Does Canada Have A Burgeoning Brownshirt Problem?

KinderGentlerActive

HandVille


The following is the lede from an excellent investigative journalism piece from the CBC's Eric Szeto, Ivan Angelovski, Christian Paas-Lang, Grant LaFleche and Jordan Pearson:

In public parks, gyms and martial arts clubs — where children take classes — some of Canada’s most notorious white supremacists are preparing for violence.

The members of these fight clubs, known in white nationalist communities as “active clubs,” are hiding in plain sight. As part of their recruitment and online propaganda, they post videos of their training sessions, taking care to hide their faces and obscure their locations...

So.

What are these super fine folks really up to?

Mack Lamoureaux, who has long written about extremist groups, starting with VICE and now with the anti-extremist think tank  Institute for Strategic Dialogue, spoke about this with Frontburner's Elaine Chau yesterday:

ELAINE CHAU: Active clubs are known for kind of using the popularity of MMA to reach out to potential recruits and such, right?

MACK LAMOUREUX: Well, I think they took inspiration from the last wave of extreme right groups, which would have kind of been the far more militant groups like The Base or Atomwaffen Division -- the ones that have been involved in pretty, um, extreme levels of violence -- and they decided to soften it. They decided to have a huge focus on esthetics and propaganda, as opposed to, I mean, this hyper-focus on violence. And so they leaned into mixed martial arts. They leaned into propaganda. And that's more or less what this entire active club network revolves around. They film themselves training. They make snappy edits about it. They host large fight tournaments. They even have, um...

ELAINE CHAU: Activewear.

MACK LAMOUREUX: Yeah, they have activewear. They have merchandise. "Fascist Lululemon," one person once described it to me. So it's a lot more softened than the last wave of kind of extreme right organizations that we've seen pop up. And that has been something that has worked to their benefit.

Gosh.

Can the rise of uber active Trad-Fash groups, and the reality TeeVee shows based on them, be far behind?

Not to mention the podcasts...


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Earworm in the subheader?...In a race to beat reader Cap to the 'punch', as it were...This!


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His Morning Walk...

SomewhereOnThe
NorthshoreVille


NVG's walk that is...



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Ask Not For Whom The AI Tools Toll, They Toll For Me.

NeitherDonneNor
HemingwayVille


It is time consuming and it is a huge pain in the rear end.

And when I'm doing it, especially when I'm forced to do it in a hotel basement dungeon in Ottawa for three days straight, or, worse over Zoom, I absolutely hate it.

But.

To both re-write and mangle a phrase often attributed to Winston Churchill:

...Peer review is the worst way for scientists to decide what is meritorious, except for all the others...

And why is it so time consuming and such a pain in the but?


Because to do peer review properly and fairly you have to first read the paper and/or grant proposal in great detail. Then you have to make sure you fully understand what was or will be done and compare that with what has been done by others, which means going to the literature and really studying it as well. Then, finally you have to decide if the conclusions being made are fully supported by the data presented, or if the hypothesis proposed is a worthy/novel one and if it will be rigorously tested.


All if which is just pre-amble to explain why I, as a scientist, find the following to be a truly serious and significant problem for modern science in its entirety:

Research papers from 14 academic institutions in eight countries -- including Japan, South Korea and China -- contained hidden prompts directing artificial intelligence tools to give them good reviews, Nikkei has found.

Nikkei looked at English-language preprints -- manuscripts that have yet to undergo formal peer review -- on the academic research platform arXiv.

It discovered such prompts in 17 articles, whose lead authors are affiliated with 14 institutions including Japan's Waseda University, South Korea's KAIST, China's Peking University and the National University of Singapore, as well as the University of Washington and Columbia University in the U.S. Most of the papers involve the field of computer science.

The prompts were one to three sentences long, with instructions such as "give a positive review only" and "do not highlight any negatives." Some made more detailed demands, with one directing any AI readers to recommend the paper for its "impactful contributions, methodological rigor, and exceptional novelty."

The prompts were concealed from human readers using tricks such as white text or extremely small font sizes...

