AI: Threat To Humanity, Or Its Saviour?

You decide, but I'm thinking that if ChatGPT could get a senior diplomatic posting, it could help avert disaster. (If you have trouble reading the text, please click on the above link and expand the test there.)

A Political Prisoner

 

                                                                   

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During my reasonably long life, I have been witness to an array of political leadership styles and sensibilities: the inspirational, the aspirational, the ideological, the bumbling and, worst of all, the stupid. Here in Ontario, where I reside, it is stupidity that is on daily offer from Premier Doug Ford.

I'm sure Doug sees it quite differently, doubtlessly convinced his 'ability' to wade through and often eliminate red tape and see through 'scams' is the kind of bold leadership the province needs and is benefitting from. 

- Why all this endless talk about the future of Ontario Place? Just bring in a giant spa, sign a 99-year-lease, and have the taxpayers fund an underground parking lot to the tune of about $700 million.

- Need more houses? Cut development fees and build on farms and wetlands. 

- What's wrong with having such close ties to developers who benefit from inside information? Fostering close relations with movers and shakers is how to get things done.

Sadly for Doug, there are too many 'stupid' people who fail to appreciate his genius. Take their attitude toward development of  the Greenbelt, which our Ford recently called "a scam."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the Greenbelt a “scam” on Thursday as the NDP accused his government of hiding from new reports about the area’s planned development.

“We have a Liberal government that [got] a bunch of staffers, randomly got a highlighter and went up and down roads. They were going through golf courses, through buildings. It was just a big scam as far as I'm concerned,” the premier said of the 2005 government which established the space.

Ford made the comments in response to questions about reports that suggested his office discussed changes to the Greenbelt months prior to announcing it would be removing 7,400 acres from 15 different areas of the area for development. He denied that his office discussed the changes in August, as was reported by Canadian investigative online magazine The Narwhal.

Sorry, Mr. Premier. Not so fast. Victor Doyle, one of the developers of the Greenbelt Plan, begs to differ.

Ontario’s Greenbelt is fundamental to the environmental, agricultural and economic sustainability of the Golden Horseshoe. In calling it a “scam” — defined as a dishonest or illegal plan or activity — Premier Doug Ford has disparaged the Ontario civil service along with countless professionals, citizens, politicians and the municipalities, conservation authorities, civil society organizations and community groups that devoted their time and knowledge to create the largest and most strongly protected Greenbelt in the world.

Globally recognized and recipient of both provincial and national awards, the Greenbelt ensures clean water by protecting our aquifers and rivers that feed the Great Lakes. It protects our forests to provide clean air and habitat for plants, wildlife and pollinating insects. It protects vast tracts of the best farmland in Canada, which are a fundamental component of our economy and food security and it plays a critical role in combating the impacts of climate change by mitigating flooding, sequestering carbon and moderating temperature.

The real scam is the premier's insistence that the Greenbelt is needed for housing.

Today, leading research by civil society organizations and the Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario show there are over of 200,000 acres of approved, unbuilt land for urban uses in the Greater Golden Horseshoe with over 2 million units planned, 1.3 million of which are either under construction, approved or applied for.

This does not include the 60,000-plus acres of farmland the minister approved for urban use this past fall just in the GTHA. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to remove any land from the Greenbelt, which is supposed to be the counterbalance to the permanent urbanization arising from development of the above lands.

To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To an idiot, simple solutions are ubiquitous. In many ways, I feel like a political prisoner, shackled to a government that knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. 

Would that there were enough intelligent voters to rectify the situation in 2026.

 

To Live In Ignorance

I am beginning to think that those who travel to Florida to live or play are either living in ignorance or engaged in some sort of massive cognitive dissonance. How else to explain the fact that it is is the fastest-growing state in the Union, despite the existential threats it faces through climate change? And the reactionary political climate cultivated by its governor, DeSantis, is characterized by repression, censorship and thought control, surely a threat to all who value critical thought and freedom.

Given the recent warnings about travel to The Sunshine State, it becomes apparent that people both inside and outside the state need to educate themselves about the dangers posed by reactionary lawmakers. The movie clip below from Inherit The Wind might be a good place to start:

Psst! Got Any Extra Kerosene?

 I know of a state that would gladly accept your contribution.

And should presidential-hopeful DeSantis secure the high office, expect conflagrations throughout The 'Union' that will rival their worst wildfires.

Where The Sun No Longer Shines

                                         

That would be the so-called Sunshine State, Florida, under the heavy hand of its governor and apparent presidential aspirant, Ron DeSantis. Things are becoming so repressive there that a number of groups are now warning tourists about its 'hostile laws'. 

The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state’s largest job sectors.

The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP’s board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida “devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.”

DeSantis is proud of labelling his state as the place WOKE goes to die. His legislation suggests a real appetite for repressing anything that would contribute to critical thinking, something that has always been anathema to the extreme right.

... the DeSantis’ administration in January rejected the College Board’s Advanced Placement African American Studies course. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers also have pressed forward with measures that ban state colleges from having programs on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as critical race theory, and also passed the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses.

