest tax bracket cannot afford an average home. Our income taxes are out of touch with reality."

Dr. Mike P. Moffatt 🇨🇦🏅🏅 on X - "Thought it would be interesting to see how Toronto development charges sync up on a line-item basis. The Long Term Care item is interesting. Apparently if you build more homes, your population ages faster. Because: Science!"

Rents are up 70% in the past decade. The federal government spends billions, but it isn’t helping : r/canadahousing - "No you don't understand, new developments need to pay for "growth" such as new parks, roads, a Spadina extension, transit "balance", child care, maintaining the library, police funding, firefigher funding (note it's not called fire safety inspection fees). Also new residents are the ones who need to be paying for subsidized housing of other residents! [SARCASM]"

Globe editorial: The true cost of soaring development charges on new homes - The Globe and Mail - "In the city of Kitchener in Southwestern Ontario, buyers of new homes are the only locals who must pay directly to build a swish athletic facility that will be open to everyone. Anyone building a semi-detached house in Toronto must pay a development charge that has risen nearly 400 per cent in a decade – and includes more than $4,000 for a subway extension that opened seven years ago.  These are just two examples of how development charges, which started off as a defensible policy, have morphed into one that penalizes new buyers and stands in the way of building homes as quickly and cheaply as possible... The athletic facility in Kitchener is a case in point. The total cost is $144-million, with $126-million coming from development charges and the rest covered by federal and provincial grants. A press release about the groundbreaking proudly stated that “there will be no impact on municipal taxes.”  Why should that be? The city even acknowledges that its existing athletic facilities are oversubscribed. Current residents will benefit from the new recreation centre and should help pay for it... In Ontario, housing starts in the third quarter were down 17 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Financial Accountability Office. The pace of home construction is far less than needed to reach the province’s goal of 1.5 million homes by 2031.  Reducing excessive development charges would spur construction that is desperately needed to close Canada’s housing deficit. And it would also eliminate a fundamental unfairness. People buying into the market – who are often young and only starting to build wealth – should not be subsidizing the property taxes of established residents."

How to Troubleshoot / Reset a Singtel Wireless Mesh Router / ONR

For some reason, this information is not on the open internet, but has to be tortured out of Shirley, the chatbot. Some of it is counter-intuitive (for example, the reset duration is 30 second [sic], not 10 or 15 seconds, which is more normal).

For easier access, I am reposting what Shirley spewed out here:

"Step 1 : Power off and on your devices - Router, Optical Network Router/Optical Network Terminal, Set Top Box and WiFi Mesh - and wait for them to boot up.

Step 2 : The power LED of each device should come on and be solid (no blinking). Ensure the WiFi Mesh’s LED indicator for the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz is lighted green. If the 5Ghz LED turns red, you should relocate your device as it is out of the WiFi range.

Check internet connection after above steps. If you are still facing problems with your WiFi Mesh, please continue with the following steps:

Step 3 : Perform a (factory) reset on your WiFi Mesh. Located at the back of your WiFi Mesh is a “Reset” hole, take a pin and press into the reset hole for 30 second before releasing.

Step 4 : Wait for the devices’ power LED to be solid, and continue on with the pairing process in step 5

Step 5 : Press and hold the WPS button on the first WiFi Mesh, followed by the second WiFi Mesh. Ensure that you are holding the button for 2-3 seconds, and that both buttons were pressed within 60 seconds of each other.

Step 6 : Once this process is completed, wait for the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz light to turn green. Then you can check your internet connection again. Relocate your device if the 5Ghz LED turns red as it is out of WiFi range."

 

What makes things even more fun, though, is that I reset it again and still faced issues.

I called the hotline, and the lady checked a bit and told me that... the IP address at the back of the WiFi router, 192.168.1.254, actually is for the optical network router (ONR), not the WiFi router (despite what Singtel Mesh: Change Wireless Settings & Device Info tells us).

