Tuesday, February 28, 2006

smoke, mirrors and smearing

     

All the writers who are critical of the previous government and those who
voted ndp ought to give their head a shake and learn the facts.  They
have double standards stating ndp supporters have short memories and
are union-driven when they forget all the broken promises from the new
error document and who pays for the liberal campaign.
 
First they assume the ndp get all their money from big government unions
and the liberals are squeaky clean. On the contrary the ndp get 88% of
their funds from individuals, yet the liberals get three quarters of their
funds from big corporations. Secondly some unions support the liberals
the teamsters gave Gordon Campbell a standing ovation, after Maui,
protested the ndp at one of James whistle stops, and had liberal candidate
signs on the back of their trucks.  The firefighters in Esquimalt paid for a
big advertisement in the Times Colonist endorsing Tom Woods, yet another
example of a union publicly backing a liberal.  So far that is two holes in
Gordon Campbell’s lie that the ndp and unions are one and the same.
The liberals and their supporters claimed that public sector unions like,
the HEU, BC nurses union, and the BCTF were spending millions to put
the NDP back in power. These unions were in fact creating awareness of mere
factual and damaging information regarding the liberal cuts to health and education,
but did not say to vote ndp. The liberal advertisements implied that only the ndp was the
opposed their cuts when, in fact the green and other parties campaigned against the
cuts.  Since the more than one party opposed the cuts and the union advertisements
did not tell anyone to vote green nor ndp it is very lame support to the liberal
lie that big unions are the ndp, or that unions were necessarily trying to put
the ndp back in power.
 
They blame all the horrible 90’s on the NDP as though the BC economy was
last place during all of the NDP years. In fact BC was only last in 98 after the
Asian market meltdown; the NDP can not be blamed for market conditions
abroad. The follow years BC was 3rd or 4th, and the BC economy grew by
3.4% in 2000, the NDP’s last full year in power. They left the liberals two
consecutative balanced budgets.  Deliberately turning a surplus into a deficit
to justify putting thousands out of a job and therefore unable to support
local business is not bright economic plan.  The critics of Glen Clark forget
that after the 96 election Glen Clark personally used his union skills to
mediate a deal with the now defunct Canadian Airlines and its’ workers
saving 2000 jobs in Richmond; those weren’t government jobs.  The political
right wing nuts are also very bias when it comes to capital spending on
infrastructure.  For instance the socred government built the first skytrain
for the EXPO 86 and got relected under Vanderzam. No one called the skytrain
wasted tax payers’ money because the ndp were not in power. When the ndp won
re-election and opted to extend the skytrain east with the millennium line the right
wings critics and papers where all over it as a waste of taxpayers’ money and slamming
missed deadlines, and budget over-runs.  Budgets are at best educated guesses, and
deadlines are just goals, but none the matter.  It did not matter to the critics or the
then liberal opposition that the millennium line meant jobs for people who might
not have otherwise be using their trades to support their families and local business
when jobs where need.  It did not matter to the opposition that Glen Clark might
have been a visionary ahead of his time in building the millennium line. Fast forward
to 2003 and the Liberals are spending a billion dollars on RAV line in west Vancouver
all for games that aren’t coming to BC till 2010, but that isn’t a waste of money
anymore than the skytrain built in 86 because you see the ndp aren’t in power.
It is only when the ndp are in power that such large infrastructure projects are a waste
of money.
 
The BC liberals are their corporate cronies are lying by omission. They are pretending
that one side of inter-provincial migration, and business climate.   In fact many
people have moved to BC during the ndp years from other parts of Canada. The
Ontario ministry of Social Services offered welfare recipients one way tickets
to BC because their clients BC was were the jobs are; that happened under the watch
of Mike Harris’s pro business government not under Bob Rae’s ndp government.
Anyone who does realize either seen too much liberal propaganda or does not care to
talk get to know people. Furthermore they are many reasons that businesses
fail. Businesses fail from market saturation, poor customer service skills, and poor management
of inventory or staff moral to the fault of management etc, but it is so much easier
and convenient for business people to blame the ndp instead of themselves.  It is also
convenient for the liberals to turn a blind eye to all the BC business started opened
during the 90’s, and all the downtown businesses that closed up since 2001 cause
when you put the two together it shows the economy is fluent; business open and fold
regardless of who’s in power. Needless to people both move to and away from BC yearly,
and the economy goes in cycles.
    
Posted by political_animal at 04:00:14 | Permalink | No Comments »

a case for arms

How unfortunate that 17 year old girl in Montréal was slain just for showing up for
her shift. It’s unfortunate when anyone is slain just for earning legitimate
income, but I doubt she would still be alive if there was another employee on.
First of all, judging by the arrest warrants the Police seem to think there are 3 or
4 people involved in this horrific crime; if they are right there seems little a
co-worker could do, but perhaps just be a second dead person. Worse still, there
is no certainty a co-worker would be willing to help. What might save this teens
life is if stores in Canada were allowed to arm themselves like the stores in the
States can arm themselves if they choose.
If she had access to a handgun, and been willing to use it she might have saved
her life without fire a single; even held the criminals at gun point until the police
arrived. And if she had shot and killed all of her attackers oh well why should it
be her instead of them!
Posted by political_animal at 03:50:46 | Permalink | No Comments »

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The key to happiness

Happiness Is

The surest way to find perpetual joy is looking deep within you.  You need not give heed to your occupation, or social status. Although everyone, wants and needs to make a buck being filthy rich won’t buy you happiness nor will it buy you love. By stopping to smell the lilacs along this path we call life you might take note of the silver lining on whatever rain cloud is over of you. With 168 hours to a week what we do with the 35 or 40 hours a week to make ends meet is not necessary what defines us, but what we do with the rest of the time, and how we interact with people including strangers.

