In today’s Sun: Bob Rae, parter of seas
Is Bob Rae the Moses of Canadian politics?
Moses, as you may recall, is a figure from religious history. According to both the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an, Moses was a prophet who spoke to God, and went on to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.
After 40 years of wandering around in the desert, he died at age 120, within sight of the Promised Land. He’s the guy credited with receiving the Ten Commandments.
Rae, as you may also know, is a figure from political history.
And I called for my father, but my father had died
I was talking to my sons the other day about dying, but they didn’t want to talk about dying. I told them I was an Irish Catholic, and I couldn’t help it. I told them I missed my Dad, and wanted to talk about him, and hoped that they would talk about me after I’m gone.
Fathers, sons, punk songs. If you have been in punk bands as long as I have, you would know that every great anthemic punk song sounds perfect on an acoustic (most of my ham-fisted attempts at songwriting start on one). So, this perfect punk song about fathers and sons and everything else.
Girls, watch your guy when this one is playing. He’ll get quiet.
Canadian military war deaths
In Flander’s Fields
Harper Conservatives plead guilty (updated)
UPDATE: Regular Conservative commentator Gord Tulk is attempting to minimize these guilty pleas and sentences by suggesting sponsorship was worse. Here’s what I wrote, and still feel, about sponsorship.
No biggie. His finger would only be on the button, is all.
Three handsome guys at the diner
Let the Sunshine in (or out, depending on your point of view)
One of the feminist bloggers I link to, GritChik, has objected to the Sunshine girl tradition at the Sun, now in its fortieth year:
“So, a recent “Sunshine Girl” is headed to the pages of Hustler magazine. Must be a proud moment for her. I admit, I clicked the link in the article that took me to her November 4th appearance in the tabloid. And saw her posing in a barely-there bra and transparent panties.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no prude. And I believe that, at it’s best, nudity is an art form. At it’s worst it’s exploitative, degrading and damaging (to both men and women). We live in a hyper-sexualized society in which 3 year-olds are entering beauty pageants dressed as the Julia Roberts’ hooker character from Pretty Woman, complete with blonde wig and thigh-high leather boots. Girls, barely out of their teens (if we’re lucky), grace us from the cover of main stream men’s magazines with come-hither eyes and the suggestion that she would like you to join her in the bed she’s rolling around in.”
Way, way back at the dawn of time, when I was a journalism student at Carleton, Peter Worthington was invited to speak to us. When it came time for questions and answers, I challenged him on the whole Page Three Sunshine girl thing, saying it (a) wasn’t necessary, given the abundance of similar stuff elsewhere (said stuff which is even more readily available now); and (b), it probably wasn’t something a lot of journos at the Sun would like to see continue. Mr. Worthington was good-humoured about it all, and genially defended the feature.
The Sunshine Girl is no longer on page three, but she’s still around. And the video of Mme. Bourbonnais’ recent visit is a real eye-opener, to say the least.
What do you think, Dear Readers? Is GritChik right? Or do you favour seeing more of Mme. Bourbonnais?
(Not that there’s much more to see, as you will see.)
Someone’s hiring
…I’m told.
“We’re looking for someone with a Liberal pedigree, significant knowledge of the players at Queen’s Park, great writing and strategic skills, and bilingualism wouldn’t hurt. Toronto location.”
If you know such a person, contact.