So to access the router, what you need to do is login to the ONR, key in the default password on the back of the ONR, then view the devices on the network, find the IP of the WiFi router and access it to login to the WiFi router using the default password on the WiFi router.

Links - 9th December 2024 (1)

Diana biographer issues withering Meghan Markle verdict: ‘She’s flawless about getting it all wrong’ - "The former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair has given a withering assessment of Meghan Markle, claiming she is “flawless about getting it all wrong”. Tina Brown, who led the magazine from for eight years until 1992, is no stranger to ranting about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, having previously dubbed the couple as being “addicted to drama” and branding their exit from the royal family as a “disaster”. She has now continued her tirade as she laid into Meghan’s judgement on The Ankler podcast. “The trouble with Meghan is that she has the worst judgment of anyone in the entire world,” she told podcast host Janice Min. “She’s flawless about getting it all wrong.” She added: “All of her ideas are total crap, unfortunately.” The journalist, who has also worked as the former chief of Tatler and The New Yorker, went on to say describe Harry as “the lamb to the slaughter in this situation,” adding: “And he just sort of blindly followed her like a child, really.” Ms Brown has previously written books about the royals, including her latest work released in 2022, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil. Her Princess Diana biography, The Diana Chronicles, became a New York Times bestseller upon its release in 2007. In 2022, she labelled Harry as “fragile” and “combustible” as she said palace advisers reportedly “always thought he would leave”. She added that his exit from the royal family was a “disaster all round” and that the couple could have left the UK on better terms if they weren’t as “hot-headed”... Her latest comments come after Meghan spoke candidly to a group of teenagers about her experiences of online bullying at a recent event... Meghan told the group how she is “one of the most bullied people in the world”."
Damn racist!

Meghan Markle releases statement after solo Thanksgiving appearance without Prince Harry - "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly in the midst of a professional separation, with reports suggesting that their work relationship is “in a very bad state.”  Indeed, over the last few months both the “Suits” alum, 43, and Harry, 40, have been seen attending various events solo... The pair did, however, appear in a joint video in honor of Veteran’s Day earlier this month — with Harry admitting the pair had been “at a crossroads” with work in recent weeks.  In their joint video appearance, the pair discussed prioritizing children’s safety online through their Archewell Foundation. It was the first time they were seen together in months."
This took longer than I and many others expected. Soon she will accuse him of abuse

Meghan Markle Divorce: Amid divorce rumors, Meghan Markle seeks more time from US authorities to correct this - "Harry and Meghan are in the middle of a professional separation which means they will not work together. According to their aides, this is a decision they have jointly arrived as their joint brand 'Harry-Meghan' or the 'Sussexes' has been losing popularity. It has been decided that Meghan will be focusing on her Hollywood projects and home goods brand while Harry will be doping his charity works. But whether this arrangement is to cover up their personal separation as well is not yet known. They have rarely made joint appearances and according to reports, they are rarely together in California either."

Meme - ɖʀʊӄքǟ ӄʊռʟɛʏ 🇧🇹🇹🇩 @kunley_drukpa: "HARRY - CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE  Do you choose to marry?
• English Rose Socialite Cressida Bonas
• American TV Actress Meghan Markle
This is a very easy choice - it is almost impossible to fumble this Harry"

Bouchard must build trust as next CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada CEO, say observers - "Marsha Barber, a former senior producer for the CBC's flagship newscast, "The National," said Tuesday that morale has been "extremely low at the CBC," especially after millions of dollars in executive bonuses followed a round of layoffs... Peter Menzies, a senior fellow with the Macdonald Laurier Institute and a former vice chair of the CRTC, said Bouchard's biggest challenge will be "building trust" both within the CBC and the broader public. "Public trust has been an issue in recent years for media generally, but it's been particularly challenging for the CBC on the English side because it's somehow managed to allow itself to become a political football," he said... "The CBC is notorious for having layers of management, and that's where the bonus controversy comes in," he said. "That's one action that would really get people's attention: 'CBC lays off 500 managers.' Or maybe there's a new way of funding that the government and the mandate come up with that catches people's attention.""

