Good catch



Thank the Middleman for this election factoid, to be used by me at a future election forum:

A $41.2-billion health accord between Ottawa and the provinces will not blunt the Alberta government's plans to inject more privatization into its health-care system, Premier Ralph Klein said Friday.



.................



However, he said any reform proposals will occur after the provincial election, expected in late November.

It seems Ralph Klein comes from the Kim Campbell school of democracy: an election is no time to discuss public policy.



I can't blame the guy for not wanting to hang around the First Ministers' health care meeting. "Hey, I'm just going to wreck it anyhow... you guys have fun. I'm headed to a trade show!"

(Rev/Mod guest host BEAR lets it fly...)



THE BITCH AIN'T BACK



Woke up yesterday to see the headline that the Liberals lead the NDP 43-37 in the September Mustel Poll. The celebration for Gordon Campbell was short-lived as a few hours later, Christy Clark (Deputy Premier/Children & Families Minister) announced her resignation from cabinet plus her intention not to run on May 17, 2005. Clark claims she's quitting to look after her "thriving" son - the same infant who received a nanny and customized nursery at the legislature at taxpayers expense, at the same time the Liberals shut down Child Care BC. For the record, my MLA (Jenny Kwan, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, NDP) looks after her year-old daughter in her office in the leg annex, which has no running water, and relies on grandma to babysit.



Earlier this year, Clark was demoted from the Education portfolio, largely due to her malicious antagonizing of the British Columbia Teachers Federation. Clark insisted on revoking teachers' legal right to strike, and thumbed her nose at them (and the BC Supreme Court) by ripping out class size provisions in their collective agreement under Bill 19. Once relatively apolitical (as apolitical as public sector unions get in BC...), the BCTF responded by joining the BC Federation of Labour and are building a war chest to support New Democrats in 2005.



As we all know, resigning to spend time with the family is code for "I'm in serious trouble" given that David Basi (one of her former aides) was booked on drug dealing charges two days ago, and her husband Bruce has been repeatedly implicated in the December 28 Legislature Raids. Rather than stay on as the bitchy little mascot for Gordon Campbell and his happy little band of white collar criminals, Christy decided to bail before something really embarassing happens.



I wonder if Cambpell gave Christy the same send off he gave other female MLAs who bolt from the Liberal caucus. The guy just has an incredible way with women.

Rev/Mod guest host BEAR, still lurking about, says...



The Puck Stops Here



As a result of the owners locking out the players, there will more than likely be no NHL hockey this year. I know this is upsetting for a lot of people, but like our regular host here at Rev/Mod, I really can't be bothered with the NHL. There are occasions, usually to try and fit in, I have let myself get caught up in the Vancouver Canucks frustratingly abrupt playoff runs. However, the game's voodoo economics, schizophrenic officiating, and players' prison mentiality have left me scrathing my head one more than one occasion. The NHL product, at least on the west coast, is long on hype and short on substance.



That's right, voodoo economics - NHL owners want a salary cap like the NFL or the NBA, but football and basketball can get away with a cap because there's a lot TV revenue to go around. I can't believe that the psychological and cultural well-being of a nation is caught up with an enterprise so myopic, manipulative, and mismanged.



Oh wait, that's the Liberal Party of Canada....

(RevMod guest host/second stringer BEAR pops by with...)



Is this Da Kine of thing we want?



Having lived in Vancouver for almost four years now, I've started to get a little tired of Marijuana. Not the actual weed, but ongoing police/media obession with it while more damaging drugs find their way into the most helpless in the Downtown Eastside, just over the railroad tracks from where I live.



I'm also tired of the Marijuana advocacy "industry", which is best illustrated by the grandstanding opportunist antics of Marc Emery and the Marijuana Party of Brtitish Columbia. Their "4:20" demonstrations at the Art Gallery are more like stoner trade shows than political rallies, and if Emery was serious about his political aspirations, why did his party endorse the NDP in the recent federal election?



There hasn't been as visible an example of pot opportunism as the recent goings-on at Da Kine Cafe, which may end up in the long run costing sick people who might benefit from herb's medicinal properties. Da Kine is also a few blocks from my place, but I haven't been bothered to go see what all the fuss is. Unfortunately, 4:20 conflicts with Happy Hour in my calendar.

Good news



Just heard, second-hand, from my Cayman people. They are alive and safe, though hot, and it sounds like at least one house among them withstood the storm well enough that they don't have to worry about where to stay.



I'm not much for praying for help. But I'm more than happy to pray thanks. How Canadian of me.

