iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Then you're not going to love how she said “I think the AI can be dangerous in the fact that it can make people think something’s real that’s not" and kept repeating how they never actually wore sweatshirts, there were no actual sweatshirts.

In the local news interview she gave as she tries to save face, she said “I think the AI can be dangerous in the fact that it can make people think something’s real that’s not,” ...she thinks she should be able to wave her hands and be out of trouble because she didn't wear a sweater in meatspace.

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She's leaning into the 'AI' of it all because she's pretending that not physically wearing a sweatshirt means nothing actually happened in the real world, so nothing happened and it's all just a joke GOD IT'S A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT or whatever.

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It's an 'apology' meant to save face, and while she has said some of the things her crisis PR advisor told her to say, it's still mealy-mouthed horseshit. To be clear - she did not give CBC any comment, directly, they quoted her from an interview she gave to a local/synpathetic news station.

John Muller @mrjohnmuller.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Reposted by Trevor Bennett

Postmedia should be forced to register as an agent for a foreign government.

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 18/09/2026

local man who dictates that humans can only have jobs if there's proof the work can't be done by AI shocked to learn that forcing people to use AI for it's own sake like a solution in search of a problem results in remaining people hucking absolute garbage no one cares about at each other.

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 18/09/2026

nu-uh the world outside the US isn't real it's just like a video game where it only renders as it's being looked at and then it disappears again.

and that's borne out by how consistently americans will shoot themselves in the foot and work against their own current best interests to benefit and advantage a class of people who don't give a shit about them, but whose ranks they assume they will one day join. and i find that sad.

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John Steinbeck once paraphrased Ronald Wright to say that "socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."

as such, when presented with societies where the floor has been significantly raised, they dismiss, reject, and point to the fact that their ceilings are so high they might as well not exist. without, of course, acknowledging that they're still standing on a dirt floor.

and that's the crux of it, isn't it? culturally, they've been conditioned to look out for number one, and to overemphasize what they feel they deserve, personally, individually. they've been trained to want less for others and to frame things as a zero sum, where a winner must stand over a loser.

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the kinds of things that get carted out as evidence, typically, are examples of aspirational privilege, and the kinds of perks and conditions that select individuals can attain through luck, money, and extraordinary achievement. it's toxically individualistic.

but i do think it's interesting that when presented with actual, tangible examples of things that are being done well, at scale, to the benefit of all, the response is to downplay, reject, talk about high taxes in those places, and then argue that everything's great in the US. they're "free".

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i think this poster's response is partially coming from a place of - frankly - coping, and i get that humans have to find the joy in their daily lives lest they give up on those lives. i'm not arguing that people should spend all day ruminating on adversity and failure.

you know my position - american exceptionalism is a disease. it's fundamentally harmful to people who have been indoctrinated with it, and it causes them to harm and disregard everyone else. even the 'good guys' see the US as fundamentally superior and look down on the rest of the world.

this is an interesting exchange, and I think it says a lot about the american psyche. i think it's the false equivalence of 'theoretical exceptionally nice things which are available to certain individuals' with the actual conditions on the ground for all.

A social media exchange on BlueSky.
a post by rax 'levon honkers' king that reads:
"'oh so you want china to beat us' bro what the hell do i care leave me alone to the humble life i am trying to build for myself"
is quote tweeted by A.R. Moxon with the text
"Same people who seem to think it's bad for China to beat us at AI are perfectly fine with China beating us at high speed rail, solar energy, wind energy, shall we go on".
First reply from Creighton reads
"We aren't allowed to have good things in this country so it's only unacceptable if China beats us in something that fuckin sucks"
and a poster whose details have been readacted replies, to argue:
"We do have good things. Don't let the constant doom and gloom bombardment convince you otherwise."

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The acknowledgment of which, of course, is an act of aggression. 🙄

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 16/09/2026

He doesn’t, but also, he won’t.

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WHY AREN’T YOU DOING WHAT I WANT I’M THE BOSS OF HALIFAX

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 16/09/2026

That, but also “okay, council followed their process and came to a decision but fuck that actually let me actively undermine them at every available turn I’M A BIG STRONG BOY I’M MR MAYOR”

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 15/09/2026

Trick question. Everyone falls in love with Erika Ishii. (but do go listen regardless)

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 13/09/2026

You deserve whatever you want as long as you keep paying us for your tokens, and anyone who tells you otherwise is just jealous that you're such an advanced and evolved (and utterly complacent and uncritical) being. Learned helplessness disguised as limitless potential.

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 13/09/2026

of course they're encouraging it. the entire commercial premise of the generative AI push is that people who Know Things are gatekeeping pricks, and fuck them very much for investing their energy in developing expertise. In fact, you should forgo your own knowledge & judgement and just ask Chat.

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 09/09/2026

I have described it as exactly such, three tubes together! I very much appreciate the offer and may very well hit you up for said support. I think joins are ones of the things that intimidate me most - I have been sticking to small projects where it’s all one piece if yarn.

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 08/09/2026

Canadian here, can confirm.

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I haven’t been good enough to get into big projects like sweaters and things - I mostly lean into the meditative aspect of repeated, simple, small projects. My house runneth over with dishcloths. I’ve been doing baby hats and am starting to fiddle with finger puppets for the IWK.

Perhaps one day I’ll be brave enough to try painting but that still feels like a bridge too far for now - good on you, pal.

But I truly think the fact that it’s a concrete artifact of a dismissal of experience, skill, and expertise is a huge part of the appeal. Generative AI is anti-intellectualism made manifest. I am as good (or better) than the elitist assholes who ‘gatekeep’ with their ‘effort’ and this proves it.

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They can depict the twisted world they want to see without pushback - and because they define themselves more by what they hate than by what they love, the fact that it ‘triggers’ and ‘owns’ the ‘libs’ makes that visual language an immediate and integral part of the identity.

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Fascists love generative AI because it allows them the uncapped ‘outputs’ they feel that they’re owed without having to deal with whiny fucking artists.

of course I am having fun. Excelling is what is allowed to be fun. For real for real, though, cooking and knitting have been very therapeutic in trying to undo a lot of that programming. I am allowed to enjoy the process, even if I don’t ‘win’ the activity!

ah, Former Gifted Kid, praised for achievements and having deeply internalized the notion that success is the only acceptable outcome, and embarking on a practise in which one does not immediately excel is terrifying? ...or ...is that just me, then?

Lupita Nihongo @otsumamiboy.blacksky.app · 01/09/2026

Reposted by Trevor Bennett

The value of Graham Platner is that right up until all his red flags came toppling down upon him is that he is the most naked example of the amount of grace & credibility Simply Being White grants you. Compared to Abdul El-Sayed, who has to re-earn every ounce of credibility he has on a daily basis.

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Trevor Bennett @tgabben.me · 01/09/2026

I get that ‘this would be catastrophic, so let’s just say it’ll never happen’ has become the vibe in American media in the last decade, but this is… something.

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So maybe I have a type, what of it? Maybe we’re playing another half-elf Sorlock. Maybe that’s none of your stinkin’ business.

the media/messaging strategy is a combination of DARVO, accusing others of the exact things you've done, and blatant lies, which their media have no interest in pushing back on, and which their techbros are happy to go along with. not great.

yeah, okay big man I'm more focussed in on the fact that in a minute-long clip, he specifically accused Carney of a number of actions and attitudes that his boss is the one who has taken. They're aware of what they're doing, and they just keep lying that someone else did it, actually.