"Not only did they sell it, but they sold it to a Liberal-friendly company. CN chairman David McLean was involved in Campbell’s 1993 Liberal leadership bid, as reported by Richard Warnica in The Tyee on Monday, and signed Liberal donation cheques totaling over $36,000 under the CN banner in 2002 alone."
Read the full story here.
There are two main groups voting for the Liberal:
- people voting for self interest (the 10% upper echelon)
- people who think there is no better option.
I'm afraid the first group can't be helped. They are in power and whatever I might have against them: too bad. The second group is a lot more interesting: why do they think there are no options, and how can this be changed?
First of all, this group feels that the NDP isn't a real option. I can somewhat sympathize with these people although it must be said that the current BC NDP does consist of many new members as well. But there are other viable options out there, one of them being the Green Party. Unfortunately the Green Party is harmed the most by the greatest deficit of the First Past The Post system: strategic voting. Considering the terrible track record of both the Liberals and the NDP I'm convinced the Green Party would have a major chance to win this election, if it wasn't for strategic voting.
But we have the opportunity to beat the system tomorrow. No liberal or NDP'er or Big Business Media wants you to think about this: all parties mentioned rather cling to their undeserved power, given to them by "the advantages" of the FPTP system. But there is a new way and it is called STV.
Are you tired of this terrible monster called FPTP, only creating a polarized division between "the lefties" and "right wing", between Big Business and Big Unions? Are you ready for real positive change?
Vote STV!
Do you remember the saying what if they gave a war and nobody came? Well, this saying from the 60s is becoming a current reality again.
The US Army and Navy has a hard time recruiting.
“In April, the Army missed its recruiting goal for the third month in a row, short by nearly 2,800 recruits, or 42 percent off its target. And for the first time in 10 years, the Marine Corps missed its recruiting goal for the last four months.”
Therefore these recruiters started some new “marketing techniques”: threatening potential recruits.
The Army has ordered a one-day suspension this month of its recruiting efforts, already made difficult by the Iraq war, to confront incidents of misconduct by its recruiters.
The incidents included a Texas recruiter (Sgt. Thomas Kelt) threatening a man with arrest if he did not show up at a recruiting station for an interview and Colorado recruiters telling a high school student how to get a phony diploma from a nonexistent school, Army officials said.
Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh delivered an address at an event entitled "Can Freedom of the Press Survive Media Consolidation?"
Read more at Democracy Now!
Hear it here (audio) | See it here (video)
B.C. Government documents show that fewer people are visiting provincial parks since parking meters were installed. According to Eva Riccius (spokesperson for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society) only a quarter of visiting drivers put money in the meters which also contributed to low revenues of about $800,000. That's less then 20% of the projected revenues of $4 million to $6 million.
"The money raised from the meters was supposed to be put back into parks, for picnic tables and hiking trails, but with the revenue shortfall where does that leave our parks today?” said Gwen Barlee, WCWC policy director. “We’re calling today on the BC government to rectify the mistake that was made and immediately remove the parking meters from our provincial parks."Read the full story here
Adriane Carr, leader of the B.C. Green Party responds to a letter by Will Offley.
"We find it utterly reprehensible that public service pension funds would be invested in corporations that contribute to the devastation inflicted on the Iraqi people. We fully support divesting public pension funds from any companies that are so involved. Thank you for bringing this important issue to our attention."
"Canada's Liberal minority government says it will not resign despite losing a key censure vote in parliament." Read the full story here. (BBC)
Even when Prime Minister Paul Martin loses a moral authority to govern he wont have any of it. Somehow I'm not all that surprised; in B.C. we've heard it before. Gordon Campbell did not resign after being caught drunk driving on Hawaii either.
In this light it is not surprising that many people have lost respect for politicians when drunk driving and being voted out by the majority of the House of commons are no reasons to step down.
Did you know that $4.6 billion in (British Columbia) pension funds have been invested in corporations producing, among other things, the munitions, missiles, landmines, cluster bombers, attack choppers, tanks, fighters and depleted uranium weapons for use by U.S. armed forces in their occupation of Iraq?
