BC Liberal closing out sale
Monday, I linked to Guardian columnist George Monbiot, a writer whose work I often find compelling. He said: “Since the 1980s, in Britain, the US and other nations, the primary…
Norman Farrell
A false notion of the purpose and end of law
A replay from June 2010 that seemed to me worth repeating because, after almost two years, Vaughn Palmer, the Vancouver Sun’s main pundit, finally noticed the BCR scandal keeps BC…
Keeping corporate tyrants at bay
Freedom of information…, George Monbiot, The Guardian “Modern government could be interpreted as a device for projecting corporate power. Since the 1980s, in Britain, the US and other nations, the…
Not a story to be ignored, after all
The following conversation between the three voices of NW’s Trailing Edge from the Ledge was first reported at Northern Insight in October 2009. Today, the boys got to say what…
Verbal gymnastics? Maybe not
Fascism Anyone?, Dr. Laurence W. Britt, Free Inquiry Magazine, Council for Secular Humanism, Spring 2003 “…fascism’s principles are wafting in the air today, surreptitiously masquerading as something else, challenging everything…
5 years in jail for masked instigators of unrest
Stephen Harper’s government supports Bill C-309, a private members bill before the House of Commons. It will enable individuals to be jailed five years for wearing a mask or other…
Coverup defines Conservative Party character
If you surmise the sum of two plus two is four, you’ll be quite certain of the result, even if no independent authority confirms it. So too with Canada’s election…
Justice is blind … to abuse, again
I republish this article from January 2011. The trial of RCMP Constable Mantler is scheduled for November 2012 and this seemingly straight forward case is scheduled to last three weeks.…
The "path to sustainability"
The words are code, of course, for celebration of globalism where business and capital dominate unions and labour and holdings of wealth become concentrated, where law and order supersedes civil…
Hypocrisy reigns
B.C. accused of salary increase ‘double standard’, CBC News, May 3, 2012 “Cabinet staffers got average 10-per-cent hike while ‘net-zero’ offered elsewhere “B.C.’s teachers and many provincial government workers might…
Today in the Legislature
I urge you to read through this material provided by Gary Coons, NDP Critic for B.C. Ferries and Coastal Communities: In the bc legislature we asked questions about the spill…
Rebranding – easier than revision
Province columnist Michael Smyth writes the BC Liberal Party — “searching for any way out of its predicament” — believes a new name might be part of the answer to…
Using taxis would save millions
Thirty-seven minister and junior ministers, each with a driver and a car in Ottawa. A quick calculation allowing for salaries, benefits, overtime and vehicle costs indicates at least $3.2 million…
Soft landings
Another change in BC Premier Christy Clark’s office, Andrew MacLeod, The Tyee, May 2, 2012 The Premier’s office is now Scott free, which conveniently fixes a CBC problem. They had…
Canada’s message: "We’re all right Jack!"
Expectation of economic recovery in Europe is replaced now by talk of double dip recession — even depression. Nevertheless, Canada is lecturing nations there to institute the policies of economic…
Be cautious of demon inspired thinkers
For those who would be devout except it’s so difficult, Stephen Colbert updates advice from the leader of an ancient group that threatened to hijack their nation’s regulatory system to…
Regressive taxation: help for the prosperous
Let’s Stop The Apple Tax Dodge, Isaiah J. Poole, Campaign for America’s Future, April 30, 2012 “In one sense, Sunday’s New York Times story on how Apple avoids paying U.S.…
Unjust deserts
Without reporting anything on the BC Liberal HQ purge beyond the party line, Vancouver Sun reporter Jonathan Fowlie provides the pols an uncritical platform to assure us that all goes…
The car-crash-that-never-ends
Liberals across Canada are being hoist with their own petard, Brian Topp, The Globe and Mail, Apr. 29, 2012 “Meanwhile, the car-crash-that-never-ends that is the premiership of British Columbia’s Christy…
Mostly, it’s the schlemiels paying tax
Many working stiffs watch a third or more of every extra dollar earned disappear as income tax. Then, we’re hammered again with user fees and consumption taxes when we spend…