AllTheCompensationThatFits
MillionDollarBabyVille
It's the last Saturday morning in July.....
And I hope everyone is where they want to be already on this fine BC Day long weekend.
However, if you are/will be/or have been stuck-in a BC Ferries line-up, I feel for you.
But the folks I feel for most are the passengers that were stuck in the massive line-ups that started piling up last Tuesday.
Yes.
Last Tuesday.
Which begs the question....If ticket prices are up and ridership is down, why exactly is this happening?
Hmmmmm.....
I wonder if all those instantaeously full ferries has anything to do with the ratcheting up of percentages per sailing that are held back for those suckers and/or folks that actually have to get somewhere on time who are willing to pay for the privilege of being held hostage to David Hahn's 'reservation' policy that is actually pretending to be something other than what it really is.
Which, of course, is nothing less than a $35 round-trip price increase.
.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
And The Digressors Shall Inherit The Earth
WhenHoldenMetShirley
DucksOnThePondVille
One of my favourite parts of 'Catcher In The Rye' is a bit of a weird one.
And in an even weirder sort of way, it kind of defines my world view (on the non-science-geek side, of course).
It's that part of the book where young Mr. Caulfield is explaining how one of the things that drives him crazy is when the phonies won't let people digress on any and all matters that strike their fancy....
"....It's nice when somebody tells you about their uncle. Especially when they start out telling you about their father's farm and then all of a sudden get more interested in their uncle. I mean it's dirty to keep yelling 'Digression!' at him when he's all nice and excited. I don't know. It's hard to explain....."
Hard to explain, indeed.
But here's the crazy part.....
While the only time my hit-rates really climb is when I hammer on something very narrow and specific for a long time (which is what the science-geek side of me does in my real job as well), what gets the most interesting responses, and often invokes the best discussions, are the weird digressions I sometimes engage in 'round here.
Like the recent piece about staying at an Emeryville California hotel on the marsh between Berkeley and Oakland, for example.
Now.
Usually, this kind of stuff does not really get noted by anybody but me.
But.....
In a recent comment thread that erupted over the critically important issue of line spacing between paragraphs or, more precisely, the lack thereof, Paul Willcocks said something that, in retrospect, made me feel pretty darned......
Good.
Here's what Paul had to say.......
I just paste a txt file into blogger. Maybe there's a better way.
I created the blog in 2000 because I thought the technology was interesting after I read a New Yorker article about the company.
I started posting columns as in 2002, thinking that if the e-mailed versions to subscribing newspapers went astray, they could find the columns here instead of trying to track me down. And perhaps a few people would stumble on them.
I almost never posted anything but the columns.
That reflected my ethos as a freelancer. I wrote for a living, paid by the piece or the word.
So spending time each day writing for free about the same kind of things wasn't appealing. There were other things I would rather write and other ways I could contribute my time.
Spending time formatting was even less appealing, and remains so.
I have broadened my posting in the last two years, encouraged by the Gazeteer's example.
I am most pleased with the amount of searchable information on the blog.
There are about 1,000 posts, almost all columns and a lot of useful quotes and numbers. (The Campbell comments on government advertising in this column were from a 2003 piece on a health ad campaign.)
Is there an automatic way to signal paragraphs more effectively in documents pasted into blogger?
___________
(oh, and by the way, the paragraph spacing above is all mine)
_____
So, we're walking the streets of the Haight yesterday, (well, OK, we're walking up and down one street) ostensibly shopping in junk stores, and I get lured into a T-shirt shop....I come out with a really cool SanFrancisco Sea Lions T-Shirt.....Now, I know all about the SanFrancisco Seals, which is the old Pacific Coast League team that the DiMaggio brothers played for back in the '30's....As for the Sea Lions?....Well, they were one of the West Coast Negro League teams that, after the league's demise, apparently became barnstorming legends....Imagine that!
.
DucksOnThePondVille
One of my favourite parts of 'Catcher In The Rye' is a bit of a weird one.
And in an even weirder sort of way, it kind of defines my world view (on the non-science-geek side, of course).
It's that part of the book where young Mr. Caulfield is explaining how one of the things that drives him crazy is when the phonies won't let people digress on any and all matters that strike their fancy....
"....It's nice when somebody tells you about their uncle. Especially when they start out telling you about their father's farm and then all of a sudden get more interested in their uncle. I mean it's dirty to keep yelling 'Digression!' at him when he's all nice and excited. I don't know. It's hard to explain....."
Hard to explain, indeed.
But here's the crazy part.....
While the only time my hit-rates really climb is when I hammer on something very narrow and specific for a long time (which is what the science-geek side of me does in my real job as well), what gets the most interesting responses, and often invokes the best discussions, are the weird digressions I sometimes engage in 'round here.
Like the recent piece about staying at an Emeryville California hotel on the marsh between Berkeley and Oakland, for example.
