Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.- Seva Gunitsky discusses how the U.S. is committing hegemonic suicide. Simon Tisdall is about as optimistic as one can be about the Trump regime…
Agency Without Control
Rethinking the Self in an Age of Distributed IntelligenceMost people I speak with...
Remembering Trump
I'm still on a break from this blog, but I came across something too good not to share.Gee, I hope I'm not accused of having TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).Recommend this…
With a new year almost upon us, everyone paying attention now understands Danielle Smith is a separatist
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is a separatist. Well, not quite universally acknowledged, as we shall see. And only recently. But still, this recognition…
BC was deaf to cautionary tales
Many people are to blame for Site C, a facility that will produce electricity at a multiple of the cost of other clean power systems. No persons in positions of…
The liars jump the gun
Here’s an example of antisemitic propaganda, taken from the Chapters/Indigo website listing for my book The Hidden Hand. There has been NO advance copy released. It doesn’t mention Bondi Beach,…
Sunday Funday: Some good and funny posts, Paul Fairie’s headline contest, Trump Watch, and Animal Crackers
Funny posts - Carlita ShawRead on Substack View on Threads View on Threads — Albino Badguy (@albinobadguy.bsky.social) December 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM Funny Numbers xkcd.com/3184/— Randall Munroe (@xk...
BC Hydro customers paying for “doublespeak masterpiece”
In the Times Colonist, Les Leyne reacted to a recent BC Hydro report about Site C: B.C. Hydro has written the blandest, most blameless account possible. When it comes to…
Nincompoops ranting in their underpants just might have been right
Thanks to RanD Hadland at Facebook's Say "NO" to Site "C" Dam! for drawing my attention to a recent Vaughn Palmer column. The Sun's pundit mentions BC Hydro's "pathetic" excuse…
The biggest losers
In Canadian politics, Pierre Poilievre should be – but actually isn’t – the biggest loser of the year. And, yes, 2025 saw the Conservative leader blow a massive lead in…
Risk Indicator Checklist: What Language Predicts What Action and When Concern Should Escalate
This checklist is designed to help readers understand how extremist violence rarely appears out of nowhere. Instead, it emerges through patterns of language that normalize grievance, erode democratic legitimacy, and…
Above and beyond the rule of law
Gordon Wilson should have been Premier of British Columbia. Instead, Vancouver power brokers of the 1990s wanted a more tractable person waiting to be Premier. Gordon Campbell replaced Wilson as…
Announcing that I am "Radical Left Scum" too
Not a lengthy post tonight, but I just have to join the thousands online who are announcing themselves as "Radical Left Scum" following Trump's crazy Christmas Eve rant: "Radical Left…
Forever Canadian
I have never been much for flag waving. Patriotism can be a constructive emotion when... The post Forever Canadian first appeared on Views from the Beltline.
‘Heated Rivalry’ is the oasis of tender, sensual masculinity we didn’t know we needed in 2025!
Like some, I had spotted in November the Heated Rivalry posters (pictured) on bus shelters sporting the shirtless hockey star characters in mid-embrace, foreshadowing the show's steamy gay sex scenes,…
Reverse Engineered De-escalation Leverage Points
The framework that follows is built on a simple but often misunderstood premise: most extremist movements are not disrupted by exposure alone. Public scrutiny can raise costs, but it can…
Thoughts on (Re)Reading Fowler’s
I had all but forgotten how delightful it can be reading Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage. It gives me the same sort of pleasure as reading at random through…