OpenTheBooksVille
Celebratory tunes coming!
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I spent the evening in the lab scoring freshly stained tissue microarrays....The codswallop in the ledge over the last few days had been making me crazy so I purposely unplugged and didn't pay attention to either news reports or the twittmachine after the non-confidence vote came down this afternoon...Thus, I did not learn of this thing until almost 11:00pm...And it was not the proMedia that told me...Instead it was readers on the comment thread to the last post of the Last Doomed Day...What a way to end it...Thanks everyone!
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62 comments:
here comes the sun .natures sanitizer for the dark ages.
Agreed Anon-Above--
And I don't even like the Beatles.
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I may be out by a few minutes but it seems that Judith Guichon took less time to render her decision than Christy Clark spent grovelling for a new election to be called while consulting with the Lieutenant Governor. I can only conclude that Clark's term as leader of the BC Liberal Party will be toast in short order, if not already. While she was busy rewriting the BC Liberal Party platform, post election, we heard nada from many high profile MLAs such as Coleman, Stone and Bond as well as others that don't quickly come to mind.
Good luck to Mr. Horgan and Mr. Weaver. You will need it. You will not get the free ride from the MSM that the BC Liberal Party got over the last 16 years and you will face much backlash from the movers and shakers that were able to buy their way to favourable governance and financial rewards beyond any reasonable expectations.
Yes I heard about it the same time coming back from a gig.Yippie!
I really want to say thank you Ross.
A big part of we the people overcoming all the corporate money, government propaganda and shilling by the mainstream media was the heroic work of key bloggers like yourself (and tweeting to bc poli too).
Thank you a thousand times over.
---otr
Backlash from the movers and shakers...solution..call a Corruption enquiry as soon as possible. This "will" silence the shills and indeed those who have with dubious intent, manipulated and coerced the political malfeasants of the past 16 years. Much damage to our democracy and economy has been done in the name of jobs jobs jobs, and this smokescreen has allowed insiders and political operatives to become in many schemes, that have privatized profits and publicized huge debts. This must end as quickly as possible.
CP--
It seems to me that the only way the wizardry can do a 180 on that throne speech is to dump the current leader...I expect that most of the proMedia members will move to the Opposition benches by, say, Tuesday (this is something that Grant G and Norm Farrell talked about with Canadian Glen on their most excellent pod Thursday)
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Anon-Three-Above--
I'd rather hear more about your gig than whether the former Premier will be purchasing a dog
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Thanks otr--
But, honestly, this is just my replacement for yelling at the radio and/or kicking the television. People like Norm, Laila Yuile and, yes, even Grant at his most hyperbolic have done the real digging.
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Anon-Above--
While I want all the books and all the deals opened so that we can see and decide what needs to be done to ameliorate all the damage that has been done, I hadn't thought of the angle you raised.
It's a most interesting point, although I think it would have to be targeted given that there has been, in my opinion, so much graftiness...What would be your top three?
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It was interesting watching the melancholic expressions of Baldrey on Global. I guess he has lost his free ride. RG
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quote seems apropos, RossK:
"Free at last, free at Last. Thank God almighty, I'm free at last."
RG--
Well, Ministers and aides and such may make him wait again.
If only he could return to the heady days of, say, Mr. Hahn, the good man from Global would never have to wait for anything.
And that appears to have included, for those that remember it, the schwag.
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Bob!
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But it's all John's fault from here on. It rains on Canada day? His fault. Better get used to it!
Once, long ago, one of BC's political Gordons resurrected the Liberal Party of BC with a leaders' debate quip about partisan squabbling between longtime arch rivals of the left and right. Before long, another Gordon usurped the middle-of-the-road experiment, turned it sharply more to the right than the even late Socreds and, curdling the professed least partisan party into the most by using the same smear tactics on its original Gordon as he would eventually on the NDP premier, the new Gordo came a hair's breath of victory by blaming the socialists for public enterprises in fact created by the Socreds, and promising to privatize them. Blaming campaign advisors for his first embittering defeat, he promised next time he'd be more himself. Sure enough, next time he promised NOT to sell publicly owned BC Rail and finally won, soon after breaking the promise and selling BCR after cooking its books to show some kind of rationale other than pure neo-right ideology. And of course to hide the lie.
