From Oct 30, 2007 Open letter to the Governing Council of the University of Toronto:

This afternoon, the University of Toronto Governing Council will meet to decide the fate of the David Dunlap Observatory and its adjoining 189 acres of forests and meadows. This will be no ordinary meeting, and, if U of T’s governing body decides to sell, it will be no ordinary sale.

If these lands are permitted to be sold off and turned into houses and big box stores, it will require the consent and collusion of U of T’s governing council, the Town of Richmond Hill and the province. In other words, the destruction of DDO forests and meadows will proceed only if the University declares the property to be surplus land, the Town of Richmond Hill council rezones it from institutional to residential/commercial, and the province (through Ontario Municipal Board hearings, if not ministerial intervention) allows bulldozers to begin scraping away the topsoil and trees.

If these three entities collude to ensure the destruction of the largest remaining green space in the heart of Richmond Hill, it will demonstrate once and for all that our society has no interest in building sustainable communities or fixing the environmental mess we have gotten ourselves into. It will show that despite the pretty words in a thousand press releases, no one really believes green space is important for the well-being of people and wildlife.

After all, if one of Canada’s leading universities – an institution responsible for teaching conservation and sustainable development practices and for researching the social and environmental aspects of natural green space – is willing to sell the DDO to the highest bidder, what can we expect from rest of society?

In fact, the sale of this land will undo much of the University’s institutional effort to become sustainable and environmentally sound. The University of Toronto demonstrated leadership by opening a Sustainability Office in 2004. Since then, it has launched numerous greening initiatives – from the LEED-certified Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre in Mississauga to extensive tree planting and naturalization projects on the St George campus. In an article on the University’s “Open Space Plan”, Mary Alice Thring writes “Trees are so integral to U of T that they appear in its crest and are invoked in its motto: Velut Arbor Aevo, which translates as ‘As a tree with the passage of time.’” She adds, “Trees are such a focus of all phases of the Open Space Plan that the landscape architects describe transforming the campus into an ‘urban forest’” (U of T Magazine, Spring 2004).

Clearly, when it comes to its Toronto and Mississauga campuses, U of T’s administration understands the relationship between the environment and the health and well-being of people and all living things.

But, will the greening of U of T’s 160-acre downtown campus mean anything if that institution sells off 189-acres of healthy forest and meadow lands in order to pay for future expansion projects? When the Dunlap property became part of the University in 1935, it was cultivated farmland. After seventy years of U of T’s stewardship, this land has been regenerated. It is now a crown of forest cover in the midst of Richmond Hill and a quiet haven for dozens of species of birds, deer, walkers – and astronomers.

If the University proceeds with this sale, it will be in spite of the broad and deep environmental expertise of its own academics. A quick scan through the U of T undergraduate catalog turns up dozens of courses on the environment, forest ecology, conservation biology and other topics. Dr. Mart Gross, for example, teaches courses which focus on “biodiversity; endangerment; habitat loss and fragmentation” as well as “moral philosophies, and political, economic and social justice issues surrounding biodiversity”. In fact, U of T is home to Canada’s oldest forestry program and celebrated that Faculty’s centennial this month by hosting an international Congress to develop a “comprehensive Global Vision of Forestry in the 21^st Century”.

What kind of “vision” will the sale and destruction of a major urban forest provide for the residents of Richmond Hill and their children?

Given the repeated warnings of coming climate change and environmental degradation from UN panels such as the IPCC; given the fact that southern Ontario – and much of North America – is in the midst of a multi-year drought; given that Great Lakes water levels are at all-time lows and central plains aquifers are being depleted; given that our electrical grid has been pushed to the limit while geologists tell us that Peak Oil will occur – or has occurred – within our lifetime; we must ask whether now is the time to diminish our environment further by destroying the David Dunlap Observatory lands.

Again, I would draw attention to the Spring 2004 edition of U of T Magazine: “People need trees, and lots of them. Each year, Toronto’s trees absorb roughly 28,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of the output of thousands of cars. They also absorb about 1,500 tons of other pollutants, such as smog-causing nitrogen oxides. Not only do we need trees to maintain our health, we need them to nourish our souls.”

