As they say, *ahem*, some personal news: After 20 years in journalism, including a decade at CBC News, I'm moving on to something different. I’m launching my own independent practice as a Data & Storytelling Strategist. Yes, I'm giving up a stable job in order to hang up my own shingle. Why? 🧵👇

I’ve decided to leave X/Twitter. Thank you to @senatorpaulasimons.bsky.social for her leadership and for continuing to educate the public about the harms enabled by the platform. You can still find me on Instagram @kimpateonthehill and on Bluesky @kpateonthehill.bsky.social

The UK announces investigation into Twitter / X / Grok over non-consensual deepfake images. Secretary of State for Science, Innovation & Technology Liz Kendall says the AI-generated images are "illegal" and the company's recent move to limit the function to paid subscribers is "monetising abuse":

Kristi Noem, herself, supplied the method used to ID the agent. She said he "been dragged by a vehicle” in an earlier incident. @startribune.com reporters, who know their way around court records, quickly unearthed his name and confirmed his identity.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota investigators say they can't access evidence after fatal ICE shooting and FBI won't work jointly on probe. @reuters.com

Video of the shooting in Minneapolis. Looks to be legit. This distinctive house seen in the video matches the one seen in a Google Street View image from the 3300-block of Portland Avenue. Sensitive content warning for the video below, of course.

In a residential Minneapolis neighbourhood, protesters yell at military-clad authorities who just shot a woman: "You gonna shoot someone else and kill 'em?" “You gonna murder someone else?" “Come on. Kill us all. You can’t kill us all. You can’t kill us all, Nazis. You can't kill us all.”

Talking about betting market odds as the "chances" that something will happen is not accurate data communication. Talking about betting market odds on a potential act of war is not responsible journalism.

"Dance like nobody’s watching was always sound advice for anyone hesitant to let loose at a club, concert or wedding... The new rule: Dance like anybody could be watching and that footage will follow you forever." Oof this is bleak (& makes me glad I was young before the constant-surveillance era)

"Our digital lives are now gated in a way that makes it harder or more expensive for us to reach the information we’re looking for... The internet no longer feels like a single, heterogeneous place. Instead, we spend our time bouncing between decaying platforms." Via @sarahcrgr.bsky.social:

Bonkers story from @matthewblack.ca: Lawyers for a former AHS board member claim a self-described political fixer, along with an indy publisher, have been paid to smear their client in an effort to discredit & dissuade him from testifying in the wrongful dismissal suit from the agency’s former CEO.

So @hockeyinottawa.bsky.social suggested reading this in Futurama character Zapp Brannigan's voice and I am now deceased 💀

The Atlantic suggesting, without evidence, that Canada's Global TV broadcasting the '60 Minutes' segment on CECOT that CBS distributed to it may have been an act of "treachery." 🔗: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.

lol the wind direction shifted and the temperature dropped 14 degrees Celsius in one hour this morning 🥶

Facebook's old mission statement was: "To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” Its new thing: Oh, you wanna share more than two links? That'll be £10.

Classic Calgary temperature swing incoming

"Senior Alberta government officials stalled the submission of a coal mine pollution study to a scientific journal and prevented the lead researcher from speaking publicly about his work, according to records The Narwhal obtained through a freedom of information request."

Jenn Vanderlaan, senior communications advisor for Acute Care Alberta, said "there is no legal requirement for public reporting of acute-care outbreaks." United Nurses of Alberta President Heather Smith said health officials are “morally obligated as supposed trustees of our public health.”

As someone who immigrated to Canada this is personally terrifying Under such a system I would have been “lucky” that I got cancer after I had been here for long enough to become a citizen.

"A Calgary woman accused of sending five emails that threatened former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis, his mother and several of his friends has seen those charges dropped after evidence was revealed in court that one of the emails was sent through an email-spoofing website..."

Did you know that from tomorrow, Qualtrics is offering synthetic panels (AI-generated participants)? Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"

Facebook use among teens has plummeted from 71% to 31% in the span of a decade. Twitter/X has fallen from 33% to 16%. All other platforms included in this survey have either grown or seen relatively unchanged usage over that same time.

