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 »

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

the wolf in sheep’s skin!

Just 12 years ago the Liberals swept to power in part cause the Mulroney government was corrupt, and the Liberals vowed they’d be clean; in ten, twelve, or fifteen years from now the people will be tired of tory corruption, and the liberals will be saying the same things they said 12 years ago. History repeats itself!

 
However, what we should be concerned with now is the whether the conservative platform adds up: it doesn’t. They are promising
$45 billion in tax cuts, $30 billion in yet balanced budgets.
If it sounds to good to be true it usually is.
    Stephan Harper reminds me of Gordon Campbell promising that tax cuts would not lead to cuts in service. We need more NDPers in the house to keep the new conservative government in check.
Posted by political_animal at 23:00:24 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, January 6, 2006

know offshore drilling!

                Due to growing demand for oil and the decline high job loss in north coastal  resource communities, lifting the moratorium off British Columbia’s coast is becoming more appealing to these communities and the provincial government.  However, there is grave risk to the both the environment with little too little return in this age of free trade, and therefore compelling reason to keep Canada’s west coast oil free.

 

 

            People for lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling emphasis the jobs for British Columbia (BC) and revenue for the province citing hibernia as a precedent However, the government of Newfoundland got a bad deal from the petroleum producers collecting royalties only on net revenue, despite costing the federal and provincial government billions in grants, loan guarantees, and tax breaks. After Hibernia’s development  phase most of the jobs were gone for good the Hibernia deal was made

 

 

prior to free trade; making BC’s ability to make any comparable deal to employ local people almost nil. Furthermore, the exploration and production phases are not likely to yield many jobs per million dollars spent most jobs Newfoundlanders got only lasted during the construction phase. “Chevron estimated employment for a three year exploration program peaking at 202 employees with a maximum of 81 local hires (Marshall 8)”. More than 81 jobs would be a risk in the crab fisheries alone, by both surveying and drilling.  Despite problems in recent years BC’s commercial fisheries employee up to 15,000 and pays millions of dollars in wages to fish processors in coastal communities (oil-free coast alliance).  Furthermore, if petroleum producers build portable platforms there may be no assurance the platforms would be built in BC. In fact, if the new ferries are any indication the current provincial government are not likely insist they are made in BC.

 

 

            A big reason the moratorium should not be lifted is the daily pollution that

 

 

occurs during all phases: exploratory, development, and production. Different types

 

 

of drilling muds are used depending on the type of rock to be drilled. Exploratory

 

 

drilling can release lead, and mercury, bentonite, biocides and other harmful substances.

 

 

Produced water is released during production drilling, and is harmful to fish residing in, or migrating through the area because it is contaminated usually with oil, and trace metals.  Therefore exploration in the Queen Charlotte Basin (QCB) would be detrimental to BC’s salmon fishers since all salmon pass through the basin except some coho stocks.  BC’s fisheries is best known for pacific salmon. Contaminates from oil platforms stunt growth in fish and are detrimental to their reproduction. (oil-free coast alliance).  People can unwittingly eat fish contaminated by produced water, just like they eat lobster unaware that by nature lobster is contaminated; it is like the cockroach of the ocean.  Since exploratory and extraction drilling contaminate fish nearby there is high risk that some tainted fish will end up in the human food chain.

 

 

            There is some risk of oil spills during the development, and production phase of all offshore drilling.  By lifting the moratorium of the west coast the federal government would place sea mammals, and birds, in jeopardy of ingesting oil, or being coated by oil or both.  Sea mammals would get covered in oil every time they surface for breathing.  Worse still, birds and marine mammals can ingest crude oil by directly or by eating contaminated food.  Just being covered in the black slick can has proven fatal to birds at an increasing rate since the early twentieth century when oil was first shipped around the world.  (burger 1600). The amount of oil spilled and therefore impact on mammals, fish, and sea fairing fowls has grown at an alarming rate over the years, and decades especially during time of war. 

 

 

                        With the war effort, there were a number of spills on the east coast of

                        North America, and 5,000 ducks were killed in on incident alone in 1942.

 

 

In 1948, about 10,000 ducks died in the winter from oil in the Detroit river.(burger 160)

If the Canadian government lifts the moratorium they will be risking wildlife to more disasters like these.  The western boundary of the QCB is on a fault; it’s estimated that over 200 million barrels of oil is in this area. An offshore rig need not be on the fault line to be at risk since an earthquake can have an impact miles from the epic centre. Victoria residents, for example, have felt earth quakes in which the epic centres where in Puget Sound, Washington.  Needless to say allowing a rig anywhere on the QCB will be a permanent risk of oil spills that would make the exxon valdez spill look minor in camparison.

