tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-350837632024-03-14T01:48:03.911-04:00Jordan's Daily -- Almost!<i>Whacky Well Thought Out Ideas</i><br>A look into the mental musings inside a professional writer's world.Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.comBlogger653125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-41711149953072950962010-09-07T18:56:00.000-04:002010-09-07T18:56:19.684-04:00Labour Day Signals Labour Unrest to Come<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Now that the summer vacation season is all but a warm and fuzzy memory, we’ll get back to our informative posts – from a brief summer break.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Speaking of summer vacation, yesterday’s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Day" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Labour Day">Labour Day</a> holiday across North America was the official last long weekend of summer.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
I enjoyed it wandering around <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canada">Canada</a>’s largest fall fair, the Canadian National Exhibition – <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.6333333333,-79.4166666667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=43.6333333333,-79.4166666667%20%28Canadian%20National%20Exhibition%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canadian National Exhibition">CNE</a> – or just “the Ex” for locals in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Toronto">Toronto</a> area.<br />
It sure felt like fall, it was unusually cold and wet seeing as the hot, sticky and dry weather we’ve had most of the summer.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Figures, the one day I spend all outside, it rains.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Going to the CNE is a Canadian tradition for many, and certainly it was for me. Every year I get up extra early on Labour Day, go out with friends to a local restaurant for breakfast, then head to the fall fair.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
This was my first Labour Day at the Ex – I have gone during the Labour Day long weekend, but never ON Labour Day itself.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Maybe because it was the last day of the Canadian classic – the CNE has been around for 132-years – it was packed with people, despite the poor weather. I don’t think I’ve seen so many people at the Ex – ever.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
While wondering around the CNE, I saw many wearing t-shirts sporting anti-government, pro-union messages like “Keep the TTC from falling into private hands, keep the TTC public” in reference to the potential privatization of Canada’s largest city’s transit system. Saw a button on someone that said: “Unions keep jobs in Canada.”</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Maybe that was an old button from years ago, because even the largest unions haven’t prevented a slew of jobs from heading to other <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Country">countries</a>. In fact, more companies than ever are outsourcing to places outside North America.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
It used to be that just big <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Multinational corporation">multinational companies</a> could afford to farm out labour to cheaper third-world countries. Back in the 1990’s, big sporting giants Nike and Adidas drew bad press when the media reported they were using “sweatshops,” for much of their products sold in Canada and the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="United States">United States</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
According to the reports, some of these sweatshops were dirty, dungeon-like factories, employing even young children, in dangerous <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Manufacturing" rel="wikinvest nofollow" title="Manufacturing">manufacturing</a> jobs, which paid literally nickels and dimes an hour – if they paid. Some of the reports indicated that the people running these sweatshops withheld what little pay they provided, to ensure the poorly treated workers came back to work the next day.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Nike and Adidas quickly distanced themselves from the sweatshops, and went on a public relations mission to clear their names.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Funny, with all the outsourcing that happens now, we don’t hear much about the poor working conditions, the below average wages, or the inferior quality <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Separation of powers">checks and balances</a> anymore.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Well, we do hear about the poor quality of goods produced these days – just look at Toyota’s massive recalls, the tainted pet food from China, and the constant warnings from food and health agencies about fruit and vegetables with e coli, salmonella, or some other dangerous by-product of a society that rarely produces anything itself anymore.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Try and find something NOT made in China, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.6133333333,77.2083333333&spn=10.0,10.0&q=28.6133333333,77.2083333333%20%28India%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="India">India</a> or somewhere else these days – go ahead and try.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Unions have their pros and cons, but job security ain’t one of ‘em.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
What we need is for governments to take a stronger stand with companies that want to do business here in North America. If federal governments mandated that at least 70 percent of the products they sell in North America be made in North America by North Americans, with North American-made materials, then we’d have a start.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Problem is, governments over the past two-decades have been weak – no, they have intentionally pandered to the interests of companies instead of to the very people they serve – their citizens.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Government legislation over the past two decades provides for tax relief and grants for companies with offices here in North America, that have to bring in goods made elsewhere. This provides the illusion that just because the companies aren’t shutting down in Canada and the States, that their are still jobs here in Canada and the States.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But that’s just the government pulling the wool over our eyes – just look at our continuing to crumble economy, with job losses across every sector in Canada last month, except teaching (and that’s because September is back to school).<br />
Our country’s leaders continue to brag about the economic recovery, and how they have taken steps to ensure our countries are world leaders in the new economy.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
What our country’s leaders aren’t telling you is they’ve created – and continue to create and build – an economy that doesn’t include you.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Unless of course, you’re one of the few chosen to relocate to some distant land, to manage the production of goods and services elsewhere – then you really are one of the few lucky ones.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/09/06/labour-day-unions.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=23906944&rid=5c38d95d-07a7-49e8-b93f-7de83da4e9c2&e=c21c5ca456ce383566ae2e5f159d89fe" rel="nofollow">Unions' Labour Day bogey: government cuts</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/856698--labour-day-portrait-of-the-canadian-workplace" rel="nofollow">Labour Day: Portrait of the Canadian workplace</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/857399--dimanno-interlopers-but-no-dramatics-at-labour-day-love-in" rel="nofollow">DiManno: Interlopers at Labour Day love-in</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2010/09/06/grand-falls-labour-day-90th-parade.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=23906367&rid=5c38d95d-07a7-49e8-b93f-7de83da4e9c2&e=59243494b0863166e9ef9397eab2119a" rel="nofollow">Grand Falls-Windsor holds 90th Labour Day parade</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.windsorstar.com/business/Windsor%2Bunion%2Bleaders%2Bcall%2Bunity%2Bchange%2BLabour%2Bparade/3486863/story.html&a=23915551&rid=5c38d95d-07a7-49e8-b93f-7de83da4e9c2&e=4177df63565793bfc149dd6aaef3628c" rel="nofollow">Windsor union leaders call for unity and change at Labour Day parade</a> (windsorstar.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=5c38d95d-07a7-49e8-b93f-7de83da4e9c2" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
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<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-45042450582301300072010-08-21T10:00:00.001-04:002010-08-21T10:00:03.357-04:00Chocolate Covered Bacon? Only in Canada, eh?<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Yesterday, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canada">Canada</a>’s largest fall fair opened – the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.6333333333,-79.4166666667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=43.6333333333,-79.4166666667%20%28Canadian%20National%20Exhibition%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canadian National Exhibition">Canadian National Exhibition</a> (CNE), a right of summer’s passage into fall long before most of us can remember.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
From the usual midway rights, the sounds of hucksters peddling their midway games, the rides, the air show to the food, there is something special about the CNE which most Canadians fondly remember.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
One year they served up pizza on a stick – looked too messy so I didn’t try it. Last year they had <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate-covered_bacon" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Chocolate-covered bacon">chocolate covered bacon</a> – that just sounds gross.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Not to be out done, this year you can get something slightly healthier – <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_frying" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Deep frying">deep fried</a> butter. Well, okay, it might not be healthy at all, but I’m just curious how they are going to deep fry something that melts like – well butter.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Want something more meaty? Try a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheeseburger" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Cheeseburger">cheeseburger</a> in a bag, also new this year.<br />
What ever happened top good old burgers, fries, and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Ice cream">ice cream</a> cones?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Although “the Ex” as it has become known by locals in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Toronto">Toronto</a>, Canada, has its fair share of unusual foods – they boast this year there are 22 items sold on a stick – there is something missing from CNE’s of the past.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
When I was a kid, I remember going to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.6327777778,-79.4161111111&spn=0.01,0.01&q=43.6327777778,-79.4161111111%20%28Exhibition%20Place%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Exhibition Place">Food Building</a> for lunch, and being amazed at all the different tastes. It was a multicultural smorgasbord from everywhere on the planet. They even gave out free samples!</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
For at least the past decade, if not longer, the Food Building has suffered the modernization of the rest of the world. Now it’s littered with big multinational <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_food" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Fast food">fast food</a> giants, national fast food chains. You can get burgers and fries, finger licking chicken, and pizza from all the big fast food vendors.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Probably why the mom and pop shops can only survive at “the Ex” by offering wild concoctions like deep fried butter, and pizza on a stick.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Oh well, at least they still sell the classic ice cream waffles, beaver tails, and the ultimate fall fair treat – <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_candy" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Cotton candy">cotton candy</a>. </div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/849481--deep-fried-butter-latest-cne-treat" rel="nofollow">Deep-fried butter latest CNE treat</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/on-the-menu-at-the-cne-this-year-deep-fried-butter/article1678793/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">On the menu at the CNE this year: deep-fried butter</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/on-the-menu-at-torontos-cne-this-year-deep-fried-butter/article1678793/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">On the menu at Toronto's CNE this year: deep-fried butter</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2010/08/19/15073871.html?cid=rssnewsweird+news" rel="nofollow">War for least-healthy sandwich heats up</a> (cnews.canoe.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//communities.canada.com/windsorstar/blogs/whipp/archive/2010/08/17/fries-with-your-krispy-kreme-cheeseburger.aspx&a=22783082&rid=97a0aa88-fe4a-4bc5-8fed-ced6d8320bfa&e=9e34d2566f14e0c26320574d6967c19d" rel="nofollow">Fries with your Krispy Kreme cheeseburger?</a> (communities.canada.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/09/more-on-indiana-stat.html" rel="nofollow">More on Indiana State Fair's doughnut burgers and fried everything</a> (boingboing.net)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.tagg-lines.com/2010/08/and-acroos-land-cardiologists-rejoice.html" rel="nofollow">And across the land, cardiologists rejoice....</a> (tagg-lines.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/848767--a-krispy-kreme-cheeseburger-only-at-the-state-fair" rel="nofollow">A Krispy Kreme cheeseburger? Only at the State Fair</a> (thestar.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=97a0aa88-fe4a-4bc5-8fed-ced6d8320bfa" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-34511009767910807402010-08-20T10:00:00.001-04:002010-08-20T10:00:05.535-04:00Work Life Balance Doesn’t Exist in Canada<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A recent study by an <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=50.7,-86.05&spn=10.0,10.0&q=50.7,-86.05%20%28Ontario%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Ontario">Ontario</a> college says over a third of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canada">Canadians</a> spend 10 hours or more at work (though those hours also include the travel time to and from that work).</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Everest College in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Toronto">Toronto</a> claims <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=54.5,-115.0&spn=10.0,10.0&q=54.5,-115.0%20%28Alberta%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Alberta">Alberta</a> has the most dedicated workers, with 44 percent of those surveyed saying they spend 10 or more hours per day on office related tasks. Manitoba and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=54.5,-105.681388889&spn=1.0,1.0&q=54.5,-105.681388889%20%28Saskatchewan%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Saskatchewan">Saskatchewan</a> tied at 39 percent, while Ontario and the Atlantic province came in at 38 percent. The west-coast is often mocked for it’s casual hippie-type lifestyles, but maybe that image is true, as only 28 percent of people surveyed from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=54.9,-124.5&spn=1.0,1.0&q=54.9,-124.5%20%28British%20Columbia%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="British Columbia">British Columbia</a> said they spend 10-plus hours per day at the office.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Funny thing, when computers were just beginning to enter homes back in the 1980’s, futurists, technological gurus, and computer geeks everywhere were saying that those magic mechanical boxes of blinking lights and whirling noises were going to cut the amount of time spent at work. Some even boldly declared we’d have four-day work weeks by the dawn of the new millennium.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I should have known that was flawed, when 1999 rolled over into 2000, and although everyone was worried about the dangers of Y2K, the work week still was five long, laborious days.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Computers actually in more instances than not, INCREASED our amount of time at the office. They constantly fill our minds with emails, instant messages, and manage our overflowing voice-mails. Instead of walking over to our colleague’s desk to discuss that new report, we just send it through email – and in turn, that once 25-page report comes back to us through email, often hundreds of pages more, and requiring a read through.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Thanks to computers, we can work at home – many offices have secure networks you can link to, and our voice networks – run by computers – allow us to call into conference calls from anywhere around the world.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">That also means we can be reached at anytime, anywhere by work. How many of you have taken your office-issued <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.blackberry.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Blackberry">BlackBerry</a> or other smart phone with you on vacation, only to find yourself reading and responding to work related emails?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">And if your co-workers can email you even when you are on vacation, they can call you too. “Just email that contract to my BlackBerry, I’ll sign it right away.”</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">As the labour market continues to shift from an employee-based one, towards contract and temporary consultant-based, more people are burning the midnight oil at the office.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Companies generally don’t care if they burn out a contracted consultant, they don’t have to pay for your benefits, so if you get sick or develop psychological issues from being constantly under the gun, it’s no skin off their back. Need to take time off to deal with that overtime-related stress? Doesn’t bother your “employer” – contractors don’t generally get sick days, extended medical coverage, or other benefits, so it won’t cost your boss anything if you take it off. Worse still, consultants only get paid for the time they spend working, so anytime of is lost wages.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">And as more and more full-time staff jobs are lost in the new economy, there are suddenly a whole lot more people willing to work those excessive inhumane hours, just to keep a roof overhead, and food in their tummies.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Statistics Canada’s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Employment">employment</a> numbers for this month weren’t very good – the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Canada" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Government of Canada">Canadian government</a> department which keeps tabs on these things says the economic recovery has slowed down, as thousands more full-time permanent jobs have disappeared, most likely forever.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">This tosses fear into the working world, causing those with staff jobs to do whatever it takes – even if it means working more hours than are healthy – in the hopes that our employers will spare our jobs from the cutting block.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">And so continues the cycle of constantly increasing working days, and shorter recovery times.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Time for a break . . . I think . . .</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703824304575435332579649268.html" rel="nofollow">Growing Ranks of White-Collar Moonlighters</a> (online.wsj.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/848661--steward-inaction-on-immigration-boondoggle" rel="nofollow">Steward: Inaction on immigration boondoggle</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20100809005295/en" rel="nofollow">Americans Are Skipping Summer Vacations to a Focus on Job Search and Work, Says New Monster.com Poll</a> (eon.businesswire.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2010/08/17/unlimited-paid-vacation-time-the-ultimate-perk/" rel="nofollow">Unlimited Paid Vacation Time: The Ultimate Perk?</a> (blogs.wsj.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2010/14/c4545.html&a=19470966&rid=a6a9baf3-a0ff-4762-9d3c-5a23c7e747bd&e=bf7b0336405bff12ecc384d5355a71bd" rel="nofollow">Vacation Deprivation Continues Despite Economic Rebound, Expedia.ca Survey Finds</a> (newswire.ca)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=a6a9baf3-a0ff-4762-9d3c-5a23c7e747bd" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-33352522979157664412010-08-19T21:24:00.000-04:002010-08-19T21:24:36.578-04:00Canadian Politics Taking Ugly Tone of American Electioneering<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Want to be mayor of Canada’s largest city? Hope you don’t have a past, because it’ll come out and that’ll be it – no mayor’s office for you.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Or at least that’s what’s going on in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Toronto">Toronto</a>, Canada, where candidates are fighting an ugly battle for a municipal election this coming October.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Today, long-time Toronto councillor <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Ford" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Rob Ford">Rob Ford</a> held a press conference to spill the beans on his impaired driving and having an illegal substance charge. While he was in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="United States">United States</a> over a decade ago, he got pulled over and was charged for failing to take a breathalyser and for having a joint in his pocket.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The drug charge was dropped, but he admits to doing <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_service" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Community service">community service</a> for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_under_the_influence" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Driving under the influence">DUI</a> charge.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
