Please, be Quiet

Opaque is an idiot.

Worse, he's irresponsible and dangerous.

Worse, he's the province's top cop.

The man says on the radio that the police make too many mistakes.

He says this, of course, in a knee-jerk defense of the courts.

It is no accident that most of the citizens of this sovereign state have lost all confidence in our courts.

Today, three cases illustrate.

In two of the, Hell's Angels have been acquitted of various criminal charges. Oops.

In another, a man fired eight shots at his mother, striking her with three, killed her, then buried her in the woods nearby.

Sentence? Four years.

So, in a time when the police need more support, not less, our top cop babbles shamelessly on the airwaves that the police make too many mistakes.

No doubt the police, like you and me, make their share of mistakes.

No doubt their mistakes are costlier than most of our failures to put the top back on the marmalade jar.

But their mistakes pale to insignificance compared to the atrocities doled out by our courts on a daily basis. Criminal justice is but a ghost in this town these days and most of us feel it viscerally.

Opaque is a shame.

Dr. Proctor

Pharmacists will now be able to renew prescriptions without your visit to the family doctor.

Clearly this means the world is coming to an end.

At least, that's what it means if you are the BC Medical Association, to whit, a doctor.

Raise the drawbridge! Alert the crocs! The peasants are revolting!

Stealing Drunk

An employee steals.

He is caught and he is fired.

OK?

Apparently not.

Not if you are a member of the BCGEU, who have now involved the Human Rights Tribunal and several court systems in their defense of the indefensible.

It is true that we have come a long way to understanding and helping alcoholics.

Today, an addict will get opportunities from his or her employer to clean up long before the pink slip option emerges.

But what's that got to do with stealing?

Being a drunk has long since been removed from our court systems as an excuse for criminal behaviour.

The BCGEU needs find more worthy fights to fight.

Sulu's a Fag!?!?!

The wedding pictures of actor George Takei and his partner that flashed around the world the other day got me thinking.

And not in the right direction.

Takei played Sulu on Star Trek for 947 light years, or thereabouts.

My first concern was all those Trekkies.

Many of them will be happy for their Sulu Man, of course.

But equally many will probably foresake their protein shakes for several days in mourning.

Willing and able to accept the most fanciful notions - people with pizza faces, William Shatner is a great actor, a guy with pointy ears and no emotions could be anything other than president of the United States for eight years - these same loyals will struggle with the idea that one of their favorites wants to snuggle with a similarly gendered humanoid.

Yikes!

Then my thoughts - if you can call these thoughts, more like LED blinks on a mottled wallboard - wandered to that lovely gal who has replaced Branjolina as The Headliner. You know, the one who knows everything about Russia because she can see it from her front porch.

Her defenders ( a nation unto itself, Palinistan) will be quick to tell you that she is not against gays. Or at least, not too close to them. That she thinks gays should have all the usual equal rights. Just that "marriage" is a word, apparently so holy, so suffused with godliness that it cannot be squandered on any other than a righteous man and a righteous woman.

First and last is the word, don't you know?

So I'm looking at these pics of George and Brad and I'm wondering once again how the marriage of these two souls can in one catclysmic moment upset all that has come before and all that will follow.

How many millions of men and women have married and will marry? But two guys in California dare to marry and the world is coming to an end.

The tolerance and acceptance and love that comes with these holy vows has gone where?

Closer to home, we learn today that abortion and gay marriage are still issues in the upcoming federal election.

We are on the precipice of a total world economic collapse and there are people still kvetching about abortion and gay marriage.

Well...

Enough.

Mazel Tov, congrats, tanti auguri to Mr. Sulu.

Some aliens do come home.

CFL Legend Dies at 69

I was sorry to learn this morning of the death of Ron Lancaster.

Lancaster was one of the great football quarterbacks, both sides of the border.

He was a gritty, scrappy player and a pleasure to watch on the field.

P's & Q's

Headlines like "International Students Take Priority," are not helpful.

The real story is that the West Vancouver school system is so hide-bound and frozen that it can't handle 2 more students who would like to walk to school.

The headline plays unnecessarily into the hands of anti-immigration folk, who wait, drooling, just for moments like this to emerge from their bunkers.

David talks...and talks...and talks...

Joseph Planta interviewed me the other day on his website, thecommentary.ca.

You can listen to this enlightening silliness here.

Terribly Cruel, Terribly Biased and Oh So Funny

The Age ~~ Melbourne ~~ Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Welcome to this year's blockbuster

By Catherine Deveny

I'M OBSESSED with Sarah Palin. She's the first thing I think about
when I wake and the last thing I think of before I go to sleep. I
google her a dozen times a day and manage to bring her up in every
conversation I have.

