Welcome to John Stall’s World On Line
Hi there, and welcome to my official personal website that is separate and distinct from other sites with which I am proudly affiliated. www.680news.com
This is the on-line home that combines John Stall Communications, my communications consulting practice with my current and past radio broadcasting/online life. John Stall Profile
This site is designed to preserve the past Jack Layton & Stall back in the day - 1998 and to share the present as we move forward online.
I've posted some archived pics, audio clips and full length radio interviews like this one with the cantankerous late former Leaf's owner Harold Ballard who would never let Russian Hockey in MLG , or field reports from some pretty unusual places. Globe Trotting
So welcome to " Stall's World On Line " and "John Stall Communications". Look around the site. I hope you find some of the audio/visual clips to be educational, Meech Lake Accord interesting, entertaining, The most moving rendition of " Danny Boy" you will ever hear or just plain fun like this question I put to Toronto Mayor Ford during the election campaign.
I also invite you to share and respond to the blog thoughts and tweets I'm posting as well @johnstall_radio & Stall680news.
As for Consulting Services, the John Stall Communications portal speaks for itself. I'm happy to help.
Welcome
UNBELIEVABLE ! ? Oswald’s lover says he didn’t shoot JFK
Just so you know, we in some sectors of the media are regularly offered interview opportunities with authors who are coming into town to promote the books they have written, which is why you may have seen, heard or read about JudyVary Baker this week. Most of us said yes to an interview because anything to do with JFK is at least curious and controversial.
Baker’s story was featured by most media agencies ( including me on 680 news ) she is trying to defend her former lover, none other than Lee Harvey Oswald.
Her book is called Me and Lee – How I came to know, love and loose Lee Harvey Oswald. It’s a complex story and so is her 600 or so page unfocused book. In a nutshell, she claims Oswald did not kill Kennedy, that he was set up by a powerful ” machine ” that included Mafia, Cia, American Military and wealthy Oil Tycoons who wanted Kennedy out of the picture.
The best explanation that I could get from her or from the book is that Oswald was a soviet spy who was able to infiltrate the CIA while trying to learn about plots to kill Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The sense she leaves is that he was in so deep with the circle of conspirators that he could not get out alive even though he knew he was being set up to take the fall for shooting Kennedy. She claims Jack Ruby was sent to Kill Oswald while he was being moved by the Dallas police because they had to shut him up.
I was skeptical before the interview and remain so after meeting her and hearing her try to tell the story. You can come to your own conclusions if you would like to hear an edited version of the interview here ;http://bit.ly/r7O7rg
She says she has been on the run for almost 40 years and is only telling the story now because she is approaching 70 yrs. of age and wants to get it out before the 5oth anniversary of the Assasination.
What really doesn’t smell right is a website ( http://www,leeandme.com ) that includes a way that you can help her out with money she needs to pay her hydro, internet and phone bills.
I believe she knew and perhaps even slept with Lee Harvey Oswald. She may even believe herself that he didn’t pull the trigger. But she was unable to convince me that her story has any more merit than any other of the wild conspiracy theories surrounding it
Who takes the hit for Tory Tumble ? Will heads’roll?
John Tory took the hit for screwing up the last election by sticking to his guns on funding faith based schools. Voters not only rejected the policy but rejected him as well. He promptly stepped down after failing to win his own seat. But who will take the hit this time? The Leader? or the campaign team who put together the ” change book ” strategy that fizzled ?
I spoke to one of the senior Conservative fundraisers about 3 hours before the polls closed and he was not a happy camper. Although he still optimistically thought the seat count could split more closely than it turned out, he was clearly PO’ed. ” they just couldn’t find the message ” he said. The ” they ” he was referring to, is the campaign team who gets a lot of money from him to execute a winning strategy.
In the political game, fundraisers sit at the table , but don’t necessarily set the policy. In many cases, ( not all ) they are given token attention by the centre to feel important to the process but are not considered qualified strategists when it comes to policy or execution. In this case, he told me he’d be looking for answers because he’ll have to provide some to the thousands who contributed cash towards what they thought would be a sure Conservative victory after two Liberal Terms.
6 months ago, my fundraising acquaintance was so sure that Conservatives would win that his main concern was that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford would screw something up badly enough to taint the Provincial Conservative brand. Ford, in his view , in this case , is not the culprit.
So who is ? Who made the decision to stay with the ” tax man ” advertising theme long after it became evident that it wasn’t sticking and wasn’t working? Who made the decision to spend so much time, energy and advertising money criticizing Mcguinty’soffer of a tax credit to help foreign trained professionals to get a job? and who thought putting shackles on prisoners was more worth talking about than jobs and the economy?
I don’t have the answer here, not yet, but I got a clear signal from the fundraiser guy that he intends to find out – and soon. Stay tuned…
The Ghost of JFK
We just returned from a fabulous weekend getaway in Cape Cod where in addition to gorging on lobster and watching whales frolic in the Atlantic, we went in search of the Kennedy compound in Hyannis port and found it by way of a path to the beach through a public park. The compound consists of about 5 houses on 6 acres of waterfront land on Nantucket sound and is marked by two giant American flags flying at full mast in front of the main cottage- house built by JFK’s father Joe.
