Laurence Thompson
@thompsonlg.bsky.social
Grandfather, trying to leave the world a little better for my & all grandkids.
Approach to issues is on policy rather than partisanship.
🇨🇦 in Treaty 6 lands.
Focus on health, climate & Saskatchewan.
Approach to issues is on policy rather than partisanship.
🇨🇦 in Treaty 6 lands.
Focus on health, climate & Saskatchewan.
Can they ship to Canada?
Europe’s vegetable garden yields 3.5m tonnes of produce all year round, enough to feed half a billion people. 1843 goes inside Spain’s plastic sea of greenhouses
The plastic city that feeds half a billion
Inside the greenhouses that serve as Europe’s vegetable garden
econ.st
February 15, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Can they ship to Canada?
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
February 15, 2026 at 2:47 PM
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
Hey Canada:
As the rest of the world ages, Africa’s youthfulness stands out. It will play a bigger role in the global labour market and as a source of consumers, culture and ideas
Africa needs to follow Asia’s path to grow
So argues an important new book, “How Africa Works”
econ.st
February 15, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Hey Canada:
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
HAVANA (AP) — Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis. #bdnmb www.brandonsun.com/local/2026/0...
2 Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid dock in Cuba as US blockade sparks energy crisis
HAVANA (AP) — Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis. The ships arrived two weeks after U.S. President…
www.brandonsun.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:30 PM
HAVANA (AP) — Two Mexican Navy ships laden with humanitarian aid docked in Cuba on Thursday as a U.S. blockade deepens the island’s energy crisis. #bdnmb www.brandonsun.com/local/2026/0...
For almost all of the past at 4 years since Sask Govt declared “COVID over” in Feb 2022, Saskatoon hospitals have continued over adult capacity, with ERs backed up with as many as 100+ pts admitted, but no beds. This continues this week. 1/
February 12, 2026 at 9:38 PM
For almost all of the past at 4 years since Sask Govt declared “COVID over” in Feb 2022, Saskatoon hospitals have continued over adult capacity, with ERs backed up with as many as 100+ pts admitted, but no beds. This continues this week. 1/
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
Herb Carnegie was so good with the Quebec Aces that his teammate Jean Beliveau copied his skating and stickhandling style.
Considered the best Black player to never play in the NHL, he had a big impact on hockey.
Oh, and he was a champion golfer.
This is his story!
🧵 1/10
Considered the best Black player to never play in the NHL, he had a big impact on hockey.
Oh, and he was a champion golfer.
This is his story!
🧵 1/10
February 11, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Herb Carnegie was so good with the Quebec Aces that his teammate Jean Beliveau copied his skating and stickhandling style.
Considered the best Black player to never play in the NHL, he had a big impact on hockey.
Oh, and he was a champion golfer.
This is his story!
🧵 1/10
Considered the best Black player to never play in the NHL, he had a big impact on hockey.
Oh, and he was a champion golfer.
This is his story!
🧵 1/10
“Over the past two weeks, something incredibly important happened in Canada. The national media finally began to get serious about the role of foreign interference in the Alberta separatist movement.”
Alberta Is the Frontline for Democracy
Over the past two weeks, something incredibly important happened in Canada.
charlieangus.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:51 PM
“Over the past two weeks, something incredibly important happened in Canada. The national media finally began to get serious about the role of foreign interference in the Alberta separatist movement.”
Interesting map. Check out where you fit in the Bluesky galaxy by typing in your handle.
Interesting - zoom in and see all the communities here. Lots of science and ecology, creatives from many world regions, progressives, intellectuals - and Brazilian young people. I recall the science and BlackTwitter were the first to decamp the other place.
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
February 9, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Interesting map. Check out where you fit in the Bluesky galaxy by typing in your handle.
“LUMA Energy — 50% owned by Calgary's ATCO Ltd. — has been handed a 15-year, $2-billion contract to manage Puerto Rico's grid and oversee the modernization of the island's electrical system.”
Why a Canadian CEO could be Puerto Rico's most-hated man | CBC News
LUMA Energy — half-owned by Calgary's ATCO and led by Canadian Wayne Stensby — has a 15-year, $2-billion contract to keep Puerto Rico's lights on. But the company has become a lightning rod instead, a...
www.cbc.ca
February 9, 2026 at 6:42 PM
“LUMA Energy — 50% owned by Calgary's ATCO Ltd. — has been handed a 15-year, $2-billion contract to manage Puerto Rico's grid and oversee the modernization of the island's electrical system.”
Alberta’s oil industry is killing jobs through automation, no longer creating jobs. Instead the oil industry is fuelling discontent. Alberta’s unemployment rate has perennially been near or the lowest in 🇨🇦.