Thus began 16 years of neo-rightism to privatize the public enterprise legacies of Socred and NDP governments over the previous five decades. And as Gordo learned when he was still in short pants, it was best done by stealth. The enduring BC Liberal calling card is embossed with chauvinistic partisanship, neo-right ideology and ethical perfidy. With crony colluders cooperating it was easy to one-up opposition, ridicule objectors, and buy votes. Good, caring and pacific people were dismissed as losers---and for a time they were.
Our only counter (MSM entirely bought and disqualified) seemed to protest, sometimes the howls of outrage transgressing even the bounds of acceptable partisanship. Never mind who has a right to be sore or who couldn't be blamed for fighting fire with even more fire, what was always needed were level heads and consistent voices that don't confuse partisanship for what's proper, but never give up---all without losing their ethical grip. For this we have to thank bloggers like Ross and Norm whose work has been the best antidote to perverse BC Liberal stealth while enduring---I'm sure we don't know how much---enmity and intemperance, not to mention unhelpful armchair punditry.
Thank you, Ross, for all you've done.
It will be interesting to see how Clark will be able to provide any meaningful opposition to the NDP agenda in the legislature when it is virtually what she hijacked and portrayed in her own throne speech. Of course pettiness and vindictiveness, which is at the core of her personality, will probably be the order of the day in spite of her claimed intention to work in cooperation with other parties. Clearly, public interest has never been Clark's strong suit and self interest and preservation guides all her actions. Her role as leader of the opposition will be no different. Hopefully, her own party will finally recognize her selfish motivations and seek a new leader.
I can't help but pause to reflect on how very happy BC Mary and Ian Reid would be today. Reviewing how yesterday unfolded I am still having moments of happy tears. Our long winter is over. Thank you Ross K., Laila, Norm, Bob, Richard Hughes, Raif Mair, Grant G. and so many more.
Ed--
And if the tide goes out on Monday...Horgan!
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Scotty--
Clearly, two members of the Lotuslandian/Legislative proMedia club got very upset with us....One turtled...And one would sniff around and then re-write our stuff, softly, a week or so later (when he wasn't trying to eat Chichester Cathedral).
As for the Dean...well...Impervious it would appear (which I'm sure he takes as a badge of honour).
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Anon-Above--
I'm sure they will just pretend, and have their surrogates and shillophants echo the 'fact', that the throney never happened.
As for the 'party'...I'm not sure that even really exists...It seems to me that the entire shebang is conjured up by a small cabal of wizards that rides horses of it's choosing.
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Thanks so much Kim--
I'm pretty sure both Ian and Mary would be ecstatic.
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SH:
Earlier comment didn't 'take'…
Must feel so satisfying RossK, to stand among those who pushed a Sisyphian boulder up the hill, and made it stay there damn it!!!
...Whatever Marky...As gracious as his ex... guess he forgot about Christy's little helpers...
Mark Marissen @marissenmark 24h24 hours ago Replying to @EvanLeeson
The person who is saying "these things can only happen if I am premier" is actually Horgan, now with Weaver's help.
I occasionally get a little hyperbolic..
Thanks Ross..Mackin..Yuile..Rafe..Farrell(indeed) Tyee..and others(who are no longer here) who paved the way for the likes of The Straight Goods..
Koot..Ian..Mary...they gave me more than you can imagine...Logic, strategy and humility...
The latter...We out in left field, if we turned a point or two in our last election....we can all stand tall...
I mentioned humility...
along with humanity....one hell of a learning curve..
Good Day
SH--
Feels most excellent...Especially when, even if he doesn't know he's actually doing it, Marky Mark waves the white flag.
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Apologies Grant--
Occasionally, indeed.
And ya, Koot Koot too!
