Sun News TV - Freedom Weekend!

The market is where social structure and culture cross.
Daniel Bell, The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, p. 55

Are you going to go? Imagine! Discussions and "events" with your favorite Sun News personalities! Who could pass this up? Set at a very posh resort at Lake Rosseau, gee, you would think it was just like the first Bilderberg Group meeting. At over 200 km from Toronto there seems to be only one resort on the lake. It is called Windermere House. It markets itself as a "preferred" resort. What ever that means...

Dine on "ethical duck" with Ezra!

Just imagine the sheer elegance of it all. Words fail me, let me put it all into pictures...First, imagine dining with Ezra Levant! I mean that is a life changing event, no doubt. I always wondered what wine goes with perogies? Then, how hot would it be to watch the "stars" with Krista Erickson? You will just never be the same after that for sure...And then there is supposed to be snowshoeing with that fat cockey guy who's name escapes me. Sure sounds like a fine time, don't it?

Watch the "stars" with Krista!

Snowshoing with whats his name...

Why maybe in the down time from all these stimulating events you might have time to look into a fractional time share in the un-built phase n of that thriving cottage development. Hey! No pressure!

An "ethical duck" ready to be harvested from the Syncrude tailings pond in Alberta. Bon appetite!

'Harper Government' Meets The Invisible Hand

Men of wit always turn the discourse on subjects that are entertaining to the imagination ; and poets never present any objects but such as are of the same nature.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Book II, Part II, Section V, p. 358

What a difference a week makes! Or, who would have figured that the 'Harper Government' would have peaked over the hump so soon! It is all down hill from here Bubba! It is also amazing what you can glean from the Globe and Mail Friday edition. Why if you are very preceptive, and able to think critically in a sane and somewhat linear manner, you can figure out pretty much what is going to happen next week! Take for example the nice compact piece by Dean Beeby, entitled Truce called in CBC dispute...

Mad Hatter looks a lot like.....

It seems that the Tory members of the Access to Information and Ethics Committee have agreed to return the Pandoras Box of sealed CBC documents. I guess the thought of future endless feature programs analyzing the Tory Man Love Triangles from every possible angle (sic) has somewhat taken the inquisitive edge from the stark raving nuts Tory Bund. The Oracle of Ottawa has received  confirmation already that one Mad Hatter press baron in Quebec is just livid. It seems that all the money in the world and a strong Conservative majority is no match to having your hind grinding exposed on the "State Broadcaster" after all! Sort of like, Let's Make It Better, but not right now. I wonder if the Mad Hatter of Qu#b#c#r has figured it all out yet? What month of the day is it?

Mad Hatter & Counsel try to get Aljazeera
back into the Tea Pot....

But if one peruses the want ads at the back of the Report on Business one can see a real ground shaker coming down the road. Why, it seems that ALJAZEERA is coming to Canada! They are posting 15 positions, and a dozen of them are for many multiple candidates! All you poor bastards that have been suffering in abandoned industrial buildings in seedy industrial parks under the guise of Sun Media newsrooms, your Moses (Allah?)  just entered town! Brian Dunstan is going to go over the top after all! You can be a prick, you can have "the power", you can be a jerk that everyone is afraid of, you can pay as little as you can get away with, but only for a while. Even God couldn't run the Sun News empire by himself! Perhaps for the speculative types, a large short sale is in order, along with the purchase and sale of a raft of near options....There will be blood  and gold for the brave.

Even the dumbest Sun news "intern" serf can figure out who will pay more. Sun News Quebec, or ALJAZEERA of Doha, Qatar! It seems that ALJAZEERA is on a mission from God. Money is no object. Many "media" outlets of all persuasions are soon to be picked clean. It will be sheer heaven to watch one certain stock tank to utter oblivion... What insane actions will this cause? Will the police have to be called? Allo Police??

One day you are on top of the world, all powerful, the next day your toast! Will the Harper Government intervene in straight up good old fashioned capitalist competition? Any thing is better than Sun News...

Sun News TV - Spooked By Occupy Protests

The unequal distribution of income is the chief source of the periodic crises that regularly erupt. This is generally concealed in conventional economics by reference to an unexplained lack of demand.
Herbert I. Schiller, Living In the Number One Country, p. 195

For such an "un-event" Sun News TV has certainly spent an inordinate amount of time covering it! Ever since Saturday last, there  has been practically non-stop saturation of it. The Oracle of Ottawa puts it down to that recurring dream that all the right-wingers are having lately, you know that dream, the one where your minimum wage rent-a-cops lets in the rabble from the street and leads them to the inner sanctum...and then your illegal landscaping crew carves you up with gardening tools that you sold to them! Yeah that dream...

The 99% are coming....

Small media markets are a very hard dollar aren't they? And the way that Sun News goes after it it just keeps getting smaller! The spinning gets tighter and faster and the bottom keeps receding away at near the speed of light. Meanwhile in the sordid press division, the best banner reporters are worked to death, or as the HR thingy would say; fully multi-tasked. That is what all you youngster Sun News word slaves have to look forward to, death in a third rate industrial park "newsroom" way past your retirement, when you should be living on your acccolades and royalty cheques. You would all be better off writing a blog in public housing on welfare!

