The Bourne Identifies.....

......Who He Does Not Want To Be A Heartbeat Away From The Presidency.

Which begs the question......

Would Mr. Damon be happier with Sarah Silverman instead?

Because, all things considered, I know I would be.

Especially if she picked Ned Shneebly as her running mate.

OK?

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The Heart Of Harper's Darkness

SometimesAJokeIsJustAJoke
AndSometimesItIsSomethingMoreVille


Regarding all this "Ritz and Clement were only joking" stuff about the illnesses and deaths that occurred due to listeria outbreak.....

Well, Dave, he of The Galloping National Symbol, gets right to the heart of the matter:

The "joking" however, is a trait of this bunch. These are right-wing authoritarian scumbags. To them the misfortune of others is always funny. We shouldn't really be surprised.

Strong language, and even stronger sentiments.

But, based on the evidence at hand, it is hard to argue against.

Especially if you consider what Adam Wherry had to say over at the Macleans Blog:

Would Gerry Ritz still be the Agriculture Minister if he’d been caught joking about 17 Canadians dying in a bus crash? What about if it was the deaths of 17 Canadian soldiers? Or if the deaths had simply been more centralized around a single place (a la Walkerton)? If the answer is no to any of those scenarios, what makes this situation different?

Later… What’s remarkable about this is not that it’s a controversy, but that it’s so minor, or misdirected, a controversy. And how difficult that is to reconcile with the facts.

Let’s review. Seventeen Canadians have died. A leading medical journal has cited government negligence. And the government minister leading the response has been caught joking about the situation.........

I would only add to Mr. Wherry's comments that the "leading medical journal" cited negligence that was based not of 'errors' or 'accidents' or 'slip-ups' by an apparatchik, but instead because of specific, POLICY CHANGES instituted by the Harper government.

And despite all that, the only thing our increasingly Wurlitzered-Up Media works on with anything even approaching dogged tenacity at all is the vindictive Minister's bad jokes!

I, for one, think that is a real shame.

And a real disgrace.

Not to mention the fact that this relentless media focus on the trivial (ie. jokes do not kill people, bad public health policies do) is only encouraging Mr. Harper to follow his heart of darkness, safe in the knowledge that, when the chips are down, he will be able to once again unleash his ratf*ckers with impunity to roam the political landscape looking for polling point bumps that can be humped in a furious frenzy over and over and over again before, pardon the awful pun, coming to a merciful end on Oct 14th.

*****

As I said the other day - I no longer wish to debate with these people and/or their followers.

Instead, I want to stop them.

OK?




_____
And please do not forget: Mr. Clement was part of the government that helped make Walkerton, and everything truly awful that followed, possible.

Finally (boy, am I worked up!), Scott and especially Steve, who has been on this thing from the beginning, have the goods on just how far the Collective Hearts of Darkness that make up the Harper Government really want to take this 'get rid of all the regulators' thing.


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Forget About Gerry Ritz......

SayingStupidStuffIsOneThing
DoingStupidThingsIsAnotherVille


....Because it is the bad policies of Stephen Harper, not his loose cannons, that really matter.

To wit:

Last November (2007) the Canadian government instituted a strategic review of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Among its outcomes was to transfer inspection duties for ready-to-eat meats from the government inspectors to the meat industry. Cabinet decided to “shift from full-time CFIA meat inspection presence to an oversight role, [thereby] allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks.”

In practice, the new policy meant that CFIA inspectors would rarely enter meat plants to test for bacteria and testing was left mostly to companies. Self-inspection came largely to substitute for, and not just to supplement, government inspection......

Note the date, bolded above.

OK?



_____
The quote above is from an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that was published, online, Tuesday (pdf). I'll have more to say about that editorial (which goes way, way past the listeria outbreak in its criticism of Harper Gov't policies that are, in the view of the signatories, are hamstringing, or even reversing, progress on important public health initiatives) later.

Gerry Ritz is not just your run of the mill loose cannon reformatory. He is Mr. Harper's Agriculture Minister and he let fly with some very, very bad jokes about deaths due to listeria, "including a Prince Edward Island death he said he hoped was PEI MP and Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter."

Now, I know that some will say that the Ritz story is important because it is something that the 'media' has finally siezed upon regarding the imbecility, and worse, the meanness, of the Harpoonistas but me, I hate it when the shiny, spinning objects become the story rather than those that are doing the real evil deeds behind the curtain? Why? Well because even shiny, objects that turn 'round and round can ultimately be used as 'deflector spin' by those hiding behind the curtain.....Extreme Example: Rumsfeld and the 'digi-cams' -"Who knew!"

