Season 6 Begins


Just to get in the right frame of mind, I re-watched Season 5 of 24 over the past week, and was amazed at how genuinely well the whole thing hangs together. Note: Any spoilers I'll write about are only spoiler for those who did not see Season 5. I myself have avoided, as much as possible spoilers for Season 6, since I love surprises. Last year, I smelled a rat when they revealed

SPOILER
that President Logan had orchestrated the day's events
END SPOILER

but upon further review, that plot contrivance actually holds up --thanks largely to the stellar writing and Emmy-worthy performance of Greg Itzin.

Notwithstanding the demise of several old stalwarts --something that some fans maintain was done purely for shock value-- I enjoyed Season 5 a great deal overall, and was quite gratified to note some things I had missed the first time I had seen the shows on network TV last year.

SPOILER
In spite of some claims to the contrary from disgruntled Tonyphiles (see Almeida is God, for example Jack's reaction to Tony's death was moving and entirely appropriate. I guess I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor when the episode first aired to notice that Jack wept over Tony. That being said, he certainly couldn't afford to mourn him for too long --this is 24,after all! The next episode started with a sheet being drawn over the corpse, and Jack lept back into action.

The perfunctory way in which Tony was seen to have been dispatched has led to some speculation that he may not, in fact, be dead, and that we are in for a Bauer-like resurrection in some future season. A bad Tony going head-to-head with Bauer in a future season? That's something the Producers should at least consider --After all, CTU has a well-established tradition of hiring personnel destined to become rogue agents and turncoats --somebody needs to talk to them about HR best practices.
END SPOILER

Now it's 18 months later: Jack Bauer, last seen beaten to a pulp in the bowels of a Chinese cargo ship, is back from an extended stay as a guest of the Chinese. CTU, never the most stable of work environments, has seen some changes: Audrey is no longer "representin'" for the DOD. Milo, the contractor from season 1 is back at CTU --this time as a middle-management type, apparently. Chloe has been promoted --and her ex-hubby Morris, brought in at the end of last season, is still kicking around, apparently; Edgar is still SPOILER dead END SPOILER; and Bill is still in the big chair --for now. We all know that CTU LA directors have a pretty lousy survival rate in that job. Former President Logan is disgraced and in jail and Wayne Palmer is in the White House. There are also a few new faces, some of which, if past seasons are any indication, will not be around for long. This show is ruthless in the way it mows down series regulars, let alone guest stars, which are basically cannon-fodder.

One of the people I don't expect to see around for too long is this guy.

Yup... I predict even Raj Binder himself will be unable to avoid the wrath of Jack Bauer. Here's hoping he doesn't go out like a punk!

Day Six Begins Tonight!

2007: The Future is Upon Us




In the first weekend of the New Year, I saw what will probably end up being one of the best films of 2007. It is called Children of Men and stars the criminally underrated Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine. It is based on the eponymous P.D. James novel, and it is jaw-dropping, but I hesitate to tell you anything about it simply because I would not want to lessen its visceral impact. A story set in the Great Britain of the near-future, it is everything V for Vendetta could have been, had the one-hit wonderboy Wachowskis gone less preachy, simplistic and heavy-handedly "on the nose".

Director Alfonso Cuaron stuck 28 Days Later, Saving Private Ryan, and The Handmaid's Tale in a blender and sprinkled the concoction with his own visual flair to create a striking and genuinely intelligent Dystopian action-adventure flick. Unlike V for Vendetta, the audience is not spoon-fed political tripe and beaten over the head with "these are the good guys and those are the bad guys" exposition. There are no good guys or bad guys in this movie. Just desperate, despondent people with different agendas. It is at 93% at RT. Enough said. See it.

Speaking of dystopian... What the hell is going on in this country?

Finally, a bit late, but in a similar vein... Can't remember where I found this, but it is the perfect holiday greeting for the times:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all; and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures, and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishees. DISCLAIMER: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Merry Christmas!

It's our first one as a married couple, and the first time we have decorated our own tree. What do you think?

OK, so we went with the store-bought fakey kind, but we figured that since we will be spending alot of Christmases with our families, if we went for the authentic sapin de Noel we'd probably end up with a seldom-watered parched tree shedding needles all over the place. This way, we can still buy a real tree those years that we choose to, and have an artificial one for those years that we don't.

