Today's Moncton Times and Tribune can't even contrive to be its normal lying and obscuring self. It's just, plain boring. Perhaps the biggest story is p. 1 of NewsToday. "PM gets audience with Queen" It even has a photo of Harper shaking the royal hand. And, it even carries bits of the sacred conversation as he presented her with a portrait of herself.
"It's changed quite a bit since I last saw it." she said..... And there's more - even better - but I won't spoil it. Get YOUR copy of the TandT now to read it.
But - a warning, don't read it if you are easily aroused . It says the Queen was wearing a blue and white patterrned dress. She was carrying a black handbag. This is not for the faint of heart.
The Queen will not keep the painting. (Good call, Liz). It will hang in Rideau Hall - where none of us will see it, either. This is all a part of Harper's wonderful plan to cover Canada in pictures of the Queen. I wonder how much this twenty minutes of magic cost us taxpayers. Certainly, it will cost many, many times as much as the $47,000 photo of Ace MacKay sitting in the cockpit of a fake F-35.
The editorials were boring. Norbert was amusing. Alec Bruce was interesting (though, as sometimes happens, unnlikely to connect with the average reader.)
Rod Allen, bless his heart, tells us yet another pointless story from the diary of his dreadfully ordinary life.
Jody Dallaire, as always, saves the op ed page.
There is a letter to the editor to the editor which, though it reads like a cute and starving Oliver Twist going up to the cruel, workhouse master and pleading, "Plese, sir, may I have more." is actually from the President of Enbridge gas. Save this one for bathroom reading. Then use it in an environmentally responsible way.
Ther is also an excellent letter from a Stacey Hansen about Moncton High.
And that's it. This edition is bo-ring - unless you really, really care that the Queen carried a black handbag.
There's no mention of bill C-38 which is designed to make resource companies rich by destroying was is left of our environment. There was a demonstration about it last night of fifty or so of us, banging on pots and pans from Place Assomption to MP Robert Goguen's office and back. Lots of encouraging honks of horns and waves from passing drivers. (There was also one half-wit who deliberately swerved into the line of marchers, and very nearly hit the person ahead of me. I assure you, though, the half-wit was not Harper. I know that because he was presenting a protrait to the Queen at the times. Anyway, there was no statuette of the Queen stuck to the car's dashboard.
Alas, there were no reporters there. (They're not allowed out when it's cold and raining.)
Well - that didn't take long. So let's talk a little about Crandall University (the Christian one that disapproves of gays) and about Moncton church-goers in general.
I was two years at a Baptist University not far from here. It was very Baptist. One night, A student in residence got very drunk, picked up a revolver to play Russian roulette -and shot himself in the head. The university administration leaped into action. It sent janitors to search the whole building for liquor bottles, and to dispose of them, including the many that were in the garbage.
Then, with the building sanitized, they informed the police and the ambulance service. God bless them for their Christian concern.
Moncton has the reputation of being a very Christian city, indeed with, seemingly, a heavy emphasis on the most stridently righteous sects, the ones that happily spend their days pointing self-righteous fingers at "sinners" and clapping hands for Jesus.
Yet we live in a province ruled by pure greed, a province indifferent to the damage done to God's earth and God's people by reckless resource development, indifferent to the economic exploitation of hundreds of thousands of New Brunswickers, indifferent to the abuses inflicted by the very rich ...
indifferent to a government which routinely favours the rich at the expense of the poor. We live in a country which has just been named as one that cooperates with torturers, does some torturing on its own, and protects war criminals.
Forgive me if I seem uninformed on The Bible. But aren't there moral issues here? Aren't there passages about love and forgiveness and caring? Aren't there denunciations of greed and hatred, and coveting?
No,I am NOT suggesting that the church should be blended with the state. (The churches are already far too often in bed with the state. Recently, a big church sign down the street from me urged us to pray for OUR soldiers in Afghanistan. Does that church actually think God is on our side? Does it think Jesus maybe was a bit hammered when He said "Love thine enemies?")
No, I don't think that the church should be any part of the state apparatus, or should have any special power in government matters. But I do think Christians should act in such a way that we can tell they are Christians. What we do as a society should concern Christians, and should be discussed in churches in relation to their beliefs.
I have been in churches that didn't just jump for Jesus, or look for Bible passages that confirmed their prejudices. I have been in churches that actually discussed the meaning of Christianity today. All right, it's wrong to beat up and rob a Samaritan. Got the message, way back when I was seven. So, is it okay to kill over a million Iraqis and steal their oil? Was it okay for Canada to bomb Libya to get its oil? ("Duh, gee," say our churches, "the Bible doesn't mention Libyans or Iraqis. Just Samaritans.)
How can Christians sit around in a world of greed and hunger and killing and torture and exploitation, and just sit there with their faces hanging out?
I'll bet the whole staff at the Moncton Times and Tribune are regular chuch-goers.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
June 6: A bad day...
The United Nations has named Canada as a nation in violation of international law because it provides protection and safety for those being sought for war crimes. Canada has also cooperated with torturers (turning over Canadian citizens who were quite innocent to be tortured by the CIA.) And our very own CSIS has taken part in the joys of torture. But that didn't make the Times and Transcript.
In its joyful coverage of the Queen smiling and waving, the TandT didn't mention the unemployed men and women who were bussed in to do much of the work - without pay. The contractor who supplied them said that if they didn't do this, he would not consider them for employment in the Olympics. They arrived late at night, and sent to sleep in the cold and wet on a concrete sidewalk under London Bridge with no bedding, no shelters, no toilets, no changing rooms. There they lived and worked for three days with no pay, only the hope that they would be allowed to apply for a job at the Olympics.
God save our gracious queen.
In Israel, Jewish Israelis, encouraged by their politicians and news media, are going wildly racist against Palestinians and Black African refugees. The refugees have been beaten by mobs, their living areas firebombed....they've been denied the right to work so they can feed themselves, and labelled by Netanyahu himself as rapists and thieves who should all be padlocked and deported.
But don't worry about it. You won't have read about it in TandT.
For the third day in a row, US drones have attacked targets in Pakistan. (All those killed, according to US sources, were militants. Sure. All those photos of dead women and children you can find in the British and French press are militant women and children. And militant babies.)
Drones and special ops troops are also being used against Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, and, really, an unknown number of countries. Under international law - and treaties signed by the US - that is illegal. Under the law, you cannot attack a country that has not attacked you. That makes Obama a war ciminal. In fact, the US has hanged people (foreigners only) for doing that.
It is also against the American constution. These are acts of war, and only congress can approve or war. And it hasn't.
So who gives a damn.
Remember how we bombed Libya as a 'humanitarian measure' and to support the democracy loving rebels? Well. there's sill no democracy as the democracy-loving rebels are fighting each other - and also looting and raping on a wide scale - and continuting to hunt down Black Africans to kill them.
The austerity measures imposed on Greece are so severe, the government cannot afford to feed the prisoners in its jails. There is, incidentally, no evidence that cutting government budgets helps to end a recession. In fact, the evidence shows the opposite. Cutting government spending (as both Alward and Harper are doing) makes a recession worse.
Signs are strong of a new and even deeper recession are strong. The US is not recovering, even as it slashes food stamps for the hungry so it can keep taxes low for the rich.
Veterans are in Ottawa to protest our shabby treatment of the soldiers we sent to fight in Afghanistan, particularly the treatment of those who have suffered permanent physical and mental damage. We'll have to remember that when we get the hypocrite of the year to be our main speaker on Nov. 11. Maybe we could get somebody from Crandall University.
But relax. None of this is in the Times and Transcript. Nothing else is, either.
The editorial is, again, strongly for the events centre. Of course. It is always for something that somebody rich and influential wants to make money out of - but wants us to pay for. The other type of editorial is the coarse and ignorant rant against anybody who make lousy pay and would like a raise.
