Canada (left) poses with the United States for official diplomatic portrait.

I was amused by this story from the New York Times last night.  It fronted their web edition – which is significant, because I can’t remember the last time Canada figured near the front of any section in the Times.

This was my favourite part:

“In early 2008, American diplomats stationed in Ottawa turned on their television sets and were aghast: there was an “onslaught” of Canadian shows depicting “nefarious American officials carrying out equally nefarious deeds in Canada,” from planning to bomb Quebec to stealing Canadian water supplies.”

You can debate the merits (and we will), but what I found simultaneously hilarious and terrifying was that the our largest trading partner and ally learns about us by…watching television programs.

Television! The mind boggles.  On the upside, however, this means that my three sons have a fruitful career in the diplomatic service ahead of them.

Comments (30)

I always said the federal campaign would come before the Ontario one (that’s my fervent hope, too).

So, is this the thing that’ll trigger it?

Who knows.  I thought Justin Bieber would never catch on, so what do I know.

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Your by-election roundup, showing total unanimity by the punditocracy:

• Hebert: A Conservative majority is imminent, the Liberals and the NDP are screwed.
• Macdonald: The Liberals did way better than expected, the Conservatives are fine, the NDP is screwed.
• Yaffe: The Conservatives should be happy, the Liberals should be nervous, the NDP is screwed.
• Simpson: Don’t read too much into any of this stuff, but the NDP are screwed.
• Ivison: The Liberals had a good day, the Conservatives had a better day, the NDP are screwed.
• The Star: Nothing to see here, move on.  But, incidentally, the NDP are screwed.
• The Free Press: The Conservatives and Liberals shouldn’t claim victory, the candidates should.  The NDP is screwed.
• The Herald: The Conservatives should be happy, but sort-of shouldn’t be.  The NDP are screwed.
• The Chronicle Herald: The Liberals and Conservatives shouldn’t claim credit!  The NDP is screwed.
• The Globe: We’re not sure what it means.  We’re not even sure if the NDP is screwed.

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…yep.

Marky Ramone played this one on his Punk Rock Blitzkrieg show on XM tonight.  Said it was as punk as anything that came in 1976 and after.  True enough.

I love how crazed they look at the end. That’s punk.

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My former Calgary Herald colleague, Don Martin, has left the National Post – and, I presume, the Herald – to become the new host of Power Play.

That’s good news for CTV, but not so great for Postmedia.  The Post’s John Ivison is a gifted writer with an acerbic wit, but – last time I checked – John was one person.  He can’t cover the entire Hill, as a columnist, all on his own.  I think Postmedia will need to sign up someone else for North of the Queensway columnar duties, but what do I know.

In any event, big congrats to Don.  I miss sparring with Powers on CTV’s news channel, but he’ll be Prime Minister of Newfoundland in a few weeks’ time, so that’s that.

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Remember this?

The Citizen’s editors responded quickly and effectively to my complaint.  That was that.

This afternoon, nearly a month later, Lee Greenberg tried again. A few folks contacted me – through this web site and Facebook – to let me know that Greenberg had re-published his bullshit.  The Post has published it, too, under Greenberg’s byline.

This time, I copied my lawyer on my emailed request that the Citizen refrain from letting Greenberg from publishing made-up stuff.  They have removed said B.S. from the web edition of the paper, and I’ve been assured it won’t show up in the print edition, either.  Last time I checked, however, it was still on the Post web site, so a libel notice will be winging its way to them tomorrow afternoon.

Anyway. How can this happen twice?  Beats me.  Maybe the desk isn’t checking Greenberg’s stuff enough.  Or, perhaps someone thought it was a way to take a shot at someone who writes for a competitor.  (I hope not, but who knows.)

In any event, my advice still stands: if you work in politics, and Lee Greenberg calls you…

Hang up.

UPDATE: The Post has deleted the false part.

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• About Gwynne Dyer: “He is very high on the list of those whose corpses should be plowed into a ditch after a short ride in the back of a truck holding other condemned traitors for their mandatory bullet in the head.”
• “Indeed. ‘The Bible is the story of a people’s journey out of barbarism. The Koran is the story of a people’s embrace of it.'”
• Michelle Obama, “bowser voodoo queen”
• “Look at Bloomberg, a money-loving Jew who has sold his soul for the arabs’ dirty money.”

More such filth here.

Messrs. Harper and Hudak should reconsider their association with these lunatics.

But they won’t.

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Tim Hudak reacts to his biggest policy issue.

You can’t make this up.

Yesterday, Legislature staff mistakenly placed the Speaker’s Christmas tree in front of Hudak’s office.  It was there for a few hours.  They realized their mistake, and went back to put it in the right spot.

Hudak – perhaps hoping we’d all forget he’s been a No Plan Zone for 519 days – started Twittering about this burning issue non-stop.  He even had staff do up stickers, at taxpayer expense, about his missing tree.

This guy makes Charlie Brown look like Winston Churchill. Swear to God.

***

timhudak <http://twitter.com/> Tim Hudak

Mysterious tree appears in spot outside door but looks more like Charlie Brown Christmas tree than original http://plixi.com/p/60026921 <http://plixi.com/p/60026921>

14 hours ago <http://twitter.com/> Favorite <http://twitter.com/> Retweet <http://twitter.com/> Reply <http://twitter.com/>
»
timhudak <http://twitter.com/> Tim Hudak
Description of missing tree: Balsam Fir. 8 ft tall. Dark green appearance, long lasting needles, attractive form. Pleasing fragrance.

18 hours ago <http://twitter.com/> Favorite <http://twitter.com/> Retweet <http://twitter.com/> Reply <http://twitter.com/>
»
timhudak <http://twitter.com/> Tim Hudak
Our Christmas tree is MIA. All watered, ready to decorate – swiped from outside Leader of Oppo office door! http://plixi.com/p/59996521 <http://plixi.com/p/59996521>

18 hours ago <http://twitter.com/> Favorite <http://twitter.com/> Retweet <http://twitter.com/> Reply <http://twitter.com/>

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Some Reformatory commenters are driving me bonkers in Comments – saying Vaughan is a “huge” win for the blue team, blah blah blah.  They’re also suggesting that I – me! me! – am spinning for OLO. They’re full of crap on both counts.

Here’s my (hopefully) pithy response:

“I’m no fan of the OLO crowd, as everyone here knows well. That’s why you can be assured I am not “spinning” for them.

The net winner this morning is Ignatieff. He was supposed to have been crushed in Vaughan, and wasn’t; he wasn’t supposed to win in North Winnipeg, and did; and no one expected him to win in Dauphin, and he didn’t.”

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Main author of cables in WikiLeaks release.

“When you take a gander at the mountain of classified U.S. documents WikiLeaks offered up on Sunday, you are inevitably left pondering the phrase “intelligence community.”

Turns out, it’s an oxymoron.

The “intelligence community,” clearly, is neither “intelligent” nor a “community.”

In fact, when you ponder what America’s top spies are pondering, it’s not so amazing that Osama bin Laden has escaped capture for more than a decade. The alleged Maxwell Smarts overseeing America’s intelligence-gathering aren’t particularly smart and they have a tenuous grasp on that important allies/enemies distinction, too.”

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