Confined Space Kills

One of the most common and deadly killers of workers is confined space. As this shows. It is a classic case of a confined space tragedy. The killer in the space was H2SO4, hydrogen sulphide. The failure to treat this mine as confined space, complete with atmospheric testing led to the unecassary deaths of four men.

RENO--(Mineweb.com) As of deadline Wednesday evening, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Government of British Columbia were trying to determine if hydrogen sulfide gas had killed four people at the old Sullivan lead, zinc and silver mine near Kimberley, British Columbia.

Teck Cominco said it learned early Wednesday morning that one of its environmental consultants was missing. The RCMP contract employee, who was testing water at a pumping station as part of reclamation of the Sullivan mine, may have died two days ago.

Teck Cominco then began the search for the individual who was found floating in the well of the above-ground pump house by another contract employee. Unfortunately, the employee, who was attempting to rescue the consultant, entered the shed with two paramedics, and was also overcome. Two paramedics, who were not wearing protective gear when they tried to rescue the victims, also were overcome, according to the RCMP.

The question here is why the RCMP were once again involved, not as police but as contract workers. If this was the case and not a misprint. If it is the case then it is not unlike the case in Mayerthorpe Alberta last year when four RCMP were killed acting as repo-men on contract.

And why were these 'contract' employees entering a confined space with no protective equipment, and no air samplers in violation of confined space legislation? After all a MINE is a CONFINED SPACE. And Hydrogen Sulfide gas occurs in Zinc and Copper mines. Especially abandoned ones.

The fact the mine is leaching acid is itself a testament to Teck Comincos bad environment practices. Bad environmental practices, bad health and safety practices. Anything for a buck gete folks killed.

Ogilvie said while the lead zinc mine was closed in 2001, Teck Cominco continued to do reclamation work on the site. He said the pumping station where the four died was being used to treat acid which leaks from the mine site.

But it could have been far worse if the Kimberly fire fighters had not treated this as a confined space operation.

The victims were found by Kimberley firefighters who had followed up the initial emergency call. "When they got to the site of the emergency ... they found there were four people down at the time," said Ogilvie. "They donned their gear to go into hazardous atmospheres and confined spaces .... They removed three people and one was left. The other three were transferred to hospital but I understand now that all four have been pronounced dead." Toxic gas kills 4 in mine `horror'

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Why This War

Last night the Oilers defeated the Sharks.

Unfortunately for Canada the Conservative Sharks in Parliament, with aid of the rats in the Liberals, defeated commonsense and peacekeeping for war making and being a surrogate to the American Empire. In a vote that was damn close 149-145 a bare majority supported warmaking.

A vote that close would of course NOT allow Quebec to Separate, but it allows Canada to go to war.

In an editorial the Toronto Star asks;

What's known is this: Canadians will be in the front lines of George W. Bush's war on terrorism until 2009 and perhaps far beyond.

A strong case can be made for that continuing commitment, including that the military needs a firm, long-term mandate and that the Canadian effort there may eventually make a lasting difference. As Harper argued before bolting the Commons after his speech, interests and values are at stake in a country that warlords, opium and fundamentalism make so fragile.

Still, that doesn't fully explain how Afghanistan evolved into Ottawa's offshore priority, why the military favours the model showcased there and when extended intervention became important enough to warrant yet another election. Most of all it doesn't justify the suggestion — the Big Lie — that questioning the mission's merits undermines morale and comforts the enemy.

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Every Cop is a Criminal

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But whats puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But whats confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"



No hearing for 'no rats' officers

Sergeant who made, distributed T-shirts faces discreditable conduct charge

EDMONTON -- An Edmonton police officer accused and later exonerated of assaulting inner-city residents is one of four officers who wore "no rats" T-shirts to a police function during an investigation of him and his downtown squad.

But Const. Elvin Toy and three other officers who wore the T-shirts in June 2005 will not face an internal disciplinary hearing.

"The clear message from those T-shirts was, 'keep your mouth shut,' " Engel said.

