Mike Powell Fanclub

Summer is rapidly winding down as this is the last show for July. To send July out with a bang we have an exciting show lined up for you. At 8:05 Mike will be speaking with Nadine Gelineau from The Musebox about their upcoming discussion regarding achieving success in the music industry. At 8:15 Adam will be speaking with Kathy Ewen about an upcoming Beadworks Fashion Show to raise money for Operation Come Home. As per usual we air from 7-9am on 93.1 CKCU FM here in Ottawa and on www.ckcufm.com for everyone else.

Imagine getting paid to use power! That could never happen right? Right?

As one Lansdowne lawsuit wraps up, another could be beginning,

Jack Layton temporarily steps down as leader of the NDP due to a new cancer diagnosis.

Nowegian bomb blast and camp shooting stuns the world. Apparently the alleged perpetrator’s manifesto mentions Canada quite a few times.

August 2nd draws nearer and still no resolution to the US debt crisis.

Postal workers just can’t get a break.

New NDP MPs inherited empty file cabinets and in some cases, sarcastic notes.

Water: Something Alberta is running out of.

Welcome to week two of the Ottawa Bluesfest concert marathon. This week at 7:30 Adam will be speaking with Paul Henry from the City of Ottawa Archives about their new building. As well we will hear from Mike all about the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and what it looked like from 4 miles away. As per usual we air from 7-9am on 93.1 CKCU FM in Ottawa and on www.ckcufm.com for everyone else.

Congratulations are in order for South Sudan, becoming the newest state in the world.

Kind of like leaving the wolf in charge of the sheep…Canada to boycott UN disarmament conference because its chaired by North Korea.

In a less reasonable action from Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird denounces Palestinian bid for statehood.

Cost cutting: The Rob Ford edition
Cost Cutting: The Rob Ford edition pt. 2

CTV’s Quebec City correspondent resigns in spectacular fashion.

Ottawa’s Laurier Bike Lane opens! The world has not ended.

New LRT plan approved. Contract to be awarded by December 2012.

It’s a little different than having a family of squirrels living in your attic.

Happy early Canada Day. Next time the show airs we shall be into July and the future King and Queen of England will have departed Ottawa. We have an exciting show lined up. At 7:30 Adam will be speaking with Michael Dawson who is the keyboardist and lyricist for the Regina band Library Voices who are appearing at Bluesfest this year. At 8:06 Mike will be speaking with Marc Aubin from Heritage Ottawa regarding their new report on heritage buildings in Lowertown. Finally, at 8:30 Adam will be speaking with the Vancouver singer/song-writer Hannah Georgas regarding her performance at this year’s Bluesfest. As per usual we air from 7-9am on CKCU FM 93.1 in Ottawa and online at www.ckcufm.com for everyone else.

New York to allow gay marriage.

After a Thursday lasting 52 hours, Canada Post workers are legislated back to work. Mail delivery to start today.

Rob Ford’s cottage vacation was scheduled for the exact same time as Toronto’s Gay Pride Festival.

Prince William and Kate are visiting Canada…prompting one of the more bizarre news stories of the year.

Report critical of Lansdowne redevelopment not shown to city council.

Latest polling numbers show Changebook is resonating with Ontarions. Tim Hudak as the next premier of Ontario?

The race for the Republican presidential nominee for 2012 heats up as Tea-Party darling Michele Bachmann joins the race.

The summer festival season has started. Westfest concluded this past Sunday and Jazzfest starts soon. We continue every Tuesday though, festival or not. We have an exciting show lined up for you this week. At 7:30 Mike will be speaking to Jenny McDonald a Blues / Folk artist from Halifax,NS who is performing tomorrow night at the Rainbow. Right after the BBC News at 8:00 Mike will be speaking to Peter Rickman, a student organizer and activist from Wisconsin.  Finally at 8:30 we will have Alnoor Allidina and other members of the cast of Question Period: The Musical to discuss their upcoming Fringe Festival show and hopefully perform a few numbers from the production. As per usual we air from 7-9am on CKCU 93.1FM in Ottawa and at www.ckcufm.com for everyone else.

Its not only Jon Stewart criticizing Canada’s continual export of Asbestos. The UN also isn’t thrilled with it either.

The appeal of the Ontario Supreme Court Decision which struck down prostitution laws has begun hearing crown arguments.

Fewer Canadians are using Facebook. Apparently usage plateaus at 50% of the population.

The NDP and Tories agree on very little…but they do both think that ‘mega-trials’ need to be conducted in a more efficient manner.

21 000 Bulgarian artifacts and 18 000 coins are going home after handover at the Museum of Civilization.

Heart, kidney, lung and uterus, what do they all have in common? All can be transplanted from one person to another.