Speaking about public housing, what the hell is wrong with Krista Erickson? Ever since her long summer vacation I have noticed a marked and profound change in her appearance. Her once posh face is all sinew's and there is bumps and unevenness of the lips that is really gross. What the hell is up with that? And she is missing her cues and teleprompter reads. And it has all happened so fast and recently. Creepy as hell. I imagine in true Sun News corporate fashion they will run her till she drops on air for the ratings surge, no doubt...

Here is real journalism by Russia Today. There is a rumor in Ottawa that this is the network that is going to get Sun News TV's old Ontario channel slots after October 31, 2011...I can hardly wait, RT is just freaking excellent!

Alison Redford - A Monster Wrench In The Harper Gearbox!!

The idea, then, of causation must be deriv'd from some relation among objects; and that relation we must now endeavour to discover.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, p. 75

The sweat stains started to grow exponentially on the party dresses  from the Sun News TV skank locker and wardrobe, starting Friday morning last. As the Supreme Court of Canada decision on the legality of the Vancouver safe injection site was handed down. It was a total fail for the Conservative Party of Canada. The decision was unanimous; 9-0! Even the conservative justices stood to, and defended the Canadian Constitution! Pat Boland was really grossed out, not at the decision, but rather at that gross, quickly expanding sweat stain on his co-host, but with his usual grace and professional aplomb he marched through. Total class.

The Tory gear box....

Meanwhile in the House last week, the Conservatives omnibus crime bill was made to look pretty stupid. The bullshit  was overwhelmed by the facts as provided by the Opposition and mostly Joe Comartin. The recent release of Steven Pinkers latest book entitled; "The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and Its Causes" is going to be pretty embarrassing to the Conservatives when those uppity young NDP types start quoting from it to Rob "The Knob" Nicholson...Not to mention the fact that Mr. Pinker is a fine lad that hails from Montreal... This could all get really embarrassing!
 
Then it was Sunday morning and I was tuning into the Sun News for the ever pleasant Brian Dunstan when I saw the tape at the bottom of the screen tell me that Alison Redford won the job for the head of the provincial Alberta Conservative Party!! Why she will be the Premier of Alberta! How did this happen? Well the Oracle of Ottawa will tell you... While the PMO was meddling and the old farts were playing "bigger dick", it seems that Alison scooped the unattended sack of nuts and scurried to the finish line in a doddle! I have provided a link to all her achievements, since they are too numerous to include in this post. Check it out, it is a most excellent CV!! Red Tory is an understatement! She is a good liberal in the great and classic tradition.
This of course will and already is sending shock waves through Ottawa! I was pretty sure I heard Steve screaming at 24 Sussex from my secure bunker in the South end of Ottawa!! And it is all only starting...

The Oracle of Ottawa can't tell you how the provincial election in Ontario is going to turn out, but I would bet that it is not going to be the Prime Ministers liking...And to have to deal with an Alberta Premier that totally out classes him and is way better looking will be toxic to all future endeavors...Who thought that things would get so interesting so fast?

Rob "The Knob" Nicholson should have talked to Professor Pinker first??

Sun News Network Abandons License !

Unfair exchange, pillage, robbery and all manner of other coercive practices can sustain such systems for a while. But in the end it becomes necessary to master production itself in order to resolve the fundamental contradiction between the equality presupposed by exchange and the inequality required to gain profit.
David Harvey, The Limits To Capital, p. 33

It is very seldom that an article in a broad sheet newspaper can utterly floor the Oracle of Ottawa. But this Friday past, an article written by Susan Krashinsky  in the Globe And Mail, in the Report On Business section, page B3 certainly moved the earth under this readers feet! The said article was entitled; "Sun News abandons free spot on the dial" with the tag line; "At the end of October, the news channel will only be available through subscription services". Apparently "free access" will end in Ottawa at the end of August for "administrative" reasons and then throughout the rest of Ontario on November 01 2011! Total victory? I simply couldn't believe it! I read the article several more times.. Then I cut it out and saved it in my day journal, what a total victory!!

Sunset at Sun News?

If you read the article, the wording is really kind of weird, which I believe is reflecting caution.So I went to the Rogers television website, and at the right bottom of the page you can find your province and then enter your city for your plan and the channel list will open in a pop-up. And the lads at Rogers are certainly not letting the grass grow under their feet on this issue! They have already updated the channel list and channel 66 is no more! As of midnight Wednesday August 31 the Oracle of Ottawa will be in a Sun Free Zone ! So one can then assume that the rest of the province of Ontario will be in Sun Free Zones at the end of October. Before I watch Charlie Rose on August 31, I will dial up channel 66 and watch it go to noise! The Oracle of Ottawa will enjoy this greatly!! GOOD RIDDANCE!!

We hardly got to know ye!!

What do you think the chances are that Sun News Network will have a "specialty agreement" with Rogers and Cogeco by the end of this month or the end of October? From the already updated channel list I would have to say that chance is less than zero! Thank You Rogers!! And what do you think the chances are that someone will select a specialty package with Sun News Network in it? Yeah, about zero...Notice to all employees: Please return all on air costumes to the Skank Locker at central wardrobe.....

