4290...Stuff To Do In Ottawa On A Wednesday

Check this out:

Part of Freedom to Read Week and a fundraiser for PEN Canada, Censored out loud 2012 will consist of readings and performances of challenged works. SPECIAL GUEST: Zarganar, actor, writer, comedian, opposition activist in Burma, and Honorary Member of PEN.
WRITERS AND POETS Alan Cumyn, Nichole McGill, Brendan McNally and Max Middle, LIBRARIANS former City Librarian Barbara Clubb, Dorothy Jeffreys, and children's programmer extraordinaire Sarah Campbell, ART LOVERS Don Monet from the CUBE Gallery and Marie-Camille Lalande from the Ottawa Art Gallery and MUSICIANS Marc Nelson, Brian Simms, Andrea Simms-Karp, and Colin Wylie ... and more! Stay tuned!
Admission: $10 or pay what you can... if you can't attend, donate to PEN here: http://www.pencanada.ca/participate/index.php

The event is presented by Ottawa Tonite in collaboration with the Library Association of the National Capital Region, Ottawa Public Library staff (thanks, guys!), local writers, singer-songwriters, VerseFest Ottawa, The Gladstone Theatre and the Ottawa theatre community.

Look for me, I will be the one wearing the very hip black sombrero.

WFDS

4289...Political Correctness Meets Lin Sanity

My buddy Len Berman tells me that "Ben & Jerry's, has apologized for including fortune cookies in its "Taste the Lin-Sanity" frozen yogurt sold in Boston. They've replaced the cookies with waffle cones."

Okay, so this is how stupid political correctness is. Jeremy Lin is Asian, Chinese/Taiwanese Asian. Chinese restaurants give out fortune cookies. It is a f*cking joke folks/tie in.

Look, in a few days it will be March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. We, the Irish, don't freak out when you, the non Irish, wear the Green and act like fools. We embrace it coz it is fun.

Note re St. Paddy's Day: eat Irish Stew offered in bars and restaurants on the 17th; do not, I repeat, do not eat the Hungarian Goulash offered on the 18th coz the Hungarian Goulash will just be day old Irish Stew warmed up.

WFDS

4288...Junior Hockey Makes The New York Times

That's what my friend Len Berman tells me. He lives in New York City so it is easier for him to read The Old Gray Lady, eh?

Mr. Berman interprets the article below:

3. Dropping the Gloves

What, ban fighting from hockey? What a concept. A front page story, no less, in yesterday's New York Times suggests that junior hockey in the U.S. and Canada will banish fighting from the sport. It has taken the concussion and head trauma issues to get us to this point. I've been railing against fighting in hockey for over 40 years. But the customers love it and ownership feels attendance will suffer without hooliganism. So answer this, hockey establishment, how come there's no fighting in the Olympics or the NHL playoffs and both of those tournaments are great? And isn't it embarrassing to the NHL that minor leagues, and not you, are the ones trying to clean up the sport?

Let's see what Don Cherry has to say about this, double eh.

WFDS

4287...One More Thing About Dalton

Yesterday Dalton McGuinty also lamented the days of the crappy Canuckbuck.

Now, in a great part I would presume, because of the oil in Fort McMurray, the Canadian dollar is pretty much even with the Yankee greenback.

You here it all the time: our country would be in better shape if our dollar was worthless.

That my friends is some serious bullsh*t. If a weak currency was the key to a strong economy then Bolivia, Indonesia and Argentina would rule the world.

They don't.

WFDS

4286...There Is No "I" In Team; No "Moi" In Equipe

That is why I was and am a little, no, a lot disappointed in Premier Dalton McGuinty's un bon mots re the Alberta Oil Sands.

Like he is not a fan.

Let me tell you straight up that I am a Liberal and am on the executive of both the provincial and federal Liberals in Ottawa Centre. The federal Liberals, as you are aware, are in a bit of a kerfuffle but the provincial peeps always have their eye on the prize.

Now, Premier Dude, c'mon, stop that. Stop saying un nice things about Alberta.

Canada is a family; when one does well we all do well.

WFDS

4285...Stephen Harper Gets His Man:SonaSaysNo

Or...does he?

Michael Sona says no.

CTVNews.ca Staff

Date: Tuesday Feb. 28, 2012 10:01 PM ET

The following is a statement from Michael Sona, who worked for the Conservative campaign in Guelph, Ont., during the last federal election. He resigned on Feb. 24 from the office of Toronto-area Conservative MP Eve Adams.

I wish to address the allegations and accusations levelled against me in the media over the last six days. I have remained silent to this point with the hope that the real guilty party would be apprehended. The rumours continue to swirl, and media are now involving my family, so I feel that it is imperative that I respond.

I had no involvement in the fraudulent phone calls, which also targeted our supporters as can be attested to by our local campaign team and phone records. On Thursday, I offered my resignation to my employer. The role of a staffer is to assist their employer in their responsibilities, and that was impossible to accomplish with the media continually repeating these rumours. It is for that reason and that reason alone that I resigned from my position.

Michael Sona

Of course he could be pulling an O.J.

WFDS

4284...Bernie Mac

The King, Bernie Mac, who left the planet ever so suddenly in '08 at the tender age of 50, is getting a nice prop in his hometown of Chicago.

They are naming a street after him.

The Associated Press says that the honour was conferred today in the Englewood neighbourhood.

He is so missed.

WFDS

4283...Fattest States In The Nation

Now before you get too smug I have to remind you that last week The Ottawa Sun had a story that stated that half the people in Ottawa, over half, are considered obese.

Seven years ago only 45 per cent of Ottawans were obese.

For the record, the WFDS was obese [BMI over 30] seven years ago but now I am just overweight with a BMI of of 29. Ish.

If we included the Ottawa Valley, east and west plus Western Quebec, your capital region would have to be in the sixty per cent range re fatties.

According to WebMd the three fattest states in The States are Mississippi, Alabama and West Virginia. Their definition of obesity must be a bit more lenient than The Ottawa Sun's coz the number of ff2x4s [fattie fattie two by fours] in each of the porkiest states was a bit over 30 per cent.

Heavy, an A&E show that debuted this season, states that 100 million Americans are having health problems coz of their weight.

Food for thought for pols on both sides of the border.

I would write more but Pizza Pizza is at my door.

WFDS

4282...Today's Bon Mots Apply To Moi

From my Facebook friend Lindsay Aranoff who shares this:

"If you're ever worried about what people are thinking about you, just remember: people aren't thinking about you."-Henry Phillips

Cuts like a knife.

WFDS

4281...Anonymous Is My Biggest Fan

But i don't want to p*ss off Anonymous. Vic Toews has p*ssed off Anonymous.

From The Huffington Post:

In a new video, hacker group Anonymous says they're giving Vic Toews seven days before they reveal a new scandal about the Public Safety Minister. "Anonymous has warned you this is only beginning," says the video.

These guys don't play.

WFDS

4280...Fone Fraud Fiasco

Anonymous was one of the many [two is many, right?] who sent a note to the WFDS for a name for the phone fraud that our beloved Prime Minister's party, the aptly named CONServative party, has allegedly and probably pulled off to screw Canadians last election.

Fone Fraud Fiasco it is.

Triple F or 3 F for short.

WFDS

4279...Stephen Harper And Richard Nixon

Besides the obvious, overkill during an election that was in the bag, they have some other stuff in common too.

They are both big sports fans.

Richard Nixon loved football; an actual play he devised was used by George Allen's NFL Washington Redskins back in the early '70s. I believe it was a loss but they still used it. Stephen Harper loves hockey; he is allegedly writing a book about our national sport.

They both married blondes.

They were both pro American.

That's all I got for now.

WFDS

4278...Robocall Is Getting Bigger And Bigger

Stephen Harper wanted a legacy.

Be careful what you wish for.

He now has a legacy.

WFDS

4277...RobocallScandal: Need A Catchy Name

Not Robocallgate.

C'mon kiddies, help me out here.

WFDS

4276...Robocalls To 27 Ridings

That is the number. 27. It was in the Sunday Toronto Star today. One of the ridings was Etobicoke Centre where Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a sitting Liberal, lost by a mere 26 votes to a Tory, Ted Opitz.

