Headlines to Cherish
"Move Public Servants to rural Canada, Senate panel urges."
How about this?
Move Senate to Rural Canada, public servants urge.
Or this?
Move Senate and public servants to Arctic Circle. Give Larry a nice igloo.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Letters, We Get Letters
There were two marvelously entertaining letters to the editor in this morning's Sun.
The first is from a Burnaby resident who wants more recognition for Mayor Sullivan for all the great work he has done.
Her insight (insite?) is that Sullivan couldn't really find the time and energy to work on his campaign because "he was working on city business from morning to night."
Hahahahaha...
Obviously, this writer has rented from a different video shop than the rest of us.
In the smarmy little bad-taste comedy the rest of us have been watching these past two and a half years, exactly the opposite happened. The mayor rarely worked on city business and was, from day one, focused entirely on re-election.
Never forget the old adage, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans."
The second letter is a beautifully written piece skewering both Bard on the Beach's current offering of "King Lear," and Sun theatre critic Peter Birnie's review.
Birnie is a pleasant and warm and charming fellow.
What he knows about theatre could be put in a pin cushion and leave room for several epics.
Bard Artistic Director, Christopher Gaze, is an even more pleasant warm and charming fellow. Furthermore, he deserves immense credit for building the most successful theatre in Canada. Full houses, almost no governments hand outs.
But in this lifetime, Gaze is not going to give us a Lear worth watching. In the great Shakespearean comedic roles, he is delightful. But he is simply too nice a fellow to ever truly deliver the anger or angst that must spew naturally forth from Richard or Shylock or Lear.
Craig McGuire's letter, called "Bard's King Lear a Pudding," can be read here.
The Lovliest Dance of All
The sequence shown below of Fred Astaire and Cyd Charrisse comes from the 1953"The Band Wagon," in my opinion the greatest Hollywood musical of all time. Yes, even better than "Singin' in the Rain," in which she also starred.
The music is, of course, "Dancing in the Dark."
Tony (Astaire) and Gaby (Charisse) have been at odds from the beginning of the story. Now, they seek a compromise, take a hansom cab to Central Park, and ...well, dance, of course.
I have a VHS and DVD copy of this film. The movie itself never ceases to amuse and entertain me. The songs and dances are wonderful, including the closing signature tune, "That's Entertainment."
But this number entrances me every time out.
She was also wonderful with Gene Kelley in "Brigadoon."
Charisse died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 86. Her bio can be seen on the IMDB website here.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Our Secret Problems
Who knew?
Suffering, apparently, from a massive ourbreak of limp dickedness, the local market is being flooded with fake erectile dysfunction pills. Supply and demand clearly at work.
And two otherwise respectable jurisdictions - Surrey and West Vancouver - share a common problem - too many beavers!
Oi...
Truth of No Interest to governMINT
Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon apparently has little sympathy for the truth.
Particularly truth in advertising.
He doesn't seem to give a toonie of airlines claim you can fly from Toronto to Montreal for $79, when in fact the final tally is $159.25.
Canadian carriers have been successfully lobbying this numb skull/crook not to change the rules such that they would have to actually tell you the real, final price.
Why not have auto dealers advertise the new 2009 models starting at $1,200? That, of course, would be before the seats, wheels, lights, horn and engine.
At Dublin airport, checking in for my flight to Heathrow (all of one hour), I was told by the lovely Aer Lingus lady that my carry on bag was over-weight, would have to be checked through and that I would have to pay a small penalty.
Try 108 Euros!
Of course, the flight itself was 9 Euros return, final with taxes 40 something.
Come to my place, folks. I'll sell you a new pair of guccis for six bits.
R.I.P. to the S.U.V.
That is the hopeful headline to a NY Times story this morning about GM shutting down its production of the mammoth common sense and climate offenders.
One of the many pleasures of being in the UK this summer was seeing that 99% of all vehicles are small.
Back home and seeing these Ford Exploders and Cadillac Escalators bulging out of parking spots makes me sick.
How can anyone speak with conviction about carbon taxes and environmental concerns and continue to build and sell these obscenities?
Here is the Times editorial.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Ladner vs. Robertson
Congratulations to Gregor Robertson and condolances to Raymond Louie.
Robertson will now lead the Vision team into the coming civic election, and Louie will support him.
The Loud Senator has now backed two candidates who have failed his King Maker ambitions - first, Carole taylor, who wisely chose not to run, and then Al (Let me buy you a free breakfast and send you to vote on a fancy new bus) De Genova.
Hahahaha...
So it's Ladner vs. Robertson.
Hm. Your guess is as good as mine.
Meanwhile check out my new survey to the right of this page.
Should I run?
The Toxic Work Environment
Headline: "Public Sector Workplace Toxic."
OK.
Depressions, disability claims and absences abound.
Absence and disability claims will happen when they are put into the equation. People will stay home and have mythic problems for the same reason that a dog licks himself - because they can.
In the private sector, these problems also exist but to a much smaller degree, because performance and results are the issue, not rule 175B-11a-minor.
And the biggest single issue in work environments - and one that is rarely discussed or understood - is power.
Especially how individuals use and usurp and misuse power.
Watch a receptionist, who should be warmly greeting people, turn her little desk fiefdom into WWIII.
Nobody is Nuttier tha the Shrinks
Psychiatry has a lot to answer for.
In its latest foray into mental health...
