ps2 on the road

This is a highly impressive use of modern technology. the same stuff we used to only blame on making us the fattest and laziest people on the planet, now can be classified as more dangerous than previously thought. whereas inactivity may be the leading cause of death, it seems that in this case those same influences have crept into the driving arena. enjoy a good game of grand theft auto while committing grand theft auto!

Beastie Boys

word on the street is that the beastie boys will announce their tour tomorrow (monday july 26th). I cannot share with you how much this excites me. i know the tour will likely start in seattle on sep 19 as tickets are already on sale for this date. of course, i could be wrong and the tour could straddle the seattle date. in any event i hope to catch at least one show... probably in montreal. i just wanted to post to express how excited i am to know these dates in less than 10 hours now!

ben stein vs. ken jennings

if you've been watching jeopardy over the past few weeks, you probably know that ken jennings is the wealthiest and most successful jeopardy contestant ever. he won $75,000 last night, and now has six weeks to relax, presumably back home in utah. in fact, he's been back there for a while now, but he cannot reveal anything about future episodes. anyway, i want ken jennings to get a spin off show because jeopardy is getting a little dry with all his runaway games. unfortunately, ben stein already has a show on comedy central that is based on the idea that ben is too smart and people should win money for proving themselves next to him. win ben steins money has won seven emmies since it started airing; but i wonder if ben is willing to take on a challenger like ken jennings. and i think we should up the stakes... win ben stein's show could be a showdown program one night next fall - it would be awesome. naturally ken would have to resign from jeopardy to try his hand against ben stein. but we need ben stein to challenge ken, so email him!

bagtown fringe

this weekend is the bagtown fringe festival in sackville, nb. in its inaugural year, we've pulled together a burlesque show, a parade, a few short plays, and a poetry slam. it should be a good weekend of showcasing local talent. it's been keeping me pretty busy, and starting today we have three houseguests. ladyfriend has interviews in moncton on friday and in halifax next week. then we're off to nyc. it's a pretty packed two weeks, but then some settling down before the end of the summer. pm today said he'd reintroduce decrim legislation in parliament. it'll definitely pass with the bloc and ndp going for it. i oppose the move, since regulation of the marijuana industry is the only reasonable mechanism to bring safety to our streets and money into our coffers. israel has vowed to defy a un resolution calling for an end to the separation barrier. this is nothing new for the israelis. it's pretty remarkable that if israel had built it's wall on the green line, there would be no public outcry. it's funny though, because people who are arguing that walls generally do not serve as good security measures need only look at northern ireland, korea, pakistan, etc. that's all for now

more i-p

I think thes updates are highly informative, and will link to them weekly. Americans for Peace Now - q & A with Yossi Alpher

health care funding

Gerard Boychuk writes in November 2002 about the fiscal sustainability of Canada's health care system. Janice MacKinnon on the other hand argues that fiscal sustainability is the central crisis in health care. I don't understand why these folks continue to harp on money as the key to solving the crisis. Health Care's biggest challenges are presented by the resistence to alterity and options in the treatment of illness. I have argued this more clearly here

israelis speak out

This is easily one of the harshest critiques of the Sharon administration I have read in Haaretz (israeli daily). Most criticisms vis-a-vis the conflict are shrouded in respectful and loyal disagreement. However, this paricular editorial demands more than it advises; and if it has even remote resemblance to public opinion, then the respect for law and justice that pave the way for meaningful peace are burgeoning - just as sharon and peres seem to be moving towards the first real steps of ending the 37 year occupation. hopefully arafat, whose judgement seems wishy washy these days will be able to keep the PA going long enough to defeat hamas for control of the strip; thereby demonstrating the sincerity in palestinian hopes for peace. if not, the region will be destined to a few more generations of hatred and violence

communist = terrorist

although a horrendously overplayed refrain in lefty-pinko politics; i just caught bravo television's afternoon showing of guilty by suspicion which does wonders for these thoughts.  i wonder how long it will be until we look back on this version of mccarthyism as what it is: paranoia and patriotism devolving into anti-american authoritarianism

the lives of the rich and famous

july 16 - according to this martha stewart is headed to prison. likely she will not actually serve much time as appeals will take a long time, and parole seems to be easy enough. maybe when she gets out we'll hear a new martha stewart rap album... that'd be something. i do think it's kind of interesting that ms is getting jail time, when if you or i did what she did, then we'd get off for sure. though anyone who's got 250k to invest "here and there" is probably going to be high profile enough to attract significant attention... well, it's the weekend, hopefully a hike will be in order if the weather agrees and we can avoid the floods the rest of the country has been dealing with

getting started

july 16 - just saw this on haaretz (israeli daily).  i think i'm more offended that the presumed consensus is that jews who support the palestinian cause are self-hating, or at least hate israel.  this is where room for coexistence has to be made.  it strikes me that these jews probably feel this away about the conflict as a direct result of the way jewish values have been taught to them.    july 15 - got the papers up now, on the site.  just a few more things to make this baby golden and available to family and friends.  so, here are a few interesting things that are going on:  - my ladyfriend is away on business doing aquaculture research in st. andrews - i have been working on making this website work and pretty; two goals which are really only barely out of reality.  - peterborough is in a state of emergency over the flooding.  weird that 90% of the time you see such news, potential reactions range from "glad it's not me" to "why would you live there?"  Although they make sense, peterborough's experience teaches us that living in so-called lower-risk areas does not necessarily put you in the clear.  i wonder how the lift locks are doing there with the flooding...   july 14 - today is really the first day of my blog.  i'm just glad to have this site up and running.  you can explore a number of different things about  me on the site; including much of my scholarly work.  anyway, i just wanted to get the ball rolling, so here she is.  enjoy.  look for more in the days and weeks to come.