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Commentary by: Kasi Rao in Toronto, ON
Increasing trade and investment with India was a focal point of the discussion at this year's Canada-India Business Council's Annual Partnership Summit. There's enormous room for growth, with two-way trade currently hovering around a modest $8 billion between the two countries. The purpose of the Summit is to provide an opportunity for the business community to discuss and collaborate on how to best pursue this lucrative opportunity.
The unprecedented participation at the Mumbai and Delhi business forums during Prime Minister Trudeau's visit in February, as well as those who were in Toronto, point to the business community's sustained interest. Attendance and participation from various major sectors, and especially by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Brookfield, Fairfax, Air Canada, and Bombardier Inc., was duly noticed in India.
Additionally, the need to develop business opportunities in the context of gender-related initiatives such as those discussed at the Executive Women's Roundtable in Mumbai, was recognized as an opportunity to pursue for Canada and India.
There is real potential for increased growth given the statistics of the growing immigration and foreign student population in Canada. Last year alone there was a 58% increase in both study and work permits issued to Indian citizens (Statistics Canada, 2016 Census Data). The skilling needs of India and innovative research partnerships that address the development needs at all skill levels were highlighted with examples of Canadian collaboration.
Still just a few months into the year, the Canada-India Business Council is busy working to sustain the momentum and implement actionable recommendations. Whether a start-up, boutique, or conglomerate, creating spaces where members of the business community are able to learn of new opportunities in the corridor is the abiding theme behind all of our initiatives.
During the summit, senior executives from BMO Financial Group, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, Air Canada, and Bombardier Inc. were panel participants, offering practical insights for all levels of enterprise. Leading Indian corporations such as TCS, and Paytm shared invaluable lessons and advice on navigating the local landscape. Representatives from Seneca College and The University of Toronto spoke of the fascinating breadth of ideas and innovation that comes through intercontinental knowledge exchange and how that exchange subsequently feeds into economic growth. Rounding out the holistic approach, the Summit also attracted interest and collaboration from various branches of the Canadian government and the Indian Consulate and High Commission.
Increased collaboration continues to make good business sense. For Canadian companies, India is a viable growth market in a wide range of sectors. For Indian businesses, Canada is a way to continue the relationship with existing customers with access to North American markets. Both countries have long identified diversification as a tremendous facet of surviving the ever-changing economic landscape.
One of the important developments underway in India is the emphasis on "competitive and co-operative federalism". Panelists observed that various states in India have undertaken a number of policy reforms. As such, it was noted that businesses should target the subnational level as a viable avenue to encourage growth. This of course is consistent with Canadian federalism where a number of provinces are active in promoting their interests reflecting the diverse strengths of the Canadian economy.
The Canadian brand is evolving and our openness to trade and investment, innovation and ideas, combined with pluralism and diversity are important to emphasize to relevant Indian audiences as we move forward.
Canada's strategy within the creative industry was discussed as another avenue for growth. The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) was highlighted as a remarkable cross-sector example of the soft power so useful in international relations. Given the Festival's global projection, reach, and existing ties to giants in Canadian literature, exploration of collaboration here in Toronto is yet another way to bolster economic interests.
A report will be prepared on the Summit encompassing key learnings, challenges, and next steps.
The Canada-India Business Council has and will continue to hold roundtables, and meetings across the country for business leaders, and government representatives to tackle the 'How?' and 'What now?' of opportunities from a local perspective. Host cities include Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Halifax, Saskatoon, and Vancouver, among others.
The end of this year will see the Council back in India for the Mumbai Forum where the aim is to build on the sustained engagement.
Kasi Rao is President and CEO of the Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC).
By: Devanshu Narang in Toronto, ON
If I was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, I would not forgive Indian politicians and the country's media for a long time. Perhaps Mr. Trudeau will forgive, but as a Canadian with Indian roots, I definitely will not. Ever.
But mark my words, Trudeau's India visit will turn out to be a long-term relationship disaster for India and not for Canada. As an honest, liberal, positive and a truly warm Canadian, the prime minister does not need to re-invent himself. On the other hand, Indians could do some re-thinking themselves.
True, Mr. Trudeau went overboard, as he sometimes does. Those heavily embroidered and garish Indian tops called 'Kurtas' were an eyesore even to most Indians. We never wear such fancy attire, except special occasions when it is considered chic to have an "Indian look". Perhaps he was either misguided by his coterie of South Asians who love their Bollywood movies or by the huge applause he gets when he wears such costumes at cultural events in Canada. After all, it is a pleasure for the South Asians to see a white leader wear ethnic attire and dance to Indian tunes. Here in Canada it is genuinely considered a mark of respect to the community and a desire to accept their culture.
Unfortunately, India mistook this for Mr. Trudeau's weakness and showed its boorish side.
In fact, it was evident right from the start that the Indian political elite which hates the liberal agenda and which has turned markedly right-wing and conservative in recent years would not take to the Canadian prime minister. They not only sent a junior minister to officially welcome him, but also ensured that the media coverage he received was low and negative. Slowly the plan was put into effect: his clothing became the object of derision, the motives of his trip questioned, his comments called into question, his guest lists scrutinized, and lo and behold, we had a feel-good trip turned into a PR nightmare.
Treating guests in India
I will not go into the details of how he was treated by Indian and thereafter Canadian and foreign media. How he was made to look like a fool when he was just being a warm human being. I would rather focus on what I think will happen following this trip and let Indians know about the blunder they have just committed.
Here was a guest, who in keeping with Indian traditions was to be treated like a God, who arrived in all humility – always bowing to local traditions, even dressed in their attire to please the locals, showing due respect all all the shrines and institutions revered and loved by Indians, who took his family along and persuaded them to dress the Indian way. Who could ever imagine that he would face ridicule at home, especially from the political opponents baying for blood ready to portray him as a weakling.
But, more importantly, what is wrong with India? How many times have we had world leaders come to India and respect Indian ways? How happy you've been when they occasionally wear Indian attire for an event and grooved with you? How many times have you hoped that they genuinely like your cuisine, your culture, your music and your own self? And when a man, a nation's leader, whole-heartedly opens up his soul and gives you a warm hug, you pull back?
So what if he went overboard. Is it wrong to try too hard?
Canada - India relations
Mr. Trudeau will recover from all this. After all, he did nothing wrong. But chances are India will experience the famous Canadian chill for decades to come.
The relationship between Canada and India may go into cold storage. Not just Canadians, but countries the world over, especially in the Western world, would be less trusting of India, especially if their political views differ. Other world leaders will definitely be more reserved during their Indian visits and never again would any Western leader open up as much as Mr. Trudeau did to Indian traditions and culture.
As for the invitation extended to a convicted would-be assassin for a Trudeau event, let us review the facts there too. First, the guest lists and invitees are not put together by Mr. Trudeau or any political leader himself. Second, if facts serve me right, Jaspal Atwal was convicted as a terrorist and served his sentence for close to two decades and has gone on record saying after his release saying that he regrets his action. He has already faced punishment for his crime and now walks free in Canada and has all the rights as any other Canadian.
He was visiting India because India too removed his name from the blacklist and granted him a visa. So, how long would you keep crucifying a person for an act in the past? Using the same logic, a lot of political leaders in India who were anti-state at one time should also be blacklisted for life. If anyone is to blame, it is India's double standards.
True, the "Khalistan movement" is dead in India, as it should be. It also does not ignite the minds of a majority of Indo-Canadians any more. But, the fact still remains, that a large part of the Punjabi community that resides in Canada came here in the 1980s and early 1990s after witnessing various atrocities committed to their near and dear ones at different times. The wounds have healed, but the scars still remain for children who grew up without fathers, or men and women who suffered in their youth. These can only be healed by love and acceptance and not by hate and segregation.
By turning your back on Mr. Atwal, who has already paid for his crime, you alienate many other Indo-Canadians and rub fresh salt on old wounds. Alas, one should have expected that out from a newly militant India and its biased media.
Put this behind you
I only hope that Mr. Trudeau and the Liberal Party does not take the criticism to heart in the context of Canadian diversity. The party's welcome to immigrants, working towards enabling equality, justice and acceptance in Canadian communities, and enabling greater respect for all humans should continue. Mr. Trudeau's evident love for the Indo-Canadian community must not diminished due to unfair coverage by Indian media, which appears semi-controlled by right-wing Indian politicians.
As an Indo-Canadian, I am ashamed about the way India treated our Prime Minister. My advice: please forget this and move on. Thank you for opening your heart.
And, yes, the next time at Diwali or Gurupurb, please bring out those Bhangra dance moves again.
Devanshu Narang is a contributor for New Canadian Media and other publications such as The Times of India. He is also a member of the NCM Collective
By: Kasi Rao in Toronto, ON
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's arrival in New Delhi on February 17 for a week-long state visit marks the 12th visit by a member of his cabinet to India, and given his position, the most important one.
The significance of Trudeau's visit is clear — India matters to Canada, as a friend and a trading partner with still-unrealized potential at a time when Canada seeks to broaden and deepen its international markets.
