The Blog of Finian

Corporate Greed in Politics

2011-08-12T23:41:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of Don Regan, former Merrill Lynch CEO, telling Ronald Reagan to speed it up as shown in Michael Moore's movie Capitalism a love story. He became the
treasury secretary under Regan. That's when things began to change.

Henry Paulson was the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and became the US treasury secretary under George W. Bush. Many felt issuing the bank bail out was a conflict of interest.

Likewise, Goldman Sachs became Obama's #1 Private Contributor In Michael Moore's movie he talked about three interesting leaked Citibank documents referring to Plutonomy.

I don't think we should go back to the days where the rich enter a 90% tax bracket. I think no matter how much wealth you have the government shouldn't be able to take more than 50% of it. Yet I do think they should tax off shore accounts and all the hidden funds. Donald Trump bragging about paying zero income tax is treason.

Vince Ready's Second Decision

2011-07-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Speaking of dirty rotten scoundrels, this is a copy of Vince Ready's second decision in the TWU screwed over it's Secretary Treasurer for complaining about the misuse of union dues case. I understand that the failed TWU under Darth Siduous' direction still isn't following this decision and has now hired Roper Greyell to represent them and got rid of lawyer Tom Beasley. So where is the financial accountability there? Spending even more union dues on a higher profile lawyer to screw their own just like they did to Lila Hacket. Surely there should be a cease and desist order against the fallen TWU for spending more union dues oh more expensive lawyers to let them break the law. That is such a corporate tactic. Bruce Bell would be proud.

A world without Murdoch

2011-07-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

Mind how ya go. The expanding wire tap scandal has been in the news of late. I do find it very disturbing that as the scandal began to uncover police and government involvement the death of the whistle blower was announced. Nevertheless, one Youtuber remixed a Wonderful life to a humorous speculation about what the world would be like without Rupert Murdoch. It's good crack so it is.

Free Collective Bargaining Rights

2011-07-18T19:16:00.002-07:00

I was talking to some people on the picket line at the Extra Foods strike in Maple Ridge today and heard some interesting news that might help Canadian Postal workers. We were talking about back to work legislation and how Postal Workers were recently screwed by Stephen Harper's over reaching back to work legislation.

One of the members on the line claimed their mother was a nurse. She said the Campbell government legislated the nurses back to work and basically threw out their collective agreement. Please note the difference between back to work legislation for essential services and over reaching back to work legislation that throws out existing contracts and clearly removes free collective bargaining rights. Anyways, they claimed the Supreme Court over ruled the over reaching back to work legislation and they were compensated for it.

I checked it out with the HEU. Sure enough, the BC Provincial legislation called Bill C 29 was indeed overturned by the supreme court. This is a copy of a bulletin about the ruling and this is a copy of the actual decision.

There's more. The HEU claim other Unions were also affected by the legislation and the Supreme Court Decision. They also claimed the BC Teachers recently successfully used their decision as jurisprudence. Sure enough, I found a copy of that decision.

The recent teachers decision is dated April 13 2011 and cites the June 6 2007 decision. The teachers decision argues:

[3] The health services legislation was challenged by various health workers‟ associations as being contrary to the freedom to associate, constitutionally protected by s. 2 (d) of the Charter.

[4] Initially the health workers were unsuccessful at the trial and appellate levels, and the health services legislation, Bill 29, was upheld.

[5] The case went on to the Supreme Court of Canada where the workers ultimately prevailed. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada held that collective bargaining was protected by s. 2 (d) of the Charter: Health Services and Support - Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v. British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27, [2007] 2 S.C.R. 391 [Health Services]. Professor Hogg described the impact of this decision as “a 180-degree shift”: Peter W. Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, loose-leaf, 5th ed. (Toronto, Ont.: Carswell, 2007), ch. 44 at 44-6. The Supreme Court of Canada had previously held that collective bargaining was not protected by the Charter guaranteed freedom of association: Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada v. Northwest Territories (Commissioner), [1990] 2 S.C.R. 367.

[6] In Health Services, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down several provisions of Bill 29 as being unconstitutional by reason of the legislation‟s interference with the workers‟ freedom to associate guaranteed by s. 2 (d) of the Charter. Some provisions were found not to be unconstitutional.

[7] The teachers brought a court challenge to Bill 27 and Bill 28, similar to the challenge brought by the health services‟ workers. This challenge waited on the sidelines while the Health Services case wound its way through the courts. Now the challenge to the legislation affecting teachers‟ collective bargaining has come before this court for decision.

[8] In this case the legislation dealing with teachers was modelled on the same provincial government theory as in Health Services, namely, that the government had the right to impose legislation which unilaterally overrode provisions of existing collective agreements, and which prohibited collective bargaining on the same subject matters in the future. The legislation was enacted without any prior consultation with the teachers‟ union.

[9] For the reasons that follow, I have found that most, but not all, of the challenged legislation is unconstitutional as violating the s. 2 (d) freedom to associate and to engage in collective bargaining. Specifically, I have found that ss. 8, 9 and 15 of Public Education Flexibility and Choice Act, S.B.C. 2002, c. 3 [PEFCA] (Bill 28) and s. 5 of the Education Services Collective Agreement Amendment Act, 2004, S.B.C. 2004, c. 16 [Amendment Act] are unconstitutional. I have not found s. 4 of Education Services Collective Agreement Act, S.B.C. 2002, c. 1 [ESCAA] (Bill 27) to be unconstitutional. (page 6 Griffin decision 2011 BCSC 469)

Yes this was an over reaching provincial legislation that was over turned by the Supreme court but it was successful through the use of the Federal Charter of rights. I'd say this is very applicable to Canadian Postal Workers.

Personally I see this a ray of light piercing through in a dark cloud of oppression. What Stephen Harper and Canada Post did was dirty. Stealing pensions is wrong and threatens the future prosperity of the entire country.

Big Corporations want to save money any way possible so they can make more and more profit. For a time, Big Corporations saw the large amount of capital sitting in their employees pensions and desperately wanted to get their greedy little mitts on it to use and invest in other things so they could put it to use and profit from it. People objected and said pensions are sacred and not to be invested in high risk stocks.

Then came the corporate brain storm. They thought well then, pension compound into a significant amount of capital. If we stopped paying employees pensions, we could take the money we were putting aside for pensions and put it into another account just for us. That way we'd have the entire fund as well as the interest.

Frightening but true. This was what Moya Greene's pal Catherine not too Swift boldly declared in her letter to the new CEO of Canada Post. Claiming to represent Big Business, she said the private sector has had to make many sacrifices during the recession. She claimed that since many private sector employees don't have a pension, Canada Post and Stephen Harper should steal Postal Workers pensions. She claimed that immoral theft constituted good business. Au contraire.

Just like Moya Greene's Short Term Disability program, it is very short sighted. The STD program said it's not fair employees who have been working with the company for many years have accumulated unused sick leave when new employees don't. Their answer was to steal sick leave from their employees and create a Short Term Disability program where if an employee gets a long term illness they go on EI. I kid you not. This is a Big Corporation trying to save money and make more profit by having their employees go on government Employment Insurance if they have a long term illness instead of paying for sick leave. Ya think that in the long term this will have a draining effect on government taxes and resources?

If employees don't have pensions they contribute top that their employer also contributes to, that will put a further demand on government pensions which are minimal at best. When Moyas Greene rewrote the previous Postal contract she bragged about how she had changed the establish precedent of matching employee contributions. She said the fund had performed so well one year, that the corporation didn't have to match employee contributions that year. She wanted to save money by stealing their pension. That is exactly what she had her friend Catherine not too Swift from the Empire strikes back club confess to.

Let's hope these new Supreme Court decisions will return a fraction of democracy to our lop sided system that obsesses over profit and rolls back wages and benefits at every opportunity. Democracy is good. Free collective Bargaining is good. Stealing pensions is bad for everyone.

UK Pension Strike

2011-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Thousands walked off the job over pension protests in England today. British teachers and public service workers swapped classrooms and offices for picket lines Thursday as hundreds of thousands walked off the job to protest pension cuts.

The government insists everyone must share the pain as it cuts 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending to reduce Britain's huge deficit, swollen after the government spent billions bailing out foundering banks. It is cutting civil service jobs and benefits, raising the state pension age from 65 to 66, hiking the amount public sector employees contribute to pensions and reducing their retirement payouts.

The government spent billions bailing out foundering banks which was a result of investment fraud and they spent billions on the fraudulent invasion of Iraq to find Weapons of Mass Destruction they knew were not there, and now the citizens have to give up their pensions to repay that debt. That is a crime against humanity. It is a fraud. It is a scam. It is a manufactured emergency.

Extinguish the HST

2011-06-30T07:23:00.001-07:00

They say if you bang your head against a wall long enough, you'll end up with a sore head. There is a lot of tax dollars being spent on HST advertising. I find it very upsetting. Almost like it's a waste of time talking about it. Many people oppose the HST for good reasons. Yet they don't have big budgets to spend on advertising. Nevertheless, in a democratic system a poor man's vote is equal to a rich mans vote. Or shall we say in this case, a rich corporation.

Stephen Harper is a Compulsive Liar

2011-06-26T08:43:00.001-07:00

Eventually Stephen Harper's lies are going to catch up with him. No lie can live forever. We've made it pretty clear that Harper's back to work legislation is not back to work legislation, it's pension theft legislation.

Canada Post locked out their employees for voting 94.5% against the theft of their pensions and Canada Posts contempt for health and Safety. Yet Harper boasts "The government stood behind the back-to-work bill, saying that small business and other organizations like charities were being choked out by the mail dispute." That is an offensive lie.

Harper doesn't give a rat's ass about small business. His HST crippling the restaurant industry trying to pull it's way out of a recession is proof of that. Harper only cares about the big corporations that exploits workers and send jobs overseas. That does not help Canadians or the Canadian economy. Harper is a liar.

Charities? Harper rewards Canada Post for bringing the mail to a grinding halt and somehow twists that indisputable fact with the insane claim that his pension theft legislation is someone in support of charities? That is an offensive lie.

Denis Lemelin said the government’s assertion that its legislation was necessary to protect the economy is illogical. He said postal workers had offered to return to work. “The government has attacked our right to freely negotiate the conditions we work under,” said Lemelin.

Remember how Harper screwed Newfoundland which cause their Conservative Premier to launch an anything but conservative campaign against him? Well Harper has done it again. He's screwed Newfoundland again after tricking them by claiming he's help fund a hydroelectric dam in Newfoundland which caused them to stop their boycott.

He's closing the province's maritime rescue centre. The demonstration was organized by a coalition headed by provincial labour unions, and organizers estimated that about 2,000 people took part, including many local and provincial politicians.

"We rely on search and rescue every single day to save the people that we love at a time of distress," said Jones. "We're asking Stephen Harper to not put a price on the lives of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."

The premier, however, said that Harper rejected a plan that would split costs between the province and Ottawa to keep the centre going. The federal agency maintains that public safety will not be put at risk by the closure.

The demonstration comes only a day after a man was pulled dead from the waters about 60 kilometres east of St. Anthony, N.L. Four other men, who were working on a fishing vessel that was in distress, were rescued.

The search and rescue operation was started after a call was made to St. John's Marine Search and Rescue station. A helicopter from Gander was used, in addition to coast guard vessels from St. Anthony and St. John's.

Harper sleeps on couch as bill debated

2011-06-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of filibustering but I'm not a fan of pension theft either. Harper's Postal legislation is not back to work legislation. It's pension theft legislation. The union didn't go on strike. Canada Post locked them out. That brought mail services to a grinding halt.

The union held token rotating 24 hours strikes that did not stop the flow of mail. The union offered to stop the rotating strikes if Canada Post agreed to reinstate employees medical coverage. Canada Post refused and locked them out. This is clearly a manufactured emergency ultimately designed to legislate theft.

What would happen if the House took their summer break without passing insanely worded back to work legislation? Well let's see... the union would go back to work as promised as long as Canada Post reinstated their medical coverage. Problem solved.

When the right wing says business needs less interference from government that is true. If Harper wasn't in collusion with Canada Post to aid and abet their pension theft, the free collective bargaining process would succeed. Instead, Harper has robbed that process by lying and creating a manufactured emergency.

Canada Post continues to make consistent profit. It's not a matter of balancing the budget or bringing Postal workers wages and benefits in line with couriers. It's about stealing pension and corporate greed which says profits are not enough we continue to want more and more profit. Then the final act of treason is to sell off that profit making public asset so they can break another union while they lose that tax revenue and increase consumer tax as a result. It is simply bad business.

Harper appoints Campbell

2011-06-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Speaking of unbridled evil, Stephen Harper has appointed Gordon Campbell to be Canada's ambassador to England so the hated Gordon Campbell can represent Canada at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. I feel cold...

The Vancouver Province asks: "Should Prime Minister Stephen Harper have rewarded a career diplomat with the post, instead of a washed-up ex-premier who resigned with the lowest job-approval ratings in the history of B.C. opinion polling?"

The Evil Step Mother of Treason

2011-06-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well Moya Greene, the evil step mother of treason, has sure been paid well to murder one quarter of the jobs at the Royal Mail. No, she didn't get thirty pieces of silver. She got £780,000 of silver including a bonus the same size as the Prime Minister's salary. All this when horrific layoffs at the Royal Mail were rationalized because she claims the Royal Mail is insolvent.

That is pure, unadulterated treason. No amount of poison will disguise her true character. Stand against Moya Greene. For God and Ulster, stand against Moya Greene. Lundi was a saint compared to that evil witch. Remember remember the fifth of november.

Christmas Gully

2011-06-21T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well it turns out what I thought was Christmas Gully, wasn't Christmas Gully. I made another attempt today with crampons and an ice axe and it turned out I was trying to climb a waterfall. OK I never said I was very bright.

I finally broke trail through some steep terrain and made it to the top. It is way easier hiking up the ski trail. The view is awesome though. Aside from seeing the Lions and Howe Sound you can see back country mountains as afar as the eye can see.

Whitecliff is still awesome too.

Harper Reveals the Death Star Plans

2011-06-20T23:16:00.001-07:00

What an offensive scam. This is bad for Canada. Canada Post submitted a mandate to steal their employees pensions. They even had Catherine Not Too Swift document her support for that theft. The employees voted 94.5% no. The Union held off going on strike. They wanted to negotiate a contract. Canada Post refused to budge.

The Union started a token rotating strike. 24 hours in once place then back to work and 24 hours in another place. The mail still went through. It was a token objection to their offensive theft in a time of consistent profit. Even though everyone was still working Canada Post cut off all their medical benefits.

The Union offered to stop the strike and return to work if Canada Post would resume medical benefits but Canada Post refused. Instead they locked them out and demanded the government intervene with back to work legislation. Knowing that theft would get a biased arbitrator to grant them their pension theft.

So the Harper government introduces back to work legislation with a legislated wage settlement less then what Canada Post offered to punish the employees for voting against the pension theft and the heath and safety contempt.

Then they appoint a biased arbitrator and tell them that compromise is not an option. Each party writes a contract and you select which one will be used. That is evil. That is corrupt. That is outrageous.

I am glad I got my money out. I am glad I got my pension out of their hands. But I am disgusted in this government. Harper likes to laugh and name call referring to everyone who doesn't vote for him as a socialist. I may not be a socialist but Stephen Harper is a devil just like his partners in crime Brian Mulroney and Gordon Campbell. History has recorded that fact.

When will Stephen Harper give up his pension? Stealing pensions from the public purse is more tax than a socialist would ever impose.

The New Evil

2011-06-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver riot and the volunteers who came out the next day to clean up and rebuild are a pretty clear example of good versus evil. Sometimes it's not always that clear. Everyone will pretty much agree theft if wrong and stealing from little old ladies is cruel. That means pension theft is evil.

Yet there's another evil and it represents the death of democracy. Stealing a workers right to free collective bargaining in a free market is evil. I'm not just talking about the right to strike because let's face it, there are essential services out there although Canada Post is no longer one of them. I'm talking about imposing a settlement from a biased arbitrator.

After the election Canada Post's position at the bargaining table changed dramatically. All of a sudden they demanded huge roll backs including more pension theft and they absolutely refused to budge. They knew they could get a Harper majority to legislate a settlement. Locking employees out then legislating them back with an imposed settlement is evil. Completely and utterly.

It's somewhat ironic that Harper's corporate theft sponsors claim everyone that doesn't vote for Harper is a Socialist. It's ironic because he is the one that is stealing from the public purse and abandoning democracy. We're still waiting to get the $2 million back that Brian Mulroney knowingly defrauded the Canadian people out of.

It took two terms for the public to finally see the real character of Harper's hero Brian Mulroney. Mulroney went down in history as a liar, a cheat and a scoundrel. Just like Harper's pal Gordon Campbell. I was amazed it took two terms for the public to finally see Campbell's corruption yet in the end they did and he went out with the lowest approval rating of any Premiere in history.

Perhaps all is not lost. Perhaps it will just take two terms before Harper's hiding reveals his true character and he goes down in history to be an enemy of democracy just like his accomplices Mulroney and Campbell did. After all Stephen Harper is aiding and abetting Canada Post stealing employees' pensions after 16 years of consistent profit and that is evil.

Howe Sound Crest Trail

2011-06-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

Still lots of snow but the trail is finally starting to thaw out.

Christmas Gully is freakin steep. Ya need cramp ons and an ice axe. I forgot mine. I thought the snow would be too soft.

I ended up sliding half way down the gully.

I'll bring them next time.

Canada Post Locks out Employees

2011-06-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

So how does this work? Lock out your employees then get a Harper majority to legislate them back to work with a legislated contract. That seems so Stalin.

Canada Post wanted to steal the employees pension. The employees voted 94.5% against the treasonous plot. Canada Post had an agenda and refused to budge. The Union started rotating strikes. The mail still went through but it was a symbolic gesture objecting to their obsessive roll backs after 16 years of consecutive profit.

