Sometimes the posts practically write themselves.
I'm sure all the obvious Simpsons references have already been made, although the giant Ferris wheel thing does put me in mind of that scene from The Third Man with Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.
Either Mayor Stupid's on vacation or Brother Stupider's gone off message again. Can never tell with these two, and more often than not, it doesn't really matter.
Related posts:
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Jack's passing seems to have sparked a new competition
I'm reminded at times of that aphorism (can't remember whether it was Mark Twain or Winston Churchill) about a lie getting halfway around the world while the truth is still getting its pants on.
It seems you could make a similar observation when you're comparing decency with meanness of spirit. The yargle-barglers may have speed on their side, but then that's because what they do consists of little more than running around, screeching, and scattering handfuls of loose stool as far as they can throw it.
Let 'em fill their boots. They can only drag us down to their level if we let them. One of the best tributes we could give to Jack is making them irrelevant and aspiring to follow his example instead.
Related posts:
It seems you could make a similar observation when you're comparing decency with meanness of spirit. The yargle-barglers may have speed on their side, but then that's because what they do consists of little more than running around, screeching, and scattering handfuls of loose stool as far as they can throw it.
Let 'em fill their boots. They can only drag us down to their level if we let them. One of the best tributes we could give to Jack is making them irrelevant and aspiring to follow his example instead.
Related posts:
- Putting the Blatchfords of the world in the proper context
- Blatchford accomplishes the impossible
- @cityslikr lights @SueAnnLevy up like a pinball machine
- BCL catches @SueAnnLevy rewriting history, smearing brave firefighters
- @SueAnnLevy in her own words
Putting the Blatchfords of the world in the proper context
Activist Communique: An open letter to Christie Blatchford by Alice Moran | rabble.ca
NOW Magazine // Daily // News // A vainglorious, partisan spectacle
Thing is, Blatchford and her enablers probably get off on this sort of thing and see it as validation. Sad, really.
NOW Magazine // Daily // News // A vainglorious, partisan spectacle
Thing is, Blatchford and her enablers probably get off on this sort of thing and see it as validation. Sad, really.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Blatchford accomplishes the impossible
She's found a way to make @SueAnnLevy look classy.
(Honorable mention to David Naylor for this.
Well done, all.)
(Honorable mention to David Naylor for this.
Well done, all.)
Friday, August 19, 2011
@cityslikr lights @SueAnnLevy up like a pinball machine
(With an apology to pinball machines everywhere.)
That @cityslikr fella can be wonderfully succinct sometimes. I retweeted this earlier, but it deserves a whole blog post.
Word. If you're ever curious about why so many of our fellow citizens seem ruled by fear, resentment, and ignorance, the Venomous LoserTM and her hateful little screeds are a big part of the reason. Sun Media's toxic effect just wouldn't be as toxic without her.
Some years ago, a singer / songwriter / satirist by the name of Tom Lehrer was said to have summed up his musical career thus:
He was talking tongue in cheek, of course.
Related posts:
That @cityslikr fella can be wonderfully succinct sometimes. I retweeted this earlier, but it deserves a whole blog post.
Word. If you're ever curious about why so many of our fellow citizens seem ruled by fear, resentment, and ignorance, the Venomous LoserTM and her hateful little screeds are a big part of the reason. Sun Media's toxic effect just wouldn't be as toxic without her.
Some years ago, a singer / songwriter / satirist by the name of Tom Lehrer was said to have summed up his musical career thus:
If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.
He was talking tongue in cheek, of course.
Related posts:
- BCL catches @SueAnnLevy rewriting history, smearing brave firefighters
- @SueAnnLevy in her own words
- Best use of the word "socialist" this month
- Winning back the words: a subversive's work is never done
- #SunMedia and journalistic ethics: another juxtaposition
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
BCL catches @SueAnnLevy rewriting history, smearing brave firefighters
BigCityLib Strikes Back: In Case You ARE Wondering
Don't know why BCL isn't on the Tweeter, but that's up to him.
In the meantime, seems the Venomous LoserTM is perfectly happy to use Toronto's firefighters and their taxpayer-funded equipment as a campaign prop ...
But, well, you know ... that was then, and this is now.
... one wonders, is it unseemly to point out that the guy has to be there whether there's actually a fire or not, just in case? Just in the cause of raising the tone of civic discourse, instead of pandering to the lizard-brains and all that ...
