The Black Rod

If you blinked you missed it. Starring Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett and screen veteran Robert Redford, the movie titled "Truth" came and went and nobody noticed. Despite opening in more than 1100 theatres, this certified stinkeroo, which cost $9.6 million to make, has grossed barely $2.5 million. So why mention it? Because its the celluloid apologia for Rathergate, the infamous scandal where CBS tried to influence the 2004 American presidential election by smearing George Bush with a phony story on 60 Minutes (Wednesday edition) hosted by Dan Rather.   When the documents used by Rather to attack George Bush proved to be fraudulent, show producer Mary Mapes was fired and Dan Rather's career was over.   The only thing left behind was the mantra adopted by bad reporters everywhere: the evidence is false, but the story is true. The real heroes of Rathergate were the bloggers and internet commenters who rose up together to take the false story apart, line b...

The looting of Winnipeg started almost as soon as Phil Sheegl got on the city payroll. And it lasted almost until the day he quit. That's the cold truth you're left with after reading the latest audit presented to city hall, an audit of five years of real estate deals conducted by the city under Sheegl's watch. Phil Sheegl, the best friend of Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz, was hired in April, 2008, as the director of the city's department of planning, property and development. In  November, 2008, he was appointed deputy Chief Administrative Officer, and in 2011 he replaced Glen Laubenstein as CAO. Three months after Sheegl got the planning job, the city announced it was looking for real estate advisors and brokers to "assist the city with real estate transactions".  They eventually qualified five. "In the transactions where an external advisor was retained, there was no documentation explaining the rationale why an external adv...

My, my....has it only been two months since The Black Rod broke the story of millions of dollars in cost overruns on the new Blue Bombers stadium? The Winnipeg MSM ignored the story as long as they could, but by early September, when even the Hamilton Spectator was reporting the  cost of the stadium was approaching a quarter of a billion dollars, they were forced to do some reporting of their own. http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2013/09/winnipeg-blue-bombers-are-staring-at-40.html These days you can barely pick up a newspaper without seeing another story on the stadium as the Bombers admit the facility has repeatedly breached the "guaranteed" maximum price of $190 million. The difference is that our primary source, who we're calling A Person In A Position To Know, says the cost overrun is in the vicinity of $40 million, and the Blue Bombers only 'fess up to $14 million.  But given our man's accuracy so far, including the detail way ...

Open wide, folks. Mary Poppins sang how a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down--- and the first win by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their spanking new football stadium is as sweet as it gets. But now it's time for your medicine. While watching the game we thought that it was a good time to catch up with A Person In A Position To Know. We introduced him to you back in July with his hot tip about the cost overruns on the stadium that were being kept under wraps. http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2013/07/hidden-winnipeg-blue-bombers-stadium.html Yikes. No sooner did we touch base with APIAPTK than we realized that the team's new acting CEO Wade Miller is sitting on the biggest powder keg in blue-and-gold history.  When she blows, the blast will be monumental. And this time, A Person In A Position To Know is not the only source of the explosive news. During a recent on-line chitchat about stadium matters, when a curious football fan asked ...

Do you smell another city audit coming? This bombshell has been ticking away on the Internet for more than a week. Jul 4, 2013, 3:56 AM wait until the final cost overruns become public....yowza....upwards of 20%....still dealing with screw ups like having to go back and insulate a two season mechanical system. We're not going to identify the source other than to say its A Person In A Position To Know. The official price of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers stadium is $190 million. Add a 20 percent cost overrun ($38 million) and you have a stadium that's costing almost DOUBLE what was originally proposed to city taxpayers . But, but, but...wasn't the stadium built at a fixed price, with all overruns the responsibility of the contractor?  Phil Sheegl, chairman of BBB Stadium Inc. (Blue Bombers-Bisons), the entity that built the stadium, says so. http://forums.bluebombers.com/index.php?topic=32791.0 But The Person In A Position To Know says not.  .....