Tyee Scoops the Dailies, 3-0

Why has it taken http://thetyee.ca to reveal the questionable connections of 3 BC cabinet ministers?

In 3 separate stories yesterday, writers for the local online news source showed possible conflicts of interest for Rich Colman, Barry Penner & Gordon Hogg.

This morning I asked thetyee editor, David Beers, about these stories and he laughed, "It didn't really take deep investigative journalism. Just some basic looking up of the facts."

And where have our local dailies been on these stories?

Read all three pieces:

Here...

and here...

and then here.

Victor Takes on The World - Saudis, France, the Democrats...

No presidential trip to Saudi Arabia would be complete without a gift of deadly weapons. President Bush has continued that tradition that stretches back to Kennedy.

For those Canadians who believe that a Democrat victory will mean an end to international meddling, I remind them that it was a Democrat administration that sent 560,000 soldiers to VietNam, where 50,000 died. Not to mention 2 million VietNamese. Nothing will change in November 2008 unless America ceases to need oil. The irony is no amount of weapons will protect Saudi Arabia from its certain and eventually successful foe, namely the millions of saudi extremists who long for a return to the 7th century. When that happens, and it will, the Saudi Princes will return to doing what their grandfathers did; warming their hands over dried camel dung fire in the desert night. Princes my royal purple ass.

Then there's France, the world's shit disturber. France announced it will provide civilian nuclear technology to the Saudis. Like they need nuclear electricity? This tiresome country of Francxe has created havoc for two centuries trying to recapture its Napoleonic glory. After performing its surrender monkey act in two world wars, precipitating the VietNam war and coddling Saddam, it is at it again.

Private Security or real Police?

Congratulations to the Vancouver Police Union. They are suing the City for its pathetic decision to spend close to a million taxpayer dollars on "ambassadors."

The so-called "ambassadors" are private security employees. Their usefulness and accomplishments are more than questionable.

The police want more police.

Kim Capripants is one of the great supporters of this mistaken initiative. Nuff said?

Where's my Dramamine?

Big Transit Announcement.

Smoke & Mirrors. Blah, blah, blah.

The Monumental Premier - better than a Mental Mayor, I guess - wants so hard to belong to the WAC Bennett class, leaving behind him steel and concrete memorials - the Gord This, the Campbell That.

2020? That used to mean eyesight.

Sounds Fishy to Me

I ordered 2 pieces of halibut the other day. The bill was $26.95.

I told the Safeway clerk to put it back in the window and give me 2 pieces of cod. The bill was $10 something.

Even so.

What's with that?

Neither Rain Nor Sleet Nor Bureaucracy...

And from the Unbelievable But True crate comes this story:

You've got mail, but no more mailbox

This was a Globe & Mail headline today explaining how Canada Post is cutting back on service to rural mailboxes.

The story in full is here, and the best quote comes from an enlightened union spokesperson:

"Carriers are also worried about repetitive-strain injury from leaning out vehicle windows to stuff the mail into roadside boxes."

Jonathan Baker on Ecodensity, Global Warming and Snitty Hall

The following is a shorter version of a major paper prepared by Jonathan Baker, former City Councilor, lawyer and good friend.

Cool Zoning

Groucho Marx observed that politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, analyzing it incorrectly and applying the wrong solutions. That about sums up Vancouver’s proposed Eco density Charter.

Desperate to appear to be doing something about global warming, City Hall threatens to rezone huge chunks of the single-family neighborhoods of Vancouver and purports to apply ecological footprint theory to zoning. The argument is that high-density apartment living helps cool the earth, because it supposedly produces fewer greenhouse gases. Urban Planner William Rees is the father of Ecological Footprintism. In an article, “Is Humanity Fatally Successful” Rees argues that mankind should be perfectly happy with an income of about $7500 per year. It is comforting to know that we can achieve sustainability if we merely adopt the standard of living of a failed state.

Serious concerns about catastrophic climate change are not new nor are the occasional idiotic proposals to deal with it. In 1950 Emanuel Velikovsky, a charismatic psychoanalyst and amateur astronomer suggested that the earth might wobble and tip at any moment because of the accumulation of polar ice. Some politicians urgently proposed at the time that the US detonate as many nuclear bombs as necessary at one or another of the poles to lighten things up at the heavy end of the planet and thus save the environment.