Canada Post claimed mail volumes were down and started alternate day delivery. Then they saw this wasn't going to accomplish their goal of stealing the employees pensions so they decided to lock them out and get a legislated settlement allowing them to steal the employees pensions. That is sad.

Then they throw in the we don't want to be a burden on the tax payer lie. Canada Post has made a steady profit for 16 years. Canada Post has not been a burden on the tax payer during that time. Instead, Canada Post has been a cash cow for the government paying record tax and dividends.

Privatizing Canada Post like they want to will lose that tax revenue. Privatizing Canada Post to their friends like the BC Rail scandal will force an increase in taxes to compensate for the lost tax revenue. It's time Canada Post stop lying. Clear cutting profitable jobs from the Canadian economy is a bad precedent for everyone.

Canada Post will profit from labour peace

2011-06-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Those were the immortal words of former CUPW National President Dale Clark: "Canada Post will profit from labour peace." Indeed they have. Yet he was also right when he said just because Canada Post makes a profit, doesn't mean they will be fair and responsible to it's employees. How true.

In times of record profits Canada Post now wants to steal pensions and dramatically roll back wages and benefits for the next generation of employees. That will not help the future Canadian economy. It will only help to clear cut the jobs from Canada and force us to increase taxes to compensate for the lost tax revenue.

So now we hear Canada Post complain that the rotating strike is costing them millions. Then why did they refuse the union's offer to return to work? Because they want to provoke a strike then get back to work legislation and an imposed settlement from a Harper majority. Their con is simply theft driven by lies.

Deepak Chopra and Deepak Patel

2011-06-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

Right after Moya Greene derailed Canada Post Deepak Chopra was hired as CEO of Canada Post February 1st 2011. In less than three months Deepak Chopra contracted out 300 call centre jobs at Antigonish, Fredericton, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa to a company that specializes in outsourcing jobs to India.

If I was from Ireland and if I became CEO of Canada Post then shipped those same jobs to Ireland that would be a conflict of interest. Canada Post is a public service. Yet these corporate entities are determined to remove public accountability entirely from public services and give up our sovereignty to corporate machinations.

We were shocked and ashamed TELUS contracted out Canadian jobs in a time of record profit. Yet Canada Post has made steady increased profits for 16 years. This is not the time to clear cut the Canadian economy.

Moya Greene thinks the public is stupid. Her mandate is to remove public accountability from public services at all costs. She will even go so far as to lay of sales staff so she can complain about lost revenue so she can justify privatization. This is treason.

Moya Greene is a Nutbar

2011-06-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this picture. I did not photoshop it at all. This is what Moya Greene chose to wear and the background she chose to address the world on a Youtube video. It's no wonder mental health is her charity of choice. That's not a sari. It looks like the living room drapes. This isn't the Sound of Music. It's the sound of one hand clapping. Moya Greene giving herself a standing ovation.

The Royal Mail is preparing to slash nearly 40,000 jobs over the next five years as it seeks to combat the inexorable decline in postal volumes and privatisation. That's one in four workers.

The postal operator has already agreed a three-year deal with the Communication Workers Union to cut headcount by 8,000 a year until 2013. But Moya Greene, who became chief executive last July after leaving Canada Post, is expected to drive through a further 15,000 by 2016.

Come on England! That woman is a freaking nut bar! Look at what she did to Bombardier! Look at the mess she created with Canada Post then ran away from.

David Cameron is a psychopath. Privatizing the Queens mail? Have you no self respect? Liberating all public programs from State control? That is the Devil's lie so it is. Removing public accountability and handing over our own sovereignty to multinational corporations?

Where on earth is Winston Churchill because this is a worse assault on British Sovereignty than Adolf Hitler. Only this assault is a treasonous plot from within. Maggie what have we done? What happened to the post war dream? There are two suns in the sunset alright and one of them is England. Rise up my English Rose. Remember remember the fifth of November. Are we not King's men?

God Save the Queen. Help Stop Moya Greene.

Ulster Says No to Moya Greene.

Rise up Rose, Thistle and Dragon. Wave your Flag.

Canada Post Employees Strike Back

2011-06-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Canada Post is determined to steal the employees pensions and sick leave and completely wreck havoc on the work floor. As a result the employees voted 94.5% to reject their dastardly scheme.

Nevertheless, the Union has been determined to negotiate and has kept putting off a full strike. Yet Canada Post won't budge. They rather lie in press releases and send fake business reps to try and sway public opinion to believe stealing pensions is good for the country. That is sad.

As a result the Union has finally served it's 72 hour strike notice. It will be rotational strikes starting midnight tonight in Winnipeg for 24 hours then rotate somewhere else. This means the mail will still continue and the rotational strike is more of a symbolic exercise to show how the employees not just the Union are opposed to such drastic roll backs.

The declining mail volume is a fallacy. Routes are structured by mail volume. If the mail volume of a route goes down, that route becomes longer so the employee does more work to make up for it.

The Union chose Winnipeg as the place to start the rotational strike because that was the source of the pilot project which has destroyed the profitable functioning postal system and replaced it with absolute chaos. Moncton was the next place they tried to implement that insane system. However, since the drastic changes resulted in chaos they lost an arbitration which halted the insanity temporarily.

Now Canada Post wants to change key words in the existing contract to allow them to implement that chaos unilaterally and the employees have voted 94.5% against it. The union has agreed to deliver welfare and pension cheques during the labour dispute.

Canada Post: Still lying after all these years

2011-05-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

I was always shocked at the outright lies Canada Post got away with telling the media. Canada Post would say something absolutely false and the media would repeat it simply because Canada Post said it and there was absolutely no consequences whatsoever for lying to the media.

Evey round of contract negotiations Canada Post would send out a press release and say that horrible union has so many demands it would cost us millions of dollars to pay for all their demands. This round they are saying it again only that perpetual compulsive lie has become so absurd it is now offensive.

Canada Post is Demanding the employees take huge roll backs again. They already stole the employees severance pay. Now they want to steal their pensions and their sick leave. That is offensive. Someone in some office had the bright idea that if they did away with pensions and sick leave they would save a lot of money. So here's the math. Canada Post makes an absurd and offensive demand saying that they want to steal sick time, steal pensions and greatly roll back wages for new employees. They calculate how much money their roll backs could save then they tell the media that the Union's offer of maintaining the status quo will cost them $1.4 billion. Billion!?

The Union wants the status quo. The Corporation wants huge roll backs. The Union objects and Canada Post tries and makes it sound like the Union is asking for more things that will cost over a billion of dollars. That is an absurd lie and because it rationalizes their plan to steal sick leave and steal pensions it is an offensive lie.

What has Moya Greene really done?

Winnipeg Pilot Project disaster

Moncton Arbitration Decision

Catherine not too Swift

Put on your Game Face

CEOs got a big raise; how about you?

2011-05-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Coming out of a bruising recession, the average CEO in the U.S. got a 24% pay raise. The average American worker? Just 3.3%. What does the widening pay gap mean for investors?

Catherine not too Swift

2011-05-21T13:46:00.002-07:00

Well, Catherine not too Swift from the Empire Strikes Back Club strikes again. She wrote a letter to the new CEO of Canada Post telling her to save money by stealing sick time and stealing pensions. Brilliant. Pensions are sacred. Stealing pensions is wrong bobblehead.

Catherine the Wise vs Catherine not too Swift. Two different worlds. Catherine Austin Fitts is good at business. Catherine not too Swift is not. Catherine not too Swift is a bobblehead scoundrel who wants to steal public pensions. Catherine Austin Fitts is a saint who wants to save the economy.

Hemlock Valley

2011-05-21T13:46:00.001-07:00

I didn't realize how close Hemlock is to Harrison. You can get a glimpse of Harrison from Hemlock just like you can get a glimpse of the Indian Arm from Seymour.

They're a little bit more Nazi on Hemlock about hiking around on "Controlled Recreational Areas." Every other local mountain has BC Parks trails you can hike on during the off season. I'm not sure why I would buy a home on Hemlock if I wasn't allowed to hike around. Kinda silly really.

Cypress from Jericho Beach

2011-05-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Cypress from Jericho Beach yesterday. You can see # 1 is Black Mountain where they held some Olympic events last year. # 2 is Mount Strachan the other ski hill with the Sky Chair that gives you a great view of the Lions and Howe Sound. #3 is Hollyburn Ridge that you have to snowshoe up. Many years ago they used to have a ferry to west van and people had to hike up to the chair lift. In the /60's it was very popular. Cypress was full of cabins made by the public. Some still remain today but the property tax is crazy and there is still no electricity or running water in the cabins.

Ski to Sea

2011-04-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Fresh snow on the local mountains again this morning. Since the ski area is closed now I cut across the ski hill to the Howe Sound Crest trail. All the trail markers are under 10 feet of snow. Even the map shelter at the base is buried.

The way up was magnificent. Not much visibility at the top the the way up was worth it.

Then instead of waiting in rush hour I went over the White Cliff. Now that is what I'm talking about. The best things in life are still free.

Put on your game face

2011-04-27T18:48:00.001-07:00

Nobody likes violence and I think riots over hockey games is stupid. Yet there is anti scab legislation in BC that is not enforced when a federal company goes on strike and that is wrong. Scab labour causes violence and is no different than breaking into someone's home and stealing the food off their table. It is theft and creates a powerful knee jerk response. The anti scabbing laws in BC need to be upheld during the next postal strike.

Warriors Come Out to Play ...

Warriors Come Out to Play ...

Warriors Come Out to Play ...

RBH under attack

Peaceful civil disobedience

AFI antagonism against TELUS workers

Canada Post Contracts out Call Centres

2011-04-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well this is kind of a surprise. Canada Post just gave out Easter lay off notices for employees in call centres at Winnipeg, Ottawa, Fredericton and Antigonish. The work is going to a private company called Minacs that specializes in outsourcing and off shore call centres.

Bruce Simmonds, the CEO of call centre company Minacs stepped aside at Minacs into an advisory role in 2007, the year after his brother filed an application against Minacs. Janet Ecker, a former provincial finance minister for the Harris governement and a Minacs director, is one of the individuals named in the suit.

Minacs specialty is "Outsourcing Business Solutions." They're full of BS alright. They reduce call centres in Canada and then shut them down. Moya Greene would be proud. I thought we were looking at anti terrorist legislation in Canada? This corporate terrorism kills Canadian jobs.

Aditya Birla Nuvo is a $24-billion conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. The larger firm bought 90 per cent of Minacs, founded by the late Elaine Minacs, in 2006, and established it as a subsidiary of the larger company.

Deepak Patel joined Aditya Birla Minacs as the CEO in September 2008. Aditya Birla Minacs acquires UK based Compass BPO. That would be Business Process Outsourcing in the UK. So Moya Greene goes to England to privatize and destroy the Royal Mail while the company Canada Post sells it's call centres to is an outsourcing company in India that is now outsourcing jobs in the UK. Why does that not surprise me?

Looks like more public demonstrations are on the way over this kind of corporate terrorism. No wonder Canada Post just had a 94.5% strike vote. Maximize Revenue and Minimize Costs while you throw customer service out the window.

The outsourcing industry can be a catalyst for this new stage of India's growth. But what about customer service and the economies of Canada, US and the UK? Stocks rise when jobs are outsourced because investors get their services for less money. Yet that destroys the country's economy and tax revenue where the revenue is taken from and the jobs stolen. This is why we need public accountability in a democratic system. The large corporations do not care about destroying local economies if they can make a quick buck.

The Easter Rising

2011-04-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves in the stall and mount up with wings as eagles.

You are an eagle. Spread your wings and fly.

Bowen Island Lookout

2011-04-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

Went for a short snowshoe to the Bowen Island Lookout on Cypress.

This is Bowen Island.

The far island is that other island I paddled to from Lion's bay in the summer to catch the sunrise behind the Lions.

Eagle vs Heron in Stanley Park

2011-04-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

Kind of a sad tale of nature's reality in Stanley park. Since they got rid of the zoo at Stanley Park there has been a nesting site for rare Blue Herons just outside the Aquarium. It's been there for years.

Well now the eagles are raiding the nests on a daily basis eating the eggs and eating their young. It's kid of just part of nature but it seems unfortunate that the eagles are raiding on a daily basis and keep coming back. Soon those herons will be extinct.

Normally when the eagles come the herons take to the air but they are finally starting to fight back. The blue herons don't have the long sharp bill the regualr herons do so it's pecking isn't as effective.

In Surrey the crows all gang up on the Eagles and keep dive bombing them over and over again. They do the same with hawks that steal their eggs and young. The herons need to get together and gang up on the eagles or they'll be come extinct.

Kind like us joining together to fight corporate greed. Kinda makes ya wanna take a sling shot and throw rocks at the eagles to protect the herons there.

Canadian Postal Workers 94.5% strike vote

2011-04-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

The media reports that Canadian Postal Workers "may" go on strike after the results of a 94.5% strike vote. This clearly shows us two things: The employees at Canada Post are not happy with the unprecedented roll backs the Corporation demands they absorb and the Union is still being very reasonable about the disagreement. They still want a negotiated settlement.

You always get some people that will vote to strike and some that will vote not to strike no matter what the issues are on the table. A 94.5% strike vote is huge. The union states the concerns are: "The corporation wants to pay new employees 30 percent less. It wants to reduce their benefits, weaken their job security and provide an inferior pension. It also wants to attack retiree benefits, sick leave and turn back the clock on many other contract provisions."

So once again we have 16 years of consistent profit and huge roll backs from the Corporation just because. One of the pinnacle problems is route measurement. Moya Greene's last act of terrorism at Canada Post before she left to destroy the Royal Mail in England was to turn a profit making dividend paying company into one that was $2.5 billion in debt. Instantly.

Borrowing a huge amount of money to buy machines that would greatly increase the workload and eliminate a huge number of positions in an economic recession. That is Moya's Madness. Creating more unemployment during a recession is not wise. Neither is throwing away tax revenue but what can I say, that's Moya Greene.

The problem is the insane way Canada Post is insisting the new rules be followed to implement the new sortation machines. The new rules are absolutely insane and have completely wrecked havoc in Winnipeg which was the test model for the new system.

The Union won a grievance in Moncton stopping the insane rules. It comes as no surprise the Corporation is now demanding key words in the collective agreement be changed so they can reverse the Moncton decision and implement their insane rules just because. Destroying a good job and destroying a good pension is bad business.

99 Red Balloons

2011-04-18T00:41:00.001-07:00

Heard an old song today and reflected on life. The German lyrics are slightly different than the English version. We all make choices. I made mine and I'm OK with it. I said what I had to say. I'm feeling a little James Brown about it all. Let it rock.

The Vince Ready Decision

2011-04-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Between the TWU and George Doubt and Sherryl Anderson

I’m not going to post the decision in it’s entirety but I will quote it and comment on it. Most of the members of the TWU have seen or have access to the decision.

Let me begin by stating that Vince Ready is the most respected arbitrator in British Columbia. He’s not some fly by night wing nut. He has a renowned reputation for being fair and insightful and has been asked to mediate some very significant disputes.

Having said that I was surprised to hear he was arbitrating Sherry Anderson’s case with George Doubt and the TWU. Once again he proved to be fair and insightful.

I will note that the last paragraph of page 22 of the decision clearly states: “There is nothing in the terms of reference in these proceedings or in the original Decision of Final Resolve that prevents Anderson from seeking office in the future.”

You can’t get any clearer than that. Sherryl was never terminated from working at TELUS. As an employee at TELUS she is still entitled to run for office. Page 24 of the Ready decision states:

“I find that high-handed conduct is a good description for the way in which Doubt and other members of the Executive Council acting on behalf of the TWU blocked Anderson’s right to a fair hearing. .. the physical and mental distress Anderson experienced as a result of the Decision of Final Resolve was prolonged and worsened by the continuing injustice perpetuated against her.”

Page 25 states: “the TWU breached its duty of care to Anderson when it decided to remove her from office in response to Doubt’s complaint and contrary to the Constitution. It is evident that the blatant manipulation of the Harassment Policy in order to oust Anderson from her position caused her a great deal of pain and suffering.”

As a result Sherryl was awarded tort damagers for negligent infliction of mental suffering and aggravated damages for the manner of the breach and the manner of the tort.

“In adopting the Decision of Final Resolve, the TWU Executive Council ignored both the Court’s decision in Bell, supra, and the Constitution. This time they used the Harassment Policy to remove an elected officer before the end of their term. The abuse of process to which they subjected Anderson is deserving of harsh condemnation. This Union must realize that its elected officers ‘…are not tissues to be used up and then thrown out at a whim…’ Consequently punitive damages were awarded as well.

Finally the Union’s response to Anderson’s requests for representation was also disturbing. Anderson sought to have a Union member represent her as was the practice in internal disputes. The Union put time and effort, including its legal resources, into ensuring that Anderson could not have the representation of choice.” As a result Sherryl was awarded her legal costs as well which she had to front out of her own pocket.

There are two issues on the table. They knowingly violated the Constitution and ironically abused the Harassment Policy to unlawfully fire her from her position on the executive as Secretary Treasurer in charges of finances. Then they continued to railroad her and continued to perpetuate injustice against her. Just like they did with Lila Hacket.

Lila and Sherryl were loyal stewards of the Unions finances. In a very short time all the loans from other Unions incurred during the 2005 labour dispute were paid in full. Once those loans were paid, many members wanted the temporary increase in Union dues to be repealed. The delegates were convinced to keep the temporary dues increase so the Union could “rebuild the war chest.” I.E. replenish the Strike Fund.

When Lila and Sherry saw that the Executive were not using the temporary dues increase to replenish the strike fund they expressed their concern and were harassed for doing so. As soon as the loans were paid the EC were like kids in a candy store wasting money in all manner of insanity. A large portion of the expenses were for lawyers to silence and sue their own members.

Sherry couldn’t put up with their harassment any more and on April 1 2009 went on medical leave. While on medical leave she saw from E-mail and EC minutes that the EC was making expenditures and reassignments that she thought would be a concern to the members. After she sent an e-mail notifying the members, George Doubt filed a harassment complaint against her as well as Lila Hacket and Harmony Jackson on April 26 2009. Harmony was one of the Brave 66.