So what? Are we seriously going to deny a man a job because of something stupid he did in his youth? Don’t we all make stupid decisions at some point in our youth? I sure know I did. That’s all just part of growing up.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But leave it to Toronto’s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Mass media">media</a> – and this is even playing on national and some international wires – to play this story up as if it were the be all and end all for deciding who should run Canada’s largest city.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Not that I’m all too happy with the selection – in my not so humble opinion, none of the candidates has convinced me that they deserve the big lofty office, huge mayoral salary, and prestige of being in charge of the country’s economic engine.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
I’m sure all the candidates running are really great people, but if the best they can come up with is trumping up ghosts from their competitor’s past, they really don’t know what the needs and wants of the people are, and shouldn’t be running the show.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Actually, this whole story stinks of American political campaigns, where <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_campaign" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Political campaign">campaign</a> managers do whatever it takes to make their competition look outright evil.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
We <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canada">Canadians</a> are supposed to be better than that, peaceful, overly polite. Yes we need to debate the issues, but those issue stretch far deeper than the colourful past of a handful of players.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Too bad the wanna-be <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Mayor">mayors</a> of Toronto, Canada just don’t get that.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/unpacking-rob-fords-claims/article1679054/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Unpacking Rob Ford's claims</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.nowpublic.com/world/canadian-politicians-wade-illegal-tamil-migrant-debate" rel="nofollow">Canadian politicians wade into the illegal Tamil migrant debate</a> (nowpublic.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20100819/rob-ford-drugs-100819/&a=22888225&rid=5d3c5329-c0db-4685-8a8e-25e8140fb306&e=3279ba24e77aad3461464740c2c5638e" rel="nofollow">Ford guilty of failing to provide breathalyzer in 1999</a> (ctv.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.canada.com/Toronto%2Bmayoral%2Bcandidate%2Badmits%2Bpolice%2Bcharges/3417518/story.html&a=22888765&rid=5d3c5329-c0db-4685-8a8e-25e8140fb306&e=5225b972767ca2e99b4f7e80d866188c" rel="nofollow">Toronto mayoral candidate admits to police charges</a> (canada.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/19/ford-marijuana-possession-charge489.html&a=22903240&rid=5d3c5329-c0db-4685-8a8e-25e8140fb306&e=b2b7b0b79bd5cb159b35a21cef720692" rel="nofollow">Rob Ford to Miami cop: 'Take me to jail'</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/08/19/rob-fords-no-good-very-bad-week-haunted-by-drug-charge/" rel="nofollow">Rob Ford admits he has been charged by police on three separate occasions</a> (news.nationalpost.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/14/tasha-kheiriddin-talkin-bout-a-revolution-could-rob-ford-take-toronto-city-hall/" rel="nofollow">Tasha Kheiriddin: Could Rob Ford take Toronto City Hall?</a> (fullcomment.nationalpost.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontomayoralrace/article/849139--mayoral-candidates-clash-on-immigration" rel="nofollow">Mayoral candidates clash on immigration</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/08/12/ford-poll.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=22539911&rid=5d3c5329-c0db-4685-8a8e-25e8140fb306&e=8fa3d0a2e7f0c1ae57162ae4dc5a5540" rel="nofollow">Ford widens lead in Toronto mayoral race: poll</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/toronto-mayor-due-for-a-16000-pay-hike-report-says/article1667407/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Toronto mayor due for a $16,000 pay hike, report says</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=5d3c5329-c0db-4685-8a8e-25e8140fb306" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-48471458435930003692010-08-17T10:00:00.001-04:002010-08-17T10:00:03.235-04:00Experienced Cop Shoots Self in Foot Raises Questions About Public Safety<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">An experienced <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Police">police</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_officer" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Police officer">officer</a> in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canada">Canada</a>’s largest city accidentally shot himself in the foot during a routine training exercise yesterday, making you wonder just how safe it is to have this fellow wandering the streets with a gun.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The 33-year-old police officer’s gun accidentally went off as he put it back in his <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handgun_holster" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Handgun holster">holster</a>, after a gun range exercise at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Toronto">Toronto</a> Police College, in Toronto, Canada.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Rest assured, the cop is going to be okay, according to police, he was alert and breathing when taken to hospital, with non-life-threatening injuries. All that appears to really have suffered his is pride. </div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Or more likely, the public’s perception of just how safe it is to have gun wielding cops in the city. </div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
All of “Toronto’s finest” have to go through the yearly gun range drills to carry their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Firearm">firearm</a> – even the highest cop in the land, the chief must do the annual gun range.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Yet, there is no word as to what happens when a police officer – especially an experienced one – fails the drill.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Not that we are questioning the need for law enforcement officers to protect themselves and the public by carrying guns. One of the unfortunate ills of our modern society is the level of weaponry criminals have at their disposal – from pistols and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawed-off_shotgun" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Sawed-off shotgun">sawed off</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Shotgun">shotguns</a>, to fully <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_firearm" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Automatic firearm">automatic weapons</a> with armour piercing rounds – crime reports read like movie scripts, but the firepower is anything but fiction.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
However, when an experienced cop shoots himself during a regular drill, one must question just how effective the training is?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Most police in cities and towns across <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.1666666667,-100.166666667&spn=1.0,1.0&q=48.1666666667,-100.166666667%20%28North%20America%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="North America">North America</a> never have to draw their weapon. And those that have, often say they never want to do that ever again.<br />
But when a police officer holsters his or her sidearm before heading out on their shift, we trust that police officer knows how to use that sidearm impeccably well. Because all it takes is one mistake, and innocent lives could end instantly.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
We wish the officer from the Toronto Police Service well, and hope he gets better soon. And we hope that this incident alerts the top brass at that police service that maybe, just maybe, they should take a long, hard look at their weapons training program, to make sure embarrassing incidents like this don’t turn into public tragedies.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/toronto-police-officer-accidentally-shot/article1674748/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Toronto police officer accidentally shot</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.canada.com/news/Toronto%2Bshot%2Bduring%2Btraining%2Bexercise/3405224/story.html&a=22722064&rid=4dbc14c3-7f16-48e7-be74-5af1f73ef6df&e=6c135be26f9f229a7d2eabd12cd43bd8" rel="nofollow">Toronto cop shot during training exercise</a> (canada.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/848514--police-officer-shot-during-training-exercise" rel="nofollow">Police officer shot during training exercise</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/16/police-usa-civil-liberties&a=22705168&rid=4dbc14c3-7f16-48e7-be74-5af1f73ef6df&e=af67dd842504465313b87660f31abcf0" rel="nofollow">US cops: armed and dangerous? | Jennifer Abel</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/policeman-accidentally-shoots-himself-20100721-10kee.html" rel="nofollow">Policeman accidentally shoots himself</a> (news.theage.com.au)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/08/city_officers_gun_stolen.html" rel="nofollow">Harrisburg police officer's gun stolen</a> (pennlive.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=4dbc14c3-7f16-48e7-be74-5af1f73ef6df" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-27206224129790542272010-08-16T10:00:00.001-04:002010-08-16T10:00:04.752-04:00The Real Humanitarian Thing to do is Often Just Say NO<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Last week, a rag-tag <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_ship" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Cargo ship">cargo ship</a> with almost 500 Tamils from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=6.9,79.9&spn=10.0,10.0&q=6.9,79.9%20%28Sri%20Lanka%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a> docked at a Canadian <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Forces_Maritime_Command" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Canadian Forces Maritime Command">Navy</a> base in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=54.9,-124.5&spn=1.0,1.0&q=54.9,-124.5%20%28British%20Columbia%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="British Columbia">British Columbia</a>. The people on board were trying to sneak into Canada undetected, but thankfully our authorities were more than aware of their presence.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Many of the 490 people on the ship were sick, and carrying highly deadly and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_disease" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Infectious disease">infectious diseases</a>. Had they managed to cross into Canada undetected, they would have put many lives at risk.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
They are all claiming refugee status, saying that they fled their homes because their lives were in danger.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Federal and local authorities are investigating as to whether the cargo ship is part of a people <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smuggling" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Smuggling">smuggling</a> operation linked the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Tigers_of_Tamil_Eelam" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam">Tamil Tigers</a>, a terrorist organization which has been banned in Canada, the States and many other western countries.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
People smugglers often lure poor people in third world countries to first world countries (such as Canada and the States), saying for a small percentage of their earnings, they will earn their citizenship. However, once here, these unsuspecting people find themselves working in prostitution, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Illegal drug trade">drug trafficking</a>, weapons shipping, or as slaves to crime family members, for little or no pay.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Today, rumors spread as other cargo ships, crammed with men, women and children – there were 50 children on the ship that docked last week – are en-route to Canada, all aboard seeking illegal entry.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Canada is known for being very friendly to people from all over the world who want to call this place home. We rarely turn away anyone, so why then, would people who wish to live here try to sneak in?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Granted, the immigration procedure to get into Canada, as with most things run by the government, is a long and tedious process – as it should be.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
We have to look out for ourselves – as the Canadian <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_%E2%80%93_United_States_border" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Canada – United States border">Border</a> Patrol can attest too, letting in people who carry infectious diseases could cripple this country. </div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Those who bring with them weapons banned here could endanger the lives of all around them. And then there are those who are terrorists or human traffickers, bringing people in to run their crime syndicates.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Clearly, there is more here than just rubber stamping everyone that claims refugee status into the country.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Granted not everywhere around the world enjoys the freedoms we have here, but that doesn’t make it right for unscrupulous souls to sell over-priced admission on cramped ships, to sneak others into the country.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Anytime you have to sneak into something, chances are it just isn’t right.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
There are Canadian embassies the world over, even in war torn Sri Lanka where the latest boatload of refugee claimants originated. The right way to come to Canada, is through official channels.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
You don’t barge into someone’s home unannounced, expecting to be welcome with open arms. Why should we expect any less from those seeking to come to our country?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Canada" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Government of Canada">Canadian government</a> should do the right thing – check on the medical needs of all those who were on the ship, to ensure their medical needs are looked after. And then, they should be sent back to Sri Lanka, and instructed on how to apply to come here the legal and proper way.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
By doing this, we aren’t shirking our humanitarian responsibilities, yet we aren’t allowing others to walk over our openness and acceptance of others either.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38715021/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/&a=22667490&rid=1b0ff076-f0e6-4e57-9eff-86acf4b2d2e2&e=0ffa15692f83dc02dbec063f0d5a0587" rel="nofollow">Tamil group: Man died on migrant ship</a> (msnbc.msn.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012618999_migrantship14.html?syndication=rss" rel="nofollow">Tamil migrant ship from Sri Lanka docks in Canada</a> (seattletimes.nwsource.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/13/tamil-migrant-ship-docks-canadas-west-coast/" rel="nofollow">Tamil migrant ship docks off Canada's West coast</a> (foxnews.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/13/tamil-migrant-ship-docks-in-canada/" rel="nofollow">Tamil migrant ship docks in Canada</a> (dailycaller.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/15/tamil-organization-says-man-buried-sea-migrants-journey-canada/" rel="nofollow">Tamil organization says migrant boat had burial at sea</a> (foxnews.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012625272_ship15.html?syndication=rss" rel="nofollow">Tamils seeking B.C. asylum may be traumatized, lawyer says</a> (seattletimes.nwsource.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theprovince.com/health/Tamil+migrant+ship+docks+Victoria+military+base/3394374/story.html" rel="nofollow">Tamil migrant ship docks at Victoria military base</a> (theprovince.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/08/13/international/i072451D99.DTL" rel="nofollow">Tamil migrant ship docks in Canada</a> (sfgate.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/13/canada-vessel-tamil-migrants-sri-lanka&a=22571058&rid=1b0ff076-f0e6-4e57-9eff-86acf4b2d2e2&e=6bb7e8d6f5ee25b15109804891233e0e" rel="nofollow">Canadian navy boards ship carrying Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka</a> (guardian.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/14/lawyer-fears-hundreds-tamils-sri-lanka-seeking-asylum-canada-traumatized/" rel="nofollow">Lawyer fears hundreds of Tamils from Sri Lanka seeking asylum in Canada may be traumatized</a> (foxnews.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=1b0ff076-f0e6-4e57-9eff-86acf4b2d2e2" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-30087163359265084522010-08-10T19:41:00.000-04:002010-08-10T19:41:05.650-04:00This Alma Matter Doesn’t Matter<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">One of the most influential times in a young person’s life, is attending university – or at least it was for me. </div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
And NO, I’m not talking about the academic side of the coin – although that too is very important. I’m talking about all the other things that matter – like hanging out with classmates at the campus pub and debating some big mind over matter problem, joining a club or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Sport">sporting event</a>, or kissing the prof’s butt to get a good grade.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
I never did the last item on that list. Honest.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But whatever you do aside from reading books, listening to professors with bated breath, or writing essays and exams, university life gives young people a chance to explore who they really are, so they can become somebody in our crazy world.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
That’s what I took away from my university days. I’d never have been what I am now, had I not had that amazing opportunity.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
