UNCIVIL

An editorial in the Vancouver Sun this morning contains disturbing information.

In the wonderful world of hate crimes, nobody is more targeted more often than Jews.

There are only about 300,000 of us in all of Canada.

Less than one per cent of the Canadian population.

Were the 25th ethnic group out of 25.

Yet we suffer more hate crimes than blacks, gays, Muslims and presumably alley cats put together.

I have a neighbor who is a wonderful old man. Much accomplished and very creative.

I've always been very fond of him.

Until about a year and a half ago when he told me about what "the Hebrews are doing to the Palestinians."

The Hebrews.

It wasn't since I was a kid in the north end of Winnipeg that I heard the phrase, "dirty Hebe."

I told my neighbor that I was shocked by his comment and that this expression showed an appalling ignorance of many things, including history, ancient and modern.

I can barely say Hello these days as I pass him in the street.

And the numbers of hate crimes against all peoples and groups is on the rise.

ALMOST JUSTICE

We really have our eyes on the prize here in BC.

We spend millions of fabulous new court rooms. Good.

But the, oops, we cut the budget for police to supervise the trails that are supposed to take place in these fancy new court rooms. Not so good.

34 sheriff positions have been cut.

Result?

No trials can be held.

Back logs.

Bad guys waiting trial.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

But why spend money on justice when you can build a new stadium roof or a big dam that nobody wants?

LITTLE MOUNTAIN IS A SCANDAL

I've got an idea.

Let's displace 220 families from inexpensive social housing they've enjoyed for many years.

We can sell the property to someone in Asia (a favorite Vancouver past time), have them screw up and not get along with the city and choke on some other grandiose downtown projects and then have the property city empty for years on end afterwards.

Won't that be fun?

And helpful?

And humane and considerate of poor people.

Jeff Lee has chronicled exactly this little local nightmare in this morning's piece of the Little Mountain debacle, which could easily outrun the Olympic Village for incompetence and idiocy except that it's not as sexy and chichi.

This project is so off the map that,three years after almost everyone was booted, plans for the site have yet to be drawn.

Nice planning.

Now, this story will not hold the public's attention because it is not about waterfront condos.

And that's a tragedy.

SO FINE...

Pea and Shell Game

BC Federation of Labour President, Jim Sinclair has nailed it.

The HST can't be fixed.

And all the taxpayer money aimed at PR campaigns to convince us that it can is nonsense and misuse of public funds.

Look at this photo.

3 salesmen 3

Snake oil, anyone?

Bull's Eye

Madame Families First has inherited the highest poverty rate in the country.

Does she have a plan?

Not that we've heard.

Targets? Goals?

Yes, she's increased the minimum wage. Good start.

And?

And?

INSIDE JOB

Psychopaths abound.

It's not exactly that they are everywhere, butt if you count the middle-aged Caucasian women who park vans in handicapped spots (It's just for minute!) and the people who drive the wrong way down one way streets, their numbers are considerable.

Now, we have the local police officer whose hobby was nurturing the homeless to be his personal agents in his thriving Mary Jane biz.

Can you get much lower than this?

And what happened to the psych profile at the entrance exam?

"When a police officer engages in the kind of outrageous criminal conduct that Peter Hodson (pictured above) displayed, the damage to public confidence and the hard-won reputation of the VPD is incalculable," Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu said. "In violating his oath of office, Peter Hodson betrayed himself, his colleagues and the public in the most shameful way."

GNAWING HUNGER

Tomorrow, May 31st, is my son's birthday.

I know that.

What I didn't know until this morning is that tomorrow is also "Lunch Money Day" in Greater Vancouver.

The Food Bank is asking us to donate our lunch money to help feed over 10,000 children who go to schools on empty stomachs.

In Greater Vancouver.

Or Lesser Vancouver.

10,000 of our local children are going to school without proper nourishment.

Not in Rwanda, Haiti or Watts.

But in the "most liveable city in the world."

Tell you what I'd like to do.

I'd like to elect a government that uses my taxes to feed these kids.

At $5 a pop times 5 days a week times 40 school weeks, that's $10 Million.

You have my vote, Mrs. "Families First."

As we say in the running shoe business, "Just do it."

SMARM

The Smart Tax Alliance sends me at least one email a day.

They are doing everything humanly possible to tell me that the HST, like cough syrup, is good for me.

I wrote them back this morning.

This is what I said.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

CANADA CAPTURES THE EU

THE CASE OF TTHE SMILING RICTUS

The Stonewall Opaque Missing Women Inquiry is a shameful masquerade.

It's ultimate purpose is to learn nothing, but say, "We tried."

The DTES Womens Centre, prostitutes and Aboriginal groups have no voice at this paper table.

Warm and Wonderful Wally says he has no control over how much money is spent.

He was the perfect appointee for this sham.

He and Attorney-General Barry Penner bat the birdie back and forth over the net, shrug their shoulders and all that is lost if the truth.

What a perfect pair of vaudevillians.

The Power of Social Media on Public Policy

Follow the Money

The CUTE premier (part of the Bobbsy Twin set with the CUTE mayor) repeats and repeats in our ear that she is all about "families first."

I mean, gosh, this is the "families first" province. (The Reverend Dobson must be thrilled.)

But check out the reality, please.

ON the one hand,

B.C. presses ahead with controversial hydro dam despite $2-billion jump in cost

In 2006, this boondoggle was set in stone at $3.2 Billion.

Today, the tag is $7.9 Billion.

And let's not even get into the environmental and conservation issues.

ON the other hand,

The Vancouver Children's Festival, which has been a delightful part of community life here for 30+ years now, is suffering a $140,000 deficit.

That's right.

$140,000.

That's not even lunch money for either the city of provincial government.

It's a coffee break.

