| |
 |
March 9, 2004 |
Oil Giant's Officials Knew of Gaps in Reserves in '02. Top executives of the Royal/Dutch Shell Group were advised of huge shortfalls in proven oil and natural gas reserves two years before they were publicly disclosed. By Stephen Labaton and Jeff Gerth. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
This makes me think of global warming and its public face. Something tells me that even if most scientists were to agree that it's too late to reverse global warming trends, the government would sign up some scientists to promote an opposing view just so people don't go berserk.
Of course the impending gas shortage isn't exactly the same. But, oh, man, look out Hugo Chavez: The CIA is coming for you, my friend.
9:04:35 AM 
|
|
|
March 6, 2004 |
According to an article in USA Today (yesterday), there may be gas shortages in the United States this summer, leading to higher prices.
Fears of shortages. As warmer weather triggers more driving, demand for gasoline will rise from 8.8 million barrels a day now to 9.5 million by late summer. U.S. refineries can't make that much and depend on imported gas to fill the gap.
•Petro-politics: OPEC, the cartel that pumps one-third of world oil, says it will cut production April 1. Venezuela, a major source of U.S. oil and gas, is in political turmoil that is causing work stoppages in the petroleum industry.
•Regulations: U.S. clean-air rules require lower-sulfur gas that some overseas suppliers can provide. Also, refineries are shifting to summer-blend gas, which is designed to lower pollution. The switchovers can cause shortages.
Gee, do you think a state of emergency will be called in Venezuela this summer (since the bogus recall seems to have failed)?
On a related note, if you haven't seen the documentary The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, you should.
4:33:20 PM
|
|
|
March 3, 2004 |
After shipping out Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra and Robert Lang, the Washington Capitals have dumped some more salary - this time off their own blueline - sending defenceman Sergei Gonchar to the Boston Bruins in exchange for defenceman Shaone Morrisonn and a first and second round draft pick in the 2004 Entry Draft. [TSN]
As a hockey fan in general and a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs in particular, General Stuff gets nervous at this time of year, just days before the trading deadline (March 9) for the NHL.
Today's deal between Washington and Boston must be considered a surprise, because none of the hockey analysts were mentioning Boston as a potential home for expensive and therefore expendable defenceman Sergei Gonchar. Maybe that just goes to show how little this talking heads know about what's going on behind the scenes. For weeks, Gonchar has been destined for Toronto or Colorado, according to the experts. Boston was never mentioned. Even yesterday, sports writers were convinced Gonchar was going to Colorado along with goalie Olaf Kolzig.
So much for the experts. However, TSN hockey analyst Glenn Healy did suggest Gonchar, an offensive defenceman, was not a good fit for Toronto, who already boast one of the most offensive group of rearguards in the game. TSN analyst Bob McKenzie thought Gonchar was too expensive for what the Leafs were willing to give away. But a Washington Post article yesterday had Gonchar and Kolzig going to Colorado.
I think the Leafs did the right thing, not pursuing Gonchar. What the Leafs need, if anything, is a defensive defenceman; second on their list would be a backup goalie for Belfour, whose back has troubled him much of his career, and recently made him miss 3 weeks on the injured reserve.
Now is the time to hold one's breath, as a Leaf fan, and wait for the inevitable blockbuster deal involving Pierre Lacroix's Avalanche. Somehow, every year, the Colorado GM manages to make a blockbuster trade at the deadline, a trade that always seems to net much more than Colorado gives away. However, several such deals have already taken place, and one wonders what the hell Leaf management was doing when these bargains were being shopped:
| February 27, 2004 |
|
Team |
Acquisition |
|
DET |
ROBERT LANG
|
|
WAS |
TOMAS FLEISCHMANN
1st Round Pick (2004)
4th Round Pick (2006) |
| Bob McKenzie's Analysis |
Somehow, Detroit snagged the leading scorer IN THE ENTIRE NHL without giving up a roster player. Why wouldn't any team do the same deal? And yet, it's always a team such as Detroit, Colorado, Dallas, Philadelphia, or, this year, Ottawa, who manages to make such a trade. Somebody explain what's going on behind the scenes, please.
| February 18, 2004 |
|
Team |
Acquisition |
Team |
Acquisition |
|
|
|
|
|
That's right: The Washington Capitals' all-time leading scorer gets picked up by Ottawa for BROOKS LAICH and a 2nd round pick? As most observers said at the time: Who the hell is Brooks Laich? Again, Ottawa received a Hall of Fame quality player without surrendering a roster player.