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Will The Flyiing Segretti Squadron Shoot Down This Messenger Too?

SometimesSelfRegulationIsWorseThan
NoRegulationAtAllVille


The Canadian Medical Association Journal (ie. a journal published by real doctors) has just published an editorial that places the de-regulation ethos at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency squarely in the lap of Mr. Stephen Harper's government (warning: pdf):

Last November (2007) the Canadian government instituted a strategic review of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Among its outcomes was to transfer inspection duties for ready-to-eat meats from the government inspectors to the meat industry. Cabinet decided to “shift from full-time CFIA meat inspection presence to an oversight role, [thereby] allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks.”

In practice, the new policy meant that CFIA inspectors would rarely enter meat plants to test for bacteria and testing was left mostly to companies. Self-inspection came largely to substitute for, and not just to supplement, government inspection. Self-inspection mechanisms have worked effectively in other countries, but in Canada something went very wrong. One troubling sign is that even now, months after the policy change, the CFIA’s required sampling procedure remains under development.....


Now.

Here's the thing, when it comes to listeria outbreaks, because that is what the CMAJ is focussing on here.

They are most definitely not caused by by anything as exotic as a superbug-like Andromeda Strain that requires people to run around in hermetically-sealed hazmat suits.

Instead, they are caused by a run-of-the-mill gram-positive bacillus (bacteria) that, in the case of the recent outbreak, apparently bloomed within filthy meat cutting machines that were not being cleaned properly by a company that was "self-regulating" sans government inspectors.

Which means, in my opinion, that the policies that Stephen Harper's government instituted, at best, did not help prevent the outbreak.

And at worst?

Well, if the filth that led to the blooming of the bugs was facilitated by Mr. Harper taking inspectors out of the plant without appropriate auxillary oversight and sampling such that.....

Well......

Would that not mean that Mr. Harper's policies directly contributed to the outbreak that has so far killed 17 people?


_______
I don't know for sure if they even know who he is, but I have to wonder if those frisky fellas in Mr. Harper's 'War Room' who like to smear people so much would think that Donald Segretti is their kind of political 'operative', regardless.
The entire CMAJ editorial is worth the read as the MDs make it clear that, in their opinion, which is based on verifiable facts, Mr. Harper's policies on de-regulation put us at risk in many other public health spheres (again, be forewarned, it's a pdf, but it's not big).


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One More Reason Mr. Campbell Doesn't Want Question Period?

We'veGotQuestions
Who'sGotAnswersVille


We already have a big list of potential reasons why Gordon Campbell doesn't want crazy things like Question Period in the British Columbia legislature this fall.

However, one thing we don't have on that list were questions about new developments in the 'Trial of the Century', mostly because it is a trial that has not yet actually started.

Well, it looks like that may have changed today in the Mdme Justice Bennett's courtroom on Robson St. today.

Bill Tieleman, who was there, has the story:

"B.C. Liberal MLA Dave Hayer was under police investigation as part of the B.C. Legislature Raid case defence lawyers for two former ministerial aides facing corruption charges alleged in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday.

Michael Bolton, representing David Basi, former aide to ex-Finance Minister Gary Collins, told Justice Elizabeth Bennett that new disclosure of documents to the defence revealed that Hayer was investigated on allegations that he and Basi were attempting to have “assessments or collections” of money owed to the Insurance Corporation of B.C......


Mr. T. has more

Much more, including updates involving all the 'no comment because the matter is before the courts' stuff from the principals.


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I Don't Want To Debate Them....

InvokingTheGilliardDoctrine
SavingCanuckistanVille

.....I Want To Stop Them

In my opinion, Vancouver's safe injection site, InSite, must be kept open as long as our system is skewed against comprehensive drug treatment.

I came to this opinion because of the science and because, as a scientist, I will give no quarter to anti-science.

Regarding InSite specifically, this duality is something I have written collaboratively about before (thanks again Cathie!).

But yesterday I came across something I had missed from a couple of months ago due to the good work of Jen, who is the proprietor of an excellent clearing house blog called Protect InSite.

****

The thing that Jen brought to our opinion was an opinion piece written by Liz Evans.

