A word from your sponsor
City Hall is considering selling the naming rights to a number of Vancouver facilities, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Orpheum, and the Pacific Coliseum.
This page is of a few minds about this development, but is certain about one thing: Either rename the facility completely or don't do it all. I'm still scratching my head about the Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena in Victoria: that must have been a b*tch of a cleanup on aisle 5....
4.28.2006
4.27.2006
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...
In declaring his candidacy to lead the federal Liberals, Bob Rae claims that he left the NDP because the party had become "too ideological" for him. It appears that Mr. Rae hasn't clued into the fact that everything in politics is ideological. However, he may have also stopped going to church because he thought it was too religious, and perhaps he cancelled his gym membership because he feels exercise is too physical.
As a newly minted Liberal, Rae is attempting to put sowing the seeds of the Common Sense Revolution behind him, and try to position himself as the candidate of the centre. In doing so, he shows he has very little to offer as a national leader. Canadians don't need a strong centrist, the electorate has proven over the past two elections to be centrist enough. We were smart enough to punt the Liberals, but not give Stephen Harper all the keys to the candy store. If Canadians really need someone to huff and puff about how "ideological" the Conservatives are, we can always just go here.
The real leadership comes from the likes of a Jack Layton who can call someone down as good as he can cut a deal with him, and moves the margins towards the middle of the road, just like he did with funding for social programs, education, and Canada's cities in the Martin-era budgets. Is that ideology, or is that just a smart leader taking what the House gives him?
The next leader of the Liberals will more than likely be Leader of the Opposition for some time. Canadians expect the Opposition to come from the other side, not the middle.
In declaring his candidacy to lead the federal Liberals, Bob Rae claims that he left the NDP because the party had become "too ideological" for him. It appears that Mr. Rae hasn't clued into the fact that everything in politics is ideological. However, he may have also stopped going to church because he thought it was too religious, and perhaps he cancelled his gym membership because he feels exercise is too physical.
As a newly minted Liberal, Rae is attempting to put sowing the seeds of the Common Sense Revolution behind him, and try to position himself as the candidate of the centre. In doing so, he shows he has very little to offer as a national leader. Canadians don't need a strong centrist, the electorate has proven over the past two elections to be centrist enough. We were smart enough to punt the Liberals, but not give Stephen Harper all the keys to the candy store. If Canadians really need someone to huff and puff about how "ideological" the Conservatives are, we can always just go here.
The real leadership comes from the likes of a Jack Layton who can call someone down as good as he can cut a deal with him, and moves the margins towards the middle of the road, just like he did with funding for social programs, education, and Canada's cities in the Martin-era budgets. Is that ideology, or is that just a smart leader taking what the House gives him?
The next leader of the Liberals will more than likely be Leader of the Opposition for some time. Canadians expect the Opposition to come from the other side, not the middle.
4.26.2006
Michael Smyth's creative writing project gets an 'F'
In yesterday's Province, Michael Smyth patted himself on the back for slandering the BC Teachers Federation, and took credit for the Nicola Valley Local's restoration of good standing within the union for the gutless SCABS who refused to participate in last fall's job action.
This page won't be linking to Mr. Smyth's assaults, as one, they're subscriber-only, and two, I can't be bothered to give this 'journalist' the attention. In his articles on Sunday and Tuesday, Smyth makes references to the SCABS' respect for "the law" without discussing the fact that the "law" in question was the Liberals' vicious back-to-work legislation, which did nothing to address any of the issues on the bargaining table, particularly class sizes. Smyth also fails to point out that at the time, opinion polls consistently showed the public siding with the teachers.
It's one thing for Union members to not go along with their Union: it's another for scabs to step in front of the media and call down the actions of other members, despite the scabs claims to 'respect' those actions. The most disgusting thing of all (notwithstanding Smyth masturbating his ego in his last two paragraphs) is that this attack comes while the BCTF is back in bargaining. This is anything but responsible journalism, this is a CanWest Global foot soldier looking to impress the right-wing brass. What, is there a sweet gig opening at the BC Liberals Communications office?
Here's hoping that the hard-working teachers across BC use Mr. Smyth's recent columns as source material for a Social Studies unit on Propaganda. It doesn't come any more obvious that Mr. Smyth never lets the facts get in the way of a good story.
In yesterday's Province, Michael Smyth patted himself on the back for slandering the BC Teachers Federation, and took credit for the Nicola Valley Local's restoration of good standing within the union for the gutless SCABS who refused to participate in last fall's job action.
This page won't be linking to Mr. Smyth's assaults, as one, they're subscriber-only, and two, I can't be bothered to give this 'journalist' the attention. In his articles on Sunday and Tuesday, Smyth makes references to the SCABS' respect for "the law" without discussing the fact that the "law" in question was the Liberals' vicious back-to-work legislation, which did nothing to address any of the issues on the bargaining table, particularly class sizes. Smyth also fails to point out that at the time, opinion polls consistently showed the public siding with the teachers.
It's one thing for Union members to not go along with their Union: it's another for scabs to step in front of the media and call down the actions of other members, despite the scabs claims to 'respect' those actions. The most disgusting thing of all (notwithstanding Smyth masturbating his ego in his last two paragraphs) is that this attack comes while the BCTF is back in bargaining. This is anything but responsible journalism, this is a CanWest Global foot soldier looking to impress the right-wing brass. What, is there a sweet gig opening at the BC Liberals Communications office?
Here's hoping that the hard-working teachers across BC use Mr. Smyth's recent columns as source material for a Social Studies unit on Propaganda. It doesn't come any more obvious that Mr. Smyth never lets the facts get in the way of a good story.
4.25.2006
I don't see dead people.
This page, believe it or not, agrees with the Harper government returning to Canada's original policy for flying the flag at half-mast. Lewis MacKenzie provides a succinct explanation in today's Globe & Mail, stating that, given the dangers of the Afghanistan mission, frequent lowerings of the flag have the potential to turn a symbol of respect into a symbol of defeat. Those who question Canada's involvement in Afghanistan (like this page) have enough evidence to pose those questions beyond why the Maple Leaf can't seem to make it to the top of the pole these days.
