Some wag out there thinks I would easily fit into this picture. :)

Har, har, Mr. Speicher. :)

Vivian Smith is a veteran journalist, now a j-prof in Victoria, B.C. She used to be a columnist on the side for the Victoria Times-Colonist, a CanWest newspaper.

But earlier this month, she got sacked after writing a column that made fun of local commercial tourist attractions and listed things people could do for free. Tourist operators who advertise in the paper were not amused.

There was a small error in the column: The paper ran a front-page correction (?!?!) about a misreported price of a children's ticket to one local commercial garden. But one suspects that if Smith hadn't otherwise agitated advertisers, that would have been forgiveable.

Now Lynne van Leuven, a colleague of Smith's at the University of Victoria, has quit writing for the Times-Colonist in protest of its treatment of Smith. For more see this Canadian Journalist post or this one from Public Eye Online.

Here's the first Canadian Journalist post on this topic.

Conrad Black, the poster boy for embattled plutocrats, has some explaining to do over how he continues to live a posh lifestyle. U.S. prosecutors accuse him of violating his bail bond conditions by hiding his sources of income (thanks, Kevin!).

Ta Mok (born Chhit Choeun), one of the most brutal Khmer Rouge commanders and its last leader, has died in a military hospital at age 82. That leaves Kaing Khek Iev, a KR prison commander, as the only leader from that band of ideological psychopaths left to face trial in Cambodia, according to this BBC story. There's also an obit about Mok.

Justice delayed is justice denied. :(

And the KRs committed their crimes against humanity between 27 and 31 years ago, yet only now are they on the verge of coming to trial. Three of the biggest fish left alive -- Ieng Sary, Khieu Sampan and Nuon Chea -- have immunity.

Here's an interesting story on the guy.