So whenever I hear about something from my alma matter, my ears perk up. Even more so when there is something big and impressive happening on my former university campus.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Which just so happened this past weekend – I attended the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.rogerscup.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Rogers Cup (tennis)">Rogers Cup</a> Tennis tournament held at the Rexall Tennis Center at York University.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Even back in the day when I was a student, they held part of the Canadian national tennis tournaments at my school.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Every summer they alternate between the men and the women’s tennis between Toronto and Montreal. This year it was the men’s tournament, so big name tennis celebs like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1716574/" rel="imdb nofollow" title="Roger Federer">Roger Federer</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Nadal" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Rafael Nadal">Rafael Nadal</a> and Daniel Nestor were lobbing and volleying on the courts here in Toronto. In Montreal, big name women’s tennis players this year include Serena and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Williams" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Venus Williams">Venus Williams</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justine_Henin" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Justine Henin">Justine Henin</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.mariasharapova.com/defaultflash.sps" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Maria Sharapova">Maria Sharapova</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Just my luck, it rained for most of the day, but that wasn’t my big gripe. I was extremely proud, and maybe even a little teary-eyed as I stepped foot on my old university campus’ grounds. Fond memories of a time long ago, which led to me being who and what I am surfaced, and even despite the rain, it felt good to be there.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
And you’d figure, with the world’s sport media in attendance, people from all over the world flooding the university campus, and even some non-tennis celebs wandering around to take in the matches, my university would be beaming proud.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
They certainly beam when it comes time to remind me about donating to the alumni fund several times a year. I do participate in alumni events – I love my school.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But this year, there wasn’t much well-deserved beaming from my school – it was as if they just didn’t care.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
There were big corporate logos plastered everywhere from all the media, private company and government sponsors – but the host facility, MY UNIVERSITY wasn’t being promoted. Not in the literature being handed out, the logos everywhere you looked, nadda, nothing.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
I was very disappointed – especially in York University’s marketing program. If they can’t take advantage of an opportunity right on their doorstep, what good are they?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But I was even more disheartened by the greed of the big corporations which did get their logos everywhere, but kept the host’s logo out.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
It was like barging into someone’s private party, and leaving without even thanking the host.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Years ago, Tennis Canada, which organizes the event, threatened York University to get a bigger stadium. When I was a student, the event went on at the National Tennis Center at York University, which saw the likes of legendary tennis players Bjorn Bork, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0568501/" rel="imdb nofollow" title="John McEnroe">John McEnroe</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Lendl" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Ivan Lendl">Ivan Lendl</a> and others over the years.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Tennis Canada threatened to pull the event out of York University, if the university didn’t provide the pompous national tennis association a new stadium.<br />
</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Sadly, York University caved, and built the spectacular venue which now houses the event – there are several indoor courts, along with the main stadium court, which dwarfs similar venues.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
In the process of providing the land, and part of the funding for building their precious new stadium, Tennis Canada dropped the “at York University” from the name.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Guess having it named after a chain of Canadian drug stores – it is now known as the Rexall Tennis Centre – is more worthwhile, because big drug companies provide far more to society than a university.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
I don’t know who I’m more frustrated with – my university for selling out, the big greedy corporations for buying out the space, or Tennis Canada for their part in ignoring their more than accommodating host.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But then these days, nothing is spared the corporate greed of bribery for naming of a sports stadium. There’s the Staples Center, The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.6413888889,-79.3891666667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=43.6413888889,-79.3891666667%20%28Rogers%20Centre%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Rogers Centre">Rogers Centre</a>, The Air Canada Center and many more.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
It’s just strikingly sad when nothing is safe from being branded.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/article/831382--rogers-cup-tennis-tournaments-will-be-played-in-same-week" rel="nofollow">Rogers Cup tennis tournaments will be played in same week</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2010/08/09/sp-roddick-rankings.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=22324327&rid=a7ceeea3-c03a-4c2c-ac3a-32b658aae4ea&e=f23daee048a6751608d3169a9372e5cc" rel="nofollow">Roddick takes historic dip heading into Toronto</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/hockeys-sid-the-kid-in-awe-of-the-tennis-maestro/article1666193/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Hockey's Sid the Kid in awe of the tennis Maestro</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2010/08/09/sp-rogers-cup.html&a=22360956&rid=a7ceeea3-c03a-4c2c-ac3a-32b658aae4ea&e=c49f2287f692efad4afc935a95fc1661" rel="nofollow">Canada's Polansky stages upset at Rogers Cup</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/article/830210--from-montreal-to-wimbledon-with-trepidation" rel="nofollow">From Montreal to Wimbledon, with trepidation</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/article/845052--rogers-cup-major-tuneup-for-world-no-1-rafael-nadal" rel="nofollow">Rogers Cup major tuneup for world No. 1 Rafael Nadal</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/rogers-cup-engineered-for-nadal-federer-final/article1664857/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Rogers Cup engineered for Nadal, Federer final</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=330059" rel="nofollow">Long-time No. 1 Federer at Rogers Cup to begin comeback trail</a> (tsn.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/berdych-wins-at-rogers-cup/article1668386/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Berdych wins at Rogers Cup</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/rogerscup/article/845832--federer-has-to-turn-rogers-cup-tournament-into-a-comeback" rel="nofollow">Federer has to turn Rogers Cup tournament into a comeback</a> (thestar.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=a7ceeea3-c03a-4c2c-ac3a-32b658aae4ea" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-24761945858379917082010-08-04T16:43:00.000-04:002010-08-04T16:43:46.684-04:00Are You Old Enough for an Autobiography?<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Are you 16 or older? Okay, then you too can have your own movie about your life. Just ask <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3595501/" rel="imdb nofollow" title="Justin Bieber">Justin Bieber</a> – the Canadian pop singer’s management recently announced work on his life story will be made into a move – NO WAIT – a 3D movie – of all things.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Justin Bieber is only 16-years-old – which begs the question, just how old do you have to be to have enough life experiences for a movie?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Though there have already been autobiographical books of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1415323/" rel="imdb nofollow" title="Miley Cyrus">Miley Cyrus</a> and she’s only a year older than Bieber. Though a biographical book I saw on Cyrus was filled mostly with full color pictures showing the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_idol" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Teen idol">teen idol</a> on the set of her SITCOM, which is slated to end this season.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
And her one-hit-wonder-dad, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Country music">country music</a> singer Billy Rae Cyrus plays her dad on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_program" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Television program">TV show</a>. Gee, that must be really tough, playing daughter to your real-life dad?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Some celebrities have been long gone before anyone makes a movie about their lives. Internationally known singer <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0153124/" rel="imdb nofollow" title="Ray Charles">Ray Charles</a> died during the making of his biopic movie, he was 73.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson lived to be 82, yet no one put his life story down until he was well over 70.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
And no one ever questioned the talents of Ray Charles or Oscar Peterson– any music historian will boast for hours of the importance to music both artists left behind.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But baby-faced Justin Bieber is just that – baby-faced. Sure he draws in throngs of young teenage girls, yelling and screaming his name. But has Justin Bieber actually contributed something no one else has to his art?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Has he broken down the walls of racism and discrimination – like Ray Charles? Has he invented new sounds and new ways to express those never before heard of, like Oscar Peterson?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The King of Pop – <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001391/" rel="imdb nofollow" title="Michael Jackson">Michael Jackson</a> – lived a short life, but unquestionably made great contributions to his art. From his trademark dance moves, to his storybookish lyrics which helped re-invent MTV through his mini-movie-like <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Music video">music videos</a>, again, no one can question his invaluable contributions to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Pop music">pop music</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Aside from causing teenage girls hormones to race – which isn’t all that hard seeing as most teenagers have raging hormones – just what exactly has Justin Bieber done to deserve a movie about his life?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Not that Bieber one day may make a great and important contribution to pop music, on par with the likes of Michael Jackson, no one can predict the future. And if that one day does come, by all means, spend millions using the latest technology to make a movie about his life.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But so far, this whole biopic movie smells like a get-rich-while-he’s-hot attempt by his handlers, instead letting him develop and grow into someone worthy of telling their life story on the big <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Television">screen</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644964/20100803/bieber_justin.jhtml" rel="nofollow">Justin Bieber's 3-D Biopic: Five Things We Want To See</a> (mtv.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2010/08/02/justin-bieber-is-coming-to-a-movie-theater-near-you-in-2011/" rel="nofollow">Justin Bieber is coming to a movie theater near you in 2011</a> (hollywoodnews.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.popcrunch.com/justin-bieber-movie/" rel="nofollow">Justin Bieber Biopic</a> (popcrunch.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67304Q20100804" rel="nofollow">Justin Bieber to play himself in 3D movie</a> (reuters.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2010/08/love-him-justin-bieber-unveils-latest-music-video/" rel="nofollow">Love Him: Justin Bieber Unveils Latest Music Video</a> (thehollywoodgossip.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.pbpulse.com/music/2010/08/04/sean-kingston-jessica-jarrell-open-for-justin-bieber-on-thursday/" rel="nofollow">Sean Kingston, Jessica Jarrell open for Justin Bieber on Thursday</a> (pbpulse.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1644946/20100803/bieber_justin.jhtml" rel="nofollow">Justin Bieber 3-D Movie In The Works For 2011</a> (mtv.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://perezhilton.com/2010-08-03-a-justin-bieber-3-d-feature-film" rel="nofollow">A Justin Bieber 3-D Feature Film?</a> (perezhilton.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=65758004-7f08-46af-9094-f37bb0120182" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-85549347868551371832010-08-03T12:20:00.000-04:002010-08-03T12:20:58.825-04:00The Smarter the Phone The Bigger the Genie in the Bottle<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Recently politicos in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=24.4666666667,54.3666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=24.4666666667,54.3666666667%20%28United%20Arab%20Emirates%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="United Arab Emirates">United Arab Emirates</a> (UAE) announced a ban on email, text messages and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="World Wide Web">web surfing</a> from all BlackBerry smart phones in their country.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
UAE placed the ban on Canadian-based <a class="zem_slink" href="http://rim.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Research In Motion">Research in Motion</a> (RIM) BlackBerry smart phones, because they cannot monitor email, text or web browsing, their highly regulated digital universe.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
RIM is known for producing one of the most secure networks for any mobile device -- all BlackBerry information is funnelled through RIM’s own highly encrypted and secure servers, unlike Apple’s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/iphone" rel="homepage nofollow" title="iPhone 3G">iPhone</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://google.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Google">Google</a>-based Android smart phones, which depend on local <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Mobile phone">cell phone</a> carriers for data transfer and encryption services.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Controversy surrounding the state and freedom is nothing new – some of the greatest thinkers of our time have had clashes on their views from the state.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Copernicus faced excommunication from the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Catholic Church">Catholic Church</a>, when he announced his discovery that the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe as was the populist thought back in the 16th century. Although he was right that the Sun was the center of the universe, and the Earth and all the planets rotated around the Sun, Copernicus was shunned by many – if <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.blackberry.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="BlackBerry">BlackBerrys</a> existed back then, his would have probably been bugged.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
These days, when governments censor digital communications, they do so at the risk of turning back time on their citizens.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Just look at Google’s battle with China over censorship. Google threatened to pull out of China completely, unless the Chinese government backed off.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
For most of us in North America, we couldn’t imagine a world without Google – it is the world’s largest <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Web search engine">Internet search</a> engine.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
UAE’s attempts to control BlackBerry communications are just another attempt by an overly powerful government to keep their citizens in the Dark Ages, by keeping technological genies in bottles out of the country.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Government officials in UAE claim they put the ban on the BlackBerry – which takes effect this October – because they can’t monitor email, text messages and web surfing patterns for illegal activities on it thanks to the highly secure RIM servers.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
RIM says they are working with UAE officials to minimize the effects of the ban and perhaps have the ban lifted.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Saudi Arabia announced they too are also considering a ban on smart phone communications, and who knows what other dictatorships down the road may do so as well.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
There is no word yet from the Chinese government on if they too are planning bans on smart phone communications, however if their recent and very public fight with Google are any indication, chances are they will jump onto the bandwagon.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The problem here isn’t just between private corporations like RIM and governments, the problem here is a global problem of epic proportions.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Yes, here in North America, and much of the Western World, we enjoy freedom of expression thanks to our open society. But isn’t it about time our world leaders took a more aggressive stand against other countries which trump their citizens freedoms?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Isn’t it about time our politicians stood up for the rights and freedoms of those who don’t have freedom to chat, text, email – essentially the freedom to think and express those thoughts?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Our digital world is making it harder and harder for political systems which rely on fear and domination – as it should. Now that we have the technology to break down these barriers, isn’t it about time our political leaders use that as a stepping stone to do just that?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2010/08/rim_wont_compromise_on_security_and_privacy_over_uae_ban.html" rel="nofollow">RIM Won't Compromise On Security And Privacy Over UAE Ban</a> (ubergizmo.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/business/companies/rim/article/843058--rim-to-launch-new-touch-screen-device-on-heels-of-blackberry-ban-in-uae" rel="nofollow">RIM to launch new touch screen device on heels of BlackBerry ban in UAE</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStoriesV2/20100803/iphone-blackberry-100803/&a=22010520&rid=d2997951-8e65-4655-908b-e25aa56ad32f&e=9e4b4076f1e4ef974cb23bb957ad34a4" rel="nofollow">RIM to release BlackBerry 'iPhone killer' phone</a> (ctv.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/blackberry-faces-new-government-crackdowns-on-phone-use-2041781.html" rel="nofollow">BlackBerry faces new government crackdowns on phone use</a> (independent.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/rim-says-will-not-compromise-blackberry-security-despite-upcoming-uae-ban-on-services/article1659476/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">RIM says will not compromise BlackBerry security, despite upcoming UAE ban on services</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE6700C920100802" rel="nofollow">BlackBerry users in UAE and Saudi may have services cut</a> (reuters.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012513278_apustecemiratesblackberryqa.html?syndication=rss" rel="nofollow">Questions and answers about UAE's BlackBerry ban</a> (seattletimes.nwsource.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6700AZ20100801" rel="nofollow">WRAPUP 3-BlackBerry users in UAE, Saudi may have services cut</a> (reuters.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=d2997951-8e65-4655-908b-e25aa56ad32f" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-91058018611966342332010-07-28T15:11:00.000-04:002010-07-28T15:11:58.449-04:00Part of Apple’s Dictatorship Smashed By U.S. Court<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">This week, the American Copyright Office ruled that “<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailbreak_%28iPhone_OS%29" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Jailbreak (iPhone OS)">jailbreaking</a>” your <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/iphone" rel="homepage nofollow" title="iPhone">iPhone</a> doesn’t violate the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Digital Millennium Copyright Act">Digital Millennium Copyright Act</a> (DCMA), breaking <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.apple.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Apple">Apple</a>’s strong-arm tactics to keep iPhone applications – often called “apps” – under the computer company’s control.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Prior to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Federal government of the United States">American government</a> ruling, Apple’s iPhone wouldn’t allow you to properly install “apps” which Apple didn’t sanction.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Thanks to the American ruling, Apple no longer can use the DCMA to control what you do and don’t do on your iPhone. However, Apple still has the ability to deny warranty coverage on iPhones which have been set to run non-Apple approved applications, and may be able to sue iPhone users for attempting to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_engineering" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Reverse engineering">reverse engineer</a> their iPhone.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Whether Apple intends this sort of action is still up in the air, as the latest legal developments could be viewed as a precedent which would further erode Apple’s dictatorship-approach to the iPhone, and it’s other technologies.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
