Booze in movie theatres? No way Jose

Booze in movies theatres? Such as beer, liquor, etc? No way! Send the media and politicians everywhere a strong, clear message – booze and going to the movies don’t mix! There needs to be some minimum standards, & this is one of them. Going to the movies is also for families. And I do not want to smell booze when I go to a film. Neither do I want to step in it, or sit in it. It’s not antiquated liquor laws that are “killing” movie theatres, it’s an antiquated Provincial government, led by someone who the public hasn’t elected. It’s municipal politicians pandering to anyone who cries loud enough, when there are many other, more urgent priorities. It’s escalating land prices in a market open to anyone with bucks, regardless of any conditions we might want to set. It’s the internet & big business running amok – selling you on a virtual existence made possible by your credit card, AND an endless supply of cheap labour from overseas. Labour that takes advntage of kids, seniors, the working poor, the disenfranchised. Say yes to reality. Say yes to decency and common sense. Say yes to community. That is all, carry on.

Hmmm

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/10/bc-burnaby-hit-run-charges.html

oldtimer finishes campaign in thrilling style

http://replays.robertsstream.com/racereplays/playf.php?customer=EmeraldDowns&t=1317009741&h=45fe7512611684d97f4aad699c5d2621&url=201109251901EMD5

The most winningest horse in Emerald Downs history finished his 2011 season in fine style, doing what he does best – winning races.   West Seattle Boy will be  13 years old January 1, 2012 & could be back for another year, but showed his focus and tenacity with a determined win this afternoon going 1 1/16 against competition a little tougher than what he’s accustomed to.

As a result of the higher level of horses in the race, West Seattle Boy walked into the starting gate as a 7-1 outsider on the tote board, but his connections, everyone from the breeder and owner on down to the groom and hotwalker, knew he’d be competitive at the very least.  They knew he’d been rested since his last race, and relished the sloppy, muddy racetrack surface he was getting in Seattle today.

 ’Boy made his 103 rd start this afternoon, a day which marked the end of this year’s live racing season, or meeting,  at emerald downs.  He went into the gate with the nonchalant ease one would expect of a runner who’d done it so many times before.  And ‘Boy appeared to enjoy his 25 th trip to the Winner’s Circle after the racde, where he greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.

I didn’t know anything about this horse before this year, but have seen him race several times, and am grateful for having the opportunity to witness West Seattle Boy’s talent.  He won his first ever race 10 years ago as a 2 year old, and proved again today that he loves winning, regardless of the distance, the level of competition, the weather, or his age.

emerald downs already told his trainer he would be welcomed back next year, but I’m not going to wait for 2012 to salute West Seattle Boy, who has provided many people with thrills, inspiration, and tremendous satisfaction.

He’s a warrior, and a champion.  Simply watch the race replay and observe how he ( number 5 ) comes on late in the race.  He swings wide and  takes the lead, but wins by  digging in to hold off a strong challenge from  Form a Posse.

note:  I have links to some of this horse’s other races this year 7 may add them to this story later.  Thanks.

Vancouver’s smoking crackdown continues

Metro Vancouver just announced even tougher anti-smoking measures in all parks and beaches.  Here’s the CBc News story on the subject.  Below the link is my response to the story, posted on CBC’s site.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/23/bc-metro-vancouver-parks-smoking-ban.html

 

—–In BC, & Metro Vancouver in particular, one can smoke pot at will. So smoking is not really being banned. It seems “cool’ or “okay” to smoke pot. And more & more teens are smoking , in proportion to the increase of rules & laws against smoking.
—–What makes the anti-smoking campaign more laughable is the enforcement mechanisms; they’re far too weak. Example: at Spanish Banks in August, a group of 3 smokers took the other side of the log & lit up. They looked like aggressive people so we decided it best to leave. The City advised us our option is to dial 311, and perhaps a bylaw officer would attend in approx 30 minutes.
—— Of course, it’s easy to see why very few people bother to report smoking incidents. In the meantime, we may smoke up the beach, or park, with barbeques all we like, smoke pot all we like, and polute all we like with our cars.
—– Therefore, this crusade against smoking looks more like political posturing than a genuine effort to protect public health. This point is underscored by the silence of public health officials & would-be do-gooders on the subjects of the cumulative exposure to radiation from an ever-growing number of sources, & the exponential growth of urban sprawl – an ever-widening spider web choking Metro with more cars, more people, more smog, more noise, more buildings, more stress,
—–There are much bigger fish to fry in terms of public health, than smoking, and BC’s medical health officers and politicians are noticeably silent on these fronts. They continue to talk up smoking like it’s 1980, when we’re drowning in a quicksand of 21st century health issues.