That being said, what concerns this page more than seeing a flag at half mast is being able to bear witness to the return of the fallen from Afghanistan, a privilege which is being denied by the Harper government. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor wants the return of our troops to be restricted to their families and the military, but ignores the fact that the military is supported and paid for by Canadians. These brave men and women represent all Canadians, and all Canadians should be able to share the paying of respects and contemplation of their service.
Barring the media from the Trenton ceremony is either Bush Administration style denial, or an extension of Stephen Harper's hostility towards the media. Either way, Canada's Armed Forces are by no means everyday government employees, and Harper has no business treating them in the same paranoid manner he treats his cabinet. What message does it send to Canadian troops that their government doesn't want Canadians to bear witness to their ultimate sacrifice?
This page, believe it or not, agrees with the Harper government returning to Canada's original policy for flying the flag at half-mast. Lewis MacKenzie provides a succinct explanation in today's Globe & Mail, stating that, given the dangers of the Afghanistan mission, frequent lowerings of the flag have the potential to turn a symbol of respect into a symbol of defeat. Those who question Canada's involvement in Afghanistan (like this page) have enough evidence to pose those questions beyond why the Maple Leaf can't seem to make it to the top of the pole these days.
That being said, what concerns this page more than seeing a flag at half mast is being able to bear witness to the return of the fallen from Afghanistan, a privilege which is being denied by the Harper government. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor wants the return of our troops to be restricted to their families and the military, but ignores the fact that the military is supported and paid for by Canadians. These brave men and women represent all Canadians, and all Canadians should be able to share the paying of respects and contemplation of their service.
Barring the media from the Trenton ceremony is either Bush Administration style denial, or an extension of Stephen Harper's hostility towards the media. Either way, Canada's Armed Forces are by no means everyday government employees, and Harper has no business treating them in the same paranoid manner he treats his cabinet. What message does it send to Canadian troops that their government doesn't want Canadians to bear witness to their ultimate sacrifice?
4.22.2006
Let's take a walk
This page started a new job this week, and hasn't really been bothered to address any critical issues. I've been enjoying a lot of the great outdoors, because for the first time in years, my place of work is close enough to my home that I can walk there.
It takes me about half an hour to get to work, which is just enough to get some real exercise. However, the thing I'm really enjoying is the sense of control. A lot of the anxiety that comes with living in Vancouver has to do with the fact it's a city not really built for cars that's surrounded by suburbs that are built that way. The streets are flooded with unnecessary cars, and a government sponsored by auto dealers and oil companies believes they have to keep it that way, so just enough transit service is provided to prevent civil unrest.
I've been released from the inexplicable waits at the bus stop, the buses that go by half-full because other riders can't figure out how to move to the back, the inane vanity ringtones of cellphones, and the gauntlet of free newspaper hawkers. Because I can go where I want (without looking for parking or filling up a gas tank), the time immediately before and after work is mine again, as opposed to my previous job, where commuting added a de facto 2 hours to my work day.
And to think it was only a few decades ago that it was like this for most people...
This page started a new job this week, and hasn't really been bothered to address any critical issues. I've been enjoying a lot of the great outdoors, because for the first time in years, my place of work is close enough to my home that I can walk there.
It takes me about half an hour to get to work, which is just enough to get some real exercise. However, the thing I'm really enjoying is the sense of control. A lot of the anxiety that comes with living in Vancouver has to do with the fact it's a city not really built for cars that's surrounded by suburbs that are built that way. The streets are flooded with unnecessary cars, and a government sponsored by auto dealers and oil companies believes they have to keep it that way, so just enough transit service is provided to prevent civil unrest.
I've been released from the inexplicable waits at the bus stop, the buses that go by half-full because other riders can't figure out how to move to the back, the inane vanity ringtones of cellphones, and the gauntlet of free newspaper hawkers. Because I can go where I want (without looking for parking or filling up a gas tank), the time immediately before and after work is mine again, as opposed to my previous job, where commuting added a de facto 2 hours to my work day.
And to think it was only a few decades ago that it was like this for most people...
4.18.2006
At least Rodney Dangerfield was funny
A new show polls 60% of Albertans surveyed believe their province doesn't get the respect it deserves from Canada.
In reporting the poll results, CBC viewers and listeners have been treated to testimony from roughnecks and ranchers about how hard it is to get oil out of the ground and cattle to the stockyards. Yes, these people do hard work, but that's not how respect is earned, that's how money is earned. This page was in Calgary at the beginning of the 'Klein Revolution'. As much as people want to say the boom is the result of sound fiscal management and hard work, this page remembers the Tories took away a lot of work from people in the name of 'sound' fiscal management. Did the CBC ask anyone who works (or used to work) in a government office, school, hospital, provincial park, college, city hall or liquor store how much respect they received with their pink slip or their pay cut in the 90's?
Just a few years ago, when Alberta was considering changes to the province's electoral boundaries, there was more than one 'Progressive' Conservative MLA who stated that one's franchise should be relative to the property one owns. In the same vein, Alberta's right-wing activists have been trying to export this neo-feudalistic ideology to neighbouring provinces, be it under-the-table donations to the Saskatchewan Party, or dispatching one-time Ralph Klein guru Rod Love to ride shotgun with Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals. The results have been mixed, largely because of non-Albertans distaste for something that has been a political staple of Alberta life for decades: bullsh*t.
If Alberta wants respect, this page recommends that a province with about 1/10 of the country's population stop trying to tell the rest of us what to do. One of Calgary's own is sitting in 24 Sussex Drive, what else do these people want? It also wouldn't hurt to take care of the little things, like enshrining human rights for all Albertans into law, writing up an actual Labour Code, stop choking on the words "sustainable development", cease and desist the screwing around with the Canada Health Act and...oh yeah...sign off on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Believe it or not, the Conservative regime refused to endorse the Convention because a number of MLAs thought it would interfere with a parent's right to administer corporal punishment.
Being an East Vancouver resident, this page believes British Columbia living next to Alberta is like me living next to the drug dealer's house down the street: the people seem to have a lot of money and look like their having a good time. However, for all the shiny new toys the place looks ugly and abandoned, there are a lot of scary noises coming out of there at night, and what's that gawd-awful smell?
A new show polls 60% of Albertans surveyed believe their province doesn't get the respect it deserves from Canada.
