Paul Fairie
@paulisci.bsky.social
Researcher, UCalgary
PhD, Political Science
Dr. Cronk, Historian of Complaints. I've written a book, The Press Gallery (release TBD).
Headline of the Year! Lots going on.
PhD, Political Science
Dr. Cronk, Historian of Complaints. I've written a book, The Press Gallery (release TBD).
Headline of the Year! Lots going on.
Wondering which Canadian novel to read out loud to the family at Christmas.
December 4, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Wondering which Canadian novel to read out loud to the family at Christmas.
If you loved...
Antipopes
You might also love...
BC Conservative Party leaders
Antipopes
You might also love...
BC Conservative Party leaders
December 4, 2025 at 1:13 AM
If you loved...
Antipopes
You might also love...
BC Conservative Party leaders
Antipopes
You might also love...
BC Conservative Party leaders
Reposted by Paul Fairie
Sing it with me 🎅
“It’s beginning to look a lot like…”
“It’s beginning to look a lot like…”
A Brief History of the War on Christmas
🧵
🧵
December 3, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Sing it with me 🎅
“It’s beginning to look a lot like…”
“It’s beginning to look a lot like…”
Reposted by Paul Fairie
A Brief History of the War on Christmas
🧵
🧵
November 24, 2024 at 4:10 PM
A Brief History of the War on Christmas
🧵
🧵
Seven new AHS CEOs have been fired and replaced by seven others who have also been fired. Recall petitions have been issued against all MLAs, as well as several non-MLAs. The Notwithstanding Clause has been used to overturn Santa. Every MLA has crossed the floor twice.
Welcome to #ableg.
Welcome to #ableg.
December 3, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Seven new AHS CEOs have been fired and replaced by seven others who have also been fired. Recall petitions have been issued against all MLAs, as well as several non-MLAs. The Notwithstanding Clause has been used to overturn Santa. Every MLA has crossed the floor twice.
Welcome to #ableg.
Welcome to #ableg.
The year is 2026. Ward 15 councillor Jenkins Malone introduces an amendment to add $1M to the budget to celebrate this inaugural budget meeting hitting the one year mark. It fails 7-8, after two weeks of debate. #yyccc
December 3, 2025 at 12:22 AM
The year is 2026. Ward 15 councillor Jenkins Malone introduces an amendment to add $1M to the budget to celebrate this inaugural budget meeting hitting the one year mark. It fails 7-8, after two weeks of debate. #yyccc
Idea: An artist named Al should rebrand as Generative Al. That's it. That's the whole idea.
I wonder how people named Al are dealing with the explosion of people using the term AI.
December 1, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Idea: An artist named Al should rebrand as Generative Al. That's it. That's the whole idea.
I wonder how people named Al are dealing with the explosion of people using the term AI.
December 1, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I wonder how people named Al are dealing with the explosion of people using the term AI.
It's amusing how important the Headline of the Year contest has become to my internal sense of the course of the year.
I mean, it's not a particularly big part, to be fair, but the fact that it's more than none at all is quite fun.
I mean, it's not a particularly big part, to be fair, but the fact that it's more than none at all is quite fun.
November 30, 2025 at 11:36 PM
It's amusing how important the Headline of the Year contest has become to my internal sense of the course of the year.
I mean, it's not a particularly big part, to be fair, but the fact that it's more than none at all is quite fun.
I mean, it's not a particularly big part, to be fair, but the fact that it's more than none at all is quite fun.
Another good reminder to apply for my "what if I have to flee North America all of a sudden" passport.
More saber rattling.
There are good reasons that the U.S. Constitution does not leave the decision on whether to go to war to the whims of one man.
There are good reasons that the U.S. Constitution does not leave the decision on whether to go to war to the whims of one man.
November 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Another good reminder to apply for my "what if I have to flee North America all of a sudden" passport.
This feels like a metaphor about politics.
Experience: I was stabbed in the back with a real knife while performing Julius Caesar
Experience: I was stabbed in the back with a real knife while performing Julius Caesar
Our student theatre group had the bright idea of using actual knives on stage for authenticity. The blade missed my aorta by about a centimetre
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:18 AM
This feels like a metaphor about politics.
Reposted by Paul Fairie
is Microsoft Excel a feminist? Is Gemini a queer ally? Is this graphing calculator my friend
November 28, 2025 at 9:57 PM
is Microsoft Excel a feminist? Is Gemini a queer ally? Is this graphing calculator my friend
Hey, um, authors who had previously book contracts with Unbound.... does an approximately 2023-era version of the website show up for you as well? Not even sure who to tell at this point.
November 28, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Hey, um, authors who had previously book contracts with Unbound.... does an approximately 2023-era version of the website show up for you as well? Not even sure who to tell at this point.
This sounds terrible. I wouldn't wish a six-bedroom house in North Kensington on my worst enemy.
