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Brent Wittmeier

@wittmeier.bsky.social
741 followers 716 following 631 posts

Former reporter, politico, university instructor, brewery drone and seminarian. Always digging for cheap records.

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Reposted by Brent Wittmeier
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 10/09/2026
Looks like OpenAI may have stolen another mathematicians work.
Screenshot of an X post by user Valerio Capraro (@ValerioCapraro) featuring text followed by an embedded photo of a man in glasses and a dark sweater against a forested outdoor background.
The post text reads:
"BREAKING: OpenAI might have stolen another major proof.
In a detailed Mastodon post, which I report in full in the comments, Andreas Thom presents several pieces of evidence suggesting that OpenAI may have trained Astra on conversations in which he and Gábor Kun were working on Gromov's soficity conjecture, one of the ten problems OpenAI later announced Astra had solved.
I know Andreas. We met several times early in our careers. He is an exceptional mathematician, a leading expert on sofic and hyperlinear groups, and one of the most respected scholars in the field. He has spent two decades working on this problem.
If his account is correct, this is not a minor dispute over attribution. It would mean that unpublished human work was absorbed into a model and then presented to the world as a breakthrough by the model itself.
And if the allegations raised by Levent Alpöge, Tristan Buckmaster, and now Andreas Thom are all substantiated, we are no longer looking at isolated incidents.
We may be looking at one of the greatest intellectual scandals in the history of science.
AI is not discovering new mathematics.
AI is stealing human discovery."
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 01/10/2026
“Alberta government and the federally owned Trans Mountain Corporation would each own 45% of the pipeline, with … Pembina Pipeline Corporation owning a 10% stake through the construction phase.” Mark Carney said a new pipeline had to be privately financed, but now taxpayers are on the hook again.
cbc.ca
West Coast oil pipeline becomes 1st project designated in national interest | CBC News
The federal and Alberta governments have announced that a proposed pipeline carrying one million barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the B.C. coast has become the first project designated in the nati...
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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 02/10/2026
Why, it is almost as if this is the sort of blatantly unconstitutional anti-Indigenous horseshit we'd have expected from Pierre Poilievre. Summing up much of Carney's time as PM so far.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Donald Trump gave Mark Carney a once-in-a-generation political opportunity. He didn’t hesitate! He used that opportunity to stand beside Danielle Smith, that pillar of national unity.
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Orlagh O’Kelly @orlaghokelly.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Must read @patricklennox.bsky.social @thewalrus.ca thewalrus.ca/alberta-sepa...
thewalrus.ca
Alberta Separatism Is Built on a Big Lie | The Walrus
Danielle Smith has turned western grievance into a national unity crisis
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Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 24/09/2026
Poppity-pop, goes the big bubble, poppity-pop, the economy is gonna die.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Build Canada Dumb
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”
APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This feels like a small victory in a world where the former UN Special Envoy on Climate is proving himself to be an extremely capable arsonist.
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rev recluse @revrecluse.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
55 years ago tonight: www.vintageed... #yeg #edmonton #VelvetUnderground #CaptainBeefheart
vintageedmonton.com
Vintage Edmonton: Quicksliver/Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band/The Velvet Underground, (September 18, 1971)
Articles, photos, ads, audio, and film from Edmonton, Alberta's history
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Between the gerrymandering, the foreign interference and the crippled public body I’m not sure we’re getting an actual election in 2027.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
RIP.
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Reposted by Brent Wittmeier
Blake Shaffer 🇨🇦 @blakeshaffer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Almost *too* on the nose in illustrating the decline of the American empire…
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Hilarious and true. Even his discussion of the byelection, Kenney bragged about out how he had won many times in South Calgary. He should try his luck again!
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Tough choice: Coward or Dyck?
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Heard federal national revenue minister François-Philippe Champagne on CBC this morning talking about when he visits Edmonton, he thinks of data centres. EVEN WORSE THAN ASSOCIATING EDMONTON WITH A GIANT MALL.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Canada should retaliate by changing the name to Lake Dumbass.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Launch him into space
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Beautiful.
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Reposted by Brent Wittmeier
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 25/08/2026
Today's newsletter is the AI Hater's Manifesto - where generative AI fails technically, economically, and morally. From its ever-changing products and rate limits to its ever-increasing demands for trillions of dollars, LLMs exhaust everything they touch. www.wheresyoured.at/the-ai-hater...
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
To the people who say some or a lot of the anti data center stuff is hysteria and a lot of the claims are overblown and it’s a moral panic and much of the backlash is rooted in hatred towards AI and the oligarchs thrusting it on us all and colluding with the trump administration, I say for me yes
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Shannon Phillips 🇨🇦 @sphillipsab.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I look forward to October 20, when the Government of Canada is past the separatist referendum and discovers two things: 1. the “rule of law” means upholding and enforcing the Canada Health Act, and 2. Canadians support Medicare as part of our national identity.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Earlier this summer, I strolled past a painting on my way to the record rack at the local Goodwill. I looked closer and realized it could be a legit painting. I googled the name and settled on Carrie Hillyard (1866-1952). It was $30.
Painting of a young woman by a tree.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Petronationalism is still a form of nationalism, right?
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A sincere question for urban planning nerds. I understand the need for densification, for simplifying regulations. But is there any discomfort about over reliance on markets? I don’t see recognition that markets (esp deregulated ones) lead to perverse outcomes.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It’s almost like we need Canada.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Where is the federal government? albertapolitics.ca/2026/08/coun...
albertapolitics.ca
Count on it, UCP red tape will make it easier to lose your health care - Alberta Politics
Where the hell is Dale Nally now that we actually need him?  For those of you who missed the memo, Mr. Nally is the “minister of red tape reduction” in Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party Gover...
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
All of the separatist stupidity and Danielle Smith doesn’t even get to be Governor.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation protecting us when our own government won’t.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Albertans have been coddled by dim-witted and venal pundits, cynical and dim-witted politicians, and dim-witted corporations hell-bent on destroying any semblance of governance. In the end, all we will have are cowboy hats, pointless grievances, and dim-witted political appointees.
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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
While building pipelines. www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...
ctvnews.ca
Federal government announces $34M to help communities cope with climate change
The federal government is spending $34 million on projects to make Canadian communities more resilient to the effects of climate change.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I think part of the pundit crack-up has been that they missed the big call of their lifetimes about which was the bigger threat to America: wokeness or authoritarianism. And rather than admitting that, they are doubling down on wokeness, while ignoring an authoritarianism that does not threaten them
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André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Governments Are Gambling with Canadians’ Well-Being. In Ontario, which has allowed private online betting operators since 2022, the average player loses almost $4,000 a year, by Renze Nauta thetyee.ca/Analysis/202... via @thetyee.ca
thetyee.ca
Governments Are Gambling with Canadians’ Well-Being | The Tyee
In Ontario, which has allowed private online betting operators since 2022, the average player loses almost $4,000 a year.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Being PM is Carney’s side hustle.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Had a fb marketplace interaction yesterday with a guy who said Castro/Trudeau brought in 10M immigrants, put them up in hotels and gave them credit cards with $40k/year. Nice friendly guy and then he saw my No to the Nine lawn sign and things just got weird.
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Senator Paula Simons 🇨🇦 @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I was in the grocery store yesterday, buying South African lemons, because I refuse to buy American produce. I vividly remember the days when Canadians boycotted South African fruit and wine, to protest apartheid. Now, the world’s turned upside down.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Rightwing astroturf organization whose former employee was the previous PREMIER OF ALBERTA. Their righteous indignation is a PR sham to devalue public service. When CTF jokers run for office, they become the most venal, transactional, overtly anti-public-interest politicians imaginable.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
“Don’t be evil” is exactly what supervillains would use as a corporate motto, before unveiling their plans in the second act.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Record collecting is a fun hobby because you can easily buy a stone cold classic for less than $3.
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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Anything, and I mean anything, Carney says or does will be rationalized. He can use right-wing rhetoric and institute policy indistinguishable from Poilievre's and someone will show up to defend it. Every single time. I've never seen anything like this in my lifetime.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Torrential rain and wildfire smoke at the same time! Flooded basements and impassable roads. I’m really glad UN climate envoy Mark Carney is committing tax dollars to locking us into decades of expanded oil production as these conditions worsen.
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Tons of peoples' Claude chats are exposed on Google. Cryptocurrency keys, API keys, login credentials, legal discussions, more. This happened with ChatGPT last year. And Claude too. There's clearly an ongoing issue with search engines indexing peoples' AI chats www.404media.co/tons-of-peop...
404media.co
Tons of Peoples’ Claude Chats and Creations are Exposed on Google
Claude users are creating public share links, but probably don't realize that means their chats are now ending up in Google searches where anyone can dig through them.
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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Reminder that Carney has cut funding for Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and Indigenous Services. And he has rolled back climate protections, abandoned emissions targets, and is building more pipelines.
Carney:

