News re Ai Weiwei and his followers’ mass nudity protest

* Nov 29, Guardian, “Chinese police question Ai Weiwei’s wife – Lu Qing released after three hours of questioning, according to the artist and activist“

* Nov 29, Telegraph, “Chinese police question Ai Weiwei’s wife – The wife of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and dissident, was taken in for almost three hours of questioning by police in Beijing on Tuesday and warned her not to leave the city.“

* Nov 26, Guardian, “Ai Weiwei: ‘Every day I think, this will be the day I get taken in again…’The more he is harassed by his government, the more Ai Weiwei becomes a symbol of activism in China. But how much longer can he continue to speak out?“

* Nov 26, Taipei Times, “Ma defends Chinese artist Ai Weiwei“

“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday called for China to respect human rights and defended Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s (艾未未) right to freedom of expression as he attended an exhibition of Ai’s work at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.”

* Nov 25, Seattle PI “Taiwan leader calls for artistic freedom in China“

“The distance between Taiwan and China will be determined by their views on human rights protection,” Ma [Taiwan President] said. “When our views get closer, the two sides will move closer.”

* Nov 23, Media Bistro, “Ai Weiwei’s Assistant Investigated for Pornography, Internet Supporters Go Nude (or Nearly) in Show of Solidarity“

* Nov 22, MSNBC, “Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei answers reader questions“

Q: How did you react to the love shown by your supporters who raised money to help you with your legal issues with the government? Were you at all surprise, and how did those who oppose you respond to this kind of support?

Ai Weiwei: I was deeply impressed, firstly surprised by the reaction of the people who openly support me, who was accused by the state with tax fault. This never happened in a nation like china where the authority is the law. And people really can express their feeling against the accusations. With my unique condition, because I have been working with internet for the past few years, and created a space where the oldest power structure seems much less powerful. So people used the money as a voting ticket to express their feelings against authorities, which was trying to manipulate judicial system, and to punish someone who have different opinions, or even a simple expression which reflects certain kind of freedom. In less than 10 days with restriction that my name can not even be recognized on Chinese internet, we got support over 9 million yuan(about 1.4 million dollars), and that not only came as a surprise to me, but a surprise o the whole society and the authorities as well. That would become a symbolic event which really announced a kind of people’s power from Internet.

[...]

Q: I didn’t think you were allowed to talk to the press after being released from prison, what’s changed?

Ai Weiwei: I’m not talking to press. I’m talking to people.

[...]

Q: Do you believe that you can beat the tax evasion charges?

Ai Weiwei: In current conditions I don’t think we can change the outcome of tax evasion investigation because we don’t have independent judicial system. We don’t even have independent tax department. Chinese media, tax bureau, and the court, they are all under one party’s control. There’s no miracle about it. But at the same time, we already won the trial outside the trial. People openly discuss it and support me. It’s already a victory. It will also be a reminder to the powers that they should never use justice as a means for revenge, otherwise that would really hurt themselves, and put the nation in a shadow when there’s no trust in justice.

* Nov 22, MSNBC, “The story behind the chat with Ai Weiwei“

* Nov 22, WaPo, “Ai Weiwei rallies his followers in protests“

* Nov 21, 2011 Guardian, “Ai Weiwei supporters strip off as artist faces ‘porn’ investigation“

* Nov 21, Telegraph, “Ai Weiwei’s followers’ mass nudity protest” (uncensored nude photo)

* Nov 21, HuffPost, “Ai Weiwei Supporters Tweet Naked Photos“

*******

WARNING THIS SITE CONTAINS FULL FRONTAL NUDE IMAGES:

“艾未粉果 Ai Wei Fans’ Nudity – Listen Chinese Government: Nudity is NOT Pornography“

I like this one “@yanglicai: 同光同罪”. In rough English translation, “if nudity is breaking the law, I am breaking the same law, sentence me the same way”)

For men and women who serve their countries – Stories of U.S. marines Kelsey De Santis and Scot Moore’s special nights with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis respectively

We all have our own individual views on war, at the same time, I hope it is easier to agree that free citizens own the men and women who serve their countries their gratitude. Here are the stories of U.S. marines Kelsey De Santis and Scot Moore’s special nights with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis respectively.

