CRTC - Let's Talk TV Hearings

I must not saw off the branch on which I am sitting.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, Sec. 55, p. 31

The Oracle of Ottawa has been watching television for darn near as long as television has been around. My earliest memory is watching The Friendly Giant on the mother ship of the world famous CBC. It was pretty awesome on the 26 inch Zenith with the wooden curtains! The whole broadcast universe back then consisted of less than five channels. The Oracle still has very vivid memories of watching the development of the United States Gemini space program. And I can still vividly remember that summer night when man first walked on the moon, and the screams of my mother when Oswald was capped on live television. Television back then was important.

Television - Finally at the fork in the road?

 Now the Oracle of Ottawa watches his television on a bitchin' 42 inch Samsung, with the digital box, with way more than one bundle. There is something on channel 1 through to channel 999! And even though he has enjoyed it for a couple of years now, the Oracle of Ottawa is still blown away sometimes by the images from high definition. But like most Canadians the Oracle of Ottawa has a lot of gripes with his local cable provider.

The main bitch that the Oracle of Ottawa has had and still has with his cable provider is trying to get rid of that bundle buried in the bundle(s) that he has already paid for. The Oracle of Ottawa calls this the STC bundle. And it doesn't matter what bundle you pick you always get stuck with the STC bundle. You just can't be rid of it. The STC bundle consists of the Sheets, Towels and Chopstick channels. For some weird reason in Canada and with Rogers Communications you just can't be rid of these useless channels.

Most Canadians don't give a shit about what it costs. We just want what we want, and some body better give it to us or we will make other arrangements. The cable companies still claim that it is technologically impossible to provide pick and pay! And they still deny that the cable box does not tell them everything that I do through their cable box remote! The Oracle of Ottawa is very relieved that his tax dollars have been spent maintaining  the CRTC regulatory agency. These pick and pay hearings I am sure are going to bring us all a lot of relief.

 So far it has been mighty funny watching the corporate whore lawyer from Bell spout the old same tired crap. But this time there is real fear in his voice. The Oracle of Ottawa just loved that. Pick and pay is coming, and it will no doubt be forced down the overfed throats of the corporate whores of media. May we all get to feast in our equal shares of the burnt savory offerings!

Godzilla Pukes It Up!

We deal with complex systems whose structure we can understand only imperfectly.
John Kay, Obliquity, p.13

It was while watching the Blue Jays just crush the Phillies last night a mere 10 - 0, that the Oracle of Ottawa caught that new Fiat Godzilla commercial on the MLB Network,  while the Oracle was checking up on the live look ins between innings. After seeing it and laughing so hard that I darn near did personal damage to myself, the Oracle of Ottawa was amazed that somehow that commercial got onto the air.

Godzilla has standards too!

  A little research will tell you that that the original Godzilla was created in 1954 and the said creature was a metaphor for nuclear weapons. Ever since then Godzilla has become what is known as a pop icon, whatever that is. The latest rendition of 2014 has carried on the tradition along with all the marketing and "merch". The Oracle of Ottawa finds it quiet a reach what Godzilla has to do with Fiat automobiles.

But it became very clear to the Oracle of Ottawa that even Godzilla has standards and there are certain things even Godzilla will refuse to eat, and it has nothing to do with having four doors. Due to all the politically correct laws of writing and other media, the Oracle of Ottawa can safely so no more...But you Dear Reader can watch for yourself and make up your own mind.   
 

What Was Andrea Horwath On?

Far from the state playing the role of emancipator, protective knight or umpire in the face of conflicting interests, the state is enmeshed in civil society.
David Held, Models Of Democracy, Third Edition, p. 108

It all seems so long ago already. But in reality, it was just last Wednesday when the Ontario Liberal Minority Government tabled their budget. Of course there were the required media "leaks" to trial balloon everything and all, as per standard routine. The Oracle of Ottawa was mighty impressed. It seemed clear to the Oracle of Ottawa that the NDP under the steady hand of Andrea Horwath had all but written in the major points, such as making the rich pay, in that everyone earning over $150,000 in taxable income would pay a mere $500 more.

Oracle calls a majority Wynne government...

Then there was the astounding news of the Ontario Pension Plan that the Feds of the 'Harper Government' have refused, with the Province of Ontario going it's own way. After pondering all the leaks the Oracle of Ottawa could only conclude that the NDP wrote the budget! Make the rich pay, take care of the poor, and provide money to build what the people of Ontario were capable of building. Even the honking large and powerful Union bosses that still exist in Ontario were mighty impressed and stood to and said so right out loud. The Oracle of Ottawa suspected that it was all a slam dunk.

Andrea Horwath - Fatal error?

It was just after the market close in Toronto on Wednesday that Kathleen Wynne stood to her place at let the Finance Minister off his leash, and get it off. Then the first news come out on Power and Politics that Andrea Horwath was not in the House! Somehow it was nicely explained that the Orange Andrea had some how got her thong in a knot, and did not appear in the House in the Chair as the Leader of the Third Party. The Oracle of Ottawa could not think of another example where this has ever happened before in the Ontario Legislature.

'Chain Gang' Tim Hudak - Last time out?

As the week progressed, starting at the NDP news conference on Thursday morning, the imperious Andrea stated that she was miffed about something and that she would not or maybe would not support the Wynne Government on the May eighth budget vote. Needless to say the Oracle of Ottawa became somewhat alarmed. Is this NDP thingy going to risk the introduction of chain gangs in to Ontario? Is she willing to risk Ontario becoming a "right to work" province? Cause these things would surely happen if 'Chain Gang' Tim Hudak had a lucky day at the poles.     

Then it all donned on the Oracle of Ottawa. This is the process of democracy in action. It is an ugly process. It finds weakness and exposes it naked right away. It has to be that way, there is a lot at stake (steak?). It also shows great hidden strengths of character, as it did when Kathleen Wynne just walked down the Hall and went to see the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and had the government dissolved! The election day is to be June 12, 2014. The Oracle of Ottawa strongly suspects a Liberal majority.

