Photo: Lisa Vandervelde, Black Press As a reporter, I know I’ve got to be pretty careful on this one. I don’t know if it’s an ethical concern to blog about a story you’re actually working on, but I generally don’t do it. For lack of a better expression, I’ll borrow from the Sopranos: I don’t [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 11th
More from this author:
De-fund the CBC. It’s such a conservative thing to say, isn’t it? De-funding the CBC has been a polarizing topic between the left and the right for years. But I’m not approaching this issue from a left or right viewpoint. I’m approaching it from a value-for-investment viewpoint. In the year 2012, is there any reason [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted November 11th
Nothing bothers me more than Canadians spouting off about how great our health care system is and how lucky we are not to be Americans. This is usually followed by some horror story about some Flint, Michigan worker who got laid off, lost his extended health benefits, became grievously ill, and kicked off in some [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted November 8th
On the one hand I realize these are just Internet trolls and they’re making these comments just to get a rise out of people like me. On the other hand, I really, really want to slap them upside the head. Hard. A B.C. girl who committed suicide yesterday did so to escape bullying both at [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted October 11th
Margaret Wente, a journalist and columnist with the Globe and Mail, has recently become embroiled in the sort of scandal that is the worst nightmare for any person who picks up a pen for a living. To be called a plagiarist is a grave insult, impugning not only the skill of the writer, but his [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted October 2nd
Papa Khadr knew this day would come. The young terror apprentice, Omar, son of Ahmed Said, is back in Canada, the country of his birth. And just like his immigrant father planned, Canadians are tripping over themselves to absolve him of his crimes. Ahmed Said was nothing if not perceptive in his examination of our [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted October 1st
From Family Guy: The post-Roe v Wade Brady Bunch I just have to say that everything about Joe O’Connor’s story in the National Post last week rings true. People don’t want the stress and financial strife of having to raise the next generation when they can go golfing, buy new cars, and have all the [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 30th
The first rule of politics is you don’t tell the truth. The second rule of politics is you don’t tell the truth. Poor Mitt Romney learned those hard lessons recently when a video unearthed from ancient times (in politics, that would be May, 2012) basically reveals he levelled with a room of Americans by telling [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 18th
Is the government trimming the fat off the public sector? Or just looking to switch the workforce to the private sector? A new article from the Ottawa Citizen suggests the Defence Department would pay a private firm $100 million over the five years to provide the same services as workers who are currently scheduled to [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 10th
The news that former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff is headed back to a part-time teaching gig at Harvard University has been received in some circles as conclusive proof the Conservative attack campaign was deadly accurate. In the lead up to the 2011 federal election, the Conservative war machine ran a series of clever advertisements featuring [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 9th
I’m not really sure who came up with this idea but I can’t really see it accomplishing anything beyond wasting tax dollars. Not only is the idea of secular government wiggling its way into religious matters a slippery problem, it’s ultimately unenforceable within its mandate in Foreign Affairs. Are there religious minorities who are persecuted [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 8th
Photo: Adrian MacNair, Aug. 13, 2012. Boy, this blog is dead. I mean, really dead. I’ve seen more life in a Liberal leadership race. Budda-boom-tsssh. What can I say? I have no desire to blog anymore. Blog about what? Politics? Bah. Life? Too busy living it. The irony is that while I was writing [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted September 6th
Photo: Evan Seal, Black Press “Robinson’s aboriginal status was cited as the reason for not ordering jail time.” Nevermind the man was a police officer placed in a position of authority and public trust…
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted July 27th
The media is afire today with pundits bashing Premier Clark’s demands for a royalty share of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to insure against the considerable environmental liability of a pipeline spill. Her position has been characterized as alternately unconstitutional, purely political, and disingenuous, mainly by people who don’t live in this province. Indeed, Ontarians [..
