Social Activism | The Proprietor Review

Category: Social Activism

Run for research…

September 17, 2014

The Terry Fox run was held on Sunday, Rich Hodgson from the local Rotary club was at a way point to make sure that participants had what they needed. We counted 61 walk, run, jog, push persons at the way station. The oldest in his eighties the youngest in baby carriages.

Terrance Stanley “Terry” Fox CC OD (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although the spread of his cancer eventually forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi), and ultimately cost him his life, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$600 million has been raised in his name.[1]

Fox was a distance runner and basketball player for his Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, high school and Simon Fraser University. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg. He also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver, winning three national championships.

In 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research. He hoped to raise one dollar for each of Canada’s 24 million people. He began with little fanfare from St. John’s, Newfoundland in April and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day. Fox had become a national star by the time he reached Ontario; he made numerous public appearances with businessmen, athletes, and politicians in his efforts to raise money. He was forced to end his run outside of Thunder Bay when the cancer spread to his lungs. His hopes of overcoming the disease and completing his marathon ended when he died nine months later.

He was the youngest person ever named a Companion of the Order of Canada. He won the 1980 Lou Marsh Award as the nation’s top sportsman and was named Canada’s Newsmaker of the Year in both 1980 and 1981. Considered a national hero, he has had many buildings, roads and parks named in his honour across the country. source Wikipedia /b-quote

Today in history: September 17th 1908

The Wright flyer aircraft crashes killing the first air traveler Lt.Thomas Selfridge

Tags: Cancer research, Fund Raiser, Terry Fox

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TGIF- friend and foe: territory

Filed under: Arts and Culture, First Nations People, Social Activism by Kevin Griffiths — Leave a comment

September 5, 2014

The local community college NVIT, Nicola Valley Institute of Technology has its welcoming to new students this week. The school has a new sign ,bilingual in English and the local first nations language. The sign says welcome to our territory, its a new sign probably made since the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision saying that limited title to first people’s traditional land still exists were treaties have not been negotiated. Language groups are often associated with land and territory and it has been a comfort for defining people s for ever but it is also been trouble when conflict arrises.
Language and territory has also been a method of separating people and controlling populations under rulers. In this modern age of interaction between populations we hope that this new context leads to better working out of where identity issues lie, commercial interests and access to the world for all people’s not just those that control lands, commerce, and ideas exist.
In reality the Canadian government still has a lot of say in how its citizens act particularly First Nations through the Indian act and charter section 15, the exemption to deals with poverty.
Its time to leave our identities alone and think in terms of mutual respect for all persons.
Today in history: September 5th 1961
The first conference of nonaligned countries is held in Belgrade.

Tags: First Nations

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The Railway Man

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Social Activism, Sports and Leisure by Kevin Griffiths — Leave a comment

September 4, 2014

Monday, September 15th 2014 sees the return of the Nicola Valley Theater Society Season. They are presenting Railway Man rated 14A it starts at 7 PM a change over last year at the community college lecture theater. The society is part of TIFF the Toronto International Film Circuit and shows 6 monthly films a year. Membership is required, a 2 dollar season membership is available at the door. Five dollar admission,no food in the lecture theater. Season ticket holders must come early to ensure admission.
The Railway man features Academy award-winning stars Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.

Colin Andrew Firth CBE (born 10 September 1960) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. His films have earned more than $3 billion from 42 releases worldwide.[1] He has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as the Volpi Cup. His most notable and acclaimed role to date has been his 2010 portrayal of King George VI in The King’s Speech, a performance that gained him an Oscar and many other worldwide best actor awards. It went on to gross $414,211,549 worldwide.[2]

Identified in the late 1980s with the ‘Brit Pack’ of new young British actors headed by Gary Oldman, Firth’s rise to stardom progressed at a slower pace than many of his contemporaries. It was not until his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that Firth became a household name. The show was a hit in the UK and USA and established him as a marquee talent. This led to roles in films such as The English Patient, Bridget Jones’s Diary (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA), Shakespeare in Love and Love Actually. In 2009 he received widespread critical acclaim for his leading role in A Single Man, for which Firth gained his first Academy Award nomination, and won a BAFTA Award.

