From the "You probably already saw this in your e-mail" file



The United States has once again addressed its serious celebrity shortage - this guy just became famous for selling a wedding dress on eBay. Allow me to add to his fame by sending you his way.

More federal election news



I don't know that there will be a blog, but here's the candidate I'll be throwing my time and energy toward. He's running against Jim Prentice for the Alliance, so I can only hope Prentice is still out of money.



I won't be turning this page into a mouthpiece for that campaign, or any campaign. I just like to be honest about where I'm coming from when I do post.

Candidate blogging



Well, Ralph Klein was wrong - no election was called today. However, the Prime Minister is having dinner with the Earnscliffe board of directors his cabinet this week, and I'm sure election dates will be on the agenda.



One new thing this election will be bringing is the candidate blog. Rabble has posted an interesting article on candidate blogs. It reviews what's worked and hasn't worked through US primary season, the Conservative leadership race, and now our own election run-up.

Jay, the co-ordinating editor of the Dominion, a progressive newspaper with a frequently updated blog asserts that blogs aren't particularly well used by political campaigns because their writers tend to play it safe. "Because most politicians naturally don't want to take stands when they don't have to, the kind of off-the-cuff commentary that makes weblogs interesting is almost universally missing from weblogs purportedly authored by politicians themselves."

Well, there's some small chance that I'll be a candidate in the federal election, and a much larger chance that I'll stand in the provincial election expected in about a year. So let me make my first campaign promise right now - if it's here, and it says "posted by Don", I wrote it. Or possibly stole it. But, you know - by myself.

4:20



And speaking of better late than never - anyone got a light? I think we found Canada's new spring holiday, albeit a little later in the season than we were aiming.

Better late than never



I've been reading and reviewing the heat generated on the blogs by a cease and desist letter mailed to Jim Elve, operator of the BlogsCanada website. For those of you who never leave this page, here's the short version: someone working for the government didn't appreciate the design similarities between the BlogsCanada page and Canada's government pages, and so a lawyer wrote a letter asking him to stop. Well, telling him to stop. And the blog world rushed to Jim's defense, from InstaHack on down.



Oddly, I'm going to have to take the side of the government here. God help me if you ever find me echoing and quoting David Mader on this blog again (though God help David Mader for finding himself taking the side of "Government"), but in this case, right is right:

... though the Liberals have been doing their best to erase the line, I think we should still differentiate (where applicable) between the government and the Government. And the above certainly appears to be a reasonable act of the Government.

I think Jim designed the site originally as a bit of a laugh related to the directory - it's not just a directory, it's Canada's Directory!(tm). Jim's own blog shifted to be more political over time, and the e-group blog was a later add-on. I think those caused the trouble, but not because of the particular opinions.



I think so long as the domain was mostly directory and little or no political opinion, the "G"overnment (in the Mader parlance) left well-enough alone. Once opinion started being the main traffic-inducing feature of the domain, well, the Government is bound to be more sensitive to that. It isn't being anti-Martin in particular, or talking a lot about AdScam in particular, that would induce that reaction. It's giving opinion pages the stylistic look and feel of a domain (gc.ca) that stays well-clear of opinion.



It may be too late, but I wonder if Jim had made the changes on the two opinion blog pages, if the government would have left the directory be. I'm still a fan, Jim, but I think you need to let it go, because it's the right thing to do.

Spring election?



Look, I have no idea. I'm hardly an insider. But Ibbitson, via Kinsella, is talking June.



I mention this not to play that particular game, but to remind you all to get the entries in for the RevMod Gaffe-o-meter contest. Entries close the day the writ is dropped.

My mistake, again



Given last night's result, I should probably apologize for this.

My mistake, but not just mine



Dru at The Dominion Daily Weblog points out that while many of us have been focused on the foreign hostages, a humanitarian nightmare has been unfolding in Fallujah, at the hands of the United States Armed Forces.

In situations where disinformation reaches its absolute fever pitch, it becomes crucial to focus on the reality of the situation, and to take note of the gap between that reality and the manipulated images that corporate media ask us to accept in its place.



Fallujah is one place, but understanding what went on there and understanding the aforementioned gap can provide us with a healthy skepticism and a set of questions that can be applied to almost all other news coverage.

There's no excuse for us not to be much more fully informed. There's no excuse for us to sit back and accept whatever Bell Globemedia decides is "the News," now that the internet gives us so much access to the world media. My mistake.

End the work week on a high note



Excellent news - Fadi Fadel has been released by his Iraqi captors. What could I possibly add?

Anyone who thinks this is the end of Svend Robinson's public life is smoking some high-quality left-coast stuff



(Cross-posted to the BlogsCanada election blog)



Svend Robinson hasn't been elected over and over to Parliament because the people of Burnaby love his politics, though some do. He's been elected over and over because the people in his constituency see him out knocking on doors every Saturday, actively working for and engaging his constituents. He's known to casual observers around the country as a bit of a left-wing nut who likes stunting, but people inside the NDP and from all the parties inside Parliament know he's smart, hard-working, and an excellent MP.



