Today on Q with Tom Power: viral sensation Rebecca Black and dancer Hannah Alissa Richardson

Myles Anderson and Sean Lecomber troll with the punches when they discuss whether kids should use social media. Then, are stripes superior to polka dots? Rob Pue and Kathleen McGee refuse to be clothed-minded with their patter on these patterns.

How protests in Iran threaten the country's regime; Chinese police have set up outposts in Canada; Kelly Clarkson's best Kellyoke covers; Becky Toyne reviews Iain Reid's new thriller, We Spread; The Linda Lindas drop by for an after-school hangout; and more.

Celebrated Turkish writer Ahmet Altan was freed on April 14, 2021, after international pressure helped secure his release. He’d spent four years and seven months in prison. This episode by IDEAS producer Mary Lynk won an Amnesty International Canada Media Award for outstanding human rights reporting.

The way dogs are portrayed in literature reflects the problems in our real-world relationships to canines, says PhD student Molly Labenski, who says people want animals in their lives as “accessories” that can be easily discarded.

Unlike humans, cats aren't burdened with questions about love, death and the meaning of life. They have no need for philosophy at all. So what's to be learned from this "unexamined" way of being? English philosopher John Gray explains.

In just 15 minutes, Ed Robertson wrote the theme song to one of the most successful sitcoms of the 21st century – and how that collaboration came to be happened just as fast.

An incredibly addictive pop record comparable to no other contemporary release.

The rising cost of what sometimes seems to be everything has been one of the top stories this year. And the most expensive time of the year is now here. How have you gotten through the holidays in tough times previously, and what solutions have you come up with this year?

An early and severe flu season is starting to hit Canadian kids and Canadian hospitals. It's led to sickness, and in some cases death, among children. Are you or your kids getting the flu shot?

A calmer-than-usual concept set from the virtuoso saxophonist.

Second set from Glaswegian electro duo, successfully expanding their debut’s palette.

Authoritatively compiled 60-track collection of RnB classics.

An impeccably-crafted soundscape that hints at quiet violence and unresolved tensions.

Balances intensity and introspection well, befitting the game’s conflicted protagonist.

Essential listening for anyone fond of trouser-ruining horror scores.

A perfect partnership of movie and music, albeit of the creepiest kind.

A partial victory, and one buoyed by some outstanding surprise turns.

NTT DATA Business Solutions has announced that Guernsey Ports has embarked on a strategic partnership to implement Hexagon's Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution.

Supply Chain and Omnichannel Commerce Solutions provider Manhattan Associates Inc., has reported revenue of $266.7 million for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. GAAP diluted earnings per share for Q3 2024 was $1.03 compared to $0.79 in Q3 2023. Non-GAAP adjusted diluted earnings per share for Q3 2024 was $1.35 compared to $1.05 in Q3 2023.

Shipster, a custom shipping integration platform, and Futura Retail Solutions, an advanced retail and warehouse management software, have announced a strategic partnership to target growing omni-channel retail markets.

By Georgia Leybourne, Chief Marketing Officer, Linnworks.

Success in ecommerce and retail today hinges on consumer convenience. It is fast becoming a powerful tool in the e-commerce industry, transforming the way businesses engage with their customers and increasing sales through social commerce.

With the holiday season fast approaching, retail payroll teams around the world are bracing for the strain of seasonal hiring.

A $107 million surge in contributions has made Senator John Kerry the best-financed challenger in presidential campaign history.

Wikimedia Commons Philadelphia County Prison

In an important move that returns federal government policy to the Obama era, today President Biden signed an executive order calling on the Department of Justice to ends its use of private prisons.  While this executive order does not end federal government reliance on for-profit immigration detention centers, it does require that no future contracts with private prison operators be entered into between the federal government and private prison corporations CoreCivic, GEO Group and others.  Use of the executive order to end private for-profit prison reliance has proven difficult politically as Obama ended their use before the 2016 election, but once Trump entered the White House, he rescinded the policy and made robust use of private prisons for federal prisoners as well as immigration detention.

 On March 11, 2024, Donald Trump claimed that cutting Social Security and Medicare could help him cut the national debt tremendously. (See video above). On March 22, 2024, the House GOP announced cuts including a plan to raise the retirement age. This was the second straight year that the House GOP proposed a budget with deep Social Security and Medicare cuts. Trump started promising cuts to Social Security and Medicare in his second term before some audiences as early as January of 2020.  At a Fox News Town Hall in March of 2020, again promised to cut Social Security and Medicare.

