It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Saturday, November 19, 2022
FAREWELL FRIENDS
Twitter Employees Who Decided To Leave Share Their Heartfelt Goodbyes
Elon Musk gave long-time Twitter employees an option to leave, and many did with a clear conscience and message to the world's richest man.
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Elon Musk's first month as Twitter owner has been turbulent and erratic. He initially laid off more than 3,000 workers and then gave the remaining employees an ultimatum — join Musk's Twitter 2.0 bandwagon, or take the severance on your way out.
Musk said he only wanted "extremely hardcore" people. Maybe he should check back in on Tesla, where this week 30,000 Model X cars were recalled because of faulty passenger air bags.
It's unclear how many people have exited Twitter due to Musk's last email, but a number of ex-Tweeps posted powerful messages, showing solidarity with their former co-workers and extending messages to their colleagues who quit.
From walking away from your dream gig, to understanding the complications of not being able to simply pack up and quit, here are a bunch of ex-Tweeps who made sure their voice was heard amid the chaos.
Volkswagen Joins Mastodon as Concerns Over Twitter Mount
Story by Monica Raymunt • Yesterday
(Bloomberg) -- Volkswagen AG has set up accounts on fast-growing Twitter Inc. alternative Mastodon amid questions over the future of the social network under Elon Musk.
Europe’s biggest carmaker on Friday confirmed it created the handles @VWGroup and @Cariad_Tech on Mastodon for communications related to its group and software unit, respectively.
“Mastodon is an attractive platform that we would like to try out,” the company said in a statement.
Volkswagen is among a number of major car brands that have paused advertising on Twitter following Musk’s buyout of the platform. While the German manufacturer maintains several Twitter accounts, it has been distributing less content in recent days, and its premium brand Audi has halted posting altogether.
Mastodon, an open-source micro-blogging platform run by a German non-profit, has seen a surge in sign-ups since Musk took over Twitter. Uncertainty hangs over Twitter’s ability to continue normal operations after the company dismissed its executive team and roughly half the workforce in Musk’s first few days in charge.
When asked, I give Twitter a 50-50 chance of survival. Current Chief Twit Elon Musk is riding his dwindling staff hard while tweeting joking memes(opens in new tab) about the 16-year-old platform's demise. It's time for me - and you - to take Mastodon seriously.
The distributed social media platform is not Twitter and, to be honest, it's almost unfair to compare it to the beleaguered social media platform. I should know. I tried.
In 2017, when Twitter was still riding relatively high and showed no signs of slowing down or suffering a billionaire-sparked implosion, I started checking out Mastodon(opens in new tab). It was, like Peach(opens in new tab) before it (remember that?!), a bit of a viral sensation.
The open-source, widely distributed microblogging service was what you'd build if you wanted something that cut out everything you hated about Twitter, like overbearing curation algorithms, character limits, hate speech, and an uncontrollable firehose of information.
People got very excited about it...until they used it. I predicted that the distributed nature and difficulty of finding much of anything - including other people - on the platform would spell its doom. I was wrong.
However, Mastodon has stubbornly refused to change much at all which is why it's managed to operate under the radar for so many years and why Twitter refugees are now rediscovering all its joys and frustrations.
After the most recent Twitter meltdown on Twitter (Nov. 17), in which Musk delivered an ultimatum(opens in new tab) that may have resulted in a huge number of employees walking, froze the code, and reportedly locked the doors of its San Francisco headquarters to protect the systems from disenfranchised employees, many on Twitter feared the worst and wondered if Twitter would even survive into the morning. It did, but many started arriving at Mastodon like disoriented explorers, stumbling in from the wilderness.
It's a vaguely familiar platform on the Web, with Toots (instead of tweets) in a middle column and a large box on the left featuring your handle and avatar and asking in very Twitter fashion, "What's on your mind?" There are Direct Messages, searchable Hashtags, Bookmarks, and Lists. But there are also confusing elements like the name of your chosen server on Mastodon (I chose "Federated" because it was the most general). And there's the main feed, which is less of a "feed" and more of a bulletin board.
