NoCross
ToBearVille
Don Cherry says he won't cross the CBC picket line to report to duty as Hockey Night in Canada's designated screamer if the lockout continues.
And according to William Houston it is because:
a) His late father, a union man, would be upset with him.
b) His partner Ron McLean, who he describes as a sort of a left-wing commie, would give him grief.
c) His blue collar image would take a hit.
And all three are backed up by direct quotes Houston attributes to Cherry, who also goes on to trash the Canadian Media Guild.
In other words, this is a man who has made a career by cultivating the image of the straight shooter who is readily admitting that he does not have the courage of his convictions.
In our books we call that gutless.
And if Cherry could only untwist his own pretzel logic, he himself might call that being a Chicken of a certain Scandinavian persuasion.
.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
More, More, More.....
HowDoYouLikeIt?
MattStArmandTrueConnectionVille
Sure, sure, I realize it's as dangerous to categorize the best bloggers as it is to pigeonhole the best musicians.
But in this case I can't help it.
Because for awhile now I've been pretty much convinced that Matt St. Armand is a Billmon we can call our own.
And now Mr. St. Armand has really nailed it by opening a second shop, the HotDog Factory Part Deux, where he concentrates on all things Canuckistan.
So, forget about what Peter C. Newman has to say about our resident silver-haired albatross for a moment and get a load of this:
".......It was during Brian Mulroney's tenure as Canada's leader that I became so incensed by the news of his daily outrages, that I turned away. I'm embarrassed and chagrined to admit it, but I quickly found reading or watching Canadian news so intolerable, I just turned away. Since then, I've cultivated a frightening and abiding ignorance of the details of Canadian politics. I know what is happening in a general sense, but the Mulroney Government so triggered my gag reflex that I turned into exactly the sort of apathetic citizen I've grown to resent.
Mulroney supporters would rightly me accuse of scapegoating Brian Mulroney for my own human frailties and shortcomings in dealing with a situation I found fraught with affront. But that does not diminish the fact that Brian Mulroney was a disastrous prime minister. I hope that he's among the most hated prime minister's, as well.
When he skulked out of office, I was pleased. When the Progressive Conservative party was voted out of existence in the early 1990s, it finally seemed that Canadian democracy had worked...."
See what I mean.
.
MattStArmandTrueConnectionVille
Sure, sure, I realize it's as dangerous to categorize the best bloggers as it is to pigeonhole the best musicians.
But in this case I can't help it.
Because for awhile now I've been pretty much convinced that Matt St. Armand is a Billmon we can call our own.
And now Mr. St. Armand has really nailed it by opening a second shop, the HotDog Factory Part Deux, where he concentrates on all things Canuckistan.
So, forget about what Peter C. Newman has to say about our resident silver-haired albatross for a moment and get a load of this:
".......It was during Brian Mulroney's tenure as Canada's leader that I became so incensed by the news of his daily outrages, that I turned away. I'm embarrassed and chagrined to admit it, but I quickly found reading or watching Canadian news so intolerable, I just turned away. Since then, I've cultivated a frightening and abiding ignorance of the details of Canadian politics. I know what is happening in a general sense, but the Mulroney Government so triggered my gag reflex that I turned into exactly the sort of apathetic citizen I've grown to resent.
Mulroney supporters would rightly me accuse of scapegoating Brian Mulroney for my own human frailties and shortcomings in dealing with a situation I found fraught with affront. But that does not diminish the fact that Brian Mulroney was a disastrous prime minister. I hope that he's among the most hated prime minister's, as well.
When he skulked out of office, I was pleased. When the Progressive Conservative party was voted out of existence in the early 1990s, it finally seemed that Canadian democracy had worked...."
See what I mean.
.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Clark(e)-O-Rama Lama Ding Dong
AskNotForWhomTheBellTolls
ItTollsForGreenVille
S.M. Holman has Ms. Clarke sans 'E' declaring for Mayor of Vancouver tomorrow (Tuesday).
Now, of course, it is entirely possible that the Big CC Machine may have used tried and true Marissen/BroClark-assisted tactics to sew up NPA party nomination votes without any help whatsoever from the last remaining remnants of the BBoys, but does she have the backroom DBoys solidly behind her?
One has to wonder, especially given the fact that Creme Queen, Ms. Clark plus 'E', last week declared her support for (nolonger)Smilin' Sammy Sullivan who carried the water, bigtime, for the DevBoys on the KnowWards thing.
____
And once again, we ask: Whatever happened to Peter Ladner? Is it possible that he is having corrective surgery to improve his 'Vision' of Vancouver?
.
ItTollsForGreenVille
S.M. Holman has Ms. Clarke sans 'E' declaring for Mayor of Vancouver tomorrow (Tuesday).
Now, of course, it is entirely possible that the Big CC Machine may have used tried and true Marissen/BroClark-assisted tactics to sew up NPA party nomination votes without any help whatsoever from the last remaining remnants of the BBoys, but does she have the backroom DBoys solidly behind her?
