MASS Bulletin no. 24
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Last December, we hosted Spirit Level author Richard Wilkinson who spoke about the hidden costs of income inequality. At the time we felt we were a bit in the wilderness on this issue, but then something happened... Between October 1 and 31 2010, Google News listed only 70 articles mentioning “income inequality”. This year, it’s up 4000%, listing 2,880 for the first 25 days of this month alone. In other then-and-now news, our friend, the inimitable Uffe Elbaek who we hosted for a 2009 autumn sabbatical in Toronto, won a seat this month in the Danish parliament and was promptly appointed Denmark’s Culture Minister. Tillykke! http://kum.dk/ Opening tonight and running for the next month: The Fourth Wall: Transforming City Hall at the UrbanSpace Gallery. Curator and man-about-town Dave Meslin presents his ideas for changing City Hall and, oh! oh! engaging citizens. At 401 Richmond Street.  Bringing good people together. With the current federal-provincial Health Accord set to expire in 2014 and the provinces poised to renegotiate the terms of renewal, The Canadian Nurses Association is reaching out to its members and the public to talk about the future of the health care system. And who better to introduce them to than our good friends at the YMCA who, like the CNA, are committed to keeping Canadians healthy. Next month, the two organizations are hosting workshops in every province to talk to Canadians about their priorities for our health system. Their feedback will inform a public report that will be released in June 2012. Back to the Future Fund. Last year, we worked closely with the Ontario Trillium Foundation to set priorities for their 2010-11 Future Fund grant by gathering feedback from community experts and youth across the province. This year, we’re building on this work to help improve the grant application process. We’re conducting a survey of several dozen applicants to learn how OTF could make the experience easier for the communities and organizations they serve. Blazing the trail towards 2017. The Trans Canada Trail launched in 1992 as a project to celebrate Canada’s 125th year by connecting 34 million Canadians through a national network of breathtaking trail. There are still 6,000 kilometres of trail left to build before our 150th anniversary in 2017. MASS is working with the Trans Canada Trail organization to write a new 5 year strategic plan that will set the course to fulfill this legacy in time and raise the Trail's profile as a cultural icon. This weekend, we spent two days in Ottawa working with their Board — well hello, Valerie Pringle! — and will travel to Thunder Bay, Halifax and Regina this month to engage their provincial and territorial partners about the best path towards 2017.  #Occupy Timing really is everything for our friends at UK consultancy Counterpoint. Following a week of headlines that included Tunisia’s election, Libya’s independence, and the swelling #occupy movement, the relevance of culture in analyzing risk couldn’t be clearer. Curious? Take a moment to read Catherine Fieschi’s When the going gets tough—the hopeful go to Wall Street? and then mark your calendars to hear Catherine speak on November 30th at UofT’s School of Public Policy and Governance on “Populist Expectations: Culture, Risk and the Role of Government”. The event is free and places will go quickly. Register here.  A rude awakening. A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, Downward Mobility from the Middle Class: Waking Up from the American Dream, states that a third of Americans raised in middle class families will fall down the income ladder as adults. While race, gender and education are factors, The Washington Post’s Robert J. Samuelson looks at the costs of rising inflation, health care debt and aging infrastructure. Uncertain futures. In the immortal words of Tom Petty, we’re freeeee-falling. But in the case of employment, it’s nothing to sing about. The LRC reviews a major multi-year study of Toronto workers and the implications of tenuous job security. Research shows that we are cultivating a society of individuals who, forced to hop from contract to contract with minimal support from the state or their employer, have less time to give back to society in return. Past-present. Following the loss of Steve Jobs, David Brooks ponders the dearth of inventive minds to tackle rising innovation stagnation. Technologically and culturally speaking, we’re not much further ahead than we were 30 years ago. As Einstein put it, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Tax is not a four-letter word. In his latest blog posting Alex Himelfarb argues that we should be talking about taxes instead of relegating them to the list of topics to avoid at dinner parties (see: sex, politics and religion). It’s time Canadians had an honest conversation about taxes, the services they pay for, and why we must renew our trust in government to spend our tax dollars wisely. Tax makes us happy. Author Dan Buettner has written the book on what makes us happy. He figured out this age-old mystery by traveling the globe to talk to citizens of the happiest places on earth: Denmark, Singapore, northeastern Mexico and San Luis Obispo (of course). Apart from paying tax, other determinants of happiness include candle-light, wine, and holidays. You don’t say. Curating Twitter. Joe Hogan makes the cover of NY Magazine with his feature on Twitter’s attempt to harness its 140-character power and #popularity to advertising dollars. A secret army of IT wizards has been tasked with sorting through 200 million tweets a day to deliver them to the right audiences at the right time. So you won’t have to read what Demi and Ashton are up to every 5 minutes. Ghostly town halls. In the wake of rising voter discontent and the targeted shooting of Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, fewer US lawmakers are turning out to town halls. Over the summer the number of meetings declined substantially, exacerbating feelings that congressmen are avoiding their constituents and operating behind closed doors. Design thinking and the mortgage bubble. Buying a house can be a terrifying prospect. Especially if you live in a country that’s experienced a giant housing collapse. Continuum has redesigned the mortgage disclosure form to help people move smoothly, calmly, and wisely through the moments that make up the home-buying process. A tough lesson. As the Canadian Council on Learning prepares to close its doors they have released a final report with a bleak prognosis for the future of Canadian education. The report calls for more apprenticeships, more French and history education, and the ever controversial performance-based evaluations for educators to help us keep pace. Seamless Day Schools. The Atkinson Foundation has released a short film that documents a brand new model for learning and play in Waterloo. 'Seamless Day Schools’ provide a full day of play-based learning led by a team of early childhood educators and teachers. Children arrive anywhere from 7am to 9am and go home between 3pm and 6pm, which meets the educational/emotional needs of children and the work/family balance of parents. A bright idea. Ninety-five percent of fresh food in the US travels more than 1,000 km to get to tables. The average size of a supermarket is 46,000 square feet. BrightFarms is a new business with a plan to put hydroponic rooftop greenhouses on grocery retailers, eliminating time, distance and cost from the food supply chain. Looking for YOUR ideas. We want photos of ads or posters advertising a public forum, town hall or the like that feature highly individualistic turns-of-phrase — Come have YOUR say. YOUR community. YOUR Voice. What matters to YOU. Email YOUR suggestions here. Action Canada: 2012 Call for Nominations. Action Canada – the national fellowship program – is getting ready to launch their search for the next batch of emerging Canadian leaders. Visit their website in November 2011 for application details. The Literary Review of Canada is turning 20 this year, marking two decades of outstanding contributions to Canadian writing on books, culture, and politics. Subscribe today.  At last! Kerning game! No problem here. China to steer mineable asteroids towards earth. SIRI’s real birth date: 1987 Workaholics around the world Rent. Frock. Repeat. Do not resuscitate tattoos Hot Print. Hot Art. Electric style. UK pylons get a new look Scratch n’ Sniff cities Adopt a HeroRAT "Til 730 days do us part." Mexico considering 2-year marriages. Typography shop Vote for pirates in Berlin Buy: plush giant microbes |
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