And the lobbyists and the governors who supported overturning Roe didn't even try to hide their religious biases. They think religion should operate within law.
Prof (University of Ottawa/Sociology); critical thinking; intellectual pluralism; reality-based community; Halloween obsessed; lover of progressive rock.
147 followers 81 following 570 posts
view profile on Bluesky
And the lobbyists and the governors who supported overturning Roe didn't even try to hide their religious biases. They think religion should operate within law.
I would add that being rated (i.e., being judged on one's skills) is how one improves. It's self-deception to think that being rated or graded on one's skills is somehow counterproductive. It's an everyday reality in sports, music, job performance, and education.
I've always rejected the motives behind the "ungrading" movement. Students need to be judged according to their basic skills, and if that makes them feel uncomfortable, so be it. Use any criteria you want, but being judged is part of learning: wvupressonline.com/ungrading
If only voters understood this back in 2016.
Everyone should give theirs back in protest. apnews.com/article/trum...
I'll keep some champagne on ice just in case.
America voted for quackery and got it.
At least this is honest.
Concerns will be offered, and then Americans will continue to buy guns by the truckload: abcnews.go.com/amp/US/shoot...
Good article from a year ago on empathy, using Martin Scorsese's film "Killers of the Flower Moon." www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/o...
Follow the science, not Jenny McCarthy.
Students have phones and computers, so they can upload any book they want. This is what censorship dipshits will never understand because they still live in 1950.
If you apologize for a war crime, all is forgiven.
Halloween advertisers always get me to buy two months earlier than I should.
8 planets? That's it! I quit all those uncomfortable interpretation exercises.
There is good reason to be skeptical. AI cannot catch obvious errors on essays because it doesn't know all of a professor's instructions, one of which is to never use AI to write a paper. links2.newsletter.chronicle.com/s/c/Zp2kylxI...
And the data shows that 25-35% of university/college students use AI to write their entire papers for them. So why do I despise AI? It allows students to cheat the process of reading, writing, and critical thinking. www.chronicle.com/article/how-...
Human nature is what it is. Students who lead busy lives, who feel the pressure of grades, and who fail their midterm exams will rationalize the use of AI to write their essays. In these instances, no reading, writing, or critical thinking occurred. Every year, more attempt it.
Sadly, some of the most popular music/pop stars today in many genres haven't said a word about Gaza. They are afraid of derailing their careers and losing money/fame.
Hozier said the same thing during Bluesfest in Ottawa, Canada, and 30,000 of us gave him a standing ovation.
Hozier said the same thing during Bluesfest in Ottawa, Canada, and 30,000 of us gave him a standing ovation.
After seeing how good David Dastmalchian was on Dexter: Resurrection, I am convinced he would make a great Bond villain. There is a dark, mysterious quality to his acting.
Gee, I wonder if it's because his name is "James" Bond: www.bbc.com/news/article...
David Dastmalchian would make a superb Bond villlain.
I think that a major area for improvement concerns actual teaching ability. From my experience, profs tend to overate their teaching skills or put far less effort into these than is required to convey material effectively. An important social good could become even more important.
We're all Jack White now: variety.com/2025/music/n...
Sure buddy, left-leaning types wake up every day wondering how to put diffeomorphism in a sentence.
James Dobson, like Jerry Falwell, was an insecure man who used fundamentalist Christianity to control those he despised, namely, homosexuals and women seeking abortions. He wasn't trying to save them; he wanted to punish them. Some legacy. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/...
All those musical and Hollywood celebrities are too busy making money to take a stand on Gaza, and they and their managers want to keep making truckloads of money.
The sky is falling!
Embarrass the hell out of Trump and Netanyahu; expose them and mock them at every turn.
Remember a time when condemning mass murder and ethnic cleansing was a moral duty?
PragerU is not a university. The "U" stands for uneducated.
And then you get stupid cowboys like George W. Bush enabling genocide with the same dismissive smugness that led him to destroy Iraq: www.youtube.com/shorts/6nt5i...
Ideology gives evil-doers the cover they require to justify heinous crimes against humanity. For Hitler, it was Nazism. For George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld, it was neoconservatism. For Benjamin Netanyahu, it's Zionism.
Vaccines need to be ready the month BEFORE school starts. Two weeks into school, Covid spreads rapidly.
And it's so typical of these right-wing propaganda channels to hide behind free speech to defend deliberate lies.
This is why American news is so dysfunctional. Millions of Americans are fed deliberate lies by right-wing news channels that peddle bullshit.
This is a stupid university policy. First, who defines anti-semitism? The term is as elastic as activists/politicians want it to be. Second, why pay for just one group's perceived prejudices? A university could end up paying many groups. can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
I learn something different every time I listen to an interview with Jacob Mchangama concerning his book Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media. Good to see the book translated into several languages: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zix...