One has to wonder, especially given the fact that Creme Queen, Ms. Clark plus 'E', last week declared her support for (nolonger)Smilin' Sammy Sullivan who carried the water, bigtime, for the DevBoys on the KnowWards thing.
____
And once again, we ask: Whatever happened to Peter Ladner? Is it possible that he is having corrective surgery to improve his 'Vision' of Vancouver?
.
Black And Bruce
IsADreamALie
IfItDon'tComeTrueVille
It seems two things happen when the Roving Cheneyburtonians are confronted with something scary.
Not something real and scary.
Like a looming threat, either man or nature made, because for that they just turn turtle and wait to see which way the wind blows the next newscycle before they do anything.
No.
What we're talking about here is something that scares them politically.
Of course, the first thing that they do is slime, slime, slime, slime, roast and flip to marginalize the scary thing.
Remember how they did that, and are still doing it, to grass roots organizations like 'Move On' (yes, the very same folks that have rallied hundreds of thousands of citizens of America and the World to help clean up the mess in the wake of Brownie et al.).
The second thing they do is imitate the thing, also known as 'Astroturfing' (ie. they lay out the green to make a phoney, plastic copy of the real thing and call it their own).
And thus, 'Move America Forward' and its ilk were born out of slush funds and wayward PACs.
All of which goes to show that this business of hiring Clint Black to 'Iraq and Roll' the Cheney Administration's commemorative efforts to bash Richard Clarke yesterday was very important indeed.
Not just because it was not cheesy or even laughable (ie. only 13,000 people showed up to the pre-screened [not]Freedom Walk that even the Washington Post pulled out of because they were able to get up the gumption to declare the event political and manipulative), but rather because it shows how scared the Rovians are of what almost happened last November.
Of course, as deflector spin the Screamers (with help, we're sad to say from our [dis]own[ed] National Post) have been telling everyone that will listen that the involvement of folks like Michael Moore and Bruce Springsteen on the Demo side is what tipped the balance the Republican way last November.
Don't believe it.
And don't just take our word for it.
Because the sounds of Rovian-hired gunsells in action speak much, much louder than words.
.
IfItDon'tComeTrueVille
It seems two things happen when the Roving Cheneyburtonians are confronted with something scary.
Not something real and scary.
Like a looming threat, either man or nature made, because for that they just turn turtle and wait to see which way the wind blows the next newscycle before they do anything.
No.
What we're talking about here is something that scares them politically.
Of course, the first thing that they do is slime, slime, slime, slime, roast and flip to marginalize the scary thing.
Remember how they did that, and are still doing it, to grass roots organizations like 'Move On' (yes, the very same folks that have rallied hundreds of thousands of citizens of America and the World to help clean up the mess in the wake of Brownie et al.).
The second thing they do is imitate the thing, also known as 'Astroturfing' (ie. they lay out the green to make a phoney, plastic copy of the real thing and call it their own).
And thus, 'Move America Forward' and its ilk were born out of slush funds and wayward PACs.
All of which goes to show that this business of hiring Clint Black to 'Iraq and Roll' the Cheney Administration's commemorative efforts to bash Richard Clarke yesterday was very important indeed.
Not just because it was not cheesy or even laughable (ie. only 13,000 people showed up to the pre-screened [not]Freedom Walk that even the Washington Post pulled out of because they were able to get up the gumption to declare the event political and manipulative), but rather because it shows how scared the Rovians are of what almost happened last November.
Of course, as deflector spin the Screamers (with help, we're sad to say from our [dis]own[ed] National Post) have been telling everyone that will listen that the involvement of folks like Michael Moore and Bruce Springsteen on the Demo side is what tipped the balance the Republican way last November.
Don't believe it.
And don't just take our word for it.
Because the sounds of Rovian-hired gunsells in action speak much, much louder than words.
.
Praying Pastafarians
IfASpaghettiStickBreaksInTheForest
WillTheLinquiniHearItVille
After an instant conversion to the Church of the Sacred Bleeding Spaghetti Monster that occurred faster than you can soften a package of Top Ramen or be teleported to The Land of Sapporo Ichiban, Scott Murray came up with the Prayer of the Pastafarians:
WillTheLinquiniHearItVille
After an instant conversion to the Church of the Sacred Bleeding Spaghetti Monster that occurred faster than you can soften a package of Top Ramen or be teleported to The Land of Sapporo Ichiban, Scott Murray came up with the Prayer of the Pastafarians:
Our spaghetti
Who art in the colander
Hallowed be thy sauce
Thy serving come
Thy strands be wrung
On forks as they are on spoons
Give us this day our daily meatball
And forgive us our starchiness
As we forgive those who are starchy against us
And lead us not into Kraft parmessan
But deliver us from Chef Boy Ardee
For thine is the garlic
And the onion and the bay leaves
For ever and ever.
Ramen
Beam us up Scottie!
.
Who art in the colander
Hallowed be thy sauce
Thy serving come
Thy strands be wrung
On forks as they are on spoons
Give us this day our daily meatball
And forgive us our starchiness
As we forgive those who are starchy against us
And lead us not into Kraft parmessan
But deliver us from Chef Boy Ardee
For thine is the garlic
And the onion and the bay leaves
For ever and ever.
