The Ottawa Citizen reported on Oct. 28 that Harper will buy five hundred thousand flags to wave in the year of the Queen's jubilee. That will be a lot of money. He's also going to spend some 28 million celebrating our military history on the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812. And of course, he will lavish attention on the day we remember our debt to our veterans.
(Meanwhile, he has cut the budget of Veteran's Affairs, the department that looks after veterans who need help as a result of their experience. But the TandT probably won't mention that.)
The Wall Street Journal of Nov. 5 reported that the CIA is now using drones in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia to kill people who are 'suspected' of being in contact with other people who are 'suspected' of being terrorists. That pretty well covers everybody in all three countries. It also covers anybody who is unlucky enough to be standing near the target, or in the same apartment building or bus.
That's illegal under international law, of course. But who cares about the law?
Anyway, the TandT won't tell us about it. Nor will it give the numbers of innocent people right down to babies who have been killed by drones so far. In fact, it wouldn't tell them even if the US government was willing to report the numbers.
Will we get today's report that the rebels in Libya (our friends) are now shooting at each other? Maybe not. We still don't have a figure on how many people we helped to kill in that country so that American, British and French oil companies could make bigger profits.
Oh, and I'll bet it won't tell us that a shale gas company in England has admitted that its seismic testing is what caused a recent earthquake in the resort city of Blackpool.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Nov. 5: the reliable Times and Transcript
Even by Tand T standards, the front page of today's paper came as a bit of a surprise. It was about Wine Expo - AGAIN. The huge excitement today is about how the NB liquor store at the expo site sold a record $92,000 worth of booze in one hour. Well, so there's the answer to our provincial budget problem.
Everybody get smashed and stay that way. Let's all get out there and do our bit for good old NB.
So if it's a money-maker, why doesn't Irving take over NB liquor? Simple. The purpose of NB liquor is to extract as much money as possible from the poor and the middle class to raise government money so the government can give it to Irving in the form of cheap electricity and subsidies. So don't you worry you little heads about it. Irving is not suffering any loss through government ownership of NB liquor.
So get drunk. Stay drunk. And buy lots of lottery tickets. Mr. Irving needs that money, too. Otherwise (gasp) he might have to finance his own businesses - and even pay taxes.
There's a reason we're a have not province. The wealth is here.There's plenty for all our needs and for a balanced budget. But throughout its history, New Brunswick has been giving its wealth away to its one percent - the Irvings and the McCains and their buddies. They didn't create the wealth. The creation was done by New Brunswick workers, and by the forests and farms and waters of this province. The one percent are the ones who sucked it up - and who won't leave until the province has been sucked dry. (Then, no doubt, they'll be given The Order of New Brunswick).
As I guessed yesterday, the TandT decided it really had to mention to seizure of a Canadian boat by the Israeli navy. And, of course, the report was from Reuters, so it treats the matter delicately. Reuters, for example, makes it a point to say that a UN report of a year ago said that the Israeli blockade in intenational waters was legitimate. In fact, that is not quite what the report said.
The report to the UN said it had no authority to make a legal judgement - but that it was sympathetic to the Israeli case. If anybody thinks it is legal to blockade a country - and to attack ships in international waters - then an international court is the one to make that decision. Will Harper take it to an international court in defense of Canadian involved? Dream on. He's more likely to put them on a hit list.
Reuters also says Israel permits medical shipments to Palestine. Oh? Really? Then how come Reuters is reporting a a boat seized for trying to bring in medical supplies?
We are also told the crews will be taken to "prison service holding facilities". Oh! that's nice. So much nicer that putting them in prison! And they will "wait" there until flights home can be arranged. So kind of Israel to provide them with a "waiting' place.
The TandT made no mention of other stories I thought were kind of important - like the British-American plan to attack Iran in the near future, the investigation of NATO (commanded by a Canadian) for war crimes in Libya, and the extraordinary rate of suicide and mental illness among American veterans.
Nor, on November 11, will this question be raised when we romanticize war. I mean, why mess up a nice day with talk of what happens to our veterans when they get home?
We also read that N.B. contiues efforts to 'right-size' government. ( get rid of civil servants.). Brilliant. Respond to a growth of unemployment by creating more unemployment. Yeah, that should fix things.
And we have to pay attention to a report by the Taxpayers' Federation (which represents you though you didn't elect it, and it neither has ever heard of you nor given a damn about you). It says civil service salaries are too high compared to the private sector, having increased 44% at a time private business salaries have increased only 30%.
Did it mention how much the salaries of the Ganongs and McCains and Irvings have increased? Did it mention the increase in salaries of their executives and board mambers?
The reporter for the story is listed as Shawn Berry. Evidently, this is a reporter who is good at taking dictation. I wonder who wrote the original version of this story.
Speaking of cutting the public sector, Mr. Alward recently gave official status (and money) to a group of Irving appointees who now - in defiance of Canadian constitutional practice - are designing the provinicial budget. So why don't we just stop kidding ourselves that this is a democracy? Let's fire the whole finance department. And let's skip elections. I mean, New Brunswickers will only vote to change lapdogs. So elections are a waste of money. Alward as chief lapdog forever!