Surely, a person who writes so vigorously should have the courage and integrity to sign his name to it. I don't know who the writer is - but it has been suggested that he is Rod Allen. Any thoughts or other suggestions?
Norbert's column is a new low. It is a hateful rant and, once again, on a subject he knows nothing about, this time - the Quebec student strike. Though he speaks with the voice of a prophet, he more closely resembles and ignorant and vicious rabble-rouser. But to his credit, he comes to the defence of university presidents, saying that students selfishly want to see their salaries cut. Do you know what a university president gets?
The salary where I raught is $370,000 a year, plus an interest free mortgage on his house, plus tens of thousands in untaxable benefits. And, if he is so stinking he gets fired, or so lazy he just wants to quit, he gets a separation package of at least the high hundreds of thousands. Way to stand up for the poor and suffering, Norbert. Now write about those evil Codiac bus drivers who would like to get paid enough to live on.
ForumE continued with its "discussion" of shale gas. Some speakers have been highly critical of the very idea of developing shale gas. But not one of them has been quoted in the newspaper. The only ones we have read of have been the industry representatives, some academics of questionable integrity, and hack politicians.
Yesterday's hack politician was Alward, who promised tough rules and tough supervision. This comes from a man who has so imposed no rules and no supervision - not even though the drilling began over a dozen years ago.
But I have faith New Brunswick voters willl show him. They'll vote for the Liberals next time. that will show they won't tolerate lying and irresponsible politcians. Right.
George Leblanc, who seems to see being mayor as a sort of preparation to lead a movie comeback of the three stooges, is all gung-ho for borrowing a hundred million (and more) for a very badly planned civic centre. Being the forward looking man the TandT says he is, I'm sure he has noticed the acceleratiing collapse of the world economic system, and he has made plans for the severe impact it might have on Moncton, and he has made sure that going into hock for a hundred million for what is essentially a hockey rink won't affect our ability to deal with any economic crisis.
(Duh. yeah. people will come from all over the world to see the Wildcats - duh - people from Greece and Spain and Ireland...duh.)
I know. I'm in a bad mood today. That's because I finally realized that the shale gas drilling is going to go ahead, and the permanent damage to people and land and water is going to happen. The politicians and the drillers don't give a damn what we think or what happens as a result of that. Most New Brunswickers will get nothing but short-term jobs, bad health, and a ruined land.
The big money will go to a handful of billionaires who will finish the job of sucking this province dry, and throwing away the peelings. Their only real cost will be paying the election expenses of all the hacks in the Liberal and Conservative parties. And I suspect those come relatively cheap.
I've been five years here and, at last, I have to wonder. Will New Brunswickers never stir to defend themselves, their families, their homes, their land....? This is such a beautiful province, with so many polite and good-hearted people... It's heart-breaking to watch them being so terribly abused - and not doing a thing about it.
In its joyful coverage of the Queen smiling and waving, the TandT didn't mention the unemployed men and women who were bussed in to do much of the work - without pay. The contractor who supplied them said that if they didn't do this, he would not consider them for employment in the Olympics. They arrived late at night, and sent to sleep in the cold and wet on a concrete sidewalk under London Bridge with no bedding, no shelters, no toilets, no changing rooms. There they lived and worked for three days with no pay, only the hope that they would be allowed to apply for a job at the Olympics.
God save our gracious queen.
In Israel, Jewish Israelis, encouraged by their politicians and news media, are going wildly racist against Palestinians and Black African refugees. The refugees have been beaten by mobs, their living areas firebombed....they've been denied the right to work so they can feed themselves, and labelled by Netanyahu himself as rapists and thieves who should all be padlocked and deported.
But don't worry about it. You won't have read about it in TandT.
For the third day in a row, US drones have attacked targets in Pakistan. (All those killed, according to US sources, were militants. Sure. All those photos of dead women and children you can find in the British and French press are militant women and children. And militant babies.)
Drones and special ops troops are also being used against Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, and, really, an unknown number of countries. Under international law - and treaties signed by the US - that is illegal. Under the law, you cannot attack a country that has not attacked you. That makes Obama a war ciminal. In fact, the US has hanged people (foreigners only) for doing that.
It is also against the American constution. These are acts of war, and only congress can approve or war. And it hasn't.
So who gives a damn.
Remember how we bombed Libya as a 'humanitarian measure' and to support the democracy loving rebels? Well. there's sill no democracy as the democracy-loving rebels are fighting each other - and also looting and raping on a wide scale - and continuting to hunt down Black Africans to kill them.
The austerity measures imposed on Greece are so severe, the government cannot afford to feed the prisoners in its jails. There is, incidentally, no evidence that cutting government budgets helps to end a recession. In fact, the evidence shows the opposite. Cutting government spending (as both Alward and Harper are doing) makes a recession worse.
Signs are strong of a new and even deeper recession are strong. The US is not recovering, even as it slashes food stamps for the hungry so it can keep taxes low for the rich.
Veterans are in Ottawa to protest our shabby treatment of the soldiers we sent to fight in Afghanistan, particularly the treatment of those who have suffered permanent physical and mental damage. We'll have to remember that when we get the hypocrite of the year to be our main speaker on Nov. 11. Maybe we could get somebody from Crandall University.
But relax. None of this is in the Times and Transcript. Nothing else is, either.
The editorial is, again, strongly for the events centre. Of course. It is always for something that somebody rich and influential wants to make money out of - but wants us to pay for. The other type of editorial is the coarse and ignorant rant against anybody who make lousy pay and would like a raise.
Surely, a person who writes so vigorously should have the courage and integrity to sign his name to it. I don't know who the writer is - but it has been suggested that he is Rod Allen. Any thoughts or other suggestions?
Norbert's column is a new low. It is a hateful rant and, once again, on a subject he knows nothing about, this time - the Quebec student strike. Though he speaks with the voice of a prophet, he more closely resembles and ignorant and vicious rabble-rouser. But to his credit, he comes to the defence of university presidents, saying that students selfishly want to see their salaries cut. Do you know what a university president gets?
The salary where I raught is $370,000 a year, plus an interest free mortgage on his house, plus tens of thousands in untaxable benefits. And, if he is so stinking he gets fired, or so lazy he just wants to quit, he gets a separation package of at least the high hundreds of thousands. Way to stand up for the poor and suffering, Norbert. Now write about those evil Codiac bus drivers who would like to get paid enough to live on.
ForumE continued with its "discussion" of shale gas. Some speakers have been highly critical of the very idea of developing shale gas. But not one of them has been quoted in the newspaper. The only ones we have read of have been the industry representatives, some academics of questionable integrity, and hack politicians.
Yesterday's hack politician was Alward, who promised tough rules and tough supervision. This comes from a man who has so imposed no rules and no supervision - not even though the drilling began over a dozen years ago.
But I have faith New Brunswick voters willl show him. They'll vote for the Liberals next time. that will show they won't tolerate lying and irresponsible politcians. Right.
George Leblanc, who seems to see being mayor as a sort of preparation to lead a movie comeback of the three stooges, is all gung-ho for borrowing a hundred million (and more) for a very badly planned civic centre. Being the forward looking man the TandT says he is, I'm sure he has noticed the acceleratiing collapse of the world economic system, and he has made plans for the severe impact it might have on Moncton, and he has made sure that going into hock for a hundred million for what is essentially a hockey rink won't affect our ability to deal with any economic crisis.
(Duh. yeah. people will come from all over the world to see the Wildcats - duh - people from Greece and Spain and Ireland...duh.)
I know. I'm in a bad mood today. That's because I finally realized that the shale gas drilling is going to go ahead, and the permanent damage to people and land and water is going to happen. The politicians and the drillers don't give a damn what we think or what happens as a result of that. Most New Brunswickers will get nothing but short-term jobs, bad health, and a ruined land.
