Headline in news:
“Liberals urge more internet, cellphone competition”
Liberals urge that?  Oh sure they do.  These are the same people who created the CRTC and the state-owned CBC.  And a state-owned Air Canada.  And a state-owned Petro Canada.  And a state-owned Via Rail.  And a state-owned isotope maker.  And our North Korean-style socialized “health care” system.  (I could fill a half a page here if I added liberals’ control within provincial jurisdictions…)

So let me glance into my crystal ball:  they will eventually demand a “public option” for cellphone and internet services, like their sacred CBC offers a “public option” — or “offering Canadians a choice” as their taxpayer-paid advertising actually, ludicrously, insultingly, states (seriously!), to compete against that government-owned media division’s competitive enemy:  the Canadian private citizen and their investments in media like CTV and Global and the many independents (until they go bankrupt or more wisely simply leave the “market”, of course).  Or like “Obamacare” down south and that massive “investment” of the taxpayer’s dollars, to provide an “option” to Americans which competes against the options offered by the free market/citizen enemy. 

The benevolent Liberals, through their enormous and what they demand to be ever more enormous governments, would love to “compete” against the free-market in Canada for internet and cellphone business, just as they do in news and entertainment media, retailing beer, wine and rum, train travel, ferry travel, car insurance (with optional towing package!), nuclear energy and isotopes, child daycare (and “early learning”  —wink!), electrical power generation, lottery ticket sales and gambling generally, steel manufacturing, city transit, letter and package delivery service, health care, satellite radio (hello again CBC and Sirius!), education, pension investments, telephone service (!),  and now even automobile manufacturing,

That “headline in news” headline courtesy of the state-owned, socialism-reliant CBC, a creation of socialists in the Liberal Party, who still view it as a sacred icon of their Fabian socialism, and which would never part with it come hell or high water, because they wholly believe the state should effectively “compete” against its own citizens. 

Vote liberal: Get more “competition”? 

Get real.

I’ll show you a “politics” story:  The CBC.  There.  That’s it.  The “politics” story of the last several decades.  Pure (or rather impure?), crass, left-wing, agenda-driving politics.  Just how it is that we as a nation allow the government to compete against its own citizens and own and run and fund with taxpayer dollars a left-wing agenda-driving “news” media:  that’s politics.  It’s the “Politics” story all the media is missing, on purpose. There’s your hot tip on a real “politics” story, CBC and the rest of you.  (Oh I know —much too ironic on so many levels).

When the brilliants at the CBC call a story about international affairs and diplomacy at the very highest level simply “POLITICS”, exactly in line and in the same category as Liberal Party leader (?) Michael Ignatieff’s political hideousness du jour (his backroom reshuffling of yes-men); and in exactly the same space as the story of the you’ve got to be kidding party’s alleged involvement in a pure (no, impure), crass, political protest which was drummed-up by radical leftists (Marxists?) to support their party’s impure, crass politics, which actually became (was designed to become?) a near-riot in the house of Commons on Monday, you know the CBC is playing politics. 

I wrote about the Liberals’ hideous politics earlier today.  This one other POLITICS story at the CBC about the aforementioned left-wing nutbar protester who claims injury after causing a near-riot in the House of Commons (oh boo-hoo-hoo):

…Questions have also been raised about the spontaneity of the protest and about the involvement of the NDP.

An NDP MP arranged passes for the protesters into the public gallery. The protesters also met with NDP leader Jack Layton, in a large room booked by the NDP, before the protest.

“I charge the member for Toronto Danforth [Layton’s riding] with contempt for his involvement in this incident,” Tory House Leader Jay Hill said in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

“It’s now become quite clear that the people who disrupted the proceedings of this house were guests of the leader of the NDP.”

One protester, Joe Cressy, belongs to NDP MP Paul Dewar’s riding association and is Dewar’s volunteer political events co-ordinator.

Another protester was Mike Hudema, a former Alberta provincial NDP candidate who now works for Greenpeace. …

—CBC story on CBC.ca

So a simple glance at the CBC web site turns out to be a graphic example of pure (no, impure) left-wing politics in action.  Conservatives in government doing good, positive things for our country as they should; and the left and extreme left-wing parties doing hideous and quasi seditious things: same thing!

You’re welcome, CBC.  Hope you find that “balance” soon!