And what has been Toronto's big move so far?
| February 11, 2004 |
|
Team |
Acquisition |
Team |
Acquisition |
|
|
|
|
|
Former Leaf Drake Berehowsky makes his triumphant return. Like all of Pat Quinn's moves (he may not have the GM title anymore, but it's safe to say he is still calling the shots), this one involved a player Quinn is already familiar with. Quinn never trades for a player he didn't draft or coach at some point in his career.
In fairness to the Leafs, they may not need to trade for anyone. Their record has them sitting second in the Eastern Conference (though Ottawa and Tampa Bay have 2 games in hand). All they have to do is finish in the top 4 and I think they'll have a good chance in the first round of the playoffs. Lower than that, and they risk facing Philadelphia or Ottawa in the first round, and I don't think they want that (especially Philadelphia).
This has to be Toronto's year, because the team is too old, and there's a chance of a labour lockout next year. Whatever the Leafs do in the next week, they should gamble like there's no tomorrow. Because with a team average age at almost 30 years old, there may not be a tomorrow for a long time.
4:59:05 PM
|
|
|
March 2, 2004 |
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/03/02/transition/
President Bush is getting quite a reputation, even among fiscal hawks in his own party, for not spending our money wisely. Now comes a report that he wants to spend $1 million to "train" people who would work for him if he wins a second term. The request is unprecedented, the AP says. It's the first time a president has sought to use public transition funds to prepare officials to enter a re-elected administration. Meanwhile, Bush is proposing cuts in various programs. Critics say it's a nervy move.
"It's unbelievable that the same budget proposal that asks Congress to cut money for education, veterans and port security would propose to set aside $1 million to take care of themselves," said Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees White House spending.
11:12:57 PM
|
|
The General loves Paul Krugman. The guy is kicking ass and taking names. From today:
....There are three lessons in this tale.
First, "starving the beast" is no longer a hypothetical scenario — it's happening as we speak. For decades, conservatives have sought tax cuts, not because they're affordable, but because they aren't. Tax cuts lead to budget deficits, and deficits offer an excuse to squeeze government spending.
Second, squeezing spending doesn't mean cutting back on wasteful programs nobody wants. Social Security and Medicare are the targets because that's where the money is. We might add that ideologues on the right have never given up on their hope of doing away with Social Security altogether. If Mr. Bush wins in November, we can be sure that they will move forward on privatization — the creation of personal retirement accounts. These will be sold as a way to "save" Social Security (from a nonexistent crisis), but will, in fact, undermine its finances. And that, of course, is the point.
Finally, the right-wing corruption of our government system — the partisan takeover of institutions that are supposed to be nonpolitical — continues, and even extends to the Federal Reserve.
The Bush White House has made it clear that it will destroy the careers of scientists, budget experts, intelligence operatives and even military officers who don't toe the line. But Mr. Greenspan should have been immune to such pressures, and he should have understood that the peculiarity of his position — as an unelected official who wields immense power — carries with it an obligation to stand above the fray. By using his office to promote a partisan agenda, he has betrayed his institution, and the nation.
When will people learn: (1) "Liberal" is not a dirty word, and (2) The right-wing tearing down of public infrastructure in the United States -- in the form of cutting social programs in the name of "self-reliance" and other bullshit rich people use to demonize the poor they helped create -- is not a solution to the real problem; privatization of essential social programs will only benefit the rich and destroy whatever sense of civility remains.
Corporate corruption is the problem. Not government.
