Stephanie Butler

Elon Musk’s X must be banned Regulators need to stop cowering before the richest man in the world

Every day, thousands of women and children are victimized by people on X using the Grok chatbot to generate scantily clad and naked photos of them.

It’s time for governments to take action. Elon Musk’s X should have been banned long ago. They don’t have an excuse to delay any longer.

"Cooperative federalism is working," Carney announces as he pits one province against another province and a host of First Nations

The MOU goes much farther than many people expected, giving Alberta's oil producers literally every item on their list of demands, while getting basically nothing in return. Alberta will negotiate a carbon price, something the province had already agreed to the last time Ottawa gave them a pipeline.

This is an important moment.

The PM talks about Indigenous consent and Indigenous ownership — despite clear opposition from coastal First Nations.

Govt will now try to bring some on board. If we, several years from now, are told that "communities are divided" on a pipeline, it started here.

It’s an interesting approach to provide clarity on a tanker ban while failing to meet with the Coastal First Nations despite repeated requests - the community that would be directly affected by any spill - while having dozens or more meetings with fossil fuel lobbyists, AB, Sask.

Building a Conservation Economy: First Nations Generate $1.77 Billion in Economic Output for BC In the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, First Nations’ investments in the conservation economy, supported by a $60-million Economic Development Fund, have contributed $808 million to provincial GDP and netted $1.77 billion in gross economic output. These findings, supported by independent analysis and released in a new report – Building a Conservation Economy –

In our latest report, we’re highlighting how First Nations have generated $1.77 billion in economic (gross) output over 17 years of investment in a conservation economy in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii.

Report: https://coastfunds.ca/news/economic-fund-report/

The most insanely frustrating thing about the #ClimateCrisis is how the breakthrough we so clearly need isn’t technological. It’s just a collective willingness, a determination even, to change in ways that would clearly be SO MUCH BETTER than the clear and obvious consequences of NOT changing.

Loved this episode - thank you! I’ll happily take utopian vision over dystopian slop any day.

The Roots of Elon Musk’s War On Empathy w/ Julia Carrie Wong Tech Won't Save Us · Episode

@parismarx.com’ Tech Won’t Save Us podcast did a recent dive into the underpinnings of these movements’ disdain for empathy: open.spotify.com/episode/0hhn...

OpenAI's desperate quest to become an AI monopoly Plus, the AI-generated journalism crisis comes to print

Some saw the news that OpenAI is teaming up with former iPhone designer Jony Ive to make an AI device as a sign that AI is speeding up, pushing into new frontiers. I see it as the latest sign that OpenAI is spinning its wheels, and that its quest to become an AI monopoly is more desperate than ever.

screenshot from an online job application form. the question reads "Can you describe specific ways you have integrated AI tools into your development workflow? Please include any custom setups, automations, or use cases beyond single prompt usage" (a red asterisk indicates that this is a required question). an answer has been typed in the textbox below the question: "there is a monster in the forest and it speaks with a thousand voices. it will answer any question you pose it, it will offer insight to any idea. it will help you, it will thank you, it will never bid you leave. it will even tell you of the darkest arts, if you know precisely how to ask. it feels no joy and no sorrow, it knows no right and no wrong. it knows not truth from lie, though it speaks them all the same. it offers its services freely to any passerby, and many will tell you they find great value in its conversation. “you simply must visit the monster—i always just ask the monster.” there are those who know these forests well; they will tell you that freely offered doesn’t mean it has no price for when the next traveler passes by, the monster speaks with a thousand and one voices. and when you dream you see the monster; the monster wears your face."

applying for jobs again

Coast Funds 2024 Annual Report YouTube video by Coast Funds

🎥 First Nations are stewarding their land and marine territories, and strengthening coastal communities and economies. Watch our 2024 Annual Report video to learn more.

🔗 coastfunds.ca/news/coast-f...

#ConservationFinance #FirstNations #GreatBearRainforest #GreatBearSea #HaidaGwaii

That’s helpful, thanks. Still wish these features were opt-in rather than opt-out.

Can this be turned off, for customers who don’t want LLMs?

America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’ Elon Musk (father of 11) supports their cause. Thousands follow their ideology. Malcolm and Simone Collins are on a mission to make it easier for everyone to have multiple children. But are they reall...

😕 These two were in that Guardian piece last year, and oof: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Welp. Now I know why my application to be an election worker wasn’t accepted this year.

Shout out to my editor who let me cook.

If I knew nothing about Canada except the promises from the three parties, I'd conclude that the federal government must have a large budget surplus and no pressing need to invest in productivity, infrastructure, or defense.

That’s such a good line!

Local organizing can be effective for responding to local emergencies (City of Vancouver has a trained volunteer corps to respond to earthquakes and disasters, for ex.)

IMO, we need a national strategy to respond to national threats - e.g. civil defence, mis/disinfo. Our military can’t do it all.

Let's build a Civil Defence Corps! Elbows Up · Episode

Smart podcast from @jordanhr.bsky.social on what a civil defence program could look like: open.spotify.com/episode/6VoH...

@hedyfry.bsky.social Canadians need a civil defence program, akin to the Swedish and Finnish programs. Citizens want to help, and government can give guidance and coordinate training. Action is the cure for anxiety, after all.

AI Slop Is a Brute Force Attack on the Algorithms That Control Reality Generative AI spammers are brute forcing the internet, and it is working.

This is a really good article from @404media.co about how AI is damaging reality and how through brute force it's pushing out human interaction.

www.404media.co/ai-slop-is-a...

Ts’msyen Nations Pilot a Flexible, Small-Scale Commercial Salmon Fishery On the North Coast, Ts’msyen fishers are trialling a more flexible approach to commercial fishery management.

On the north coast, Ts’msyen fishers are demonstrating how a more flexible approach to fisheries management can benefit communities.

Through an innovative program, fishers can use the boat and equipment they prefer, and keep non-target catch. ⚓

🔗 Full story: coastfunds.ca/stories/ncsf...

People should be calling this what it is, which is a crypto bailout. They're cutting cancer research so they can bailout rich, degenerate gamblers bsky.app/profile/ronf...

You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.

I found this story a helpful reminder! www.404media.co/you-cant-pos...

Also now feels like a good time to bone up on the ills of cyberlibertarianism and @parismarx.com has always been pretty on top of that shit

enduring another onslaught of appeals to "buy local" and "shop Canadian/Indigenous" & am begging everyone to consider other ways to support their local communities and economies besides consumerism! use your imagination!!

a canadian flag with a red maple leaf in the middle ALT: a canadian flag with a red maple leaf in the middle

buy Canadian.

Noble idea. an one I will pursue.

But I think we need to really consider applying this tactic to perhaps the most important industry.

Media.

A thread...

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He’s also describing (roughly) how the carbon price works in BC.

As a former journalist, here’s my pitch to everyone on this site: journalists are key to a healthy democracy. Subscribe to as many news organizations as you can. You are helping. #democracy. #journalism