NORTHVU NV20 Pro - Ottawa South - OTA Summary

The worst damage has been caused by competent people trying to do good; the best improvements have been brought by incompetent ones not trying to do good.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed Of Procrustes, p. 89

Ever since the Oracle of Ottawa has found out about OTA or over the air HDTV reception, he has been on a mission. Perhaps it was all for the good that my Rogers Communications CISCO HD set top box died at less then 36 (much less...) months of service. Perhaps it is all for the good that Rogers overwrote my set top box software that stopped me from that pleasurable surfing that I once so much enjoyed. It has shaken the Oracle of Ottawa up, and he is determined to cut the cable company cord for good and forever.

Northvu NV20 Pro - (Waterman Pen not included..)

The Oracle of Ottawa purchased his first OTA HDTV antenna at a very posh and handy specialty tech shop, known to the Oracle of Ottawa as Home Hardware. There were several models on offer, and the Oracle of Ottawa had a bit of a choice. After reading the small print on the boxes carefully the Oracle of Ottawa selected the Northvu NV20 Pro, mostly because Northvu is a Canadian company, (based in Ottawa! who knew?), and that the design was so compact and elegant the Oracle of Ottawa knew the significant other would allow him to (a) bring it into the secure bunker, and (b) to keep it because it is so cute.

The handsome piece of gear came with very clear and easy instructions and a lot of cable that allowed for major experimentation in final placement. The setup was a snap and the Sony on board system was very easy to use. Did the scan a number of times, experimenting with placement etc. Finally the sweet spot was discovered in my sun room window, about four feet behind the Sony flat screen. With the unassisted NV20 Pro, the Oracle of Ottawa has gotten up to 15 channels! Honey cancel the cable!! So as a public service the Oracle of Ottawa has decided to list the 13 strongest stations that he can receive. In channel order.


CBOT - DT  Channel 4.1 - CBC Ottawa - 165 kw

CIII - HD Channel 6.1 - Global Toronto - Repeater located at Camp Fortune Quebec

CIII - SD Channel 6.2 - Global Toronto - 100kw

CBOFT - D Channel 9.1- French CBC Ottawa - 3.5kw

CHCH - HD Channel 11.1 -  Hamilton - repeater located south of Greely Ontario...25kw

CJOH - DT   Channel 13.1 - Ottawa CTV  affiliate, 19kw

OMNI2         Channel 14.1 - Repeater south of Greely Ontario, 15kw

TVO              Channel 24.1 - Repeater south of Greely Ontario, 95kw

CIVO - DT    Channel 30.1 - Gatineau repeater, 300.2kw

CHOT HD     Channel 40.1 - TVA - Gatineau, Quebec, 111.4kw

CTS-HD        Channel 42.1 - Cross Roads Television, Praise The Lord!

CHRO           Channel 43.1 - CTV2, Pembroke Ontario, repeater in Ottawa, 50kw

OMNI1         Channel 60.1 - Diversity TV, repeater in Ottawa, 15kw

Now all these stations are had with the unassisted Northvu antenna. Not too shabby. The Oracle of Ottawa ponders what difference a Winegard LNA-100 ultra low noise booster amp would lead to. The Oracle of Ottawa should try that and report back.

Rogers Communications - A Disintegrating Business?

You can replace lies with truth: but myth is only displaced with a narrative.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed Of Procrustes, p.20

At the time of this writing the time showing on my Rogers cable box is 'dnld'. It has been doing that all day. What a nightmare piece of shit that purchase turned out to be! And of course the Oracle of Ottawa was stupid enough to actually buy his own box! At the time of the purchase of the Sony HD flat screen, the Cisco Explorer box cost me a whooping $225.00. To replace it today, it will cost over $300.00. Screw that, and Screw Rogers!

HDTV is free! Don't pay for it from Rogers

It was a  little over two years ago that the Oracle of Ottawa finally upgraded, and at first the Oracle truly enjoyed it. You could then surf through the channels at lightning speed. It was great value and a great experience. Then on last Labour Day weekend, it was a Friday, I remember it all so clearly, the Oracle returned home to see 'dnld' on the digital box screen. I turned the set on, and the nightmare started. You could no longer surf through the channels at lightning speed. All the cool information that was once on the set top box screen vanished. And you could no longer do a channel set up. With the cable package that the Oracle of Ottawa has there was about 200 channels spread out from 1 to 999. Try surfing through 1000 clicks to get to the channel you want to get to! The channels that you don't have you could once block out with an automatic set up. Now you have to suffer through an on purpose time delay installed pause in the new software that tells you that you don't get that channel, and to call to get that service! Screw that! And Screw Rogers!

When the Oracle of Ottawa called in this problem in he was in a total rage. What do you think happened Dear Reader? I had a third world packie piece of shit Temporary Foreign Worker actually laugh at me! Screw that! And Screw Rogers!

What would the sense be in replacing a $225.00 digital set top box with a $500.00 set top box that is still a piece of shit worse than the $225.00 box? If you don't believe the Oracle of Ottawa see any of the Rogers Forums online.

But there is an answer Dear Reader. Just quit giving Rogers and the adjoining scum your money, that's right, cancel your cable. And don't even think about that "wireless" (it ain't...) TV from Bell, if there is any communication company in Canada that is lower than Rogers, it is Bell Canada. The answer Dear Reader is to go OTA, which stands for Over The Air. The Oracle of Ottawa first discovered OTA while at my local Sears store. I asked the young lad where he was getting that awesome HD signal that was on a huge 65 inch Sony flat screen and he pointed to the TERK rabbit ears and adjoining Yagi array! The Oracle of Ottawa could not believe it! The reason that OTA is so much better is that it is not compressed. There is nothing as pure and as perfect as uncompressed HDTV. You can't buy it from Rogers at any price. The Oracle of Ottawa was inspired.

The next day the Oracle of Ottawa went to a local Home Hardware and purchased a Northvu NV20 PRO antenna. Took it home, hooked it up and put it in the window and scanned. Much to the Oracle of Ottawa's amazement, he got 15 pure HD channels! And you could surf through them like greased lightning. And of course uncompressed HD is just beyond words. Try it for yourself. The Oracle is planning to get the booster amp, and that will be all the Oracle of Ottawa requires.