As soon as Sherryl went on Medical leave they attacked Lila. They punished her politically with reassignments then they outright unlawfully fired her. Their harassment was taking a toll on Lila as well and she took the buyout and left.

Realizing Lila and Sherryl were already under a great deal of stress and that their cases were proceeding through the courts, I did not want to prejudice their cases. Yet the members needed to know what kind of insane injustices were going on at Lane Street. That’s when I did the photo shoot with the anchovies and fruit loops. Without going into detail I simply recorded my dissent and said what they did to Lila and Sherryl was wrong. The Ready decision has now confirmed that. Tamara Marshall’s bobble head rationalizations for their abusive and illegal conduct was shocking and disappointing.

The real issue on the table is finances. As soon as Tamara took over as acting secretary treasurer, the finances have gone down the toilet. Last convention she pounded the pulpit and said the rumors of the Union being in financial trouble were false. Shortly thereafter she sent out a letter saying the union was in financial trouble and needed to cut costs and raise dues again. That gave rise to her indisputable credibility gap.

This convention needs to deal with the TWU’s lack of financial control since Sherry and Lila were ousted. I believe Sherry should run again for the position and I think the members and delegates should support her. When she was there things were fine. When she was kicked out things were not.

The biggest expense and most outrageous injustice in the amount of money the TWU is spending on lawyers to sue their own members for political purposes which clearly is unlawful. This convention needs to cut off the TWU’s finances for a new higher priced lawyer to deal with Lila’s complaint.

The Geiger-Adams decision on behalf of Lila simply adjourned the EC’s application to dismiss her complaint. The TWU applied to have her complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal dismissed and they lost. Her complaint will now proceed. Lila is representing herself. There is no reason they can’t do the same. There is no reason they have to retain a new higher priced lawyer to argue her complaint. Settling it would cost less and be in everyone’s best interest.

And just for the record, I have to take back what I said about Stewart Little being a Bad Ref. Master Stewart knew the dangers of empowering Darth Sideous and we had no idea he could have been so evil. Circumstances don’t make the man or woman, they reveal him to himself and to everyone else in due time. No lie can live forever.

Cherry Blossoms and Fresh Snow

2011-04-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Cherry Blossoms are starting to fall and we're still getting fresh snow on the local mountains. All is not lost.

Vancouver is having it's 125th birthday. It's hard to conceive that Vancouver is only 125 years old. That's nothing for a city. Back in Egypt or Ireland cities are thousands of years old. It's amazing how recently Vancouver was discovered and inhabited.

In such a short time the price of land has gone become so expensive in such a short time it's frightening. It really didn't take us long to screw things up royally. Yet it's nice to know that the best things in life are still free. A fresh snowfall. A new sunrise. A walk in the rain. A quiet sunset. These are a few of my favorite things.

The Trumpet

2011-04-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

On a lighter note, I just came back from a college Jazz concert. There was one trumpet player that reminded me of Greg Hopkins, a very talented trumpet player who can work magic with that instrument.

When you hear the word trumpet, various images comes to mind. And I saw another angel... ancient long trumpets used in revelations to usher in the next prophetic stage of the Apocalypse. They used to have long plastic trumpets at sporting events when I was a kid.

Military Bugles are used as a wake up call or to sound attack or retreat as well as a sacred last post memorial. Of course trumpets can be part of the wind ensemble of a symphony too. Yet the most dominant image I have is the jazz trumpet. Calm, confident, magical.

Music is good for the soul. It expresses our joy and our sadness. Our dreams and passions as well as our grief and sorrow. My father always used to say feelings are neither right or wrong they just are. People have a right to their feelings. How some people express their feelings can be right or wrong. Expressing our feelings through music is most appropriate.

9/11 Mastermind

2011-04-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

The news claims that Professed 9/11 mastermind to be tried at Gitmo. They are referring to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed not Osama bin Laden. Khalid is from Pakistan not Afghanistan. After being tortured in Guantanamo bay he confessed to the 9/11 attacks as well as several other bombings. Aside from the fact that I think it is a bogus confession, the point is if he's the 9/11 mastermind, then why did we invade Afghanistan? For the oil or the opium?

A Sad Day for Islam

2011-04-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Well today is a sad day for Islam as false Muslims mock the Prophet Mohamed with their murderous actions in the third day of riots in Afghanistan. It all started with a false Christian burning a copy of the Koran. That was a very unchristian and disrespectful act. Yet the response has been absolutely demonic. Protesters murdered 20 people and beheaded 2 of the victims.

Please be advised that Allah never, ever said to do this. Two wrongs do not make a right and no one in their right mind thinks this kind of over reaction has anything to do with Islam. Their actions are burring the Koran over and over again.

It is sickening to see how psychopaths can distort a religion into something so evil. Yes burring the Koran was wrong but committing murder is worse. If one Muslim committed a crime, it would be absurd for me or anyone else to blame all Muslims for that offence.

The Americans take great offense when someone burns their flag. To the Americans their flag is sacred. They don't let it touch the ground. Burring their flag is offensive. Likewise burning the Holy book of any religion is even worse. It is tasteless and disrespectful.

Yet look at the psychotic over reaction. That is unGodly. In response they burned an effigy of Obama and danced around a fire hitting it. That is also disrespectful. You earn respect by showing respect not by abusing respect. Beheading an innocent person is barbaric. When you start acting like a savage your lose claim to anything Godly. There is nothing holy in committing such atrocities. God is great but murder is not.

All the riots will do is turn the world against them as the public says OK, nuke 'em. Insane people like Sarah Palin would love to start another Crusade. In my mind that would be a real tragedy yet these kind of insane actions beg for it.

It does make us wonder why on earth we are trying to help these people. Look how they treat their women. A Prophet once said "By their fruits ye shall know them." We will know a true religion from a false religion by the actions of it's followers. Right now the actions we are seeing are evil.

If someone burned a Bible, people would be offended but no one would commit murder and start beheading people. To me, those two different responses says a lot about the respective religions. One is a peaceful religion, the other is not.

Obviously we can't blame all Muslims for the actions of a few but it's more than a few and their behaviour stains Islam with innocent blood and mocks the Prophet Mohamed far worse than any editorial cartoon.

I remember the riots that occurred after a Danish newspaper printed a political cartoon about a suicide bomber. The rumour that was spread was that the cartoon mocked the Prophet Mohamed when it did no such thing. It mocked a murderer who thought Allah would reward him for committing murder. It mocked the idea of a suicide bomber thinking God would reward him with seven virgins to be married in heaven for blowing up innocent people. Ya see infidels think that concept is satanic and the actions of those psychopaths that perpetuate that kind of violence proves it.

A Sad day for Ireland

2011-04-02T23:11:00.000-07:00

Today is a very dark day for Ireland so it is. For all of Ireland. A Catholic was killed by a Catholic in Omagh, Northern Ireland. The press is claiming it was the IRA because the IRA stated it would target Irish Catholics who join the police force. This has broken a long seize fire from the IRA.

Ya know a lot of people claim to represent the IRA or the RA for short. Tell me this wasn't the Provos. Tell me it was the Sticks or the INLA like the wack job that kidnapped a dentist in Dublin many years ago and sent his fingers to his family with the ransom note. That evil act had nothing to do with freedom. It was a direct violation of the Irish Proclamation as was this murder.

Give your head a shake man. You just killed one of our own. I know Omagh has always been a pretty Republican town so to speak. I don't know if they're Sticks or Provos. But I do know this murder was wrong.

For years, Ireland has refused to recognize British rule. Bobby Sands suffered in H Block and refused to wear a prison uniform because he wasn't a criminal he was a political prisoner. I've heard stories from former inmates who claimed they would sing a hymn at the end of the day at Long Kesh that was the most heavenly thing they had ever experienced.

Booby Sands was an elected MP but refused to take his seat in a British Parliament. Bobby Sands and the H Block hunger strikers were noble soldiers so they were. Yet they fought for a cause and that cause was self rule not self destruction.

Ian Paisley, the devil himself, finally changed his ways and agreed to sit down with old Gerry Adams from Sein Fein. Progress was made at the peace talks and elected MPs in Northern Ireland finally started to take their seats in British Parliament. This was not apostatising from the original cause so it wasn't.

50 % of the people in Northern Ireland don't want to be a part of Ireland so they don't. 50% of the people in Northern Ireland want to be a part of England so they do. That makes the struggle very problematic so it does.

The struggle has always been one for freedom and democracy. You've got to support the democratic will of the people. The Irish Proclamation reminds us cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Differences carefully fostered by an alien government. Killing our own would clearly fall into that trap. I want to know who did this. We know it wasn't the Irish Republican Brotherhood. We know it wasn't the Fianna Fáil. Their noble ghosts form the banshee who wail and mourn over this inhumane murder.

What are ya gonna do now? Kill Gery Adams for taking his elected seat in Parliament? Don't be a fool man. The American Revolution was all about taxation without representation. You have representation if you will but stand up and take it. If Northern Ireland was a free state you'd need some kind of police force. Don't tell me the brethren selling crack will be the police force. I think not.

If Northern Ireland was to become free, despite 50% of the population who already think it is, your would need some kind of police force. Wake up and smell the coffee man. Times have changed. The earth yearns for democracy not for murder and oppression. Ireland has had enough of that from foreign oppressors. Ireland doesn't need that from within.

Don't kill an elected MP for taking office. Taking office is the way to make change and that is the way to self government just like the Free State was a stepping stone to the Irish Republic so it was and don't piss on Michael Collins grave for that. He set the south free. Because of what he did, the free state became the Irish Republic.

Don't tell me Gerry Adams is selling out because he's standing up and taking his seat in Parliament. We can't sit on our knees and wipe shit on the walls forever so we can't. It's time to stand up and take what is rightfully ours. Killing our own is not the way to do it.

Ian Paisley used to burn the flag of the Irish Republic and say "Ulster says No to a United Ireland." Burning the tricolour was an offence to peace between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland but that is what they did every July 12 so they did. They burned the flag and pissed on the dream so they did.

Well I say to you today that this evil act has pissed on the flag and pissed on the graves of the noble signers of the Irish Proclamation who gave their lives for the cause and sealed that proclamation with their blood.

"We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God. Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, in humanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called."

Murdering your own who stands up to take what is rightfully theirs is a cowardly inhumane act that violates the Irish Proclamation and pisses on the graves of those noble soldiers who sealed that pledge with their blood.

Who did this murder? I want to know and I want you to know that if Ireland is to move forward by sacrificing for the common good, these murders must stop and we must embrace the democratic process or it will be more than Banshee that will me coming for ye. Mark my word.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Turns out it was a splinter of a splitter group - Oglaigh na heireann which broke off from the "Real IRA" which wasn't the Real IRA at all. The "Real IRA" were wackos who broke off of the IRA and didn't want peace. Oglaigh na heireann broke off of the break aways. Now surely the Real RA IE. the Provos, will take care of that unsightly splinter. Nobody in West Belfast supports these new wackos.

Huge rally in London

2011-03-30T21:08:00.001-07:00

Saturday there was a huge rally in London protesting Cameron's Cuts. Organizers stopped counting at 250,000 participants. There are two points I will make. The rally was hugely successful. It was a peaceful public protest that included families and children. There was a reason for the rally. There was a significant purpose that many people took to the street to voice their opinion which I will expand upon. Pensioners and families with children protesting cuts to pensions and education to start.

The other point is the fact that a small break off group of anarchists and who knows who else, seized the opportunity to vandalize and clash with police later in the day and later in the evening at Trafalgar square. The initial peaceful rally that had massive attendance was at Hyde Park with a march to parliament. It was the largest demonstration in England in decades. That means the public has real concerns about the direction the government has pledged to go in. In a democratic society, the government listens to the will of the voters. Dictatorships don't.

I will emphasize that the spin off violence is suspect. Police participated in the rally protesting cuts to policing. Why would the police clash with the police. Sure there are some yahoos that feed off the adrenaline and love to vandalize and loot for any reason. Yet there is without question another very real possibility. There is no doubt that the political extremists who want to privatize everything under the sun and completely remove all public accountability whatsoever would hire people to vandalize things and create violence in the attempt to destroy the credibility of the real protest and distract the world from the real issues that are on the table.

MI 6 were caught doing it in Iraq. Twice. I personally have no doubt in my mind whatsoever, that it is well within the MI 6 mentality to hire masked thugs to create violence to take away from the very serious issues that are on the table. They also did it with the help of the Americans in Iran under the guise of Operation Ajax. That I might add was for oil.

So, setting the spin off violence aside, be it childish brats or paid thugs, let us look clearly at the real issues that have given rise to England’s largest public protest in decades.

Cuts to Pensions

Cuts to pensions is one thing. Deregulating pensions and removing public accountability is another. All too often we have seen many pensions go down the toilet as soon as they are deregulated and the public accountability has been removed. Large corporations covet the ability to utilize pension money and gamble it away in the chance of getting a larger return. Large corporations should not be allowed to get their greedy little mitts on public pensions. The motivation for the deregulation of pensions and removing public accountability has nothing to do with reducing the deficit. It is just plain bad business.

National Debt and The Almighty Corporation

Now this brings us the the most obvious point. Cameron claims he wants to reduce the deficit in four years making all these trade cuts and more frighteningly the complete removal of public accountability from everything and handing all power and control of every conceivable social program into the hands of the greed driven almighty corporation.

Some corporations profit from war. Some corporations profit from oil. The oil companies have been responsible for many wars. Taking tax dollars away from pensions, schools and hospitals to fund the war for oil is just plain wrong.

Let me emphasise that the goals of eliminating the debt is not a bad thing. Pimping that goal to steal tax dollars to fund oil wars and corporate greed is morally wrong. Of course we need a military. The unlawful invasion of Iraq cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. That invasion was based on a lie - Weapons of Mass Destruction. MI 6 were caught red handed giving false information to the media about Iraq's WMD under Operation Mass Appeal to justify the invasion of the oil rich nation.

John Reese from Stop the War Coalition is right. "I think a very big part of the problem that the British government has with it's deficit is it's continual addition to war. If we were to scrap the Trident Nuclear Weapons renewal, if we were to stop the wars in Afghanistan and the attack in Libya we would have a very large portion of the British government's deficit dealt with in a single blow. He has a good point. Yes we need a national defense but we don't need to spend huge amounts of tax dollars on military equipment to invade countries for their oil in a time of peace.

Education

Removing public accountability from the school system is unwise. "Liberating" all of the schools from state control is the most absurd sip of poison kool aid I have ever heard. Cameron is using the reduce the deficit lie to hand over public accountability to the almighty corporation to do with it what that greed driven machine wants.

Public Accountability

Canadian fugitive Moya Greene was hired to destroy the Royal Mail with her bizarre mandate. If you privatize a public corporation, the ceo all of a sudden stands to make a much larger salary than the ceos in public crown corporation. Moya Greene's mandate is to remove public accountability because she claims the private sector thinks the public is stupid. Where have we heard that before?

Save the Dream, Stop Moya Greene.

The Libya Lie

2011-03-19T15:26:00.001-07:00

Stephen Harper sends Canadian jets to Libya to enforce a cease fire in their civil war. As soon as that happens, Libya announces a cease fire. THEN the Western forces start bombing Libya and THEIR offensive begins. What's wrong with this picture?

I've compared Libya to Saudi Arabia. Why would we support a revolution against Gaddafi but not a revolution against the Monarchy in Saudi Arabia? Because we like the Saudi King and he lets the US have troops there? Because we don't like Gaddafi since he refuses foreign ownership of his country's oil? This is so wrong.

David Cameron said he was afraid they would lose the opportunity to strike in Libya. He was right as soon as the ceasefire started there was no need to bomb Libya. Unless of course they ceased the opportunity to start bombing Libya after the ceasefire already started and hope the media forgets that small detail.

Giving Stephen Harper a majority government is just plain wrong. It diminishes us as Canadians. Operation Libya is only about oil. As soon as the Western Allies started bombing Gaddafi's forces, rebels took the oil town of Ras Lanouf and the next day the rebels started shipping oil.

Canadian Postal workers strike Vote

2011-03-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

My father used to say there are three kinds of people in the world. Those who watch the parade, those who join in the parade and those who don't even know a parade is on. I am shocked to hear that workers on the floor have no idea what the issues are on the table involved in the up coming strike vote. I am not surprised in the least to find out the issues on the table are very serious.

However, when the members are told the Union recommends something, that really doesn't tell them anything because some do and some don't have confidence in what the Union has to say. When the members see pictures or video clips of people running around with signs that say Solidarity, that really does nothing to tell them just what issues are really on the table and how serious the situation really is. How about some signs that say Job Security, Protecting Pensions or Protecting the Future Generation.

Let's mention the word Winnipeg. Most Postal Workers in Canada have heard that the new route measurement implementation in Winnipeg have been a disaster. Most realize that when those changes come to their work floor, they're screwed.

Many have heard that when they tried to implement the same thing in Moncton that they did in Winnipeg, it was also disastrous but the Union won an arbitration that throws out the new restructuring of letter carrier walks that led to the problems there. Unfortunately as we all know the Corporation will just create another new way that will need to be addressed in the courts. The problem is the screwy way these new line of travel machines work and the insane way they demand the work be done to utilize those new machines. There has to be another way.

So when thinking about the up coming Strike Vote and what issues are on the table, let's think about Winnipeg and Moncton then read the fine print in the Corporation's global offer. Winnipeg was a disaster. Moncton was a disaster. Moncton won an arbitration throwing out their new way of restructuring routes. Ya think maybe the Corporation wants to change a few key words to prevent a court from stopping them from implementing their insane route measurement system and wrecking havoc on the work floor for generations to come?

CPC wants the ability to impose an interim standard when there is no agreement between the parties. The ability to impose an interim standard. When we have seen what they did to Winnipeg and Moncton that is a very scary thing indeed. The Corporation should not be able to randomly and arbitrarily throw our the Route Measurement system and create whatever they want whenever they want. That demand is absolutely insane.

