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Bombs back on the way

Whoops, spoke to soon about the problem with bunker buster delivery. I guess Tony "Lapdog" Blair cracked the whip and got the party back in line. Do you think he can even spell hypocrisy?

Nuclear Lebanon

Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens Requiring Immediate Action By President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and Prime Minister Olmert :: from www.uruknet.info :: news from occupied Iraq (caution: graphic image)

Reading this article made my stomach turn. Not the best written piece, but the urgency of the situation comes through loud and clear. Now, with all major infrastructure destroyed and over 600 casualties, Lebanon needs to contend with nuclear waste falling from the sky, infecting their land, drinking water, food, and themselves.

Of course, even if one ignores the fact that what Israel is doing with regular munitions is breaking international law already, one still needs to ask why the need for bunker busters? While I'm sure there are bomb shelters in Lebanon (most likely left over from the last time Israel bombarded Lebanon), the Israeli Defence Force is doing such a good job razing everyone on top of the ground that I'm sure it will have no trouble locating and smoking out the rest of Hezbollah without the need for nuclear weapons.

The one saving grace: at least they're having trouble with the delivery.

And the cuts start a-comin'

CBC Arts: Cuts begin right away as Bell Globemedia swallows CHUM

Well, it doesn't take long, does it? Even before the deal goes through, CHUM is axing local broadcasting and moving towards more centralised news productions. They are attempting to placate fears of too much concentration by floating the idea of operating CTV and CityTV seperately, but how long would that really last? One company running competing stations in the same cities?

As CBC points out, this will leave Canadian media dominated by only 2 companies. CanWest Global and Bell Globemedia. How long until we see CanBell GlobalMedia?

Mega media agglomeration

TheStar.com - Bell Globemedia to take over CHUM

Just when you though the mediascape in Canada couldn't get any smaller, Bell Globemedia announced today it would be taking over CHUM, making it the largest media corporation in Canada, adding 33 radio stations, 12 local TV stations (including all the CityTV stations) and 21 specialty TV channels to the already massive BGM empire.

This story, by CP posted on the Toronto Star site, waits until the bottom before delivering the kicker: TorStar, owner of the Toronto Star, is set to be taking over 20% of BGM in the next few months as well (in a deal reached last year). This means that one company will include interested parties that control all of CTV, all of CityTV, a major chunk of radio stations in Canada, as well as both the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Scared yet?

Both the takeover of CHUM and TorStar buying into BGM are still subject to regulatory approval. Maybe there's something we can still do about this... More on this soon...

Number 4 on the way

Pitches are in, and issue #4 of Siafu is that much closer to being reality. If anyone had said last October that we would be coming out with a 4th issue in 8 months and that we would have a modest budget to play with, I wouldn't have believed them. Not that things are anywhere steady right now, but we're on the right path. This issues theme will be on education, featuring everything from homeschooling to academic freedom, residential school reparations to financial aid for students.

While pitches are in, we're always looking for more suggestions and submissions for our soon to be revamped website - http://www.siafu.ca.