Rogers Communications - Twilight Of A Titan?

A man of parts would often be at loss without the company of fools.
Francois duc de La Rocheffoucauld, Maxims, No. 140

It is hard to believe that once upon a time in Canada Rogers Communications was one of the most loved companies in Canada. If memory serves, it always made the top 100 Canadian Employers List. If you had a tech or billing problem there was no long aggravating voice mail tree, someone actually answered the damn phone and took care of you right away. And back in the days when Ted Rogers ran it all, you hardly ever had to call.   

Ted Rogers - Spinning in his grave?

Now all telecom companies in Canada are totally despised and dreaded. Rogers doesn't seem to have any real employees any more, but rather an army of minimum wage contractors and temporary foreign workers, that know nothing about your problem and couldn't care less. But you can be sure the marketing never stops. As the price keeps creeping up on your cable package the quality of the content seems to slipping the other way in rather perfect proportion. A thousand channels and nothing on.

It was just before the last Labour Day weekend that the Oracle of Ottawa noticed that his Cisco cable box had been re-programed with what appears to be software for the new Rogers PVR, version 3.0, that can tape 8 shows at once! (Who wants that??) The Oracle of Ottawa was not amused, but there was no way you could do anything about it. There was a two hour wait time to talk to a tech rep that weekend. Which makes perfect sense. Force crap on the customer and then send all the tech reps home for the long weekend so you won't have to pay for overtime. Meanwhile, we are stuck with cable boxes that are as slow as a fat pig in thick shit.   

Meanwhile there is no baseball on due to faggot tennis, again! There is no one to call on this either. The Oracle of Ottawa tried one night recently, and was told by a thick East Indian accent, that; "Sir, you cannot complain"!! You can't make this stuff up. When my cable box was re-programed, the Oracle waited a very long time again to find out that I couldn't complain, but while I was waiting the Oracle heard that stupid PVR pitched endlessly. 

Rogers Communications has a lot of serious problems. The first and largest, is poor management. The second is that they are in too many business's that they don't know anything about, such as production and content creation. This goes equally for all the giant telco's in Canada at the time of this writing. Have you ever tried to watch the Discovery Channel lately? And where did all the baseball games go that the Oracle always used to enjoy? Note to executive suite: Yachting is not a sport!

But the lads at Rogers have a monopoly. Where else are the proles going to go? Well, would you be surprised if the Oracle of Ottawa told you Dear Reader that it is quiet possible that the whole business model of the Rogers monopoly could be shortly just a bad memory? The Oracle of Ottawa has noticed the marketing of the first HD TV wireless TV boxes by Bell at his local mall. Hmmm... a wide area network otherwise known as a WAN. No infrastructure to maintain. No large barriers to entry. How long will it be before someone simply sets up a dish and just re-brodcasts what is in the clear on the aether? The Oracle of Ottawa can see very much inexpensive choice on the very near horizon. Think about it...

The Oracle of Ottawa certainly does not own Rogers stock. And if you happen to be an owner or a manager of a very large holding in a portfolio, the Oracle of Ottawa strongly recommends that you start getting rid of it all in the very near future. With the advent of the wireless HDTV box and very many providers Rogers, Shaw, Telus, and Bell are shortly going to be Titans without a business.... Like video rentals, remember that?

Could it soon all be gone, like it never existed? Good riddance!!!

TV Ontario - The Death Of Big Ideas

An idea starts to be interesting when you get scared of taking it to its logical conclusion.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed Of Procrustes, p. 3

It has been the Saturday routine of the Oracle of Ottawa for over a decade to tune into TV Ontario at 5:00p.m. on a Saturday evening and watch Big Ideas. It was all pretty dangerous stuff, as the truly greatest minds alive in the world today discussed very dangerous social ideas and proposed radical social experiments to actually realize them. There was Chris Hedges, Northrop Frye, and Noam Chomsky to mention only a few.

Big Ideas - Dead in Ontario...

Then out of the blue sometime last winter, it was announced that the low budget format show was being cancelled due to government funding cutbacks, which would in turn allow the provincial public broadcaster to save a paltry two million dollars. The show was to end at the end of last March. But there must have been serious blow back, since the last episode ran last Saturday, not on the last Saturday of March 2013. Ah, the power of social media!

What was even more depressing was that Saturday last was also the last Saturday Night At The Movies which has been a TVO institution since back in the 1970's. But surely Big Ideas would be replaced by something of equal value? Well, not exactly, in the place of Big ideas there was another rerun of the ever sickening Battle Field Mysteries. Whereby some pathetic wanna be goes and retraces the path of Canadian Forces in the battle fields of Europe to remind us all that Canada was just sooo close to being an imperial power just like the United States is today. It made the Oracle of Ottawa want to puke. But it was right in keeping with the Prime Ministers Office directives from the internal department of the Ministry Of Truth.

TV Ontario - A Dangerous Social Experiment...

Now we all know that a show like Big Ideas was certainly not a very expensive show to fund. They were simply tapes of left leaning lectures that were already paid for by other institutions such as the University of Toronto. And the people that spoke on Big Ideas were not the kind to demand a huge price to let their ideas be heard. As a matter of fact most of the speakers spoke for travel fees and living expenses! There was no dealing with Canadian production companies that run on a profit basis such as the provider of Battle Field Mysteries. So why would TV Ontario cut it's two most popular and cheapest format shows? Has TV Ontario been lying to us when they report how successful the recent fund raising has been?


 If TV Ontario is cutting it's most popular and cheapest format shows due to the shortage of a paltry two million dollars, how is that the likes of the ever sickening, scrotum licking likes of Steve Paikin able to get a brand new elaborate set, that resembles the studios of Americas Fox News? How is it that there is money for that? How is it that the sickening likes of Allan Gregg ,  the erstwhile conservative fart catcher and father of the negative political campaign in Canada always has a set that is posher than anything that the CBC can produce? Well? How is that?

