Keith Boag: “Listen Harper, Around Here I Am The News”
Stephen Taylor pulls together a very good post on the “all about me” performance of CBC’s Keith Boag last evening.
Boag tries to link the frustrations of his job with “government accountability”. Canadians voted for change in the way that government contracts are awarded, lobbying is conducted, and the way that whistleblowers are protected. They voted for accountability in the way government works. Canadians did not vote for the Boag’s easy access to the most sought-after video and sound bite.
Precisely.
Be sure to read the comments – CTV’s David Akin weighs in.
Catch 44
The provincial government has discovered another case of financial irregularities, this one worth about $100,000 and involving a SaskPower employee.
John Nilson, minister responsible for SaskPower, said the employee — a manager — is on leave with pay, a situation that is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
[…]
Last month, the government announced 43 incidents of financial irregularities, adding up to nearly $2 million, that have occurred in the last three years within provincial departments, agencies and Crown corporations.
Then, there’s this little tidbit;
A few high-profile cases, which had been previously disclosed, accounted for the lion’s share of the $2 million, including a Saskatchewan Environment employee and another person being charged with fraud in a case involving up to $513,000. Another case involving the misappropriation of about $1 million of welfare money led to the dismissal of a Community Resources employee, but no charges so far.
Steal a million and it could cost you your job. So there.
In another get-tough move, the Saskatchewan NDP government (aka the SGEU, as the two bodies are pretty much interchangable) has given current employees enough time to have any criminal record expunged by way of a pardon.
SDA Flashback – September 19, 2005
| Criminal record checks in the Saskatchewan Public Service New employees and current employees moving into criminal record check-required positions must complete a check prior to commencement; Employees currently occupying positions designated as requiring a criminal record check will be encouraged to provide one on a voluntary basis on the understanding that they must do so on a mandatory basis within five years. |
Frequently Asked Questions about Pardons 3. When can I apply for a pardon? To apply for a pardon, you must have completely served your sentence and a waiting period of either three years for summary convictions or five years for indictable convictions (criminal offences). |
Emphasis mine. By way of comparison, if you want to serve your local volunteer fire department, you’ll have to agree to that criminal record check before you’re issued the boots and hat.
Autism: No Increase
Remember all those news magazine “special reports” devoted to the alarming rise in autism?
The big problem is something called �diagnostic substitution.� In special education programs, �autism� was not a required category until created by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Suddenly, �autism� diagnoses for special education sky rocketed. At the same time things like �mental retardation� and other categories for mental disabilities declined. The researcher, Dr. Paul Shattuck, notes that this pattern has been observed in the past and that it was not the case that there was epidemic. In short, the problem is that there was a better diagnosis/classification scheme put into place and the primary data source that is often used to justify the �autism epidemic� claim is tainted and cannot be used to determine if there really is an epidemic.
Read the rest at OTB.
“Holy sh*t, we could drive to Iraq.”, con’t
Sean and I dragged our sorry, exhausted, and malnourished selves to the car at 6:30 in the morning just a few hours northwest of the Turkish-Iraqi border. For the first time we had a look at our surroundings in daylight.
Turkish Kurdistan is a disaster. It is not where you want to spend your next holiday.
One village after another has been blown completely to rubble.
Saskatchewan’s Worst Kept, Most Expensive Budget Secret
Sask Premier Lorne Calvert is grooming his young new Finance Minister to be his replacement.
That’s why things like this are going on;
“The total budget for the Saskatchewan budget advertising is $445,000 — and the primary audience are Saskatchewan voters…I mean….Saskatchewan people.”
 |
Future wide open, indeed. Complete with radio and TV ad appearances by Andrew Thomson. Brought to you by taxpayers. |
Star Phoenix has more.
Democracy, Immigration, Multiculturalism
Pick Any Two
A post by James C. Bennett, written last December, but always relevant.
My Mosque Is Better Than Your Mosque
More sectarian bloodshed. Time to pull the armies of the Emperialist BushMcChimpyHitler Neo-Con Fascists out of Pakistan!
Julie Van Dusen: “Listen Harper, Around Here WE Make The News”
Canadian Sentinel (from the comments *);
“What will they do next? Throw a pie?”
Would anyone be that surprised?
Reader Tips
CBC: We regret to inform you that the Jews didn’t do it.
Hamas founder Husseini and Himmler in photographs.
Michael Barone in US News & World Report;
Ed Morrissey of Captain’s Quarters makes his living as manager of a call center. But he also blogs brilliantly and thoroughly. Those who insist that there could never have been a collaboration between the Saddam Hussein regime and al Qaeda on 9/11 need to read Ed’s following blog entry, in full. It doesn’t prove the case, or claim to, but it makes very interesting reading.
I am always amazed at those who claim, with absolute certitude, that we know that Saddam’s regime had nothing to do with 9/11. We don’t know that. We don’t know either, with any certainty, that Saddam did collaborate on 9/11, but we know that he had motive and opportunity, and we know (read Ed’s post) that there is some evidence of collaboration. Not conclusive, but evidence. Read.
