Did you notice the change? Microsoft has made the typeface Aptos the new default for its Office programs, replacing the venerable Calibri after 17 years. Aptos has been rolled out to users since December, 2023, and, at least for me, finally made it to my versions of Office in February.
Continue readingTag: media
Alberta Politics: Naheed Nenshi, Superstar! Do you think you’re what they say you are?
As expected, former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi has joined the contest to replace Rachel Notley as leader of the Alberta NDP, and his arrival yesterday with a slick video, a professional website, highly quotable opening lines, and some high-profile endorsements changes things dramatically. Outgoing NDP Leader Rachel Notley before the
Continue readingScripturient: Opt-in Polls: Bad Data, Bad Science, and Bad Actors
I was perusing the usual collage of semi-news, trivia, and fluff on CollingwoodToday recently and noticed a poll at the bottom asking “How old are you?” It piqued my interest enough to add my vote. I’m always interested in demographics and statistics, and am curious about changing media engagement, especially
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Former Herald journalist charts shocking decline of Calgary newspapers’ paid circulation
If the federal government thinks its various subsidies to Canadian newspapers are doing much to uphold democracy, it needs to take a clear-eyed look at Postmedia’s paid circulation numbers. The Calgary Herald’s newsroom before the move, when journalism was still fun and major metropolitan newspapers were still downtown (Photo: Bob
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Two Steps Forward…
It’s amazing to get so far in our scientific advances, only to have it tossed aside by misinformation. A Daily Mail article explained the conclusion of a study that, “They confirmed that the shots made by Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca are linked to significantly higher risk of five medical conditions – including
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: What is Wrong With The Internet ?
Yes, I know we could write a book, but essentially what is wrong with the Internet is the way we use it. The public changed has the way it uses the Internet to the benefit of a few monopoly tech companies and those that want to spread disinformation because laziness
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Climate Projections and Anticipatory Grief
Media aren’t free to report on it honestly, and politicians won’t act on it. How can we possibly remain optimistic? Matthew Todd wrote about the possibility that the Gulf Stream could collapse in the next few years based on an study in Science Advances: “The day has come when the Daily
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Anthony Leonardi writes about the reality that COVID-19 is intrinsically more harmful than “ordinary” respiratory viruses due to its continuing effect on the immune system. And Chinta Sardathan discusses new research showing that the fallout from COVID infection includes higher rates of dementia
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Decline Of The US Empire & The Rising Star Of Mexico
I’ve written extensively and in depth, for decades, in two published books and over a thousand published articles, with tens of thousands of references, on the rapidly shifting state of the world, the causes and major factors and historical unfolding of these changes, what it all means and entails, and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Intellectual Self-Defence: Time For A Reading Sabbatical
To be brief: The obsession with quantity and volume has to end. More is not always better. Quality matters most. But people in the 21st century are addicted to endless entertainment, distraction, empty and largely useless talk, and endless amounts of “news” and commentary. Unless we step back, pause, reflect,
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Fossil Fuel Companies’ New Evil Strategy
There’s an effort underway by Conservatives and Fossil Fuel companies to suggest that fossil fuels are “sustainable”. This is an attempt to rebrand fossil fuels as non-harmful, when the reality is they’re causing much of the world’s pollution and breakdown in our climate. There are some ad agencies pledging to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tim Murphy discusses the many similarities between Russia’s oligarchs and the U.S.’ – including how both take advantage of deliberate policy choices to facilitate the concentration of wealth in secret. And Kevin Kharas’ interview with Bertrand Monnet includes the recognition that their shared
Continue readingScripturient: Why Local Media Has Failed Us
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024, released this week, identifies the biggest short-term risk to the planet is from misinformation and disinformation, even above extreme weather events. The risk is highest during the next two years when “more than 3 billion people due to head to the polls
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Trump Hysteria
Trump did little good in his first term as US President, and much that was bad – but he didn’t turn the US into a fascist police state: Cheney, Obama and Biden did that. I am no Trump supporter, but the establishment political elite of the two dominant US parties
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: They’re Going Full Orwell: Sickness is Health
Lots of misinformation out there still. On Vaccinations We know that vaccinations help reduce severity of Covid to keep people out of the hospital, and we know their effectiveness wanes after a few months so boosters are needed at least every six months. In Ontario, they’ve decided the next shot will
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Dharna Noor discusses how the U.S.’ dirty fossil fuel industry is propagandizing against any transition to cleaner energy sources. And Benjamin Shingler reports on research showing that the forestry sector (like so many other industries) is causing far more damage to the
Continue readingScripturient: Collingwood Needs a Communications Director and Plan
Yesterday, the Town of Collingwood sent out an email trying to rationalize the town’s budget and tax increase. That release underscores in so many ways why townhall desperately needs both a person and a plan to oversee and guide its communications. And this is coming from someone who also believes
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your 2023. – Shannon Hall discusses new research showing that the positive effects of COVID-19 vaccination include a reduction in long COVID in children. And Erin Prater warns about the building Pirola wave which is already causing record-high infection levels in some countries. – Meanwhile, Carly
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: The Boiling Frogs Timeline
Globally, Covid cases rose by over 50% in the past month! This article that reported the stats, mistakenly says the WHO “officially declared the end of the coronavirus pandemic worldwide in May 2023.” Here’s what the WHO actually said last May: “I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency. That
Continue readingAlberta Politics: AlbertaPolitics.ca as its 17th year of publication begins: we need to talk, Dear Readers
This blog commences its 17th year of publication today, which makes it something of an institution in Alberta political commentary. The blogger in 2023 (Photo: Daniel St. Louis). On Christmas Eve, someone I don’t know called me “the hardest working blogger in Alberta,” which might be true, at least if
Continue reading