Well, let the Oracle of Ottawa explain to you Dear Reader. It all has to do with the corporate dismantling of Canada. Shows like Big Ideas do not instill the core values of the New World Order, as implemented by the Illuminati, upon the directives of the Bilderberg Group as carried out by the Prime Ministers Office. The core values of a citizen of the New World Order are: Consume, Conform, and Obey. Any radical talk or thought is and will be suppressed at all costs with extreme prejudice. Do you understand now?

It was last winter that the Oracle of Ottawa called his lawyer and had his will changed, that big bequest to TV Ontario has vanished like it was never even their. Since the writing or the lack of same is on the wall, the Oracle of Ottawa ponders why his left leaning tax dollars should have to subsidize the likes of the new TV Ontario? The Oracle has even gone to the very rare extreme of dropping the channel from his remote's favorites. The greatest thing that Kathleen Wynne could do is pull the plug on all Ontario Provincial funding to TV Ontario and let it seek funding elsewhere, like Sun News....

Skidmark TV - The New Genre

You can't get away from TV. It is everywhere. The hog is in the tunnel.
Hunter S. Thompson, Generation Of Swine, p. 44

The Oracle of Ottawa is old enough to remember when television sets came in fine wood cabinets, with retractable curtains. There were only the possible twelve channels. Channel two to thirteen. All programming ended before midnight, leaving the viewer to either go to bed, or to ponder the image of a very folksy Native American until programming resumed at a decent hour sometime tomorrow. TV back then seemed to have a higher purpose for the greater common good. The first stations of course, in Canada anyway, were opened and run by governments. If memory serves correctly, it took quite a while before the corporate whore greed heads got tuned in to the possibilities. 

RCA Indian Head Test Pattern - when TV was awesome...

Back then of course, it was all a different world. TV was the medium of the greater common good. Programing was either pure entertainment, and / or educational and uplifting. It was all so civilized and respectful. The unspoken mantra was to treat the audience and the medium with respect. This pattern continued for many years. It all really started to take off in the 1970's with the introduction of channels like TV Ontario. There were no corporate charities, no in screen marketing. The purpose was high and clear, as a matter of fact it was never even questioned. TV was a medium for mass education and the uplifting of the masses, regardless of social or economic standing. It seemed that society was wide open back then, things would always continue to get even better, the sky was the limit. Money was way down on the list.

Then along came cable television and color televisions! The Just Society was under construction. The Liberal Party of Canada ruled and would continue to rule forever. It was simply the natural course of things. The people of the Laurentian consensus were simply doing their ordained duty to God and Country. Then in the 1980's and the 1990's came the first "specialty channels" in the awesome one hundred channel universe. There was a great effort by the first pioneers to continue with the algorithm that had always worked for so many years, so well and profitably.  

Canada -  Minister of Heritage

 Then something snapped at the end of the twentieth century and continued with a vengeance into the dawn of the twenty first century, to the time of this writing. We experienced the digital revolution, and the advent of 1080HD, you would have thought that all that would have started a another golden age. But somehow much to the amazement of the Oracle of Ottawa something ugly started to emerge. Like a different life form that hatched from an egg, and then began a predatory life cycle of never ending strangeness, TV started to get uglier and even more uglier, containing a thousand slimy and crawling things.

The old paradigm of the greater common good and the unquestioned mission of uplifting the masses turned in on it self. Now television is predatory, with a very strong element of degradation and humiliation. The premise is now of profiting off the misfortune of others seems to have been deemed a growth industry. Maybe this what the corporate whores, greed heads, spin doctors and fart catchers decided, but the Oracle of Ottawa put down the remote, save and except for television of the old paradigm. The Oracle of Ottawa is watching less and less now a days.

In Canada we are under the temporary sway of a nasty right wing fascist conservative government. They constantly preach to us that capitalism in raw tooth and claw is the best thing for everyone. But as of late there have been noises from the pig of the man that is now the Minister of Canadian Heritage that we simply cannot continue to see the beloved CBC continue in its old role and mission. This is well received and heartily promoted by lowlife western Canadian media outfits, that have all but turned the Oracle of Ottawa from television forever. It has crossed the Oracle of Ottawa's mind to even cancel all the extra packages that he now pays for and never watches.

Perhaps this is the message that the media empires only understand. If the Oracle of Ottawa can order a pay for view sporting event from his remote and digital box, the Oracle of Ottawa simply can't understand why he can't buy just the channels that he actually wants! The corporate whores of the so called media empires better get on with it, before they are broadcasting to themselves... 

George Jones - Someday My Day Will Come

I'll be the one I want to be
Someday my day will come...
George Jones, Still The Same Ole Me, 1981

It was with great surprise that the Oracle of Ottawa heard of the passing of George Jones. What surprised the Oracle of Ottawa even more was that he died cared for, and in bed, and that he lived to be 81 years old. It is a hell of a long way from Saratoga, Texas to being a pillar of Western Popular Culture. Many readers are no doubt surprised that the Oracle even knows who George Jones was, but the Oracle must come clean and freely admit that between the most excellent rock concerts of my fondly misspent youth, the Oracle would always crank up the radio when a George Jones song came on in the car. And growing up in the Ottawa Valley we had one of the first FM Classic Country stations, CKCY. and everyone up the valley tuned in, and back in those days it was all Classic Country, and if you listened you were very familiar with George Jones.

George Jones strikes a wicked Hunter S. Thompson pose
and see's it all to the end.

The Oracle of Ottawa comes from a generation that can very easily remember the sound of the Grand Old Opry coming in through an AM radio on a Saturday night in the 1960's. And of course we all heard the stories of George as he became more and more famous and his life careened more and more out of control. And in recent years as more and more details availed themselves from George himself, the Oracle of Ottawa was forced to realize that Keith Richards was really just a ribald amateur compared to George Jones!