We have a 15-year-old dog & 4-year-old kid who loves him, but also loves cats. This was his conversation with my wife yesterday. KID: "When our dog dies, can we get a cat?" MOM: "He's still very much alive. But no, we can't. Your dad is allergic to cats." KID: "When dad dies, can we get a cat?"

Alberta country music star Corb Lund says the citizens petition initiative he had filed against coal mining in the Rocky Mountains has been retroactively killed by Alberta’s new legislation:

Ottawa will provide an additional $1.17 billion to Alberta in order to extend the federal-provincial subsidized child-care program for another year. The previous agreement was set to expire April 1, 2026. The new deal will run through March 31, 2027.

It’s been frustrating as a journalist, and a member of the public, to watch as publicly available data on the health-care system has dwindled over the years. The auditor general now says the Alberta government is changing internal metrics and selectively using data to hide problems:

"Ontario MP Michael Ma announced Thursday that he is leaving the Conservative caucus and joining the Liberals. Ma's move comes just a few weeks after former Conservative Chris d'Entremont also left the Conservatives to join the government benches."

The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, like many provinces that control liquor sales, pulled U.S. booze off their shelves earlier this year in response to Trump's tariffs / threats. They now plan to sell off the remaining inventory and donate the proceeds to local food banks:

Alberta's childcare deal with Ottawa is four years old and set to expire on April 1, 2026. Every other province has signed an extension. Part of the deal involved space creation. Anecdotally, I've certainly seen WAY more daycares in Calgary than there used to be. And the data bears that out:

This remains one of my favourite headline-photo combos of all time.

Some people in Lethbridge who want to recall their MLA are now worried the petition against him is actually designed to *protect* the MLA from being recalled. Alberta's recall rules say that once a petition is launched and fails, no subsequent petitions can be launched. Via @markusoff.bsky.social:

Wow... NYC's congestion pricing has led to big drops in PM2.5 and real improvements in local air quality.

The Calgary Zoo found a coin in one of their penguins. They got it out. 🔗: www.calgaryzoo.com/news/scoping...

"In 1977, the average 25-34 year old man earned over twice that of a man aged 65+. In 2023, for the first time in recorded history, senior men now earn more, on average, than their 25-34 year old counterparts." Via @mikepmoffatt.bsky.social: 🔗: www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/what-happe...

"Favorable views of the president’s job performance have slipped in recent weeks, as disapproval has grown, leaving the president with a net approval rating that is underwater by 14 percentage points, a widening gap from 10 points just weeks ago, according to The New York Times’s polling average."

Thinking about that tweet again today

Quite the scathing 'epilogue' that Justice Feasby added to his decision, in response to legislation tabled by Alberta's UCP government just yesterday:

"In his ruling, the judge said Alberta's Citizen Initiative Act, as it was before the proposed changes under Bill 14, 'did not give citizens the power to initiate a referendum on the question of independence from Canada.'" Via @meksmith.bsky.social:

I'm old enough to remember when tech reporting helped you learn how to use new features as they came out. Now it helps you AVOID new features the tech companies are trying to force upon you.

The leaders reactions to the live 'YMCA' performance at the FIFA draw

Gretzky pausing, furrowing his brow, and then taking a wild swing at pronouncing "North Macedonia" and missing is absolutely sending me

Here's Premier Danielle Smith in July, responding to a question about two former UCP MLAs trying to relaunch a party named "Progressive Conservative" in Alberta:

#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three democratic appointees, #SCOTUS puts Texas's new House maps back into effect for (and, presumably, through) the 2026 midterms. The three Democratic appointees, in an opinion by Justice Kagan, dissent. I'll post the ruling shortly.

Holy shit. Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

So Alberta's latest proposed law would: 👉 Take power over citizen-led referendums from the chief electoral officer & give it to cabinet. 👉 Ban new political parties from using certain words in their names, including: 'conservative,' 'democratic,' 'liberal,' 'Republican,' and 'wild rose.'

A website/newsletter called the "Bow Valley Insider" that covers the Banff-Canmore area has posted a job for an "AI-First Reporter (remote)". 10 hours a week, $1,000 a month to plug info & raw interviews into ChatGPT and let it write articles for you. Journalism degree "nice to have, not required"

jfc this is so dystopian