November 28, 2025 at 8:49 PM
This sounds terrible. I wouldn't wish a six-bedroom house in North Kensington on my worst enemy.
I cannot emphasize enough how little I want to see AI illustrations of blog posts. Ethics aside, it is boring to look at one version of a computer's simulation of what a human might have done. I'd rather imagine it myself. I'd rather just read the text. I'd rather just stare into the void.
November 28, 2025 at 2:03 AM
I cannot emphasize enough how little I want to see AI illustrations of blog posts. Ethics aside, it is boring to look at one version of a computer's simulation of what a human might have done. I'd rather imagine it myself. I'd rather just read the text. I'd rather just stare into the void.
Reposted by Paul Fairie
Looking at you, US peeps with your "salads" and yams made with marshmallows
November 27, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Looking at you, US peeps with your "salads" and yams made with marshmallows
Using the voters list as a political weapon against a constituent feels like perfectly reasonable grounds for a recall to me.
Dale Nally's recall petitioner says he doesn't listen to constituents and cites his concerns over the notwithstanding clause.
Nally responds by saying the petitioner doesn't vote and works as a proxy for a group weaponizing the recall act and the petition has no merit.
Nally responds by saying the petitioner doesn't vote and works as a proxy for a group weaponizing the recall act and the petition has no merit.
November 25, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Using the voters list as a political weapon against a constituent feels like perfectly reasonable grounds for a recall to me.
On it 🔍
This seems like a challenge for @paulisci.bsky.social
“Crowds have become more unkind, opinionated and noisy,” he wrote in The Art of Captaincy 40 years ago.
“Crowds have become more unkind, opinionated and noisy,” he wrote in The Art of Captaincy 40 years ago.
The history of tension between England and Australia on the cricket pitch offers lessons for those shocked by alcohol-fueled behavior at golf and tennis events.
November 21, 2025 at 10:56 PM
On it 🔍
Reposted by Paul Fairie
*Paul starts a new hell thread: "TIMES IN HISTORY WHEN RICH MEN PUT IT IN THE PAPER THEY WERE VERY GOOD AT DRINKING URINE."
November 21, 2025 at 12:55 AM
*Paul starts a new hell thread: "TIMES IN HISTORY WHEN RICH MEN PUT IT IN THE PAPER THEY WERE VERY GOOD AT DRINKING URINE."
(The year is 2077. A child and an elderly millennial are huddled around a fire, sharing a single bean from a rusty tin can.)
Child: Why did things get so bad, papa?
Papa: Well, my child, we had to warm the planet to tell the rich man that he would probably be very good at drinking urine.
Child: Why did things get so bad, papa?
Papa: Well, my child, we had to warm the planet to tell the rich man that he would probably be very good at drinking urine.
November 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
(The year is 2077. A child and an elderly millennial are huddled around a fire, sharing a single bean from a rusty tin can.)
Child: Why did things get so bad, papa?
Papa: Well, my child, we had to warm the planet to tell the rich man that he would probably be very good at drinking urine.
Child: Why did things get so bad, papa?
Papa: Well, my child, we had to warm the planet to tell the rich man that he would probably be very good at drinking urine.
The best lens through which to view American politics is "oh no wtf are you folks doing".
November 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
The best lens through which to view American politics is "oh no wtf are you folks doing".
American Political Checks and Balances in 2025, Explained:
*The judicial branch can declare laws unconstitutional
*The legislative branch can confirm judicial nominations
*The executive branch can threaten legislative branch opponents with the death penalty
*The judicial branch can declare laws unconstitutional
*The legislative branch can confirm judicial nominations
*The executive branch can threaten legislative branch opponents with the death penalty
November 20, 2025 at 5:28 PM
American Political Checks and Balances in 2025, Explained:
*The judicial branch can declare laws unconstitutional
*The legislative branch can confirm judicial nominations
*The executive branch can threaten legislative branch opponents with the death penalty
*The judicial branch can declare laws unconstitutional
*The legislative branch can confirm judicial nominations
*The executive branch can threaten legislative branch opponents with the death penalty
IDEA: A Hallmark Christmas movie about an Alberta premier who refuses to be photographed with Santa unless he's seated, titled 'Notwithstanding Claus'.
November 18, 2025 at 11:58 PM
IDEA: A Hallmark Christmas movie about an Alberta premier who refuses to be photographed with Santa unless he's seated, titled 'Notwithstanding Claus'.
Reposted by Paul Fairie
When I looked at these clippings before, I focused on the Cronk ads, but now I see what's *between* the ads and the glimpse of southern Alberta six years after the signing of Treaty 7.
In 1883, a drink called "Cronk" started advertising in the Calgary Herald. See if you can spot their ads.
November 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
When I looked at these clippings before, I focused on the Cronk ads, but now I see what's *between* the ads and the glimpse of southern Alberta six years after the signing of Treaty 7.