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.

This Comment Deserves a Stand Alone Posting

	Anonymous (noreply-comment@blogger.com)

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

Robert's City

From Robert's blog: http://pelalusa.blogspot.com/

A Few Thoughts on Illegal Drug Policy

I responded at length to this posting by Los Angeles based columnist, Amy Alkon. I thought it worthy to repost here.

Illegal drug use is the #1 issue in Vancouver, BC where I live. A major swath of the city has been infested with lost souls who are high on one or more of: Heroin, crack cocaine, crystal meth, and a variety of others.

The consumption of these drugs costs money. It is estimated that 80% of all property crime (cars, homes, businesses) is directly related to drug use. With a 10:1 ratio of selling stolen property, $10,000 worth of stuff is stolen for every $1,000 worth of drugs. Not only has this driven insurance rates sky high, but it has also resulted in disruptions of phone and electrical service, as the drug addicts have ripped out wires in search of copper to sell for scrap metal.

Metro Vancouver was recently named as the organized crime capital of the world, with literally tens of thousands of homes being converted over to drug growing dens or drug manufacturing labs. Just the other week, an apartment complex in the supposedly good neighbourhood where I live (Kitsilano) had to be evacuated for a few days because some nutbar decided to turn his apartment into a crystal meth manufacturing facility. He killed himself with the fumes and potentially risked the lives of everyone else in the building from exposure to the fumes or an explosion.

From time to time we have gangstas (generally Asian or South Asian) roaming around the streets, firing automatic weapons into the cars & homes of their enemies. However, their bullets don't suddenly fall to the ground before hitting innocent people.

"BC Bud" is the high potency marijuana that others have mentioned. It is primarily shipped down to the U.S. in exchange for guns, cocaine, and heroin coming up here. Those items coming to us are not blessings on our society in any way, shape, or form.

The police have pretty much given up on arresting drug addicts and often drug dealers because our over lenient judges have continuously released these people back onto the street before the arresting cop starts his next shift.

Over in Switzerland, where they've had a pretty open "live and let live" policy about drug use, even they are rethinking it because of what it is doing to their society.

I don't precisely know what the ultimate solution to this Modern Day Plague is but its presence in my community has turned me from a pure Libertarian into a Pragmatic Libertarian.

One proposed policy I'm in growing support of is to forcibly incarcerate drug addicts into treatment facilities far away from the source of their misery. Many recovered drug addicts agree with this approach, saying that until a person hits rock bottom, they'll never go willingly. But it often takes many years of misery to reach that point. By then, many are dead.

Of course, there are significant forces against such a policy. They speak of "human rights" but I strongly believe what's really at the heart of their objections is that many, many people are now gainfully employed by the Poverty Industry. These are the folks who are supposedly employed to help these lost souls. They're very adept at applying band-aids but actually curing the drug addictions doesn't seem to be of much interest to them.

Am I cynical? I prefer the term "realistic and saddened observer"!

I WANT, ergo I MUST

An academic wants to witness assisted suicide. A fight is brewing over his right to do that.

So goes the front page headline.

The key words here are "want" and "right."

As we have all learned by repeated lashes on irrationality, "want" and "right" have now become equivalents in Canadian culture.

I want to bash people's heads in; therefor I must have that right.

I want to kick or shoot or main Jews, blacks, Scots, dogs or sales clerks; therefore I must have the right.

I want to talk loudly on my cell phone during violin concertos, libraries, restaurants, buses; therefore I have the right.

So...

I want to see people end their lives. This will make a good paper.

Therefore...

Now, don't leap to misunderstand me.

Academic research and academic freedoms are important. They are often frivolous, ridiculous, entirely self-serving, a complete waste of taxpayers money and human energy, but they must be maintained and upheld because one of those investigations out of a thousand might actually yield some shard of information that will actually be of some use to humankind sooner or later.

Still, that leaves many questions.

I want to witness the raping of babies for my academic research and therefore I should be allowed to stage such and watch and take notes?

This is not as outrageous and far-fetched as you may think.

In the 70's, a husband and wife team of psychologists, called the Sobels, actually had a bar built in a classroom at the U of T so that they could teach drunks to sip.

I am not making that up.

Several years later, they made the cover of Time magazine, by confessing that they finally realized that what they were doing (trying to teach drunks to "manage" alcohol) was destructive and immoral.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has formed a brassy committee to investigate the death-watcher's concerns. Perhaps CAUT should be CAUGHT.

The committee is a panel of blue ribbon...wait for it...academics.

This is akin to the police investigating themselves, and we all know how well that works.

If CAUGHT really wants to study this issue - and it should because it is a deeply moral and philosophical matter - it should add to the committee housewives, house husbands, doctors, rabbis, priests, CEOs and school children, among others.

Excuse me, I have to go watch a gang of teens swarm a harmless old man at a bus stop and kick him to death. We're set to go at eleven.

Quote of the Week

" I doubt that many people in Metro Vancouver of aware of Translink's wordwide reputation."

Hahahaha...

I doubt that Thomas Prendergast, the new CEO of Transclunk, recently imported from NYC, has ever waited 20 minutes for the #20 bus at the Broadway station at 8 pm, surrounded by drug deals.

I doubt that Mr. P. is aware of how arrogantly he has begun his reign telling us poor little Metro Vancouverites how little is our awareness.

I doubt P. has taken his communications and diplomacy pills this week.

Ca-ching! That Hosannah will be a Buck and a Quarter

Hertz is deducting 20 minutes pay per week from en employee for his time spent praying.

This is the poster boy action for stupid, counter-productive and old-fashioned management.

In today's marketplace, any employer who time cards his wage earners is working backwards.

The name of the game is responsibility. Get the job done, whether it takes 5 minutes or 9 hours.

And praying?

They should be happy they have an employee with some values.

What'$ in a Name? Lot$

War fraud - badly made and faulty equipment, overbilling - is costing the American taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars today.

Unfortunately, or cleverly, depending on how you vote, there is nothing to be done, to be done, because neither the Iraq nor Afghanistan missions was declared "a war."

Read the NY Times editorial here, and remember, for truth in journalism, always follow the money.

Andy Bey