In a move no doubt prompted by a passion for inclusivity, DeSantis has also targeted Hispanics, restricting local governments in a number of ways, including requiring

hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a citizenship question on intake forms, which critics have said is intended to dissuade immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from seeking medical care. 

“The actions taken by Governor DeSantis have created a shadow of fear within communities across the state,” said Lydia Medrano, a LULAC vice president for the Southeast region.

Equality Florida is also distressed over Florida's repressiveness under DeSantis, issuing this warning:

“This is an all out attack on freedom. Free states don’t strip parents of the right to make healthcare decisions for their children. Free states don’t ban books, censor curriculum, or muzzle free speech. DeSantis doesn’t see freedom as a value worth defending, he sees it as a campaign slogan in his bid for the White House. And he is setting freedom -- and Florida’s reputation -- ablaze in his desperation to win the GOP nomination. The nation should be on high alert. We are all Floridians as DeSantis seeks to export this blueprint of authoritarianism to the rest of the country."

There is undoubtedly a constituency for the governor's nonsense. By labelling things as either black or white, he is providing succor to those for whom thinking is a chore. Happily, there are many others still capable of deep critical thinking who refuse to let these assaults on freedom go unchallenged. 

 

 

 

 

The Face Of Pain

Pain, both physical and mental, comes in many forms; not all instances are remediable, but some are, if we really put our minds to it. The following video is of an American vet whose (mis)treatment by the Veterans Administration (VA) has only aggravated the problems he brought back from battle.

The same callous disregard for the needs of our own vets has been reported widely in Canada. The way ex-soldiers are treated in both countries bespeak an attitude whereby ultimately returnees are treated at worst as disposable bodies and at best as irritating reminders of our collective failures. I almost see them as metaphors for the many dispossessed in our midst. 

Whether they are the homeless, the addicted or any other manner of marginalized, no one deserves to be subjected to anything other than compassion and assistance.

Hand-wringing accomplishes nothing.

H/t TizzyEnt

When They Start Talking About Ideologies And Agendas

 ... you generally know where they are coming from.

"We must protect our children from sexual grooming and pedophilia. The sexualization agenda is robbing children of their innocence."

"I am a very concerned person who has done research on the subject of the LGBTQ ideology" .

Thus spaketh Lorraine Hackenschmidt, described in a CBC report as a constituent and grandmother making a presentation to the Brandon, Manitoba school board trustees last Monday to express her desire to have school libraries remove objectionable materials, materials she fears will taint the children and lead them into 'unnatural choices' in life.

You can watch Hakenschmidt's presentation here, starting at the 50-minute mark. I don't find her entire presentation objectionable, especially regarding puberty-blockers and gender-reassignment surgery at an early age; however. in her desperation to prove her points about the danger of books, she starts quoting 'authorities' such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, not a man known for political moderation, and the National Post, not exactly a balanced source of news or views.

Unsurprisingly, Hakenschmidt's views are challenged by actual experts.

Brandon Sexuality Education Resource Centre program manager Kerri Judd says it's very concerning to see people asking for LGBTQ books to be removed — especially because many children rely on their school to be a safe space of inclusion and respect.

"We're seeing this in many parts of the province. And if we look at what's going on in the United States, I think that it's not that big of a surprise ... I'm just disappointed that it's a conversation that's happening within the community I live," she said.

"It is completely inaccurate and false and actually really disgusting that people associate gender identity to pedophilia," Judd said. "It's a false narrative … and so it has nothing to do with one's gender identity."

Another expert opines,

Students must see themselves represented in school resources for their well-being, says Patty Douglas, a professor in the faculty of education at Brandon University Faculty of Education. Douglas says human sexual diversity, neurodiversity and all kinds of diversity are normal, and children, just like adults, have the right to be able to see themselves represented.

"I think that bullying ... of kids who are different is ubiquitous. It happens all the time, every day. You know, educational trauma happens every day for kids who come from, you know, non-white cultures, from non-normative family arrangements and this will just worsen that," Douglas said.

"School then becomes something to survive rather than thrive in."

And the  University of Manitoba's Sarah Hannon, a political scientist, 

says the call to remove books in Brandon shows two issues coming together: protecting transgender kids and the queer community more broadly, combined with a more general point about book banning.

"They're not pornographic materials. They are sex education materials. And schools should be in the business of educating people about their own bodies and about their sexuality," Hannan said. "That is a crucial part of ... everyone's well-being."

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont condemned the book ban request at the Legislative Assembly Wednesday, calling it disgusting for its "terrible accusations" against educators and librarians.

"You don't get converted to being 2SLGBTQ by reading a book," Lamont said. "I want my children to be safe and this includes being safe from extremists who want to take away our freedom of choice and freedom to read."

He called on the Progressive Conservatives to take a stance against the proposal. 

Where will this presentation lead to? It is too early to say, but here is something worth bearing in mind: books, knowledge and learning are never subversive. Ignorance, and actions based on it, are.