Speaking With Morons
Logic and evidence-bound critical thinkers find it hard, even pointless, to converse with conspiracy theorists even those within their own families. Andrew Coyne writes there’s nothing you can say to…
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Overshoot Picking Up Steam
Overshoot. Think of it as the canary in the mine safeguarding human civilization. Overshoot Day is the day each year by which mankind has exhausted an entire year’s supply of…
Covid, the Dress Rehearsal for a Future of Chaos?
We were shocked by the first wave. No vaccines. We were left to a regime of self-isolation, masks, social distancing, lockdowns and endless bouts of handwashing. The first wave bled…
Conspiracy Theory or are the Oligarchs Making Their Move?
Author/columnist George Monbiot is best known as The Guardian’s enviroscribe. In recent years his focus has expanded from greenhouse gases to social and political punditry, all from a progressive viewpoint.…
Scavenger Hunt – Helium
A lot of attention is being paid to the “end of growth” expected to grind the global economy to a near halt by the end of the 2020s. See here,…
Time to reclaim the Sunnyside Bus Terminal: Toronto’s forgotten bus station
The Toronto Coach Terminal’s closure earlier this month was a reminder that the TTC used to operate an intercity bus service called Gray Coach, until it was sold off in…
Time to reclaim the Sunnyside Bus Terminal: Toronto’s forgotten bus station
The Toronto Coach Terminal's closure earlier this month was a reminder that the TTC used to operate an intercity bus service called Gray Coach, until it was sold off in…
WTF, How Did We Wind Up Here?
Two centuries of progress. Cheap, abundant fossil energy. The Industrial Revolution. The Great Acceleration. The verge of collapse. There’s a new paper, published just last week, by Nick King and…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – The Globe and Mail’s editorial board highlights the folly of declaring victory in the race to vaccinate Canadians against COVID-19 when we’re far…
Do Political Leaders Have a Right to Substitute Personal Belief for Scientific Knowledge?
It’s a little late to be raising the point but to what degree should the political caste cleave to scientific knowledge. What if, as in the States (and to a…
The Road to Glasgow
The Glasgow climate summit is just three months away and the climate science types are taking every opportunity to get their message out: This may be our last chance. They’ve…
What Conservative Has the Highest Profile Today? It Sure Isn’t O’Toole.
Judging by what I’ve been reading in Macleans and elsewhere, Stephen Harper dominates Canada’s media. The leader of the opposition, Erin O’Toole, has become an afterthought. Macleans did O’Toole no…
Tuesday Night Cat Blogging
Stepped-up cats.
About that Border Opening
A lot of us don’t agree with the federal government’s decision to open the US/Canada border to fully vaccinated Americans on August 9th. Maybe our concerns will prove unwarranted. Canada’s…
Beyond Growth, Get Used to the Idea.
“Only a Fool Keeps Chasing an Impossibility” It has been slow in coming but it seems the world is finally coming to realize that our belief in growth is a…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Apoorva Mandavilli reports on the CDC’s return to recommending that people wear masks indoors to try to avoid another COVID wave. Matt…
Junk Science Masquerading As Political Advocacy
Yesterday, I learned of the existence of a group calling themselves "Gender Dysphoria Alliance Canada". I was not happy with what I saw. They claim to be "evidence-based", and that's…
A Far Different Future Sooner Than You Might Imagine
One thing that can be said for the unfolding climate emergency is that it has forced us to see ourselves not as Masters of the Universe but as a species…
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – CBC News reports on the research which is just starting to systematically identify and treat the worrisome symptoms of long COVID. Gabriel Scally…
We Saw This Coming 50 Years Ago. We Didn’t Listen Then. We Aren’t Listening Now.
It was in 1972, 49 years ago, that the Swiss-based think tank, the Club of Rome, warned that the clock was running out on human civilization. Its first report in…