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Campaign Day 17 (LateNight).....Post Game Answer Edition...
Let'sGoInto
OvertimeVille
The Question....from the Pre-Game 'Questions' Edition was....
"What old time Canucklehead most resembles Bingo-Bango-Luongo?"
And the answer is....
Their first 40 goal scorer ever, Ron 'Sudsy' Sedlbauer!
And now for the bonus portion of the show....Best description of the Sedin twins ever, from Chicago Fan-Site 'Second City'......'Children Of The Corn'....
Oh, and just so you know, Sudsy, who I always called 'Sleepy' when I was a kid, garnered a grand total of, get this!, 16 assists in his one and only big year....
Although, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what how many goals Sleepy potted while tearing up the ice with the Flamboro Real McCoys in 1983-84.
Posted by RossK at Thursday, April 30, 2009 3 comments
Campaign Day 17 (cont'd)....PreGame Question Edition...
Where'sBigAlWhenYouNeedHim?
PapaGriffithsNoMoreVille
Is there anything stupider than the term 'energy line' for the muckers on the fourth?
Whatever happened to Neil Belland?
What old time Canucklehead most resembles Bingo-Bango?
Answer to #3 to come in postgame wrap-up.....
Campaign Day 17 (cont'd)....Gordon Campbell's Firing Of Park Rangers 'Temporary'
AllTheCodswallopThatFits
LINOVille
Mr. Campbell's (anti)Environment Minister Barry Penner, back peddles.....
CHILLIWACK - Environment Minister Barry Penner is describing massive layoffs of park rangers as a "temporary situation" required in tough times.
His brief comments, as Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell toured a compressed natural gas plant, came amid reports this week that Mr. Penner's ministry is laying off up to half the rangers in some parks and that others may have to share rangers......
So $365 million plus for a stupid roof on a concrete marshmallow that everybody hates is something we do need in 'tough times'?
I guess that's what you call 'good managment'.
Campaign Day 17 (con'td)....Where Isn't Gordon Campbell Today?
TwiddlingHisTweetsWhileRomeBurns
GordCoVille
As we've already noted ad nauseum, it's easy to figure out where the Manager-In-Chief is campaigning at any given moment in trivia....errrrr....time.
But figuring out where he won't be is way more fun....
Where WON'T Gordon Campbell be campaigning today?
Well we're pretty sure he won't be visiting the magnificent Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park located smack dab in the middle of some of the most truly beautiful rainforest Vancouver Island has to offer.
Well, thanks to Gordon Campbell that park will be closed an extra 50 days this year for no good reason at all.
Oh and just so you know, as he hires on even more flack-hackery to pump the media's bilges and run the Public Affairs Bureau, which now stands at more than 200 strong and costs us more than $30 million dollars a year in 'direct' costs*....
....At the same time Gordon Campbell is firing park rangers left, right and center (it's non-partisan!).
Now that's a "Manager-In-Chief" who has his priorities straight!
Which brings to my last point....
I wonder if Mr. Campbell and/or the real upper management running this province has ever thought of outsourcing us.
The people of British Columbia I mean.
After all, it seems to me that things would be so much easier for them if that was, indeed, the case.
Don't you think?
*The true costs are very possibly three times that much, given all the media bilge pumpin' that also goes on in individual ministries separate from the 'official' budget ot the PABst Blue/Red Ribbon Brigade. This would put the cost to absolutely nothing (except screw us) for a year somwhere in the ballpark of what it might cost to buy back the Jordan River Lands (a give away to Upper Management that the PAB helped 'sell' by the way).....Now that's the best middle management money can buy....Yessirreee.
Campaign Day 17 (cont'd)....Finally, Here's Something We Can Really Vote For.
MoreOfTheSamePlease
JamesGangVille
It's not like I don't believe in the superiority of a party that values people over perks for pols and the privatization of all things public for no good reason at all.
But still....
This is the kind of thing I really want:
NDP Leader Carole James swung through Vancouver Island today promising to protect the Jordan River lands and reverse plans to close Cowichan Lodge seniors' care home in Duncan.
{snippety-doo-dah}
In Langford, James said an NDP government would negotiate with Western Forest Products to acquire 12,000 hectares known as the Jordan River lands stretching from Sooke to Renfrew.
Former forests minister Rich Coleman allowed the company to remove the private land from a publicly controlled tree farm licence in 2007. Once the land was out, the company faced less stringent regulations and could sell it off to developers....
Image above from the 'Dogwood Initiative' ...... Paul Willcocks exposes the corporate give away of the Jordan River Lands for what it is/was here.
Campaign Day 17.....Is Wally Oppal Trying To...
....Lose Delta South On Purpose?
Why do I ask?
Well, I held my nose and listened to him debate Vicki Huntington (and some other guys) on the the PuffMaster Flash's radio show this morning.
And the thing that struck me was that, on every single issue of consequence, from power lines to super ports, he was essentially saying 'screw you' to his constituents.
At first I thought it was bizarre.
But then at the end, when he summed up and said that the people of D. South had to vote for him because 'I'm a cabinet minister, gosh darn it!' I realized it just might be something else.
And that something, I think, is.....
Contempt.
Campaign Day 16 (late night)....Hope I Don't Sit Around Talkin' About It....
....But I Probably Will....
Well, apparently, somebody, probably Joe the Intern, at "The House Of Fish" thinks I'm 'combative'.
What the heck is wrong with you waterheads?
I mean, congratulating 'combativeness' one minute and putting our good friend GWest on double-secret probation the next?
I mean, cheese-willickers!, who does Mr. Beers think he is anyway....
Markos?
And while I've got the ear of the Fisheyed Ones for a nanosecond or three....I've said it before and I'll say it again...'GET RID OF THE CP WIRE COPY FROM THE HOOK!....WHILE THE REPORTAGE MAY BE 1000 TIMES BETTER THAN THE LUMPEN PROSETYLIZARIATE THAT FILLS THE PIXELS OF THE EGREGIOUS CANWEST SERVICE, IT IS STILL NOT BLOGGING - OK?'....There.....How's that....Combative enough for you?
Finally, you Poissonistas do realize that you've just added about three dozen extra PAB Bots to my watch list don't you?...By the way, Bot 186.....I see you've got a multiple personality disorder....You really should figure out if you are a Mac or a PC person before your head and/or your Twitter feed explodes...Unless?....Oooohhh, yuck....I don't even want about think about the possibility that there are two of you....Maybe sitting across the same desk....In the same hermetically sealed, sound and bug-proof office.....plotting...scheming....and then going out for lunch and/or dinner .....and maybe, oh I dunno, a movie, followed by a late night strategy session that ends in an even later night blog trolling session before lights out....Awwww, yuck!.....Again!.....
Posted by RossK at Wednesday, April 29, 2009 0 comments
Campaign Day 16 (cont'd).....Are The Dippers Really Down By Three...
....Or Up By Six?
What the heckfire am I babbling on about now?
Well.....
Sean Holman, as he must be doing a lot these days with most of the Pols gone from LedgeVille, got to thinking about a poll released by Angus Reid yesterday that showed the LINOs and Dippers in a statistical dead heat.
As a result, he decided to ask Angus Reid when they collected their data.
Well, if I understand Mr. Holman's thinking correctly (which I have been wrong about a number of times in the past - so take the following with a grain of sodium and chloride) he was thinking that maybe the reason for the big upswing in NDP support in the Reid poll compared to other recent polls was caused by all the negative publicity for the BC Liberals in the wake of the John van Dongen revelations last weekend.
Thing is, it turns out that much of the data collection was completed before the former Minister-In-Charge-of-Street-Racing made his announcement late last Friday afternoon:
"...In an interview with Public Eye, Angus Reid public affairs research director Hamish Marshall said, "Clearly, from everything else we've seen, people aren't paying that close of attention (to the election). And the level of engagement in this election is very low."
Moreover, "We actually completed most of the surveys on Friday. So I actually don't think (those stories) would have had a big effect on the people doing the surveys on Friday. It might have had a detrimental effect on BC Liberal voters for people who filled out the survey on Saturday and Sunday...."