* Daily Mail, “My wonderful night with dream date Justin Timberlake, by U.S. Marine Kelsey De Santis“

* Justin Timberlake’s blog article, “My Night At The Marine Corps Ball“

* Daily Mail, “Belle of the ball! Mila Kunis smoulders in stunning black gown at Marine Corps gala“

canada polymer $100 – money “laundering” test – wash and dry

After a detail (with video) and more serious look at the new Canada polymer $100 banknote, I decided to have some fun and put the brand new $100 to a money “laundering” test. I washed & dried it in a dryer to see what happen.

Non-scientific test results:

* The fold marks are not much worst than regular use.

* The polymer $100 feels noticeably softer after heated up in drier but it feels ok and strong.

* The metallic strip and the holograms are still working great.

Conclusion:

* If you accidentally leave your $100 bills in your jeans pocket, they will survive a wash and dry cycle easily!

Canada polymer $100 banknote hands-on look finally! (with video)

I’ve written and speculated extensively about the new Canadian polymer notes. Finally, I am excited to say I’ve got one in my hand now. Have a watch of this slideshow of the new polymer C$100. In comparison, watch this slideshow of the HK$10 (which is less than US/C $2).

Here is a video of me checking out the new polymer $100, I slowed down the video at various place so you can have a closer look at some features.

Comments:

1) Raised ink: I definitely feel the raised ink on the large “100″ and the shoulders and different parts of the bill.

2) What hidden 100? I have given up trying to find the hidden numbers (using a single light source) in the maple leaf! Some people can see it, not me. So if this security feature is hard to use, or only some people (or small percent of people) can use it, I am questioning if this is a good security feature at all!

Note: I wonder if this feature is the WinDOE® (Diffractive Optical Element) as I wrote in “12 possible security features” in March?

3) Polymer but not cheap plastic feel: I actually quite like the feel and don’t feel it is “cheap” or anything thing. It feel like it is good quality. But only time and actually use will tell.

4) Large transparent window and metallic strip: I LOVE them! To me, they are the best part of the bill. They are extremely easy to inspect and tell if it is a real $100 with minimum training! They are hard to fake thanks to Securency International’s security features and patented technologies.

Further info: In March, I wrote a speculative technology piece with extensive links to patents by Securency International, “Bank of Canada’s new polymer banknote – Patents & technologies by Securency International“ After the new $100 was announced in June, I wrote “Canada New Polymer $100 Notes in Nov 2011 – Now your money is smooth & will bounce!“

The HK$10 (less than US/C$ 2)

Here are some design info about the polymer $100 from Bank of Canada:

“$100 Note – Design Features
Portrait: Sir Robert L. Borden, Prime Minister, 1911–20
Signatures: Left – T. Macklem, Right – M.J. Carney
Size: 152.4 x 69.85 mm (6.0 x 2.75 inches)
Issue Date: November 2011
Theme: Medical Innovation

New polymer Canada $100 notes coming today (Nov 14th)

Nov 17th update:  Happy to say I finally got a chance to play with my new Canada polymer C$100 bill (with video).
***
Update Nov 16th: Just checked with Bank of Canada and got some clarifications. It will take BoC a few weeks to get the polymer $100 notes to different cities and local bank branches. And once the banks have the new $100, they will start removing the old $100 notes from circulation. Meaning if you deposit an old $100, it will be shipped back to Bank of Canada to be destroyed.

***

Update: CTV News, “Polymer $100 bill now in circulation” (with video)

CBC News: “New polymer $100 bill goes into circulation – First in series of new bills, the $100s have enhanced security features to thwart counterfeiters” (with video)

“Do Canada’s new bank notes fit the bill?”