Now, just between just you and me, Liz Evans is an angel to many of Lotusland's sickest and most downtrodden.

Ms. Evans is also one of the nurses who helped found, and who now helps run, InSite, and in her piece she describes her treatment at the hands of Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement during the Parliamentary hearings that were held on the subject of InSite's viability back in June.

What I find most important about what Ms. Evans had to say is that, in addition to willfully turning his back on the science, Mr. Clement also made it clear that, because of his own ideology, he has turned his back on sick people.

Sick people that, when helped by folks like Ms. Evans, have a chance to stop hurting themselves and stop hurting others.

Which (ie. helping people in need, not turning one's back on them) is what my Canada means to me.

And for that reason I do not want to debate Mr. Clement, his boss Mr. Stephen Harper, or his followers on this issue.

Instead, I want to stop them.

OK?

*****

Here is Ms. Evans piece, originally published by the National Post, for the record, in full:

I am trained as a nurse, not a lobbyist, so perhaps I was naive to think when I was invited last week to address the House of Commons Health Committee, along with a team of health and policy experts from Vancouver, that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government would listen to the facts about Insite. Instead we were lectured by federal Health Minister Tony Clement about how those supporting Insite, not the government, were ideologues. Apparently, Tony Clement and Stephen Harper really care about drug addiction, whereas we are the ones who endorse suffering.

I have never been so offended on behalf of so many people. I wanted to weep at the implications of our government’s collective ignorance. The committee offered statement after statement that was plain wrong and a huge affront to the legions of researchers, public health officials, medical scientists, nurses, doctors and numerous international bodies (such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization) who have long endorsed harm reduction strategies as essential to assisting those with drug addictions.

OK, so they didn’t have to listen to me. But what about listening to one of the world’s most renowned doctors and researchers in the treatment of HIV and AIDS? Or the federally funded researcher who has produced more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers? What about the officer from the Vancouver Police Department, who explained that Insite and local police work together to limit public disorder? What about B.C.’s premier and minister of health, or Vancouver’s mayor and chief of police? And If not any of them, then what about the three out of every four people in the region surveyed in a recent Angus Reid poll who support Insite?

When first questioned about Insite, the Prime Minister said he would wait for word from the RCMP before commenting. When those results came in, they were not released because they were deemed to be too positive. Last year, Stephen Harper’s politically appointed expert advisory committee concluded that InSite causes no adverse affect on drug use or crime, that it acts as a deterrent to drug use and that Insite encourages users to seek detox and treatment. Eighty per cent of people interviewed thought the site should be expanded or retained and more than half of the police officers interviewed thought that Insite should remain open. How is it possible that the voluminous amounts of research and policy written over the years could be completely ignored?

Judge Pitfield of the B.C. Supreme Court, in his wisdom, understood something that Stephen Harper seems incapable of grasping: Addiction is a complex, chronic and relapsing disease. Justice Pitfield’s ruling to protect InSite under the Charter recognizes its essential role as a primary health care facility and a necessary access point to treatment for people who are clearly sick. The fact that Stephen Harper wants to appeal this decision shows he is continuing to ignore the evidence. The Harper government is displaying arrogance in the face of an issue they are clearly out of touch with.

_______
For those wondering about this 'Gilliard Syndrome' business, it rose, like a phoenix from the white hot word ashes left behind by the greatest five tool blogger I ever saw - the late, great Steve Gilliard.......In fact, Mr. Gilliard was so great that his friends are still doing a kinghell job of keeping both his words and his work alive.


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Does Mr. Sedaris Do Scuba?

AllTheSnarkThatFits
BloggodomeVille

Hey. Look. Up on on that rooftop. It's the Cousteau Family Singers!

When JJ quips, I listen.....

By now we've all heard Sarah Palin's reason for being equipped to take on the Russian Bear:

"They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

But, because this is a crazy, mixed-up world we live in, not nearly as many of us have heard JJ's retort:

"When I go up on my roof I can see the ocean, but that don't make me a marine biologist."

To which, in response, all I can do is make like David Sedaris and say,

"Me laugh better one day"

A day that is that is still very, very far away mind you.

As for my keyboard?

Well, I may never, in even a month of some days, get that newly deposited spew removed that is now lodged between the 'F' and the 'V' key.

OK?

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Bids?

MaybeIt'llBeLikeMunchen
KliegLightVille


We don't need no stinkin' bids!

Holman.


