09.07.2010 09:31 AM

Back-to-school bits and pieces

After a marathon journey from Maine (note to file: Border Services regard “puppies” as “goods”), I was able to get oldest child to her first day of Grade Ten. She was disinterested in my many stories about my first day of Grade Ten, back at Bishop Carroll High in Calgary.

Sigh.

Some bits and pieces for back-to-school Tuesday!

  • Justin Trudeau packing it in? I certainly hope not.  I haven’t heard from my old friend in a while, but I think he’s one of the brightest of the bright lights in the federal Liberal caucus.  And on mornings when no less than the Montreal Gazette is urging people to vote ADQ in St. Laurent, we Grits need the likes of Justin carrying the torch in Quebec.
  • Sun TV hysteria, redux: Margaret Atwood, former author/free speech advocate, did herself no favours last week when she seemed to call for the censorship of a TV network that doesn’t even exist yet. Ditto that obtuse Soros online petition, that was so totally stupid it became (for a variety of reasons) the object of nation-wide ridicule.  This week, I expect more of the same, because stupidity is self-replicating.  Here’s a tip, folks: Kory – now on vacation in Florida with his family – couldn’t buy this kind of publicity for a kabillion dollars.  Sheesh.
  • Bruce Carson, new COS: Well, not so fast.  Some say he ain’t gonna be the top PMO aide.  But if he is, then he’d be a good pick.  He’s widely respected by the Cons I know, and I’ve found him to be pretty easy-going fella, too.  However, my fave pick – from last week’s comments – is found here.
  • Rocco and Rush: Rocco, still basking in the tripling of his support from last week’s poll, does well at the Labour Day parade; Rush Ford, in this Marcus Gee column, not so much. Fun quote: “people will sour on Rob when they figure out that half of the stuff he says is wrong, that his figures don’t add up and that you can’t fix what ails the city just by cutting city council in half and slashing what councillors spend on photocopying toner.”
  • Morissey is the “sub-species,” actually: As one of the many with a lingering fondness for the Smiths – and an enthusiasm for animal rights work – I was disappointed, to the least, to see Morissey refer to the Chinese people as “a sub-species.”  It made me feel like I did when Woody Allen married his daughter: at a certain point, an artist shouldn’t expect that what he or she does in his or her personal life won’t end up negating all the greatness of his or her art.  At a certain point, you just stop paying attention to them, artistically and otherwise.

29 Comments

  1. Tceh says:

    Sun TV: I don’t care if they broadcast or not. I just don’t want to pay for it on my cable bill. Quebecor Media wants mandatory access which means cable subscribers to pay for it whether they watch it or not.

    Let Sun TV get out there in the marketplace with other new channels and build a voluntary subscriber base who will willingly pay to watch their offering.

    • Paul says:

      Excellent. I agree with you 100%

      While we’re at it, I’d also like to be rid of all the channels I’m forced to subsidize that aren’t even in English.

  2. Cam says:

    Rocco and Rush –

    The debates should be great.

  3. DAVID says:

    all the stink about sun tv .we should be complaining about funding the CBC with our tax dollars if it is any good it should be able to stand on its own.enough with the regulations let the market decide.=======didn’t like Justin Trudeau since his eulogy at his fathers funeral.lets see kinsella backs rossi, moscoe backs pantaloni, and mcguinty backs smitherman, sheesh a shoe in for his worship mayor ford

    • James Curran says:

      Let me get this straight. You dont like sons giving eulogies at their father’s funeral?

      • What a foolish question,Jimmy.Hardly worth noticing and certainly not worthy of an answer.
        Justin is an intellectual lightweight with a famous last name.
        Seems there are a lot of politicians that fall into this category.Strategists and other backroom boys(of all parties) try to use this name recognition to their advantage.Unfortunatly,most times it works.Might explain the lack of talent in parliament.

  4. Robbie says:

    Warren,
    My oldest starts Grade One. I told him that Daddy got the strap when he started Grade One. He said that was weird.