A party that doesn’t even exist yet may win the next Quebec provincial election.

Happy Almost June! I’m back after a couple of weeks away, and Adam and I will be marking the end of Bike to Work month with a couple of cycling-related interviews.

At 8:05, I’ll talk with Elyse McCann of the Envirocentre about Bike to Work Month’s final celebrations, as well as the Bruce Timmerman’s Award. At 8:30, Adam will talk to Seb from Bicycles for Humanity.

We’ll also touch on some of the following:

Can it be true? The Jets return?

Fun with Conservative Convention motions!

Rob Ford denies his plan for subways will require road tolls.

Canada Post to maybe strike.

Swantanamo Bay, Encore?

Happy Tuesday! We have an exciting show lined up. At 8:05, we’ll speak with former Green Party Leader Jim Harris about Elizabeth May’s lack of inclusion in the federal leaders debate. At 8:30, we’ll speak with Eric Darwin of the Dalhousie Community Association about their AGM on Wednesday.

We’ll also touch on some of the following:

Stadium debate delayed.

High School secretary runs into problems with past porn career.

Canada needs program for catastrophic drugs.

More on the polygamy case.

Nunavut looks for a road to many unserviced communities.

Ontario getting shortchanged on energy payments?

The looming crisis of age.

Happy Tuesday! We are off to the hustings, and so for the first show in months we get to be spared election speculation. Instead, we just get to talk about the actual campaign.

At 7:30, we’ll speak with Carleton Paul Adams about the election, with a specific focus on how the media is likely to cover it. It will all be very meta.

At 8:05, we’ll talk with Diana Pepall, Program Manager for Collection Management at Ottawa Public Library, about their new Freegal digital music collection.

We’ll also touch on some of the following:

2004 Harper had a coalition plan. AND apparently an odd understanding of how parliament works?

The beginning of the poll watch.

Income splitting?

Kite flying woes in Toronto?

Burger ban at Sick Kids?

Simpsons episodes pulled because of Japanese Nuclear disaster.

BCE backs down on UBB.

Happy Tuesday all, and welcome to spring! We’ve got an exciting show lined up. At 8:30, in honour of World Water Day we’ll be speaking with Getu Hunde, in from Ethiopia in partnership with Watercan. We’ll talk about the international crisis in water and sanitation.

We’ll also touch on some of the following:

Its budget day! Will Jack Layton’s price be met?

Lybia gets bombed! And Canada sends jets!

Twitter turns 5.

More on water: Think before you flush.

Bruce Carsons: a scandal with legs?

Apparently it is against equity to ban gay-straight alliances.

Committees find tories in contempt of parliament.

Old people using internets for political news now

It’s a good thing I’m not Caesar. This week at 8:00, we’ll speak with Professor Mark Van Vugt about his new book Selected. We’ll also touch on some of the following:

Election watch:

Day, Strahl retire.

Puff pieces on star candidates begin!

Liberals will fund Quebec Arena. Seriously.

Punish tories, vote Liberal quebeckers!

Other stuff!:

McGill fined for charging too much for MBA program.

Wanna help canlit? Tear down those walls.

Who’d a thought: Japanese Nuclear crisis dampens appetite for new reactors at home.

High building standards save lives.

City won’t buy convent land.

I spoke with Steve Anderson of OpenMedia.ca this morning about the CRTC’s recent ruling that open’s the door for Usage Based Billing. OpenMedia.ca has really led the grassroots (digitalroots?) charge that has seen a massive number of people sign an online petition that has, at least in part, prompted political action. Or at least as much as the Liberal opposition and a promise for Ministerial review counts as “action.”

I’m a bit torn on all of this: on the one hand, I think that it is more-or-less reasonable that heavy users should have to pay for what they consume, and think that there are pricing plans out there that can readily accommodate the vast majority of home users. As an example, I get 90 gb/month with Rogers, and even with Netflix and torrents, rarely get much above 50 gb/month. On the other hand, Bell, Rogers, and the other main ISPs have built a massive infrastructure advantage in large part because they had protected utility monopolies for decades. Startups and smaller competitors really can’t build an alternate set of wiring to compete.

Anderson’s real beef seems to not be that there is metered billing, but that overage fees are too high and kick in too low. He concedes that former upper limits were reasonable, as people rarely hit them, and argues that there isn’t a connection between the cost of providing bandwith and what they charge.

Again, that might be the case, given the infrastructure advantage carried by the status quo companies. But I’m reluctant to tell any business how much their services are worth without great cause, and I have a hard time getting exercised about a $4.75 charge for $40 GB of bandwidth, as TekSavvy suggests is likely.

 Steve Anderson of OpenMedia.ca on UBB [12:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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