cannabis economy: ByBill Weinberg Published on May 11, 2019 Share Tweet2 Comments It won lurid headlines when three Illinois residents were arrested by the FBI in Humboldt County last month in an alleged plot to rip off a local cannabis grower to the tune of 3 million, according to NOW Magazine. The case goes to trial in federal court in San Francisco this month. It's a case that crystalizes the xenophobic stigma still attached to Northern California's cannabis economy. Although none of the three have actually been charged with kidnapping, that is word being bandied about in reportage based on the claims of an informant. As you might expect, attorneys for the accused tell a very different story. The accused co-consiprators allegedly discussed plans to abduct a courier for the target and make him suffer until he gave up the location of his boss' stash of cash and cannabis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

saudi citizens: Despite efforts to diversify the economy, the kingdom continues to rely heavily on oil for revenue, according to CTV. Brent crude now hovers around 30 a barrel, far below the range Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget. Saudi citizens will also lose a bonus cost-of-living allowance that had been in place since 2018, according to the country's finance minister. The kingdom has also lost revenue from the suspension of Muslim pilgrimages to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, which were closed to visitors due to the virus. The United Arab Emirates said Monday it currently had no similar plans to raise taxes. Newsletter sign-up Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox The new measures are the most drastic yet by a major Gulf Arab oil producer since oil prices plunged by more than half in March, signalling that neighbouring countries may also seek to impose higher taxes on residents this year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

virus causes: At least 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease -- a rare inflammatory condition in children -- and toxic shock syndrome, according to CTV. Most of them are toddlers and elementary-age children. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. Cuomo announced two more deaths a day after discussing the death of a 5-year-old boy Thursday at a New York City hospital. There is no proof that the virus causes the mysterious syndrome. A 7-year old in Westchester County and a teenager in Suffolk County also died. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

world war: But if Sturges's earlier The Magnificent Seven bound itself just a bit too tightly to the structure of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, The Great Escape builds its own distinct style and thematic preoccupations, even as its influences remain clear, according to Rabble. The absence of brutal ground warfare in The Great Escape reflects Struges's personal experience during World War The director served as a captain in the Army Air Corps and spent a large portion of his time shooting documentaries and instructional films for the military. The filmmaker's treatment of the massive POW escape from a camp in Nazi-occupied Poland alludes to a similar and iconic sequence from Grand Illusion Illusion, Jean Renoir's no less furious and eloquent articulation of the faux civility of warfare. In The Great Escape, the filmmaker largely evades the action and horror of war, instead focusing on an immense creative process the building of the tunnels that will help a group of prisoners, led by Royal Air Force squadron leader Roger Big X Bartlett Richard Attenborough get out from under the Luftwaffe. This tactic allows for members of the uniformly excellent cast to highlight their personalities through their respective characters' varied areas of expertise, from James Garner's fast-talking and resourceful Scrounger to Steve McQueen's incorrigible Cooler King to Donald Pleasance's mild-mannered Forger. Each member of the dedicated team of soldiers, who come from various Allied Forces, provides a skill that helps the effort to build the tunnels, conceal the activity, and ultimately execute the thrilling escape. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

augusto pinochet: But then, six years later, her mother and stepfather decided to take and her younger sister away from their comfortable school life here, and move back to strife-ridden South America to join the underground resistance, according to Georgia Asian. The ensuing seven years found Aguirre bouncing between Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina via arduous mountain passes, chicken buses, and overnight trains. The first momentous event was in 1973, when General Augusto Pinochet's coup forced her family to flee Chile for Canada. She had to drop all contact with new friends every time her family moved on, living in a constant state of dread that her parents would be arrested. The years of her tumultuous teens are evocatively detailed in her first book, Something Fierce Douglas & McIntyre a new memoir that illuminates what it's like to come of age amid terror. Eventually, at just 18, Aguirre put herself in further peril, joining the resistance against Pinochet's right-wing regime herself. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

death penalty: Canada remains extremely concerned that China chose to apply the death penalty, a cruel and inhumane punishment, at the retrial on Jan. 14, 2019, Global Affairs Canada said in a statement, according to National Observer. The foreign ministry also thanked Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the Czech Republic for sending representatives to the hearing. The show of solidarity did not diminish Canadian worries over the fate of Robert Schellenberg of British Columbia. Schellenberg's new sentence was meted out six weeks after the RCMP detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant, plunging Sino-Canadian diplomatic relations to a new low. What people are reading Pipeline projects, the pandemic and the question journalists fail to ask Yes, oil is dead. Nine days after Meng's arrest, two other Canadians ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor were detained in China on allegations they had violated China's national security. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