The big money will go to a handful of billionaires who will finish the job of sucking this province dry, and throwing away the peelings. Their only real cost will be paying the election expenses of all the hacks in the Liberal and Conservative parties. And I suspect those come relatively cheap.
I've been five years here and, at last, I have to wonder. Will New Brunswickers never stir to defend themselves, their families, their homes, their land....? This is such a beautiful province, with so many polite and good-hearted people... It's heart-breaking to watch them being so terribly abused - and not doing a thing about it.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
June 4: Nuthin' about nuthin'....
The big story is about a girl who lost her virginity, and now feels used. That's in the Dear Abby section. One you've read that, there's not a whole lot else to read in today's Moncton Times and Tribune.
Page one has another one of those big stories that really isn't a news story at all. It's the kind of thing one used to see in small town papers a century ago. In those years of frantic urbanization and growth, every Donkey Crosswroads and Sandy Flats in North America was the greatest place in the world to live, just full of the finest, go-getting people you ever saw, the Paris of the future... It was called boosterism, and it was pushed by local newspapers at the behest of real estate dealers and shady promoters.
Remembering that, read the front page story in today's TandT, 'It's time to move on metro centre'.
Moncton's got a great heart, says the reporter. It's the best place in Canada to do business. It's one of the top seven intelligent cities in, my goodnews, in the whole world. Gee! Sorta makes y' wonder why people move away. Oh, and Moncton City Council has some big shoes to fill - like - you know - like - big shoes. I mean, thery were like gods. I guess that's why so few people voted. They just couldn't imagine replacing the giants we had on council.
It's like reading the paper of a desolate Manitoba town of 1900, one of the many that are still desolate. That is not reporting. What that is called is mindless gushing.
The point of it all is tht Mayor Leblanc has decided we must push ahead on the civic centre at a hundred million plus as the first priority of this greatest little city in the world.
Leblanc has chosen his priority with virtually no discussion of all the priorities the city has to deal with, and without putting them in some order.
As well, he is going to revive downtown ( why?) without having produced a grain of evidence that an events centre will do that.
And where are all these new shops going to come from? We already have most of the popular shops and lots of them in various malls and complexes. Do you seriously think new shops are going to come from Montreal and Toronto just to be near an events centre? (Both citieis have events centres - and they have not attracted shops).
Or are the shops we have in malls going to move out of the malls and down to the centre? If so, wouldn't that simply be spending a hundred million to move some shops? Wouldln't it be killing one part of town to built up another part? Okay, then do we spend another million to revive the parts of the city we just destroyed?
There has been virtually no open debate on this, no infomration, and nothing but propaganda from the Times and Transcript. And what we get today of it for "news" is just old time boosterism.
This whole deal smells.
Speaking of smelly deals - back in my teaching days I was approached by a lobbyist for the Candian oil industry. He talked about how it was miunderstood, how it was really a great buch of guys, and good for Canada. And they were looking for, you know, certified experts who could write articles and maybe appear on radio and TV to show how good the industry really was, to clear out all that misunderstanding, you know, people with credientials like Dr. in front of their names. It would be a way of putting the university on the map - and it would pay me quite well, too.
I turned it down - but I was surprised at how many professor took it. And did well.
In fact, rentaprof is a big business in North America. You can buy some leading professors at top universities who will do studies that 'prove' that oill spills do very little damage, that methane is good for you, that the climate isn't changing or, if it is, it doesn't matter.
Now go to B, p. 2. 'Your business'
A professor of sociology says that the population balance for developing shale gas in New Brunswick is excellent now. But it's changing fast, so we have to move quickly on exploration and production.
Now, that may be quite true (though even if the population balance were bad, we could surely bring in workers just as Alberta has).
Is the professor being completely honest? Well, I'm sure he's not stupid. I mean, gosh, he teaches at UNB. And he can't be dishonest. He has a PhD.
But let's apply his logic to a similar question. Let's say we decide to poison all people over the age of 40. Now, to do that, you need a good demographic balance. I mean, you're going to have a tough time poisoning hundreds of thousands if you have only a thousand or so to do it. So, using the professor's model, this is the best time to start poisoning them, now before the young people have moved out and before we have too many who are old. Wow! let's get started.
Another industry representative said that the gas industry is being picked on by environmtalists, and that helpless little gas industry just can't get it's message out. (Maybe this city with a heart should take up a collection for the gas industry. It would be good for a picture on the daily page of smiling people holdinig a cheque for somebody.)
Then there was a big story about the VP of SWN, who said the news media have launched a fierce campaign of misinformation about fracking. (You must have noticed that in the Times and Transcript). Oh, he also says it isn't the fracking that does the damage. It's the steel and concrete used in the casing for the drill hole that don't stand up. Think about that.
Think about - A driver is charged in court with reckless driving, and killing a pedestrian with his car. "It wasn't my car that killed him, ' he pleaded, "it was my car bumper."
Annie Daigle, speaking for the Department of Environment says the new rules will require the gas companies to disclose the names of chemicals they force into our water table.
As a matter of fact, that is not true. They are not required to report proprietary chemicals (their own, patented ones. That's loophole an elephant could stroll through.)
In that whole page, there is not a single mention of anything said by any opponent of shale gas drilling. Not a word. It's industry spokesmen, government, and universities - all there to sell us on shale gas.
The exploration has been going on for almost a dozen years with no information from most of our news media, no regulations, no enforcement of anything by our political leaders/ And, of course, no information form the industry.
The industry didn't know there might be controversy? Bullshit. It's faced controversty all over the world going back for decades. That's why a man approached me in my office many years ago with an offer I couldn't, but did, refuse.
I've studied their discussion points on information. They, too, are nothing more than propaganda. All of them mak claims about sharing information, claims that either have loopholes or that depend on honest poiticians and news media to get the information out.
But we have not had honest politicians leading us for at least the last dozen years. With the exception of CBC, we have not had honest information. (And CBC is now being punished for that honesty.)
The gas industry has never been eager to give out information or to submt to any sort of regulation.
All of them have played the role of pimps. We don't trust them. Of course, we don't. And ForumE is clearly one more reason not to trust them.
As a former professor, it's with a sinking heart I read that Université de Moncton and University of New Brunswick, as joint organizers of this propaganda farce, have thus declared themselves whores for the pimps. Maybe they should write Dear Abby about it.
Page one has another one of those big stories that really isn't a news story at all. It's the kind of thing one used to see in small town papers a century ago. In those years of frantic urbanization and growth, every Donkey Crosswroads and Sandy Flats in North America was the greatest place in the world to live, just full of the finest, go-getting people you ever saw, the Paris of the future... It was called boosterism, and it was pushed by local newspapers at the behest of real estate dealers and shady promoters.
Remembering that, read the front page story in today's TandT, 'It's time to move on metro centre'.
Moncton's got a great heart, says the reporter. It's the best place in Canada to do business. It's one of the top seven intelligent cities in, my goodnews, in the whole world. Gee! Sorta makes y' wonder why people move away. Oh, and Moncton City Council has some big shoes to fill - like - you know - like - big shoes. I mean, thery were like gods. I guess that's why so few people voted. They just couldn't imagine replacing the giants we had on council.
It's like reading the paper of a desolate Manitoba town of 1900, one of the many that are still desolate. That is not reporting. What that is called is mindless gushing.
The point of it all is tht Mayor Leblanc has decided we must push ahead on the civic centre at a hundred million plus as the first priority of this greatest little city in the world.
Leblanc has chosen his priority with virtually no discussion of all the priorities the city has to deal with, and without putting them in some order.
As well, he is going to revive downtown ( why?) without having produced a grain of evidence that an events centre will do that.
And where are all these new shops going to come from? We already have most of the popular shops and lots of them in various malls and complexes. Do you seriously think new shops are going to come from Montreal and Toronto just to be near an events centre? (Both citieis have events centres - and they have not attracted shops).
