[Kat_YYZ]

how could they not? This thread is like a tip line for journalists who don't have sources of their own. Of course, like any tip line, it has it's share of out in left field nutters, but it's been surprisingly on the mark a good percentage of the time.

I spent several hours reading Rob Ford threads on some other forums -- hoping to find undiscovered treasures: maybe another Metroman type source, with different info... things we didn't know that I could bring here. Or someone who'd encountered Ford somewhere and had a story or photos that hadn't yet surfaced.

Alas... nothing. They were useless. And often full of dumb trolls.

 

[dforthandbview]

Ford brothers planning web series after turning down reality show offers from ‘Oprah and Dr. Phil,’ Doug says

With no prospect of continuing their shortlived TV talk show, the Ford brothers are planning to take their concept to YouTube, Councillor Doug Ford said Thursday.

In the aftermath of a series of scandals, U.S. and Canadian production houses have flooded Mayor Rob Ford’s office, said his brother, all pitching a reality show concept. Councillor Ford said they have passed on all offers.“Everyone from Oprah to Dr. Phil … You name the person, we’ve got calls from them,†he said Thursday. “There’s a massive market in the U.S.â€
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/1...show-offers-from-oprah-and-dr-phil-doug-says/

 

[adma]

My take is that much as the 'right' likes to use the semi-pejorative 'Lieberals', Nayshun is a way of indicating the general lack of intelligence (perceived or otherwise) of Rob Ford's political followers.

Or, a *defiant* unintelligence, sort of like calling a teacher "Teechur".

 

[CalgarianExOntarian]

Ford brothers planning web series after turning down reality show offers from ‘Oprah and Dr. Phil,’ Doug says

With no prospect of continuing their shortlived TV talk show, the Ford brothers are planning to take their concept to YouTube, Councillor Doug Ford said Thursday.

In the aftermath of a series of scandals, U.S. and Canadian production houses have flooded Mayor Rob Ford’s office, said his brother, all pitching a reality show concept. Councillor Ford said they have passed on all offers.“Everyone from Oprah to Dr. Phil … You name the person, we’ve got calls from them,†he said Thursday. “There’s a massive market in the U.S.â€
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/1...show-offers-from-oprah-and-dr-phil-doug-says/

What I said in a mostly unrelated post, not long ago: Doug Ford, worst Torontonian ever.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

Ford brothers planning web series after turning down reality show offers from ‘Oprah and Dr. Phil,’ Doug says

With no prospect of continuing their shortlived TV talk show, the Ford brothers are planning to take their concept to YouTube, Councillor Doug Ford said Thursday.

In the aftermath of a series of scandals, U.S. and Canadian production houses have flooded Mayor Rob Ford’s office, said his brother, all pitching a reality show concept. Councillor Ford said they have passed on all offers.“Everyone from Oprah to Dr. Phil … You name the person, we’ve got calls from them,” he said Thursday. “There’s a massive market in the U.S.”
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/1...show-offers-from-oprah-and-dr-phil-doug-says/

Since we know they're always lying, I think it's pretty clear that the untruth here is that the Ford Bros. have put their heads together and actually developed any "concept" of any kind.

Somewhat more seriously, since seeing the Fox interview, and how much Ford is actually ENJOYING this...well, it's just really messed. Even if he loses next year, it's at the point where you can totally see him becoming a reality star of some kind. "There's a massive market in the US"??!?!? You realize your brother is the MAYOR OF TORONTO, right? that he (in name only, granted) has a job? They're just so far out in their own reality it's stunning.

If the media can't get them to answer questions about actual issues, they should just ignore them. Dont' report Ford's new "gravy train" b.s. or Doug's self-important marketing. Just concentrate on city business because they're clearly just playing the "no such thing as bad publicity" angle at this point and there's no reason for our legit media to be reduced to TMZ.

 

[adma]

The domestic violence allegations with Ford have been around for a while, but I don't see much public discussion about it. Why assume the public cares?

It may not be a matter of the public not caring, so much as it's a very delicate matter to discuss--especially at the "allegations" stage...

 

[Kat_YYZ]

(I realize it's Macleans error not yours) Malala isn't an "Afghan girl" - she's Pakistani.

oh dear. maybe someone has mixed her up with former Afghan politician Malalai Joya.
Part of my job is copy editing/fact-checking.

 

[newearthling]

This is an old article by Chris Hedges from 2010, but it is incredibly thoughtful and sharp. It is situated in American (delusional) reality, but I feel that there are a lot of words of wisdom for our situation in Toronto.

American Psychosis
What happens to a society that cannot distinguish between reality and illusion?

The United States, locked in the kind of twilight disconnect that grips dying empires, is a country entranced by illusions. It spends its emotional and intellectual energy on the trivial and the absurd. It is captivated by the hollow stagecraft of celebrity culture as the walls crumble.

