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Simon Houpt @simonhoupt.bsky.social · 3h

I…guess there’s no delay on the Sportsnet broadcast? 🤣

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 9d

yeah they're just murdering random people on these boats

Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 9d

I think the Trump admin assumed no one would try to find out who the people on the boats they blew up really were

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Simon Houpt @simonhoupt.bsky.social · 12d

This is such a great piece of reporting and writing. As with so much of what @thelocal.to does, it takes something important happening in plain sight that we’re not paying attention to, and helps us appreciate the beauty and troubles underneath the surface.

Nick Hune-Brown @nickhunebrown.bsky.social · 12d

A quick 🧵 on my @thelocal.to feature on Woodbine Racetrack, the economics of horse racing, and how to think about racehorses as ideas about animal-human relations shift. #longreads 1/ thelocal.to/breakdown-at...

Breakdown at the Racetrack | The Local

Once a lucrative gambling business, Ontario's horse racing industry is now heavily subsidized by the government. As gamblers turn to online gaming, and ideas about animal welfare shift, a cluster of f...

thelocal.to

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 15d

Here, @oliverdarcy.bsky.social gets to the heart of how poorly equipped most newsrooms are in understanding the true nature of online discourse these days — as evidenced by CNN’s hamfisted interview of Jack Posobiec, along with MSM’s inability to interpret Tyler Robinson’s slogans

Of course, the disconnect between the online world and mainstream coverage stems, in part, from the fact that most top newsroom leaders and journalists are not fluent in the digital battlefield where today's information wars are fought. They're not spending their days scrolling politics-focused TikTok and Instagram, watching YouTube streams of podcasters like Joe Rogan and Benny Johnson, or wading through platforms like X where the combat takes place.
Maybe that's a function of age, maybe it's a matter of interest or time.
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter. The result is the same: leaders who are not immersed in the online trenches and lack a real grasp of who the key players are and how much influence they wield

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J. Kelly Nestruck @nestruck.bsky.social · 19d

It was a Canadian who came up with "The medium is the message".
It's just not right for @mark-carney.bsky.social's government to be encouraging Canadians to go to X for government communications. Hold a press briefing, folks.

J. Kelly Nestruck @nestruck.bsky.social · 19d

I find it ironic that @vgasparro.bsky.social chose to announce this on the cesspool that is X - in a message that also said: "Our government will not tolerate the advocating of political violence, terrorism or Anti-Semitism and hate more broadly." www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Irish rap group Kneecap banned from entering Canada for promoting political violence and terrorism

They had been scheduled to perform in Toronto and Vancouver next month

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Jason Karsh @jkarsh.bsky.social · 21d

I’m sorry, “Didn’t participate in a moment of silence”? What in the authoritarian state is happening.

Wendy Suares @wsuares.bsky.social · 21d

INBOX- State Superintendent Ryan Walters says after investigating reports that came in through Awareity, they've identified 70 certified teachers from 44 districts who've made statements regarding Charlie Kirk's murder and 12 school districts who did not participate in a moment of silence. #oklahoma

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Gremliny Nussboo @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 21d

The Kimmel cancellation reminded me of the final paragraphs of the essay I wrote about Trump, TV and humor back in 2017:

When Vai, in Pudin me dected
), one of his hrst
acts was to kill "Kukly," a sketch puppet show that portrayed him as Little Tsaches, a sinister baby who uses a "magic TV comb" to bewitch a city. Putin threatened to wreck the channel, NTV, unless it removed the puppet. NTV refused. Within months, it was under state control.
According to Newsweek, "Putin jokes quickly vanished from Russia's television screens."
Soon after Trump was elected, he, too, began complaining about a sketch show:
"Saturday Night Live," which portrayed him as a preening fool, Putin's puppet. His tweets lost the shape of jokes, unless you count "Not!" as a kicker. He was no longer the blue bear. Instead, he was reportedly meeting with Rupert Murdoch about who should head the F.C.C. Soon, Trump would be able to shape deals like the A.T.
& T. and Time Warner merger, to strike back at those who made fun of him or criticized him, which often amounted to the same thing. Fox would likely be Trump TV.

Last week, at his first press conference as President-elect, Trump made no jokes. He was fuming over the BuzzFeed dossier and all those lurid allegations worthy of "South Park," the pee jokes lighting up Twitter.
Only when he reminisced about his rallies did he relax, recalling their size, the thrill of the call and response. He almost smiled.
But when CNN's Jim Acosta tried to ask a question about Russia, Trump snapped back, furiously, "Fake news!" —and the incoming White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, told Acosta that if he tried that again he'd be thrown out. Now, it seems, is when Trump gets serious. A President pushes buttons in a different sense. As Putin once remarked to a child,
"Russia's borders don't end anywhere" — before adding, "That's a joke."