What would have happened if <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.microsoft.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Microsoft">Microsoft</a> took the same approach to Windows-based Personal Computers? What if Microsoft only allowed Microsoft approved applications be run on Windows-based machines?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Chances are, we’d still be in the dark ages, running computers with teeny hard drives, barely any memory and the Internet – ROTFL – that woudn’t exist.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
By allowing software developers the freedom to explore the digital wonders their minds can concieve, we open up a whole new technological universe. Apple claims its restrictions on its hardware and software maintains a high quality user experience, while minimizing the risks from viruses and malware.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Granted, having Big Brother watching over every single application which is in development may help prevent viruses and malware, but it won’t eliminate it completely. Smart phone malware is still relatively new, and potentially devastating. Clicking on a link in a text message from someone you think is sending you a link to their resume might actually download your complete address book to some hell-bent hacker who giddy with delight at receiving a new batch of victims, spams their smart phones.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
And not all the “apps” denied approval by Apple are dangerous. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Google Voice">Google Voice</a> was never approved by the wanna-be computer gods at Apple, yet this proven technology by the largest <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Web search engine">search engine</a> on the planet is in use by millions around the world.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Some smart iPhone users found a way to beat Apple at its own game, and figured out how to hack into the iPhone’s file system, unlocking the device so it would run “apps” which didn’t have an Apple-approved <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Digital signature">digital signature</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Unlocking of the iPhone to run non-Apple approved “apps” is ironically called “jailbreaking” as you are breaking the smart phone out of Apple’s jail.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Apple, not surprisingly, is advising users against jailbreaking their iPhones, claiming it may cause performance issues.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The only performance issues experienced by the estimated four-million iPhone users already using “apps” which Apple has not approved is the freedom to use their iPhone as they want too. </div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://gizmodo.com/5597083/it-might-be-legal-but-apple-still-says-jailbreaking-can-void-warranty" rel="nofollow">It Might Be Legal, But Apple Still Says Jailbreaking Can Void Warranty [Apple]</a> (gizmodo.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20011859-501465.html&a=21662850&rid=83bbadcc-5298-4fed-a61e-cf2fb8d3cbac&e=f60320a4dcca42929a2684d747fb88c2" rel="nofollow">After the Ruling: What iPhone JailBreakers Need to Know</a> (cbsnews.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/jailbreaking-iphones-is-legal-watchdog-in-us-rules-2036888.html" rel="nofollow">'Jailbreaking' iPhones is legal, watchdog in US rules</a> (independent.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20011824-85.html?part=rss&subj=DialedIn" rel="nofollow">On Call: Go ahead and jailbreak, it's legal now</a> (cnet.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/27/cnet.iphone.jailbreaking/index.html&a=21626563&rid=83bbadcc-5298-4fed-a61e-cf2fb8d3cbac&e=7b5dbbf4b47eb201e77b6d3d9aab7fb6" rel="nofollow">What the iPhone jailbreaking ruling means</a> (cnn.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/apple-or-jailbreakers-who-are-you-gonna-hang-with/7726" rel="nofollow">Apple or Jailbreakers: Who are you gonna hang with?</a> (zdnet.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2010/07/the_end_of_clos.html?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_ALL" rel="nofollow">The End of Closed iPhones?</a> (informationweek.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/07/27/what-apple-thinks-about-jailbreaking-iphones" rel="nofollow">What Apple Thinks About Jailbreaking iPhones</a> (webpronews.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/201968/Never_Mind_Legality_iPhone_Jailbreaking_Voids_Your_Warranty.html?tk=rss_news" rel="nofollow">Never Mind Legality, iPhone Jailbreaking Voids Your Warranty</a> (pcworld.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=83bbadcc-5298-4fed-a61e-cf2fb8d3cbac" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-33176998411547367722010-07-27T17:07:00.000-04:002010-07-27T17:07:08.681-04:00A Box On Wheels – Recalled<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">I never did like the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.thecarconnection.com/cars/nissan_cube" rel="thecarconnection nofollow" title="Nissan Cube">Nissan Cube</a> hatchback. The vehicle looks like a box on wheels, but must appeal to some, because 51, 100 of them in North America have been recalled due to excessive fuel leakages during a rear collision.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="United States">American</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_Traffic_Safety_Administration" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="National Highway Traffic Safety Administration">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</a> (NHTSA) says more fuel spills out during a rear-end crash than American standards allow. The vehicle is also known for being spun right onto its side in such a collision – though <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.nissan-global.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Nissan Motors">Nissan</a>’s voluntary recall is only for the fuel problem.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
One wonders just how safe this box on wheels really is, if an American safety standards test can toss it about like a tin can?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Maybe the NHTSA is giving the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Automotive industry">automakers</a> a break? After all they have already endured far more recalls in the past two-years than in the entire history of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Automobile">automobile</a>. I mean safety isn’t really a big issue – that’s what <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Airbag">air bags</a>, seatbelts, and simply looking before you leap come into play.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
It’s not as if Nissan is intentionally selling an unsafe vehicle just to make a buck.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Or is it?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The American <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Federal government of the United States">government</a>’s NHTSA has conducted the standard barrage of tests on the Nissan Cube hatchback, and concluded that the vehicle and its occupants can very well find themselves on their sides in the NHTSA’s standard 80 KM/HR rear-end <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_test" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Crash test">crash test</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
That’s just the car I want! Where can I line up?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Though I suppose anyone thinking this fashion trend box on wheels – it’s supposed to be a crossover between a minivan and a compact hatchback – might enjoy the ride from the side. The vehicle’s demographics are the young, hip and trendy recent college graduate crowd.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Whether or not those young, hip and trendy grads will survive their chosen vehicle-slash-fashion statement remains to be seen.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But hey, it only took <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="Toyota">Toyota</a> about ten years to come clean and admit that deaths a decade ago were caused by poorly manufactured cars. Wait another decade and maybe we’ll know just how safe this box on wheels really is.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Sheesh – whatever happened to quality in today’s automotive world?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/07/27/con-cube-recall.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=21628724&rid=4046dd05-2e7e-45a9-bedd-2da7881759d2&e=e87e7a5194eac6f74230a091286d98d2" rel="nofollow">Nissan Cube recalled over fuel hazard</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20100727/nissan-recall-hatchbacks-100727/&a=21621533&rid=4046dd05-2e7e-45a9-bedd-2da7881759d2&e=183b9720c1d1d401d6ce046ec29469d2" rel="nofollow">Nissan recalls 51,100 hatchbacks in Canada, U.S.</a> (ctv.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/nissan-recalling-51100-cube-hatchbacks-in-canada-us/article1652768/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">Nissan recalling 51,100 Cube hatchbacks in Canada, U.S.</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/business/auto/article/840586--nissan-recalls-51-100-hatchbacks-in-canada-and-u-s" rel="nofollow">Nissan recalls 51,100 hatchbacks in Canada and U.S.</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/26/financial/f072614D83.DTL" rel="nofollow">Nissan recalls 46,000 Cubes over fuel spillage</a> (sfgate.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=4046dd05-2e7e-45a9-bedd-2da7881759d2" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-54050937985759398922010-07-26T13:32:00.000-04:002010-07-26T13:32:58.719-04:00What’s In a Face?<div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">That may be the question of the future, as medical experts conduct more face <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplant" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Organ transplant">transplants</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Today, the world’s first full <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_transplant" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Face transplant">face transplant</a> recipient – identified only as “Oscar” – showed off his new face at a press conference at a Spanish hospital.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Last March, over 30 doctors at the University Hospital Vall D’Hebron in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.3833333333,2.18333333333&spn=0.1,0.1&q=41.3833333333,2.18333333333%20%28Barcelona%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Barcelona">Barcelona, Spain</a> worked on “Oscar” whose face was severely injured in an accident.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The surgeons transplanted the entire <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Face">facial</a> skin and muscles, including the nose, lips, cheekbones, even the complete mouth, including the palate and teeth.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
The full face transplant took just over 24 hours of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgery" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Surgery">surgery</a>, and months of recovery.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Partial face transplants had successfully been done previously in France, China, the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="United States">United States</a> and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.4333333333,-3.7&spn=10.0,10.0&q=40.4333333333,-3.7%20%28Spain%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Spain">Spain</a>.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Organ donation has always been a controversial topic, but now may be reaching new levels of complexity. When an organ donor provides a much needed heart or liver to a person in need, the chances of the donor’s friends and family recognizing him or her are seldom to none.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
In fact, one of the golden rules of organ donation is the donor’s family and friends are never told the name of the person or persons receiving the life-saving organs.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
But a face – a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Human">human</a> face – is perhaps the most common way we recognize one another.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Imaging walking down the street only to be shocked to see your deceased best friend stroll past? The thought is enough to send ghostly shivers up one’s spine.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
Is it right to transpose another person’s likeness – their face – upon someone else? If we were able to alter the original face, how much is enough – and is this even ethically correct? Should the family and friends of the donor be told who the recipient of the new face is ahead of time? Should the donor’s family and the recipient’s meet – and if so, do either party have a vote in whether or not to proceed?</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
As modern <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Medicine">medicine</a> constantly amazes with new ways to mend us, we as a society will have to tackle the complex philosophical and ethical questions about the nature and value of these modern medicinal cures.</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/07/26/face-transplant-man.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=21574227&rid=1a134471-6519-4ba8-8ca7-4880e7700b43&e=d7be5f4d605c4ca1c5e1511a1e79b26d" rel="nofollow">Face transplant recipient holds news conference</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2944094/First-ever-full-face-transplant.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News" rel="nofollow">First-ever full face transplant</a> (thesun.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2012450315_apeuspainfacetransplant.html?syndication=rss" rel="nofollow">Full face transplant Spaniard displays new look</a> (seattletimes.nwsource.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Face-Transplant-Laurent-Lantieri-Claims-First-Total-Transplant-Including-Eyelids-Tear-Ducts-Lips/Article/201007215661405%3Ff%3Drss&a=20588284&rid=1a134471-6519-4ba8-8ca7-4880e7700b43&e=9a8fe525ce33bb68dcf50c84344b4cfe" rel="nofollow">Doctor Claims First Entire Face Transplant</a> (news.sky.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10765005&a=21567529&rid=1a134471-6519-4ba8-8ca7-4880e7700b43&e=96e3ca28ccf14c95f06161a41edaa07c" rel="nofollow">Face transplant man TV appearance</a> (bbc.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7910582/Spanish-man-who-had-worlds-first-full-face-transplant-speaks.html&a=21569955&rid=1a134471-6519-4ba8-8ca7-4880e7700b43&e=a67c76a30c205bef4f534690d4827807" rel="nofollow">Spanish man who had world's first full face transplant speaks</a> (telegraph.co.uk)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/full-face-transplant-with_n_639694.html" rel="nofollow">Full Face Transplant With Eyelids: French Team Completes Historic Operation (VIDEO)</a> (huffingtonpost.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7621154/Doctors-in-Spain-claim-to-have-performed-worlds-first-full-face-transplant.html&a=16975861&rid=1a134471-6519-4ba8-8ca7-4880e7700b43&e=b2c00073f51e6105c19ec0e15285aaf6" rel="nofollow">Doctors in Spain claim to have performed world's first full face transplant</a> (telegraph.co.uk)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=1a134471-6519-4ba8-8ca7-4880e7700b43" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
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(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-34090642621094433922010-07-22T16:56:00.000-04:002010-07-22T16:56:46.972-04:00Bikes VS Cars – Ride or Drive<span style="color: blue; font-size: small;"></span><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">There has been much debate in the mayoralty races in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Canada">Canada</a>’s largest city regarding the best way to get around town.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Some local wanna-be mayors are in full favour of adding bike lanes to busy Toronto streets, while others are opposed.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Those for them say they make it safer for cyclists, as it provides a lane dedicated to their chosen <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_of_transport" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Mode of transport">mode of transportation</a>.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Those against say it takes away a lane from drivers, adding to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Traffic congestion">traffic congestion</a>.<br />
Cycling in Canada isn’t a year-round method of travel. There are those brave – some might say crazy – souls, that will peddle their way around town in -30C wind chills, through the snow-covered streets in our typically Canadian winters.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> However, even these rare cyclists aren’t able to hit their bikes during an ice-storm – it’s physically impossible to get enough traction on a standard <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Bicycle">bicycle</a> when the sidewalks, walkways and roads are pure sheets of ice.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Cycling in Canada sadly is limited to the warmer months – spring, summer and fall. And even in these months, the challenges of Canadian weather can force even the most die-hard cycling enthusiast into a climate controlled car.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Try explaining to your potential employer why you are soaked, as you slosh into your chair during a job interview.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
But does that mean we shouldn’t be investing in alternative modes of transportation for our urban centers?</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Cycling is good for the environment, is good for exercise, and takes up a much smaller footprint on our streets, meaning it is generally better for traffic flow.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
On top of all that, cycling doesn’t require oil-based <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Fossil fuel">fossil fuels</a> from environmentally uncaring companies like British Petroleum (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bp.com/" rel="homepage nofollow" title="BP">BP</a>). BP still hasn’t fully stopped their leaking oil well which began polluting thousands of miles of wetlands along the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=25.0,-90.0&spn=0.1,0.1&q=25.0,-90.0%20%28Gulf%20of%20Mexico%29&t=h" rel="geolocation nofollow" title="Gulf of Mexico">Gulf of Mexico</a> back in April. Scientists say it could take decades before the area is fully restored to what it was before the oil <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spill" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Oil spill">spill</a>.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Not to single out BP – though it isn’t hard to do as their lack of planning is quite evident in their mismanagement of their own product’s storage, refinement and transportation. Other oil companies have had environmental accidents – some resulting in disasters like BP. Prior to BP’s fiasco in the Gulf, Exxon was known for its mega-oil <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_tanker" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Oil tanker">tanker</a> leak the Valdez in 1989 where about 750,000 barrels of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum" rel="wikipedia nofollow" title="Petroleum">crude oil</a> slunk across Alaska to California.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Yes, taking away a lane of traffic from cars will aggravate drivers – as it should.<br />
If more of us got pissed off at the cyclist whizzing past us, as we sat idling in our gas-based polluting automobiles, then maybe more of us would switch to cleaner peddle-power.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Unfortunately, many big city dwellers just curse, swear, and sometimes intentionally cut-off cyclists because they don’t see eye-to-eye with them. Road rage between a driver and a cyclist is never pretty. But in many instances it can be prevented by having a lane dedicated to cyclists.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