***

The new polymer Canada  $100 notes are finally here today (Nov 14, 2011)! Here is a press release from Bank of Canada with a link to their live webcast,

“WEBCASTS – 14 NOVEMBER 2011:

Audio and video Webcasts of the official ceremony to issue the new $100 polymer bank note will be available at 13:00 (Eastern Time).

The Webcasts will be accessible from this location: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/media-room/webcasts/

Note: We recommend that you access Webcasts five minutes before their scheduled start time.”

Have a read of my previous articles here and here.

My commentaries of the new polymer Canada  $100 notes

Dissident China artist Ai Weiwei’s supporters sent $1.4 million to fight tax bill in court

* AP, Dissident China artist raises $1.4M for tax bill

“Ai received 8.69 million yuan ($1.4 million) from supporters as of Sunday night, the artist said by phone. This is enough for him to put down a guarantee of more than 8 million yuan by Tuesday required by the tax authority to obtain an administrative review of the case.”

* The Voice Of Treason – China’s most famous dissident artist, Ai Weiwei, speaks out about the ordeal of his Detention

“”They follow you around until you have no energy and break down. It’s very successful. It’s a hundred departments, you can’t fight them,” he says. “You should commit suicide before you have to go through this … the tax bureau and the court and the police are the same person with different faces.”

* Ai Weiwei Documentary ‘Never Sorry’ Trailer (VIDEO)

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry TEASER

Sadly @googlenexus challenge shows Google Galaxy Nexus has Logic but lacks LOVE in its DNA – Challenge #1 solution explained

Because I am looking to buy a new phone, I was initially excited by the @googlenexus challenge: 10 chances in 10 days to win a Galaxy Nexus and even retweeted it. [HT MS] I thought it was a cool way to generate buzz for the new Galaxy Nexus. But then my excitement quickly faded once I saw and then struggled for hours with challenge #1 (see above message). Which lead me to think about the problem with this promotional challenge #1. See later this post for my challenge #1 solution explanation.

Logic or Love?

In the Galaxy Nexus Oct 19th launch video, a presenter wondered out loud and wished that Galaxy Nexus is more LOVED! Unfortunately @googlenexus challenge #1 clearly showed, to me, Google Galaxy Nexus has Logic but lacks LOVE in DNA. How so?

If Galaxy Nexus is to be loved, it can’t just cater to the geeks (or super geeks)! Should a promotional campaign be enjoyable and solvable by your average Grace & Gary? Or should the challenged be fun and solvable only by super geeks? To be honest, who the heck had any idea what the beep this picture mean? I was pissed off enough that I tweeted with the #fail tag and used “stupid” to describe 99.9% of us fans,

* Is @googlenexus too smart for its own good? Why make its first #GalaxyNexus Challenge so hard that 99.99% of its fans look stupid? #fail

* Hey @googlenexus We are just happy fans trying to have fun & win a $500 #GalaxyNexus phone right? This is not a job app for #google ? #fail

You see, the challenge was hard enough that Google had to post a hint! Given the hint, I looked up the Flag semaphore and soon realized there can be many combinatorial variations and one can’t really solve the problem easily without spending a ton of time or even writing a computer program!

One such non sensible interpretations of the symbols I came up with is,

(1,2) to indicate number, then “689 944” then (1,3) to indicate letters, then “PICO ALIE CHILAM“

Challenge #1 solution explained

What I managed to do was only to verify someone’s answer! For beep sake, the challenge shouldn’t be this hard that it frustrated 99.9% of people who tried to give it a shot!

* #GalaxyNexus is well-traveled, coming to @googlenexus from What did J Cook call Hawaii

Process to verify solution:

Converting pictures to Symbols (from left to right)

(note: top flag is the position 1, then clockwise count from 2 to 8 to convert all flag positions)

Symbol #1 (1,2,3,5,6,6,7,8); Symbol #2 (1,1,5,5,6,8); Symbol #3 (1,3)

Symbol #4 (1,5,6,7,7,8,8,8); Symbol #5 (2,2,5,5,6,6,6,8); Symbol #6 (2,3,5,5,6,6,6,6,6,7,8,8)

Verification

“What did J Cook call Hawaii“

WHAT – W (2,3) H (6,7) A (5,6) T (8,1) [Sources of confusions: (5,6) can also stand for the number 1, also (1,2) can also stand for an instruction for "Numerals"]

DID – D (5,1) I (6,8) D (5,1) [Sources of confusions: All these combinations can also stand for numbers.]

