Henrik Bechmann (Toronto) 🇨🇦

YouTube video by FatherPhi ChatGPT pen test yields unexpected results in 2026 #chatgpt #ai

I totally want this level of intelligence being used to write code, run companies, direct military strategy, and make medical care decisions.

“ChatGPT how many hands to hold a pen??”

Via @FatherPhi on TT, YT, etc.

City of Toronto procurement issue...

From Local Action to Global Transformation Paris As Our Interactive Classroom

"Mum, I think Paris really saved you."

In 2025, we brought 20 U.S. leaders of McKnight Foundation to #Paris for a deep dive into the city's transformation

The results? Participants returned to launch cross-departmental initiatives, redesign bike lane specifications, & even buy their first e-bikes

L.A. City Council should expand to 25 members, charter reform commission says Supporters say a larger council will better represent smaller ethnic groups, including Black and Asian American and Pacific Islander residents.

L.A. voters could be asked this year to redesign their government in dramatic ways, by switching to ranked-choice voting, adding 10 members to the City Council and reworking the duties of other city elected officials

@melissagomez.bsky.social has the latest

www.latimes.com/california/s...

On the one hand the crosstown operation has started off well and I'm glad we're already extending it west. On the other hand it was a massive expense and took forever and I can't believe we learned nothing and have already dug a tunnel under this enormous road instead of going elevated.

📝 We need to reimagine the contracts that structure public-private relationships.

IIPP's @mazzucatom.bsky.social & @drodrik.bsky.social argue that redesigning these contracts means redesigning the direction of the economy from the ground up.

✍️ Read their working paper here: buff.ly/Ww0nA2s

ITV News has seen a classified government intelligence report which appears to show some of the most worrying potential impacts of our loss of nature weren't disclosed to the public. In January,… We uncovered the redacted climate report the government didn’t want you to see

This revelatory news report by ITV (well done them), revealing what is in the FULL (still officially suppressed) intelligence services’ national security assessment on “Ecosystem collapse and national security” (actual title!), is an epochal shift.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=59DZ...

‘We’ll run out of food this week’: Israel’s Iran war brings new Gaza siege Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, threatening to plunge 2 million people into a new hunger crisis

‘We’ll run out of food this week’: Israel’s Iran war brings new Gaza siege

Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, threatening to plunge 2 million people into a new hunger crisis

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

‘Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, was reportedly used by the US military in the barrage of strikes as the technology “shortens the kill chain” – meaning the process of target identification through to legal approval and strike launch.’

Me, usually: political scientists would make the worst politicians.

Me, right now: political scientists are the only good politicians.

Health risk warnings ignored as B.C. moves to permanent daylight time, researchers say | CBC News If B.C. goes ahead with the switch to permanent daylight time, the sun won’t rise until after 9 a.m. for a full month in Vancouver during the winter. Some parts of the province won’t see the sun until...

Sleep scientists are virtually unanimous that Permanent Standard Time is the way, not Permanent Daylight Time. This is literally going to kill people.

Welcome to Daylight Nonsense Time - High Country News When the Yukon tinkered with the time change, it stretched the Mountain Time Zone to its breaking point.

I am here to tell you that British Columbia effectively moving to Mountain Time is bad and wrong. The Yukon has already taken this leap and friends, it makes no sense!

Hell of a chart, this, from @financialtimes.com. Spot the JCPOA.

on.ft.com/4kSuQYO

Composition of world 18-21 population by region (in thousands), 2024-2046. Africa will see a 47% increase in its youth population over this period; Europe, Latin America and Asia will all see declines of about 14-15%, while North America falls by just 6% (Oceania grows 15% from a miniscule base)

YouTube video by TED The Attack on Iran — Why Now? | TED Explains the World with Ian Bremmer

Bremmer on current Iran war

youtu.be/Qcz_GJyD-3E?...

bsky.app/profile/henr...

bsky.app/profile/henr...

YouTube video by Civic Tech Toronto Meetup #529 w/Henrik Bechmann: What’s a normalized municipal operating budget, and why is it better?

This is the video of my presentation at Civic Tech Toronto Feb 10, 2026:

"What's a normalized municipal operating budget, and why is it better"

About 15 minutes plus a couple of questions.

I'm told it's pretty clear. Please pass it on!

🧵 has more resources. 👇

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDB4...

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.

“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas and city center in 2021.”

Making Sense of Iran War Thinking Live conversation with military historian Phillips O'Brien

The power structures behind the Iran war.

snyder.substack.com/p/making-sen...

Alexandria OCASIO• CORTEZ REPRESENTING NEW YORK'S 14TH DISTRICT OCASIO-CORTEZ STATEMENT ON TRUMP'S COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAN 'The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic. "Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead. President Trump flippantly acknowledged the possibility of American casualties, stating "that often happens in war." "Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people. "Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran. Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region and this will be no different. "In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not. I will do my part to uphold our Constitution by voting YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie's War Powers Resolution. Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war. ###

AOC statement:

BREAKING: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed and his body has been found, reports Reuters, citing Israeli media reports.

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.news/s9152d

Phillips O'Brien and David Deptula discuss airpower, decapitation strikes and the US bombing of Iran A recording from Phillips P. OBrien's live video

A very expert review of the challenges of air war launched against Iran, and the tragedy of the lack of air support to Ukraine.

phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/phillips-o...

Canadians want stability- Co-ops deliver it - Abacus Data %

Survey in support of co-ops.

abacusdata.ca/canadians-wa...

Oh.

Given the emerging global culture of war, I don't completely rule out an American military attack on Canada. I don't think it's likely, but I fear it's a non-zero possibility.

An air attack on Toronto where I live, sometimes rings in my (imaginary) ears. Crazy, never before imagined.

Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.

Carney already has his statement out justifying another breach of international law by the US and Israel.

Israel, not Iran, is the principle source of instability in the region, given its expansionist tendencies and apartheid system, backed by a superpower that keeps starting destabilizing wars.

Trump administration designates Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention | CNN Politics The Trump administration on Friday formally designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, the latest move to ratchet up pressure and penalize Iran for its history of imprisoning US citizen...

Irony is dead... "Trump administration designates Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention" www.cnn.com/2026/02/27/p...

This is a clear articulation by Jivani of the far right's position on government welfare programs. It's frightening because for many it's a clear and compelling narrative.

The core flaw is thinking of government as an alien agent, rather than as a collective enterprise.