Sensitive Junta demands Bangkok Post withdraw editorial
15 October 2015
The Bangkok Post has pulled this editorial opinion from its
website on instructions from Thailand's military junta. Which is the best of
reasons why it needs to be re-published.
Given that the Bangkok Post was clearly pro-coup and
pro-junta it is a symptom of how bad things are in Thailand when the junta
loses the newspaper's support
How ridiculously sensitive can you get!?
Editorial Opinion : Stay calm and don't shoot the messenger - Bangkok
Post - 15 October.
In the past week we have seen two incidents that have reflected the
ostrich-like mentality of those in the military-run government -- of
refusing to confront the issues that face them, whatever they may be. And
both times they chose to shoot the messenger.
The first move was a decision by the Ministry of Culture to ban the
screening of Arbat, a film about a Buddhist novice who commits monastic
misconduct. The other was the rush to ban media reports about the ongoing
rift between two powerful four-star army generals -- both members of the
ruling National Council for Peace and Order.
The film ban by the Office of Culture Promotion's censorship board was made
on the grounds that Arbat is blasphemous, with its content accused of of
violating Section 29 of the Film and Video Act 2008, which could lead to
conflicts in society and upset the order and morality of people.
What is wrong with the plot of Arbat (or Breach in English)?
It tells the story of a young boy who is forced into the monkhood and then
falls in love with a girl in the village. The novice monk also witnesses
acts of misconduct by a senior monk.
Somchai Surachatree, spokesman of the National Office of Buddhism, said the
majority of the censorship board agreed that the movie does not uphold the
principles of dhamma or established values in Thai society, citing several
provocative scenes such as the novice kissing the girl and a young monk
putting a Buddha head on the ground.
Haven't we already heard in the media about worse misconduct by monks of all
ages -- from peddling drugs to disguising themselves as laymen to have sex
with women?
Or was the 4-2 censorship decision made for a political reason after claims
by Buddhist groups last month that the film-maker has an ulterior motive of
targeting Buddhism?
Let's be serious. As an old Thai saying goes, an iron bar is worn away by
rust from the inside out. So no external force can effectively destroy
Buddhism in Thailand without malpractice by Buddhist laymen and monks first.
Instead of burying their heads in the sand, and closing their eyes and ears
so they can't see the genuine misconduct of monks reflected on the silver
screen, those Buddhist activists should run a campaign to find ways to clean
up the monasteries and reform the ruling Sangha Council.
Sahamongkol Film, the producer of Arbat, should stand its ground on freedom
of expression and screen the whole film without any editing, meeting the
demands of more than 60,000 people who signed a petition on www.change.org
to urge Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the ministry to allow the film
to be shown without being cut.
As for the second ostrich-like move, the desperate effort at damage control
over the long-simmering rift between new army chief Theerachai Nakvanich and
his predecessor Gen Udomdej Sitabutr, most media outlets, including the
Bangkok Post, started running the story last week. It involves the
escalating conflict between the two men who have long had a personality
conflict though they were classmates at the Armed Forces Academies
Preparatory School.
Gen Theerachai was reportedly backed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and
his deputy Prawit Wongsuwon for the top army post. Gen Udomdej was said to
prefer Gen Preecha Chan-o-cha, the younger brother of the prime minister,
for the position, but had to follow the orders of the two military
strongmen.
Despite a public display of friendliness and assurances from Gen Prawit,
also defence minister and so-called "big brother", that there is nothing
amiss between Gen Theerachai and his predecessor Gen Udomdej, scepticism
within the army remains.
A week after the Theerachai-Udomdej rift report was run in the Post -- in
print and on the website, the Bangkok Post server host received a request
seeking "cooperation" from the Ministry of Information and Communication
Technology to take down the article, saying it could "instigate domestic
unrest".
This marks the first time the junta has asked the Post to do this since it
toppled the elected civilian government in May last year.
So from Tuesday, the story disappeared from the website.
This short-term solution may have satisfied some military personnel working
for the prime minister and other generals, but it won't stop the tension and
more news reports may emerge soon.
Here's my message to the military: shooting the messengers will not bring an
end to our conflicts.
Nopporn Wong-Anan is deputy editor, Bangkok Post.
MH17 crash report: Dutch investigators confirm Buk missile
hit plane
13 October 2015
The Dutch Saftey Board has released its final report on the
downing of MH17 over the Ukraine last year.
The report does not say who fired the missile but it is
clinical and terrifying in its detailed account.
