‘
“Muse doesn’t check with me, it doesn’t tell me this guy has messaged and then it gives the guy my address, agrees to his price and literally tells him to come right now, that’s the crazy part,” Robb said.
When the buyer showed up, Muse even told him, “Yep I’m here!” on Robb’s behalf, when he wasn’t home.
‘
#AI #Cybersecurity
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/meta-agent-muse-concerns-9.7389277
Few things awaken the senses like a rooster attacking from behind one’s back.
(Was checking in on a neighbour’s chickens)
Last part of alt-text (part 3 of 3).
More references in piece:
As of Wednesday's update, the storm and ensuing flooding had forced more than 100 people from their homes and led to more than 6,000 reports of flooded basements.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-canada-day-july-1-flood-support-city-council-9.7270849
She had 'enhanced' flood coverage, but her insurer still denied her claim
Some Ottawa residents are discovering their policies don't cover damage caused by groundwater
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-flooding-insurance-growndwater-9.7268234
/2
More alt-text (part 2 of 3)
references:
Climate Change Keeps Adding to the List of Uninsurable Assets, Allianz Executive Says
Bloomberg
https://archive.md/ZN3Gf
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-01/list-of-uninsurable-assets-keeps-growing-allianz-executive-says
Some Ottawa residents have been without hot water since the flooding on July 1. One 91-year-old has been told his water heater won't be fixed for days to come.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7266458
Wrote something for the local paper.
Found myself coming to the realization that if we aren't going to collectively respond to the climate crisis by rapidly reducing emissions then effectively we are all on our own.
The paper didn't put the letter on it's website. So, the text is in alt-text.
![It is either drought or deluge in the hotter and hotter Anthropocene. Rainfall will not be evenly distributed. It’s heat dome after heat dome, flooding deluge after flooding deluge.
Every reappearance of an El Nino marks the next ratchet up in global temperatures. The heat and disruption that comes with it is amplified by the ever increasing accumulation of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that we appear unwilling to stop dumping into the atmosphere.
And this year’s El Nino is a doozy. Jeff Berradelli, a meteorologist, recently pointed out that the, “Super El Niño ocean threshold [has been] reached, 6 weeks earlier than any other time in history”. He went on to add, “we are in uncharted territory”, and we should expect stronger heat domes, floods – and severe weather this winter.
We have to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. Yet, many would argue that heroic efforts are inconvenient. We are just too busy; gutting flooded basements in Ottawa, sandbagging river-frontage against descending high water in Manitoba, or fighting approaching wildfires in yet another boreal town.](https://sfo3.digitaloceanspaces.com/cdn.mastodon.energy/media_attachments/files/116/997/671/962/212/368/original/b3982bc40a6e9c7f.jpeg)
European heatwave wiped €2bn from value of grain crop, analysis estimates
France and Hungary worst hit by lost production of maize and wheat
https://www.ft.com/content/c528e40c-4ea4-44ca-ae1c-3738de5cb6d8
`
A small town west of Montreal has decided to officially recognize trees as living beings with rights of their own, in what an environmental organization describes as a first in Quebec and Canada.
A resolution adopted by Terrasse-Vaudreuil city council on June 9 declares that trees are worthy of protection, "including the right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and to regeneration."
'
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/terrasse-vaudreil-quebec-tree-rights-9.7243634
The map below gives a sense of the geography the piece about the mid-transition refers too. The two gas stations mentioned are underlined in red.
Form Quebec's gas station map: https://regieessencequebec.ca/
Last part of the text from the screenshot in previous toot:
-------
To avoid getting stuck in the middle, a household ought to plan on electrifying everything they depend on when it comes time for replacement. Switch to an EV. Replace furnaces with heat pumps. Choose a heat pump hot water heater.
The electric grid will always be there. But expect no guarantee that the gas station you frequent, or the propane supplier you depend on, will still be around.
Adding more of the text in the screenshot to alt-text.
Wrote something for the local paper.
It is about the mid-transition and how locals shouldn't count on the gas stations that are half way between their exurb and the city always being there as EV adoption picks up.
It was inspired by this @TransitionShow interview with Emily Grubert from 2022.
Designing the Mid-transition
https://xenetwork.org/ets/episodes/episode-185-designing-the-mid-transition/
#energytransition #climate #energy
The paper didn't publish the letter on their website so sadly no link. Part of text in alt-text.
`
Certain things I find frustrating and other things I find stunning. The inability of Americans to face the reality that the US military is showing signs of rot in its operational execution is definitely the latter. Americans like to boast about their military and often put it on a pedestal. Criticizing the military is therefore something that Americans are loathe to do—but in this case it is also dangerous and possibly destructive to the future of the country.
'
https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/us-losses-fighting-iran-signs-of
`
Remember, however, that people often want black or white answers. Is it getting wetter or drier? As we saw this week in Atlanta, “both” is a viable answer.
By the way, dry conditions associated with drought can also amplify flooding because extreme rain falling on hard, dry surfaces increases runoff rate like a paved surface.
'
#drought #climatecrisis
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2026/05/22/6-teachable-moments-from-an-atlanta-rush-hour-downpour/
The direct link in the original post breaks when the next edition comes out.
Direct link: https://lowdownonline.com/water-bankruptcy-is-here-but-theres-hope/
So here is an archived link: https://archive.ph/0RwYf
Some references for the article above.
Global Water Bankruptcy
Living Beyond our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era
United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health
https://unu.edu/inweh/collection/global-water-bankruptcy
Era of ‘global water bankruptcy’ is here, UN report says
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/20/era-of-global-water-bankruptcy-is-here-un-report-says
World enters era of ‘global water bankruptcy’
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166800
`
Although Canada has seven per cent of the world’s renewable water, only part of that annual precipitation falls where Canadians live. As our northern latitudes get disproportionately hotter because of the increasing volume of carbon accumulating in the atmosphere, the hydrological cycles that Canadian regions depend on have become unreliable. A hotter climate compounds the problem as normal levels of precipitation do not alleviate losses from increased evaporation.
'
https://lowdownonline.com/water-bankruptcy-is-here-but-theres-hope/
Here is the link to the piece I wrote. The link will revert to being for subscribers only after one week.
#drought
#climatecrisis tecrisis
https://lowdownonline.com/facing-climate-crises-premiers-achieve-new-highs-with-lows/
Also here is an image of the whole opinion page for posterity.
Wrote something for the local paper.
Eastern Canada, like most of the country is in a nasty drought. We are pretty obviously now in the depths of the climate crisis with obvious economic, societal and landscape consequences.
The piece points out that it is at the provincial level in Canada where the operational changes needed to rapidly decarbonize need to occur. Yet, provincial premiers are oblivious to the crisis, and though not mentioned are making things worse.
https://lowdownonline.com/facing-climate-crises-premiers-achieve-new-highs-with-lows/
Increasingly bigger hailstones in a hotter region that pulverizes the windshields of Albertan’s light trucks is driving insurers out of the province.
‘
CUMIS, which is a subsidiary of Co-operators General Insurance, said it's making a "necessary" decision to leave the Alberta market. Its decision is in direct response to "ongoing challenges" in the market, the announcement said, including the rising cost of auto claims.
‘
#insurance
#climatecrisis
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cumis-auto-insurance-alberta-1.7629772