First, the most obvious.....Which is that if the electorate is so easily swayed, one has to wonder if, say, by yesterday, after the onslaught initiated by Vaughn Palmer on Saturday was complete, the numbers might actually have swung even more towards the James Gang's side of the ledger. Thus, the rationale behind the somewhat snarky header at the top of this post.
Second, the most conjecturous.....Which is just this weird tingly feeling that maybe the BC Liberal War Room knew that AReid was sampling last week. And, if that was, indeed, the case would it be so unreasonable to assume that maybe the Liberal brain-trust may have come to the conclusion that it would have been to their advantage to hold off any bad news for as long as possible.
Like until.....
Late last Friday afternoon?
Campaign Day 16.....Where Won't Gordon Campbell Be Today?
Regardless the inanities of his Twitter feed, for obvious reasons Mr. Campbell won't be going to Houston to visit Enron*.
But that doesn't mean he wouldn't be happy to get together with Kenny Boy Lay's old accountants.
*Unless, of course, that deal the Preem made with the Big D to go hard right young man as the millenium turned included an all expenses paid 'Journey To That Big Ponzi Scheme At The Center Of The Earth'.
Oh, and while he might not be up for a trip to Houston, that doesn't mean that Mr. Campbell isn't above sending his lickspittles to get some 'help' with his plans to greenwash everything.... (aaaahhh....the blogspot....like the 'G', it never forgets either).
Campaign Day 15 (LaterNight).....Angus Reid's Latest Poll Is Out....Game On!
HeatingUpTheDeadHeads
GarciaVille
According to Angus Reid, working for BellGlobeCTVetceteraMedia, the British Collumbia election is a statistical dead heat:
Halfway through the B.C. election campaign the race for the leadership is tighter than ever.
The BC Liberals and New Democrat parties are separated by just three percentage points, according to a new Angus Reid Strategies/CTV poll......
Which is within the margin of error.
What is most striking is the difference in preference based on gender:
"...The poll shows a growing gender gap in the B.C. election. While nearly half of women (48 per cent) are planning on voting NDP, only 35 per cent are planning to go with the BC Liberals.
The leading party seems to sit better with male voters. Forty-eight per cent polled said they'd stay under Campbell's leadership, as opposed to the 31 per cent who said they'd go NDP..."
Regardless, get ready for the Libs to try and drive the negatives on Ms. James given this:
"...None of the leaders of the major parties are proving particularly popular with voters. Only one in three polled approved of Gordon Campbell. This number fell to 27 per cent when asked about Carole James..."
The good news is that she can't go much lower which tells you something.
Finally, why is this poll so much different than the latest one from, say Mustel, which had the GordCons up by 17%?
Well, maybe it's this:
....Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey of 822 adult British Columbia residents from April 24 to April 26....
Why does the 'online survey' methodology mean anything?
Well, presumably, is decreases the reliance on old fuddie-duddies who actually pick-up the call that comes in on the land line which is is the standard polling methodology.
And as everybody knows, old-fuddie-duddies are much more likely to be kinda/sorta conservative.
Especially, apparently, if they are old fuddie-duddies with a Y-chromosome.
Posted by RossK at Tuesday, April 28, 2009 0 comments
Campaign Day 15 (LateNight)...What Didn't Gordon Campbell Visit Today?
Sick?MaybeYou'dLikeToTakeAVirtualTourOf
OurBillionDollarConventionCenterInsteadVille
Mr. Campbell may have visited Kimberley British Columbia earlier today, April 28th, 2009.
But he most certainly did not visit Kimberley's Hospital.
How do we know this for sure?
Because he, Gordon Campbell, closed down the town's hospital in 2002.
At the time, the town fought back by buying the site and has tried ever since to make a go of it on its own because, as Mayor Jim Ogilvie said at the time:
"Our number one goal is to re-establish primary health care. One of the main reasons we decided to buy the hospital was that they (the government of Gordon Campbell) left us with nothing — not even a first-aid post."
And don't forget, 2002 was the era of Gordon Campbell v1.0, when times were, apparently, tough and 'slashing-and-burning' was the order of the day.....So, how's that economy going now?.....
Campaign Day 15 (cont'd)....Is Bill Bennett Doomed?
HivingTrueConBlue
OffTheOldLINOHideVille
Don't know for sure, but this story from Justine Hunter, the far superior half of the G&M E- Blog-writing team, sure makes one wonder:
...The Kootenay East riding is expected to be a close race – the Liberal candidate Bill Bennett won here in 2005 with a margin of just 721 votes, and now faces a challenge from the B.C. Conservative party leader Wilf Hanni.
Mr. Bennett, speaking to reporters after the rally (with BC Liberal Leader Gordon Campbell yesterday), said it is still a two-way race between himself and the New Democratic Party candidate, Troy Sebastian. However he expects Mr. Hanni will bleed off support from voters who recognize the Conservative brand from federal politics.
"I'm not concerned at all about Mr. Hanni, if you heard him speak you wouldn't be concerned about him either. But he will take some votes because he's with a brand, the Conservative brand that people recognize here."
Mr. Bennett, who once lost a cabinet post because of his blunt way of communicating, denied he was insulting voters for assuming they can't distinguish between the little-known B.C. Conservative party and the one in power in Ottawa.....
This one could get very interesting.....
Campaign Day 15 (cont'd)....The Return Of The Stealth-Cons!
Democracy?
WeDon'tNeedNoStinkin'DemocracyVille.
LINO-Led Big Red/Blue* version, of course.
Charlie Smith has the story:
......In an e-mail to Lew McDonald, who is coordinator of the B.C. Health Coalition, B.C. Liberal communications officer Alexa Young wrote that the party "must decline to participate (in a debate on Health Care at the 411 Seniors Centre that was very successful in 2005)".
"As you can imagine, the number of requests for public appearances compared to the number of days of an election simply does not allow our candidates to schedule all requests," Young wrote. "All our candidates are committed to being accessible during their campaigns and as such we do encourage you to send us any questionnaires and or surveys and will be happy to complete them."
During the 2008 federal election, Conservative candidates refused to participate in several candidates debates across Metro Vancouver.....
LINO = Liberal-In-Name-Only (Gordon Campbell Division).
Campaign Day 15....The Greatest Place On Earth To Board-Up Public Housing
There'sNoHousing
LikeBoarded-UpHousingVille
It's easy to figure out where Gordon Campbell will be campaigning today, Apr 28, 2009.
But what about the opposite?
In other words, where will Gordon Campbell make sure he doesn't show up today?
One place we're pretty sure the Premier of British Columbia won't be is the now boarded-up Little Mountain Public Housing complex located smack-dab in the heart of Vancouver (ie. not Detroit City or Flint Michigan).
Why are we pretty sure about that?
Well, because Mr. Campbell, together with his 'new' Solicitor General/Top Cop Rich Coleman, has so far kicked out more than 200 families and boarded up their homes for no good reason at all.
Unless, of course you consider being bamboozled by a Condo King whose plan was to take the area from 100% down to 11% affordable (ie. by cranking up the million dollar 'market' units to 89% from zero) a "good reason".
But even if you do, it doesn't matter now.
Because the sweet-heart deal for the CondoKing has fallen through, or at the very least is 'on hold', and nobody, not even the members of the Premier's inner circle, knows seems to know anything about anything.
Except that the children don't live there anymore.
Have an idea or three about places the Premier won't be showing up in the coming days?....Leave us a message on the comment thread, or, if you prefer complete off-line anonymity you can always send an email to: pacificgazette@yahoo.ca
Here's the link to the (now former) Little Mountain tenants' site...
The photostream linked to directly above is from our friend Blackbird.
Campaign Day 14 (cont'd)....Why We Should Be Worried About Gordon Campbell v.1.1
TheAxeManCometh
ThirdTermVille
A few days ago (four score and seven in campaign years), I suggested that instead of a new and improved Gordon Campbell v.3.0, we just might wake-up on May 13th to find ourselves staring straight into the face of a wild-eyed, hopped-up version of the original model.
You know, the slash and burn version of Mr. Campbell that we got in 2001.