Mastodon is, at the moment, like a giant Twitter commiseration board and one that is struggling under the weight of all these newbies.
There is, occasionally, an air of 'I told you so,' on Mastodon, which I find annoying.
As Richard Littler wrote on the platform: "People grumbling that #Mastodon is slow at the moment... You just turned up with 1 million people in a tiny, rural village and you're complaining there's a queue to get into the only tearoom..."
The platform - if you can load it - is filled with Toots talking about what went wrong on Twitter and trying to explain to the new arrivals why everything is so strange on Mastodon.
One of the biggest differences between Twitter and Mastodon is that while Mastodon has an "Explore" tab that aggregates popular toots from various servers, most of what you get on the platform is a push-and-pull model. Meaning that, unlike Twitter, there is no steady flow of posts. It can make the whole thing feel more static.
Mastodon also engenders a different mindset. If you're used to leaning into your computer or phone screen and Tweets decrying the end of Twitter flowing in fast and furious, you can lean back with Mastodon and read five or six lengthy and possibly thoughtful posts on Mastodon - about the same thing.
There is, occasionally, an air of "I told you so," on Mastodon, which I find annoying. Twitter didn't have to implode. It has great bones and a truly devoted user base. It just needs better leadership and a real plan, not random poorly thought-out tests that undermine its credibility and business.
Mastodon is not fundamentally better, but it is surviving and now thriving. Former and new users are digging up Mastodon from its deep freeze of neglect (or indifference). They're finding that, like the wooly mammoths discovered under the tundra, it's remarkably well-preserved and unchanged.
The new attention may be slowing it down now, but I think that it could lead to some rapid changes that allow, for instance, a more reliable mobile app and more Twitter-like ways of finding content, and people. There may be some monetization options that can help fund better servers.
This is Mastodon's moment to raise its trunk and roar. I hope we're ready for it and that Mastodon is, too.
TORY Braid: Smith's choices make her seem more moderate. But is she really changing?
The new premier is trying to mute her reputation for entertaining extreme views. But is she really changing? Not likely
Author of the article: Don Braid • Calgary Herald Publishing date:Nov 18, 2022 •
Premier Danielle Smith speaks to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce at the Westin Hotel on Friday. Jim Wells/Postmedia
Dr. John Cowell, the new administrator of AHS, had an interesting response when I asked for his views on vaccination and masking mandates.
Cowell said that’s a question for either Health Minister Jason Copping or the new chief medical officer of health, Dr. Mark Joffe.
“My focus is not on public health. It’s laser focused on availability and robustness of the care system.”
Good health-care delivery would seem to be about public health, but never mind that.
The point is that everybody in government is dancing around Premier Danielle Smith’s views on these issues.
It’s pretty certain that Cowell and Joffe, both veterans of AHS and Alberta health care, are in line with traditional views on the benefits of mask use and widespread public vaccination.
Smith appointed them both, and they’re good choices. They also make her seem more moderate than many people expected. It’s part of an effort to appease Albertans spooked by her record of challenging expert advice in many areas, especially health care.
But intellectual oddity is part of Smith’s political DNA. People who worked with her earlier in her elected career still describe how they’d spend hours trying to talk her out of the latest weird theory. Right now, she has the whole government stuck on an absurd point.
She will not recommend mask use. Therefore, nobody else can, either.
Political people have a group mind for words from the top. They hear, and comply as efficiently as an ant colony.
The premier says people should wear a mask if they’re so inclined. But every time she’s asked if she actually recommends masking, she won’t say the words. She simply returns to the same point — wear one if you like — as if she’s advising on a hat for the day.
But it’s one thing to say she won’t force people to wear masks and quite another to refuse to say they should, especially in the face of a multi-virus wave that’s challenging hospitals right now.
Smith has been premier for only five weeks. She may not yet fully realize how much power her words carry. Many Albertans actually listen to the messages from a premier and take them seriously.