  5. JStanton says:

    … you make the point beautifully Warren. The narrative about Ms. Atwood calling for the censorship of Sun TV is one wholly invented and propagated… by Sun Media.

    You’ve just been ‘Koryied’. Rather than respond to Ms. Atwood’s point – that the Prime Minister evidently is using his position to advance Mr. Peladeau’s business interests, counter to extant broadcasting regulation and policy, Sun Media is instead simply making stuff up to shift the public’s focus.

    That’s also called lying.

    When media interests become the instruments of entirely self-interested politicians, using deliberate practices of deceit, intimidation and fear-mongering, then democracy is in jeopardy. We should be grateful to Ms. Atwood for making herself the target of the vitriol from what are clearly unhinged right-wing elements, in order to help guard our institutions and way of life.

    • Scott says:

      Sure.

      But the real mistake was by Atwood. If she felt this way, fine. Don’t give them free pr. Atwood is more media savvy than this, I thought.

    • A fair amount of what you say could be used when wondering why we(Canadian taxpayers) are forced to pay so much for the CBC……..a media outlet that very few of us watch(HNIC the exception).
      “deliberate practices of deceit, intimidation and fear-mongering, then democracy is in jeopardy”……..a statement like this shows your mind is made up and that facts and common sense will never be allowed to get in the way of your prejudice(s).I wish you and Ms. Atwood well in your somewhat blinkered view of what our Canada is and should be…

      • JStanton says:

        …thank you for demonstrating my point so well – that reactionary elements tend, as a defensive mechanism, to shift focus from their inappropriate behavior to narratives they simply invent – in this case the imagined Liberal conspiracy to foist the CBC on you, when in fact, the CBC has actually been under the control of Mr. Harper for almost 5 years now.

        So, not only have you failed to call Mr. Harper to account for his inappropriate medaling in both regulatory and business issues, you have also failed to hold him accountable for the CBC.

        I’m afraid your credibility is pretty minimal at this point.

  6. Northbaytrapper says:

    Morrissey = a self-glorified twat if ever there was one. I rank him with Polanksi, Allen and Johnny Rotten.

    These folks believe themselves to be above reproach. I bite my thumb at all of them and their ilk.

    also: Morrissey and his moronic antics led a bunch of sheep into thinking that he was the genius behind the Smiths when we all know it was Johnny Marr (a true genius).

    • Martin says:

      Agree – with most of what you say about Moz!! Though still feel Marr has never had the same chemistry or reached the same heights with any project since the Smiths. I actually count the Smiths as the greatest Band of my lifetime – too bad Moz is such a jackass.

  7. DAVID says:

    hogwash” counter to extant broadcasting regulation and policy” then it is past time to change this policy .i don’t care who says what .as a thinking individual i feel that i have enough sense to filter out the sense from the nonsense. and i would simply turn off the station or not buy the newspaper etc.what i object to is the CBC used as an arm of the liberal party of Canada. i wouldn’t give a damn but i am paying for it with my tax dollars.” clearly unhinged right-wing elements” ya it wouldn’t be the average Joe who has had enough bullshit .,

    • Carefull,David.
      You’re kicking(and criticizing) the sacred cow of the left.On air or public statements and/or opinions from sources,other than the left(and the CBC),are both not allowed and loudly criticized by the truly tolerent individuals who inhabit the left and the “elites” of our country who truly know what is best for the rest of us.

  8. Scott says:

    Also, the Star continues to act as Smitherman’s pr firm with the big headline about freezing property taxes…for a year.

  9. Steve T says:

    Justin Trudeau is a self-important, arrogant brat. He has ridden his daddy’s name and coattails for all it is worth. If he ever rises in importance in the Liberal party, he will alienate a lot of Liberal supporters in the west.

    • James Curran says:

      Oh PAWLEASE! This kid has more followers in the west than he does in Ontario. And in BC, he’s royalty. When’s the last time someone entertained paying you 15k to speak at a function Steve? His daddy ain’t up there on the stage now is he?

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