Harry Shannon
My wife Eileen and I were watching an English Premier League football (soccer) match the other day. Liverpool were leading Crystal Palace 2-1 late in the game. Palace were pressing hard for a tying goal and looking quite likely to score. But Liverpool managed an attack and were awarded a penalty. (For those who don’t know, a pen…
News Flash: Bank call centre tells truth
Harry Shannon
We’ve all heard it far too many times: “Your call is important to us.” Indeed, that’s the name of a book by Laura Penny. Most, if not all, of us probably view that in the manner of the book’s subtitle, “The truth about bullshit.”
So I was surprised when I phoned the CIBC Visa call centre (CIBC is one of the bigges…
No, I don’t have all the answers
Harry Shannon
My cousin Henry told me about an online talk last week by David Rooney, a British historian. Rooney has just written a book called “About time: A history of civilization in twelve clocks.” The talk was very nicely done; I enjoyed it a lot. Rooney used each clock to illustrate a one-word theme – e.g., order, virtue, empires, …
Evidence-based?
Harry Shannon
This comes from the Hamilton Spectator. The two extracts are shown exactly as they appeared side-by-side in the printed version. No comment needed.
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Secrecy at City Hall
My latest letter in the Hamilton Spectator
Background
There are two prominent local issues I refer to in the letter. The Red Hill Valley Parkway (controversial from its conception for its impact on the environment) was opened in 2007. A report submitted in 2014 to the City of Hamilton raised concerns about the asphalt surface, particularly i…
A better instrument for fighting antisemitism
Background:
This is my OpEd that the Hamilton Spectator published on April 20. I was responding to an article written by Mike Fegelman, described as Executive Director of HonestReporting Canada, a non-profit organization ensuring fair and accurate Canadian media coverage of Israel. Of course, if you have to describe yourself as honest, …
F…
Giving “ZAP” a whole new meaning …
Harry Shannon
…but not intentionally.
I get regular email updates on COVID-19 from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the U.S. This is part of the latest one.
Spot the typo.
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Horror-scopes?
My latest letter to the Hamilton Spectator
Harry Shannon
The letter wasn’t published, but others making some similar points were. It followed a column by the Toronto Star’s public editor, Bruce Campion-Smith. (Torstar owns the Star and the Spec and the two papers print the same horoscopes.) Campion-Smith noted that the astrologer who wro…
How to get rooked
Harry Shannon
If you grew up in the UK before 1971, you had to learn how to cope with your money, which was divided into pounds, shillings, and pence (pennies). The abbreviation is Lsd (or £sd), after the Latin names.
I hadn’t realised before, but according to Wikipedia this was a system once used across Western Europe. There were 12 penc…
UK’s Daily Mail misleads on COVID-19 vaccines
Harry Shannon
What is it about people who write or speak for a living? You often hear them proudly announce that they can’t do math. Which really means they are admitting they’re not properly educated.
It has consequences. If journalists are innumerate, they can’t do their job well. Anyone with an agenda can easily mislead them, and in…