A friend of mine asked me to help her with a project she’s doing for the DTES. She is a Strathcona resident, an entrepreneur and a budding agent of social change. She needs help. I’ve helped a bit and am asking for readers of this blog to also pitch in. It’s easy. It’s worthwhile. It will employ under-employed people in the DTES who need a hand up more than a hand out. It will help schoolchildren learn about food and where it comes from. And it will give you a chance to help. Read her pitch, go to the Startsomegood.com site, and give her some money.

As you know, I have just launched a new social enterprise and I am looking to get the word out and rally as many supporters as possible. If you could pass this along to some of your contacts, friends or family who might be interested I would greatly appreciate it.

Having been very involved in various community groups in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside over the past decade, I have become acutely aware of the difficulties people face in this area. As well I have huge concerns about how society tends to dish out handouts which, while they may help in the short term, can ultimately create more dependancy. As a mother of four, I am especially sensitive about how these issues effect children in the DTES.

During a long distance conversation with a childhood friend I had an epiphany. The next day I started researching seed suppliers and Strathcona 1890 and the Urban Seed Project were founded. Sales of these unique collections of seeds will help create new jobs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside as well as help develop sustainable food growing programs at Vancouver’s inner city schools, daycares and community centres.

I created three seed collections to appeal to people who live with very limited outdoor spaces. These seeds are selected for container planting to help promote local food sustainability with a focus on downtown, where space is at a premium. All the seeds come from top suppliers with a proven history of quality. They are all non-GMO, open pollinated, and the Urban Salad Collection and Urban Salad Sampler are comprised entirely of heirloom seeds. I hope you will join me in helping promote food sustainability for all by buying a collection when I launch my campaign on startsomegood.com on Tuesday, April 17.

http://startsomegood.com/Venture/urban_seed_project/Campaigns/Show/help_launch_the_urban_seed_project

I have already signed on with one elementary school, two daycares and two community centres in Vancouver’s DTES. This is not a one time project – my dream is that we will one day be able to expand to other cities.

I have included photos so you have a preview of the seed collections. As well I included a couple shots of the area where we are trying to create positive change. This whole initiative is about changing how we deal with the issues in the DTES. It is about offering people a hand up instead of a hand out.

These collections make great hostess and housewarming gifts. They could also be a nice change for Mother’s Day (you could pair up the herbs with a window pot or create a mother & child activity gift with the Kids Starter Seeds which are super easy to grow and include step by step directions for planting as well as activities and uses). I will have some essential herbs and vegetables (like Genovese Basil and Yellow Pear Tomatoes) while some of the seeds I have sourced are really unique such as Red Malabar Climbing Spinach which is not only edible but makes for a great privacy screen on a balcony or patio.

I could go on and on about this project but I will stop here. Again if you, or anyone you know, would be interested in supporting this effort, please click on the link to access more about the Strathona 1890 Urban Seed Project.

Many thanks!

Judy Kenzie

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

Vancouver is considering establishing a rent bank. The idea is to fight homelessness by keeping people in their homes. If someone is facing eviction for lack of money the rent bank will lend them the rent so that they can stay in their home. As councillor Kerry Jang said “If you want to end homelssness you have to stop people from becoming homeless”.

It’s a nice idea. I’m not convinced it’s a good idea.

Here are the bare bones, as reported in 24 Hours:

Over three years the CoV would kick in $148,000 for operating costs. Streetohome Foundation would finance actual loans with $365,800, and other community partners would pay for mandatory education for loan recipients to the tune of $185,700. Borrowers will have two years to pay back the interest free loans. They can get one loan at a time. Jang points to other rent bank programs with a 70% payback rate.

(CBC reports that Streetohome will kick in $551,00)

The idea was floated in the last civic election. NPA critics asked how the loans would be repaid. Jang answers that by saying that the loan won’t be made unless the borrower can pay it back. That’s the first problem. If you assume a loan is safe bedcause the loan won’t be made unless the borrower can pay it back you’re not playing with a full deck. I really hope Councillor Jang was mis-quoted. The fact is that the people who will be asking for these loans will generally be in tough financial straits, and their capacity to repay the loan will be questionable. Jang himself points to a 70% payback rate, which is the same as a 30% default rate.

