You are wrong Mayor Miller

It's Official: All Plastic Bags In T.O. Stores Will Cost You 5 Cents Starting Next June

If your favourite grocery store is No Frills, Food Basics or Price Shopper, this won't really be anything new.

But if you shop at one of the other big chains in Toronto, like Metro or Loblaws, get ready for a change. And that change will be 5 cents.

City Council has passed a law making it mandatory for all stores in Toronto to charge you a nickel for every plastic bag you use.

The idea, which passed Tuesday night, is to get you to reduce the number of bags that inevitably wind up in a landfill and either use up the ones you have now or buy one of those reusable types that are earth friendly.

Mayor David Miller has complained that the carry-alls aren't biodegradable and can last for years and years at garbage dumps. "I'm very proud that Toronto is leading the way," he agrees. "It's the right thing to do."

Source: CityNews (Complete Article)
H/T DARRELL

This story comes via Darrell at NhiCAPS' entry regarding Roger's e-billing.

Although this is a step in the right direction, discouraging the use of Earth unfriendly products, I object to Mr. Mayor's affirmation that "Toronto is leading the way". Toronto is not leading the way, all it is doing is passing a superficial law that will in all likelihood have little affect on consumer behaviour.

Shoppers who buy their groceries at premium supermarkets will most probably not be swayed by the cost of five shopping bags on an eighty dollar shopping trip. As Darrell quite rightly points out, profits garnered from this five cent levy should at the very least be shared with Toronto's recycling facilities. If the Mayor's motivation is indeed our planet, why let the corporations keep 100% of the cash flow generated by this new charge? Why aren't said funds being allocated to improving Toronto's recycling facilities? Or being used to help clean up the city? Or a dozen other things?

Getting back to "Toronto is leading the way" - they are not sir. As of July 21st, 2004, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer here is a list of cities and countries who, over four and a half years ago began banning or cracking-down on plastic bag usage.

• Australia
• Bangladesh
• Ireland
• Italy
• South Africa
• Taiwan
• Mumbai, India

Leaf Rapids, Manitoba banned plastics bags in April of 2007 and later that year Nigeria and Kenya began spearheading banning plastic bags in Africa. So Toronto is hardly a leader, at least not in this respect.

I do not mean to harp on Toronto. I am proud that she is taking steps to at least try to help clean up the world in which we live, but if Toronto truly wanted to lead she would not stop at half measures that in my opinion reek of nothing more that public relations and photo op shenanigans.

Progress in Kenya

Kenya constitution 'within year'

Kenya's government and opposition party have agreed to write a new constitution within a year, a government negotiator has said.

Mutula Kilonzo told Reuters news agency that the parties had "reached agreement on a wide-ranging sphere of issues"

The deal comes after talks aimed at bringing an end to the post-election violence which has left at least 1,000 people dead.

Source: BBC News (Complete Article)

So it seems that Kenya is finally making progress in healing and repairing a damaged nation. While I'm overjoyed at this apparent progress, the sceptic in me will reserve judgement until this progress transcends the negotiating table and actually begins to affect the populace. Nevertheless, this is a step the right direction. Good Luck to Kenya and her people.

Kenya Help?

After my last post, readers asked how they could help the situation in Kenya.

Here are some of the usual suspects, plus a few others.

Amnesty International
Canadian Red Cross - Click on "How you can help" on the left.
Save The Children
American Friends of Kenya
Global Impact - This also has a listing of various other charities doing work in Kenya

This is by no means a complete list. If anyone out there is aware of more ways to help, please leave a comment and I will append them to this post - Thanks.

The Reality of Kenya circa 2008

Apologies for the graphic image associated with this entry. Regular readers will know that I'm not one to exploit graphic and grisly images but after a friend living in Nairobi sent me this I felt it needed to be seen. She also sent another one that was even more heart breaking but I chose not to utilise it as it may have been too graphic - Take a minute to digest that.

I've been trying to keep apprised of the volatile situation in Kenya by making a concerted effort to read as many news sources on the escalating turbulence in my birth nation and they all have one thing in common - they dispense their stories methodically and clinically.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has called for military solution within Kenya to end the current violence. Quoted by Thursday's Daily Metro, Kagame suggests that a military coup would be the only way to save Kenya from a genocide like what was experienced in Rwanda in 1994.

Source: Africa News (Complete Article)

One can read volumes on the rioting, looting, burning, raping and killing and never ever get a sense the anguish the citizenry are experiencing. Even this single image will not convey the worst of the atrocities, but if it makes you turn away in shock then perhaps the message is getting through, even if ultimately you decide to ignore it and try to put it out of mind, it will not be easy, or at least, it should not be, it may yet stick with you.

Personally, I do not condone the use of shock tactics to send a message. I have always been of the mind, naive as it may be, that with enough time and patience, you can reach someone on an intellectual level, but I fear that Kenya and her people do not have the luxury of either. If doing this makes me a hypocrite, then so be it. I am willing to sacrifice my principles to draw attention to the plight of Kenyans.