Boyd determined there was insufficient evidence to charge Toy with assault. Toy was suspended with pay for a year during the investigation.

After the story about the racist e-mail was published, da Costa said there was no place in the Edmonton Police Service for racists.

"The e-mail was racist, discriminatory, disgusting and offensive," da Costa told his officers in an internal newsletter.

The Journal has learned that Radmanovich was selected by the EPS to give a presentation to the Citizens Police Academy, an informal seminar to help residents understand how the police service functions.

Sources said during his presentation, Radmanovich made statements about inner-city people, and his use of a Taser, that shocked some in the audience, which included Crown prosecutors and several members of the Edmonton Police Commission. Some commissioners later voiced their concerns about Radmanovich to da Costa, several sources say.

Also See

The Crime of Privatization

Death by Taser

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There's Still The Green Party

Manning won't run for Alberta Conservatives: CTV

But there is still the Leadership of the Green Party open.

Anyone want to draft Preston?!


A tip o' the blog to Calgary Grit


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Canadian Labour Says NO Troops In Afghanistan

The Canadian Labour Congress has issued an emergency Press Release over the debate and vote on extending the Canadian Armed Forces mission in Afghanistan.

CLC: Working Families Want Withdrawal from Afghanistan

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - May 17, 2006) - The Canadian Labour Congress calls for the withdrawal of Canada's troops in Afghanistan and an increase of our commitment to the reconstruction and development of that country. At its regular spring meeting earlier this week, the Executive Council of the Canadian Labour Congress commended the courage and bravery of all the men and women serving in Afghanistan. The Executive Council, which brings together the senior leaders of the country's largest unions along with the presidents of the provincial and territorial federations of labour, adopted a statement that also denounces the fact that our federal government "has moved beyond the NATO mission of humanitarian relief and peacekeeping to an active combat role in support of the US military mission in Afghanistan. In so doing, our government has put Canadian troops in harm's way in an unprecedented manner." The Executive Council of the Canadian Labour Congress does not "accept the argument that Canadian presence is intended to bring democracy to the people of Afghanistan. Nor do we accept the premise that our presence is intended to put Afghanistan on the road to sustainable development or improve women's equality in that country." That is why the Canadian Labour Congress urges the government to: - take the necessary measures to ensure the safe and immediate withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan; - increase significantly our resource and financial commitments to UN-led multilateral peacekeeping and humanitarian initiatives such as is needed in Darfur; - strengthen developmental aid to Afghanistan so that reconstruction efforts are achieved and engage civil society in developmental programs fostering good governance, and respecting human rights, gender equality and internationally-recognized core labour standards; - ensure any future deployment of Canadian troops is debated and voted on by the representatives of the citizens of Canada in the House of Commons.

More on Afghanistan



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Liberals Free Vote on Afghanistan

I got this response from the Liberals in regards to my emailing them to oppose the vote today to extend our operations in Afghanistan.

Thank you for passing along your view. We have received many similar emails this morning. We will look closely at the proposed extension. I will be passing along your views to Mr. Graham's office where the decision will have to be made.

Liberal Leader Bill Graham announced two hours ago that the Liberals will allow a free vote for their MP's, due to the overwhelming opposition in Caucus to the Conservatives rushed up and down no amendment allowed motion. That now appears to have been based on NATO asking us to run the mission, and the UN calling for action on Darfur.

Liberal House leader Bill Graham said MPs "have had a gun put to our heads" and Liberals were free to vote with their conscience.

Information that the government had but did not share with the opposition parties. The NDP and BQ will oppose the motion, if enough Liberals do to, it will be defeated. Keep up the pressure, keep those emails going.

You can send them to the Opposition parties here

And to the MP's here



More on Afghanistan



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What's the Rush

The Conservatives rush to push through an up down vote, no amendments, you are on the bus or off the bus motion to extend Canada's military adventure in Afghanistan could be because of this;

Canada asked to lead in Kabul NATO wants Ottawa to assume command of entire Afghan mission starting in 2008

and this;

UN decides to send peacekeepers to Darfur Troops to come mostly from South Asian, African and Islamic nations, diplomats say




Also see:UrgentAction-NO Troops In Afghanistan Email your MP email contacts



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Too Popular

This is what happens when you become to popular.