James Joyner on the Iran war posturing;
Kevin Drum has the same basic take on the steady drumbeat of the �Bush is planning for war with Iran� meme that I do, namely that it is a PSYOP to enhance our diplomatic pressure on the mullahs. Mark Danziger thinks Bush hater Sy Hersh an odd avenue for such a campaign but, as a correspondent has noted, Bill Gersh served in much the same capacity during the Clinton administration.
Iraq Index from the Brookings Report (Brookings is considered a liberal think tank) shows a decline in US, Iraq military and civilian deaths, making March one of the least costly months to date in terms of loss of life.
Hot Air – A History – “Al Gore�s personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change.”
Add your own in the comments, or send a trackback.
Iran Joins The “Nuclear Club”.
 |
“I formally declare that Iran has joined the club of nuclear countries,” [Ahmadinejad] told an audience that included top military commanders and clerics in the northwestern holy city of Mashhad. The crowd broke into cheers of “Allahu akbar!” or “God is great!” Some stood and thrust their fists in the air. |
Driving home the point the historically literate already understand – this isn’t “Bush’s war”. It’s Jimmy Carter’s.
“Holy sh*t, we could drive to Iraq.”
Back to Iraq – Part One;
Sean and I tried to go to sleep early so we could wake up and go at first light. I stared at the ceiling and remembered my flight over Eastern Turkey. We are so screwed, I thought. There’s no way we can drive across that landscape to Iraq and back in three days from where we are now. And I was right. and Part Two
Zeyad Scholarship Fund
Jeff Jarvis on how you can help Iraq blogger Zeyad (Healing Iraq) attend CUNY�s new Graduate School of Journalism.
We are reaching out to foundations and individuals and working on scholarships and Zeyad is working to raise money. But that won�t do it all. We will. All of you inspired Zeyad to blog and give his invaluable perspective on Iraq. That inspired him to give up his career as a dentist and report for his blog as well as for NYTimes.com, the Washington Post, and the Guardian. So now I hope we will all show what the blogosphere can do and raise the funds one of our own needs to come to America to study. You have two means to give.
Shall we see how much we can raise? Once you donate, let me know in the comments section. I’ll start things off by sending a $50US cheque today to the CUNY fund.
Dean Steve Shepard
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
535 E. 80th St.
New York, NY 10021
Make sure to note that this is for the �Zeyad Scholarship Fund.�
Federal Accountability Act Online
From the Treasury Board Secretariat:
OTTAWA, April 11, 2006 – Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government today introduced the proposed Federal Accountability Act to restore Canadians’ trust in government.
Treasury Board President John Baird introduced the Act in Parliament. An Action Plan was also released, which includes additional measures the Harper government will undertake in order to deliver on all its campaign commitments to clean up government.
The Action Plan, draft legislation, fact sheets, and other materials are available at www.accountability.gc.ca.
Because If They Don’t Children May Die
Watch while London politicians twist themselves into pretzels trying to justify a taxpayer-funded trip to see Rudy Guiliani.
First, they need to spend $10,000 to help defray the cost of the London conference.
[…]
Oh yeah…and what will people think if city councillors don’t go? How will they be seen? And, what if there is a future pandemic? Think about it!
If you’re a taxpayer in the London, ON area, you’ll have to move fast – the vote is today. Info here;
UPDATE from David Maclean: “Well, there is some good news. Due to “public pressure” council decided not to accept the tickets for fear of it being perceived as graft. They are, however, still contributing 10,000 for the conference. Well done, folks.”
A Mentorship Program
Complete with “Boy Love Code Of Ethics”. Because sex with boys is “Not an entitlement”!
Via Stop The ACLU, where a Blogspot flagging campaign is getting off the ground.
Blog Notes
To help illustrate why blogs can have influence that far exceeds their actual readership, click this Google search result.
Case rested.
Got Anything In A Cessna?
(Click photo for story)
h/t Shaidle
Yes, It Is Strange
Reader “Boudica” asks;
“Is it just me or do you find it strange that the name of the person who self immolated recently at the Toronto Tim Hortons was never released?”
Perhaps our legions of curious readers can ferret that out….
update Several commentors have pointed out that his identity has been withheld “due to the family’s wishes”.
Well, big whoop. When one chooses to exit in a manner that places the public at significant risk, which destroys the property of others and closes down part of a metropolitan area, one should expect to forfeit the “right to privacy”.
Afterthought – has anyone else forgotten the March 8 announcement of the Tim Horton’s opening at the Canadian base at Kandahar? And it’s unreasonable for people to ask who was responsible for a gasoline fueled explosion in one of their restaurants in Toronto less than a month later?
Reports Of Berlusconi’s Defeat May Be Premature
Where have we heard this before?
PRODI WINS the Italian elections, if the first exit polls are confirmed.
It’s a nailbiter, though. Barcepundit is following returns. “According to the latest results, the Casa delle Libert� (Berlusconi) has taken the lead over the Unione (Prodi). Amazing.”
An Instapundit reader predicts;
If Berlusconi loses, it will be a referendum on Italy’s involvement in Iraq. If he wins, it will be due to some obscure domestic issues.
Interestingly, when the exit polls had Prodi ahead, it was a lead item on Yahoo news. As the results drew closer, it had dropped off the front page (though now it is back as “too close to call”).