Legault 'shocked' by Montreal teacher scandal, pledges to toughen secularism measures - "Quebec Premier François Legault promised on Tuesday to toughen secularism measures in schools, saying he was "shocked" by revelations about a Montreal public school where a group of teachers had tried to introduce what the premier described as "Islamist" beliefs... the teachers — many of whom were of North African descent — were allegedly influenced by the local mosque and subjected children to physical and psychological violence. They either refused to teach — or paid little attention to — the science and sex education curriculum. The evidence gathered suggested some teachers didn't believe in learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders and refused to let specialists in the classroom, believing instead that discipline — with the idea of "breaking" the student — would put them on the "right path." Witnesses told the government investigators that local religious leaders exerted a “strong influence” on several school staff and a mosque representative underscored to school officials the importance of having good relations with the place of worship. The report mentioned that there were staff members of North African descent who were part of the opposition to the methods of the "dominant clan.""
Damn racism and Islamophobia!

Chris Selley: Latest outrages over Muslims give a preview of Quebec's next referendum - "Anglophone media have reported on the suspension of 11 teachers from Bedford elementary school , in the very multicultural and immigrant-rich Montreal neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges... anglo media either soft-pedalled or (in CBC’s case, amazingly) completely ignored what has made the story so politically relevant : The allegedly “toxic” teachers were apparently Arab Muslims... witnesses reported “a strong influence on the community environment” exercised by teachers who “reportedly frequent a community centre and a mosque located in the neighbourhood.” It said that members of the mosque sometimes intervened on occasion to ensure the school’s education model was in line with their preferred “cultural model.”... The investigation mentions in particular stories that “many teachers at Bedford School … speak Arabic among themselves.” (This affair activates Quebec nationalists’ concerns about Islam and languages other than French in almost equal measure.) “According to the witnesses, it is difficult to integrate into the (Arabic-speaking) group, particularly because it is impossible to understand conversations between some members of staff,” the report found. The report accuses teachers in the school’s “dominant clan” of serial dishonesty. “Protecting their honour is a priority and is done to the detriment of honesty,” it finds. “Investigators were able to observe on several occasions that some teachers use lies to get out of embarrassing situations, even in situations where the lie is blatant.” Witnesses spoke in particular of “lies” deployed “during interventions on the language spoken in the school. Teachers deny having spoken Arabic or Kabyle (a Berber-Algerian language) when they are caught in the act.” From the students’ perspective, features of this toxic environment allegedly include severe neglect of special-needs pupils, what you might call old-school teaching methods (belittling and yelling at kids, slamming rulers on desks, etc.) and just a crummy overall experience, at best. This all backs up reams of reporting by Montreal radio station 98.5 FM, which broke the story back in 2022 . Why it took so long for everyone from the school board to the minister to respond is one of the key questions in play. Whatever was happening at that school — and other schools are now implicated in similar fashion — the “toxic environment” allegations have been more than borne out."
CBC media bias is a myth
Left wingers only object to religious indoctrination when it's by Christians

Meme - Borys Waluszko @WaluszkoBorys: "Economic historians love to confidently calculate the GDP of Babylonia under Hammurabi"
for good things, against bad🏳️‍🌈🌐🇺🇦 @captgouda24: "We did, and it’s one of the coolest papers ever. Because ancient scholars included astronomical data, we were able to exactly date clay tablets, and found inflation due to state collapse. Go read it! (Link below)"
"Price Behavior in Ancient Babylon. Peter Temin. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This article analyzes the longest continuous price data from the ancient world, which come from ancient Babylon and stretch from almost 500 BCE to beyond 100 BCE. The analysis confirms the interpretation in Slotsky (1997) that they are market prices. It shows that the prices of agricultural goods moved in a random walk. They rose sharply after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and more gradually toward the end of the period. The author suggests that both price rises resulted from breakdowns in the ruling government,"

Meme - "Only DIN B125"
Simon: "Today I learnt that a German complained that #cyberpunk2077 used the wrong manhole standardisation. It's beautiful."
"C'mon @CyberpunkGame, of all the bugs, this is the worst! There may be some canon reason why German manhole covers are used in Night City. But, please, DIN B125 is only allowed approved for pedestrian walkways. On roads, it should be a Begu D400 to support the weight!"

