American Family Pictures 2002. "2002 was a pretty good year for the family. We made some new friends and re-sparked some old acquaintances. It didn't end on such a good note, but like granddad used to say, 'you can't will em all, even if you are undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.'"
posted by tranquileye
on Jul 24, 2002 -
4 comments
"It was 1931 that we last reported on television, and our readers must be wondering how things are shaping up.
Not any too good." The New Yorker reports on the state of television, 1936.
posted by tranquileye
on May 29, 2002 -
8 comments
Emergency Broadcast Network: The Lost Tapes. "Formed during the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91, E.B.N. created its first arsenal of counter-psy-ops programming, cleverly disguised as music videos, inspired by the spectacular media frenzy surrounding the war and its aftermath."
posted by tranquileye
on Oct 19, 2001 -
6 comments
Canada gets it own Star Chamber. New "anti-terrorism" bill allows police to arrest and hold "suspects" for 72 hours without a charge, allows the government agency that monitors foreign communications to spy on Canadians, and creates "investigative hearings" in which you can be compelled to testify before a judge.
posted by tranquileye
on Oct 16, 2001 -
8 comments
The problem isn't too much greed, but too much cowardly greed. "Spineless lenders, weak-kneed investors and meddling regulators intent on reducing risk pose a greater threat to the global economy than the volatile financial markets... 'The critic's image of the global financial markets as a giant casino is wrong," [writes British financial writer Daniel Ben-Ami], 'On the contrary, the modern financial markets are more often characterized by a fear of risk-taking than a reckless disregard for danger.'"
posted by tranquileye
on Aug 2, 2001 -
6 comments
A car that makes sense? Fully street and highway legal, it is small, electric, quiet, and inexpensive. You can park in all sorts of places, and since the door is on the right side, you can exit to the sidewalk. And it looks like something.
posted by tranquileye
on Jun 21, 2001 -
35 comments
You've Got Hell. I know there was a link to this site on MeFi two years ago, but it is Friday, and this is, in fact, quite funny. From the people who brought you Modeman, Jesus 2000, and Lance Banyon vs. The Ku Klux Klan.
posted by tranquileye
on Jun 15, 2001 -
3 comments
Paul Knox, Globe and Mail, on the Quebec City summit. "The gestures — the promise to release the draft FTAA negotiating documents and televise part of the summit — were too little and too late to head off protest. One would hardly expect Mr. Chrétien to move the summit elsewhere. But as things stand today, these images of inchoate frustration and visceral repression are the legacy of Quebec City."
posted by tranquileye
on Apr 22, 2001 -
4 comments
Could next month's Summit of the Americas transform Canadian political culture?
Michael Valpy thinks so. He writes: "Canadians have lost deference for their traditional political institutions and leaders. They have become surprisingly ready -- more ready than Americans -- to engage in protests, boycotts and civil disobedience, according to political-science studies... Likely not since the 1919 Winnipeg general strike and the Great Depression marches of the unemployed has an event so galvanized the energies and imaginations of Canadians on the left side of the political spectrum."
posted by tranquileye
on Mar 10, 2001 -
4 comments
The body that regulates cable in Canada, the
CRTC, is licensing 283 new channels. All will be available only through digital set-top boxes.
Along with the expected Biography, Mystery, and ZDTV channels, in the mandatory tier we're getting Book Television from CHUM, a gay and lesbian channel, a documentary channel, and Land and Sea, a rural service from the CBC. If that wasn't wacky enough, the optional channels will include BBC Canada, the Wine Television Network, two wedding channels, several hockey channels, and channels dedicated to theatre, poetry, jazz, dance, pets, South Asian culture, international film, horses, law, martial arts… just about anything you can think of, actually.
While I don't expect they can all survive, it should make for an interesting six months.
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 24, 2000 -
7 comments
Poor user interface elects George W. The second hole on the right does not correspond to the second candidate on the left (Gore), but rather to the first candidate on the right (Buchanan). While many people will notice this, many others, especially those with poor vision, will not. About 20% of Buchanan's votes in FL came from the county that used this ballot.
posted by tranquileye
on Nov 9, 2000 -
32 comments
The GOP just spammed me. I received an email sent supposedly on behalf of "Jim Nicholson, Chairman, Republican National Committee" inviting me to become an "eChampion":
Once you've registered as an eChampion, you will receive fact-filled e-mails twice a week on the upcoming election, the candidates' stands on issues, etc. Your role as an eChampion is to send these e-mails on to AS MANY friends, neighbors and family members as possible, and invite them to register as eChampions themselves at http://www.echampions2000.com.
No, I didn't opt-in to some Republican mailing list. For a start, I'm Canadian, in Canada, and if I was going to vote for a right-wing wing-nut, it would be
Stockwell Day. Talk about "idea viri"...
posted by tranquileye
on Oct 10, 2000 -
6 comments
Today I saw
an ad on TV
complaining that American health care is being “Canadianized.” All I can say is
that I wish these Americans would stop
lying about the Canadian health care
system. While most Canadians seem to agree that our health system is
a bit of a mess,
we also seem to agree that
we
don’t want the American system, thank you very much.
The US market-driven
medical system spends about 14% of its economy on health care, while Canada's
cost is about 9% of GDP. Both countries' health care costs stood at about 7% in
1971, when the Canadian system converted to the public system and the US decided
to stick with a market-driven private system. Yet the Canadian system covers
everyone; the American system doesn’t. Private delivery of health care means
money is lost to the profits investors demand (as much as 15%), higher executive
salaries, higher marketing/advertising costs, and lost economies of scale.
Why
attack the Canadian system? Part of the answer lies in the fact that to the
American health care industry, Canada is just one huge, untapped market that
they would love to have access to.
posted by tranquileye
on Jun 16, 2000 -
24 comments