Klein misses out



While the other Premiers hash out details of a new health care deal with the Prime Minister, Ralph Klein spent the day at a trade show. That would be enough to be concerned about the Premier's priorities, but Klein's error was compounded when Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert spent a few moments of his mic time today pimping one of his constituents, Theresa Sokyrka, for Canadian Idol.



There are some Albertans who believe that Klein is responsible for helping Stephen Harper lose the federal election. Will our Premier have to accept responsibility for another Albertan's loss on the federal stage?



That works for me on a couple of different levels, actually.

More on Ivan and Grand Cayman



I have no words for these images, but fortunately, Microsoft Word comes with a thesaurus:



Brutal



Cruel



Fierce



The international media has been remarkably quiet about the damage done to Cayman as opposed to some of Hurricane Ivan's other targets, but I suspect that's a result of a lack of moving images. (Another contributing factor may be no reported deaths, for which I'm grateful - I haven't yet heard from the people who matter to me.) Once some television cameras can get to the island, or the local news production gets electricity, and back on their feet, I suspect we'll start to hear a lot more on our televisions.

Cayman Ivan news



The international media hasn't had much news about the devastation on Grand Cayman yesterday. Regular readers know that there are people who live on that island who are important to me.



So, long story short, this story scares the shit out of me.



I haven't been able to reach the people I know since yesterday morning. Once I do, once I hear more, I'll let you know.



Update, 0935: Here's another report, more detailed and scarier.



Update, 1140: This site is taking and posting sporadic reports. Apparently, a few cel phone calls and text messages have gotten to loved ones off-island, and some of that information is being shared there.

The Viet Nam war record



John Kerry attended it, but opposed it politically once he came home.



George W. Bush avoided it, but never politically opposed it.



Bush is letting his party try to undermine Kerry's record by minimizing his actions and his injuries. Some "unaffiliated" right-leaning organizations are attempting to discredit Kerry's war record altogether, or even crazier, blame Kerry for the discrediting of the Viet Nam war. It's a little desperate.



But in the end, the American left needs to understand that the comparitive war records aren't a real issue - it's a distraction. It's a little "Starship Troopers" to think that serving your country in wartime makes you the more appropriate candidate to lead. When it was Clinton vs. Dole in '96, it was pretty clear who the war hero of the two was, and I don't recall any attempt among Democrats to show Bob Dole anything but respect and appreciation for his military service. But come election day, voters made their choice based on more pressing concerns.



This time around, the left has the war veteran candidate, so they're bulletproof against "left=coward" accusations. Leave it at that and move on to the issues, because the election is two months away. This sideshow of discussing what your candidate did thirty years ago (or, for that matter, what their candidate snorted did thirty years ago) will not help the voters punish the current Administration for Iraq, the stalled economy, and the horrible fiscal management of the last four years.



Update, Thursday morning: I have to read my own links once in a while. Get Your War On beat me to this point, more effectively, about two weeks earlier. The link is here, and I'm certain you don't need to be told that GYWO is known for some strong language.

Free advice



IOC President Jacques Rogge thinks Canada should spend more money on winning Olympic medals. Thanks for telling us our business, buddy. Who's this guy think he is, Paul Cellucci?



I've expressed that I'm okay with Canada only winning a few. Judging by call-in shows and streeter interviews, I think that attitude is spreading. I'm glad Canada makes sure our world-class athletes have coaches, have places to train, and can get to the games to perform. But if there's spare money in the pot after that, I would much rather see it spent on a lot of amatuer athletes (building hockey and curling rinks and soccer fields in small communities for instance) instead of spending hundreds of thousands on one athlete to try to get her from fifth-best in the world to second.



I listened to an advocate of Rogga's plan talk about the money that could be spent giving our velodrome bike racers better opportunities, through scouting opponents and tracks (which are, apparently, all different. Who knew?). Forgive me, but didn't a Canadian win that? Didn't she win against athletes who probably had those advantages?



I suspect that our government feels much the same that I do. I think Rogga will be given a polite welcome, as befits an IOC President who isn't also a war criminal, but if the Prime Minister politely told him to mind his own business, I'd be behind that.

Holy shit!



Actually, Bear, what has captured my attention today isn't so much Canadian Idol or the Olympics - it's a sober consideration of our species, and if we might collectively be up for a Darwin Award.



In my past few years with TELUS, before my current employment as card sharp, my primary responsibility was setting and resetting passwords. The role expanded and changed, but to the very last day, I was still setting an obscene nuimber of passwords every day for TELUS employees. Over the four years, I used a single generic password for network accesses. I guarentee you that there are still thousands of TELUS employees using that password, because they couldn't be bothered to secure it through changing it.