In reporting the poll results, CBC viewers and listeners have been treated to testimony from roughnecks and ranchers about how hard it is to get oil out of the ground and cattle to the stockyards. Yes, these people do hard work, but that's not how respect is earned, that's how money is earned. This page was in Calgary at the beginning of the 'Klein Revolution'. As much as people want to say the boom is the result of sound fiscal management and hard work, this page remembers the Tories took away a lot of work from people in the name of 'sound' fiscal management. Did the CBC ask anyone who works (or used to work) in a government office, school, hospital, provincial park, college, city hall or liquor store how much respect they received with their pink slip or their pay cut in the 90's?
Just a few years ago, when Alberta was considering changes to the province's electoral boundaries, there was more than one 'Progressive' Conservative MLA who stated that one's franchise should be relative to the property one owns. In the same vein, Alberta's right-wing activists have been trying to export this neo-feudalistic ideology to neighbouring provinces, be it under-the-table donations to the Saskatchewan Party, or dispatching one-time Ralph Klein guru Rod Love to ride shotgun with Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals. The results have been mixed, largely because of non-Albertans distaste for something that has been a political staple of Alberta life for decades: bullsh*t.
If Alberta wants respect, this page recommends that a province with about 1/10 of the country's population stop trying to tell the rest of us what to do. One of Calgary's own is sitting in 24 Sussex Drive, what else do these people want? It also wouldn't hurt to take care of the little things, like enshrining human rights for all Albertans into law, writing up an actual Labour Code, stop choking on the words "sustainable development", cease and desist the screwing around with the Canada Health Act and...oh yeah...sign off on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Believe it or not, the Conservative regime refused to endorse the Convention because a number of MLAs thought it would interfere with a parent's right to administer corporal punishment.
Being an East Vancouver resident, this page believes British Columbia living next to Alberta is like me living next to the drug dealer's house down the street: the people seem to have a lot of money and look like their having a good time. However, for all the shiny new toys the place looks ugly and abandoned, there are a lot of scary noises coming out of there at night, and what's that gawd-awful smell?
4.17.2006
Parking Responsibility
This page was disgusted by the selfish, ignorant, and self-destructive behaviour of several merchants at Metrotown during the Easter weekend. Oblivious to the fact that all of them are located just a few hundred metres from the one of the largest transit hubs in the Lower Mainland, these retailers posted notices encouraging their customers to support their efforts in blocking a critical source of public transit funding.
To the members of the Fair Tax Coalition, or the No Parking Tax coalition, or whatever Kevin Falcon-loving Board of Trade Waste of Skin you are: this one's for you! If the Translink Board rejects the $1.02 per sq. metre parking tax (which was already cut from $25 million to $20 million because of your short-sighted bitching), where is that money going to come from? Increased property taxes? Increased fares? Gee, if property owners and transit riders are further out of pocket because local business refuses to pay their fare share, it may mean the public has less money to....I dunno....GO SHOPPING?!
What about service cuts? Force more people into cars and pay gas prices that cut further into their disposable income? It didn't surprise this page in reading this moronfesto that they wanted me to contact my MLA, and the contact information was only for Lieberal MLA's. Parking tax reactionaries: Don't expect me at your little insurrection at Wednesday's Translink Board meeting in Langley, and until you learn to suck it up and take a long view of transportation planning in the Lower Mainland, don't expect my business either.
This page was disgusted by the selfish, ignorant, and self-destructive behaviour of several merchants at Metrotown during the Easter weekend. Oblivious to the fact that all of them are located just a few hundred metres from the one of the largest transit hubs in the Lower Mainland, these retailers posted notices encouraging their customers to support their efforts in blocking a critical source of public transit funding.
To the members of the Fair Tax Coalition, or the No Parking Tax coalition, or whatever Kevin Falcon-loving Board of Trade Waste of Skin you are: this one's for you! If the Translink Board rejects the $1.02 per sq. metre parking tax (which was already cut from $25 million to $20 million because of your short-sighted bitching), where is that money going to come from? Increased property taxes? Increased fares? Gee, if property owners and transit riders are further out of pocket because local business refuses to pay their fare share, it may mean the public has less money to....I dunno....GO SHOPPING?!
What about service cuts? Force more people into cars and pay gas prices that cut further into their disposable income? It didn't surprise this page in reading this moronfesto that they wanted me to contact my MLA, and the contact information was only for Lieberal MLA's. Parking tax reactionaries: Don't expect me at your little insurrection at Wednesday's Translink Board meeting in Langley, and until you learn to suck it up and take a long view of transportation planning in the Lower Mainland, don't expect my business either.
4.10.2006
Expect Delays
This page received welcome news this morning that I will be returning to gainful employment next week. In addition, Walnut Boat is using part of her signing bonus to purchase a new computer.
These developments plus the upcoming Easter break may lead to sporadic posts this week. In the meantime, feel free to browse the archives at the right of this page.
This page received welcome news this morning that I will be returning to gainful employment next week. In addition, Walnut Boat is using part of her signing bonus to purchase a new computer.
These developments plus the upcoming Easter break may lead to sporadic posts this week. In the meantime, feel free to browse the archives at the right of this page.
4.07.2006
Eye on Katie on the Eye
It appears that the major U.S. news item this week (give or take an alleged White House leak) concerned the news industry itself. Katie Couric, an announcer on 'Today', a popular morning program aired by the National Broadcasting Company, has agreed to become the lead anchor for the flagship evening newscast of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
By no means does this page watch CBS News on any regular or frequent basis: the last time I saw a CBS newscast, the Iranian hostages were stepping off the plane. However, it is important to note the historic impact that CBS Anchors have gathered over the years in relating the days events. In the 1950's, Edward R. Murrow stood up to Senator Joseph McCarthy and his attempt to smear hundreds of Americans as Communist sympathizers. In the 1960's, Walter Cronkite sent himself to Vietnam to see the war for himself, and upon his return helped turn American public opinion against that war. In the 1980's, Dan Rather had no problems running with stories like Iran-Contra to the point that right-wingers to this day still scream about a 'liberal bias' at CBS.
Will Couric continue this tradition of iconoclastic, firebrand journalism in her new role at the CBS Evening News? Highly unlikely, given her reputation as a 'soft news' specialist. Here's hoping she's seen Good Night and Good Luck, and something stuck, particularly the fact that Murrow could do puffball celebrity interviews just like Katie AND stare down Washington's bullies on the same shift.
