New Media

Bloggers may get a lot less glory than mainstream journalists, but it’s clear that where certain slithery regimes are involved, bloggers can fall into the same endangered category.

Iranian blogger Omidreza Mirsayafi died March 18 under mysterious circumstances in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, reports The Washington Times. She was serving a sentence for “insulting” the Islamic Republic’s leaders and tacked on an additional six months for “publicity against the government.” Mirsayafi was not alone – nearly 70 bloggers are imprisoned around the world, according to Reporters Without Borders. (That number seems a bit low, given news reports I’ve read. Anyone with reliable stats, please leave them in the comments below). It’s sickening.

What of new media acolytes who seem to go out of their way to speed their own demise, foregoing even the most minimal precautions that, say, mainstream war correspondents take? I have to mention the case of Beverley Giesbrecht AKA Khadija Abdul Qahaar, North Vancouver’s own Jihad Unspun website creator. The evidently pro-jihad Muslim convert went to Pakistan, presumably went to gather facts to provide some kind of propaganda the Taliban and allied jihadists would find useful. The dire nature of her apparent predicament, kidnapped and threatened with death by the the Taliban, doesn’t allow one to appreciate fully the irony of her situation. I gather her Stockholm Syndrome was fully developed long before she wandered into the Westerner-beheading zone that is Waziristan.

Notwithstanding my revulsion about Qahaar’s online activities, I hope her captors release her, without any ransom paid that could help finance arms sales or the planning of further crimes. I wish this Canadian woman a safe return to our placid British Columbian shores, where she will be free to resume her activities facilitating the infiltration of violent jihadi ideology, or perhaps seek professional therapy that would enable more positive pursuits. (On this point, I may find myself out of sync with many of my friends, so I’d love to hear your feedback, people. Comment!)

For bloggers, journalists and everything in between, the dangers are real. So much for us bloggers working ourselves to death.

It’s been a busy time for me professionally, and learning how to wield the energies of the Negaverse has kept me off the blogging scene for a bit. I’m back.

If anyone has an intriguing caption for this candid pic of yours truly lounging at home, please leave one in the comments section.

My good friends and American expats David and Pam Drucker moved to Vancouver to escape the perfect storm of economic and social catastrophe they foresaw overtaking the land of the free years ago. The Bush years of economic mismanagement and knuckleheaded militarism appear only to have hastened the rot from what may be a structural weakness in American society.

David and Pam are wonderful people, intelligent, highly professional who possess that spark of ambition and entrepreneurial spirit that one tends to associate with people born in the US (although David has noted previously that, if anything, he sees a higher level of entrepreneurial spirit right here in Vancouver). And despite the optimism that a new administration in Washington is bringing to Americans, I expect their well-timed move to Vancouver before the current time of crisis began may be a precursor of a much larger migration.

Referring to a glowing endorsement of Canadian political and economic moves by CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, David writes in Loud Murmurs:

I’m not trying to gloat or hold our good fortune over the old friends and family we left behind in the States, but perhaps they can now understand why we don’t seem to have the same level of dread and panic when we talk about our economic prospects that they do. Canadians right now seem to be more confident, and less likely to respond emotionally to the news (partly because our news is also less sensationalistic). Given that we have better safety nets, including health care, a stable banking system, and even our food inspection system, which caught the bad peanut butter when it came to the border, that’s not all that surprising. Pam and I find ourselves continually shaking our heads as we watch the Evening News from the major US TV Networks, sometimes in relief, and sometimes in bewilderment that things in the country we left have gotten so bad.

Long term, I have high hopes that US President Obama can somehow repair the train wreck that is the contemporary USA — not only because I have a soft spot for Americans and American ideals generally, but because as Canadians we are dependent on a healthy society to our south. Short term, I recognize that my friends made the right decision in coming up here and wonder whether their presence is really just the beginning of a longer-term and larger-scale migration to our peaceful dominion.

“Frankly, we are not going to ever defeat the insurgency,” Prime Minister Harper says in a CNN interview that no doubt gave our allies a cold feeling in the pit of their stomach. Not to mention the effect it might have on Kabulis.