Roses For Ben wins another

Roses for Ben, a 5 year old British Columbia-bred gelding, from the sire Mass Market and dam Catahoula Rose, won his third career race this past Saturday September 17 at Vancouver’s Hastings Park.  The fans and pundits were onto him and fancied his chances considerably, which was a bit of an unusual occurrence for his connections, who are not known for running “favourites”.

My mom has partial ownership in ‘Roses, sharing ownership with a few others, such as the trainer’s wife, and my mom’s son-in-law.  Through knowing them I’ve come to appreciate ‘roses as more than simply either a racehorse, or an animal.   He has intelligence, a personality, & is loved by those around him, and usually tries to compete in his races.

This year his owners & trainer pointed him towards the lucrative Endurance Series, a number of races run at ever-longer distances, which give lower level “claiming level” horses a shot at purse monies normally set aside for “better” runners.  ’Roses didn’t quite fulfill the expectations, and was taken off the Endurance trail later this summer.

The race featured in the link was run at 1 1/16 miles, for horses with a claiming price of $5000.  The ‘bottom’ level at Hastings is claiming $3000, so the field of 9 horses was not  at all shabby.    The purse was $10,000, with the winner getting the lion’s share, likely on the order of 70% of the total.

‘Roses last race before this was August 31st, 2011, when he finished 7th.  It was an uncharacteristically ‘dull’ performance, but he probably had valid reasons.  Sometimes, the race looks worse on paper than it actually was, as jockeys often sense their horse isn’t up to the task and do not ask them to do more than they are ready for on that day.

However, in this race, it was clear ‘roses was due for a better effort, and his supporters were fairly sure he’d be flying late, gaining ground on the other horses.  They felt this race would be his chance to showcase his talent, delivering the strong late run he’d trademarked in his best performances.    He was looking fit and on his toes.  His coat shone.  He’d been eating well, and seemed full of himself, playing eagerly with his groom and exercise rider.  This, it appeared, would be a day he’d be tough to beat, especially versus an easier group of horses than what he’d been running against  for most of the season.

There were 9 horses in the race, and he drew post position 4 in the random draw earlier in the week.  Therefore, his saddlecloth colour would be yellow, and his trainer Darryl Stewart, began preparing his horse and rider for what could be ‘roses’ last race of the year, as there were only a handful of days left on Hastings Park’s racing calendar.

On the weekend of ‘Roses race, the weather in Vancouver BC had been wet and cloudy, so the racetrack surface was rated as ‘sloppy’ by track officials.  Experienced analysts knew a wet track would only heighten ‘Ben’s chances, as not only did his pedigree strongly suggest he’d take to a wet track, he’d already shown a distinct fondness for the off-going.

He went into the starting gate calmly, carrying himself with the confidence of a horse ready to do what he loved most –  run fast and beat the rest of the bunch.    His yellow saddlecloth colour makes it easy to watch Roses for Ben while the race goes on.  He broke last of the 9 from the gate, and was allowed to settle by his rider, journeyman Jorge Espitia.  ’Ben saved ground and let the pace-setters and pace-chasers do their thing up front, all the while patiently collecting himself on the backstretch.

After a 1/2 mile, ‘Ben takes a vigorous hold of the bit, and lengthens his stride.  It’s breath-taking to watch, as he boldly advances on the rest of the field and begins to pass horses.  On the sweeping turn, ‘Ben was 5 wide when he turned for home, his rider sure ‘Ben was loaded with energy, and had the drive to overcome such a wide path to do well.  It was the only choice ‘Ben had – either steer 5 paths wide from the white rail, or be left with no room to run, and no way to get to the finish line first.