Some people are fully aware of this, including Carole James and Adriane Carr, but are unwilling to raise the issue: "There has been no formal response from James or Carr yet, but the position of both is increasingly clear from their echoing silence."
Read the full story at Resist.ca
"While media attention in Canada focused on the U.S. concerns over the availability of counterfeit or pirated products at home, the coverage missed the real story. Just weeks after the Canadian government announced its plans for copyright reform, the U.S. has injected itself in our policy debate by criticizing our future laws as well."
"MONCTON, N.B. - RCMP in New Brunswick are investigating the death of a psychiatric patient whom police shot with a Taser outside a Moncton bar"
Read the full article here.
"Authorities are investigating the death of a 44-year-old man who died in a jail cell hours after he was shocked with a Taser stun gun early Friday morning".
Read the full article here.
According to his column of Friday May 6th he is a proud British Columbian. Why? Because of the May 5th debate; judging from the debate "it would be unfortunate if we gave up our system now (first past the post in comparison with STV) when it is working properly. This is like saying that you're proud of the latest commercials from Honda, General Motors and Toyota, and therefore it would be unfortunate to look for green alternatives.
What's really unfortunate is that many journalists (including Norman Spector) consider a TV debate in the presented format will give the reader a good view on their political agendas. Observing all the half truths (and many times plain lies) presented at recent debates, how could a journalist be proud of this? Shouldn't it make any self respected journalist "mad like hell" that politicians get away with their own propaganda talk without being countered by real journalism?
Of course, Norman is right, the FPTP system is "working properly". The question is: for who? Read Norman's own analyses why STV is "such a dumb idea".
--------------------------------
Read also Owleye's blog "Single Transferable Everything - A Response to Norman Spector"
The Luminara has been part of much local debate lately. Especially the unsigned editorial of January 21 has fanned the flames. Let's have a look how the editors of the Times Colonist skew the facts to make all of us think that commercialism is the way to go for the Beacon Hill Park.
The TC begins their bullying right from the start: the Friends of the Beacon Hill Park are the "most unfriendly folks imaginable". According to the article, "all the rules and regulations" make "the the park no fun to go to anymore". No fun anymore? The rules haven't changed, but the opinions of our favourite (and only) Island newspaper clearly have.
The article continues with an abundance of complaints, you wonder what their coffee breaks are like. I will address a few of them.
1. We (most probably meaning: the editors of the Times Colonist - the TC is definitely not talking for all of us) are denied a Great Canadian Family Picnic. Well excuse me, what's wrong with bringing your own lunch?
2. The editors of the Times Colonist "can't buy an ice cream cone there on a hot day": can someone send a free city map to the editors of the TC and mark where the Beacon Drive Inn is located? It seems the "journalists" are not only bored to death, they're also either lazy or stupid.
3. "There's no place to sit down for a cup of tea." Where does this nonsense come from? There is plenty of space, just bring your own tea. Can someone else sponsor these editors with a thermos? (Don't forget to include the instructions :).
4."God forbid a beer or glass of wine". Hey, I have to agree with the TC on this one. When will it be possible to have a drink in public? Coming from the Netherlands (yes, pot country, gay marriages and what not), drinking a beer in the open is one of the things I miss. Symphony Splash with a beer? I'm for it! But don't blame the Friends for it, they do not make the rules.
The Friends are also blamed for the rules and regulations, set by the city counsel, that wouldn't let the sponsors of the event show their names inside the park. Rules that do not allow commercial activity to take place in Beacon Hill Park. Are the Friends of the Beacon Hill Park wrong by abiding the law?
Finally we get to the heart of the matter: According to the editors of the Times Colonist it is also "naturally" that sponsors, who would like "a little credit for their generosity", are giving up on the Luminara and therefore there will be no "lanterns or children's faces shining in the park".
