See A Solar Snake Slither Across The Sun In Bizarre Video

A European Space Agency of a solar snake making its way across the Sun's surface has been edited to show the phenomenon's progress.

By MATTHEW CREITH | 

In the night sky, astronomers have attempted for years to present their findings of the universe to a legion of devoted generations always wanting to discover more about the stars and galaxies around us. Recently, many people were treated to the sight of an asteroid shaped like a skull that flew past the Earth on Halloween, as well as a rare vampire sun that’s a feast for the eyes. Now, Live Science reports that a solar snake has slithered its way across the sun, and the sight was captured on film and uploaded to YouTube.

Set to the music composition of “Snake Dance” by Mike Franklyn, the YouTube video of the solar snake phenomenon on the sun appears to have generated quite a bit of buzz. The video has been viewed 32,000 times in the four days since it was posted to the Video From Space YouTube channel, where it depicts plasma moving across the sun in a snake like slithering motion. The time-lapse video was initially taken by the European Space Agency which reflects the phenomenon resulting from cool plasma flowing through the magnetic field of the sun.

The images of the solar snake were brought to the world’s attention directly from the Solar Orbiter two months ago, as the renowned satellite was put into place so that it can take observations of the sun from about 26 million miles away. This recent video seeks to showcase the solar snake moving across the sun in what appears to be a few seconds, but in reality, the sequence of events took about three hours in total. The European Space Agency estimates that the solar snake most likely moved at a pace equal to about 378,000 miles per hour.

It is understood by the European Space Agency that the plasma from the solar snake might have also traveled passed the Parker Solar Probe, a NASA invention that became the first device to enter the sun’s atmosphere. The Parker Solar Probe was initially launched to discover more details about solar physics, which it is doing in collaboration with the Solar Orbiter. Scientists believe that this collaboration could in fact help their colleagues in predicting the causations of space weather resulting from periodic eruptions from the sun and how that currently influences the Earth.

A lot of these observations of space from the European Space Agency and solar snakes seem to be straight out of the plot of a movie, with recent science fiction depictions coming to mind like Moonshot and Ad Adstra that might end up becoming reality in the not so distant future. Hollywood has long been known to take phenomenons from the sky and put them in central focus of blockbuster box office draws, including the Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck feature Armageddon. In that 1998 movie, scientists worked with NASA and deep-core drillers to help stop a huge asteroid from colliding with the planet in order to save everyone on Earth.

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MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M

Epic alleges Google paid $360 million to keep Activision from launching its own app store

New filings in Epic’s lawsuit against Google reveal that at least one point in time, Activision and Riot were considering making their own mobile app stores.


By JAY PETERS / @jaypeters
Nov 18, 2022, 

We could live in a world with more app stores. Photo by Stefan Etienne / The Verge

Activision Blizzard and Riot Games at one point told Google they might launch their own mobile app stores, according to new documents filed in Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against the search giant. The details came to light as part of allegations about major deals signed with the two companies. Google allegedly agreed to pay Activision about $360 million over three years and Riot about $30 million for a one-year deal.

In one document, Google exec Karen Aviram Beatty is reporting back from a conversation with Activision Blizzard’s now-CFO Armin Zerza one month before the two companies signed the huge deal. “If this deal falls through, [Zerza] claims that they will launch their own mobile distribution platform (partnering with another “major mobile company” — presume Epic), double down with Amazon / Twitch (or MSFT) for Cloud / eSports [sic], and pull away from Stadia,” Beatty wrote (emphasis mine). While Zerza may have just been doing some hardline negotiating, Activision has not yet launched its own app store on mobile, so it seems the company was happy with how the deal eventually turned out.

Another document is a deposition from an unnamed witness that seems to be someone who is or was involved with “Project Hug,” Google’s program designed to incentivize and support Play Store developers. In the deposition, the witness says that Riot Games told Google it was considering launching a competing Android app store. Later, the witness says that “Riot and Activision Blizzard King were the ones that were the most direct with us” about considering starting their own app stores.

Related

The Epic v. Google lawsuit finally makes sense

Google’s ‘Project Hug’ paid out huge sums to keep game devs in the Play Store, Epic filing claims

Project Hug agreements first came to light in August 2021 as part of an unredacted Epic complaint. But Epic, in a newly amended complaint filed Thursday, alleges Project Hug deals are designed to “prevent the developer from opening a competing store or otherwise distributing its apps outside of the Google Play Store.”

