The Dissification Of The Dean.

ThereIsA
ClubVille


Would'a thunk it.

Turns out that Mr. Michael Smythe of the Province actually does have a memory that he's willing to use when it suits his purposes (and/or his old columns).

He did this with his latest on the mansion tax.

Which is interesting in a kinda/sort way if you want to click through.

But then, in the aftermath an interesting thing happened on the Twittmachine.

Someone who was previously a card carrying member of the Lotuslandian proMedia Club, and who had given Mr. Smythe kudos for the memory work, took the Dean to task for precisely the right reason:

Link

Now.

In fairness, Mr. Palmer may have been dredging up his own memories of the original Robin Hood mansion tax from 1993 that led to a meltdown from a Dipper minister who was once the co-MLA for Upper West Cremeville.

Thing is, it would appear that Horgan et al. learned from the mistakes of yore and put in the escape hatch this time around that Mr. Skelton mentions above.

Which, of course, anyone covering the BC legislature for a major local print organ would know forwards and backwards.

Right?



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Your Daily Felice Brothers....Fifty-Eight To Nothing.

NotTheOddsOnTheReturnOf
WelterweightLouVille


C. turned 58 this weekend.

Which meant that there was a pretty good multi-generational party at our house on Saturday night.

For all kinds of reasons, including the fact that it was also a bon voyage for (no longer so) littler e. who, now that she is pretty much done with her full time working and slaving for the man during her gap year, is getting ready to head off to tap dance her way across Europe for awhile.

All of which is just another way of saying that a good time was had by all.

Not quite as good a time as the folks below.

But a fun time nonetheless...

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Fifty-eight to nothing?....You bet.

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Hope Springs Eternal.

ACrossBetweenABatAndABroomstick
FungoVille


Now that Friday's snow has started to melt in earnest we here in Lotusland can start thinking seriously about spring.

Not spring training, mind you.

Because for that you would have to travel to Tuscon Arizona and have breakfast on the Colorado Rockies under the auspices of an anti-driving conspiracy.

Or some such thing.

****

Of course, spring training is the place where everyone is hopeful.

And that includes rookies looking for their first big shot as well as grizzled veterans looking for one more shot at a big paycheque, especially if they happen to be a rubber-armed reliever who gets by on guile, craft and back door sliders.

But, of course, many of us of a certain stage still hold onto the slimmest of no longer slimfast hopes that we can still make it in some kinda league, big or small, somewhere, some day still to come.

Which is why, at least once a year as the grapefruit and cactus slices are sluiced into umbrella drinks in Florida and Arizona, I like to watch the following and keep on dreamin' on....

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Sub-header?....On one trip through the desert on our way to prove that there are no day games in Las Vegas my former editor and I stopped in the desert to hit fungoes into the sky...Or was that a night ride out of Oakland on the way to Stockton?...Either way, I'm almost certain I used the ghost of Alonzo Powell to take my cuts....Mr. Powell was one of my favourite career minor leaguers of all-times who later went on to a decent career in Japan before becoming a wee bit of a decidedly non-Charley Lauistic major league hitting coach who is now a hot commodity....



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Kinder Morgan (NotSo) Surprise...Ron's Obviousness Comes To Pass.

LooksLikeTheKeefDoesNotHaveAMeggsianMainline
InVille


Well, well, well...

As we noted a few days ago, Mr. Mason of the Globe was 'right' that the Trans Mountain pipeline approval process mess would end up in court.

And it turns out that the word 'court' was the cab(ernet)-whistle signal to Ms Notley to begin her climb down.

From the National Observer's un-bylined bit on the latest development in the story:

...Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is temporarily ending her province's ban on B.C. wine after (B.C.) Premier John Horgan announced a new court action to defend rules that could stop Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

"We'll be buying wine again," Notley told reporters at a late afternoon news conference...


Which brings us back to our original point written in the wake of the Mr. Obvious' initial piece:

...(T)his (legal) eventuality would fully explain why any politician can say and do whatever they want for whatever purpose, political point scoring (and/or future cover creating?) or otherwise, in the interim...


Gosh.

It's almost as if the puffed-up Lotuslandian proMedia punditry that covers local politics doesn't understand how the game is actually played.

And/or understand when they are being played.

If you get my drift.



