Today's Random Stuff

First, here's something I didn't know:

Reservation runway: Rising Cree designer makes New York runway debut -- ‘The future is going to be Indigenous-led’: designer Scott Wabano /via @CBCMontreal https://t.co/5ADVQ8anAR

— Treaty Commissioner (@TreatyOfficeSK) February 22, 2023

Fascinating article in The Atlantic: The Puzzling Gap Between How Old You Are and How Old You Think You Are 

 ...It’s bizarre, if you think about it. Certainly most of us don’t believe ourselves to be shorter or taller than we actually are. We don’t think of ourselves as having smaller ears or longer noses or curlier hair. Most of us also know where our bodies are in space, what physiologists call “proprioception.” Yet we seem to have an awfully rough go of locating ourselves in time.... 

 ...adults over 40 perceive themselves to be, on average, about 20 percent younger than their actual age.

 ... viewing yourself as younger is a form of optimism, rather than denialism. It says that you envision many generative years ahead of you, that you will not be written off, that your future is not one long, dreary corridor of locked doors. 

Envisioning yourself as about 15 or 20 years younger seems to start when people are in their mid-40s and 50s, according to several studies. The author explains the possible reason: 

...I’m 53 in real life but suspended at 36 in my head, and if I stop my brain from doing its usual Tilt-A-Whirl for long enough, I land on the same explanation: At 36, I knew the broad contours of my life, but hadn’t yet filled them in....I was not yet on the gray turnpike of middle age, in other words. 

... Adolescence and emerging adulthood are times dense with firsts (first kiss, first time having sex, first love, first foray into the world without your parents’ watchful gaze); they are also times when our brains, for a variety of neuro­developmental reasons, are inclined to feel things more intensely, especially the devil’s buzz of a good, foolhardy risk. 

...adults have an outsize number of memories from the ages of about 15 to 25. They called this phenomenon “the reminiscence bump.” (This is generally used to explain why we’re so responsive to the music of our adolescence—­which in my case means my iPhone is loaded with a lot more Duran Duran songs than any dignified person should admit.) 

But not everyone wants to be younger, or thinks of themselves that way. The article ends with this anecdote: 

Recently, I wrote to Margaret Atwood, asking her how old she is in her head. In the few interactions I’ve had with her, she seems quite sanguine about aging. Her reply: 

 At 53 you worry about being old compared to younger people. At 83 you enjoy the moment, and time travel here and there in the past 8 decades. You don’t fret about seeming old, because hey, you really are old! You and your friends make Old jokes. You have more fun than at 53, in some ways. Wait, you’ll see! :) 

Today's News: Ukraine Strong

A year ago, Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. 

A year later, Ukraine still stands. 

There is lots of commentary today about how Ukraine did this -- Zelenskyy's brilliant leadership, the indominable spirt of Ukraine's people, the ineptitude and corruption of the Russian military, the unwavering and effective financial and military support from Biden, NATO, the EU, Poland, England, and Canada.

On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting & fighting.
It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith, and unity. And this year, we remained invincible. We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory! pic.twitter.com/oInWvssjOI

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2023

David Rothkoph has made a list of what has been learned from this war so far: 

...- While Ukraine has pleaded for fighter jets for a year, unmanned aircraft have stolen the show.... 

- “No Time for Sergeants” was once a TV hit in America. It has been a flop for the Russian army....

- Speaking of time, it’s time for traditional navies to realize their time will soon be up.... 

Poland is the new Germany. (And Estonia is the new France.)... 

- Vladimir Putin may be a madman, but at least he has the common sense not to want to be obliterated in a nuclear war with NATO.... 

- Speaking of Putin, stick a fork in him. He may not be quite done yet, but he will be soon… and besides if anyone deserves to have a fork stuck in him, it’s Putin.... 

- ...Ukraine’s masterful use of social media has played a major role in shaping global public opinion about the war... 

- Ukraine is already in the EU and NATO whether you (or Russia or Turkey) like it or not.... 

- With friends like Turkey, Israel, the global South and Elon Musk, who needs enemies?... 

- And the most important lesson of all is, as it will be for the remainder of this century, everything is always about China....