Alumni and friends of the University of Toronto have responded generously to the University’s desire for trees. By taking “minimum” donations of $750 per seedling, the University has planted hundreds of new trees on its downtown campus. To celebrate U of T’s 175^th anniversary, for example, F. Ross and Susan L. Johnson made a gift of 175 trees and perennials along King’s College Road and the Sir Daniel Wilson and Knox College walkways. Are not such wonderful gifts diminished if the University forges ahead with sale and destruction of the DDO property – a thriving urban forest that is considerably larger than the St. George campus?

Over many decades, thousands of Richmond Hill students have paid millions of dollars in tuition fees to attend the University of Toronto. To this day, these students graduate with deep technical and critical thinking skills and a desire to build rich lives and communities. After 70years, it is unthinkable that the University would threaten the health of a vibrant community by removing the 189-acre heart that sits in the middle of it.

The fact that these healthy forests and meadows can be sold off for millions of dollars with out regard for, or consultation with, the people who live next to it is emblematic of many of our current social and environmental problems. The ability to speculate, to buy and sell remote tracts of land, mineral rights, water resources and currencies while remaining disconnected — or willfully ignorant of local consequences — explains a great deal about how we have moved close to the brink of our own destruction.

I do not see how the U of T Governing Council, the Town of Richmond Council and the Province can support the sale of David Dunlap Observatory. There is time. And the University should use it.

Sincerely,

Rod Potter

Member of the Richmond Hill Naturalists Executive and long-time Richmond Hill Resident

From the looks of it, Mr.Deity, deserves to become an ongoing series, though so far there are just four episodes on YouTube. Between The Daily Show’s "This Week" in God and our collective memory of  Dana Carve’s Church Lady, I don’t know  if the world of Godless Secular Humanist comedy can find room for Mr. Deity’s cosmic humour. But it should.

No doubt Apple’s new toy will quickly find its way into the meaty hands of every CEO in North America (Andy Barrie will probably snag one also).  But many others will balk at the cost — both the monthly service fees and the cost of breaking an existing contract in order to share in Apple’s chic.  On the otherhand, the iPhone may spark more innovation from Nokia and Motorola and may even force cell providers to slash bandwidth costs over time. If the planet survives another five years, the cellular phone landscape will look much different than it does today. If it comes about, Apple can certainly take some credit.

But for the moment, Cisco is suing Apple for trademark infringement. That may slow things down a little, but most likely Apple will prevail on this one. Someone on Slashdot suggested Apple rename it the iConn.  In response, I suggested any of following: iSpend, iJob, iSue, iHype, iTod, iSore, iBore, iScream.  I don’t think it will ever become the i Formerly Known as Phone, however. And if you consider yourself a "Mac person", it will always be an iPhone.

For the record — I don’t own a Mac or an iPod and will probably never own an iPhone. But the device is impressive. A boatload of elegant software embedded in a slick piece of hardware.  But I don’t need it, can’t afford it and would probably break or lose it if I had one.  It won’t cure cancer or diabetes or stop global warming, but that iPhone thingy is still a thing of beauty.  And it has a nice ring to it as well.

So why am I thinking about Easter Island?  Today’s NY Times has an interesting piece by Larry Rohter on the issue of whether to restore the giant stone moai on Easter Island. Although about 50 of these large familiar gods have been restored over the years, hundreds more remain scattered around the island. The trouble is that it costs upwards of $500,000 to restore each one and many Easter Islanders feel that enough have been restored to sustain a healthy tourist industry. In fact, it seems that 45,000 visitors a year is already straining the island’s resources.

Rohter’s article describes the conundrum nicely, but fails to explain why there are hundreds of broken moai scattered around the island in the first place. For this information, we can turn to Jared Diamond’s book, Collapse: by deforesting the island in order to build these things while struggling to grow food for up to 30,000 people, the islanders essentially depleted the soil and used up their primary source of fuel. Competing tribes built the moai to appease the gods in order to "improve" food production. As resources grew scarce, it became easier to destroy your neighbor’s moai and harder to build new ones. Diamond provides a wealth of evidence on the island’s population growth, deforestation and subsequent food production problems.

