Líadan Ní Chaillí Mhorrígna ☘️🍁🌹

The tragedy in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, demands answers and stronger safeguards when powerful Al technologies are involved. Our first priority is the safety of Canadians. Earlier today I met with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAl, to demand immediate steps to strengthen safeguards and accountability in Canada for ChatGPT. During that discussion, I asked OpenAl to take several actions, which Mr. Altman has agreed to do. These include establishing a direct point of contact with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and implementing safety protocols that direct individuals experiencing distress to appropriate local support services. I have also asked OpenAl to apply its new safety standards retroactively and review previously flagged cases, which Mr. Altman confirmed they are undertaking. This will determine whether additional incidents that would have been referred to law enforcement under OpenAl's new safety standards were missed, and ensure they are promptly reported to the RCMP. OpenAl also committed to assess how they would include Canadian privacy, mental health and law enforcement experts into the process to identify and review high-risk cases involving Canadian users. In addition, OpenAl will provide a full report outlining the new systems it is developing to identify high-risk offenders and repeat policy violators. I will ask the Canadian Al Safety Institute (CAISI) to examine OpenAl's model and provide expert technical advice to my office. These steps represent immediate actions to strengthen safety and accountability. At the same time, artificial intelligence presents enormous opportunity for Canada. Canadians must be confident that these technologies operate under clear rules, strong safeguards, and real accountability when risks emerge. Our government is continuing to examine a range of measures to strengthen protections - including stronger privacy frameworks, enhanced protections against online harms, and new transparency expectations for Al systems operatin…

Evan Solomon's latest missive.
Still relying on corporations to police themselves.
Still promising the lightest touch possible.

Chow & council now have to - must - own this but it really seems like Tory signed the city into a shit contract that almost has these contractors laughing at residents.

The government takes all its cues from private sector. We've been indoctrinated to believe government is inherently inefficient, but all of its worst qualities are from douchebag CEOs with MBAs.

Bizarre editorial choice by @nytimes.com to portray Trump's threats toward Europe as strong and fearsome rather than as a madman and unhinged tyrant spiraling out of control before our very eyes

On the left: Illustration of a door that reads lab with a person wearing a face mask looking through the window on the other side. On the right: text that reads “How universities are shutting out disabled students and staff. Some administrators treat accommodations as a favour—and those requesting them as problems.”

35 percent of graduating university students identify as disabled, but only 10 percent are actually able to access services. On their campuses, they describe a system of delays, denials, and quiet exclusion. Writer Lygia Navarro (she/ella) ♿️ + 🏳️‍🌈 💜 🏳️‍⚧️ explores: https://ow.ly/4Qhg50XYhGA

Toronto would do well to use the Bill 212/60 cooling to upgrade all its existing cycling infrastructure. From paint to protection where space permits, and to permanent poured concrete in place of existing pinned curbs and posts.

A novel I've been thinking about is Louise Erdrich's The Sentence. It's about an Indigenous family that has a legacy of incarceration but also policing, set in Minneapolis during early COVID, in the wake of the shooting of George Floyd. Also there's a ghost in a bookstore. Everything is everything.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson Comes to the Chan Centre | The Tyee The award-winning author will discuss her bestselling book ‘Theory of Water’ on Jan. 29.

A writer, musician and scholar, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation.

How does one teach students about distinguishing credible news sources from disreputable ones when they're all disreputable?

Astrocyte-mediated hippocampal damage in the pathogenesis of dysexecutive syndrome following COVID-19: A narrative review SARS-CoV-2 infection has been implicated in hippocampal damage, contributing to the pathogenesis of dysexecutive syndrome observed in post-COVID-19 pa…

Researchers at the University of Catania reviewed evidence showing that COVID-19 can damage the hippocampus by infecting astrocytes.

This may explain why many long COVID patients experience fatigue, apathy, and poor executive function.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Not good to see the rise in p-tau181, a marker of brain inflammation tied to increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, in a prospective cohort (mean age 56 years) with #LongCovid and neurological symptoms

www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

Three Palestine Action protesters end their hunger strike Four more who had paused opt not to continue after government opts against giving contract to Elbit Systems UK

This is a huge victory.
The hunger strikers have forced Keir Starmer to stop funnelling money to Israeli arms subsidiary Elbit Systems UK.
I congratulate the hunger strikers who put their lives on the line to challenge the Israel genocide machine.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

‘Staggering’ disparity as Indigenous adults overrepresented in prisons by 10 times The report says Indigenous people made up 33.2 per cent of the custodial population, despite only making up 4.3 per cent of the overall adult population of several provinces.

