Donna Laframboise Slays The Unicorn

The newly almost-famous Donna Laframboise begins a multi-part series charting the rise and fall of Fox News North. Not nearly as enjoyable as "I was Seduced And Abandoned By Kory Teneycke", the new post begins with a boring dissertation on intellectual freedom, and ends with Donna hissing the words "Margaret Atwood", as though one might spill an elitist's latte merely by willing it.

With the promise of more to come, I'm afraid. Personally, I'm waiting for her 5-parter on spanking the monkey.

Speechys Hosed Again

Several controversial resolutions were proposed -- among them, scrapping part of the government hate crimes legislation.

Members of an Edmonton constituency said right now, the laws cater to people who are easily offended and restrict what other people can say.

"I think we're all concerned with maximizing opportunities for freedom of speech. We have to balance that with people who are vulnerable," says Fred Horne, MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford.

In the end, that resolution was defeated...

In Alberta, Canada's most Conservative province and home to Ezra Levant, a conservative majority government refuses to change its hate-speech legislation despite the support of every editorial page in the province. Furthermore, that government's right-wing opposition has vowed to leave section 3 (the hate speech provision in the provincial human rights law) intact. How can this be?

Imagine yourself a politician: suddenly, Ezra, Margaret Atwood (representing PEN), a fistful of Neo-Nazis, and another handful of journalists, appear in your office demanding changes to your human rights legislation. Do you a )flee through a back entrance, or b) just kill yourself now because you've probably been seen together with this crew and your political career is over.

Remember: politicians are expert at one thing, and that's counting votes. They see this gang coming, and they see votes going the other way. Ezra and crew couldn't do any worse if they hired a known cannibal as their PR guy. And I wish the journalistic community would wake up to the fact: people don't like you, and no politician is going to be caught dead supporting a radical extension of scribblers' rights.

PS. And Kinsella's right, too. Editorials and Op-Ed don't do diddley in the way of moving the voter. The great Canadian speechy conflict is proof of that.

Atwood Could Have Sued Fox News North, Didn't

From her Year of the Flood blog:

...although I had grounds for a lawsuit or two of my own, I decided not to go down that road at present — who can afford the time?

[...]

After consulting with the GP, I decided to give the poor SUN a chance – after all, it would be mean of me and a seasonal vegetable to crush such a weak media conglomerate, with a mere 10.5 million (what are they? subscribers?) and a bazillion dollars. They offered me 600 words.
"I decided not to go down that road at present" means she still might. Margaret, darling, sue them and I'll set up a tip jar. I can throw in a $5 to start with. Maybe more later, depending on the lotto.

Margaret Atwood Makes Me Smirk So Hard

Margaret Atwood makes the business case for promoting Canadian artists abroad, and laments Tory funding cutbacks. She also reams 'em good. A master of English prose, when you read this piece you will find the very language of it causes your facial features to curl into a Liberal Smirk, and by the last paragraph you will literally ooze contempt.
But, people ask me, is it right to smirk? Frankly, I see the smirk as a useful piece of social evolution. A smirk is a snarl with a few less teeth on display. When you smirk, Conservatives quiver inside.

Classic Smirk