Having just watched the full Kennedy T.V. series that characterized the compound as the place that grounded him and the beach strip in the picture below as the sacred ground to walk when troubled or faced with tough decisions, I could eerily sense his presence or at least place myself in his footsteps. It was here that he played with his family and children, walked and worried about issues including nuclear war and soviet response during the Cuban missile crisis.
With the tourist season over, there was no one around. No guards, no fences, (apart from signs that barbed wire once lined the sand dunes preventing any access to the grounds from the beach) but today I found myself alone standing where I imagine secret service agents once patrolled. With no one there to stop me, I climbed a 6 – 7 step wood stair-way from the beach to a narrow wood planked board-walk that led towards the main house.
Photo by: John Stall
Photo by: John Stall
Now, have a look at this photo I found from the public on-line archives of JFK walking the same board walk with his defense secretary Robert McNamara. 
As I say, it was spooky to walk that beach this weekend but emotionally moving as well, partly because of the profound place the Kennedy family holds in history, and partly because we have a family compound as well on Georgian Bay Ontario. It began with a modest cabin purchased by my Italian immigrant grandfather in the 40″s but has evolved over time to five cottage houses side by side where three generations of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends come together regularily on weekends and holidays – especially on Thanksgiving weekend. I too, am most grounded when there , strolling the beach in both joyful and troubling times.
As a side bar, I am in the process of preparing to interview a former girl friend/ lover of Lee Harvey Oswald who claims Oswald was in Dallas to prevent the assassination of JFK.
Stay tuned…
Communication coaching
Preparing for and performing in a televised leaders debate is one of the most challenging and perilous aspects of campaign communication because the objective is to appeal to two distinct audiences while sounding sincere to both. The two audineces are the one watching in real time and the one hearing, reading or watching what the news media has to say about it the next day.
What the news media has to say about it the next day is tactically the most significant because most people don’t watch the actual debate but will hear, watch and read excerpts the next day. The neutrally presented news stories by the very nature of the work, include clips and quotes from each leader – which is why they are coached within an inch of their political lives to stick to their talking points and to excessively repeat well rehearsed lines. The theory is that the news media will have a limited number of clips to work with and if they are delivered succinctly , those are the only impression creating messages that the larger ” next day audience will hear, see or read. ” Rob Ford’s constant reference to ” stopping the gravy train” and showing ” respect for tax payer dollars ” is a good example. He ended every answer he gave to a question asked during candidate debates with one of those two lines and the media invariably used a variation of them in next day reports. He repeated them so many times in so many places that they became the ” peoples mantra too” The key is that the lines have to be delivered sincerely and with authenticity in order to resonate. Simply delivering a campaign slogan doesn’t cut it
Performing for the next day audience of course is perilous because the audience watching in real time can conclude that the leader is evasive, detached or insincere.
The winner is usually the one that can leave a positive impression with the real time audience by being authentically engaged in the moment while weaving some well conceived, rehearsed and well timed ” key lines ” or “talking points ” into the performance that the media will include in the next day coverage. The less skilled or coached will deliver detached but repeatable lines that the news media will include in ” next day coverage ” but they risk leaving the real time audience extremely un-impressed.
The worst case scenario for a political leader is to continually default to ill conceived lines, delivered insincerely followed by next day coverage that point that out.
Ford remains tenacious about budget cuts despite diminishing support
Despite the apparent softening of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s hard line on some city services, I don’t think there is any doubt he is going to stay the course when it comes to slashing the city’s budget for 2012 .
Even on the day ( today ) that an Ipsos Reid survey reveals that he has lost some public support from the day he was elected, Ford gave me a ” damn the torpedo’s response on 680 news during a short telephone call as he drove home from the 20 hour long marathon meeting of his executive council. Listen to Ford here
Yes, he needs at least 23 votes from the full city council next week to get the recommendations of his executive committee passed.
Ontario election poll-apalooza is underway.
I suspect the polling industry is going to become an angle of Ontario election coverage soon, as a result of the wildly different pollng pictures released so far.
Earlier this week, I found myself paired in a charity golf tournament with the CEO of one of Canada’s largest multinational polling firms. As we chatted in the golf cart along the way about the Ontario election, he expressed concern over the number of polling outfits that are releasing horse-race results that are inconsistent with or wildly different from others, including his. http://bit.ly/qbgt7P
To make his point, on the day of our golf game, 3 polls revealed different results although 2 of them relatively similar. All three had the Liberals trending, but one poll (Harris-Decima) had them 12 points ahead. A Nanos Research poll had the Liberals 5 points ahead while Ipsos Reid had them just one point ahead. My golf partner told me that given his intimate knowledge of polling science and the research his firm had done, it was impossible that the Liberals were 12 points ahead of the Conservatives when they were still trailing only two weeks ago by almost as much.
Today, we have another poll published by the Toronto Sun, by Abacus Data that claims (among decided voters) the Conservatives are ahead by nine points.