Markos describes how Ukraine is winning the war of logistics:

... the prospects of a Ukrainian winter offensive, once widely anticipated, are pretty much nil. There’s no reason to waste lives and material when heavy Western armor is on its way, while the U.S. drills Ukrainian commanders on combined arms operations in Germany’s training fields. 

Ukraine has gotten this far because it has always worked to undermine Russia’s logistics. It’s why they are screaming for longer-range rockets, to hit Russian ammo depots further behind enemy lines and force those supplies even further back. Ukraine’s success in shrinking the active front line is also its great challenge, as Russia squeezes more men into a smaller space. 

 But Ukraine won't win by killing 300,000 Russians. It will do so by cutting off their food and ammunition. Russia lost the war because of logistics, and Ukraine will win it for the same reason. 

Also at Daily Kos, check out Mark Sumner's useful month-by-month summary of the war's major events.

Today's News: "Home On Native Land"

Yes, "home on Native land" is exactly right. Some Canadians may be freaking out about this national anthem version at the NBA All-Star game, but I think it's perfectly justified:

“Our home ON native land” -@JullyBlack 🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/SMoxKHkMPE

— Andrew Baback Boozary MD (@drandrewb) February 20, 2023

The Toronto Star reports on the background:

 ...In an interview with TSN reporter Kayla Grey, Black said she had reached out to Indigenous friends for feedback, and landed on this version of the song. 

Eva Jewell, the research director at Indigenous-led research centre Yellowhead Institute, said she was “heartened” to see her rendition. 

“Indigenous Peoples have been saying that line for decades actually — this is something that is known within our communities,” Jewell said. “So, to see Jully uplift that into the national anthem … it showed me that she has seen us, she understands us; she gets it.”

 ... Hearing it performed this way, though, is powerful, she said. 

 “I think that changing that word and being very explicit about settler colonialism is a pause for reflection amongst the Canadian public,” she said. “Too often, the Canadian state is normalized as just being a fact, and that small word change would call that into question and be really explicit about that pre-existing world of the Indigenous countries that were here before Canada violently stole our lands.”

Jully Back did Canada a solid with an apparently insignificant change to our National Anthem. Our collective journey has many more lessons to learn. "Our home and native land" shall forever be "our home ON Native land". Make it official, @JustinTrudeau https://t.co/JNDul6RPU5

— Nancy Crouse (@Nancy_Crouse) February 20, 2023

Today's Funny Stuff: rounding up the tweets and substacks

I still love this cartoon, from a year ago. 

Here's one more great comment about the Rouleau report:

So far it seems, according to Justice Rouleau, @JustinTrudeau’s worst fault regarding the convoy protest is that he said some things that some of the more sensitive protesters might have considered mean. These are the poor dears carrying F🇨🇦c k Trudeau signs.

— Stephen Best (@BestStephenD) February 18, 2023

In yesterday's other news - that Globe and Mail piece about China trying to interfere with the 2021 election - Alison flags something that has been completely forgotten:

NaPo, Oct 13, 2021:
"A group
representing Conservatives of Chinese descent is urging Erin O’Toole to resign as federal leader, charging that his call for a tougher approach to China alienated Chinese-Canadian voters and cost the party three seats in last month’s election." pic.twitter.com/WuvxkBBQq6

— Alison Creekside (@CreeksideAlison) February 18, 2023

Today's News: Justified

TL;DR

Breaking: #POEC report “Canada’s use of Emergency Act justified due to shit policing and ongoing political interference and douchebaggery from the great unwashed” (I’m paraphrasing). Now go get jobs.

— Dean Blundell🇨🇦 (@ItsDeanBlundell) February 17, 2023

"Justice Rouleau's report is clear: the federal government was justified in using the Emergencies Act to clear out the occupation of downtown Ottawa. But the subtext is even clearer: it had to use it because Doug Ford refused to do anything to help."#POEC #DougFord #cdnpoli https://t.co/17I1aLKzgS

— RF 🇺🇦 (@dipbrat70) February 18, 2023

In October, I wrote that I hoped the Public Order Emergency Commission looking into Trudeau's use of the Emergencies Act to shut down the FreeDumb Convoy Ottawa occupation and border blockades should answer five questions: 

1. Whose side were the police really on? 

2. Whose side are the media really on? 

3. Whose side is the public really on? 

4. Conservatives, WTF? 

5. Are the hearings going to be a clown show? 

Paging throgh the POEC Final Report released today, I wanted to see if any of these questions were considered, either directly or indirectly. 

