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seriouscynic.bsky.social
AL
@seriouscynic.bsky.social
700 followers 2.6K following 500 posts
Maritimer in Montréal (bilingue)
any pronouns
monsters abound, whence the new world?
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seriouscynic.bsky.social
The full potential of Alberta's energy resources:
Tom Toro cartoon: A man in a tattered suit sits cross-legged at a campfire with similarly bedraggled kids with a ruined city and dark clouds in the background and says, "Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders."
November 28, 2025 at 1:33 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
They yada yada the steps to solve the problem to make clear that the tool will just give you the answers for your homework, no learning required. This vile assault on homework-sharing nerds must not stand
Math problem being solved with G00gle L3ns (advertisement)
November 25, 2025 at 3:21 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Screenshot of Snopes: years; as far back as 1997, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations described the relationship between elephants and humans as "quite strange": While most of the domestic animals now most highly attuned to man (the dog, the cat, the water buffalo, etc.) have wild forebears which are largely untameable, many wild-caught elephants quickly and easily form intimate bonds with their keepers even though their wild temperament has never been modified through selective breeding. Some elephants form such warm and affectionate bonds with man as to deceive the observer into thinking that this animal must have been made truly domestic. Many other elephants in domesticity, however, remain unremittingly wild, hostile to man and ready to kill him at every chance. Clearly, a domesticated elephant is simply a wild animal in chains but a wild animal frequently gentle and intelligent enough to be totally trustworthy as a baby-sitter to watch over human infants.
November 24, 2025 at 2:37 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Does Canada support a roadmap to transition off fossil fuels?
"In principle," yes. We are "fully committed."

Did Canada join the UK, France, Mexico, and dozens of other countries in signing a letter asking for such a roadmap?
No.

Our principles and commitments don't count for much, I guess.
Screenshot of CBC article: The letter from those supporting a roadmap - who include Colombia, France, Germany, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain and Britain - said the draft deal, in its current form, "does not meet the minimum conditions required for a credible COP outcome." ADVERTISEMENT "We cannot support an outcome that does not include a roadmap for implementing a just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels," the letter said. Canada did not sign the letter, Environment and Climate Change Canada confirmed to CBC News Friday. In an emailed statement, an ECCC spokesperson said, "Canada remains fully committed to advancing global climate action and supporting a transition away from fossil fuels in ways that respect national priorities and circumstances." The statement said Canada's representatives are focused on "practical" outcomes "consistent with the direction we are taking at home."
November 22, 2025 at 9:49 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Screenshot from Chapter 9 of Psychopolitics (Han 2015), titled Emotional Capitalism: "Emotions are performative in so far as they call forth certain actions. As inclinations, they represent the energetic - the sensory, or even sensuous basis for action. Emotions are steered by the limbic system, which is also where the drives are seated. They form the pre-reflexive, half-conscious, physico-instinctual level of action that escapes full awareness. Neoliberal psychopolitics seizes on emotion in order to influence actions on this pre-reflexive level. By way of emotion, it manages to cut and operate deep inside. As such, emotion affords a highly efficient medium for psychopolitically steering the integral person, the person as a whole."
November 22, 2025 at 12:54 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Yep
Experience Visiting Practitioner, Hybrid Warfare at US Department of War Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies Casual / On-call Mar 2023 - Present 2 yrs 9 mos Honolulu, Hawaii, United States Lecture on geopolitical issues with a focus on hostile economic activities impacting the allied/partner industrial base. CIGI Visiting Executive, "Canada at Economic War" Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) Permanent Full-time Dec 2024 - Present. 1 yr Co-led standup of "Canada at Economic War"program. https://www.cigionline.org/activities/canada-at-economic-war/ Director General, Strategic Defence Policy Department of National Defence/Ministère de la défense nationale. Permanent Full-time 2018 - Dec 2024-7 yrs Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Principal architect of Canada's new defence policy, OUR NORTH, STRONG AND FREE. DND official lambasts western leaders for anti-U.S. comments Raquel Garbers accused western leaders of helping Russia and China with their "absurd anti-United States narratives." By David Pugliese Ottawa Citizen Published Oct 20, 2025
November 21, 2025 at 2:54 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Screenshot of quote of Richard Falk: "It's disappointing that Canada - after having acknowledged Palestinian statehood - would take such a hostile attitude toward a very forthright conference that really explained to a public, that hasn't been so well informed, the nature of the objections to what Israel has been doing," he said. "One expects Canada to be a model of free speech and liberal democracy and it's not as bad as the U.S., but it's not as good as I would hope."
