Erick
@ebeaudry.bsky.social
Reposted by Erick
Controversial opinions:
1) Creating good-paying public sector jobs is good, actually.
2) Cutting taxes on the wealthy and subsidizing corporations so they will create low-paying jobs* is not so good, actually.
(* Mostly they just reinvest in the market, hide funds offshore, or buy another yacht)
1) Creating good-paying public sector jobs is good, actually.
2) Cutting taxes on the wealthy and subsidizing corporations so they will create low-paying jobs* is not so good, actually.
(* Mostly they just reinvest in the market, hide funds offshore, or buy another yacht)
January 31, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Controversial opinions:
1) Creating good-paying public sector jobs is good, actually.
2) Cutting taxes on the wealthy and subsidizing corporations so they will create low-paying jobs* is not so good, actually.
(* Mostly they just reinvest in the market, hide funds offshore, or buy another yacht)
1) Creating good-paying public sector jobs is good, actually.
2) Cutting taxes on the wealthy and subsidizing corporations so they will create low-paying jobs* is not so good, actually.
(* Mostly they just reinvest in the market, hide funds offshore, or buy another yacht)
Reposted by Erick
In fairness, this is only Canada’s closest military and security ally unleashing state terror on its own people, potentially signalling rising instability in the country with which we share a border. Nothing at all to concern the minister of Public Safety.
"Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says he won’t pass judgment on the U.S. crackdown by federal forces in Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of two residents."
The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
‘Canada is not Minnesota,’ minister says in reaction to U.S. immigration raids
Ottawa removed more than 22,000 people last year "in a compassionate and humane manner," said the public safety minister.
www.thestar.com
February 1, 2026 at 11:19 PM
In fairness, this is only Canada’s closest military and security ally unleashing state terror on its own people, potentially signalling rising instability in the country with which we share a border. Nothing at all to concern the minister of Public Safety.
Reposted by Erick
"Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says he won’t pass judgment on the U.S. crackdown by federal forces in Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of two residents."
The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
‘Canada is not Minnesota,’ minister says in reaction to U.S. immigration raids
Ottawa removed more than 22,000 people last year "in a compassionate and humane manner," said the public safety minister.
www.thestar.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:21 PM
"Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says he won’t pass judgment on the U.S. crackdown by federal forces in Minnesota that resulted in the deaths of two residents."
The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
The 🇨🇦 government is looking to amend & pass sweeping surveillance legislation. Minister, you might want to have an opinion.
Reposted by Erick
I’d really like to see branding called “dumb devices”: my alarm clock does not need AI; my humidifier does not need to shut down if it panics about water levels (at half a tank!); my printer will not explode if it prints without cyan.
“Dumb devices” are a lot lower-maintenance than “smart” ones…
“Dumb devices” are a lot lower-maintenance than “smart” ones…
February 1, 2026 at 4:44 PM
I’d really like to see branding called “dumb devices”: my alarm clock does not need AI; my humidifier does not need to shut down if it panics about water levels (at half a tank!); my printer will not explode if it prints without cyan.
“Dumb devices” are a lot lower-maintenance than “smart” ones…
“Dumb devices” are a lot lower-maintenance than “smart” ones…
Reposted by Erick
🛑 Stop begging the rich for donations
🟢 Start demanding that the rich pay taxes
🟢 Start demanding that the rich pay taxes
February 1, 2026 at 5:21 PM
🛑 Stop begging the rich for donations
🟢 Start demanding that the rich pay taxes
🟢 Start demanding that the rich pay taxes
Reposted by Erick
STOP FUCKING DELUDING YOURSELVES. In his attempt to silence reporters, journalists, and terminate the First Amendment, what the pedophile führer is doing is TEXTBOOK FASCISM.
February 1, 2026 at 5:59 PM
STOP FUCKING DELUDING YOURSELVES. In his attempt to silence reporters, journalists, and terminate the First Amendment, what the pedophile führer is doing is TEXTBOOK FASCISM.
