Following the Money in The 905
Recently the independent, non-partisan community organization Vote Toronto published a study by York University professor, Robert MacDermid, “Funding City Politics”, citing the very strong connection between elected politicians and the development industry: nearly 70% of political campaign contributions to the winning politicians come from development related corporations, their friends and families.
And what if you’re a candidate who wants to slow down development and make it more ecologically sustainable?
“You’ve got a tough row to hoe:, says MacDermid.
More from CBC Ontario Today
Vote Toronto offers a comprehensive set of recommended Electoral Reforms
Hoder Update as 2009/02/05… Worrisome: not much to report
Despite Iran’s official statement over a month ago that they are holding, Hossein “Hoder” Derakhshan, there has still been no official comment from Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. This raises questions about the sincerity of the Ministry’s earlier rationale that the lack of such an official statement from Iran was Canada’s reason for not commenting. http://geo.international.gc.ca/cip-pic/geo/iran-en.aspx
PLUS—Picture Licensing Universal System
At a CAPIC event last held night in CBC’s Glenn Gould Auditorium (and webcast across the country to CAPIC meetings and individuals), Jeff Sedlik was in TO to deliver to a nearly full house the most amazing news of the efforts of PLUS, the system he and his cross-industry cronies have been building the past decade for standardizing rights language and image licensing. The idea is to make it a no-brainer through technology so that all rights language and image licensing becomes as standard as IPTC meta data and systems like Panatone colours. It leaves one very hopeful, if also a bit skeptical about the rate of compliance and implementation that may occur, and of course presumes good will and integrity on the part of buyers which we know is far from the truth in many cases…but the ideas and method seem very solid.
According to PLUS’s website news, here are just three key items pulled from many:
IPTC Integrates PLUS Standards. The Board of Directors of the IPTC voted to approve a revision to the IPTC Photo Metadata Standard, incorporating a significant number of rights-related fields established in the PLUS Standards.
Adobe Announces CS4. PLUS Leadership Circle member Adobe Systems has announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended. Look for PLUS “File Info” panels in an update to CS4.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 PLUS Plug-in Beta. Developer Timothy Armes begins beta testing of a plug-in that allows users of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 to embed PLUS metadata in image files.
Iranian-Canadian Blogger Hossein Derakhshan (a.k.a. “Hoder”) Disappeared in Iran, Presumed Arrested by the Iranian Authorities
Toronto, Canada. Iranian-Canadian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, at the Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillip’s Square skating rink. ©Peter Sibbald, 2005
Toronto, Canada. Iranian-Canadian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, a.k.a. “Hoder”, on the Toronto Island Ferry. ©Peter Sibbald, 2005
It begins: Joining the 21st Century of Social Networking…
On the first day of Christmas… I sent to me… a new weblog.
What could be more narcissistic in this day and age than a blog!
Blogs are too often about the blogger which, to my mind, grows increasingly tedious—especially when that blogger is me— and so I will try to make this one less about navel gazing and more about the world out there.
I will also try to keep my posts short, though on this inaugural day, I will immediately break that rule.
And I in my cap…
On this Christmas morning, which should be all about World Peace, as my children lie all snug in their beds, I awake to find myself thinking about the world’s growing state of turmoil and in particular the increasing tensions surrounding Iran. And I’m thinking about Iranian-Canadian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan (nicknamed Hoder) who was arrested in Iran some weeks ago and is being held, apparently for his views, and the fact that he previously visited Israel, which is a crime in Iran, and has given them grounds for accusing him of spying on Iran for Israel.
I don’t know much about Hoder’s views since I can’t read most of his blogging which is in Persian but I gather that his views are strong, have changed radically over time and have alienated a lot of people on all sides. I don’t know if I’d agree with what he wrote earlier or more recently. To me, that is immaterial.
You can read Hoder’s mind on his blogs, though of course you won’t find anything about his disappearance since he has not been able to maintain his blog.
Go to: http://hoder.com/weblog/ and http://i.hoder.com/, or search The Guardian (UK) where he has been a frequent contributor.
I will not go into much detail over Hoder’s disappearance here, since I have no first hand information to report (links for news reports are below however), but it is alleged that on or about the 1st of November 2008, immediately upon returning to his home country after several years of exile in Canada, Hoder was arrested and whisked away by the Iranian authorities. And since then, little has been heard from him.
Canada—which should be concerned about the disappearance of one of its citizens—is not; because it has not officially been informed by the Iranian authorities of the arrest. And the current Harper conservative government has made little secret of it’s disdain for artists and culture workers, or its passivity toward the abuse of people of middle-eastern origin by other major foreign powers in the so-called “war on terror”.
There is much being made these festive days of the Canadian soldiers who are risking their lives in Afghanistan on behalf of our way of life, our freedom. In the past month, Canada exceeded 100 of our own dead there.
I would contend that Canada should be concerned any time one of its citizens disappears in a foreign country whether or not the foreign government is alleged to be involved, and regardless of the views of the individual who has been disappeared. And if that foreign government is one which has, as Iran has, a record or killing Canadians during it’s interrogations, such as it killed Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi on July 11, 2003, (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kazemi/) then Canada should be doubly concerned, doing everything in it’s power to intercede on our fellow citizen’s behalf. To do anything less is to make a mockery of the commitment and sacrifices being made by our young men and women in Afghanistan.
Now, why would I be concerned? First, and most simply,I am an Canadian citizen. Second, on a Business Week photo assignment a few years ago, I did Hoder’s portrait and spent the best part of a day with him. Something about this fellow—his intense commitment and his fearlessness and the liveliness of his mind—left an indelible impression on me. He was also a keen amateur photographer. Finally, it was Hoder who encouraged me to start a blog, and after our shoot was over, gave me my first lesson on how easy it was. I’m just a little slow getting around to it.
And so this, my first bog entry, is dedicated to Hoder and all those human beings, regardless of race, nationality, religious belief, gender or sexual orientation who risk their lives to exercise free speech.
I will upload a photo or two of Hoder in the next day or so.
Meanwhile you can read more both about Hoder and the reports of his disappearance here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5190462.ece
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/11/20/blogger-iran.html
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/20/update-on-hoder/
http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2008/11/19/free-hoder/
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Web Site: http://petersibbald.com
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Find It
Focus
A fermentation (a.k.a. Compost) of media, technology, social justice, art and the environment as experienced on the ground through the eye of one Canadian photo documentarian, intended to help fertilize the zeitgeist and yield a mixed crop of new ideas surrounding civic engagement.
Origins
Out on the land seeking moments and light, I’m often reminded of the similarity between the life and livelihood of a visual journalist/artist and that of the farmer.
To Wit
“Well Ed, the Fishers had their auction last Saturday morning. I watched as the neighbourhood descended on the place and picked it clean. After it was over, and the Fishers had driven off to their new house in town, the auctioneer walked over the property with me. His name’s Freddy. Interesting chap, friendly and outgoing. Runs a beef and dairy herd on the farm next door, plants corn, grain, potatoes, turnips, does auction sales some blacksmithing, small auto repairs and real estate. What I believe is called mixed farming.”
Letters from Wingfield Farm, ©1989 Douglas Beattie. (Act 1) Wingfield Farm
Ongoing Investigations
• The Meaning of Land
• Rurality
• The Nexus of Technology,
Implimentation and Power in
Visual Communication
• Legacies of Colonialism
• Sustainability vs. Resilience in
Socio-Ecological Systems
