The World Loves Canada, But Canadians Do Not ?

The poll conducted by Maclean’s, about how the world sees Canada and what the Canadians think of their own country, showed that most of the people from around the world thought highly of Canada. The picture was not so nice and bright from the Canadians point of view for their country. This kind of attitude might not be specific for just Canada alone, but perhaps other countries also. But this might be a bit more of a problem in Canada due to the greater number of people with this attitude.

There can be a number of reasons that can be attributed to the results of this poll. Most of the people from the rest of the world believed Canada was a great country and would give them greater opportunities in terms of life and the general standard of living if they moved there. Depending on the countries where these people come from, Canada might appeal to them more compared to their own country due to a variety of reasons. They might think in this country the justice system, the social services, education, jobs and opportunities are better compared to their own. As these people have lived in their own country and then come here they can make comparisons and so in a way they have more of a broader knowledge of specific countries and the way they function.

The Canadians living in Canada who have not lived in another country especially those other than the developed Western countries might lag behind in terms of this knowledge. To have a personal physical experience of living in a particular location provides a broader view and allows the people to appreciate the environment they currently live in. I think people all over the world no matter where they live have some complaints which should be okay if they are justifiable. But at the same time people should be proud of their country and what it has to offer and how they can contribute to their society to make it better. Because after all in such a big world, there might be a country that might not even have a lot of the basic privileges that are available in Canada.

What People from Different Parts of the World Think of Canada


Rick Mercer and the American View on Canada


Reference:
[1] http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20071121_6054_6054

Amateur Witness Video Reveals Facts about the Man who Died After a Taser Incident

A taser incident at the Vancouver International Airport last month caused the death of a Polish immigrant who had just arrived for the first time to Canada. This had been his first time ever that he went out of Poland. He did not speak English and was not able to navigate his way out of the international arrivals area. Due to these reasons he remained there for nearly ten hours. After such a long time he apparently became agitated at the fact that he could not find his way out. He started shouting and throwing things. A witness who was present there tried to calm him down and tried to talk to him in as many languages as she knew. That woman and another passenger present there at the time were able to make videos which were later used by the RCMP in investigations.

Interview with the Witness who made Cell Phone Video:


Recently the video of the incident was released to the public and it made the facts more clear though the RCMP are still defending their officers involved in the taser incident at the airport. A few facts that were caught by the video showed that the man was not acting properly and appeared disillusioned. It also proves that the officers made no effort to calm the man down or get an interpreter to ease his difficulty in communicating in a foreign land. According to both the people who shot the videos the man appeared to be glad that officials had finally arrived and would help him out. The video shows that when they arrived he shrugged with his hands raised and just backed away with his back towards the officers and that was when they tasered him down. One of the officers then placed his knees on his back and neck. Even when he lost consciousness, there was no attempt made to do CPR though they were trained to do so.

Interview with the Passenger who made the Full Length Video:


This incident has raised a lot of questions about the taser method applied by security officials. There have been a number of deaths in the past few years after being subdued with a stun gun. The families of the victims who have died after being tasered are strongly against this method being used frequently now. A number of international organizations are also now lobbying against the use of taser guns. On the forefront, among others is Amnesty International.

Reaction of the Man's Mother and the Polish Community to the Deadly Taser Incident:


References:
[1] http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=03824bfe-b406-45c0-b439-b3708b8b7282&k=15023

Gossip: Only Women's Territory ?

source: Cartoon Stock

In most of the magazines, TV, etc. gossip sections mostly feature women. A lot of the celebrity gossips are about women’s eating disorders, breakups, drinking and partying, hard, etc. According to the points of view expressed by some people in the article by Jaime Weinman, it is thought that most of the gossips feature women because women are mostly the women who are interested in reading and getting to know more about the down sides of other women especially if they are celebrities. It also suggests that some of the issues like eating disorders some women can relate to those kinds of problems if they are experiencing it themselves.


source: www.garyandmegumi.com

Some people think that generally women are the ones who gossip the most and men do not usually engage in gossips. Actually this is not true as recent studies have shown that men gossip as much as women do. The only difference that matters is the topics they gossip about. Women generally tend to gossip more about people who are not directly related as in the case of celebrities. While men generally gossip about people they already know. If they are in the process of getting to know someone and they get interested in gossip in order to know more about that person especially if that person is a woman being considered as a future partner.


source: Cartoon Stock

Another reason why women end up being more in the light of gossips is traditional. A male and female celebrity might have been arrested for drunk driving after partying hard or anything similar, they are portrayed differently in the media about their acts. Also a woman frequently being in the media for reasons like these is termed a slut while a man who has the same activities is termed a stud. So there is also a problem in the way men and women are portrayed differently even though they might be doing the same thing.

