Traffic for the WTF Election #elxn41

There’s a decent chance that Canadians will wake up on Tuesday morning having traded Stephen Harper and his crowd of federal Conservatives for Jack Layton leading a raft of new members of parliament many of whom were only names on a ballot before Monday.

Just think about it for a minute.

The entire country winds up where Ontario was in October 1990.  People woke up across that province, looked around and realised that a whole bunch of them had marked their ballot for the Dippers figuring that they were the only ones doing it.  It was a province-wide 11-beer beautiful moments too many of have discovered we had on the morning after the night before.

This one could make the Guinness book of records for most people doing a simultaneous forehead slap.

In more modern language, this could become “The WTF Election” as Canadians look at the news Tuesday and wonder what-the-f**k everyone else was thinking when they got to the polling station.

Nobody can say that elections are boring and no one should ever complain about democracy in action.

People get exactly the government they deserve, every time.

And they also get to tell us what posts are most interesting here in this corner of the cyber-universe.  This week is no exception:

1. Conservative householder a multi-level bust
2. Bloc NDP would change party’s NL position
3. Advance Poll turn-out comparison
4. The choice is clear
5. The cost of doing business:  Muskrat Falls version
6. The peter principle
7. “The prize is worth the fight”:  Hearn rebuts Skinner on Muskrat Falls
8. US diplomatic cable reveals Emera trepidation about talks with Williams on Lower Churchill Falls
9. Attack of the fluffy bunnies
10. Nail ‘em up I say

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The Weekly Traffic

No one will miss the very fitting result of this week’s edition of your weekly traffic survey.

Frankly your humble e-scribbler was a wee bit surprised that an old post about measuring the effectiveness of your public relations program could garner so much attention.

But there it is.

Take note that two of the big stories this week discuss cheaper alternatives to the Muskrat Falls proposal and another one discusses the government’s overall plan to pay for Muskrat falls by boosting electricity rates in the province.

Maybe people are starting to catch on that this Muskrat Falls project is a money loser for the people of the province.

One other little tidbit to draw to your attention:  Friday’s post on Kathy Dunderdale possibly knowing about the JSS contract in advance (but staying silent) went up on Friday and got to Number Four for the week.

That tells you one thing and that isn;t good news for the Premier.  Friday’s usually a pretty dead day. If a Friday post goes into the Top 10, you know you have something people are very interested in reading.  That story might well carry over into next week.  Evidently this is a story that is too important to disappear in a cloud of foolishness about sexist attacks.

As for the traffic volume here at Bond Papers, it’s up again this week.

Take that for what it’s worth.

1. Mine is bigger than yours:  measuring the impact of public relations
2. Kremlinology 35:  Premier shows strain
3. Former hydro director points to another alternative to costly Muskrat Falls scheme
4. Did Kathy know about the JSS withdrawal in advance?
5. Invented story:  political appointee attacks government’s political opponent
6. Province settles expropriation with Enel, Sun Life and others
7. Making the people pay more for electricity
8. Fukushima kinda meltdown:  Collins cancer contract contradictions crumble credibility
9. Another cheaper, greener alternative to Muskrat Falls
10. Missouri lawyer adds to Collins cancer contract contradictions

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Traffic with no misleading edits, April 4-8 2011

1. A new Sprung greenhouse in the wilds of Labrador
2. Invented story:  political appointee and CBC attack government’s political opponent
3. Another cheaper, greener alternative to Muskrat Falls
4. Numeracy problems
5. Mother Corp news geniuses are Nl electricity price gurus
6. Dunderdale admits to cheap power exports
7. PC Party exec voted to remove “Federal Conservative Party” from party constitution in 2008
8. Average NL family to pay $1000 extra per year for Muskrat Falls power: former PC finance minister
9. PC Party voted 180K for anti-Harper campaign in 2008
10. Getting their stories straight

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End of March Madness Traffic, March 28 to April 1 2011

The top 10 posts as selected by Bond Papers readers:

1. The New Dave Denine
2. No federal dough but big media “D’oh! on Muskrat Falls
3. Don’t step in the media spin:  2011 election edition
4. Election Eleven:  NL seats at the start
5. Bond Papers readers know more than provincial energy minister
6. Torque Wars:  Media, politicians and the Muskrat Falls loan guarantee
7. All good Tories flocking together…again
8. Williams knifes successor
9. Connie candidate’s mother opposes Labrador hydro project
10. Don Mills:  pollster PIFO genius

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March Traffic Madness 2011

Well a month after tightening up comments and eliminating the anonymous types, the traffic went up. 