It was only last Saturday in the Ottawa Sun newspaper that the great Canadian journalist marc dunn wrote on page two that "We Will Not Be Muzzled!". Did the great journalist know at that time that management had already sold them out, or did the said "journalist" write a lie to keep a smile on the faces of the on air types until the end of August in Ottawa and the end of October in the other parts of Ontario?....Insert the word perfidy anywhere...

                                                        " There are no  Sacred Cows..."

The Soiled Sunset Of Sun News TV

Corporations now govern society, perhaps more than governments themselves do; yet ironically; it is their very power, much of which they have gained through economic globalization, that makes them vulnerable.
Joel Bakan, The Corporation, p. 25

The Oracle of Ottawa has never been much of a purveyor of "two-bit" journalism. But when the significant other requests that I pick up a copy of the Ottawa Sun paper on Saturday I always oblige. Since the said great paper is published in tabloid format, and is composed of the old style newsprint, it is ideal for the cat box and the bird cage. It never comes into the house to be actually read.

Sun Set At Sun News?

As I was dividing up the work of masterful journalism as per routine, I came across the compact article on page two written by one mark dunn entitled "We Will Not Be Muzzled" updating the Sun nation on the progress of the pending Sun News clash with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council. The article ended with the admission that Sun News Media is accountable to its audience and the courts... I think perhaps that someone should inform mister dunn that the four thousand complaints filed with the CBSC did originate with the audience! D'uh!!

Present Editorial Policy??

And on page ten the Oracle of Ottawa was shocked and amused to find the editorial was also about the pending clash with the not too amused lads down at the CBSC. Both articles, as per Sun policy, were to this readers eye written in the standard belligerent tone of; You can't tell us what to do! But it sure seems that some one is getting ready to! As the Oracle of Ottawa predicted from day one, the Sun News TV Network has been a total train wreck. And it just seems to be getting worse...

Morning editorial meeting at Sun News TV....

In less than a year the great "network" has lost three front line talking heads already! The first was gone even before she got on the air, the second vanished without a trace around Canada Day, Theo, Theo what his name? Remember him? And the third guy, well this is really weird... The next great man was touted all through the month of July in the little bitty promo clips, starting in August! Starting in August!? When exactly?  Well damn the month is half over already, and the Oracle of Ottawa is still waiting...and channel dipping, but no great man today that is starting in August!?  I am sure there is a great reason for the delay, but I suppose that western canadian cowboy rules prevent the information from actually being disseminated. You know the drill; Never complain. Never explain, and always ride for the brand! (By the way, I wonder how Krista is doing in Spain....and which brand do you think she is riding for right now?)

But this third great man is a cagey bastard. Micheal, Micheal, what his name? During the early days he was all ass kissy and sweet, doing everything to ingratiate himself, however and whenever...Then he gets the big break and poof! He has simply vanished like Theo whats his name... Now the thing that the minor minions and dandruff that is in front of the camera and directly behind the camera at Sun News TV have got to be asking themselves is, what did Micheal what his name know that we don't know?

For the management: Capitalism as explained by David Harvey

Sun News TV - Right Wing Bias Fail...

The scientific world is to be less threatening than was feared. It is to be made safe for human beings. And the way to make it safe is to reflect on the foundations of knowledge.
Simon Blackburn, Think, Knowledge, p. 17

The News Gods have been good to the Oracle of Ottawa. As soon as Parliament went on its summer break I thought that in the depths of the summer doldrums I would be down to writing little daily essays on "focus words" randomly selected from the Chicago Manual of Style or esoteric words selected from the Oxford English Dictionary. But alas, the totally unexpected collapse of the world wide right wing has kept the Oracle very busy.

The right wing wacko's take another hit...

I was hoping to catch the utter spectacle of the Murdoch family grilling by a British House of Commons committee. Perhaps there would be some live excerpts on CPAC or the BBC perhaps latter in the day. Little did I expect that it would be on every news network! Save and except Sun News TV! After discovering the hearings on every available network on my cable package I thought I would see how bad a job Sun News could make out of it! I stumbled into the dregs of the "Round Table" with poor Pat Bolland doing his best to rescue Alex Pierson from herself. Poor Pat Bolland! I tuned out when the wacked Alex was going on about breast feeding a doll at the mall??

But alas, even Sun News knew that it had to follow the leaders again in changing the program routine to stop the rating meter from  going  to zero. The little East Indian real estate agent was clearly miffed and and all but indignant as the elegant and graceful Brian Dunstan was called in to perk up the snore-fest! It was a hoot to watch the body language!The little Anita standing tall, projecting her little puppies like a junior real estate agent getting screwed out of her 1.5% commission on a three way town house sale in the skid-row part of Toronto!

It was a very eventful day all in. The pieing of Rupert Murdoch, the astounding progress of the big budget deal down in Washington, as I predicted, again who has the most to lose from a default? The Republicans! Not the Democrats! And when you got the goods out of the bin Laden cave many opinions will change for ever and for good. Just as I told you earlier Dear Readers. It seems that the Oracle of Ottawa can see several weeks ahead in the "news cycle".

The hoot of the day was to occur latter on Canada Live hosted by the patron of Canadian Arts, Krista Erickson! It was the first time that the bubbly Krista had the look of abject panic as the elegant Brian Dunstan was segmented into her show! But you had to know it was going to happen. I mean management has over 4,000 reasons to seek her replacement! The Oracle of Ottawa is making the call that Miss Krista does not have long to go...

