Monday, August 23, 2010

Photo of the day - Ouch!



AUGUST 23 - Spanish bullfighter Pedro Muriel is gored by a bull during a bullfight at the Malagueta bullring in Malaga.

Photograph by: Jon Nazca, Reuters

Save Bears Found in Drug Bust! - The Petition Site


Save Bears Found in Drug Bust! - The Petition Site

VANCOUVER — An online petition has been created to help 10 tame black bears whose future is uncertain after being found at a marijuana grow-op in Christina Lake, B.C.
The bears were discovered on July 30, when Mounties raided the remote property near the summer tourist town in the southern B.C. Interior.
Officers were at first fearful when they spotted the bears but soon realized the bruins were being fed by the property owners and officers were not an immediate risk.
Police allege they subsequently found at least 1,000 marijuana plants on the property.
A man and woman living on the property have been charged with various drug offences and are presently free on bail. The pair have been instructed to no longer feed the bears.
The provincial environment ministry has said if the animals can’t learn to find food in the wild, they’ll have to be exterminated.
That led to the Save Bears Found in Drug Bust online petition that has almost 1,500 signatures from people all around the world. The petition asks that the bears be sent to a sanctuary and not be put down.
A Facebook petition has also been created, named Help Save the B.C. Black Bears, which directs viewers to the petition.
B.C. conservation authorities could not be reached for comment.
Christina Lake is 300 kilometres east of Vancouver and just north of the border with Washington State.

Harper's growing 'black list' a threat to democracy: Critics

Harper's growing 'black list' a threat to democracy: Critics

OTTAWA — They are the people who seem to have found themselves on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's political black list: A nuclear regulator, a watchdog of the RCMP, an ombudsmen for victims of crime, a champion for military veterans. And now — say Harper's critics — a senior Mountie who had the temerity to defend the long-gun registry.

Their supposed political crime? To argue their case too forcefully, or to adopt a position frowned upon by the Harper government. Their punishment? In some cases, a pink slip. In others, banishment. This is the reputation — rightly or wrongly — that Harper is earning for his government. But has he gone too far? Critics say they're counting on Canadians to rise up and to stop what they say is a style of governing that threatens democracy.

"I think we're getting to the tipping point," Liberal MP Mark Holland said Wednesday.

"The precedent is so dangerous. If you have a government that gets away with this stuff, that gets away with purging any dissenting voices, purging anybody who disagrees with them, then how can we say that we have a democracy? It really cuts that deep."

New Democrat MP Joe Comartin was just as furious, saying he was disgusted by the news the RCMP is replacing a senior officer, Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, who is responsible for the long-gun registry and who has been a strong advocate for the system. The Harper government is hoping a private member's bill to abolish the registry will pass when Parliament resumes sitting next month.

Comartin and others contend Harper wanted to silence Cheliak, so orders were given to RCMP Commissioner William Elliott to push him aside.

"It's all part of a pattern," said Comartin. "If they can't get their way, they try to bully and intimidate people into remaining silent. It's part of the obsessive, excessive control by the PMO, specifically by Mr. Harper and his immediate entourage. People are told you absolutely must toe the line on everything. That is very, very dangerous for democracy."

The governing Conservatives reject the accusation that dissenters are being punished. Rather, they note that every elected government has the right and responsibility to make staffing decisions. Moreover, they say that in many cases of supposed punishment, people are merely not having their terms renewed so they can be replaced with others who bring fresh ideas.

"The government appoints thousands of people and these appointments are for fixed terms," Harper's press secretary, Andrew MacDougall, said Wednesday. "They're not for life. And we always strive to appoint qualified people."

Also on Wednesday, Harper denied any political interference in the reassignment of Cheliak.

"This is an RCMP staffing matter. It's not a political matter," the prime minister said.

Still, critics are unimpressed and point to a growing list of examples of political interference. Among those affected:

- Linda Keen, president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which shut down the nuclear reactor in Chalk River, Ont., over safety concerns. The government, worried about the impact on medical isotopes, said it had lost confidence in her and terminated her appointment in January 2008.

- Pat Stogran, a vocal veterans' ombudsman who complained of bureaucratic obstruction and whose term will not be renewed this fall, it has emerged.

