….and far less believable. A century ago, we were preparing to fight World War One, the biggest war yet. The war ended in chaos for both winners and losers with rampant inflation, shortages, hardships… It was a result that destroyed the Conservative party of Sir Robert Borden. and set up
Continue readingAuthor: Graeme Decarie
The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: March 2: the blahs….
Section A of today’s Moncton Times and Transcript can be safely skipped. – except for an item on page 2, just a small item; but it says a lot about the TandT. “Smoke smell closes school again”. In yesterday’s paper, it said the school was evacuated immediately when it filled
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: March 1: dangerous misreporting….
Yesterday, Ecole Champlain filled with smoke and noxious fumes.The obvious first reaction? Well, evacuate the children, of course. And that the Moncton Times and Transcript reported it as though that is what happened. But, as you can read in a comment at the foot of yesterday’s column, that is not
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 28:
In a comment you can find at the foot of yesterday’s post, a reader asked why our schools don’t seem to teach critical thinking. It’s worth checking that comment to get his full question. And it’s a question I can answer from experience. When I taught grade seven, a student
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: feb. 27: Lots of good news on the front page….
…Lots of smarmy smeary, sticky-sweet good news. In fact, it’s rather like kissing a girl with a dirty face, too much lipstick and a mouthful of molasses candy. (not that I have ever done such a thing.) This is kiss-up, free advertising without a trace of embarrassment at such kiss-up
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 26: New Brunswick’s infectious rot….
Very briefly, today’s Times and Transcript has very little news, a kiss-up editorial, a hick-town column by Norbert, and and an utterly brainless and irrelevant column by Alan Cochrane. The edition is saved only by superb columns from Alec Bruce and Gwynne Dyer. Oh, as well, there are excellent letters
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 25: slim pickings
In the whole of section A, there are, perhaps, two news stores worth reading. Amazingly, one of them is the lead story on p. 1. “N.B. needs new approach to child care: advocate”. That puts it mildly. Along with most of Canada, New Brunswick has the worst and most expensive
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 24: Final Act, Scene 1. The NB Revolution
Premier Alward gave two and a half million dollars to Jamie Irving, publisher of the of Bunswick News. Wasn’t that sweet of him? Two and a half million dollars of our money. There’s not enough money in the bucket – some thousands of dollars – to provide seriously and even
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 23: Big, big changes are planned…
While idly fiddling my way through Google, looking up local events, I came across the name of a woman, a senior civil servant in New Brunswick, who holds a Black Belt in Sigma Six. Wow I thought. This is not a woman to cross. She could take a guy out
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 22:bits good, bits of bad…..
Before beginning today’s blog, I really must add a few words to yesterday’s. This concerns the editorial on the new high school. It was an editorial that combined ignorance and smug confidence to a degree I have rarely seen. And there’s a bit toward the end that is really infuriating.
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 21: The news YOU need to know…
..”Snowy weather challenges N.B. road-clearing crews.”…”Baby born at Dieppe home.”….”Impact of federal job cuts debated.” ( meaning – We don’t know anything because nobody knows what’s going on.) Will federal job cuts help us out of recession? Of course not. Federal jobs did not cause the recession. That was caused
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 20: For those in a hurry……
…today’s issue of the Moncton Times and Transcript is a bargain. This one can be read over a small bowl of cereal and a cookie at under five minutes. Really quick readers could do it while brushing their teeth. Exceptions may be those who really, really care about front page
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 19: Well, it could have been a big story….
The lead headline is that lots of babies were born in Moncton Hospital on Valentine’s Day. Now, what does this mean? How does it change our lives? Well, it could mean that 13 couples got together nine months ago, went through all the statistics and medical figures, and figured out
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 18: hurry, hurry, hurry, getcher piplines….
This weekend saw demonstrations across the US, the largest one of 35,000 to 50,000 in Washington, DC. They were protesting against the Keystone Pipeline, the one that is proposed to carry the world’s dirtiest oil (from Alberta) to Texas. Protests like that are the reasons why Alberta is looking for
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 17: Bring the little children……
Together, Canadian and American governments spend well over 500 billion dollars on education. That’s a lot of money. What a pity to waste it all on children! That realization several years ago led to a big campaign to bring private business into education to, you know, share the wealth. It
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb.16: They must think we’re……
….really stupid. Front page – Craig Leonard, our minister of energy, has announced the new, shale gas rules; and he says they’re strong. Well, yeah, I wasn’t expecting him to say they were weak and full of problems. But the opening sentence of the story is a statement by the
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 15:We made it!
Human Rights Watch is an organization originally aimed at investigating human rights abuse in the Soviet Union. Since then, it has expanded with work all over the world. Recently, it drew attention to Canada, investigating some pretty serious charges concerning the treatment of native peoples – especially women. Their investigation
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Jan.14: This is late because……..
I was committed to give a talk this morning (which I much enjoyed) on the history of leisure in Canada. I am committed to three Thursdays, and looking forward to all of them. But they do mean a late blog on those days. And, since there is not a damn
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: feb. 13: Trivia, lies and Frank McKenna….
….That pretty much sums up today’s Moncton Times and Transcript. For trivia, pick almost any page, starting with the headline on p. A1, “Family seeks truth in decades.old murder.” Wow! We really need to know that. Or try Section, p. 7 (the op ed page, the one that most newspapers
Continue readingThe Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad: Feb. 12: Shale gas is good for you…..
……says Frank McKenna. It says so right there at the bottom of page 1 as the Moncton Times and Transcript honours its promise to keep us up to date with all the latest news on shale gas. Yes, sir. Let the chips fall where they may. The Times and Transcript
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