Canada and India have been talking for a while about reaching more comprehensive trade and investment agreements. But the real significance of this visit is already comprehensive — there's a positive shift in our relationship that we're ready to build on together.
The building blocks are there. Two-way trade between Canada and India was nearly $8 billion in 2016, even though there have been setbacks and slow progress in formal trade talks.
We do that amount of two-way trade with the United States every four days. But when it comes to Canada-India trade, the modesty of the numbers is a reflection of the past, not the promise of the future.
The obstacles are obvious too. Late last year, Indian government officials slapped an increased tariff on pulses — the little yellow peas that are a staple in South Asia, which Canadian farmers export to India.
Yet we have common ground. Canada is the biggest contributor of pulses to India, and India benefits when our supply is not constricted by tariffs.
There's no substitute for a meeting between two leaders to reach a better understanding and make it easier to trade commodities.
Canada and India have been negotiating those free trade and investments agreements for some time now — and they may well take longer. That doesn't negate the need for a sustained engagement with India across multiple sectors.
This visit is an opportunity — to find more common ground. The elements for stronger trade, business and investment relationships between Canada and India are apparent in the number of sectors that are robust and growing yet still relatively untapped.
There are huge opportunities to expand in tourism, research and skills, medical science, technology and innovation.
Some trading partners in the world lament a brain drain, where talented people leave. Between Canada and India it's a brain chain, where the best and brightest in both countries complement and bolster each others' achievements.
For example, Canada is one of the most welcoming countries, reflected in our increased immigration targets at a time when others in the G7 are cutting back.
More than a million Canadians trace their roots to India; they provide a natural bridge to newcomers. Canada has increasing potential as a magnet for higher education among promising Indian students, which contributes to research and innovation in both countries.
Canadians and Indians also share many similar attitudes and values in their outlook to solving global problems. On the economic front, Indian states now embrace cooperative and competitive federalism, marketing themselves internationally the way our provinces do.
Canadians and Indians also share many values when it comes to pluralism and diversity, and both countries are in sync on combatting climate change and the Paris Accord.
Public institutions in both countries have legitimacy in ways that either don't exist in other places or are under severe strain.
Global studies such as the Pew Global Survey and 2018 Edelman Public Trust Barometer show that Canada and India rank consistently high in the public's trust of institutions.
The strong Canadian team led by Prime Minister Trudeau, who is accompanied by senior Cabinet ministers, demonstrates Canada's commitment to a wider and deeper relationship with India.
The Canadian brand is a compelling one that resonates with India. There is nothing like a prime ministerial visit — it provides an extraordinary platform to demonstrate the breadth and depth of our engagement.
Kasi Rao is President and CEO of the Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC). Republished under arrangement with iPolitics.
By: Davina Bhandar in Vancouver
Within the space of a few moments, Jagmeet Singh became one of Canada's most admired politicians. His cool-under-pressure reaction to being confronted by an angry heckler is just one of the reasons Singh is considered to be the favourite contender for leadership of the federal New Democratic Party.
A video of the Sept. 6 incident at Singh's campaign event in Brampton, Ont., went viral and has been viewed millions of times in Canada and around the world. Moments into the event, an angry white woman interrupted Singh and shouted Islamophobic and vitriolic statements at him, and physically gesticulated, demonstrating her feeling of entitlement — to space, voice and position - in relation to others at the event.
Singh seemed undeterred by the outburst. His response to her rant was to rally his audience to help him relay his campaign message. He asked his guests to chant: "Love and courage."
What is the nature of Singh's call for love? His political slogan is based on a message of universal love and courage. Singh's message — and chant that evening — is uniquely situated among the slogans of the three other candidates: Charlie Angus "Got your back," Niki Ashton "Building a movement, together," and Guy Caron, "Let's Build a Progressive and Sustainable Economy."
The dramatic events at the Sept. 6 meeting demonstrates something about Singh, as a person and as a candidate. It also points to new undercurrents of religion and spirituality and its role — not only in Canadian politics, but also in the leadership race for the NDP.
Singh's campaign and potential leadership arrives in a climate of increasing hatred, fear and division. His call for universal love is coherent with Sikhism, which challenges the division between daily life and a devotional love that guides all thought and action. How does the language of love and courage relate to a New Democratic Party trying to find its way in a shifting political landscape?
Singh's outward appearance solicits questions from some Canadians — as in the case of the heckler — regarding his secular position: To what degree does Singh's religion relate to his policy ideas or conduct?
Canadian political institutions and traditions are imbued with Judeo-Christian values and symbols. Yet the separation of church and state maintains religion does not dictate the making of policy and law. However, in the game of politics, courting ethno-racial, national and religious identified voters has become a central art of party campaign strategists.
Political parties of all persuasions have had to navigate this division in a variety of ways. In Canada, the left social democratic tradition, represented now by the NDP, has had less experience with faith-based movements and the religious identity of its leaders than their right-wing counterparts and left-leaning parties elsewhere in the world. Singh's leadership challenge will likely change that.
While Singh is positioned as a secular politician, his ethos, sense of justice and formation of his identity is connected to a Sikh practice. The very essence of the message of universal love and courage is embedded in a Sikh devotion, rather than a secular idea of loving all humankind. Practising Sikhism defines a way of life — one that is contemplative, meditative and committed to spiritualism and positive actions.
To understand the contemporary role of religion in politics, we need to look at one of our turning points: 9/11. The attacks on New York City and the Pentagon served as a marker of the time foreign and domestic policy in North America was called upon to name Islamic terrorism as a universal enemy.
Once North America and other western governments embraced the rhetoric of a civilization divide, the psyche of liberal democratic nations split apart. The already tenuous divide between the religious and secular began to rupture further.
This reinforced a binary division and emboldened a powerful discourse of racism and Islamophobia. The basic premise is that Islam represents something universally distinct from Christian belief systems.
This discourse of racism and difference has gained strength and societal control through the election of conservative governments with moral platforms that build on fears and anxieties of susceptible citizens.
Sixteen years of corrosive discourses since 9/11 has led to: Us vs. Them, the Clash of Civilizations and racism. We are now at the point of the normalization of white supremacy. It is no longer an oddity or a left-wing conspiracy theory to discuss the presence of fascism and neo-Nazis — these are events widely circulated in our social media feeds and featured during the evening news.
Islamophobia and racism are often understood to be twinned structures of oppression. In many ways they are, but there are complex differences between them. They disseminate and exist in different political, cultural and social taxonomies.
Islamophobia operates through systems of stereotypes, often misunderstanding or misrepresenting the traditions, religious practices and customs of highly diverse ethno-national and racial communities. Islamophobia has been manufactured in multiple ways in society through popular culture, media, policy and criminalizing targeting Islam and Muslims.
Racism is a larger systemic operation of power denigrating one race while validating or elevating another.
When the Harper Conservatives were in government, they attempted to map onto Canadian national values a form of social conservatism. This was articulated through a distinction between Canada and the "barbaric cultural practices" of others.
The clear lines that were being drawn between what Harper referred to as "old stock Canadians" during a 2015 federal leaders' debate brought into discourse front and center the relationship between white supremacy and Islamophobia. It connected the dots between a normative white Christian Canadian identity that could stand against the racialized others.
Now the Conservative Party has a leader who proudly accepts the label: "Harper with a Smile."" Andrew Scheer has the support of social conservatives in the Conservative Party. He has steadfastly supported free speech over the condemnation of Islamophobia and was absent during the House of Commons vote for the Anti-Islamophobia Motion M-103, overwhelmingly passed in the House of Commons.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)
Singh said his ability to remain cool under pressure was largely owed to his experience of being a brown, Sikh and turbaned man, growing up in the 1980s in Brampton, Ont., just northwest of Toronto.
His past experiences of religious and racist intolerance helped to fortify him against racist language and assault.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)
In the moment in which the racist woman yelled at him, she assumed he was a Muslim. Many wondered why Singh did not attempt to correct her misconceived perception; he is not a Muslim, but rather, a Sikh.
Suggesting such a distinction in the moment, he said, would only further the misunderstanding that somehow being Muslim means such treatment is considered justifiable. His reaction, he said, should not be to proclaim his religion. By not correcting this misconception, Singh was acting in solidarity against Islamophobia.
Sikhs have been affected throughout the post-9/11 discourses of Islamophobia, mainly because of this misunderstood identity. In the U.S., and elsewhere, there has been a rise in hate bias attacks against Sikhs, with the 2012 Oak Creek, Wis., shooting as a visible example.
While there are those who, in the similar vein as Singh, have sought to challenge Islamophobia by standing in solidarity, there have also been many instances where Sikhs in America, the U.K. and Canada painstakingly distinguish themselves from Muslims.
However, in countless examples, when Islamophobia is experienced in the public sphere against properly identified Muslims, there has been a lack of outcry.
In Canada, the shooting deaths in Quebec's Sainte-Foy's Mosque, in which Azzedine Soufiane, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubakar Thabthi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Mamadou Tanou Barry, and Ibrahim Barry were killed, was unmistakably an act of terrorism. Canadians across the country mourned this tragedy. And yet was it recognized as an act of terrorism against the citizens of this state?