Mark Twain joked a hundred and twenty-five years ago, “Everyone is talking about the weather but no one does anything about it.” Today City Council is about to take him up on it and rezone for a cooler climate.

Assuming that carbon dioxide and not gamma rays is the driving force of climate change, current climate models offer little benefit to decision makers. For all of the computational power available today, the climate system is too complicated to make a reliable computational model. It is made up of numerous interlocking subsystems, which interact with each other. In some cases there is uncertainty about whether changes would bring a positive or negative feedback. Today's models require that numerous assumptions be made but the wrong assumption can lead to an incorrect model result. There is no indication that the City has made any effort at all to model the impacts of its proposals.

This is a problem. Governments were certain that replacing fossil fuels with biofuels was a sure way of reducing CO2 emissions. That is not how it turned out. A study reported on January 9, 2008 supports earlier research that some biofuels result in more CO2 than fossil fuels.[1]

In this context of uncertainty where scientists argue about whether the world will end in fire or ice, City Hall thinks that by redeveloping single-family areas they will be doing their bit to save the world. They assume that high-density buildings are more sustainable with respect to CO2 emissions. It is quite an assumption. Old buildings have to be demolished and carted off to the land-fill. New construction itself demands a lot of energy. Apartments and their common areas with elevators, lights, heat, air conditioning and other facilities demand enormous amounts of energy and generate lots of carbon dioxide. [2]

An alternative to high-rise construction that has received a fair amount of political blabber is to allow and encourage small houses in yards. The infill, however, will happen at the expense of trees and vegetation which of course photosynthesize CO2 to produce oxygen. How good is that?

And have you heard the one about how the residents of the new improved dense areas are sure to commute to work by transit and shop in the neighborhood? The trouble is that Vancouver’s commuting and shopping patterns have already changed. Increasing numbers of people choose to live in the City, commute to work outside of it and shop at mega-stores. Increasing the density is just as likely therefore to increase car use.[3]

Dense urban areas are magnets. The boulevards of Paris, which has the best public transportation system in the World, are jammed with cars.

Increasing Vancouver’s density by redeveloping and paving over single-family neighborhoods will solve the politicians’ problem of raising money from developers. To propose it as an environmental solution is scandalous.

Sincerely,

JONATHAN BAKER ,

---

[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080103144404.htm

[2] Eco D. Charter “Higher density buildings consume less energy and water, especially when combined with green design.”

[3] Eco D. Charter “Two key contributors to climate change are transportation and building energy use. EcoDensity can help reduce both. Well-located density puts people close to shops, jobs, amenities and services, meaning more trips are made by walking, biking and transit, instead of by car. This also creates a larger customer base for local shopping areas, supporting a wider array of shops and services, which in turn, means that even more needs can be fulfilled close to home. Similarly, putting people close to transit means more trips are made using transit, and makes better transit service more feasible

Susan, of Cambie Street Fame, Writes Bill Goo

Hi Bill

Sam Sullivan will say anything to promote himself - ANYTHING.

The audacity to blame "the past City administration" for the financial
disaster that the Canada Line has become is beyond the pale!

He was the only City councillor that would not meet with the merchants in
early 2005 when we desperately needed help - and now as Mayor has continued
ignored our concerns, and has turned his back on any and all financial help,
joining the Provincial choir with "it's not our project" - blame TransLink.

He cast his vote along with the other councillors for their CONDITIONAL
approval of the project - the many conditions included adequate mitigation
for the impacts of the project on the community and businesses.

Obviously this never happened. Lives have been forever changed and
livelihoods ruined needlessly and shamefully. This project was built on the
backs of the small businesses, for the profit of the builder and big
developers - the same people who now sit on the appointed TransLink Board!
There was and is no transparency - no accountability - no integrity.

Thanks Bill, for raising our concerns with the Premier. I just heard your
exchange ..."we've learned from what happened Cambie Street" says the
Premier. What has he learned? That you can destroy the lifes work of small
business people with absolute impunity while offering a limp "it's too bad
what happened there"....Has he learned that he can do whatever he wants, and
slap the face of democracy? I am disgusted by this arrogant dictatorship.

