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Wednesday Link-Off: Baloney

morena-baccarin-emmys15-01I love when a good linkdump theme comes together. Today, we’re talking about people that are full of baloney. Normally I would use a stronger word but “baloney” was handed to me in one of the links today and who am I to argue with such a perfect word.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off with Morena Baccarin.

Carly Fiorina was the big star of the most recent Republican Presidential candidate debate. It’s too bad she doesn’t actually have that good business record to stand on that she claims to have. (New York Times)

One would normally associate the GOP with the religious right but they’re planning to boycott and denounce the Pope’s visit to Washington. What is going on? (Salon)

Elections Canada is warning people to watch out for voter suppression tactics. It would be nice if their mandate and funding wasn’t neutered so they could do something about this. (iPolitics)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Follow Your Polls

rachel-mortenson-fredericks15-03It’s funny how much your perspective on an election can be affected by the polls. In #elxn42, what started as a battle between the NDP and CPC with the governing blues on top has seen Harper’s boys drop to an uncomfortable third. Does this mean they’re done? No. We’re some six or seven weeks out from the election. Anything can happen. Putting too much stock in early polls doesn’t do anyone any good.

Anyway, if it’s Wednesday, it must be time for us to do the links. Let’s change things up and kick things off with Rachel Mortenson.

Sun Media ace David Akin went to town on the ethical track record of Prime Minister Harper and the governing Conservative Party. (National Observer)

I think it’s too early to call it a two-way race but the Liberals have vaulted the Conservatives for 2nd in the polls. (CTV News)

How do you ruin a Conservative election campaign? By catching the candidate peeing in someone’s coffee cup. I’m serious. It happened. (CBC News)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The World is Yours

chrissy-teigen-vma15-02You know, I’m really struggling to write something for an intro today. Part of the problem is that I’m quickly coming to the realization that maybe life without a purpose isn’t really life. That’s the problem with Facebook, everyone is quick to say/show how great their life is on there and it just reminds you that yours is comparatively shit. You just want to tell them where to stick it.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday which means that it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off with Chrissy Teigen.

“An entire generation of young workers is missing crucial skills.” (Quartz)

Canada is officially in recession and it’s not just a little oil-related blip like the incumbent government would have you think. (The Globe and Mail)

The newly crowned Mrs. Universe is using her fame to advocate against Prime Minister Stephen Harper for ignoring Canada’s First Nations. (APTN)

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Sunday Link-Off: Spoilers

jessica-lowndes-bretterickson15-01Despite the fact that I wrote way too much about the current state of women’s wrestling in the WWE, I actually have quite a few links for today’s linkdump. As usual, it’s a lot about politics but there isn’t much about gun control this time. I’m hoping to pull together those links for the next post.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for links. Since we have a lot of Canadian themed links, I think that it’s only appropriate to kick-off with Canadian actress Jessica Lowndes.

George Bush doesn’t care about black people: The Definitive History (Huffington Post)

The Canadian military is part of operations against IS in the Middle East. Don’t ask the Kurds what Canada has been up to because Canadian involvement is a surprise to them. (MacLean’s)

What’s the most underplayed story in this year’s Canadian election? The destruction of Canadian election laws and Elections Canada by the current government. (The Guardian)

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Sunday Link-Off: On the Trail

nina-agdal-beachbunny15-12I’d say that the election campaigns north and south of the border are heating up but we’re in a bit of a lull. That’s to be expected, though. There is still two months until the Canadian federal election (#elxn42) and fifteen until the American one. With campaign happening constantly, albeit in an informal way, do we really need these mega campaigns?

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the links. Considering the heatwave that is sweeping through Canada right now, let’s start the post with Nina Agdal.

“Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada, is creating a legacy of secrecy and ignorance.” (New York Times)

Now that America has reopened diplomatic relations with Cuba, how will this affect Cuba? (The Atlantic)

Canadian negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership went to Hawaii with a number of demands for the TPP. They caved on all of them. (Toronto Star)

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Sunday Link-Off: Election Call?

minka-kelly-zimmerman15-01Just when I thought that this might be a quiet week in the news, the Conservative government sounds ready to dissolve Parliament and put us on a long road to an election where they’ll attack ad their way to victory. Granted, polls and projections say Canadians would be happy with an NDP-Liberal coalition to topple the Blues. I’m all for that too.

