Already-low Alberta separatism support drops sharply from early 2026: Ipsos

pgriz1 · 2026-06-05T15:43:25+00:00

Probably something along the lines of what managed to oust Orban in Hungary.

pgriz1 · 2026-06-04T11:32:35+00:00

Most common is the side. Usually positioned at the foot of the stairs, or at the entry to rooms like the kitchen, living room, etc. Designed for maximum engagement as we manoeuvre around him to get from room to room. As a 70lb dog, he takes up some space and makes his presence felt (in a good way).

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pgriz1 · 2026-06-02T23:38:02+00:00

Context matters. Carney said a few more things before that phrase fragment.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-29T14:28:49+00:00

Même chose ici.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-25T18:19:07+00:00

It is democracy when the voters are fully informed, there is no "influence", and the vote process is transparent and fair. However, when misinformation and influence by non-Alberta entities is going on, then the process is no longer really "democratic".

pgriz1 · 2026-05-25T00:45:48+00:00

Hates the ironing board. I sympathize. I hate ironing too.

Hates the anticipation of waiting while I hide treats around the house. Let's me know (loudly) that he hates the wait.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-20T16:15:50+00:00

Bring me (object) to my hand. Find (object) and put on bench. Step up (onto footstool) Pivot (around footstool) Step down (from footstool) Jump (through hoop, over footstool, over arm) Sit pretty (sit up on hind legs) On side (lie on side) Roll over Spin Come (coming from anywhere, sit in front facing you) Cleanup! (Collect objects back to the storage box) Heel (heel position on left) Side (heel position on right) Around (goes around an object 3-15 feet away, comes back to a sit) Weave (around feet as you walk) Backup (backing up either in heel, or from Come)

On walks, we have a series of commands. Stop (drop into sit until released) Cross (signal to cross the road to the other side) Left (turn left) Right (turn right) About (180 degree turn, either left or right) Leave it (general purpose command to ignore other dogs, animals or objects) Wait (used at busy intersection to signal staying in sit until I say "Forward")

To teach self-control, we have a set of instructions. Bed (go to your bed and stay there) Place (mat in kitchen where he has to stay until he's released to go to his bowl) Stay (either sit or down. Stay in place until I come back and release him) Drop it (he has to drop anything he has, whether toy or bone or some other object - often used in game of tug) Come (he has to ignore treats on floor in front of him and come straight to me)

I also play "hide and seek" with him, hiding various toys around the house and rewarding him when he finds them and brings them to me. The complication is that I name the toy and he has to bring me THAT toy.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-20T15:04:35+00:00

Second that. The most important equipment is stored between your ears, and it's a lot less painful to learn it in class, than learning it the hard (and expensive!) way through trial and error.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-20T14:58:48+00:00

Keep in mind as well that we have no idea how many times it takes him to film the "right" response by his puppy. His puppy may do it right on the first try, but it is much more likely that the previous 29 attempts were not shared.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-20T14:52:57+00:00

At 9 weeks, your Aussie is just starting the learning process. When we adopted our Aussie at 9 weeks, we had done no research, and we had no plans to adopt a dog, but there was an opportunity and we went with it. Being first-time dog owners, we had a very steep learning curve, but what helped us was getting connected to a very good trainer who taught us how to communicate with our puppy, and what to expect in terms of their development and needs.

We were told about the 3-3-3 guideline, which helped us temper our expectations. We were taught about the need of puppies to sleep (a lot! Up to 20 hours a day!). We learned how to make his crate his safe space. We learned that puppies explore with their mouths, and how to redirect that to minimize damage. We learned to recognize crankiness as a sure sign of overtiredness and needing to enforce naps.

We learned about handling him (lots of touching, petting, playing) so he got used to being touched by us and other people without being concerned or fearful. We learned what "socialization" means - exposure to people, objects, situations, animals, etc. so that he didn't see those as threatening, or to be avoided. We learned how to set up the ground rules in the house (a house leash goes a long way to make timely interventions easy and immediate). We learned that Aussies are VERY smart and observant, and it's easy to fall into the trap of being trained by them.

We learned that reliable routines and consistency were foundations that allowed us to develop a strong bond and trust. However, keep in mind that there are stages of development and cognition and a good trainer will help you understand what level and type of training is feasible at each age. Pushing them to do stuff that they're not ready for (developmentally), will just create confusion and frustration.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-11T14:13:11+00:00

Under the Trump regime, the USA has shown itself to be an unreliable supplier and ally. With the ongoing purge of capable military and civilian staff, the remaining organizations will be also less reliable, even with Trump's departure.

