Category: Uncategorized

Being a Canadian in the United States for the last nine years has been an interesting adventure, to say the least. Although our nations are neighbours, there can be two more different approaches to the same problem so close to each other.
I can’t claim to be an expert on how Canada processes new immigrants, but I can say that it has to be better than what has happened in the US.
Nine years ago, I started out on the NAFTA Free-Trade visa, the TN-1. This is a non-immigration visa, which is restrictive in the occupations that you can work in, but essentially allows highly-skilled Canadians, Americans, and Mexicans to work in the free trade zone, a term I use very loosely in this context.
In 2001, my status was migrated by my previous employer to an H1-B. This is a much more formal visa and is used for skilled workers from around the world. It is also infamous for its quota system, and is the bane of most (if not all) high-tech firms who insist on recruiting the best talent from around the world to work in the Unuted States.
In some respects, while the off-shoring trend that was so big a concern a few years back (still?) is founded on a number of different economic realities, the driving force was the restrictive nature of the H1-B visa. I encountered a version of this when I changed employers and transferred my H1-B from employer A to employer B. When I did this, I could not leave the US, for any reason, until I had my new H1-B without forfeiting the entire process.
One of the conditions I had for switching employers was that employer B would start the Green Card process for me and my family. This process alone has taken 3.5 years, and from what I can tell, being an employment-based application from a Canadian means that I haven’t had to wait nearly as long as some of the people who apply under other circumstances or from “less friendly” nations.
This process is approaching (we hope) its final phase, as there is talk from the people assisting us that there is a chance that we may be processed through the final stages in late 2008 or early 2009. But, as with all things related to this process, this is still very much speculative.
Whew.
So, as a citizen of the United States reading this, you are likely saying “So what?”, or “How does this affect me?”. Frankly, it doesn’t. But, in a fundamental way, it does.
As a nation built almost completely on immigration, the United States has become increasing isolationist, especially in its immigration policies. Mostly at a political level. Where the conflict appears to be developing is between the political agenda and the economic needs of the US economy. US firms are reliant on importing the best and the brightest from around the world. These same firms are now finding increasing resistance from these highly-skilled employees who are looking at the current state of the US economy and the incredibly restrictive immigration criteria, and choosing to walk away, or choose other more lucrative and less restrictive opportunities.
As a person involved in this process, I can say that up until late last year, when I recieved my EAD, I was in effect an indentured serf, beholden to the company for which I worked, which none of the options or flexibility that my US colleagues had available to them.
I own a house. My children go to school in the town where I own my house. I pay US, not Canadian, taxes. I pay property tax.
However, in the eyes of the United States government, I am considered “three-fifths of a person”. A person bound to this country but not of this country.
The truly American among you may say “Shut up and become a citizen”. I chose not to. I have chosen to retain my personal Canadian Identity, those things that I hold dear that separate Canadian and Americans. I retain my Canadian passport. My youngest son holds dual-citizenship.
I have chosen to make a life in the United States. However, the process that I have been involved in does not allow me to recommend this path to any other Canadians.
To other Canadians, I say: Stay home. Make Canada the best it can be. Make it a truly integrated player in the Global Economy.
To the United States, I say: Wake up. Your destiny has come, and gone. And the way you treat your immigrants is a clear demonstration of that.
Some have said that the United States is a fading empire, most-often compared to the Roman Empire. However, as this piece in the LA Times states, even an ancient empire, in its fading glory, understood how you become great: You become more than the sum of your parts.

WBGH, again you win the contest as the most clueless PBS station in the world.
There is this small news event occurring this week, called the Democratic National Convention.
And what are you showing tonight?
John Denver, a man and his music.
Are you completely clueless?
Another year, another lack of donations from me.
When will you start showing the programs we want to see, and stop with the crap you think raises you the most money?
This is an ongoing rant.

The five top-level IP Registrars (ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, LACNIC, AFRINIC) manage tens of million IPV4 and IPV6 addresses, assigning them to networks around the world. These addresses are key to accessing the Internet for all end-users.
About once a year, I generate the statistics out of the IP address database I maintain. The last one was published back in August 2007,  and, as can be imagined, there have been substantial changes that have occurred in the last 12 months.
At the country level, there has been a substantial change in the top five as China has superseded Japan in the total number of IPV4 addresses. In fact, in the last 12 months, Japan has seen a net loss in the total number of allocated IPV4 addresses.

The adjustment in China is completely expected, as China has substantial room to expand its IPV4 population, compared to a country such as Japan which is likely approaching saturation in this area.
In the total number of IPV4 addresses assigned by registrar, ARIN (US, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean) still has a substantially larger population than the other regions. However, this region only grew by 3 million IPV4 addresses in the last 12 months, compared to 42 million for RIPE (Europe and the Middle East), and 74 million for APNIC (Asia-Pacific). LACNIC (Mexico, Latin and South America) grew by 13 million IPV4 addresses and AFRINIC (Africa) by 4 million.