CPC is attempting to impose a multiple bundle delivery method. Notice they said impose and notice they said multiple bundle delivery method. They didn't just say two pull method which is bad enough they said impose a multiple bundle delivery system which means not only are you juggling your flats and letters separately, but each individual flyer that they aren't letting you stuff or run in to your case. It gets worse.

The turn around mail that doesn't get sorted by the new machines in time. You have to manually sort that into the case you share with other routes and carry that separately was well. God help you if you dare run your line of travel mail into the case with your turn around mail. If you do that or criss cross a street you will be fired. That is insane. They won't even let carriers help with efficient ideas on how to make their stupid machines work. They are determined to force a multiple bundle of insanity upon us.

Don't forget Moya Greene's STD's that are still lingering after her departure. She did away with sick time and implemented the Short Term Disability program where you go on EI if you're sick and you can't accumulate sick leave credits. She stole PSAC's sick leave as well as managements. If CUPW keeps their sick leave managers will get theirs back. Don't you think the managers are now cheering on the bargaining unit hoping they keep their sick leave so they can get their back? Beware of Moya Greene's STDs.

Pensions. Changing the formula for pensions is serious. Time in plus years of service used to equal 85. They want to change that. They also want to reduce wages, job security and pensions for new employees. Don't sell out the future generations just because you want to make a quick buck before you retire. This is all about protecting jobs for our children and the next generation. That is what this is all about.

I encourage everyone to find out what the issues are because as we all know, this is important. Lead, follow or get out of the way.

Finian's Guinness Chocolate Truffles

2011-03-17T21:43:00.001-07:00

OK This is a work in progress. My daughter tells me she found a Guinness Chocolate truffle recipe on Youtube and sent it to me. I thought it sounded interesting since Guinness and chocolate are my two favorite things. I think it would go great together. Better than peanut butter and chocolate.

Only the recipe called for Ginger syrup and ginger snap crackers and I don't like ginger very much and didn't think it would go that well. So we made a few changes. I tried molasses and that sucked. The taste wasn't right and the proportions weren't right either. To wet and runny.

If you put that much Guinness in it, you're going to need a thickening agent. Off hand I can think of three. Flour, corn starch or gelatin / aspic. Gelatin would work well in a mouse you pour in a glass and let set but it wouldn't be right for this because you can't work with it. Flour's out because you have to cook the flour taste out and that's not going to happen so I tried cornstarch. I almost had it perfect but then it got too think and I added a bit more cream and it broke. I'm still working on the proportions.

I found this other recipe that used corn syrup as a thickening agent and used brandy. Sounded great but I thought I could substitute the Brandy with the Guinness and it should be about right. I'll have to perfect the proportions. For the covering we have melted white chocolate rolled in roasted ground walnuts.

St Patrick's day

2011-03-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Happy St Patrick's day. Vancouver doesn't have a lot of history or a lot of traditions. Not like other places. I always say Vancouver's history is the heritage people bring with them when they come here. St Patrick's Day is a fun tradition. If I had know how easy potato bread and soda bread was to make I wouldn't have waited 20 years to make it.

Potato bread is just mashed potatoes without the milk and some flour mixed in. Roughly 2 parts potatoes to 1 part flour depending on the consistency you prefer. Once you mix the warm potatoes with the flour kneed it a few times and roll it out to 1/2 inch think. Then I cut it in squares or rectangles and fry it both sides on the grill. Because I made it a bit thicker than normal I finished them of in the oven.

Soda bread is basically a butter milk backing soda biscuit just a different shape. Usually it's a round loaf with a scored X on the top. I rolled it out into just under 1 inch think then cut them into rectangular portions. Baked them for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, the recipe said 425 but I thought that was a bit high. When they had cooled a bit I cut the top and bottom crust off and sliced them in half making them thinner. You can fry them in oil for an Ulster fry with potato bread, bacon and sausage. I'll pass on the blood pudding.

Traditions are a good thing. Ramadan is a nice tradition. One culture's traditions don't threaten or inhibit another culture's traditions. Diversity is a good thing. When I was young my parents took me to see Fiddler on the Roof at a live play in Vancouver. That play is all about tradition.

Music is a nice tradition. Today I was listening to some of Mozart's concertos for the violin. What a wonderful instrument. When my son played in the Youth Symphony I was amazed to see a handful of wind instruments with a sea of young kids kicking ass on the strings playing difficult classical pieces. Now that is a symphony I thought. The violins, bases, cellos and violas enhance the wind instruments and make a symphony much fuller than just a wind ensemble.

I even like a little TSO. Mixing classics with the modern in a talented remix. It reminds me of how the Scorpions performed Rock you like a Hurricane with the Philharmonic orchestra in Berlin. I was amazed at how well the two different styles blended and complemented each other. One didn't over power the other.

It's also amazing to see the versatility of the violin when used as a fiddle to play traditional Irish music like in Riverdance. The electric violin is pretty awesome too. Indeed music is a good tradition. Fuse rocks.

Finian Escapes like a Bat out of Hell

2011-03-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here's another epiphany. I was really upset about "losing" the TELUS trial in San Fran and caved into their stupid demand of destroying all the copies I had of TELUS Idol but then it finally dawned on me. I didn't really lose the case.

From the very beginning I was ready to agree to a consent order letting them have TELUS Idol as long as I could get all the other videos they had taken off YouTube back on. The ones they claimed copyright to but had no possible copyright to. Like home videos of the picketline and songs written and performed by members on the picket line. They had 23 videos taken off YouTube not 11.

Their San Fransisco lawyer wouldn't agree to a consent order so we proceeded to trial. Obviously they were initially trying to scare me. The consequence for copyright infringement could be a fine of up to $500,000.00 as well as imprisonment. The fine for a Corporation who gets caught committing copyfraud, claiming copyright to things they don't have copyright on to censor the Internet is $2,000.00. Absolutely nothing for a large corporation.

Clearly TELUS and I did not have the same risk on the table. Which is why their Vancouver lawyer thought I was insane since I was fully aware of that fact. In the end, although they were not convicted of perjury, I wasn't fined $500,000.00 and sent to jail either.

So indeed. Finian Escapes like a Bat out of Hell and Darren Entwistle can kiss my black Irish ass because he's still a bitch. $12 million doesn't buy respect.

Libyan Intervention

2011-03-16T18:19:00.000-07:00

British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that time is running out for the international community to intervene in Libya. Personally I wouldn't follow David Cameron into a bar not to mention another war for oil. Cameron is A) a freak and B) Untrustworthy.

He's the freak that wants to "liberate" every single publicly accountable program under the sun from "State" control. Schools, hospitals - everything. The freak show is all done under the guise of democracy when in reality it is clear that removing public accountability and handing all power over to private corporations removes our democracy and our autonomy.

"Every day Gadhafi is brutalizing his own people," he said. "Time is of the essence." As he spoke, Libyan government forces continued to bombard opposition positions as they advanced on the rebel capital, Benghazi, in a counteroffensive that has pushed rebels back 160 km in a week, far outpacing diplomatic efforts to impose a no-fly zone.

Gadhafi is fighting a coo. It is a civil war. People want him to leave while others don't. Like I said before, if the Falklands wanted to be free from British rule would David Cameron let them go or would he send in the Navy to crush that rebellion. Again.

I don't know all the bad things Gadhafi has done and is doing, but I do know England got involved in Iranian politics because they wanted their oil and convinced the Americans to get involved there which created quite a mess.

We know that England and America invaded Iraq for their oil and there were no weapons of mass destruction. That was a premeditated lie perpetuated in Operation Mass Appeal. We do know that Libya has oil and that Gadhafi has worked hard to prevent foreign ownership of that oil which England and America don't like. Look what happened to Afghanistan when the Taliban gave the contract for the oil pipeline UNICOL wanted to Bridas, and Argentina firm instead of an American firm.

Things are heating up in Saudi Arabia too as the people there are rebellion against their monarchy. Do we go to war with Gadhafi because we don't like him and then go to war with the Saudi people because we do like the monarchy they are rebelling against? It's all very problematic so it is. Perhaps conflicted would be a better word. It's a double standard.

Pray for Japan or at least text

2011-03-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a religious man anymore and I'm not much for prayer. I've always believed if you want to do something go out and do it. Yet I do recognize that we can do nothing without the help of the almighty and therefor have little to boast about.

The situation in Japan with the earthquake and Tsunami is very sad. Yet the Japanese are such quiet peaceful people. The gas stations are closed and stores have limited hours yet they are quietly lining up in civilized order. Unlike here. People would be looting and rioting. There they wait in line for their turn admits horrible conditions.

I'm not a very bright guy but one would think with all this talk of earthquake preparedness, that some of these scientists would plan what to do in the event a nuclear reactor undergoes an earthquake. The possibility of multiple reactors melting down is horrific. I always found it strange that with all the scientific advances in nuclear fission that they would use a complex nuclear reaction to create heat to boil water and turn a turbine. You'd think they'd have some kind of silicon cell like they use to covert the suns rays into electricity to covert a nuclear reaction directly into electricity. I guess I'm just simple.

Nevertheless my heart goes out to Japan and those noble people. Perhaps we should just text a donation or paypal a donation in to the Red Cross. Prayers are nice but actions speak louder than words.

New West to repeal racist bylaws

2011-03-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Well it's about time. New Westminster claims they will repeal a few very old bylaws that were blatantly racist. It's embarrassing that those bylaws ever existed but is clear evidence of the racist attitude New Westminster had toward the Chinese people. Kinda brings us back to that school they built on a Chinese Cemetery. Repealing the racist bylaws is a step. Restoring the cemetery is another.

Mercury Rises

2011-03-15T00:55:00.001-07:00

NASA claims we can see Mercury and Jupiter at Sunset this week. As the week goes on toward Paddy's day, Mercury will be seen above Jupiter on the horizon. Kinda where we normally see Venus.

Scottish Independence

2011-03-05T00:06:00.000-08:00

Well since things are certainly heating up in England I might as well mention Scottish Independence. I hear the concept has resurfaced in political debates. Don't get me wrong. If Scotland really wants Independence, feel free. It's kinda like Quebec talking about separating from Canada. If they really want to go, be my guest. The sky will not fall. Alaska functions quite well separate from the rest of the United States.

Personally I think we as Canadians would be diminished without Quebec and the French similar to how England would be diminished without their Scottish heritage. Even Prince Charles wears a kilt. Which brings us to the fundamental irony.

Back in the days of the mighty William Wallace, England oppressed Scotland. Scotland rose up in rebellion. So how did England quell the rebellion? They put a Scot on the throne. Queen Elizabeth is of Scottish ancestry. So did England really conquer Scotland or did Scotland conquer England? Having a Scot on the throne to me implies Scotland was the victor.

But that's not all. There are some pretty interesting legends about the genealogical heritage of the Queen of England. We are told that the prophet Jeremiah fled to Egypt with the daughters of King Zedekiah just prior to the Babylonian captivity. Well, legend has it that he then went to Spain on the ships of Tarshish and on to Ireland where one of the daughters married into Spanish royalty and the other married into Irish royalty.

Now before you scoff and say there's no such thing as Irish royalty, I'm talking about a long time ago. 600 years before Christ. Con of the 100 battles, Cormac MacArt, Nial of the Nine Hostages. Those kings were the forefathers of the Scottish and English kings. Legend has it that the Queen of England is therefore a descendant of King David through Fergus mor MacEarca and Zedekiah's daughters.

Don't believe me? Where do you think the stone of scone came from? Fergus mor MacEarca brought it to Scotland as a gift from his brother Muircheartach Mac Earca in Ulster. It's all written in the Annals of Ulster so it is. That was the stone of scone that sits in Westminster Abby. It came from Ireland. Legend has it that Jeremiah brought it to Ireland from Israel and it was originally Jacob's pillow or something like that. Personally I don't understand why Jeremiah would bring a huge rock some guy slept on and had a dream but who am I to question tradition. And no I don't think the Ark of the Covenant is in Tara. I think that's in Sudan.

Remember that scene from A Knight's Tale when they're all drinking at a pub in France? The French guys cat call over to the Brits and say Hey England, the Pope is French. (You can tell that was before King Henry started the Church of England.) Anyways the English get a bit choked and in their rivalry they shout back, Yeah well the Pope might well be French but Jesus was English. Kind of a funny line but there are indeed many legends about Jesus' Uncle Joseph of Arimathea coming to the Tin Mines in Cornwall. He certainly could have brought his nephew on one of those trips.

In fact, the other legend is that Zara, the son of Judah, Pharez's twin brother, descendants came to England and the Queen is descendant of him as well. All legends and rumors but interesting nonetheless. And that's not even part of the Davinci code.

So that brings us back to Charles. I don't really understand the concept of a monarchy. When I was working in London many years ago, it was during the royal wedding between Charles and Dianna. The media was all over it. I remember being at work and hearing the media give the play by play as the door opened and they described what Dianna was wearing while the fashion designers raced off to copy her dress. I stopped and said what's the big deal? You'd think it was the freaking first moonwalk or something. The Caribbean guy I worked with laughed but the locals did not think it was very funny. They're like, the monarchy is very important to us. I could see that. I just couldn't understand why.

In Canada we have the Queen's picture on our money. No one really knows why but it's better than having a picture of some American I suppose. Nevertheless, I will say this about Charles. I like him. I respect him. I think he would make a good king if there ever was such a thing. He married Dianna because the Queen told him to. Dianna was indeed the best thing that ever happened to the Royal Family. She was noble. She walked with Mother Teresa and took her glove off to hold a lepers hand. That woman was holy. William and Harry carry that compassionate nobility for future generation.

I've heard talk about how the crown might skip Charles and go directly to William. William and Kate make a great couple but why skip Charles? That man drips competence and he followed his dream. He loved Camile. Surely that means something. The current Queen's husband doesn't share the crown. Things didn't work out between Charles and Dianna. They both had their strengths but they were different. She was young and beautiful. He was older and more mature or shall be say reserved. Camile was his true love and you have to admit that was noble.

Dianna was younger and prettier but he loved Camile. I'm sure there is a rich reward in Heaven for Dianna. She really moved us. Her impression will be felt forever. Yet Charles, he should wear the crown. The people don't need another reality tv show host. Kate and William will have their day. That doesn't mean we should skip Charles. If we did we would be diminished because that maturity and reserved fortitude is exactly what we need right now to save us from the corrupt politicians who want to privatize the crown.

So if Scotland really wants independence they should vote on it. Yet the whole concept of Scottish independence is quite an oxymoron when everyone is signing over their sovereignty to the EU. These are trying times and the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will shrink from their duty and the service of their country for future generation. Charles is the type of man who does not shrink from his duty. There's no reason the Queen can't respectfully pass on the crown now and become an advisor to Charles in this uncertain but hopeful future.

England What have we done?

2011-03-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I glanced at a headline in the Canadian edition of the British Telegraph that read Public Sector Shaken Up. As I read the beginning of the article I was amazed at the concept and the terms used to describe it. It was all about releasing public services from “the grip of state control”.

I'm trying to find a copy of the article but it appears to be driven by the ramblings of David Cameron. "Liberating" the public sector from State control simply means removing public accountability. It is giving up sovereignty and handing it over to the corporate machinations.

What Cameron refers to as the grip of state control is in layman's terms called democracy. Public accountability is not a Communist plot to overthrow the free world. This Cameron guy is a freak.

He starts off his rambling by of course blaming Labour for everything under the sun then we find out David Cameron has been secretly consulting Tony Blair about Libya. Tony Blair's big screw up was following the US into Iraq based on a lie. A lie that was spread by MI 6 in the media under Operation Mass Appeal. David Cameron is even worse than Tony Blair.

Privatizing all the schools and hospitals means the government will be collecting taxes but they won't be providing any services in return. What's next? Privatizing prisons, police forces and the military? The Americans did that with Blackwater and Haliburton. A private army in the hands of big corporations is not a good thing. What started off as wholesome conservative values has been transformed into voluntarily giving up our sovereignty. No wonder they hired Moya Green to do to England what Canadians didn't want her to do to Canada.

Now what on earth has happened to the media in the UK? Did someone let Conrad Black out of prison and has he been buying up all the media outlets again? When I had a look at the British Telegraph's web site yesterday it looked more like Fox News propaganda than anything British.

The headline was, SAS considers seizing Gaddafi's stores of mustard gas, a slam on Obama and a plug for Sarah Palin's daughter's book. What the hell? Sara Palin is no Maggie Thatcher. Palin is an idiot. Just ask Matt Damon. The Republicans can do a lot better than that. She is famous for saying really stupid things. Like how not long ago when North Korea started aggressive actions against South Korea. Palin was quoted in the media as saying. "Of course we will stand by our allies in North Korea." Someone better tell her that the US were allies with South Korea not North Korea in that war. How can anyone get that mixed up? She's a great reality tv show host or David Letterman comedian but having her in government is absolutely scary.

Why would a British newspaper be trashing Obama and plugging Sarah Palin? That is bizarre. Do an interview with Michele Obama. At least she has a brain. And don't get me started on the SAS wanting to seize Gaddafi's mustard gas. What a crock of shit that is. Why is it that the Americans and the British are so concerned about human rights when oil is involved but they don't give a rat's ass about human rights when oil is not involved?

I will admit England did get involved in Bosnia and there was no oil there to be gained. But what if the Falklands wanted to rebel against British control? Would we let them have their independence or would we send the Navy in to crush their rebellion like Gadaffi is doing. The Falklands dispute appears to be over oil as well. Argentina? Didn't the invasion of Afghanistan start after the Taliban gave the contract for the oil pipeline there to Bridas, an Argentina firm? After that invasion it was given to an American firm. Hmmm...

