remember the "road map"

Remember the "Road Map". I always liked the quotes, sort of gave it a "less serious" tone. Clinton started that term I believe.

FROM THE US STATE DEPARTMENT WEBSITE
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/22520.htm
Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East: Israeli/Palestinian Reciprocal Action, Quartet Support

Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
July 16, 2003
[PDF]



"The Roadmap represents a starting point toward achieving the vision of two states,
a secure State of Israel and a viable, peaceful, democratic Palestine.
It is a framework for progress towards lasting peace and security in the Middle East..."
--President George W. Bush

The Roadmap for Peace, developed by the United States, in cooperation with Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations (the Quartet), was presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority on April 30. The plan is a performance-based, goal-driven plan, with clear phases, timelines, and benchmarks. It involves reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, and humanitarian fields. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Ongoing good-faith efforts by both Israelis and Palestinians are required to implement the Roadmap. The pace of progress will grow solely out of their performance. The United States, other members of the Quartet, and regional Arab leaders will work to support and facilitate the process. They also will meet regularly to evaluate the parties’ performance in implementing the plan.

PHASE I: Ending Terror and Violence, Normalizing Palestinian Life, and Building Palestinian Institutions


Palestinian leadership issues unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate end to all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere.
Israeli leadership issues unequivocal statement affirming its commitment to the two-state vision of an independent, viable, sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel, and calling for an immediate end to violence against Palestinians anywhere.
Palestinian institution-building includes drafting a constitution for Palestinian statehood and conducting free elections.
Israel withdraws from Palestinian areas occupied since September 2000, as security progresses, freezes all settlement activity, and dismantles outposts. It takes measures to improve the Palestinian humanitarian situation.

PHASE II: Transition


An independent Palestinian state is created with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty. The Palestinian leadership continues to act decisively against terror and to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty.


The United States and the Roadmap

President Bush's vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and security as articulated in his June 24 speech, was the Roadmap foundation.
The U.S. worked extensively with Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union (the Quartet) to design the Roadmap, and will work with them to advance it.
President Bush traveled to the region in early June to initiate the Roadmap process.
Secretary Powell traveled to the region in May and late June to help restore dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians and advance the Roadmap process.

An international conference will be convened by the Quartet after the Palestinian elections to support Palestinian economic recovery. Multilateral Middle East issues also will be addressed, including water, environment, economic development, refugees, and arms control issues.
PHASE III: Permanent Status Agreement and End of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict


Palestinian reform is consolidated and its institutions stabilized while effective security performance is sustained. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aim at a permanent status agreement in 2005.
A second international conference convened by the Quartet leads to a final, permanent status resolution on borders, Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements. It also supports a comprehensive peace settlement between Israel and Lebanon and Israel and Syria, as soon as possible.

aussie whiz kid

FROM: Radio New Zealand:
Manchester United have signed a gifted nine-year-old Australian boy after his grandfather sent the Premier League champions a DVD showcasing the boy's talents which has become a YouTube sensation.
Rhain Davis, who was born in England but has lived in Australia since he was four, is being hailed by the British press on Thursday as the next Wayne Rooney.
The boy's skills feature in a four-minute YouTube clip, already viewed more than 800,000 times.
United have confirmed the signing but they're playing down the hype around the youngster, who has moved back to Cheshire in northern England with his father, near the club's training ground.
While the club doesn't comment on individual members, a spokesman says they're bracing themselves for a series of DVDs.

amazing music vids 2

Trippy!
The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows/Within You, Without You

Tomorrow Never Knows is way ahead of it's time.

Post 1 of Amazing Music Videos

The Avalanches- Frontier Psychiatrist

"your a nut, your crazy in the coconuts!"

johnny appleseed

Joe Strummer's, Johnny Appleseed is the title song for HBO's John From Cincinnati. HBO please do not cancel this show! it is weird but compared to 93% of other television it is amazing. I think the show gets it's chops from the Strummer song. It has great character's, surfing, shitty California and beautiful California.

get Tusk

Man, I miss the days of watching Solid Gold with my dad. Usually was my before bed routine. I used to howl when Marilyn McCoo used to cover the number one hit of the week, or her duets.

Get Tusk!

NBA Ref Gambles

Well, the New York Post broke a story about an NBA referee who gambled on some games allegedly.

Here's the thing- this is pretty big. Refs decide games but not 24 point killings.

For me, I am a huge fan. This means nothing to me. I will be back. Gambling or not.

Is the game tainted? Not by the refs that is for sure. The players run the league. They are the only one's who can taint it.

It is not a secret that NBA commish loaths gaming. He has not tolerance for it. So he will make this a big deal.

But come October when the game tips again some gambling addicted former referee will be long forgotten.

a riot

This tune is so rough and unmelodic-I cannot get it out of my head.
The Germs - Manimal

vancouver green

I am in Vancouver shooting a documentary on the Jamaica to Toronto guys. I am renting a suite in an apartment that a friend hooked me up with.

A real nice pad with no TV but I got my computer and I really felt like watching TV - so I visted www.tomgreen.com . Tom is nuts and that is what I felt like after a night of shooting. Well, I visit and expect some Hollywood dude as a guest and who is on ......... my co-worker and friend George.

He needs to invest in a razor though, beards are for tall dorky dudes, sorry.

Daddy

CAN WE TAKE THESE MASKS OFF NOW?

this makes me happy

Raptors Games Back On CBC
19th June, 2007 - 9:29 pm
Globe And Mail -
Sources confirmed that the CBC has reached an agreement in principle to air a package of Raptors games in 2007-08, the first time the National Basketball Association team's telecasts will be on main network television since 2001-02, when CTV carried a few.

Details are sketchy because the deal is about two weeks away from being announced, but it's reasonable to expect the CBC to focus on Sunday afternoons. [READ]

I miss Canadian Hip Hop.

When I was young and dumb, I did not have much time for Canadian Hip Hop. I was distracted by NYC and Detroit artists. Ever heard of Rap Mafia out of Detroit? I am so looking for some of their stuff. My friend Justin and I would buy some Detroit Hip Hop just because it was from the D. You could have sold us a blank tape if it had a fresh cover.

I then got wise, especially when Maestro Fresh Wes came. Dude was cocky, had amazing rhymes and straight up, but tight beats. I love the parts in "Let Your Backbone Slide" , when the beat stops to silence.

I have tons of respect for Maestro. Chuck D told me that Wes was one of his favorite rappers.


I miss the old days of Canadian Hip Hop. It is in a different place now. For me a little to American influenced. I love the Island vibe that we have/had- it does not get old for me.

Some more good ones............

3 minutes of amazing

Badly acted, brillantly shot Miami Vice

Common- The Game

Common and Dj Premier = Goodness

LARGE PIG AND KID WITH GUN

FROM FOXNEWS ...........Alabama Boy Kills 1,051-Pound Monster Pig, Bigger Than 'Hogzilla'
Saturday , May 26, 2007



An 11-year-old Alabama boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog that just may be the biggest pig ever found.

Jamison Stone's father says the hog his son killed weighed a 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.

If the claims are accurate, Jamison's trophy boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004.

