February 03, 2006

Template Shenanigans

Update Inserted: No Indoctrination 6: Control & the CRTC, Protection, Language, Industries & the CRTC [added Feb. 5, 06 -- scroll down past #5 for it.]

There are several posts for Feb. 3, but you won't see a menu at the top. I have not touched the template but I have found that, with sensitive material, the template just goes strange ........ You might be able to figure it out; I cannot.

Anyway, the menu is at the bottom of the webpage. Here is a copy of what posts are in that menu:

Feb. 3, 06

No Indoctrination 1, No Element of Coercion, No Global Aspirations
No Indoctrination 2: No Outside Influences?
No Indoctrination 3: No Coercion, Helping the Poor of Africa & the World
No Indoctrination 4: Francophone Countries Gain
No Indoctrination 5: Summit's Outcome Important for Islamic Countries
No Indoctrination 6: Control & the CRTC, Protection, Language, Industries & the CRTC [added Feb. 5, 06 -- scroll down past #5 for it.]


Feb. 2, 06 and previous posts

The death cult people meet the death wish people -&-Brother, can you spare a dime? -&- Blasphemy
Another Gift that Keeps on Giving -- CRTC & Lib. Big Brother, Daycare Myths, Tsunami $$$ -&- GG's Royal Taste
Updated: Helicopters, Socialism on the March, Regina CSI Lab, Hamas, Calgary School, Tainted Blood Victims
No Indoctrination -&- Six Features of Socialism
No Indoctrination: Elections Canada & Student Vote?

No Indoctrination 1, No Element of Coercion, No Global Aspirations

This continues FHTR Feb. 1, 06: "Another Gift that Keeps on Giving -- CRTC & Lib. Big Brother ... ", at least that portion of it. This is an exploration of some background which I learned, and particularly, how it impacts the present.

Would any of this influence CBC's election and post-election coverage?





No Indoctrination, No Element of Coercion, No Global Aspirations, No reason for media support of Liberals? No Leftward Pressure?

In a pig's eye!

I listened to Paul Martin's supposed swan-song, but I wouldn't bet upon his leaving the world stage just yet. He still has fish he wants to fry. (CBC TV, AM, Feb. 2, 06)

Paul Martin, asked about his plans, mentioned that he still has work to do related to the UN. Would that have any connection to Kyoto or the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Protocol?

* Ex-Min. Pierre Pettigrew, Louise Frechette ex-Deputy Secretary of the UN, ex-PM Paul Martin at the Kyoto Climate Conference Montreal 2005 -- the agreement that would have Canadians pay major world polluters for pollution credits.






Think UNESCO since so much has been "invested" already. He may intend yet, to leave a legacy that will cement the Liberal Party's media and arts following, among many other items, forever. Perhaps this will give some idea of the ramifications and the expansive nature of the culture and heritage portfolio, the Department of Heritage (and women's issues), aligned with the Department of Foreign Affairs, CIDA, the francophonie and more ... but there is more to read if you are interested.




The Digital Solidarity Fund

CFP: The Digital Solidarity Fund: An Internet tax in disguise

Joseph A. Klein, a Harvard Law graduate who has worked as a global technology attorney for more than 30 years, is the author of Global Deception: The UN's Stealth Assault on America's Freedom. January 30, 2006




[. . . . ] The truth is that the financing mechanism for this Fund relies in large part on mandatory surcharges imposed on high tech companies as a condition to having their contract bids accepted by ...... [.... ]

http://www.dsf-fsn.org/en/19-en.htm [. . . . ]

http://www.it4all-bilbao.org/presentation [. . . . ]
Mandating equality and the global guilt gang, or global do-gooder mafia, if you will. Don't forget Stephen Lewis will be at UNB to stir up the guilt within the week. Behind his talks ..... you will pay and champagne socialists will land on their feet in very pleasant digs, we can be sure.


Jpgs/jpegs that follow:

* Heritage and Culture website and links
* Charest approval ceremony for the UNESCO cultural diversity agreement, Nov. 10, 05
* Paul Martin signs the UNESCO protocol which must be ratified by other nations Nov. 23, 05.
* More culture links
* Link to the Ivan Bernier & Ruis Fabri report for the UN (in French only) -- the UN study initiated by activists in Quebec and Paris
* Link enlarged a bit
* Links: leading to plans for Radio, TV & New Media -- Would this influence the public broadcaster, CBC?

Think funding that would strengthen a broadcaster that has an incredibly small viewing and listening audience and preferential treatment ... whether you want it or not. Any other businesses? Think "new media" and internet technologies, among other items for protection that you might not have considered as "culture" -- a global tax, agriculture, and other industries.

The Future Digital Economy: Digital Content Creation, Distribution and Access
Web address:
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/




























I wondered why much of our media were so hatefully disposed toward PM elect, Stephen Harper, CBC being inordinately vitriolic against him, and why there was such pressure applied in so many areas to influence Canadians to vote for "anyone but Harper" and the Conservatives. This appeared to be the case to me, even with those behind the Elections Canada, Student Vote. I have also learned from a source I trust that a couple of Political Science profs/instructors had told their classes to vote Liberal. That is carrying instruction a bit far at the university level. I have explored further and come up with a few ideas.

Anyone who hasn't been following this for a long time would need a seasoned advisor, I should think, or get lost in myriad files. Who are in position to advise a new Prime Minister? I suppose more appointed ones. Or more who got their jobs thanks to LibGov machinations. More to come as time permits.

The activism, the Machiavellian nature of what apparently has been planned and who are encompassed within what will follow strikes me as dangerous, and with a potential loss of the freedom many of us enjoy. Especially, the move leftward to control and guide the citizenry in "right think" is ... insidious and has been quite effective up to now. I believe it is important to explore this situation and how it rose.


Follow the yellow-red-brick road. It meanders from Quebec (and an ex-Min. of Heritage, DFAIT and assorted stakeholders) and Paris [See an excerpt from "Le monde diplomatique"] through the UN working to achieve the UNESCO Protocol on Cultural Diversity (a misnomer, that name -- It is intended to lock in protectionism and control ) and helped by that crowd who hang out at UN fests, ranging over ... DOHA ... Bamako ... WTO & GATS ... agriculture ... wine ... audio-visual services ... e-learning ... education ... healthcare services ... postal services ... telecommunications, finance ... transport ... professional services ... broadening the debate and transfering knowledge to developing countries ... to correct the distortions in the world trade system to their advantage ... Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ... thwarting the WTO's MFN or Most-Favoured Nation agreements on "trading without discrimination" ... machinations geared to omitting some nation (what nation could be omitted?) ... presenting the Islamic women's view out of Jeddah ... empowerment of women to "counter the attack on Islam from within and without" ... enhancing diversity of the media including through public service broadcasting ... Many Voices, One World ... an International Fund for Cultural Diversity ... the urgency of considering the right to communication as an expression of new social rights ...

Perhaps Maurice Strong knew what he was doing when he got involved in ManyOne.net? OneWorldMany? (check)

The posts that make up this series (which will come, eventually) may not be in the best order, but there are so many files with their own byways to follow that it is inevitable ... especially for one not paid to do a more competent job. There is so much more and there are so many ramifications that I feel inundated by it all. For what it is worth to anyone interested, the series will cover a little of what I noted. For the rest, you don't know what you're in for if this proceeds. Continue watching TV and playing games while you may do so readily and inexpensively at present.

If Canada continues with this absurd protectionism and promotion of the views of those who think we owe the rest of the world a living via the sticky UN fingers, of course (and Mo Strong's network) we will lose our freedoms to the leftists, socialists, communists and oppressive dictatorships who would run the whole thing. Think champagne socialists swanning about the world's better hotels and finer dining establishments on someone else's dime -- yours.

No Indoctrination 2: No Outside Influences?