Anyway, it’s Sunday so it’s time for us to do the links. Making an all too rare appearance from Parts Unknown, here’s Minka Kelly.

Rumour has it that Prime Minister Harper could call an election as early as today. That would kickstart the longest campaign in Canadian history which would be only to the Conservatives’ advantage. (CBC – The House)

Stephen Harper will run on his economic record but his economic record pegs him as the worst Prime Minister on the economy since World War II. (Press Progress)

If the Trans-Pacific Partnership goes through, the CBC and Canada Post could be required to operate as for-profit businesses. We’re in a hell of a lot of trouble if this is approved. (Huffington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Power of Editorial

alexandra-daddario-stndrd15-04So Gawker’s been raked through the coals for the Conde Nast story. What I don’t understand is how people are celebrating the editorial team leaving over the business team pulling the story. To me, it makes perfect sense. If editorial doesn’t get the final say over content, they can’t do their job and have to resign. It’ll sound somewhat ironic to most but Craggs and Read had to take a stand for the sake of their journalistic integrity. Few may be willing to applaud them but I will for that.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday so it’s time for us to do the Wednesday links. Let’s kick things off with Alexandra Daddario.

Some people won’t want you to hear this but Vancouver’s safe needle injection site has been a massive success so far. (MacLean’s)

Gawker execs pulled the Conde Nast story from their website. As a result of business interest interfering with editorial, Gawker Media’s executive editor Tommy Craggs and Gawker.com editor Max Read both resigned. (Gawker)

As a result of the interference with the editorial team, Gawker and Jezebel both went dark on Monday in protest. (New York Times)

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Is Ubisoft Overcharging Canadian Steam Users?

ubisoft-cad-price-headerDuring Steam’s Monster Summer Sale, I noticed something during the Tom Clancy franchise sale. The price of the upcoming Rainbow Six: Siege is $80 CAD. The US dollar price is $60. If you were to pay for the game in USD and have your credit card company convert it to CAD, a Canadian customer would spend $73. That’s an inexplicable loss of $7 as a sort of living in Canada tax (when no sales tax is charged by Steam in Canada) from a company whose biggest development studio is in Canada and receives subsidies from various levels of Canadian government.

It’s not just the Canadians who are losing out for not living in America. According to the Steam All Region Price Checker extension, British customers are being charged the equivalent of $80 USD and others in the EU will be paying the equivalent of $68 USD.

So why are certain countries paying more than other and who is at fault for the price discrepancies?

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Wednesday Link-Off: Video Game Break

meg-turney-playboy15-02Let’s take a little time to get away from our coverage of E3 2015. Don’t worry, I’ll have trailers from all of the press conferences at E3 and then some news coverage of the more exciting announcements and reveals at the convention.

Right now, it’s time for us to look at some of the other important happenings in the world outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center with the Wednesday links. Keeping with the E3 theme, though, here’s Meg Turney.

CSIS warned the Province of Ontario that a cabinet minister could be under China’s influence. The provincial government disregarded the spy agency. (The Globe and Mail)

Donald Trump is planning to run for President. Philip Bump tried fact-checking the speech but found it to be completely impossible. (Washington Post)

How is Kansas paying for its tax cut for the rich? Raising taxes that will most adversely affect the poor. (Think Progress)

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Wednesday Link-Off: Investigate This

salma-hayek-guyschoice15-01bIf there’s one thing that I’m a fan of, it’s an empowered press corps. Often times, the press are at their best when they try to do actual reporting. When investigative reporting works, it’s one of the great public services. Of course, as an ex-newsman, I might be a little biased there.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the Wednesday set of links. Let’s kick things off with Salma Hayek.

The boss of Canadian investigative reporters, Kevin Donovan, just took down another big star. This time, it’s the CBC’s Evan Solomon. (Toronto Star)

Investigative reporting isn’t just the realm of newspapers any more. InTouch did some solid investigative reporting to break the Duggar story. (Washington Post)

One of the reasons that Sepp Blatter got re-elected (for four days) as FIFA president was because of the help he supposedly gave poorer soccer nations. While they’re getting money, they aren’t improving because of it. (FiveThirtyEight)

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