As BCL writes:
Sue Ann? Time to stop digging, maybe.
Related posts:
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But, well, you know ... that was then, and this is now.
... one wonders, is it unseemly to point out that the guy has to be there whether there's actually a fire or not, just in case? Just in the cause of raising the tone of civic discourse, instead of pandering to the lizard-brains and all that ...
As BCL writes:
So, no, Sue Ann, the union hasn't been keeping a file on you. Turns out you were keeping one on yourself. By the way, if you want to theorize on why Sue Ann has gone out of her way to trash T.O. firefighters, well, consider this: their union took her to the Ontario Press Council in 2007 and hosed her down.
Sue Ann? Time to stop digging, maybe.
Related posts:
Sunday, August 14, 2011
@AntoniaZ, @SusannaKelley, @marcusbgee, and the Rob Ford ascendancy | #TOpoli
Wonderful thing, the Tweeter. Keeps things lively, and keeps you on your toes.
So apparently there's some question over what I wrote about the Globe's ideologically reliable urban affairs curmudgeon and his role in helping propel Mayor Stupid into the Chief Magistrate's office. Over at ontarionewswatch.com, Editor-in-Chief and Ontario Bureau Chief @SusannaKelley apparently takes issue with a tweet from @AntoniaZ regarding a post from me yesterday morning.
So apparently there's some question over what I wrote about the Globe's ideologically reliable urban affairs curmudgeon and his role in helping propel Mayor Stupid into the Chief Magistrate's office. Over at ontarionewswatch.com, Editor-in-Chief and Ontario Bureau Chief @SusannaKelley apparently takes issue with a tweet from @AntoniaZ regarding a post from me yesterday morning.
America overheats: The Sewer of Stupid is about to overflow | #USpoli
Our Climate Of Extremes | ThinkProgress
Yep. They're in the middle of their worst drought ever, heat records are being broken every day, but they're going to deny the scientific evidence of climate change and schedule days of prayer for rain.
Seriously. Let's start sandbagging the border.
Related posts:
Related posts:
- 8 Reasons Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance | AlterNet #uspoli
- Krugman: The President Surrenders on Debt Ceiling - NYTimes.com
- Woodward and Bernstein are dead
- The malignant influence of the Kochtopus
- Economic, ethical and ecological collapse, according to Chris Hedges
- Michigan and the shredding of government of, by and for the people
- And George Carlin too, while we're at it
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Retiring senior Toronto cop calls #G20 reaction overblown
Toronto News: Retiring deputy chief calls G20 reaction overblown - thestar.com
You know where I'm going with this, so I'll just let thwap and Lorne carry the ball on this one. They say it better than I can anyway.
Hey, Tony? Don't go away mad. Just go away.
Update: Asshole.
Related posts:
Update: Asshole.
Related posts:
- SIU Concludes Reopened #G20 Nobody Investigation | #policebrutality
- More allegations of police brutality at the G20: Gabriel Jacobs
- Put lying cops on the stand and make them do it for the record
- On CBC, a further demonstration of Toronto cops' contempt for us
- Toronto Police: Unaccountable, uncaring, unbelievable
@marcusbgee calls Ford on his bullshit, but who helped put him there? | #TOpoli
So a few people – Thor and Nancy for starters – are linking to this piece from the Globe's ideologically reliable urban affairs curmudgeon, who's arguing, not without reason, that Mayor Stupid should have known all along that he couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any service cuts or layoffs.
One hesitates to accuse Mayor Stupid of lying, chiefly because it's obvious that he can't tell the difference between true and false. You know those people who are so out of touch that they don't even know what the facts are? The kind who pull facts and numbers out of their asses and know they'll never really have to account for it? The kind who just dispense with facts entirely and go with their gut because ... well ... just because. Shut up and fuck off.
One hesitates to accuse Mayor Stupid of lying, chiefly because it's obvious that he can't tell the difference between true and false. You know those people who are so out of touch that they don't even know what the facts are? The kind who pull facts and numbers out of their asses and know they'll never really have to account for it? The kind who just dispense with facts entirely and go with their gut because ... well ... just because. Shut up and fuck off.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Another day, another embarrassing eruption from Mt. Ford | #TOpoli
Honestly, where do you begin?
First, Mayor Stupid's dismissing all the folks who spoke at last month's city hall all-nighter as left-wing, NDP, special-interest types trying to protect their free money. No surprise there, really. It's not as if the guy's got the intellectual wherewithal to comprehend the notion of "community" or anything.
