How I read the news has changed.

Originally, I was going to write "How we read the news has changed." That would be presumptuous. I have no idea how you read the news. I only know that I no longer read in a purely linear manner, restricted to the article immediately at hand. I surf a wave of questions raised and links provided, as I find own personal way through the maze that is is news.

Let's not get too academic here. Instead, let me show you how I read one story this morning.

I clicked my bookmark for Digital Journal. The fourth story was, "Hackers retaliate in support of WikiLeaks founder."

This article peaked my interest in the WikiLeaks story. I wanted to know more, so I returned to my iGoogle homepage which is filled with news windows, and I had spotted a story in the Top Stories window. I cannot link to this as my iGoogle page is constantly being updated. The story I found was from The Telegraph in the U.K., WikiLeaks' 10 greatest stories.

I read the first story: Iraq Apache helicopter attack. The following is from that story.

"Horrifying video footage showing 15 people including two Reuters journalists being shot dead by a US Army Apache helicopter gunman, taken from the helicopter's gun camera, appalled the world when it was released on WikiLeaks.

The crew were heard laughing at the "dead b-----ds" and saying "light 'em up!" and "keep shooting, keep shooting"

The US military refused to discipline the helicopter's crew, saying, "At the time we weren't able to discern whether (Reuters employees) were carrying cameras or weapons."

The brother of one of the dead Reuters journalists was skeptical: "My question is how could those highly skilled American pilots with all their hi-tech information not distinguish between a camera and a rocket launcher."

Two journalists killed. Having worked for The London Free Press in London, Ontario, a paper in the Sun Media chain, which is part of Quebecor Media, I wondered how my old paper tackled the story. I went to The London Free Press site, I have it bookmarked, and searched "two Reuters journalists".

This brought up the following screen:

The third story listed, Punishing WikiLeaker misses point by columnist Eric Margolis, examined the killing of the jounalists. I clicked the link. I read:

"George Orwell wrote: 'If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.'

A true journalist's job is to expose government wrongdoing and propaganda, skewer hypocrites, and speak for those with no voice. And wage war against mankind's two worst scourges: Nationalism and religious bigotry. Not to lick the boots of government.

I've always felt kinship for free thinkers, rebels, and heretics.

That's why I am drawn to the plight of Pte. Bradley Manning who apparently believed Ernest Hemingway's dictum: 'Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.'

The 22-year-old U.S. Army intelligence analyst caused a worldwide furor by releasing to WikiLeaks secret military logs that exposed ugly truths about the brutal conflict in Afghanistan, including widespread killing of civilians.

To again quote Orwell: 'During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.'

Manning also released a suppressed tape of a U.S. Army helicopter gunship killing two Reuters journalists and a civilian.

A civilian hacker, employed by some shadowy U.S. government intelligence 'contractor' spying on the Internet turned Manning in.

Revenge was swift.

Manning was thrown into solitary confinement and faces a long prison term.

. . . WikiGate provoked a flood of bombastic pro-war propaganda from America's mainstream media, its rent-a-journalists, and Canada's wannabe Republican neocons.

. . . When I served in the U.S. Army, we were taught it was our duty to report up the chain of command all violations of the Geneva Conventions and war crimes. These included killing civilians, torture and executions.

Manning reportedly sought to report to his superiors just such crimes committed in Afghanistan by some U.S. forces and their local allies and mercenaries.

He was ignored. Just as was the courageous Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin when he warned Ottawa that prisoners were being handed over to the brutal Afghan secret police for torture and execution.

Manning's motivations for whistleblowing matter not. What does matter is he revealed to the public the brutal nature of the colonial war in Afghanistan and the bodyguard of lies protecting it from public scrutiny.

If Americans and Canadians really knew the truth of this resource-driven war, and its carefully concealed cost, they would end it quickly.
--- --- ---
After 27 years, this is my last column for QMI Agency. I am grateful to QMI for allowing me to freely express my views even when it disagreed with them. My Sunday column continues on ericmargolis.com and at the Huffington Post, LewRockwell.com and newspapers abroad.

Follow ericmargolis on Twitter."

What a surprise! This was the last story moved by Margolis to Sun Media. Margolis was not like most of the other Sun Media columnists. He was not right wing. A Free Press reporter once told me that he made a point of seeking out and reading the Margolis column. Its presence in the paper made him hopeful that some semblance of balance might survive in the pages of the Freeps as the newspaper moved into a tight Sun Media orbit. Now, Margolis was gone.

I wondered what was being said on the Web about the Margolis departure from Sun Media after 27 years. I googled "why did eric margolis leave sun media."

