Behind-the-scenes of The Missive #5
Finding gaps in power and credibility, plus what I'm reading, watching and listening to now
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Dear subscribers,
Thank you for supporting my writing with your paid subscription. It’s 2022 and time for some subscribers-only content.
Since I spend so many hours every week doing background reading and writing before actually releasing my newsletter, I thought would share some of that work with you. This reading and thinking shapes my approach to the final newsletter.
I hope you enjoy the fifth behind-the-scenes edition of the newsletter. Only paid subscribers are able to view this content.
If you like the newsletter, please share it on social media or you can also gift a subscription to someone else. Leave me a message in the comments if you’d like.
Sincerely,
Jody
Thoughts ahead of the next newsletter…the power gap and the coal credibility gap
The Power Gap series is running in the Globe and Mail and it is an excellent analysis of some of the issues around gender bias (and white supremacy), many of which transcend sectors.
One of the writers is Robyn Doolittle whose “Unfounded” investigation of how Canadian police services handle sexual assault cases prompted a national overhaul of policy, training, and practices around sexual violence.
The latest article in the series covers the power gap in medicine.
There are a couple of huge issues we need to address related to the gender gap in all sectors:
Belief in a meritocracy that doesn't exist.
“I think people want to believe that these issues no longer exist. ... People want to believe they got to where they are because physicians work in a meritocratic system. But that’s not the case.”
What can we do: Stop saying that creating a true meritocracy won’t lead to a loss of status for some. There will be those who benefited from biases and stand to lose standing as a result. Acknowledge and don't downplay or deny the very real loss. But don't let that get in the way of change either.
Denial of built-in, systemic discrimination.
"Dr. Baxter said things are still so backward that even writing about gender and medicine can be a career risk, because some in the profession just don’t want to hear it."
What can we do: Amplify those who are courageous enough to speak up. Dismantle systems that penalize dissenting opinions. Listen and act on suggestions for improvement. Embrace uncomfortable conversations. Not every idea is good but approach ideas with an open mind.
Better decision-making is needed in all sectors.
Simple, but not easy, in my experience - especially the last 15 years working in the public sector. Biases are often not understood or even discussed. They lead to bad decision-making and create havoc in an organization if left unchecked.
What can we do: When there's a framework of identifying problems, generating a wide range of solutions, decisions based on defined criteria for success, and follow-up with sound analysis of data - we'll be better able to make progress.
"I’m a Gen Xer, and I think most of us just thought…in 20 years, it’s going to be a different world. It’s not.”
I've worked an equal number of years in the private sector and the same problems are found there as well. But, there’s a lot more damage when governments don’t figure this out and this report into the problems in medicine is a good example.
Taking their sweet time with the coal report while Kenney takes sides
(March 2, 2023 Note: Coal is back in the news again with our current UCP government reviving coal applications we thought had been put to rest.)
On Dec. 29, 2021, Minister of Energy Sonya Savage issued a statement revealing the two reports with recommendations from the independent Coal Policy Committee had been received. But don’t expect to find out what was in either report any time soon.
“The government will take the necessary time to review the reports’ findings and recommendations carefully before they are released publicly, said Savage (my emphasis). (Kenney)
Global TV reporter Tom Vernon sat down with Premier Jason Kenney for a year-end conversation. I could not bear to watch the full 23 minutes, but I did tune into the part where he spoke about coal mining in the Eastern Slopes. There was so much colonialism to unpack in this conversation with Kenney as he made it clear he is dedicated to coal development.
"Our general approach is to support responsible resource development as we've always done in Alberta." (Kenney)
Almost immediately he stated that he's not even going to debate whether the exploitation of resources is "responsible" by definition.
"There have been coal mines up and down the Eastern Slopes since European people arrived here in the 1870's." (Kenney)
Indigenous people existed here without coal mines for countless millennia before Europeans arrived. The last 150 years of fossil fuel exploitation is but a blip in time. This is how a white supremacist views the world, as if history only began when Europeans arrived.
"I'm not one of those cold-hearted people who just says we're going to turn those (communities) into ghost towns." (Kenney)
When conquest is the only thing you know, every situation is framed as a binary. And the "you're either with us or against us" battlefield mentality is so colonial.
