Podcasts about area b

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A growing number of elected and former politicians in the North Island Powell River riding are calling upon the Conservative Party to withdraw their endorsement of Aaron Gunn, and demand he withdraw his candidacy. There were already 19 names on this jpoint letter when Cortes Currents spoke to the two women spearheaded this campaign.  “This has all happened within the last 48 hours. I believe (Bob Chamberlain) a former Vice President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs who sent out the first call for Gunn to be removed. After that many other chiefs supported the call for him to step down,” explained Arzeena Hamir, a former Regional Director of Area B in the Comox Valley Regional District.  Wendy Morin, a City Councillor from Courtney, added. “When I saw the repeated posts of comments that Aaron Gunn has made, particularly that the experience of residential schools etc was not genocide, that's what really struck me as really harmful to First Nations communities in our region. Especially since the House of Commons unanimously stated that residential schools were genocide and, that was from all parties, including the onservatives. I thought, wow, this is someone who's a candidate who's not even aligned with the previous MPs in the House of Commons. I just felt that it was really important to show solidarity with the First Nations communities in our region, in the region where Aaron Gun is running.” Arzeena Hamir:  “As elected and former elected officials, we just wanted to support First Nations leaders in really emphasizing that call because it's just an unacceptable viewpoint.” Wendy Morin: “We felt that it was important to show leadership on this and to show that local leaders across all different backgrounds, we don't all agree with each other. We don't all vote the same way, but on this issue we were very united.” Arzeena Hamir: “She and I sat down and crafted the letter and then sent it out for everybody else to sign.” Robyn Mawhinney, from Area C was one of the recipients,   “I, as a director in the Stratcona Regional District know that within the administrative boundaries of the Strathcona Regional District, there are 11 First Nations and there are many more First Nations when you look at the entirety of the North Island Powell River riding. I believe that reconciliation is multifaceted and much more than only economic reconciliation. I have grave concerns with our riding being represented by someone who doesn't appear to take this full spectrum of reconciliation seriously. First Nations Leadership Council and many other First Nations leaders have expressed concerns with Aaron Gunn and I support them.” Arzeena Hamir:  “We're not asking for the conservatives to not put up a candidate because everyone has a right to representation, but that candidate obviously was not vetted properly. Apart from his very awful views on First Nations, there's just a long list of very disturbing comments that this person has made. We don't believe that people like that should take the platform of a candidate.” “I think many people who just vote Conservative normally, don't even realize what he stands for. So this part of this letter is to raise that awareness in people so that they know, and hopefully choose otherwise.”

On this episode of This Week in the Peace, Moose FM's Dub Craig catches up with Benjamin Haab from Eagle Vision Agency. They're hosting their First Annual Fort St. John Fill the Firetruck to Fire the Flamethrowers this February event (or "FSJ FtFtFtFtF") today and tomorrow in the Safeway parking lot. The fundraiser is going to benefit the Fort St. John Salvation Army and the North Peace Pregnancy Care Centre.Then, Dub sits down with Peace River Regional District Area B director candidate Madeleine Lehmann to talk about why she's running in the by-election. We interviewed the other candidate, Reid Graham, on the February 7 episode.Tune in to This Week in the Peace every Friday at 10am MST live on 100.1 Moose FM and the Energeticcity.ca YouTube page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of This Week in the Peace, Moose FM's Dub Craig sits down with Peace River Regional District Area B director candidate Reid Graham to talk about why he's running to fill the seat on the board vacated by our new MLA Jordan Kealy. We will also be interviewing the other candidate Madeleine Lehmann in the near future.Then, Energeticcity.ca's Steve Berard chats with Fort St. John Senior Flyers Head Coach Eric Nystrom to reflect on the season and look ahead to their upcoming first round playoff series against our Alaska Highway rivals the Dawson Creek Canucks.Tune in to This Week in the Peace every Friday at 10am MST live on 100.1 Moose FM and the Energeticcity.ca YouTube page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Are Cortes property owners paying more taxes because their assessments went up? The topic came up at the Wednesday November 7, Electoral Areas Services Committee (EASC) meeting. Mike Harmston, Chief Financial Officer for the Strathcona Regional District (SRD), wanted to correct three widely believed myths. “The first one is the assessment increase automatically translates to a property tax increase. A lot of people compare property taxes  to a sales tax where they requisition a fixed amount. For example With a provincial sales tax at 7%, if the underlying price of the goods rises, the government automatically collects more money. Whereas in the  local government, we requisition a fixed dollar amount, so there's not always that automatic increase. Quite often, everything else being equal, when assessment values rise our applicable tax rates go down.”   To which Mark Vonesch, Regional Director for Cortes Island, responded, “I think it's worth noting that on Cortes this past year that the assessments were increased  more in proportion to the rest of  the district. So in Cortes's case, property tax increases did cause a property tax increase.”  David Leitch, Chief Administrative Officer of the SRD, objected to this, “No, that's not true.  It doesn't matter where the area is because we have shared service. We have individual services. So each one of those has a requisition taxation limit to it. So if you have a park service on Area B,  that has a requisition limit and it's not tied to any other areas.”  “All the areas will go up differently, but those individual requisition limits are not tied to assessment value.  They're all individually assessed. So you could go up twice as much as somebody else and in fact, if you did, it's more likely that the taxation assessment will go down. I don't know if it's ever happened that  the requisition goes up. I would say 99 percent of the time, if not 100, the taxation assessment will drop.” Gerald Whalley, Regional Director for Area A, pointed out, “David, I think what he's saying is that the mill rate will go down as the assessment goes up. That makes sense.  If there's a two participant service and the one area assessments go up but the other area doesn't, the mill rate will drop a bit - but each individual household will still pay a bit more in the higher assessment.” CAO Leitch: “When assessments go up, it almost always triggers a reduction in the rate.”  Director Vonesch: “In the mill rate. Yes, I agree with that."  Mike Harmston: “They're  both correct. What the slide is really focusing on is the amount of dollars we collect.  The amount of dollars we collect is independent from the assessment increase.  We don't even look at the assessments until the last minute  when we calculate the tax rate.” Director Vonesch: “If Quadra and I are sharing a service, and our property values increase by 20%, that would mean that Cortes would cover more of the cost of that service?”  Mike Harmston: “That's exactly right. If you two shared, then if yours went up 20% and Area C went up 40%,  both assessments increased, but there would be a proportional more tax shift to Area C.”  Director Vonesch: “Thank you.”  So it would appear that Cortes residents did pay more taxes last year because of their assessments, but there are probably years where we paid less. 

Sonia Furstenau is a Canadian politician who is currently the leader of the Green Party of British Columbia.   Sonia Furstenau grew up with a strong sense of the importance of democracy. As a child, she travelled with her father to his native East Germany. It was there she realized that democracy is something that must be nurtured and protected.   After moving to B.C. at the age of 20, Sonia studied at the University of Victoria, where she completed her BA and MA in History, and her Bachelor of Education degree. She has worked as a waitress, a bookkeeper, as the National Administrator for Results Canada, and as a high school teacher in Victoria and Shawnigan Lake. She is the proud parent of three children and two step-children.   In 2013, Sonia learned that the provincial government was considering granting a permit to a company to dump contaminated soil in a quarry at the headwaters of her community's drinking watershed. Sonia began organizing alongside her community, questioning the evidence behind the government's decision to issue the permits. In 2014, she was elected Area Director for Area B of the Cowichan Valley Regional District.   In 2017, after years of hard work and advocacy, the Ministry of the Environment did something unprecedented: it revoked the permit. Months later, Sonia was elected as the first B.C. Green MLA for Cowichan Valley. In October 2018, she stood with the Environment Minister as they introduced legislation to reform the province's use of professional reliance, the broken system that led to the Shawnigan permits being issued in the first place.   As a B.C. Green MLA, Sonia served as the lead spokesperson for seven different government files. She has successfully advocated for changes to the child welfare system; worked with the government to make reforms to environmental legislation and to develop childcare and early childhood education programs; and stood up against the government's tax breaks to the fossil fuel industry.   Sonia lives in the Cowichan Valley with her husband Blaise and their children.