Who sold Saddam Hussein mustard gas to use on Iran during that war? It was the Americans. We haven't heard a peep out of Gaddafi since Regan's you can run but you can't hide. Now the "Allies" including Stephen Harper are trying to seize the opportunity in Libya because of the oil. Don't get me wrong, if Gaddafi is firing on protesters, that is wrong. Just as it was for England to do it on bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland.

I don't understand what is really going on with the sweeping protests in the Arab world right now but as far as I can see Gaddafi supporters are fighting with those that want him to step down. It could well be a civil war kind of thing. The Americans had a civil war. Is that something we really want to get involved in? The fact that oil is involved makes intentions suspicious.

What were the SAS doing dressed up as Arabs in a car loaded with guns and explosives in Iraq anyways? If Operation Mass Appeal was real, why on earth have we let the media in the UK become a Fox News tabloid? Look what we did to Iran. Maggie, what have we done?

The Justification Process

2011-03-01T00:24:00.000-08:00

We can justify pretty much anything if we really want to. We can justify lying, cheating, stealing, misrepresenting, pretty much anything. In fact there's a justification process that lets TWU members leave their Union without a decertification. It's kinda like going to the CLC and saying help, our Union is dysfunctional. In a way it puts the Union into receivership and gives it a chance to straighten up before it's replaced with another Union.

Merging with another Union is always an option. Raiding is another. I'm not so morally opposed to Raiding as most in the Labour Movement are. I think bad Unions should be held accountable to the members they are paid to represent and if the Union members don't like their representation, they should be free to change their representation. If Unions are not accountable they tend to do what they want when they want regardless of the democratic will of the membership.

However, in the current TWU crisis, I don't think a raid is in order. Merger is one option. Merge with who? CEP? CUPE? I'd say CAW is definitely out. Some talk about the Steelworkers but you want to go with a proactive Union that is in a field that is growing. You don't want to get swallowed up by a dying union to protect their job security.

Protecting the TWU pension is another important quest. A lot of other Unions want to get their grubby little mits on the TWU pension. Personally, I think the Justification Process might be the safest and wisest option.

Some might rightfully argue that there are too many officers that are involved in this toxic scandal that need to be changed and not enough candidates to run against them. That too was my first thought. Then again, if Darth Sidiuos' yahoos were kept in line by two good men, or rather two good women, then maybe two strong voices to assist Sherryl might be enough to turn the tide of insanity that has swept over and blinded the TWU.

George Doubt, John Carpenter, Betty Carrasco and Lee Riggs in my opinion are the driving force behind the new era of insanity that locked out COPE, fired two of the most senior COPE members, fired the workers champion and fired the secretary treasurer. Those four were all active participants. Tamara's blind rationalization of their misdeeds is bizarre. Look at how she is quoted in the media.

Cope has concerns about the TWU. But we're a good employer. Cope says you laid off the two most senior staff members and they have filed a grievance. We're a good employer. We don't think there's a grievance. Can't she see how stupid that looks and sounds? I don't want to be mean but she is coming off like a complete airhead. She has been acting Secretary Treasurer for quite a while now. In my opinion, she's doing a very bad job at acting.

It didn't have to get personal. They didn't have to fire Lila. But they did. They didn't have to fire Sherryl. But they did. That's when it got personal. When Sherry and Lila objected to extravagant Executive council meetings like the one they planned at Harrison when they refused to send members to be trained at the CLC winter school at Harrison, that wasn't personal.

They made it personal when they started to harass fellow officers for expressing their concerns about finances. They didn't have to do that but they did. Now when Tamara blinks here eyes and says Oh I think that was a nice letter to Lila or Oh I think we are a good employer, the rest of the world is shaking their head saying airhead.

I don't think the TWU members would have a hard time convincing the CLC their Union is now dysfunctional and needs help. I think putting the Union into receivership through the Justification Process will help save it. After all, it's Christmas eve in Sarajevo.

Tom Roper and the missing $3 Millon

2011-02-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

I'll tell you where the mission $3 million went. Junkets and legal fees. Why are the members paying for George Doubts legal fees against Lila Hacket and Sherryl Anderson? They have to pay their own legal fees. Sherryl was awarded costs in her decision but it was a long road to get there. She had to come up with $63,000.00 out of her own pocket to fight them. That is why many fold like a cheap tent and why this corporate tactic is normally so effective at crushing human rights. Thankfully, Sherryl and Lila did not fold.

Where is the Unions financial breakdown of the costs associated with suing it's own members? How much has it and will it cost to continue stalling off Mimi Williams, Sherryl Anderson and Lila Hacket's cases? That's a lot of money spent on legal fees against it's own members that could be better spent on something else.

Lila's case is against George Doubt. Yet the members are footing his legal bill. Not only his legal bill but his legal bill to dismiss her application as well as his application for a judicial review appealing the courts decision not to dismiss her application. This is a whole lot of money spent stalling things off without even dealing with the issues on the table.

In fact, I am of the understanding that the TWU has retained a very high priced corporate lawyer named Thomas Roper to argue the Judicial Review. If the regular priced lawyers aren't good enough for George Doubt then he should foot that bill out of his own pocket.

When I visited Lane Street in January of 2010, I also posted a resolution locals could submit calling upon the TWU Executive to cease and desist using Union dues to pay for lawyers to sue their own members. I'll have to find it and repost it. I understand now that some locals are talking about submitting resolutions to the Executive calling upon them to recoup the lost union dues already spent on legal fees against their own members. Stay tuned. The heat is on.

Lila Hacket and Sherryl Anderson were Wrongfully Fired by the TWU

2011-02-28T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to discuss Lila and Sherryl's legal cases much but I will say one thing: they were both wrongfully fired by the TWU executive. Yes they were fired.

When I visited Lane street January of 2010 I said what they did to Lila and Sherryl was wrong. Darth Sidious' new caucus obsessed over gag orders surrounding the cases trying to prevent the cases and their evidence to be mentioned at convention which might well affect their reelection campaigns. So I just recorded my dissent and said I disagreed with what they did.

Now two decisions have come out that people are starting to talk about. Lila Hacket's decision is posted on the BC Human Right Tribunal web site. It was just a stepping stone. The Union applied to have her complaint dismissed and the decision stated her complaint may proceed. I understand that the Union has now retained a high priced lawyer to apply for a judicial review of that decision.

Basically they are spending a whole lot of money to stall her complaint so the details of it won't make convention and affect their reelection campaigns. IMO.

Here's the deal: Lila had a stroke around convention in 2007. She was very overworked and was a real workers hero helping the members see how they were being betrayed by Bruce Bell and Buzz Hargrove. She received a standing ovation from the members for her minority report.

So after all that stress, she had a stroke at one of the subsequent conventions. Yet she was back at work in a very short time. After being back at work for two years George Doubt sent her a letter firing her. The timing of the letter was very suspicious.

At the 2009 convention Lila saw the writing on the wall. She started to see signs that there wasn't something quite right about George Doubt and his very controlling nature that quickly turned into harassment of Bellite proportions. Lila left her caucus and supported Colin Anderson at the 2009 Convention. The delegates were still bitter about how they sued the Brave 66 and didn't want to support Colin because of it. The delegates weren't privy to the real life dealings of the new Darth Sideous either.

Their caucus promised there would be no political retaliation for Lila's decision. That promise was betrayed and Lila was harassed afterwards by the executive members she originally helped get elected. She became a target. Her local was taken from her and shortly thereafter she was fired.

George wrote the letter of Lila's termination but Tamara rationalized it. They said it was because of Lila's health and was in her best interest. What a crock of shit that was. It was in their best interest to keep Lila's mouth shut about the budget. Lila and Sherryl were actively involved in being loyal stewards of the Unions money which saw the loans from the lockout paid off so soon.

So Lila's dismissal was under suspicious circumstances. After they got rid of Lila, they went after Sherryl. The harassment campaign began which forced her on medical leave. She sent out an e-mail to the delegates notifying them that she did not agree with the new financial direction the Executive had suddenly taken. As the elected Secretary Treasurer of the Union who worked so hard to get the finances in order she simply recorded her dissent with regards to the new direction the new Darth Sidious caucus were taking. They fired her for warning the members. Then they gagged her so no one would be allowed to talk about it.

The other decision that people are talking about is the Vince Ready Sherryl Anderson VS George Doubt Decision. That decision contains the Decision of Final Resolve which simply was the letter they sent to Sherryl wrongfully terminating her. Now the Darth Sidious caucus is saying they won't pay the damages she was awarded until she signs a letter of resignation. Yet the whole point of the complaint was that she was wrongfully terminated.

In response to this decision, famous TWU activist Stephen Barber said: After reading the Ready Judgement - TWU/Doubt vs Anderson, I think it might be time for some FIFOunion ballcaps.

Steve Barber was the activist who created the famous FIFOTel hats worn on the picketline mocking the CEO's comments about how the Union can Fit in or Fuck Off! It would appear that after exploiting the Bruce Bells trauma, Darth Sidious has become the same as Bruce Bell and the CEO. Indeed, there is a Justification Process for everything.

Tamara Marshall's Credibility Gap

2011-02-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

Members have questioned Tamara Marshall's credibility. She pounded the pulpit at the 2010 TWU Convention insisting that the Union was in strong financial condition and that the talk of a missing million dollars were vicious rumors and was absolutely false. Yet not long after that same convention she sent out a letter describing the financial hardship the Union was under justifying the need for a dues increase. So what happened?

That letter has members and delegates questioning Tamara Marshall's credibility. If the Union was in a difficult financial situation a few months after convention, just maybe they were at convention and Tamara was lying.

By the way, I said three million was missing not one million. Some say it's not missing, they cooked the books but I say it is missing. Right before Sherryl Anderson and Lila Hacket were fired by the Executive, the TWU worked very hard to pay off all their debts owed to other Unions from the long labour dispute in 2005. By the 2009 Convention the TWU had paid off all their loans and were three million dollars ahead. After they fired Sherryl and Lila, by December of that same year they were no longer three million dollars ahead. They were in financial difficulties. That is why I say they lost $3 Million. At the 2009 convention they were $3 Million ahead, six months later that money was spent.

$1 million for negotiations? Let's have an itemized accounting of those expenditures. I don't think they are properly submitting their expenses and I think they are hiding their junkets by throwing out random numbers here and there without giving anything close to an accurate financial accounting of how that money was spent.

By July of 2010 the Union implemented an unheard of corporate tactic and locked out COPE to roll back their office staff's wages and benefits due to financial hardship. In fact, they even laid off two Cope staff as a result. Only they laid off the two staff with the highest seniority in Alberta because someone doesn't like them, then hired temps in BC. Tamara says she doesn't think there's a grievance and they have laid off two of the most senior members “purely for financial reasons”.

In fact, there has been a great deal of drama displayed by the executive of the Union trying to convince the members what a financial crisis the Union is in that would justify a dues increase. The Union will not longer pay for the members to be trained at the CLC Winter school in Harrison. If a member wants to go, they have to pay for it themselves. The Union has cut back members and delegates per diems. In fact, if you want a shop steward manual, you now have to pay $20.

In Tamara's defense I will say that in my opinion she is not the driving force behind the financial mismanagement and the malicious attacks on fellow members and officers but I will say she is an active participant helping to cover their tracks and rationalize their misdeeds. BTW Is Peter Massey working for another Union now and in fact representing COPE mistreated by the TWU? Wouldn't that be ironic.

So where did the $3 million go after they FIRED Sheryl and Lila?

Show me the money!

Cathedral Grove from the Cascadia Suit

2011-02-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

I went to a band concert last night and one of the visiting community bands performed Cathedral Grove from the Cascadia Suit by Robert Buckley. Turns out Robert Buckley is from the Vancouver area and wrote the piece about the Cathedral Grove old growth forest on Vancouver Island from an eagle's perspective flying overhead. I found the metaphor striking and had to look into it.

Here's a link to the song on Bob Buckley's actual web site and here's the music. From the ground the old growth forest is very impressive. From Google street view it kinda just looks like a bunch of trees but as you descend, like an eagle would, to rest in the upper limbs of those majestic giants, it would be significantly impressive. Hence the awe inspiring persona of the musical piece.

Unfortunately it appears that clear cut logging has once again plagued the forest worse than the pine beetle. Is nothing sacred any more? Do we not understand selective tree harvesting? Must we continue to rape the landscape with clear cuts that do not get properly replenished when tree planting only has a 30% success rate?

Majestic yet sad and ominous. The Buffalo are gone. Will the eagle be next? Clear cutting the trees chokes our own existence for a quick buck. Obviously we need paper. Sad the pulp and paper industry shut down all the hemp farms which were far more sustainable. Hemp grown for paper doesn't get you high. It just creates a sustainable alternative to the pulp and paper industries clear cuts. Sad.

I did see an eagle the other day. I love kayaking on the Harrison River in November or visiting Brackendale between December 15 to January 15 to see the eagles migrate to feed on the rotting chum carcases after they have spawned.

Well the other day I was driving to Langley and as soon as I came off the freeway turning onto 200th street I had to slow down because there was a huge black bird on the road. At first I thought it looked like a vulture picking up some garbage but we don't have vultures around here. As I squinted to try and focus it was clear it had a rabbit in it's talons. Then as it turned and flew off with the rabbit I could clearly see it was a bald eagle right in front of me. I was somewhat impressed.

Christmas in Winnipeg

2010-12-28T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well for employees at Canada Post Christmas in Winnipeg was not a pleasant experience and it is clearly a foreshadow of what's to come for employees across the country. We already talked about how Moya Greene turned a viable profit making dividend paying corporation into a toxic nightmare $2.5 billion in debt with one wave of her magic wand or rather one foul swoop of her misguided axe. Let's face it, you don't prune a tree with an axe. Explain that to Moya Greene. Postal workers will be reeling in her chaos struggling to pay her debt for generations to come.

Moya Greene had no successful experience in service based industries before coming to Canada Post. She was instrumental at crashing Bombardier's stock and derailing CN. Yet she was given a blank cheque to wreck havoc at will. Closing the Quebec City post office so business mail going across the street was shipped to Montreal then back to Quebec delayed the mail and increased fuel and transportation costs. Not picking up the mail including priority post on the weekends saw the company fall behind the competition. These aren't concerns from a fat union that opposes profit. These are real life concerns from a viable business perspective. Cutting jobs in one thing but why kill profits?

It all boils down to a dark political agenda that opposes public accountability. They will destroy a profit making company on purpose as an act of sabotage. After destroying it they will say "See profits are down, now we have to make some serious cuts." Their real agenda isn't just cutting jobs, it's removing public accountability. They want to privatize everything. Privatization isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just the way they do it and the reason why they do it that is bad.

Their primary purpose is to remove public accountability. Moya Greene publicly declared that the private sector sees the public as stupid in the area of downsizing and don't want to be told anything by them. Her mandate is to remove public accountability because she knows best. Which is somewhat ironic given her air head persona. After all she is no Maggie Thatcher. She's a former lawyer from Newfoundland.

Winnipeg made the news because of their recent walk out over the insanity of how the new system is being implemented. Finding machines that will sort mail line of travel will no doubt save money in the long run even through it will take generations to pay back that debt which means generations without the tax revenue the company was previously paying to the government.

The problem is the flats and letters come separate. Which means as a letter carrier walks, they have to hold one bundle of flats in one hand and one bundle of letters in the other while they flip through each to pull out the mail for the next call. Only there's a third bundle as well. It's the turn around mail that didn't have time to be sorted by the new machines. That has to be sorted by the carrier in a case at the depot. So now we have three separate bundles that a carrier has to juggle while walking quickly so they don't run into overtime and somehow they have to shuffle several more bundles of flyers while they multitask on route since they are forbidden to pull out the mail for the next call at the door or while they have stopped moving.

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that juggling and sorting through three different bundles of mail while you are walking is nonsense. Any child can see that juggling three different bundles of mail while juggling six sets of flyers that can't be stuffed together is insanity at best. So here's the clincher. A guy in Winnipeg gets a brainstorm. He has to sort his turn around mail anyways. So he runs the short and long in together so he just has one bundle to sort through while he walks which greatly speeds up his delivery time and they suspend him for doing so.

Clearly they are on crack. A guy uses his brain where they failed to do so and they suspend him for it. How Moya Greene. That is the legacy she has left Canada with and that is the legacy she is bringing to England simply because some politicians in England want to privatize the Royal Mail at all costs. It is a shameful plague of injustice.

Giving her a pay raise to implement this dark deed and crush working family wages while creating chaos on the workfloor and huge work loads is indeed a cruel plague that is sweeping the earth in the name of globalization. Say hello to the new beast. Same as the old beast. It's name is greed. So thanks Moya. She spent $2.5 billion on machines that don't work and left.

Moya Greene is indeed the STD Queen. (Her Short Term Disability program robbed Canadian Postal workers of their sick leave.) God save the real Queen and hang the real traitor out to dry. It doesn't take a mathematician to realize the American postal model is not a good one while the Canadian postal model was. In 2009 Canada Post reported coming out of a recession reporting it's 15th consecutive year of profits. Moya Greene killed that legacy. Remember remember the 5th of November.

Afghanistan pledges troops to secure major pipeline

2010-12-14T05:21:00.000-08:00

Surprise, surprise. This is what the invasion of Afghanistan was really about. Afghanistan will deploy up to 7,000 troops to secure a major transnational gas pipeline slated to run through some of the most dangerous parts of the war-torn country, an official said Sunday.

The pledge comes a day after Turkmenistan signed broad agreements with Afghanistan, India and Pakistan at a summit in its capital Ashgabat on the ambitious venture.

The 1,700-kilometre TAPI pipeline, Ashgabat's dream project that first appeared in 1995, has been on hold for many years due to the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. (The Taliban gave the contract for the pipeleine to an Argenteena firm instead of an American one.)

The pipeline aims to transport more than 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually from the Dauletabad gas fields in southeast Turkmenistan and could turn into a cash cow for Afghanistan in transit fees.

Wow, the oil company is even gonna give Afghanistan 8% of the oil revenue. Sounds like a little Iranian Deja Vue. In fact, they're going right around Iran this time. That's only half of what they initially gave the Shaw before they were forced to raise the percentage. It's all about the money.