Ramen
Beam us up Scottie!
.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Speaking Words Of Wisdom...
BiggerThanJesus?
NotJohnPaulGeorge&RingoVille
When I find myself in times of trouble, the Flying Spaghetti Monster speaks to me.
____
Original Link Source: somegirl at the AllSpinZone.
It's stuff like this that makes you realize that satire is sometimes the very best weapon of massive reconstruction.
NotJohnPaulGeorge&RingoVille
When I find myself in times of trouble, the Flying Spaghetti Monster speaks to me.
____
Original Link Source: somegirl at the AllSpinZone.
It's stuff like this that makes you realize that satire is sometimes the very best weapon of massive reconstruction.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Podcasting On My Mind
WhatWouldCaroleHaveDone?
NoCBCVille
I was forced to climb into the cigar tube again last week.
This time it was headed to Toronto.
Which, all things considered, is not a bad place to go to in September. Still warm, not humid, and hockey season has not yet started in earnest.
Thought maybe it might have, however, as the taxi swooped off the Gardiner Expressway into the downtown core late Tuesday evening and ran smack into the throngs milling around the Air Canada Center.
But then the driver and I both realized that it couldn't possibly be a sports crowd because there were too many women and too many overdressed men.
Turned out it was the Elton John 'Go Large or Don't Go At All' Tour (or some such thing).
Stayed at the Delta Chelsea just off Yonge near Carleton, which I've always thought of as the Empire Hotel in that Joni Mitchell Song about the couple in bar with 'a little money riding on the Maple Leafs', if only because the place is a little old, a little tired, and only a stone's throw away from what used to the Gardens.
Which, of course, is dumb because it's probably really a dive out in Scarborough, or even Saskatoon, for that matter, but I told my wife enigmatically that I'd be calling her from the Empire Hotel Bar that night anyway when I left that morning.
She didn't get it, but my oldest kid did.
And here's something weird that happened the next morning.
I awoke early to polish my Science geek wares for the show-and-tell session that had brung me East in the first place and stumbled upon the entire CBC One Toronto Morning show team on the UofT College Radio Station.
And it was rip-roaring fantastic....Andy Barrie, Kevin Sylvester and Erika Ritter completely unshackelled, having a go at everything from politics to culture to current events and back again with style and elan completely unsquelched by dictorial edicts from management.
Turns out there is a bushel full of this stuff that can be downloaded for podcasting from Todd Maffin's 'CBC Unplugged' site.
Which is also fantastic.
Except for one thing, which came to me as I climbed back into the cigar tube with a half a dozen shows loaded onto my machine for the trip home.....what if they're so good at this thing that it actually takes the edge off the demand and allows the Braindead Braintrust to lock them out even longer?
____
Update: In case you were wondering, there has been some stuff uploaded from CBC Vancouver and most of it is not half bad. Even better, I have only found one that is dragged down by significant Cluffie time.
And I needed those shows, because Mr. Milton's folks loaded us into the plane and then made us sit there for two hours while they fixed a cargo door, a door that was sitting on the tarmac, in plain view, before they forced us into the tube.
What was worse, the movie was Mr. & Mrs Smith which, as far as I can tell, is some kind of ultraviolent, totally banal, collagen-enhanced metaphor of a Superpower gone wrong teetering on the brink of fascism (rated PG, of course).
.
NoCBCVille
I was forced to climb into the cigar tube again last week.
This time it was headed to Toronto.
Which, all things considered, is not a bad place to go to in September. Still warm, not humid, and hockey season has not yet started in earnest.
Thought maybe it might have, however, as the taxi swooped off the Gardiner Expressway into the downtown core late Tuesday evening and ran smack into the throngs milling around the Air Canada Center.
But then the driver and I both realized that it couldn't possibly be a sports crowd because there were too many women and too many overdressed men.
Turned out it was the Elton John 'Go Large or Don't Go At All' Tour (or some such thing).
****
Stayed at the Delta Chelsea just off Yonge near Carleton, which I've always thought of as the Empire Hotel in that Joni Mitchell Song about the couple in bar with 'a little money riding on the Maple Leafs', if only because the place is a little old, a little tired, and only a stone's throw away from what used to the Gardens.
Which, of course, is dumb because it's probably really a dive out in Scarborough, or even Saskatoon, for that matter, but I told my wife enigmatically that I'd be calling her from the Empire Hotel Bar that night anyway when I left that morning.
She didn't get it, but my oldest kid did.
And here's something weird that happened the next morning.
I awoke early to polish my Science geek wares for the show-and-tell session that had brung me East in the first place and stumbled upon the entire CBC One Toronto Morning show team on the UofT College Radio Station.
And it was rip-roaring fantastic....Andy Barrie, Kevin Sylvester and Erika Ritter completely unshackelled, having a go at everything from politics to culture to current events and back again with style and elan completely unsquelched by dictorial edicts from management.
