Life And Living...Sometimes The Best Advice Is No Advice At All.

HomeIsWhereTheHeart
OfThePoetryIsVille


From Jeff Buckley, as recorded by Italian broadcaster Luisa Cotardo in 1995, and brought to us via the absolutely fantastic Brain Pickings:

"...I have no advice for anybody except to, you know, be awake enough to see where you are at any given time and how that is beautiful and has poetry inside, even in places you hate..."


Not much more to say to that.

Except to mention that I know a place where I can find the poetry inside just about everytime within Mr. Buckley's version of a traditional tune that Mumford and Son, and a movie by the Cohen Brothers, have lately made famous.

Buckley's version is somehow simultaneously unrecognizable and instantly captivating...

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E. and I did this tune awhile back...In the much more traditional vein...




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Mount Polley Disaster ctd...Documenting The Misinformation.

TheJournalsOfThe
CitizenryVille


The following is the lede of a post by Kevin Logan, a citizen who went to the disaster zone with Alexandra Morton, courtesy of established and credible blogger Richard Hughes:

Since day one the claim has been that the tailings flowing from the mine “were stopped,” yet one month after the BC Day Disaster occurred, the MOE found Mount Polley to be out of compliance” and on September 9th – fully 5 days later – issued an “advisory letter” pleading that the company do more to bring the tailings discharge to a halt.

This pattern of misinformation starting from day one and the “stopped ” flow of discharge from the mine permeates virtually every significant piece of information related to this disaster...



The entire thing is very much worth reading.


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And the links in Mr. Logan's story are worth archiving...For the record...Because keeping a record to go back to is what we 'idiot bloggers' like to do...Don't you know...


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Quick Wins Resurrection Shuffle...Day 3.

Ostriches?
InLotusland?Ville


We are now moving into our third day since a former and a current BC Liberal stalwart were charged with alleged transgressions the election act. 

And, as of yet, there is still only one major proMedia story that has dealt seriously with the Whistleblower in the case.

Otherwise, it has been pretty much crickets from Lotusland's most prominent, not to mention established and credible, club members.

Fortunately, that single story is a good one, from Cassidy Olivier in The Province, because it includes both an interview with the Whistleblower and a retrospective to give the thing the context required.

Here is part of that context:

...On June 11, 2013, almost a month to the day that the B.C. Liberal government won a surprise fourth term in office, the provincial government posted more than 10,000 pages of documents related to John Dyble’s investigation into the ethnic outreach plan.

Within the info dump is an email, dated Sept. 18, 2012, that suggests someone within government had offered some kind of inducement to silence a former employee. The so-called mystery woman is later identified as Sepideh Sarrafpour, a former government liaison contractor and one-time honorary liaison to ex-multiculturalism minister Harry Bloy...


And here is the relevant passage from that Email, written by the 'former' BC Liberal Party stalwart mentioned above, as noted by Bob Mackin in his Tyee piece today:

..."Have [MLA] Harry Bloy meet with her and explain how doing anything would damage the Premier and the party. Have him say how he will try to find her work and get her back involved... If need be, offer x dollars per month to do non public work up to election [developing her database of potential supporters]."...


Nothing to see, or report, or write, or make a fuss about here.

No siree.


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Oh, and....For the record (which some enterprising proMedia personage might wish to re-visit before she sails off to India for the court date)....In the wake of the Email's release last year our fine Premier stood on the steps of the legislature said that the proposed 'inducement' to prevent 'damage' to the her and hers was never acted upon...
Finally, do not forget that all of these machinations were going on BEFORE the last general election...Which would be the one that those one of those very finest of the finely established in the proMedia just wishes that we, the great unwashed, would just stop concerning ourselves with their most excellent role in....Or some such thing...


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This Day In Snookland...There Is No Plan Like No Plan (To Announce).

