Rivian stock fell more than 27% in midday trading on Thursday.
I, For One, Welcome Our New Self-Driving Overlords
“These are the people that are behind the AI systems that are going to be, and really already are, ruling the world.”
Free John Robertson!
John Robertson is a retiree who volunteered for a position on the municipal council of Murray Harbour, P.E.I. (pop. 282) in 2022 because he wanted to give back to his rural community.
Robertson felt dismayed about what he views as lies perpetuated in the mainstream media related to the discovery of unmarked graves at Indian Residential Schools, which have been labelled “mass graves” by some journalists despite scant evidence for that particular claim. To try to set the record straight, last September Robertson changed the plastic letters on a wooden sign on his private property in Murray Harbour to spell out a provocative message: “TRUTH: MASS GRAVE HOAX. RECONCILIATION: REDEEM SIR JOHN A’S INTEGRITY.”
On October 4, 2023 Robertson was informed of an official complaint by three fellow councillors under the village Code of Conduct. Council then hired a former RCMP officer to investigate the sign. The officer found that Robertson’s sign breached Code provisions against “unethical behaviour,” “inspiring public trust and confidence,” and “discrimination, intimidation, and harassment.”
On November 18, 2023, Murray Harbour council voted to impose a maximum penalty: a $500 fine, six-month suspension, and forced apology. Robertson refused to comply with those sanctions.
On December 20, 2023, Minister Rob Lantz ordered Robertson to comply or resign. Robertson refused.
The Canadian Constitution Foundation is assisting in his case, check it out here.
Whatsisname’s Britain
Where the foxes caper unmolested, the government packs your school lunch… or not.
FARMING in England is facing a crisis as thousands of farmers have accepted government payments of up to £100,000 to leave their land. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) say that their ‘Lump Sum Exit Scheme’, launched in 2022 by Boris Johnson, aims to ‘support farmers in England who wish to leave the industry’.
It has been successful. Last month Defra told me they had received ‘just over 2,200 eligible applications’. Approved farmers who want to throw in the towel have until May 31 of this year to transfer their land, but there is no rule that says it must remain as farmland.
Contrary to a previous statement, Defra said: ‘The scheme itself doesn’t have any specific restrictions – however, we expect that most of the surrendered land will stay as agricultural land.’ Earlier they had said: ‘In return for signing up to the scheme, farmers need to either rent out or sell their land or surrender their tenancy in order to create opportunities for new entrants and farmers wishing to expand their businesses.’[…]
It comes from the Absolute Zero report produced by six of our universities, Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, Nottingham, Strathclyde and Imperial College, and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a government agency. The research programme goes under the name UK FIRES with the convoluted slogan Locating Resource Efficiency [RE] at the heart of the UK’s Future Industrial Strategy [FIS].
They suggest drastic measures. By 2029 (five years from now), they aim to reduce beef and lamb consumption by 50 per cent. By 2030, they recommend that fertilisers are phased out, by 2050 all beef and lamb production should end and energy used to cook and transport food should be reduced by 60 per cent.
Should Saskatchewan again have a sovereign wealth fund?
With Alberta going all-in on its sovereign wealth fund (posted yesterday), should Saskatchewan take another look at one of its own? We had one, but it didn’t last long, and turned into something of a slush fund for Crown corporations, apparently. I dug up this discussion paper that was written by U of R professor Stuart Wilson which is actually pretty good. I republished the entire paper, with his permission, on Pipeline Online.
Perhaps ironically, Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund was originally modelled on Alberta’s. And that fund is now worth US$1.42 trillion dollars (with a “t”). (Norway has less oil than Alberta).
The Libranos: ArriveScam
Whistleblowers or Masters of the Swamp?
At the center of this political storm are Cameron MacDonald and Antonio Utano, formerly of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), who find themselves suspended without pay amid swirling allegations of misconduct concerning the ArriveCan app’s contracting practices.
The crux of the matter here is whether MacDonald and Utano are whistleblowers exposing deep-seated issues within the federal procurement system, or whether they are, in fact, part of the very “swamp” that has seemingly engulfed Ottawa and the CBSA. It’s a saga that delves into the murky depths of government accountability, transparency, and potential conflicts of interest.
