crazed monkey

In an April 18th episode of the O’Reilly Factor entitled “Fighting the Terrorists the American Way”, Bill O’Reilly called for viewers to boycott Canada and China. Well, not in so many words, but you be the judge:

Americans buy $210 billion worth of Canadian stuff every year, $50 billion more than they buy from us. So, do the math. If we stop buying Canadian, they’re in major trouble up. [sic] Thus, it is you, the American consumer, that holds a tremendous amount of power in the world. I believe Americans must begin to use that power.

Concerning China:

Take China, for example. The United States needs that country to persuade North Korea to drop the nukes. China provides North Korea with energy and food and can absolutely destroy Kim Jong-Il’s government if it wants to. Americans buy $125 billion worth of Chinese stuff every year, $103 billion more than they buy from us. So, if Americans stop buying Chinese goods, China sinks into economic depression, and the way to encourage China to help stabilize the world is obviously economic.

O’Reilly also made a similar call to action the preceding day:

Canada is utterly dependent on the USA for its economic well being, as we know. Nine million Americans cross into Canada more than 40 million times each year. We spend at least $10 billion up there annually and we’re taxed billions more by the socialistic government. So, if we stop going north, Canadians will fall into a depression, not a recession, a depression.

One can see how O’Reilly is opening up the possibility of a boycott, similar to when he called for a boycott of French products. Sadly, The O’Reilly Factor is the number one cable “news” program in the United States. Its fanatical viewership takes O’Reilly’s word as fourth only to God, Jesus and George W. Bush. The supposed success of O’Reilly’s boycott of French products confirms this.

A boycott of Canadian and Chinese goods would be largely futile for three main reasons. First, Americans will not be able to replace those hundreds of billions of dollars of imports with products from elsewhere. Second, many of those imported goods are used as components in other American-made goods. Third, many of those imports are from American subsidiaries within Canada and China.

Posted on April 22nd, 2003 in politics - No Comments »

The Globe And Mail: Nina Simone, 70.

Nina Simone, the jazz great whose raspy, forceful voice helped define the civil rights movement, died Monday at her home in France, according to her U.S. booking agent. She was 70. […]

Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, N.C., was a classically trained pianist whose songs ranged from blues to spirtuals to classical fare. But she gained fame in 1959 with her recording of I Loves You Porgy, from the musical Porgy & Bess.

It was that recording of I Loves You Porgy which introduced me to Nina Simone. I had previously only heard Ella Fitzgerald’s 1958 recording of that tune, which she made with Louis Armstrong. Quite frankly, Ella’s swinging rendition is almost laughable compared to Nina’s soulful and heartfelt delivery, which still brings tears to my eyes. Nobody could swing like Ella Fitzgerald, but nobody could emote like Nina Simone.

Posted on April 21st, 2003 in culture, music - No Comments »

On June 1st, 2003 I will be riding 50km along the DVP in the Becel Ride for Heart. Please sponsor me for the ride. Those who donate more than $10 online will immediately receive an electronic tax receipt by email.

By sponsoring my ride you will not only be supporting research towards the understanding of heart disease and stroke, you will be supporting me and this weblog. Should you need more incentive, consider the following funding structure:

• A pledge of $10 – $19.99: a link to your weblog or homepage within this weblog entry.
• A pledge of $20 – $24.99: a link to your weblog or homepage within this weblog visible until June 1st.
• A pledge of $25 – $49.99: a short ad for your weblog or homepage within this weblog visible until June 1st.
• A pledge of $50 – $199.99: I will wear a small ad for your weblog or homepage while on the ride.
• A pledge of $200 – $149,999: I will shout a 30 second ad for your weblog or homepage at strategic points on the ride.
• A pledge of more than $150,000: As above but I will ride the 50km route wearing only a thong, a helmet and a pair of shoes.

Current sponsors:

• CuteTravelMate.com

Posted on April 20th, 2003 in meta, person - No Comments »

I have been following my progress on BlogShares with some interest. However, my interest had been somewhat muted given that my market value peaked at $50 and has been rapidly falling towards zero. Inexplicably, my weblog reached its IPO point today, and so the interest mounts. I had thought that a weblog’s valuation was the sum total of the value of its incoming links. Barring a fluke link on a large weblog, it seemed as though my weblog was destined to remain in the doldrums. However, crazedmonkey.com is now public and I rate it a Strong Buy.

Update: If I had bothered to read BlogShares’ news for the 11th of April, I would have found out that claimed weblogs are valued at $1000 in addition to the total value of their incoming links. So if you would like your weblog to go public, claim it!

My posts have been infrequent as of late. Everyone seems to be “warblogging” and I’ve given up adding to the noise. I have been somewhat distressed at the “fiercely independent thought” on some of the more “conservative” weblogs I have been forcing myself to read. I am tempted to write a few words, but that would just be feeding the trolls. We’ll see.

Posted on April 14th, 2003 in meta, site - No Comments »