Epic originally launched Fortnite outside of Google Play in 2018, which let it bypass Google’s fees, and Epic has already argued that Project Hug was designed to entice developers to stick with Play instead of making their own stores. (Epic eventually brought Fortnite to the Play Store in 2020, but it was removed a few months later.) But based on the new documents, it seems Activision and Riot were thinking of striking out on their own.

In statements to The Verge, Google and Activision pushed back on Epic’s allegations. Google said that programs like Project Hug don’t prevent developers from creating their own app stores, and Activision said that Google didn’t make them agree not to compete with Google Play.

“Epic is mischaracterizing business conversations”

“Epic is mischaracterizing business conversations,” Google spokesperson Michael Appel said. “Programs like Project Hug provide incentives for developers to give benefits and early access to Google Play users when they release new or updated content; it does not prevent developers from creating competing app stores, as Epic falsely alleges. In fact, the program is proof that Google Play competes fairly with numerous rivals for developers, who have a number of choices for distributing their apps and digital content.”

“Activision testified in court that Google and Activision never entered into an agreement that Activision would not open its own app store,” Activision spokesperson Joe Christinat said. “Google never asked us, pressured us, or made us agree not to compete with Google Play. We submitted documents and testimony that prove this. Epic’s allegations are nonsense.”

Riot didn’t reply to a request for comment.

One of Epic’s exhibits also contains a list of more than 20 companies Google has signed Project Hug (now technically the “Games Velocity Program”) deals with as of July 2022. Activision and Riot are both listed, as are big gaming companies like EA, Niantic, Nintendo, Tencent, and Ubisoft.

Computer says there is a 80.58% probability painting is a real Renoir

Swiss company uses algorithm to judge whether contested Portrait de femme (Gabrielle) is genuinely by French artist

The disputed Portrait de femme (Gabrielle). Photograph: c/o Art Recognition

Linda Geddes 

Science correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
Sat 19 Nov 2022

Staring enigmatically at an unseen object to her right, the black-haired woman bears a striking resemblance to the person depicted in Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting Gabrielle, which Sotheby’s recently valued at between £100,000-150,000.

However, art connoisseurs disagree over whether the work, which is owned by a private Swiss collector, is the real deal. Now, artificial intelligence has waded in to help settle the dispute, and the computer has deemed that it probably is a genuine Renoir.

AI is increasingly being used to help adjudicate on whether valuable artworks are real or fake. Earlier this month, Art Recognition, the Swiss company that developed the technology, announced it had concluded that Switzerland’s only Titian – a work titled Evening Landscape with Couple, held by Kunsthaus Zürich – was probably not painted by the 16th-century Venetian artist.

Yet art connoisseurs have warned that the AI is only as good as the paintings it is trained on. If they are fake, or contain areas that have been touched up, it could create even more uncertainty.

Art Recognition was approached about the Renoir, titled Portrait de femme (Gabrielle), after The Wildenstein Plattner Institute – one of two institutes that publishes a comprehensive list of all known artworks by Renoir, known as a catalogues raisonnés – refused to include it in its listing.

The company used photographic reproductions of 206 authentic paintings by the French impressionist to teach its algorithm about his style, which to human observers is characterised by broken brushstrokes and bold combinations of complementary colours. To increase precision, it also split the images into smaller patches and showed these to the algorithm, as well as training it on a selection of paintings by artists with a similar style who were active at around the same time as Renoir.

Based on this assessment, it concluded there was an 80.58% chance that Portrait de femme (Gabrielle) was painted by Renoir.

Carina Popovici, Art Recognition’s CEO, believes that this ability to put a number on the degree of uncertainty is important. Speaking at a meeting on the use of forensics and technology in the art trade at the Art Loss Register in London on Monday, she said: “Art owners are often told by connoisseurs that it is their ‘impression’ or ‘intuition’ that a painting is genuine or not, which can be very frustrating. They really appreciate the fact that we are more precise.”

Encouraged by this result, the painting’s owner approached another Parisian group of experts, G-P.F.Dauberville & Archives Bernheim-Jeune, which publishes its own catalogues raisonnés of works by Renoir. After requesting a scientific analysis of the pigments in the painting, they too concluded that it was a genuine Renoir.

