Pam in China

When I was in China we visited the BC Pavillion. We arrived at 4:00 in the
afternoon and we were told they would soon be closing and it was too late
for us to see the exhibit.

We were disappointed but came back the next day, paid the entrance fee of
30 Yuan and went through the exhibit. I think it takes all of about 10 minutes at
the most to go through the exhibit! We were mad they had not let us in the
previous day!

There are three mounties and about fifteen staff - all with nothing to do! It is not
nearly as well attended as they thought it would be. I asked where the Whistler
water was and was told it was in the back for the staff!!!!! I had heard there was
supposed to be a bottle of Whistler water for each visitor???

The display was kind of boring and typical with lots of photographs on the walls.
There is the tree from Stanley Park which is great for a photo-op.
At the end there was an interesting interactive station that takes one on a flight
over BC. I thought the best part was the miniature Bay store complete with Bay
blankets and Olympic products.

So nice to see our tax dollars at work in Beijing!

RCMP to the Showers Please

The mess that resulted in a multi-million dollar case against the Hell's Angels being thrown out of court before it got there should be called Operation Inadequate.

The real name was Project Phoenix and as near as we can tell it is Clouzeauvian in its ineptitude, approaching near comedy status.

Every kettle in the deal calling every pot black.

The RCMP has been a walking disaster for far too many years now.

Will someone in government ever tackle this file? Will we get police in this country that are capable of cooperating on anything? Will provincial police rise again?

Stay tuned for these and other melodramas while crime continues unabated in your hood.

lol

45.4 million text messages a day in Canada.

Let me guarantee you that 44 million of those are sent by people under the age of 24.

43 million say something like, " class so boring!!! CU @ 'bucks, order me a machiatto."

Which is oddly enough not unlike the millions of terribly important cell calls that are made every day by people yelling into their chest cavities in front of vegetable stands, walking down the street and the hallways of colleges.

Here's my idea.

National Shut the Fuck Up Day.

This would be every Sunday or Thursday.

Which, in the interests of Harmony on Earth, Rogers and Bell and Telus and Fido would all agree to close down all services once a week.

You're familiar with TGIF.

Try TGIQ - Thank God It's Quiet.

As for the telcoms charging for incoming text messages, including absolutely unasked for garbage, who didn't see that coming?

Cloud Roamer

The new tree-top walk at UBC looks great, doesn't it?

I can't wait to try it out.

If I like it, I may move in.

Bob Ackles

Often when a public figure dies, the tributes pour in and we have a struggle recognizing the man we knew.

But in this case, all the accolades and tears and words of kindness and praise are deserving.

Bob Ackles was a decent, hard-working soul. He was smart and knowledgeable and a great team builder.

Our condolences to his family for their great and sudden loss. Bob was a good man and we will be diminished a notch or two without him.

Cruising for a Bruising

What no one is saying as yet is that Federer lost the match midway through the second set.

Yes, he started out without his great serve and was broken early in the first set and thus lost that opener.

But in the second, he came out beautifully. Aggressive and brilliant, he hit ace after ace, rushing the net to put away volleys and quickly went up 4-1.

Then, he did that one flaw Federer thing - he started cruising again.

Against Nadal?

Don't think so, Roger.

In a blink, the 4-1 lead became a second set loss at 4-6 and he was down 2 sets.

Not to take away from Federer's monumental and thrilling comeback taking the next two sets in nail-biting tiebreakers.

And then...and then...well, between rain delays and only setting the tape at 6 hours...I was out of tennis match at 2 games all in the fifth and had to turn to the computer to Wimbledon.org and NBCSports. com to see the rest.

A great, great classic.

Federer is great and Nadal is scary awesome wonderful.

Pas de Post aujourd'hui...

Parce que...

If I open my computer Sunday morning, no doubt the NY Times will have a helpful update telling me that either Federer or Nadal has won the Wimbledon Men's Final.

Probably Nadal, he ventured timorously from behind the rose bush.

And I don't want to know that because I am taping the thing and I won't watch it until the early evening.

Which means I will spend the entire day doing everything I can to stay away from radios, sports bars, newspaper boxes and idle coffee chatter, so that I can completely torture myself with the exquisite requisite ignorance required for this exercise in delayed pleasure.

Note how almost anything in life, including watching sports, can easily be converted to sex. Don't even get me started about all the guys I know who have never hot a tennis ball who are watching Sharapova matches every chance they get.

See you Monday.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Alex Loves the Carbuncle Tax... NOT!":

Another Bravo! for Alex...and, talking of Michael vis a vis the possibility of Premier Carole James...

One of Michael's oft-repeated axioms is that, "In good times, people should pay off their debts so that they can better weather the downturns."