Mr. Wrzesnewskyj is quoted as saying that "That should never happen in Canada...I cannot accept the undermining of our democratic process."

True dat.

Of course the Tories were unavailable for comment.

WFDS

4275...Speaking Of Small Penises...

Jordan Lifander, come on down!

In a story written by Dylan Stableford,The Sideshow on Thursday it revealed that CBSNewYork.com is telling the world that Mr. Lifander, a former Cedarhurst, Long Island volunteer firefighter, said this week that he was sorry for telling firefighters in the Palmetto State [South Carolina] that he was a captain of FDNY's Ladder 133, which lost 12 men on Sept. 11.

The liar says he is sorry.

WFDS

4274...Sarah Silverman Checks In

Maxim's 74th hottest chick in the world opines that "I don't think brains hear 'I should get tattoo sleeves to go with my giant penis' much."

That's why I don't have tattoos.

Or a 'vette.

WFDS

4273...It Really Is Nixonian

Affair de Robocall.

Like the deal is the Tories in 2010 were going to win the election. Slam and dunk.

Same as, with or without Watergate, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were going to crush George McGovern back in 1972.

Overkill.

They, the Conservatives/Republicans, got greedy.

"A Postmedia News-Ottawa Citizen investigation based on interviews with dozens of campaign workers has identified 14 ridings — mostly closely fought electoral districts in southern Ontario — where electors reported receiving fake live calls."

Methinks this is le tip of le iceberg.

WFDS

4272...Bullying Is Out Of Control

Not the actual bullying; all the whining about it.

I know I sound insensitive but instead of having endless town meetings like the one CTVOttawa hosted Thursday night kids would be better off if they were taught to fight back and tell on their abusers.

That is what bullying is. It is abuse.

I know what I am talking about. The high school I went to, St. Pius X, was a bad school for bullying. More than half of the male clergy, priests, at and affiliated with St. Pius, have been either indicted or convicted for being sexual predators which is the ultimate form of bullying. Oh, yeah, we also had the first Columbine at SPX. A shooting. That's pretty f'd up too.

When one of bullies died about a decade ago, his name was Father Paul Baxter, I remember being at the Prescott Hotel in Ottawa talking to a friend of mine who was a major jock at SPX and we concluded, rightfully, that guys like Paul Baxter didn't pick on the big kids, the tough kids, the popular kids. He didn't pick on me and my friend. No, he and his fellow bullies preyed on the vulnerable. This was a man who would take temper tantrums in class, throw things, hit children. And he wasn't the only one.

He, by the way, was never busted because back then, in the '70s, Father whomever wasn't challenged.

Personally, I never got bullied. By never of course I don't mean never never; after all I spent 13 years in Catholic school so I got hit more than a few times by teachers and staff but that was part of the routine. Nothing serious though and I was 12 in grade nine, the perfect target, but I was having none of that. I got expelled coz I had the audacity to run for student president but I never got bullied or molested.

I think it is important to teach your children well and part of that is to teach them to fight back against the bullies of the world.

WFDS

4271...Herb Gray Honoured By Carleton University

Carleton.ca reports that the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray, the longest continuously-serving Member of Parliament in Canadian history, was honoured by Dr. President Roseann O’Reilly Runte for his service as the Chancellor at Canada's 46th best university.

Mr. Gray "...was awarded by the Governor General in 2002 the title of 'Right Honourable' in recognition of his distinguished and record-setting contribution to Canadian political life. Mr. Gray served as a Minister under three prime ministers. He also served as Opposition House Leader and Leader of the Official Opposition."

He is also a huge, huge, h u g e rock pig. That is a compliment by the way. If you are fortunate to run into the great himself ask him what he is listening to. He is so on the edge which, I guess, is in part, due to the fact that he is a Motor City boy and the Motor City is the music capital of the world.

WFDS

4270...A&E's Intervention

Is it wrong for me to watch Intervention to feel better about myself?

No matter how bad things are going for me things are always going better for me than for the feature on Intervention.

It is a nice pick me up.

WFDS

4269...Apparently The Stephen Harpers Cheated

In the last election.

Very Nixonian.

Dick not Robert.

WFDS

4268...The Chateau Laurier Wants You

To return any sh*t you may have stolen from Ottawa's oldest [I guess] and most regal hotel.

The Chateau is in your capital, the next big building east of the Hill. The Fairmont Chateau Laurier is celebrating it's [pick a number] anniversary this year and is asking those of you [not me] to take advantage of their amnesty program and send them any sh*t you have thiefed from the palace over the years.

Allegedly you can even get it back.

They want everything you have taken from matchbooks [qu'est que c'est le matchbook?]to furniture.

WFDS

4267...Stephen Harper Loves Freedom So Much

That he is making laws to protect your freedom.

Laws that, if broken, will get your butt in jail.

In essence what our beloved Prime Minister is doing is taking away our freedom to protect our freedom.

WFDS

4266...Just Because He

Can.

Yahoo Sports reports that New York Red Bull footballer Theirry Henry likes fish tanks. A lot.

Let them tell you:

Despite living and working an Atlantic Ocean away from England's capital, Theirry Henry is planning to demolish his $9.5M London mansion in order to build... a slightly different mansion. A significant difference will be a 40-foot fish tank, which will be visible on every floor of the property. The Daily Mail reports: stretching 40ft from the bottom of his house to the very top, it will take 5,500 gallons of water to fill, house 300 fish and cost a staggering £250,000 [$400,000] to build. His proposals detail the extravagant four-storey aquarium. As well as the vast cost of construction, the 15ft long by 3ft wide tank will set Henry back £12,000 [$19,000] a year to run, including weekly inspections at about £50 [$80] an hour. The annual bill for fish food alone would be £2,500 [$4,000]. That seems like an awful lot of money for fancy fish. If Henry wanted to see something witlessly float around without achieving anything, he should just watch some of Andrei Arshavin's recent highlights.

We have, of course, seen the movie before and the ending, not so nice.

WFDS

4265...WFDS Is 6'4" 210 27 Years Old And Ripped

The Globe and Mail last Friday said that 81 per cent of people lie about their description on line.

WFDS

4264...Interview Tips For Michael Harris

Job interview tips actually for Michael Harris, the fired CFRA talker, and you.

The do's; you can figure those out on your own.

From WXYZ Detroit here are a few of the don'ts:

Most unusual interview mistakes:

•Candidate brought a "how to interview book" with him to the interview.
•Candidate asked, "What company is this again?"
•Candidate put the interviewer on hold during a phone interview. When she came back on the line, she told the interviewer that she had a date set up for Friday.
•When a candidate interviewing for a security position wasn't hired on the spot, he painted graffiti on the building.
•Candidate wore a Boy Scout uniform and never told interviewers why.•Candidate was arrested by federal authorities during the interview when the background check revealed the person had an outstanding warrant.
•Candidate talked about promptness as one of her strengths after showing up ten minutes late.
•On the way to the interview, the candidate passed, cut-off, and flipped his middle finger at the driver who happened to be the interviewer.
•Candidate referred to himself in the third person.
•Candidate took off his shoes during the interview.
•Candidate asked for a sip of the interviewer's coffee.
•Candidate told the interviewer she wasn't sure if the job offered was worth "starting the car for."

WFDS

4263...Regina Hits The Big Time

Cut and paste from CBC Regina:

Move over Roughriders — the Lingerie Football League is coming to Regina.

The women's sports league, which features players wearing bikini tops, bathing suit bottoms and garters on the football field, has been operating in the U.S. for three years.

It announced Wednesday that Regina will be its third Canadian team. The other two are the B.C. Angels and the Toronto Triumph.

Regina's team will play in the Brandt Centre. The franchise hopes to kick off with its first Canadian games this fall.

No team name has been decided yet. Fans will be able to vote online.

WFDS

4262...March Madness Started Last Night

At least here in Canada.

Sadly the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees won against York.

Just kidding, I think it would be great to see the GGs finish second in the country both men and women. To Carleton. Of course.

