13 August 2006

This week's Spindy

1. Front page article on some ministers' helicopter rental expenses. Not much detail, missing consideration of ministers' overall travel expenses, but still a cute little story.

My favourite is the 5K spent by one minister - Paul Shelly - to get to a career fair in Harbour Breton, the Town the Premier Forgot.

2. Column by Ryan Cleary in which he advises that the Premier has put the Indy on a blacklist. The crime: asking questions the thin-skinned petulant former hero of the Indy thought were "inappropriate" and a "personal attack".

The Premier's personal publicist - she who communicates only via Crackberry e-mail - either agrees with the bullshit decree or lacks the professional judgment and business stones to talk some sense into her client. (As an aside, between the comments from the Telly this week about government's directors of mis-"communication" and the vapid letter co-authored by several of my colleagues taking the Telly to task, I gotta admit I am with the Telly.)

Cleary's best line is the one where he notes - for Danny the Wonder Pony's benefit, no doubt - that the come-out-swinging at everyone all the time thing gets a bit old after a while.

Ryan is right. Problem is, Ryan, when you are a one trick pony, taking away your trick doesn't improve the show. He doesn't have time to learn a new trick as he orders his personal publicist to blacklist you, blackball you and other wise try to bollocks you up for daring to do your job.

Let's face it people: if Danny has turned on the Indy - and does it in such a chickensh*t way - odds are good, other media in town have been or will be getting similar treatment. That is they'll be blacklisted unless they conform to Danny's idea that their role is to be cheerleading for him.

Anyone remember when Danny explained that cheerleading was everyone's job in the province? He makes the decisions. We stand behind him and tell him how wonderful he is.

Ryan must have missed that memo.

3. Missing this week: a column from Radio Hydro Queen. The ramblings seem to have taken their toll on Ryan Cleary's time and patience. Instead, note the letter to the editor from former CBC producer Bill Kelly in which he lambaste's the former columnist for her lack of credibility.

Bill just recites a bunch of well-known stuff about the woman who built her name on radio call-in shows but seems to have abandoned them in a snit. Well, at least the VOCM ones. No talk-balk line at CBC is safe from her rantings these days. Would somebody at VOCM apologize to her? Puhleese.

Bill can expect a string of e-mails from said Hydro Queen, most of which will be incoherent strings of phrases. Don't bother deciphering them. Just delete them, Bill. It saves time.

4. Best piece of all: Ivan Morgan's piece on a former Canadian army sniper from Newfoundland. Doesn't need description. Just read the piece.