Tuesday, April 25, 2017
This Week's Favourite Things! Monday April 17th - Sunday April 23rd, 2017
1. Youtube video: The war on consciousness - Graham Hancock, banned TED talk. His comments on TED banning this talk can be seen here on the TED blog.
2. Youtube video: Award winning short film on how to be self sufficient
3. Youtube video: Living like it's 2050: a transition farm in North Carolina
4. Sorghum. I didn't know much about this gluten free high protein grain until stumbling across this youtube video: A must grow plant for anyone with a goal of a self-sufficient food supply. Here are 7 surprising benefits of sorghum (article), and Annapolis Seeds in Middleton has some early-variety of sorghum seeds for sale, good for Nova Scotia's climate.
5. The Song Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant, here are the lyrics
6. CBC article: Halifax could start each day with recognition of Mi'kmaq lands, April 24, 2017
7. Dr Bronner's magic, organic, liquid soaps, have tried almond and peppermint so far but they all look very good and are indeed multi purpose. Toxins can be absorbed through skin hence the motivation to be in contact with fewer of them.
8. Sesame seeds, they're very high in magnesium and full of other health benefits, and delicious as tahini or ground up with other raw nuts and seeds; add to melted coconut oil, honey, raw cacao powder, cinnamon, and set in containers in the freezer to make treats
9. forgot to link this last week: this Joe Fafard national film board of Canada documentary from 1973 on youtube : I don't have to work that big
Monday, April 17, 2017
This Week's Favourite Things! Monday April 10th - Sunday April 16th, 2017
1. This recent New Yorker article: Margaret Atwood, The Prophet of Dystopia.
2. This short documentary on youtube about an Aboriginal art piece in Vancouver: Through The Eye Of The Raven
3. Skwachays Lodge, Vancouver's boutique Aboriginal art hotel. This is a social enterprise by a non-profit that combines an Aboriginal art gallery, with a boutique hotel in order to offset costs for affordable housing units for resident Aboriginal artists. The hotel rooms are decorated by different artists, and the location was an aging Victorian building which was renovated and added to. Here are a couple of the many articles about it:
Room to Paint. Vancouver Tackles Housing Challenges While Promoting Aboriginal Art, Financial Post 2016
Rub Shoulders With Aboriginal Artists At This Unique Hotel. Globe and Mail article 2015
4. Halifax to re-open debate over sites named for man who issued Mi'kmaq scalp bounty. CTV News article. And wiki links about Halifax's history Cornwallis violated a treaty to settle Halifax, which lead to more war between the British and Mi'kmaq until it ended by both sides literally burying a hatchet on Spring Garden Road. One of the other links I read mentioned this song "Halifax" as mentioning Cornwallis, by the Hampton Grease Band.
5. This page about the Wabanaki Confederancy
6. This came up randomly on youtube and is perhaps more cheerful than the title suggests: How To Survive Depopulation 11 Simple Affordable Tricks This vlogger also has some interesting posts: Straight Talk From Standing Rock, which describes truth about peaceful protests by Aboriginal water protectors and their allies, Who Are The Sheepeaters, about the Tuka Dika tribe, On the Ground: Standing Rock Silence, Standing Rock Eviction Spurs Humanity, Sacred Knowledge: the Standing Rock Story Corporate Media Didn't Tell You, and this one about loving life deep down in a dark rabbit hole.
