Sharanjit Paddam
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sharanjit.bsky.social
Sharanjit Paddam
@sharanjit.bsky.social
Climate Actuary’s personal opinions on things
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11... she is giving away her money to deserving charities as per advice from a citizens assembly
'Dirty, disgusting money': The heiress giving away her entire fortune
When Marlene Engelhorn inherited tens of millions of dollars from her grandma, she felt she had two choices: do something about it, or confirm she was "full of sh*t".
www.abc.net.au
November 30, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Here's this week's column. Please - please - can we stop talking about migration in a way that's completely detached from the facts? www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Net migration is plummeting. Why can’t Labour say so? | Heather Stewart
An honest debate is needed on this polarising topic as sectors such as social care struggle with recruitment
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
I’m dumbstruck by news of the death of Tom Stoppard—maybe because he hoarded all the words and knew how to use them better than just about anyone. I hope we savor his spectacular wit and erudition and argue about the politics of his plays forever. He was monumental, and also a kind and curious man.
November 29, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
What makes something data? Some thoughts on that question, and how answers to it help us understand AI hype:

medium.com/@emilymenonb...
What makes something data?
This is a question I posted on BlueSky on Friday 11/21/25, inspired by a talk I recently attended about evaluation of “AI” systems. I think…
medium.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
November 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Realtors know that, in many parts of the country, if you educate people about climate risk, the housing market will collapse.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Seriously, the article mentions 11 people killed on or by ebikes and emotorcycles over the course of a few years. Cars kill over 40,000 people in the US each year, including people on ebikes.
Wait until they hear about cars.
But seriously - yes, agree, regulate e-bikes. But also give them space and infrastructure: protected bike lanes and designated and required parking spaces.
The Shocking Crash That Led One County to Reckon With the Dangers of E-Bikes
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
star at 3 billion years old: i have so much light and warmth to share

star at 12 billion years old: when i finally get to die im taking all of you with me
November 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
scientists find large swathes of southern Europe are drying up, with ‘far-reaching’ implications

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Revealed: Europe’s water reserves drying up due to climate breakdown
Exclusive: UCL scientists find large swathes of southern Europe are drying up, with ‘far-reaching’ implications
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
"Conservative groups, funded by fossil fuel magnates, spend $1B/yr interfering with public understanding of what is happening to our world. Few investments rival the return they've gotten from evangelicals."

An oldie but goodie makes the link between fossil fuels, climate denial, and U.S. religion.
How Fossil Fuel Money Made Climate Change Denial the Word of God
Splinter is your home for news and opinions that challenge power in our political and economic system that's becoming more unhinged each and every day.
www.splinter.com
November 28, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.

🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
'Nine Australian Jewish organisations have penned an explosive open letter to the Albanese Government, saying it must reject Antisemitism Envoy Segal’s plan — and not give her “any enforcement or monitoring powers”.

theklaxon.com.au/segal-threat...
Segal “threatening Australia’s freedoms and democracy”, Jewish groups warn - The Klaxon
Nine Jewish organisations have labelled Envoy Jillian Segal's "Antisemitism Report" an attack on Australia's “democracy” and “freedoms”, and say it must be rejected.
theklaxon.com.au
November 30, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
It's budget time so at the end of our interview w/ Mayor Bachynski, we gave him a printed poster of the image below. It's the density vs services vs taxes venn diagram that @brenttoderian.bsky.social often shares around. It includes Regina-related explanatory notes. #yqrcc

youtu.be/FMwOpoT4IAw?...
November 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Who could have seen this coming except literally everyone

share.google/GFaMy3K2Jjlo...
South Korea's Experiment in AI Textbooks Ends in Disaster
The South Korean government's billion-dollar AI textbook initiative has been a complete failure from start to finish.
share.google
November 30, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
I mean of course. How else were they ever going to make money.
November 30, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
The looting of aid in Gaza by "humanitarian rights organisations-backed Hamas" was -of course- actually by Israel, because Israel lies, Western media just prints it, and now a year later the rectification is published after the Palestinians are dead already.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Convincing evidence Israel backed aid convoy looters in Gaza, historian says
Account of visit to Gaza by French professor describes Israeli military attacks on security personnel protecting convoys
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
an incredibly interesting piece about why rabies is surging in India. spoiler alert: because humans nearly completely eliminated one of the locally native species that helps keep it in check.
Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.
The near-extinction of vultures in India has had severe consequences.
wapo.st
November 30, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
My cartoon for this week’s New Scientist.
p.s. I have a new book of science cartoons: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2
November 30, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Africa’s forests have joined the Brazilian Amazon and Australian forests in becoming carbon sources rather than sinks. Around 2010 the previous storage of our carbon emissions flipped, mainly through deforestation and degradation.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#climatechange #deforestation #Africa
Loss of tropical moist broadleaf forest has turned Africa’s forests from a carbon sink into a source - Scientific Reports
Africa’s forests and woody savannas have historically acted as a carbon sink, removing atmospheric carbon and storing it as biomass. However, our novel analysis reveals a critical transition from a ca...
www.nature.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Pauline Hanson Condemns Use of Term ‘Black Friday’, Saying ‘All Fridays Matter’ — The Shovel

share.google/hGhWMMjdEkcO...
Pauline Hanson Condemns Use of Term ‘Black Friday’, Saying ‘All Fridays Matter’ — The Shovel
"My inbox has been inundated with ‘Black Friday this’, ‘Black Friday that’. Granted there have been some wonderful bargains. But as yet not a single mention of White Friday. So typical of this country...
share.google
November 28, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Bribie Island looked a bit lively 😳
November 24, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
This is very good. Clear, calm, factual, and devastating for proponents of bans on puberty blockers for trans youth.

theconversation.com/puberty-bloc...
Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent
The government’s ban on puberty blockers undermines clinical expertise and targets trans youth with a policy that lacks evidence, consistency and fairness.
theconversation.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
Clean Energy accounted for all electricity growth this year. Gas/Coal were basically a wash and will be for years to come for electricity generation.

We need to ramp up batteries because they are 90% cheaper than distribution grid upgrades which is the main reason we have rate increases.
November 14, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Sharanjit Paddam
I understand why folks claim intelligence could be purely algorithmic.

But I think that claiming that consciousness is algorithmic is a very different suggestion, a much weaker one, one that I find implausible.

Many arguments tend to conflate these phenomena but Intelligence isn't consciousness.
November 23, 2025 at 3:20 PM