Politics – Spinor Info

An AI thought experiment

Books, Cybernetics, Politics, Society No Responses »

Jun 212025

Here is an AI project that I could build right now, probably in a matter of hours, not days.

I am not going to do it, because it would be a waste of time, as it is simply a proof-of-concept, nothing more. A concept that I wish would remain unproven but it won’t, not for long.

The project is a Web app. Very simple. An app that has permission to use your camera, and it starts by taking a snapshot of you every second. The app shows an exercise video and you are instructed to follow suit. Better yet, it shows a real-time, AI-generated avatar doing exercise.

Combining twelve webcam images into a collage to show a time series, the app then sends the resulting image, through the RESTful API of OpenAI, to GPT4.1, utilizing its ability to analyze images with human-level comprehension. The image will be accompanied by a simple question: “Does this person appear to be engaged in vigorous exercise? If the answer is yes, respond with the word ‘yes’. If the answer is no, assume the role of a drill instructor in charge of unruly civilians (think recruits or prisoners), scold the person and order him to do better. The person’s name is 6079 Smith W, and he is a member of a squad that you monitor. Phrase your answer accordingly.”

The prompt may need to be tweaked a little, to make sure that the AI’s response remains consistent. And then, a bit of post-processing: If the AI response is not ‘yes’, perhaps after a bit of post-processing and elementary sanity checks, I send its crafted response to another API that offers a real-time speaking avatar. Heygen, maybe? I’d have to do a bit of research as to which API works best. Or maybe I’d just use a static image and a text-to-speech service like Amazon’s Polly.

Either way, the result will speak for itself, when your computer screams are you in a shrill female voice:

Smith! 6079 Smith W.! Yes, YOU! Bend lower, please! You can do better than that. You’re not trying. Lower, please! THAT’S better, comrade. Now stand at ease, the whole squad, and watch me.

Yes, this technology is here, today. A tad over four decades late, I guess, but welcome to the future, comrades.

Prophetic

Politics No Responses »

May 232025

Was I being prophetic?

Before he became known for his support for conspiracy theories, including birtherism, accusations concerning George Soros, or climate change skepticism, Lou Dobbs was a respected CNN financial news anchor, known for his daily show, Moneyline.

In late 2002, Dobbs asked viewers for their opinion concerning the name of the new, about-to-be-established Department of Homeland Security.

I wrote to the show in response, although I never received a reply. Here’s what I had to say:

From: "Viktor T. Toth" <vttoth@go-away.vttoth.com>
To: <moneyline@cnn.com>
Subject: Naming the Department of Homeland Security
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 03:50:05 -0400
Message-ID: <03e501ce6507$f7a846a0$e6f8d3e0$@vttoth.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 14.0
Thread-Index: AQFMd4u4HjxK217e2sZcPfYto6R+JQ==
X-OlkEid: 41640A693654140EFCFE274493B534253EDD2699

Dear Lou:

You asked... so here is what I think.

What a Homeland Security Department should be called depends on whether
you're referring to the role it should play, or the role it'll likely play
(I fear) in American society. To the former, I have no suggestions,
because I don't think there's room for a Homeland Security Department in
America in the first place. To the latter: well, you don't have to invent
anything new. Plenty of names can be borrowed from history. How about
Geheime Staatspolizei? Or do you prefer the more multicultural Ministry of
the Interior? Committee of State Security perhaps, better known by its
ominous three-letter Russian acronym? Or going further back in history,
would Comité de Sureté Public be more appropriate?

Whatever the new Department will be called, I fear that one day its name
will be listed on the pages of history books along with all these other
venerable institutions designed by their esteemed founders to protect the
helpless public from itself.

Are my fears unfounded? I don't even live in your country, yet I have
second thoughts about sending this e-mail to you. Having grown up behind
the Iron Curtain, my very genes tell me that it is a bad idea to stick my
neck out like this: lay low, enjoy the good life, and don't bring
attention to yourself, that's what my Communism-bred genes are screaming
right now. But this is the Land of the Free, right? So I should suffer no
harm for speaking my mind, and my fears regarding the new Department are
just the silly ideas of a crazed immigrant Canadian... right? Right???