Fearing for the sustainability of their island (and probably wanting to use the land for other purposes), modern Easter Islanders have no desire to restore all of the old gods so that  foreigners can gawk at "old stuff".  There is a good deal of irony and powerful metaphor here, ya think? Diamond thinks to so, also, and views Easter Island as a microcosm of humanity’s struggle on this planet.  The fact that some of us want to waste more resources to raise up hundreds of pieces of rock on a remote island (while others tear down "gods" like the giant statue of Saddam and the Bhuddas in Afghanistan) shows shows just how far we haven’t come.

The fact is, hundreds of old broken moai will teach us more about Easter Island — and ourselves — if we just leave ‘em alone.

Amazingly, this is not the first time home-made subs have been used to transport illegal drugs. Last August, an empty 33-foot long craft was found floating off the coast of Spain. In March, the Columbian navy seized a 60-foot long submarine that was used to carry drugs north along the Pacific coast. And, finally, in December 2005, Columbian police discovered a half-built submarine in a warehouse in the capital Bogota. Hmmm. Why would anyone build a 30-metre sub in a city that is 2,250 metres above sea level. This one was found with a stack of Russian documents and was guarded by closed circuit TV cameras.

Now where would such a crazy idea come from? In 2001, Sturla Gunnarsson directed a small gem of a film called Rare Birds, staring William Hurt, Andy Jones and Molly Parker. If you like birds, you’ll love this film. If the mere concept of birders and birding puts you off, you may enjoy this movie even more. One of the film’s deliciously crazy subplots involves Andy Jone’s character, Phonce. He plays an eccentric inventor with an underground workshop that contains at least half a ton of salvaged cocaine and the recreational submarine he has been building for years. Phonce is finally ready to test the sub — he just needs William Hurt to stumble onto the scene to become a co-conspirator.

So there you have it: cocaine and submarines. Another great Canadian idea. It’s a fact.

But Borat is pushing more than American buttons. Apparently Kazakhstan may sue the makers of the movie because of its negative portrayal of that country. Russia may ban it completely. Meanwhile a Turkish web star claims to to be the inspiration for Borat’s character and wants recognition and cash. To bring the surreality of this film full circle, several American frat boys who make racist and sexist comments in the movie are now suing to have their scenes cut. It’s only a movie boys — we’ve already forgotten you.

So what is Borat really trying to tell us? Clearly, the movie is very unkind to the good people of Kazakhstan, but the racial humor is so over the top that no one can take it seriously. On the other hand, as a work of satire, Borat barely scratches the comedic surface of American “Cultural Learning” and in the end it fails to challenge the over-protected, over-medicated, self-indulgent, hyper-consuming society in which we live. Except for this: in the middle of a fancy dinner party Borat excuses himself to use the washroom and then returns dangling a plastic bag containing his own feces. Earlier in the movie he defecates in a public garden in Manhattan. What’s really going on here? Both literally and figuratively it seems that Borat is shitting on America — and audiences are eating it up. So don’t sweat the small stuff of Borat’s insults, Kazakhstan — you got off easy.

Of course nothing about this movie is really all that easy. Borat does make it back home after all and he brings part of America home with him: a new iPod and a new wife. So we end the movie with a flourish of cultural globalization and a cute product placement for Apple?

Please can me help make a learning about this movie, Borat? I have feeling it is not getting me.

But after thirty years of service the program’s days may be numbered. The Harper government has not formally pulled the plug on it yet, but they have essentially put Katimavik on notice. The Treasury Board has approved funding only until August 2007 and have instructed management to “cease any recruitment activities until further notice”.

It may be that Katimavik needs a kick in the pants to help it better fulfill its mandate. In fact, it may be in Canada’s interest to provide additional funding for more participants, to raise the organization’s profile and help it work more effectively with non-profit organizations. Katimavik participants could and should have a role to play in whatever Green Plan Canada eventually adopts.