The next GGs game is at Ryerson in T.dot [why do I have to write out the dot again?]. Carleton men and women are at home for playoffs on Saturday night.

WFDS

4261...Pro Or Con?

My buddy Dwight James sent me this:

NBA or NFL?

36 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault

71 repeat 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year ...
Can you guess which organization this is?

NBA Or NFL ???

Give up yet? ..... Scroll down:














Neither .... it's the MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN OTTAWA !
The same group of Idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.
You gotta pass this one on!

WFDS

4260...I Hope Andrew Sheer Was Taking Notes

He is the Speaker of The House and he is in Merry Ole England checking out the way they do things in their House Of Commons.

Like head butting.

Yepper, caught this in the Ottawa Citizen, last night, just after Andrew Sheer left the on-campus pub at the House of Commons in London, Eric Joyce, a Labour MP, allegedly head-butted Stewart Andrew, a Conservative MP.

WFDS

4259...The Award For Best Opening Line Goes To:

John Ivision of The National Post, writing about the never ending and unexciting NDP leadership race in yesterday's paper:

For those who missed the last NDP all-candidates debate in Quebec City earlier this month, Sunday will provide a golden opportunity to miss the next one in Winnipeg.

Seriously, that is golden.

WFDS

4258...Retraction/Apology/Mea Culpa

In Post 4249...Fashion Week Ottawa Includes Blackface I made a mistake and wish to apologize for such.

In that Post I accused Isobel Walker of frAsh of going with Blackface during Fashion Week In Ottawa. I misread the article in the Ottawa Citizen and apologize for insinuating in any way that Ms. Walker or frAsh used Blackface.

Montreal designer Andy Nguyen was the individual that used Blackface.

My sincerest apologies to Ms. Walker for my error.

4249...Fashion Week Ottawa Includes Blackface
I know, how funny is that, Fashion Week In Ottawa, the words just roll off the tongue.

To be certain Ottawa is not even the fashion capital of the capital, Gatineau is.

And Fashion Week In Ottawa was only three days long. Nonetheless they had a media reception with an open bar and I try to hit as many of those as I can.

Still it was what it was and what it was was stupid.

If you don't believe me go to capitaloh.blogspot.com and check out the photos.

The lack of talent in the fashion industry in Ottawa is the reason there is no fashion industry in Ottawa.

The lack of sense is why designer Isobel Walker of frAsh decided to go with the Blackface look. You know, like in Birth of A Nation, a 1916 movie.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/6175503.bin?size=620x400s

For the picture.

No word on whom lit the cross for the big finale.

WFDS

WFDS

4257...Note To Vic Toews

You know all those new laws you and your boss are bringing in? They've been tested in the States and guess what? They don't work.

Listen to me, I don't care who you are sleeping with, who got the best deal in your divorce or whether or not you secretly cheer for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders.

But...I do care that you are going to put people in jail and cost Canada beaucoup d'argent and tons of human resources with your stupid, as in dumb, mandatory sentencing bullsh*t.

Hey, it isn't just me talking.

The Canadian Press dropped a piece this morning that quoted Eric E. Sterling, one of the lawyers who helped U.S. politicians write mandatory-minimum sentencing laws during the 1980s who says that "...imposing long jail terms for minor drug offences has been a mistake in the U.S. and won't work in Canada...When you start going down this road of building more prisons and sending people away for long periods of time, and you convince yourself that this is going to deter people you've made a colossal mistake...We have learned the hard way that long sentences are not deterring people from selling drugs when the profits are so great."

Or, and even Mr. Sterling doesn't get this, when the profits aren't so great.

May be people just like to get high, smoke weed and don't think it out re getting busted. This probably accounts for the fact that the USA has about half a million, according to Mr. Sterling, folks in jail for dope and they are not all Pablo Escobars.

WFDS

4256...Liver And Octopus

That is the big reveal for The World Famous Dan Shields.

That is what I am giving up for Lent 2012.

You?

Do share.

WFDS

4255...The Most Exciting Time To Be A Canadian

Is now!!!

Because Roll-Up-The-Rim-To-Win is back!!!

Don't kid yourself politicos, this is what is important to Canadians.

WFDS

4254...The Race Card

Although we like to think that we are not racist in Our Home And Native Land, we are, egregiously racist in some respects.

Just think about how we f'ck around Native people in Canada. Oh, yeah, and don't forget the black face incident at Ottawa Fashion [Three Day] Week.

The difference between us [Canucks] and them [Yanks] is they are not afraid to talk about it.

Here is a cut and paste from my great cyber friend Len Berman that addresses that:

2. The Race Card

Take a look at William Rhoden's column yesterday in the New York Times. He talks about Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin and their breakout success. But their "greatness" is not limited to on the field endeavors. They are praised for their faith and humility. William asks is the over the top adulation the result of race? That Tebow and Lin are white and Asian. Why aren't blacks so similarly adulated? It's a question certainly worth asking.

If it was Ottawa we would just ignore the whole issue, eh?

WFDS

4253...Ash Wednesday Is Tomorrow!!!

What are you giving up?

The big reveal tomorrow boys and girls.

! ! !

WFDS

4252...Mariano Rivera Is Checking Out

The last man to wear 42 in Major League Baseball, Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, says that "...this will be his final season - 'even if I save 90 games...'"

Of course he has been saying this every spring for the last decade or so.

The fact the his number matches his age gives this years vow more creedence.

WFDS

4251...iCarly Meets Mrs. Obama

Hey I was watching YTV last night and Mrs. Barack Obama, Michelle to the President, was on the hit teen show. In a big and positive role too.

If we had hit teen shows in Canada I would expect to see Laureen Harper on one of them.

If.

WFDS

4250...Michael Harris Update

He's still fired.

I still don't get it.

580CFRA, the go to station for the masses in your capital [along with CBC ONE], let Michael Harris go a few weeks ago.

Next to Brett Farve's penis incident eighteen months ago this is the most talked about topic I have ever written about.

Here is what I still don't get about the whole thing. CFRA has a 10 share, give or take, in Ottawa. Replacing Mr. Harris with the talentless Ron Corbett may save them, let's be generous here, 100,000$ a year. But it is going to cost them in listeners and in the very valuable quarter hour shares which is what radio stations sell.

Another inexplicable thing that they do is re run Lowell Green, truly the franchise at 'RA, in the evening. Lowell Green is not a porn film; you don't have to experience the same show twice. For a few bucks, say 30 K, they, Ken Gray, could drop new talent in there and build their cume.

Shortsightedness, typical of Canadian media, typical.

WFDS

4249...Fashion Week Ottawa Includes Blackface

I know, how funny is that, Fashion Week In Ottawa, the words just roll off the tongue.

To be certain Ottawa is not even the fashion capital of the capital, Gatineau is.

And Fashion Week In Ottawa was only three days long. Nonetheless they had a media reception with an open bar and I try to hit as many of those as I can.

Still it was what it was and what it was was stupid.

If you don't believe me go to capitaloh.blogspot.com and check out the photos.

The lack of talent in the fashion industry in Ottawa is the reason there is no fashion industry in Ottawa.

The lack of sense is why designer Isobel Walker of frAsh decided to go with the Blackface look. You know, like in Birth of A Nation, a 1916 movie.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/6175503.bin?size=620x400s

For the picture.

No word on whom lit the cross for the big finale.

WFDS

4248...Funniest Headline Ever

From TheWrap.com:

Whitney Houston Laid to Rest in Private Service

As private as a funeral broadcast on national and international TV, Radio and the 'net can be.

In case you missed it you may buy the official video of this private service on-line.

WFDS

4247...ESPN Still To Use Fighting Irish

And Redskins, Braves, Indians.

But chink, as in "Chink In The Armour", that is a firing offense.

Lucas Shaw, TheWrap.com, just dropped the news that "ESPN has fired one employee and suspended another for using the same racist word in connection to New York Knicks’ guard Jeremy Lin, according to a statement from the company.

In both cases, an employee used the word 'chink' in reference to Lin, a Palo Alto native of Chinese descent.

'We again apologize, especially to Mr. Lin,'ESPN wrote."

Still no word on the Fighting Irish.

WFDS

4246...There Is Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Spring training starts today.

