funny thing that…

Court Painter struts his stuff at the local comedy club!

How Does Our Sense of Humor Change With Age? A Statistical Analysis

How do our comedic sensibilities form and transform over time?

CLICK for ARTICLE

A substantial body of research examines how comedic taste varies with age, exploring our reactions to different humor styles at various life stages. One such study published in Current Psychology presented respondents with a series of humorous statements and then assessed each subject’s affinity for four distinct joke types:

  1. Self-enhancing Humor: finding comedy in everyday situations, often by humorously targeting oneself in a good-natured way.
  2. Affiliative Humor: using humor to strengthen social bonds and enhance relationships by sharing jokes and amusing stories that make others laugh while avoiding negativity.
  3. Self-defeating Humor: Involves individuals making jokes at their own expense to gain approval or avoid conflict, sometimes undermining their self-esteem.
  4. Aggressive Humor: Making jokes or remarks that ridicule, belittle, or demean others, often intended to assert dominance or express hostility.

Ultimately, the study found that with age, people appreciate self-enhancing humor more, and they value affiliative, self-defeating, and aggressive stylings less.

In the spirit of hilarity perhaps you can chuckle with your favourite Great Dominion politician’s stand up routine?or maybe not…

Ontario Premier Doug Ford

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre

People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier

Prime Minister & Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau

Deputy Prime Minister & Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland

Former Manitoba Conservative member Candice Bergen

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith

Conservative member Andrew Scheer

Alarmed,relieved,wittingly ignorant,wittingly silent…

Last week, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), a cross-party committee of MPs and senators with top security clearances, released a heavily blacked-out document alleging, based on intelligence, that some parliamentarians have been “semi-witting or witting” participants in the efforts of foreign states to interfere in Canadian politics.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says,“I am more alarmed today than I was yesterday after having read the report,” Mr. Singh said. “What is clear to me is that Justin Trudeau knew and didn’t act, while Pierre Poilievre doesn’t even want to know about serious allegations touching his party.”

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says she’s read the original version of a highly-publicized intelligence watchdog’s report on foreign interference and she doesn’t believe any of her House of Commons colleagues knowingly betrayed their country.”There is no list of MPs who have shown disloyalty to Canada,” she said. “I am vastly relieved.”

Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is the sole party leader forgoing access to classified report on foreign interference.He remains wittingly ignorant.

Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau remains wittingly silent.

Yves-François Blanchet Leader of the Bloc Québécois has not commented to date upon accessing the classified document.

Drama in 10 Acts…

Court Painter, in an about face, has hired back Chatterley Gargantuan Persnickety Thunderdome (ChatGPT) as the resident studio writer/poet. No offical explanation was given however it is rumoured that Court Painter is functionally illiterate and only capable of picture making.

Chatterley was given the task of writing the Great Dominion headlines of June 11/12,2024 as a Shakesperian Drama in 10 Acts.

Court Painter admits that the Drama might be a bit over the top (read too damned long) and meant for die hard theatre buffs and thespian scholars however relax with the images that reflect past headlines from yore!

Act I
Scene I: The Parliament

(Enter Boissonnault, troubled, with his associates.)
Boissonnault:
Friends, we must to the ethics board repair,
Our deeds and dealings to lay bare.
(Exit Boissonnault and associates.)
Scene II: The Parliament, dimly lit
(Enter Parliamentarians, whispering amongst themselves.)
First Parliamentarian:
A cloud of suspicion hovers o’er our heads,
And none among us knows which path to tread.
Second Parliamentarian:
Indeed, confusion reigns in this domain,
And answers sought are sought in vain.

Act II
Scene I: The Stargate

(Herald enters, reading a proclamation.)
Herald:
Behold! Stargate’s AI, a portal bold,
A hundred billion’s worth of wonders untold.
Prepare ye all, for the future’s nigh,
With knowledge vast, reach for the sky.
(Exit Herald.)
Scene II: The Council of Nations
(Business Leaders convene, anxious.)
First Leader:
If NATO’s target we do fail to meet,
Diplomatic isolation we shall greet.
Second Leader:
Our stance must firm and resolute remain,
Else suffer we shall, in strife and pain.