7. This post from 2015, Argentina replaces Columbus statue with Indigenous Heroine
8. This article from March 2017: New Zealand River First in the World to be Given Legal Human Status
9. How to Meditate - Intro to Awaken Your Inner Energy With Meditation, ArtOfUnity youtube video
10. Become a Dreamer, YouAreCreators youtube video.
11. The part near the end of the movie Outbreak,where bomber pilots listen to Dustin Hoffman, even though everyone is saying he is crazy, and figure out how to do the humane thing while still following orders. As an aside the monkey star in this movie is is a Capuchin which is a "new world monkey" and not an "old world monkey"
2. This short documentary on youtube about an Aboriginal art piece in Vancouver: Through The Eye Of The Raven
3. Skwachays Lodge, Vancouver's boutique Aboriginal art hotel. This is a social enterprise by a non-profit that combines an Aboriginal art gallery, with a boutique hotel in order to offset costs for affordable housing units for resident Aboriginal artists. The hotel rooms are decorated by different artists, and the location was an aging Victorian building which was renovated and added to. Here are a couple of the many articles about it:
Room to Paint. Vancouver Tackles Housing Challenges While Promoting Aboriginal Art, Financial Post 2016
Rub Shoulders With Aboriginal Artists At This Unique Hotel. Globe and Mail article 2015
4. Halifax to re-open debate over sites named for man who issued Mi'kmaq scalp bounty. CTV News article. And wiki links about Halifax's history Cornwallis violated a treaty to settle Halifax, which lead to more war between the British and Mi'kmaq until it ended by both sides literally burying a hatchet on Spring Garden Road. One of the other links I read mentioned this song "Halifax" as mentioning Cornwallis, by the Hampton Grease Band.
5. This page about the Wabanaki Confederancy
6. This came up randomly on youtube and is perhaps more cheerful than the title suggests: How To Survive Depopulation 11 Simple Affordable Tricks This vlogger also has some interesting posts: Straight Talk From Standing Rock, which describes truth about peaceful protests by Aboriginal water protectors and their allies, Who Are The Sheepeaters, about the Tuka Dika tribe, On the Ground: Standing Rock Silence, Standing Rock Eviction Spurs Humanity, Sacred Knowledge: the Standing Rock Story Corporate Media Didn't Tell You, and this one about loving life deep down in a dark rabbit hole.
7. This post from 2015, Argentina replaces Columbus statue with Indigenous Heroine
8. This article from March 2017: New Zealand River First in the World to be Given Legal Human Status
9. How to Meditate - Intro to Awaken Your Inner Energy With Meditation, ArtOfUnity youtube video
10. Become a Dreamer, YouAreCreators youtube video.
11. The part near the end of the movie Outbreak,where bomber pilots listen to Dustin Hoffman, even though everyone is saying he is crazy, and figure out how to do the humane thing while still following orders. As an aside the monkey star in this movie is is a Capuchin which is a "new world monkey" and not an "old world monkey"
Monday, April 10, 2017
This Week's Favourite Things! Monday April 3rd to Sunday April 9th, 2017
1. That's Amore - 1953 song that became a Dean Martin hit.
2. Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen Song. Here is a youtube video of Leondard Cohen performing it at the 2008 Montreal Jazz Festival, and here is Jeff Buckley's version on youtube. I didn't realize Leonard Cohen got swindled by his manager, as described in the "lawsuits and financial troubles" section in his wiki page. Take heed, "when you gain in riches the thieves will come" to quote a person I met in Australia who had a buddhist teacher.
3. Amazing Grace Cherokee Prayer - Youtube video with montage of older movies, I like the writing at the beginning, and here is the same song with a slideshow of various pictures and quotes.
4. Bridget Nielsen's youtube channel, eg. "Conspiracy, High Frequency & Balancing Dark & Light" and "Creating Self Worth & Abundance/ The New Economy/ Value of People"
5. Meanwhile back in BC, this March 2017 article: Home buyers, tenants from Lower Mainland moving to outlying areas to live. Also interesting is the Georgia Straight's collection of stories from renters of Vancouver coping with extremely high cost of living there, eg. "I've been physically attacked because I choose to live in my van".
6. More about Nova Scotia's Maud Lewis and Maudie the film, starting with a question on twitter as to why this film was shot in Newfoundland instead of Nova Scotia.
According to this Digby Courier May 2014 article, Maud Lewis movie to be shot in Newfoundland this summer, Newfoundland was chosen for its historic locations that look like 50's, 60's Nova Scotia. It appears that this was decided before the NS government slashed the film tax credit in 2015.
Here is also this October 2015 CBC article: Maudie set to put Newfoundland on the map, says Producer Mary Sexton. And a youtube clip: Film critic Anne Brodie chats with Maudie director Aisling Walsh.
7. What is Trash Polka? 2013 article about this style of Tattoo art.
8. Anatomy of a Fox, art print from Society 6, I like this artist's "Sassquatch" print as well.
9. This clip on youtube from the episode where Marge becomes a realtor on The Simpsons, "Lionel Hutz explains "The Truth"
The episode is called Realty Bites and includes a character based on the film Glengarry Glen Ross.
