I’m not really big on end-of-year wrap-ups or retrospectives in general but I think it’s worth reviewing some of the things I’ve been following and projects I’ve worked on this year. By extension, I suspect that 2026 is going to be a busy year.

Ye Olde Yuletide Stats

Although I haven’t matched the zeal of the blog’s first year it’s nice to note that as TCL heads into its 16^th year it’s still going strong.

I know that the site’s stats are a minuscule drop in the ocean of modern internet traffic but it’s rewarding to note that TCL has a reach that is both global and for the most part organic, meaning that I spend exactly 0 minutes and $0 on promotion. By this mean I mean that I’m open to select and affordable promotions so reach out if you’re interested (see sidebar).

Core SPI

TCL readers may recall the SPI project. To wit, it’s an effort in which Toronto Police Service’s Calls-For/4-Service data is collected and analyzed over a multi-year period. Basically, any time the Toronto Police are dispatched to a call, whether valid or not, it appears in the C4S data.

Interesting patterns have emerged to my naked human eye and I suspect that subtler patterns may emerge to the digital eye. As an example, in the past I’d noted that the 12 overnight hours during Halloween seem like the busiest time for Toronto Police.

Do other interesting patterns exist within this data? Are there other observables that could be recorded and analyzed in a similar manner? 🤔Questions linger, efforts continue.

Artificial Intelligence

Now that we’re more-or-less living in cyberpunk land I thought it best to get in on the action. The early results of my experiments with generative AI were satisfactory but not always what I expected. However, the technology improved pretty quickly and I think I was just as astonished as most people by the human-like coherence of its output. We now have potential access to incredible tools with which to create realistic images, videos, sounds, and music.

I use the word “potential” because all these tools include some sorts of limits, primarily because they’re being hosted on remote servers by remote people living in remote realities. As usual, paywalls have been erected.

In response, I learned to adapt some of their stuff to my local, albeit limited, setup. The results make me wonder if we couldn’t cooperatively rent/borrow out our meager hardware (or rent/borrow out others’), in order to add to the parallelism of modern-day AI inference tasks.

Either way, AI has escaped the government-corporate sphere and is currently available to anyone who wants to avail themselves of its abilities. And now it’s agentic. How long the situation will last is anyone’s guess so, looking forward, I deeply recommend looking into it.

/sectionb

If you’re feeling a bit worn down by walking the “straight and narrow path on the tree-lined route, weakly lit by sparse and sickly yellow lights that barely hold back an encroaching darkness“, consider a slight detour.

The first full-length /sectionb novel is now complete, online, and publicly available. The follow-up is in the works.

Why did I make the first novel freely and fully available online? Simply, as many dope dealers will gladly explain, because “the first one’s free!”

I’m continually in the process of adding promotional material which you’re free to distribute to all your edgy friends, radical underground buddies, and any other easily malleable subjects that you may encounter.

Obviously this is heading somewhere so stay tuned in the new year!

Intel 2026

Speaking of the new year, what would a year-end post be without a little analysis? I’ll leave out the obvious “rise of AI” obviousness and instead posit something large that no one yet seems to be mentioning.

While this is strictly speaking not Toronto-centric, am I the only one smelling the presence of global armed conflict? Ukraine may have been a hopeful NATO proxy for a while but it’s looking more like the masks are coming off (and true intentions are emerging).

For example, in Germany:

Germany will require all men to register for potential military service from 1 January 2026, with compulsory service to be reintroduced if volunteer numbers fall short of targets set to meet NATO commitments.

“Modern military service is coming,” said Jens Spahn, Chairman of the ruling CDU/CSU parliamentary group, in a press statement.

“We will have more commitment to voluntary service, the aim is to establish a binding growth path in law with a six-monthly reporting obligation to the German Bundestag.”

…and France:

French President Emmanuel Macron is widely expected to unveil a new proposal on reintroducing national military service on Thursday. During a visit to the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade – one of France’s most elite military units – in the southeastern town of Varces earlier this week, the Élysée Palace said Macron would make an announcement that would “reaffirm the importance of preparing the nation and its morale to face growing threats”.

…and the UK (also Sweden, Norway and Denmark):

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he believed bringing back compulsory service across the UK would help foster the “national spirit” that emerged during the pandemic.

Labour criticised the plans, expected to cost about £2.5bn, as “desperate” and “unfunded”.

The Conservatives want the first teenagers to take part in a pilot from September 2025, with details to be worked out by a Royal Commission

The armed forces placements would allow young people to learn about cyber security, logistics, procurement, or civil response operations.

