Apathy is Boring - All Content

NEWS: Best. Job. Ever.

2009-07-03T14:50:01Z

It's not often that one gets paid to do something they truly love.

NEWS: More Canadians in arrears on credit payments

2009-07-03T09:36:01Z

More than half a million Canadians are more than three months behind on their credit payments, according to Equifax Canada.

That represents a 19 per cent rise in the average delinquency rate in the year ending May 31, says Equifax, which provides credit check information on companies and individuals.

While the company called the double-digit jump "alarming," the overall average delinquency rate for Canada was 1.52 per cent.

In a report released Thursday, the company said most of the arrears are the result of missed payments on credit cards.

Toronto forklift operator Derek Crooks is among those who are struggling, with about $40,000 in debt racked up on eight different credit cards.

While he says it was too easy to get the cards in the first place, he wishes there was more compassion in the industry.

"Have a bit of mercy on me," he said. "They lend me these cards on good basic grounds. And I think it's all right to pay back their money, but I can't pay back all of this money right away."

Meanwhile, debt counsellors at the Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services have seen a 25 to 30 per cent jump in clients over the past three months, says spokeswoman Henrietta Ross

Click on the link for the complete article.

NEWS: Ignatieff hounded on Ukrainian comments

2009-07-03T09:34:01Z

WINNIPEG -- Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff continued to be hounded in Winnipeg yesterday by the Conservatives for comments they claim are anti-Ukrainian.

Hours before Ignatieff was to give a luncheon speech to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg at the Marlborough Hotel yesterday, Ryan Sparrow, head of media relations for the federal Conservatives, sent an e-mail to Winnipeg media highlighting passages from Ignatieff's book deemed by the Tories to be "anti-Ukrainian."

'Misinterpreted'

Following his speech yesterday, Ignatieff in turn accused the Tories of trying to spin his words to pit him against a people whom he says he respects greatly.

"It has been misinterpreted," said Ignatieff. "There are people I would like to offend, people I'd like to attack in public life, and Vic Toews is one of them. But if Vic Toews wants to pit me against the Ukrainian community, he's not going to succeed.

"I'm for Ukrainian independence. I celebrate Ukrainian independence. I have always regarded Ukrainians with respect."

Click on the link to read the complete article.

NEWS: We need Volunteers for the AisB Street Team at the Calgary Folk Festival 2009

2009-07-02T16:01:01Z

Hello Calgary A is B VOLUNTEERS!

This summer Apathy is Boring is touring festivals across Canada with the help of street teams to spread the word that staying informed and being active…can be sexy! We are looking for fun and dynamic volunteers to be part of our street team at the Calgary Folk Festival 2009!

Our street teams get free access to the festival and we provide the Apathy is Boring materials and instructions to make sure that you have a blast.

Here are the details:
One Lead Volunteer ($100 Honorarium):

Responsibilities:

Coordinate the local volunteer team with an Apathy is Boring staff member leading up the event.
Participate in at least one phone meeting leading up to the event with an Apathy is Boring staff member.
Coordinating meeting time and location.
Bring all contents of the Apathy is Boring kit to the event site.
Collect all the material and mail it back to the Apathy is Boring office.

2 additional volunteers:

Responsibilities:

Fill out short surveys with audience members (before and after the shows, and in between acts)
Pass out flyers about Apathy is Boring.

Festival Rules:

Each volunteer will be given a non transferable wristband on arrival. Volunteers should keep the wristbands on if they plan on attending both days.
There should be at least one volunteer present at the A is B booth at all times. Volunteers are only permitted to carry out their tasks within the premises of their booth area.

Please contact Apathy is Boring at info@apathyisboring.com if you're interested OR for more details!

Calgary Folk Festival 2009

Date: July 25, 26 2009

(A is B is only present for two days of the festival that lasts from July 23-26)

Venue: Prince Island Park, Calgary

Time: Volunteers should be onsite at 8:30 am.

Location on Google Map

The Calgary Folk Festival 2009 is back for its 30^th annual event with a must see and richly divergent list of over 62 artists from different parts of the world!

Here is a small list of some of the artists featured in this event just to give you an idea of how cool this event is going to be! Emily Wells, Phil Wiggins & Correy Harris, Vishten, The Tom Fun Orchestra, Tarhana, Justin Rutledge, The Persuasions, Papagroove, Los Misioneros Del Norte, Carolyn Mark, Luluc Labess, Sarah Harmer, Gomez, Good Lovelies, The Ebony Hillibillies, The Deep Dark Woods, Bellowhead, The Acorn and many others!

Check out their website for all the details

NEWS: 48% of Canadians to spend less on vacation

2009-07-02T14:46:01Z

Close to half of Canadians are planning to spend less on their summer vacations than they typically do, suggests an EKOS poll released to CBCNews.ca on Thursday.

The poll found that 48 per cent of respondents plan to spend less on summer vacations than they have in recent years. About 20 per cent of respondents indicated they would spend more, while 32 per cent said they would spend about the same amount.

The poll interviewed a random sample of 2,262 people between June 25 and June 29. The margin of error on the national results is considered to be 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

EKOS suggests the economic distress many Canadians are experiencing has affected their vacation plans.