And Robin Mathews!
And NVG!
And GAB! (who, together with Laila once scooped the entire proMedia maw on Railgate just by showing up at the pre-trial hearings back in the days when we were all being told that the proMedia would report on the story when there was 'News' to report)
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And Paul Willcocks - an early proMedia adopter of the power of citizen j.
And Sean Holman - the last of the independents (and whose archives will be invaluable for any and all deep-dive investigations).
And Alison of Creekside.
And, never to be forgotten, all the original denizens of the Galloping Beaver...This post, by Dave, is one of my favourites about another so called/illegitimate throne speech from the good Ms. Clark et al.
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I'd also like to raise a glass in tribute and appreciation of the work of all those mentioned in previous comments. As well, it is a reflection of the quality of these blogs that they bring many pieces of very relevant information from the various contributors that I find more than adds to the subject at hand. Good on all of you.
Reading some of the comments on CBC's website regarding this change in power, it seems obvious that Clark's & Co are still paying a number of 'bots' to malign the Green/NDP co-operative arrangement. I think back to old Mr. Bennett and some of the important Crown entities he created and am totally convinced that if he were Premier today, these same 'bots' would accuse him of being a "lefty".
Very, very well said Lulymay.
Thanks!
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And...
Mr. Beer 'N Hockey.
Who sometimes took us out to the fainting couch but was always willing to get down in the muck and mire and do the heavy lifting (for real).
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Question
Will the BC NDP /Green government not have to make an FOI to get information on the behind the scenes activities that have been constantly blacked out by the censors on behalf of the BC Liberals and their donors?
Or
Will the new government's Executive Officers (Cabinet) have direct access to all of their predecessors decisions and the flawed backgrounders to go with them?
Excellent question NVG.
Sounds like something the good Mr. Mair could tell us.
Maybe post the question at Norm's place - Rafe stops by there regularly.
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SH:
Glad to read Lulymay's comments re the CBC, the tone IS very different since they disabled anonymous comments.
Oh, the tales Government employees could tell…and I guess that's the point of the big silencing.
I add my voice of thanks to all of the independent bloggers that have been listed above.
All of you are heroes to me - you have informed me of far more than I could ever have learned from the main media pundits.
I cheer you and the NDP and the Greens for finding a way out from under the BC Liberals - it's been sooooooo long!
Thanks so much Anon-Above!
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SH--
Ya, will be interesting to see if a thousand whistleblowers (or, as BC Mary used to call them, 'Anon-O-Mice') now bloom/scream from the rooftops.
Thing is, they now have solid alternative places to go if big corp/big oil bought proMedia ignores them (and includes The Tyee and Bob Mackin's place, two outlets I don't think we've mentioned on this thread yet).
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I've been happy-dancing since last night, but there is an ache in my heart knowing that Mary and Ian couldn't be here to see it all happen.
GAB
GAB!
I hear you.
Hope all is well with you and yours.
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I blogged for a time at Sister Sages Musings, but she fell on hard times and did not renew her domain. I lost all of the archives. Oh well, I tried.
Really sorry to hear that Kim.
BC Mary's site is still up.
But KootKoot archived the entire thing for posterity. I've got a hard media version of it sitting right beside the mouse pad as I type.
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From anon, 730 am. My top three corruption issues;
1) Basi Vick, $6 million dollars to plead guilty? Something is still real fishy here....this has never been satisfactorily dealt with by the crown. Taxpayers want answers to this incredible miscarriage of justice...
2). IPP scandal, why are so many former BC Liberals involved in these companies? Why are these companies allowed to have contracural deals for decades to come at much higher costs than current utility prices? The ultimate scam maybe?
3) Advantage BC, this is one of the newest scandals, what's going on with our money in this shadowy company headed by a former BC cabinet minister? How many taxpayer dollars are involved here? What kind of return our we getting?
Governance is NOT about ripping the taxpayer off...period. The former regime has much to answer for. Ready the orange jumpsuit fitting room....