If these people had just come around earlier, some of us would have been speaking Gaelic or Irish--anything but English. But, they're active now. You will grow to love Big Brother and control ... protecting.

Manifold Ways That Societies Express Themselves --or here Le monde diplomatique [ http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/ ] November 2005

[....] A convention on the protection of the diversity of cultural contents and artistic expressions was approved by member states at the Unesco general conference last month. It intends to provide a legal framework for the universal declaration on cultural diversity, unanimously adopted soon after 11 September 2001. By making cultural diversity part of humanity's common heritage the declaration opposes "inward-looking fundamentalism" and proposes "the prospect of a more open, creative and democratic world" (1). Its key principle of diversity in dialogue [controlled by whom?]


Diversity of dialogue is the exact opposite of what this UNESCO convention is, which is to give CONTROL to those countries which wish to keep their populace from freedom and democracy through open access to knowledge via the internet. See the efforts to wrest control of the net away from what has been free via the US, to give it to the UN whose member states would exercise regulatory, tollgating, etc. controls so that only the rich and government-approved would have access to the tools for freedom. Note that the telcos--quebectel--are very very interested in this. (More on this later.) It is more about protecting industries and getting a firm foothold in controlling what may come in future, for those who instigated this.

Canada [ instigated by Quebec, in particular ] and France, which played a key role in framing the cultural exception doctrine, are the prime movers behind the convention. France mobilised countries in the Franco-phone world. Canada [activists in Quebec] set up its international network on cultural policy and succeeded in bringing together about 60 arts ministers and many NGOs for an informal discussion on promoting diversity. In September 2001 Ottawa, and the state government of Quebec, provided financial support for an international coalition of professional cultural organisations in favour of cultural diversity, backed by a network of Canadian groups. [ unions, the UN in Canada, CARFAC / RAAV, CBC/public broadcasting, telcos, etc. ]

The scope of the convention reaches beyond media and broadcasting to "the manifold ways in which the cultures of social groups and societies find expression". [. . . . ]

The World Intellectual Property Organisation [WIPO] is concerned by increasing private appropriation of knowledge and learning, depriving humanity of sources of creativity. Perhaps the weakest point of the convention is its inadequate provision for its implementation and sanctions should it be infringed. Nor is it clear how disputes will be settled.

[....] The WSIS has had difficulty mobilising public resources in large industrial countries to fund a Digital Solidarity Fund to combat unequal access to the net. But it has also become clear that charitable foundations sponsored by information technology giants (such as Microsoft) will gain by filling the gap left by governments.

It seems inconceivable to attempt to design cultural policies without raising the issue of policy on media and communication.


Blackmail? Punishment for business success? The business price for access to countries such as China?

Media diversity?

The final draft of the document contains two references to media diversity. The first affirms that "freedom of thought, expression and information as well as diversity of media enable cultural expressions to flourish within societies". The second includes "measures aimed at enhancing diversity of the media including through public service broadcasting" among forms of intervention. But it makes no attempt to explain what it means by diversity of the media. There is no mention of such sensitive topics as the concentration of media ownership. [ nor of government control, for that matter ]

[....] The international commission for the study of communication problems, appointed by Unesco's director-general, Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, and chaired by Sean MacBride, winner of a Nobel peace prize, focused on the dialogue between cultures and harmonious development in diversity and mutual respect. The members of the commission were as diverse as Hubert Beuve-Méry, the founder of Le Monde, and the novelist Gabriel García Márquez. The MacBride report, endorsed by the Unesco general conference in 1980, and published under the title of Many Voices, One World, was the first document on the global imbalance of information flows published by an international body. It explained the urgency of considering the right to communication as an expression of new social rights (3).

Now that the convention has been approved despite US hostility, it will become a baseline and private and public players will have to come to terms with it. This is why it is so important for new players to become involved, to ensure it is implemented and to stretch its limits. [. . . . ]

No Indoctrination 3: No Coercion, Helping the Poor of Africa & the World

The font in the jpgs posted today is too small to be easily read, but, when websites change at the press of a mouse, it is a good idea to get a screen capture. ( No wonder those who have held the reins of power want control of the internet. History could be re-written so easily. ) Anyway, I have added the top of this section so people may easily follow the links from the jpgs posted earlier.

Search: UNESCO, cultural, diversity Webpage of Culture et Communications Quebec, Newsletter: Vol. 5, no. 37, December 19, 2005 -- published after Paul Martin signed the UNESCO protocol Nov. 23, 05.
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/index.html


In this issue :
Launch of a new website section: “Cultural policies and measures” http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle1

What to watch for on our website: Implementating the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions - Prospects for Action http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle2

With the adoption of the UNESCO Convention, the INCD and culture ministers in the INCP are moving into a new phase http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle3

UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions - The fight continues: “We must work extremely hard to sustain momentum for ratification” http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle4

23è Sommet Afrique-France: “We must speed up the ratification process for the Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions” - Bamako Commitments
Trade and culture's File:The 6th WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle5

Challenge, opportunity, or threat to cultural diversity? http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle6

What’s at stake at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle7

Trade liberalization: The challenges of the Hong Kong ministerial http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle8

WTO alliances and groups in Hong Kong http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle9 [Very interesting breakdown : The G10, The Cairns Group, The G20, The G33, The ACP Group ]

How does the GATS operate? http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle10

The GATS and the services trade negotiations http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle11

Developments on the services trade negotiations since Cancun http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle12

UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the services trade negotiations in Hong Kong http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle13

The need for countries to refrain from making any free trade commitments involving culture in the negotiations within the framework of the GATS http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle14


Excerpts from some of those links:

[Heritage Dept.] Launch of a new website section: “Cultural policies and measures”

[....] The section will feature regulatory measures aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, including those that provide opportunities for creation, production, dissemination, and distribution to domestic cultural industries; that provide public financial assistance; that support public institutions, as appropriate; that support artists and others involved in the creation of cultural expressions; and that enhance diversity of the media. [ except for any pro-Conservative media? ]

Promote discussion among cultural managers, public policy developers, teachers, and researchers with a special interest in policies and measures aimed at protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, by providing access to research, publications, and lectures on cultural policies, practices, and measures.

This section will be added in the early New Year and will gradually be expanded through research efforts and voluntary contributions from partners who wish to draw attention to subjects of interest and websites dealing with cultural policies. .... [I have mentioned previously that there were plans ...]

* Communiqué du ministère de la Culture et des Communications

* Étude Bernier/Ruiz-Fabri [This study is worth checking as a starting point for this UNESCO protocol, along with the MacBride Report.]

* Délégation générale du Québec à Paris


Who are the ones who wish to "volunteer" contributions? Any connections to those who have "volunteered" money for special schools and imams to preach in them? If you think that is far-fetched, check the part on the WTO and the importance of the summit to Islamic countries. Scroll to: Summit’s Outcome Important for Islamic Countries on WTO

Note: It is the Canadian/Quebec group which organized the INCD world headquarters in Gatineau, Quebec.

The INCD or International Network for Cultural Diversity and culture ministers in the INCP or International Network on Cultural Policy


http://incp-ripc.org/about/index_e.shtml

International Network on Cultural Policy
Liaison Bureau
25 Eddy Street, 13th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M5
CANADA
Fax: +1 819 953 8439
Email: incp-ripc@pch.gc.ca [Patrimoine Canadien - Canadian Heritage ]
Website: www.incp-ripc.org ]


Google: search "pch"


Ministère du patrimoine canadien / Department of Canadian Heritage
Image du Patrimoine Canadien - Canadian Heritage image Patrimoine canadien ...
Symbole du gouvernement du Canada / Symbol of the Government of Canada ...
www.pch.gc.ca/ - 3k - 1 Feb 2006



... With the adoption of the UNESCO Convention, the INCD and culture ministers in the INCP are moving into a new phase: “We must work for the implementation of the Convention and to find concrete ways to make it effective as a political and development tool” – Dakar Declaration

International Network for Cultural Diversity (INCD), November 21, 2005 – 2005/11/21

[....] “We must work for the implementation of the Convention and to find concrete ways to make it effective as a political and development tool. It is especially significant that we are embarking on this next phase of our work in Africa .... We must put conditions and rules in place ....

