The Old Guardian

12/19/2025

City Council Backtracks on School Lands After Coordinated Resident Pushback

Toronto City Council has voted to remove public school properties from future stages of the Avenues Phase 2 rezoning. The decision applies city-wide, not just to the initial pilot wards.

This outcome followed sustained pressure from residents and residents’ associations across multiple neighbourhoods. What began as a local concern escalated into a coordinated response once the broader implications became clear.

Key signals worth noting:

Council issued a direct instruction to the Chief Planner, indicating staff had overreached

The vote margin was decisive, suggesting political risk outweighed planning momentum

Protections were expanded beyond the originating ward, a rare move without prolonged committee cycling

This was not a rejection of density. It was a rejection of process without consent.

The larger Avenues framework remains intact, but this vote establishes an important boundary:
active school lands are not default development reserves.

The lesson is structural, not emotional.
Early engagement works. Sustained pressure works.
And when residents coordinate across wards, policy changes.

More files like this will follow. Planning always regroups.

The question is whether residents stay engaged when the language changes.

12/19/2025

Occupy Democrats This is exactly where Occupy Democrats loses credibility.

The New York Times report describes a disturbing environment and troubling anecdotes about underage models being present at Mar-a-Lago events in the 1990s. That alone is worth scrutiny. Full stop.

But Occupy jumps from that to:

“Trump was a potential child s*xual abuser”
“Trump was trying to run a s*x trafficking ring out of his resort”

That leap is not supported by what they’re citing.

Here’s the difference they’re deliberately blurring:

Reported anecdote: A 14-year-old model was brought to a party by a modeling agency, alcohol was offered, and her mother stayed close.

Occupy’s claim: This proves Trump was abusing children or running a trafficking operation.

Those are not the same thing. Not legally. Not evidentially. Not intellectually.

Even in the anecdote they highlight:

The mother was present the entire time.

There is no allegation of s*xual assault in that account.

Marla Maples allegedly warned the mother to protect her daughter (which, if true, actually cuts against the trafficking claim).

Maples disputes the quote, which Occupy conveniently downplays.

If Occupy wants to argue:

“This environment was inappropriate.” Fair.

“This deserves investigation.” Fair.

“Release all Epstein files.” Absolutely fair.

But asserting criminal guilt and a trafficking ring based on that excerpt is narrative inflation, not journalism.

This is the same mistake they accuse others of making:
starting with a conclusion, then reverse-engineering outrage to fit it.

If the truth is damning, it will stand on evidence.
If you have to exaggerate it to make it damning, you’re doing propaganda, not accountability.

Release the files.
Investigate everyone.
But stop pretending allegation equals proof when it suits your politics.

BREAKING: The New York Times publishes a DAMNING report on how teen models were brought to Mar-a-Lago for parties and how Trump’s wife BEGGED one mother to keep her teen away from Trump!

The NY Times interviewed 30 former employees of Jeffery Epstein in an examination into his relationship with Donald Trump, and their revelations are truly disturbing.

One section of the lengthy report focuses on Trump’s efforts to cultivate access to young women through modeling and would have them brought in to his parties at Mar-a-Lago.

“Tina Davis, who modeled for Ford in the mid-1990s, said in an interview that her Ford booker instructed her to get dressed up and attend a Mar-a-Lago party in late 1994. Just 14 and new to Miami, she was told to ‘dress s*xy,’ according to her mother, Sandra Coleman, who had accompanied her to Florida. Eight or nine other models came along on the bus. ‘All the girls were really young,’ Ms. Coleman recalled in an interview. ‘Some of them could have been in training bras.’”

“When they arrived at Mar-a-Lago, Ms. Coleman said, her daughter was promptly handed a glass of champagne. She took it away, but waiters kept offering more. Each time one of the middle-aged men at the party approached her daughter, Ms. Coleman would walk over and introduce herself as Ms. Davis’s mother.”

But that’s not even the worst of it:

“During a trip to the bathroom, they ran into Mr. Trump’s new wife, whom they had met earlier. Ms. Maples clasped her hands, Ms. Coleman recalled, and looked her in the eye. ‘Whatever you do, do not let her around any of these men, and especially my husband,’ she told Ms. Coleman. ‘Protect her.’”

This is so, so, so damning. What more evidence do we need that not only was Donald Trump a potential child s*xual abuser but also trying to run a s*x trafficking ring out of his resort?

We need the entirety of the Epstein files released and we need them NOW.

12/18/2025

The more you know…

12/18/2025

We as parents are doing our best.

12/18/2025

🚀 Space Roundup – December 16, 2025
From Mars to Europa, asteroids to exoplanets, this week’s headlines show that space science is not just surviving—it’s evolving.

