Thursday, May 13, 2010

And someone Printed it and Sold it to her


We were sitting in the window seats of a coffee shop the other day.

A young woman, perhaps late twenties, early thirties, jaywalked across the busy street in front of us.

She did this casually.

She was wearing a bright red T-shirt.

This is what the T-shirt declared in very large bold leters:

JUST DO ME


Just do me.

Just do me?

Clearly this young woman is not working for Rape Relief.

Clearly this young woman has never heard of Rape Relief.

Possibly she's never heard of terrible things that happen to women every day of the week around the world.

Yes, even here in Supernatural.

Why aren't all of the women and at least half the men in this idiot's social circle telling her to think about what she is doing?

Is there someone who thinks this is clever or funny?

And if some madman attacked her, what would be her defense?

I was just kidding, your Honour?

He should have known that.

Just Drill Baby, Drill


Turns out it wasn't an "act of God" after all.

Seems it was that old Triple Threat: Greed, Graft & Incompetence.

Always bound to get someone dead.

In this case - the Gulf Oil Spill - 11 people died in the explosion and the oil spill is ruining coast lines, livelihoods and communities.

Between BP's rush for crude at any cost, sloppy and sleepy management of the site and corruption of government regulators, this was entirely a man made disaster waiting for the green light.

Can the likes of Gordon Campbell and Stephen Harper be trusted to approve off-shore drilling with real and secure safety measures in place?

Come on, get serious.

Life is a Trial...especially in B.C.


Six and a half years.

The other day, I found myself thinking about the Basi-Virk case.

I was struggling to remember when all of that began.

Such is the beauty of the internet.

On Dec. 28, 2003, police executed a search warrant on the legislature in Victoria and seized documents and other evidence.

I cannot help but suspect the highest reaches of the current administration from having some hand in causing all these delays in bringing this case to trial.

As the story revolves somehow around the selling of BC Rail - with a little sidebar of narcotics thrown in for good measure - one wonders who has what to hide?

But we seem to specialize in justice gone astray in this neck of the woods, do we not?

How about 25 years?

Trial date on Air India anniversary dismays families

Perjury case to be heard 25 years after terrorist attacks that killed 331 people

Inderjit Singh Reyat has been accused of lying only 27 times under oath in the original trial that acquitted B.C. residents Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri of charges of murder related to the Air India disaster.

The old saw about "Justice delayed is justice denied," seems to have been strongly out of favour in these parts for at least a quarter century.

Campbell Calculus


Here's how we compute in B.C. under the regime of The Monumental Premier.

If you are a poor parent and your children have been placed in foster care, your housing allowance is now being cut from a family rate of $570 a month to a single person’s rate of about $375.

The government will save the taxpayers $195.

Of course, if your housing allowance is now $195 less than it was last month, you may have even more trouble than usual paying for your home, which in turn reduces your chance of getting your children back and out of foster care ad its intendant costs.

Lovely.

Of course, there is no problem funding the Site C dam, the new roof for The Playpen, the new convention centre, etc...

How do Campbell, Hansen, the Housing Minister, the Minister of Children & Families and the rest of these carpetbaggers sleep at night?

Probably very well.

Because they have a personal belief system that allows them to ignore this kind of human suffering in their own back yards.

Footnote:

Many of you will now tell us that parents whose children are in foster care are loafers and bums and that they are hardly citizens at all.

Thank you very much in advance.

Merry Bloody Men


The Cannes Film Festival is in full swing and the press can't say enough about the new Russell Crow/Ridley Scott version of "Robin Hood."

The press had yet to praise or condemn the film. They are too busy gushing over the stars.

On Monday, February 8th, I posted an item about this release, called "Merry Men."

If you missed it, here it is again.