It’s the consumer version of “golden handcuffs.” It creates a psychological bias toward vendor lock-in. Ican’t use my PC Optimum points at a non-Loblaws grocer for example, which kind of makes it like Company Scrip or Canadian Tire money.

The privacy angle is it ties a purchase history database to an email account/identification number. You ever heard the story about the teenager whose parents found out she was pregnant because the store she shopped at sent her a “Congratulations” package?

Edit: IIRC, she wasn’t even sure yet, but the store knew because it tied her purchases to her reward points and the analytics figured it out.

I can agree with that. The process was definitely “shoot first, ask questions never.”

I definitely sympathize with the concerns, but I don’t think fragmentation of policing is actually going to make it any more accountable. If anything, it makes for a lot of obfuscation and finger pointing, at least in my experience. The lack of local accountability is real, but I do think that’s a problem where we should be working to reform the institution together across the country, rather than creating a bunch of small, regional forces with their own issues.

No. Think closer to Louisiana Cajun with better pronunciation.

It’s not untrue, but also, lets not pretend some reaaaly fucked up shit was going on behind the other side of the wall too. Like we give the boomers a hard time, but we should probably also remember “The Greatest Generation”, in basically every country, were also not really ok after the scale of inhumanity they had survived, and did some pretty heinous things themselves. Ever hear what went on in “Mental Asylums?”

For a second I was like “Wait, why are we Donkey?”, and then I thought about it for a second, and I was like… yeah actually that does fit.

What’s that? Staring a winterless winter in the face people aren’t enthusiastic about pipelines? Who could have foreseen THAT development. /sarcasm

I’m willing to have a reasonable conversation with a reasonable conservative any day. As long as you’re not trying to carry water for that spectacular mistake of a party that is the UCP, I welcome the return of a principled conservative party to the province. I might not agree with them, but at least I can respect their refusal to go all the way to crazy town.

Huge respect for them. Donated and I hope more do as well.

No clue, I just tried to make it readable. City manager?

Huh. Alright, well, I’ll grant him that. He’s less of a traitor than Smith, at least in public.

By number it looks like it’s primarily knickknacks, convenience stores, gun shops & hunting supplies, and motor sports retailers.

Not the OP but here’s the TLDR in a readable format

Acheson

Acheson Liquor

Acme

Acme Tack Shop

Airdrie

Freddie’s Freedom Corner Paul’s Pizza Wild Card Shack - Pub & Eatery Alliance Odette’s Andrew 565080 - 50 Street, Andrew

Athabasca

Lolly Pop Thrift Shop

Atmore

Atmore Community Hall

Barrhead

The Mall Bashaw 13 Sins Tattoo Parlour

Bassano

Bassano Community Hall

Bawlf

Bawlf Country Store

Beaumont

Five-O Bar & Grill Maina’s Donair

Beaverlodge

Golden Guns Top Dog Mechanical

Beiseker

Simply Food For Thought Squeaky Clean Soapery

Bindloss

Bindloss Community Hall

Blairmore

Darkhorse Electrical

Bluffton

Bluffton Boutique

Bonnyville

Bonnyville C2 (Centennial) Centre Jennie’s Diner & Bakery Lakeland Fine Floors The Player’s Lounge Sylvestre Sporting Goods

Bow Island

Gouw Naturals Boyle Napa Auto Parts Central Sales

Brooks

Brooks Kinsmen Hall Buck Lake DD’s Liquor Barn

Byemoor

Byemoor Hotel

Calgary

Angel’s Cafe (not currently open, but listed for future reference) Bearspaw Historical Schoolhouse Boddums Up Pub Red Deer Lake Meats Renfrew Community Recycling Depot Shawville Shopping Center Shorty’s Storage Shane Homes YMCA

Calmar

Calmar Program Centre

Camrose

Camrose Recreation Centre Icon Safety Consulting Rose City Tinting

Carbon

Mikey’s Place

Cardston

Cardston Outdoor Supply (C.O.S.)