November 16, 2025 at 1:55 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
We feed intelligence to the threatening foreign govt with most of our data. If the US becomes openly hostile, due, say, to losing touch with reality and decency, our plan seems to be to show our belly and hope to stay a pet instead of dinner. Hope the real plan is a secret we never learn. #democracy
Rogers, who became CSIS director just over a year ago, described the current threats to Canada from espionage, foreign interference, transnational repression and violent extremism at a time of heightened tensions with the United States, a key national security partner. He told reporters after his speech that Canada's security relationship with the United States remains strong, despite changes in Washington's priorities. *"We benefit greatly from intelligence and security sharing by the United States, and we contribute back,"* Rogers said. "So I think it's still strong." In his wide-ranging address, Rogers noted Canadians' data increasingly resides in the hands of foreign governments and corporations in their jurisdictions. This arms states which may choose to act against Canada's interests with now ways to weaponize dala and information, he said.
November 14, 2025 at 1:33 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Possible additional evidence
I (AL) post Project Drawdown material by Dr Jonathan Foley asserting CCS "should never be used as a substitute for cutting emissions, or to help delay phasing out fossil fuels". Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social That's nice. But it's not a realistic approach to the world we live in. The focus should always be -- and have always been -- on reducing demand, not targeting specific sources of supply. And you phase out oil and gas by supporting cleaner sources of energy with lower costs. AL @seriouscynic.bsky.social So support cleaner sources of energy with lower costs instead of greenwashing oil. AL @seriouscynic.bsky.social. So support cleaner sources of energy with lower costs instead of greenwashing oil. Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social We can't export our clean energy, of course, and so long as there's demand for oil and gas exports we should a) try to meet it, and b) compel these companies to reduce their upstream emissions. Perfect is the enemy of good, as ever. AL @seriouscynic.bsky.social. Hydro-Québec has achieved the impossible for decades. Wow. You're a hack, as ever. Screenshot: HYDRO-QUÉBEC: NORTH AMERICA'S LEADING PROVIDER OF CLEAN ENERGY For the past two decades, Hydro-Québec has been selling clean, reliable and competitively priced electricity into wholesale markets in northeastern North America. Québec hydropower offers a double advantage to markets outside the province: reduced greenhouse gas emissions and very stable prices.
November 7, 2025 at 8:46 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Hydro-Québec has achieved the impossible for decades. Wow.

You're a hack, as ever.
HYDRO-QUÉBEC: NORTH AMERICA'S LEADING PROVIDER OF CLEAN ENERGY For the past two decades, Hydro-Québec has been selling clean, reliable and competitively priced electricity into wholesale markets in northeastern North America. Québec hydropower offers a double advantage to markets outside the province: reduced greenhouse gas emissions and very stable prices.
November 7, 2025 at 5:01 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Oh, quite right, sorry.
Project Drawdown - CCS screenshot: What is our assessment? Using CCS on fossil-fueled power plants will reduce electricity production emissions, but it is more expensive, more energy-intensive, and more polluting than readily available, cheaper, and cleaner alternatives like wind, solar, and geothermal. Based on this, and the risk that large-scale deployment of CCS on fossil-fueled power plants could drive continued production and use of coal and gas, we conclude that using CCS on fossil fuel power plants is "Not Recommended" as a climate solution. Plausible Could it work? Yes Ready Is it ready? Yes Evidence Are there data to evaluate it? Yes Effective Does it consistently work? No Impact Is it big enough to matter? Yes Risk Is it risky or harmful? Yes Cost Is it cheap? No
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Project Drawdown - Direct Air Capture page screenshot: What is our assessment? Based on the difficulty of capturing low concentrations of CO2 from the air and the associated technological, energy consumption, and financial challenges facing DAC, it is unlikely that this climate technology can be scaled up to remove globally meaningful amounts of CO2. Furthermore, based on the current financial and policy support for DAC from fossil-fuel interests, there is a clear risk that the technology will be used to enable and perpetuate the production and use of fossil fuels, which is antithetical to solving the climate crisis. Therefore, we conclude that deployment of DAC is "Not Recommended" as a climate solution. Plausible Could it work? Yes Ready Is it ready? No Evidence Are there data to evaluate it? Yes Effective Does it consistently work? No Impact Is it big enough to matter? No Risk Is it risky or harmful? Yes Cost Is it cheap? No
November 7, 2025 at 3:59 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
not fair, 13 is unlucky
Al Overview No, Barack Obama was not president 13 years ago, as he left office in January 2017. 13 years ago was 2011, and he was in his first term as president at that time. Al Overview Yes, Barack Obama was the President of the United States 14 years ago. Barack Obama's presidential term was from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. Fourteen years ago from today (November 6, 2025) would be late 2011, which falls within his first term in office.
