Gotcha! Britain’s Private Eye magazine satirizes the Murdoch Fambly Saga across the Pond. Nothing like the Eye in Canada, more’s the pity! (Where is Michael Bate now that we need him?) Below: Rupert Murdoch, in happier times; Kory Teneycke, late of…
Continue readingAuthor: David J. Climenhaga
David Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Never mind the cookie … AHS and Stephen Duckett parted by mutual agreement
Stephen Duckett and his notorious oatmeal raisin cookie back on Nov. 19, 2010. Turns out that waving a cookie at reporters wasn’t a firing offense, and Dr. Duckett is by mutual agreement $735,630 richer.This just in: Stephen Duckett wasn’t fired fo…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The Alberta Party’s ‘democratic renewal’ policy: a disappointment with the potential for disaster!
The Ministry must enjoy the confidence of the House. Notwithstanding this, Alberta’s Legislature may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Alberta Party Leader Glenn Taylor, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the former Governor General – plotti…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: New Alberta poll: Tories way up; NDP up a little; everyone else down… So what else is new?
The Alberta Conservatives cross the North Saskatchewan and head south toward Red Deer. (Alberta political parties may not appear exactly as illustrated. But close enough, eh?)Alberta’s political classes were abuzz last night with news of a credible n…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Lighten up Doug Ford! Thanks to Margaret Atwood, at least you’ll get a footnote
Margaret Atwood on the picket line, shortly before reprimanding your blogger. Below: Toronto’s Ford Brothers.Lighten up, Doug Ford! It’s good to be given a sound public thrashing by Margaret Atwood. It’s proof that your hitherto meaningless exist…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The party that Jack built is bigger than any single leader
Jack Layton in Edmonton during last spring’s federal election campaign. Below: Jack Layton yesterday.Leadership matters, so there is no question that the loss of Opposition Leader Jack Layton, even for a short time, will hurt the New Democratic Party…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Is WordFest muzzling a popular author to keep the Calgary Herald happy? Sure sounds like it
Brian Brennan, at left, on the picket line during the Calgary Herald lockout and strike in 1999. Behind him, in the centre of the photo, is Canadian author Margaret Atwood, a strong supporter of the unionized Herald journalists’ goals in the labour d…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Never mind Gen. Natynczyk, the French have it right: jawr-jawr in Libya better than war-war!
Air forces: delivering failure from the sky since the dawn of flight. Next up, seeing as that didn’t work, boots on the ground? Below: Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Muammar al-Gaddafi.Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, has raised the …
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: A note to readers: Why I’m not sorry I skipped Vermillion
Conservative candidates and their supporters gather in Vermilion. Alison Redford is visible near the centre of the photo. Alberta politicians may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Former Vermilion MLA Steve West.I’m not all that sorry to repo…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: When government MLAs start blowing whistles, who rats them out? Their legislative assistants, of course!
Jonathan Huckabay and Raj Sherman at a Liberal leadership all-candidates’ meeting in Edmonton Wednesday night. Below: Government Whip Robin Campbell.“When in doubt, tell the truth,” Mark Twain famously advised. “It will confound your enemies an…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Ted Morton can 4GEDIT, this vanity plate idea is just 2DUM2LV
Ted Morton’s vanity plate idea, photo grabbed from the Calgary Herald, which won’t mind because they’ve been attracting readers by linking to my blog. Below: New Hampshire vanity plate: “Live free or die,” Freddy Lee Morton with gun. Holy Cow…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Starbucks, Servus and St. Albert: just another P3, after all, and not a bad deal at that!
Starbucks and Servus Place: Both high on the hit list of St. Albert’s CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) people. Below: St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse.What’s wrong with the City of St. Albert opening a Starbucks franchise inside the Servus…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: No new candidates join Tory leadership race; Calgary not destroyed by earthquake again today!
The Alberta Tory leadership candidates, from left to right: Doug Horner, Gary Mar, Doug Griffiths, Ted Morton and Rick Orman. Alison Redford can be glimpsed crossing the street in the background. Real Conservative candidates may not actually resemble H…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Hi there, Hot Stuff! Where’s Stephen Duckett when you really need him?
Hello! This is the AHS Health Link line. It had darned well better be, anyway! Below: Another irresistible switchboard shot, Stephen Duckett.Where’s Stephen Duckett when you need him?Don’t you think the crusty Australian, who was the president and …
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Canadian media’s narrative of the Afghan war suspiciously like a fairy tale
The Intercontinental Hotel, Kabul, as it’s supposed to look: About as real as Canadian reporting on Afghanistan. Below: Helicopters hovering, above the Intercontinental, as shot by Reuters News Service; in another hasty Western exit, not so long ago …
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The Alberta NDP has a historic opportunity to surf the Orange Wave
Why shouldn’t Alberta New Democrats surf Jack Layton’s Orange Wave, observed in Alberta last May?Can the New Democrats win the next Alberta provincial election?OK, crazy thought. I was only kidding… I think. But let’s consider another crazy que…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Will & Kate: Helping to keep ‘The Firm’ in business … barely
Three generations of The Firm’s directors, in their boardroom. (Grabbed from the Internet, obviously.) Below them: The unfortunate King John, the even more unfortunate King Charles, and Wallis Simpson, an American who married a king, quelle horreur!T…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: The New York Times as the Terrible Swift Sword of the Establishment: Rupert Murdoch is done like dinner
Rupert Murdoch in his heyday with a copy of the Times … but not the New York Times, alas for him. Below: Mr. Murdoch as he looks at 80.Almost more interesting than the salacious details of the criminal business model used by Rupert Murdoch’s News o…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Orange Wave to Orange Crush: looking ahead to an era of stable, effective New Democrat government
Acting Liberal Leader Bob Rae contemplates the future of his party … and his bellbottoms. (Actual federal Liberal leaders may not appear exactly as illustrated.) Below: Stephen Harper, all hat… (Grabbed from www.stephenharperisatotallynormalguy.com…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Horse dies in Stampede chuckwagon race – no one does anything about it
A chuckwagon race at the Calgary Stampede sometime in the murky past. Cruel to horses then. Cruel to horses now.It was opening night yesterday at the Calgary Stampede: another horse died in a chuckwagon race.So what else is new? Last year six horses di…
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