Act III
Scene I: The Fields of Alberta

(Enter Tech Magnates and Heavy Emitters.)
Magnate:
In Alberta, renewables now bloom,
Tech and industry dispel the gloom.
Emitter:
A green revolution, none can deny,
Under this prairie’s wide, open sky.
Scene II: The Electoral Grounds
(Enter Politicos, fervent.)
First Politico:
Climate change, will it the ballot sway?
In June’s writ, shall it have its say?
Second Politico:
Byelections often reflect the greater will,
Toronto’s race, our fortunes may fulfill.

Act IV
Scene I: The Bloc Leader’s Chambers

(Enter Bloc Leader, pondering.)
Bloc Leader:
A legal opinion must I seek,
On trade sanctions the U.S. may speak.
(Exit Bloc Leader.)
Scene II: The G7 Summit in Italy
(Enter Trudeau, with Ministers.)
Trudeau:
To Italy I travel, G7 calls,
With shadows of Ukraine and Gaza’s thralls.
(Exit Trudeau.)
Scene III: Alberta’s War Room
(Enter Spokesman, addressing the crowd.)
Spokesman:
The ‘war room,’ known for Bigfoot’s feud,
Now brought in-house, its mission renewed.

Act V
Scene I: The Hall of Advocates

(Enter Sikh Advocates, with fervor.)
Advocate:
Our political class must wake, take heed,
No more treating India with gloves that impede.
Scene II: The Budget Debate
(Enter Parliamentarians, heated.)
First Parliamentarian:
Concerns o’er immigration detentions rise,
In the budget bill, much to despise.
Second Parliamentarian:
Agricultural issues, open debate needs,
To sow our policies with just seeds.
Scene III: The National Security Council
(Enter National Security Advisors, solemn.)
Advisor:
Our nation finds reasons to neglect,
Security issues we often reject.
(Exit Advisors.)

Act VI
Scene I: The Stargate

(Herald re-enters, proclaiming again.)
Herald:
Stargate’s AI, a future’s door,
A hundred billion dreams and more.
(Exit Herald.)
Scene II: The Diplomatic Arena
(Enter Canadian Envoys.)
Envoy:
In U.S. pre-election strife, we fight,
For economic security, our right.
Scene III: The Inquiry
(Enter LeBlanc, contemplative.)
LeBlanc:
I’ll not direct the inquiry wide,
For now, meddling MPs shall hide.
(Exit LeBlanc.)

Act VII
Scene I: The Treasury

(Enter Freeland, addressing the nation.)
Freeland:
A fairer tax system must we create,
To benefit all, in every state.
Scene II: The Hall of History
(Enter Chronicler.)
Chronicler:
A woman never led the Liberal way,
A question posed, why not today?
(Exit Chronicler.)
Scene III: The Minister’s Office
(Enter Minister, exasperated.)
Minister:
Capital gains, I cried in vain,
A tale of fiscal woe and pain.

Act VIII
Scene I: The Council Chamber

(Enter Elizabeth May, triumphant, with Poilievre and Trudeau.)
May:
On foreign interference, I led the way,
Schooled Poilievre and Trudeau, today.
Scene II: The Re-election Campaign
(Enter Doug Ford, strategizing.)
Ford:
To steal Poilievre’s thunder is my bid,
For re-election, his light I’ll rid.
Scene III: The Treasury, once more
(Enter Freeland, frustrated.)
Freeland:
My gambit on capital gains, to no avail,
To embarrass Conservatives, it did fail.

