The annual cheery Afghanistan poll, 2010 edition
Every year, ABC News and the BBC team up with other news organizations to conduct a poll of Afghans to see how things are going. Not well, it would seem, after an upswing in 2009.
Wed, December 8 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Is the planet on track for a very warm year?
This catch-up tweet is ironic, coming on a morning when there is a skiff of snow on the ground, but planet Earth appears to be on track for one of its warmest years ever. But Britain’s the Met Office has been wrong in its predictions before.
Sat, November 27 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Happy 125th birthday, Banff
Behold one of the world’s great views — and you’ll only find it at Lake Louise in Canada’s Banff National Park. Banff was declared a national park on Nov. 25, 1885. One of its key attractions, the Banff Upper Hot Springs, were “discovered” by railway workers in 1882-83. If you get a chance, go to them during a [...]
Fri, November 26 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, photos » Comments Off
Interest in global warming heated up on U.S. blogs
The U.S.-based Project for Excellence in Journalism’s New Media Index for Nov. 8-12 found global warming to be a top-five topic among U.S. bloggers. This is the 10th time that has happened since the index began in January 2009, but the twist this time is that it is global warming believers baying the loudest:
Fri, November 19 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, Media » Comments Off
Why Kurtz’s speech about horror rings so true
Apocalypse Now Redux ranks as one of the greatest war films of all time. I just posted on the “I love the smell of napalm in the morning speech” by air cavalry officer Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore. Earlier today, to mark Remembrance Day, I tweeted a link to a Feb. 27, 2008 post: The horror, [...]
Thu, November 11 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Film, Main Page » Comments Off
‘Some day, this war’s gonna end’
Since this was Remembrance Day, I posted a link to Twitter about a Feb. 27, 2008 post based on the monologue of Col. Walter Kurtz (Marlon Brando) to Capt. Benjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) in the masterpiece-level 1979 film Apocalypse Now Redux (The horror, the horror). I particularly liked the writing, and the truth within, [...]
Thu, November 11 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Film, Main Page, multimedia » 1 Comment
America’s great cleaving
New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow outlines how the recent U.S. midterm election revealed a nation retreating from moderation in its politics. This has journalistic implications.
Tue, November 9 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, Media, politics » 1 Comment
Queen’s Quay Karen
My last post was about the emphemeral nature of online life and relationships. This one is about outright fakery.
Tue, November 2 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, Media, politics » 9 Comments
Hurting Toronto
I wrote a Saturday feature for ctvtoronto.ca: Economic cracks show in Toronto as election looms. The basic thrust is that Toronto’s economic recovery since the recession has been very uneven. If you were a blue-collar goods-producing worker, you may have lost your job. If you found one again, it’s probably a much-lower-paying gig in the [...]
Sat, October 23 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page » Comments Off
Covering the unthinkable in a social media age
As I approached work Tuesday, I read the tweets of the Toronto Star’s Joanna Smith who is covering the Col. Russell Williams sentencing hearing. I sent her the following: @smithjoanna Great tweets, but you’re breaking my heart. :( What a tragic story. #ColRW Didn’t get a response, but she did tweet the following late Tuesday: Debate tonight [...]
Wed, October 20 2010 » * Big Picture Stuff, Main Page, Media » 3 Comments