- Steve Sullivan, the victims of crime ombudsmen, whose term was not renewed in April and who publicly took issue with the Harper government's tough-on-crime agenda.

- Sheridan Scott, the Competition Bureau head who ran afoul of the environment minister and quit last December after being told her appointment would not be renewed.

- Paul Kennedy, the head of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission, who lobbied for more power for his commission and whose term was not renewed, it was announced in November.

- Peter Tinsley, the chair of the Military Complaints Commission, whose appointment was not renewed in December 2009, just as his commission was investigating the controversial issue of Afghan detainee transfers.

- Adrian Measner, president of the Canadian Wheat Board, whose appointment was terminated in December 2006, after disagreeing with the government on the board's monopoly over the sale of barley and wheat.

- Bernard Shapiro, the ethics commissioner who clashed repeatedly with Harper and quit suddenly in March 2007.

- Munir Sheikh, the chief statistician of Statistics Canada, who quit this summer after the government killed the long-form census and then defended the move by publicly (and inaccurately) suggesting it had the support of Sheikh's agency.

YouTube auteurs remix videos into pop music hits

YouTube auteurs remix videos into pop music hits

The future............  there will be no record companies making money from artists. The artist will be in charge of their own destiny.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Kiva - Bukiro Women's Group, Ntungamo from Ugandais fundraising on Kiva

Kiva - Bukiro Women's Group, Ntungamo from Uganda

Mbabazi Hellen, aged 61, is a hardworking and die-hard agriculturalist who has been maintaining a banana, cattle and coffee plantation for more than 41 years in her home area of Kabukokyero. This fetches her 400,000 UGX per month from milk and banana sales though not enough to sustain her family of 11 children as some are still students at higher institutions of learning.

Hellen has persevered to keep her business enterprise growing. Her aim in taking up this loan is to buy mulches and fertilizer for her plantation and employ additional laborers as she plans to expand and transport her products to bigger markets. This will help her increase productivity, earn more revenue, and live a more sustaining life. 

Kiva - Lourdes Duarte from Philippines has a loan funded through Kiva

Kiva - Lourdes Duarte from Philippines has a loan funded through Kiva


Kiva - El Sueño Group from Mexico has a loan fundraising on Kiva

Kiva - El Sueño Group from Mexico has a loan fundraising on Kiva

This solidarity group called “El Sueño” (The Dream) is from Tlayecac, Ayala, in the State of Morelos in México. The group consists of five members who know one another since they are neighbors. This is their first loan with Fundación Realidad.


One of the group members is Sra. Araceli Espinoza Carvajal. She is 33 years old and was able to achieve her high school diploma. Araceli is married and has two sons: Eduardo who is 8 years old and attending elementary school, and Alexander who is 2 years old. She plans to start a business selling clothing, so she needs a loan to buy blouses, trousers, shirts, skirts, and other items so that she can be stocked with merchandise. Araceli will travel to the city of Cuernavaca to obtain her inventory. She wants to whitewash her house and install a door since her family just moved into their house, but the work is still not finished. The reason for starting this business is to help with the expenses and to complete the work on her house so that it will be beautiful and be more secure for her children. Her dreams include growing her clothing business, earning more income, and investing in her home. She operates her business out of her house in Tlayecac and has competition from different merchants who sell the same products. Araceli is excited about her loan because it will provide her the opportunity to get ahead and grow her business. In addition, she hopes that her children will continue with their studies and complete their education.


The members of the group are as follows:
• Araceli Espinoza Carvajal is starting her business and will sell blouses, trousers, shirts, skirts, and other items.
• Sra. Lulu Rodríguez Gutiérrez will restock her business with blouses, skirts, and women’s trousers to sell.
• Sra. Mitzi Yuridia Bonilla Rodríguez will buy perfumes and cosmetics from a wholesaler to sell.
• Sra. Virginia Castillo Burgos will buy women’s sandals to restock her business.
• Sra. Yeimi García Vargas will buy hairclips, tiaras, bracelets, and necklaces to restock her business.


The members of the group would like to say to Kiva and Fundación Realidad, “Thank you for supporting us with this loan. The money will help us move forward in our businesses and with our families.”