TheHitCounterIs
YourFrenemyVille
Mostly, a small flock of fine folks from the British Columbia Government's massive Public Affairs Bureau touch down at this wee little F-Troop-listed bit of the bloggodome after visiting other, much more well-known sites, like our friend Mary's, or Sean Holman's place, or the home of the Big Fish.
And when they do come in for a landing here it's usually on the homepage.
But lately (surprise!), they've come looking for specific stuff.
And today, their favorite land and read spot has been this one, which involves a discussion with regular reader, and current foreign desert correspondent, Ian Reid about the obligations of Casino buyers, sellers and regulators under the British Columbia Gaming Act.
Imagine that.
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Oh, and in a surprisingly solid show of support for social networking Potemkinsism involving an octect of PABsters, a most interesting discussion has broken out in a comment thread attached to one of Sean Holman's least earth shattering, but nonetheless interesting, posts in recent days......
And stay-tuned for the coming report on what was in the North False Creek Official Development Plan Ammendment for the area surrounding BC Place (a.k.a. 'Area 10' - how Maxwell Smart is that!?) of Oct 2008 that was approved by Smilin Sammy et al., in Oct of 2008 and which cleared the decks for PavCo to make its deal with the Dev.....errrrrrr......T. Richard Turner and Friends from Vegas and NumberedCompanyVille.....(in other words, I've got the docs, and one of them contains the secret woid).....
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Aw, shucks — no evidence of alien microbes
1 hour ago
8 comments:
Hey Spammer #317 since the great Haloscream comment kidnapping....
Don't call me dude, Dude.
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It amuses me that people, or their agents, who love to insult the community of bloggers are some of our most faithful readers, particularly after the scoring of a dead centered hit.
In fact, bloggers are akin to post-renaissance pamphleteers, taking messages to the public that are unwelcome with the ruling classes. Their responses are to hire PR firms (or have taxpayers pay for one such as PAB) and use sockpuppets trying to change the message.
That this is done means they know that people are paying attention to what the blog world is saying.
And, good bloggers know that Edward R. Murrow said, “To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful."
Truth will ultimately bring down the miscreants but it is time to become impatient.
I had not previously considered the obvious fellowship of internet journalism and olden days pamphleteerism.
William Godwin, a most successful pamphleteerist, bent many an ear to his messages that were unwelcome with the ruling classes. Unhappily, things did not work out so good for Godwin in the end. Truth, a powerful force Godwin too was fond of, will be the first casualty of the Raising the Roof War. The people running our provincial affairs appear to have taken on "Nothing is true, everything is permitted," as their palace code of ethics.
Liberal supporters are entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts. The corporate media may be corrupt but it is gradually becoming irrelevant. Online journalism will become a more trusted source for information.
British aristocrats moved slightly toward democratic reform in the 19th century only after they began to fear for their own survival.
With modern communications, time for Gordon Campbell's Liberals is short IF an alternative presents itself. Mr. Tieleman. needs to convince former and present colleagues that times have changed, new approaches are needed.
Firstly, most citizens distrust politicians of all stripes. If the NDP is to take power it must not be victimized by a Liberal leadership change. That means that the opposition must remake itself completely and put in place irrevocable pledges to create an honest, open and transparent government with no favors for friends. That means a professional civil service, meaningful powers for MLAs and a severe cut in centralized administration. Return to legislative rule and ministerial accountability with no powerful political operatives rewarded by the public purse, directly or indirectly.
It will be easy to make promises. It will be hard to make them believable.
I could not agree more heartily Norman. That was very well put...Sadly, the presence of one former cabinet member at the very top of the political arm of the current opposition party (to wit, Moe Sihota) does not bode well for the prospect you envision.
This was not a man who worked well with professional civil servants and someone for whom the allure of the 'deal' has often blinded him to the effects of what he was agreeing to.
Now THIS has been one heckuva comment thread.
Thanks all!
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(and with that, I'm off to find out what actually happened to Godwin in the end).
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This comment is only a little off-topic but you might find the noted resources interesting.
Godwin is called by the great WP: "forefather of the anarchist movement." He was married to Mary Wollstonecraft who was a writer of note. Lord Melvyn B. did a program about her that is interesting in describing the times of Godwin and Wollstonecraft.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pg5dr
In Our Times has many history programs that I find helpful in understanding modern politics because human nature changes surprisingly little over time. Self-interest and greed are timeless. A good starting point for the 19th century British experience is a program about the Great Reform Act.
I'm fascinated by that discussion because I was educated when schools promoted the British Empire as the root of all things good, the root of modern democracy. They didn't talk much about how difficult it was to gain even a minor degree of civil rights for the majority.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00flwh9
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