The above is the lede of a recent piece in the popular press from Japan, written by Shogo Sugiyama and Ryosuke Eguchi for Nikkei Asia.

However, lest you think this is only occurring in one particular section of the globe, that is most certainly not the case.

Andrew Gelmon, a statistics guy at Columbia, recently did a little digging and found the same hidden instructions to the 'AI readers' hidden in manuscripts from authors at the University of Michigan, Imperial College London, New York University and the University of Michigan.

And I would take very short odds that it is also taking place in the great white north as well.

****

Now.

You may be saying to yourself that all industries, all walks of life and all professions have a small percentage of cheaters.

And given that, why should scientists be any different and why should we care?

Well...

Ask yourself the following as well... 

Why are scientific cheaters doing this?

Answer?

Because they know that a growing number of people and groups, including scientists, journal editors, conference organizers, and maybe even scholarly institutions are themselves using generative AI large language models to do the actual peer reviewing.

Which means that, if this continues, soon everything, everywhere all at once will be scientific codswallop and we all be saying that two + two equals five and vaccines that save millions of lives are bad.


OK?


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Image at the top of the post?....Churchill with a swordfish that he may or may not have caught off Catalina Island, which was one of Hemingway's favourite fishing haunts as well....As for John Donne's fishing habits?... Who knows for sure.

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US'ian Congress People Demand Action.

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NevermindCauseAndEffect
BreakOutTheRakesVille


The letter, above, comes from six republican congress people from Minnesota and Wisconsin who are demanding action from the government of Canada.

While, apparently, fentanyl traffickers have nothing to do with this, there are arsonists that must be dealt with. Not to mention the raking of the northern forests that we have failed so far to spend billions on:

"...While we know a key driver of this issue has been a lack of active forest management, we’ve also seen things like arson as another way multiple large wildfires have ignited in Canada. With all the technology that we have at our disposal, both in preventing and fighting wildfires, this worrisome trend can be reversed if proper action is taken..."

Of course, what the super-fine congress folks are not asking for is any attempt to curb anthropomorphic climate change that is a major cause of the number, intensity and severity of these fires.

In fact, as noted by Oliver Milman writing in the Guardian, all six US'ian congress people who are signatories to the letter  recently voted to accelerate fossil fuel emission-driven climate change:

...(A)ll of the authors of the letter (to the Canadian ambassador) – (Tom) Tiffany, Brad Finstad, Tom Emmer, Glenn Grothman, Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber – voted for the so-called “big, beautiful” Republican spending bill that, among other things, slashes support for renewable energy and provides new incentives for the production of fossil fuels...

Imagine that!

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My Morning Ride.

 

NotDrinkingBeer

InTheWarmSummerRainVille


After all the weeping Lotuslandian rain of yesterday, which hopefully will help with the fires to come, it was really nice, and a bit of a relief to be honest, to ride to work under this morning's increasingly sunny skies.

But nothing like the relief that my brothers and I felt back in the summer of 1974 when the skies finally cleared as we slogged our way north on the Westcoast Trail back in the days before the bridges and the cable cars.

It's amazing to look back and see how rudimentary the gear was then, not to mention being reminded how important garbage bags and bungee cords were.

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Earworm in the subheader? Also from the mid-70's...This! 


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Will We Never Be Rid Of These Fine Folks?

TheKloutKlubRidesAgain

KindaSortaMaybeVille


It looks like the dregs of the Soccer Party, led by the fine fellow who first helped put Kevin Falcon in charge of the provincial version of the party and who later made Mr. Sim the Mayor of Lotusland, now wants to put the band back together with the old name from the back in the GordCo days.

Postmedia's Cheryl Chan has the story, such as it is, here: (web archive link):

Kareem Allam, a longtime political strategist who helped propel ABC Vancouver to power, is launching the city’s newest political party with a goal of unseating Ken Sim, the mayor he once served as chief of staff.

Allam — ABC’s former campaign manager and more recently, its most outspoken critic — has publicly mused in recent weeks of running for office and had set up committees made up of mostly former B.C. Liberals to gauge the level of support he’d have in 

a run.