Her refusal to recommend masks very likely diminishes their use and results in some school kids getting sick. Masks really do help prevent spread of illness, as people like Cowell and Joffe have surely known for their entire medical careers.
But in Smith’s UCP there’s a small but powerful core of people who think masks are part of a communist plot to subject us all. To them, the sight of a masked person signals cowardice and stupidity.
Smith is playing to them, while at the same time presenting herself as moderate in health care.
On the economic front, her Friday speech certainly pleased a friendly audience at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
remier Danielle Smith and Deborah Yedlin, Chamber president and CEO, during a lunch hour address on Friday. Jim Wells/Postmedia But her government still seems determined to bring in reforms that most Albertans simply don’t want.
There’s little desire for an Alberta Pension Plan — in fact, any effort to actually create one could panic people close to pension age. The UCP is also pressing for an Alberta revenue agency to collect personal provincial income tax. That means filling out two returns.
Did that in Quebec years ago, don’t care to again.
Rural municipalities and politicians are also solidly opposed to the drive for an Alberta police force to replace the RCMP.
Big-city dwellers would still have their local forces and might not care much. But this is one expensive, complex project. Serous reform of the RCMP is much more sensible.
Then there’s the contentious Sovereignty Act, coming in less than two weeks
At tis early point we see a premier who’s very astute about managing the effect of her attitudes and ideas. She is a very good speaker and a genuinely friendly, likable person.
But after five weeks of her premiership, Albertans are fully entitled to ask a question. What will happen if she wins a four-year majority next spring?
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald Twitter: @DonBraid
TORY Varcoe: Smith prepared to unleash sovereignty act on Ottawa's oilpatch emissions cap
In a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, the new premier tried to stake out ground as a fiscal conservative who is prepared to invest
Author of the article:Chris Varcoe • Calgary Herald Publishing date:Nov 18, 2022 • 9
Premier Danielle Smith speaks at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday.
Jim Wells/Postmedia
Article content
Premier Danielle Smith says she is prepared to use the Alberta sovereignty act to fight Ottawa over its attempt to cap emissions in the Canadian oil and gas sector — or require farmers to cut emissions when they use nitrogen-based fertilizers.
And while she will look to implement more spending to help Albertans who are facing soaring bills, Smith suggested she’s not about to open the spending taps in next year’s budget, even as the province expects to record a mammoth $13.2-billion surplus this year.
In her first speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce on Friday, the new UCP leader tried to stake out ground as a fiscal conservative who is prepared to invest in new infrastructure, while also demonstrating she’s willing to fight with the federal government.
The promised legislation that dominated the UCP leadership race this summer — to be called the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act — could be quickly used on two fronts: Ottawa’s attempts to curb emissions from the energy and agriculture sectors.
“They cannot take unilateral action to phase out our industry. We have exclusive jurisdiction,” Smith told a crowd of several hundred business leaders.
“This will be the first use of the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act. One (case) will be, no we are not going to reduce fertilizer use arbitrarily by 30 per cent . . . And, no, we are not going to allow you to put an arbitrary restriction on our oil and natural gas industry that will force them to reduce emissions 42 per cent in eight years — we’re not going to do that.”
The speech and ensuing fireside chat with Calgary chamber CEO Deborah Yedlin touched on a number of issues that are being closely watched by the business community, including the need to attract investment and workers, and the ongoing federal-provincial tussle over the climate file.
Earlier this year, the federal government released a new emissions reduction blueprint for the country as Canada seeks to reach a net-zero target by 2050. It’s also moving ahead with plans to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector.
Ottawa projects total emissions from the industry will drop by 42 per cent (from 2019 levels) by 2030, although details on how that will happen are still being developed.
However, it has raised the ire of the industry, including members of the Pathways Alliance, a group of large oilsands producers who have committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 but who believe the interim target is unfeasible.
The Liberal government is seeking feedback on two ways it could get there: through a cap-and-trade system that establishes a hard limit on industry emissions, or by setting an industry-specific carbon price that could be raised (above the national levy) to push producers to lower emissions.