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Favouritism?..... In The Creme Belt?....

AllThePorkThatFits
LipstickOnTheBarrelVille

...Perish The Thought!

Except, well for this.........

The B.C. government, not the Vancouver board of education, selected a school in Premier Gordon Campbell's (Point Grey) riding for special treatment under a $30-million project unveiled this month, the board chairman admitted Sunday.

But Clarence Hansen said he supports the government's choice, even though some parents are angry over what appears to be political favouritism.

Cheeze Willikers!

Perhaps Mr. Campbell could use a tiny sliver of that 'special fund' to buy those poor, unfavoured and underprivileged kids in Point Grey a round or two of golf as well.

After all, that is the goal of fellow Point Grey resident, Campbell fundraiser, and private golf course activist Mr. Marty Zlotnik, at least according to the latter's Vancouver Parks Board bio:

".....Marty has been a volunteer coach, fundraiser and organizer, all skills he hopes to apply in the interest of benefiting sport and recreation for the underprivileged."

____
And the $30 million for that 'special project' of Mr. Campbell's.....Will our elected representatives be discussing and/or debating its merits (or not) in an open public forum that sometimes takes place in that funky old building over in Victoria some like to call the 'Ledge'? No? Why not?
Meanwhile, Mr. Campbell's Education Minister Shirley Bond, as reported by CBC Radio One on their 5:30pm, Sept 15, 2008 newscast, is saying that the VSB was involved in the decision-making process. For more on this, check out a full, if somewhat weasel word-laden, interview with Ms. Bond on the matter by VSun reporter Janet Steffenhagen that was posted up on the latter's CorpBlog a few days ago.


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If Yesterday Was Black Monday, Will Today Be Blackhole Tuesday?

Puttin'OffTheRitz
GreenspanVille

(written late Monday night.....Tues a.m. Update at bottom)


Well, if the Asian markets are any indication, the answer just might be yes:

All signs point to an ugly day in Asian markets in the wake of Wall Street's worst decline in seven years. Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock market index plummeted 4.6% in early trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 6.5%, and Seoul's KOSPI index dropped 6.1%.......


And don't forget, after a midday plateau, every major NAmerican market started to spiral downwards again Monday afternoon.

Is it possible that all those Greenspan 'Puts' are suddenly coming home, all together, to roost?

_____
Tues morning update......Well, well, well....it looks like AIG is too big to fail, not to mention the fact that is one of the big backers of all that bad paper that started the doomsday ball rolling....And as for making the greedheads pay for the way they've screwed everybody over? Well, "that's not change we can believe in"....Of course, what it really means is that the water carriers have just doubled-down and a whole new flock o'puts are likely sure to follow.... Which means, I guess, that richflation will live to see another brand new day!

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Gosh Virginia, What Will They Ban Next.....

HoppedUpOnCans
BlackboardJungleJuiceVille


......Speed?

Doctors in Prince Edward Island want the provincial government to ban the sale of caffeine-laden energy drinks to kids.

Caffeine not only causes behavioural problems in children, said Dr. Bill Scantlebury, the president of the P.E.I. Medical Society. They also pose serious health risks, too.

Many energy drinks contain more caffeine than the recommended daily limit for adults, Scantlebury said.

"We see kids, youth and some athletes drinking two or three of these before an event, believing they're going to get more energy out of it," Scantlebury told CTV.

"But they're really putting themselves at risk for some heart rhythm disturbances and blood pressure issues."

Energy drinks are positioned in stores next to candy in an attempt to attract younger consumers, Scantlebury said.

"It's just like what cigarette companies did years ago. They know if they get them hooked early they'll have them hooked for life."

And the weird thing is, from a price point point of view, this pimped-up poison costs more than crack.

Guess the pushers like that sort of thing.

After all, the margins are higher, and it's easier to keep the shelves fully stocked at the 7/11 than at the corner of, say, Hastings and Gore.


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And Don't Forget To Check Your Turf Toe At The Door...

AllTheGrassThatFits
NoRootsVille

Turf toe is a nasty little condition, indeed.

Because it afflicts players, most often professionals, that spend days on end running around on that fake grass called 'AstroTurf'.

Which brings us to a breathless bit of 'he said/she said journalism' from Mary Frances Hill in today's Vancouver Sun:

VANCOUVER - More bridges and lanes are needed over the Fraser River to ease transportation problems, says a report by a group of six residents who live south of the Fraser.

