Television has taken it upon itself to correct social wrongs. But it doesn't fairly represent the mosaic of our society
Television programs not only entertain, they also influence our ideas about society and culture. These messages aren’t meant to solely and accurately reflect social reality – they’re also meant to shape that reality. People and their actions and opinions are presented as if they’re typical and to be emulated. These programs offer a view of…
According to Brian Lee Crowley, social licence devotees disparage due process and are attacking the very foundations of democracy
The logic of democracy is to democratize. Democratic desire is drawn toward the ideal of an ever-purer or more perfect democracy – one where the people’s will is expressed with immediacy. History offers many examples where immediacy has given way to democratic excess, be it the despotisms of Oliver Cromwell and Maximilien Robespierre, or the…
To maintain secrecy, large U.S. environmental foundations simply "purchased" the co-operation of Canadian organizations to stop Alberta oil from reaching international markets
“The meek will inherit the earth … if that’s okay with everybody else,” goes the old joke. When it comes to developing Canada’s energy sector, that trite joke seems all too true. The Northern Gateway, Energy East, and Pacific NorthWest LNG pipeline proposals have been scrapped. Scotiabank estimates that the Canadian economy forfeits $15.6 billion…
Anti-fish farm activists ratchet up conspiracy campaign against Canadian scientists and studies
Fearing that Canadian science will drown out their claims, the anti-fish farm lobby has embarked on a campaign to discredit upcoming studies by the government to develop better aquaculture standards. Taking the cue from Twitter-in-chief Donald Trump, who constantly tells his core supporters not to believe any official investigation about him, the activists’ campaign is…
The entire episode feels increasingly like a Russian intelligence operation designed to create political turmoil in the U.S. and exacerbate social tensions
The Kremlin’s favourite soap opera these days is the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Each new episode is followed intently. It’s unclear whether popcorn or caviar is served, and whether fans at the Kremlin consider the program a drama or a comedy. Its popularity, however, is indisputable. The investigation…
The international media is so blind in its disdain for Trump that they are whitewashing the crimes of one of the world’s most repressive regimes
The government of Kim Jong-un is one of the world’s most repressive, holding North Korea’s 25 million people in a virtual slave state. A third or more of North Koreans suffer from malnutrition. The regime’s penal camps are among the harshest on Earth, with a reported 20 per cent of inmates dying within 12 months…
Some people actually believe the nonsense that taxing carbon leads to economic growth
The facts are in. And the evidence proves provinces with female premiers have the fastest growing economies. No wait, that's not it. Bigger provinces grow faster. Or maybe it's that provinces whose names end in vowels do better that those ending in consonants. It's all random nonsense, of course. But that's the level of economic…
News reporting has always been susceptible to allegations of spin and slant, cherry-picking and calculation
It’s been a defining characteristic of 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump claims that all negative stories are fake news. The media indignantly responds by casting themselves as pursuers of nothing but the truth. They are, in their view, shining light in the darkness. Then, as with CNN and ABC News last week, the media egregiously…
Cheap shots from both sides won't get us closer to solutions about managing our planet's future – and the potential impact on billions of lives
“Blatherskite.” “Trained seal.” “Dim-witted saboteur.” “A piece of sh--.” All these terms have been deemed “unparliamentary language” in Canada; use of them, and 102 other specified pieces of verbal abuse, may result in penalties levied by the Speaker of the House of Commons upon members of Parliament. To this list we must now add “climate…
The Dogwood Initiative, Leadnow, and Greenpeace receive substantial funding from a U.S. advocacy group called Tides
With the kids back to school and Thanksgiving now behind us, for Canadian households the fall season brings a few things back into sharp focus. We all have bills to pay, careers to foster, aging parents and extended family (sometimes on the other side of the world) to support. And now there’s one more thing…
Television programs not only entertain, they also influence our ideas about society and culture. These messages aren’t meant to solely and accurately reflect social reality – they’re also meant to shape that reality. People and their actions and opinions are presented as if they’re typical and to be emulated. These programs offer a view of…