Why Israel targets reporters: "The more Gaza is a place that is teeming with militants, where there are no reliable narrators, and where Israel’s justifications for killing and starvation cannot be challenged by plausible witnesses, the easier Israel can prosecute its genocidal campaign."
My take on the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne in the University of Ottawa news: www.uottawa.ca/about-us/new...
The embarrassment for the United States was Trump's 2016 and 2024 election victories.
Right-wing truthiness: students who protest against genocide are the evil ones, not those committing or enabling genocide.
Three reasons: it made rock music more virtuosic; it changed the entire foundation of rock music from rhythm and blues to European classical music; and it pushed the boundaries of technology: www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...
Why beliefs are not facts.
Another reason not to vote for Pierre Poilievre. If you can't see through Jordan Peterson's grift, you lack basic critical thinking skills.
Yet people prioritize their interests, their identities, and their prejudices.
Why elections matter.
Some serious self-reflection is warranted: "The whole world was against Israel, including my country."
Keep it up, South Park!!
It works the other way too. Prostitution is illegal in America (minus counties in Nevada), and its illegality harms women.
Kinda like Netanyahu.
Every slippery slope crusader has come out of the woodwork to discredit Canada's MAiD program. The Atlantic joins these pessimists in spewing more horseshit: www.threads.com/@theatlantic...
Republican leaders don't care if people get sick and die. Just look at their anti-vax, anti-science approach to Covid.
The king of projection.
His life story.
Republican-style meritocracy.
Two people who wanted to lead a more private life.
I am all for merit (qualifications, experience, sense of excellence), but fascists want the opposite; they actively seek out those whose only relevant qualification is loyalty.
😁😁😁
The problem with American media is that billionaires like Rupert Murdoch (and now his son Lachlan) don't want a free exchange of ideas. They want market fundamentalism so they can spread disinformation to the public and get rich off lying to them. As profits go up, deliberative discourse sinks.
Here's a few words: genocide, ethnic cleansing; indiscriminate killing.
The mafia posing as a government: www.chronicle.com/article/trum...
If your country stopped arming an ongoing genocide, it would go a long way towards decreasing antisemitism and protecting multiple communities.
New television series: The Walking Brain Dead. :
In praise of South Park.
Why elections matter. If Trump is voted out, this crackpot conspiracy theorist wouldn't get near a science budget.
Even when people see these crimes, they rationalize them. However, if the bombs were dropped on their neighbourhoods, those excuses would dissipate.
Dean Cain changes his name to Lex Luthor.
It took a long time for South Africa to confront Apartheid. Israel can't face its colonization mindset and the destruction it has wreaked. There is an expression: sometimes Jews can be Pharaohs too. Netanyahu and his government won't admit to this truth.
The Wall Street Journal is an enabler of evil.
Evil always needs enablers.
Naomi Osaka didn't even have the grace to thank Vicky Mboko, the winner, or acknowledge her in any way. Show some class, please! But Vicky Mboko DID thank Osaka.
What he forgets to tell his audience is that the disabled overwhelmingly support MAiD.
Vicky Mboko is the new face of Canadian tennis. Her win in Montreal at the Rogers tournament was historical. Only Serena Williams was younger when defeating 4 Grand Slam champs to win a Master's tournament. Wow!!
Slippery slope crusaders lose again.
You can't kill the devil.
How to address sociopathic bullies 101.
Imagine having to work for a "news" network that asks you to lie for a living.
Crank conspiracy theorist hates science and doesn't care how his beliefs impact health outcomes: www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trump apologists are just another long line of people defending abhorrent behaviour out of self-interest.
Bill Maher: "It's not like other religions."
Where reporters' questions go to die.
Cartoonists are so honest.
Netanyahu doesn't care how big his tell is. He thinks he can destroy anyone who's playing in his colonization game.
The excuse made by every enabler of the Bush II administration and its Iraq War debacle.
Jared Kushner's next prime real estate deal.
Absolutely right.
Americans who brag about free speech find ways to look like hypocritical snowflakes. Trump, Marco Rubio, and their ilk can't take valid criticisms of Israel by this brave woman.
😁😁😁
Embarrass Trump at every turn. Expose this cockroach to the light.
Arguing whether Israel under Netanyahu has committed genocide or ethnic cleansing is like deciding between two great evils. Either way, Netanyahu is evil and should be tried before The Hague. m.youtube.com/watch?v=wOmv...
The G-word that dare not speak its name.
Love the new Dexter: Resurrection series. The cast is amazing, and the plot is intriguing. m.imdb.com/title/tt3304...
Ditto.
Exactly why I stopped watching American news long ago. It's not news: it's.propaganda.
Another classic rocker from Styx:"It's Clear" (2025). Love the drums in studio by Todd Sucherman. m.youtube.com/watch?v=IqxK...
Butter tart.
Funny!!😄