Turns out there is a bushel full of this stuff that can be downloaded for podcasting from Todd Maffin's 'CBC Unplugged' site.
Which is also fantastic.
Except for one thing, which came to me as I climbed back into the cigar tube with a half a dozen shows loaded onto my machine for the trip home.....what if they're so good at this thing that it actually takes the edge off the demand and allows the Braindead Braintrust to lock them out even longer?
____
Update: In case you were wondering, there has been some stuff uploaded from CBC Vancouver and most of it is not half bad. Even better, I have only found one that is dragged down by significant Cluffie time.
And I needed those shows, because Mr. Milton's folks loaded us into the plane and then made us sit there for two hours while they fixed a cargo door, a door that was sitting on the tarmac, in plain view, before they forced us into the tube.
What was worse, the movie was Mr. & Mrs Smith which, as far as I can tell, is some kind of ultraviolent, totally banal, collagen-enhanced metaphor of a Superpower gone wrong teetering on the brink of fascism (rated PG, of course).
.
The Frame Game
CarryingWaterForTheAnschluss
TalkingMoneyVille
I made a mistake last night.....
Fell asleep, on sleep, listening to Dan Russell on the (nolongerso)Giant'98.
Which meant that when the alarm went off after the extra sleep time this morning I was woken by the less than dulcet tones of the Premier's brother, Michael Campbell, and his Talkin' Money Minstrel Show.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you feel about credulity, I never got to the inevitable jive talk about the absence of real estate bubbles, the need for structural corrections, and/or the joys of speculative precious metal investing .
Why?
Because, apparently, Mr. Campbell was reading directly from his very own, much coveted, gilt-edged 'Offshore Talking Points For Future Cheney Administration Collaborators' playbook this morning.
As a result, Campbell led off his program with a frame game rant against any and all who questioned the Cheney Admin's response to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
Guess Mr. Campbell is too busy to read commie-pinko, off-the-deep-end stuff like, oh say, the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.
"Surely there are loyal Republicans among the 50 directors of state emergency services. But President Bush chose to make FEMA a dumping ground for unqualified cronies - a sure sign that he wanted to hasten the degradation of an agency that conservative Republicans have long considered an evil of big government. Katrina has proved that federal disaster help is vital, and that Mr. Brown and his team of advance men can't do the job. What America needs are federal disaster relief people who actually know something about disaster relief."
So, by mistakenly stumbling upon Mr. Campbell's ill-informed tirade, we can only wonder if we've managed to identify yet another member of the local chapter of the Herr Zeller brigade.
_____
Hmmmmm...wonder where that mythical Cheney Admin. (Export Edition) playbook might have come from? Could it have been delivered by Cheney Admin. advance men prepping the local Zeller brigade in front of the Maximum Leader's aborted visit to his Oil Sands?
.
TalkingMoneyVille
I made a mistake last night.....
Fell asleep, on sleep, listening to Dan Russell on the (nolongerso)Giant'98.
Which meant that when the alarm went off after the extra sleep time this morning I was woken by the less than dulcet tones of the Premier's brother, Michael Campbell, and his Talkin' Money Minstrel Show.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you feel about credulity, I never got to the inevitable jive talk about the absence of real estate bubbles, the need for structural corrections, and/or the joys of speculative precious metal investing .
Why?
Because, apparently, Mr. Campbell was reading directly from his very own, much coveted, gilt-edged 'Offshore Talking Points For Future Cheney Administration Collaborators' playbook this morning.
As a result, Campbell led off his program with a frame game rant against any and all who questioned the Cheney Admin's response to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.
Guess Mr. Campbell is too busy to read commie-pinko, off-the-deep-end stuff like, oh say, the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.
"Surely there are loyal Republicans among the 50 directors of state emergency services. But President Bush chose to make FEMA a dumping ground for unqualified cronies - a sure sign that he wanted to hasten the degradation of an agency that conservative Republicans have long considered an evil of big government. Katrina has proved that federal disaster help is vital, and that Mr. Brown and his team of advance men can't do the job. What America needs are federal disaster relief people who actually know something about disaster relief."
So, by mistakenly stumbling upon Mr. Campbell's ill-informed tirade, we can only wonder if we've managed to identify yet another member of the local chapter of the Herr Zeller brigade.
_____
Hmmmmm...wonder where that mythical Cheney Admin. (Export Edition) playbook might have come from? Could it have been delivered by Cheney Admin. advance men prepping the local Zeller brigade in front of the Maximum Leader's aborted visit to his Oil Sands?
.
Friday, September 09, 2005
von Ribbentrop Lives!
They'reGoin'ThroughATightOne
BlitzkriegBopVille
Joachim von Ribbentrop was the German foreign minister that cajoled British high society and Prime Minister Lloyd George into cosying up to the little Bossman in the the mid '30's.
He was also the man who bamboozled Neville Chamberlain into appeasement in 1938 with endless talk of bombs and death and weapons and mass destruction when he was Ambassador to Britain.