November 7, 2025 at 1:47 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
😩
AI-generated image posted to Facebook group Montreal Then and Now by user "Avis Public - Québec". The image depicts a giant smiling Soraya Martinez Ferrada atop a waste collection truck with a snowplow pushing a pile of waste, orange cones, and bicycles along a street in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
November 3, 2025 at 11:46 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary...
Wikipedia entry on Unitary Executive Theory: Since the nation's inception, the U.S. president has exercised significant authority over the executive branch, but presidents have often sought to expand their reach. This has led to conflicts with Congress and its legislative powers, in addition to its powers to delegate under the Necessary and Proper Clause. The Reagan administration was the first presidential administration to cite unitary executive theory.[17] It then entered public discourse with the George W. Bush administration and found a strong advocate in President Donald Trump.[18] Presidents of both parties tend to view the idea that they should have increased power more favorably when in office.
October 25, 2025 at 6:54 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
"Dumb Americans confused" is big news for National Post readers, who generally identify with 2/3 of those words
National Post's #1 trending story: Joe Rogan, comedian Andrew Schulz puzzled by Canada's land acknowledgements: 'Feels like I'm bragging'
October 24, 2025 at 12:02 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Mr End of History himself:
Guardian review of Liberalism and Its Discontents (Fukuyama 2022): Although liberalism is under attack from both left and right, it is from the left that the more serious intellectual challenge comes. Fukuyama recognises this fact and attempts to address the left's criticism. Essentially a system that is founded on the principle of equality of individual rights, law and freedom has evolved rather conspicuous inequalities in each of those realms. The most glaring are the *economic inequalities that have grown in the west,* particularly in the US and UK, over the past 40 years. *Fukuyama attributes these to "neoliberalism", the belief in unfettered markets as the means of delivering the goal of consumer welfare. But, Fukuyama contends, this is a distortion of liberalism, which has a much larger social remit than simply economic efficiency. It's not just a question of regulating and limiting big business - although Fukuyama argues for both - but of appreciating the social capital that attains from redistribution and narrowing of inequalities.* At times the former adviser to the Reagan administration can sound like a Scandinavian social democrat. Almost.
October 23, 2025 at 10:40 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
If the "allegations" are "deeply concerning", why didn't the minister learn the basic facts of the issue in 2023 after the NDP presented a petition with 17 thousand signatures about it? Or in 2024 when a Conservative tabled a bill about it? Is our govt actually incompetent or just pretending?
