Big Shiny Takes

WE have returned to talk about the scandal that has rocked Canadian politics for the past few weeks. This is, of course, courtesy of a shady charity run by Canada's McPoyle twins. The prime minister wanted to hand them a $900-million contract to administer a government student summer jobs program, which some could interpret as payback for the paid speeches his mom and brother have given them.

Eric read Marc and Craig Keilburger's book "ME to WE: Finding Meaning in a Material World," which WE use to set up a discussion the extremely normal, not-at-all cultish vibes of the WE Charity.

WE also try to figure out what it is WE does, beyond holding stadium-sized pep rallies for schoolchildren and owning property. WE still don't really know.

And for the main event, WE discuss two Postmedia pieces that are part of a clear effort at image rehabilitation for the Keilburgers. The first is a puff piece written by "Postmedia Staff" that really plays up the Keilburgers' cultishness as a good thing. The latter is a piece written by Marc (or is it Craig?) about how WE need to get workers back to their offices so they can socialize and get sick.

Links

Michael Parenti - U.S. Interventionism, the Third World and the U.S.S.R. (1986)

Davide Mastracci - How Did We Get Stuck with Jon and Barbara Kay?

Jeremy - Jason Kenney Is Trying to Kill Alberta's Labour Movement

49th Parahell - Libentology (with Karen Geier)

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Big Shiny Takes is back with an episode on a columnist that is truly memorable for all the wrong reasons, Margaret Wente. But first we briefly discuss the WE scandal engulfing Canadian news, before launching into a discussion of tHe LetTeR and cAnCeL cUlTuRe to set the scene for Wente's woe-is-me shtick.

If you haven't been keeping track, Wente was recently appointed to a meaningless college society/illuminati front called The Quadrangle Society. This was met with criticism due to several wrinkles in Wente's career (plagiarism, defending race science, writing dumb anti-environmentalist columns). As we find out in her column published in Quillette, the world's leading phrenology journal, the appointment didn't go the way she had planned, but she is definitely not upset about it.

We're joined this week by PressProgress reporter and host of Rank and File Radio Emily Leedham (@Emily_Leedham_).

Links

Rank and File Radio - Prairie Edition - Bill 32: Jason Kenney's Attack on the Rand Formula & More

Citations Needed - News Brief: The Harper's Letter and Our Extremely Narrow, Self-Serving Definition of Cancel Culture

Jesse Brown - Crime and Fraud at WE Charity in Kenya

Jesse Brown - Trudeau Family Paid Hundreds of Thousands By WE Organization

Sandy Hudson on cancel culture

Alex McCuaig - Lethbridge police officers temporarily demoted in connection with surveillance of NDP cabinet minister

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We are back with a very special bonus episode, our first every Big Shiny Takes listener request!

For this episode we read a column by Jonah Goldberg, an American columnist and commentator. Goldberg argues that despite many police forces in the USA originating from slave patrols, it's unfair to say the history of policing is steeped in racism. As part of this column's weird, disjointed approach to making its point poorly the reader is taken on a journey through the history of policing and law enforcement, inexplicably ending up in ancient Rome.

Where did we read this column you ask? Why the Toronto Sun of course! Some of you might think it's odd that a syndicated columnist from the USA can get a column published in Canada. That's because it is odd. I have no idea why this column is in a Canadian newspaper.

Shout out to @wrongbinary for the request!

Have you read a column recently that you feel like the rest of the world needs to know about, specifically because of how terrible it is? Send us a link to the story!

 Links

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldberg-history-of-u-s-policing-gets-unfairly-twisted

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After a quick catch up with some old favourites, we talk about the return of Dr. Jordan Bernt Peterson after an apparent benzo addiction scare. Is he alive? Dead? Transcended the astral realm? Mikhaila assumed his form? We discuss so you can decide!

We also read through his comeback National Post column, which is about how cultural Marxism has infiltrated academia at the highest levels, including —gasps — the hard sciences. In other words, the exact same one note he's been hitting for the past few years. But this is after he's been in an induced coma in Russia. That's gotta count for something.