First, Mayor Stupid's dismissing all the folks who spoke at last month's city hall all-nighter as left-wing, NDP, special-interest types trying to protect their free money. No surprise there, really. It's not as if the guy's got the intellectual wherewithal to comprehend the notion of "community" or anything.
Friday, August 5, 2011
On that whole Nycole Turmel thing ...
While we're on the subject of journalistic ethics, let me just cite pogge and thwap. They've already said it better than I can.
From pogge:
I'll let the voters decide. And I can't predict that.
It does show that the Liberals are looking to knock the NDP off from its perch as the second party in Canada. For the issues of economic and foreign policy, I hope they fail. I hope, for reasons of foreign and economic policy, that the NDP hews closer to the principles of former BQ voters in Quebec. Because given the failure of mainstream (read: harpercon and Liberal) economic and foreign policies, the NDP might just find that adhering to Quebeckers values will resonate with more and more people in English Canada.
It's just this sort of stupidity from the Village that's brought us to the point we're at now. I'm not carrying water for anyone, but if the NDP chooses not to play this game by these rules, then I say good on them. The reaction from the political and media establishment will, of course, be furious – and predictable. That's up to them. Whether we allow it to matter is up to us.
Related posts:
From pogge:
Every year or two I find a reason to point to Declan's post on the Media Failure Two-Step. (And actually I could find a reason much more often than that.) To review, the Two-Step looks like this:
Step 1) Cause something (bad) to happen through your reporting.Step 2) Report on this (bad) thing from the perspective of an innocent bystander.And then you just repeat indefinitely.
Our latest example? With the Globe and Mail leading the charge, since yesterday many in the media have been having a great old time implying that a Quebec politician who has previously been involved with the BQ is somehow unfit for her position as an interim leader for the NDP. That in turn would imply that about half the voters of Quebec are illegitimate participants in the democratic process until they somehow redeem themselves to the satisfaction of the Globe's editorial board. And in case it isn't obvious, deserting the BQ in droves to vote for the NDP isn't sufficient for the purpose.
And from thwap:
Whether the NDP has tossed a rope down to allow the Liberal Party of Canada to clamber back up out of the grave is something I'm not prepared to speculate upon, nor is it something I'm inclined to speculate upon.I'll let the voters decide. And I can't predict that.
It does show that the Liberals are looking to knock the NDP off from its perch as the second party in Canada. For the issues of economic and foreign policy, I hope they fail. I hope, for reasons of foreign and economic policy, that the NDP hews closer to the principles of former BQ voters in Quebec. Because given the failure of mainstream (read: harpercon and Liberal) economic and foreign policies, the NDP might just find that adhering to Quebeckers values will resonate with more and more people in English Canada.
It's just this sort of stupidity from the Village that's brought us to the point we're at now. I'm not carrying water for anyone, but if the NDP chooses not to play this game by these rules, then I say good on them. The reaction from the political and media establishment will, of course, be furious – and predictable. That's up to them. Whether we allow it to matter is up to us.
Related posts:
#SunMedia and journalistic ethics: another juxtaposition
Although I sometimes wonder: given the mockery that whole "commies in the media" thing inspired, are the trolls at Sun Media really thinking any attention is good attention?
Then again, maybe I'm overthinking. These are the people whose readers do happy dances at the news of Jack Layton's cancer, after all.
Related posts:
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
As far as @pogge411 is concerned, caribou are more important than people
Typical bleeding-heart tree-hugger, getting all squishy about caribou and weeping into his tofu. Never mind the jobs involved in forestry and the Ethical OilTM Sands. And where's he getting his information? From the socialists at the CBC, of course.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Democracy withers away: Europe’s wakeup call - Le Monde diplomatique | via @NaomiAKlein
Serge Halimi: Europe’s wakeup call - Le Monde diplomatique - English edition
When the balance that keeps labour and capital in relative equilibrium gets trashed (or more likely in this context, sold off to private investors), the political and social consequences ought to be predictable.
Krugman: The President Surrenders on Debt Ceiling - NYTimes.com
The President Surrenders on Debt Ceiling - NYTimes.com
OK, can we do a couple of things for starters?
1. Lose the illusion that Obama's got any balls, or that he's in any way "progressive," or that there's much substantive institutional and policy difference between Democrats and Republicans. All the drama coming from Washington is just so much kabuki theatre.
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