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Show Notes and Transcript UNRWA is a term that I had not heard 6 months ago. Their work, methods and purpose has intrigued me ever since.  Karys Rhea understands this issue at its core and joins Hearts of Oak to give the other side of the story.  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee, known as UNRWA, was set up in 1948, just 3 years after the UN started.  Karys starts by setting out the story of how and why UNRWA started.  A fascinating part of this story is how refugee status of 'Palestinians' is defined. It seems as though this is used to create a Palestinian refugee myth that exists out of hatred for Israel.  Which country in the world has dozens of refugee camps in their own country? How much money is used and is the UNRWA corrupt or transparent?  Karys exposes this group like you have never heard before. Karys Rhea is a producer of "American Thought Leaders" and "Fallout" at The Epoch Times and a fellow with The Jewish Leadership Project. She also works with the Middle East Forum and Baste Records. She has appeared on Newsmax, OANN, Real America's Voice, NTD News, and a variety of podcasts, and her articles can be found in Commentary, NY Daily News, Newsweek, The Federalist, Washington Examiner, and more. She has a BA from NYU in broadcast journalism and an MA in counterterrorism and homeland security from Reichman University in Israel. A former life found her touring the world as a drummer and songwriter before becoming disillusioned with the political and cultural arrogance of the music industry. She continues to release music in her spare time, in addition to publishing absurdist flash fiction.  Connect with Rhea... X                         x.com/RheaKarys?s=20 Interview recorded  23.3.24 Connect with Hearts of Oak... WEBSITE            heartsofoak.org/ PODCASTS        heartsofoak.podbean.com/ SOCIAL MEDIA  heartsofoak.org/connect/ SHOP                  heartsofoak.org/shop/ TRANSCRIPT (Hearts of Oak) It's wonderful to have someone who I met when I was over stateside last time, and that's Karys Rhea. Karys, thank you so much for your time today. (Karys Rhea) Thank you so much for having me, Peter. Not at all. It was great to meet you there at Epoch Times whenever I came there with Dr. Malone. And of course, you're there, a producer of American Thought Leaders and Fallout at the Epoch Times, you're a fellow of the Jewish Leadership Project, and people have probably seen you, especially your US audience on Newsmax or OAN or Real America Voice and many other of those networks. And I know your background, I think your BA is in journalism and then you've got a master's in counterterrorism and security, which is not just fascinating itself, but there are wider things to discuss. And you've got a strange background, I think, which you said to me was the music industry. The music industry to doing media and politics that's quite a step. Yeah well I mean I have competing interests on the one hand I grew up in the Bay Area and it's very progressive and artistic if you will lots of subcultures so I was always very much into the arts and performance and writing music. And then I spent 18 years in Brooklyn, which has New York City and much of that in Brooklyn, which has an incredible independent music scene. So after college, I made the decision to put a more lucrative and a safer career on hold and pursue music. And that's what I did for about seven years. And then I sort of grew up and got sick of hustling. And like I said, I had other interests and I started to slowly make my way into the non-profit world, doing Israel advocacy and, and, monitoring, Islamic terrorism and Islamism. And I went to grad school and then I got tired of doing that. And I switched into, broadcast journalism because as you mentioned, that is where I had originally received a degree in. And so that seemed like an appropriate career shift. Well it certainly is and obviously people can find you there on Epoch Times and also that is your handle on the screen for people to follow you on twitter and all the links are in the description but Karys maybe we can start with this term and I know you've spoken about it quite a bit I've seen a number of interviews you've done and that is this little phrase, which is an acronym, but I thought it was a phrase, UNRWA. And I heard this phrase from two of my US friends. And sometimes you let something go past thinking it's going to come up in the conversation, it's going to work out what it is they're talking about. I was never sure. So I had to ask, UNRWA, what is it? Do you want to just let us know what that stands for? It's obviously a United Nation agency, what it stands for, and then why this is an organization which you personally have been interested in it following? Sure. So UNRWA stands for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Many people do not know about it and did not know about it until October 7th, but there are actually many people throughout the world that have been raising the alarm bells on how corrupt and ineffective this UN agency is. It is one of the oldest and the costliest and largest agencies of the United Nations. It started in 1949 in order to help deal with the Arab Palestinian population that had been displaced as a result of the War of Independence, Israel's 1948 war when it was re-established after World War II. And it produced about 400 to 750,000 Arab Palestinian refugees. There's debate about that. And this UN agency was set up to to handle these refugees. One year later, another UN agency was set up called the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNHCR. That agency deals with all of the refugees in the entire world. Today, it serves about 20 million refugees in 130 countries. And its mandate, as it should be, is to resettle these refugees that it's dealing with, right? You never want to keep refugees in limbo, in a stateless environment where you're in a camp and you rely on social services and healthcare and education, right? If you have been displaced from a conflict, the goal is not to keep you in a camp. The goal should always be to repatriate you, get you situated, get you settled in a new country where you can eventually be given citizenship and you're in that country and your children can be given citizenship. Right? You're repatriated. Now, UNRWA has a completely different mandate. And this is why, this is precisely why the Palestinian refugee population is still an issue today. If not for UNRWA, there would likely be no Palestinian refugees. Because think about it. Let's go back in time. When the War of Independence happened in 1948. That was after World War II. And after World War II, you had tens of millions of refugees created, right? I think 40 million refugees. I mean, there were millions of ethnic Germans, right, that were displaced from Eastern European countries. And you also had around that time the partition of Pakistan and India, right? And there was, I think, millions of refugees created from that, Muslim and Hindu refugees. How many of those refugees still exist today? Zero. There's no ethnic German refugees, no Pakistani refugees created from that conflict, right? Why? Because UNHCR has resettled them. And so that number of refugees has decreased. It has gone down and eventually has gotten to zero. The Palestinian refugees are the only group in the world whose population has increased from, as we said, 400 to 750,000 originally in that war, ballooned to what UNRWA says is 5.9 million refugees. Now, if UNRWA only claims to serve refugees that were displaced in this 1948 war, as it says, how has this number ballooned? People don't think about that. People accept, the media, academics, our governments, everybody just accepts this number that UNRWA touts. There is 5.9 million Palestinian refugees and nobody thinks to themselves, well, how is that possible? You know, and the reason is, is because UNRWA uses a different definition for what constitutes a refugee and their mandate, unlike the UNHCR, is not to resettle refugees. Not one Palestinian refugee that UNRWA claims to serve has been resettled into a host country. Not only that, as I just mentioned, the definition of what constitutes a refugee is different, right? So, you know, I could even read you. I have the actual definitions right here if you'd like me to, but if not, I can just summarize. Here, let me just read it to you. So we have, oh, wait, actually, I don't think I have it pulled up here. Never mind. It doesn't really matter. The point is, is that the UNHCR, the refugee status that they afford to those displaced from conflicts, it directly relates to those people, those individual people that were displaced. That's it. It does not carry on to their offspring, right? And that refugee status ends once they are resettled and especially once they are given citizenship in a new country, right? But refugee status for UNRWA extends to offspring of refugees regardless of whether they have been resettled or not, okay? And regardless of if they've gotten citizenship in another country, they're still considered refugees. So for example, if you were displaced in the 1948 war, you ended up in Jordan, and now you're given citizenship as about 1 million refugees, Palestinians in Jordan have been. All of those Palestinians are still considered refugees according to UNRWA, even though they are now Jordanian citizens. Not only that, but their children are now Jordanian citizens. And their children's children, even though they were born as Jordanian citizens, they are still considered refugees. This is bonkers, right? And not only that, UNRWA actually extends this refugee status to even adopted children, right? So, and it's so weird. They extend it. It's not all offspring. It's offspring of male Palestinian refugees, not females. And then it's adopted children as well of male Palestinian refugees. It is bizarre. So it's phenomenal that you have that crazy that the UN set up an organization to deal with refugees, but only one particular group a year before they set up a general. But you're right, you set up such an organisation to deal with an issue. So there was a conflict, Israel had reclaimed the land, it was rightly due, but there was a conflict, therefore, in that region, and Israel taking on the land, retaking its borders. So I can understand it would make sense to set up an organisation to help those who may be displaced by a conflict, conflict by any conflict, but yet that needs to have an end goal. But you talked about this passing on generation to generation. It seems as though the UN and other agencies, other bodies, worldwide governments, want to have an issue there, a problem there, because that's how they continue to apply pressure on Israel. So it seems to be they want a thorn in Israel's side. Is that a fair enough assessment? Absolutely. UNRWA was created to perpetuate the refugee, well, not created, but very soon after it was created. Because actually, I think a year after it was created, the director general or somebody high up in UNRWA recommended resettling about 250,000 refugees. The Arab countries were up in arms about this. Absolutely not, right? Not only that, we're not going to take any of these people in, right? These Arab countries that presumably were so, you know, sympathetic to the Palestinian plight and were so outspoken about, you know, how much these Palestinians needed to be cared for and how, you know, big bad Israel had treated them, right? And yet, how many Palestinian refugees have these Arab countries taken in? Only Jordan. Jordan is the only Arab nation that has taken in any Palestinian refugees and given them citizenship. They are still heavily discriminated against in Lebanon and Syria. You never hear about that. You only hear about Palestinian Arabs in the context of what Israel is doing to them. You never hear about how they're treated in Lebanon, where they are banned from dozens of professions, right. Uh, and kept in horrible, uh, conditions. So yeah, the UNRWA is, has basically just been hijacked. They are no longer, they are not a humanitarian, uh, agency as Enoch Wilf, who wrote a book called the war of return, I believe. And they, she heavily goes into the origins of, of UNRWA. She says that UNRWA is a war agency. It is not a humanitarian agency and it is meant to keep the Palestinian Arabs as as pawns in this fight against Israel. Tell us, you talked about corruption, I've heard that with the two friends i've spoken to stateside and they also repeat what you said that this is utterly corrupt organization within the UN and you think wow a corrupt organization is a corrupt organization within the corrupt organization of the UN. That's saying a lot. But what is specifically, because again, from the outside looking in, its mandate can seem a very positive one to actually help a group. So tell me why it's, I mean, the finance that goes through, how is that not used correctly? Is it because they have close relationship with Hamas? Is it because the money goes elsewhere? I mean, tell us a little bit about that side. Right, so even apart from Israel, even apart from UNRWA's connections to Jihadist groups, Islamic terrorist groups, even apart from the hate education, the anti-Semitic and jihadist material that they promote in their schools, even apart from their facilities being used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to store weapons and launch rockets, apart from all of that, they have actually been engaged in scandal after scandal relating to nepotism, sex for money. The suppression of whistle-blowers, right? There was a huge scandal, I think, in 2019 where the director general was involved in this horrific sex for money scandal. And he ended up being fired along with, I think, half a dozen others. And if you look at what was going on and how the funds were misused for private jets and lavish business trips, it was just horrific. So that's apart from the, you know, irredeemable nature as an anti-Semitic and violent group, right? So even just aside from all of that, this group has many problems when it comes to corruption. But in terms of how its funds are used with relation to, you know, terrorism and perpetuating this war against Israel, there's many different components of this. So, for example, there's the curriculum component, right? UNRWA schools serve half a million Palestinian Arabs throughout Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. I think they serve about 300,000 just in Gaza and the West Bank. And they have hundreds of schools. And they use the Palestinian authorities curriculum since 2017. And year after year after year, the textbooks are shown to be absolutely, horrifically rife with material promoting martyrdom, suicide bombing, other forms of violence, not just against Israelis, but against Jews anywhere, glorification of Hitler, teaching children in the context of math and science that there is no better position to aspire to than to be a martyr and to die in service of Allah. There is no better goal than to be fighting against Jews everywhere and to take up arms against Jews. I mean, the examples of this have just been documented year after year after year by organizations like UN Watch and Impact SE, they monitor these textbooks, and you'll see just the horrific examples. Not only that, UNRWA's teachers, their social media accounts have been investigated. And these teachers, hundreds of them have been found to glorify Hamas, to glorify the October 7th massacres. They've been found to just be outspoken about slaughtering Jews wherever you see them, slaughtering Zionists, slaughtering Israelis. They use these terms Jews, Zionists, Israelis interchangeably in Arabic, right? Like you're not going to, you know, when I say they're talking about slaughtering Jews... I'm not using Jews interchangeably with Israelis or Zionists. They are. They will use the word Yahud. They will use the word Jew, right? And in other times, they will use the word Israeli. In other times, they will use the word Zionist. So they're not just talking about Israelis here, right? Even if they are, that would be horrific. You don't want to be promoting violence against anybody. But these educational standards are in direct violation of UNESCO's provisions, which demand that all UN educational materials promote peace-making and tolerance. And, you know, you're not allowed to be othering any sort of group, any sort of religious or national or minority group. And yet UNRWA does nothing to reform their curriculum. As far as I know, not one teacher has been fired. There was a few, there was about six that were placed on administrative leave after a big report came out a few years ago. That's the most that I have heard, even though year after year after UN watch and it takes their reports to the UN, takes it to, you know, to Gutierrez and to, Philippe Lazzarini, the director of UNRWA and says, here, this is what we found. You need to to do something about this, nothing gets done. So that's just one element. That's just the education. Then we could go into, you know, their… So can I pick up? So how, I mean, people will be surprised to think the UN are actually running schools in any country. It's one thing to actually give money or help the program, but I didn't know it was a United Nations rule to actually run whole education establishments in other countries. Yeah. So UNRWA, well, because UNRWA's mandate, again, it's not to resettle refugees, it's to provide relief for refugees. So UNRWA, especially in a place like Gaza, has become the de facto government of Gaza. They provide education, they provide healthcare, they provide loans, they provide social services, right? And there was a quote that came out after October 7th from a Hamas leader who said. It's the U.N.'s job to deal with the refugees, the millions of refugees. It's our job to build the tunnels. So essentially what UNRWA does is it allows Hamas and other terrorist groups to not take on the responsibility of governing their own population and building a state. UNRWA allows Palestinian leadership, even the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, to just focus on their war against Israel and not actually do the things that they would need to do to create a viable, functioning Palestinian state. That then they could actually have a chance of, you know, they could then actually have a chance of that state being independent and universally recognized. Tell us, there's one thing which came out, maybe the first time people did come across this term was earlier this year, or could be the end of last year, which was when a number of countries said they would cut funding or stop funding for UNRWA. Tell us about that because that seemed to be a possible wake-up call, although I think most countries have now rolled back and said, no, they'll keep giving. But there was, well, more than three months ago or whatever, a number of countries did say they had concerns. Right. It's tough to, it's hard to even really follow what's going on because, you know, one country will say we're pausing funds, right? And then a week later, you'll find out that they just released, you know, tens of millions to UNRWA and they'll say, oh, well, that was just leftover from like a previous contract or something. And now going forward, we're not, and then, and every few years, the European Union will pause funds because of a report that comes out discussing exactly the things we've been talking about here. And then they'll resume funding. You know, I mean, Trump completely pulled out funding of, he stopped all funding of UNRWA. We were giving, the US was giving about 300 million a year to UNRWA, which is about two thirds of its budget. They have have over a billion dollars annually from all of the countries. And just as an aside, the Gulf countries make up only about 7% of that budget. So the burden falls on the US and the EU and Germany and the UK. The UK gives about 40 million a year. And so we are funding UNRWA. And Trump pulled out this funding. He withdrew all of it in 2018 because he said it was the organization was irredeemably flawed. And unless they completely reformed, there was no reason to be giving money to an entity that was perpetuating a conflict rather than helping to solve it. Biden reversed that. Biden gets an office, you know, in 2021, he resumes funding. I don't think it's, I don't think it's back to 300 million a year. I think it's back to 150 million a year. You know, and then recently, like you said, the Biden administration and some other countries said, we're going to pause funding. You know, it might be paused for a few months here or there, but unless donor countries are prepared to permanently end funding, then I don't see any of these. I see these more as kind of virtue signalling moves rather than any profound interest in helping solve this problem. And I think I read that there were something like 60 refugee camps, I guess, run by UNRWA, supported by UNRWA. Obviously, you've got Lebanon, then Syria, then down to Jordan. And then half of them are, oh, they're in the West Bank and in Gaza. So half of the refugee camps are in areas where they are free to live. How do you have a refugee camp in your own country? I'm confused. Please explain that to me. I'm so glad you brought that up. There's no way to explain this. I mean, this is absolutely absurd. And it's such a tragedy that nobody has this thought that you just had, that people don't recognize, that people don't think to themselves, wait a second, why are there any refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank? These are areas that would be part of a future Palestinian state. These areas are Palestine, right? And the West Bank areas, Area A and parts of Area B in the West Bank have complete autonomy. I mean, Israel has no jurisdiction over Area A in the West Bank, and Israel has no jurisdiction over all of Gaza, right? Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005. There's people who say it's occupied. They don't know what they're talking about. Who occupied? There's no troops there. There's no Jews there. There's no Israelis there. How can it be occupied, right? People are now saying, oh, well, they still control the borders. Well, okay, we can talk about that, but that's not occupation. That would be correctly referred to as a blockade, right? But not an occupation. So, I mean, you know, so if Gaza is completely independent, has their own government, they're not taxed by Israel, right? Why are there still Palestinians in refugee camps? This makes no sense. And again, it's because UNRWA keeps them there, stateless, in limbo, right? And as an aside, let me just say that many of these camps, quote unquote, are not really camps at all. A few of them are, okay? There are some camps that, and you see pictures of them and they're, they're not in, they're not really in great conditions. But usually when you think of refugee camps, you think of tents, squatters. Many of what UNRWA considers refugee camps are actually four or five story concrete buildings that have electricity, running water, kitchens, satellite TV, internet. Okay. And Palestinians are living in these, in these buildings and they're still considered camps, but regardless. So, so, you know. Going back to the definition of a refugee, right, the UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which deals with all the other refugees in the world, their definition clearly states that to be considered a refugee, you cannot be in the country that you supposedly were displaced from. You have to be outside of the region, right? But these millions of Palestinians that are living in the West Bank and Gaza, that is their home. It's not like they would leave if they got a Palestinian state. So they should not be considered refugees to begin with. And yet they are. Wow. And you've got, I think it was a beautiful interview clip I saw of Douglas Murray talking about, of course, the interviewer telling him how Israel is occupying Gaza and he was trying to work out what do you mean by occupation and the journalist then wanted to quickly move on but the other point was the Gaza Strip does border another country and that is Egypt. I don't see any refugee camps in Egypt, obviously the Egyptian border and Gaza is fairly closed I mean there has been a lot of Israel have welcomed many, many of individuals living in Gaza to work in Israel. And that's been back and forward. And by doing that, Israel shows itself to be a good neighbour, as long as you don't try and kill us. That's the prerequisite, which we all have. But it seems Egypt, that border doesn't seem to be very open for work. And yet no one criticizes Egypt for having that blocked border. Yep, which just goes to show the double standard when it comes to Israel. The sole Jewish state in the world is held to a different standard than any other country. Not only is the border between Egypt and Gaza closed, but since October 7th, Egypt has reinforced this border with tanks, right? Right. I mean, the block. I mean, they have been adamant about not accepting a single Palestinian from Gaza after October 7th. Now, now think about that. In any war, Israel is at war, right? There is a full fledged war happening in Gaza. In any other war the civilian population is allowed to leave. There are refugees that are produced. This war has produced virtually no refugees. Why? It's because the Biden administration is not letting people leave. Why? Because we don't want any Palestinians displaced from this war. Oh, OK. So you just want to keep them in Gaza, right, at risk of being killed or at risk of, whether it's from Hamas or from Israel, right, at risk of starvation, at risk of losing their homes, right? You just want to keep them trapped in this war-torn region? That is cruel and inhumane. Biden gives, the U.S. provides Egypt with, I want to say, is it one and a half million? It may even be more than that. Egypt is the second largest recipient after Israel of U.S. aid. Biden could so easily pressure Egypt to open the border and say, yo, you've got to let some of these Gazans in. You're not in a very good position right now, okay? Not a word from Biden, not one word. And it's because this is all about images, the images that have to be portrayed, right? It's all about pressure on Israel. Well, if Biden really cared about the Palestinians' casualties, about the growing Palestinian casualties, then you would think that the first thing that he would do is try to get the border with Egypt opened so that Palestinians could actually leave. Biden doesn't care at all about the Palestinians, neither does Egypt, neither does UNRWA, neither does any other country, not in the Middle East, not in the West. Since, I mean, 2005 was the last time Israel were in Gaza, and then they pulled out and obviously didn't do the job of finishing off Hamas and removing that external threat they face. But since 2005 to last year, 7th of October, when the atrocity happened. Was there no, you've got a better understanding because you're aware of this space, but surely that was the time for such organizations as UNRWA, for the world community. For the EU, for the US to have conversations about what actually could happen now, supposedly, what could be the narrative, the people are now free of Israeli occupation so they can get on with actually building their country. That doesn't seem to have happened and I'm wondering how, because in one way on one side I feel sorry for those, I even hesitate to call them Palestinians because I do have a massive issue with that, but we're talking to Robert Spencer about that next week, the Palestinian delusion, but that's a whole other issue but you kind of feel sorry for the people in one way but at the same time, hey you have got a government and if you don't like the government you have to overthrow it, that's what happened under communism all across eastern Europe, that supposedly was what the Arab spring was about, overthrowing government or leadership that you don't want and bringing a new one and yet those who Palestinians living in Gaza they seem to keep this government therefore kind of that does make you responsible for the the crimes the government does upon you and the crimes that the government may do on other countries and bring it on you so I've kind of come to a position where I look at the Palestinian people differently because I think, well. You've kind of brought some of the misery upon yourself, if that's not being too cold and callous. I don't mean that, but we're all responsible for what happens in our own countries. There's a lot to unpack there. I think to a certain extent, you're right. It's hard to really know how many Gazans or even Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank support Hamas. There's been a lot of polls on this. Some people say these polls are not to be trusted. If you call up a Gazan and say, do you support Hamas? Obviously they're going to say yes. But what we do know is that they do enjoy some measurable, of some measure of of popular support. There have been some protests over the years against Hamas, that Hamas has heavily cracked down on. And I salute those Palestinian Arabs. They did that with great risk, you know, but it's nothing like Iran where you know, where you see since 2009 year after year, people rising up. The mass is really rising up and protesting against their government. It's nothing like that. And even these Palestinian Arabs in Gaza who are unhappy with Hamas, I think that not a lot of people understand that just because Palestinian Arabs support Hamas, I mean, don't support Hamas, doesn't mean they like Jews. So there can be Palestinian Arabs who are very upset with Hamas because Hamas keeps them in these horrific economic conditions. Now, actually, if you look at pictures of Gaza, they're very different than what the general media narrative is. The general media narrative is that this is a region that is the most densely populated region on earth. False. That is just the whole thing is steeped in poverty and shacks everywhere. False. there is such an incredible degree of luxury alongside poverty in Gaza because Hamas has created an incredible gap between the poor and the super rich. So there are actually, there's a whole class of Gazans that really live a life of luxury. And it really goes against this narrative of Gaza being some, you know, open air prison or what have you. But I digress. In terms of Palestinian support for Hamas, it's very, very disturbing to have seen the level of complicity in October 7th among ordinary Gazans, right? We know, like you said, there was about 20,000 Gazans that came to work in southern Israel virtually every single day, before October 7th, so much for it being a prison and blockaded, right? You have 20,000 people leaving, coming to work every day in Israel. And they were working in these kibbutzim. And these kibbutzim that were on October 7th were largely, the residents were largely left-wing peaceniks, right? They really reached out. They sent an olive branch over to Gaza. They wanted Gazans to come in and work. They thought that, you know, getting, because they would get paid a lot more in Israel, and then they'd be able to have more economic success in Gaza that would help the region grow and flourish. Well, what we have found after October 7th is that many of these workers provided, they were complicit. They provided maps to Hamas of where to attack. Not only that, we saw troves of Palestinian civilians. Barefoot and on horseback come through, break through the border on October 7th and actually carry out some of these attacks themselves, whether it was murder, whether it was taking them hostage, whether it was just coming and looting. So these Israeli residents of these kibbutzim, after October 7th, a lot of them, you've heard them discuss how they have completely changed their views. They thought that it was really just Hamas is the government and the people are different from their government, much like in Iran, where the regime is not supported by the masses and enjoys minority support among the population. And that's what people thought about Gaza. And now that has just largely been questioned. And we see that there is a level of support that maybe people weren't really prepared to admit before. And polls have shown that if there were to be an election that was held in the West Bank, I mean, one of the reasons why, you know, Mahmoud Abbas is a dictator, he hasn't held elections. He's the president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and he hasn't had elections in, what is it, 15 years now since he was elected? And one of the reasons, even though it was supposed to be a four-year term, and one of the reasons is because poll after poll shows that Hamas would win in the West Bank. So, yeah, I mean, I think that, look, it's not surprising. When you have half a million Palestinians that are indoctrinated in their schools, in their mosques, on state TV, right, in higher education, when they are indoctrinated to believe that they are perpetual victims, that Jews are evil, that they are irredeemably impure, filthy sons of apes and pigs. When you are indoctrinated to believe that Hitler was righteous, when you are indoctrinated, when the protocols of the elders of Zion and Mein Kampf are still in display cases in bookshops throughout this region. Then why wouldn't you support Hamas? I mean, these kids don't stand a chance and kids have been interviewed. There have been videos that show kids that are in UNRWA schools being interviewed and they say things like, we are taught to believe that the Jews are bad, right? I mean, it's black and white. There's no grey area here. It's very clear that there is systemic anti-Semitism, that it really has to do with Jews, not so much Israel, that this is a holy religious war, and that the issue is fundamentally not about two states, but about the Palestinian leadership's refusal to accept a non-Muslim sovereign in the region. That is what what it comes down to. Just finishing off it's obviously if any of us were overseeing the UN the first requirement for funding going in would be have a government that actually you can work with and if you have someone like Hamas you can can't give a penny, obviously there'll be massive demands for huge increases of money to go in, probably like we've seen in the crazy amount amount spent in Ukraine, I could imagine demands for that money now to be switched over to Gaza. But of course, with those refugee camps outside. If I was Nenyao, personally, I would just say, well, we're going to get buses. We're going to bring you all to your other refugee camps in Jordan, in Syria, in Lebanon. And actually, we'll turn Gaza into a nice area that actually may be a national park or something. And therefore, the people still get to live in the refugee camp in an area. But you kind of think, well, there has to be a way forward. How do you see? Because this war will come to an end. Either by the time Israel achieve its objective of destroying Hamas or by the time the world's PR machine forces Israel to stop. It'll be one or the other. And at that point, there'll have to be a conversation. What do you do with this problem that we have next door? And I don't know how you see, not that you have a crystal ball, but I don't know how you kind of see that conversation going and whether it's going to end up in a better situation than where we currently are. Right. What you're talking about is the day after, right? This is a term that a lot of people have used when talking about the Gaza war, which in my opinion is a little premature. We don't usually talk about the day after a war when we're in the middle of a war, but people seem to be obsessed with this idea that Israel is going to reoccupy Gaza and then everybody's going to be up in arms about this. But let's be clear about one thing. This is not Ukraine. This is no stalemate. OK. And if not for the Biden administration, this war would have been over weeks ago. OK. Israel has won. They've done a tremendous job. They've been incredibly successful at achieving, largely achieving their goals. Right. though they haven't retained the hostages. But Hamas is, I think, two-thirds of their military apparatus is just completely reduced to nothing. And Israel has one last stronghold, basically major stronghold, Rafah, right? And this is where a lot of the Palestinian Arabs, the Gazans, have been moved, right? And so if Israel can take out Rafah, and this is also where they believe the hostages are, where Yaha Simwar is, the head of Hamas, the war will pretty much be over. And then the process of what I call de-Hamasification, just like the de-Nazification of Germany after World War II, then needs to commence. But Biden has put a red light on Israel and is refusing to let Israel to take out Rafah, right? He doesn't want more casualties. So Biden is, with pressure from other countries, but mainly the Biden administration is prolonging this war and not letting it be won, which it could be won very swiftly. And also, let's just let's just be clear when I say Israel has been largely successful in their goals. I'm even taking into account the large number of Palestinian refugees, because even though people are going on about the fact that there have been tens of thousands of, sorry, Palestinian casualties. Did I say refugees? But people are going on about how there's been 30,000 Palestinian casualties. And that's outrageous. But actually, if you look at the casualty count in any comparable conflict in the history of modern urban warfare, the combatant to civilian ratio is unheard of. The amount of restraint and precision that Israel has exercised cannot be said of any other army in the history of warfare, okay? If you average out the general civilian to combatant ratio, it's usually about nine to one when you're dealing with modern urban warfare, meaning for every one combatant or enemy soldier, terrorist that you kill, nine civilians die. This is how it's been in past conflicts, taking out ISIS or whatever in modern warfare. Israel has managed to achieve, especially in this war, a two to one or even in some cases a one to one ratio. Because what that 30,000 casualty number doesn't tell you is that roughly half of them are Hamas fighters, right? But people, but the media loves to rely on the Palestinian health ministry, the Gaza health ministry for these numbers as if it's not completely 100% in arm of Hamas, right? Right. Like it's so insane. Like would we trust like Al Qaeda's numbers? Right. Or like ISIS's numbers. And yet everybody just accepts Hamas's numbers, even though this 30,000, this number of 30,000 does not mention any Hamas fighters. Not once have they included Hamas fighters in this number. They just say that the majority are women and children, but there have been incredible analyses done of this number that have shown how bogus and how problematic it is, even from just a statistical standpoint. But yeah, so I mean, Israel's done a tremendous job of minimizing casualties. But in terms of the day after, there really can only be one answer to this, and that is is that for some period of time, Israel needs to maintain control, security control of this region, right? After World War II, after Germany, after Nazi Germany was defeated, we did not just pull out and just like, okay, you're left to your own devices. No, there was a denazification process to reform the entire society so that the civilian population could be raised on tolerance and peace. And that is what needs to happen here. That cannot be done by the United Nations. We've already seen how corrupt UNWRA is. But even just other UN agencies cannot be, despite what everybody is saying, the UN is not equipped to be in control in Gaza. If you look at the history of UN peacekeeping missions, especially in that region, every single one has been an abysmal failure in Lebanon, in Syria, in Egypt. It's just, I mean, Eugene Kontorovich, Professor Eugene Kontorovich has documented this extensively and provided massive evidence for why this is just a recipe for disaster and for Hamas regrouping and taking power, if not, another organization that's equally as religiously, extreme and violent. So it can't be the UN. It can't be the Palestinian Authority because the Palestinian Authority is virtually the same as Hamas. The only difference is that because Israel has a presence in parts of the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority isn't able to carry out October 7th, you know, October 7th like attack, even though they have said that they would want to, even though members of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority have have praised the attacks. Members of Fatah actually participated in the attack and they have been very supportive. So, you know, and we had seen that when in 2005, when Israel pulled out and they thought that the PLO, which was the precursor to the Palestinian Authority, was going to be in charge there. Well, they didn't do a very good job because Hamas came, Hamas was elected and then they purged the strip of the, of their their Fatah rivals, and the same would happen. The PA is just, it's just an incompetent apparatus to keep that region secure. So unfortunately, although Israel doesn't want to be in control of over a million Gazans, Israel needs to maintain a presence there for security purposes and really transform that region so that something like October 7th can never happen again. Well, I'm still up for a national park there, but that's a different discussion. Karys, thank you so much for coming on. Fascinating, that whole understanding of UNRWA, of that refugee situation, which is probably an eye-opener to many of our viewers and fits perfectly into the current situation that we find in Israel. So thank you so much for your time today. Thank you so much for having me. It's been great.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - And today we continue with part two of our four-part special feature — on a decision rendered last week by the appellate court of BC, which amounted to a vindication of one time Area B regional director Noba Anderson after five years of conflict and litigation with the Strathcona regional district. [00:00:53] DE: In this episode, we'll go into a little more detail about this whole question of the censure, and the right to informed counsel, and why this is so important. Why was it so outrageous that SRD voted to censure a sitting board member for talking to her lawyer about in-camera information? [00:01:16] Noba: I didn't think that sharing information with my lawyer was a breach of confidence. And in fact, I thought that it was absolutely foundational to the whole legal system. [00:01:27] Noba: It's quasi-constitutional. One needs to be able to share everything with one's lawyer. The privilege — the client/solicitor privilege — that an individual has with their lawyer, is far stronger than any in camera confidence that the board has. [00:01:46] DE: Well, yeah. As, as I understand it, Attorney/client, client/solicitor confidenti