The group, called Get Moving B.C., has drawn criticism from environmental groups, which say it is made up of Liberals masquerading as a grassroots group.......

Now pro-pols and industry associations that masquerade as grassroots groups in an effort to move move public opinion in a pre-determined way are often called 'AstroTurf' because they are fake.

And this group has the look of the 'Turf about it, as was noted previously by journalist (ie. not an "environmental group") Sean Holman in May of 2007:

When last we reported on on our good friend Brian Bonney, he had abruptly resigned as the operations director for the provincial Liberals. But just because he isn't on the party payroll anymore, doesn't mean Mr. Bonney isn't still toiling away in the backrooms on behalf of the Campbell administration. For example, yesterday, in an email sent to industry members, BC Trucking Association communications coordinator Sandra Azanchi encouraged them to support Get Moving BC, "a non-profit, grassroots organization composed of individuals, businesses and organizations in the Greater Vancouver area advocating a balanced, efficient, and sustainable transportation infrastructure." And who should they contact for more information about this pro-Gateway Program group? Well, if you guessed Mr. Bonney, you'd be right!

Last month, The Georgia Straight's Matthew Burrows also reported on Fort Langley-Aldergrove Liberal constituency association vice-president Jordan Bateman and former Port Moody-Burke Mountain election candidate Greg Moore's involvement with Get Moving BC. As our astute readers know, Mr. Moore is a regional organizer for the (B.C. Liberal) party......

But that was a long time ago, so I guess maybe the toes have healed and the fine folks at 'Get Moving B.C.' have decided to make a dash for the goal line one more time.

However, to give the V.Sun reporter Ms. Hill her due, especially because that the lede quoted above may have been 'he said/she saided-up' by an editor, she does tell us the following about the afore-mentioned Mr. Bateman:

Get Moving B.C. spokesman Jordan Bateman said the report is aimed at arming voters with knowledge of transportation issues so they can question candidates before the Oct. 14 federal election. "It's important we find out which of the federal parties have a vision to build B.C."

Bateman is a Langley township councillor with strong ties to the B.C. Liberals. He served as vice-president of Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman's Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding association and was communications director of Coleman's last re-election campaign.

Which I can't fuss about too much because, regardless his political affiliations, Mr. Batemen has shown that he is heavily involved in the Langley Township community, both as a councillor and as a citizen, as is demonstrated by his long running, informative, and mostly pretty well-informed blog.

But, aside from all that, here's the thing about 'Get Moving B.C." that I find almost laughable in the extreme taken, again, directly from Ms. Hill's VSun piece:

Bateman described his organization as an "ad-hoc" group of six residents living south of the Fraser, with a variety of political stripes. However, he said the group can call on about 100 supporters when they are needed.


Six?

Six freaking residents???!!!!

Heckfire, in my neighbourhood more of us can be found clustered around any one recycling bin on any given pick-up day.

But that does not make us a grassroots group deserving of major, concentrated media play (ie. Mr. Bateman has popped all over the Lotuslandian pro-media, today) on any subject at all, recycling or otherwise.

Even if we weren't fake.

OK?


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This Just In......

Laureen Harper Still Co-Leader Of The Conservative Party of Canada!

Which got us to wondering.......

When, exactly, is the Co-Leader going to tell us what it is, exactly, that the Vice-President........errrrr.....Vice-Prime Minister of Canada does every day?




OK?

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Cluffie Must Go! (v. 314)

AllThePuffsThatFlash
MoCoVille


Once again, CBC Radio One's Lotuslandian morning drive by man Rick Cluff steps in the doo-doo when he takes his eyes off of the producer's script and wanders into the ditch...

This morning it occurred while he was talking to an economy-bot about the bank failure-induced crash and asked the following (paraphrasing from memory here).....

"So where should people put their money to be safe - in banks?"

Sheeshoramalamadingdong.


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There Is SOME Good News Today.....

NoAggroForGregor
Lotuslandia

If you can avert your eyes from Market Index plots for second, I'll let you in on a wee bit of local news that's not bad at all.....

Which is that all that bluster from the LouisianaTims was just that.

Bluster I mean.

Because yesterday, according to FABula, the COPE rank and file voted overwhelmingly to back the Vision/Cope/Green non-aggressive power-trio pact.

And we love it!


(we now return you to your Monday Morning Market Meltdown brought to you by the fine folks at Greenspan Put & Co.....)

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