Links

A playlist we put together of Jordan Peterson crying videos:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy6RQIkw5UcOnrABX2lZmzuZnp4BjVpBU

Denise Balkissoon - I Tried to Talk to My Bosses About Racism at Work
https://www.chatelaine.com/opinion/racism-at-work/

Alex Bozikovic - A dignified death? Not in their backyard
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-a-dignified-death-not-in-their-backyard/

Canadaland Workers Sign Union Cards in Latest Push Back against Inequalities in Canadian media
https://pressprogress.ca/canadaland-workers-sign-union-cards-in-latest-push-back-against-inequalities-in-canadian-media/

Jana Pruden - Hitchhiker, hero, celebrity, killer: The strange journey of the man Kai
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-hitchhiker-hero-celebrity-killer-the-strange-journey-of-the-man/

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In a slight departure from our regular Postmedia dunking, we talk about the nation's second-largest newspaper chain, TorStar. It may not surprise you to learn that they own the Toronto Star, which is relatively good compared with the National Post, but still part of the same corporate media ecosystem, with all the structural problems that entails.

TorStar was recently taken private and purchased by four fellas who are Conservative party donors. What does this mean for the future of Canada's last remaining progressive newspaper? Based on the two pieces we read this week, there's much reason for pessimism.

First up is Star Wheels section editor Norris McDonald. It turns out he thinks some wheels are better than others. Don't believe the lies of the powerful cyclist lobby. Cars are the superior mode of transit and Norris has the Google search results to prove it.

Then we discuss Star Entertainment columnist and Jordan Peterson friend Vinay Menon, who's very troubled that Natalie Portman believes police violence is bad. He uses a shallow "shut up and act" critique of celebrity culture as a launching pad to argue that we need to give the cops more money.

Links

The Star's Atkinson Principles
https://www.thestar.com/about/atkinson.html#:~:text=The%20editorial%20principles%20Atkinson%20espoused,%2C%20political%2C%20legal%20or%20racial.

Patrick White - 'I want people to know she's more than a hashtag': Family remembers Regis Korchinski-Paquet
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-i-want-people-to-know-shes-more-than-a-hashtag-family-remembers/

James McLeod - Double-double tracking: How Tim Hortons knows where you sleep, work and vacation
https://business.financialpost.com/technology/tim-hortons-app-tracking-customers-intimate-data

Jeremy - COVID-19 and the forward march of surveillance capitalism
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/covid-19-and-the-forward-march-of-surveillance-capitalism

John Naughton - 'The goal is to automate us': welcome to the age of surveillance capitalism
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/20/shoshana-zuboff-age-of-surveillance-capitalism-google-facebook

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We're joined by Stephen Magusiak (@magusiak) of PressProgress to talk about a real banner week for Postmedia sleaze.

First, we discuss Rex Murphy's absolute dumpster fire on how racism isn't a major issue in our fake country that was built off ethnically cleansing Indigenous people, the response from some of his own National Post colleagues and the near-complete lack of accountability for Postmedia stalwarts.

Next, we chat about People's Champ Joe Warmington's incoherent column on gang violence, which was mysteriously wiped from the internet after he (even more mysteriously) made up Drake lyrics. We suspect the Toronto Sun may have received a call from Drake's lawyer.

Links

Vanmala Subramaniam - Before you declare Canada is not a racist country, do your homework
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/vanmala-subramaniam-before-you-declare-canada-is-not-a-racist-country-do-your-homework

Manisha Krishnan - Journalists at Canada's biggest conservative newspaper revolt over column denying racism
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5dz3wq/journalists-at-national-post-canadas-biggest-conservative-newspaper-revolt-over-rex-murphy-column-denying-racism

Toronto Sun retracts Joe Warmington column on 'gang culture' that quoted fake Drake lyric
https://pressprogress.ca/toronto-sun-retracts-joe-warmington-column-on-gang-culture-that-quoted-fake-drake-lyrics/

Joe Warmington - Homolka rumour ruins model's life
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/vanmala-subramaniam-before-you-declare-canada-is-not-a-racist-country-do-your-homework

The Bail Project
https://bailproject.org/

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It's the crossover you were waiting for, babeey.

