A Collection of Daily Wisdom by Dennis Sylvester Hurd since September 2003.

... twenty years ago that there'd be so much more weight and less hair in 2005!

I arrived for work in Taif, Saudi Arabia two decades ago.

Labels: Saudi Arabia

Yesterday's blog post mentioned a movie where the characters spent a substantial amount of time in the air between India, the UK, and the United States. Immigration is nothing new; in fact, in North America we often define ourselves as being nations of immigrants. Yet facts and perception are intertwined when it comes to forming one's personal beliefs. I find it a topic where it's fun to pursue facts as there are a great deal of statistics involved.

Click the screenshot to visit the Globe and Mail article. It was forwarded to me as email by a friend.

I found it so interesting that I included the link as part of an assignment. My international ESL students were in computer lab language yesterday. Presently, we are focusing on comparison and contrast; therefore, the language of the article fit right into our unit.

(To view a PDF version of selected pages from the original report, download from Statistics Canada.)

By DIANA PEREIRA
Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Updated at 10:57 AM EST
Globe and Mail Update

Immigrants who arrive in Canada are much more likely to become citizens than immigrants to any other country, according to a report released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.

According to the report, 84 per cent of eligible immigrants were Canadian citizens in 2001.

The study, "Becoming Canadian: Intent, process and outcome," compared Canadian statistics with those in other countries.

In the United States, only 40 per cent of foreign-born residents are citizens. In Britain, only 50 per cent of eligible immigrants are British citizens. In Australia, 75 per cent of eligible immigrants are citizens.

Younger Canadians are more likely to become citizens than their older counterparts. About 85 per cent of those immigrants aged less than 20 years at the time of their arrival to Canada have become naturalized, versus 72 per cent of those who arrived at age 70 years or over.

Also, the longer newcomer stay in Canada, the more likely they are to become citizens. In 2001, 57 per cent of immigrants who had been residents for four to five years had become citizens.

Even though immigrants are eligible to apply to become a citizen only after they have lived in Canada for three years out of the previous four, the decision to become one happens quickly after arrival. The majority of immigrants decide within the first six months of their of residence whether they intend to become citizens.

The study cites several factors that influence the decision: attachment to birth country and Canada, rules in their home country regarding dual citizenship, time, cost and knowledge of the citizenship process.

Census data show that recent immigrants are taking less time to become citizens than their previous counterparts.

The 1991 Census showed that 51 per cent of immigrants who had been residents for four to five years had become citizens. In 1981, it was only 42 per cent.

This trend may be a result of the countries of origin, the report suggests.

In the past decade, newcomers in Canada are more likely to have been born in Asian countries such as India, Philippines or China. Before the 1960s, most were from Europe.

Immigrants from Asia or Africa are more likely to become citizens than those from Europe or the United States.

Americans living in Canada are the least likely to seek citizenship. Even among those Americans who have been in Canada for more than 30 years, 32 per cent are not citizens.

The study also shows that refugees from developing countries are most likely to become Canadian citizens.

Labels: Canada, computer lab

Google's great for researching facts. (Yawn!) Sometimes, however, I just want to figure out how people are feeling about a current topic.

If you are looking for the latest buzz by real people, then try searching late-breaking blog entries. I just checked to see if there's any conflicting opinions about the movie, Bride and Prejudice. I discussed it in my blog entry of this morning. Click these to see the recent buzz since then:

Technorati

Blogdigger

Feedster RSS Search

I'm not sure what an unsuspecting patron at an ordinary multiplex in Springfield, USA will think. We knew what we were getting into when choosing to see Bride and Prejudice in Coquitlam yesterday.

Dance numbers are an integral part of the Bollywood tradition so this movie didn't skimp. There were times, however, when I felt a little uncomfortable that they were taking place in English. Maybe it would've been better to keep more of the music in Punjabi, or at least Hindi, and subtitle it. Regardless, the songs surely did sound fine over the theatre's sound system.