Obviously, Afghanistan wouldn't get as much as Turkmenistan since the oil is just passing through Afghanistan it's not drilled and refined there.

Yet if 8% of the oil revenue would be a cash cow for the Afghan government, which is alleged to be corrupt, then controlling interest in those oil revenues would indeed be a fortune. Why that would be enough blood money to fund a war. England and BP were the ones that started the war for oil. They're the ones that convinced the Americans to get involved in it.

Pope says condoms can be justified for male prostitutes

2010-11-23T09:45:00.000-08:00

I found this story somewhat bizarre. I will clarify that I have a great deal of respect for members of the Catholic Church and for the office of Pope. Both are clearly trying to make this world a better place.

The Catholic church has always maintained a strict position on no birth control and no divorce. Their position on divorce was what triggered King Henry to start his own church that would allow divorce so he wouldn't have to keep executing his ex's.

The no birth control position does seem a bit extreme. Yet the new declaration seems even stranger. After generations of saying no divorce and no birth control for married couples, the Pope announces that in some cases condoms may be used. Male prostitutes may use them to help prevent the spread of Aids. Where on earth did that come from?

So not only is it OK for a male prostitute to use a condom but not a married couple who can't afford to have more children, but it's somehow OK to be a male prostitute? I'm kinda scratching my head over this one.

I'm totally OK with revelation. I'm fine with giving new instructions to a changing world. I'm just having trouble processing this new exemption. It's OK for a male prostitute to use a condom but it's not OK for a female prostitute to give one to her John? There seems to be many strange things about this new rule.

I will add that the media reports that the Pope made this statement when discussing his new book and claims the Pope accepts responsibility for this decision as an individual not on behalf of the church. I guess I'm just a little confused.

Nevertheless, the world will still turn and good Catholics will remain good Catholics and contributing members of society within our crazy world that just got a little bit crazier.

Huge Fire in Shanghai Tower

2010-11-17T00:45:00.000-08:00

A huge fire engulfed a Shanghai high rise building on Monday which burned for hours and gutted the building. Last count the death toll was 53. It's amazing more people weren't killed. This is what happens when a steel framed tower burns for several hours.

This is not what happens when a steel frame building burns. The Third Tower in New York did not fall due to heat and fire. Explosions were heard going off and Larry Silverstein admitted they Pulled the building.

Chemical Weapons in Iran

2010-11-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

I guess this photo could be labeled Judas' kiss of death in the form of a handshake. Donald Rumsfeld setting up Saddam Hussein.

I spoke with a lady at work recently who was from Iran. She left with her husband and young children during the Iran Iraq war. I mentioned the fact that the Americans had sold Iraq chemical weapons to use on Iran during that war and she started to explain the effects of those chemical weapons used on civilians in Iran.

She said it was mustard gas. I was a bit surprised but recall hearing that mustard gas was commonly used in World War One. My grandfather had mustard gas burns on his back from the trenches of that war.

She explained the horrible condition Iran was in when they escaped. She said they dropped mustard gas on entire villages. She said it was horrible. People would swell up huge and there were birth defects for generations.

Despite the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq after the US invasion, Saddam Hussein was hanged for using mustard gas on Kurds in northern Iraq during a 1987-88 campaign known as the Anfal. Yet the Americans sold him the Mustard gas to use on Iran and that was fine with them at the time. Somewhat hypocritical.

Iran may be politically unstable but England and America has always been the root of that instability. When they hanged Saddam, they forgot to hang his accomplices.

Don't get me wrong. Stalin was evil but so was Hitler. A right wing dictator is no better than a left wing dictator. Both have used false flag attacks to deceive the masses.

Pearl Harbor

2010-11-15T09:28:00.000-08:00

I saw a clip from the movie pearl harbor last night. Indeed it was very dramatic and soul stirring. Seeing young wounded soldiers cry out they didn't want to die was stirring. Almost as stirring as hearing the same innocent cries from Japanese children surrounding Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Obviously all the men women and children that were murdered in those cities died instantly. Except for all the ones living on the boundary of the explosions that died to radiation sickness. Thus the story of the paper crane.

Most people are so outraged by the very thought of a false flag attack that they will refuse to discuss it. Yet Hitler used false flag attacks twice to deceive his nation. First he had his soldiers bomb parliament and blame it on terrorists to rationalize giving him extra emergency powers of a chancellor. Then he bombed one of his own radio stations and blamed it on Poland to justify invading Poland. The rest is history.

Operation Northwoods was a declassified intelligence document defining treason on paper. That document was not speculation. It does exist and needs to be addressed.

It is important to realize that Pearl Harbor was not unprovoked. The US put a naval blockade on Japan so Japan attacked a Navy base. I will add that Japan attacked a military base while the Americans attacked a city full of civilians, twice. Nevertheless, recalling the air support for the USS Liberty was indeed shocking.

Photos of Earth from the Space Station

2010-11-10T23:20:00.001-08:00

Here's a picture of the Nile and the Red sea from space.

Sales are down at the Royal Mail

2010-11-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well Moya Greene is at it again. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised yet it's so disheartening. Someone from the UK posted on my blog about Moya Greene being a virtual axe murder. He claimed that Moya Greene has already laid off his wife at the Royal Mail. She worked in sales. Nice Christmas present Moya.

My first response was the adage that Moya Greene has no concept of business revenue. If you cut all your services you will reduce your business revenue. I bumped into a former coworker at the Post Office the next day. I told him about Moya Greene laying off sales staff in the UK. His response was automatic.

Of course. They want to privatize it. They lay off the sales staff and then complain sales are down so they'll have to privatize. He's right. We know their MO here. Now they are doing the same thing in England. They are killing profits which will rationalize them privatizing it so they can avoid being publicly accountable.

There are some people who are so opposed to publicly owned anything they will spend billions of taxpayers dollars to privatize public services just so it is private not public. This political group has two sections. One section believes that the private sector is more financially responsible than the public sector and can do a better job at making a profit than the public sector. They are primarily concerned with profits. They don't want a publicly run service to be a cost burden on the public.

The other group are crude business sharks who covet the huge salaries of private sector CEOs at the public expense. They flatter the others with talk of profits but they are simply interested in circumventing public accountability. They are not concerned with what's in the public interest.

Take Moya Greene for example. She claims the private sector doesn't want to be told anything by the public and sees the public as stupid in the area of downsizing, implementing new technology, and strategic planning. Turning a profit making tax paying revenue creating corporation into a hollow shell billions in debt is not strategic planning.

Those are lies to convince the other section of the privatization group that circumventing public accountability by killing profits is somehow a good thing.

Take note England: Moya Greene is laying off sales staff so she can then complain sales are down and privatize the Royal Mail. It's sabotage.

Remember Remember the 5th of November!

Gordon Campbell steps down

2010-11-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell is stepping down and has asked his party to hold a leadership convention. Campbell made the announcement during a surprise news conference Wednesday morning in Vancouver. This should be a national holiday. Oh Happy Day!!!

Omar Khadr

2010-10-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

The Ottawa Citizen wrote an article about Omar Khadr called A confession and coercion. The Globe and Mail ran a front page article about how Omar has now plead guilty to terrorism charges in exchange to be released to Canada.

The article listed several questions the judge asked him all of which he replied yes. This is another set of questions he could have been asked that would likely have met the same answer.

Mr. Khadr Do you understand what's happening here? Yes.

No really. I mean do you have any idea how royally you've been screwed? Yes I do.

Is it true that you have been accused of throwing a hand grenade in July 2002 at a foreign soldier invading your home country when you were 15? Yes.

Is it true that you were captured, removed from your country and sent to Guantánamo Naval Base in October 2002 at age 15? Yes.

Is it true the whole time you proclaimed your innocence and refused to participate in this court process? Yes.

Is it true you have now plead guilty to terrorism after 8 years in Guantánamo bay so you can be transferred to Canada in one year? Yes.

Is it true that your father was trained by the CIA in the Taliban to fight Russia when they invaded your home country? Yes.

Is it true that if your father had risked his life to throw a grenade at a Russian soldier in defense of your homeland, the Americans would have given him a medal? Yes.

Is it true that the American Oil companies wanted to build an oil pipeline across Afghanistan called CentGas? Yes.

Is it true that the American oil companies invited the CIA trained Taliban to America for expensive dinners trying to convince the Taliban to give them the contract for the oil pipeline in Afghanistan? Yes.

Is it true that shortly after the Taliban finally decided to award the contract to an Argentina firm that the Americans invaded your country and the contract was given back to the Americans? Yes.

Do you realize that Canadians and Americans have a right to due process? Yes.

Do you realize your right to due process was intentionally removed by removing you from your home country and placing you in a naval detention base on foreign soil? Yes.

Is it true that prisoners are tortured in Guantánamo bay? Yes.

Is it true that Canadian troops in Afghanistan handed over prisoners to local authorities who then tortured them? Yes.

Do you realize that torture is a war crime? Yes.

Do you realize that defending your homeland against a foreign invasion is not a war crime? Yes.

Is it true that the CIA video of Bin Laden confessing to the 911 attacks didn't even look like Bin Laden? Yes.

Is it true that the third tower fell in New York City when no planes hit it? Yes.

Is it true that the building fell at free fall speed not from the pressure of weight from collapsing floors pushing down on each other? Yes.

Is it true that Operation Northwoods was a declassified CIA plan to kill Americans on American soil and blame the attacks on Cuba to gain public support for a Cuban invasion? Yes.

Are you aware that half of Americans didn't vote for George Bush? Yes.

Are you aware that half the Germans didn't vote for Adolf Hitler? Yes.

Do you realize that most Americans and Canadians are too afraid to entertain the thought that the CIA was responsible for the 911 attacks because the very thought of that kind of an internal betrayal scares them? Yes.

Are you aware that not all Americans are bad? Yes.

Do you realize that one day you will be free? Yes.

Peace be with you my son. And with you.

Sunrise over Lion's Bay

2010-10-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

I put the kayak in at Lions bay this morning just before sunrise. I wanted to get a picture of the sun rising above the Lions. It was just off centre. The sun rose on the horison right about Mount Strachan on Cypress.

PotashCorp sale reduces Government Revenue

2010-10-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

BHP Billiton's proposed takeover of PotashCorp could reduce Saskatchewan government revenues by at least $2 billion over the next 10 years while having little or no net effect on employment in the fertilizer industry, the Conference Board of Canada says.

Well imagine that. Over privatization not only restricts public accountability but it also reduces tax revenue. Kinda like what'll happen if they privatize Canada Post right after borrowing all those tax dollars to upgrade the technology. Can you say BC rail? How about Enron - The sad result of corrupt privatization.

Luge Death Tragedy

2010-10-04T13:11:00.001-07:00

Well this is a double tragedy. First a young man lost his life. Second, we are sluffing off accountability and responsibility. His death was not due to inexperience. The track was flawed. Everyone knew about a hard corner where experienced Luger's has trouble with.

Notwithstanding the knowledge of the difficult portion of the track, right after the difficult section the track was completely open with no side rails and exposed pillar. That was a clear flaw in design. It was a fatal flaw.

Yes it was an accident but to say the death was the result of inexperience is untrue. We made a mistake. A life was lost and we corrected the mistake by fixing the exposed section of the track. Let's not deny we made an error. That's pointless and offensive.

What has Moya Greene really done?

2010-09-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Vancouver local of CUPW posted a really good article about Moya Greene's departure from Canada Post. A lot of bent spin doctors like to pretend Moya Greene is good at business when we know that is simply false. She is just a one trick pony.

She is, in essence, an axe murderer who cuts jobs viciously with no thought or plan on how to build business revenue. The common misconception is if the headlines read jobs were cut then shareholders will jump for joy and stock will rise which is not the case in a service based industry. In a service based industry, if you slash all your services you will reduce your business revenue.

So let's take a step back and look at what Moya Greene has really done to Canada Post. The Vancouver local pointed out the simple truth that cannot be escaped. Before Moya Greene came to Canada Post it was a vibrant business that consistently made profit and consistently paid large amounts of dividends and Corporate tax to the government which increased the government's tax base. Canada Post was in essence a cash cow for the government.

In one sweeping movement with her axe she turned a profit making company into a company that was $2.5 billion in debt. Instantly. It took generations to build the business into a efficient profit making machine and in one foul swoop she killed the profit making company and made it $2.5 billion in debt.

Her rational was she wanted to borrow the money to cut jobs which one day would save money. One day save money. Why does that sound like a snake oil salesman? Maybe because she left right after the devil's deed was done. Long before any future profits would be seen by the dastardly deed.

True the Union can't stand against technology forever. Yet Moya Greene refused to consult the Union or ANYONE skilled in the business. She had no skills in the business and refused to consult with anyone who did have skills in the business because she claims all her managers in the public sector are stupid. That was somewhat ironic.

If Canada Post had invested in machines that would sort the mail to line of travel so letter carriers would basically come in to pick up their mail and go deliver it, that would indeed have cut a huge amount of jobs which in turn would have greatly reduced labour cost. However, she didn't because those kind of machines don't exist in Canada.

For those kind of machines to exist in Canada we would have to completely change our postal code system to a system similar to what's used by the US. Right now everyone on the same side of the street has the same postal code. You can create machines that will sort letter mail to specific routes but not to line of travel which they are hoping for.

Spending money on good technology can save money in the long run. Spending a huge amount of money on bad technology with false promises will not. Oh but Moya Greene is long gone before we can see the results of her foul swoop.

We can go on and on about all the other blunders Moya Greene made at Canada Post which were bad for business but the simple conclusion is the point raised by the Vancouver local of CUPW.

She turned a profit making dividend paying company that took generations to build into a company that was $2.5 billion in debt instantly then left.

Granite Falls

2010-09-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well I put in just before sunrise at Deep Cove yesterday on the last day of summer. The water was like glass.

Ya gotta love sunrise on the water.

Passed by Silver Falls on the way to Granite Falls.

It's perfect for an overnighter but a bit long for a day trip. Worth the journey nonetheless.

The Final Cut - Requiem for a Post War dream

2010-09-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

We've talked about TELUS' censorship. It started with blocking a grass routes movement among it's employees web site called Voices for Change. They blocked access to the web site for everyone who subscribed to the Internet from them. What on earth would they do if they owned a Television station?

It ended with making a fraudulent copyright complaint and taking videos off Youtube they had no possible copyright claim on. And somewhere in between Darren's ninja had that picture we made of Darren having a Pinocchio nose taken off facebook in yet another fraudulent copyright complaint. Clearly the censorship never ends.

I've already expressed my disappointment in Judge Walker's Limp Fish Decision. How he failed to apply any consequence whatsoever to Darren Entwistle and Matt Wilcox's perjury. That was very disappointing to say the least. Lawlessness and censorship is sad. Very sad.

Now their latest motion for a final judgement goes far beyond any jurisdiction I ever agreed to. They want to stop us from discussing criminal behavior. Over my dead body. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace but there is no peace, the war is already begun.

Jeff Puritt has submitted quite a few affidavits for the case. He was that manager on TELUS Idol who flaunted his wedding ring as he joked about the size of the Shaina Twain impersonator's breasts and joked about inviting her up to his room to perform oral sex on him. Forcing employees to watch that as a training video was just plain wrong.

So we have a court order saying I can't post TELUS Idol on Youtube. That is all the order says and that is the only jurisdiction that was agreed upon. I've filed my response to their new motion for a Final Order. You might want to have a peak Super Dave. I think it'll even raise your eyebrow. Let's just say I've had enough and this does indeed constitute the final cut to the final straw. Give me liberty or give me death.

BP Blames Contractors

2010-09-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Well this comes as no surprise. The headline in a local daily news said "BP Blames Contractors" for the oil spill in the Gulf. I chuckled to myself and said Gee I wonder what contractors they are referring to? Haliburton perhaps? Sure enough later on in the article it specifically named Haliburnton as the root of the problem. BP contracted out Haliburton to cement outside the pipes after they drill to prevent leaking.

Of course Haliburton denies it, yet the key thing to remember is that Haliburton was involved. They were contracted by BP. Dick Cheney and George Bush are directly tied to Haliburton. Haliburton profited from the invasion of Iraq. That was a direct conflict of interest.

Bell buys CTV

2010-09-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well this is an interesting twist. Bell just bought CTV. What happens when a large corporation buys a newspaper or TV station? Does it get free advertising? Does it refuse to run the competitors ads? Does it refuse to run Union adds? Pandora's box has just been opened.

We have been discussing how the media is biased depending on who owns the media outlet. We've recently talked about Fox News' bias and how Stephen Harper is hoping to pave the way for Karl Pierre Peladeau to create a Fox News North in Canada.

We've also recently discussed how Darren Entwistle expressed his fear over Shaw buying Canwest Global. Shaw is TELUS' competitor. Bell is not. Darren sent a few of his buddies over to Bell in hopes for a merger which was blocked but is still on the table.

Either way, his buddies are still there so they still team up on bullying the consumer. Bell fears Shaw too. George Cope is the CEO of Bell. He was the CEO of TELUS Moblility. We went to Bell in Darren's anticipation of a merger with them.

So what happens? Shaw buys Canwest, Darren panics and gets Bell to buy CTV. Yet the whole thing smells dirty. How can we let big corporations control the news? It's shameful. Tiny corners of the Internet where people can blog with free speech will be the only places to find alternate views from the big corporations and likely the only place to find anything that closely resembles the truth. Propaganda: the new world order.

Stephen Harper and Fox News North

2010-09-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

This news story about Harper having lunch in New York City with News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox News president Roger Ailes has people talking.

I didn't realize how bad Fox News was until I recently watched some clips from it during Obama's campaign. We've talked about media bias before but I certainly have no problem with them establishing a right wing news channel with Karl Pierre Peladeau called Fox News North in Canada. I just wouldn't watch it.

Let's face it, you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. That kind of abrasive "news reporting" isn't news it propaganda and it is so painfully distasteful it's difficult to watch. Bush's lies were serious.