We watched a couple classic Simpsons episodes with Evan MacDonald (@MacDonaldTweets) of the world's #1 socialist film criticism podcast (to us), Kino Lefter.

We use this to inform our discussion Postmedia bench warmer Matthew Lau's column on how Mr. Burns would support a Green New Deal.

Yes, you read that correctly. Lau argues that this caricature of capitalist excess who tries to block out the sun so Springfield will have to depend on his (private) power monopoly, is an ecosocialist.

It may not surprise you to learn that his argument is incredibly shallow and flimsy.

Links

Matthew Lau - Learn from the Simpsons and step back form the brink of economic instanity
https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/matthew-lau-learn-from-the-simpsons-and-step-back-from-the-brink-of-economic-insanity

Jeremy - Pundits' Cottage Obsession Shows Their Disconnect from Canadians
https://readpassage.com/pundits-cottage-obsession-shows-their-disconnect-from-canadians/

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They're really quite a pair. Wherever there's adventure you'll find Don Martin there.

The gang is back with two new hot takes published in two Canadian news outlets. The first is from retired broadcaster Don Martin - who has voiced his opinion that provinces taking steps to ensure they prevent the spread of COVID-19 is bad because he won't be able to get to PEI this summer. In fairness to him, he's not the only person in Canadian media who has said something along these lines. That doesn't make that opinion any less stupid however.

The second is an infuriating video published by the Toronto Sun. Columnist Anthony Furey steps up to the plate to defend singer Bryan Adams after his deranged rant on social media went viral.

LINKS

Don Martin - Sealing off provinces from each other borders on pandemic paranoia
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/1.4937715

Anthony Furey - Bryan Adams did not have to apologize
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln4cB93xqOo

ALSO

We are so pleased to announce we have joined the Ricochet Media Podcast Network, joining the ranks of some incredible voices in Canada's podcast landscape. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts and give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.

The boys are back and joined by a friend, the great Jack Dump (aka Myer Mendelson) of Haus of Decline! 

We're taking a bit of a step beyond our usual scope, and looking to our neighbours to the south for a second. We talk about Dave Rubin's newest treatise on how the left has gone too far. It is full of "ideas" (some would say bad ideas), including about how "Nazi is the new N-word". Yes, that's ridiculous. That's not going to stop us from talking about it at length though.  

In case you were wondering why Eric sounds like he was recording through a potato, he was. Long story. We will be back shortly with our regularly scheduled Canadian-centric content.

Listen to Haus of Decline Here:
www.soundcloud.com/hausofdecline

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Another week, another brain-meltingly stupid column in The National Post. We had every intention of sticking to our format this episode, but recent events forced us to switch things up.

For those of you blissfully unaware: Postmedia closed the doors to another 15 of its community newspapers. As this is an organization that a) owns a ton of newspapers in small towns across the country and b) has no idea how to make money with newspapers we are concerned for the well-being of local journalism in Canada.

Remember when they took several millions in bailout money to avoid this situation precisely?

We do get to a column in this episode as well, a real stinker by John Ivison that had the distinction of bringing in a whole lot of clicks to the National Post for all the wrong reasons. It's a piece about how the luxurious benefits afforded to the unemployed during this pandemic puts our country at risk by creating "welfare slackers".

It's REALLY bad.

Also, if a welfare slacker is someone collecting benefits and not making any sort of honest effort to better their situation, what does that make Postmedia?

This episode was recorded on April 28, 2020.

More here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/postmedia-manitoba-papers-closing-1.5547793

Ethan Cox - John Ivison: The worst person on the internet
https://ricochet.media/en/3072/postmedias-john-ivison-the-worst-person-on-the-internet

The column in question:
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/john-ivison-trudeaus-lavish-handouts-risk-turning-workers-into-welfare-slackers

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