Dr Bendor Grosvenor, an art historian and presenter of BBC Four’s Britain’s Lost Masterpieces, worried that such technologies could devalue the contribution of experts in assessing an artwork’s authenticity.

“So far, the methods used to ‘train’ the AI programmes, and the fact that they say they can judge an attribution just from an iPhone photo, are unimpressive,” he said.

“The technology is especially weak in its inability to take into account a painting’s condition – so many old master paintings are damaged and disfigured by layers of dirt and overpaint which, without forensic inspection, makes it hard to discern what is and is not original.

“If any human art appraiser offered to give a ‘certificate of authenticity’ costing thousands of dollars based on nothing more than an iPhone photo and a partial knowledge of an artist’s oeuvre, they’d be laughed at.”

Popovici agreed that the quality of the training dataset was vital, and said they went to great lengths to ensure they only use photographs of authentic artworks. So far, they have trained their AI to recognise about 300 artists, including most of the French impressionist and old master painters.

“We understand that the connoisseurs might feel threatened by this technology, but we are not trying to push them out of the way,” Popovici said.

“We genuinely want to give them the possibility of using this system to help them reach a decision, perhaps in cases where they’re not so sure. But for that to happen, they have to be open to this technology.”

Julian Radcliffe, the chair of the Art Loss Register, which maintains the world’s largest private database of stolen art, antiques and collectables, said: “Artificial intelligence has an increasing role in helping to authenticate art but it must be allied to the expertise of connoisseurs who specialise in the artist, well-established science such as pigment analysis, and provenance research.

“Its advantage lies in its ability to give yes/no answers to, for example pattern analysis or matching, and to constantly improve, but its work has to be interpreted by a human who must have set the right question.

“The quest for absolute certainty in authentication has not been, and may never be reached – but we are edging closer.”

How Monet’s artistic vision shone through ailing eyes

 Claude Monet's Nympheas room at Paris's Museum of Orangerie in Paris. 

Photo by Raphael GAILLARDE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images


Dr. Howard Markel
NPR  Arts Nov 18, 2022 

Imagine the horror of being an artist of light and color who starts to lose their eyesight. French Impressionist Claude Monet’s vision began to deteriorate in his late 60s, when he started to experience a diminishing ability to discern different colors. The irony is that, because Monet’s paintings lack a specific kind of sharp precision, his medical problem wasn’t immediately obvious, but grew worse as he got older.

While walking through London’s National Gallery and Paris’s Musée d’Orsay recently, I was reminded of Monet, whose birthday would have been this week, on Nov. 14, as well as a brilliant article about the artist’s ocular health that I read – with great pleasure – in medical school.

Claude Monet in 1898, 10 years before he began to notice his eyesight was flagging. Photo via Getty Images

Ophthalmologist Dr. James Ravin published his essay on “Monet’s Cataracts” in JAMA in 1985, opening my eyes to the remarkable interactions of medicine, medical history and art, especially when—as Louis Pasteur once suggested—chance favored the prepared mind.

Thanks to Ravin, who studied Monet’s letters to his eye surgeons, examined a pair of the artist’s specially tinted cataract eyeglasses, and interviewed the technician who worked for the last ophthalmologist Monet consulted, we have a far better understanding of how cataracts — an opacity of the eye’s lens that develops with age — influenced his last works of art.

By 1918, the artist said that he could no longer perceive “colors with the same intensity” nor could he accurately interpret sunlight.

At the risk of sounding like a bumpkin, my first “impressions” of Monet’s later works was how blurry they appeared. In 1908, Ravin noted, distant objects in Monet’s paintings did seem more fuzzy. By 1918, the artist said that he could no longer perceive “colors with the same intensity” nor could he accurately interpret sunlight — a keystone of the Impressionist school. The color red, for example, became “muddy.” The color pink began to pale. The “intermediate or lower tones,” too, escaped him.

After 1918, Monet began to consult several eye surgeons, but received contradictory diagnoses, prognoses and treatment plans. Although healers have been removing cataracts since antiquity and doing so in a relatively painless manner for nearly 150 years, the operation Monet faced was still fraught with complications. He was, understandably, hesitant to go under the knife, perhaps being aware of how fellow artist Mary Cassatt underwent similar surgery with less than satisfactory results. He grew more and more depressed and admitted, “I have spent many cruel hours in my life, but never have I been as tortured.”