So I'm a little sad to hear that Robinson's electoral future is in jeapordy - is very likely over, in fact - because depression following his hiking accident led him to a moment of kleptomania last weekend.



But you know, no matter what happens, we haven't heard the last of Svend. If he never returns to Parliament as an MP, you know he'll be out in front as an environmental advocate. Or as an anti-poverty advocate. Perhaps he'll focus in on his work as a death with dignity activist. Hell, if they throw him in jail for this, chances are pretty good he'll be at the forefront of a prisoner's rights organization a week later.



I wish him well. I wish him a full recovery from the ghosts that haunt him. And I wish him a speedy return to doing the work that not all Canadians agree with, but I think most Canadians appreciate, from within Parliament or without.

Start slow



I wish I could locate the post on a blog somewhere, some time, that lamented the trouble with the reverse order of blog entries - long, thoughtful pieces get buried beneath the trivial that grabs your attention later in the day. So while I'm looking forward to blogging this afternoon and evening about Svend Robinson, about Jim Elve's coming battle with the government, and possibly about the Bush - Sharon meeting yesterday, this is the most trivial matter, so today it goes first.



The Armchair Garbageman tells a little joke here (beginning which a story, which you should go to the source to read):

...so there was this weird dusty funk in the air. Sneezing, beeping, voices. Oy.



Weird Dusty Funk? I saw them open for Random Emo Band at the Rivoli. Good show. Too many kids.

and apologizes for it here:

To my girlfriend,



Who has had to endure the joke in the previous post, more times then any human being should be reasonably expected to do.



I'm sorry.



And I'm sorry for the numerous times that it will inevitably surface in the future.

I owe one of those to a co-worker. You see, my cubicle sat in front of her, and she taught a Pilates class. At least once a day, it seemed, she'd recieve calls asking her about the class, and I'd get to hear a little more about Pilates.



And every time.... every time, I'd declare loudly to no one in particular:

You know, I had Pilates once, but I drank a big glass of warm salty water - cleared it right up.

Okay, on to the serious business of punditry.

MoreMoses



I have a lot of respect for what Moses Znaimer has done for television, and in particular for the look and feel of local news and information. In an era when local stations produced everything to look slick, polished, professional, and indistinguishable from programming that came from network hubs, Moses sent out his first fleet of "videographers" to begin a revolution. Craig broadcasting's A-Channel stations are children of that revolution, with storefront studios downtown, bumpy-cam reports, a weatherman who stands somewhere in the city's weather instead of in front of a blue screen - all of the good things that give CHUM stations their feeling of immediacy and a sense of being rooted in the communities they broadcast to. And all of the bad things, too, the most prominent of which is the heavy reliance on American sitcom reruns, syndicated shows, and movies to fill hours of prime time.



With the addition of the three Craig stations (Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg) to CHUM's network, I think network has become the right word - I think this is a fourth network in Canada's broadcast universe. But what does this network look like? What does a network of stations that position themselves on "local and independant" look like?



First, there will be the market access and resources to buy first-run American network programming - expect one or two strategic purchases of reasonable to very good quality surrounding reams of dreck. Perhaps CHUM could do for Six Feet Under what CTV did for The Sopranos. There will still be a home for lots of syndicated/second-tier American network programming, too - expect a home for Enterprise, Stargate, Seventh Heaven, and whatever Joss Whedon gets involved in next.



The local news broadcasts will look much the same, but can the CITY-style translate to a network broadcast? Global has been trying very hard to become a more "serious", analytical news source, and doing a supper hour national broadcast has helped considerably - I think there's a lot of open territory on the "What's on fire?" end of the network news, and that's a strength CHUM can play to. I'm not sure people will head to this source for the latest on AdScam, so perhaps any national broadcast at all is a waste.



Finally, Bullard might have a home again.



I'm saddened that Canadian cities don't do a better job of sustaining local independent stations, but I'm astounded and impressed that Canada` can be a four broadcast-network country. (Because, you know, we're clearly watching too much television.) I think a CHUM/CITY/New XY network will be different enough to find an unexploited niche in the market.

Slow news day?



An American at Alternet wonders why the United States can't be more like Canada. The most remarkable thing about it to me is that Alternet felt this needed to be published - how far have our two countries really moved apart as liberal democracies?

They should give no problem until then, so long as Canada isn't engaged in any combat, or doing any sort of search or reconnaissance mission from the air. Other than that, fully functional!



Canada's Armed Forces are hoping for a 2012 retirement party for the Sea King helicopter.



I understand the government can't go back to 1993 and uncancel the helicopter contract, so let's not live that decision again. But perhaps we could at least consider the extra cost involved in fast-tracking new helicopters to replace the Sea Kings? Because it would be nice to know that hostile locals in combat zones pose a bigger risk to our combat troops than the equipment.