Ottawa has also raised the prospect of setting a 30 per cent reduction on nitrogen-based fertilizer emissions as a goal, although officials said it wouldn’t be a mandatory federal target.
In an interview, Smith said she would first want to seek a solution that would use diplomacy before turning to the sovereignty act.
“If we can get to some kind of agreement that we all want to reduce emissions but we’re going to do it in our own way in Alberta, then we won’t have to use it,” she added.
“But I’ve just heard way too much feedback from the business community about how devastating it would be to share value and the ability to attract investment if Ottawa proceeded unilaterally on that. So we’ve got to protect our industry.”
The act aims to authorize the province to refuse to enforce any federal law or policy “that attacks Alberta’s interests or our provincial rights.“
While provinces have jurisdiction under the Constitution over natural resource development, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2021 that the national carbon price is constitutional.
On Friday, the chiefs of Treaties 6, 7, and 8 came out in opposition to the sovereignty act, calling it unconstitutional and illegal.
However, the message of battling Ottawa over energy policy will resonate in some corners.
Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta, said if the province completes its due diligence before activating the legislation, he thinks it’s defensible to use the act over the oilpatch emissions cap.
“With the oil and gas emissions cap, the two proposals both are terrible. Both will not work. Both will crush the industry . . . and so we would love to see that as an opportunity to exercise the rights of Alberta industry and the Alberta government,” Legge said after the speech.
“It’d be a great first test of constitutionality.”
Yedlin said the cap “is not something that is good either for the province or for the country” because it would require shutting in one million barrels per day of production from the oilsands alone.
A view of Canadian Natural Resources’ oilsands mining operation near Fort McKay.
Postmedia file photo
Smith also spoke Friday about the economic outlook and warnings about “stormy skies ahead,” with rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, higher interest rates and concerns of a global recession.
The government will have to deal with affordability issues that are hitting Alberta consumers, particularly through higher utility costs.
The premier also ruled out implementing a provincial sales tax, said she’d like to see a long-term debt repayment strategy put in place, and will make sure the government doesn’t significantly ramp up operating spending.
She pegged the province’s annual structural deficit at between $8 billion and $10 billion.
“We also have to make sure that just because we happen to be in this era of higher amounts of revenue, that we do not lose control over year-over-year spending growth,” she said.
“We are not out of the woods yet. We have been bailed out by oil and natural gas revenues. And I am grateful for that.”
Neil Young Wants the Media to Focus on Climate Change
OUTSOURCED DRIVERLESS TRAIN
Hitachi Rail will build, maintain, operate
equipment for new Toronto subway line
| November 19, 2022
Ontario Line deal worth C$9 billion
A preliminary rendering of a driverless subway train to be built by Hitachi Rail for Toronto’s Ontario Line. Hitachi Rail
TORONTO — Hitachi Rail and its consortium partners will build, maintain, and operate driverless subway trains for Toronto’s 15.6-kilometer (9.7-mile) Ontario Line project under a C$9 billion agreement, Hitachi announced this week.
The agreement with Infrastructure Ontario and regional transportation agency Metrolinx covers rolling stock, and well as related systems, and operations and maintenance for 30 years. The 15-station line, including eight underground stops, will see trains operate as frequently as 90-second intervals and will be capable of moving up to 30,000 people per hour. It will connect to three other subway lines as well as GO Transit commuter trains.
Rolling stock will include features such as onboard wi-fi, charging stations, wheelchair areas, dedicated bicycle spaces, and continuous, connected railcars. The equipment will be capable of speeds up to 80 kph (50 mph).
“As a world leader in autonomous metro systems, we’re hugely excited to help transform Toronto’s Toronto’s transit network by delivering the new Ontario Line,” Andrew Barr, group CEO, Hitachi Rail, said in a press release. “… Our role delivering maintenance and operations will see us have a lasting presence in Toronto for a generation to come.”
Project groundbreaking was held in March 2022. It is expected to open in 2030 or 2031.
