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I always get a kick out of the people who pimp out this shit for how awesome it is. I "get" that the staff of Bell have to pimp it out. I mean if you work in radio or media in this day and age, you have to be a house nigger to keep your job.
I've read several times that Let's Talk was a condition of Bell buying Astral. Fagstein --> For the retard cheerleaders who kiss Bells ass and tell us all how wonderful they are, I only have this to say. When you are forced to do something it's not charity. Kind of like how US prison chain gangs cleaning up Dunkin Donut cups along the Interstate really give zero fucks about the environment. They have to do it. And they probably don't give a fuck.
There are 3 kinds of "doing good". The first is when someone honestly gives a shit about a cause and donates time or money. The second is like when a bunch of hookers donate money to some cause championed by someone like the Catholic Church. The Church probably doesn't like the source of the money but, after thinking about it, they realize "yeah, the people giving give a shit, so we'll keep it"
Then...there is the 3rd type of giving. That's corporate giving. That's where a company is forced to "give"because it's a deal they cut with some Fed in the name of their bottom line. And any "charity" has to be incessantly marketed with the whole "look at us, look how good we are, we're great citizens".
So Bell, seeing you want MY love and respect, I expect you to tell me AND show me exactly what benefits you offer for people who are depressed, tired, sick, etc. What happens to those people who work for you? Anyone can talk out of their ass. So step up and show us the information.
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I can understand your misgivings about Bell Let's Talk promotion, but as someone who's worked for a lot of radio companies in my career I can honestly say that I don't know of any community programs or drives run by them that have been fraudulent in their sincerity. This least of all.
I'm under no orders to promote Lets Talk Day. I do it because all money raised goes to support mental health programs.
Bell doesn't have to carry my "People Helping People" program at all. Granted, my salary was part of the "chop" last November along with everyone elses. Still, they've left me alone on the air.
I understand that the largest advertiser on News Talk 1010 is Casino's.
One night the executives of one of them heard me speaking about how the game is rigged and how they depend on "compulsive gamblers" as their best customers.
They called my then Program Director Steve Kowch to express their concerns about me and my views.
Kowch listened to what they had to say then asked: "Did Mark lie about anything?"
The reply was "no".
Steve then told them that he would never tell any host to change his views because it irritated a sponsor and he wasn't going to begin with me.
Rogers is supporting Bell Lets Talk Day. Hooray!
I hope that Corus, CBC, Newcap, Bayshore, Evanov and all the others follow suit. It will mean more money for more help for the mentally ill.
"This is bigger than business" as Rogers says.
Corporate Canada needs to step up to support needed services like this and I'm proud to see that they are!
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Mark,
It's very possible all your peers believed in Let's Talk. I'm not referring to the worker ants. I'm referring to the C level executives. What were their motivations?
And all these other radio outlets getting on board. Kind of joke no? These are employers who fire people on vacation, change the locks on stations, etc, etc. Actions like that are certainly good for mental health, aren't they. It's on the same level of worshiping Trump because you believe Jesus sent him.
I'm sorry but I get tired of bullshit. I am tired of a world of marketing where everything is an illusion. Perhaps Bell & the others should come forward and show up their benefit packages. What happens if I work for Bell and I get depressed? Show me the money honey.
I'm all for fighting mental illness. Believe me, with the kind of work I was doing I've seen the pits of hell when it comes to humanity. So again, show us the money. This is what WE do. And, for the record, I'm not a person who buys the whole "business is business" bullshit. That mentality of win at all costs is no different than organized crime. Hey, sorry you're a good performer, sorry you put on great radio, etc, but you're done, see ya......it's just "business".
If you want to fix depression you build a kinder, gentler world and that includes business.
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Let's Talk.
We are told that mental illness is heredity.
What does that say about Valerie Pringle if her daughter is mentally ill?
What does that say about Justin Time Trudeau if his mother is ill?
Hmm.
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GOD HELP US wrote:
Let's Talk.
We are told that mental illness is heredity.
What does that say about Valerie Pringle if her daughter is mentally ill?
What does that say about Justin Time Trudeau if his mother is ill?
Hmm.
