Ice Shock! River Freezes!

Oh, great.

Another shocking revelation from another academic.

Look, drug use is skyrocketing!

Really?

Yes, we needed another University study to tell us what is common knowledge.

Glad the good professor had an income for the last two years.

Now...

How about some money for treatment?

Have I ever mentioned that we should spend some money on treatment?

ICBC peaking through the Ice

And ICBC employees cheated to buy rebuiklt cars.

Is anybody going to investigate this "arms length" government body that is showing clear signs of rot?

Anybody home in Wally's house?

Les is More

The John Les story gets worse, not better.

The Sun has dug through the records and found that Mr. Les was involved in several real estate plays while serving on Chilliwack City council, including while he was mayor.

Mr. Les seems to have followed all expected procedures, but already a strong whiff of favoritism and special consideration is tainting this story.

One former councillor voted in favor of a rezoning of a property in which Les was involved and then bought one of the subdivided lots. Cute.

Mr. Les may or may not be exonerated of any and all charges. But for the moment this is not looking good.

Poor Dears

The Toronto School Board says that a "culture of homework," - i.e., too much homework for kids - is ruining family life.

Who are these people?

I'll tell you what is ruining family life - families.

Families who build and buy homes with a so-called "family room," which means a place to watch TV and not talk to each other.

Families who don't have a nightly ritual called "eating dinner together."

So-called "nuclear" families who think that grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins are unimportant. That used to be called the extended family.

Homework?

I'll let you know when I think Canadian kids are overworked academically. Don't hold your breath.

Not One, But Two Good News Stories - What a Day

It's rare the we find any good news; rarer still that we have two good news stories in one day.

1. The Surrey Homelessness & Housing Society is offering $1 Million to a group that comes up with an innovative way to reduce homelessness.

I think that's great. Let's see what people - profit, not-for-profit, churches, anybody - can come up with.

Start with building housing.

2. Capilano College is putting course material on the web and anybody can access it for free.. I think that is brilliant.

You might think at first blush that they will be giving away their franchise. But that's not the case. People who want the deerskin on their walls will go to school and graduate. The rest of us who might be life-long learners will be able to access information in a wonderful new way.

Congrats.

Steve on This Morning's Fatuous Drug Report

This is what harm reduction gets you, at least when it's the primary focus of a drug program.
Street kids using crystal meth at 'alarming' rate from today's Vancouver Sun
Several things strike me about this article:
1) 75% of street kids are using Meth, compared with 15% of DTES addicts (who use mostly crack)
2) The study "spanned September 2005 to October 2006." What took them so long to publish? Maybe it was because
3) "we adjusted for all kinds of variables" - looking for a bright side?
4) a strong link between Meth usage and injection, which increases with use.
5) "most were sober when they used it." This is a primary drug of choice.
6) "25 per cent of first-time crystal meth users injected the drug." Wow. That's a lot.
7) "Eighty per cent of first-time crystal meth users said they were given the drug as a "gift" at a party with friends" Only two things can curb this; prevention and enforcement.
8) "...researchers continue to probe the issue over the next five years..." That's what we need. More research. For another half a decade.
9) "I do think we need to really start to consider where we are putting our efforts and our resources," Dr. Evan Wood said. "Given what we are facing with drugs in society, we really need to start looking at the scientific evidence and modifying what we are doing to address these issues."
This last could possibly indicate a shift in opinion at the BCCFE, and with all my heart, I hope so. But I'm really not that optimistic about those guys. Judging by their past efforts, they're more likely to lobby for a way of getting street kids into an enlarged "Safe" Injection Site.