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - On Monday December 11th, four SRD staff came to Cortes to hold a local zoning hearing at noon, followed by a three hour open house starting at 1pm. Cortes residents were invited to provide input to assist SRD in revising and updating the zoning bylaw for Area B. SRD was represented by Senior Manager Aniko Nelson, along with Planning and Parks Manager Meredith Starkey and Planners Annie Girdley and John Neill. They brought with them several large signboards, and placed them at tables in the hall. The first table explained what a Zoning Bylaw is; subsequent tables were focussed on four main topics: Water Zones (foreshore, waterfront, harbours), Cannabis Production and Sale, Housing Density, and Short Term Rentals. There was no formal presentation. On each table, a large sheet of paper presented various options for zoning law revision, and attendees were invited to vote for their favourite options by applying coloured stickers, as well as writing comments directly on the sheet. SRD staff also provided official forms for written feedback, which were gathered in a large “ballot box”.

A no-nonsense introduction today to the March 18, 2023 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement to mark a Saturday just before the equinox in a time of rapid change as the first blooms travel through the air on winds that no one really understands. I'm Sean Tubbs, ready to get straight to the information. On today's program:* A shooting in a parking lot on Elliewood Avenue early this morning killed a 26-year-old Charlottesville man and the shooter is still at large at publication time * The UVA representative on the Charlottesville Planning Commission gives an update and I fill in more of the details* A 245-unit apartment complex on East High Street could still go before the Charlottesville Planning Commission* There will be a delay in the next set of rules for Charlottesville's zoning code  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In apertura, intemerata crucianiana contro il Governo Meloni sulle accise. Poi si scaglia contro il Sindaco Sala e la scelta dei 30 km/h in città. Contro il Sindaco meneghino pure Francesco Tricarico, cantante con la macchina diesel che non può entrare in Area B. Parenzo canta "Io sono Francesco". Presto a Sanremo. E' tornato Joe Formaggio, quello dei vecchi tempi, quello che lottava. Questa volta contro il patrocinio della regione Veneto al Pride. Là ci sono uomini a quattro zampe con la palla di pelle in bocca e il perzioma. Alice fa parte di Ultima Generazione, ma per parlare con la ribelle ci vuole il permesso dell'Ufficio Stampa. Ma loro avvertono prima di fare le azioni? Alessio Lizzio, rinato in Cristo ex Gay, dà del bestemmiatore a David. Poi predica. Anche lui niente pippe.