And now (ie. today) the VT-C's Dave Obee makes it very clear why we should be very, very afraid of that possibility:
"....You can bet that no matter what happens on election day, we will be told soon after that our finances are in much worse shape than we had been led to believe. The line might be that things have changed in the past few months, or possibly that the Liberals lied. Whatever the excuse, something will have to give.
There should be no doubt that cuts are coming. While there have been some positive signs lately, the economic downturn rolls on. Premier Gordon Campbell hates the idea of deficits, and will try to minimize one whatever the cost....."
It's a great column from Mr. Obee, very much worth reading in its entirety, that raises a vital issue that is not being discussed at all out on the campaign trail.
And we're pretty sure Mr. Campbell likes it that way.
Giddey-up little doggies!
Of course, there is another way to move 'structural deficits' off the books in addition to cutting programs....(see Assets, Public - Sell-off).....The question is, what's left?....To sell, I mean....Core Hydro business?....Every single Provincial Park in the province?...The Tops Of All The Mountains?....The Fish and Crawdads In All The Lakes?....All The Animals With Fur and/or Feathers?....Any and all remaining Timber Licenses....Hey!......Now there's a fine idea!
OK...maybe I better stop....I'm scaring myself again....
Posted by RossK at Monday, April 27, 2009 0 comments
Campaign Day 14....Top Cop Catches Self, Falls On Sword
ItMayBeLate
ButIt'sStillRightVille
There has been all sorts of commentary about the timing and the hypocrisy of it all.
Still, you've gotta hand it to John van Dongen.
Because at least he, unlike his leader, did the right thing and resigned from cabinet.
Then again, it wasn't Gordon Campbell who put those cops from Five-O on the late night streets of Maui looking for drunk drivers swerving to and fro' as they made their way, the wrong way, down the highway.
In other words, Mr. Campbell did not institute a program that caught Mr. Campbell.
The same cannot be said for Mr. van Dongen, however, given that he had a direct hand in flooding our streets with BC's finest during overtime hours for the express purpose of hunting down reckless speed freaks.
That Lady Karma.....
She sure can be a hard mistress when she wants to be.
Isn't that the truth Mr. Premier?
And if anybody thinks that hard-hitting journalism that calls codswallop what it is no longer matters/makes a difference in this province given the constant flocking of the flack-hackery.....Well, they are very likely be deluding themselves into thinking that the freeping of radio call-in shows actually makes reality........OK?
Campaign Day 14.......Hitting The Angry Constituent Trail
HowMuchIsTheHeartOfAParkWorth?
AskGordoVille
One place we're pretty sure the Premier of British Columbia won't be is Pacific Spirit Park in his home riding of Vancouver Point Grey.
Why are we pretty sure of that?
Well, if Mr. Campbell did show up there he just might have to explain to his constituents, some of whom are still very angry, why he traded the very public heart of a much beloved park for the edges of a very private golf course that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for him every year.
And just in case you're wondering....those signs were hard to find given that candidate Campbell has decided not to include headshots on the great majority (all?) of his.....Still yet to be substantiated rumours have led some to suggest that the park's Fairies may have built the ones you see in the image above.
Campaign Day 13...(cont'd)....Just What, Exactly, Is A B.C. Liberal Anyway?
WhoNeedsThirteenYearOldEMails
WhenYou'veGotActions&DeedsVille
Update: We have a fan of Ms. Polak on the comment thread line who unabashedly supports her somewhat less than small 'l' liberal views on tolerance...Feel free to have a look and leave a comment if you like....Alternatively, if you feel more comfortable commenting off-line, I'm always happy to receive Email... The address is: pacificgazette@yahoo.ca
First, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary.....
Main Entry: lib·er·al
Function:noun
Date:1820 :
a: person who is liberal: as a: one who is open-minded or not strict in the observance of orthodox, traditional, or established forms or ways.
b capitalized: a member or supporter of a liberal political party
c: an advocate or adherent of liberalism especially in individual rights
Second, The British Columbian Librarians Association on Censorship.....
On December 21, 2002 the Supreme Court presented its ruling that the ban on books about gay and lesbian parents has no place in a public school system that claims to promote diversity and tolerance. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the 7-2 ruling that "parental views, however important, cannot override the imperative placed upon the British Columbia public schools to mirror diversity of the community and teach tolerance and understanding of difference." Throughout the 35-page ruling, the Chief Justice repeatedly stressed the importance for a secular school board to avoid caving in to pressure from religious parents to the point of excluding the values of other members of the community. However, the judgement returned the decision of whether to approve the books back to the School Board and Mary Polak, chair of the Board, said that she could not predict what decision the board might make next time.
On June 12, 2003 the school board voted 5-2 again to ban the three contentious books from use the classroom. The vote came after six years of controversy and over $1 million in legal costs for the school board.
So, does Gordon Campbell's Minister of 'Healthy Living And Sport', Mary Polak, who is running for re-election in Langley fit the definition of someone who is a 'liberal'?
I would submit that she most definitely does not.
But a much more important question is the following.....
How could any voter who is even the smallest 'l' liberal, ever support a candidate (or a party that supports such a candidate for that matter) who worked so long and so tirelessly to promote censorship, close-mindedness, and intolerance?
Image at the top of post: The Speeder and The Censor....
And, yes Virginia, Lotusland really does have a minister of 'Healthy Living And Sport'.....Which can only make you wonder if, during a third mandate, the good burghers of LINOville plan to add 'Clean Minds' to the mandate.....
Posted by RossK at Sunday, April 26, 2009 0 comments
Campaign Day 13 (con'td)....CrossCheck This!
AllTheSlacknessThatFits
ProMediaVille
Robert Matas works for one of the biggest media conglomerates in this country whose name is something like BellGlobeTSNCTVRDSCHUMAndJustAboutEverythingElseThatIsn'tAsperSonMedia.....
When he wants to check the veracity of a claim made by a political party, presumably Mr. Matas has the resources available to actually try and find someone who could give him an unbiased read of any and all facts associated with that claim.
Which, in my opinion at least, is presicely what Mr. Matas did NOT do when he published his latest 'Crosscheck' piece in the Globe and Mail yesterday (Apr 25th/09).
It was a piece which purported to check out the NDP's claim that 13% of British Columbia's greenhouse gas emissions are generated by unnecessary natural gas well flaring.
Now, I have no idea what the actual number is.
Which is why I was happy to have a look at Mr. Matas' piece yesterday which had a sub-header associated with it in the dead tree version that said:
"Oil and Gas Commission says flaring accounts for between 1 and 2 percent of greenhouse gases"
That is quite a difference, eh?
But hang on a second....
The "Oil and Gas Commission"?
Oh you mean that internal Campbell Government House of Flack-Hackery set-up, at least in part, by a very fine fellow named Steve Simons with a $6 million dollar, taxpayer-funded, deflector-spin budget in its first year?
Now......
How would someone like myself, a lowly member of the Fever Swamps, know something as arcane as this?
Well, it turns out that the ridiculous budget of this ridiculous 'commission' is one of the things that made the coming co-optation of everything by the 'Great Manager To The Corporate Stars' crystal clear to me, quite some time ago.
As a result of this realization, I started up this blog to rail against it, and one of the first posts I ever wrote was about the "Six Million Dollar Made Man" in, get this, 2004!.
So, given all that, who do you think that Mr. Matas went to for his money quote yesterday in the spring of 2009?
You guessed it:
Steve Simons, (Oil and Gas Flack-Hackery) commission spokesman (yes spokesmodel, not engineer, not well head operator, greenhouse gase emissions expert), said yesterday he has often seen the figure of 13 per cent in the media to indicate the contribution of flaring to greenhouse gas emissions. He does not know where the figure comes from. "I've seen no way to recreate it. I do not understand where they got their information from," he said.
The most recent statistics show that 97 per cent of gas produced in British Columbia is sold and 3 per cent is wasted through flaring, Mr. Simons said.
Here's a question for Mr. Matas.....
Did Mr. Simons actually produce any evidence/hard numbers to back up his claim?
I mean really, are we truly a Province that runs entirely on flack-hackery now?
