The Kings without a Kingdom: History of the Aga Khans
A few years ago there was a bit of a scandal involving Justin Trudeau’s Caribbean vacation to visit Aga Khan’s private residence. This article isn’t about Justin Trudeau or the…
Education
Why teach history?
Some Republican-led American states are changing how students in their public schools are taught civics. The new standards focus on patriotism, Christianity and anti-communism. Hands-on activities, such as debating current…
The Questionable Wisdom of Institutions of Higher Learning
Trying to convince universities to allow remote learning in maskless in-person classes and maybe to allow mini-HEPAs on the desk during exams appears to be futile despite the current risk…
The System Isn’t the Problem
See Lecce’s announcement on a mandatory anti-communism curriculum coming to schools: But then also check out Frank Domenic’s take on it and how similar our current provincial government is to…
How to Know
We need to fight back on the idea that there’s nothing we can really know. When I taught, more and more I’d run up against the claim that there’s nothing…
On Learning Loss
A New York Times piece discusses, again, learning loss from the lockdowns of 2020, but a new study shows the lockdowns actually improved some skills. The Editorial Board of the…
The Frustrating Run-Around on Filtration Units in Schools
This is a long but very informative video about what happened when people tried to improve air quality in schools. This is a very loose collection of things said that…
How It Began
When it all started, I immediately started reading news from China and Italy, figuring that what was happening there could easily happen here, and we should be prepared. Esther Hopkins…
Consumption is Back in Vogue
Tuberculosis is making a comeback! (Mass-consumerism never left.) About 2 million people die worldwide from TB, but not here, right!?! Now there’s a case in the University of Victoria and…
Danielle Smith Addresses the UCP/TBA AGM
I watched Danielle Smith’s speech to her supporters at the UCP AGM and all I could think of was Salvador Dali’s painting of the clocks. Time was melting, the landscape…
Of What Use is Alternate History to a Monarchist?
Wishful Thinking or Useful Tool? Alternative History is a popular sub-genre of historical fiction that asked ‘what if‘ some key event had gone differently. This can be a lot of…
Inaccessible Accessibility
Why is remote learning suddenly so difficult to access when we have all the tech we need to pull it off? When I was in grade 12, I started to…
SaskPower On The Future of Net Zero
Balance he says. pic.twitter.com/elGKwknjSg — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) October 17, 2023 SaskPower gave a lecture at the university about transmission and generation planning.
A woman’s world
Some years ago I wrote a book based on the theme that women are better designed for the modern world than men. (Visit this page for a free copy.) Men…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Sameer Elsayed offers a primer on what people need to know about current COVID-19 risks. Mary Van Beusekom discusses the likelihood that long…
Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Saima Iqbal discusses new research showing how much of the COVID-19 virus people emit while contagious. And Erica Edwards reports on the…
Meme Monday #12
The month of September saw the Roman Empire as a topic of discussion. Although this is apparently because women had discovered men actually think about it quite a lot. Now,…
Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Stephanie Soucheray discusses new research showing how people with existing health problems are at substantially higher risk of long COVID. And Helen Floersh…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Mary Van Beusekom discusses new research showing that a quarter of COVID-19 survivors are still facing impaired lung function (among other health problems)…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Tess Finch Lee writes about the importance of doing everything we can to protect children (and indeed the general population) from COVID-19.…