Safe Sex In Manitoba
Do they teach anything normal in Canadian schools anymore? Wooden penises and condoms for sex education.
Gradually, Then Suddenly
Blacklocks: Costs of federal employee salaries and benefits topped $67 billion last year, a record, Budget Officer Yves Giroux said yesterday. Giroux earlier described growth in payroll expenses as “worrisome.”
Today In Islam
London has fallen. A lengthy analysis of the Hamas and Israel war by Victor Davis Hanson. The nitwits on campuses. Communists team up with Muslims.
Friday On Turtle Island
Dementia Joe’s America: Hockey stick horrors. Pro-Blacks don’t want to save Black lives. Joe Biden’s busy schedule. The modern moronics.
The Planet Is Boiling: The climate emergency hoax. Bill Gates wants to block sunlight.
Blackie’s Canada: University education in Alberta. And education in Toronto. Justin’s CBC is excited that he trashed the oil industry in Alberta.
Your morning meme. A cartoon. Another cartoon.
Oddments For The Weekend
Including the Creepy Peepies from Whicker’s World, circa 1967; encounters of hot and cold glass; the thrill of Star Trek polyester; how to pack a suitcase in a manly way; and a fine example of some unfortunate timing.
I, Napoleon
Given the global deluge of negative publicity regarding men invading female volleyball teams, Centennial College was essentially compelled to weigh-in on this matter.
February 23, 2024: Reader Tips
This evening, we present the 1937 driver’s education film, Highway Mania. Hopefully it’ll make you a better driver!
Your best recent tips are always appreciated here.
Honey, I Finished The Internet
A Tidy Profit
A former University of Manitoba law dean has been given “the ultimate penalty” of disbarment in Manitoba after he misspent over half a million dollars in school funds, including racking up charges that amount to fraud, the provincial law society says.
Jonathan Black-Branch has been disbarred and his name has been removed from the Law Society of Manitoba’s rolls of barristers and solicitors, according to a Feb. 14 decision from a law society disciplinary committee.
He also was fined $36,000.
A Dragon No More?
After the death of Mao, China’s embrace of free markets sparked one of the largest economic booms the 20th century has ever seen. But is China now in regress as the communist party tries to widen its control over the economy?
Xi expects business as well as people to serve the CCP. As authoritarian controls metastasize throughout the economy, everyone suffers. For instance, even foreign enterprises now must accommodate party cells. The Wall Street Journal’s Lingling Wei reported on a Chinese “official, one of several who had helped introduce Western-style stock trading to China,” who cited “a worrisome trend of the party inserting itself more into companies’ affairs by pressuring them to accept Communist Party committees in their offices. ‘The whole thing about getting listed companies to set up party committees,’ he said, ‘is a reversal of what we had tried to do’.”
Lift Up Thine Blessings To The Sky God
And the asteroids which he has gifted us.
After nearly three decades, Vice will stop publishing stories to its website. Vice Media CEO Bruce Dixon said today that the company is going to lay off hundreds of employees as it plans a shift toward social platforms, according to a memo to employees obtained by Washington Post reporter Will Sommer.
“It is no longer cost-effective for us to distribute our digital content the way we have done previously,” Dixon writes. “Moving forward we will look to partner with established media companies to distribute our digital content, including news, on their global platforms, as we fully transition to a studio model.”
Vice has been struggling with many of the same challenges affecting other companies across the media industry. Advertising has become a less lucrative way to monetize content, and audiences are becoming more difficult to reach directly. That’s why Vice is moving toward new revenue streams, such as licensing out its content and focusing on social platforms with bigger scale.
Amen.
“Mayor Jyoti Gondek” Is Not A Character In A Tim Burton Movie
Safe and Effective®
What About The Space Termites?
Guardian- Japan to launch world’s first wooden satellite to combat space pollution
The LignoSat probe has been built of magnolia wood, which, in experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS), was found to be particularly stable and resistant to cracking. Now plans are being finalised for it to be launched on a US rocket this summer.