@Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social
@Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

Paul_Friesen

@Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social

I am 69 years old and semi-retired. I live in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. I am interested in #politics, public policy, #economics, #science, #technology, and the intersections between these topics. I also enjoy #gardening and #cycling.

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leftylabourtech, to Canada
@leftylabourtech@mstdn.social avatar

The Media Accountability Project

National Post publishes "news" article claiming that Bethlehem isn't in Palestine

#Canada #CanadianPolitics #cdnpoli #ceasefirenow #FreePalestine #GazaGenocide #mediabullshit

https://www.cjpmemap.ca/2024_05_29_national_post

Paul_Friesen,
@Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

@leftylabourtech I read the article. It does not seem to me particularly biased. While the things being done to by are horrific, we should not shut our eyes to hatred that goes the other way. I have included a screenshot of what seems to be the offending passage.

While I very much support a ceasefire and the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, I, too, find slogans and artwork that seems to be about eliminating either Jews or Israel very offensive.

Paul_Friesen,
@Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

@leftylabourtech Of course you are right about all of that. I just don't see the article you complain about as really denying it. It is about a different hatred, the one that targets Jews. We need to push back against both kinds of hatred, not just one.

JapanProf, to random
@JapanProf@mastodon.social avatar

Israel does nothing to prevent its terror attacks carried out by its soldiers and illegal settlers day and night against civilians in

But it freely drops bombs on Palestinians by calling them all “terrorists” even children—a practice adopted by the Biden administration as well. I hope that does the right thing.

https://archive.is/5Vfww

Paul_Friesen,
@Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

@JapanProf I am sure was hoping to ethnically cleanse by forcing the people across the Egyptian border. It seems less likely now that he will succeed in that. The U.S. does, at least, deserve some credit for pushing back against it.

DrALJONES, (edited ) to neo
@DrALJONES@mastodon.social avatar

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    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @DrALJONES I am sure no fan of the regime. I believe that its current war is an attempt to ethnically cleanse the strip. But I am very skeptical of that report about drones broadcasting baby cries to lure people to their deaths. What would they gain by that? They can kill as many people as they like by bombing apartment buildings. Or they can bomb people lining up for aid.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @DrALJONES @radpanda It's obvious that people in conflict do horrible things to each other. It is usual for them to de-humanize and demonize the other side. This can de-sensitize them, allowing people who are not particularly evil to do very evil things.

    But another thing that happens is that people make up stories about the evil nature of the other side. I suspect that this one belongs with some of the more lurid Israeli claims about the Hamas attack.

    hazelweakly, to random
    @hazelweakly@hachyderm.io avatar

    If there's one thing I wish I burn entirely to the ground and wipe away all traces and remnants of, its the misplaced notion that the productivity of Knowledge Work can be managed, measured, analyzed, and optimized as if all one needed to do was drip feed heroin up the arse of their hapless workers.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @hazelweakly Do you ever wonder how it is that we have all this technology for saving work, but still seem to work so hard and not be much better off? Is a lot of what is done just busy work, like people writing reports on things that nobody reads except the next person writing a report on the same thing 10 years later? Are we just making work for each other, in a Parkinson's law fashion?

    What will happen as more of those reports are written by AI?

    alanferrier, to random
    @alanferrier@mastodon.scot avatar

    This letter is 10 years old. It was true then and remains true today. Regarding the recent murder of aid workers, I'd say we're at about stage 5.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @alanferrier Exactly right! I just watched the BBC interviewing an Israeli cabinet minister. The interviewer was, finally, asking some hard questions (usually it's pretty kid gloves). He got to number 6. Actually first half of 7 too.

    appassionato, to KindActions
    @appassionato@mastodon.social avatar

    World Central Kitchen founder's response

    “The air strikes on our convoy were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war. It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the [Israeli military]. It was also the direct result of his [PM Netanyahu’s] government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”

    Jose Andres

    @palestine


    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @MisuseCase @entrepierneur @appassionato @palestine Partly, of course, it just reflects what the media covers. But I think there is also a more legitimate reason for people in the "west" to make more noise about than . It is, that just maybe we can do something about Gaza. Maybe we can get our governments to end their support for . While I am sure our weapons industries are making money off both sides in Sudan, I don't see us having as much influence.

    DrALJONES, to Palestine
    @DrALJONES@mastodon.social avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @DrALJONES Those who talk about the Palestinians as having refused a two-state solution when Israel was established need to think about what was being proposed. If a bunch of people came from somewhere and proposed to set up a new state where you live, including the land where your house is, what would you say?

    I support a 2-state solution now. was wrong when it was set up, but many Israelis have been born since then, who were not responsible for the original injustice.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @DrALJONES That is another option, and certainly Israel's actions have been making a 2 state solution more difficult. But I still think it could happen. U.S. power is declining. Its willingness to support Israel may be declining too. The war in Gaza is changing the calculus in the Arab countries about making peace with Israel.