And that’s why we need more – not less – bike lanes in all our towns and cities.</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/07/21/the-soft-innovations-of-londons-cycle-superhighways/" rel="nofollow">The Soft Innovations of London's "Cycle Superhighways"</a> (streetsblog.org)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011421.html" rel="nofollow">London's Cycle Superhighways: Hopes for the Future of the New Blue Network</a> (worldchanging.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/05/18/dinovo-cyclists-bill549.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=18220509&rid=0d428182-5edc-4152-9fc9-66325b28762c&e=a8664bc13c786540de0c4745e4055918" rel="nofollow">Ont. bill compels cars to give bikes space</a> (cbc.ca)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/pilotgirl/spoke-junkies-at-the-otb/2382/" rel="nofollow">Spoke Junkies at the OTB</a> (timesunion.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.grist.org/article/2010-07-21-london-builds-bike-superhighways-with-groundbreaking-blue-paint/" rel="nofollow">London builds bike 'superhighways' with groundbreaking blue paint</a> (grist.org)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/when-the-rubber-hits-the-road-for-cyclists/article1612480/?cmpid=rss1" rel="nofollow">When the rubber hits the road for cyclists</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li>
</ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=0d428182-5edc-4152-9fc9-66325b28762c" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-49317730592792210422010-07-21T13:33:00.001-04:002010-07-21T13:36:12.717-04:00Canada’s Largest City Running Out of Numbers<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">According to the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Radio-television_and_Telecommunications_Commission" title="Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission" rel="wikipedia">CRTC</a>) – the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Canada" title="Government of Canada" rel="wikipedia">Canadian government</a> department responsible for managing everything communication – Toronto will run out of phone numbers in five years.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">The original Toronto area code of 416 is almost completely used up, and the newest area code for the city – 647 – only has about 2.5 million numbers left. </span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Canadian area codes typically have 7.5 million unique numbers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">So yesterday, the CRTC says that the Canadian Numbering Administrator – yes there is such a thing – is looking into the creation of yet another area code for the country’s largest city.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">What gives?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">There are about 2.5 million residents in Toronto -- 2,503,281 as of the latest 2010 Statistics Canada numbers to be official. The entire <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Toronto_Area" title="Greater Toronto Area" rel="wikipedia">Greater Toronto Area</a> (GTA) which includes the municipalities immediately surrounding the city (including Toronto’s population) is about 4.4 million people.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">DO the math – Canadian area codes have 7.5 million numbers – wait a sec . . . the CRTC says we are running out of numbers, yet the population hasn’t met demand?</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Guess some people just can’t put down their technological toys – some of us have two or more cell phones. It isn’t all that uncommon to have a cell for work and another for personal use. Some even have a different cell for their car.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Some people even have an old style cell phone and a smart phone. They keep their old phone because – well – I don’t really know – but they do – OKAY?!?!?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Why someone needs more than one personal communications device is beyond me. Unless you’re leading a double life.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">That might be fun . . . or not . . .</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Though we can’t blame the lone <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone" title="Mobile phone" rel="wikipedia">mobile phone</a> or our new dependence on the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.blackberry.com" title="BlackBerry" rel="homepage">BlackBerry</a> and other smart phones for our overuse of the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone" title="Telephone" rel="wikipedia">telephone</a> system.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Many people have more than one landline-based phone at home – say a voice line and a fax line. Some people even get their teenagers their own landline, so that they never have to hear what my mom always yelled at me when I was a kid: “get off the phone!”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Offices and other businesses account for a huge toll in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_number" title="Telephone number" rel="wikipedia">telephone numbers</a> game. According to a 2007 study at the time, there were 75,500 businesses in Toronto. Each business can have multiple numbers – so an office with a few hundred employees could have a few hundred voice numbers – or more.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">And don’t forget facsimile machines. Although <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging" title="Instant messaging" rel="wikipedia">instant messaging</a> and email have quickly become the dominant person-to-person communications systems thank to the Internet, most businesses still have fax capabilities. And for every <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax" title="Fax" rel="wikipedia">fax machine</a>, there are . . . JUNK FAXES.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">It’s remarkable – and sad – that in this day of environmentalism, thoughts of greening the planet, and saving forests by using less paper, some businesses still think the best way to do business is by blasting their unwanted advertising to the masses by fax.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Some business leaders just aren’t very good leaders.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">On average, most <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" title="Canada" rel="geolocation">Canadians</a> have three phone numbers – work, home and cell. So multiply 2.5 million by three, and you get 7.5 million – exactly the number of unique possible phone numbers in a Canadian area code.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Cool math.</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="zemanta-related"><h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="font-size: 1em; margin: 1em 0pt 0pt;">Related articles by Zemanta</h6><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/01/area-code-canada.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=18829047&rid=80385e3c-9af8-41cb-a9f4-c316cb6f6af8&e=3d1f01c5207219ee6af1de08e72a8563">New area codes set for Que., Ont.</a> (cbc.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/794474--the-905-soon-to-become-the-365">The '905'? How about the '365'?</a> (thestar.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2010/13/c9650.html&a=16401266&rid=80385e3c-9af8-41cb-a9f4-c316cb6f6af8&e=e3eea119273b003b73342ea8484a0b8c">CRTC to add third area code to Ontario's rapidly growing 905 region</a> (newswire.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/04/14/mb-area-codes-manitoba.html&a=16485025&rid=80385e3c-9af8-41cb-a9f4-c316cb6f6af8&e=59db6da6b265bf30378df5c29b3d0ef0">New area code eyed for Manitoba</a> (cbc.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/07/07/con-do-not-call.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=20543087&rid=80385e3c-9af8-41cb-a9f4-c316cb6f6af8&e=5611d9e25c64a50ac9b0a026e5296368">Do-not-call list 'useless,' critics say</a> (cbc.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/07/19/mopay-now-allows-you-to-bill-mobile-payments-to-a-land-line-account/">Mopay Now Allows You To Bill Mobile Payments To A Landline Account</a> (techcrunch.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/new-area-code-added-to-ontarios-905-region/article1532934/?cmpid=rss1">New area code added to Ontario's 905 region</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li></ul></div> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=80385e3c-9af8-41cb-a9f4-c316cb6f6af8" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-82090300111436648002010-07-20T14:19:00.002-04:002010-07-20T14:22:40.610-04:00City of Toronto Spends Over $400,000 on Crap<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">It took just two months for Canada’s largest city to flush CDN$400, 000.00 down the drain. That’s the amount it cost to put a fully self-cleaning pay <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet" title="Toilet" rel="wikipedia">toilet</a> in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.6525027778,-79.3835583333&spn=0.01,0.01&q=43.6525027778,-79.3835583333%20%28Downtown%20Toronto%29&t=h" title="Downtown Toronto" rel="geolocation">downtown</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" title="Toronto" rel="geolocation">Toronto</a>. Two months and about 3,500 flushes later, it is now out of order.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Apparently, the automatic device that pulls the seat into the wall after each use for cleaning has malfunctioned, so the city’s first high-tech pay toilet is now broken.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What a waste of taxpayer dollars – granted having your own private <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning" title="Air conditioning" rel="wikipedia">air conditioned</a> room to do your business sounds pleasant. And sometimes you can’t always find a clean public washroom when you need one.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However, it would have cost a lot less to hire a handful of cleaners to improve the city’s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_toilet" title="Public toilet" rel="wikipedia">public toilets</a> already available throughout the city, or even to simply slap on a new coat of paint to the older washrooms.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Granted, there is a certain “wow” factor associated with new high tech toys – and I suppose a high tech self-cleaning toilet is no exception.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And the city is hoping to recoup some of its costs through <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising" title="Advertising" rel="wikipedia">advertising</a> in and on these things – they’ve partnered with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.astral.com" title="Astral Media" rel="homepage">Astral Media</a> (which owns <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.themovienetwork.ca/" title="The Movie Network" rel="homepage">the Movie Network</a> and other media holdings) to install 20 automated toilets across the city.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However, at a mere quarter-a-use, the unit has only made about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc" title="Compact Disc" rel="wikipedia">CD</a>$875.00, and is now going to cost some more coins to repair.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Maybe the city’s first automated public toilet is just a lemon, and this first repair is only a fluke. Or, maybe it is a sign of the poor quality of the product, and just the first of many costly repairs – to an already costly publicly-funded venture?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Either way, Canada’s largest city is in the hole.</span><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/05/19/torontos-new-automatic-pay-toilet-is-flush-tastic-but-cold/">Toronto mayor unveils new public pay toilets</a> (news.nationalpost.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100519/Auto-Toilet-100519/20100519%3Fhub%3DCanada&a=18277751&rid=d3a651f2-7db9-450e-811f-1f87c20b4396&e=beb4dc82c7234a2d741ea1926335a783">Toronto unveils automated, pay-as-you-go toilet</a> (ctv.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/811749--pay-potty-leaves-queens-quay-flush-with-excitement">Pay potty leaves Queens Quay flush with excitement</a> (thestar.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-future-of-the-public-toilet/article1574984/?cmpid=rss1">The future of the public toilet</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/yourhome/green/article/799591--ontario-to-ban-toilets-that-waste-water">Ontario to ban toilets that waste water</a> (thestar.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=d3a651f2-7db9-450e-811f-1f87c20b4396" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-64742507049393517432010-07-19T12:19:00.001-04:002010-07-19T12:22:19.887-04:00The Best Way to Green the Planet -- Mentally<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">A recent survey by Colliers International ranked the most expensive places to park.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Topping the list, is <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.5080555556,-0.124722222222&spn=0.1,0.1&q=51.5080555556,-0.124722222222%20%28London%29&t=h" title="London" rel="geolocation">London, England</a> where residents pay on average US$933 per month, while the average parking fees people in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=22.2783333333,114.158888889&spn=1.0,1.0&q=22.2783333333,114.158888889%20%28Hong%20Kong%29&t=h" title="Hong Kong" rel="geolocation">Hong Kong</a> pay aren’t far behind – it came in second on the most expensive places to park list – at US$744.72.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Some places didn’t seem all that bad, residents in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchener-Waterloo" title="Kitchener-Waterloo" rel="wikipedia">Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario</a>, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" title="Canada" rel="geolocation">Canada</a> only pay on average US$116.94 per month to park their vehicles. The most expensive Canadian city? Calgary, Alberta at US$453.38 – and Calgary is the only Canadian location to make the top ten of the international most expensive places to park.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Today’s press will no doubt focus on how ridiculous it is to pay these prices for parking. They’ll probably do what journalists call “streeters” – those one-line sound bites from passersby on the street, getting reactions from angry drivers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However, the municipalities which made the list should be congratulated, despite complaints from local drivers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Whether you drive a Hummer in mid-town New York – the most expensive place to park in the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" title="United States" rel="geolocation">United States</a> – or a Lorry in London, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.5,-0.116666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=51.5,-0.116666666667%20%28United%20Kingdom%29&t=h" title="United Kingdom" rel="geolocation">UK</a> – the most expensive place to park in the world – parking fees should be high.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Higher parking fees discourage people from driving in major urban centers, reducing the amount of vehicles in confined city spaces. Not only will this reduce commute times, thanks to the reduction in overall traffic, but all those nasty greenhouse gases spewed out from those vehicles is reduced too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What a hassle – you say – how am I to go anywhere?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">You’ll find a way.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We always do.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">As more buildings a jammed into our already overcrowded <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area" title="Urban area" rel="wikipedia">urban areas</a>, there are fewer and fewer spots to park. This generally increases the costs associated with parking, which is a good thing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">It forces people to think of alternative modes of transportation – such as taking <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transport" title="Public transport" rel="wikipedia">public transit</a>, riding a bike, walking, or if a car is absolutely required, car pooling.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ironic how environmental disasters like British Petroleum’s oil slick in the Gulf of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.05,-99.3666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=19.05,-99.3666666667%20%28Mexico%29&t=h" title="Mexico" rel="geolocation">Mexico</a> bring attention to the need for more green solutions, but what really brings about change is our own discomfort.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">As parking spots in our urban centers are eaten up by newer developments, bringing even more people into the urban centers with cars and trucks, it constantly takes longer and longer to circle the block looking for a parking spot.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">As those parking spots are increasingly rare, the cost to use them constantly increases.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Both the high fees and the hassle of finding a spot to park work on us psychologically, forcing us to think of other ways to get around.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Maybe the solution to our dependence on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel" title="Fossil fuel" rel="wikipedia">fossil fuels</a> lies in our minds?</span><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/07/19/con-parking-costs.html%3Fref%3Drss&a=21136666&rid=6c81c58a-b150-4567-acb4-6b10a0d24fdf&e=bd8229f9882e2562630a977e99c831a4">Calgary parkers pay most in Canada: survey</a> (cbc.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://green.autoblog.com/2010/07/16/how-electric-vehicle-chargers-are-like-fire-hydrants/?zemanta-tracking">How electric vehicle chargers will be like fire hydrants</a> (green.autoblog.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/7-solutions-to-park-city-bikes-safely.php?campaign=th_rss">Seven Great Solutions To Park City Bikes Safely</a> (treehugger.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/rehabilitating-our-national-parks/article1626983/?cmpid=rss1">Rehabilitating our national parks</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/parking-ticket-geek/2010/07/happy-anniversary-first-parking-meter-installed-75-years-ago-today.html">Happy %#@! Anniversary, First Parking Meter Installed 75 Years Ago Today</a> (chicagonow.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=6c81c58a-b150-4567-acb4-6b10a0d24fdf" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-31007373286017943382010-07-15T11:27:00.001-04:002010-07-15T11:29:57.389-04:00Is BP Intentionally Stalling for It’s Own Good?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This morning, British Petroleum (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bp.com" title="BP" rel="homepage">BP</a>) said it’s latest scheme to end the oil slick gushing into the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=25.0,-90.0&spn=0.1,0.1&q=25.0,-90.0%20%28Gulf%20of%20Mexico%29&t=h" title="Gulf of Mexico" rel="geolocation">Gulf of Mexico</a> for the past 12-weeks is on hold, because of a leaking pipe.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">If it isn’t one thing, it is another – for 12-weeks – that’s over three-months – since the April 20 explosion which killed 11 people on the BP oil rig, and has been unleashing a torrent of toxic oil into ecosystems stretching thousands of kilometres.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The latest efforts to repair the deep drilled oil well – so deep even military divers can’t get down there, only robots can handle the pressures at those depths – was supposed to be “the” fix to finally stop the oil.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Less than 12-hours after it began, this fool-proof fix made fools of us all.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Or did it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Granted, BP’s stock price has ridden the ups and downs of this fiasco, the company has had to shell out billions of dollars, and even took a very public dressing down from the most powerful man in the world – <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" title="United States" rel="geolocation">American</a> President <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/" title="Barack Obama" rel="homepage">Barack Obama</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However, as the old saying goes, any press, is good press.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Despite the negative comments hurled at BP for creating the world’s worst human-caused environmental disaster – even when compared to the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.3894444444,30.0988888889&spn=0.01,0.01&q=51.3894444444,30.0988888889%20%28Chernobyl%20disaster%29&t=h" title="Chernobyl disaster" rel="geolocation">Chernobyl nuclear accident</a> in 1986 – BP has been consistently in the press for the past three-months.