Everything is Political - Even The Law

The Conservative government wants to toughen up crime legislation.

There are those among us who watch way too many movies and are convinced that this will result of thousand of more prisons and prisoners.

Some such have found their way into the Senate, who have changed several key elements in the government's new bill.

This is, of course, and for the next few minutes at least, a Liberal Senate so they must score political points while they can, spurious though those points may be.

The Red Chamber wants to remove the minimum six-month mandatory sentence for some drug crimes, including running a grow-op with 200 or fewer marijuana plants.

This, in spite of the clear fact that most grow-ops - even those with fewer than 200 plants - are illegal commercial enterprises aimed at selling Mary Jane to school kids, financed by criminal gangs and controlled by guns and violence.

Somehow, the chowder heads in Ottawa have to get over the fantasy of cute couples and their dog, Brewster, growing a few in Nelson, B.C. and playing folk songs.

Of course, the chamber is peopled with deep thinkers like Larry Campbell. Nuff said?

The Senate also wants the exemption of aboriginal offenders from mandatory minimum sentences.

This is the worst kind of muddle-headed sentimental non-thinking.

Do I get a pass from criminal prosecution if I am a Jew, Scot or Filipino?

Come on, kids.

Now, an amusing sidebar to this story is the one about the Liberal Senator who is:

a) under indictment for fraud and obstruction of justice, and

b) on leave from the Senate, but still drawing his considerable salary.

The fool's name is Raymond Lavigne and his crimes are too cheesy and pathetic to write about here when you can read the sordid little tale for yourself.

What is so entertaining and sad is that he had an assistant, a grown man, who would sort Lavigne's mail in the morning then, drive across the river to Quebec and cut down trees on a property to prepare it for a new house.

The assistant's quote is a classic:

"I would have jumped in front of a car for him."

For this loyalty, Daniel Cote was payed $55,000 a year.

And what?

Oral sex?

A quick snapshot of how your tax money is being so creatvely used day in and day out on the hill.

Request

Where do I get me one of these?

Candian Tire is all out.

I asked.

Smoke

The B.C. government is suing Big Tobacco for causing billions of dollars in health costs over the years.

Idiotic.

What now makes it worse is that the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled that the partner of Big Tobacco is the Federal Government.

So basically, the B.C. government is now suing the Federal Government and Bog Tobacco for billions of dollars.

Which means that if it wins its spurious but winnable case, we the taxpayers will be paying again.

The Lawyer and the Witch

For many people, these terms are synonymous and interchangeable, I know.

But in this particular and hysterically funny case, a Toronto Lawyer has been bilked out of many a fine dollar by a woman who "posed" as a witch.

Now, I realize that fraud is a legitimate criminal charge.

But can anyone really be "guilty" of being a witch, or "posing" therein.

Dare we count the many, many witches with whom we interact almost daily?

And the dozens who proudly claim their witchiness or wiccadom or whatever it may be.

Let us not bring back to mind the countless homes we've visited only to find the hair of a dog, leg of a frog and eye of a newt quietly simmering on the kitchen stove.

How else do you think we developed our well-known skills as a fine runner?

Now, the best part of this true-life story is where the writer tells us about how the lawyer and the witch first met and he "started to mentor her."

He mentored her to the tune of about a hundred grand in the first year.

Of course, many a fellow throughout history has been known to mentor many a gal for less.

Whisperers Speaking Up

Diplomats are not generally known for being...well...not to be too tautological about it...undiplomatic.

So the sight of Canadian diplomats in great numbers (35-50) joining a massive conga line in protest against their own government is noteworthy.

These formerly quiet, discrete servants of the powers that be are nailing Peter MacKay for his public attacks on whistle-blower Richard Colvin in the detainees-abuse matter.

Amidst cries for his resignation - which I suspect MacKay will ignore - the Defense Minister has changed his tune and admitted that torture may have been possible.

Really?

Oh, by the way.

Knowingly transferring a prisoner to torture or abuse is a Geneva-Conventions-grade war crime.