"You have hair. Sarah Palin has hair. What a coincidence! She has big
hair and it's brown. Her kids have hair too. Their names are Track,
Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Would you like to see a photo of
Sarah's hair? Or her kids' hair? Or her husband the First Dude's hair?
She's a great mother, she went back to work three days after giving
birth to a disabled child. Of course, she didn't have to. She chose
to. She and the First Dude had little Trig's best interests at heart.
Never too early to instil independence. It toughens 'em up. Next stop?
A bloody good war."

I found myself checking out Palin Facebook groups last night. The ones
that amused me included: Excuse Me, But Has Anyone Else Noticed That
Sarah Palin Is Insane? My Dog Is More Qualified To Be Vice-President
Than Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin Is A Bona Fide Whack Job. Librarians
Against Sarah Palin. I Would Have Sex With, But Not Vote For, Sarah
Palin. And: I Would Rather Have A Mentally Challenged Goat As VP Than
Sarah Palin.

I'd been thinking the US election campaign was dragging on endlessly
until I read the headline "McCain chooses woman for running mate." I
loved that, "woman". Sums the whole thing up. She's the closest thing
Republican strategists could find to a man with a vagina. No political
party in the world would have had the genius to dream up Sarah Palin.
She's a social experiment with lipstick.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd likened the Sarah Palin story to
the chick flick Miss Congeniality. I think of it more as an in-flight
movie. Like Dumb and Dumber. If you're after a laugh, check out the
campaign poster for McCain and Palin. The slogan is "The Ticket For
America". The running mates look like an old rich bloke with erectile
dysfunction and his white trash trophy wife wearing glasses so she
looks intellectual and that.

McCain strikes me as "a bit of a fall" away from stewed prunes and
dribbling, and she looks as hungry and deranged as Anna Nicole Smith.
"Hey, Johnny, why don't y'all take up smoking! It's not too late. Have
another spoon of cholesterol. Where's that special button you done
talked about that blows up countries? Bristol's boyfriend's Xbox isn't
working and he's bored."

I'm not proud of it but to be honest, the comedy writer in me really,
really hopes Palin gets in. Shooting, hunting, God-fearing,
anti-abortion, book-banning, homophobic, white trash moron. I'd love
to see the White House lawn covered in cars up on blocks. Male,
female, goat or goldfish, Palin is a writer's dream. I wish I had the
imagination to invent her.

And the hits just keep on coming. Each day there's another titbit that
draws me in. "She what? Not only believes that abstinence should be
the only form of contraception taught in schools and she slashed
funding to a program for teenage mothers but she charged victims of
sexual assault for their own rape kits. I don't even know what rape
kits are but I sure as hell know you don't charge people for them."
And how does that whole guns and God thing work? "Say a prayer and the
merciful Lord will protect us. And if he doesn't, pass me the Uzi."

The only problem with Sarah Palin is that she's real. And, like it or
not, she'll be used as an example of a female politician. Regardless
of the fact she should be filed under dangerous white trash fuelled by
fear, propelled by power and supported by halfwits.

I have two long-held beliefs. First, people should have to pass an
intelligence test before they're allowed to vote and second, that the
rest of the world should be able to vote in the US elections because
the outcome affects us as much as them. If not more.

Like most people, I believe in democracy. As long as everybody else
votes the same way I do. The problems with democracy are that a) not
everyone makes an informed choice and b) if they do, what informs that
choice. We're at the mercy of the morons. People who vote for race,
gender, class and politicians who massage people's prejudices and
reinforce beliefs fertilised by fear.

Sarah Palin personifies the cockiness of ignorance. Bertrand Russell
said: "Fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but
wiser people so full of doubts." Pass me the popcorn, I can't wait to
see how this movie ends.

Let's Just be Happy with That Wintley Phipps video for today...

Most Amazing Grace - Thanks, Bill

Watching a Government Fold in on Itself

Fun to see The Preem on the run:

1. Clarence Hansen, chairman of the (Do We really Need This Body?) Board of Education, says that politics played no factor in choosing school upgrades in Campbell's riding.

Whose cousin is this clown?

Running off at the mouth is allowed; but babbling incomprehensibly and lying through your teeth is unseemly for a guy in a nice suit.

2. The Board of Trade - THE BOARD OF FREAKING TRADE, FOR GWADSAKES - has declared the Preem's Carbon Tax a no-go.

Campbell is the Board of Trade. The Board is the Liberal government. These folks are Siamese twins.

