This is from Thursdays Guelph Tribune:
What do you think, spot on or maybe Canadians should be more afraid?
News and Politics with a Local Voice
In this week’s episode of Open Sources Guelph, we’ll consider the election issues past and present, as well as a seminal anniversary in world events. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday January 29, 2015”
It’s been a tough year for both Member of Parliament Rob Anders and the Wildrose Party of Alberta. Both suffered setbacks in 2014, bright political futures ruined by the slings and arrows of fate and fortune. You may say that given the circumstances, Anders and Wildrose were made for each other, but just as Anders announced that he was mulling a bid for the leadership of Wildrose, a party official has told the press that, sadly, the timing doesn’t work. Continue reading “Rob Anders Shut Out Again”
On this week’s episode of Open Sources Guelph, we spend the hour with some special in-studio guests hoping to do some informing of there own. With the 2015 Federal Election on the horizon, and the ghost of attempted widespread voter fraud in Guelph just four years ago, the good folks at Fair Vote Guelph want to get people on guard and engaged for the next time someone tries to hijack our democracy. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday January 22, 2015”
Last night’s State of the Union address, Barack Obama’s sixth and second-to-last, contained the usual platitudes mixed with items from the Presidential wish list that are likely never to be granted. But in between Obama taking a victory lap on the economy, pushing for the continuing equalization in pay and marriage, and proposing new childcare support and two-years of free of community college, was a real moment that got everyone talking. Obama, upon mentioning that he had “no elections left” to fight, got a sarcastic round of applause from a few opposition members of Congress. What followed was a classy, but pointed slam heard ’round the Rotunda. Continue reading “Obama Says Pardon My Zinger at State of the Union”
In this week’s episode of Open Sources Guelph, we’ll look at four of the big news stories of the week, some of them complex and some of them straightforward; some of them sad, and some of them more than slightly amusing. Along the way, we’ll try to add our distinctive blend of wit and insight. Continue reading “Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday January 15, 2015”
In the wake of last week’s attack on Charlie Hebdo, many have had their faith in a free press renewed, once again seeing and understanding its value. The media gets beat up a lot, and sometimes it’s justifiable, but the existence of a free press is essential to democracy. As Thomas Jefferson once said, in one of his many Bartlett’s contributions to the topic of press freedom, “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper wasn’t quite that florid last week when he spoke about the Charlie Hebdo attack at a media event in Vancouver, but clearly in the wake of the tragedy, he and Jefferson were of one mind. “When a trio of hooded men struck at some of our most cherished democratic principles, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, they assaulted democracy everywhere,” Harper said.
I agree with Mr. Harper, which is a rarity. But here’s the thing: Harper doesn’t agree with Harper. Does a man who tightly controls the message of his government to the point of stopping scientists from talking about science without written permission sound like a man who cherishes freedom of expression? Is a prime minister whose cabinet is full of people who actively avoid reporters and debates on the campaign trail a person that believes in freedom of the press? Continue reading “EDITORIAL – Harper Should Take Own Advice About the Press”