Well, isn't this convenient. According to this article Canada is set to deport a family to Russia because during the Soviet era, the dad did surveillance for the KGB.
Heaven knows I am no fan of the KGB, but this man has not been found guilty of any crime here or elsewhere.
But, this is Canada, so I guess it's inevitable that more of our tax dollars would be squandered on yet another witch hunt.
It apparently doesn't matter whether East Europeans lie to get into Canada (as some are accused of after WWII), or they don't. They still end up as targets for deportation either way.
Meanwhile, drug lords, mass murderers, human traffickers and similar scum enjoy the best our country has to offer, free from worry because Canadian officials and media are too busy harassing harmless senior citizens who have lived productive lives.
Bureaucratic incompetence? Or perhaps that despite over a century of helping to build this country, East Europeans *still* aren't really welcome in Canada?
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Ukrainian means Canadian ... since when?
Apparently, when it involves an expensive piece of Ukrainian artwork, at least according to this article.
Interesting how the Canadian media establishment fawns over the work of this "European" artist who never set foot in Canada, yet mocks Canadians of Ukrainian descent who actually help build this country.
Details here ... there's a scan of the article and a photo.
H/T to pumpernickel.
Interesting how the Canadian media establishment fawns over the work of this "European" artist who never set foot in Canada, yet mocks Canadians of Ukrainian descent who actually help build this country.
Details here ... there's a scan of the article and a photo.
H/T to pumpernickel.
Vancouver audio archives for Jan 28, 2007
Archives are all updated to Jan 28 now, including podcasts. (I made a goof on the RSS feed a few weeks in a row. It's been a rough few weeks...)
On Nash Holos, Sylvia talks all about buckwheat, Myrna has more on her 3 (count 'em!) upcoming tours to eastern Europe, and Fr Bruce shares some thoughts about New Year's Resolutions that may help you keep yours. Plenty of Great Ukrainian music ... CD of the Week is Zyma (Winter) by the Nowystski Sisters.
Chetverta Khvylia, hosted by Pavlo Manugevych, brings you news, views and music from Ukraine... exclusively in Ukrainian.
Enjoy!
On Nash Holos, Sylvia talks all about buckwheat, Myrna has more on her 3 (count 'em!) upcoming tours to eastern Europe, and Fr Bruce shares some thoughts about New Year's Resolutions that may help you keep yours. Plenty of Great Ukrainian music ... CD of the Week is Zyma (Winter) by the Nowystski Sisters.
Chetverta Khvylia, hosted by Pavlo Manugevych, brings you news, views and music from Ukraine... exclusively in Ukrainian.
Enjoy!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Radio special this Saturday in Regina
Just received from Victoria Muzychuk in Regina:
Tune in this Saturday, January 27th, for a special 1 hour edition of Muzyka Ukraine (just this one Saturday only) from 11:00am to 12:00pm CST on CJTR Regina Community Radio 91.3 FM.
"Muzyka Ukraine" airs on CJTR every Wednesday afternoon from 3:00pm to 4:00pm CST.
If you live in Regina, you can listen to Muzyka Ukraine at 91.3FM on your radio dial, or on Channel 806 on MAX TV. You can listen from anywhere on the internet at CJTR's web page (just click on "Tune In").
Muzyka Ukraine will be featuring a variety of contemporary and popular Ukrainian music for your listening enjoyment!
Tune in this Saturday, January 27th, for a special 1 hour edition of Muzyka Ukraine (just this one Saturday only) from 11:00am to 12:00pm CST on CJTR Regina Community Radio 91.3 FM.
"Muzyka Ukraine" airs on CJTR every Wednesday afternoon from 3:00pm to 4:00pm CST.
If you live in Regina, you can listen to Muzyka Ukraine at 91.3FM on your radio dial, or on Channel 806 on MAX TV. You can listen from anywhere on the internet at CJTR's web page (just click on "Tune In").