Act IX
Scene I: The Public Square

(Enter Citizens, discontent.)
First Citizen:
Capital gains, a tax hike plain,
The middle class feels the strain.
Second Citizen:
Leaders must act, clean house of colluders,
To restore trust, and silence murmurs.
Scene II: The Shadows of Power
(Enter Poilievre, avoiding the crowd.)
Poilievre:
Foreign interference, a topic I shun,
In shadows I’ll remain, until it’s done.
Scene III: The NSICOP Report
(Enter Advisors, with a report.)
Advisor:
NSICOP’s findings, a box Pandora’s wide,
Bad news for democracy, cannot hide.

Act X
Scene I: The Hall of Science

(Enter Scholars, debating.)
Scholar:
The lab leak theory, first dismissed, now heed,
A balanced view is what we need.
Scene II: The Path of Reconciliation
(Enter Elders, reflecting.)
Elder:
What could have been, for reconciliation’s start,
A journey of healing, from the heart.
(Exit Elders, as the curtain falls.)

In anticipation…

Senior cabinet ministers wouldn’t say Tuesday if the Trudeau government is prepared to release the names of parliamentarians who are alleged to have conspired with foreign governments and to have consciously shared sensitive information with their agents — conduct that one expert says could amount to treason.

There may still be police investigations into these allegations, the ministers said, and details could eventually be released as part of that process.

Government won’t commit to releasing names of MPs who allegedly conspired with foreign actors

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters Tuesday the government takes the threat of foreign political interference “very seriously” and said the country can’t be “naive” about authoritarian governments seeking to undermine our democracy.

When asked if she could guarantee that the Liberals will eject from their caucus any parliamentarian found to have engaged in the activities cited in the report, Freeland would not make that commitment.

Source: iPOLITICS, June 5/24

However, Court Painter is prepared to paint over a number of archived portrait canvases to recycle and render the faces of the hidden alleged conspirator parliamentarians once their names are released.

Seen here are various studio views of Court Painter with completed commissions that were never paid for and ended up in the recycle bin…in anticipation of reuse for heritage moments…

fellow felons…

Connie before Donnie

Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour KCSG , is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, author, and convicted felon.

In May 2019, Conrad Black received a full pardon from US president Donald Trump for his 2007 convictions. In a statement, the White House cited Black’s contributions to business and his writings on politics and history. Black said that his long-time friendship and public support of president Donald Trump (including the book he wrote that praised Trump) had nothing to do with the pardon.”He could not have been more gracious and quickly got to his point, that he was granting me a full pardon.”

Donald Trump former president of the United States and recently convicted felon

 A Canadian immigration lawyer says Donald Trump is technically barred from crossing into Canada now that he is a convicted felon.The former U.S. president was found guilty May30/24 on all 34 counts in his criminal hush money trial, punishable by up to four years in prison and technically is now inadmissible to Canada.

Given the number of convictions, Trump is likely to remain barred from crossing the Canadian border as a civilian until at least five years after he has served his sentence ,after that, he can apply for a “certificate of rehabilitation.”

Alternatively, Trump could apply for a visa if he had an especially compelling reason to come to Canada but it would be very difficult for most people to get one in the same circumstances.

We can be assured his fellow felon Lord Black will pull some strings to have felon friend Donald Trump come visit the Great Dominion should he likely avoid Rikers.

MUGSHOT: CONRAD BLACK

MUGSHOT: DONALD J TRUMP

Two Mugs
Court Painter & Fellow Felons

guzzling resources…

The ugly truth behind ChatGPT: AI is guzzling resources at planet-eating rates | Mariana Mazzucato

Click link for The Guardian article

In the light of this news the Court Painter Studio has been forced to downsize.

In a shocking announcement A Hardon MacKay Press Attache to Court Painter revealed the firing of resident poet/writer Chatterley Gorgonzola Phillipe Thunderbuns (ChatGPT).

