Curated knowlege, trenchant insights & witty bon mots
Saw this over at John Gushue's Dot Dot Dot. The BBC has set up a page called backstage.bbc.co.uk (beta). An excerpt: backstage.bbc.co.uk is the BBC's new developer network, providing content feeds for anyone to build with. Alternatively, share your ideas on new ways to use BBC content. This is your BBC. We want to help [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
As I'm walking up my street, I see a strange sight: A man in his mid to late 50s is waving a large Canadian flag mounted on about a four-metre pole, with a recording of O Canada blasting out of his van parked in the laneway behind him. His eyes spoke of a certain eccentricity within [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
The Salon blurb: Say goodbye to your suburban house, yoke up that horse, and stand by to repel pirates! Author James Howard Kunstler talks about the dire world of his new book, “The Long Emergency.” Kuntsler was featured prominently in the film The End of Suburbia. An excerpt (free with a day pass): Suburbs will [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
The NYT's Thomas L. Friedman continues to hammer at U.S. complacency about its dwindling intellectual edge. BTW, the Globe and Mail's Jeffrey Simpson has argued that education should be a higher priority than health. Anyways, some excerpts from Friedman: On April 7, CNET News.com reported the following: “The University of Illinois tied for 17th place [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
NYT guest columnist Matt Miller lampoons the Bush administration's war abroad in Iraq and domestically on taxes: An excerpt: [Infomercial director: " 'The Republican Guide to Wartime Tax Cuts' ... Take One ... Action!"] ANNOUNCER: In the old days, war profiteering was a grueling round-the-clock job. You actually had to make something, like planes or [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
It's a simple formula in some parts of the world: Rally in public, call for justice and better living conditions – and get shot by government troops. Thank God that in Uzbekistan, the government is an ally of both the U.S. and Russia in the fight against terrorism. An excerpt from the BBC story: Thousands gathered in [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
BBC Online editor Pete Clifton talks about the big stories his service intends to keep an eye on for the remaining months of 2005. He also asks site visitors for input (gasp!). An excerpt: Staying close to the Iraq story is very important to me. We get plenty of stick from people who don't think [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
About 2,000 delegates have gathered in St. Louis to “to discuss visionary and practical solutions to the problems of our media.” It's a lefty event. Luminaries like Al Franken, Naomi Klein and George Lakoff will be speaking. Phil Donahue gave a keynote. The conference website is here. Newshare is blogging it, as well as Be [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
The Toronto Star's Richard Gwynn tears a strip off the U.S.'s nuclear weapons policy. An excerpt from the May 10 column: “Overkill” (an unfortunate word in this context) is the best way to describe U.S. nuclear policy. It's a larger version of the anti-missile program. Today, a decade-and-a-half after the end of the Cold War [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off
The allegation was made by a Miami, Fla. sportswriter: Shaquille O'Neal lost the NBA's most valuable player award because he's black and Steve Nash is white. The Toronto Star's Dave Feschuk opines on the matter: “How much of this has to do with race?” wrote the Miami Herald's Dan Le Batard, who, while he didn't [...]
Sat, May 14 2005 » Main Page » Comments Off