NonDenialDenials
'RUsVille


Apparently, in response to 'rumours' that the BC Liberal government is planning a privatization offensive in the education department, rumours, of course, that Gary Mason really hates, Peter Fassbender had something to say yesterday.

The GStraight's Charlie Smith got Mr. Fassbender's money quote:

...(Fassbender) stated it's "absolutely, categorically not true" that there is any plan for him to announce privatizing education through vouchers...


Hmmmm...

Is saying that you don't have 'any plan' to announce a thing the same thing as 'absolutely, categorically' that you aren't planning to do that thing?


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Quick Wins...The Forgetting.

Repress
EverythingVille


By now, most British Columbians who care to pay attention know that a former high-ranking staffer in the office of the Premier, and a longtime BC Liberal Party stalwart, Mr. Brian Bonney, has been charged with offences under the Elections Act.

After all, this event was duly reported in the Lotuslandian proMedia, right?

And in some of those reports there were even veiled allusions to a connection to the Quick Wins imbroglio that roiled the Premier's office a few months before the last general election.

But, interestingly, except for Bob Mackin's report in The Tyee, I have not seen any detailed discussion of what can be found in the heart of the charges, specifically as they relate back to a high profile event that arose in the wake of the big imbroglio that everybody seems to have forgotten about since.

So, let's go back and have a focussed look at Count 1, shall we:

...Brian Ashly BONNEY... {snip}...did make a political contribution...{snip}...by directing Sepideh Sarrafpour to work on the campaign of Dennis Marsden in the 2012 Port Moody-Coquitlam by-election...


So.

Who is Ms. Sarrafpour (who is the Whistleblower here), particularly as her story relates to 'Quick Wins'?

Well....

Given that the local proMedia, in all of their wisdom, not to mention their 'established credibility' has chosen so far not to tell us in the last few days, shall we go into our own 'idiot blogger' archives and have a look?

Here is our post from July 16th, 2013, written AFTER the last general election AND long after the highly circumscribed Dyble  'investigation' into Quick Wins was complete:

____________

Earlier today we noted that Christy Clark stood on the steps of the Legislature and said that the Email that instructed various and assorted sundry agents in her government to, essentially, bribe a former government employee was never acted upon.

Thus, once again, the Premier of British Columbia was claiming 'no harm no foul'.

Except, this evening Cassidy Olivier of The Province followed up on a  Global Tee-Vee interview with the following:

...Sepideh Sarrafpour, a former government liaison contractor and one-time honorary liaison to former multiculturalism minster Harry Bloy, confirmed to the Province that she was the person referenced in a government email the subject of heated debate this week.

“Yeah it is me,” Sarrafpour told The Province Tuesday. “They were talking about me.”...

{snippety doo-dah}

...Sarrafpour would not elaborate on what information she had that would be damaging to the premier or the party when contacted by The Province. And, in an interview with Global B.C. that aired Tuesday, she denied every being offered money.

Yet in the same interview, she confirmed that she did, at one point, meet with Bloy and a job was offered....

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Gosh.

Nothing for the Lotuslandian proMedia to see there (or report, or discuss in detail) in the context of the recent charges, charges that have arisen in the wake of an investigation, led not by the good Mr. Dyble (and what he chose not to investigate), but instead by a Special Prosecutor who was appointed after Adrian Dix went to the authorities with additional information we have not yet seen in detail.

Right?


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Again, this post is not intended to impugn the words, actions or deeds of Ms. Serrafpour in any way. In fact, based on her words, actions and deeds so far, it is my opinion that Ms. Serrafpour is one of the heroines of this story...Instead, the post was written to point out that, once again, it appears that the Lotuslandian proMedia is failing to connect the dots on a story of import for all British Columbians regarding who is running this province (and how they are running it)...

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When The Rumours Get Weird, Ron Obvious Turns Pro.

MangleAllThompsonisms
NotGonzoVille


Ya.

You read that header right.

The Globe's Mr. Gary Mason hates rumour mongering.