I've been thinking about time alot, lately. This year, we are doing Christmas with Nesrine's family, and going to the Ellard homestead for New Year's Eve. As we Ellard kids get older and marry into other families, I suppose this type of thing will occur more frequently, but it still feels a bit odd to not be home for Christmas. The last time I missed Christmas was the year I went to the Yucatan peninsula with some Montreal Friends. I think that was four years ago, but I may be wrong. I'm now decidedly into my third decade on this earth, and I can no longer say I "recently" entered my thirties. Already, my twenties are fading into the recesses of my memory so that I can no longer recall when certain things happened, exactly. When did I come to Ottawa? Was it five years ago?

It's odd, because I remember thinking the same thing a decade ago about my early teenage years during the eighties. What year did I first see "The Terminator" on video with Jason Ball? When did we move to Geraldton? What season was I the Assistant Captain for the Geraldton Goldminers hockey team? Was I in Peewee or Midget? The mundane details have tended to fade out first as I advance in years, but eventually, even those events from my late teens that at the time seemed so earth shattering --breaking up with Alison, doing basic training in Wainwright, Alberta -- have begun to take on a bit of a translucent quality in my mind's eye, as if I was watching the grainy footage of an old newsreel... I get the sense that I'm missing some of the detail around the edges, and just beyond the frame of the picture.

Some mind-blowing stuff has been happening to me lately that makes me realize how fast time is rushing by. First of all, I got back in touch with someone who was doing their Master's degree at the same time I was. He's now a PhD living in Toronto with a wife and kids. Realizing that was almost ten years ago floored me: Wait, I was in Graduate School almost ten years ago? It's true. The date 1999 on my MA confirms it: I started it in 1997. A friend of mine, whom I met as a bright, fiercely independent girl barely out of high school, who was so very cynical about love and relationships --she once called marriage a "social construct" -- will soon be a married woman. If you told me five years ago that she would be married by the time 2007 rolled around I would have laughed at you. But here we are: the wedding is in less than a week. I'm exceptionally happy that her and her husband-to-be, who is a real stand-up guy, are taking the plunge. It really is a great club to be in!

So time marches on, and the end of the year affords us all an opportunity to think about the time we have been given, and how we are spending it. Here's hoping I can spend more time with each of you in the new year, and in the many years to come.

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Charmsley McBrayington: Loathing Leah

Best advice I ever gave myself about Leah Maclaren: It was after my second rage-induced stroke of the morning, as I recall, and as I slumped against the wall of the Second Cup, my left eyelid twitching, the crumpled pages of the Globe and Mail between my trembling ink-stained fingers, I told myself -- NEVER READ THIS COLUMN AGAIN.

Leah McLaren is the amalgam of everything I despised about myself and my friends when I was in my twenties: the narcism, the ridiculous self-importance, the grotesque sanctimony, the vapid self-indulgence, the lack of self-consciousness. The fact that she gazes out at me from her the headshot next to her byline, good-looking in an insolent nordic kind of way, just adds fuel to the bonfire of contempt her inane, thoroughly mediocre writings provoke. A WASP Rebecca Eckler, the Paris Hilton of the pen, McLaren has no peer when it comes to pushing my buttons... and now I hear she wrote a novel.

I want to do what's right. I want to head to Chapters with a jerrican of gasoline and a fistful of matches and burn the entire M section to cinders, in the event that any of her drivel may have somehow seeped from beneath the covers of her book and polluted Alistair Maclean's Guns of Navarone. Who's with me? Time is short, and Alistair is counting on us.


Questions Charmsley's been asking himself lately:

How did the Zionists get all those people to tattoo their arms so convincingly?

Is the world destined to fall under the tyranny of "frisbee people"?

Are immigrants to Quebec being turned into Quebecers rather than Canadians?

Have public servants always been reluctant to change their hours of work?

Does hypocrisy and stupidity come easily to Mallick, or does she have to make an effort?

How many of the negative reviews for Apocalypto are really about Mel Gibson's objectionable behaviour, rather than his skill as a director?

And what about Polanski? Was his art also judged through the prism of his actions?

How many Liberals straddle the line between anti-Israel, and anti-semitic? And will this have an effect on their support in Montreal and Toronto?

Who will be the first journalist to challenge the media consensus and potentially endanger their career by bravely point out that, far from being a hunk, young Justin Trudeau is actually a bit effeminate?

Prepare For Baueristic Brutality...

New season starts soon


Go here for all your Jack Bauer needs

Headshaker of the Day:

Santa in the Age of Political Correctness



Jawdropper of the Day:

Dude does Simpsons' theme on his guitar - Ay Caramba

Dion Wins!