All of this talk of cuts forms the prelude to last Thursday's debate which included a question about cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Biden gave a straight-forward answer saying that no cuts are necessary if we raise the Social Security tax to the same level for all. Currently, those making high incomes pay much lower rates than those making low incomes. As President Biden explained at the debate:

Right now, everybody making under $170,000 pays 6 percent of their income, of their paycheck, every single time they get a paycheck, [But] millionaires pay 1 percent – 1 percent. So . . . I would not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody under $400,000. After that, I begin to make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share, by increasing from 1 percent beyond, to be able to guarantee the program for life.

That provides a sensible and efficient means of securing Social Security. And, Biden never varies from that position.

Trump on the other hand, takes different positions with different audiences and covers the full spectrum of options. According to NBC News:

An NBC News examination found that Trump's views have zigzagged over the years — from calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” in 2000 to endorsing then-Rep. Paul Ryan’s plans to restructure Medicare in 2012 to positioning himself as the protector of those programs in 2016 to taking aim at some retirement spending in his White House budgets (which never became law).

Essentially we know Trump is lying because of his radically divergent positions over time. In fact, in 2016 he promised to preserve Social Security and Medicare, and then in his budgets he proposed cuts.

 In recent months, Trump opened the way for Social Security and Medicare cuts and refuses to disclaim the GOP plan to cut those programs as, shown above. Which brings us to the his debate comments in response to a question about entitlement cuts. While Biden gave a simple and clear statement of how he intends to save Social Security and Medicare, Trump attacked Biden's honesty and switched the topic to immigration, Russia, Ukraine, a mysterious laptop, the VA, and luxury hotels. Trump was incoherent. Remarkably, he never addressed his recent comments about Social Security and Medicare cuts, nor the GOP plan to cut Social Security and Medicare. Trump provided no explanation of his prior budget proposals including Social Security and Medicare cuts.  As stated in the Washington Post: "Protecting Social Security . . . was also a major theme of Trump’s 2016 campaign. His avowed stance, however, is at odds with Trump’s own record as president: Each of his White House budget proposals included cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs."

Trump has staked out so many positions on Social Security that no matter what he says he lies. The only thing we know for sure about Trump and entitlements is that despite campaign promises to the contrary he included Social Security and Medicare cuts in each of his annual budget proposals as President. Given the GOP commitment to cutting Social Security and Medicare a vote for any GOP candidate is a vote to slash your Social Security and Medicare benefits by about 30 percent. If Trump gets elected the GOP will have a clear path to gutting Social Security and Medicare as he promised to do in a second term in 2020, and regardless of any lies or gibberish he feeds the voters today. 

ASPIRATIONAL young soccer player Mohamed Al-Taay is fighting for his place in the run-on squad with the Western Sydney Wanderers in the prestigious National Youth League.

PLANS to build a commuter car park at the old bus depot in Carlingford could be scrapped in favour of developing seniors housing or residential flats.

TEMPERATURES remain wintry this week — but not everybody’s shivering. From sunbathers to surfers — Manly Beach saw some hardy souls out.

The Penrith Panthers celebrated their 50th season gala dinner with the induction of four revered Panthers into the Panthers Hall of Fame.

jaygooby starred dandavison/delta

Start working on the feature at the beginning of the day. If you don't finish by the end of the day, delete it all and start over the next day. You're allowed to keep unit tests you wrote.

I’ve had a lot of conversations since Tuesday revolving around the question of why Donald Trump won. The economy and inflation. Kamala Harris didn’t do this or that. Sexism and racism. The border. That trans-inmate ad that ran a jillion times. And so on. via Pocket

LLM-powered multiagent persona simulation for imagination enhancement and business insights. - microsoft/TinyTroupe

She was chasing a bunch of other rich boys too. Willys friends called her The Mattress I think the options dried up for both so they both had to settle for each other

El gobierno del alcalde Jaume Collboni está trazando un muy complicado plan para blindar el distrito de Ciutat Vella contra los monocultivos comerciales. via Pocket

Over the past month I’ve been exploring the rapidly evolving world of Large Language Models (LLM). It’s now accessible enough to run a LLM on a Raspberry Pi smarter than the original ChatGPT (November 2022). A modest desktop or laptop supports even smarter AI.

La Coordinadora Vecinal del Baix Besòs ha emitido un comunicado para apremiar a las administraciones públicas a aportar una solución definitiva al barraquismo con presencia en los márgenes del río Besòs desde hace años. via Pocket