I clicked on the Sun Family link. I read:

"Eric Margolis out

Veteran Sun op-ed columnist Eric Margolis is another casualty of Sun Media's shift to the far right, with little regard for longevity or popularity.

'I wrote for the Sun chain for 27 years because it allowed me total freedom of expression even when the editors disagreed with my opinions - something very rare in the media,' Margolis told Toronto Sun Family in an e-mail today.

'This policy has changed. My views are displeasing to Ottawa," he says. "Accordingly, the Sun and I are parting company.'

We'll miss his unique analysis of world politics. We also mourn the loss of op-ed diversity.

. . . Eric says, there was a time during the glory years of the Toronto Sun when opposing views were welcomed by management and appreciated by readers.

Quebecor's newly-planted henchmen are putting an end to that editorial freedom.

It's eyes right these days as Sun Media turns into a haven for former PMO staffers intent on morphing the chain's print and broadcast image into Fox North. . . . "

I went back to my Google search and clicked the antiwar.com link. It was two down from the previous link. I found the following story: Sun Newspapers Fire Eric Margolis After Receiving Canadian Govt Grants.

The story claimed that antiwar columnist Eric Margolis was fired in a shake-up at Sun Newspapers in an unlikely coincidence: "It was recently revealed that Sun Newspapers is now receiving Canadian government money," the story said.

Following the story brought me back to the Toronto Sun Family website and a story about the Feds funding some Sun Media papers. I learned that the following amounts went to the following papers.

• $57,291 to the Goderich Signal-Star
• $40,673 to the Shoreline Beacon
• $32,246 to the Kincardine News
• $28,518 to the Clinton News Record
• $23,190 to the Huron Expositor
• $21,325 to the Lucknow Sentinel

Before leaving this post, let me leave you with the thoughts and the questions that immediately come to mind, at least mine.

Sun Media has been attacking the CBC recently. In turn, Sun Media itself  has been attacked by others in the media who are "convinced this is all about advancing the economic interests of Quebecor president Pierre Karl Peladeau." I read the quoted part on Canoe. Which also makes the claim that Quebecor is "not subsidized by taxpayers."

Well, we now know that isn't the whole story, don't we. Forgive me while I google.
 

 

There is life after death

Isn't life grand?

Yes, there is life after death. Unfortunately if it's your death, it won't be your life. Oh well, you just gotta read the fine print.

If you've been following my adventures over the past year, you know that in the summer I had a V-tach event with my heart racing at 300 bpm. The good folk in emerg jolted it back to reality with 200 joules of electricity. ZAP!

Since then I have had nuclear scans, MRIs, echocardiograms and more. Micro bleeding was discovered in my brain but as bad as that sounds it's relatively common. About five percent of folk my age have it. If it weren't for today's hi-tech medical equipment this little know fact wouldn't even be little known. I was told to "relax."

But they did discover that one chamber in my heart is severely enlarged. You might say I'm a big hearted fellow. I used to run. In fact, I was quite the runner in my youth, setting records and stuff. I jogged right up until my open heart surgery. (I was the first person in Canada to have their mitral valve repaired robotically. Small incision. All very neat.) Runners have enlarged hearts. I was told to "relax."

But all this health stuff has made me quite aware of my mortality. As they say, "No one gets out of here alive."

And yet, life does go on. And I smile. I babysit my little 15-month-old granddaughter and I smile. The universe is unfolding as it should. "I'm relaxed."

No record breaking snow fall in London, Ontario

Snowplows were busy Thursday digging Lucan out after the snow storm.

It dumped about 75 cm (29.5 in.) of snow on London starting Sun., but it was not as big a storm as forecast. It didn't break the Dec. '77 record for three consecutive days of snowfall, when about 100 cm (39 in.) of snow buried this Southwestern Ontario city.

Chris Scott, meteorologist for the Weather Network, reports that despite London being "squarely in the cross-hairs" of the severe lake-effect storm, Forest City residents have seen worse. 4 years ago, almost to the day, 60 cm (23.5 in.) fell in a 24-hour period on some areas of the city.

Still, the storm that started Sun. hit London with such fury that by noon people were canceling out of town trips. But the storm was focused on the city and on the country north of town. Those brave enough, or foolish enough to start for Toronto, discovered the storm weakened soon after leaving the eastern edge of the city. By the time travelers reached Woodstock, they had blue skies.

While a severe winter storm was causing white-outs in London, there were blue skies east of the city.

By dinner time Sun. the storm was closing down the city. Hwy. 401 in the south-end of town slowed to a crawl as scores of accidents played havoc with traffic. Hamilton Road, running above 401 near Dorchester, was plugged with transport trucks and cars attempting to skirt the freeway traffic problems.