EXTRA, EXTRA:
For their part, the like-minded CTV does precisely the same, as if in editorial lockstep, missing that whole story about the fact that in a free and democratic country, state-run and state-owned media should be banned, and that notion should be enshrined in our constitution. And you’re welcome for that tip, for the 8,000th time, CTV.

Much talk — no hang on let me start again:  Nobody’s talking about the state-owned, socialism-reliant and massive failure, the CBC and its change of name from the “news channel” failure they called “Newsworld”, to “CBC News Network”.  Rational folks are mocking it as a blatant and latent and very ill-conceived and ill-considered and clearly costly (at taxpayer expense, but don’t worry, the timing’s just perfect!) nod to the far superior American liberal (but less liberal) media brethren at CNN.  CBCNN?  See?  They even have a new Euro-disco beat in the background to be even groovier and trendier than they were before.  Watch CBCNN for coverage of Obama’s night out with Michelle! Friday!  You’re in the Canadian situation room.

And then as if on cue, we see this headline yesterday and today, as if perfectly timed to betray CBC’s ingenious marketers as the overpaid buffoons they are: CNN Drops to Last Place Among Cable News Networks (the article barely mentions that Fox News Channel is the clear leader, and has been for a long time, and they “blame” Fox’s leadership numbers on their being mostly “opinion” rather than news (hey!  Just like Obama and his team!), leaving out the fact that it’s actually the fact that they allow conservatives to say things and ask tough questions). 

Obviously the CBC socialist network (hey that would be a better name: CBCSN—and “early learning”  —wink!) would do better to follow the example of the far superior and viewership leader-by-a-mile, Fox News Channel, and put some conservatives on the air.  Yes I note that CTV recently changed their news channel’s name from “NewsNet” to “CTV News Channel”, but they forgot that last bit about the conservatives, and like the CBC, refuse to learn by example, no doubt because they’re so stuck in their liberal-left fundamentalist ideology, and their agenda-driving ways.  They could learn a thing or two about being “rogue” from the newest best-selling author, Sarah Palin.

And then instead of just the changing the color of their pink lipstick, they need to make the real changes and emulate the successful Fox News Channel:  Ask some tough questions about the liberal-left, secular-progressive group-think;  Don’t be Obama-butt-kissers and liberal ideology sycophants;  Acknowledge that America isn’t actually evil;  Acknowledge that capitalism isn’t actually evil, and that it works and is the proven winner;  Acknowledge the real, good values of traditional Canadians, and that believing in traditional marriage and being pro-life doesn’t make you a homophobe or a moron;  And acknowledge that Christians aren’t idiots, and they aren’t actually the same as Islamofascist terrorists**.  And do take sides (ours).  And call them “homocide bombers” instead of “suicide bombers”;  And stop calling it the “so-called” war on terror. 

That’s obviously what people actually want.  But whatever.  It’s just our tax dollars at work.

And then there’s the hilarious (while also being insulting) attempt by the liberal Democrats in the U.S. as they try yet again to resuscitate their unpopular and increasingly ridiculous government-run “health care” plan (or non-plan), in which the public option is so out of favor among the populace, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat) decided yesterday to simply change the name ….to “consumer option”. 

Oh go ahead and laugh now.  Or send condolences to your Democrat friends and family because it is also really kind of sad.

Another liberal Democrat Congressman snake oil pitchman is test-marketing “competitive option”, as her chosen head-fake.  Because the folks —they’re so, so dumb.  Perhaps the folks lack the modern-day state-run “early learning” or state-run whole-day kindergarten that the libs are always on about.

Of course as those of us in the smart set know, the neo-socialist know-it-alls are employing some good old-fashioned tricks to sucker the folks, believing the folks to be total idiots.  And of course it’s exactly how they think, isn’t it?  The government knows best… they are smarter than you…. you can’t be trusted…  beer and popcorn…

** Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC show called Hardball, on Thursday, October 22, 2009:

“The group in this country that most resembles the Taliban, ironically, is the Religious Right.”

Nutbar leftist Rosie O’Donnell said something very similar on “The View” one day. 

(Hey I wonder if Shaw will make those channels “opt-in” channels!  OK I’ve stopped wondering!)

EXTRA:

Caused by “the government”?  And their putting through “too many rules and regulations”?  Hey Fred!  That ain’t liberal!

Possible job opening at CBC!  Apply therein!