11:00:02 PM
|
|
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/570/570p18.htm
Roberto Jorquera & Neville Spencer
The crisis that Haiti is facing is, however, not simply due to the policies of the Aristide government, but is partly a consequence of US policies.
Since the beginning of the century, the US has intervened in Haiti in a similar fashion to the way it has in the rest of Latin America. In 1915, US marines occupied the country for 20 years to make sure that it would pay its debt to the US. After their withdrawal in 1934, the US installed Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier who was succeeded by his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. Baby Doc was eventually forced out of power in 1985 after massive protests against his notoriously corrupt and repressive regime.
Aristide, a radical priest influenced by liberation theology, was first elected president of Haiti in 1990 in a landslide victory to his Lavalas Movement. His election was based on a program that promoted social reform and a push to dismantle the bureaucracy that had developed under the Duvalier dictatorships.
Within seven months of his election, the old remnants of the dictatorship staged a military coup that forced Aristide into exile, while US-backed death squads killed thousands of his supporters.
In 1994, the US supported an operation dubbed “restoring democracy” which returned Aristide to power, though only once he had signed agreements to implement neoliberal economic policies and accepted the dictates of International Monetary Fund.
However, battling popular opposition to such neoliberal policies from his own supporters, Aristide dragged his feet on their implementation and still remained prone to occasional bursts of anti-US and anti-imperialist rhetoric.
Thus, while Aristide was less of a threat to the interests of US imperialism and the local ruling class than he had been, he was far from being their ideal candidate. But while he has commanded overwhelming popular support, there has been little that they could do about him — short of engineering another coup.
Read the rest at the link above.
2:20:01 PM
|
|
|
February 28, 2004 |
Feb. 27, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's budget would produce deficits totaling $2.75 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projected Friday in the first authoritative look at the plan's longer-range implications.
The nonpartisan budget office said Bush's tax and spending plans would, if enacted, add $737 billion to shortfalls otherwise expected over the period. Its massive numbers are sure to factor into this year's presidential and congressional campaigns.
The rest is here.
1:03:46 PM
|
|
|
February 26, 2004 |
|
February 24, 2004 |
The Guardian reports an interesting case of a US soldier seeking refugee status in Canada after refusing to go to Iraq.
US army private Jeremy Hinzman fought in Afghanistan and considers himself a patriot. But when his unit was ordered to Iraq, he refused to go and embarked on a radical journey that could make legal history.
Private first class Hinzman left the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, taking his wife and son to Canada. Officially, he is awol (absent without leave), and, instead of fighting insurgents, he is battling the US military in the Canadian courts.
This month Pte Hinzman, 25, filed legal papers to become the first US soldier objecting to the Iraq war to be granted refugee status in Canada. His case is expected to be a test of new Canadian immigration laws and the country's traditional role of accepting refugees from the US military.
An estimated 250 Americans every year seek refugee status in Canada, the vast majority making mental health claims, according to Jeffrey House, a Toronto criminal defence lawyer who represents Pte Hinzman.
"This is the first time a soldier from the Iraq war is seeking protection. He does not want to fight in Iraq and he will do any lawful thing to stay in Canada."
I hope he wins his case. Maybe his case will inspire others to protest Bush's bullshit invasion.
He hopes other soldiers will refuse to serve in Iraq and come to Canada: "I think I am the first, but I encourage others to do the same. I do not want to sound seditious, but there is strength in numbers."
It sounds like he's not alone:
Human rights lawyers and religious counsellors in the US predict that the case is the start of a huge wave of protests and legal moves by military personnel and their families.
Volunteers at the GI Rights Hotline, a legal aid centre for soldiers, are receiving about 3,500 calls a month from military personnel looking to leave the armed forces.
Of course, none of this is being reported in the American media. They don't report the dead, and they don't report the unwilling.
Pte Hinzman said his family was part of his reason for going awol.
