Catalan

• "IBM shares this bold vision to accelerate the Government of Spain's AI strategy and to be the national AI partner for Spain," said Darío Gil, IBM SVP and Director of IBM Research.
• One of the priority areas under this MoU is to collaborate in a leading suite of foundation models, including both large language models (LLMs) and small language models (SLMs), proficient in the Spanish language and co-official languages.
• Creating models that are entirely designed in Spanish will enhance AI sustainability by reducing biases and providing competitive alternatives for the Spanish industry.
• An additional priority described under this memorandum is to collaborate on the research and development of AI technology for supercomputing applications.

• Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, while not explicitly advocating for outright independence, continues to promote increased provincial autonomy.
• A shift from a theoretical discussion to actively pursuing an independence referendum by Smith or her successors could have dramatic economic consequences for Alberta and Canada similar to the impact separatist movements have had in other parts of the world, including in Spain and the United Kingdom.

‘Alberta Agenda’

• Among other changes, the letter proposed replacing the Canada Pension Plan with an Alberta Pension Plan and establishing an Alberta police force.
• While the majority (61.9 per cent) voted yes, such a Constitutional change cannot be made without support from six other provinces.
• Smith has kept key elements of the Alberta Agenda front and centre during her first year as premier.

Similarities to Spain

• Traditionally, the province of Québec in Canada and the Basque region in Spain have been the primary regions pushing for independence.
• However, Catalonia’s separatist movement in Spain, which has now surpassed the Basque movement, represents a rapid rise of the kind that could conceivably be seen in Alberta.
• The Basque region has experienced strong economic growth, while the fallout from the events of 2017 seems to have dampened Catalonia’s economic prosperity compared to other regions in Spain.

Brexit parallels

• The Brexit referendum, driven by the U.K.
• Independence Party and conservative factions under David Cameron, prime minister at the time, was intended to quell separatist sentiments.
• Brexit has been a major factor in the U.K.’s poor economic performance in recent years, and 57 per cent of the British public now want to rejoin the EU.
• In the case of both Catalonia and Brexit, it hasn’t just been regional economies that have suffered.

‘No plan’

• Additional challenges include restructuring trade relationships, establishing an independent financial system and addressing potential investor dissent.
• Both the Alberta and federal governments must act to address western alienation and prevent a catastrophic scenario.
• That requires not just policy adjustments but a commitment to constructive dialogue and inclusive efforts to resolve these issues.

Carlos Freire-Gibb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• A paradigm of architectural modernism, McCormick Place was built in stages from 1960 to 2017, and is a steel, concrete and glass behemoth.
• One way to prevent bird strikes is to pay more attention to the design of glass buildings in cities.
• Its wave-like facade and fritted glass were in part designed to stop birds flying into the building’s windows.
• Fritted glass is printed with ink and contains ultra-small particles of ground-up glass, giving it a frosted or otherwise slightly opaque appearance.

Bird-safe glass

• In tandem with the fritted glass, the reflective qualities and hard edges of the glass are dampened, helping to prevent confusion, particularly at night.
• Hwang temporarily applied patterns to the windows of the Sullivan Center in Chicago, ostensibly to deter birds from flying into the glass, but also to add aesthetic interest to the material itself.
• More easily applied design solutions include bird-friendly film: a laminate of dots applied to glass to help birds see windows as objects rather than transparent, which minimises the risk of collision.

Lights out

• The birds are drawn to the four-mile high beams of light, veering off their migratory routes and becoming trapped by the spectacle.
• In 2020, the decision was made to periodically switch off the lights and then restart them so that, even if the birds become disorientated, they can recover and continue on their way.
• A 2021 study carried out in Chicago demonstrated the wider application of this principle: by shutting off half the lights in larger buildings at night, bird collisions can be reduced by anything from six- to 11-fold.
• Many courtrooms, libraries and public schools in the city already turn off their lights during the bird migration season.

• It comes at a time when the renowned Australian writer is, as they say, having a moment.
• Clift’s typewriter has been still for over half a century, but the fascination with her life and writing shows little signs of abating.
• Recent years have seen new Australian editions of her work in its various genres: fiction, memoir and journalistic essays.

A riveting portrait

• But there is a hint to be found in a fragment of her extraordinary life – a photographic moment that condenses her charismatic and enigmatic essence into a single, riveting image.
• It is a photograph that is remarkable in itself, but made extraordinary by the use to which it would be put.
• It was the work of Liselotte Strelow (1909-1981), a significant German portrait photographer.
• Her portrait of Clift is as well realised as anything in her body of work.
• She first attracted attention by winning a beach-girl photo competition in 1941 with a image taken by her sister, Margaret.

Existential yin and yang

• The stylised chevrons are highlighted by “of-the-moment” saturated colours and fonts that are typical of postwar design.
• What is unexpected is the use of an author photograph to adorn a travel memoir in the 1950s.
• Both the front and back covers featured drawings by her friend, Australian artist Cedric Flower.
• But somebody – very likely Clift herself – selected this image and promoted its use on the front cover.
• Peel Me a Lotus is made memorable because of its evocation of Clift’s existential yin and yang of exhilaration and despair, belonging and deracination.