The editorial gets it right, though. It says we're already taxed to the limit. We need to find things to cut down on.
So about cutting down on all the freebies we give to our one percent? (Or maybe ask the one percent to pay some taxes. Please?)
And now, a closing word from Mr. Alward.
"bow-wow. r-r-r-r. Yipe! Yipe! Yipe!"
Everybody get smashed and stay that way. Let's all get out there and do our bit for good old NB.
So if it's a money-maker, why doesn't Irving take over NB liquor? Simple. The purpose of NB liquor is to extract as much money as possible from the poor and the middle class to raise government money so the government can give it to Irving in the form of cheap electricity and subsidies. So don't you worry you little heads about it. Irving is not suffering any loss through government ownership of NB liquor.
So get drunk. Stay drunk. And buy lots of lottery tickets. Mr. Irving needs that money, too. Otherwise (gasp) he might have to finance his own businesses - and even pay taxes.
There's a reason we're a have not province. The wealth is here.There's plenty for all our needs and for a balanced budget. But throughout its history, New Brunswick has been giving its wealth away to its one percent - the Irvings and the McCains and their buddies. They didn't create the wealth. The creation was done by New Brunswick workers, and by the forests and farms and waters of this province. The one percent are the ones who sucked it up - and who won't leave until the province has been sucked dry. (Then, no doubt, they'll be given The Order of New Brunswick).
As I guessed yesterday, the TandT decided it really had to mention to seizure of a Canadian boat by the Israeli navy. And, of course, the report was from Reuters, so it treats the matter delicately. Reuters, for example, makes it a point to say that a UN report of a year ago said that the Israeli blockade in intenational waters was legitimate. In fact, that is not quite what the report said.
The report to the UN said it had no authority to make a legal judgement - but that it was sympathetic to the Israeli case. If anybody thinks it is legal to blockade a country - and to attack ships in international waters - then an international court is the one to make that decision. Will Harper take it to an international court in defense of Canadian involved? Dream on. He's more likely to put them on a hit list.
Reuters also says Israel permits medical shipments to Palestine. Oh? Really? Then how come Reuters is reporting a a boat seized for trying to bring in medical supplies?
We are also told the crews will be taken to "prison service holding facilities". Oh! that's nice. So much nicer that putting them in prison! And they will "wait" there until flights home can be arranged. So kind of Israel to provide them with a "waiting' place.
The TandT made no mention of other stories I thought were kind of important - like the British-American plan to attack Iran in the near future, the investigation of NATO (commanded by a Canadian) for war crimes in Libya, and the extraordinary rate of suicide and mental illness among American veterans.
Nor, on November 11, will this question be raised when we romanticize war. I mean, why mess up a nice day with talk of what happens to our veterans when they get home?
We also read that N.B. contiues efforts to 'right-size' government. ( get rid of civil servants.). Brilliant. Respond to a growth of unemployment by creating more unemployment. Yeah, that should fix things.
And we have to pay attention to a report by the Taxpayers' Federation (which represents you though you didn't elect it, and it neither has ever heard of you nor given a damn about you). It says civil service salaries are too high compared to the private sector, having increased 44% at a time private business salaries have increased only 30%.
Did it mention how much the salaries of the Ganongs and McCains and Irvings have increased? Did it mention the increase in salaries of their executives and board mambers?
The reporter for the story is listed as Shawn Berry. Evidently, this is a reporter who is good at taking dictation. I wonder who wrote the original version of this story.
Speaking of cutting the public sector, Mr. Alward recently gave official status (and money) to a group of Irving appointees who now - in defiance of Canadian constitutional practice - are designing the provinicial budget. So why don't we just stop kidding ourselves that this is a democracy? Let's fire the whole finance department. And let's skip elections. I mean, New Brunswickers will only vote to change lapdogs. So elections are a waste of money. Alward as chief lapdog forever!
The editorial gets it right, though. It says we're already taxed to the limit. We need to find things to cut down on.
So about cutting down on all the freebies we give to our one percent? (Or maybe ask the one percent to pay some taxes. Please?)
And now, a closing word from Mr. Alward.
"bow-wow. r-r-r-r. Yipe! Yipe! Yipe!"
Friday, November 4, 2011
Nov 4: evening addendum
It was a pleasant noon hour. I stood with some friends in front of the Moncton Times and Transcript building holding a sign that read "Irving News the Worst in Canada". Alas, the Times reporting staff must have been tied up in their hectic round of tough, investigative reporting. So there won't be any report of it. Like many things in New Brunswick, it never happened.
Oh, but it did make Acadiens Nouvelles, though. So it happened a little bit.
Fellow journalists told me for years how bad the Irving-owned media were. But I had to live here to understand how appallingly bad it was - and how much New Brunswickers are afraid.
Looking forward to next week's noon hours.
Just a few items that many not appear in tomorrow's Tand T.