Reposted by Erick
“Solar, wind power, and batteries are set to make life a misery for the liquefied natural gas market.”
Not great news for Carney’s plan to double down on LNG, but good news for the climate if the LNG projects he was pushing become uneconomical.
Not great news for Carney’s plan to double down on LNG, but good news for the climate if the LNG projects he was pushing become uneconomical.
LNG Glut Hits on Schedule as Shell, Mitsubishi Try to Withdraw from B.C. Megaproject www.theenergymix.com/lng-glut-hit...
Shell, Mitsubishi Try to Withdraw from B.C. LNG
Shell and Mitsubishi are trying to sell off their shares in the $40-billion LNG Canada megaproject amid predictions of an oversupplied global market.
www.theenergymix.com
February 1, 2026 at 6:11 PM
“Solar, wind power, and batteries are set to make life a misery for the liquefied natural gas market.”
Not great news for Carney’s plan to double down on LNG, but good news for the climate if the LNG projects he was pushing become uneconomical.
Not great news for Carney’s plan to double down on LNG, but good news for the climate if the LNG projects he was pushing become uneconomical.
Reposted by Erick
Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.
February 1, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Poverty is a policy choice. Concentrated wealth is a policy choice. Inequality is a policy choice. None of it is natural or inevitable. Remember: We have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few.
Reposted by Erick
Tying the future of the Canadian economy even more to fossil fuels is a losing prospect. It will, however, make oil execs richer, which is the actual objective.
California seems to be building a massive amount of renewable energy and storage while not building a massive volume of new data centres.
That seems to be having the effect of actual drops in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly as batteries cut deep into gas
That seems to be having the effect of actual drops in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly as batteries cut deep into gas
Solar and Batteries Are Squeezing Out Natural Gas in California
The state's power emissions fell 8% last year, even as they rose almost everywhere else.
www.distilled.earth
February 1, 2026 at 7:19 PM
Tying the future of the Canadian economy even more to fossil fuels is a losing prospect. It will, however, make oil execs richer, which is the actual objective.
Reposted by Erick
hindsight is 20/20 but maybe selecting university presidents on their willingness to debase themselves for private donor money is related to the current difficulties in defending academia from fascism
February 1, 2026 at 2:33 AM
hindsight is 20/20 but maybe selecting university presidents on their willingness to debase themselves for private donor money is related to the current difficulties in defending academia from fascism
Reposted by Erick
Epstein’s economic power among academics was made possible by a capitalist system that makes higher education dependent on the charity economy rather than a public good supported by taxing the rich
February 1, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Epstein’s economic power among academics was made possible by a capitalist system that makes higher education dependent on the charity economy rather than a public good supported by taxing the rich
Reposted by Erick
Remember that boss at work who always asked you to do unrealistic, maybe unethical or just stupid tasks at work when you were pretty new and it was always kind of weird and awkward to explain why not?
I think those guys probably love AI because it’s a free intern who never questions their ideas.
I think those guys probably love AI because it’s a free intern who never questions their ideas.
February 1, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Remember that boss at work who always asked you to do unrealistic, maybe unethical or just stupid tasks at work when you were pretty new and it was always kind of weird and awkward to explain why not?
I think those guys probably love AI because it’s a free intern who never questions their ideas.
I think those guys probably love AI because it’s a free intern who never questions their ideas.
Reposted by Erick
As predicted. Carney fans said "But look at pharmacare!", to which we replied "The Liberals were forced to do it by the NDP holding balance of power, which is no longer the case".
The Carney government is very clearly slow-walking national pharmacare. They don't want to outright pull the plug because of optics, but they don't want to spend the money on free diabetes meds & contraceptives beyond BC, Manitoba, PEI and Yukon when it could be better spent on...AI. 1/2
#CdnPoli
#CdnPoli
February 1, 2026 at 1:57 PM
As predicted. Carney fans said "But look at pharmacare!", to which we replied "The Liberals were forced to do it by the NDP holding balance of power, which is no longer the case".