To the "leaders" in Kenya, for the love of all that is near and dear to you please, for goodness sake, put aside your petty squabbles and begin healing what was once a good and true nation.

Those dying in Kenya are not the politicians, they are not the rich, and they are simple people whose only mistake is to belong to a certain tribe and not the other. And when all is calm and normal, the leader Raila Odinga and Mwai Kibaki will remain the leaders of Kenya whether now or in future.

Source: allAfrica.com (Complete Article)

This is a critical time. This is the time when damage can still be minimised. This is the time when the nation can still be saved. If you want to lead this nation, then make it a nation worth leading. There is still time to prevent Kenya from becoming Rwanda circa 1994.

H/T: Sameera K.

1/2 of Caribbean Coral Reefs died in the last year

This just breaks my heart. While I was in Kenya on '05 I picked up my PADI. It was the first time I had been able to go down, up to thirty feet, (up until this point, I was limited to snorkelling and glass-bottomed boats) and see the East African coral reef in all its glory. I was astounded. It has been said that you can see more life in the coral reef in ten minutes than you can see in a tropical rainforest in ten days.

Kenya's coral reefs had been dwindling due to poaching; fortunately, the Kenya government were smart enough to realise that Kenya's bread and butter was vanishing off the ocean floors and banned any kind of poaching from collecting shells and starfish to fishing. I am happy to say that Kenya's coral reefs are in the midst of a resurgence. But now it seems all those effort will have been for naught. After having seen all the beauty the ocean has to offer, there is no other way to put this other than - Hearbreaking

Mr Ranneberger, The Wise.

So I was perusing The New York Times web-site and came across an article about the violence and post-election riots in Kenya. Here is the opening few paragraphs of that article, the bits in Bold are the parts I would like to draw attention to.

U.S. Envoy Wants Political Pact in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — The American ambassador to Kenya said Wednesday that his deepest worries about the postelection crisis here were not about Kenyans rampaging in the streets or killing one another because of ethnic hatreds, both of which have claimed hundreds of lives.

Possibly even more dangerous, he said, were the deep rifts among the country’s opposing politicians, who seem “entrenched” and surrounded by “hard-liners.”

“You can never underestimate the ability of just a couple of people to tear a place apart,” said Michael E. Ranneberger, the ambassador, during an interview at his home in Nairobi, the capital.

He said his chief concern was whether Mwai Kibaki, the president, and Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, were “prepared to rise above themselves and put the interests of the nation ahead of their own personal or their group’s political interest.”

“That is still an unanswered question,” he said.

Source: The New York Times (Complete Article)

Mr. Ranneberger, sir, truer words were never spoken. May I suggest you speak them to your own government?

Violence In Kenya ***Update***

Maybe I've been out of Kenya for too long. Maybe I've lost touch with pulse of my birth nation - actually there's probably no maybe about it. I have.

Regular readers are aware of my attempt to go visit Kenya three weeks ago. Since, I have tried to keep abreast of the goings on in this now struggling East-African nation.



While I'm not privy to the initial trigger of the violence I can't help but ask what the Kenyan Populace is thinking. I understand the frustration of the locals. I grew up under Daniel Moi's regime. I still remember the growing up under all the limitations imposed by the government - true, I was probably still too young to be directly affected by government policies, but I still remember.

At least on some level, I would like to think I can empathise with the Kenyan people - while I do, I don't understand the tactics the understandably disgruntled citizenry are employing. What seems like random and ethnically based violence does so very little for the country as a whole.

A country whose chief source of foreign currency is tourism should hardly be creating the sort of violence that triggers travel advisories.

Kenya was once hailed as a bastion of stability in an otherwise unstable region. It pains me to say this is no longer. Kenya was on the way to becoming a strong nation, both economically and socially and now it seems that this once promising nation has been set back decades in less than one month.

I truly wish the Kenyan people put their frustration in check and try to see the bigger picture of a country called Kenya.

And the hits just keep on coming...

It seems, the powers that be decided it wasn't enough that I would be at the epicentre of all the brats on a flight out of Toronto, or that I wouldn't even make it to Kenya, or that I would barely make it back to Canada - I guess for a lark, they thought let's hit Shay with a viral infection in the sinuses! Something fun that would keep him coughing all night long, unable to sleep with a vicious headache, congestion, stiff neck, hips and knees - this is shaping up to a just a wonderful fucking year! Feel sorry for me...

Shortest Vacation Ever!!!

I left Toronto Pearson on December 30th for Mombasa via Amsterdam. I arrived at Schipol on the 31st, early in the morning.

So here I am at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam awaiting my return flight to Toronto. Yes, you read correctly, back to Toronto.

