So, another week at CalgaryUrbanite, another revelation I have to share with everyone. Last week I mentioned how we are all driving the Oil Sands business whether we like developing them or not. Well this week I drop an even bigger bombshell (We are entering the Fall sweeps season after all). Forget the latest Ponzi-Scheme bust in Calgary, we are part of the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
The Ponzi scheme according to Wikipedia (so yes, there might be a few swear words vandalized into the definition) is:
A fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned.
So basically the first "investors" get massive returns on their "investment" by being given the money from the newest investors who are convinced that the whole thing is for real. When the whole system implodes, the newer investors never get their investments back, and people's lives are destroyed. We like to think we're smart enough that we will never be duped into such a scam, but the scary thing is, you and I just invested in one.
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Alberta hasn't had a new shopping mall built in twenty years. This isn't because Albertans hate shopping malls, quite the contrary, our malls are some of the most popular locations in the province. The lack of new shopping malls in Alberta boils down to (like so many other things) making money. Shopping malls are expensive to build and strip mall retail centers are considerably cheaper. Sure, they lack roofs and you have to drive from one end to another just to get to all the stores, but the people will still come, enclosed mall or not. Why? Because with developers building poorly designed suburbs in search of a better bottom line and people looking to live in a house a little bigger than their means buying into them, these strip malls are often the only shopping available that is anywhere near. Everyone wins, well, except your gas tank, and the environment. But you get a quiet neighbourhood and the developers maximize their profits.
When I found out CrossIron Mills was defying the trend and being built as an enclosed shopping mall, I got excited.
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As of July 1st, you will no longer need a license or insurance or registration for a power-assisted bicycle (a helmet is still required though). This is in effect for all power bicycles that have an 500 watt electric motor and have a top speed of 32 km/h.
For more info, go to Green City Motors.
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There's probably two things you can talk to any Calgarian about to fit in. The first is the weather. You can fit in with any Calgarian talking about the weather because you can make statements and get an expected response back, like they were an old friend. "Man, this winter just never ends" usually yields a "No kidding". It feels good to know what a stranger in the elevator or at the checkout will most likely say... it's like you get them. You suddenly have confidence talking to members of the opposite sex that you never had before because you know they'll appreciate your anecdote about how the weather sucks here (getting to a new line of conversation after the weather is the tricky part, and I wish all CalgaryUrbanite readers good luck in your romantic endeavours).
The other sure fire line of conversation on which Calgarians relate is of course, our public transit.
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Sometimes making the right decisions to help out the environment can be easy. Sometimes it's tough.
A couple weeks ago, I posted a review of the Beat Niq criticizing the practice of only providing bottled water. Gerry Hebert, artistic director at Beat Niq responded about why their hand is forced on the issue. I appreciate him being forth coming with explaining the concerns and challenges the Beat Niq faces in providing their entertainment while maintaining some level of profitability. It's easy to forget about the real challenges businesses face when we see practices that don't fit in with our ideal world.
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So it’s been 2 months since I’ve returned from an almost 3 year experience in Pakistan and India. So much has changed for me, that even still I find re-adapting to the Canadian culture difficult.
I suppose some of the experiences I had will never leave me, some truths you cannot just sweep under a carpet. Now that I am back in Canada, the hardest part is trying to share those experiences I had in a way that help people understand these truths that I have seen: poverty, exploitation, corruption, dishonesty. I guess this feeling is shared by anyone in the field of sustainability. The question eludes me, while I find myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. The worst of all, for me, is falling on deaf ears to the ones that are supposed to be closest and most beloved to us: our family.
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Often in conversation you may hear comments about growing water shortages, or the fact that bottled water is no better than tap water. Of course both of these are true, however the depth of this situation is far graver than we imagine it to be. What seems to miss the media’s attention is the massive protests that are led in against water giants like Nestle, Coca-Cola, Suez, Vivendi and others. All over the world, water privatization is on the increase, and at what cost?
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