Because, if we are we're doing a heckuva job Brownie....errrrrr....Stevie.....
That six million dollar flack-hack man piece I wrote back in Dinosaur (at least in terms of Blog years) times was based on information from a story by the always digging Sean Holman....Interesting bit of sidebar in there is that one of the initial recipients of the Oil and Gas Commission Wurlitzer money was a most excellent communicator to flack-hacks everywhere named Robin Adair.....Ironically enough, Mr. Adair, who is now running as one of the Great Manager's candidates in Saanich South (flack hackery, apparently, rises to the top in the eyes of the Manager), has just been whacked up the side of the head by Mr. Holman's shovel once again, for something that I have termed 'Insider Lobbying'.
Hey....That gives me an idea....All you CorpMedia types out there who are reading this (and we've been told that you are, indeed out there).....Here's a tip that just might save you some embarassment (if you care about such things)....The next time you are getting ready to run a story that involves a member of the Great Manager's Flack-Hackery, make sure you head over to Public Eye and type their (ie. the flack-hack's) name in the little search box just below the top right corner....then hit 'return' and check out the items (often quite numerous) that pop-up.....You just might learn something (again, if you care about such things)....OK?
Campaign Day 13.....Wake Up With Public Eye!
Lotusland'sIndependentVoice
HolmanEnterprisesVille
This morning starting at 8am, precisely!.....It's Referendum Talk, plus a newly re-jigged rabble-rousing panel.
(And I've already sent my question in for the latter)
To hear the show, you can tune in to CFAX at 1070 on the long-wave on the South-Isle.
Alternatively, you can stream it live, here.
And we're almost certain that Sean take a post-show trip down the chocolate river to make sure his newMedia Oompa-Loompas have the podcast up, by noon at the latest!
Campaign Day 12 (cont'd)...Gordon Campbell's Privatization Fail #34,302
TheSellingOfLotusland1-2-3
One of the things we often hear the Puffed-up ProMedia Punditry parrot regarding the BC Liberal Party privatization meme is the following.....
'Who cares how they did it, because things are way better now....'
Here is just one of the most recent examples (amongst many) of how a privatized crown corporation is turning formerly priceless public assets to crap.
Christina Montgomery, Lotusland's best maritime journalist by about a 1000 leagues in all directions, has the story:
Here's a note just sent to me by a crew member from BC Ferries:
"Tsawwassen Terminal Berth #3 has been shut down for several days to make some repairs after huge holes were found behind the sheetpile wall.
It appears that the back fill has been scoured out and there is a failure of the sheetpile wall.
The suspect is believed to be the new coastal class vessels."....
OK, have you got that?
It would appear that those new ferries that were NOT built in Lotusland by Lotuslandians, but instead were built in Germany with about an extra $100 million of our money, are beating the crap out of the docks at Tsawwassen.
Nice work BC Ferries geniuses, especially because, as Story #2 from Ms. Montgomery points out, it is not just Tsawwassen where the crap is being beat out of the docks for no good reason at all.....
This just in from more crew worried about the effect the Coastals are having on the berths they power in and out of:
"They found out today that there is a cave carved out under Dock 3 Departure Bay, where the Coastal class docks..."
I guess we can expect an announcement any minute now from Ferries about how they're going to deal with, and pay for, this.
That, or we'll get word on whatever fabulous underwater money-making tourist scheme they're cooking up.
So, there you have it.
More evidence that the "Great Manager to the Corparate Stars", Gordon Campbell, is screwing us with our own money.
Image at top of post: An older privatization fail (#12,965)....The Davey Hahn-Assisted Drift of A Powerless Ferry over pleasurecraft at Horseshoe Bay in the summer of 2005.....The 'Great Manager To The Corporate Stars' did his best to blame that one on Glen Clark....Would'a thunk it!
Next up in the Privatization Fail Round-Up....Do the people who live along the former BC Rail lines think the new private owner picked by the Great Manager is actually an improvement?
Posted by RossK at Saturday, April 25, 2009 0 comments
Why Are We Too Being Forced To Gaze At The Caput Medusafied CanWest Navel?
FreedomOfTheNoLongerWhollyOwnedSubsidiary
PressVille
Because, as Charlie Smith explains in the GStraight, the (not-so)Magnificent AsperSons and friends may have an ulterior motive up their pretend rolled-up sleeves:
Canwest News Service launched a series today (April 25) regarding the siege mentality in the newspaper industry.
The first article pointed out that many newspapers are profitable and that advertising in them is worthwhile; the problem is that big media companies are having trouble paying down huge debts.
For the benefit of the taxpayers, I hope that this series explores why this is the case.
Huge media conglomerates such as Canwest Global Communications Corp., CTVglobemedia, and Black Press went on acquisition sprees at precisely the wrong time.
In the current economic environment, it's not too tough to make the case that these companies' executives, who are sometimes lionized in their own publications, made stupid decisions by piling up huge debts just as the business cycle was heading into a downturn.
Now, newspaper companies with broadcasting assets (i.e. Canwest and CTVgm) want the Harper government to bail them out by creating new revenue streams paid for by consumers through their cable bills.
To which we scream, NO!
Because if the acquistion driven media monolpolists were forced to sell off profitable papers off at a dime on the dollar, I would be willing to bet that a whole lot of worker-assisted shareholder collectives would happily to snap 'em up and run 'em as Independents.
Especially if some progressive-type party were to push legislation in, say, this fall's apparently -almost-certain-federal-election-campaign, that put the kibosh on single city multiple print organ-grinder monopolies.
I mean, could you imagine.....The V-TC, VSun, Province, Globe and that Sun thing all actually competing with each other.
Valhalla we'd be coming!
Campaign Day 12....Readers Comments....
TheRealRawMaterial
BloggodomeVille
We've had lots of great comments roll in during the first 12 days of the British Columbia election campaign.
And almost all of them have spurred-on discussion and/or generated ideas for new investigatory avenues.
So much so that I can't wait to read what arrives over the next 12 days as things really start to heat up.
But not everything that is golden in the comments section has to be political to be on point.
Well, at least not directly.
Take the following comment from pol hating, horse playing, derby loving, terra stompin', green chain wranglin', vinyl resurrectin', Bukowskian kindred-spiritin', Mr. Beer 'N Hockey:
"On Patrick Kinsella: history proves a mutual interest in race horses provides lots of opportunites to share a phone line. Also, while there are individuals related to racing who are investigated for one thing or the other, overall, they know how how to skirt the edge of the blue paint like Bob Gainey when he was still playing with the Habs."
Poetry in motion that, no?
On a whole lotta levels.
And buried in it might be a damned fine idea or seven for where Sean Holman might want to go with his next flurry of FOI requests.
Oh, and I also had this response for Beer, when he suggested that the only way JVD would be forced to step down by the good folks of the Big Book Belt would be if were caught doing something really, really, really bad....." But what if he sang 'diddies' with and danced with uncoordinated children and, maybe, ran an evil baby orphanage as the even more evil Miss Hannigan....Would that do it?
Finally, for those of you with a fondness for secret slobs, digressions, and poems on baseball gloves, you might want to check out the following out from the guy, John Green, who talks about the evil baby orphanage concept above.
Campaign Day 11 (late night)....Oh, Look, Mary McNeil Is Back...
TellMeWhy
SheDon'tLikeMondays?Ville
.....Back Online At Least
What the heckfire am I talking about?
Well, on Monday, the day after Ms. McNeil's Dipper opponent in False Creek South was forced to resign, you couldn't get to Ms McNeil's website from the BC Liberal Party's Central Politburo Site (black = link dead).
And now on Friday, the day of van Dongen gone wild (again), Ms. McNeil is back! (blue = link alive).
Posted by RossK at Friday, April 24, 2009 0 comments
Campaign Day 11 (cont')...Hmmmm...Which Actually Hurts People?
TopCopsCaughtBy
TrafficCopsVille
Which does actually physically hurt, maim, and sometimes even kill, people?
Facebook pictures.....
Car crashes involving speed?
British Columbia's top cop will be hitching rides for the rest of the election campaign.