A separate criminal investigation is due to present its
report within the next few months. The Dutch have not ruled out murder
charges but prosecution of any individuals is frankly unlikely and the
missile crew that was responsible (and have no doubt that someone was
repsonsible) have been long retreated into Russia and been hidden away.
This is a summary of the Dutch Safety Board account of the
MH17 crash, and the reaction to its report. It should be made clear that the
DSB specifically says it is not in its purview to determine the launch
location of the BUK missile.
The report concluded that MH17 was shot down by a Buk surface-to-air missile
which exploded less than a metre from the cockpit. It said the front of the
aircraft was destroyed by the missile, killing the three pilots instantly
and causing the rest of the plane to break apart.
Bow-tie shape fragments in the debris and traces of paint were crucial in
determining the precise model of warhead involved. The report named the
missile used as a 9N314M warhead as carried on a 9M38-series missile and
launched by a Buk surface-to-air missile system.
A partial-reconstruction of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing shot down has been
pieced together from wreckage from the crash site in eastern Ukraine. The
reconstruction has helped to validate the board’s conclusions, according to
Tjibbe Joustra, the board’s chairman.
The makers of Buk missile systems, Almaz-Antey, gave a press conference on
Tuesday morning, before the Dutch report, apparently aimed at distracting
attention from the Dutch report. The Russian propaganda report has been
active on social media claiming once again that it was the Ukraine military
that was responsible. Almaz-Antey said it had performed two experiments
proves one of its missiles could not have been launched from areas under
pro-Russia separatist control.
Barry Sweeney, whose son Liam, was one of 10 British victims of the crash
said he hoped all the passengers were killed as soon as the plane was hit.
He said: “We can’t be 100% sure [that nobody suffered on the flight] but
we’ve got to sort of think that was the case.”
But the report found that some passengers could have been conscious after
the missile hit. It said: “It could not be ascertained at which exact moment
occupants died, but it is certain that the impact on the ground was not
survivable.”
The Russian government has challenged the finding that a Buk missile shot
down the plane. The DSB noted Russia’s objections but issued a
point-by-point rebuttal.
The Dutch safety board did say that the airspace above the
conflict zone should have been closed by Ukraine to commercial air traffic.
The airlines themselves were a little too cavalier in not reviewing
geopolitical issues and the use of commercial airspace.
Britain’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, welcomed the report and called
on those responsible to be “held to account”. Ukraine repeated its
accusation that Russian militants were behind the attack.
The report did not deal with “blame and culpability”. A second criminal
investigation by the Dutch prosecutor’s office, scheduled to conclude early
in 2016, is expected to answer the most politically charged question: who
shot down flight MH17?
Koh Tao murder trial concludes; verdict on 24 December
12 October 2015
The Koh Tao murder trial has concluded its hearings and a
verdict will be given by the panel of three judges on 24 December.
The two accused Burmese defendants gave evidence in
the closing stages of their trial over the murders of Hannah Witheridge, 23,
and David Miller, 24, in Koh Tao in September last year.
Zaw Lin told the court that after his arrest, a police interpreter told him
to admit to the crime or he would be killed. He was told that if he
confessed, he would be imprisoned for “only four to five years”. Due to
fear, he agreed to confess, the co-defendant told the court.
He said that before re-enactment of the crime at the scene of the murders,
an interpreter suggested what should be done.
Zaw Lin testified that in November last year he signed his name to a written
confession because he was still afraid of getting killed. He claimed that he
did not understand the words in the document.
Zaw Lin also told the court he thought the police officers were going to
suffocate him as they repeatedly put plastic bags over his head and
tightened them around his face and neck until he collapsed.
As the court session went on into the night, Wei Phyo said he was punched
repeatedly for refusing to admit he was filmed on CCTV running away from the
killings.
Wei Phyo told the trial: “The police asked if that was me in the picture and
I said no. I was wearing a black top and long trousers that night, as seen
in earlier CCTV footage, and the person they were pointing to wasn’t me and
was wearing white shorts.
“But when I denied it they punched me. They asked me again and again and I
repeated again and again that it was not me on the CCTV but they punched me
every time, until I had to confess to stop it.”
Wei Phyo said he was also kicked, punched and slapped
repeatedly and threatened with dismemberment, electrocution, and a burial at
sea before he finally confessed.