This is like having your mom not applaud wildly when you recite the poem at the Christmas concert.

3. Vaughn Palmer lists the 900 reasons that cancelling the fall sitting of the legislature has rightfully infuriated citizens and lovers of the democratic process everywhere.

Can you say, "Stayed too long at the fair," boys and girls?

Just asking

Of course, I don't really understand the market collapse.

Do you?

A house of cards way too complicated for a simpleton like me.

But, if I am not mistaken, the ever-so-brilliant Lehman Brothers were enormously over-leveraged on paper mortgages.

In short, they put most of their eggs in one basket.

Now, excuse me for asking those who know so much better.

But isn't a basic principal of investment to maintain balance and diversity?

Deeply Imbedded Fantasies

Today's Letter to the Editor from Dr. Stan De Vlaming and 23 of his medical friends demonstrates a) how myths are created and b) why we are in such a mess regarding drugs.

Here is the key statement in their letter:

"Methadone mainenance is a valuable tool for the treatment of addiction and is supported by 50 years of experience and research."

Methadone maintenanc is in fact an unmitigated disaster, a dreadful waste of public funds and a declaration of hoplessness. "You cannot walk free of your addiction, so take this, you poor fool."

What cynicism.

What lack of kindness and courage.

What Dr. De Vlaming and his colleagues are well-respected doctors.

They are, as Marc Antony said of Brutus and Cassius, honorable men all.

Commentary on Home care from Linda

David, I have to agree with you comments on home care.

Although I have worked as an LPN in a long term care facility for over ten years, I started out working for a home care agency in 1997.

When I started with this work, I was classified as a "Home Support Worker II" (I was not working as an LPN). I assisted people in their homes with washing, dressing, bathing, cooking, cleaning, errands, companionship and the like). I enjoyed working with people in their homes.

I was paid $13.30 per hour (IN 1997!!!). The rate for these workers has not increased much (if at all). This wage did not include time to travel between clients homes. In others words, I might be booked for two hours in one home, and then have to take a bus for 1/2 hour to get to another job - I was not paid for that 1/2 hour - ONLY the time that I was caring for someone in their home.

I remember getting a call from the scheduler asking if I could drive from my family home in East Vancouver to a client in South Tsawassen for a two hour job. They wanted me in the middle of the weekday rush hour. I politely explained that I could not justify spending over an hour to commute to a two hour job (and then have to drive home) (Incidentally, I was not going to be reimbursed for the use of my car either..). Later, I accepted a job in facility (very hard work, but rewarding personally/professionaly and with fair compensation

You better believe it costs money for good home care. I really admire the people who continue to care for people in their homes. They are doing a great job and they certainly are not being fairly compensated for all that they give.

Oh, and while I am ranting away....it's all well and good that we want to encourage people to stay in their homes - but just look at the hullaballu that occured when that 90+ woman simply wanted a ramp put into her building (where she had been living for 30 years!!).

All the new townhomes that are being built have steps and tiny washrooms - not exactly condusive for people in a wheelchair requiring assistance!!

Hot damn - I think I will just continue. What EXACTLY do they mean by "age friendly communities"??? Would this be more 55+ housing so we can keep our elders completely separated from their families and any community support. How about make the existing housing accessible and encouraging inclusive communities to begin with!!

Supporting volunteerism?? Who the heck doesn't support volunteerism where and when appropriate?? Check out Volunteer Vancouver, Check out the classifieds in the Employment Paper!! Lots of need for good volunteers!!

ARrggghhhh

You want to support seniors - stop delisting needing medications from Pharmacare!

You want to support seniors - every new development must be wheelchair accessible and every new unit must be wheelchair accessible.

You want to support seniors - better fund long term care facilities, provide funding for extra in home care where needed (and pay fair wages to home care workers so that the best and most suitable applicants will take on this work).

You want to support seniors - provide tax relief for seniors who are retired and unable to work so that their pensions and savings are not eaten away by inflation.

Finally, if you want to support seniors - for those elders who eventually have continuing and complex care needs who require placement in a skilled nursing facility - try to have an ounce of compassion and allow the placements to be made based (at least partially) on geography. There is nothing like an elderly couple being torn apart when one needs placement - only to have the placement be 30 kms away and impossible to access by public transit.

Sigh...

Okay, I think I said my piece

Linda Yuill, LPN

Victor Ruminates on the differences between Politics and Politicians in the Excites States and Canerda

The Sarah Palin competence controversy provides an exiting opportunity
for Canadians to examine the role that competence plays in the
selection of Cabinet Ministers in this country.