10. South Park episodes: Pandemic and Pandemic 2: The Startling, as well as Cartman's Incredible Gift
11. The Spirit Science Central youtube channel has some new videos, eg. 33_1 Let Food be thy Medicine, the beginning of a series about food. They took a year off between Christmas 2015 and came back Christmas 2016 with 32 - A Brief History of Psychedelics
12. I was going to drop this topic, but one more point I noticed after posting last week's post. This 2013 article by a writer in Beirut "Lebanon is too corrupt to care about its own corruption."
Where so much of the current development boom in Halifax is by developers from Lebanon, this may or may not be relevant to local politics, but I like the vocabulary lesson. As an aside here's a recent opinion piece about the Nova Centre.
2. Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen Song. Here is a youtube video of Leondard Cohen performing it at the 2008 Montreal Jazz Festival, and here is Jeff Buckley's version on youtube. I didn't realize Leonard Cohen got swindled by his manager, as described in the "lawsuits and financial troubles" section in his wiki page. Take heed, "when you gain in riches the thieves will come" to quote a person I met in Australia who had a buddhist teacher.
3. Amazing Grace Cherokee Prayer - Youtube video with montage of older movies, I like the writing at the beginning, and here is the same song with a slideshow of various pictures and quotes.
4. Bridget Nielsen's youtube channel, eg. "Conspiracy, High Frequency & Balancing Dark & Light" and "Creating Self Worth & Abundance/ The New Economy/ Value of People"
5. Meanwhile back in BC, this March 2017 article: Home buyers, tenants from Lower Mainland moving to outlying areas to live. Also interesting is the Georgia Straight's collection of stories from renters of Vancouver coping with extremely high cost of living there, eg. "I've been physically attacked because I choose to live in my van".
6. More about Nova Scotia's Maud Lewis and Maudie the film, starting with a question on twitter as to why this film was shot in Newfoundland instead of Nova Scotia.
According to this Digby Courier May 2014 article, Maud Lewis movie to be shot in Newfoundland this summer, Newfoundland was chosen for its historic locations that look like 50's, 60's Nova Scotia. It appears that this was decided before the NS government slashed the film tax credit in 2015.
Here is also this October 2015 CBC article: Maudie set to put Newfoundland on the map, says Producer Mary Sexton. And a youtube clip: Film critic Anne Brodie chats with Maudie director Aisling Walsh.
7. What is Trash Polka? 2013 article about this style of Tattoo art.
8. Anatomy of a Fox, art print from Society 6, I like this artist's "Sassquatch" print as well.
9. This clip on youtube from the episode where Marge becomes a realtor on The Simpsons, "Lionel Hutz explains "The Truth"
The episode is called Realty Bites and includes a character based on the film Glengarry Glen Ross.
10. South Park episodes: Pandemic and Pandemic 2: The Startling, as well as Cartman's Incredible Gift
11. The Spirit Science Central youtube channel has some new videos, eg. 33_1 Let Food be thy Medicine, the beginning of a series about food. They took a year off between Christmas 2015 and came back Christmas 2016 with 32 - A Brief History of Psychedelics
12. I was going to drop this topic, but one more point I noticed after posting last week's post. This 2013 article by a writer in Beirut "Lebanon is too corrupt to care about its own corruption."
Where so much of the current development boom in Halifax is by developers from Lebanon, this may or may not be relevant to local politics, but I like the vocabulary lesson. As an aside here's a recent opinion piece about the Nova Centre.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
This Week's Favourite Things! Monday March 27th - Sunday April 2nd, 2017
1. Giant Valentine Tomatoes,
it's tomato seed starting time and this new variety we tried last year
lived up to its description.
2. If reality is some sort of video game as previously suggested, and if you can indeed create your reality by programming your own belief systems, I think the game I'd be playing would be called "Tower of Babel" vs "Garden of Eden".
