Watch Again, Globe & Mail ...

But, well, er, that just doen't make for news does it. Can you see the headline:

President Bush Removes Own Watch

In a stunning move today, President George W Bush showed amazing reflexes and dexterity bay removing his own wrist watch, a move no-one expected.

Ok, so its not as exciting as a story about the prez having his watch perloined. Unless you spin it so that George removed the watch so that a poor foreigner couldn't steal it to buy food for his family. That cheap SOB, the watch only cost $50, he should have given it to the guy.

I'm surprised the Lib media hasn't gone that route.

The truth is the victim of the news on the bleeding pages of these Liberal/left house organs.

The Globe & Mail building is located on Front Street.

Immediately to it's west is a building in which childrens' toys are either manufactured or marketed. The name of the firm is Spin Masters.

Seems rather appropriate, given the neighbourhood.

Next headline from the Tabloid G&M;

Bush So Slick, Was He A 'Pick-Pocket' In His Youth ?

So telling, that the citizens of Tirana enthusiastically thanked President Bush and all Americans for liberating them from the evils of socialism/communism.

That's Tirana, Albania. NOT Tarana, Ont.

It must drive the MSM nuts that Bush is loved in Albania, that he was welcomed by thousands and when questioned on it, the Albanians said that "Bush is Democracy, people crazy to not like it."

Yep, a story that tries to foster hate is about par for the course.

You can see he moves his left arm over in front of him (to remove it himself and put it in his right pocket) and then returns to shaking hands. God what a non-story.

I really like the fact that my President spends only $50 for a watch. In fact, I wish that he felt that way about the federal budget.

As I recall, Bill Clinton wore a nerd watch (like the one on my wrist right now). It was perhaps the only thing that I liked about him.

Hey, this is a Republican commercial that writes itself:

MSM & TIMEX WATCHES

"Bush takes a lickin', but keeps on tickin'!!"

Cheers

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht BGS, PDP, CFP

Commander in Chief

Frankenstein Battalion

Knecht Rupprecht Division

Hans Corps

1st Saint Nicolaas Army

Army Group “True North”

Well, it did knock Paris off as the lead in story...

"The stollen watch of president Bush in Albania."

The real tragedy is someone who can't spell a simple word like "stolen".

If you're interested, the article in today's Globe that's garnered the most online comments as 12:30 PM ET is Canada: A land of mediocrity

Yesterday's headline in the Globe translated from progressive to english:
"Look how stupid Bush is, he had his watch stolen like some dumb country rube!"

Today the lesson learned: Look how careless, mean spirited, subversive and agenda driven the hacks at our worlds newspapers are!

Dont understand the motivation for the story...is it that Bus is stupid he cant keep his watch on or that his thankful supporters are thieves

Of course watch the story now be how Bush doesnt trust people.....

Srombopoopadoofallus had it on CBC last night!

Tony Blair says they are more like "Viewspapers" not "Newspapers".

[ ..he insisted the deteriorating coverage of political reporting in particular had "sapped the country's confidence and self-belief; it undermines its assessment of itself, its institutions and above all else it reduces our capacity to take the right decisions in the right spirit for our future."

He added that the increasing momentum of the news cycle was "seriously adverse to the way public life is conducted".

Speaking at a meeting for journalists at Reuters in London, he added: "The fear of missing out means today's media, more than ever, hunts in a pack.

"In these modes, it is like a feral beast just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no-one dares miss out." ] Tony Blair.

Was he talking about the Parliamentary Press Gallery ??

[ "Scandal or controversy beats ordinary reporting hands down. News is rarely news unless it generates heat as much as or more than light."

He added that there was a "confusion of news and commentary. Comment is a perfectly respectable part of journalism. But it is supposed to be separate.

"The truth is a large part of the media today not merely elides the two but does so now as a matter of course." ] Tony Blair.

Push Pull journalism.

Push Pull media polls. (Of which, no one ever sees the original data.)

Thanks to Daniel for pointing me to the Glob article "Canada: A land of mediocity". Talk about hitting the nail on the head, a grade of D says it all. From the land that gave the world Bell, Banting, Best, and Bombardier, true innovation and the creative juices have all but disappeared unless there is a government grant involved.

