Supporting Freedom of Speech in Canada

If you live in Canada, do you think you have the Right to Free Speech? Steve Janke, an engineer and political blogger, thought he did too. Failed West Vancouver MP, Blair Wilson, has other ideas. As Jonathan Kay details, Wilson is suing Janke for something he posted on his blog; something truthful by the way.

Essentially Wilson has launched a SLAPP againt Janke, trying to shut him (and others) up. This is more than wrong. It's despicable.

If you're like me (and like most Canadians for that matter), you haven't ever had to do a thing to protect the enormous freedom you've enjoyed since birth. So you can shake your head and say, "Oh poor guy, that's too bad." Or you can actually do something tangible by donating a few bucks to Steve Janke's legal defense fund. Please read the details here and strongly consider helping him out. I just sent him $75.00. Help restore Canada once again to our claim of the True North, Strong and Free.

As an added bonus, if you make a donation I will be more than happy to send you the hi-res original of any photo of mine that you've ever seen on this blog or here or here. They're perfectly for enlargements to hang in your home or give as gifts. Here are a few minor examples.

Obama's Foreign Campaign Donations

At 1:07:00 (1 hour & 7 minutes) into John Batchelor's latest show is a detailed examination into the "strange" campaign donations made to the Obama Campaign. You will learn about strange donation amounts, made via credit card, to the campaign. Such amounts include the following: $188.67, $1,542.06, $876.09, $388.67, $282.20, $195.66, $118.15.

Do these sound like donation amounts that Americans would make via their credit cards? Of course not. It is now assumed that these are foreign donations and the strange amounts are the result of foreign currency conversions.

In case you're not aware, it is absolutely illegal for even $0.01 of foreign donations to an American election campaign. Don't believe me? Please click here.

You'd thus think that the mainstream media would be all over this story, right? You'd be wrong. This is one of the few stories I could find on it.

Bill Gates' New Direction

I just read a fascinating article in Macleans about Bill Gates. He has now given up most of his time at Microsoft and instead is going to be devoting his life toward charitable causes.

Running my own not-for-profit, I particularly admired one key section:

The foundation receives roughly 6,000 requests each year, and the founders personally evaluate applications seeking more than $40 million. "This is really the antithesis of chequebook philanthropy," Chernow says. "They're not just giving money, they're involved."

So involved, in fact, that the foundation has developed a reputation as a demanding benefactor, insisting on firm targets and conducting extensive audits to ensure objectives are not only met, but rigorously tracked and measured. To Gates this is about bringing professionalism and accountability to charity work, but it has created controversy.

One of the foundation's earliest beneficiaries was the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (known as GAVI). Gates gave $750 million over five years to vaccinate children against things like polio, measles and tuberculosis. But when the program was getting off the ground, several countries were shocked to find their applications were rejected because they failed to provide enough detail or plans for oversight. Others were surprised when GAVI auditors later showed up to review paperwork verifying exactly when and where vaccinations had taken place. Those who were sloppy with the records faced the prospect of being suspended from the program.

There were plenty who said GAVI was too stringent, but Gates made no apologies and eventually recipient nations complied.

I LOVE this! I've met way too many people in the public and charitable sectors who deem themselves to be halo-wearing saints beyond reproach. They'll take your money but don't dare ask them how the funds are spent or whether things are run in an efficient & effective manner. Be it taxes or donations, I've become convinced that many in these organizations have convinced themselves that they're doing you a favour by allowing you to feel good about giving.

It's absolutely no wonder to me why so many people in the world are still hungry and living in squalid conditions. If all governments and charities were run like businesses then there'd be a lot less problems the world over. I deeply believe that!

Heavy Lifting

A local law firm donated 18 beautiful 19" monitors to BC Digital Divide. Danny & I picked up a dozen of them today. A lot of work, but well worth it!

BC Digital Divide in the News

With today being Boxing Day there's a great emphasis in the minds of many to shop, shop, shop. My friend, Dennis, and I had a different mission in mind. He picked me up at 10am and we drove out to Port Coquitlam. There we delivered a computer to a family that had recently lost everything in a flood. They were extremely nice and appreciative.

This donation was filmed by Global TV reporter, Grace Ke, and her cameraman. What's coincidental is that Grace was good friends with Dennis' younger brother back in high school a few decades ago!

If you're reading this on Boxing Day and live in BC then you can catch the segment on the 6pm and possibly the 11:30pm news.

Social Enterprises

Here's a fascinating news story on "social enterprises" from BBC Radio 4's programme, In Business. Though the organization I founded, BC Digital Divide, can't yet be defined as a formal social enterprise, we do try to run things in a very efficient, business-like way.

I've long pondered the idea of turning BCDD into an actual social enterprise. This would see it transitioning into a for profit company, albeit one that still gave away computers for free to those who couldn't afford to buy them. But I just have too many other things on the go these days to make this transition. One day though, one day . . . !

CKNW Orphans' Fund Pledge Day

The first week in December signals the start of the Christmas season but more importantly, it's the week when the annual Orphans' Fund Pledge Day is held. If you're not familiar with it, the Orphans' Fund has a long tradition here in Vancouver, raising money for a variety of charities. What I like most about it is that 100% of the donated money goes to the charities. How is that possible? Because Corus, the parent company of radio station CKNW picks up all of the administration costs. I think this is excellent and is a prime reason why I keep donating year after year. Even though the Pledge Day is now over, you can still donate. Just visit the Orphans' Fund link above and donate what you can. It's very, very worthwhile!