It was very gratifying to see ‘Ben win the race, holding off a charging Patzcuaro , number 6, deep in the stretch and win convincingly.  The second place horse was dropping sharply in class, but was a 3 year old facing his elders for the first time, and racing when he probably would have been better off resting after a busy season and not exhibiting much forward progress.  The horse the crowd figured mostly likely to win, the ‘favourite’, was Texas Buccaneer, the number 1 horse.  He only finished 3rd, living up to a reputation as a ‘nibbler’, a horse who lacks the killer instinct and seems to prefer minor awards.

Watching Roses for Ben run in this race and win, providing something of a mild upset , is a rewarding experience, proof that patience , teamwork, determination, and hard work can prove to be elements more effective at winning than just reputations, bloodlines and dollars pumped into a project.

a very difficult

http://replays.robertsstream.com/racereplays/playf.php?customer=Hastings&t=1316569563&h=c55bdb6cac8fb3c62e2d0f74a0b6e253&url=201109171817HSM4

Smart Meters are bad for BC’s people

Here’s a few points I can’t deny, on which many people have already begun fighting for.
1) BC Hydro’s own stats show they are spending nearly a billion dollars (of our money) on smart meters. Everyone knows the final tallies on taxpayer-funded projects often come in much higher than first forecast. Hydro claims theft costs them 100 million bucks, or so, per year. Sounds like an ill-advised project already, doesn’t it? And now, as you’ve pointed out, criminals will devise other ways to get what they want.

2) The radiation from smart meters is an additional source of radiation, o top of what we’re already exposed to, & it’ll be coming atcha 24/7 in OUR OWN HOMES. Add up all the sources of radiation, and it comes out to a LOT. Much more than the average person faced 10, 20, or 30 years ago. . . & you have no say in the matter? People don’t have to accept that.

2 B) Worse, NOBODY is sharing any results from any independent, academic research, if any has yet been done, on the cumulative effects of all the sources of radiation we’re being exposed to. In the 1`950s, people scoffed at the notion of cigarettes causing cancers, etc. They still laughed in the 60s, and some kept laughing in the 70s & even 80s. But by then the facts were becoming clearer. It makes sense to be prudent, & protect basic human health. . . even if this inconveniences the profit margins & bonus packages of some business/government executives.

3) Smart meters are coming in whether we want them, or not. That is wrong. People in a free, democratic society SHOULD & DO have choice. If a neighbour, a cop, a criminal, a bank, an employer, or a government, or BC Hydro wants to take it away. . . just say NO. Especially when we’re talking about something happening at our own homes.

4) Privacy. Whether we like it or not, BC Hydro wants to constantly monitor our power use 24/7. (by extension this means monitoring our activities). This is flat out wrong. Especially when we are not being given a say.
5) Cost. Ask why anyone, any business, or why BC Hydro wants to spend $1 Billion, & the answer becomes very clear. They intend to save themselves money. Of course, they’re saying you’ll get a carrot – you’ll potentially save money if you also monitor your power use, & adjust your lifestyle, and this and that. Big deal. They want you to believe you’ll get a carrot if only you jump a little higher. But make n o mistake – they’re not spending $1 Billion for the heck of it. They fully intend to save themselves huge dollars here, & make good on their investment. They’re going to be the ones eating the soup (or cake), not the average person. The average person will be counting their pennies, in the dark, hoping to save enough to buy a carrot.

What can the average person do about smart meters? Simple. Talk to other people. Join a rally. There’s a huge international movement happening, & events here in BC. Seal off your hydro meter. Voice your concerns to MLAs, MPS, news media, the Office of the information & Privacy Commissioner in BC. There are many ways to be active, to be heard, & they don’t have to cost much money, or take up a lot of time.

Prince George getting a lousy rap from the media lately

In less than 2 days, the local media has completely trashed rural BC, especially the North.  It began with the story of an alleged kidnapping in Sparwood BC, featuring an apparently obvious suspect in Randall Hopley.  If the media could have trained a camera on Hopley’s fleeing white Bronco, like the O.J. story, they would have.

 

Next came these 6 stories!