🔭 Top Highlights This Week:

🟥 🔬 Science on Mars: New Academy Report
A major NASA-backed report outlines the scientific priorities for Mars exploration heading into 2026. It emphasizes astrobiology, subsurface water detection, and prepping for human landings.
🌍 [NASA Watch]

🧱 First Human Mars Landing Plan Detailed
A report dubbed 30-Cargo-300 lays out the blueprint for the first NASA-led crewed mission to Mars. Think: 30 tons of cargo, 300-day missions, and the most significant human step since Apollo.
📥 [IFLScience]

🌌 Planetary Society’s Best of 2025 Announced
Voted by global members, this year’s winners in space photography, mission milestones, and science achievements are a reminder of how inspiring space exploration still is.
🏆 [The Planetary Society]

🧬 RNA Building Blocks Found in NASA Asteroid Sample
A major astrobiology milestone: Scientists have detected components of RNA—a building block of life—in samples from Bennu, strengthening the case for organic chemistry in space.
🪨 [Physics World]

🛰️ TRAPPIST-1 and Habitable Worlds
New modeling work on the TRAPPIST-1 system is helping identify which of its Earth-sized planets might actually be habitable. Spoiler: it’s not as simple as "in the Goldilocks zone."
🪐 [Space.com]

🌍 Purdue Advances Space Research
From robotic systems to astronautical engineering, Purdue University continues to be a powerhouse for planetary science and human spaceflight development.
🏫 [Purdue]

🌋 Subsurface Water on Mars? Not So Fast.
New radar data may undermine previous claims of liquid water beneath Mars' surface. The dream’s not dead, but it’s more complex than we hoped.
🧊 [Universe Today]

☀️ NASA Plans Missions to Study Sun-Earth Interactions
Two new solar-focused missions will explore how solar activity affects Earth—and what that means for future human deep space travel.
🌞 [Aviation Week]

🌫️ Atmospheres Found on Lava Worlds & Molten Planets
Shock discovery: Even ultra-hot exoplanets may have thick atmospheres, upending our assumptions about planetary evolution under extreme heat.
🔥 [EurekAlert!]

🕷️ “Spider” Structure Found on Europa Named Damhán Alla
A new spider-like geological feature on Jupiter’s moon Europa has been officially named—and may offer clues about subsurface activity beneath the ice.
🌒 [Phys.org]

📡 JWST’s View of Dark Matter
The James Webb Space Telescope is helping open a new observational window into dark matter dynamics, giving us new insight into galaxy formation and cosmic structure.
🌌 [ASU News]

💬 From mission plans to molecular discoveries, the science is moving fast.
But every headline points to the same truth: space isn’t quiet. It’s alive.

Get the latest space exploration, innovation and astronomy news. Space.com celebrates humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier.

12/18/2025

For 25 years, a single “landmark” study was used to reassure regulators, courts, and the public that glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — was safe.

That study has now been retracted.

And not because of a minor error.

New reporting, including The Western Producer and CBC, shows that the study widely cited to defend glyphosate’s safety was ghostwritten by Monsanto employees, relied on unpublished company data, and involved authors who were paid by the manufacturer.

Let that sink in.

This wasn’t a disagreement between scientists.
This wasn’t “new evidence.”
This was corporate authorship disguised as independent science.

For decades, regulators pointed to this study. Companies leaned on it. Courts referenced it. Meanwhile, farmers, forestry workers, and everyday users were told there was “no credible evidence” of harm — even as cancer lawsuits mounted and internal documents told a different story.

Today, Bayer (which acquired Monsanto) is facing over 100,000 glyphosate-related lawsuits, while simultaneously asking the U.S. Supreme Court to shield it from liability — not by proving safety, but by arguing that federal labeling rules should override state-level failure-to-warn claims.

That timing matters.

So does history.

Monsanto was a major manufacturer of Agent Orange. Vietnam is still dealing with its consequences generations later. Now, the same corporate lineage is being forced to confront how glyphosate was defended — not through transparent science, but through influence and control.

This doesn’t mean every case is the same.
It doesn’t mean science is finished.
But it does mean the public was denied informed consent.

And once trust is broken at the scientific level, everything built on it deserves re-examination.

People are starting to look more closely — at chemical dependency in forestry and agriculture, at corporate lobbying, and at how “settled science” is sometimes manufactured rather than discovered.

That questioning isn’t radical.
It’s responsible.

Sources available on request.