(eva was here)
(Hey! where the heckfire did that come from?)
(Hey! where the heckfire did that come from?)
Now.
Usually, this kind of stuff does not really get noted by anybody but me.
But.....
In a recent comment thread that erupted over the critically important issue of line spacing between paragraphs or, more precisely, the lack thereof, Paul Willcocks said something that, in retrospect, made me feel pretty darned......
Good.
Here's what Paul had to say.......
I just paste a txt file into blogger. Maybe there's a better way.
I created the blog in 2000 because I thought the technology was interesting after I read a New Yorker article about the company.
I started posting columns as in 2002, thinking that if the e-mailed versions to subscribing newspapers went astray, they could find the columns here instead of trying to track me down. And perhaps a few people would stumble on them.
I almost never posted anything but the columns.
That reflected my ethos as a freelancer. I wrote for a living, paid by the piece or the word.
So spending time each day writing for free about the same kind of things wasn't appealing. There were other things I would rather write and other ways I could contribute my time.
Spending time formatting was even less appealing, and remains so.
I have broadened my posting in the last two years, encouraged by the Gazeteer's example.
I am most pleased with the amount of searchable information on the blog.
There are about 1,000 posts, almost all columns and a lot of useful quotes and numbers. (The Campbell comments on government advertising in this column were from a 2003 piece on a health ad campaign.)
Is there an automatic way to signal paragraphs more effectively in documents pasted into blogger?
___________
(oh, and by the way, the paragraph spacing above is all mine)
_____
So, we're walking the streets of the Haight yesterday, (well, OK, we're walking up and down one street) ostensibly shopping in junk stores, and I get lured into a T-shirt shop....I come out with a really cool SanFrancisco Sea Lions T-Shirt.....Now, I know all about the SanFrancisco Seals, which is the old Pacific Coast League team that the DiMaggio brothers played for back in the '30's....As for the Sea Lions?....Well, they were one of the West Coast Negro League teams that, after the league's demise, apparently became barnstorming legends....Imagine that!
.
Monday, July 12, 2010
And If A Few British Columbians Get Hurt In The Process...
TheWorstOfTheWorst
InOneOfThe(Formerly)BestPlacesOnEarthVille
...Who cares.
Because when creative destructionism is your credo as a means to force change....
Well.
It would appear that if you work for Gordon Campbell creating fake "crises" to make things happen is the state-sanctioned way to go.
The best investigative journalist alive in British Columbia today, Sean Holman, has the story.
Seriously.
_____
And most impressively, Mr. Holman dug this nugget out of a pile of publically available documents.....Izzy Stone would be very proud indeed.
Now, while I'm sure Sean wouldn't go there (although he does mention something about non-existent 'tin-foil hats'), I think it is worth considering taking this thing one step further and considering who, exactly, has benefitted most by all this creative destructionism since 2001.....Me, I would argue it is most definitely not the people of BC, but instead the Corporations that have been recruited to this province by the destructionists themselves....Now, when you have government and corporate interests converging based on false crises, what do you get?.....Yup, you've got it (and it is most definitely not the Buzzcocks' first single).....Instead, it starts with an 'F' and it was despised by the greatest busker of all time....But....As the legendary savarists might say, if they really do exist....."What are you people complaining about? After all, at least now the trains that used to be yours run on time!"....Sheesh?
.
InOneOfThe(Formerly)BestPlacesOnEarthVille
...Who cares.
Because when creative destructionism is your credo as a means to force change....
Well.
It would appear that if you work for Gordon Campbell creating fake "crises" to make things happen is the state-sanctioned way to go.
The best investigative journalist alive in British Columbia today, Sean Holman, has the story.
Seriously.
_____
And most impressively, Mr. Holman dug this nugget out of a pile of publically available documents.....Izzy Stone would be very proud indeed.
Now, while I'm sure Sean wouldn't go there (although he does mention something about non-existent 'tin-foil hats'), I think it is worth considering taking this thing one step further and considering who, exactly, has benefitted most by all this creative destructionism since 2001.....Me, I would argue it is most definitely not the people of BC, but instead the Corporations that have been recruited to this province by the destructionists themselves....Now, when you have government and corporate interests converging based on false crises, what do you get?.....Yup, you've got it (and it is most definitely not the Buzzcocks' first single).....Instead, it starts with an 'F' and it was despised by the greatest busker of all time....But....As the legendary savarists might say, if they really do exist....."What are you people complaining about? After all, at least now the trains that used to be yours run on time!"....Sheesh?
.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
littler e. At The Plaza
ChevyChaseHasNothin'OnMe
VacationVille
For reasons that are way too complicated to go into at the moment, our usual friendly destination on our old street in Berkeley could not take us in this time around.