Hitachi is the lead member of the Connect 6ix consortium, which also includes Plenary Americas, Webuild Group, Transdev Canada Inc, IBI Group Professional Services (Canada) Inc, NGE Contracing Inc., and financial advisors National Bank Financial Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
The Ontario Line subway. Metrolinx
Meet Dirt the Cat: Nevada Northern Railway’s rail cat
A stray feline adopted by railroad shop workers is world-famous
Dirt the Cat
Born in Nevada Northern Railway’s cavernous locomotive shop, the aptly named Dirt the Cat is famous around the world for his fur stained by soot and oil and his habit of personally greeting visitors to the museum in Ely, Nevada.
One of the world’s most famous cats is a railroader. Dirt, his fur coat stained by a lifetime amid the soot and grease of Nevada Northern Railway’s 114-year-old engine-servicing facility, is nobody’s pet and everybody’s friend. The people-loving shop cat has an international following thanks to a series of widely shared social media posts.
His fame is even more remarkable given his humble start. In 2008, a feral cat gave birth to a litter of kittens under the railway’s rotary snowplow, which was parked on a shop track. The mother soon moved her kittens, but for some reason Dirt was left behind. Shop workers and locomotive crews noticed the abandoned kitten hiding in a floor drain in the shop and, thanks to strategically placed open cans of tuna fish, won his trust. He has lived in the shop ever since. Despite the noise, smoke, and steam, it’s the only home Dirt has ever known, and the shop workers are his family.
The railroad’s staff and volunteers are Dirt’s family and the building housing the machine shop and engine house is the only home he’s ever known.
The Nevada Northern Railway, a designated National Historic Landmark located in Ely, Nevada, prides itself on authentically recreating steam-era operations and Dirt fits that mission. After all, maintenance facilities in railroading’s early days often had a resident cat to keep mice and rats in check. But Dirt had his own ideas of his role, and decided it was his job to greet visitors to the cavernous engine house and machine shop complex he calls home. Now 15 years old and showing his age, he still manages to meet most tour groups, pose for photos, and doesn’t mind the occasional gentle scratch behind the ears.
A Nevada Northern shop worker pauses in mid-project to give Dirt a little attention.
His habit of rolling on the shop floor and sleeping on coal piles left its mark on his orange and white markings, but he is well cared-for by the railway’s staff and volunteers who make sure he has plenty of food, an electric heating pad to sleep on when winter comes, and regular veterinary care. You would expect nothing less considering Dirt’s nickname around the railroad is “King of the Shop.”
For information on visiting the Nevada Northern Railway, visit its website at www.nnry.org
Crews preparing 4-6-4 No. 2816 for systemwide trip
Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816. Steve Glischinski
CALGARY, Alberta — Canadian Pacific has released a video of 4-6-4 No. 2816 being moved into its Calgary shop for overhaul. According to CP, No. 2816 is “being prepped for a special cross-continental trip from Calgary to Mexico City to celebrate completion of the proposed CP-KCS merger, pending regulatory approval, and the connecting of a continent through the creation of CPKC.”
In the video, CP 1001, now in testing to become the world’s first hydrogen-powered line haul freight locomotive, pulls the 1930-built 4-6-4 into the shop.
Canadian Pacific 2816, also known as the Empress was built by Montreal Locomotive Works in December 1930. After being used for heavy passenger service, the locomotive was retired in 1960. In 1964 it was acquired by Nelson Blount’s Steamtown USA then located in Vermont. CP reacquired the locomotive in 1998 and after an extensive restoration, it was returned to service in 2001. The 4-6-4 traveled the CP system until its steam program was suspended in 2012. The locomotive was then stored in Calgary until 2020 when it was briefly fired up for a video shoot during the holiday season.
In 2021 CP President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel stated that if the Surface Transportation Board approves CP’s merger with Kansas City Southern, the railway would celebrate by bringing No. 2816 back under steam to lead a tour from Canada through the United States and into Mexico.
