I haven’t posted much for the past week or so and that will be the case for another week as I travel to the Left Coast.  Enjoy your summer!!!

The world of mass media advertising is limited, it seems, to heterosexual couples. Check out this TV commercial broadcast on British television.  The ad for Mayo by the Heinz company was pulled after viewer complaints.

So, the backup gets a chance to replace the regular TV News anchor on a U.S. station.  However, as he reads his first few lines, listen to what happens when he forgets to ‘pause’ at the appropriate place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG4UMxP3HsM

According to this Canwest report, several positive developments have happened between First Nations and Jewish people since the ugly outburst by former Saskatchewan Indian leader David Ahenakew  in 2002. He was convicted of wilfully promoting hatred against Jews but his conviction was later overturned and a new trial ordered.

First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine says, “The Jewish and First Nations people have discovered they have lots in common.”   That’s why I believe it is a mistake to proceed with a second trial.  Ahenakew has been publicly shamed and humiliated enough for his anti-Semitic rant.

China’s President Hu Jintao made his first public appearance on the Internet the other day, answering questions from surfers.  According to this Reuters report carried in the Globe and Mail, President Hu only answered two questions.  Unfortunately, no one got a chance to ask him what he thinks of Internet censorship but at least it’s a start. 

Here is President Hu’s response to one question about whether he could see the problems and suggestions raised by people on the Internet.

“We pay a lot of attention to the advice and suggestions raised by surfers … We need to listen to the people’s voices broadly and consolidate people’s wisdom to do things and make decisions. To find out public opinion and collect people’s wisdom through the Internet is also an important channel.”

President Hu spits out the same kind of gibberish as our politicians, yet he doesn’t have to run for publicly-elected office like they do.

This reporter may have been just too close to his subject!

CBC-TV political reporter, Geoff Leo, will anchor CBC News at 6 starting next Wednesday.  Leo replaces CBC’s veteran host Costa Maragos who is taking advantage of a self-funded leave program offered by the network.  Maragos’ last show will be this Friday.  He’ll be off until mid-January, 2009. 

Saskatoon reporter Kaveri Bittera who also auditioned for the position will host CBC News at 6 this coming Monday and Tuesday.  Costa told me earlier that he wanted to try something different.  One thing he plans to do is to spend more time with his two young children.

Here’s something I learned today.  Britain was the largest arms dealer in the world last year exporting over 20 billion dollars in weapons and equipment.  That’s greater than 2nd place United States.

And who is the biggest buyer?  It is Saudi Arabia which is using its considerable oil wealth to buy almost 33 billion dollars in weapons over the past five years.  What exactly is this mid-East country doing with all these weapons?

Tiger Woods’ season has come to a crashing end with news that he will have reconstructive surgery on his injured knee.  Woods, the most phenomenal professional athlete in the world, won the U.S. Open this past Monday in dramatic fashion in a playoff while hobbling around the course, grimacing in pain. Woods’ performance was all the more impressive now that it has been revealed on his website that he had a stress fracture and had been advised by his doctors not to play the U.S. Open.

So much for the expert analysis by a trio of Bozos on the Score Network who claimed he was embellishing his injury and deserved an Oscar!

Even Canadian TV news networks recognized Woods’ news value by airing feature reports on his quest for his 14th major golf championship.  Tiger is a huge draw and will be sorely missed by the American TV networks whose audience ratings will undoubtedly drop in the absence of Woods.  I’m certain that in network boardrooms, they are already discussing the pursuit of Woods as a golf commentator for the rest of the season.