Tag Archives: history

Throwback Thursday – #tbt – Google’s “2017 Year in Search”

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…for all the many “best of” retrospective lists and articles and posts that come out. The Google Search compilation is usually one of the best (the YouTube Rewind one, not so much!)

“Because you have to swear on the Bye-ball!”

This guy was elected three times and doesn’t know that you aren’t required to swear on a Bible when taking your oath of office? Wow. The only thing that would make this clip better is if Tapper said “Because he says he’s  Christian” when the Moore spokesperson tries to pivot away from his slack-jawed, empty-eyed […]

Democrat Doug Jones Wins Over Accused Pedophile, Roy Moore in Heavily Conservative Alabama

It’s wild that it was even this close (49.7% to 48.6% as I type this with write-in ballots accounting for *double* the vote differential!) but the people of at least one deeply conservative American state has soundly rejected Donald Trump and his brand of “anything goes” politics.

“I Made My Shed The Top Rated Restaurant on TripAdvisor” (And Some Quick Thoughts on Fake News)

At RPL’s recent Staff Development Day, I was asked to moderate a panel discussion on fake news.  The panelists included a local education prof who specializes in social media and digital technology, a journalism prof who specializes in mass and alternative media and a journalist who is the assignment producer as well as having responsibility for […]

“Leadership Races Shouldn’t Be Spectator Sports” – Saskatoon Star Phoenix #skpoli #skndpldr

The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix had an editorial today that I couldn’t agree with more. Their point is that with two exciting, concurrent leadership races happening in each of the province’s main political parties, there’s no excuse for people to not spend $10 to buy a membership and have a lot more direct impact on either the […]

Minister of Education Bronwyn Eyre Under Fire (aka “Don Morgan, I Miss You!”) #skpoli

When an Education Minister cuts funding so significantly that it puts the entire, century-in-the-making public library system at risk of shutting down completely, it’s not surprising that I’m not going to be a fan. Luckily, thousands of other people across the province felt the same way, then-Education Minister, Don Morgan, admitted his mistake and public […]

One Year Ago Today, Donald Trump Was Elected (And The World Was Never The Same)

MetaFilter’s Election Night Thread (uhm, trigger warning?) and a Second Thread That Opened After The First One Became Too Unwieldy As The Reality of What Was Happening Started To Hit People A Year Later, We’re Still Trying To Figure Out How Trump Won (Biggest Mistake Was Thinking He Couldn’t) What It’s Like To Watch The […]

Julie Payette Reminds Us We Live In A Universe Based On Fact, Not Opinion

Canada’s new Governor-General (and former astronaut) Julie Payette, created some controversy after her recent remarks at a science conference where she pointed out the absurdity of politicians still using their personal opinions to debate indisputable scientific facts such as the reality of climate change and the lack of similar evidence for beliefs such as astrology. […]

Gord Downie (1964-2017)

One of the Hip’s saddest songs, this was written after Downie’s young nephew died due to a heart ailment and famously not performed for fifteen years… Another heart-tugger, especially if you’re a parent, this one was written by Downie for his kids… The Tragically Hip song “Inevitability of Death” contains a reference to Terry Fox, […]

YouTube Policy Changes – Censorship or Just Good Business Practice?

I think I’ve mentioned before that one of my highest marks in library school was, ironically, for the one class I took within our faculty but outside our department – a “History of Information” course that was offered through the journalism school. My final presentation in that class was about the future of online video […]