Muzyka Ukraine will be featuring a variety of contemporary and popular Ukrainian music for your listening enjoyment!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Vichnaya Pam'yat, Aussiegirl
The world just lost a rare treasure in the passing of blogger AussieGirl.
I had never actually met Aussiegirl in the flesh. We had never even spoken on the phone. Yet I considered her a dear friend. Ever supportive and encouraging, she was a breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine. Truly a rare and precious gift.
Aussiegirl launched her blog as a tribute to her parents who came to the United States from the USSR where they had survived the Holodomor and communist persecution, then being shipped off during WWII as forced labourers under the Nazis, living in a DP camp and then fighting attempts at repatriation to the USSR (and to certain death) under the Yalta agreement.
This was a woman who appreciated her parents' experiences and sacrifices. And to honour them, she encouraged other bloggers, including me, to get out there and do their duty as "citizen journalists," all the while fighting for her life. She sent me many encouraging and helpful emails, and we often exchanged pleasantries as well as commiserating with and comforting each other during low times. How she found the energy to spread such genuine love and befriend so many total strangers is beyond me.
She was in my life for far too short a time. I shall miss not only her wise counsel and support, but also her wit and wisdom, and the spunk that allowed her to share it.
If you haven't yet visited the late Aussiegirl's blog, do go there and read the archives. You will be doing yourself a favour. It's called Ultima Thule and is here.
I had never actually met Aussiegirl in the flesh. We had never even spoken on the phone. Yet I considered her a dear friend. Ever supportive and encouraging, she was a breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine. Truly a rare and precious gift.
Aussiegirl launched her blog as a tribute to her parents who came to the United States from the USSR where they had survived the Holodomor and communist persecution, then being shipped off during WWII as forced labourers under the Nazis, living in a DP camp and then fighting attempts at repatriation to the USSR (and to certain death) under the Yalta agreement.
This was a woman who appreciated her parents' experiences and sacrifices. And to honour them, she encouraged other bloggers, including me, to get out there and do their duty as "citizen journalists," all the while fighting for her life. She sent me many encouraging and helpful emails, and we often exchanged pleasantries as well as commiserating with and comforting each other during low times. How she found the energy to spread such genuine love and befriend so many total strangers is beyond me.
She was in my life for far too short a time. I shall miss not only her wise counsel and support, but also her wit and wisdom, and the spunk that allowed her to share it.
If you haven't yet visited the late Aussiegirl's blog, do go there and read the archives. You will be doing yourself a favour. It's called Ultima Thule and is here.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Another Canadian politician plays the race card
I don't usually comment on politics on this blog, but since the NDP just jumped on the race bandwagon chasing the ethnic vote, I just had to...
Contrary to this article in today's Globe & Mail, "generations past" DID openly discriminate against those who were white and Christian.
Just ask the Ukrainian community. Oddly enough, neither the government nor mainstream media has shown any interest in their story, much less advocated for our proposed public educational campaign, to be funded with money initially taken from Ukrainian immigrants during WWI ... and has yet to be returned.
Might it be that the interest of the present generation in injustices long-past only runs skin deep?
Contrary to this article in today's Globe & Mail, "generations past" DID openly discriminate against those who were white and Christian.
Just ask the Ukrainian community. Oddly enough, neither the government nor mainstream media has shown any interest in their story, much less advocated for our proposed public educational campaign, to be funded with money initially taken from Ukrainian immigrants during WWI ... and has yet to be returned.
Might it be that the interest of the present generation in injustices long-past only runs skin deep?
Another reason to learn (and speak) Ukrainian
According to this CTV report, a new study has revealed that it's good for your mental health!
Finally, irrefutable ammo for any Ukrainian who has ever been told to speak [insert dominant language here] ...
Read about it here!
Finally, irrefutable ammo for any Ukrainian who has ever been told to speak [insert dominant language here] ...