It will be very interesting how they justify boring down Broadway, after
promising a bored tunnel to Cambie merchants then double-crossing all of us
and bankrupting many in the process. They approved shutting down Cambie
which is the main route in and out of the City from all points South and
East, yet claim Broadway impacts would be of great concern. They need to
acknowledge this with immediate compensation for doing the wrong thing alomg
the Canada Line.

This is going to stick to our teflon Premier. We'll see to that, and we'll
get the financial relief that is due one way or the other.

Regards
Susan

Build the Line and Build it Right

I was in the San Francisco Bay area recently.

I travelled from the S.F. airport to the Oakland-Coliseum stop and back on separate days, a trip of about 50 minutes. I travelled from the Oakland-Coliseum stop to Powell Street and market and Union Square and back on another day. That's a trip of about 25 minutes.

On all occasions, I found the experience not pleasurable, but reasonable. Cheap, efficient, reliable, easy to understand and negotiate.

Has BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) reduced auto traffic on the Bay Bridge or roads in general? I have no idea, but I would guess not. We drove 4 times from the Oakland stop to and from my friend's house in Clayton. Each trip took one hour on a packed freeway system.

Does that mean BART is a waste? Not at all. It's a great system, millions of people use it every day, and if more lines are built, more will use them.

All of which is to say...if Premier Campbell wants to built more public transit, I say, "Do it!"

Now, if you screw up my 10th Avenue shopping district while building a subway to UBC the heartless way you have screwed up Cambie Street, I will be mightily pissed and lobbying to have your head.

But, that aside, build the damn things already. Only this time, try to do it right.

And while you're at it, throw in several hundred million in compensation for the Cambie merchants whom you have bankrupted with your callous negligence.

Whister Steal

Here's an idea.

Let Gordon Campbell and John Furlong live in a shipping container.

Sophie to the Rescue

It is always dangerius to read the Sun's Frances Bula on City Hall.

After 3 years of worshipping Larry Campbell without shame every morning on the front page, Bula has still been allowed to cover this important beat. Why?

This morning, she did it again.

In noting that The Nutty Mayor has some federal Liberal support, Bula Bula adds, in a great leap of non-logic, that "should allay past crticisms about Sullivan that he has surrounded himself with federal Conservatives."

Well, Frannie, here's the double scoop:

Sam has surrounded himself with federal Conservatives. That is not a criticism; that is fact.

And, being the wily little opportunist that he is, The Nutty One has added a few Liberal sychophants to the corral as well. One does not negate the other.

Now, look at the high quality that Nutty is choosing.

Former Liberal MP Sophie Leung.

Now there's a doer.

Can anybody point to a single contribution to the general commweal made by this ghost?

I say, "Keep up the good work, Sam. Surround yourself with shadows. That'll have great results. For us."

IMDb Video: Vantage Point

IMDb Video: Vantage Point

Feminism Stops at the Border - The Israeli Border

Feminism has its limits.

Here's the headline from Friday's edition of America's oldest Jewish newspaper, The Forward:

"Pro-Israel Ad Rejected by Ms. Magazine"

Ms. mag, by the way, bills itself as "more than a magazine - a movement."

Is that a set-up for some bad humour, or what?

Read the story here.

Cambie De-Construction Drove a Hole Through Democracy

What follows below is a letter from Susan Heyes, outraged Cambie Street merchant, to the Sun's Vaughn Palmer after his column yesterday on Campbell's lead in the polls:

Hi Vaughn

The validity of polls in BC are no different than the poll results that wereproclaimed in IOWA. Out by a country mile once the disengaged masses get outto vote. Further to this, as one observer put it "the very voting systemitself is tainted. Both pre-election and exit polls in New Hampshire hadObama ahead of Clinton by the same margin as his Iowa win. Diebold held thecasting vote in that state, as they and their similarly neocon-owned sistercompany ESS will accross most of the country in November".No one asked the many here who no longer have a land line what they think ofthe current climate of political arrogance. The twenty somethings are wakingup from their studies and stupor - and what is happening in the states isinfecting the attitudes up here. Hopefully, momentum will keep growing andmore people will take a stand for what is right, and show their support forthose who choose to do the right thing.

