Wednesday Night #2178

COP28 has ended – a day late – with a legally non-binding Agreement that tepidly endorses a transition away from fossil fuels. Likely the best that could be hoped for given the venue of the meeting and the scandalous number of oil and gas lobbyists surrounding the delegates.
In case you missed it, thanks to Russia’s influence, COP29 will be hosted by Azerbaijan. That should be fun!
In a First, Nations at Climate Summit Agree to Move Away From Fossil Fuels
Nearly 200 countries convened by the United Nations approved a milestone plan to ramp up renewable energy and transition away from coal, oil and gas. Of course, The new deal is not legally binding and can’t, on its own, force any country to act. Yet many of the politicians, environmentalists and business leaders gathered in Dubai hoped it would send a message to investors and policymakers that the shift away from fossil fuels was unstoppable.
Désirée McGraw: We must not pass the buck on climate to the next generation
Imperfect as they are, COPs are the only global game in town. That’s why I went to Dubai as the only delegate from Quebec’s opposition parties.

There is no good news about the Israel-Hamas war. Yes, on Tuesday, 153 members of the UN General Assembly, including Canada, voted in favour of a resolution calling for a ceasefire, but who can enforce it? The US voted against the resolution, but Biden does seem to be growing increasingly fed up with Israeli intransigence – Rifts between Biden and Netanyahu spill into public view
And, Dehumanization of Palestinians enable Israeli attacks according to UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, who said the refugee agency is on the verge of collapsing in Gaza, adding that an immediate ceasefire is needed to end “hell on earth” in Gaza.
Everyone has their preferred -and multiple- sources of news and opinion about the Israel-Hamas war. We recommend Thomas Friedman’s What Worries Me About the Gaza War After My Trip to Arab States, which pulls no punches. He quotes David Rosenberg’s recent essay in Haaretz: “even if the fighting ends in a decisive victory over Hamas, Israel will be saddled with a problem that almost defies solution. …the problem goes much deeper than who will be responsible for law and order and providing basic services: Whoever is in charge will have to rebuild the wreckage that is Gaza and create a functioning economy.”
Why we should consider a transitional administration for Gaza
…the best — or least bad — solution seems to be to consider setting up a transitional administration in Gaza with three objectives: to ensure security, to work towards reconstruction and to lay the foundations for political stability and economic development.
Such a model was successful in the pacification and reconstruction mission in East Timor in 1999 and in Kosovo the same year. The United Nations might even consider reviving its Trusteeship Council, which has been dormant since 1994.

David French: What the University Presidents Got Right and Wrong About Antisemitic Speech
Thanks to John Curtin for the refreshing Antisemitism: A Guide for the Perplexed

So, it is official: Putin will seek another term as Russian president, aiming to extend his rule of over two decades Coincidentally (or not) a new report is calling for wider sanctions against Russia, new supply chain controls, and increased accountability for international mining companies involved with regimes funding Wagner. The Blood Gold Report reveals that Russia has laundered $2.5 billion of African gold since February 2022. And, yes, there is a Canadian connection. We have not been able to establish whether publication of the Report is related to the Tenth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (CoSP10) (a sort-of mini pre-COP gathering pending signature of more Parties) taking place in Atlanta.

It is also presumed that the news that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s team says he has vanished in Russia’s prison system is linked to Putin’s plan to seek another term.
Supporters say he has left penal colony, whereabouts unknown
Transfers between prisons can take weeks in Russia
Aides link timing to start of Putin re-election campaign

Any good news? Yes, some.
And the crowd went wild. As the US Federal Reserve left interest rates the same on Wednesday, it also filled investors with joy by saying it foresees lowering rates by 75 basis points in 2024. Wall Street reacted with ecstasy, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its first record close in almost two years, recouping all losses from Jerome Powell’s seemingly victorious war on inflation.  (Bloomberg)

Eight years of conservative rule in Poland ends as Donald Tusk becomes prime minister
Under the heading Why 2024 isn’t all bad news, Ian Bremmer looks for silver linings amid dark clouds, explains how America’s “pivot to Asia” is going, and answers questions on Zelensky’s visit to Washington, Poland’s post-election role, etc. He starts with the relative stability of US-China relations

Wednesday and Thursday, the Geminids offer the best meteor show of the year.
Geminids meteor shower 2023: Where to see and peak times
Under ideal conditions, stargazers could see more than one meteor each minute streak across the night sky.

AI
AI is forcing teachers to confront an existential question
AI is forcing educators to rethink plagiarism guidelines, grading and even lesson plans. But above all, it is demanding that they decide what education is really about — that teachers ask, in short, “What are we here for, anyway?”
See below The future of the world is intelligent: Insights from the World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Summit – long read!

US politics
We have not been following the daily breathless reports of every poll or pronouncement. If there is something really important, we know someone will let us know. However, for what it is worth …
Why Nikki Haley polls better against Joe Biden than Donald Trump does
A POLITICO analysis shows the former South Carolina governor is winning swaths of moderate voters who’d pick Joe Biden if Donald Trump wins the GOP nomination.