It’s true.  I heard it.  CBC’s Fred Langan, the front man of their oxymoronic (with an emphasis on moronic) business news department, said it.  Today.  In Canada.  No really.  Now mind you he said it on the socialism-reliant, state-owned media, the CBC, which is protected and nurtured and is staffed by and is left-teat-fed by massive nanny-state governments and their stacks of protective anti-free-market and anti-capitalist rules and regulations, and of course billions of tax dollars.  And it competes against citizen-owned media.  Awwwwkwaaaard! 

“…The crash of 1929 was one of the great —not ‘great’ but it was called The Great Crash because it was one of the historical moments of the 20th century.  And a lot of people think that it caused the Great Depression but it actually marks the Great Depression.  When the Great Depression started after it, it’s thought that politicians actually started the Great Depression by putting through too many rules and regulations…”

—CBC’s Fred Langan

Surely he meant it was caused by a lack of nanny-state government intervention and their incessant meddling in the free, capitalist markets, and their lack of pernicious and growing layers of rules regulations, as the Liberals and the socialist you’ve got to be kidding party tell us are so vital for our lives.

Or Langan is vying for a job at the Fox Business Network, or something.

UPDATE:

USA Today picked up a link to my blog entry this morning.  Snarf.

Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress gave sound, logical, arguments this morning for his position in support of federal legislation against extremist Islamists forcing their property to wear those identity-hiding extremist Islamist body bags that they wear.  “Tents” or “contraptions” (as Fatah described them) which thus hide their identity, and present a security problem among several other obvious and obviously negative things. 

As is painfully obvious to all normal Canadians, hiding things like identities is unacceptable and totally intolerable. It’s un-Canadian.  Full stop.

But not to the CBC. Not when it’s Muslims. Muslims are multicultural!  And moreover, they’re not Christians!  Opposing the burka is intolerance.  And racist.  And “Islamophobic”, if I understand correctly.

The CBC’s so-called “Newsworld” anchor Suhana Meharchand started out by telling Fatah “I kinda take offense to you tellin’ me what I can and cannot wear”.  He reminded her that if she showed up at the CBC for a job interview wearing one of those (what I call) body bags, she wouldn’t get the job (he left out, “and we’d all be better off for it”).  And he added that she’d then be forced to depend on her husband or her father or brother’s income and that this was the most insidious way of putting women in their place. 

As it is, as a CBC employee, she’s fully dependent on her maternal nanny-state and its giant left teat. But she likes it that way. 

Coincidentally, the state-owned, socialism-reliant CBC hides its own identity (very poorly) as a far-left social, economic and cultural propaganda machine, under its own body bag disguise.  They walk around wearing this “fair and balanced” cover, also now popularly called a “public option” (—wink!) by Barack Obama, which they say “gives Canadians a choice” (they hide the fact that it’s a Marxist choice, and one which helps force the Canadian citizen-owned competition into bankruptcy, or at best, constant grovelling and compromises and appeasements of governments). 

And so the CBC disagreed very forcefully this morning with Fatah.  Note that they disagreed, although this is the ever so balanced network which “doesn’t take sides” on any issues, such as the war on terror in Afghanistan, and therefore calls the war on terror the “so-called war on terror”, or better yet, “George Bush’s ‘so-called’ war on terror”.  See?  No sides!  And they call the terrorist enemy “militants”.  And unlike Fox News Channel which properly identifies them as “homicide bombers”, the CBC insists on “suicide bombers”. 

You rarely hear such a lively argument from the normally boring as possible Canadian news media as the one put up against Fatah by the CBC’s “Newsworld” anchor Suhana Meharchand.  They usually reserve this kind of counterattack against their monthly conservative guest, or against a Christian who is promoting the unbanning of singing Christmas songs in schools again, or the unbanning of the display of a creche on state-owned property again (not the state-owned CBC property, silly —they don’t take sides!  Not even Canada’s!).  Meharchand vigorously argued against Fatah by pulling out her best arguments.  Like her argument comparing those extremist Islamists who “choose” to wear their body bag despite what the Grand Imam says (he says don’t wear that stupid thing) …to Catholic women who use birth control in spite of the Pope.  “Is she a bad Catholic if she does?!” she demanded of Fatah.  So:  extremist Islamofascist nutbars …and Catholic girls = a perfect comparison. 

To complete idiots.

And to liberal-left fundamentalists who constantly strive for ridiculous moral equivalents and the nobody’s right, it’s just a matter of opinion and what you believe in… claptrap religion taught by the progressives at the nearest church of liberalism mosque.

