Shaping the news
The reality is that media filters reality instead of reflecting it. In authoritarian regimes, control of communication has always been a primary consideration and news is shaped to further the…
Norman Farrell
The man in the hot air balloon
Much is wrong with Facebook, but occasionally, it circulates nuggets of gold…
Corus Entertainment update
Days ago, I commented on the share price of the company that owns Canada’s Global Television Network and numerous broadcasting outlets in Vancouver and elsewhere. Stock in Corus Entertainment Inc.…
If you fail, fail big
The law is equal before all of us; but we are not all equal before the law. Virtually there is one law for the rich and another for the poor,…
Poo in the water — ethical pension fund investments not a priority
Over 40 percent of Thames Water, a troubled utility company in the United Kingdom, is owned by OMERS and BCI. These are two of Canada’s biggest public pension fund managers.…
Who funds think tanks, and why?
An organization in the United Kingdom aims to identify funders of think tanks that work to influence public policy. While the group’s focus is on the UK, it is a…
Build—maintain—lose
The possibility of Corus Entertainment Inc. disappearing may astound people. However, there is a common pattern following intergenerational transfers of business interests. Reuter’s Chris Taylor reported: 70 percent of wealthy…
Shares of Corus Entertainment may be worth zero if…
Years ago, well managed radio stations enjoyed operating profits that could reach 50 percent of revenue. Having permits to broadcast were said to be like having licences to print money.…
Triangulate your information
Ali Velshi is a journalist often seen on MSNBC. Promoting a new book, he appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air. The program covers much ground and is worth our attention. The…
Western Canada’s climate change actions are inadequate or illusory
Climate change actions of British Columbia and Manitoba are inadequate and the main efforts by Alberta and Saskatchewan to reduce greenhouse emissions are illusory. While provinces in central and eastern…
Racing toward danger
MIT’s Dr. Peter S. Park and academics associated with the Center for AI Safety examined deception by Artificial Intelligence. They conclude that increased capabilities of AI pose a serious risk…
A day in the life
I was planning to write about the dangers of unregulated artificial intelligence, but ChatGPT told me that AI is not inherently dangerous. So I’ll leave that subject for another day.…
Youth sports: done right, done wrong
After watching a grandchild and other nine-year-olds playing in a Little League baseball tournament, I was reminded about the positive and negative aspects of youth sports. Done right, they’re beneficial.…
BC NDP’s f***king policy
On Facebook, Northeast BC resident RanD Hadland says he visited the Bennett Dam and gained an understanding of why the downstream Peace River is so low. Behind the dam is…
Existential threat or anti-growth rhetoric?
Climate change denialism remains strong. It has been strongly linked to right-wing nationalism and to the anti-feminist far-right but it was built primarily with funds from oil companies. Denialists have…
Canada is not a world leader on climate
I won’t be much affected by climate change, but my grandchildren will pay a very high price. For older folks like me, watching this country do the wrong things for…
Instead of a path to net zero, we’re on the eve of destruction
The concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere is a critical environmental issue. One important cause involves human activities such as the production and use of fossil fuels. Canada’s…
Walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck…
An IN-SIGHTS reader asks, “Who gains from chaos on American university campuses?” He suggests the theme of the 1997 movie ‘Wag the Dog’ motivates Netanyahu. Dark forces believe the conflict…
Everything is not broken
In the House of Commons, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre told Canadians: “Everything is broken.” Canada is imperfect, but it is far from broken.
Megaproject madness
Professor Bent Flyvbjerg, Executive Chairman and co-founder of Oxford Global Projects has written about proponents getting large undertakings approved by using “strategic misrepresentation” when they conjure up budgets. Strategic misrepresentation…