[....] INCD delegates focused on .... resisting demands in the WTO and regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements to make commitments that undermine the objectives and principles of the Convention and that would render it meaningless; identifying policy initiatives and projects that give life to the commitments in the Convention, particularly to create preferential opportunities for artists and cultural productions from the South and to provide the necessary resources to develop cultural capacity and creative industries [....]

In fact, like the International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (See our Bulletin No. 35, November 25
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/events/events05-11-25.html#nouvelle7 ), INCD underlines that as governments face pressure to make new commitments at the WTO and in regional and bilateral agreements, INCD delegates are urging Culture Ministers to work with trade ministers to ensure they understand the wide scope of cultural policy tools that are at risk. This extends beyond the audiovisual, publishing, and music industries to include telecommunications, electronic commerce, retail and distribution services, the media, and many other sectors.



UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions - The fight continues: “We must work extremely hard to sustain momentum for ratification” http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle4
Line Beauchamp, ministre de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, Lyon, le 7 décembre 2005 – 2005/12/07

[....] Québec minister of culture and communications Line Beauchamp released a study on prospects for action related to the UNESCO Convention implementation. The Bernier/Ruiz-Fabri study “lays out the winning conditions for the implementation” of the Convention which, now that Canada has signed on, must still be ratified by 29 countries. [....]

The Convention contains a series of commitments to help developing countries adopt cultural policies, including preferential treatment for their artists and provisions for an International Fund for Cultural Diversity. For this reason, Canadian Coalition for Cultural Diversity co-chair Pierre Curzi stressed that “We must start broadening the debate and transfering knowledge to developing countries right now, otherwise we will extinguish the flame of hope that we have lit. And it is clear that if there is no financial effort from the rich countries, the Convention will be a lame-duck.”

Minister Beauchamp agreed that it is an “extremely important challenge” that must not be “exclusively tied to the creation of the fund” and “limited to subsidies.” “We must help developing countries develop cultural funding mechanisms,” she declared. [ Wasn't she generous with other people's money? ]

* La presse canadienne
http://www.matin.qc.ca/quebec.php?article=20051205181321
* Le Devoir
http://www.ledevoir.com/2005/12/07/97140.html
* Communiqué du ministère de la Culture et des Communications http://mcc.quebectel.qc.ca/sites/mcc/communiq.nsf/d7daa5c4efe8e08b852570c80047c81e/0b654b6827174163852570ce00663f8a!OpenDocument
* Étude Bernier/Ruiz-Fabri http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/mise_en_oeuvre_unesco.htm
* Délégation générale du Québec à Paris http://www.mri.gouv.qc.ca/paris/en_france/actualites/qc_rhalpes/societe/diversite_culturelle.asp


Was there anything of substance in the English press concerning the above? CBC? Or was the activism elsewhere?




Trade and culture's File:The 6th WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle5]


23è Sommet Afrique-France: “We must speed up the ratification process for the Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions” – Bamako Commitments Final communiqué, Bamako, Mali, le 6 décembre 2005 – 2005/12/06

Together with France, 51 African states attended the 23rd Conference of African and French Heads of State and Government on December 3 and 4 in Bamako, Mali. [....] The Conference recognized the leading role played by young people in promoting the image of Africa.


Was a little social engineering of young people intended, perhaps through schoolnet? Would this have anything to do with Maurice Strong's ManyOne.net? Or is it OneMany.net or .ca? headquartered in Zambia? I posted on this earlier in January.


Some proposals suggest groups of like-minded (richer) countries should reach more far-reaching deals on priority sectors, which others (mainly developing and least developed countries) are “invited” to join. In practice, these invitations are likely to be backed by direct or indirect threats of loss of trade or aid for those who don’t accept.

For Ms. Kelsey, one such area is audio-visual services. Pressure is being applied from the so-called “friends of audio-visual services” led by the U.S. and including Hong Kong China, Taiwan, Chile, Japan, and Mexico, at the same time as some governments continue their attempts to dilute the UNESCO Convention even further. But the threat to culture is not only in the audio-visual sector, but also from similar demands that involve telecommunications, advertising, retail, publishing, theme parks, events management, and more.



Take that, Americans! Does the above put a different complexion on the meeting of which I wrote last March -- the one day conference at UNB on helping the poor in Africa, held at someone's (taxpayers'?) great expense with the attendance of at least six African ambassadors, WTO representatives including from province(s)?

FHTR: March 12, 2005
http://frosthitstherhubarb.blogspot.com/2005_03_06_frosthitstherhubarb_archive.html
Compare: "Pulp MIll Workers Urged to Build Arts Industry" & UNB: World Bank, Industry, Educ. Ambassadorial Reps "Working with Africa Workshop"


* Ambassadors from Africa
* High Commissioner for the Republic of Kenya
* Ambassador for the Republic of Guinea
* Ambassador for the Republic of Mali
* Ambassador for the Federal Republic of Ethiopia
* Ambassador for the Republic of Cameroon
* Ambassador for the Republic of Burkina Faso


Search: UN , CIDA , ACOA , World Bank

There were many highly qualified and accomplished individuals at that talk-fest.




What’s at stake at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle7

Trade and culture's File: The 6th WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China – December 13-18, 2005


[....] this new series of talks aimed at encouraging freer trade and reducing the gap between globalization’s “winners” and “losers” was dubbed “the Development Round.”

[. . . . ] Professor Jane Kelsey from the Law School at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. [. . . . ] the ongoing negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) aim to extend the right of foreign firms to run a country’s services, ranging from health, education, and pensions to railways, postal services, and broadcasting, and prevent their governments from giving preference to local providers of such services. [. . . . ]

But the threat to culture is not only in the audio-visual sector, but also from similar demands that involve telecommunications, advertising, retail, publishing, theme parks, events management, and more. [....]


Note: "giving preference to local providers" and I'll bet they're not concerned about Saskatoon nor Calgary. Did you think they were?



Protectionism, Sanctions and Control

What’s at stake at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference


[. . . . ] For the first time, agriculture was included in trade talks. And a tribunal with the power to sanction—the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)—was set up to resolve trade conflicts. This binding mechanism, which gives the WTO the power to slap heavy economic sanctions on countries that fail to meet their trade obligations, has given the trade body an enviable record for efficacy in the world of intergovernmental organizations, as it is the only international institution with a sanctioning mechanism to hold states to their commitments. [. . . . ]


Trade liberalization: The challenges of the Hong Kong ministerial
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle8


According to experts, failure at the Doha round—which is at stake at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong—would penalize LDCs, who are calling for an end to the injustices in the global trade of agricultural products. In this respect, Mr. Lamy notably pointed out that “In Doha, we promised developing countries we would correct the distortions in the world trade system to their advantage. If this round fails, developing countries will lose all hope for new markets and greater fairness (…). We need this (Doha) round to promote economic development and reduce poverty.”

No Indoctrination 4: Francophone Countries Gain

WTO alliances and groups in Hong Kong
http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle9 [Very interesting breakdown]


In general, to better protect their interests in negotiations, WTO members build relatively homogeneous alliances that enable them to defend their common positions. [....] The growing sway that emerging countries like Brazil, India, or China have in international trade is reflected in WTO negotiations. The U.S., the E.U., Canada, and Japan used to have the upper hand, and opposition was often simply North-South. [....]

The G10 .... net agricultural importers that impose very high customs duties on certain products they consider vital to their agricultural industries

The Cairns Group .... large agricultural exporters, both developed and developing, who are adamantly opposed to E.U. and U.S. subsidies

The G20 .... under the leadership of Brazil and India. They share opposition to the agricultural policies of rich countries ....