Spring will spring soon.

WFDS

4245...Lin Sanity Meet Lin Stupidity

In a story first reported by Outsports.com it turns out that the geniuses at ESPN do make the odd mistake.

The top sports network in the world dropped a story Friday night about the New York Knick's Asian sensation Jeremy Lin falling to earth.

No problem there.

They used the headline "Chink In The Armour".

Problem.

WFDS

4244...Blockbuster News

Actually it is news from Blockbuster.

They are offering me 30 days of free movies.

That's the good news.

The bad news is they are all VHS and the newest flick is Sleepless In Seattle.

WFDS

4243...More Bloodshed In Ottawa: CTV Layoffs

Last week it was Michael Harris and 15 bodies cashiered at Bell Media's radio cluster.

Yesterday it was the announcement that a pile of folks, 35, from their number one TV station, the former CJOH, now CTV Ottawa, will be blown out and blown out soon.

Here is the problem as I see it. When you watch American TV you have a sense of place. If you are in Bismarck, North Dakota and are watching any of the network stations serving the ND capital you know you are watching a ND TV. Ditto the bigger markets too. Not so much here. Everything has to be streamlined, integrated, cost efficient, bland. It is getting bad in Ottawa, Montreal etc; it is absolutely terrible in smaller markets, markets that are many times the size of Bismarck such as Kitchener [the home of one local TV station]; London [the home of one local TV station]; Niagara [the home of no local TV]; Hamilton [the home of one local TV station] and; Pembroke [the home of no local TV]. I could go on for a thousand words on this.

Canadians like to deride Americans and their pride but their pride comes from being proud of who they are and where they are from and that pride is manifested in the local stories, remember all politics is local, local adverts and local pride.

When you are in Bismarck, North Dakota or Seattle, Washington or New Orleans, Louisiana and you are watching the TV news you are seeing stories about that town, those people. When you are in Brandon, Manitoba or Windsor, Ontario or Oshawa, Ontario not so much.

That is what has been lost yet again. A sense of place.

They, Bell Media, may be saving money in the short run but when I was driving home tonight their overnight radio show on their news talker, CFRA, was syndicated American programming talking about America. The overnight programming on their sports station, The Team, was Rob Dibble and FOX Sports talking about college basketball, American college ball. For twenty dollars an hour Bell Media could do local programming but that would cost them twenty dollars more an hour than these brokered shows cost them.

This is both shortsighted and some serious bullsh*t.

WFDS

4242...Dan Gardner Defines Stephen Harper

In a few words Dan Gardner, a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen, defines our beloved Prime Minister:

The one constant is that civil liberty is not Stephen Harper's concern. It is merely something to be used or discarded as needed.

Like some other leaders, past and present, that I can think of.

WFDS

4241...Here Is A Way To Spend Family Day

If you are in Ottawa that is.

The MPP for Ottawa Centre, newlywed Yasir Naqvi, is having a skating party, including hot chocolate and some nosh, at McNabb Park. McNabb is at the corner of Bronson and Gladstone, dead centre of Ottawa Centre.

Bring your skates and pray for cold. As it stands now the skating party could turn into an afternoon of water polo.

See you there around one; look for me in my Liberal Red sombrero.

WFDS

4241...Sad Day For Freedom Of The Press

It is widely reported that Pat Buchanan has been blown out the doors by the left leaning newsish channel MSNBC in the States.

The reason I feel it is sad is that even though I agree with little this right wing demagogue has to say I think it is important that even someone who has been categorized as racist and homophobic and xenophobic and anti Semitic and more has a right to be heard.

Freedom of speech, including, in my proper view, the use of public airwaves, is not a treasured component of American and Canadian society to protect those of us who speak in a fashion that is politically correct and acceptable. No, freedom of speech is supposed to protect outliers such as Mr. Buchanan along with other crazies and kooks and ill informed individuals.

Freedom of speech is not about what the majority hold true. It is about freedom. Of speech.

WFDS

4240...The Justin Trudeau Of Showbiz

Has to be, if one is to follow Ezra Newman Levant of SUN TV's logic, Paris Hilton.

She has 31 candles on her cake today.

Par tay.

WFDS

4239...Big Basketball Weekend

On this side of the border and that side.

Here in your capital the University of Ottawa, who always come up short, have a bunch of key games that they may or may not win. Men and women. On the other side of town the Carleton Ravens men should win two but the women, well ce soir they are in tough against the University of Toronto Blues in a game that has tremendous playoff implications.

Look for me there, east end stands, sporting my black Ravens sombrero.

Sharpie in hand for those of you who dare.

WFDS

4238...Dalton McGuinty Haters Love Him

What?

Well they will this Monday, Family Day. For a lot of us here in Ontario Family Day is a great mid winter break.

I am willing to bet haters, such as my life long friend Dan Colterman, will take the day off with pay or take their time and a half.

Thank you Premier Dalton McGuinty; this is why we have voted you in three times in a row.

Yes, the haters of our Premier secretly love him.

WFDS

4237...Something Else That Looks Good On...

...paper is mandatory sentencing.

Except the Stephen Harpers forgot that judges are often sane and, In Our Home And Native Land, are not elected and are nobody's baby.

Check this out from Monday's Globe and Mail:

An Ontario Superior Court judge has refused to impose a mandatory three-year sentence on a man caught with a loaded handgun, putting the courts on a collision course with the federal government’s belief in fixed sentences that provide judges with little discretion. In a decision Monday, Madam Justice Anne Molloy added fuel to a rising sense of judicial anger over mandatory minimum sentences by striking down the compulsory term as cruel and unusual punishment. Instead, she sentenced the defendant, Leroy Smickle, to a year of house arrest. Judge Molloy concluded that Mr. Smickle, a 30-year-old Toronto man with no criminal record, had merely been showing off by striking a “cool” pose over the Internet when police happened to burst into an apartment on March 9, 2009, in search of another man.

The wheels have fallen off Mr. Harper, fallen off.

WFDS

4236...Like Bill C-10 This Looks Great On Paper...

...but...in reality it is going to cause a sh*t storm and a half.

Megan Oglvie in yesterday's Toronto Star opened her piece with this:

The narcotic painkiller OxyContin will soon be pulled from pharmacy shelves across the country, and addiction experts warn the move will spark a public health crisis in Northern Ontario where thousands of people in remote communities face involuntary and potentially dangerous withdrawal from the addictive drug.

This is Stephen Harper/Vic Toews esque and, on paper, sounds great. But, and this is huge, Oxy Contin ain't called Hillbilly Heroin for nothing. I don't use nor do I abuse but I am aware that when this stuff gets a hold of you it holds on hard.

Among the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, or NAN, which represents 49 First Nation communities in Northern Ontario, at least half of residents are addicted to OxyContin, said Grand Chief Stan Beardy.

“In some communities, it’s as high as 70 to 80 per cent of people addicted to OxyContin, including kids as young as 9 years old to people as old 65,” Beardy said.

“We are very concerned that if they cease manufacturing OxyContin and if there is no replacement or treatment or detox centres for these people, there is going to be a major catastrophe.”

His numbers may be a bit high; the low estimate is that out of 45,000 residents in NAN only [only?] 10,000 are junkies.

"On Thursday, Health Canada confirmed that as of Feb. 15 OxyContin had been pulled from the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program, which provides drug coverage for more than 800,000 registered First Nations and recognized Inuit."

Again, in the same way that mandatory sentencing looks good coz you wouldn't do it if you got time for it, pulling Oxy off the shelf looks good.

But it ain't gonna play out that way boys and girls.

WFDS

4235...Shortsightedness In The Drummond Report

In my opinion the Drummond Report is, like many other a c t i o n s of its kind [see Mike Harris; Stephen Harper] short sighted and seems to be written by someone who is both ivory towerish and won't personally be impacted by the report.

An example thereof would be charging for parking at GO Trains. Unless the charge is minimal, i.e. a dollar or two a day, it will definitely impact on the use of the trains and put a strain on what already is one of the worst traffic situations [Tim Hudak said it was the worst traffic in North America during the '10 campaign] extant.

And that is only one example.