French statesman and former physician Georges Clemenceau commissioned Monet to paint his famous water lilies—a grand project that occupied the artist from 1914 until his death in 1926 – but also to get medical help for his eyesight. Although Monet promised to give the paintings to the nation of France, he grew so dissatisfied with his work and visual impairment that he tried to withdraw them in 1921. Fortunately, Clemenceau convinced him otherwise.

Monet’s “The House Seen from the Rose Garden,” 1922-1924. Image via Fine Art Images/ Heritage Images/ Getty Images

By 1922, his works lacked distinct forms and an art critic noted that they were becoming more monochromatic. After being declared legally blind that September, Monet was referred to a Parisian ophthalmologist named Charles Coutela. After receiving a diagnosis, Monet fretted over the prospect of surgery for his right eye, but eventually acquiesced.

“It is to my great chagrin that I regret having had this fatal operation.”

The artist’s recuperation was stormy and slow, even when he was wearing cataract glasses. The posterior lens capsule in his right eye had become opaque and he struggled to see.

“It is to my great chagrin that I regret having had this fatal operation,” Monet wrote to Coutela. “Pardon me for speaking so frankly and let me tell you that it is criminal to have put me in this situation.”

Claude Monet’s pond garden in Giverny, France, in 2020. Photo by REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Monet underwent another operation in 1923 and recuperated over the next year, but still needed glasses with various tints. For the rest of his life, he continued to experience visual and color disturbances, but continued to paint. He died in December 1926, most likely due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from chronic smoking.

READ MORE: The medical story behind Thomas Eakins’ gory masterpiece

The next spring, his majestic water lilies were installed in the Musée de l’Orangerie in the Tuileries Garden behind the Louvre, where they can be seen to this day. Many art historians view the artist’s late work — completed under the veil of cataracts — as “a link to the abstract art of the 20th century,” Ravin wrote.

To those of us who have so-called perfect sight, or perhaps are a bit myopic, the water lilies are still masterpieces of vision, no matter what eye condition Monet suffered.

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Dr. Howard Markel  writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting momentous historical events that continue to shape modern medicine. He is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine and the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and the author of “The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick and the Discovery of DNA’s Double Helix” (W.W. Norton, September ’21).

Banksy urges fans to go and STEAL from Guess in London's Regent Street for using his art without permission - after he lost copyright fight because he refused to reveal his identity

Banksy told fans to steal clothes from GUESS after the shop used his image

The reclusive artist said the brand had used images without permission

The Flower Thrower is visible in store's window promoting new Banksy range

Banksy does not have copyright on the image after losing legal battles

By MADELEINE ROSS FOR MAILONLINE

18 November 2022

Secretive graffiti artist Banksy has urged fans to go and 'help themselves' to clothes from GUESS on Regent Street after the shop used his artwork without permission.

In a post to his 11.5million followers on Instagram, the reclusive artist called out for shoplifters to give the clothing brand a taste of their own medicine.

'Attention all shoplifters.

'Please go to GUESS on Regent Street. They've helped themselves to my artwork without asking, how can it be wrong for you to do the same to their clothes?'

Social media users were quick to support the artist.

+16
View gallery


The anonymous graffiti artist encouraged fans on Instagram to steal clothes from the Regent Street shop. Banksy has had a number of trademarks removed in recent years after refusing to publicly reveal his identity

One user said: 'The NERVE to say 'with graffiti by Banksy.'

Others described the brand's use of the artist's image as 'embarrassing' and some users pledged to visit the store.

The GUESS X Brandalised collection was unveiled earlier this month and mixes 'Banksy's graffiti with "Guess attitude"'.

Brandalised says it offers licences to the world's most famous graffiti and works with brands including HUAWEI and Eleven Paris.

This is not the first time that the graffiti artist, known for his clever satirical designs, has run into copyright problems.

The artist was stripped of copyright for the Flower Thrower artwork - the one used by the GUESS store - in 2020, after a two-year legal battle with card firm Full Colour Black.

