Oh, Mrs. Robinson
The NDP’s Selina Robinson situation has been a subject of much debate in recent days. It began when the Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA and Advanced Education Minister made controversial statements in a…
February 2024
Today’s News: Is Poilievre actually Mr. Roboto?
I thought yesterday’s clip of Poilievre being interviewed by several reporters was very strange. Now, the questions from the reporters were odd too — they seemed incredibly intimidated by Poilievre,…
It’s a Virus that’s Here to Stay
Why don’t we notice all the people getting sick or being disable or dying from Covid? A couple years ago, I wrote about being harassed for wearing a mask on…
Tuesday Night Cat Blogging
Cool cat.
How Can Neural Nets Recreate Exact Quotes If They Don’t Store Text?
I often see arguments that show an original bit of text and a close duplicate output by a large language model (LLM) offered as evidence that the neural networks that…
Legal Tweet of the Day: February 6, 2024
#LegalTweetoftheDay: Trump does not have immunity in Jan. 6 case, U.S. appeals court rules – National #law #legal #lawtwitter via @globalnews http://tinyurl.com/558ujy5c – Garry J. Wise, Toronto Visit our Toronto…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Cordell Jacks writes about the need for an economic model which evolves beyond the short-term exploitation of people and the planet. And…
Stupidity Is The Real Threat
There is an article in today’s Star about the threat to Canadian democracy posed by artificial intelligence. But I can’t help but wonder if the real threat is human stupidity.…
Cancer Causing Roundup Maker Monsanto Must Pay $2.25 Billion in Damages
Bayer, the corporate owner of Monsanto, must pay $2.25 billion in damages due to Monsanto’s product called Roundup. The chemical spray kills insects very quickly (which is really bad for…
Stay and fight it – together
I know Joe and respect him a great deal. My heart sank when I read, midway, that he and his family might leave Canada because of rampant anti-Semitism. He gave…
Manulife-Loblaw reversal shows urgent need for universal pharmacare
A Shoppers Drug Mart store on Dupont Street in Toronto. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. After a week of sustained bad press, insurance provider Manulife has reversed its decision to enter…
Open letter: Civil society coalition urges Canada to stop arms transfers to Israel
Aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the El-Remal area of Gaza City, October 9, 2023. Photo courtesy the Palestinian News & Information Agency-WAFA/Wikimedia Commons. Send a letter to Canada’s Minister…
Intellectual Self-Defence: Time For A Reading Sabbatical
To be brief: The obsession with quantity and volume has to end. More is not always better. Quality matters most. But people in the 21st century are addicted to endless…
Revisionist history of the Sammy Yatim inquest
Surveillance video photo showing Sammy Yatim and James Forcillo on the evening of July 27, 2013. On February 1, jurors at the coroner’s inquest into the shooting death of Sammy…
Former justice minister Kathleen Ganley makes her bid to lead Alberta NDP official; others to follow soon
Yesterday was the official start of the Alberta NDP leadership race and Kathleen Ganley was the first to make official what pretty well everyone in political Alberta already knew –…
Tim Hortons has become the ultimate symbol of Canada
Canada is not a great country for symbols. Sure, there’s the maple leaf, but how many times do you actually see a maple leaf tree in Western Canada? There’s the…
On harm exacerbation
Ryan Meili offers an important values-based critique of the Sask Party’s “do more harm” policy on addictions treatment. But it’s worth taking a closer look at who stands to benefit…
About That Consultation Thing
I'm sure that we all heard Premier Smith claim that she has consulted widely on the draconian anti-transgender policies that she announced last week. Now it starts to come out…
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Claude Lavoie examines the problems with the far-too-rarely-questioned assumption that public policy needs to be oriented toward top-end economic growth at the expense…