British Columbia Hansard, March 26, 2012 J. van Dongen: I rise and ask for the attention of the House to make a personal statement. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. J. van Dongen: “…I had hoped that there would have been renewal in my party and in government, but in the last 12
Continue readingAuthor: Norman Farrell
Northern Insights / Perceptivity: No comment needed
The Rich Get Even Richer, Steve Rattner, New York Times, March 25, 2012 Steven Rattner is a contributing writer for Op-Ed and a longtime Wall Street executive.
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Harper’s anti-science shame
Don’t miss Andrew Nikiforuk’s latest contribution at The Tyee: Understanding Harper’s Evangelical Mission “…While government and industry PR folk spin fabrications about Canada’s environmental record, Scott Vaughan, Federal Environment Commissioner in the office of the Auditor General, reports that there are only 12 water quality stations for Canada’s 3,000 First
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Ethically challenged plutocrat
SNC-Lavalin CEO resigns after review, Globe and Mail Report on Business, March 26, 2012 SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has announced the departure of chief executive officer Pierre Duhaime amid allegations he allowed a series of unauthorized payments totalling $56-million (U.S.) …the company cannot properly account for $56-million in payments, some of
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Obama now leader of the not-free world
Chris Hedges writes: “The NDAA implodes our most cherished constitutional protections. It permits the military to function on U.S. soil as a civilian law enforcement agency. It authorizes the executive branch to order the military to selectively suspend due process and habeas corpus for citizens. The law can be used
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Something is rotten in the state of PavCo
The government’s fiscal year ends in a few days so here’s a suggestion for more accurate financial reports in BC. Add a separate line item for “Fraud, Theft & Abuse.” That way, taxpayers could know the real costs of legitimate programs and the 30% of voters still supporting Christy Clark’s
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: OK to shoot a disarmed and badly injured man in the head
Paul Boyd August 13 2007, 39-year-old Paul Boyd, a successful animator who suffered bipolar disorder, created a disturbance on Granville Street. When police arrived, he struggled with them, reportedly armed with a bicycle locking chain, and failed to follow instructions. Vancouver Police Constable Lee Chipperfield shot Boyd repeatedly, dropping him to
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Winners win, losers lose
The Age of Double Standards, Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, March 19, 2012 “…Petty felons and 200,000 small-time drug users do prison time, while corporate criminals whose frauds cost the rest of the economy trillions of dollars are permitted to settle civil suits for small fines, with shareholders bearing the
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Premier Photo Op is a compulsive liar
Premier Christy Clark calls for an audit of TransLink over Evergreen Line, Mike Raptis, The Province, March 22, 2012 “Premier Christy Clark is calling for an audit to TransLink to make up the funding gap needed to build the Evergreen Line. “Clark, in Port Moody to support Liberal candidate Dennis
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Lewis Black & Co. – funny stuff !
The BBC News Quiz gets a US makeover with an all-American panel. With the US election this year, turmoil in the Middle East, financial insecurity all around – not to mention a recent visit from the British Prime Minister – a team of US comedians dissect the headlines as the
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: White racism alive and well in USA
Overt racism that disgusted so many of us in the fifties and sixties is not tolerated in most circles today. An exception though involves the American world of right wing wacko politics. The John Locke Foundation, like the Canadian based Fraser Institute, calls itself a free-market think tank. It is
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Toothless media accommodates political fraud
In 2006, Rafe Mair wrote News Media, Defanged for The Tyee. It included the headline: “Politicians, not too long ago, feared the press.” Of course misreants particularly feared Rafe Mair during his post-politician days. Rafe had been a successful lawyer and a capable cabinet minister in Bill Bennett’s coalition and
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Read The Real Story, then get mad, stay mad
Stay mad until every single BC Liberal politician is sent home in disgrace. If any single situation demonstrates conclusively that BC Liberals continue to hide from the truth, this is it. If there is no fraud to hide, why are they hiding everything? Read Ian Reid’s Open government my ass
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Get mad, then get involved
From John Macfarlane’s Editor’s Note at The Walrus Magazine: THE SOLILOQUY Paddy Chayefsky wrote for the character Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network still resonates today: “…I want you to get mad!… I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
I grew up informed and amused by Vancouver’s great editorial cartoonists Len Norris and Roy Peterson. At home, there is an original Norris on the wall, purchased at a 1981 elementary school fundraiser that benefited from the artist’s generosity during another time of restraint in public education. Browsing through works
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Canadians: too polite, too passive?
One more example of price gouging that faces Canadians every day. Live in Point Roberts WA, pay Amazon $76.39. Live two kilometres north in Tsawwassen BC, pay Amazon $149.99 for the same product. 96% higher in Canada. You might also read Might makes right, describing illusory efforts of the Harper
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: OHWTO
Phil Hochstein and his Independent Contractors and Businesses Association have had a symbiotic relationship with British Columbia’s governing party for more than a decade. ICBA provides financing and political support; in return, BC Liberals shape procurement policies, taxation, legislation and regulations to advantage these loyal supporters. The same goes for
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Did BC taxpayers finance American TV ?
American cable TV producers moved taping of three of 18 episodes of Bravo’s Top Chef: Texas to British Columbia. That may seem unlikely because of the high costs of transporting and housing contestants, judges and an entire U.S. production crew following a 4,000 km location shift. However, you can be
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Smile
Henning Wehn, German Comedy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, on Britain’s social classes: “Life in Britain is all about knowing your place. The lower class has a lot in common with the upper class in that they’re mostly unemployable, make virtually no tax contribution and don’t need to consider if
Continue readingNorthern Insights / Perceptivity: Open, accountable government, BC Liberal style
B.C. Lottery Corp. seeks reversal of document order, CBC News, March 15, 2011 “The Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre (Fintrac), the federal money laundering watchdog, hit BCLC in 2010 with a $700,000 fine for failing to adequately report suspected money laundering. The lottery corporation is appealing the fine. The penalty
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