Public Safety Minister John van Dongen announced Friday that his driver's licence has been suspended for speeding.
The lead-footed Liberal cabinet minister said he got a letter from the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles notifying him of the suspension.
Van Dongen said he mailed his driver's licence in to the office and won't be appealing the decision.
"I fully understand and accept responsibility for my driving behaviour and believe it is my duty to fully and completely comply with the decision," van Dongen said in a statement.
"I fully recognize the importance of public safety and compliance with the law on our roads. The law applies equally to me as it does to everyone else and I strongly support that."
So will Mr. van Dongen be stepping down like, say Mr. Ray Lam?
Of course not, at least not according to Mr. van Dongen's boss, BC Liberal leader Gordon Campbell:
Premier Gordon Campbell said the suspension was probably embarrassing for his minister and admitted that van Dongen's penchant for putting the pedal to the metal caught him by surprise.
"I don't know about everyone's driving record. If we said to people 'if you have any driving infractions you're not eligible to run for office,' we'd have a pretty small legislature," Campbell told reporters.
Alrighty then.
And the bonus for Mr. Campbell and his Greeniacal Sycophantia?
Well, Mr. van Dongen's carbon footprint will definitely be smaller for a while.
Campaign Day 11 (cont'd)...Why CKNW Is Now Dead To Me..
Bye-ByeCorus
GeniusVille
Recapping.....
Yesterday there was this Leaders' debate on CKNW Radio....
It was the only radio debate there will be before the provincial election on May 12th.
Therefore, it was kinda/sorta important.
The debate was moderated by one of CKNW's talk show hosts, Mr. Bill Good.
Unfortunately, during one section of the debate Mr. Good committed a cardinal sin of an impartial moderator when he let a long dead air pause not so impartially punctuate an answer to one of his questions from BC NDP leader Carole James.
This pause was long enough, and noticeable enough, that it lead to laughter from the members of the Press Gallery assembled in a room adjacent to where the debate was taking place.
All of which was noted by David Beers over at The Tyee.
Which, in turn, led to a response from Mr. Good a few hours latr stating that he didn't really mean to do it.
'Pause', I mean.
Which means that everything is fine and good then.
Because no harm, no foul.
Below is the lead of my live blog of the front end of Mr. Good's show today (ie. the day after the debate) in which he discussed this issue of the 'pause', right off the top, with two members of the Press Gallery that were there (my interpretation of what was said are in red, my own interjections/thoughts in response are in black)....
9:09am....Here we go....Goodship WC (Mr. Good) leads with the issue of 'personal attacks' on Mr. Campbell by Carole James on The NDP that 'came up' during yesterday's debate that he 'moderated'......Mr. Good then plays a clip from the debate to illustrate...It's the passage that David Beers from the The Tyee made the fuss about.....there's the 'pause' from Mr. Good after an answer from Ms. James....it's long (the pause)....you can then hear the 'audible sigh' at the end of the dead air that Mr. Beers mentioned as Mr. Good goes to the next caller....
9:10am...Mr. Palmer says there was derisive laughter in the adjacent room that contained the Press Gallery (which was also reported by Mr. Beers yesterday)....Mr. Palmer says it was because of what James' gang has done re: personal attacks on Mr. Campbell...(me: they're going to attack James on this?????)....especially through the surrogates....Baldrey then piles on....(me: So, apparently the 'pause' was a good, non-partisan thing!!! Oh, now I get it...The members of the Press Gallery were all laughing because they figured Ms. James deserved what Mr. Good gave her....in a totally 'impartial' way, of course...What codswallop)....
9:11am....OK...Here comes the GoodshipWC's half -a-momma-mia-culpa....He explains that the 'pause' did turn out to be longer than he originally thought it was....But, regardless, the only reason that it happened at all (this is kinda/sorta what he said in his 'reply to Mr. Beers yesterday - see bottom of post) was because he (Mr. Good) was just weighing whether he, himself, should have 'debated' Ms. James' response (me: nope, no partisanship showing there, no sireee, completely impartial 'moderator' who waits while he decides whether he should attack or not...didn't know he was actually one of the participants in the debate....which party, exactly, is he the leader of anyway?)...Mr. Good then says that he didn't realize, until after the debate, the effect the pause had it had 'outside' the room....
(me: And what was that 'effect' was that?....Mr. Beers response?...Somebody elses?....Who elses?...Mr. Good, in responding to Mr. Beers post said that he'd be 'told' that Mr. Campbell and Ms. James said he did a bang-up job after it was all over....So, other than Mr. Beers, who else did the pause 'affect' outside the room?.....I really think we have to hear from some other, shall we say, less 'involved' members of the Press Gallery on this one.....Really, and this is setting all snark aside, I am outraged!...Here you have the three people with perhaps the highest pro-media profiles in the entire province of British Columbia carrying on like demonstrated shots of partisanship by pausing and persnickety guffawing, partisan shots that were perpetrated by them, by their own admission, means nothing?....Was Mason there?.....He might be the only one with the fortitude to split himself off from on the herd on this one.....Why?.... Because , after listening to this, clearly the 'juniors' in the Press Gallery will have received the message, loud and clear, from 'The Deans'....)
What to do with all that?
Well, I've decided, at my good friend Bob's suggestion, that I'm not going to take it anymore.
Yup, that's right - the geniuses at Corus, the fine folks that fired Rafe Mair, a man who is nobody's watercarrier, have just lost yet another listener.
Because I'm done with CKNW for the duration of the election campaign.
Which is gonna be tough - not because I will miss Mr. Good (or Ms. Clark, or Mr. Till, or The PuffAddler).
The real tough part is that now I'm going to have to stick with the Cheerleader station after the Canuckleheads play-off games are done.
Sometimes you've just gotta do what you've gotta do.
OK, maybe I'll miss McComb a little....
Anybody who wants the full live blog can get it here.
Again, Mr. Beers original post, with Mr. Good's 'reply' at the bottom is here.
Campaign Day 11....Will The Ledgie Boys Get Theirs Today?
AllThePunditryThatFits
PuffAddledVille
ScatteredLive Blogging Of Today's 'Wedgies From The Ledgies' Session, With Interjections!... Below.....
Update: There was no call from Brian in Garden Bay - hope he's OK....
You'll have to hold your nose and tune into the Goodship Watercarrier on the IncredibleShrinking'98 after 9:00am this morning.
Why do we wonder, you may be asking yourself?
Well......
It turns out that the good Mr. Good's favorite caller and/or arch-nemesis, Brian From Garden Bay, who likes to keep his eyes wide open imagining His Gordness in a Tutu, has forewarned us that he's got killer questions ready for each and every one of them.
The Ledgie Boys I mean.
Not the guy in the tutu.
Live Blog Follows......
9:07am.....Waiting for segment to start.....just heard news item from Mr. Campbell about how the James Gang has 'plagerized' from his party's position on the policing/gang issue.....this after the heavy-bassed leaden lead-in to Mr. Good's show at 8:30 about 'GANGS!....WHICH PARTY WILL REALLY DO SOMETHING!'....Coordinated? ....Heck no...
9:09am....Here we go....Goodship WC leads with the issue of 'personal attacks' on Mr. Campbell by Carole James on The NDP that 'came up' during yesterday's debate that he 'mederated'......Mr. Good plays tape from debate...It's the passage that David Beers from the The Tyee made the fuss about.....there's the 'pause' from Mr. Good after an answer from Ms. James....it's long (the pause)....you can then hear the 'audible sigh' at the end dead air that Mr. Beers mentioned as Mr. Good goes to the next caller....
9:10am...Mr. Palmer says there was derisive laughter in the press room (also reported by Mr. Beers yesterday)....Palmer says it was because of what James' gang has done re: personal attacks on Mr. Campbell...(me: they're going to attack James on this?????)....especially through the surrogates....Baldrey then piles on....(me: So, apparently the 'pause' was a good, non-partisan thing!!! Oh, now I get it...The members of the Press Gallery were all laughing because they figured Ms. James deserved what Mr. Good gave her....in a totally 'impartial' way, of course...what codswallop)....