If you haven't heard, Kenya recently had presidential elections - the opposition candidate Raila Odinga was expected to win; early in the polls he had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead, however after delays in the count, the incumbent, Mwai Kibaki ended up winning the elections.

After accusations of voter fraud and election rigging, violence and riots have erupted all over Kenya. From what I hear, Kibaki has already sworn himself in as president elect, while Odinga is also swearing himself in as the "People's President". I don't get it either.

When I landed at Schipol, I called home to see how everything was - I was told NOT to come due to the violence which, by this time, had hit Mombasa, my final destination. I tried to see if I could fly directly back to Toronto, however due to my ticket limitations, I was forced to buy a brand new ticket which would cost me $850.00 Canadian.

While I was on the phone arranging payment, a gentleman, RGC Bischoff at the KLM counter tracked me down to the phone I was using and said that from the time it took me to get from the counter to the phone, a travel advisory has been issued which qualified me to get use the return portion of my original ticket.

Mr Bischoff will probably never come across this tiny little strand of the web, but I would like to offer him my sincerest thanks for going out of his way to get back to Toronto and back to safety. I will writing KLM a letter commending Mr Bischoff for going above and beyond to accommodate me.

Right now it is 10:50 am in Amsterdam, my flight to Toronto leaves at 1:30 PM Amsterdam time and arrives at Pearson International Airport at 3:30 PM EST.

Now I am going to the bar to order a stiff one!

Kwaheri

Happy Holidays to everyone - and a special Merry Christmas to Darrell ;) I won't be posting a lot to TFTH for the next month or so. I am going to Kenya! I leave on Dec 30th and plan to return three weeks later.

If I get access to some decent Internet while I'm there, I may post anything I find blog-worthy, although I suspect most of my entries will be on my personal blog. So until my next posting - have a great new year's everyone. And as they say in Kiswahili - Kwaheri!

Usilewe (Ndi, Ndi, Ndi) by Yunasi

Kenyan group Yunasi have been named the winners of BBC World Service's Next Big Thing 2007 competition at the Maida Vale studios in London. The band, comprising seven men from East Africa and a French woman, triumphed with their song Ndi Ndi Ndi, about the dangers of excess drinking. They were praised by the all-star judging panel for their "wide open, exuberant vocals" and for being "different to 99% of pop music".

SOURCE: "Mzee Shamba" via RafikiTalk

Just plain silliness

Evolution V Creationism

Fossil exhibit fuels dispute in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — Deep in the dusty, unlit corridors of the Kenya National Museum, locked away in a plain-looking cabinet, is one of mankind's oldest relics: Turkana Boy, as he is known, the most complete skeleton of a prehistoric human ever found.

But his first public display later this year is at the heart of a growing storm — one pitting scientists against Kenya's powerful and popular evangelical Christian movement. The debate over evolution vs. creationism — once largely confined to the United States — has arrived in a country known as the cradle of mankind.

"I did not evolve from Turkana Boy or anything like it," says Bishop Boniface Adoyo, head of Kenya's 35 evangelical denominations, which he claims have 10 million followers. "These sorts of silly views are killing our faith."

He's calling on his flock to boycott the exhibition and has demanded the museum relegate the fossil collection to a back room — along with some kind of notice saying evolution is not a fact but merely one of a number of theories.

Against him is one of the planet's best-known fossil hunters, Richard Leakey, whose team unearthed the bones at Nariokotome in West Turkana, in the desolate, far northern reaches of Kenya in 1984.

"Whether the bishop likes it or not, Turkana Boy is a distant relation of his," said Leakey, who founded the museum's prehistory department. "The bishop is descended from the apes and these fossils tell how he evolved."

Source: Pioneer Express (Complete Article)

This is something that's bugged me for a while. As I understand it, throughout humankind, faith and religion have been at odds with science.

I'm not here to debate the validity of one over the other. What I have trouble understanding is "why can't we all just get along?" For the most part science had allowed religion to believe whatever it wishes (with the notable exception of Richard Dawkins - A blog entry for another time). But why is religion so threatened by science?

If their faith dictates that their deity is all knowing and all powerful and all that jazz, then shouldn't they just let the pagans believe whatever they wish? Afterall they'll have the last laugh from heaven and while the scientists burn in hell. By stifling science I feel that religion is doing humanity a disservice by quashing the potential sum of human knowledge.

Is Science ever wrong? Frequently. However the nature of science is self correcting.
Is religion ever wrong? Frequently. However the nature of religion is denial.
(Hmm, I thought I said I wasn't here to debate the validity of one of the other? Oh well...)

However, the thing that really gets me, especially in this case, is, in a country where education for the masses is difficult enough to come by as it is, the evengelicals are attempting stem what little public education there is.

Also, I will concede that evolution is merely one of many theories as Bishop Boniface Adoyo contends, if he will do the same for creationism. And no, you can't use the Bible as proof of the Bible.

The best way I know how to say it is - I don't teach in your churches, so don't preach in my museums.