The reason stated in the tearful announcement can be summerized as energy intensive bad behavior by turning the spotlight on ChatGPT’s environmental footprint. Being a large language model, Chatterley( ChatGPT) is a huge energy and water-guzzler. For instance, many many litres of studio cooler water have been used to cool the data machine that Chatterley utilized for his word production and while minerals such as lithium and cobalt are most commonly associated with batteries in the motor sector, they are also crucial for the batteries used in Chatterley’s datacentre. The extraction process often involves significant water usage and can lead to pollution, undermining water security. The extraction of these minerals are also often linked to human rights violations and poor labour standards.

So you be the judge, however the Court Painter studio could not let its reputation and brand be tainted by Chatterley’s (ChatGPT) outrageous drain on energy and water resources,in spite of his cleverness and quickness to any word task proposed.

Any futher creative writing and poetry will now be produced in house by Court Painter. He will be informed of this decision over cheap drinks as the sun sinks in a cloud of dust below the western horizon.

Because there are no images that could describe the unfolding of this unfortunate studio personnel issue, a random series of Court Painter originals has been dusted off from storage to provide eye appeal in these dark times.

Sam Altman is an American entrepreneur and investor best known as the CEO of OpenAI 

AI hijinks…

click link to The Atlantic article

TECHNOLOGY

OpenAI Just Gave Away the Entire Game

The Scarlett Johansson debacle is a microcosm of AI’s raw deal: It’s happening, and you can’t stop it.By Charlie Warzel

If you’re looking to understand the philosophy that underpins Silicon Valley’s latest gold rush, look no further than OpenAI’s Scarlett Johansson debacle. The story, according to Johansson’s lawyers, goes like this: Nine months ago, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman approached the actor with a request to license her voice for a new digital assistant; Johansson declined. She alleges that just two days before the company’s keynote event last week, in which that assistant was revealed as part of a new system called GPT-4o, Altman reached out to Johansson’s team, urging the actor to reconsider. Johansson and Altman allegedly never spoke, and Johansson allegedly never granted OpenAI permission to use her voice. Nevertheless, the company debuted Sky two days later—a program with a voice many believed was alarmingly similar to Johansson’s.

click link for The Intercept article

SCARLETT JOHANSSON ISN’T ALONE. THE INTERCEPT IS GETTING RIPPED OFF BY OPENAI TOO. 

The Intercept’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft shows how digital outlets are uniquely vulnerable.

Court Painter posing in dramatic fashion with an AI skull…oh what can it mean?

Should moving fast and breaking things include moral rights? #ScarJo

Would you care if you were used to voice an AI without your consent?

MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER MAY 22, 2024

Click link for article

Debate drag testing demand…

‘Never Know!’ Journalist Tells Bill Maher Both Biden AND Trump Should Be Drag Tested Before Debates

Bill Maher guest Nellie Bowles of The Free Press said Friday that maybe both Joe Biden and Donald Trump should be drag tested before the upcoming presidential debates because “we never know” what kind of drag they would be performing to “titilate” the audience since both can be purse first drama queens.

The idea of drag testing was first proposed by big girl Trump himself who don’t need no chicken cutlets, and accused Biden of being “high in high heels” during his energetic State of the Union address.

“I just want to debate this guy, but you know – and I’m gonna demand a drag test too, by the way. I am. No, I really am. I don’t want him coming in like the Statuette of Liberty. He was high in high heels …we’re going to demand a drag test.”

During a discussion on the debates, Maher said, “I think the guy who has more to prove is Biden. I think people — Trump is a known commodity, they know he’s going to be an over the top queen. He’s going to be lurking in veils and a rinestone growling gown and not obeying the runway rules and everything else. But Biden, they want to see proof of his enhanced debate skills as a lipstick performer.”

After the audience laughter died down, The New York Times’ Pamela Paul said, “I see it a little more favourably for Biden because he’s already shown that he can boots the house down and look so snatched in a corset and give a rousing sissy that walk when need be. So, he just needs to show that he is sane in stilettos”

Journalist Nellie Bowles then gave her take.