In 2011, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was also selected as one of the Time 100.[3] He was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in 2007, and was made a Freeman of the City of London in 2012. Firth has campaigned for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and is a member of Survival International. He has also campaigned on issues of asylum seekers and refugees’ rights and the environment. Firth commissioned and is credited as a co-author on a scientific paper on a study into the differences in brain structure between people of differing political orientations
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC (born 20 June 1967[2]) is an Australian actress, singer[3][4] and film producer.[5] Kidman’s breakthrough film role was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. Following several films in the early 1990s, she came to worldwide recognition for her performances in Days of Thunder (1990), Far and Away (1992), and Batman Forever (1995). She followed these with other successful films in the late 1990s. Her performance in the musical Moulin Rouge! (2001) earned her second Golden Globe Award and first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her performance as Virginia Woolf in the drama film The Hours (2002) received critical acclaim and earned Kidman the Academy Award for Best Actress and Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin film festival. source Wikipedia

Today in history: September 4th 1888
George Eastman registers his Kodak trademark.

Tags: Arts and Entertainment, Colin Firth, internatinal films, Merritt British Columbia, Nicole Kidman, railways

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Solar power

Filed under: Enterprize, Social Activism, Sports and Leisure by Kevin Griffiths — Leave a comment

August 7, 2014

The summer is about half over here and we have enjoyed a lot of sunshine this year, makes you think about the source of energy and its value to our life. Some European countries have embraced alternate energy generation in a big way now BC Hydro is going ahead with project of some scale. The project is being planned for the old Kimberly mine site in the Kootney region of British Columbia. the mine area produced a lot of the lead that was in gasoline decades ago now it is being offered redemption to say.

Kimberley, B.C., will be home to largest solar project west of Ontario

With more than 300 days of sunshine each year, it’s no surprise that the City of Kimberley in the B.C. Rockies has its sights set on solar power.

Today, the city is an alpine ski resort with world-class recreation. But it wasn’t always known for its breathtaking mountain views; for much of its history, Kimberley was a major mining town. The Sullivan Mine, owned by Teck, was once Canada’s largest underground mine within city limits, and one of the largest lead-zinc mines in the world.

But by January 2015, the former Sullivan Mine site will house more than 4,000 solar-cell modules, as the home of SunMine, the largest solar project in western Canada, and the first one to have an electricity purchase agreement with BC Hydro.

Vancouver-based non-profit organization EcoSmart Foundation led the initiative to transform this historic part of Kimberley into a solar farm. EcoSmart partnered with the City of Kimberley, which owns the project, and Teck, which contributed $2 million in funding and offered the former mine site, to develop SunMine. The project was made possible in part thanks to the ability to sell the clean energy generated back to BC Hydro.

source BC hydro for generations.

Today in history: August 07 2007
Barry Bonds sets an all time hitting record of 756 home runs:

Tags: BC Hydro, solar energy

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TGIF- AC charger is free

Filed under: Environment, Social Activism, Technology by Kevin Griffiths — Leave a comment

August 1, 2014

A General Motors product, Chevy Volt charges up on the free AC Charger, July 2014
Photo KDG

A Chevrolet volt charges up at a charging station last week in Merritt. The Volt had Ontario licence plates and is partial EV, it has a gasoline charging engine that will charge the battery as it drives.
Partial electric vehicles and hybrids are a consumer choice that does not allow for the ideological ” emission free goal but have a cumulative effect to benefit the environment, in the view of some operators. The 2014 volts are in the $37,000 dollar range and where intended to be a mass produced EV. http://www.gm.ca/gm/english/vehicles/chevrolet/volt/overview

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle manufactured by General Motors, also marketed in rebadged variants as the Holden Volt in Australia and New Zealand, and with a different fascia as the Vauxhall Ampera in the United Kingdom and as the Opel Ampera in the remainder of Europe.

Sales of the 2011 Volt began in the U.S. in mid-December 2010 followed by various European countries and other international markets in 2011. As of June 2014, the Volt and Ampera models have combined global sales of over 77,000 units, with the U.S. as the leading market with over 63,000 Volts delivered since its introduction in 2010. Opel/Vauxhall Ampera sales in Europe totaled over 9,000 units through May 2014. The Netherlands is the world’s second largest Volt/Ampera market and leads the European region with more than 4,900 Amperas and over 1,000 Volts sold through June 2014. The Volt is the top selling plug-in electric car in the United States, and the Volt and its rebadged variants are the best-selling plug-in hybrid in the world.

