A new poll done both here in Canada and the U.S. tells me I'm pretty much in the mainstream: I like America and my American neighbors, but I'm not so hot on Dubya and his ...   more »

OK. I've accepted the fact Dubya and I aren't going to have time for a completely honest, heart-to-heart chat on his whirlwind trip to Canada. But if we did, here's 10 questions I'd have asked:

In her Thanksgiving column entitled Blood Is Thicker Than Gravy, NYT writer Maureen Dowd gives her conservative brother Kevin's explanation of why the Republicans triumphed in Apocalypse 2004:

Ahh, making chicken salad out of chicken guano! There is no truer test of a reporter's mettle, I say!

This NYT yarn is about Ray Daniels, an overnight traffic reporter for radio station 1010 WINS. It seems that even in the city that never sleeps, there are news dead spots.

An amusing NYT yarn about a small (but in its own way, sophisticated) ad in a Catskills newspaper that put some noses out of joint.

In his Saturday column, Toronto Star Ombudsman Don Sellar writes about a how a start-up allowance for refugees was misinterpreted by a reader, who then spread his misinterpretation far and wide on the Net. But ...   more »

The Sunday Star held forth on the case of Hamilton Spectator reporter Ken Peters, who faces possible jailing for contempt of court because he's refusing to identify a confidential source.

It also talks about some ...   more »

Here's a roundup of some stuff I've found about Ukraine's and Russia's news media, normally compliant beasts, in these abnormal times:

A useful but not ground-breaking BBC piece:

Daniel Okrent, the NYT's public editor, looks at why editors didn't like the old NYT Sunday arts listings, the backlash by some readers against the changes, and has some critical words for the editors.

It's a particular ...   more »

Pakistan found the Nov. 22 issue of Newsweek had some content in it offensive to Islam; to wit, verses of the Koran appearing on a semi-naked woman's body.

The story was about the murder of ...   more »

The Globe and Mail's John Allemang casts a skeptical eye at some of the CBC's recent programming decisions.

60 Minutes did a story explaining how the U.S. military rationalizes its massive underestimation of casualties in Iraq.

Here's a link to the actual 60 Minutes story and an excerpt from the Editor and Publisher summary:

Well, they've only repulsed one Mongolian heavy-metal band which has released an album that tries recreate the patriotic vibe of Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA for Mongolian ears.

But the NYT story is also about ...   more »

Taking a cab from downtown Toronto to Pearson International Airport is about $40. Going from downtown Baghdad to Baghdad International Airport? According to an article in The Nation, up to $7,000. Why the diff? It's a risk thang.

The Toronto Star's Carol Goar looks at why child poverty worsened in Canada in the 1990s and at former NDP leader Ed Broadbent's new, more modest goal for reducing it:

NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff takes a snarky look at the Left Behind empire and its predictions of a gruesome end for those who aren't born-again Christians.

Linguist George Lakoff, whose theories on debate framing have gotten some attention in the wake of Apocalypse 2004, wrote a great op-ed piece for the Nation:

The interesting stuff in here isn't so much about CBS's departing anchor Dan Rather but about the changing landscape in which the major U.S. TV network news shows find themselves.

Naomi Klein, writing in the Guardian, has taken a run at the 'iconic' photograph of a young U.S. marine after some point during the battle for Fallujah.

The search for the Holy Grail. It's not just a metaphor or a cult movie. According to this BBC story, the search for the chalice supposedly used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper ...   more »

So, have the Tories maxed out on outrage with regards to their huffing and puffing on peelers getting into this country ahead of decent, God-fearing folk or do they still have a little bit in the tank? And why are they so quiet, by comparison, on the issue of impoverished kids?

The Star's Antonia Zerbisias writes on the bloggers who were firing their figurative guns in the air over the announcement that Dan Rather would be stepping down as anchor of the CBS Evening News.

The NYT's Frank Rich on the controversy over white, blond Nicollette Sheridan's bared back (and then jumping into the arms of a black football player!!!)  in the recent Desperate Housewives promo on ABC's Monday Night Football.

The case of a Hamilton Spectator reporter cited for contempt of court in a civil trial for refusing to name a confidential source has been put off until next week.

The Globe and Mail's Doug Saunders has reported from Britain on the trend of former broadsheet papers moving to the tabloid size -- and adopting some tabloid design practices in the process. It's resulted in ...   more »

The Globe and Mail has taken a look at the new, deteriorating Frank.

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. Indeed, according to Fabrice Taylor, buying Frank -- Canada's once-controversial ...

Imagine going to bed one night knowing you could be facing jail the next morning because you stood up for what is right in your profession. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what Ken Peters of ...   more »

Here's a backgrounder I did today on the two main contenders for the presidency of Ukraine -- assuming today's announcement didn't settle it yet.

Heres' a link to an NYT analysis: A tug of war ...   more »

A CBS/New York Times poll found people voted for Dubya because of his good ol' boy charm and because they would feel less shit-scared about terrorism with him in the White House.

As for the ...   more »

Here's a link to a story I did for CTV.ca on anti-social video games.

A U.S. group released its annual warning about antisocial video games, but a University of Toronto professor says he's only really worried about a very narrow category of such interactive entertainment.

Bill Moyers, a standard-bearer of liberal political values on PBS, is leaving to write a book on Lyndon Baines Johnson, but he leaves U.S. public television at a bad time, writes the Village Voice:

Since "moral values" were reportedly at the core of Apocalypse 2004, you'd think that would be be reflected in people's TV choices. But the Godless Blue State goose and the morally exemplary Red States like ...   more »

Dan Rather has announced he'll step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News on March 23 -- making it 24 years since he succeeded Walter Cronkite. I was shocked by the relatively muted triumphalism ...   more »

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein doesn't have to clean out his office immediately. His Progressive Conservatives, at the time I wrote this, were on track to win 63 seats and 46 per cent of the popular ...   more »

Here is another snippet of analysis in the wake of what I like to call Apocalypse 2004, this time from the NYT's David Brooks.

He thinks it's Republicans who are going to be the bane ...   more »

I know I was wondering why Stockwell Day, the Tories' foreign affairs critic, hadn't penned a letter to the Palestinian Authority expressing condolences for Yasser Arafat's death. This Canadian Press article answers a few questions:

NYT correspondent Dexter Filkins has written about the urban combat experience of U.S. marines in Fallujah. This excerpt particularly caught my eye:

If you're looking for some light reading on those who would like western society to implode or explode, whichever's easiest, terrorism expert Peter Bergen prepared a list of books for the Washington Post:

This is a bit late to the blog. Michael Scheuer -- who wrote the jeremiad Imperial Hubris -- has resigned from the CIA. 60 Minutes did an interview with him on Nov. 14.

Here's the scary stuff:

This is a lengthy NYT magazine article about the battle for Ohio. In some ways, Kerry did very well there, but here's why it wasn't good enough:

Here's an excerpt from an NYT story by Randall Stross about the inhuman grind at Electronic Arts Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of interactive electronic games:

Author Mark Danner compares the Vietnam-era Colin Powell with the current team player, analyzes the Iraq situation and then brings us to 1992's Powell Doctrine:

Here's an excerpt from the NYT article: