Casino Royale....Is This Really The Best Time To Build One?

DoWeHaveDebts
NoHonestManCanPay?Ville


So.

I've been sniffing around Paragon Gaming Inc......

You know, the fine folks that are going to take us, and our $500 million dollar gilt-edged, gift roof to Valhalla and back on the back of the broken-down little gambling house currently located on the water's edge on the old Expo 86 Pavilion site.

Which is all fine and good as far as it goes.

But why would these fine folks from Vegas want to do this now when so many other king-sized, destination-style Casino Industrial Complex projects around the world are going bust.

Here is just one example of those busts that is going down right now in, of all places, Atlantic City:

....Morgan Stanley announced yesterday (Apr. 1, 2010) that it is pulling out of the Revel casino project in Atlantic City, N.J., taking a "substantial loss" rather than continuing to invest. Morgan Stanley has already sunk $1.2 billion into the casino. This isn't the first round of bad news for the Revel project. Construction on the casino interior and attached 2,000-room hotel has been stalled since January 2009 when Revel ran out of money and was forced to cut 400 jobs.....

So, again, why would the good folks from Paragon go all in right now, given the current economic downturn?

Well......

What if they didn't make this decision, last month, or last fall, or even last year?

What if they made it in, oh I dunno, say, 2006?

*****

Why do I suggest such a year as being the possible date the big deal really went down?

Or, perhaps, at the very least really got rolling in earnest?

Well, because that is the year that Paragon, whose specialty is turning around ailing casinos, at least in part, by rapidly increasing hotel room capacity, bought the then essentially bankrupt, and tiny/no capacity Edgewater Casino.

2006 was also the year that, as Sean Holman has already noted, a Gordon Campbell government insider named T. Richard Turner joined the good folks at Paragon as a Director with a financial interest in the company.

It is also worth pointing out, again, that this all occurred just months after Mr. Turner stepped down as the Big Boss of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation which is the crown corporation that oversees and regulates all gambling concerns in the province

Including the Edgewater.

It is also worth noting the Mr. Turner is still very much a current Campbell government insider. He just served on the board of VANOC and he is the current Chair of ICBC

****

So, to sum-up.....We have a Las Vegas-based Casino builder and operator that specializes in turn-arounds by massively increasing hotel room capacity....This builder and operator brings on a new Director and investor in 2006 who knows everything there is to know about the local-yokels and who is as plugged-into the local regulatory body, and the government that oversees it, as one can possibly be....Then, the builder and operator, and their new investor, buy a tiny, ailing casino with no capacity at all.....And all this this takes place way back in 2006.....

Wow.

That's a pretty big long term bet to make, against the house, that Paragon took don't you think?

Unless.....of course....their inside man had already made good on his bonafides and lowered the odds considerably....

After all, in the gambling business, not to mention the business-business, hedging matters.

Right?

But here's the really real thing....

Unless I am mistaken the business of government is not to take care of gamblers, financiers, turn-around artists, or insiders with financial interests in private concerns whose success or failure relies on government decisions and/or massive spending of the people's land and treasure on ridiculous retractable roofs.

No.

The business of government is the people.

OK?


_______
Mostly, it would appear the Paragon's reputation as a takeover-and-build artist is legit...In fact it goes all the way back to principal Diana Bennett's father, the legendary William Bennett, who built his reputation when he took over the Circus-Circus back in the early 70's and rapidly built capacity, and his customer base, by going after middle America rather than the high rollers....
That is not to say that Paragon has not been, at the very least, tangentially involved in some of the American Indian Casino border wars that can even take place across State lines....In fact, there is a big one brewing right now between Alabama and Mississippi....Which has me wondering....Wonder how the Tulalip band, and it's backers, feel about Paragon's new deal up here?....
Regardless, as Vancouver's shiny new Casino Industrial Complex gets rolled out it will always be important to keep Hunter S. Thompson's sage words in mind regarding the Circus Circus, circa 1971...."what the whole hep world would be doing on Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war.".......
Oh, and one last thing anyone who would really like to pay attention should know....It wasn't just Paragon and Mr. Turner that bought the Edgewater back in 2006....There was another, yet-to-be identified third party involved...Here again, is Sean Holman, with that aspect of the story...."That firm, Paragon BC ULC, amalgamated with a numbered company on October 31, 2006 to become Edgewater Casino ULC"......