J (1,3)  [Source of confusion: This time, (1,3) also stand to indication coming are Letters!]

COOK (  (5,8) (7,8) (7,8) (1,6) )

CALL ( (5,8) (5,6) (6,2) (6,2) )

HAIWAII ( (6,7) (5,6) (2,3) (5,6) (6,8) (6,8) )

Challenge #2 – Any more love?

Well, challenge #2 has now been posted,

* “Challenge 2: Make something geeky & edible. Include #deliciousness & @googlenexus in your submission“

* “Challenge 2 entries evaluated on creativity, originality & use of humor. Rules: http://goo.gl/5dpAK. Can’t wait to see what you concoct!“

At least contestants will be judged on their “creativity, originality & use of humor” but the challenge itself stills want entries to be “geeky“!

iPhone vs. Google Nexus

I think it is safe to say iPhone is loved my many people. People don’t LOVE things logically! And I just can’t imagine Apple will be insane enough to try a contest like challenge #1. Sadly, the @googlenexus challenge #1 shows Google Galaxy Nexus seems to be unable or unwilling to broaden its appeal to the general public. If you are not a geek (actually they mean super geek), we are not interested in catering to you or have you interested in our new phone!

It is hard to inject LOVE into Google’s DNA when it is so much built on logic and calculations.

People’s money battles with oppressors (這是對抗強權的人民幣)

“這是對抗強權的人民幣” New meaning for Renminbi (People’s money), “People’s money battles with oppressors.”

Two more days to lend money to Ai Weiwei, so far $7,571,713 yuan from 26,723 micro creditors have been raised to protest Chinese government’s attempt to censor artists and internet users.

From Ai Weiwei’s Google+ Account.

“艾未未 – 9:13 AM (edited) – Public
截止11日中午12时，共收到26723笔借款，总金额7571713元。其中：

支付宝 19322笔 2477717元
建行卡 4559笔 2704123元
paypal 792 笔 290522元
现金 335笔 1385257元
邮局汇款1715笔 714094元

距借款截止日还有2天。”

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei gets 21,000+ microloans totalling 5.9m yuan so far to pay his 15m yuan tax bill

For the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, it is not about the money, it is a chance to let the Chinese public to voice their support of him and disapproval of Chinese government unjust accusation/judgement. Read along to find out what these two donations signify:

512 yuan, about $80

89.64 yuan, or about $14

Washington Post, “Ai Weiwei fans raise funds to pay his massive tax bill“

“In a strong affront to the Chinese government’s attempt to censor artists and internet users, fans of the artist Ai Weiwei have raised more than $830,000 in three days through social media to help the artist fight a $2.4 million tax bill from the state.”

BBC English, “Ai Weiwei China tax bill paid by supporters” (with English interview)

“By Monday, there had been donations totalling more than 5m yuan ($790,000; £490,000) to pay off the $2.4m in taxes and fines the authorities say he owes.

Many people believe he was served the bill because of his outspoken criticism of the government rather than because he had evaded taxes.

Malcolm Gladwell 2011 TED Talk: The strange tale of the Norden bombsight

I really enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell 2011 TED Talk: The strange tale of the Norden bombsight.

Have a look of the first iteration of this talk delivered at University of Toronto. Plus my previous addition to my list of Quotes I Love and Quotes I Love (videos).

