Harry Shannon
Another unpublished letter, this one sent to the Hamilton Spectator. Maybe too easy on the protesters, but the contrast is stark.
Re: Police launch criminal probe into ‘defund’ protest, July 25
In June, Peel police are called to a situation. A 62-year-old man may harm himself with a pocket knife. But he’s not the one t…
Time for a Wealth Tax
Harry Shannon
This was written as a letter to the Toronto Star. It wasn’t published, but you can read it here.
Re Covid-19 costs. Time’s up: help cities, Editorial, July 16
The COVID-19 pandemic has played havoc with people’s finances, and governments have had to go into huge deficits to mitigate the impact on people who have lost t…
Which do you trust: The numbers or your impressions?
Harry Shannon
I'm a big fan of football/soccer (your choice about what to call it). In particular, Manchester United of the English Premier League. I have supported them ever since I was about six or seven years old, when Gordon, the boy next door who was a year older and therefore knew everything, told me they were the team to go for.
So wh…
Are you a swinger?
Harry Shannon
I was listening to CBC radio this morning. A reporter was talking about the popularity of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and said that a year ago Ford’s approval rating was -49% [if I remember correctly]. Today, his rating is +39%. The reporter continued, saying that this represented an 88% swing.
This, of course, is wrong. To un…
Proposal for a Museum (or Museums)
Harry Shannon
You probably read about the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol. Amid the protests over the police killing of George Floyd, it was pulled off its pedestal, rolled to the harbour, and pushed into the water.
I grew up in England, but I had never heard of Colston. Yet his name “permeates the city [Bristol] on buildings and landm…
Doug Ford’s tragic mismanagement
Harry Shannon
Another unpublished letter sent to the Toronto Star.
Mostly self-explanatory, and not saying much that hasn't been said already. But I was trying to put it all together and join some dots. In fact, over the last week since I sent the letter, there has been a fair amount of criticism of Doug Ford and his (Ontario) government. F…
Models and COVID-19
Harry Shannon
We all want to know how the pandemic will play out. Sorry, I don’t.
But some groups are doing mathematical modelling to try to predict what will happen. The statistician George Box famously noted that all models are wrong but some are useful. His point was that a model is an attempt to describe some aspect of the world in mat…
Trump: ‘I predicted the coronavirus’
Harry Shannon
In a remarkable press briefing today, President Donald Trump told reporters that he had predicted the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Trump had been widely ridiculed for a tweet he made on 31 May, 2017 just after midnight. It read: ‘Despite the constant negative press covfefe” and there was much speculation on what the w…
“We’re Number One” – Trump
Harry Shannon
As the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. climbed above the total in Italy to become the highest in the world, Donald Trump claimed: ‘Thanks to me, we’re number one.’
In a rambling press conference, Trump said: ‘Several other countries have tried to beat us, but they haven’t succeeded. Countries like Ita…
My latest letter in the Toronto Star
Harry Shannon
Background: We are hearing a lot from political leaders urging us to follow social (physical) distancing guidelines. On Thursday morning (April 2) I heard Toronto mayor John Tory on CBC radio’s morning show doing just that. Unfortunately, his style of talking is to speak very fast, barely pausing for breath, so interviewers …