Looking at this classic scene from Jerry Maguire, one sees echoes of our current crisis in Myanmar.
In this scene, Tom Cruise plays “the international community” literally begging to be allowed to administer humanitarian aid and deliver food to the brutalized citizenry of Myanmar. Cuba Gooding Jr. is in the role of “Myanmar’s junta”, openly mocking the international community’s earnest desire to help the people. Enjoy.
Who new Tom Cruise operated on so many levels?
On a side note, even New Media platform NowPublic can’t seem to get any news out of Myanmar to fill in the gaps of traditional media. Looks like the generals really have the place locked down.
Laying out the precise reasons why Canadians are involved in Afghanistan, why the progressive left in this country really ought to be getting behind the mission (and why they largely aren’t), and why we ought to be optimistic about solving the larger problems facing humanity, of which the Afghanistan war is merely one aspect. That’s what.
It’s a fun (if lengthy) romp through the thought processes of two leading intellectuals on the issues that matter. Read the Afghanistan dialogue and enjoy.
The Yellow Pages and related phone directories are bulky paper monsters that constitute a huge waste of resources and energy. Adding insult to injury, these products don’t even seem to serve any useful purpose in a paperless Information Age. It’s waste for waste’s sake.
When was the last time you actually picked up a phone book rather than checking online (or just calling 411)?
Let’s force our government to take action and force the publishers of these products to implement an opt-in requirement for anyone who still wants these dead trees brought to their door.
Thanks to eco-friendly media maven Michael Klassen for leading the charge on this issue with his paperless blog post (Letter to Vancouver Sun re: Phone Books).
UPDATE: Thanks to some very spot-on corrections by some very helpful people, I’ve been informed that virgin trees are not used in the production of the Yellow Pages and have changed the content of this post to reflect that. I humbly stand corrected.
Nonetheless, given that so many of these books do go straight to a recycling bin, I still stand by the statement that “the Yellow Pages and related phone directories are bulky paper monsters that constitute a huge waste of resources and energy”. Thank you for your assistance, people.
It’s the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. In a nod to the more positive features of this nation known more for the rough neighborhood where it lives, Currents presents one of the greatest authentic tourism commercials ever produced. Enjoy.
Many readers of Currents have been kind enough to compliment the overall design of the blog. The design does meld functionality with style nicely for the most part. But one thing that hasn’t transitioned well since the switch to Wordpress is the title.
No, I don’t want to change the actual name of the blog (again). I like the name Currents.
But the title is small, around 16 pt, and not particularly noticeable. I’d like to change it to something like Arial Black, 24 pt, possibly in fire truck red (but more likely remaining black), adapting the text height to ensure it the top of the new bigger title doesn’t get cut off. While I’m at it, I will also need some advice on how to adapt my sub-head if necessary. I need to know how to change the Wordpress theme code for my title so I can go in and make the changes.
The first Wordpress guru who can give me a step-by-step code edit process that works for editing my blog title will win the Currents Title Change Contest (yeah, well, it is what it is). Leave your code-altering suggestion in the comment for this post. If you can instruct me in how to make this change, I will donate $10 to a charity of your choice through GiveMeaning.
So… win ten bucks in karma, be recognized as a Wordpress guru who likes to help hapless un-techie people. Thanks in advance for your help, y’all.
I’ve been taking stock and come to the happy conclusion that things have been awfully pleasant lately both in my personal and professional life. I’d like to thank all my friends and colleagues in Vancouver’s creative community for their inspiration (read: me stealing your best ideas). One classic Savage Chickens cartoon from the audaciously funny Doug Savage pretty much sums up my new take-over-the-world attitude (hopefully not inspired in turn by Dr. Evil, but you never know).
Doug’s story, by the way, is an fantastic tale of a guy following his creative passion with bloody-minded efficiency. Read the story of the Savage Chickens below:
When I was a kid, I drew cartoons all the time. I drew cows and alligators and pigs and superheroes. I drew a platypus named Ed. I drew a dead dog named Dead Dog Bob. I drew everything I saw and everything I wanted to see.
Many years passed. By a strange series of coincidences, I found myself working in an office. The more I used a keyboard, the worse my penmanship became. The constant hum of computers made my brain twitch. That’s when I stopped drawing cartoons.
Then the chickens came.
Like some sort of haunting supernatural force, the chickens bubbled up from the ol’ subconscious mind. In a trance-like state, I drew them on office whiteboards. I drew them in notebooks. I drew them on anything that sat still long enough. People started asking, “Who’s drawing those damn chicken cartoons everywhere?”
The chickens were unstoppable. To retain my sanity, all I could do was grab a stack of sticky notes, and release the Savage Chickens.