Liberal establishment reacts

Endgame

Everybody's second choice turns out to be the man of the hour. Can Dion pull it off? It sure looks like he will.

Conservatives may have been praying for an Ignatieff win. It seems that what they will have to go up against instead is a charisma-deficient wonk with a formidable intellect and a strategic mind, (sound familiar?) one which is every inch the match for that of their own leader.

So, Canadian politics is about to get interesting... and alot smarter.

Mug's game

At this point, it is anybody's guess. Dryden left jaws on the floor by, gasp, showing a bit of passion. He ain't going out like a punk. Dion did OK, but whoever was supposed to time him on the floor of the convention should be drawn and quartered. The end of his speech will go unheard for all time, a victim of the rigorous timekeeping that is the order of the day for this convention.

Kennedy impressed, and he alone spoke of the need for Libs to do a bit of introspection... but how much of an apetite is there for that? I mean, who are we kidding? This is the Liberals we are talking about. Their number one priority is regaining power.

Rae spoke best to that inate desire, I think. He riffed sans script through his entire speech. Hebert suggested he may have damaged himself with Quebec delegates by speaking so little French, but that remains to be seen. It sounded to me like he was auditioning for the job of PM. Policy? Fresh ideas? Screw that! Bob Rae is the guy with experience and political smarts, the guy who can win the next election. Forget introspection, or a quest to cleanse the party of past sins. He is the cynic's choice; the guy who has the backroom boys in his corner and the guy who will deliver electorally as quickly as possible.

Joe Volpe was later seen welded to Rae's posterior. After first ballot, his butt belongs to Bob. hankering for a cabinet seat, Volpe? Never let it be said that Mr. Volpe ever let an opportunity to cheapen the political process pass him by.

This thing is Ignatieff's to lose and he may be in the process of losing it. The speech was so-so. He needed to set the place of fire to cement his place as the front runner, but he produced nary a spark. That, plus the first ballot results that show he did not reach 30% may mean that things will get awful interesting tomorrow. Let' s all have a gander...

Where's Bono?

Oh Yeah... I forgot

I've been watching the Paul Martin tribute and it is like a flashback to some ghastly Canadian-heritage sponsored variety show from the nineties, with Sheila Copps-approved publicly-funded CanCon drek like Natalie McMaster and Colin James... hey where are the Inuit Throatsingers? Aren't they up next? Oh, and Mark Tewkesbury is a real spazz isn't he?

The crowd leaves me with the impression that these people want to get the plaudits over with as quickly as possible so that they can sweep this PM relic into the dustpan and move forward. For a party used to being in power, there can't be that much fondness or nostaligia for a guy like Martin, who aimed so high, and fell so short. Slaying the deficit? Please. What have you done for me lately?

For a party that lovingly hearkens back to the golden years under Trudeau, one so proud of their history, these guys seem to have pretty short memories of late. After all, they are poised to crown a guy who would tear down alot of what Trudeau stood for, notwithstanding how the handlers spin it

In spite of what I wrote in my previous post, I really have no idea who is gonna walk away with this thing. Weston says Rae... What do you think? Kinsella is blogging on the spot, so you know you gotta check him out over the weekend... he's an SOB, but he's a real entertaining SOB!

They just showed a clip of some Mercer and Martin tomfoolery... Sure, Rick Mercer is great, but the folks who took up the mantle over at 22 Minutes have been pretty great lately, too! Majumder, Critch, and Crawford are really funny young guys, and they each have a strangely compelling brand of chemistry with each other and the milfy Cathy Jones.

Back to the Convention... Martin is speaking now. Just as he did on the night of his defeat last January, he is giving one heck of a speech. He always seemed tongue-tied and befuddled when he reigned supreme... Strange that humbled, he should be so eloquent! Bye Paul. You were a great Finance Minister... PM, not so much.

In other news...

Canadian War Resister? Nope, big lying bag of poop.

BONUS BORAT CONTENT!

Whaaat? No fermented horse urine?

Paul Prognosticates

For what it is worth, I think he is bang-on. Harper desperately wants to see Ignatieff win (the one candidate who cannot beat him over the head with the Afghanistan stick)... and that's why he threw him a lifeline with the Quebec motion. He could have left him twisting in the wind, but he didn't... why? Does Harper strike you as a charitable guy? No, he knows Ignatieff was in some trouble, so he rescued him. The Liberals will now try to bury the Quebec nonsense (note silly Quebec delegates' resolution already withdrawn), paving the way for the crowning of Prince Michael of the Ivory Tower.

