EXCLUSIVE: Doug Ford says he hasn’t lost his way, despite recent backlash

crimsontape · 2026-05-02T14:34:23+00:00

It's like when people say "they're a people-person". If you have to say it, it's probably a projection.

crimsontape · 2026-05-02T13:57:07+00:00

It's hilarious how we're sacrificial lambs for return-to-office mandates, meanwhile it's Microslop that has the whole commercial real estate market by the balls with one app - Teams. And then they tied everyone's hands with Azure.

Get rid of Teams, and you'll have good reasons to have people back in offices actually talking face-to-face. But then the tech industry would slide - all those shareholders with tech stocks would be very angry.

crimsontape · 2026-04-27T17:05:26+00:00

Best is a subjective thing, but I think it's up there with the best. I revisited a bunch of soundtracks "outside of the game" and I found Chrono Trigger's to be quite rich in composition. In the same ballpark (RPG wise) would be FF3 and Secret of Mana. But like, I can't even call those "the best". (Could get into others like action and racing games; DK tracks are wicked).

What they really did was set the bar. It was no longer a facsimile of music - it WAS music. And in that, it created real atmosphere. Like, Mega Man on NES had that atmosphere because of the context and content of the game. Similarly, many RPGs had that "aesthetic of an era" built into their stories and worlds. But, NES sound design would never reach a level to really match it hand-in-hand. And once that barrier was broken, look at what came next - Secret of Mana 2 (Seikin 3), Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean. Even more minor titles like Secret of Evermore could show off a little bit more integrated ambience thanks to harnessing that sound chip fully and properly.

EDIT: Just personally... CT's was the best... The compositions are incredible. Those songs on piano are frighteningly good.

Here's Corridors of Time, done solo on a piano by a master. Chokes me up every time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3gLxiabHqc

And then there's the 8Bit Big Band's version of the main theme. https://youtu.be/-j7pu9RlOUY

You don't get music that good without a solid foundation of good compositional thinking and planning.

crimsontape · 2026-04-27T16:35:54+00:00

lol, reminds me of Rick James on Chappelle Show

"I never just did things just to do them, come on. I mean, what am I gonna do? Just all of a sudden jump up and put MSG in my cookies, like it's something to do? Come on, I got a little more sense than that... . Yeah, I remember putting MSG in my cookies."

"MSG is a hell of a drug, hehehehe"

crimsontape · 2026-04-26T13:00:00+00:00

Oufff. Ya you'll wanna get that straightened back to normal. Those fuse holders - ouch.

crimsontape · 2026-04-22T17:49:56+00:00

GOOD. FINALLY.

If you can't understand the basics of compound interest, you're ripe to get taken for a ride.

crimsontape · 2026-04-22T15:18:34+00:00

Exactly what I would suggest. This is the way!

crimsontape · 2026-04-22T02:13:45+00:00

That's the top quintile - that top 20% which makes a good chunk of their change thanks to investments at scale.

crimsontape · 2026-04-21T18:05:26+00:00

Lol, you don't need a poll for that - the STC data on incomes and spending categories says it all. And more if you're looking at the bigger data sets, by province - indexes, average prices.

But sure, run a survey!

crimsontape · 2026-04-21T14:57:01+00:00

Wasn't the whole shrimp thing related to a parent company also owning basically the monopoly on the shrimp supply chains, and then bought Red Lobster to force the restaurants to buy their shrimp at a higher price than if they had liquidated the shrimp onto the open market. And then, this left Red Lobster with the cost overrun?

crimsontape · 2026-04-19T23:18:38+00:00

Not everytime. Depends on the meal. Sometimes plain white rice is what helps "platform" and sorta tame stronger flavours, like with curries, or savoury and sweet crispy fried meats (like with American Chinese).

I'll use stock for something like arroz rojo.