WFDS

4234...You've Had A Bad Day When...

...you are just minding your own business flying your little biddy one engined Cessna from here to there in Southern California and out of no where two F 16 fighter planes roll in and force you to land.

Steve Gorman of Reuters goes on to write that when you land five oh discovers that you are carrying a bit of pot with you, like twenty two pounds of weed.

The reason you were intercepted? You were too close, way too close, to former recreational drug user Barack Obama's helicopter.

The police say they aren't sure whether they will lay charges or not.

I am sure that they will.

WFDS

4233...President Michelle Bachmann

I love the way that roles off the tongue.

Along with Veep Ron Paul.

Yeah, now you are talking!

Anyhow the crazy lady from Minny was mentioned in Slate. She says she is going to decline an offer to go on ABC's Dancing With The Stars.

ABC is pretty sure they did not make such an offer.

And the beat goes on.

WFDS

4232...The Kid Is Dead

My mom says that deaths come in threes and the death today of Gary Carter, the greatest Montreal Expo ever, makes it three celeb deaths this week: Whitney, Wheels and The Kid.

He had been diagnosed a while back with brain cancer and that is what finally did him in.

57.

Another candle is lit.

WFDS

4231...Tape Delay On The Death Of Wheels

For those of us of a certain age the Degrassi series means something.

Just the thought of Caitin Ryan makes some of us, um, weak in the knees.

Another iconic character on the show was Wheels, played by Neil Hope.

Check this, according to The National Post he has died. Five years ago.

Family of Mr. Hope wanted privacy, got privacy.

Light a candle.

WFDS

4230...People Who Live In Glass Houses

Must spend a lot of money on Windex.

Seriously folks, if I may be serious, Vic Toews, the Minister of Sanctimony for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, has been widely reported as saying that if you are against him you are in favour of child pornographers.

One of my sources sent me this little link:

https://twitter.com/#!/vikileaks30

The other thing, Mr. Toews, that people who live in glass houses should do is not throw stones.

WFDS

4228...Noam Chomsky Was Right

I am not a huge fan of the man but one thing he has said, and I will paraphrase it, repeatedly is true and relates to me and my blog.

What Noam Chomsky said was that, again paraphrasing, most people in America don't follow politics closely coz politicians deliberately make politcs boring keeping the hoi poll oi unengaged. Yet in every city of any size in America there is a 24 hour sports station with callers who can and will rationally discuss and compare the power play of the 1963-64 Toronto Maple Leafs to the present day Detroit Red Wings because they are engaged.

How that relates to moi is that out of 4229 posts the two that have attracted the most views are one about Brett Farve's penis. For those of you not savvy to Mr. Farve, he is a Mississippi boy who spent most of his career in Green Bay, Wisconsin playing a game. The second is a recent post I did about an Ottawa radio talker, Michael Harris, getting the boot from CFRA.

I could/have written volumes about important issues of the day but these trivial stories capture your attention at an exponentially higher level.

Noam Chomsky was right.

WFDS

4227...The War On Poor People In Ontario Starts...

...now?

As a poor people I sure the f*ck hope not but if one is to believe economist Don Drummond, as referenced in the current Ottawa Sun, "The Mike Harris cuts will look like a blip in time compared to the long-term pain the province is in for, economist Don Drummond says in his hotly anticipated report on reforming Ontario’s public services."

Thank goodness that the people of Ontario were intelligent enough to keep Dalton McGuinty and his team in power at Queen's Park. Although the rants to talk radio, what little there is in Ontario, and the letters to the editor and comments attached to articles in rags like the Sun, the fact is Mr. McGuinty had to clean up the mess that Mike Harris created in the '90s and will continue to guide Ontario upwards and onwards.

The basic thesis of Mr. Drummond's message is to cut back but as I see it the cut backs will be on those who cannot defend themselves: children, the sick, the needy.

WFDS

4226...Lin Sanity Is At Seven In A Row

This time he only dropped 10, but the Knicks got the W.

WFDS

4225...Lin Sanity

In case you don't know Jeremy Lin is the hottest property in pro sports right now.

He is the first Asian American to play in the NBA. Unrecruited out of high school he had to settle for playing at Harvard and then was undrafted. His rookie year was kind of a washout, he was with his hometown team the Golden State [Bay Area, Cali] Warriors.

This year he ended up as the 12th man for the New York Knickerbockers and even that was precarious. On his Facebook he wrote this:

Jeremy Lin
Everytime i try to get into Madison Square Garden, the security guards ask me if im a trainer LOL

That was on January 4th of this year.

In the last six games that has all changed.

Example thereof would be last night where in the last minute against the hometown Toronto Raptors he hit a 2 plus 1 and then a 3 to squeak out a victory for the Knicks.

As of now Mr. Lin is da man.

WFDS

4224...Be Afraid, Chris Brown, Be Very Afraid

The rapper, who smacked out his girl Rihanna a few years ago, should be very afraid.

Miranda Lambert, the country singer, is p*ssed at him and, as reported by WENN, suggests he listen to her first coupla discs.

I believe that she dispatched [killed] five boyfriends in her first two CDs.

You have been warned Mr. Brown.

WFDS

4223...Ezra Levant Makes A Funny

The fact challenged SUN TV troll called Justin Trudeau "The Paris Hilton of Canadian Politics."

That is funny.

Especially coming from the Newman of Canadian Politics.

WFDS

4222...Peyton Manning Update

Coz that is why you troll Progressive Bloggers, to find out what is happening in football in Indiana.

I will tell you.

The Peyton Manning Saga is starting to play out and I have to agree with fellow blogger Paul Kuharsky who writes that "Jim Irsay's latest dose of spin control is just another chapter in a dizzying tale that seems destined for an ugly ending."

Jim Irsay is the owner of the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning is one of the best QBs ever. Problem is Mr. Manning's neck is a mess and that is affecting his everything else. The other problem is that Mr. Manning is owed a 24 million dollar bonus next month and if there is one thing NFL teams are noted for it is stiffing stars, and non stars, on big bonuses.

John Clayton of ESPN summed up number 12's career thusly: "Manning has broken all of Indianapolis' career records for quarterbacks and had never missed a start before last season. He's taken the Colts to the playoffs 11 times, captured seven AFC South titles in eight years, won two AFC championships, one Super Bowl title and a Super Bowl MVP Award."

But he ain't seeing that 24 million or 24 dollars next month; he is going to get poled, coz that is the way the NFL works.

WFDS

4221...Rachel DeCoste Meet Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden and Ottawa Liberal activist and Rachel DeCoste have something in common: a rabid love for the late singer. The story is right upfront in today's online Ottawa Citizen.

Kola Boof, a woman who lived with Mr. Laden back in 1996 says that he was sooooo into her. How into her? "'He said that he had a paramount desire for Whitney Houston, and although he claimed music was evil he spoke of someday spending vast amounts of money to go to America and try to arrange a meeting with the superstar,' Boof wrote. 'It didn't seem impossible to me. He said he wanted to give Whitney Houston a mansion that he owned in a suburb of Khartoum. He explained to me that to possess Whitney he would be willing to break his colour rule and make her one of his wives.'"

Yo may read more about it in her 2006 biography: "Diary of a Lost Girl: The Autobiography of Kola Boof"

WFDS

4220...This Is Why I Love Air Bags

No, not those kinds.

Get your mind in the gutter.

Sheyla Hershey of Houston told Radar Online that she credits her 38KKK enhanced breasts for saving her life.

In a New York Daily News story Nina Mandell wrote that "She was driving to pick up her husband after a Super Bowl party when she lost control of her car and slammed into a tree. She said the airbags in her Ford Mustang didn't go off — which could have meant serious injury for most people."

Not for Ms. Hershey though; she says that her surgically enhanced boobs saved her life.

WFDS

4219...But When They Are Right They Are Right

Not a big fan of the Green Party but their communications guy Kieran Green is an old friend, we played in Metallica together back in the '90's, and he passed along something I want to share with you.

To wit: "The Harper Conservatives are making a bid to have parliamentary committee business conducted in secret."

