A Worker Reads History by Bertolt Brecht Who built the seven gates of Thebes?The books are filled with names of kings.Was it the kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?And Babylon, […]
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.
Globe & Mail demonstrates what the press can be
Instead of being handmaids to the rich and powerful – the usual role of Canada’s media – the Globe and Mail offers Gerald Caplan’s commentary; Be very afraid: Stephen Harper is inventing […]
Equality before the law, maybe not
News item from the streets of America: Due to harsh sentencing, a disproportionate number of young Black and Hispanic men are likely to be imprisoned for life under scenarios in which they […]
Untruthful minister Don McRae must resign
McRae at BC farm of Norwegian company Greig Seafood British Columbia Hansard, October 20,2011 Minister of Agriculture Don McRae: “I’m pleased to say that over 5,000 samples have been tested for ISA […]
Department of nothing much changes
BCCLA files complaint after RCMP Detachment Head comments “The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is filing a complaint after the head of the Langley RCMP made comments that could interfere with the independent […]
Taking issue with corporate journalism
I left this comment at Ian Reid’s article about Vaughn Palmer: You have of course identified the frustration with [Vaughn] Palmer. He would be easy to ignore if he lacked skills of […]
The war machine grinds on
Marines promoted inflated story for Medal of Honor winner, By Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers, Dec. 14, 2011 “WASHINGTON — With Dakota Meyer standing at attention in his dress uniform, sweat glistening […]
For many, this is a depression
Does living luxuriously in secure compounds and travelling the world first class, richly clothed and dining extravagantly in the company of hired sycophants, qualify a person to determine or advise on social […]
People who can do no wrong, another chapter
If you thought it was strange when West Van Chief Peter Lepine, the ‘independent’ review officer, commended RCMP after they Tasered an 11-year-old Prince George boy while arresting him last April, how […]
HST savings elusive for consumers
In 2010, The Business Council of British Columbia, an association representing approximately 250 major business enterprises, circulated a report on consumer impacts of HST written by SFU Professor Jon Kesselman. It purports […]
Victoria’s practitioners of distraction
“The impact of the government’s changes to the drunk-driving laws have been felt in a very real way across the province. They were highly controversial. They were argued about. They are still […]
Ethical Smoke – Replay
If dumping megatonnes of extra carbon dioxide into earth’s atmosphere produces ethical tar sands oil, I suppose eco-friendly ethical cigarettes are plausible too. Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., a subsidiary of R.J. […]
Things I wonder about
1. — Exactly who is the federal government representing as they try to suppress evidence that they are suppressing evidence of the ISA threat to westcoast fisheries? From Tamsyn Burgmann, Canadian Press: […]
Oh, not to be in England
British Columbia pays senior public servants among the highest salaries in the world. For comparison the British pound (£) is worth $1.60 CAN as of December 12, 2011. Britain’s Top Earning Civil […]
Effective and sustainable? Who knows?
“Old news” – new anxieties for Liberals, posted three weeks ago, mentioned Basi/Virk judge Anne MacKenzie’s reasons for sentence and her dialogue of standard clichés, wordplay, and nonsense: “…a conditional sentence is not […]
A reader’s comment CBC wouldn’t publish
CBC is claiming credit for breaking a story that appeared here three days before they first touched the issue, without even a hint of acknowledgement of Northern Insights. I left a comment […]
News from the 21st century
H/T to Susan Musgrave, Laila Yuile and Judy Tyabji
A message from Amnesty International
Shell: Own Up and Pay Up to Clean Up the Niger Delta Dear Supporter, There used to be life and hope in the Niger Delta town of Bodo, a village filled with […]
Dead folks (and women) do no peer reviews
With my head still spinning from research on other projects, I thought for relaxation I would take shots at an absurdly easy target: the independent, research organization called the Fraser Institute. The […]
You’re welcome CBC News
CBC News Item, December 6: “An executive hired by the Insurance Corporation of B.C. to help cut costs received more than $188,000 for expenses claimed in 2010 — in addition to his […]
in-sights.ca 
King of the Outrageous CEO to average worker pay ratio is Starbucks' Brian Niccol. https://thehill.com/lobbying/5523643-ceo-pay-soars-starbucks-lowes/