Is it so usual that sponsors give up funding when they can't even show their names in small print inside the park? I don't think so. I am sure there are lots of people in Victoria who regularly donate (yes, donating is also sponsoring) activities and good causes, without needing much in return: a tax receipt does it for most of us. The tsunami donations, were a perfect example of real generosity. Unfortunately another breed of sponsors used to fund the Luminara. And this breed is used to getting what they want, or else.
Who are they? And what do they want? Maybe someone can fill me in on the first WHO question?
WHAT they want? THEY WANT IT ALL.
There are many ways of letting people know who is sponsoring the Luminara. Sponsors can inform their own clientèle through newsletters, they can buy some advertising space on one of the local radio stations "claiming their generosity", they can even buy advertising space in the TC.
But, the Times Colonist thinks that this is "naturally" not enough. Sponsors want a "little credit for their generosity". Their imposed advertising practices should also be allowed inside the park. And that's what the Friends are against, and so am I.
Commercialism without restrictions is a dangerous thing. It has ruined the objectivity of most North American TV stations and newspapers, and quite obvious that of the Times Colonist.
I like the Luminara. I like the Beacon Hill Park. I'm starting to adore the Friends of the Beacon Hill Park for taking a firm stand to sticking to their principles. I am disappointed about the stand of the TC. Not only are they (and their corporate friends) imposing their advertising on us whenever and wherever they think they can, they also bully well meaning volunteers with their false and inciting statements.
The Beacon Hill Park is a peoples park, not a corporate park. Let's keep it that way.
Friends of Beacon Hill Park, keep up the good work!
Malik in Sydney Australia is wondering why the Australian Recording Association is in court, and not Britney herself.
Today in the Times Colonist's Arts section an article about file sharing. The title caught my eye: "File sharing costs artists millions, law still vague."
Having followed this story closely, I was surprised to see that these ridiculous statements are still being printed. Do CanWest's articles not have to pass some kind of "smell test?" Obviously this must be an opinion piece, since their claims are far from today's reality.
According to CanWest the legal debate is murky. Being a Dutchman, not totally sure what murky means, I looked it up in Merriam Webster:
murky: 1. Characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke.
So why murky? Because "in the U.S. lawmakers have cracked the whip on file-sharing" but in Canada "no definite rulings on the [file-sharing] have been made". "Therefore it is currently not illegal". Don't you like it how these CanWest people try to make you believe there is something wrong with the Canadian law? The Canadian ruling is different from the U.S. position, but is different murky?
Like with many things, it all depends on who you ask. To CNET News.com the last rulings on file-sharing in Canada is clear: file sharing in Canada is legal. Nothing about murky or any other related words (yes, this Dutchman checked Thesaurus). CanWest also states that "U.S. lawmakers have cracked the whip on filesharing" but "Canadian courts nor elected lawmakers have made definite rulings on the matter". Therefore, according to the article, it is not illegal.
First of all, not American lawmakers cracked the whip, but the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) did, by suing whoever they could (including 12 year old Brianna LaHara). And, why WOULD Canadian lawmakers crack the whip on filesharing when they already decided that it is totally legal?
The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is appealing rulings that make these downloads (and uploads) legal. Now why would they do that if the law is so clear? Fortunately no phone calls have to be made; they have their own answer.
If Canadians are comfortable file-sharing, they should be able to make an easy switch to a legitimate online music marketplace, once the proper conditions are in place.The CRIA hopes to see everybody paying for "legitimate" downloads (read: paid downloads), but why would anyone in Canada pay for something that is already available for free? Exactly, that's what they try to change. Not for themselves of course, but for the artists. And CanWest is with them, with their article "File-sharing costs artists millions, law still vague".
Any idea what's being done about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Read Paul Willcocks blog about the Huckleberry Mine and see what the BC Government is doing with your tax dollars.
In Norman Spector's blog today (January 7th, 2004):
The Globe and Mail editorial board also weighs in against Alberto Gonzales; frankly, I don’t understand why they bother.So I check Dictionary.com and type editorial:
Who really cares what editorial writers in Toronto think of the next Attorney-General of the United States?
This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
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