April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Canada

CAPs: The final episode?

by

The government seems bent on destroying access, even as more and more government programs and educational programs move to online access only.

For immediate release

The end of Public Access to the Internet?

Ottawa, November 19th, 2007 -Despite the obvious needs and
demonstrated success of Internet community access programs, there has
been no announcement concerning their future funding or renewal. All
requests sent to the Honorable Minister Jim Prentice of Industry Canada,
ministry responsible for this program, have gone unanswered. Without any
renewal budget, these programs will end March 31st.

The Community Access Program (CAP) ensures the maintenance of computer
equipment and the training of employees and volunteers in the non-profit
sector. The CAP´s Youth Initiative (CAP-YI) provides employment
opportunities for countless young men and women while also offering
affordable Internet access to thousands of Canadians. Training sessions
are given by young facilitators in schools, libraries, community centers
to promote the development of basic skills in the use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs), enabling many people to become active
members of society in the Information Age. The PAC also offers special
training programs to people with disabilities and people with literacy
issues to take into account their special needs.

The Community Access Program provides access to those people who might
not have computers or Internet access in their homes or workplaces.
These people are mostly senior citizens, First Nations, immigrants, the
unemployed, people facing literacy challenges, the homeless, people with
disabilities, people living with mental health issues, in short, a large
segment of the population facing exclusion in part because of new
technologies.
[Read more…] about CAPs: The final episode?

Gangs or… “Torture? What Torture?”

by

This is the write up on gang signals from wiki. Bolded text and links are mine.

Gangs often establish distinctive, characteristic identifiers including graffiti tags[18] colors (red, white and blue), hand-signals, clothing, jewelry, hair styles, fingernails, slogans[911,support the troops,], signs such as the swastika, the noose, or the burning cross[20], flags for example the Confederate flag, secret greetings (or meetings), slurs(terrorists, liberals), or code words (freedom, WMD,intelligence) and other group-specific symbols associated with the gang’s common beliefs, rituals, and mythologies to define and differentiate themselves from rival groups and gangs.[]As an alternative language, signs, symbols, and slurs in speech, graffiti, print, music, or other mediums communicate specific informational cues used to threaten, disparage, taunt, harass, intimidate, alarm, influence[23], or exact specific responses including obedience, submission, fear, or terror. One study focused on terrorism and symbols states: “… Symbolism is important because it plays a part in impelling the terrorist to act and then in defining the targets of their actions.”[24] Displaying a gang sign, such as the noose, as a symbolic act can be construed as “… a threat to commit violence communicated with the intent to terrorize another, to cause evacuation of a building, or to cause serious public inconvenience, in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror or inconvenience…an offense against property or involving danger to another person that may include but is not limited to recklessly endangering another person, harassment, stalking, ethnic intimidation, and criminal mischief.”[25] [Read more…] about Gangs or… “Torture? What Torture?”

Keen on covering their asses

by

Linda Keen was fired last night.

The sacking of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission president Linda Keen will put more pressure on Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, already under fire from opposition legislators and the media for his handling of the affair.

Keen lost her job for refusing to allow a 50-year-old reactor at the Chalk River facility in Ontario to reopen after regular maintenance in November. The reactor makes more than two-thirds of the global supply of medical isotopes.

{LINK}

Carol Goar pulls no punches in her assessment of the situation;

If they held auditions on Parliament Hill for a hot-tempered bully and his thuggish sidekick, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn would be shoo-ins.

Their month-long attack on Linda Keen, the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, has been ugly, unwarranted and unfair.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion would be perfect for the role of hypocritical scold. In his rush to demand Lunn’s resignation, he overlooked the fact that his own party had ignored warnings of serious deficiencies at the Chalk River nuclear reactor site for years.

Yet this blundering trio may have done the nation an inadvertent service.

At long last, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), the crown corporation at the centre of the medical isotope scandal, is getting public scrutiny. Finally, the red lights that have been flashing since at least 2000 are attracting some attention.

For more info and background see

Politics n Poetry

POGGE

The Galloping Beaver

The Canadian F-word Blog Awards

by

Hey all you ball breaking, castrating, impolite, uncivil, vitriol dripping, hairylegged, humourless, radical feminists out there. Have you ever wondered where the awards for all the hard work nastiness you put out there are?

Well look no further! The CFB is the answer to your question.

“Nominations graciously accepted from January 25 to February 8”

Workers Rights

by

This post will deal mainly with Ontario, though I would imagine similar situations are happening across the country.

In Ontario workers rights are being eroded at an alarming rate, most especially by the huge increase in Temporary Labour placement companies and their use by employers.

Temporary agencies, which require no licence to start up, are flourishing in Ontario where there are now 4,200 such businesses generating $6 billion a year in revenue. Yet Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, brought in 60 years ago to safeguard workers’ basic rights, makes no mention of them

The Star Jun 02, 2007

Temporary Agencies often do not provide proper training, do not provide benefits, do not provide the usual workplace protections from firing, and routinely refuse to pay stat holidays.

Now, when employers are caught, the fines range from only $250 to $1,000. While the labour ministry found employers violated employees’ rights in 11,358 claims last year and that almost $37 million in unpaid wages and benefits was owed to those workers, only four companies and two directors were charged.

[stats for 2006]The Star [Read more…] about Workers Rights

Omar Khadr

by

Two stories in The Star today about Omar Khadr.

One on a video tape that was released to the press, despite not having been allowed to be aired in court. Oops wonder how that happened?

The lawyer for detained Canadian terror suspect Omar Khadr accused the U.S. government yesterday of abusing the legal process after CBS News broadcast for the first time a controversial video recording which allegedly shows his client manufacturing explosive devices.

“I think it’s outrageous that this tape has been released without the approval of the court,” lawyer Dennis Edney said in Edmonton.

Long seen as a key piece of evidence against Khadr in the eyes of the prosecution, Edney believes the U.S. government leaked the video after stalled proceedings prevented it from being shown in court.

The courtroom airing of the 12-minute tape, which allegedly shows a 15-year-old Khadr planting land mines and assembling bomb timers, was delayed during a hearing Nov. 8. The recording was broadcast Sunday on the CBS newsmagazine show 60 Minutes.

[Read more…] about Omar Khadr