If we have been engaged in such, perhpas we might want to re-think what we are doing in Afghanistan and other hot spots where we are similarly engaged.

Life on the Street

Last week, old friends of mine, who run a well-known late-night cafe told me that their yearly property taxes are now $70,000.

Yesterday, the dry cleaning lady in my neighbourhood told me that when the 12% HST soon cuts in, she doesn't know how she will continue.

Good Parenting Award

“It was not my job to put my son under arrest and take him to the police station.”

Even though Ken Brotherston Jr. had a warrant out for his arrest at the time of Mr. Taylor's death, Mr. Brotherston admitted allowing his son to live in the family home.

Mr. Brotherston also admitted buying Ken Jr. drinks at a Bear Mountain pub just prior to the attack, despite knowing that the terms of his son's parole prohibited Ken Jr. from drinking or going to bars.

Ken Brotherston Sr., a former B.C. Councillor, along with his two sons, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of a drug dealer

Too Tall

The beauties of Venice are almost entirely man-made, including the very fact of the city itself, resting atop millions of timbers buried in the mud.

Above ground and water are palaces and paintings beyond price.

Little of the attraction of Vancouver is man-made. Our blessings here have always been nothing more arcane than the mountains and the water.

But our enlightened new City Planner has a different vision.

Brent Toderian says he will be proposing that the city allow four new extra-tall buildings on its skyline, including one with a potential height of 700 feet.

Thanks, Brent.

What are we, Dubai?

We need 700 foot towers in Vancouver so more bureaucrats can spend more of our tax money pushing paper on floor 69? Or more drug dealers can shoot each other in more apartments on floor 81?

Has anyone pinched Brent lately?

He needs to wake from his slumber.

Deadly Help from your Friendly Doctor

Gerry Verrier, senior program manager at Manitoba's Behavioural Health Foundation alerted me yesterday to this piece in the Globe.

Overdose deaths from painkillers skyrocketing in Ontario: report

OxyContin (80mg) pills photographed at a pharmacy in Toronto, Ont. Jan. 26/2005. The Globe and Mail

Ontario study says painkillers causing twice the number of overdose deaths they were two decades ago; most dying got prescriptions, saw doctors

Read this article and be advised.

The War Comes Home

The following arrived via email last night from our good friend, Victor:


My nephew, a 22 year old Marine based in San Diego, got his orders on
Saturday to deploy to Afghanistan on Boxing Day. He is a young
father. Merry Christmas. He is in a battle unit. He will be there 8
months. But when you're a Marine in Insaneastan, you work 7 days a
week, Add to that pre-deployment training and post-deployment re-
orientation, what it means is this young man will give a year.

We, our family, expected this ever since the "President Who Can Do No
Wrong" (with all the "o's" in that title, I'll just all him Poodoo)
announced that he was ramping up the "War That Makes No Sense" ( we'll
call it WAMS).

One could take consolation that it will be a brief war, because Poodoo
wants all the soldiers home in time for his pre-election campaign in
2011. Poodoo is a man of resolve. He is resolved to be re-elected.

But although it will be a brief war ( if you believe that, you're
NASCAR stupid) it will be a horrid war because Poodoo wants results in
18 months. He has a victory speech on his 2011 teleprompter already,
don't you see? So he will command every sacrifice of young soldiers to
win an 18th month war.

America will have 80,000 soldiers in Insaneastan after this
deployment. The Russians had 100,000 soldiers there. They didn't build
schools, hospitals or roads. They didn't hand out candy or teach kids
to play hockey. They bombed the supreme shit out of the country and
left in defeat. The Russian soldiers were not constrained by an
election date. They lost and the wives and mothers in Moscow demanded
that they come home. The Kremlin listened.

I will leave a note for Santa, asking him to bring a soldier home.

Trial by Sentiment

Have you been following the bizarre case of Amanda Knox?

Knox is a young American student, who has been found guilty and sentenced to 26 years in prison in Perugia, Italy for the brutal sex game killing of her roommate, Meredith Kercher.

What has made this case so strange is the almost universal reaction of the American media.

