Aaron Binder
LightNews LightNews
banner
aaronbinder.com
Aaron Binder
@aaronbinder.com
4.7K followers 1.8K following 860 posts
Director betterwayalliance.ca | Where good business grows.

3X Business Owner | Serial cyclist
Toronto | Hamilton | Indonesia | Canada

Highly professional human desiring bad boy status.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
aaronbinder.com
Aaron Binder @aaronbinder.com · Dec 23
I too have remembered butter.
A container of President's Choice 'Memories of Butter' margarine photographed on a store shelf. The white tub features the PC logo in red and the product name in bold yellow text. Below states 'NON-HYDROGENATED MARGARINE 0 TRANS FAT' and shows it contains 680g. The image has a slightly nostalgic, soft focus quality, adding irony to the product name.
Reposted by Aaron Binder
chrisdeleon.bsky.social
here's the 60 minutes cecot video part 1 of 5 - recorded/uploaded by and all credit to @jasonparis.bsky.social

I just reduced background noise, chopped the 14 minutes into 3 minute segments each compressed under 100 mb for bsky's limits, cropped and rotated a few degrees for easier viewing on here
December 22, 2025 at 10:58 PM
aaronbinder.com
Huge news for 4 million precarious workers in the UK.

"Measures include curbs on exploitative zero hours contracts, day-one sick pay and better protections for new mothers and expectant women"

A great step forward for UK workers & businesses: www.positive.news/society/good...
Screenshot of a Positive.News article with the headline "Workers got a rights boost in the UK." The image shows a chef's hands plating an elegant dish with asparagus and pink garnish on a round white plate. Below the photo, the article describes landmark UK employment laws that passed the House of Lords this week, including curbs on zero-hours contracts, day-one sick pay, and protections for new mothers and expectant women across England, Scotland, and Wales.
December 20, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
aaronbinder.com
"How modern capital captures control, drains cash flow, and leaves economies weaker."

Your semi-ocassional reminder that you will own nothing and be happy was invented by hyper-capitalists who create zero actual value.

Read @rachelwasserman.bsky.social | graceblakeley.substack.com/p/parasiti-c...
Text graphic stating: "Walgreens was forced by its new owner Sycamore to take on approximately $18bn of new debt to finance its acquisition. This means that Walgreens must find the cash each month to meet its new loan payments, and cut costs to balance the budget. Walgreens decided right before Thanksgiving to cut six paid holidays (including Thanksgiving) for hourly workers to help them repay these debts. They extracted more value from their workers, providing them with less compensation for the same amount of work."
December 15, 2025 at 11:35 PM
aaronbinder.com
"Dogs find you unpleasant" is the most cutting insult I've ever read.
starshine.bsky.social ☀️ Starshine @starshine.bsky.social · 10d
”rob reiner was a zionist achtually and its good he’s dead“

okay buddie, dogs find you unpleasant
December 15, 2025 at 11:53 PM
aaronbinder.com
"How modern capital captures control, drains cash flow, and leaves economies weaker."

Your semi-ocassional reminder that you will own nothing and be happy was invented by hyper-capitalists who create zero actual value.

Read @rachelwasserman.bsky.social | graceblakeley.substack.com/p/parasiti-c...
Text graphic stating: "Walgreens was forced by its new owner Sycamore to take on approximately $18bn of new debt to finance its acquisition. This means that Walgreens must find the cash each month to meet its new loan payments, and cut costs to balance the budget. Walgreens decided right before Thanksgiving to cut six paid holidays (including Thanksgiving) for hourly workers to help them repay these debts. They extracted more value from their workers, providing them with less compensation for the same amount of work."
December 15, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
nicktsergas.ca
AI-generated “synthetic respondents” can now pass the vast majority of fraud, attention, logic, and CAPTCHA checks used in opt-in online survey-based polling.

They can do this cheaply and at scale.

Often without being detected.

(1/3)
December 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
aaronbinder.com
Want to support Canadian businesses that give a damn about their employees?

Check out the @betterwayalliance.bsky.social 2025 gift guide:
betterwayalliance.ca/bwa-2025-hol...
December 10, 2025 at 6:25 PM
aaronbinder.com
A truly heartwarming investigation ❤️❤️
November 27, 2025 at 1:13 PM
aaronbinder.com
A sincerely thank you to @anotherglassbox.bsky.social for being a real champion on neighbourhood retail in Toronto.