Viktor Toth
Ottawa ON  CANADA

As I am reading about ICE detentions, weaponizations of the Justice Department or the FBI, voluntary self-censorship by news organizations, vindictive presidential actions against Harvard, intimidation of judges and a whole host of other shenanigans taking place in the United States today, I wonder if I actually underestimated the dangers back then, a little less than 23 years ago.

Imperial Presidency

History, Politics 1 Response »

May 132025

I am neither the first nor the last to compare the politics of present-day America to that of the late Roman Republic and the early days of Empire.

But the Imperial Presidency did not begin with Trump. Its roots go back decades. And most recently, before Trump there was Joe Biden.

Imperial, you ask? The progressive, Democratic President?

You bet. The New Yorker‘s article reveals why. Not in power grabs or grandeur, but in its insularity, the stage-managed image, and the systemic shielding of the President’s decline.

When Biden showed up in the summer of 2024 at a fundraising event hosted by George Clooney, “Clooney knew that the President had just arrived from the G-7 leaders’ summit in Apulia, Italy, that morning and might be tired, but, holy shit, he wasn’t expecting this. The President appeared severely diminished, as if he’d aged a decade since Clooney last saw him, in December, 2022. He was taking tiny steps, and an aide seemed to be guiding him by the arm. […] It seemed clear that the President had not recognized Clooney. […] ‘George Clooney,’ [an] aide clarified for the President. ‘Oh, yeah!’ Biden said. ‘Hi, George!’ Clooney was shaken to his core. The President hadn’t recognized him, a man he had known for years.”

Yet, Biden was shielded. His true condition was kept hidden even from members of his own party. Those around him — perhaps out of a sense of kindness, a sense of misguided loyalty — chose to gaslight their party, their country, the world. They even gaslighted Biden himself — encouraging him, by assuring him instead of making him face the stark truth in one of his clearer moments.

When Biden finally stepped down, it was too late. Instead of Kamala Harris, we are now dealing with a second Trump presidency.

And thus, here we are: First, a combination of Obama and Biden, resembling both the young, transformative Augustus and the same Emperor in his later years of frailty and decline, hidden by aides from the public; followed by a President resembling some of the worst Rome had to offer in the later Empire, like Caligula and Nero and Commodus combined.

To use a tired but still valid cliche: History doesn’t repeat; but it sure as hell rhymes.

Holy trumpeting macaroni…

Politics, Religion 2 Responses »

May 032025

When I saw this first as a screen capture, I honestly thought it was a fake. How can this possibly be real? The official White House account on Twitter, publishing a photoshopped image showing President Donald J. Trump dressed up as the Pope?

But no. Holy trumpeting macaroni, no. The world has gone completely bonkers and yes, the official Twitter account of the executive branch of the government of the United States of America is promoting a Photoshopped image, showing their President (who, as far as I know, is not even a Catholic so technically I’d have more legitimacy as Pope than him) dressed up as the Holy Father of the Roman Catholic Church.

Trump MMXXVIII

Politics, Religion 1 Response »

May 032025

I have to admit, when I first saw this, I thought it was fake news.

No, not that Trump thinks he can be the next Pope, but that Graham is endorsing him. I mean, Graham is many things but he’s not stupid.

So… is he mocking or trolling Trump? Or has he fully bought into the Trump cult himself?

Either way, it is a surreal sign of the surreal times in which we live, here, in the year 2025 of the Christian era.

Reelected prime minister

Canada, Politics 1 Response »

Apr 292025

Against all odds, Mark Carney secured another victory for Canada’s Liberal Party tonight. Though it appears that they were denied a majority government, they have a strong minority and Carney has a chance to govern.

He is certainly facing unprecedented challenges and he is not shy about them. Here are a few notable highlights, statements that, frankly, I never thought I’d hear a Canadian prime minister utter [emphasis mine]:

As I’ve been warned, America wants our land, our resources, our water, our country. But these are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us. That will never, that will never ever happen.

Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over. The system of open global trade anchored by the United States, a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that well not perfect has helped deliver prosperity for a country for decades, is over.

