The Black Rod

The Shadow has a higher public profile than he does. You couldn't pick him out of a line-up.  If his picture has ever been posted anywhere, let us know. What is known is that he's got bigger cojones than anyone at City Hall.  This year he stared down the mayor of Winnipeg and the mayor's closest friend and ally,the city's chief administrative officer, who happens to be the most powerful man in city government. By the time he got through with them, they were sitting in council chambers like frightened schoolboys in the principal's office as they watched their power to intimidate city councillors evaporate into thin air. And because of him, those councillors developed some backbone for the first time in living memory and showed they could take the reins of government away from unelected administrators if they wanted. The Black Rod's Newsmaker of the Year---city auditor Brian Whiteside. Way back as far as last January, Whiteside gave a warning th...

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!! What's wrong with all you people? Don't you know that this warm weather is a harbinger of doom? Haven't we been told over and over again for the past 10 years that global warming will bring the end of mankind? That Mother Earth herself is at risk? And here you are, celebrating the early spring, raking your lawns with gusto, taking your dear children for walks when you should be praying for another six weeks of harsh winter to preserve the world for those very offspring. Fie, we say. Fie. Oh well. There's nothing we can do but clear our desks of the clutter that's piled up this gorgeous month and write our annual March Madness issue. Spring Romance The Green Party knows the end is nigh. But its too busy plotting merger with the Liberal Party of Manitoba, or so we were told earlier this month. Talk about madness. Who in the world cares about what the Green Party and the Liberal Party are doing? Zero meet zero. ...