New Media

It’s that time of the month again. No, not “dance the tango with Shane” day. Even better: it’s time for a Vancouver Blogger Meetup.

It’s happening this Thursday in the heart of Vancouver. See all the details and RSVP at the Vancouver Blogger Meetup page.

This time, we’re meeting at a super-friendly venue on the corner of East Broadway and Kingsway. Come on down and meet the people who help make the Vancouver blogosphere retain its spherical shape and generous volume.

One important note: Our Town Cafe is licensed, so if you’re not keen on caffeine in the evening, they also have a fine selection of fine frothy beverages.

This will also be a social event, though we’re asking our participants to introduce themselves for one minute maximum answering the question: “What do you blog about” or “what would you like to blog about?”

As usual, feel free to plug this event in your own blog post, tweet or message in a bottle. If you use Twitter, the official Twitter account for the Vancouver Blogger Meetup is @yvrblogmeetup.

Yours sincerely,

Jonathon, Shane and Raul

A North Korean warship fires a torpedo at a South Korean warship, killing all aboard. The South Koreans take their good time in developing a report (in triplicate, with lots of neat pictures and Power Point presentation), with the assistance of a range of other countries, which calls the Northerners out on their aggression. Naturally, the North is now threatening war for the release of the report and any future response to their lethal provocation.

Remember that old saying about the best revenge being “living better”? Here’s a case where that adage might apply very well. Do nothing. The North is already suffering badly enough under their own totalitarian misery that it’s hard to see how a South Korean military response could make things much worse for them. To illustrate, some videos:

Quality of Life in North Korea

Quality of Life in South Korea

Canadians need to discuss what our role will be in Afghanistan after 2011. Events taking place across this country over the next week will help communicate what Afghans and Afghan-Canadians would like that participation to look like, how this is consistent with Canada’s objectives and what can be done to achieve success.

The Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee is hosting panels this month in Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg and Regina. We’ll be updating the information on our events page, but in the meantime, here’s a quick notice for our members and supporters:

CASC Event in Halifax on May 16

A Panel Responding to the Question: What Should Canada Do in Afghanistan Post-2011?

Date and Time
Sunday, May 16, 2010
7-10 pm

Location
Maritime Conservatory
6199 Chebucto Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Panelists

NAJIA HANEEFI is a founder of the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Committee and is the former head of Afghanistan’s largest women’s organization, the Afghan Women’s Education Centre (AWEC). Ms. Haneefi currently resides in Ottawa.

TERRY GLAVIN is an author of several books and a journalist whose writing from Afghanistan has appeared in newspapers and magazines as diverse as Democratiya, the National Post, the online daily The Tyee and Vancouver Review. He is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee.

LAURYN OATES, a human rights and gender equity activist with CASC and Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WA).

ANDREW BECKETT (Moderator). Resident, General Surgery Dalhousie University and Medical Officer, Canadian Armed Forces.

There is no cost for this event however as seating is limited, we do require advance RSVP via email atlantic@cw4wafghan.ca or message by phone 902-928-1133 (leave your phone number, name and number of seats to be held).

RSVP and media inquiries:
info@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org

CASC Event in Montreal on May 17

A Panel Responding to the Question: What Should Canada Do in Afghanistan Post-2011?

Date and Time
May 17 from 7-9pm

Location
Atwater Library
1200 avenue Atwater
Westmount, QC

Panelists

ERSHAD AHMADI, Deputy Chief of the Afghanistan Mission to Canada

LAURYN OATES, a human rights and gender equity activist with CASC and Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WA).

TERRY GLAVIN is an author of several books and a journalist whose writing from Afghanistan has appeared in newspapers and magazines as diverse as Democratiya, the National Post, the online daily The Tyee and Vancouver Review. He is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee.

STEPHEN SAIDEMAN is Canada Research Chair in International Security and Ethnic Conflict

RSVP and media inquiries:
info@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org

CASC Event in Winnipeg on May 18

Date & Time:
Tuesday, May 18th
Time: 7-9pm

Location:

Global College
515 Portage Ave
Winnipeg, MB

Panelists
ERSHAD AHMADI, Deputy Chief of the Afghanistan Mission to Canada

LAURYN OATES, a human rights and gender equity activist with CASC and Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WA).

ANNE LONGSTON is an independent consultant working in the field of international education. She served in Kabul as the technical advisor to the Afghanistan Minister of Education.

LASHA TCHANTOURIDZE is a research associate in the Centre for Defence and Security Studies and an adjunct professor in the faculty of graduate studies at the University of Manitoba. He specializes in foreign policy, strategic studies, and politics of the former Soviet Union.

TERRY GLAVIN is an author of several books and a journalist whose writing from Afghanistan has appeared in newspapers and magazines as diverse as Democratiya, the National Post, the online daily The Tyee and Vancouver Review. He is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee.

RSVP and media inquiries:
info@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org

CASC Event in Regina on May 20

Location
Royal Saskatchewan Museum Theatre
2445 Albert Street

Date and Time
May 20, 7 pm-9 pm

Panelists

HIS EXCELLENCY JAWED LUDIN was appointed Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada in May,

2009, after serving as ambassador to the Nordic countries, based in Oslo. Prior to his diplomatic posts, Ambassador Ludin served as chief spokesperson for Afghan President Hamid Karzai between 2003 and

2005 chief of staff to the president from 2005 to 2007.

NAJIA HANEEFI is a founder of the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Committee and is the former head of Afghanistan’s largest women’s organization, the Afghan Women’s Education Centre (AWEC). Ms. Haneefi currently resides in Ottawa.

TERRY GLAVIN is an author of several books and a journalist whose writing from Afghanistan has appeared in newspapers and magazines as diverse as Democratiya, the National Post, the online daily The Tyee and Vancouver Review. He is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee.

LAURYN OATES, a human rights and gender equity activist with CASC and Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WA).

RSVP and media inquiries:
info@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.org

Refreshments served

Rich Western nations like ours can’t expect to keep their place in the world if they stop paying their bills. The Greeks may be the worst of the lot, but that’s only a relative statement. As a nation, it’s time to grow up, take ownership of our finances and stop the insanity of piling up ever-increasing debt. Unfortunately, politics gets in the way of a solution.

From my latest article in The Mark, Greece and Irresponsible Economics:

Plenty of deluded souls on this side of the Atlantic have the same weird notion that someone else ought to be taking care of the cheque. Canadian national and household debt is at record levels. South of the border, the problem is even worse, and the Americans can’t even blame their debts on a welfare state, unless you mean corporate welfare.

Where’s the shame? Where is the national sense of humiliation?…

The elected leader of every western nation ought to tell it straight to the people who elected them:

“Look, friends, we’re mortgaged to the hilt. We can’t pay our bills. We’ve been acting like first-class moochers, and it’s gotten beyond embarrassing. Pretty much the only people who can still lend to us are human-rights-stomping totalitarians and oil-rich exporters of jihad. We’re going to have to cut back… Way back. This is going to hurt. But the party is over.”

SHAMELESS MEDIA PLUG ALERT
As an added bonus for readers who liked this article, you may want to tune in to Murray Langdon‘s radio show on CFAX 1070 out of Victoria on Wednesday, May 12 at about 11:50 am, as I talk on the radio about this critical issue. Cheers.

Well, the social media ride was fun while it lasted. I’ve been measuring my popularity in Twitter followers for over a year. Now the chickens (or fail whales) come home to roost.


In the words of an esteemed colleague I knew back in grade two:

Nobody likes me.
Everybody hates me.
I’m going to go eat worms.

UPDATE at 11:55 am: My numbers are back! My sense of self is returning…