Intern Zhang Jing is complaining to her boss, Lin Meng, that agents in Area A are not as active in brand marketing training as agents in Area B. Lin Meng said that we need to be more considerate of agents and help them increase their sales revenue.Join other motivated learners on your Chinese learning journey with maayot. Receive a daily Chinese reading in Mandarin Chinese in your inbox. Full text in Chinese, daily quiz to test your understanding, one-click dictionary, new words, etc.Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at contact[at]maayot.com

Frida Brunzell is a candidate for Poway Unified School District Board Trustee in Area B. This covers Northeast Rancho Bernardo and North Poway. Only 75% of PUSD Students Read at Grade Level Frida shared with me her frustrations with PUSD's reading curriculum. 25% of PUSD students are not reading at their grade level. According to Frida Brunzell, PUSD is still teaching reading using a flawed method invented in the 1960s. There are innovative and proven alternative methods to teach reading, but establishment interests, book publishers, and fear of change prevent school leaders from making the necessary corrections. We discussed dyslexia and how this is afflicting students here in our school district. When dyslexic students fail to learn to read, their likelihood of struggling in life or ending up in prison increases dramatically. Bullying is a Serious School Safety Issue Frida Brunzell also spoke at length about the problems of bullying on school campuses. Students are now recording the incidents and sharing them on social media. This further terrorizes the victim as they re-experience the trauma and continue to get ridiculed. Sadly, school officials are not taking strong action to combat bullying. Frida Brunzell is fluent in 4 Languages, has a master's degree in Chemical Engineering We also discussed Frida's backstory growing up in Sweden, attending college in Germany, and living in England and France as a young adult. Frida is fluent in 4 languages and has a master's degree in Chemical Engineering. Frida has also been very active as a PTA leader at both the school level and the district level. Students of Color at Poway Unified Frida also shared her thoughts about racism in Poway schools. As a parent of bi-racial Black students, she shared some of the difficulties her children have experienced. This led to further discussions of the Instagram account Black at PUSD, equity, inclusion, changes in curriculum, and CRT. Frida Brunzell helped start the JEDI group that stands for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. We also discussed PUSD's COVID policy, failing school infrastructure, the potential of a future school bond, PUSD's budget, and arts and music education. Frida wants to be a school board member that asks tough questions and is a voice for constituents in her community. Thanks to the livestream audience for so many great questions and comments. We value your input! Thank you! #Poway #PUSD #PowaySchools #FridaBrunzell #Election2022 Relevant Links: Frida Brunzell for PUSD School Boardhttps://www.frida4pusd.com/ Frida Brunzell – Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Frida4PUSD Get proven and easy-to-implement strategies to build your business and pursue your happiness. Sign up now. It is FREE! https://johnrileyproject.com/ Be sure to share this video with a friend! Sponsors Happiness76.com – your source of gear that celebrates Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. https://happiness76.com/ ☆☆    STAY CONNECTED    ☆☆ SUBSCRIBE for more reactions, upcoming shows and more! ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJJSzeIW2A-AeT7gwonglMA FACEBOOK ➡ https://www.facebook.com/johnrileyproject/ TWITTER ➡ https://twitter.com/JohnRileyPoway INSTAGRAM ➡  https://www.instagram.com/johnrileypoway/ Sponsorship Inquiries https://johnrileyproject.com/sponsorship/ Donations https://johnrileyproject.com/donations/donation-form/ Music https://www.purple-planet.com

E' tornata Area B con divieti e deroghe, anche i diesel euro 5 non potranno più circolare nel centro di Milano, cominciano a pagare anche le ibride più inquinanti. Il dibattito tra ascoltatori e ascoltatrici tra chi dice “c'è la crisi, non è il momento” e chi sostiene “troppo poco per l'ambiente, bisogna fare di più”.

L'apertura di giornata, con le notizie e le voci dei protagonisti. Domani, 1 ottobre, entreranno in vigore le nuove regole per Area B, ovvero la zona a traffico limitato con divieto di accesso e circolazione per i veicoli più inquinanti. La decisione del Comune ha scatenato una serie di proteste e polemiche politiche con uno scontro istituzionale tra Palazzo Marino e Regione Lombardia. Ne parliamo con Arianna Censi, assessora mobilità Comune di Milano.