“Technology alone doesn’t solve problems. Social media does not create revolutions. Its a tool. Nothing more or less. Real revolutions are born out of righteous anger and courage and vision. [...] The issue is not how accurate a bomb is. The issue is what to do the bombs you have. And more importantly, whether to use bombs at all. Technological problems are not the hardest part of the future. They are the easiest part. The hard part are the human problems that accompany the rise of technology.” - Malcolm Gladwel‬l at University of Toronto: Malcolm Gladwell, Convocation 2011 Honorary Degree speech video (starts at about time code 6:38)

ref: CNN Jun 17th, 2011 report “Malcolm Gladwell: When technology fails“

P.S. By the way, also check out Videos of Malcolm Gladwell at Cannes Lions 2011.

Andy Rooney, ’60 Minutes’ Commentator/Chief Complainer, Passes Away at 92

I am saddened of the news that Andy Rooney passes away at 92 after saying goodbye to us on his last 60 Minutes appearance on Oct 2nd only only a month ago. I think Andy lived a great live speaking his mind as he saw things. I think if someone was doing things that he/she love, then the person isn’t working at all. By that standard, it was wonderful to see Andy work till only weeks ago.

Goodbye Andy. You are missed.

LA Times, “Andy Rooney dies at 92; ’60 Minutes’ longtime curmudgeon – His end-of-show essays turned him into a reluctant celebrity. TV Guide called him ‘America’s favorite grump.’ He retired in October 2011 after 33 years on the show.“

ABC News, Andy Rooney Passes Away

Ottawa Citizen, “Andy Rooney, Rest In Peace“

WSJ Blog, “Andy Rooney, ’60 Minutes’ Commentator, Dies at 92“

CBS 60 Minutes Overtime, “Remembering Andy Rooney” (note: at the moment, none of the video links on the page are working for me)

U of Calgary biosensor project takes students to competition at MIT

This looks pretty cool. University of Calgary biosensor project takes students to competition at MIT (emphasis added)

“A group of undergraduate students has developed a process that uses genetically modified bacteria to help monitor the levels of toxins in oil sands tailings ponds. The project has earned them a spot at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) World Championship Jamboree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Nov. 5 – 7.

Eleven students from the faculties of medicine, science and engineering created a biosensor–a sensor that is biologically based–to detect levels of naphthenic acids (NAs), which can be toxic in certain quantities. The students spent months growing bacteria in a laboratory and adding a mini genome to enable the detection of NAs.“

From Edmonton Journal, “Bacteria used to find oilsands toxins” (emphasis added)

““We decided early on we wanted to do an oilsands project because it’s so relevant to Alberta, it would be easier to get funding, and it was interesting to us,” said Emily Hicks, 21, a fourth-year biomedical sciences student and team captain.

The group created a bio-sensor to detect levels of naphthenic acids (NAs), which can be toxic.

The researchers grew bacteria in a laboratory, then added a mini genome to help detect the NAs. If NA gas is present, it causes a change in the bacteria which is then recorded on a computer hooked up to take readings.

“It will essentially start to form something that gives us a charge,” Hicks said.

“We can see that on the graph.” The process takes just a few minutes.

Energy companies conduct regular sampling to monitor tailings pond toxins.

The students’ process “presumably will be a lot lower cost,” and could one day be used in Alberta’s oilsands, said Lisa Gieg, U of C assistant professor in biological sciences and faculty facilitator of the project.

“We still have a lot of ways to go to develop and standardize, but that’s the vision, to eventually use it as a screening tool, to try to detect, in particular, naphthenic acids.”“

“The University of Calgary iGem team will be tweeting from the finals. Follow them on twitter @iGemCalgary and follow the conversation #igem2011“

***

iGem Calgary – Last Project Night – TGIF Parody – iGEM Calgary 2011

Life’s Too Short – Ricky Gervais: ‘It’s not our best, but it’s our funniest’

Have a read, “Ricky: ‘It’s not our best, but it’s our funniest’“. Life’s Too Short will air on UK BBC2, Thursday, Nov 10, 2011.