The excess was legendary. The Oracle can't help but comparing the similarities of the lives of Hunter S. Thompson and George Jones. Both were equally famous in their craft at very nearly the same time in American cultural history. One in the printed word and the other in song. One survived it all and one did not. There are some very important lessons here. The first is that is very hard to kill a Marine, and George Jones was a Marine. And the second lesson is that a man will survive most anything if he does not give up on his God(s). And the Oracle was always impressed with the Possum's deep underlying faith. So much for Fredrich Nietzsche...

The Rob Ford Media Joust

Our words are too often signs for crude and hasty, for indefinite and indefinable, generalizations. 
William Dwight Whitney, Life And growth Of Language, p. 29

Well it is really is true. There have been rumors, as of late, that the 'Harper Government' has been manipulating the media. Especially the old vulgar print and television medias. Well Dear Reader, it is no longer a rumor. There is some force that is keeping certain embarrassing events from ever coming to the vision of your eyeballs. It was concerning an event that occurred on April 15, 2013, and then was put on to You Tube on April 16, 2013. The Oracle of Ottawa discovered the whole thing by accident today April 27, 2013, the time of this writing.

Rob Ford - No respect....

 There has been of recent times a magic force field to protect the egos and media profiles of all the hapless members of the new Canadian right wing revolution. Any thing that is unflattering is filtered out of what would have been news just a few years ago. But thanks to the new media, no one can get away with such Orwellian control any longer. Perhaps there is some thing to this new digital revolution after all.

Rob Ford is the present mayor of Canada's largest city; Toronto. He has been a train wreck as are all right wing revolutions. But if you want to see the screw ups, you have to keep an eye on You Tube and other social media. There seems to be a media black out, some say has been caused by the Minister of Canadian Heritages James Moore, with the introduction of his 'purity pledge' that all members of the CBC had to sign and swear to. The Oracle of Ottawa can only now surmise that this is true in fact.

Once upon a time in the days of old, men of opposing views would mount their battle horses in full armor and lance and settle the matter by a joust. Opposing forces would be judged at and on impact. Well it seems that the Mayor of Toronto thought he would give it a go with the media. The clip of the joust of the Battle of Evermore follows...

 You can't make this shit up...and only seen in small regional Toronto markets. Blanked out every where else in Canada. The Oracle of Ottawa knows it was not reported in Ottawa, which is about a two and a half hour drive from Toronto...

Blogging - Safe As Houses

What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
1 Corinthians, 15:36, NRSV

Of course, a lot of people have said to the Oracle of Ottawa, that they think he should shut the blog down, and that it is way too dangerous a thing to do today. With all the touchy issues that the Oracle of Ottawa touches upon, this cannot be good for a long and otherwise boring life. Some people have even warned that the Oracle certainly runs the risk of extraordinary rendition, to a secret location, where I will be reprogrammed by a steady diet of Fox News. The Oracle of Ottawa always responds that the United States is nice to visit at any time of the year. 

Blogging - Safe as houses...

What the these caring people do not understand is that blogging makes the Oracle of Ottawa feel real good. It is the Oracles greatest hope that one or maybe two of his created memes will catch on and cause the creation of a better, and all around, more equitable world. We must, after all, live in hope. Then the Oracle of Ottawa explains that this stupid blog is the one creation of my whole life that will probably live on the longest after the Oracle is gone. Like they say, once it is on the net, it is there forever. And who knows? Maybe some crazy publisher in a distant left wing country in the European Union will publish it, and it will become the gospel and bible of a new and better world order.

The safety issues were explained to the Oracle of Ottawa by his favorite niece, nothing to worry about Uncky Oracle, the words are way too big, and even worse than that, you sometimes discuss math and numerical mathematical concepts. Result; no conservative of any stripe will be able to get through the opening  epigraph of the post. See? Blogging; safe as houses...  

Here is a Blog Checker from the Conservative Party of Canada, located in Ducks Ass, Alberta. Nothing to fear but the unavailability of free birth control and the morning after pill....

Whispers in the Loggia - A Blogging Algorithm

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Deuteronomy, 31:8, NRSV

Is it truly possible to start a blog on a very esoteric subject and have any hope of seeing it grow to a one man media monster? Is it possible to build a huge global blog readership with just word of mouth, without marketing? Is it really true that if you post most every day and keep your nose to the grindstone, say eight or nine years, that you will be having about 2500 page views every five minutes? Well folks, the answer to those questions is a resounding yes indeed!

The Vatican is boring?

 And as per usual and per course, the Oracle of Ottawa will provide a reference. The Oracle of Ottawa is usually not very impressed with the majority of blogs that he checks out. The level of literacy and the lack of lyrical music of the words being in the right order, as Northrop Frye would say, is all but appalling indeed. And with the hyped demise of the codex book, the Oracle of Ottawa has become very despondent about the future of literacy on more than occasion, and that is just recently.      

The example of a monster blog, 26 million views at the time of this writing, is called Whispers in the Loggia, written singlehandedly by one Rocco Palmo. Who has become so recently notable, that he has his own article on Wikipedia!( A loggia is a roofed open gallery.) The Oracle of Ottawa has to admit that is a brilliant name. And the blog is a brilliant design of utter sparse simplicity, that is somewhat reminiscent of the early Catholic Church of Paul and the other many and assorted Apostles. Why the youngster even has the brass and utter balls to ditch the comments option!    

Of course, there is really no power in writing a blog...

" Hello? Mr. Palmo? This is the Vatican, media Curia calling in the hope that we can entice you to travel to Rome, so we can kiss your bum for the required amount of time so that we can implement our new policy of becoming media friendly... Yes, yes, of course, first class Air Italia, can we expect the honour of your presence? Wonderful..."

Really blogging is a waste of time and won't lead any where, won't it?  

CBC Dragon's Den - How To Suck Satan's Cock

What is now proved was once, only imagin'd.
William Blake, The Marriage Of heaven And Hell, Line 33

While watching The Royal Canadian Air Farce New Years Eve Special, the Oracle of Ottawa heard a comment in a skit, that, to the Oracle of Ottawa, was possibly a very good sign of a coming very good year indeed. The comment was made by the Great Canadian Mary Walsh, in the Newfoundland mother and son sketch. It was a great shot against the ever greasy Kevin O'Leary, and how he was killing the CBC, or some such words to that effect. Why the Oracle of Ottawa damn near choked on his double rum toddy!

