A pathetic mainstream media that refuses to call terrorism by its name

One person can make a difference

Mainstream media gives some rather unintelligent and hopelessly biased people the credibility that accompanies a public platform.

Nowhere is this concern more evident than in the distorted coverage of matters relating to Israel. Just one example of a source of that phenomenon is The Toronto Star, whose anti-Israel editorial bias is so pronounced that it has earned that newspaper the nickname "al-Starzeera."

It publishes Haroon Siddiqui, who until recent complaints and public demonstrations caused a slight retreat, produced a column whose only seeming purpose was to find an excuse to vilify Israel. It' provides print space to Linda McQuaig, a hopelessly biased polemicist of who notoriously likened Israel's killing of 9 armed jihadis who expressed a desire for martyrdom on the Mavi Marmara to the murder of an innocent Jewish American by Palestinian terrorists on the Achile Lauro.

For years, it even allowed the  archaic, irrelevant Antonia Zerbisias to use the Star's Living section to defend Hamas and routinely condemn Israel and get the main points of her stories wrong in the process. And of course there are countless examples of daily mistruths and distortions from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Globe and Mail and other Canadian media outlets.

For the most part, when informed people hear of such things, they shake their heads in disappointment, maybe write a letter to the Editor, and worry about the dumbing-down of Canadian media. There are prominent organizations who do excellent work in holding the media to account, such as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, but they have a number of areas of focus.

There is, however, an individual who has made anti-Israel bias in the Canadian media his sole mission, and he's doing an incredible job on his own, with just a few volunteers and a group of committed financial supporters. His name is Mike Fegelman and he's been vigilant in monitoring media and exposing the slander and hate that is directed towards the Jewish state by some of the members of Canada's media establishment.

Through Honest Reporting Canada, Mike has most recently drawn attention to the anti-Semitic TV host Stéphane Gendron, who in the past said that Jews  "invented terrorism." Now Gendron is accusing Israel of planing to bulldoze and kill Palestinians, and Honest Reporting Canada is holding him and the Quebec's V Network, that broadcasts such bigotry, to account.

Mike put on an interesting event with Mark Dubowitz last week. Dubowitz is the Executive Director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank. It was fascinating to hear his assessment that he hopes and expects President Obama's policies of containing Iran through sanctions and covert action to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon will be successful. Most of the audience were less optimistic and felt that military strikes on Iran are both necessary and inevitable. Israel's threats of attack are seen in that context, not so much as a genuine threat as the stick to induce countries like China and Russia to accept the carrot of serious sanctions.

Honest Reporting Canada is doing fine work and you can learn more about it here.

Rick Salutin returns to a major daily newspaper.. and no one notices

The Looney Left went crazy a few months ago when the Globe and Mail replaced Rick Salutin's column with one from Irshad Manji.

"A blow to "progressive" (read: regressive) voices in the media" was the gist of their shrill cries. As of last Friday, Salutin has been writing for The Toronto Star. His first column for the Liberal-leaning paper was ostensibly a review of a TV series called NCIS, but Salutin being Salutin, it was filled with undertones about the evils of the United States.

One would think all those people who decried Salutin's firing from the Globe would be cheering his return with great fanfare.

But such was not the case. In the 3 days since his article was published online, it managed to draw only 3 user comments and virtually no attention.

Maybe it's because in the Globe, his column stood out. Whereas in the Star, among raving fanatics like Linda McQuaig, Haroon Siddiqui, Antonia Zerbisias, and James Travers, Salutin gets lost in the crowd. In fact, he seems relatively sane compared to his new colleagues, particularly when considering that Heather Mallick is one of them.

Want results in Toronto? Call Ford. Want sarcasm? Call a regressive councilor

Readers of this blog know I won't use the term "progressive" to describe the socialist-leaning political wing. Their policies show that they are mired in decades-old, discredited, regressive ideologies that would take us away from what most intelligent people would consider progress.

One of the six Toronto city councilors who voted against the repeal of Toronto's unpopular Vehicle Registration Tax was Janet Davis who is often euphemistically referred to "progressive."

