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OTTAWA -- There will be no spring election. There cant be a spring election. Its ridiculous to even THINK theres going to be an election in June with coronavirus variants spreading, the slow ramp-up of vaccines and ominous predictions of a third infectious wave on the horizon.

But there was something in Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus eyes this week that elevated the temperature of spring election fever to plausible from the impossible.

It was his confident swagger at the speed of the vaccine rollout.

Those six million doses by the end of March coupled with India kicking in fresh supplies and new manufacturer approvals set up tens of millions of doses arriving by June. And its all repeatedly backed by Trudeaus personal guarantee that any Canadian who wants a shot at symptomatic immunity gets a shot by September.

Then there was that curious tweet from former Trudeau principal sidekick and soulmate Gerald Butts, predicting the current hand-wringing over vaccine shortages is going to seem like a distant and transparently partisan artifact by the May 24 weekend, if not Easter.

Now Butts is an artifact of sorts himself, having been banished from the PMO inner circle exactly two years ago for his role in the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

But he crowned most of the current cabinet ministers so he retains friendships in high places. And hes not the sort to go wildly rogue in social media crystal-ball gazing without an informed vision of whats ahead.

Add those signs of a spring in the prime ministers electoral step to the checklist Trudeau seems to be in a sudden rush to tick off, most of them appealing to areas of niche Liberal support.

This weeks gun control announcements were a foot-dragging second shoe to drop after assault weapons were outlawed last year, but they will be welcomed in big cities the Liberals need to hold.

This weeks policy tweak to fast-track permanent residency for immigrants living here will bolster his ethnic community credentials.

The new Canada-led coalition of countries attacking political hostage-takers like China, albeit done with a wink without actually naming China, was an overdue blast of noisy diplomacy backing our Canadian prisoners who desperately need enhanced political pressure for their freedom.

Trudeaus pledge to pour billions of deficit dollars into rapid transit, backed by permanent funding which wont kick in until long after his prime ministerial portrait is hanging in the Commons, got a thumbs-up from metropolitan leaders.

And then theres the looming and long-overdue budget, which offers a tempting starting line for any spring campaign.

Expect it to crank open the floodgates to crazy amounts of stimulus spending to help business recover, a fiscal rescue mission which will likely be welcomed on Bay Street and risky for opposition forces to attack.

Which brings us to the Erin OToole factor, or lack thereof.

While the Conservative leader and prime-minister-in-waiting is eliminating some of his partys biggest problems, specifically social conservative MP Derek Sloan, the unfortunate reality is that OToole has simply not consummated a defining bond with voters during the traditional leadership honeymoon.

While being largely unknown means hes not generally disliked, its a bit late to introduce yourself to voters once the writ is dropped, particularly if any spring vote becomes a mostly mail-in ballot following a virtual campaign.

Look, there are a hundred reasons why Justin Trudeau does not deserve easy or safe re-election. That list includes early pandemic detection and control failures, runaway deficits, his ethical lapses, broken or delayed promises, his governments secrecy, those control freaks running his caucus and a sense hes now well past his best-before date.

But a quick, trouble-free vaccination blitz would almost guarantee that voters roll out the red carpet to another Liberal government.

If Trudeaus vaccination timetable becomes a reality along with the even-better-case scenario prophesized by buddy Butts, todays vaccine delivery is just the downpayment.

Theres a mega-shipment on the way that could throttle the pandemic in Canada early - and inoculate Trudeau from defeat in a spring election.

Thats the bottom line.

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Don Martin: There is absolutely zero chance of a spring election, unless... - CTV News

Theres a new Star in the Disney galaxy.

The Mouse House on Wednesday lifted the lid on its highly anticipated Star offering the sixth tile within its international Disney Plus service coming almost a year after the SVOD launched in Europe. Ahead of the virtual confab, Disney Plus, which has been robbed of any significant physical press event since launching in Europe due to the pandemic, managed to name a host of actual stars for the media covering the event, couriering certificates of registration with the International Star Registry.

