"From Confederation onward, the country has been designed to work like a huge sink, where everything flows to the middle."

I like Ted Byfield's column today.

Ballot box 13 found in Bellevue

While I am catching up at work, read more about the eye-popping Washington state governor's election at Stefan Sharkansky (and others)'s blog. Washington state, home of the "Frankenvoter", the undead who cast ballots!

At least we can be grateful that the dead aren't rising from their graves to vote in alphabetical order, as they did for LBJ.

Two world wars and one world cup, doo dah, doo dah

A soccer player for Italy's Lazio is in trouble for allegedly making a 'fascist salute' to the crowd after a game. Player salute spotters are especially concerned as Mussolini himself used to cheer for Lazio seventy years ago.

Hat tip: Tim Blair.

Test

Snow turns my job into heck on roller skates.
Just so you know. :)

The rise of the professional student journalist

A note in my blogging friend and former colleague ColbyCosh's blog is worthy of comment:

On January 21, at the same hour of the day, I'll be hosting a roundtable discussion for the Canadian University Press's national student media conference at the Crowne Plaza in Edmonton. Since I'm not really an expert at anything except being me, the topic will be weblogs and journalism (weblogs vs. journalism?).

As a former CUPpie (I attended CUP 50, CUP 52 and CUP 53) and CUP staffer (I worked for the organization for 8 months for the princely sum of $600 per month), I'm able to point out a trend that Colby's guest appearance points to: the rise of the semi-professional student journalist.

Back in my day (picture me in a rocking chair talking in a quavery crabby old person voice), national CUP conferences were always held in the week between Boxing Day and New Year's Day because those attending were students going to classes. With a January 21 event date, it seems that CUP has moved to a stance of not caring if their student journalists blow off a week of classes to attend seminars and debate punctuation changes in the CUP Statement of Principles.

This is not good. Back when I was a student journalist, CUP at least nodded in the direction of acknowledging that their members were supposed to be average students, well grounded in the educational life of their campus, who happenned to do student journalism on the side. As recently as 15 years ago, most student newspapers paid their editors in the form of tuition wavers or paltry salaries that forced the editors to get student loans that required them to take classes.

This is important to encourage, because one of the few times that student journalists are confronted with frank opinions about the quality of the leftist agitprop that they churn out, is when they come down from Mount Olympus and actually meet the students who read their newspaper. I know this for a fact because my classmates who knew that I wrote for The Ubyssey often buttonholed me about things that they liked or disliked in the paper, even though I was just a reporter. One of the reasons that I never became an editor of the paper was that I was dependent on student loans. I couldn't justify adding thousands of dollars to my student loan tab in order to take one course and blow off the year to be a Ubyssey editor.

If CUP retains a social conscience, why are they discouraging poor people whose first priority is going to school full time from participating in their activities by scheduling their national conference during class time?

I see dead people voting

Amongst blogger Stefan Sharkansky's amazing revelations about the Democrats' keep-counting-till-we-win shenanigans in the Washington state governor's election: it seems that dead people appear to have risen from their graves to cast absentee ballots in November.

When "Old hack's disease" strikes

My old newspaper has gone full colour.

Back in my day, we were happy with black and white. Harumpf!

"Seriously, burned Velveeta is what they use to stick the tiles on the Space Shuttle. Don't burn the Velveeta...."

One blogger's amusing recipe for Macho Dip

Hat tip: Ilyka Damen.

No Mr. Bear, I expect you to die

On the CIA for Kids website, Ginger the Bear has an Adventure.

When bloggers kill

Police in Alaska are suspecting a teen of masterminding a plot to kill her mom after they read her blog.

Creepy!

"...Anyway, finally, one day without the horoscopes in hand, I told the slot guy I would handle it. No phone calls for us tomorrow. No readers reeling in anger, confusion and fear. All would find a helping hand from the Dayton Daily News.
And I faked it....."

A note on why newspapers are never caught short when it comes to horoscopes, by the waggish desker Charles Stough.

Bob Barker is second best

I'll argue that Bill Cullen was the best host ever of The Price Is Right. Perhaps the linked tribute website will persuade you.

Number one with a bullet

Tech Central Station has posted a list of this year's ten best blogging moments.

Add 20 whole chickens...

For your holiday meal needs, a recipe for Whole Stuffed Camel. Feeds 100.

"According to Michael Carreras' sleeve notes: 'Freddie is the only man I know who can sing, dance and remove his trousers all at the same time'"

A useful Freddie and the Dreamers Fan Page for those who remember The Freddie.

Incorrectly reading the tea leaves

I'm thinking that Gary Collins, B.C.'s finance minister until he
resigned today, may be readying himself for a future B.C. Liberal leadership run in addition to spending more time with his family.

This is a wild guess on my part, but I am reminded of the example of Bill Vander Zalm, who suddenly discovered in 1983 that he needed to spend more time with his family, only to return in 1986 to win the leadership of the Social Credit Party. He then served four years as B.C.'s premier.

A few years off from politics would allow Mr. Collins to spend time with his family and make some extra money. It would also allow him to disassociate himself from Gordon Campbell's government, and run for the leadership as a "new and improved" politician.

Interestingly, former B.C. deputy premier Christie Clark, who also recently quit politics to spend more time with her kids, is finding time to keep a media profile by criticizing her former party for not recruiting enough women into politics. I am wondering if she is also keeping her political powder dry. (Why do I say this? Well, if Clark really wanted to turn her back on politics completely, she could say "No comment" when asked about issues like this. Think of former premier Rita Johnston, who seemed to drop off the face of the earth after the Socreds lost the 1991 election. She merely retired, but political retirement for Johnston meant completely leaving the political scene.)

If Clark and Collins are making future political plans, they may both be banking on the B.C. Liberals narrowly winning the upcoming provincial election. A chastened Gordon Campbell would serve as premier for three or four more years and then "outsiders" Clark and Collins would run to replace him.

A B.C. Liberal loss in the next election would throw a wrench into the works. Campbell's job could then open up quickly and the next B.C. Liberal leader would presumably be given a chance to contest the next election.

"Vacation, all I ever wanted/Vacation, time to get away..."

While I am on vacation, please read some blogs by some blogging friends of mine:

Colby Cosh
Mike Jenkinson
Kevin Grace
Kathy Shaidle

That's Senator Link to you

I see that my old boss Link Byfield was elected a senator-in-waiting in Alberta's recent provincial elections.

Taking his seat in the Senate will depend on Ottawa appointing the winners of the election, which is about as likely as something amusing in your mind which is very unlikely to happen. It's nice to see though.

Colby Cosh would be Boardwalk

I'm probably the last person to realize that Aaron's Rantblog has come up with a new internet game:Blogopoly. Perhaps Aaron would be kind enough to write a post explaining how Blogopoly works to those of us who are newbies.

Looks like a neat right-thinking blog. Hope this post gives him some hits.

She Loves You, oui, oui oui

Quebec's answer to the Beatles: Les Beatlettes?!?!

Check out their Beatle haircuts, which you may see at the link.