From Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street. Here is financier Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas) speaking at the shareholder's meeting of a company he wants to "liberate:"

Here's the key text:

"... Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

"Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.

"Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.

"And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar paper, it will also save that other malfunctioning corporation -- the United States of America."

CBC Radio One's The Sunday Edition had a panel on negative political advertising this morning.

The panel included consultant and former Liberal backroomer Warren Kinsella, pollster Allan Gregg and Chicago-based academic Joan L. Phillips.

The panel talked about how those ever-devious Tories were able to get news coverage out about negative attack ads aimed at Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. However, the brilliant part is that those ads were never really aired.

Gregg said that "earned media" exposure -- that would be your broadcasts and newspapers, who jumped on the ads and ran them in full -- always trumps bought media. And hey, it's free!

The alts took over Queen St. W. just now near the Trinity-Bellwood Park gates (and very close to accused bicycle thief Igor Kenk's old digs).

The occasion? Car-Free Day in Toronto -- a time to make the streets a place for people and not automobiles.

As I passed through, the crowd -- led by Michael J, the gypsy jazz-singing bartender from the Communist's Daughter at Dundas and Ossington -- took to the streets en masse.

When I'd walked through earlier, a kickin' band was playing -- with the PA system powered by harnessing the power of stationary cyclists -- and neo-hippie gals were dancing.

Some people and businesses fed the meter and used the space for ... whatever. Playing the piano, lying down and reading a book.

But in general, it was the alts doing and the mainstreamers watching.

And in a city of 2.5 million, there were maybe a few hundred gathered (lots of people out with cameras and recorders, so check Flickr and YouTube later. This blog post has some pix).

However, many people cycle in these parts, and it only makes sense. Cars and downtown are a bad mix. If all you're doing is driving to work, parking your car for eight hours and going home again, take transit.

As an aside, I sold my vehicle on Car-Free Day (a coincidence, I assure you) six years ago and haven't looked back. However, I've always lived in central neighbourhoods. If I lived in the burbs, it would become considerably more difficult. And central neighbourhoods are becoming progressively more expensive.

It would be nice to hear the stories of people in suburbia who have made the choice to live without a car and stuck with it, considering the many obstacles (low population density, no bike lanes [combined with motorists who have never encountered a cyclist], almost nothing within walking distance) facing them out there.

Bang-bang has been in the news. Here's a feature I wrote for ctvtoronto.ca:

Federal leaders lukewarm on handgun ban plea

In late May of 1996, I was in New York after a job interview in Boston (details here).

I wanted to go to a Yankees game. My Manhattanite cousin gave me this stark warning: "Okay. You're going to the Bronx. You've got to be street-smart. Before you go down a street, look down it. If you don't see anyone who looks like you, don't go down it."

To me, the clear implication in that statement was if you don't see fellow white people on the street, don't go there.

A stranger has signed up for my twitter feed, which is fine. If someone's life is improved even slightly by reading my 140-character-or-less missives, then what the hell.

But there was this note on their twitter page:

This account is currently suspended and is being investigated due to strange activity.

If this is your account, or for more information about why an account may be suspended, see Suspended Accounts.

4. You must not abuse, harass, threaten, impersonate or intimidate other Twitter users.