Somewhere in the expanse of Quebec there is an exclusive golf and country club. And a table in the back, in the smoke and low lights there sits the bug-eyed crazy heir and son of a half great Canadian media wanna be empire. He is contemplating the train wreck of the Sun News dream. The nonexistent ratings, the circus of the 4,000 outstanding complaints that will not go away. The CRTC hearings, the threats from the Conservative party establishment, that will soon start to wrench the spokes of the bigger wheel of the above mentioned media empire, all of the other parts of which turn a pretty penny compared to the train wreck that Sun News TV has turned out to be.The rumor is that the plug will be pulled quietly in the second week of August, the dog days of summer, when no one is watching... By Labour Day no one will even remember Sun News TV, it will be like it never even happened.

The visual quality is a little off, but the words are perfect. Enjoy the collapse of the Right Wing global agenda!

Brian Dunstan - What A Nice, Pleasant Man!

"much of the writing on the Internet could as easily be posted in spray paint on the side of a bus."
Lewis H. Lapham, Waiting For The Barbarians, The Spanish Armadillo, p. 166

The Oracle of Ottawa has an eye for talent. It is not often that one observes a media personality with a presence of an Komla Dumor, the diction of an Alastair Yates, the calm ability to probe of a Charlie Rose and most important, the gravity of a Peter Mansbridge! It is even rarer that this on air personality should appear on the Oracle of Ottawa's radar screen while engaged on a gig at Sun News TV!

Brian Dunstan World Coverage

One has to question the effectiveness of the methods of the human resources staff at the Sun News Network! What failed in the recruitment of the two high fliers that have recently crashed and burned in the most spectacular fashion? Was not enough money payed to the contracted head-hunters? Were the failed candidates not forced through enough hoops and the dozen interviews? How now in hindsight could they have been so bold as to for-go the standard wiring tests and resume checks? Perhaps as an exercise, all the members of the Sun News HR department should prepare all his other peers pink slips! First thing Monday morning! Chop! Chop!

Where Brian should be...

The Oracle of Ottawa has to commend Mr. Dunstan on his poise and bottomless patience of being the only eagle in the presence of a flock of poxed turkeys! It has been a hoot to watch! A lot of ways it is like watching Krista in reverse! The saturated red and blue sets that make the honkies look like dirty vanilla ice cream cones with hair, is for Mr. Dunstan, with his rich full medium complexion, quite flattering indeed! It appears to the Oracle of Ottawa that the sets were designed just for him! It is truly another discovered paradox of unregulated capitalism and free markets that a fill-in personality, hired with the utmost haste and under the most crushing duress, turns out to be the best personality Sun News has! (laugh out loud...)

Brian would be great here also!

Mr. Dunstans presence and obvious leadership skills, which he executes effortlessly, about his much lesser peers is to the Oracle of Ottawa poetry in motion! It is particularly entertaining to the Oracle of Ottawa to watch the ambitious, but sadly untalented lick-spittle male peers grovel in wonder and dread, for the faint hope of basking in the richness of Mr Dunstans sweet dark light. But realizing, alas, that they are only making the big Brian even better looking! Thanks for the contrast honey! 

Who knows? The talent is there!

But, alas, it won't last for long... Soon the gifted Mr. Dunstan will be snatched by the CBC or the BBC or maybe even a very nice rich American network affiliate in the southern United States! Say Dallas, or Augusta. The Oracle of Ottawa has no doubt that Mr. Dunstan will go very far indeed! The main reason for this is that Mr. Dunstan does not wanna'be, he knows that he was born to be. Contrary to present management philosophy, the viewers can tell the difference!   

As far as the Oracle of Ottawa is concerned, Brian Dunstan is as good as Komla Dumor! And will no doubt have as bright a future.

Sun News TV - Yes, You Didn't See It! - Constable Styles Funeral Outrage -

All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind. 
Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, Section 1, paragraph 18, lines 12-14

The Oracle of Ottawa had hoped to cover many varied and interesting subjects in this humble blog. But just as soon as I think I can forget about Sun News TV finally, they shock with an even greater travesty then the one that preceded it! Today at 2:57 p.m. another new low was hit.

Canadian Police Memorial

 Today was the funeral of Constable Garrett Styles. It was carried on all three Canadian News Networks. Two of these networks did it with the greatest respect. One of these networks did not. There are certain times and occasions in Canada and especially in Ontario when the "bottom line" goes out the window. Premier Dalton McGuinty made time to address the assembled mourners. The under funded "state broadcaster" CBC, and CTV News Net run the whole length of the funeral without commercial interruption. Sun News TV did not. At 2:57p.m. as the casket of the slain officer was being carried down the steps, Sun News TV decided that the running of a two minute Doctor Ho commercial was more important... A quick check between channels indicated the integrity of the other two national news carriers, who stayed with the event coverage.

It's no picnic out there...

 At three p.m. sharp it was the standard entrance of the celebrated on air personality Krista Erickson   replete in her customary skank party dress, complete with her usual "shits and giggles" demeanor. The only thing that this viewer thought was missing was the street light...A quick check to the other two national carriers indicated that they stayed with the funeral, missing their top of hour advertising points, which this viewer was very impressed by. I just couldn't believe what I saw.