Since it’s about hiding identities, Fatah brought up the story of the Muslim woman who robbed a bank in Mississauga wearing a burka, and the fact that to avoid “race” issues and to be politically correct, the CBC and other so-called “mainstream media” (they’re not mainstream at all) didn’t even cover it, to which Meharchand excused herself and her “we don’t take sides” network by sniffing, “well, we don’t usually cover bank robberies”. 

Seriously. 

It’s certainly true that the CBC doesn’t cover bank robberies when they’re committed by someone wearing a burka.  But what if they were dressed like a Catholic Priest?  Wall-to-wall coverage with interviews of guest experts from Huffington Post and Daily Kos, and possibly a reliably left-wing atheist sociology professor from a state-owned university in Ontario (preferably one of the ones which bans pro-life groups).  Supplemented by a 5-part series called “Christians Are Bad?” (with a question mark —wink!) on the CBC’s “The Passionate Eye”.

It’s all about being hidden.  Ironically, what a revealing display.

From: Lorna
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 9:05 AM
To: ‘ProudToBeCanadian.ca’
Subject: Reason # (Whatever) to Nuke the CBC

Hey Joel,

I know you’re getting your new puppy today and yes, she is waaaaaaayyyyyyy cuter than Ghadaffi.

But, when you have a second from the coo-ing and ohhh-hing and ahhhing that a new puppy inspires grownups to do, take a read of this. This should inspire people to light a rocket under the Conservatives to dump the CBC once and for all.

Looking forward to lots of puppy pictures.

Lorna

CBC fights Access to Information czar in Federal Court
Interim commissioner Suzanne Legault calls CBC challenge a ‘precedent-setting’ case.

By Cynthia Münster
[The Hill Times]

The CBC is taking Canada’s Access to Information Commissioner’s Office to court over the public broadcaster’s fight to keep information about its journalism and programming secret.

Interim Access to Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault, who told The Hill Times that she has applied for the information commissioner’s job, said the case is “precedent-setting” because it will test a new provision in the Access to Information Act.

“It’s an important case because it’s a new provision under the act, so it will be important for jurisprudence in matters of access to information,” said Ms. Legault.

Since Sept. 1, 2007, the Federal Accountability Act modified the Access to Information Act to include the CBC and 70 other Crown corporations.

The CBC has reported the corporation has been swamped by requests and has developed a backlog of cases, which led to, among other things, the Canadian Newspaper Association ranking the corporation as the least transparent of federal agencies in an audit released earlier this year.

The disagreement relates to Sec. 68.1 of the Access to Information Act, an exemption created for the CBC, which provides exclusion for information under CBC control that relates to its journalistic, creative, or programming activities.

The CBC has been using the exemption in a number of cases and the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) argues that it should be able to review the relevant documents to assess whether the exemption was applied properly.

The CBC argues the commissioner has no legal authority to seek access to documents excluded under Sec. 68.1 of the act.

The corporation filed a federal court application on Sept. 16, asking the court to rule on whether the commissioner has the right to go through the records and review the decision to withhold them and Ms. Legault said she plans to file the OIC application on Sept. 28.

At first the OIC requested the documents and on Sept. 15 the office issued a subpoena for two of the requests. The CBC responded by filing a court application.

The court case will also likely raise issues over the protection of journalistic sources and Sec. 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Mario Dubé, the director of media relations and issues management for CBC, in an email to The Hill Times, said the CBC “firmly” believes that the production of its editorial independence and journalistic sources intended by Parliament “can only be effective if the commissioner cannot order the production of the records we’ve excluded.”

Declared Mr. Dubé: “It’s important to note that at this stage, commercial confidentiality is not an issue. The issue is about whether or not these records are covered by the act.”

Michel Drapeau, an Ottawa lawyer who is an access to information advocate, said this is “a massive change” and that Ms. Legault is doing a good job.

The Canadian Press reported last week that 13 of the 16 cases that will be discussed in court have been filed by Ottawa legal expert David Statham, of the Michel Drapeau law office, and on behalf of the Sun Media. CP reported that Mr. Statham filed 339 access to information requests over a three-month period in 2007. The newspaper chain has published a number of stories on the expense accounts of CBC executives.

“I am pleased as punch that the new administration is taking its role as a champion of access seriously. I’m not great on having to go to court, but if you need to go to court to enforce a right, and this is a democratic right then, by all means, this is the raison d’être of the information commissioner,” said Mr. Drapeau.