Artist Banksy has lost trademarks on Radar Rat and Girl With Umbrella after refusing to reveal his identity. He was accused by judges of 'acting in bad faith'

The shop has used the Flower Thrower as part of its GUESS x Brandalised collection. The artist disputes its usage and has encouraged fans to steal clothes from the store


The artist has never revealed his identity, although The Mail on Sunday named him as former public schoolboy Robin Gunningham

Banksy refused to reveal his identity to judges who refused to uphold his copyright to the image because, 'he cannot be identified as the unquestionable owner of such works as his identity is hidden'.

The anonymous street artist was stripped of three more trademarks in 2021, for Radar Rat, Laugh Now and Girl With Umbrella, taking the number of trademarks lost to four.

Banksy was told he was 'acting in bad faith' by remaining anonymous. He had previously said 'copyright is for losers'.

Banksy was named by The Mail on Sunday as former public schoolboy Robin Gunningham, although his identity has never been confirmed.

Has Banksy been spotted in Ukraine? Video shows mystery masked figure 'painting' mural confirmed to be artwork by elusive artist

Elusive British street artist Banksy may have been 'caught' painting a mural on a destroyed building in Ukraine.

CCTV footage doing the rounds on Ukrainian TikTok shows a mask-wearing man sneaking up to a wall in the city of Irpin, near Kyiv, before 'painting' on it.

While the footage appears to be a heavily staged spoof, it is possible it still shows Banksy - whose true identity has never been revealed.

The Irpin artwork, which shows a ballerina in a neck-brace, has been confirmed as a genuine Banksy and is one of seven he has painted in Ukraine in recent days.

The idea of spoofing a video of himself being 'caught' is in keeping with Banksy's mischievous sense of humour.

Has Banksy been caught on camera creating a mural in Ukraine?

Has Banksy been spotted in Ukraine? Video shows mystery..

Staged CCTV footage doing the rounds on Ukrainian TikTok shows a man sneaking up to a wall in the city of Irpin before 'painting' a Banksy on it


While the footage is heavily staged and the painting is obviously not happening live, it is still possible the British street artist spoofed it himself - in keeping with his sense of humour


The Irpin artwork - showing a ballerina in a neck-brace - has been confirmed as a genuine Banksy and is one of seven painted in Ukraine in recent days

Other works painted by Banksy in Ukraine include a man in a bathtub - who bears a passing resemblance to Charles Darwin - painted inside a destroyed apartment in Horenka, a village five miles north-east of Irpin.

Another painted on the walls of a destroyed school in the town of Borodyanka, west of Irpin, shows a child flipping an adult man on to his back in a judo match.

The male figure appears to be Vladimir Putin - who holds a judo back belt.

More works include a mobile missile launcher that incorporates a crude drawing of a penis where the rocket should be, children playing on a tank trap as if it were a see-saw, and a woman in hair curlers and a gas mask holding a fire extinguisher.

Banksy confirmed their authenticity in a video released on his Instagram account, entitled 'in solidarity with the people of Ukraine'.

Included in the footage is a woman and her daughter outside the bombed-out school, after the judo mural had been painted.

She says: 'It was a bomb here and many people died.

'My child used to go to this kindergarten. Don't cry honey, we already cried so much, we don't have any tears left.'

An artwork confirmed to be by Banksy on a street in Kyiv shows a Russian missile launcher with a crudely drawn penis in place of the rocket

Another of Banksy's Ukraine artworks shows a woman with hair curlers and a robe on, wearing a gas mask and holding a fire extinguisher near a burned-out building

Painted on the wall of a nursery destroyed by a Russian bomb, this Banksy shows a child throwing a man who resembles Putin in a judo match - a sport in which he has a black belt

Banksy began his unconventional artistic career as a graffiti artist in Bristol in the 1990s, and came to prominence painting satirical, political murals on buildings.

His signature style became black and white portraits painted using stencils, often showing human or animal figures performing an action or interacting with the world around them.

Some of his most well known works oppose conflict, including a portrait of a man hurling a bouquet of flowers - painted on the West Bank Wall which separates Jerusalem from Israel.

He is also known for playing with the idea of fake vs real.

During a residency in New York in 2013 he set up what appeared to be a tourist-trap stall in Central Park selling what seemed like replicas of his work for $60 a piece.

Except that the stall was real, and the artworks were genuine.

Despite being in place for a full day, just one customer bought two prints which later raised in excess of $100,000 when sold at auction.