Screenshot excerpt: "Nobody should work for free in this country," Hajdu's press secretary wrote in an email to The Tyee in response to a request for comment for this story. "The allegations of unpaid work in the airline industry are deeply concerning we will get to the bottom of this." On Tuesday, Davies told reporters Ottawa doesn't need to investigate the flight attendants' assertion of unpaid work. "There is no need for a probe into unpaid work," Davies said. "It's well known in the industry, and it is disingenuous of Minister Hajdu to indicate to the public that there's something to be discovered here." Screenshot of 2023 petition on Parliament's website: Petition to the Government of Canada Whereas: Flight attendants in Canada perform duties that are essential to the safety and comfort of air passengers; and whereas *flight attendants are not paid for many of these duties including but not limited to boarding, pre-flight safety checks, ground delays, or are paid only half their hourly rate for Transport Canada-mandated training;* and whereas, according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Union of Public Employees of over 9,000 flight attendants, *flight attendants in Canada work unpaid for 35 hours per month, on average;* and and whereas the Government of Canada, through the Canada Labour Code, currently provides flexibility to employers in Canada to define work and what is to be paid, including training, time at the worksite waiting to be assigned work, and time spent on break but remaining at the employer's disposal. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to fix the relevant legislation and regulations so that any employee who is performing training required by their employer, or the federal government or regulator; who is required to be at the worksite waiting to be assigned work; or who is at the worksite remaining at their employer's disposal, is being paid at the employee's contractual rate of pay, and no less than federal minimum wage, so that an employee who is at work, in uniform, performing work duties is being paid for their time from the moment work duties begin. Government response tabled Response by the Minister of Labour and Seniors Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Terry Sheehan The Government of Canada recognizes that more than 17,000 petitioners have expressed their concerns over the working conditions and pay of federally regulated flight attendants. [More empty words follow to slightly obscure the middle finger being held up at flight attendants.] The Breach article screenshot excerpt from 2024: When legislation was introduced in the House of Commons this summer to ensure that flight attendants are fairly paid, the person standing up for their rights was an unlikely ally: a Conservative parliamentarian with a history of doing anything but supporting workers. "We've heard for years from flight attendants that they are not paid until their aircraft is in motion," Ontario MP Lianne Rood announced while introducing a private members bill in mid-June, presenting herself as a champion of the female workers who make up a large percentage of flight attendants.
October 22, 2025 at 6:41 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Coyne: Old billionaires like Henry Ford did not align with "such a malignant force as Donald Trump" or become "utterly detached from reality."

Ford was a fascist who aligned with Hitler and spread vile antisemitic propaganda so thoroughly that Donald Trump echoes him.

No billionaires.
Coyne writes that our "tech oligarchs" are a "unique threat" because "they have aligned themselves with such a malignant force as Donald Trump" and "they are themselves so utterly detached from reality. He gives a list of billionaires from the past for contrast. The list includes Henry Ford. Excerpt of 2023 Atlantic article: IN LATE 1922, The New York Times reported the "rumor" passing through Berlin that Henry Ford was bankrolling Adolf Hitler and his curiously well-funded Nazi movement. The wall of Hitler's office featured a large picture of the American mogul, the Times noted, and copies of a book bearing Ford's byline littered a table in the anteroom. Titled The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, the volume was an anthology of articles published by Ford's Dearborn Independent newspaper, which two years earlier had launched an unrelenting crusade to expose Jews' supposed "financial and commercial control, usurpation of political power, monopoly of necessities, and autocratic direction of the very news that the American people read." The series, which eventually spanned 92 issues over seven years, concluded that the "International Jew and his satellites" lurked behind virtually all of the world's ills: labor unrest, Bolshevism, financial panics, wars. Hitler denied receiving funding from Ford but made no secret that he considered him an inspiration. "We look on Heinrich Ford as the leader of the growing Fascisti movement in America," Hitler said in 1923. "We admire particularly his anti-Jewish policy which is the Bavarian Fascisti platform." At the time, Ford was being floated as a possible Democratic candidate for president, and Hitler said that he wished he could deploy "some of my shock troops to Chicago and other big American cities to help in the elections." Ford's anti-Jewish beliefs are well known. Not well understood is his singular role in unleashing a new era of anti-Semitism, a modern strain of an ancient poison built upon the themes of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. You can glimpse Ford's influence in the casual anti-Semitism of Donald Trump, who has deployed barely coded references to "globalists" and to "international banks" plotting secretly with one of his Democratic rivals to weaken the U.S.
October 12, 2025 at 12:16 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Did you read that Reuters article you posted?
Screenshot of Reuters article: "The democratic opposition of Venezuela is something that the U.S. has been eager to support. So, in that sense, it would be hard for anyone to constitute this as an insult to Trump," said Halvard Leira, research director at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. The United States has struck several vessels allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks. Trump has determined that the U.S. is engaged in "a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, according to a document notifying Congress of its legal justification for deadly U.S. strikes on boats off Venezuela. Machado has publicly supported the U.S. military operation, telling Fox Noticias last month the operation was "aimed at saving lives" in both nations.