The G33 .... This group brings together LDCs defending the concept of “special products” important to their agricultural industries that they want to be able to continue to safeguard with the highest level of protection.

The ACP Group .... This group brings together former colonies that want to preserve their preferential access to the European market, thereby opposing some of the G20's positions.

The G90: A more informal body, bringing together the ACPs, along with the countries of the African Union and LDCs.

[. . . . ]

There is so much more of interest, as one reads down this webpage.



Francophone Countries Gain

UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the services trade negotiations in Hong Kong http://www.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/international/diversite-culturelle/eng/#nouvelle13


[....] a videoconference training session on the Doha Round (http://www.espace-economique-francophone.com/them_negoc_omc_OIF.htm#a1).

Workshops on priority negotiation issues gave francophone country delegation representatives stationed in Geneva an opportunity to interact with senior experts. On October 24, Mr. Pierre Sauvé, an associate researcher at the London School of Economics and Political Science and expert on international trade and negotiations on services trade, discussed the theme “trade in services” with participants in an online francophone forum on Doha Round trade negotiations.

[....] francophone countries gained considerably from the recent adoption of this Convention

* [....] Might service negotiations undermine the universal obligations of governments with regard to public services, as well as their ability to regulate, and do they compromise cultural diversity? Mr. Sauvé stressed that the right of states to regulate their service activities is crucial .... This includes public service and universality obligations. Public services—education, healthcare, postal services—are excluded from GATS jurisdiction when they are provided on a non-commercial basis and do not compete directly with private providers of equivalent services. [....]


Note: "education, healthcare, postal services—are excluded from GATS jurisdiction when they are provided on a non-commercial basis." This agreement may be about protecting and solidifying language requirements for future endeavours, as well.

There is the issue of whether cultural services (e.g. teaching and training, including via the Internet -- think crossborder services provided electronically, e-commerce in audiovisual services, VOIP, maybe) can be prevented from being part of WTO service negotiations.

Healthcare: Would the SCOC ruling about an individual's right to timely health care not have an impact in this? As soon as health care is opened to commerce, then it becomes negotiable under GATS jurisdiction, I would think.

I believe that Canadian postal services have been expanded far beyond what used to be the mandate. There are the benefits of being of government, yet competing against private business, unfairly. (Doesn't all mail to and from the East have to pass through Montreal? Just as Air Canada's head office must be in Montreal.) Education? If audio-visual services, multimedia productions, e-learning are part of universities or government, then they would be outside the GATS negotiations, I would think.

I heard yesterday that at least two university Political Science instructors ( profs?) had told their students to vote Liberal. That is how insidious government involvement is in education at all levels and, had the Liberal government been returned to power, there would have been indoctrination from daycare upward. (IMHO) They would learn correct think.





* Can the issue of cultural services (teaching and training, including via the Internet) be broached in WTO service negotiations? .... including crossborder services provided electronically .... e-commerce in audiovisual services [....]

Mr. Sauvé made recommendations to negotiators from developing francophone countries regarding negotiations at the Hong Kong ministerial conference: “Prudence, firmness, and a comprehensive vision—these are the keywords I believe should guide developing countries in the upcoming ministerial meeting in Hong Kong. Prudence, because service markets cannot be liberalized without significantly strengthening regulatory capacity and the ability to take advantage of new market access opportunities that may arise on completion of the Doha Round. [. . . . ]

[.... Participants] would do well to envision a gradual opening of key sectors that are tied to infrastructures [sic] (telecommunications, finance, transport, professional services), have a considerable impact on their trade in goods and agricultural products, and can have a decisive influence on their growth and long term competitiveness.”

The need for countries to refrain from making any free trade commitments involving culture in the negotiations within the framework of the GATS [....]


Search: "The International Liaison Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (which represents 31 coalitions for cultural diversity in as many countries)—like the European Union, the International Organization of the Francophonie, and other linguistic regions (Portuguese-, Spanish-, and Arab-speaking)—" , "goods, services, investment, competition rules, and intellectual property"



Developing Countries Urged to Open Financial Markets through WTO
http://financialservices.house.gov/media/pdf/111505cb.pdf


There are several links at the bottom of the above. Another example, demonstrating the importance of this protocol to all the stakeholders so anxious for this UNESCO protocol to succeed. There is more here than meets the eye.

One link which will follow will reveal how the Islamic world is/was planning on circumventing the WTO most favoured nations trading agreements which were intended to be fair to all parties.

No Indoctrination 5: Summit's Outcome Important for Islamic Countries

Summit’s Outcome Important for Islamic Countries on WTO
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=117246

Out of Saudi Arabia, home of women who are not allowed to drive, Sharia, Wahhabism, Saudi-funded Wahhabi schools in North America, their generosity in funding imams to come to North American to instruct Muslims in Wahhabism and more........

WTO most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment, OIC & empowerment of women
OIC = Organization of Islamic Countries

How to get around the WTO's "most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment" would allow exclusion of Israel ... (possibly the US?), I should think.



Summit's outcome important for Islamic countries on WTO 07/12/2005

JEDDAH, 7 December 2005 — There are two important international events taking place this month in which Islamic countries are participating. One event is political while the other is economic. The Third Extraordinary OIC Summit is the political event; it precedes the economic one, the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference (HKMC).

There is a strong link between the two events in that the outcome of the OIC summit might influence the future of Muslim countries in the World Trade Organization. Without doing a political analysis, it is possible to understand the nature and the importance of the OIC summit by being aware of the challenges that WTO imposes on the economic and political future of Islamic countries. In other words, to understand the political it is essential to understand the economical.

Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries face significant challenges in the WTO because its rules impose limitations on the interaction of Islamic member countries. The major principle affecting the presence of Muslim countries in the WTO is trading without discrimination. Under WTO most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment, a country cannot discriminate between its trading partners by granting some nations special favors (such as lower tariffs) and not granting them to others. According to this principle, Muslim countries that are WTO members cannot grant each other special favors. Moreover, Muslim countries should treat all member nations equally; this of course includes Israel, which many Muslim countries boycott. Forming a regional trade agreement, however, between Muslim countries might solve the problem of the (MFN) treatment. Under Article 24 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — GATT was the forerunner of WTO — countries are allowed to form regional trading arrangements as a special exception even though this might sometimes violate WTO's principle of equal treatment.

The formation of a Muslim multilateral trading bloc as an adjunct to OIC membership could pave the way for those Muslim countries not already WTO members to join the organization. Countries that are not WTO members such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Libya could be easily absorbed into the multilateral trading system once they became part of an Islamic regional agreement. If the OIC were an internationally effective body, it could provide solid ground for negotiating WTO membership for non-member Muslim countries.

[. . . . ] Secondly, most OIC countries are members of WTO and they could exert pressure within the organization for the admission of non-members.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Muslim leaders realize the importance of reinventing the OIC as a political and economic organization.

At the present extraordinary summit, OIC countries are considering the establishment of a common market. This is evidence that they have realized the power they could exert on the WTO if they were a unified market. [. . . . ]

The strength of the European Union comes primarily from its being a common market; [. . . . ] The attendance of the newly elected Iranian president and the announcement of Libya's participation in the summit are strong indications that leaders have finally been able to abandon their disputes in order to pursue their economic and political interests.




Focus on 10-Year Action Plan

JEDDAH, 7 December 2005 — Nearly 40 foreign ministers of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference met in Jeddah yesterday to finalize the agenda of a two-day extraordinary summit that opens in Makkah today.

[. . . . ] OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu also welcomed the foreign ministers. He said that the 10-year action plan of the OIC, to be agreed upon during the summit, would be a road map for common Islamic action. The plan was meant to be a blueprint for confronting the massive challenges Muslims face in political, economic, cultural and scientific fields.