Thus, at the last minute, while we were still lounging in palatial splendor at F&L's place cliffside in Mendocino, I was forced to scramble for a Bay Area motel/hotel that would not break the bank during the highest of high (if slightly fog-frosted) tourist season.
Using Tripadvisor (which I highly recommend, by the way) we came up with the Emeryville 'Garden' Hilton, ostensibly so that I could pretend that we were actually going to an Oakland Oaks game while we instead wander around the local Ross Dress For Less and go bonkers buying cheap wine (and a three day growth?) at Trader Joes.
All joking aside, the faux-falutin' hotel that is actually cheaper than the La Quinta in Bellingham, is pretty much perfect rare occasion-type deal for C., The Two E's, and me.....Big lobby....Fancy-Schmancy sheen everywhere....Room decent, if a little noisy as it is right next to the freeway....And the two E's love all the 'amenities'....Me, I am currently sitting in a stinkin' Starbucks (which I can't believe given that I'm only a couple of miles from the gourmet ghetto and the birthplace of Peets' - although the WiFi is decent and free, as it is everywhere down here) because the kids want to go to the fitness room and the 'spa' instead of MLK Park off of Hopkins to play 'hats' with the eucalyptus shells....Oh well, what the hell....We are in 'America' after all....And when in Rome with kids-in-tow it does sometimes pay to fiddle.....Speaking of which, the busking was very fine in the truly bizarre culture clash zone that is the Point Arena Pier the other day.....
(and just so you know - Oakland is not on fire after the BART shooting verdict....Despite what the TeeVee may have told you - more on that later)
.
VacationVille
For reasons that are way too complicated to go into at the moment, our usual friendly destination on our old street in Berkeley could not take us in this time around.
Thus, at the last minute, while we were still lounging in palatial splendor at F&L's place cliffside in Mendocino, I was forced to scramble for a Bay Area motel/hotel that would not break the bank during the highest of high (if slightly fog-frosted) tourist season.
Using Tripadvisor (which I highly recommend, by the way) we came up with the Emeryville 'Garden' Hilton, ostensibly so that I could pretend that we were actually going to an Oakland Oaks game while we instead wander around the local Ross Dress For Less and go bonkers buying cheap wine (and a three day growth?) at Trader Joes.
All joking aside, the faux-falutin' hotel that is actually cheaper than the La Quinta in Bellingham, is pretty much perfect rare occasion-type deal for C., The Two E's, and me.....Big lobby....Fancy-Schmancy sheen everywhere....Room decent, if a little noisy as it is right next to the freeway....And the two E's love all the 'amenities'....Me, I am currently sitting in a stinkin' Starbucks (which I can't believe given that I'm only a couple of miles from the gourmet ghetto and the birthplace of Peets' - although the WiFi is decent and free, as it is everywhere down here) because the kids want to go to the fitness room and the 'spa' instead of MLK Park off of Hopkins to play 'hats' with the eucalyptus shells....Oh well, what the hell....We are in 'America' after all....And when in Rome with kids-in-tow it does sometimes pay to fiddle.....Speaking of which, the busking was very fine in the truly bizarre culture clash zone that is the Point Arena Pier the other day.....
(and just so you know - Oakland is not on fire after the BART shooting verdict....Despite what the TeeVee may have told you - more on that later)
.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
How Is British Columbia Not Like Argentina
J-Mac'sGavel
IsNotBangedByTheHandOfGodVille
When I was a much younger man I worked in a wilderness camp in the Sooke Hills.
Which, come to think of it, is located not far from that most interesting development near the river that is the subject of that 'other' trial.
Anyway.
One summer I took a bunch of teenage kids on the Westcoast trail and then spent a few days at the camp itself cleaning gear, running FatBellyHours* by the bushel full, and playing Nature Stratego with a bunch of not quite teenage kids.
As a result when I got into town and started buying newspapers hand over fist, as is my want whenever I get back from any trip, I was flummoxed to find that the entire Falklands War had come and gone without my even knowing that it happened.
All of which is just a prelude to telling you that we (ie. C, the two E's, and me) have been on a remote stretch of the Northern California coast for the last week or so.
Which is a beautiful place.
But the Interwebz 'round here are, as far as I can tell, pretty much powered by the caged gerbils down the street at the local hardware/pet store.
As such, I've pretty much been offline since we left the EconoLodge in Ashland Oregon last Tuesday.
So.....
Given our prolonged absence you probably figure that I must have missed out on all manner of important developments in the RailGate trial, right?
Wrong!
And now, suddenly the judge has released the jury from duty and told them that School's out for Summer until Sept 13th .
After just one witness!
Good thing the issues being bandied about at this trial don't have anything to do with the trumping of public interests by corporate ones that are fully aligned with hidden government 'policies'.
'Cause if it was, well.....