A Lucan home with a monster snow drift on the roof.

Until late Wed. Hwy. 401 was winter-treacherous. At one point, a 17 vehicle pile-up of trucks, vans and cars between London and Woodstock delayed traffic for more than four hours. 

The chain-reaction accident occurred late Wed. morning and it was mid-afternoon before the westbound lanes were cleared and traffic back to normal.

While London was hit hard, with the university, college and city schools all closed, the cities three largest malls shutting down early, and banks and other businesses either refusing to open or locking up early, it was Lucan to the north of the city that took the full brunt of the storm.

By the time it was over, Lucan was buried under about 180 cm (71 in.) of snow. The snow started in Lucan Sunday and didn't stop, according to the CBC, until early Thursday morning. 

Many Lucan residents cannot recall as fierce a snow storm.

Lucan and London, Ont., have had about half their allotted snowfall already and winter hasn't even officially started.

One would think a white Christmas was surely in the cards for London and region, but maybe not. 

Rain is forecast for the region by the weekend. 

Medway Creek north of London is Christmas card pretty.

Joy and capitalism, the meaning of Christmas

Brian was not yet a teen but back in the '70s kids could have a paper route, and he did. And it was a big one with about seventy customers.

One Christmas Brian bought a big bag of Popsicle sticks and made small sleigh Christmas tree ornaments to give to his customers. It took him hours to assemble and glue the little wooden sleighs and then decorate them with little drawings of Christmas trees and print "Merry Christmas" in red ink on each one.

When Brian made his pre-Christmas collection, he gave each customer a little sleigh and wished them a Merry Christmas. He returned home with his pockets bulging with Christmas bonus money. He made, shall we say, a killing.

It turns out our little Christmas weasel didn't just buy Popsicle sticks. He made an investment in both sticks and human nature. And his investment delivered very handsome returns.

Brian had some sticks left over and these he made into inexpensive but oh-so-sweet little little gifts for all his aunts and uncles. And they were cheap. Ours hangs on our tree every year, along with all the other Christmas memories.

Merry Christmas!

Ceiling or daddy long-legs spider

Most spiders found in Ontario homes are harmless to humans, so relax.

Some books call this spider a daddy long-legs but I don't. The daddy long-legs with which I am familiar have different bodies. No, this is what we called a ceiling or a cellar spider when I was a boy.

The spider that I called a daddy long-legs is also called the harvestman and I understand it is not a true spider. I think the term daddy long-legs fits the harvestman more than the cellar spider and so I'm staying with my terminology.

There is a myth that a daddy long-legs (cellar spider) has the most potent venom of all spiders but because it is unable to pierce human skin, it is harmless.

This myth was tested on Myth Busters and it was busted — twice. It seems the spider was able to bite through Adam's skin but he reported nothing more than a very mild, short-lived burning sensation. Analysis of the venom proved it didn't approach the potency of the black widow spider.

Apparently one story isn't a myth. Cellar spiders do hunt and kill the dangerous-to-humans black widow.

Don't bag fall leaves!

How to Green Your Falling Leaves on Howcast

"Just pick up the damn bags!"

It was a quick, flippant answer that struck a responsive chord with many London folk — especially those with clear plastic bags, filled with fallen autumn leaves and sitting forgotten at the curb, passed over by city crews doing the fall leaves pick-up. It seems those leaves were ignored because they were in the wrong bags.

Plastic leaf bags are so passé; Paper bags are in. But not just any paper bag. No, the paper bags you fill with leaves, and place at the curb, must be certified compostable and bear the appropriate logo from either the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) or the Bureau de Normalisation du Quebec (BNQ). No label, no pick-up.

How much does it cost London to pick-up leaves?

The problem had grown into quite the local dust-up when London mayor-elect Joe Fontana stepped boldly into the fray. Fontana called News Talk 1290 Today with Andy Oudman and sliced through the Gordian knot of confusing green rhetoric. Fontana, shooting from the hip — some might argue lip — said, "Just pick up the damn bags!"

Free Press columnist Ian Gillespie found the “just get ‘er done” response refreshing. I wasn't immediately enamored with Fontana's response but I have slowly climbed on-board. Gillespie was right. And so was Fontana.

With the problem at hand "solved" by our mayor-elect, I say, "Let's clear up the whole messy, costly, leaf pick-up program and kill it for 2011. The Free Press reports that the city enjoys an annual savings of about $200,000 simply by banning plastic bags for leaf pick-up. This makes me wonder how much the city could save by scrapping the needless pick-up altogether.