This site is temporarily experiencing traffic that far exceeds capacity.

Please note that the online questionnaire operates beyond May 16. We encourage you to try again before May 23rd. This will satisfy your obligation to complete and return your Census questionnaire.

The census online application now accessible to Linux operating system

In response to demand, Statistics Canada has removed the restriction for Linux. This change takes effect May 13th, 2006.

This broadened access to open-source users is available to those who have a valid browser and JVM. These minimum requirements are necessary in order to maintain the same level of data encryption with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

With the addition of this new operating system, the capacity of the Census Help Line operators to respond to technical calls from open source users may be limited. However, we expect this will not be a major obstacle for the vast majority of these users.

A tip ' the blog to ViveleCanada.ca


Also See:

Correction

Census Beer

Jack Fights Back Over Census

Census 2006 Count Me Out

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Ward Churchill Slagged

To the joy of the right wing, and the perennial sore loser David Horowitz (I coulda been a professor but all dem lefties got the jobs) Ward Churchill has been found wanting as an academic.

He has been sanctioned in campaign of vilification that we have not seen since the McCarthy hearings. Churchill's Wife Resigns CU Post

I suspect it's really because they don't like his sunglasses.

With this report it appears that it is encouraging more folks to pile on the 'get Ward Churchill train'.CU Professor Hit With Another Allegation

Ward Churchill committed multiple, “deliberate” acts of academic misconduct, according to a review by a faculty panel, released today by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

While the panel was unanimous in its findings about Churchill’s conduct, it was divided about whether he should lose his tenured position as professor — as politicians and many others have been demanding for more than a year. Three of the panel’s five members believe that the violations of academic standards are severe enough to make dismissal “not an inappropriate sanction.” But only one of those three members believes that dismissal is the “most appropriate sanction.” Two others favor suspension without pay for five years.

Two other members of the panel said that they did not believe that the violations were serious enough to merit dismissal. They recommend a suspension of two years without pay and say that they fear dismissal would “have an adverse effect on other scholars’ ability to conduct their research with due freedom.”

The committee was created last year, after Churchill’s comments shortly after 9/11, in which he compared victims in the World Trade Center to “little Eichmanns,” set off a nationwide furor. A Colorado panel concluded last year that however offensive those remarks may have been, they were protected speech. The panel that reported today investigated research misconduct charges that surfaced after the 9/11 comments made Churchill so widely known. Churchill has consistently denied wrongdoing, and said that the committee’s work is tainted because it was created by those determined to see him lose his position because of his outspoken views.The faculty panel acknowledged that the allegations it examined surfaced “in the wake of the public outcry concerning some highly controversial essays by Professor Churchill”

Ward Churchill articles a ZNET


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Rona Ambrose Lied

Rona Ambrose the Alberta Petro Industry apologist disquised as the Minister of Environment lied when she said that to meet our Kyoto commitment; "would mean that today we would have to take every train, plane and automobile off the streets of Canada. That's not realistic." Not so says the Parkland Institute in a web comment at the Globe and Mail Today.

Environment Canada, a unit in Ms. Ambrose's own ministry, tells a different story. It is oil production, not oil consumption, that is the fastest growing source of Canada's emissions. "Growth in oil and gas exports, almost all to the United States, contributed significantly to emission growth between 1990 and 2003."

And tar sands production is scheduled to at least triple to three million barrels a day in the next 10 years. Most of that increase is for export to the United States. So, the refusal by the new Conservative government to meet Kyoto targets is due in part to Canada's role in feeding what President George Bush called America's "addiction to oil." To meet its Kyoto targets, why does Canada not just reduce oil and natural gas exports to the U.S.? Then, instead of building more tar sands plants at $10-billion a project, provincial and federal governments could adopt policies to reduce energy usage for a fraction of the cost.

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