            Commercial, recreational and sport fisheries create many direct and indirect jobs in British Columbia’s north coastal and island communities.  Even, during years the price of fish is low, it is an industry worth over $100 million including millions of dollars in wages.  An oil spill could kill thousands of fish quickly just like they can kill thousands of birds.  Many more can be contaminated be swimming through oiled streams and ingesting it.  In addition to salmon fishing crab fisheries is major contributor to the economy especial in Queen Charlotte Islands (QCI).  Crab fishers hire crew on the their vessels land crew for maintenance, and bookkeeping, and spend over a million on gear, bait, licences, monitoring fees, insurance and so on. In all crab fisheries brings 22 million dollars to the QCI and north coast economy.  After exposing crab from the east coast to seismic surveying biologist for the DFO found changes to the cellular structure of the crabs’ hepatopancreas (organ that is both the liver and pancreas in one), and emorrhaging (internal bleeding) of the ovaries.  Furthermore embryo development from crabs the endured seismic exposure appeared to be stunted and the larvae was smaller.  (DFO 3).  This is the threats crabs in the QCB face if the government open the door to exploration in the area. The government of BC should be caution about pressing Ottawa to allow offshore drilling because to protect fisher’s lively hood. “There were many direct fishing losses for at least four years following the Exxon Valdez oil spill (Burger 191)”. Worse yet, seismic surveying seems to affect not just crabs, but all fish. Before any exploratory or extraction drilling extensive seismic surveying would take place over large areas. The BC government’s own scientific report should raise their alarm bells on the what little is known about the seismic surveying on fish and through that the effects on fisheries.

Adult fish respond by swimming away from seismic noise.  A fish may react to a seismic array more than 30 km away, and intense avoidance

behavour can be expected within 1-5 km.  This type of noise may affect

…even the mortality of adult fish( Gallagher, Strong, Muggeridge 28 ).

            Commercial fisheries is not the only industry that would be threaten by lifting the

moratorium;  an oil spill, and surveying can be detrimental to the another major industry in BC:  tourism. Wilderness tourism such as whale watching is a major part of this industry contributing a billion dollars to the province’s GNP an employing 15,000. There are many whale watching business in 11 communities on Vancouver island. Noise from both surveying, and drilling has been observed to affect whale migration patterns in other parts of the globe.  This can be more than just a minor inconvenience; once again the governments own report should raise alarm bells.

This effect can have serious consequences: for example, in March 2000, shortly after the US Navy conducted exercises in the Bahamas, 17 whales

from four different species beached themselves over a four-day period.  seven of  the whales died; and a number of them were found to have haemorrhages of  varying degree in their hearing organs. (Gallagher, Muggeridge, Strong, 28)

A decision in Ottawa could and response in the provincial legislature could open the window to exploration and eventual oil platforms on the Tofino Basin.  In addition to whale watching and commercial fishing thousands of spin off jobs would be threaten.  Restaurants, gift shops, and hotels have been opened on the island to accommodate whale watchers and recreational fishers.  However, a government hungry for it’s share of the oil revenue or whose party has received a substantial sum of money from the oil company may tend to look the other way and omit such finding from the public.

              Not only would lifting the moratorium jeopardize more jobs than it would create for the long term, but oil is not a sustainable resource; once it’s gone so are the jobs Fish stocks however can recover especially with the help of conservation workers fertilizing roe, then releasing young fish into streams.  Drilling off the coast is a bigger risk to the environment, wildlife, and the coastal economy than it’s worth.

Works Cited

 

 

Burger, Joanna. Oil Spills.   New Brunswick, New Jersey Rutgers University Press 1997

Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Gallagher, Patricia; Muggeridge Derek; Strong, David. British Columbia Offshore Hydrocarbon Development.  Scientific Review Panel 2002

Marshall, Dale Should BC lift the offshore oil moratorium.

            Canadian Centre for Policy Altenatives year unknown

Oil Free Coast Alliance. www.oilfreecoast.org

 

 

 

 

Posted by political_animal at 21:03:18 | Permalink | No Comments »

Wednesday, January 4, 2006

what’s next

Well just when I thought I seen it all a woman in Isreal marries a dolphin. What

is the world coming to? What will wackos marry next? I thought it is bad

enough that countries acknowledge same sex marriages; now interspecies unions?

What if the dolphin wants to remain single, or to marry a girl dophin?

On another note I believe same sex marriage should just mean only having sex

with the same person you’re married to!

Posted by political_animal at 22:06:42 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, December 30, 2005

cry me French river

Now Stephen Harper is ready to give into Québec and sell out the other nine provinces. Whether Gilles Duceppe likes it or not Québec is a province not a country, and isn’t entitled to it’s own international voice.

Quite frankly, I am tired of the separatists never ending whining that their getting a raw deal. Québec’s based Bombardier’s aero division would not survive if it weren’t for subsidies from Ottawa. Québec got the contract for the CF-18s despite a cheaper bid from Manitoba; the built the 100 griffin helicopters used by the Canadian armed forces, armed coyotes etc.

 

 

The Quebecers want nine provinces officially bilingual, but Québec to be

 

 

officially French only. Québec is like the favoured and spoiled kid of the family who can get all the gifts under the Christmas tree and still not be satisfied. Anyone who says this special treatment isn’t fair is accused of being

anti-Quebec, and pro giving them a raw deal.

 

 

I am now fan of former PM Mulroney, but he was right when he told the seperatists to go to hell!

 

 

 

 

Posted by political_animal at 22:41:47 | Permalink | No Comments »