Or are the shops we have in malls going to move out of the malls and down to the centre? If so, wouldn't that simply be spending a hundred million to move some shops? Wouldln't it be killing one part of town to built up another part? Okay, then do we spend another million to revive the parts of the city we just destroyed?
There has been virtually no open debate on this, no infomration, and nothing but propaganda from the Times and Transcript. And what we get today of it for "news" is just old time boosterism.
This whole deal smells.
Speaking of smelly deals - back in my teaching days I was approached by a lobbyist for the Candian oil industry. He talked about how it was miunderstood, how it was really a great buch of guys, and good for Canada. And they were looking for, you know, certified experts who could write articles and maybe appear on radio and TV to show how good the industry really was, to clear out all that misunderstanding, you know, people with credientials like Dr. in front of their names. It would be a way of putting the university on the map - and it would pay me quite well, too.
I turned it down - but I was surprised at how many professor took it. And did well.
In fact, rentaprof is a big business in North America. You can buy some leading professors at top universities who will do studies that 'prove' that oill spills do very little damage, that methane is good for you, that the climate isn't changing or, if it is, it doesn't matter.
Now go to B, p. 2. 'Your business'
A professor of sociology says that the population balance for developing shale gas in New Brunswick is excellent now. But it's changing fast, so we have to move quickly on exploration and production.
Now, that may be quite true (though even if the population balance were bad, we could surely bring in workers just as Alberta has).
Is the professor being completely honest? Well, I'm sure he's not stupid. I mean, gosh, he teaches at UNB. And he can't be dishonest. He has a PhD.
But let's apply his logic to a similar question. Let's say we decide to poison all people over the age of 40. Now, to do that, you need a good demographic balance. I mean, you're going to have a tough time poisoning hundreds of thousands if you have only a thousand or so to do it. So, using the professor's model, this is the best time to start poisoning them, now before the young people have moved out and before we have too many who are old. Wow! let's get started.
Another industry representative said that the gas industry is being picked on by environmtalists, and that helpless little gas industry just can't get it's message out. (Maybe this city with a heart should take up a collection for the gas industry. It would be good for a picture on the daily page of smiling people holdinig a cheque for somebody.)
Then there was a big story about the VP of SWN, who said the news media have launched a fierce campaign of misinformation about fracking. (You must have noticed that in the Times and Transcript). Oh, he also says it isn't the fracking that does the damage. It's the steel and concrete used in the casing for the drill hole that don't stand up. Think about that.
Think about - A driver is charged in court with reckless driving, and killing a pedestrian with his car. "It wasn't my car that killed him, ' he pleaded, "it was my car bumper."
Annie Daigle, speaking for the Department of Environment says the new rules will require the gas companies to disclose the names of chemicals they force into our water table.
As a matter of fact, that is not true. They are not required to report proprietary chemicals (their own, patented ones. That's loophole an elephant could stroll through.)
In that whole page, there is not a single mention of anything said by any opponent of shale gas drilling. Not a word. It's industry spokesmen, government, and universities - all there to sell us on shale gas.
The exploration has been going on for almost a dozen years with no information from most of our news media, no regulations, no enforcement of anything by our political leaders/ And, of course, no information form the industry.
The industry didn't know there might be controversy? Bullshit. It's faced controversty all over the world going back for decades. That's why a man approached me in my office many years ago with an offer I couldn't, but did, refuse.
I've studied their discussion points on information. They, too, are nothing more than propaganda. All of them mak claims about sharing information, claims that either have loopholes or that depend on honest poiticians and news media to get the information out.
But we have not had honest politicians leading us for at least the last dozen years. With the exception of CBC, we have not had honest information. (And CBC is now being punished for that honesty.)
The gas industry has never been eager to give out information or to submt to any sort of regulation.
All of them have played the role of pimps. We don't trust them. Of course, we don't. And ForumE is clearly one more reason not to trust them.
As a former professor, it's with a sinking heart I read that Université de Moncton and University of New Brunswick, as joint organizers of this propaganda farce, have thus declared themselves whores for the pimps. Maybe they should write Dear Abby about it.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Junw 3: Time marches on....
When I was a child, torture was evil, disgusting, something so brutal it was done only by Naziis. But we're more broad-minded now. The US no longer bothers to keep it a secret that it tortures people on an industrial scale. It has Guantanamo, of course. It also has prisons around the world, in places like Poland. It used to sent prisoners to Syria for torture, thanks to the cooperation of its staunch ally, the president of Syria (who is now officially evil and has to be replaced.)
We learned, years ago, that Canada has been complicit in this torture. It has turned Canadian citizens over to the US for torture. Canada's equivalent of the CIA, our own CSIS, has "cooperated" in torture sessions with the CIA.
In fact, we and the US and Britain and France and so many others have always used torture.
Very recently, a United Nations committee criticized Canada for allowing Canadian citizens and others to be exposed to torture. Canada also, it wrote, knowingly protects war criminals from arrest. But don't worry about it. The Times and Transcript isn't worried. It never even mentioned it.
You might remember it, though, on Nov. 11 when we thank those who served in our wars for defending the values we believe in - even as we throw those values away.
On the more important side, there was a big story about the Queen's 60th Jubilee, and about how Stephen Harper is there. The queen has played her role superbly for sixty years, though we have to note that the role has been reduced to smiling, occasionally waving, and dealing with scandals caused by her not-very -bright children. (Not her fault. The family has produced a stunning series of low IQ scores for centuries.) Elizabeth Second managed to rise above all that.
But she is pretty much irrelevant - more so than any of her predecessors. So why the big spread and the visit by Harper? Because she is irrelevant.
She provides a focus for attention on something that doesn't matter, and that helps us to ignore things that do matter. That suits Harper and The Moncton Times and Transcript to a T.
Then there was the shale gas demonstration on Saturday. Times and Transcript coverage was done by an intern journalist from St. Thomas university ,Julia Whalen. I met her briefly just before it ended.She seemed to me to be very bright, with lots of potential - so I advised her not to waste her life on the Irving papers. (I think she was shocked at my opinion of the TandT - and disapproving of me.)
Her story was well written. But, I would add (not as a criticism but as a guide to a student of journalism) that it has two, major gaps.
It tells us that people from the medical profession spoke. But it does not tell us what they said. In fact, it doesn't really tell us what anybody said.
It does not say how unusual it is for medical professionals to take a public stand in such a debate. It doesn't say why they have decided to take a position - or even what that position is.
These are important points. The Irving press has not told us much about the shale gas issue, and almost nothing about the threats it poses. There are a great many people in this province who have no idea what the fuss is about. And there are more who don't know that medical professionals rarely take a public stand on such an issue. For all the descriptions of the sights and sounds, there was not a word about WHY the people at the demonstration were opposed to fracking.
The story describes what the reporter saw. But it doesn't tell us what it was all about. That's like a movie review that says the theater had lots of seats, a big screen, good popcorn - but says nothing about the movie.
Mind you, I realize that the omissions could have had something to to with the editor's scissors. Times and Transcript editors know what the boss wants to see - and doesn't want to see. A good editor (and an honest one) would have noticed the lack of information, and would have pressed for changes. That's why I'm inclined to blame the editor rather than the reporter in this case.
The paper has bits here and there on provincial and federal budgets, including effects on EI, pensions, cutting back on 'frills' like environmental checks...... But they don't really say why it's happening. So here it is in a brief package.
1. Over the last thirty or forty years, major corporations have pretty well taken over most governments. New Brunswick is just one of the more blatant examples.
2. But major corporations are incompetent to govern because all they're interested in is what benefits them. This is exacerbated by their combination of short term vision and greed.
3.Their imcompetence (sometimes criminal) has led to a world-wide recession which shows no sign of easing.
4. Their solution, then, is that we have to pay for the results of their incompetence.- while they demand tax cuts even as they continue to make profits.