It appears that the major U.S. news item this week (give or take an alleged White House leak) concerned the news industry itself. Katie Couric, an announcer on 'Today', a popular morning program aired by the National Broadcasting Company, has agreed to become the lead anchor for the flagship evening newscast of the Columbia Broadcasting System.
By no means does this page watch CBS News on any regular or frequent basis: the last time I saw a CBS newscast, the Iranian hostages were stepping off the plane. However, it is important to note the historic impact that CBS Anchors have gathered over the years in relating the days events. In the 1950's, Edward R. Murrow stood up to Senator Joseph McCarthy and his attempt to smear hundreds of Americans as Communist sympathizers. In the 1960's, Walter Cronkite sent himself to Vietnam to see the war for himself, and upon his return helped turn American public opinion against that war. In the 1980's, Dan Rather had no problems running with stories like Iran-Contra to the point that right-wingers to this day still scream about a 'liberal bias' at CBS.
Will Couric continue this tradition of iconoclastic, firebrand journalism in her new role at the CBS Evening News? Highly unlikely, given her reputation as a 'soft news' specialist. Here's hoping she's seen Good Night and Good Luck, and something stuck, particularly the fact that Murrow could do puffball celebrity interviews just like Katie AND stare down Washington's bullies on the same shift.
4.06.2006
Closed Chambers for 2010?
Canadian Olympic Committee President Michael Chambers doesn't want public medal presentation cerememonies at Vancouver's games in 2010. This attitude only serves to further alienate the locals from the so-called 'Spirit of 2010'. A parade of recent controversies and cost overruns are leaving many in Vancouver concerned about the cost of hosting the games, and whether the public will actually be invited to participate.
While Chambers doesn't want to see high-profile recording artists overshadow medal winners at the ceremonies, he fails to understand that for a lot of working people, the medals ceremony is the closest thing they will get to being at the Olympic Games. This page was in Calgary in 1988 as a student working in the Athlete's Village and couldn't afford to see any events. However, people like me gathered 50,000 strong at Olympic Plaza for the celebrations. The entertainment wasn't A-list, but the out-of-towners loved the amazing Indian dancers of the Treaty 7 Nations, and the cowboy sing-alongs of Miss Molly and the Stampede Showband. Even if those kind of acts weren't ones bag, the fireworks at the end made the evening chill worthwhile.
VANOC would be wise to tell Chambers to think again, especially considering who's currently sitting on City Council. This is the same NPA gang who had no problem telling people not to come downtown for New Year's Eve 2000, I'm sure they'll have no problem in adopting Chambers point of view, and pulling the plug on any truly public Olympic events, just to keep the 2010 party among the corporate elite and the Olympic 'family'.
Canadian Olympic Committee President Michael Chambers doesn't want public medal presentation cerememonies at Vancouver's games in 2010. This attitude only serves to further alienate the locals from the so-called 'Spirit of 2010'. A parade of recent controversies and cost overruns are leaving many in Vancouver concerned about the cost of hosting the games, and whether the public will actually be invited to participate.
While Chambers doesn't want to see high-profile recording artists overshadow medal winners at the ceremonies, he fails to understand that for a lot of working people, the medals ceremony is the closest thing they will get to being at the Olympic Games. This page was in Calgary in 1988 as a student working in the Athlete's Village and couldn't afford to see any events. However, people like me gathered 50,000 strong at Olympic Plaza for the celebrations. The entertainment wasn't A-list, but the out-of-towners loved the amazing Indian dancers of the Treaty 7 Nations, and the cowboy sing-alongs of Miss Molly and the Stampede Showband. Even if those kind of acts weren't ones bag, the fireworks at the end made the evening chill worthwhile.
VANOC would be wise to tell Chambers to think again, especially considering who's currently sitting on City Council. This is the same NPA gang who had no problem telling people not to come downtown for New Year's Eve 2000, I'm sure they'll have no problem in adopting Chambers point of view, and pulling the plug on any truly public Olympic events, just to keep the 2010 party among the corporate elite and the Olympic 'family'.
4.05.2006
Me and what army?
This page noticed an interesting promotional item while watching the Seattle Mariners 10-8 win over the LA Angels last night: "Thursday, 7:05, vs. Oakland A's - Salute to Armed Forces Night: Military Personnel $10"
Ten dollars? This page thought that those $700 toilet seats and the Iraqi Occupation would eventually catch up to the American Military, but wow! I never realized they'd be getting rid of so many people, maybe it really will be An Army of One. And for ten bucks a troop? Why grab a premium beer at Safeco Field for $8.00 when one could pick up a fighting man or woman for just two dollars more?
At that price, this page can easily afford a decent sized militia. Make no mistake, my neighbours will keep their stereos turned down and their dogs cleaned up after, because I will no longer be afraid of a military solution...
This page noticed an interesting promotional item while watching the Seattle Mariners 10-8 win over the LA Angels last night: "Thursday, 7:05, vs. Oakland A's - Salute to Armed Forces Night: Military Personnel $10"
Ten dollars? This page thought that those $700 toilet seats and the Iraqi Occupation would eventually catch up to the American Military, but wow! I never realized they'd be getting rid of so many people, maybe it really will be An Army of One. And for ten bucks a troop? Why grab a premium beer at Safeco Field for $8.00 when one could pick up a fighting man or woman for just two dollars more?
At that price, this page can easily afford a decent sized militia. Make no mistake, my neighbours will keep their stereos turned down and their dogs cleaned up after, because I will no longer be afraid of a military solution...
4.04.2006
Dumping Dave: how bad does Kingsway want it?
Despite Sunday's 'Walk for Democracy' and yesterday's airplane banner over Parliament Hill, neither the ground troops nor the air forces of the Kingsway Rebellion could shake David Emerson out of his seat at the Conservative cabinet table.
After Emerscum was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner (with a little bullying from the PMO) Those who want to see Emerscum resign are framing this issue in terms of right and wrong rather than legalities. What the Kingsway Rebellion doesn't appear to realize is that using legal means (like petitions, letters to the editor, marches) in a fundamental battle between right and wrong is yet another case of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Actually, it's more like bringing kindergarten safety scissors.
