The SUN-TV news network was never intended to cover the news, it was intended to make the news. Some might even say make up the news, but what I mean is that the gang of clown-shoed commentators put together by right-wing Quebecor chieftain Pierre Karl Peladeau and former PMO flack Kory Teneycke are paid to act out and grab headlines, not to report the news.Nobody watches SUN-TV outside of a few elderly shut-ins, the staff at QMI newspapers who are a captive audience, Blogging Tories and professional media watchers. Bill Brioux, a freelance TV writer for CP, owner of TVFeedsMyFamily.com …
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I think most reasonable people, at least in hindsight, would agree that one of the things the Liberals' got right under Chretien and Martin was keeping Canada out of the gigantic deadly goat rodeo known as the Iraq War. Remember how in the months that lead up to the invasion we were told again and again that Saddam Hussein had biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction, that there was no question he was working on 'nookyalur' weapons, that Saddam Hussein was seen french kissing Osama Bin Laden under the bleachers during the homecoming game. This was all given as gospel truth by the …
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Canada's ethical snake-oil salesman and Glenn Beck wannabe Ezra Levant continues to keep it classy.  As far as I can tell, Ezra's objection isn't that Chiquita Banana keep paying right-wing death squads to murder labour activists in South America, but that they are denying that they are boycotting tarsand products as a PR dodge. How dare they obey free market principles, eh Ezra? I don't know how the mother of the Chiquita Banana exec feels about you suggesting her son should have carnal knowledge of her, but your mother must be so very proud of you.Crossposted from The WoodshedTweet …
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As I write this, the number one story under Canada on Google news is the report by the privacy commissioner about the government collecting too much information about us, especially at airports. The number two story is about a carpenter from Winnipeg saying "fuck you" someone (who was definitely asking to be told) on the Internet.Normally this would not be a story, but the carpenter in question is NDP Member of Parliament Pat Martin, who first expressed his anger over the government swiftly closing debate on the budget bill."This is a fucking disgrace... closure again. And on the Budget! …
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"You won't recognize Canada when I get through with it"-Stephen HarperNot content with running roughshod over the wishes of the majority of Canadians and eliminating the long-gun registry, ignoring the majority of wheat farmers and cutting the throat of the Canadian Wheat Board, the Harper conservatives are now starting to tinker with national symbols. Dam the beaver — use the polar bear as official emblem, Tory saysOTTAWA—A Conservative senator says it’s time Canada was symbolized by something more majestic than a buck-toothed rodent.Senator Nicole Eaton wants the polar bear to replace …
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Toronto city councillor George "Giorgio" Mammoliti (he changed his name in 2002 from English to Italian to better reflect his desire to suck up to immigrant voters in his ward Italian heritage) has apparently finally made the full journey from populist leftist to card-carrying member of Monster Raving Looney Party conservative firebrand. How short is the collective memory of Torontonians? Apparently just as short as Mammoliti's own. With all his recent ranting about Communist flouridation contaminating our precious bodily fluids infiltration of his facebook page and Toronto City Council, and …
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Some thoughts and links on the riots across England:Not everyone in London is either a rioting, firebomb-throwing yob looter or an authoritarian "send-in-the-army" wannabe aristocrat. Some of them are good community minded people. Let hope these people get as much credit as they deserve. Sometimes you find insightful analysis in the most unlikely places. Not everyone was terribly surprised by this turn of events, indeed the causes have been evident for some time. A blogger's-eye view from the city as it burns and some thoughts on why from Red Penny. This bit in particular caught my …
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"Wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross" indeed.Didn't thousands of brave Canadians die in World War Two just so we could avoid exactly this kind of creeping militarism and fascist-style soldier worship? It really is just a matter of time before Stephen Harper appears in a fancy uniform with lots of gold braid and a big sash, isn't it?Watch for the big parade of military vehicles and the air force flyover on Parliament Hill next year.Mandatory pledges of allegiance in school and participation in "young pioneers" youth programs are probably not far behind.Oh, and on a slightly different …
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To paraphrase Sinclair Lewis: When fascism comes to Canada, it will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a hockey stick.Coach Harper won his majority last night thanks to smears, lies, obfuscation, vote suppression and dirty tricks on his part, vote splitting on the part of his opposition and a staggering display of selfish bourgeois Babbittry on the part of a good many Canadians. In any democracy, we get the government we deserve.There is good news and bad news in last night's election result: The NDP won 102 seats and will form the official opposition, an opposition that will -- with 60 newly …
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Read this excellent summary by Lawrence Martin and then tell me we can afford to give Stephen Harper another term as president prime minister.Have a look at the regional polling numbers, the Conservatives are the choice of the majority in only Alberta and narrowly in the Prairies. They are at about 40% in Ontario and BC, but a distant fourth place in Quebec. Do the right thing tomorrow and vote for the candidate in your riding that has the best chance to beat the conservative. Local polling numbers can be seen here until midnight.And no, I don't think the title is overstating things. All …
