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Feb 24 2023

No ice. Ukraine support. Facebook jail.

Feb 24, 2023
David Akin's Roundup
Clippings of #cdnpoli, #media, and #tech content aimed at those with an interest in Canadian politics and policy. And sometimes Canadian postage stamps.
Hello -- and welcome back to most of you!
You are receiving this newsletter because you subbed to my last clippings newsletter on the now defunct Revue platform. This newsletter has been in beta for the last month or so here on a platform developed by Goodbits, a Kelowna, BC company. A small group of you have been part of the beta program. Thank you for your feeback.

Today, we're moving out of beta and into the real world -- a real world which comes with costs. Goodbits doesn't work for free apparently!  So, sometime in the coming days, I expect to pass the virtual hat around and hope you might kick in a couple of bucks a month for this version of the clippings newsletter. Details on how that will work TBD. 

That's about all for today. I hope the way things work here is self-evident. Click on a headline, for example, if you want to read more. Should be an unsubscribe button here somewhere. Should also be pretty apparent as well how to reach me by e-mail for brickbats or bouquets.

As always: Appreciate you reading, appreciate your feedback -- and, if you like, please tell a friend. 
Canada
Great Lakes hit all-time low for winter ice coverage
Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that ice coverage on the Great Lakes is at a record low, something a lake biology expert says is bad news.

The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found 65 per cent of those surveyed are just as concerned about Ukraine's future as they were last February.
The mental health score of the country to was at 64.8 out of 100 in January 2023, Saskatchewan's rate sitting slightly above at 66.1.
Awso Peshdary told the court God did him a favour by having the RCMP arrest him.
From the Provinces
They’re Off! Alberta NDP Offers an Election Campaign Preview
David Climenhaga: The party’s plan to overhaul family health highlights an area of UCP vulnerability.
He’s back, again! The former leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, Raj Sherman, wins the UCP nomination vote in Edmonton-Whitemud.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister is returning to the epicentre of flooding that devastated British Columbia's Fraser Valley in November 2021.
Elsewhere
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy vows victory on first anniversary of Russian invasion
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used the Feb. 24 anniversary to congratulate Ukrainians on their resilience in the face of Europe's biggest and deadliest war since World War II.

China has called for a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia and the opening of peace talks as part of a 12-point proposal to end the conflict.
COVID and Vaccines
Only four deaths in Canada are believed to be linked to COVID-19 vaccines, health officials say. More than 50,000 have died from COVID-19 itself. I didn't even know this was something that needed a fact check! But USA Today saw something on social media and jumped into action.
The Idaho Legislature is considering a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to administer vaccines that use mRNA technology.
Media
Congratulations to my colleague Mercedes Stephenson! The 2021 Ross Munro Award Laureate! 
The Canadian Screen Awards has recognized LaFlamme as a finalist for best national news anchor, following her controversial ouster from CTV News. And she nominated herself, the Star discovered!
Is TikTok a privacy threat to Canadians? That's what a new joint investigation by multiple Canadian privacy watchdogs will aim to find out.

Meta says it’s reforming its penalty system so that people are less likely to land in "Facebook jail," for minor rule violations..
Tech
"“Python is an extremely powerful language for journalists who want to scrape information from online sources. This series of videos, made for students on the MA in Data Journalism at Birmingham City University, explains some core concepts to get started in Python, how to use Colab notebooks within Google Drive, and introduces some code to get started with scraping.”
Issued This Day ...
... in 1999: Scott # 1773a: Birds of Canada — 4. Design: Raymond Bellemare. Based on paintings by Pierre Leduc.
Some readers of this newsletter may remember this plate block of 4 stamps from last Feb. 24 and I’m sorry for the repeat but it’s the only stamp in my collection issued on a February 24!

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