Read about it here!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Interview with Roman
Yesterday, Jan. 5, 2007 Roman Brytan, host of the Ukrainian radio program on CKER Radio in Edmonton, and I had a nice on-air chat on his program.
We spoke about the Ukrainian community in Vancouver, Nash Holos and Chetverta Khvylia, Ukrainian broadcasting in Canada, and the book Kobzar's Children.
The interview took place about 6:15 p.m., Edmonton time.
The programs are archived for 7 days on the station's website. If you'd like to hear the interview, go here .
We spoke in English. ;-)
Cross-posted at Kobzar's Children.
We spoke about the Ukrainian community in Vancouver, Nash Holos and Chetverta Khvylia, Ukrainian broadcasting in Canada, and the book Kobzar's Children.
The interview took place about 6:15 p.m., Edmonton time.
The programs are archived for 7 days on the station's website. If you'd like to hear the interview, go here .
We spoke in English. ;-)
Cross-posted at Kobzar's Children.
Add your Ukrainian video to UkeTube!
You just had to see this coming...
UkeTube-Українське Відео welcomes all Ukrainian videos from YouTube, MySpace, and the WWW.
UkeTube includes Ukrainian films, documentaries, history lectures, arts/culture, television programmes, music (yeah!), politics, comedy, sports, business, education, academic seminars, festivals, concerts, travels, vignettes, blogs, family events, parties, celebrations, etc. ...
The more Ukrainian videos we can share and watch together the better!
Visit UkeTube here.
UkeTube-Українське Відео welcomes all Ukrainian videos from YouTube, MySpace, and the WWW.
UkeTube includes Ukrainian films, documentaries, history lectures, arts/culture, television programmes, music (yeah!), politics, comedy, sports, business, education, academic seminars, festivals, concerts, travels, vignettes, blogs, family events, parties, celebrations, etc. ...
The more Ukrainian videos we can share and watch together the better!
Visit UkeTube here.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
CBC sitcom 'Little Mosque on the prairie'" parallels Ukrainian immigrant experience of a century ago
I wonder if the CBC's upcoming sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie will go the same way as the TV adaptation of the hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was pretty obvious from the first TV episode that it wouldn't fly. The creator of the movie (and the play it was based on) lost control to maintream sitcom writers who just didn't get what made the movie so popular. The characters and situations in the Mosque sitcom are similarly stereotypical, and from a mainstream perspective, already.
But, as we're wont to say in radioland, only time will tell. The CBC is (quite understandably) excited about the buzz surrounding the sitcom's upcoming debut on Tuesday, Jan. 9 ...
The show, a comedy about Muslims trying to interact with their small-town neighbours in a fictional Canadian prairie town called Mercy, has been written up in the New York Times and the Houston Chronicle, with CNN and Stephen Colbert, the fake late-night talk-show host, also taking notice.
... The CBC is so pumped by the attention the show started getting - largely on the strength of its title and premise - that it decided to take advantage of the buzz and premiere the show in January instead of waiting until next fall.
There are a couple of clips at the show's site here. One of them is about the imam, on his way to his mosque on the prairie, getting arrested at the airport. I imagine if Bishop Budka were alive today, he would empathize with the imam.
However, at least the imam's congregants don't have to worry about being shipped off to concentration camps or slaving on work gangs for starvation wages to build Canada's national parks and railways, like Ukrainian and other East European immigrants did nearly a century ago.
And certainly there won't be any books published that portray today's Muslim immigrants as ignorant, unwashed neanderthals... the way the odious Ralph Connor novel The Foreigner published in 1909 portrays Ukrainians. In fact, according to this article, the CBC has hired a Muslim-Canadian consultant to check over the scripts.
So it's a bit easier to poke fun at culture clashes in today's Canada, now that we've become such a tolerant nation and all, having learned so well from our past mistakes.
But, as we're wont to say in radioland, only time will tell. The CBC is (quite understandably) excited about the buzz surrounding the sitcom's upcoming debut on Tuesday, Jan. 9 ...