Richard Hanania on X - "Lina Khan fines Lyft $2.1 million.  Among the complaints: Lyft advertised that drivers could make “up to” a certain number, but that number only reflected the top fifth of workers!  Does she even know what “up to” means?   Another complaint: Lyft advertised an “earning guarantee,” which involved…actually fulfilling that promise? I read this five times to make sure I understood. Lyft said you would have an earnings guarantee of $975 a week, and then made sure everyone brought home $975.  I hope this helps you understand that the modern antitrust movement is little more than a vehicle for anti-market sentiments."

Meme - "We Proudly Serve Halal Meat. Pork Ham Whole (Fresh). Pork Spare Rib (Whole)"

Ruin value - Wikipedia - "Ruin value (German: Ruinenwert) is the concept that a building be designed in such a way that if it eventually collapsed, it would leave behind aesthetically pleasing ruins that would last far longer without any maintenance at all."

Catullus 16 - Wikipedia - "Catullus 16 or Carmen 16 is a poem by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 BC – c. 54 BC). The poem, written in a hendecasyllabic (11-syllable) meter, was considered to be so sexually explicit following its rediscovery in the following centuries that a full English translation was not published until the 20th century. The first line, Pēdīcābo ego vōs et irrumābō ('I will sodomize and face-fuck you'), sometimes used as a title, has been called "one of the filthiest expressions ever written in Latin—or in any other language"."

Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc. - Wikipedia - "In 1996, PepsiCo began a promotional loyalty program in which customers could earn Pepsi Points which could be traded for physical items. A television commercial for the loyalty program displayed the commercial's protagonist flying to school in a McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II vertical take off jet aircraft, valued at $37.4 million at the time, which could be redeemed for 7,000,000 Pepsi Points. The plaintiff, John Leonard, discovered these could be directly purchased from Pepsi at 10¢ per point. Leonard delivered a check for $700,008.50 to PepsiCo, attempting to purchase the jet. PepsiCo initially refuted Leonard's offer, citing the humorous nature of the offer in the advertisement. Leonard then sued PepsiCo, Inc. in an effort to enforce the offer and acceptance perceived by Leonard to be made in the advertisement. In her judgment, Wood sided with PepsiCo, noting the frivolous and improbable nature of landing a fighter jet in a school zone that was portrayed by the protagonist. PepsiCo would re-release the advertisement, valuing the jet at 700,000,000 Pepsi Points."

Arabic and Islamic themes in Frank Herbert's "Dune"
A popular claim is that Dune is plagiarised from The Sabres of Paradise because both are inspired by the Caucasus, but clearly there's more to Dune than that

Leonarda Cianciulli - Wikipedia - "Better known as the Soap-Maker of Correggio (Italian: la Saponificatrice di Correggio), she murdered three women in the town of Correggio, Reggio Emilia, in 1939 and 1940, and turned their bodies into soap (using caustic soda) and teacakes... In 1939, Cianciulli learned that her eldest son and favourite child, Giuseppe, was going to join the Royal Italian Army in preparation for the Second World War. She was determined to protect him at all costs and came to the conclusion that his safety required human sacrifices. Cianciulli found her victims in three middle-aged women, all neighbours"

