by Sean Orr | We begin today with two articles that speak for themselves: You can build a better Canada, or you can get out of the way.

Wheeler’s views are not unique. We’ve all thought the same things. We flinch when confronted with the painful truth about our Aboriginal community. We become defensive. We look for excuses. We try to rationalize it away.

On Raziel Reid, and when everything feels like a controversy.

It’s sickening to me that the moral panic surrounding the book regards teens reading about blow jobs and not its painfully, stylishly wrought portrayal of kids being bullied to death, or growing up with fear because it’s not safe for them to be who they are.

City of squares: Controversial ‘origami’ glass tower struck down by Vancouver urban design panel. Banality prevails! Expect something like the proposal for 155 Water Street; an uninspired, po-mo pastiche that obediently ‘reflects the character of the neighbourhood’. “They noted that, whether owner Cadillac Fairview likes it or not, the public has come to see that parking lot – along with the view of the mountains and water from it – as their space”. Now that is interesting. They left it as a parking lot for so long that the people adopted it as their own public domain. Yes, we’re that starved for spontaneous, unplanned spaces. Save our parking lot!

Tiny thinking: ‘Tiny houses’ no solution to the unaffordability crisis. Yes! People have been conflating land prices with housing prices for too long.

There is something disturbing about the way local media continues to laud people for moving into smaller and smaller spaces simply because they can’t afford anything else. How long until we can expect a CBC feature celebrating an “innovative” student who has opted to live in a repurposed hollowed-out refrigerator?

Related: The Gentrification Paradox.

We took a system where gentrification was a positive force for wealth creation among the underprivileged and, under the guise of improving their situation, changed the system in a way that now primarily benefits the wealthy, where it benefits anyone at all.

A perfect metaphor: Airport noise: 3 people made 66 per cent of complaints to YVR. Like the condo owners who moved in next to The Biltmore, maybe just take a walk around the block before buying your house.

The most stubborn people in the entire world: Condo Parking Dispute Ruling Upheld By B.C. Court Of Appeal. Just park in your god damned assigned parking stall!

Take responsibility for your actions. You’re not the fucking victim: North Vancouver woman afraid to leave home after criminal charges laid for allegedly sabotaging bike trails. Maybe it’s time to get a better hobby.

Meanwhile, in Canada: Beaver blocks traffic in West Vancouver. Where’s the referendum to end beaver-based congestion?

A petition to end Dine Out: Make it stop.

To all restaurant industry professionals, the fact that Dine Out ends on Groundhog Day is a cruel joke. Everyday during Dine Out feels like deja vu. The same prep, the same dishes, the same customers. Lifeless bridge and tunnel zombies who contribute nothing to the cultural fabric of our city. What % of these customers will return to the restaurant after Dine Out is over? 5? 10? Is it worth the two weeks of sheer monotonous hell? PLEASE MAKE IT STOP.

Related: Like most of the working class, I’ve developed a locust morality.

I was picking the brain of a restauranteur for insight into things like Groupon. He confirmed what we all understand in the abstract: that these deals are terrible for the businesses that offer them; that they draw in nomadic deal hunters from a vast surrounding region who are unlikely to ever return; that most deal-hunters carefully ensure that they spend just the deal amount or slightly more; that a badly designed offer can bankrupt a small business.

Related #2: If everyone wants to be a celebrity chef, who will work in restaurants? Ah, the Food Network syndrome.

Bonus: Yes to better transit.