Rick Mercer Contemplates Felatio

Having somehow missed out on the latest senate appointments, television personality Rick Mercer tweeted out to his peeps with a call for suggestions on whom one can blow for a senate seat.

Two things came to mind:

Rhetorical...right?

and

You haven't been blowing the wrong guys ...have you?

Syncro

Warren Kinsella and Transferable Skills

As a former employment councilor I am a proponent of skills transferability. That is to say, transferring the skills one learns in a particular job to another, often divergent position.

A lowly paperboy who learns the value of accounting and the rewards associated with consistency can use fiscal prudence and personal perseverance all his life. The greenest roughneck can learn the importance of organization and the pride of professionalism, skills that are in demand always.

That is why I was pleased to see this missive from Warren Kinsella.

Warren wittingly wonders about the impact of urinal advertising by the Government of Canada. The pithy part involves "tools".

Not only does this display a keen sense of bathroom diligence it marks a synthesis of skills.

Warren appears to have combined bathroom monitor with restaurant critic to define his own niche.

Bathroom Advertising Critic.

Now if that isn't skills transfer nothing is.

Syncro

Live Blogging State of the Union Address or Speech 347

I decided to try my hand at live blogging tonight partly inspired by this drinking game courtesy of The Huffington Post

The regular script is my objective interpretation of POTUS , the italisized script my own voice.


7:14 Barry's on !!

7:15 Things were really shitty when I took over, I'm here now and the worst has passed

7:16 First mention of change....first shot of the night!

7:17 So far the TOTUS is performing brilliantly.

7:19 Biden can't seem to get with the clapping program....another shot

7:21 Bad Bankers...standing O

7:22 Barry channels Ronald Reagan. Tax cuts

7:24 Wha?...Tax cuts led to 2 million jobs...firemen, teachers, cops....there is so much wrong with this that I'm gonna take three shots

7:27 30 billion for jobs Yay!!!!

7:28 Tax cuts for small business, big business, funny business etc...

7:30 First mention of green jobs...another shot!

7:32 Were #1...Were #1...

7:35 I'm serious now...banks bad....but banks are good...something something..cancer...clean energy....another shot....climategate...CLIMATEGATE....nuclear energy...NUCLEAR ENERGY....offshore oil drilling...WTF OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING.....

7:38 I must be drunk already

7:40 Maybe not...free trade that sounds like protectionism...that's better.

7:42 Race for the Top or No Child Left Behind......same thing.....another shot

7:43 Free University....crack the keg!!!!!!

7:45 Second mortgage and Healthcare reform....no sweat....refinance silly!!

7:48 Michelle is tackling fat kids...thanks Honey

7:49 We'll reduce the deficit by 1 trillion over twenty years.....time to drink again

7:50 Healthcare reform alone will not reduce the deficit...drinking time again

7:51 George Bush you asshole...unpaid wars......

7:52 Spending freeze....and don't make me call Vito!

7:55 Arcane shit...time to drink

7:57 George Bush you colossal asshole

8:00 We are the first WhiteHouse that twitters!

8:01 No more foreign money for election campaigns....just to bankroll government operations

8:03 Play politics nice please....pretty please

8:05 I screwed up the super majority so you Republicans are on the hook now too.

8:06 911...defence and hope...three shots

8:07 Troop surge Afstan plus the Arabs love us!

8:08 I won the war in Iraq in only a year....drinks all around!!

8:10 Michelle and Joe are on the military family file....god help them

8:11 North Korea and Iran....consequences......oooohhhhh!!

8:12 muslims..climate change...haiti....afstan girls...freedom...just take a shot when you want

8:15 Gay marines...equal pay...oops lost the feed..grab a drink

8:19 Cynicism, dissapointment....Change You can Believe In....don't blame it on me..it's you dummies that don't get how smart I am

8:21 Haiti twice and USA...USA....Crack another bottle

Syncro

Anti-Prorogation's Professional Protesters

The CBC breathlessly reported on 35 anti-prorogation protesters that greeted Prime Minister Harper in Toronto yesterday. While the small number of protesters was notable what was even more interesting is the identity of key organizers. An excerpt:

Canada's convalescing economy may have topped Prime Minister Stephen Harper's agenda Wednesday, but anti-prorogation anger ended up crashing his Toronto road show.

About 35 protesters, ranging from students to seniors, picketed Harper's afternoon visit to the C.D. Howe Institute, chanting "Stop the prorogation, listen to the nation!"

It's just a taste of what's to come on Saturday, when thousands are expected to gather at rallies across Canada to protest the shutdown of Parliament, said Walied Khogali, who helped organize the demonstration.

"We just want to send a clear message that we are watching and we do care, and our MPs are accountable to us, not to any specific political party or to any elite," said the 25-year-old university student. "We want them back to work."

Wednesday's protest, which included antiwar demonstrators and those opposing Canadian terror suspect Omar Khadr's detention at Guantanamo Bay, was confined to the sidewalk opposite the institute's office until police shut down the busy downtown street.

Make note of the "Why are we Paying You?" protest sign, it becomes relevant later.

I thought I recognized Mr. Khogali's name and sure enough he has quite a google footprint. My favorite find is this image recording the Canadian Students Federation Day of Action.