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That’s not all bad, because the more your name is out there, the more valuable your business is. Sure it isn’t good news, but that hasn’t stopped BP from making money.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And that’s why the question has been raised, that maybe BP is intentionally stalling it’s clean up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What a horrible thing to say! To think that major, multinational company would intentionally do harm to the environment just to increase its value.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However it isn’t completely without basis, major <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation" title="Multinational corporation" rel="wikipedia">multinational companies</a> have gone to great lengths in the past to succeed, even when it means doing things not exactly kosher.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Just look at the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.enron.com/" title="Enron scandal" rel="homepage">Enron scandal</a>, where the company intentionally mislead investors by over inflating it’s profits by $1 billion dollars in 2001. This lead to criminal convictions, suicides by executives, and the eventual failure of the company.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Or look at American Airlines, which has repeatedly delayed repairs ordered by the American <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States" title="Federal government of the United States" rel="wikipedia">government</a>’s Federal Aviation Authority (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.faa.gov/" title="Federal Aviation Administration" rel="homepage">FAA</a>) regarding its fleet of aging MD-80 airliners. Some of these repairs could affect the lives of everyone on-board, as failing to repair cracks to pressure bulkheads could cause the cabin to depressurize, leading to the catastrophic loss of the plane.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Clearly, <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics" title="Business ethics" rel="wikipedia">business ethics</a> aren’t front and center in the hearts and minds of the world’s corporate elite.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">So, is BP stalling to make the most of a bad situation?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Only the time will tell.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Meanwhile, the environment and those who live in the affected areas continue to suffer, due to BP’s continued negligence.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38218030/&a=20839919&rid=2e3af744-cc15-4fce-a89b-b67d97b65a17&e=662446f51ace952a02ef27e46c290431">NYT: Spill highlights BP's boldness, blunders</a> (msnbc.msn.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1519584520100715">CORRECTED - WRAPUP 1-BP runs crucial test on Gulf oil leak</a> (reuters.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Leak-Halts-BP-Test-On-Oil-Spill-Fix-Hopes-High-For-Well-Capping-Device-In-Gulf-Of-Mexico/Article/201007315665448%3Ff%3Drss&a=20944157&rid=2e3af744-cc15-4fce-a89b-b67d97b65a17&e=4405d271d7842dab08c9ccf841b9b1d2">Leak Halts BP Test On Well Capping Device</a> (news.sky.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/americans-in-73-majority-oppose-ban-on-deepwater-oil-drilling.html&a=20926962&rid=2e3af744-cc15-4fce-a89b-b67d97b65a17&e=f923252895c8121e36f2bf813d5dacf9">Americans in 73% Majority Oppose Ban on Deepwater Oil Drilling</a> (businessweek.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7883303/UK-firms-suffer-after-BP-oil-spill.html&a=20714722&rid=2e3af744-cc15-4fce-a89b-b67d97b65a17&e=87e890a4d7cf77eca16b6120df98dfa2">UK firms suffer after BP oil spill</a> (telegraph.co.uk)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/07/gulf-oil-spill-tests-start-on-bp-well.html">Gulf oil spill: Pressure testing begins on BP well</a> (latimesblogs.latimes.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/business/article/836072--libyan-bomber-link-oil-spill-sparks-u-s-anger-at-bp">Libyan bomber link, oil spill sparks U.S. anger at BP</a> (thestar.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=2e3af744-cc15-4fce-a89b-b67d97b65a17" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-85587320138954064982010-07-14T14:04:00.002-04:002010-07-14T14:07:21.005-04:00Ontario’s Eco Tax Not Even Managed<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">A new tax in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" title="Canada" rel="geolocation">Canada</a>’s largest <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada" title="Provinces and territories of Canada" rel="wikipedia">province</a> is so poorly mismanaged, that one of the country’s largest retailers has had to issue a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_%28government_funded%29" title="Public school (government funded)" rel="wikipedia">public</a> apology for overcharging customers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ontario’s eco-fee (provincial politicians call it a “fee” instead of a “tax” because they snuck it through without any debate – public or otherwise) went into effect this past July 1. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Ontario" title="Government of Ontario" rel="wikipedia">Ontario government</a> claims the new “fee” is supposed to discourage people from purchasing products harmful to the environment, and it is supposed to be applied to the costs associated with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling" title="Recycling" rel="wikipedia">recycling</a> and disposing of the harmful products it is applied too.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://jordansdaily.blogspot.com/2010/07/those-sneaky-politicians-have-done-it.html"><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Learn more about the fee.</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However, it appears not only was this new tax – whoops I mean “fee” – brought in without any debate, there was no thought as to how to manage it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Canadian Tire apologized today, for overcharging customers on a biodegradable shower cleaner sold in its stores. The large Canadian retailer says it will gladly refund the overcharged amount to customers who bring in their receipts.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Canadian Tire blames its computerized <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_sale" title="Point of sale" rel="wikipedia">Point of Sale</a> system for the error, and says it has since been corrected.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Why is an environmentally-friendly “fee” is being charged on an environmentally-friendly product? Isn’t the whole nature of the eco-fee to be charged on products harmful to the environment, to encourage environmentally-friendly product purchases?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Maybe this mix-up is because the provincial body charged with managing the eco-fee admits they don’t know what they are doing. Stewardship Ontario, admitted it doesn’t have a way to monitor or control how much retailers are charging.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This brought heavy fire from the province’s Environment Minister John Gerretsen, who warned the organization that if it doesn’t implement an auditing system to ensure correct and consistent fees are collected, he’ll end the program.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That’s <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government" title="Government" rel="wikipedia">government</a> talk for – “hey, if you don’t do my job and make me look good, I’ll shut down the program, and you’ll be moved to another government program.” </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">(No one ever gets fired anymore.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Seriously, isn’t it the Environment Minister’s job to create the policies and procedures for his own ministry?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Gee Mr. Gerretsen, wouldn’t it have been a better idea to discuss, debate and then decide how to implement this eco-fee <span style="font-weight: bold;">BEFORE </span>you put it in place? Don’tcha-think?</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But no, you just had to get this tax into place as fast as possible, without any input from anyone other than your own closely guarded circle of – did you talk to anyone about this? Anyone at all?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Naturally, the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_%28parliamentary%29" title="Opposition (parliamentary)" rel="wikipedia">opposition parties</a> are coming down on the Ontario government over this mess. One politician even saying if elected he’ll kill this new tax right away.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">When was the last time you ever heard of a politician canceling a tax completely?</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Never?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Me either.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What’s worse, is now our politicians are using our passion for the planet against us. Instead of instituting green initiatives which really are environmentally-friendly, they are instituting policies which just pad their pocketbooks, using the environment as an excuse.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">No wonder politicians get a bad rap, and jokes abound about just how far you can trust ‘em.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What will you do next Minister Gerretsen, paint a baby green, toss a sash on it reading “<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" title="Earth" rel="wikipedia">Earth</a>” and then kiss it in front of the cameras for a photo op?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Just remember, if you do that – don’t use the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_paint" title="Lead paint" rel="wikipedia">lead-based paint</a>.</span><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/07/13/ontario-consumers-surprised-by-eco-fees-at-supermarkets/">Ontario Consumers Surprised by Eco Fees at Supermarkets</a> (environmentalleader.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/834285--eco-fee-agency-says-levies-could-be-buried-in-price">Eco-fee agency says levies could be buried in price</a> (thestar.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/833510--new-eco-fees-catching-consumers-by-surprise">New eco fees catching consumers by surprise</a> (thestar.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/807060--recycled-computers-televisions-still-ending-up-in-dumps&a=17781704&rid=c00d2fe9-21cd-49f2-829f-e9186bf31150&e=d0c28df4b8ba1ed9f44881e413ba131b">Recycled electronics still ending up in dumps</a> (thestar.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=c00d2fe9-21cd-49f2-829f-e9186bf31150" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-77918177195078741922010-07-13T12:58:00.001-04:002010-07-13T13:00:15.496-04:00Social Networking’s Invasion of Privacy Just Got a Whole Lot Messier<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Today, computer <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_software" title="Computer software" rel="wikipedia">software</a> giant <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.microsoft.com" title="Microsoft" rel="homepage">Microsoft</a> announced that their latest version of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx" title="Microsoft Office" rel="homepage">MS-Office</a> will integrate seamlessly with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://facebook.com" title="Facebook" rel="homepage">Facebook</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Previous versions of the world’s most popular set of applications – which include Word, Outlook, Excel and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://office.microsoft.com/powerpoint" title="Microsoft PowerPoint" rel="homepage">PowerPoint</a> – have allowed users to connect to <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.linkedin.com" title="LinkedIn" rel="homepage">LinkedIn</a> using a plug-in called <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.microsoft.com/outlook" title="Microsoft Outlook" rel="homepage">MS-Outlook</a> Social Connector. The latest version of MS-Office not only has this plug-in built directly into the interface, it pulls far more information from Facebook than it did from LinkedIn.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">From pulling Facebook photos into MS-Outlook, so now you’ll know what the other person you are emailing looks like, to revealing all their status updates, news feeds, even their wall posts – so you not only know what they like and are up too, but who their friends are, and what their friends like and are up too – all of this – and more is now publicly available to anyone you email using MS-Outlook, or any of the other MS-Office applications.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Cool sounding at first, but then think about all the personal information being shared. Do you really want your boss to see the drunken photos of you that you posted after celebrating your last birthday?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">What if you are looking for work – do you want potential employers to see you vent off your frustrations about your current or past employer thanks to having access to your newsfeed and status updates?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Think you are very social network savvy, and you are extremely cautious about what you post on Facebook?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Doesn’t matter – if a friend posts something which you just might not want the whole world to know, too damn bad – because wall posts and news feeds are now shown directly in MS-Outlook.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">So that video of you doing an air guitar rendition of <span style="font-style: italic;"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairway_to_Heaven" title="Stairway to Heaven" rel="wikipedia">Stairway to Heaven</a></span> in your underwear that your girlfriend posted on her Facebook, could now be playing on a colleagues computer. Worse – that colleague can simply forward the email to everyone in your office so even your coworkers without Facebook accounts will see you dancing in your undies.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Social networking has come a long way in a very short time. It wasn’t all that long ago that unless you actually knew someone personally, you’d never know that person at all.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But thanks to the information powerhouse of the Internet, just type a name into a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine" title="Web search engine" rel="wikipedia">search engine</a>, and you can see what they look like, who they work for, their kids names, the kind of car they drive, and even some of their silly photos from real-world social activities.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And thanks to Microsoft’s new and more direct integration of Facebook – the most popular <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service" title="Social network service" rel="wikipedia">social networking site</a> – you don’t even have to search for the information. It’ll just appear right in your MS-Outlook inbox.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Not that social networking is all bad. Knowing more about a client may earn you brownie points and make your job easier.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">If you discover that a hard to read client has just come back from a business trip in San Francisco, for example, you could use that as an opening to try and break the ice. Seeing photos of that client, with a beautiful woman wrapped around him while on that trip may prompt you to ask about his wife and their shared experiences on that trip, only to find out, that he didn’t take his wife on that “business” trip.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Uh-oh.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Awkward.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Thanks social networking!</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/microsoftpri0/2012344621_outlooksocialconnectorgetsfacebook.html?syndication=rss">WPC: Microsoft Outlook gets connected to Facebook</a> (seattletimes.nwsource.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/07/13/microsoft.outlook.facebook.mashable/index.html&a=20836876&rid=66892779-5b69-4d33-9bb6-b8f403a1e940&e=0b6376a378ffeaecc8e8cae43dabaeca">Microsoft Launches Outlook Facebook Integration</a> (cnn.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://mashable.com/2010/07/13/outlook-facebook/">Microsoft Launches Outlook Facebook Integration [Exclusive]</a> (mashable.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2010/07/outlook-integrates-facebook.html">Outlook Integrates Facebook</a> (marketingpilgrim.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/technology/10611027.stm">Outlook gets Facebook integration</a> (news.bbc.co.uk)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.liveside.net/main/archive/2010/07/13/outlook-social-connector-adds-facebook-windows-live-messenger-providers.aspx">Outlook Social Connector adds Facebook, Windows Live Messenger providers</a> (liveside.net)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.ghacks.net/2010/07/13/outlook-facebook-social-connector-out-today/">Outlook / Facebook Social Connector out today</a> (ghacks.net)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/7887733/Facebook-connects-to-Microsoft-Office.html&a=20833570&rid=66892779-5b69-4d33-9bb6-b8f403a1e940&e=bbe633aafcbd39974880c51d75e14ff2">Facebook connects to Microsoft Office</a> (telegraph.co.uk)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=66892779-5b69-4d33-9bb6-b8f403a1e940" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-72571477985164369022010-07-12T16:15:00.001-04:002010-07-12T16:17:53.921-04:00America’s Not So Green President<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Breaking news from CNN, the U.S. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8936416667,-77.0425916667&spn=0.01,0.01&q=38.8936416667,-77.0425916667%20%28United%20States%20Department%20of%20the%20Interior%29&t=h" title="United States Department of the Interior" rel="geolocation">Interior Department</a> issued a new moratorium to block deepwater oil and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas" title="Natural gas" rel="wikipedia">natural gas</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_well" title="Oil well" rel="wikipedia">drilling</a> today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Big whoop.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">If the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" title="United States" rel="geolocation">American</a> <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_States" title="Federal government of the United States" rel="wikipedia">government</a> really gave a damn about the environment, then we wouldn’t still be talking about the British Petroleum (<a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.bp.com" title="BP" rel="homepage">BP</a>) oil spill in the Gulf, which began April 20 – yes APRIL. An estimated 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum" title="Petroleum" rel="wikipedia">crude</a> oil continue to pollute all the interconnected water and ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico EVERY DAY.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">BP has yet to cap their leaking – more like GUSHING – oil well, and despite fines, harsh language, and personal meetings with American President <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/" title="Barack Obama" rel="homepage">Barack Obama</a>, BP is taking a very lazy, don’t give a rat’s ass approach. Their latest scheme to stop the oil well is only being considered a temporary measure, which may or may not even work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We live in an age of technological wonder. As you read this sentence, billions of emails, web pages, instant messages and text messages have been sent and received.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Yet in this world of instant everything, when it comes to our home, planet <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" title="Earth" rel="wikipedia">Earth</a>, nothing is quite as fast.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Yes, eventually Mother Nature will clean up the mess left by the careless executives at BP that failed to prevent this disaster from occurring. Mother Nature takes her time – scientists estimate it’ll take about half-a-million years before all the oil is gone if it were just left there for Mother Nature to tackle.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Plants and animals affected by the oil won’t come back from the oil spill for another few thousand years after that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The first Black American president often considered the most “green” because of his strong public image towards environmental initiatives is looking anything but green. His first attempt to initiate a moratorium on deep oil drilling was tossed out by a federal judge – yes a FEDERAL judge.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Now we sit and wait for the overly powerful <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry" title="Petroleum industry" rel="wikipedia">oil and gas industry</a> to take the latest deep oil and natural gas drilling moratorium to court. Will the American President be embarrassed a second time, by having one of his own federal judges toss it out?