.

Casino Royale Retreaded....The Dean Weighs In

TheyStillHireRockCritics
Don'tThey?Ville

Doing his best to keep up, Vaughn Palmer who, it has been rumoured by alleged former denizens of the back tables of the long extinct Vancouver Press Club, is apparently increasingly referred to by his code name of 'Nora Desmond' by the young punks who may or may not carry viles of faux Ibogaine in their breast pockets while they ply their trade in the sprawl of those infamous West Annex cube farms, has finally weighed in on the issue of a Campbell government insider's efforts to 'inform' that same government that the Las Vegas Casino company he also works for, and has a financial interest in, very much wanted a retractable roof on BC Place Stadium as an apparent pre-condition of their coming 'deal' to build the Casino Industrial Complex in the parking lot next door.

Like his Vancouver Sun stablemate Jonathan Fowlie before him, Mr. Palmer has nothing really new to declare in his column this morning, although to his considerable credit he does give a nod of recognition to Sean Holman for discovering that T. Richard Turner, the current Chair of ICBC, is also the dual Campbell Government/Paragon Gaming Inc. insider involved.

However, just like an aging late inning reliever who gets called in to mop-up after the young fireballers have already moved on, Mr. Palmer does provide a useful service by confirming the fact that the Minister currently responsible for the Giant Marshmallow, Kevin Krueger, did, indeed, claim that Mr. Turner called him up sometime late last year, presumably while negotiations between the Campbell Government's development arm PavCo and Paragon Gaming Inc. of Las Vegas about the then still-secret Casino deal were ongoing:

.....The man from Paragon (Mr. Turner) wanted the minister (Mr. Krueger) to know that the decision on the roof would affect his company's willingness to help finance the overall project by building the casino and hotels adjacent to the dome.

"BC Place wouldn't be as attractive a site without a retractable roof. They might not be interested, and if they were, it would not be for the kind of financial considerations that they had put on the table," he (Mr. Krueger) said.

"He felt that it would be beneficial to all concerned if I knew that that could be a deal-breaker and certainly wouldn't enable the same contract that they had in mind when they believed that there'd be a retractable roof on the stadium. That was the extent of it."....

Now.

After dropping that deal breaker bombshell, a bombshell, by the way, that Mr. Holman first dropped early yesterday, Mr. Palmer, in a classic Vaughnian pull-back manoeuver, averts his eyes, hedges his bets, and moves on:

....Krueger told reporters that he didn't regard the call as inappropriate, didn't see it as lobbying, and professed not to have been influenced by it one way or another.

Until additional details are forthcoming, the New Democrats held off accusing the B.C. Liberals of anything more serious than an exercise of bad judgment. But as Herbert told reporters, "It smells."...

Which is all fine and good.

As far as it goes.

Except, anyone who has been paying attention is likely scratching their head and asking themselves the following:

Why didn't Mr. Palmer go further?

Case in point, while Mr. Palmer did tell us that Mr. Turner, the man from Paragon Gaming Inc., is the current Chair of ICBC, what he did not tell us is that Mr. Turner is also the former Campbell government-appointed chair of the BC Lottery Corporation.

You know, that BC Lottery Corporation, the public corporation that oversees, and regulates, Casino operations in this province.

And what Mr. Palmer also didn't tell us is that Mr. Turner resigned as BC Lottery Corporation Chair in Dec of 2005.

And what he also didn't tell us is that sometime in 2006 Mr. Turner became an investor in the financially-ailing Edgewater Casino with Paragon Gaming Inc. that was followed by a consolidation with a yet-to-be identified 'Numbered Company'.

And, finally, what Mr. Palmer also failed to tell us is that it is the Edgewater that will be moved and resurrected as part of Paragon's newly-minted Casino Industrial Complex next to the re-roofed Marshmallow in 2013.

All of which is the stuff of Fireballers - stuff that Mr. Holman has already published, and more.

Enough said?

