Transclunk to the Rescue

Transclunk is really special, isn't it?

A girl is attacked and robbed at one of Skytrain's wonderful freeloader stations.

Good news. Clunksville has a videotape.

Bad News. Tape gets recycled every two hours. Solly. No footage of crime. No charges. You have back luck, Lady.

But look, more good news.

Clunkerama announces that within a year it will have...wait for it...digital equipment that will record for...gasp...7 days!

Hahahaha....

Every kid in the cafeteria at the school where I work has a wafer sized electronic gadget that can send and receive videos, movies, music and messages from and to the entire universe in nono-seconds wirelessly.

But Clunkkopf will take a year to fix their little problem.

On the next page to this story, the government of Canada has a half-page ad telling us that our safety is their first concern.

Tell it to the girl who was attacked and robbed. Tell it to her family. Tell it to Clunktown.

What'$ in a Name?

Dr. Ron Burnett has written an interesting and persuasive argument in the op-ed page of the Sun today about why Emily Carr - he is the President - now rightly designated a University.

You may have noticed that two weeks ago, the Premier went on a bit of a roll: every day for five days in a row, he named yet another college now a university - Capilano, Malispina, Kwantlen, Emily Carr, and...and...I forget.

No doubt every one is very proud and excited. Even though almost nobody can figure out what the point was for doing all this renaming.

But be assured that within a very short time the Law of Unintended Consequences will set in and the You and I will be paying mightily for the Premier's Naming Week.

Very soon, all those instructors at colleges who have been earning $70K or $90K will wake up and realize that they are now Professors at Universities and they will demand parity, and $90K won't be nearly enough to make them feel good about themselves. Better $125K or such.

Nice move. Gord.

Child Care is Our Darkest Shame - But, hey, have another latte...

Following on my recent postings and Province editorial about Child Care in BC...

Today, BC's Auditor-General, John Doyle, released a scathing report of exactly this subject. He says the government has no idea how anybody in their care is doing.

According to Doyle's report, more than half the children in care are aboriginal, the government has no idea which programs that they pay for are working and which are not, which services are needed, how many social or other workers are necessary and so on.

Of course, the absolute fool, Tim Christensen, who has been the Minister of this Disaster, for far too long, quickly defended his efforts.

Resign Tim. You're not cutting it. Children are suffering while you dither.

At the same time, the Federal Auditor-General, Sheila Fraser pointed out that children living on reserves are eight times more likely to receive child welfare services than those not on reserves.

Why do we as a nation continue to allow this monstrosity to exist?

Why do the first nations people allow their own children to suffer so badly?

No doubt I am a racist or something worse for asking these dreadful questions.

No Comp for Land? Welcome to Russia

VICTORIA -- The B.C. government has quietly introduced legislation that would give it the formal right to retake control of certain public lands without paying compensation.

There's your opening paragraph in the business section of this morning's Sun.

Read the whole article and then please tell me what this is about.

Can you say, "Draconian," boys & girls?

Delgado Knows

Immediately below is yestserday's post about the Maritime Museum.

Today, the Sun quotes former director Jim Delgado extensively on how the City has gone out of its way to destroy the Museum.

Delgado is practically a genius - a diver, a writer, a photographer, a lecturer and a museum curator. He was, simply put, one of the best people in this city for many years. We were lucky to have him.

He fled a few years ago to Texas, to a much better job.

I remember chatting with him on Cypress Street near the Museum one afternoon just before he left. He ran the list of how and why his job had become impossible. The buck stopped entirely at City Hall.

Judy Rogers, the City Manager, says today that she doesn't know why Jim left. She must be deaf, dumb and blind or simply lying.

He left because of her and the City' s entirely neglegtful attitude toward this invaluable resource.

Shame on them all.