The day-to-day effects of Islamophobia have led to many Muslims living with heightened experiences of fear and not knowing what they might encounter on a walk to school, a day at work or even waiting for a bus.
The left social-democrats of the NDP hold steadfastly to their conception of justice, fairness and equality in a secular world. The ways in which people are encountering the public today, however, is seemingly much murkier than these stark divisions.
The issues of racism, religious intolerance and social justice are not central issues for any federal political party. These issues, however, should no longer be viewed as separate from major policy platforms including health, welfare reform, employment, national defense, national security, aboriginal relations and education. Perhaps a political leader such as Jagmeet Singh will be able to navigate these debates with an alacrity and style we have yet to witness in the Canadian political world.
Davina Bhandar, Adjunct Professor in School of Communication and Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, Simon Fraser University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
By: Bhupinder S. Liddar in Oliver, BC
Nestled in the scenic and stunning rolling dry desert hills and mirror lakes of Okanagan Valley in beautiful British Columbia is the town of Oliver – the wine capital of Canada!
Oliver's population of 5,000 is made up of about 1,000 Sikhs. If one drives along the town's Main Street, one is bound to see a turbaned Sikh or a Sikh lady in Punjabi dress, as well as the Sikh Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship). And as one proceeds through the scenic Okanagan Valley one is struck by the greenery of wineries and fruit orchards, and depending on the time of the summer, one will drive by cherry, peach, apple, and perhaps prune trees all along Highway 97.
Oliver's Mayor Ron Hovanes describes his town as an "authentic farming community." Other than driving along the fruit-tree-lined highway, one can pull into one of the many wineries for tasting, buying, or even a meal.
The Sikhs started migrating and buying orchards and vineyards in Oliver and the Okanagan Valley about three decades ago. Farming is in the Sikh genes. Their ancestral home state of Punjab is the breadbasket of India. Sikhs are also successful farmers in Australia, Kenya, Fiji, among other countries.
The Sikhs bought orchards/vineyards predominantly from the Portuguese, who had migrated here in the 1950s. Mayor Hovanes explains the origins of Oliver are in the irrigation canal built in 1926 under British Columbia Premier John Oliver, after whom the town is named. The intent was to settle returning British veterans of the First World War.
The British migrants were followed by Germans in the 1930s and Hungarians in the 1940s and 1950s. Sikhs own about 70 per cent of orchards and wineries. The average holding is about 10–12 acres, and according to farmer Bhupinder Singh Karwasra, an acre generates an income of about $8,000 to $10,000. Prices of land have doubled or tripled since Sikhs first bought land at $4,000 an acre.
Apart from farming, Sikhs are venturing into other trades and commercial enterprises. Paramjit Singh Chauhan owns and operates East India Meat Shop on Highway 97, down the road from Oliver. Similarly, Surjit Singh Aulakh this month set up a hairdresser shop on Oliver's Main Street.
Oliver-born Baljeet S. Dhaliwal, a graduate of Simon Fraser University, is now a manager at one of BC Tree Fruits packinghouses. Others, such as Toor twin brothers – Randy and Jessie, have set up an 80-acre, state-of-the-art Desert Hills Estate Winery on what was once an apple orchard. They are the second Sikh family to settle in the area, in the footsteps of Major Dhaliwal. The Toor brothers, from Village of Ucha Jattana, immigrated from India to Canada in 1982 and settled in Winnipeg. On the urging of their sister Lucky Gill, who is involved in the hospitality industry, they moved to Oliver in 1988. Randy Toor was elected to one term on Oliver Town council in 2005.
Oliver's major communities – indigenous, Portuguese, Caucasian, and Sikhs live in silos, with little or no informal social interaction other than in schools, shopping centres and workplaces. Mohinder Singh Gill, president of the Sikh Gurdwara, attributes this partly to lack of English speaking skills among Sikhs. For instance, the Sikh seniors meet at the Gurdwara instead of going to the central seniors centre.
The indigenous Osoyoos people, almost all live on a reservation adjoining Oliver.
Punjabi was offered at Oliver High School until recently and the search is on for a Punjabi instructor.
Fortunately, days of ugly racism are almost over, though I was told of schoolyard fights among indigenous, Sikh and white students.
According to Mayor Hovanes, there is "no overt racial tension," and former Town councillor Randy Toor observes there is "very little evidence of racism and it is fading away."
The future looks promising for the Sikh community in Oliver, though many young Sikhs are opting to head to urban areas and into professions other than farming. But for now, most Sikhs make up a dynamic, vibrant and growing community in Oliver and the Okanagan Valley.
Bhupinder S. Liddar is a Kenya-born Sikh and a retired Canadian diplomat. This piece was republished under arrangement with the Oliver Chronicle.
Commentary By: Omer Aziz in Toronto
News that Omar Khadr would receive an official apology from the Canadian government along with a $10.5 million settlement of his civil suit elicited the predictable outcry from the Canadian media. Journalists and commentators questioned the wisdom of the decision and the amount of the settlement, and the narrative that has now taken form is of a convicted terrorist winning a taxpayer-funded lottery at the behest of a naïve prime minister.
The press has not simply questioned the wisdom of the apology and settlement—it has ignored or obscured the relevant facts that made an apology and settlement necessary in the first place. Opinion writers and pundits seem entirely uninterested in what, exactly, Khadr endured during his detention at Guantanamo Bay, and who he became afterwards.
Omar Khadr was fifteen years old in July 2002 when he allegedly threw a grenade at U.S. soldiers, killing Sgt. Christopher Speer. I say "allegedly threw" because the precise facts of what took place that day in the firefight have never been conclusively established: From 2002 to 2008, the official U.S. government story was that Khadr was the sole survivor in the compound after it had been bombarded and shot at—by inference, only Khadr could have thrown the grenade. In 2008, however, a report from the only witness to the firefight was inadvertently released to reporters. In it, the witness claimed that there were two men in the compound. The official government theory was weakened further when it was revealed that Lt. Col. Randy Watt, who had led the American battalion, wrote a report after the firefight describing how the grenade-thrower had been killed in battle. The report was later "updated" to state that the grenade-thrower was shot, not killed.
In normal circumstances, the factual inaccuracies would have been resolved at trial, except that the military commissions under which Khadr was tried were ridden with procedural and prosecutorial errors and deceptions. Khadr was interrogated without his lawyers present, and in the initial phase of the tribunal, could not even see the evidence against him. This was by design. The Bush administration had deliberately created a legal black hole: They argued that prisoners could be held in Guantanamo indefinitely, without charges, without the right to contest their detention, without even the right to know why they were there. The United States Supreme Court eventually found the first military commissions of the Bush administration to be in violation of the Geneva Conventions. As Muneer Ahmad, Omar Khadr's first lawyer and now a professor at Yale Law School, wrote in 2008:
"The [U.S] government had sought to remove Omar and the other prisoners from the ambit of law, and in doing so, from the world. They chose Guantanamo because it was remote, then cloaked it in darkness, refusing to disclose the names or identities of those there, refusing access to the outside world. Legal erasure enabled physical erasure."
Of the 780 detainees held in Guantanamo since 2001, 731 were eventually released without charges—often after a decade of incarceration.
The Canadian press has forgotten all of this, or perhaps they remember it but do not think it relevant. What about torture? At fifteen, Khadr was taken to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan where a bag was placed over his head. He was ordered to stand for hours. Dogs leapt at his chest.
At Guantanamo, and still a teenager, Khadr urinated on himself. The guards poured pine oil on him and dragged the shackled boy through his own piss, using him as a human mop. Khadr was sixteen when Canadian security officials interviewed him at Guantanamo, and then illegally turned over the intelligence to the Pentagon. "Promise me you'll protect me from the Americans," the boy said to the representatives of his government. And then he showed them his scars. He cried for his mother. He was beaten, choked, deprived of light, deprived of sleep, forced into harmful stress positions. Guantanamo guards threatened to deport him to Arab countries like Syria where, they claimed, he would be raped by other men. All of this was done to a Canadian teenager, with the Canadian government's full support.
Under duress, Khadr eventually pled guilty. He agreed to the facts as presented by the Military Commission because he and his lawyers concluded that fighting an unjust system without due process or adequate protections for the accused was an unwinnable battle. Khadr can therefore be called a "convicted terrorist," but not asking how that "conviction" came about is irresponsible at best, unethical at worst.
So this was the context of the $10.5 million settlement: A child soldier who allegedly threw a grenade at U.S. forces (or didn't), who was held for thirteen years in an offshore detention center, who was repeatedly abused and tortured with his government's assistance, whose Charter rights were violated, whose entire youth was spent in chains. Khadr asked for an apology and restitution. He has been treated as though none of this happened, as though he was just a spoiled child who should feel lucky he's still not in gitmo. The press seems to think that reparations for Khadr's maltreatment are a bonus that he does not deserve. But this is not about bonuses or windfalls. It is about this country's past sins, and the moral necessity of acknowledging and atoning for those sins. That's what enlightened, self-professed democracies do.