Anon-Above--
I'm with you, although I would expand #2 to include all of Hydro and #3 to include all tax giveaways including resource 'credits'.
Norm Farrell has all the numbers nailed down.
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SH:
@MervAdey just posted a long tweet (which I can't copy) re Norm's CBC comment re Zussman's incomplete survey of the BC Liberal's 'checkered legacy' …. Norm fixed it, as you would expect.
A taste: relinquish @relinquishh 1h1 hour ago
As one Postmedia editor said to me, "I'm not an accountant so I can't report stuff I don't understand."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-liberals-leave-checkered-legacy-following-16-years-of-power-1.4185893#vf-1408300009108 … #bcpoli #msm
A Hedgefund Bailout Co. editor actually said that to you SH?
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happy Canada day.Ater thursday I think we got a little better.
SH:
Norm said that, @relinquishh tweeted it (It was at the end of his second comment on Zussman's CBC article).
Thanks Anon-Above--
I agree.
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Thanks SH--
I misinterpreted the twittmachine pasting.
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HAPPY CANADA EVERYONE!
We live in a great country. We all got to bitch and complain about how things ran and then we got to change it all without firing a shot. We live in a remarkable country.
Long may our country live on! Many of us posting here were around for the 100th birthday but may not make it to the 200ths, but hey, we might have a chance. We are so lucky to live in a country where we actually got to live and celebrate our Country's 100th birthday and then its 150th birthday!
BC poli bloggers -The guardians of BC.
A very happy Canada Day to you and yours Ross. Now the really hard work begins.
We all want answers to a number of issues. However, the new government can spend its time and money looking at yesterday or try to make things better for tomorrow. Inquires cost tens of millions of dollars. Do we spend it there or on food programs for kids in schools? What do you want more?
My suggestion, get on with the future. If the bean counters run into anything along the way, send it to Crown and let them go for it but to spend years in inquires not so much. that is not so say I wouldn't like it. My goals for these past many years was to live long enough is to see el gordo come back in hand cuffs. I'd pay good money to have a front row seat for the trial.
Now that the NDP will be the government there is much to do and much to fix so do we deal on the past or work for the future?
when a government has run its course as the former NDP government did, the one thing they can look back on is they created 200 parks in this province. That is a legacy. So I ask myself this question: do I want 200 more parks and provincial camping parks or el gordo and some of the others in jail? decided I'd rather have the parks. I've found that life takes care of those types in its own way.
Dave Barrett and the NDP left us the ALR and ICBC
Glen Clark and Harcourt left us 200 parks.
Horgan.....I'm sure it will be good, but it will be work. Lets not waste time on the past. Just make the necessary changes and get on with improving things
e.a.f. you make your points well. I concur. Dippers go for it.
One improvement is to stop taking money from schools and hospitals and giving it to private business for bogus carbon offsets, allowing the Govt to say it is 'carbon neutral'.
SH:
My heart is in agreement with e.a.f., but my head says there must be consequences, and public monies misappropriated must be must be returned. The BC Liberals are awash in money, and we deserve damages, for breaking the public trust. Lessons must be learned. Money talks. Ask the BC Liberals.
e.a.f. the Fast Ferries, garnered the BC Liberals much traction, and they are an electoral sliver away from power. The public has a right to answers…how did the Kleptocracy take so much, with such efficiency? An educated public, is a public who will have the information upon which to judge/vote for the BC Liberals.
So much has been taken, gifted, misspent on boondoggles, and lost to foreign entities, that the return of these monies, can fund numerous social projects.
Strike while the iron is hot! …and the public is paying attention. Keep the focus on BC Liberal corruption, and rebuild. Never forget, never again!
SH fyi
Even if the public saw the two Fast Cats a failure on the road to mass production of the BC Ferries fleet .... the trades learned in building them have been spread throughout British Columbia industries AND are the catalyst for the work that is happening down at Seaspan's Vancouver Shipyard at the foot of Pemberton and at the Dry Dock east of Lonsdale.
SH @ NVG
Really tremendous!