Wouldn't that mean that, perhaps, British Columbia in the year 2010 just might have something in common with the Argentina of 1982?
Man.
Where is Woody Guthrie when we need him?
Seriously.
_______
You can learn more about the sheer joy of FatBellyHours here....
Oh, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that C. and I actually met at said camp in the hills the year before, back in 1981.
.
IsNotBangedByTheHandOfGodVille
When I was a much younger man I worked in a wilderness camp in the Sooke Hills.
Which, come to think of it, is located not far from that most interesting development near the river that is the subject of that 'other' trial.
Anyway.
One summer I took a bunch of teenage kids on the Westcoast trail and then spent a few days at the camp itself cleaning gear, running FatBellyHours* by the bushel full, and playing Nature Stratego with a bunch of not quite teenage kids.
As a result when I got into town and started buying newspapers hand over fist, as is my want whenever I get back from any trip, I was flummoxed to find that the entire Falklands War had come and gone without my even knowing that it happened.
All of which is just a prelude to telling you that we (ie. C, the two E's, and me) have been on a remote stretch of the Northern California coast for the last week or so.
Which is a beautiful place.
But the Interwebz 'round here are, as far as I can tell, pretty much powered by the caged gerbils down the street at the local hardware/pet store.
As such, I've pretty much been offline since we left the EconoLodge in Ashland Oregon last Tuesday.
So.....
Given our prolonged absence you probably figure that I must have missed out on all manner of important developments in the RailGate trial, right?
Wrong!
And now, suddenly the judge has released the jury from duty and told them that School's out for Summer until Sept 13th .
After just one witness!
Good thing the issues being bandied about at this trial don't have anything to do with the trumping of public interests by corporate ones that are fully aligned with hidden government 'policies'.
'Cause if it was, well.....
Wouldn't that mean that, perhaps, British Columbia in the year 2010 just might have something in common with the Argentina of 1982?
Man.
Where is Woody Guthrie when we need him?
Seriously.
_______
You can learn more about the sheer joy of FatBellyHours here....
Oh, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that C. and I actually met at said camp in the hills the year before, back in 1981.
.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Harmonized Sales Tax Scofflaws...How Much Did They Pay?
AllOurSelfishlyConflictyInterests
Aren'tYours(Yet!)Ville
Now.
Leaving aside the legalities within the legalities of this silly business about a call for a 'judicial review' by the soon to be (even bigger than ever) corporate tax scofflaws for the moment.
And let's not even bother discussing the real motivations behind the well-calculated attempt at innoculatory spike spin timed just prior to the delivery of the petition right now.
Instead, let's just focus on the actual 'initiative' and its signatories for a second.
First here's a breakdown of the 'Initiative/Press Release/Codswallop itself....
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement re launch of Judicial Review of HST initiative
Business Groups Seek Certainty on Validity of HST Extinguishment Act
Vancouver (June 29, 2010) - In a June 4, 2010 article in the Vancouver Sun, former BC Attorney General Geoff Plant questions the constitutional validity of the draft bill at the heart of the anti-HST initiative – the so-called “HST Extinguishment Act.”
Mr. Plant’s argument is rooted neither in the politics nor in the substantive merits of the HST itself. Rather, he focuses on blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....
The vast majority of B.C. business organizations support.....blah, blah, blah, blah....Democracy breeds uncertainty which will kill us all!
Concerned about this uncertainty, a number of business associations have today filed for Judicial Review ......blah, blah, blah, blah.....Unconstitutional! Run for the hills!!!
We are hopeful that the Judicial Review we have requested can be completed expeditiously, providing.....blah, blah, blah, blah.....Legalities! Lawyers!! Litigation!!!
Seeking judicial review at this juncture will avoid the considerable legal confusion that would result if the initiative process were to proceed unchecked on its current course. There should be no hesitation whatsoever in taking the necessary steps to ensure that British Columbians....blah, blah, blah, blah.........Don't come to see themselves as agents of real change....blah, blah, blah.....You're all Dupes!!!!
Now, as for the signatories to the codswallop themselves....
Shall we have a look at the (all exclusive) donations to the BC Liberal Party since 1005 to ensure that said party and could Dupe the Dupees for now and forever more (and twice on retroactive Sunday drives; with all numbers taken from here)?
John Allan, President & CEO, Council of Forest Industries ($25,215)
Pierre Gratton, President & CEO, Mining Association of BC ($13,180)
Philip Hochstein, President, Independent Contractors & Businesses Assoc. ($60,160)
Wayne Hoskins, President, Western Convenience Stores Association ($500 worth of penny candy)
Rick Jeffery, President & CEO, Coast Forest Products Association ($62,300, combined)
John Winter, President & CEO, BC Chamber of Commerce (nada, on the face of it, at least)
Grand (just scratching the surface as it doesn't include all the companies associated with those 'associations') Total = $161,355.