Rob Ford, who won the mayoralty in a landslide, campaigned on repealing the tax as one of his main campaign platforms. Janet Davis won in her ward, so she is completely within her rights to vote however her conscience dictates.

But it is interesting to note that Ford's campaign slogan was "Respect for Taxpayers," and putting that slogan into practice was a hallmark of his 10-year career as a city councilor. As a councilor, Ford was famous for being the "go-to guy" for constituents all over the city who couldn't get help from their local representative. Rob Ford's brother, Doug is the new councilor in Rob's old Etobicoke ward and made the same commitment to returning constituents' calls and getting action at city hall.

In today's Toronto Star, columnist Joe Fiorito reported a story of a 77 year old woman who wanted security cameras in her city-owned apartment building after a frightening incident.

Fiorito wrote:

She has been pushing to have security cameras in the parking garage for the past two years. She was told that the money was in the budget. But every time there was a meeting, and every time she asked, she was put off.  

This time? 

“I called TCHC security. They said I should have called the police.” Duh. “I called TCHC. I couldn’t get them on the phone. Then I called Doug Ford’s office.” 

Doug Ford is not her councillor. Janet Davis is her councillor. But Maxine called Ford because the Fords have promised to return all calls and get action. 

She got action. 

Very shortly thereafter, TCHC called Maxine and made mealy-mouthed and apologetic noises about emergencies and delays. 

And then a staffer from Janet Davis’ office called Maxine and said the cameras would be installed shortly. The Davis staffer said, with a tinge of sarcasm, “If they’re not installed, I guess you know what to do.” 

Yeah, I guess she does. And maybe that’s why you-know-who got elected.

The whole article is here at The Toronto Star

Angelo Persichilli has some interesting observations about Justin Trudeau's political hara-kiri

From The Toronto Star

..he should understand that there are basic rules of engagement.

First, you don’t risk your life if you know that the person you want to save is “seriously dead.”

Second, stick to creating a career for yourself based not on your last name but on personal merit.

Mr. & Mrs. Gravy Train do Ottawa (and the world) in style

Jack and Olivia have shown that they, like the leadership of Canada's most appalling, self-interested unions such as CUPE and CUPW, whose support they enjoy, know how to live the high life on other people's hard earned money.


From The Toronto Star:

Toronto's Jack Layton and Olivia Chow are Ottawa's million-dollar couple.

According to recently released House of Commons records, the NDP leader and his long-time wife, Chow, who is MP for Trinity Spadina, charged Canadian taxpayers about $1.16 million in MP expenses last year for running their offices, living in Ottawa and paying for associated travel costs...


Chow's expenses tallied $530,304.73 and Layton's was $628,913.68.

The NDP's power couple lives in a $2,000-a-month apartment just steps from Parliament Hill.

To stay in their home away from home, they charged a total of $42,478 for accommodation and per diem expenses.

Chow was reimbursed $17,010.20, while Layton charged the maximum of $25,468.

“It's within the law,” Chow snapped when asked why they both bill for accommodation while in Ottawa, later explaining they split the rent, about $12,000 each, depending on how much time they spend in Ottawa.

Chow refused to break out how much of her $17,010.20 was for rent and for per diem expenses.

On an amusing note, the Stalinist thought police at rabble.ca, the nutcase radical leftist website founded by Judy Rebick and published by NDP MP Libby Davies' spouse, Kim Elliott were so disturbed that this news would cause dissent among the unwashed er..rabble that frequent the site that they shut down not just one but two discussion threads on this subject.

The Toronto Mayoral Election Post Mortem in Brief

There is a much being written about Rob Ford's election on the day following his win. The Toronto Star is  both petulant and in shock, a lot of media is attributing Ford's win to "voter anger."

Ford's win is very easily and simply explained.

Ford's message throughout the campaign was "Respect for taxpayers." It was a positive message that all the people of Toronto, and not the narrow political class and a few special interests like civic unions and arts grants recipients, should have a say in how their city is managed.