As this page sees it, Emerscum's opponents have two real choices: Go after him the way anti-poverty activists went after Lorne Mayencourt, and be willing to go to jail. Handcuff each other to the doors of Emerscum's constituency office and keep a perpetual vigil out front like Falun Gong does at the Chinese consulate. Don't be afraid to get in the Minister's face whenever he pokes his head out in public, even if it means trying to get past that nice policeman. Scream, yell, use as many expletives as possible, clog up the courts with arrests, and Emerson may decide he doesn't need the constant grief and waddle his way back to Canfor.
The other option is to start buying memberships in the Conservative Party of Canada. Give them a call, bullsh*t them about how you want to 'Stand Up for Canada' (tm), and get everyone else who wants to flush Emerscum to do the same thing. Sooner or later, you'll have enough votes to control the next nomination meeting, and Emerson's future candidacy (or Kanman Wong's, who stepped aside for Emerscum) in the riding is as good as blocked.
This page realizes that going to prison and taking out Conservative memberships are two huge lemons. However, if enough Kingsway voters are willing, that's a hell of a lot of lemonade to be squeezed.
Despite Sunday's 'Walk for Democracy' and yesterday's airplane banner over Parliament Hill, neither the ground troops nor the air forces of the Kingsway Rebellion could shake David Emerson out of his seat at the Conservative cabinet table.
After Emerscum was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner (with a little bullying from the PMO) Those who want to see Emerscum resign are framing this issue in terms of right and wrong rather than legalities. What the Kingsway Rebellion doesn't appear to realize is that using legal means (like petitions, letters to the editor, marches) in a fundamental battle between right and wrong is yet another case of bringing a knife to a gun fight. Actually, it's more like bringing kindergarten safety scissors.
As this page sees it, Emerscum's opponents have two real choices: Go after him the way anti-poverty activists went after Lorne Mayencourt, and be willing to go to jail. Handcuff each other to the doors of Emerscum's constituency office and keep a perpetual vigil out front like Falun Gong does at the Chinese consulate. Don't be afraid to get in the Minister's face whenever he pokes his head out in public, even if it means trying to get past that nice policeman. Scream, yell, use as many expletives as possible, clog up the courts with arrests, and Emerson may decide he doesn't need the constant grief and waddle his way back to Canfor.
The other option is to start buying memberships in the Conservative Party of Canada. Give them a call, bullsh*t them about how you want to 'Stand Up for Canada' (tm), and get everyone else who wants to flush Emerscum to do the same thing. Sooner or later, you'll have enough votes to control the next nomination meeting, and Emerson's future candidacy (or Kanman Wong's, who stepped aside for Emerscum) in the riding is as good as blocked.
This page realizes that going to prison and taking out Conservative memberships are two huge lemons. However, if enough Kingsway voters are willing, that's a hell of a lot of lemonade to be squeezed.
4.03.2006
Shoot Alberta's messenger
This anecdote may seriously date this page for some readers, but a few years ago, a regular poster to rec.sport.baseball coined the term 'mediocy' to describe commentators or sportswriters who stated the obvious, or provided observations without any basis in fact.
No, this isn't about opening day. This is about last Friday night, and the weekend of commentary that followed after Ralph Klein's chillingly tepid endorsement by his Alberta Conservatives. Holding the 55% result to keep it off the 11 o' clock news and the front page of the weekend papers couldn't stop a spring snowfall of speculation. However, among the startled talking heads and hurried op-ed pieces, this page was hard-pressed to find a snowflake of objectivity.
I'm not referring to the 'fair and balanced', giving both sides of the issue their say objectivity, this page is referring to giving an audience the overall, big picture of an issue. Unfortunately, with some heroic exceptions, Albertans are routinely treated to the worst media coverage of provincial politics in Canada.
How can this page make such a claim? By pointing out that as a former Alberta resident who monitors the news wires coming out of Calgary and Edmonton, this page has seen no published reaction from either Kevin Taft, leader of the Alberta Liberals and the OFFICIAL OPPOSITION in Edmonton, nor Brian Mason, who leads Alberta's NDP caucus. By contrast, when Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark were on their way out the door as British Columbia premiers, B.C. audiences were never lost for what Gordon Campbell thought about those situations. If the knives came out for Campbell today, I'm sure that anyone outside of this province could readily access Carole James' opinion.
It's one thing for mediots to constantly refer to Alberta as a 'one-party state', it's another to not even bother asking the representatives of parties who polled a combined 40% of Alberta's popular vote in an election less than two years ago. Throw in the righter-than-right wing Alberta Alliance party, and over half of the province didn't back 'Ralph's Team'. Why is a 55% approval rating a surprise?
The mediots can be just as bothered to talk to the opposition as they would be to question Alberta's hyper-gerrymandered electoral system which gives rural voters a franchise 2 to 3 times as powerful a franchise as their counterparts in Calgary or Edmonton. Of course, Ralph Klein was a reporter for CFCN Television before he ran for Mayor in Calgary and went on to become a do-nothing premier. In not bothering to challenge the status quo or ask any hard questions, perhaps the media is just emulating the master.
This anecdote may seriously date this page for some readers, but a few years ago, a regular poster to rec.sport.baseball coined the term 'mediocy' to describe commentators or sportswriters who stated the obvious, or provided observations without any basis in fact.
No, this isn't about opening day. This is about last Friday night, and the weekend of commentary that followed after Ralph Klein's chillingly tepid endorsement by his Alberta Conservatives. Holding the 55% result to keep it off the 11 o' clock news and the front page of the weekend papers couldn't stop a spring snowfall of speculation. However, among the startled talking heads and hurried op-ed pieces, this page was hard-pressed to find a snowflake of objectivity.
I'm not referring to the 'fair and balanced', giving both sides of the issue their say objectivity, this page is referring to giving an audience the overall, big picture of an issue. Unfortunately, with some heroic exceptions, Albertans are routinely treated to the worst media coverage of provincial politics in Canada.
How can this page make such a claim? By pointing out that as a former Alberta resident who monitors the news wires coming out of Calgary and Edmonton, this page has seen no published reaction from either Kevin Taft, leader of the Alberta Liberals and the OFFICIAL OPPOSITION in Edmonton, nor Brian Mason, who leads Alberta's NDP caucus. By contrast, when Mike Harcourt and Glen Clark were on their way out the door as British Columbia premiers, B.C. audiences were never lost for what Gordon Campbell thought about those situations. If the knives came out for Campbell today, I'm sure that anyone outside of this province could readily access Carole James' opinion.