Star, which launches in Europe, Canada, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand on Feb. 23, is effectively doing what an international version of Hulu would have done: expand the Disney offering abroad with adult-friendly content. Disney hit the brakes on expanding that U.S. service, which is a relatively unknown entity in key global markets, and instead leaned into its Star brand, which is already recognized in Asia and some parts of Europe.

Stars U.K. and Ireland lineup will feature 75 new TV shows, 300 movies and new U.S. originals, including Big Sky, Love Victor and Solar Opposites. Other catalogue highlights, which will vary across Europe for the time being due to existing rights tie-ups, include Greys Anatomy, Atlanta, Lost and Desperate Housewives as well as Searchlight movies like The Favourite and Braveheart. Eventually, all episodes of Golden Girls will also land on Disney Plus.

On hand for an in-studio presentation were Jan Koeppen, president of Disney EMEA; Luke Bradley-Jones, senior VP of direct-to-consumer and general manager for Disney Plus EMEA; and Liam Keelan, VP of original productions for Europe.

Bradley-Jones confirmed that Disney Plus will become the exclusive streaming home for catalogue titles such as Desperate Housewives and Lost over time, which will almost certainly raise questions about Disneys priorities for international licensing deals.

FX and Hulu series from the U.S. will also make their way to Star, with new arrivals including Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, as well as The Old Man and Dopesick, starring Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson. The BBC and FX previously had an output deal in place, but that will likely come to an end in order for the cablers shows to land on Star instead.

A new content rating system for parental controls is coming to Disney Plus.

Earlier in the week, Disney Plus unveiled a handful of titles from its planned 50-title originals offering, with Star originals out of France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany.

Keelan expanded on the European shows being lined up, highlighting Parallels, a new original out of France, which he deemed a perfect Disney show because its a real rollercoaster ride for everyone involved, and there is real wit and warmth.

The former BBC Studios scripted exec also highlighted Good Mothers out of Italy, which is a crime story told entirely from the female perspective, and teased a number of projects out of the U.K. spanning comedy, drama and unscripted.

The production community has embraced what were trying to do and theyre excited to create new content, said Keelan. Its important to have shows that stand up against the line-up of brilliant shows we already have. Shows that have a real impact in the market.

Bradley-Jones also expanded on the parental controls element of the platform, which will be vital for Disney if it intends to keep the rest of the service family-friendly. A complex network of content ratings will be rolled out on Disney Plus from Feb. 23, said the executive. It will let customers set content ratings and control access to the app and profiles based on those ratings, which range from 0-plus up to 18-plus, he said.

Users will be able to pin profiles to older content ratings to ensure other members of household dont end up watching what theyre not meant to. All Disney Plus customers will be prompted to go through and set their content ratings (theyll need to have their passwords handy to do so). If they skip the process on Feb. 23, when Star officially launches, then access to Disney Plus will automatically default to a 14-plus rating.

Meanwhile, Koeppen also confirmed that the service will go up in price from 5.99 to 7.99 per month in the U.K. and from 6.99 to 8.99 in Europe.

Disney first hinted at a Star streaming service for international markets back in August, when CEO Bob Chapek teased a new international direct-to-consumer general entertainment offering.

The new service, which wisely ended up being an extra tile as opposed to an individual platform, pulls in content from Disney Television Studios, Touchstone and the content brands FX, 20th Century Studios, 20th Television that were acquired as part of the 21st Century Fox acquisition in 2019. Late last year, the platform confirmed that David E. Kelly series Big Sky and Love, Victor would launch on the platform, alongside iconic shows such as 24, Lost and Desperate Housewives.

Also available at launch will be How I Met Your Mother, Prison Break, The X-Files, Black-ish, Atlanta and the Die Hard movie franchise.

Outside of Europe, Canada and Australia, the SVOD will launch in Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea later in 2021. Latin America will get its own version of the service, branded Star Plus, that will launch in June.

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Disney Lifts Lid on Star: Exclusivity and Parental Control Keys to New Tile - Variety

Do you wish to choose what you get to see on social media and control the ever-changing algorithms? Well, Twitters CEO Jack Dorsey is aiming for a similar future in which users wont have to rely on the algorithms set by the company for the content.

