Few in this country would dare say a negative word about Suzuki, who has repeatedly been voted the most-trusted Canadian in Readers Digest magazine-sponsored polls. But Sun, and Ezra Levant in particular, have been going after Suzuki for years, and Suzuki himself admitted that Sun’s focus on his politicized activities was one of the reasons he felt obliged to step down from the board of the David Suzuki Foundation.
This week, Sun scored another win: Through access-to-information requests, the network discovered emails that reveal the odd demands Suzuki made in regard to a 2012 visit to John Abbott College in Montreal ...
Say what you want about the financially beleaguered Sun News and its signature firebrand, Ezra Levant. But sometimes, he and his colleagues do manage to get things exactly right.
On Wednesday, Mr. Levant interviewed Arun Smith, the 7th year “human rights and sexuality” major who took it upon himself to tear down a “free speech” installation set up at Carleton University by a group called Carleton Students for Liberty, because he was offended by socially conservative jottings on the wall that expressed support for traditional marriage, and opposition to abortion. Even putting aside Mr. Smith’s appalling act of vandalism, Mr. Levant noted, the very notion that university students feel they need a “free speech zone” is telling. “We have a free speech zone in Canada,” Mr. Levant declared. “It’s called ‘Canada.’”
Brian and Michael discuss the nature of the groups protesting against Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and how the mainstream media who harbor antipathy for the government whitewashed them.
You may recognize some of the visual images my friends at Sun TV used in the segment below from this post.
and with the NDP polling about even with the Tories, it seemed appropriate to discuss a matter I`d written about before regarding the now Official Opposition`s Deputy Leader, Libby Davies:
Generally ignored at the time, Libby Davies introduced a 9-11 conspiracy petition into parliament in 2008. One thing to consider is that it is typically unheard of for an MP to introduce a petition to parliament if they disagree with its premise. For example, Davies isn't going to introduce a petition requesting that abortion be re-criminalized or that immigration numbers be reduced.
But even then, there's a pro forma means by which an MP will introduce a petition to parliament which gives them plausible deniability. They say they're introducing it on behalf of constituents and then read the petition verbatim.
Davies doesn't just introduce the 9-11 conspiracy petition in the routine manner. It was signed by only 500 delusional oddballs scattered across this nation of 35 million and she doesn't read it verbatim. She summarizes it and presents it as if it contains facts to which Canada's Parliament must be alerted and act upon.
Davies' own words introducing the petition are:
"It draws the attention to the House of the following, that scientific and eyewitness evidence shows that the 9-11 Commission Report is a fruadulent document and that elements within the US government were complicit in the murder of thousands of people on 9-11, 2001. This event, the petition points out, brought Canada into the so-called War on Terror that has changed the domestic and foreign policies for the worse, and will have negative consequences for Canada."
Our friend Michael Coren has ruffled a few feathers, or got a few people hot under the burqa in the Persian Gulf region for making fun of Eqypt's new TV station that requires its on-air personnel to wear portable tents.
Does Canada need an unaccountable body of censors telling us what we can watch and hear?
Background on the story of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) complaint and ruling against Ezra Levant is in the video at the bottom of the post. The complaint was made by originally by a David Climenhaga, an obtuse writer for the union financed, fanatical neo-Marxist propaganda organ rabble.ca, a genius who has written that "there can be no doubt that there is a connection between the North American right's increasing invocation of the language of violence and the actual use of violence."
So perhaps his complaint was motivated by the earnest fear that Ezra Levant and Charles Adler were going to home invade a Chiquita Banana executive's home and force him to have incestuous sex with his mother.
After all, the terrible urban violence in Detroit and Los Angeles that has been going on for decades, but is actually decreasing lately must have something to do with the "right's" use of language. And those Occupy movement imbeciles who assaulted and raped each other were undoubtedly driven to their uncontrollable psychological limits by something Rush Limbaugh said, no doubt.
The great brain of Climenhaga also came up with this gem, that "our own right-wing derives all its political ideas, strategy and style from the United States."