Click here to see a big pic of the big pig.

Hogzilla originally was thought to weigh 1,000 pounds and measure 12 feet in length. National Geographic experts who unearthed its remains believe the animal actually weighed about 800 pounds and was 8 feet long.

After seeing the pig in person, taxidermist Jerry Cunningham told The Anniston Star it was "the biggest thing I'd ever seen ... it's huge."

The Anniston Star reported that the feral hog was weighed at the Clay County Farmer's Exchange in Lineville. Workers at the co-op verified that the basic truck scales used were recently certified by the state. But no workers from the co-op were present when the hog was weighed.

Jamison is reveling in the attention over his pig, which has a Web site put up by his father — http://www.monsterpig.com — that is generating Internet buzz.

"It feels really good," Jamison, of Pickensville, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good accomplishment. I probably won't ever kill anything else that big."

Jamison, who killed his first deer at age 5, was hunting with father Mike Stone and two guides in east Alabama on May 3 when he bagged Hogzilla II. He said he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50-caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods before finishing it off with a point-blank shot.

Through it all there was the fear that the animal would turn and charge them, as wild boars have a reputation of doing.

"I was a little bit scared, a little bit excited," said Jamison, who just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy, a small, private school.

His father said that, just to be extra safe, he and the guides had high-powered rifles aimed and ready to fire in case the beast with 5-inch tusks decided to charge.

With the pig finally dead in a creek bed on the 2,500-acre Lost Creek Plantation, a commercial hunting preserve in Delta, trees had to be cut down and a backhoe brought in to bring Jamison's prize out of the woods.

It was hauled on a truck to the Clay County Farmers Exchange in Lineville, where Jeff Kinder said they used his scale, which was recently calibrated, to weigh the hog.

Kinder, who didn't witness the weigh-in, said he was baffled to hear the reported weight of 1,051 pounds because his scale — an old, manual style with sliding weights — only measures to the nearest 10.

"I didn't quite understand that," he said.

Mike Stone said the scale balanced one notch past the 1,050-pound mark, and he thought it meant a weight of 1,051 pounds.

"It probably weighed 1,060 pounds. We were just afraid to change it once the story was out," he said.

The hog's head is now being mounted on an extra-large foam form by Cunningham of Jerry's Taxidermy in Oxford. Cunningham said the animal measured 54 inches around the head, 74 inches around the shoulders and 11 inches from the eyes to the end of its snout.

Mike Stone is having sausage made from the rest of the animal. "We'll probably get 500 to 700 pounds," he said.

Jamison, meanwhile, has been offered a small part in "The Legend of Hogzilla," a small-time horror flick based on the tale of the Georgia boar. The movie is holding casting calls with plans to begin filming in Georgia.

The Anniston Star reported that congratulatory calls have come all the way from California, where Jamison appeared on a radio talk show. Jamison apparently has gotten words of congratulation from Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, country music star Kenny Chesney, Tom Knapp of Benelli firearms and Jerry Miculek of Smith & Wesson.

Jamison is enjoying the newfound celebrity generated by the hog hunt, but he said he prefers hunting pheasants to monster pigs.

"They are a little less dangerous."

The Associated Press contributed to this report

crown prince of reggae

Youtube has some amazing reggae footage - love this Dennis Brown interview.

Summer is here, and Dennis Brown suits.

Will Gentrification Spoil the Birthplace of Hip-Hop?

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE
They want to put some condos up at Herc's spot where Hip Hop got legs- 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the West Bronx

Hitchens and Jerry Faldwell

Cannot say I agree with Hitchens throwing Billy Graham in the equation. Graham is more of a realist than Faldwell.

bad meaning good

so your over them, I don't care. I like the colours in this video.

#41 - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible & Wake Up
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Fiasco

I was thinking about album cover art.

Lupe Fiasco's "Food and Liquor". That is the album above.

For such a hyped record, I was a bit disapointed. It is not bad, 5 tracks are nice.

Track 9- "He Say, She Say" is pretty soulful. But the album artwork above is amazing. A perfect case of cover art being better than the actual record.

Some questions........

What is with United Airlines and me. Like drinking and driving we just don't mix.

Is John Kerry really a Canadian?

Do some Japanese believe that "if you do not eat all your food, your eyes will burn out?"

Why am I asking questions?

fainting goats

A story we did recently in Marshall County, Tennessee on Fainting Goats. They were pretty wild, but the farmer says he has never seen one hurt, and they have a guard dog with them to protect them.

Some people were disturbed by the cat at the beginning of the item. I was at first also, he looked like a snail crawling towards us. But he rubbed up like a nice cat, but with useless hind legs. He followed us everywhere. And he was a pretty happy little guy. The farmer said he was recently hit by a car, and should have died, but just kept at it. In the city, you would probably take him to the vet, but on a farm, a cat is pretty low on the animal totem pole.

If he was not the cutest thing and so playful, I probably would not have included him. But he earned a role, when I look down and he was at my feet while shooting camera and he was using me as a rubbing pole.

your a crackhead

qcock

Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones jamming on some old school Syns and Computer's. Go think that today this stuff is gone, but is the basis for all Computer Music.

new common

Fader magazine got to hear the new Common record, Finding Forever , and broke down every track. If you are a fan check this out

Fader Mag's Track by Track: Common's Finding Forever


THIS TRACK WITH KANYE IS SUPPOSE TO BE ON THE RECORD

heroes?

“I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary,” - JESSICA LYNCH

How is this story getting buried. The people in the states who support the War In Iraq need to take into account the news that their leaders are feeding them.

NY Times Article
Washington
Government Challenged on Lynch and Tillman
By MICHAEL LUO
Published: April 24, 2007
House Democrats held up the episodes as examples of twisting of the truth for public relations in wartime.

hip hop curse

This is a move, but I am sure this will all go away soon. I recall shooting Russell in an interview with George for The Hour. He called George, his "nigga". George replied, dude I ain't black. Russ shot back, I mean, "my nigga". It was a funny exchange but also proven that the word is defined but those who use it. And in Hip Hop, I don't fret when I hear it, but some do, and that is their right. Maybe I should sweat it.



FROM CNN.COM

Hip hop's Simmons: Restrict offensive words


• Def Jam co-founder wants certain words cut from music biz
• Russell Simmons terms such words "extreme curse words"
• Language has become flashpoint since Don Imus controversy
:


NEW YORK, New York (AP) -- Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons said Monday that the recording and broadcast industries should consistently ban racial and sexist epithets from all so-called clean versions of rap songs and the airwaves.

Currently such epithets are prohibited in most clean versions, but record companies sometimes "arbitrarily" decide which offensive words to exclude and there's no uniform standard for deleting such words, Simmons said.

The recommendations drew mixed reaction and come two weeks after some began carping anew about rap lyrics after radio personality Don Imus was fired by CBS Radio and NBC for referring to the players on the Rutgers university women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos."

Expressing concern about the "growing public outrage" over the use of such words in rap lyrics, Simmons said the words "bitch," "ho" and "nigger" should be considered "extreme curse words."

