Are We All Canucks....errrr...Cronies Now?

ExemptionSchmemption

HeadsTheyWin,TailsWeLoseVille

Last night the newly minted Premier of this province who, it turns out (surprise!) now owes the big bossman of (formerly)BC's Rail a debt of fully indemnified gratitude, told a crowd of 1600 rabidly twittering faithful that those hundreds of thousands of British Columbians that want to get rid of her duplicitous HST are nothing but "cronies" of the Leader of the Opposition.

Well.....

Count me in.

But what about those fine folks that are doing their best to run (formerly)BC's Ferries into the ground?

Are they, as Paul Willcocks has discovered by making like Izzy Stone and reading the public record, cronies too?

"On July 1, 2010, the harmonized sales tax (HST) became effective, combining the existing 7% provincial sales tax with the 5% federal goods and services tax (GST) into a single tax of 12%. We expect this tax to add approximately $5 to $6 million annually to the cost of our operations. The HST will also increase the price to our customers for our food and certain retail offerings....."

Ha!

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Make Kevin Falcon (And His Friends) Pay

HeadsTheyWin

TailsWeLoseVille

Remember awhile back when Kevin Falcon, who replaced the shameless Colin Hansen as Finance Minister, would neither confirm nor deny that the previous PST exemptions would return if we, the people of British Columbia, were to smash those Stick-Men to smithereens with a Garth Butcherian cross-check to their non-existent pearly whites?

Well....

I'll tell you, I am now willing to take the match penalty, because I just don't give a crap anymore.

Hell, I am even willing to pay more income tax if that's what it takes to fund things that matter to make up for the lost revenue that was never supposed to be part of the 'revenue neutral' aspect of the corrupt, stinking deal.

Why would I be willing to do such a thing?

Well, Harvey Oberfeld has all kinds of reasons to vote YES to get rid of the HST.

But my favourite, which is the one that I figure will give Mr. Falcon the most pause and/or root canal-like pain, is this one:

"Vote YES to have corporations pay their fair share."

OK?

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Why Did Harold Snepts Wear #27 Anyway?

My oldest kid, the one with the virtuoso voice who can make even her laryngeally-challenged Dad sound good, had her high school graduation yesterday.

She won a gold medal.

Even better, she let fly with a wicked quote from that crazy, deaf musical genius who muttered something about comedies being done and the applause just beginning.

Right at the very end of the piece.

****

Anyway.

There were a whole lotta young, fresh faces in the Grad-Class crowd all raring to go.

And go they will.

But few will go as far, with so little, as did young Harry pictured above.

And while many of them did have fresher faces than the then still callow Mr. Snepts, very few of them could match this particular visage.

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Thanks to our good friend Mr. Beer 'N Hockey for pointing out the fleetingest of numerically connecting foxes between young Harry and the forever younger young Bobby.

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When Bowie Met Springsteen.

It'sSoHardToBeASaint
InThisCityVille

I had never met Ian Reid for real.

But I did know of him by reputation.

Political reputation that is.

Not personal.

So when Ian popped-up here, in the comments, after I started writing about the Casino Industrial Complex that arrived still-borne, but fully-wurlitzered, in the deep, spikey shadows of the devil-horned roof from nowhere, I was a little surprised.

In the ensuing months we corresponded quite a bit, both here in the bloggodome and offline, about what was really going down.

To be absolutely clear about this, even though a lot of the stuff Ian told me was pure gold I was initially wary because he is an old Pol.

And while I am mostly sympathetic to the party that he has worked for over the years, I have come to learn that you can never be too sure when an old Pol might be working you rather than just talking to you.

But all that fell away when Ian began to respond to the stuff I wrote about making music with my kids.

Because both of those things are personal.

And as we kept talking, purely in pixels mind you, it turned out that, while it would appear on the surface that we have very little in common other than politics, we actually do.

Have lots of things in common I mean.

But it was the differences that I became really interested in.

Like how he would tell me proudly about all the crazy, wild and exhilarating adventures that his own, now fully grown (I think), kids are involved in.

This was a real comfort to me given that my own kids are still young enough that it is hard, as much as I would like to, to let them rush headlong straight into their own private AdventureLands.

As for the musical differences.....

Well, those don't really matter.

Except to mention that I have never really been a Bowie fan.

But then I read a recent post from Ian that lets us know about all the Life (and yes, maybe even death) Changes he's been going through for quite some time now.

So.

I decided to go looking for the intersection of Mr. Bowie and all that I hold dear, musically at least.

And I think I found it.

Here you go Ian (and, thanks).....

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The flipside is here.

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It Turns Out...

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....We Are Really Big In Taiwan!

So.....

C's Mom L. is over for the weekend.

And we got to talking about our Busking Project.

She asked me if there are any more videos.

There are not.

Because the kids are off doing their own things now, which is great.

So these days it's mostly just the Whackadoodle and me, usually at beaches, in the woods, or at dog parks, but almost always with the guitar.

Heckfire.

I can play most of the playlist with the leash strapped to my left hand now.

Except, of course, for that damned F#Minor, which is so important in so many of that maniacal genius Darnielle's Key of A songs.

Which is how I have the playlist organized.

By Key.

Not by Artist....

Or Album...

Or even song title.

It's kind of like my busker version of a Nick Hornby/Championship Vinyl-type obsessive/compulsive/organizational type deal.

****

Anyway.

As for that Taiwan thing....It turns out that if you go to the Stats portion of the video above's actual YouTube page, Formosa lights up like Lizzie May's hair on fire.

And for a long time I couldn't figure out why.

Until I dug deeper and found out that some kid (presumably it's a kid, but can't tell for sure because the characters are in Hokkien and thus are, as one would expect, unreadable to me) linked to us from Taiwan months ago.

And people from there are still stopping by in a slow, steady drizzle.

All of which goes to show that, even without the rapture, it really is a crazy, mixed-up world we live in.

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For the record, am still writing songs...And doing my best to record a few along with a whole lotta covers...Working on something like this, only for my Dad, whose name is Ken - not Clem.

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I Heard The News Today, Oh Boy....

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And it turns out the Rapture really did happen.

In, of all places, an Scottish schoolhouse back in....

1987.

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Are You Busy Getting Ready For The Rapture?

Let'sSayHe'sRealButNotLikeYouSell

MoreLikeTheHippyInGodspellVille

Somehow, I figure that the original girl who 'Kissed A Girl' and who now completely fan-funds her albums, Jill Sobule, isn't getting too worked up about it...

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Ms. Sobule, who is a big, big favourite around our house, was on Radiotubz with Jim and Greg awhile back and she told an interesting little story about her early days when she was 'discovered' by a big ConGlom A&R man who then pushed her single out the door and tried to turn her into something she was not. Turns out, the same guy discovered Ms. KPerry fifteen years later. But Jill holds no grudges. After all, when the Katy song went big the I-Tunes spillover was, allegedly, enough for Sobule to put a downpayment on the Prius..... If you want to hear about Jill's early days, in song, there is nothing better (or more inspiring) than this.... And if you want to hear the rockingest, no chairs included, version of 'Kissed A Girl' by Jill and John Doe, live, buy.....This!

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British Columbia Finally Has A New Chief Electoral Officer

PostBye-ByeBi-Partisanism

It'sNeverTooLateForRealOversightVille

And his name is Keith Archer.

And while he comes from the outer reaches of the infamous Calgary School's eliptical orbit and once co-authored a paper with Tom Flanagan, we won't hold that against him given that he has written a lot about progressive issues.

So....

What should Mr. Archer's first order of business be?

Well, I figure it should be to review all of the rulings of the previous interim CEO.

Rulings like this one.

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Did Christy Clark Actually Say Something Of Substance Amongst The Name Change Chatter?

AllTheRidingsThatFit

TakeoverVille

Well.....

Now that the BC Liberal Party has successfully changed the channel with all that name change codswallop, it would appear that it's back to business as usual in Lotuslandia.

Which is great news for a government whose shiny new leader was very nearly flung onto the talk show scrap heap just a week ago.

Especially when you've got a $5 million PR campaign to mount that is designed to get the peasants to vote for a "heads we win, tails they lose" style referendum.

Interestingly, however, Paul Willcocks noticed that the leader of the now self-admitted LINO's* actually said something potentially interesting at their Gord-Free Convention last weekend:

"...(M)uch more significant (than the call for a name change) was Premier Christy Clark's pledge to end the party's practice of preventing nomination challenges for incumbent MLAs. That's been an unwritten, but strictly enforced, rule...."

Mr. W. then went on to describe how open nominations can be a good thing for grass roots democracy.

And, in principle, I agree.

But then Paul threw in a wee word of warning:

"...There are risks to allowing open nomination contests. A well-funded, ambitious would-be candidate could hijack a constituency association, sign up a bunch of instant party members and take over without real support from party members..."

Which got me to thinking about another piece that Mr. Willcocks wrote about Ms. Clark's now former husband, Mr. Mark Marissen.

I've always found the following passage from that piece, which was published in BC Business in 2007, particularly interesting:

"...There is no denying the Marissen team played rough. The most infamous episode saw the (Paul) Martin forces take over the riding association of (Federal Liberal) MP and Chrétien supporter Herb Dhaliwal in 2002, while Dhaliwal was out of the country and his wife was dying of cancer. The takeover not only locked up delegate support for Martin; it killed Dhaliwal’s chances of running again. He blames (David) Basi and others on Marissen’s team, complaining of questionable mass sign-ups of instant Liberals. The riding association swelled from 250 to almost 3,400 members during the campaign to get rid of Dhaliwal..."