Explaining the process via a call to investors, Dorsey remained strict to his vision by stating that decentralized social network is the way to make Twitter everyones favorite in times to come. Besides that, he also gave a comprehensive reason of why Twitter doesnt want to control its algorithms and how the process would actually work.

As per Dorsey, Twitter can gain the advantage with the help of a much larger corpus of conversation that can be shown as relevant content to the respective users and by doing so, the company would be able to stand out among other platforms - just like before.

Dorsey told the investors that the development team is already excited and working on to build features that will let users decide the kind of content they would like to see on their feeds every day. Furthermore, most probably, one can expect an app-store-like view of ranking algorithms which will offer users the ultimate of ease of picking up different kinds of posts.

The ranking algorithms setup would not only be built to let people curate content but can also serve as marketplace in which people would be able to select different options as well. Either way, this move would only make more people engage on social media in the first place.

With decentralization, Dorsey also plans to address the problems that revolve around Section 230 - the similar law which offers platforms protection from content created by users and the one that has been an absolute favorite of legislators to target. Hence, the decentralized network may work as a way for Twitter to cleverly avoid any issues that may arise as a result of strict rules - irrespective of whether the rules may demand more moderation or Twitter to go for a neutral approach in surfacing content.

Dorsey and his team have already been working on the model for over a year now. The project, tentatively titled as Bluesky began in December 2019, and currently, Twitter is looking for a project manager to manage it. So, going by what TechCrunch published last month, the project is going through the development phase, as we write this.

For those of you who dont know, decentralized social networks isn't a new idea as they exist in the form of Mastodon, etc. However, none of them have been successful enough.

Twitter will either work on an existing decentralized system or may choose to build a new one to cover the loopholes.

Read next:Twitters daily active users number reached to 192 million in the fourth quarter of 2020

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Twitter's CEO Is Planning To Control Social Media Algorithms Through An App Store Like System - Digital Information World

(CNN) -- Rush Limbaugh, the conservative media icon who for decades used his perch as the king of talk-radio to shape the politics of both the Republican Party and nation, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. He was 70 years old.

Limbaugh announced in February 2020 that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Limbaugh continued to host his show while undergoing treatment, and he told listeners that he remained hopeful he would defeat the disease.

A pioneer of AM talk-radio, Limbaugh for 32 years hosted "The Rush Limbaugh Show," a nationally-syndicated program with millions of loyal listeners that transfigured him into a partisan force and polarizing figure in American politics. In many ways, his radio show was like the big bang of the conservative media universe. "TheRush Limbaugh Show" helped popularize the political talk-radio format and usher in a generation of conservative infotainment.

Using his sizable platform, Limbaugh advanced conservative ideas, though he often waded into conspiratorial waters and generated controversy for hateful commentary on gender and race. During the course of his career, Limbaugh started a number of fires with his commentary.

Limbaugh offered a conditional apology after he accused actor Michael J. Fox of exaggerating his Parkinson's disease and apologized when he a insulted law school student Sandra Fluke. He relentlessly attacked President Barack Obama, going as far as to fan the flames of birtherism, the discredited idea that Obama was born outside the United States and therefore not eligible to be President. And, in the last few years, he peddled "deep state" conspiracy theories, providing cover for President Donald Trump, who he counted as a friend.

More recently, Limbaugh appeared to approve of some forms of political violence in the immediate aftermath of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. He also drew backlash at the outset of the pandemic when he dismissed the coronavirus as the "common cold" and contended that it was being "weaponized" by members of the mainstream press to bludgeon Trump and harm his re-election chances. The missive was classic Limbaugh, who built a career on expressing strong distrust of the established press order and referred to himself as "America's Anchorman."

Despite his penchant for pushing conspiracy theories and peddling misinformation that benefited Trump and the other political figures he supported over the years, Limbaugh acknowledged the weight of his words in a 2008 interview with The New York Times.

"I take the responsibility that comes with my show very seriously," Limbaugh told the newspaper. "I want to persuade people with ideas. I don't walk around thinking about my power. But in my heart and soul, I know I have become the intellectual engine of the conservative movement."