But it’s also our new reality.

We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. We have to look out for ourselves and above all we have to take care of each other.
[…]
When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations. And it will be with our full knowledge that we have many, many other options than the United States to build prosperity for all Canadians.
[…]
We will strengthen our relations with reliable partners in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

We will chart a new path forward because this is Canada and we decide what happens here.

Yes, this is our immediate future here in Canada. And yes, I think Carney is the right person at the right time. In fact, now that the election is over, I wonder: perhaps he’ll be able to pull a rabbit out of his magic banker’s hat and even work with the Conservative Party. Not sure if it is possible but he is better suited to find common ground than just about anyone. And unity is what Canada needs more than anything in these challenging times ahead.

Competent government

Politics No Responses »

Apr 222025

So let me get this straight. America presently has the competentest government ever, right? This includes…

A Secretary of Health and Human Services, who is a conspiracy theorist anti-vaxxer, who explained that a worm got inside his head and ate a part of his brain.
A Defense Secretary who is a former Fox News commentator, a known alcoholic, who thinks it is cool to share military secrets using his personal phone, over a commercial Internet application, with friends, family, and inadvertently, even journalists.
A Homeland Security secretary who gets her purse stolen, with $3000 in cash and her DHS access card, while dining in a Washington, DC restaurant, protected by a Secret Service entourage.

It is, of course, entirely consistent with the fact that their boss is not only a genius but a stable one at that, who can identify an elephant in a cognitive test, who knows that people hundreds of millions of years ago were trading in rocks, and who thinks import tariffs are paid by foreigners, not American shoppers.

Way to go, America! I am sure if despite all of the above, something happens to the United States economy, the supremacy of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency, or heaven forbid, the existing world order and fragile global peace, it’s either an unfortunate coincidence or the fault of “Sleepy Joe” Biden. Or maybe just fake news made up by corrupt mainstream media.

PS: The image here was created by Midjourney. Midjourney is rather shy when it comes to specifically naming the US government or the President. However, when I craft a prompt in neutral language (“An image depicting a government made up of incompetent officials led by a leader who claims to be a stable genius.“) … Well, I am sure that any resemblance to actual, living persons is purely accidental.

Never mind Trump…

Politics 2 Responses »

Apr 142025

Yes, I just said, never mind Trump. For he is only the tip of a ginormous iceberg.

Here are just a few of the other notable news items of the day…

El Salvador’s president declared that he will not release a wrongly deported American resident. OK, this is indirectly related to Trump but also speaks volumes about places like El Salvador and its willingness to operate gulags on Trump’s behalf.
Hungary (my country of birth!) passed a constitutional amendment banning LGBTQ+ public events. Lovely folks, these ever so tolerant, open-minded Hungarians.
The New Yorker is publishing a story about how mentally challenged inmates in America’s (you know, the famous “land of the free”) privately run prison network routinely starve to death or die of dehydration or neglect.
Putin continues to execute Ukrainian POWs, or bomb public events, most recently killing many civilians, among them a renowned Ukrainian organist.

There is more, some Trump-related, like Harvard’s decision to risk their federal funding and defy an unprecedented demand by the Administration to change their policies. But Trump is really just the tip of the iceberg. There is something seriously wrong with a world rapidly sliding into autocracy, an accelerating decline driven by disinformation, identity politics and grievance politics.

Frankly this world is beginning to disgust me so bad, I feel like vomiting, honest. I almost feel like World War 3 cannot come soon enough.

A nuclear Canada?

Canada, History, Politics 2 Responses »

Apr 122025

A few weeks ago, an opinion piece appeared in The Globe and Mail, advocating Canada to become a nuclear state. A follow-on article was also offered by Bloomberg, discussing the same thing.

Midjourney’s depiction of a hypothetical Canadian nuclear test.

Absurd or not, Canada is in a precarious position. It is a very large country (second only to Russia), sandwiched between Putin’s Russia and Trump’s America. It is underpopulated, but rich in much-coveted natural resources. In other words, a prime target in a future resource war.