 

Story #1:  The RCMP killing of Rodney Jackson in 2009.  An inquest currently going on is uncovering more and more shocking evidence of potential police misconduct, & cover-ups.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/13/bc-jackson-rcmp-shooting-inquest.html

 

Story #2:  Crown Prosecutor attacked on the steps of the Prince George courthouse today, Sept. 15, 2011.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/15/bc-prince-george-crown-prosecutor-attacked.html

 

Story #3:  A convicted Prince George cocaine dealer is set free after an unreasonable delay in legal proceedings

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/15/bc-dealer-case-dismissed-delay.html

 

Story #4:  Prince George RCMP officers won’t be charge, after an 11 yr old boy was tasered earlier this year

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/15/bc-prince-george-taser-report.html

 

Story #5:  A Ft. St. John counsellor arrested for sexual assault.  The accused practised in Prince George, among other Northern municipalities

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/14/bc-fort-st-john-counsellor-arrest.html

Story #6:  The Highway Of Tears.  An inquiry into the 18 women missing along highway 16 from Prince George to Prince Rupert hears more tearful testimony & calls for action.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/14/bc-missing-women-forums.html

There have very few good news stories over the past several months, or even years, about rural Bc, especially Northern BC. No stories, for example, on Quesnel being the 1st farm to school program in the province.  How Prince George has a year round farmer’s market.  No stories on the fact there’s a world champion tae -kwon- do team  that happens to hail from Prince George.   No mention of how Rick Hansen was born in Williams Lake.  Little to no mention of the impacts that  a massive oil pipeline project  would have on the people and natural environment of BC, should companies like Enbridge have their way.

 

There needs to be much more balance in the coverage the news media outlets provide, and much more investigative journalism, there needs to be some modicum of fairness and a more accurate representation of what life is like in the North, of the people of rural BC.

On security & sanity

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/06/bc-911-airport-security-behaviour-pattern-recognition.html

 

 

The number of serious security breaches have tailed off dramatically since 9/11, yet authorities continue to demand more & greater screening and detection measures, at the cost of privacy and dignity of the passenger.  Curiously, there is no evidence any of the measures would have stopped a previous breach.   For example, when the infamous ‘show bomber’ was thwarted by a lack of preparation, the measures put in place would not have stopped him.

 

 

When society surrenders its freedom, privacy, dignity, etc, everything it holds dear becomes further & further at risk.   We no longer have the expectation of privacy anywhere, once we leave our homes.  There are cameras on public streets, in banks, grocery stores, buses, etc.

 

 

Among other added powers, Vancouver is now considering CCTVs everywhere for the ‘public good’,  in the wake of its June “Stanley Cup riot”, which consisted of millions of dollars in property damage, but few serious injuries.  The City was fortunate that more people did not get injured, especially in view of the fact that its senior officials did not even read the official report from the 1994 Cup riot, which laid out dozens of recommendations for remedial action.

 

 

Therefore, for every single person to  permanently lose another chunk of privacy seems an inordinate price to pay.  What is next?  Machineguns & strip searches at any & every checkpoint?

 

 

These are now serious questions which require society’s consideration.  i would have scoffed at the hyperbole inherent in such a suggestion, but the totalitarian-style of society we cringed at & denigrated so vehemently  in the days of the Cold War, when the West branded the Iron curtain countries as inferior, brutal, & ignorant of human rights, is slowly being re-created to a large extent right here, today.   Brick by brick.

 

 

Perhaps our society is too civilized for the government to need to resort to such ever increasing intrusiveness.   Why roam the streets with pistol or taser and sweeping powers, when more and more people will willingly submit to any & all manner of question or prompt.

 

 

The average person appears to not be satisfied with their present level of work, apparently the average Joe feels he or she does not work sufficiently long enough hours to satisfy perceived societal norms.

 

 

After all, the average Joe now willingly lines up to serve their own coffee, pump their own gas then pay for it too, bag their own groceries, do their own banking, set up online accounts and “go paperless”.   In short, the average Joe lines up to do every businesses’ business for them, by doing the work and performing the service themselves, the same service they once expected, for their money.

 

Recently a customer at a salon joked that one day soon, clents will walk in & cut their own hair, & the hairdresser & the colour person will become “spa consultants”, passing the mirror, or  brush.