And his conclusive proof being a link to the facebook page for The Tea Party of Canada which has less than 1500 members, none of whom is a prominent conservative. Come to think of it, perhaps, as his writing suggests, Mr. Climenhaga just isn't a very smart person. ( Although that would still make him above average compared to other rabble.ca writers, many of whom fit the dictionary definition of moron.)
Climenhaga has every right to his opinions, and in fact it's a good thing he expresses them, as they make him look a far greater fool than any of his intended targets. But for him to whine and complain like a sulky, stupid brat about the "lack of civility in Canadian political discourse" when he is one of the least civil writers in Canada demonstrates both a dearth of intellect and a new height of hypocrisy. Of course, if he wasn't a hypocrite, he probably wouldn't be allowed a regular column in rabble.ca
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is a pop-rabbi known less as a theologian than as an author of self-help books, a hanger-on of Michael Jackson, and a TV personality featured as an occasional guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. This fellow, currently exploring the possibility of running as a Republican Congressional candidate in New Jersey, who bills himself as America's Rabbi, appeared on Sun TV's The Arena with Michael Coren yesterday.
Rabbi Shmuley, as he likes to be called, did the show to plug his new book, Kosher Jesus, which has gained some controversy in the orthodox Jewish community for describing Jesus and his teachings' close connection to Judaic traditions. There is absolutely nothing controversial about the conclusions Rabbi Shmuley reaches in his book. Robert Graves, the great war poet, classical scholar, and the extraordinary author of unforgettable novels like I Claudius, made identical assertions some sixty-six years ago, though in the form of historical fiction, in his book King Jesus.
Rabbi Shmuley's segment with Michael Coren did not go well. When discussing Jewish attitudes, Coren complained of the negative depictions that secular, leftist Jews attribute to conservative Christians. This set Rabbi Shmuley off and the conversation quickly degenerated into a shouting match, with Shmuley accusing Coren of dredging up anti-Semitic canards and Coren responding that words he did not say were being put in his mouth and that Shmuley was in effect in denial of historical fact and contemporary reality.
Within a few hours of taping the interview, before it was even broadcast later in the day, Shmuley Boteach, through his press agent, sent out an email blast accusing Coren of perpetrating a "disgusting slur, a tributary of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, that the Jews control whole segments of society."
What to say about all of this? Well, I have a few things and I'm in a unique position to comment. Firstly, the idea of Michael Coren being anti-Semitic is patently absurd. I have known Michael for over a year, appeared on his television show about half a dozen times, spoken to him and corresponded with him on many other occasions. He is outspoken about and proud of his own Jewish heritage, which has made himthe target of anti-Semitism from Islamists and fanatical leftists like those who skulk in online ideological cesspools such as rabble.ca.
What Michael said about secular leftist Jews and their contempt for conservative Christianity is something he has said to me about secular leftist Christians. Indeed he was much more harsh in his assessment of them. Perhaps Michael would have done well to bring that point up with Rabbi Shmuley, but given the heat of the exchange and the Rabbi's constant interruptions, that opportunity never arose.
Rabbi Shmuley seemed to take great issue with the contention by Coren that Jews are influential in Hollywood. I was a Strategic Planing and Creative Executive for a major Hollywood film production company and during my time with it was involved with a slate of films that were nominated for 14 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Documentary.
The fact is that there are a lot of Jews in very important positions in Hollywood. Anyone who is familiar with the history of the film industry knows it was virtually founded by Jews. This is not something to be ashamed of. Movies are the great American art form of the 20th Century and Jews should take pride in their role in its birth and life.
What is objectionable is to cast Jews in the fictional mold of a conspiratorial monolith who act in secret concert for some sinister end. Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. No Hollywood executives are meeting and saying, "let's as Jews, trash Christianity." The fact is that most Hollywood Jews, like just about everyone else in Hollywood, are secular leftists and the philosophical and ideological outlook that comes with those attitudes is reflected in their work. Most Jews in the US also vote for the Democratic Party, but that hardly makes it part of a conspiracy.
But let's be clear, Coren was talking about secular Jews and their attitudes because his guest was a Jewish rabbi, in the same way he would have raised the subject of anti-western attitudes in leftist Christian churches if the Presbyterian Moderator had been his guest.