Another piece that toyed with a similar idea and the worth of art was a print of 'Girl With Balloon' that partially shredded itself while being auctioned.

The half-destroyed artwork later went back on auction, and sold for many times its initial guide price.

Another of Banksy's new artworks in Ukraine shows a man who bears a passing resemblance to Charles Darwin having a bath in a destroyed house


A dancer also features in this piece by Banksy, painted in the town of Borodyanka, which shows the female figure balancing on top of rubble


Two children appear to be playing on a tank trap as if on a see-saw in this Banksy work, which appeared in downtown Kyiv

Banksy's Ukraine artworks appeared in cities and towns devastated by Russia's nine-month long war in Ukraine.

Irpin, where the ballerina with the neck brace appeared, was the site of some of the worst atrocities committed by Putin's troops.

Hundreds of civilians were massacred during a months-long occupation after Russian forces were stopped there while trying to advance on Kyiv.

When Putin's troops retreated they left behind evidence of their war crimes, including mass graves, torture chambers, and civilian bodies lying in the streets.

Ukraine is continuing to drive back the Kremlin's troops on the battlefield, with recent retreats coming in the south and north-east.

Russian forces fled from the area around Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in September and recently withdrew from the city of Kherson.

Around half of the territory occupied by Moscow's armies at the peak of the invasion has now been recaptured, with Kyiv asking for more weapons to get the job done.

At the top of the list is anti-aircraft batteries to protect against increased Russia air strikes, but Ukraine also wants attack jets and tanks to help with its offensives.

WAIT, WHAT?!
Two Quebec men in court today for allegedly killing animals at safari park




GATINEAU, Que. — Two Quebec men will appear in a Gatineau, Que., courtroom today after they were charged for allegedly breaking into a safari animal park and killing three wild boar and one elk.

Provincial police say Mathieu Godard, 47, and Jeremiah Mathias-Polson, 21, were arrested Nov. 10 inside Omega animal park, located about 130 kilometres northwest of Montreal, and allegedly caught with four animal carcasses in their vehicle.

The two have been charged with wilfully killing animals kept for a lawful purpose, breaking and entering, illegally transporting firearms, and unlawfully firing a firearm during a break and enter.

Godard was released with conditions on Monday and is prohibited from going to the animal park in Montebello, Que., communicating with Mathias-Polson, carrying a firearm, and consuming drugs or alcohol.

Mathias-Polson was on probation at the time of his arrest and remains in custody.

Omega park spokesperson Billie-Prisca Giroux said in a recent news release that the park’s customers are safe and the incident was an “isolated event.”

“We have put all the necessary efforts in place to ensure that this situation does not happen again, for everyone’s safety and for the safety of our precious animals,” Giroux said.

According to his social media account, Godard is a professional hunting guide. He declined a request for comment.

Provincial police spokesperson Marc Tessier said in a recent interview that a security guard at the park called 911 at around 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 10 after noticing a break-in.

“A few minutes later, the guard heard noises similar to gunshots,” Tessier said. “The police quickly arrived and located and intercepted a vehicle. Both men were arrested. Police found four animal carcasses inside the vehicle.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2022.

—

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

REVEALED BY COVID
Report uncovers signs of violence, negligence at two Montreal long-term care homes



MONTREAL — A government-commissioned report into the conditions at two privately owned long-term care homes in Montreal has revealed widespread mistreatment of residents at both facilities.

Les Résidences Floralies locations in the Lachine and LaSalle boroughs were put under trusteeship on Sept. 1 amid allegations of poor care.

A report by a retired Health Department employee made public Thursday alleged “abuse in all its forms” at the residences, including violence and negligence on the part of employees and a lack of treatment and services.

Residents were found with untreated sores, dehydration and signs of violence such as bruises, and the report found there was little in place to prevent falls or address dementia-related behaviours.

Investigator Michel Delamarre also concluded that poor care and infection control probably worsened a streptococcus A outbreak last summer that killed a total of six people.

Seniors Minister Sonia Bélanger promised to act towards implementing Delamarre’s 21 recommendations and improve quality of care for all the residents of the long-term care system.

“What we saw at Floralies was not the treatment our seniors deserve,” she said in a statement.

She said changes were underway across the network, including adding more inspectors, and said her department would follow up to ensure homes are up to standard.

“I will not tolerate any form of abuse, particularly when it affects elders,” she added.

In the report, which is dated Oct. 7, Delamarre found widespread problems with the homes’ management, including a lack of qualified staff and lack of co-ordination and planning.

Professional services were nearly non-existent, and the facility lacked programs and policies regarding “wound care, use of restraints, following up on weight, hydration, behaviours linked to dementia, evaluating pain or end-of-life care,” the report read.

His recommendations included the creation of a complete plan to improve care, including ensuring adequate staffing, as well as working more closely with residents.

He suggested the province also needs to clarify the roles and responsibilities of local health authorities and private homes.

While the homes are privately owned, half or more of their beds were occupied by residents covered by an agreement with the public health authorities.

The long-term care portions of the residences were placed under trusteeship by local health authorities for 180 days, as of Sept. 1, but that could be extended if needed, the province said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2022.

COP27: Canada won’t back call to phaseout fossil fuels



OTTAWA –

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada will not agree to include language calling for the phaseout of all fossil fuels in the final agreement at this year’s United Nations climate talks in Egypt.

The agreement from the UN conference in Scotland last year called for countries to move faster to get rid of coal-fired electricity plants that are not abated with technology to capture emissions.

India is pushing to add oil and gas to that paragraph in this year’s final pact.

The European Union is supportive of the idea as long as it does not weaken the language on coal and the United States is on board as long as it applies only to “unabated” oil and gas.

Canada backed the coal language last year, but Guilbeault says it cannot get behind adding oil and gas.

He says the federal government does not have jurisdiction over natural resources and backing the language could risk a lawsuit from the provinces that Ottawa could not win.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2022.

WE ARE INSTITUTIONALIZED TO WORK

Many Prefer to be Employer Dependent Despite Influencers Claiming 9-5 Is Repulsive

on November 17, 2022
By Nick Kossovan


I empathize with people who dislike the idea of working 9-5. Who likes the idea of constantly putting aside their authentic self so they fit in and being under management’s control, who can let you go at any time

Recent layoffs at Meta, Twitter, Redfin, Shopify, Flipboard, Dapper, et al. are reminders that:

You do not own your job.

All jobs are temporary and disposable.

You are a free agent.

You should consistently save no less than 20% of every paycheck.

You should constantly be building skills that add value to your employability.

I understand the appeal of 9-5.

All the turmoil in the job market over the past four decades due to recessions, jobs being sent overseas, erratic consumer demands, a worldwide pandemic, and today’s supply chain issues coupled with runaway inflation has made downsizing so common that when the media announces layoffs, we barely shrug our shoulders. Yet, despite the constant turbulence in the job market, wishful thinking makes many believe a “steady job” is not the oxymoron it has become but is still more stable and less risky than going out on your own.

A self-employed person (an entrepreneur or freelancer) is gambling with their livelihood. Despite what people preach, it takes more than strategy and hard work to succeed in the non-9-5 world; luck plays a significant role. First, you need to resonate with a large audience and then—here is the hard part—offer something of value your audience is willing to you pay for.

Years ago, the point that luck is a key component in achieving success was made to me on a Friday morning, around 2:30 AM, in New York City’s Times Square. It had stopped raining. My friend was trying to hail a taxi to get us back to Hackensack, New Jersey. I took out a cigarette and realized I did not have a lighter. A hunched-over man was walking by, so I asked him for a light. Without uttering a word, he pulled out a Zippo. I commented on how beautiful the neon lights looked, reflecting off the wet pavement. My new friend snapped shut his Zippo. As he walked away, he said, “For every lightbulb on Broadway, there are a thousand broken hearts.”

Internet talking heads, peddling lessons they have barely learned, preach that the entrepreneur/freelancer lifestyle should be everyone’s dream. They would like nothing more than to start a #HireYourself movement. Conveniently they do not mention the loneliness, fear, constant instability, and chronic worry that often come with such a lifestyle.

Nowadays, there’s so much noise around the best way to earn a living; much of it is just made-up stories by influencers, a subjective label, trying to manipulate you for their benefit.