9:11am....OK...Here comes the GoodshipWC's half -a-momma-mia-culpa....He explains that the 'pause' did turn out to be longer than he originally thought it was....And, regardless, the only reason that it happened at all (this is kinda/sorta what he said in his 'reply to Mr. Beers yesterday - see bottom of post) was becaue he (Good) was just weighing whether he, himself, should have 'debated' Ms. James' response (me: nope, no partisanship showing there, no sireee, completely impartial 'moderator' who waits while he decides whether he should attack or not...didn't know he was actually one of the participants in the debate....which party, exactly is he the leader of anyway?)...Mr. Good then says that he didn't realize, until after the debate, the effect the pause had it had 'outside' the (debate?) room....
(me: And what was that 'effect' was that?....Mr. Beers response?...Somebody elses?....Who elses?...Mr. Good, in responding to Mr. Beers post said that he'd be 'told' that Mr. Campbell and Ms. James said he did a bang-up job....So, other than Mr. Beers who else did the pause 'effect' outside the room?.....I really think we have to hear from some other, shall we say, less 'involved' members of the Press Gallery on this one.....Really, and this is setting all snark aside, I am outraged!...Here you have the three people with perhaps the highest pro-media profiles in this province carrying on like this and nobody calls them on it?....Was Mason there, 'outside the room', but inside the Gallery room?.....He might be the only one with the fortitude to split himself off from on the herd on this one.....Why?.... Because , after listening to this, clearly the 'juniors' in the Press Gallery will have received the message, loud and clear, from 'The Deans'....)
9:12am....Baldrey starts to backtrack...personal attacks are perfectly acceptable as long as you're up front about it or some such thing....doesn't really make sense...Baldrey then returns to the derisive laughter in press room being in response to James, not to Good....
(me: this is unbelievable...)
9:13am....That's it....Good moves them on to climate....Plays another clip...In it we get to hear Mr. Good interrupt Ms James on Cap 'N Trade before she finishes answering a question....(me: that's not 'injecting'himself into the debate- this comes from his reply to Mr. Beers where he says there as no intent to do so with his 'pause', again, unbelievable)....The edit of the clip here is pretty darned anti-James, although they at least move through the 'revenue neutral' part of later response....
9:15am....Palmer says the NDP themselves have turned climate change into a key campaign issue, to their detriment (me: point taken, but when you think of the Wurlitzer that whirred to life after Mr. Berman's 'defection' from NDP last week?)....Baldrey jumps right in, goes on about how the NDP's problems are compounded by the 'split' in the Environmental lobby (me....Why don't they go after, or at least talk about, the apparent 'orchestration', backed by front group money, of that split....doesn't stuff like that matter to these people?)
9:16 am....Goodship WC moves to how the NDP is in trouble....goes to Zubyck quote....lack of narrarative is problme for NDP.....To Palmer and he backs that up followed about how there have been no stumbles from Campbell while the NDP has had some....Palmer goes back to his blog post from a couple of days ago.....it's all about how the reporters perceive things, apparently (me: here it comes....the rough and turbulent plane ride for all those poor reporters in the press pool that turned them against Ms. James)....Baldrey - NDP has only had one good event , a 'union' event (me: emphasis was all Baldrey's)....GoodshipWC goes implies it is James that is in the bubble this time, not Campbell....Baldrey jumps on that...says it is a reversal from 2005....oh, and just so you know.....the ambulance drivers (at least one of them)...love him.... (me: what hogwash....again, for these people it really does seem to be all about the 'perceptions', for example of one single driver, rather than the 'reality of what ALL of the Ambulance drivers are going through right now)
9:19am....Here it comes for real from all three of them....the bad plane ride....the reporters got tummy aches...therefore she, Ms. James, deserves to be crapped on....(me: OK, now I get it...this is why the 400 vs 40 litre fuel thingy screaming header from the CP that got wurlitzered to the top of the Google heap within hours was not yellow journalism?...Again, James 'deserved' it for not taking reporters down to, say to the the harbour, for a leisurely boat ride to see a bogus 'greening' of the pilings under the billion dollar white elephant also known as the convention center....Hey wouldn't that billion dollar pachyderm be an interesting point of substance to discuss re: Mr. Campbell's ability as a prudent fiscal manager of British Columbian's tax...yes TAX! dollars?)....
9:20am...OK...here comes more pullback because they're now all now muddling on with a bunch of 'but we're not really piling on' talk....And besides, the NDP could still turn it around...Palmer does break out a bit and speaks to James' previously demonstrated strengths and previously demonstrated toughness, even with faction in her own party....Baldrey just can't bring himself to agree on that one though....then Baldrey argues against himself by saying that 'British Columbians haven't been paying attention yet...
(me: oh ya - well if they haven't been paying attention Mr. Baldrey, why does the codswallop you've been spouting above even matter?)
back from commercial....
9:23am....Lead in with a clip from yesterday's debate...starts with a James smack-down caller on Cap and Trade....Good (during debate) jumps right in and asks Mr. Campbell to clarify (ie. gets the Premier to state explicitly) that he wants both a tax and a c 'n trade system (me: no 'injection' into the debate there, no siree)....After clip is done Palmer - points out that the enviros came to Ms. James awhile back asking her to 'modify' the tax...
(me- nothing, absolutely nothing about the co-optation of the enviros...nothing about what Pat Bell had to say?....regardless, if Ms. James had made a change, lets ask ourselves if these same fine media folks would now be attacking her for flip-flopping....naw....they would never attack Ms. James for changing a postion on something would they?)
9:25am....Here comes Sterk discussion....will it be as Gordon Wilson?.....(interjection from Good into the discussion, completely off topic about the phantom 'moderator ' in the debate yesterday....me: Apparently this is in reference to Baldrey's newscast last night?....There is much guffawing all around during the extended interjection...me: are these people having a pop?...Good comes back with this, and they still won't deal with the fact that he did, in fact, 'inject' himself into the debate...again, unbelievable to me)....
9:27am....Here comes a live caller...first one...whacking James for taking the flight on 'Earth Day' (me: well, whadd'ya know!!!!....telegraph much?)....Baldrey says the plane ride is 'the talk of all the reporters'.....(me: guess this is different than being a reporter of 'special' status who gets to take a small plane ride with the CEO of BC Ferries to see the site of ferry that long ago sunk)...Baldrey then gives an anecdote about talking to the pilot of the James Gang's plane....Apparently the pilot didn't get lost looking for the IPP projects - it was all the NDP's fault (me: Wow! That Mr. Baldrey, he sure digs into the issues...Wonder if he can dig into how much the media company he works for gave the party of Mr. Gordon Campbell during the last election cycle....sheesh)
(me...interesting caller, that first caller....no?)
...bottom of hour newsbreak ....
9:33am...Lead back in with more discussion of debateperformance of Green Leader, Ms. Sterk....Waiting for the Gordon Wilson reference....Oooooh...hang on....it's pop time againg... They're all laughin' about how Baldrey didn't have the Goodship in his TeeVee show again....Palmer won't go GWilson on the Sterk issue..he, Palmer,even wonders a little why Sterk was even there (me: is he almost asking 'If Sterk was there why wasn't Hanni?')....Here comes Goodship right back in saying that the Greens got 9% last time, that's why they were there....Palmer now says Sterk wasn't bad...Baldrey says he doubts Greens will get seats but says Sterk was good and might do well in TeeVee debate.
9:35am....Live Caller #2...Rest of province (ie. not Lotusland)hates Carbon Tax; most folks don't understand Cap'NTrade; an allusion to the conservatives maybe having some clout in land of hurt....Good jumps right in and cuts off that last bit by asking if folks ticked off about the CTax would switch their vote from Liberal to NDP (me: good kiboshes any discussion about a possible Con hive-off in North and other rural ridings like, say some in the Kootenays?)...Palmer at least brings it back to Cons for a moment but the Watercarrier quickly deflects.
9:37am....Live Caller #3....Carole James is making personal attacks....Alludes to N Island Dipper candidate using a paid surrogates to staging a question at a meeting....'it was taped' says caller.....(another 'interesting' call)....Palmer: doesn't know why the NDP and 'allies' needs to go this way when they could go to.....Wurprise!....BC Rail (the promise breaking)...
