bnicholson.bsky.social

⚠️ Social media = polarization machine ‼️ 👉 Extreme ideologues post more 👉 People are more likely to post extreme positions "...robust evidence that online discourse severely over-represents extreme perspectives" = "prediction of false polarization." Important preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...

📣 Dear #UCP, The vote today in #Alberta? What a massive, massive, massive waste of resources and taxpayers' money. What a hate-mongering debacle. What a lie-infused polarizing clusterf*ck. Shame. On. You. 😡

For you youngs who weren't alive for this: Understand that the Chicks were an early rollout of the far right intimidation that we see targeting judges, members of Congress, and ICE protestors now.

What a big loss Rest in Peace Helen www.statnews.com/2026/10/13/h...

Let's talk PROFITIZATION of healthcare Dual Billing is Step Three of the 3 step plan by govt 1 - Help pay to build private facilities 2 - Force more care in these private facilities 3 - Allow Dual Billing without any discussion - drives workforce to private facilities

I would add an 18th catastrophic threat: the rise of far right, authoritarianism, backed by technofascist billionaires

NEW: Prime Minister Andy Burnham finally breaks a decade of UK govt silence…& reveals there was ‘clear’ Russian interference in the Brexit vote. 1/

⚠️ We all do it. Moral reasoning + biases a powerful force! Clever study.👇 Taylor Swift fans lower climate concerns to justify star’s carbon footprint www.psypost.org/taylor-swift... From study: "Rationalization predicted lower CO₂ concerns and environment-related behavioral intentions."

‼️ Alberta separatists are clearly MAGA north ‼️ Same hate. Same rage. Same lies. Same ignoring of facts, science, and morality. Same lack of shame...👇 "...separatists have gone to D.C. offering fresh water and oil in exchange for American support..." www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...,

Every time @carrietait.bsky.social goes quiet for a whole, you know she is working on something big. Here it is www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Good Night From The Drummer, My Friends. Sleep Tight.

Dear Alberta UCP, It is becoming increasingly clear that the MAGA movement will be remembered as an incredibly dark, dysfunctional, destructive, corrupt and unjust period in history. Why are you tethering your legacy – and our province – to this rotten and sinking ship?

Eek!

Jack Smith: "History teaches that the rule of law is rarely destroyed all at once. It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January 2025, we have witnessed precisely such an effort."

"Vaccines work" isn't a political statement. "Immigrants do not increase crime" isn't a political statement. "Climate change is real" isn't a political statement. "Genocide is bad" isn't a political statement. Stop neutralizing the power of facts by framing them as "politics." Reality matters.

A huge thank you to our Booker Prize 2026 judging panel: Mary Beard, Raymond Antrobus, Jarvis Cocker, Rebecca Liu and Patricia Lockwood. Here's what they had to say about this year's shortlist. thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

🚨 Don't believe separatists lies.👇 ZERO evidence immigrants: - increase crime (on the contrary) - hurt healthcare system (on the contrary) - hurt education system (on the contrary) - etc etc. This noise nothing more than divisive hate-mongering. thewalrus.ca/albertas-sep... via @thewalrus.ca

FFS

His anti-science agenda is clear. His lies are killing people. His legacy is darkness. 👇 RFK Jr promises anti-vaxxers a ‘friend at the White House’ amid deadly measles outbreak www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Good article by @georgemonbiot.bsky.social on widespread acceptance - including by the police - of antisocial driving. Lovely to see a link to our recent motonormativity paper in here too www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is worrisome www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...

"Hmmm.... what super evil, hugely harmful, anti-science, and depressing thing can I do next? How about this?" Dark Age 2.0. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/c...

Canada confirms defence strategy against invasion mainly waiting for Americans to die from preventable illnesses

Separatists constantly suggest Alberta has a unique "cowboy", "toil the land", & "rural" culture. Reality: - AB as urban (80% +) & diverse as rest of Canada - AB ag industry = about 2% of total economy. Ag is 1% of Ont's - The cowboy hat thing = just identity fashion like punk pins, blue hair...

New research: Google's AI Overviews reinforce some conspiracy theories phys.org/news/2026-09... "...12.5% of AI Overviews we analyzed presented the false claims as one side in a legitimate debate." Also, when it does occur, the "debunking is cursory."

Sweet mother of dog…

Conservatives vow to get rid of Poilievre as soon as voters send some kind of sign they don’t like him

"Today it’s Lake America, but tomorrow the propaganda coming from south of the border could be both more serious and insidious, and the actions of Google, Apple and other companies show plainly that they will not be on our side." —  @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social

🚨 "Childhood vaccination is one of humanity’s greatest public health achievements. Across generations, vaccines have saved millions of lives, prevented lifelong disability, and helped communities around the world thrive." #VaccinesWork! www.worldhealthsummit.org/news/a-colle...

There are endless studies showing this and also the financial and societal benefits of universal basic income and or housing-first policies but the U.S. never goes for any of it because it would require allowing the poor to receive benefits that the rich consider “undeserved”

"Limiting global warming to 1.5°C remains a cornerstone of the Paris Agreement, yet under current policies and alternative near-term trajectories, exceedance of 1.5°C is now widely assessed as unavoidable" Sobering report and a wake up call www.unep.org/resources/li...

SHOUT-OUT to Political Cartoonist extraordinaire & Member of the Order of Canada Michael de Adder, who routinely does a far better job of holding this administration accountable than the corporate media. Thank you for your attention to his brilliant satirical wit! 🙏 (also: 🤣)

WTF❓ Exploiting the death of an inspirational icon to push fearmongering BS? Antivaxx cult DEEPLY EVIL. "Turbo cancer" 100% BS. ⚠️ Dolly Parton’s death spurs ‘turbo cancer’ conspiracy on X: ‘It’s disgusting’ www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...

Tech companies are run by invertebrates thehill.com/policy/trans...

NO media 1000s are marching in DC to defend voting rights; 90 orgs signed on, Reuters sent photographers, but local media Bernie Sanders, AOC and Martin Luther King III attended Wa Post buried it A Black-led march is visible in DC only after somebody else reports it Repost the march they buried

Unpopular opinion: The world would be better off if we all took professional sports far less seriously.

Solid advice: 10 Practical Tips for Verifying Scientific Claims gijn.org/resource/tip... For example: ✅ Don’t Treat Peer Review as a Guarantee ✅ Read the Study or Paper with an Investigative Journalist’s Perspective ✅ Investigate Funding & COI ✅ Compare the Finding With Earlier Research

PROTECT WOMEN'S SPORTS by paying them equal salaries

We’re not changing it.

Such an important book in the context of all the attacks on science, vaccines, and public health Thanks @michaelemann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social

Incredibly grim. cc @bachynski.bsky.social @neurotimes.bsky.social

Frig…

I think Canada is at the “drop the gloves, empty the bench” portion of the game.

⚠️ After much prompting, the insufferable Dr Oz admits the very, very, very, very obvious: “The MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine.” How do these sycophants live with themselves❓ www.huffpost.com/entry/dr-oz-...

Sum: The MAGA anti-science rage fest continues...👇 Neurologist with antivaccine views to lead NIH’s child health institute www.science.org/content/arti... More evidence Bhattacharya is choosing "leaders with fringe scientific views and no experience with NIH research funding."