The Bunker - Lat/Long Unknown
Let's say you were a president who bet the farm on convincing the electorate that you are the war president, defender of the realm.
Now let's say you were a president who was warned, in advance, about a huge cache of conventional explosives in a country you were about to invade.
Now let's say you were a president whose secretary of defense, after he had been warned, did nothing to secure those weapons after you had invaded the country.
No let's say that insurgents/partisans stole all those unguarded explosives and started using them to blow-up your troops.
Would you be a president in trouble with the 'security and strength' side of the electorate?
Probably not, unless it was front page news in, oh say, the New York Times.
It's not even just the lies and naked agression anymore. Instead, it has become a matter of absolute and total incompetence. Clearly the only thing that the Rovians are good at are costumes on TV. Unfortunately, this is not a world run by caricatures straight out of the Village People.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
The 0.5% Solution
49° 06' North; 122° 49' West
Alternative Title: Screwing Us with Our Own 1/200th
That phenomenal sales tax cut that is getting so much CanWest play (subscription) is not exactly as pure as the Ivory Driven Snow because 1/200th is exactly what 0.5% is.
And don't forget, it was the S.S. Gordon Campbell that saddled each and every one of us with that extra sliver of the sales tax pie in the first place while they simultaneously gave away entire pies to the chosen few at the top of the heap in the form of annual high percentage income tax rebates.
Regardless, now that they've given us back that 1/200th they took from us in the first place, it appears they expect us to jump for joy and elect an homophobic PR fixer in the upcoming Surrey Panorama by-election.
How else to explain the fact that Commander Campbell has, according to CBC stringer Jeff Davies, cleared the bridge and sent 11 cabinet ministers, 9 back benchers, and dozens of political staffers out on the hustings to stump for said homophobe this weekend?
Our favorite local counterweight site, 'Have You Had Enough Yet?' which is masterminded by an Al Franken to call our own, Bill Piket, has a nice take on the entire Pinocchio version of this story.
_____
Update: Thanks to reader JS for pointing us to the excellent "progressive tax burden way down/regressive tax burden way-up" analysis by Will McMartin in the Tyee.
Alternative Title: Screwing Us with Our Own 1/200th
That phenomenal sales tax cut that is getting so much CanWest play (subscription) is not exactly as pure as the Ivory Driven Snow because 1/200th is exactly what 0.5% is.
And don't forget, it was the S.S. Gordon Campbell that saddled each and every one of us with that extra sliver of the sales tax pie in the first place while they simultaneously gave away entire pies to the chosen few at the top of the heap in the form of annual high percentage income tax rebates.
Regardless, now that they've given us back that 1/200th they took from us in the first place, it appears they expect us to jump for joy and elect an homophobic PR fixer in the upcoming Surrey Panorama by-election.
How else to explain the fact that Commander Campbell has, according to CBC stringer Jeff Davies, cleared the bridge and sent 11 cabinet ministers, 9 back benchers, and dozens of political staffers out on the hustings to stump for said homophobe this weekend?
****
Our favorite local counterweight site, 'Have You Had Enough Yet?' which is masterminded by an Al Franken to call our own, Bill Piket, has a nice take on the entire Pinocchio version of this story.
_____
Update: Thanks to reader JS for pointing us to the excellent "progressive tax burden way down/regressive tax burden way-up" analysis by Will McMartin in the Tyee.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Peacekeeping - The Real Thing
19° 00' North; 72° 25' West
UN peacekeepers were on high alert as supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide were expected to demand his return to the Caribbean country.
Today is the 10th anniversary of Aristide’s return from his first exile...."
This is bad news indeed for the blue helmets. And it is a situation that was made much, much worse by the recent spate of hurricanes and bad weather.
Luckily, ordinary Canadians, and especially folks from Quebec have stepped into the breech, raising huge amounts of money and shipping tons and tons of supplies, no strings attached, to the Carribean Island.
This is the kind of thing that people remember, and it is one more reason why all North Americans, no matter which side of the 49th parallel they live on, sew red maple leaves on their backpacks when they travel overseas.
A Vancouverite, by way of Montreal, who is also making a difference sans firearms, is a sharp young fellow named Per Unheim
Mr. Unheim has gone overseas to help out at the Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights and the Centre for the Treatment of Trauma (ie. Torture) Victims. He is also a blogger, and his eyes-wide-open posts are well worth reading.