CNN has been all over it and Larry King had Knox's parents on his show last night. I didn't watch.

The central message seems to be, "Amanda must be innocent because she's American!"

My take, based on nothing more than watching a few news reports last week?

She's guilty as sin.

Grinning idiotically and mugging for the cameras...Puleeeze.

But you should see all the smart American commentators and lawyers basically claiming that a lovely blond haired blue eyed American princess could never do something like this.

Are you kidding?

Feeding Frenzy

This list is typical of every newspaper in the world this morning:

• Tiger's alleged affairs now stand at 10
• Trooper suspected Tiger Woods was driving under the influence
• Wife of Tiger Woods has moved out of home, report says
• Tiger to pay price to keep wife, secrets
• Video: Tiger sins, sponsors so far forgive
• Video: Woods still mum about accident
• Woods frequently out of bounds: tabloids
• Gallery: Tiger's damaged SUV
• More stories on Tiger Woods

Now Oprah wants him on her show.

Positively ghoulish.

Art Theft

There are two imposters pretending to be art that invariably send me out the door screaming.

Both of these "forms are hustles and con jobs and it is always amazing how the glitterati continue to fall for these scams.

The first is anything that calls itself "Video Art."

I don't believe in such a critter.

Television came to our house with Ed Sullivan and the World Series when I was about 12.

It has changed and grown, but it is still what it has always been - an amusement box.

This morning as I surface the first 57 cable channels while waiting for Computer Boy to warm hisself up, I found 53 commercials and some other mindless odds-and-sods.

From this, you want to show me something clever sitting at the end of a room in an art gallery and call it art?

No. I don't think so.

The second Leopard with stripes in the Emperor's New Clothing World of Art is called "Installation Art."

My all-time favorite experience with this abortion happened a few years ago in the San Fransisco MOMA, or Museum of Modern Art.

Beautiful building, great cafe and some not bad art, scattered here and there.

At one point I entered a very spacious, round room filled with people.

Quiet people.

Silent people.

They were gathered in a circle and they were all staring I would say religiously, reverently at something in the middle of their circle.

The "something" of their devotion was a circle of poodles.

Black wool plush hand-made toy poodle dogs, each standing about two and a half feet tall.

The poodles were in circles themselves about 10 deep, all staring blank button-eyed at something special in the empty centre of the circle.

Lying on the floor in the middle of the room, in the centre of the many circles of toy poodle dogs and adoring guests was a very cheap, very ugly toy dolly.

She looked like she cost about $3.95.

I looked at this macabre scene for a moment, wondered briefly if the drones-disguised-as-human-beings had also been placed there for my special amusement and then...

Then, I burst out laughing shattering the observant silence like crystal.

I roared.

I laughed and laughed and then said very loudly on exit, "You folks have got to be kidding!"

I mention all of this because we here in Vancouver have now been blessed with a very pricey piece of public "installation art."

Here is the description taken from yesterday's Globe:

"Public art can be high-minded and it can simply be, well, high. Vancouver's newest work of public art - to be unveiled tomorrow - spans 16 floors of the not-yet-open Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, starting on the fifth floor (which is actually the fourth). Created by internationally renowned British artist Liam Gillick, the text-based work wraps around parts of the south and east-facing exterior, rising to the 22nd floor. On each floor the title of the work is spelled out in 60-centimetre-high stainless steel letters: Lying on top of a building the clouds looked no nearer than when I was lying on the street. There are no spaces between the words."

Now, why should you arr I care about this silliness?

Here's why we should care a lot:

"The $1-million installation is part of Vancouver's public-art program."

Dare we count the urgent needs that have been de-funded and underfunded and never funded at all here in this perfect of all worlds?

Do you understand that some very powerful and very obscure mandarin at City Hall has recommended this obscene waste of taxpayers' money and that some elected officials have bought into it?

Oh, yes.

Those of us who see through this sham will be hailed loudly as boors and philistines.

So be it.

This is a crime.

Can no one stop it or punish the guilty?

