Archive for: February 2011
Messaged up the ass – feedback
In response to my post on the Dexter government’s obsessive management of routine government communications, Bruce Wark writes:
When I arrived in Nova Scotia in October, 1986, as CBC Radio’s National Reporter for the Maritimes, I found the Nova Scotia government’s public relations system third rate. I had just come from six years covering the Ontario legislature and was used to dealing every day with a professional civil service and public relations officers who provided accurate information quickly and efficiently. In fact, I realized during my years at Queen’s Park that the Conservatives’ decision to create a professional (and de-politicized) civil service was one of the main reasons they held power continuously in Ontario for 42 years. Journalists and the public trusted government information.
The establishment of Communications Nova Scotia in 1996 represented a big step forward. Over the years, I have found CNS officers (many of them former journalists) to be efficient and trustworthy providing unbiased information even when they suspected that the journalist receiving it might be building a case against government policies. Ultimately, the public judges both those policies and the journalists who report on them. The basis for that public judgment has to be accurate and timely information untainted, as much as possible, by partisan government spin and filtered though professional communications officers who are not forced to run everything by a centralized political authority….
Governments which put obstacles in journalists’ way and try to spin them to death will eventually pay a price for their attempts to message reporters up the ass. The provincial NDP and the federal Alliance-Conservatives ignore this at their peril. Your commentary and Paul MacLeod’s reporting is an early warning to the neophyte, political boffins at NDP central.
This is a matter of degree. There’s nothing wrong with a government trying to insure consistency in the way it communicates with the public, but when this effort reaches the point where everything must to be cleared with a Central Committee, it’s unhealthy for a democracy.
The media shares some responsibility, given how reporters pounce on a politician or official who deviates even slightly from party or government line. In pouncing, reporters don the mantle of heretic-fighters and orthodoxy-enforcers, with the unwelcome effect of sanitizing political discourse.
As Michael Kinsley purportedly remarked, “A gaffe is when you tell the truth.” That is, it’s not a gaffe when a politician lies but when a politician unguardedly says what she really thinks. Neither the media nor the premier’s office should make it their business to punish such truthfulness.
After sending the words above to Contrarian, Wark’s indignation apparently continued to rise. At week’s end, he emailed the premier’s press secretary, saying:
[L]et me tell you straight up that this issue is not about media convenience or efficiency. It’s about the right to factual, public information from the civil service, untainted by partisan political spin.
Japan’s found decade
Eamonn Fingleton, an ex-pat Irish financial journalist who lives in Tokyo, takes a decidedly contrarian view of the Japanese economy. Far from stagnating for 20 years, as received media wisdom would have it, Japan’s economy has been ticking along just fine, he contends.
Guest-blogging for James Fallows at TheAtlantic.com website (where Contrarian will take a guest-blogging turn the week of March 14), Fingleton cites a couple of inconvenient facts in support of his analysis:
- Japan’s current account surplus in 1990, regarded as the onset of its 20-year economic malaise, stood at $36 billion. By last year, it had risen to $194 billion.
- Over the same 20-year period, the yen rose 65 percent against the US dollar, the strongest performance of any major currency.
Moneyquote:
How can such facts be reconciled with the “two lost decades” story? I don’t think they can. There is clearly a contradiction here, and after studying the facts on the ground in Tokyo for decades I find it hard to avoid the implausible-sounding conclusion that the story of Japan’s stagnation is a media myth.
Certainly anyone who visits Japan these days is struck by the obvious affluence even among average citizens. The cars on the roads, for instance, are generally much larger and better equipped than in the 1980s (indeed state of the art navigation devices, for instance, are more or less standard on many models). Overseas vacation travel has more than doubled since the 1980s. The Japanese boast the world’s most advanced cell phones, and the biggest and best high-definition television screens. Japan’s already long life expectancy has increased by nearly two years. Its Internet connections are some of the world’s fastest — something like ten times faster on average than American speeds.
The rest of Fingleton’s argument is, to say the least, intriguing.
