A bunch of “greedy dumb-dogs”, men who “never have enough, and love greeting in the marketplaces … and the upper seats at feasts, and to be called … masters; they are filthy brute beasts” - Hester Biddle’s account of powerful men in the 1660s. How very little things have changed #earlymodern

My New Year’s resolution is to continue fighting the outsourcing of intelligence to algorithmic machines and to treat generative AI use as cringe and embarrassing because it is.

Ahh thank you! Loved the book so much (also a great help in my novel research!)

That is just incredibly bizarre.

You’re doing the right thing!

Writing a novel— actually picking the words and filling in paragraphs— is a tremendous pain in the ass. Now that TV’s so good and the Internet is an endless forest of distraction, it’s damn near impossible. That should be taken into account when ranking the all-time greats. Somebody like Charles Dickens, for example, who had nothing better to do except eat mutton and attend public hangings, should get very little credit.

These very true words from Steve Hely have given me tremendous comfort over the years.

Ahh that you for the kind words! I think that book might be out of print now but was in print for nearly 20 years and it outlived its publisher!

Thank you so much — both for supporting and for sharing!

Terra Arcana Terra Arcana is a scripted podcast drama where librarians fight magical foes and solve paranormal problems.

My latest project: a scripted podcast drama where librarians fight magical foes and solve paranormal problems in downtown St. John's NL. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ter... #podcast #scriptedpodcast #fiction #fantasy #Newfoundland #Canada #libraries #magic #folklore #librarians

I love the first 3 in that series but the 4th is not as good, and the 5th book she wrote years later was … a mistake, imho. Opinions vary, of course.

A.I. is learning from N.L. authors without their consent Meta's artificial intelligence is able to write stories and essays in mere seconds, even in the style of someone else. Authors in Newfoundland and Labrador like Trudy Morgan-Cole were horrified to lea...

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Meta is using pirated books to train AI — including those by N.L. authors | CBC News Artificial intelligence can’t do the dishes or the laundry, but it can replicate the writing style of just about any author, including those from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Me talking to CBC about theft of writers’ work to train AI (video version linked below):

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Praeger U?!?! omg

I think she's well positioned for a future leadership run. I'm interested to see what she does in future. Hope she gets a cabinet post (if the Libs win again).

Colour me SHOCKED. I knew Carney would win but I thought it would at least be close. Cannot believe Freeland got only 8%. She deserved better. #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

"Trudeau the father, Trudeau the son" .... is there a Trudeau the holy ghost? #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

Doesn't have to be either/or! Could be both!

He may be ancient but wow it's good to hear someone saying the words "diversity, equality ... inclusiveness" and reminding us those are GOOD THINGS that our country stands for #JeanChretien #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

Well, that answers the "Is Jean Chretien still alive?" question.

I agree he could have been a good leader for this moment -- he is at his best in a crisis, as with the early stages of Covid. But hanging on too long weakened the party, allowed for infighting, and gave the Conservatives too much of a foothold.

I have no problem saying, "Thank you for your service, Mr. Trudeau." #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

I have mixed feelings about #Trudeau, but the things he did well, he did v well. My biggest criticism is he shoulda quit a year earlier, but on the whole, speaking as someone who is well to the left of most Liberals, I have admired him many times, though not all the time. #LiberalLeadship #CdnPoli

It's great to hear the anthem in both languages but it's unfortunate when singers do that it's pretty much always the VERY problematic lines from the French anthem that they choose to sing. The cross being carried by the arms that carried the sword is, uh ... #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

I don't think we need an unending Trudeau dynasty or anything, but Ella-Grace is impressive for a 16-year-old. #LiberalLeadership #CdnPoli

I've been to a lot of churchy events in my time and that is definitely giving "opening prayer" energy.

Their dog too, apparently?

Change the title of the show too. Don’t normalize the phrase “51st state.” Call it what it is: a threat.

Here, I fixed it for you: This CBC News special A FRIEND TURNED FOE: A Cross Border Conversation will broadcast across the U.S. and Canada. Our question: WHAT DOES THE THREAT OF ANNEXATION MEAN TO YOU?

The topic absolutely needs to be discussed. It’s the “51st State” framing (in the question and the show title) that people object to. Frame it like the dangerous threat to our sovereignty that it is. Talk about how Canadians respond to possible annexation or even invasion.