Always one who could be counted on to say anything in the cause of his mustachioed boss, Ribbentrop drove friends and enemies alike around the bend. Case in point - here's what Benito Mussolini had to say about him:
"Ribbentrop belongs to the category of Germans who are a disaster for their country. He talks about making war right and left, without naming an enemy or defining an objective."
Now, while it might be a stretch for some, others might find some parallels between von Ribbentrop and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
And not just because Powell could give the kind of great bamboozlement about bombs and death and WMDs that would make Ol' Ribby* weep if he were still with us today.
No.
Because it turns out that Mr. Powell has something else in common with his historical counterpart - unwavering loyalty to the bossman to the bitter end.
Here's the end story on von Ribbentrop:
"Ribbentrop was a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials, and the Allies' International Military Tribunal found him guilty of all charges proffered against him. Even in prison, Ribbentrop remained subservient to Hitler, stating "Even with all I know, if in this cell Hitler should come to me and say 'Do this!', I would still do it."
And here's what may be, hopefully, the end of story for Powell:
"Asked about editorials asserting that he had put loyalty "ahead of leadership," Mr. Powell parried the question. "Well, loyalty is a trait that I value, and yes, I am loyal," he replied. "And there are some who say, 'Well, you shouldn't have supported it, you should have resigned.' But I'm glad that Saddam Hussein is gone."
Notice that the this pseudo 'objective' is finally stated now, almost three years after all the talk of bombs and death and weapons of mass destruction.
______
*Ol' Ribby: You just know that would be the knickname that would have been given to him by a certain (notso)World(ly) Leader if he were onside, and on point, today. Heck, in the eyes of the folks running the Cheney Administration Ribby might have even been just the right pick to be the newly unveiled head of FEMA, or at the very least their Ambassador to the UN if not for the presence of the irrepressible Mr. Bolton.
And In This Vein: If you think about the historical parallels in this way, it's not that difficult to view B. Liar as Shrub's Neville the Appeaser instead of anything even remotely Churchillian.
.
BlitzkriegBopVille
Joachim von Ribbentrop was the German foreign minister that cajoled British high society and Prime Minister Lloyd George into cosying up to the little Bossman in the the mid '30's.
He was also the man who bamboozled Neville Chamberlain into appeasement in 1938 with endless talk of bombs and death and weapons and mass destruction when he was Ambassador to Britain.
Always one who could be counted on to say anything in the cause of his mustachioed boss, Ribbentrop drove friends and enemies alike around the bend. Case in point - here's what Benito Mussolini had to say about him:
"Ribbentrop belongs to the category of Germans who are a disaster for their country. He talks about making war right and left, without naming an enemy or defining an objective."
Now, while it might be a stretch for some, others might find some parallels between von Ribbentrop and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
And not just because Powell could give the kind of great bamboozlement about bombs and death and WMDs that would make Ol' Ribby* weep if he were still with us today.
No.
Because it turns out that Mr. Powell has something else in common with his historical counterpart - unwavering loyalty to the bossman to the bitter end.
Here's the end story on von Ribbentrop:
"Ribbentrop was a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials, and the Allies' International Military Tribunal found him guilty of all charges proffered against him. Even in prison, Ribbentrop remained subservient to Hitler, stating "Even with all I know, if in this cell Hitler should come to me and say 'Do this!', I would still do it."
And here's what may be, hopefully, the end of story for Powell:
"Asked about editorials asserting that he had put loyalty "ahead of leadership," Mr. Powell parried the question. "Well, loyalty is a trait that I value, and yes, I am loyal," he replied. "And there are some who say, 'Well, you shouldn't have supported it, you should have resigned.' But I'm glad that Saddam Hussein is gone."
Notice that the this pseudo 'objective' is finally stated now, almost three years after all the talk of bombs and death and weapons of mass destruction.
______
*Ol' Ribby: You just know that would be the knickname that would have been given to him by a certain (notso)World(ly) Leader if he were onside, and on point, today. Heck, in the eyes of the folks running the Cheney Administration Ribby might have even been just the right pick to be the newly unveiled head of FEMA, or at the very least their Ambassador to the UN if not for the presence of the irrepressible Mr. Bolton.
And In This Vein: If you think about the historical parallels in this way, it's not that difficult to view B. Liar as Shrub's Neville the Appeaser instead of anything even remotely Churchillian.
.
The Media Strikes Back
NoFair
NotThePNEVille
Media workers that is.
Just in case you needed another reason to shun those finest of the unfine offerings that the Pacific Newspaper Group serves up every morning.....
Apparently, the folks who run the (notso)Magnificent AsperSons western print organs, the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province, are crying foul because one of their favorite whipping boys of late, the Telecommunications Workers Union, is being supported, big time, by their own workers, the Media Union of B.C.
Essentially, the Jedi Knights (ie. the Media folks who work for the AsperSons) are calling Telus what it is, which, to put it politely is an "unfair employer" . This because of Telus' attempts to turn the Telcom workers into McSerfs.
The 'unfair employer' declaration is important because it could invoke clauses in the Media Union's collective agreement with PNG that would allow members the right to refuse advertising copy from Telus Bossman Darren Entwhistle.