The show, a comedy about Muslims trying to interact with their small-town neighbours in a fictional Canadian prairie town called Mercy, has been written up in the New York Times and the Houston Chronicle, with CNN and Stephen Colbert, the fake late-night talk-show host, also taking notice.
... The CBC is so pumped by the attention the show started getting - largely on the strength of its title and premise - that it decided to take advantage of the buzz and premiere the show in January instead of waiting until next fall.
There are a couple of clips at the show's site here. One of them is about the imam, on his way to his mosque on the prairie, getting arrested at the airport. I imagine if Bishop Budka were alive today, he would empathize with the imam.
However, at least the imam's congregants don't have to worry about being shipped off to concentration camps or slaving on work gangs for starvation wages to build Canada's national parks and railways, like Ukrainian and other East European immigrants did nearly a century ago.
And certainly there won't be any books published that portray today's Muslim immigrants as ignorant, unwashed neanderthals... the way the odious Ralph Connor novel The Foreigner published in 1909 portrays Ukrainians. In fact, according to this article, the CBC has hired a Muslim-Canadian consultant to check over the scripts.
So it's a bit easier to poke fun at culture clashes in today's Canada, now that we've become such a tolerant nation and all, having learned so well from our past mistakes.
Tax break for Ukrainian dance students?
According to this article ...
... A fitness tax benefit that kicked in Jan. 1 will allow parents to claim up to $500 in registration fees per child under 16 on their 2007 taxes.
But guidelines on what qualifies for the children's fitness tax break don't go as far as naming activities, leaving organizations that promote sports such as golf and bowling holding their breath. ...
Guidelines released in December stipulate that the activity must occur at least once a week over at least eight weeks ... Memberships in clubs, associations and organizations could also count.
Activities that contribute to cardio-respiratory endurance will be eligible, but the activity also has to contribute to either muscular strength, endurance strength, flexibility or balance.
I wonder if Ukrainian dance would be included. It certainly meets the criteria (at least, the published criteria).
... A fitness tax benefit that kicked in Jan. 1 will allow parents to claim up to $500 in registration fees per child under 16 on their 2007 taxes.
But guidelines on what qualifies for the children's fitness tax break don't go as far as naming activities, leaving organizations that promote sports such as golf and bowling holding their breath. ...
Guidelines released in December stipulate that the activity must occur at least once a week over at least eight weeks ... Memberships in clubs, associations and organizations could also count.
Activities that contribute to cardio-respiratory endurance will be eligible, but the activity also has to contribute to either muscular strength, endurance strength, flexibility or balance.
I wonder if Ukrainian dance would be included. It certainly meets the criteria (at least, the published criteria).
More Ukie dancing
Ukies dancing in UK video
Just came across a video on YouTube featuring Canadian singer songwriter Martina Sorbara with Basement Jaxx.
Lots of Ukrainian dancing, but it would be nicer without the hammer and sickle shot. However, it does kind of fit in with the rather chilling ending ... which some commenter suggested was that the European Union wants into the USSR.
Catchy tune, tho, and the dancing is pretty good. Go here to see it.
Lots of Ukrainian dancing, but it would be nicer without the hammer and sickle shot. However, it does kind of fit in with the rather chilling ending ... which some commenter suggested was that the European Union wants into the USSR.
Catchy tune, tho, and the dancing is pretty good. Go here to see it.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Disingenous ... or genuinely clueless?
You have to wonder at the CRTC's reasoning, as illustrated in this article ...
The Falun Dafa Association of Canada has vowed to keep fighting a decision by Canada's broadcast regulator to approve nine digital TV stations from mainland China.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission gave the go-ahead for the Chinese-language stations on Dec. 22. ...
... The CRTC said it approved the nine channels as part of its policy that non-Canadian third-language television services should be approved to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Huh?? How does third-language programming promote cross-cultural understanding, given that few Canadians understand both of our official languages, let alone a third, non-official, one?
