Currents by Jonathon Narvey

Summertime in Vancouver and the Living is Sexy

jnarvey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:11:38 +0000

A sunny weekend is here to remind us rain-slogged Vancouver residents that summertime isn’t just something that happens to other people. Looking forward to heading to Kitsilano beach and watching all the sexy people walk by.

24 News’ Guts McTavish knows what we’re talking about. Here is his profile of coconuts and other natural wonders at Kitsilano beach.

Nice to see our beach winning some justified accolades. Just out of curiosity, I typed “worst beach” into Google and came up with Malabar Hill, Mumbai, India. It looks… different. Don’t forget the sunscreen.

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Climate Change and a Lot of Hot Air

jnarvey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:42:34 +0000

Predictably, we’re seeing a lot of hot air from world political leaders who refuse to cooperate at the G8 summit discussing greener policies climate change targets. What’s changed now is the exact source of that hot air.

The USA’s President Obama has rightly backed targets to cut emissions by 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels (Of course, in the USA, not everything a President wants gets done – we’ll see if the Senate approves). So now the world’s worst polluter per capita (except us carbon-spewing Canucks) are off eco-defenders’ hate-mail lists, at least for the moment. But developing nations, where fast population growth and gradually-rising living standards are quickly boosting carbon footprints, still aren’t buying in.

India’s rep says reaching climate change targets should not be borne on the backs of the developing world’s poor. This is shorthand for saying that since the developed world got to enjoy the benefits of high living standards from rampant resource exploitation, pretty much guilt-free before the recent green revolution, then India, China, Indonesia and all the rest of the developing world – most of the planet’s population – should be able to exploit resources and emit carbon to their heart’s content, at least for the next 100 years or so.

Bad idea. We’re already seeing evidence of climate change, and guess where the worst of it is happening? Drought in Africa, murderous heat in India, mass flooding in Bangladesh, crop failures in Asia… while developed nations have the resources to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, developing nations don’t. They’ve got huge incentives to cut back on their carbon output right now. These nations want their people’s living standards to continue to rise. But doing nothing about climate change means sitting back and watching their land turn into deserts or their cities to be reclaimed by the sea.

The excuse from developing nations previously has been that they couldn’t be expected to lower their carbon footprint when even the rich nations couldn’t afford to do so.

Now that the wealthy nations have stepped up, the rest of the world will need to do their part.

This doesn’t necessarily mean curtailing the developing world’s economies. Carbon can be reduced through better efficiency. Smarter uses of resources, better public transportation, recycling programs, better enforcement of regulations protecting nature preserves, moving away from the disastrous suburbian model we’ve largely adopted in the West… all of these will help. All that’s required is the will.

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Eleven Lessons on War from Robert S. McNamara

jnarvey — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:01:55 +0000

I grew up in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and in the final decades of the Cold War. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and proxy wars in Latin America, Africa and Asia kept the genuine threat of a worldwide nuclear war part of everyday life in a way that we don’t see as much today. Even though there are still enough nuclear weapons to make our planet inhospitable to most life except cockroaches, and keeping in mind the potential of Taliban or Al Queda fanatics acquiring nukes, the threat has definitely receded from most current-events watchers’ field of vision. But many legacies of the Cold War do remain with us even today. In some ways, the terrorist threat and the foreign conflicts we see today in Afghanistan, the Middle East and elsewhere are just part of the next phase from a continuum from that era.

Robert McNamara was a walking legacy of the Cold War during and after the USA’s involvement in Vietnam. The documentary Fog of War was an extremely compelling story of a tragic and remorseful soul who nonetheless seemed to have come to terms with his involvement and his place in history. While the 11 lessons from the film are a bit vague out of context, the 11 lessons from the Vietnam War he provides in his memoir seem very relevant for today’s world when we talk of war and relations with adversarial nations. The lessons (as listed in his Wikipedia entry):

1. We misjudged then — and we have since — the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries … and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
2. We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience … We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
3. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
4. Our judgments of friend and foe, alike, reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
5. We failed then — and have since — to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces, and doctrine.
6. We failed, as well, to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.
7. We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large-scale military involvement … before we initiated the action.
8. After the action got under way, and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course … we did not fully explain what was happening, and why we were doing what we did.
9. We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Our judgement of what is in another people’s or country’s best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our image or as we choose.
10. We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action … should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.
11. We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions … At times, we may have to live with an imperfect, untidy world.