[. . . . ] The strategic plan is based on the recommendations of Muslim scholars and intellectuals who met in Makkah in September. [. . . . ]

Expectations High

JEDDAH, 7 December 2005 — There are high expectations about the outcome of the two-day extraordinary summit of Islamic nations that opens in the holy city of Makkah today.

[. . . . ] King Abdul Aziz University [. . . . ] "We are in a unipolar world where the only superpower has almost untrammeled power to effect changes at whim," he added, hinting at American intervention in Muslim states.

[. . . . ] He said the 10-year strategic plan was prepared by a group of scholars and intellectuals who knew the problems of the Ummah and who wanted to improve its situation.

Abdul Wahab Al-Rajhi, chairman of Al-Rajhi group, urged the summit leaders to implement their resolutions. "We hope the summit will have a positive effect on UN resolutions and in restoring the Ummah's world position," he told Arab News.

[. . . . ] Sabrina Hassan, a Syrian who works in a Jeddah hospital, said she was happy that empowerment of women was on top of this summit's agenda. "We have been ignored all this while. We have not been given the kind of place that we deserve. Muslim women are in a good position to counter the attack on Islam from within and without," she said.


Protecting women, protecting Islam......... I wonder what would be the reaction to the cartoons mentioned here: free speech in the face of Muslim intolerance at others' free speech with photos of the cartoons -- Oriana Fallaci: The enemy that we treat like a friend 2006/01/25


How very interesting that the Canadian Ministry of Heritage and responsible for the Status of Women would have been supporting a liason with this group's view of women's place........ all through a UNESCO protocol. Politics does indeed make for strange bedfellows.

No wonder that it was terribly important for those who would control, for those who would promote a global agenda, to return the Liberal government of Paul Martin which signed this protocol Nov, 23, 05. I would say, given the plan of activism delineated on this website, that the Harper government would be wise to look before it leaps. Is it any wonder that CBC's "political comedy" shows have their knives out for Conservatives and in particular for a decent new PM, Stephen Harper? They stood to gain with a Liberal government; CBC now make no pretense of balance, whatever they claim. Much more is covered by UN agreements than at first appears.

No Indoctrination 6: Control & the CRTC, Protection, Language, Industries & the CRTC

Cultural Diversity and Freedom at Risk at UNESCO by Janice A. Smith and Helle Dale, October 17, 2005, WebMemo #885

Google's cache of
http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternationalOrganizations/wm885.cfm?renderforprint=1

President George W. Bush’s monumental decision to rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2003 caught both conservatives and liberals by surprise. After all, the U.S. had pulled out of that organization in 1984 because it had become bloated and grossly over-politicized. At every turn, it espoused policies that ran contrary to UNESCO’s founding mission to advance freedom, such as advocating a “new world information order” that in the end would curtail freedom of expression and of the press.


Nevertheless, UNESCO had reformed considerably under Director-General Matsuura, President Bush argued upon rejoining, and it could be a vital forum for helping the U.S. combat the global tide of intolerance and oppression embodied by the Taliban. Many Americans swallowed their residual distaste for the organization to give it the benefit of doubt. Indeed, the Heritage Foundation and more than 50 other organizations accepted spots on the reconstituted U.S.-UNESCO National Commission to become more engaged in UNESCO’s efforts to spread freedom, understanding, education for all, and tolerance.

This week, however, all that hope and all that multilateral goodwill—not to mention all the millions that the U.S. pays each year as UNESCO’s biggest benefactor—could be rebuffed. Despite the Bush Administration’s best efforts, other member states are expected to adopt a “cultural diversity” convention that regrettably is more about trade protectionism and cultural prejudice than cultural diversity and understanding, [ http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/file_download.php/
2962532f35a06baebb199d30ce52956233C23_Eng.pdf. ] preserve cultural expressions,” which is defined in Article 3 as “expressions that result from the creativity of individuals, groups and societies, and that have cultural content.”

The State Department rightly argues that such definitions are so vague that they could be misinterpreted to enable “impermissible new barriers to trade in goods, services, or agricultural products.” [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2005/54690.htm]
Such vagueness, combined with an authority to “protect,” invites abuse, particularly when it comes to trade. It is easy to imagine certain countries citing the convention to justify trade restrictions against certain books written in foreign languages, or even foreign wines, because they pose a threat to local “culture.”

Imagine how much bolder such a convention will make countries like Burma, China, Iran, or Cuba, all of which are notorious for restricting freedoms, especially freedom of speech and of the press. China already forces Internet providers like Microsoft’s MSN to restrict access to the words “freedom” and “democracy” if they want to do business there. [ Mure Dickie, “Don't mention democracy, Microsoft tells China web users,” Financial Times, June 11, 2005, p. 8. ] Oppressive Islamic regimes that reject Western values, arts, and humanities could use the convention to restrict all sorts of goods that they consider perverse. In Iran, teens have been arrested for dancing, [ U.S. Department of State, “Country Reports, Iran,” 2004 Human Rights Reports, February 2005. “In October, in Rasht, Unit 110 of the Law Enforcement Forces, another police unit charged with maintaining Islamic propriety, arrested 8 girls and 12 boys dancing at a party.” ] and recently, the regime announced that women wearing their veils “improperly” would be “treated” like those who have no veil at all in public. [Iran Focus, “Iran’s new Justice Minister vows harsher crackdown on women,” August 20, 2005, at http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/
article.php?storyid=3388] Iran already goes to great lengths to "protect and preserve" its oppressive definition of Iranian cultural expressions.

Those who work diligently to bring attention to human rights abuses and trade protectionism should be concerned.

There already are concerns in Washington that some countries are trying to rush this convention through to use it against the United States at the upcoming World Trade Organization summit in Doha. That could explain why the U.S. is finding it difficult to modify Article 21, which obligates countries to “promote the principles and objectives of the Convention in other international forums.” And it could explain why the convention also mandates that countries not subordinate it to other treaties.

The draft also calls for establishing an “International Fund for Cultural Diversity.” Never mind that that is what UNESCO was supposed to be in the first place. The fund would be financed in part by contributions taken from the general UNESCO budget—of which the United States pays 22 percent. If all these countries are so enamored with this convention, don’t they expect there to be enough voluntary contributions to cover whatever this fund is supposed to do? No nation should be required to support a treaty that it has not ratified. If the draft convention is not reworded to remove all objectionable language, the U.S. should withhold the portion of its UNESCO dues that would go to support this fund.

Sadly, even our democratic allies support this deceptive convention that is likely to result in the suppression of free trade and political rights. France, UNESCO’s host country, sees the convention as a way to protect its wine and film industries from Californian competition. [. . . . ]




An example from 2004--Internet Freedom, China

Chinese reporters walk out over sacking of editor December 30, 04

BEIJING (Reuters) - About 100 reporters of the Beijing News walked out after this week's sacking of the daily's top editor, the latest victim of China's strict press controls, industry sources said on Friday.

But while Communist Party officials were reasserting their hold on the feisty tabloid, nearly instantaneous Internet reporting of the dismissal and a flurry of online discussions suggested some of the limits of its control. [. . . . ]


Several countries want the UNESCO agreement; then, they may control and censor under the guise of protecting their heritage.




You will learn to love Big Brother's Choices

Note how confining this is. We do not even need a CRTC; it is used for forcibly regulating content, whether the majority of us want it or not. The CRTC determines how much French, aboriginal, Chinese, South Asian, etc. programming. Actually, it is unnecessary, since programming can be provided through the internet, at present free of charge, except for the costs of being hooked into an ISP -- but that would eliminate the situation of control set up under Liberal government(s) and to satisfy those for whom it is an advantage.

Before moving to the article(s) about digital radio, note this.

