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Category: Uncategorized

Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Four Years Ago?

Some US Republican—I think it was that moral homunculus Elise Stefanik—asked this question in the US last week, in order to stir up some Trump nostalgia. And my first thought was: wait, wasn’t this the week we collectively ran out of toilet paper? Which led me back to looking at my own work from the first days of COVID. I had waited a long time to start writing about it, mainly because I wasn’t sure what to make of it

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March 13, 2024 1 Comment

The William Shatner University Centre

Thirty-two years ago today, McGill students were voting on one of the most crucial issues of the day: whether or not to re-name the University Centre—more popularly known as the Union Building—after the university’s most awesome graduate, William Shatner. And if you want to know why I have been Persona Non-Grata at McGill for the last three decades or so: it’s because I was one of the ones who spearheaded this initiative. The story is actually simple enough. I came

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March 12, 2024 3 Comments

Alberta Election Manifestos 2023

Alberta goes to the polls next Monday, so it’s time for another edition of “check out those election promises”.  I’ll restrict my comments to the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the United Conservative Party (UCP) since those are the only parties likely to win seats or crack 3% of the vote (yes, yes, the Alberta Party – colour me unconvinced). You can see the New Democratic Party Platform here.  It’s not quite a platform in the traditional sense of having

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May 23, 2023 1 Comment

Vianne Timmons

Late last week, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador  removed its President, Vianne Timmons, on a without cause basis, on account of her contested claims to Indigeneity.  This is a big deal, (read the original CBC story about Dr. Timmons here, and the very long interview with her on the subject of her Indigenous heritage here.) Formally, there are three things of which Dr. Timmons stands accused. First, that she claimed membership in the “Bras D’Or Mi’kmaq First Nation”, a

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April 10, 2023 No Comments

Not much to say

I had a whole blog planned out for today.  About higher education.  The pandemic.  And then I watched the Rose Garden press conference.  None of it seems particularly relevant any more.  To be honest, I am not sure when any of it will again. Fight racism.Fight fascism.Be good to each other.

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June 2, 2020 3 Comments

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One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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