Fontana promises to be a "Get Tough" mayor. He ran for office vowing to freeze property taxes over four years — a financial get tough platform. Maybe one place to apply his new, bold approach might be here, and tackle the whole leaf pick-up problem head-on.

The truly get tough answer might be, "They're leaves. Run your lawn mower over 'em and get on with life. The city is out of the leaf pick-up business. We can't afford the luxury anymore."

I can hear the outcry now. "The leaves will kill my lawn." "Leaves harbour mould and plant diseases." "Rotting, wet leaves offer sanctuary to breeding mosquitoes."

Relax. It doesn't have to be that way according to many researchers who have studied fall leaves. Steve Bender, the Grumpy Gardener, says:

"Stop Being So %^&*@#+ Stupid! Do you bag your leaves? . . . Are you, in other words, a certified cretin?

Leaves are a great source of organic matter. And they're free! Why throw away good, free stuff in favor of peat moss, composted cow manure, and shredded bark from the garden center that costs money? Hello? Is there anybody home?"

He see fall leaves as free organic matter! Did you hear that? Free! Grumpy writes:

"Hydroponics aside, you can't grow good plants without good soil. And no matter if your soil is mucky clay or worthless sand, the best way to improve is to add lots and lots of organic matter. Organic matter improves soil drainage and aeration, increases storage of moisture and nutrients, and makes things cozy and comfy for earthworms and microbes that stir and digest the soil and make its nutrients available to plants. Organic matter is brown gold."

Grumpy is not alone. The Website of The City of Guelph calls leaves Mother Nature's gold. The tell homeowners:

 "Keep your leaves on your lawn. . . . Research has proven that mowing leaves into your lawn can improve its vigor, and help to slow down weed germination in the spring. Organic matter and nutrients from leaves mown into lawn areas has been proven to improve turf quality."

The City of Guelph calls leaves Mother Nature's gold.

Personally, I've never understood the whole autumn leaves problem. My dad was a farmer born more than a hundred years ago in the early years of the twentieth century. He always saw fallen leaves as a valuable commodity. Something to be composed, or used to insulate plants from the harshest cold and fiercest wind of winter. Leaves represented the goodness of the soil; He recycled them back into the earth.

My grandparents on my mother's side were both born in the 1870s in small farming communities. They agreed with my dad. Despite living for most of their lives off the farm and in the city they never showed any sign of being caught up in the off-the-land fear of leaves that seemed to grip the city slickers.

A The Free Press photographer, now retired, had a farm west of the London. He told me that he wished there were a way to convince the city to dump the leaves collected from city homes at his farm. He saw them as a fine addition to the soil and he'd just plow them into the earth. Unfortunately, his farm was too far out of town for the city to have any interest in his idea.

A few years ago The Free Press ran a Business Monday feature on a company selling and installing special replacement blades for electric and gas rotary mowers. They installed two special blades with a total of six sharp cutting edges which made quick work of mulching lawn clippings, including leaves.

The company's product was obviously accepted by Londoners as the shop in North London was backed up with hundreds of lawn mowers waiting to be upgraded.

Sadly, it seems that the multi-blade, mulching invention, as good as it was, was better than the inventor's business acumen; The business folded and the mulching blade invention disappeared with last year's leaves.
 ______________________________________________________________

And Joe, if you should happen by, do a quick google about the Net and check out all the cities that are getting on the mulch 'em bandwagon.

e.g. Seattle Public Utilities: Mulching lawn mower guide

. . . and they are even into mulching in Merry Old England.

e.g. Warwickshire County Council: Mulch Mowing

e.g. . . . and a sister paper of The London Free Press,
The Chatham Daily News, says:

"Use a mulching mower and feed your lawn and keep shredded grass and leaves out of the landfill."

So go get 'em Joe. Tell those damn voters,

 "Just leave the damn leaves!"

Don't take medicine in front of a baby!

According to many authorities, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

"Don't take medicines in front of children younger than 4 years old. They may try to copy your behavior."

Babies imitate. It's a well known fact.

The actions of Miss Baby yesterday underscored this warning. Her grandmother and aunt were busy with Christmas baking. Miss Baby was watching. Within minutes the little girl was beating and pouring imaginary batter to make imaginary cookies.

Babies learn by mimicking. Don't set a little one up for a potential life-threatening incident. Every year thousands of children consume dangerous medicines and must be rushed to Emergency. Keep all medicine locked away and do not encourage a baby's interest in your medicine cabinet by taking pills, capsules and syrups in their presence.