Search: canada crtc digital radio

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:wiNiBHGMN-IJ:www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2005/r050616.htm+Canada,+CRTC,+digital+radio&hl=en

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/NEWS/RELEASES/2005/r050616.htm
The CRTC authorizes Canada 's first three subscription radio services June 16th, 2005

[. . . . ] The Commission approved the licence applications of SIRIUS Canada Inc. (SIRIUS Canada) and Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. (CSR) for subscription radio services to be delivered by satellite and terrestrial transmitters, and the application by CHUM Limited (CHUM/Astral) to offer subscription radio services uniquely through terrestrial transmitters.

[. . . . ] Subscription radio via satellite radio services

The Commission is requiring that the satellite subscription radio licensees offer:

At least eight original channels produced in Canada. A maximum of nine foreign channels may be offered for each Canadian channel;

At least 85% of the musical selections and spoken word programming broadcast on the Canadian channels must be Canadian;

At least 25% of the Canadian channels must be in the French language;

At least 25% of the musical selections on the Canadian channels must be new Canadian musical selections; [That would be in addition to what is already produced, I assume. ]

A further 25% of the selections must be by emerging Canadian artists.



Note how many times "must" is used. Does this smack of freedom or of fine-tuned CONTROL? This seems to have been for those who expected departmental expansion. Note the percentages. Was this to be set in stone forever, rather like the apportionment of the SCOC? What about future linguistic change in the percentage of the population in Quebec, say allophones, or a change in other parts of Canada?

As for artists, who decides which emerging artists get air play? Would that be the unions, the National Arts Council members, others? Which musical selections qualify as Canadian? What is new? What is old? Who are Canadian?

Note that the following means that artists are subsidized by the licensees. Why? Should Canadians not have free choice to support or not to support? Why should 50% of the money intended to be garnered (garnisheed?) go to French language talent when the French do not comprise even 25% of the population?


The licensees must also contribute at least 5% of their gross annual revenues to initiatives for the development of Canadian talent, such as FACTOR or MusicAction funds which assist the development of new musical artists. These contributions will be contributed equally to the development of English and French-language talent.

[....] The Commission noted that for the foreseeable future, satellite subscription radio services will not be available in Canada via satellite facilities that are owned and operated by Canadians .... [Must the delivery be delivered by Canadians?]

Departments of Industry and Canadian Heritage stated: [ .... ]

* SIRIUS Canada will offer programming channels provided by U.S.-based SIRIUS Satellite Radio inc., which owns 20% of the shares of SIRIUS Canada. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Standard Radio Inc. hold the balance of the shares, with 40% each. [Control of 80%]

CSR will offer channels provided by U.S.-based XM Satellite Radio Inc. CSR owner John Bitove, is a Canadian citizen and resident. [....]

Subscription radio via terrestrial transmitters

The Commission also approved the application of CHUM and its associate, Astral Media Radio Inc., to offer a service comprising 50 channels produced entirely in Canada, of which at least 20% will be in the French language. This licensee also intends to offer five channels intended for the Aboriginal, Chinese, German, Italian and South Asian communities. The music broadcast by these channels must respect the minimums required by Commission regulations: notably, for popular music, 35% Canadian content, and, in the case of French-language channels, a minimum of 65% of musical selections in French.

In addition, CHUM/Astral must contribute 2% of its gross annual revenues to initiatives for the development of Canadian talent. [. . . . ]




Note: The last two paragraphs were part of something I posted Feb. 1, 06.



CRTC approves four new Toronto radio stations April 17th, 2003


[....] "These new services will reflect the diversity of languages, as well as the multicultural and multi-ethnic realities of the Greater Toronto Area," says Charles Dalfen, Chairman of the CRTC.....

Canadian Multicultural Radio (CMR) (101.3 FM) .... will offer programming to 16 different cultural groups in 22 different languages including Tamil, Filipino, Hindi and Punjabi.....

La Coopérative radiophonique de Toronto inc. (105.1 FM) - La Coopérative, a community radio station, will be the first French-language radio station in the GTA to be added to those provided by Société Radio-Canada (SRC). This locally oriented service will offer programming to French speaking residents from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The quality of programming will be enhanced by a relationship created with Le Réseau Francophone de l'Amerique (RFA).

San Lorenzo Latin American Community Centre (1610 AM) - ... not-for-profit ethnic ... [programming] directed to Toronto's Spanish-speaking cultural groups, but will also be provided in Italian, Portuguese and Tagalog. San Lorenzo will devote 60 per cent of the ethnic programming to Spanish-language cultural groups.

Sur Sagar Radio Inc. (Transitional Digital Radio, Channel 2) - ... first stand alone transitional digital radio service..... at least 80 per cent ethnic programming to at least 5 different cultural groups in 5 different languages per broadcast week, (Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and Gujarati, as well as English which is targeted at the Indo-Caribbean community). 70 per cent of all weekly programming will be in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu.

Since 101.3 FM will now be used by CMR, the CRTC has permitted CHIN-AM (Radio 1540), a Toronto ethnic station that provides programming to 23 cultural groups in 17 different languages, to continue broadcasting via a rebroadcast transmitter on the frequency 91.9 FM.....

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is an independent public authority that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada. [italics added]



Independent? Were CRTC members appointed? (by Liberals?) Why has there been a push to break Canadian citizenry into linguistic groups? To cater to differences instead of to similarities?

Check with the former language Tzar Dyane Adam (at the time, the Languages Commissioner) who may have more free time to explain at present.



Related:

Dutch race policy 'a 30-year failure' Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Hague. Jan. 20, 04, Telegraph

A [ Dutch 2,500-page all-party ] parliamentary report last month concluded that the country's 30-year experiment in tolerant multiculturalism had been a failure, ending in sink schools, violence, and ethnic ghettoes that shun inter-marriage with the Dutch

[. . . . ] It found that 70-80 per cent of third-generation Dutch-born immigrants brought in their spouse from their "home" countries, mostly Turkey and Morocco.

[. . . . ] The worst mistake was to encourage children to speak Turkish, Arabic or Berber in primary schools rather than Dutch. The report concluded that Holland's 850,000 Muslims must become Dutch if the country was to hold together.

[. . . . ] Funding was provided for ethnic diversity projects, including 700 Islamic clubs that are often run by hard-line clerics. [. . . . ]




VOIP in Canada

Canada's CRTC VoIP Decision May 13, 2005

The CRTC rejected arguments by the country's largest telephone companies Bell Canada [ including QuebecTel ] and Telus Corp who had argued that Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) should be left unregulated like other Internet applications.


Since the telcos wanted to make money developing their own VOIP and also it is an advantage to cable companies, this is why they said they might appeal and why QuebecTel was so interested in the UNESCO protocol/convention.

Instead, the CRTC decided that it would regulate the large phone companies' prices in the VoIP market to prevent the large phone companies from deep rate pricing that would prevent VoIP competitors from entering the Canadian VoIP market. The CRTC's decision implied that their decision was at least until there is legitimate competition in VoIP phone services. Thus, the large phone companies' competitors, such as Vonage, Packet8, or the cable companies, will not have their VoIP prices regulated.

[. . . . ] Currently, according to VoIP numbers I have read, there are only 25,000 Canadian broadband VoIP users and the large Canadian incumbents still control 97% of the market. [. . . ]




Internet phone service: Radical technology, telecom battle CBC News Online, May 12, 2005

[. . . . ] A multibillion-dollar industry is up for grabs.

In 2002, about 95 per cent of the local residential and business phone markets were controlled by former monopolies such as Bell and Telus Corp., according to the telecom regulator, the CRTC.

[. . . . ] As expected, the CRTC opted for partial regulation when it issued its eagerly-anticipated decision on VoIP on May 12.