It still running about 50% higher than September.

Take that, Bembridge scholars!

And what specific posts did these insightful people read?

1. HMV
2. Patronage, pure and simple
3. Matthews bails on board position
4. Operation Ridiculous
5. Cleary to unquit for NDP again?
6. Good Tory?  End of story.
7. Head-scratching and nose-pulling over latest twist in Matthews appointment debacle
8. Taking power without an election
9. Dunderdale boosts Tory support from last Williams poll
10. No Equalization offsets for Quebec.

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Traffic without restructuring

1. Layton will cave
2. Quebec interested in lunatic megaproject
3. Noseworthiness, redux
4. Connies drop
5. Atlantic energy co-operation:  where Lower is higher
6. Whiff and poof
7. Dippers fear Byrning in St. John’s East
8. The Four Horsemen and government finances
9. Never heard that before
10. Jackman runs from fisheries restructuring report

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Environmentally debatable traffic, Jan 31 to February 4

Two stories this week to lighten the mood.

First:  a poster in the Health Sciences Centre announcing an event for February.  Someone crossed out the first “r” as a spelling mistake.  Likely the same person changed the spelling just down the hall to read nook-yoo-lur medicine.

Second:  Surely to merciful jumpin’s Conservative candidate Vaughn Granter did not dismiss Liberal Mark Watton’s experience in the Prime Minister’s Office or a federal cabinet minister’s office as cavalierly as it sounded.

“Some experience”?

“Could be some advantage”?

Could be a disadvantage?

That’s pretty sad for a guy who isn’t from Corner Brook originally who is trying to play himself as the local boy.

Take a listen to the campaign report linked above, by the way and notice that Granter did little besides run down his opponent and talk himself up personally.  Mark Watton, on the other hand, talked sensibly about issues that are actually of concern to the people in the district.

Huge difference.

Anyway, for those who came for the weekly hit parade, here are the week’s top stories as selected by readers.

1. Tweet of the week (early edition)
2. More of the same…
3. Financials key to Lower Churchill
4. Not the best campaign strategy, maybe
5. A Hugh Shea for our time
6. Strings and all
7. The old hum on the Humber
8. PIFO:  newly minted minister in trouble in own district
9. Ronald Harper
10. Finance minister cops to unsustainable spending

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The GWS Monthly Traffic

That upward traffic trend that started a couple of months ago continues to surge here at Bond Papers.

The number of visitors in October jumped 10% from September and then another 39% from October to November. Cumulatively, the jump is 53% from September to November. Page views are up by the same percentages.

What people were reading in November is an interesting mixture, to say the least. Just take a gander:

1. Court docket now online
2. Introducing Premier Kathy Dunderdale
3. Williams announces political exit plan
4. No US market for Lower Churchill power:  NL deputy premier
5. Kremlinology 20:  Who will replace Danny? and Shatner  - F**k You  [tie]
6. The Delusion of Competence
7. Williams on his political future
8. US and NL taxpayers might help subsidize costly big hydro project and Talking to Canadians [tie]
9. Thin-skinned or what? A one sentence post about Sarah Palin but evidently people thought it was about someone else.
10. Introducing Premier Dunderdale:  patronage and the Public Tender Act

 

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Traffic Check-up November 22 - 26

1. Williams on his political future
2. Introducing Premier Kathy Dunderdale
3. Muskrat Falls = expensive power
4. The political uses of talk radio
5. Take from me this cup…
6. No US market for Lower Churchill power: NL deputy premier
7. Doubling electricity rates for the Lower Churchill:  then and now
8. Lower Churchill opinion:  the End
9. Blind, deaf, mute and no sense of smell
10. Introducing Premier Dunderdale: patronage and the Public Tender Act

An exceptional week led to an exceptional switch around in the traffic patterns.  Interest in the Lower Churchill remains very high, although Danny Williams’ resignation created some interest in both your humble e-scribbler’s comments on this in the weeks leading up to his departure as well as interest in the current deputy premier.

