Past issues Subscribe

Apr 24 2023

Strike up. Defence culture. Chinese censors.

Apr 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.
Canada
PSAC workers to move picket lines to strategic locations, union says 
Canada's biggest federal public service union is preparing to ramp up its ongoing strike by moving picket lines to strategic locations such as ports on Monday. [Global]
'My best advice to Canadians is not to make that application right now because it just simply won't be processed,' said Families Minister Karina Gould. [Global]
Former defence officials say Canada's "widespread" military deficiencies allegedly outlined in a leaked Pentagon assessment are readily apparent and must be addressed urgently. [Global]
Paul Mitchell: Canadians were shocked by how fragile their health-care system was under the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic. But our military is under similar stresses and only a major disaster will open our eyes. [The Conversation]

Justin Trudeau martèle depuis trois semaines qu’il existe un mur entre lui et la Fondation Pierre Elliott Trudeau depuis 10 ans, soit depuis qu’il est devenu chef du Parti libéral du Canada. Or, La Presse a appris qu’une activité commune de son ministère et de la Fondation s’est tenue en 2016 dans une pièce presque voisine de son bureau, sur la colline parlementaire. [La Presse]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Fanshawe College on Friday to host a student town hall, discussing the rising cost of living, international tuition rates and other student issues. [UWO Gazette]

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants to use the agreement his party has with the federal Liberals to push for tying funding for housing to immigration levels. [Vancouver Sun]
From the provinces
Voters in 3 NB provincial ridings elect new MLAs today
Voters in northeast New Brunswick will get the chance to deliver a big boost, or a major setback, to New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt. [CBC]
The agency warned heavy rain could cause flash flooding and ponding on roads. [Global]
Click to donate $3 a month to support this newsletter!
Elsewhere
Chinese Censorship Is Quietly Rewriting the Covid-19 Story
Under government pressure, Chinese scientists have retracted studies and withheld or deleted data. The censorship has stymied efforts to understand the virus. [NYT]

Beijing's recent rhetoric and military posturing against Taiwan are prompting some to prepare. And the Taiwanese are taking lessons from Ukraine. [Global]
A government-commissioned report says Australia needs to spend more on defense and develop the ability to strike longer-range targets as China’s military buildup challenges regional security. The review says China’s ambitious military buildup is occurring without transparency or reassurance of its intentions. One of the immediate steps taken under the new priorities was to reduce an order for infantry vehicles. The money saved will be diverted to getting HIMARS rocket systems. [AP]
Russia, you will remember, is the current chair of the UN Security Council and, on Monday, it has organized an "open debate" in which it hopes to challenge the "rules-based order" of global politics and challenge "attempts to preserve the unipolar world order." - DA [Security Council Report]
Media

Russia says that the United States has denied visas to journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s trip to New York. And Lavrov suggested on Sunday that Moscow would take strong retaliatory measures. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department about the claim of refused visas. The journalists aimed to cover Lavrov’s appearance at the United Nations to mark Russia’s chairmanship of the Security Council. [AP]
Click and donate $5 a month to support this newsletter!
Tech
If you’re working with data as a journalist it won’t be long before you come across the phrases “dirty data” or “cleaning data”. Some great tips here and, for me, thrilled to learn about this Open Refine's "Cluster and Edit" function. Fantastic tool. [Online Journalism Blog]

Richard Socher, CEO of You.com, explains how AI and large language models are challenging Google's position at the center of our information universe. [ZDNet]
Issued this day ...
Issued this day in 2020: Scott #3239. Eid. Design: Lionel Gadoury, Dave Hurds, Muneeb Khatana | Context Creative. 

Previous Issues

Load More