Elizabeth May, the leader of the party and an MP is quoted later in the piece as stating that "It’s becoming increasingly evident that the Harper Conservatives dislike public accountability. They are already limiting debate in the House on a regular basis, and now they intend to make committee business secret. With their majority muscle, the Conservatives can already pass whatever they want in committees. They are running roughshod over past practice and doing away with any pretence [sic]of democracy...Canadians have a right to know what committees are debating and what positions are being taken. A government that truly cared about accountability would be trying to maximize the ability of the public to be informed about committee business. Making committee business top secret is as bizarre as it is anti-democratic."

Discuss.

WFDS

4218...Inside Every Dark Cloud There Is A...

...silver lining.

The silver lining to Whitney Houston's untimely demise could be the end of Celine Dion's show bidness career.

She told ABC-TV's Good Morning America that the Hollywood showbiz lifestyle actually scares her.

I think she should quit and move to Kapuskasing and open a bed and breakfast.

WFDS

4217...Coming To A Town Near You

Soon.

No perfume, evah.

Less is more, according to New Hampshire lawmakers debating whether to ban the use of scented or fragrant soaps by state employees.

Under House Bill 1444, state workers who interact with the public would be prohibited from wearing fragrances or scented products while on the job, MyFoxBoston reports.

The reason for the proposed ban -- exposure to scented products can irritate or worsen symptoms for people with asthma or allergies.

"The chemicals in some of these products can trigger the nasal congestion, sneezing and the runny nose," Dr. Stanley Fineman, an allergist with Emory University and the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic, told MyFoxBoston. "With the asthmatics, there's really good data showing their lung function changes when they're exposed to these compounds."

The legislation will get a vote Wednesday. If passed and signed into law, it would take effect within 60 days.

WFDS

4216...I Had For Hot Dogs For Breakfast Sunday

I mention that because it is half as many of the nutrionous and healthy snack that Keith Martin, 42, of Harlesden, North West London has for brekky every day.

According to The London Sun buddy is is 5ft 9in tall, my height, but he has a 6ft waist. He is now the heaviest dude in the world at 90 stone. In pounds that is a lot.

"He starts his day with EIGHT hotdogs. For lunch, he can eat TWO roasts plus sausages and chips."

WFDS

4215...Ottawa Football Failed In Part Because...

The idiots, yes I am talking about you Joe Pao-Pao, who ran both the Renegades and the Rough Riders into oblivion, allowed the Stars and Bars, also referred to as the Slave Flag, to be worn and waved at Lansdowne Park in your capital.

According to The Southsiders they flew the Stars and Bars as a tribute to the players from the South. According to the players, WTF?

Reason I am bringing this up is I was reading the St. Paul Pioneer Press, a bird cage liner in the k-k-k-old state's capital and came across a story about West St. Paul Councilman Ed Hansen who flies the flag outside his house. It is pissing off a lot of folks including the town's mayor, John Zanmiller. Mr. Hansen, who is as enlightened as the Ottawa fans who flew the flag during CFL days, asks "What's the problem?"

Mr. Hansen went on to tell the Pioneer Press that "If people choose to be ignorant, that's their own fault. They should study history. It represents true sovereignty."

Sovereignty and slavery.

WFDS

4214...Everytime He Scores Someone Famous Dies

No, not Scott Gomez, this time it is Aaron Ramsey, a star for Arsenal in the English Premier League.

The Sun, the one from London, tells all that he has scored four times since May. When the Wales captain scored for Arsenal against Man United during the merry month of al Qaeda terror leader Usama Bin Laden was killed the day after.

In October Mr. Ramsey scored against Spurs, a mere three days before Apple boss Steve Jobs died.

Later that month, he scored against Marseille in the UEFA Champions League. The next day, Libyan tyrant Moamar Ghadafi was shot.

Saturday he netted another, his fourth in this time span and the former Mrs. Bobby Brown went for the high jump.

Good thing for us stars that Mr. Ramsey doesn't tickle the twine more often.

WFDS

4213...Holy Cow, How Did I Miss This?

The 7.5 million dollar man, Scott Gomez, scored a goal Thursday for the Montreal Canadiens.

It is his first goal in a year and a bit.

BTW he was signed for a zillion dollars to score goals which he usta do when he lived in his native Land Of The Free And Home Of The Brave.

WFDS

4212...Final Word On/From Whitney And Crack

"First of all, let's get one thing straight: Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight, OK? I don't do crack. I don't do that. Crack is whack."

WFDS

4211...Even Under Fire The CBC Steps Up

To da plate.

Check this new product from my former employer:

CBC Music launches today!
It's an exciting day for CBC. CBC Music - our new digital music service went live Sunday night. CBC will officially launch the site later this afternoon. Completely free, CBC Music connects music lovers and puts the best of Canadian and international music at your fingertips. It's a place to explore discover and share music across a wide range of genres. You can log on to cbcmusic.ca now and stay tuned for more news on this later today

The WFDS loves country and crunk so I will take a pass but for those of you more sophisticated than I, please, enjoy!

Then drop a line to Stephen Harper and James Moore and tell them how much you enjoy.

WFDS

4210...I Have Something I Want To Share With You

It is from your old friend Brian Major, at analpa@tie.cl:

Hello Friend.
I am writing to solicit your sponsorship of a business deal worth NINE MILLION,EIGHT
HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING belonging to a late client who deposited
it with a Bank here. Concidentally, this customer shares a common last name
with you and i will need you to come forward to claim this funds, since he
died intestate and there is no one coming for its claims after the investment
period elapsed over a year ago. I will furnish you with the full details
of how we can realise this deal when you get back to me. Get back to me if
interested in the deal.
Regards
Brian Major

This is a nice twist; Mr. Major's, who I presume is trying to scam me/you, software did not even pick up my last name. Does this sh*t work? Lemme know.

WFDS

4209... Flaherty Explains Most Will Get Burned

By reductions in the Old Age Security.

Not all.

Thanks Jim!

In a piece with Wendy Mesley on CBC's The National Jim Flaherty, the Minister of Money, explained that the chiseling away at Old Age Security will not be fully implemented until 2020. He went on to point out that even though most Canadians will get burned by the Tories the one's that suffer the most don't vote Conservative so who gives a flying f*ck. Well he did not really say that but he meant it.

WFDS

4208...This Has To Suck

A source I have inside the Canadian military tells me an unfortunate story.

There is another Colonel Russell Williams.

The first Colonel Russell Williams that comes to mind of course is the psycho killer who lived in Ottawa/Tweed/Trenton and was busted two years ago on Super Bowl Sunday.

The other Colonel Russell Williams is not a psycho killer but he does bear that rather unfortunate moniker and the same rank.

WFDS

4207...While The Whole World Mourns Whitney

Angry Ottawa based marijuana advocate and activist Russell Barth hates on her on Facebook.

I thought kush was supposed to make you mellow.

You live, you learn.

WFDS

4206...Toronto Maple Leafs Honour Mats Sundin

The Leafs honoured ex captain Mats Sundin by not retiring his number 13 and by getting pounded 5 to nothing, that's a shutout, in the marquee game of the 2012 Hockey Day In Canada.

On Hockey Night In Canada, CBC, Don Cherry, the whole nine.

Oh, they got beat 5/0 by the Montreal Canadiens, their biggest rivals.

How much you wanna bet they made Mr. Sundin pay for his seats?

WFDS

4205...Great News For Dalton McGuinty

It is widely reported that Tim Hudak, the worst politician and biggest choker in the history of history, has been re somethinged or other by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.

Yes Buffalo Tim Hudak got 78 per cent support at the Tory love in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

I recall that Mr. Hudak, just like his fave football team, the Buffalo Bills, started out strong, looked like a winner, had a huge lead and then dropped the ball over and over and over again allowing our Premier, Dalton McGuinty, to, thankfully, stay in power.

One of the best descriptions of him, besides mine, comes from the Toronto Star's Martin Regg Cohn who tonight wrote of the un great leader that "The truth is he often reverts to the role of valedictorian at the Bob Barker School of Television Game Show Hosts."

More poetic than saying he sucks.

But he does.