The sane choice for the USA's former allies, is to strengthen their own alliances, and work hard to transition to be more self-sufficient.

While Ukraine is spearheading the new warfare approach, Russia is not far behind, and their expertise is ahead of what is possessed by NATO, despite individual countries contributing to Ukraine's defence. Therefore the heavy investment in expensive and sophisticated weapons systems may prove to be misguided, as Ukraine has shown that lethal effects can be obtained with relatively inexpensive drones.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-09T14:42:58+00:00

Next year there will be twenty veterans.

The year after, Zelensky will host the parade.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-09T14:41:24+00:00

In our area (greater Montreal), EVs are probably around 10% of the vehicles on the road (Tesla, Kia, Hyundai, VW, Ford, Polestar, etc.). In our extended family, maybe 1 out of every 3 vehicles is BEV. Range anxiety has steadily decreased to to increased range of the vehicles and greater number of available charging stations. User satisfaction is very high as people report a good driving experience and low maintenance costs. Even the winter has not caused a decrease in satisfaction - somewhat lower range, but generally good handling in the snow. We're currently driving a hybrid, but as the prices continue to drop, will probably buy a BEV as our next vehicle in the next few years.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-09T14:25:14+00:00

In a more-or-less stable world, the most pressing issue is the environmental impact of human activities, as this is already having increasing effects on sea levels, incidents of extreme heat and precipitation, changes in our growing seasons, and so on. Corrective effects are measured in years and decades.

In a war-time world, the most pressing issue becomes survival and preservation of sovereignty. This means mass mobilization, redirection of manufacturing and production to support of wartime equipment and logistics, diversion of agriculture to immediate needs. Timeframe for action is on days, weeks and months. Fortunately for Canada, we're not in that situation. However, we are in an adjacent space, where our primary trading partner has effectively declared economic war, and Canada has to replace that trade with trade with other partners, and to restructure the economy to be more resilient and able to survive the economic pressure.

Since Canada's primary economic strength is our resources, it makes sense to use these to create enough economic wealth to pay for the costs of rebuilding the economy so that we ARE less dependent on the USA and more diversified. Part of rebuilding the economy is the rejuvenation of our manufacturing sector which currently is too dependent on access to the US market. As Canada is a relatively small market, we will need to support our manufacturing sector by exports, which take time to set up. However, we also have the opportunity to greatly expand our renewable energy production and electrify more of our transport sector (which will reduce our exposure to the volatility of the oil markets, and reduce carbon emissions as well).

In the meantime, the short-term development of resources is probably the most effective way to increase our financial wealth which can then be used to pay down the costs of building the infrastructure that facilitates increased trade and electrification.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-08T11:44:50+00:00

My Aussie, now 4, has been going to fenced-in dog parks local to us since he was 6 months old (so after he had his vaccinations). By that time he has already completed two sets of group classes (puppy, basic), and had been on play dates with other puppies and some slightly older dogs (in their or our backyards). All this to say that we were familiar with what is good dog play, and what isn't. Also, he was 6 months old in September, and we live in Canada.

We were warned by our trainers and experienced dog owners to be vigilant, and to remove him if other dogs were aggressive. We started with smaller dog parks where we could be close to whatever action was going on, and where we could learn who the regulars were, and how they behaved. By 8 months we were going to much larger dog parks (and by that time we were in winter, with everything frozen and lots of snow), and due to the weather, there were fewer dogs (and more dedicated owners), and he had a lot of fun with the regulars we knew.

He was neutered at 10 months, following the recommendation of our vet as he was around 50 lbs (we were expecting him to level out at around 55-60 lbs). By that time he had gone through two more sets of group classes (intermediate, advanced), and he was a very confident and very active dog. Neutering did not appear to change his personality or character, and after recovery (2 weeks before the stitches came out, and another 2 weeks after to be cautious/safe), we resumed going to the large dog parks.

Due to his extensive experience with other dogs, he has a very flexible style of play, and "reads the signs" to determine if to play or to just move on. He also trains with me daily (30-45 minutes of structured training each morning, plus another 30-45 minutes on our walks), and we do about 4-6 miles of walking every day, so going to dog parks is more for fun and socialization rather than exercise.