"I vowed to myself, to my wife and son, that I would not go to Iraq. To me it was a war fought on false pretenses. Dr Blix [the former chief UN weapons inspector] went time and time again [to Iraq] and he said there are no weapons of mass destruction.
"They are exploiting the events of September 11, based on greed and our need for oil."
12:31:21 AM
|
|
|
February 22, 2004 |
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) -- A feminist author has written a magazine article accusing a noted Yale University professor of sexually harassing her while she was an undergraduate in the 1980s, and alleging a long history of such events at Yale.
Read the rest here.
10:42:06 PM
|
|
California bigot and governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the Attorney General to intervene to stop gay couples from getting married in San Francisco. Schwarzenegger said, and I kid you not,
"Because the City and County of San Francisco's actions are directly contrary to state law and present an imminent risk to civil order, I hereby direct you to take immediate steps to obtain a definitive judicial resolution of this controversy."
That's right. Gay marriage licenses are an "imminent risk to civil order." Can anyone explain why?
Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, said the governor believed that San Francisco officials were "flouting state law" and that "we're going down a dangerous path that leads to anarchy. It's time for this to end."
In related news, after Schwarzenegger's office equated gay marriage with anarchy, Schwarzenegger told Meet The Press that he supports an amendment to the constitution that would allow foreign-born Americans (like him) to become President.
"Look at the kind of contribution that people like Henry Kissinger have made, Madeleine Albright," he said, referring to two former secretaries of state who were born in Europe and were therefore prevented from running for the country's highest elected office.
That's right. Henry Kissinger. Schwarzenegger's role model is one of the great untried war criminals of the twentieth century.
Shouldn't this stuff be in one of those Left Behind novels?
10:27:27 PM
|
|
|
February 18, 2004 |
Conan O'Brien has apologized for the racist Triumph the Insult Comic skit that aired last week during Late Night's visit to Toronto. The skit featured the sock puppet, a gimmick stolen from Toronto's own Ed The Sock, making disparaging remarks about French people while walking the streets of Quebec City. Ontario's Minister of Culture and Francophone Affairs said the apology came too late, but was better than nothing.
In a related story, the Hollywood Reporter doesn't seem to understand that the government of Ontario is not the same as the government of Quebec. In a February 13 story titled "Quebec government blasts O'Brien for insults to locals," the Hollywood Reporter cites comments from officials of the government of Ontario and the federal government of Canada, but no comments from the government of Quebec. Which leaves me wondering how they arrived at the title of the article?
6:26:56 PM
|
|
A story at Dataquest India (subscription required) suggests that protectionist laws being passed in the US senate to prevent the offshoring of American government jobs to places such as India may be premature.
Given the election year in the USA, it not hard to figures why candidates are actively taking up the outsourcing issue. We have seen enough of such stunts in India and expecting rational business sense would be far fetched at such times. However policy makers have to realize that setting up trade barriers today will hurt the USA more than any other.
Observers also feel that US lawmakers are being shortsighted and populist in bringing about such legislation and will be brought to their senses when enough qualified people are not found to do the job. US policy makers need to give more thought on how to bridge up the huge demand-supply gap looming large in the next few year. Rather than trying to ban offshoring and passing bills, they need to analyze on how to stop the potentially huge $884 billion cumulative GDP loss. One hopes that sane sense prevails, but then its election time. Let us hope that US policy makers who want their voters to see the light at the end of the tunnel are not mistaking it for an approaching train in the long run.