1. According to The Guardian, probably the world's best English -language paper, of Nov. 4, the US and Britain have plans for a joint attack on Iran. The excuse will be the old"weapons of mass destruction" game. What the hell. It worked against Iraq. And the north American public is still as gullible as they come.
If it happens, watch for the whole middle east to blow up - and with Canada sucked into it. It's a terrible thing to see the desperate extremes taken by a collapsing empire.
2. The Israeli navy has stopped and boarded a Canadian ship in international waters. It was carrying medical supplies to Gaza. We have no word yet on what has happened to the Canadian and Americans aboard.
To stop a ship like that in international waters is against international law - and it's an act of war against the country to which the ship is registered. But you won't hear even a whimper out of Harper on this one.
The Times will probably have to give this at least a mention - but watch for a gentle and limited report. Since the Times relies on Postmedia and Reuters for its foreign news (and since the news editor has probably never heard of The Guardian), don't expect anything honest or thorough.
3. NATO (that includes us, particularly our air force) is going to be investigated by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Libya.
That's odd. Reuters never mentioned any war crimes.
4. Something to remember this Remembrance Day. An American veteran attempts suicide every 80 minutes. In the past year, some 300 US servicemen have committed suicide while still in service. The reason, according to Centre for a New American Society, is lack of adequate psychatric care for those sufferiing post-traumatic stress disorder.
I don't know any source with official figures for Canadian veterans. Nor can I imagine the Irving press asking for them. But I'm sure Mr. Irving will be wearing a poppy that day.
Oh, but it did make Acadiens Nouvelles, though. So it happened a little bit.
Fellow journalists told me for years how bad the Irving-owned media were. But I had to live here to understand how appallingly bad it was - and how much New Brunswickers are afraid.
Looking forward to next week's noon hours.
Just a few items that many not appear in tomorrow's Tand T.
1. According to The Guardian, probably the world's best English -language paper, of Nov. 4, the US and Britain have plans for a joint attack on Iran. The excuse will be the old"weapons of mass destruction" game. What the hell. It worked against Iraq. And the north American public is still as gullible as they come.
If it happens, watch for the whole middle east to blow up - and with Canada sucked into it. It's a terrible thing to see the desperate extremes taken by a collapsing empire.
2. The Israeli navy has stopped and boarded a Canadian ship in international waters. It was carrying medical supplies to Gaza. We have no word yet on what has happened to the Canadian and Americans aboard.
To stop a ship like that in international waters is against international law - and it's an act of war against the country to which the ship is registered. But you won't hear even a whimper out of Harper on this one.
The Times will probably have to give this at least a mention - but watch for a gentle and limited report. Since the Times relies on Postmedia and Reuters for its foreign news (and since the news editor has probably never heard of The Guardian), don't expect anything honest or thorough.
3. NATO (that includes us, particularly our air force) is going to be investigated by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Libya.
That's odd. Reuters never mentioned any war crimes.
4. Something to remember this Remembrance Day. An American veteran attempts suicide every 80 minutes. In the past year, some 300 US servicemen have committed suicide while still in service. The reason, according to Centre for a New American Society, is lack of adequate psychatric care for those sufferiing post-traumatic stress disorder.
I don't know any source with official figures for Canadian veterans. Nor can I imagine the Irving press asking for them. But I'm sure Mr. Irving will be wearing a poppy that day.
Nov. 4: Newspaper economics and motives
*Promo. From noon to 1, I'll be joining friends for a small demonstration in front of the Times and Transcript. Drop by and say hello. If you drive by, give your horn a honk.
Don Cherry's comments on hockey portray him as a sort of cartoon figure, the image of the beer drinking lout sitting every evening on his couch watching the latest game of whatever. But it's an act for Cherry. He's no lout. He's an entertatiner; and he acts like an idiot because people find that entertaining. He's playing the popular image of a sports fan - brutish and stupid. Such fans do exist, of course. But so do brutish and stupid politicians and business leaders. Indeed, there's nothing worse than the rioting of politicians and business leaders that we call wars.
In fact, sports fans are pretty much like all of us - except in one thing. They understand the topic that interests them - sport.
You can't fool a sports fan with a columnist who doesn't know what he's talking about. And the sports fan will not tolerate a sports section that doesn't give at least some accurate mention of every important sports event in North America. You can get away with ignorant and sloppy reporting on politics, education, economics, business, foreign affairs.... But not on sports.
The sports section also attracts a high proportion of people who subscribe to a newspaper - and subscription is the most profitable way of distributing a newspaper. As well, many people subscribe largely because of the sports section. Subscription numbers are important in selling ads.
There's also an extra bonus for the newspaper owners. They can give sports editors and reporters freedom to say what they like ----- because sports news doesn't really matter. It has no effect on opinons about shale gas or the giveaway of cheap electricity for Irving companies. The sports section is win-win for newspaper owners.
The other part of the paper that's important is what is called 'features' - such as the crossword, comics, Dear Abby, horoscope... These features attract both men and women readers, though rather more women than men. Again, this is good for subscription sales. And, like sports, the features don't have anything to do with anything that matters to the newspaper owners.