The virtues that sustain a nation-state and build community, from honesty to self-sacrifice to transparency to sharing, are ridiculed each night on television as rubes stupid enough to cling to this antiquated behavior are voted off reality shows.

It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation; a penchant for lying, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt.

We have a right, in the cult of the self, to get whatever we desire. We can do anything, even belittle and destroy those around us, including our friends, to make money, to be happy and to become famous. Once fame and wealth are achieved, they become their own justification, their own morality. How one gets there is irrelevant

When a culture lives within an illusion it perpetuates a state of permanent infantilism or childishness.

A furious and sustained backlash by a betrayed and angry populace, one unprepared intellectually, emotionally and psychologically for collapse, will sweep aside the Democrats and most of the Republicans and will usher America into a new dark age. It was the economic collapse in Yugoslavia that gave us Slobodan Milosevic. It was the Weimar Republic that vomited up Adolf Hitler. And it was the breakdown in Tsarist Russia that opened the door for Lenin and the Bolsheviks. A cabal of proto-fascist misfits, from Christian demagogues to loudmouth talk show hosts, whom we naïvely dismiss as buffoons, will find a following with promises of revenge and moral renewal. And as in all totalitarian societies, those who do not pay fealty to the illusions imposed by the state become the outcasts, the persecuted.

I wonder if Fraud Nayshun is the start of the "proto-fascist misfits here in Canada?

 

[TOperson]

It may not be a matter of the public not caring, so much as it's a very delicate matter to discuss--especially at the "allegations" stage...

They are more than just allegations but anyway, as was discussed pages ago, people have ignored domestic violence for a very long time, and aren't likely to suddenly care about it now.

 

[One Nut Kruk]

Or, a *defiant* unintelligence, sort of like calling a teacher "Teechur".

I used to work with a guy named, Paul Stanley (not the KISS bassist). In an old MSN conversation we had, he spelled, 'magician', like this: majishun (and he was dead serious about that spelling; even when I called him out on it).

 

[OSS 117]

Ford brothers planning web series after turning down reality show offers from ‘Oprah and Dr. Phil,’ Doug says

With no prospect of continuing their shortlived TV talk show, the Ford brothers are planning to take their concept to YouTube, Councillor Doug Ford said Thursday.

In the aftermath of a series of scandals, U.S. and Canadian production houses have flooded Mayor Rob Ford’s office, said his brother, all pitching a reality show concept. Councillor Ford said they have passed on all offers.“Everyone from Oprah to Dr. Phil … You name the person, we’ve got calls from them,†he said Thursday. “There’s a massive market in the U.S.â€
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/1...show-offers-from-oprah-and-dr-phil-doug-says/

I wouldn't be bragging about getting calls from Oprah or Dr. Phil. You have to know they just want them on their respective shows to analyze them and find out what their freaking deal is. I guarantee none of them are pitching them their own show.

 

[CalgarianExOntarian]

So, apparently only humans qualify as newsmakers of 2013 to Maclean's, and horrific forces of nature and industrial disaster do not. People of High River, AB and Lac Megantic, QC: That's just the way Maclean's Mag rolls, and not in any way a hardcore insult to you and all you went through this year, and all you have to worry about for years to come.

In the same vein, RoFo, Miley C, Justin B, Mike D, ..., and all the others who made themselves infamous in 2013, [sarcasm]be intensely proud[/sarcasm] that your repellant image gets as much space as Alice Munro, Naheed Nenshi, and Chris Hadfield, people Canada should be truly proud of.

Also, Doug Ford, be happy, as worst Torontonian ever, you're not in this cover. You deserve worse.

Sorry to go off on even more of a tangent, but the more I think, the more that Maclean's cover upsets me. (It it's fake, sorry for all my gripes. It seems all too real.) I will try to be brief here.

Intensely sarcastic props to Pauline Marois and all her supporters for managing to stay off the newsmaker-of-the-year cover of a supposedly national newsmagazine, despite all you did this year. What possible downside is there to telling young, smart, hard-working loyal citizens that certain jobs are not available because for reasons of faith or just staying comfortable within your family you must wear a headscarf or turban or whatever other visible symbol ... ?

Really, who has the right to decide to discriminate against anybody will show up in their workplace and act with fairness, competence and integrity?

Honestly, despite all Rob Ford did in 2013 and earlier, the sober and ugly PQ agenda might be even worse.

I'm not trying to derail the Ford story, just provoked to think about what are the really big national stories of 2013 ...

 

[freshcutgrass]

Paul Stanley (not the KISS bassist)

Gene Simmons is the bassist.

Sorry...having a pedantic moment.

 

[GenerationW]

Some would say he used to be the bassist, and now he's just a shameless huckster.

 

[freshcutgrass]

Some would say he used to be the bassist, and now he's just a shameless huckster.

Apparently, he's always been both.