Look slick, I get you're an angry old white man whose precious radio business is a shadow of what it once was but chill on the whole political shit. Trudeau won, your side lost. But let me take a minute of my valuable time and educate you on the whole "Harper 10 years"
Contrary to the shit in the Post or Sun, Harper was a complete political failure. The majority of the time he was in power, he was actually quite politically centrist. That's because he was in a minority government & had no choice if he wanted any of his parties bills to pass. He even admits to making deals with the separatists. He only leaned hard to the right AFTER he won a majority. And arguably he won that majority because he didn't have any Liberal competition (their leaders sucked). So lets investigate that.
The Conservative majority lasted 4 years. Of those 4 years, the Harper government was in serious decline for 2 years. If it wasn't the Feds spying on us, it was the shitty treatment of veterans or the continuous scandals, which, in hindsight, make the whole Liberal ad scam thing look tame. Harper started self destruction the minute he had the power to do whatever he wanted.
I suppose the great irony of this discussion is that Let's Talk is about dispelling negative, ancient attitudes..likes yours.
Last edited by Hathaway (January 17, 2016 1:58 PM)
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For the record, my side didn't compete in the past federal election...I'm neither a Harper supporter, nor a Harper defender.
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I don't really know how many postings are Zig under different handles because he loves talking to himself endlessly.
But, for the record Bell Let's Talk Day raised $6 million for mental illness programs. And that's $6 million they didn't have before the program began.
Being negative over that kind of corporate charity is just plain dumb.
Cue the next act please...
And please always remember:One of my readers said that this is a picture of a recovered drug addict. Until then there's …
Oh yeah... And this is "Shameless self-promotion" okay?
Last edited by Mark Elliot (February 6, 2016 2:08 AM)
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Again Mark, please read what I said. My issue was with Bell and their manufactured empathy & them using that to show society how awesome they are. And, if you read my full post, I said the ONLY reason Bell did this was because it was part of the deal to purchase Astral. AND, we also discussed using this as so called "news".
I don't have any issue with the money Mark. I do expect a company to be truthful about WHY it does what it does. If a major meth dealer in the Downtown East Side donated money to a charity, I would accept that cash as well.
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@ Hathaway
Many, MANY years ago in Montreal there was a delightful woman I was privileged to know. She was an entertainer of the burlesque school who used the stage name of Fonda Cox. Her real name was Linda Lee Tracy. One Christmas she got a few of her colleagues to agree to donate the money they made on a particular day to charity. Then she tried to get a charity to take it. They were aghast. (They'd probably be more aghast today.) Finally a children's charity didn't look down their noses at where the money came from and agreed to be the recipient. It may have even been the Childrens' Hospital. So the show went on. She called it, "Tits for Tots"! I forget how much money they raised, but it was substantial.
THAT's the kind of fund raiser I like: very grassroots, very ad hoc (no "foundation" skimming executive salaries off the top), no what you called manufactured empathy. It was just, dare I say it, people helping people.
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@Mike
That wouldn't be the first time a charity has refused money because it the charity didn't fundamentally agree with the source. Hey, it's money, take it.
I don't have issue with the $6 million Bell raises. I have never made mention of that. I take issue to the continued degradation of the standards of humanity. Charity is the good will of people helping other people. When the motivation for charity becomes something other than good will toward humankind we have an major issue. It becomes "what's in it for me".
And indeed, many charities are more like industry than charity. In some cases only a tiny fraction of the donation. More money is spent on salaries & promotion. It almost seems to defeat the purpose. That's why I volunteered my time rather than donate cash.
Some years back, while on street assignment I met a woman named Jen Allan. Jen was a former addict, native & survival sex worker (street hooker). Somehow, she managed to get herself clean & put her life together. She opened Jen's Kitchen where she takes her own money & prepares sandwiches for street prostitutes. She goes out on the street and gives the girls something to eat because having food in your system could stop you from making a "life at risk" decision. Prior to moving to the mountains my wife and I used to go out to the low track hooker stroll on Christmas and hand out hot coffee & make up kits. The make up kits were the girls because "looking pretty" mattered to them even when their lives were ravaged with drugs & addiction.
Perhaps the Bell executives & staff should take a walk out of their office tower and studios & get out there on the street.