Friday, October 21, 2016

Is The Veil Lifting?

MrYoungDoesNotOwnThisParticular
DecadeVille


Ten years is a heckuva long time in blog years.

Which is just another way of saying that I am one of the true dinosaurs in the local bloggodome.

And way back when there were very, very few of us that focused specifically on Lotuslandian politics.

Truth be told,  looking back on it, one of my proudest moments was helping to convince my then just online friend Mary, who I first noticed kicking up a fuss over on the Tyee comment threads, to start up her own blog that concentrated on all things Railgate.

Which is just a way of saying that, back then, it kind of seemed like you really were just screaming out into the void.

Or, as I often described it...Yelling at the radio and TeeVee by typing.

Anyway.

That has all changed now.

Because there is a fine cadre of folks following #bcpoli from all angles.

And, more often than not, they bang the proMedia like a gong.

A case in point was a post this week from Merv Adey in which he based his conclusions about what really went down with the VSB firings on facts rather than rumours and innuendo (which was the stock and trade of a number of proMedia commentators' accounts of the thing).

But it's more than that.

Because I also see the 'alternative' quasi-proMedia in ascendancy as well.

Examples abound, but, again - looking just at the VSB thing for the moment, it was Roundhouse radio that did more than stenography and actually got the goods on what the privacy commissioner told the Education Minister about the Milburn report. And then there was the Observer's publishing of former trustee Patti Bacchus' timeline yesterday.

Now.

The latter may, or may not, stand up to concerted challenge, but the point is that it is out there now as part of the public record, which I do not think would have happened 10 long years ago.

So.

Perhaps the veil really is lifting 'round here....




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Why was I waxing nostalgic for blog days gone by this week?....Well, birthdays can do that to an old guy....OK?
And, later, Mary became a good friend in the real world also.


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18 comments:

Grant G said...

You know what Ross K...you are a dinosaur, a dinosaur with company, and friends.

Twitter..Facebook..Blogs..Alternative media..

Ian Reid..BC Mary..Kootcoot...and many many more lost voices..well, actually those voices aren't lost, they live in our posts, our words, those friends swim freely in our tears...

Trailblazers..

Christy Clark is losing and will lose her personal VSB/BCTF war..

Because of Merv Adey, because of Twitter, because of Facebook and because people mentioned above care..

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2011/11/cedar-trees-and-earl-grey.html

Good Day

Anonymous said...

Can't tell you Ross what an honor it is when my screed is noticed and shared by you or any of the "dinosaurs".

It does feel like shouting in a cave, but I do feel it makes a difference.

Pro Media, which I try not to generalize about, (o yes I try), accepts at times the most contemptible bullshit.. and it's hard not to shout.

The work you've done over the years is amazing. And it does seem like there are more voices filling in the gaps. - Merv

J. MacDuff said...

We need you all to keep up the excellent work.

Scotty on Denman said...

Keep on rockin', Ross!

Now, if I can just get this damn ear-worm segment outta my head---I just KNOW I heard Capt. Beefheart either lift or refer to some part of "Long Black Veil" but I'll be trout-masked if I hafta search it out ! Not that I don't dig the Don's Magic-Band rant-n-roll, but, jeez, I gotta get SOMETHING done today!

All the best,
Scotty

e.a.f. said...

10 years. the children were really little.

Thank you for writing your blog and to the many others who do the same work. With out it many would not know the truth about what the government of B.C. has been doing this past 16 years. Here is to another 10 years of blogging and playing and the end of the B.C. lieberals.

Lew said...

Nice work on the cover, RossK. Reminiscent of the Dave Matthews version. Congratulations.

And congratulations times ten on the blog. Events under the town hall light are easily seen. The stories behind those events, as the song illustrates, often are not. You and your peers take us there in the absence of those who should be doing that job.

Thanks for that.

sd said...

Not sure just how long or how I stumbled onto the Gazetter,maybe it was thru Grant at Straight Goods or another "dinosaur"but you and others have kept me informed and aware. Thanks, and when you need some sax or flute background let me know! P.S. This VSB stuff is going to be "awesome" as the kids say.

Anonymous said...

Politically inactive=politically invisible

Anonymous said...

Until a judge says ‘stop,’ we’re going to keep building this thing
Guess who BB?

Lenin's Ghost said...

Yes, Ross.
Way back to the Billmon days and the bush warmongering days

RossK said...

Thanks Grant--

Feels good to be a dinosaur with friends that care.

And, the way things are going, it won't be long until this blog is as old as Stockboy thinks the world is...

Or some such thing.

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Merv--

You have most a most excellent bullshit detector.

And thanks - I very much appreciate that you work so hard not to generalize. It's something I'm trying my best not to do also.

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Great to hear from you JMacDuff, as always!

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Scotty--

Sorry about that earworm infectivity!

Although, I must say, it always feels so good when you manage to scratch one of them real goo - which, I guess, is part of the jonesing aspect of the thing.

Rest assured, the rocking will keep on going, in the free world or otherwise, for some time I hope.

_______

Lew!

Glad I finally got you with one of the tunes. I know that some of the hard-core poli-bloggers very likely roll their eyes when they see another warbly musical(ish) posting.

'Town hall light'....Nice one.

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sd--

Ya.

How the heck did you end up here anyway?

And sax and/or flute would be a really funcollaboration. I could send you a track to play over. Send me an Email.

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Thanks Anon-Above for the heads-up on the super-silent Clarklandian OIC to return junior hockey players to serfdom.

I thought Minister Bond's effrontery when she was asked questions about this was most telling.

________

Point taken re: the invisibility cloaking Anon-Also-Above--

Thing is, for anybody paying any attention at all, I'm pretty much hiding in plain sight.

One of these days I'll elaborate as to the why.

(and I always fully reveal myself to anybody I deem bonafide, friend or foe, by Email)

________

LG--

Those were interesting times, indeed.

To be really accurate though, a lot of that time spent with the erudite and the bombastic at the Whiskey Bar occurred before I hung out the shingle on this here little F-Troop list blog and became pretty much all provincial-all-the-time.


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Thanks Everybody for stopping by!


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sd said...

How can I send it without posting it?

RossK said...

We can do it with dropbox, or I can give you access to my audio host.

Or, if you do it as an mp3 it will be small enough for Email (~5 megs).

First thing though is coming up with a tune.

Any ideas?


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Anonymous said...

Yes, it's corrupt. It's a scandal. And she doesnt answer your questions at all directly?

BC and public have been confronting each other with little resistance from the corporate media, which keeps us well entertained and preoccupied with political charades, celebrity gossip, and outright propaganda.?

sd said...

Maybe some Tim Harden-ish stuff. Old Time Smugglin Man era?

Anonymous said...

Welcome To The George Orwell Theme Park Of BC Democracy

"if you’re going to lie, make sure it’s a whopper, and then repeat it incessantly."

Anonymous said...

https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/10/19/executive-from-national-enquirer-parent-joins-postmedia-board.html

Anonymous said...

Like Campbel,in May will Clark be exported to England?