I heard a lot of password-security horror stories over those years. Here's a favourite: I was stepping a user through setting a passcode that had to be numeric. I blanked the passcode, and with some difficulty walked the client to the appropriate point where he would be able to set one for himself. The screen prompted him. He asked me, at the other end of the telephone, if it would be okay if he set the number to be the same as his bank card PIN: 462213.



That was my favourite password horror story... until today.



According to the Harper's Index in the September issue of Harper's:

Secret access code to the computer controls of the U.S. nuclear-tipped missile arsenal between 1968 and 1976: 00000000

Mother of God! How have we managed to survive the nuclear era so far? Perhaps it was my time at TELUS, or my time now spent playing poker, but in my experience, human beings are by-and-large not very smart.

(RevMod guest host and surplus bandwith filler BEAR pops by with...)



The Games So Far...



While Don is absorbed by the further commodification of the music industry that is Canadian Idol, I've been watching the further commodification of sports that are the Games of the XXVIIIth Olympiad. Since I work relatively early and live on the west coast, I'm seeing half of it live, and half of it on tape, mostly on CBC, some on NBC, et un petit peu avec Radio-Canada. Athens appears to have become the Y2K bug of international events, as with three days to go until the flame extinguishes, the organizational breakdowns and terrorist threats have yet to materialize. Mind you, Colin Powell plans to pop by for the Closing Ceremonies.



Like Don, I'm not choked with the medal count, but as a baseball fan (yes, everyone who writes at this blog goes in for sports most people consider boring in their non-violence), it would have been nice to see Canada come back with something from the diamond: doesn't Stubby Clapp deserve to be a household name? As we go to press here, Canada has seven medals, and "we" have potential in canoe/kayak, diving, sailing, and maybe something else that splashes. It's by no means the disappointment some of us have been led to believe: both 1976 in Montreal and the 1988 winter games in Calgary saw "us" come away with five medals at each games, none of them gold.



As for the quotation marks around "we" and "us", I think that's coming from the recurring nausea from the counseling sessions/inquisitions masquerading as post-event interviews with Canadian athletes who come up a little short. Sure, they did their best, just being there is an achievement, wash, rinse, repeat, but if the media took that seriously (and I'm looking at you, CBC), don't these athletes deserve their space and a few minutes to collect themselves, instead of coming crying and apologizing like they ran over your Mom? At the risk of skirting the "our athletes need more funding" mantra, I'm pretty sure that none of whatever funding they get goes to dealing with Scott Oake shoving a mic (and whatever you said about your chances before the starter's pistol) in your face, right after you've been swimming your guts out to 28th place.



Anyway, it will be all over but the shouting come Sunday. When you started to lose interest in the women's beach volleyball tournament, you knew the end was coming.

Canada medal count



One!



I keep hearing I'm supposed to be upset about this, but this is the summer games. Is there curling? No? Then who cares?



We have six kids on our Idol show who played instruments to go along with an amazing rendition of Canadian Railroad Trilogy. American Idol could never have pulled that off. Plus, they probably don't even know the words to the Lightfoot classic. Take that, American Olympic team!



So, to recap:



One! Which is okay by me.



edited to add: Two! Add trampoline to Canada's synchronized diving medal. Thank goodness the Olympic rules allow countries to make shit up, when they can't win any real events.

Campaign Comedy Review



Thanks, Bear, for looking in on the cats and bringing in the mail. I'm back.



All the new incoming links will be appearing to your left in the next couple of days, so if you think you're missing from my list, just hit my page from yours and I'll notice it in SiteMeter.



Credit where credit is due - unlike Paul Martin, who played election-date guessing games with the country all through the spring, Ralph Klien telegraphs his election timing intentions months in advance. Alberta will be having a provincial election in November, barring some unusual circumstances, and it looks increasingly likely I'll be the NDP's provincial candidate for Strathmore-Brooks once again. If you're a constituent, or headed east on highway #1 from Calgary, watch for the outdated signs. I'm way too cheap to buy fresh.



Acknowledging that Lucifer will take up ice-skating to celebrate my election-night victory, I think I'll use my speaking time at forums to hone my comedy skills. The good news: perhaps people will come to election forums if they think they're going to be entertained. The bad news: you poor sods get to be the sounding board for my writing.



"I've spoken with some of you over the last few months, and people in this riding are frustrated. We're mad at the Liberals for giving money to their Quebec advertising friends. We're mad at the Tories for giving away tax money that ended in the pockets of their American meat packer friends. So my party settled on a new slogan: 'Alberta's NDP. We have no friends.'"



Easy!