Effect Of Age On Celebrity Gossip
Please click on image to view clearly

source: www.ethesis.net

Sex Differences In The Impact Of Age On Interest Celebrity Gossip
Please click on image to view clearly

source: www.ethesis.net

Sources and References:
[1] http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=2007112_111799_111799&page=1
[2] http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/autocodes/countries/france/men-gossip-as-much-as-women-$1095310.htm
[3] http://www.notsalmon.com/archive/2007_07_08_archive.html
[4] http://www.cartoonstock.com/
[5] http://www.garyandmegumi.com/blog/archives/2004_03.html
[6] http://www.ethesis.net/gossip/gossip_part_2_paper_6.htm

NBC Pulling Its Shows Off iTunes

source: applegazette

The President and CEO of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker recently announced that NBC would not renew its contract with iTunes when it ends at the end of this year. NBC was used iTunes to sell its shows online. The reason for ending the contract was the amount of revenue generated by NBC through iTunes, which according to the CEO was very less. NBC earned $15 million in just the last year on iTunes alone. But it seems Jeff Zucker is still complaining.

Jeff Zucker wanted to raise the price of its shows on iTunes which was not allowed as iTunes has a fixed-pricing policy for all shows. With the price increase NBC was suggesting it would have cost a customer a total more than it would cost to buy the DVD for that season. On part of iTunes this was a good decision as if one company is allowed to do such an experiment and if it is even successful, the rest of the companies providing such services through iTunes would also end up doing the same. In short each company would be able to decide its own price and the competition with each other would just keep on going. The customers then might end up not buying the shows that are priced higher than others. This would obviously not have a good effect on the companies.

NBC also wanted iTunes to share its revenue that it earned through video iPod sales. NBC’s videos account for only about 40% of all downloaded on iTunes. This was the most outrageous reason to give for ending the deal with iTunes. There is no confirmed knowledge that the iPod a person is buying is going to be used mostly for NBC shows. They could also then demand that computer manufacturers should share revenue with them also as other than iPods, people also watch shows on their computers. So for iPod to share its revenue from iPod sales would not be beneficial. Other companies would also demand the same especially in the music industry, the record companies. There are also plenty of other ways to watch the shows especially for the people who download them illegally for free through P2P protocols such as BitTorrent. According to the article of Mathew Ingram, the manufacturers of TV sets do not share the revenue with the companies who own the various channels, nor have they ever done so in the past. So in the end this is a loss for NBC itself as $15 million for online sales that is other than the revenue it generates otherwise, is better than nothing or anything less for that matter.

Steve Jobs Of iTunes Takes A Jab At NBC


Sources and References:
[1] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/templates/blog?pastWeeks=200710&hub=WBmingram&x=23&y=13
[2] http://www.applegazette.com/ipod/apple-responds-to-nbc-by-dropping-the-new-fall-season-of-nbc-shows/

China's Investment and Trade with Africa

source: http://myafricatoday.blogspot.com/2007/08/china-over-africa.html

This recent uproar about the Chinese leaders meeting with the leaders from the African countries should not be disturbing for the Western countries. Though as the article “Into Africa” by Michel Cormier did comment that it sent alarm bells ringing in Washington. Most of the trade between China and the African countries are based on oil and other natural resources which China needs to support its industries. The African countries on the other hand, import textiles, clothing, footwear, machinery and other heavy equipment. The reason why the Western countries should not over-react and fear this situation is because China and Africa trade did not start overnight. The earliest accounts of trade activities that occurred between the two date back to the 12th century. Further information about this trade history between China and Africa can be viewed in the video below.

Starting in the early 1960s, China also invested to help the African countries to develop and provide them with the means to self-sustain themselves. China constructed a major railway system connecting Tanzania and Zambia, an international standard sports stadium in Kenya, developed telecommunication links and helped the African countries to become technologically advanced in their agriculture sector. The meeting of the Chinese leaders with the leaders of the African countries is an annual and regular event that goes back almost half a century. Further information about China’s investment in Africa can viewed in the video below.

The major threat to Washington is that China is getting its oil supply and other ores and metals from the African continent rich in natural resources. While U.S. itself has its interests in oil when it goes to war in foreign countries. The Western countries complain that China is the biggest abuser of human rights and the general working conditions in the country are not good and if they go into Africa they will do the same there. Though the majority of the products in every imaginable sector is produced in China and shipped off to the Western countries. If the Western leaders care so much about human rights and the working conditions, they should not have gone into China to set up production plants there while trying to cash in on the cheap labour. After viewing the videos below, it can be noted that China has been investing and trading in Africa a very long time. If they had to go and put up permanent manufacturing facilities and other industrial bases they would have already done so.

Africa-China Trade: A History Part 1

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqqDhmtCpJQ
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA5N6JF_EUc

China's investment in Africa Part 1

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTXVi35vi_k
Part 3


Africa: America's New Oil Target Part 1


Sources and Resources:
[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/reportsfromabroad/cormier/20070214.html
[2] http://myafricatoday.blogspot.com/2007/08/china-over-africa.html