Monthly Archives: August 2009

Why I’m not a Carole James fan

BC, Elections, Liberals, NDP, Politics

The BC NDP should have won the BC election this spring.

Their polling numbers going in were strong, and no one in this province really likes Gordon Campbell.

I don’t even think it was entirely Carole James’ plan to scrap the Carbon Tax that cost her the election.

And I just figured out why I haven’t been won over, and likely why many others haven’t.

Carole James doesn’t so much stand for anything as stand in opposition to the BC Liberals.

Every policy they seem to have is merely the opposite of the BC Liberals. They even have a Compare and Contrast page on their website stating every way that they are the opposite to the Liberals.

Gordon Campbell supports the carbon tax – Carole James opposed it.

Campbell originally supported putting an expensive retractable roof on BC Place – Carole James called it a waste of money.

Campbell’s government reverses and thinks it costs to much – James thinks not doing it will hurt long-term tourism.

At some point, even if Gordon Campbell and his government is all kinds of corrupt, they will get an issue right. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

And if you as a party leader merely mirror every flip-flop of the government with one of your own, you will never look qualified to lead the province.

It won’t kill the BC New Democrats to once in a while say, you know what Gordo, that was the right decision for a change. And then you can add in a positive step.

In fact, until they can say that, they likely won’t convince most people that they are a credible government-in-waiting as opposed to a perpetual opposition party.

Vancouver – Canada’s conspiracy breeding grounds?

Conspiracy theories, Scepticism, Vancouver

Before I let the rest of Canada in on the next upcoming big conspiracy theory (since 9/11 and MMR vaccines), didI ever find a deal for anyone with $17 extra dollars in their pocket on October 16. Live at the Kitsilano Community Centre:

UFO Presentation & Discussion
Based on government documents released through the freedom of information act, Internet readings and You Tube videos, this course covers current ufology, the history going back to Roswell, and the secrecy suppressing this advanced technology which could help us and our environment.
Instructor: Brian Ruhe
45580.401KT $17/1 sess
Fri Oct 16 7:00pm-9:30pm

Anyone else feel like launching weather balloons in the park next to the hall after their session?

An article from NowPublic.com has been reprinted with sections highlighted and distributed around Vancouver. The article is omminously titled “Vaccine May Be More Dangerous Than Swine Flu.”

It makes such bold claims as:

This virus continues to be an enigma for virologists. In the April 30, 2009 issue of Nature, a virologist was quoted as saying,”Where the hell it got all these genes from we don’t know.” Extensive analysis of the virus found that it contained the original 1918 H1N1 flu virus, the avian flu virus (bird flu), and two new H3N2 virus genes from Eurasia. Debate continues over the possibility that swine flu is a genetically engineered virus.

While no, I’m not a microbiologist, I would be willing to bet that ALL flu viruses contain similar stands of DNA, seeing how they are all very related evolutionarily.

The group that presented this conspiracy crashed the CFI Vancouver talk last night on Genocide in Residential Schools. They were crafty to frame their concerns as suggesting that natives and residents of Vancouver’s poor Lower East Side will be among the first “test” subjects to receive this vaccines (allegedly in October, a month ahead of the “official” release).

Here’s the actual leaflet of condensed crazy that they were handing out.

One of the theorists accused a local CFI Organizer of being a member of the Illuminati.

This all looks like its tied to a group called “Citizens for Legitimate Government” whose website is orders beyond Time Cube (just try to read that website), but still calls 9/11 a coverup and talks about the “New World Order.”

So there you have it. H1N1 (Swine Flu) and the associated vaccine is the next conspiracy to make it out of the gates.

Almost as Good as it Gets, for a Liberal

Liberals, Politics, Scepticism

I was proud that I was involved in taking Edmonton-Strathcona from Rahim Jaffer and the Conservatives and getting NDP Environment Critic Linda Duncan elected, so it was with some reluctance that I enter a new riding with a Red MP.

However, reading through Vancouver-Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray’s website and Wikipedia profile, I must say that I could do much worse in terms of MPs.

Ms. Murray supported numerous environmental issues as a BC Liberal MLA and continues to champion more at the federal level.

She even champions post-secondary education and commemorated the anniversary of UBC’s TRIUMPH cyclotron.

The only downside comes in one sentence of the Wikipedia article:

As a known advocate for complementary medicine she worked to stop Bill C51 from going forward.

Darn. I guess it was too much to hope that my MP would be a skeptic as well.

Garth Turner’s Sheeple

Conservatives, Liberals, Politics

As a physicist, it’s always nice to sum things up with a formula. Garth Turner‘s recent book, Sheeple, can be quickly summed up as follows:

sheeple_limit

He ran and won as a Conservative who naively believed Stephen Harper’s 2006 team was vastly different from its Reform Party roots and had dropped all the SoCon baggage. He promised middle-class tax cuts and an open an honest government, which would be connected to his constituents through his blog.

He quickly discovered that dissent isn’t tolerated in the HarperCons and was ousted from his caucus within a year of joining it.

He paints a noble picture of his actions, standing against the hypocrisy of his party.

And for the most part I admire him for it.

While I likely disagree with some of his stances, overall we need more Garth Turner’s in this landscape.

Unfortunately, he misses part of his tale, and leaves his flank open to being by being himself a hypocrite.

Throughout the book he stands by his attack of the Conservatives for appointing David Emerson (elected a Liberal) to Cabinet shortly after the election, and for further appointing the unelected senator Martin Fortier as well.

He was passionately against floor crossers and demanded that they face the electorate before trading brands.

He continues to vigorously slam opportunistic MPs who seek cabinet positions and power over representing their constituents.

But then, as a complete contradiction, he recounts briefly his time in the Dion shadow cabinet, without so much as a peep to his reasoning for that switch.

If one were looking to attack Mr. Turner, they might ask why he abandoned his principles and may even accuse him of political opportunism in seeking a seat in Dion’s shadow cabinet.

But nevertheless, Turner exposes the dark side of Harper’s “New Government” and its ties to the Religious Right and the extreme control being wielded by the PMO and countless unelected beaurocrats.

For anyone who thinks voting Conservative means sending an independent voice to Ottawa, this book is for you.