I recently had the opportunity to hear Vancouver-based social media evangelist and writer Monica Hamburg give a presentation on crowdsourcing. For social media mavens (and we’ve got quiiiiiiite a few right here in Vancouver), crowdsourcing can be an important part of their toolkit. For businesses, it’s a way of harnessing the wisdom of crowds for fun and profit. For non-profits, it’s a way of building awareness and organizational strength. But what exactly is crowdsourcing and how do I get it to work?
Monica has the answers to these questions and more in this exclusive interview for the latest episode of the Currents vlog. Enjoy.
If you’ve filled up your tank at a gas station or swung by the supermarket recently, you’ve probably noticed prices have gone up. It’s still not too bad for us rich Canucks; it’s the poor people in much of the rest of the planet who are really struggling to feed their children, much less pump petrol.
Biofuels have rightfully taken some of the blame for this. More food crops used in inefficient ethanol fuel production equals less food — and less fuel, in most cases outside Brazilian sugarcane ethanol refineries.
But are biofuels the real reason behind these price shocks, or are there other factors at work? And did you know that environmental heavyweights like the David Suzuki Foundation based in Vancouver were never all that enthusiastic about the short-term potential of biofuels in the first place?
The only honest ‘anti-war’ position about Afghanistan is to support Canada’s military engagement there. The holier-than-Marx fuzzy-brains on the west coast such as MAWO and Stopwar.ca still shout “Troops Out Now” even though they know full well that an international pullout from that country would result in an immediate bloodbath. Fortunately, they are not the only voices out there.
The west coast branch of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee is featured in the National Post today for our efforts in offering an alternative to the brainless anti-colonial propaganda emanating from the embarrassing coalition of useful idiots that seem to have hijacked the peace movement in this country (BC group fights disinformation on Afghan mission).
An excerpt: …A new countermovement has formed, one that lauds the Canadian Forces and its efforts in Afghanistan. Strange as it might seem, it’s based here in Vancouver, where the political landscape tilts sharply to the left.
Founders of the Canada Afghanistan Solidarity Committee include poets, environmentalists and local authors who will never be mistaken for conservatives, such as Terry Glavin and Stan Persky. Among the many books Mr. Pesky has written is Boyopolis: Sex and Politics in Gay Eastern Europe; one can assume it is not on Rick Hillier’s bedside table.
Other founding members include “academics, gay rights activists, student activists, Afghan-Canadians and feminists,” according to a recent CASC press release. “We are united under the premise that we must honour our obligations to the cause of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan … The only honest ‘anti-war’ position is to support Canada’s military engagement in Afghanistan.”
Not such an easy sell, admits CASC member Jonathon Narvey, a 33-year-old journalist and editor. “A lot of our members are lefties,” he says, but “it’s a bit of a grind” getting across the message that the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting. Much of the effort is used “reminding people of the facts.”
The committee takes direct aim at MAWO, warning students and activists to steer clear of it, and describing it as “a bizarre cult-like group” whose demands for an immediate withdrawal of military from Afghanistan are “simplistic, ignorant and morally disgraceful.”
Further into the NP story, Afghan-Canadian Karim Qayumi, a CASC member and the director of research at the University of British Columbia’s divisions of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, had this to say:
“I know many Afghans who are passionate about the military mission in Afghanistan but they are still critical of it,” Dr. Qayumi said. “I am critical, but I support it, because I know that a withdrawal would lead to chaos. Civil war…
“I am totally amazed by Canadians and their efforts to help in Afghanistan,” he says. “Unfortunately, I have also encountered Canadians who do not understand the problems there… They say there are promoting peace, but what they advocate will lead to more war.” Better than most of us, he knows that extremists cannot go unchallenged.
A blogging superstar has emerged on the Vancouver scene. On his two-year blogaversary, Raul of the Random Thoughts of a Student of the Environment blog can point to a fairly substantial achievement: betwen 3,000 and 4,500 unique visits per month. Raul writes about environmental issues, but also about restaurant reviews, movie reviews, some political commentary and his personal life. The hit counts are not exactly up there with Wikipedia and YouTube, but it’s still the kind of traffic that attracts the attention of advertisers and cyber-stalkers (watch your back, Raul) — and he’s really just getting started.
How did he do it? He covered all the bases that popular bloggers have been talking about for years: write and post frequently, provide interesting content and develop real relationships with other bloggers (not just a one-time link through MyBlogLog).
Nicely done, Raul. And thank you, for your blog-inspiring mantras, pasted below:
I believe that there is readership in the blogosphere for everyone. We all blog because we love it.
I believe that this blog wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for you, my dearest and loyal readers.
I believe that we can all get along. It’s not easy, and requires hard work, but we most certainly can.
I believe that my future in blogging looks promising. I love blogging and wouldn’t give it up now.
I believe that my social circle has just grown larger and I am very grateful to the Powers-That-Be for that.
I believe that there will be another blogaversary to celebrate next year
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