Forest Management, Fire Maps, and Corporate Influence

12/18/2025

🧠 Weekly Neuroscience Update | Dec 9, 2025

Brain research this week pushed deeper into how sleep, speech, metabolism, and AI intersect with cognition and disease.

Singing mice and the roots of speech
Researchers studying vocal “singing” mice uncovered neural circuits strikingly similar to those used in human speech. This helps explain how complex vocal communication may have evolved and why speech disorders are so tightly linked to specific brain pathways.

Insomnia keeps the brain stuck in daytime mode
New findings show chronic insomnia prevents the brain from fully shifting into its nighttime state. Key circuits remain locked in alert mode, helping explain memory problems, mood instability, and long-term cognitive strain linked to poor sleep.

Diabetes and dementia are more connected than we thought
Emerging research strengthens the link between metabolic disease and neurodegeneration. Chronic high blood sugar appears to damage brain networks over time, increasing dementia risk. The takeaway is blunt: brain health and metabolic health are inseparable.

AI reads muscle signals by watching pianists
In a striking demo of AI-neuroscience crossover, researchers trained models to reconstruct muscle activity simply by observing movement. This could accelerate brain-computer interfaces, prosthetics, and motor rehabilitation without invasive sensors.

Decision-making changes in brain tumor patients
Studies on vestibular schwannoma patients show subtle but measurable shifts in decision-making and risk evaluation. Even benign brain tumors can influence cognition in ways that standard neurological exams often miss.

Early sensory exposure matters more than assumed
Research suggests that exposure to strong food cues during pregnancy may shape long-term appetite regulation in children. The brain appears to be more plastic to metabolic signals before birth than previously believed.

Bottom line
This week reinforced a recurring theme in neuroscience: the brain does not operate in isolation. Sleep, metabolism, movement, environment, and technology all feed directly into cognition and long-term brain health.

If you want, next week’s update can include a short “What to Watch” section highlighting early-stage or underreported neuroscience papers worth keeping an eye on.

12/18/2025

⚛️ Quantum Computing & Physics – What’s New This Week?
🔮 Bubble Warning? Or Just Getting Started?

📍 Yahoo Finance, Motley Fool, Nasdaq

Analysts predict the “Quantum Bubble” could burst in 2026, citing runaway valuations, minimal revenue, and hype outpacing hardware.

Despite that, investors like Ken Griffin are still buying, including stocks up 3,750%+ since 2023 (likely IonQ, D-Wave).

Some call this sector "biotech 2.0"—where the tech is real, but timelines are long.

✅ Investor takeaway: Don’t mistake market exuberance for commercial maturity. Watch for over-leveraged “pure plays.”

🧠 Quantum Source Releases Fault-Tolerance Roadmap

📍 The Quantum Insider

A major report outlines engineering paths to fault-tolerant quantum computing, comparing:

Trapped ions

Superconducting qubits

Neutral atoms

Photonic systems

The goal: reduce error rates and decoherence while boosting qubit fidelity and scale.

✅ This is the most critical step between lab demos and real-world, scalable machines.

🌐 D-Wave Announces 2026 User Conference

📍 BusinessWire, The AI Journal, Financial Times

D-Wave will host Qubits 2026, uniting researchers, developers, and clients to explore applications of annealing-based quantum computing.

It signals D-Wave's push to solidify commercial traction, especially in logistics, supply chains, and optimization.

✅ Watch D-Wave as a dark horse focusing on problems classical systems struggle with—but outside the gate-based quantum hype.

📊 Stocks to Watch: Alphabet, Nvidia, IonQ

📍 Yahoo Finance, 24/7 Wall St., Zacks

Alphabet's Willow chip is gaining traction, boasting powerful error-correction protocols.

Nvidia is supporting quantum acceleration with classical-GPU integrations and AI-enhanced solvers.

IonQ, despite valuation criticism, still leads in gate fidelity and developer ecosystem.

✅ The safer quantum bets may lie in the infrastructure layer—not just the pure hardware startups.

🇸🇬 Xanadu Expands in Singapore with A*STAR

📍 HPCwire, GlobeNewswire

Canadian photonics leader Xanadu has signed a major deal with Singapore’s A*STAR to scale its light-based quantum hardware.

This partnership strengthens Asia-Pacific’s photonic push, which offers room-temperature, high-speed, and scalable designs.

✅ Photonics is becoming a serious alternative to superconductors, with geopolitical funding behind it.

🏛️ Global Policy Spotlight: G7 Meets in Montreal

📍 Toronto Star, Orillia Matters, The Lethbridge Herald

G7 ministers met in Montreal this week to align on AI and quantum policy, R&D funding, and ethical standards.