…and Poland:

Work is under way to make all men in Poland undergo military training, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

In a speech to the Polish parliament, Tusk said the government aimed to give full details in the coming months.

Efforts are being made to “prepare large-scale military training for every adult male in Poland,” he told the Sejm.

“We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war, so that this reserve is comparable and adequate to the potential threats.”

…and a few other countries:

In the past two weeks alone, Germany and France announced new schemes to enlist more young recruits into their armies.

Belgium also announced the reintroduction of a form of voluntary military service for all 18 year olds earlier this year, just as the Netherlands did in 2023.

Others, like Lithuania and Sweden, saw Russia’s seizure and illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 as an early warning sign to beef up their armies, and reintroduced conscription soon after.

Although Canada has not (yet) made a similar announcement, a recent interview with Canada’s top brass suggests a similar direction, which is to say bellicose and anti-Russian:

I already have (provided) significant contributions to Ukraine. We can go up to 600 members.

What we want to do is have scalable options that dial up or down depending on the demand. And there are ways to rearrange current forces serving in Europe via the NATO stream.

I don’t believe you need to take any sides in this brewing conflict in order to see the pieces moving into position. In the mix is Russia’s stance on any enemy combatants that they may capture in their encounter with Ukraine:

Any Western troops deployed to Ukraine would either become legitimate targets for Russian forces while hostilities continue but deploying them would serve no purpose in the event of a peace deal, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

So if any of those “up to 600 [Canadian] members” are captured in the seemingly swelling conflict, would they be considered traditional prisoners of war? Considering that no declaration of war has been issued, and if some reports are to be believed, shit’s about to get messy for everyone. I doubt Toronto will be spared.

… in which the mercenaries are subdued, Section B et al. set out for a fateful rendezvous, and the first part of the story is concluded.

As I continue the struggle over the last few sentences of /sectionb (the struggle is real!) I thought I’d at least provide you with an interlude of the kind of music, other than my own, that has thus far fueled my writing. I consider this list incomplete and unordered but hopefully, in one context or another, it’ll all make sense.

With a little over two months since my last devastating revelation I’d bet that the Raisin Gang thought I’d forgotten about my efforts to expose them to the world. Well, they’re wrong!

Cue the next target: Kye Fox

Living up to his sly title as the “Fox”, Kye has proven to be considerably more elusive than his fellow Gang members. Although he’s occasionally included in the credits of the Gang’s roster of videos, to the best of my knowledge he’s only ever appeared in an “official” Raisin Gang capacity one time:

I know I’ve included this video in a previous post but given the wily nature of this particular individual it’s the best I could muster. At this point I can only speculate but maybe Kye’s hidden-behind-the-scenes strategy has something to do with regret and contrition. This may help to explain why he ended up ostensibly parting ways with the Gang and becoming a certified addiction recovery coach.

Truth be told, I suppose that after witnessing what the Gang was capable of I too may have encountered problems with pain-and-memory-killing drugs. Would I be open to vicariously sharing such a history with the world? Hard to say, but then again I was never a nefarious Gang member.

It’s difficult to estimate exactly how long Kye has donned this phoenix-like persona but according to his LinkedIn profile he’s been “helping people” for a few years. Between the periods of his contemporary “rebirth” and his membership in the Raisin Gang the only reference I was able to find was an old online ad for a seven-bucks-a-pop “1-2-3 Laughter!” show that doesn’t even mention any of the Gang members by name. Not sure why it popped up in the search results, and maybe the timeline’s a bit wobbly, but all of it spells “evasive” to my mind.

Other than what appears to be Kye’s reading list there’s little else that I was able to find but you may be able to extrapolate more information about Mr. Fox from his linktr.ee profile. Nevertheless, I would caution that what you see may not necessarily be what you get. Call me crazy but I believe that a fox never changes his stripes.

So what’s it to be, Raising Gang? Are you prepared for more public infamy, shaming, and anthropomorphising, or are you ready to come clean?

My patience is wearing as thin as a molting coat.

If the Gang thought that I’d lost interest in pursuing their unholy organization, they were sorely mistaken. I also recall mentioning that the timing of these exposés wouldn’t be on any sort of regular schedule.

So it is in this context that I introduce: Michael Peddle.

Micheal Peddle, a.k.a. Mike P, appears so far to be the most elusive of the Gang. Apropos, then, that he should also appear to be mostly absent from the original contact with TCL.

Thankfully a more extensive archive exists:

Guy sure had a hard-on for peddling his “religion”, huh? And what about the following attempt to manipulate and warp young minds?

Scrambled eggs indeed.