"We recommend (they're) always out," Simmons, the pioneering entrepreneur who made millions of dollars as he helped shape hip-hop culture, said in an interview Monday. "This is a first step. It's a clear message and a consistency that we want the industry to accept for more corporate social responsibility."

Last week, Simmons called a private meeting of influential music industry executives to discuss the issue. However, no music executives were associated with Monday's announcement by Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.

Calls to Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Atlantic Records were not returned. The Recording Industry Association of America and Warner Music Group declined to comment.

Mixed reaction to Simmons

Bakari Kitwana, who has written about rap in books such as "Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop," said it was a step in the right direction. Kitwana said there needed to be uniformity in removing obscenities from music.

He pointed out that in some songs curse words are replaced with clean words while, in others, epithets and curse words are merely covered up by silence, allowing listeners to still infer from context the edited words.

"It shows that people in the industry are realizing that the pendulum is swinging and that there's a national conversation that they don't want to be on the wrong side of," Kitwana said of the recommendations.

"This is further along than we could have expected them to go 10 years ago. But there has to be more. I think they can do more around the question of content."

Writer Joan Morgan said the announcement amounted to "absolutely nothing." She called the recommendations "short-sighted at best and disingenuous at worst." It was, she said, an "anemic, insufficient response" that failed to address homophobia and other issues in certain strains of hip-hop culture and rap music.

Morgan, author of "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down," said calling for the removal of the three epithets assumes "all of the violence, misogyny and sexism in hip-hop is only expressed in" those words.

"It's says let's take the responsibility away from people creating the content and put it back on the corporations," said Morgan.

The recommendations also included forums to foster dialogue among entertainers, hip-hop fans and executives and the creation of a mentoring program for entertainers.

Another recommendation called for the establishment of a coalition of music, radio and television executives to advise those industries on "lyrical and visual standards."

The announcement cautioned against violating free-speech rights but said that freedom of expression comes with responsibility.

"Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African-Americans and other people of color, African-American women and to all women in lyrics and images," read a joint statement from Simmons and Benjamin Chavis, the network's executive director.

hotdogs?

FROM: MEDIA BISTRO
LIL' ROMEO SIGNS ON TO PLAY COLLEGE HOOPS AT USC........
April 14, 2007. Looks like Lil Romeo might have to put his rap career on hold for a while. That's because MediaTakeOut.com has learned that the 6 foot tall rapper has just received a full scholarship to join USC's basketball team.

And this isn't some king of publicity stunt either. Romeo averaged 13.9 points and 5.6 assists per game at Beverly Hills High as a junior this past season and was a stand out at the prestigious ABCD Basketball Camp last summer.

Demar Derozan, Romeo's future teammate and best friend explains, "He's no gimmick. He can play and is going to be one of the top point guards in the 2008 class."

And Romeo's father, Master P, seems to be glowing with pride. The rapper/producer tells, "USC is a great school and I felt like he made a great decision ... it's just great for [Romeo]."




Percy tried out for the Raptor's once......

the raps

My Raptors are making some noise. Even the NY Times have waken up to Canada's basketball team

TIME'S ARTICLE

stretch armstrong

Feel like you need to brush up on your Hip Hop history.

Maybe the best way is to listen to some classic New York Hip Hop Radio.

DJ Stretch Armstrong has a blog with some files you can listen to. I am spending way to much time on his site.

I like the old school Run DMC on Mr. Magic and Marley Marl show on WBLS, freestyling. So much on there though, gotta give Stretch props.

stretch armstrong's Blog

wefunk

This is not the WeFunk crew. Just the glassest-eyed band ever.

Do you like funk and hip hop, basically great classic drums.

WeFunk Radio

Montreal dudes. I always wish Metal dudes would have gotten together and talked and played records on radio, instead of trying to be shitty bands.

WeFunk is a radio show held on Montreal's CKUT 90.3 - McGill University's radio station.
http://www.wefunkradio.com

transit storm

A photo from Nick Mccabe of one of the many dogs at The Elephant Sanctuary In Howenwald, Tennessee.
--------------------------

I feel like I am contanstly in transit. I am not complaining.

Cars, Planes, subway trains. The brutal and pissy Queen Street Car.

This morning on the train I thought my knees where going to buckle, with the amount of people. I am complaining.

I am grateful for the Ipod playlist.

Here is my recent plane playlist. I was going to Tennesse, then to NYC back to Toronto. I also find Boards of Canada - Music Has A Right To The Children, as good for onboard listening anytime.

1.808 State- Pacific State (Massey's Conga Mix)
2.4Hero- Spirits In Transition
3.Air- Playground Love
4.Alex Cortiz-Funkalicious (btw- i hate this title, but a good takeoff song)
5.Aphex Twin- Window Licker (X-Rated Run Jeremy Mix)
6.Astrud Gilberto- The Gentle Rain (RJD2 Mix)
7.The Avalanches - Electricity
8.Chromeo- Needy Girl (Paper Faces Remix)
9.Cinematic Orchestra-Evolutions (Blow Yards Mix)
10. Dj Vadim- Themes From Conquest Of The Irrational (Prunes Remix)
11.Gang Starr- DJ Premier in Deep Concentration
12.U2-Electrical Storm

I also find this suitable for those airplane half sleeps.

A Real Club Banger

From MC Rove

definition of cute

My co-worker Nick with a baby goat in Tennessee - where I am at the airport heading to New York

We went to an Elephant Santuary today. It was amazing.

The goat above is not a normal goat - it is a breed of Tennessee Fainting Goats.

It and it's owner Leon Oliver will be on our show , The Hour The Hoursoon.

SCRATCHING IN THE KITCHEN

Grandmaster Flash is in the Hall
The group is the first – but not the last – hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
By LARRY McSHANE
The Associated Press
Ask Grandmaster Flash about hip-hop stars deserving of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he's quick with a list of rap icons.

"Afrika Bambaataa. Run-DMC. KRS-One," he says, barely pausing for a breath. "Big Daddy Kane. LL Cool J. Eric B and Rakim. Tribe Called Quest. The list goes on and on."

Flash left himself out, with good reason: The DJ and partners the Furious Five enter the Hall tonight as its initial rap inductees. The Bronx hip-hop pioneers are part of an otherwise traditional class: R.E.M., Van Halen and a pair of fellow New York City performers, Patti Smith and the Ronettes.

As the first citizens of hip-hop nation in the Rock Hall, the arrival of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five signals a new age at the Cleveland attraction: Smith likely marks the end of the '70s punk inductees, and the time of hip-hop is upon us.

"This announces the beginning of the rap era for the Hall," said Bill Adler, a hip-hop historian – currently editing the "Eyejammie Encyclopedia of Hip-Hop" – and member of the Hall's nominating committee. "Flash and the Furious Five are going to open the floodgates."

Adler, a publicist for the hugely influential Def Jam Records in the mid-1980s, offered his own list of rappers destined for induction: "The Beastie Boys, very quickly. Run-DMC and LL Cool J will get in pretty quickly. Slick Rick."

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five enter 25 years after their groundbreaking single, "The Message," about hard times in their native borough during the Reagan Administration. It was the first popular rap song with a social theme – "It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under," went the hypnotic chorus.