When I reminded him that polling results are published and broadcast by news agencies because they need news, and that “news” is, by its very nature, defined by what is new or the abnormal, he responded by challenging me and the media in general to first ensure the polling firms are reputable, that they have a track record of integrity and that the methodology used is available and transparent before considering their results to be a newsworthy accurate reflection of public opinion – as opposed to an attention-grabbing marketing ploy.
5 Things the U.S. can do to revive economy.
While listening to U.S. President Obama lay out elements of his ” Jobs Act” to Congress as a road map to economic recovery, I was reminded of a simple solution that was passed along to me by Navin Chandaria, an Indo-Canadian entrepreneur friend of mine who operates more like an ultra-preneur.
His theory is based on the notion that Entrepreneuurs’ make the world go around. They take risks that others won’t, they build things, innovate, and create most of the jobs. He tells me there are tens of thousands of Entrepreneurs around the world who would give their eye teeth to operate in the United States and have access to the market but can’t immigrate easily or quickly ( partly because of the Patriot Act that was passed in the wake of 911. )
Here’s a plan that he thinks would turn things around in America if the Government did the following things:
1 ) Loosen the Patriot act to allow anyone who brings a minimum one million dollars ( U.S. ) or more into the Country – no green card required.
2) Impose the condition that in return for American status they must start a business within 6 months of landing and must hire at least 5 people.
3) They must buy one existing house from the inventory of homes under foreclosure within the first year of arrival.
4) They must buy one new American built car within the year.
He is convinced that Foreign Entrepreneurs who qualify will jump at the opportunity and that the American economy will begin to thrive because jobs will be created, the housing stock will diminish and American products will once again be consumed.
Too simple? Too dangerous ? What think you? – makes sense to me.
Canadian Navy in the 911 trenches
I’m not so sure that the Canadian war ship HMCS Montreal would have attracted the attention of as many people last week while on display in the Toronto harbour if the events of 911 a decade ago had not triggered a war on terror in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. Commanding officer M.J. Tennant told me while I was on board for a tour that prior to 911, few Canadians knew very much about the Navy but they do now.
HMCS Montreal is one of seven Canadian Frigates on the high seas and apart from serving as bedroom and water taxi for the young royal couple this summer, and drug/pirate busting stints in the Caribbean and Cape Horn, she was deployed to the Persian Gulf to intercede ships that were carrying threatening cargo or terrorists. And yes, the Canadian crew found some of both.
It is against that backdrop that I, ( and I’m sure others ) gazed at the communication/navigation technology on the bridge and in the special op’s facility located in the bowels of the 480 ft. floating beast. Very cool. I was asked not to shoot photo’s of the special op’s room ( from where torpedo’s and deck-to air missiles are fired) , but here’s a short video from the bridge and munition deck.
Good night Lloyd. Did Harvey resent you ?
Well, Lloyd Robertson sure had a great public send off didn’t he ? No where in the coverage however ( including in the documentary produced by his daughter, ) was there any reference to how Harvey Kirk, ( the pre – Lloyd solo anchor at CTV ) felt about the ground breaking and highly covered move of Lloyd to CTV. They co-hosted together until Harvey retired.
I interviewed Harvey on my CFRB program before he died in Feb of 2002 on the occasion of the publication of his own memoir ” Nobody calls me Mr. Kirk “, and although he told me that he and Lloyd got along very well, he did regret never having the opportunity to know if he could have beaten the CBC on his own.
I’ve retrieved this little gem from the ” Stall Vault ” Harvey
Early Prediction: – Liberal Minority
As much as I dislike being pressed to make election predictions, I was asked so many times by friends and family over the weekend how I thought the Ontario election would go, that I might as well share my early sense with you here as well – and no, it is not a bias assessment but rather a gut feel at this stage of the campaign backed by some polling info, personal observation and some street level feed back from a broad network of contacts.
My sense is that we are more likely to end up with a Liberal minority government than a majority for either side. Although dynamics can change dramatically between now and election day, what seems to me to be the case so far is that, although the two term Liberal government (not surprisingly) is not being wildly celebrated by most people as deserving of re-election (2nd term governments rarely are), the Tory alternative, and it’s leader in particular, are underwhelming those who would otherwise withhold a re-election vote for the Liberals.
Even though the Conservative “Change book” is chalk full o f itemized policy ideas that attempt to distinguish the party from the Liberals, there really isn’t enough of a perceived difference to be polarizing public opinion. Nor has Tim Hudak emerged as a compelling, carbonated or big idea alternative – at least not yet. Hudak’s underwhelming personality may be why the latest Nanos research poll, as of today, still registers Dalton McGuinty as the leader most favoured as Premier, even though the Tory’s lead slightly in the horse race by about 4 points. I’ve also seen Dalton on the campaign trail in the past and yes, he’s very good at the game.
Surely, the Conservative current that swept Stephen Harper and Rob Ford into strong, stable mandates is flowing through Ontario as well, but I don’t think it is strong enough to completely wash over the Liberal government. I think it will swirl around between now and election day unless Tim Hudack is able to transform into a more compelling character. So, for what it’s worth, my gut tells me the 2nd term McGuinty government will be punished , but not overwhelmingly so – leaving a Minority liberal government in place.