[. . . . ] Bell Canada said it would appeal the decision to the federal cabinet. "IP is a disruptive technology that is changing the telecom industry and the way it enables the Canadian economy,”




At Stake: The Net as We Know It -- Google et al fear broadband carriers will tie up traffic with new tolls and controls. Ultimately, it could mean a world of Internet haves and have-nots By Catherine Yang, Dec. 15, 05, Business Week Online

The Internet has always been a model of freedom. Today the Web is flourishing because anyone can click to any site or download any service they want on an open network. But now the phone and cable companies that operate the broadband networks have a different vision. If they get their way, today's Information Highway could be laden with tollgates, express lanes, and traffic tie-ups -- all designed to make money for the network companies.

That prospect is the worst nightmare of Internet stars such as Google (GOOG) , Amazon (AMZN), and eBay (EBAY). They're gearing up for a clash with the phone and cable giants .... [fears of] a chokehold on the Web. [. . . . ]

Most phone and cable companies are no longer content just to sell Web access to consumers. After investing in high-speed pipes, they also want to peddle more lucrative products, such as Internet-delivered TV programs, movies, and phone calls. "Building these networks is expensive," says Link Hoewing, vice-president for Internet policy at Verizon Communications (VZ). "If I can find new ways to pay for this network, it's gravy for everyone."

But selling those extras puts the phone and cable companies in competition with Web services big and small. The network operators could block consumers from popular sites such as Google, Amazon, or Yahoo! (YHOO) in favor of their own. [. . . . ]

But express lanes for certain bits could give network providers a chance to shunt other services into the slow lane, unless they pay up. A phone company could tell Google or another independent Web service that it must pay extra to ensure speedy, reliable service.


Apparently, the offer of QoS -- Quality of Service contracts for $$$ is an attempt to do just that but there seems to be no or little difference in the service. Reference: National Post, Dec. 31, 05 part a series, "Who owns the Net?"

[ Result: haves vs have-nots ] Trouble is, those have-nots may include the Next Big Thing -- whether it be mom-and-pop podcasting or video blogging. The fewer innovative services on the Net, the less reason Web users have to want broadband.


Everyone could lose out. The Internet has flourished with the freedom that has been there since the early days. It is co-operative and it isn't broken. The US only administers the number blocks, though countries like China would be paranoid about spying. Canada could stand to develop a little paranoia about Chinese spying, come to think of it.


Telecommunications Service in Canada: An Industry Overview -- Section 2: Market Segments
-- Worth checking further.

The Wireline Carriers segment is the largest in terms of annual revenues capturing approximately 61 percent, or $23.1 billion, of the total $38.0 billion communications service industries revenue in 2003.



Example in the US: SBC

At SBC, It's All About "Scale and Scope"
CEO Edward Whitacre talks about the AT&T Wireless acquisition and how he's moving to keep abreast of cable competitors
BusinessWeek.com

SBC Telecommunications' financial performance of late hasn't been much to write home about. For the third quarter, it just reported flat earnings of $1.2 billion on revenue of $10.3 billion, up a scant 0.3% over the same period last year. But given the onslaught of competitors eating away like pigeons at SBC's (SBC ) bread-and-butter landline business, scant growth is better than the alternative. "Is [our] revenue growth great? No -- it's terrible," says CEO Edward Whitacre, who adds, "but it's a lot better than losing." [. . . . ]


One of the problems during a period of momentous change in any industry is that you don't want to get rid of the old before the new is perfected, as happened with rail lines; now, for example, in the Maritimes, citizens have airplane or bus and the cost of fuel has risen considerably. Landlines and cable in Canada are more secure than wireless which, according to an article in the National Post Jan. 2, 05, is subject to hacking into the wireless connection somehow so that an expert can take over a person's wireless computer / laptop.


Does anyone else note the inordinate degree of Quebec input in anything connected to Heritage, language and increasing control over the past many years? There are 75-80% of Canadians who live outside Quebec and at least 70% whose language is not French ... or does that have no effect -- no influence at all? I hope there is a more equitable balance planned. Even better would be to get rid of the Heritage Department which has been a department to push one of the two official languages and control; get rid of the CRTC also. Let Canadians take care of their own heritage(s), as individuals and let Canadians choose what they want to watch, listen to, view, subscribe to -- in other words give Canadians freedom of choice, not a system mandated by one area of Canada, with input from abroad. I don't think that is what Liberals had in mind.

Canadians who want more freedom have been forced to go along with and pay their taxes for all of the control mechanisms. For English speakers, it has been a very poor bargain, nor has it been fair.

February 02, 2006

The death cult people meet the death wish people -&-Brother, can you spare a dime? -&- Blasphemy

Hamas: "Brother, can you spare a dime?"


Don't you just love it when an elected terrorist organization, committed to stamping out the only real democracy in the Middle East, wants the West to keep bankrolling it? Of course their best friends are the crazy Shi'ite Iranian theocracy and the equally insane Sunni Wahhabis from Saudi Arabia. The fact that one wants to obliterate Israel with nuclear weapons and the other the West with al-Qaeda shouldn't be held against them, surely. Every new political party needs friends. The EU might go along with this plea, if they can sufficiently distance themselves from their craven decision, e.g. only give to the pro-Palestinian NGOs. As Lyndon Johnson said (when all was lost in Vietnam), "You wouldn't want to change horses in mid-stream, would you?"

How moderate and concerned with the average Palestinian, Hamas is can be seen from their latest pronouncements. One said that Palestinians can do without any trade with the Zionist Israelis. Gee, does that mean the electricity and water that Israel supplies, or the majority of imports that Israel provides? Maybe the EU can provide those. Because Hamas sure as h*** can't. Their mindless race to the bottom of the progress pool is already in full swing. "The Taliban 'r'' us" seems to be the message they are sending. Correct me, but didn't the Americans support the mujahedeen (Taliban-in-waiting) during their fight with the Russians? The Taliban's gratitude: al-Qaeda and Sept. 11. In my mind's eye I can see the more progressive Palestinians lining up at Western embassies to get out.

© Bud Talkinghorn



Canada's response to Hamas

Stephen Harper has his first international crisis decision to make. His election and Hamas's converged. I can only hope that he has the fortitude to dismiss this vehement terrorist organization. It was only the lesser of two true evils that the Palestinians chose. They may wither into some Somalian facsimile, but they got rid of the bloodsucking PLO. Arafat, their corrupt major domo for decades is still, by some perverse double think, revered.

Decent Canadians still have to try to forget the Liberals' disgraceful pandering to the UN thugocracies' annual condemnation of Israel--the sole human rights abuser, you understand. But, of course, if the Consevatives use common sense and firewall this extremist group, they will be pilloried by our liberal / Liberal media as Bush stooges. The classic example of you can't win, if you don't kowtow to their special "sensitivity" to the Palestine issue. The death cult people meet the death wish people. My advice to our new PM is to stay the course and stand up for a democracy that respects everyone's rights; not for a theocracy that crushes them.

© Bud Talkinghorn


Martin's final hurrah

The press conference Martin gave exposed his residual arrogance. Fate, more than the Liberals' corruption and vast waste of tax dollars, brought his government down. He had nothing to apologize for. The Conservatives will bring a meanness into Canada, blah, blah, blah. He and certain Liberals have brought politics to a new low, but he has the nerve to still talk about "values". Possibly more shameless than Chretien. Who would have thought it?

© Bud Talkinghorn



Blaspheming Mohammed

The Danish cartoons may have been a bit overboard, to some, but their basic messages resonated with millions of non-Muslims. Unfortunately, the world-wide slaughter of innocent Christians, Hindus, (and for variety Thai Buddhists), has created an image of mindless zealots running the show in many Islamic countries. Now Islamic countries are calling for firing the cartoonist, while threatening harmless Danish citizens. I wish they would get as worked up over black Muslims being massacred, raped, and driven into exile in Darfur. What about a fatwa against Islamic extremists who behead Christian schoolgirls in Indonesia? The list of Islamic atrocities against other religions is endless, although the murdering of children in Beslan will always remain their nadir. I know that the war in Chechnya is dirty on both sides, but what kind of animals target children?