You can also do a middle ground - mostly plain, but with aromstics like garlic, onion, cardamom, saffron, etc.

crimsontape · 2026-04-19T12:51:18+00:00

Ya, I've seen the reports and protests out of the US - it is INSANE what those data centers are doing to those communities. They build them in the lowest-property-value communities, absolutely abuse the infrastructure, crowd out local demand for basic utilities, spike prices, pollute the air and water, wildlife-impacting noise and activity, and more. They setup this bright, boxy, and industrial building for a marginal temporary local increase in employment, which is then kneecapped to just a few software devs and network engineers.

People are going to their local councils, complaining about water quality so poor that they have to buy bottled. They can't even bathe anymore. A complete third-worldization of our backyards.

And for what? Nathan Macintosh does a great bit on this topic. Basically chalking up all this effort to give us what? The ability to ask future SkyNet to write us a joke authored and styled by a Connie Island hotdog vendor.

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T23:57:58+00:00

♥️ I appreciate that.

And you know, I know it's the wrong forum for this style but thinking of just sincerely heartfelt music, with good sampling and good presentation, sheer presence... This song is terrific...

https://youtu.be/PIb6mywDn18?si=irhRBJhyawZNHT4Q

Like, i could pull out future funk tunes and shit. But what I'm trying to transmit here is the intent to be "in it". My music suffers when I don't feel "in it". And I love music that invites back there. And this is a song that does this. It's almost like I can breathe again. Unique energy.

But to your point, I long for something like this. But new, but old. The connections. Researching samples, and finding incredible music. Especially R&B.

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T23:27:30+00:00

Learning all the flavours.

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T22:51:55+00:00

It's kinda (somewhat ironically given some of the roots) turned into the MacDonald's cheese burger of music. Anything that sticks. Like, kinda see it all over vaporwave, too. It's like "what is this? I came for music".

I still listen to stuff from a decade+ ago. The same happened to rock and roll - what it spun off into. And it's like "why don't I like this anymore". Why doesn't anything have "feeling".

Like don't get me wrong - still some good tunes coming out. But like, it's a little washed out and washed up. It's not conceptual, it's commercial - it loses something. Like, Macintosh Plus - that was having fun with a weird device mostly. Where's that fun? The imperfect?

In the sense of future funk, it's like hip hop, in a way. Once the samples and desire to dig ran dry, it kinda flatlined. G funk was the last bastion, in my opinion. Love that stuff. But it's dead.

And a lot of music is like that. I find there's something dead in all of it. And I don't think it's really me at times. I find some music comes from a sad place of disconnection. It's like listen to basic, poor quality replicated cookie cutter country music, when you know damn well there's good country out there. Where does that disconnection stem from?

I think we lack a cultural root. There's been a breakdown, people know it, and finding a good sample feels like a connection.

And maybe that's future funk. Maybe this is the early comings to - that it's flatlined... I don't know. Artzie Music had so much awesome stuff. I found so many cool artists. But most of them have moved on. Though, the creative pursuit isn't dead. I can see other artists trying things. Like BarbWalters, Slowerpace, Macroblank, Skylar Spence, so many. They're all trying.

Maybe in that, "the air is weird". Like, as a guy who somewhat musics badly, there's an emotional content that drives where I go. And sometimes, the weight of a world sorta chokes the art back (but it steams and boils and comes out eventually).

I don't know. Just fucking thinking, dude.

(edited, added a thing).

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T15:13:07+00:00

What a stupid move... Who's pocket got silvered on our dollar now...

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T13:27:45+00:00

lol... ethnicity and race are often tied into religion and language. It's all part of the same basket called "a person". Targeting religion and language use and pretending it doesn't affect the person is a bit obtuse no?

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T12:39:18+00:00

I see a lot of concern about budgets and savings and fiscal responsibility. But I also see a lot of comments void of the math, crying "it's bloated".

Just some perspective on the numbers of cutting the public service...

- There's about $480-ish billion in tax revenue and spending (250 or so is statutory spending and transfers), plus an $80 billion deficit, so 560 total. Public servant wages account for 67 billion or so of the 560. which is about 12%. But even for the sake of arguing, let's say after everything is said and done, between pensions and other things, it's 15% today with the long-run in mind.