Problem number two is the expense. The amount loaned will be $365,800. The amount repaid, if we use the 70% figure, would be $256,060. That’s a loss of $109,740, and that’s a direct cost to the program. Admin by the CoV will be $148,800, if it stays on budget. That brings costs to $258,540. Then there’s the $185,700 for financial education. Total costs:$444,240.

That’s about 125% of the amount loaned. Full disclosure: I don’t expect government to do many things efficiently, and this is certainly fitting that bill. The people who need the money are getting about 45 cents on the dollar.

And of course, that’s not really going to them. It goes to the landlord. I’m a landlord, and I’ve kicked out many people over the last coule of decades. It’s not hard for me to imagine a landlord saying to someone with no money for rent “Go to the rent bank and get me my money”. That’s problem three.

That leads me to the fourth problem I have with this approach: when the money isn’t going into a landlord’s pocket it’s subsidizing the employer of the person who can’t pay their rent. Let’s not fool ourselves. The homelessness problem isn’t caused by poor money management, and it won’t be remedied by a micro-loan and a money management course. I talked about this with a buddy today, a guy with 30 years in the social work field. He chuckled at the education component, pointing out it was too little money, not ignorance in how to handle it. On the CBC story site Virginia Brucker says the same thing: “People often make comments about people living in poverty being poor money managers. While the occasional client makes poor choices, the real issue is that there is not enough money to manage”.

But, Kerry Jang already knows that. AS quoted in the Sun, he says “We don’t want families in desperate need to be choosing between paying rent and buying food.”
See? He’s not stupid. And that brings me to my problem: what’s my solution?

I don’t have a short term one. I think we should teach finances in school (and I don’t care who claims we do, the fact is we don’t do enough). I think we should do away all corporate welfare. If people can’t afford to live in Vancouver because work at Starbucks or 7-11 doesn’t pay enough, make it the problem of the businesses. As far as I’m concerned the cost of a latte downtown should be more than the cost of a latte in Cloverdale. Look at how the CoV adresses parking downtown ($2.00 for 40 minutes) vs. East Van (free). It’s called supply and demand. I don’t have a right to cheap labour in an expensive city.

But the biggest solution that I can propose is that we start seeing the big picture. Homelessness is the leading edge of the problem. When you don’t have paying work for everyone, everyone suffers. We live in a capitalist system, and in many, many ways it’s great. I’m a great believer that everyone should have to work for a living unless they are unable to. But we also know that there are some people who simply can’t compete in our system, and we will always need to care for them. They’ve always been with us, and always will be, and they’re our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers.

But the homelessness we see now is a result of digitization and globalization. If we don’t rise above partisanship and see that big picture, if we don’t figure out a way of taking care of all of us, things will keep getting worse. Before long we’ll be like the developing world. We’ll pay bums to sleep in our undergorund parking lots to guard our nice cars.

If we’re lucky enough to be the guys with the cars.

So, do I like Kerry Jang’s project? No. But I don’t have a better solution.

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

Flower Bike

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

Look around. You’ll see them everywhere.

Hard Hat Hanging On a Line

They’re always green, and they’re always this shape. This one is downtown, over an alley, beside a church.

Hard Hat Hanging On a Line

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

This is a schematic of a worm composting plan I’ve been toying with. The combination of densification and the pressures of waste removal mean that large condo buildings are being forced to separate waste between trash and compostable materials. They pay increased tipping fees as a result. That means there is room for something new. There are some questions to be answered first, but I think it’s worth a try. I’ve been doing worm composting at home and it’s an easy process.

Click on the chart for a larger version of the worm compost plan.

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

I think that we don’t ask enough simple questions of each other these days. I also think that some questions are treated as statements rather than honest questions, as if asking the question indicates opposition to a position.

Of course, questioning something often is motivated by a visceral opposition to something, but that doesn’t mean the question should be ignored. If someone thinks something is a good idea they should be able to defend it against a simple question. If they can’t do so then perhaps the idea isn’t so good.