    Could we see another attack by the Arab states in the future? Might the outcome be different? Not good, but maybe 2 states?

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @DrALJONES It does seem to me that a 2 state solution would be better. In a single state, Jews would be out-numbered. You can think about power-sharing between different ethinicities like in Lebanon - doesn't work well. Of course, South Africa is not a complete disaster.

    2 states would give both peoples more control of their affairs. But, as you suggest, Israel has ben working very hard to make it impossible.

    mpjgregoire, (edited ) to random
    @mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

    Why I think the carbon tax is the right policy for Canada
    https://nationalpost.com/opinion/steven-guilbeault-why-i-think-the-carbon-tax-is-the-right-policy-for-canada

    1/3



    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @mpjgregoire @evan Theoretically, Canada cutting production would raise the price and cut demand that way. But I would agree that it's more important and doable to reduce our own demand.

    dangillmor, to random
    @dangillmor@mastodon.social avatar

    Today's post from @pluralistic is one of his best, and a must--must-read (as opposed to the normal must-read) essay.

    https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/25/black-boxes/

    It's about trust and institutions, rationalizations and rationale, and living as best we can in a world where we have to find our way through dense thickets of corporate/government deceit to -- we hope -- make sound decisions.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @dangillmor @pluralistic Knowing what to believe is not easy, and is getting harder. You can't take for granted that a photo or video is real. Big media, which I still tend to believe more or less, seems to be dying.

    But it's never been easy. People of the past would put their faith in some shaman or religion. I figure most of what most people believe is probably wrong.

    Just have to muddle along, I guess. Believe the people you find most credible.

    nadiaalbelushi, to Israel
    @nadiaalbelushi@mastodon.social avatar

    You can't stop from taking over America if you simultaneously enable 's genocide of Palestinians in / .

    If your political party are truly against fascism, then they'd be fighting against Israeli fascism as well.

    As we say in Kuwait, "We are not children, & we weren't born yesterday".

    You cannot ask 1-2 billion Muslims to support your so-called "values" in while you trample on the same supposed values in the Middle East.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @nadiaalbelushi We need to push back against all efforts by one group to oppress another. Against the continuous effort by to displace the Palestinians in the West Bank by settlement expansion. Against the attacks by on innocent Israelis. Against the vastly disproportionate Israeli response.

    We also need to oppose the attempt by to take over , but also the attempt by Ukraine to subjugate Russian speakers. Both wars need a cease-fire.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @sysop408 I know this is the story we are being fed now. You have to go down the memory hole at the Ministry of Truth to find remnants of the more complicated story of a few years ago. e.g. https://www.vox.com/2014/9/3/18088560/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know

    I am fully in favour of helping Ukraine to fend off further incursions. I am not in favour of helping it re-establish its 1991 borders.

    DrALJONES, (edited ) to random
    @DrALJONES@mastodon.social avatar

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    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @DrALJONES At least there seems to be a bit of space now between and the . Netanyahu still obviously hopes to ethnically cleanse , but Biden does not want to go that far. So we go on playing crazy games with peoples' lives.

    Perhaps it is irrational to hope that this could reduce U.S. funding of Israel, but I do.

    Daojoan, to random
    @Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar

    What happened to the jobs that mattered

    Doing work with your hands

    Learning a craft

    Blacksmithing

    Woodjoining

    Memelording

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @Daojoan We need to get used to it. Automation is coming for all our jobs eventually (well not mine maybe. I plan to retire at age 70 in a few months.)

    But we need an economy that distributes the stuff that automation makes fairly. Not an economy that tries to force people to do useless jobs by starving them if they can't find a job.

    fkamiah17, to random
    @fkamiah17@toot.wales avatar

    What's going on 'ere then, Canada?

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-unrwa-funding-restore-1.7136924

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @fkamiah17 As far as I can understand, is back to funding . We can again be proud to be arming with one hand, and delivering a few tidbits of aid to with the other.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @fkamiah17 On the one hand, giving back access to its own coast and bypassing the blockade is something that should have been done long ago. On the other hand, I doubt if the people of Gaza will have any control of this. At most, the U.S. will ship in a bit of "aid", while blocking any meaningful trade.

    They demand that people work for their living. Then, they prevent them from working. Then, they give them a little bit anyway. So generous!

    LALegault, to random
    @LALegault@newsie.social avatar

    It is a fundamentally different experience growing up with universal healthcare. You learn that your well being is a collective responsibility and that shapes nearly every other aspect of your world view.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @LALegault The problem is that you get governments that want to prove it doesn't work and they starve the system until it doesn't. Then their rich bosses come along to "save" the system with private healthcare for the wealthy.