"Like so many patterns in a recession, this has a paradoxical quality," said EKOS president Frank Graves. "It is obviously sensible from an individual perspective to cut back in hard times. However, this will also make it harder for the economy to emerge from the recession."

Click on the link to read the complete article.

NEWS: Wanted: Volunteers for A is B Street Team at the Vans Warped Tour 2009 in Montreal

2009-07-02T11:04:01Z

Hello Montreal A is B VOLUNTEERS!

Our street teams get free access to the festival and we provide the Apathy is Boring materials and instructions to make sure that you have a blast.

Here are the details:
We are looking for 2 enthusiastic and friendly volunteers!

Fill out short surveys with audience members (before and after the shows, and in between acts)
Pass out flyers about Apathy is Boring

Tim slopes available: 3- 4 hour shifts

Please contact Apathy is Boring at info@apathyisboring.com if you're interested OR for more details!

Vans Warped Tour 2009

Date: Saturday, 11 July 2009

Venue: Parc Jean Drapeau, 1 Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve

Location on Google maps

For all you Punk Music fans out there...summer fun is back and the Vans Warped Tour is soon to arrive in Montreal! With this event comes a nifty line up of over 60 bands and artists! Come join the fun!

Bad Religion, Attack Attack!, We the Kings, NOFX, The Causalities, Alexisonfire, Bad Religon, The Devil Wears Prada, P.O.S, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Madina Lake, Flogging Molly, Hello Beautiful, Bayside, A Rocket to the Moon, Escape the Fate, Play the Angel and many more will be there!

Check out their website for all the details:

NEWS: Canadian HIV vaccine ready for human tests

2009-07-02T09:46:01Z

An HIV/AIDS vaccine developed in Canada has passed safety tests in animals and the researchers are awaiting approval to begin human trials in the U.S.

"It is a very important milestone for us," said Yong Kang, a professor of microbiology at the University of Western Ontario in London who has been working on the vaccine for 20 years.

Kang said he expects to get the go-ahead soon from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin human toxicology tests and two phases of clinical trials in the United States.

If all three trials are successful, the vaccine should be available within the next decade, Kang told CBC News on the phone while attending a meeting in South Korea.

According to a 2008 United Nations report on the global AIDS epidemic, 33 million people were living with HIV in 2007. Two million people died of causes related to the disease that year.

Dozens of HIV vaccines have already been developed and tested in animal models, but few have been tested in humans, none successfully. A promising trial in 2007 by pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. was shut down after those receiving the vaccine contracted HIV at a higher rate than those who received the placebo.

NEWS: Canada in last place on WWF's G8 climate scorecard

2009-07-02T09:29:01Z

The World Wildlife Fund gives Canada a failing grade on its climate change practices, ranking the country behind all other major industrialized nations, including the U.S.

Canada finished in eighth place among the G8 nations -- its worst finish since the WWF first began releasing the annual report card three years ago.

The report finds that Canada is one of the few G8 countries whose emissions are still rising -- largely due to expanding activity in Alberta's tar sands.

And Canada's per-capita emissions are among the worst in the G8, along with sixth-place finisher Russia.

Even the United States is now ahead of Canada in terms of its efforts to combat climate change, says Gerald Butts, president and CEO of WWF Canada.

"Canada has never done particularly well on the scorecard," Butts told CTV's Canada AM. "But what's happened this year is with the new Obama administration in the United States, they've done more in the last six months than the United States has done in the last 30 years on climate."

Changes include:

New incentives for the creation and use of green energy
A national emissions standards for vehicles
A climate change bill is now moving through congress

Click on the link to read the complete article.

NEWS: Buy a Beer for Your Country

2009-06-30T15:53:01Z

Beers For Canada

Remember Visible Government ? They developed the Fix my Street initiative that we mentioned a while back.

They are currently hosting a buy a beer for Canada Fundraiser on Canada Day to raise for funds to help connect you to your government.They are building web tools that promote transparency, and encouraging Canadian leaders to share more information with citizens.

By Giving
$7 (price of a beer)
$20 (a pitcher)
$100 (the round) ...we can all contribute to a cause...that is in need of much more...visibility

This initiative deserves a toast (or a donation) not only for it's necessity but also creativity!

...now if that's not worth a beer, then tell me what is?

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

NEWS: Poll reveals Canadians' widespread ignorance of Canada

2009-06-30T09:54:01Z

OTTAWA - Shockingly ignorant, eh?

There's not much national pride to be drawn from a new poll published just in time for Canada Day. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey suggests the country knows little about its own history - even its most recent history.

Only 42 per cent of respondents knew Canada had three territories - which, when compared with some of the other results from the 13-question survey, could be ranked as a towering success.

When asked how old Canada was turning this year, just 21 per cent answered correctly that the country - founded in 1867 - was turning 142 years old.

The wild range of incorrect replies spanned from 30 years to 287 years, placing Canada's founding at sometime between the War of Spanish Succession and the dying days of disco.

"You've got a big range of perception about how old Canada is," said Harris-Decima vice-president Jeff Walker.