Alessandro
@poli.sisti.ca
Posts on public policy (in 🇨🇦 or abroad), humanities, classical music, altruism effective and ineffective. Many silly posts. Toronto-adjacent.
Pipe organ maintenance logs as a source of British climate data:
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
December 22, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Pipe organ maintenance logs as a source of British climate data:
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
www.thereengineer.pro/p/church-org...
for the UK crowd:
If you’re looking for some holiday reading, my new book — Clearing the Air — is on offer at £1.99 on Kindle for the next 24 hours.
Hope you enjoy!
www.amazon.co.uk/Clearing-Air...
Hope you enjoy!
www.amazon.co.uk/Clearing-Air...
December 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
for the UK crowd:
Reposted by Alessandro
Good news to wake up to!
Hen cages and pig farrowing crates to be outlawed in England
Humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish and end to puppy farming also in new package of animal welfare laws
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Good news to wake up to!
Reposted by Alessandro
We're winning, folks! This is why having a simple, focussed message is key. We paid for the thing - let it run fast!
just took line 6 this evening, two weeks since opening. a smooth 8 min to jane, and then an 8 min ride back (faster than scheduled).
-dwell times average 20s per stop
-in both directions, my train never hit a red light except at jane st
-green transit phase insertion/rotation being tested
1/2
-dwell times average 20s per stop
-in both directions, my train never hit a red light except at jane st
-green transit phase insertion/rotation being tested
1/2
December 22, 2025 at 3:51 AM
We're winning, folks! This is why having a simple, focussed message is key. We paid for the thing - let it run fast!
Story for Canadians to watch in 2026: what will generic Ozempic mean for prices (and use)?
newsletters.cbc.ca/q/12J0r7ibmf...
newsletters.cbc.ca/q/12J0r7ibmf...
December 20, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Story for Canadians to watch in 2026: what will generic Ozempic mean for prices (and use)?
newsletters.cbc.ca/q/12J0r7ibmf...
newsletters.cbc.ca/q/12J0r7ibmf...
Reposted by Alessandro
You cannot train people in job-specific tasks for future jobs. You don’t have the tools they will use and you don’t know what uses those tools will be put to.
The way we have always trained people for future work is to make sure they are literate, numerate, creative, and able to solve problems.
The way we have always trained people for future work is to make sure they are literate, numerate, creative, and able to solve problems.
Five seconds’ reflection reveals that what this really means is “every student should have access to an education that is about nothing and changes every five seconds at the whim of rich airheads”
still thinking about this
December 20, 2025 at 2:02 AM
You cannot train people in job-specific tasks for future jobs. You don’t have the tools they will use and you don’t know what uses those tools will be put to.
The way we have always trained people for future work is to make sure they are literate, numerate, creative, and able to solve problems.
The way we have always trained people for future work is to make sure they are literate, numerate, creative, and able to solve problems.
Reposted by Alessandro
New estimates of the federal government's long term fiscal trajectory from the PBO released earlier this week shows almost all of the federal fiscal room since FES2024 is used up now: www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/addition... #cdnecon #cdnpoli
December 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
New estimates of the federal government's long term fiscal trajectory from the PBO released earlier this week shows almost all of the federal fiscal room since FES2024 is used up now: www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/addition... #cdnecon #cdnpoli
ok, this is delightful
This reads like an episode of The Office, where Michael and Dwight brought in an AI bot to profit-maximize the office vending machine but then Pam and Jim tricked it into giving everything away for free to undermine capitalism.
Only it really happened.
Gift link:
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...
Only it really happened.
Gift link:
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...
We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars.
An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.
www.wsj.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:04 AM
ok, this is delightful
Reposted by Alessandro
Eli Lilly is making significant cuts to the cost of Mounjaro and Zepbound in Canada.
Lilly hasn't made inroads in Canada the way it has in the U.S., but between this and generic Ozempic, 2026 could be a big year for GLP-1s
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Lilly hasn't made inroads in Canada the way it has in the U.S., but between this and generic Ozempic, 2026 could be a big year for GLP-1s
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Eli Lilly & Co. cuts price of popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs in Canada
The move comes ahead of new regulations and the expected arrival of cheaper generic Ozempic
www.theglobeandmail.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Eli Lilly is making significant cuts to the cost of Mounjaro and Zepbound in Canada.
Lilly hasn't made inroads in Canada the way it has in the U.S., but between this and generic Ozempic, 2026 could be a big year for GLP-1s
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Lilly hasn't made inroads in Canada the way it has in the U.S., but between this and generic Ozempic, 2026 could be a big year for GLP-1s
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
The UK-based AI Security Institute has a new report based on trends in frontier models over the past two years. They show that capabilities and AI's embedding in our lives are increasing fast.
Blog post: www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/5-key-f...
Full report: www.aisi.gov.uk/frontier-ai-...
Blog post: www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/5-key-f...
Full report: www.aisi.gov.uk/frontier-ai-...
5 key findings from our first Frontier AI Trends Report | AISI Work
Our inaugural Frontier AI Trends Report draws on 2 years' worth of evaluations to provide accessible insights into the trajectory of AI development.
www.aisi.gov.uk
December 18, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The UK-based AI Security Institute has a new report based on trends in frontier models over the past two years. They show that capabilities and AI's embedding in our lives are increasing fast.
Blog post: www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/5-key-f...
Full report: www.aisi.gov.uk/frontier-ai-...
Blog post: www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/5-key-f...
Full report: www.aisi.gov.uk/frontier-ai-...
The thing I knew least about in this interview with Givewell's CEO is that he majored in religion and spent many hours studying the Talmud!
(gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
(gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
Opinion | The Simplest Way to Save Lives With Your Money
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:16 AM
The thing I knew least about in this interview with Givewell's CEO is that he majored in religion and spent many hours studying the Talmud!
(gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
(gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/o...
December 11, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Alessandro
Waiting for Instacart's rebuttal: "Critics are wrong; we are not extracting consumer surplus via price discrimination. We are merely randomizing prices to estimate a demand elasticity so we can extract consumer surplus better through uniform pricing."
December 10, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Waiting for Instacart's rebuttal: "Critics are wrong; we are not extracting consumer surplus via price discrimination. We are merely randomizing prices to estimate a demand elasticity so we can extract consumer surplus better through uniform pricing."
Reposted by Alessandro
- you got that Aryan propaganda done?
- sure did boss, nice and Arian just like you asked
- sure did boss, nice and Arian just like you asked
ok it’s legitimately funny that they can’t even throw red meat to Catholics without falling into heresy
December 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
- you got that Aryan propaganda done?
- sure did boss, nice and Arian just like you asked
- sure did boss, nice and Arian just like you asked
Happy smallpox eradication day! It's a fine day to remember what we can accomplish together, and how much medical technology and public health have improved, and lengthened, our lives.
I recommend this moving, short piece:
open.substack.com/pub/laneless...
I recommend this moving, short piece:
open.substack.com/pub/laneless...
December 9, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Happy smallpox eradication day! It's a fine day to remember what we can accomplish together, and how much medical technology and public health have improved, and lengthened, our lives.
I recommend this moving, short piece:
open.substack.com/pub/laneless...
I recommend this moving, short piece:
open.substack.com/pub/laneless...
New recordings of little-known French symphonic organ music (curated by Widor and Guilmant), performed by Aaron Tan.
I love the repeated-note subject in this fugue by Pierre Kunc; it reminds me of the fugue from Handel's op. 6, no. 7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmM...
I love the repeated-note subject in this fugue by Pierre Kunc; it reminds me of the fugue from Handel's op. 6, no. 7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmM...
Pierre Kunc ♦ Sortie fuguée (1899, L'Orgue Moderne) ♦ Aaron Tan
YouTube video by meistersyncer
www.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:39 PM
New recordings of little-known French symphonic organ music (curated by Widor and Guilmant), performed by Aaron Tan.
I love the repeated-note subject in this fugue by Pierre Kunc; it reminds me of the fugue from Handel's op. 6, no. 7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmM...
I love the repeated-note subject in this fugue by Pierre Kunc; it reminds me of the fugue from Handel's op. 6, no. 7
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmM...
Reposted by Alessandro
Working on a solo-authored adversarial collaboration
December 2, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Working on a solo-authored adversarial collaboration
Reposted by Alessandro
Some of us have been saying for a while that thinking you can control the politics of resentment is a mugs game. You reap what you sow, you don’t get to control it.
Danielle Smith: "I hope people today feel a lot more confident that Canada works than they did a couple of days ago."
UCP convention crowd: LOUD BOOS
UCP convention crowd: LOUD BOOS
Danielle Smith tried to sell her federal-Alberta energy deal to the UCP convention crowd: tepid applause.
She told them that this proved Canada can work well for Alberta’s interests: loud boos.
This ain’t a base that wants Smith to work with a Liberal PM on a better industrial carbon tax.
She told them that this proved Canada can work well for Alberta’s interests: loud boos.
This ain’t a base that wants Smith to work with a Liberal PM on a better industrial carbon tax.
November 28, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Some of us have been saying for a while that thinking you can control the politics of resentment is a mugs game. You reap what you sow, you don’t get to control it.
former Ancient Greek major status: I just read the word "robotaxis" as being like "hypotaxis" and could wonder what it possibly would mean
November 18, 2025 at 1:36 PM
former Ancient Greek major status: I just read the word "robotaxis" as being like "hypotaxis" and could wonder what it possibly would mean
This, but unironically
Nuclear execs: we need a way to make people trust nuclear energy again. The climate crisis is an opportunity. But how to use it?
AI execs: this magic black box will help! You'll need to build twice as many power plants, though.
Government regulators: In. I mean, what could go wrong?
AI execs: this magic black box will help! You'll need to build twice as many power plants, though.
Government regulators: In. I mean, what could go wrong?
NEW: Tech companies are betting big on nuclear energy to meet AIs massive power demands and they're using that AI to speed up the construction of new nuclear power plants.
And despite expert concerns about potential disaster, the US government is on board.
And despite expert concerns about potential disaster, the US government is on board.
November 14, 2025 at 6:01 PM
This, but unironically
A beautiful song by a Paris Conservatory graduate from the late 19th century, Madeleine Jaeger. She wrote this at age 23.
Jaeger died, alas, at only age 37 from tuberculosis, in 1905.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYVf...
Jaeger died, alas, at only age 37 from tuberculosis, in 1905.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYVf...
Les Étoiles mortelles
YouTube video by Cyrille Dubois - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:51 AM
A beautiful song by a Paris Conservatory graduate from the late 19th century, Madeleine Jaeger. She wrote this at age 23.
Jaeger died, alas, at only age 37 from tuberculosis, in 1905.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYVf...
Jaeger died, alas, at only age 37 from tuberculosis, in 1905.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYVf...
My phone's autocomplete wants the phrase
"within the realm of"
to be followed by
"spreadable snacks"
"within the realm of"
to be followed by
"spreadable snacks"
November 10, 2025 at 2:44 AM
My phone's autocomplete wants the phrase
"within the realm of"
to be followed by
"spreadable snacks"
"within the realm of"
to be followed by
"spreadable snacks"