Suck Satan's cock....

  Now all the frequent flyers of this blog already know that the Oracle of Ottawa is not, nor has he ever been a fan of such shining media black lights. But the show that Kevin O'Leary makes the most obnoxious is the spot he plays on Dragon's Den! Is there really an audience of Canadians that get off on this? Is this the traditional Canadian pass time, to watch gullible people getting crushed by a bunch of zeros? The Oracle of Ottawa knows there is no hockey, but really? Is this now the Canadian way? The Oracle of Ottawa realizes that all that young Canadians have to look forward to is less, but holy shit, where is the bottom of the corporate whore hole, really?

The Oracle of Ottawa did just a little digging and discovered that Dragon's Den is a Japanese franchise show, property of Sony Corporation! Now the Oracle of Ottawa understands most everything. And especially how the likes of Kevin O'Leary could possibly find something that he could look, at moments, like a genius. The whole format of bowing and ass kissing is totally understandable coming from Japan! The country of the mediocre "company man". Any real problems come up, just kick the can down the road, you know, the way they handled the melt down of their corporate nuclear reactors. The Oracle of Ottawa is sure that will be a shinning example of management acumen in business schools all over the planet Earth! Won't it?

And the Oracle of Ottawa still believes that Canadian entre-pren - whores are of a totally different class than your average bowing and ass kissing ricer! The Oracle of Ottawa has known a few entre-pren-whores in his time. And the Oracle of Ottawa has even been told the secret of entre-pren-whore ship! Always finance your own deals! You never give away equity in your business to anybody! And over the years, the Oracle of Ottawa has learned that entre-pren-whores are like cops and undertakers. You would never invite them to your house or ever be seen in their company. But a good society needs cops and undertakers just as much as we need to suffer the insanity and other mental kinks of entre-pre-whores. It is all pretty weird, but society and the world is really just a big balancing act at the end of the day.

The Oracle of Ottawa often wonders what the outcome of the world would have been if, say, Henry Ford or John D. Rockefellor had to go hat in hand to the likes of Kevin O'Leary and the other dirt bags of the Canadian Dragon's Den for start up capital of their visionary dreams?  What would the world be like today? Yeah, your right, we would all still be walking...

 The great comedian Bill Hicks explains the sucking of Satan's cock....

Suhana Meharchand - Awesome Again!

There is no need for torture: Hell is other people.
Jean Paul Sartre, No Exit, Act 1, Scene 5

It still appears that Suhana has still not signed the Jimmy Moore purity pledge! You go girl! And though she is one of the few full time federal civil servants still employed with the Mother Ship of the CBC, otherwise known by the 'Harper Government' as the "state broadcaster". She is certainly not "dogging it" like Rex Murphy by choosing only the wimpy safe topics for the great radio show Cross Country Checkup.

Suhana for the Order of Canada!

Today's topic was the incredibly hot "How do we stop bullying" on the internet! Well it was on in the car for about ten minutes before the Oracle of Ottawa and his significant other broke out into a terrible row! The Oracle of Ottawa has a few things that he simply must get off his handsome and fulsome chest on this very hot issue.

What the hell does a brat under the age of twenty one need a Facebook page for anyway? The Oracle of Ottawa pondered if he would have opened one in his youth and I always give it the fail! Who the hell needs a hundred "friends"?? The Oracle of Ottawa is amazed at all the I-Phone zombies that he always observes in Ottawa while out for recreation from the secure bunker. Why it was only a few weeks ago that the Oracle of Ottawa observed a sweet young thing melt down into a complete nervous breakdown because her facebook page was somehow screwed  up! The Oracle of Ottawa is still shaken by the event. The whole freaking world is going freaking nuts!!

It was Karl Marx who once said in volume one of Capital, that men had successfully dressed themselves for centuries without ever knowing what a tailor was! Well the Oracle of Ottawa is saying that you don't need stupid facebook and an I-Phone to get friends. And if you do, and your brats do, it is time for the kitty shrink! The Oracle of Ottawa will explain how this all came about....

It is all to do with corporate over whore marketing. The parents are part of the frightened and obedient work force of surplus labor. They have no time to be engaged in anything except their own selfish goals of like; surviving. They instill the same values into their brats. Go along and get along. Start whoring out yourself now brat, just like Mommy and Daddy do with a smile on their face everyday. Because sweetheart although you are not working yet you are already owned by Capital, lock stock and soul, which if you could, you would probably try to sell on E-Bay like Bart Simpson! How long will a society like this stand? Not very long...

It seems that just as the crime stats are crashing like the mortgage market in 2008, the corporate over whores need a new crime and they need it soon! There is going to be a Super-Max prison system in Canada and damn it, the corporate over whores have got to have candidates, any candidates! The Oracle of Ottawa feels like he is living in a cross of 1984 and the Brave New World!

When  the Oracle of Ottawa went to high school in the 1970's there was not one suicide of a peer that I can recollect! And this was in the era of an insane drug culture that was just everywhere in Canada at the time. Kids did not burn down their parents for the new pair of Nikes, threatening permanent personality damage if they had to go with out! But in today's world I have seen a good Dad go to death from the never ending demands of daughters and wives. God this world is so insane and it is so greedy ugly!! The Oracle of Ottawa needs a good old style tune to lift him up....

 Sigh... The Oracle of Ottawa is just an analog man, Thank God....

How Many Walter Smiths?

I am the danger!
Walter Smith, Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 6

How many Walter Smiths can a first world society absorb before it collapses into total anarchy? When a cable network drama series is in the top one thousand articles on Wikipedia, it would appear that it is not only the Oracle of Ottawa that is pondering such questions. The Oracle of Ottawa has caught the first few episodes over the summer recently passed. The first troubling impression is that the story takes place in the United States of America. One would expect such a story to emanate from Eastern Europe or the old Soviet Union.