Caroline

Kurt Browning Arena

Carvel/Parkland County

Mo Jo’s Garden Centre

Cereal

C J Peacock Centre

Chestermere

Dockside Bar & Grill West Creek Pub Clive Rooster’s Roadhouse

Cochrane

Bow Ridge Sports & Marine

Cold Lake

Beantrees Cafe Mach 1 Sports

Cremona

Irvine’s Tack & Western Wear Stitch Witch Design & Mfg.

Dapp/Westlock County

Dapp Corner Store Debolt Trapper Gord Homestead and Survival

Dewberry

Dewberry Data (Daniel) Dewberry Hotel

Diamond Valley

Fired Up Automotive Motorrad Performance

Didsbury

Didsbury Business Centre

Drayton Valley

Drayton Valley Bakery

Eckville

Stacey’s Happy Place

Edgerton

BeFabulous Essential Boutique

Edmonton

Being Healthy Nutrition CPCATS Davies Dog Training Edmonton Cast Iron Konig Flooring NBS Auto Repair & Tire Shop One-Stop Shop The Stair Shop Terwillegar Recreation Centre

Edson

Tessa’s Shop

Empress

Empress Bindloss Agridome

Fairview

Dunvegan Motor Inn

Falher

Venture Parts Supply

Fawcett

Fawcett Truck Stop & Sportsman Inn

Fort McMurray

Quality Inn & Conference Centre

Fort Saskatchewan

Dow Centennial Centre

Fox Creek

Freson Bros

Gainford

Gainford Hotel

Genesee

Genesee Hall

Gleichen

Gleichen & District Arena

Grande Cache

Shoppers Park Mall

Grande Prairie

Bullets & Broadheads Shooting Center Elkan Environmental Engineering Holiday Inn & Suites

Grimshaw

Franz’s Small Engine Works

Grovedale

Grovedale Post Office/Museum Gunn Sal’s Gunn Take Out or Dine In

Hanna

Hanna Community Centre

High Level

High Level Rural Hall

High Prairie

deSIGNS by Tam Ltd. Flatline Mechanical Odd Fellows Lodge Triangle Hall

Innisfail

Harley’s Hutch Raw Pet Food Innisfail Bowling Lanes

Irvine

Irvine Sports Complex

Killam

Killam Co-Op

La Crete

La Crete Heritage Centre

La Glace

La Glace Auto Body

Lac La Biche

Canalta Hotel

Lacombe/Lacombe County

Brown Eggs and Lamb Lacombe Memorial Centre Mary C. Moore Public Library

Lamont

Lamont Bottle Depot Langdon Divine Salon & Spa

Leduc

Acre Rig Mats Leduc Coffee Shop Schrader Holdings

Lethbridge

Spot On Real Estate Group Bernie’s Auto & RC

Magrath

Roosters Country Marketplace

Manning

Venture Parts

Medicine Hat

Nirvana 101 Wyndham Hotel

Milk River South Country Tire Monitor FTG Enterprises Inc.

Morinville Morinville Flooring Centre

Morningside

Morningside Community Hall

Morrin

Main St. Junction Pub & Grill

Nanton

Doubletree Farm

Niton Junction

Niton Bottle Depot

Nobleford

Nobleford Community Complex

Okotoks

Okotoks Recreational Centre

Olds

Twisted Mist Vapes

Peace River

Integra Tire

Pine Lake

Ghost Pine General Store

Ponoka

Scizzor Wizzard Hair Design

Provost

Provost Laundromat

Red Deer

McArady Holdings Redclif DD2 Equipment Rentals

Rochester

Rochester Library

Rosebud

Rosebud Centennial Museum

Seven Persons

Seven Persons Community Hall

Sexsmith

Cowbella’s Cafe

Slave Lake Pyramid Mechanical

Smoky Lake

The Blackbeary Eatery

Spruce Grove

Edmonton Equipment Rentals and Sales Part Stop Auto and Industrial Supplies Swamp Donkey

