Dan Rather Sues the Company that Made him Rich & Famous

For the whole pathetic mess, read this NY Times story.

What a turkey. Always was.

Anatomy of a SCAM - Canada Line Bamboozle

FIRST: The media notice:

Lunch on the Line week from Sept 24 - 28

Media are invited to join Jane Bird, CEO, Canada Line Rapid Transit, Henry Lee, Chairman, The Vancouver Board of Trade and Co-Chair, Spirit of Vancouver and Darcy Rezac, Managing Director, The Vancouver Board of Trade as they announce “Lunch on the Line” week, 11:00 am, Wednesday, September 19 at Tokyo John Sushi in the Cambie Village.

From September 24 – 28, business people are being encouraged to take a client to lunch or treat their staff at a restaurant in the Cambie Village that has been affected by the Canada Line construction.

SECOND: The reply from a Cambie businesswoman:

Attn: Greg Johnson - The Pace Group

I have just been forwarded this press release by several members of our media, looking for comment on this proposal from CLCo and the Board of Trade. As usual, none of the businesses knew anything about it, and have not been consulted about the details.

We, the struggling businesses in the Cambie Village are delighted with this latest initiative from Canada Line.....simply if it finally brings to the neighbourhood the very people that have strongly supported this project, and to see for themselves the level of devastation it has caused in the Cambie Village. The conclusion they will come to is that all the project-promoting attempts at mitigation have obviously failed.

They will see that compensation should have been factored in, and was not, and is most certainly the right thing to immediately implement now.

They will see all the empty shops that were once the sole source of income for the families that operated them, who have now been forced out by this project. This token gesture, so late in the game, is irrelevant as a way to save us from bankruptcy, but may demonstrate to those who take the time to come here, a needed awareness of the level of harm this government driven project has caused. And by the way - I don't think that executives at the TD bank or Best Buy have had to re-mortgage their homes to keep their "small businesses" alive as have many merchants in the village. Our losses are life changing, and businesses unsustainable without financial compensation.

This is a Provincial project. The government's precedent being set here is that small businesses are expendable. Look out, businesses on Broadway. You could be next. We were promised a bored tunnel, too.

The right thing to do is compensate this community for the unjust financial burden we have been forced to bear.

It's much more than "lunch" that we all have on the line.

Susan Heyes
Hazel&Co

THIRD: My email to Susan Heyes:

Susan,

I will gladly publish this on my blog...but certainly you must realize that anything that comes from The Pace Group is an utterly insincere, snow job. The Pace Group is the very worst kind of Public Relations firm, famous for creating exactly these kinds of meaningless public demonstrations that are transparent in their cynicism.

I wish it were otherwise.

David

Kiss Me Once

Love at first bite is a research study at a university.

Well, I guess it keeps these professors off the street where they could do real harm.

CSIS should be sued by the Air India Families

CSIS erased surveillance tapes.

The Justice investigating the Air India case called CSIS and its actions and its refusal to share information "inconceivable, incomprehensible, indefensible incompetence."

I'm sure there's a Sinatra song in there somewhere.

But in the face of this level of bungling and stupidity, what else can you do but laugh.

Or cry.

329 people murdered. $50 Million wasted on a trial with no result.

RCMP is Lost and Defeated

Do the RCMP have no pride?

Two idiot cops get drunk and run around the street looking for people to beat up.

Result?

Lose 10 days pay.

If the RCMP has any sense of justice, or their own worth, or real values or even PR, these two hooligans would be fired on the spot.

How are we supposed to approve and trust the force when it doesn't take itself seriously?

Take a Deep Breath Now...

An 81-year old man in Gordon Head (an appelation soon to take on new meaning) has been living with a catheter in his dick for 85 days now.

Seems there is no urologist around to take this tube out.

Like a nurse in ER couldn't do this.

So much for my occasional day dream about retiring to Victoria.

City Profligate Spenders of Your Money

A few days ago, I wrote about the $23 Million that will be spent to provide 2 so-called Live Sites during the Olympics. I suppose there will be giant TV screens erected on otherwise quiet David Lam Park.

Today we learn that the $5 Million that will come from City Hall is supposed to be drawn from the "Olympic Reserve Fund."

Turns out that this reserve has no money in it.

And you and I are being chastised for spending money we don't have.

A World Full of Justice

While the Nazis were busy gassing women and children at Auschwitz, their senior officers and families were sunning themsleves and enjoying blueberries.

A new series of astonishing photographs have surfaced after all these years. You can see the slide show and read the entire story here.

Note that Karl Hocker, the camp's second in command, was not gassed on his arrival or beaten or even slapped.

He was convicted of war crimes and served seven years before his release in 1970, after which he was rehired by the bank. Höcker died in 2000 at 89.