Monthly Archive: October 2011

A Ford in the road

At last, Rob Ford has done something normal for a holder of his high office. The mayor yesterday attended the closing ceremony of the Pan-Am Games in Mexico to accept the flag passed along to the next host city, Toronto. What a disappointment he must be to those who voted for him. What a civic humiliation he is to the rest of us. And Toronto has had some looney-tunes leaders. William Dennison (1966-1972) once greeted a visitor by holding up a writing instrument and saying, “This is a ball point pen.” “I know,” came the reply, “I was educated at...

Read More

The sputtering flame

It’s been almost two months since Lloyd Robertson resigned as anchor of CTV National News. That’s long enough to conclude that his replacement, Lisa LaFlamme, doesn’t have what it takes. LaFlamme was an excellent journalist in the field but rather than make me pay attention, she renders me uneasy. I don’t like her manner, her clothes, or the slight sneer that curls her upper lip. This is not a complaint caused by a woman taking over from a man. I like Sandie Rinaldo, CTV’s weekend anchor, and would have been happy to watch her during the week. I was one...

Read More

Dazzle or be done

Shares in Research In Motion are up almost $3 this morning in what might be called a relief rally, relief that the new iPhone didn’t impress. Welcome to the new world of overwrought expectations. Because the iPhone 4S is unable to solve the problem of debt in Greece, the media and techies have pooh-poohed it. The BlackBerry has been suffering through similar denunciations for months. How soon the worm turns on success. Look at Yahoo. Not so long ago Yahoo was hot. Now they fire CEOs three before tea. To be sure, Research In Motion has fallen behind. The new...

Read More