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Reposted by Blayne Haggart

Dan Nexon @dhnexon.bsky.social · 5h

Let me explain.

The collapse of the communist order between 1987 and 1991 was in no small measure driven by nationalist uprisings in the Warsaw Pack and the USSR 👇. The breakup of Yugoslavia began in 1991. These developments spiked scholarly interest in nationalism and national identity.

Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State

Cambridge Core - Comparative Politics - Nationalist Mobilization and the Collapse of the Soviet State

www.cambridge.org

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Matt Zeitlin @zeitlin.bsky.social · 6h

if you're reading this it's too late musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...

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J.D. Connor @jdconnor.bsky.social · 6h

When I saw Godot with Aasif Mandvi and Rainn Wilson last year the couple next to me also squirmed through the first act and then left at intermission. Sam’s still got it

Lux "Nightmare" Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 1d

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

One Star Review of Waiting for Godot on Broadway
I recently attended Waiting for Godot on Broadway and spent over $1,400 for two Row C seats (103 and 104). I'm a longtime admirer of Broadway productions and even hold a season pass for Shea's Performing Arts Theatre, so I came in with genuine enthusiasm and high expectations. Unfortunately, this show was unlike anything ! have ever experienced —and not in a good way.
What I encountered was not the artistry, music, or emotional storytelling I usually associate with Broadway, but instead what felt like an endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness. I tried-truly tried-to find meaning, symbolism, or even a thread of emotional resonance. I stayed through the first half hoping the second would offer clarity. But by intermission, it was clear: this was a waste of both time and money.
Keanu Reeves is an actor I respect greatly, but I cannot fathom why he would agree to participate in such a disjointed, inaccessible production. His talent was lost in a performance that defied reason rather than provoked insight.
To anyone considering attending: unless you are drawn to highly abstract, nearly incomprehensible theater, I strongly caution you against this show. For the average, educated, thoughtful theatergoer, it is far more frustrating than fulfilling. In my opinion, this was the single most disappointing Broadway experience I've ever had - an unfortunate waste of money and, more importantly, of time.

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blair @blairaf.com · 7h

Looks like Canada's approach to "sovereign AI" will involve creating structural dependencies on large US tech companies

Excerpt from an article that reads: Lehane met with AI Minister Evan Solomon on Monday. Solomon told The Logic in June that his mission is to “create sovereign AI.” But “sovereignty is not solitude,” Solomon said, noting that Canada still needs technology and capital from other countries.

OpenAI is participating in similar initiatives in other advanced economies. In May, the firm launched OpenAI for Countries, a new program that localizes ChatGPT and its underlying models for a nation’s particular customs and the requirements of its public sector. It is also offering to build data centres for countries that help pay for the infrastructure.

Countries are turning to OpenAI because of its “cutting-edge technology,” which can be used to build homegrown tools and applications, and because the firm can help stimulate their domestic AI ecosystems by building or buying compute capacity, Lehane said.

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Ntina Tzouvala @ntinatzouvala.bsky.social · 21h

RIP Samuel Beckett, you would have loved this review

Lux "Nightmare" Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 1d

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

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Reposted by Blayne Haggart

Lux "Nightmare" Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 1d

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

2. Compares the governance capabilities of China, the United States, the European Union, and India on climate and technology issues. (Spoiler: China comes out on top.)

3. Introduces the concepts of survival governance and the bio-digital energy paradigm.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...

global.oup.com

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

Your regular reminder to read Peter Drahos, Survival Governance: Energy and Climate in the Chinese Century (Oxford University Press, 2021).
The pitch (1/3):
1. Draws on more than 250 interviews carried out in seventeen countries, including the world's four largest carbon emitters.

Abstract
The climate and energy crisis requires a strong state to change the direction, speed, scale, and financing of innovation in world capitalism in order to create a bio-digital energy paradigm. Four states are possible contenders for catalyzing this survival governance: China, the European Union, India, and the United States. China is an improbable leader, but less improbable than the other three. No US president can close down the fossil fuel industry in time. The US state, worried about the slippage of its technological superiority, is turning to regulatory mechanisms like intellectual property to slow China’s technological development. China will have to manage the risk of a United States bent on military primacy. China is urbanizing innovation on a historically unprecedented scale. Lying at the heart of the bio-digital energy paradigm is a global city-based network of innovation. China, more than the other three states, is scaling technology innovation through the building of experimental cities such as eco-cities, hydrogen cities, forest cities, and sponge cities. The Belt and Road Initiative will take this innovation well outside of China’s borders. China could help to place cities into a new relationship with their surrounding ecosystems. Drawing on more than 250 interviews, carried out in 17 countries, including the world’s four largest carbon emitters, the book shows how cities and their networks represent the best chance for growing climate survival governance for the 21st century.

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

But he likes Mark Carney. So Canada is safe, right?

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 1d

The President of the United States is calling for the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois to be jailed.

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Jeff Doctor @jeff.doctor · Sep 7

I finally did it and organized my thoughts on Bill C-2, C-5, 5 etc. into a concise(ish) narrative. There's many threads to navigate through below if you wanna spend your day / week going down all the rabbit holes I did.

I made a more accessible version in this article: jeff.doctor/blog/my-summ...

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

It's not the meeting that's the problem; it's whatever Canada ends up giving away in exchange for short-term relief, while ignoring the longer-term issue: the collapse of US democracy and the rule of law. Any future Republican president will be just as problematic, because they need what Canada has.