Pray



Or send your positive energies, cross your fingers --- whatever you personally do to encourage positive outcomes --- for the wisdom and skill of the Canadian negotiators charged with seeing Canadian aid worker Fadi Ihsan Fadel released unharmed by his Iraqi captors.

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Links links links



I don't know if it's related to being listed as one of Warren Kinsella's "rock star bloggers," but there are several new incoming links to RevMod, which have been added to the reciprocal list to the right. As much as I love the Canadian political blogging community, the incoming links now tend more toward the personal and esoteric - interesting stuff, and worth a look.



I know I've promised this before, but I really have to sort my links into some sort of sensible order.

Everybody loves the Ezra watch!



It's Monday, and that means noted writer of fictions Ezra Levant takes a little time away from his bizarre vanity project to share his wisdom in the Sun chain of newspapers. Today's a good'un.



He begins with speculation that The Prime Minister will be appointing Joe Clark to the Senate - a thumb in Alberta's eye, it seems, because of our Senate elections in 1998. I remember those elections. I remember not voting, because it was pretty obviously just an Ottawa-bashing tactic for Ralph Klein to shore up his support among the Reformers in his party - a thumb in the eye if ever I've seen one. Anyway, wouldn't that term be expired by now? That was six years ago.

In that 1998 Senate election, held pursuant to Alberta law and certified by Alberta's chief electoral officer, Bert Brown and Ted Morton were elected Alberta's two choices.

I suppose we might have voted, "pursuant to Alberta law and certified by Alberta's CRO," that Alberta's favourite colour is orange, too, but who gives a crap? It doesn't change the jurisdiction of the Alberta government, which doesn't extend to the Senate.

Some might think that attacking his own Conservative Party is an unseemly last chapter in Clark's political career.

"His own"???? I don't know if Ezra keeps up with the news, but this is an all-new party - one that Joe Clark opposed from the start, one that he has never belonged to. But why let details get in the way of a tirade?

And as for Alberta's dream of Senate reform? Well, it was never Clark's dream. In fact, according to Bert Brown, during the Charlottetown Accord negotiations of 1992, the 10 premiers had agreed to a Triple-E Senate -- but it was Clark, then the Constitutional Minister, who scuttled that deal.

And the fiction writer emerges - Ezra runs short on facts to make his case, so he starts making some up. An elected and more equal Senate was part of the text of Charlottetown, which weas in turn rejected by voters from coast to coast., including the west. Joe Clark tried harder than perhaps any person in the country to have Charlottetown pass the referendum, but it was people like Ezra Levant that called it "The Mulroney Deal" and torpedoed it as hard as possible. I know people from all over the political spectrum who didn't care for the Charlottetown Accord, who worked against it, so I don't blame Ezra for that in particular. But claiming Joe Clark scuttled Senate reform when it was the failure of Charlottetown that stopped constitutional change --- that's like blaming John Kerry for Iraq. "He told the White House there were WMD, and we had to believe him - he's a veteran!"



(I find myself always having to resist using the word "bizarre", over and over throughout any entry related to Ezra.)



Back to the Alberta Report Western Standard with you, Ezra.



As an aside, it looks like Canoe is committing to longer-term links - we'll see how long this week's link lives, but you don't need to rush to Ezra's column for a change.

And this is why the address on the right isn't conveniently linked



Revmod recieved its first piece of spam today, and - surprise - it came to the published Gaffe-o-meter address. I'm amazed at how little time it took for that address to be found and exploited - is the google search "@" running constantly somewhere or another?



It's fine - the address will be gone once the election is over. In the meantime, get those entries in.



If you'd like to help Mrs. Monica Kabila get her husband's money out of Nigeria, let me know and I can forward you the e-mail.

Juno Night in Edmonton



For me, the highlight of the night came during the CTV red carpet preshow. I saw Jack Layton walk by the show's mic and camera - and he just kept walking! Without comment!



I've often said that Layton's never met a microphone he didn't like, but now I know the one exception - a microphone operated by anyone named "Mulroney".

Danger, Paul Martin, Danger!



There's nothing inherently wrong with meeting with the President of the United States - Canada has several issues that need to be dealt with, and if an executive level meeting can end the softwood lumber fight or get the border open to Canadian cattle more quickly, then fine work, Prime Minister.



But the meeting take place at the end of April. All indications suggest Martin still wants a spring election. Jim Elve's source says June 8, and I've heard not dissimilar dates from people connected to the NDP. This means the writ will be dropped shortly before, or shortly after, this White House visit. So, before the Prime Minister looks too cozy with the President, he needs to remember who he works for, and how we feel:











Dangerous, like I said. But I can certainly understand why Martin wants to go to election sooner rather than later - every week he delays is another week of Canadians watching every move and asking "is this part of the campaign?" The U.S. visit will be no different.



(Want to be a huge hit at home during this trip, Paul? Do us all a favour: take Cellucci along with you, and leave him there.)

It's gotta be an April Fools' joke



The Calgary Flames have qualified for the Stanley Cup Final. Not the final round, but the final Stanley Cup the NHL will play for a couple of years.