Bryan Cranston

Other issues that were experienced was that I found myself getting as angry as Walter! Yes it is quiet true that most middle aged white men are angry today; they have every reason in the world to be so.  The whole plot, premise and story line of the series raises serious questions relating to philosophy and ethics.  If the social contract of a society is so eroded that is of no advantage to participate in that society, is Walter Smith indeed committing an evil act, in attacking it to preserve his family and all those that he loves?  If a society is quiet willing to sacrifice the core of its middle class to "under the bus" does the abandoned individual still have an obligation to attempt to be a part of this society? Does that society even have a right to exist into the future?

There is also the irony of Walter clinging successfully to his old values of purity and craftsmanship that were once treasured by the society that has eroded to the point of abandonment. There are no spin doctors and / or fart catchers in Walter Whites world. For some reason the Oracle of Ottawa found himself deriving great comfort from that.

One of the gentle shocks of catching those first few episodes was that Walter Smith looked really familiar. I was somewhat shocked to find that the character is portrayed by Bryan Cranston of Malcom in the Middle fame. How is it that this once gregarious and mild man could find it in himself, at his age and having experienced all his previous success, to so very accurately portray a man who is facing life and death situations on very many levels all at once? Perhaps the character of Walter Smith seeped into the persona of Mr. Cranston, and the ugly reality of its evil and the society that perpetuates it got to the core of this man.

The Oracle of Ottawa will keep a tab on the future events, but he has a very difficult time to actually sit through the episodes. To the Oracle of Ottawa the show is a perfect snapshot of present day Western society. And with the recent revelations of one Mitt "The Nit" Romney the Oracle can only think that a mere cable channel television series will have a very deciding effect on the upcoming Presidential election this fall.

The last point that the Oracle of Ottawa wants to address is the oft heard comment that it is just impossible for a mild mannered high school teacher to go so far from his core values, to utterly turn so away from the society that has left him under the bus... I will let Bryan Cranston handle that one....

Facebook - Another New World Order Ankle Bracelet?

The fearsome fact of our time is that other elements than the government have assumed the role of directing our affairs. To a very large extent the way we live and the things we live for are determined by the interests of powerful and monopolistic corporations.
Stanley Knowles, The New Party, p. 80

Too many friends can be truly hazardous to your health. And with the onset of the plague of "online social networking" the Oracle of Ottawa often wonders, just how many friends does one person really need before it becomes a real problem greater than the supposed benefits? Well, while on an auto day tour yesterday with my significant other, the Oracle of Ottawa heard on CBC Radio 2 that of all the recently filed divorce cases in all of the United States the word "Facebook" occurred in over 33% of them!  

Are you a...

 Now the Oracle of Ottawa does not, nor will he ever, have a Facebook page. The Oracle of Ottawa doesn't give a flying rotating rat shit fuck if you want to be my friend or not. And the Oracle of Ottawa couldn't care less to be a social media friend with you! I mean, really, what the hell is in it for me? In the Oracle of Ottawa's eyes, this whole networking con is just a marketing con, to keep an eye on the skidmarks, i.e. you... You put all your most personal information on the wash room wall of the virtual cloud, providing great information to your employer, your government, your wife's lawyer and all the corporate whores who are always thinking up new ways to "harvest" your poor ragged, stupid, skidmark asses. You should be ashamed of yourself, that God has let you live so long.   

The Oracle of Ottawa remembers very well when the world was not at all like it is today. When the Oracle of Ottawa was fab, a man could pass through society without leaving any traces for anyone save and except his national government, that at the time, only used such information in the direst emergencies. What the hell happened to that world? Why is it that everyone seems to be engaged to enslaving himself to everybody else for not even non-monetary rewards?  

When some robo calling packie pollster calls the Oracle of Ottawa, I inform the little insect that the Oracle of Ottawa does not give free information to anyone. Then the Oracle of Ottawa inquires if the said little insect can meet my minimum billing requirement. If the Oracle of Ottawa does not hear the correct response, the little pollster insect is forcefully told to fuck off forthwith! The Oracle of Ottawa as you can readily imagine is seldom bothered.

Why should you provide the corporate overlord whores of the New World Order with anything for nothing? Why are all the skidmarks out there in the world so stupid and gullible? Nothing steams the Oracle of Ottawa more than waiting in a retail line up with his cash in hand while some poor white trash skidmark buys a newspaper with a fucking debit card! When you do stupid shit like that you are providing the corporate over whores with priceless marketing data that they will surely use against you! Does interact or visa ever send you a check for working for them? No? You stupid, brainless, skidmark fuck...

True and real friends are very rare indeed. The Oracle of Ottawa knows for a fact that most of us will go through this life and probably several others and never really have a one true friend. What is the definition of a true friend? There is one acid test of a true friend. Try this thought experiment. You call up your best truest friend in the world at 2:00 a.m. and inform him or her that you have to get rid of a dead human body, no questions asked, and would you be kind enough to bring a large blanket or old carpet, and oh yeah, a shovel.
What? I told you, you don't really have a friend in the whole goddamn world, do you skid?

Suhana Meharchand For The Order Of Canada!

People in and around government sense a national mood.
John W. Kingdon,  Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, p. 146

It is  great comfort to the Oracle of Ottawa that there exists a great number of CBC on air personalities that have refused to sign the James Moore 'Harper Government' Purity Pledge!  Of course the Oracle of Ottawa was listening to Cross Country Checkup on CBC Radio 1 as he was touring up to the Ottawa Valley to visit his Dear Old Dad.

Order of Canada

Today's show was hosted again by Suhana Meharchand, and again it was a hot topic. And it appears that Suhana has certainly not signed the Jimmie Moore purity pledge. Today's topic was; Do you agree with doctor assisted suicide? Well! That is certainly a topic that the Prime Ministers Office does not want discussed at any time, and especially on the "State Broadcaster" the "Mother Ship" of the all engulfing Canadian Broadcasting Corporation! And it cooked folks! It was a very hot topic and the Oracle of Ottawa had to bail now and then to the soothing tunes being played on CBC Radio 2. But as soon as I regained composure, I was back to Radio 1.