Why don't 'we' know that?
We don't know that because the msm needed to keep their narrative going about how it was all such a waste of money. they wanted to keep the vilification of Glen Clark going. It was part of the strategy to get el gordo elected.
The fast cats not only provided training but provided JOBS which paid well and all those wages were kept in B.C. and spent locally. When el gordo had the next set of ferries built in Germany, the Germans got to have all the wages while those here in B.C. did without the jobs. Then photo op queen had ferries built in Poland, it was because the salaries are even less there than they are in Germany. Germany itself has moved a lot of its factories to Poland to reduce over head.
Of course we don't know if Germany built the ferries for less but we do know el gordo was able to borrow the money for the ferries and then an additional $750 MILLION, which he put in general revenue, charged to the books of B.C. Ferries and announced B.C. had a balanced budget. Oh, the interest on all that money is 10% for the duration of the loan. el gordo didn't want B.C. Ferries to be a Crown corporation which could be examined by the Leg. we the taxpayers/users of the ferries paid 7% more on the interest. Had B.C. Ferries reverted to a crown corporation, the interest would have been 3%. And who says the B.C. Lieberals don't know how to do business. Getting almost $3billion in loans at 10% instead of 3%. We can only hope the new NDP government changes B.C. Ferries back to a Crown corporations so some of us could have a look at the books, Well it would keep Norm Farrell busy for a couple of weeks at least.
Washington State, has ferries and all of their ferries are built right in Washington State. its the law. They have a created their own industry and keep all their tax dollars right in the state. In B.C. the "free enterprises" sent our tax dollars first to Germany and then to Poland. Glen Clark's great crime was he kept our tax dollars in B.C.
oh and the German Ferries were not without their problems. However, the MSM didn't "advertise" any of that. They needed to keep the narrative going about how great el gordo was and how inept Glen Clark was. Of course today, who knows where el gordo is. He was last in London at the public trough while Glen Clark went to work at the Pattison Group and is the President today.
Had the MSM not been in such a hurry to get rid of Glen Clark on behalf of their masters at the B.C. Lieberal party who knows how well B.C. could have done. we do know over the past 16 years with the B.C. Lieberals we're in debt to the tune of at least $160 BILLION. Such great business people those b.c. lieberals. Certainly know how to run up debt and yet to this day you can not conveince some that its the b.c. lieberals who spend us into bankruptcy. they bought the msm's line hook and all.
Hang 'em high and let the crows pick their eyes out. Neuter all their relatives. Expropriate their I'll gotten gains. Take their citizenship away.
Put them in a sweatshop for ten years.
These fuckers are evil!
They have done more harm than any mass murderer. Made so many suffer.
Wipe the evil smile off the bitch's face.
Send a message to the next group of fascists that there can be a price to pay.
SH @ Lenin's Ghost:
Don't hold back;)
Lenin's ghost, omg you made me laugh.
yes some people want some sort of justice/revenge, but getting on with the business of governing for all will be best.
Yes that's true...true justice would be jail sentences and restitution of taxpayer dollars. It would be worth the money and the effort, since if it is not punitivley dealt with...it will in all likelihood occur again. Malfeasance and corruption have to be dealt with harshly.... period.
This is not some low level crime group. This " is" organized crime and should face severe retribution. Milllions if not billions of taxpayers dollars are involved, I for one don't appreciate being "ripped off" by the likes of the BC Liberal organization, whether the party, its donors or the so called governance.
You have to set an example...at least one, otherwise all our comments, suggestions and critique of the past 15 years, was truly a waste of time...
Re: the Mal and the Feas Ants...
You all may be interested in the latest from Dermod Travis on Advantage BC in the GStraight.
(but make sure you take your BP meds first if you need 'em)
that was an entertaining read. funny how the MSM never picked up on that one. Does make one wonder what the kick back was to the politicians in B.C. who devised this little scheme.
didn't need the meds. ate toast and peanut butter. gets you through every thing.
Let us hope the new government closes this little enterprise quickly. Its costing us a mint.