James Make-and-Break Taylor
Costas Halavrezos adds a Rube Goldberg twist to our antique engine percussion series (previous instalments here, here, and here.) with this unique James Taylor concert rendition of Slap Leather:
As Costas points out, the song is 20 years old, but its bittersweet lyrics could have been written yesterday.
Spirited Debate Place
Contrarian readers are sharply divided about plans to build a seven-storey old people’s apartment where St. John’s United Church now stands. (My own misgivings here.) First the Cons:
Liz Cunningham, owner of a Charles Street crêperie just down the street from the proposed apartment complex, writes:
Finally somebody who sees through the smokescreen, holier than though, social justice, inclusive nonsense.
St John’s United Church is a developer first and foremost. They are seeking variances on lot coverage, height, density, etc, etc, etc. That is all we should be talking about.
My hat’s off though to Louisa Horne and the rest of that group. They are very media saavy if nothing else. As a neighbor who is opposed to the size of the project–nothing else, just the size!–I must say they have done an amazing job of getting their view out in the media, particularly the CBC and the Chronicle Herald….
I can only hope that Regional Council will see this effor for what it is and vote on this project based only on it’s merits and the many variances they are seeking.
Colin May (who not to be an adherent of any church):
The proponents for Spirit Place–sounds rather First Nations, doesn’t it?–are just daring neighbours and councillors to turn their dream to dust. If I was waiting to vote they would be out of luck for several reasons.
Reason 1 – The possible residents are not of any concern to the decision. A council cannot support or oppose the development based on the possible sexual orientation of residents. Spirit Place is not a group home and therefore not subject to certain planning provisions. It is a residential development and should be treated as such. Implicit in this application is the assumption that persons of certain sexual orientations are having difficulty in finding a place to reside. To date no evidence has been presented to support such assumption.
Reason 2 – The proposed building is too large and is out of characted with the neighbourhood.
The United Church in Canada is facing dramatic declines in worshippers. The congregation at St John’s are looking to engage in a commercial enterprise to subsidise their ability to remain a seperate congregation and are asking the residents of the neighbourhood to assist them. The sexual orientaion of the possible residents is being trumpeted as the main reason why the proposal should be approved.
In downtown Halifax the congregation of St Matthew’s is also facing a dramatic decline in worshippers and is looking to develop the lands between the church and the residence of the Lt Governor. The simple solution for the two congregations is to merge at one building, I’d suggest St Matthew’s, and sell the property at the other site.
If St John’s is sincere in wishing to develop a certain building I would expect them to place that as their first priority and then sell the land to a developer willing to build such a project and one that is acceptable to and in keeping with the neighbourhood. Pursuing such a course of action would also help their fellow worshippers at St Matthew’s.
Marlene Coffey:
Sprit Place is being proposed very close to my home. I am in favor of the purpose and philosophy of this enterprise. However, I am very worried about the impact of the size and scale of this project on my neighbourhood. The design looks just massive. Spirit Place will be awfully big and will function in quite a different way than the church it will replace. I belong to a group of neighbours who are concerned about the seven story proposal being considered on a rather small piece of R-2 (residential property). We are a diverse group of people and our argument with this development has only ever been about its size. At no time has anyone expressed opposition to the vision and mandate of this proposal.
What are some other facts about Sprit Place? This is what I have been told at public meetings:
- A shrinking congregation has made money for repairs and up keep for the former St. John’s Church impossible.
- Projected building cost for Spirit Place are presently 13-14 million dollars and will be borrowed as mortgage.
- There is no information that can be given yet as to what any of the rents will be for the units ( “affordable” ones or regular ones).
- Appeals for grants have been made.
- The building has to be seven stories ((no compromise here at all whatsoever) in order to make the project “financially viable” i.e. seven stories (or more) is the essential size needed to generate enough income to pay borrowed money used to build the new church and housing units.