The main opposition to Ford was George Smitherman, whose only message was one of fear-mongering and arrogance in what appeared to be a sense of his own entitlement to power.

Voters chose the positive message of Ford over the negative message of Smitherman.

And Joe Pantalone, who ran on the idea that David Miller did a good job and his legacy should continue, was trounced, receiving only about 11% of the vote. The message is clear there too. Toronto did not feel David Miller performed well in his job.

UPDATE: In a decisive rebuke to the fear-mongers who tried to smear Ford by suggesting he was a racist because he said Toronto needs to focus on its own needs before taking in more immigrants, the last poll before the election showed Ford was the clear favorite among Torontonians born outside Canada. For that group, Ford's "margin rose to 51.7 per cent, over Mr. Smitherman’s 30.1 per cent."

ROB FORD IS TORONTO'S NEW MAYOR!

Ford wins in landslide. His numbers add up to more than rivals George Smitherman and Joe Pantalone put together!

The Toronto Star, which advocated an 'anyone but Ford' approach, is stunned by its irrelevance!

UPDATE:  Ford is the victor. Latest results, with most polls in, have him above 47%.

Halloween comes early!

It's still two and a half weeks till Halloween, but it's come early to the Toronto Star.

If you're brave enough to see something really scary, then click here. But don't blame me if you get nightmares!

From Eye on the Hill: "Canada lost at the UN and I ain’t losing sleep"

The Toronto Star is lamenting that Canada lost because we have abandoned our progressive ways. Here’s the opening of their lead editorial today.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been undermining Canada’s bid for a United Nations Security Council seat since he was first elected back in 2006. Our embarrassing loss to Portugal merely confirms that our image as a progressive, even-handed, nation has taken a knock on his watch.

Yes, that’s right we lost because we are not sufficiently progressive. Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and the rest of the rogues gallery that makes up the United Nations don’t really give a hoot about how “progressive” we are. At least not in the Toronto Star sense.

I couldn't agree more, which ties into yesterday's post about the need for a League of Democracies.

read the rest from Eye on the Hill here.

Just when you think al-Starzeera can't sink any lower they surprise you.

Blazing Cat Fur: Repugnant Toronto Star Blames Ford Supporters For Anti-Ford Ads

al-Starzeera realizes Smitherman will be tied to McGuinty, so..

Simple equation:

     The Toronto Star hates Rob Ford   +

     Ontario (including Toronto) hates Dalton McGuinty   +

     George (Captain eHealth) Smitherman is closely linked to McG
     _____________________

    =   The Star (laughably) is going to try to rehabilitate McG

Good luck!

After pressuring Thomson to support Smitherman, al-Starzeera starts leaning on its former employee, Rossi

The Toronto Star hates Rob Ford.

It's editorial board has been pressuring Sarah Thomson, Rocco Rossi, and Joe Pantalone to drop out of the Toronto mayoral race and support George (Captain eHealth) Smitherman in their effort to prevent Ford from becoming mayor.

Having succeeded with Thomson, who ended her fiscally (and intellectually) bankrupt campaign this week, they are now setting their sights on Rossi.

Which shows how slow-witted some at The Toronto Star must be.

Rossi's internal polling shows three quarters of his support would go to Ford.

When the Star launched its attack campaign against Ford in June, he was in 2nd place, polling in the mid teens. After all the Star's hard work, Ford is now in first place with between a 5% and 20% lead over George Smitherman, depending on the poll.

this fine artistic rendition was stolen from Blazing Cat Fur

Keep up the good work, al-Starzeera!

What kind of math do you use to promise to increase spending, freeze taxes, and lower debt all at the same time (and expect people to be stupid enough to believe you)?

this fine artistic rendition was stolen from Blazing Cat Fur

Smither-math!

Click "Smither-math" above to see Royson James' column describing how it just doesn't add up

George Smitherman releases financial plan - reads like "Ford lite"

Sensing he has lost his once firm grip on the mayoral race, distant second-place rival George Smitherman released his financial plan today.