Commissioner Paul Rouleau found that Ottawa police were inept and unprepared, but I haven't come across any discussion of whether some police were acting as Convoy supporters or enablers. I couldn't find discussion of how many Canadians actually supported what the FreeDumb Convoy was trying to do. Pandering to the Convoy by Conservative politicians isn't mentioned, even though it is noted that the Ford government dropped the ball.  Also not discussed is whether Canadian media gleefully embraced the Convoy initially because it was an embarassment to the Trudeau government. 

But at least Rouleau ensured that the hearings were not a clown show, though Ford refused to testify. 

One point that Commissioner Rouleau does make clear in the report is that the outrage at Canadian border vaccine requirements - the rationale for the Convoy's entire existance - was based on a lie. Maybe the truth will never be believed by the Freedumbers, but at least the truth is in the report:

...on October 12, 2021, the government of the United States announced [emphasis mine] that, starting in January 2022, all inbound foreign national travellers crossing United States land or ferry ports of entry would be required to be fully vaccinated. This included those travelling for essential purposes, including commercial trucking. Then, on November 18, 2021, Canada announced that its border rules would also change ... 

The effect of these new rules was that foreign truck drivers would be barred from entering Canada unless they were vaccinated. Canadian truckers, who have a constitutional right to enter Canada, would not be barred from entry. However, if unvaccinated, they would no longer be exempted from the requirement to quarantine, which would have a significant impact on their ability to engage in commercial trucking. 

In practice, they were more impacted by the American rules that barred them from entering that country entirely. However, as I mentioned earlier in this chapter, several protest leaders believed that the American authorities decided to impose their vaccination requirement only after Canada did so. 

This was not the case [emphasis mine] but does go some way to explaining why protesters may have focused their anger toward Canadian authorities and believed that a repeal of the Canadian requirements would have allowed unvaccinated truckers to continue cross-border work ...

Rouleau continues:

In some circles, “the trucker” became a symbol for hard-working Canadians who, despite their contributions to society, were having their lives and livelihoods upended by government COVID-19 regulations. 

This narrative was a contributing factor that helped to animate the Freedom Convoy.  

(Volume 2, page 98-99)

Today's Scene: "What about the squirrels?"

One of the things I love about social media is that we keep finding "some guy" who knows an awful lot of great stuff.

For example, here is a Balloon Juice post with an outstanding discussion thread: Sunday Night Open Thread: Chatbot vs Jagoffs. The post discusses why jerk conservatives are getting mad at ChatGPT because they can't get it to say racial slurs and I can't even.... 

In the Comments, the discussion about Artificial Intelligence goes all over the place, but a reader who calls himself Carlo Graziani adds this thoughtful comment:

....ChatGPT is essentially never very far away from a crazy response, and relies on people not feeding it crazy prompts to appear as a sane interlocutor.

So now, the danger: at the moment it is easy to find the sense/nonsense boundary. But we could imagine a future ChatGPT version that has orders of magnitude more parameters, and is trained on vastly more, better-curated data, to the point that it is difficult to fool it into giving a pathological response. Question: has the sense/nonsense boundary been annihilated for such a system?

The correct answer is “duh, no.” The boundary has simply been made harder to find, even by experts. But it’s still there, waiting for the unwary to be led over it by the Chatbot. Which is guaranteed to happen, eventually, because the future is not like the past. The world is an ever-surprising place. ChatGPT’s heirs are bound to get tripped up eventually by a world that has drifted beyond their training data. Yet humans will trust the AI’s inferences, because it’s never made mistakes before.

