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 readingTag: disinformation
THE FIFTH COLUMN: AI Has Nothing To Do With Intelligence
AI Has Nothing To Do With Intelligence AI has nothing to do with intelligence but people believe the marketing hype, mostly because we have a distorted idea of what intelligence is, largely do to the media. Take the quiz show “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” that says in
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: How Did We Get Here
Let me tell you a story about my early days working for the House of Commons in a non-partisan position serving all Members of Parliament and all Canadians. While we all had our own political opinions, that ranged from right to left, we all worked professionally and in a non-
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Fault Lines
I was honoured to chair the Council Of Canadian Academies panel on misinformation. Our report, Fault Lines, is available here. https://cca-reports.ca/reports/the-socioeconomic-impacts-of-health-and-science-misinformation/
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: On The Public Order Emergency Commission
Public testimony of the commission initiated in the wake of the February 2022 invocation of the Emergencies Act (EA) has concluded this week. Frankly, there were few surprises in the course of testimony. Members of the Convoy swore up and down that they were just peaceful protestors, policing agencies demonstrated that they
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: It’s All So Simple
… if you are a devotee of Fox News and its ilk. I talked to this lady who says drugs will be handed out tonight for Halloween by “illegals” because she saw it on an “episode” of Fox News. Happy Halloween and stay safe out there. H/t Davram Recommend this
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Always Look On The Bright Side Of Death
One likely doesn’t have to read about it to realize that GB News is ‘right-leaning.’ Ben Phillips @benphillips76 A clip from Don’t Look Up, and then a real TV interview that just happened. According to BBC News, it is the first channel set up with an explicit political orientation in
Continue readingScripturient: No, Brian Hasn’t Done Any of That!
You probably got one of these disinformation campaign cards in your mail this week. It says that Brian Saunderson and Doug “Jabba the Hutt” Ford are “putting money in your pocket.” And then it lists three things Ford did by himself without Brian’s help. Or input. Or even vote because,
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: An Interesting But Not Surprising Correlation
With apologies to Eleanor Rigby: All the stupid people, where do they all come from? Pollster Frank Graves may have found a partial answer. Unvaccinated Canadians are about 12 times more likely than those who received three doses to believe Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was justified, according to
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Global Health System Failure – It’s Not What You Think
Who do we turn to for reliable health information? That is one of the critical questions we need to ask now. (Another is, when is it justified to suspend all civil rights, due process of law, and constitutional rule? Hint: never.) What the media is telling us is that: a)
Continue readingThe EU Declares War
I apologize for the alarmist headline. The European Union hasn’t actually declared war, more a case of having recognized a war, a shadow war. Vera Jourova, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, claims Russia and China are engaging in a “digital war” with fake news and
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Bernie Sanders: The backlash is on – surprise, surprise!
Bernie Sanders was effectively silenced and blacked out of the media, by and large, for a long time, until he became too popular and too prominent to ignore. Now, the only candidate who is not a Wall Street hireling, hack or shill, the only candidate w…
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: America The Ugly
With friends like this Romney doesn’t need enemies: It’s enough to make an atheist want to believe in god so we can call on him to save us from them, but as they tell us, and so fervently believe, he is on their side, their vengeful hateful god.
Continue reading350 or bust: Anti-Science Heartland Institute Takes Ridiculous To New Heights
The far-right “think” tank the Heartland Institute recently launched a bizarre billboard campaign that linked global warming with serial killers. The first billboard went up with a picture of Ted “The Unabomber” Kaczynski with the words “I still believe in global warming. Do you?”. This campaign was too over-the-top even for
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