The saga of Omar Khadr, however, has never been about law or even policy. It's been about how we see the crimes of people who do not look like us, and are therefore treated as conditional citizens. Radio host Charles Adler said Khadr was "technically a Canadian"—as if citizenship was subject to technical whims. Margaret Wente opined that "If there is a victim here, people feel, it's not Mr. Khadr." John Ivison wrote that "Khadr's reputation is now tinged with the grubbiness of what many will consider unjust gain." Who are the "people" and the "many" that Wente and Ivison are ventriloquizing here? They are the Canadian public, who along with the press, do not yet have the moral imagination to countenance that maybe—just maybe—Khadr was also a victim here.
A basic empathy gap has always existed between Canada and Khadr. The minute the label "terrorist" is slapped onto someone—regardless of their age, their circumstances, or even the facts—we begin thinking with the blood. We rush to violate our most sacred principles at the first whiff of anger. Our memories of others' crimes are always long and detailed, while our own faults are extinguished with the legitimizing elixir of moral superiority. It might feel good to denounce Omar Khadr. It might be cathartic to condemn him as a confessed terrorist. But the rights of citizenship are not abrogated because a citizen has committed a crime. They are not abrogated because the government thinks you have no place in society. Those rights exist to protect all of us, especially the vulnerable.
Omar Khadr spent much of his youth being abused in an unlawful penal colony. He could have come out of this harrowing experience a bitter and spiteful man, hateful of the country who supported his torturers, and vindictive towards the citizens who applauded that decision. Instead, Khadr has conducted himself with the utmost dignity. "My past," he recently said, "I'm not excusing it. I'm not denying it. We all do things we wish we could change. All I can do right now is focus on the present and do my best to become a productive member of society, a good person, a good human being . . . I want to finish my nursing program. I want to work as a nurse somewhere it's needed. I want to be able to use my languages and my ability as a nurse to relieve people from pain."
After everything that's happened to him, Khadr is prepared to accept the ills of his past. Perhaps Canada might do the same for its own recent history.
Republished in partnership with The Walrus.
Originally published under headline: "Omar Khadr and the Shame of the Canadian Press".
INTERNATIONAL Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland and India's Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday discussed the impressive growth in trade and investment between Canada and India as well as their shared desire to further deepen this partnership at the third Canada-India Ministerial Dialogue on Trade and Investment.
This meeting, held at […]
Indo-Canadian Voice
I was talking with my good friend James (real person, but name changed) the other day and he wasn't very happy. But first let me tell you a little bit about James. He has spent his whole retirement living here in Ontario — he is 83 and first started drawing his UK State Pension in 1990.
At that time he was paid £46.90/week, which in those days meant he was getting about $90/week; this was when gas cost 59 cents/litre, and a loaf of bread cost just 70 cents.
Today, because of the UK's "frozen" pension policy, James is still getting £46.90/week, which immediately after the Brexit vote converted to $79/week — the British pound instantly fell 18% against the loonie. Meanwhile the cost of gas has gone up to 94 cents/litre ($1.15/litre in Western Canada), and a loaf of bread is now nearly $3. How can anybody be expected to live on 80 bucks a week?
Brits in Toronto
by Elvira Truglia in Montreal
The stories in the Best of All Worlds represent seven of the most commonly spoken immigrant languages in Canada's largest cities.
Reinforcing heritage languages alongside Canada's two official languages reflects policy that has set Canada apart from other immigrant-receiving nations when it comes to diversity matters
"When children see their heritage languages in books, they instinctively understand that their languages are valued and their cultures are important in Canada," says Gina Valle about a collection of multilingual children's stories which she brought together in The Best of All Worlds.
Published in 2015, the illustrated book features seven stories in their original languages — Arabic, Farsi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish — as well as in English and French translations.
"It sends a strong message about what it means to be Canadian," says Valle, founder of Diversity Matters and At One Press, the book's publisher.
The stories were selected from the winning and finalist submissions from the Multilingual Kid Lit Award competition organized by Toronto bookstore Rainbow Caterpillar. Valle initiated the project to mark 15 years since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established International Mother Tongue Day "to promote diversity and international understanding through multilingualism and multiculturalism."
Multilingual stories, multicultural perspectives
Questions are to children what texting is to smartphone touting teenagers – second nature. The Best of All Worlds provides many opportunities to tap into children's inquisitive nature as it exposes them to culturally-specific symbolism, such as the Japanese kappa, and various writing systems including the Latin alphabet, Arabic script and Chinese characters.
New myths grounded in Canadian history, such as the 'Tulip Fairy' who helps keep the Tulip Festival alive in Ottawa, and original stories about what it means to be human and Canadian in today's world, can spur a flurry of questions as young children read along with a parent, grandparent or teacher in their language of choice or ability.
And if the stories don't pique a child's interest, the vivid illustrations will stand in, each with a unique style.
Kings, giants, fairies and fables
The Best of All Worlds has something for all tastes. From fables to fairy tales of kings, giants and other fantastical characters, each story has elements that make children's books fun to read for children and adults alike.
My 11-year-old daughter Sabina's favourite story was "The Happy King," originally written in Portuguese, because it was "weird, in a good way." Cursed with being sad by a wizard who wasn't invited to the royal party, love is what broke the curse and made the King happy again, explains Sabina.
But her interpretation of the "message of the story" was an afterthought. What kept Sabina's attention was the quirky King who reminded her of the curses, wizards and witches she read in tales as a younger child.
"The Happy King" and other stories are filled with familiar tropes and original twists. The internal struggles and choices of the characters mirror lifelong and universal quests.
Sabina is an avid reader in English and French and is starting to read in Italian and Spanish – her first languages. When reading The Best of All Worlds on her own, she zig-zagged between all four languages and eventually stuck to one of Canada's official languages.
Reading a book in multiple languages is tricky. Like many children growing up in Canada, she needs some priming to continue speaking and reading her heritage languages.
Keep talking your mother tongue
Krista Byers-Heinlein, an associate professor of psychology at Concordia University, specializes in language acquisition and early bilingualism. She spoke to Panoram Italia Magazine about the three-generation rule: "In the first generation, the language is strong – it's how people communicate. In the second generation, there is a solid understanding of the language, but the writing or reading is weak. By the third generation, the language is at risk."
When it comes to language, you either use it or lose it. Passively watching TV won't do the trick, but reading together and having conversations about what you're reading is a great way to interact in your mother tongue.
Schools are an important audience for The Best of All Worlds and a great context for validating first languages. According to Valle, some 20 library systems across the country have ordered the book and a curriculum guide for Ontario teachers is currently in the works.
Making multilingualism a new norm
Valle says the book reflects who we are as Canadians.
"We can speak many languages and live with many cultures and be at ease with each," she says. "We can speak Mandarin at home, French at school, English on the soccer field and feel that no matter what we speak or where we come from, we can be full citizens in this country."
The Best of All Worlds was put together over 18 months with a team of writers, illustrators and translators who originate from some two dozen countries.
"There are bilingual books but there are no multilingual children's books in Canada," says Valle.
For that, The Best of All Worlds, is an important and new contribution to Canada's literary scene.
Elvira Truglia is a Montreal-based journalist who writes about the intersections of culture, politics and social issues. She has recently written for New Canadian Media, The Huffington Post, and the social justice radio program, Making Contact. She is also an emerging photographer whose documentary photos have recently been published in New Canadian Media's online library. Elvira has worked in the non-profit sector for more than 20 years, focusing on communications, education and human rights.
This content was developed exclusively for New Canadian Media and can be re-published with appropriate attribution. For syndication rights, please write to email@example.com
This content was developed exclusively for New Canadian Media and can be re-published with appropriate attribution. For syndication rights, please write to email@example.com
by Shan Qiao in Toronto
From a machine gun wielding high school girl-yakuza boss to time travelling samurai; from sexual awakening in the final devastating days of WWII Tokyo to the true story of "the Japanese Schindler", Canadian and Japanese audiences enjoyed yet another cultural feast at the 5th annual Toronto Japanese Film Festival.
The Festival ran for two weeks in June in the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC), located at Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. It screened more than two dozen Japanese movies to over 10,000 audience members from all over the GTA.
"Our 2016 line-up again reflects the films that resonate with Japanese audiences, critics and Japanese Academy Award judges, providing a thorough cross section of the very diverse Japanese film industry. In our first four years we attracted large and diverse crowds and much positive reaction to the films," says Gary Kawaguchi, President of JCCC.
The 70th anniversary of the Second World War
A lot of films came out the end of 2015 that marked 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. These include Nagasaki – Memories of My Son, which centred around a mother who lost her son when the atomic bomb was dropped; and The Emperor in August, a powerful political drama that tells the little-known story of Japan's surrender in the Pacific War.
There was also Persona Non Grata, the story of Ghiune Sugihara, known as the "Schindler of Japan" for saving 6,000 Jewish people from the Holocaust; and When I Was Most Beautiful, a story of Japanese people's lives in the summer of 1945 when the war is drawing to a close.
