Category: Uncategorized
More Webby-Speak
Does “intuitive” mean anything other than “hopefully useful”? As marketing speak, much is claimed to be “intuitive” which turns out not to be used, not to trigger interest. Maybe it means usable.
President Kerry?
It would be facinating to watch if the wheels really came off the current US administration. This was slipped in the Toronto Star‘s article on Kerry’s wins yesterday:
One national poll yesterday put Kerry seven percentage points ahead of Bush as the president continued to be battered by the failure to find banned weapons in Iraq and his secretary of state seemed to express second thoughts about the decision to go to war. Perhaps more ominous for the sitting president, his approval rating had dropped to 48 per cent, the lowest of his presidency, according to the CNN-USA Today poll.
I would think that sending soldiers to a war which has had its primary ground – WMD – generally disproven is a biggie. [Apparently Colin Powell thinks so, too.] It feels like there was never a true buy-in to the Saddam-Osammy link. And the tighter security rules must discomfort – I don’t think this is a big thing at the border and security agencies will be security agencies but when you are checking up on what my kids take out from the library it gets a bit weird. But the main thing is the messed up budget. I don’t think you can have 20 years of being told that you must reduce government spending and reduce taxes only to have the shift to big spending and low taxes bought by the people. It used to be said of conservatives that they shifted the tax from rich to poor. This guy shifts it to no one…but money does not work that way. The loans from the Saudis and China mount. Who wants that dependency mounting?
The real question is, all in all, what has George Jr. done uniquely that another leader would not have done? I am not convinced the war on terror (remember that one?) would not have been taken on by anyone in the White House after 9/11. Others might have pursued it more diligently. Others soon might.
Mid-Winter Thaw
Winter weather colours so much of your mental landscape in Canada. Walking home yesterday it was a balmy -2 and everyone was Gene Kelly singing in the rain. Jackets open, heads bare. It has actually warmed up enough to snow (figure that one out, Ale-fan) and we are set for 15 cm or so – which would be the biggest snow in our corner of the world yet this season. This morning, however, the roads are wet. Luxury. A little early to think of them as million dollar snows, the snows that make sure there is enough moisture in the ground for a good growing season, but still we are past the middle. Mid-winter thaw was a time as a kid for ground hockey, a form of the game played on still frozen ground, ruining next spring’s lawn, road hockey without the incessent call of “caaaaaar”.
Formula 1 Threats
Here in Canada we have had ann annual game recently of Formula 1 racing threatening to pull out all activities unless we change our anti-tobacco ad legislation. Now I read they are threatening the EU as well:
“The EU is strangled by unnecessary and excessive regulations,” said [F1 head Max] Mosley.
“If you are involved in something that is at the cutting edge you’ve got to question if this is the right place.
We are involved in something cutting edge…umm…cutting out the lies of death merchants. People are free to smoke – away from me if you please. Just don’t teach its virtues to my kids.
Newly ex-BBC head seeks legal advice on judicial review of Hutton report. Interesting approach.
Napanee
Things seen in Napanee this afternoon. The Square Boy Pizza logo must be one of the last dot matrix brands left. I didn’t catch if the restaurant was inferior or superior.