The fact that such an AI customized for, say, air traffic control has simulated successfully landing billions of aircraft over the past 50 years using real ATC data is a terrible reason to trust it to run ATC unsupervised, because changing aeronautic technology and changing economics of air travel are extremely likely to produce situations that it’s never seen, and ought not “reason” about. But DL systems make overconfident decisions even with cases that in no way resemble their training.

Now, for “ATC”, substitute “surgery”. Or “war policy planning”. Or ” emergency management”. And imagine the consequences of falling off the cliff of bullshit, led on by your implicit trust in your “demonstrably” (“never been wrong before”) infallible AI.

That’s the real danger. The superficially anthropomorphic character and apparent oracularity of such systems make people forget that the future is a strange country which drifts away from the past, and that any system that cannot acknowledge that — as DL cannot — is doomed to fall off the cliff of bullshit sooner or later, taking anyone who places their faith in that system with it.

Another commenter soon replies:

I think I have a way of quickly finding the boundary.

Ask: “What about the squirrels?”

If it attempts to answer the question, it’s a bot.

If it says, “Huh?” it’s a human.

Today's Funny Stuff: Baseball and Billings Bridge and Penquins and more

I know I'm pushing the season a little -- six weeks until opening day! - but in honour of Superbowl Weekend, here's some baseball stuff:

Some of the worst baseball you’ll ever see
pic.twitter.com/qURCSX3HtW

— Shit Bsb Players Say (@ShitBsbPlyrsSay) February 11, 2023

I now subscribe to a substack newsletter Dead Legends, which this week talked about The Pine Tar Incident. See the newsletter for the full story in all its glory.

“The Pine Tar Incident”
pic.twitter.com/3FkJTqz3QY

— Shit Bsb Players Say (@ShitBsbPlyrsSay) May 21, 2021

Loved Billy Martin's comment here "When you win the game, you don't protest."

“Old Days”An”Angelic”Billy Martin explains the
”Pine Tar Incident” In a 1983 interview with Bill White.#Yankees #NYC #kansascity #Royals #1980s #MLB

pic.twitter.com/JT7AS6zBWs

— Tom's Old Days (@sigg20) October 8, 2022

The news tonight in baseball is that now the LA Dodgers have been accused of stealing signs in the 2018 World Series, which they lost in five games to Boston anyway, so whatever they may have been doing, it didn't do them any good. 

I found this quite touching:

This is how much baseball means to the people who play it! https://t.co/70joPVGQAB

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) February 12, 2023

Baseball is now getting dragged into the US culture wars - school districts in Florida are preemptively removing biographies of players like Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron, apparently because nobody wants to find themselves targetted by Florida's asshole governor Ron DeSantis nor his redneck supporters. 

Jemelle Hill asks an excellent question here:

Serious question: Where is @MLB? They’ve removed this book and Hank Aaron’s. MLB really should assert itself here and let @RonDeSantisFL know this is unacceptable. In fact, if I were the Rays & Marlins, I’d give away copies of this book to fans on Opening Day. https://t.co/U1MeQeMEUy

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 12, 2023

Today's News: Roundup time

A roundup of this week's news: 

First, this happened on Tuesday -- weird, wasn't it:

The handshake. pic.twitter.com/9KBgNH1mcP

— Andrew Brown (@browncbc) February 7, 2023

I can’t believe this needs to be said but- if you’re meeting the bloody Prime Minister you suck it up and shake his hand like an adult. Don’t even have to like the guy…lord knows I haven’t always liked every PM I have met but I was still respectful.

— Thomas Watson Jr. (@ThomasWatsonCD) February 8, 2023

Then on Thursday, Smith did this -- Twitter can't decide whether it was stupid or smart:

After many jokes about her handshake with the Prime Minister, this is how Premier Danielle Smith entered today’s press conference with reporters in Calgary. pic.twitter.com/gP03lT49rh

— Adam MacVicar (@AdamMacVicar) February 9, 2023

Of course, none of this has anything to do with increasing federal money for health care -- we'll find out on Friday how much more the Premiers they they can get:

Gee, I wonder which they will choose?
"The premiers were non-committal about [Trudeau's $46.2 Billion health] plan ....They said they'd take time to review Trudeau's pitch before either accepting the terms or demanding more."https://t.co/djXMhs1bTR

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) February 9, 2023

Today's Scene: We don't get to choose the battle. We only get to choose our side.