Balance Please

In a nicely balanced editorial, the Globe has captured the frustration that many Canadians feel about the courts hamstringing the police.

It seems an almost daily occurrence that the police will nab some fool with guns and/or drugs and then be told that they had no business even questioning, let alone arresting the crook.

Due process and protection of privacy, yes.

But giving the bad guys a pass on the most spurious and arcane reasoning, no.

Quote of the Day

Forty-year old quarterback Brett Favre, asked if he felt his joining the Minnisota Vikings team after a legendary run with the Green Bay Packers had caused a "schism," replied,

"You know after I quit drinking about 10 years ago, I took up cross word puzzles and now I do them every day."

Good Morning

If you're reading this, you are probably not homeless and very, very cold.

That's Gratitude #1.

If you're reading this, you're probably not Barack Obama or Tiger Woods, so you don't have to deal with the weight of the entire world or what may feel like the weight of the entire world.

G2.

If you're reading this from almost anywhere in Canada, you may have noticed the great absence of mortal shells, skuds or other flying materiel.

G3.

If in Vancouver, it is a sunny, sunny morning, some flowers are still in bloom, some Christmas cacti are already showing the red, some hardy birds are still fluttering about and two or three of the NFL games today are really worth watching.

G4.

Then there's 1001 coffee shops with great espresso and not-too-fattening munchies, beaches to stroll and hills to climb, if strolling and beaches are still in your repertoire.

Your eyes and/or your glasses are apparently working, and if you listen to The Stones in a minute, so are your ears.

Gratitudes 5 through 9.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Brilliant Comment Deserves Own Post

I am very lucky to live in co-op housing. We pay less than $1200 per month for a three bedroom townhome (near schools, parks and amenities) plus utilities. The city property tax is included in our housing charge.

This co-op was partially financed through funding from the CHMC around 30 years ago (in the early 1980'). It has provided safe, affordable housing and a community of mixed incomes (from subsidized members paying 30% of their gross income to working and lower professional classes paying the regular rate - which is still much lower than true market rates).

The members of our co-op are a stable bunch. We know each other and participate in our own community and the community at large.

This is in stark contrast to most townhomes/condos where there are so many units sitting empty (pied de terres for out-of-towners and speculative buys for property investors).

There are members who have young children who were young children living here with their own parents when the co-op was first opened. How is that for a stable neighbourhood!!

As we are paying hundreds of dollars less per month than we would on either market rents or the high costs of regular home ownership - we have more money to spend to stimulate the economy or invest for our retirements or children's higher education.

Keep in mind - this is not "social housing" in the sense that it is only for low income. This co-op is made of a mix of people - the way a healthy neighbourhood SHOULD be. Most members pay full price for their units and others have degrees of subsidy - depending on their individual circumstances. We manage our own property and stay within budget each year.

There needs to be more of this type of housing in Vancouver so that singles, families and seniors can live, work and participate in the city. With more affordable housing options. It is horrifying to hear of working people having to avail themselves of shelters and other emergency housing because of the dismal lack of options.

Hot...Beautiful

Where We Are Going

Just in case you were wondering...

Diane Finley, posing these days as Human Resources Minister in the Harper Federal Government, has cleared the air.

"By no means are we getting back into the housing business."

Oh, that's nice.

Like we hadn't noticed, Di.

Let's get clear about a few things.

For a great many years, CMHC funded social housing in a wide variety of useful and creative ways.

Those days evaporated about 30 years ago.

Notice the rise in homelessness, did you?

There is no single bigger cause than this withdrawal of basic funding.

Now, the current administration has committed $5-billion over the next five years to provide shelter to the needy, and that is a good thing.

But then?

Perhaps I am not making myself clear on this issue.

I believe the federal Government has the crucial and central role in social housing. I believe we have a moral responsibility in this matter.

It is disgusting to me to hear an elected representative denounce this obligation from on high.

May her brother, aunt or neighbour never find himself in need.

Fact of the Day

Google's revenues surpass the revenues of the four major US TV networks combined...

and ALL of the advertising revenues of the entire US magazine industry.