The Black Rod

Every now and then we make an effort to clear the backlog of newspapers sitting on chairs in our office in the Baxter Building. And like prospectors panning for gold, we usually stumble across a nugget or two that makes the effort worthwhile. This week it was a column, on the end of the latest session of Parliament, by Lawrence Martin in the Globe and Mail. The piece, 'Harper's angry-man syndrome dominated Parliament' , (June 18/07), at first got a cursory skim-through. Blah blah, the usual, blah blah, Stephen Harper is bad, the Conservatives are bad, if only they were more liberal everything would be good, blah blah. But as we turned the pages, a nagging something kept saying "Go back." We've learned to listen to that little voice, so back we went. Blah blah, Stephen Harper is bad, the Conservatives are bad, blah blah. Same old... But 'nagging something' said keep reading. So, again, we read the column. Slower, line by line. "He took on the

Say it ain't so.... Shriek, The Black Rod's society reporter, tells us a certain fairytale marriage has hit the shoals. It's a dark day indeed for all little girls still dreaming of frog princes, castle weddings and jackets of the finest black leather. The word from the East is that the lovely and talented CBC national reporter Krista Erickson has been a social butterfly lately, sans wedding ring and definitely sans husband. The whereabouts of the aforesaid hubby, Mr. Krista Bob Morrision, are unknown at press time. The Missus, meanwhile, was in full Krista-mode at a recent garden party given by the Speaker of the House in Ottawa, according to Frank magazine. Standing at the entrance with your camera and having your picture taken with Ministers and MPs is a smart move for a newbie trying to get one up on the pack of tired Parliamentary hacks. Being carried around on the shoulder of Pink Scott Brison so that guests get a good look at your derriere is another way of being re

In Brief: · As predicted, following the death of Mullah Dadullah the focus of the fighting has moved east · The long-awaited move to retake the village of Musa Qala from Taliban insurgents has probably begun. · Al Qaeda in Afghanistan needs money. Lots. Quickly. Charlie don't surf and Ahmed don't swim In a fitting metaphor for the sinking fortunes of the Taliban, about 60 insurgents drowned Friday while trying to hightail it away from allied and Afghan forces in the Kajaki district of Helmand province. It's the latest black eye for the insurgents who only three months ago were bragging to Al-Jazeera that they controlled Helmand province and were only waiting until the snows melted before capturing Kandahar province next door. Taliban forces are being chewed to pieces by British-led operations in Helmand. The latest, Operation Lastay Kulang, involves 2000 troops, including 1000 British and U.S. soldiers. The goal is to trap Taliban fighters north of Sangin in the Kajaki Dam