GOOD MORNING

Default Monster

Alright movie buffs and cinephiles. I have a question.

How did the dripping, snarling, coiling mother-creature from Alien (1979) become the default monster for all sci-fi horror flicks forever after?

Bad genre film after bad genre film has the same snarling, coiling, dripping body-eating mother-creature at the bloody heart of the story. These creatures all always female. What does that say about the nut jobs who write and produce these things? And they all came from the same rack in Costumes and Species Effects.

Is it simply that there are so many left-over parts in various trucks and crates that you move the one eye from one side of the scaly head to the other and hope no one notices?

Come on, Kids. 'splain me...

NY Times Quote of the Day

"It’s a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us. When people are shaken to the core, it can open doors."

THE REV. A. R. BERNARD, pastor of New York’s largest evangelical congregation, on the economic downturn.

A FEW AUDREY MOMENTS

SWEEPING CITY HALL

So Judy Rogers is gone and Dr. Penny Ballem is the new City Manager.

There may or may not be very specific reasons for this sudden change at 12th and Cambie. We may or may not ever learn of these deep, spooky reasons, if such ever exist.

But a more likely read is this.

The Vision team, whether you like them or not, whether you voted for them or not, is quickly proving to be the best prepared and most highly focused and organized groups ever to swoop into public office locally. It is my perception that Judy Rogers is, after 20 years at City Hall, 10 of those as City Manager, gone for no other reason than the Vision team want their own people at key positions. This move was probably in their sights six weeks ago.

It is true that Rogers had a reputation for being a tough cookie. But what would you have in that role with the likes of Larry Campbell and Sam Sullivan running amok?

Dr. Ballem will be more than competent and she will be nobody's patsy as the Visionaries will soon discover. No doubt relationships will largely be collaborative and collegial. But let the new Lords of the Manor never forget that Ballem said Sayonara to Gordon Campbell when she could no longer stomach the Liberal style or agenda.

In the meantime, we must give the New gang full credit for moving ahead on several important files at once.

I will hope that Gregor Robertson can in fact do something substantive about homelessness. Like you, I won't expect the miracle of eradication, but bringing down the numbers of people sentenced to the streets will be accomplishment enough. Unfortunately, his HEAT team doesn't impress me one bit. Robertson has gathered all the Usual Suspects into a blue ribbon panel. Problem is they are all the folks who have been in position to do something all along.

No. I'd be more encouraged if Gregor found a handful of new young energized world-beaters who would get out there and bring in some real change. Buy some buildings, lease some armories, get huge donations of beds and blankets now, today.

That said, Robertson and company are to be congratulated for taking their new roles seriously and pointing their collective noses into the wind.

May they actually leave some real legacies. May they not suffer the fate of the '72 Barrett reign - arrogance, over-stepping boundaries and quick return to the benches.

We will watch with hope and interest.

COOKING THE BOOKS

Three British Columbia Auditors-General in a row have examined the provincial books and concluded that the present administration is not being entirely forthcoming about the true cost of the 2010 Olympic Games.

Really?

I'm in shock, gob-smacked, blown away, disappointed, let down, in tears.

John Doyle, the current AG, agrees with his predecessors that enormous amounts of money spent on Olympic related buildings, projects and activities (initiatives that simply would not exist without the Games) are not included in the published budgets.

I believe Seneca, or was it Euripides, who first fudged public accounts. No, I'm wrong. It may have been Job or Moses.

Yes, Reb Moishe's final tally for crossing the desert with two million souls was 900 drumkas or thereabouts, give or take a goat or two. Climbing the mountain, private consultation with The Big Guy, xeroxing 2,000,000 copies of the Commandments, those never got shown in the published records.

None of this is to diminish the Rebbie's great contributions, of course, or to tarnish his well-deserved reputation in any way. It's just to point out that Gordon Campbell is following ancient and honored traditions.

And, you know vat keeps us together, don't you?

TRADITION!

Reasonable and Necessary

We are told that the four RCMP officers who managed to kill Robert Dziekanski at YVR last year hit the man with not one, not two, but FIVE zaps of their tasers 24 seconds after meeting him.

