michelle foreman

The way we killed NFTs by not using them or buying into the hype, I feel like we could've done the same with AI. But people are lazy. They don't want to learn new skills. And now AI is more common than it ever should've been and killing the planet at a fast rate.

We're in a weird era where a guy gets publicly shamed for running his sprinklers on a Tuesday, while a data center the size of a Costco quietly drains a reservoir so AI can generate a picture of your cat as a medieval knight. And the data center gets a tax incentive for it.

THAT'S RIGHT, MOTHERFUCKERS, I WON A WEBBY AWARD. Here's my 5-word speech. #webbys

Food banks are reporting the highest-ever usage in Canadian history.

I wanted to run the London Marathon but training takes too long and is too hard as a pudgy 47yo woman, so I got an Uber to the finish line. It's not fair that athletic people get to gatekeep long-distance running. I'm still a Marathon runner! This is what AI 'writers' sound like

Always a short form Census receiver, never a long form Census receiver. One day it'll be my turn

Ignoring the Canadian Census isn’t harmless. It shortchanges your own community. When people don’t respond, Stats Can undercounts your area, and that translates into lost funding, fewer services, and weaker representation. You’re essentially kneecapping your own neighbourhood.

Interesting to me that the Met Gala gets compared to the Hunger Games more than the Oscars red carpet or the Super Bowl halftime show. All of these involve spectacle, celebrities, and extreme displays of wealth. Notably, only one of them is a charity for a public institution (the Met Gala, which is a fundraiser for The Met Museum). The difference, I think, is that the Met Gala leans more into unusual outfits. That's natural, given that it's a fundraiser for a costume institute. But to me, the perpetual criticism — which comes up year after year — speaks to how people see fashion as frivolous and not as "serious" as other corners of culture, such as sports or movies. The more extreme the outfit, the more offends the public, even if such work is an expression of artisanship and craft, no different from an artist creating a painting. I've said it before, but Western culture has a long history of seeing clothes as frivolous, even if everyone engages in self-fashioning. And it's notable that "serious" areas of culture are often masculine-coded (e.g., architecture), while feminine-coded interests, such as fashion, are considered frivolous. One can reasonably question whether the Bezos are trying to whitewash their reputation through the fashion industry (although I would note that we are all participating on Elon Musk's platform, so I see some hypocrisy among some who criticize the Met Gala but won't deactivate their accounts). But I also think we can tax the rich and encourage them to donate to public causes, including institutions like the Met. Given my interests, I also think we should take fashion and clothing more seriously. Thankfully, some real researchers and academics are making headway in that regard.

Today is the Met Gala. Here are some things to keep in mind while engaging in Met Gala discourse: — The Met Gala is a fundraising event that supports the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. — The Costume Institute preserves historical garments, curates public exhibitions, and educates people on how clothing reflects and shapes culture. — In a political climate when public arts funding is being limited or contested, private fundraising efforts like this are even more important. — Many organizations hold galas to raise money for their missions. This includes organizations focused on the arts, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and medical research. The Met is not the only institution that holds galas. — The Met Gala raises money through ticket sales. Major fashion houses such as Gucci often purchase entire tables and invite celebrities to attend the event in their designs. For brands, this functions as a form of marketing, similar to advertising or runway shows. But here, that spending also helps fund a public cultural institution. — Members of the public can later visit the museum and see exhibitions that contextualize fashion as part of cultural history. And their tickets are relatively affordable because they have been subsidized by these fundraisers. — Not all clothing is meant to be practical or "presentable" by conventional standards. Some garments are made as artistic statements. Even if you wouldn’t wear something to the office, you can still appreciate the creativity and technical craft behind it. — Events like this provide work for countless tailors, embroiderers, textile specialists, and artisans. These people often work on other types of cultural productions, such as the costuming for films, theatre, and TV shows. The Met Gala helps sustain these craft industries and thus keeps the production quality high for the areas of culture you care about. — Traditional black tie is never wrong for a gala. In fact, this is how men traditionally dressed for the Met Gala for much of this event's history. Not everyone has the personality to pull off an avant-garde outfit, so they shouldn't be forced into one.

They do things like this because they consider white men and women as the standard for their governing rules, that is the very definition of institutional racism.

My abortion is the kind people love to judge the most. I wasn’t underage, I wasn’t assaulted, and there was no medical emergency. I got pregnant because I knowingly had unprotected sex, no accident, no rare failure, just my own choices. By their standards, it was “irresponsible.” I knew abortion was an option, and I took it. Not because I couldn’t survive it or raise a child, I simply didn’t want one. I wanted sex without becoming a parent, and I chose not to carry the pregnancy. There’s no redemption arc here. I don’t regret it. Nothing terrible happened to me afterward, no punishment, no downfall. My life is still good. And that reality alone challenges everything people like to assume about women who make this choice.

The last federally run residential school in Canada closed in 1997. Kivalliq Hall in Rankin Inlet. x.com/604donny/statu…

Love seeing NB/the Maritimes make the QI Twitter feed!

I just read that women in their 40’s are just becoming who they were when they were 16 except this time they love her. And I cannot stop thinking about this.

🚨 Hezbollah only exists because Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and stayed. Hamas only exists because Israel invaded Palestine and stayed. You don't get to police how people resist.

The world wept when 9-11 happened. People are bombed and blown to pieces in Beirut and nobody gives a shit.

"Never take your geographical luck for granted. The safety, freedom and comfort you live in are luxuries denied to millions. Not because they deserve any less, but because the world is unjust."

you couldn’t make empire records today because retail is too understaffed to set an ensemble cast in a brick and mortar store

There has been over 100 air strikes on Lebanon by Israel today. This is after Trump said the ceasefire includes Lebanon. Who’s in charge? Doesn’t look like the United States is.