infowars: The now-removed Facebook page is associated with a website called Summit News, which is run by Paul Joseph Watson, editor of the controversial website Infowars, according to National Observer. Summit News hosts all of Watson's content, much of which is cross-posted verbatim on Infowars. Facebook took down the page after being asked about it by National Observer. Both Watson and Infowars were banned from Facebook last week, but Watson was circumventing the ban by repackaging his content under a different brand name and posting it on the platform. Why should Canadians care about this U.K.-based media personality He's part of a global far-right media network with an epicenter right here in Canada. A week after his initial ban from Facebook, his content was still available on the platform, through Summit News' Facebook page. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

montreal-based supplier: Trudeau says the discovery speaks to the government's rigorous verification system overseen by the Public Health Agency of Canada, according to CTV. Newsletter sign-up Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox The prime minister did not name the price the government will pay for the sub-standard respirators, which are used to protect against the COVID-19 virus. About eight million of 11 million N95 respirators shipped to the government from China through a Montreal-based supplier failed to meet specifications, federal officials said Friday. Trudeau says some of those leftover N95 masks -- so-named because they are supposed to screen out 95 per cent of small particles -- may be distributed for non-medical use. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2020. Canada continues to experience a shortage of personal protective equipment PPE amid a global surge in demand triggered by the pandemic while Canadian manufacturers scramble to pivot to PPE production. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

novel coronavirus: Four years later, when a novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China on an unprecedented scale, thousands of the city's care workers were in life-threatening danger due to a shortage of personal protective equipment PPE . Concerned Canadians, regardless of ethnic backgrounds, opened their hearts to support the Red Cross Canada's China COVID-19 Response Appeal, as well as initiatives by Doctors Without Borders, according to Georgia Asian. Some Canadians spontaneously shipped protective gear to hospitals and individuals in the then epicentre of the pandemic. They were in urgent need to cope with the unprecedented natural disaster in northern Alberta. These are just a few of many examples demonstrating Canadians' care and compassion for others, reflecting their fundamental principles and humanitarian values. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

saint john: Just read the writing on the wall, according to National Observer. Like health care, housing is a right The independent, non-partisan agency has run mock election drills in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Gimli, Manitoba and Saint John, New Brunswick to prepare and establish who plays what role in an election crisis. The Elections Canada chief electoral officer and his team have run through an array of scenarios in partnership with Canada's security organizations, political parties and the federal public service, preparing for such issues as What happens if there's a data breach, and it is not known whether it's domestic or foreign interference What if there's a cyber attack on a political party How will Elections Canada respond to misinformation about the electoral process What people are reading Pipeline projects, the pandemic and the question journalists fail to ask Yes, oil is dead. We haven't had to do this in the past, Perrault said in an interview with National Observer. I don't think we've ever been so prepared. I've been working with Elections Canada for over 12 years now. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

vice president: Beauty industry watchers and cosmetics companies say consumers are gravitating toward a more low-maintenance and natural look, according to CTV. People are staying at home and paying more attention to their health, prompting them to shift focus to their skincare rather than their makeup routines, they said. Not on their shopping lists makeup and perfume. With the stay-at-home order in effect since early March, there really isn't any need to apply makeup the way we were before, Larissa Jensen, vice president and beauty industry analyst with market research firm NPD Group. Newsletter sign-up Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox Makeup sales were down 22% in the first quarter versus a year ago, according to NPD, while fragrance sales declined 13%. Part of what's made things worse is that social distancing and self-quarantining have become barriers to trying on makeup in stores. And then there's the awkwardness of wearing any kind of makeup under a face mask, especially sticky lip gloss. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

care homes: This meant they ended up at the front lines of the pandemic, caring for elderly patients at the long-term care homes that have been hit extremely hard by the virus, according to CTV. Now some who work with them are asking Canadian authorities to thank these workers with a more reliable path to citizenship, essentially allowing them to switch from the uncertain refugee claims process to an immigration process. Hundreds of asylum seekers, most of whom crossed into Quebec through Roxham Road in recent years, got jobs as orderlies while they waited for their refugee claims to be settled. They could live here as an immigrant, and after three years or four years they could apply as to be a citizen, said Marjorie Villefranche, the director of the Maison d'Haiti community centre in Saint-Michel. Many of them got apartments in the surrounding neighbourhood, and jobs in the health system, helping explain the sky-high rates of COVID infection in Saint-Michel right now. Complete coverage at newsletter sign-up Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox The Maison d'Haiti single-handedly resettled 5,000 of the 27,000 asylum-seekers who arrived in Montreal in the last three years. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