"Le regole erano state chiarite da tanto tempo, chi oggi contesta, da Aci a regione Lombardia, poteva da un lato fare la sua parte, Regione Lombardia per prima col Move In, e dall'altro, se il tema era così caldo, intervenire prima. Detto ciò, io credo che si debba andare avanti senza alcun indugio perché è in linea con la nostra visione e la nostra azione politica. Escludo ripensamenti e deroghe". Lo ha detto il sindaco di Milano Giuseppe Sala a proposito delle limitazioni di Area B che entreranno in vigore il primo ottobre.xa1/trl/gsl

Il sindaco di Milano Giuseppe Sala respinge la proposta di un confronto tra comune, Regione e Aci per rinviare l'introduzione dei nuovi divieti di area B. "Basta con i tavoli. Questo tema è chiaro da un anno e mezzo e proporre un tavolo una settimana prima vuol dire buttare la palla avanti". xh7/trl/gsl

"Su Area B la cosa che mi scoccia è che danno dei numeri a caso, tanto per confondere la gente. L'ho sempre detto che è nel mio programma e credo che sia giusto”. Lo ha detto il sindaco di Milano Giuseppe Sala. xa1/pc/gsl

Our coverage of the 2022 local government elections begins as we interview candidates running to replace the retiring Karen Goodings as the PRRD director of Electoral Area B. We'll sit down with Jordan Kealy, Michael Fitzgerald, and Jeff Kitt to talk about what matters to them and how they would represent you in Area B if you were to elect them to office.Join us for Moose Talks this morning at 10 on Moose FM or via video on Moose FM and Energeticcity's Facebook pages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Forty-five percent (45%) of the respondents renting homes in rural areas say they pay more than they can afford, according to the SRD Electoral Areas Housing Needs Report. Statistics from the 2016 census support this. 41% of renters and 9% of home owners in the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) paid more than 30% of their income on accommodation. “This survey sheds light on an issue that is kind of hidden. People that are living in unstable housing aren't necessarily telling everyone about it because it can be embarrassing. ‘I can't afford the right housing,' or ‘I'm living in an overcrowded place,' or ‘I'm having to choose between good food or paying my rent,'” said Mark Vonesch from the Cortes Community Housing Society, one of the key stakeholders in this study. “I think it's the number one issue affecting Cortes. We're at a point in our history where we can address this or we can just let it slide and go the direction that Hornby has gone, or some of these other islands that no one can afford to live on anymore. They are retirement places, where people come to holiday.” The housing survey identified retiring seniors as the #1 area of population growth throughout the SRD. Anecdotal evidence points to a second demographic. During COVID, a large number of professionals also moved to the country and are now working from home. “Electoral Area D is the largest by population and the fastest growing, increasing 18% since 2011, while Electoral Areas A, B, and C increased 9%, 8%, and 8%, respectively.” There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of housing units used as short term rentals. In 2016, there were 153 Airbnbs within the SRD. By 2021, this number had grown to 635. This situation is worse in Area C, whose population centre is Quadra Island, and Area B, or Cortes Island. 97 of the 1,663 dwellings in Area C (5.8%) are used as Airbnbs. 34 of Cortes Island's 804 dwellings (4.2%) are vacation rentals. Only 37 of the 1,853 dwellings in Area D (2%), south of Campbell River, are used as short term rentals. 13 of the 474 dwellings in Area A (2.7%), which stretches from Sayward to the West Coast of Vancouver Island, are Airbnbs. While the vacation rental situation has been the focus of much discussion, they draw on only about 4.2% of the housing stock on Cortes Island. Close to a third of the island's houses (253) were vacant when the 2016 census was taken. This is more than twice the 75 rental and 40 retail units that the housing survey states are immediately needed on Cortes Island.

Palestinians face a growing matrix of mechanisms geared towards removing them from their land, dispersing their communities, and threatening their livelihoods. Join FMEP and B'Tselem to discuss the situation on the ground: what Palestinians in Area C (and increasingly in Area B) are facing and how they live under the shadow of dispossession, at the hands of the Israeli government, its security forces, its courts, and its private citizens. Panelists This webinar featured two Palestinians from Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron hills, an area in Area C whose residents are under particularly heightened threats and regular attacks, as well as video interviews with additional Palestinians living under threat. Basil al-Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of A'Twani. Twitter: @basel_adra Eid is a photographer. In addition, Sarit Michaeli (@saritm0) and Eyal Hareuveni of B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories -- joined the webinar and speak about B'Tselem's recent report, “State Business: Israel's misappropriation of land in the West Bank through settler violence.”FMEP President Lara Friedman (@larafriedmanDC) moderated the discussion.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The budget for 2022 was one of the principle topics at the Strathcona Regional Districts Board Meeting, on Wednesday, February 9th. Part of this process involved looking into the finances for 2021. So in the first of a five part series arising from that meeting, Cortes Currents is looking into how the SRD is spending our money. Many Cortes Island residents have probably noticed that they are paying about the same amount for taxes in 2021 as they did the year before. While this will change in 2022, it is only by about $47 for the average home. Cortes Island Regional Director Noba Anderson explained that this is ‘because the tax rate is going up, [and] the actual requisition per thousand is going down.' SRD Chief Financial Officer Mike Harmsworth said, “Electoral area B had one of the highest assessment increases for any of our areas. So they're going to be the most effected by the shift. Area B is primarily residential, so there's not a big impact. We're looking at a total requisition increase of about a $33,000.” He was talking about property values. A homeowner whose tax assessment was $1,005 for 2020, saw that increase one dollar (to $1,006) in 2021, will probably find themselves looking at a $1,053 bill in 2022. That is a $47 increase, which doesn't take into account deductions for people who are retired or living in our homes. As might be expected in a rural community like Cortes Island, the three big ticket items are government services, the fire department and parks.

Join Podcast Patreon In the final part of this trilogy we discuss Mark's intervening years working with Motörhead and how he was escorted from a back stage party by Lars no less! Finally we end up back where we started and he tells us about reaching out to and working with Metallica again on their fortieth anniversary.   This Is Bay Area Bollocks. Video Interview

Join Podcast Patreon In part two of this trilogy we continue on our Metallica odyssey as Mark's career and work with Metallica continues and he even visits Europe with the band. We also hear more about the Bay Area Scene. This Is Bay Area Bollocks. Video Interview

Join Podcast Patreon In part one of this trilogy we discuss Designer Mark Devito's early years and his involvement in the birth of the bay area scene painting backdrops for Legacy, to how he went on to design merch and album covers for Motorhead & many more as well as working with Metallica. This is an informative chat about the beginnings of the scene we all love. This Is Bay Area Bollocks. Mark On The Motorcast Video Interview

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - In the Agenda published on Friday Jan 22, 2021 for the SRD meeting of Weds Jan 27th, 2021 can be found a couple of items of interest to Cortes Islanders. For item N.1 (Cortes Island Assent Voting Bylaws), all sub-items have been postponed indefinitely. But more dramatic developments are found in section M (Staff Reports) item 1, “Director Anderson — Insider Influence.” Attached to Item M.1 is a staff report dated January 21st and signed by David Leitch, CAO, with several documentary attachments. The Board is requested to “consider the process for deciding whether to pursue allegations of insider influence in relation to Director Anderson's December 17, 2020 communication with a staff member as it pertains to a proposed subdivision of land co-owned by her and located on Cortes Island.” In order to place this document in context, we will have to review some history rapidly receding in the rear-view mirror. Aftermath of the Regional District Elections in 2018 Ms Anderson narrowly won the Area B election for Regional Director in October 2018. Immediately after the election, political opponents made allegations whose apparent intent was to overturn the result of the election — by disqualifying voters, or by disqualifying Ms Anderson herself from serving a further term. Disqualification of voters was attempted very shortly after the results were announced, by means of a complaint filed with RCMP alleging “illegal voting” by 43 persons who did not meet residency requirements. RCMP did travel to the island to investigate, but found no case of any unqualified voter casting a ballot in October 2018. Disqualification of Anderson as a Regional Director was attempted by means of a petition filed with the BC Supreme Court by 13 residents of Cortes Island. This petition, which showed signs of hasty composition and little or no fact-checking, was dismissed as “without merit” in June 2020 by agreement of both counsels. While Currents has been informed of a story in circulation that the litigation was “settled” (i.e. Anderson paid or otherwise persuaded the plaintiffs to abandon their case), there seems to be as little substance to this story as the court found in the original allegations. Unknown to most Cortes Islanders at the time was a third incident affecting the newly re-elected Director. Only a few days after the election, a complaint was filed with SRD regarding zoning violations on the land on Whaletown Road where Anderson lives, which she co-owns with five other land partners. Zoning complaints are rare on Cortes Island, if we discount the occasional skirmishes over shellfish leases and their use of mechanical equipment. A land-based zoning complaint is very unusual; Cortes Island has a long tradition of “live and let live” — which is one reason why people come here. This is not the kind of suburban community where neighbours eagerly keep watch over their fences for the slightest infraction. Local resident Kristen Scholfield-Sweet says, “I cannot think, in my 28 +/- years on the APC, of an instance where a neighbour filed a complaint against a neighbour in an unprovoked situation.” Read more at https://cortescurrents.ca/srd-contemplates-further-litigation-against-noba-anderson/

Welcome to the show. My guest is someone who is well respected in the dance community. He represents the Renegade Rockers, HeadHunter Crew, Soul Sector. He is a brother, husband, father, dancer/choreographer, instructor, videographer, martial artist. I'm about my boy Naytron. Here is the full Youtube version. To get started with dancing, head to DanceWithCeech.com If you enjoy this episode and would like to support this show, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. Until next time, make it funky. We out. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dancewithceech/support

Join Adam, Benn, Bruno and Marius on another edition of the Monkey Tail Podcast. On this episode we talk about the games we've been playing the past couple of weeks and they are: Streets of Rage 4 (https://www.streets4rage.com/) Gears Tactics (https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/gears-tactics) The Long Dark (https://www.thelongdark.com/) Final Fantasy VII Remake (https://ffvii-remake.square-enix-games.com/en-gb) Yakuza Kiwami (https://yakuza.sega.com/kiwami/) PAC-MAN Championship Edition 2 (https://store.steampowered.com/app/441380/PACMAN_CHAMPIONSHIP_EDITION_2/) VALORANT (https://beta.playvalorant.com/en-gb/)

In this episode, we share stories with two incredible ASSP Volunteers in Region II. Nate Spencer and Melissa Schmaltz. Nate is the Area B director and Melissa Area A. This conversation is centered around networking and being able to mentor volunteer leaders to continue inspiring.Guests:Melissa SchmaltzNathan Spencer

Da Pechino il racconto delle celebrazioni per i 70 anni della Repubblica Popolare Cinese. Area B, i nuovi divieti in vigore da oggi, con Sergio lanfranchi del centro studi Autoscout24 e, sempre a proposito di veicoli inquinanti, il processo Dieselgate che è partito in Germania, con Luciana Grosso giornalista di Buisness Insider Italia. E infine: oggi la cartolina compie 150 anni, voi le mandate ancora?