    Public healthcare works well if people are prepared to pay for it with taxes.

    richard, to ai
    @richard@noctalgia.space avatar

    Two predictions on the next coming years:

    Unpopular opinion: people are going to be surprised by how many jobs *don’t get taken over by

    Popularish opinion: people are going to be surprised by how fast becomes a major factor in everyday life

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @richard I certainly agree that is coming for our jobs. I'm not sure about the time frame. This has been predicted for a long time and has not happened yet. But it seems impossible to me that it will forever be beyond our capabilities to build machines that can do anything a human can do. Nature solved that problem through trial-and-error. Someday, humans will solve it too.

    The important thing is not to let this create even more inequality.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @buermann @richard We have had computers that have at least some sort of ability to make complex decisions for perhaps 70 or 80 years. That's a bit longer than my lifetime, but it's still an incredibly short time even compared to recorded history.

    Are you really sure the problem of building something that can replicate human decision making will remain unsolved for 100 years? 200 years? 1000 years?

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @buermann @richard I actually think all the problems you mention could be solved by a basic income, paid for by sales taxes. Where we are headed is towards an economy in which we try harder and harder to punish people into taking jobs that become scarcer and scarcer, as well as less necessary. We simply don't need so many people working so hard any more. and many of them are working at things that are unnecessary, but still damaging the environment.

    erin, to Toronto
    @erin@mstdn.ca avatar

    Can all the suits who were quick to speak out against the alledged attack on Mount Sinai Hospital in by a pro- protest please tell me how they feel about raiding yet ANOTHER hospital?!

    Speak up please, I’ll wait.

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-hamas-war-132-1.7115941

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @erin I'm not OK with anybody being targeted just for their ethnicity, and that definitely includes protesting in front of and climbing a hospital associated with Jews. But I also agree that what is doing to hospitals is absurdly out of proportion to this.

    maleve, to random
    @maleve@zeroes.ca avatar

    Here is my current frustration with all things covid. We seem to think, there are only two options for covid. Pretend it’s over, or “lockdown”.

    In fact there are a number of options that would have a huge impact on improving everyone’s health from a wide range of respiratory diseases, and best of all we can implement many of these solutions without “infringing on anyones rights”.

    I am glad to see the OSPE (of which I am a member) advocating again for clean indoor air. If you live in Ontario please check this out.

    https://ospe.on.ca/advocacy/ontario-society-of-professional-engineers-ospe-calls-for-support-of-clean-indoor-air-act/

    There is a lot of supporting science that cleaning the air we breathe will keep us healthier. I’d like to direct you to the work of Don Milton. There are many others in the field but Dr Milton has done some very important work. He is an MD and has a doctorate in Environmental Heath and teaches at Harvard. He has the cross disciplinary knowledge suited for mitigating an airborne pandemic.

    Back in 2000 he was studying airborne transmission of diseases and wrote this paper here:
    https://buildequinox.com/files/iaq/milton_vent_sick_rates.pdf

    In 2002, he and S Rudnick wrote a paper “Risk of indoor airborne infection transmission estimated from carbon dioxide concentration”, where they studied person to person transmission of infectious agents through recirculated air of modern office buildings.

    What OSPE is advocating for is completely backed by years of science and is codified in the ASHRAE 241 standard.

    With that foundation in science, I can say my experiences have lined up with the above data as well, which is always nice to see the correlation. This winter was the first one where we’ve had family in a retirement home. Prior to family moving in we investigated a number of retirement homes, all of which had implemented airborne precautions, and all of which claimed they had very few cases of covid.

    Our experience the last couple months seems to confirm their claims. I know just from our ARANET CO2 measurements, the home is always under 550ppm of CO2 which indicates excellent ventilation. Any respiratory symptoms, they test for covid on the first day of symptoms and they test again a few days later. Other than a case here and there, there has not been any large outbreak of covid in the home, and its a fair sized facility with one tower being independent living and various levels of care in the second tower.

    We could make dramatic improvements in children’s health by doing the same thing for schools, which in turn is going reduce community transmission as well. Same should be done work workplaces and indoor spaces we socialize in.

    We apparently have billions for the new highway 413, what we would need for clean air would be a fraction of that.

    Paul_Friesen,
    @Paul_Friesen@mastodon.social avatar

    @graydon @maleve Strict lockdowns could possibly have eliminated at the very beginning. But actually, China seemed to try pretty hard at that, and they were not successful. I suspect COVID was just too transmissible for that to work. And once it was "out of the bag", all lockdowns could ever do was slow its spread. Unless we can develop a vaccine much more effective than current ones, we are not going to eliminate it.

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