Sukihana Explains Viral "Musician" Moment With Bobbi Althoff - "Sukihana has doubled-down on her hilarious response to Bobbi Althoff, who called her a “musician” during a viral recent episode of The Really Good Podcast.  The rapper and reality star sat with the dry-humor host, who asked Suki if she considers herself a “musician.” Taken back, Suki asserted that she is not, and began a back-and-forth with Althoff over the label — even assuming that the aspiring comedian meant “magician.”   “You’re a musician, that’s why I’m interviewing you today to get to know you,” Althoff started before Suki jumped in with, “What the f**k that mean? Make magic or something? What is a musician? I’m not no musician, I make music. That’s not all I do. I act, I’m a TV star too.”  “I’m not confusing nothing because you thought that’s all I was, was a magician or whatever the f**k you said,” she continued."
When you're just stupid

Patrick Luciani: Who will save us from the autocrats? - "Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum’s recent book Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World.  Applebaum is clear that China and Russia are determined to bring down the rules-based liberal world order established after 1945 and replace it with a new multipolar world. They aren’t working alone. For example, President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela—himself hanging dubiously on to power following an election overshadowed by allegations of overwhelming fraud—is laundering drug money to support Hezbollah’s war against Israel, while autocratic leaders in Iran, Syria, and North Korea use social media and financial corruption to help each other’s kleptocracies undermine liberal democracies worldwide.  The Western response has been generally anemic. Gone are the intellectual and policy giants of the past who understood the stakes—President Reagan had George Schultz, James Baker served under George H.W. Bush, and Henry Kissinger guided Richard Nixon. Under Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken seems outmatched when confronting his Russian and Chinese counterparts.   Coincidence or not, Russian and Chinese fighter bombers tested U.S. airspace near Alaska in recent weeks. In the free world’s capital, it didn’t help that the Israeli prime minister was publicly snubbed, as both the president and vice president avoided being seen with Netanyahu during his recent visit to Washington. At the same time, Iranian-backed Palestinian protesters burned the American flag and desecrated Washington monuments."

Patrick Luciani: Is populism destroying European democracy? - "those on the political Right aren’t the only ones dissatisfied with liberal democracy. Those on the progressive Left are perhaps even more disappointed with democratic liberalism’s very roots, which entrenched individual rather than group rights based on identity politics. Ireland’s recent rejection of a change in its constitution’s wording to incorporate group rights is a case in point. What was supposed to be an easy victory for Ireland’s political elites in redefining the meaning of relationships and the role of women in the home was solidly rejected by a public suspicious of an attack against traditional values.   Though parties on the extreme Right in Europe have increased their vote count, they have yet to see their support garner more than 10 to 20 percent of the popular vote in most countries.   In his new book on the erosion of European democracy entitled Democracy Erodes from the Top, Larry Bartels, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University, challenges the prevailing notion that the public is the catalyst for radical reform. He is one of the rare thinkers who goes against the prevailing wisdom that the public is driving radical change in Europe.   His extensive research, covering 23 European countries over the last 15 years, reveals a stark contrast between the perceived crisis of democracy and Europeans’ actual attitudes. Contrary to popular belief, support for democracy as a system of government has not weakened, and trust in national parliaments and politicians has remained virtually unchanged. Both go against conventional wisdom and general perception.  The real culprits for the turmoil and European political troubles, or what Bartels calls “political backsliding,” lie not with ordinary citizens but with political elites. The author doesn’t conclude that citizens are passive agents in the demand for political change and play no role in demands for democratic reforms. He observes that we tend to exaggerate the threats of populism and the alarmism that comes with it.  He reminds us that the financial collapse of 2008 was routinely compared to the crisis in the 1930s, yet by 2014-15, average satisfaction with the economy in Europe was higher than before the crisis and continued to improve until COVID-19 hit in 2020. Public support for European integration held steady during the Euro crisis in the early years of the 21st century, and even under the threat that Greece would leave the Eurozone.   What about the highly contentious problem of immigration? Where one would expect a deep deterioration of support and demand for more restrictions, Bartels sees little evidence in public surveys that immigration and asylum-seeking have produced “any significant erosion in public attitudes toward immigrants.”   The author reminds us that warnings about the collapse of democracy are hardly rare. Popular and scholarly writings about the crisis of democracy have a long history and can be found in articles in Foreign Affairs from the 1930s"