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

“Dominic LeBlanc seemed to suggest Tuesday … that Ottawa is prepared to trade away tariff relief for “a partnership in terms of energy” with the United States.”
Call it what it is: Deeper integration. Closer ties. Less independence. With an unreliable partner that no longer respects the rule of law.

Althia Raj: Mark Carney, Donald Trump put on a show of affection in Oval Office trade talks, but no real progress announced

The Liberals won the last election on one premise — Canada strong, a country less dependent on the United States, in terms of its security and its economy. But early signs from Tuesday’s White House v...

www.thestar.com

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

As I’ve said before, being an expert in one area, like finance, doesn’t make you an expert in anything else. Most politicians, let alone prime ministers, know this. In turning the Liberal Party into the Mark Carney Show, it’s not clear that Carney does.

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

On Can-US relations, Carney has similarly pursued a one-eyed approach, not sharing with *anyone* what he’s negotiating with Trump while ignoring important non-economic responsibilities like the now-absurd Safe Third Country Agreement & the existential peril of perpetuating military interdependence.

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

Carney’s approach to AI policy tells me that he has an overinflated sense of his own skills and a limited understanding of the 21st century knowledge-driven economy. We see this in his 19th century approach to infrastructure/resource development and his 90s-era embrace of austerity government.

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

On top of that, appointing a personal friend with a history of corruption as his AI cheerleader-in-chief suggests a bros-before-qualified-experts approach to policymaking, a view that isn’t helped by his other appointments, such as this one.

Meet Doug Guzman, the high-flying banker in charge of rearming Canada - The Logic

Mark Carney’s pick to lead Canada’s new defence procurement agency is a long-time investment banker with zero track record in government. Some say that’s a good thing.

thelogic.co

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

I’ll be blunt: Mark Carney has demonstrated a shocking lack of understanding of AI policy & the varied issues it raises. We have years of real-world examples (Robodebt in Aus eg) & scholarship that he‘s completely ignoring in his treatment of AI/data like a natural resource to be exploited.

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

To non-experts, speed and decisiveness can seem like expertise and wisdom. They’re not.
What I know about AI regulation tells me that his decisiveness & speed are masking an ignorance/neglect of basic policy issues that should concern all Canadians.

a cartoon of a man playing a game of checkmate

Alt: Bart Simpson playing three simultaneous chess games, and losing each one.

media.tenor.com

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

Carney’s reckless approach to AI policy should raise serious questions about his infrastructure & US policies as well. In all three, he seems to be relying on his own (non-expert) judgment, ignoring complexity & others’ expertise in favour of speed. But decisiveness isn’t the same as good judgment.

Carney’s haste may make bad AI policy - The Logic

The Liberals’ AI task force has just 30 days to do their job. Some members say it isn’t enough time.

thelogic.co

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 1d

That's not a behind?

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Jörg Broschek 🇨🇦 @jbroschek.bsky.social · 2d

“But there are more areas where we are stronger together, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

The problem: "Stronger together" rests on the premise Trump views Canada as a partner, and not as a vulnerable, dependent + resource-rich neighbor it can dominate.

www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

Four key moments from Carney’s meeting with Trump in Washington

Mutual love, natural conflict and 51st state jokes as leaders meet in Oval Office

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 2d

Let's be clear tho: Carney abandoned climate change policy as a cynical means to get elected, not because there are other crises.

Carl Meyer @meyer.bsky.social · 2d

A decade ago, Mark Carney gave a speech pointing out how biz and political leaders had no day-to-day incentive to address climate change, yet it was up to governments. Today, Carney is leading one, but finds himself consumed with responding to the many crises of the day thenarwhal.ca/mark-carney-...

How Mark Carney is complicating Canada’s climate progress | The Narwhal

From cancelling the carbon tax to pausing the EV mandate, Mark Carney’s government is making sweeping changes to Canada’s environmental rules

thenarwhal.ca

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David Reevely @davidreevely.bsky.social · 2d

Doug Guzman, a very wealthy RBC exec, is Mark Carney's pick to re-arm Canada. He has no particular military, tech or industrial background, but his fans say he brings expertise you won't easily find in the government.

thelogic.co/news/rbc-exe...

Meet Doug Guzman, the high-flying banker in charge of rearming Canada - The Logic

Mark Carney’s pick to lead Canada’s new defence procurement agency is a long-time investment banker with zero track record in government. Some say that’s a good thing.

thelogic.co

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 2d

Solid article that says the quiet parts out loud.

I'd only add that regardless of what happens to the US next, the collapse of US global soft power means that Canada's importance to the US will only rise, increasing the pressure on any subsequent US administration to keep Canada in line.

Bloomberg Opinion @opinion.bloomberg.com · 2d

Under assault from an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian United States, Canada's future is less secure than perhaps at any time in postwar history

Can Canada Survive Donald Trump?

Under assault from an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian United States, the country’s future looks less secure than at any time in postwar history.

bloom.bg

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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 2d

Thoughtful post by @jrobson.bsky.social on the Carney government’s distinction between “operating” and “capital” spending.

It’s disconcerting that Carney’s economic policies are so backward-looking, particularly their lack of emphasis on human capital, i.e., people, and education/training.

Budgeting for an economy without people

Ever since Mark Carney promised, in the federal campaign, to “balance the operating budget” so government could invest more in “capital”, there has been some mystery about exactly how the PM might be ...

robsonj.substack.com

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