Updates from April, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 16:47 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

    As some may have noticed, I was reconnecting the blog to Twitter on the weekend after a short outage. The process is normally handled by ifttt.com, and it’s now back up just as news comes about Elon Musk buying Twitter for $44 billion.

    I’ve enjoyed having Twitter as a side channel to the blog, but I’m seeing people I respect deciding to leave Twitter immediately. I’m not planning to do that right away, and am hoping I don’t lose respect by not doing so. It will depend how Twitter changes under the new ownership.

    Any thoughts?

     

    • walkerp 17:37 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      As a principle, it’s really terrible that such a public forum can be owned by an individual. It’s just one more blow in the war of private money versus the people.

      In practice, this looks pretty bad but I am willing to give it some time and see what policies are actually put in place. If he really can remove bots and make the algorithm open source, that could improve Twitter. But any move towards “free” speech which is less moderated and thus more open to the kind of manipulation and propaganda that went on up until they kicked Trump off, then Twitter could very easily become a powerful vehicle for fascism in the world.

    • carswell 17:47 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      If Trump rejoins — and maybe if he doesn’t — it will be Twitter Social. But nothing wrong with waiting a while to see what happens. That said, when this possibility was first announced, I tried to shut down my two Twitter accounts (couldn’t because when I changed ISPs a while back, the email account tied to the accounts suddenly — with no grace period — ceased to exist and I hadn’t given Twitter my phone number, so there’s no way for me to log in).

    • Bert 17:48 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      Yeah, but by definition, Twitter (and all the others) are not public in the terms of the various “free speech” clauses under which people are ruled.

    • qatzelok 18:28 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      Free speech doesn’t lead to fascism. It takes a lot of manipulation and misery from the oligarchy to make people miserable enough to empower “violent retribution” type of governance.Like fascism, or foreign aggression.

      But Twitter isn’t free. It’s private and that won’t change with new owners.

    • dhomas 18:34 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      When Facebook bought WhatsApp, I stuck around to see what they were going to do with it. As soon as they announced that they were integrating it with Facebook and sending data back to Facebook, I closed my account (I’d closed my Facebook account years prior and had no intention of giving them any more of my data).
      I think I’ll take the same wait and see approach with Twitter (though I hardly use it now as-is). I’m not a big fan of Elon Musk’s, but he has done some pretty amazing things: online payments with PayPal (X.com); helping to popularize EVs with Tesla; his work in space exploration with SpaceX; etc.
      It’s just all the terrible stuff he says and does that is irksome. I’ll give him a shot to see if Twitter lands on the good or bad pile of Musk endeavours.

    • Kevin 21:04 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      I think Elon will get bored in a year or two and go away to do something else.
      As others have tweeted, he’s a big clown buying a big circus, He’s a new father desperately avoiding his 2 children, and he’s a multi-billionaire still making 420 jokes with everything he owns.

    • Chris 21:45 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      Twitter is pretty lopsided in who is chooses to ban and not. ex: Trump is banned, but the Taliban is not. Hopefully it’ll end up more balanced, because it’s moderation is definitely heavily on the “woke” side of things.

    • Ian 08:14 on 2022-04-26 Permalink

      Wait, you think the Taliban are “woke” ?

    • Chris 09:27 on 2022-04-26 Permalink

      Ian: no, definitely not. I think the twitter moderators are. Sorry if that was unclear.

    • DisgruntledGoat 13:21 on 2022-04-26 Permalink

      I’ve found the discourse over whether Twitter will become a hate speech filled cesspool humorous. Haven’t we been there since the early to mid 2010s?

      It serves a big purpose as a global public utility, but that aspect is pretty hard to monetize.

  • Kate 16:18 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

    Another thing that came out of the mayor’s presser Monday is that the city has joined an international treaty called the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed at phasing out fossil fuels, although the name is clearly meant to evoke a nuclear arms treaty with a similar name.

     

    • Kate 16:13 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

      Mayor Plante also said Monday that the city will ponder naming some public space for Guy Lafleur, a process that can’t begin till a year after his death, although ideas are apparently already being considered.

       

      • carswell 17:52 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

        I don’t give a rat’s ass about spectator sports of any kind. (The one and only time I watched a game on TV, because friends were, was the 1973 Super Bowl.) But it’s obvious Lafleur mattered to lots of people. If Bell were truly civic-spirited and not just profit grubbers, they’d name the new Forum Bell Centre after him.