Down here in Texas, I am constantly being blown away by the private money being spent on research and development. Right next door to me is a brand new 11 story building that was built with monies donated by a single couple of Texans. The purpose of the building? Basic Health Science Research. Last year there was another $50 million donated for another research facility and the list goes on. Somewhere along the line Canadians have stopped asking "What can I do and are asking what am I entitled to". Yes, it's American but the quote from John F. Kennedy (Ask not...) could equally apply to Canadians today. I would dearly love to see a Made in Canada innovation or whatever that wasn't based on a subsidy, grant or any other government string attachment.

Sorry for being slightly off topic.

Somewhat relevant. It appears the UN is enlisting the help of the press to promote multiculturalism: (thegatesofvienna.blogspot.com)

Keynote speaker at the conference, Dr. Doudou Diène, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, urged the media to actively participate in the creation of a Multicultural society, and expressed concerns that the democratic process could lead to immigration-restrictive parties gaining influence, and claimed that this has already happened in Switzerland and Denmark. Diène said that it is a dangerous development when increasing numbers of intellectuals in the West now believe that some cultures are better than others.

It's an interesting development when increasing numbers of intellectuals are actually becoming intelligent. Horror of horrors.

"The real tragedy is someone who can't spell a simple word like 'stolen'."

I believe English is the writer's second language.

I'll join you in being slightly off-topic, Texas Canuck, by thanking you back.

It might not be as off-topic as you may think, though. Kate was taking the Globe to task for journalistic mediocrity, which brings up the question of why there aren't more competitors in the media field to raise the bar.

After reading through many of those comments for that innovation article, I'm at a bit of a loss, except to conclude that us Canadians are somewhat like Hobbits: unless there's a huge adventure, or mega-millions, awaiting us, we prefer staying in our holes in the Shire. I need hardly remind everyone that the Globe, as a big business, is attunded to consumer demand.

We're also held in by critics, too. I can't testify to this, but I have a hunch that innovation level is roughly correlated wth a generally-accepted contempt for badmouthers. If Canada is to be innovative, then innovation itself would have to be valued more by us Canadians - not as a means, but as an end. America's secret strength in this regard may very well be its gosh-wow subculture, because it encourages innovation as an unconditional good unless there's evident harm attached.

To get back to the Globe example: why aren't there more innovative journalists starting up blogs or websites with reporting (not commentary) in them - not with the goal of striking it rich, but with the goal of raising the standard while making enough to stay afloat?

"It's not easy keeping a watch on George Bush" says leading journalist....

Oh, suure !!!! I suppose he did the same thing with the plastic turkey

New meme? Christian fundamentalist President Bush distrusts loving Muslim Albanians ... removes watch just in case.

.....increasing numbers of intellectuals in the West now believe that some cultures are better than others......

Of course, no cultures are better than any others.

That is why for every Somali, Sudanese or Venezuelan trying to get into the US, UK, Canada and Australia, there are an equal number of Canucks, poms, Aussies and Yanks trying to illegally emigrate to North Korea, Iran, Cuba as well as the democratic socialist republics named above.

Never mind the insult to Albanians with this lame piece. You would think properly vetting the story would be motivated by that alone.

You would have thought properly vetting the story would have resulted in a "it's just a stupid watch" response by the editors, followed by a dump into the round file.

The pathetic part isn't that they got the story wrong - it's that they decided it was a story at all.

@Kate:

The Globe is chasing after the easy-to-reach eyeballs...and I do mean 'easy'.

Here's a substitute caption for then new trash tabloid G&M to use...in keeping with a trash story you need trashy trailer park humor so here goes:

hey "watch"-out... Pres Bush must be aware it was an incident in Albania that started the first World war.

This explains why the MSM has gone Tabloid.

Time Warner CEO, Richard Parsons, admits; "I worry about CNN more than I do about CNN.com."

[ Many news junkies already feel the same way, but when the person expressing concern about the state of the 24-hour TV news network is Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, the guy who ultimately runs both properties, it's pretty telling. ]

[ "We're all pretty convinced that news doesn't break on TV anymore," said Eric Bader, senior VP-managing director of digital connections at MediaVest. "Almost everybody across pretty much every economic and age demographic learns of breaking news online, increasingly on mobile." ]

I caught one closer to home:
Teh Star Goes Tabloid

This story is more real than any of the stories reported before it...
http://no-libs.com/?p=1774

I,ll bet MICHEAL MOORE is frustrated becuase the ALBANIANS are gving bush a warm welcome