Sept. 13: Where the tell did Brunswick News dig up a Kurt Peacock?

There he is (almost) every day at the head of the NewsToday section. And I can think of no reason wny. His piece is not a news story. It's a (sort of) opinion column. Invariably, it quotes a hero from a member of the Irving crowd on some issue, treats it like holy writ, then rambles off on his own into what might be an argument but is so incoherent, nobody can tell. In this case when it deals with fracking, it pays no attention to the issues of health and the environment at all. And it always ends with a sentence that would bring tears of joy to Mr. Irving's eyes. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Speaking of bias and ignorance, Norbert Cunningham strikes again. His column today slams Alward. though more gently than he blind-sided liberal leader Gallant yesterday. But the conclusion is always the same. All politicians are incompetent - with the implication that all business execs are really caapable and intelligent. In this ranting, there are some rather important points he misses. 1. It's not the politicians that run this province. It's Mr. Irving and big business execs. So if it is run imcompetently, that is because of Mr. Irving and big bsuiness execs. Try to understand, Norbert, being rich does not make anyone a genius or even passably intelligent. On the contrary, big business is notoriously short-sighted, destructive; and, in any case, governing a province has no resemblance to the practice of governing a company. The assumption that business knowa how to do things better is why we are seeing such damaging change in our health system and, lower profile, in our schools. As well, bear in mind the long-term objective of these changes. It is a slow approach to privatizing both health care and education. That is exactly the path that has been followed in the US, and it's been a disaster. But, then, I suppose those voters dumb enough to vote for the two Irving parties are too dumb to care what happens to health or education. 2. Related to this is the silly idea that the growth and profit of big business benefits all of us because it then invests and creates jobs. That is so simple-minded that even Norbert believes it. For almost eight years, big business has been making record profits. So where is all the American prosperity? Why is Detroit a ghost city? Why are unemployment and poverty at record rates? The US has forced low business taxes and an open field for big business across Central America for over a century. So tell me about the rich countries like Haiti and Guatemala. Big profits do NOT automatically turn into profits for you. Big business has pulled huge profits out of Congo for well over a hundred years. It remains one of the poorest and most brutal countries in the world - with the brutality largely coming from our mining industries in that country. Somebody has been making a hell of a lot of money out of this province. But do you see any streets paved with gold out there? So where has all that money gone? 3. Norbert dismisses that at least three other parties in this province as having no positions on anything. I would call Mr. Norbert a liear for saying that if I weren't so sure that he's too ignorant and bigoted to lie. If you make such a condemnation, you have to argue it. You have to provide evidence of it.But Norbert just slanders them in one sentence. The result? without saying so he leaves just two choices on voting day - Liberal or Conservative, both controlled by big business. And if New Brunswick does that,it's dead meat. Oh, yes. He also opens the door for big business to suck this province even drier than it has done. Anyone fool enough to do that should move to Haiti or Congo to see how that works. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ On Canada, we learn that Foreign Affairs Minister Baird will meet with Turkey to discuss Syria. So who cares? Canada is not a world power. It's at best the bell boy in the hotel of world power. Besides, everybody knows that Harper is a US stooge. The more important news from Syria is that US Secretary of State Kerry is demanding that Syria dispose of its chemical weapons within a week. Meanwhile, the US promised to dispose of its chemical weapons over 15 years ago but, with hundreds of tons wtill in storage, has not completed the job, presumably because it requires a lot of time. Kerry knows that, of course. He also knows that all he's doing in setting a one-week deadline is trying to scuttle a peaceful settlement so he can help the Syrian people by killing more of them. And all over the world (except in our lying newspapers), the US is looking like the villain and Putin ( as villainous as any US president) is looking like the reasonable one. Don't kid yourself than Putin is good. But don't kid yourself that our side is at all better. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Items I douldn't find in today's paper --- 1. That Irving Oil misled the Transport Safety Bueau by listing its crude oil as being of a much safer type than it really was. 47 people are dead. But who cares? I notice many papers in Canada have not carried the story. The one source that has been quick and accurate is CBC. That's why Harper - under the urging of friends like the Irvings - would like to destroy CBC. That way they can escape the terrible criticism they might get for killing 47 that nobody knew, anayway. 2. What's the scoop on Prof. Lapierre? We now know, no matter what he may say, that he does not have the degree and the qualifications he claims to have. Any comment Mr. editor? Norbert? Kurt Peacock? Does any of you know how to judge qualifications? Have you asked anybody how to do it? 3. The TandT continues to praise the wisdom of Prof. Savoie; indeed, it slobbers wet kisses all over him. Is the TandT aware that that strong qualifications in one field do not make you qualified in another. For example, I have a Ph.D in History. But that has not led anyone to ask me for advice on how to build a bridge (or even to open a lobster.) Prof. Savoie has qualifications in public policy planning, we are told. Okay. Does anybody at the TandT actually know what that means? And can they explain how a public policy planner is better qualified to discuss the health effects of fracking than a medical doctor is? ________________