|
The $884 bn Loss |
| While the domestic working population (16+ years), expected to grow at 0.72% by year 2010, is not sufficient to meet the country’s future labor demand, statistics suggest that one out of six working persons in the US will be 65+ years. |
| This according to Evalueserve would lead to a demand-supply gap of 5.6 million jobs in the country’s labor market by 2010. |
| Factoring in the estimated levels of cumulative immigration at 3.2 million until 2010, the US will need to address a shortfall of approximately 2.4 million workers. According to Evalueserve, if the shortfall of 2.4 million is not addressed, the US economy will face a cumulative GDP loss of $ 884 billion—a reason enough for the US government to ensure free flow of work to offshore. |
5:56:49 PM
|
|
|
February 16, 2004 |
Summer or Winter, the Yankees Show the Red Sox How to Win. In the end, the Yankees' trade for Alex Rodriguez is just another instance in which the Yankees beat the Red Sox. By Murray Chass. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
The people in New York who cover the Yankees are a joke. They prattle on about the pride and legacy of the Yankees, about this "storied" franchise and its legends. But the modern Yankees are just filthy rich. They've made a farce out of Major League Baseball by spending obscene amounts of money to be competitive, making the rest of the league (maybe minus a few teams) look like a joke by comparison. What legacy? This is the just "deep pockets."
I used to watch baseball, like ten years ago. Now I can't fathom why people in at least 25 major league cities buy tickets to watch this Major League Farce. Why do you patronize this joke of a league, people of Milwaukee, Kansas City, Detroit, San Diego, Montreal, and the rest of the also-rans who don't stand a chance of winning the title from the opening day of spring training?
I'm sure the league will use examples like Anaheim and Florida to suggest that small market teams can make it to the World Series. But when the Yankees can put a 30-home run guy in the eighth spot of their batting lineup, I know where I'm putting my money.
On another sport.
7:49:36 PM
|
|
Jimmy Breslin:
In Texas, George Bush might have even had a uniform on. But he was not in Vietnam. And now, today, he is a guy who ducked the war, dodged the war, reneged on any chance to go to war, and yet without even a hint of personal shame sends young people to die in a war that his record shows that he would duck.
That Bush was not near any of this is his business. Of course he had joined the National Guard so he wouldn't have to go to Vietnam. That he barely went to any National Guard drills is also his business.
What matters to all our senses is that he is a president who struts around as a war hero, who dodged Vietnam and most of the National Guard drills and who with less shame than anybody we have had maybe ever, sends your kids to a war that he ducked as if he was allowed to do it by birth.
The picture of him playing soldier suit on an aircraft carrier, the helmet under his arm like he just got back from a run over Baghdad, marks him as exceedingly dangerous. He believes he is a warrior president. He is not. He is a war dodger. Therefore, it is preposterous for George Bush to be a commander of anything. He doesn't have the right to send people to war and yet he orders them off, and almost cheerfully.
12:00:11 AM
|
|
|
February 14, 2004 |
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/14/business/worldbusiness/14trade.html?th
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 - The United States trade deficit soared to a record of $489.4 billion last year, according to a federal report released on Friday, raising concerns about the problems such a large gap could create.
The deficit, which is the difference between the value of foreign goods and services purchased in this country and the amount of American goods and services sold overseas, is now the largest in history.
1:20:51 PM
|
|
After the ignominious results of Thursday's show, Conan O'Brien joked that his show was in Toronto "to make Don Cherry look good." For Americans who don't know who Don Cherry is, a word of explanation: Cherry is a fixture on Hockey Night in Canada whose politics would make George W. Bush look liberal. Cherry frequently makes derogatory remarks about European and French players in the NHL, and his bigotry was the source of a recent controversy. Cherry represents himself as a populist and drapes himself in patriotism, and this, combined with his brief stint as an NHL coach many years ago, seem to protect his status as cult hero and hockey world personality. Still, there's no excuse for his bigotry being protected by the strong ratings of Hockey Night in Canada, and his portion of the show, Coach's Corner.
It's a real shame that Thursday's show included a hateful piece of "comedy" aimed at anti-French sentiments in the United States, because the rest of the week was fairly successful. On Friday, Jim Carrey wed his zany antics with some obscure Canadiana like The Amazing Kreskin and Bonhomme. Carrey probably should have been given both guest spots, rather than put Eric McCormack through the unenviable task of following Carrey. McCormack tried, and he had some prepared material, but following Carrey on one of these shows is an impossible feat. Carrey even returned to "play" (looked more like "hump") the bongos during the closing credits.
