It Would Be A Facetious Comment If...

...it didn't reflect the attitude of the MSM and a large segment of the populace.

Polls Are A Valued Tool...

...if they support your position on the subject at hand.

Terry Glavin: What Afghans think, by actual Afghans

Posted: January 11, 2010, 1:41 PM by NP Editor

This latest poll is the now the 14th survey of which I am aware that wholly defies the received wisdom (which is to say the fashionable delusions and popular frenzies) abroad in the rich countries of the world about Afghanistan, and about "what Afghans think."

I am aware of no poll - not one - that supports the self-obsessed and fraudulent "anti-war" opinion in Canada on these subjects, or that does not expose bourgeois "left-wing" opinion to be objectively far-right, reactionary, and in opposition to the hopes and aspirations of the Afghan people.

'Troops Out Now!'

Sixty-one per cent of the Afghan respondents support the U.S./NATO "surge" of 37,000 troops. Only 25 per cent agree with the American (and Canadian) plan to start withdrawing troops in 18 months, and while 22 per cent say foreign troops should start to pull out sooner, 21 per cent say foreign troops should in fact stay longer, and 29 per cent (the most sensible cohort, in my view) say troop withdrawals should depend on the security situation at the time. More than 70 per cent of Afghans rate the performance of American and other NATO/ISAF troops as excellent, good or fair.

Click here to read more...

Meeting The Basic Tenets Of Journalistic 5 Ws

When religion and race matter TheStar.com - Opinion - When religion and race matter

October 03, 2009

Kathy English
PUBLIC EDITOR

When Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy announced her candidacy for the recent provincial by-election in Toronto's St Paul's riding, the Star identified her as "Jewish and openly gay."

That provoked a letter to the editor from Bert Raphael, chairman of Canadian Lawyers and Jurists for World Jewry, questioning whether the Star's reporting of Levy's religion and sexual orientation was "a subtle form of racism or homophobia."

"Is Ms. Levy's Jewishness and being gay factors that should have constituents vote for or against her?" Raphael asked.

A similar question was raised on the Letters page by Shah Nawaz Husain in response to the Star's report that ex-MP Rahim Jaffer was charged with drunk driving and possession of cocaine. The Star had told readers in a Page 1 photo caption that Jaffer was Canada's first Muslim MP.

"I was surprised that the Star highlighted the Muslim aspect of ex-MP Rahim Jaffer. ... Why does the Star make such a fuss about a religion he was born in?" Husain asked.

Last week, readers questioned the relevance of a prominent Page 1 headline that asked: "Is this officer in line to be TORONTO'S FIRST BLACK POLICE CHIEF?" The article reported that Peter Sloly, Toronto's newest deputy police chief, may be destined to become "the city's first police chief of colour." The story focused on the 43-year-old's "meteoric" rise through the ranks of the Toronto force.

Reader K.A. Smyth raised this in a Sept. 24 letter to the editor: "Why does race have to immediately be mentioned? How can we as a society ever move forward and just all live together if our major newspaper still lives in the dark ages?"

Let me try to shed some light here.

As public editor, I know that just about any reference to race or religion in the Star is likely to evoke some concern from readers. In each of the above situations, I heard from a number of readers.

Some believe the Star should never refer to the religion or race of those in the news and suggest that such labels lead to stereotyping and prejudice. We live in Canada's most diverse community. Any edict to never refer to race or religion in the Star would, to my mind, be unrealistic and regressive. Race and religion often are germane to helping readers fully understand the news.

The Star's long-standing policy says: "No reference, direct or indirect, should be made to a person's race, colour or religion unless it is pertinent to the story." This test of relevancy needs to be applied by the Star's writers and editors any time race or religion – as well as sexual orientation – are included in a story.

Did the Star pass the relevancy test in the above examples? For the most part, yes, though I think there were some missteps in the manner in which the information about Jaffer and Sloly was presented to readers.

