Rachel Kagan

Sharing articles on environmental sustainability, climate change, workplace culture, natural wine, caregiving, and antisemitism.

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

How A.I. is accelerating the decline of writing, which is an essential skill for thinking. “The problem with writing with A.I. is that it’s mentally enfeebling — an escalator toward a result when you really need to make a daily habit of taking the stairs.” https://t.co/JoVLxZKAXy

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

Today I attended the opening of the new Psychosocial Oncology Clinic at @UHN @pmcancercentre. It was so nice to see one of my mother's paintings hanging in reception, donated in her memory. It means a lot to have her art continue to live on in a setting connected to her care.

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“I never feel better about humanity than when I see people offering support to each other. A stranger saying, “I see that you’re struggling,” and showing kindness … It’s showing they see you and acknowledge you as a fellow human.” https://t.co/v060SwA7X1

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“Digital interactions are replacing face-to-face interactions with loved ones and strangers.”

New research shows people are speaking a lot less to each other, going from 16,600 words spoken per day in 2005 to 11,900 in 2019, a 28% decrease. https://t.co/MrrqI3AwOW

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“Three synagogue shootings over the span of one week is a pretty good indication that things have gone awry. And the fact that these incidents have been happening all across the country suggests that Canada is in need of a national response – and not one flaccidly posted on X.”

[Robyn Urback @RobynUrback]

Prime Minister: It’s time for a national address on antisemitism https://t.co/OXOTvDcva2

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“Too much inaction and repeated weak responses from too many leaders have permitted this behaviour to become normalized.”

Calling for action against antisemitism from all levels of gov’t after Shaarei Shomayim and BAYT were shot at, the third attack on TO synagogues in one week

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

On how AI’s most popular use is now personal therapy and companionship.

“All of this culminates in a pattern of disconnection. We have lost the capacity to offer sustained attention to one another, as our hunger for it has intensified.” https://t.co/EmxeGPVhZr

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

On how screens are rewiring the mind for speed rather than depth. As deep reading declines, the capacity to follow arguments and weigh claims is at risk: “Slogans replace reasoning; outrage replaces understanding. We become more reactive, less reflective.” https://t.co/tFi6VCLmwv

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“This has gone too far. When Jewish community events are disrupted, when Jewish leaders are targeted simply for being visible … we are no longer talking about protest. We are talking about the normalization of hatred.” https://t.co/bMiIKWXHB1

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“Jews make up slightly more than 1% of Canada's population, but are the victims of 70% of reported religious-based acts of hate. This spreading hate is a call to action for all Canadians, all levels of government, law enforcement, schools, public institutions and places of work.”

[Julie Dabrusin @juliedabrusin]

Jewish Canadians have the right to feel safe in Canada.

Please see my joint statement with my colleagues:

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“…we must ensure unequivocally that no parent is ever afraid to send their child to school, that no small business is the target of hatred and that no synagogue… is targeted in an effort to make any group of Canadians responsible for a foreign conflict. This is antisemitism…”

[Leslie Church 🇨🇦 @lesliechurch]

In my maiden speech, I rose in the House to say: freedom from fear is at the root of Canada’s commitment to pluralism and the rule of law. As antisemitism rises, we must act to ensure Jewish communities are safe. Thank you @AHousefather for asking what steps we must take next.

[World Jewish Congress @WorldJewishCong]

Less than two weeks after the horrific murder outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., a man firebombed a group of Jewish activists in Boulder, Colorado, who were calling for the release of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas, leaving multiple people injured, including children.

This is what globalizing the intifada looks like.

Enough is enough.

[Victoria Mancinelli @vcmancinelli]

When calls for intifada echo openly in the West, when Jewish students are threatened on campus, when our Jewish neighbours are harassed in the streets — and the world shrugs — this is where it leads.

Tonight, a deadly shooting at the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington.
Targeted for being Jewish.
2 people murdered in the name of a “free palestine.”

This is not activism. This is terror.