It is an eerie echo of Rob Ford's with a less aggressive cost-saving plan through employee attrition and a few figures that don't add up quite right. Not that I'll hold that against him, after all, who's do?

But what inspires less than full confidence in his commitment to it is how his policies have shifted to be more like Rob Ford's as Ford's popularity increased.

Some of his odder and more dubious items of projected revenue include $10 million for "'Catch the little things' incentives; and $132 Million for - "Smarter procurement"

His plan relies on quite a bit of financial influx from his old boss, McGuinty. I actually believe Smitherman would be able to talk him into it. McGuinty would have an interest in buying Toronto to keep it out of the hands of Tim Hudak's Tories. I'm also confident McGuinty would find some new taxes to pay for it, so what we save in municipal costs will end up being added as provincial ones.

this fine artistic rendition was stolen from Blazing Cat Fur

Of course, I could be just a bit over-cynical. After all, who wouldn't trust a former McGuinty cabinet minister?

Here's Smitherman's financial plan.

UPDATE: Socialist extremists at rabble.ca hope for Smitherman win.

Coming to grips with the realization that their preferred candidate, Joe Pantalone, has no hope of winning, the radical socialists and extremists who frequent rabble.ca express hope for a Smitherman win in which he emerges in debt to union interests so they can retain control of city hall.

UPDATE 2: Royson James at The Toronto Star refers to Smitherman's untenable proposal to freeze taxes while increasing spending and claim to lower the debt all at the same time as "Smither-math"

Good moniker, Royson! I'll borrow that in future. I would have just called it "another McGuinty Liberal worthless promise", but your name for it is much better.

Persichilli: One of the few voices of sanity at al-Starzeera

There's one columnist at al-Starzeera whom I haven't mentioned previously in this blog and I regret that.

Partially, it's because his column only appears once a week on Sundays and the other reason is that his main gig is as political editor of the Italian-Canadian newspaper Corriere Canadese, so I don't think of him so much as being a Star columnist.

But he is and he deserves mention, because he is one of the few editorial anomalies in the organization that gives a forum to the habitually uninformed hysteria of James Travers, Heather Mallick, Haroon Siddiqui, Christopher Hume, Antonia Zerbisias, Linda McQuaig, et cetera.

There are a couple of others, like Martin Regg Cohn, to be sure, but they are the rare exceptions in that organization.

Angelo Persichilli's column are routinely informative, insightful and he actually has the connections in Ottawa and the Liberal Party to be able to report based on credible information rather than wild, paranoid speculation.

Today he wrote a column about what Rob Ford's candidacy represents that has shown a level of insight and maturity that reminded me how out of place he is at The Toronto Star.  I don't agree with Persichilli about his notion of bike lanes being such a representation of the urban/suburban and elitist/public divide. If that were the case than Rocco Rossi wouldn't be the last-place candidate with single digit polling numbers. But basically, Persichilli nails it:

Rob Ford is neither a candidate to fear nor a political phenomenon. He is only an individual who is in the right place at the right time. The Oct. 25 vote is not about Ford, it’s a referendum on outgoing Mayor David Miller and his cronies.

This campaign is about four things: the repudiation of Miller’s vision of Toronto; the revolt of the suburban “colonies”; the frustration of people in the downtown core; and the inability of the other candidates to understand the first three of these factors.

Miller thinks that his Toronto is the real Canada. He’s wrong. Miller’s Toronto it’s only a distillation of this complex country seen through magnifying, distorting glasses. His Toronto is a concentration of Canadian virtues and imperfections, blown up and stuffed together into a few square kilometres around city hall.

There we have the best museums, art galleries and universities, but also a lot of ignorance just a few hundred metres away from those institutions. There are religious icons like St. Michael’s Cathedral, but also in the same street many organizations that are challenging Catholic doctrine. You find the opulent banks at Bay and King, but also food banks around the corner. There are the beautiful houses of the Rosedale enclave, but also a lot of homeless people. There are expensive and fancy cars, but also people who cannot even afford the TTC.

