I must admit, to full disclosure that… I like the Sun News Network. Yes, the presentation is a bit cookie cutter but they bring angles on news stories the other networks don’t cover and occasionally they even break unique stories of their own.
But the SNN has been making news itself lately with word that they have asked the CRTC for mandatory coverage on your cable dial. What is “mandatory Coverage”? Basically, it’s the requirement that that cable/satellite providers must provide certain channels on their lineup. Currently about 20 channels enjoy this perk. With it, comes a low easy to find spot on the dial, signal substation and a small fee from every cable subscriber. It’s this final one that seems to be getting many people upset. “don’t force me to pay for sun news” they say. Actually, I agree with them, no person sould be forced to pay for something they don’t agree with. Fortunately, that same argument can be made about the CBC. But, I’ll digress talking about bias news coverage as there is enough meat on that bone for an entire other article.
All Sun News is asking for is an “equal playing field”. Other Canadian news channels like CTV News Channel and CBC News Network are already required viewing in Canadian homes. It seems ironic that the network that advocates for free markets and less government, is now asking for Government help for it’s very survival. Currently Sun News is losing $10 million a year and without monitory coverage, they may have to shut down.
It’s intriguing to me that the answer to all our problems always seems to be ‘more government’. Another way to put sun news on an equal playing filed would be to remove mandatory coverage for everyone. Allow cable companies to decide themselves what channels to carry and where they appear on the dial. This would lower cable costs, allow us to pick and choose exactly which channels we want to subscribe to and may even put an end to one of the most frustrating parts of the cable viewing experience… seeing the exact same show on 10 stations at the same time. Unfortunately I don’t see that occurring anytime soon.
It’s also interesting to note that Sun News HAD mandatory carriage when they first started but gave up that part of their licence. It’s a long complicated story that I won’t attempt to bore you with here.
I don’t think Sun News (or any of the other channels vying for required viewing) will win their bid, there is simply not enough bandwidth on the dial to accommodate everyone. I hope they can find a way to survive. Diverse voices in the news landscape are important and people should hear all pints of view. And if you think that all news outlets don’t have a bias… your wrong. Oh wait… I said I wasn’t going to comment on that.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
The Rollye James 3 Constitutional Amendments
One of my favourite radio talk show hosts, Rollye James is back on the air. The other night on her program she went through the 3 amendments that she would like to see to the constitution. Now, these amendments are for the US constitution, but these 3 things can be applied here in Canada or anywhere around the world for that matter.
Government is too big. Politicians and political parties often don't have the public's best interest in hand when passing bills in the house of commons. Rollye's ideas would would change all this. The 3 amendments are as follows:
Lawmakers Must Agree to Live Under The Previsions of Every Bill They Passed
If they had to live under what they voted for, things would be very different. It would help with insurance premiums which is a hot button issue here in Ontario right now.
No Unrelated Items Onto Bills At Hand
A lot of the ridiculous spending that happens occurs when things are added onto existing bills. These items usually have nothing to do with what is being voted on. Studies like whether Yoga is effective in reducing hot flashes in menopausal women... or the studies that continuously show time and time again that smoking is bad for you etc...
Every bill should stand on it's own. If it's good enough to pass, it should be good enough to stand on it's own.
Every Lawmaker Must Read The Entire Bill Before They Vote On It
This goes hand in hand with the above point. I recently saw a film called Whipped: The Secret World of Party Discipline. In this film, they mention that politicians often only have 20 minutes or so to read over a 400 page document that they are about to vote on. Of course, this is impossible to do. This would also make sthem shorter becasue... who is going to want to read all of that.
The flip side here is... how do you enforce this rule? Will there be a test? I suppose it's just the spirit of the law.
It's great to have Rollye back on the air... even if it's only on the internet. She is a strong voice for all this who advocate for freedom. Now... if we could only get Art Bell out of retirement
Government is too big. Politicians and political parties often don't have the public's best interest in hand when passing bills in the house of commons. Rollye's ideas would would change all this. The 3 amendments are as follows:
Lawmakers Must Agree to Live Under The Previsions of Every Bill They Passed
If they had to live under what they voted for, things would be very different. It would help with insurance premiums which is a hot button issue here in Ontario right now.
