Currents

One Vancouver-based UBC researcher equates less-than-robust support for this with what’s going on over here. (Full report at CBCNews).

Another example of the continuing debasement of the English language.

Canada’s battlegroup in Afghanistan has handed over command to a new group of Canadian soldiers (CTV.ca). There’s still much work to be done before the troops can come home.

Yes, Conservative PM Stephen Harper has already announced that the larger portion of our military involvement in central Asia is likely to end in 2011 (which the Taliban and their allies are likely hailing as a strategic victory a la the Madrid bombings). But it’s not fast enough for at least one foreign policy lightweight, who happens to be the leader of a mainstream political party. Says mustachioed moron Jack Layton, “We’ve got to construct a comprehensive peace process using all the various tools and elements that are available in the UN toolbox — and they are many — in order to work towards the accomplishment of ceasefires, piece by piece, working towards negotiations in as many locations as possible” (The Star).

To which Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee founding member and political commentator Terry Glavin would likely reply:

“The NDP’s ideas have already been tried, and they have already failed catastrophically. This is why UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon describes the ground that the NDP has staked out as ‘a misjudgement of historic proportions.’ It’s because the position demands “the repetition of a mistake that has already had terrible consequences.

“Quite apart from the earth-rattling mistake the “international community” made when it abandoned the Afghan people to the Taliban in the first place, Canada has already tried withdrawing its troops. We already did that once. After joining with NATO in driving out the Taliban, we joined an exodus of foreign troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2002. Canada withdrew its troops, our meagre successes were slammed into reverse, and the whole country started sliding back into barbarism again.”

Is Afghanistan really neutralized as an election issue for 2008? Perhaps. But we’re still going to need clear thinking about our involvement in Afghanistan and the endgame we desire for a long time to come.

And here’s why.

Drink from the tap. It’s healthier for you. Cheaper, too. Better for the environment. It’s win-win-win.

The web we’re building just ain’t secure. Odd, since virtually so many organizations from tech startups to a tire factories to your municipal government are so plugged into interactive websites and business web apps. You’d think we’d all take better care of it.

For more info on how to protect your business site or personal blog from hackers, check out my latest post on Techvibes here. Wordpress bloggers may want to check out a post on how to protect themselves courtesy of Vancouver Techie blogger Jan Karlsbjerg.

Why should you care? As Thomas Friedman would point out, one thing that keeps North Americans from a race to the bottom in competition with places like China and India is our ability to produce dynamic knowledge workers who can utilize technology for maximum efficiency. I’m not talking about our programmers being more talented than foreign programmers (Ours already AREN’T more talented). I’m talking about our artists being able to produce unique art, market it and distribute it better than a Photoshop hack somewhere in Lithuania. Or small business owners utilizing optimal supply chain management and improved work processes to beat out the competition anywhere in the world.

If our web infrastructure remains at the mercy of the cyber mafia and pimply-faced script kiddies, that hurts our nation’s efficiency at a time when we are already having trouble maintaining our edge. Our livelihoods are at stake.

Nice to see that politicians are engaging their constituents with social media apps to connect on the issues in this Canadian federal election season. Even nicer to see NDP boss Jack Layton getting slammed on his own Facebook site (CTV.ca). One angry voter writes on his wall:

“You just lost my vote, you undemocratic shill.“

Canadian politics 2.0. Loving it.

Vancouver residents are a compassionate bunch who care mostly about social issues. Well, that’s one take from NPA mayoral candidate Peter Ladner (as reported in the Hook) following an Ipsos Reid poll that looked like this:

In response to the question, “What is the most important local issue facing the City of Vancouver, that is the one issue you feel should receive the greatest attention for Vancouver’s city council?” Vancouverites replied:

- Social issues 37%
- Transportation 19%
- Crime 15%
- Taxation/government spending 5%
- Environment 4%

Is it really that we’re compassionate, or simply that the other issues seem to be taken care of, or that people generally recognize that the city can’t do much about some of these issues on its own, anyway? For instance, Vancouver is on a number of metrics the most environmentally friendly large city in North America, so action on the environment may not really be required. Taxes have been going up for years, but sale of areas like the False Creek lands have kept rises at a reasonable level. As for crime, the average resident may not even be aware that the city has its own police force separate from the RCMP.

Thus, transporation and social issues become the default election issues, because these are the obvious, in-your-face issues that affect us every day (ie. morning traffic, or the poor homeless guy sleeping next to the entrance to the office building where you work).

Nice to see we actually do care about the real issues. So far, no mention of lipstick or pigs in this fight.

Riding a bike is THE thing to do in Vancouver, as ubiquitous throngs of helmeted traffic scofflaws will tell you. I expect my almost daily jaunts around my neighborhood will be curtailed soon as the autumn rains return, since I’m not all that confident about getting out on slippery roads. But it has been fun while it’s lasted. And nice to be in a city where the activity is encouraged as a public good, rather than looked upon as an activity that provokes a police beating (as seen in the startling video below).

Some fun facts about biking in Vancouver (Lyle, hold your breath!) from one of my recent articles, We Like to Move It, Move It:

- Cycling trips in Vancouver are up 180 per cent from 10 years ago.
- Each day, 50,000 cyclists take to our streets.
- My bike is waaaaaaay cooler than your bike. Probably.

As an aside, these days I’m much, much more cognizant of the fact that way too many of my fellow cyclists blow through stop lights on major arterial roads.

Look, even I don’t always fully stop at stop signs on empty side-streets. But if cyclists really are traffic, then we all need to stop showing off behavior that we would be horrified to see in drivers of motorized vehicles.

Thanks to Vancouver-based social media marketing consultant Joe Solomon for his outstanding Twitter tutorial this weekend. Joe has helped me overcome my fear of Tweets and embrace this Obama-sized PR tool — in a single afternoon! Twitter is already boosting traffic to my site!

If you’re looking to deploy social media tools to boost your business or non-profit, Joe’s the man. Check him out at www.engagejoe.com or check out Joe’s LinkedIn profile.

By the way, Joe’s nickname is NOT “Handsome George”. Cheers.

Vancouver Election 2008 is right around the corner — fun times for political junkies like myself. As Raul would say, it’s time to put the public back in public policy.

Our city is in worse shape than it was before the last election. To its credit, the city is developing more social housing and devoting more resources to quelling the public disorder that shocks and awes tourists as well as longtime residents who remember happier times. But on the whole, it’s clear that a lot more work needs to be done to tackle poverty, homelessness, the drug trade, crime and related social ills to make this city livable for all citizens.

Vancouver doesn’t have the resources to take on all these problems on its own, but the city does need to provide direction. What’s the next step? You decide. Take a PollDaddy poll or comment below.

We’ve got an epidemic of childhood obesity and an overstretched health care system that can’t cope with the sheer number of out-of-shape adults who don’t take proper care of themselves. The BC Liberal government’s solution? Thirty minutes of exercise per day in high school. And it’s mandatory. (Canadian Press).

An eminently practical solution, actually.

The B.C. Teachers Federation may not be all that happy about it. But since parents reportedly think teaching “life skills” and “self-confidence” are more important than history and science, it’s not all that clear that the 30 minutes a day is going to cut into any particularly essential curriculum, anyway.

In related news, I’m on my new bike about 30 minutes a day. Just in time, too. My gut is definitely starting to show.

I probably should have gotten into the habit of exercising 30 minutes a day when I was younger.