The diminutive Burmese defendant said he was finally
convinced to say he committed the crimes by a senior police officer who was
wearing civilian clothes: “The man said I was young, and I could just say I
did it and just go to prison for several years. If I didn’t I would
certainly be killed. The interpreter told me he was in a position to help
me, so I decided I should confess. After that, I signed many documents but I
didn’t know what they said.“
Wei Phyo said he was then instructed by police officers and the translator
in how he should say he killed Ms Witheridge and Mr Miller.
The prosecution insists DNA from the Myanmar migrant workers was found on Ms
Witheridge’s body. But the defense team has called many witnesses to
discredit the DNA testing process, which was done exclusively by Thai
police.
Thailand’s Central Institute of Forensic Science re-examined the murder
weapon, a hoe, and testified there was no DNA from the accused on it, but it
did have DNA from the both victims and a third unidentified person.
The clothing Ms Witheridge was wearing when her body was found was not
presented as evidence.
The trial has been a torturous process for the families of the victims, who
have been forced to fly back and forth to Thailand to attend 21 days of
testimony spread over four months. T
In a last day surprise the family of David Miller intervened in the trial to
try and prove their son's phone was in the possession of one of the accused.
In a dramatic twist in the final two hours of testimony, the prosecution
took receipt of a package from the Thai Embassy in London, which they said
confirmed the unique IMEI number of a phone found near the lodgings of one
of the accused Burmese migrant workers.
Wei Phyo, 22, has not denied finding a phone on the beach on the night of
the murders.
He said he picked it out of the sand some distance from the murder scene and
took it home but he could not open it as it was locked with a passcode.
"The next day we heard about the murders and we were worried it might belong
to someone involved," he told the court.
"My friend smashed up the phone and threw it into the undergrowth behind our
hut."
The confirmation of ownership adds to circumstantial evidence against the
defendants.
However the only significant evidence directly linking the two accused, Zaw
Lin and Wai Phyo, to the murders is the police DNA results. The verdict
therefore appears to come down to the court’s position on the reliability of
the police DNA evidence/results; together with the court's view of the
torture allegations in explaining the original confessions.
FCCT Statement on formal charges against Anthony Kwan for
carrying body armour
10 October 2015
The professional membership of the Foreign Correspondents'
Club of Thailand is disappointed to hear that the Royal Thai Police have
filed formal charges against the Hong Kong photojournalist Hok Chun
'Anthony' Kwan for carrying body armour and a helmet while travelling out of
Thailand on assignment in August. He has been charged with unauthorised
possession of equipment categorised as a weapon under Thai law, which
carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison under the 1987 Arms
Control Act.
The FCCT has repeatedly requested assistance from the Thai government in
finding a way for journalists and others, like paramedics, who may be
required to work in conflict zones, to be able to carry personal protective
equipment legally. Mr. Kwan brought in body armour and a helmet, as have
many other journalists in Thailand, solely for his personal safety. Such
equipment used by journalists should not be regarded as offensive weapons.
Instead of charging Mr. Kwan, the Thai authorities should consult with the
media community in Thailand, both foreign and domestic, to explore a way
around the 1987 law, which was surely not intended to prosecute journalists
carrying out their normal duties.
National to link Orlando and Canada
7 October 2015
National Airlines, which has been doing military contract
flying in Dubai, will start a new passenger operation in the USA from
December 2015 and will grow to a five destination network by the middle of
January 2016. All the flights will be operated using a 184-seat Boeing
757-200 and National has partnered with Tourico Holidays to package flights
with hotels, rental cars, cruises, activities, vacation homes and more
alongside its seat-only offering.
National Airlines has selected Orlando Sanford International Airport as its
initial operating base serving five cities across North America with
domestic links within the US and international services to Canada.
The business will initially launch with a twice weekly link to next year’s
Routes Americas host city of San Juan in Puerto Rico from December 16, 2015;
followed just a day later by the start of a twice weekly link to Windsor in
Ontario, Canada. Las Vegas –also served twice weekly - will be added to the
network from December 27, 2015, while twice weekly flights to St. Johns,
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
will follow from January 18, 2016 and January 20, 2016, respectively.
After investigating numerous options, National Airlines said it selected
Orlando Sanford “because of its exceptional service, proximity to local
attractions, and the relatively smaller crowds and shorter lines that will
minimize time in the airport, leaving guests more time to enjoy all that
Florida has to offer”.
National has developed a product different from the general industry move to
no-frills operations which it says is unlike today's normal “cattle-car
approach”. The carrier will offer a free checked bag, free reserved seating
and a free meal as part of standard pricing as it focuses on delivering
exceptional value and price in a comfortable and professional manner. “We
think travelers will agree. Just give us the opportunity to introduce you to
our ‘Inclusive Fares, Exclusive Service,’ approach to air travel,” said
Dennis Daley, Manager of Network Planning and Strategy, National Airlines.