No Unrelated Items Onto Bills At Hand
A lot of the ridiculous spending that happens occurs when things are added onto existing bills. These items usually have nothing to do with what is being voted on. Studies like whether Yoga is effective in reducing hot flashes in menopausal women... or the studies that continuously show time and time again that smoking is bad for you etc...
Every bill should stand on it's own. If it's good enough to pass, it should be good enough to stand on it's own.
Every Lawmaker Must Read The Entire Bill Before They Vote On It
This goes hand in hand with the above point. I recently saw a film called Whipped: The Secret World of Party Discipline. In this film, they mention that politicians often only have 20 minutes or so to read over a 400 page document that they are about to vote on. Of course, this is impossible to do. This would also make sthem shorter becasue... who is going to want to read all of that.
The flip side here is... how do you enforce this rule? Will there be a test? I suppose it's just the spirit of the law.
It's great to have Rollye back on the air... even if it's only on the internet. She is a strong voice for all this who advocate for freedom. Now... if we could only get Art Bell out of retirement
can be an effective method to
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
can be an effective method to
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
can be an effective method to
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
can be an effective method to
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
can be an effective method to
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
reduce the frequency and/or severity of hot flashes” in
menopausal women. - See more at: http://www.darwinsmoney.com/dumb-stimulus-bill-spending/#sthash.pjIqXjul.dpuf
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Welcome To The Political Paradox Blog
I've wanted to start a blog for the last few months or so. It's difficult coming up with a name that is not only catchy, relevant, easy to remember but most importantly... a name that has not been taken yet. Enter... "The Political Paradox" Blog.
The name came to me a few weeks ago. I was listening to a radio talk show, the big story that day was the United States. In an effort to increase revenue, the US was thinking about charging a fee for motorists coming across the boarder. One caller said: "If they want more money, let's put an end to all of the people abusing the welfare system". Good idea suggested by the caller for sure but I said to myself "The Political Paradox there is... how much money do you want to spend fact checking every application?"
The abuse of the welfare system is a topic for another day but, right there I knew I had a catchy name. I ran downstairs to log online to see if it was taken. To me, this was urgent business... like I only had two minutes left to snipe an item on ebay. To my surprise "Political Paradox" was aviabale!
So here we are, The Political Paradox Blog. "Political Paradox" sums up a lot of my thoughts on many issues. A government program created to help one group, has a negative impact on anther group. Or the old adage... no government program seems to work the way it was originally intended.
Who am I? I'm a Canadian and I'm a libertarian. Two things that aren't usually seen together. We are a rare breed up here... kind of like spotting a unicorn. This blog, will be about the world as I see it. I'm a bit of a skeptic. Many of the phrases and statistics we hear everyday, just simply aren't true.
So here I am... I've made it ma... I'm a Blogger!
The name came to me a few weeks ago. I was listening to a radio talk show, the big story that day was the United States. In an effort to increase revenue, the US was thinking about charging a fee for motorists coming across the boarder. One caller said: "If they want more money, let's put an end to all of the people abusing the welfare system". Good idea suggested by the caller for sure but I said to myself "The Political Paradox there is... how much money do you want to spend fact checking every application?"
The abuse of the welfare system is a topic for another day but, right there I knew I had a catchy name. I ran downstairs to log online to see if it was taken. To me, this was urgent business... like I only had two minutes left to snipe an item on ebay. To my surprise "Political Paradox" was aviabale!
So here we are, The Political Paradox Blog. "Political Paradox" sums up a lot of my thoughts on many issues. A government program created to help one group, has a negative impact on anther group. Or the old adage... no government program seems to work the way it was originally intended.
Who am I? I'm a Canadian and I'm a libertarian. Two things that aren't usually seen together. We are a rare breed up here... kind of like spotting a unicorn. This blog, will be about the world as I see it. I'm a bit of a skeptic. Many of the phrases and statistics we hear everyday, just simply aren't true.
So here I am... I've made it ma... I'm a Blogger!
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