Now it is the highest… 1/
Now it is the highest… 1/
More oil and gas production, fewer workers | Pembina Institute
CALGARY — Direct jobs in Canada’s oil and gas sector fell by 35,000 in the decade to 2023 despite significant production growth during the same period, according to new analysis from the Pembina Insti...
www.pembina.org
February 9, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Alberta’s oil industry is killing jobs through automation, no longer creating jobs. Instead the oil industry is fuelling discontent. Alberta’s unemployment rate has perennially been near or the lowest in 🇨🇦.
Now it is the highest… 1/
Now it is the highest… 1/
New evidence from 🇨🇦 (Alberta) that back blows best first treatment for choking:
What to do if someone’s choking: Evidence says begin with back blows
New research suggests back blows cleared choking obstructions in 72 per cent of cases, superior to both abdominal thrusts (59 per cent) and chest thrusts (27 per cent).
theconversation.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM
New evidence from 🇨🇦 (Alberta) that back blows best first treatment for choking:
A different view of social & family values, from a once more optimistic & progressive America: “another, different example of public art — an art for the people that celebrates the dignity of labor, the heroism of sharing, and the morality of kindness”. 1/
Imagine a Paradise of Human Endeavour, where the crushed art & science of all the ended empires dwells after destruction. The grand reliefs of Assyria and Magelang, of Champa and Mayaland, of which we enjoy but remnants. I hope these works of Guston & Shahn will rest in good company there.
It’s Been Called the ‘Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.’ Don’t Destroy It.
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:11 PM
A different view of social & family values, from a once more optimistic & progressive America: “another, different example of public art — an art for the people that celebrates the dignity of labor, the heroism of sharing, and the morality of kindness”. 1/
More on what has been until now unbelievable & unthinkable. How does a mouse resist an elephant?
The lesson from Ukraine 2014: hesitation invites escalation. Defence analyst Peter Jones on why Canada must be ready to respond forcefully to any cross-border aggression—not as law enforcement but survival. https://thewalrus.ca/how-a-us-invasion-of-canada-would-really-unfold-and-how-we-fight-back/
February 8, 2026 at 1:17 AM
More on what has been until now unbelievable & unthinkable. How does a mouse resist an elephant?
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
It's just objectively silly — and, I would argue, very counter-productive — that housing has come to be seen as a *federal* issue.
Provincial and municipal governments increasingly only exist as rumours in Canada.
Provincial and municipal governments increasingly only exist as rumours in Canada.
February 6, 2026 at 7:54 PM
It's just objectively silly — and, I would argue, very counter-productive — that housing has come to be seen as a *federal* issue.
Provincial and municipal governments increasingly only exist as rumours in Canada.
Provincial and municipal governments increasingly only exist as rumours in Canada.
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
Brief thread.
My head is going to explode from the sheer civic illiteracy that We The Media have fostered by making everything a federal issue, and being absolutely allergic to holding premiers to account for failures in their jurisdictions.
My head is going to explode from the sheer civic illiteracy that We The Media have fostered by making everything a federal issue, and being absolutely allergic to holding premiers to account for failures in their jurisdictions.
February 6, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Brief thread.
My head is going to explode from the sheer civic illiteracy that We The Media have fostered by making everything a federal issue, and being absolutely allergic to holding premiers to account for failures in their jurisdictions.
My head is going to explode from the sheer civic illiteracy that We The Media have fostered by making everything a federal issue, and being absolutely allergic to holding premiers to account for failures in their jurisdictions.
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
Sorry, Conservatives: as much as you love pretending otherwise, Justin Trudeau never killed the oil and gas industry. #cdnpoli #abpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/06/o...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/06/o...
Justin Trudeau never killed the oil and gas industry
The former prime minister's supposed hostility towards Alberta's defining industry is an article of faith among Canadian Conservatives. The facts tell a much different story.
www.nationalobserver.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Sorry, Conservatives: as much as you love pretending otherwise, Justin Trudeau never killed the oil and gas industry. #cdnpoli #abpoli
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/06/o...
www.nationalobserver.com/2026/02/06/o...
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
“So if you have a doctor in theory and you can’t see them in a timely way, it’s not meaningful.” Can concur, one month wait times is not helpful 😞 www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
'It's a slog': Survey finds Sask. trails nation in access to family doctors | CBC News
An Angus Reid Institute survey of online panelists, which was conducted from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1, shows 63 per cent of respondents from Saskatchewan either had no family doctor (22 per cent) or had diff...
www.cbc.ca
February 6, 2026 at 3:39 PM
“So if you have a doctor in theory and you can’t see them in a timely way, it’s not meaningful.” Can concur, one month wait times is not helpful 😞 www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
“American aggression is not a sign of strength but of decline.…States confident in their future invest, compete, & plan. States uncertain about their future posture, threaten, & perform….When governments stop believing they can win tomorrow, they start trying to dominate today.“
Worth a read…
Worth a read…
New York Times: "We're All Canadian Now"
The Grey Lady acknowledges America’s slide into authoritarianism and Canada’s growing middle-power leadership.
open.substack.com/pub/markhamh...