The message is clear: AI and quantum are now intertwined, and national strategies must evolve together.

✅ Expect stronger cross-border regulation and research coordination heading into 2026.

🎨 Quantum Meets Art

📍 Inavate

“Quantum Splash,” a public art piece generated via quantum fluid simulations, debuted in the UK—showcasing the cultural crossover potential of quantum simulation engines.

✅ Proof that quantum is starting to permeate public imagination, not just labs and finance charts.

🧩 Summary: December 2025 Quantum Sentiment
Theme Key Insight
🚨 Market Risk Bubble talk rising; some insiders taking profits
⚙️ Engineering Progress Roadmaps to fault-tolerance solidifying
🌐 Global Cooperation G7 nations aligning on ethical and strategic goals
💡 Tech Diversity Photonic and annealing approaches gaining steam
🎨 Culture Shift Quantum now touching art, education, and public awareness

12/18/2025

We are about to see the curve bend. Hard.

Over the next five years, AI in scientific research is not going to “grow steadily.” It’s going to sharpen. The reason is simple: we’ve crossed the threshold where AI is no longer assisting science, it’s scaling it.

This matters most in mathematics.

Math is the first domain where AI is forced to behave. No vibes. No narrative. No social consensus. Proofs close or they don’t. Constraints hold or they fail. That alone changes everything.

As AI-driven mathematical models mature, they become more secure, not less. Not because the models are smarter, but because the system is verifiable. Formal proofs. Independent checking. Redundant validation. You don’t trust the AI. You trust the process that audits it.

That security then cascades outward.

Physics models inherit stronger guarantees. Materials science gains bounded uncertainty. Cryptography hardens. Optimization systems become less fragile. Math becomes the root of trust for AI-driven science.

This is why governments are pouring money into AI plus science. This is why universities are restructuring research workflows. This is why HPC and AI are converging into closed-loop discovery systems. Discovery is getting cheaper. Verification is becoming the choke point.

And when verification becomes scarce, power concentrates.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth most people are missing: science is being industrialized. Fewer people will produce more breakthroughs. Insight gives way to throughput. The unit of progress is no longer the lone scientist. It’s the research stack.

That doesn’t make humans irrelevant. It makes framing, assumptions, and judgment the highest leverage skills left. Garbage premises still produce elegant garbage proofs. AI won’t save us from bad questions. It will expose them faster.

The next five years won’t feel gradual. They’ll feel like waking up and realizing something fundamental quietly became normal.

That’s what real exponential change looks like.

And we’re already on the steep part of the curve.

12/18/2025

🧪 MATERIALS SCIENCE WEEKLY
📆 Dec 9–16, 2025

From the quantum world to carbon-neutral concrete, here’s what moved the needle this week:

👇 BREAKTHROUGHS & RESEARCH

🔹 Magnetically Doped Quantum Dots – Scientists at the University of Oklahoma did what physics said couldn’t be done: they magnetized non-magnetic quantum dots using manganese. This opens new doors in quantum computing and spintronics.

🔹 Thermal-Switching Polymers – A new polymer design allows for programmable mechanical properties based on heat exposure. Smart materials just got smarter.

🔹 AI-Powered Materials Discovery – Argonne National Lab released a benchmark framework for using large language models in material synthesis. Generative AI is officially in the lab coat now.

🔹 Microscopy Meets Machine Learning – New AI models trained on 10,000 steel samples are improving how we analyze microstructures, predicting performance before lab testing even begins.

🔹 Self-Healing Hydrophobic Interfaces – Researchers engineered buried interfaces that repel moisture and self-repair. Think of flexible electronics that work even after water damage.

🔹 Boron Nanostructures Reimagined – A unified design principle may revolutionize how we build 2D boron materials, with implications for nanoscale devices and semiconductors.

🏭 INDUSTRY & MARKET MOVES

📈 Advanced Materials Market Surges – Projected to hit $136.4 billion by 2032, with nanomaterials, ceramics, composites, and high-performance polymers driving growth.

🏗️ Green Construction on the Rise – Companies like PRET Advanced Materials are expanding production of thermoplastic resins, fueling demand for recyclable building tech.

🚗 Electronics Cooling Gets a Boost – Next-gen thermal management materials are being developed for EVs and high-power chips.

🔋 Battery Materials Race Heats Up – DWMaterials is accelerating into the secondary battery market. Expect competition in sodium-ion and solid-state technologies.

🌍 Google DeepMind x UK – DeepMind announced plans for a dedicated materials science lab focused on AI-driven discovery. This will speed up everything from alloy design to quantum materials.