"One of the pivotal points in hip-hop history," said Furious Five rapper Melle Mel, who acknowledged his group initially wanted to pass on the song.

The group, which also featured Kid Creole, Cowboy, Mr. Ness and Raheim before an acrimonious 1983 split between Flash and Mel, had missed induction on two previous occasions. So when word arrived of the honor this year, Flash said he was initially skeptical.

"When it sank in that we were in, it was a good feeling for hip-hop," Flash said. "I think it's bigger than Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. To get that kind of respect is good for hip-hop."

Melle Mel recalled lying in bed – "I usually sleep with the TV on" – when he heard the news that R.E.M. and Van Halen were in. Before he could roll over, the announcer added the name of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

"The fact that we're in the Hall of Fame speaks volumes," said Melle Mel. "People try to separate hip-hop music like it stands alone, but it really doesn't. We're in with all the great groups in the history of music. It further legitimizes hip-hop."

Admitting a hip-hop group to the home of rockers from Chuck Berry through U2 is a bigger step for the Hall of Fame than it is for many rap aficionados, said Erik Parker, director of content at the hip-hop Web site SOHH.com.

"The average hip-hop fan long ago learned to live without validation," said Parker. "They realized it was already accepted as part of the mainstream culture." (VH1 started honoring rap's pioneers three years ago in a Rock Hall-like ceremony, and two years ago honored Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five).

The Hall is undeniably an equal opportunity inductor: its first class included James Brown and the Everly Brothers, while last year's group featured Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols.

But its requirement that candidates can't get inducted until 25 years after their first release kept many of rap's founding fathers from a shot at stepping inside the Hall until recent years. Unlike rock, which dates back more than a half-century, rap is a relatively young genre – about 30 years old.

Parker said the timing for Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's induction was impeccable.

"This is what's really key: their 'Message' is still relevant today, 25 years later," he said. "The words in that song couldn't ring truer."

jamaica to toronto

This is a compilation of songs of soul and reggae artists who were involved in a vibrant music scene in the 70's in Toronto.

I am not sure how many people have talked to me about the Toronto via West Indies musicians who called Canada home. A few late night cab drivers have mentioned it to me, including one incredibly informed driver, who I wish I would have gotten his name from.

I was in Scarbourough today and hit one of those industrial buildings that house all kinds of businesses to Henry's Records.

I found myself being very jealous of Henry, and the fact that he gets to listen to great records all day. You could tell he loves it. I am working on a story for The Hour about this. The compilation came out in 2006. They are also working on a documentary about it. Better late than never.

Jamaica To Toronto - Light In The Attic

our Oprah moment

droppin some hour posts - this is a follow-up to the previous- pretty crazy . click the link .

bounty hunter follow -up

The Hour- we bring families together.

Bounty Hunter-From a criminal to a 'Financial Bounty Hunter'.

Recent story I did on Doug Cannon the Financial Bounty Hunter.

doug cannon a man of much character.


CLICK HERE-




read more | digg story

DRM SUCKS

DRM is an umbrella term that refers to any of several technologies used by publishers or copyright owners to control access to and usage of digital data or hardware.

I was buying tunes on Itunes until I had an experience of making some mix CD's and bam my friends needed my password to access a few tunes I had bought.

Now Apple seems to be taking a long look at DRM.

Here is a great article on Salon by Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow.

LINK TO ARTICLE

everybody wants some...........

The Van Halen saga continues - I remember working at MuchMusic we would report every couple months that Diamond Dave was back in Van Halen, only to get this note, like the one released today. Some things are just not meant to be. I was looking forward to Eddie Van Halen's kid playing bass.


Van Halen Reunion Postponed?
The Van Halen reunion tour featuring the return of former lead singer David Lee Roth has been postponed indefinitely.

Tickets for the 40-date tour, which was announced on the band's web site on February 2, were expected to go on sale this weekend.

However, a source closed to the band tells USA Today the tour has been put on hold, but declined to give a reason for the delay.

A publicist for Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen says reports of a cancellation should be not be taken as fact until an official statement is released.

Earlier this month, Roth said he hoped the band's reunion would last beyond their summer tour.

Regardless of future tour plans, Van Halen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 12. The ceremony could feature Van Halen performing with both Roth and his replacement, Sammy Hagar.

big news

STEVEN HARPER CONCEDES LEADERSHIP TO BILL GATES!

wild news. oh, gates is American.
damn.

ok.............. then


GEORGE W. BUSH CONCEDES LEADERSHIP TO BILL GATES!
(note -that is a Bill Gates lookalike in the above pic)

Oh well, maybe Gates can run China.

Disinfo

So, I work on a show at the CBC called The Hour. One of my favorite segments is the Disinfo segment that air every Monday. I have been involved in shooting them in New York. I don't like whoring work stuff on this blog but the Disinfo stuff is so damn wild and interesting. If you are into half-truths and conspiracy, then you will enjoy these.


The MSM totally missed this. It's hard to believe but genetic engineering on humans has already begun. In March 2001 a New Jersey reproductive facility announced that they had created genetically altered children.




And to loosen you up after that -- another crew from NYC -

Hunter Not Forgotten

2 Years ago today Hunter S. Thompson died. I always thought it would have been crazy to live a day in his shoes.

'Politics is the art of controlling your environment.' That is one of the key things I learned in these years, and I learned it the hard way. Anybody who thinks that 'it doesn't matter who's President' has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid War on the other side of the World -- or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property -- or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons -- or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted."
- Hunter S. Thompson

this is good

- now I migh think about getting on board.


XM, Sirius announce merger
Following months of speculation, the two satellite radio operators will combine in a merger of equals; Karmazin will be CEO.
By David Ellis and Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com staff writers
February 19 2007: 5:21 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Rivals XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio announced Monday they would enter into a merger of equals, creating a satellite radio giant.

XM (Charts) and Sirius (Charts) said they would each own half of the combined company, which would offer listeners a much wider variety of programming, including sports, news and high-profile entertainers such as shock jock Howard Stern.


Shock jock Howard Stern has been widely credited for much of Sirius's success, helping the satellite radio operator finish 2006 with more than 6 million subscribers.

There's no better time to pen an ode to TV, radio and print than on Valentine's Day. Sure, new media's sexy. But old media isn't going away. (more)
Steve Jobs vs. the music industry

Apple's CEO is boldly challenging the four big record labels to change their ways. Will they listen or is this just a PR move to get people to buy more iPods? (more)
YouTube without the lip synching dudes
Sling Media wants to make it easy to post live TV to the Web. Will it fly? Only if the company gets networks on its side, says Fortune's Stephanie Mehta. (more)
As part of the deal, XM Chairman Gary Parsons would remain chairman of the combined firm, while Sirius' Mel Karmazin would assume the role of CEO. XM chief executive Hugh Panero will remain as CEO until the merger is completed.

The two companies, which have a combined 14 million subscribers, said they had not yet determined a new name for the combined company or where its headquarters would be located.

"This combination is the next logical step in the evolution of audio entertainment," Karmazin said in a statement.

The company would have a market value of roughly $13 billion, including approximately $1.6 billion in net debt.

XM shareholders would get 4.6 shares of Sirius stock for each share of XM they own.