Because the old sportswriter would never, ever stoop to such a thing.

The Exile has the story.... 


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My favourite mangling of that particular Thompsonism came from my old editor, who butchered my stuff back when I was a pseudo sportswriter for a day or three...He uttered the following when some where around Rogue River on the I-5 as we winged our way towards Oakland..."When the going gets weird, the weird move to Oregon"....Oh wait...Maybe he said that while we were hitting fungoes in the desert....I just can't quite remember now...
Of course, sometimes you can mangle the thing to fit pretty much any bizarre situation...Including faux 'Quick Win' probes...


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Mr. Holman Speaks On Mount Polley (And More).

TransparencyOver
TheRockiesVille


Sean Holman, the former proprietor of the much missed Public Eye Online who is now an academic in Calgary, has an excellent piece up on the differences in government transparency regarding mines and mine accidents 'n stuff between the United States and British Columbia.

It's a good piece and well worth reading in its entirety.

Here's the kicker (in which no one is spared):

...There is absolutely no reason why British Columbians shouldn’t be similarly informed about our own mines — except for our willingness to elect governments on both the left and right that exploit our political complacency and infantilism.

After all, how many citizens do you think will put information rights as their top issue the next time they go to the polls? And how many even care about those rights between elections?

But without such information it’s impossible for British Columbians to know how safe our mines are — and whether officials are doing enough to keep those operations safe.

Journalists and activists just don’t know what we don’t know.

Instead, we have to trust that our Father Knows Best government will take care of its citizen-children at the expense of the powerful who are its friends and financiers.

And that’s exactly the way most politicians, once they get into power, seem to like it.


Infantilism?

Ya.

I think that's a pretty good descriptor of what goes on 'round here.


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This Day In Snookland...Her Bonney Lies Over The Ocean.

CourtDate?
WhatCourtDate?Ville


Yesterday we learned that former BC Liberal government staffer Mr. Brian Bonney has been charged, together with an associate, Mr. Mark Robertson (who is reportedly currently a BC Liberal party staffer), under section 263 of the Election Act with the following:

The court date has been set for Oct 14th.

And where will our fine Premier be on that day?

Why, India, of course.

And when did we learn of her big trip across the big ocean?

Why, also yesterday, of course.

Sheesh.

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And if Ms. Sarrafpour's name rings a bell, re: 'Quick Wins!', it should...Because, well....You know...
Our thanks to reader 'Guy In Victoria' for the heads-up on the Premier's sudden announcement of her latest most excellent Transoceanic Adventure.
We also thank Bob Mackin for posting-up the charges, verbatim...Uncle Bob also has an excellent piece up at The Tyee with the most background by far...



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The Keef Report...Darwin's Finch Edition

There'sNoSelectionLike
KeefSelectionVille


Well, well, well, would-a-thunk-it?

Specifically...

Who would have ever have thought that the good Mr. Baldrey's position on the public school strike would have evolved to one of 'both sides' on the wee matter of the E80 clause:

Gosh.

Is it possible that the words, deeds and actions of Lotuslandian proPundits are, like the politicians they 'cover', also influenced by the polls?


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As for the validity of the 'both sides' conclusion on that particular point given, say, this (see pg 3)?...Well, perhaps the good Mr. Baldrey would like to offer up a fact-based rationale for coming to such a conclusion...
Previous Keef Reports can be perused, at your leisure....Here.


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#BCED Update...A Side-By-Side Comparison Of The Two Positions Worth Looking At.

PeopleGenerateContent
TooVille


The comparison, of what the BCTF's and the BC Liberal Government's positions were, and what they appear to be now, has been made by a teacher and a parent who has a new blog up called 'Thinking Out Loud'.

