| Just say no to two-tiered TV
This week, in a government building in Gatineau, Que., our federal broadcasting regulator meets to hear arguments from broadcasters, filmmakers, actors, television producers, cable companies and other players in Canada's TV business. The issue is whether a major financier of Canadian TV programs such as Little Mosque on the Prairie, Corner Gas, The Border, Degrassi, The Guard and The Lens will be split into two separate funds one to produce programs broadcast on the public networks (CBC, SRC, TVO, Tele-Quebec, SCN and the other provincial educational services), and another for CTV, Global, Rogers and all the private networks and channels. Who cares and what does it matter? The regulator is not deciding how much money the Canadian Television Fund puts into these programs, but how it's done.
ROUNDUP Inchcape looks to growth in emerging markets after pretax ...
LONDON, Feb. 26, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- Inchcape, the motor distributor and retailer, said expansion in fast-growing emerging markets such as Russia and China and new models from car makers including Audi and BMW will drive growth in the year ahead. Chief executive Andre Lacroix said Inchcape had more than doubled sales and tripled operating profits in emerging markets in 2007, which helped it beat analysts' expectations with a 9.9 pct rise in adjusted pretax profits of 235.1 mln stg for the year to end-December. Conditions in the UK market had been 'very challenging', he said, but the group's focus on premium brands, such as Toyota, BMW and Audi, helped it outperform the market and deliver like-for-like sales growth of 5.2 pct. 'In the UK, we have a very clear strategy of focusing on the premium segment,' he told Thomson Financial News in a telephone interview.
The Extinction of Political Debate
Congresswoman, professor and mother courage, Jordan was a well of both thought and inspiration. She was the Mahalia Jackson of political rhetoric. She combined the best attributes of both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, that is, an eye for the practical and an unswerving dedication to liberty. Jordan was her own person - the very antithesis of groupthink. Her refusal to be pigeonholed by race or class or ideology was a constant refreshment, as was the love of the Constitution that permeated her every pronouncement. How she is missed. If only her party would produce a worthy successor. … But that, too, is unlikely in these mediocre times for public speech. In one of her less than astute moves, Hillary Clinton tried to dismiss Barack Obama's gift for rhetoric as just words.
Morgan Keegan fund ranked No. 1 by WSJ
The Regions Morgan Keegan Select Value Fund has been ranked No. 1 in its category by the Wall Street Journal. The Select Value Fund (NYSE: RVLAX) is a large-cap value fund and was ranked on one-year returns against 503 similar funds. The fund had a return of 19.2 percent for 2007. Its one-month return for December 2007 was 3.4 percent, the highest among the 537 large-cap value funds ranked by the Wall Street Journal for that period. "The fund's performance was boosted by strategically weighted positions in the materials and energy sectors, combined with reduced emphasis in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors," says Walter A. "Bucky" Hellwig, senior vice president and senior portfolio manager for Morgan Asset Management, in a statement.
Electric sports car to be ready for 2009
Santa Rosa, California - The US electric car manufacturer ZAP has announced that it is planning to produce by 2009 an electric sports car for under 30,000 dollars. The two-seater Zap Alias is said to have a top speed of over 250 km/h with two in-wheel engines producing an output of 320 hp. The range is listed at over 160 kilometres. Acceleration from zero to 100 km/h is in six seconds. Two wheels are positioned in the front with one at the rear. The British sports car maker Lotus Engineering is working with ZAP on the Alias. It is also helping Tesla to build an electric Roadster, which is set to begin production in March this year at the Lotus factory in England with a price tag of under 100,000 dollars. According to ZAP, the idea of the Alias is to bring an affordable, highway-capable electric vehicle onto the market to capitalise on the growing interest in clean energy cars.
Education statistics may raise concerns
Winchester — The statistic itself is beyond alarming — 24.7 percent of Winchester residents over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma. But to some city officials, such as James Deskins, the city’s economic redevelopment director, it’s a key statistic that links many of the city’s most serious problems. Deskins, along with Planning Directory Timothy Youmans, provided an extensive list of demographic data to the city’s Planning Commission Tuesday as part of that panel’s preparation for the first overhaul of the city’s Comprehensive Plan in nearly two decades. "From an economic development point of view, education level is important because the skill sets one brings to the job are directly related to the wages one earns," Deskins said.
Senator McCain isn't going to talk about it anymore but others seem ...
Broadcaster Lowell "Bud" Paxson yesterday contradicted statements from Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign that the senator did not meet with Paxson or his lobbyist before sending two controversial letters to the Federal Communications Commission on Paxson's behalf. Paxson said he talked with McCain in his Washington office several weeks before the Arizona Republican wrote the letters in 1999 to the FCC urging a rapid decision on Paxson's quest to acquire a Pittsburgh television station. Paxson also recalled that his lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, likely attended the meeting in McCain's office and that Iseman helped arrange the meeting. "Was Vicki there? Probably," Paxson said in an interview with The Washington Post yesterday. "The woman was a professional. She was good.
What's on in the UK in 2008
THINKING about a trip to Old Blighty? Need some inspiration? Have a look through this comprehensive list of things to see and do in the UK in 2008. Wedgwood Museum Spring 2008 Stoke-on-Trent Following a £5.85m Heritage Lottery Grant, The Wedgwood Museum Trust is currently constructing a new building to house the majority of the Wedgwood ceramic archive and art collection, so creating a new museum of international significance. Not since 1906 will so much of the archive been out of storage and on view to scholars, tourists and other visitors from around the world. www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk Press contact for further details: Graeme Whitehead, General Manager tel: 01782 282987/ email: graeme-whitehead@wedgwood.com Bodyflight Opening March 2008 Clapham (nr. Bedford) This indoor skydiving simulator will be opening a range of extra leisure facilities in March 2008, including a gym complex with a sauna and swimming pool.
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