Lost cause? OK, then. Get the troops home on the next flight out and wish our Afghan friends the best of luck when the warlords divide up the country, minus a peaceful Quebec-style referendum. Oh, and watch as Al Queda sets up shop the next day as honored guests in the territory of their newly resurgent Taliban allies.

Is Harper lowering expectations? It seems like what he’s really saying, if you take the time to watch the full interview, is that Afghanistan may end up much like Columbia, Israel, the Philippines, Thailand, India and a host of other countries with long-term insurgencies that have to be “managed” by robust intervention from the centralized authority in the absence of knock-out power. Not exactly an optimistic view, but certainly not the abject surrender that plenty of journalists have made this out to be.

For a fuller discussion of this, check out my National Post Full Comment piece, Another New Definition of Victory in Afghanistan.

A Special Invitation To Currents Readers: Join the Canada Afghanistan Solidarity Committee for a special event in celebration of International Women’s Day.

On March 5th, 2009, we will screen “Faith Without Fear”, a documentary film by Canadian activist Irshad Manji, author of “The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in her Faith”. The film touches on the themes of self-censorship and cultural relativism, two issues which often characterize debate over Canada’s role in Afghanistan.

For more information, go to the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee website.

Cost of Admission: $12 Regular; $8 Students

Please RSVP
By Phone 604.781.3151
By Email info@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org

We’re going to New York City in 2009. It’s official. But what are we going to do while we’re there? And where else will my super lady and I be going? We’re not really sure, and we need your help.

We’re looking for advice from NYC longtime residents, expats, tourism professionals, people who have visited NYC recently, or even PR and marketing people for NYC businesses and organizations.

As a bit of background, this pleasant turn of events has come about because my wife was voted Employee of the Year at one of Canada’s only five-diamond hotels in Vancouver (Canada Tourism trivia note: there’s only one other five-diamond in Canada and it’s in Whistler). The prize was a $4,000 travel voucher and five days paid vacation (It’s not redeemable for cash, just airfare and hotel arranged through an appointed agent, in case you were wondering).

We’d decided before the announcement came down that if she won, we’d finally go on a trip to New York City we’ve been putting off for a number of years. We’ve both always wanted to go to the city that never sleeps, but between work and other commitments, it just never happened. But now we’re committed.

Here’s the problem (and I concede it’s a very nice problem to have): we don’t actually know much about New York City other than what we’ve seen on television or in movies, or read in books. So we need help planning the details. For instance:

1. Where are we going to stay?
Obviously, this is a hugely important consideration, since our itinerary will be determined in part by what’s easy to access. The travel voucher will take care of our hotel, but if we’re going to do any traveling elsewhere this year, we’d prefer not to blow the entire amount on a central Manhattan hotel for 7 days.

2. When should we go? And how long should we stay?
We were thinking Spring or Summer. Is there an ideal time of year to be in New York City? And how long does it take to see everything we want to see? We figured the trip would be somewhere from a week to two weeks. We spent about a week in Chicago recently seeing the sights, enjoying great food, art and entertainment and felt that was a perfect amount of time. We figure New York is a bigger city with more to do, so we’ll probably need more time.

3. What are we going to do?
There are a few things we’re definitely doing: visiting Times Square, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum, the United Nations building and the Statue of Liberty. Other than that, our itinerary is pretty open.

Sherry and I like art galleries and museums. We like walking around and going into interesting neighborhoods and taking photos of cool architecture and local (maybe not so famous) landmarks that show off a city’s unique heritage. We like strolling through parks and gardens. We love funky cafes, ethnic restaurants and cool little brew pubs. We might even check out a nightclub or two. What else… I’m a photographer with a pretty decent camera. I’m also a political junkie and Sherry is a huge fan of Sex in the City TV series, so anything to do with either of those interests could be good.

Suggestions?

4. Where else should we go?
We’re considering turning this trip into a multi-city adventure. Are there any other cities or areas near New York City that we should explore before or after we’ve gone to the big city? For instance, is it feasible and desirable to include a trip to Washington, D.C., or Boston? Or is that too ambitious? Based on our interests listed above, is there a must-see place we should go outside of NYC?

Thank you in advance for your help.