A videotaped segment involving Conan working as a mountie at the Niagara Falls border was funny. Once again, I had to wince because they filmed the segment on one of the few days southern Ontario has received heavy snowfall this winter. But, oh well, what can you do.
I have to wonder how the whole thing might have been different if Conan had tried to engage Canadian culture honestly, and not through cliched stereotypes known to American audiences? The stereotypes are funny, sure, but the proceedings felt almost too conservative. There were acts from Western Canada (Nickelback), Eastern Canada (Ron James), and several from Ontario. Noticeably absent was anything from Quebec, except for the idiotic Triumph skit. The icons were all there: the mountie, hockey players fighting, a moose caller, and plenty of snow. Almost makes me want to break out my copy of Strange Brew (but that doesn't require a reason, eh).
I'm almost proud that some new stereotypes of Canada figure the country as socially progressive. O'Brien used several pot jokes and references to gay marriage. I can only hope the country continues to promote progressive politics. Hopefully in ten years O'Brien returns with jokes about corporate accountability and environmental protectionism.
1:53:54 AM
|
|
|
February 13, 2004 |
I said just moments after last night's Late Night with Conan O'Brien: "[The Triumph skit in Quebec] was the first time Late Night really showed how little it knows about Canada and Canadian humour, and the first time the flaunting of Canadian stereotypes crossed over into typically American-style bigotry."
I was not alone. CHUM, a Toronto TV station that aired the show, apologized today for the segment.
Earlier in the day, several members of Parliament expressed outrage over the segment, and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty distanced his government from the comedy sketch.
"I think it was vile and vicious. I think it amounts to hate-mongering," said NDP MP Alexa McDonough. She demanded the federal government get its subsidy back from the U.S. network.
Ottawa and the province gave NBC about $1 million to help pay for O'Brien's show to come to Toronto for a week to try to boost tourism after last year's SARS outbreak.
"The Conan O'Brien show does not speak for Ontarians," said Premier McGuinty. "Ontarians have a wonderful relationship with the people of Quebec."
6:17:43 PM
|
|
To understand why questions about George Bush's time in the National Guard are legitimate, all you have to do is look at the federal budget published last week. No, not the lies, damned lies and statistics — the pictures.
By my count, this year's budget contains 27 glossy photos of Mr. Bush. We see the president in front of a giant American flag, in front of the Washington Monument, comforting an elderly woman in a wheelchair, helping a small child with his reading assignment, building a trail through the wilderness and, of course, eating turkey with the troops in Iraq. Somehow the art director neglected to include a photo of the president swimming across the Yangtze River.
It was not ever thus. Bill Clinton's budgets were illustrated with tables and charts, not with worshipful photos of the president being presidential.
The rest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/13/opinion/13KRUG.html?th
5:32:01 PM
|
|
It's a real shame that Late Night with Conan O'Brien had to stoop as low as it did in its "Triumph the Insult Comic" skit tonight. Adam Sandler's appearance was fine. The "Canadian Small Talk Moment" was funny again. Other show characters appeared. But the Triumph segment just left me feeling really disappointed.
Triumph, the dog puppet modeled after Toronto's own Ed The Sock (though Late Night will never admit it), went to Quebec to film a nasty segment in which he accosted unsuspecting Francophones and ridiculed them for being French. It was the first time Late Night really showed how little it knows about Canada and Canadian humour, and the first time the flaunting of Canadian stereotypes crossed over into typically American-style bigotry. As much as English Canada and French Canada have their differences, relations have generally improved in recent years, and few people in English Canada find the prospect of Quebec separation a funny topic. Further, there is much more respect for French culture in the rest of Canada than there is in the United States. Despite profound cultural differences between French and English Canada, and the occasional outburst of domestic bigotry courtesy of hockey analyst Don Cherry, I don't think most English Canadians would have found the Triumph segment very funny.