A three-year old child has her throat cut and a pillow put over her head right here in BC in 2001.
The murderer is her foster father, who twice had told doctors that he planned to cut the girl's throat and put a pillow over her head.
A doctor signed off on this murderer's foster parent report because he was assured by a psychiatrist that "THE DIAGNOSIS WAS MORE IN KEEPING WITH AN ADJUSTMENT DISORDER AND ANXIETY."
In spite of this hideous, irresponsible and deadly performance, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, who rarely find anything wrong with any of their peers (but are very good about keeping foreign doctors from qualifying as doctors here in doctor-starved BC), found that no physician or agency was responsible for this tragedy.
To add to the butt-covering, the Ministry of Children and Families, so ably mis-managed by the bumbling Tom Christensen, only took 7 years to deal with this case.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Alex on CTV Website
Our friend, Alex Tsakumis, whose Friday editorial in 24 Hours is often reprinted here, has a new gig.
He is now writing editorials as well for the CTVBC website. His pieces are called "Front and Centre" and you can find them easily enough here.
This week he offers his goodbyes to a certain mayor...
Tiget Burning Bright
You needn't be a golfer or a golf fan to have appreciated what Tiger Woods did yesterday at the US Open at Torry Pines in La Jolla, California.
He has just come off his umpteenth knee surgery and the here, on the third day of a major, all the ice in the world was not going to help ease the pain each time he created that massive torque on one of his patented 360 yard drives. Or worse, on one of those 200 yarders out of the rough to a green on a second shot.
In the game throughout, trailing off and on by a shot or 3 shots, on the 13th hole, a par five, Woods sent an enormously long putt way off to the right and watched it turn at exactly the right moment and drop in clean for an eagle.
He, the crowd, the NBC announcers and, I suspect, everyone at home and in every sports bar, went insane! I certainly did. It was just one of those moments of pure sports magic - Borg down the line, Brady to Moss, Michael to the hoop.
Then, trailing by one to Lee Westwood, already in the clubhouse at 2 under, Tiger repeats at the 18th, curling yet another lengthy putt in for his second eagle in 5 holes.
Even my friend, Yan Min, who is not only not a golfer, but barely understands the rules let alone the subtleties of the game, was screaming.
The final round starts today at noon on NBC.
Do what I do. Tape the whole six hours, go out and enjoy a rare sunny day, and then, in the evening enjoy this classic by racing through the commercials and the coverage of all the also-rans.
If Tiger actually wins this sucker - and he has always won when leading after 54 holes - it will truly be one for the ages.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Slippery Slope of Sam
"Character is destiny."
Frances Bula's full page piece in the Sun today - THE ANATOMY OF SAM SULLIVAN'S DOWNFALL - makes excellent newspaper reading.
It is unnecessarily kind and it avoids the central issue.
Sullivan has famously said that he wants to stomp on his opponent's throats. Well he deserves an equal post mortem.
One of my friends who has known Sullivan for over 30 years says this.
"Sam is a case of arrested development. He is a bitterly angry teen-ager who stopped growing emotionally when he had his skiing accident at the age of 19. He is not only totally self-absorbed, he is utterly disrespectful of others with differing opinions."
I can tell you personally that on two occasions, one private and one very public, Sullivan infuriated me with his lunatic and destructive ideas on "helping" drug addicts and I started hollering at him. You know what his reactions were in both instances?
He was smiling broadly.
He loves to get you in any way he can.
And that is the single reason why he was the worst mayor in Vancouver history, and why any Ladner, Louie or Robertson will be an automatic improvement.
Transit Woes and Transit Goes
My post herein of Wednesday, June 11th, called "Fueling the Madness," has got quite a nice debate going, with 12 comments to date.
A great follow-up is today's Sun column by Bob Ransford titled, "Not All Transit makes Sense."
Ransford argues for grade-level trams. He is right.
Read it and be glad that someone in the media is saying what must be said.
Pictured above is Dublin's terric LUAS system.
Look Ahead and Work for Real Goals
Continuin the theme from yesterday's "Indian Affairs" and Thursday's "The Apology,"
Take note of the excellent article in the Sun's business section on Harry Cook, former Indian Band Chief at Lac La Ronge, Sask.
Cook urges young people to leave the reserve, move to the city, work and study and learn how the world works.
Then, if they want to return, they will do so with drive, energy and knowledge. He should know. His band employees hundreds of aboriginals and non-aboriginals in a broad range of highly successful businesses.
This is one of the best, most sensible and encouraging pieces I've read in a very long time on the future of natives.
And it is in stark contrast to the much higher profiled, emotional drivel to be found in Douglas Todd's full page babel about drumming and healing.
Still Safe to Buy your Tincture of Saw Palmetto
Federal Health Minister Tony Clement has wisely backed down on his original plan to over-regulate natural health products.
Swamped by concerned citizens and industry spokesmen, Clement recognized that it was entirely unreasonable to classify Vitamin C or Echinacea as either a "food" or a "drug."
Aside from the onerous Big Brother quality of the original plan, what was so ludicrous was this: There has not been ONE, not ONE recorded incident of death or anything remotely close happening to anyone in this broad country as a result of some hocus pocus they took from their local Finlandia.
Contrast that simple fact to this morning's headline story in the NY Times - Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says. Read that item here and weep.
Congratulations to the natural health products folk who stood way up and barked very loudly and to Clement who actually listened.
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