The requests want a broad range of information including a copy of audits from the last three Olympics performed by Deloitte Touche; a copy of all records on the costs of running the contest to find the new Hockey Night in Canada song; a copy of all records on the transition of the position of CEO from Robert Rabinovitch to Hubert T. Lacroix; a copy of the fees paid by the CBC for the submission of ATI requests during the 2007-2008 fiscal year; and a copy of all records and expense claims associated with the presentation of France’s Legion d’Honneur to Sylvain Lafrance (July 4, 2007), including a copy of exchanges between Mr. Lafrance and the president and the board of directors, concerning Mr. Lafrance’s acceptance of the foreign honour in his capacity as a CBC senior executive.

Mr. Drapeau said that until there is a court decision, this is a “catch-22” situation where requesters and the OIC have to take CBC at its word when they say the act doesn’t apply to certain documents or records.

Stated Mr. Drapeau: “I’m not suggesting that they are, but they can apply this to all sorts of records and when they do this, they can say to the information commissioner, ‘You cannot look at the records because our records are not covered by the act.’ So, until the court looks at it, and provides some guidance, it will be a sort of a cat and mouse [game]. Requesters, such as myself, will be asking information and organizations such as the CBC, but not only the CBC will say, ‘Well, sorry, this is not covered by the act, because it is part of [68.1], it’s excluded.’ The only thing I can do then is I can make a complaint to the information commissioner, the information commissioner may well believe that I’m right in my request and my complaint, but they cannot decide without having a look at the records.”

Ms. Legault said her office is dealing with two court cases, the other being a long-standing case the office filed with the Supreme Court in August, regarding the Prime Minister’s agenda. It involves several departments.

Ms. Legault said Canada is at a crossroads and the current access to information system may become meaningless if it doesn’t become digitized, in the submission process, as well as what people get when they receive their request.

She has also been working on implementing the business model developed by former commissioner Robert Marleau and focusing on the investigative part of the organization, which has included working closely with the Department of National Defence and Privy Council Office, two departments with ongoing issues of systemic delays.

The office has also been preparing for the annual “Right to Know” week.

Ms. Legault told The Hill Times that she has applied for the permanent Information Commissioner, for which a selection process is underway. Previous to this, she was appointed assistant information commissioner in June 2007 for a five-year term. The information commissioner has a $267,200 salary for 2009-2010.

cmunster@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times

Hey Lorna,

Since I believe state-owned media in a free country is an abject abrogation of our rights as free citizens, in addition to being the quintessential check mark indicating the weakness of a nation, and the height of logical idiocy, oh and all the proof we need that liberals and further leftists don’t trust Canadian citizens to act on their own with maturity and even a semblance of sophistication and must be guided by them (the government) at every turn in their lives, I think every scrap of paper and every taxpayer-purchased Post-It note should be posted online to be viewed by and shared by and laughed at by all the world.  And then used throughout history as an example of how humans went so terribly wrong under repeated liberal or “progressive” government regimes. 

And I’m sure you know by now that like all government programs, nothing on Earth will ever get rid of the CBC.  The Conservative Party of Stephen Harper loves the CBC.  They’ve said so.  They have promised to never get rid of it, ever.  And of course the Fabian socialist Liberals never will, and the outright socialists/communists of the you’ve got to be kidding party would nationalize all the media given half a chance, not unlike Hugo Chavez, whom they adore.  The CBC… why it’s a “Canadian value”, as the Liberals claim everything they love is (which happens to be everything state-owned and state-run and government-planned and regulated).  It’s literally priceless. The mentally and emotionally weak rely on it for comfort sort of like babies to mama’s tit.  We must not change a thing. 

Freedom is too scary for too many in this country.  Better we just remain under the thumb of governments, and not risk living life to its fullest.  Plus of course freedom isn’t free, and Canadians have been taught that everything “provided by the government” is free (and they think the government provided and granted them whatever freedom they do have, so it’s sort of a weird chicken and egg thing that way —or however you say that in Russian).

But have a nice day!

Joel
P.S. You know my mantra:  State-owned media should be banned in this country and that notion enshrined in our constitution.
P.P.S.  Since you mentioned nuking the CBC in your subject, here’s our official PTBC Nuke The CBC smiley, which readers will remember from the days when we commented on blog entries here.