"The wildfire situation has escalated significantly over the last three weeks across the country, and particularly in Northwestern Ontario. 

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their communities, not knowing if their homes will survive.  
 
On behalf of Canadians, I want to thank the brave firefighters, first responders, Indigenous and local leaders who are working tirelessly to keep people safe.
 
Our government is in close contact with provincial, municipal, and Indigenous partners and stands ready to provide any additional support as needed."
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Campaign like Churchill, govern like Chamberlain.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Our Canadian PM was a UN climate envoy and wrote a book on the subject prior to taking office, then called climate action divisive and unrealistic. Centrists have no real convictions other than power and appeasement, so even when they talk about climate, nobody’s going to believe them.
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Dani always looks out for her constituents, and they are definitely not us.
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Jessica Green @greenprofgreen.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
this went from privately-funded to taxpayer-funded real quick. a climate catastrophe and a political bait and switch all in one.
theglobeandmail.com
Taxpayers asked to foot the bill for another pipeline
Absence of private-sector proponent to lead what is being touted as a nation-building project is striking
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Brent Wittmeier @wittmeier.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
It’s a money printing machine, just not for the people of Canada. Most Canadians will have to pay for the pleasure of choking on wildfire smoke, after which we eventually wind up in privatized hospitals.
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Samuel @samuel.fm · 04/07/2026
today is a celebration of the US narrowly escaping British tyranny. unfortunately there’s no counterfactual of what would’ve happened if the British maintained territory in north america but we can only assume it would’ve been terrible
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Bentley ****TALK CLIMATE**** @bigclimate.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
You know what fixes this, folks? Of course you do! A brand new pipeline will fix that up fine!! That's some of that good ol' #CarneyClimateAction™️! A total bargain at just 40 billion of your dollars!! The best part? You don't have to do anything, it's ALREADY HAPPENING! #MarkCarne#cdnpoli #abpoli
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