Bye bye to the A340-500
6 October 2015
So Emirates is saying goodbye to its last A340-500. By
far the best looking airliner in the fleet.
It may be that the airplane will leave the fleet early
morning on 7th October after performing its final rotation to Beirut. There
has been no confirmation from Emirates.
The airframe may also have left the fleet on 3 October after
its Kabul rotation,
The final flight was originally scheduled tonight with A6-ERE
flying EK955/956 to Beirut. Acquired in 2004 the airliner is just 11 years
old. Too young and you ahve to assume a considerable write-off for the
airline.
The announcement to retire the A340-500 fleet was made in
2013. "The high cost of fuel makes the aircraft uneconomic to fly now,”
Emirates president Tim Clark told Flightglobal at the that time.
“We’ve taken a big hit to retire them, but their poor
economics means there’s no point in flying them,” Clark was quoted as
saying. “They were designed in the late 1990s with fuel at $25-30. They fell
over at $60 and at $120 they haven’t got a hope in hell.”
Oddly with fuel now at $50 the airliners are probably viable
now. The fleet was acquired in 2003/2004. They are by modern standards very
young airliners. Sadly there is no obvious second hand market for these
airframes beyond a small number that are taken up for royalty/governmental
use.
Foul play from EK
6 October 2015
For what its worth I really, really dislike the new Jennifer
Aniston ad from Emirates. And I dislike it on so many levels.
Here it is - have a look:
It is clearly a cheap shot at the main US carriers - part of
the ongoing feud between the ME3 and the US3.
The ad sees the "Friends" (now-faded) star ridiculed by the
cabin crew of an airline when she turns up (at the back of the airplane in
economy) wearing a dressing gown, and asks where the shower is. The big
reveal at the end is that it was a "nightmare" and she was actually on board
an Emirates A380.
Boutros Boutros, Emirates divisional senior vice president of corporate
communications, says in a statement: "In a departure from the usual airline
industry ads, we chose to take a humorous approach to showcase the amazing
products we offer on board. We couldn't think of anyone better suited for
the role than Jennifer Aniston and we wrote the script with her in mind. Her
professionalism and comedic talent shone on the set and we are very pleased
with the outcome."
Oh dear - where to start.
First: the campaign costs US$20 million. Ouch. Ms Aniston
apparently gets US$5million. She had probably never flown (maybe never heard
of) Emirates until her agent told her there was some good money to be made.
Second: I hate celebrity endorsements. Miss Aniston probably
did not even know Emirates was an airline until her manager came to her and
said she can make some easy money doing an airline ad. I also have no idea
why a paid for celebrity endorsement would influence anyone's choice of
airline.
Third: let's compare like with like. Aniston is wandering
into the rear galley of economy asking about a shower. The towel and peanuts
gag is clearly aimed at the US airlines. They have big domestic networks
where snacks or buy on board are economy catering. But Emirates does not
have a domestic network.
Indeed on their international flights the US airlines do not
operate a first class. Usually the choice is business, premium economy or
economy. Their business products are probably as good as it not better than
Emirates - especially the tired 2-3-2 economy seating.
Fourth: the portrayal of American flight attendants is
offensive. There are three - how shall I say it - older crew. They are in
the galley; eating. They laugh at their customer. This is not the crew that
rescued all the passengers from Sullenberger's stricken A320. For the most
part I have found US crews experienced and welcoming. There is only so much
they can do with their onboard product. But their experience counts for a
great deal when safety becomes an issue.
Fifth: Why antagonise the US carriers? It simply is not a
valid comparison The ad simply escalates the war of words. Sell the positive
about Emirates. Do not go negative on other airlines.
So Emirates has a shower on board. It is only on the A380s.
It is available to just 14 out of 513 passengers on each A380. just 2.8% of
the passengers on each flight. And at a cost. A quick search on Emirates.com
for a mid-week return flight from New York to Dubai in December yielded a
ticket costing $26,950. Yes. That shower will cost you. The same flight in
economy class is US$2,200.
I suspect 97% of Emirates passengers will stick with the
cheap airfare and hold off on the shower until they land.
If Emirates wants to appeal to US travelers it needs to sell
its economy product. Sell the movies and catering; sell the $1 wifi; sell
the amount of space on the A380. But dont ever try to tell your economy
passenger that the 777 experience is in any way better than long-haul on a
US carrier.