Which is almost David McLean, Peter Armstrong and/or CIBC money.
Almost.
______
On the brightside, so far these fine folks are screwing us with their own money, unlike the actual government of Gordon Campbell that uses our money to do the drilling.....
Mr. Willcocks has a good, snark-free take on the potential public backlash from all of this here...
.
Aren'tYours(Yet!)Ville
______
Update: Friday July 2nd....The Tax is online, and so are our readers!....My numbers below are actually way, way, way low....See the comments for the real totals....They are in the millions...Thanks everybody!...On the road today, will update later......
______
Update: Friday July 2nd....The Tax is online, and so are our readers!....My numbers below are actually way, way, way low....See the comments for the real totals....They are in the millions...Thanks everybody!...On the road today, will update later......
______
Now.
Leaving aside the legalities within the legalities of this silly business about a call for a 'judicial review' by the soon to be (even bigger than ever) corporate tax scofflaws for the moment.
And let's not even bother discussing the real motivations behind the well-calculated attempt at innoculatory spike spin timed just prior to the delivery of the petition right now.
Instead, let's just focus on the actual 'initiative' and its signatories for a second.
****
First here's a breakdown of the 'Initiative/Press Release/Codswallop itself....
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement re launch of Judicial Review of HST initiative
Business Groups Seek Certainty on Validity of HST Extinguishment Act
Vancouver (June 29, 2010) - In a June 4, 2010 article in the Vancouver Sun, former BC Attorney General Geoff Plant questions the constitutional validity of the draft bill at the heart of the anti-HST initiative – the so-called “HST Extinguishment Act.”
Mr. Plant’s argument is rooted neither in the politics nor in the substantive merits of the HST itself. Rather, he focuses on blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....
The vast majority of B.C. business organizations support.....blah, blah, blah, blah....Democracy breeds uncertainty which will kill us all!
Concerned about this uncertainty, a number of business associations have today filed for Judicial Review ......blah, blah, blah, blah.....Unconstitutional! Run for the hills!!!
We are hopeful that the Judicial Review we have requested can be completed expeditiously, providing.....blah, blah, blah, blah.....Legalities! Lawyers!! Litigation!!!
Seeking judicial review at this juncture will avoid the considerable legal confusion that would result if the initiative process were to proceed unchecked on its current course. There should be no hesitation whatsoever in taking the necessary steps to ensure that British Columbians....blah, blah, blah, blah.........Don't come to see themselves as agents of real change....blah, blah, blah.....You're all Dupes!!!!
- 30 -
Now, as for the signatories to the codswallop themselves....
Shall we have a look at the (all exclusive) donations to the BC Liberal Party since 1005 to ensure that said party and could Dupe the Dupees for now and forever more (and twice on retroactive Sunday drives; with all numbers taken from here)?
John Allan, President & CEO, Council of Forest Industries ($25,215)
Pierre Gratton, President & CEO, Mining Association of BC ($13,180)
Philip Hochstein, President, Independent Contractors & Businesses Assoc. ($60,160)
Wayne Hoskins, President, Western Convenience Stores Association ($500 worth of penny candy)
Rick Jeffery, President & CEO, Coast Forest Products Association ($62,300, combined)
John Winter, President & CEO, BC Chamber of Commerce (nada, on the face of it, at least)
Grand (just scratching the surface as it doesn't include all the companies associated with those 'associations') Total = $161,355.
Which is almost David McLean, Peter Armstrong and/or CIBC money.
Almost.
______
On the brightside, so far these fine folks are screwing us with their own money, unlike the actual government of Gordon Campbell that uses our money to do the drilling.....
Mr. Willcocks has a good, snark-free take on the potential public backlash from all of this here...
.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
RailGate Roulette....You Make The Call
SpinningWheels
MustSlowDownVille
Rumour, innuendo, and even a proMedia report or two, has it that the jury will actually be back in the RailGate courtroom today so that the cross-examination of Gordon Campbell's chief-of-staff Martyn Brown will finally resume once again.
When we last off, way, way back on June 17th the proceedings came to a screeching halt when, as Bill Tieleman noted:
When Brown was last on the witness stand lawyer Michael Bolton, representing David Basi, asked Brown if he knew that RCMP Inspector Kevin DeBruyckere was the brother-in-law of BC Liberal Party Executive Director Kellly Reichert.
Special Prosecutor Bill Berardino objected to that question before Brown could answer and the cross examination was suspended at that point.....
So.....
Why did Mr. Bolton ask such a question and why, indeed, did Mr. Berardino object so strenuously?
Well.....