It's weird we needed one for *corner stores* but there was and is nobody better for this fight.
graphicmatt.com Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · Nov 13
The neighbourhood retail report as amended CARRIES 23-2.

Toronto Council votes to permit corner stores in all Old Toronto & East York wards, and expands permission for retail on some (but not all) major streets city-wide.
November 13, 2025 at 9:58 PM
aaronbinder.com
Yeah, it's the rent.

Between 2019-2024, retail rents in Toronto spiked by 142%.

Data - betterwayalliance.ca/the-fixed-co...
graphicmatt.com Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · Nov 13
Holyday now has a picture of a local strip mall. He says these businesses can barely survive on a busy street, so he doesn't believe this notion that any "lovely stores" will survive on local streets.
November 13, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
graphicmatt.com
I'm hardly a hardcore free-market libertarian, but it does seem like the reality of market forces should be a bigger part of this debate. The basic reason you don't need to worry about a 24/7 bar/potshop/noise-making emporium setting up on a small street is basically "there's no demand for it."
November 13, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
graphicmatt.com
These are absurd timelines for installing speed bumps and doing road redesigns. Twelve motions to investigate speed bumps? Sixteen months to install? A decade for a road redesign? www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...
“The typical existing time frame for investigation for new ... speed humps and speed cushions is 12 months,” said city spokesperson Kate Lear. “Following community council approval, installation has a typical time frame of six to 16 months.” If slowing traffic requires the redesigning of a road, that can take much longer — as much as five to 10 years. “Public consultation needs to inform the conceptual designs that are developed ... before delivery can be co-ordinated within the multi-year capital co-ordination process,” said Lear.
November 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
rincewind.run
I don’t have a whole lot of advice for people younger than me but the earlier in life you stop worrying about what other people will think and just wholeheartedly enjoy the stuff you like the happier you’ll be
gwensnyder.bsky.social Gwen Snyder is uncivil @gwensnyder.bsky.social · Nov 11
One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age:

One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing

And then you'll say. Wait a second.

Fuck 'em
gwensnyder.bsky.social Gwen Snyder is uncivil @gwensnyder.bsky.social · Nov 11
Darn Tough turned me on to Cute Socks and I've never looked back
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
aaronbinder.com
"David Fleming says 267 square foot units like this tend to be built with investors, not tenants, in mind.

'No one is able to pull that off nowadays, which really makes me curious who are these condos for?'"

They're for investors. Story coming in post 2 👇👇

ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/...
Architectural floor plan of a Toronto studio apartment showing a compact layout with combined living/dining/kitchen/sleeping area (12'-6" x 12'-0"), balcony with outdoor furniture, bathroom with toilet and shower, and washer/dryer (W/D) closet. The plan shows furniture placement including a bed area, dining table with chairs, and kitchen along one wall. Black walls indicate structural elements and the unit includes a small entrance area.
November 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
aaronbinder.com
"Back in early 2020, about 11% of Amazon’s job postings were in offshore locations.

The percentage started climbing during the pandemic hiring boom and just… kept going. By 2023, it had hit 20%. Today? Nearly 28%."

Offshoring, not AI, is displacing US jobs at Amazon bloomberry.com/blog/amazons...
Line graph titled "Amazon: Percentage of New Job Postings that are located in offshore countries" showing data from January 2020 to 2025. The blue line tracks the percentage of Amazon's new job postings in offshore countries (90-day moving average), starting around 11% in early 2020, rising to approximately 19% by early 2022, fluctuating between 17-23% through 2023-2024, and reaching nearly 28% by late 2025. Y-axis ranges from 0-30%, X-axis shows dates from 2020-01-01 to beyond 2025-01-01. Source cited as Bloomberg.com article about Amazon's layoffs.
November 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
nicktsergas.ca
The budget.

It puts $5 billion into “health infrastructure,” which sounds like healthcare funding. But is it?

My breakdown for Canada Healthwatch looks at what’s new, what’s missing, and why health is now being framed as infrastructure.
November 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
aaronbinder.com
I wonder how this changes over the next 3 months.

"Which of the following politicians do you think is to blame for Canada not having reached an agreement with the United States to reduce tariffs since the last election?"