The deal would value XM shares at $17.02, a 22 percent premium to its Friday closing price of $13.98.

Sirius and XM said as a result of the merger it hoped to offer listeners an "a la carte" option, allowing them to pick and choose the channels they wanted, such as Sirius' "Martha Stewart Living Radio" or XM's "Theme Time Radio Hour" with music legend Bob Dylan.

"The combined company will be better positioned to compete effectively with the continually expanding array of entertainment alternatives that consumers have embraced since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) first granted our satellite radio licenses a decade ago," Parsons and Panero said in a joint statement.

Speculation has run rampant on Wall Street about a possible tie-up between XM and Sirius since the beginning of the year.

Both companies, although rapidly growing, have continued to lose money despite strong revenue and subscriber growth.

No 'slam dunk'
David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said he was not surprised by the deal since the merger makes a lot of sense, but he warned the tie-up was not a "slam dunk."

Besides getting shareholder approval, XM and Sirius will also have to get the endorsement of regulators, including the FCC.

The National Association of Broadcasters, a trade group that represents local radio and TV stations, urged policymakers Monday to reject the deal, calling it an "anti-consumer proposal."

"Given the government's history of opposing monopolies in all forms, NAB would be shocked if federal regulators permitted a merger of XM and Sirius," the trade group said in a statement. "It bears mentioning that regulators summarily rejected a similar monopoly merger of the nation's only two satellite television companies - DirecTV and DISH Network - just a few years back."

Bank added that as a condition of the merger the Department of Justice might impose some sort of price caps so that the combined company can't raise monthly subscription rates by a big amount, if at all.

Right now, both Sirius and XM have tiered-payment subscription packages, which start at $12.95 per month or $142.45 per year.

Calls to both XM and Sirius about what impact the merger would have on subscription rates were not immediately returned.

Executives from both companies are planning on discussing the details of the merger on a conference call scheduled for Tuesday morning.

--A member of RBC's Bank's family owns shares of Sirius but RBC does not have a banking relationship with either Sirius or XM.

conan is funny - the iphone does everything

sadness reigns

I am 33. I am a dad. I am watching MTV's, The Hills. In fact I taped it.

Sadness Reigns.

I blame my sister who is staying with us.

Sadness Reigns.

Gilles on Jazz

Like Jazz? If not surf away. Quit reading this. Move along, as they say.

Gilles Peterson is a BBC DJ/ Record label owner with vast knowledge of jazz.

He has podcast on his website that are blowing my mind. His mix of some greats from the "Black Jazz" label is his latest. Take about some moving stuff.

Highly recommended.

PASTOR TED IS CURED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So disgraced New Life Church leader Pastor Ted Haggard has released a comment that he is no longer gay. This is weird cause I turned gay at 1pm today and by 3pm I was straight again. Oh man, I feel a gay coming on, oh it is gone. My wife will be relieved.



Disgraced pastor Ted Haggard convinced he's now 'completely heterosexual'

Canadian Press


Tuesday, February 06, 2007


DENVER (AP) - One of four ministers who oversaw three weeks of intensive counselling for Rev. Ted Haggard said the disgraced minister emerged convinced that he is "completely heterosexual."

Haggard also said his sexual contact with men was limited to the former male prostitute who came forward with sexual allegations, Rev. Tim Ralph of Larkspur told The Denver Post for a story in Tuesday's edition.

"He is completely heterosexual," Ralph said. "That is something he discovered. It was the acting-out situations where things took place. It wasn't a constant thing."

Ralph said the board spoke with people close to Haggard while investigating his claim that his only extramarital sexual contact happened with Mike Jones. The board found no evidence to the contrary.

"If we're going to be proved wrong, somebody else is going to come forward, and that usually happens really quickly," he said. "We're into this thing over 90 days (since allegations surfaced) and it hasn't happened."

Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals last year after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. He was also forced out from the 14,000 New Life Church that he founded years ago in his basement after Jones alleged Haggard paid him for sex and sometimes used methamphetamine when they were together. Haggard, who is married, has publicly admitted to "sexual immorality."

Haggard said in an e-mail Sunday, his first communication in three months to church members, that he and his wife, Gayle, plan to pursue master's degrees in psychology. The e-mail said the family hasn't decided where to move but that they were considering Missouri and Iowa.

Another oversight board member, Rev. Mike Ware of Westminster, said the group recommended the move out of town and the Haggards agreed.

"This is a good place for Ted," Ware said. "It's hard to heal in Colorado Springs right now. It's like an open wound. He needs to get somewhere he can get the wound healed."

It was also the oversight board that strongly urged Haggard to go into secular work.

© The Canadian Press 2007a>

stephen harper believes in the urgency of changing his tunes for votes .

Harper: Global warming requires action

Embattled PM says he now accepts need for climate-change action

Jan 31, 2007 03:47 PM
Canadian Press
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper, under fire for past comments questioning climate change, said today he believes in the urgency of combatting global warming.

The prime minister also said today that he supports calls for a world conference on the issue and would attend such a meeting.

"We all recognize this is a serious environmental problem that needs immediate action," Harper told the House of Commons.

"Canada's decision to do nothing over the past decade was a mistake and we want to do better."

Harper made the comment after getting pummelled by his opponents over a 2002 letter in which he questioned the science of climate change and called the Kyoto accord a money-sucking socialist plot.

Harper also vowed in the letter to fight Liberal efforts to ratify Kyoto, which calls for cuts to greenhouse gases.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Canada is unfortunate to have a ``climate-change denier" as a prime minister.

Liberals said that for all his talk about climate change today, the 2002 letter unmasks Harper's true opinion.

"Will he admit that this new environmental facade is just an attempt to mislead the Canadian people?" Dion asked.

One by one, Liberal MPs stood in the Commons to ask Harper what he really believes about Kyoto.

"Was the prime minister misleading Canadians then or is he misleading them now?" they asked.

Harper ignored each question, leaving it to Environment Minister John Baird to do battle.

Baird shot back with past quotes by Liberal MPs criticizing Kyoto. He also said he wished the Liberals had cut greenhouse gases while in office.

Some Tory MPs concurred when asked today about the opinions Harper espoused in 2002.

"I hear it's a dog," Tory caucus whip Jay Hill said when asked about the Kyoto accord.

Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer also downplayed the importance of the accord.

"The Kyoto accord itself doesn't do a whole lot – as we've seen with the Liberal record – to reduce greenhouse gases," Scheer said.

"(It's) a trading system, a transfer of wealth from one part of the world to another."

But Scheer and many other Conservatives said they agree that greenhouse gases contribute to global warming and said their party is serious about tackling the problem.

"I was (always) in favour of reducing greenhouse gases but I had serious reservations about the effectiveness of Kyoto because many of the largest polluters decided not to sign on," said multiculturalism minister Jason Kenney.

The Conservatives announced in the last election campaign that they considered Kyoto's greenhouse gas-reduction targets unattainable.

But with the environment now becoming an increasingly hot political issue, they avoid criticizing Kyoto and say they want to reverse the damage done under the Liberals.

Canada's emission levels have risen 27 per cent since 1990, while the accord calls for a six per cent cut by 2012.