Miller didn’t deal with any of these contradictions. He made them worse by promoting petty projects like bike lanes that were sold as a social revolution, an environmental game-changer. His approach to government has been much like the behaviour of rich socialites who pollute the environment with their SUVs and private planes or sully the lakes in Muskoka with their powerboats and then engage in petty projects such as sending their children to volunteer at the food bank or to some camp in a Third World country for a photo-op to fabricate a social conscience.

Miller’s administration is identified with traffic jams that are fouling the environment; a “special relationship” with the unions and friendly, costly contractors; the garbage strike, which exposed his lack of leadership; waste; tax increases and, most of all, the typical in-your-face attitude of a messiah who thinks he can disregard the opinions of his ignorant subjects.

Read the rest of his column here.

Just looked out the window. No, hell hasn't frozen over, but Thomas Walkom has written the Star's most sensible column about the Ford candidacy

Finally... acceptance of the inevitable, and dare I say it, some welcome sanity at al-Starzeera. And from Thomas Walkom of all people!

There you go, Richard Dawkins. If that isn't proof that there's a God, I don't know what is.

UPDATE: Sorry, Dawkins. I admit it, you could always throw back today's characteristic histrionics from James Travers to counter: "For decades politicians have freely played voters for fools. Now the bill is coming due as Tea Party anger seeps out of the U.S. and into elections from Toronto to Stockholm. Rob Ford’s commanding lead in the contest to control Canada’s largest city is far from the most extreme example."

It doesn't really matter much what they say at al-Starzeera. After their slanderous smears of Ford in the summer, the front-running candidate has refused to speak to them, but has used their attacks on him as an effective means of rallying support.

Rosie DiManno referred to this today: "Yet the guy has sailed through scandal: been caught out in lies, had his drunk driving mug shot plastered in the media, flipped the freeze-out bird to Canada’s largest newspaper, and still he’s buoyant, ascendant, unrepentant."

Hell hath no fury like a left-wing newspaper scorned.

What's a few million to Christopher Hume?

Christopher Hume, one of the coterie of al-Starzeera columnists going off the rails at the prospect of Rob Ford winning the mayoral contest in October, wrote today "does it make sense to get rid of half of council for no other reason than to save $6 million on a $12 billion budget?"

Evidently, Hume should do what he does best and be out lobbying for some big condo to wreck a neighbourhood somewhere and stay away from numbers.  Hume complains,  "Government isn’t business and voters aren’t consumers. Were Toronto run like a corporation, not a democracy, the fallout would make the current angst seem a love-in. Despite what the candidates might say, government does not exist to turn a profit."

It sure doesn't when the likes of Miller, Smitherman and  Pantalone are running it.

Earlier in his column, Hume mocked Ford for saying voters, "can’t relate to billions of dollars, but they can relate to thousands of dollars. They can relate to getting free gas, free food, free hotels, all the stuff people have to pay for and councillors don’t.”

Clearly, Hume doesn't have any idea how much can be done with the $6,000,000.00 in taxpayer savings he's scoffing at. At least he is helping out by unwittingly proving Ford's point.

On the bright side, Hume didn't call half the city of Toronto that supports Ford "newly emboldened hordes"  again.

Fair and unbiased journalism from al-Starzeera? The Toronto Star anti-Ford Google ad campaign appears. The Star's Advertising Department denies involvement

Does The Toronto Star have a vested interest in defeating Rob Ford? Take a look - One of al-Starzeera's ads turned up on this site (click image to enlarge):

The link on the ad went right to http://www.thestar.com/

UPDATE: I called The Star's Advertising Department and they said they did not take out this ad. However this raises the question, who then would be able to take out an ad placed through Google's ad servers that had The Star's name and a link back to its site on it if not them? These ads are no longer appearing in my ad cycle. All very strange and suspicious.

UPDATE 2: This is very fishy, as is the fact the ads appeared briefly, for one cycle, then vanished.

IF the Star's not behind it, then the logical conclusion would be that it's someone who opposes Ford and whose message/position is being promoted by the Star. I wonder who that could be? That doesn't sound like Pantalone or Thompson..