Empirical Intelligence poll data - empiricalintelligence.ca/budgetsurvey...
Poll results table from Empirical Intelligence (N=1001) titled "Carney and Trudeau Are Blamed As Much as Trump for Lack of a Deal With the US" showing percentage of respondents who blame each politician for Canada not reaching a tariff reduction agreement with the United States. Results: Donald Trump 34.7%, Mark Carney 19.4%, Justin Trudeau 14.3%, Doug Ford 8.1%, Pierre Poilievre 4.3%, François Legault 1.1%, Other 0.3%, None of the above 5.5%, Don't know 12.4%. Background shows a faded line graph trending upward.
November 8, 2025 at 4:26 PM
aaronbinder.com
Not everyone's cup of tea but the 2025 Distillery District Winter Village starts in 6 days!

I've put together a Planning Guide, FAQ & rundown of tours my company is offering. The village free most days/times & that's usually when crowds are sparsest.

Details | www.gotourscanada.com/2025-distill...
Promotional graphic for "2025 Distillery District Winter Village Planning Guide, FAQ and Tours" with yellow and white text overlaid on a dark circular background. Behind the text is a festive nighttime photo of Toronto's Distillery District showing a large Christmas tree with white lights on the left, illuminated historic industrial buildings with "GO" signage, holiday decorations including a red bow and purple lighting, and crowds of visitors walking through the cobblestone streets.
November 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
aaronbinder.com
Toronto Bike Share is one of the best city programs ever.

While I own 5 bikes - Bike Share is fantastic for quick jaunts downtown. It's also huge for tourism in Toronto and we need to talk about this more!

Read @torontotoday.ca | www.torontotoday.ca/local/city-h...
Here's alt-text for this image: Alt text: Screenshot of Toronto Star article headline "How Bike Share Toronto got big — and what it will take to keep rolling" by Aidan Chamandy, dated about 2 hours ago. Subheading reads "The system has hooked the city on e-bikes and conquered the Toronto Islands. Could integration with the TTC be next? Or will Premier Ford's bike lane battle spell doom?" Below is a photo showing a Bike Share Toronto worker in a high-visibility vest standing among rows of orange Bike Share Toronto bikes at a docking station. Bar chart titled "Bike Share's meteoric ridership growth" showing annual Bike Share Toronto ridership from 2015 to 2025. The blue bars demonstrate exponential growth from approximately 600,000 rides in 2015 to over 8,000,000 rides in 2025, with particularly steep increases after 2020. Source cited as Bike Share annual budget, University of Toronto School of Cities.
October 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
aaronbinder.com
"Hey baby, wanna kill all humans?"

When I think of who should be in charge of a giant robot army - it's not a dude who gets FOMO about not being in charge of the robot army.

Or the world's richest human.

Yet, they're the same person.

@arstechnica.com | arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
Text quote on black background reading: "Musk has threatened to leave if he doesn't get a larger share of Tesla. He told investors last month, 'It's not like I'm going to go spend the money. It's just, if we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army? Not control, but a strong influence. That's what it comes down to in a nutshell. I don't feel comfortable building that robot army if I don't have at least a strong influence.'"
November 7, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
lanyardigan.bsky.social
Right about now, the honk shoo brother
November 6, 2025 at 2:02 PM
aaronbinder.com
One day we'll be a real city.

And Dan will be the real mayor that cares.
anotherglassbox.bsky.social Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox.bsky.social · Nov 5
I wrote an op-ed on what I think about the fight for local neighbourhood retail (and the grousing about Badiali's) means for the urban vision of Toronto. Gift link here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
When even the humble corner store is impossible to open in Toronto, it’s a sign of something deeply wrong
We need to accept that Toronto is now a big city.
www.thestar.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:18 AM
aaronbinder.com
CANADA'S GOING TO EUROVISION

www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...
Budget includes CBC funding boost, pitches getting Canada into Eurovision
The Liberal government’s plans for CBC/Radio-Canada include looking at getting Canada into the Eurovision international song contest.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Aaron Binder
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 2:41 AM
aaronbinder.com
Yukon Voters: "Okay, yeah, let's adopt ranked voting!"

Yukon Party: "This whole exercise has been a waste of money,"

You were so close, Yukon: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
CBC News article screenshot with headline "Yukoners voted for electoral reform. They probably won't get it" and subheading "'This whole exercise has been a waste of money,' says incoming premier about Monday's plebiscite" by Paul Tukker, posted November 4, 2025. Below is a photo showing a yellow circular "VOTE" directional sign with arrows mounted on a post, with Golden Horn Elementary School building visible in the background.
November 5, 2025 at 2:22 AM