I think the key thing to realize is that media outlets are biased. Their bias comes from their owners. Conrad Black was a media baron buying up all the newspapers in Canada and around the world. He was very right wing. He then exercised his influence over the editorials written and how the news was presented. Since he was sent to jail for another scam it appears that Rupert Murdoch has taken his place and is doing the same thing. Murdoch admits to supporting Bush and trying to influence the viewers to support him.

Once again the key thing to realize is that media outlets are biased and we need to base our own opinions on the facts not the propaganda. Info wars and Alex Jones have a media biased. Although Alex Jones sometimes gets carried away with dramatic conspiracies, I do listen to what he has to say because it presents the other side the main stream tries to hide. If someone is trying to hide something, human nature is inclined to wonder what it is they are hiding and why they are hiding it.

Micheal Moore has a media bias. I find him far more palatable because he's not so abrasive, is very factual and generally makes sense. I've had American friends claim that Michael Moore is a Communist Pinko and a traitor. That was when I realized all of a sudden I really had nothing in common with those friends any more. Bush was evil. So were his lies. That is nothing to be proud of and certainly isn't patriotic.

I guess you could say I'm half Capitalist and half Communist. If someone has an idea to start a business and wants to make a buck, they should be free to do so. Yet I really feel that if a homeless person is beaten and robbed, he should be able to receive free medical aid. A civilized society that turns it's back on the homeless is not a civilized society.

I don't see socialized medicine as a Communist plot to take over the free world. If socialized medicine is Communism, then I am a Communist. Yet I have inherit problems with the founding principles in the Communist Manifesto and I completely support religious freedom and human rights. Which many would claim, make me a Capitalist.

There is a lot about Stephen Harper's policies I support and endorse. Yet there are many other policies of his I do not support or endorse. He's too much like Brian Mulroney for me. Mulroney torn the right in half in Canada. His arrogance and abandonment of the democratic principles the right boats of caused a split and the rise of the Reform Party in Western Canada.

I liked Preston Manning. Everyone labeled him as a racist but if you really listened to what he was saying, he said balance the budget to save social programs not to eliminate them. Reform hated Mulroneyism. Although they swept Western Canada they couldn't make inroads in Ontario or Quebec because many saw reform as a separatist party for Western Canada. Many in the West felt if Quebec wants to separate, let them just as long as they take their share of the national debt. Let's govern ourselves and be more fiscally responsible.

Since their ultimate goal was to put an Albertan as Prime minister, they acted on a typo. Manning said Unite the Bright but the typo read Unite the Right and they ran with the typo. However, that was not the original dream. The original dream was to look beyond the left and right and look at the issues. Harper in his quest for power, merged with the Mulroney Conservatives and did in fact get elected as a result.

The sad reality is, Harper's idol worship of Mulroney has caused him to reenact Mulroney's arrogance and abandonment of democracy by railroading the HST like Mulroney railroaded the GST.

The dream has been lost and we are going to end up with more fiscally irresponsible idiots simply because the people we elected coveted power and abandoned principles of democracy.

Reform talked a lot about recall and referendums. Why don't we put the HST to a referendum? Bill Vandersalm is right wing. He opposes the HST. Do the math.

Sungrow Minerals investigated by stock market regulator

2010-09-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Here's one from the Surrey Leader. Dan Ferguson reports that when Sungro Minerals Inc. was operating out of a Surrey office building in the 7400 block of 132 Street, its stock price took a dramatic jump.

It rose from 35 cents a share (U.S.) to $4.75 in just two months in 2009 – pretty good for a mining exploration firm that reported $299 in assets and $18,864 in debt.

That got the attention of the B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) the independent agency that regulates securities trading in this province.

Commission staff quickly determined the company owned no mineral property, and the man running it had no training or experience in mineral exploration.

The company told BCSC staff that it had no explanation for the share price increase.

Concerned the sudden rise could be the result of a scheme to artificially boost the share price, the commission issued a cease trading order.

Shortly after that, the company announced it was shifting its head office to the United States.

Here's the key - a mining company's stock has a dramatic increase in stock value. When investigated it turns out the company owns no mineral property and the man running the company has no experience in mineral exploration.

Sounds a lot like Bre X or Michael Ritter in Alberta. The Vancouver Sun recently reported on Sungro as well.

Sungro were even negotiating acquisition of Oil and Gas Prospect in Converse County, Wyoming. Can you say Enron? Privatization of US energy. Endorsed by the Bushes. After it fell, Thomas E. White, the Enron Book cooker became the Pentagon's book cooker as Secretary of the Army.

The Vancouver Stock Exchange was famous for scams. Bogus companies that didn't really exist were created on paper. Insider trading hype would generate huge speculation in the fake companies which reflected a huge jump in share price. Right before the stock crashed the ring ;leaders would sell and escape to Florida only to pull off the same scam 6 months later.

Time Magazine referred to the VSE as the Scam Capital of the world. There were groups in Surrey plotting stocks trying to figure out which were the scams. They would then invest in the scam knowing it would surge in speculation and try and sell before it crashed. I kid you not. The world does not need that kind of market instability.

Highest-paid CEOs also layoff the most workers

2010-09-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well this comes as no big surprise. Since the recession began to take hold in 2008, the chief execs that agreed to lay off the most workers have also received higher compensation than their CEO counterparts.

This sick selfish trend has changed the world our children now live in. It is not a change for the better. The world is not a better place because of it. This is why we opposed Darren Entwistle and Moya Greene. Opposing that kind of greed is the right thing to do.

Tony Blair on the Invasion of Iraq

2010-09-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

Tony Blair is a scoundrel. He is a liar and a murder.There was an interesting article about Tony Blair's comments about his new book discussing the invasion of Iraq. He admits they were wrong about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction. Yet he asks the world instead of asking if he was wrong, ask if he was right.

OK, let's try it. Was he right about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction? No he wasn't. In fact he knew they didn't have any. He lied. MI 6 was caught giving false information to the media about Iraq's WMD in Operation Mass Appeal.

The Americans sold Iraq chemical weapons to use on Iran in their war with them. When he used the chemical weapons the Americans sold him on the Kurds, they had him hanged. If Saddam Husein should of been hanged then George Bush and Tony Blair should have been hanged right beside him.

Let's not forget the MI 6 agents that were caught red handed in what clearly appeared to be a false flag attempt when they shot an Iraqi checkpoint police officer when they thought two British secret service agents dresses as Arabs with a car load of bombs and guns looked suspicious. And how the British military broke them out of jail by destroying the prison instead of telling the people they placed in power what their mission was.

I think he sealed his title of LIAR when he had the audacity to claim Princess Diana was a manipulator just like he was. Well he got it half right. He was a manipulator, Dianna wasn't.

Then he has the audacity to put on some crocodile tears and pretend he has remorse for the fallen soldiers when it was his lie they died for. That is offensive.

CSIS Spying on Canadians

2010-09-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

I’m having a lot of trouble accepting these terrorist charges coming from CSIS in Canada. This latest batch claims everyone that knew one of the suspects said no way it must be a case of mistaken identity. The Toronto 18 did look like entrapment and the kids were held a long time before their “confessions” came out.

The third tower fell in New York when no planes hit it. It collapsed into it’s own blue print exactly like a controlled demolition. It didn’t tip over. It fell at freefall speed. This means the pressure from the top collapsing didn’t force the subsequent floors to collapse. They all collapsed at the same time just like a controlled demolition. Thermite was found in the rubble.

Operation Northwoods was real. President Johnston recalled the air support for the USS Liberty when it was attacked in the Mediterranean claiming he wanted that vessel sunk. His own people. False flag events do occur.

What if Canada’s watered down version of a false flag event was to falsely accuse someone of a terrorist plot, then catch them before it was implemented. That way you could raise public fear without killing innocent people. Kinda like that CIA agent who was caught trying to do a terrorist act in New York with a car full of fireworks and a toy clock.

The problem is the possibility. Like accusing one of sexual abuse falsely. Even making the accusation opens the door to the possibility the accusation might be true.

I’m having a lot of trouble believing these allegations because we know secret service agencies release things to the media and are obsessed with propaganda. Look at MI 6’s Operation Mass Appeal. They were caught red handed giving false information to the media about Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction to gain public support for an invasion.

Another real concern is CSIS using a false terrorist allegation to rationalize gaining more access to spy on people’s e-mail. This whole case was based on intercepted private e-mail obtained without warrants. “They monitor all internet communications and suspicious communications are flagged when certain key words pop up. Kinda like how in a spy movie the agency is notified when people atart saying the words bomb on the phone. Only for them to hear those key words they have to be monitoring the phone or e-mail in the first place.

Something they adamantly denied right after in another press release which it totally suspicious and complete bullshit. They said we don’t spy on people’s e-mail and if we do it’s by accident. Yeah right. This is really serious. The water is getting hot and all us frogs don’t notice it.

Which leads us to the smear campaign against the founder of Wiki Leaks. I find it very suspicious. Obviously if someone commits rape that is a serious offense. Yet we have seen the CIA’s smear campaign against many people who have spoken out against them in the past. Gary Webb, Cele Castillo and many others.

And I have no doubt the CIA would use assets in other countries like Canada or Holland to perpetuate their propaganda. Hijacking a plane with box cutters in 9/11 was not believable. Neither is perpetuating that myth in Holland.

Moonlight paddle

2010-08-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

I put the kayak in at 3rd Beech the other night at sunset and went for a moonlight paddle to English Bay and Granville Island. It was awesome. Hot day, clear night with a full moon. The water was like glass.

Burrard street bridge leaving Granville island.

Vancouver Planetarium.

English bay.

City lights shimmering in the water.

Lights from the cargo ships.

TELUS Fears Shaw

2010-08-26T02:16:00.001-07:00

I found this article rather amusing. TELUS (Darren Nitwhistle) is complaining about the fact that their competitor Shaw, is investing in Canwest Global Communications Corp.'s broadcasting. That's quite funny. TELUS has given Darren unlimited resources to censor the Internet and spend on advertising.

So if Shaw buys Canwest does that mean they get free advertising? Does that mean they can chose not to run TELUS adds? That is hilarious. Darren already put his foot in his mouth when he sent out a poster using Shaw's CEO picture quoting him as mocking TELUS' inability to compete in the market. Darren's response was dumb.

Have you heard those bizarre TELUS tales? They really sound like they are on crack. I remember the first one I heard on the radio. All about the perfect world where TELUS was the only service provider and someone was ridding a unicorn to candy mountain. I kid you not. It was bizarre. They obviously shouldn't have fired Wade.

Bedford Channel

2010-08-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

I put in at the Bedford Channel in Fort Langley today. First cloud coverage we've had in a while. I've always had this image in my mind that the mighty Fraser was very fast moving and hard to paddle across. That depends on the time of year and the time of day. Spring run off the water is much faster but at the end of the summer it's not. When the tide comes in the current is almost reversed.

When I got out of the channel the river looked fine so I crossed it with ease. The news said the sockeye salmon and running and it's been the best run in ears. As a result they were opening up the river for commercial fishing for certain pockets. Today was one. Lots of boats out with nets. I saw a couple of salmon jump. One in the river and one close to my kayak in the channel. It's nice to see the salmon returning.

There was a group of young kids taking a lesson on a voyager canoe.

I Hate the way you Lie

2010-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled Rhianna and Eminem have a new hit single. I'm just concerned about the lyrics that makes the popular song deranged. Eminem is more famous for controversy and spewing some passionate dysfunctional issues yet he does have some talent. Lose Yourself and Mosh were good.

Rhianna is very pretty and very young yet she is very talented. We were shocked to hear of her being in an abusive relationship when Chris Brown assaulted her. Their new hit single, I love the way you lie, has a catchy tune but when you look at the lyrics, it's deranged.

Eminem is famous for his strange love hate relationship with his ex passionately rationalizes physical abuse in the song. He claims he is so devoted to making his relationship work that the next time she leaves he's going to tie her to the bed and burn the house down. People that is seriously messed up. What on earth is Rhianna doing in that video?

He goes on to apologize for being physically abusive then instantly admits his apology is a lie. Rhinana responds with she loves they way he lies. WTF? She says are you gonna stand there and watch me burn? That's OK because I like the way it hurts. She likes the abuse and she loves the way he lies when he apologises for it? That is seriously deranged. It's certainly not a happy tune for a healthy relationship.

Or how about his other new hit Spacebound. Same thing. Talks about how the girl wants to leave the relationship and how he's so devoted he’ll blow his brains out in her lap. But she's not listening so instead he'll squeeze her neck to stop her from breathing and snap her neck like a popsicle stick. That is criminally deranged.

Now we know Eminem likes to go for the shock value of drama like Cuirtin call in his Encore CD where he comes back to shoot the crowd dead but when the same bizarre message repeats itself, it isn't a good thing. I know I'm not shining example of healthy relationships but that certainly is not what I aspire to.

"Marcus Aurelius had a dream for Rome and that is not it." Gladiator

Mount Baker Revisited

2010-07-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

Sunrise behind Mount Baker July 29 2010. Now that's what I'm talking about. Here are a few more:

The future looks bright for Canada Post

2010-07-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Canada Post Board of Directors Appoints Stewart Bacon as Interim President and CEO. Imagine that. Giving the BOD the authority to actually do something. They must be thrilled with the new change in operations now that Moya Greene is gone.

This guy even mentions the word customer service, something that Moya Greene clearly had no regard for. He even mentions a positive work environment implying that he might in some small way actually care for the employees of the said company. Well this certainly is new.

Too bad it's just for the interim. He, unlike Moya, actually has years of experience with the company.

"Like other members of our senior team, I relied to a great degree on Stewart's advice and counsel over the years," says Ms. Greene. "I am so happy to now see this position placed in such capable hands." Why do I find that so hard to believe? Oh that's because she said the public sector managers in the company were stupid.

"My fellow Board members and I are delighted that Stewart has agreed to take on this role at this important time," says Mr. Courtois. "There are very few people who know this company, its goals, people and customers as well as Stewart. That gives us great reassurance that the strategies and plans already set in place under the Board's and Moya Greene's leadership will continue uninterrupted."

Indeed, except it will likely greatly improve since he will likely fill the leadership vacuum that sucked the life out of the company while Moya Greene was there.

I'm a little bit concerned about borrowing billions of dollars for new technology. Not that I oppose technology at all. If it works, great. I just oppose wasting money on bad technology that doesn't work. Yet using public funds implies that the company should remain publicly accountable.

Time will tell but right now the future looks bright.

Whitecliff

2010-07-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

I put the kayak in at Whitecliff last night. It was a bit choppy at first but the winds died down and the water was like glass at sunset.

Canada still sells asbestos

2010-07-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's kind of mind boggling that Canada still mines asbestos not to mention sells it knowing the hazardous side effects. Then spending tax dollars to subsidize the industry. What are they thinking?

Afghanistan plans gas pipeline

2010-07-15T12:34:00.001-07:00

Afghanistan plans gas pipeline. Surprise surprise. We know that prior to the invasion of Afghanistan, UNICAL and Bridas were competing for the contract to build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan called CentGas short for Central Asia Gas Pipeline.

The British Telegraph reported in 1997 "Oil barons court Taliban in Texas," the Taliban was about to sign a £2 billion contract with an American oil company to build a pipeline across the war-torn country.

Bridas was an Argentina firm while Unical was American. When the Taliban finally awarded the contract to build the oil pipeline to Bridas, the Argentina firm, not long after Afghanistan was invaded and the contract given to the Americans.

Former BC Hydro CEO tops public-salary rankings

2010-07-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well this is interesting. Yesterday the Vancouver Sun reported that the former BC Hydro CEO tops public-salary rankings. They claim Bob Elton made $750,000 last year, while 20 other public servants made $400,000 or more.

Although that is a fair chunk of cash, it is nothing compared to what the Moya Greene Mandate aspires to. Moya Greene admitted that private sector ceo salaries are much larger than public sector ceo salaries. That is why she sells herself out to privatize public companies.

Compare the former BC Hydro's salary with Frank Stronach founder of Magna International.

Leaving the BC Rail scandal to the side, look at the ceo raise when CN went from publicly accountable to privately consumed. In 2004 CN CEO made twice what the CEO of Nike did in 2008.

England recently put a cap on public sector ceo salaries. This is a good thing. No wonder they have bought Moya Greene to privatize their mail to get around the ceo salary caps. My beef isn't profit. My beef is exploitation. Stripping decent wages from families and giving obscene raises to ceos is criminal.

Shadows of Gautama bay

2010-07-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

I was reading the paper today and I saw a few small stories and had to shake my head. When we think of Gautama bay, what comes to mind? Torture? Yeah that's the predominant message it brings. Gautama bay was a prison on foreign soil where prisoners were not protected by constitutional rights.

Not only did the CIA admit they tortured prisoners there without a fair trial but George Bush vetoed a bill that would stop the torture. Surely that was a defiant war criminal. Many think it's OK to torture terrorists because they are murderers but is it and are they?

When people argue about the death penalty, they always ask what about wrongful convictions. It does happen. Well what about wrongful convictions without a trial or wrongful arrests without a charge? Only the Communists do that? Apparently not.

What about Operation Northwoods? That plan was a historical reality. False flag attacks have been used throughout history to gain public support for invasions of foreign land. What if we tortured someone who was innocent just to obtain a false confession to a false flag attack? Would that be OK if it succeeded in gaining public support for an invasion of a foreign country?

Today we read the news that Omar Khadr, a Canadian prisoner at Gautama bay fired his lawyer and is either gonna pull a Bobby Sands and refuse to participate in what he views to be an illegal trial or he will represent himself.

Now let's pause for a monument and think why is this kid in prison? He was 15 years old, living in Afghanistan. Foreign solders had invaded his country once again. After all Russia tried to invade Afghanistan and the CIA trained the Taliban to repel that invasion. Well here we are once again. Foreign solders invade his country. He is accused of throwing a hand grenade and killing a foreign solder protecting his homeland. So he is arrested and charged with murder in Gautama bay.

