Martin Grasdal 🍁

@mgrasdal

Old IT guy, nearing retirement. Living proof that a degree in Engl. Lit & Philosophy is far from useless. Lover of fiction (including sci-fi & fantasy), history, classics, etc,. Classical music lover.

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Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· 18d

Trump demonstrates his unfitness everyday. He takes Putin at his word and fails to fully grasp that, even if this were true, that does not preclude other forms of assistance to Iran that are harmful to the US and it's military. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told Congress this week that China and Russia were helping Iran to some extent. But Donald Trump contradicted him on Friday, saying Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin had personally assured him that they would not sell weapons to Iran.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· 20d

Since both versions leave out the story of Odysseus' encounter with Nausicaa on the final leg of his voyage home, this is the only historical accurate film version of the Odyssey.

A poster advertising a 1967 film version of James Joyce's Ulysses, directed by Joseph Strick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(1967_film)

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· 24d

So, the Israeli Ambassador rebukes the provincial NDP leader who apologized for posing in a picture with him at the Calgary Stampede. Really? What's unacceptable is murdering large numbers of innocent people and stealing their land.

Screenshot of Twitter post from the Israeli Ambassador to Canada. The text reads

STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR IDDO MOED:

“Friendship should never be controversial.”

At Calgary Stampede with a 6-person tech delegation, I reconnected with Albertan friends old and new, and saw firsthand the growing strength of the Israel–Alberta partnership.

But it’s unacceptable for hate to creep and fester into a space built on hospitality, undermining the respect and empathy that should define it.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· 24d

Much of the GOP and their supporters, sadly, are the products of a failed education system and dumb as rocks. Look at a map. Canada has 285 million hectares of forests. Some of these fires are over a 1000 Kms from any settlement and most of them are remote and have no road access.

Shaded relief map of North America showing the distribution of various types of land cover. Of note, is the large swaths of green in Canada showing the continuous boreal forest biome (approximately 280 million hectares) that comprises much of Northern Canada.

Source: https://infographic.tv/map-jakub-marians-land-cover-map-of-north-america-2000x2460/

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jul 10

This warrior dude?

Pierre Poilievre, looking disheveled and possibly drunk or high, exiting a graffiti riddled trailer that is a breeding ground for right-wing nutjobs.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jul 7

It has become something of a Stampede tradition that this moron does something that embarrasses himself and his party. Remember when he was photographed with some other fool who was wearing a straight pride t-shirt.

Pierre Poilievre at the 2023 Stampede. Wearing a black cowboy hat, he is posing for a picture standing between a man and a woman. The man is wearing a green Straight Pride t-shirt.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 29

Post one (1) photo of a painting you took with your very own hands

Guernica. 1937. Pablo Picasso. Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid.

Picture portrays in black, white, and grey the suffering, violence, and chaos created the by the bombing of Guernica, a town in the Basque region of Spain, in 1937 by fascists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(Picasso)

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 24

Thanks, @bonnieraitt.bsky.social and your band for a great concert in Edmonton. Been a fan for many years. She's still on tour. If you're able to see her and her band live, you won't regret it. Wonderful person. Wonderful band. Fabulous songs.

A picture of Bonnie Raitt and her band at the end of her concert on June 23 at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton. Not the first time she has played this venue. She's been coming to Edmonton for many years. I hope she comes for many more.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 20

This is really something coming from Rob Anderson, Smith's Chief of Staff. The UCP is currently trying to gerrymander ridings to ensure they win by choosing their voters. Hardly fair and square. The UCP promised to fix health care, not break it through privatization, which is what they are doing.

Mr. Anderson, an author of the separatist “Free Alberta Strategy” who seems to grow more obnoxious by the day, continued: “If you don’t like the policy Naheed, explain why to Albertans and run your election campaign on it. We’ll beat you fair and square. But don’t whine to Ottawa and ask them to oversee and interfere in our provincial affairs. Grow a spine dude …”

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 20

How I wish this very funny paragraph did not make perfect sense in this essay you should read by @mitchellab.bsky.social. womenofabpoli.substack.com/p/this-week-...?