In the same official report, all four are completely exhonerated from any potential charges or guilt.

The dead man's mother is considering a civil suit.

Sue.

Trapped in Time - Auto Execs

As the public purses are opened and the rainstorm of tax dollars begins to pour forth to save badly managed, short-visioned automakers in the US and Canada, I find myself looking at the latest posting of plant closures.

This is telling.

The Canadian plants that make the following vehicles will close down in the coming weeks to save a few million dollars: Chevy Impala and Equinox, Pontiac Torrent; Chrysler 300, Charger and Challenger; Ford MKX and The Edge, GRand Marquis and Lincoln.

DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO OWNS ONE OF THESE THINGS?

I do not.

I know not one human being with a driver's license who owns, leases or drives such loser lemons. In fact, I have never heard of half of these products.

Please take the SURVEY on the right hand side of this page, and explain to me what these Captains of Industry have been up to for the past several years.

All sing together now,

"See the USA in your Chevrolet..." Where's Dinah Shore when you really need her? In what black and white 14-inch world have these clods been living?

MORE CHOIR - This is great...thanks MO!

ARETHA & RAY

Another Side of the Coin

D3 - Detroit 3 Automakers - Union Wages

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According to Forbes:

Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers.

Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)

GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)

Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)

Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)

According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).

Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D., and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan.

Many industry analysts say the Detroit Three, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive. This year's contract, they say, must be "transformational" in reducing pension and health care costs.

What would "transformational" mean? One way to think about "transformational" would mean that UAW workers, most with a high school diploma, would have to accept compensation equal to that of the average university professor with a PhD.

Then there's the "Job Bank"

When a D3 (Detroit 3 carmaker) lays an employee off, that employee continues to receive all benefits - medical, retirement, etc., etc., PLUS an hourly wage of $31/hour.

Here's a typical story....

Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working -- on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.

"We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper," he says. "Otherwise, I just sit."

Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers as demanded by the United Auto Workers Union - UAW - as part of an extraordinary job security agreement.

Now the D3 wants Joe Taxpayer to pick up this tab in a $25 Billion bailout package - soon to be increased to $45 Billion if Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have their way.

The "Big 3" want this money - not to build better autos. No. They want it to pay the tab for Medical and Retirement benefits for RETIRED auto workers. Not ONE PENNY would be used to make them more competitive, or to improve the quality of their cars.

We ALL have problems paying for our Medical Insurance - but the Democrat leaders in Congress now want us to pay the Medical Insurance premiums of folks who have RETIRED from Ford, GM and Chrysler.

Not a good deal for us.

How about Chapter 11 - and getting rid of these ridiculous union contracts?

Unique Voice

Subject: How To Depress A Quebecois Reporter

"Quebec brings nothing to the table other than threats, costs and complications that hinder the growth of our country."

---

By Howard Galganov

Friday, December 05, 2008

Freedom Isn't Free

I received an interview request from a reporter with the Journal de Montreal Newspaper (December 3, 2008) the day before Harper’s meeting with the Governor General.

She wanted to know my reaction to the proposed Coalition between the NDP, Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois.

For those of you who don’t know much or anything about the Journal de Montreal, it is a French language daily that is the closest thing Quebec has to a ‘national newspaper’.

It is also a VERY racist Quebecois nationalist rag, to the point of being Quebec’s Separatist cheerleader.

During my QPAC days in Quebec, the Journal de Montreal liked to refer to me in their headlines as l’Anglohone Juif Galganov. In translation: Anglo Jew Galganov. Where was the Human Rights Commission then?

The Journal de Montreal can best be described as a sensationalist tabloid that mixes gossip, sports and news. It should also be noted that more than a million French Quebecers read the Journal de Montreal every day.

The reporter expected me to answer her question with a degree of outrage towards this coalition, so imagine her surprise when I told her that I was all for it?

She asked if I was kidding? How could I possibly be for a federal political union that includes the Bloc Quebecois?

She was more surprised with my answer when I told her that this coalition between Socialists and Separatists will not last beyond a month or so, and will guarantee two unexpected and unintended consequences.