      • DeWolf 18:13 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

        It’s not up to Bell, it’s up to the Molsons! They own the arena. As you’ll remember they named it after themselves (and yeah, their beer brand) when it first opened…

      • carswell 18:14 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

        @DeWolf Same difference.

      • carswell 18:16 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

        Also, Bell has purchased the naming rights, no?

      • Harry 07:51 on 2022-04-26 Permalink

        There already is a Guy Lafleur arena. And there is no point in sowing the same sort of confusion as there is between the Bell Centre and Place Bell.

      • Kate 09:22 on 2022-04-26 Permalink

        Harry, I did not know that, but Guy Lafleur Arena is in his natal town of Thurso, so I doubt it would be so easily confused with an installation in Montreal.

        The Journal reports that the Thurso arena is disused and neglected.

        I don’t think there’s much hope of renaming the Bell Centre, since, as carswell says, the rights have been sold, and it’s not public property.

    • Kate 15:56 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

      Although some Quebec towns are offering free public transit, Mayor Plante says she likes the idea but that Montreal can’t afford it.

       

      • DeWolf 18:22 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

        Efficient, frequent public transit will always be better than free mediocre transit. Unfortunately Montreal is caught in the middle. It’s not particularly affordable, unless you buy a monthly pass (which has become useless for many people in the hybrid work era). And service ranges from excellent (on the metro) to poor (most bus lines).

        Instead of investing millions of eliminating fares, it would be better to have a more flexible fare structure while massively boosting bus frequency. 15 years ago, the 80 came every six minutes or less for much of the day. Now it runs every 15 minutes and every 30 minutes at night. It’s pathetic.

      • JaneyB 19:57 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

        Also…the elephant in the room: the homelessness problem, drug addiction, and the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. Like it or not, the fares are a gate against the combining of those folks with riders right on the platform and in the trains. If people think there’s an issue now, making it free will make it much worse. Riders (particularly women) will then flee from the system if they can. This is the reason STM will not be free.

    • Kate 11:39 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

      Enrolments in kindergarten in Montreal are down, a trend blamed on the decline in immigration and birthrate, and the departure of young families to communities off island.

       

      • Kate 11:05 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

        A study published in the Canadian Medical Journal says that unvaccinated people increase the risk of COVID-19 infection among the vaccinated. So – as was suspected all along – choosing not to be vaccinated isn’t just about managing a risk to oneself, but to everyone one comes in contact with.

        CTV writes a dubious headline here: “Experts advise Canadians to consider personal risk before getting 4th COVID vaccine dose.” But this is about the risk of catching Covid, not risks from the vaccine itself, which some might assume is intended. The article is actually quite informative about the debate over how long we should wait for a second booster after either having the first, or being diagnosed with Covid.

         

        • Meezly 20:15 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

          From the Gazette article: “However, he acknowledges that a simple mathematical model doesn’t fully reflect the real world or the diverse factors that must be taken into account when setting public health policy…”

          I know one family who have managed not to get vaccinated at all against Covid, but they have also caught Covid and recovered (I don’t know how much they realize how lucky they were). Most everyone, vaxxed or not, has caught Covid, and have therefore have some form of immunity, right? But the study does not seem to consider this factor either.

        • Kevin 23:19 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

          Boileau decided to pull a number out of thin air and say 3 million were infected earlier this year… but Delta was more likely to cause infections and put people in hospital than previous strains, so ‍♂️
          Judging from the UK, where bucketloads did have Covid and bucketloads were vaccinated and now 275 are dying every day, I don’t think prior infections do much.

          But looking at the USA where everyone over 65 had had one dose of vaccine or they’ve died… I don’t know.

        • Kevin 23:30 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

      • Kate 09:45 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

        A house on Nuns’ Island has been shot at twice on different nights this month. There’s nothing in this piece about why the family thinks they’re a target; a teacher who’s taught a couple of the kids is quoted as saying it must be a mistake.

         

        • Kate 09:40 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

          In Le Devoir, writer Francisco Toro explains why he thinks Montreal’s core urban pattern of plexes and alleys is underestimated as a major asset of this city, and one that could be extended into the future. I’m totally in agreement with Toro on the value of this urban style, except for one thing: how do you make this pattern profitable enough for developers to imitate?

           

          • Kevin 09:58 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            I’ve seen many people commenting elsewhere (globe and mail, for one) that other cities could solve their housing crisis by shifting from single family homes to townhouses.

            Although having seen friends in London bring their lawnmower through the house because the backyard and front yards are completely cut off from each other, I’ve always been very glad to have an alley myself.