In other words, this is a case of workers banding together to help each other - the only hammer they've got.
And, of course, people getting together to fight the robber barons, be they the Trusts of yesteryear or the Bernie Ebbers wannabes of today, is the only way that we have ever improved our lot. And this is a hammer that Mr. Entwhistle is trying to take away from his workers by offering up scab-o-liscious side deals and a piece of silver errrr, I-Pod, or two.
Jamie Pitblado, the PNG's resident flack hack, and a man who apparently does not believe in irony (or cause and effect), had this to say:
Perhaps the people running the PNG should have thought of that before they started pumping out the puff pieces in support of Mr. Entwhistle's Bust-A-Thon.
And the response from Telus?
They say there have been legal decisions that have supported 'its' approach to labour negotiations.
Thus, their strategy couldn't be any clearer than that
The 'its' win, the people lose.
_____
Update: The hitmeter is going crazy on this one....and as far as we can tell it looks like it is coming from the TWU discussion board; but we can't get in there to have a look. If that's the case, could somebody drop us a line on the comment thread and let us know what's up - thanks.
DoubleSecretProbationUpdate: Holy doodles! More than 100 hits in the last hour alone? This little blog hasn't seen numbers like this since the days when we did our (very) small part to help break this story which, for those keeping track at home, was BH (ie. Before Holman) btw.
.
NotThePNEVille
Media workers that is.
****
Just in case you needed another reason to shun those finest of the unfine offerings that the Pacific Newspaper Group serves up every morning.....
Apparently, the folks who run the (notso)Magnificent AsperSons western print organs, the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province, are crying foul because one of their favorite whipping boys of late, the Telecommunications Workers Union, is being supported, big time, by their own workers, the Media Union of B.C.
Essentially, the Jedi Knights (ie. the Media folks who work for the AsperSons) are calling Telus what it is, which, to put it politely is an "unfair employer" . This because of Telus' attempts to turn the Telcom workers into McSerfs.
The 'unfair employer' declaration is important because it could invoke clauses in the Media Union's collective agreement with PNG that would allow members the right to refuse advertising copy from Telus Bossman Darren Entwhistle.
In other words, this is a case of workers banding together to help each other - the only hammer they've got.
And, of course, people getting together to fight the robber barons, be they the Trusts of yesteryear or the Bernie Ebbers wannabes of today, is the only way that we have ever improved our lot. And this is a hammer that Mr. Entwhistle is trying to take away from his workers by offering up scab-o-liscious side deals and a piece of silver errrr, I-Pod, or two.
Jamie Pitblado, the PNG's resident flack hack, and a man who apparently does not believe in irony (or cause and effect), had this to say:
"We're very disappointed that we're being drawn into the Telus labour dispute."
Perhaps the people running the PNG should have thought of that before they started pumping out the puff pieces in support of Mr. Entwhistle's Bust-A-Thon.
And the response from Telus?
They say there have been legal decisions that have supported 'its' approach to labour negotiations.
Thus, their strategy couldn't be any clearer than that
The 'its' win, the people lose.
_____
Update: The hitmeter is going crazy on this one....and as far as we can tell it looks like it is coming from the TWU discussion board; but we can't get in there to have a look. If that's the case, could somebody drop us a line on the comment thread and let us know what's up - thanks.
DoubleSecretProbationUpdate: Holy doodles! More than 100 hits in the last hour alone? This little blog hasn't seen numbers like this since the days when we did our (very) small part to help break this story which, for those keeping track at home, was BH (ie. Before Holman) btw.
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Thursday, September 08, 2005
Amieliorating The Positives
SpousalSpouting
TakeOverVille
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
What with the Hollinger and Radler trials/plea bargaining deals looming, it looks like Conrad Black's early out deal on the National Post with the departed Izzy and his not so magnificent AsperSons might have been The Marauder's last good one.
But these days even slightly silver clouds above Mr. Black's head are lined with lead. Case in point, recent reports are speculating that Gerry Schwartz is involved with a group making a play for the finest money losing fishwrap producer that money can buy.
Which has us wondering - why would Mr. Schwartz want to do something ridiculous like that?
Because even for a turn around artist this one has the smell of never ending switchbacks to red ink ville.
Unless, perhaps.....
....Mr. Schawartz is eyeing Ms. Amiel's old mega-column spot for his own Ms. Reisman.
So, how does all 'Heather's Picks' on all matters all the time sound?
The mind reels.
Positively.
.
TakeOverVille
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
What with the Hollinger and Radler trials/plea bargaining deals looming, it looks like Conrad Black's early out deal on the National Post with the departed Izzy and his not so magnificent AsperSons might have been The Marauder's last good one.
But these days even slightly silver clouds above Mr. Black's head are lined with lead. Case in point, recent reports are speculating that Gerry Schwartz is involved with a group making a play for the finest money losing fishwrap producer that money can buy.
Which has us wondering - why would Mr. Schwartz want to do something ridiculous like that?
Because even for a turn around artist this one has the smell of never ending switchbacks to red ink ville.