The last trace of “Mike” was in 2007 when he appeared as a writer and voice actor for the animated short “Coffee Mishap“:

I prefer my coffee mishap-free so I can’t say that I’m eager to partake of this “humorous” outing but if I get more info on “Mike” I’ll be sure to post it here posthaste.

In the meantime, the timer’s still ticking. Are you still paying attention, Raisin Gang?

In hindsight, I definitely prefer this to that. If things continue at this pace then the Section could be fully operational within 6 months, maybe earlier.

Recruitment instructions to follow.

Another two weeks down and still nothing. To make matters worse, I know that the next focus of my exposé was active as little as a couple of hours ago (as of this post).

I’m talking about Daniel Kurland:

His penchant for impersonation and deranged thinking led him to be involved at all levels in the Gang hierarchy:

But even among his peers Daniel is exceptional due to his antisocial and inhumane tendencies:

As demonstrated early in his career, Daniel fancies himself to be a bit of a pop culture aficionado:

Using his position as a writer for Den of Geek, Vulture, Bloody Disgusting, CBR, and ScreenRant, Daniel has managed to spread his nauseating ideology beyond the confines of the Gang. He’s even gone so far as to promote his activities on his own website, via podcasts, as a Rotten Tomatoes critic, and presumably targeting children via graphic novels.

In short, the guy’s a real piece of work. To think that he’s been operating for over a decade and a half (to the best of my knowledge), is frankly unfathomable. He’s lucky he’s moved to New York where I can’t get at him.

To any Raisin Gang members reading this, a message: the list of names is dwindling, along with your opportunities to contact me!

Does it seem like the time between posts is getting shorter, Raising Gang?

Well, I’m not amenable to schedules so … TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK!

Thus, without further delay … today’s target is: Mikey (a.k.a. Michael) Kolberg

You may or may not remember him trying to ignominiously usurp the renowned role of a beloved cripple:

Here’s another clip of Mikey (terribly) impersonating Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson, all the while belittling stalwart Canadian icons, the Timbits:

I care not one iota for hockey, moderately enjoy confectionery, and yet I’m thoroughly disgusted when I see the lengths to which Mikey, and by extension The Gang, are willing to take things:

Classifying Phil Kessel’s mom a “whore” seemed like a new low until Mikey ended his exposition of the hockey player’s mother by calling her a “bitch”. Wow.

Not long after this Mikey tried to pass himself off as a celebrity:

We can see him again later following familiar patterns:

By all accounts Mikey has continued his grifting ways and still “performs comedy” in Toronto to this day.

Is that enough yet, Raisin Gang?! Get in touch.

With another couple of weeks gone it appears that my threat of an exposé wasn’t sufficient so now I’m forced to take the next step. Keep in mind that this is all on you, Raisin Gang — YOU FORCED ME TO DO IT!

Next target: Marissa Caldwell

I first noticed this Gang member when she impersonated Babette “The Fishin’ Magician” Sinclair. The following video aptly demonstrates why the cruel and deceptive Raisin members need to be exposed:

You may have noticed another Gang member, Thomas P. Conway, posing as Marissa’s hapless sidekick. They’re all in it together!

Should there be any doubt regarding the Gang’s callousness, here’s another video in which they harass writer, actor, and director Dan Ramos:

There’s yet another clip in which Marissa confirms her sadistic tendencies but I’m sure that by now you get the idea. It should therefore come as no surprise that after she split from the Gang she spent some time producing filthy corporate videos and luring children overseas. Proving that evil knows no bounds, she’s currently an intellectual property lawyer.

Maybe I’m nuts to make such an offer but I’m still willing to reel this series in if anyone from the Gang reaches out to me. However, time’s running out and my patience will soon disappear!

It’s been well over a month and no one from the Raisin Gang has bothered to get in touch so … I’m making good on my threat.

Might as well start with the guy I featured in the initial post: Thomas P. Conway

Here he is, ostensibly auditioning for Saturday Night Live as the cast of Seinfeld:

Despite the stellar performances I don’t believe Tom was ever included in the SNL cast.

Shame.

He did nevertheless give us a great send off as the late Andy Rooney.

I was able to find a bit more info on Tom and it turns out he’s not dead or starving in a gutter somewhere. In fact, he ended up being a talented TV writer (and comedian), despite his dyslexia.

Moreover, he did a great impression of Sean Connery which, to me, suggests that his focus on writing is simply a front for sublimated impersonation, even if only in the form of voice-overs.

As previously mentioned, I strongly encourage Tom to get in touch before I expose any of his compatriots in a similar fashion. Y’all been warned!