Given Canada’s daunting geography and the astounding diversity of the people who live here, Katimavik is important because it lets young people live and work with the many faces of Canada. It encourages compassion, cooperation, innovation, tolerance, hard work — and fun. Even if you have never heard of it, ask your co-workers, friends, fellow students, parents or teachers about it. You will very quickly find someone who knows someone who has been on the program — or you may be lucky enough to meet a former participant.

Canada has been described as a provisional construct — an entity that exists by continually questioning and refining its values and aspirations. Katimavik is a small but integral part of that process that builds Canada. We should not let it die.

If you would like to help save Katimavik, please visit their funding status page and make your voice heard by emailing Stephen Harper and your local MP. The Katimavik web folk have built a nice little web application to make this exceedingly easy.

For the record, I’m a Katimivik “veteran” from 1978. So… if you happen to recognize yourself in the picture above, I would be thrilled to hear from you! Salut tout le monde! Vous savez qui vous êtes.

Regent Park Pathways to Education Program: a unique program that has attracted 97% of the youth in one of Toronto’s poorest neighborhoods. Since the program began, the high-school drop-out rate in the community has dropped by two-thirds. 75% of the first cohort is expected to graduate a year from now.

Toronto’s very own Nuit Blanche: a “contemporary art thing” modeled after (ok stolen) similar events held in Paris, Montreal, etc. It was a peaceful, intriguing and whimsical evening that brought over 400,000 people out to explore art in the street. And sadly, I completely missed it.

Matchbox-sized, high-speed turbines: 95% efficient, these tiny devices spin at up to 500,000 RPM, possibly providing efficient 100-Watt power sources, smaller and more accurate drills and god know what else. Not earth shattering, but it sounds like a technology that could help solve other technical problems. Maybe it could be used to process islet cells for diabetes patients or for other medical treatments (besides dentistry).

I think that’s it.

Or did I miss something? I did stumble upon a small film called ~Backspace~ FLOAT. For me it illustrates something I’ve been thinking about for a while: every day we are forced to read thousands of words — maybe a whole novel’s worth. Instead of blindly taking in all of these targeted messages, this film-maker peels the words off the urban canvas and mixes them up to produce a joyful, transcendent message. Thanks Swatstuff.

So where has all the power gone? If I didn’t know better, I’d guess that the protagonist in Ralph Ellison’s 1952 Invisible Man just might know the answer. Ellison’s guy is alive and well and living near Harlem, but in order to survive, the Invisible Man must live underground, must operate beneath the radar of a dominant culture that refuses to include him. He writes:

I have been carrying on a fight with Monopolated Light and Power for some time now. I use their service and pay them nothing at all, and they don’t know it. Oh, they suspect that power is being drained off, but they don’t know where. All they know is that according to the master meter back there in their power station a hell of a lot of free current is disappearing somewhere into the jungle of Harlem… My hole is warm and full of light. Yes full of light. I doubt there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine, and I do not exclude Broadway. Or the Empire State Building on a photographer’s dream night.

In many ways the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and almost everyone in southern Lebanon seem to be invisible these days. How else can one explain the indiscriminate way in which Israel has been pulverizing Beirut? Who would drop bombs on young children if they were not invisible? Of course, Hezbollah and Hamas are living in a dream world if they do not believe in Israel’s right to exist. But, at the same time, the only way Israel can truly disarm these militant factions is by offering Palestinians a full share of life in the region. They could start with an equitable distribution of water and electricity. Since israel bombed a power station serving Gaza City, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have gone with out electricity and without enough water (since electricity is required in order to pump it). As far as water goes, it is interesting that Israel wants to push Hezbollah north of the Litani river. As Marq De Villiers noted in Water:

The Israelis have never really given up thinking of the Litani as rightfully theirs. And since almost half the water used in Israel is already captured, diverted, or pre-empted from its neighbors, why stop there?

Although much of the electricity in Queens, Lebanon and Gaza has gone “missing” of late, it will ultimately be restored with the help of engineers and line workers. But these electrical repairs will only be temporary fixes unless we also repair cultural and economic circuit breakers. Anything less and the global grid will remain broken and increasingly unreliable. The displaced and the invisible will get some of what they need one way or another.