Unless, perhaps.....
....Mr. Schawartz is eyeing Ms. Amiel's old mega-column spot for his own Ms. Reisman.
So, how does all 'Heather's Picks' on all matters all the time sound?
The mind reels.
Positively.
.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Stickin' It To The Man
BecauseFreeSpeech
IsStillFree(ForNow)Ville
Despite the fact that really big bossman Dick Cheney is no longer to be feted by local faux boss Michael Walker, you can still let the Fraser Institute know how you feel about their work stocking, supplying and running the Herr Zeller Platoon.
We have it on good word from our friend, green party stalwart and baseball fanatic Bob Broughton that there is a protest scheduled for:
The added bonus?
Given Mr. Cheney's absence we're pretty sure that no one will be herded into a (not)Free Speech Zone/Goat Pen.
At least not this time around.
.
IsStillFree(ForNow)Ville
Despite the fact that really big bossman Dick Cheney is no longer to be feted by local faux boss Michael Walker, you can still let the Fraser Institute know how you feel about their work stocking, supplying and running the Herr Zeller Platoon.
We have it on good word from our friend, green party stalwart and baseball fanatic Bob Broughton that there is a protest scheduled for:
Thursday, Sept. 8, 5 PM
1770 Burrard St. (at W. 3rd Ave.)
which is in front of the Fraser Institute head office
1770 Burrard St. (at W. 3rd Ave.)
which is in front of the Fraser Institute head office
The added bonus?
Given Mr. Cheney's absence we're pretty sure that no one will be herded into a (not)Free Speech Zone/Goat Pen.
At least not this time around.
.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Dick Chickens Out
WhenTheGoingGetsTough
TheChickenHawksStayHomeVille
This just in......
The maximum leader of the Cheney Administration will not be coming North to do a little advance work on the annexing of the Oils Sands after all:
TORONTO (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney has canceled a planned trip to Canada's main energy producing region because of Hurricane Katrina, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said on Sunday.
Now, ostensibly, Mr. Cheney is staying home to help out with the tragedy in New Orleans.
Which is ironic in the extreme, given that a pretty strong case could be made that a small group of volunteers from Vancouver has so far done significantly more to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina than he has.
And besides, the cancellation could not have possibly had anything to do with mounting threat of on the ground protests, in full view of the TV cameras, could it?
Hmmmm.....
Because as far as the Roving Halliburtonians are concerned free speech is only free when it occurs outside of the Camera's Red Glare.
___
Update: This post was in no way meant to belittle the efforts of other volunteer groups large or small, of which there are many from all points on the compass, who are doing the good, hard work. We were just attempting to point out the difference between true hard work and untrue lazy spin.
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TheChickenHawksStayHomeVille
This just in......
The maximum leader of the Cheney Administration will not be coming North to do a little advance work on the annexing of the Oils Sands after all:
TORONTO (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney has canceled a planned trip to Canada's main energy producing region because of Hurricane Katrina, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said on Sunday.
The association was one of the organizers of the trip, which was designed to give Cheney an insight into Alberta's vast oil sands region, where steam is used to extract oil from oil-bearing rocks.
The oil sands sector is booming, and as operations expand, the region looks set to provide a safe and reliable source of oil for the United States, the world's biggest consumer.
Cheney had been due to visit Calgary, Alberta, on Thursday for a meeting with provincial and federal officials and then travel on Friday to Fort McMurray, center of the oil sands operations.
Cheney's office was not immediately available to comment.
Now, ostensibly, Mr. Cheney is staying home to help out with the tragedy in New Orleans.
Which is ironic in the extreme, given that a pretty strong case could be made that a small group of volunteers from Vancouver has so far done significantly more to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina than he has.
And besides, the cancellation could not have possibly had anything to do with mounting threat of on the ground protests, in full view of the TV cameras, could it?
Hmmmm.....
Because as far as the Roving Halliburtonians are concerned free speech is only free when it occurs outside of the Camera's Red Glare.
___
Update: This post was in no way meant to belittle the efforts of other volunteer groups large or small, of which there are many from all points on the compass, who are doing the good, hard work. We were just attempting to point out the difference between true hard work and untrue lazy spin.
.
Rock And Roll Hootchie Coo(ties)
It'sTheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnewIt
AndHeFeelsFineVille
When, exactly, we wonder did Mr. Bush decide that all he really wanted to do while New Orleans Was Sinking was to become a member of the Tragically Hip?
And the irony of the story?
Increasingly, it appears that the real thing is being banned from the airways for the duration.
.
AndHeFeelsFineVille
When, exactly, we wonder did Mr. Bush decide that all he really wanted to do while New Orleans Was Sinking was to become a member of the Tragically Hip?
And the irony of the story?
Increasingly, it appears that the real thing is being banned from the airways for the duration.
.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Free Trade Isn't Free
AnschlussRising
TakeOurOilVille
Last week Pat Carney went off the reservation and suggested that Canuckistan should fight back:
"What is there to talk about?" asked Senator Pat Carney, a former trade minister who now represents British Columbia. "We won. The Americans won't abide by the rule of law." That pretty much sums up the sentiment of the entire country.