October 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Wall Street Journal: "Machado, 58, is in some ways an unusual choice for the Nobel committee: She is conservative, and cites Margaret Thatcher as an inspiration. She is known for her pugnacious approach to fighting the regime. And she has been close to the Trump administration and Republican presidents going back to George W. Bush, often advocating for Washington to confront the Venezuelan government more forcefully."
October 11, 2025 at 6:17 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Samsung makes fridges that do that
Screenshot of Samsung website FAQ about their fridge features: "Within the View Inside app, there is a Food List section that you can use to track items in your fridge or pantry. You can access View Inside to enter new items using the SmartThings mobile app on your phone or directly on the Family Hub panel itself. To quickly access View Inside on the Family Hub panel, swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen. You can review the food that was automatically recognized, as well as tap anywhere on the screen to add or edit items. You can also view the Food List directly to add items, including items in the main compartment not shown in the picture, or not even in your fridge at all. If adding them manually is a hassle, you can also use Bixby instead (covered in the next section). After you've added food items, you can set an expiration date for them, so you know when things are starting to go bad. You can also send stored or removed items to your shopping list for the next time you go to the grocery store. And you can also use the Meal Planner to suggest recipes using what's in your fridge. Just remember that when you remove items physically, they also need to be removed from the Food List."
October 11, 2025 at 12:31 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Excerpted from Psychopolitics (Byung-Chul Han): "The idiot is a modern-day heretic. Etymologically, heresy means 'choice'. Thus, the heretic is one who commands free choice: the courage to deviate from orthodoxy. As a heretic, the idiot represents a figure of resistance opposing the violence of consensus. The idiot preserves the magic of the outsider. Today, in light of increasingly coercive conformism, it is more urgent than ever to heighten heretical consciousness."
October 6, 2025 at 12:05 AM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Does "the investment wing of a notoriously repressive country" mean the Saudi Public Investment Fund or Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners?
Excerpt from article: Best of luck to EA game developers navigating all this. The acquisition is expected to close in early 2027, pending approval from regulators, which could be a whole saga in itself - Microsoft spent years fighting the US Federal Trade Commission in courts after announcing that they would purchase Activision Blizzard. For a lot of EA teams, I suspect the greatest worry may be how working for the investment wing of a notoriously repressive country will affect their livelihoods and projects. If you're an EA staffer and you'd like to chat about it all in anonymity, my email is in my bio.
October 2, 2025 at 9:33 PM
seriouscynic.bsky.social
Phew, Americans say on questionnaires that they believe in democracy. Otherwise the markets and US power might be in trouble.
The arc of history bends toward freedom? Would Indigenous Americans agree?

These are meaningless claims about subjective ideals, aka bad ideas, popular or not.
Screenshot of Atlantic podcast transcript: Kasparov: That's another parallel. So there are too many parallels. But overall, you remain optimistic. And I understand that your book-it ends on a hopeful note about the renewal of America. And I always like to end the episodes of this show with such a positive note. So just summarize, in the last minute, your belief in American democracy, in the strengths of this democracy, and the renewal of America-not only domestically, but internationally regaining its historic role of being, for people like myself, a beacon of hope. McFaul: Well, on the domestic side, I'm nervous, like I've expressed. But I'm also cautiously optimistic, because I do think tens of millions of Americans believe in democracy. And the polling shows that. And I think we're in a period of overreach for the president, and I think there'll be a backlash against that. And I think in the long run we will have this renewal of American democracy, and that will be good for the markets. And that will be good for our power and the world as well. And second, on the international stage, I'm also worried about isolationism, retrenchment, pulling back. But when I look at the long stretch of history, the arc of history is pointing toward more freedom. If you go back hundreds and hundreds of years, the evidence is just overwhelming. Then, finally, we got better ideas. Garry, our ideas are better than theirs. Most people around the world think it's better to elect your leaders rather than have God or the Communist party or the military choose who should lead you. And the data on that is just overwhelming. So I think if we get back our confidence-we just had such a loss of confidence right now-we have more power, and we have better ideas. And in the long run, I'm quite optimistic even about the victory of democracy over autocracy in the world, as well as here at home.
September 26, 2025 at 11:09 PM