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III was born in Cape Girardeau,Missouri, to Rush Hudson Limbaugh Jr. and Mildred Carolyn Limbaugh. His father, Limbaugh Jr., was a prominent Republican activist. Limbaugh's younger brother, David Limbaugh, is a lawyer and conservative commentator.

From a young age, Limbaugh was interested in a career in radio. When he was 16 years old Limbaugh enrolled in a summer course on radio engineering and earned a broadcaster's license. He soon landed a job in local radio. Limbaugh's father demanded he attend college, but Limbaugh had little interest.

"My father expected me to be a professional man," Limbaugh told The Times. "The problem was, I hated school. I hated being told what to do. In the Boy Scouts I never got a single merit badge. In school my grades were terrible. I just didn't want to be there. I just wanted to be on the radio."

Limbaugh eventually attended SoutheastMissouriState University for a year before dropping out. He struggled to find a stable career in radio, working at various stations, including as a top-40 DJ. Limbaugh also struggled in his personal life, having divorced two women in a span of 10 years.

Things changed when he moved to Sacramento, California, to work at KFBK-AM in 1984. From there, Limbaugh developed "The Rush Limbaugh Show." He struck success, doing well in the ratings and earning the attention of Ed McLaughlin, the former head of ABC Radio. In 1988, when Limbaugh's show became nationally syndicated, he moved to New York to broadcast from WABC.

"No one had heard anything like it before," Brian Rosenwald, author of "Talk Radio's America," told Boston Public Radio Station WBUR in 2019. Rosenwald added, "This is a guy who had been a DJ, gotten fired four times in the '70s but he took the high jinks from those DJs at times and infused it into a topical talk show where he was sort of applying it to the values that he had gotten at the dinner table from his father growing up."

Limbaugh found immense success, and quickly became the king of talk-radio. President Ronald Reagan dubbed him the"Number One voice for conservatism" in the country." Limbaugh even had a brief stint on television, hosting a talk show from 1992 to 1996 produced by the late Roger Ailes. Limbaugh said he had no real rivals.

"I have no competitors," Limbaugh told The Times in 2008. "[Sean] Hannity isn't even close to me."

But he did have some personal setbacks. In 2001, Limbaugh suffered hearing loss due to an autoimmune inner ear disease. He later received a cochlear implant. In 2003, Limbaugh announced that he was addicted to pain medication and would seek treatment. Limbaugh said he had become addicted after back surgery. In 2006, he was charged with "doctorshopping." His attorney said he pleaded not guilty and that the charge would be dropped once he completed 18 months of drug treatment.

Throughout it all, Limbaugh remained the king of conservative talk-radio, earning a fortune along the way. Limbaugh Florida estate had five houses. He expressed an affinity for expensive cars. And he owned a personal plane.

At the time of the 2008 New York Times interview, Limbaugh was nearing a contract renewal with Premiere Radio Networks which he estimated was worth approximately $38 million a year. He told The Times that the contract included a nine-figure signing bonus. In January, Premiere Radio Networks told CNN Business that Limbaugh had renewed a "long-term agreement," but did not disclose other details. Trump said at a rally, however, that it was for an additional four years.

"The most elemental fact about the Limbaugh career might be that, outside of seriously corrupt dictatorships, nobody has made as much money from politics as Rush Limbaugh," observed the journalist Michael Wolff, who profiled Limbaugh for Vanity Fair magazine in 2009.

In 2010, Limbaugh married his fourth wife, Kathryn Rogers, a 33-year-old event planner. Limbaugh paid a reported $1 million for Elton John to perform at the event, which was attended by members of the Republican elite, including Sean Hannity, Rudolph Giuliani, and Karl Rove, (link to People.com)

Limbaugh was generous with his wealth. He once ranked fourth on Forbes' list of most generous celebrities, having donated $4.2 million to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, about 13% of his earnings that, the publication said. Limbaugh has also used his show to rally listeners to donate to various charities throughout the years, helping to raise millions of dollars for those in need. In recent years, he and his wife started the Rush and Kathryn Adams Limbaugh Family Foundation.