I am heartbroken. I am furious.
And I will not be silent.

When is enough, enough?
How many more Jews must be attacked before society stops tolerating this hatred?
Jew-hatred is not freedom fighting. It is bigotry. It is violence. And it is escalating — fast.

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

Goldstruck Coffee, a Jewish-owned business in Toronto has been targeted and vandalized yet again at their newest location. Toronto-Centre representatives @MarciIen @kristynwongtam and others must take action and condemn these continued acts of hate, intimidation, and antisemitism

[Leviathan @l3v1at4an]

A new Jewish-owned Goldstruck Coffee location opened at Yonge & College St in @cityoftoronto, and as with other locations, has been immediately vandalized with an Magen David, similarly to how Jewish businesses were identified in Nazi Germany.

All under @MayorOliviaChow's watch

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“A true Canadian wine scene can only develop if Ontario and other provinces eliminate exorbitant mark-ups and facilitate the importation of wines from out of province.”

On supporting 🇨🇦’s wine and hospitality industry by removing interprovincial barriers https://t.co/1Gv8htIPUF

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“Tell the world that the so-called ‘resistance’ in Gaza is a fraudulent, fascistic Iranian militia getting Gazans killed…”

On how Hamas has abused medical facilities in Gaza and intimidated medical staff so they can turn hospitals into terror operational centers.

[Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib @afalkhatib]

Last year, a source of mine at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, told me that in early 2024, mysteriously, suddenly, and strangely, entire floor wings at the medical facility would be taken out of commission and would become off-limits to all regular Gazan patients. Upon investigating further, he learned that Hamas was taking over sections of the hospital, setting up shop to treat its soldiers and, shockingly, Israeli hostages, and using the installation as a miniaturized command and control node and hoping that the Israeli military wouldn’t find them out. I’m sharing this information publicly for the first time because I think it is critical to let the whole world know that Hamas continues to abuse medical facilities throughout the Gaza Strip. I asked my friends to provide me with more specifics & visual evidence, but they were unable to, especially after the IDF intensified its attacks on southern Gaza.

The post below confirms what everyone except the “pro-Palestine” movement has known: Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and other terrorists in Gaza continue to intimidate medical staff and seek to turn hospitals into terror operational centers. This particular Doctor, Mohammed Saqer, refused to let terrorists set up shop in his ward. He’s now being threatened by the “resistance” that’s so beloved and favored by so many who think this is helping the people of Gaza. Share this with the entire world so that honest, honorable Gazans trying to do the right thing can have a voice!

Tell the world that the so-called “resistance” in Gaza is a fraudulent, fascistic Iranian militia getting Gazans killed and destroying hopes for a rejuvenated Palestinian national project.

Down with Hamas!

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“The Orwellian nature of this approach is deliberate and dangerous. This posture is not about protecting free speech. It is about prioritizing far-right ideology … while trying to silence independent thought, inconvenient truths and voices of dissent.” https://t.co/nCX3wPZUNy

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“Context is what appears when you hold your attention open for long enough; the longer you hold it, the more context appears.”

Reframing boredom and our addiction to distraction, not as a problem to solve, but as a signal to seek something more meaningful https://t.co/HrqlNTH2Lx

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“The refusal of so many to call Hamas what it is — a terrorist organization — or to hold them accountable for their atrocities is a profound moral disgrace. If we cannot see this through the suffering of the Bibas family, then we have lost any claim to moral clarity.”

[National Council of Jewish Women @NCJW]

We call on our organizational partners in the fight for a more just world to stand with us in condemning Hamas — because in a moment that demands moral clarity, silence is not an option. https://t.co/aes5wRfNiC

[Rachel Kagan @bawlderdash]

“To be Jewish has meant experiencing a crushing disappointment in the world since the Hamas attacks that started this war…. The crimes against the Bibas family are indeed the symbol of the anti-civilization menace that is Hamas…” https://t.co/FsfdmPSyKQ