Six In The Morning

Special anger edition!

1. WILL PAT COME BACK? Regina mayor Pat Fiacco will announce his "plans for the future" this a.m. Prediction: he'll run for mayor again this fall. UPDATE: Carle Steel predicts he's going to announce a haircut. UPDATE 2: Paul Dechene wonders if the mayor's office, which already doesn't return his phone calls, has now taken to not sending us press releases about surprise morning news conferences. Good question! I didn't get a press release, but maybe there's one kicking around here somewhere. There probably is, because it would be freaking incompetent if the mayor's people didn't send press releases to Regina media outlets that regularly cover Regina politics. And I refuse to believe there could be possibly be incompetence at City Hall. (Leader-Post).

2. NDP LEADERSHIP TOMFOOLERY The provincial NDP is looking into possible shenanigans after people from the Meadow Lake constituency who don't want to be party members say memberships were bought for them. This morning CBC radio reported the campaign in question was Lingenfelter's. (Star Phoenix)

3. WE BROKE IT SO WE SHOULD GET TO FIX IT Freshly-decreed non-interim Liberal emperor Michael Ignatieff says he wants to fight the next federal election --which could come in June -- on E.I. reform. (Toronto Star)

4. YAY, KNOWLEGE-BASED ECONOMY A top Canadian scientist say's he's leaving the country thanks to Conservatives cuts to research funding. He studies AIDS. Yeah, that's not important or anything. (Globe And Mail)

5. SWINE FLU BLAH BLAH BLAH Mexico prepares to lower the alert. (New York Times)

6. SHINY NEWNESS Regina's Leader-Post-owned Community Sun had a surprise this weekend: a new glossy lifestyle magazine called Arriva (because, says the editor, "Regina has arrived"). But Steve, you ask, how much bullshit fluff content did they cram into the thing? Well, I'm actually going to read the article on Regina architect Bernie Flaman, which looks interesting. I'm less captivated by the slobbery feature on The Rooftop restaurant, which everyone I know who's been there describes as over-priced and underwhelming (although in fairness I'm hearing really great things about their cocktails.) Anyway, it's always good that Regina businesses too chickenshit or too unimaginative to advertise in prairie dog (16 years in business, well-established, interesting content more often than not, doesn't sell ads in exchange for bullshit positive articles) have another uncritical, barely interesting publication to throw their marketing money at. Did I mention it's shiny?