I’m not going to ask someone else a question in this post. Rather, I’m going to answer a question that keeps turning up in debate between privacy concerns and government’s desire to increasingly invade our privacy.

The question is this: If you’re not guilty of a crime, why should you worry what the state looks at? Why is your privacy more important than catching, for example, a child molester, a terrorist or a tax evader?

It’s a great question. Like all great political questions it can be answered once and for all, because the correct answer is a logical answer. It’s also a great question because the emotions it awakens forces people to either stick their heads in the sand or make some tough moral decisions.

The logical reason why you should worry about the State spying on you even when you’re not guilty of a crime is that you don’t control who decides your guilt. There are a lot of negative consequences to this.

Other people decide when you are guilty, and they do so based on actions that you’ve already taken. All people, including the people who will decide your guilt, are fallible. It is not only possible that mistakes will be made – it is a certainty that mistakes will be made. This is patently unfair, and runs counter to the precepts of natural justice. It is also a simple, irrefutable fact – it is unfair for a person to be punished by mistake.

There is room for the argument that a few mistakes are acceptable if the greater good is served. In other words, you might say that imprisoning a Donald Marshall by mistake is aright if the same process also imprisons the requisite number of guilty people. That’s fine and good, and I can accept the logic in the position. However, making that argument also demonstrates why an innocent person should be worried about being spied upon by the state. The innocent person who is sacrificed for the greater good by mistake is, after all, both innocent and punished. The possibility of that happening is grounds for an innocent person who has done nothing wrong to fear the state’s intrusions.

Any relationship in which one party is able to spy on another and then decide whether a crime has been committed (and that’s what law enforcement spies do) creates an unfair power relationship. The people doing the spying have power over those being spied upon. If the spy were infallible and incorruptible there would be no problem. In fact we get daily evidence of the state’s manifest fallibility (Vic Toews demonstrated it recently by being misinformed about the bill he was defending). History provides better examples that law enforcement and the state in general can not only be fallible, but venal and self serving. We live in a remarkably blessed country, and yet we have, with the state as our agent, locked up loyal citizens for the crime of being ethnically Japanese. We’ve taken First Nations children from their parents. We’ve killed frustrated tourists. We’ve monitored the lawful activities of elected members of Parliament. We’ve declared martial law from sea unto sea unto sea because of crimes committed by a small group of people in one province, and used those powers to lock up otherwise law abiding citizens with no relation to the original problem. I could go on and on, and if I left our borders I could find even more egregious examples.

I’m not saying that these things are unforgiveable. I’m saying that humans are fallible and prove it over and over again. We need to protect ourselves against such fallibility whenever possible.

Judges are no failsafe protection. Judges are complicit in every over zealous wrongful conviction, after all, but requiring a judge to issue a warrant is a partial safeguard. saying that it is easier for the police to do their job without a warrant is obviously true. The question, however, is why should an innocent person worry about not having a partial safeguard against the state. The answer is that policemen arrest the wrong people sometimes. Sometimes judges convict the wrong people. Making this process easier is not wise.

It is also a fact of life that the state finds it much easier to enforce compliance from those of us with fixed addresses. The state will often, as a result, criminalize erstwhile legal behavior by fiat. The gun registry in Canada is a perfect example, as is the call for mandatory ski helmets.

Increased power for traditional police is not the only threat. Consider that food protection agents of the province of Ontario conducted unwarranted surveillance of multiple people while trying to catch just one.

Yes, some people who are guilty of crimes may go free if this law is not passed. On the other hand, many innocent people will have their inalienable rights violated by the state if it does pass. People guilty of no crime but still unwuilling to have their laundry washed in public will have to understand that many people, in no way special, know their secrets.

There is no Internet privacy. That horse is out of the barn because big tech players ignore the sanctity of privacy in order to make a sale. Allowing police to ignore that sanctity in order to have an easier job tracking people they feel may be guilty
of something is a horse of am entirely different colour. We should close that barn door right now, before it gets out.