This whole cartoon brouhaha reminds me of the savagery that erupted in Nigeria, where one silly woman's comments on Mohammed led to dozens of Christian Nigerians being hacked to death on the streets of northern towns, and their churches burnt down. It is almost as though any excuse to run amok and kill the infidels is a good one. For all their talk about tamping down fundamentalists, the Saudis still fund radical Wahhabi Islamists all over the world. Lest the Jews feel neglected in their victimhood, it has to said that every branch of Islam calls for their extinction. That way the different sects could get back to killing each other, as in Iraq. I often feel that the only thing holding back religious civil war is the united hatred of Israel. What would Muslim states do without it to externalize all that anger from their citizens at living in failed states? The image of Islam will change when the face of peace appears more clearly. Otherwise, Islam's reputation has not hit the bottom floor yet.

Killing Christians and secularists is one thing; asking them to self-censor their growing anger and disgust is another. Danish Muslims could always protest by going back to their home countries, however, I wouldn't count on that. Better a little ridicule than that fate.

© Bud Talkinghorn--Even as I write this, word has come out that masked men (the true face of Hamas) have kidnapped a German citizen and shot up the Danish embassy. The comparison with Muslim-Nigerians may not be far off. The Europeans are vacating Gaza right now.


These guys are sick, sick, sick. Their highest aim? To die and go to the heavenly houris. What houri would want such terrorists? And what mother would applaud her son's joining the rush? NJC



February 01, 2006

Another Gift that Keeps on Giving -- CRTC & Lib. Big Brother, Daycare Myths, Tsunami $$$ -&- GG's Royal Taste

Protecting Turf and a Cash Grab

I have read that the Quality of Service premium gives no difference in service.

Web superhighway likely to be toll road -- Internet service providers expected to add fees to pay for bandwidth-hungry audio and video Charles Mandel, For CanWest, January 30, 2006, h/t Anonologue

The free ride may be over for consumers who download movies and music files and play video games, as Internet service providers consider a move toward a "two-tier Internet."

Companies that carry the data are talking about charging Canadians extra for everything from streaming audio and video to Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone calls and online gaming. Anything that uses bandwidth is under examination. [....]

Telus is considering adding a quality-of-service charge or tiers of service tailored to different customer needs, Hall says. The company is also thinking about charging large firms such as Google or EBay for access to its network, something that Bell South and AT&T are also proposing in the United States.

But Geist says such a model is unhealthy and would stifle innovation. [....]


To say nothing of causing loss of everyone's freedom--for as low as $20 a month--to learn, to roam the highways and byways of the world and to find out what had been planned ........... It is easy to see why those who have had control would want to support this ... and the UNESCO protocol on cultural diversity which is another way of getting "no change ... You will support those who are in control already".

The left still doesn't get the idea of freedom; the CRTC was "Building on established services". Well, maybe the citizenry want the freedom to explore and not be controlled. Are Canadians still stuck with this control over what should be a simple matter of individual choice?


From a search: canada crtc digital radio

CRTC: subscription radio services -- heavily into control ... control ... not the freedom of the individual to choose -- or The CRTC is governed by the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. June 16th, 2005

Why have our past Ministers of Heritage come from one province, Quebec? The rest of us have heritage(s) too. If you dig a little deeper, you will know why, and it has to do with control.

The Commission also approved the application of CHUM and its associate, Astral Media Radio Inc., to offer a service comprising 50 channels produced entirely in Canada, of which at least 20% will be in the French language. This licensee also intends to offer five channels intended for the Aboriginal, Chinese, German, Italian and South Asian communities. The music broadcast by these channels must respect the minimums required by Commission regulations: notably, for popular music, 35% Canadian content, and, in the case of French-language channels, a minimum of 65% of musical selections in French.

In addition, CHUM/Astral must contribute 2% of its gross annual revenues to initiatives for the development of Canadian talent.


Why? If you have talent, should you not be able to find people who appreciate that? Why should anyone be forced to support you? Who chooses, anyway? Could any of us claim support on the basis of a claim of talent?

Isn't this sad? Don't they think people would listen unless control is mandated? Actually, this is the kind of control that means people like me refuse to listen to CBC FM radio, simply because of the forces of control that have emanated from LibGov. I now listen to CD's or to classical music in the US over the internet. (a plug here for classical 103.5)



What these people don't seem to understand is that many of us choose the kind of programming that is the best of the CBC/public broadcaster when we may choose for ourselves ... not when our choice is removed and government or a group of unelected whoevers make the choices for us. How many will skirt this control just because they resent the control, not necessarily the content of the programming -- except for the politics, of course.


Geist: Oceans of data ripe for abuse Michael Geist, Jan. 30, 2006.

The Internet community has been buzzing for the past 10 days about the U.S. Department of Justice's demand for search data from the world's leading search engines. Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft have all reportedly complied with the request; however Google refused, paving the way for a major court battle in the months ahead. [ .... ]

The value of information extends beyond personal data ....


[.....] companies retain such data for lengthy periods, using sophisticated data mining technologies to analyze the information.


Think of the implications of all of this.



How Harper Will Proceed Anonologue, Jan. 30, 06 (or Jan. 31 -- I forgot to get the date.)


"The Governor General of Canada spent two nights at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa booked by Paul Martin's Staff and the cost for two nights accommodation including a $400 bottle of wine and meals was $7,750." posted by Sensforever, 1/31/2006 10:16:25

Rapidly developing royal taste? I am waiting for a lottery to fairly choose any Canadian who enters for this position. I might even buy my first lottery ticket just to taste a $400 bottle of wine. Our GG, a gift of the CBC and the Liberals ... a gift that keeps on taking.

I hold nothing against the GG who seems to be delightful, as an individual; I just think she has fallen into the good life a little too easily, in the face of Canadians' need to pay for necessities. Think of the Hepatitis C victims of which I posted yesterday. Besides, why should she be appointed? The lottery would be as good a method as any.


His 'n Hers uplink, 1/31/2006 -- a daily chuckle that manages to convey something that rings true.


This came from a friend. In it Taylor clears up a few of the myths used in the Jan. 23 election to scare parents into voting for leftists / Liberals, the anything to block the scary Conservatives series.

Harper's day care plan good for New Brunswick

Brent Taylor

As published in the Fredericton Daily Gleaner, 31 January 2006

[. . . . ] Many Canadian parents – particularly in rural areas far away from regulated, licensed, day-care facilities – would never have seen tangible benefits from Ottawa’s panicked rush of eleventh hour agreements with the provinces. Nor would those parents who worked overnight shifts, or (egad!) who raised their children by themselves.

There are a few myths that need to be cleared up before the campaign-driven misconceptions take deeper root: [. . . . ]


Lies and distortions of the truth have been effective. Apparently, some commercial daycare operators were so fearful that a Conservative government would "ruin their newfound access to over $100 million in federal money over the next five years" that they were "placing campaign signs for Liberal candidates on their business properties".

There is no question the East needs an infusion of new information sources. The old ones appear to have been bought and paid for by the usual suspects. There was little media attention to truth available to refute the left's bilgewater, pre-election.


Search: Dryden , agreement-in-principle



Memory Lane -- the Tsunami Money, CIDA & the UN

The tsunami of rip-offs By Judi McLeod, Dec. 30, 05

[....] Forty million dollars of the $425-million pledged by Martin was donated by average Canadians. [....]

And now we know, courtesy of the Financial Times, "a year after the Indian Ocean tsunami, up to a third of the $590-million so far spent under the United Nations’ $1.1-billion disaster flash appeal appears to have gone on administration, staff and related costs."

The Canadian $425-million was to have been administered by CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency). [....]


Worth reading ... and did you really expect otherwise?