D.R. 🇺🇦 @DR4000

Meta had an internal PR plan to try and discredit Jon Haidt because he was a critic of social media. Meta was going to recruit academics, like Andrew Gelman, to write take down pieces. They were trying to turn academics against one another through a "whisper strategy". This is a very serious problem for open academic debate. If academics who share negative evidence about a platform are targeted by campaigns to smear our credibility, we are in deep, deep trouble. This creates a very serious conflict of interest for anyone who is paid to do this. law360.com/articles/25425…

I’ve been spending a lot more time in Toronto these days, including among members of the increasingly unsettled and angry Toronto Jewish community. Thanks @mattgurney, for an important column. open.substack.com/pub/theline/p/…

The latest cover of Private Eye is 😘

Churchill could have shortened WW2 by years if he had just “done a deal” with Hitler. George Washington could have done a deal to end the American Revolution. Zelenskyy is in good company.

Shoutout to everyone's favorite op-ed:

Lisa Abramowicz @lisaabramowicz1

a week ago

Oil traders are increasingly pricing the battle over the Strait of Hormuz as the new normal. Futures contracts for brent crude in December 2027 are now close to $90 a barrel, the highest ever and a sharp departure from even a month ago.

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Opinion: Alberta’s separatist movement is built on false and unearned authority /via @globeandmail theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…

Opinion: The world may be going to hell in a handcart, but Canada is not. Not today /via @globeandmail theglobeandmail.com/business/comme…

As Anthropic edges toward its IPO, details surrounding one important aspect of the AI company remain largely under wraps: the opaque trust empowered to shape its board and block major moves wsj.com/tech/ai/anthro… via @WSJ

Even atheists are praying for you. You are a good man. Please get well.

Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex

2 weeks ago

I would like to thank all those who have prayed for me in recent days. I wish to express my particular gratitude to the doctors, nurses and all the staff of the Gemelli Hospital. This experience has made me feel particularly close to all those who are living with illness or

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Give me hard-boiled atheists who support the Ukrainians against their murderers over these a-holes "of faith" who have aligned our country with Putin. apnews.com/article/house-…

This is truly a historic moment. President Trump has indefinitely suspended sanctions against Russia that would have been required in the Graham law. He went against the last request of Lindsey Graham, whom he called his friend. And he handed Putin the opportunity to finance the war against Ukrainians, who are fighting for their freedom. Trump calls this a "national interest." But diesel prices went up because of his war against Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. So waiving sanctions on Russia does not solve that problem. Instead, it creates another one. Putin cannot win on the battlefield, so he attacks civilians. Russian missiles and drones are destroying homes, hospitals, schools, and churches. According to the UN, just two weeks of October have been among the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine in recent years. Forty percent of Russia's budget goes to the war. After Trump's latest decisions, Russia will make record profits. The formula is simple: "Money turns into missiles. Missiles turn into civilian deaths." Trump is not stopping Russia's war against Ukraine. Trump is helping Putin win it. As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, I want to address the people of America, regardless of their political views. Do you really believe that the killing of millions of people and the loss of Ukraine's independence are in your national interest? If not, what will you do to stop America from financing the genocide that Putin is waging against Ukrainians with Trump's support? #StandWithUkraine

This is the first known photo of Canada. A daguerreotype photo of Niagara Falls taken in 1840 by British businessman Hugh Lee Pattinson. The image was created using the daguerreotype process, an early form of photography that required a long exposure time, estimated to be around 10 to 20 minutes. 🇨🇦

SCOOP: While Bo Hines was leading the White House’s push to pass the Genius Act, Tether—the company with the most at stake in the bill—was steering millions of dollars to a company he co-owned. Right after the bill passed, Tether hired him as its U.S. chief. [Gift link] wsj.com/politics/polic…

Billions of dollars’ worth of contracts predicting oil would fall and the S&P 500 would rise were placed about 15 minutes before Trump announced a U-turn on Iran in a post on Truth Social. CFTC staff began to investigate-- then were told to lay off. bloomberg.com/news/features/…

A few observations on the Toronto elections. 1) I'm surprised by the animosity between frontrunner camps and the third-party groups around them. (This also applies to the most contentious councillor races. Mississauga has also been a big fight.) Olivia Chow and Brad Bradford are decent people IRL, and 90% of outcomes will probably be similar in 4 years. The mayor is overall a weak position relative to an “independently” elected council. Given that many of Toronto’s big problems (as with most cities) are downstream of systemic provincial issues, major problems will remain regardless. Hence, I’m floored at how personal everything seems. 2) Several third-party orgs have become de facto political parties (even if they remain legal through technicalities). We should discuss formally legalizing them in the city (and perhaps in Ottawa too). There’s nothing wrong with groups advocating and organizing politically, like Progress Toronto or ABC Toronto. But they differ from issue-based orgs (MNTO, CycleTO, etc.). Formal parties could advance a real citywide agenda and give voters clearer mandates for council. They would also enable scrutiny of funding. Parties operate under strict rules for a reason. Many value the “independence” of municipal elections from higher-level partisanship. But since it’s already here, we should at least demand accountability and transparency.

Can’t wait to get old so I can pull up the ladder

NewsWire @NewsWire_US

2 weeks ago

Nearly 90% of Boomers Support Higher Taxes on Younger Workers to Protect Social Security Benefits — Poll

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A U.S. president siding with the Kremlin is quite an October surprise But in just the past few days, Trump appears to have fully turned against Ukraine Inside the moves that have left Kyiv despairing ahead of a dark winter: theatlantic.com/politics/2026/…

Anne Applebaum completely nails it here. Trump’s diesel deal boils down to getting business deals for his cronies in exchange for helping Putin protect his refineries

Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss

2 weeks ago

By @anneapplebaum: "This looks, instead, like something very different: an abrupt, Hail Mary attempt to force Ukraine to surrender and to save the Russian economy, perhaps in order to finally complete the multiple business deals that the Russians are known to have discussed with

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BREAKING: Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine received no intelligence warning from partners ahead of last night’s Russian strike. “Unfortunately, there was no warning from our partners about this strike. Intelligence on the launch of Russian ballistic missiles helps save lives.”

No surprise here. Donald Trump’s deal with Moscow to release Russian diesel to global markets is unlikely to offer meaningful relief to buyers of the fuel in the US or elsewhere in the world, according to analysts. Read @NastyaStognei and @V_Ratcliffe. ft.com/content/445b28…