While the conflict in Iraq would seem to repeat many of the errors identified above, I’m heartened that the Afghanistan mission where Canadians have sacrificed much seems to have avoided some of the worst mistakes. I believe we went in with a fair understanding of the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries. The mission has been pursued with eyes wide open as to the cultural aspects; the gulf is wide, but not unbridgeable, and universal principles of human rights and the desire for freedom are genuine objectives of both the soldiers in the field and the people we are trying to protect. And it has broad support in the international community as well as a UN mandate.

We may have to live with an imperfect, untidy world. But that doesn’t mean we have to remain on the sidelines when we have the power to intervene in a just cause.

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America the Beautiful

jnarvey — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:38:18 +0000

Best wishes to our American cousins and allies on their Independence Day. I have many fond memories of travels through that great nation. Here are some images of the USA I’ve taken over the years. Can you guess where they were taken?

Cheers, from your friends in the True North.

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Mr. “F**k Canada Day” Goes On the Attack

jnarvey — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:27 +0000

He’s been disowned by a panicked Canadian Arab Federation in damage-control mode, threatened with grievous bodily harm by a predictable slew of blog-trolling rednecks and was presumably pressured to resign his executive position yesterday. But the unrepentant Omar Shaban, who has cursed his adopted country, is not hiding in a cave somewhere near Vancouver or leaving for some distant shore where both radical propagandists and narcissistic idiots are more welcome (Britain, perhaps?). He’s actually trying to defend his words.

According to Mr. Shaban’s blog from “Occupied Canada”:

My facebook status did read “F*** Canada Day”, and it was followed by a few other comments in response to some of the questions that people posted. Some consider that taking this position is disgraceful and shameful but I tend to disagree.

Canadian citizens may not be given to showy displays of patriotism (well, except maybe on Canada Day), but cursing the land where you were born, where your parents came to give you a better life (at least until they decided to go back to Lebanon and raise him in the Nahr El-Barid refugee camp) – is certainly disgraceful. No doubt, Mr. Shaban relishes the infamy that has come unto his reputation. He breathes in the contempt of his fellow citizens. He feels no shame. Perhaps he even feels a sense of moral superiority. In any case, as he says, he tends to disagree with the prevailing view that he’s a vile and irredeemable embarrassment.

Moving on, Mr. Shaban claims that:

First of all, my statement clearly did not reflect CAF’s position; it was my own personal opinion.

Clearly? How does this statement “clearly” not reflect CAF’s position? CAF has been describes as making decidedly un-Canadian statements including “the promotion of hatred, anti-Semitism and support for the banned terrorist organizations” (NP). Why should Canadians expect that the rest of the executive of the CAF has done anything more with their tepid and uninformative press release (CAF Disassociates Itself from Recent Comments) than stop the bleeding after one of their own said what they were all thinking?

But now we get to Omar’s rationalization for his actions:

Secondly, I said “F*** Canada Day” and I regret the dark history that this country has. On our silent government’s behalf, I apologize to the indigenous people for this, and sincerely wish it had not happened to you. I apologize to the indigenous people of Canada because their feelings are not taken into consideration at “Canada Day” celebrations.

Of course! Mr. Shaban isn’t a tactless slimeball! He’s practically a hero. Oh, wait a second…

Omar never bothered to actually see what First Nations people might have to say about Canada Day before he decided to speak for them. For instance, here we have Mike Pinay, an elder from the Peepeekisis First Nation, talking about how Canada Day is a time for everyone to celebrate being a Canadian:

“We acknowledge what our forefathers have said, that we agreed to share the land with all the newcomers,” Pinay explained. “So we acknowledge that today on Canada Day. I look at it as a commemoration of all the good things that have happened.”

And then we have the words of Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, following Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology for the terrible abuse of Natives at the residential schools (Edmonton Journal):

But it signifies something even more important: a respectful and, therefore, liberating relationship between us and the rest of Canada. Together we can achieve the greatness our country deserves.

The apology today is founded upon, more than anything else, the recognition that we all own our own lives and destinies, the only true foundation for a society where peoples can flourish.

First Nations people have not forgotten their history. And both aboriginals and non-First Nations Canadians are also well aware that the state of Canada’s aboriginals is a national disgrace. The clear message here is that Canadians of all backgrounds want to see positive change come to aboriginal communities. Remember the past. Build a future – together.

Yet on the day when Omar took his “stand”, his supposed allies failed to show. There were no mass protests against the “occupier”. The Native artists and musicians in the Aboriginal Village at Major’s Hill Park and elsewhere were not forcibly conscripted into performing at Canada Day celebrations. Funny, that.

Omar’s statement that he would not celebrate Canada Day “until it is accepted as legitimate by the indigenous people” is a red herring that might be seen as akin to Brad Pitt’s forgotten declaration that he would not get married until all Americans – gay, straight, whatever – could get married.