Then watch Harper bury the gaffe prone Iggy next election.

A reminder: Wells' Rules of Canadian Politics.

Keep those in mind as you watch events unfold this weekend...

The Politically incorrect Nintendo character:



Soda Popinski made his first appearance in the arcade as the 'Champion of the USSR' in the 1984 game Super Punch-Out!!; although back then he was known under the less politically-correct name of Vodka Drunkenski.



Loads of links:


The Trainwreck Waiting to Happen

The Viggo Mortensen Epic you probably haven't heard about

People have a weird habit of getting thrown out of windows in Prague

VDH: We in the West write movies about the Prez getting killed, while elsewhere...

Slightly related to the Richards freak-out: Never mind the provocative title, it's a really interesting essay

How many ways can a dog return to his vomit?

One of the earliest sponsors of immigration to Canada, now almost forgotten

How would you like to have David Frum's old job?

My contribution: Christ Came Again; Imagine our surprise

Benedict XVI and the Heart of the Matter

From the tyranny of the Vancouverites and all their detestable enormities, Good Lord deliver us

Peter Jackson Won't be Making THE HOBBIT

Based on a completely unscientific analysis, I'd say this bit of news registers as an Extinction Level Event for fantasy cinema.

New Line may be about to blow the surest Two Billion dollars any studio ever saw.

The shockwaves are already evident...

Mid-November doldrums

Haven't felt much like blogging lately, but here are a few items that might amuse you:

Lomins arrived in Morocco safely. She shouldn't have trouble finding lodging.Everyone in that country appears to be moving to Spain

Do as the Romans did: Sean Maloney on Afghanistan

Rex for GG! I can't get enough of this guy. I find it hilarious when the extremely articulate Murphy deploys his formidable vocab to address whimsical topics like our parliamentarians' shabby treatment of a beloved national institution. But seriously, no worries, boy. Grapes can take care of himself.

Here's a headscratcher From yesterday's G&M:

A majority of Canadians accept multiculturalism in principle, but that support evaporates when immigrant religious and cultural practices threaten gender equality, according to a new poll examining Canadians' views of Muslims. The vast majority - 81 per cent -- of 2,021 Canadians surveyed said immigrants should adapt to mainstream Canadian beliefs about the rights and role of women, an opinion that was shared almost equally across demographic, income, education, age and gender lines. Half the respondents said immigrants and minority ethnic groups should be free to maintain their religious and cultural practices in Canada, while 40 per cent said immigrants should blend into Canadian society and not form separate communities. The study revealed, however, that the majority of Canadians welcome the Muslim community as a vital part of the Canadian fabric, with 75 per cent saying that Muslim immigrants make a positive contribution to Canada. As well, half of Canadians say they have a positive impression of Islam, an increase of four percentage points from 2003. "The survey underlines how important multiculturalism is, on the one hand, and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is, on the other. "Where they clash, Charter equality rights trump multiculturalism," said Fred Lowy, interim president of the Montreal-based Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, which commissioned the poll from Environics. "At the same time, Canada is not retreating from multiculturalism, as several European countries are, including Sweden and Denmark, in light of 9/11 and terrorist attacks in London and Madrid."

Uh... what? They aren't retreating "in light of 9/11 and terrorist attacks in London and Madrid"... that makes it sound like people panicked after the attack and suddenly became bigots... maybe if some European countries are in fact retreating from multiculturalism, it could be because multiculturalism, at least in its present form, is not working for them.

Quid est Veritas?

Who the heck knows? All I know is that this Bill Whittle guy comes up with some goood stuff!

Random military snippet of the day:Mr. Miyagi's unit

It's a joy to meet you, old chap!

Whenever I despair for humanity, a story like this always seems to pop up to renew my faith in Mankind.

Great War foes embrace as friends

Britain's and Germany's oldest veterans meet for the first time, 90 years after they served on the Western Front

David Smith in Witten, Germany
Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer


'I am the enemy you killed, my friend ...' That lament from Wilfred Owen's poem 'Strange Meeting' resonated afresh yesterday when two men who were enemies in a world war 90 years ago embraced each other as friends. Henry Allingham, Britain's oldest First World War veteran, and Robert Meier, who is Germany's equivalent, braved driving rain to attend what must have been one of the most informal, and moving, of all memorial services. With a combined age of 219, these two men know better than anyone the meaning of remembrance.