If Michael is guilty of anything, it may be of not articulating that better. But given the inflammatory exchange, it's hardly surprising he didn't get a chance.
Michael Coren is one of Canada's most ardent defenders of Zionism and the right of Jews to national self-determination. In less than a week, he will be a panelist at an event presented by The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization devoted to combating anti-Semitism. Not only is the calumnious accusation of anti-Semitism against Coren wrong, but it is a shameful disgrace and if Rabbi Shmuley has any sense, he will retract his self-serving publicity release and apologize.
UPDATE: The battle continues at the Huffington Post. It looks like both Michael and Shmuley are milking a lot of publicity out of this. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect a conspiracy (Oh, no!!! Now I'm an anti-Semite too!!!)
Personally, I'm not offended that the CBC bought some French soft-core porn comedy. Lots of television, in some cases rather good television, like the Starz Spartacus series, contains graphic sex that would have been considered pornographic until quite recently.
The issue of whether a publicly funded network should broadcast something of this nature is a bit disingenuous. I understand that the material may be offensive, but most of the people objecting to it have never even watched it, other than the brief clips that Sun TV broadcast, and no one is forcing anyone to watch them. I have never seen the programs in question in their entirety, so I cannot possibly comment on their merit, although as a professional in the film industry, I will comment that the clips don't suggest 'high art' or great talent.
Nonetheless, what is startling about the whole affair is that a video juxtaposing the scenes from the racy CBC show with CBC Executive Kirstine Stewart talking about the CBC's values is something that the state broadcaster found so objectionable, it tried to suppress it. The terminology used by CBC's legal counsel was, "Placing Ms. Stewart on the same screen as graphic sex scenes is indefensible morally and legally.”
So remarkably, the CBC was deeply offended that Sun TV had the temerity to show a CBC executive along side a CBC program. Evidently the ability to understand irony is a quality lacking in the Light Entertainment division of the civil service. That accounts for such alleged comedies as Little Mosque on the Prairie, which is about as funny as gangrene.
The CBC went so far as to file a complaint with YouTube to prevent the video from being seen. However, in a small victory for the forces of goodness, blogger Blazing Cat Fur was able to prevail in his counterclaim, and so, in all its glory, here is the video the CBC doesn't want you to see:
The following is a letter to forward to Mars Canada following their withdrawal of advertising from Sun TV because of their coverage of the controversial Ontario school curriculum which introduces sexuality to children in Grade 1 -feel free to copy the letter and there is a link below you can use to send it to them. Mars products include Uncle Bens Rice, Wrigleys gum, Pedigree cat food, M&M candies and Snickers and Mars Bars:
During the Ontario Provincial election in 2011 the National Post and Sun TV network ran an ad sponsored by a group called The Institute for Canadian Values protesting the proposed Ontario public school curriculum which included teaching children as young as age 7 about sexual issues including gender identity.
Some groups objected to the language of the ad, particularly the term "corrupt" in reference to teaching children to question their gender identity. The National Post subsequently apologized for placing the ad, but Sun TV did not, and featured it in their news broadcasts as a matter of discussion and public debate over the Ontario school curriculum.
Many Canadians are deeply concerned about the poor judgement and potential psychological damage of introducing sexualized education to children too young to comprehend and process such information. The Institute for Canadian Values is closely associated with Reverend Charles McVety, a Canadian clergyman who has voiced strong opposition to Gay marriage. However many Canadians who support Gay marriage and transsexual rights also strongly object to introducing a sexualized curriculum to children younger than 11, regardless of the sexual orientation discussed.
The curriculum itself was fostered among other places, at the Ontario Institute for Educational Studies (OISE) a radicalized institution with programs that have a declared activist agenda. Many OISE courses and instructors actively promote anti-Capitalist, pro-Marxist, anti-Israel, and racist and/or raced based radical activism and the proposed curriculum reflects that approach.
The McGuinty government in Ontario itself seems conflicted about the issue, having conveyed mixed and obfuscating messages about its intentions about introducing it in schools. Clearly the issue and the range of opinions about it are important parts of public discourse.