We figure you could, if you were so inclined, place your bets on a number of possible faaaaaantastical Fantasy-Gardenesque, PresqueVuvian-type options, based on presumably imaginary conversations that may (or may not) have ever taken place between the good Inspector and BC Liberal Party Exec. Director:
a) Mr. R. mentioned to Inspector DeB. that he really, really misses those whacky Radio NL days up in 'The Loops' when he could burst into Claude Richmond's constituency office at all hours of the day and night and ask him absolutely anything without being told to go FOI himself?
b) Inspector DeB. bragged to Mr. R. that the moniker 'Project Every Which Way' was actually all his idea?
c) Mr. R. asked Inspector DeB. if he had ever come across the long searched-for, but never found, 'Bud Smith Cell Phone Blooper-Reel Tapes' in the Horsemen's secret hiding place?
d) Both agreed, in low, secretive whispers, that they kinda/sorta wished that they had taken their shots as back-up singers with the Backstreet-B-Boys back in the day.....Especially on the tunes with all the high-falsettos and spin moves.
e) None of the above?
Place your bets!
(or feel free to offer up your own not-so plausible alternatives in The Comments....But please always remember that absolutely no pre-trial publication bans whatsoever can be harmed in any and all bouts of participatory snarkolepsy)
.
MustSlowDownVille
________
Double-Secret Probation Update, 2:00pm Tuesday: Marcella Bernardo of the (nolongerso)Giant'98 is reporting that it is game back on again for real given that the judge has made her ruling....Actually, I think that Ms. Bernardo just may have pushed the envelope a little on the PBan....Despite that we've just gotta wonder who looked happier leaving the courtroom....Billy or Mikey B?....
Update, 1:00pm Tuesday: The rumours, innuendos and the proMedia were ALL wrong....Because there is no jury today....More legal wrangling and faux cattle rustling....Mr. Brown, however, is supposed to be on the stand tomorrow though....From the 'credit-where-credit-is-due' department, Neal Hall of the VSun has an interesting value-added tidbit, which is that the late starts this week (11:15am) are to accomodate a juror who is taking an apprenticeship course that starts at.....Get this!.....6:00am....Which, of course, is an extremely ironic juxtaposition to Supreme Court Officer's hours
________
Double-Secret Probation Update, 2:00pm Tuesday: Marcella Bernardo of the (nolongerso)Giant'98 is reporting that it is game back on again for real given that the judge has made her ruling....Actually, I think that Ms. Bernardo just may have pushed the envelope a little on the PBan....Despite that we've just gotta wonder who looked happier leaving the courtroom....Billy or Mikey B?....
Update, 1:00pm Tuesday: The rumours, innuendos and the proMedia were ALL wrong....Because there is no jury today....More legal wrangling and faux cattle rustling....Mr. Brown, however, is supposed to be on the stand tomorrow though....From the 'credit-where-credit-is-due' department, Neal Hall of the VSun has an interesting value-added tidbit, which is that the late starts this week (11:15am) are to accomodate a juror who is taking an apprenticeship course that starts at.....Get this!.....6:00am....Which, of course, is an extremely ironic juxtaposition to Supreme Court Officer's hours
________
Rumour, innuendo, and even a proMedia report or two, has it that the jury will actually be back in the RailGate courtroom today so that the cross-examination of Gordon Campbell's chief-of-staff Martyn Brown will finally resume once again.
When we last off, way, way back on June 17th the proceedings came to a screeching halt when, as Bill Tieleman noted:
When Brown was last on the witness stand lawyer Michael Bolton, representing David Basi, asked Brown if he knew that RCMP Inspector Kevin DeBruyckere was the brother-in-law of BC Liberal Party Executive Director Kellly Reichert.
Special Prosecutor Bill Berardino objected to that question before Brown could answer and the cross examination was suspended at that point.....
So.....
Why did Mr. Bolton ask such a question and why, indeed, did Mr. Berardino object so strenuously?
Well.....
We figure you could, if you were so inclined, place your bets on a number of possible faaaaaantastical Fantasy-Gardenesque, PresqueVuvian-type options, based on presumably imaginary conversations that may (or may not) have ever taken place between the good Inspector and BC Liberal Party Exec. Director:
a) Mr. R. mentioned to Inspector DeB. that he really, really misses those whacky Radio NL days up in 'The Loops' when he could burst into Claude Richmond's constituency office at all hours of the day and night and ask him absolutely anything without being told to go FOI himself?
b) Inspector DeB. bragged to Mr. R. that the moniker 'Project Every Which Way' was actually all his idea?
c) Mr. R. asked Inspector DeB. if he had ever come across the long searched-for, but never found, 'Bud Smith Cell Phone Blooper-Reel Tapes' in the Horsemen's secret hiding place?
d) Both agreed, in low, secretive whispers, that they kinda/sorta wished that they had taken their shots as back-up singers with the Backstreet-B-Boys back in the day.....Especially on the tunes with all the high-falsettos and spin moves.
e) None of the above?
Place your bets!