WFDS

4204...More Sadness From The Left Coast

Ray Heard shares this sad news from Hollywood:

Animal rights activists furious as two horses die during filming of Dustin Hoffman's drama 'Luck'
www.dailymail.co.uk
Two of the horses stumbled and fell during racing sequences in California for the HBO drama. Vets were forced to put them down after finding they suffered severe fractures.

That is some serious bullsh*t.

WFDS

4203...The Grammys Are Tomorrow

They will be sad, very sad because, as you have probably heard, Whitney Houston passed away around 4 pm Pacific time in Beverly Hills.

May be, in retrospect, hooking up with Bobby Brown was not such a great idea, eh?

WFDS

4202...Michael Moore: Happy Anniversary

It is the BMI challenged auteur's 25th anniversary.

Michael Moore slipped me an email today telling that "On this day 25 years ago, in 1987, I became a filmmaker. It was around ten in the morning and the first-ever roll of Kodak 16mm film for my first-ever movie was loaded into my friend's camera to shoot the very first scene of 'Roger & Me.'"

Although Mr. Moore is often fact challenged he truly is both entertaining and provocative and is one of the few film makers to reflect the wants and needs of the middle and lower middle class in America.

As best I can figure no one here in Oh Canada!, at least the ROC, even bothers to show regular folks as regular folks so, even though I find him [and Morgan Spurlock and Roseanne Barr and Norman Lear] a bit off the mark in reflecting the way most of us non elites live, at least he is out there.

WFDS

4201...The Police

You have seen them before.

You will see them again.

So why in the name of our Lord do you have to slow down on the free way when you see a copper who has pulled over some one else?

Happens everywhere.

Today it happened on the 417 westbound. To me.

Write this down.

If the cops have pulled over him, no need to look.

Keep going 100 km, k?

WFDS

4200...Tomorrow Is Hockey Day In Canada

I feel it.

Habs over Toronto.

Scott Gomez gets a Gordie Howe hat trick.

WFDS

4199...Immigrants Rock

My view on immigration is quite simple: let them all in. All.

That is why the note on Rob Snow's Facebook, he is the afternoon drive talker on CFRA in Ottawa, is more than appalling to moi. Mr. Snow writes that "It is possible that three migrant farm workers, the survivors of a deadly crash in Hampstead will be deported back to Peru. If they are unable to work, they could be in violation of their employer-specific visa."

Like, seriously, f*ck off.

WFDS

4198...Thank You Captain Obvious

Captain Obvious would be Tory and Essex MP Jeff Watson. Mr. Watson's Windsor office was occupied for a couple of hours yesterday by retired Canadian Auto Workers Union members who are pissed that the Stephen Harpers are f*cking with them.

Mr. Watson told CBC News he considers the act a political stunt.

Uh, yeah.

WFDS

4197...Michael Harris CFRA Fired

Media is so f*cked in Canada, especially radio and TV.

A case in point would be the gassing of Michael Harris of Michael Harris Live on CFRA in Ottawa. CFRA is the go to heritage station for news and information in Ottawa and Mr. Harris was the only objective person on the station. This is not an opinion; this is fact.

Yesterday, in what was purely a cost cutting move, he and 15 of his cohorts were cut by Bell Media. If we had a truly competitive media market in Ottawa and Canada, you know, like in the USA, Mr. Harris would have been hired by another station by today.

Instead he is on the beach, replaced by the factually challenged hack of hacks Ron Corbett.

I understand it is all about money, in fact I am a fan of that concept, but dumping his salary will, in my view, cost in the long run for the simple reason that his replacement, Mr. Corbett, sucks and makes stuff up on the fly.

I am reminded of the alleged quote regarding radio by the late, great Hunter S. Thompson: "The radio business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

WFDS

4196...So Madonna Is All Pissy At MIA

Coz MIA flipped the bird during the Super Bowl half time show.

This is, of course, the same Madonna who french kissed Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears on live TV.

Oh yeah, and put out a book called Sex.

So one can certainly understand how the middle finger would offend.

Or [b] she is a publicity whore.

If she had of been born on the other side of the river she would have been a great Tory minister, doncha think?

WFDS

4195...Hitler, Hitler, Hitler

Larry Miller, the Conservative MP, not the comedian, referenced Adolph Hitler and compared the long gun registry to the Nazi's policies for social engineering back in the day.

My Kingston Whig-Standard had Liberal reaction from both future leader Justin Trudeau and current head boy Bob Rae who pointed out that the first person to mention Mr. Hitler in a debate always loses.

I could be wrong but the NSDAP were kinda all for guns, no?

WFDS

4194...It's Back!

The death penalty.

Those fools over at the Ottawa Sun nearly made me spill my breakfast this morning when I read their editorial in favour of bringing back the noose.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would win a referendum but it is a stupid law that doesn't work. And even though the Sun seems to think that Paul Bernardo and Russell Williams would take the thirteen steps the reality is they are too pale and too affluent to take the drop.

Recent history shows that it is the poor and the tinted that get murdered by the state, often wrongly.

There are plenty of votes there though so I wouldn't be surprised if the Stephen Harper's bring back the noose.

WFDS

4193...I Hope Rathika Sitsabaiesan Gets It

It being the Ottawa Citizen. By the way Rathika Sitsabaiesan the Ottawa Citizen is a newspaper, the paper of record in Ottawa, where you work.

Ms. Sitsabaiesan is the Dipper MP from Scarberia who thinks Canada has 9 million souls living in it.

She be wrong/dumb.

Headlining the Ottawa Citizen online today is this gem:

Canada's population hits 33.5M

This is Jack Layton's legacy.

WFDS

4192...Breaking News

The NDP are having a leadership race.

Betcha cannot name three of the contenders without Googling it.

Betcha.

WFDS

4191...This Is Yer Capital, Ottawa

Prime Minister Harper is selling out our Seniors here in Canada and is in China selling out our economy.

Quebec, a third of the National Capital Region, is Quebec.

Yet tomorrow the front page of, at minimum, the Ottawa Sun, will be all about the Ottawa Senators losing their seventh in a row.

Bread and circuses.

WFDS

4190...Toronto Danforth: The Beginning

Of the end for the Dippers methinks.

Andrew Lang, the Liberal candidate that got torched by Jack Layton twice, was quoted by Tobi Cohen of Postmedia as saying that "The fact that the NDP picked a dud of a candidate really opens this wide open for us to take this riding back. This is our opportunity," he said.

The NDP of course are running good old Who's Dat.

WFDS

4189...Where Were You On This Day In 1964?

Most probably not alive but if you were you were all about the Fab Four.

It was on this day that popular culture was stood on its head by the arrival of John, Paul, George and Ringo in New York City.

It was only a couple of months after John Kennedy had been murdered in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald and America was still in mourning.

Right place, right time for The Beatles.

WFDS

4188...Parade Day For Giants

It is on right now. It has to be so cool to be wending through the canyons of Manhattan as a Super Bowl Champion.

Ratings say that over 100 million Americans watched some of the game which means 200 million did not. As big an event as the Super Bowl is it only reaches about 33 per cent of the populace.

Bread and circuses.

WFDS

4187...Eight Providences Make Up Canada

NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan thinks Canada has only 9 million people so it would follow that she might be a bit off regarding the province thingy.

Ironically Ms. Sitsabaiesan is an MP in the Greater Toronto Area which in and of itself has close to 9 large.

This is Jack Layton's legacy.

WFDS

4186...Happy Birthday To You

I didn't quite understand what was going on when I was watching the game on RDS.

My New York City friend Len Berman cleared it up: "Montreal Canadiens fans sarcastically sing Bonne Fête (French for Happy Birthday) as Scott Gomez, the team's highest paid player, 'celebrates' a full year without scoring a goal."

Getting paid for not doing what you are paid to do. Wow, Mr. Gomez could be a Canadian Senator.

WFDS

4185...Succeeding Jack Layton

It was in your paper this morning and my Montreal Gazette: "Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called a by-election for the riding formerly held by late NDP leader Jack Layton. The by-election for the Toronto-Danforth seat will take place March 12, less than two weeks before the NDP's leadership convention on March 24."

The Dippers are running Craig Scott, a 49 year old lawyer.

