Dzisiaj

po pracy wpadlem do polonijnej "Biedronki", ktora tu sie nazywa STARSKY (http://www.starskyfoods.com). Zachwalny w Toronto jako "polski supermarket". Rzeczywiscie duzo produktow z Polski, choc i z innych krajow Europy takze. Duzy wybor prasy. Wsrod magazynow, niemieckie "Stern" i "Spiegel" obok "Polityki", "Newsweeka" i "Ozonu".

W Husarzu "Ozon" juz byl wysprzedany a w Starskym udalo mi sie zgarnac ostatni egzeplarz z "W sidlach pornografii sexu i niewoli" na okladce. Z darmowych "Nowy Kurier" i "Deutsche Presse".

Scenic mountains, colourful culture in Zakopane, Poland

You could say Zakopane, Poland, is blessed. After all, it was the late Pope John Paul's favorite recreation spot. He spent a lot of time there as a young priest - skiing the Tatra mountains and hiking the Podhale hills - and he returned later as he climbed the ranks in the Catholic Church, then finally as pope.
When he was a cardinal, someone mentioned it might be inappropriate for a man of his position to ski. His reply was that it was only "unbecoming for a cardinal to ski badly." Well, no matter how well - or badly - you ski, there's a slope to suit you around Zakopane.
Some of the most popular are located at Kasprowy Wierch, which can be reached by cable car or lift, and Gubalowka, which is accessible by tram and T-bars. But there are many others. And even though there's a lot of snow in the winter, there's also artificial snow-making to supplement when necessary.
The winter sports are so good in this area that Zakopane was a finalist for the 2006 Olympics. During the summer you can bike, raft, climb, hike, paraglide or just stroll through the mountain meadows. There are also several folk, art and musical festivals then.
- The Associated Press (24 HOURS, January 18, 2006).

Wczoraj

Liberalna kandydatka Sam Bulte rozdawala, jak zwykle przed wyborami, na stacji Keel swoje ulotki zachecajac aby wyborcy glosowali na nia.

Re*Elect Sam Bulte Parkdale-High Park
Call us today 416.537.4224 sam@sambulte.ca * www.sambulte.ca
CAMPAIGN OFFICE: 2201 DUNDAS ST. W. TORONTO ON M6R 1X5

Sam's Accomplishments

* Successfully lanched the Prime Minister's Task Force On Women Entrepreneurs and produced a groundbreaking Report and Recommendations, many of which have become government policy (national child care, support for small business)

* Tireless advocate for CBC as our most important national cultural institution

* Member of the Canadian Delegation to the Women Leaders' Network of APEC since 1997

* Participant in First Canadian Business Women's Trade Mission to Washington

* Special Envoy for Canada to Baltic States

* Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit from the Lithuanian Government 2005

* The Polish Combatants' Association in Canada Gold Cross Award in appreciation of support of the Polish Community in Canada

* Women Entrepreneurs of Canada Lifetime Tribute Award 2003

* The Estonian Central Council in Canada Gold Medal of Merit for Outstanding Contributions to Canadians of Estonian Heritage

* Ontario Volunteer Service Award

* Past President and Chair of CanStage

* Former Director of The Council for Business & the Arts in Canada

* Founding member, Director and Vice President, International, Women Entrepreneurs of Canada

* A successful lawyer, owned and operated full-service law firm in downtown Toronto for 20 years

* Married 27 years with 3 children

Pani Bulte jest Litwinka z pochodzenia i oredowniczka spraw polskich w kanadyjskim Parlamencie. Za swoja pro-polska dzialalnosc otrzymala zoty krzyz SPK.
Ale tez jest ona kontrowersyjna figura w zwiazku z jej stosunkiem do ochrony praw autorskich i przeto dosc popularna w blogosferze. Blogosfera pomalu staje sie piata wladza i nie mozna jej ignorowac, o czym przekonala sie pani Bulte.