Suitably, this week also marked the publication of an article that documented so much of what made Danny Williams’ persistent mythology.  At the same time, readers also got to follow a real-time example of exactly the sort of manipulation the academics are talking about and that Bond Papers introduced you to in 2006.

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Sky Captain and the Traffic of Tomorrow, November 15 - 19

Good boy, Dex.

People are loving the deal that wasn’t.

Here are the top 10 posts at Bond Papers for the past week, as determined by what the visitors are reading.

1. The World of Tomorrow:  media studies Ph.d edition
2. Muskrat Love
3. The World of Tomorrow
4. Williams announces political exit plan
5. The World of Tomorrow:  Basic Math
6. The politics of energy subsidies
7. Lower Churchill MOU – developing
8. Hydro:  different province.  same political problem.  same political solution
9. Court docket now online
10. Full of sound and fury

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Unromantic Traffic, October 18-25

1. No Dawn gives another Lower Churchill setback
2. The rent is too damn high
3. Court docket now online
4. Priorities
5. Guaranteed Annual Income
6. Bond Papers needs your vote
7. Tom Rideout meets the Bride of Frankenstein
8. More Showboat!
9. New Dawn without Light
10. Showboat!

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Traffic Drivers, September 27 – October 1

1. 24 French
2. The Politicisation of Public Emergencies
3. Cringeworthy 2
4. Jane Taber – Twit
5. Court docket now online
6. Recovery effort continues
7. Cringeworthy
8. For all the perception problems…
9. Freedom from Information Week:  the colour of invisibility
10. NL only province to post jump in EI claims in July

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Traffic Drivers, August 16-20

1. Orcas and minke whales off Newfoundland:  video
2. When it sucks to be you (link to GovSpeak translator)
3. Williams, Dexter ink secret energy deal…but with whom?
4. No surprise in Quebec’s position on federal cash
5. One Big Election
6. The Tory Tao of Political Pork
7. Housing bubble bursts – Conference Board
8. The Expropriation Fiasco drags on
9. The truth of fiction
10. Insights into the Premier’s mindset (Henley v. Cable Atlantic)

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Traffic Drivers, August 9-13

1. The Old Man, Old Habits and Old Chestnuts
2. The World the Old Man Lives In
3. NALCOR: the power of constipation
4. Connies, pork and electoral ridings
5. AbitibiBowater creditors meeting
6. The Search for Meaning Challenge
7. Connies and “Stimulus”
8. Jerome! if you want to
9. Disclosure/scheduling delay Vermont/Quebec hydro deal
10. [tie]  A summer like no other:  torquing in Technicolor on the cheap
11. [tie]  Williams-era capital spending pales in historical terms

Quebec and Vermont signed a long-term power purchase agreement on August 12.  here’s the Montreal Gazette version.

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Traffic Drivers, August 2 - August 6

1. Ah, that explains everything.
2. Holyrood pollution and the Great White Whale
3. Quebec's possible new role as an energy player
4. Kremlinology 24: the Whine List
5. Polling month starts in earnest
6. Jerome! if you want to
7. Privatize NALCOR?
8. I knew Marilyn Monroe
9. Court docket now online
10. Coming or going?

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The July Drivers

Maybe you were one of the 11,472 visitors who hit 15,026 pages at Bond Papers during July.  If you were, odds are you enjoyed these, the 10 most popular pages from July, 2010:

1. General and master corporal face charges over relationship (so far out in front, it was in another month)
2. Five years of secret talks on the Lower Churchill:  the Dunderdale audio.  (The mainstream continues to ignore the big story but the public won’t)
3. Bristol collapses owing more than $6.0 million
4. And no fish swam (helped no doubt by a mention on the Fisheries Broadcast)
5. When will she get the flick?
6. HQ and NALCOR on same side in US transmission line play
7. Court docket now online
8. Scientists find new sea creatures near deepwater exploration sites
9. Telly web design sucks, kills RSS feed to popular content
10. There is a green hill (not so far away)

The number one story was a national story and involved illicit sex.  That’s two massive boosts for it right there.

