Obfuscated Thoughtlessness Inversed

I posted back in November a few links in my job search. Amazingly, I'm still not employed.

I've spent the day, in the Spectrum Job Search Centre in downtown Victoria and I have found some new resources:

• Spectrum Job Search Centre
• Charity Village
• Canada.com Classifieds
• WorkInNonProfits.ca
• Monster.ca
  

I will repeat the previously posted links:

• BC Ferries - Victoria Opportunities
• City of Victoria Jobs
• Innovation and Development Corporation - UVic
• UVic Postings
• Shaw Cable
• NDP Jobs
• Google Canada
• Government of BC - Victoria area jobs

Feel free, to let me know about other great job sites in the comments.

Labels: annotation, link

Today's press release from the federal NDP reminded me just how shocking our treatment of refugees and new immigrants is in this country. No wonder we are one of the least densely populated countries on earth.

What happened to the open armed welcome into our communities, that we should be delivering to people who newly arrive here, as a nation of of mostly immigrants and their descendants. (It would of course be better to welcome people to land on which certainty over land claims existed-if only our governments would hurry up and settle)? And I'm not talking about the kind of welcome these people received or the kind of welcome this community is trying to give.

Anyone notice that skills shortage that is looming? Anyone notice the baby boom? Anyone notice the melting ice and the unpopulated plains? Actually, I guess the Canada West Foundation did...

But that won't get me off my rant. No way.. No single think tank from Calgary saying something somewhat sensible is going earn a moment's silence.

Instead, let's say it loud and proud, "welcome to Canada."

Now, I will quote others. Here's some select sections from press releases by the NDP on immigration issues from the last six months:

“We are breaking a promise to new Canadians when we cannot provide them with secure employment, steady income and a stable quality of life,” said Bill Siksay. “Immigrants are hardworking new Canadians who are trying to provide for their families. We must not turn our backs on them.” - NDP concerned over new Canadian's growing income gap

“The people who work directly with immigrants and their families have been telling us for years that this is the kind of legislation that we need,” said Peggy Nash. “The aim of this bill is to reunite families that in many cases have spent years apart. Let’s not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to do the right thing.” - Peggy Nash introduces a “Once in a Lifetime” bill

“Many of these refugees have been living in limbo in the Philippines for over 17 years after fleeing the Vietnam War and its aftermath, said Siksay. “As stateless people they live an insecure existence. They can never fully be integrated into society and communities, they are unable to work legally, and they and their families are denied basic necessities like education, and health care.” - Siksay calls on Conservative government to settle last of Vietnamese boat people

"Mr. Speaker: This afternoon, refugees who are seeking shelter in Canada will be out in the cold on Parliament Hill. They are mostly women and children who are struggling to survive. They are vulnerable, they are hungry, most are very poor – and many of the women are trying to escape domestic violence or the sex trade. But the previous liberal government and now the conservative is exploiting and punishing them further by applying a modern day head tax – the refugee fee of $550 per refugee and $150 per child. I have tabled a motion in this House – to drop these fees - this head tax – this blood money on the heads of the most vulnerable…if this government does not act, then it is saying to the world and the ten thousand Canadians who signed a petition that children should be made to suffer and women should indeed be treated like dogs. Mr. Speaker, we must end this cruel practice now." - Chow and Siksay renew call for government to drop fees

"All immigrants face the risk of being made to feel like second class citizens. This summer, during the war in Lebanon, we saw the loyalty of many dual citizens questioned most inappropriately during a time of crisis when Canadians were actually dying. That is shameful,” said Olivia Chow. Chow also noted that at that time, two young girls from her riding were visiting relatives in Lebanon. "Fortunately, they were safely evacuated. Ensuring the safety of all Canadians should never have been an issue. There is only one class of Canadian citizen so citizens are citizens, no matter where they were born. And they should receive Canada's assistance during a crisis." - Dual citizenship a bonus for Canada, says NDP

"This is not just an isolated tale of abuse by a Liberal crony appointee, but a stain on our country for which the Government must hold itself responsible. It is a terrible indictment of our tattered and frayed immigration and refugee system. This sordid episode is a sign of a badly broken immigration system in Canada, which was neglected by four successive Liberal governments. Clearly, the neglect continues with the Harper Conservatives. Enough is enough!" - Refugee board sex scandal demonstrates need for independent appeal: NDP

Labels: alternatives, annotation, human rights abuse, leftist content creation, ndp, new media critique, opinion, yay immigration

Thanks to the 929 visitors who made this blog what it is this month. I failed to meet my 1000 unique visit dream, but each one of your unique visits means just as much to me as if I had. Your return visits not so much. Obfuscated Thoughtlessness Inversed had way more of those.. 2652 or an average of 2.85 visits per visitor.