Harper used that statistic to poke fun at Dion – who has named his dog Kyoto. He said the Liberal leader is in denial about his own party's track record.

"I suggest he should rename that dog for all his various denials," Harper said.

"Perhaps he could call the dog Clean Air, or perhaps he could call it Fiscal Imbalance. Or maybe he could even call his dog The Sponsorship Scandal."

van hurtsme

VAN HALEN REUNITED


So Van Halen is getting back together for a tour with David Lee Roth.

First thing. I will believe it when I see it.

Second. When I was eleven, this was my band. I loved the idea of the guitar super hero in Eddie Van Halen. Loved them. I out grew them a bit, but until I was 19, would have loved for them to get back with Diamond Dave. Instead they had success, and a lot of cheese with Sammy Hagar, and I will not even talk about Gary Cherone wiggling his butt on stage with the band.
I am not that excited now, just wondering why it took them so long.

Third. I will believe it when I see it.

Fourth. If it happens I may go see it.

snurfin' usa

I am on route from Sundance to home. Right now in Denver waiting for a transfer flight . Flying knocks the shit out of me. I think it is the canned air in the vessel.

Sundance was fun, but i was more interested in hitting the mountains with my snowboard, than watching films when I had some down time. I can watch movies in Toronto, I cannot hit mountains in Toronto.

The more I get on a mountain, the more I feel the need to move close to them.

Anyway here is an article about snowboarding, and the sport's success story.
Snurfin to Snowboarding

I also had a friend who lives in Whistler, tell me about another great snowboarding movie that is out celebrating the life of the late pro Craig Kelly. Kelly was an innovator and trendsetter who died in an avalanche in BC a few years back on this day .
The movie is called Let It Ride

The sport would not be what it is today without Kelly.

rage is back

Pretty crazy - I saw the Rage with Chris Cornell at the airport this summer and they were fighting - did not look good. these dudes are better together anyway. I am not a huge fan. but Bulls On Parade is a killer song.



Rage, Bjork, Arcade Fire to Play Coachella
Also: Interpol, Decemberists, Arctic Monkeys, Sonic Youth, Air, Roots

OK folks, stay calm. CALM LIKE A BOMB that is, because the only rap-rock band we actually remember (somewhat) fondly is back. That's right, as reported by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by the festival's organizers, Rage Against the Machine will come out of retirement to play the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, taking place April 27-29 at Empire Polo Field in Indio, California.

Rage will headline the festival's final night, April 29, while Björk will headline on Friday, April 27 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Saturday, April 28. (Ugh Why do the Red Hot Chili Peppers always have to come around and ruin these sorts of things?)

Other awesome artists confirmed to play Coachella: the Arcade Fire, Interpol, Willie Nelson, the Roots, Manu Chao, the Decemberists, Arctic Monkeys, Sonic Youth, and Air. Other debatably awesome artists confirmed to play Coachella: Crowded House, Tiësto, and Kings of Leon.

And although the festival hasn't officially announced it yet, !!!, LCD Soundsystem, and Lupe Fiasco are also playing Coachella, as we've gathered from previous news storie

sundance

I have been on the road a bunch lately. I am blogging from Park City, Utah at The Sundance Film Festival. We are here to shoot some interviews with those actors, who play parts in those films, that makeup Sundance.

I think as I write this the road is catching up to me, or it could be the elevation in Utah. I am feeling like shit. My co-worker and host of the show, George is at a screening for a movie called An American Crime. From IMDB, -The true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.

It stars young Canadian actress Ellen Page. We talked to her and Steve Buscemi earlier today. She was really bright in the interview, certainly wiser than her age. I wish we had more time with Buscemi, because he was just warming up , when we had to wrap.

I am suppose to head out to a party with a crew after the movie, but I am torn. I am so beat, but as they say when in Rome. I will dance with this in my head til I hear from them. I am easily persuaded. But we are not starting til the lunch tomorrow so if i get some zzz's a big mountain awaits for some morning runs. That is my snowboard dying to get wet.


I am also hoping after some shooting tomorrow to hit a few screenings- I am really keen on a documentary here about Joe Strummer, untitled, The Future Is Unwritten, it is by Julien Temple, who is great.
Strummer film to premiere at Sundance

I wish I had a week here and no work, there is so many great films to see. At least it will give me a head start on what I need to see this year. I really would have like to have seen a lot of the shorts that are shown here also.

I am not blogging much, and I am too tired to write most times, so I thought I would post a link to The Hour's (that is the above mentioned show) blog, they post cool stuff.
CBC The Hour's Blog

newyorksopranosundance

I am writing this from New York in my hotel room. Here shooting for the show. Shot an interview with Def Jam/Phat Farm/Big Wig/Rich Guy, Russell Simmons today, and tomorrow shooting with character actor, James Cromwell (imdb him- he has made so many movies) .

Russell was funny. You see why he is successul, the dude is full of energy and crazy busy.

I like coming to New York, I do a lot of walking in this city. Usually we have a place to be. But in some down time, I usually will cover some ground with the head phones on, like I used to in Toronto.

I cruised by HBO offices earlier today and thought about The Soprano's, got back to the hotel, checked the internet machine to find out that HBO is rolling out 9 final episodes come April. I am excited for this.

We are off to the Sundance Film Fest next week- shoud be an experience. Snow, theatres and celebs.
Sundance

"the world you know"

This makes sense. Hip Hop is now selling cars.

King of New York is now the King of Cars- hip hop fans are definately more critical of hip hop artist's. I think it is we just expect more. But for me, I expect this stuff from Jay-Z. It is def material for someone to write some good diss lines about Mr. Beyonce.


GM, Jay-Z Collaborate on SUV Concept

By KEN THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
DETROIT (AP) -- Jay-Z and General Motors are teaming up to bring a stylish hue to a rugged sport utility vehicle. The music mogul emerged from a concept GMC Yukon Denali SUV on stage Saturday during a celebrity-filled party thrown by General Motors Corp. on the eve of media previews for the North American International Auto Show.

Painted "Jay-Z Blue," the SUV was developed through a partnership with the rapper during the past two years. Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, worked with the company's global color studio to create the reflective blue color for the SUV.

"Hopefully I'll be able to drive one of them out of here tonight," he said.

The world's No. 1 automaker invited several celebrities to escort new vehicles down a brightly lit catwalk inside a massive tent along the Detroit River. Posing with the vehicles were Carmen Electra, Jennifer Hudson, Vivica A. Fox, Rosie Perez, Christian Slater, Mario Lopez and Nick Lachey.

When it comes to a first car, the celebrities said they had humble beginnings.

Perez, who helped model a gold Pontiac Solstice Club Sport, said she bought her first car, a Datsun B210, from a college classmate who "had a terrible cocaine and crack habit. She's was just like `I need money' and I said, `Give me your car - $150.'"

Apparently Hollywood has been good to Perez, who said she now drives a Volvo and a Range Rover.

Lachey, who gained fame as a member of boy band 98 Degrees, said his first car growing up in Cincinnati was a 1981 Toyota Corolla hatchback "full of rust." He now has a car and a truck - brands not disclosed.