James Heron, Executive Director of JCCC, says that 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War is quite significant in Japan, particularly because many of the people involved in the war are at the end of their lives.
"We saw a lot of the films from different perspectives. There are consistent anti-war films, mostly about the people who were trapped," he continues. "Average Japanese people feel like they were trapped between the military government that started the War and the gigantic response from the Allies powers. The films are made for domestic markets, so they tend to look at things from Japanese perspective."
Internment and Japanese persecution in Canada
"Last year we showed the film Asah, which was all about the internment of Japanese-Canadians. The film was made entirely in Japan but was about a Japanese-Canadian baseball team that really played for the pride of Japanese Canadians. The team was ended when Japanese Canadians were put into camps," says Heron.
Japanese-Canadians had to suffer internment after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced that Japanese-Canadians were to move into prisoner of war camps. Their possessions were confiscated and their belongings were sold.
Heron, who spent 11 years living and working in Japan, speaks fluent Japanese. His wife is also Japanese. "One of the reason the Festival and the Cultural Centre exists is many Japanese-Canadians feel that they were persecuted in the Second World War because people didn't understand them and Japanese culture. Because Canadians didn't understand, they were afraid of the Japanese, even the Japanese-Canadians who were born here, " he explains.
By having the Cultural Centre where they could introduce Japanese-Canadian and Japanese culture, the organizers hope there will be better understanding and that persecution will never happen again to Japanese-Canadians.
Aftermath of the Festival
When the audience enjoyed sushi and Japanese sake at TJFF's closing ceremony, Dr. Sandra Annett, an assistant professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, announced that Being Good, a movie on raising children and having compassion, received the Grand Prize Jury Award for Best Film.
A coming-of-age story, Flying Colors, won the Kobayashi Audience Choice.
Toronto resident Shiming Fei, 29, particularly enjoyed The Magnificent Nine, which featured one of her favourite Japanese actors, Eita.
As a young Chinese person who came to Canada to study ten years ago, Shiming says she experiences Japanese culture through food and TV dramas. This is why Festivals like TJFF are so important to her.
"I come here for the food and movie, maybe make a couple of new friends," she giggles, renewing her search for her favourite hors-d'oeuvre at the closing reception of the Festival.
This content was developed exclusively for New Canadian Media and can be re-published with appropriate attribution. For syndication rights, please write to email@example.com
This content was developed exclusively for New Canadian Media and can be re-published with appropriate attribution. For syndication rights, please write to firstname.lastname@example.com
-- Canada's economic development minister Navdeep Bains at a Public Policy Forum economic summit


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If you ever had users call to tell you that a SQL Server database is slow, you'll likely find sp_Now a handy tool. This stored procedure determines what processes are currently executing and consuming resources on a database server. This information is helpful when troubleshooting sporadic performance problems, especially in an environment in which applications span multiple servers.
For example, if a user calls and complains that the database is slow, you can run sp_Now to quickly determine what the database server is actually doing. If the database server is under a heavy load due to SQL activity, you'll be able to see the exact SQL code that's causing the load. Perhaps a user submitted a poorly coded query (e.g., the user created a Cartesian product of the three biggest tables). Or perhaps an administrator is running a job that's producing a detailed report, but that job really should be run only during off-hours. If sp_Now shows that not much SQL activity is occurring, you can be pretty sure that the database server isn't to blame. You can then work with the user to determine whether the problem is occurring at the application or network level.
Listing 1 shows an excerpt from sp_Now Now, which I wrote for use on SQL Server 2000. As callout B in Listing 1 shows, sp_Now uses the fn_get_sql system function, which Microsoft introduced in SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3). This function returns the SQL statements that a particular process is currently executing. The sp_Now stored procedure uses fn_get_sql to build a cursor of all currently active processes.
As callout A shows, sp_Now produces a report that shows summary information for each active process, including the process's cumulative disk reads and writes (phys_io), the process's CPU usage (cpu), and the application's name (program_name) from the sysprocesses table. The report also includes the exact SQL statements that the process is executing.
The report is easy to read. At the top, you'll find the total number of active system process IDs (SPIDs) that have open SQL connections and that are currently processing data.The report uses two lines of x's to separate the details of what each SPID is doing.
For each SPID, there are three sections. The first section provides a summary from the sysprocesses table that shows the login name, host name, and other details of the associated SQL connection. This section includes a summary of the connection's CPU usage, the total amount of disk I/O, and the SPID of any other process that's being blocked by this process. (Multiple entries for the same SPID in this section indicates that SQL Server has divided up the query among multiple CPUs in an attempt increase the performance through parallel processing.)
The next section contains the output of DBCC INPUTBUFFER (which displays the last statement sent from a client) for the SPID being examined. The first 255 characters of the query are displayed.
The last section contains the output from the call to the fn_get_sql system function. A much larger portion of the SQL code being executed is displayed here. In the case of a stored procedure, usually all the code is displayed.
When reviewing the sp_Now output, pay attention to the amount of physical I/O and CPU time the processes are using. Also take note of any blocking. Remember that if processes are consuming resources, they'll show up in the results. If nothing shows up in the results, you can be pretty sure that the database server isn't experiencing performance problems.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday, December 06, 2011 - Honza and Drew - FULL CONTACT
Latest Sets at WilliamHiggins.com
We have a lovely duo with Honza Copak and Drew Hemcak. Both are very good looking guys and seemed like a natural pairing. We first see them outside, taking in the sun near a fountain. Sitting by the fountain Honza decides he needs cooling down a bit, and steps into the fountain and sits again. Luckily there was no policeman to see him doing it. Then Drew strips of his shirt and joins Honza. They both get very wet, but at least they are refreshed. They then leave the fountain and go indoors for fun of a different kind. They kiss and strip each other naked and Drew immediately goes to work on Honza's cock, sucking it into his mouth. Honza reciprocates, as Drew lays across the bed. His big,hard cock is throbbing in Honza's mouth. Honza loves that cock as really works on it, then they swap positions so that Drew is sucking Honza's big fat cock, while wanking his own. Next they do a 69, with Honza kneeling over Drew. They suck each other and Drew slips a finger in Honza's ass. He wants more of that ass, so they move and Drew rims Honza before sliding his massive cock into that ass. He fucks hard and fast, with Honza feeling every thrust. Drew wants to go deeper and they move to a spoon position so he can achieve it. His cock is filling Honza's hole and Honza is loving it. He wants to ride that cock and sits on it, bouncing up and down he takes that cock real well. They then move to a missionary postion and Drew really slams his cock in that ass, pounding the hole. Honza is in heaven and wanks himself to a cumshot while Drew is fucking him. Drew fucks even harder and suddenly he is ready and pulls out to shoot his load over Honza's face. Honza sucks the cock back into his mouth to get the last of the cum, to bring a wonderful scene to a very good end.
Boris Flesar is aged 19 and lives in Prague. He is a student who enjoys sports, jogging and football. He is a very cute looking guy, with a really good body, and looks splendid as he stands there in the wrestler's suit. Boris starts to loosen up,with some exercises,first standing and then sitting on the floor and stretching his legs. He slips a hand inside the wrestling suit and starts to wank his cock. It quickly gets very hard and we see the head stretching the fabric as he wanks. He then pulls the cock and balls out of the leg of the suit. The cock is standing fat and proud, looking most inviting. He looks into the camera as he continues to wank himself, pulling on of the shoulder straps down so that we get a better view of his very good chest, with a hand running over it. Then he lays back and wanks himself some more. That cock looks wnderful in its hardness and Boris lets us see it as he strips off the wrestling suit. He lifts his legs, pushing the cock downwards, so we get a great view of his sweet hole and the throbbing cock. I must say it is a glorious view as his legs lift, wide apart ensuring that his hole is available for all to see. Boris then stands and, with an arm aloft wanks his big hard cock again. Then, as he stands there his hand comes off his cock and it points skyward as his caresses his body for us. Next he kneels on the bench and bends forward, with his ass pushed backwards, exposing that hole again, with his cock pushed back between his legs. It is great to see how hard he stays, all the time as he shows himself off for us. Boris is throbbing now and reclines on the pommel horse and wanks that cock until it shoots a very nice load for us. What a very nice shoot, from a great lookng guy. I hope we can persuade him to come back and do some work with another guy.
Petr Domas is 24 and lives in Kosice in Slovakia. He is a feasor who likes training and fitness. He is such a good looking guy with a great body and a really handsome face. In this shoot Petr shows himself off very well indeed as he strips off and poses. He really knows how to do it too, with some great poses showing his body off to perfection. His other assets are great too, with that hard, upstanding cock and a really great ass.