I said this years ago and I say it again today: 

 We don't get to choose the battle. We only get to choose our side. 

Right now, Canada finds itself dealing with Islamophobia and the anti-Muslim Bill 21 law in Quebec. This isn't an issue that anybody really wanted to deal with right now, at this time of wars and pandemics. 

But it's here, it's happening - we don't have a choice about that. 

We only get to decide whether we agree with what Quebec is doing, or whether we support Trudeau's appointment of Special Representative Amira Elghawaby to combat Islamophobia. 

Chantal Hebert thinks Trudeau has shot himself in the foot by appointing someone who is apparently controversial in Quebec. 

I, on the other hand, do not. :

Don't think we have a problem with Islamophobia in Canada? Check the comments under any critical post about Amira Elghawaby, the federal government's new appointee.

She deserves better. https://t.co/yw6vZ9rhY0

— Max Fawcett 🇨🇦 (@maxfawcett) February 1, 2023

Quebec continues its bizarre campaign to convince everyone that the real problem with Islamophobia is that it's terribly, terribly offensive to have suggested that it exists in Quebec and in Quebecers. #cdnpoli https://t.co/OY54mmdvDJ

— Jeff Rybak🍁 (@JeffRybak) February 3, 2023

That @AmiraElghawaby is not supported by Quebec is actually to her credit. It means that she, unlike so many Canadian politicians, has the chutzpah to state the obvious about Quebec's regressive, hateful, anti-Muslim laws. Good for her! #CDNpoli #GoodTrouble

— Matt Hopkins (@RealMattHopkins) February 5, 2023

I mean, can you imagine how crazy it’ll be if @JustinTrudeau, under pressure from a bad-faith right, fires the Muslim woman he himself appointed to address Islamophobia because she previously called out…Islamophobia? https://t.co/VNPwFRyTtN

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 4, 2023

Today's Great Stuff: Thoughtful, interesting, funny

I noticed some of the kids from down the block coming home from school yesterday and one of them was wearing shorts ....

Here's some thoughtful, interesting, and funny stuff I have collected over the last week or so.

First, the thoughtful:

#Maddow
20 years from now when all is said and told people we'll be writing books on how GOP elected officials of Our Generation cooked up a Witch Hunt against Hillary Clinton and elected a Russian spy who would later be responsible for countless covid deaths
Cartoon Of The Day pic.twitter.com/N4PmYcdL1i

— Michael Franklin🦂 (@HuronBlueChief) January 31, 2023

We fund what we value.
We police what we don't.

— Ahmed Ali (@MrAhmednurAli) January 28, 2023

Two Americas. https://t.co/jGhjnxHZdf https://t.co/t4zqDXtIoZ pic.twitter.com/GPvl0g5Rys

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) January 28, 2023

🧵 A word of advice for all those "realists" among Western elites who oppose support for #Ukraine: Finally, once and for all bury the Yalta mindset. Understand the Russia is no more entitled to a sphere of influence than a gangster is entitled to keep the spoils of a robbery. 1/

— Andrew A. Michta (@andrewmichta) January 27, 2023

when a leftist brings out the phrase “deeply unserious” to describe someone that is the closest we can come to admitting we want a person dead

— pudding person (@JUNlPER) February 3, 2023

"Abandoned to violence" - Ottawa People's Commission first report

The Public Order Emergency Commission report is due this month, but already we have an initial report from the Ottawa People's Commission -- a community initiative set up last June when it looked like official Ottawa just wanted to deep-six the whole miserable FreeDumb Convoy occupation and blockade experience.

I have been following their hearings over the summer and fall, and now they have released their first report - Press Progess summarizes it in this article- "It Was Violent: People's Commission report shines a light on violence, harassment and hate crimes during the 'Freedom Convoy'

Convoy supporters falsely claim the Freedom Convoy was a “peaceful protest.”