_____
To his great non-credit, Mr. Palmer did NOT give Mr. Holman credit on the LedgieBoys radio show this morning.....Luckily Sean Leslie did......And unlike the Dean, whose surgically-repaired elbow is clearly slipping as his fastball rapidly fades, Mr. Leslie DID bring up the fact that the good Mr. Turner does, indeed, HAVE a financial interest in the Casino project...And thank the Goddess that Michael Smyth was filling in for the Watercarrier this morning - otherwise we may have heard nada on the matter of Casinogate....Keith Baldrey was also away today, which is why we got to hear the much harder working Mr. Leslie.....But that didn't keep Global's missing man-about-town from doing a little out-front watercarrying of his own, down on the farm during the pre-game warm-up, in print....
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Bob Mackin, pitching for 24 Hours, the club that used to pay Mr.Holman's salary before they released him for no good reason at all, also came in to pitch an inning-and-a-third of hard sliders, up and in, during yesterday's game as well.
Update: And now, too, it would appear that Ms. Bula is also paying attention......Can the Spamaloteers be far behind?.....Oh, wait, all they've got is chicken feathers on their mind...no surprise there....

.

Casino Royale Regurgitated: The Vancouver Sun Finally Catches Up

SeriouslySoggy
We(s)tCoastVille


After having their gong banged by independent Sean Holman for 36 hours straight on the story of longterm Campbell government appointee T. Richard Turner's involvement in the Casino Industrial Complex that is now tied to the Retractable Roof on BC Place, the Vancouver Sun finally has a piece of their own up under Jonathan Fowlie's byline.

In my opinion Fowlie's piece is a weak effort and provides little that is new that Mr. Holman has not already brought to light.

However, there is one interesting bit that is based on a quote that Mr. Fowlie managed to get from the good Mr. Turner, who also happens to have a financial interest in the Las Vegas concern, Paragon Gaming Inc., that won* the bid to build the Casino:

I didn't try to influence any decision," said Turner, adding he made the call after Paragon had been picked for the project.

"What I recall saying is . . . if the roof doesn't go ahead, that's fine, but we can't build what we said we'd build in the bid because we're counting on synergies between BC Place as renovated and the new development," he added, recalling the conversation with (Kevin) Krueger, the minister responsible for BC Place.

"If you cannot proceed with the roof, no problem, but we'll have to downsize what we said we would do in the bid package," Turner added, recalling what he told Krueger during the phone conversation.

Why interesting?

Well, because yesterday the Campbell government Minister responsible, Kevin Krueger said something very, very, very different indeed:

In Krueger's recollection, Turner had characterized the issue as a "deal breaker."

"He wanted to make me aware that was the fundamental consideration to Paragon and that their bid wouldn't proceed at the same level if it wasn't a retractable roof," Krueger said Thursday.

In other words, according to Mr. Krueger, Mr. Turner essentially told him "no roof, no dice".

Now, once again in my opinion, I believe that strongly suggests that we, the people of British Columbia, are paying $485 million, at least in part, to build a retractable roof to make a Las Vegas casino developer happy, rather than the other way around.

Which, no matter how you slice it, makes a back-yard deck look like small potatoes.

Don't you think?




____
*Not that we, the public, that is paying in both land and treasure, know how the Vegas concern won the deal or why.

Earlier I asked whose disembodied voice could be heard on the soundtrack of Mr. Holman's latest video with Mr. Krueger.....If I am not mistaken, I believe it was that of Mr. Vaughn Palmer....Does this mean we can expect a velvet hammerhead screed from The Dean in the paper tomorrow?


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Casino Royale Limited Hangout: Krueger Now Says He Already Knew That Paragon Wanted A Retractable Roof!

AllTheBackTrackingThatFits
CampbellVille


And that this was before he, Minister Krueger, received a call from current ICBC Chair, and former BC Lottery Corporation Chair and current Paragon Director T. Richard Turner informing him that there might very well be no deal without the roof.

Sean Holman has that story too - He really is banging CanWest's and CTVRDSTSNCHUMGlobeMedia's gong on this one isn't he?

****

So.

Does this mean that we the people of British Columbia are paying for the roof to make a private Casino company from Las Vegas happy?



_____
Mr. Holman's latest includes another of his patented YouTube videos.....See if you can identify the 'other' reporter's voice asking questions of Minister Hung Out-To-Dry.......Ha!

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Casino Royale Rewind: Who Was The Other Bidder?

ItTakesTwo
ToCompeteVille


Bob Mackin, in 24 Hours, is reporting that Campbell government-controlled PavCo's call for proposals to build the Casino Industrial Complex in the publically-owned parking lot next to BC Place Stadium led to only two responses.

