How to cover the primaries




How to cover the primaries

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Well, Romney won the Florida primary, and along with Newt Gingrich the main loser was the American news media.

In a fantastic piece in New York Magazine last week, John Heilemann made the entirely accurate, but rarely heard observation that no one has benefited more from the inexplicable Newt surge than the press that’s been forced to endlessly cover and analyze it. A surprise pretender to the throne can always count on excited coverage in the midst of a coronation.

With Florida out of the way, there will be six primaries or caucuses in the coming month: Maine, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Arizona, and Michigan. As a mostly moderate mix of states, several of which have strong personal ties to the former governor, almost all are expected to be easy wins for Romney. Already badly wounded by worsening national numbers in the lead up to this week’s vote, Gingrich will have to struggle mightily to remain competitive in February, which is very bad news for anyone anticipating another month of high-stakes political drama.

I suspect the press will work furiously to try and manufacture some anyway. The 11-states-in-one-day Super Tuesday primary fiesta, slated for March 6 of this year, is in many ways the Super Bowl of American politics, second only to the general election itself. And just as a one-sided wallop makes for a crappy football game — and even crappier ESPN ratings — a political slugfest with a predetermined conclusion is the last thing any self-respecting news outlet with an eye on the bottom line will be prepared to accept. Read the rest of this entry »

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Spoiled, lazy, or left behind? One generation’s struggle with underemployment

There’ll be no podcast this week, as my American co-host Jake is too busy celebrating his crazed American holiday of Thanksgiving. But we’ll be back soon.

In the mean time, here is an editorial I recently wrote about unemployment for a local Christian magazine I sometimes write for. I was a bit leery about publishing it here, at first, since it’s a bit maudlin and quite personal, but it seems to have gotten positive feedback so far. I’m curious to hear what you guys think.

* * *

It was just an office building but I loved it very much. It was where my father worked, and as a child I savored every visit. Dad has long since moved on to other things, of course, but in those days he had his own office with a door and a big window — all in glorious downtown Vancouver. He would leave for work in the morning, then come home in the evening. He did it for several decades. The McCullough family seemed to do all right.

For most of my life I had no other conception of what “work” was. Eventually I would complete my own years of schooling and slide effortlessly into a swanky office with a big window just like father.

I’m 27 now, but the office seems further away than ever. Like many in my generation, I feel something, somewhere, went horribly wrong.

For any unemployed (or underemployed, to use the current trendy euphemism) 20-something with a modicum of self-awareness, one of the dreariest challenges of day-to-day living is attempting to determine how much of your crappy present life is the result of your own poor life decisions, as opposed to powerful societal forces beyond your control. How much blame should you direct to the mirror, versus some more amorphous demon — like, say “the economy?”

My friend Stephanie seemed to do everything right. She got good marks and did impressive work at the student newspaper. Yet she has never found full-time work in the aftermath of her graduation two years ago. Now on her third consecutive unpaid internship, she still lives with her parents.

“I thought that as long as I had a good degree, I would be set,” she said. “But instead I applied to jobs wondering what was so wrong with me that nobody wanted to hire me. It was frustrating and depressing.” Having little luck winning over any established employer, she now sees freelancing as the most logical career path. Read the rest of this entry »

Mayor interviews

Hey look at this, an update that’s not a podcast!

As part of my ongoing quest to interview every single relevant politician in British Columbia, I recently completed a series of interviews with the mayors of my province’s three biggest cities, all of whom are currently running for re-election. They’ve all been published in the Vancouver Metro over the last couple days, but here they are all in one place:

If you want to do me a particularly big favor, you could help me win this contest thingie that the people are Voter Funded Media are running. They’re having two polls to determine the best website offering coverage of the Surrey and Burnaby municipal affairs. If you could visit either of those links and vote for me, I’d really appreciate it.

Filibuster podcast, episode seven

Got a new podcast for you guys! In this week’s epsiode, Jake and I tackle a variety of interesting topics including the new governments of Greece and Italy, the Congressional insider trading scandal, the legal future of Obamacare, and a preview of the 2012 Senate races to watch. Plus — side issues!

Filibuster podcast, November 15, 2011

Filibuster podcast, episode six

In this week’s podcast, Jake and I talk more about the Herman Cain sex scandal, as well as the Keystone pipeline debate, the future of the Super Committee, and a wrap-up of recent mid-term US elections across the country.

Filibuster podcast, November 9, 2011

Podcast, episode five

Here we go, episode five! In this week’s podcast, Jake and I discuss the recent troubles of some of the GOP primary front-runners, the Palestinians and their efforts to gain recognition at UNESCO, the wrap-up of this year’s Commonwealth summit, and Anonymous’ efforts to bring down Mexican drug lords.

Filibuster podcast, episode 5, November 2, 2011.

Filibuster podcast, episode four!

Another week, another podcast. In this week’s episode, Jake and I discuss the death of Momar Quaddaffi, the end of the Iraq war, the European Union’s financial woes, controversy surrounding the CBC, and, of course, our pet side issues of the week.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback, by the way. Hopefully we’ll have the podcast in iTunes soon, as well as an independent RSS feed.

Filibuster podcast, Episode 4, October 25, 2011

Filibuster podcast episode three!

This week, Jake and I discuss the rise of Herman Cain, America’s conflict between illegal immigration and federalism, the NDP leadership race in Canada, and the ongoing troubles of the Catholic Church.

Filibuster Podcast Episode 2, October 18, 2011

Filibuster podcast, episode 2

Hope you guys enjoyed last week’s podcast. I apologize for the awkward way it was uploaded. Hopefully this week’s is a bit more accessible.

This week Jake and I tackle another flurry of fun topics including Sarah Palin, Occupy Wall Street, the Afghanistan War, and whether Mormons are Christians. Enjoy!

Filibuster podcast, Episode 2, October 12, 2011

Podcast pilot

As a Canadian, one thing I’ve always enjoyed is chatting about politics with an American friend, and being able to share and contrast what’s going on in our respective countries. It can lead to some good banter.

For a few weeks now, my Missouri friend Jake and I have been recording private podcasts with each other, trying to see if we could work out a good format. This week, I think we finally came up with something worth listening to.

So here it is, the pilot episode of what I hope will be a reoccurring thing, the Filibuster Podcast. In today’s episode we discuss the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, the GOP primary date battle, the Canadian Supreme Court ruling on the safe injection clinic, and Denmark’s proposed “fat fax.” Let me know what you guys think.

Download the Filibuster Podcast, Episode 1.

New Canada Guide on its way!

Hey guys,

I’m going to be taking a break from writing new blog articles for a while to focus on another project. As I’ve mentioned in passing, a total revamp of my Canada Guide has long been something I’ve wanted to pursue, and now that I have some free time, I’ve finally gotten started.

I got a very cool new WordPress site all set up, and I’m in the process of re-writing most of the existing articles, since much of the old stuff is either outdated, or embarrassingly poorly-written. I’m really hoping that the new site, once finished, will be one of the web’s top reference guides for all things Canadian, particularly for foreigners who are interested in reading a straight-forward, honest, summary of the place, its culture, politics, and history — without a lot of spin, politics, or stuffy political-correctness.

There are expenses associated with the thing, though, and I’m hoping you guys can help me out. I want to raise $200 to help with some of my expenses relating to the project, including some of the fees relating to the URL and hosting, but also some of the research-related expenses I’ve been occurring, such as books and trips and stuff.

I know I have enough readers that I can easily achieve this goal if just a couple people submit a couple bucks. I’d really appreciate anything you could give. To donate, just click on the beaver. I’ll update the bottle as money comes in!




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