As IF Times

link Al-Qaeda magazines become slicker, niche-oriented – USATODAY.com.

Luckily for readers of this blog, we’ve been able to get an early preview of the latest edition of Al-Qaeda Today.  Some of the articles include:

Hot Spring Suicide Colors – Whites and Blacks are out, bright pastels are in.  See the hottest suicide gear from Europe. 

Grooming Tips – What are the hottest fragrances?  What the hip bombers are wearing.

The New Youth Movement – How younger bombers are undermining the classically trained ones.  Are Ipods in the field sacrilegious?

Are You Prepared For 72? – What to say when first meeting your new fan base.  Also, what if they’re not your type? 

Other Career Choices – Is a position in Cell Leadership less fulfilling?

Credit Blues – simple and obvious solutions; go for the 30 year loan.

The Bucket List – Things to do and places to visit before you go, part 2 of a series.

Hot Food and Wine Pairings – Will Pinot work well with Camel for the last meal?

The success of this publication has been unexpected as circulation increases by the tens every month.  Of course, they lose about that amount every month as well.  Still, the proliferation of the Bomber lifestyle has spawned imitators.  Apparently, a copycat publication, Today’s Modern Bomber is about to launch as well, but intended to capture a wider, hopefully western audience.  This magazine will address green and other sustainability issues involved with modern explosives.   There will be hard hitting interviews with the likes of Michael Moore and Al Gore, which will serve to convince readers that the West does indeed need to be obliterated.  There’s also talk that there will be a centerfold section, entitled Burqua Babe of the month, but the sensibilities of women’s groups may nix this.   The real brilliance will be the creation of an IPad Edition so subscribers can get access in the field.  This will have an interactive on-line bombing game simulation.  You have to cater to the youth demographic these days.

link  Right-wing Sun News Network set to launch with promise of ‘straight talk’ – News1130.

If they had tried to stage this type of publicity, it would have cost them millions.  Instead, the new Sun News Network has already stirred the leftist elements in Canadian society to rise up in angst over what they view as inappropriate news content for the innocent public.   By virture of all this protest, the new Sun  network is guaranteed some big viewership numbers out of the gate.   Literary moguls, at least by Canadian standards, such as Margaret Atwood have spoken out against the impending launch of the network…. and they have yet to even hit the air.  Does she know what the content will be in advance of everyone else?  Even if she did, I don’t recall an election whereby she won the right to censor media content on behalf of 30 million Canadians. 

Pit bulls are a breed of dog that appeal to a certain type of owner.  The shih-tzu and cat set probably wouldn’t go for them, but imagine if someone opposed the ability for anyone to own a pit bull.  Imagine if someone tried to block the sale of rap music or Yanni’s latest offering.  While arguably admirable pursuits, the fact is, people are free NOT to consume such cultural treasures.   Margaret Atwood has taken umbrage with the idea of  Sun News and wants it banned before it even begins.   It’s as if she became the  Appointee Responsible for Media, Public Information and Television, or ARMPIT.  How did Atwood appoint herself Canada’s ARMPIT?  Ex-CBC newsman Don Newman groused about ‘the end of Canadian journalism”, whatever that means. 

While intriguing as a concept, we won’t know until we see the content of the new Sun News Network to determine if they are any good or if they will add anything to the news menu.   At the very least, it promises to offer relief from generations of delusional and inane broadcasting offered in Canada.  South of the border in the U.S., they also have delusional programming with laughable pretensions to objectivity, but at least they are not supported by the taxpayer as is our own CBC.  In fact, it can be argued that the whole notion  of ” Canadian-ness” has been shaped by the CBC for generations rather than being a media outlet that reflects Canadian society.  The relevance of the Toronto-centric media to the rest of Canada is comparable to the New York-centric media to the rest of the U.S.  Canada has grown sufficiently as a nation that it  needs dissenting voices from the homogeneous lump of national media as it exists today.  There should not be a ‘national news voice’ for our country any more than there should be a national news voice for the U.S.

With Sun’s launching, it’s hopeful  the new network does actually give voice to Canadians not in the circle of media acolytes centered in Toronto.  I suspect many Canadians are tired of the Global Warming charade being debated by David Suzuki vs someone from the left.  It’s doubtful the rest of Canada thinks Murray Mclauchlan is representative of Canada’s music genius.  And come on,  as iconic as he is, Lloyd Robertson is 77! Why is he still reading the news? He is like the Yoda of Canadian broadcasting.    Couldn’t they find someone in their ’60’s?  At the very least, Sun will provide jobs for some younger broadcasters.  Maybe it’ll be an impetus for some of the other news dinosaurs to retire.