Dima Lauren is a great looking guy, I love his face. He starts out by rubbing his body, dipping his hands in his undies. Then he gets on his knees and writhes as he feels himself all over, with one hand feeling his cock in his slipys. As he does so a Helping Hand arrives and starts to caress Dima's body. Then the hand also goes for a feel of that cock, then pulls down the undies so we can see that it is big and fat and already quite hard. The hand takes hold of Dima's cock and wanks it, making it very hard indeed. Then the Hands get some oil and start to oil Dima's body, turning him around and bending him over to oil his sexy ass. The cheeks spread, naturally, showing a nice hairy crack as the hand rub all over it and wank his cock at the same time. Then they spread his cheeks further, so that we can see the hole. As the wanking continues a finger dips into Dima's hole. His cock looks wonderful in its hardness, thick and throbbing as the hand wanks it and fingers his tight hole. Having loosened the hole somewhat a nice black vibrator is slid into it, stretching it further. Dima then turns over and sits back,allowing the hand to wank him some more, while the vibrator is deep in his ass. The cock seems to grow even bigger as it is wanked and soon a nice creamy load of cum spurts out, all over his leg. The hand then, after pushing on the vibrator again, scoops up the cum and rubs it over Dima's nipples. His cock has stayed rock hard since he shot his load, so the hands have another feel of it as the video finishes. What a very nice scene, with Dima being very receptive to everything. It would be very nice to take him further.


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A few of you have written inquiring as to when the next installment of the Forty Deuce podcast would be up. Here's the deal: It is SUPER awkward to do a podcast by yourself. And with my partner in crime (heh), Love All, off at an undisclosed location for much of this year, I've had to shelve the podcasts. Unfortunately my dog has very little to say about tennis.
But you can't say that I don't listen so here's the next installment, wherein I've roped in Forty Deuce regulars Sodapop, Carrie, and Victoria, to talk about everything from my general apathy towards Ana's losses, illegal immigration, and Stan's second fiddle, to how badly the WTA marketing department has failed, our love for tennis umpires, and the intimate details contained in Sodapop's diary. You'll have to excuse any technical issues. I'm still trying to master it all. But I'll get it all worked out and I can promise your tech savvy and topically focused p-casts in the future.
I'm warning you, it's a long one and very WTA heavy. Perfect for sitting in traffic while you're on your way to wherever you don't want to be.


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Like Clark Kent in the city, you blend with the "normals" in their casual clothes. Yet, when riding is afoot, you spring into action with Bontrager's Commuting Knickers. As you flow with traffic and dodge potholes, the Knickers move with you with unrestricted movement, thanks to stretch-woven fabric. Reflective accents keep you seen while on the bike, and the semi-fitted cut doesn't flap in the wind or hang up on your saddle. They breathe well and dry quickly, so when you lock your bike the street-smart looks and fine tailoring seamlessly fit in when walking around the fashion district. And only you know of their secret.
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Kelly, Gene
Kelly, Gene, 1912–96, American dancer, choreographer, movie actor, and director, b. Pittsburgh. Kelly started dancing on Broadway in 1938 and first gained fame in the title role of the Broadway musical Pal Joey (1940). He moved to Hollywood in 1941 and soon starred in his first film, For Me and My Gal (1942). His best-known work was in motion pictures, where he excelled in an inventive combination of camera and dance techniques in such films as On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951 Academy Award), Singin' in the Rain (1952)—which contains his single most famous performance—and Invitation to the Dance (1956). Athletically graceful, a skillful and expressive dancer with a joyfully muscular yet lyrical style, he also sang in a thin yet appealing voice. Kelly appeared in such film musicals as Anchors Aweigh (1945), Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949), Brigadoon (1954), and Les Girls (1957). He also played dramatic film roles, as in Inherit the Wind (1960), and directed several movies, including The Happy Road (1950) and Hello Dolly (1969).
See biographies by C. Hirschhorn (1975) and A. Yudkoff (1999).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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A larger version of the popular Barn Light. Beautifully styled with a slightly angled arm this outdoor light is fully weather proof with a soft grey painted finish. A traditional design that would look great in rural and urban settings.
Standard UK delivery £4.95. (aim 3-5 working days)
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If I have asked a question that has not received any responses at all after threee or four days, is it acceptable etiquette here to bring the thread back up? If so, how long would be considered an appropriate period of time to wait?
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Competition among accounting firms for new clients is unleashing a blizzard of marketing strategies, from traditional networking, advertising and word of mouth to new-age social media — where partners post tax tips on Twitter.
There is a common thread to all this self-promotion: Accountants must send a clear message that their firms are deep reservoirs of talent and expertise that potential clients really ought to tap into.
It's standard practice for accounting firms to showcase their experts by having them address conferences hosted by industry groups from real estate to health care. CohnReznick takes that a step further with Bloomberg radio commercials featuring brief industry commentaries by the firm's professionals.
The Bloomberg spots "feed into the strategy of getting our name out there as thought leaders," said Domenick Esposito, a partner and national practice and growth director for the firm, which has 25 offices in the United States, including Roseland. The company has 2,300 professionals and staff, 400 of them in New Jersey.
He said CohnReznick can't draw a straight line from its high visibility on Bloomberg to an influx of new clients, but the firm tracks "how well known our brand is in the marketplace, and we know that through things such as Bloomberg our brand awareness continues to increase."
William Hagaman, managing partner of Withum, Smith & Brown, in New Brunswick, said the firm's strategy is a blend of robust social media and old-fashioned immersion in the business community.
"We have Twitter accounts by industry segments," and about a half dozen CPAs blog regularly.
The firm used to network at chambers of commerce and community organizations, but about four years ago, Hagaman shifted the focus to specific industry organizations.
"So we've inspired our accountants to be out in the marketplace, going to technology, life sciences, not-for-profit conferences," Hagaman said. The goal: "To demonstrate that we have industry knowledge so that client companies, when they are looking to change accountants, are going to think about us."
In some cases, the firm will "make pricing concessions if we think a company has a future," Hagaman said. "If we think it's going to be a growing company, we will at times help them out and discount our rates."
He said with startup life sciences and technology companies, "we might think their new idea or new technology resonates with us as a good idea, but they may not have the funding yet to pay our regular full prices."
Robert Paz, managing director of Sax, Macy, Fromm, said his firm aims to create "a growth culture within the organization, and the way you do that is you have to talk about growth a lot, so that growth becomes a critical element of everybody's responsibility."
He said the firm has seen average revenue growth of 10 percent a year for the past three years, all organic growth from new business development. Last month, the firm announced a merger with Bollam, Sheedy, Torani, of Albany, N.Y., which Paz said will give his team new geographic outlets for their expertise.
He said SMF professionals are involved in industry organizations "so they develop a better understanding of the needs of the market and begin to develop their own contacts."
Adam Wolf, director of marketing for SMF, said Susan E. Reed, a CPA specializing in health care, speaks to a key association of "practice managers" — the professionals who run the business side of a health care practice. "The idea is to be out in front of the right people, and over time opportunities will develop from that."
Michael Karu, a member of the accounting firm Levine, Jacobs, in Livingston, said he and his colleagues are active in industry organizations and in the community.
"Clients can come from almost anywhere," he said. "You never know who's going to send someone to you, so the first rule is: never burn bridges."
The firm has a marketing consultant "and that gives us an advantage," Karu said. "Instead of accountants trying to figure out how to do marketing and public relations, we have someone who does marketing and P.R. You chose the right professional to do the right job."
Karu said his P.R. consultant encouraged the firm to get involved in the family law symposium of the state bar association, which helps expand the firm's valuation and litigation support business, "and when we do something noteworthy, she makes sure press releases are sent out. That puts us in a better position than some of our competitors."
Karu said accounting is very competitive, "but there is also honor among professionals. I do valuation work for other accounting firms — and they know I won't go after their clients."
Hagaman said competing for new business means "being out there in the communities in each industry where we are strong and making sure we are well known."
That can means long days for the members of his 450-person firm, which includes about 300 accountants.
"We tell our people that the accounting profession is not easy, and in order to continue to grow we need a constant influx of new business," Hagaman said. "What we all actually find exciting about public accounting is the opportunity to work with growing companies. That adds to the sizzle and the excitement of being a professional in public accounting."
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Round 2 begins Thursday with Bruins vs. CanadiensNHL.com @NHL
NEW YORK - The National Hockey League today announced that the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round will begin Thursday, May 1 with a one game slate – Game 1 of the Second Round series between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens.
The starting time for Game 1 on Thursday will be 7:30 p.m. ET at TD Garden in Boston. The game will be seen exclusively on NBCSN in the U.S. and on CBC and RDS in Canada.
Further information on the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule will be released tomorrow.


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On Monday the Phillies learned that first baseman Ryan Howard will miss the next 6-8 weeks with a torn meniscus. While numerous concerns arise as a result of this injury—the Phillies owe the increasingly injury-prone slugger $75 million through 2016, after all—one overlooked question centers on the cortisone shots Howard has received in the past.
Just last week, Howard received a shot in the injured left knee and was placed on the DL six days later. Some fan may remember the "Big Piece" receiving a similar shot in his ankle a couple seasons ago just weeks before going down with the Achilles injury we all remember in the divisional series against the St. Louis Cardinals. But those occurrences are unrelated—right?