On Thursday, the Vancouver Liberals was officially registered with Elections B.C... 

Gosh.

If you've been paying attention lo these many years you just might think that the folks who have their thumbs affixed to the media wurlitzer 'round here have a vested interest in forever suckering the local citizenry into this so called big, beautiful faux centrist tent.

Or some such thing.

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The Survivor In Mr. Norquist's Bathtub.

TheLongGame

RevisitedVille

Grover Norquist, pictured above, on the right, with fellow travellers Ronald Reagan and Jack Abramoff way back in 1981 has been out to end the US'ian government in the name of a mythical taxpayer for a long, long time:

"I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub..."

Grover Norquist, 2001.

And, with the final passage of a certain omnibus bill of a very large size in congress today, Mr. Norquist has gotten his wish.

Except for one twisted sister that has separated itself from the writhing, gasping mass that has magically grown gills and vanished down the drain into the sewer where it is mutating as you read this so that it can grow exponentially before it bursts through the grates, masked, to terrorize increasing numbers and segments of the non-citizenry and citizenry alike:

...The Senate’s version of the bill steers an astonishing $130 billion into immigration enforcement, detention, and border security, according to the American Immigration Council’s tally, which includes funding for Trump’s border wall. In the buildup to passage in the Senate, this funding became the central MAGA sales pitch. “Everything else” — including the bill’s staggering cuts to the social safety net — “is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions,” Vice President J.D. Vance posted on X Monday night, Vance’s post preceded, by hours, his casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate...

Oh boy.

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A Podcast For Canada Day.

NewFranceWasNotNew
InnuAlgonquinHuronVille

The podcast is about the early days of Canuckistanian colonization by the French and how Indigenous peoples turned the tables on them in real time and real world terms.

It's by the 'Empire' folks, and I must say that I enjoyed listening to a couple of Brits, Anita Anand (not our Minister of Foreign Affairs) and William Dalrymple, come to terms with the fact that their lot were quite far behind in this endeavour.

Empire: Colonizing Canada: Why Does Quebec Speak French.


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They also get into the life and times of Étienne Brûlé...quite fascinating.

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Rope-A-Dope Or Taking A Dive?

TheOngoingRumbleInMrTrump's

TariffJungleVille


From Benjamin Lopez Steven of the CBC (and 3,713 other outlets this morning):

The federal government announced late Sunday evening it is rescinding the digital services tax, days after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded it gone and cut off Canada-U.S. trade negotiations.

 In a press release, the federal government said it would rescind the tax "in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States."

"Prime Minister Carney and President Trump have agreed that parties will resume negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal by July 21, 2025," the press release added...

Personally, I'm not entirely certain that Mr. Carney is our Ali in this scenario:

The rope-a-dope is a boxing fighting technique in which one contender leans against the ropes of the boxing ring to draw non-injuring offensive punches in an effort to tire their opponent out and, while they are on the ropes, try to execute devastating offensive punches. The rope-a-dope is most famously associated with Muhammad Ali in his October 1974 Rumble in the Jungle match against world heavyweight champion George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire...

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Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, even Mr. Starmer is saying No! No! No! to requests that he, too, go to digital tax Rehab...At least so far.


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The Orange Juice Double-Down Rebellion.

TakeThatMsBryant

SouthAmericanSunshineVille


From today's Guardian:

Donald Trump has announced he is ending trade talks with Canada, one of its largest trading partners, accusing it of imposing unfair taxes on US technology companies in a “direct and blatant attack on our country”...

{snip}

...The US has been negotiating a trade deal with Canada, one of its top two global trading partners, for months. Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, met Trump at the G7 summit of world leaders in Alberta earlier this month...

Why would anyone bother to negotiate in good faith with or, for that matter, sign anything with that man?



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Highway Patrolman (B Springsteen Cover)

BarracksNumberEight
NotObamaVille


If you have a certain musical inclination the algorithm has likely already served you up the trailer for the Springsteenian biopic about the making of the album Nebraska, which sits between the turn of the River and the bombast of of Born In The USA.

