BEAUTIFUL MINDS

[Yodeler]

"The National Post is conducting a companion search to find Canada's most important public intellectual. Our Beautiful Minds competition defines a public intellectual as someone who has shown distinction in his or her own field, and can communicate ideas and influence debate outside of it. All candidates must be living, have a strong connection to Canada, and be active in public life. Post employees and columnists are ineligible. Selected candidates will be championed by Post contributors, with one profiled daily. As profiles are published, they will appear on the contest site, www. nationalpost.com/beautifulminds. In early November, the site will be open for voting, and readers will be invited to pick their favourite public intellectual. Write-in candidates will be welcomed."

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpos...uals/index.html

So far only Barbara Kay and Robert Fulford have written in their candidates, Mark Steyn and Margaret MacMillan respectively.

My write-in candidate will be Preston Manning. (my betting windows are open!)

Who's your pick??

[Yodeler]

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpos...uals/index.html

"This fall, Britain's Prospect and America's Foreign Policy magazines are asking readers to pick their favourite "Public intellectual" from a list of 100 world-renowned thinkers. The winner will be announced next month."

It'll be interesting to see if a Canadian manages to sneak in on THAT list.

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[BHS]

Not my own idea, but has Ralston-Saul been nominated? I figure it's just a matter of time...

Trudeau too. Some partisan old biddy will figure out a reason to brand His Swingness an intellectual. (I'm looking forward to replies to this statement.)

My best guess: Marshall McLuhan has the lock.

Or Gretzky. It's a toss-up. (That's a joke, by the way.)

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear BHS,

Trudeau too. Some partisan old biddy will figure out a reason to brand His Swingness an intellectual. (I'm looking forward to replies to this statement.)

My best guess: Marshall McLuhan has the lock.

Or Gretzky. It's a toss-up. (That's a joke, by the way.)

Gretzky has the best chance of the three. One of the stipulations is that the person must be living.

[Yodeler]

Not my own idea, but has Ralston-Saul been nominated? I figure it's just a matter of time...

Trudeau too. Some partisan old biddy will figure out a reason to brand His Swingness an intellectual. (I'm looking forward to replies to this statement.)

My best guess: Marshall McLuhan has the lock.

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Which Trudeau? If you mean Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, he is dead and thus doesn't qualify. Pity! He would give Preston Manning a run for his money.

The same goes for your pick, Marshal McLuhan. Dead as a doornail, thus doesn't qualify.

Wanna bet John against my Presto?

[Melanie_]

I'm voting for David Suzuki. He is distinctive in his field, and communicates ideas and influences debate outside of it. Plus, he looks excellent in a fig leaf!

http://host101.ipowerweb.com/~girlsgof/ima...zukifigleaf.jpg

[Yodeler]

Gretzky has the best chance of the three.

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Any MLWeb's poster has a better chance of winning than Gretzky, IMO.

Not being here long enough to pick one I put all of the handles I could remember into a paper beg and then picked one. PocketRocket came up.

You seem like a veteren here, theloniusfleabag, who do you think most deserves to be picked?

[Riverwind]

Any MLWeb's poster has a better chance of winning than Gretzky, IMO.

If they use an online poll to determine the winner then Gretzky stands a pretty good chance. The CBC made that mistake when they had their 'greatest canadian' contest and Don Cherry made the short list - what a joke.

[Toro]

Well I'm voting for Don Cherry.

[Yodeler]

Well I'm voting for Don Cherry.

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It's a better bet than Gretzky, that's for sure!

Sparhawk seems to have brawn and brains a little mixed up.

[Yodeler]

I'm voting for David Suzuki. He is distinctive in his field, and communicates ideas and influences debate outside of it. Plus, he looks excellent in a fig leaf!

http://host101.ipowerweb.com/~girlsgof/ima...zukifigleaf.jpg

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After what he did to fruit flies? I don't think so.

Now if you said David Frum you'd have a good bet.

I wonder if he qualifies?

[theloniusfleabag]

Dear Yodeler,

You seem like a veteren here, theloniusfleabag, who do you think most deserves to be picked?

That is a toughie. I Read a lot, but mostly about military history/politics. Gwynne Dyer is a smart man, but a pundit. I always enjoy reading his stuff, though, his analysis and acumen are sharp as a tack. Margaret Atwood is one of Canada's greatest writers. Edgar Bronfman Sr., an astute and philanthropic ( in his own way) business owner.

Then again, I'd probably vote for me.

[Yodeler]

Well I'm voting for Don Cherry.

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Tonny Keller beat you to it, profiling him in the National Post today.

I still cannot believe that Don Cherry made it into this "Beautiful Minds" competition.

Upon reading an article by Charles Krauthammer in my NP today, I'm now itching to put all my money on him if he qualifies and makes it in.

Here's an excerpt from that cheery little column that he wrote:

"While official Washington was consumed with political matters last week, relatively unnoticed was perhaps the most momentous event of our lifetime - what's left of it, as I shall explain. It was announced that American scientists have just created a living, killing copy of the 1918 "Spanish" flu.

This is big. Very big. """...........................""" One batch of 1918 flu has the capacity for mass destruction that no Bond villain could ever dream of. Why try to steal loose nukes in Russia? A nuke can only destroy a city. The flu virus, properly evolved, is potentially a destroyer of civilizations.

We might have just given it to our enemies.

Have a nice day."

He's the greatest!