"Cortisone won't mask pain," says Arthur Bartolozzi, MD, Director of Sports Medicine at Aria 3B Orthopaedics. "It's used to decrease fluid and inflammation near a joint."
In other words, cortisone shots won't help torn cartilage, which is what Howard has. As far as the Achilles injury two years ago, the cortisone shot was in the inflamed bursa sac near his left ankle—a very small area. At the time, there was some discussion and debate over whether the injection could contribute to an eventual rupture of the Achilles tendon. This injury seems more cut and dry.
Howard received his first cortisone shot back in mid-May, at which time the Phillies confirmed they'd seen "a change" in the left meniscus. "All I know is it hurts," Howard commented at the time.
He received a second shot last Sunday, but landed on the disabled list Saturday. Monday's tests confirmed the torn meniscus, so it's unlikely that either cortisone shot was particularly effective. Most likely, Howard's been playing through considerable pain since at least May.
The good news is that the torn cartilage in his knee can be repaired in such a manner to allow for a quick return to play.
"I've seen athletes return in as little as 10 days," says Dr. Bartolozzi, who quickly added that the case in question was the exception rather than the rule. "With about 11 weeks remaining in the season, I absolutely believe he can come back healthy—this year—and contribute."
Of course, this second significant injury to Howard's left leg will only serve to increase the murmurs around Citizens Bank Park that the slugger's best days are behind him. Time will tell whether the former MVP will get a chance to silence his critics during what remains of this 2013 season—and beyond.
Read more Sports Doc for Sports Medicine and Fitness.


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Secretary of State and State Economist Headline Next 1st Tuesday Speaker Series
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and University of Minnesota Professor and State Economist Tom Stinson will lead a panel discussion on the financial outlook for the state of Minnesota at the next "1st Tuesday Speaker Series" on March 6 at 11:30 a.m. in the University of Minnesota's McNamara Alumni Center.
Secretary of State Ritchie oversees a wide range of services for Minnesota businesses provided by the Office of Secretary of State, including the archiving of official documents. He is also responsible for administering Safe at Home, Minnesota's address confidentiality program, as well as partnering with township, city, and county officials to organize elections on behalf of Minnesota's 3.7 million eligible voters.
Professor Tom Stinson, state economist, is responsible for preparing revenue forecasts for the Governor and Legislature. He has held this role since 1987. In his professorial role, Stinson is a faculty member in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. He received his PhD in economics from the University.
Tickets to the event, which includes lunch, are $28. To register, visit carlsonschool.umn.edu/firsttuesday.
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The Griffin signature iClear hard case, jazzed up with a graduated perforation pattern to add visual and tactile interest. This 2-piece polycarbonate shell snaps around your iPhone to protect back, sides and edges from dents, bumps and scratches. The front bezel projects above the Multi-Touch display, so your touchscreen never has to contact hard surfaces. Your iPhone shows through the tastefully tinted clear polycarbonate, and custom cutouts give complete access to controls, connectors, camera and display.
iPhone 4S (AT&T,Verizon,Sprint) iPhone 4 (AT&T,Verizon,Sprint)


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Spa Days in Kent
Spa Days in Kent and pamper days in Kent can be enjoyed in the county known as the Garden of England. With Kent being such a big county, I Need Pampering have many different spa days in Kent and also pamper days in Kent, all which offer with locations spanning across the county. There are many spa day experiences to treat yourself to, whether you're looking to go alone for some time off, with a friend or family member for some quality catch up time, or even as a group to celebrate something special, there are some amazing spa days in Kent.
Spa Days in Kent - what's included
In the portfolio of spa days in Kent, many different packages offer a host of services and treatments. Full use of the spa facilities are always available, sauna, steam room, spa pool, swimming pool and drench showers. This same rule applies to pamper days in Kent with full use of the facilities. Facials, massages, body treatments and manicures are also available with the different experience days available. Afternoon tea is often included which makes the day that extra special. You have the option to choose from boutique hotel spas and luxury day spas, all the venues listed have the stamp of approval from the I Need Pampering team.
Pamper Days in Kent - the ideal gift
Pamper Days in Kent make the perfect gift for Birthday gifts, Anniversary gifts, Hen Party gifts, Valentine's gifts and of course Christmas gifts. Pamper days are always extremely well received whatever the occasion. Relax, unwind and refresh with a selection of one of our pamper days in Kent.


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Spotify e-bow masterclass: Metallica, REM and...Kajagoogoo?
"Wait, so it's a guitar effect, but it's not a pedal? And it's not some sort of black box of studio trickery? Well what is it then?"
In short: it's a small device that you hold in your picking hand. It magnetically vibrates the strings, which gives a rich, sustained tone similar to a guitar being played with a violin bow. But unlike a violin bow, the e-bow isn't troubled by the flat bridge on most electric guitars, meaning you can "bow" individual notes. This allows for scorching solos or intricate melody lines, as opposed to the less musical "special effect" style bow playing that's used by Jimmy Page, for example, in the noisy break before the solo on Whole Lotta Love. (If you still fancy playing with a real bow though, we've got you covered...)
If you're the sort of gear-head who loves to know how your instruments and effects work, our e-bow product page has more info on exactly how you can use it. But if you just want to hear it first hand, read on for some of our favourite uses of the device, which we've also linked to on Spotify.
Two of the earliest recordings to use the e-bow are Genesis's 1974 concept-album centre piece Carpet Crawlers and Queen's Good Company from their 1975 record A Night At The Opera. Brain May uses the e-bow mainly as a novelty to create a playful pastiche of some of the woodwind sounds of Dixieland jazz with his trademark Red Special.
Steve Hackett of Genesis, however, gives an early glimpse of how the e-bow would later be used: not just as a gimmick, but a key part of a track's whole mood and ambience. A great example of this mood-setting later use is in the REM track where e-bow's so key that it even gets namedropped in the title.
You get a good glimpse of Peter Buck at work with the e-bow around the 1:42 mark in the video, where its drone almost takes the place of a backing vocal, adding depth to what's otherwise quite a minimal song. And Coldplay's Spies is another great case of the e-bow's ability to add texture to otherwise sparse arrangements, both in the intro's plaintive wail - easily mistaken for moody orchestration - and the wall of noise crescendo two thirds in. And if you really want to fully recreate their sound, e-bow and all, we've got a range of Coldplay sheet music in stock.
But it's not just used in mellow indie - guitarists none more rock than Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and James Hetfield of Metallica count the tool as a key part of their sonic arsenal. While you can't hear it on the finished recording, Nothing Else Matters by Hetfield and co is famed for its incorporation of the e-bow not into the recording or live performance, but the songwriting process itself. Hetfield painstakingly composed the orchestral arrangement using an e-bow - see what he came up with on Apocalyptica's strings-only cover of the track. So if you ever find yourself without a classical quartet to hand but need to knock out a quick string arrangement, the e-bow might be the thing. As for Josh Homme, in his former life as guitarist of stoner-rock godfathers Kyuss he showed how the sheer sustain of the e-bow can add an other worldly feel to even the heaviest of rock riffage.
And if you still need further proof of the e-bow's amazing versatility for the jobbing musician - no matter how uncool - listen to the atmospheric instrumental break in this 80s pop, erm..."classic".
(Skip to 2 mins 30 secs if you really can't bear it).
If Kajagoogoo don't do it for you (fair enough), try Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and Pearl Jam - let us know which one inspires you to try something new with your playing.


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Did you read today's front page stories & breaking news?
From the Wires
Edulabs Chooses Symplified to Secure and Manage Access to Cloud-Based Mobile and Desktop Educational Content and Applications
By: Business Wire
Jan. 30, 2013 08:11 AM
Symplified® today announced Edulabs Global Learning Solutions Company, Ltd. has chosen its single sign-on (SSO) technology to connect students to cloud-based educational materials. Edulabs, a 21st Century e-learning solutions provider, delivers high-quality e-learning modules and interactive digital content through tablet computers and smartphone devices. The company needed a solution that would simply and securely enable tens of thousands of students to access hundreds of digital content modules and apps with just one username and password.
Click to tweet: Edulabs chooses Symplified for secure, simple #IDaaS http://bit.ly/YfWzTD
Edulabs plans to launch an upgrade to its popular BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) mobile learning program targeted for K-12 and higher education students, called EYOD® (Earn Your Own Device®). Leveraging Symplified's Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) technology, Edulabs will be able to seamlessly integrate mobile device management, content and application management, and user management into one secure and effective turnkey, user-friendly solution.
"Our students span a wide range of ages, languages, cultures and learning styles. We needed a solution that would help us maximize their usage of our educational materials to best prepare them for the 21st century without confusion or complication, while enabling us to secure access to our proprietary digital content and apps. We chose Symplified because its SSO technology is effortless for our students to use via mobile devices or on premises, and it integrated into our infrastructure with virtually no effort," said Craig Hovendove, chief visionary officer and president, Edulabs.
Edulabs plans to initially connect approximately 30,000 students in Thailand to its educational applications via Symplified within this quarter, with plans for future expansion in nine additional countries in Southeast Asia and North America. Edulabs is able to customize Symplified's portal with its own branding right out of the box, so that students across all regions can be confident in accessing the engaging and enriching educational materials for which the company is known.