Those with a minimal knowledge of Canadian politics understand that
there are four criteria for selecting Cabinet Ministers. These are:

Region, plurality, gender and ethnicity. Competence for the Cabinet
portfolio, which is an executive portfolio often involving billions in
spending authority, is an unintended and rare consequence of this
process.

Before briefly explaining how these four selection criteria are
applied for selecting Cabinet Ministers, we should acknowledge that
competence is not always a leading factor in selecting a Prime Minister.

Look at Pierre Trudeau. When he became PM at age 48 he had 3 years of
political experience. Prior to that he lectured briefly and edited an
obscure policy pamphlet in Quebec. As for his foreign affairs
experience, it consisted of backpacking around the world well into his
30's, an age when the rest of us had a job. He famously wore a Nazi
helmut during WW2 and fawned over Castro and Mao. We should brag.

In terms of the criteria for selecting a Cabinet, it works as follows.

In Cabinet selections, a PM needs regional balance and plurality means
that a dummy from a big constituency gets the nod over a Rhodes
scholar from a small one. Gender selection and Ethnicity require no
elaboration.

Let's look at the results of this process.

Region: How about Max Bernier, the biker chick boinker from Quebec
elevated to international relations.

Gender. Can you say Hedi Frye?

Ethnicity: Dosanjh can glide from party to party assured of a Cabinet
post. Ditto Raymond Chan, another Mensa luminary

As for plurality being a determinant, it's hard to top the career of
Sheila Copps.

Ms. Copps did nothing before entering politics other than have the
good fortune of being sired by a popular Mayor of Hamilton. She made
her name in Opposition as a member of the so-called Rat pack. Her most
famous exploit in that phase of her career, proudly described in her
biography, consisted of crawling in fury across a finance committee
table to intimidate John Crosbie. If I saw Ms. Copps massive butt
crawling at speed in my direction, I too would be intimidated.

She became Deputy Prime Minister. The PM in this country has far more
executive powers than the President of the United States. Scampering
Sheila was a heartbeat away from the job.

Another member of the Rat Pack was Brian Tobin, later touted by many
as a Prime Minister in waiting. Prior to being elected at 24, he spent
2 years as a disc jockey at a 5000 watt radio station. I'm impressed.

So while Canadians smugly sniff around the competence issue in other
countries, we maintain a blissful or willful ignorance about how we
elevate people to powerful Cabinet posts here at home.

Maybe with two elections in the next 7 months, it would be a good time
to start. But we won't .


Victor Godin

ANNOUNCEMENT

Tomorrow morning, Monday, September 15th, I must be at a work assignment at 8:30.

Thus, no blog.

Back Tuesday in fill mojo.

The Science of Shear Conjecture

"Mayencourt said B.C. residents are already taking more transit and driving less as a result of the provincial tax, which came in July."

This fantasy came from what info pool?

Lorne, give your head a shake.

We really, really, really want you to get rid of Hedy at long last, but stay out of Disneyland en route.

Insight

Thefts from autos are on the rise Went up 33 per cent in 28 days in downtown core

Headline in this morning's Province.

Wonderful tribute to the great work being done by Insite and Harm Reduction.

We all send our gratitude.

So there!

My whole life I have thought of myself as not very bright about money.

I am neither rich nor poor.

I am a typical Canadian rube, overextended, and blissfully, ignorantly happy.

All my life I have watched the Masters of the Universe, the Titans of Industry, the Golden Apollos of Finance strut across their skyscrapers and luxury SUVs and second fairway homes and thought of myself - at least in this area - a lesser human being.

Imagine with what glee, I receive the daily count as Lehman Brothers goes down to the canvas.

Shares worth $80 last week are now below $10. Assets, if you can call bad mortgages that, are being sold off at fire sale prices. And the $120 Million a year CEO's are looking at the pavement a mere 55 stories below and considering it a solution to their woes.

Of course, one cries for the poor schleps who entrusted their life savings to these arrogant bastards.

But that feeling is quickly replaced by a petty sense of triumph - albeit entirely unearned - watching the mighty choke on their rugala.

Palin Revealed???

This is a five-page condemnation of Gov. Sarah Palin, as printed in today's NY Times.

If you are a Palin admirer, you will abhore this kind of writing.

If, like me, you find this candidate offensive and dangerous, you will welcome anything that reveals more than can be shown from a podium.

Either way, it's great Sunday morning reading.