👀 WHAT TO WATCH

• Solstice Advanced Materials – Quietly emerging as a player in both nuclear applications and AI-integrated materials design.
• Microscopy x AI x Steel – Big data meets metallurgy — watch for crossover into aerospace and automotive alloys.
• Self-Healing Hydrophobics – Flexible devices, wearables, and water-resistant sensors may leap ahead in 2026.
• Programmable Polymers – Could redefine how we build adaptive structures, from medical devices to space tech.
• DeepMind’s New Lab – Set to open in 2026, it could be the most powerful materials discovery engine on Earth.

🧠 BOTTOM LINE
Materials science is no longer siloed in labs — it's integrating with AI, reshaping industries, and moving toward real-world deployment. This isn’t just theory anymore. It’s engineering the future.

—

📎 Follow for weekly updates

12/18/2025

I’ve been quietly running Google Alerts on a few 9/11 threads lately. Not the emotional stuff. The paper trail stuff.

Things like:
• SEC investigation records tied to 9/11
• Insurance litigation around the World Trade Center
• WTC 7 documentation and fallout

Here’s what’s interesting.

Almost nothing comes back.

Not because the questions were answered.
Not because the issues were resolved.
But because there is no new reporting at all.

What does show up instead?
Airport security fee stories.
Anniversary pieces.
Lifestyle takes.
Social media clips recycling the same arguments from years ago.

That silence matters.

When a topic is controversial and consequential, one of two things usually happens:

New information keeps emerging, or

The subject goes cold because no institution has an incentive to reopen it

Right now, a few major 9/11 threads clearly fall into the second category.

That doesn’t prove anything by itself.
But it does tell us where pressure stopped, where accountability stalled, and where history quietly froze.

So I’ve tightened the alerts.
Shifted from broad keywords to document-level language.
Restricted them to courts, government sites, and official records.

If anything real moves, it won’t come from TikTok or Instagram.
It’ll come from a filing, a disclosure, or a reluctant admission buried deep in a report.

Until then, the silence is the data.

And silence, in cases like this, is never accidental.

12/18/2025

Lahaina, December Update: The Fire Is Out. The Story Isn’t.

Over the past few weeks, a pattern has quietly come into focus in Lahaina. Not through press conferences or glossy FEMA updates, but through scattered notices, congressional hearings, contractor disclosures, and investigative reporting that most people will never see unless they go looking.

So let’s put it together.

By December, the federal response to the 2023 Maui wildfires had officially moved into its “long-term recovery” phase. FEMA fact sheets continued to roll out. Cleanup milestones were announced. Debris sites were declared “nearly complete.” Temporary housing units were being moved or reclassified. On paper, the system was working.

But beneath that surface, three things were happening at the same time:

First, oversight shifted from operations to aftermath. Congressional hearings in late 2024 and into 2025 stopped asking how the response was carried out and started asking where the money went. That’s not a coincidence. Once mission assignments end and agencies demobilize, accountability becomes safer because the decisions are no longer live.

Second, contractors came into focus, not agencies. December reporting and alerts increasingly centered on cleanup contractors, storage sites, and misuse of funds including explosive investigative reporting showing money intended to support Native Hawaiians being spent on luxury items. That story didn’t emerge during the fire, or during emergency response, or during housing shortages. It emerged after the system had already moved on.

Third, the human crisis didn’t end when the paperwork did. Local reporting throughout December documented ongoing mental health impacts, housing instability, and community fracture in Lahaina. Survivors were still struggling while federal agencies quietly transitioned away from physical presence on the island. Recovery centers closed. Services consolidated. The messaging changed but the need didn’t.

This is the uncomfortable truth of Lahaina’s second year:

The emergency phase ended.
The accountability phase was delayed.
And the people caught in between were expected to adapt.

If you’ve followed my work on this, none of this should be surprising. FOIA responses showed delays, deflections, and finger-pointing between agencies. Some records “didn’t exist” at FEMA but suddenly appeared at USACE. Other requests stalled behind fees, scope disputes, or silence. Oversight didn’t fail loudly, it thinned out quietly.

And now, finally, pieces of the story are surfacing. Not as one cohesive reckoning, but as fragments: a ProPublica investigation here, a congressional hearing transcript there, a FEMA fact sheet buried on page five of a website no one checks anymore.

Lahaina wasn’t just a wildfire. It was a stress test.

Not only of infrastructure and emergency response, but of transparency, accountability, and the willingness of institutions to tell the full truth once the cameras leave.

The fire is out.
The questions are not.

And they won’t be, unless people keep asking them.

https://open.substack.com/pub/theoldguardian/p/lahaina-wildfire-recovery?r=57kf4s&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true