The lesser importance of the first section, largely local news, is obvious from the few reporters who write it up. It's quite common to see only three reporters, maybe four, writing up all the local news. That means there's no time for any serious research on any of the local news items, no time for investigative reporting.
That suits newspaper owners fine. Usually closely connected with the local business elite, most owners are not interested in encouraging investigative reporting. So things are kept down to police crime and accident reports, formal statements from local organizations, that sort of trivia.
The case of Windsor Energy breaking the law with seismic testing was so big it couldn't be left out completely. But it could be hidden on p. 2, and reads as though it were written by minister of resources Bruce Northrup and a Windsor Energy spin doctor.
NewsToday seems to be made up of random wire items from Postmedia and Reuters, both well-known for heavy bias (but a safe bias from the point of view of the owners of The Moncton Times and Transcript.) It's obvious that the NewsToday editor has, to put it kindly, a limited knowledge of what is going on in the world, and no knowledge whatever of the range of news sources out there.
In short, the Irving media are an extreme example of all that is bad about modern newspapers. Most of them are designed to be run on the cheap, to draw readers with trivia, and to keep them ignorant of what is going on in this world.
And it works. A typical product of reading cheap and trivial newspapers is the letter to the editor (November 3, 2011) headed "Occupy movement is confusing". It is a classic example of ignorance of current events, of history, of logic, even of the meanings of words. It also twists The Bible in a way that avoids being offensive only by being so illogical. (He draws on a very old and corny joke "The golden rule means that those who have gold rule. This is presented to the reader as wit and insight when, in reality, it has no point at all in the context of the argument presented in the letter.)
In today's paper, we read that the Alward government has to raise taxes. Does that mean they will raise taxes on the Irvings and McCains? Not bloody likely. What it does mean is that they are going to push liquor sales. ( Just what the province needs as times get hard.) Liquor profits are a form of tax which, like road tolls, hits the poor and the middle class far more than the rich.
Good columns by Alec Bruce and Lynda MacGibbon on the CBC - which seems slated for destruction under Harper. I've done considerable work for both CBC and private radio and television. I agree with the criticism Bruce makes of it. I also agree with both Bruce and MacGibbon that it far outclasses private stations in quality of news, analysis, and bringing a perspective that is both intelligent and Canadian to discussion.
Private radio talk stations offer a level of discussion that is as low as the worst of the Times and Transcript. Private radio music stations are staffed by hosts who are 52 going on 16. Private radio is also notorious for being hopelessly understaffed and incompetent in news gathering.
There were some, minor news stories that were missed.
A Canadian ship carrying medical supplies to Gaza has been warned off by the Israeli navy. At this writing, it should be within 50 K of the Gaza coast. Will Harper defend the Canadians on board? Will alligators learn to fly?
Scientists have attributed a recent earthquake in England to fracking operations.
A shale gas compressing station in Pennsylvania exploded. Fortunately, it was at night when the area was deserted. However, local residents had to be evacuated.
In Pakistan, 127 people, mostly civlians and including children, have been killed in just the last two days by American drones. Though notoriously undiscriminating in who they kill, drones are becoming popular with a US in which citizens prefer to avoid military duty, and so leave the killing to mercenaries and computer operators.
According to Huffington Post of Nov 3, 2011, dozens of major US corporations which have made billions of profit for the last three years have paid no taxes at all in that time. For all US corporations, the average tax payment was at less than half the legislated rate.
Wouldn't it be nice if, say, Brian Cormier were to do a story on the taxes actually paid by New Brunswick corporations? And another on all we give to those corporations? Nah. that's not the New Brunswick way. We'll just have another wine expo, and lower the drinking age.
Don Cherry's comments on hockey portray him as a sort of cartoon figure, the image of the beer drinking lout sitting every evening on his couch watching the latest game of whatever. But it's an act for Cherry. He's no lout. He's an entertatiner; and he acts like an idiot because people find that entertaining. He's playing the popular image of a sports fan - brutish and stupid. Such fans do exist, of course. But so do brutish and stupid politicians and business leaders. Indeed, there's nothing worse than the rioting of politicians and business leaders that we call wars.
In fact, sports fans are pretty much like all of us - except in one thing. They understand the topic that interests them - sport.
You can't fool a sports fan with a columnist who doesn't know what he's talking about. And the sports fan will not tolerate a sports section that doesn't give at least some accurate mention of every important sports event in North America. You can get away with ignorant and sloppy reporting on politics, education, economics, business, foreign affairs.... But not on sports.
The sports section also attracts a high proportion of people who subscribe to a newspaper - and subscription is the most profitable way of distributing a newspaper. As well, many people subscribe largely because of the sports section. Subscription numbers are important in selling ads.
There's also an extra bonus for the newspaper owners. They can give sports editors and reporters freedom to say what they like ----- because sports news doesn't really matter. It has no effect on opinons about shale gas or the giveaway of cheap electricity for Irving companies. The sports section is win-win for newspaper owners.