"I'm lucky to have a little of both worlds and do whatever you feel like driving that day," Lachey said.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

M.I.A

BELOW ARE THE LYRICS TO "WHERE ARE THEY NOW"
off Nas's "Hip Hop is Dead" album.

Rap music is weird. All these artists who started the thing, and where are they now?
At least with rock and roll they go into making music for films. producing or something. Where are some of these artists?
I like the ghost town line.

Sort of sucks that all these legends are not being heard from, except Flavour Flav. And is he really representing hip hop?


WHERE ARE THEY NOW
Redhead Kingpin, Tim Dog, have you seen 'em?
Kwame, King Tee or King Sun
Super Lover Cee, Casanova Rud
Antoinette, Rob Base never showin up
You see Black Sheep, Group Home, Busy Bee?
Ask Ill and Al Skratch, (Where My Homiiies?)
Leave it to y'all, these niggaz left for dead
Last week my man swore he saw Special Ed
Rap is like a ghost town, real mystic
Like these folks never existed
They the reason that rap became addictive
Play they CD or wax and get lifted
I recommend when your kid turn ten
Let him hear Spice 1, made plenty noise
.. Positive K, Father MC, the Skinny Boys
Where are they now?

(HEY!! Where are, where are they nooooooow, huuuhhhhhooohhhh HEY!)
Where are they now?
(HEY! Hit me! Where are they nooooooow?)
("HIT MEH!!")

[Nas]
See I remember them forever
The original Spinderella
Lakim Shabazz, 9 MM
Fu-Schnickens, Buckshot, Finesse, and Sequence
..Who was a (Rappin' Duke?) Da-ha!
Silk tie and leather was cute
Body and soul was Dee from Pump It Up's group
Oaktown 357, J.J. Fad too
had pop hits and gold ropes
Where my man Young MC and Tone Loc?
Kris Kross, the BO$$, Divine Styler
Def Jef of course let's break it down ta
Mic Geronimo, Pharcyde and Coolio
I heard Craig Mack back in the studio
Have you seen these lost MC's?
Funky Four Plus One, Force M.D.'s
Miss Melody, I hope she packin' a bankroll
As well as educated rap for ice and Kangol
Shante, she from around my way yo
EPMD, K-Solo, where are they now?

(HEY!! Where are, where are they nooooooow, huuuhhhhhooohhhh HEY!)
Where are they now?
(HEY! Hit me! Where are they nooooooow?)
("HIT MEH!!")

[Nas - Outro]
QB...
First off this ain't no diss record
This for some of my homies that were misrepresented...
Legends of the game, y'know?
What up to Moe Dee the legend? Rest in peace Cowboy!
Yeah, all the rappers...male, female, DJ's, e'rybody!
Rest in peace Jam-Master Jay, the whole crew, word up...
Juice Crew All-Stars, MC Shan, Tragedy, Craig G...
Yeah nigga, yeah nigga...
Shan whaddup baby?
Where are they now?

mac came thru

Finally - got a new computer - mac replaced my lemon for a brand new unit. i like the built in cam.

I will now start updating this thing.

d

justice? i don't know

On a day when Saddam is hanged, I remembered this blast from the past Whitehouse statement. Click the link.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030501-15.html

OUT OF SIGHT

JB. The legends will soon all be gone.

When they die, they sell records. I have lots of James, but if I had to choose one, I would choose Live At The Apollo.

I was thinking of 5 of my favs JB songs ever.

Here they are - in no particular order.

*Escape-ism (love the kick-off)
*Bewildered (so much reverb all over this track, love JB's echo vocals mixed with sweet backgrounds)
*Give It Up Or Turn It Loose (sampled so much, hip hop owes such a debt to this track, crazy bassline, tight ass vocals, those horns.....damness)
*Cold Sweat (not everyone fav, but one of mine, I love the strange edge this song has)
*Stone To The Bone (crazy vocals dancing on tight rhythm guitar, love the sexed out vocals, James knows he has "a good thing")

Such a hero to many. Such a contradiction. One thing about James Brown is the music is strong.

merry xmas : cut a hole in a box

snl gets at least one xmas skit right every year. my computer is still broke I will be back. my love affair with apple computer's is getting sour.

smart people in space

have not been blogging much - my computer is broke. sucks but is also nice. getting caught up on some movies.

The Space Shuttle launched into night time skies today. Very cool.

Kenny Kramer

I wonder how the "real" Kramer feels about his name getting racked through the mud.

larry king has never been on either of the Internets

Click this link to hear Larry King mention he has never been on the Internet Machine

Maybe Larry and Dubya can take a Learning Annex class together.

the air out

Would it not be ideal to have a federal environment minister who cared about the environment. I am not saying a David Suzuki type person, just someone with a built in knowledge. They could also be politically savy, that is fine.

The Feds are such line riders that they lose site of their roles as a government. The former party in power was also guilty of this. The need for some of these leaders and people in parliament to get their heads out of the deep sand in Ottawa is more and more obvious when they release platforms like The Clean Air Act.

I could be convinced that Kyoto is a really hard target to meet, but the Clean Air act is a platform of a party that has a short lifeline.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ambrose brings Canada’s political dirty laundry to conference

By Mike De Souza
CanWest News Service

Wednesday, November 15, 2006


CREDIT: (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
Canadian Environment Minister Rona Ambrose speak to reporters, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
NAIROBI, Kenya -- Environment Minister Rona Ambrose tossed in a few jarring shots at her critics on Wednesday as she addressed the annual United Nations climate change conference, with a pledge that her government would achieve better results to fight global warming than its predecessor.

“Indeed, we have chosen real progress over delay - and transparency over rhetoric,” she said in a prepared speech. “We are taking responsibility, embarking on pragmatic solutions and finally beginning the process of putting our own house in order.”

Ambrose told the UN conference that the previous Liberal government left Canada in an “unacceptable situation” without sufficient or accountable measures to address climate change. She explained it pushed the country’s international Kyoto Protocol commitment, to reduce greenhouse gases by six per cent below 1990 levels, out of reach.

While some provincial governments have allied themselves with opposition parties and environmentalists who are urging the federal Conservatives to recommit to Canada’s Kyoto targets, Ambrose accused her opponents of tearing the country apart.

“There are some who are using the Kyoto Protocol to create divisions within our country -- but we will not let that happen,” she said.

Environmentalists and opposition parties, who criticized the minister in Nairobi earlier this week, were shocked by Ambrose’s partisan attack, calling it out of place at an official UN event.

“It was like a speech at the House of Commons,” said Matthew Bramley, a climate change policy analyst at the Pembina Institute. “The minister really said nothing new, nothing that changes her government’s position that it’s not even going to try to meet our Kyoto obligation. She started talking more about Kyoto, but when she’s pushed, it’s clear that she has no intention of actually trying to meet the target.”

After her speech, Ambrose said that she made her presentation to move the Kyoto debate past partisan issues, but her critics didn’t buy her explanation.

“Everyone knows the Liberal record was bad,” said NDP critic Nathan Cullen. “That’s not necessarily the world’s concern. They just want to know that Canada’s committed, and we’re not under this Conservative government.”