Labelling Levy as Jewish and openly gay was relevant to understanding the dynamics of the St. Paul's by-election. As Queen's Park Bureau Chief Robert Benzie reported, the riding has "a significant Jewish population" and "a healthy contingent of socially liberal, fiscally conservative voters."

Levy told me she took no issue with the coverage: "As a journalist, I would have done much the same thing. It was a newsworthy thing for the party to attract someone like me."

I also think it was relevant to tell readers that Jaffer was Canada's first Muslim MP because this is a fact of which he himself seems to be proud. The biography section of his personal website states: "Mr. Jaffer made history in June of 1997 when he was elected as the first Muslim to the House of Commons at the tender age of 25."

The Star's story about Jaffer's arrest referred to him as Canada's first Muslim MP in a section near the end of the article that outlined his political background. I think the misstep here was in also referring to Jaffer's religion in a prominent Page 1 photo caption – justification for the concern that the Star "highlighted" Jaffer's religion.

If Peter Sloly does become Toronto's first police chief of colour, that will be important news in a community in which controversy about police and racial profiling has long been an issue. But, the Star's story about Sloly included virtually no context to make it clear to readers why it would be an important development if this Jamaican immigrant eventually leads Toronto police. Nor did it include his views on that possibility. That, understandably, opened the door to those readers who asked: "What does his skin colour have to do with anything?"

Clearly, when race or religion is truly relevant, readers need to fully understand why that is so.

If You Are Working Regularly and On The Books You Are eligible

Stephen Gordon: Employment insurance isn't broke. So why fix it?

Posted: August 26, 2009, 4:00 PM by NP Editor

If asked, people might say something along the lines of this Toronto Star editorial:

The rolls of the unemployed in Canada continue to grow... Many or most of them won't be eligible for employment insurance (EI), due to the program's Byzantine eligibility requirements.

Very alarming - especially that word "most". But how do we know that a large fraction - let alone "most" - of the newly-unemployed are in fact not eligible for EI? Isn't that something we'd like to know?

I know it's something I'd like to know, so I decided to do some digging. It turns out that the EI system is holding up pretty well - in fact, much better than one might have expected.

Click here to read more...

More Input On Health Care......

....makes you wonder what type of system our neighbors would have if they had diverted even a small portion of foreign aid $$$ they have sent to "needy" countries since the end of WWII.

What the US can learn from Aussie health care

Alan Mascarenhas - Worldview - August 20, 2009 09:14 ET

Analysis: The view from Down Under.

Guess Where? A Hint....Not Toronto!

The world's most crowded swimming pool...

The Basic Tenets Of JOURNALISM

An A+ For Nuts'nBolts; A F- For Party Principles

Further updates to “Harper Gov’t Record”
July 5th, 2009 Sandy Leave a comment Go to comments

The “Harper Gov’t Record” of accomplishments was further updated on both July 2nd and 3rd, 2009 with help from regular readers. Revisions include removing the large letters of the alphabet so that making changes to the numerical order is automatic, deleting a few entries while and adding others, such as the many international Free Trade Agreements.

See also Budget 2009, the Economic Action Plan, the Second report tabled on June 11, 2009, and the Map where 80% of the stimulus projects are being implemented, have already been approved and/or are ready to go in the near future.

The list of accomplishments now numbers 80 and starts here. Simply click on “Read More….”

An Outing By Girl On The Right

A Very Bad Day

June 15th, 2009

For those of you who have wondered about the man who called me, my friends, a grandmother and others “cunt”, or who could be so despicable as to tell Wanda Watkins, the grieving mother of a dead Canadian soldier to “fuck you and your grief”, who refers to men and women he doesn’t agree with as “douchebags” and who has repeatedly referred to Kate McMillan as a Nazi (Warren Kinsella sues over less, you know)…

He is Robert PJ Day. Small business owner. Computer genius. Well-read book nerd. Anti-creationist debater. Canadian Cynic.