- If the housing unit is smaller, rents will have to be increased to pay for the new church and housing units
Because I want a smaller Spirit Place housing structure, I will be accused of preventing affordable housing for seniors. Must the neighbourhood bear the burden of living with the impact of this vast structure because St. John’s United Church cannot afford to build what they want? I believe that we all share the neighbourhood and should be able to cooperate and come up with a smaller sized Spirit Place.
A supporter of the project, Marian Lindsay, sees the church’s response to the decline in parisioners as creative:
First, rather than fighting the inevitable demise of traditional churches, and spending tons of money to keep a dying church standing, they’ve found a creative way to continue their ministry in the area — and potentially serve the community in more concrete ways, too.
Second, maybe the GLBT angle is a red-herring, but just because there’s a law against discrimination doesn’t mean discrimination disappears. I bet lots of people in the GLBT community would feel more welcome and relaxed in a place that pro-actively encouraged them to live there. So I can’t agree with you that it’s just a silly ploy to divert attention from the zoning variance issue.
Third, Halifax needs to encourage higher density in the central city, and seniors are our fastest growing population. For density, there’s nowhere to go but up–and this isn’t even very far up, for heaven’s sake. We can’t all cling to our big, single family houses, that take up–and waste–so much space. What better service could you provide people in this area? Their idea to provide space for community agencies is also brilliant. Vancouver rewards developers who combine commercial and housing structures with space for social organizations. They aren’t doing that here, so it’s great that a church has the foresight and vision to do it, instead.
Relax, Contrarian: From the street, it should look very similar to the average street frontage of most downtown city areas, with facades built to look like the old architecture of our town. Spirit Place is not much taller than the original church–or the medical building about a block away–[so] what’s the problem? Is it just a taller building that has you feeling so uncomfortable? Having a lot of space to oneself, though considered a birthright in this country, cannot be sustained in this present world. Those who insist on not allowing change to come are being pretty selfish, if it’s hindering some people from getting adequate housing at all.
Perhaps you would prefer to build a low-rise building; “Mean Spirited Place” might be a good name for that.
Ted Sutcliffe, who writes the Square Feet Blog, agrees:
There’s something pathetic about a city that makes a church congregation jump through hoops as it tries to redevelop its property to rebuild a smaller sanctuary and finance it for the future by building 65 apartments for seniors.
The Chronicle Herald called the redevelopment of St. John’s United Church property at Windsor and Willow streets controversial. The project is not at all controversial. A few residents are upset about it because they think it’s too big. It’s not. In fact, it is only about 12 feet higher than the existing church at its highest point and will be much lower than the church had been at the west end where the new sanctuary is located.
City staff, cautious to a fault, recommended a public hearing be held on the project. City council, paranoid to a fault, voted Tuesday night with a show of hands, 17 to 4, to go that route. (There has been no public hearing for the $100+ million convention center.)
As I said on my blog last Sept. 10, this project is a sympathetic solution to the congregation’s problem, and meets the objectives of the municipal plan to encourage infill projects that put more people on the peninsula. Were this project given encouragement other congregations might see opportunities in their own church properties.
The city should be falling over itself to help projects like this. If a church group can’t get enthusiastic support for a project that meets the city’s own guidelines what message should anyone else take from the experience who might have wanted to put his imagination and industry to work?
Fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of making mistakes … fear has paralyzed this city and it’s the poorer for it.
Finally, a reader who asked not to be identified, suggests the whole GLBT theme is an offhand comment that got out of hand:
I have talked to the church reps working on the proposal and the architects, and a friend in the congregation who’s privy to what’s going on. This project was never intended or has any effort been made to market, position or otherwise identify it as a “gay” project. In fact, the whole exercise has been downright weird. The CBC was the first to identify it as a gay project, and the Herald jumped on that in two pieces they’ve written about it. And the swell of opposition has caught the church off guard because they, and the architects, described a very long and personal canvas of the neighbourhood that indicated there was very little opposition to the project. All that said, it is Halifax.