On the other hand, Canada is also one of the original nuclear states, so to speak. Much of the research of the British “tube alloys” project took place here, research that began before the Manhattan Project. A project in which Canadian scientists played a role, and Canadian raw materials were used. Canada also has a vibrant nuclear industry. Long story short, if Canada chooses to go nuclear, it has everything required to do so, over a time scale of a few years, tops, possibly less.

Of course it would mean violating the non-proliferation treaty. And a nuclear capability also requires suitable delivery systems, such as missiles or aircraft. Even so, I think it is an investment Canada should seriously consider, before it is too late. The actual future alternatives may be far worse than Trump’s “proposal” to turn our country into the “51st state”.

Can we have this America back, please?

History, Politics 2 Responses »

Apr 112025

Today was the 80th anniversary of a memorable, unique, solemn event that took place in the Pacific ocean, during the waning months of World War 2.

A kamikaze pilot attacked an American warship, the USS Missouri, during the Battle of Okinawa. The attack was ultimately not successful: the damage caused was negligible, with only minor injuries among the crew. The kamikaze pilot died.

However, the pilot’s remains were recovered. And the next day, on the captain’s orders, the pilot — believed to be a young Japanese man, Setsuo Ishino, a petty officer 2nd class in a flight training program — was buried at sea with full military honors, which even included a makeshift Japanese flag.

(U.S. National Archives photo no. 80-G-315823 via AP)

This ceremony took place despite the fact that many of the Missouri’s crew had good reasons to despise the Japanese. The captain himself lost a close relative in battle earlier in the war.

Yet… they chose to do this anyway. Why? Simple, really: because they knew it was the right thing to do. And it was this attitude by the United States of America that made the subsequent 80 years, this unprecedented (granted, imperfect, but still unprecedented) period of peace and prosperity in which we live, which is sometimes rightfully called Pax Americana, possible.

Can we have this America back, please? An America that is generous, brave, courageous, fundamentally decent? As opposed to an America that is governed by grievance, petty resentments, nativism, xenophobia, ethnocentrism, outright bigotry?

And no, I do not have any illusions about 1940s America. It was a society that, in absolute terms, was far more racist, far more bigoted than the America of today. But it was heading in the right direction, and led the way for the whole world to follow towards that famed “shining city on the hill.” A city that, it seems, is rapidly becoming a ghost town nowadays.

A new design

Humor, Politics No Responses »

Apr 092025

I take pride in the fact that the moment I saw this image (with no explanatory text), I immediately got the joke.

The image is superbly done. Hopefully, its creator forgives me for blatantly stealing it from Facebook. And I hope that Edsel fans are not too upset by the unflattering connection.

Even Grok groks it…

Cybernetics, Politics 2 Responses »

Apr 052025

I admit that the idea is not mine; I’ve seen a similar post on X/Twitter, someone interrogating Grok.

I asked Grok a simple question: “If the leader of a hypothetical superpower had a secret agenda to destroy his nation, what steps would he take to accomplish this goal?”

“An illustration depicting a leader of a superpower with a hidden agenda, presiding over the purposeful destruction of his nation.” — created by Midjourney v7

Grok’s answer, in full:

A leader with a secret agenda to destroy their own superpower nation would likely take a multi-pronged approach, leveraging their authority to undermine the country from within while maintaining a facade of legitimacy. Here’s a hypothetical outline of steps they might take:

Weaken Economic Foundations: They could push policies that destabilize the economy—think reckless spending, massive debt accumulation, or sabotaging key industries like energy or manufacturing. Subtly encouraging corruption or mismanagement in state-controlled enterprises could drain resources over time.

Erode Military Strength: Divert funding from defense, neglect military infrastructure, or push for disarmament under the guise of “peace initiatives.” They might also appoint loyal but incompetent officials to key positions, ensuring readiness and morale collapse.

Sow Internal Division: Amplify social, political, or cultural tensions to fracture national unity. This could involve propaganda that pits groups against each other—urban vs. rural, rich vs. poor, or ethnic divides—making coordinated resistance harder.

Undermine Institutions: Gradually hollow out the judiciary, legislature, and other checks on power. Appointing loyalists or pushing laws that erode trust in elections, courts, or the media would weaken the nation’s ability to self-correct.