Bur the surprise second is the story the mainstream media have completely ignored since it broke last September. They haven’t even mentioned it once, yet it is absolutely true and no one has even tried to refute it. Well, they may have ignored it but people are clearly very interested in finding out that Danny Williams spent five years secretly trying to sell Hydro-Quebec an ownership stake in the Lower Churchill, without any redress on the Churchill Falls contract.

In the end it was no sale and not for any other reason than they just weren’t that into him. They had other things to do. And everything else Danny’s uttered since last July on the Lower Churchill and Quebec is just plain ole bullshit.

Anyone who thinks fisheries policy isn’t interesting to people might want to take note of Number 4 on July’s hit parade. It’s all about fisheries policy. What’s even more remarkable is that it doesn’t endorse the bullshit – there’s that word again – that infests the Gus and Ryan show on commercial radio.

The court docket post remains popular, not to mention testimony to the number of lawyers who drop by Bond’s corner for a read and a larf.

The last post worth a special mention is the one about the Telegram’s site redesign.  There’s another post in the works on this but it’s on hold until the Telly crew manage to sort themselves out. Hint: a week is way too long to leave the blogs totally shagged up;  the positives on the new design are fast being overshadowed by the cock-ups.

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Traffic Drivers, July 26- Jul 30

1. Bristol collapses owing more than $6.0 million.
2. Three on a match and then some: another failure of taxpayer cash give-away  policy.
3. Did he expense that?
4. The past in our digital present.
5. Game on! Feds and Quebec start talks on Gulf Accord.
6. Kremlinology 23:  a little something for everyone.
7. Court docket now online.
8. A view into the Afghan war.
9. Telly web design sucks, kills RRS feed to popular content. (A re-tweet really drove this one)
10. Drill baby, drill:  Dunderdale rebuffs Quebec concerns on border, oil spill response.

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Traffic Drivers, July 19-23

1. There is a green hill (not so far away)
2. Telly web design sucks, kills RSS feed to popular content
3. Drill baby drill:  Dunderdale rebuffs Quebec concerns about border, offshore oil spills
4. Government website still POS
5. Scientists find new sea creatures near deep water oil exploration sites
6. New 500 MW intertie for NS and NB
7. The Irish Miracle
8. Forever blowing bubbles
9. Fragile economy – the Public Sector
10. Semrau guilty on one count, not guilty on others

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Traffic Drivers: July 12-16

1. General and master corporal face charges over relationship
2. When will she get the flick?
3. HQ and NALCOR on same side in US transmission play
4. The Fragile Economy:  hard numbers
5. Five years of secret talks…
6. If you could get him for what he knew…
7. The energy hub and the loose wheel
8. September contrasts
9. And it only took a year…
10. Labour Force Comparison – a first look

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Traffic Drivers, July 5 to July 9

1. And no fish swam
2. NB opts for second nuke over Lower Churchill
3. Economic recovery -  not exactly as illustrated, part deux
4. Offshore board announces two more  calls for bids 
5. New NS-NB intertie to cost more than $200 million
6. Ho hum
7. Another new era…
8. The harsh reality
9. Tentative deal at Vale in Ontario
10. Are you smarter than a cheese grater, now?

Not surprisingly the commentary on the provincial government’s foray into fisheries science was a clear favourite among readers.  A mention on the Fisheries Broadcast on Monday  - thanks John Furlong - certainly didn’t hurt to bring more attention to it. Leading the Broadcast is a pretty big deal.

Two related posts – one from 2008 (#6) and another on the oceans “strategy” consultation (#10) – also proved popular this week.

New Brunswick also proved popular with the Number Two post on the decision in NB this week to study a possible second reactor at Lepreau.  Ditto #5.

And then, there’s the post on economic issues in central Newfoundland (#3).  There’s an underpinning theme in this, ably summarised by a regular reader in a comment on another post:  “What drives "growth" in our province, presently? The GDP from Oil and govt spending, and the inflationary housing market. One of those factors is beyond our control, the other two are largely artificial.”

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