But there may be a more nefarious motive at work in Mr. Shaban’s latest meandering yet defiant declaration; his explanation of his actions – which attempts to weave in Gaza and Afghanistan with the issues on Canadian reserves into a confusing diatribe – could make more sense if we see them as part of the standard tactic of Islamist fundamentalist propagandists, what Ed Hussain describes in the Islamist as the linking of a myriad of issues in the hopes of radicalizing an anti-imperialist, anti-democratic mass of permanent radicals. Burning his bridges, perhaps Mr. Shaban has decided exactly where he wants his “career” to go.

One can only hope that one day this poor deluded soul will understand what he has done and ask forgiveness. Canadians may not want to give it. But that’s not the point.

A little humility here, Mr. Shaban. A little shame.

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Rug Pulled from Underneath the Anti-Imperialist Crowd

jnarvey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:00:07 +0000

The uprising changes everything.

From Terry Glavin in his Tyee column, “Iran: Whose Side Are We Really On?”:

The uprising changes everything, and not just inside Iran. No matter what happens next, the uprising will cause convulsions in contested fields of struggle from Afghanistan to Palestine.

Already, the spectacle of angry masses thronging the streets of Iranians cities is holding out the promise of a great awakening in “progressive” politics from Berlin to Seattle. In Canada, what was once unspeakable is now unavoidably central to any serious discussion of the Iranian cause and what it demands of us.

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Happy Canada Day

jnarvey — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:01:30 +0000

Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Canada…
Happy birthday to you.

And many more.

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Jacko’s Death Heralds End of Iranian Opposition?

jnarvey — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:48:02 +0000

Dramatization of a conversation I’m likely to hear on my way to work in the morning: “I vaguely remember something in the news, something about a lady in a Persian rug store who got shot. I don’t know. But Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died on the same day? I better catch Larry King interviewing their friends and family members. Let’s see, if I don’t see it tonight, I can probably catch the show tomorrow, or Saturday morning, or later that weekend, or any day next week…”

Not to take anything away from those who mourn the Prince of Pop and that lovely woman who acted in the original Charlie’s Angels TV series, but you’ve really got to feel bad for the Iranian opposition. The news cycle of celebrity-obsessed North American media will ensure that the next seven days are filled with stories about Michael Jackson’s musical talent and enjoyment of sleepovers with young boys and Ms. Fawcett’s courageous battle with cancer (with some choice stills of her early TV appearances thrown in for good measure).

Iran’s brave protesters will not be entirely ignored, but neither will their wounded and fallen get the attention that they very much deserve. Instead, news consumers will be fed a steady diet of celebrity news that we don’t particularly want, but which major media outlets think we need.

Until now, the opposition may have been buoyed by the robust support across the globe for their drive to bring real democratic change to Iran. The protesters certainly haven’t been getting any support from the censored and browbeaten (or just plain beaten) media in their own country (Reporters Without Borders calls Iran the world’s biggest prison for journalists). How disappointed and demoralized they’ll feel when the world’s attention shifts to eulogizing a famously talented man who couldn’t stop grabbing his crotch.

The mullahs in Iran must be loving it. Our evening’s broadcasts were clear proof that the decadent Westerners have the attention span of children. We decry political tyrants, but we knowingly accept and immerse ourselves in silly cults of personality so long as the icons are celebrities.

I hope I’m wrong. Canada and our allies have a huge stake in the Middle East. Right next door in Afghanistan, we’re helping an embattled new democracy remain on an upward path in the face of unrelenting violence by religious fundamentalists. Americans of course have an immense stake in the progress of democracy in Iraq, also right next door. Now we see a very rare glimmer of democratic change in Iran, which is under attack from more unrelenting violence from a similar breed of religious fundamentalists. It’s essential for responsible media broadcasters to keep our eyes on the news stories that continue to matter this week.

For the Tweeting Crowd
Some local Vancouver Tweeps who have noticed this disappointing trend:
FarFromSubtle Phew, I’m so glad Michael fixed that whole Iran thing before he died.
TeddysTogs Have you noticed with all of the celebrity deaths today—no Iran in the news?
BrandiCowen @accessd Priorities are screwed up. (Ex. Roommate’s friend came over crying about MJ, needed detailed explanation of situation in Iran. )
amiressy I didn’t give a fuck about MJ when he was alive and I sure don’t give a fuck now.There is a revolution going on in #iran people.FUCKIN HELL.

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Why Does He Need To Use Twitter?

jnarvey — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:38:14 +0000

My brother just started using Twitter while suffering from a bout of insomnia the other night. He’d heard the buzz (not least from me) and he figured he might at least see what all the fuss was about.