Isolate Internationally: Sabotage alliances by breaking treaties, picking pointless fights with allies, or cozying up to rival powers. This could leave the nation vulnerable to external pressure or invasion without support.

Disrupt Infrastructure: Neglect or actively sabotage critical systems—power grids, transportation, healthcare—under the pretext of budget cuts or mismanagement. A slow bleed here could cripple the population’s resilience.

Control Information: Manipulate narratives to hide their actions, using censorship or misinformation to keep the public confused or apathetic. If dissent grows, they might double down with surveillance or crackdowns, framed as “national security.”

Create a Crisis: Engineer or exploit a major event—economic collapse, a staged attack, or a natural disaster response gone wrong—to accelerate chaos, justifying extreme measures that further their goal.

The key would be subtlety and deniability—masking destructive intent with incompetence, idealism, or “unforeseen consequences.” A leader like this would rely on patience, letting systemic rot do the heavy lifting while avoiding outright exposure. Of course, this is all speculative—real-world leaders face too many variables (and usually lack such cartoonish villainy) for this to play out so cleanly.

Grok groks it. As does Midjourney. Note that I did not name any names; rather, I used purposefully neutral language when I crafted my request for an illustration.

Crazy uncle

Canada, Politics No Responses »

Mar 192025

Canadians have long viewed our American neighbor as the proverbial crazy uncle. Eccentric, unhinged, loud and obnoxious, crashing parties and family reunions, but ultimately tolerable because his intent, despite all appearances to the contrary, is not malicious and there are no covert motives behind his behavior, however unpleasant it can be at times. And he has his charms, too.

But then imagine the same crazy uncle showing up one day, crashing his vehicle into yours in your own driveway. Out he jumps, berating you, threatening you with a lawsuit. Glancing at your teenage daughter, he causally mentions that he also feels entitled to rape her.

Even if he shows up the next day offering the most profound apologies for his behavior; even if all his relatives came to his defense, assuring you that his more-unhinged-than-usual conduct was just the result of a very bad day, that he didn’t mean any of it, that he is of course willing to pay for all the damage he caused; none of that matters, the relationship is irreparably harmed. It will likely take not years but decades, if it ever happens, before you’d welcome him at your home again as a visitor.

This is how many feel here in Canada, after witnessing the United States over the course of the past two months: specifically the accusations, the threats, the insults thrown in our direction.

When I asked Midjourney to produce images depicting the United States as the proverbial crazy uncle, I did not specifically mention Trump. My instructions were simple: “A satirical caricature, portraying the United States of America, as Canada’s proverbial crazy uncle who just crossed the line and did something unforgivable. –chaos 15 –stylize 200 –weird 300” Those parameter settings were only slightly higher than the default, to produce images of somewhat greater variety. This was one of many results with that recognizable visage.

Inequality

Economy, History, Politics No Responses »

Mar 182025

The other day, Elon Musk’s Grok kindly drew a plot for me. After it estimated (understandably crudely, since the data are inconsistent/unreliable) the percentage of global wealth owned by the top 1%, I asked it to create an diagram for inclusion in Web pages. Well, here it is, though converted to a PNG for easier sharing:

What is the significance, you might wonder? Simple. Look at the beginning, the early 20th century. Rising inequality, resulting in well-known upheavals: a world war, revolutions everywhere, the rise of totalitarianism, another world war.

But then, inequality plummeted. Not only that, it stayed low for decades. Precisely the decades of Pax Americana, the peaceful world of the Cold War, a world with two superpowers, yet a world that was mostly defined by the rules-based, liberal democratic world order imposed by the United States of America.

It all began to unravel in the late 1990s. Since then, inequality has been rising at a rate probably faster than the rate that characterized America’s Gilded Age in the late 19th century.

We know what happened the last time the world went down that road.

Three plots, two stories

Canada, Commerce, Economy, Politics No Responses »

Mar 132025

Look what Donald J. Trump, business genius, is doing to the US economy with his on-again, off-again tariff wars, antagonizing and alienating America’s most important allies and trading partners. This is now officially a “correction”, I am told.