The first consequence will be the end of any hopes for Leftist electoral victories for either the Liberals or the Socialist NDP for a generation or more to come, freeing Canada from the type of FREEBIE LEFTIST policies that are destroying the fabric of our country.

The next consequence really shook her when I explained that a coalition with the Quebec Separatist Bloc would hasten the departure of Quebec from Confederation, allowing Canada to finally grow without the Quebec anchor around our neck.

The interview became more of a discussion as she asked me if I thought the rest of Canada would throw Quebec out. And if they did, why would they do that now and not before?

My answer stunned her even more. And from the sound of her voice, she was more than somewhat depressed when I explained to her that Canada does not need Quebec. More to the point, Canada will be far better off without Quebec.

It is Quebec that needs Canada, since Quebec brings nothing to the table other than threats, costs and complications that hinder the growth of our country.

I also explained that the rest of Canada didn’t need our domestic and foreign policies decided upon by a beggar province. Not to mention that Canada’s official bilingualism policies are discriminating against more than 97% of the Canadian population (English speaking) living outside of Quebec.

With this proposed coalition, the Bloc will win several big concessions that will include:

MORE MONEY from the rest of Canada - But the rest of Canada is broke.

Ontario is a HAVE-NOT province. And if it isn’t yet, it certainly will be soon.

At less than $50 per barrel, and still falling like a lead balloon, Alberta is dying with the lack of demand for its petroleum products, and will not earn enough money to sustain its budgetary goals without cutting programs, raising taxes, or dipping into its Heritage Fund. All of which are akin to cancer for Albertans.

Where else will Quebec expect to get the BILLIONS of dollars their deal with the two idiots, Stephane Dion and Taliban Jack have promised?

Just imagine the outrage from the West, when Alberta has to write a check to a Separatist province that helped wipeout a government Albertans voted for near unanimously?

Just imagine the added outrage from the West when six Quebec Separatists are named to Canada’s Senate as part of the deal?

Just imagine the boiling-over outrage from the West when Quebec Separatists must first vet all of Parliaments business before it can be brought to the floor, much less implemented?

I CAN’T WAIT I TOLD HER!

Then I reminded her that certain inalienable decisions would be made the moment Quebec and Canada part company.

By federal law, Canadian Banks and Insurance companies must be headquartered within Canada. There go the banks. By law, airlines cannot pick-up and deliver passengers from one national location to another national location unless that airline is headquartered in that nation. Goodbye Air Canada.

Then there’s the Canada Export and Development Corporation that underwrites just about all of Bombardier’s sales abroad. Goodbye Bombardier along with other federally financed corporations in Quebec.

Goodbye all the federal government jobs that disproportionately employ French Quebecers. Especially those who can speak some English.

And Goodbye official bilingualism.

At this point in our conversation, her voice was quite subdued when she asked if I think Canada will push Quebec out the door?

No was my response. I think Quebec and Canada will separate from each other much like Czechoslovakia did, when the Czechs and Slovakians both decided to go their separate ways without any fanfare, great debates, referendums or anything else.

It just happened, much the way I see it just happening between Canada and Quebec where there will be no reason for Quebec to stay within Canada once the financial tap is closed.

And there will be no reason for Canada to want Quebec within Confederation when the rest of Canada finally learns that we will be far better off without Quebec dragging us down.

Even though Harper bought himself and the Conservatives 6 weeks of political peace by suspending Parliament to the end of January, much of the damage has already been done to the long-term future between Quebec and Canada by this attempted Putsch by the Coalition of Idiots.

The rest of Canada really doesn't care much for what Quebec wants anymore, since the rest of Canada is more concerned with what it needs to stay afloat.

I explained to her that I am just one political Blogger out of thousands who are spreading a similar message by asking pertinent questions while bringing demographic FACTS to the table.

And in spite of what the out-of-touch conventional media seems to think, Quebec’s future within Canada is not looking all that good. And that looks pretty good for the rest of Canada.

We owe Duceppe, Dion and Taliban Jack our gratitude for finally pushing the envelope too far.


Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov

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Clint Again...

The arguments about Clint Eastwood as director, actor and American icon continue.