Congratulations Marina Boulos-Winton on accomplishing miracles!
Chez Doris resumes frontline services suspended temporarily in September
Chez Doris was established at the western edge of downtown in 1977 as a day shelter for women in difficulty. It functioned that way for many years. But unhoused women are far more highly represented today among its clientèle — the average client is in her 50s — and the organization’s mandate has expanded.
The organization’s operating budget, which was $750,000 when [Marina Boulos-Winton] became executive director in 2014, has expanded considerably. Before the pandemic, it was $2.4 million and there were 24 employees. Today the budget is close to $8 million and there is a staff of 65.

Congratulations also in order for Alexandra T. Greenhill, appointed to the Board of Directors of the Cancer Research Society (CRS).
“A distinguished physician, Dr. Greenhill is also founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Careteam Technologies, a novel digital platform dedicated to supporting complex health, and an innovation entrepreneur within the healthcare system.”

And to Paul Shrivastava elected co-president of The Club of Rome, a platform for leading scientists, economists, policy and business leaders to collaborate and promote leading edge thinking.

BlackBerry Cancels Spinoff of Internet-of-Things Unit, Names New CEO
BlackBerry will reorganize to keep that business in house alongside its cybersecurity unit, the Waterloo, Canada-based company said in a statement Monday. The decision was made “with a view to each division operating independently and on a profitable and cashflow-positive basis going forward,” it said. The software company also appointed John Giamatteo, who has been president of its cybersecurity business since 2021, as chief executive officer.

Such a joy to see Peter F. Trent in full flight on the topic of politicians’ salaries: Dinner tab small potatoes next to city salaries
You should run for public office to give back to your community, not to earn an above-average income.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The following item has special meaning for me as I was privileged to serve on the nascent board of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation (now Equitas) which Professor Humphrey co-founded with with Thérèse Casgrain, and chaired. Also, we knew the Montreal family of the (unnamed below) French delegate who laid claim to being the author of the first draft of the declaration and consequently received the Nobel Prize. We wonder if it was rescinded.
The John Peters Humphrey archive added to the Canada Memory of the World Register
(McGill) To mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 1948), McGill University and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO are pleased to announce the addition of the archives of John Peters Humphrey to the Canada Memory of the World Register.
This archive includes the first handwritten draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as typed subsequent versions written by Humphrey (1905-1995), Canadian law professor and human rights advocate.
Humphrey was a Professor of Law at McGill University when he was invited to work with a committee of the United Nations Secretariat chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt to help the organization draft a statement on human rights. Following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, Humphrey continued working with the UN in various roles, returning to McGill to serve as Professor of Law and Political Science in 1966. A French delegate claimed to have written the first draft of the declaration and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968. However, Humphrey’s first handwritten drafts were later discovered and published. He is now widely accepted as the Declaration’s first author.

Varia
What did you search the most on Google this year?
Google has published an interactive list of the most popular search terms in countries around the globe. Host Marco Werman will speak to an expert about what the search terms reveal about people’s interests worldwide, what we have in common and what sets us apart.

Allison Hanes: Are book clubs an antidote to troubled times?
Founded by Jonathan Goodman, the founder and chair of Montreal pharmaceutical company Knight Therapeutics and a devoted community builder, and Montreal financier and philanthropist Stephen Jarislowsky. So Goodman pulled in a few more nearby neighbours, like Steven Cummings, a businessman who was founding chair of the Montreal Holocaust Museum board, and David Cape, the president of Montreal cosmetics firm Groupe Marcelle. Tim Dunn, director of Landau Fine Art, and Goodman’s father-in-law, Mark Caplan, round out the group.

How has Quebec English changed over the past 50 years?
A great deal has changed in Canada and Quebec since that study appeared, so a team of researchers in the Linguistics Department at McGill University, led by Prof. Charles Boberg, has undertaken a replication of the 1972 study, reprising 50 of the original questions for comparative analysis and adding some new ones. All adult speakers of Canadian English are invited to participate in this project by responding to our questionnaire.
Click for survey access

Long reads
Why 2024 isn’t all bad news
As we turn to 2024, however, there are also positive stories that deserve much more attention than they receive – trends that promise more stability in geopolitics, more resilience for the global economy, and greater dynamism for the international system. … Though Americans hold their national political institutions in historically low regard, that’s not true at the local level. In fact, the decentralization of US politics has allowed for a free market of political strategies driving some of the most remarkable growth and human capital attraction stories in the developed world.

The future of the world is intelligent: Insights from the World Economic Forum’s AI Governance Summit

The massive meteor shower that convinced people the world was ending
On the night of Nov. 12-13, [1833] so many meteors burned through the Earth’s atmosphere that they seemed to turn the night sky into morning. Eyewitnesses claimed the air was filled with brilliant “snowflakes,” while newspapers dubbed it “the shower of stars.” In oral histories, Native American tribes referred to it as “the night the stars fell.”