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 21d

This was after Colbert was canceled. Which was two months ago.

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Jul 18

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

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Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 25d

If you don’t want to be called a Nazi, stop acting like one.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25d

Brian Kilmeade endorses euthanizing homeless people: "Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them."

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Simon Houpt @simonhoupt.bsky.social · 26d

Really important story that’s not getting enough attention. So good to see The Local on it.

The Local Magazine @thelocal.to · 26d

If the Ford government decides it doesn't like how a university sets its admissions standard, the new Bill 33 would give the province the ability to unilaterally change them. The implications for university autonomy, critics say, are unprecedented. thelocal.to/bill-33-onta...

Doug Ford Is Trying to Control How Universities Operate | The Local

Ontario’s Bill 33 mandates merit-based admissions and gives the province unprecedented power over university and college operations. Is it part of a broader right-wing crackdown on campuses?

thelocal.to

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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 29d

I wrote about what I think is a genuinely revealing document of elite depravity and impunity. It is shocking and sickening. But it's also a crucial moment. We're about to see what happens when conspiracy theorists actually get what they asked for but it turns out not to be what they want.

You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself

This time, the conspiracy theorists were right.

www.theatlantic.com

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Simon Houpt @simonhoupt.bsky.social · 28d

30 minutes and counting.

Waiting screen for the FIFA World Cup ticket waiting room.

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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · Sep 2

There are so many awful things happening in the world right now and so many of us feel powerless to change anything.

But community care is a skill we can all learn. We CAN show up for each other when we see our fellow neighbours being targeted.

Let me teach you how!

zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Stand up against Street Harassment
September 4, 2025
Noon - 1pm EST

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Anna Mehler Paperny @mehlerpaperny.bsky.social · Aug 27

Reuters journalist Hussam al-Masri had four kids and a wife who has cancer. He had been trying to get her out for treatment when an Israeli airstrike killed him at a hospital this week. www.reuters.com/business/med...

Hussam al-Masri, the Reuters journalist killed by Israeli fire in Gaza

Hussam al-Masri reported on the war's civilian suffering while himself living in a tent and struggling to find food for his family.

www.reuters.com

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · Jul 27

After restrictions on aid imposed by Israel, medics in Gaza are fainting in hospitals and lack supplies to stop patients’ malnourishment. “The expression ‘skin and bones’ doesn’t do it justice.” nyti.ms/3J5WDXp

A young woman, in a dark dress and pink head scarf, feeds a bottle to a malnourished child. A headline reads: "Starvation Haunts Gaza Hospitals." Photo by Bilal Shbair for The New York Times.

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Inori Roy @royinori.bsky.social · Jul 26

I spent a night in a field an hour outside Kitchener getting an up-close look at the worm industry. Our tiny corner of the province exports all of North America's bait worms: it's a curious business run by families and powered by immigrant labour, and every fact I learned enchanted me a little more🪱

The Local Magazine @thelocal.to · Jul 23

Southwestern Ontario is the worm capital of the world, home to all of North America’s bait worm supply. @royinori.bsky.social spends a surreal night picking wild earthworms for this niche local industry that today faces existential threats in labour and climate change. thelocal.to/ontario-nigh...

On the Hunt for Nightcrawlers in the Worm-Picking Capital of the World | The Local

Nearly all bait worms sold in North America are hand-plucked from farmland in this part of Canada. But with labour shortages and climate change, some worry we’re witnessing the final wiggles of a once...

thelocal.to

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Mark MacKinnon @markmackinnon.bsky.social · Jul 26

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Jul 24

As Palestinians continue to die of hunger, a former Israeli official speaks out about the government’s “total failure” to deliver aid in Gaza.

The Political Motives Behind the Gaza Aid Catastrophe

As Palestinians continue to die of severe hunger, a former Israeli official explains what the latest plan is really meant to achieve.

www.newyorker.com

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Simon Houpt @simonhoupt.bsky.social · Jul 24

Justice Carroccia (announcing her decision in the Hockey Canada trial) says: “I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable.” Robyn Doolittle adds: She finds that consent was not vitiated by fear.
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Justice Carroccia says she does not find the accuser’s evidence ‘either credible or reliable’

Justice Maria Carroccia set to decide fate of former world junior players Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote accused in 2018 alleged assault

www.theglobeandmail.com

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Mark Medley @markmedley.bsky.social · Jul 17

Come work at @theglobeandmail.com. We’ve just posted a number of new editorial positions: jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/theglo...

Job Board | Dayforce Jobs

Find your next adventure

jobs.dayforcehcm.com

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The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · Jul 17

Carol Linnitt, co-founder of The Narwhal, flew to Vancouver in April, took a glass elevator up a glimmering skyscraper and entered a boardroom full of lawyers. There she was grilled, for hours, about details of The Narwhal’s press freedom lawsuit against the RCMP.