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Off topic but....Hey, look!....In the wake of the federal info watchdog's parting shot, Professor Holman has come out to play!...With historical perspective and citations and everything.


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The Keef Report...The Electric Kool-Aid Reaction (To The Budget) Test.

SaidTheLittleLambToThe
ShepherdBoyVille


From the good Mr. Baldrey's Twitmachine feed...

Link

Apparently, actual analysis is no longer required when you can use your insider access to elicit 'reactions' and/or hear things.

Or some such thing.

****

Meanwhile, if you want an actual analysis instead of proMedia sushi kabuki served raw, Mr. Willcocks has his up at the Tyee.

I also found Mr. Reese, the transit guy's, take insightful.

And, if you want to see how the old folks still tethered to their TeeVee's think, you can always read Harvey O.  However, to be fair, Mr. Oberfeld is willing to cede a number of points for the common good.



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Pipeline-A-Go-Go: Ron Pats Self On Back...Obviously.

ThereAreAWholeLottaAnglesOn
ChichesterCathedralVille


Look what the Globe's man around western towns threw up on the Twittmachine today/Monday:

Thing is, if you go and actually read Mr. Mason's piece that he points you back to you will see that he takes up pretty much every place and position under the sun trying to come up with a most disjointed non-thesis to explain why Ms. Notley, Mr. Horgan and Mr. Trudeau are saying what they are (or are not) doing with respect to the pipeline.

Then, finally, presumably satisfied he has every possible angle covered, Mr. Mason ends with his very-well buried kicker (that also doubled as the header to the thing):

...The future of Trans Mountain is almost certainly going to be determined in a court room, somewhere, and not be any edict from the Prime Minister's office or the start of a trade war.


Why well buried?

Because, if true and widely understood by all concerned, this eventuality would fully explain why any politician can say and do whatever they want for whatever purpose, political point scoring (and/or future cover creating?) or otherwise, in the interim.

Which is something a little less obvious that didn't seem to occur to the Globe's main left-of-Kenora column guy.

Imagine that!


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And, as surprised as I a to be typing it, Mikey Mike of the Province did a much better job on this one this time around....How?...Well, it turns out that Mr. Smyth actually spoke to one of the principals involved, on the, you know, errrrr...Record.


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Stop The Presses!....Because You Have Not Read This Before.

Link

That is all.


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The Prop Rep Chronicles....Hop On The Bus Gus....errrr...Bill

AllYourStrangeBedfellows'RUs
PolitcalStatusQuoVille


From the Twitmachine feed of the irrepressible Ms. Always Campaigning...

Gosh.

Isn't this 'nobody's talkin' bout it' thingy exactly the same strate(r)gy being employed by the newly-minted leader of Ms. Anton's party.

Imagine that!



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And why are Ms. Anton and Mr. Tieleman suddenly on the same side of an issue such as this?...Well, you know....Sub-header!
As for the earworm induced by the header....This oughtta take care of it.


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Things Left Unsaid On The Mean Streets of Quilchena...

AllYourQuos'R
OurStatusVille

"I don't hear anybody asking for this in the streets of British Columbia"

What's it all about this time Alfie?

Well, according to Ian Bailey of the Globe, the new leader of the BC Liberal Party, Mr. Andrew Wilkinson, does not hear anyone in B.C. which includes, presumably, his Upper West Cremeville riding (south of 16th Avenue division) telling him that they want anything to do with Prop. Rep. at the ballot box.

Because, after all, why would those fine folks in Mr. Wilkinson's riding of Vancouver Quilchena want to change a status quo that has made even the most modest abode in the area worth almost three million bucks.

As for the remaining 4 million British Columbians?

Well....

****

Regardless, didn't the good Mr. Wilkinson actually stay in the leadership race he eventually won due to a proportional representation formula that saw him narrowly squeak by Marky Mark's horse on the crucial 4th ballot despite the fact that said horse, Michael Lee, actually beat Mr. Wilkinson like a gong in total 'votes'?

Hmmmmm....

Hypochristy, revisited, served cold with an irony chaser.

Would'a thunk it!


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Dave!

The best.

Ever.

That is all.


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The Keef Report...Turtling On Captain Kirk.