Messaged up the ass
AllNovaScotia.com has a good piece this morning by Paul McLeod (subscribe!) detailing the obsessive control Premier Darrell Dexter’s office exercises over all departmental communications, to the point that answers to even the most routine and trivial inquiries often wait hours for a nod of approval from the Central Committee.
In a companion piece by McLeod, ex-Premier Rodney MacDonald’s Communications Director Wade Keller, now toiling for Labatt’s, endorses the Dexter government’s approach as necessary for managing the government’s message.
Trouble is, communications during Rodney MacDonald’s brief term were atrocious—precisely because of excessive message management. As one of Keller’s predecessors aptly put it, the young premier always sounded “messaged up the ass.”
Dexter government communications are starting to sound the same way. When you find the phrase “for today’s families” inserted into every freaking news release and government document, the words lose their intended warm syrupy meaning and take on a completely contrary impact, i.e.: “This government thinks I’m an idiot and is trying to manipulate me with focus group-tested cliches.”
As someone who feels sympathy for the multifarious problems facing government, but dismay at Dexter & Company’s slow pace in tackling them, I offer this friendly advice: retire the witless party slogans, ease up on the controls, and let the (mostly very capable) folks at CNS do their jobs.
The planet’s water cycle animated
The NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio has released a very cool animation showing the Earth’s water cycle over 25 days, based on real data. (Click on the image below to view the animation).
NASA explains:
Water regulates climate, predominately storing heat during the day and releasing it at night. Water in the ocean and atmosphere carries heat from the tropics to the poles. The process by which water moves around the earth, from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean, is called the water cycle.
The sound of old machines
Contrarian friend Cliff White muses on tractor percussion (previously here and here):
Not only is this just a wonderful piece, it’s a nostalgic reminder of just how much rhythm and music there was in early machinery. Aside from the occasional pile driver, I can’t think of anything today that carries on that tradition. Even the once ubiquitous make-and-break engine seems to have unfortunately gone completely from our shores.
Death to copyright violators?
It’s been tried, according to Rick Falkvinge, who begins a seven-part history of copyright today. Moneyquote:
The copyright industry has tried the same tricks and rhetoric for well over 500 years, and they are also keen on trying to rewrite history. But the tale of the history books differs sharply from what the copyright industry is trying to paint.
When the printing press arrived in 1453, scribe-craft was a profession in high demand. The Black Death had taken a large toll from the monasteries, who were not yet repopulated, so copying books was expensive.
Obsoleting scribes was not a popular development with the Catholic Church, who tried to ban the printing press with increasingly harsh punishments, up to and including the death penalty for using a printing press to copy books.
“How will the monks get paid?”, they argued to justify this. Still, even the death penalty couldn’t stop the copying.
Of course, it wasn’t about payment of monks. The Catholic Church couldn’t have cared less, really. It was about control over knowledge and culture. Once most of the populace had learned to read, the Church lost its grip permanently.
God love the Internet
And God love Contrarian readers. When Steve Hart sent me this video of a pretty good guitar trio using a slow-idling tractor for percussion on Sweet Georgia Brown and Bye Bye Blues, I wondered it it was a known Internet chestnut that had somehow escaped me. But the earliest copy of “the Saskatchewan Philharmonic” was posted last April and had only 8,000 hits.
Turns out the video is neither philharmonic nor Saskatchewanian. It’s Sweden’s Olle Hemmingson Trio, featuring the eponymous Olle playing a Gibson Les Paul Signature guitar, with an antique Volvo tractor for percussion. Thanks to Brian Bonnar for setting me straight.
Here’s Olle aboard a 1951 Deutz playing Lover Come Back to Me:
(Those with Flash-impaired Apple devices, click here.)
Here’s Ollie, sans trio, back on the Volvo:
(Direct link here.)
Is traktor percussion a peculiarly Swedish musical genre?
(Direct link here.)
For those who want to delve further, Bottleneck John’s excellent Youtube channel features oddball antique guitars accompanied by a tractor, a hydraulic ram water pump, and a steamboat engine.