We know that one of those bids, from Paragon Gaming Inc., a Las Vegas-based company in which Campbell government insider T. Richard Turner is a Director with a financial interest, was the winner.

So......

Who was the other bidder?

And.......

How was the winner chosen?

And....

Who, exactly, made that decision?

And....

When, precisely, was that decision made?



____
Why does the timing matter?..... Well, it is important to understand that, according to a report from Sean Holman in Public Eye, Paragon Gaming Inc. got together with a yet-to-be-identified numbered company and bought the then financially-troubled Edgewater Casino way back in the fall of 2006 which was just months after the very fine public servant, Mr. Turner, stepped down as the Chairperson of the BC Lottery Commission in late 2005.

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The Long Division Project: How Many Social Safety Nets Can You Shred Under One Stadium Roof?

TheCostOfEverything
AndTheValueOfNothingVille

The Answer: $450 million roof for semi-pro soccer players divided by $25 million per year cut from our provinces poor = Eighteen.

****

Yes, that's right.

That stupid new skin for the top of the giant Marshmallow, which just may have been a quid pro quo for the Casino Industrial Complex to come, is costing us at least eighteen years of the latest cuts to British Columbia's social safety net, all being brought to you by wonderfully newly coiffed Minister of (anti-)Social Development, Mr. Rich Coleman.

Jonathan Fowlie, writing in the VSun, had the story. Here's his lede:

VICTORIA (Mar30/10) — Many of British Columbia's most vulnerable citizens will see significant changes to their social safety net beginning Thursday as the provincial government moves to cut millions from what it hands out in income assistance.

From a reduction in dental visits to a cancellation of the province's minimum shelter allowance, the government hopes to save $25 million over the next two years through the reductions — something it says needs to be done in light of a recent explosion in demand for income assistance.....

Have we lost our minds?

Or.

Just our souls?

Or both.


______
Original Link Source: Mr. Berner

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Casino Royale Revisited: Retractable Roof On Stadium May Have Been A Pre-Condition Of Casino Deal

HeadsTheyWin,TailsYouLose
CampbellVille


And, get this - it was a Campbell government functionary, the current Chair of ICBC, T. Richard Turner, who also happens to have a financial interest in the deal, who told Campbell government Minister Kevin Krueger about the potential deal-greasing 'condition' BEFORE the deal itself went down.

The ever vigilant Sean Holman of Public Eye Online has the story.

Go.

Go now!


_____
Oh, and in case you missed it, the estimable Mr. Turner was also once the Campbell-appointed head of the BC Lottery Corporation.

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Casino Royale: With Friends Like These Who Needs Lobbyists*

PutYourMake-UpOn
AndFixYourHairUpPrettyVille


Sean Holman of Public Eye Online is reporting that one of the principals in Paragon Gaming Inc., the fine folks that Premier Gordon Campbell and friends have fingered to build the massive Casino Industrial Complex in the parking lot next to BC Place Stadium is a very fine fellow named T. Richard Turner who also just happens to be the current Campbell-appointed Chair of ICBC.

What's more Mr. Turner has been a generous donor to Mr. Campbell's BC Liberal Party in the past and is also the past Campbell-appointed Chairperson of the BC Lottery Corporation.

Imagine that!


____
*And/Or Content Consultants.
Subheader is a reference to the Springsteen song 'Atlantic City'....We are all potential 'Chicken-Men' now.


.

If BC Place Didn't Need A New $450 Million Roof....

.....Would Gordon Campbell Have Been Forced To Rip A Gaping Hole In The Thing With His Bare Hands?

After all, how else to explain that the new Circus-Circus on the edge of Yaletown is going to cost, surprise(!), a cool-handed $450 million?



______
And while I saw the marshmallow roof-assisted land-jack coming, I must confess that I never envisioned that it would morph into Vegas-Style casino with a grass top.....

But, funnily enough, there was a wee bit of foreshadowing from 'The Boss' that I wrote about, and perhaps should have paid more attention to, a while back....."....I was floored when he (Springsteen) changed things up and OPENED the (Vancouver) show with 'Atlantic City'.....Which, given that he is known to use his set-list to make statements, is pretty interesting don't you think?"