The riding was held by Dennis Mills, a Liberal, until 2004. Surprisingly, or, perhaps, considering how wobbly the Big Red Machine is these days, the Liberals haven't got a horse in the race yet.

WFDS

4184...Today's Reason To Drink

It is your Queen's 60th anniversary as Queen.

That includes you Kent Glowinski and you also Rachel Decoste.

Sixty years same job; bit of a throwback.

WFDS

4183...You Think Your Boss Is A Prick?

Bill Belichick, the coach of the New England Patriots, who are playing the New York Giants in the Super Bowl tonight, cut wide out Tiquan Underwood last night.

Y'gotta figure you are on the team when it is less than 24 hours until the final, final, f i n a l game of the season, eh?

Guess not.

WFDS

4182...The Ultimate Game Is Today

The Super Bowl.

The best Super Bowl quote ever comes from Duane Thomas, Dallas Cowboys, a star of Super Bowl V and VI. When asked what it was like to play in the Ultimate Game Mr. Thomas asked "If it is the ultimate game why do they play it every year?"

Kick off is at 6 20 Ottawa time.

WFDS

4181...What I Meant To Say Was

Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, a Stephen Harper, who earlier in the week said that he thought that capital murderers should be have access to a rope in case they wanted to perform a self capital punishment has now changed his tune.

Sorta.

It is being reported widely that the esteemed Cash-For-Lifer now says he is against the death penalty except in some cases.

Which, of course, means he is for the death penalty.

Gotta love those Tories.

WFDS

4180...Not A Good Time To Be A Chicken

According to The National Chicken Council, quoted in Wednesday's Globe And Mail, over 1.25 billion chicken wings will be devoured on Sunday.

The occasion is the Super Bowl.

Through in another 100 mill or so in Canada and you have a lot of chickens who have moved to, as they say on sports broadcasts all the time, the next level.

WFDS

4179...What Do You Get When...

...you cross a groundhog with the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Six more weeks of bad hockey.

Thank you, thank you very much, I am here all week. Try the veal and don't forget to tip your waiter.

WFDS

4178...Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

Wiarton Willie, in Wiarton, Ontario, did not see his shadow this morning which means that there will be an early spring. The National Post also reports that Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam also did not see his shadow, another vote for early spring.

In PA the news was not so good. Punxsutawney Phil is calling for more winter.

Two out of three ain't bad.

WFDS

4177...Mitt Romney Sounds Like Tim Hudak

The man who would be President of the United States, heaven forbid, Mitt Romney, told Soledad O'Brien on CNN that "...he's not concerned about the very poor..."

Sounds a lot like what the Ontario Tories believe.

I recall in the run up to the Oct '11 election interviewing a Conservative insider [and personal friend of mine] Blake Batson who essentially said the same when chatting with the WFDS on 93.1 CKCU in Ottawa.

Apparently the very poor are well taken care of with public housing [dangerous, long waiting lists], health care [virtually non existent except for emergency care in the States], dental care [what's that?] and, of course lots of free time.

The best part of the poor of course is that they have the good grace to die early than the rest of us.

WFDS

4176...Fab Is Back

As in Melo.

WFDS

4175...Give Them Enough Rope And...

...hopefully they will kill themselves.

That is the plan put forward by Stephen Harper appointed Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu. The Globe and Mail reports that the Senator, who is the founding president of the Murdered or Missing Persons’ Families Association, a group he established after his 27-year-old daughter, Julie, was abducted, raped and murdered by a repeat offender in 2002, believes that “Each assassin should have the right to a rope in his cell to make a decision about his or her life,” told reporters ahead of a meeting of the Conservative caucus on Wednesday.

The beauty of this plan is that it is both insane and p*ssed the Dippers off at the same time. Nycole Turmel and the NDP made this an issue during Question Period, wasting, as is their wont, everyone's time on red herrings.

WFDS

4174...This Is Where The Liberals Are Going

In my view the strength of the Liberal Party will be in and with its dynamic youth.

People like Denise Brundsen, Rachel DeCoste and Yasir Naqvi will be the face of the party well into the 2050's.

Another brilliant leader is Giovanna Mingarelli, In the article below from the Globe and Mail she relates her experiences as one of three Canadians in the Global Shapers Community at this year’s World Economic Forum:

A powerful new force of self-empowered change was introduced at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: the Global Shapers Community.

It’s composed of more than 600 young entrepreneurs from around the world, 70 of whom were invited to attend the conference. I was fortunate to be one of three Canadians on the list.

Global Shapers are between the ages of 20 and 30 – the millennial generation – and they have the passion, dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit to shape the future. More than 50 per cent of the world’s population is under the age of 27, so there’s no better group to voice how best to improve the state of the planet.

The theme for this year’s conference was The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models. Global Shapers were invited to participate in every pillar, ranging from new models of leadership to society and technology. I was chosen because of my background as an entrepreneur who has been using new technology – crowdsourcing – to take action on meaningful issues.

Throughout the week of Jan. 25, I helped lead several workshops and roundtables, ranging from how consumers become innovators, to climate change. In both cases, the trend was clear: crowdsourcing has become a force to be reckoned with.

The concept dates back to ancient Rome, where the emperor of the day would elicit a response from a crowd in an open forum by asking for calls in favour of or against an issue.

Today, we use the Internet to make the process more efficient. Crowdsourcing is defined as the outsourcing of a project or initiative through the web to a group of people to get something done. The tool has tremendous potential in the political and corporate worlds.

An excellent recent example occurred last year during the Arab Spring when thousands of young people crowdsourced political leadership change using Twitter, Facebook and SMS.

The millennial generation is demanding more dialogue and less monologue. It wants to be equally involved in the creation of products and policies, and work with companies and governments that are genuine and transparent. It often does not want to be part of traditional, outdated, top-down institutions.

That point was driven home in a Global Shapers workshop I participated in, where I was part of a team challenged to find solutions to what we saw as inadequate collaboration between governments, citizens, businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world.

My team members, who included Howard W. Buffett from the United States, Gen Miyazawa and Tamako Mitarai from Japan, and Jorge Soto Moreno from Mexico, concluded that the root of the problem lies in society’s outdated institutions. We identified a possible long-term solution: the effective use of new technology to facilitate collaboration and improve working relationships.

As a short-term solution, we created a list of immediate, actionable items available to anyone interested in signing on. These include sharing success stories about collaborative experiments with stakeholder groups; engaging political and corporate leaders to actively and transparently discuss how others can equally participate; and develop a “leadership pipeline” of young leaders – beginning in high school – to spearhead actions in support of this new vision.

As I left Davos, I was very optimistic about where social media and new technology can take us and how it can change the world for the better.

One question remains: What does a balanced model of strategic top-down leadership fused with self-empowered action look like?

The answer will be found in more dialogue and action by everyone.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Giovanna Mingarelli is the president and co-founder of M&C Consulting, a bilingual communications and crowdsourcing company that works with clients to transform opportunities into immediate, socially responsible action.


The Stephen Harpers are just an unfortunate blip in the history of Our Home And Native land.

WFDS

4173...It Is National Students Be Pissed Off Day

It has a more formal title of course but today is the day, at least in Ottawa, that Carleton and Ottawa U students march on Parliament Hill to hold Dalton McGuinty's feet to the fire re whatever promise he made to them this year.

I think it was 30 per cent off tuition this time and the students are going to the centre of federal government to hold the Premier of Ontario, a province, to task. I know, doesn't make sense to me either.

What also doesn't make sense is they, the [paid] student organizers and [paid] student officials have been doing this dance since the beginning of time, or, at least, the '90s, with the same results. They, the students, are ignored.

As Norman Einstein once said: "If you keep doing the same thing the same way expecting different results you are a stupid."

WFDS

4172...Terrible Start To Black History Month

Don Corneilus, Soul Train, put a bullet in his 75 year old head today at his LA home.

Reports indicate that the injuries were so extensive that Mr. Cornelius could only be identified because he was found in his beloved velvet leisure suit.

Dude's voice was so deep he made James Earl Jones sound like a chipmunk.


WFDS

4171...Welcome To Black History Month

February.

WFDS