Remembering IP Sharp Associates
6 October 2015
Watching the excellent "Halt and catch Fire" takes me back to
the mid 1980s and to Reuters 1987 acquisition of IP Sharp Associates.
Halt and Catch Fire is a tv series made by AMC. Set in the
1980s it was a well-informed look into the roots of the technology
boom...the dawn of the computer age. The show talked of old IBM mainframes;
3081s and 3090s; of timesharing; of networks and of communities. It was
clever - showing how something that in the 1980s was almost hippy-ish has
become mainstream. Even in the tv show the issue is funding; experimenting
with new toys was far more fun that making money from them.
Which takes me back some 30 years ago to my first visit to IP
Sharp Associates in Toronto in February 1986.
I. P. Sharp Associates, IPSA for short, was a major Canadian
computer time sharing, consulting and services firm of the 1970s and 80s.
IPSA is particularly well known for its work on the APL programming
language, an early packet switching computer network known as IPSANET, and a
powerful mainframe-based email system known as 666 BOX. It was purchased in
1987 by Reuters, in part for access to the extensive historical information
database that the company had built. Reuters kept IPSA until 2005 as a data
warehousing center for business data.
IPSA's eight founders had worked as a team at the Toronto
division of Ferranti, Ferranti-Packard, which sold numerous products to the
Canadian military and large businesses. In 1964 Ferranti sold off its
computing division to International Computers and Tabulators, which almost
immediately closed the Toronto office. Ian Sharp, the chief programmer,
decided to found his own company, and named it for himself.
The company started with contract programming on IBM System/360 series
mainframes, and to some degree took over Ferranti's former military work. In
the early years, IPSA collaborated with its "sister company" Scientific Time
Sharing Corporation (STSC) of Bethesda, Maryland, USA, each retailing the
same services in their respective countries. IPSA and STSC jointly developed
their software. Eventually they devised separate product names. They
separated as Sharp APL and APL*Plus.
IPSA sold time on its mainframes by the minute to customers
across Canada, and rapidly developed into a major time sharing service in
the 1970s. Long before the Internet, IPSA developed IPSANET to provide cheap
telecommunications between the Toronto data center and IPSA clients across
North America, Europe and eventually to Asia. Packet-switching also made
their transatlantic links much more usable, since on previous equipment,
frequent "line hits" would produce user-visible errors. As the network grew,
and as Sharp APL was available on in-house computers, Sharp clients with
their own mainframes could join the network, access their own or the Toronto
mainframe from anywhere on IPSANET, and transfer data accordingly. The
network eventually provided "Network Shared Variables" that allowed programs
running on one mainframe to communicate in realtime with programs on another
mainframe. This was used for file transfer and email services.
I. P. Sharp Associates offered timesharing users access to a variety of
databases, plus sophisticated packages for statistical analysis,
forecasting, reporting, and graphing data. Databases included historical
stock market time series data, econometric data, and airline data. All of
these were available from the 39 MAGIC workspace, an easy-to-use time
series, query, and reporting language, which among other things featured
integrated high-quality business graphics from Superplot. In 1982, IPSA
produced its first printed catalog of all online databases and proceeded to
document for its customers the content and use of single databases or sets
of databases.
These databases were of obvious interest to Reuters who
provided real time data without the historical analysis.
IPSA was heavily involved in the development of the APL language, eventually
employing its inventor, Ken Iverson, in the early 1980s. Roger Moore, a
company co-founder and vice-president, won the 1973 Grace Murray Hopper
Award for the development of APL\360 (along with Larry Breed and Dick
Lathwell). APL\360 was later greatly enhanced and extended to become SHARP
APL.
IPSA employed a team of expert APL implementors and contributors in its
Toronto head office location, including Ian Sharp, in his role as enabler,
Roger Moore, Dick Lathwell, Brian Daly in his role as marketing guy in
Toronto, Bob Bernecky, Leigh O. Clayton, Doug Forkes, Dave Markwick, and
Peter Wooster. This group was headed by Eric B. Iverson, Ken Iverson's son.
It was affectionately known as the "Zoo" and was very well respected inside
and outside the firm. The term "Zoo" is attributed to a visitor from the
"establishment" who witnessed the long hair, beards and unconventional dress
amongst some of the team. Sharp APL and APL Plus, and variants, were all
based on the XM6 IBM program. Further extensive APL development was done in
Toronto and elsewhere.