I tried calling Google offices in Toronto to get to the bottom of this. Believe it or not, Google Canada offers no form of live support, the contact phone number is basically an answering service. The person I spoke with gave me the number of Google's head office in California, which I'll call after 12 pm (9 am Pacific time) but she told me not to get my hopes up about speaking with a live person there either.

UPDATE 3: called Google in California - no live support but posted a question in their help forum

UPDATE 4: The Rob Ford Star ad has reappeared on Sassywire at 12:25 pm!

Here's a screenshot:

The link goes to this al-Starzeera story: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/849744--go-ahead-take-me-to-jail-ford-told-police

UPDATE 5: I just called The Star and was put through, in his roll dealing with Community Relations, to Bob Hepburn's voice mail. I left a message asking him to comment and clarify about this. Yes, the same Bob Hepburn who wrote the column yesterday saying Rossi, Pantalone and Thompson should drop from the race to help Smitherman. I await his reply..

UPDATE 6: Still no word from Bob Hepburn (surprise, surprise) 3 hours later. But I have noticed the anti-Ford Star ad reappear here on Eye on a Crazy Planet quite a bit. I'd suggest you click it if you see it, and you'll see where it takes you (plus it'll cost the advertiser some money!)

and...UPDATE 7: Google won’t help in identifying the advertiser. The fact it had the Star’s name on it and a link back to them evidently doesn’t establish who placed the ads. The logical assumption is that a rival campaign is behind them, but by having the Star listed prominently on the ad and suggesting the ad is from the Star, something underhanded appears to be going on.

Here’s a link to my attempts to solve this through Google:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense/thread?fid=4099d1144be782fc0004910925d2c743&hl=en&unsub=1

So we may never get to the bottom of this. Whether it was one of the rival campaigns, The Star, or someone else who placed the ads, remains a mystery for now.

4th place Thompson considers throwing support to last-place Rossi or Captain eHealth - Ford's support firmest of all candidates - this confirms Pantalone as the candidate of the left

Sarah Thompson is considering backing out and endorsing another candidate, possibly Rocco Rossi or George Smitherman, according to reports today.

Evidently she has given up on her own candidacy and appears to be working with al-Starzeera on its "let's get behind Captain eHealth" campaign.

In an email to al-Starzeera The Star, she said she has been in discussions with “all teams to build consensus and work collaboratively”

Polls suggest her endorsement may not be worth much.

When asked if their support was “firm”, or if “it is possible that you might change your mind before Oct. 25?,” the answer was “firm” from 66 per cent of those supporting Ford, who is dominating the race with a simple message of spending cuts and improved customer service.

The “firm” response came from only 39 per cent of Smitherman and Rossi fans, and 38 per cent of Pantalone supporters. Voters backing Thomson were the most fickle, with 26 per cent saying they won’t budge — meaning almost three-quarters could move.

“Ford’s support, how sticky it is, was the most surprising number to me in this poll,” Shanoff said. “People aren’t just flirting with that option because of what’s happening at city hall. His message is sticking.”

UPDATE: text of the actual email:

 

Hi David,

I have been in discussions with all teams to build consensus and work collaboratively. After 8 months of working together with Rob, day in and day out, we have all seen the real Rob Ford and we all understand what a huge crisis Toronto would be in if Rob Ford were to become Mayor.

I have had a solid 10% support across the city. Smitherman has been coming down since he started and Joe hasn't been able to change his support.

I have not made any decision to step down. I know I have a solid 10% and a passionate tenacious team -- we don't have the money to do big advertising campaigns -- but word of mouth and passion have got us this far. We are working, as everyone else is, to see if we can garner the support that Smitherman can't seem to attract.

The next two weeks will determine if one of us can rise up or not.

Best,


Sarah

This tells us a couple of things.
 
1) Thompson is in all-out denial if she thinks her support is "firm" at 10%. If she remained in the election, her supporters could easily give up on this no-hoper and move to a better candidate.
 
2) Saying that her debates against Ford and the others constitiute "8 months of working together with Rob, day in and day out,"  confirms that Thompson's ditzy and delusional.