Under pressure from activist groups, Mars Canada/Uncle Ben's has withdrawn advertising from Sun News as a result of its allowing the ad and discussion about this important matter of public policy. Mars was clear in saying that it withdrew its advertising because of Sun's coverage of this issue, saying to a blogger:
Dear Mr. Murphy,
Based on feedback from consumers such as yourself, UNCLE BEN'S will not be advertising on Sun TV in 2012.
We thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns and for your loyalty towards the UNCLE BEN'S brand.
Rather than simply removing its advertising from Sun TV without comment, by taking this action in concert with the public statement, Mars Canada has effectively taken a position against the free exchange of ideas and links itself with advocates for a sexualized classroom agenda.
As a private concern, Mars Canada is at liberty to associate itself or not associate itself with any organization it chooses.
Mars Canada should be aware that as consumers, we have that same right.
As long as Mars Canada effectively takes a political stand that effectively punishes a news network for addressing an important public issue and continues to boycott Sun TV, I will cease to purchase Uncle Ben's products and use the many alternatives that Mars’ competitors offer.
If you agree with what you're read, you can copy and send it to Mars Canada at this link, or feel free to make any changes you wish
The "strategy" a hysterical rabble.ca writer wants to employ is to have his fellow communists find a particular auto dealer to boycott it if it continues to advertise in Sun papers.
David C. Climenhaga, a regular rabble.ca columnist, was terribly offended that Ezra Levant ended a broadcast encouraging a counter-boycot of Chiquita bananas for their proposed boycott of Alberta tar sands oil with the Spanish phrase "Chinga tu madre!" (F**k your mother).
I never knew the halfwits at rabble.ca were so sensitive about profanity. It's not unpredictable. The perpetually aggrieved hatemongers who are the "official" media sponsors of Israeli Apartheid Week are always on the lookout for something to offend their delicate sensibilities and give their rasion d'etre of being able to call themselves activists a jolt.
Here's a tip for the geniuses at rabble: their strategy only works if they bought cars from that dealer in the past. Boycotting someone you've never purchased from before in your life isn't really a boycott.
A car dealer may not be the best choice. Rabble.ca is almost completely funded by public service unions and the NDP-linked advocacy organizations The Council of Canadians and The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. A hotbed of mindless radicalism published by NDP House Leader Libby Davies' spouse Kim Elliott, it could never survive on its own without those subsidies.
According to online ratings site Alexa.com, rabble's audience is primarily made up of women over the age of 65 who have some college education, but not degrees.
Rabble "readers" should try something a little more realistic. Do makers of support hose or organic health food stores advertise on Sun News?
John Robson of Sun TV gives an important lesson in history and our constitution that refutes the erroneous assumptions about separation of church and state in Canada.
To say this Sun TV promo gives a hint about the result would be a major understatement, but I'm looking forward to hearing what the specific questions and answers were. Why do I get the feeling the overall result is a nation saying, "Can I have my 1.1 billion dollars back?"
And in other news, Thomson has picked up an endorsement from Lord Voldemort Black. His Lordship writes Ford supporters are "heavy-set Archie Bunkers."
Endorsement to cost Thomson estimated 1000 votes.
As Conrad Black is no longer a Canadian citizen, having renounced it to pick up his British peerage, he cannot vote in the municipal election, so his endorsement should be worth approximately two votes, one from his valet and the other from Barbara Amiel. Of course the Black endorsement will lose her votes from all the Dominion store employees whose pension fund he raided, to say nothing of disgruntled Hollinger Inc shareholders. Combined with the general bad feeling he invokes, this will produce, in my estimation, a net loss of something along the lines of 1000 votes among the small percentage of the electorate that had intended to vote for her.
Thomson the ditsy hypocrite
Thomson, whose campaign is irrelevant with her disclosure that she is in talks with the other campaigns about how to combine to stop Ford (i.e. who is going to make her the best offer in exchange for dropping out and throwing her soft support their way) has been claiming that she knows "him like the public might not know him."
And where does this intimate knowledge come from, you may ask? From the fact that in the Green Room, prior to the debates, when the other candidates socialize among each other, Ford leaves the room without engaging in insincere pleasantries with them.