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FSM willing and the skype doesn't crash, Scott Tribe will be my guest tonight to talk Canadian politics on Virtually Speaking Sunday: Maple Syrup Edition at 8 pm EDT/5 pm PDT You can listen live here or click on the VSS player on the sidebar at The WoodshedIf you can't make it tonight or you want to check our prediction against reality later on, the show will be archived here.You can join the virtual studio audience in Second Life or follow the IRC (internet relay chat)  to be part of the studio audience chat stream w/o using SL.Connect to http://webchat.freenode.net/ Give …
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Much is being made by the usual suspects of this clumsy smear job on Layton by the Toronto Sun.Give that story a very careful, very close reading and realize it is built entirely on a single unnamed source, contains no evidence of anything and is built largely on innuendo.Layton was never charged or even arrested and there is not even any direct accusation in the story that he did anything he should not have done. He openly admits that he went to get a massage at the apparently fully-licenced massage establishment. Something lots of people do every day. There is nothing sleazy about getting a …
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Let us be clear, Stephen Harper is the front runner in this election. The last thing a front runner wants is to lose control of the agenda or to get put on the defensive or to make a gaffe. So the smart thing for him to do has been to carefully control his public appearances to avoid any unfortunate incidents where he is forced to answer tough questions. Hence the Potemkin rallies with carefully vetted crowds. Hence the "only five questions a day" refusal to speak with reporters. But with the number of scandals continuing to mount - former aide Bruce Carson illegally lobbying to score some …
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That bastion of Marxism and vanguard of the glorious revolution of the proletariat, The Globe and Mail,  today brings us a story so shocking, a truth so revealing that it if absorbed by the general populace, will shake our economic and political firmament for years to come.Corporate tax cuts don't spur growth,  analysis reveals as election pledges flyKAREN HOWLETTFrom Wednesday's Globe and MailCanadian companies have added tens of billions of dollars to their stockpiles of cash at a time when tax cuts are supposed to be encouraging them to plow more money into their businesses.Well, …
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VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAY APRIL 3A Counterpoint to the Sunday Morning Talking Heads@4pm pacific|7pm eastern -  DAN ELLSBERG & GLENN GREENWALD: WikiLeaks, the abuse of Bradley Manning and the future of civil liberties in the U.S.  Listen here@5pm pacific|8pm eastern - Maple Syrup Edition with  Kevin Wood aka RevPaperboy, Dr.Dawg and @OurManinAbiko on the coming General Election in Canada and #Quakebook, a Twitter spawned response to Japan post quake and tsunami.Listen live  hereBeginning Tuesday, listen to the Maple Syrup …
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Some random thoughts on the election:Stephen Harper, who not so long ago touted himself as the champion of "open and accountable" government, will only answer five questions a day on the campaign trail, and two of them have to be in French and one from "local" media. So the people from the Globe, the Star, CBC, NatPost, Sun, CTV, Global, CP, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Province et al have paid $10,000 to sit through spin session and Potempkin rallies and ask one or two questions for the whole campaign?  I have a question: Are you fucking kidding me? Dammit Janet has a great …
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The young girl has a lovely voice, yes, but seeing Stephen Harper sing this song is like watching David Duke sing "We Shall Overcome." Someone who was disappointed we didn't get to play in the Iraq sandbox and is destroying our fiscal security to buy unnecessary stealth fighter jets should not be singing peace anthems. It is not merely distasteful,  it is hour-long-shower-scrub-with-a-wire-brush disgusting. Maybe this is his energy plan, to hook John Lennon's coffin up to a turbine and provide free electricity to the entire American continent from the resultant spinning.He says he has his …
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Coming up this week on Virtually Speaking:• Stuart Zechman | Jay Ackroyd on VS A-Z. Ongoing rants and explorations of  liberalism. This week: the Disinformation Regime|Listen live here, on Thursday, March 31 @ 8pm edt|5pm pdt | Listen here after midnight Friday, April 1.• Evolutionary Biologist PZ Myers on Virtually Speaking w/Jay Ackroyd:  Expect current developments in science, secular society and squids. Listen live here, beginning Thursday, March 31, March 31 @ 9pm edt|6pm pdtAlso, you may have missed these excellent …
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Let's call the whole thing off!Apparently there are those who interpret Parliamentary law as saying that Stephen Harper is now barred from holding office due to having been found in contempt of Parliament. I'm not sure this is the case since the confidence vote was held before acceptance of the committee report finding the government in contempt could be voted on by the House of Commons. Still, a such a finding even at the committee level is significant. Certainly, the report would have been confirmed by the House, although I suspect the Conservative-dominated Senate would have sent it back to …