people: Bears are considered sacred by many Indigenous communities, according to NOW Magazine. Headdresses are considered sacred by communities that have them as part of their culture, which is not all Indigenous people in Canada. The cover image of a bear wearing a headdress made of marijuana leaves sparked a flurry of confusion, since the image depicted things that many Indigenous people hold sacred. Weed, on the other hand, is not sacred to Indigenous communities in a way that transcends its medical use to many communities, Indigenous and non. But our concern is with the choice to use controversial images and wording to grab the attention of readers on a topic that is far removed from decolonization and not representative of the histories of all Indigenous people. The accompanying article by Kieran Delamont is well-written and researched, bringing together quotes and facts from several sources to raise the issue of Indigenous inclusion in the legalization of cannabis. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

twitter rebel: Vladimir Putin is baring his teeth to Europe and the West, according to National Observer. Next up, Germany, which goes to the polls in September. Yet Russia's apparent attack on the French election presents profoundly unsettling global security implications. Now comes the stunning report that cyber analysts have identified Jack Posobiec, a journalist for Canada's Rebel Media as playing a crucial role in driving the massive Macron data dump through social media. Screenshot from Twitter Rebel Media's new brand By way of background, Mike Cernovich is an online conspiracy troll who has a gig with the notorious extremist Alex Jones and his Infowars site. We'll get to that in a minute, but meanwhile, here's a question Was this all presaged by an obscure and cryptic tweet on April 13th Mike Cernovich tweets about a meeting with Rebel Media's Ezra Levant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

studio vehicles: Opens Friday May 10 . For venues and times, see listings, according to NOW Magazine. After four decades in the movie business, Dennis Quaid is a Hollywood institution. A Mongrel Media release. 105 minutes. Lately, he's been playing stock roles in studio vehicles like G.I. Joe The Rise Of Cobra, but he's turning that around with a masterful performance as a scheming patriarch in At Any Price, a drama about a farm family coping with modern practices. When Quaid was offered the part, he immediately checked out Bahrani's films. It's the latest by Ramin Bahrani, an art house filmmaker Roger Ebert once described as the director of the decade. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

two-household bubble: All the experts are saying now that everyone should be wearing a mask, says Dieppe resident, Peter Henry, according to CTV. Especially now that we're starting to open up here in New Brunswick. One condition from the government announced Friday, was that face masks will be required in public if physical distancing cannot be maintained. It's even more responsible for everybody to wear a mask. While several activities and gatherings are now being permitted, those new permissions are only granted if physical distancing measures are maintained. The N.B. government is asking people to limit close contact to those within their two-household bubble. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

u.s .,: But until the 1960s, they noted, most Filipinos knew very little about Canada, which many imagined to be a land of snow and Eskimos, according to Georgia Asian. Some, according to them, had seen pictures of Niagara Falls and thought it was entirely an American landscape. Canada has the second-largest Filipino community in the world, behind only the U.S., the Laquians said in an interview with the Georgia Straight. The Laquians have lived in and out of Canada since arriving in Ontario as a young couple with their two children in 1969. Back in 1964, according to their research, there were only 770 Filipinos living in the country. It was during this decade, they said, that Filipinos were officially categorized as a distinct ethnic group in Canadian-immigration statistics. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

virus causes: At least 73 children in New York have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease -- a rare inflammatory condition in children -- and toxic shock syndrome, according to CTV. Most of them are toddlers and elementary-age children. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday. Cuomo announced two more deaths a day after discussing the death of a 5-year-old boy Thursday at a New York City hospital. There is no proof that the virus causes the mysterious syndrome. A 7-year old in Westchester County and a teenager in Suffolk County also died. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

anti-foreigner sentiment: Guterres said migrants and refugees have been vilified as a source of the virus -- and then denied access to medical treatment, according to CTV. Newsletter sign-up Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox With older persons among the most vulnerable, contemptible memes have emerged suggesting they are also the most expendable, he said. The U.N. chief said anti-foreigner sentiment has surged online and in the streets, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have spread, and COVID-19-related anti-Muslim attacks have occurred. And journalists, whistleblowers, health professionals, aid workers and human rights defenders are being targeted simply for doing their jobs. He called on the media, especially social media, to remove racist, misogynist and other harmful content, on civil society to strengthen their outreach to vulnerable people, and on religious figures to serve as models of mutual respect. Guterres called on political leaders to show solidarity with all people, on educational institutions to focus on digital literacy at a time when extremists are seeking to prey on captive and potentially despairing audiences. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

