At Home in Hespeler

Lance Roberts and Gord Martineau sat in with CFRB’s Jim Richards today. Discussing the future of journalism, Richards asks, what about bloggers, and twitter and all that jazz?

Well, answers one of the experienced journalists, people will always turn to experienced journalists to get the truth. Bloggers offer opinions, you need *us* to give you the real story.

Just look, throws in Richards, at the Gordon Lightfoot false death story?

Yes, lets.

To start with, I heard about this story on… CFRB. On their newscast. By experienced, professional journalists, getting me the truth.

Secondly, while it’s true the story broke on twitter, it is patently false, as in not even remotely the real story, to suggest it was the product of a rogue blogger or random twitter user. The story broke on twitter after it was reported by…

CanWest News Service reporter David Aikn

Hey, isn’t he an experienced journalist?

And, and, and… isn’t it CanwestGlobal Lance Roberts?

Thank God! for trusted respected media, or who knows what kind of limbo Gordon Lightfoot would be in right now.

Media doesn't matter CanwestGlobal, CFRB, David Akin, Gord Martineau, Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Richards, Lance Roberts

Well, not really, but John Tory ties himself into knots trying to explain why he supports the CBC, or at least did. His argument for supporting the CBC is basically, they are a National Broadcaster with a difficult mandate, therefore they will cost more. Fair enough, but the point many of us make is they are unnecessary and we shouldn’t be forced to financially support them (just as Margaret Atwood shouldn’t be forced to support Sun TV – or fake moon landing).

Yesterday, Tory met the final straw when it comes to the CBC, and swears he will never support them again.

Jeeze, a few more of these conversions, and we might just make a conservative of John Tory yet.

John 'Red Green' Tory Brian Lilly, CBC, CFRB, John Tory

I don’t believe in book burning, never have. Otherwise, I would have spent last weekend in the bookshops buying cheap copies of Handmaids Tale and The Edible Woman for our Saturday Night Bonfire. So Pastor Terry Jones and his Church of the Dove’s Qur’an burning don’t appeal to me. I think they are wrong, just as the people who want to build the New York City Mosque are wrong: just because it’s legal to do it, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

Yesterday I was listening to the radio, and they were discussing this issue. Most people seemed to sympathize, but disagree with Pastor Terry. Then one guy phones in: “We should all wear traditional Muslim dress on that day to express our support for the Muslim community.” This lunatic wants you to dress like a desert Bedouin on Sept 11th, to show support for the guys who flew the plane?

Then there’s John Hawkes, who’s letter was published in the Toronto Sun on Thursday:

What does this idiot think he will accomplish by burning a Qur’an? Pastor Terry Jones has a belly-full of hate and little else. He’s as bad an example of a Christian as any Islamic terrorist is a bad example of a Muslim.

Put another way, since you have that fire going, you might as well throw a few Chechen school-children on. And he’s calling someone else an idiot.

The problem isn’t some nut Pastor, it’s these moral equivocators, who see no difference in burning down a building with a thousand people inside and burning a Qur’an.

There will be no Muslim dress for me tomorrow, but I will be commemorating Sept 11 by joining Project 2,996. If you have a blog and a bit of time,why not write a tribute for a victim of 911.

mullahs CFRB, John Hawkes, Margaret Atwood, Mo and the Mullahs, New York City Mosque, Pastor Terry Jones, project 2996, Qur'an, sept 11, Toronto Sun

A steaming mad Councillor Paula Fletcher challenged a citizen asking questions at a budget consultation meeting Monday…

Challenged? She screamed like a petulant child at a taxpayer, concerned about ever more taxes. And the citizen was right, she damn well ought to be fired.

But don’t believe me, listen to the audio here.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your elected representatives.

Politicians acting badly, Toronto: Not in a Death Spiral CFRB, John Tory, Paula Fletcher

And good luck to you John, because your a three time loser

Sandra from Toronto ended her call on CFRB radio last Friday afternoon with those rather mean spirited words for show co-host John Tory.

“Do you work for the city (of Toronto)” Tory’s co-host Tarek Fatah asked Sandra three times during the call.

“I don’t work for the city,” Toronto councilor and council speaker Sandra Bussin told Fatah.

Bussin denied, for five days, that the caller was her then yesterday, when the jig was  clearly up, called CFRB again and admitted that yes she was Sandra from Toronto. She did not lie, however (other than denying it was she who called from Friday until Wednesday), she does not work for the city, she works for her constituents. That is what she told host Bill Carroll yesterday. “I don’t work for the city. I work for my constituents.”

With any luck at all, she won’t be working for anybody come Nov. 2010, and then she won’t have to split hairs when she’s ambushing someone.

Toronto: Not in a Death Spiral CFRB, John Tory, Sandra Bussin, Tarek Fatah