(Thanks to frequent AllSpinZone poster eteba for the tip on Quebeckers' helping hand for Haiti and to Crawford Kilian for updating us on the work of PerU).
Peacekeeping does not always have to come from the barrel of a gun.
Because sometimes something as simple as true goodwill can go a heck of a long way.
Take Haiti, for example.
Unlike the situation in Iraq, BushCo has already run away from the mess that it created there when it facilitated the most recent ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. And now it is UN peacekeepers that have to deal with the aftermath:
"Young gangsters torched cars, fired in the air and terrorised people not far from the presidential palace as violence flared in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
Because sometimes something as simple as true goodwill can go a heck of a long way.
Take Haiti, for example.
Unlike the situation in Iraq, BushCo has already run away from the mess that it created there when it facilitated the most recent ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. And now it is UN peacekeepers that have to deal with the aftermath:
"Young gangsters torched cars, fired in the air and terrorised people not far from the presidential palace as violence flared in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
UN peacekeepers were on high alert as supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide were expected to demand his return to the Caribbean country.
Today is the 10th anniversary of Aristide’s return from his first exile...."
This is bad news indeed for the blue helmets. And it is a situation that was made much, much worse by the recent spate of hurricanes and bad weather.
Luckily, ordinary Canadians, and especially folks from Quebec have stepped into the breech, raising huge amounts of money and shipping tons and tons of supplies, no strings attached, to the Carribean Island.
This is the kind of thing that people remember, and it is one more reason why all North Americans, no matter which side of the 49th parallel they live on, sew red maple leaves on their backpacks when they travel overseas.
****
A Vancouverite, by way of Montreal, who is also making a difference sans firearms, is a sharp young fellow named Per Unheim
Mr. Unheim has gone overseas to help out at the Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights and the Centre for the Treatment of Trauma (ie. Torture) Victims. He is also a blogger, and his eyes-wide-open posts are well worth reading.
(Thanks to frequent AllSpinZone poster eteba for the tip on Quebeckers' helping hand for Haiti and to Crawford Kilian for updating us on the work of PerU).
Moms - The Real Thing
34° 05' North; 118° 22' West
Forget Soccer Moms.
Forget Security Moms.
Forget Hipper-Than-Thou Moms.
Forget All-Labels-Of-Any-Kind Moms.
Because sometimes you just need Moms, period.
Even in Left Blogistan.
And the infamous Kate Storm, the only poster that ever turned the even more infamous Billmon around, is one such Mom.
Check her out.
Forget Soccer Moms.
Forget Security Moms.
Forget Hipper-Than-Thou Moms.
Forget All-Labels-Of-Any-Kind Moms.
Because sometimes you just need Moms, period.
Even in Left Blogistan.
And the infamous Kate Storm, the only poster that ever turned the even more infamous Billmon around, is one such Mom.
Check her out.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
It Never Got Weird Enough For Me.....
39° 13' North; 106° 52' West
The Good Docktor Thompson is back.
And, by all indications, he can still hear the high, white sound.
"....Kerry came into October as a five-point underdog with almost no chance of winning three out of three rigged confrontations with a treacherous little freak like George Bush. But the debates are over now, and the victor was clearly John Kerry every time. He steamrollered Bush and left him for roadkill....."
The Good Docktor Thompson is back.
And, by all indications, he can still hear the high, white sound.
"....Kerry came into October as a five-point underdog with almost no chance of winning three out of three rigged confrontations with a treacherous little freak like George Bush. But the debates are over now, and the victor was clearly John Kerry every time. He steamrollered Bush and left him for roadkill....."
Three Cheers for Naomi Klein
29° 20' North; 48° 00' East
And not just because she's Canadian (but take that anyway CBC, and take your stinking 'Top-10 List' with you too!).
No.
Mostly it's because Ms. Klein kicks Neandercon Butt every chance she gets.
For example, in the last six months alone she has:
1) Exposed the disaster of post-war Iraq for what it truly is, a failed Neandercon scorched earth policy.
2) Told nouveau-Neandercon dandies Nick Cohen and Christopher 'Hanging From My Forelock' Hitchens to go to hell while detailing how Jerry 'Suits in Boots' Bremmer, John 'IranContra' Negroponte, Ayad 'Don't Call Me Puppet' Allawi and their CIA-trained thugs have managed to turn free-election touting theocrat Muqtada al-Sadr into the country's one true democrat in the eyes of the Iraqi population.
3) Detailed how occupied Iraq is being forced to pay hundreds of million of dollars to multinational corporations for no good reason at all. In the last round of 'reparations' dozens of companies received huge payouts for no other reason than the fact that they may have had a possible decline in business and/or profit due to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. As a result Haliburton received $18million, Pepsi(!) received $4million and even Kentucky Fried Chicken(!!) and Toys 'R' Us(!!!) received hundreds of thousands of dollars. This at a time when many, many Iraqis have open sewers in the streets, inadequate potable water, and a disappearing hope.
4) Outed Poppy Bush's former Secretary of State and George II's current Debt Leverager James Baker as a cheap-jack influence peddling extortionist. This one is huge. Essentially, the Carlyle Group, in which Baker has a $180 million stake, was set to make a $1 billion windfall by fronting for a 'Consortium' that was simultaneously portraying Baker as the 'fixer' that would make like Bono to convince the world that it should forgive all Iraqi foreign debt/reparations and as a 'lobbyist' for Kuwait that would make sure the latter got all of its debt/reparation payments from Iraq. How's that for a Neandercon Con of Cons?
So how do Klein and her side-kick Avi Lewis do it? Clearly they don't have any bigtime/bigmoney media sugardaddy backing them, which is probably just as well because, as such, their loyalties are not for sale. What's more, when they went to Iraq they didn't spend their time driving around in white SUV's in Baghdad's green zone like most of the other other N. American journos. Instead, they actually got out into the countryside and talked to real Iraqis.
Funny how journalism can be so powerful when somebody follows their own nose and the 5W's.
_____
Update: Klein's latest work has borne fruit, because the Carlyle group has indicated that it has "pulled out of a scheme to recover billions of dollars from Iraq, following the publication..... of documents detailing the secret proposals of a consortium with which it was involved". Wow!
And not just because she's Canadian (but take that anyway CBC, and take your stinking 'Top-10 List' with you too!).
No.
Mostly it's because Ms. Klein kicks Neandercon Butt every chance she gets.
For example, in the last six months alone she has:
1) Exposed the disaster of post-war Iraq for what it truly is, a failed Neandercon scorched earth policy.
2) Told nouveau-Neandercon dandies Nick Cohen and Christopher 'Hanging From My Forelock' Hitchens to go to hell while detailing how Jerry 'Suits in Boots' Bremmer, John 'IranContra' Negroponte, Ayad 'Don't Call Me Puppet' Allawi and their CIA-trained thugs have managed to turn free-election touting theocrat Muqtada al-Sadr into the country's one true democrat in the eyes of the Iraqi population.
3) Detailed how occupied Iraq is being forced to pay hundreds of million of dollars to multinational corporations for no good reason at all. In the last round of 'reparations' dozens of companies received huge payouts for no other reason than the fact that they may have had a possible decline in business and/or profit due to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. As a result Haliburton received $18million, Pepsi(!) received $4million and even Kentucky Fried Chicken(!!) and Toys 'R' Us(!!!) received hundreds of thousands of dollars. This at a time when many, many Iraqis have open sewers in the streets, inadequate potable water, and a disappearing hope.
4) Outed Poppy Bush's former Secretary of State and George II's current Debt Leverager James Baker as a cheap-jack influence peddling extortionist. This one is huge. Essentially, the Carlyle Group, in which Baker has a $180 million stake, was set to make a $1 billion windfall by fronting for a 'Consortium' that was simultaneously portraying Baker as the 'fixer' that would make like Bono to convince the world that it should forgive all Iraqi foreign debt/reparations and as a 'lobbyist' for Kuwait that would make sure the latter got all of its debt/reparation payments from Iraq. How's that for a Neandercon Con of Cons?
So how do Klein and her side-kick Avi Lewis do it? Clearly they don't have any bigtime/bigmoney media sugardaddy backing them, which is probably just as well because, as such, their loyalties are not for sale. What's more, when they went to Iraq they didn't spend their time driving around in white SUV's in Baghdad's green zone like most of the other other N. American journos. Instead, they actually got out into the countryside and talked to real Iraqis.