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted July 25th
The longer I work as a journalist, the less patience I have for the derangements of partisans. They irritate me to no end. Whether its people who only rail against abortion or pro-life or hate Obama or Romney, it becomes an endless stream of gross exaggerations, misrepresentations and outright lies. I follow a wide variety [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted July 21st
A column I wrote for Black Press: The BC Teachers’ Federation has tentatively agreed to a ceasefire with the province that will last through the next school year, but not through the next election. The collective bargaining agreement, to be signed retroactively to July 1, 2011, would expire in June 30, 2013, conveniently one month [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted July 12th
Rodney King is dead at the age of 47, found dead in his swimming pool. The man who sparked the Los Angeles riots of 1992 will likely forever be remembered by the beating he took at the hands of the LAPD, sadly overshadowing a life of wanton reckless behaviour that should be condemned. Instead, King [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 17th
Photo: Brian.Mo via Flickr I read with considerable regret yesterday that the polemic leftwing blogger Dr. Dawg has not taken his previous loss to heart, but instead will relaunch his defamation lawsuit against the owners and operators of Free Dominion. The appeal ruling overturns a lower court decision that threw out Dr. Dawg’s lawsuit before [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 16th
If you haven’t seen Ezra Levant’s fiery volley at the Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council, it’s worth the half hour of watching Ezra’s unique brand of giddy, smiling rage. I think that’s what’s so enticing, and repelling, about Ezra’s show. He damns you with smiles. If you watched the show with the sound off it could [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 13th
I get to tell stories like this one. I made the above video. The voiceover at the start is too loud so you might want to turn down the volume and then back up after I stop talking. If you’re interested, the full story is at my newspaper’s website. By the way, I’m almost finished [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 13th
The news that parliament will soon repeal Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act has been mostly welcomed by both left and right leaning supporters alike. While previously persecuted victims like Ezra Levant and Marc Lemire are, naturally, happy to see the door hit Section 13′s butt on the way out, there are plenty [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 11th
Photo credit: EDMONTON, ALTA.: MAY 31, 2012 – Ross Sheppard high school teacher Lynden Dorval is suspended for going against the school’s no-zero policy when grading students’ tests. Photo taken on May 31, 2012 in Edmonton. (Rick MacWilliam, EDMONTON JOURNAL) By now you’ve probably read about the Edmonton school teacher who broke school policy by [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 10th
“I’ve enroled Jude in Little League,” she said casually. “Oh yeah,” I answered, not really hearing. “Yeah, you’ll have to take him.” “Sure.” “If I left it up to you he would never play anything.” The subtle jab had woken me up. “What do you mean?” “What I said. You never do anything with him.” [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted June 6th
I ranted about this before when my car was broken into but it bears repeating. Today, while I was at work, my wife walked into our house to discover an intruder. He fled out the back door just as my wife got inside and it took a few moments before she realized it wasn’t me [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted May 4th, 2012
I enjoy being a municipal reporter. That’s because on a local level I think it’s probably the easiest way to practice unbiased journalism, particularly if you don’t even live in the community in which you report. That happens to be the case for me, so it certainly allows me to report on subjects that would [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 29th, 2012
Yes, it’s a book igloo. Good for surviving in the harsh elements of a public library. And it’s not even an episode of the Walking Dead A baby, presumed stillborn, revives after 12 hours in a refrigerated morgue after the mother demands to see her one last time. Well, it’s good to see we can [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 11th, 2012
All the news not fit to print, but works in a pinch when you’re out of toilet paper. Lorena Bobbitt has some new competition This puts new meaning to the term “got you by the balls.” Or perhaps it’s the old meaning after all. Christians versus atheists: Round 3 First, Christians put up a sign [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 10th, 2012
For those of you who work for the government, Happy Easter Monday. I hope you enjoyed your day off. For the rest of the world, belated Happy Easter Friday. For those of you who are devout Christians, I suppose the happy day was the Monday and not the Friday. And now, following up on yesterday’s [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 9th, 2012