Outing bloggers isn’t usually my thing. I don’t see a point to it. But when you repeatedly abuse and demean people because they do not march in lockstep with you, I’m sorry but you deserve it. I am not a cunt, Robert. Nor a douchebag. Neither is Kathy Shaidle, Kate, Connie Fournier, Sandy Crux, Suzanne Fortin or anyone else on the web you don’t like.

I am not above strong language and hyperbole, Robert, but I am not beneath you. You are not special. I do not dispute that you are extremely smart and well-versed in your subjects of choice. But referring to to those you feel superior to as “cunts”, “wankers”, “douchebags”, “assholes” and more doesn’t make you sound brilliant at all. It makes you sound sad and lonely. It also makes you seem very cowardly, because I know you would never call me a cunt to my face. You would never wander into downtown Toronto and meet with half the people you have insulted - on a one-to-one or at a party - and insult them the way you do behind your chosen alias.

What would your mother say, Robert, if she knew that you referred to a woman older than she probably is as a douchebag? ( I assume that your mother is still with us. If not, I apologize, one orphan to the next. ) Is that how she raised you?

Robert Day’s writings on the subject he is most familiar with, Linux, are many. We have waded through hours, pages of his Linux advice columns and other web writings. One thing I noted was his style. Cynic - Robert - has a very engaging way of writing directly to someone. That comes through in all his work, including the website for his company, Crash Course. It’s a pity Robert Day didn’t temper his Cynic style as much as he does in his works under his own name. Not only would he have made his point, but he probably would have had a newspaper column or book deal by now.

I doubt very much that Robert PJ Day will be shamed now that he is connected to Canadian Cynic. There is a piece of him that’s clearly missing inside, though I’ll spare you all the pop psychology. Regardless, I expect a lot of trolling and backlash. So be it. Put your name where your mouth is Robert. Rumpelstiltskin took it very badly when the miller’s daughter guessed his name, but even he disappeared. I expect no such fairytale dissolution from Robert Peter John Day.

Good luck, Robert Day, in whatever you do next. Though I suggest you try to be less hurtful to others. You’re only going to hurt yourself, at the end of the Day.

Posted by: Right Gir

What's Next?

Sri Lankan rebels say they will lay down armsThe Tamil Tiger rebels offered to lay down their arms Sunday after Sri Lanka's military declared victory in the 25 year civil war. more...

What Is The$$$ Impact On The Economy Of Lost Productivity....

....when it comes to elected officials it is probably zero but what about the rest of the "civil service?"

Forcing Our Elected Officials To Work
It’s interesting. In my line of work, a guy who doesn’t show up to work two days in a row can often be fired unless a doctors note is produced. Sure, I know that the blue collar world isn’t quite the same bed of roses as working for the government, but it does give you a healthy sense of “earning” a pay cheque. Even if I do take time off....
Unambiguously Ambidextrous

Even I Am Waiting To Hear Why?

'Ordeal' for welfare mom

By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA

U.S. welfare mom Rose Kelley says she's bitter and angry after being refused entry into Canada because she was collecting social service money in Michigan.

An Interesting Read But....

..I would suggest that it requires some vetting.

Israel at 61: Denial of Catastrophe is at the root of the 'conflict'
April 30, 2009
By Lia Tarachansky|

As we celebrate the sixty-first anniversary of the creation Israel, it is time for us to recognize what has happened, and continues to happen in our name.

Personal Responsibility? How Devious!

Again... this one's a no-brainer...
...do you criminalize the gun... or the shooter...Phillip Berger, one of Canada's best-known AIDS doctors, has worked tirelessly both here and in Africa for more than 30 years. He's fed up – fed up with the efforts of the HIV-AIDS establishment to evade the issue of personal responsibility. I think people who deliberately, deceitfully and maliciously mislead people are no different from some.....
halls of macadamia

Contrary To Repport In Globe and Mail

There's no secret subprime mortgage problem in Canada
Van.Sun: A foreclosure on a family home is a heartwrenching human tragedy. As the recession takes its toll on household income, the number of foreclosures is increasing. Fortunately, they remain relatively rare, and pose no systemic threat to Canada's.. MORE...