          • Ian 11:31 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            Handy in case of a house fire, too. I live on a green alley that is blocked off with huge planters at each end and I wonder if the fire department is consulted before green alleys go in.

          • Joey 12:30 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            Big +1 from me, though the alley culture does have its downsides too (contractor parking, garbage – and if you’ll recall last spring, poop – magnet) but alleys allow dense streets to breathe. It would be interesting to contrast, say, the typical small ‘cour’+alley in Rosemont, PMR, etc., with the ‘bigger lot/backyard+adjoined fence with a neighbour that you find in NDG.

            Imagining a model for new development, one would have to assume that all new alleys would be ‘green,’ insofar as the city would be unlikely to allow any kind of vehicle access. The alleys that are entryways to parking spaces are quite different than the ones that are closed to all traffic.

            To answer Kate’s question, given the high price of triplex-plus-alley neighbourhoods, one imagines that developers could make a lot of money. Maybe not as much as they can by squeezing as many 400-sq-ft condos into eight- and nine-storey buildings, though. Of course half the appeal of dense neighbourhoods is the whole 15-minute city stuff, which would follow housing construction, meaning the real speculative value would only emerge once the housing is all built and the various commerces, etc., take off. So I suppose you would need some incentives to get developers to follow this approach. Also, I have no knowledge of housing construction, but it feels like it’s easier/quicker/more efficient to build small cookie-cutter condos in buildings than triplexes…

          • Kate 12:38 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            I’ve wondered that too, Ian. My alley is “green” but hasn’t been blocked to service vehicles when they’re needed, and I think that makes the most sense. People don’t drive through in regular cars because it’s too narrow and there are no garages or parking spaces along it.

          • Robert H 15:25 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            Excellent article by Toro. Montreal’s central plex neighborhoods are truly something special. A few other cities on this continent do high-density: Boston has triple-deckers and townhomes, New York has tenements and row houses (but no alleys!), Chicago has 2-flats and 3-flats, even Los Angeles with its garden apartments on small lots. Also, the plex is not exactly unique to Montreal; it also makes up parts of La Vieille Capitale and Trois Rivières. But no other city has the amount or prominence. The row upon row of plex houses is as much a signature of this city as Mount Royal. This is a characteristic of pre-war Montreal. There’s a generic quality to suburban Montreal, as pleasant a place as it can be to live. Because millions love the space, privacy and mobility of the single family home and car-based lifestyle, it remains the default for large scale residential development across North America. But despite coronavirus and the work from home phenomena, there’s a coexisting attraction for urban living which is also manifested across North America. So the demand for la vie citadine is there, but the market is broken in the form of restrictive zoning laws and high construction and land costs. It’s been argued here before that it would not be necessary to cover the island in high-rises to accommodate hundreds of thousands more residents. The extension of the central Montreal model offers a solution, but as Joey stated, the means would probably involve development incentives. I don’t know how strong those incentives would have to be given the relative ease and lower costs of putting up cookie-cutter multi-unit buildings of the type you could find from Blaineville to Brossard.

            Check out these video posts from Oh The Urbanity!

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsn0ahdfQ9k

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYCAVmKzX10

          • walkerp 17:41 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            Love the alleys!

            It’s the inconsistency, the slight chaos, the avoidance of certain bylaws and regulations that make them so rich and dynamic. Also a place for children to play.

          • Kate 18:06 on 2022-04-25 Permalink

            The alleys are where people really live. The front of the house may be an impersonal façade, but the back is where the kids play, conversations are held over back fences, people visit, barbecuing goes on, laundry’s hung out, and cats mooch around. Of course it’s also where a deal of sawing and hammering goes on throughout the summer…

        • Kate 09:10 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

          The CAQ is putting a lot of dosh into building new high schools over the next two years, including three in Montreal – Anjou, Montreal North/St-Léonard and Lasalle. In stark contrast to the brutalist bunker style of the 1970s, when it was assumed windows would only distract the students, they’re bright and airy with lots of glass.

          Nothing in the article about better ventilation, but let’s hope that’s also part of the picture, for Covid and so the kids don’t fall asleep in the afternoon because of too much CO2.

           

          • Kate 09:02 on 2022-04-25 Permalink | Reply  

            It seems typical of the Gazette that they frame this story as First World War commemoration disrupted by housing crisis protest. In any case, as noted, both events went forward without difficulty, but which is more important? And are we really meant to be more generally aware that Sunday was the anniversary of the Second Battle of Ypres, a battle fought more than a century ago, than the situation of tenants in this city now and in the future?

             

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