Linkspam, mostly political

[sabotabby]

 There's so much I want to write about and link to lately, but of course it's June and I'm a schoolteacher, so I've just been reblogging things on Facebook. And that's no way to live. Here are some highlights of the week.

The story gripping the city is of the Toronto Life story about a pair of self-involved, clueless rich kids who bought a Parkdale rooming house, sight unseen, and were shocked that people still lived there and also that you can't hire a contractor based on the fact that he's cycling by. This is all in the context of violent purging of the poor in the Parkdale neighbourhood, most notably an asshole landlord attempting to murder a tenant for striking against deplorable conditions. Quite a lot of pixels have been spilled over this issue, but the best response was my friend Todd's GoFundMe page (you can still donate), and the Metro interview with him that followed. Great stuff, and perfect timing—the Parkdale Rent Strike has the potential to be the most successful political action since BLM-TO forced Pride to ban uniformed, armed cops from getting paid to march in a parade that celebrated the very folks they like to beat up.

The Tories have a new Head Asshole, Andrew Scheer. No one has heard of this guy, and he conveniently had a lot of his more disgusting positions wiped from the intertubes. However, the Streisand Effect is still in play, so you can totally go and read what he's about. Spoiler: It ain't good. Fortunately, he has all the charisma of a mysteriously damp toilet paper roll, so I don't think he has much of a chance against Prince Justin or whoever the NDP nominates.

Do I have a clear preference for an NDP leader? I am shocked to say that no, I do not. I actually like multiple candidates. This is weird. I would be happy if Charlie Angus, Jagmeet Singh (with some reservations), or Niki Ashton won. I tend not to put a lot of hope in electoral politics but I do like having someone I can vote for and campaign for happily rather than someone who's the lesser of three evils.

Speaking of Niki, she's preggers. Yay Niki! She announced it on Twitter, because we live in the darkest possible timeline, and minor douchecanoe Brian Lilley got upset because she did not specify that she was pregnant with a human fetus. What else might she be pregnant with? Speculation abounded. Was it an alien? A tank-human hybrid? A dinosaur? No one knew until she clarified, kinda.

The coolest thing to happen around these parts is that the Ontario Liberals—who I don't even tend to like—announced that the minimum wage would rise to $15 by 2019, along with several other good labour reforms. This is great news, though in Toronto, where the cost of living is stupidly high compared to the rest of the province, it doesn't go far enough for my liking. Almost everyone is in favour, except for this whiny fuckhead, who is such an incompetent businessman that he can't afford to pay people to work for him. He was shocked and appalled to find himself the target of a boycott, and put up an even whinier sign that was immediately mocked for obvious reasons.

I try not to ever think about Barbara Kay, but a hero at Canadaland read that pro-genocide book that she recommended so that you don't have to.

Speaking of genocide against the First Nations, guess how much Trudeau's government spent fighting against indigenous rights in court? #sunnyways #colonialismbutfromtheheartoutwards

In international news, though I hate to go there:

Ivanka Trump makes her shoes in a Chinese sweatshop (no surprise there) and three activists have been disappeared for looking into it.

Laurie Penny continues to be my internet girlfriend. Here's a scathing editorial about freezed peach.

Finally, it is extremely important that we know about whether Melania is getting, and I quote, "federally-funded side peen." Yeah, you're welcome.

Comments

[the_siobhan]

If we had just listened to the advice of realtors, architects, designers, tradespeople and many friends, we would have avoided considerable stress and, well, $100,000 in debt.

I can't stop laughing at this line.

"But how could we have known!"

These people are my neighbours now. I'm sad that the street name is blocked out in the photos, I want to go stand on the sidewalk and point and laugh.

[sabotabby]

Pretty sure one of my friends said they know which house it is, but I forget who it was.

[minoanmiss]

*cracks up*

[mistersmearcase]

I just, reading about those people...could hardly believe they were real. I know it's a cliche that satire and real news are getting harder to distinguish but what kind of idiot does any of that? Especially the hiring of some rando as a contractor and the talking about how hard it is to have to live in your condo while you wait for your money to clean up your staggeringly idiotic decisions?

[sabotabby]

I thought they were satire, but no. There are just two drastically different cities.

[mistersmearcase]

I mean honestly, I kvetch about my middle class problems but first of all they're not quite so absurd, I think, and second of all, I subject my poor friends to it rather than potentially everyone on the goddamn internet. And I think I have a little more perspective on where they fit in the scheme of things. It seemed like these people were genuinely presenting this as "look at how hard life is."

[sabotabby]

Same. I make no bones about being a bourgie fuck with a house, and I whine, but I don't whine in Toronto Life, and also one house is not the same as two houses, a condo, a cottage, and a property in Mexico.

[lapinlunaire]

"bought a Parkdale rooming house, sight unseen"
I mean, I would think that if you're buying property without checking it out first, that's because its condition doesn't matter to whatever you're doing with it. But that's clearly not the case here so... what the fuck? O.o

I'd heard about the China thing (though only one activist) and it's just chilling.

I'm sorry about all the current woes with Canadian politics. I assume this Niki lady is cool?

[sabotabby]

I mean, real estate is insane here, so anything you buy, even if you just bulldoze it to the ground and slap something shitty up, is going to go up in price. Hardly a reason for rich people to whine "poor me" over a series of bad choices.

Niki is cool. She's not my first choice (that would be Charlie Angus) but I'd happily support her.

[rdi]

Laurie Penny is also my internet GF. Yay poly!

[sabotabby]

I feel like there's more than enough of her to go around. :)