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via Susie Madrak at Crooks and Liars we learn that the northern wingnuts of Minnesota will not be outdone by the dairyland wingnuts of Wisconsin. Wis. Gov. Scott Walker is trying to crush unions and take away the constitutional right of working people to freely associate - hah! what a piker! a mere robber baron wannabe! Minnesota Republicans want to make it illegal for anyone on public assistance to have more than $20 cash!On March 15, Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee testified  in front of the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee on  House File 171. …
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When my smart phone chimed at 3 a.m. a week ago Friday in Ontario, bringing news of a massive eathquake in Japan, I woke Hiromi. She muttered something about calling her parents in Miyagi in the morning, and went back to sleep. We’d spoken to her dad via video Skype only a few hours ago. It could wait.Morning came, and with TV images of cars washing under a bridge like ice floes on a spring river, fishing boats perched atop buildings, entire villages reduced to mud-covered rubble. We called and called to no avail.We knew Oji-san would have been at home in Wakayanagi, far enough inland to be …
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While I've been a bit distracted this week with personal matters , I have been paying some attention to the non-Japan related news. Really, there seems to be no depth to which Stephen Harper will not sink. With the revelation that one of his former close advisors did time for fraud and is currently involved in a dubious lobbying effort to enrich his 20-something escort fiance, and the looming likelihood that his government will be found in contempt of Parliament, Stephen Harper is feeling a bit cornered. It is  doubtful that he will win his precious majority if an election is called …
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It has been, in the sense of the old Chinese curse, an interesting weekend.The earthquake and tsunami that struck north-eastern Japan on Friday and the subsequent nuclear crisis are frightening events that hit very, very close to home for me and mine. As many of you know, I spent many years in Japan and Mrs. Rev. Paperboy is a Japanese national. Furthermore, Sendai is pretty much her hometown and her parents live in a nearby village in Miyagi Prefecture, well inland from the city. Neither of us has had much sleep since Friday and we still have not received any word about her parents.We are …
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Just getting ready to host Virtually Speaking Sunday:Maple Syrup Edition by drinking a nice piping hot cup of maple syrup. Join Lindsay Stewart and I at 8 EST 5 Pacific …
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Sunday, March 65 p.m. Pacific/8 p.m. Eastern VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAY; MAPLE SYRUP EDITIONThis week host Kevin Wood speaks with blogger and performing artist Lindsay Stewart aka PSA about copyright, the Canadian federal budget and the likelihood of a federal election in Canada this spring. Listen live or check the archives6 p.m. Pacific/9 p.m. EasternVIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYThe Sunday media panel returns with Marcy EMPTYWHEEL Wheeler and Eve  NYCEVE Gittelson.Monday March 7 VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUSIETwo  journalists who share a passion for music -- Will Bunch of the Philadelphia …
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Join Dr.Dawg and I tonight at 8 pm EST/ 5 pm PST for a hour of discussing Canadian politics. We will have a live virtual audience in Second Life in addition to broadcasting live on Blog Talk Radio (where the program will also be archived for you later listening pleasure)Following Virtually Speaking Sunday: the Maple Syrup edition, the regular VSS program this week features Susie Madrak and Stuart Zechman. There will be snark; there will be critical thinking. Listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking/2011/02/21/virtually-speaking-sundaysVisit Virtually Speaking at: …
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Tune in via Blogtalk Radio or join the live virtual audience in Second LifeTHURSDAY Feb 17 - 6pm pacific |9 pm easternDAHLIA LITHWICK @ VIRTUALLY SPEAKING w/ Jay AckroydInterviews with scholars, authors, pundits and public officials: an eclectic sampling of established and emerging voices representing progressive thought in the contemporary, public conversation. DAHLIA LITHWICK , senior editor and legal correspondent for Slate, writes "Supreme Court Dispatches." She covered the Microsoft trial and other legal issues. Dahlia and Jay talk about Obama health care decisions, and the effect of …
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People sometime ask me why I blog, if there is any money in it, does anyone read this stuff, do I really expect to change anything and just what am I doing here anyways? To which I can only reply "I came for the waters."Or to twist another phrase, blogging is its own reward.Yes, I know that in political terms I am preaching to the choir. So what? The choir needs to be preached to from time to time. Put another way, you wouldn't expect the coach to give his rah-rah speech to the opposing team, would you? Okay, so maybe I'm not the coach, maybe I'm more like the fourth line left winger or …
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The Toronto Star reports that the officer involved here has pleaded guilty to uttering threats. How about armed assault? Abuse of authority? People swept up by the Toronto Police at the G8/G20 were charged with more serious crimes for a whole lot less. If soap bubbles can be considered assault, then how is this revolting threat of torture with a deadly weapon not aggravated assault? We keep being told that Tasers are supposed to be a non-lethal alternative to guns, but again and again, we see stories of them being used as compliance weapons or torture tools.As for the officer in question, he …
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It occurs to me, as I'm sure it must have to many people, that if the Western democracies would walk the walk instead of just talking the talk and really supported efforts at democracy in North Africa and the Middle East instead of bankrolling dictators because they provide "stability" we would have a lot less to fear from a democratic North Africa and Middle East.Given that virtually every gun, club, tear gas bomb and armored car being deployed against the huddled masses yearning to breath free in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere in the region comes from the "arsenal of democracy" and given that …