[Riverwind]

That is a toughie. I Read a lot, but mostly about military history/politics. Gwynne Dyer is a smart man, but a pundit. I always enjoy reading his stuff, though, his analysis and acumen are sharp as a tack.

If Don Cherry is on the list then Gwynne Dyer should be. He would get my vote.

[newbie]

David Suzuki

[I Miss Trudeau]

Who's your pick??

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My buddy Dave.

[Yodeler]

David Suzuki

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David Suzuki, eh? What is it? A motorcycle?

[Yodeler]

Who's your pick??

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My buddy Dave.

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Dave who?

[Yodeler]

Upon reading an article by Charles Krauthammer in my NP today, I'm now itching to put all my money on him if he qualifies and makes it in.

Here's an excerpt from that cheery little column that he wrote:

"While official Washington was consumed with political matters last week, relatively unnoticed was perhaps the most momentous event of our lifetime - what's left of it, as I shall explain. It was announced that American scientists have just created a living, killing copy of the 1918 "Spanish" flu.

This is big. Very big.  """..........................."""  One batch of 1918 flu has the capacity for mass destruction that no Bond villain could ever dream of. Why try to steal loose nukes in Russia? A nuke can only destroy a city. The flu virus, properly evolved, is potentially a destroyer of civilizations.

We might have just given it to our enemies.

Have a nice day."

He's the greatest!

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I was going to include the URL with my excerpt from Mr. Krauthammer's article but I couldn't dig him up in the National Post online. It pissed me off so I finally went to my Washington Post where he put it out four days earlier. Here it is .... ENJOY.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5101301783.html

PS - Charles Krauthammer IS the greatest and deserves to win the Beautiful Minds competition! And this article deserves a thread of it's own! Don't you think?

The best article of 2005, IMO.

[Yodeler]

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpos...uals/index.html

Just to keep you all up to date ..... today Lorne Gunter nominated Tom Flanagan.

I already can't wait for tomorrow because that's when my favorite Muslim lady, Irshad Manji, will be nominated.

She is a riot!

I don't think she's got enough in her to win but I hope that she at least shows or places.

[Yodeler]

The CBC made that mistake when they had their 'greatest canadian' contest and Don Cherry made the short list - what a joke.

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http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpos...uals/index.html

They entered Don Cherry in this contest just to get the hosers to vote.

He ain't gonna win.

[Yodeler]

I already can't wait for tomorrow because that's when my favorite Muslim lady, Irshad Manji, will be nominated.

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Ever since that Muslim filly drew in things got awfully quiet around here.

Is everyone here starting to suspect as I do, that she's a shoe-in, a ringer, and a definite winner?

My best bet of the year ... she is.

[kimmy]

I already can't wait for tomorrow because that's when my favorite Muslim lady, Irshad Manji, will be nominated.

Ever since that Muslim filly drew in things got awfully quiet around here.

I expect the silence on the subject is because the only people Canadians find less interesting than Intellectuals are Urban Hipsters.

I remember once, a long time ago, when the newspaper ran a poll about its comics section. Some comics received considerable support from the readers. Some received little support and were dropped. But one comic in particular received a response that surprised the editors.

That comic was called "Shoe", and it was about a crusty newspaper writer and his nephew and their acquaintences. The writer and the rest of the cast happen to be talking, clothes-wearing birds, but that's neither here nor there. The point worth mentioning was that the readership let the editors know that it hated "Shoe" with the intensity of a white hot sun. The editors were taken aback. Their response (to paraphrase)

"...we never imagined that people hate Shoe this much. We always thought a comic about life in the newspaper business was a good idea. Maybe that's because we're in the newspaper business. Apparently the rest of you don't agree."

Another example of the theme was the World Series of Baseball a few years ago that pitted the Mets against the Yankees. The American media, being largely centered in New York, was convinced that the "Subway Series" would captivate the whole country. After all, everybody's fascinated by New York. And it was a huge TV ratings success... in New York. Everywhere else, it was a ratings disaster. It wound up being one of the lowest-rated World Series of all time.

So what's this got to do with "Beautiful Minds"? Well, my point (and I do have one ) is that a back-patting contest for writers and media-darlings is probably of keen interest... to other writers and media-darlings. To the rest, it's probably a lot less interesting.

Is everyone here starting to suspect as I do, that she's a shoe-in, a ringer, and a definite winner?

My best bet of the year ... she is.

Sounds good to me. Anybody with the gonads to critique Islam deserves some credit.

-k

[Yodeler]

My best bet of the year ... she is.

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Sounds good to me. Anybody with the gonads to critique Islam deserves some credit.

-k

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Does that mean that you are going to bet her?

You should, you know! There are more eyes focused on her today than there are on all the other entrants the NP can muster.

But, does the NP have the gumption to pull her through, that IS the question?

If they do they'll definitely make a big splash world wide with this 'Public Intellectual' competition.

SO WHAT if the Toronto subway gets blasted .... if not there, it'll happen somewhere else because the terrorists today are running on all cylinders, but, luckily, are not yet equipped enough to blow up ALL the infidels that their hearts desire.

Keep on appeasing them as Paul Martin does and soon they will.

[Yodeler]

There are more eyes focused on her today than there are on all the other entrants the NP can muster.

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Just in case you didn't understand ... what I meant was that there are MORE eyes focused on her then there are on ALL of the others put together.

And that's a fact.