(or feel free to offer up your own not-so plausible alternatives in The Comments....But please always remember that absolutely no pre-trial publication bans whatsoever can be harmed in any and all bouts of participatory snarkolepsy)
.
Monday, June 28, 2010
RailGate Cattle-Guard Rustle....All The Wrangling That Fits
CowboyAnalogiesGoneWild
FencesNotMendedVille
Well whaddy'a know.
Keith Fraser of The Province is reporting that the jury has been sent home once again so that the lawyers can keep twirling their lariats while they play the new sensation that's sweeping the RailGate nation called 'Legal Wrangling'.
Heckfire!
June 17th, the last day testimony under oath was heard, was so long ago that we've almost forgotten what it was that defense lawyer Michael Bolton asked Gordon Campbell's chief-of-staff Martyn Brown about that caused prosector Bill Berardino to jump up and shout 'objection' such that judge MacKenzie responded by taking away everybody's spurs for the duration.
Hmmmmm......
Just what was it that Bolton asked Brown about?
Oh yes here it is.....
Mr. Bolton asked if Mr. Brown was aware of the "relationship" between a certain RCMP inspector named Kevin DeBruyckere, who was a key investigator in the case that led to the charges being laid against the RailGate accused, and the B.C. Liberal party's executive director Kelly Reichert, a fine fellow who works closely with, and presumably talks quite often with, Premier Gordon Campbell and his chief-of-staff on a myriad of matters.....
Now.....
Why would Mr. Bolton bother?
I mean it's not as if such a "relationship" could possibly be important given the subject matter and the personalities and other relationships involved.....
Could it?
(rumour has it that there just might be be a pop-quiz regarding potential possibilities of putative importance later)
.
FencesNotMendedVille
Well whaddy'a know.
Keith Fraser of The Province is reporting that the jury has been sent home once again so that the lawyers can keep twirling their lariats while they play the new sensation that's sweeping the RailGate nation called 'Legal Wrangling'.
Heckfire!
June 17th, the last day testimony under oath was heard, was so long ago that we've almost forgotten what it was that defense lawyer Michael Bolton asked Gordon Campbell's chief-of-staff Martyn Brown about that caused prosector Bill Berardino to jump up and shout 'objection' such that judge MacKenzie responded by taking away everybody's spurs for the duration.
Hmmmmm......
Just what was it that Bolton asked Brown about?
Oh yes here it is.....
Mr. Bolton asked if Mr. Brown was aware of the "relationship" between a certain RCMP inspector named Kevin DeBruyckere, who was a key investigator in the case that led to the charges being laid against the RailGate accused, and the B.C. Liberal party's executive director Kelly Reichert, a fine fellow who works closely with, and presumably talks quite often with, Premier Gordon Campbell and his chief-of-staff on a myriad of matters.....
Now.....
Why would Mr. Bolton bother?
I mean it's not as if such a "relationship" could possibly be important given the subject matter and the personalities and other relationships involved.....
Could it?
(rumour has it that there just might be be a pop-quiz regarding potential possibilities of putative importance later)
.
RailGate Damage Control...Are Bloggers Now Being Monitored?
AllTheManipulationThatFits
NewMediaVille
Is something going on around here?
I mean, I've mentioned how my visits from the fine "gov.bc.ca" domain have skyrocketed since the real RailGate trial began.
But what I've really noticed are the comments.
Not so much here, although I have had a few doozies recently - including one attempted drive-by 'outing' of an Anon-O-Mouse.
But at other places like Mary's and, especially, Bill Tieleman's, it appears that newly vindictive commenters have taken to slagging folks for having informed opinions.
And only rarely do the vindictive ones, whose comments give off a certain slightly stale-dated aura of malodorousness, take on the opinions of others based on their merits or demerits.
Instead, more often than not the slightly-stinky slaggers attempt to shout down other commentors for being whiners and/or malcontents and/or total time wasters who aren't contributing anything to anybody because they don't know what they are talking about and/or because they are not 'breaking' any new news.
Heckfire.
It's almost as if some person, or persons, (or member of a 'stakeholder group'?) has decided that the time has come to take newly concerned citizens out to the woodshed and 'rip them a new one' for their own good and/or to prevent them from joining a 'cult' of informed public opinion and discourse.
Or some such thing.
______
And don't think that the possibility of a total info-dom-driven "blogger stamp-out" strater(g)y in the grand tradition of the Luntzification of everything hasn't crossed my mind, especially given that fine bit of codswallop that was published on the VSun's editorial page on Friday.
.
NewMediaVille
Is something going on around here?
I mean, I've mentioned how my visits from the fine "gov.bc.ca" domain have skyrocketed since the real RailGate trial began.
But what I've really noticed are the comments.
Not so much here, although I have had a few doozies recently - including one attempted drive-by 'outing' of an Anon-O-Mouse.