With his new movie, "Gran Torino," opening today in New York and Los Angeles, the discussion has heated.

Whatever your sense of Eastwood's place in the American fabric, there is no question that he is always worth a look.

Check out today's NY Times review (glowing), some of the comments (hardly) and the video trailer, all by simply clicking your famous mouse here.

Me, I can't wait to see it.

OOOps...

I have to re-think yesterday's announcement that I would henceforth write only one editorial a day.

Pardon me while I tinker.

Let's modify that policy announcement to a "direction in which I'll head."

In the meantime...

* Headline: "Tainted Cocaine prompts warning from province." Hahahaha... Isn't that redundant, "tainted cocaine?" Has the province ever considered warning against cocaine as being a tainted past time in the first place?

* BCTF is refusing again to administer the Foundation Skills Test, which asks grade 4 and grade 7 kids to check their skills in basics like reading and writing and arithmetic. I love the BCTF. They are so pure.

* The four tasering mounties who managed to kill Robert Dzienanski at YVR last year will not have criminal charges laid against them.

The good news is that means they can now testify at a police enquiry about what went wrong.

The bad news is everything else.

Vancouver's new Mayor, Gregor Robertson, has proposed that Vancouver Police put away their zap guns for a while. Not a bad idea.

Rent Me

Returning Vancouver City Councillor Tim Stevenson has tabled a motion that is intended to help people who rent their apartments.

"Specifically, it calls on the province to amend the Residential Tenancy Act to "require landlords to allow tenants evicted for the purpose of renovations to reoccupy their units once renovations are completed at the same rent as they were paying prior to the renovation."

THat quoted paragraph is taken from the Sun's Don Cayo, who argues convincingly that this notion, while well intended, will result in slums and no new rentals being built.

"Think about it. A landlord who collects $600 a month for a suite could spend tens of thousands of dollars on upgrades, then continue to collect $600 a month.

Or he could keep collecting $600 a month without raising a finger (or spending a cent.) You don't need a degree in rocket science to figure out how this will end."

Cayo urges other levels of government to create opportunities for builders to want to build rental stock.

"Among them, work with Ottawa and Victoria to end some of the tax disincentives. Untangle city hall's red tape. Convince developers to provide rental housing in exchange for things like extra height or extra density for new housing projects."

As much as I like Stevenson and admire his dedication, I am afraid his motion is ill-conceived and that Cayo has a clearer eye on the prize.

Heavenly Voices - Kathleen Battle/Harlem Boys Choir

THE BLOG IT IS A-CHANGIN'

I've decided to take a new approach to my blog.

Henceforth I will write one major editorial piece on any given day rather than a myriad of small rants.

And that may not necessarily be every day. Some days, I just plain may not feel like saying anything, a day for which many will give thanks.

On the days that I publish, I'll send out the blog to the usual suspects.

On occasion, as today below, you will find a guest column.

The music videos will continue as they mysteriously tickle my fancy, or any other parts that are still working...

Government Priorities - Guest Posting by Victor

The recession arrived at my door last night. And it has left me
incredibly sad. It arrived in the form of a gentle ,middle-aged woman,
tears in her eyes,who insisted I take a half bag of dog biscuits she
offered.

Here is the story.

Not far from my house is a home for unwed mothers. A quaint term, I
realize for the sophisticated, Chardonnay sipping crowd. But some
young girls, without family support, need a place out of the cold, if
they decide to have their babies. It is not a religious or
proselytizing venture. It is just a home, supported by a small
charitable grant.

Every day, I walk my dog down the lanes of my neighbourhood and I pass
this house. A middle aged lady who is the house-mother waits every
morning, rain or shine, to give my dog a biscuit. She cooks and cleans
at the home, and baby sits the infants when the girls want a break to
do the things young girls like to do. I have always had the feeling
that giving that biscuit was the highlight of her day.

Last night, she found my house and rang the bell. She was quietly
sobbing in the rain. She whispered that she had been laid off for lack
of funds but asked me to keep the remaining dog biscuits.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you want to do 100 right
things but you just stand there?