Yup, you got that right. That is the basis on which Thomson claims to have a superior knowledge of Ford than the public. She discusses it in this interview.
After the vicious statements his opponents have made about him, it would be hypocritical for Ford to stay and pretend to be friendly with the others. What's even more instructive is that Thomson engages in and expects this kind of hypocrisy behind closed doors.
The main media concern of the anti-Globalization, neo-Marxist crowd is that they have become redundant in the marketplace of ideas. Their ideas frequently don't hold up to challenge, so in their desperation, they want to remove the sources of scrutiny.
Free exchange in the marketplace of ideas is the best way to sort out what is right from wrong. But free markets are always troubling to those who sell inferior products.
That's why Avaaz wants to tax Canadians to compel them to provide additional funding to the CBC, even though Canadians haven't expressed enough interest to support them with a large audience.
That's why Avaaz fears another source of information that has an ideological approach that conflicts with theirs.
The world has shifted towards a neo-liberal economic model with free ideas. Canada is romanticized by foreign neo-Marxists as the land of Pierre Trudeau, socialist sympathies, and Castro empathy. Now we are the land of centre-right conservatives.
SUN-TV, the alleged "FOX News North" will probably be a mediocre effort. But that is for Canadians to determine with their wallets and eyeballs, not for a New York-based politburo financed by George Soros.
Avaaz is irrelevant and in Canada has no significant influence. Their petition is a tempest in a teapot. It will have no more real effect on anything than a tweet from Margaret Atwood. But it is indicative of the totalitarianism that is rife on the left that has become so desperate for relevance that it has allied itself to extremist Islamic movements.
Avaaz, the George Soros-funded US-based organization that wants to influence Canadian media is outraged! Apparently some cards have been adding fake signatures to the list of signatories on their anti -conservative news channel petition.
According to The Globe and Mail, the head of the proposed news channel, Kory Tenecyke, "notes the petition was started by Avaaz, a special interest group funded by U.S. billionaire George Soros. And he questions its veracity: “Atwood is not the only A-list ‘celebrity’ that has signed. Dwight Shroot (from The Office), Boba Fett (of Star Wars), Snuffaluffagus (Sesame Street) and Homer Simpson are also signatories.”
In response, Avaaz posted a notice about this "attempted sabotage"
Yesterday Avaaz experienced an attack on our “Stop ‘Fox News North’” petition consisting of fraudulent sign-ups of targeted individuals.
There is evidence of a deliberate and illegal effort designed to discredit Avaaz and violate an important form of democratic expression for Canadian citizens. If this is confirmed we will request a full investigation, and help to bring the perpetrators to justice.
It seems likely that the people behind this attack wanted the public to think that Avaaz is a spamming organization. They targeted key journalists in an effort to damage Avaaz’s reputation in the press.
But the truth, the law, and 414,000 very real Canadian Avaaz subscribers -- the largest online activist community in Canadian history -- will set the record straight, about us, and about the forces behind this attack.
It's deeply disturbing that in all Avaaz's years of campaigns against US President George Bush, Burmese, Zimbabwean and Sudanese dictators, irresponsible multinational corporations and corrupt politicians, no one has ever yet stooped to this kind of tactic to undermine our members' right to express their views.
We do not yet have all the facts, but it appears to speak to the poisonous political climate and deeply deceptive tactics that have been bred by the radical right in Canada and its progenitor in the US. It is precisely this kind of bare-knuckled, brazenly deceptive and often hateful political climate that Sun TV's "Fox News North" appears keen to promote.
Canadians understand this, which is why, in just over 36 hours, well over 50,000 Canadians have signed our petition against Stephen Harper's attack on the independence of the CRTC as it resists the Sun TV request for access to Canadian’s cable fees.
In all their years of campaigns, no one has ever stooped to this tactic?
Welcome to Canada and our wacky sense of humour, Georgie boy!
Don't worry, the perpetrators will be brought to justice! Warrants will be sent to the appropriate authorities on Kamino and in Springfield respectively demanding the immediate extradition of Bobba Fett and Homer Simpson for this shocking joke crime!