I'm sure in America playing up hate gets big laughs in many places; it's probably considered "edgy." But the Triumph segment reflected a distinctly American dislike of the French, not a Canadian appreciation for Quebec's distinct culture. I was disappointed by the whole thing, because it seemed to erase the good will of the first three nights of shows, and seemed to suggest that underneath all the talk of "being happy to be in Canada" there was really just the same old American arrogance and bigotry. There's nothing funny about telling Francophones in Quebec to "learn the language" of North America. In case the writers behind the Triumph skit didn't notice, Canada has two official languages. Didn't anyone brief you about the "cultural mosaic" thing in Canada when you crossed the border? No "melting pot" here. We celebrate multiculturalism, bub.
After that ugliness was over and Sandler's appearance was finished, Stompin' Tom Connors brought the house down with his classic "The Good Old Hockey Game." Sure it's corny stuff, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than watching a dog puppet use American prejudices for cheap laughs.
1:55:58 AM
|
|
|
February 12, 2004 |
The second show in Toronto for Late Night with Conan O'Brien featured Michael J. Fox, some guy who does moose calls, and Nickelback, Canada's answer to Creed. The results would have been even more mixed than yesterday's show if it were not for the presence of former Kids in the Hall member Scott Thompson in a pre-recorded romp through some Toronto landmarks, including City Hall, where he and Conan considered legally-sanctioned marital bliss. Unfortunately, the segment must have been recorded sometime in the last couple of weeks when Toronto actually received some snow (the city doesn't normally get that much snow; in fact, other parts of Ontario ridicule Torontonians for their typically hysterical response to a little snowfall).
The snow meant two unfortunate things: first, it wasn't a clear day for filming, so some of the otherwise attractive sites were obscured by snow; and second, and perhaps more important, the segment once again left the impression with Americans that even Canadians in large cities spend the year buried in snow. I know I sound like a nervous nelly prattling on about not wanting to give Americans the wrong impression about Canada (and the show continually doing just that). But, really, I don't want to give Americans the wrong impression. Toronto, and much of southern Ontario, gets maybe a few weeks of snowfall every year (thank you, global warming). The day the Thompson segment was filmed was probably one of maybe three or four days this winter that Toronto has experienced serious snowfall.
Michael J. Fox was a fair guest, but he didn't have the same sense of belonging that Mike Myers did the night before. Maybe it's because Fox has lived in the States longer than Myers. I don't know. I think he has to deal with the disadvantage of being out of the spotlight for some time. I'm sure fans were happy to see him, but Fox hasn't been a mainstay of popular culture since, what, Spin City? And how many people watched that? He'll always be welcomed in Canada; I'm not disputing that. Just saying that his celebrity now is more related to his battle with Parkinsons than with his film or television work.
The moose calling guy was the Canadian equivalent of one of those old ladies who used to appear on the Tonight Show with potato chips that look like people: an oddity, and not very entertaining at that. But Conan did a decent job of milking some comedy from the bit.
Let's see. That means in two nights we have seen a lame plaid-shirted maritimer comedian and a camouflage-shirted champion moose caller. Equal opportunity, or just Stereotype City?
Finally, Nickelback. Where the hell are the cool Canadian bands? (And don't say it, American reader. Because there are some.) Nickelback is one of those Canadian bands that deserves to be in a South Park parody for the damage they have done the reputation of our music industry. Why does Canada always export shitty bands? Why can't American record labels and radio stations discover the good Canadian bands? Instead, the American public has an insatiable appetite for Celine Dion and Nickelback. Look, America, don't blame Canada for your listening habits. If you guys would just stop listening to them, they'd never escape the Canadian music scene, living out their days earning beer money from some bar gig in Saskatoon.
The funniest bit in the first two nights of Conan in Toronto is the "Canadian Small Talk Moment," where Conan and Max put on Hockey Canada ball caps and talk about Canadian politics. I don't know how this plays in America, but I find it hilarious, and I don't even recognize all of the Canadian current events they are referencing. I think it's funny because Canadian politics sounds so bland and inconsequential, or maybe it's just because it's an American celebrity talking about Canadian things that American celebrities don't talk about. Whatever the reason, I think it's hysterical.