Funny how journalism can be so powerful when somebody follows their own nose and the 5W's.
_____
Update: Klein's latest work has borne fruit, because the Carlyle group has indicated that it has "pulled out of a scheme to recover billions of dollars from Iraq, following the publication..... of documents detailing the secret proposals of a consortium with which it was involved". Wow!
Freepin' Tommy D
50° 27' North; 104° 37' West
The CBC should be ashamed.
Not because it's running a popularity contest, but rather because it's selling its 'Greatest Canadian' contest as something more than that.
Way more.
Especially this business about telling schools to use it as a way to encourage kids to study our history.
Sure. And maybe Peter Mansbridge can explain to my 11 year old kid why there are no women in the top 10.
She couldn't believe it when she got home from school on Tuesday. Why, she asked was there no Nelly McClung but there was Don Cherry?
I hadn't been paying attention and I was flabbergasted. This is 2004. I'm trying to teach my kid that she can do anything she wants with her life and our defender of the liberal democratic realm is telling her that there are no women in our country have done anything better than a blowhard in a too-tight suit, ever?
The only way I could put it into perspective for her was to explain that just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean its good. How else to explain the fact that Shania Twain (#18) sells way more records than the Wailin' Jennys (# infinity) or even, for that matter, Joni Mitchell (# ninety-freaking-three!).
But speaking of Saskatchewan, at least that no-good commie-pinko, hero-of-the-people that gave us Universal Healthcare, Tommy Douglas, is in the top 10.
As a result, the very fine 'Have You Had Enough Yet' wants you to go to the CBC site and run up the vote for Heavy Tommy D.
Which is just fine by me.
Down south, Left Blogistan likes to call this "freeping" the poll (as a response to the fact that it was a Republican pseudo-op who started the 'kerning' avalanche that whacked Dan Rather up the side of the head on the way, way right FreeRepublic site ). And it works, as evidenced by John Kerry K.O.'s in every single post-presidential debate flash poll, even the ones from the rabid, and rancid, FOX News.
(Note: Kudos to Forrest of the American Bodhisattva for all the work tracking said polls)
The CBC should be ashamed.
Not because it's running a popularity contest, but rather because it's selling its 'Greatest Canadian' contest as something more than that.
Way more.
Especially this business about telling schools to use it as a way to encourage kids to study our history.
Sure. And maybe Peter Mansbridge can explain to my 11 year old kid why there are no women in the top 10.
She couldn't believe it when she got home from school on Tuesday. Why, she asked was there no Nelly McClung but there was Don Cherry?
I hadn't been paying attention and I was flabbergasted. This is 2004. I'm trying to teach my kid that she can do anything she wants with her life and our defender of the liberal democratic realm is telling her that there are no women in our country have done anything better than a blowhard in a too-tight suit, ever?
The only way I could put it into perspective for her was to explain that just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean its good. How else to explain the fact that Shania Twain (#18) sells way more records than the Wailin' Jennys (# infinity) or even, for that matter, Joni Mitchell (# ninety-freaking-three!).
But speaking of Saskatchewan, at least that no-good commie-pinko, hero-of-the-people that gave us Universal Healthcare, Tommy Douglas, is in the top 10.
As a result, the very fine 'Have You Had Enough Yet' wants you to go to the CBC site and run up the vote for Heavy Tommy D.
Which is just fine by me.
Down south, Left Blogistan likes to call this "freeping" the poll (as a response to the fact that it was a Republican pseudo-op who started the 'kerning' avalanche that whacked Dan Rather up the side of the head on the way, way right FreeRepublic site ). And it works, as evidenced by John Kerry K.O.'s in every single post-presidential debate flash poll, even the ones from the rabid, and rancid, FOX News.
(Note: Kudos to Forrest of the American Bodhisattva for all the work tracking said polls)
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Never Mind The Bullocks....Here Come The Squeegie Kids
48° 39' North; 123° 26' West
So now, apparently, we're getting tough with everybody.
Squeegie Kids.....
Drunk Drivers (unless your good buddies with Fred Latrimouille of course)....
Pit Bulls....
Whoops. Wait a second. Forget about that last one, because:
"Solicitor General Rich Coleman has flatly rejected any new legislation banning pit bulls in B.C., saying such a law would be clumsy and ineffective."