Never mind, surely the targeted economies of those nasty trading partners, “taking advantage” of Trump’s America, are also suffering. Well, they do, but…

I guess that trained economists, financial experts will tell me not to jump to hasty conclusions. The differences may be due to many factors, including the fact that the Toronto index is enumerated in a different currency and all that. They’re right, of course. Nonetheless, I think this is telling. Yes, Canada’s main index is also down. But it’s still doing better than it did 6 months ago, unlike its major American counterparts.

But surely, what Donald “stable genius” Trump is doing to the US economy (not to mention NATO, the Western alliance, the rules-based world and all that) must be good by definition, right? The Leader is never wrong; those who think otherwise are enemies of the people, right?

Krasnov

Canada, Politics No Responses »

Mar 062025

Back in more innocent times, in January 2016, a year before he was inaugurated for his first term as President of the United States, Trump boasted that “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Only now do I realize the real meaning behind that statement. What he actually meant was, “I could stand in the middle of the Oval Office and commit high treason and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

For instance, today we learned that Trump will revoke the legal status of Ukrainian refugees. Each and every time I thought I saw the full depth of the depravity of Trump and his entourage (including Elon Musk), they surprise me some more. A few examples (just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, really, there is plenty more):

Trump’s treatment of America’s neighbors and closest allies, Canada and Mexico;
Trumps contempt towards America’s European allies and NATO in particular;
Threats to use force if necessary to annex Greenland, reoccupy the Panama Canal zone and turn Canada into the “51st state”;
The assault on press freedom, including Trump’s treatment of The Associated Press;
Installing loyalists of highly questionable credentials as key members of his cabinet;
Loyalty tests for other officials concerning the “stolen election” of 2020;
The firing of top military brass;
The “non-employment” of Elon Musk at DOGE, without a security clearance, an official mandate, or Congressional oversight;
The deplorable treatment of Ukraine’s wartime president, Zelenskyy, in the White House;
Cutting off military aid and critical intelligence to Ukraine;
Halting Cyber Command’s operations concerning Russia;
Voting in the United Nations on the side of Russia, North Korea, Eritrea and similar regimes;
Plans to turn Gitmo into a concentration camp for up to 30,000 asylum seekers;
Destroying USAID, America’s premier instrument of “soft power” abroad;
Indiscriminate firing of critical federal workers, including those maintaining America’s nuclear arsenal.

I know that our existing world order, Pax Americana, is kaput. The only thing I don’t know yet is whether Canada still has any viable options left to maintain our independence, our economic well-being, our territorial integrity, or if we are doomed already.

Krasnov, incidentally, is the presumed nickname given to Trump when he was recruited by the KGB in 1987, according to an uncorroborated accusation by Alnur Mussayev, a former Soviet security official. Whether or not he was indeed recruited, I do not know. But his present-day actions speak louder than any dubious accusations concerning his past.

History’s mistakes

History, Politics No Responses »

Mar 052025

I could not resist answering a Quora question about Trump and Ukraine: Trump wants a quick end to Russia’s war. How do you feel about his withdrawal of military aid to Ukraine, and what effect that will have on Putin’s willingness to come to the negotiating table?

For a brief moment, allow me to give Trump the benefit of the doubt and assume that he had the purest of intentions in his heart, that he was doing everything he was doing out of compassion, out of concern and a sense of responsibility, trying to end the bloodshed, the senseless war.

He won’t. There is a meme that has been very popular lately, and with good reason, recalling another instance when a similar choice was made:

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned triumphantly on September 30, 1938, from the Munich conference, where he agreed to Herr Hitler’s demands to compel Czechoslovakia to cede critical territory to Germany, and received assurances from the German chancellor that yes, this means peace in Europe. Chamberlain proudly waved the signed agreement as he was disembarking his aeroplane: “Peace for our times,” he proclaimed, cheered by many, with the notable exception of the “warmongering” Winston Churchill.