Reposted by Erick
I'm worried about Carney's cuts to the federal civil service. According to @psac-afpc.bsky.social, out of almost 12,000 cuts so far, 895 are in Health Canada and another 178 in the Public Health Agency of Canada. psacunion.ca/wfa-tracker
WFA - Tracker
The Public Service Alliance of Canada represents more than 245,000 workers in every province and territory in Canada and in locations around the world. Our members work for federal government departme...
psacunion.ca
January 31, 2026 at 4:34 AM
I'm worried about Carney's cuts to the federal civil service. According to @psac-afpc.bsky.social, out of almost 12,000 cuts so far, 895 are in Health Canada and another 178 in the Public Health Agency of Canada. psacunion.ca/wfa-tracker
Reposted by Erick
I’ve taken a lot of heat for recognizing and calling Trump out as a fascist for the last 10 years and I was right all along. He told us what he was going to do years ago. He has always used fascist rhetoric. He’s always longed to be a dictator. Then the heritage foundation gave him the playbook.
You know, we can just say this without the “I held off on using the term bc I’m not an irrational leftist” dig.
I think the people who recognized what the GOP had become—long before we had ICE agents shooting Americans—deserve *credit.*
I think the people who recognized what the GOP had become—long before we had ICE agents shooting Americans—deserve *credit.*
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
www.theatlantic.com
January 31, 2026 at 11:53 AM
I’ve taken a lot of heat for recognizing and calling Trump out as a fascist for the last 10 years and I was right all along. He told us what he was going to do years ago. He has always used fascist rhetoric. He’s always longed to be a dictator. Then the heritage foundation gave him the playbook.
Reposted by Erick
Critiquing the F-35 purchase isn’t emotional, irrational anti-Americanism, as James Fergusson baselessly claims here. It’s based on a sound, rational understanding of how networked devices function. Pretending the problem doesn’t exist won’t make it go away.
blaynehaggart.com/2025/03/08/t...
blaynehaggart.com/2025/03/08/t...
The Department of National Defence buys a Sky Tractor
Canada’s purchase of US F-35 fighter jets will create enormous security vulnerabilities, for which there are no easy answers. Whether it’s an F-35 fighter jet or a John Deere tractor, i…
blaynehaggart.com
January 31, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Critiquing the F-35 purchase isn’t emotional, irrational anti-Americanism, as James Fergusson baselessly claims here. It’s based on a sound, rational understanding of how networked devices function. Pretending the problem doesn’t exist won’t make it go away.
blaynehaggart.com/2025/03/08/t...
blaynehaggart.com/2025/03/08/t...
Reposted by Erick
Yet another F-35 story that fails even to mention its inherent networked vulnerabilities. And that, as an added bonus, pretends against all evidence that Trump’s Greenland gambit was based on sound security policy.
ANALYSIS | The Golden Dome is where Canada's F-35 debate and Trump's Greenland threat meet | CBC News
Two of the loudest and most important defence policy issues facing Canada have a common — often unrealized — thread, say experts. Both the F-35 and the U.S. threats to annex Greenland are connected ov...
www.cbc.ca
January 31, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Yet another F-35 story that fails even to mention its inherent networked vulnerabilities. And that, as an added bonus, pretends against all evidence that Trump’s Greenland gambit was based on sound security policy.
Reposted by Erick
Being able to deal with oil spills is "bloat". Bring on the pipelines and west coast tankers. Right, Carney fans?
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
January 31, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Being able to deal with oil spills is "bloat". Bring on the pipelines and west coast tankers. Right, Carney fans?
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
Reposted by Erick
An *AI company* is reporting that “We found that using AI assistance led to a statistically significant decrease in mastery.”
It‘s now beyond obvious that this tech has no place in our education system.
How much more evidence is needed before universities and schools at all levels end this nonsense?