Just waiting patiently for one of the sheep in the Press Gallery to ask the following....
1) Why would an extraordinary law designed to curtail the actions of a certain sub-population of dogs be more "clumsy and ineffective" than a similar extraordinary law designed to curtail of a certain sub-population of people?
2) Unlike Drunks behind the Wheel or Dogs bred to Annihilate, have Squeegie Kids ever actually maimed or killed anyone?
So now, apparently, we're getting tough with everybody.
Squeegie Kids.....
Drunk Drivers (unless your good buddies with Fred Latrimouille of course)....
Pit Bulls....
Whoops. Wait a second. Forget about that last one, because:
"Solicitor General Rich Coleman has flatly rejected any new legislation banning pit bulls in B.C., saying such a law would be clumsy and ineffective."
Just waiting patiently for one of the sheep in the Press Gallery to ask the following....
1) Why would an extraordinary law designed to curtail the actions of a certain sub-population of dogs be more "clumsy and ineffective" than a similar extraordinary law designed to curtail of a certain sub-population of people?
2) Unlike Drunks behind the Wheel or Dogs bred to Annihilate, have Squeegie Kids ever actually maimed or killed anyone?
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Does He Want to Stay at the ......
37°37' North; 123° 23' West
......YMCA?
Just guessing, based on all those uniforms and macho man costumes the Shrubbery is so fond of wearing, not to mention his conversations with Canadian bureaucrats .
Meanwhile, it appears that Shrub's Brain, Karl Rove, has finally gone starkers.
(thanks to YoungFox for the Rovian Hijinks Update)
......YMCA?
Just guessing, based on all those uniforms and macho man costumes the Shrubbery is so fond of wearing, not to mention his conversations with Canadian bureaucrats .
Meanwhile, it appears that Shrub's Brain, Karl Rove, has finally gone starkers.
(thanks to YoungFox for the Rovian Hijinks Update)
Pulling a Mencken
39° 18' North; 76° 47' West
Rafe Mair pulled a Mencken on the so-called Minister for 'Sustainable Resource Management' George Abbott today on the fish farm issue.
And it was a beautiful thing to hear.
Now, if only Mair and compadres would go after every double-speaking Minister like that.
"The only way a reporter should look at a politician is down. " HL Mencken
Rafe Mair pulled a Mencken on the so-called Minister for 'Sustainable Resource Management' George Abbott today on the fish farm issue.
And it was a beautiful thing to hear.
Now, if only Mair and compadres would go after every double-speaking Minister like that.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Them Swedes, They're So Swiss
42°40' North; 23° 20' East
Apparently, George Bush thinks the Swiss Army knife was invented in Sweden.
And don't forget Swaziland; they're from Scandalnavia too aren't they?
Apparently, George Bush thinks the Swiss Army knife was invented in Sweden.
And don't forget Swaziland; they're from Scandalnavia too aren't they?
Ballad of A Grey Man
43°39' North; 79° 23' West
Looks like one of the paragons of safe, staid, grey journalism in Canada, the Globe and Mail's star political columnist Jeffrey Simpson, has decided to clean up his act and stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
Because for two weeks in a row now Mr. Simpson has aimed a few left jabs at the chin of George W. Bush and the Rovians.
First it was a reasonably clear-eyed look at the situation in Iraq and then this past weekend he took Mr. Bush to task for being the 'Happy Squanderer'.
In the latter piece, Simpson lays out the turn around from massive $5 trillion surpluses to massive $5 trillion deficits under Mr. Bush's so-called 'fiscally conservative' watch.
But then, like so folks trying to maintain their turf in the mushy middle, Simpson goes soft:
"Americans will pay a price for this foolishness all right, but it will be after Mr. Bush has left office, either next January or in four years, because these deficits and the resulting debt distort the economy and will eventually be paid for in weaker public services, higher taxes, or both."
So, is it possible that the well-plugged in Mr. Simpson has never heard of Grover Norquist, one of the neandercon Republican strategists that actually gives Karl Rove his marching orders? In case you haven't heard of him, it is Norquist who came up with strategy of underfunding/shrinking social programs enough so that he can take them upstairs and 'strangle them in the bathtub'.
Or how about Vice-President Dick Cheney sitting at Bush's side during cabinet meetings about permanent tax-cuts for the rich so that he can mumble "deficit's don't matter, Reagan proved it" over and over and over again, like a mantra, in the Shrubbery's ear?