"Edulabs is a tremendous example of an organization harnessing the power of technology to educate students economically and efficiently, on a global scale," said Shayne Higdon, president and CEO of Symplified. "We are very pleased Edulabs has chosen Symplified as its SSO partner of choice. Our IDaaS technology will help Edulabs increase mobile access to essential educational materials for its students, while helping IT easily manage user provisioning, authentication, authorization and compliance."
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About Edulabs
The company's product/service offerings have been developed by leading experts, and combines the world's most innovative and comprehensive 21st Century learning system in one turnkey package that includes; safe, high-quality affordable mobile learning tablet and smartphone devices, Mobile Device Management, Content and Applications Management and User Management platforms, complete with proprietary certified K-12 content from global K-12 educational content leaders. For sales and general information, contact Edulabs at 6689-92-88284 or firstname.lastname@example.com. For press inquiries, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.
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Subject(s): Chemistry, AP Chemistry, Physics
Grade(s): 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
School: Baraboo High School
Location: WI
Bill Nye is a man with a mission: to foster a scientifically literate society by helping people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Nye has spent the past 20 years educating students young and old about science and understands the importance of keeping minds active after the last school bell rings. "Learning can happen anywhere and at anytime – the important thing is that it should never stop," Nye said. "We've put together fun, free and easy activities that will make this the summer of learning versus the summer filled with the dreaded words 'I'm bored.' " AN EARLY KNACK FOR HOW THINGS WORK Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has done most of his life. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he spent afternoons and summers de-mystifying math for his classmates. While working for Boeing in Seattle, Bill combined his love of science with his flair for comedy. After winning a Steve Martin look-alike contest, he became an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Eventually, Bill made the transition to comedy writer and performer on Seattle's home-grown ensemble comedy show "Almost Live." This is where "Bill Nye the Science Guy®" was born. The 18-time Emmy Award-winning show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central. During this time, he also wrote five kids' books about science, including his latest title, "Bill Nye's Great Big Book of Tiny Germs." BROADENING HIS MISSION Bill's passion for math and science translated into a love of space. His role as CEO of The Planetary Society, the world's large space interest organization, has taken him across the globe. And one thing Bill is very proud of is the MarsDials, two sundials on residing on Mars he created with Cornell scientists. America's favorite stand-up scientist hasn't changed much from that kid growing up in Washington, DC. He still rides his bike to work. He'll pull out his Periodic Table of the Elements from his wallet. And his drive for helping others understand science is as strong as ever.
I graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S in Chemistry and Mathematics along with an education certification. My career began in Utah teaching junior high math and high school chemistry. I spent 22 years in the classroom as a science teacher in the Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eagan School District. I have taught physics, AP, honors, general and concept level Chemistry. Currently, I am a Professional Development Specialist working in the School of Education at Capella University. During the summer, I facilitate week long workshops for new and experienced chemistry teachers at Hamline University with Prof. Matt Morgan. As a team, we cover content as well as current best practices in the science classroom including inquiry and digital resources. I am also employed by the College Board as an AP Chemistry Consultant where I facilitate day-long to week-long workshops for classroom teachers. I believe one of the best ways to improve my professional practice is to network with teachers from all over the country and I enjoy the opportunities this provides.


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Trains will operate the length of the Hudson line — from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Terminal — on Saturday, for the first time since Hurricane Sandy ravaged Metro-North's busiest rail line.
Metro-North said commuters will find their regular rush-hour schedule in place Monday and connecting services between Newburgh and the Beacon station — the shuttle from the Route 17K park-and-ride and the ferry from the waterfront — operating again.
About 8,500 people use the upper reaches of the Hudson line, the 41 miles between Croton-Harmon and the terminus in Poughkeepsie, every weekday. Service between Croton-Harmon and Grand Central resumed Friday.
Orange County Planning Commissioner David Church said the restoration of service sets the stage for temporary busing to Hudson line stations from the railroad's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines — if NJ Transit's storm recovery is protracted.
Church said Metro-North is developing plans to start busing Port Jervis line customers to Beacon and possibly other stations as early as Monday. The railroad routinely cross-honors Port Jervis line tickets on the Hudson line.
The plans were disclosed Friday in talks that Orange County Executive Ed Diana had with Metro-North, Short Line and the state Department of Transportation about the restoration of transit services and expansion of park-and-ride capacity.
Metro-North, however, declined to provide details of the busing plans to the Times Herald-Record pending their release by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office sometime this weekend.
NJ Transit had been prepared to resume limited service in North Jersey, including the Port Jervis line, Friday, but was thwarted by generator problems, according to Susan Metzger, Orange County's representative to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Sandy flooded NJ Transit's rail operations center, destroying the central signal and computer systems that support its 11 rail lines.
Metzger, who was briefed on NJ Transit's efforts by Metro-North President Howard Permut, said she was heartened that the tracks and terminals in New Jersey were usable and voiced confidence that service would be restored before too long. NJ Transit runs Metro-North's trains in Orange and Rockland counties.
NJ Transit and Amtrak began sending trains into Pennsylvania Station from South Jersey Friday using Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line and Hudson River tunnels, both of which had been badly flooded.
The ability to access Penn Station means that commuters on the Port Jervis line will be able to transfer at Secaucus, N.J., to reach Midtown. PATH service at Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey remains suspended — although the Port Authority is working around the clock on it — but NY Waterway said its ferries will starting running Monday from Hoboken to Lower Manhattan.
Meanwhile, Short Line, which resumed its commuter bus service Wednesday, plans to ramp up its Orange County schedule Monday in anticipation that power will be restored in New York City and people will be going back to work.
Full Hudson line put back in service
Trains will operate the length of the Hudson line — from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Terminal — on Saturday, for the first time since Hurricane Sandy ravaged Metro-North's busiest rail line.


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A Question of Sustainability
The terms are flying off of the supermarket shelves: sustainably produced, organically grown, harvested with biodynamic methods. And now we are seeing these terms with greater frequency on our wine labels. What does it all mean? What is the impact on our planet? And, quite importantly, how do these production methods impact the flavor and other attributes of the wines?
More than 200 different types of synthetic chemicals can be found in conventionally produced wines, including pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers. Without doubt, these chemicals affect the workers, the soil, and the overall environment. And, of course, they find their way into your bottle.
California produces more than 90% of the country's wine, and 'sustainability' is now the buzzword, as imbibers are becoming more aware of how their wines are being produced and the resources that it takes to produce them. As California's population continues to grow by an astounding half a million people each year, agricultural lands are now abutting urban communities, prompting neighbors to sound the bell about the health of their air, land, and water.
In 2003, The Wine Institute, in partnership with the California Association of Winegrape Growers, released the "Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices" with a self-assessment test. Grape growers are able to pour through a 490-page tome to see how their methods stack up and then are able to customize their own action plans. By all accounts, sustainability is gaining traction. A study at the University of California at Davis reports that pesticide use in Napa Valley from 1993 to 2000 declined by 84%.
It is not uncommon to see more and more wineries with solar panels on the sides of their buildings, bio-diesel tractors, owl boxes to encourage pest control, sheep grazing on the weeds, and irrigation powered by windmills.
What is the difference in the terminology?
Sustainable grape production limits the use of chemicals, and respects the vineyard and its ecosystem through the use of compost and cover crops. Many organic methods of farming are often utilized in sustainable production, and it is often referred to as "la lutte raisonee," French for 'a rational struggle,' or a common sense approach.
Organic grape production prohibits the use of synthetic chemicals entirely, but may contain a limited amount of organically produced sulfites (which preserves the wine), and also must be made from at least 95% organically grown grapes. Organic certification is bestowed by the USDA and takes three full years to achieve. The 2005 Agricultural Crop Reports noted: 5% of Napa county vineyards, 1% of Sonoma county vineyards, and 18% of Mendocino vineyards are certified organic. It's not surprising that Mendocino leads the charge in organic grape growing, as there is a long tradition of sustainable agriculture in this northern California hamlet.
Biodynamic grape production emphasizes the health of the entire ecosystem; from soil to vines, from neighboring forests to water supply. Developed by Rudolf Steiner in the 1920's, biodynamic methods embrace full-circle farming, where animals, composting, and the lunar cycle nourish the vineyards. Biodynamic farming was officially recognized by the French government in 1987, and its certification is overseen by the Demeter organization.
Is there a noticeable difference in flavors? Or is it merely a perceived difference due to the inherent value of the production methods? The proof is in the bottle. Some of the most esteemed vintners in the world follow sustainable, organic, and biodynamic farming methods: Lalou Bize-Leroy, the famed grand dame of Burgundy's Domaine Leroy, and former co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, is a strong proponent, as is the Loire Valley's Nicholas Joly. Napa Valley's Robert Sinskey and Dick Grace are adherents. Soon, it won't be a question of which producers are converts, but rather of which producers don't adhere to the notion of sustainably produced wines.