The other part of the paper that's important is what is called 'features' - such as the crossword, comics, Dear Abby, horoscope... These features attract both men and women readers, though rather more women than men. Again, this is good for subscription sales. And, like sports, the features don't have anything to do with anything that matters to the newspaper owners.
The lesser importance of the first section, largely local news, is obvious from the few reporters who write it up. It's quite common to see only three reporters, maybe four, writing up all the local news. That means there's no time for any serious research on any of the local news items, no time for investigative reporting.
That suits newspaper owners fine. Usually closely connected with the local business elite, most owners are not interested in encouraging investigative reporting. So things are kept down to police crime and accident reports, formal statements from local organizations, that sort of trivia.
The case of Windsor Energy breaking the law with seismic testing was so big it couldn't be left out completely. But it could be hidden on p. 2, and reads as though it were written by minister of resources Bruce Northrup and a Windsor Energy spin doctor.
NewsToday seems to be made up of random wire items from Postmedia and Reuters, both well-known for heavy bias (but a safe bias from the point of view of the owners of The Moncton Times and Transcript.) It's obvious that the NewsToday editor has, to put it kindly, a limited knowledge of what is going on in the world, and no knowledge whatever of the range of news sources out there.
In short, the Irving media are an extreme example of all that is bad about modern newspapers. Most of them are designed to be run on the cheap, to draw readers with trivia, and to keep them ignorant of what is going on in this world.
And it works. A typical product of reading cheap and trivial newspapers is the letter to the editor (November 3, 2011) headed "Occupy movement is confusing". It is a classic example of ignorance of current events, of history, of logic, even of the meanings of words. It also twists The Bible in a way that avoids being offensive only by being so illogical. (He draws on a very old and corny joke "The golden rule means that those who have gold rule. This is presented to the reader as wit and insight when, in reality, it has no point at all in the context of the argument presented in the letter.)
In today's paper, we read that the Alward government has to raise taxes. Does that mean they will raise taxes on the Irvings and McCains? Not bloody likely. What it does mean is that they are going to push liquor sales. ( Just what the province needs as times get hard.) Liquor profits are a form of tax which, like road tolls, hits the poor and the middle class far more than the rich.
Good columns by Alec Bruce and Lynda MacGibbon on the CBC - which seems slated for destruction under Harper. I've done considerable work for both CBC and private radio and television. I agree with the criticism Bruce makes of it. I also agree with both Bruce and MacGibbon that it far outclasses private stations in quality of news, analysis, and bringing a perspective that is both intelligent and Canadian to discussion.
Private radio talk stations offer a level of discussion that is as low as the worst of the Times and Transcript. Private radio music stations are staffed by hosts who are 52 going on 16. Private radio is also notorious for being hopelessly understaffed and incompetent in news gathering.
There were some, minor news stories that were missed.
A Canadian ship carrying medical supplies to Gaza has been warned off by the Israeli navy. At this writing, it should be within 50 K of the Gaza coast. Will Harper defend the Canadians on board? Will alligators learn to fly?
Scientists have attributed a recent earthquake in England to fracking operations.
A shale gas compressing station in Pennsylvania exploded. Fortunately, it was at night when the area was deserted. However, local residents had to be evacuated.
In Pakistan, 127 people, mostly civlians and including children, have been killed in just the last two days by American drones. Though notoriously undiscriminating in who they kill, drones are becoming popular with a US in which citizens prefer to avoid military duty, and so leave the killing to mercenaries and computer operators.
According to Huffington Post of Nov 3, 2011, dozens of major US corporations which have made billions of profit for the last three years have paid no taxes at all in that time. For all US corporations, the average tax payment was at less than half the legislated rate.
Wouldn't it be nice if, say, Brian Cormier were to do a story on the taxes actually paid by New Brunswick corporations? And another on all we give to those corporations? Nah. that's not the New Brunswick way. We'll just have another wine expo, and lower the drinking age.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Nov.3: Why sports pages in newspapers are honest and professional.
In today's Moncton Times, There is almost no news. Yesterday, the Occupy Oakland movement succeeded in shutting down the port of that city. Hundreds of stores closed in sympathy with the call for a general strike. Veterans joined in, infuriated by the police attack on a veteran at an earlier demonstration. (The veteran, who was quite peaceful) suffered a fractured skull when a tear gas canister, fired at close range, hit him.
The Oakland police officers' association has since made public its sympathy with Occupy Oakland, declaring itself part of the 99%.
Harper will soon ban unions and corporations from giving loans to political parties. This will close down Canadian democracy another notch - since it will leave only the Conservaitve Party with enough money to fight national elections.
The Canadian government is punishing the poor all over the world by cutting UNESCO's funding because it's mad at the UN for offering Palestine membership in UNESCO. But it hasn't said a word about Israel's far more threatening response in taking more Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. Kiss, kiss.
A Canadian boat is running the Israeli blockade to bring aid to Palestine. It will certainly be threatened and, if necessary, attacked by Israeli warships.