So what do the Campbell Liberals do? After falsely claiming that the NDP had not balanced its final budget (BC's Auditor-General said otherwise), after figuratively giving the Trudeau finger to the 2-member Official Opposition, and after pocketing the $800-million in transfer payments left behind by the NDP, they promptly slapped more than $1 billion on the tab, in the name of "giving" us a tax rebate.

Since then, the provincial debt has been upped on a regular basis -easier to balance their cheque-book when you buy your stuff on credit.

Were it not for the wisely-departing Carole Taylor, and were it not for the fact that, until recently, the economic outlook was generally positive (without any help from BC's newly-minted paper economy), it's unlikely Gordon C. would have, or could have, made a payment on the outstanding bills.

Now we come to Premier Carole... does she really want the job for her Party - want it, that is, just at the point that the Canadian economy is moving naturally toward a cyclical downturn - aided and abetted by Bush-land South of the 49th?

Can you hear El Gordo's rant from the Opposition benches already?...

"We created Heaven, the Heartland and the Best Place on Earth and the NDP are destroying it all!" No word of BC Rail; no word about the pile-on debt; no word about bankrupting small businesses on Cambie, or organic blueberry farms in Pitt Meadows. No word about ignoring the Pine Beetle and 25,000lost forestry jobs. No word about Families and Children; no word about closing mental health and long-term care beds; no word about giving away BC Hydro/BC Gas; no word about taking land out of the ALR, or turning forest tenures into real estate developments; no word about email-shredding lobbyists; no word about... your turn, Alex - I'm tired...

The BC Liberals appear never to have heard the adage: "The true measure of a community can be taken by the way in which it treats its most vulnerable citizens."

By that measure, history may well judge the 2001-2009 regime to be the very worst British Columbia has ever endured.

Years ago, Michael Campbell was asked to stand for office - more than once. His reply? Something to the effect: "Never. I detest politics."

Liz J.

Picture Me

Always the studied self-portraitist, Sam Sullivan is now presented himself as a stoic believer in Christianity and materialism.

Or so Douglas Todd would have us believe.

Of course, Douglas Todd is very big on belief and would have us believe many things, especially Christianity.

But, I'm a Jew, Doug. Is that OK?

For a much more accurate picture of the defeated mayor, read Allan Garr's column in yesterday's Courier.

GAY ARCHES

As soon as I hear a group spouting "family values," I put on my flak jacket.

I learned long ago to translate "family values" into gay-hating.

One rarely hears from such enlightened souls a word about having dinner every night with your children or modelling behaviour that is righteous or any other helpful guidance about maintaining a healthy family.

No.

What such groups head swiftly towards is their trashing of gays and lesbians. This is an ancient technique called "bait and switch."

The American Family Association (AFA) has begun a boycott against McDonald's because the burger giant had the gall and temerity to join the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

This action is so rife with ironies and comedy potential one scarcely knows where to begin.

A McDonald's spokesman says, "Hatred has no place in our culture. That includes McDonald's and we stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment."

Bravo!

Recently, the AFA ended its 2-year boycott of Ford after Ford stopped advertising Volvo, Jag and Land Rover in gay media.

That's attractive.

Of course, the AFA and all the other gay-bashing "Family" associations and groups have a right to their noxious opinions. As do I. As do you.

The AFA as been fighting Walt Disney Co. for its "embrace of the homosexual lifestyle."

Hahahaha...

Maybe I missed this. Has Mickey been trying on Minnie's red shoes when she's out shopping?

I await the day these tiny minds actually begin promoting families and stop their relentless campaigns of hatred towards people who just happen to not be like them.

Remember, folks. The people who hate you because you are gay, will hate you because you are red-headed or Oriental or monkfish.

Billy Strayhorn

Billy Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was a musical genius. A composer, pianist and arranger, he wrote "Take the A-Train" when he was about 18 years old and had just arrived in New York City.

His relationship with Duke Ellington was complex. Ellington clearly loved this man as a brother and a son and a collaborator, but very often gave Strayhorn little or no credit for his work.

Strayhorn was gay, black and alcoholic. Tough combination. He was also loved by pretty much anyone who ever met him. Lena Horne insists that Strayhorn taught her how to sing.

I strongly recommend the Strayhorn Biography by David Hajdu. It is a terrific read.

No doubt the family values folk would have had him swinging from a tree.

Billy Strayhorn

David Oïstrahk, Mstislav Rostropovitch / double de Brahms

Alex Loves the Carbuncle Tax... NOT!

OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER--FROM A FRIEND

Dear Gordon:

I know what you’re thinking…here’s Alex again trying to tell me how to do my job…

Well, it seems that you’re having some problems, notwithstanding a twelve point lead in the polls that could easily evaporate by next year, so, I thought, being the generous fellow I am, I’d pitch in and offer some advice. After all, you won’t answer specific questions about your pals Ken Dobell, Pat Kinsella and Mark Jiles; and refuse to address easily answerable questions regarding the Basi-Virk trial; dismiss the very serious problems over at the Ministry of Children and Families and largely disregard the press..

