Cam Laforest

“$800 could save my mom’s tomorrow. Cancer has taken so much, but with your support, we can fight back. Every donation counts, no matter the size. Let’s give her the life she deserves. ❤️🙏 #DonateForLife #Hope”

chuffed.org/project/1554...

I’m sharing a Palestinian account every day and today is Ahmad. Ahmad was an accountant in Gaza but because of the siege moved to Belgium for more opportunities before the war, leaving behind his family including his children Sabri, 9 and Amr, 5 and his mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer.

There’s a special kind of hell for people from Gaza who aren’t in Gaza- Ahmad has been really struggling to send money to his family and he needs help

“This is the kind of power that dictators give themselves. I think people in Canada have just become so distracted by so much noise and information out there, because I don’t know why every Canadian isn’t jumping up and down, mortified by this" - Lawyer Kate Kempton from Woodward & Company LLP

Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO). Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. The strike was conducted in international waters in the Eastern Pacific. No U.S. forces were harmed in the strike, and two male narco-terrorists — who were aboard the vessel — were killed. We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafficking drugs to America to poison our citizens. Protecting the homeland is our TOP priority. NO cartel terrorist stands a chance against the American military.

More premeditated killing at sea.

The "designated terrorist organization" supposedly operating this vessel is unidentified.

The basis for labeling the victims "narco-terrorists" is unspecified.

Cloaking lawless killing in the guise of counterterrorism doesn't actually make it counterterrorism.

The quest to commodify and destroy third places is intrinsically linked to rise of American fascism and the power of people like Mamdani proves community and shared spaces are both a bulwark against fascism but also a potent antidote to fascism and neoliberalisms enforced loneliness.

YouTube video by Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin - Final Speech from The Great Dictator

If you haven't seen The Great Dictator, you should.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7GY...

Thinking about all the families around the world who faced unspeakable tragedies because of Dick Cheney- particularly families in Iraq and Afghanistan

Are we all going to be banned for being happy Cheney is dead too?

It will be very funny if nobody gets banned for insulting one of the main architects of modern conservatism when dozens of people did for defaming America's 38th most popular podcaster. It'll really show where postmodern conservatism is at as a movement.

A good omen.

Dick Cheney’s legacy is that he turned 9/11 from a national tragedy into a global disaster. He did so through a mixture of arrogance, stupidity and greed and blighted the last quarter century.

“A.i.” is a weapon of fascism.

Alberta needs a general strike.

I’m sharing a Palestinian account every day and today is Reham. Reham is 24 and was working on finishing her Bachelors in nursing before the war. She lost her brother, home and university and is struggling to survive with her family including her parents and her little brother Ali who is only 12.

Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when

When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.

Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.

academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Maybe the thing that gives me a pulse-pounding throbbing headache is when I think of how techbros sold ChatGPT to universities as ‘revolutionizing’ higher education and our institutions just forked over money without even asking for actual evidence

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

lol what the wealthy today don't seem to understand is part of staying wealthy in society is not pissing off the masses.

There's a reason why Carnegie and the Rockefellers poured money into institutions. Gutting institutions and making it harder for the masses to survive is a...choice.

I truly believe part of the path out of where we are as a nation involves actually mourning our dead.

Where's the premier while MLAs rush through an all-night debate on stripping Albertans of their Charter rights?

An airport lounge, waiting for a flight to Saudi Arabia. She didn't even bother to show up for the vote.

I remember when conservatives turfed premiers for this level of hubris.

I don’t think I have ever been this burnt out and demoralized and part of this is because institutions are not taking our concerns about the pedagogical harms of widespread and uncritical adoption of LLMs in higher education seriously.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.

Populism, freedom, and democracy in Alberta (and beyond) Lessons from my grade fiver's homework assignment

Tonight's moves by the UCP are part of a trend: shifting Alberta away from liberal democracy toward illiberalism.

"Populists like Smith often invoke freedom, but their concept of it is tied to loyalty to the dominant group rather than universal liberties.+

open.substack.com/pub/drjaredw...

I keep seeing people say that with the upcoming Alberta law, it’ll be the first invocation of the notwithstanding clause against striking workers.

That’s not true. Ontario did just that back in 2022. And crucially, workers continued the strike and forced the government to repeal the law.

The Walton family (who own Walmart) are worth over $400 billion, yet many of their employees are on SNAP.

Bezos is worth over $400 billion, many Amazon employees require SNAP.

The people who need help are not the problem.

It’s corporate greed. It’s an unwillingness to pay a living wage.

Opinion | There Has Never Been a Better Time to Start a Ph.D. The work force is a mess. But deep skills will always be in demand.

I have an op-ed in The Chronicle of Higher Education! With a contrarian take on our gloomy moment…

www.chronicle.com/article/ther...

Okay, team! The food bank donations have blown past the $500 I have to match donations, but let's see if we can get volunteers to keep it going and match the ones I can't. I'll reply in a moment with the list of donations still waiting for matches, so please reply if you can match one of them!

Alright, team Bluesky: US foodbanks are about to have staggering demand when SNAP ends Nov 1st. We need to help them prepare.

I'll match donations: DM or reply with a receipt showing your own donation to a food bank of your choice, and I'll donate to match, up to a total of $500. 💪🥗🍲🥚🥧🥪🥣🥛
#NoHunger