Finance Minister Jason Nixon explained that the legislation states either a reduction in gas taxes or a rebate are acceptable ways to protect Alberta taxpayers from paying for services provided by government. I paraphrase.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 18

New moon and Venus at twilight. Jupiter will be visible soon down and to the left of Venus.

A picture of a clear sky at twilight with dark low mountains in the foreground. Above the mountains in a darkening sky a sliver of the moon is visible. A single star, Venus, appears down and to the right of the moon. As the sky darkens later, Jupiter will become visible to the right of Venus at the 4 o'clock position.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 16

Sunset in Porto, Portugal.

Picture of a church on the top of a hill nestled among various buildings. In the background, the light from a setting sun is filtered by clouds, creating a contrast of lighter and darker rays of light.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 12

Tiles

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Jun 2

Spain's economic success is caused, in part, by immigration.

The new arrivals injected life into the Spanish economy. By filling labor shortages, they allowed existing businesses to expand to serve more customers, which, in turn, created the need for even more workers. The migrants were also, of course, consumers, who bought goods and services. Many also started their own businesses. Rather than harming native-born workers, the immigration surge seems to have helped them. The unemployment rate for native-born Spaniards has plummeted while incomes have risen by double digits; the poorest workers experienced the largest increase. A report from the Bank of Spain estimates that a quarter of the rise in the country’s per capita GDP from 2022 to 2024 could be attributed to immigrants.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· May 27

Danielle Smith is still an embarrassment to the province and a liar. One bright spot is that CBC added clarity and shone a light on much of the disinformation she spreads. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Around 700,000 Albertans signed citizen-led petitions pertaining to Alberta's spot in Canada. About 400,000 signed the Forever Canadian petition which was seeking a legislature vote on if Alberta should stay in Confederation.

Pro-separatist group Stay Free Alberta said it has collected around 300,000 signatures, though these haven't been verified by Elections Alberta. The petition asks for a separatist referendum question. The future of that campaign is now in doubt after a judge ruled earlier this month that Alberta's chief electoral officer made an error in law when he approved the citizen initiative petition.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· May 24

Well, I think we can all agree that Smith is most dishonest and corrupt Albertan politician in anyone's lifetime. Might be a bit of a stretch to match her up against the competition that MAGA is putting on, but I'm sure she would be competitive. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Even the separatists, the people Smith meant to appease, hated it. Because the vote is both vague and not binding, many saw it as a betrayal of their efforts. One prominent separatist leader said Smith “looked every Albertan in the eye and lied to their faces”, calling her “the most dishonest and corrupt leader in my lifetime.” Another wrote that Smith had “betrayed” her base.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· May 21

"China builds high-speed rail, ports, and power grids while we argue about gas stoves." cbwrong.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-...

Trump's mocking of clean energy has helped China dominate the future of green technology. While Trump has mocked renewable energy, pushing us to be more dependent on oil. China became the world's #1 producer of solar panels. China has also become the world’s #1 producer of batteries and the world’s #1 producer of electric vehicles. These are the industries of the next century. China built them. We argued about windmills.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· May 7

The whole announcement smells. Something is rotten in the province of Alberta.

Arthur Green, Mr Ellis's spokesman, did not acknowledge questions about when the RCMP deputy provided the government with the information about separatists and foreign interference, how the information was communicated, whether the minister is satisfied with the RCMP's assessment, or why neither the Mounties nor Alberta disseminated the information publicly.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· May 2

Lol. On this day, over 20 years ago, Bush delivered the now infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech. Is this some kind of weird anniversary celebration?

Picture of George Bush delivering a speech on the aircraft carrier, USS Lincoln, on May 1, 2003, proclaiming the end of major combat operations in Iraq. Behind him a banner reads, "Mission Accomplished".

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 23

It's a sad day when we have to hope that the courts will protect us against our governments using the powers granted to them by voters to take away our Charter rights.