Life’s Too Short’s Celebrity Guests – Life’s Too Short – BBC Two

Campy Johnny Depp – Life’s Too Short

Life’s Too Short – with extra Bacon

Ricky And Warwick The Frog – Life’s Too Short – BBC Two

Warwick Davis talks working with Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant (explains Life’s Too Short a little)

William Gibson, The Art of Fiction – the Paris Review

Here is an excerpt from William Gibson, The Art of Fiction – Interviewed by David Wallace-Wells – the Paris Review. [HT BB]

*******

“INTERVIEWER

Do you revise?

GIBSON

Every day, when I sit down with the manuscript, I start at page one and go through the whole thing, revising freely.

INTERVIEWER

You revise the whole manuscript every day?

GIBSON

I do, though that might consist of only a few small changes. I’ve done that since my earliest attempts at short stories. It would be really frustrating for me not to be able to do that. I would feel as though I were flying blind.

SFU researchers create gecko-like climbing robot

Really cool to see SFU researchers create gecko-like climbing robot. Here is a link to the research paper (requires free account or log in). [HT Vancouver Sun]

Here is a video.

Do The Den’s Dragons actually invest in anything? Techvibes v. CBC – Asking Dragons, Den entrepreneurs for deal data

** Techvibes challenges CBC‘s & Dragons‘ credibility **

As a long time fan (since 2006) of CBC Dragons’ Den, it is painful to see CBC‘s & Dragons‘ investment credibility being questioned in the Techvibes article “The Den’s Dragons didn’t invest in Notewagon after all. But really, do they actually invest in anything?“ (emphasis added) which was linked by CBC Facebook Fan Club. Here is an excerpt from the last part of the article (emphasis added),

“The second issue is that Dragon’s Den deals aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Even in the U.K., critics insist that the show is pure entertainment [...] Just because a Dragon or two agrees to give entrepreneurs X number of dollars for a Y stake in the company, it doesn’t mean anything will actually happen after the cameras stop rolling. There’s due diligence and the added fact that Dragon money isn’t always pure.“

** Gathering CBC Dragons’ Den Canadian deals data **

In Knowlton’s article, Notewagon is discussed and two UK articles are referenced before Knowlton challenges CBC Dragons’ investment credibility. You see, these questions are not new in UK and Canada. Early this year in March 2011, I was researching for an in-depth article about Dragons’ Den, planning to write about, amongst many topics, the deals the Dragons made on TV vs deals they actually closed. I was able to find some deal data for one dragon Brett Wilson (more on this later). I thought if facts & figures like actual deals closed and by what Dragons vs. TV deals made were published, people’s questions and doubts would have been addressed.

To get my research going, I sent the following questions to CBC Head of Media Relations, Mr. Jeff Keay on March 17,

1) I would like to find out the number of deals the dragons made on air for each of the Dragons’ Den season (including the current).
2) The number of deals the dragons closed after due diligence in each of the season.

I got a prompt reply the next day on March 18 from Jeff saying,

“Checking. Back to you soon.“

Unfortunately, I got no further respond after followup emails & voice mails to Jeff on March 22 & 28. In fact, Jeff never got back to me. I eventually had to give up on the story.

** Actual Closed Deals data from one Dragon

(former Dragon Brett Wilson) **

As I mentioned before, as far I can find, the only comprehensive actual closed deals data I found were published by former Dragon Brett Wilson. Again, as far as I can tell, no other Dragons have publicly published any actual closed deals data! 

Brett made public the number of deals he has done on TV (60+ deals) in three years, actually closed after due diligence (30 deals) and also the amount of money invested (over $4.5 million) in a Prairie Merchant (Brett’s company) Feb 28th, 2011 press release “Dragon With A Heart Leaves the Den” (emphasis added),

“After three years on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, doing 60 plus deals in the Den and personally committing over $4.5 million in final deals with 30 Canadian entrepreneurs, W. Brett Wilson, the lead deal making Dragon, confirmed today that he will not return for the show’s next season.”