I couldn't have done it with out you. I cherish your visits, especially from the several folks who work for the Department of National Defense, and the repeat visitors from Human Resources and Social Development Canada and even the one guy who visited once from the Government of Nova Scotia. At least the RCMP didn't visit this month, like they did last month. Then again I didn't make fun of the commissioner this month, like I did last month.

On the plus side staff at the Council of Canadians, War Amps of Canada, COPE 378, BCGEU, CBC, Sierra Club of BC, BC and Federal NDP Caucus and federal NDP staff all visited. I like being noticed by them. Also, those of you who I called idiots who then proved that you are fast learners, thanks to you too. The IE ratio dropped from nearly 50% to 38.3% and beyond that Firefox came in on the month at 39%-just slightly ahead. Yay!

On the corporate side of things, the coolest-non-ISP-.com-to-visit award goes to Agilent.com. Whereas the award for creepiest Human Resources/Evil doers inc. award goes to PSI Limited. May PSI never get asked to psych my brain out for corporate profit.. From the PSI website:

International Leadership Assessment:

Assessing the competence of existing and potential international leaders contributes to both selection and development processes. In selection, assessment helps evaluate the suitability of leaders for particular assignments. In development, it helps identify areas of potential leadership growth and feeds into personal and career development processes. It can also contribute to succession planning. The tools used in assessment include PSi’s Standard and International TAISs (a psychometric profiling inventory) and our web-based International 360° and International Leadership 360° profiles, as well as other psychometric instruments.

There isn't much difference between these two companies. .com's really aren't usually cool. After I looked up the anonymous IP of PSI's internet gateway, read their website and digested the above, I ran away shrieking like my dog after getting stung by the bee she just ate.

(Reality check: I wasn't actually shrieking and the dog usually only eats bees during the summer and then she kinda half-mumbles half cries, and that's the northern hemisphere summer some time away still, oh and the word just is somewhat of a loose time measurement. I suggest longitude and latitude for those of you who are into measurement. For regular readers, my dog, refers to the brown one you often see on this page in little photos. Alright this is getting way to random and nothing like a reality check, close bracket:).

True to my promise I will not post dates, times or actual IP addresses of these visits. Hopefully your network admins are not bored or crazy enough to pull up the logs to bust you for looking at my blog.

Ok, that's enough navel gazing. On to a new month and more near exponential growth in readership!

Labels: annotation, bc blogs, internal, personal story, tools

The Irrepressible campaign by Amnesty International is definitely worth checking out.

The absolutely funnest part of this campaign is that it allows you to break the law in other countries. By pasting in censored blog code via irrepressible - you are allowing censored words to bypass the repressive regimes under which they were written and reach you.

How great is that!

Now every time you visit this blog, you may be helping break the law in China, Saudia Arabia, Syria or Iran.

While you are visiting Irrepressible.info don't forget to sign the pledge:

I believe the Internet should be a force for political freedom, not repression. People have the right to seek and receive information and to express their peaceful beliefs online without fear or interference.

I call on governments to stop the unwarranted restriction of freedom of expression on the Internet – and on companies to stop helping them do it.

Labels: annotation, anti-war, human rights abuse, leftist content creation, new media critique

I don't know how I stumbled on to these racist freaks.

But, they have a whole coalition against Illegal Aliens.

They need some intense scrutiny, a little myth debunking and a fair bit of anti-fa political action against them. Too bad I'm laughing way too hard to provide any that.

Have a look and laugh along with me.

Labels: annotation, blogosphere, human rights abuse, new media critique

Don't do it for the money - do it for the fun (ie. telling the decision-makers what you think).

Angus Reid Forum is an on-line survey site that is designed to test products and ideas on you.

They claim they will pay $1-5 a survey 2-5 times a month. Do the math and that's $2-25 a month for your opinion. Once you have done $50 worth of surveys you can take it home or donate it to a Canadian Charity.

Ok, you can reach more people by ranting on your blog and make more money using Adsense. However, this will go straight to the marketers so they can better sell you stuff.. and what could be more the Canadian dream.

Bahahha. Enjoy.

Labels: annotation, link

Ok, this isn't my new hobby, but, I do think the Google Image Labeler is an excellent way to increase the relevance of searches of web content.

The Image Labeler works on sites that are marked on Google Webmaster Tools under Enhanced Image Search.