Here is what they have to say on the matter:

...After 3 months of passionately fighting for something that I truly believe in, I am so tired of hearing people call teachers greedy. I am not greedy. None of us who are willing to give up our salary are doing it because we are greedy. in the spirit of full disclosure I studied the government (AKA BCPSEA) and BCTF proposals and I researched a little more to understand why some proposals are on the table. I created a detailed document that outlines the proposals on both sides. Have a gander at this document and then please, tell me why you think I am greedy...



The side-by-side comparison, which really is worth having a look at in light of recent developments, is here.

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Of course, you can discuss, and even argue with, the points made in the comparison all you want...In fact that is something we should all be doing...But what I find amazing (and extremely distressing) is the fact we we have not seen such a comprehensive analysis of the nuts and bolts of the situation in the Lotuslandian proMedia...



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This Day In Snookland...Conflictyness Down On The Farm?

SomeConstituenciesAreMoreEqual
ThanOthersVille


Mark Hume, in the Globe, wonders if the BC Liberal government's conflict commissioner, the good Mr. Fraser, left something out of his decision to exonerate former agriculture minister Pat Pinn for his intervention in the workings of the Agricultural Land Commission awhile back:

A report by B.C.’s Conflict of Interest Commissioner examining former agriculture minister Pat Pimm’s involvement in a farmland decision makes it clear he did nothing wrong.

But to get to that exoneration Commissioner Paul Fraser appears not to have considered the full political backstory. And he dismisses as unwarranted the concerns of Richard Bullock, chair of the Agricultural Land Commission...

{snip}...(Conflict Commissioner) Fraser said he found nothing inappropriate about Mr. Pimm representing a constituent as that’s an MLA’s job.

The report, however, plays down the fact that Mr. Pimm wasn’t just any MLA. He was an MLA with a history of battering the ALC and within a week would become the minister of agriculture, with plans to dismantle the ALC...


It's a good piece by the ever diligent Mr. Hume.

But one thing that Hume did not mention is that, for family reasons, it is hard not to wonder if the Conflict Commissioner himself may have been forced to do his best to fight off occasional bouts of conflictyness recently.

Because.

You know...

This.


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#BCED Update...The Doctor Comparison.

TheHeartOfThe
MatterVille


Remember how, almost as soon as the words left Jim Iker's lips on Friday, the Lotuslandian proPunditry started immediately explaining how there was no way in heckfire that Ms. Clark and friends would go for binding arbitration?

Why?

Well, because of what happened with the doctors in 2002 when Allan McEachern gave the doctors a deal that caused the sky to fall according, apparently, to those paragons of unbiased, non-partisan (see what we did there Mr. Marissen?) truth telling we all knew and now miss so dearly, Mess'rs Gary Collins and Colin Hansen.

But there was something that the Dean and the other Club members did not tell us when they so quickly started 'xplainin' why binding arbitration would never, ever work this time around....

Which is why the Doctors went to the wall, lo those many years ago.

Apparently, even back then, folks had a hard time trusting the BC Liberal extreme economic makeover artists:

Negotiations between British Columbia's doctors and the government have completely collapsed, leaving the province facing a potentially damaging doctors' strike .

Dr. Heidi Oetter, president of the British Columbia Medical Association, said Tuesday the government was not serious about negotiating a deal, and "now they are trying to trick British Columbians with more half-truths."

After meeting all day, the BCMA board concluded "we simply can't trust this government," she said in a statement. "So, the BC doctors will once again be forced to do the only thing they can to withdraw services."...


And now the apologists in the Club are telling us that mediation would be better anyway.

But how can mediation work without trust, exactly?


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Of course, there was another reason that the sky falling (i.e. the ideologically-driven shift to consumption taxes and user fees) really got started in earnest back in 2002/3...
Tip O' The Toque to S. Hadfield for the original digging on the Doctor story...

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#BCED Update...Harvey Oberfeld Goes Where Lotusland's Pro-Pundits Fear To Tread.

CallingItLikeHeSeesIt
ForRealVille


Harvey O says a lot in his latest blogpost.