It's one thing for mediots to constantly refer to Alberta as a 'one-party state', it's another to not even bother asking the representatives of parties who polled a combined 40% of Alberta's popular vote in an election less than two years ago. Throw in the righter-than-right wing Alberta Alliance party, and over half of the province didn't back 'Ralph's Team'. Why is a 55% approval rating a surprise?
The mediots can be just as bothered to talk to the opposition as they would be to question Alberta's hyper-gerrymandered electoral system which gives rural voters a franchise 2 to 3 times as powerful a franchise as their counterparts in Calgary or Edmonton. Of course, Ralph Klein was a reporter for CFCN Television before he ran for Mayor in Calgary and went on to become a do-nothing premier. In not bothering to challenge the status quo or ask any hard questions, perhaps the media is just emulating the master.
3.30.2006
Apparently, people do read this thing.
This page has noticed some interesting comment traffic with respect to an earlier post this week concerning CAW President Buzz Hargrove. Someone claiming to be one of Hargrove's children takes exception to my comments, and attributes them to a 'blatent' lack of excitement in this page's life.
First of all, Jaime - thanks for dropping by and sticking up for the old man. This page does at times go overboard with the rhetoric, but I've often been left with the impression that it's part of the appeal for a lot of regular readers. I have been throwing around epithets like 'egocentric idiot manchild' for so long they've practically lost all meaning, and nobody has taken a strong enough exception to write in until now.
However, your Dad was acting like an egocentric idiot manchild when he went out of his way to endorse the Liberals while remaining a member of the NDP. In my neck of the woods in East Vancouver, people are still p*ssed about what's happened with David Emerson: one doesn't swear allegiance to one party then start making overtures to another. The 'strategic voting' argument is in mathematical reality, a total crock: every party on the ballot has as much chance of winning as any other if it gathers enough support during a campaign. The Ontario NDP were well within their rights to suspend his membership, and it wasn't a vicious attack on him or the members of the CAW. Being CAW President doesn't put you above the constitution of the party that you formally signed on with.
I don't know what your politics are, or for that matter, what your Dad's are anymore: they seem to have changed quite a bit from when I met him in Calgary six years ago. However, there's a right way to change, and a wrong way to change, and the wrong way is trying to pretend that you're still the same. It's not about engulfing oneself in someone else's life or looking at them like they were a shoe, it's about being p*ssed off that someone couldn't make a choice between keeping his word or quitting honourably.
As for my life not being exciting or constructive, that's all relative. Now, if this page were to say that David Emerson showed at least more dignity than Buzz Hargrove by tearing up his Liberal membership to sit in Stephen Harper's cabinet rather than have the Liberal party tear it up for him, I'm sure Jaime's response would certainly be exciting....
This page has noticed some interesting comment traffic with respect to an earlier post this week concerning CAW President Buzz Hargrove. Someone claiming to be one of Hargrove's children takes exception to my comments, and attributes them to a 'blatent' lack of excitement in this page's life.
First of all, Jaime - thanks for dropping by and sticking up for the old man. This page does at times go overboard with the rhetoric, but I've often been left with the impression that it's part of the appeal for a lot of regular readers. I have been throwing around epithets like 'egocentric idiot manchild' for so long they've practically lost all meaning, and nobody has taken a strong enough exception to write in until now.
However, your Dad was acting like an egocentric idiot manchild when he went out of his way to endorse the Liberals while remaining a member of the NDP. In my neck of the woods in East Vancouver, people are still p*ssed about what's happened with David Emerson: one doesn't swear allegiance to one party then start making overtures to another. The 'strategic voting' argument is in mathematical reality, a total crock: every party on the ballot has as much chance of winning as any other if it gathers enough support during a campaign. The Ontario NDP were well within their rights to suspend his membership, and it wasn't a vicious attack on him or the members of the CAW. Being CAW President doesn't put you above the constitution of the party that you formally signed on with.
I don't know what your politics are, or for that matter, what your Dad's are anymore: they seem to have changed quite a bit from when I met him in Calgary six years ago. However, there's a right way to change, and a wrong way to change, and the wrong way is trying to pretend that you're still the same. It's not about engulfing oneself in someone else's life or looking at them like they were a shoe, it's about being p*ssed off that someone couldn't make a choice between keeping his word or quitting honourably.
As for my life not being exciting or constructive, that's all relative. Now, if this page were to say that David Emerson showed at least more dignity than Buzz Hargrove by tearing up his Liberal membership to sit in Stephen Harper's cabinet rather than have the Liberal party tear it up for him, I'm sure Jaime's response would certainly be exciting....
3.29.2006
COMMENTS Welcome
As some of you may have noticed, I pulled the comment to yesterday's post, which wasn't a comment as much as it was a plug for some kind of porn somewhere. This page doesn't solicit advertising and doesn't give out advertising for free.
Speaking of soliciting and giving it out for free, this page is happy to see Canada's first human trafficking trial get underway in Vancouver. As locals are aware, the back pages of the West Ender and the Georgia Straight are filled with 'bodycare' and 'massage' ads, often promoting the Asian women who administer these 'services'. Some of these women may be Asian Canadians who work independently and enjoy what they do. However, Many of these women really are Asian, as in being brought here from Asia on a lie and forced to work illegally in the sex trade.
This page lives within walking distance of a number of these establishments, and is disturbed to know that behind the perpetually blacked-out windows, slavery is alive and well.
As some of you may have noticed, I pulled the comment to yesterday's post, which wasn't a comment as much as it was a plug for some kind of porn somewhere. This page doesn't solicit advertising and doesn't give out advertising for free.
Speaking of soliciting and giving it out for free, this page is happy to see Canada's first human trafficking trial get underway in Vancouver. As locals are aware, the back pages of the West Ender and the Georgia Straight are filled with 'bodycare' and 'massage' ads, often promoting the Asian women who administer these 'services'. Some of these women may be Asian Canadians who work independently and enjoy what they do. However, Many of these women really are Asian, as in being brought here from Asia on a lie and forced to work illegally in the sex trade.