3. Youtube videos featuring Les Brown, motivational speaker, eg. Les Brown - How to get to know yourself and Les Brown's top 10 rules for success, volume one and volume two
4. Responding vs. Reacting (avoid the narcissist's trap and learn a valuable life skill) Inner Integration youtube video
5. This Canadian Inflation calculator, for the years 1960 to 2017.
6. Black Eyed Peas videos/songs: Imma Be Rocking That Body, Boom Boom Pow, Pump It, I Gotta Feeling, especially as background music to Fitness Blender cardio kickboxing workouts.
7. Everything Maud Lewis, in anticipation of the biographic film Maudie which will released soon.
Here are some links with more information about Maud's life:
Maud Lewis: The Heart on the Door, new biography that is 'dark at every turn'. book review, Local Xpress article April 2017.
One of Canada's Great Artists Maud Lewis, 1965: CBC Archives, short (3 1/2 minute) youtube video from the CBC channel.
Maud Lewis: A World Without Shadows. 10 minute Canadian National Film Board film on their youtube channel.
Ordinary Affects: Folk Art, Maud Lewis, and the Social Aesthetics of the Everyday. Concordia University lecture by Dr. Erin Morton on youtube
The "About Maud" page from the maudlewis.ca website. Her fluffy black cats with yellow eyes are my favourite subject of hers.
8. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists, Blender Foundation youtube video
9. The Dash, a poem by Linda Ellis.
10. This 2007 report by Canada's competition bureau, mentioned previously with respect to real estate agents, this time I find the bit about lawyers very interesting:
Self-Regulated Professions Balancing Competition and Regulation.
The link above goes to a table of contents, so a person can skip ahead to the conclusion about lawyers, which warns that due to self regulation for lawyers and correspondingly high legal fees, Canada is at risk of having a justice system that only the rich can afford.
11. Articles about the Canadian real estate industry, and their comment sections:
Tricks Realtors Use To Sell Homes. Feb 2015 MoneySense article.
Calgary Homeowner Who Says Realtor 'Misrepresented' Square Footage on MLS Cost Her Thousands. March 2016 CBC Go Public Article
Homelife Superstars Realtor Accused of Duping Client out of $12k. January 2015 CBC Go Public article.
One Man's $50,500 real estate commission lesson - you can still be obligated to pay commission even after your contract with an agent has expired. June 2014 The Star article.
12. Good news for Moose and other critters, announcements about protected habitat in Nova Scotia.
13. Doreen Virtue who it seems has quietly started her own online church from her Hawaiian reserve for rescued animals. This "sermon" from the week of March 27 - April 2nd on discernment and healing was nice.
14. Alan Watts - Use Your Mind As A Mirror (youtube video)
15. this quote that Les Brown mentioned, "The best revenge in life is massive success" - Frank Sinatra.
Here comes a big tangent...
This quote led me to wondering who Sinatra was looking for revenge on so I watched a documentary on youtube about his life:
Sinatra -- Dark Star -- Full Documentary.
...and learned that Sinatra's career was largely built by the Italian mafia who used him to entertain at their casinos. News to me but apparently this is common knowledge.
This led me to randomly wondering if Lebanon has a mafia, based on a random comment an out of province friend made awhile back.
So, curious, I googled "does Lebanon have a mafia?" and, this wiki page comes up: Lebanese Mafia.
Here is a quote copied directly from the page:
The Lebanese diaspora today is a staggering 20+ million, with only 4 million Lebanese residing in Lebanon. The advances of the Lebanese in their criminal activities throughout the world caused many governments and politicians to become corrupted and give in to their Lebanese guests due to their accumulated wealth and power.
Now I have no idea if the information in this page is true or not, as the page doesn't references any sources to back up these allegations. But as an aside, many big construction projects in Halifax are by this group of developers from Diman Lebanon as described in these two articles:
Call It The Diman Connection Chronicle Herald, October 2011 article.
(Please note that Halifax Chronicle Herald reporters and other staff have been on strike since January 2016, but their writings can now be seen at Local Xpress)
and
It Takes a Lebanese Village to Raise Halifax's Skyline ( Nov 2013 Globe and Mail article).
Moreover, a chunk of Halifax's planning department now occupies space in The Village at Bayer's Road mall, which is owned by the same Diman developer who is building the Nova Centre. The Nova Centre is a large building built in part with public funds because it will be housing a new convention center. This project has been met with both accolades and critique, eg:.