‘Staggering’ disparity as Indigenous adults overrepresented in prisons by 10 times

Canadian cities: yes we could too

Canadian government officials, what are you still doing on X in 2026? The platform's own chatbot started posting sexualized material of children and other people who couldn't consent. With no moral bottom in sight, it's well past time our officials found other ways to c...

A good question indeed, "Canadian government officials, what are you still doing on X in 2026?" www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/02/o...

Every morning I wake up and thank the Good Lord that this numptie doesn't represent my nation on the world stage.

BTW. This is the most likely version what a hypothetical invasion of Canada would look like.

We’d wake up, the government would be toppled, and we’d all have to make choices about what comes next.

Gotta say, if I were a Canadian politician, I would be very careful about praising Donald Trump for illegally bombing an oil-rich country and arresting its leader on what are pretty much imaginary allegations of narco trafficking

Frontiers | Upper respiratory tract immunization with Pam2Cys-adjuvanted spike protein vaccine achieves sterilizing protection against SARS-CoV-2 Injected COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe disease, but do not induce robust mucosal immune responses. Nasal vaccines offer the advantage of local imm...

Australian researchers have made a trial COVID vaccine that stops COVID infection and transmission, rather than just reduce the damage done by an infection:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1654126/full

This could be life-changing for many - including me.

COVID-19 is “Airborne AIDS”: provocative oversimplification, emerging science, or something in between? Immune dysfunction and systemic effects in HIV and SARS-CoV-2 infections are distinct, but share relevant similarities and downstream consequences. We…

Read this!!!!
All summarised beautifully.
I see this in my patients.
Make it stop.
There are treatments for HIV but there’s no treatment for long COVID!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Vaccinate, isolate, ventilate: will we finally learn the lessons from covid this flu season? With flu surging again, Stephen Reicher and colleagues draw on the experience of covid-19 to argue that predictable winter pressures demand more than individual responsibility, they also require syste...

"We hoped since 2020 that COVID would make clean air a central concern of the 21st century, but so far this has failed. We still live in a country where, just as many people can’t afford to be sick, our buildings promote rather than prevent sickness."

www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Vaccinate, isolate, ventilate: will we finally learn the lessons from covid this flu season? With flu surging again, Stephen Reicher and colleagues draw on the experience of covid-19 to argue that predictable winter pressures demand more than individual responsibility, they also require syste...

- With flu surging again, Stephen Reicher and colleagues draw on the experience of covid-19 to argue that predictable winter pressures demand more than individual responsibility, they also require systemic measures from governments

www.bmj.com/content/391/...

#covid #flu Oh look! It's the crappy unfiltered unventilated indoor AIR that's the culprit! Who could have guessed?

Yet my niece's kids' elementary school in Tacoma won't use the air purifiers she's generously provided to keep kids/staff/families/communities safe.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Read the study. There’s a reason everyone is sicker. The reason is COVID. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Persistent Attenuation of Lymphocyte Subsets After Mass SARS-CoV-2 Infection Growing evidence suggests that lymphocyte subsets are declined in COVID-19 patients, but it is unclear if these alterations persist after widespread e…

"Our findings redefine SARS-CoV-2 infection as a condition of long-lasting immune compromise."

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Screen shot of Safe Parkside IG post

Pedestrian struck by motorist on Parkside a block from the speed camera that vigilantes kept tearing down that caused ford to remove them from all Ontario. Drive as you wish Ontario. Nobody matters. This is what you voted for.

Love this! Do you have drawings you could share?

Updated Evidence for Covid-19, RSV, and Influenza Vaccines for 2025–2026 | NEJM Changes in the vaccine advisory process in the United States have disrupted immunization guidance, which reinforces the need for independent evidence review to inform decisions regarding immunizati...

In case you were hesitating:
"Ongoing peer-reviewed evidence supports the safety and effectiveness of immunizations against Covid-19, RSV, and influenza during the 2025–2026 season."

Covid in pregnancy tied to autism, developmental issues, study says A study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology analyzed more than 18,100 births in Massachusetts of children born to women who contracted the virus starting in the early months of the pand...

1/
"Children born to mothers infected with #COVID during pregnancy faced a higher risk of autism, along with other neurological differences such as delays in speech & motor development" -

Via @joffirphd.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

🧬 New Lancet Infectious Diseases study: children face >2x higher risk of Long COVID after reinfection.
Even mild reinfections matter — prevention & monitoring remain key.
At ERINHA, we support research that strengthens global preparedness. 🌍

https://thelancet.pulse.ly/ys4eabkfp0