Tim and the Tin Titan

22.4.05

Overheard
Two girls bombing down St-Cat on old ten speeders:
Girl1: "We could get ice cream as an appetizer"
Girl2: "Where?"

11.4.05

The Rise Of Taliban America?
It was reading about the The Constitution Restoration Act from ZNet . Full text here. This is some scary stuff, it basically wants to ensure that divine right will have precedence over any legal, democratic process.

One example given is that, were this bill is passed, a god-fearing public servant could mandate chrisitan prayers in his department and no one would have any legal recourse to fight it because he is "acknowledg[ing] God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government".

They also want all previous laws and supreme court decisions pertaining to this subject matter rendered non-binding at the state level, basically annulling them.

It also has provisions for removing judges who would dare to hear such future cases.

I am just a baffled as the author about the complete lack of coverage for this in the mainstream media. Words needs to get out about this. The most scary thing is that it actually has a chance of passing in the House and Senate.

As the article headlines:
Say Hello To Taliban America

Follow the Leader
During a break on a road trip this weekend, I saw a 50ish Caucasian couple getting a minivan with Ontario plates. The bumper sticker on the back read:

Jah is my co-pilot

I wish I could have gotten a picture before they pulled away...

Subway Scoop
I went to get my usual Subway fix for lunch. I hand over a card full of stamps to the manger/owner. I know him well enough and we often make small talk. As he take it, he says to me:

"If you have any more of these, better use them before the end of the month"

Apparently, there are so many fake, counterfeit or stolen stamps being sold on the internet that it is causing enough losses that they will be phasing out the program. I am actually not too surprised if a bit disappointed. Subways says that they are the second largest restaurant chain after McDonald's. If that is so, then it is not surprising that someone would find a way to profit from a reward program with so few security measures in place. It was quaint and had a nice local feel to it. You were not logging onto the website to check your points or swiping a card to get skymiles. They just handed you a coloured stamp you licked to put on a card. It reminded me of something your neighborhood ice cream parlour or pizza joint would do.

I am curious to see what actually happens. Maybe they will replace the system with cards, like Timonera suggested.

5.4.05

Reviewing Something That Does Not Exist
Fiona Apple's "latest" album was leaked on the internet a while ago and it's good. You can get your copy from Bleeding Is Believing (click on the album art to download a .zip of the whole thing). I was surprized to see it in the NTY. They gave it a good review but it's this quote that was of particular interest:

The New York Times > Bootleg Review: The Lost Apple :

Had it been released, "Extraordinary Machine" would have been a fine counterbalance to a pop moment full of monolithic, self-righteous sincerity. As it stands, mysteriously leaked and proliferating, the album is an object lesson in how an Internet that's not controlled by copyright holders can set artistic expression free.
Use BugMeNot.com to get a login for the NYT site.

This reminded me of when Entertainment Weekly named the Grey Album Best Album of 2004.