Mastodawn

MichaelleMagnum 2d ago

br00t4c Mar 6

He Gave His 14-Year-Old Son an AR-15. Now He's Guilty of Murder. Good.

#TeenageCrime #GunSafety #Manslaughter #ParentalResponsibility #GunControl

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/03/georgia-school-shooter-ar-15-dad-murder.html

He Gave His 14-Year-Old Son an AR-15. Now He’s Guilty of Murder. Good.

On Tuesday, a jury in Georgia found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, cruelty to children, and reckless conduct.

Slate

MichaelleMagnum 2d ago

br00t4c Mar 6

'You couldn't pay me to sit on that,' A viral photo of the new BMO Field's temporary seating is sparking safety debate

#NOWToronto #TemporarySeating #StadiumDesign #SafetyDebate #Toronto

https://nowtoronto.com/news/a-viral-photo-of-the-new-bmo-fields-temporary-seating-is-sparking-safety-debate/

‘You couldn’t pay me to sit on that,’ A viral photo of the new BMO Field’s temporary seating is sparking safety debate - NOW Toronto

The World Cup is already creating chatter in Toronto, as many are slamming the city stadium’s temporary seats based on a viral photo.

NOW Toronto

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Ben Atkinson, PhD Feb 22

“I care about jobs lost due to AI and other crimes that can be committed with it (e.g., pornographic deepfakes), but just as technologies arising during Industrial Revolutions did not go away, neither will AI. ...

“Therefore, I prefer governments legislate and enforce policies which attempt to minimize the costs of AI while not discouraging — and even incentivizing — the benefits, all the while helping ease the transition between equilibria.” https://wallsandbridges.substack.com/p/ai-ai-oh

AI, AI, OH!!!

AI is not going away, so we need to find ways -- both public and private -- to maximize its net benefits

Walls and Bridges: Creating Connections in a Chaotic World

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Ben Atkinson, PhD Feb 23

By subscriber request, I write about anti-competitive conduct in labour markets, along with a spontaneous and unexpected tangent on retail gasoline pricing dynamics and potential collusion in these markets. https://wallsandbridges.substack.com/p/by-subscriber-request-anti-competitive

By Subscriber Request: Anti-Competitive Conduct in Labour Markets

Includes a spontaneous and unexpected tangent on retail gasoline pricing dynamics and potential collusion in these markets

Walls and Bridges: Creating Connections in a Chaotic World

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Ben Atkinson, PhD Feb 24

“The reason I am writing on the issue again is because these Budget provisions highlight why a minimum standard of healthcare is particularly important for people in remote areas of the country, where the market simply will not provide it for various reasons, and where even local governments cannot afford to provide it, no matter how much they want to do so.” https://wallsandbridges.substack.com/p/an-economic-case-for-improved-healthcare

An Economic Case for Improved Healthcare Provision in Remote Areas of Canada

Universal healthcare is an economic "good" for everyone in Canada, but perhaps especially for people in remote areas where private markets might not even exist

Walls and Bridges: Creating Connections in a Chaotic World

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Ben Atkinson, PhD Feb 25

“In the end, if our political leaders refuse to do their jobs and *lead* us, we all need to do our small parts to spread *true* information on the costs and benefits of separation, thus making information more symmetric for everyone. I am trying to do my part, and I will continue to do so regardless of what the voices in my head tell me to do.” https://wallsandbridges.substack.com/p/cut-the-bullshit-our-political-leaders

"Cut the Bullshit": Our Political Leaders Need to Stop Allowing the Separatists and Conspiracy Theorists to Dominate Voters' Information Sets

The average voter is on the losing end of an asymmetric information problem, so our leaders need to speak up and explain why the separatists are misleading them

Walls and Bridges: Creating Connections in a Chaotic World

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Emeritus Prof Christopher May Dec 26

Is our delegation of decision making to AI more serious than just an issue of problematic conclusions & outputs (the result of prejudice & AI hallucinations)?

Certainly, Joseph de Weck (Foreign Policy Research Institute) thinks so... he sees a return to the pre-enlightenment world of blind belief & a lack of reason...

A stark warning, we'd be well to heed (as the human race)!

#AI #knowledge #politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/26/ai-dark-ages-enlightenment

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Court Cantrell does not comply Dec 26

"A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor the brain activity of essay writers given access to AI, search engines like Google, or nothing at all. Those who could rely on AI showed the lowest cognitive activity and struggled to accurately quote their work. Perhaps most concerning was that over a couple of months, participants in the AI group became increasingly lazy, copying entire blocks of text in their essays.''

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/26/ai-dark-ages-enlightenment

Our king, our priest, our feudal lord – how AI is taking us back to the dark ages

Since the Enlightenment, we’ve been making our own decisions. But now AI may be about to change that, says Joseph de Weck, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute

The Guardian

MichaelleMagnum Feb 27

Ben Atkinson, PhD Feb 26

I do not write much on transportation in this newsletter because I have another one which I write with @MichaelleMagnum called "Ride On: The Drive for Better Transportation Systems". We have been neglecting it over the last year or so, but we intend to get back to it regularly again, starting tomorrow. So if you are interested in reading these types of articles, we invite you to subscribe to it.

What follows provides my personal motivations for creating this newsletter. https://wallsandbridges.substack.com/p/our-transportation-focused-substack