For most years since 1997, I have taught a first year university intro to communication studies course. While I don’t often focus on interpretation of media messages or public relations–there are lots of other things to cover–sometimes it’s a good exercise. To keep myself in shape, I thought I would practice on McGill’s latest announcement …
Continue reading “Translation of McGill’s Return to School Announcement into English”
It’s time to congratulate some pills and some part or another of my biochemistry. All I did was take 3 pills every night (plus a bunch of others for side effects). It’s only been a couple weeks since my last update but I switched some drugs around so I had to be checked up on. …
Continue reading “Congratulations to Chemicals; Censure to People”
Most weeks in the history of white supremacy are not good weeks, but this is a particularly bad week. Some lowlights: In my hometown of Minneapolis, a white police officer lynches George Floyd while three other officers look on. The incident is caught on video, which is important because the initial police report does not …
As regions and municipalities start to relax their lockdowns, advice is starting to pop up about risk and decision making. It is almost entirely addressed to readers in the second-person singular. For instance, Madison physician James Stein outlined different levels of personal risk and says “I can’t make decisions for you”; The New York Times …
It’s all connected. Yesterday was the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I don’t believe I had any relatives at Auschwitz, but members of my extended family did die in the Holocaust. They also died because of anti-semitic conscription during World War I in the Austro-Hungarian empire (in fact, this is the reason my mother’s …
As always, remember that an election is just an election. It has real implications, but party politics is the tip of the iceberg. If you want real change, there is a lot of organizing and work to be done outside the party politics system. I am relieved the conservatives didn’t win. It is impressive that …
Continue reading “Here are some hot Canadian election takes for you”
As I’ve mentioned before, McGill students have been organizing a campaign to get McGill to divest from fossil fuels. This seems eminently sensible to me. This past week, the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility released a report to the Board of Governors recommending AGAINST divestment because (among other things) oil companies have …
Continue reading “An Open Letter in Support of Divest McGill”