I'm not making this stuff up. If you have the time and/or inclination go ahead and google it. I think you'll find that discussion of these 'policy' statements will turn up on the pages of other members of the Grey Flannel Ol' Boys Club south of the border, the Washington Post and the NY Times.
Question is.....when, if ever, will they all stop with the ineffectual jabs and start throwing haymakers?
Looks like one of the paragons of safe, staid, grey journalism in Canada, the Globe and Mail's star political columnist Jeffrey Simpson, has decided to clean up his act and stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
Because for two weeks in a row now Mr. Simpson has aimed a few left jabs at the chin of George W. Bush and the Rovians.
First it was a reasonably clear-eyed look at the situation in Iraq and then this past weekend he took Mr. Bush to task for being the 'Happy Squanderer'.
In the latter piece, Simpson lays out the turn around from massive $5 trillion surpluses to massive $5 trillion deficits under Mr. Bush's so-called 'fiscally conservative' watch.
But then, like so folks trying to maintain their turf in the mushy middle, Simpson goes soft:
"Americans will pay a price for this foolishness all right, but it will be after Mr. Bush has left office, either next January or in four years, because these deficits and the resulting debt distort the economy and will eventually be paid for in weaker public services, higher taxes, or both."
So, is it possible that the well-plugged in Mr. Simpson has never heard of Grover Norquist, one of the neandercon Republican strategists that actually gives Karl Rove his marching orders? In case you haven't heard of him, it is Norquist who came up with strategy of underfunding/shrinking social programs enough so that he can take them upstairs and 'strangle them in the bathtub'.
Or how about Vice-President Dick Cheney sitting at Bush's side during cabinet meetings about permanent tax-cuts for the rich so that he can mumble "deficit's don't matter, Reagan proved it" over and over and over again, like a mantra, in the Shrubbery's ear?
I'm not making this stuff up. If you have the time and/or inclination go ahead and google it. I think you'll find that discussion of these 'policy' statements will turn up on the pages of other members of the Grey Flannel Ol' Boys Club south of the border, the Washington Post and the NY Times.
Question is.....when, if ever, will they all stop with the ineffectual jabs and start throwing haymakers?
Sunday, October 17, 2004
The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow
49°13' North; 123°06' West
No, everybody's favorite orphan, Annie, is not in town.
Instead, that's what Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell had to say last night when the NO side won the Ward vote 54-46%.
Unfortunately, there is no sun to be seen this morning. The cloud is thick and low and the dark, dank drizzle looks like it just must might go on until April.
And while the chattering classes in this town, such as they are, will babble on and on about the broad coalition that was the public face of the KnoWards scare campaign, there will be very little attention paid to the groups scare tactics or the source of the big money that backed them.
Listen.
I hope I'm wrong with my take on all of this.
I hope the Progressives and the Greens that fought against the straight Ward option for righteous reasons, folks like Tom Pryce-Digby who wrote a fair and balanced piece in the Tyee just before the vote, can exploit their newfound notoriety to push hard for a broad-based Citizen Assembly with a real mandate and real teeth that can generate a truly viable and inclusive proportional representation option.
And I hope that more Progressives who will fight for people rather than condo towers, people like Andrea Reimer, can use this momentum to grab hold of council, school board and parks board seats the next time around.
The only trouble with this wishful thinking is that, in reality, the NO win just slammed the door shut on all of those possibilities.
Because, effectively, the big money boys and their hand-picked slates have won again.
And if you think Sam Sullivan is gonna take the initiative to force that door back open against the glittering glass and concrete mass of NPA heavyweights like Shason, Rostich, McClanaghan and Brown et al. you just might be in for an awfully long wait.
_____
Update: 10:15am Sunday Oct 17/04
Sam Sullivan is now saying that he will make a request to the people who backed 'his' KnoWards campaign that they allow him to reveal their names..... Don't hold your breath.
No, everybody's favorite orphan, Annie, is not in town.
Instead, that's what Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell had to say last night when the NO side won the Ward vote 54-46%.
Unfortunately, there is no sun to be seen this morning. The cloud is thick and low and the dark, dank drizzle looks like it just must might go on until April.