The way it works is you and a randomly selected other person are shown images. You are asked to to label the image. As soon as your label matches the label given by the other random person you are on to the next image. You get points for describing an image in a way that matches the keywords your secret partner also chooses. There is a time-limit and the faster you identify the image with a common keyword the more points you can potentially get.

Fun, fun, fun.. well at least entertaining for a few minutes.

I guess it is kinda like volunteering to put library books back on the shelf in the right place, but in Google Image Labeler's defense you get points for it! No librarian is going to trust the likes of you with points for doing their job for them. Woo hoo!

Give it a try... you will be improving the body of knowledge of the world or at least the searchability of randomly selected images.

Labels: annotation, link, tools

"Douglas has been known personally by and has associated with leftists, peace movement workers and (Communist Party of Canada) members for years. He has allowed his name to stand publicly on many occasions in relation to support of issues sponsored by leftist groups. On the basis of information contained in this file, it is difficult to determine the full depth of sympathy and involvement or influence, if any, these groups or their philosophies have over him. It is felt, however, there is much we do not know about Douglas and the file should be maintained in order to correlate any additional information that surfaces which might assist in piecing this jigsaw puzzle together." - A late 1970s RCMP memo suggesting Douglas's file be kept active.

Today's story from the Canadian Press that Tommy Douglas was spied on by the RCMP from 1939 until his death in 1986 will come as no surprise to RCMP watchers out there. The fact that much of the file is still a state secret, has not been released combined with the revelation that a Justice reviewed the file in the late 1970's and allowed the spying to continue are all of serious concern.

This does beg the same question I started to ask in a personal way with my Dear Commissioner Zaccardelli letter. I wonder, if I will ever receive a reply to my freedom of information request now that the Commissioner has resigned :-) ..

I'll let you the reader(s), know if I do. If I don't, it might be left to you to file the request for twenty years after I die (when the fun secret files might get released).

Labels: annotation, copwatch, leftist content creation, opinion, rcmp

The Liberal Party leadership race is heating up and the members and their wannabe future leaders are melting under pressure.

Oh it is a good season for those of us who aren't members and never will be members of the natural governing party of Canada.

Evidence you ask?

Check this blog entry by a "finished" future Call me Bob staffer on how much Ignatieff shouldn't have used the word ghetto.

I quote:

"NDP voters? Ghetto!?!?!!?? Did he seriously just say that? Mark my words: Iggy is finished."

Iggy eh? Need I say more.. well yes.. here's some more...

What Bob & Iggy shouldn't have done is allowed these lame front pages on their web sites:



Wow. Who designed this crap?

Real - Vrai - Call me Bob - Appelez moi Bob - Canada good - Canada bon.. ack!

Are the designers going to get the ad scandal style contract for the www.gc.ca portal if their respective leader wins. I sure hope not.. and that's not because I like how it looks right now or how I'm still pissed off that www.canada.com belongs to the one of largest Liberal Party donor of the 1990's and former leader of the Manitoba Liberal party. It is because it is illegal to give your incompetent friends contracts damn it.

But I digress. Do you remember NDP Debate Bingo? Well - I propose a new game: Spot the turncoat!

The Rules

Once the Liberal leadership convention goes on tv. Watch it (don't hurt yourself though, feel free to turn it off if it makes you puke). Every time you see a former twit member of another Canadian political party or a disgraced Chretienite on the television, add a comment to this blog, including the person cited, the party they used to be in and whether or not they ran for leader of that party. Extra points for extremely obscure patronage appointments if you can name what they were appointed to and by whom.

An example entry worth extra points for "mating on screen" sighting would be "Trudeau's biographer and former Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski appointed by Chretien and charged with fraud in March of this year seen walking off the convention floor at Saturday afternoon 2:34 pm on CBC Newsworld behind an interview with Dave Haggard (see link to see what he was appointed to and by whom) formerly of the BC NDP."

Former failed leadership contenders from other parties such as Keith Martin (Canadian Alliance), Ujjal Dosanjh (BC NDP), Chris Axworthy (Saskatchewan NDP), Scott Brison (Conservative Party), Bob Rae (Ontario NDP) and Belinda Stronach (Bill Clinton's Canadian Fan Club Party) are all also worth tons of extra "loser" points.

I will ceremoniously award you these points (worth nothing more than bragging rights) for the quality of the turn coat sighted (make sure you include the time and the channel/live website coverage in case we need to verify the winner).

Good luck. May the best amongst you win. Or at least make the judge extremely happy with political obscurity annotated.

Labels: annotation, leftist content creation, nuclear waste, opinion