James Wegener

Father. Husband. Practicing #criminallaw in #Alberta. Interested in #technology, #law, and #A2J. Opinions are my own.

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

@robertdiab I'm less concerned about people using AI to gain knowledge. I'm more concerned about AI's potential to create future generations of people who lack the ability to retain knowledge and think critically, because they no longer need to.

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

@robertdiab Students have been doing these things for decades. Reading summaries or other student's notes. The novel thing is it is AI generated now.

The problem with AI in education is the same as the problem from other shortcuts. You only gain certain skills by doing the work yourself.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart.

We had a very good month.

Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace.

By mid-February, we had something.

Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green.

That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma.

Here is what they said, in the order they said it.

February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday.

February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive.

I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach.

February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses.

February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters.

Not happy with the pace.

We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway.

Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years.

Not happy with the pace.

February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens.

I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses.

February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications.

February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump.

Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production."

Rejected.

Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman.

The President said they rejected it.

I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed.

February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment.

February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school.

I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that.

February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold.

The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning.

February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse.

February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement.

The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."

[Justice Canada @JusticeCanadaEN]

On #PinkShirtDay, we’re reminded that kindness, respect, and empathy matter—today and every day. 🩷

By choosing kindness in our words and actions, we each play a role in creating safer spaces where everyone feels seen, supported, and included.

#SprinkleKindess #StopBullying

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

You know that feeling you get when you have to get up way too early to catch a flight for a vacation? Tired, but excited. Like your body is vibrating a little.

Feel the same way for this Gold Medal game. Could use an airport margarita right about now.
#MilanoCortinaOlympics2026

[Courtney Theriault @cspotweet]

Judge says proposed referendum on Alberta independence would be unconstitutional, calls proposed UCP legislation to override decision antithetical to the rule of law and democracy.

https://t.co/1SGOj7KUdG

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

Wishing for this update, but from @EdmontonOilers.

If Kap is making 17m - more than Drai, MacK, Matthews- what will McDavid make?

[Minnesota Wild @mnwild]

97 is HERE. TO. STAY. 🙂‍↕️

[Jonny Wakefield @jonnywakefield]

New from me: Group representing thousands of prosecutors condemns Edmonton police criticism of Crown in child homicide case https://t.co/Ne4vHtKYLP

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

The parties in the courtroom are well qualified to assess the file & ensure a proper outcome. The police do not have the qualifications to do so.

The actions police have taken are shocking. They only serve to mislead the public. Police chose politics over our legal system.

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

It's not uncommon for police and the prosecution office to disagree on the direction a prosecution goes. The police and prosecution have similar goals but very different roles. A key part of our justice system is acknowledging and respecting those different roles.

[Jonny Wakefield @jonnywakefield]

SCOOP: Edmonton police have sent a letter to the provincial minister in charge of prosecutions objecting to a plea deal in the case of a woman charged with murdering an 8-year-old Indigenous girl.

Never seen anything like this before.

https://t.co/1BrzZESqxh

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

I don't know any of the particulars of this file. But I've had cases with this Prosecutor and this Defence lawyer before. They're excellent at their jobs and amongst the top in their fields. The Justice hearing the matter has extensive criminal law experience.

[Oilersnation.com, Oily Since ‘07 @OilersNation]

next oiler to score gets the domestic departure wing of the airport named after him

[CP24 @CP24]

Tom Mulcair: Trump’s threat to Canada means this election must be a choice between the Liberals and Conservatives
https://t.co/HNDIZt8J4t

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

Batman dress socks on a Crown Prosecutor:
(A) Cool.
(B) Brings the administration of justice into disrepute.

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

@petersankoff Kim Campbell was the Prime Minister of Canada for months. Though I take your point on being voted in by members of the public.

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

@MirastyJ Sure, but the blunt also had not guilty written on it. 💁

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

A worthwhile listen about electoral reform and how the Liberals broke a key campaign promise

It does beg the question though, why not do something now? Why not have a referendum on the next ballot? Trudeau is still the Prime Minister today.

[Justin Trudeau @JustinTrudeau]

If I could’ve done one thing different, it’d be this.

[James Wegener @JamesWegener]

Last week as a criminal defence lawyer. 4 days of work, then 4 days of California and Legoland. Next Tuesday I start with the Fort Saskatchewan Crown office.

Today I work for King Defence, in 1 week it will be just the King (Rex). King Offence?

[EPCOR @EPCOR]

Today, we announced that EPCOR is providing $250,000 in matching funds towards @BoyleStreet's Legacy Campaign, which will raise money for the King Thunderbird Centre. Double your impact; donate today. https://t.co/BKWa2OWnub