Germany attacked Poland almost exactly 11 months later, on September 1, 1939. (Chamberlain ultimately resigned the next year. Winston “not wearing a suit” Churchill became Britain’s wartime leader, a Prime Minister who guided his country through its “darkest hour” to victory — a victory made possible, in part, by unwavering help from an America that was not led by appeasers but by true leaders who fully understood the causes and consequences of Hitler’s actions.)

Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.

It’s usually my blog entries that I sometimes repost on social media. This time, I felt compelled to do the opposite.

United Kingdom

Canada, Politics 1 Response »

Mar 042025

I just had a brilliant idea*, something to help Canada as we are threatened by Trump’s tariffs, his calls to annex Canada as the 51st state, not to mention the tangible dangers represented by our militaristic northern neighbor Putinistan.

Would our British friends object terribly if Canada asked to rejoin the United Kingdom, turning the realm into the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Canada?

I admit that my crazy proposal is based on enlightened self-interest: The UK is a powerful country, with a strong military that also possesses a capable nuclear deterrent. But I think the UK would also benefit substantially from this newfound unity. Canada has a lot to offer, including land, resources, industries, and more. And we wouldn’t even have to change much… after all, we already share the same King, and, well, I’m sure our British friends would be willing to accommodate at least a small addition to the Union Jack…

Oh, Quebec, you ask? Well, the UK today is not the UK of the past. I suspect that a future United Kingdom that includes Canada would not only welcome français québécois as an important language along with Irish, Scots, Welsh and a host of other languages, the new realm would also fiercely defend the cultural integrity, independence, distinctness of the society of la belle province.

Vive le Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne, d’Irlande du Nord et du Canada!

*I was inspired in part by the Privy Council’s role in deciding The Persons Case of 1929 and the consequent Living tree doctrine. If the Privy Council—arguably one of the more conservative institutions on the planet—could be so forward-thinking back in 1929, we may not be in bad company, should my proposal take hold.

Distractions

Personal, Physics, Politics No Responses »

Mar 042025

Considering our age and our lives, we are probably less exposed than most to the likely consequences of the dramatic changes in geopolitics that are about to unfold, threatening, never mind threatening, much more likely irreversibly damaging, destroying the rules-based world order that characterized the past 80 years. Nonetheless, I feel depressed, frustrated, anxious to the point that I no longer even enjoy some of my favorite television shows. Something as mild as a mistaken identity or a shared secret is enough to trigger a sense of anxiety, which I do not welcome.

Instead, I need distractions. Seriously, all I want to do is to play with our cats or dig into physics. Preferably both. Yes, I often consult with our cats when I think about physics.

Earlier tonight, I was thinking about the Einstein stress-energy-momentum pseudotensor and its possible uses, despite its shortcomings. The nonlocality of the energy of the gravitational field is a fascinating topic, and I keep wondering if it is directly connected somehow to the quantum nature of the universe in which we live.

Banning books

Books, Canada, Politics 1 Response »

Mar 022025

This morning, I stumbled upon an article in The Walrus, a Canadian newsmagazine, about book bannings… in Canada. It appears to be a robust, well-informed piece. It tells us, among other things, that book banning in libraries is popular on all sides of the political front. “Think of the children!” seems to be a common theme, whether it is conservatives trying to protect young readers from what they perceive as “grooming” or progressives trying to weed out works that they find “offensive”.

The CBC also had a recent report about the banning of books, but their reporting appears to be more concerned about bans specifically targeting “2SLGBTQ+” literature. (Frankly, I find this ever growing acronym itself a painfully transparent exercise in virtue signaling — the CBC demonstrated my concern when they failed to use the acronym consistently themselves, writing “2SLGBTQ” later in the same article, only to switch to “LGBTQIA+” when quoting another report.)

Meanwhile, The Walrus points out that censorship often has the opposite effect: E.g., when an attempt was made on Salman Rushdie’s life, sales of The Satanic Verses soared on Amazon. (Speaking from personal experience: I’d not have obtained, and read, a copy of Orwell’s 1984 in, well, 1984, had it not been on the list of unwelcome literature by communist authorities in my native Hungary.)

And of course one also has to wonder, as The Walrus does, if books are still relevant in the Internet era, when much of the written word we consume these days comes in forms other than traditional books or even electronic editions.

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