No doubt, however, the CRTC does recognize that few Canadians know (or care) about Chinese religious politics. And of course, even feeble attempts at "cross-cultural understanding" are very politically correct in Canada. So, for all intents and purposes, I suppose this decision was a no-brainer.
I wait now with bated breath for programming from Ukraine...
The Falun Dafa Association of Canada has vowed to keep fighting a decision by Canada's broadcast regulator to approve nine digital TV stations from mainland China.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission gave the go-ahead for the Chinese-language stations on Dec. 22. ...
... The CRTC said it approved the nine channels as part of its policy that non-Canadian third-language television services should be approved to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Huh?? How does third-language programming promote cross-cultural understanding, given that few Canadians understand both of our official languages, let alone a third, non-official, one?
No doubt, however, the CRTC does recognize that few Canadians know (or care) about Chinese religious politics. And of course, even feeble attempts at "cross-cultural understanding" are very politically correct in Canada. So, for all intents and purposes, I suppose this decision was a no-brainer.
I wait now with bated breath for programming from Ukraine...
new book on Christmas in Ukraine
Came across this book while surfing the 'Net for something entirely different. (Funny how that happens!)
Christmas in Ukraine: Christmas Around the World appears to be part of a series put out by World Book Encyclopedia.
Perhaps I should suggest it to Colby Cosh, since he was asking about Christmas in Ukraine on his blog last January ... but, being a freelance writer living in Edmonton, he probably has lots of sources close by to answer any questions. ;-)
Christmas in Ukraine: Christmas Around the World appears to be part of a series put out by World Book Encyclopedia.
Perhaps I should suggest it to Colby Cosh, since he was asking about Christmas in Ukraine on his blog last January ... but, being a freelance writer living in Edmonton, he probably has lots of sources close by to answer any questions. ;-)
More on RSS - the best way to keep informed online
Great article in the Ukraine Observer on RSS syndication.
Is your information getting lost on the World Wide Web? ... It is easy for your content to get lost or worse yet, never seen.
Many ... [believe] in the philosophy that "if they build it, they will come." Others faithfully distribute content by e-mail, which is also becoming a colossally difficult task ...
A new tool can help transform a business' online presence from being isolated and adrift at sea into a connected, fast-moving trade route.
"RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a new way to broadcast corporate news and structured information. ... according to RSS-Specifications.com.
This technology is already used by the majority of the most reputable media sites, by a satisfactory number of corporations and by almost all bloggers ...
... the power of RSS is that it is perhaps the most effective way to leverage the reach of the Internet to put the right information in the right hands at the right time.
Full article here.
Is your information getting lost on the World Wide Web? ... It is easy for your content to get lost or worse yet, never seen.
Many ... [believe] in the philosophy that "if they build it, they will come." Others faithfully distribute content by e-mail, which is also becoming a colossally difficult task ...
A new tool can help transform a business' online presence from being isolated and adrift at sea into a connected, fast-moving trade route.
"RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a new way to broadcast corporate news and structured information. ... according to RSS-Specifications.com.
This technology is already used by the majority of the most reputable media sites, by a satisfactory number of corporations and by almost all bloggers ...
... the power of RSS is that it is perhaps the most effective way to leverage the reach of the Internet to put the right information in the right hands at the right time.
Full article here.
Vancouver audio archives for Dec 31, 2006
US media ownership info now public
For anyone interested in who owns what in the US media industry...
The Media Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission has made public Media Bureau staff reports and studies on media ownership and related issues ... in light of their current consideration of the media ownership rules and the strong level of public interest in this proceeding...
Full article here.
The FCC’s Media Ownership web page here.
The Media Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission has made public Media Bureau staff reports and studies on media ownership and related issues ... in light of their current consideration of the media ownership rules and the strong level of public interest in this proceeding...
Full article here.
The FCC’s Media Ownership web page here.
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