These are all important stories. Not one made today's Times and Transcript. Most of the stories it has are non-stories. Harper is going to the G20 summit. So? Going to a summit is not a big story. When he does something at it, that will be a story. A widow in PEI want's to wear her husband's medals on November 11. Touching. But not in a class with the stories that did not make the paper.
de Adder's cartoon shows our tax money disappearing into a black hole labelled health care. Actually, we get something back for what we spend on health care. Would de Adder have the integrity or the courage to show our tax money disappearing into a black hole labelled Irving?
As usual, the only two columns worth reading are Alec Bruce and Jody Dallaire.
Now, compare all this to the Sports section.
No big games are missed. There is almost a page of statistics covering sports all over North America. There appear to be more staff reporters for the sports section than for any other section of the paper.; and the columnists know what they're talking about. The superior journalism of the sports section can be seen in most newspapers in North America.
Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the economics and motives of the news business to try to explain that.
The Oakland police officers' association has since made public its sympathy with Occupy Oakland, declaring itself part of the 99%.
Harper will soon ban unions and corporations from giving loans to political parties. This will close down Canadian democracy another notch - since it will leave only the Conservaitve Party with enough money to fight national elections.
The Canadian government is punishing the poor all over the world by cutting UNESCO's funding because it's mad at the UN for offering Palestine membership in UNESCO. But it hasn't said a word about Israel's far more threatening response in taking more Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. Kiss, kiss.
A Canadian boat is running the Israeli blockade to bring aid to Palestine. It will certainly be threatened and, if necessary, attacked by Israeli warships.
These are all important stories. Not one made today's Times and Transcript. Most of the stories it has are non-stories. Harper is going to the G20 summit. So? Going to a summit is not a big story. When he does something at it, that will be a story. A widow in PEI want's to wear her husband's medals on November 11. Touching. But not in a class with the stories that did not make the paper.
de Adder's cartoon shows our tax money disappearing into a black hole labelled health care. Actually, we get something back for what we spend on health care. Would de Adder have the integrity or the courage to show our tax money disappearing into a black hole labelled Irving?
As usual, the only two columns worth reading are Alec Bruce and Jody Dallaire.
Now, compare all this to the Sports section.
No big games are missed. There is almost a page of statistics covering sports all over North America. There appear to be more staff reporters for the sports section than for any other section of the paper.; and the columnists know what they're talking about. The superior journalism of the sports section can be seen in most newspapers in North America.
Tomorrow, we'll take a look at the economics and motives of the news business to try to explain that.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Nov. 2: The ethics of jourmalism
The first requirement of a news medium is to poduce honest and unbiased reports on events.
The second requirement is to help its audience understand the meaning of those events.- usually through columnists. (It should also provide a range of opinion in those columns - though very few news media do that.)
It also has to sell ads; and it does so largely through entertainment - thus the space given to horoscopes, sports pages, gossip, advice columns... But that's a matter of business, not of ethic. It becomes a question of ethics whan a paper uses its news stories as ads-in-disguise. (See the wine expo story on p. A1.)
Ethics is not a strong point at the TandT. It did, admittedly, publish a story about the US cutting off its contribution to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (It did, though, rather downplay the story by focussing on Canada's decision to contine the present level of funding, but not to increase it.) Anyway, the news story alone tells us very little - and offers no understanding. So let's take a closer look at it - as a good newspaper would.
Palestine had requested permission to join UNESCO. It was a small step to gaining recognition as a nation. Normally, it would be a routine matter. But a national status for Palestine is unacceptable to Israel. Thus the US vote against Palestine joining UNESCO.
The general vote, though, was enthusiastically in favour of Palestine - a two-thirds majority in favour, with many abstentions and only a few nos. Most interestingly, it split the vote of NATO countries. France voted for the Palestinians. Britain, though it normally follows the US lead, abstained from voting. Taken in all, it was a stunning rejection of US influence in the UN. This was particularly so because the US had laid on strong pressure to all countries to vote against Palestine.
Now, the US has retaliated by withdrawing its contribution to the major organization to, among other things, help the poorest children in the world. (Even Canada is simply freezing the level of its contribution - and Israel has yet to announce any decision at all.)
This is a major disaster for the US. The cost to its credibility all over the world has been the greatest since the founding of the UN.
The cost to the credibility of and sympathy for Israel will be as heavy.
The US has made it clear that it has no respect for international institutions and international law. It will recognize them only when it is convenient. That effectively puts an end to both the UN and international law. Those who don't care might pause to remember that this is how the League of Nations died.
Obama has blundered - and probably with disastrous consequences. What he should have done was to lean on Israel to support the Palesinian request. Minimally, he should have played the honest broker to work out a deal between the two countries.
Instead, he will use the veto to cancel the vote of the General Assembly, thereby punishing the world's poorest children, showing contempt for the United Nations, and spreading hatred of the US even further.. And that will result in isolating the US and Israel even more from the rest of the world, extending distrust well through its western allies. And that will significantly weaken the US militarily.
