Venezuela Promotes Microsoft Alternative
- By JORGE RUEDA, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

(03-29) 16:11 PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) –

President Hugo Chavez, long critical of big transnational companies, is promoting free open-source software as an alternative to market-dominating Microsoft Corp.

Venezuela’s science and technology ministry recently held the Latin American Free Software Installation Fair, an event promoting the use of the open-source Linux operating system and other nonproprietary programs over Microsoft’s Windows.

Groups of Linux users have been organizing similar events in other Latin American countries, including Argentina and Colombia, and the Venezuelan government has signed on as a promoter.

The technology ministry said the fair is part Venezuela’s move toward “technological sovereignty, and taking advantage of knowledge for building national scientific independence.”

Chavez, a vehement critic of the capitalist system, issued a decree in 2004 ordering all the country’s public institutions to actively move toward open-source alternatives, hoping to save millions of dollars.

Government agencies have gradually been making the change.

Chavez says previous governments spent more on licensing fees for proprietary software than social programs to fight poverty.

The Venezuelan government hasn’t focused direct criticism on Microsoft, but Chavez has regularly condemned “the hegemony of the multinationals” — saying many big companies are to blame for putting profits above the needs of poor people across Latin America.

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/03/29/financial/f161136S97.DTL

Stephen Harper’s political campaign rally for Peter Kent, Toronto, January 18, 2006
More photos and a slideshow here.

Peter & Cilla Kent & Barbara MacDougall

Peter Kent & Bill Davis

Stephen Harper

Where are the women who could make a credible run for 24 Sussex Drive?

PETER MANSBRIDGE

The U.S. television networks are heavily promoting their new fall series, always a time to place your bets on which ones will last more than a few episodes. It’s a tough business — second chances are rare, and if they don’t achieve immediate popularity, the hook can appear very quickly.

Of the promos I’ve seen, one is clearly trying to cash in on the success of the American political drama The West Wing. Who would have thought politics could attract viewers? The West Wing did, and when an idea proves to be a hit, expect the copycats to arrive. The new entry is called Commander in Chief and the premise is simple: the president dies in office and the vice-president takes over. The hook? The No. 2 who is about to be No. 1 is a woman.

The show may be some writer’s fantasy, but what’s playing out in the real Washington these days suggests Hollywood may not be that far off. As the U.S. political cycle starts to gear up for the 2008 race, it seems there are more female contenders considered as legitimate possibilities than ever before. Washingtonian magazine this month tracks eight it feels have the right stuff and, as a result, suggests a first — the possibility that both Democrats and Republicans could have women on their next tickets. They range from the well-known Hillary Rodham Clinton and Condoleeza Rice to the rarely heard-of Kathleen Sebelius and Blanche Lincoln. (Okay, I hear you asking, “Who?” Sebelius is the Democratic governor of Kansas, a state long held by Republicans, and Lincoln is a young senator from Arkansas, and both already have fellow Democrats talking.) All this leaves the Washingtonian wondering whether “the nation’s ultimate glass ceiling [will] shatter in 2008.”

Which brings us to Canada and the list of female contenders for the top political office here. Quick, how many can you name? Even the recent survey of possible future leaders of the two main parties didn’t include one woman. The most famous in Canadian politics is probably Belinda Stronach, but likely for all the wrong reasons. Switching parties doesn’t usually help — it’s seen as a loyalty issue, and despite all the welcoming smiles, your new mates don’t really trust you. Anne McLellan is the deputy prime minister (remember, of previous deputies, only Jean Chrétien, who had that title for five minutes during the John Turner administration, ever achieved the top position), but few ever mention her in prime ministerial tones. Want a Liberal to watch, though, who could be the future? Carole Taylor, the new B.C. finance minister.

On the Conservative side, the current scene is equally bleak. Diane Ablonczy, a credible MP who has had a distinguished parliamentary record over the past dozen years, has competed for leadership before, but the results were, well, embarrassing. The Tory MP attracting the most attention in the last session was, like Ablonczy, an Albertan: Rona Ambrose — smart, hip, and very quotable. Perhaps too inexperienced for any sudden leadership race, but remember the name.

The bottom line is that if Canada has women positioned to make a run for 24 Sussex soon, they’re well-hidden, embarrassingly so when you witness the push for power to the south. It seems the glass ceiling is very much intact here, and far from shattering. In other words, still a fantasy drama.

Peter Mansbridge is Chief Correspondent of CBC Television News and Anchor of The National.

The Gomery inquiry exposes one of our many human failings, greed. Take the money and run, in this case from the “anonymous” taxpayer. The Conservatives are acting like they will be different. This reminds me of a personal experience from the Mulroney years.

At dinner one evening my wife told me about one of her acquaintances from her exercise club. Her husband had sold his cellular telephone business and was retiring at 45. I felt slight pangs of inadequacy as a husband and a provider.

As the years went by this couple renovated their house, bought a condo in Florida, married their daughter at the Ritz, upgraded their condo in Florida, etc.

Then while reading On the Take, Crime, Corruption and Greed in the Mulroney Years, I read a paragraph in the chapter on Enterprise Cape Breton. It told of Cellcom, a cellular telephone company, that received a grant of $2 million but never started in business. It was then that I noticed that the family name of my wife’s acquaintance matched the name of two of Mr. Mulroney’s classmates from university, both of whom had worked in either the PMO or the Conservative party during the Mulroney years.