(me: this is something, of course, that I agree with Palmer on)
9:39am....Baldrey jumps in James used to be fair and honest...now she's negative....Good jumps in about how she flip-flopped on Port Mann (me: imagine that!....see my comment above)...
(me: wtf....where'd BC Rail go?)
9:40am....Now it's all about how James is a flip-flopper (me: I hate to say 'I told you so'....well, not really)....
(me: here's a question for the Ledgie's et al.....If Ms. James talked every single time she was on with you about BC Rail...would you cover it????.....Mr. Good has already made it clear that it doesn't matter because it happened before the last election - repeatedly....Mr. Baldrey has already stated that the only British Columbians that actually care about it are members of a 'cult'?....So, is it any wonder that, maybe, the Dippers haven't gone all Rail, all the time, ....yet.......Which has me wondering something more generally......Can you go negative at the end of a campaign?...Or is it better strategy to plant the seed early, then go the other way?)
(me again.....where's Brian from Garden Bay, I wonder....?)
back from commercial...
9:44am....Caller #4....Whacking James for referring to Gordon Campbell as....wait for it...'Gordon Campbell!'....Baldrey prattles on....then finally notes that the Campbell won't actually refer to Ms. James by name...
(me: so which is worse....no name or name....oh, and who runs the Liberal party and the BC Government with a centralized, iron fist?)
9:46am...Here comes Good, actually returning to BC Rail..it was all before the previous election, who cares, really anyway (me: told you so - again, ha!)....Palmer goes back to it also(sans Kinsella) -says it is one of the biggest broken promises ever, really...says something about Leckstrom....Good cuts it off and jumps right back in asking' but it is in the minds of voters?...Then Good telegraphs his own personal hammer coming down with 'I ask this having no preconceived notions', but he asks, was it a bad deal?
(me: no 'injection' there either Mr. Good?...Nope?....OK then, you're golden, and the rusting hull of your watercarrier has been nicely patched, apparently)
9:47am....Caller #5, identifies himself as a swing voter, but.....Does not like BC Rail and 12cents per KW guarantee for IPP generated electricity.....Also doesn't like how Hydro's ability to expand own power generation has been curtailed by Libs....Doesn't like how libs have stripped off processing requirements for Lumber mills (me: therefore helping pump raw log exports and close mills)....Good jumps in with both feet on this one....How many times in your 'swing career' have you voted lib or socred he asks (me: ie. tries to cut off substance of questions on this one)....However, caller whacks him up the side of the head with response ....Palmer talks about the strong stuff James could talk about....Good says James was crap on forest industry, needs something better than 'silvaculture....completely ignores the caller's raw, mill policy/raw log policy...Baldrey piles on the raw logs thing wouldn't matter and that the mills might have been doomed anyway.... Good- they were dinosaurs! (exclamation point his)....
last commercial break..... (one is from 'MARS'....is it a joke?....Another is that smackdown commercial on Carole James...authorized by surrogates of who, exactly?)
9:54am....Caller #7 (not Brian)....Leads with a quote from IF Stone.....(me: Lets go!).....Wants the media to do its job....wants them to ask the big questions, especially those about selling off all the public assets....what's the actual business case....(me: this is a great call)......Says there used to be revenues....(me: oh, no....too bad he said that)...Here comes Palmer and Baldrey and Good jumping on him about that....Good does return to Hydro as being positive on the revenue side (me: so why did they try to sell it then before Nettleton forced them to back down and just chunk out a bit toto Accenture)...Good - run of river, first nations are partnering - they will benefit 'I'm told' (me: who told you Mr. Good?)...Hey! Where'd the caller go...Baldrey throws him a bone re: public v. private - says folks should only worry about Hydro and ICBC....
(me: My real question is: Is private BC Rail better for the people of British Columbia????....Is private BC Ferries?????....Again, what about the caller's real question...Why don't these people do their jobs instead of just complaining about how some of them had to use barf bags on a turbulent flight on a small plane on a windy day?....no Brian from Garden Bay?....he didn't call?....somehow I doubt it???....Good closes with 'GANGS! NEXT!...see my comment at top of live blog....sheesh)
Campaign Day 11.......Has The Goodship Watercarrier Sprung A Leak?
OneTinyMediaSmackDown
LotuslandLovesItVille
Update: Please see end of post for Mr. Good's reply
It would appear that the Tyee's head honcho, David Beers, certainly thinks so.
Here's what he had to say about Mr. Good's performance as 'moderator' during yesterday's Leaders' (sans 'real' Conservatives) Debate on the (nolongerso)Giant 98:
What is the most damning interjection a political debate moderator can make after one of the candidates has spoken?
Dead air.
That's how it felt to me, at least, as I sat in a car wash this morning listening to the provincial party leaders' debate facilitated by Bill Good on CKNW......
....It happened after James defended her "tough on the issues" campaigning, but said she was staying clear of "personal attacks."
"No personal attacks?" Good asked.
"No," James replied.
Then commenced many seconds of dead air, punctuated by a clearly audible sigh – or was it a snort? – from Good.
I'm told by journalists who were at the studio that James stared straight ahead during the silence, appearing not to make eye contact with Good, even though he was seated directly across from her. Members of the press gallery, seated on the other side of a soundproof window, rolled their eyes and laughed out loud.
Those of who have been paying attention know that the good Mr. Good is widely known to be a 'friendly' who, when the chips are down, can always be counted on to help shore-up the 'GordCo Protection Program'.
But this was just flat out egregious, not mention a blatant, wanton show of partisanship.
Here's something to ask yourself - especially given the way every single one of the beat boys and girls used worthless trivia to trash Ms. James for forcing them to fly in a small plane over the mountains when it was windy on Earth Day.......
Why have none of the members of the Press Gallery, if they were all behind the glass sniggering with understanding, reported on this?
Is it because, like the public, the pro-media can be sheep too?
Is it because they don't want 'The Dean' to admonish them for speaking out of turn?
(not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive)
Update: Mr Good replies to Mr. Beers post
"David,
I've had your comments about the silent moment in today's debate passed on to me, and I want to tell you what happened.
I when I said to Ms. James, "No personal attacks," it was because I was taken aback by her comment. I think the NDP has been very personal in its attacks for years.
So when she said that I struggled, trying to decide whether to come back with a comment or follow up question, or not. Moderating is tricky. I try very hard not to interject, or question any of the candidate the way I would if they were a single guest on the program.
I took a moment or two to think about that, then I leaned over at my computer screen to see who the next caller was, because I couldn't read the name without doing so. At the time I didn't realize the reporters in the next room were rolling their eyes or reacting at all. If Ms. James wasn't making eye contact with me I didn't notice. Both Mr. Campbell and Ms James, I'm told were very complimentary about the job I did when scrummed after the 90 minutes.
I can assure you there was no intent to grandstand or make a statement with my pause, it was a genuine combination of surprise and hesitation to inject myself into the debate.
Sincerely, Bill Good"
That last bit is most interesting....no grandstanding?...Sure thing....But a 'hesitation to inject myself into the debate?'....What the heck is that all about?...I would appear that this reply is one more reason why it would be most useful if we received a report or ten from the attending Press Gallery....
After reading Mr. Beers dispatch, I couldn't stop myself from weighing with the following comment: : "So Mr. Beers......Would you agree that this unforgivable silence is, indeed, evidence that it is not unreasonable to characterize the good Mr. Good as 'The Goodship Watercarrier'?"......There's a lot of other good stuff in that thread worth having a look at, if you're so inclined, especially if you don't believe me re: folks' perception of the 'friendly' designation.
Campaign Day 10 (late-night)...The Province Gets Something Right!
Too bad it's in the dumb-guy section....
Still, given that it's 'The Province', that's likely where the vast bulk of their readers are.
Double Ha!
(from the piked position)
This is actually from the hilarious, always entertaining, and quite often insightful, 'Orland Kurtenblog' by pro-ams Jason Brough and Mike Halford.....But if you really want a laugh, check out the comments - clearly the image on the left drove the stealth media-minder-binders crazy.....