This was the exact two minute commercial run by Sun News TV at 2:57p.m. (E.S.T) as the casket of Constable Garrett Styles was being carried past his Honour Guard. I have no doubt that the "Thin Blue Line" have their own ways of dealing with this incredible diss'.
 

Sun News TV - Krista Erickson - The Saddest Thing

In order to recognize a symbol by its sign we must observe how it is used with a sense.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico - Philosophicus, 3.326, p.19

Watching the 21:00 slot of Brian Lilley on July 02, 2011, I was amazed to learn that there are now over 4,000 public complaints with the appropriate public authority concerning Sun News TV! Why that can't possibly be true! According to their ratings that means that darn near everyone that watched complained!? And I was very shocked to hear Mr. Lilley himself admit that the very on-air presence was being threatened!

I was also shocked, shocked to hear of the news that the great man Theo Caldwell as of June 27, 2011 is no longer with Sun News TV! I suppose that means that the Caldwell Account has been closed? And much to my amazement and utter surprise the great mans article on Wikipedia is now a mere shadow of itself! And is again up for Speedy Deletion! (unreferenced claims, self promotion and lack of notability..ouch!!)  Everything is happening so fast!

Under Siege...

But alas! The main subject of this humble missive concerns the subject of the Krista Erickson interview with the Great Canadian Margie Gillis.Although this interview happened on June 01, 2011 it has taken that long for the fragile left leaning presence and persona of the Oracle of Ottawa to heal and repair.. But onward we must go! It was at the end of the interview that just floored me. I have included that video below for reference. I will align all my comments, to the time signature of this video so that you can follow along.. I am sure that there will be a ton of people at the authorities that will also appreciate this...

At 1:40 Krista goes on about why the Canadian Government should not subsidize something that is not profitable? Just before this whooper she somehow compares funding of the arts to the 155 young Canadians that have fallen in Afghanistan? But yet the Conservatives seem to have all the money in the world to "subsidize" war! So is Ms. Erickson telling me that the Conservatives are making money from the war in Afghanistan?

Krista Erickson (2:00-3:00) gets on the very dodgy argument and takes great offense with Ms. Gillis when she rightly points out that the Canadian society is starting to lack compassion. But again all I can think about here is the lack of compassion of the Conservatives as they send our flower of youth to die on a flea infested road. And I also remember, and very well (see earlier post..)  about how I overheard a minister of the Crown  (i.e.a former Defense Minister..) being advised in a Hortons coffee shop, somewhere in Kanata, that if you want Canada to be a "World Power" that you had to get the population over the upsetting fact of young men returning in body bags! Point to Ms. Gillis....

Poor Krista ( 5:00-6:00) still seems to be under the impression that when you receive grant money that the artist just goes away and pisses it away in a huge debauch! I have a very strong feeling that it does not work this way! Receiving grant money is a lot like signing a book deal... you get an advance of money, but you are legally obligated to provide something in return as specified in the contract! For example in Ms. Gillis' case she would no doubt be obligated to hold a certain number of master classes, in Canada and abroad representing the finest that Canada has to offer to the world. Now 1.5 million dollars over a 39 year career is not much better then working at a third level Canadian media outlet! 

The saddest part was right at the end! (8:00-10:59) Where Margie says that if you had a solution to world conflict wouldn't you want to do it, to try it? And the reply of Ms. Erickson; "But were not going to take money from the tax payers..."  That was the saddest thing I have ever heard a Canadian say...

Part II of the Margie Gillis interview. time references to the bits that really troubled me and why as per above.... God help us all...

Sun News TV - Civil Service Reality Check -

The state of perpetual emptiness is, of course, very good for business. 
Lewis H. Lapham, Money And Class In America, Chapter 3, p. 59

One good thing about Sun News TV is that they never let the facts get in the way of a poor story. It was sometime on Tuesday afternoon and the big news was that 24 people at Public Works lost their jobs! We are well on the way to paying off the deficit! Oh man, and then the wailing really started! The incredible size of the civil service, it being beyond control! The astounding number of civil servants must be reduced, must be cut. I swear I could hear the long lost wail of Preston Manning, eeee-limmmm-aaannnn-ateee the deficit!

Well the Oracle of Ottawa perked up, perhaps the hapless hack of a guest had information, that the Oracle of Ottawa was not privy to! I must cover this breaking story like the Mint 400! But alas Dear Reader there was no new information! The guest haplessly babbled that there are over 420,000 civil servants in Canada! Now that includes everyone drawing a Federal pay cheque. From the Governor General down to the newest, ugliest, penis headed, private in boot camp of the Canadian Forces! Let us put that in perspective. There are at this very moment, about 35,000,000 Canadians. So 420,000 divided by 35,000,000, times one hundred, and that gives an astounding 1.20% of the Canadian population is involved in the administration and defense of the whole country of Canada!

Everyone showed up at the last Tory Convention!

Why if we keep up this pace, the great man Thomas Flanagan will be proved correct after all! We will not be able to decide anything, because there will be soon no one in charge! Sorry, as Prime Minister of Canada I regret to inform the Canadian people that I am going to have to fire myself.... God help us all! Good Night!! Of course this announcement will be done somewhere on the Sparks Street Mall on top of a wooden orange crate, as the former location of the Ottawa CBC is now a legalized rub parlour. And the door man looks really familiar!  Hmmmm.....