I have had first hand experience with just how hard this is to do, when theodds are so stacked against us. It is little wonder I keep hearing suchcynicism and despair from the merchants and have had a collective shrug fromthe powers that be. The bullies seem to be getting a free pass. Well, enoughis enough.

You left out the Cambie Crisis in your long list of political malfeasance.

Province of BC small business friendly? HA! This is a perfect example ofDisaster Capitalism at a local level. This abuse of power will stick, and Iwill do everything I can to see that it does.

I have worked hard to build up my previously successful life's work, and nowwith my recent year end tally, I've lost half a million dollars since late2005, and risk having to sell my home. My Lease is up in November, rightaround when I'll be taking this case to court. LOUDLY.

The hardship was preventable and is on-going - many stores losses have morethan doubled since the CFIB did its report at the end of the summer. Theripple effect with staff and suppliers has changed the lives of hundreds ifnot thousands of people. The refusal of financial help is despicable. Thearea will be compromised for years to come with steady demolition, and thediscussion of the Broadway line will fan these flames.It is a tragic state of affairs that the unconsciounable behaviour of ourelected officials is considered in any way acceptable according to thesepolls. It is not. The 'divide and conquer' strategy worked for the longesttime - especially on Cambie with the business association - but not anymore. The climate is to unite, not to divide. With any luck, and we sure ashell need it, CHANGE will be the mantra here as well.

Regards

Susan

Al-Qaeda plotted to kill the Queen

From news.com.au, the Australian web news service, comes this alarming story.

OOPS...FORGOT TO POST FRIDAY'S PROVINCE COLUMN

David Berner

The Province

Friday, January 11, 2008

B.C. Finance Minister Carole Taylor will not run for the mayor's chair in Vancouver. So who will save us from Sam Sullivan?

Sullivan has adopted a curious attitude in office. It goes something like this: You folks at city hall, you're all fine people, so carry on and take care of the fort, I have more important things to do.

Sullivan has raised a lot of private money, and has surrounded himself with cardinals by the score. In particular, federal Conservative Party hacks whisper in his ear night and day.

What Sullivan has shown consistently is a great unwillingness to be concerned with the normal affairs of business at 12th and Cambie.

During the garbage strike, it was common knowledge that it was impossible for ordinary citizens to get anything done that required city attention.

Work of any kind had ground to a standstill.
Long after that mismanaged affair was settled, developers with multimillion dollar projects were kept waiting for hours on meetings that never took place.

So who wants to take up the challenge of fighting a man who has boasted that he likes to get his opponent down and then step on his throat?

Who is capable?

COPE Coun. David Cadman or NPA Coun. Peter Ladner?

Neither man has the power base in politics, business or the community.

The NPA's Suzanne Anton?

Too much of a lightweight.

Vision and COPE, the two parties in opposition to the ruling NPA, have strangled one another by their petty infighting. So who?

Gregor Robertson is a name that keeps bubbling to the surface as a possible mayoralty candidate.

Robertson, the founder of Happy Planet Juice, is the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Fairview. He is young, handsome and accomplished not just in business, but in a fashionably green business.

Can he waltz into the job the way a Carole Taylor might have?

Hardly. He is bright, but not well polished.

I moderated a panel recently, and Robertson, a keynote speaker, sat next to me. There were too many hums and haws, too many broad generalizations for a generation swimming in the information age. Today's electorate demand specifics.

That doesn't mean that Robertson cannot grow into the challenge, if he chooses to more fully acquaint himself with the issues. If he fine-tunes his presentation skills and if he can find the support to build a groundswell, he might become a formidable candidate.

Elections can be curious adventures, especially in the fanciful city of Vancouver. Perhaps before November, another golden contender will emerge.

What is certain is that we don't need a red-nosed clown or an egocentric feudal lord, plotting in dark corners.

We want a mayor who understands the mechanics of city hall, the role of governance and the pleasure of being an ambassador for the people and its institutions.

Hospital Failure Kills Child

The cover story in this morning's Province is a shocker.

A baby has died of pneumonia after a visit to Surrey Hospital, in which the examining doctor DID NO EXAMINATION.