The @ottpeoplescomm’s final report, based on testimony from over 200 people, shines a light widespread violence, harassment and hate crimes in the streets of Ottawa.https://t.co/D6djURkk6D #cdnpoli

— PressProgress (@pressprogress) February 1, 2023

The Ottawa commission held 14 hearings and 8 community meetings, and wrote a 72-page report, released in a pdf format on Tuesday. Part One is titled "What We Heard". The second part will be released in March.

The most significant finding is this - as the Ottawa Occupation continued for three weeks last winter, the people of Ottawa were abandoned to violence, harassment and danger by police and by governments. 

Today's News: "In the Covid era, the vulnerable die earlier, the remaining become vulnerable earlier"

I've been noticing and collecting a variety of recent posts and tweets about Covid and our situation these days, and the challenges we will be facing in 2023.

This pretty well sums it up, really:

In the COVID era, the vulnerable people die earlier, the remained ones become vulnerable earlier.

— Hiroshi Yasuda (保田浩志) (@Yash25571056) January 14, 2023

And as for the continuing political implications:

Many people expected a huge explosion in babies after everybody stayed home for COVID but I didn’t realize they would be 20-50 year old men flying “F*ck Trudeau” flags screaming about imaginary rights they don’t understand.

— Dean from Winnipeg (@Dean_Winnipeg) January 30, 2023

Yes indeed:

... the same people who were wrong to say that we all had to catch it are the same people who were wrong to say that there is no way to stop it are the same people who were wrong to say that it's just a cold are the same people who were wrong to say that kids don't get sick ...

— tern (@1goodtern) January 30, 2023

... are the same people who were wrong to say that there is no airborne transmission are the same people who were wrong to say that the pandemic would only affect people in China because western healthcare is better are the same people who are all complete and utter idiots.

— tern (@1goodtern) January 30, 2023

Why do we even hear from any single one of these people ever any more?

— tern (@1goodtern) January 30, 2023

But wait, there's more....

Today's Great Stuff

Here are some of the funny tweets and stories I have seen over the last couple of weeks:

I am so tired of living like it's the 1600s. Can I afford eggs at the market? Are my friends gonna die in the plague? Puritans coming for my sinful lifestyle. I want some modern problems. Modern Problems

— Sigurd the Mighty (@MightySigurd) January 21, 2023

Yeah, and here's a Modern Problem:

Of all the shifts I’ve made in the past few years, I think the biggest one was becoming a one space after a period person instead of a two space after a period person. 👀😂 /s

— Meghan | The Pursuing Life (@thepursuinglife) January 28, 2023

Today's Scene: Enshittification

I used to title these posts "From the Substacks" but good commentary is not just Substacks these days, its Medium and Patreon and blogs and opinion pieces from all over. 

So I will call these posts Today's Scene - a collection of observations and opinions by various authors from various places. 

As Twitter continues to implode, and as Facebook allows Trump back on, Today's Scene is a discussion of what is happening to various websites and social media platforms. 

Setting the scene is a fascinating graphic from Visual Capitalist, The Top 50 Most Visited Websites In The World: 

And whoosh! The McGonigal spy story is gone!

Was there ever a conspiracy theory more bizarre, more crazy, than believing that Russia was behind Trump's unexpected 2016 election victory? 

But just because something sounds crazy doesn't mean it isn't true. 

For years now, I have believed somebody close to Trump was working for Putin - Trump himself is too stupid to play a spying role himself, and too ill-informed, but he is also so credulous it is easy to get him to believe just about anything. Far too often Trump and the people working for him did or said something for Putin's benefit, too many times to be explained by mere coincidence. 

So now a guy high-up in the New York office of the FBI has been arrested and charged with working for Russia. Quel suprise!

So to be clear, McGonigal was running the FBI's Trump-Russia probe at the moment this story -- at the most critical moment of the 2016 -- was leaked to the New York Times https://t.co/K4FfJW5pz6

— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) January 23, 2023

ICYMI: FBI official who led the 2016 investigation finding *no link* between Trump & Russia Charles McGonigal arrested for taking💰from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska— who Manafort owed MILLIONS While working for Trump *for free*

Russia was never a hoaxhttps://t.co/tcYf5eESMJ

— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 24, 2023