Halifax Convention Centre: Prosperity or Tax Burden? April 2014 Chronicle Herald article
and:
The casualties of a downtown Halifax Megaproject, March 2017 Globe and Mail Article
To the developer's credit there is also this article indicating the large amounts of fees that have allegedly been paid back to the city: Nova Centre developer forks over $733,400 in fees to Halifax. June 2014 Chronicle Herald article.
But in any case, based on our own experience of believing we had some valuable development land in Halifax, I have been wondering for awhile now:
Could these Diman developers described in the above articles be acting as a cartel in order to keep development land prices low, perhaps with the assistance of local real estate professionals?
and
Do they ever bid against each other for bits of land for major projects in HRM?
From the Merriam Webster website:
"A cartel is an organization of a few independent producers for the purpose of improving the profitability of the firms involved. This usually involves some restriction of output, control of price, and allocation of market shares. Members of a cartel generally maintain their separate identities and financial independence while engaging in cooperative policies. Cartels can either be domestic or international. Because cartels restrict competition and result in higher prices for consumers, they are outlawed in some countries."
As another aside it seems that there's a Halifax company called Banc which, while the creator is from Turkey, appears to back developments conceived by the Diman developers as well as partnering with them on other projects.
Banc is behind the luxury building that went up quickly in people's yards with no recourse which seems to have added more density than city by laws permitted: Neighbours Down on Highrise. March 28, 2014 Chronicle Herald article.
And Banc is likewise behind the recent destruction of a popular local mountain biking/hiking trail "The Whopper Dropper" despite the fact that this company, which owns the Bedford Commons among other places, presumably could have afforded to leave this popular recreation area as park land:
Our jaws dropped: Halifax residents react as developer clears popular trail. May 5, 2015 CTV Atlantic Article.
To this developer's credit though they did save the Exhibition Park: Exhibition Park to get new life under private sector ownership, Global news November 2015 article. Although after more thought, 2.5 million dollars + estimated 500k in repairs (according to the article linked above) seems like quite a low pricetag for an entire exhibition park in a major Canadian city along with 112 acres of adjacent land. But perhaps this is something a qualified, independent, out of province appraiser would be able to comment on.
From reading all sorts of articles about real estate development and sales in Canada and elsewhere, I have this other question: Could money laundering of proceeds of organized crime be behind real estate development and property value spikes in places like Canada and Australia?
There are oodles of articles online regarding the money laundering via real estate topic so I won't list any. But as an aside, The 'Call it the Diman Connection' article linked above mentions that Diman developers have also settled in Sydney Australia, which happens to have an overheated real estate market.
As another aside I learned over the past year that some of the largest development companies in Vancouver are Italian. While I love my old Commercial Drive neighbourhood with its Italian coffee shops, delis, and community centre now I wonder if, allegations are true about organized crime laundering money via real estate, whether mafia proceeds could be behind the transformation of Vancouver into a real estate Casino for foreign investors.
Or, it could be there's plenty of other questionable foreign money for that, eg:
Meet the mysterious tycoon at the centre of half a billion in BC property deals. July 2016 National Post Article.
Whatever the case, all of the above is just presented as food for thought for any folks who have been interested in trying to figure out the politics of development in Halifax, and none of it is intended to defame any person or group. In fact if that quote from the Wiki page is defamatory then maybe someone should look into that. For my part I'll be dropping this topic and returning to my sculptures shortly. To be honest I'm actually more interested in the following questions:
Could the development patterns seen in certain Canadian and Australian cities, with their corresponding affordable housing crises and impacts on the environment, heritage properties, and small local businesses, be described accurately as some sort of modern day, economic colonialism?
and if so...
Could this be evidence of the Hermetic Law of Cause and Effect with respect to being some sort of karmic repercussion for the atrocities suffered by Aboriginal or Indigenous people of these countries?
16. This piece of art, that randomly showed up in my browser as a Society 6 ad, thanks Google. I love the name, as well as the piece: Trash Polka - Female Samurai
2. If reality is some sort of video game as previously suggested, and if you can indeed create your reality by programming your own belief systems, I think the game I'd be playing would be called "Tower of Babel" vs "Garden of Eden".