Allingham, making his first trip to Germany since he served in the army of occupation after the Great War, was in Meier's home town, Witten, near Dortmund, for the special meeting ahead of next month's Armistice anniversary. The men speak different languages but communicated with perfect eloquence through their actions, clasping each other's hands and hugging warmly.

Allingham, 110, proudly wearing his war medals, said: 'I'm very happy to be here and remember how good the German people were to me when I was last here in 1919.'

Meier, 109, sporting a flamboyant black beret, added: 'It's wonderful to be together. Everybody has to be friends.' Together the centenarians, dressed smartly in suits, ignored a downpour as they were wheeled side by side to a tall, brick war memorial in the town's Lutherpark. With a monumental effort, aided by RAF men in uniform, Allingham struggled to his feet and laid a wreath of poppies at its foot.

Then the two men - who were foes in the same sector of the Western Front in 1917 - shook hands and, with unexpected tenderness, could not let one another go. For long minutes their hands remained as if welded together. Allingham glanced across at his new friend, then burst into a mischievous chuckle.

There were short speeches from Witten's mayor and from the RAF's deputy commander-in chief, Peter Dye, who said: 'It's very special that these two men are here in the spirit of friendship and peace. May their example be something we think about and reflect upon.' Then the duo were wheeled up the memorial to place the second wreath together. Dennis Goodwin, a friend who brought Allingham to Germany, exclaimed: 'Good cooperation! Bravo!' Goodwin said later: 'They say that words are a barrier but they did it all with looks and touch. They were both very happy.'

Both men have found it easier to talk about the war, and take part in public commemorations, as they have grown older. They also share a sense of humour. Allingham attributes his longevity to 'Cigarettes, whisky, and wild, wild women.' Meier puts his down to 'sport, a healthy diet, especially plenty of fish ... and the odd glass of schnapps', as well as his enduring popularity with women. He recently proposed marriage to the town mayor and a local journalist. Both declined.

Allingham and Meier are the oldest men in their respective countries. Allingham remembers watching WG Grace play cricket. Meier remembers meeting the Kaiser during the First World War. Both are fighting fit for their age. Goodwin joked: 'I said Allingham can go three rounds if you like.' He added that there had been a plan to make yesterday a three-way meeting with France's oldest veteran, but he was too frail to travel.

Yet for a long time Meier had been written out of the history books. Last year the death of 108-year-old Charles Kuentz was widely reported as the passing of Germany's last First World War veteran. In fact the number of Germans had been underestimated: Goodwin is aware of three still alive, and some sources suggest as many as eight. The number of known British veterans alive stands at nine, including one woman.

Allingham is now the most active of all of them and has attended several commemorative services in Britain and abroad. He joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915, became a Mechanic First Class and flew eight missions as a gunner. He served aboard one of the first aircraft carriers and witnessed the Battle of Jutland, then in early 1917 was sent to the Western Front, where he serviced planes and had to retrieve those shot down at Ypres and the Somme. In 1918 he transferred to the newly formed RAF and is its sole surviving founder member.

Not so far away, the young Meier, born in 1897 to German parents in Ukraine, was also in the trenches. He fought again in the Second World War and was taken prisoner by the Soviet Union, which held him for two years. 'The time in prison took it out of me,' he recalled, adding that without that hardship he would be even more mobile today.

Allingham, however, is still setting the pace. Next week he will be back on the road - laying a wreath in France.



November 11 is Remembrance Day. Wear a RED poppy.



Henry's trembling hand reaches out to touch Robert's cheek and, as his eyes fill up, he says: "It's a joy to meet you, old chap."

Beaming Robert clutches Henry's shoulder and says: "Wunderbar!".

Throughout lunch, the pair clutch hands and hold their heads close in conversation like old comrades rather than former foes.

An interpreter sitting with them dabs tears from his eyes because their exchanges are so affectionate. Henry tells Robert: "I can't see very well. I can't hear very well. But I can still feel. And it feels wonderful to meet you. A thousand words cannot convey how happy I feel today."

Robert responds: "You and I prove that we are never too old to make new friends - and I already consider you an old friend. You understand so much of what I am saying, but there are not many of us left."

Decision 2006

Once again, the United States of America has enobled itself and shamed its detractors with its display of the democratic process: A hard fought election, high voter turnout, a clear result.

That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.

Thomas Jefferson

High Five!