This page lives within walking distance of a number of these establishments, and is disturbed to know that behind the perpetually blacked-out windows, slavery is alive and well.
3.28.2006
O Claude, why hast thou forsaken us?
Yesterday the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released a report that exposes the real reason for B.C.'s declining welfare rates, and Employment Minister Claude Richmond exposed his increasing rate of acting like a prick:
"It's the same report that comes out every year, just a different cover, they are opposed to an employment-based welfare program and we are not." Of course Richmond would argue it's the same report every year, what self-respecting Fraser Institute disciples like the BC Liberals would read anything that comes from the CCPA? As for Richmond advocating an 'employment-based' program, this page realizes that Victoria is a long way from the rest of the country, but I'm pretty sure Canada already has one. In fact, just last week they made their presence very well known to this page.
This page didn't realize it during the Liberals first term, but Richmond's predilection for polarization and callousness probably served him well as Speaker, allowing government MLA's to taunt, harass, and abuse Joy MacPhail and Jenny Kwan at will. I suppose with 33 Opposition MLA's this time around, Richmond wasn't going to get away with sitting on his hands, so perhaps the role of a poor-bashing cabinet minister is better for him.
Yesterday the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released a report that exposes the real reason for B.C.'s declining welfare rates, and Employment Minister Claude Richmond exposed his increasing rate of acting like a prick:
"It's the same report that comes out every year, just a different cover, they are opposed to an employment-based welfare program and we are not." Of course Richmond would argue it's the same report every year, what self-respecting Fraser Institute disciples like the BC Liberals would read anything that comes from the CCPA? As for Richmond advocating an 'employment-based' program, this page realizes that Victoria is a long way from the rest of the country, but I'm pretty sure Canada already has one. In fact, just last week they made their presence very well known to this page.
This page didn't realize it during the Liberals first term, but Richmond's predilection for polarization and callousness probably served him well as Speaker, allowing government MLA's to taunt, harass, and abuse Joy MacPhail and Jenny Kwan at will. I suppose with 33 Opposition MLA's this time around, Richmond wasn't going to get away with sitting on his hands, so perhaps the role of a poor-bashing cabinet minister is better for him.
3.27.2006
What does he say to people signing CAW cards?
Yes, the titles are usually more catchy, but this page is still wrapping around his head around the CAW President's insistence that his entire union be wrapped up in his personal temper tantrum against New Democrats. As you may remember, Hornblower Hargrove came out in support of the Liberals in January's federal election. As a result, his membership was suspended by the Ontario NDP. As a result, Bellicose Buzz leaned on the CAW executive to endorse disaffiliation from the party.
"The action of the Ontario NDP is a direct attack on the CAW and our members," screamed Hargrove last week. No, Buzz it isn't: it's what happens when you sign your name to the membership card of a political party and you blow off the constitutional responsibilities of party membership, like SOLIDARITY during election campaigns. All Hargrove had to do to show some actual leadership and avoid the embarrassment of being suspended from the party was cancel his NDP membership before he started swooning over Paul Martin. This page would have respected such a move, but Hargrove's insistence on perpetual fight-picking with pretty much anyone (except Ford, GM, and Chrysler) leaves me with the same contempt most cognizant unionists have for him.
Last spring this page worked alongside volunteers with the BC Federation of Labour's 'Count Me In' campaign that helped elect a strong NDP opposition in Victoria. At meetings I sat next to CAW members from Coast Mountain Bus Company and across from CAW members who were involved in the agonizing organizing drive at Starbucks. Since the resolution from the CAW Executive calls on CAW members to avoid Federal and Provincial New Democrats, is Buzz Hargrove saying that these workers should try to get a better deal from Gordon Campbell?
Telling union members how to vote is one thing. Telling union members how not to vote because your union's president is an egocentric idiot manchild who can't read the fine print on a membership form is another.
Yes, the titles are usually more catchy, but this page is still wrapping around his head around the CAW President's insistence that his entire union be wrapped up in his personal temper tantrum against New Democrats. As you may remember, Hornblower Hargrove came out in support of the Liberals in January's federal election. As a result, his membership was suspended by the Ontario NDP. As a result, Bellicose Buzz leaned on the CAW executive to endorse disaffiliation from the party.
"The action of the Ontario NDP is a direct attack on the CAW and our members," screamed Hargrove last week. No, Buzz it isn't: it's what happens when you sign your name to the membership card of a political party and you blow off the constitutional responsibilities of party membership, like SOLIDARITY during election campaigns. All Hargrove had to do to show some actual leadership and avoid the embarrassment of being suspended from the party was cancel his NDP membership before he started swooning over Paul Martin. This page would have respected such a move, but Hargrove's insistence on perpetual fight-picking with pretty much anyone (except Ford, GM, and Chrysler) leaves me with the same contempt most cognizant unionists have for him.
Last spring this page worked alongside volunteers with the BC Federation of Labour's 'Count Me In' campaign that helped elect a strong NDP opposition in Victoria. At meetings I sat next to CAW members from Coast Mountain Bus Company and across from CAW members who were involved in the agonizing organizing drive at Starbucks. Since the resolution from the CAW Executive calls on CAW members to avoid Federal and Provincial New Democrats, is Buzz Hargrove saying that these workers should try to get a better deal from Gordon Campbell?
Telling union members how to vote is one thing. Telling union members how not to vote because your union's president is an egocentric idiot manchild who can't read the fine print on a membership form is another.
3.24.2006
Alberta Bounced
Infrastructure Minister Lyle Oberg has been suspended from Alberta's Conservative caucus.
Oberg offended his colleagues for advising Conservatives in his riding of Strathmore-Brooks (where Don from RevMod twice carried the NDP banner) to vote their conscience when Ralph Klein faces a leadership review at the end of this month. Klein has announced he will be stepping down, but his 2007 expiration date is now stretching into 2008, and it appears that Oberg, a leadership contender himself, is turning the hose on the Great Ralph Love-In.
It's not as if Oberg is any real champion of democracy. When he was Education minister he had no qualms with pulling the plug on the elected school board in Calgary, claiming they were "too dysfunctional", dysfunctional meaning they disagreed with the Conservative agenda of dismantling public education. By comparison, the most Christy Clark could ever get away with was sneering at the BC Teachers Federation.