St. Albert

Terrae Pines Golf & Country Club

St. Paul

Peavey Mart

Standard

Standard Arena

Stettler

GT Hydraulics

Stony Plain/Parkland County Silver Star Ranch Cabin Agency

Strathmore Walmart

Sundre Sunnyside Suds Laundromat

Sylvan Lake

Hazard County Bar & Grill Sylvan Storage Taber I-Beam Irrigation Three Hills BigFoot Car Wash and Service Redneck Superstore

Tomahawk

Tomahawk Liquor Store

Trochu

Redneck Superstore

Vauxhall

Vauxhall Advance

Vegreville

Vegreville Fire and Safety Supply

Vermilion

All Wheel Wash Elks Hall Farmers Market Nichols Towing

Wainwright

Pockets 96

Warburg

Warburg Alliance Church Wembley Corner Grocery

Westlock

Westlock & District Community Hall

“Regret” is the wrong word. Donny Dorito over there would have to be capable of any kind of self-reflection or shame to regret anything, and he is absolutely not capable of those feelings. We can make him frustrated enough he decides to go back to lighting his fellow Americans on fire for entertainment.

I didn’t say I absolve them all of the role they played. I said I’m more sympathetic. It’s a subtle distinction, but I don’t think it’s an irrelevant one.

I have a bit more sympathy for those in a real state of risk for their survival if they try to fight. It’s not easy to be a martyr. For those whose only sacrifice is a fraction of their wealth and status… Their cowardice is appalling.

Are you? Because for the most part it’s Canadians who don’t have a lot of investment capital fighting for our survival. Those with money, don’t understand or care what we’re fighting for, and they are the only ones with the capital to even start the process. We have legions of Canadians ready to get to work, and all the tools are owned by people who keep giving them to American companies so they can generate Facebook slop and email spam.

I think it’s a bigger commitment than a lot of tech people like to think it is, and I say that as someone who has worked in IT for over 20 years now. Most lay people have no idea just how big the educational technology ecosystem really is. There’s a patchwork of sometimes questionably maintained FLOSS tools that can kind-of-almost work for some things if you are willing to roll your own plugins and patches, but it takes a major org like Canonical who supports Ubuntu or something equivalent to extend and maintain even the basics. It’s not the wild west out here anymore, and major companies and government departments aren’t willing to spend a lot of time and money exploring options or extend some patience while we work out the bugs. We need paid professionals building extensive platforms, and that means either we roll our own tech behemoths the way China did (unlikely) or we admit we need to set up a crown corp and pay for it out of the public purse, because again, no one on earth is going to invest in sovereign Canadian goods when you can make 10x the profit south of the border.

All schools in North America are beholden to Google. This shouldn’t be news, although it probably is to some. Google has been lobbying and cutting deals every government and school board it can get its hooks on for a couple decades. They make the old Apple Education program look insignificant.

Should we trust them? No. Do we have an alternative? Also no. I want you to consider the scale of the problem here. The Chromebook itself is sold nearly at cost and often below cost. Why? Because Google isn’t making money off the Chromebook. It’s just a gateway to a massive networked ecosystem of software products and services. They’re called “Big Tech” for a reason, the massive scale of operation necessary to build out something like their education program would take trillions of dollars in today’s economy. If we spent a third of our national GDP trying to build something equivalent on our own terms, we might catch up to with where Google is today in 10 years or so, and we’d have to fund it entirely publicly, because no one in their right mind is going to invest in a private competitor that’s primary use case is a market 1/10th the size of the US.

Is it doable? Yes. Is it cheap, easy, or fast? Absolutely not. Is it worth it? Maybe??? Can we maybe cut a deal with the EU and their new data sovereignty initiative and make it happen a bit faster and cheaper? Yeah, that might work.

Bit of a viscous cycle there. If you have no people, you have no leverage. If you have no leverage, you get no results. If you get no results, you get no people. Unfortunately a lot of the people who the NDP were intended to give a voice to, seem to think that they deserve to be punished by the Epstein class, as long as they’re free to treat their neighbours like trash. We can only hope that enough people understand where that ends and will at least sit down and have a conversation with us that we can turn their justifiable anger, into meaningful change.