What will the result of these cuts be? Considerable suffering for most of us, and worsening recession.
There will be demonstrations and even violence. And people like the TandT editorialist will blame it on us - as theyhave already blamed the recession on us.
Samples of their (probably honest) ignorance can be found in the editorial and in Norbert's column for today. Democracy gets the blame for problems that were really caused by large corporations. We've been down this road before. Last time, it took many countries into something called fascism.
Alec Bruce takes a different angle. Due to Harper's indifference and even hostility, essential services like medicare and pensions are in trouble. Alec Bruce sees hope in Atlantic premiers forming a group to transfer much of the decision-making to the provinces, all of theprovinces. I'm afraid I can't share his optimism.
Harper doesn't care about these things because the wealthy who pay for his party doon't need them for themselves, and don't want to see money going to them. Those same people also control most of the provincial governments.
No, an Alward would do what a Harper will do. Let the poor suffer; and let the sick die; and let the lands and waters be poisoned.. Just keep taxes for the rich down; and hang up lots of pictures of the Queen; and make damn sure the schools play O Canada every day.
We learned, years ago, that Canada has been complicit in this torture. It has turned Canadian citizens over to the US for torture. Canada's equivalent of the CIA, our own CSIS, has "cooperated" in torture sessions with the CIA.
In fact, we and the US and Britain and France and so many others have always used torture.
Very recently, a United Nations committee criticized Canada for allowing Canadian citizens and others to be exposed to torture. Canada also, it wrote, knowingly protects war criminals from arrest. But don't worry about it. The Times and Transcript isn't worried. It never even mentioned it.
You might remember it, though, on Nov. 11 when we thank those who served in our wars for defending the values we believe in - even as we throw those values away.
On the more important side, there was a big story about the Queen's 60th Jubilee, and about how Stephen Harper is there. The queen has played her role superbly for sixty years, though we have to note that the role has been reduced to smiling, occasionally waving, and dealing with scandals caused by her not-very -bright children. (Not her fault. The family has produced a stunning series of low IQ scores for centuries.) Elizabeth Second managed to rise above all that.
But she is pretty much irrelevant - more so than any of her predecessors. So why the big spread and the visit by Harper? Because she is irrelevant.
She provides a focus for attention on something that doesn't matter, and that helps us to ignore things that do matter. That suits Harper and The Moncton Times and Transcript to a T.
Then there was the shale gas demonstration on Saturday. Times and Transcript coverage was done by an intern journalist from St. Thomas university ,Julia Whalen. I met her briefly just before it ended.She seemed to me to be very bright, with lots of potential - so I advised her not to waste her life on the Irving papers. (I think she was shocked at my opinion of the TandT - and disapproving of me.)
Her story was well written. But, I would add (not as a criticism but as a guide to a student of journalism) that it has two, major gaps.
It tells us that people from the medical profession spoke. But it does not tell us what they said. In fact, it doesn't really tell us what anybody said.
It does not say how unusual it is for medical professionals to take a public stand in such a debate. It doesn't say why they have decided to take a position - or even what that position is.
These are important points. The Irving press has not told us much about the shale gas issue, and almost nothing about the threats it poses. There are a great many people in this province who have no idea what the fuss is about. And there are more who don't know that medical professionals rarely take a public stand on such an issue. For all the descriptions of the sights and sounds, there was not a word about WHY the people at the demonstration were opposed to fracking.
The story describes what the reporter saw. But it doesn't tell us what it was all about. That's like a movie review that says the theater had lots of seats, a big screen, good popcorn - but says nothing about the movie.
Mind you, I realize that the omissions could have had something to to with the editor's scissors. Times and Transcript editors know what the boss wants to see - and doesn't want to see. A good editor (and an honest one) would have noticed the lack of information, and would have pressed for changes. That's why I'm inclined to blame the editor rather than the reporter in this case.
The paper has bits here and there on provincial and federal budgets, including effects on EI, pensions, cutting back on 'frills' like environmental checks...... But they don't really say why it's happening. So here it is in a brief package.
1. Over the last thirty or forty years, major corporations have pretty well taken over most governments. New Brunswick is just one of the more blatant examples.
2. But major corporations are incompetent to govern because all they're interested in is what benefits them. This is exacerbated by their combination of short term vision and greed.
3.Their imcompetence (sometimes criminal) has led to a world-wide recession which shows no sign of easing.
4. Their solution, then, is that we have to pay for the results of their incompetence.- while they demand tax cuts even as they continue to make profits.
What will the result of these cuts be? Considerable suffering for most of us, and worsening recession.
There will be demonstrations and even violence. And people like the TandT editorialist will blame it on us - as theyhave already blamed the recession on us.
Samples of their (probably honest) ignorance can be found in the editorial and in Norbert's column for today. Democracy gets the blame for problems that were really caused by large corporations. We've been down this road before. Last time, it took many countries into something called fascism.
Alec Bruce takes a different angle. Due to Harper's indifference and even hostility, essential services like medicare and pensions are in trouble. Alec Bruce sees hope in Atlantic premiers forming a group to transfer much of the decision-making to the provinces, all of theprovinces. I'm afraid I can't share his optimism.
Harper doesn't care about these things because the wealthy who pay for his party doon't need them for themselves, and don't want to see money going to them. Those same people also control most of the provincial governments.
No, an Alward would do what a Harper will do. Let the poor suffer; and let the sick die; and let the lands and waters be poisoned.. Just keep taxes for the rich down; and hang up lots of pictures of the Queen; and make damn sure the schools play O Canada every day.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
June 2: supplement re anti-fracking rally
This is not about the Times and Transcript. It's a report on and suggestions for the anti-fracking movement. I place it in a separate post because this is an issue about which I have a strong prejudice. I am opposed to fracking. I am absolutely opposed to it no matter what regulations are passed. I don't believe that serous damage from fracking can be avoided. I also believe that gas companies and our government re deteremined to ram it through no matter what we think, and no matter what damage it does for centuries, even millinia, to come.
I was at today's rally at Moncton City Hall not only beccause I am utterly opposed to fracking but because I think this situation is a warning of a terrible danger that the whole western world is in. (But I'll deal with that later. First, the rally.
I can't give a figrue for the turnout because there were too many to count, and because i don't know the holding capacity of the plaza in front of City Hall; so I can't make an estimate based on that. But the plaxa was full. I wish there were more. I wish there were a million. But it was a good crowd, and the organizers deserve credit for a good turnout.
The atmosphere was one of happiness at seeing each other, even strangers. It was an atmosphere of celebration and confidence and hope. It was the sort of community response that we should see inapolitical party rallies - but rarely do. It reminded me, almost of what religious rallies used to be before they got manipulative.That happy mood - happy to be there, happy to see each other. pride in being there -lasted to the end. It was one of the few times I felt like a member of the Moncton community. (The other times were an anti-facking rally last year, and two Bill C-38 rallies this year.)
(I pause now to swear because my computer has just lost the last two thirds of this blog. So here I go again.)
It was an excellent rally. It was productive. But I'm going to offer a criticism - whoever it may annoy - because it's important. To ease the annoyance, I'll start with a story about something really stupid that I did.
Reporters and camermen often came to my office ot to my home in Montreal for comment on some news item. One day, they came to ask me about hockey star Maurice Richard, who had just died. It was easy, I thought, because I knew some things about Richard that weren't common knowledge. He was a very modest and unassuming man, almost shy. He was devoutly religious. As a boxer, he was good enough to have become a pro (I knew that because my uncle had been his boxing coach.) And, I added with a closing flourish, he was the most excitinig player I ever saw.
That night, I watched myself on TV news; amd I felt, with good reason, like an idiot.