(after popping open Don's last beer and running up his long distance bill, safe in the knowledge our moderator hasn't been seen in days, RevMod guest host/loiterer BEAR asks...)



Damn it, where's Malibu Hilary?



America is truly the land of opportunity, where any fashion doll or action figure can run for public office!

(RevMod vagrant/guest host BEAR says...)



Say it ain't so, Edgar!



Went to Safeco Field on Thursday to see my beloved Seattle Mariners drop a 6-3 decision to the Minnesota Twins. It was probably my last opportunity to see Edgar Martinez, whose prowess at the plate defined the Designated Hitter position.



I've followed Edgar's career since when I lived in Calgary in the 1980s, and he was toiling in obscurity with the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League. Thursday was probably the last time I'll be able to root for him, as one, he's announced his retirement at the end of the season, and two, he sure seemed happy to meet George Bush when he rolled into Seattle the day after I did!



For a guy who did a lot of damage to the team that Dubya ran into the ground as an owner, it's too bad, despite telling reporters "No Politics!", that a class act like Edgar would allow himself to be a pawn in Bush's bid to run America into the ground for another four years.

(RevMod guest host and hanger-on BEAR spies trouble off the East Coast...)



Bear vs. the Volcano: No Contest



Everyone who lives in Vancouver knows that sometime within the next 400 - 500 years, there's going to be a major earthquake, much like the one that wreaked havoc in Kobe, Japan. Depending on where you live in the Lower Mainland, you'll be either scrounging for batteries or digging yourself out from the rubble. If you live in Richmond, you might be taking a little swim.



Meanwhile, if you're on the East Coast, you might be looking at a much bigger swim, thanks to the wrath of La Palma. A jumbo tidal wave laying waste to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, as seen in "Deep Impact" or the "Day After Tomorrow".



Of course, this might not happen in our lifetime, but I'll take the earthquake which might not happen in our lifetime over the tsunami which might cut short 100 million lifetimes.

Serious political blogging? Bah!



If you aren't watching Canadian Idol, why not? Unlike American Idol, which features dueling syrupy ballads, we have actual entertaining singers. We have a skinny Ukranian Saskatchewan girl celebrating her accordion-rich upbringing. We have a crazy kid from British Columbia doing Paul Anka one week and David Bowie the next, in full costume (sweater-vest to sparkly blue unitard in seven days). And the local favourite is heartbreakingly shy until he starts banging out his latest hard-driving classic rock selection. Even the group song-and-dance number on results-nights don't suck.



But don't believe me. Believe an American:

The host is probably about the same quality as Ryan. He's not quite as good an improviser and is sometimes a bit awkward in trying to get the show moving along, but he is very personable. Apparently, he's the son of a previous Canadian prime minister or something. Canada, I have to respect you for that. You put the intellect-challenged son of your previous leader in charge of talent show competition. We put ours in charge of our military. I think you guys made the smarter move.

Do your patriotic duty. Watch Canadian Idol, or Ben Mulroney might enter politics.

Sensing a lull in the action, RevMod guest host BEAR advises readers (at least U.S. readers) to...



Vote for George W. Bush



Hey, doesn't every American want a President who can keep his promises and means what he says?



(Edited by Don, who just hates the all-caps thing. Sorry, Bear.)

(Meanwhile, occasional RevMod guest host BEAR checks in with...)



Postcard from Portland



Hey Don,



We arrived at Union Station last Monday just in time to miss Dick Cheney skipping town after being shouted down by a few trainloads of demonstrators, who were miraculously whittled down to about 7 later that night on Fox News. Went shopping at Nob Hill and was repeatedly accosted by Democrats. I kept thinking to myself "wow, what dedicated, idealistic young people determined to punt Bush's a*s from the White House": at least until I picked up the local Arts & Anti-Establishment Willamette Week and discovered these kids are pulling $1500 - $2500 a month to pull the vote.



Spent most of our time here at Washington Park, poking through the Rose Garden, the Oregon Zoo, and the Japanese Garden. Picked up the new edition of Al Franken's book at Powell's World of Books (the biggest independent bookstore in the work, staffed by proud members of ILWU Local 5). Didn't do anything Lewis and Clark related, with the possible exception of driving by the the Sacajewea statue.



Did I mention the beer? Portland is easily North America's microbrew capitol. I didn't see a 'Bud' or 'Miller' sign until PGE Park, where the PCL Beavers play to 20,000+ empty seats, as Portlanders stay at home and wait to be deemed worthy by Major League Baseball. It's always sad when people don't know they're being used. Portland's nice enough that I'll probably threaten to move there sometime too.