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

Politics is not always logical but logical politics are preferable to be logical politics. When a politician does not recognize this fact it is only a matter of time until the weakness of his position is exposed. A weak position might be adopted for tactical purposes, but it just might be an example of a poorly equipped politician who’s over his head. Given my opinion of politicians perhaps a poorly equipped politician is a good thing. I’ll let you decide.

A good example of a illogical politics is the role of shibboleths. Two modern shibboleths in Canada revolve around abortion and gay rights. Politicians on the left side of the spectrum are free to claim that politicians on the right side of the spectrum are opposed to both things.

These are shibboleths because they are not true; the facts on the ground do not support the claims. The Tories (who have a lot of supporters across the nation who are neither anti-gay nor pro-choice) aren’t going to come out against gay rights or abortion. To do so would lose them too many votes and they’d gain nothing by doing it. Politics in Canada is a fight over the center, and the center is tough to win.

It is logical for a politician to use them shibboleths, though. They can score points and keep the conversation going within safe boundaries.

It is illogical for a politician to believe that the shibboleths they utter are actually true. Justin Trudeau provides a good example of why.

He recently commented that he “always” says that if Canada becomes a country that he did not recognize anymore then he would consider supporting Quebec independence. He described this unrecognizable Canada as being one that did not support abortion or recognize gay marriage. In doing so he made use of another modern shibboleth, describing such and unrecognizable country as “Harpers Canada”.

The statement indicates one of two things: either Mr. Trudeau is unable to recognize and immediately correct a verbal gaffe or he actually believes what he’s saying. The first is bad enough in any politician. The second however confirms Mr. Trudeau’s status as an intellectual lightweight.

The logical implications of believing that there is a hidden Tory agenda designed to re-make Canada into “Harper’s Canada” are inescapable. Most of those implications don’t reflect well on the believer.

In this case Mr. Trudeau put himself in the position of making a hypothetical choice. This is stupid behavior for politician at the best of times. In this instance Mr. Trudeau places before himself
a choice between gay rights and abortion on the one hand and a united Canada on the other. He would apparently choose gay rights and abortion over Canada.

One must ask: is Mr. Trudeau a Federalist? If he is choosing an independent Quebec then the answer is that he is not a federalist. Rather than stay inside Canada and work to make it a better place he would simply give up and leave. That’s a fair position. Nobody can require someone else to work just because the first party thinks its a good idea. Still, it’s a poor position for a federal politician.

Is he a nationalist? If he chooses his moral position over Canada that he is not a Canadian nationalist. And if he will abandon Canada in favor of his morals how can anyone be sure he wouldn’t later abandon Quebec? Surely we can’t believe that a province that outlaws burkas and languages other than French is inherently tolerant. So, Mr. Trudeau, in choosing his morals over his nationalism, seems to implicitly be ready to jettison any group that does not agree with him. Those aren’t exactly leadership qualities. (To be fair, he’s a politician, not a leader. We have a surplus of the former and a shortgage of the latter, but that’s not his fault).

Is Mr. Trudeau a democrat? Does he believe Canada is a democratic country? If he is a democrat you’d think he’d respect the wishes of the majority (provided they respect minority opinion). If he believes Canada is a democratic country, ruled by elected representatives you’d think he wouldn’t worry about one man re-making the country in his personal image.

Perhaps, however, being the son of a man who was the most influential Canadian politician in living memory he thinks that one great man (or maybe just Stephen Harper) can remake the country regardless of what the populace thinks. As I recall his old man thought that way, with mixed results.

Still, I don’t like the implication from an MP that our government is a sham and I am a pawn. After years of Liberal rule with highlights like “pepper on my steak” and the long gun registry I kind of like the Tories having a kick at the can. Of course, that’s because I distrust both sides and like having newcomers having to learn the ropes. I think they do less damage that way.

So, not a nationalist, not a federalist, not a democrat, and not a person who respects the opinions of other Canadians. Not the kind of leader I’d welcome to 24 Sussex, were he smart enough to keep his cards close to his vest and actually make it there. Since he can’t hold his cards or his tongue I doubt he has much of a chance.

But I’ll let you decide. Can a guy who makes such a stupid political statement really be a saviour for anyone? If he’s not, fine. Everyone has to make a living and support their family. But Jesus, could we stop treating him as anything remotely resembling a serious person?