“There might need to be some amount of drag testing before for both of the men especially Trump with his garage doors casting shade and with both resting on pretty because we never know what kind of amphetamines and steroids are going to be helping accelerate the sashay factor and their over the top death drop!

“Really?” Maher said, as Bowles let her thought trail off.

Both Trump and Biden have agreed to two debates in June and September, and the Trump team wants to add at least one more to the roster promising the library will be open!

Rhymin’Headlines May 16/24…

Studio resident rhymester Chatterley Gorgeous Pulchritudinous Thunderclap (ChatGPT) was given the task to create rhyming couplets with the headline news of the day.

However before we get to that, Court Painter wanted to introduce his latest private royal commission featuring Queen Camilla.I think we can all agree that the skipping over of Court Painter to undertake the commission of King Charles has been controversial unlike this beautiful rendering of her Queenship.

Court Painter proudly introduces Portrait of Queen Camilla

May 16/24 National & International Headlines of the Day

As Mexico and the U.S. near their polls,
Trudeau yet plans a trilateral goal.

Trudeau doth call New Brunswick’s government base,
On women’s rights, a most disgraceful case.

Poilievre, on capital gains tax hike, still won’t say,
If he would scrap it, or let it stay.

Watchdogs implore Commons to close the gate,
On spending loopholes they declare too great.

Poilievre calls for taxes’ summer rest,
On fuel, to ease the people of another pest.

Pat King’s trial delves in social media posts,
 From ‘Freedom Convoy’ and their boasts

Housing starts delay’d, regulations blamed,
And sectors fragmented, all the same.

Loblaw consents to grocery code’s demand,
After long talks, the deal is at hand.

Canada sanctions settlers, four in count,
For attacks on Palestinians, as they mount.

Documents reveal a troubled past of sin,
For Nijjar’s alleged killer in B.C. within.

Eby warns of UCon merger, stark the choice,
For B.C. voters, he doth raise his voice.

Quebec’s new bill for pols, the media say,
Excessive, free speech it doth betray.

Wildfires rage across Canadian land,
Updates on their spread are at hand.

Israeli tanks fire, five soldiers fall,
In north Gaza, the military doth call.

South Africa to ICJ doth plead,
For Gaza’s ceasefire, Rafah’s assault will impede

Arab League for UN’s peacekeepers call,
In Palestinian lands, to protect citizens all.

Suspect charged with Slovak PM’s near end,
On attempted murder doth his fate depend.

G7 backs the EU’s frozen hold,
On Russian assets, as the tale is told.

Russia expels UK’s attache,
Diplomatic tit for tat at play.

Trump’s lawyers cite Cohen’s insults dire,
To undermine his credibility, they aspire.

China and Russia, their ties reformed,
Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine stormed

NATO scrambles jets to the sky,
Against Russian planes,as numbers rise high.

House GOP moves Garland to contempt,
Biden shields tapes, from their grasp exempt.

US Justice moves to reclass marijuana,
Less dangerous now, like a dip in a sauna

Experts declare reefs bleached near record high,
Ocean heat, a cause they can’t deny.

EU to Meta probes anew,
For addictive algorithms, harm to children doth be true.

totally unhinged…

Donald Trump who leads most polling and is at least a 50-50 shot to be the next president of the United States gave a speech in Wildwood, New Jersey on May 11/24.These are some notable words from his speech.

Silence of the Lamb. Has anyone ever seen The Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter is a wonderful man. He oftentimes would have a friend for dinner. Remember the last scene? “Excuse me. I’m about to have a friend for dinner.” As this poor doctor walked by. “I’m about to have a friend for dinner.” But Hannibal Lecter. Congratulations, the late great Hannibal Lecter. We have people who are being released into our country that we don’t want in our country, and they’re coming in totally unchecked, totally unvetted.