March 12: well, well, well,….
The love-in between Trudeau and Obama has happened. And our news media have told us all about it. They agreed on climate change. What they agreed isn't clear. But they…
Graeme Decarie
March 11: a change of pace today.
This may be a short blog. I'm have computer grief, and am now starting over after having lost two hours of writing.__________________________________________________________________________Luckily, the Irving press won't take much time.Section A…
March 10: Time is running short
The cost of the war in Afghanistan has been wildly (under)estimated at something over a trillion dollars. Guess what the Iraq war cost. Start guessing at 3 trillion dollars. You're…
March 9: Editors write headlines.
Editors write headlines.At least, that's what they're supposed to do. They read copy to see that it's well-written and to determine precisely what the story is about. Then they write…
March 8: It’s not the economy, stupid. It’s the economic system.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-revenue-kpmg-secret-amnesty-1.3479594The link above is a story that's two years old. It's just been revived. An offshore tax haven has been running a scheme for millionaires to avoid paying income tax.…
March 7: Exclusive
That's the label reserved for a sensational story that one newspaper or one chain has; and nobody else has. It's for stories like "World will end on Friday", something like…
March 6: Sometimes, even the CBC can blow it
Here's a CBC report on the glowing health of the U.S. economy. It takes the official government figure, and says unemployment is down to 4.9%.http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/labour-force-united-states-economy-1.3474276So it is, by the methods…
March 5: Wow!
Section C Faith Page has a sermonette that IS a sermonette. It takes religion out of the churches and into the the streets of real life. That, I think, is…
March 4: On the last page…
...there is an ad critical of privatization. It is one of, perhaps, four items in this paper worth reading.The front page headline is that the light snowfall we have had…
March 3: The climate ain’t changing. Nah…
Moncton has had the mildest winter since 1881. (And there are no records before 1881.) As well, the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia is 4 degrees warmer than normal. That's…
March 2 : I begin with an apology.
. I forg0t to mention an important commentary in the Irving press yesterday. It was by a student columnist, Jana Giles, who is a grade 12 student at Moncton High…
Feb. 1: A normal day for the Irving press
There is no particular need to waste time on Section A news. There are issues worth research and reporting in Moncton. But they aren't in this paper. Among those issues....1.…
Feb. 29: Wow! No story about Dennis Oland. I want my money back.
There's nothing of news in section A.The editorial writer comments on the recent fracking report presented by an independent commission. It's obvious the editorial writer didn't and doesn't know what…
February 28: Catching up.
There's a great deal I've had to leave out over the past week. (In fact, I'm still leaving some out. Too much is going on in the world.) But here's…
Feb.27: making no sense
Page 1 headline, "Library move to Moncton High makes sense: deputy mayor." The importance of this statement is underlined by a large photo of the deputy mayor standing outside the…
Feb. 26: How capitalists are giving greed a bad name.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/live/2016/feb/22/john-pilger-webchat-the-new-rulers-of-the-worldJohn Pilger is one of the great journalists of our time. (And our time doesn't have many of them.)_________________________________________________________...
Feb. 25: For God and country.
As I listened to Donald Trump last night, his words stirred a memory. It all came back to me from my teen-age years. I knew that speech. I had read…
Feb. 24: A busy day for news.
Typical of the Irving press (and the nature of decision making in New Brunswick) is the lead story for today. The Moncton library might be moved into the old, Moncton…
Feb. 23: We need an Irving to be King Canute
Al Jazeera and The Guardian carry the story of a rapid rise of sea levels, the most rapid in 2800 years. This is the claim of a study conducted by…
The Decarie Report 2016-02-22 17:45:00
When I was twelve or thirteen in Montreal, I would often pick up my .22 rifle on a Saturday, and walk an hour or so to where the city ended,…