“The existence of parliamentary consensus, such as a unanimous vote on any measure, cannot serve as justification for a violation of a Charter right,” the appeal court said in a summary of its decision.

Three conservative-led provinces, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan, supported Quebec in court. The provinces all argued that the Supreme Court should defer to legislatures on questions of voters’ effective representation.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association was an intervener at the Supreme Court. Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, a director at the association, said that while the Quebec situation isn’t gerrymandering, elected officials drawing electoral maps is a clear sign of apparent bias.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 21

I read that book over 40 years ago. It's one of the best retellings. For Greek Myths, I'm a big fan of Edith Hamilton. antigonejournal.com/2024/03/reme...

Cover of The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland, published in 1980 by Andre Deutsch.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 18

This account posts AI slop that purports to be views of planets, the moon, other astronomical objects. The account has 210 K followers.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 18

In case anyone is wondering, what Smith is talking about is the option to add two more ridings to increase the number from 89 to 91, under conditions that are specified in the final report. Expect more chaos and shenanigans to favor the UCP, just on a smaller scale.

Recommendation 5: In the circumstance that the Legislative Assembly of Alberta finds that it cannot concur in the proposals of the majority of the Electoral Boundaries Commission in its final report to remove two
electoral divisions from areas outside of the Cities of Edmonton and Calgary, the majority of the Commission
recommends that the Assembly make amendments to the Electoral Divisions Act, increasing the number of electoral divisions from 89 to 91 for the next general election, and restore the two electoral divisions that this Commission has removed. The rest of the province as we propose must be maintained to the extent possible.
This would need to be studied by an all-party Select Special Committee or other equivalent Legislative Committee in accordance with its Standing Orders. However, restoration of the two electoral divisions should:

a) have no impact on any electoral division in Airdrie or containing territory south of Airdrie’s
southernmost border, with the exception of Drumheller-Stettler;

b) have no impact on any electoral division north of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton;

c) result in all electoral divisions south of the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton reverting to the map outlined in the interim report, with the possible exception of including Nisku in Edmonton-South
East if the all-party committee wishes to restore Leduc and Beaumont being in the same electoral
division; and

d) consider restoring an electoral division mostly consisting of Clearwater County and western Mountain View County as an electoral division with s. 15(2) status under the Act.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 5

Wtf. He does realize, I hope, that Iran still has lots of missiles and drones? Iran has likely targeted important and irreplaceable bridges in the surrounding countries, along with other infrastructure. If he did this, the consequences would be very bad for everyone. Insanity.

Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 3

Hard agree.

Picture of the end of the Kathleen Edwards concert. Band is walking off. Kathleen is saying her final good bye to the audience.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Apr 2

Why not? Could the workers not be unionized and paid wages and benefits that are comparable to other auto workers? Isn't that better than no workers? The NA auto industry can resist, but they will ultimately lose this battle against low cost EVs.

In an interview with CBC News in Dallas, Texas, Ford said such a deal would undermine Ontario autoworkers.

"It's unacceptable. It's everything against what the federal government told the auto workers here in Ontario," Ford said.

"We can't have cheap Chinese parts and kits coming over to be assembled," he said. "We're dead against this."

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Mar 31

Wtf is this?

Front page of the Edmonton Journal, showing an expensive full-page ad featuring a picture of Danielle Smith, a caption claiming that the UCP is doing great things for the city, and a request to fill out a UCP survey.

The Edmonton Journal is a fucking rag.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Mar 31

Turns out I still have it.

Picture shows a copy of The Concept of Law by H.L.A Hart. The price tag reads 11.25 from the U of C bookstore.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Mar 31

Lol. That was not my experience.

Picture of me holding my 60s era Conn 8D horn, which was made as part of the last production run in the Elkhart factory before moving production to Texas. American craftsmanship at its finest, when such things mattered more.

Martin Grasdal 🍁@mgrasdal· Mar 30

Lol.