‘Very Sensitive’ citizens, ‘Bizarre’ politicians: What a British ambassador’s secret report on Canada reveals 40 years later - "The Wilson letter is a treasure trove of observations made by an outsider looking in. It is complimentary, but also, at times, condescending, rude, and even offensive. It describes Canada’s international exceptionalism, but it also exposes our mediocrity. It is worth revisiting because it tells us things we need to hear about ourselves. Wilson’s parting words (and shots) show us how much Canada has changed in the last four decades, how much it has stayed the same, how history repeats, and how much we have yet to achieve... “Canadians are a moderate, comfortable, people”, Wilson asserted in his letter. “[They] are mildly nationalistic, (but perhaps less shrilly so than Australians), very sensitive, especially to any expressed or implied British sneers about Canada as ‘boring,’ and perhaps somewhat lacking in self-confidence.”... “Although I like him personally…he has never entirely shaken off his past as a well-to-do hippie and draft dodger,” the ambassador confessed. “He is an odd fish and his own worst enemy, and on the whole I think his influence on Canada in the past sixteen years has been detrimental.”  Similar to criticisms Justin Trudeau has faced, Wilson called out Trudeau senior for seeking to strengthen ties with authoritarian countries like China. He found Pierre Trudeau’s “views on East-West relations” to be “particularly suspect”.  Like his son, and many other Canadian prime ministers determined to centralize power, Pierre Trudeau was seen as not paying enough attention to provincial leaders. “He treated provincial premiers with contempt and provincial governments as if they were town councils,” wrote Wilson... According to High Commissioner Wilson, Canadian politicians, on the whole, were underwhelming. The diplomat thought corporate executives could probably run the country better.  “[T]he calibre of Canadian politicians is low. The level of debate in the House of Commons is correspondingly low: the majority of Canadian ministers are unimpressive and a few we have found frankly bizarre”, he observed... “The Canadian public expects very little of politicians and tends to shrug its shoulders when the press or television report yet another scandal,” he wrote.  This may ring even more true 40 years later, with only 32 percent of Canadians now reporting they have a good or great deal of confidence in their federal parliament. Meanwhile, the federal government still has yet to name a permanent ethics watchdog to monitor its (mis)behaviour.  The High Commissioner was particularly struck by a lack of varying ideologies in Canadian politics. Back home in the U.K., he saw a Conservative and Labour Party offering vastly different ideas for the societies they wanted to create. Yet, “In Canada the philosophic differences between Liberals and Progressive Conservatives are scarcely perceptible,” Wilson concluded... Wilson reserved some of his harshest criticism for what he saw as Canadian mediocrity and a lack of talent. “Anyone who is even moderately good at what they do—in literature, the theatre, skiing or whatever—tends to become a national figure,” he observed in 1984. “[A]nyone who stands out at all from the crowd tends to be praised to the skies and given the Order of Canada at once.”  In 2023, the Governor General awarded 163 Orders of Canada, including one for improving “standards in accounting” and another for advancing “rug hooking as an art form”... Wilson expressed similarly derogatory views of Indigenous Peoples, claiming the population “will be a headache for years to come.” He describes how Indigenous people fill Canadians with feelings of guilt. He decries the thinking behind the Indian Act and the “special privileged status”, “vast subsidies,” and unemployment he claims it has allowed. Instead, he recommends spending more government money on integration, encouraging Indigenous people to “adapt to the modern world.”... The British High Commissioner urges readers and future ambassadors that, if they want to find the friendliest Canucks, they should visit Alberta, Saskatchewan, or the Atlantic provinces (still true today). He says he will miss the call of the loon. And, having crisscrossed the “vast and disunited” country numerous times, he regrets having never stopped in Flin Flon, Manitoba."