Da Pechino il racconto delle celebrazioni per i 70 anni della Repubblica Popolare Cinese. Area B, i nuovi divieti in vigore da oggi, con Sergio lanfranchi del centro studi Autoscout24 e, sempre a proposito di veicoli inquinanti, il processo Dieselgate che è partito in Germania, con Luciana Grosso giornalista di Buisness Insider Italia. E infine: oggi la cartolina compie 150 anni, voi le mandate ancora? (seconda parte)

Da Pechino il racconto delle celebrazioni per i 70 anni della Repubblica Popolare Cinese. Area B, i nuovi divieti in vigore da oggi, con Sergio lanfranchi del centro studi Autoscout24 e, sempre a proposito di veicoli inquinanti, il processo Dieselgate che è partito in Germania, con Luciana Grosso giornalista di Buisness Insider Italia. E infine: oggi la cartolina compie 150 anni, voi le mandate ancora? (seconda parte)

Facciamo il punto con l'assessore Marco Granelli su Area B a un mese dall'inizio e poi puntata internazionale di very inside cascina (quarta parte)

Facciamo il punto con l'assessore Marco Granelli su Area B a un mese dall'inizio e poi puntata internazionale di very inside cascina (quarta parte)

In questa puntata: l’aumento del biglietto di ATM, da 1,50€ fino a 2€, sta causando una baruffa tra comune di Milano e regione Lombardia. Secondo Sala è necessario, secondo Fontana è una buona arma per vincere le elezioni europee anche a Milano. Abbiamo cercato di capire le luci e le ombre del provvedimento, che tradisce una visione molto liberista dei servizi pubblici.Da ascoltare se siete in coda in Tangenziale: lo scontro tra i due enti locali è stato forte anche riguardo all’Area B, una misura del comune per interdire la circolazione a una serie di mezzi inquinanti — per la maggior parte diesel — visto che la qualità dell’aria di Milano è tra le peggiori in Europa. È entrata in vigore martedì.Infine parleremo di chi per lavoro si muove in città e in provincia con ritmi forsennati: i fattorini di Amazon, che in questi giorni hanno scioperato contro i ritmi di lavoro forsennati — si parla di una consegna ogni tre minuti — e la loro completa mercificazione, da parte dell’azienda posseduta dall’uomo più ricco del mondo, che li considera robot in carne e ossa.Leggi tutte le note dell’episodio su https://thesubmarine.it/2019/02/28/trappist005/

Al via AREA B, la Ztl più grande d'Italia a Milano: con Franco Sacco, presidente Anva e Barbara Meggetto, Legambiente, Rassegna stampa Internazionale di Roberto Festa (seconda parte)

il primo giorno di Area B (quarta parte)

il primo giorno di Area B (quarta parte)

Al via AREA B, la Ztl più grande d'Italia a Milano: con Franco Sacco, presidente Anva e Barbara Meggetto, Legambiente, Rassegna stampa Internazionale di Roberto Festa (seconda parte)

Oggi parliamo con l'assessore ai trasporti del Comune di Milano Marco Granelli di Area B e tariffa unica. Con Vittorio Agnoletto di Roberto Formigoni e di sanità lombarda, infine il reportage di Cascina Biblioteca. (quarta parte)

Oggi parliamo con l'assessore ai trasporti del Comune di Milano Marco Granelli di Area B e tariffa unica. Con Vittorio Agnoletto di Roberto Formigoni e di sanità lombarda, infine il reportage di Cascina Biblioteca. (quarta parte)

Si parla di decreto sicurezza e dei suoi effetti sulle cooperative che gestiscono i CAS e sugli immigrati. Roberto Maggioni in diretta dalla presentazione dell'info point dedicato ad Area B e la protesta degli psicologi lombardi, domenica in piazza. (quarta parte)

Si parla di decreto sicurezza e dei suoi effetti sulle cooperative che gestiscono i CAS e sugli immigrati. Roberto Maggioni in diretta dalla presentazione dell'info point dedicato ad Area B e la protesta degli psicologi lombardi, domenica in piazza. (quarta parte)

Nella puntata di oggi pomeriggio ascolteremo le voci delle ragazze di Pop Milano e di Sibilla Folcia a cui abbiamo chiesto di immaginare la città del futuro. (prima parte)

Intervista all’assessore all’ambiente e alla mobilità Marco Granelli su prolungamento linea metropolitana 1 fino a Baggio e altri prolungamenti. Stato e rimodernamento M3 e M2 e Area B. Intervista a Fabrizia Parini sulla giornata di solidarietà nel quartiere Giambellino Lorenteggio, dove abitanti e volontari si sono riuniti per ripulire lo stabile Lorenteggio 181 un’iniziativa nata dal laboratorio di quartiere Giambellino. Intervista all’architetto Giovanni Del Zanna sull’utilizzo della domotica in Italia e sul suo progetto di domotica a Milano nel quartiere Corvetto per aiutare le persone con disabilità. Il consueto appuntamento del lunedì con Davide che ci parla della squadra di calcio milanese Sant'Ambroeus (quarta parte)

Nella seconda parte parleremo della sorpresina che gli ambientalisti si sono trovati nella legge di stabilità: la norma che obbliga i comuni a consentire l'acceso alle auto elettriche ed ibride nelle zone pedonali. ..Mentre aspettiamo la modifica alla norma, ci ragioneremo con l' Assessore a Mobilità e Ambiente del Comune di Milano Marco Granelli e con la presidentessa dell'associazione FIAB Giulietta Pagliaccio. (seconda parte)

Intervista all’assessore all’ambiente e alla mobilità Marco Granelli su prolungamento linea metropolitana 1 fino a Baggio e altri prolungamenti. Stato e rimodernamento M3 e M2 e Area B. Intervista a Fabrizia Parini sulla giornata di solidarietà nel quartiere Giambellino Lorenteggio, dove abitanti e volontari si sono riuniti per ripulire lo stabile Lorenteggio 181 un’iniziativa nata dal laboratorio di quartiere Giambellino. Intervista all’architetto Giovanni Del Zanna sull’utilizzo della domotica in Italia e sul suo progetto di domotica a Milano nel quartiere Corvetto per aiutare le persone con disabilità. Il consueto appuntamento del lunedì con Davide che ci parla della squadra di calcio milanese Sant'Ambroeus (quarta parte)

Si chiama AREA B ed è la ZTL per cui le auto a benzina Euro0 e i diesel Euro0, 1, 2, 3, non entreranno più a Milano dal gennaio 2019, festivi esclusi e con una serie di deroghe. Un provvedimento che punta a ridurre inquinamento e a ridurre notevolmente il traffico al 2028 con inserimento progressivo di altri divieti. Ne abbiamo parlato con Carlo Monguzzi, storico ambientalista e Presidente della Commissione Ambiente e Mobilità del Comune di Milano e con gli ascoltatori. E poi contraccezione gratuita in Lombardia per gli under 24, dopo l'annuncio frena la Regione.

Si chiama AREA B ed è la ZTL per cui le auto a benzina Euro0 e i diesel Euro0, 1, 2, 3, non entreranno più a Milano dal gennaio 2019, festivi esclusi e con una serie di deroghe. Un provvedimento che punta a ridurre inquinamento e a ridurre notevolmente il traffico al 2028 con inserimento progressivo di altri divieti. Ne abbiamo parlato con Carlo Monguzzi, storico ambientalista e Presidente della Commissione Ambiente e Mobilità del Comune di Milano e con gli ascoltatori. E poi contraccezione gratuita in Lombardia per gli under 24, dopo l'annuncio frena la Regione.