If he had thrown a hand grenade at a Russian soldier when they invaded his country, would he be charged with murder? What does the Constitution say about the right to bear arms and providing for the common defense? If foreign solders invaded America and an American citizen shot one of the soldiers dead, would that citizen go to jail for murder or was he exercising his right to bear arms to protect his home and family?

This is assuming he is guilty. What is he is innocent? Everyone knows he will not receive a fair trial at Gautama bay.

Then we read today of the first conviction at Gautama bay. Osama Bin Laden's cook plead guilty to conspiring with al Qaeda and providing material support for terrorism. This after 8 years of torture at Gautama bay. He was accused of helping Bin Laden escape to the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan after the U.S. led invasion in 2001.

Why does this sound completely absurd? Before the invasion the Taliban said, what evidence do you have that Osama Bin Laden was responsible for 9/11? The US refused to give them the evidence and demanded they hand him over to face trial in America. They said without evidence we will not hand him over.

These are the same people the Texas oil barons were wining and dining three months earlier lobbying to win the contract for CentGas the Central Asian Oil Pipeline through Afghanistan. As soon as they gave the contract to an Argentina firm instead of an American firm, all of a sudden they were the enemy. After the invasion the American companies were given the contract. If that is not a war for oil, I don't know what is.

Not only that, the bin Laden's built the Twin Towers. They gave George Bush the start up money for his defunct oil company in Texas. Bush helped them escape right after 9/11. Osama was a CIA asset. The 9/11 terrorists got their passports from the CIA in Saudi Arabia.

A war crime is when you torture prisoners. Killing the enemy in a time of war is not a war crime. Neither is helping your leader escape from an invading army.

Senseless Violence at the G20

2010-06-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

OK this is really pissing me off. As much as I oppose Corporate greed these bullshit punk ass weasels that vandalize private property have got to go. There all filming themselves breaking things. I have a solution: Tranquilizer darts. If they can drop a rhino with a tranquilizer dart, then can drop a punk ass vandal.

Setting cars on fire, setting police cars on fire. That is bullshit. It's like how every year Paris has huge riots when tons of private vehicles are set in fire. That is bullshit. That is not a society to be proud of. They are asking for other citizens to take up arms against them.

On the brights side, this guy who stopped a looter is awesome.

Harper's Treason

2010-06-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

We all like to complain about Gordon Campbell's arrogance and dishonesty and rightly so. I've mentioned before that the HST is a federal initiative and that Gordon Campbell offered up BC as a sacrificial pawn to break ground for the HST federally.

We also see that although Harper promised senate reform and was going to push for an elected Senate, he has now appointed 33 Conservatives to the 105-seat upper House in the last 18 months. Just what is he preparing for?

Let's not forget Stephen Harper's idol, Brian Mulroney and his senate reform. Mulroney added eight more seats to the total overnight so he could ram the GST through. Now Harper is doing far worse. He is quietly re stacking the senate to ram the HST through.

Remember all that drama about lowering the GST 2%? His idol was the one who rammed it through in the first place. What a scam. Yet that scam isn't nearly as big as the real plan. Get elected by promising to lower the GST, re stack the Senate, then Raise the GST by taxing things that are presently except and call it the HST. A grand scam indeed.

But that's not all. Make a dirty deal with the second most hated politician in Canadian history, Gordon Campbell. (Mulroney was the worst) He'll do it. He doesn't give a rat's ass about the people. He's has his two pay raises and his gold plated pension. He's going to retire so he doesn't care what the people think. That's why he has committed political suicide by wiping his party off the face of the earth just like Mulroney did.

Oh but wait. It gets worse. What if Harper was to offer Gordon Campbell a senate seat in exchange for cramming the HST though in BC? Wouldn't that be ironic? 30 pieces of silver and the people are again sold out.

Doesn't all the used car salesman drama about lowering the GST then raising it again sound so much like Gordon Campbell's promise not to implement the HST and his campaign against the gold plated pension before he implemented it? Too bad calling some one a liar in the house of Commons will get you kicked out. Outside of parliament those lies are considered criminal fraud.

The good news is that the grass roots initiative has succeeded in getting enough signatures on the anti HST petition to bring the tax to a referendum. The Vancouver Sun called it Direct Democracy.

The BP Oil Spill Continues

2010-06-24T00:04:00.001-07:00

I can't believe the leaking oil well has not been capped yet. That is incredible. 100,000 barrels of oil a day is still pouring into the ocean for the worst oil spill in recorded history. This isn't just a huge oil tanker that sank.

This is an oil well that is still pouring oil into the ocean as we speak. This satellite photo of the area was taken back on June 10th. That was 14 days ago. Another 1.4 million barrels of oil have added to that slick with no end in sight.

Can you imagine what it's like for all the fish and sea life in that area? We get most of our oxygen from the ocean not the forests. This spill is killing all those plants and sea life that create oxygen. The ramifications of this spill are unprecedented. The only saving grace is the fact that oil floats and eventually floats to the surface. Still the ecological ramifications are mind boggling.

"The Natural Gas doesn't just bubble to the top of the ocean and release into the air. It is absorbed into the water, like air is absorbed, and actually creates oxygen depletion. Hence, the emission of natural gas of these volumes into the sea is producing a significant area of Oxygen depleted water in the Gulf of Mexico which may be very large threat to fisheries and other wildlife in the area. "

The new concern. is methane gas. Methane gas is a real problem. This leak is “the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history,” Methane gas can kill all life in the Gulf of Mexico. It suffocates the ocean and in turn suffocates us.

Dead zones in the ocean have been a concern since the /70's. In 2004 there were 150 dead zones reported which expanded to 405 dead zones in 2007. Back then a study warned "We could end up with no crabs, no shrimp, no fish." In 2009 we see the oceanic dead zones continue to grow. This was before the worst oil spill in recorded history.

Blame Obama? WTF? BP contracted out Dick Cheney's Halliburton. That would be connected to Bush not Obama. Obama imposes a 6 month ban on off shore drilling in the area and the courts overturn that ban. WTF? The Constitution has just become meaningless. A court judge over ruled a democratic law? The courts are created to uphold the law not help big corporations violate the law. This is insane.

This is a real life example validating our fears of NAFTA, TILMA and the NAU. Free trade is fine but why sign a contract making it illegal for any level of government, federal, provincial or municipal, to create a law that will interfere with a corporation's ability to make a profit? That is insane but that is what's happening and we just saw it implemented.

Last year I used the example of pesticide companies suing the Ontario government through NAFTA for protecting the environment and banning certain pesticides. This is another example of the fears becoming reality. Taking away a democratic society's right to create laws that protect the environment, employees or citizen's human rights is just plain wrong.

This is the direction the G 20 is heading. My kid's high school recently had a forum for earth day and showed a youtube video stating that several corporations have more money than world nations. Indeed the corporation is the new beats rising from the (now dead) ocean.

Oh right. While the planet and the Constitution is being gang raped by the oil companies and the big corporations what hits the biased news broadcasts? Not another false flag attack on times Square with a toy clock. Not a hunter going fishing with gas cans and a cross bow but All Gore's sex life.

Who the f*ck cares about Al Gore's sex life? I think those accusations are false. The rumor was started by the National enquirer and the other papers are just quoting it. After all you used election fraud to steal the election from him. Why not pay the Enquirer to slander him. Shame on fraud.

A black fly in your Chardonnay

2010-06-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Isn't it ironic? I heard that song on the radio yesterday and I never really payed much attention to the words but the metaphor it's like a black fly in your Chardonnay struck me. What an interesting analogy.

Chretien, Iggy and Justine Trudeau

2010-06-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Poor Iggy. Karma's a bitch.

Next batter: Justine Trudeau.

The HST Exodus has begun

2010-06-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well here we are once again. Deja vu. When Mulroney rammed the GST through against the will of the people, his political party was wiped off the face of the earth. Seeing the writing on the wall, some of his MP's jumped ship as it was sinking claiming they were leaving the party because they opposed the GST.

Well we said it was going to happen and it has already started. Gordon Campbell doesn't give a rats a*s because he has his pay raise and his gold plated pension. He's retiring next year so he doesn't care what the voters want. However, not all of his MLA's are retiring. One MLA, Blair Lekstrom, has already jumped ship claiming the reason is because he disagrees with the HST in hopes to save his own political life.

Rats leaving a sinking ship. When will we ever learn. Take note Stephen Harper. The Federal Liberals might be down in the polls but if you persist in pushing the HST through federally, this too will happen to you. You will go down in history as the next Brian Mulroney who wiped his political party off the face of the earth.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Smith wrote about this in his column in the Vancouver Province.

Liberal NDP Merger - WTF

2010-06-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

OK this just smells bad and of course it's met with denial. Rumors hit the airwaves of secret talks between the Liberals and the NDP to create a new political party. Affidavits have been presented. Yet the denial rages.

Here's the point. The Liberals are tanking in popularity and they are desperate to figure out why. Well I'll tell you why, Michael Ignatieff. The secret merger talks said they would have to accept Iggy as leader. This is Iggy's dying attempt at a power grab. Harper wants to "Govern" and Iggy wants to be PM. It's all about them.

Harper really needs to lose his Brian Mulroney obsession. All that bullsh*t about lowering the GST a percentage. What a crock of sh*t that was. Mulroney was the one that brought it in and Harper is the one trying to cram the HST through. He's the reason Gordon Campbell bought into the HST to his political demise.

So we know Mulroney was full of sh*t but look at Harper. We'll drop the GST a percentage (which we indirectly brought in) knowing full well we will increase the GST by taxing things that are normally except when we bring in the HST. Bullsh*t.

Now let's talk about Iggy. OK let's not. He is an untrustworthy idiot who sanctions torture and false flag attacks. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing. The Liberals need to dump him and bring in Justine Timberlake. I mean Justine Trudeau. He will save the party. Iggy will flush it down the toilet.

And there is nothing wrong with a Harper NDP merger. Hard on violent crime, whilst keeping public accountability. And will someone PLEASE drop the Socialism Bullsh*t! Look at the proposed merger conditions:

"the NDP would have to comply with three conditions: renouncing socialism and embracing a mixed-market economy; accepting Michael Ignatieff as leader; and having senior party "saints" such as former federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent and past Saskatchewan NDP leader Roy Romanow promote the merger. "

Renounce Socialism? STFU! Public accountability is not socialism you lying bastards. Privatizing everything like Enron, Blackwater and Haliburton is just plain corruption so drop the Commie phobia bullsh*t. Public accountability is DEMOCRACY.

Remember Remember the Fifth of November

2010-05-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

In England Halloween isn't nearly as popular as Guy Fawkes night. Kids would make a stuffed dummy of Guy Fawkes prior to November 5th and collect money for fireworks. They'd say "Penny for the Guy" If ya haven't got a penny a hipenny will do, if you haven't got a hipenny then God bless you.

Then on bond fire night they would burn their stuffed dummy of Guy Fawkes. It commemorates the story of how the traitor Guy Fawkes was caught trying to blow up the Parliament buildings. When I was working in London many years ago a few friends asked me if I have ever been to Lewes on Guy Fawkes night. No I replied. You've gotta see this they smiled.

What a night that was. It felt like a scene from an old Frankenstein movie. Everyone was dressed in costumes related to England's colonial days and marching by torchlight to the location of the huge bondfire. There was a huge sign draped across the street that read "No Popery Here!" I had to ask what that meant. I was puzzled and thought well that isn't very politically correct. The whole night was very anti Catholic. Guy Fawkes was a Catholic.

Then a few men dressed as Cardinals narrated the story. The cry was Remember Remember the 5th of November!" Then they shouted out "What shall we do?" "Burn him!" The crowd yelled. This went back and forth until they finally burned their traitor to the cheers of the crowd. But that's not all.

After they burned Guy Fawkes, they burned an effigy of the Pope to the cheers of the crowd. I raised my eyebrow and said to myself now I know that's not politically correct. But they didn't stop there. After that the burned the bill, a statue of the police. Then they exploded a ship that I think was supposed to represent the establishment. It got kind of hard to follow as I was ducking shrapnel.

I haven't seen the whole movie but the V for Vendetta speech is a call to remembrance. Some claim Guy Fawkes was a hero because England at the time were killing and oppressing Catholics. Others uphold that guy Fawkes was a traitor just like Lundi in Derry / Londonderry. An interesting point the V for Vendetta speech makes is that traitors can come from within. What do we do when we have a bad king or when a bad politician is elected to parliament?

I submit that Moya Greene is a traitor to the British people. Yes, I am part British. My father's father was born in London. He married an wonderful woman who was half Irish half Scottish. After watching the movie Braveheart my daughter never like to admit we were part British but we are. England has had some bad kings in the past. Have you seen the new Robin Hood movie with Russel Crowe? When I saw the previews I thought they must have changed the story a bit because it looked more like Gladiator organizing armies. Sure enough, they did change the story line a bit but I liked it. It almost made you proud of being part English.

You know what makes Great Britain Great? Diversity. English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh. Cultural diversity makes England great. Now with immigration England has become multicultural too.

Historically England and Scotland had beef. How did they settle that dispute? They put a Scotsman on the Crown. I kid you not. The present Queen is from the Stewarts who were a Scottish line of royalty. But that's not all. That Scottish line originally came from Ireland and is a descendant of Nial of the Nine Hostages, Cormac MacArt and Con of the Hundred battles.

In fact the stone of scone came from Ireland. One of the princes of Ulster gave it to his brother Fergus Mac Erc(a) when he married in to Scottish royalty. Legend has it that the prophet Jeremiah brought the stone of scone from Israel with one of the daughters of King Zedekiah. The bible claims Jeremiah went to Egypt with two of the daughters of king Zedekiah. The legend claims from there they went on one of the ships from Tarshish and sailed to Ireland. One of the daughters married into Spanish royalty and the other daughter married into Irish royalty.

The theory is that not only is the Queen of England Scottish, not only is she part Irish, she is also of the house of David. So the legend goes but that's not all the Davinci code claims so it's not.

Here in Canada we have the queen's face on our money. I never really thought about it much as the Queen doesn't play a very large role here. When I worked in London many years ago it was during the royal wedding with Prince Charles and Princess Dianna. The press went wild. We were listening on the radio to the play by play details at work. The media was excitedly describing every step when she came out with her wedding gown on describing her outfit as the media rushed off to get the pictures in the press.

I said out loud "Bloody hell it's not the moonwalk. You'd think it was the first step on the moon for heaven's sake." They did not find my comment very amusing. They like their royalty. I didn't understand. I will admit that Dianna was the best thing that ever happened to the Royal house. She was divine. I'll always remember the picture of her talking off her royal glove and holding the hand of a leper.

Charles is a good man as well. His mother made him marry Dianna. He was older and wanted to marry Camila his true love but the queen said no. Such it up and do it for your country she said which he did. Most older men would have jumped at the opportunity to marry a younger beautiful woman. Yet as we know the marriage had friction and her untimely death was tragic. Charles marrying Camila to me is noble. That was his true love. Good for him. Yet his sons carry the compassionate blood of the divine princess.

What is my point in all this historical dribble? My point is, England can be great again. My point is England is still under seize and that treason threatens the nation once again. Only this treason, is from within. Help the Queen defeat the Corporate beast that is trying to take over parliament. The same beast Tony Blair sold out to when he kissed George bush's ass and agreed to a war for oil. The same beast which inspired MI6 to plant false information in the media about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in Mass Appeal. Stand with the Queen against this treason from within. It all begins with Moya Greene.

You can stop the privatization of the Queen's mail just like we did in Canada. A minority government must listen to the constituents or lose office. The time to strike for democracy is now. Remember Remember the 5th of November. Just like a waving flag.

9/11 on Fifth Estate

2010-05-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm told that Fifth Estate ran their 9/11 segment again last night. It appears that the 9/11 discrepancies aren't going away and the more time that passes the more people question them.

Paul Tellier and Moya Greene

2010-05-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

Paul Tellier was CEO of CN in the /90's when it was privatized. Moya Greene was involved with that. In 2002 he was placed in charge of Bombardier. Moya Greene was involved with that too. Then in 2004 he was ousted as Bombardier CEO as was Moya Greene.

She stepped down as Senior VP on December 17 2004 when the Bombardier stock hit rock bottom. Funny how they've removed that information from their web site. Via Rail, the passenger service operating on CN's tracks, was involved in the Sponsorship scandal. CN was involved with the BC Rail corruption Scandal.

Anarchists on Crack

2010-05-19T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well this is pretty dumb. Two idiots claiming to be "Anarchists" videoed themselves firebombing a Royal Bank in Ottawa and posted it on the Internet. They claim they targeted the Royal Bank because the Royal Bank supported the Olympics and they wanted to send a message to the politicians. Well they sure did.

The message they sent is that we need to repair our broken judicial system and make real jail time for idiots like these who commit senseless acts of violence. The Vancouver Olympics was a wonderful event.

I wonder if it was Davie Cunningham and that spoilt brat little girl who started the violent Olympic protests in Vancouver based on a lie. "No Olympics on stolen native ground." What a joke. Squamish First Nations were paid well for the use of the land and were in agreement with it.

They wanted to lie and turn it into another Oka which it clearly was not. I remember seeing them boo a First Nations brother at City Hall playing a Chief Dan George song on his prayer drum. They have no respect for anyone and they are not First Nations.

Davie Cunningham was from Ontario not Vancouver and he was handing out free crack pipes in East Van getting people all riled up with absolute lies. They even brought a Mowhawk flag they bought on E-bay.

Mohawks aren't from B.C. and have no claim to land within the Squamish First Nations territory. I saw the same Mowhawk flag at their squat right after they wore masks and started assaulting people in Vancouver during the Olympics because the police refused to take the bait and get in a fight with them.

There are some real issues on the table with the G8 and the WTO but these wackos are destroying any chance we have of rallying a sensible democratic response. They are simply spoilt brats who need a time out in prison.