It‘s now beyond obvious that this tech has no place in our education system.
How much more evidence is needed before universities and schools at all levels end this nonsense?
“We found that using AI assistance led to a statistically significant decrease in mastery.”
Props to Anthropic for studying the effects of their creation and reporting results that are not probably what they wished for
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
Props to Anthropic for studying the effects of their creation and reporting results that are not probably what they wished for
www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills
Anthropic is an AI safety and research company that's working to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems.
www.anthropic.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:01 PM
An *AI company* is reporting that “We found that using AI assistance led to a statistically significant decrease in mastery.”
It‘s now beyond obvious that this tech has no place in our education system.
How much more evidence is needed before universities and schools at all levels end this nonsense?
It‘s now beyond obvious that this tech has no place in our education system.
How much more evidence is needed before universities and schools at all levels end this nonsense?
Reposted by Erick
Poilievre just told #CP26 "There's never been a referendum crisis or a national unity crisis when Conservatives have been in power It's an interesting coincidence isn't it" False. BQ was the product of Mulroney's time in office. Borden - WWI conscription crisis. Sir John - Louis Riel. C'mon man.
January 31, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Poilievre just told #CP26 "There's never been a referendum crisis or a national unity crisis when Conservatives have been in power It's an interesting coincidence isn't it" False. BQ was the product of Mulroney's time in office. Borden - WWI conscription crisis. Sir John - Louis Riel. C'mon man.
Reposted by Erick
If anything, the reaction to Carney’s speech is a useful way to identify those who want deeper integration with a US that’s sliding into fascism — as quoted in this story, the tech bros at Build Canada, the Business Council of Canada — and discount their future advice accordingly.
ANALYSIS | Was Mark Carney's Davos speech a mistake if it upset Trump? | CBC News
It's not unreasonable to think about how any action by a Canadian government might impact relations with Canada's largest trading partner. At the same time, allowing the American president's potential...
www.cbc.ca
January 31, 2026 at 12:24 PM
If anything, the reaction to Carney’s speech is a useful way to identify those who want deeper integration with a US that’s sliding into fascism — as quoted in this story, the tech bros at Build Canada, the Business Council of Canada — and discount their future advice accordingly.
Reposted by Erick
I asked the ISED chatbot for the number of offices it has in Canada (not in the website) and it didn’t not understand the question. It was a death-loop of uselessness.
The Canada Revenue Agency chatbot. So it can answer tax questions but it doesn't know the day of the week?
January 31, 2026 at 2:08 PM
I asked the ISED chatbot for the number of offices it has in Canada (not in the website) and it didn’t not understand the question. It was a death-loop of uselessness.
Reposted by Erick
This is "Father Knows Best" politics at its worst.
January 31, 2026 at 2:19 PM
This is "Father Knows Best" politics at its worst.
Reposted by Erick
More specifically, he's cutting the very agencies we need most right now. Agriculture, food safety, foreign affairs, climate change, public health.
January 31, 2026 at 2:16 PM
More specifically, he's cutting the very agencies we need most right now. Agriculture, food safety, foreign affairs, climate change, public health.
Reposted by Erick
Reminder that what Carney is doing is making blanket cuts to the public service to pay for a huge increase in military spending and investment in AI. He is also cutting tax for the wealthy.
Nooo, probably not
Because the motivations & goals would likely be different
PP would likely start with a snarky shot at all govt employees, cut without a plan & not focus on mission
As I said in my first reply, it’s reasonable to be concerned that these PMMC cuts are just cuts for cut sake
Because the motivations & goals would likely be different
PP would likely start with a snarky shot at all govt employees, cut without a plan & not focus on mission
As I said in my first reply, it’s reasonable to be concerned that these PMMC cuts are just cuts for cut sake
January 31, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Reminder that what Carney is doing is making blanket cuts to the public service to pay for a huge increase in military spending and investment in AI. He is also cutting tax for the wealthy.