Don't mess with Newfoundlanders named 'Rick'

Obviously Hillier isn't the only Rick from The Rock you need to worry about: sit down with a bowl of popcorn and watch Mercer deliver a well-deserved written flaying in the St. John's Independent (ht:Fred).

Poor Noreen Golfman. She wrote in her Jan. 12 column (Blowing in the Wind � ) that her holidays were ruined by what she felt were incessant reports about Canadian men and women serving in Afghanistan. So upset was Noreen that, armed with her legendary pen, sharpened from years in the trenches at Memorial University's women's studies department, she went on the attack. I know I should just ignore the good professor and write her off as another bitter baby boom academic pining for what she fondly calls "the protest songs of yesteryear," but I can't help myself. A response is exactly what she wants; and so I include it here. After all, Newfoundlanders have seen this before: Noreen Golfman, sadly, is Margaret Wente without the wit.

Dear Noreen,

I am so sorry to hear about the interruption to your holiday cheer. You say in your column that it all started when the CBC ran a story on some "poor sod" who got his legs blown off in Afghanistan...

Paul Franklin doesn't need any defending from anyone, but boy-oh-boy, is it ever nice to see someone with the public clout of Mercer watching his - and the entire Canadian Forces' - six.

Go read the whole darned thing.