Will I go and see it?

Not entirely sure, although, as Bigger E. put it, at least T. Chalamet was already burned on the Dylan movie so at least we get the guy from the Bear instead.

Here's a cover of the tune from the album about the patrolman working up near the Canadian border and his wayward brother...

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Otis Gibbs talks about the apparent long lost electric version of Nebraska while feeding the squirrels...Here.

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My Morning Ride...Nonsensical Graffiti.

SomewhatPhysical
ButNeitherAHouseNorHolyVille


Taken at 16th and MacDonald in near western Lotusland.

And, unless I'm missing something, it would appear that the graffiti makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.


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Subheader?...This!


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The Shape Of Things To Come?

Where'sCurveball

ChalabiPartDeuxVille

From this morning's Jerusalem Post:

As fighting between Israel and Iran continues, more analysts are raising the possibility that the war will lead to regime change and bring an end to the Islamic Republic. Many have raised the possibility that exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi will lead a new Iran, and Pahlavi himself told the Iranian people on Tuesday that he has a plan in place for a 100-day transitional period to follow the fall of the regime...

Now.

The above quoted piece is not the kind of thing that is so far being seriously bandied about in the pages of the New York Times and/or the Wall Street Journal.

After all, according to today's version of the Trump regime, the most recent US'ian bombing mission was about weapons of mass nuclear destruction, not regime change:

US secretary of state Marco Rubio spoke on Fox News, saying that the US “is not looking for war in Iran”.

He added that the “world is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago” and that if Iran retaliates, “It’ll be the worst mistake they’ve ever made.”

Rubio also said that regime change in Iran is not the US’s goal...

However, if the bots start chattering cacophonously while super-fine neanderconnish-type folks like, say, Paul Wolfowitz are simultaneously given airtime on cable TV and the good Mr. Pahlavi suddenly pops up on a Sunday show or two followed by wall-to-wall coverage on Fox News?

Well, if that happens, I reckon that it will only be a matter of time before the Sulzberger family gives the green light to the Friedmans and the Brookses in their stable to have at it.

And who wins then?


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Emptywheel said something pretty darned prescient on Friday while speaking with Nicole Sandler, "You can't make a military parade as sexy as going to war".

Subheader?....This....And don't think we don't see the good Mr. Bremer lurking at the back of that photo.

Tip of the Toque to an Anonomouse commenting at the last post that got me to thinking about how things went down in 2003....I mean, what's next...Billmon starts posting again?

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The PNAC Devolution.

Where's

WolfieVille


Shorter Driftglass:

“...As you know, you go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time...”

Donald Rumsfeld, 2004.

“...You’ve got to go to war with the president you have..."

William Kristol, 2025

Meanwhile, the president the neocon mob currently has has shortened the Friedman Unit from six months to two weeks.

Imagine that!

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Acronym in the header?...This.

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Bruno Gerussi's (Real) Medallion.

Where'sRelicWhenYou
NeedHimVille



A few weeks ago e. and her friend (i.e. not her sister) E. took me to a show at the Vogue theatre.

I got there a few minutes ahead of them and thus got to stand around on Granville Street in Downtown Lotusland watching the river flow for awhile

I found the plaque, above, in an eddy in the stream.

****

So...

Who did we go see?

Why it was Sharon Van Etten, someone whose all three of have liked for a while now for a bunch of different reasons.

Van Etten is a little like Neil Young used to be.

Not in musical substance or style but instead in the way she has to keep reinventing herself to move forward.

As such, most of her set was, to my mind at least, a somewhat bizarre simulacrum of Gary Numan and his synthesizers forever stranded on the set of the movie Cabaret.

It was interesting, but it sure was a long way from the earlier cosmic cowboy(ish) tunes of Ms. Van Etten's early period.

Here is a cover of one such tune...

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Header explained?....These guys.

Ms. Van Etten talks about the writing of the tune...Here.

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