TV caters to short attention spans. Twenty seonds is a long time on TV. That's why camera angles are frequently changed. TV has to keep people watching with lots of changing pictures and short voice clips. I had given the reporter far too much information. That meant the producer had to cut most of it out; I had given control over what I said to the producer. And guess what he chose.
"Maurice Richard is the most exciting player I ever saw." Duh!
I might as well have said he used to have black hair - or that he spoke French.
The message at a rally has to be short and punchy and clear. Nobody, not even those in the live audience is there to hear a long and tangled treatise of the latest scientific studies on fracking. Hell! They already know it's bad. That's why they gathered in the first place.
You cannot allow a TV producer to control your message That's a loser with the hundreds in your live audience, and with thousands or even tens of thousands on TV.
The same is true of radio, though radio is a little looser. It even opens up the possibilty of a live interview which, on radio,could run to a couple of minutes.
Newspapers are different. In their case, you have no direct contact at all with the reader. The story may begin as yours - but it gets delivered in the words of the reporter - which can make it quite different. As well, it's exposed to the interference of an editor. Editors are often highly biased (the TandT is appallingly bad in this respect - but most newspapers suffer the same illness. Worse, newspaper editors commonly have exaggerated opinions of their own wisdom. It's a sort of occupational disease.)
It's important, then, to establish contact with the newspaper reporter through a person who will ensure that the reporter at least hears the story you want told, and with the key point you want to make.
It's important to get this aspect organized because we're in for a summer of demonstrations across the western world. There is a powerful distrust of politicians, journalists, and big business. It;s being worsened by a severe economic crisis that is likely to get worse. If I had to say the one thing that drew that crowd today, I wouldn't say fracking. I would say people came because they don't trust our politicians or our news media - or our Irvings and SWMs and Enbridges.
Bit business has so profoundly taken over our politicans and our news media that democracy has become largely an illusion. Whoever wins the US presidency will spend at least a billion dollars in doing it - almost all of that money coming from big business. And big business is not giving that money away out of any love for democracy. New Brunswick Liberals and Conservatives are cheaper. But the basic idea is the same. As it is for Harper.
The power of the wealthy, the collapse of democracy and the recession are certain to lead to demonstrations and violence across the western world. The demonstrations in Moncton should not cause violence. Violence needs a critical mass of irreponsible louts, a critical mass which one normally finds only in large cities.
They only danger for New Brunswick is that there is a critical mass of irresponsible louts in our government and our corporations.
It was a good rally. I'm glad I was there. It was one of the few occasions on which I have felt I was a part of Moncton, a real member of the community. Thank you all for that.
And don't forget - Moncton Library, Tuesday, June 5, 7 p.m., current events group for "The Quebec Student Strike: Protest or Revolution?"
I was at today's rally at Moncton City Hall not only beccause I am utterly opposed to fracking but because I think this situation is a warning of a terrible danger that the whole western world is in. (But I'll deal with that later. First, the rally.
I can't give a figrue for the turnout because there were too many to count, and because i don't know the holding capacity of the plaza in front of City Hall; so I can't make an estimate based on that. But the plaxa was full. I wish there were more. I wish there were a million. But it was a good crowd, and the organizers deserve credit for a good turnout.
The atmosphere was one of happiness at seeing each other, even strangers. It was an atmosphere of celebration and confidence and hope. It was the sort of community response that we should see inapolitical party rallies - but rarely do. It reminded me, almost of what religious rallies used to be before they got manipulative.That happy mood - happy to be there, happy to see each other. pride in being there -lasted to the end. It was one of the few times I felt like a member of the Moncton community. (The other times were an anti-facking rally last year, and two Bill C-38 rallies this year.)
(I pause now to swear because my computer has just lost the last two thirds of this blog. So here I go again.)
It was an excellent rally. It was productive. But I'm going to offer a criticism - whoever it may annoy - because it's important. To ease the annoyance, I'll start with a story about something really stupid that I did.
Reporters and camermen often came to my office ot to my home in Montreal for comment on some news item. One day, they came to ask me about hockey star Maurice Richard, who had just died. It was easy, I thought, because I knew some things about Richard that weren't common knowledge. He was a very modest and unassuming man, almost shy. He was devoutly religious. As a boxer, he was good enough to have become a pro (I knew that because my uncle had been his boxing coach.) And, I added with a closing flourish, he was the most excitinig player I ever saw.
That night, I watched myself on TV news; amd I felt, with good reason, like an idiot.
TV caters to short attention spans. Twenty seonds is a long time on TV. That's why camera angles are frequently changed. TV has to keep people watching with lots of changing pictures and short voice clips. I had given the reporter far too much information. That meant the producer had to cut most of it out; I had given control over what I said to the producer. And guess what he chose.
"Maurice Richard is the most exciting player I ever saw." Duh!
I might as well have said he used to have black hair - or that he spoke French.
The message at a rally has to be short and punchy and clear. Nobody, not even those in the live audience is there to hear a long and tangled treatise of the latest scientific studies on fracking. Hell! They already know it's bad. That's why they gathered in the first place.
You cannot allow a TV producer to control your message That's a loser with the hundreds in your live audience, and with thousands or even tens of thousands on TV.
The same is true of radio, though radio is a little looser. It even opens up the possibilty of a live interview which, on radio,could run to a couple of minutes.
Newspapers are different. In their case, you have no direct contact at all with the reader. The story may begin as yours - but it gets delivered in the words of the reporter - which can make it quite different. As well, it's exposed to the interference of an editor. Editors are often highly biased (the TandT is appallingly bad in this respect - but most newspapers suffer the same illness. Worse, newspaper editors commonly have exaggerated opinions of their own wisdom. It's a sort of occupational disease.)
It's important, then, to establish contact with the newspaper reporter through a person who will ensure that the reporter at least hears the story you want told, and with the key point you want to make.
It's important to get this aspect organized because we're in for a summer of demonstrations across the western world. There is a powerful distrust of politicians, journalists, and big business. It;s being worsened by a severe economic crisis that is likely to get worse. If I had to say the one thing that drew that crowd today, I wouldn't say fracking. I would say people came because they don't trust our politicians or our news media - or our Irvings and SWMs and Enbridges.
Bit business has so profoundly taken over our politicans and our news media that democracy has become largely an illusion. Whoever wins the US presidency will spend at least a billion dollars in doing it - almost all of that money coming from big business. And big business is not giving that money away out of any love for democracy. New Brunswick Liberals and Conservatives are cheaper. But the basic idea is the same. As it is for Harper.
The power of the wealthy, the collapse of democracy and the recession are certain to lead to demonstrations and violence across the western world. The demonstrations in Moncton should not cause violence. Violence needs a critical mass of irreponsible louts, a critical mass which one normally finds only in large cities.
They only danger for New Brunswick is that there is a critical mass of irresponsible louts in our government and our corporations.
It was a good rally. I'm glad I was there. It was one of the few occasions on which I have felt I was a part of Moncton, a real member of the community. Thank you all for that.
And don't forget - Moncton Library, Tuesday, June 5, 7 p.m., current events group for "The Quebec Student Strike: Protest or Revolution?"
June 2: Being D and D...
Back in the 50s, Marlon Brando starred in On the Waterfront, a film about gangsters who dominated a neighbourhood in which everyone was terrified into silence about what was going on. The favourite warning of the gangsters was, "Are you D and D?" (Deaf and dumb). If you weren't D and D, you could end up like Brando's brother, skewered on a meat hook, and hanging from a fence as a public warning.
Our corporate gangsters smile and nod at the Moncton Times and Tribune. It's D and D - and D (deaf, dumb and dead).
The Times has apecial report on the front page about the daily work of the Codiac RCMP, photos of a couple of "hot bodies", a long about Canada Day which is still a month off, stuff like that. But not a word about the the anti-fracking demonstration at City Hall today. The gangsters were pleased. So The Times is D and D (and D).
