@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

mpjgregoire

@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca

ingénieur, tory canadien, citoyen du Grand Montréal

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mpjgregoire, to random
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

"It will forever remain a mystery who the anonymous reviewer is. 🧐🕵️"

https://twitter.com/florianederer/status/1789699021524648172

parismarx, to apple
@parismarx@mastodon.online avatar

I feel conflicted about this because I know journalism is in a rough spot, but I also hate the online ads so much. Usually I’d say this would be a nudge to force them to change course, but given the media’s in such dire straits, I’m not so sure this time.

https://www.ft.com/content/c6dcbe7b-eaf0-41d1-adb4-f9a68542e2cb

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@wjmaggos
That would be a good solution. I've also thought about the government assigning all taxpayers a certain number of credits that they could each assign to their media source of choice.

I could tell you about the current government programmes in Canada to support the media if you're curious — they're not working very well, in my opinion.

@parismarx

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

How long has it been since your last subway ride?

https://evanp.me/pollfaq#never

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@evan I use the local LRT several times a week, the subway rarely.

SethRudy, to random
@SethRudy@c18.masto.host avatar

How long would I, a midwestern American, have to live in Europe before I felt even remotely comfortable wearing a dress shirt with no t-shirt underneath?

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@SethRudy What? I thought Americans stopped wearing undershirts with dress shirts around 1934: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-shirt-off-his-back/

emd, to random
@emd@cosocial.ca avatar

Stock buybacks should be illegal.

You wanna increase your stock price? Actually increase your value. https://masto.ai/@rbreich/112423899192330749

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@emd Should dividends be illegal too?

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@emd Stock buybacks and dividends are essentially equivalent ways of transferring money to shareholders. The major difference is in how the tax system treats capital gains vs. dividend income.

rbreich, to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Stock buybacks don't just line the pockets of CEOs and shareholders — they're dangerous.

Boeing failed to implement a $7B redesign of its 737 Max while spending that much per year on buybacks.

A dollar spent on buybacks is a dollar less spent to upgrade equipment and safety.

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@rbreich Should dividends be illegal too?

GeekSusie, to random
@GeekSusie@expressional.social avatar

Thomas Sully, Queen Victoria, 1838

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@GeekSusie Nearly indecent!

gedeonm, to random
@gedeonm@mastodon.social avatar

Imagine if Republicans actually got on board with this awesome idea instead of painting it as the destruction of America like they undoubtedly will. Conservatives have lost their way and their minds, truly. https://www.threads.net/@potus/post/C607StBrwUy

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@gedeonm If the government gives people money to buy housing, won't sellers raise their prices correspondingly?

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@gedeonm Economists generally believe that the mortgage interest tax deduction in the US has increased housing prices. See https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20141751

(This article is aimed at the general public and lists other problems with the policy: https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2018/may/why-economists-dont-like-mortgage-interest-deduction )

In Canada, we don't have a deduction for mortgage interest, and we have a higher homeownership rate than the US: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate

mpjgregoire, to random
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

I lost my baby

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ByV2m8kdDA8&feature=shared

unpopulistmag, to random

The claim that illegal voting is swaying American elections is nothing if not sensational. Those who levy sensational charges should bear the burden of proving them. But they haven’t. It’s just assertion after assertion, with no refutation of the considerable evidence to the contrary.

@olson.walter

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-rights-bogus-claims-about-noncitizen

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@unpopulistmag @olson.walter
It's a motte-and-bailey argument. There's the false claim that large numbers of non-citizens vote in US elections. But there is a plausible claim that Ds want more immigrants because they think the immigrants will give them more votes (e.g., https://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Democratic-Majority-John-Judis/dp/0743254783 ); even if illegal immigrants don't vote D, won't their US-born children do so?

Sometimes R politicians make the first claim, sometimes the second, sometimes they blur the line.

mick, to random
@mick@cosocial.ca avatar

How soon is too soon to speak ill of the dead?

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@mick Give it a week maybe?

mpjgregoire, to random
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

Rex Murphy, sharp-witted intellectual and columnist, dies of cancer
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/rex-murphy-dies-obituary

RIP,

dmacphee, to climate
@dmacphee@mas.to avatar

Andrew Coyne Helped Run Charity That Gave $6.4M to Climate Crisis Denial Groups

Yikes.
#ClimateChange #Canada #cdnpoli

https://www.desmog.com/2024/05/07/andrew-coyne-helped-run-charity-that-gave-6-4m-to-climate-crisis-denial-groups/

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@dmacphee The headline is misleading. It doesn't surprise me that the Fraser Institute, the Montreal Economic Institute or the Macdonald Laurier Institute say foolish things about , but environmental issues are a very small part of what they do. It's like describing U of T as a place to play soccer.

As for @acoyne personally, he believes climate change is real and that humans are responsible. He's told the public we should have a for 20 years or more.

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@LALegault
What makes you think I don't follow Mr. Coyne's Twitter feed?

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@LALegault I do follow his Twitter feed, and I mostly share Mr. Coyne's views on policy.

Yes, it's true, I'm the only non-Leftist on the Fediverse interested in Canadian politics.

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@LALegault This I have not seen, and honestly find hard to believe. But I suppose it's possible.

If you take the time to provide some examples, then I will give them due consideration.

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@LALegault Understood. There's no obligation to do research for strangers on the Internet.

mpjgregoire, to lotr
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

At last maybe we'll learn what happens to Gollum after The Return of the King.

renee.diresta, to random

This is an interesting interview with Dorsey in which he spills the 🫖 on his departure from Bluesky, which, for those who were on it early, was clearly a response to some moderation kerfuffles and ref-working early on.

Decentralized protocols are largely not subject to ref-working, for better or worse (forthcoming article on this!). That is true. But there are some coherence issues...

https://www.piratewires.com/p/interview-with-jack-dorsey-mike-solana

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@renee.diresta It surprises me that Mr. Dorsey doesn't mention the Fediverse at all, given that it responds to his concerns about centralised social media and has a hundred times as many users as Nostr.

drahardja, to random
@drahardja@sfba.social avatar

A moderator of a FB group I frequent has fallen headlong into the “politeness” trap, insisting that participants observe “civility” and “manners” when they post.

Many of you probably already recognize that is a trap. It is a tool used by aristocrats and the powerful to silence dissent, by protesting how the oppressed choose to cry, instead of dealing with why they cry. Southern slaveowners were probably the most polite bunch of folks you’ll ever know.

Focus on what’s important: kindess, empathy, respect, tolerance. And tell politeness to go fuck itself.

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@drahardja Why are we talking? Do we want to change minds by discussing things with others, or do we want to shout at them? Granted, both are necessary at times...

But if we want people who disagree with us to listen to what we have to say rather than ignoring us or shouting right back, then we ought to show them the respect of being polite. That does not prevent us from speaking truths that they may find painful.

8124, to random Assamese
@8124@babka.social avatar
mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@8124 That's nicely done, a useful rebuttal to some common misconceptions. Did you create the image yourself?

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

How important is equality?

#EvanPoll #poll

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@evan I'm surprised that 94% of people choose important or very important, and yet my claim that the important issue is deprivation rather than inequality didn't receive any real opposition.

justinling, to random
@justinling@mastodon.online avatar

The story of how Canada went from tripping over itself to meet the country's emissions targets to openly hostile to good climate policy is a saga worth learning some lessons from. https://www.splinter.com/canadas-cautionary-climate-tale

mpjgregoire,
@mpjgregoire@cosocial.ca avatar

@justinling Is the #Québec cap and trade system effective?

#ClimateChange

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