FYI.....The 'Circus-Circus' is, as Hunter S. Thompson once infamously wrote, "what the whole hep world would be doing on Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war.".......


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When The Going Gets Tough, The Yanks Get Going...

....To Canada.

First it was Ms. Sarah Palin, the quitter from Alaska:

(Speaking in Calgary recently) the vocal opponent of health-care reform in the U.S. steered largely clear of the topic except to reveal a tidbit about her life growing up not far from Whitehorse (in Alaska).

“We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada,” she said. “And I think now, isn't that ironic?”

Now it's the entire state of Montana.

"During this time of economic recession, states have made very tough choices to balance their human services budgets. There is one area where costs could be controlled without adversely impacting people who need health care. I (Governor, and non-quitter Brian Schweitzer) am asking you to join me in my fight against unfair drug pricing by granting a Medicaid waiver allowing us to import prescription drugs from Canada for Montanans covered by Medicaid, Healthy Montana Kids (Montana’s CHIP program), our state employee health plan and our correctional systems. By allowing Montana to import medications from Canada we estimate we could save up to $40 million......"


So.....

How long will it be before some Crackpotian TeaNutterer in Missoula starts screaming for our socialist heads because we're saving his Medicaid program too much money?

Or some such thing.



_________
Original Link Source: The indefatigable David Dayen writing at the indispensible Firedoglake.

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Shirley Bond Kills The Myth That BC Rail Was A Big White Whale

AllTheMinisterialStunts
ThatFitVille

Last week our friend Mary and her colleagues over at 'The Legislature Raids' took Gordon Campbell's current Liberal Minister of Pavement, Ms. Shirley Bond, to task for the following wreckless statement about BC Rail:

".....All I can say to the (NDP) member opposite is that you managed to take the train and take it right off the tracks during the 1990s. In one year alone under that member's leadership, $582 million in debt, and in fact, the only outcome, the only measure of success that that side of the House had was how big the bailout was going to be every single year for B.C. Rail...."

Positively screechy don't you think?

And perfect marching orders for all the proMedia WaterCarriers 'round these here parts.

****

Now.

One of the best taskmaskers of all over at Mary's place was former Liberal MLA Paul Nettleton who, because he represented a good chunk of the electorate in the Prince George area at the time, was actually in the room when Mr. Campbell told Mr. Nettleton, Ms. Bond and the incomparably not comparable to much of anyone, Mr. Pat Bell, way back in 2001/2002, that he, the Premier of the Province, had every intention of breaking his explicit election promise not to sell-off the Public's Railway with malice aforethought.

Here, is just the first sentence of what Mr. Nettleton had to say over at Mary's last week in response to Ms. Bond's screeching for the WC's:

"Shirley Bond's closing comments with reference to "big bailouts" for BC Rail, "every single year" during the 1990's is absolutely false and misleading!...."


To which Will McMartin must have answered 'Damn straight!', or some such thing, as he beavered away on his piece that was finally published on the front page of The Tyee yesterday.

Here is Mr. McMartin's money shot:

"....Are any of those statements (from Ms. Bond) correct? Was BC Rail "bankrupt" and "in complete disarray" when the Campbell Liberals won election to government in 2001? Did the Crown corporation's debt soar by $582 million in a single year under the NDP? Did provincial taxpayers have to provide a "bailout... every single year" to BC Rail?

The answers are as simple as can be: No, no, no and no.

The fact is that BC Rail was a profitable company before the BC Liberals took power. The Crown corporation recorded 23 consecutive years of operating profits and 18 years with net income during the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Indeed, over that period the rail company sent $137.7 million in dividends to the provincial treasury.

Yet, the BC Liberals' lies about BC Rail persist to the present time and continue to be told in the legislative assembly...."

So.

We all owe the Minister, and her fine sense of the absurd, a debt of gratitude.....Because no one in the last seven years since the deal went down has done more to destroy the carefully crafted myth that BC Rail was an albatross around the necks of the people of British Columbia that had to be cut loose and thrown to the vultures.

Thank-you Ms. Bond!

(hmmmmmmm.....given all this, is it possible that the good Ms. Bond is actually the people's mole?......ha!)

.

One More Example Of How The Terror Industry Has Won

AllTheWaterfrontsThat
NoLongerFitVille


Some time ago, I took my old boss to The Cannery, a restaurant on Vancouver's waterfront.