I reckon this is the kicker:

...(J)ust think of the HARM (Premier Christy) Clark is doing to BC's children.

Make no mistake about it: denying them schooling will hurt the kids for a LOT longer than the dispute will last; breaking the union … which I believe is TRULY EMERGING AS THE GOVERNMENT’S REAL GOAL … would result in some of the WORST educational and class size standards in the country; and the crowded classes they government wants would not only hurt the kids with special needs, but also those with ESL needs … and the implications would NO DOUBT be suffered by every kid in every class in the province...


If you've really been paying attention it's hard to disagree with that, no?


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The only place Mr. O. does not go is 'privatizationland'...But, in my opinion, that would a logical next step if things do turn out as he predicts if Ms. Clark and friends really do have their way with us.

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This Sunday In Snookland...Blame Raffi.

Hey!Let'sGetMarky
He'llTweetAnythingVille


Not, of course, for what he actually said about how no one believes what Ms. Christy Clark has to say about the teacher's strike in British Columbia (a good summary of which can be found here).

But, instead, for what Raffi might, or might not, believe in.

Which, I guess, means he can't be trusted and therefore his words are invalid regardless their veracity.

Or some such preposterous tactic that only a certain former junior Senator from Wisconsin could ever embrace.

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As one of the top digital influencers amongst the fine folks in BC Liberal Land, the good Mr. Marissen does the honours:

Gosh.

Should we be asking Mr. Cavoukian if he is now, or ever has been, a member of the New Democratic Party?


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Guess the lobbying business must be slow on Sundays...
And why, exactly, one can only wonder, did Mr. Marissen not challenge Mr. Cavoukian directly on the veracity of his statements...Hmmmm...Is it possible that MM knows, what with his ex- partner's proven penchant for just 'Saying Anything', that such a challenge might be unsuccessful?


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#BCED...Does The Position of Mr. Fassbender And Mr. Cameron On The Binding Arbitration Question Even Make Sense?

ThisIsNotATalkingHeads

TuneVille

From Cassidy and Cooper's very good story from late yesterday in The Province (whose lede I've kinda/sorta flipped)...

First, there was the position of Mr. Iker and the BCTF:

...Iker on Friday said issues relating to compensation — including salary and signing bonuses — benefits, and preparation time, would be the issues sent before an arbitrator. Issues relating to class size and compensation, including the government’s E80 clause, would be taken off the table pending conclusion of the government’s ongoing court appeal.

And then came the position of the Glimmer Twins:

...On Saturday Education Minister Peter Fassbender rejected the B.C. Teacher Federation’s proposal to enter into binding arbitration in the ongoing strike, and the government’s lead negotiator said there is no optimism a settlement is in sight...

{snip}

But on Saturday afternoon Peter Cameron, lead negotiator for the British

Columbia Public School Employers Association, told reporters the BCTF’s proposal had too many stipulations, and the government simply will not budge on the union’s wage and benefit demands.

“When the BCTF says you are not moving, well they’re right,” Cameron, who advised Fassbender to reject the proposal, said. “The settlement on wages and benefits will be within the pattern of (other public unions) … the areas we are prepared to move on … is around class sizes, and particularly class composition.”...


Do you see what they did there?

Sheesh.

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Of course, what is really going down doesn't matter one wit to the Snooklandians.

Instead, it would appear that what they want now is a little time for the digital influencers, PAB-Bots, flying surrender monkeys and shillophants to do a little reality bending.

Or some such thing.

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And, ya, I know it's Cassidy Olivier and Sam Cooper...I just liked the way it sounded while I typed it (in a Butch and Sundance-type way)...

Oh, and in case you missed it, the old labour reporter, Mr. Mickleburgh, halfway agrees with us re: the fly in the Dean's anti-arbitration argument ointment.

Speaking of the shillophants...Has Laila's poll on binding arbitration been Freeped?

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