** Deals data from Dragons, CBC Dragons’ Den, or

Den entrepreneurs with TV & actually closed deals **

To me, one way to positively addresses people’s legitimate concerns about ”but really, do they actually invest in anything?” is to have the Dragons, CBC, or Den entrepreneurs with TV & actually closed deals to provide deals data (the TV deals vs. what Dragon actually closed what deals, amounts invested & percentage, etc) so that Canadian fans of the show, and potential Den entrepreneurs can have some transparency & credibility back in the Dragons’ Den deals and process itself.

As a long time Dragons’ Den fan (since 2006) and champion of DD even before the show was launched in Canada, I hate to see people lose faith in Dragons’ Den‘s deals and its process. This is the 6th year of CBC Dragons’ Den and lots of Canadian entrepreneurs put their hopes on dreams into the show. Can you imagine if the deals are done on TV by Dragons for show only? And most deals fail to close? Imagine the Dragons ALWAYS can find reasons in due diligence phase to kill deals (small or big), will you still be interested in watching the show?

** Grounding Dragons’ Den popularity

with business facts & figures **

Looking back five years to 2006 when CBC just launched Dragons’ Den, I am still amazed how much Globe & Mail’s reporter John Doyle hated/trashed DD in its infancy even criticizing the set as “dark basement is, you know, dreary.” I will not forget my Oct 3rd and Oct 4th, 2006 articles jumping to DD’s defence when it was still an unproven show, long before DD is popular.

Now, over five years later and CBC Dragons’ Den is successful money making machine for CBC (with all the re-runs), I think fans of the show and potential Canadian Den entrepreneurs deserve to see their favourite show grounded with “actual closed deals” and actual business facts & figures and not just be satisfied by “TV deals”.

Vancouver plane crash heroes

These heroes deserved our public thanks.

* Vancouver Sun, “Video: Plane-crash heroes tell their stories“

* CBC News, “Plane crash rescuer says he ‘didn’t have a plan (with 16 mins raw interview with Jeremy Kerr)’“

* Vancouver Sun, “Jeremy Kerr writes letter to Vancouver Sun reporter Jeff  Lee about his role in the rescue of passengers on Northern Thunderbird Air Flight 204 and its aftermath“

* CBC News, “Premier to honour Richmond crash heroes (with crash aftermath video)“

* National Post, “Vancouver plane crash: Heroes who fought their way into the flaming wreckage tell their story“

“Jeremy Kerr, John Redmond, Haim Peri and Shawn Nagurny share a common bond even if they don’t know one another.

They were among the small group of men who, against all odds, pushed their way into the flaming fuselage of Northern Thunderbird Air Flight 204 to drag injured passengers to safety after the small aircraft crashed Thursday in Richmond, near Vancouver.

None of the men sought public attention in the days after the incident, but they have now come forward, largely out of the cathartic need to talk about what they experienced. The trauma of being thrown into the situation of becoming unexpected heroes has weighed heavily.

As the men carried or dragged the victims out, as many as two dozen other Good Samaritans offered help, carrying the injured to a grassy area not far from the wreckage. Redmond says all who responded — from those who offered first aid to those who sprayed car fire extinguishers on the flaming wreckage in the vain hope of beating back the flames — deserve credit.

But it was Kerr, Redmond, Peri, Nagurny and several as-yet unidentified men who entered the aircraft, suspending common sense to risk their lives for the people on board.

Here are their stories.

Jeremy Kerr

[...] At first, he said, he didn’t know why he helped out. It was an autonomic reaction for him to race over, he said. In hindsight, he now knows he did so out of extreme compassion.

“Waiting for help to arrive wasn’t an option,” he said. “If they were my loved ones on board, I would hope that someone would do the same for me.” [...]

Some of the events around what happened are blurry to Kerr. He says he doesn’t remember the faces and names of the other heroes who worked with him. “It’s like looking down the barrel of a straw,” he said. “All I can remember is the victims.” [...]

John Redmond

[...] He drove straight through an intersection, stopped the car “a little bit too close to the airplane,” grabbed his steering-wheel club in case he needed something to smash through windows to free people, and ran as fast as he could toward the airplane.