Speaking of minders....Wonder how this ever got past the not-so-magnificent AsperSons' "GordCo Protection Program"?
Lastly......Can't help but also wonder if everybody's favorite consultant who is never goes by the moniker PK Flyer had anything to do with the product placement in the top right corner.....Triple Ha!....G'Night all.....
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Ya, But What Would Charles Foster Kane Say?
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text:
Q: Rails - How do you make a nav link remain highlighted while on a specific page while still using application.html.erb to hold your navigation links? In Ruby on Rails(5) how do you make a nav link remain highlighted while on a specific page while still using application.html.erb to hold your navigation links?
For example:
application.html.erb

<%= link_to "Home", root_path, :class => 'na' %>

<%= link_to "Units", units_path, :class => 'ACTIVE' %>

A: Maybe something simple like:
<%= link_to 'Units', units_path, class: "#{'active' if controller_name == 'units' && action_name == 'index'}" %>

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The IRS Announced Tax Inflation Adjustments for the 2023 Tax Year - Here's What This Means for Creators
Tony Hoong
With more than 165 million creators joining the creator economy since 2020, it's no surprise that more and more people are shifting to creative work. Who wouldn't want flexible hours, a six-figure income, and endorsements with top brands? While many opportunities come with being a content creator and influencer, keeping track of your business income and expenses is critical when filing your taxes for the year. Like everyone else, influencers and content creators must file taxes and report their taxable income every year.
As inflation rates continue to increase, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that they would provide tax inflation adjustments for the 2023 tax year. With the inflation adjustments being some of the largest adjustments in history, dozens of tax provisions have changed significantly – including adjustments that may affect influencers and content creators.
So what does this mean for you? If you're a content creator, influencer, or freelancer and earn more than $600, then you are also considered an independent contractor or 1099 employee. This means you must file a tax form or Form 1099 with the IRS for each payee you work with.
Below, I will walk you through several provisions that social media influencers should be aware of when discussing your tax return with a tax professional or CPA to help with tax preparation and strategy.
Standard Deduction Changes and Itemized Deductions
You can either take the standard deduction or itemized deduction on your personal tax return. Typically, you'll take whichever is higher. The standard deduction is one flat number depending on if you file your tax return as married or single – that's $25,900 if you are married or $12,950 if you are single.
This means your itemized tax deductions must be greater than those numbers to take the itemized deduction. The significant itemized deductions are medical, state, and local taxes (property and income taxes), but that's capped at $10,000. Then mortgage interest and charitable contributions are the big ones.
Simply put, if you do not own a home, you generally won't itemize since tax reform. As for deductions, it's important to distinguish itemized tax deductions vs. deductions for your write-offs. This is one area where content creators get confused, so don't throw those out the window just yet. Those do matter, and we will use them on your business tax return or schedule C (sole proprietor).
This year standard deduction increased by 3%, and the IRS follows the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to determine rates. The CPI tracks a myriad of items that may or may not be relevant to how clients spend their income. In recent years, influencers and creators may claim significant adjustments on itemized deductions that will exceed standard income in reducing taxable income.
Itemized deductions include personal activities such as mortgage interest, property taxes, sales taxes, charitable contributions, and medical expenses. It's safe to admit that 2022 was a tough year for many – prices shot up everywhere, and the tax provisions may not necessarily reflect it. Itemized deductions are a good way to help push down taxable income in any tax year, especially in years with high inflation adjustments.
MFJ Filers
Recordkeeping Tip
Regardless of any tax situation, it is vital to be aware of recordkeeping requirements, including tax information. Always keep a clean book of organized revenues and expenses. Both should be supported by proper invoices, receipts, and copies of bank statements. It's a great way to keep track of your business expenses and financials (whether you're a sole proprietor or business owner with an LLC)! Now that the IRS has been tasked to hire 87,000 agents, there is no better time to keep records.
Personal Expenses and Exemptions
There are no personal exemptions for taxpayers due to TCJA tax laws still being in effect. This means it's important to separate personal and business activity or discuss your expenses with a tax professional or CPA. Deciding what is considered a tax write-off or what can be prorated on business tax returns is crucial. You always want to be mindful of what is appropriate to deduct as both itemized deductions and deductions for a small business.
Overall Taxes
Overall the marginal tax rates brackets shifted up. This means more income is taxed at lower rates. More income is subject to tax at lower marginal rates. Most clients will be subject to lower taxes as a result of the new inflation-adjusted tax rates for 2023. So finally, we are getting a hand from the government. This is a result of tax brackets being higher even though most companies aren't compensating for inflation-adjusted rates.
HSAs
Medical expenses are a significant concern for influencers and content creators, there are some changes for 2023 in one particular area of Medical Savings Accountants. Tax-saving vehicles such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are used to pay for "qualified medical expenses" using a "high deductible health plan". In my experience, HSAs are the best type of tax-preferred account. HSAs have the advantage of being a triple-tax benefit account. They enjoy tax-free contributions (which are deductible), tax-free growth (interest and earnings can grow tax-free), and tax-free withdrawals for qualified health expenses. HSAs can be a useful tool to build over time for the future or immediately for a cheaper dollar-to-dollar payment of current medical expenses due to effectively paying less (tax-free contributions and tax-free withdrawals).
For 2023, there was a $200 increase from $3,650 in 2022 to $3,850 in 2023 for all individuals or taxpayers. For family coverage, the maximum contribution is $7,750 (up from $7,300 in 2022). The catch-up contributions for those over age 55 remain at $1,000.
Retirement Planning
Retirement planning is another area of significant concern for influencers and creators. For 2023, $22,500 is the amount that individuals can contribute to Sec. 401(k) plans, up from $20,500 for 2022. The limit on annual contributions to an IRA (Roth or Traditional) increased to $6,500, up from $6,000.
A Simplified Employee Pension Plan (or SEP) IRA is the best option because it is relatively easy to set up and administer with most large brokers. A SEP plan allows employers to contribute to traditional IRAs (SEP-IRAs) that are set up for employees. A business of any size, even self-employed, can establish a SEP. This means your contributions are deductible to the full extent.
You can deduct your contributions and your employees can exclude these contributions from their gross income. SEP contributions are not subject to federal income tax withholding, social security, Medicare tax, and federal unemployment (FUTA) taxes.
SEP IRAs are limited annually to $66,000 for 2023 ($61,000 for 2022) or 25% compensation. The deadline for setting up a SEP IRA is April 15 or your business' tax-filing deadline, including extensions.
Gift Taxes and Taxable Gifts
Annual gift tax exclusions increased to $17,000, allowing you to give anything up to that amount tax-free. Anything that exceeds that amount must be reported and is subject to an almost $12.92M individual limitation. However, for content creators and influencers who receive gifts instead of giving to individuals more personally, the gifts you receive may be taxable under various circumstances and facts.
Summary
Taxes will change yearly, and even small shifts like inflation can affect your bottom line. Knowing that you can increase your retirement contribution by $500 a year, will become $50,000 in 30 years for taking small, simple actions. The same goes for the HSA and having an extra $200 limit. If you have more questions or are looking for more advanced strategies, feel free to email us at tony@thecpadude.com. If you'd like to schedule a consultation with us, you can do so through this link. Creators who are coming from Lumanu can enjoy 15% off their next consultation.
About Tony Hoong, The CPA Dude, Founder & CEO
Tony has years of experience working for Big Four accounting firms and advising top-tier companies. He earned his Accounting and Management Information Systems degree at the University of Minnesota's business school; and shortly after obtained his license as a Certified Public Accountant. When Tony isn't elbow-deep in tax returns, you can find him in the Bay Area lifting weights, bullet journaling, and keeping up with the latest tech gadgets.
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecpadude
Schedule a demo to learn how Lumanu can help your business pay out TikTok influencers hassle-free.
More related blogs:
What Influencers Need to Know About Filing Taxes
What Brands Need to Know About Collecting W-9s and Issuing 1099s
Creator expenses with an expert: content creator tax write offs
YouTube Taxes 101: What, How and When
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