It is perhaps this group that most resembles the creative
chaos of the tv show.
Later, in the 1980s, a branch office in Palo Alto, California, managed by
Paul L. Jackson, made significant contributions to APL and later J. This
office included Joey Tuttle, Roland Pesch, and Eugene McDonnell.
666 BOX, written in APL, was one of the first commercial email services,
known colloquially by its users as the "Sharp Mailbox." The original 666 BOX
was written by Larry Breed of STSC. It was later rewritten for higher
security by a student hacker from Lower Canada College, Leslie H. Goldsmith.
Eventually it was extended to support transferring email among multiple
domains (mainframes) over IPSANET.
The timesharing business started to deteriorate in mid-1982, as some key
timesharing clients moved their operations from timesharing to in-house
Sharp APL. Around that time, IBM started offering smaller mainframe
computers, such as the IBM 4300 series, which could be leased for less than
the cost of using external services. Clients who did not depend on the
network were the first to migrate to small mainframes. Initially, the
presence of the IBM PC posed little threat to the timesharing industry as
the computing horsepower and storage capacity offered by these small
machines was insufficient. As a major slice of Sharp's business was
buttressed by database business, this had the beneficial effect of delaying
the eventual downslide. IPSA also started to build value added financial
applications such as Instant Link and Blend that made use of the existing
network infrastructure.
Reuters purchased I. P. Sharp Associates in 1987, partially for the
historical financial data. Ian Sharp continued as president until 1989, when
he retired. In 1993, IPSA's "APL Software Division" was purchased by its
employees from Reuters and renamed Soliton. Reuters closed the Toronto
facility in 2005.
Timesharing has had a rebirth with the concept of cloud
computing and teh need to store, access and use massive amounts of data. Lib
Gibson who was one of the Soliton team that acquired Sharp APL from Reuters
wrote on her blog of "a pioneering software and network communications
company, led by the brilliant and unassuming Ian Sharp."
Her description of the company can be found in a review of
Stev Job's biography. It maybe a little rose-tinted but it is instructive;
"Ian's penchant for hiring bright people resulted in a company full of
them. Like Jobs, many 'Sharpees' had dropped out of university (often
leaving the US motivated by the Vietnam draft). Like Jobs, some of
them had nevertheless earned a BA (brilliant & abrasive) or a BE (brilliant
& eccentric). Ian exhibited huge tolerance of eccentric behaviour as
long as people were contributing and were respectful of their colleagues and
focused on solving customer problems. Jobs' success arose, at
least in part, from the diversity of his interests and his appetite for
ingesting ideas from many fields. Ian's disregard for people's area of
specialization meant that I.P. Sharp was seething with people from diverse
backgrounds - computer science as well as education, mathematics,
biology, music and many fields. (It was also full of 'minorities',
because Ian seemed blind to nationality, religion, skin colour, or sexual
orientation)."
It was a unique and talented culture. It had also run itself
financially into the ground and by 1986 it needed a white knight to
re-finance the business.
Reuters mistake was not in buying the company but in trying
to fit it into the Reuters geography rather the the business units. IPSA was
initially supervised by Reuters America who had no interest in a business
when they had not been involved in its acquisition. Existing management was
left in place; Reuters was seen as the new banker. It was a year before real
change could start and an integration of the businesses could commence.
Of course it is telling that IPSA
had a 50th anniversary reunion in 2014. It appears that not one person
from Reuters was invited. Given how many of the company's employers were
shareholders they had a lot to thank Reuters for. But memories can be
selective.
"I didn't want to talk about it, so I wrote a song about it."
Greg Keelor
Compelled to add their voice to the chorus of voices protesting Prime
Minister Harper's Conservative government, Blue Rodeo has written the modern
day protest song "Stealin' All My Dreams".
Recorded and filmed on September 9, 2015, the song and video chronicle the
failings of the current government and asks the question, "Have you
forgotten that you work for me?"
"Blue Rodeo does not always speak with one voice. However we feel
collectively that the current administration in Canada has taken us down the
wrong path. We do not seem to be the compassionate and environmentally
conscious nation we once were. As respectful as we are of the variety of
opinions held by our audience, we felt it was time to speak up and add our
voice to the conversation." Jim Cuddy
The song and video are available for free download on BlueRodeo.com. The
facts included in the video are also on the site accompanied by articles
encouraging the reader to delve further.
The key message to all Canadians is please vote on October 19, 2015. And
ideally vote for change.
