In 2012, a Bramfekta at Ottawa’s Bramasole Diner was $11.89:
In 2014, it was the same price:
In 2017, it was $13:
In 2019, it was $14:
In 2022, it was $16:
In 2023, it was $21:
Today, in 2026, it’s $22.50:
As a chart:
The price hike is comparable to general food inflation in Canada:
Media discourse has it that deepening polarization is core to current domestic discord.
In this piece, I’ll argue that “polarization” isn’t the right word for what’s occurring. That would imply a comparable split towards two extremes for what is in fact one-sided: mainstream conservatism adopting the extremist, self-destructive, and nihilistic rhetoric of its once fringes.
There is no comparable shift by mainstream liberal parties, contrary to the the claims of conservative podcasters. I would venture that such assertions fall into the “every accusation is a confession” line of political messaging.
(more…)
I learned too late in life that staple foods could taste good.
Being on the same diet as virtually every other white North American, I was habituated to basics being combined with copious sugars and fats from the factory or afterwards to render them palatable.
It’s been a revelation that:
As well as for all of this to be accomplished with a handful of ingredients, none of them artificial/natural flavours.
(more…)
So much contemporary discourse frames transness as being an aberration, but what if it was being cis?
To be “gender conforming” is to adhere to a specific set of unwritten rules of a particular culture.
It’s one narrow interpretation about:
Answer in one specific way to all of these and you’re gender conforming. You’re cis. You’re straight.
It’s not universal, of course. These answers vary culture to culture or even within the same culture at different points in time. They’re just rules made up by people.
We’re told is that being trans is a special case that deserves exclusion. Exclusion from bathrooms. Exclusion from library books. Exclusion from public office. Exclusion from care like puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy – care rendered to gender conforming individuals. Exclusion from the mouths of teachers who want to use the right name and pronouns. Exclusion from being able to update identity documents to reflect the correct gender.
I say that the special case is hitting yes on everyone of those made-up rules. It’s not bad to be that person who is all yes. It’s not anything – it’s who they are. But we’re being fed this message that it’s bad to say no to any one of these made-up rules. That it’s undesirable and should be prevented to the point of inflicting harm on the person.
This hinges on portraying gender diversity as a myth, yet we can see this diversity all around us if only we would only look. Being cis is not a fixed superior state of being, that supposed ideal is as made-up as the ever-changing rules it adheres to.
This lie of being cis as the only correct way to be has found new champions in the past decades as conservative strategists tried to find ways to force women back in the kitchen. Manufacturing a panic around trans people is a proxy issue for them to deny any agency around these made-up rules.
But the lie has spread and has reared its head in legislative chambers and from reporting by major outlets like the New York Times. The harm being done to gender diverse people is immeasurable.
I firmly believe that if these rules didn’t have so many hammers, you’d see a lot more people signal preferences other than the one proscribed to them by this violent culture.
Transphobia is versatile: it can be a social lubricant for the boys, a wedge issue for strategists, filler for opinion writers, and an engagement booster for has-beens.
What it’s not is a deeply held belief; it’s merely a vehicle for emotionally stunted individuals to satisfy their needs. Akin to child bullies, they turn to who already gets picked on.
(more…)