Toronto
Joined February 2021
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Just a note here that I continue to write essays on all manner of topics on my own website. Link in bio.
This should be good
Get ready for World War P-Zombie! Next week I will be debating @hamandcheese on AI consciousness, moderated by @sckimbriel. We will fight about functionalism, quarrel over qualia, and serve problematically hard liquors to ensure that everyone has a phenomenal time.
Access is limited so RSVP now. Link to register in the next tweet.
The basic reality is that every society will have some subset of the population for which you have three non-ideal options: put them to death, lock them in a cage, or allow them to prey on other citizens. Canada increasingly elects for the option #3 at various levels of gov.
If you’ve ever wanted to watch me discuss the silliness of Canada’s EU flirtation for 3 minutes, I do so with @StephenLeDrew here:
youtube.com/watch?v=DOgA-ok5…
Re-upping this one, and the offer still stands
Just in time for Halloween, I am in this week's @dcexaminer with a discussion of how and why the short story is the ideal format for horror fiction. Every reply gets a recommendation of first-rate examples according to your taste.
washingtonexaminer.com/magaz…
Oh yeah, this is the uncut stuff right here
My Irish ancestors were slaves bought and sold by Jewish people. And you expect me to care about antisemitism?
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Irish people sent to the Americas were primarily indentured servants under temporary contracts, not chattel slaves. No historical evidence supports claims they were bought and sold by Jewish people; this relies on the debunked Irish slaves myth.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_sla…
snopes.com/fact-check/iri…
apnews.com/article/920e1c…
The funny thing about the "art is political" crowd is that they don't seem too interested in actually making political art—much less good political art. They just want to talk about it, which is admittedly a lot easier.
We are disturbed to learn that @CalgaryOpera has removed bass-baritone Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega from future performances of "Tosca" after he unveiled a Palestinian flag during the curtain call on opening night. Art is political, and artists should not be punished for expressing support for the Palestinian people as they face a genocide. This decision must be reversed.
I mean, Roger Waters who was going after @mtaibbi for this recently, hasn't made much music in years, which is certainly his prerogative, but also his own political music has been generally terrible. There's a reason The Final Cut is far and away the worst mature Floyd album.
Hey @EsotericCD I am listening to this anniversary show today on the Play Dead app (great remastering job), and I see yours is the first comment that pops up underneath. I mean unless someone is going around pretending to be you on streaming services.
I accept that this site provides a distorted view of the severity of the situation in France, but I would strongly counsel people of all political stripes not to take this line.
Oh, here's another one. "LOL grow uP losers!!"
xitter.cf/boneysoups/status/2111…
His numbers are wrong, but more to the point I can't abide this petulant tone when it comes to matters of foreign policy. By all means make the case for a deal, but it's impossible to imagine Bismarck sounding like this.
It is a strange world.
Because 5.7 million people live in three small Baltic countries (whose total size is less than a Chinese Tier II city). and whose half of the population lives in Europe, and another third are Russians who cannot get citizenship, and because they have traumas and bad memories of the Soviet rule, the entire world of 8 billion people should go into a nuclear apocalypse and die.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The Baltic countries lie entirely in Europe. Non-citizens comprise ~9% of Latvia's population, ~4-5% of Estonia's and near zero in Lithuania—not one third—while ethnic Russians total ~14% overall (most with citizenship).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_st…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians_…
stat.gov.lv/en/shrt/RIR2602
worldometers.info/population/cou…
This is just how some people think. The idea that policies might be contributing to degrowth, or that a country might be more than inputs and outputs is simply beyond their ken.
“It’s existential.” With no natural population growth coming, Canada needs more immigration to avoid incredible decline, which means that in addition to higher targets, we need more housing and social infrastructure. It’s as important as anything. thestar.com/opinion/canada-s…
David Polansky retweeted
To whom it may concern: The great Gillian Welch & David Rawlings recently hopped on KEXP to play a handful of Dead classics and promote their “Acoustic Reckoning” tour. Highly suggest. Here’s “Dire Wolf”.🔥
🎥 KEXP
This is a quintessential Boomer position, in that their material interests and ersatz idealism are once again found to be in perfect harmony.
“I’m old. I’ve paid my home off,” said Ray Warner, a 72-year-old Akron resident. “Why would I pay property tax?”
Across the country, homeowners are asking the same question and revolting against property taxes at a scale not seen in a half century.
politico.com/news/magazine/2…
