Words
Warren goes looking for excitement at one of Vancouver’s trendiest locales, and finds none. Check it out!
Oh, and Happy New Year. Don’t become a statistic.
"...[The War Room] has plenty of fascinating insights and is a must-read for political junkies."
- The Toronto Sun
"Warren Kinsella’s new book is a must-read for anyone interested in political campaigning in Canada. And not just political campaigning."
- The Literary Review of Canada
"The War Room is a rich, detailed, and substantive primer on how to run a winning war room - warts, pizza boxes, smelly couches and all - from a master war roomer."
- The Hill Times
"Kinsella has crafted a handy little guide for politicos and non-politicos alike. Just keep it away from the kids."
- The Winnipeg Free Press
"... a great read ... full of fascinating stories..."
- John Moore, CFRB
"...I don't want to say [he's a] genius...but there's valuable insights here..."
- John Oakley, AM640
"I just got one copy, but I plan to get more!"
- John Wright, Ipsos, CFRB
"I do recommend [The War Room] to everyone."
- Charles Adler, Adler Online
"A fascinating book...full of great stories."
- Ken Rockburn, CPAC
Archive for December, 2011
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Some journalists think the Star has an “agenda,” and is trying to get Toronto’s mayor.
Some journalists think it’s a legitimate story and should be pursued.
Personally, I objected to the CBC’s stunt, and wrote that they should have never gone to the house where his children live. On this one, however, I think that it’s a legitimate story. If the most powerful municipal politician in the country is under police investigation for anything, people are entitled to know about that. There’s no claim to privacy in criminal law, and for good reason.
Moreover, I don’t think conservatives’ insistence that this is all about politics is accurate. Out here in Vancouver yesterday, the progressive mayor was all over the front pages with a criminal matter involving his foster son. I didn’t see any progressives saying that conservative media were out to get him.
What do you think, readers? This is a big, big story in Toronto, and lots of folks are talking about it. Should the Star have published on this?
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Friday, December 30th, 2011
So, I plan to! Being back in BC, I’ve been doing some understandably Western-focused columnizing this week, the results of which show up in the Sun papers over the next few days. Once that’s done, I plan to write up all of my pundit face-plants from 2011.
If you remember any that particularly rankled you, send ‘em along. It’s time to ‘fess up!
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
This is a photo I snapped last night with my phone. It is a picture of a child being carried out of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by what is presumably his father. He wasn’t the only child at the Cineplex movie theatre, last night. There were others.
When I saw them, I went out to get the manager, and said that young children had been brought in to see an 18+ film. She initially refused to do anything. When I told her I was a writer and planned to document her response, she went in and talked to one group, who eventually left with a girl of about 11 or 12. The other group, with the boy above, was allowed to stay.
As far as I know, Onex owns Cineplex. I would like to let Gerry Schwartz know about what happened last night (I’d tell his deputy, too, but Nigel Wright is now Chief of Staff to the family-values Prime Minister of Canada). Reviews have universally made mention of how truly graphic and violent this film is.
So why does Cineplex, and some “parents,” think it is acceptable for a child to see such things?
It’s a cliche to observe that the world is a sick place. But it’s true, sometimes, just the same.
Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
…heading to Vancouver this morning to see the sibs. Flying WestJet, so this should be interesting.
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
Over her mouth, so no one can hear her anymore.
Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
If 2011 was Canada’s year for election, then 2012 looks to be the year for friction.
Federal-provincial friction, that is.
This past year, as you will recall, witnessed a remarkable number of provincial electoral contests, from east to west.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon, incumbent governments were re-elected handily.
In a year where most of them had been written off by the pundits, that’s pretty remarkable.
Recessionary times, scandals and an appetite for “change” should have have meant disaster for the Manitoba New Democrats and the Ontario Liberals, where both parties had been heading toward political oblivion. But they, and the others, were all handily re-elected.
Monday, December 26th, 2011
I’d add it to the list. It’s what I call the inability of people – usually teenagers, but also Paulina Gretzky – to discern, and understand, that whatever they put online (a) is seen by a potential audience of millions (b) is forever and (c) has unhelpful consequences.
Got any examples of Online Agnosia you’d like to pass along?