Liberal MP at centre of blog controversy

Bloggers attack Sam Bulte's stance on copyright laws

MARK EVANS

For a variety of reasons, Sam Bulte finds herself on the hot seat these days. The Liberal MP's most pressing challenge is the battle for reelection. Ms. Bulte finds herself scrambling to defeat rivals such as the NDP's Peggy Nash in the downtown Toronto riding of Parkdale-High Park. If Ms. Bulte can win the riding, and the Liberals are able to form the next government, she could become the next federal Heritage Minister.
This would give Ms. Bulte a leading role in the much-anticipated reform of Canada's copyright laws. Last spring, Ms. Bulte played a key part in the reform process as chairwoman of the Canadian Heritage standing committee. An ardent advocate for the rights of artists, Ms. Bulte has incurred the wrath of academics and educators who think her views are far too rights holder-friendly.
These complaints have been exacerbated by a $250-a-plate fundraiser being held this week for Ms. Bulte organized by leading film, book, publishing and software industry executives. The optics of the fundraiser - featuring a solo performance by the Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins, the wife of Canadian Recording Industry Association president Graham Henderson, one of the fundraiser's hosts - are terrible.
Under normal circumstances, there would be little interest in copyright reform or Ms. Bulte's fundraising activities. But both issues have been embraced by a growing number of bloggers, who have been writing extensivelly about Ms. Bulte recently. The coverage likely played a big role in attracting a standing room-only all-candidates meeting last week in Ms. Bulte's riding.
The most active Canadian bloggers include Michael Geist (http://www.michaelgeist.ca/), Rob Hyndman (http://www.robhyndman.com/) and musician Matthew Good (http://www.matthewgood.org/mblog/, while popular U.S. blogs, such as TechDirt (http://www.techdirt.com/) and Boing Boing, have also waded into the discussion.
A key figure in the debate is Mr. Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa, who believes the proposed copyright reform - otherwise known as Bill C-60 - supported by Ms. Bulte is unfairly balanced in favour of the music, film and publishing industries.
Among other critics, Mr. Geist claims the fundraiser demonstrates her relationship with the industries supporting updated copyright laws are far too cozy, especially since the dinner happens a mere four days before the Jan. 23 election.
In her defence, Ms. Bulte says the people within the music and film industries "have become my friends and I don't apologize for that." And in practice and theory, she is right because there is nothing wrong with accepting political donations from groups or individuals as long as they follow the letter of the law. The NDP, for example, is not going to turn down financial support from a union that wants politicians to support pro-labour policies.
Not surprisingly, the ideological differences between Ms. Bulte and Mr. Geist have become exceedingly personal. During the all-candidates meeting, Ms. Bulte was challenged to support the Copyright Pledge, a set of guidelines proposed by a grassroots organization called Online Rights Canada that state:
"No Member of Parliament who has accepted financial contributions or other benefits from a copyright group, lobby group, its corporate members or senior executives, as well as the copyright collective shall serve as Minister of Canadian Heritage or as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage nor sit on any legislative committee conducting hearings or deliberations on copyright matters."
And Ms. Bulte's response? "I will not allow Michael Geist and his pro-user zealots, and Electronic Frontier Foundation members to intimidate me into silencing my voice." This clip was captured on video and quickly made available on the Internet at sites such as http://www.YouTube.com, which has generated even more interest within the blogosphere.
It is fascinating to see yet another example of how the blogosphere can take hold of an issue deemed uninteresting and/or not newsworthy by the mainstream media.
As much as many political parties and companies have public relations crisis practices, their blogosphere strategies are nonexistent or embryonic. Perhaps what has really hurt Ms. Bulte is that she - and her handlers - have tried to fight back against bloggers such as Mr. Geist by using old-style media tools, such as news releases, interviews and all-candidate meetings. Frankly, it hasn't work that well.
As a result, don't be surprised if this is the final federal election - or election, period, in Canada - in which the blog communications war will be one-sided. The blogosphere's growing influence can not be ignored... domething Ms. Bulte is learning the hard way.
Financial Post mevans@nationalpost.com (NATIONAL POST, Tuesday, January 17, 2006).