There are so many things wrong with this nightmare.

The child was checked in a 3:30pm and didn't see a Dr. until 5:30pm.

The so-called physician did no examination of the child's chest, lungs, throat or ears.

It is not the nurse's job to do a physical exam, only to take vital signs. Why? Why not? When will we start allowing nurses to do these kinds of simple procedures that might free doctors up?

It is common folk wisdom that one of the most dangerous places on earth is a hospital.

This is not only a tragedy. It is sickening. Read the story here.

The Skies Aren't Big Enough

A Victoria area man gets increasingly drunk on a flight to Miami. He slaps a woman on her ass and then gets into a fight with two male flight attendants.

The plane drops out of the sky, pausing at Denver, just long enough for this idiot to be handcuffed. He's in jail, and may be remain there for a good long time. I'm sure that becoming some drug dealer's roomie and bitch will enlighten him.

Air travel has become as appealing as root canal dentistry and CRA audits.

ON a recent flight to San Francisco, I paid the extra $29US for a "United Plus" seat. Meaning my knees were not in the grasp-yourself Yoga position.

Nevertheless, the ADHD jumping jacks kid sitting next to me sniffled for 2 hours and 20 minutes. His highly unusual laptop was no doubt a secret NASA issue and he is, I'm sure, on covert missions as we speak.

On the flight heading to California, the guy sitting next to me coughed 10 times, loudly in my ear, before take-off. In the first half hour of actual flight, he coughed another 20 times.

The stewardess, whose ass I did not slap, gave me a "United Plus" seat for no additional charge.

So what? I was holed up with a cold for the next week. Thanks, Mr. Cougher.

We stand in endless lines to check in, to go through customs, to take off our shoes, to have our water bottles chucked. All to combat terrorists.

And then you get on a plane, and a drunk terrorizes everyone?

No. This is high treason. Plane travel has become bad enough without turning it into a Prince George blues bar.

Keep Russel Petrie, formerly of Cobble Hill, in a Denver lockup indefinitely, or at least until he is willing to buy a car from that pigeon-toed Broncos quarterback who now owns every dealership in Colorado.

Huckabee, My New Hero

Mike Huckabee, evangelical, Southern Baptist minister, Governor of Arkansas, hater of homos and abortions, has accidentally become my new hero.

Look at the the way this morning's NY Times describes his current "unintended consequences":

"Mike Huckabee’s candidacy threatens to divide the leaders of the conservative Christian movement and their base."

WoW!

Captain Simple may do what so many of us has been yearning for - he may accidentally accomplish a separation of church and state. He may destroy the very base from which he operates.

Good on him.

Read the comedy here.

Get Bush Out of My Schul

I have had the strangest and most visceral reaction to a minor news story this morning.

The sight of George Bush wearing a yarmulke and laying a wreath at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, makes me sick to my stomach.

One would think I would be honored that the President of the United States is in tears while adding his tributes to the murdered Jews of 60 years ago.

But, I am not honored.

The skull cap is not a piece of costumery. The Yad Vashem is not a "foto op."

To any man or woman of conscience, this is a place of profound sorrow and holiness.

There is nothing of Mr. Bush that could be described as profound, except perhaps his complete lack of understand about most things human.

It was further reported that, flying back the America, Bush got into a discussion with Condaleezza Rice about why the US hadn't bombed Auschwitz.

He desecrates almost anything he nears.

Now, I can hear one of my favorite Rabbis disagreeing with me.

He would say, "I believe that it is always a good to expose any one to the realities and to let them see and remember what happened."

"Yes, I understand," I would argue, "but my opinion of Bush is so low, I believe him to be so false a construct, so inauthentic a person, such a force for bad in the world that he doesn't deserve the honor of this visit."

I know, I am not as good a person as my Rabbi. That's why I am me and he is my Rabbi.

Maybe If I had learned years later that Bush had gone to the memorial quietly and without fanfare, perhaps secretly, I could have thought more of him.

But to me, Bush is not just Bush. He is Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz-Blackwater-Iraq-No Health Insurance for Children...

I can't see this puppet without his masters and his misdeeds.

I don't want him pretending to be Jew-For-A-Day.

I don't want him at all.

November can't come soon enough.