Archive for August 1st, 2012

Well, CBC, which is it?

- August 1st, 2012


A CBC producer invites the prime minister and his communications director, by email, to hang out in their private box at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert. When Brian Lilley reports on this, the CBC snaps back that there was no private box, just a “stand-up position”. Now call me simple-minded if you like, but – having spent some time working at stand-up positions – I would not invite the prime minister to hang out with me at a stand-up position. As the name suggests, there isn’t even a chair there. It’s usually pretty loud. There’s wires everywhere and a camera right in your face. It’s not swanky. At all. So either the CBC producer invented a private box that didn’t exist, or else there was a private box that they’re now not admitting to.

Which is it?

UPDATE: “Essentially, she was joking.”

Categories: CBC | 2 comments

If you were President of the United States

- August 1st, 2012

Who would you say is your employer? The United States of America? Or the American people?

Barack Obama’s employer? See this otherwise extremely cringe-worthy video at the 1:15 mark.

Categories: United States | 1 comment

This should scare you more than accidental spills

- August 1st, 2012

Pipeline

Not that accidental spills are good, of course. But at least they’re accidental. Sabotage is something else altogether. And we’re not protecting ourselves against it.

A recently declassified RCMP intelligence report cites growing radicalism among eco-activists as a threat to energy infrastructure. Rudner explains Canada has been identified as a target by Al Qaeda. In 2006, it attacked the Nexen oil refinery in Yemen – Canada’s largest refinery abroad.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of unguarded pipeline, the infrastructure itself is vulnerable.

Unlike other countries, Canada uses single trunk pipelines; if one segment is destroyed, the internal flow is disrupted and can’t be rerouted.

Categories: Environment | Comments off

Brigitte’s incredibly bold prediction

- August 1st, 2012

Jean Charest

I foresee a minority Liberal government, or (depending how silly the other parties get) a slim majority for Jean Charest. And if I’m wrong, I’ll have a good excuse.

Slightly more serious point: Should Canadians outside Quebec worry about this election? No. Quebec is not yet ready for big changes. Although if I were the PQ and really wanted to win a referendum on sovereignty, I would open it up to people in the rest of the country. Guaranteed yes, and by a huge margin. But I guess I shouldn’t be giving them ideas, right?

Categories: Quebec | Comments off

Human curiosity v common human decency

- August 1st, 2012

Russ Williams

Decency wins a round:

BELLEVILLE, Ont. — A Canadian television station has scrapped its plans for the Canadian debut of a controversial film based upon the crimes of killer Russell Williams.

The Movie Network (TMN) had planned to broadcast An Officer and a Murderer in August. The controversial Canadian-made production aired in the U.S. July 21.

Spokeswoman Deborah Wilson said in an e-mail to QMI Agency the network pulled the movie after controversy erupted following the U.S. showing.

“…After reviewing some of the media coverage prompted by the movie’s airing in the U.S., we agreed that the title may not be appropriate for our network at this time,” said Wilson, vice-president of publicity for Astral Media Inc, TMN’s parent company.

I understand human curiosity makes us want to know more about murderers. But it’s way too early for this one.

Categories: General | Comments off