Norman Farrell
Hockey violence or government corruption?
CBC asks: What was B.C.’s top news story of 2011? They ask readers to vote on these choices: Stanley Cup riot Demise of HST Occupy movement Kienan Hebert abduction Sled-dog…
Adding to the pain
Grim tidings from the UK Austerity in the UK is going to hurt more and last longer than the government previously admitted. That is the upshot of a revised assessment…
Spin Cycles recycled
First published here in April 2009, this piece contains a couple of classic clips from a program about political comments. One before spin-masters were invented and another that demonstrates spin…
Comparative values
How we spend our money reflects our values, particularly for conscious choices, the ones we make after full consideration. That occurred to me when reader Lew linked to a Jonathan…
Luxurious new offices and enduring gratitude
News item: BC Ferries hiking fuel surcharges, Andrew MacLeod, The Tyee “Ferry fares will rise by 2.5 percent on Dec. 12 on the major routes as B.C. Ferry Services Inc.…
Advocates not reporters
Canada kept detection of salmon virus secret, Craig Welch, Seattle Times environment reporter, Nov. 30/11 “A decade before this fall’s salmon-virus scare, a Canadian government researcher said she found a…
Snoozing, slothful syndicate of political poodles…
At the Rafe Mair birthday celebration last week, we got to hear Rafe tell an anecdote about writing for Ryerson School of Journalism a piece that celebrated free speech, one…
Liberal MLA’s search for the BC Rail story
Premier Photo-Op assigned her minions to look for clues in the BC Rail case. Drawing from DFO resource: SALMONIDS IN THE CLASSROOM: PRIMARY Don’t miss Bill Tieleman at The Tyee,…
Trending toward turmoil
The Poor, the Near Poor and You, New York Times, Nov. 23/11: “…And times are tough for the middle class. But everyone needs to recognize a chilling reality: One in…
More theatre of the absurd
Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender says negotiations are complete, an agreement for continuing the RCMP role in British Columbia is done. Attorney General Shirley Bond – the person who promised to…
More Corus charitable work
Annual financial reports filed by Canadian charities with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), are rudimentary and largely unchecked by tax department officials. This suggests rather little oversight is exercised despite…
From the ‘Rules Don’t Apply to Us’ department
According to Finance Minister Kevin Falcon’s first quarterly report for the current year, “As well, the fiscal plan assumes the current public sector compensation negotiating mandate – i.e. two year…
"The hypocrisy is quite sickening"
Paraphrasing Benjamin Disraeli’s words to the British Parliament in 1845, “The BC Liberal government is an organized hypocrisy.”I visited the BC Liberal website today and found this homepage. The frame…
Net-zero mandate, not for all
Net-zero is OK for teachers, regular healthcare providers and the remaining public sector workers but not for important friends who do favours for Premier Photo Op. For example, and this…
I see nothing, I was not here…
Premier Photo Op was born in the sixties, apparently influenced by one particular TV show. While it ended production in 1971, Hogans Heroes was in reruns long after. With a…
On media, a reader’s contribution
Ms.Photo Op,Mentzelopoulos,Muir,Waldner Here’s an excerpt from the Vancouver Sun that ran Nov 22nd about the hiring of the husband of the minister of corporate priorities by the Vancouver Island Health…
Democracy Or Plutocracy? A Chart
By Dave Johnson, Campaign for America’s Future: Updates:
Contributions of two MLAs in BC Legislature
“I think this is a vital step forward for British Columbia, and long overdue, I think it’s going to make a difference, I think it’s going to mean taxpayers money…
To be different, we must do things differently
Alexandra Morton has a new blog entry. It starts with this: Dear Minister Ashfield: I would suggest you stop treating us like fools…Alexandra holds back little criticism because she has…