Not everyone may not want to be a janitor yet without them schools and office building would be infested with undesired guest.  Our city would be a haven for rats if we didn’t have city employees to haul away our trash.

     Are teachers, nurses, and physicians more essential than the anitarians?  Would we even have hospitals or schools if it weren’t for plumbers, electricians, and masonaries? These are just jobs that people are holding for their individual reasons. It is mainly what you with the remanding hours in your week that define you as a person.  Happiness should come from always being the best you can
be in what you do. Forget trying to keep up with the Jones and the Dows live for
today. Enjoy the little  things in life like the rain knowing it may bring a rainbow
and flowers.  The snow looks so nice. Don’t let the weather set your mood let
your attitude set your mood. Always try to be happy cause life’s too short to
be miserable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by political_animal at 21:37:27 | Permalink | Comments Off

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Teachers lost in time?

            Allison Lambert’s Sept 17 2004 article in the Times Colonist titled “T-shirt Patrol

 

Shames Students in Obeying Dress Code”, shows some high school principals are

 

over controlling sticks-in-mud.  In the first two paragraphs we learn of a teenage

 

girl who showed up at Ecole Horizon Jeunesse high school, in Montreal  with bare shoulders and a plunging neckline.  She was given a choice: cover up with either

 

a jacket or a school t-shirt.  So far, at least five schools are using school t-shirts to

 

enforce dress codes. The principals’ reasoning is that t-shirts work better than

 

detentions. So, they agree that they must enforce the dress code one way or another,

 

yet don’t say why they need to enforce it. 

 

 

 

            “The consequence of dressing inappropriately is having to wear a T-shirt

 

            that they wouldn’t be caught dead in’ said Chuck Merilees, principal of St.

 

            Thomas High… Our goal is not to embarrass kids. We want to educate them”

 

 

 

            He gives no explanation how so-called inappropriate attire impedes the

 

students ability to be educated. The article doesn’t state who considers crop tops,

 

plunging necklines or strap tops inappropriate, other than the principals enforcing

 

the dress code.  The principals don’t even offer any support to their opinion why

 

such attire is inappropriate at school.  At the beginning of the year students of

 

Ecole Jeunesse are told what they can and can’t wear to class. The article doesn’t

 

say that they are told what is indecent about any forbidden attire: like the

 

girl’s strap top shown in the picture, for instance.  All Jeunesse students, are given an option of replacing or covering the offensive article of clothing before being

 

asked to put on the T-shirt. Their principal, Eric Demers, say they ‘re given a chance

 

to challenge their principal and state why the clothing should not be considered

 

indecent.

 

 

 

            “Students will usually change on their own since the t-shirt identifies the

 

            teenager as a dress code violator,  it attracts unwanted attention from

 

            other student”

 

 

 

A member of the governing board at Westwood High says it’s a good idea cause

 

it’s better than sending the students home. He gives no justification for being so

 

strict with attire that either measure should be taken. Students aren’t the only

 

ones that oppose the dress code. The principal of Jeunesse faces opposition

 

from some parents who feel schools shouldn’t enforce dress codes.

 

 

 

Posted by political_animal at 02:15:24 | Permalink | No Comments »

Photos

belbo We Had a family cat just like this one. If there is ever evidence of reincarnations

this is it. At least for felines, perhaps Cats really do have nine lives.

Posted by political_animal at 01:15:09 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, February 3, 2006

nurse! nurse!

I use to be a staunch defender of all public healthcare system, not that I  am against

profitable corporation I just don’t feel a hospitals should be maximizing the bottom line

of life, and wellness, not the financial bottomline.  So when the government of Alberta

started allowing overnight clinics I was concerned even though I don’t live in Alberta;

what provinces would follow suite if the federal government doesn’t step in. What is an

overnight clinic, but a private hospital by another name.  After seeing a documentary on

healthcare systems in Europe that use a combination of private, and public owned hospitals

I have a new perspective I am not against private hospitals as long as people are not turned

away just cause they are unable to pay. The government pays whether you go to a public

facility or private one if you waited too long to get your surgery.  In fact a lot of these mainland

Europe countries that use combined private public hospital system not only have short,

or no wait times for needed surgery some of them spend less per capital on healthcare

that Canada.  Although I don’t want to see use adapt an American style private healthcare

where families go into bankrupcty from one accident, or illness;  that is not good for the

economy; our premiers and their health ministers can learn something from European

public and private healthcare.  The wrongness in the what the Campbell government in

British Columbia is they shut down hospitals left right and centre some of them in one

hospital communities.  Other hospitals were downgraded to care centres. This would

be okay if they campaigned in 2001 that they would have to close some hospitals, but

they did not. They promised that they to protect healthcare; they said they would not

close hospitals, or tear up contracts, but they broke both promises.

  Had they said they would close some hospitals than they would have

some moral right in that they’d be keeping their promises albeit  negative promises.

It was unethical to close hospitals in single community hospitals without first having

something planned in fill their place.  Furthermore, if someone can get knee or hip
replacement sooner at a private day clinic instead of waiting a couple of years
at a hospital and they it doesn’t cost them out of pocket so be it.  It may be cheaper
than the alternative of waiting 2 years plus another 2 years recovering from that
surgery all the while being on disability instead of working.

 

 

 

 

Posted by political_animal at 02:49:18 | Permalink | No Comments »