I think most Conan fans are anticipating Friday's show because Jim Carrey is on. He's a local boy, sure, but more importantly Carrey is a guest who prepares material for his appearances. I'm looking forward to whatever he has in mind for Friday.
2:15:24 AM
|
|
|
February 11, 2004 |
A story from the Dallas Morning News, posted on FarrFeed, suggests Bush's military records may have been destroyed intentionally.
Retired National Guard Lt. Col. Bill Burkett said Tuesday that in 1997, then-Gov. Bush's chief of staff, Joe Allbaugh, told the National Guard chief to get the Bush file and make certain "there's not anything there that will embarrass the governor."
Col. Burkett said that a few days later at Camp Mabry in Austin, he saw Mr. Bush's file and documents from it discarded in a trash can. He said he recognized the documents as retirement point summaries and pay forms.
2:41:32 PM
|
|
|
February 10, 2004 |
Counterspin Central recently wondered if the Bush White House already knows where Bin Laden is and is simply waiting for the election to find him. I've said this before, and at the risk of sounding like a paranoid crazy, I'd have to agree with Counterspin Central and repeat my own sense of impending doom for the presidential election. As I said before, I am willing to bet the US has Bin Laden stored somewhere in Pakistan, and no doubt they'll "find" him sometime in September.
The connection between the Bush family and the Bin Laden family is by now well documented, and it is this connection that makes the so-called manhunt for Osama seem like such an implausible adventure. Wouldn't it be interesting if Osama were served up for the Bush White House by the Saudi elite as a sort of compensation for damaging Saudi-US oil relations? I guess what I'm saying -- and this is pure speculation -- is, you would expect it to be harder to find someone you don't know than someone you know very well, and in this case it is not as though the country of the victims (US) and the country of the terrorists (Saudi Arabia) are on bad terms.
There's so much money and power at stake in the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States, one would assume they both have an incredible amount of incentive to find Osama bin Laden. The most telling example of this relationship and its importance globally (remember Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserve in the world) is the fact that America invaded Afghanistan after 15 Saudis (out of 19 terrorists) flew some planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Instead of invading Saudi Arabia (which is unthinkable, given the oil they supply the US, and the fact that the US installed the current regime), Osama bin Laden's birthplace, the US invaded Afghanistan, which was meaningless as far as 9/11 was concerned, but presented an easy target for the American military and a strategic target for the oil executives in the Bush administration.
Which means, at least in the world of baseless speculation, that I wouldn't be surprised to see Osama bin Laden in captivity before the fall election.
7:50:35 PM
|
|
More news emerging on George Bush's military "service." According to Calpundit, Bush served in something called the Air Reserve Forces:
ARF is the reserves, and among other things it's where members of the guard are sent for disciplinary reasons. As we all know, Bush failed to show up for his annual physical in July 1972, he was suspended in August, and the suspension was recorded on September 29. He was apparently transferred to ARF at that time and began accumulating ARF points in October.
ARF is a "paper unit" based in Denver that requires no drills and no attendance. For active guard members it is disciplinary because ARF members can theoretically be called up for active duty in the regular military, although this obviously never happened to George Bush.
To make a long story short, Bush apparently blew off drills beginning in May 1972, failed to show up for his physical, and was then grounded and transferred to ARF as a disciplinary measure. He didn't return to his original Texas Guard unit and cram in 36 days of active duty in 1973 — as Time magazine and others continue to assert based on a mistaken interpretation of Bush's 1973-74 ARF record — but rather accumulated only ARF points during that period. In fact, it's unclear even what the points on the ARF record are for, but what is clear is that Bush's official records from Texas show no actual duty after May 1972, as his Form 712 Master Personnel Record from the Texas Air National Guard clearly indicates...
7:20:31 PM
|
|
© Copyright 2004 General Stuff.
|
|
|
|
| March 2004 |
| Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
| 14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
| 21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
| 28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
|
|
|
| Feb Apr |
|
|