But at other places like Mary's and, especially, Bill Tieleman's, it appears that newly vindictive commenters have taken to slagging folks for having informed opinions.
And only rarely do the vindictive ones, whose comments give off a certain slightly stale-dated aura of malodorousness, take on the opinions of others based on their merits or demerits.
Instead, more often than not the slightly-stinky slaggers attempt to shout down other commentors for being whiners and/or malcontents and/or total time wasters who aren't contributing anything to anybody because they don't know what they are talking about and/or because they are not 'breaking' any new news.
Heckfire.
It's almost as if some person, or persons, (or member of a 'stakeholder group'?) has decided that the time has come to take newly concerned citizens out to the woodshed and 'rip them a new one' for their own good and/or to prevent them from joining a 'cult' of informed public opinion and discourse.
Or some such thing.
______
And don't think that the possibility of a total info-dom-driven "blogger stamp-out" strater(g)y in the grand tradition of the Luntzification of everything hasn't crossed my mind, especially given that fine bit of codswallop that was published on the VSun's editorial page on Friday.
.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
RailGate Renumerated......Follow The Money.
WhoNeedsMarkFelt
WhenYou'veGot(Had?)HarryNeufeldVille
Yesterday, we posted-up a critique of a Vancouver Sun editorial that cautioned their readers to ignore their own headlines and simultaneously trust them (and, implicitly, only them) to deliver the goods on what really went down during RailGate.
In addition, the fine folks behind the Sun's pages that (allegedly) count also implored their readers to make like jurors and only come to conclusions on any and all RailGate matters related to the BC Liberal government if, and only if, it is explicitly presented as evidence in court.
But here's the thing....
I know for a fact that Ben Bradlee never wrote an editorial telling the Washington Post's readers to only pay attention to the evidence that was presented in court when the original Watergate burglers went on trial.
And I'm absolutely certain that Mr. Bradlee never told Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to ignore Deep Throat when he told them to "follow the money"....
Then again, I'm also pretty darned sure that Katherine Graham and the Washington Post did not give a big whack of cash to 'CREEP' to help re-elect Richard Nixon in 1972.
On the other hand, the publishers of the Vancouver Sun most definitely did.
Give a big whack of cash to the BC Liberal Party so that campaign co-chair and strategic communication counsel/public policy initiative interpreter for BC Rail, Mr. Patrick Kinsella, could help re-elect premier Gordon Campbell in 2005, I mean.
OK?
_______
Thanks to Anon-At-The-Top-Of-The-Thread for the reminder.
Oh, and yes, just in case you were wondering, in addition to this, this and this, we have been doing a little more cash following recently, this time as it pertains to all manner of 'lobbying' , 'counseling', 'interpreting' and even 'piloting'....Stay tuned for more.
And finally, just to be absolutely clear.... All of the information found within links to this post is publically available and it was published and/or posted on-line completely separately from any and all Railgate pre-trial proceedings.....Thus, once again, no publication bans have been harmed in the writing of this post....
.
WhenYou'veGot(Had?)HarryNeufeldVille
Yesterday, we posted-up a critique of a Vancouver Sun editorial that cautioned their readers to ignore their own headlines and simultaneously trust them (and, implicitly, only them) to deliver the goods on what really went down during RailGate.
In addition, the fine folks behind the Sun's pages that (allegedly) count also implored their readers to make like jurors and only come to conclusions on any and all RailGate matters related to the BC Liberal government if, and only if, it is explicitly presented as evidence in court.
But here's the thing....
I know for a fact that Ben Bradlee never wrote an editorial telling the Washington Post's readers to only pay attention to the evidence that was presented in court when the original Watergate burglers went on trial.
And I'm absolutely certain that Mr. Bradlee never told Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to ignore Deep Throat when he told them to "follow the money"....
Then again, I'm also pretty darned sure that Katherine Graham and the Washington Post did not give a big whack of cash to 'CREEP' to help re-elect Richard Nixon in 1972.
On the other hand, the publishers of the Vancouver Sun most definitely did.
Give a big whack of cash to the BC Liberal Party so that campaign co-chair and strategic communication counsel/public policy initiative interpreter for BC Rail, Mr. Patrick Kinsella, could help re-elect premier Gordon Campbell in 2005, I mean.
OK?
_______
Thanks to Anon-At-The-Top-Of-The-Thread for the reminder.
Oh, and yes, just in case you were wondering, in addition to this, this and this, we have been doing a little more cash following recently, this time as it pertains to all manner of 'lobbying' , 'counseling', 'interpreting' and even 'piloting'....Stay tuned for more.
And finally, just to be absolutely clear.... All of the information found within links to this post is publically available and it was published and/or posted on-line completely separately from any and all Railgate pre-trial proceedings.....Thus, once again, no publication bans have been harmed in the writing of this post....
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