Just a collection of links, pictures and esoterica. Because this excuse works so well with the wife I really thought the Conservatives were going to find a deep hole on this one, hide inside for a while and scuttle the F-35 fiasco where nobody could find it. But instead you’ve got defence minister Peter MacKay [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 8th, 2012
Hooooo boy. It’s times like this that I wish my former blogmate Mark Collins was still here because while the F-35 fiasco is well above my pay grade, he’s been dubious of the entire procurement since day one. And while I have to admit that I don’t know enough about fifth generation fighter jet technology [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 4th, 2012
I wrote a column for my newspaper this week about the budget. Sufficed to say it isn’t very flattering, but nor does it take into context Canada’s position relative to other nations. It may be true that, all things considered, Canada is doing as good or better than other nations, but that wasn’t the scope [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 4th, 2012
Liberal Member of Parliament Justin Trudeau (L) and Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau fight during their charity boxing match in Ottawa March 31, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Wattie. Well, my first foray back into the world of blogging about federal politics didn’t go so well the other day, as my piece about Justin Trudeau’s three round love tap [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 3rd, 2012
My house during Earth Hour. Earth Hour happened last night for the fifth year in a row, allowing people who don’t otherwise think much about energy consumption to make a symbolic gesture of penance. I choose the word penance deliberately, since the act is arguably as meaningless, and done primarily to ease one’s own conscience. [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 1st, 2012
Liberal MP Justin Trudeau in a charity boxing match for cancer research Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand Canadians who have waited 50 years to see a Trudeau laid out on the floor will have to wait even longer following the Liberal MPs surprising underdog victory against Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted April 1st, 2012
As a person who’s never really won anything before, I was pretty pleased to learn this morning that I won a journalism award in my “rookie year”, so to speak. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. When I was in Grade 9 I won an award for best student in the vocal arts program. I think [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 29th, 2012
My 4-year-old daughter is certainly not on the path toward feminist empowerment yet, as she wants to grow up and be a mommy and ride a purple pony, but we’re working on it. As an aside, she acts deliberately silly in the video, so when she says the wrong thing it’s because she’s teasing me [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 28th, 2012
You know your electoral system isn’t very high tech when Afghanistan uses the same process. In the wake of the federal NDP leadership vote the choice of former Liberal Thomas Mulcair was overshadowed by the fact that the online voting system was plagued by delays due to cyber attacks by hackers. News of the delays [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 25th, 2012
My brother was in town for a week, which was nice because it gave me a chance to play tour operator for a beautiful part of Canada that I often forget is in my backyard. We drove up the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish, had a picnic at Shannon Falls, drove to Brackendale and [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 24th, 2012
I do a lot of driving. And to quantify “a lot”, let me just say that I probably spend more time driving to and from work in one day than most people do in three or four. And it’s not just time but also mileage. I drive roads in Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 20th, 2012
There’s an article out today which proclaims the United States is currently mulling over the perfectly acceptable idea of toning down its ridiculous and invasive body searches of geriatric airplane travellers, perhaps coming to the same conclusion the rest of us did over a decade ago. The Muslim terrorist bomber who wants to blow up [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 14th, 2012
About a month ago I got into an argument on Twitter with a woman whom has been a sponsor of mine for a couple of years. I didn’t really mean to get into an argument with her, but I enjoy debate so much that I sort of let myself be sucked into the quick retorts, [...]
Unambiguously Ambidextrous | more | posted March 13th, 2012
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The opinions of blogs aggregated by this website are those of the respective individual authors. These individuals have no association, legal or otherwise with Blogging Tories or with each other. The aforementioned opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the opinions held by Stephen Taylor, Craig Smith, other individual bloggers, any political party or Blogging Tories as an organization.
The opinions of blogs aggregated by this website are those of the respective individual authors. These individuals have no association, legal or otherwise with Blogging Tories or with each other. The aforementioned opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the opinions held by Stephen Taylor, Craig Smith, other individual bloggers, any political party or Blogging Tories as an organization.