Which has to make at least some enquiring minds wonder what the real intent was behind Ms. Clark's call that was hidden in the middle of all the moniker-mongering last weekend.

But never mind all that.

Instead, did you catch the name of the third man that flew by, almost in passing, in the short passage above.

Ya.

That one.

The one who once worked with former LINO Finance Minister Gary Collins back in the days when Ms. Clark was the Deputy Premier to his Gordness who much later went on to become one of the recipients of the $6 Million Dollar LINO-Man-assisted pay-off package not so long ago.

What was that all about, you may be asking?

Well, for a little deep background let's go to the following, from a piece from Charlie Smith in the GStraight from way back in ancient times (ie. Jan 15th, 2004) when the LINO's were still riding relatively high in the saddle and no one knew anything about a dinner at the Villa of the Wolf a few weeks earlier:

"On two separate occasions, Finance Minister Gary Collins welcomed to the B.C. legislature's visitors' gallery a Young Liberal who was later linked to the takeover of Herb Dhaliwal's federal riding association.

Despite this, Collins told reporters on January 2 (2004) that he "honestly" did not know why supporters of then MP Paul Martin took over Dhaliwal's riding association in 2002 while Dhaliwal was out of the country.

On April 29, 1999, Collins welcomed Amar Bajwa, then president-elect of the B.C. Young Liberals, to the visitors' gallery. According to Hansard, Collins also introduced Bajwa's mother, Jaswant Bajwa, president of the India-Canada Cultural Association of British Columbia, and his brother Pawan.

Several media outlets have reported that Amar Bajwa is a friend of Collins's fired ministerial aide, David Basi, and that Bajwa was the Vancouver Burnaby South federal Liberal riding membership chairman who helped replace Dhaliwal's supporters with a pro Paul Martin slate.

On May 27, 2001, Collins again welcomed Bajwa and 11 other young B.C. Liberals to the legislature's visitors' gallery: Aneal Basi, Naveen Bains (a former B.C. Young Liberals president), Jag Bains, Perry Bhaniwal, Keleim Manji, Savik Sidhu, Nab Gill, T. J. Parhar, Bikrum Gill, Reet Bains, and Jonathan Chau..."

Whole lotta 'Boyz' there, eh?

Of course, at least one name is notably absent.

After all, way back then Mr. Virk was still apparently known to the general public only as 'Bob from Burnaby'.

OK?

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*LINO = Liberal In Name Only

Now, imagine you are an MLA from the Fed-Con wing of the soon to be newly-named B.C. Conservative Liberal Alliance Party (aka "The CLAP!")...Would this open nomination policy business have you a little concerned that the FedLib wing of the party might have their eyes on your riding?...Well, if you if you were such a red-meater you would probably be fully in agreement with the following statement from Kevin "Call-Me-On-My-Cell-If-You-Need-A-Roof" Krueger who, according to Mr. Willcocks, responded to Ms. Clark's call by saying that '...he (Krueger) enforced the ban on nomination challenges as caucus whip. People who wanted to challenge an incumbent were "encouraged" to look elsewhere, he said. "It was not 'open season' and it won't be 'open season' this time,"...' ....Gosh....Is that the sound of the fly atop the big tent I hear ripping?

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All The Nights In All The Seasons Don't Mean A Hill Of Beans...

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....Compared To This.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova "Drive All Night" from Patrick Glennon on Vimeo.

I know the romance is done.

As will all the world, soon.

But the music....

Jayzus.

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The BC Liberal's New Fixer....

ChangeAllTheChannels

SoLucky!Ville

Never mind the content consultant and his many, many hats.

Because all they need now is.....

Moldova!

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Is A Fear of Stephen Harper The Real Reason...

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....The BC Liberal Party wants to change their name?

Who really knows what is on the minds those pushing the buttons of their animatronic spear carrier from VanQuadra.

But it was an interesting point raised by Sean Holman's rabble-rousers this morning.

And what happens if, after the LINOs become 'The CLAP' party party, somebody else comes along and just steals.....errrr....takes the Liberal name right back again.

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What If Lindsay Weir Had Scuffled Instead Of Soared?

NeverMindTheDead

HearComeTheGratefulLivingVille

Me, I figure Paul Feig and Judd Apatow might just make a movie about it.

Lindsay's so-called messed-up life, I mean.

Written, of course, by Kristen Wiig.

And while I haven't seen the film yet (I'll leave that to Bigger E. and her friends), I have, as is so often my want, read about it courtesy of Manohla Dargis in the Times.

Anyway.....