For once, the globetrotting seemed less a way to give the cast a vacation, and a bit more part of the plot. Has a single, previous film ever showcased Amritsar, the Grand Canyon, a beach in Goa, and the Big Eye in London? Perhaps because of this, I couldn't help thinking of how this film fits into a modern, global society. Some of its themes will resound with the growing South-Asian diaspora.

I felt curiously as though I were watching a cinematic shift in attitude. When society members incorporate change, they eventually want to see it represented in media. Last month, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) allowed me a retrospective glimpse of past US race relations. When there's a large enough audience, movies will be made that distill the changes occurring around us.

Labels: movies

Way back ... last summer, I first blogged about social networking Internet websites. It was a small reference to an online article at the time. I'd just swapped a gmail invitation for a chance to join orkut. Of course, I haven't logged since that time. Most of my friends and family aren't nerdy, clever, or trendy enough (depending on one's perspective).

Hey, I don't find it difficult keeping up, but have the maturity to ignore things that don't matter to my world. For example, my cell phone ... is just that ... only a phone. It doesn't take pictures, it doesn't play mp3s, it doesn't even contain any playable games. Oh, I forgot, and it weighs about 3 pounds! Yet, I don't need to keep up with the Jones' phones.

Anyway, I'd not been sucked into friendster.com, nor its software ilk. Yet yesterday, I got an invite for hi5 - Who's in? from a friend. "What the heck," I thought, "I'll fill it out." Little did I know that it would snatch one of my address books and send out invitations to everybody! That was very rude as I did not grant my permission. Technorati confirmed I'm not the only one who's upset either. Hi5 is not building a framework that's going to create much good will!

So, sorry ... friends if you got some recent email which you had to ignore. It was just more junk from Dennis ... AGAIN! But, wait. Even after all this has been said, I just might keep logging on.



PS. This photo was copied from splash screen of the hi5 website. Why
aren't my friends all drop-dead gorgeous babes and hunky studs?

Labels: email, Internet

Due to blog syndication, one never knows who's reading (or not).

Web Blog Directory

In the next couple of weeks, I will have a new timing belt installed in the old Ranger. Then it should be set for another 60,000 miles. This, obviously, leads to thoughts of a few future road trips.

Click Here --->

I've always considered it a bit strange that people from Vancouver are more likely to head to California than explore their own province. British Columbia is pretty big, so the driving distances are great. It's pretty hard to plan a big trip and not go for a week or two. I've visited much of beautiful BC but have never gone to Bella Coola in the Cariboo Chilcotin Region. That will have to be next on the list.

Labels: British Columbia, Ranger, road trip

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dennis Hurd
Date: Sun, 06 Mar 2005 14:23:14 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Getting Ready for This Week

This is a reminder to those who check their email on the weekend: We
will meet at 8:30 in the lobby area of the BCIT Library on Monday,
March 7th. We will return for remainder of our class time in our
scheduled classroom.

Remember, we have pretty much completed our work on PROCESS
DESCRIPTIONS and will be spending a lot of time on our next topic.
Starting this week, we will be looking at COMPARISON & CONTRAST.

Over the past week, I have met with many of you individually about
your grades this term. Remember, if you have any comments or
questions, I will always make time for you. You just have to ask!

== Dennis

--------------------------
Dennis S. Hurd
Pre-entry Communications
BC Institute of Technology

Labels: BCIT (Page 1)

Posted by: Dennis S Hurd / 2:23 PM 0 comments

A Street Car Named Desire (1951)

Blanche DuBois: Is that Coke for me?

Stella Kowalski: Not for anyone else.

Blanche DuBois: You precious lamb, is it just a Coke?

Stella Kowalski: You mean, you want a shot in it?

Blanche DuBois: Honey, a shot never did a Coke any harm.



Stella Kowalski: Oh.

Blanche DuBois: Oh, let me ... you mustn't wait on me.

Stella Kowalski: I like to wait on you, Blanche. It make it seem more like home.

Blanche DuBois: I have to admit .. I .. I love to be waited on.

Labels: movies, stars