Within the US, he has aligned himself with the nuttiest elements of the Republican party, thus destroying whatever was left of his voter base; and almost guaranteeing that he will go down as the worst president in American history.
This is probably the story of the year. But you certainly will not get that impression from coverage in the Moncton Times and Transcript. Its big story - for the best part of a week - has been the wine expo.
Norbert Cunningham has a column on the New Brunswick economy - a subject which could be better handled by most of the students who write for the Saturday edition. He is hopelessly uninformed about the economic role of government in an economy, so uninformed that all the measures he proposes would actually cost us more money and more unemployment.
He's smart on one point, though. He doesn't mention the name Irving. He might not know anything about economics. But he knows how to keep his job.
Alec Bruce contributes the best column I have seen on the appointment of Michael Freguson as Canada's Auditor-General. Of all those I've read, this is the one that changed my mind. Bruce makes an excellent case for Ferguson.
The rest of the paper is just trivial.
The second requirement is to help its audience understand the meaning of those events.- usually through columnists. (It should also provide a range of opinion in those columns - though very few news media do that.)
It also has to sell ads; and it does so largely through entertainment - thus the space given to horoscopes, sports pages, gossip, advice columns... But that's a matter of business, not of ethic. It becomes a question of ethics whan a paper uses its news stories as ads-in-disguise. (See the wine expo story on p. A1.)
Ethics is not a strong point at the TandT. It did, admittedly, publish a story about the US cutting off its contribution to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (It did, though, rather downplay the story by focussing on Canada's decision to contine the present level of funding, but not to increase it.) Anyway, the news story alone tells us very little - and offers no understanding. So let's take a closer look at it - as a good newspaper would.
Palestine had requested permission to join UNESCO. It was a small step to gaining recognition as a nation. Normally, it would be a routine matter. But a national status for Palestine is unacceptable to Israel. Thus the US vote against Palestine joining UNESCO.
The general vote, though, was enthusiastically in favour of Palestine - a two-thirds majority in favour, with many abstentions and only a few nos. Most interestingly, it split the vote of NATO countries. France voted for the Palestinians. Britain, though it normally follows the US lead, abstained from voting. Taken in all, it was a stunning rejection of US influence in the UN. This was particularly so because the US had laid on strong pressure to all countries to vote against Palestine.
Now, the US has retaliated by withdrawing its contribution to the major organization to, among other things, help the poorest children in the world. (Even Canada is simply freezing the level of its contribution - and Israel has yet to announce any decision at all.)
This is a major disaster for the US. The cost to its credibility all over the world has been the greatest since the founding of the UN.
The cost to the credibility of and sympathy for Israel will be as heavy.
The US has made it clear that it has no respect for international institutions and international law. It will recognize them only when it is convenient. That effectively puts an end to both the UN and international law. Those who don't care might pause to remember that this is how the League of Nations died.
Obama has blundered - and probably with disastrous consequences. What he should have done was to lean on Israel to support the Palesinian request. Minimally, he should have played the honest broker to work out a deal between the two countries.
Instead, he will use the veto to cancel the vote of the General Assembly, thereby punishing the world's poorest children, showing contempt for the United Nations, and spreading hatred of the US even further.. And that will result in isolating the US and Israel even more from the rest of the world, extending distrust well through its western allies. And that will significantly weaken the US militarily.
Within the US, he has aligned himself with the nuttiest elements of the Republican party, thus destroying whatever was left of his voter base; and almost guaranteeing that he will go down as the worst president in American history.
This is probably the story of the year. But you certainly will not get that impression from coverage in the Moncton Times and Transcript. Its big story - for the best part of a week - has been the wine expo.
Norbert Cunningham has a column on the New Brunswick economy - a subject which could be better handled by most of the students who write for the Saturday edition. He is hopelessly uninformed about the economic role of government in an economy, so uninformed that all the measures he proposes would actually cost us more money and more unemployment.
He's smart on one point, though. He doesn't mention the name Irving. He might not know anything about economics. But he knows how to keep his job.
Alec Bruce contributes the best column I have seen on the appointment of Michael Freguson as Canada's Auditor-General. Of all those I've read, this is the one that changed my mind. Bruce makes an excellent case for Ferguson.
The rest of the paper is just trivial.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
No1: I tried. I really tried.
There was nothing to say about the Moncton Times and Transcript yesterday. The only part worth reading was Alec Bruce's column. The rest was drab and trivial. Of course, that's the whole purpose of the Irving media - to keep us all in ignorance of what's going on.
Today, there are two columns worth reading - Alec Bruce (I've never before seen a columnist who could produce such a well informed column every day) - and Gwynn Dyer.
Shale gas hasn't been mentioned - even though there's a Texas mayor touring NB with warnings about how the development of shale gas destroyed the environment of his home town. Indeed, a mysterious sickness related to the drilling forced him and his family to move away.
There's no mention of the Occupy Moncton movement, though the more youthful of its supporters have shown a lot of determination and courage in maintaining their camp site.