iron-caged prison: In other words, Paris is only liberating for those privileged enough to experience it as such, according to Rabble. The opening shots of John Schlesinger's Billy Liar are similarly attuned to how a city's value resides in the eye of the beholder. Right out the gate, the film, which deals with a young boy's feelings of confinement and suffocation, invites us to see the potential for even this remarkable monument to be an iron-caged prison. As the camera moves through the streets of Yorkshire, there are no wondrous buildings or monuments to behold only indistinguishable flats with cold-looking exteriors. Billy is given the nickname Billy Liar by his family because he spends his days fantasizing about his future as a famous novelist or as the militaristic savior of an imaginary country. Inside one of them lives Billy Fisher Tom Courtenay a twentysomething native who wants nothing more than to escape his parents' company and move to London. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

atv patrollers: Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci Police and community are searching the woods for a 9 year-old girl who went missing at 4 pm on Thursday afternoon, according to CTV. SQ says they will keep on searching through the night. The girl had been with her parents who were working on their chalet in the woods in Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci when she wandered off and got lost around 4 30 p.m. CTVMontreal Cosmo Santamaria cosmoCTV May 8, 2020 The girl's family, police dogs, ATV patrollers, a helicopter, provincial and local police were on site well into the night to search for her. A citizen located her near a path, said S ret du Qu bec spokesperson Louis-Philippe Bibeau. At around 1 a.m. on Friday, police were informed of her whereabouts. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

capacity: But for months now I've been finding it hard to write, whether fiction or essays, and even to speak, according to Rabble. And once you lose your capacity to write and speak as you, dear friends, will certainly understand only too well you risk losing your capacity to think, too. Meaningful in its vulnerability, and powerful in its articulation, its bewilderment. What's left is an interior monologue, constantly revolving around itself, that finds no expression in outwardly directed speech acts and no clear-cut articulation in writing In a time of unknowing, silence, I was once told, silence and listening. About your conclusion, one recalls what Albert Camus' Dr. I would want to imagine such, in a season as strange as our earth's might be a call to hibernation; to humanity to stop a while and give itself over to a rejuvenating rest that might end with an unveiling of a spring of new possibilities. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

company: The shutdown affects all routes throughout Ontario, and one route from Ottawa to Montreal, according to CTV. Greyhound Canada called the shutdown a regrettable result of the pandemic, adding that ridership has declined 95 per cent. The company said in a statement that service will be suspended effective 11 59 p.m. on May 12. Our commitment has and always will be to our customers and getting them where they need to be. Newsletter sign-up Get The COVID-19 Brief sent to your inbox The company said it has made every effort to reduce costs but cannot continue to operate during the pandemic without financial support from other levels of government. However, we are facing unprecedented times that have caused a significant decline in demand, Senior Vice-President Stuart Kendrick said in the press release issued Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

service area: The trio of businesses includes The Loving Group and was founded in 2003 by its president, Mike Haynes, according to NOW Magazine. It is based in northwest Charlotte. The Loving Companies specialize in providing high-level residential and commercial turf, landscape and outdoor living services. In March 2017, the organization spent 213,000 on a 6,000-square-foot commercial space at 100 W. Main Ave. in Gastonia. After sitting on that property for a year without any activity, The Loving Group has begun renovating what has long been empty shell space. The acquisition was made to provide for the company's expansion as it widens its service area and continues to grow. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

coronavirus cases: Julia Iafrate told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Tuesday, according to CTV. I'm honestly beside myself. I'm putting my life on the line every day to do this, and it's just blowing my mind right now that they are not appreciating it or they don't see the value in what I'm offering to do, Dr. It's like a slap in the face. But she says she wanted to volunteer to work on the front lines as coronavirus cases spiked in her city. Iafrate is an assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center who specializes in sports medicine. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

indian-style crepes: This was before dosas, or Indian-style crepes, became a common offering in multicultural restaurants in the area, according to Georgia Asian. Architect Matthew Cheng has filed an application with the city to redevelop 5656 Fraser Street into a four-storey building. According to a Straight feature, the family-run Madras was opened by Sri Lankan immigrant Thevarajan Nadarajah in 2009. Cheng indicated that the ground floor and half of the second storey of the development will be used for an animal clinic. According to a summary by the City of Vancouver, eight rental homes are proposed. The rest will be for market rentals, with studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.