Hamilton Saint

Check out this image of Habitat (built for Expo 67).

Great news, Tim. Thanks for keeping us informed.

... "Unfortunately, information about Mr Harris' disability was accidentally entered into the name column, which was not noticed prior to the letter being sent." ... Sounds reasonable at first, but if that was the case then the greeting ought to have been "Dear Mr. blind man", not "Dear Mr. Blindman".

My general point: the right-wing Republican faction (under Cheney, Rumsfeld, etc.) that has run the country for the last 8 years has been a disaster. They have left the economy in ruins. And now the Republicans have the gall to try to block the new administration from attempting to fix the problem. If banks and other financial institutions have to be nationalised ("socialism"), it's the fault of the Bush administration. They served the interests primarily of the very rich and powerful. What the Republicans of that stripe really ought to do is slink off in silence for a long while and hide their heads in shame. They had their go and they f*cked up big time. A couple of specific points: Your comments about the media make me smile. The U.S. has a very right-wing biased media. It is nearly all corporately-owned media. We can get all that media up here in Canada - and we can see how outrageous it is. Bill O'Reilly on Fox epitomises the arrogant, bullying, ignorant, self-centred attitude prevalent in that right-wing media. We're lucky enough to have a strong publicly-owned broadcaster here in Canada - it is much more even-handed. And we're used to having Canadian policies, institutions, and media being labelled "communist" and "socialist" by right-wing Americans who know nothing about Canada and don't seem willing to listen to other ways of doing things. And as to your reference to an "Obama/Pelosi dictatorship" - get a grip, man! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that Obama was elected to serve four years as President and that voters also gave the Democrats a majority in Congress. That's not dictatorship - that's called the "will of the people".

The Beatles The Who The Rolling Stones The Kinks Fairport Convention Pink Floyd Led Zeppelin Cream The Clash Radiohead

"Chairman O"? "mega socialist spending package"? It is possible, you know, to make your points without the simplistic labels and sloganeering. They would be more effective, too, in my opinion. Right-wing American opinion does make me laugh. Anything slightly left of the very-right wing has to be either "communistic" or, for those who are not quite that rabid, "socialistic". I don't think they know what socialism is, or how it differs from "democratic socialism". I note that your location is New Orleans. Mostly democrats down there, surely?

Your criticism of Clinton is strange. His administration saw the longest period of U.S. economic expansion in history. He inherited a $237 billion deficit from Bush Sr. and by the end of his eight-year term had run three budget surpluses in a row. His administration also reduced the national debt by $363 billion. He took the deficit seriously and worked hard to eliminate it (through the use of some unpopular measures). By contrast, take a look at the economic records of Reagan, George H. Bush and George W. Bush. All three were disasters for the U.S. econmy. Deficits and debt ballooned under those three Republican regimes - especially Reagan's and George W's. Their belief that showering tax cuts on the wealthiest of the wealthy would lead to a trickle down benefit to the entire population was shown to be a complete sham. Their approach was ignorant, reckless and foolhardy. They have saddled future generations with an incredible financial burden. And it is the attitudes of the financial elite that their policies fostered which led to the current financial collapse.

"deconflicted"? What kind of bastard word is that? Military-speak, no doubt?

I think you'll find that it's a four-point gap, not a 4 Point point gap.

Giving sticks to the players. Great idea. I hope the ref doesn't notice.

Thanks a lot for this, Tim. I have just sent along a Get Well e-mail message. Let's hope Ron is up and 'at 'em soon.

Been listening to John Martyn today: Bless The Weather and Solid Air

Eric Clapton covered his song "May You Never on" Slowhand. Martyn worked a lot with bassist Danny Thompson. He has a distinctive slurry vocal style. And he developed an original acoustic guitar sound by playing through a fuzzbox, phase-shifter, and Echoplex.

That's very sad news. He put out lots of excellent albums - his peak was probably in the 70s with Bless The Weather, Solid Air and Inside Out. He started out as a folkie singer-songwriter type. And got more interesting as he incorporated more blues and jazz elements into his sound. He also released two fine albums with his former-wife Beverley: Road To Ruin and Stormbringer. When I get home tonight I'll have to listen to Solid Air. R.I.P.

Red wine and cookery book in the fridge?

Sounds like he's already decided on Saga and McG up front for the next game. Which means 4-4-2, I suppose.

Anyone know the attendance?

Well, this is it - a real must-win game. If we win, we're five points ahead of Doncaster; if we lose, they're a point above us. Furthermore, the three teams above us are all playing at home. If we lose, we're surely mired in a relegation battle for the rest of the season. If we win, and a couple of the other teams above us falter, we may have the momentum to pull free fairly soon. We MUST win. I think we will - but, as usual, it'll probably be a gut-wrenching struggle. 2-1

Completely insane - a total obscenity! What a crazy world we live in.

Click on this link to today's Toronto Star for an article that provides forty examples of Bush mangling the language. He has evidently done very little reading in his life - only way to explain his lack of vocabulary. http://www.thestar.com/article/570546

His brother, Jeb.

In this order: Richard Thompson (solo) Leonard Cohen Bruce Springsteen Lucinda Willams The Who Ray Davies

"And about his behaviour with referees. The Southampton manager he knows how Mr Ferguson works and how he works, he was very clear. I am not playing mind games, just facts." http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7820798.stm

Gelded?