Meanwhile in other news! It is with the deepest regret that the great man in the present form of Theo Caldwell, is being deleted from Wikipedia, under speedy deletion! " Due to web and article content that does not credibly indicate the importance or significance of the subject! "  To add insult to injury, as to press time there have been no contests to this request. So I guess I was not the only one that thought... Breaking News! The 24 lost jobs at Public Works are now 12 lost jobs! Poor Krsita Erickson was so disappointed!

This is the way Liberty dies....

The Western Canadian Barley Teaser Rate

"a reasonable person's beliefs change according to the state of the persons knowledge."
Irving M. Copi, Carl Cohen, Introduction to Logic, 8th edition, p. 462

The Oracle of Ottawa does not know shit about farming! But he does know that although people may not always need oil and gas, they will always have to eat! People have always chided the Oracle of Ottawa for the "risk" he takes when picking and buying his own stocks... but when the Oracle of Ottawa contemplates the Western Canadian farmer planting his section in the springtime (One section = 640 acres = 1 square mile?) he realizes what risk is really all about! There have been times when the Western oil and gas producers have said "Let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark!" But for the life of him, the Oracle of Ottawa cannot find a reference of any Western Canadian farmer ever saying " Let the Easterners starve in the dark!".

Real Power...

As stated in many earlier posts to this humble blog, the Oracle of Ottawa gets very nervous and alarmed when he see's venerable Canadian institutions come under attack and assault. The latest instance was just last week when the precedent was set by the Conservative government of employing "Final offer arbitration"
in the solution of large labour disputes. Totally irresponsible talk of changes to the Canadian Senate is absolute red meat to the base at home, but in reality, it is a reckless play with the fires of chaos. Another institution that has come under attack is the Canadian Wheat Board. Now even to an Ontario city slicker, this is scary talk.

More powerful than nuclear weapons?

When the Oracle of Ottawa hears the likes of Ezra Levant pinging off of the CWB on Sun News TV, you have to start to worry. Who is who lobbying for now? When you have a Prime Minister saying that Canada is going to be a "world power" and then threaten to close down the CWB you got to start wondering about imbalances on axis three and four... Canada is a G8 country. There is no way that we can field a million man army in the field like India or China can. But we can decide who gets to eat! That is more powerful then all the armies in the world! During the cold war this power of the grain bin allowed Canada to punch way beyond its reach. Why would we abolish the one true lever we as a nation  have in geopolitical world power?

Heavens knows there are a few irritants with the CWB. And these problems are very repairable. But the guy in southern Alberta that can truck his barley to a mill in the States and get "more" money is a compelling story. But what about the guy in the northern parts of the western provinces? Will that "teaser" barley price still stand up when the CWB is gone and you have to deal with Cargill, ADM, and Monsanto? Will it really? I doubt it!

Canadian Wheat Board, A global brand!

But you western farmers can prove this to yourself. Call your provincial MLA and ask him/her if the western provinces can buy or rather assume the CWB from the Federal government? They want to get rid of it don't they? Now call your Federal member of Parliament and ask the same question... Well go ahead... No answer, that is strange... Beware the the Barley Teaser Rate!

 
What else would you close with? All the best to the farmers out west.

James Moore Bans Doctor Ho, Saves Canada Day!

Philosophy starts when something goes wrong.
Robert M. Martin, There Are Two Errors In The The Title Of This Book, p. xv

Things must be going south fast at Sun News TV! Today was the day that Ann Coulter was to appear on the Ezra Levant section at 5:00pm local time. But alas Dear Reader it was a total non-event! The Oracle of Ottawa postulates that the memories of that near riot of welcome that the said Ms. Coulter experienced at an unrequited
University of Ottawa appearance, some winters ago, must still be fresh in her memory! She was more boring than a conservative house wife at an Ottawa City Council Meeting! Why the Oracle of Ottawa must fess up and admit that he fell asleep about half way through. But the time was not lost. Another quite unexpected issue came up that the Oracle of Ottawa feels compelled to report to the massive readership of this humble blog.

CBC saves Canada Day!

 It is with deep regret that the Oracle of Ottawa must report that Sun News TV will not be allowed to transmit the Canada Day show starting at noon on July 01, 2011. Apparently this right has been secured by the CBC for the a small sum of $600,000. One of the restrictions is that the show must be transmitted with out commercial interruption. All other events are wide open to the "other" Canadian media outlets. But for some unknown reason this caused the personage of Mr. Levant to go off like I have never seen him go off before! Why even his new blue tinted high-tech glasses fogged up! He was hotter than a deep fried motza-ball! It was all mighty entertaining and left the Ann Coulter interview mere anti-climax. It seems strange to this scribe, that  with the backing of the one of the largest media giants in Canada, Sun News TV couldn't come up with a paltry six hundred large!? Is there information in this admission of empty pockets?

A.Y. Jackson, Red Maple - Jimmy Moore got religion...