His generosity extended elsewhere too. Jeremy Sullivan ofMissouri's Kobe Club told Grub Street in 2008 that Limbaugh was someone who liked "to throw down the most massive tips" at restaurants. "The last few times his taps have been $5,000," Sullivan said. will link to Grub Street

Limbaugh, however, was a sharply divisive figure. He was a Republican kingmaker with uncompromising positions. Republican politicians and operatives dared not cross his path. In 2009, when then-Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele dismissed Limbaugh as an "entertainer," Limbaugh went on the attack. Steele later apologized.

In the last years of his life, Limbaugh, like most in conservative media, did everything in his power to protect Trump, resorting to peddling disinformation and conspiracy theories to his audience. He attacked the so-called "deep state," Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and other perceived enemies of Trump.

When Trump faced an impeachment trial the first time in the Senate, Limbaugh went to bat for him each day. Limbaugh attacked then-candidate Joe Biden, while simultaneously defending Trump. Limbaugh told his listeners that Trump's only offense was being "too successful."

"He's being impeached because his successes threaten great damage to the Democrat Party," Limbaugh claimed.

During Trump's second impeachment, Limbaugh accused Democrats of advancing an "abject lie" about Trump's involvement in the insurrection as part of a political effort to disqualify him from running for office again. Limbaugh said Democrats were "deathly afraid" Trump would retain his power over the Republican Party and so they wanted to "stop" him "from having a public life."

Limbaugh announced in February 2020 that he had been diagnosed with advanced cancer. A day later, Trump awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a President can bestow on a civilian. The decision to award Limbaugh the medal ignited fury among those who pointed to the radio host's divisive rhetoric and inflammatory comments.

"Empathy is due to anyone who is suffering. But not high honors, not a celebration of a life's work devoted to the mockery and derision of the Other," wrote David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. "For the President of the United States to bestow one of the nation's highest laurels on Limbaugh is a morally corrosive and politically cynical act."

Limbaugh, who had a close relationship with his radio audience, told his listeners that he appreciated the "love and affection" he had received, saying it was "unlike anything I've ever dreamed of or experienced." But he said he preferred not to talk often about his treatment or health.

"Let me remind you, I told you at the beginning of this that I'm very flattered by all of you who care," Limbaugh said."Don't misunderstand. But I vowed not to let this take control of my life. I've seen that happen. It's hard not to. It's a terminal disease for a lot of people. It takes over your life. I've vowed to not let that happen as much as I can."

The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Rush Limbaugh, conservative media icon, dead at 70 following battle with cancer - KPTV.com

The battle between Google and, to a lesser extent, Facebook, and traditional news media in Australia reached a head earlier this month when the tech giant threatened to withdraw its popular search services from the country. The bone of contention is a proposed law that frames a bargaining code to ensure that news outlets are compensated for the content they generate. The dispute frames the issue of the dominance of a handful of companies in the digital news landscape. Second, given the abiding importance of quality journalism in informing public debate, it could provide the template for how news organisations businesses and revenue models will evolve.

The proposed law has come not from Australias media watchdog but from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which found after an 18-month investigation that the control over the distribution of content that Google and Facebook have, and the profit from news content they corner, threatens the viability of traditional media. For example, for every $100 of digital advertising revenue accrued in Australia, $53 goes to Google, $28 to Facebook and $19 is shared among the companies that often actually produce content. Under the new law, if an agreement cannot be reached between online platforms and media houses in a stipulated period, the matter will go into arbitration, where the decision will be binding. It is this final clause that Google objects to the most. As a compromise and a strategy Google has launched its News Showcase in Australia, and is trying to strike a deal with media groups before the new law comes into effect. News Showcase and a similar initiative by Facebook in the UK in December 2020 pay news outlets licence fees to use their content. The fear, especially among smaller media houses, is that without a law, they will have no bargaining power vis a vis digital behemoths.

There is little doubt that technology has changed how content is consumed and shapes how news outlets must evolve. In entertainment, for example, large studios like Disney have launched their own platforms to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Given the monopolistic control that Google and Facebook enjoy and questions over their algorithm-led editorial judgment preserving the diversity of the media landscape has merit. Already, the spectre of regulation seems to be pushing these companies to share profits with those who create content and report the news. Negotiations between old media and new in Australia will be keenly watched.

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The digital bargain - The Indian Express