Here in this city, our government is determined to give a tax payer
funded home to every junky, drifter and rebellious teenager they find
on the street, regardless of how culpable they may be for their own
circumstances.

But there is no money at Christmas for a woman who helps other women,
who nurtures underprivileged newborns, who takes money from her meagre
pay to feed a stranger's dog.

I didn't sleep well. In my comfortable house, surrounded by excess
possessions, I felt sadly diminished. And I still do today.



Victor Godin

Questioning P3's

No one has been a bigger salesman for the concept of “P3’s” than British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell.

And on paper and at the hotel ballroom dinner, the notion of Public Private Partnerships seems full of good potential.

Let’s get the crafty, knowledgeable private sector, which know all the secrets of hiring workers and buying supplies and materials to join forces with governments to build those much-needed roads and dams and hospitals.

Costs will be cheaper and more efficient and the job will get done on time, on budget and with the liabilities shared among the participants.

But, as with all issues in life, intention is everything.

And from the outset, do we really know why Mr. Campbell favors so strongly this P3 model?

Is it the alleged efficiencies and cost benefits?

Or is it, as many suspect, that P3 is a not so elaborate pea and shell game whose sole purpose is to give business to friends and supporters?

The case of care homes for seniors on Vancouver Island is worth a look in this regard.

Cowichan Lodge had happily served the community for many years. That is, until the Vancouver Island health Authority, announced out of the blue that the Lodge would be torn down and replaced by a private facility called Sunridge Place and that the residents of Cowichan Lodge would be dis-lodged and moved to the new facility.

The community was understandably outraged. Rallies were held, 12,000 locals signed a petition in protest, and the news coverage chronicled people’s angers and fears. To no avail, of course. The one was closed, the other opened and the elderly residents were moved in.

Today, we learn that the elderly at Sunridge and the families who pay their bills are finding new costs and expenses at every turn.

Pharmaceuticals cost more. Wheelchairs, mattresses and underwear are more expensive at the shiny new P3.

The managers of Sunridge Place and the VIHA have their excuses at the ready. “We don’t have anything to do with the billing,” says the Health Authority.

Well, why the hell don’t you? If your going to uproot seniors and move them across the street or across town, the least you could do is be responsible.

Or was that part of the original intention?

As David Mamet says in Glengarry Glen Ross, “You don’t sell a guy a car. You sell him many cars over 15 or 20 years!” And service and tires and CD players.

Drugs are more expensive at the new P3 because Sunridge, unlike Cowichan before ir doesn’t buy in bulk. And oddly, residents are compelled to buy from the in-house, more expensive pharmacy. Why? Why can’t they buy down the road at Shoppers or Safeway?

Cloverdale’s Zion Park Manor is soon to close, to be replaced by…well, you know.

If governments are going to enter in to contracts with private suppliers for public services, they might consider having some dominion over ultimate costs to the consumers, who are called citizens.

Unless, of course, there were other intentions all along.

Charm is Gone

Michael Rennie's Man from Space was charming.

In Robert Wise's 1951 classic sci-fi flick, Rennie as Klaatu smiled and laughed and treated all earthlings with the same kindly patience that he showed Billy Gray, the young boy who leads him to the Einstein-like Sam Jaffe character.

Now, in a huge blow-up version soon to be released, the huge movie star, who absolutely cannot act, Keanu Reeves, stares glumly at everyone and everything while stuff explodes indiscriminately.

Why not remake "An American in Paris" with Jay Leno or "Lawrence of Arabia" with Greg Kinnear?

"Quantum of Solace," the new Bond movie is the last of that Franchise that I will see.

The problem isn't so much the glum, downright miserable charmless take we get from Daniel Craig (who is in fact a helluva good actor), but the whole fiery wreck.

I have no idea what happened in this movie. The photography was spectacular, the sound was overwhelming, the fights and car crashes were in your face, but...what happened? Who was who?

And where was Sean Connery's charm?

The best fight scene in all the Bond movies came in "Fromm Russia With Love," when Connery and Robert Shaw batted each other around a train compartment. The whole affair seemed plausibly terrifying and each punch and choke hold was visceral.

A two and a half hour movie without a single joke or smile is not watchable.