The had a reporter at today's demo (After disregarding two, sizable demonstrations this week.) The reporter is an intelligent person - and some day she's going to be a fine reporter. But she' only interning. An assignment editor should be helping a reporter to learn the game - and should use experienced reporters for big stories. To use an intern at a large demonstrtion is like using a medical intern for a heart transplant.
Generally, you might find something you want to read in section A. But not much.
In NewsToday, Mr. Alward is proposing an elected Senate. He says it will give the Atlantic provinces a stronger voice against the big provinces in Ottawa. No, it won't.
Close your eyes really hard, David, and think, We are, indeed outnumbered in the House of Commons. But if we elect senators, then the big provinces will elect them, too. So, we'll still be outnumbered. It's a bozo idea.
Anyway, if we did elect senators why should we think they would repreent us? All the Liberals and Conservatives we now have in Ottawa and in Fredericton don't represent us. They represent the big money that enslaves this province. How on earth would electing our senators do anything to change that?
The Senate was designed in the first place as a body to represent the rich, just in case those common people in the Commons poposed something silly like taxing the rich. It never really has had a function; and most of the babble about it being a place of sober xecond thought is just babble. It's expensive, and it's largely useless.
You can get rid of it. Or you can keep it as a sort of luxury retirement home. Those are the only choices.
There's a story on Syria that says nothing which is, at least, better than the usual story that says lots - but most of it propaganda.
Enbridge gas has an exciting proposal to raise rates 30%. In keeping with an old, New Brunswick tradition, the increases on industry and for the private homes of the wealthy will be lower. The big increases will be for the poor. Good thinking.
The editorial is the usual lout piece about getting tough with Codiac Transpo drivers. I'll take the editorialist seriously when he gets tough with Irving and Ganong and McCain. The bus drivers, by the way, are among those who will be paying more than a 30% increase for their natural gas. The Irvings and Ganongs and McCains won't. Give those bus drivers hell, editor. Give them real hell, and maybe the boss will bend over so you can kiss him again
Good column by Gwynne Dyer. I don't entirely agree with him. I think what's going on in the middle east is much more complicated than he allows. But, agree or disagree with him, he's a commentator to take seriously.
Decent column by Norbert Cunnigham on history - its value and meaning. I don't entirely agree with it- But his argument is reasonable, and a solid starting point for thinking and discussion - which is what such a column should be.
Then there's a letter to the editor from the sort of person who places great importance on following Holy writ - but is pretty selective about which bits she chooses to follow. In this case, she supports the anti-gay stance of Crandall University.
Well, yes, The Bible does say that gays are bad. It also says you should beat and/or kill your children - check out Deut. 21, Exodus 21, Psalms 137-139, Exodus 19. and others. So why aren't Crandall administrators out there slaughtering children? There are also references to eating your friends and relatives. So when are you holdiing a church supper with barbecued pastor?
And have you noticed there's no mention of Adam and Eve getting married? But they had children. How can you let righteous (or self-righteous) Christians read that?
Yes, I know there are elaborate arguments that those passages don't really mean what they say. But how convenient just to assume that among all these, the injunctions against gays are really God's plain word!
I'd like to talk about the anti-fracking demonstration in Moncton. But I'm biased in favour of the demonstrators, so I shouldn't mix it in with this commentary on the Tand T.
I'll add it as a post after this one. Just remember. You have to read both.
Oh, and don't forget current events, Tuesday, June 5 at 7 p.m. for The Quebec Student strike: Protest or \Revolution? At Moncton Library.
Our corporate gangsters smile and nod at the Moncton Times and Tribune. It's D and D - and D (deaf, dumb and dead).
The Times has apecial report on the front page about the daily work of the Codiac RCMP, photos of a couple of "hot bodies", a long about Canada Day which is still a month off, stuff like that. But not a word about the the anti-fracking demonstration at City Hall today. The gangsters were pleased. So The Times is D and D (and D).
The had a reporter at today's demo (After disregarding two, sizable demonstrations this week.) The reporter is an intelligent person - and some day she's going to be a fine reporter. But she' only interning. An assignment editor should be helping a reporter to learn the game - and should use experienced reporters for big stories. To use an intern at a large demonstrtion is like using a medical intern for a heart transplant.
Generally, you might find something you want to read in section A. But not much.
In NewsToday, Mr. Alward is proposing an elected Senate. He says it will give the Atlantic provinces a stronger voice against the big provinces in Ottawa. No, it won't.
Close your eyes really hard, David, and think, We are, indeed outnumbered in the House of Commons. But if we elect senators, then the big provinces will elect them, too. So, we'll still be outnumbered. It's a bozo idea.
Anyway, if we did elect senators why should we think they would repreent us? All the Liberals and Conservatives we now have in Ottawa and in Fredericton don't represent us. They represent the big money that enslaves this province. How on earth would electing our senators do anything to change that?
The Senate was designed in the first place as a body to represent the rich, just in case those common people in the Commons poposed something silly like taxing the rich. It never really has had a function; and most of the babble about it being a place of sober xecond thought is just babble. It's expensive, and it's largely useless.
You can get rid of it. Or you can keep it as a sort of luxury retirement home. Those are the only choices.
There's a story on Syria that says nothing which is, at least, better than the usual story that says lots - but most of it propaganda.
Enbridge gas has an exciting proposal to raise rates 30%. In keeping with an old, New Brunswick tradition, the increases on industry and for the private homes of the wealthy will be lower. The big increases will be for the poor. Good thinking.
The editorial is the usual lout piece about getting tough with Codiac Transpo drivers. I'll take the editorialist seriously when he gets tough with Irving and Ganong and McCain. The bus drivers, by the way, are among those who will be paying more than a 30% increase for their natural gas. The Irvings and Ganongs and McCains won't. Give those bus drivers hell, editor. Give them real hell, and maybe the boss will bend over so you can kiss him again
Good column by Gwynne Dyer. I don't entirely agree with him. I think what's going on in the middle east is much more complicated than he allows. But, agree or disagree with him, he's a commentator to take seriously.
Decent column by Norbert Cunnigham on history - its value and meaning. I don't entirely agree with it- But his argument is reasonable, and a solid starting point for thinking and discussion - which is what such a column should be.
Then there's a letter to the editor from the sort of person who places great importance on following Holy writ - but is pretty selective about which bits she chooses to follow. In this case, she supports the anti-gay stance of Crandall University.
Well, yes, The Bible does say that gays are bad. It also says you should beat and/or kill your children - check out Deut. 21, Exodus 21, Psalms 137-139, Exodus 19. and others. So why aren't Crandall administrators out there slaughtering children? There are also references to eating your friends and relatives. So when are you holdiing a church supper with barbecued pastor?
And have you noticed there's no mention of Adam and Eve getting married? But they had children. How can you let righteous (or self-righteous) Christians read that?
Yes, I know there are elaborate arguments that those passages don't really mean what they say. But how convenient just to assume that among all these, the injunctions against gays are really God's plain word!
I'd like to talk about the anti-fracking demonstration in Moncton. But I'm biased in favour of the demonstrators, so I shouldn't mix it in with this commentary on the Tand T.
I'll add it as a post after this one. Just remember. You have to read both.
Oh, and don't forget current events, Tuesday, June 5 at 7 p.m. for The Quebec Student strike: Protest or \Revolution? At Moncton Library.
Friday, June 1, 2012
June 1: Lots of ads....
...but really , really light on news today. Perhaps the story for the day is on section A, p.8. It's a type of photo and story at which The Moncton Times and Transcript has beccome a leader - a group of smiling execs as they hold up a giant cheque, this one for Dalhousie University. Just below it is an equally inspried ad for a flooring company that says, "Our prices will floor you" But once you're past those two items, it goes downhill fast.