Kenney ended his comments with the 1980's talking point about "balancing environmental preservation" with "job creation." The idea that the two are mutually exclusive is Kenney caught in a time warp. In fact, most agree now that without a healthy environment, there will be no jobs.
Featured image:
13th Avenue SW after a snowfall
For more photos shot this same day (in full colour): https://jodymacphersonphotos.wordpress.com/2022/01/01/seeing-red/
Reading:
I’ve been reading a lot about bitcoin mining as background research for a new piece I’m writing for The Energy Mix. Stay tuned as I’ll have a lot more to tell you about soon!
One article I found particularly interesting was from Forbes in October of 2021 as it explains how the cryptocurrency mining business has more than a few energy and environmental problems to contend with.
The amount of energy it takes to mine and even transact in bitcoin is significant. According to a recent article in Forbes, the average bitcoin transaction consumes twice the monthly amount of electricity used by an average household in the US!
“Exacerbating this problem, some bitcoin mining operations have teamed up with struggling fossil fuel power plants, keeping some power plants online that would otherwise have retired, increasing overall carbon emissions.”
This is what is happening in Alberta with thousands of orphan gas wells sitting dormant. Bitcoin mining entrepreneurs are firing up the wells to supply power to bitcoin mining, which is not helping the province’s emissions reduction plans.
The author of the article is a research associate at the University of Texas and he others some possible ways to mitigate the issues. Most importantly, bitcoin miners need to operate in a way that compliments the deployment of more low-carbon energy rather than resurrecting fossil fuel plants that would have otherwise been shut down.
It’s a good read and watch for my article to come out in the next few weeks with some bombshell developments in the case of a Vancouver company that started operating a bitcoin mining operation in Alberta without approvals.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuarhodes/2021/10/08/is-bitcoin-inherently-bad-for-the-environment/
Watching:
Like everyone else on the planet, I watched the movie Don’t Look Up and recommend you watch it also, if for no other reason than to understand all the references and memes that will inevitably follow.
The movie is not the first, nor will it be the last, to point out tendency for humans to ignore real threats, especially when it involves an inconvenience or necessitates change. In fact, the Covid-deniers and anti-vaccination movement is an example of what happens when people don’t want to accept a real threat that threatens to upend their lives. They will go to great lengths to justify their resistance to change, including claiming others are suffering from some type of madness.
For example: A scientist appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on New Year’s Eve and is claiming that millions of people have been hypnotized into believing mainstream ideas about COVID-19. The theory is called “mass formation psychosis” but the notion has been discredited by decades of research on crowd behaviour. That hasn’t stopped large numbers of people from claiming this is the situation with those who are getting vaccinated as protection against the virus.
While checking lists of other movies similar to Don’t Look Up, I came across one film that really stood out. John Carpenter’s movie They Live came out in 1988 and was #1 at the North American box office at the time. It later gained a cult following.
Here’s an amazing clip from the highly underrated film that really gives you a taste of what it was about:
Listening to:
If you listen to one podcast this week it should be the latest episode of Warrior Life with Pam Palmater. You may have heard about Candy Palmater’s tragic death on Christmas morning. Candy Palmater created, wrote and starred in a national TV show on APTN and hosted a daily radio show on CBC.
Well, Candy was Pam’s cousin and in honour of the beloved actor, comedian and activist, Palmater ran an episode when she was joined by Candy to discuss systemic racism in healthcare. Pam Palmater is such a powerful speaker and this episode is one of the best I’ve heard. The ending is particularly poignant and I found myself choking back tears. Rest in power, Candy.
When the fisher tires of the struggle
At the beginning of every new year, I somehow always seem to end up looking back through some of my earlier writing. This year is no exception.
Here’s a poem I wrote in August of 2011, when I was about halfway through the most difficult five years of my adult life. It was written just as my 20+ year marriage was officially ending. Why I was thinking about fishing, I’m not sure. But I always found fishing to be a relaxing activity so maybe it had something to do with that.
Catch and Release
There comes a time when
the catch must be set free.
A time when the gasping for air
becomes too desperate.
When the struggle reaches its apex
and soon, there will be no turning back.
There comes a time when
the fisher tires of the struggle.
A time when the thrill of the moment
has disappeared.
This is when the hook is removed
and the line recast.