Ergo, let’s give you a hand…

I haven’t had to do this since your temporary insanity over giving away the Musqueam Golf Course, but, more to the point…this Carbon Tax of yours is sheer lunacy.

While China and the United States continue to spew unending streams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, you, apparently, rather than pushing for real solutions through massive technological advance want, instead, to punish the hardest working British Columbians for the eco-crimes of major world polluters, who hide behind several layers of bureaucrats, and incomprehensible, self-serving rhetoric. It’s similar to the way you have protected larger industrial polluters in this province from environmental accountability.

What you are doing with this ridiculous ‘B.C. Carbon Tax’ is a kin to sending a jaywalker to death row because a given murderer had a magnificent lawyer. Worse yet, it puts you in the company of some of the greatest buffoons and hypocrites in the climate change cauldron of alarmists: Al Gore, Stephane Dion, David Suzuki, Elizabeth May. God help you, Premier!

China, the world’s biggest C02 emitter, builds a coal-burning plant every six days (you should know, BC sells China huge reserves of coal every year) and the Chinese people purchase 20,000 cars per day. The good ‘ole Excited States of Amnesia boasts roughly 5% of the world’s population but consume 30% of the world’s resources. If our entire country adopted the intellectually fraudulent Kyoto Protocol and achieved the fantasy targets, we could only accomplish such a miracle by shutting down every plane, train, automobile, home and office building—for seven years straight, and even then our contribution to reducing global C02 levels would be negligible.

I was astonished to read those nuggets of wisdom two years ago. You might know the columnist. His name is Michael Campbell (he’s always been one of my favorites, but don’t tell anybody).

Forget that crude prices are nudging $150 per barrel, ignore that we are looking as if we will become bridesmaid to America’s-Next-Top-Economic-Crisis, why the hell would you burden the working stiff in this province with yet another tax? We’re taxed to death in this country, having you pile on and mind-numbingly declare revenue neutrality, is, for lack of a better word, nuts. The $100 you sent me went into my gas tank—thanks by the way…would you like to bet that’s the way it was for a majority of BCers?

Up-province, they are already paying as much as 20% more in energy costs than those in the Lower Mainland and travel twice as far to get to work. What do you say, Gord, to the carpenter from Revelstoke, with a wife working a double-shift at a local diner, both of whom pay into a mortgage and car payments, and still find time to raise three kids? They’re lucky to meet each other once a day for half an hour on the downside of a marriage doomed. Believe me, they don’t need the additional hit at the pump, even if it cumulatively amounts to ‘only’ four bags of groceries per year.

But do you remember them?

These are the people that you promised to protect…and those few little words ‘BC Carbon Tax’ keep them awake at night almost as much as the next three words keep me awake at night…

PREMIER CAROLE JAMES.

I bet you’re sleeping just fine though Gord…

For now…

Would all the defenders of the carbon tax please get a life...

Joyce Murray won a by-election in Vancouver-Quadra not too long ago, after Stephen Owen jumped ship for a job at UBC.

She is now the Liberal member of Parliament for the district.

When she was running, she stopped me in the street and asked me if I was aware that there was an election. I told her that I was aware.

She asked if I would be voting Liberal. I said, "Not in this lifetime."

Murray has shown her tru colors by writing a short piece, which mysteriously was published on the op-ed page in the Sun.

She says, "Carbon Tax is Right Move for our Future."

How do people grow up to be such liars, fools and mountebanks?

Take this LIne, Please

Congratulations and full speed ahead to the plucky Tsawwassen residents who are doing everything they can - like parking their cars in the way - to block the construction of high-power lines through their neighbourhood.

The BC Transmission Corp, like most government agencies and offices, believes it has a god-given right to run roughshod over people.

May the good citizens of Tsawwassen show them otherwise.

Starving Your Own

I confess I had no idea how dreadful is the state of ordinary life in Mugabe's Zimbabe.

The headline in today's Sun business section trumpets $58 Billion for a Coke. And it is not a misprint.

The story is astonishing.

In the news section, the dance between the African Union, the UN and Mugabe continues at a very slow trot.

When will the UN become something true and real?

Go Cambie, Go!

The Cambie Village Business Association will officially launnch their lawsuit against Transclunk for the will ful and thoughtless damage done to their livelihoods.

I hope they succeed.

Welcome to Vancouver, Mr. Know-it-all, Never-been-here-before Plunderbus.

That only Looks LIke Heroin, Officer.

The Justice Train Wreck continues on its merry path here in La-la-land.

A mother and son, both with priors, both get off being caught red-handed with a lot of drugs at YVR.

The mother, blames the son for wrapping the presents and claiming she had no idea.

Then, the crown drops the proceedings against the son.

Read the entire comic book story in this morning's Province here.

Glenn Gould - Bach