Beijing professor builds illegal mountain villa on apartment rooftop - "A bizarre mountain retreat built on top of a 26-floor Beijing residential building faces demolition after complaints by residents.  The rooftop structure is covered by fake rocks, trees and bushes, and can be clearly seen from one of Beijing’s busiest commuter roads in one of the city’s more upmarket areas... The owner of the rocky outcrop has been identified as Professor Zhang Biqing, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine who owns a national chain of acupuncture clinics, and is a former member of a district People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)...   CNN spoke to a number of people on the street who sympathized with Zhang’s neighbors and suggested the professor was allowed to build with impunity because of his links to influential officials."
I spent six years building a cave penthouse in the most bizarre place - my neighbours hate me but I don’t care
From 2013

“That’s So Scary”: Women Terrified By “Tight Men” Dressed In Female Bodysuits, Taking Their Photos - "A new phenomenon in Japan, where men wear silicone bodysuits and lifelike female masks, is raising safety concerns, particularly among women. Known as “tight men” for their tight-fitting bodysuits, these individuals have been accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior in public spaces.  The trend appears to be inspired by animegao kigurumi, a cosplay style rooted in Japan’s anime culture. Animegao kigurumi enthusiasts wear bodysuits and anthropomorphic masks to cosplay as their favorite anime characters.  In this case, the tight men’s intentions are not to display their creativity or gender identity but to approach women with perverted motives... Yuichi Sato, a representative of Japan’s Suspicious Persons Information Centre, said that identifying these individuals based on their appearance alone is challenging due to their costumes.  Additionally, in Japan, wearing a costume in public isn’t illegal unless the wearer conceals their identity to commit a crime."

Woman Hospitalized After Liposuction Procedure Using AliExpress Dental Phlegm Suction Machine - "A woman is said to be in “critical care” after being subjected to a liposuction performed by an aesthetician who allegedly used a dental phlegm suction machine from AliExpress. Taking to her Facebook page on Sunday (September 22), Louise Belle shared an alarming post warning people against a certain “Joline Aesthetics” in Milton Keynes, UK... Louise included a photograph of the device Joline Anderson, the beautician who owns Joline Aesthetics, allegedly used on her daughter and another person who is said to be currently hospitalized.  A screenshot showed that the machine in question was an “18 liters per minute air flow electric portable suction unit,” which is sold for a couple of hundred dollars on Chinese online shops... Louise further shared a screenshot that indicated that Joline Aesthetics was insured with a British insurance company, Insynch Insurance. The company has since blocked Bored Panda upon being asked to comment on the issue... Joline Aesthetics went on to affirm that none of its clients had been hospitalized, “let alone admitted to the ICU or died,” as a result of “any treatment or procedure” performed by them.  It went on to refute any association with the images Louise had shared, claiming that they had been sourced from Google... Bored Panda conducted a reverse image search on Louise’s photographs, and the results came back with zero matches, indicating that her images are entirely original."

Woman Gets Stood Up On A Date, Finds Out The Restaurant Tricked Her Into Eating Dinner Alone - "“And it wasn’t until I got home and I was scrolling Facebook and I saw a very similar story from a girl, that same restaurant, who also got stood up”  “She found out that there are restaurants now posing as people on dating apps, just so you go to their business. And once you get stood up, they know that probably 9 times out of 10 you’re going to buy something from them.”  “And that just blew my mind. The fact that we have stooped this low…”... The restaurants that take part in this scam are called food diggers. It is a pun on the phrase “gold digger.” These establishments tend to partner with bot apps. And these partnerships let them create bots on dating apps to lure people to their restaurants. There people, just like Taylor, get stood up, and so, order food on their own. Essentially, the restaurants are exploiting people who are looking for love and/or fun."