Apparently there is much relief at Heritage Canada and the Office of James Moore that there will not be Doctor Ho foot insole kiosks every 100 meters down the length of Wellington Street and the Sparks Street Mall after all! This caused Mr Levant to rail on about Mr. Moores sexual orientation, due to his "boyfriends" at the CBC! Well I never! As the Oracle of Ottawa feared the Conservative hardly washed are finally realizing that their boy may have gone Rogue! Yes indeed! Corrupted by the French girls in Hull and the bright lights of Ottawa! Instead of getting his dinner at the cheapest American burger chain, it seems that Mr. Moore has spent much time incognito at the National Gallery of Canada especially in the great room of the permanent display of the Group of Seven were he experienced an epiphany of the discovery of the Canadian Dream! He was allowed by the gods to enter the vortex... He has never been the same since... Canada will do that to you every time!

Reform Party love child...

 James Moore does have a real problem here. When other Conservatives, especially those with roots back to the Reform Party, start calling you a Liberal on provincial television, you are soon to be found under the bus! Complete with unproven allegations of snorting cocca-cola from the breast of a very attractive hooker! Soon you will be an independent, expelled from the caucus, and will no doubt bring down the whole show, why, just like Chuck Cadman! A truly Great Canadian at the end of his days...    

Damn the CBC! She was never the same after this....

Sun News TV - Richard Zussman - What Did They Saw?

Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say. 
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, IV,4

Now the Oracle of Ottawa is no grammarian by any means. But I do make every attempt to craft each word, phrase and blog post into a work of art, as yet unfunded by the Canadian Arts Council or Heritage Canada. And it is quite flattering to the personage of the Oracle of Ottawa, that he is more gifted at the turn of a word and the music and rhythm of a phrase and passage then some professional media hacks now at large.And in the case of one Richard Zussman the Oracle of Ottawa is even a more popular media personality, as measured by page view stats on Wikipedia! This is all quite extraordinary since the Oracle of Ottawa is blue collar and has not had one tenth of the education that my grammatically perplexed friend claims to have!

Paulis St. Gallen

But the great Mr. Zussman should not despair, Hunter S. Thompson didn't even finish high school and by Wikipedia page views he is more popular and thence, more important then F. Scott Fitzgerald! Oh my, indeed! Also, and this should be of great interest to the neo-conservative right, Karl Marx is three to four times more important than Adam Smith!  But I digress...

This faux-pas happened last week while the breathless Mr. Zussman was trying to regal the philistine Krista Erickson with his best Vancouver Cannuck "Green Man" imitation. Which truth be told was a total disaster! (also Mr. Zussman, I don't think Krista even likes guys...) The part where the microphone got caught in his shirt sleeve while striping to his green spandex was a total hoot! The next day the famous grammatical blooper "What did they saw?" slipped out... Oy vey! You want I should write you a cheque Mr. Zussman?

Still I'm Sad - Yard Birds 1965 - The Jeff Beck Version..... And no screw - ups!!

Sun News TV - Senator Runciman - The Supreme Court

I affect not reserves, which I do not feel. 
The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, No. 1

Poor Mark Bonokoski, a seasoned scribe of many scrolls, a pulsing Pole with now leaking pontoons, a once heretical hack in search of his hatchet... How low does a man have to go to keep a crummy job in this country? It all seems a dream now, I still can't believe all that I thought I heard, on the Ezra Levant space of the Wednesday last. It was the section containing the utter and absolutely mad ravings of  Senator Bob Runciman. As he waxed wise and sober of his opinions of what a Supreme Court of Justice should be. All I could think of is the best way to reform the Canadian Senate is to start putting better people into it.

Truth - Hangs in the balance...

There is nothing that chokes the Oracle of Ottawas chicken worse then when a low life moron attacks great Canadian Institutions. Especially a low life moron, that has some how managed to infest a great Canadian Institution! That is really galling. The Canadian People's patience has been sorely tested by Sun News TV. I admit that watching Sun News TV (so that you don't have to) has raised my resistance to disgust to unimagined levels. I was coping really well until, the great senator started on about something to the effect that Supreme Court Justices in Canada shouldn't be required to have perfect working fluency  in both of Canada's official languages. Did I hear this right?

What kind of person would the Oracle of Ottawa appoint to the highest court in the land? Well dear reader, as you know from earlier posts to this blog, the Oracle loves the posh, best and the brightest. As a result I do not have any Conservative friends at all! The Supreme Court of Canada enjoys a world famous reputation. The calibre of the justices are also world renowned. Candidates for the Supreme court do not grow on stupid trees in Winnipeg!        

The darkness of the Tory Bund descends...

The Oracle of Ottawa knows that the profession of the Law is all about language! So my candidate would for certain be able to speak both French and English. But the Law has been practiced by humans for thousands of years. The Oracle of Ottawa likes depth in his candidates! So, therefore, the Oracle of Ottawa language requirement for Supreme Court Justice is: (1) Hebrew (2) Greek (3) Latin (4) French (5) Middle English (6) English. For a minimum $300,000 per year gig, I do not think the above language requirement unduly rigorous. Even more is required. A deep grounding in Philosophy, Logic, Rhetoric, and the Classics would do a lot for that warm furry feeling of the safety and security of my Canada as I lay me down to rest...

Even now The Oracle of Ottawa hears the protests of the Conservative philistines. There has never been any body in history that even comes close to this outlandish demand! And what difference would it make if you could find someone like this? All the Oracle of Ottawa can do is answer: Bora Laskin. 