"A dramatic demonstration of how racism feeds on dumb conformity, as much as rabid bigotry"



That's how Sacha Baron Cohen describes Borat's lunacy, and its almost mesmerising effect on some of the people with whom he comes into contact, many of whom nod in agreement at his over-the-top bigotry and ignorance. Not only is Baron Cohen's movie almost unbearably funny, it is clever as hell, and eminently quotable too. I just know that my brothers and I will be tossing lines from it to each other months from now. No spoilers from me. Just go see the damn thing already before someone tells you too much and ruins parts of it for you. If you are looking for a bit of insight into the movie, however, of the many reviews I have read, Katrina Onstad's is the best.

Uh oh... Mahir says I no Kiss you! Come on, dude, you are so last century.

Of Dogs and Dogma

Yesterday, in this this piece in the Toronto Star. Susan Delacourt illustrated to what extent we in this country are increasingly preoccupied by petty, trivial matters. She segues neatly from discussing the reality vs faith based communities (a favourite media trope) in the republic to the south of us and their stake in tomorrow's election, to the latest media-fabricated scandale-du-jour up here: Whether or not Peter McKay referred to Belinda Stronach as a dog.


Boy... do we ever need to get serious.

But anyway, at the end of this commentary, ostensibly about the need to embrace the reality-based view, Delacourt writes:

the explosion of blogs and multiple news cycles create all kinds of opportunities to spread wrong information. Worse, the frenzied pace of news these days allows mistruths to be repeated so many times, they come to be seen as the truth.

So that's where she was going. The devaluing of truth is due not only to deliberate government malfeasance, but to "multiple news cycles" and to bloggers usurping journalists' traditional role as the arbiters of the truth. Sounds like someone is feeling a bit threatened.

The ugly "truth" is that anyone can call themselves a journalist... after all, it ain't like being a lawyer or physician, where one needs to be accredited and put letters behind one's name. Credibility, not accreditation, is the standard by which we judge those who take on the profession of journalism, and that credibility is not bestowed from upon high. It cannot simply be taken as a given, it must be earned. That's not up to the reader, folks. That's up to the journalist.

So when journalists wonder how "non-traditional" sources of information could possibly be taken as seriously as their own supposedly "reality-based" reporting they need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. As many in the blogging community see it, one of the reasons that non-MSM (non-Mainstream media) information sources have proliferated is the homogenization of MSM news: Interconnected media-elites, cut from the same J-school cloth and increasingly cut off from the man on the street, are giving us the same story the same way... and from the same point of view: a bland and vaguely self-righteous centre-left perspective.

How does this happen? Maybe today's journalists' first instinct, weaned as they are on Watergate and everything that followed, is to dive head-first into the Government-generated spin to figure out "what is really happening" (i.e. how the public is being lied to). Unfortunately, what they come up with is sometimes equally questionable: received wisdom that they see as "the truth"... Remember the NYT's deliberate revealing of the details of the Treasury Board's Terorist Financing detection program? These damaging revelations were seen as a necessary way of exposing the administration's lies.... when in fact, these "lies" were simple omissions in the name of national security, and keeping this information secret was in no way harming any honest American.

I'm not sure if the problem is the oft-mentioned "liberal media bias" so much as it is that an anti-establishment streak and suspicious nature have been the hallmark of journalists for some time. They all seem to want to be Woodward and Bernstein...even if that means fabricating watergates to fit their worldview.

In the sixties, it was "Don't trust anybody over thirty"... but we have long since truncated that little aphorism. Sometimes this "don't trust anybody" (DTA) mentality can be a good thing... but sometimes, it distorts our picture of what is really happening because we cannot conceive that every so often, our government may have the common good and the public interest as its primary motive.

Ironically, the DTA philosophy is what drives bloggers to question the media elites as much as it drives the media to question the government!

Jagshemash!



No, You do not need to make adjust in your internets. My name not Borat, but I am doing blogging in style of him in honor of Moviefilm Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which central committee of state-approved reviews, called Rotting Tomatoes, give award of 92% today --Praise for realistic depicting jews, retards, and gypsies in natural state, plus educational of culture of U.S. and A.

So when can be seen this work of cinema, ask? I am liking excite, but not so fast! Moviefilm of Borat like prostitute with bad leg: Take long time to get to house, but eventually, have the excite and sexytime hand relief! Friday you ride horse or large pig to filmhouse for pay and then see, maybe! If any Uzbeks there, sit away far from them. As you know, they are nosy peoples.

Chenquieh

Michael Ignatieff is GRITFACE




Joo wanna play? OK, Les' Play!

"You wanna go to war? We take you to war! OK?"