British Columbia Hansard, March 26, 2012 J. van Dongen: I rise and ask for the attention of the House to make a personal statement. Mr. Speaker: Proceed. J. van Dongen: “…I had […]
A little late but the right thing to do
Norm Farrell
Gwen and I raised three adult children in North Vancouver. Each lives in this community, as do our seven grandchildren. Before retirement, I worked in accounting and small business management. Since 2009, I have published commentary about public issues at IN-SIGHTS.CA.
No comment needed
The Rich Get Even Richer, Steve Rattner, New York Times, March 25, 2012 Steven Rattner is a contributing writer for Op-Ed and a longtime Wall Street executive.
Harper’s anti-science shame
Don’t miss Andrew Nikiforuk’s latest contribution at The Tyee: Understanding Harper’s Evangelical Mission “…While government and industry PR folk spin fabrications about Canada’s environmental record, Scott Vaughan, Federal Environment Commissioner in the […]
Ethically challenged plutocrat
SNC-Lavalin CEO resigns after review, Paul Waldie, The Globe and Mail Report on Business, March 26, 2012 “SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has announced the departure of chief executive officer Pierre Duhaime amid allegations […]
Obama now leader of the not-free world
Chris Hedges writes: “The NDAA implodes our most cherished constitutional protections. It permits the military to function on U.S. soil as a civilian law enforcement agency. It authorizes the executive branch to […]
Something is rotten in the state of PavCo
The government’s fiscal year ends in a few days so here’s a suggestion for more accurate financial reports in BC. Add a separate line item for “Fraud, Theft & Abuse.” That way, […]
Winners win, losers lose
The Age of Double Standards, Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, March 19, 2012 “…Petty felons and 200,000 small-time drug users do prison time, while corporate criminals whose frauds cost the rest of […]
Lewis Black & Co. – funny stuff !
The BBC News Quiz gets a US makeover with an all-American panel. With the US election this year, turmoil in the Middle East, financial insecurity all around – not to mention a […]
White racism alive and well in USA
Overt racism that disgusted so many of us in the fifties and sixties is not tolerated in most circles today. An exception though involves the American world of right wing wacko politics. […]
Toothless media accommodates political fraud
In 2006, Rafe Mair wrote News Media, Defanged for The Tyee. It included the headline: Politicians, not too long ago, feared the press. Of course miscreants particularly feared Rafe Mair during his […]
Get mad, then get involved
From John Macfarlane’s Editor’s Note at The Walrus Magazine: THE SOLILOQUY Paddy Chayefsky wrote for the character Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network still resonates today: “…I want you to get […]
Canadians: too polite, too passive?
One more example of price gouging that faces Canadians every day. Live in Point Roberts WA, pay Amazon $76.39. Live two kilometres north in Tsawwassen BC, pay Amazon $149.99 for the same […]
One hand washes the other
Phil Hochstein and his Independent Contractors and Businesses Association have had a symbiotic relationship with British Columbia’s governing party for more than a decade. ICBA provides financing and political support; in return, […]
Did BC taxpayers finance American TV ?
American cable TV producers moved taping of three of 18 episodes of Bravo’s Top Chef: Texas to British Columbia. That may seem unlikely because of the high costs of transporting and housing […]
Smile
Henning Wehn, German Comedy Ambassador to the United Kingdom, on Britain’s social classes: “Life in Britain is all about knowing your place. The lower class has a lot in common with the […]
Open, accountable government, BC Liberal style
B.C. Lottery Corp. seeks reversal of document order, CBC News, March 15, 2011 “The Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre (Fintrac), the federal money laundering watchdog, hit BCLC in 2010 with a $700,000 […]
Deep down, she is shockingly shallow
Game Change, an HBO movie about the 2008 McCain / Palin campaign is more about éminence grise Steve Schmidt than the Senator or his running mate. A central element is the wretched […]
Might makes right
Far right commentators tell us that government should remove itself from every possible sector of the country’s economy. For example, the Fraser Institute, an organization that cares for interests of Canada’s most […]
How much have Wall Street and banks changed?
Not much, according to Greg Smith, a London based Goldman Sachs’ executive director who is leaving with a loud message to the public. He contributed an Op-Ed to the New York Times, […]
BC Jobs Plan working, in China
In the last year, the Pacific Northwest (BC, WA, OR) exported well more than $1 billion worth of raw softwood logs to China. Shipments for 2011 were more than in the preceding […]
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Historians have not been kind to elites who opposed scientific innovation. For centuries Belief among guardians of executive authority rarely…