BeamHimUp
(Would'yaPlease)ScottyVille


A Twittmachine denizen by the name of Shatner responded to someone without so many followers and the Keef felt compelled to comment in a most Keefian way:

And then the Shatner responded to the Keef's comment in a most 'interesting' manner:

Which led to some mighty fine turtling, not to mention Chamber of Commercing, by the Keef that seems to have since disappeared. However, the retweeting of the Shatner's fan club exhortation remains:

And, just to be clear, according to the timestamps none of this happened after 9:00 pm, at least not on a weekend.


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We have noted the Keef's penchant for being dismissive of those with not enough followers to please him in the past....
Tip O' The Toque to reader Lew for the heads-up.
A compendium of previous Keef Reports can be found...Here.


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The Art Of Horgan...

NeitherFrancisNorMario
LiveHereVille


From the quoting of the Wikis:

Sure, I get the idea of the thing.

But, despite the fact that those who have been paying attention have known about it for awhile, I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head entirely around the following, as reported by Andrew MacLeod in today's Tyee:

One of the top civil servants in the NDP government worked for the right-wing Fraser Institute and the Vancouver Sun, shooting down mainstream ideas like the need for environmental assessments, the right to organize unions and the requirement that employers pay a minimum wage.

First hired to work for the government under Christy Clark’s BC Liberals, Fazil Mihlar was made the deputy minister of jobs, trade and technology after Premier John Horgan’s NDP formed the government in July with the support of three BC Green Party MLAs...


And, despite the claims of Mr. Horgan's right hand man, I would be very surpised to learn that this appointment is being chiefly driven by Mr. Milhar's expertise as a public servant for the reasons pointed out by Harold Steves in A. MacLeod's piece.

So, if not that, is it possible that the Dipper braintrust is thinking that the good Mr. Milhar can provide Mr. Horgan et al. with some cover on their right side, especially from the attacks of the killer corproturfists to come?

Maybe.

But, again, regardless, I sure do hope that that very same Dipper braintrust is strate(r)gizing just as hard about how they are going to deal with the fact that a whole lot of the folks who voted for them have another legitimate place to go now.

Which could become even more disastrous down the road if this bizarre anti-PR partnership is successful.

OK?


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Then again, there is always....This (wait for the kicker).



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The ICBC Book Cooking Chronicles (ctd)....Why Are ProMedia Mavens Avoiding The Fifth 'W'?

WhatToDoWhenTheEtch-A-SketchIsNot
AvailableVille


Yesterday, we noted that pretty much all of our most prestigious local proMedia pundits have been assiduously avoiding asking 'why' the BC Liberals actively avoided dealing with known problems at ICBC for years. 

Of course, anyone who has been paying the least bit of attention knows that one pretty darned powerful avoidance driver for the likes of Mess'rs de Jong and Stone, not to mention the wizards that control them, was the realization that even acknowledging ICBC's problem would have forced them to stop using the public corporation as a cash cow that helpedprop up their phoney budget surpluses over the years.

And it was those phoney surpluses and the associated corproturph-catapaulted bullshite about the financial and economic prowess of the BC Liberal braintrust that the local puffed-up punditry swallowed whole that is now sticking in their craw.

Because when you have written obviously Ronnish stuff like the following praising the BC Liberal regime as a...

"...government that has boasted arguably the strongest economy in the country over the past four years, unquestionably the best record of fiscal management among the provinces and an enviable job-creation record..."

Well...

It's pretty darned hard to fess up, for real, and announce to your readership that you don't know jack about squat when it comes to things that actually matter.

And why is it so darned hard for the puffed-up punditry?

To engage is such fessing up, I mean.

Because if you were to do that rank-and-file British Columbians just might come to their senses and realize that there are other voices and opinions they should start paying attention to if they want to know what's really going down in their province.

OK?


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The Fifth 'W'?....This.
Speaking of other voices...I never thought I'd type this, but....Martyn Brown is actually very much worth reading these days....On this specific matter he goes to the 'why' and brings up the matter of another driver of BCL avoidance...'Lawyers'...It will be interesting to hear what folks in the profession think about that.
Meanwhile, in Dean Ville....Mr. Palmer finally stops trying entirely just dumps the pages of his diary into his latest bit on the BCL Leadership thingy...It's kind of like long form live blogging I suppose...Only in molasses.


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