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Moratoriums aren’t even a real solution, they just are temporary bans, which means they are temporary quick fixes to long-term, real problems.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The long-term real problem – our dependency on fossil fuels. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">When President Obama was recently sworn in, he gave a serious of very moving speeches, mentioning how his administration was committed to reducing what he called in all of these orations “America’s dependence oil and non-American fossil fuels.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">He enthused with great energy, how he was going to take the lead, in moving America away from this dependency. He talked about ensuring all federal government buildings had green power alternatives, and how Americans can harness the power of the wind, the Sun and the water to make America great once again.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">He did what many politicians in many countries do – he gave great big moving speeches.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Unfortunately, he then did what many politicians in many countries have also done – failed to act on those great big moving speeches.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The BP oil catastrophe isn’t a time to back away, and let a room full uncaring oil executives tell you it just can’t be done.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">NOW is the time President Obama should make good on those great big moving green speeches. NOW is the perfect time to take action, to really make America – and the world – a better place.</span><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/12/gulf.drilling.moratorium/index.html&a=20787060&rid=e42e946a-8531-4d9a-82d6-ea1e2df07860&e=046fdc9e56f71e60ff22a302f89d9d7e">Sources: Government to issue new moratorium on deepwater drilling</a> (cnn.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://grantlawrence.blogspot.com/2010/07/darrell-b-nelsons-shut-up-stupid-sunday.html">Darrell B. Nelson's Shut-up Stupid Sunday: Oil Myths</a> (grantlawrence.blogspot.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/colin-beavan/we-are-a-nation-of-oiloho_b_642982.html">Colin Beavan: We Are a Nation of Oiloholics: Instead of Ranting at Oil Companies, Pols, Let's Look in the Mirror</a> (huffingtonpost.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2010/07/taking-responsibility-for-preventing-further-oil-spills.html">Taking responsibility for preventing further oil spills</a> (noimpactman.typepad.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575362862315524690.html">U.S. to Issue New Drilling Moratorium</a> (online.wsj.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/07/gulf-abandoned-oil-wells-gas_n_637315.html">Gulf Awash In 27,000 Abandoned Oil And Gas Wells</a> (huffingtonpost.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2012294053_apusgulfoilspillabandonedwells.html?syndication=rss">AP IMPACT: Gulf awash in 27,000 abandoned wells</a> (seattletimes.nwsource.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/28998">Abandoned oil wells a continuing threat</a> (capitolhillblue.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38113914/ns/disaster_in_the_gulf/&a=20510282&rid=e42e946a-8531-4d9a-82d6-ea1e2df07860&e=eaa8c4bf2f2f0abf381c192b3d87a82b">Gulf awash in 27,000 abandoned wells</a> (msnbc.msn.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=e42e946a-8531-4d9a-82d6-ea1e2df07860" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-14847381840808069732010-07-08T11:52:00.001-04:002010-07-08T11:56:07.027-04:00Those Sneaky Politicians Have Done it Again<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Those calling Canada’s largest province of Ontario “home” may question just how publicly democratic the provincial government is, as they continue to pass legislation secretly.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Sounds more like a dictatorship than a democratically elected government – but that has been the Ontario government’s method of governance for at least two – that we now know of – policies.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">First there was the controversial and ever hush-hush passing of a war measures-like act just prior to the G20 and G8 Summits held in the province. A new law was passed temporarily allowing police across the province to detain and arrest people without just cause, if they just happened to be too close for comfort during the summits.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That’s how a number of local residents got arrested during the gathering of the world’s most 20 powerful leaders in Toronto late last month. One person was just coming home from picking up a jug of milk for her infant son, and was tossed to the ground, handcuffed, and stuffed into a moving van by police, and held for over 48-hours in a temporary jail created especially for the anticipated increased numbers of detainees.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The law providing the police these sweeping – and highly questionable powers – was passed without any debate, and wasn’t made public until a handful of hours prior to the first summit (the G8) was to be held.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Then, just today the province lets us know about another new tax, which has already been in effect for exactly one week – yet there wasn’t any mention of it until today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">On the same day the province’s controversial Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) kicked in, a new eco-fee also took effect on thousands of everyday household products. We’ve been paying both since Canada’s Birthday on July 1 – happy Canada Day from the province of Ontario!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The new fee bumps up the price of aerosol containers, household cleaning products, even fire extinguishers – which you’d expect the province would encourage people to have through tax cuts or savings, as those actually save lives.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Stewardship Ontario is the government body in charge of the levy, and they claim the money collected by the new eco-fee will be used only for recycling of the products on the list.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Sounds like a similar scam being run by the City of Toronto, where retailers must charge a nickel for every plastic bag they provide you. The logic behind this fee is to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags, to reduce the amount of plastic bags going to landfill sites.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">So far, the “bag tax” in Toronto has proven more of a nuisance than anything else, as the fee is so small, many simply pay it to bring home their groceries (or other purchases). However, since the introduction of the “bag tax” many checkout clerks have stopped bagging. This causes longer line-ups, as customers have to bag their own purchases, in their own bags.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">I’ve certainly felt the pressure to rush my packing, as I fiddle with my purchases, trying to get them into my own bags, as an angry and impatient mob waits for me to finish.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Not a pleasant shopping experience at all.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has the right idea, but just is going about it all wrong. Green legislation is a good idea – any sign the government is actually moving towards protecting our planet is a good idea.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However, just as the temporary military law-like changes were made for the G8 and G20 Summits, passing green laws without discussion or debate defeats the essence of what it means to live in a democratic society.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And when democracy itself is at risk, no good can come from that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Drop the ego Premier McGuinty – we the people elected you into office, and we the people can just as easily NOT elect you the next time there is an election.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That is, unless you quietly change those laws too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">What the new Eco-Fee Is Applied Too</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">As of July 1, 2010, thirteen new categories, covering thousands of products have been added to this new eco-fee, including:</span><br /></div><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• batteries</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• pharmaceuticals</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• sharps and syringes</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• aerosol containers</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• antifreeze</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• drain cleaners and other corrosives</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• spot removers and other irritants</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• fertilizers</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• fire extinguishers</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• fuels and other flammables</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• fluorescents</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• moth balls and other leachate toxics</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• thermometers and other mercury containing devices</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• oil containers</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• oil filters</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• paint and coatings</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• pesticides</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• pressurized containers</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• metal powders and other reactives</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">• adhesives and other toxics.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-78233555805359377722010-07-06T12:01:00.000-04:002010-07-06T12:03:36.007-04:00Summer’s Heat Shows Vulnerability of Power Grid<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">A major <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_wave" title="Heat wave" rel="wikipedia">heat wave</a> has caused temperatures to rise along parts of North-Eastern North America – but hey, it’s summer time – that’s not new.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Nor is the fact that our ageing and antiquated power supply system fails when we need it most.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Every summer, there are days of excessive heat, followed by warnings from local power companies to cut back on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_conditioning" title="Air conditioning" rel="wikipedia">air conditioning</a> use during business hours, otherwise rolling brownouts or blackouts may occur.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The warnings aren’t followed, and what happens?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Hydro vault fires, power failures stretching vast distances, and some of the most heavily populated areas in North America go without <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity" title="Electricity" rel="wikipedia">electricity</a> for hours.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That’s what happened yesterday in Canada’s largest city of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" title="Toronto" rel="geolocation">Toronto</a>, right at the start of the afternoon rush hour.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Thousands of people working in skyscrapers hundreds of floors high had to hustle single-file down emergency stairwells to escape the stale hot air, as the air conditioners ceased to function in buildings where the windows don’t open.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Once those thousands of people did manage to get down to street level, they were sucked into a flood of thousands more, wandering around, wondering what to do. Traffic lights were out, subways and streetcars were stopped dead, forcing pretty much everyone in the affected areas out onto the streets, causing chaos and confusion.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That is if you got down – hundreds in elevators across the city when the power went out were stuck mid-floor. One person even used social networking site <a class="zem_slink" href="http://twitter.com" title="Twitter" rel="homepage">twitter.com</a>, to “tweet” Toronto’s Mayor in a panic about being stuck in the elevator. The Mayor tweeted back emergency contact info, and eventually emergency services freed those in that particular elevator.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Memories of the major blackout in 2003, which darkened the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" title="United States" rel="geolocation">United States</a> and Canada along the North Eastern Seaboard for days returned.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Memories of summers past, with short, flashes of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_outage" title="Power outage" rel="wikipedia">power outages</a> (brownouts) and longer, blackouts lasting hours returned.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Despite our advances in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Technology" title="Technology" rel="wikinvest">technology</a>, causing a constant increase in electricity demand – and a subsequent increase in the cost to consumers for that electricity -- our <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission" title="Electric power transmission" rel="wikipedia">power grids</a> continue to take a back seat to improvements.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Even though most high tech toys these days are mobile, we still need to plug them in to charge them prior to going mobile. Think about all our smart phones, cordless phones and laptops. Toss in our usual electric appliances like fridges, stoves, toasters and televisions, and it doesn’t take a genius to see we are completely at the mercy of the power company to keep us fed, informed and in touch with our loved ones.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Over the years, the costs of electricity in North America have continued to rise – about two percent per year since 1990.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Yet when we hit a couple of days when we the paying customer really need to use electricity – during a heat wave to cool our schools, offices and homes – the power company warns us to cut back our use, or the system will do it for us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Granted, hitting this excessive demand isn’t an everyday occurrence. But then, it isn’t as if we haven’t hit these high levels of electrical consumption ever before. We average about two days every summer in North America when we do just that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">SO, why is it that despite all the technological advances, all the increases in power consumption and subsequent raises in electricity rates to us paying consumers, and all the previous days, every year, where we hit excessive demand of the power grid, that our power grid can’t handle it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Shouldn’t our power companies have resolved these problems long ago? What the hell are they using the added revenue from constant price increases on? Why aren’t the power companies using the latest technologies to ensure these regular power outages every summer are ended?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Perhaps, because of our dependence upon the electrical grid to power our world, the power companies don’t feel obligated to improve their products or services – where else are we going to go to keep our homes cooled in the summer, lit at night and our tummies full?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Maybe now is the time to look at setting up our own individual solar and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Wind_Energy" title="Wind Energy" rel="wikinvest">wind</a>-power systems, to end the reliance on a faulty – and poorly maintained – power grid?</span><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-06/new-york-may-get-record-power-demand-in-heat-today-update1-.html&a=20471482&rid=d7e9d88c-c90b-42c9-bc87-2f21c587fb10&e=6a371dd6b4c8613fbba2bb9f3a7e45fb">New York May Get Record Power Demand in Heat Today (Update1)</a> (businessweek.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/interconnected-parts-make-grid-maintenance-a-difficult-task/article1629611/?cmpid=rss1">Interconnected parts make grid maintenance a difficult task</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/the-grid-lacks-glamour-but-it-needs-care/article1629403/?cmpid=rss1">The grid lacks glamour, but it needs care</a> (theglobeandmail.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-brown/the-smart-grid-the-future_b_631445.html">Greg Brown: The Smart Grid: The Future is Now</a> (huffingtonpost.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/05/c2278.html&a=20441336&rid=d7e9d88c-c90b-42c9-bc87-2f21c587fb10&e=b9369b815eb01fbcdd6acea4c5765363">Power Outage Impacts Downtown Toronto</a> (newswire.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=165761&44=97832524&32=3796&7=195202&40=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.philly.com%252Fphilly%252Fnews%252F20100706_Philly_takes_precautions_as_heat_wave_looms_over_area.html">Philly takes precautions as heat wave looms over area</a> (philly.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2010/05/c2290.html&a=20443082&rid=d7e9d88c-c90b-42c9-bc87-2f21c587fb10&e=76be484633c5d45e401e6fa612576ce2">Power Outage - Toronto Hydro reports power outage in the west end of Toronto</a> (newswire.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/05/canada.toronto.power.outage/index.html&a=20444504&rid=d7e9d88c-c90b-42c9-bc87-2f21c587fb10&e=0545265e552eb1ba6fcb4f792825b9cc">Power outage hits Toronto, 200,000 customers affected</a> (cnn.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=d7e9d88c-c90b-42c9-bc87-2f21c587fb10" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-32814066397625085882010-07-05T11:03:00.002-04:002010-07-05T11:07:36.881-04:00Summer Is the Perfect Time to Get Messy<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.1666666667,-100.166666667&spn=1.0,1.0&q=48.1666666667,-100.166666667%20%28North%20America%29&t=h" title="North America" rel="geolocation">North America</a> is now officially in summer mode – with Canadians celebrating <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" title="Canada" rel="geolocation">Canada</a> Day last Thursday, and American’s their <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28United_States%29" title="Independence Day (United States)" rel="wikipedia">Fourth of July</a> yesterday, the lazy hazy days of summer are here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">You know it is summer when the Ribfests are here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ribfests are – for those who don’t like to eat with your hands, turn away now – these great outdoor escapes, held in city parks, where professional <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue" title="Barbecue" rel="wikipedia">BBQ</a> rib makers (called “ribbers”) go to compete for the best ribs of the show.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">When you sit down at a restaurant, and the menu boasts “award winning ribs” – chances are those ribs won an award at a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.canadaslargestribfest.com/" title="Canada's Largest Ribfest" rel="homepage">Ribfest</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">It’s usually a long weekend affair, lasting three or more days, and anyone can go to sample ribs from a variety of restaurants and bars, from all over North America.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Last year I went to three Ribfests in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" title="Toronto" rel="geolocation">Toronto</a>, and enjoyed the messy finger-licking food from ribbers from Texas, Florida and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana" title="Louisiana" rel="wikipedia">Louisiana</a> – as well as here in Canada.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This past weekend, I went to the first Ribfest of the summer, and sampled some ribs from <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee" title="Tennessee" rel="wikipedia">Tennessee</a>. There were actually two Ribfests in Toronto this past weekend, but alas, I only had time to go to one.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Ribs aren’t the most healthy food choice, they are fatty, greasy, and for those who don’t like eating with their hands – I warned you! – they are probably the messiest food you can eat, as the sauce dribbles everywhere, leaving a sticky residue.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But ribs – pork or beef, side or back – are so very tasty! Tangy, grilled to perfection, meat that practically comes off the bone without any tugging.