A sentence designed to make you unhappy: If you work a 9 to 5 job, you are working for someone else’s dreams. Is it not possible that working for someone else helps you to live your dream? Your dream could be to save enough money to retire at 55. Your dream could be to golf every weekend with a clear mind. (When you own a business, it’s on your mind 24/7.). Your dream could be as simple as making enough money to pay the rent, eat and enjoy a few of life’s pleasures while having two days off a week to chill. Today approximately 734 million people around the globe live on $2 a day, a 9-5 job that keeps them out of extreme poverty is an unimaginable dream.

There is no shame in wanting and being happy with a 9-5 job. Most people just want to show up, perform their duties, get paid and have evenings and weekends to enjoy their lives and try to accumulate some savings—a financial cushion for the inevitable “Sorry, we no longer need you.”

Not everyone wants to work from home, have a side hustle or become a millionaire. Money is not everything. (Gasp!) The happiest people I know are those chasing a purpose instead of money.

A trend among influencers is to tell their followers to quit their jobs because they are being exploited, so they, too, can make $5,000 by creating content such as writing a blog or a newsletter, podcasting, or making videos. Yes, it is possible not to work a 9-5, as millions do, but you will work, and you will constantly be hustling for your next gig.

Influencers make their money by selling dreams, hopes, and emotions. Their business model is telling their followers what they want to hear. In order to make money, they must tell thousands of people they have a sure-fire 5 Easy Ways to Make Money methodology and then digitally reel you in to buy their book and courses or to attend their virtual boot camp to learn the secrets and skills that will free you from, God forbid, relying on an employer to earn a living.

I am sure your social media feeds, like mine, are full of self-serving motivational quotes and posts designed to make people, especially those who have not yet settled on a career path (READ: young, impressionable, haven’t yet taken on full adult responsibilities), feel guilty if they want to be a doctor, accountant, engineer, or chef.

At my age, I am deeply ingrained in the corporate world; thus, it is easy for me to see through these attempts to make those who have chosen to be an employee miserable. In my opinion, their sales pitch is equivalent to, You may be good at working on someone’s dream, but you do not feel and look good. So why not blow off your 9-5 to become a millionaire and get plastic surgery?

So, what if a person is happy trading their time for money?

Everyone has different circumstances. Being an employee is far more secure, especially if you adopt the habit of saving 20%, than going on your own.

Many people buy into the self-serving narratives influencers sell. First, they write a blog, but as much as they try, they cannot get traffic to their blog. Then they write a book; only it does not sell because there are 1,000s of books evangelizing what they are evangelizing. Next, they set up a YouTube channel and upload their homemade video, Ten Ways to Cook Eggs. DAMN! NO VIEWS!

Much of the craziness, toxicity, and photoshopped pictures that primarily populate social media are desperate attempts to generate the number of followers and viewership believed to be a requirement to becoming an influencer and escaping their 9-5.

Random people on the internet bragging about their supposed four-hour work week gives many the idea that hustling 24/7 is the life they should be leading.

Welcome to the hustle culture.

I have seen firsthand the consequences of participating in the hustle culture.Constantly feeling the urge to be busy. (A recipe for inducing anxiety.)

Wanting to make everyone around them join the “productivity” cult.

Being disrespectful to those around them whom they perceive as less ambitious than they are.
Feeling guilty when spending leisurely, socializing, or having fun.

The definition of success varies from person to person. How someone defines their success is personal. You are no less human because a 9-5 job works for you, as it does for most people. Do not let “influencers,” whose purpose is to make you unhappy for being an employee and then conveniently sell you their solution to the unhappiness they created, steer you otherwise—just do not forget to save 20%.

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Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan

THERE ARE NO NDP SENATORS

Senators pass Liberal dental benefit for kids, housing benefit for renters



OTTAWA — Senators have passed a bill that will allow low- and middle-income families to access government money to help care for their kids’ dental care, starting as early as Dec. 1.

The dental benefit was a compromise between the Liberals and NDP, as part of the supply-and-confidence agreement that will see the New Democrats support the minority government until 2025.

The Liberals are working to create a dental insurance program, but have created a new benefit to allow qualifying families to get help in the meantime.

Families with a household income lower than $90,000 who do not have private insurance can apply for up to $650 per child under the age of 12.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the portal to apply is expected to open on Dec. 1.

Bill C-31, which also includes a one-time housing benefit of $500 for low-income renters, still needs royal assent before it is signed into law.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2022.