She'd come up from the Bay Area for a science geek thing and she wanted a view of the harbour - so we went there for dinner because C. and I had been once, a long time before that, back when we were still almost courting, and we'd loved it despite the fact that, back then at least, we couldn't really afford it.

Anyway, when we went with my boss, which was in 2005, I couldn't believe that you had to go around a fence and through a stupid security gate to get there.

And I said so:

Last night I got to watch the orange-purple, autumnal high-sky sundown from Vancouver's waterfront docks.

Not the Ferry docks, which are located far from downtown Vancouver, and which Colin Powell, back in the days when he was still carrying water for the Rovians, once told us were sure to be a terrorist target.

No.

I'm talking about the real thing. The deepwater harbour docks right next to where my Dad used to go to work when he left for Alaska on the tugboats.

But this time I wasn't going to watch my Dad go to sea.

Instead, I was going to a fancy-schmancy restaurant.

And it was a truly beautiful sight from the deep end of the harbour looking west, back towards the city skyline with the northshore mountains shooting straight up into the stratosphere across the water.

But whatever you do, don't try head down there just for the heck of it, either to check out the view or to find yourself a sailor or two.

Because this is Mr. Bush's Fortress North America. And as such this very Canadian waterfront is now closed to all but those on official business, or those who can afford to hob nob with the fancy-schmancy pants set (a visit to the Cannery is a rare event and much more than just a simple twist of fate, indeed, for my wife and I).

But I digress, because what I really wanted to say was.....

Hey, Rovians!

Give us back our sovereignty!


Again, that was 2005 - and while the security industry's check-point was both a nuisance and stupid, it wasn't nearly as stoopid or ridiculous as things have now become.

What can possibly be stoopider, you might be wondering?

Well, it turns out that now, another five years, and absolutely zero evil plots to blow things up real good later, it turns out that you now have to go through a security check/shakedown days ahead of time to get a pass before you can even think about making a reservation at The Cannery.

Which is just flat-out untenable for any restaurant that actually wants to serve people dinner and have them, you know, pay for it.

As a result, as of yesterday, the place is closed.

For good.

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - A legend on the Vancouver waterfront is closing forever -- the Cannery Seafood Restaurant is serving its final meal in the Port of Vancouver. Manager Jeffrey Lenz says Bud Kanke of Mulvaney's, Joe Fortes and Fish House fame opened the restaurant in 1971.

He adds they'll be serving their final Salmon Wellington, roasted mussels and lobster dipping oil tonight. "After 9/11, there's been more and more security concerns involved with ports worldwide and it's gotten to the point where you require a port pass. If you don't have one, then you can't get in and obviously for a restaurant open to the public it's impossible for that to happen."

Lenz says they explored re-locating the restaurant but it didn't make economic sense. Unless there's a last minute saviour, Lenz says all the restaurant's marine antiques, dining room and kitchen supplies will be sold at an auction on April 6th.

The irony of all this stupidity is the fact that anybody who has been paying attention knows that the real issue of how bad things move through the Port of Vancouver has absolutely nothing to do with kids sneaking down to the docks to have a doob, or even of evil, scary people snipping the chain-link fence so that they sneak in and cause trouble.

Why?

Because, the movment of contraband all has to do with who controls Vancouver's Waterfront docks from the inside.

And we who have been paying attention also know that most, if not all, of the fine folks on the inside who are up to no good have absolutely no interest in being on the right side of the law.

Because they are already well outside of it.

The law I mean.

OK?


.

For My Friend Mary....

...Blossoms!

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Coultergate In Cowtown....The Anti-Free Speech Rider

TheMarketplaceOfNobodyElse'sIdeas
ButHerOwnVille


Remember, back in the days when Diamond David Lee Roth used more peroxide than a certain conservative comedian, how VanHalen had that rider to remove all the brown M&M's from the backstage goodie-bowls?

Well, while there was no mention of junk food that looks like deer-poo, there were a bunch of things that folks who wanted to go to Conservative Crackpot Crusader Coulter's Canadian Tour stop in Calgary were supposed to agree to before they arrived.

Here, thanks to the work of anti-CCC crusader, and current Calgarian, Tyler Kinch, is the missive that was sent to potential converts by the Coulter Cultists:

Thank you for registering to attend Ann Coulter’s lecture in Calgary, Alberta as part of “Coulter In Canada 2010″.