The Grey Lady acknowledges America’s slide into authoritarianism and Canada’s growing middle-power leadership.
open.substack.com/pub/markhamh...
New York Times: "We're All Canadian Now"
The Grey Lady acknowledges America’s slide into authoritarianism and Canada’s growing middle-power leadership
open.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 4:22 PM
“American aggression is not a sign of strength but of decline.…States confident in their future invest, compete, & plan. States uncertain about their future posture, threaten, & perform….When governments stop believing they can win tomorrow, they start trying to dominate today.“
Worth a read…
Worth a read…
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
A short-term peace agreement in the coming months only gets in the way of Putin’s strategy. Putin is only using them as a tool to buy time to implement his strategy & convince the Trump administration the only direction for the war is negative for Ukraine.
mickryan.substack.com/p/ukraine-pe...
mickryan.substack.com/p/ukraine-pe...
Ukraine Peace Negotiations: Road to Nowhere
The current peace negotiations are a road to nowhere. Putin is only using them to buy time and convince the Trump administration that the sole direction for the war is negative for Ukraine.
mickryan.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:17 AM
A short-term peace agreement in the coming months only gets in the way of Putin’s strategy. Putin is only using them as a tool to buy time to implement his strategy & convince the Trump administration the only direction for the war is negative for Ukraine.
mickryan.substack.com/p/ukraine-pe...
mickryan.substack.com/p/ukraine-pe...
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
Your turn, @mark-carney.bsky.social.
New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt's Liberal government will no longer use X for "routine" government communications:
February 5, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Your turn, @mark-carney.bsky.social.
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
Ontario’s first big battery storage facility near Lake Erie is humming — and now more are being proposed. ⚡🔋
These battery farms could help meet growing electricity demand and reduce fossil fuel use in our grid: shorturl.at/QbnCM
#BatteryStorage #EnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #ClimateAction
These battery farms could help meet growing electricity demand and reduce fossil fuel use in our grid: shorturl.at/QbnCM
#BatteryStorage #EnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #ClimateAction
With a southern Ontario battery farm humming, bidders are lining up to build more just like it | The Narwhal
Several proposed battery storage facilities near Lake Erie could help satisfy Ontario’s soaring demand for electricity — and reduce the use of fossil fuels
thenarwhal.ca
February 5, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Ontario’s first big battery storage facility near Lake Erie is humming — and now more are being proposed. ⚡🔋
These battery farms could help meet growing electricity demand and reduce fossil fuel use in our grid: shorturl.at/QbnCM
#BatteryStorage #EnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #ClimateAction
These battery farms could help meet growing electricity demand and reduce fossil fuel use in our grid: shorturl.at/QbnCM
#BatteryStorage #EnergyStorage #RenewableEnergy #ClimateAction
“…this your mountainous inhumanity” …
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 3:16 PM
“…this your mountainous inhumanity” …
Reposted by Laurence Thompson
87.8% of new US nameplate capacity Jan-Nov 2025 was solar+wind
PV 25.5GW-72.1%
Wind 5.6GW-15.7%
Gas 4.2GW-11.8%
Over next 3 y @FERC expects 92.1% of new capacity to be W+S:
86.1 GW PV-74.9%
19.8 GW wind-17.2%
8.98 GW gas-7.8%
and
-19.8 GW coal (-17.2%)
www.indexbox.io/blog/us-sola...
PV 25.5GW-72.1%
Wind 5.6GW-15.7%
Gas 4.2GW-11.8%
Over next 3 y @FERC expects 92.1% of new capacity to be W+S:
86.1 GW PV-74.9%
19.8 GW wind-17.2%
8.98 GW gas-7.8%
and
-19.8 GW coal (-17.2%)
www.indexbox.io/blog/us-sola...
Solar Power Overtakes Wind in U.S. Capacity, Poised for #2 Spot by 2028 - News and Statistics - IndexBox
In a significant shift for the U.S. energy mix, solar power capacity has officially overtaken wind, fueled by 27 consecutive months as the leading source of new grid additions, with projections indica...
www.indexbox.io
February 5, 2026 at 3:56 AM
87.8% of new US nameplate capacity Jan-Nov 2025 was solar+wind
PV 25.5GW-72.1%
Wind 5.6GW-15.7%
Gas 4.2GW-11.8%
Over next 3 y @FERC expects 92.1% of new capacity to be W+S:
86.1 GW PV-74.9%
19.8 GW wind-17.2%
8.98 GW gas-7.8%
and
-19.8 GW coal (-17.2%)
www.indexbox.io/blog/us-sola...
PV 25.5GW-72.1%
Wind 5.6GW-15.7%
Gas 4.2GW-11.8%
Over next 3 y @FERC expects 92.1% of new capacity to be W+S:
86.1 GW PV-74.9%
19.8 GW wind-17.2%
8.98 GW gas-7.8%
and
-19.8 GW coal (-17.2%)
www.indexbox.io/blog/us-sola...