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Ian Welsh lays it out just about right. And David Lindorff further discusses the monsters in our midst.The Skipper has been criticized by a few under the Godwin's Law argument, but I agree with him and with Welsh that we too often fall into the trap of reasonableness, that by going along to get along we too often normalize extremist opinion and outrageous attitudes by our tacit acceptance.We grossly overvalue civility when we condemn people for using strong language to describe reprehensible actions and attitudes. Right-wing radio hosts and  tea party activists make horribly racist …
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Wow, I have to say my hat is off to the people at OPSEU who put this campaign together. They are doing a marvelous job of keeping a straight faee and keeping up the gag. This was in my inbox at the newspaper this morning. Good Morning -Are you wondering how you will come up with $500 to pay your share of the Ontario government's proposed $2.4 billion a year corporate tax cut? Today, People for Corporate Tax Cuts unveiled its province-wide campaign to shares tips on how Ontarians can raise the $500 every household must contribute to pay for the corporate tax cuts. The organization will also …
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For those who remember the Maple Syrup Revolution podcasts from earlier this year, you may want to check out this post over at The Woodshed. I'll try not to clog this blog with endless plugs for my new project, but I really can't recommend Virtually Speaking strongly enough. It is a terrific listen, whether live or in podcast form and I am thrilled to be a part of it. …
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This is how a new media campaign is run. This is how you make a political point in a memorable way. I don't know who the brains are behind this. I'll be amazed if it is something that the provincial NDP came up with, since it lacks their usual earnestness, but if I were in charge of any of the media stuff for any of the parties, I'd be hiring these people yesterday, if not sooner.Tweet …
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This piece in the Toronto Star lifts up a rock and shines a light on the worst aspects of kids' sports. Briefly, asshole hockey dad decides that the his son's competitive peewee hockey team is having any fun because they aren't winning often enough, so he decides that the kid he thinks is the least talented player should either be kicked off the team or at least be given less ice time and -without the coach's approval-goes ahead and calls a meeting of the team's parents to discuss this.I have no idea whether the player in question was the worst player on the team or not, but since this is a …
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Shorter Bill O'Reilly:"Fucking magnets - how do they work?" (for the meme-challenged, go read this)One of my father's favorite jokes goes something like this:"The Thermos is one of the greatest inventions of modern man and also one of the world's great mysteries. It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold, but how does it know?"To you and me and my dad - and anyone else who managed to pass science class in elementary school - this is a funny joke. I suspect it might be the kind of conundrum that would keep Bill O'Reilly up all night.I know, I know - someone on FOX News saying something …
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It was a balmy 12 C with intermittent rain in Hamilton today-- perfect swimming weather--and so your intrepid correspondent sallies forth!(That is not fat. What looks to the casual observer like a beer gut is actually layer upon layer of thermal padding and floatation modules - safety first! That's my story and I'm sticking to it)Going,going,gone!In the immortal words of George Castanza: "There was shrinkage"In all honesty, while it was chilly and the water bracing, it was not, as Tom Waits describes it "colder than a gut-shot bitch wolf dog with nine sucking pups pulling a number-four …
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Via the always terrific Mock, Paper, Scissors we read of a health clinic in California that took the high road to helping the poor this Christmas. Christmas in that neck of the woods just got a lot merrier.Hurrah for Pierre Karl Peladeau! Kinda reminds me of the last time Saddam Hussien was elected president of Iraq with 103 per cent of the vote In other news, I'm sure you will be as shocked as I was to learn that the feds are looking into criminal charges against failed Senate candidate and attention whore Christine O'Donnell for using some of the more than $7 million in campaign funds she …
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I know it is only Wednesday, but this is going to be tough to beat for the stupidest thing I'm going to hear all week."The armies of other nations...could allow homosexuals to serve in their military because we didn't allow them to serve in ours...We will no longer able to bail out these other emasculated armies because ours will now be feminized and neutered beyond repair, and there is no one left to bail us out." — American Family Association's Bryan Fischer …
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“Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, "Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land. (Deut. 15:11).” I'm taking a lot of pictures for the newspaper this month this month of people donating to the local food bank, which is called on to feed entirely too many people. I don't remember there even being food banks in most communities when I was growing up, though I'm sure there were people in need at that time too. There just seem to be a lot more of them now and the food banks seem to have gone from being an emergency response to …
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