3. Youtube videos featuring Les Brown, motivational speaker, eg. Les Brown - How to get to know yourself and Les Brown's top 10 rules for success, volume one and volume two
4. Responding vs. Reacting (avoid the narcissist's trap and learn a valuable life skill) Inner Integration youtube video
5. This Canadian Inflation calculator, for the years 1960 to 2017.
6. Black Eyed Peas videos/songs: Imma Be Rocking That Body, Boom Boom Pow, Pump It, I Gotta Feeling, especially as background music to Fitness Blender cardio kickboxing workouts.
7. Everything Maud Lewis, in anticipation of the biographic film Maudie which will released soon.
Here are some links with more information about Maud's life:
Maud Lewis: The Heart on the Door, new biography that is 'dark at every turn'. book review, Local Xpress article April 2017.
One of Canada's Great Artists Maud Lewis, 1965: CBC Archives, short (3 1/2 minute) youtube video from the CBC channel.
Maud Lewis: A World Without Shadows. 10 minute Canadian National Film Board film on their youtube channel.
Ordinary Affects: Folk Art, Maud Lewis, and the Social Aesthetics of the Everyday. Concordia University lecture by Dr. Erin Morton on youtube
The "About Maud" page from the maudlewis.ca website. Her fluffy black cats with yellow eyes are my favourite subject of hers.
8. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists, Blender Foundation youtube video
9. The Dash, a poem by Linda Ellis.
10. This 2007 report by Canada's competition bureau, mentioned previously with respect to real estate agents, this time I find the bit about lawyers very interesting:
Self-Regulated Professions Balancing Competition and Regulation.
The link above goes to a table of contents, so a person can skip ahead to the conclusion about lawyers, which warns that due to self regulation for lawyers and correspondingly high legal fees, Canada is at risk of having a justice system that only the rich can afford.
11. Articles about the Canadian real estate industry, and their comment sections:
Tricks Realtors Use To Sell Homes. Feb 2015 MoneySense article.
Calgary Homeowner Who Says Realtor 'Misrepresented' Square Footage on MLS Cost Her Thousands. March 2016 CBC Go Public Article
Homelife Superstars Realtor Accused of Duping Client out of $12k. January 2015 CBC Go Public article.
One Man's $50,500 real estate commission lesson - you can still be obligated to pay commission even after your contract with an agent has expired. June 2014 The Star article.
12. Good news for Moose and other critters, announcements about protected habitat in Nova Scotia.
13. Doreen Virtue who it seems has quietly started her own online church from her Hawaiian reserve for rescued animals. This "sermon" from the week of March 27 - April 2nd on discernment and healing was nice.
14. Alan Watts - Use Your Mind As A Mirror (youtube video)
15. this quote that Les Brown mentioned, "The best revenge in life is massive success" - Frank Sinatra.
Here comes a big tangent...
This quote led me to wondering who Sinatra was looking for revenge on so I watched a documentary on youtube about his life:
Sinatra -- Dark Star -- Full Documentary.
...and learned that Sinatra's career was largely built by the Italian mafia who used him to entertain at their casinos. News to me but apparently this is common knowledge.
This led me to randomly wondering if Lebanon has a mafia, based on a random comment an out of province friend made awhile back.
So, curious, I googled "does Lebanon have a mafia?" and, this wiki page comes up: Lebanese Mafia.
Here is a quote copied directly from the page:
The Lebanese diaspora today is a staggering 20+ million, with only 4 million Lebanese residing in Lebanon. The advances of the Lebanese in their criminal activities throughout the world caused many governments and politicians to become corrupted and give in to their Lebanese guests due to their accumulated wealth and power.
Now I have no idea if the information in this page is true or not, as the page doesn't references any sources to back up these allegations. But as an aside, many big construction projects in Halifax are by this group of developers from Diman Lebanon as described in these two articles:
Call It The Diman Connection Chronicle Herald, October 2011 article.
(Please note that Halifax Chronicle Herald reporters and other staff have been on strike since January 2016, but their writings can now be seen at Local Xpress)
and
It Takes a Lebanese Village to Raise Halifax's Skyline ( Nov 2013 Globe and Mail article).