This kind of stuff always kind of makes me wonder about things like 'what if'.

As in, "What if Freaks And Geeks hadn't been cancelled after the first season?'

Somehow, I reckon things would have turned out a whole lot differently.

Because, clearly if the TeeVee show version of the Apatow vision of folks born fully formed, as voiced and filmed by Feig, had gone on a long run, Linda Cardellini would likely never have gone on to play Velma in the Scooby Moovies.

And, for sure, Jason Segel would never have done this.

Regardless, it was a heckuva show - and for that we, and probably pretty much that entire Apatow crowd*, should probably all be grateful.

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*Except maybe for Sam Levine, but certainly not Mike White.

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Best New Name For LINO's So Far?

ProMediaLagging

TweetThis!Ville

Colin Hansen has called on his failing BC Liberal Party to re-name and re-brand itself.

Best name so far on #samepartydiffname from Mike Lowe is:

"Conservative Liberal Alliance Party"......aka....."The CLAP"

Ha!

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Mine is 'Marissinites United'

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Does Elections-BC Want To Turn Reasonable People Into Crazed Conspiracy Theorists?

ByeByeGoneBad

PointGreyVille

So....

There has been all sorts of chatter on the Lotuslandian interwebz about things like...

- Extra ballot boxes that suddenly appeared out of nowhere...

- Advance polls that may not have been counted already....

- Absentee ballots that don't have a note from their mother....

- A thousand ghost votes that may or may not exist and/or be named Casper...

All of which would be nothing more than grist for the mill if everything was running smoothly over there at good old Elections-British Columbia.

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I got to wondering how the votes went down in last week's Point Grey by-election when it became clear that Christy Clark and David Eby were running neck-and-neck and cheek-by-jowl from start to (almost) finish when the big surge for Ms. Clark came in. This is clearly evident from the whiteboard image above which was snapped by the VSun's Andrea Woo direct from Camp Eby (note the absolute tie after 128 ballot boxes at 5421 votes and then note the next line).

My best guess at the time was that the big surge on the bottom line of the board came from extremely heavy ProPol-assisted advance votes and/or a couple of choice geographic polls from the poshest portions of Creme-Ville.

Anyway.....

As I mentioned earlier today, it was most interesting to learn from A. Tsakumis the next day that it appears that at least one small pocket of creamiest Creme-Ville west of Blanca (ie. the pointiest part of Point Grey) actually went to Eby.

Given that, I decided to go looking for the poll-by-poll splits over at Elections-British Columbia myself.

But, unfortunately they were not there.

So, I instead went over to Chad Skelton's VSun Blog because he has demonstrated in the past that he is the best local proMedia number-cruncher going.

Well.....

It turns out that Mr. Skelton has been frustrated by E-BC also:

B.C. Premier Christy Clark's surprisingly narrow victory over NDP candidate David Eby in the Vancouver-Point Grey byelection has many wondering how a race many thought would be a cakewalk turned into a squeaker.

With that in mind, we were interested in taking a look at the poll-by-poll results from last night's race to see whether any parts of the riding switched from Liberal to NDP since the 2009 general election.

So I called up Jan Pierce, the Elections BC returning officer for the byelection, and asked her for a copy.

She said they had the poll-by-poll results in hand but would have to check with Elections BC head office to see if she could release them. A few minutes later she called back with her answer: No she couldn't give them to me.....

And here's the real kicker....E-BC is now saying that the splits won't be available until September:

....According to Elections BC policy, she (returning officer Jan Pierce) said, poll-by-poll results are only available once the official results are published by Elections BC.

And when would that be, I asked? Could be as late as September, she said.

In an e-mail, Elections BC spokesman Don Main confirmed the agency won't be releasing poll-by-poll results anytime soon:

Voting area by voting area results are considered official results. Official results will available in the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Vancouver-Point Grey By-election, not before. ... The report is scheduled for mid-September....

Heckfire!

Won't that be after the HST referendum and, perhaps, well into the next provincial General Election campaign that will be fronted by Christy Clark herself?

Now, given all that, I am doing my best to try and stay reasonable here.

Honest.

I really, really am.

How about you?

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Which begs the question....How does Mr. T. have the numbers...My best bet is that it is coming through one of the Liberal party's proPols who got them from their scrutineers....Regardless, the proPols clearly have the numbers...Thus, even in the complete absence of any conspiracy whatsoever, this rank incompetence (four months to ratify one lousy little by-election??!!) does not serve the public, not to mention their trust, well...I mean, at the very least should the proPols get to have information that we paid for?

Meanwhile, Ms. Clark and her Party are caught red-handed electioneering and E-BC says that is all just fine and dandy.....Laila and cherylb have that story (and they had it before Andrew MacLeod over at The Tyee)...

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