Iggy, PLEASE grow a pair . . .

RABBLE.CA HAS A COUPLE OF REPORTS ON FOX NORTH. You know, the proposed set-up of FOX-type TV news in Canada, organized by Quebecor's Pierre-Karl Peledeau and his chief fart-catcher, the odious Kory Teneckye, Stevie's recently-retired communications director.

Linda McQuaig's RABBLE piece, "Harper's Fox News luncheon", outlines how Stevie had a secret lunch with Rupert Murdoch and his major henchman, Fox News president Roger Ailes.

Ian Morrison, of the group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, says "all the information I have suggests that Harper has taken a personal interest in this matter."

Of course, Harper doesn't hand out TV licences. That's the job of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

But Morrison says he's heard that Harper has been trying to encourage CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein to resign, by offering him plum jobs. Von Finckenstein appears likely to stymie Peladeau's bid for a first-tier licence that would deliver his station to all cable subscribers in the country.

But that's not all, folks; RABBLE'S  Frances Russell has a post, "How Fox North became Harper's priority", which contends

Unlike the ephemeral "soldiers with guns in our streets," we have the very real and menacing prospect of a major national media chain being bulldozed into a blatant propaganda tool by and for the party in power.

The same national media chain intends to launch a Category One television news channel in addition to its string of newspapers to blare forth its political message 24/7. More ominously, the PMO is prepared, according to credible reports, to walk over any cavilling by the nation's broadcast watchdog, the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Corporation, to grant Sun Media's masters that coveted first-class licence.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada isn't happy either. They contend that Stevie's plans will gut and fillet our communications industry, and culture. Currently, a large minority of foreign investment is allowed, up to a maximum of 46.7%, but Stevie intends to change that. The union contends that these changes will cause

1. Loss of Jobs
2. Reduction of Canadian Content and Culture
3. Less Protection of Personal Privacy
4. Negative Impact on Canadian Security
5. Loss of Canadian Sovereignty

Iggy, could you PLEASE grow a pair and off this poison-dwarf? Maybe Viagra? CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein can't hold these fascists off forever.