On June 7th, pause and think about accessibility, and what it means for those of us with disabilities. Access Awareness Day is put on by the Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC BC), which is one of this province's key actors producing research around accessibility, income security, and development. The campaign is aimed primarily at encouraging businesses to make their workplace more inclusive for consumers and workers with visible and invisible disabilities. This encompasses accessibility through design and through the way we approach and talk about inclusion.

If you'd like to see how you can extend this to your own workplace, download SPARC's Access Is Everyone's Business Booklet from their website for information and ideas.

Image courtesy of sp_clarke in the BR Flickr Pool.

So I'm sad to report that Jon and Sean have both been simultaneously obliterated by asteroids. Shame. Most of you may be sad (some I'm certain are celebratory), but Morning Brew must continue! So I guess this will be my inaugural Brew, booyah. Some big shoes to fill. Seeing as how I now have the supreme power of the interconnected network of tubes in my shiny new Kits digs, it's time to get crackin' son.

Speaking of my new pad, it's amazing that I was able to find a place to rent among the throngs of other renters on the market, without encountering any notorious Craiglist scammers. Now, all I need to worry about are these folks. (Thanks to Darryl for that last link. Let's just hope your 360 overheats on them at least. Plus, last laugh's on them when those HD-DVDs depreciate like a rock!)

Vancouver looks great on paper. It will always be at the top of "most livable city" lists courtesy of magazines like the Economist and consulting companies like Mercer. But.... the city doesn't have those intangible qualities that make it an exciting and stimulating place to be. Not for me, anyways. But, say my friends, you're just not looking hard enough. So after I came back from China, I began searching. And although I still haven't found that je ne sais quoi, Meetups have definitely made me a little less bitter and a little more hopeful.

Meetups are organized in cities all over the world by people who share the same interests. They range from the banal to the random, and they cater to both broad and niche groups. Can't find what you want? Start your own. The concept of a website that brings together locals with common interests is simple and effective, and has arguably helped bring a little closeness to societies increasingly steeped in individualism.

My own experience with meetups after the jump...

Seriously. This is what I need to to talk about right now. It might not be as popular as Bed Bugs in Vancouver, but hey, its ruining my life. I work at a deli. A very, very popular deli called So.cial at Le Magasin. We recently adjusted our prices to the ridiculous inflation of wheat prices not once but twice. I will say this once people, there are people fucking rioting in the streets to get a bag of grain. $14 for a humongous sandwich and a bag of chips isn't a bad deal. Suck it up you self-important schmucks, this is the realization that an economy structured entirely around the myth of an endless bountiful of energy, a system that is unable to subtract, unable to reflect the true price of things. This is the world of Peak Food. Jesus, even the National Post have figured it out by now.

I get paid 10 bucks an hour to feed what feels like the entire population of Gastown, and all I hear are people complain. Yes, it actually costs us a dollar to wrap your sandwich into two separate packages. That's because you're douche-bag friends on Howe Street are raking it in on Wheat Futures. Can you believe there is such a thing as Wheat Futures in the first place? What's next, water futures? Or is that totally already happening? Fuck it, all I know is that your sammich is 14 dollars and either pay or don't. Sorry if I come across rude, I just don't really want to hear about it from you becuase I'm super busy, mmm kay? Next...

B.C. opening door to foreign security guards at Olympics. Hey cool, they can all wear the colours of their country. Just be wary if there's a particularly large contingent from Saudi Arabia. Especially since its the winter Olympics. But other than that, super fun times ahead!

B.C. Supreme Court rules closing safe injection site unconstitutional. Next up to be made unconstitutional: cutting welfare, raising tuition, and those Axe commercials.

Hey, did you know that John Reynolds is the lobbyist for Sam Sullivan's drug-substitution project? who is also the lobbyist for lobbyist Ken Dobell, who is Sullivan's lobbyist as well as Gordon Campbell's. John Reynolds lobbies Ken Dobell on behalf of the feds, while Sullivan just hangs out in lobbies waiting for the elevator.

Meanwhile Oppal retreats halfway on Bill 42. Like everything you do Fischer; big show, no results.

Canadian Government Wants to Search Your Laptop. Just in case you decided to hide tiny vials of hotel shampoo in there. But seriously, no fucking fluids people! Nothing. Not even lemons. Or steak.

our alternative transportation is...

Transportation is always a big issue in Vancouver. With our mish-mash system of bridges, tunnels, skytrains, and buses (and the occasional ferry), new developments are usually welcomed - until we subsequently use them and then proclaim that they're horrible and lots of taxpayer dollars were wasted. Such is life in Lotusland, I suppose. Regardless, it seems that while we're currently trying to come up with new ways to get around Vancouver, we used to have a very effective means: Streetcars!