There has been no mention of the police riot in Oakland, where police shot a peaceful protestor (who turned out to be an Iraq veteran) with a tear gas canister that cracked his skull. Plans are now underway for a massive stike in Oakland.
There is one, intriguing story - though it seems not to have occured to the news editor to look at its implications. A Canadian Moslem, on a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, was arrested - seemingly for no reason -and severely beaten in the street, and then put in jail. Released today, he thanked the Islamic Human Rights Commission and the Canadian news media for helping him regain his freedom.
Think about that. What's intriguing is who he did NOT thank. He did not thank Mr. Harper or any member of Canada's government. Of course, not. They have a record of being highly tolerant of human rights abuses committed by our 'friends'. They will even hand over Canadians for torture.
With an American presidential election coming up, the TandT editors seem not to have noticed all the Republican candidates for party leadership advocating military domination of the world by the US. Several have said this is God's plan for the US - to dominate the world for the next century.
"The world.." includes Canada, by the way. There is some irony that we are about the celebrate the War of 1812 in which we fought off an American invasion, while at the same time we send Canadians to die and to kill to help Americans dominate the world.
Domination developed over twenty years ago around a theory put forward by General Colin Powell. He proposed overwhelming and indiscriminate force as a means fight short wars. The idea spread to business leaders like Dick Cheney, who enlarged it to a whole series of such wars to achieve world dominance, and who published their ideas on the web in the 1990s under the title, "Project fot the New American Century". Essentially, it called for quick action, using military power to gain economic dominance. Targets mentioned included Iraq, Iran and most of Africa. Look it up. It's still on the web. (Maybe they don't have internet at the TandT.)
The Project for the New American Century group dominated the Bush White House. That's why Bush attacked Iraq and Afghanistan. That's Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama has attacked Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan (and maybe Syria and Iran).
Alas! The great plan is proving expensive - and way behind schedule. That is what makes it necessary to call on Canada as a part of NATO to fight wars so Dick Cheney and friends can become even richer.
But the Moncton Times and Transcript helps us forget all these nasty things. It doesn't mention shale gas or poisoned rivers and air, or corporations that sell expensive power to NB Power - and then buy it back at cheaper prices. No. The big story today is about people getting sloshed (with dignity and decorum) at Wine Expo.
Today, there are two columns worth reading - Alec Bruce (I've never before seen a columnist who could produce such a well informed column every day) - and Gwynn Dyer.
Shale gas hasn't been mentioned - even though there's a Texas mayor touring NB with warnings about how the development of shale gas destroyed the environment of his home town. Indeed, a mysterious sickness related to the drilling forced him and his family to move away.
There's no mention of the Occupy Moncton movement, though the more youthful of its supporters have shown a lot of determination and courage in maintaining their camp site.
There has been no mention of the police riot in Oakland, where police shot a peaceful protestor (who turned out to be an Iraq veteran) with a tear gas canister that cracked his skull. Plans are now underway for a massive stike in Oakland.
There is one, intriguing story - though it seems not to have occured to the news editor to look at its implications. A Canadian Moslem, on a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, was arrested - seemingly for no reason -and severely beaten in the street, and then put in jail. Released today, he thanked the Islamic Human Rights Commission and the Canadian news media for helping him regain his freedom.
Think about that. What's intriguing is who he did NOT thank. He did not thank Mr. Harper or any member of Canada's government. Of course, not. They have a record of being highly tolerant of human rights abuses committed by our 'friends'. They will even hand over Canadians for torture.
With an American presidential election coming up, the TandT editors seem not to have noticed all the Republican candidates for party leadership advocating military domination of the world by the US. Several have said this is God's plan for the US - to dominate the world for the next century.
"The world.." includes Canada, by the way. There is some irony that we are about the celebrate the War of 1812 in which we fought off an American invasion, while at the same time we send Canadians to die and to kill to help Americans dominate the world.
Domination developed over twenty years ago around a theory put forward by General Colin Powell. He proposed overwhelming and indiscriminate force as a means fight short wars. The idea spread to business leaders like Dick Cheney, who enlarged it to a whole series of such wars to achieve world dominance, and who published their ideas on the web in the 1990s under the title, "Project fot the New American Century". Essentially, it called for quick action, using military power to gain economic dominance. Targets mentioned included Iraq, Iran and most of Africa. Look it up. It's still on the web. (Maybe they don't have internet at the TandT.)
The Project for the New American Century group dominated the Bush White House. That's why Bush attacked Iraq and Afghanistan. That's Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama has attacked Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan (and maybe Syria and Iran).
Alas! The great plan is proving expensive - and way behind schedule. That is what makes it necessary to call on Canada as a part of NATO to fight wars so Dick Cheney and friends can become even richer.
But the Moncton Times and Transcript helps us forget all these nasty things. It doesn't mention shale gas or poisoned rivers and air, or corporations that sell expensive power to NB Power - and then buy it back at cheaper prices. No. The big story today is about people getting sloshed (with dignity and decorum) at Wine Expo.
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