Ambrose’s speech followed a call from the UN’s top ranking official for Canada to be a world leader in fighting global warming.

“I believe Canada is among the countries that are making an effort,” said UN secretary General Kofi Annan at a news conference, following a speech in the morning. “But I believe that each country should really increase its efforts, and Canada should play a leadership role to show other countries that it can be done. And I believe that the Canadian population is very engaged in this area, and I hope that, by working together with the government, they will be able to show other countries what can be done in this area.”

Annan also announced that six UN agencies would be brought together to help deliver resources to developing parts of the African continent that are struggling to cope with the existing impact of climate change. The resources would be routed through the Kyoto protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism, which allows industrialized countries to earn credits that can go towards their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions when they invest in projects outside their own borders.

The industrialized world has a responsibility to help poorer countries adapt to climate change which is becoming a matter of survival in many parts of Africa, he added.

Meantime, Quebec’s Environment Minister joined the critics who were shaking their heads about Ambrose’s speech.

“I don’t have any more confidence in her today, than I did yesterday or the day before,” said Bechard who was invited by Ambrose to join the Canadian delegation. “We would have really liked her to talk about the Quebec plan. It’s a plan that’s not only a source of pride of Quebecers, but that should also be a source of pride of Canadians.”

Cullen suggested she intentionally left Quebec out of her speech since it has a plan to achieve Kyoto’s targets.

“Quebec is a real problem for Ms. Ambrose and Mr. Harper, because (Quebec) is putting truth to the lie that Canada can’t go after its Kyoto targets,”
said Cullen.
© CanWest News Service 2006

thanks 50

funny how music can change your mood, bring you up when you are down. For me I find if I a down or feeling sad, that sad music is the worst thing. gotta get something hitting or uptempo. I was feeling down today and listen to a mix of 50 cent, and now I am writing this not feeling so sad. weirdness.

50 looks mean in that mug shot.

ed bradley

this link is Ed Bradley talking about Vietnam, a place where he made his name as a journalist.


Ed Bradley on Vietnam

basketball

BASKETBALL IS ALSO MY FAVORITE SPORT.

go back!

Dear NBA Commisioner David Stern,

The future of your league is not happy with the new synthetic basketball you have introduced this season. Take the high road and go back to the leather ball, that we and all the professionals have been playing with for years. King James has spoken.

Thanks
A fan.




LeBron Thinks He'll Never Get Accustomed To The New Ball
7th November, 2006 - 7:59 am
News-Herald - Count LeBron James as one player who hasn't stopped voicing objections regarding the NBA's new composite basketball.

"I don't think I ever will," he replied when asked if he'll ever become accustomed to it. "It's not a good basketball, in my opinion. You've been so used to playing with a leather ball for the last three years. It feels like a basketball you buy for your kids at Christmas, or something.

"If you want to change something, make our shorts shorter or our jerseys smaller and tell us how to wear wristbands," he said. "You change the dress code.

"The one thing we care about is the basketball. I don't understand why would you change the one thing we agree and care about. When you change the thing we play with at every single game and in every practice, that we were comfortable with, it doesn't make sense to me at all." [READ]

HELL - THEY EVEN DID EXPERIMENTS THAT SAY THE BALL SUCKS!

the prince

like reggae? this dude Prince Buster had a huge part in bringing reggae and ska to the world. I am interviewing him on wednesday. I am excited.

Wash, Wash is the tune, great title.

just curious eh?

Church Leader Says Haggard Admits To Some Indiscretions
Interim Senior Pastor Says Haggard Admits Indiscretions -- Raw Interview
Ted Haggard Accused
Haggard Update
Colorado Springs
Updated: 10:14 AM Nov 3, 2006
11 News

A sudden about-face in the scandal facing New Life Church's pastor.

After Pastor Ted Haggard went public Wednesday night denying allegations of a homosexual affair, senior church officials told KKTV 11News Thursday evening, Pastor Ted Haggard has admitted to some of the claims made by a former male escort. The church's Acting Senior Pastor, Ross Parsley, tells KKTV 11 News that Pastor Haggard has admitted to some of the indiscretions claimed by Mike Jones, but not all of them.

An email has also reportedly been sent to Church staff saying Haggard admitted to some of the accusations.

What those indiscretions were remains a mystery. Mike Jones took a polygraph examination, and was asked about his claim of a sexual relationship with Haggard. The polygraph examination showed "some deception." However, the person who administered the test said on Denver radio station KHOW that the results could be skewed by Jones's "mental and physical exhaustion."

Thursday morning, Jones went on a Denver radio talk show and said Pastor Haggard paid him for sex over the past 3 years. Jones also claims Haggard used drugs with him.

Right now, the situation is under investigation by an independent panel of leaders from four outside churches. The leaders are from Colorado Springs, Larkspur, Westminster and Louisiana. The panel's role is to decide if Haggard will be exonerated, released from his duties or restored to his pastorship.

Earlier Thursday, Haggard resigned as President of the National Association of Evangelicals, and placed himself on administrative leave as head of New Life Church. New Life Church has an estimated 14,000 members, while the NAE claims roughly 30 million members.

the timing of this is crazy

Evangelical Leader Resigns Over Sex Scandal

By REUTERS
Published: November 3, 2006



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - The president of the U.S. National Association of Evangelicals, who has had regular talks with the White House and vocally opposes gay marriage, resigned on Thursday after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a male escort.

Ted Haggard, who denied the accusation, also temporarily stepped down as senior pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, the church said in a statement.

``I've never had a gay relationship with anyone,'' Haggard said in an interview with Denver television station KUSA on Wednesday night. ``I'm steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife.''

The New Life Church statement quoted Haggard as saying he could ``not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations.''

``I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date,'' the church statement quoted Haggard as saying.

Mike Jones, who said he was a male escort, told KUSA on Wednesday he had had a three-year sexual ``business relationship'' with Haggard.

Haggard, who is often credited with rallying conservative Christians behind President George W. Bush for his 2004 re-election, talks to Bush or his advisors every Monday, Harper's Magazine reported last year.

Haggard supports a proposed amendment to the Colorado constitution that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Colorado voters will decide on that issue next week when they vote in the congressional elections.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Such ballot initiatives also help the Republican Party which polls say is in danger of losing control of Congress in Tuesday's midterm vote.

Evangelical Christians have been a key base of support for Bush and the Republican Party.

A father of five, Haggard has long been a leading figure among conservative U.S. evangelical Christians.

Time Magazine included him in its list of the ``25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America.'' Harper's Magazine, an influential liberal periodical, described New Life last year as ''America's most powerful megachurch.''

While the National Association of Evangelicals is associated with conservative causes it is not as rigidly ideological and staunchly supportive of the Republican Party as other evangelical groups.

Its vice president of governmental affairs, Richard Cizik, is vocal in support of policies to stop global warming, an issue not associated with most Republicans.

Jerry Falwell, a prominent conservative Christian and Republican Party stalwart, was quick to play down the organization's role and Haggard's standing among evangelicals.

``He (Haggard) doesn't really lead themovement. ... He is the president of an association that is very loosely knit and I've never been a member of it,'' Falwell said in a CNN interview on Thursday.