The photo caption reads:

Walied Khogali, former president of the University of Toronto at Mississauga Students' Union, shouts profanities at Greg McBride, 4th year cognitive science and political science student at the University of Toronto, who carried a sign saying "Don't ask others to pay for your schooling.

It seems professional protester Walied Khogali was offended by the notion that he should have to pay for his own education. Which leads me to wonder what the canadian taxpayer is subsidizing his education for?

Of course this is only one of Mr. Khogali's many accomplishments. It seems he has published opinions on CRTC liscencing of Al-Jezera English in various lefty publications including this gem.

Walied is also a minor celebrity at the CBC, giving an on air interview on the eve of Obama's inaugeration. It seems Walied even made time to campaign for the big O in West Virginia.



And finally, for those of you who do facebook, I encourage you to check out Mr. Khogali's postings entittled: Stop Jason Kenny from using our taxes to discriminate.

It's good to know the Anti-prorougation forces are non-partisan and grassroots.



Syncro

Ex MSM Producer Nails It

As my profile indicates I'm no fan of the MSM. That said, I kinda like this fella's way of thinking.

At the end of the year it’s traditional to look back at what occurred during the past twelve months and pick out the highs and lows. Most years there are a few examples of each. 2009, however, has proved to be one of the most dismal years for news and current affairs in Canada ever. I can’t think of a worse period in my lifetime.

O.K. ...we don't have to be that morose...do we?

Everybody has already noted the disaster that is the new National at CBC: thin gruel masquerading as news, the worst reporting staff in CBC Television history, the inability to fill sixty minutes with relevant stories, and this doesn’t even refer to the ludicrous and totally unmotivated standing around to read the news and do interviews.

I hear you brother.

News has been, and still is, one of the best ways to build an audience for your entire schedule. Hello, Dick, is the CBC still the CBC without Little Mosque on the Prairie and Being Erica? Is the CBC still the CBC without The National and The Fifth Estate?

What about Hockey Night in Canada?...er..um..scratch that last thought...

Over at CTV and Global the news is not much better. The bulwarks of “Capitalist Broadcasting” are coming to the government cap-in-hand begging for money in the form of cable and satellite fees.

This is Canada.

CTV and Global news do a much better job of appealing to Canadians than CBC News does. For proof of this I only have to point out that both get over a million viewers regularly while CBC has trouble reaching half-a-million. Both are better produced and slicker than CBC’s effort but there is little room for celebration.

Whaa..no party?

In the U.S. we have witnessed the disintegration of the CNN audience with the odious Fox News being the main recipient of new viewers.

So your saying the viewers went to Fox News based on smell?

Sensationalism is winning and stories like Copenhagen are losing. Worse still the all news folks are challenging each other to see who can distort or get the facts more wrong.

Holy fuck batman....did you just say Copenhagen lost out to sensationalism? More wrong????

That's it then.

Keep in mind that this person claims to have been a tv producer.

Syncro

The Groundswell Senses a Paul Wells

There is a disturbance in the force.

Putting aside Wells pompous characterization of my blog, I'd like to highlight what amounts to a contradiction in LOGIC, which ultimately says more about the messenger and HIS MEDIUM than any review of my lowly opinion:


(read the comments)

This shit writes itself.

Update: It seems Paul Wells has responded to liblogger Far and Wide with a deft kick to the rhetorical nuts. For an encore he slags Dipper Accidental Deliberations.

I love cat fights.

Upperdate: Somebody claiming to be inkless has posted this on the Macleans thread:

A note on prominence, for the small number of readers who may be curious.
Wordpress blog stats tell me that on Sunday the Maclean's website sent 1,600 readers to the Far and Wide blog, which sent 27 readers to the Maclean's website in return.

I was surprised that my use of the term "not terribly prominent" would seem more important than the argument I was trying to endorse by linking to it, to the author of the very blog in question. But I nonetheless apologize for using the term. I do not like it when I choose words that become an obstacle to my intended meaning. What I was trying to do was make that blog more prominent because I thought its author had made an important point well. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear.


Syncro

Choosing words can be a real bitch, especially for the unwordy.

Paul Wells Senses a Groundswell

This from Paul Wells at Macleans:

…ominous rumbling. Note that one post on a not-terribly-prominent blog draws nearly a dozen comments of support within six hours on a holiday Sunday.

Now, however, the author will face some heat from fellow Grits for “airing our dirty laundry in public,” i.e. “interrupting everyone’s nap.”

(read the comments on the second link)

Syncro

Elly May Weighs in on Prorogation

This from the Toronto Star.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is urging Canadians to "kick and scream" in protest against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to shut down Parliament for the next two months.

Rumor has it that if Prime Minister Harper refuses to reconvene Parliament according to Elly's timetable she is fully prepared to escalate her protest to it's logical conclusion.

Tactics are said to include: stomping her feet, holding her breathe until she passes out, laying down in the aisle at Wal-Mart while doing all of the above, thrashing her room, refusing to eat her peas, screaming "I HATE YOU" repeatedly and finally, dating a greasy biker.

Enjoy your date Elly.

Syncro

p.s. Happy New Year!