If you guessed that the Oracle of Ottawa is greatly in favor of doctor assisted suicide, you guessed correctly! The Oracle of Ottawa wants the same right to doctor assisted suicide that exists in the many countries of the European Union! Nothing more, and certainly nothing less! And the Oracle of Ottawa does not give a flying rotating FUCK, what the 'Harper Government' or the right wing westerner Bible thumping whacko's think. We will have it, since the 'Harper Government' already believes that Federal prisoners should have the right. I am sure you remember that trial balloon that was floated by that fascist Quebec Senator? Now it is a Charter Case on two fronts! Isn't it?

Have you ever seen a loved one die from ALS? Well the Oracle of Ottawa watched his Blessed Mother take four years to do it. I was her favorite boy, and first born. I was the first to notice that something was wrong. It appeared to my Mom one day when she could not turn the ignition key all the way around in her much loved Wolfsburg Edition VW Jetta. The rest is just painful history now. My Blessed Mother was as hard as she was beautiful. She probably would not have chosen doctor assisted, even  if it was available, but it would have nice to be able to provide it if she wanted it. Everyone should have that choice.

The Oracle of Ottawa has deduced the real reason that we do not have doctor assisted suicide in Canada. It is not a moral or ethical problem. With the 'Harper Government' and the doctors it is a problem of power and money. And the reason that most mealy mouthed doctors calling from western Canada are not in favor of it is easy. If we have doctor assisted suicide in Canada, that will mean that that certain MD's will soon be driving a very nice modest Chevrolet Impala every couple of years, not the Jag XK that they are driving now! It means that the hard and soft kickbacks from their big pharma reps are toast! That means no private school for Johnie, and certainly no more ricer fantasy fuck that they all have hidden some where in their hoods! The Oracle of Ottawa knows that such things are true.... Aren't they? Yeah...

And that is not to mention the end of the big pharma and big burger conspiracy of the "white sauce" that goes on the burgers, that has been engineered to cause a very aggressive, quick and costly to treat variant of colon cancer....It isn't an urban myth... But I digress...

A little piece of advice Suhana, if you do not already own some real estate valued at least over $4,000 get it as soon as possible. You must be a property holder to be appointed to the Canadian Senate. One wouldn't want to keep the government of Justin Trudeau waiting, would one? 

Rex Murphy can VANISH!! His replacement has been found....

William Shakespeare - His Vocabulary

In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time. 
Thucydides, The History of The Pelopennesian War,  Book I, 1.22-[4]

William Shakespeare could hardly sign his own name. Yet when modern scholarship counted, his "works", contain a vocabulary of some 25,000 words! To put this in true perspective, John Milton only had a vocabulary of around 12,000 words! And you don't need the Oracle of Ottawa to tell you that John Milton was no slouch. It was a pretty dangerous thing for the Oracle of Ottawa to finally come into possession of his own copy of the Norton Oxford Edition Shakespeare! The introductory essay on Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt  is quite simply one the best that the Oracle of Ottawa has yet seen.  

William Shakespeare - First media mogul?

 Many decades ago when the Oracle of Ottawa was a struggling high school student in a small town, somewhere in Eastern Ontario, and was introduced to Shakespeare's Macbeth  in English 450, the Oracle of Ottawa was awed by the greatness of the words. It is all still fresh in the memory to this very day. But when I investigated further on my own into other works, even as a teenager in the 1970's, the Oracle of Ottawa soon realized that there were many, very many, other hands in the work! And as the Oracle of Ottawa has grown into a grumpy old white man, his opinion has only became more sure and rigid. Of course that was in no way popular with my most excellent English teacher of the time, who was a totally frothing and raging Shakspearean! And damn the logic and your research!

The known Shakespeare signatures...

 To understand the multiple hands theory, one has to understand how the Elizabethan court functioned. Modern sources dictate that the Her Majesties Privy Council met once a week! Maybe they met formally once a week, but in the reality of the time Her Majesties Privy Council was together, at times, a lot! Waiting for news, and planning strategy had them in close proximity informally for great periods of time. Due to the communications technology of the early 16th century, waiting was an art form. What better way to pass the time, then to tear off your experiment of the sonnet form of poetry, or, the lads down at what today would be called the State Department of Foreign Affairs, who to pass the time, have written those damn fine history plays? And the lads down at Excise! Can they ever do up a fine comedy! Somebody should get these works to the printer and the stage. This is where William Shakespeare came in...

William Shakespeare was the first modern Media Mogul! He assembled the players. Dealt with the government red tape, The Master of the Revels, raised the financing, got a an endless source of new material of unimaginable high quality, and most importantly of all, got the (paying) bums into the empty seats! And we have the documents to prove all of this, don't we? William was no stranger to the forms and the possibilities of the Joint stock company. Think of him as an early adapting Ted Turner....  

Stuff you should know?

Meme - The New Government?

meme -  A meme is a cultural object like the mini skirt, the computer virus, or the belief in ghosts, that can  be replicated or passed on, and which in the process of transmission evolves and seems to have a life of its own.
Simon Blackburn, Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, p. 237

What the hell is a meme? Well it is all pretty complicated and yet all pretty simple. For a detailed explanation the Oracle of Ottawa has provided a link to the article in Wikipedia, that just about covers the history and basic explanation of the beast. The reason I am going about this esoteric word and concept originates from watching the effect of a very powerful internet meme in the form of Anonymous. As per earlier posts the Oracle of Ottawa was just mesmerized at the effect that an internet meme could have on an elected democratic government!  It is all getting rather McLuhan-esk isn't it?

Anonymous - Government by meme?

 Then it hit me! Could all government in the future be by and through Anonymous memes? Ponder that dear reader! Think of it, sort of like an election that is never ending and continually evolving! I guess the evolution of this modern form of government will be somewhat slowed down in Canada as the Conservative Party of Canada has attempted to find the Anonymous meme in Contempt of the House! I couldn't make that up dear reader, so you can bank on it as truth.

Here is more information than you probably need. Ponder government of the future....