But an even more subtle statement from Eric Reguly, one of the Globe and (no longer Empire)Mail's above-the-fold business analysts, was an even bigger sign that more and more of those who were previously on the free trade side of the border-line-in-the-sand are starting to realize that Canada could be in big trouble:
Reguly then goes on to reel off a list of resource industries and even breweries that we have lost control of recently.
He does this to make a point about the change in foreign investment laws, altered US SEC reporting on petroleum reserves, and the possibility that the head of the Cheney Administration could be coming North next week to reluctanly aggree to take the riches of the oil sands off our hands.
Now, for those of you who have watched 'The Sound Of Music' 317 times like I have (majority of viewings when girls have been sick/afflicted with chicken pox), or even if you haven't, you will remember that an Anschluss works best when it is helped along by folks like Herr Zeller:
Herr Zeller: Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming - and it is coming, Captain - perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.
Captain von Trapp: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Herr Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, how clumsy of me - I meant to accuse you.
So who is our Herr Zeller now?
Could it be Ralph Klein?
Or Anne McClellan?
Well, actually, thanks to a very good piece in the Georgia Straight from Charlie Smith, our money is on a fine fellow named Michael Walker.
"U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney is visiting Alberta in early September after he received a special request from Michael Walker, executive director of the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute. Walker, who told the Straight that Cheney has been a fishing buddy for more than a decade, said he finalized the details of the trip during a visit with the vice-president at the White House in June.
“We invited Vice-President Cheney to come to Canada, although I heard yesterday, now, the deputy prime minister [Anne McLellan] is claiming she invited him,” Walker said. “He is coming up for a private visit with myself and another friend of his up in Alberta, where we’ll go off up in a lodge for a variety of purposes.”
And who, we wonder, is that secret 'friend' that is joining the big Mike and the even bigger Dick at that private lodge?
We're not entirely sure, but we can't help but wondering if, in the spirit of the economic annexing of Canada*, it is perhaps a former Enron executive who is promising a new 'kinder' and gentler Terasen Gas.
___
*Remember that 'Once the economic levers go....' quote from John Turner oh those so many preCarney-assisted sell-out years ago? Could it one day soon come to trump Mulroney's short term election winner 'You had a choice, sir.' from the same debate by miles and miles once that border is all gone?
.
TakeOurOilVille
Last week Pat Carney went off the reservation and suggested that Canuckistan should fight back:
"What is there to talk about?" asked Senator Pat Carney, a former trade minister who now represents British Columbia. "We won. The Americans won't abide by the rule of law." That pretty much sums up the sentiment of the entire country.
But an even more subtle statement from Eric Reguly, one of the Globe and (no longer Empire)Mail's above-the-fold business analysts, was an even bigger sign that more and more of those who were previously on the free trade side of the border-line-in-the-sand are starting to realize that Canada could be in big trouble:
"Canada has a nasty habit of losing control over its big industries."
Reguly then goes on to reel off a list of resource industries and even breweries that we have lost control of recently.
He does this to make a point about the change in foreign investment laws, altered US SEC reporting on petroleum reserves, and the possibility that the head of the Cheney Administration could be coming North next week to reluctanly aggree to take the riches of the oil sands off our hands.
Now, for those of you who have watched 'The Sound Of Music' 317 times like I have (majority of viewings when girls have been sick/afflicted with chicken pox), or even if you haven't, you will remember that an Anschluss works best when it is helped along by folks like Herr Zeller:
Herr Zeller: Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming - and it is coming, Captain - perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.
Captain von Trapp: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Herr Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, how clumsy of me - I meant to accuse you.
So who is our Herr Zeller now?
Could it be Ralph Klein?
Or Anne McClellan?
Well, actually, thanks to a very good piece in the Georgia Straight from Charlie Smith, our money is on a fine fellow named Michael Walker.
"U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney is visiting Alberta in early September after he received a special request from Michael Walker, executive director of the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute. Walker, who told the Straight that Cheney has been a fishing buddy for more than a decade, said he finalized the details of the trip during a visit with the vice-president at the White House in June.
“We invited Vice-President Cheney to come to Canada, although I heard yesterday, now, the deputy prime minister [Anne McLellan] is claiming she invited him,” Walker said. “He is coming up for a private visit with myself and another friend of his up in Alberta, where we’ll go off up in a lodge for a variety of purposes.”
And who, we wonder, is that secret 'friend' that is joining the big Mike and the even bigger Dick at that private lodge?
We're not entirely sure, but we can't help but wondering if, in the spirit of the economic annexing of Canada*, it is perhaps a former Enron executive who is promising a new 'kinder' and gentler Terasen Gas.
___
*Remember that 'Once the economic levers go....' quote from John Turner oh those so many preCarney-assisted sell-out years ago? Could it one day soon come to trump Mulroney's short term election winner 'You had a choice, sir.' from the same debate by miles and miles once that border is all gone?
.
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