The only footage I could find of Senator Runciman NOT in over his head! Contains a cameo appearance of Tim -Chain Gang - Hudak... Also note the symbolism at the very end of the footage....Hmmmm....

Does Theo Caldwell Add Up?

Exitus acta probat. (The ends justify the means.)
Publius Ovidius Naso, Heroides, (The Heroines), II, 85.

Who is Theo Caldwell? The Great Man has a near flagship gig on Sun News TV. Each day the ranting is more animated, the subject being discussed more obscure, the hands and arms flapping about in darn near as elegant a fashion as that of the Great Canadian Margie Gillis! Could all that "Swan Hands" flap have been caused about Mr. Caldwell having discovered his inner Margie? Sometimes discoveries of ourselves are not always welcomed. Examples abound in history.

Donkey...

The Oracle of Ottawa has provided a link to the Wikipedia article of Mr. Caldwell. "He is president of Caldwell Asset Management, and serves on the board of directors of Caldwell Financial, a diversified investment firm with operations throughout North America and around the globe. Caldwell Financial and its subsidiaries provide investment management, brokerage and insurance services to private clients, municipalities, charities and foundations, as well as private and public corporations." My goodness, that is pretty impressive! Why in heavens name does he bother to show up on a third-rate news network, that has ratings of a channel test pattern? The article gets better! (Did you ever hear of, say, a cabinet minister slinging beer in Hull after cabinet meetings?..me neither...)

  

                                        What in heavens name are these guys going on about??

It seems that Mr. Caldwell is a dual American-Canadian citizen? But the article does not state his place of birth or his parentage. And for good measure he also holds an Irish passport. Mr.Caldwell was educated at Upper Canada College, he also has a B.A. in English from Trinity College, University of Toronto. And for icing on the cake, he also claims a Masters of Science degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of London, United Kingdom. Excuse me dear reader but all this sounds pretty elite to me! And isn't one of the main Sun News TV tag-lines - The elites have always set the agenda? - To the best of my knowledge, even Pierre Elliot Trudeau, didn't have a shopping bag full of passports! 

One wonders with all the listed duties and doings of the many boards and all, how Mr. Caldwell can justify the wasted time at the Desk of "The Caldwell Account" ? I am sorry to be so cynical and all, but does this add up to you? The real shaky part of the article is the claim that Mr. Caldwell " Has been a member of ", The New York Stock Exchange (!),  The American Stock Exchange, (!) The Kansas City Board of Trade, (!)and for good measure The Chicago Board Options Exchange! To the best of my knowledge, to be a "member of an American Exchange you must own a seat on that Exchange! A seat on the New York Stock Exchange is worth at present tens of millions of dollars at least! Costs of seats on the other exchanges mentioned are roughly valued in the seven to eight figure range... Yet he decides to come to preach to us peasants? Does this add up to you?

Maybe he is a "Great Man" and has decided to give of his wealth and genius to show us mere mortal peasants the true way... But yet, at the closing this missive, one more thing does not add up...isn't it for the elites that the performing arts exist? And if Mr. Caldwell is an elite...why is it that he goes ballistic over the far fringe of Canadian Performing Arts? 

                                                I mean, really, who would you rather watch?

What Is Canada Without Its Institutions?

Everything we did was done in form and with propriety, and the result of our proceedings is the document [the Quebec Resolutions] that has been submitted to the imperial government as well as to this house and which we speak of here as a treaty. And that there may be no doubt about our position in regard to that document we say, question it you may, reject it you may, or accept it you may, but alter it you may not. (Hear, hear.)
Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Legislative Assembly, February 9, 1865

Well my fellow Canadians, we know what is up on the chopping block on the first ninety days. The per-vote subsidy, the Senate, the CBC. Tuning into the Conservative war room feed, moderated by Krista Erickson on Sun News TV, I also learned that other useless things such as the Business Development Bank and the Post Office are also in the soon to be dumped bag of kittens!

The McGee curse is upon ye...

Well, what is the sense of Canada even existing at all? Why don't we just call the place Walmart? That is the hidden agenda. Can you imagine traveling to strange places all over the world and not being able to listen to the CBC on short-wave radio? Can you imagine serving on a Canadian warship and not being able to tune into the CBC?! Hell another reason not to join! Yes Sir, Spend Less - Live Better.. Better than what?

I have said it before and I will say it again... It grieves the Oracle of Ottawa to no end that a bunch of arse sniffing alpha dog wanna be's have subverted the democratic system and are on a goat - fuck of a train wreck. As I write this, no doubt, the Premier of Quebec is cabling the French government and getting ready for Quebec's entry to the European Union. They will not tolerate this attack on the governmental infrastructure.  When the insects start to swarm in sight of Parliament Hill it is not a good omen at all.

Was it all for nought?....

Now at the end of the day it has leaked out that the Tory Bund is going to introduce Treason legislation!? The present treason code combined with the Official Secrets Act is all but leak proof! But that is just the cover story. Way in the back of this updated treason bill is a comprehensive bit about putting the nuts to bloggers and it will be looser then the private parts of the oldest working Byward Market ho! If there is one thing that fascists really hate is people really telling them what they really think. I can only hope that you people in the traditional print media and all you people watching out for our civil rights are paying very close attention.

This for some reason seems to fit...Enjoy while you still can.....