Awakenings Festival June 2018 Special Podcast @ Sea Fairy Show 41 with Sinnestrieb, filled with the melodic and tough techno. ■ Complete line-up of Awakenings Festival 2018■ ■ Area V■ 2000 and One & Bart Skils ANOTR Carl Cox Henrik Schwarz & KiNK (live) Joseph Capriati Loco Dice ■ Area W■ Jamie Jones Joris Voorn & Kölsch Konstantin Maceo Plex Ricardo Villalobos & Seth Troxler Toman ■ Area X■ Adam Beyer Amelie Lens Dimitri & Remy Luigi Madonna & Roberto Capuano Markantonio Pan-Pot ■ Area Y■ Ben Klock DJ Rush Nina Kraviz Remco Beekwilder Rødhåd SHDW & Obscure Shape ■Area Z■ Jeff Mills Keith Carnal Len Faki Marcel Dettmann Paula Temple & Rebekah Ryan James Ford ■Area A■ AnD DVS1 Headstrong (Randomer & Clouds) I Hate Models (live) Mirella Kroes Oscar Mulero SNTS ■ Area B■ Âme Dubfire Luuk van Dijk Patrice Baumel Raresh Sven Väth ■Area C■ Applescal & Some Chemistry Chris Stussy & Prunk Honey Dijon Job Jobse Mind Against Peggy Gou Underground Kaoz (Kerri Chandler & Jeremy Underground) Awakenings Festival 2018 Sunday ■ Area V – Drumcode■ Adam Beyer Amelie Lens Enrico Sangiuliano Ida Engberg Ilario Alicante Marco Faraone Sven Väth ■ Area W – Intec■ Carl Cox Drumcomplex & Roel Salemink Jon Rundell Joseph Capriati Nicole Moudaber Pan-Pot Tomy DeClerque ■ Area X■ Ben Klock & Marcel Dettmann Charlotte de Witte Chris Liebing Kobosil Stranger ■ Area Y■ Boris Brejcha Eats Everything Joran van Pol Loco Dice Richie Hawtin CLOSE Tale of Us ■ Area Z■ Albert van Abbe Attention Deficit Disorder (AnD & Dasha Rush live) Dax J Nina Kraviz Sam Paganini Sterac ■ Area A■ Agoria Ash Roy & Tuhin Mehta Format:B & Oliver Schories Henrik Schwarz (live) Oliver Koletzki Patrick Topping Seth Troxler ■ Area B - Joris Voorn & Friends■ Andhim Edwin Oosterwal Jamie Jones Joris Voorn Kölsch Stephan Bodzin (live) ■ Area C - Mosaic by Maceo Plex■ Len Faki Maceo Plex Nuno dos Santos Palmbomen II (live) Rødhåd Silent Servant Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awakenings/ Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1316589941722201/ Tickets: https://www.festicket.com/de/festivals/awakenings-festival/2018/ Awakenings 2018 @ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u73zTA6k0Cs&list=PLx2MVuP_pkQiakzRVOUem73hIQIsnTZP- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awakenings/?hl=de Awakenings Twitter: https://twitter.com/awakenings?lang=de

From December 1st, the minimum wage for domestic workers will be increased. The new rates for domestic workers in Area A, large metropolitan municipalities, will now be 12-rand-42-cents an hour while workers in Area B - all other municipalities - will be 11-rand-31-cents.The new wages will remain in force until the 30th of November 2017.We spoke to Mokgadi Pela, spokesperson for the Department of Labour...

This is Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news. To push for the nation's economic transition and industrial upgrading, Chinese leaders have pledged greater commitment to the research and application of science and technology. In a show of unprecedented importance, both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang addressed an event combining three top-level science conferences attended by 4,000 scientists and science officials. Xi said the central government's commitment is aimed at making China a leading power in science and technology by the middle of the century, or around the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Xi stressed the role of science and technology as bedrock that "the country relies on for its power; enterprises rely on for victories; and people rely on for a better life." The president said that "Great scientific and technological capacity is a must for China to be strong and for people's lives to improve". He is calling for new ideas, designs and strategies in science and technology. Premier Li told the event that China's overall research and development input will keep rising to account for 2.5 percent of its GDP by 2020, from the current 2.1 percent. The conference is calling for more policy reforms to provide incentives for the talent needed in research and innovation. This is Special English. A UN report has lauded Beijing's efforts to battle air pollution but said it needs to do more to meet particulate matter standards. Published by the UN Environment Program, the report is entitled "A Review of Air Pollution Control in Beijing: 1998-2013". In the past 15 years, the number of registered vehicles increased by 300 percent in Beijing and energy consumption rose by 77 percent. The UN Environment Program executive director Achim Steiner remarked in the foreword to the report. He says concentrations of key pollutants decreased remarkably, and Beijing improved air quality even as it maintained fast paced growth. Steiner says Beijing's experience in controlling air pollution against a backdrop of rapid expansion is a story that should be shared with other emerging economies and burgeoning cities. An environment expert from Tsinghua University says the report recognized Beijing's continual efforts to improve air quality; and Beijing's solution was a combination of energy structure optimization, coal-fired emission control and enhanced air quality monitoring. The report also offered some suggestions, including improving city planning and optimizing the layout of city functions. You are listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Australian experts say Australia will have a very meaningful role to play in the healthcare sector in China. HSBC Australia head of commercial banking James Hogan has said there were three key markets Australian businesses were set to benefit from in China, namely food, energy and healthcare. The research at HSBC found that 70 percent of Chinese mainland citizens say that health is their number one biggest concern. Hogan said China's demand for healthcare will certainly increase rapidly over the coming year, as healthcare reform becomes a priority for the Chinese government. He said there were opportunities across the healthcare space in China awaiting Australian investment. Macquarie University health economy center director Dr. Henry Cutler believes any investment within China would have to be long term. Cutler says that obviously, developing relationships with those in China to make sure that services delivered are culturally appropriate is important. He added that dumping in a model from Australia would not work. HSBC noted the recent China-Australia Free Trade Agreement provides Australian medical services and healthcare providers with favorable access to expand into or do business with China. This is Special English. Sixty-six kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs have been added to the European Pharmacopoeia, an authoritative reference work for quality control of medication. Professor Dr. Gerhard Franz is Chairman of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Working Party of the European Pharmacopoeia. He says the event means there are clear quality standards for Chinese herbs exported to Europe, which help the drugs gain wider acceptance in foreign markets. Franz made the remarks at an international conference on the future of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The conference, entitled TCM's future, was held in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. The professor said the herbs have undergone strict examination and discussion, and been approved by all 37 signatory countries. The listed Chinese herbs, including ginseng, account for almost a third of all herbs in the pharmacopoeia. The professor said their goal is to include at least 300 commonly used Chinese herbs. Exports of traditional Chinese drugs have been impeded by misuse and substitutions for similar plants, as well as contamination by heavy metals and microbial insecticides. An official from Zhejiang's health and family planning commission said that due to lack of quality standards, China's traditional medicine industry lags far behind its counterparts in Japan and South Korea in foreign markets. He added that modern technology and concepts must be applied in developing Traditional Chinese Medicine. You are listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. A farmer in central China's Henan Province is seeking 2 million yuan, roughly 300,000 U.S. dollars, in compensation after he was wrongly diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. Fifty-three-year-old Yang Shou-fa was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS during a provincial-wide check in 2004, during which more than 280,000 people were tested. It was not until 2012 that he found out that the result was false. The local disease control center still has samples from 2004, and a retest of Yang's sample came up positive, again. The center says the test equipment did not fail, so someone must have mixed up Yang's blood with an HIV patient. Yang had taken HIV medication from his diagnosis until 2012. He had to attend annual health checks, which only tested the amount of CD4+T cells in his blood. In people with HIV, this is the strongest indicator of HIV progression and the most important indicator of how the immune system is working. Yang's CD4+T cell count was higher than other AIDS patients, but concerns were never raised, as no one doubted the diagnosis. Before Yang was incorrectly diagnosed in 2004, his health had been failing. He had donated blood once and then suffered from repeated fever. When he was told he had AIDS, he was convinced. The local health department is considering compensation for him. You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at mansuyingyu@cri.com.cn. That's mansuyingyu@cri.com.cn. Now the news continues. Chinese playwright, author and translator Yang Jiang has died at the age of 105. Born in Beijing, Yang studied in Soochow University and then Tsinghua University in the 1930s. She was married to Qian Zhongshu, a household name in China. Qian is best known for his sarcastic novel "Fortress Besieged" that depicted the lives of Chinese intellectuals in the 1930s. He died in 1997. After studying in Britain and France together with Qian, Yang returned and became a foreign language professor at Tsinghua University. She was a literature researcher with Peking University in the 1950s. Fluent in English, French and Spanish, her translations of such classics as Don Quixote and French picaresque novel Gil Blas remain the definitive versions for Chinese readers. Yang also penned numerous plays, novels and essays and is known for her plain but resonant style. Her most popular works include "We Three", a 2003 essay collection recalling her husband and daughter, who died of cancer. The book became an instant hit both in China and overseas. In 2001, Yang and her husband donated all their royalties to Tsinghua University and established a scholarship that has benefited more than 1,000 students. This is Special English. Researchers have confirmed that snow leopards live in areas south and north of Qinghai Lake in Northwest China's Qinghai province. The animals' presence had been rumored but was never proved, as experts have tried to understand the distribution range and habitat selection patterns of the rare big cat. The new finding was released by the Wildlife Conservation Society of China, which did not reveal specific locations, in a bid to protect the snow leopards. It referred to the two locations only as areas A and B. The Wildlife Conservation Society of China says researchers spotted snow leopards in Area A and found evidence of them, which were hours-old footprints, in Area B. Previously, there were reports from herdsmen and other witnesses, but they were unconfirmed. There were no scientific reports supporting the claims. The new findings will offer basic information for people studying snow leopards and attempting to protect them. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has placed the snow leopard on its Red List of Threatened Species as globally endangered. The Wildlife Conservation Society says that so far, China still has the largest population of the animal, known as the "ghost of the mountains". You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. The authorities in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plan to recruit more than 11,000 teachers from around the country to ease its teacher shortage. The teachers will be recruited for primary and middle schools, high schools, kindergartens and special education schools this year. Of those, 60 percent will work in four prefectures in the southern part of Xinjiang, where a dearth of bilingual teachers poses a challenge for education. The recruits in these areas should be able to speak mandarin and a language of the local minorities. Xinjiang has hired more than 72,000 teachers in the past five years, with around 62,000 of them bilingual. This is Special English. Lhasa, the capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, has passed a law to protect its ancient villages. The law came into effect on June 1. It stipulates principles on ancient village protection and restoration, funds, responsibilities and building a long-term protection mechanism. It also demands a "supervisor mechanism" and encourages volunteer groups to help with protection efforts. Lhasa has around 1,000 villages, which feature unique landscapes and traditions. As the local economy speeds up, many ancient villages have yet to be restored, and the law was enacted to address the issue. The local government says the law will enhance protection efforts for precious cultural resources in Lhasa. This is Special English. （全文见周日微信。）