What Justin Trudeau said:
“I always say, if at a certain point, I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper – that we were going against abortion, and we were going against gay marriage and we were going backwards in 10,000 different ways – maybe I would think about wanting to make Quebec a country.”

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.

I’m getting fat around the middle. I also like doing stuff online. The latter led me to Tim Ferriss, and Tim Ferriss says belly fat can be minimized by good eating habits and exercise.

I play a fair bit of hockey, so that gives me some exercise. It also serves as an excuse for the odd hockey party. A recent one required that I prepare some food, and for some reason I decided on pulled pork. I made it in a slow cooker and it was very successful.

One success means I have to have another, so I’ve been doing more slow cooking. It helps because when we create a good meal we can divvy it up and freeze it. We come home after a long day and have good tasting healthy food in no time. The Tim Ferris program is partly honoured (we’re eating a regular diet), the Greg Swann approach to splendorous living gets a nod (we’re eating better food and spending time together preparing and eating it, and the simple action of doing that is good), we save some money and I get to write about it online. It’s also somewhat sustainable, because I’m using something a lot of people just ignore. How can I lose?

We started using an old crock pot inherited from my mother-in-law. I was satisfied with that. I have an aversion to buying new stuff unless it’s a power tool or something for my guitars (I prefer used guitars to new, but new tuners, strings, capos and whatnot are fine).

Old Faithful

That didn’t stop my wife from buying me a new, bigger slow cooker while I was up-country playing pond hockey.

So, today I’m cooking some lamb necks. I get them from Supreme Meats, a store run by Robert Chow, a South African Chinese. It’s not your regular meat store. For example, it sells pork bungs. I’m pretty sure a pork bung is exactly what you think it is. It probably slow cooks very well.

I started going to Supreme for dog food. I feed raw food to my dogs, and Supreme is a good source of chicken carcasses, tripe, bones and …lamb necks.

Lamb necks are meaty, but they have neck bones right in the middle. I don’t know anyone who buys them for human consumption, and whenever I buy them at Supreme they expect to cut them up into dog food meal size chunks. But, carne’s carne, and today I’m slow cooking them.

BBC Food says “Lamb neck is a fabulously underrated and inexpensive cut of lamb. It is a tough cut that needs very long, slow cooking. It may look as though there isn’t much meat, but it yields a surprisingly generous amount once every scrap is tender. It can be bought on the bone, or off the bone as neck fillet. Both need slow cooking, so stew or braise until tender”.

EatMeDaily.com called it the hottest cut of meat this week in October 2009.

Cook(almost)AnythingOnce.com says “When it comes to cooking lamb it seems most recipes tend to deal with only a few types cuts like lamb racks or lamb legs but we should be looking at the less aesthetically pleasing but more flavoursome parts like lamb necks”.

Obviously my idea of buying a cheap cut off meat isn’t crazy. I’m not dressing mutton as lamb of making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Lamb neck is made for slow cooking!

I’ve started with about $9.00 worth of lamb necks. It looks to me like four complete necks. The idea here is too cook more than we need so that we can freeze some, save some money and create good food. We’ve already done pulled pork, pulled beef, and a ground lamb Moroccan stew, as well as a regular beef stew. I’m not sure what I want to make the necks into, but I’ll start with just cooking the necks and getting rid of bone and excess fat.

The four necks go in the crock pot. I throw them in frozen.

The web will tell you all kinds of spices that can go with lamb, but for that very reason we’re not spicing this at all. We’ll prepare the meat for use as the start of other meals. That means that all this dish gets added to it now is enough water to cover the necks. I don’t cover them completely, which in my case translates to 7 cups.

I’m doing 8 hours on low. Check back later…

My name is Rob Chipman and I’m a realtor, pilot and all around Curious George. I really enjoy flying, playing guitar and hockey, real estate and the Chilcotin. I think the internet and Web 2.0 offers all of us a great opportunity to communicate more, and improve the world by calling bullshit on bullshit whenever we are able. Do not hesitate to contact me by email if you have something to tell me, especially if its likely to be interesting.