I’m the proud recipient of his first Direct Message: “Can’t sleep either? Not sure exactly how useful this site is but I guess I will have to see what all the rage is”.

I thought about this for a bit and got back to him that perhaps it would be good to wait out, observe, see how others use Twitter and then a possible use for Twitter might come to him. It was a lame answer, but as I’d mentioned to him earlier, how one uses Twitter seems to really depend on your unique circumstances. Still, I couldn’t think of a better answer for him.

In my own experience, Twitter has been extremely useful to me as a way of promoting things I’ve been involved with, whether it’s events I’m helping organize or articles I want more people to read. It’s useful as an amplifier for what I already want to be doing: getting my message out. Even if very few people are actually on Twitter right now, influencers on Twitter who see my links to what I’m doing may help amplify their range through email, other social networks and the mainstream media (or perhaps even by picking up a phone).

This explains why so many Tweeps are social media marketers, PR wonks, communications specialists, journalists… you get the picture. And lately, Tweetdeck has enabled me to be much more “social” on Twitter, able to actually communicate and coordinate with some of my friends and colleagues (at the expense of time I am always conscious that I could be devoting to other activities, so I still try to limit my bi-directional Twitter usage).

If you’re not promoting something, I’d say Facebook is actually a more “social” application for keeping in touch with people you actually care about. At the very least, you probably actually know all of your Facebook friends, which cannot be said of most Twitter users’ Follower lists. Arguably, email is even more social, since the vast majority of people are still actually using it. You’re not social by locking yourself into a social media silo with all of your Twitterific friends.

At the end of the day, I’m still at a bit of a loss of how to really answer my brother’s question. As far as I know, very few of his friends, colleagues or family members aside from myself are on Twitter (Since I’m the only spin doctor in the bunch, that makes sense). It’s possible he might be able to use Twitter in a professional capacity, a la the social-media savvy doctor who authored Medicine in the Age of Twitter (although I can absolutely guarantee none of my brother’s patients will be using social networks).

But even then, I just don’t know. Maybe Twitter will just be a way of keeping in touch with his brother in Vancouver?

Soon, perhaps my brothers’ friends and colleagues will get on Twitter, joining the 1.45 per cent of Canadians who are already using it (That’s right – fewer than 2 per cent of Canadians use Twitter, even with all the press it’s getting). When that happens, I think Twitter will be useful for him. But until that happens, I’m leery of inviting him to drink more of the Twitter Kool-Aid.

While I’m on the topic, this video, Twouble with Twitters cracked me up. My brother may want to watch it before jumping in.

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5 Reasons for the Vancouver Real Estate Land Rush

jnarvey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:59:47 +0000

Vancouver’s real estate market appears to be unaffected by the laws of recessionary gravity. I’m already in the process of selling my own condo this week, so I’ve been paying a lot of attention lately to the land rush fever that seems to have gripped this city.

The buzz from the Twittersphere tells the story:
YouthJuiceBC: The real estate market is rising. My listing just went into multiple 5 days on the market and way above list price!!!!
AderaHome: May 2009 Vancouver Real Estate Stats: GOOD times ahead
westcoasthomes: Real Estate market in Vancouver is becoming Hot again. Homes are selling fast and in some communties the M word–Multiple Offers!!!!

Undoubtedly, over-exuberant realtors catching their breath after months of hard slogging are adding to the frenzy with some strategic propaganda. But there are some other big reasons why people in Vancouver are buying houses, or closet-sized condos, once again:

5 Reasons for the Vancouver Real Estate Land Rush of 2009
1. The Olympics are coming. Nuff said.
2. Historically Low Cost of Borrowing Money for a Mortgage. They aren’t going to get any lower. Actually, they just went back up. Savvy buyers may have been able to pressure brokers to lock in the best rates for a little while longer, but those agreements won’t last long.
3. It’s Just That Time of Year. As it was explained to me, May and June just happen to be stronger months for real estate sales year after year. Nice weather is getting the people outdoors, where they can notice those open house signs.
4. A Variation on the Duddy Kravitz syndrome. If a man without land is nothing, then a man with land in Kitsilano is really something else.
5. Sustainability and Livability. Vancouver’s unique geography, eco-minded culture and a fortuitous foundation of good urban planning has made this city into one of the most livable metropolises in the world. Really. We’re not exaggerating, rest of Canada. It’s just that nice over here.

In case you were wondering about the condo I’ve put on the market, you can see the details and the pretty pictures in my real estate listing.

UPDATE 20 June 2009: My condo was shown on CTV news today. On the CTV site, click on St. John Alexander on Real Estate. See Leroy Patterson wandering around my living room. Thanks, news team!

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