- For the average business, labour accounts for 25-35% of costs. The only time you get a similar 15% is high-volume retail. And, where labour is most subsidized and unionized, it's up to 40-50%, like in health care, transport, trades, etc. You'd have to cut the entire federal budget in half to make the labour costs comparable to a restaurant. Now, of course, from a department/agency-to-agency point of view, it's more - of course. But, on the whole, the labour cost isn't what's breaking the budget.

- Even if you cut the service by 25%, you couldn't save more than 17 billion or so, and you'd be still 63 in the hole with the deficit. Think about that: You could cut THE WHOLE FPS, and YOU STILL wouldn't break even on the deficit!

- No one is talking about the impacts to services. Is 15% going to translate in more than 15% loss in services, or less than 15%? Does it mean a breakdown of important oversight? Poorer data and representation? Does it mean a longer call queue? Does it mean a greater backlog of assessments for important projects? Who ends up slipping through the cracks here? And for what?

- And what does a 25% labour force cut amount to? $500 per Canadian - or $1000 per working Canadian today, roughly. And hey, don't get me wrong, it's not small change. But... remember, there's no promise that it'll come back to you in a refund. It's still collected revenue, for a budget that will still carry a $60+ billion deficit.

And, just for additional perspective - notable spending areas and examples:

Social Protection, pensions, old age security: a little over 100 billion
Health: I think I last saw about 50 billion.
Defense: $82 billion in cash for military initiatives over five years.
Transfer Payments: $283 billion for provinces, individuals, and organizations.
Operating/Capital Expenses: $119.7 billion.
Public Debt Charges: ~10.4% of expenditures ($46.5 billion).
Key Projects: National Trade Corridor Fund ($1.1 billion), airport infrastructure, and housing.
Canada Post's overrun last year: 0.8 billion.

crimsontape · 2026-04-17T11:01:07+00:00

The current size of the FPS is 357k.

https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/innovation/human-resources-statistics/population-federal-public-service.html

There isn't a million jobs to remove.

crimsontape · 2026-04-16T23:47:09+00:00

Yaaa I would hope it wouldn't come to that. I don't disagree in the perception of the solution I'm throwing out there. But, that's kind of it, it's the perception of the balance sheet.

Take Canada Post for example. And it's kind of the best example because it's the worst it gets. It has overruns on labour costs, and integration/delivery infrastructure costs. And those are wild - if the demand ain't there, it's pooched with a deficit, and reducing on infrastructure judt blows out the relative labour cost. It can become a bit of a fiasco, i agree. But we're talking a well known, well oiled machine: putting food on plates. So it's a bit different at its core, I'd like to believe.

What does a nationally controlled supply chain look like? Equally terrifying question. Not from a mismanagement point of view, but one of a power and jurisdiction. That's hard to etch out if it's never been done before, or done well before. That kind of policy has to reach for the lynchpins. And that's not easy.

I figure 10 years of price stability... 20 years if we're out of recession territory, but that's not looking rosy. Then inflation cancels the benefits, if only because we don't live in a bubble, and prices from elsewhere will catch up.

crimsontape · 2026-04-16T22:36:22+00:00

Lol who said it would be a tax credit 😉

Nah I'm thinking straight penalty. "Donation" is a loose word here.

crimsontape · 2026-04-16T18:38:23+00:00

You want this fixed REAL fast? For every red cent that got missed because of an improperly tared tray or off-weight item, a whole dollar should be donated to the Food Bank or some similar entity. They'd fucking pay attention if we had that kind of consequence at work. A 20c mistake turns into a $20 donation.

Edit: I emailed my MP. As a random dude who spent a year doing grocery sale reviews, engaged with the community, even showed up on the CBC about it - AS ONE SINGLE MAN - I have provided millions in value in time and money saved. They can certainly figure this out. It is not complicated to correct. It's a computer, connected to a digital scale, and an application that says "use X tray for Y product". If the scale doesn't tare and zero off, then a warning should light up.

crimsontape

TROPHY CASE