****
Clearly this debacle will be seen as a sign that the NPA has been resurrected, which is downright scary, especially if it elevates Sam Sullivan to the top of the heap.
And while the chattering classes in this town, such as they are, will babble on and on about the broad coalition that was the public face of the KnoWards scare campaign, there will be very little attention paid to the groups scare tactics or the source of the big money that backed them.
****
Listen.
I hope I'm wrong with my take on all of this.
I hope the Progressives and the Greens that fought against the straight Ward option for righteous reasons, folks like Tom Pryce-Digby who wrote a fair and balanced piece in the Tyee just before the vote, can exploit their newfound notoriety to push hard for a broad-based Citizen Assembly with a real mandate and real teeth that can generate a truly viable and inclusive proportional representation option.
And I hope that more Progressives who will fight for people rather than condo towers, people like Andrea Reimer, can use this momentum to grab hold of council, school board and parks board seats the next time around.
The only trouble with this wishful thinking is that, in reality, the NO win just slammed the door shut on all of those possibilities.
Because, effectively, the big money boys and their hand-picked slates have won again.
And if you think Sam Sullivan is gonna take the initiative to force that door back open against the glittering glass and concrete mass of NPA heavyweights like Shason, Rostich, McClanaghan and Brown et al. you just might be in for an awfully long wait.
_____
Update: 10:15am Sunday Oct 17/04
Sam Sullivan is now saying that he will make a request to the people who backed 'his' KnoWards campaign that they allow him to reveal their names..... Don't hold your breath.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
NeuroManSinging
49°13' North; 123°06' West
OK, he's not really singing but the man's shorter voice can, when called upon, pack all the lyrical punch of the longplay version.
In other words, after a long hiatus, Vancouverite William Gibson is blogging again.
And in this post he makes the case that, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
(Thanks, as always, to Sir Richard Cranium of the AllSpinZone for that last link)
OK, he's not really singing but the man's shorter voice can, when called upon, pack all the lyrical punch of the longplay version.
In other words, after a long hiatus, Vancouverite William Gibson is blogging again.
And in this post he makes the case that, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
(Thanks, as always, to Sir Richard Cranium of the AllSpinZone for that last link)
Don't Drink The Kool-Aid
48°39' North; 123°26' West
Waitlists for orthopedic surgery have grown by leaps in bounds in British Columbia since the SS Gordon Campbell took over:
"....There were 11,000 people on the list in June 2001 when the B.C. Liberal government took office. The latest figures show there are now nearly 21,000 people in B.C. waiting for orthopedic surgery."
That is not a misprint. The wait lists really have almost doubled in this, the New Era of the Great Dismantling.
Now, a dispassionate observer, or even a clear-eyed Neandercon, might conclude that this means there is, indeed, a problem with the system.
But that person would not be Lieberal Health Minister Colin Hansen.
In fact, Hansen went so far as to suggest yesterday, when talking to CBC Vancouver's Rick 'I'm more than just a sports reporter' Cluff, that doctors it actually the doctors who are at fault because they are putting patients on the list early because they know there is a wait list and, thus, they are trying to pre-empt it.
Ya, sure.
And if you believe that twisted bit of pandering pretzel logic we can help you wash it down with a Big Gulp-sized flagon of iced Kool-Aid that we keep right next to the cuspador for just such purposes.
Waitlists for orthopedic surgery have grown by leaps in bounds in British Columbia since the SS Gordon Campbell took over:
"....There were 11,000 people on the list in June 2001 when the B.C. Liberal government took office. The latest figures show there are now nearly 21,000 people in B.C. waiting for orthopedic surgery."
That is not a misprint. The wait lists really have almost doubled in this, the New Era of the Great Dismantling.
Now, a dispassionate observer, or even a clear-eyed Neandercon, might conclude that this means there is, indeed, a problem with the system.
But that person would not be Lieberal Health Minister Colin Hansen.
In fact, Hansen went so far as to suggest yesterday, when talking to CBC Vancouver's Rick 'I'm more than just a sports reporter' Cluff, that doctors it actually the doctors who are at fault because they are putting patients on the list early because they know there is a wait list and, thus, they are trying to pre-empt it.
Ya, sure.
And if you believe that twisted bit of pandering pretzel logic we can help you wash it down with a Big Gulp-sized flagon of iced Kool-Aid that we keep right next to the cuspador for just such purposes.
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