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Okay, you I’ll admit it – you don’t absolutely have to eat ribs at a Ribfest. Some people don’t like eating ribs – I know it sounds odd but it is true – usually there are many other things around to satisfy everyone’s tastes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">At the Ribfest I went to this past weekend, there were hotdog and hamburger vendors, a French fries truck, even a good old fashioned ice cream truck where you can get soft ice cream.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Though for me, the ribs are the star of the show.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">There is something special about ribs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Sure, I’ll eat ribs at a restaurant – there are places near me that have all-you-can-eat ribs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But a Ribfest is different.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">When I eat ribs in a restaurant, I often feel self-conscious, maybe even a little embarrassed about the thick oozing sauce covering my fingers, hands and face.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">It is even worse when you go to a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_restaurants" title="Types of restaurants" rel="wikipedia">fine dining</a> place, and soak the white cloth serviette with dark red rib sauce.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But at a Ribfest, everyone is covered in rib sauce. At last, I can eat my ribs, make a bit of a mess, and I still fit in!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">There are hand washing stations at Ribfests so you don’t have to wander around all day with sauce dripping off of you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But those are for the weak, the inexperienced rib eater.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Those of us who enjoy a good rack of fall-off-the-bone ribs, thickly covered in tangy <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_sauce" title="Barbecue sauce" rel="wikipedia">BBQ sauce</a> laugh at those standing in line to wash up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">If you aren’t sticking to everything as you munch on your ribs, you’re not taking in the whole experience!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And besides, the best ribbers usually have quite a line up, so after you finish sampling one places ribs, you have to stand in line to get your next taste.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Though my family and friends have devised a system which we use when going to Ribfests which seems to work really well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Each one of us goes to a different ribber, gets a half-rack of ribs and brings it back. We don’t get the fries, or the buns or the chicken – just ribs. All we’re here for are the ribs, everything else is just filler. We all share the ribs from each vendor, so that we can try each and everyone one’s ribs.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The bones pile up, our fingers stick to everything thanks to the gooey sauce, and the sun beats down on us as we bite into our ribs – this is the perfect way to enjoy summer.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">AFTER we have sampled all the ribbers, we’ll line up at the hand washing station – NOW it’s okay, we’re done! We’ll grab an ice cream from the ice cream truck, maybe a few beers from the beer tent, watch the live band, and head home – stuffed silly with some fond summer memories.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/2010/06/ribfest-chicago-a-little-slice-of-the-taste/">Ribfest Chicago: A little slice of the Taste</a> (timeoutny.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/2010/06/ribfest-photo-gallery/">Ribfest Chicago: photo gallery</a> (timeoutny.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/travel/ontariooutings/article/826891--buckle-up-for-the-ontario-stampede">Buckle up for the Ontario stampede</a> (thestar.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2010/04/c2162.html&a=19009635&rid=4af69821-8907-46fa-8c59-d426d33c4898&e=ec74e0226078bace1a1cbc098e58f6f9">Veridian kicks-off annual Sign Up & Save Summer Tour this weekend in Pickering</a> (newswire.ca)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=4af69821-8907-46fa-8c59-d426d33c4898" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-75701462818745890082010-06-30T12:19:00.002-04:002010-06-30T12:23:03.867-04:00A Not So Happy Canada Day, Eh?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Tomorrow is Canada Day – July 1 – 143 years of our confederation. We’re not as old nor do we have the history of our big brother to the south – <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" title="United States" rel="geolocation">the US</a> of eh, eh?</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But we <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=45.4,-75.6666666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=45.4,-75.6666666667%20%28Canada%29&t=h" title="Canada" rel="geolocation">Canadians</a> have a lot to be proud of.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Or we did.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Once upon a time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Our population continues to grow – Statistics Canada, the federal government <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_agency" title="Government agency" rel="wikipedia">agency</a> which keeps track of such things, tells us we’re now a country of over 34 million people. They also tell us that now 50 percent of our population wasn’t born here, and just over half of those people don’t speak either of our two official languages.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Wait a sec . . . </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">How can you go into someone’s home, take up roots there, and re-arrange the furniture without anyone minding?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That’s what has been going on in our home and native land, mostly in our large urban areas. There are streets in Toronto and Vancouver where if you don’t speak Chinese or Hindu, you won’t get very far – in fact you are made to feel uncomfortable intentionally.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">If you ask the residents or business owners on those streets for directions, you’ll be told: “sorry, I don’t speak any <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language" title="English language" rel="wikipedia">English</a>.” Funny though, they always speak perfect English when they tell you they don’t.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Newly settled parents to our great land even tell their kids not to play with anyone who’s not like them after school – they send them to special schools where all the kids are from families of their homeland, so during school they are free to do as they wish.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">How unCanadian is that?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We warmly welcome newcomers to our great land, only to be given the shaft.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">If and when we humble and polite Canadians mumble something about that being wrong, how it is best for all the kids in the neighbourhood to play together, the newcomers join forces upon us, using our own <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights" rel="wikipedia">Human Rights</a> and Freedoms laws against us, claiming we are in the wrong for discriminating against them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Being the peace-loving, good natured and overly polite Canadians we are, we go back and sit on the bench, keeping it warm, hoping that one day the newcomers to our land will feel comfortable enough to break bread with and be our friends.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Problem is, the newcomers to our once great land are already quite comfortable, living their lives just as they did back in their native land, without you or me.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Essentially, they have already established their own country within our country. </span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">They have setup their own culturally-specific schools, so that their kids will never have to mix and mingle with anyone outside their race or creed. They create their own restaurants, shops and businesses, hiring only others from their homeland, so they don’t have any misunderstandings with you or me. They read newspapers written for them, in their native languages, listen to music and radio stations in their native tongues – hell even good old CBC – Canada’s national broadcaster – is televising <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188335/" title="Hockey Night in Canada" rel="imdb">Hockey Night</a> In Canada in Hindu so the newcomers can watch our game, without learning English or French.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">You know something is amiss when Canadian hockey icon <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Cherry_%28ice_hockey%29" title="Don Cherry (ice hockey)" rel="wikipedia">Don Cherry</a> is replaced – period.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">It isn’t just our national broadcaster, all government institutions and many big businesses are feeding the storm, making it one nasty beast.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The running joke used to be, in order to work for the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Canada" title="Government of Canada" rel="wikipedia">Government of Canada</a>, you had to like poutine on your hockey puck. In other words, you had to be fully bilingual, in both our official languages of English or French.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Not so any more – oh the federal government still hires fully bilingual people, but so long as you speak English OR French AND another language, they’ll almost certainly take you. Government brass love to brag about how they offer their services in over 120 different languages.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Not that those who come to this great land don’t deserve the same benefits as those who were born here. I’m sure whatever civil servant or <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Canada" title="Politics of Canada" rel="wikipedia">politician</a> came up with the notion of offering government services in a multitude of languages had the noblest of intentions.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">However noble the initial intentions were, the trends and statistics clearly show that was one of many errors of judgement.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We’re being kicked out of our own country, slowly and silently by newcomers that just don’t want anything to do with Canadians.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Oh they’ll cry racism, and proudly hold up their citizenship cards – we give those things to anyone these days – another fault of our <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government" title="Government" rel="wikipedia">governmental</a> policy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But they are the ones being racist.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We aren’t the ones telling our kids not to play with their kids. We aren’t the ones not hiring people because they don’t look and sound like us. We aren’t the ones intentionally making others that don’t look like us or sound like us feel awkward or uncomfortable.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">We’re just being typically Canadian, politically correct, peaceful, welcoming anyone into our homes, our schools, our workplaces – our lives.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Maybe we shouldn’t be so damn welcoming?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Happy Canada Day.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.canada.com/life/Canadians%2Bwould%2Brather%2Brelax%2Bthan%2Bparty%2BCanada%2Bpoll/3218209/story.html&a=20165184&rid=c482aa3b-f80a-4bcf-a93b-e22445d1dd64&e=1e6a699dbe630b3aa7a313603389abfd">Canadians would rather relax than party on Canada Day: poll</a> (canada.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2010/30/c9350.html&a=20175106&rid=c482aa3b-f80a-4bcf-a93b-e22445d1dd64&e=ce92da8fd1ef3afd9143f3bec7b675d5">The Ultimate Canada Day BBQ: Terry Fox (38%), Wayne Gretzky (36%) and Céline Dion (33%) Would Top Canadians' Guest Lists</a> (newswire.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2010/29/c9037.html&a=20127050&rid=c482aa3b-f80a-4bcf-a93b-e22445d1dd64&e=5564e56dcf16d496a0d68ce6103332bd">Canada Day message is clear in any language: Stay Clear! Stay Safe!</a> (newswire.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.patspapers.com/story_stack/item/bill_mayer_oh_canada_stop_clubbing_seals/">Bill Mayer: Oh Canada! Stop Clubbing Seals</a> (patspapers.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/7859997/Canadians-apathetic-about-visit-from-the-Queen.html&a=20109572&rid=c482aa3b-f80a-4bcf-a93b-e22445d1dd64&e=d00916ebb68633f184946e245b66a426">Canadians apathetic about visit from the Queen</a> (telegraph.co.uk)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=c482aa3b-f80a-4bcf-a93b-e22445d1dd64" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35083763.post-74946067477178870182010-06-28T15:03:00.002-04:002010-06-28T15:08:47.455-04:00Okay, Toronto Looks Like a War Zone – Remind Me Why?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Much of the world’s media focused on <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111&spn=0.1,0.1&q=43.7165888889,-79.3406861111%20%28Toronto%29&t=h" title="Toronto" rel="geolocation">Toronto, Ontario</a>, Canada the weekend just past. Images of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police" title="Police" rel="wikipedia">police</a> cars on fire, masked protesters throwing things, and running rampant among a wall of poorly prepared heavily armed police and military personal – oh and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&spn=10.0,10.0&q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&t=h" title="United States" rel="geolocation">American</a> President <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/" title="Barack Obama" rel="homepage">Barack Obama</a> was there too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">My favourite image – one which perhaps captured the weekend’s activities best – was that of an innocent bystander, just coming out of a corner store with a jug of milk, suddenly surrounded by a dozen or more police in full riot gear, throwing the poor local resident down on the grown, handcuffing her, and then tossing her into the back of a passing mini van, which then took off to destinations unknown.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Later, the poor person – who had all the proper identifications on her person when the incident occurred – was released without being charged from a temporary jail the police had set up at a former <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_studio" title="Movie studio" rel="wikipedia">movie studio</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">All of this thanks to a semi-regular gathering of the world’s most powerful <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Canada" title="Politics of Canada" rel="wikipedia">political</a> leaders from twenty of the most economically and politically powerful nations on Earth – the G20 Summit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The G20 Summit was held in Canada’s largest city this past weekend, and for as long as these meetings of minds has been held, they are always overshadowed by the ravaging throngs of protesters, violently and without any regard for anyone – even themselves – destroying everything and anything around them.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">All because they want the world peace.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Funny, when the protest movement began from its grass roots in the 1960’s, they really were peaceful, chanting pretty much the same slogans they screamed this weekend.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;">“NO Justice NO Peace!”</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But back in the 1960’s, even up until the late 1970’s, most of these protests were peaceful walks down the street, with the occasional person being hauled off by police.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">According to the Integrated Security Unit (ISU) which coordinated the security for the G20 Summit, over 900 people were arrested, and five temporary courts have been created to deal with the enormous backlog of cases.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Regardless of the numbers of protesters, the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Canada" title="Government of Canada" rel="wikipedia">Canadian government</a> estimates about a billion Canadian dollars have been spent on protecting the 20 world leaders and their support staffs for the weekend-long summit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">That dollar figure is expected to rise, as more police were called in than originally planned for, to handle the massive riots in Toronto’s downtown core – even retired cops were brought in to bring back the peace.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">But that peace never came during the summit – all is quiet now that it is over. So one wonders just where that billion dollars went, because it certainly didn’t prevent one of the most peaceful cities in the world from becoming a war zone for two days.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Maybe that billion dollars will be used to clean up the mess which was left behind – storefronts were smashed, buildings spray painted, fences overturned, police cars burned.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Toronto Mayor David Miller obviously isn’t intending his city pay for the damage – today he told reporters that it’s unfair to expect anyone but the federal government to pay for the damage, as it was organized by the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://pm.gc.ca/eng/default.asp" title="Stephen Harper" rel="homepage">Prime Minister Stephen Harper</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">And so another battle has begun – between Mayor and <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_minister" title="Prime minister" rel="wikipedia">Prime Minister</a>, as they hammer out the details of who takes responsibility for the mess left by the G20.</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"></span><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Hey, I’ve got an idea, wouldn’t it make more sense to have these G20 meetings virtually? What’s the worst that could happen if all the leaders participated in a virtual teleconference, or videoconference? The technology is very good – I’ve had videoconferences in the past and the quality is just like watching <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television" title="Television" rel="wikipedia">TV</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Then again, maybe the G20 leaders just like the attention, to fuel their egos.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">“Look! Down there! It’s an Italian flag – they are fighting over me!”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">“Non, non, that is obviously a French man, look at the cut of his bandanna.”</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><fieldset class="zemanta-related"><legend class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</legend><ul class="zemanta-article-ul"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://www.financialpost.com/Toronto+financial+district+returning+normal+after/3211393/story.html">Toronto's financial district returning to normal after G20</a> (financialpost.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStoriesV2/20100628/g20-protests-monday-100628/&a=20064242&rid=854ef508-4ac1-4362-9f3c-47c55e76c3a3&e=db78bdcd3dba5ea700b2d68dff6c332b">Toronto cleaning up from G20 vandalism</a> (ctv.ca)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.calgaryherald.com/news/Security%2Bfence%2Btaken%2Bdown%2BToronto%2Bprepares%2Bnormalcy/3210578/story.html&a=20065170&rid=854ef508-4ac1-4362-9f3c-47c55e76c3a3&e=aaa1454813554ed0593aa99f88cafe65">Security fence taken down as Toronto prepares for normalcy</a> (calgaryherald.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37947986/ns/world_news-americas/&a=20020063&rid=854ef508-4ac1-4362-9f3c-47c55e76c3a3&e=f9f89cb024a9142a6e877f4ee8b2bc47">Protests turn violent around G-20 summit site</a> (msnbc.msn.com)</li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.canada.com/news/Toronto%2Bprepares%2Bnormalcy%2Bafter/3210578/story.html&a=20061331&rid=854ef508-4ac1-4362-9f3c-47c55e76c3a3&e=291c9032d6a75b35d91bd6263191cdd3">Toronto prepares for normalcy after G20</a> (canada.com)</li></ul></fieldset> <div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=854ef508-4ac1-4362-9f3c-47c55e76c3a3" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" defer="defer"></script></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">--------------------------------------------------------
(C)opyright 2010 Jordan H. Green
All Rights Reserved.
Read more at:
<A HREF="http://www.jordansdaily.blogspot.com/"> Jordan's Daily -- Almost! </A>
Thank you for reading Jordan's Daily -- Almost!</div>Jordan H. Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787433247292745391noreply@blogger.com0