People may be of the opinion this is organized crime and yes I can see the point. However, one does need to take into consideration the voters of this province were complicate in this. It wasn't as if people didn't know what was going on. All they had to do is read blogs and a few other on line papers. People don't want to know because then they have to make a decision.
spending millions on trials isn't going to send any type of message. Madov is in jail for the rest of his life, but the frauds continue. There will always be greedy politicians. Tossing them out of office is about the best we can do. People who engage in these types of activities don't stop to think of the consequences. They think they are smarter than the rest of us. Then there is the no small problem of having them sentenced to lengthy terms in jail. Right by the judges they saw on the golf course and sailing clubs each weekend.
This isn't Quebec and there won't be a corruption inquiry because we have the RCMP and not a provincial police force like Quebec. The RCMP don't do shit because this is the best gig they have and it goes for 20 year.
To deal with corruption you first need a police force which will investigate and then send files to Crown council. In B.C. that isn't going to happen. We all know the corporate culture of the RCMP, and in my opinion its a great big criminal organization: sexual assault, sexual harassment, shall we go on.......
So much work to do...
So little time.
Some minimum wage earners (most?) have contributed more to society than these perps who roll in the big dough.
And how much more money is spent on chasing them for no useful purpose? And if they ever got caught, they'd cost us a bundle more for room and board.
Horgan; there go your 'summer holidays'!
SH @ e.a.f…The BC Liberals have finessed Rovian tactics with stunning success: ergo a near win…. Their victims are not complicit, they are dupes…it is rather, the MSM who are complicit in massaging the prescribed message, and dismissing inconvenient facts, as uninformed opinion…
Now the game has changed...Think Blagojevich and the media circus that ensued…the BC MSM would be all over the Reckoning, and Recovery. They would eat it up.
If we are not given relief here, we can seek help elsewhere. The process of an inquiry, and a little more International shaming, will be, at the very least a teachable moment….The cost of moving on is too great, the cycle will play out again and again.
I knew there would be a study about the consequences OF corruption: "CROSS-SECTORAL ANALYSIS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF CORRUPTION AND GROWTH" [OECD in collaboration with the World Bank Group]
"...corruption also has indirect consequences, damaging public institutions, impairing citizen’s trust in their government and causing lower incentives for innovation and higher inequality. For example, high levels of perceived corruption are associated with lower spending on social services, including both health and education, which in turn can undermine social welfare, skills in the work force and trust in institutions. Further, the poor are often the first victims of corrupt practices in the education sector since for them, the illegal fees, bribes for promotion to the next grade or to obtain a diploma, etc. are a heavy burden that leads many of them to drop out. Thus it is fair to say that corruption tends to increase social inequality…"
http://star.worldbank.org/star/sites/star/files/consequences_of_corruption_at_the_sector_level_and_implications_for_economic_growth_and_development_oecd-wb_june_2014_australia.pdf
SH--
I agree with your 'dupes vs victims' thesis and, especially, the complicity of the local corpMedia as enablers of the stragegy.
Case in point...The link below will show you all the local proMedia stories that have NOT been written on Advantage BC between Dan Levin's NYT piece in early May and Dermod Travis' piece this week (note: almost all of the small number of intervening pieces were actually follow-ups to Levin's original story - the lack of original digging on an item that would have ended just about any Western government anywhere is astonishing).
Here's the GooglePlex....Link.
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SH:
Omerta ist alles.
Tony Soprano:
Dr. Jennifer Melfi: “What line of work are you in?”
Tony Soprano: “Waste management consultant.”
Tony Soprano: “It's good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.”
[What floor are we on?]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10131611/James-Gandolfini-Tony-Sopranos-20-best-lines.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1rcmpOOJAw
no ones bought BCliberal?
no ones buying Site C?
none for massey bridge also?
Anon-Above--
Don't you see...The Cronies aren't selling. The Cronies are buying!
Or some such thing.
(and don't forget the power and the glory of Miss Davis' $17.50)
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