Some of this growth in APNIC, AFRINIC, and LACNIC can be attributed to adjustments in the Registry structure itself. Now that there are five registrars with responsibility for a clearly defined set of nations, a number of adjustments have had to occur in the registrar of record for IPV4 ranges.
In the past, for nations that were not explicitly covered by a regional registrar, the IPV4 range may have been assigned by the registrar now responsible for the region, most likely ARIN or RIPE.
Now that there are registrars specifically designated to cover these formerly grey areas, these historical artifacts are being corrected as registry information is renewed.
However, this cannot directly account for the noticeable growth in AFRINIC, APNIC, and LACNIC relative to the two older registrars. This is yet another indication of the strong growth of the Internet outside of its established base of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and a small number of industrialized nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

So, in my second rant of the day, I am falling back to my favourite target of tension: Gutter Helmet. This long-running saga in one that I wish I had never been involved in, and in 20/20 hindsight, I wish that I had just chosen to go with standard gutters, rather than some gadgety gimmick that is installed by a company that seems to value customer service about 14th on their Top Ten list.
The latest installment has come about because one, if not more, of our downspouts is now blocked with … something. The thing is that these top-of-the-line gadgets should never become clogged. And if they do, we have a lifetime maintenance guarantee.
Well, they guarantee that maintenance will occur sometime in my lifetime.
It will be nearly 8 weeks since I called before the service person can come out and clean out a downspout. They said that it would happen this week (week of August 17th), but then changed their minds and moved the date out to the week of (maybe the day of?) September 3rd.
It’s not a hard fix. It shouldn’t take that long. And I know that the weather hasn’t been that great. But 8 weeks is a little long, especially for someone whose installation experience is already so far past acceptable.
So, below, I have created a little poll to get a feeling for how other folks with Gutter Helmet installs feel about their decision. Let us know!
[poll id=”3″]

On July 20, the family crossed over the border back into the US after attending Samantha’s grandmother’s funeral in Toronto. It had been a great weekend, a chance to get reacquainted with Samantha’s extended family and introduce the boys to some of these folks.
We crossed the border at the Peace Bridge, and got an Immigration officer who obviously did not know what she was doing.
To describe our current status: We are in the US on EADs with Advanced Parole documents which allow us to travel in and out of the country. The sheer complexity of our status (which is not an unusual one) perplexed this Immigration officer, and she processed us under our old status (H1-B/H4) and then did not issue us I-94s!
For the American readers among you, an I-94 is a little slip of paper stating when and where you last entered the US. Every person in an Immigration process (and many foreign nationals) are required to get either the white form (Immigrant) or the green form (visitor).
We are now in the process of renewing our AP documents and EADs, and one of the items they need is a copy of our most recent I-94s, which this Immigration official at Peace Bridge kindly removed from our passports without issuing new ones.
So, tomorrow, we have to drive up to the Derby Border Crossing in Vermont (the closest to our home) and get new ones issued so that we can renew our APs and EADs.
The main gripe I have with this is that the US Immigration service appears to be hideously inconsistent in when and where they enforce their own rules. As well, with the AP, it is now harder to get into the US than it was with the H1-B.
To sum up, this process frustrates me, and it is no wonder that between this sort of confusion and hearing that Green Card applicants can get thrown in jail and ignored until they die that makes me wonder if it is all worthwhile.
For those of you with Green Cards: Is it all worthwhile?

Philip Michaels writes a great review of why the CBC Olympic Coverage makes NBC seem like the pathetic old has-been it is. [here]
The US is ready for more NBC. Think you can actually deliver by 2010? When the Canadian broadcasters — even CTV! — will make you look really pathetic?
Didn’t think so.

Ok, all I have to say is: If you do not have the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin, go get it. The update took all of 30 seconds.
Thanks to the authors of that extremely useful piece of code.

Ok, as someone who is waiting for his Green Card, the story of the treatment allegedly received by Hiu Lui Ng frightens me. [BoingBoing link here. NY Times here ]
My Green Card has been in process for more than three years. We are supposedly approaching the end of the long road. But how do I know I won’t be thrown in jail and deported because of some silly clerical error?
We are all enemy aliens until proven otherwise. No wonder US corporations are finding it harder and harder to sell the idea of emigration to the US to potential employees from outside their boundaries.

“Yes, it is possible that you will be thrown in jail and mistreated because of some silly clerical error. It’s more likely that we will just keep you in fear and treat you like second-class indentured servants for 3-4 years until we’re done with you. Now, about our medical plan…”

The post says it all
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/1494554 w=400&h=225]
Burmese Refugee Children Love Macs from Joyce Kim on Vimeo.

[poll id=”2″]