Moreover, a chunk of Halifax's planning department now occupies space in The Village at Bayer's Road mall, which is owned by the same Diman developer who is building the Nova Centre. The Nova Centre is a large building built in part with public funds because it will be housing a new convention center. This project has been met with both accolades and critique, eg:.
Halifax Convention Centre: Prosperity or Tax Burden? April 2014 Chronicle Herald article
and:
The casualties of a downtown Halifax Megaproject, March 2017 Globe and Mail Article
To the developer's credit there is also this article indicating the large amounts of fees that have allegedly been paid back to the city: Nova Centre developer forks over $733,400 in fees to Halifax. June 2014 Chronicle Herald article.
But in any case, based on our own experience of believing we had some valuable development land in Halifax, I have been wondering for awhile now:
Could these Diman developers described in the above articles be acting as a cartel in order to keep development land prices low, perhaps with the assistance of local real estate professionals?
and
Do they ever bid against each other for bits of land for major projects in HRM?
From the Merriam Webster website:
"A cartel is an organization of a few independent producers for the purpose of improving the profitability of the firms involved. This usually involves some restriction of output, control of price, and allocation of market shares. Members of a cartel generally maintain their separate identities and financial independence while engaging in cooperative policies. Cartels can either be domestic or international. Because cartels restrict competition and result in higher prices for consumers, they are outlawed in some countries."
As another aside it seems that there's a Halifax company called Banc which, while the creator is from Turkey, appears to back developments conceived by the Diman developers as well as partnering with them on other projects.
Banc is behind the luxury building that went up quickly in people's yards with no recourse which seems to have added more density than city by laws permitted: Neighbours Down on Highrise. March 28, 2014 Chronicle Herald article.
And Banc is likewise behind the recent destruction of a popular local mountain biking/hiking trail "The Whopper Dropper" despite the fact that this company, which owns the Bedford Commons among other places, presumably could have afforded to leave this popular recreation area as park land:
Our jaws dropped: Halifax residents react as developer clears popular trail. May 5, 2015 CTV Atlantic Article.
To this developer's credit though they did save the Exhibition Park: Exhibition Park to get new life under private sector ownership, Global news November 2015 article. Although after more thought, 2.5 million dollars + estimated 500k in repairs (according to the article linked above) seems like quite a low pricetag for an entire exhibition park in a major Canadian city along with 112 acres of adjacent land. But perhaps this is something a qualified, independent, out of province appraiser would be able to comment on.
From reading all sorts of articles about real estate development and sales in Canada and elsewhere, I have this other question: Could money laundering of proceeds of organized crime be behind real estate development and property value spikes in places like Canada and Australia?
There are oodles of articles online regarding the money laundering via real estate topic so I won't list any. But as an aside, The 'Call it the Diman Connection' article linked above mentions that Diman developers have also settled in Sydney Australia, which happens to have an overheated real estate market.
As another aside I learned over the past year that some of the largest development companies in Vancouver are Italian. While I love my old Commercial Drive neighbourhood with its Italian coffee shops, delis, and community centre now I wonder if, allegations are true about organized crime laundering money via real estate, whether mafia proceeds could be behind the transformation of Vancouver into a real estate Casino for foreign investors.
Or, it could be there's plenty of other questionable foreign money for that, eg:
Meet the mysterious tycoon at the centre of half a billion in BC property deals. July 2016 National Post Article.
Whatever the case, all of the above is just presented as food for thought for any folks who have been interested in trying to figure out the politics of development in Halifax, and none of it is intended to defame any person or group. In fact if that quote from the Wiki page is defamatory then maybe someone should look into that. For my part I'll be dropping this topic and returning to my sculptures shortly. To be honest I'm actually more interested in the following questions:
Could the development patterns seen in certain Canadian and Australian cities, with their corresponding affordable housing crises and impacts on the environment, heritage properties, and small local businesses, be described accurately as some sort of modern day, economic colonialism?
and if so...
Could this be evidence of the Hermetic Law of Cause and Effect with respect to being some sort of karmic repercussion for the atrocities suffered by Aboriginal or Indigenous people of these countries?
16. This piece of art, that randomly showed up in my browser as a Society 6 ad, thanks Google. I love the name, as well as the piece: Trash Polka - Female Samurai
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