The Volt operates as a pure battery electric vehicle until its plug-in battery capacity drops to a predetermined threshold from full charge. From there its internal combustion engine powers an electric generator to extend the vehicle’s range as needed. When the engine is running it may be periodically mechanically linked (by a clutch) to a planetary gear set, and hence the output drive axle, to improve energy efficiency. The Volt’s regenerative braking also contributes to the on-board electricity generation. Under the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cycle, the 2013/14 model year Volt all-electric range is 38 mi (61 km), with a combined electric mode/gasoline-only rating of 62 mpg-US (3.8 L/100 km; 74 mpg-imp) equivalent (MPG-equivalent).

The Volt has won several awards, including the 2009 Green Car Vision Award, 2011 Green Car of the Year, 2011 North American Car of the Year, 2011 World Green Car and 2012 European Car of the Year. Controversies regarding the Volt include the extent to which the U.S. federal government may have participated in the Volt’s development, which continued through General Motors’ 2009 government-led bankruptcy,[6][7][8] and concerns about the battery pack fire risk following a crash test that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) performed on a Volt in 2011.[7][8][9] At the completion of its investigation NHTSA concluded that no discernible defect trend exist source Wikipedia

The Tesla S fully electric has had a production of about 30,000 units of the 100 thousand dollar plus car and is bringing out a new version soon to be near par for price with the volt. Range will be a factor in its use as fully EV cars are most useful to those that drive the average Kilometers of an urban driver.

Today in history: August 1st 1984
A preserved bog body, Lindow man is found in Northwest England

Tags: EV, Merritt British Columbia, TeslaS, Volt

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Piano in spirit square

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Social Activism, Sports and Leisure by Kevin Griffiths — Leave a comment

July 29, 2014

A community piano in a community square.
Photo: KDG

The CPO, Community policing office has a piano in the Spirit square, in downtown Merritt. Chained to a pillar in a display gazebos it is background by a bio for Michelle Loughery the Vernon BC artist hat did the Walk of stars youth mural project. A display in the window of the community policing office invites people ( youth we think to try to play it) maybe on the of chance that a gifted hear my come along Perhaps the stuff of myths, however they can certainly say there is access to a piano, and maybe by a little social peace for the deprived. Or maybe some one may follow along at a distance from the live performances that are sometimes in the other corner , and sheltered by the vacant Merritt News building with the Glenn Campbell hand print. Glen was not known for piano so much as a guitar and being the fall guy for The duke (John Wayne) in the movie true grit.

The piano is available and has not been vandelized in its two odd weeks of captiity in the Square.

Today in history: July 28th 1993
Andorra joins the United Nations

Tags: CPO, piano

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3 hours and 45 minutes.

Filed under: Cars, Enterprize, Environment, Social Activism, Technology by Kevin Griffiths — Leave a comment

July 23, 2014

There was an other Tesla EV at the charge station on Voght on Monday night. This one was the model that has the near 500 kilometer range and is only electric. The charge gauge was at 90 KM and it had 3 hours and 45 minutes to finish a complete charge. It was hooked up to the AC charger next to the 120 amp DC charger that a Nissan leaf used Sunday evening. The Leaf owner Julian said that he had to watch his speed as he came from another DC charger in Hope. “It was near running out before I hit the peak of the Coquihalla and the system in his car began to use gravity to recharge the battery”. He said there was a net increase in the charge meaning he had kilometers left when arriving in Merritt.The AC charger at the Voght street is talked of as being a 90 amp charger the product plate on the side of it says 70 amps. The more amperage the quicker the charge.
There are AC chargers at City hall on the other side of Voght, in the 60 amp range, and one behind the Civic center, there is also one at the Husky station, leaving Merritt going north. There is a Boston Pizza across the street from the Husky but no coffee shops or fast food outlets have put any in here as yet.
A General Motors Chevy Volt was seen charging at City hall last week.Merritt is a small community in the south central part of BC, it is in the center of the Coquihalla highway hub.

Today in history: July 23 1995

The comet Hale Bopp is discovered, it becomes visible to the naked eye a year later.