The headline on p. 1 sets the pace for paper's usual slanted reporting and bad grammar. (The word 'impact', for example, is not a verb. It's a noun. So solumn two on the story about SWN delaying gas exploration should not say it will "impact' everyone. The correct word is "affect". It reminds me of the day I saw a big ad in this paper for a "truck with wench" for sale."
Bad reporting ono the SWN story? The whole story is about the money that will not be spent here while SWN suspends its testing for shale gas. The message is clear. Any limitation on shale gas exploration is bad for New Brunswick. There is not a word of mention of the widespread concern that the search for shale gas can be toxic, can pollute fresh water supples, and generally cause irreversible damage. It's just moaning because, "Gee. The drivers won't be coming in and buying coffee this summer." That one-sided reporting is dishonest reporting. It's quite deliberately designed to build up support for what could be a highly dangerous and destructive project for the sake of the short-term gain of a relatively small number of jobs.
Reporting means telling the whole story -not just writing a piece of propaganda for the gas industry.
Great picture of smiling people holding that big cheque on A8, though. And that's it for section A.
NewsToday features a story on changes to federal Employment Insurance which could have a severe impact (using 'impact' properly - as a noun) on rural New Brunswick. The only trouble is it doesn't say anything. "Changes to EI won't gut system: Flaherty" Well, that's nice. But there isn't a word about why it won't gut the system. This isn't a news story The is just a federal politico (Finance Minister Flaherty) saying over and over that the changes aren't tough and they're quite reasonable. But never a word about how they aren't tough and why they're reasonable.
Are TandT reporters trained not to ask questions? Do they always just write blurbs and propaganda? On balance, I prefer to read the flooring ad on A8. At least, it tells me how much flooring costs. (49 cents per square foot.)
There's a very short story on C3. There's no source given for the story - but I would guess it comes largely from rebel sources. The head is "Syria on brink of civil war". Really? I mean, it's been going on for a year, and there's 10,000 dead. It that's the brink of a civil war, then I'd hate to see a real one.
Anyway, a civil war means one which Syrians are fighting each other. In this one, large numbers of the rebels are mercenaries recruited, paid, equipped, and trained by Saudi Arabia and Turkey - apparently with assistance from the US and NATO.
That's not called a civil war. That's called an invasion.
There's another story on the student strike in Quebec which explains nothing at all of what it's about.
That's why my talk at the Moncton Library, Tuesday, June 5 at 7 pm will be about the student strike - and why it's a highly significant event in our history.
There's a commentary about it by New Brunswicker Jacques Gallant who now a journalism student at Concordia University. (That warmed my heart right away because I taught History at Concordia, and also taught for the Journalism department in China.) Gallant's is far the best piece on the strike that has appeared in the TandT. The weakness is that Gallant is not a Quebecker - so he misses why this is so important. That's the ground I hope to cover on Tuesday Moncton Library, 8 pm..
The editorial says nothing. But still manages to fit in a plug for the hundred million dollar "events" centre. It says that will draw families with children to live in Metro. Really? Can he name a single city in the world in which that has happened?
Norbert fell unexpectedly flat in his promised column on baby boomers. He ends by quoting John Lennon on the subiect of responsibility. Now, there were many nice things about John Lennon. But his sense of responsibility was surely not one of them.
Finally - Our provincial government has, at great expemse, produced a 57 page booklet you can find on the web. It's called Responsible Environmental management of Oil and Gas Activities in New Brunswick.
It will serve as a guide for the ForumE discussions.
As such, it was surely read closely by civil servants and politicians at the highest level, including our highly educated minister of the environment and, surely including our highly professional journalists.
It begins, as many such documents do, with a Foreword (a page of so words and comment before gettiing into the formal part Fore word - a word before.).
But it is spelled Forward.
That's in a class with "Truck with wench for sale".
And none of those esteemed and highly educated people caught it. Here is glaring proof that illiteracy is not the fault of schools. Illiteracy does not start at the bottom with students. It starts at the top with parents, political leaders, journalists. Then it works its way down.
The headline on p. 1 sets the pace for paper's usual slanted reporting and bad grammar. (The word 'impact', for example, is not a verb. It's a noun. So solumn two on the story about SWN delaying gas exploration should not say it will "impact' everyone. The correct word is "affect". It reminds me of the day I saw a big ad in this paper for a "truck with wench" for sale."
Bad reporting ono the SWN story? The whole story is about the money that will not be spent here while SWN suspends its testing for shale gas. The message is clear. Any limitation on shale gas exploration is bad for New Brunswick. There is not a word of mention of the widespread concern that the search for shale gas can be toxic, can pollute fresh water supples, and generally cause irreversible damage. It's just moaning because, "Gee. The drivers won't be coming in and buying coffee this summer." That one-sided reporting is dishonest reporting. It's quite deliberately designed to build up support for what could be a highly dangerous and destructive project for the sake of the short-term gain of a relatively small number of jobs.
Reporting means telling the whole story -not just writing a piece of propaganda for the gas industry.
Great picture of smiling people holding that big cheque on A8, though. And that's it for section A.
NewsToday features a story on changes to federal Employment Insurance which could have a severe impact (using 'impact' properly - as a noun) on rural New Brunswick. The only trouble is it doesn't say anything. "Changes to EI won't gut system: Flaherty" Well, that's nice. But there isn't a word about why it won't gut the system. This isn't a news story The is just a federal politico (Finance Minister Flaherty) saying over and over that the changes aren't tough and they're quite reasonable. But never a word about how they aren't tough and why they're reasonable.
Are TandT reporters trained not to ask questions? Do they always just write blurbs and propaganda? On balance, I prefer to read the flooring ad on A8. At least, it tells me how much flooring costs. (49 cents per square foot.)
There's a very short story on C3. There's no source given for the story - but I would guess it comes largely from rebel sources. The head is "Syria on brink of civil war". Really? I mean, it's been going on for a year, and there's 10,000 dead. It that's the brink of a civil war, then I'd hate to see a real one.
Anyway, a civil war means one which Syrians are fighting each other. In this one, large numbers of the rebels are mercenaries recruited, paid, equipped, and trained by Saudi Arabia and Turkey - apparently with assistance from the US and NATO.
That's not called a civil war. That's called an invasion.
There's another story on the student strike in Quebec which explains nothing at all of what it's about.
That's why my talk at the Moncton Library, Tuesday, June 5 at 7 pm will be about the student strike - and why it's a highly significant event in our history.
There's a commentary about it by New Brunswicker Jacques Gallant who now a journalism student at Concordia University. (That warmed my heart right away because I taught History at Concordia, and also taught for the Journalism department in China.) Gallant's is far the best piece on the strike that has appeared in the TandT. The weakness is that Gallant is not a Quebecker - so he misses why this is so important. That's the ground I hope to cover on Tuesday Moncton Library, 8 pm..
The editorial says nothing. But still manages to fit in a plug for the hundred million dollar "events" centre. It says that will draw families with children to live in Metro. Really? Can he name a single city in the world in which that has happened?
Norbert fell unexpectedly flat in his promised column on baby boomers. He ends by quoting John Lennon on the subiect of responsibility. Now, there were many nice things about John Lennon. But his sense of responsibility was surely not one of them.
Finally - Our provincial government has, at great expemse, produced a 57 page booklet you can find on the web. It's called Responsible Environmental management of Oil and Gas Activities in New Brunswick.
It will serve as a guide for the ForumE discussions.
As such, it was surely read closely by civil servants and politicians at the highest level, including our highly educated minister of the environment and, surely including our highly professional journalists.
It begins, as many such documents do, with a Foreword (a page of so words and comment before gettiing into the formal part Fore word - a word before.).
But it is spelled Forward.
That's in a class with "Truck with wench for sale".
And none of those esteemed and highly educated people caught it. Here is glaring proof that illiteracy is not the fault of schools. Illiteracy does not start at the bottom with students. It starts at the top with parents, political leaders, journalists. Then it works its way down.
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