Will Gregor or Patty Cakes please step up to the plate and clean up this tiny milk spill?

Come on, Cutesies, show us where the money and the priorities are.

Families, my ass.

Small Good News

Please note that the video shown below of our most recent SHAW TV show is now available in one single 30-minute piece, thanks to YouTube extending their bandwidth.

This conversation with Peter Ladner is controversial.

It's a good one.

Cheers.

RESTRICT FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF LOCAL PROPERTY?

SMILES WILL FOOL ALMOST EVERYONE

So Christy Palin squeaks out a win in last week's bi-election.

That is, voters, taxpayers, citizens in a district say, "OK, we're witch ya kiddo. We're bettin' the farm on you."

Moments later, the champagne scarcely dry on her hair, the Squeak-By Premier shares her inner thoughts with us.

"Oh, you know, I'm thinking maybe in the general election which I will soon call I'll run in a different district. One where I'm pretty well guaranteed a walk-in. One where I don't have to be a Barrista-for-a-Day or actually participate in open debates."

Can you say, "Turncoat, Boys & Girls?"

Can you say, "Cheesy?"

Can you say, "Frightened, running blind and ambivalent?"

How about just NOT FIT TO GOVERN.

OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES

CLEVER...BUT WISE?

Christy Clark is a very clever politician.

She is a populist and plays to her crowd like a liquor store busker.

Her final comment on her squeaker victory last night was a boisterous reference to - guess who? - a certain local hockey team.

Her cheesy stunt during the mini-election here in Pt. Grey smacked of arrogance, ignorance and delusions of royalty.

Clark, like a method actor doing research, became for an hour or two a waitress and an elevator operator and a shoe shine boy.

Before I began my real working life at the age of 24, I had 30 different jobs. I counted them up. 30.

I was 15 different kinds of salesman - from toys and men's clothes at The Bay to door-to-door encyclopedias. I was an accountants clerk, a taxi driver and dispatcher, a teacher, a caddy and I poured cement and made hamburgers (although not at the same time, in spite of the registered complaints.)

By the time you reach the age of political life, shouldn't you have gathered some life experience? Shouldn't you have held some miserable jobs and learned how to survive awful bosses and demanding customers? Isn't that what we used to call "growing up?"

Apparently not.

Apparently, one smiles ones way into power or office and then, in a showy tribute to one's isolation and distance from everybody else, one dashes out with camera troops in tow to sling a bit of hash and wash a dish or two.

Yes, Clark is a clever politician.

But is she a good and wise governor?

To give her credit, she has already surprised us all with a few good moves - like raising the minimum wage.

But her track record as Minister of Children & Families and a few other files was dreadful.

Perhaps, like many another person thrust into the big chair, she will grow into the role.

We can only hope.

And we can give thanks that we are not in Mississippi or Colorado and we won't have to survive Newt Gingrich.

ART SHMART

I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery yesterday.

I went because I had a free pass and I wanted to see what's up.

I went because Kathleen Bartels, the Director of the Vancouver Art Gallery, was my guest on SHAW TV back in February.

The VAG has a six-month commitment to an exhibition by local artist Ken Lum.

I lasted less than 20 minutes.

There is no question that Lum has a good sense of design and might make quite a handsome living in advertising.

His specialty seems to be combining the occasional image with a few words. There are always words.

And videos.

And mirrors.

Let me say this about videos.

All TV, my own work included, is either Lucy or Walter Cronkite. My own work is often both - at the same time.

And mirrors?

My bathroom has mirrors.

This is where I can see everything sagging and getting smaller. Except, of course, my tummy.

In the middle of a very, very large square room, in a stroke of pure genius, Lum has placed several hide-a-beds. The beds are facing each other. The sofa seats are cast aside, and the mattresses and springs are all somehow "interacting." Maybe they are fucking, I can't be sure.

Now, what exactly is Lum's genius here?

Simple.

He has perfected the trifecta known as The Emperor's New Clothes.

Let's shudder to think of the hordes of dollars he has been paid for this Popsicle delusion.

Let's convulse at the thought of where the Road of Art has led us.

Let's stay away in droves.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP

ITEM - The election of NDP dingbat Ruth Ellen Brosseau in Quebec (She didn't campaign; she went to Vegas on a holiday; she doesn't speak French; and she may have fudged her papers - but aside from that she's a wonderful person.) is a hideous travesty.

While Senor Mustache may be gloating about walking backwards into the propeller wash of opposition status, he should take a moment and have this "triumph" somehow annulled.

ITEM - The American government -with millions in poverty and out of work and without adequate health care - provides billions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan each year.

For which they get duplicity, betrayal and hatred.

Nice deal.

We appreciate that international diplomacy is a subtle and dangerous enterprise - Pakistan is nuclear-powered, India is next-door, India is a democracy - but really, kids.

ITEM -

How quickly Christy Clark has forgotten her radio host roots

First rate column from the Globe's Gary Mason.

ITEM - What we need is a system like Cuba ’s neighbourhood Committees for the Defense of the Revolution. “Exposing who on your block or in your office uses most energy might be a good incentive for everyone to reduce their carbon footprint.”

This gem of lunatic reductionist academic non-thinking comes from an extraordinary column by Peter Foster in yesterday's Financial Post.

The author of these so-called thoughts is a Professor of Mathematics and Biology at Harvard University.

Keep in mind that the nine people who decided in a ninety minute meeting at Wansee on January 20, 1942 the fate of millions of Jews had the following attributes in common: They were all male; they were all German; they were all Nazis; and they were all graduates at the highest levels from the best universities in the Fatherland.

An education does not necessarily awaken one's glint of humanity.

ITEM - Money is being stolen (seconded?) from School budgets to help billion dollar energy companies in BC.

A fantasy, you say?

Check out Craig McInnes in the Sun today.