NOTE – CHANGE OF VENUE ADDRESS BELOW! Due to an increase in interest, we are moving the event to a larger venue. Please see www.coulterincanada.com (neither work nor reason safe) for a detailed map.

The lecture will now be held on Thursday March 25, 2010 at the University of Calgary’s Red & White Club, located on the 2nd Floor, Olympic Volunteer Centre, McMahon Stadium. If you plan on taking the C-Train to the event please get off at Banff Trail Station and walk through the McMahon stadium parking lot to get to the Red and White Club.

Doors will open at 7:00pm, however to ensure good seating, early arrival is recommended. Ann Coulter will be introduced by Ezra Levant after remarks from the International Free Press Society – Canada and student representatives.

Admission for this event is $10 paid in cash only. If you are a student of any educational institution (high school, college, or university) please present a valid piece of student identification for free admission. For security reasons, no backpacks, laptop bags, large purses, or audio-visual recording devices will be allowed into the venue.

While there will be a Q&A to ensure open, intellectual discussion between attendees of the event and Ann Coulter, the Question and Answer period will be moderated, and any sort of ranting, heckling, or otherwise disrupting of the event will result in removal by security and/or police. As well, individuals caught recording this event will be removed.

The University of Calgary bookstore will have copies of “Guilty” and “Shakedown” available for purchase before and after the lecture. Attendees may also bring a copy of one of Ann Coulter’s or Ezra Levant’s books for the book signing.

Only those who have registered in advance will be admitted to the event.

If you registered on someone else’s behalf, please ensure that this information is passed on to them.

Regards
International Free Press Society – Canada

No heckling?

At a comedy show?

Are they kidding?

****

And as for 'ranting' being subject to 'removal' by security and/or police.....

What, exactly does that have to do with free speech?

But the real kicker, if you ask me, is the extreme irony of a self-declared 'Free Press Society' banning any and all digicam-mediated documentation of the event.

OK?

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Coultergate: A Tempest In A Crackpot?

ToThineOwnChickenhawkish
HeartBeTrueVille


On Monday, Ann Coulter got p*wned in an open forum at the University of Western Ontario when a young undergraduate named Fatima Al-Dhaher stood-up and asked a pointed, relevant and intelligent question that led the conservative comedian to descend into self-ridicule.

Then, the following night at the University of Ottawa Ms. Coulter's next Canuckistanian World Tour appearance was cancelled at the last minute.

Apparently the cancellation was caused by alleged security concerns that arose due to an even more alleged unruly mob.

Well, it turns out that there really was no 'security' concern or an 'unruly' mob.

And that is according to the police AND the university's administration.

Here is the official statement on the matter that was released Wednesday by the the U. of Ottawa:

OTTAWA, March 24, 2010 — On Tuesday, March 23, an appearance by Ann Coulter was scheduled on our campus, organized by the International Free Press Society Canada and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.

The University of Ottawa has always promoted and defended freedom of expression. For that reason, we did not at any time oppose Ann Coulter’s appearance. Whether it is Ann Coulter or any other speaker, diverse views have always been and continue to be welcome on our campus.

Last night, the organizers themselves decided at 7:50 p.m. to cancel the event and so informed the University’s Protection Services staff on site. At that time, a crowd of about one thousand people had peacefully gathered at Marion Hall.

“Freedom of expression is a core value that the University of Ottawa has always promoted,” said Allan Rock, President of the University. “We have a long history of hosting contentious and controversial speakers on our campus. Last night was no exception, as people gathered here to listen to and debate Ann Coulter’s opinions.

I encourage our students, faculty and other members of our community to maintain our University as an open forum for diverse opinions. Ours is a safe and democratic environment for the expression of views, and we will keep it that way.”

Please note that this is the University of Ottawa’s official statement and no further comments will be issued.


So there you have it.

Free speech and open discourse......

It would appear that conservative comedians named Coulter just aren't that into either of them.

Allegedly.


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Original UofO Linksource courtesy of Nottawa.
Update: La Femme K.O'M. has more....Including the tidbit that a CBC reporter overheard the Comedian's helpful handlers making a fuss in the hall a couple of hours BEFORE the crowd even began assembling in earnest.

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