Still, this turn of events could prove to be an enlightening crack in Alberta's Conservative fortress, and the usually oblivious voters in that province may find out what 'dysfunctional' really means.
Infrastructure Minister Lyle Oberg has been suspended from Alberta's Conservative caucus.
Oberg offended his colleagues for advising Conservatives in his riding of Strathmore-Brooks (where Don from RevMod twice carried the NDP banner) to vote their conscience when Ralph Klein faces a leadership review at the end of this month. Klein has announced he will be stepping down, but his 2007 expiration date is now stretching into 2008, and it appears that Oberg, a leadership contender himself, is turning the hose on the Great Ralph Love-In.
It's not as if Oberg is any real champion of democracy. When he was Education minister he had no qualms with pulling the plug on the elected school board in Calgary, claiming they were "too dysfunctional", dysfunctional meaning they disagreed with the Conservative agenda of dismantling public education. By comparison, the most Christy Clark could ever get away with was sneering at the BC Teachers Federation.
Still, this turn of events could prove to be an enlightening crack in Alberta's Conservative fortress, and the usually oblivious voters in that province may find out what 'dysfunctional' really means.
3.23.2006
Union haters run aground
The rescue of 99 passengers and crew from the sinking of The Queen of the North off Hartley Bay is certainly welcome news. What a lot of right-wing, anti-union British Columbians won't want to hear today is that much of the rescue operation's success can be attributed to the professionalism and safety procedures carried out by the members of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union who worked on the Queen of the North.
Just over two years ago, BCFMWU members went on strike to protect their jobs against CEO David Hahn and his mandate from the BC Liberals: Torpedo the fleet through rollbacks, reckless cost-cutting measures (like delaying replacement of northern ferries...), stabbing BC shipbuilders in the back, and airport-style privatization. For their efforts in fighting Hahn and the Liberals, BCFMWU members were vilified by the media and whichever hotheads pulled up to a TV camera at Tsawwassen or Swartz.
Today, many of those same hotheads are probably praising the courage of the BC Ferries staff, even though it was only a few months ago they were claiming (as read on rabble.ca at the time) that some "lazy, corrupt, incompetent" BC Ferries workers are paid $18 an hour to do nothing but make toast. To those outstanding judges of character, help yourself, and by all means enjoy.
The rescue of 99 passengers and crew from the sinking of The Queen of the North off Hartley Bay is certainly welcome news. What a lot of right-wing, anti-union British Columbians won't want to hear today is that much of the rescue operation's success can be attributed to the professionalism and safety procedures carried out by the members of the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union who worked on the Queen of the North.
Just over two years ago, BCFMWU members went on strike to protect their jobs against CEO David Hahn and his mandate from the BC Liberals: Torpedo the fleet through rollbacks, reckless cost-cutting measures (like delaying replacement of northern ferries...), stabbing BC shipbuilders in the back, and airport-style privatization. For their efforts in fighting Hahn and the Liberals, BCFMWU members were vilified by the media and whichever hotheads pulled up to a TV camera at Tsawwassen or Swartz.
Today, many of those same hotheads are probably praising the courage of the BC Ferries staff, even though it was only a few months ago they were claiming (as read on rabble.ca at the time) that some "lazy, corrupt, incompetent" BC Ferries workers are paid $18 an hour to do nothing but make toast. To those outstanding judges of character, help yourself, and by all means enjoy.
3.22.2006
NPA: Now Park Anywhere?
City Council is once again hearing about opening Granville Mall to car traffic.
For those of you from out of town, Granville Mall is a transit-only section of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. It's the major hub for bus traffic, has a Skytrain Station, and allows easy, car-free access to downtown shopping and attractions.
One would think that the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association would appreciate those facts, but they don't. Rather than keep a good thing going, the DVBIA wants to have private vehicles grind public transit to a halt and endanger pedestrians who are used to crossing anywhere on the mall. Of course, this is the same braintrust who brought us the 'Downtown Ambassadors', an elite unit whose apparent mission is to look important in their red uniforms while they harass homeless people.
If I was a member retailer of the DVBIA, I would asking for my membership dues back. Granville Mall has seen a renaissance over the past few years because of its ability to generate serious foot traffic. Why else would Sears eagerly grab the Eatons store at Granville and Robson? Why else would Future Shop and Winners open locations across the street? Why else would Holt Renfrew be expanding its downtown store? Why do the car-crazy idiots on the DVBIA want to strangle their golden asphalt goose?
Of course, the forces of 'progress' believe with an NPA council now running things at 12th & Cambie, they can get their way this time. It already appears they've had their way with councilor Kim Capri, who's reversed her position to now having an "open mind" on Granville Mall car traffic. Obviously, it was good for her. For the record, City of Vancouver staff recommend keeping the Mall car-free. However, this page remembers City staff recommending One Third social housing at False Creek, and we know what happened there.
City Council is once again hearing about opening Granville Mall to car traffic.
For those of you from out of town, Granville Mall is a transit-only section of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. It's the major hub for bus traffic, has a Skytrain Station, and allows easy, car-free access to downtown shopping and attractions.
One would think that the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association would appreciate those facts, but they don't. Rather than keep a good thing going, the DVBIA wants to have private vehicles grind public transit to a halt and endanger pedestrians who are used to crossing anywhere on the mall. Of course, this is the same braintrust who brought us the 'Downtown Ambassadors', an elite unit whose apparent mission is to look important in their red uniforms while they harass homeless people.
If I was a member retailer of the DVBIA, I would asking for my membership dues back. Granville Mall has seen a renaissance over the past few years because of its ability to generate serious foot traffic. Why else would Sears eagerly grab the Eatons store at Granville and Robson? Why else would Future Shop and Winners open locations across the street? Why else would Holt Renfrew be expanding its downtown store? Why do the car-crazy idiots on the DVBIA want to strangle their golden asphalt goose?
Of course, the forces of 'progress' believe with an NPA council now running things at 12th & Cambie, they can get their way this time. It already appears they've had their way with councilor Kim Capri, who's reversed her position to now having an "open mind" on Granville Mall car traffic. Obviously, it was good for her. For the record, City of Vancouver staff recommend keeping the Mall car-free. However, this page remembers City staff recommending One Third social housing at False Creek, and we know what happened there.
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