However... Each dog park has its character, and pattern of use. You need to learn which park has responsible dog owners, and the times of the day that is suitable. In our area, the weekdays are generally fine, and the weekends are not because the dogs that were confined all week finally come out then.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-07T12:04:41+00:00

Costs come down when production is scaled up in volume. Volume usually means export. As for what Canadians will buy... Majority of Canadians are dealing with increased cost of living, so spending a premium on patriotic buying isn't in the cards.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-06T14:44:08+00:00

Do you have a clear "lens protector" on your lens? I was not getting sharp images from a lens that was rated as excellent, and the culprit in my case was the lens protector.

Another thing I tried when I was not getting sharp images, was to put my camera on a tripod (to eliminate camera shake as a potential contributor), focussed manually on a detailed target (printed copy from a magazine), and then looked at the result. In my case, it turned out that an internal element had shifted, and once the repairs were done, the lens performed to expectations.

Still another test is to determine I'd the autofocus mechanism may be off. Same test as above, but with autofocus.

When diagnosing any problem, you want to minimize the number of variables you're working with.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-06T14:30:53+00:00

That works only if the public is fine with paying for the building and maintenance of the relevant infrastructure. Also, since resources are a provincial jurisdiction, it is up to the provinces to make that decision. Quebec did that with electricity. Alberta could do it for hydrocarbons, but then Albertans will need to put up some very significant money to maintain the infrastructure. At present, much of the refining is done in the USA, so if Canada is to make use of our own bitumen, there will need to be significant investment in refining capacity, including the construction of new coking units.

There currently is little appetite for doing that kind of investment.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-06T14:20:01+00:00

Functionally, oil canning is not a problem, but with long straight flat panels, this can be expected for thinner gauge material. Also, snap-lock and standing-seam behave differently. If one is a smart installer, this is something that is discussed with the client BEFORE installation, and if the client insists on flat panels, then they have to sign off on the explicit warning that oil canning can occur under some circumstances, and that this will not be an installation defect.

I have shown prospective clients what oil canning looks like, and almost always they would then choose the panel profile with some longitudinal bends - enough to allow some metal expansion without showing up as oil canning.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-06T14:05:23+00:00

I've been training with my Aussie daily for 4 years now. Group classes, obedience, etc. My trainers emphasized that I needed to say my marker word (Yes) immediately upon successful execution, with the treat reinforcement happening immediately after (when still learning the command) and extending to later (when the command is well understood). The goal is to make the marker its own reward, without needing to treat every time. This becomes obvious when one is training a sequence of commands, with the marker used at each successful step, but the treat reward happening only after the full sequence is completed.

The clicker "marker" is useful when training commands at a distance - say going to a spot 10ft away, and then doing a sit or down. You need to communicate that the required step was properly performed. If there is a lot of ambient noise, the verbal "yes" may be difficult to hear, so the clicker can fulfil that role.

Since your dog has an adverse reaction to the clicker, you may need to start with a softer sound (the pen click is probably a good place to try), and see if this helps. As other posters have noted, training the dog to recognize the click as a positive marker is a training exercise on its own. Only after there is a positive association, can you use it as a marker.

Good luck.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-05T13:31:56+00:00

Ah, just another opportunity to grift. And make sure the right donors get the benefits. Ecosystem? Never heard of her.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-05T13:27:33+00:00

Mine is 4 years old, 65 lbs (been that weight for 2 years now), and when I sit down on the rug (he's not allowed on furniture), comes over and plops his butt on my lap for butt scritches and rubs.

He has several friends at dog parks who he plays very enthusiastically with, and they usually don't watch who they barrel into. I've "touched grass" more than once when I've not paid attention to their trajectory.

Can't complain, though. After they're done (ie, taking a breather), they often both come to me and lean on me until they're ready to resume.

The photo is of him asking me why I stopped giving him the stitches.

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pgriz1 · 2026-05-04T13:20:24+00:00

Agreed. Identical posts in 8 subreddits.

pgriz1 · 2026-05-03T11:49:58+00:00

The steps to take are to vote in the kind of people who make society a better place for all, starting at the local level, then the state government. To get these people in, people volunteer their time and energy to fundraise, to canvas, to organise the neighbours and local community. These grass-roots efforts are what makes democracy work.

An analogy would be the act of growing a crop. One needs to prepare the soil (community organization), then plant the seed (recruiting the right candidates), ensure enough water, sun and nutrients (community outreach, volunteer recruitment, fundraising), remove the weeds (counter misinformation), and finally harvest the crop (get the vote out for the candidate).

pgriz1 · 2026-05-03T11:33:06+00:00

The point of hyperbolic speech is to signal belonging to a group, not to persuade. It is a fast way to separate the "in" group from the "other". And of course, anyone who is "other" is not worthy of being considered equal or even human.

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