 

 

Today, a new generation of kids is growing up who will never remember when people did all these things for you, because you paid them to provide those goods & services. They won’t ever know a time when there really was such a thing as “service”, when there was such a thing as “privacy”.  They’ll never know many of the common sense practices, and common courtesies that most of us recall.  They don’t know that you’re not obligated to identify yourself when answering a phone call. . . the caller is.   They’ll never know a true full serve gas station – where the attendant happily checked the car’s tires & fluids & cleaned the windows at no extra charge.   Or when a waiter or banker or politician worked hard to make the customer happy, without expecting somer sort of material return.  That a police officer must have probable cause, that you actually do have, enshrined by law, a thing called ‘rights” & personal dignity.

 

 

Maybe the time has finally come for the authorities to install self-serve security checkpoints, or to surgically implant monitor-&-control devices into teens, or to form an orderly queue on the spot when requested to do so, for whatever reason an authority figure may have at the time.

 

 

It’s for the public good, it’s all for a good cause.  If you haven’t done anything wrong, you’ll have nothing to worry about.  And it’ll save us all money and needless banter back and forth.  There’s too much studying in this country anyway, not enough action.  So let’s get on with it,  then.

 

 

Except, no politician who likes his or her job security, with all those prospective bonuses & pensions that come with it, would come right out & be clear about what they’re doing; they know they can achieve these goals more efficiently.  Just introduce them piecemeal, over a period of a few years.

 

 

Not several years, mind you, because that would unnecessarily overlap with those pesky details called elections.  Besides, most voters forget & forgive long before that, these days.

 

 

How many people recall life in BC before Gordon Campbell & the BC Liberals?  Who can recall when the budget was balanced AND there were decent jobs, fairness for the common man and the family, when all BC-ers were treated equally and didn’t watch their schools closed, their hospitals ravaged, their pensions axed, their futures & their institutions sold to offshore interests.

 

 

 

How many people remember life in Canada before Stephen Harper or Brian Mulroney, when there were meaningful jobs in this country for everyone?  When your neighbour actually cared and helped you, if you needed it?  When people took to the streets to save the marmot, the seal, the whales, or the forest?  Who remembers when we tried to develop a just society, a country which can stand on its own two feet, free of Britain or the US.

 

 

Don’t wait, act now.  No, not you Gordo.  Go to the UK & collect your cushy title & high appointment.  No, not you George Bush or Stephen Harper –  we don’t need more ineptitude sandwiched in doublespeak.  We’ve had enough of “moving forward”. . .  codewords for settling for less, for bigger debt, & more heartless conservative  bafflegab.  We don’t need more armed conflict.

 

 

We deserve answers, we deserve fairness & equality.  We expect  respect.  We demand privacy, dignity, and demand you do the right thing & leave us –  it’s time for sweeping, meaningful change.

 

 

Because as Jack Layton wrote in his final letter, love is better than anger.  Hope is better than fear.  And optimism is better than despair.

The 12 th cookie

Work in progress:

It’s soooo tedious listening to people rail against working people, whether it’s a waitress, a restaurant owner struggling to survive, a store clerk, a hairdresser, a plumber, a flight attendant, an airline pilot, a postman, a ferry worker, and now, our teachers, too. Are people who complain about these workers’ pay & benefits trying to suggest people go to University for 6 years, take practicum too, then share their generosity of spirit and patience, & possess the willingness to teach your kids, for no more than an average wage, something barely above the poverty line?

Why don’t the whiners focus on the many people out there making much more money, who don’t teach anything to anyone? Why don’t they look at the upper management of any public or private sector company. Look at the masses of multi-millionaires out there. There are many of those, people who buy $250,000 Lamborghini or Maserati sport cars for their 18 yr olds without batting an eyelash.

Railing against the average working Joe or Jane is too short-sighted, & not fair. It’s bickering, & dragging everyone down to the lowest common denominator, instead of being positive, supportive, compassionate, and taking personal responsibility to heart.

We could choose to live in a Communist or Fascist country, where one’s pay & benefits are dictated by the Government, like it or not. But we choose to live in a free, democratic market economy. It’s outrageous when people attack the lot of others in their own general tax bracket. It’s akin to creating a sort of free market fascism’ , in which the affluent & influential have set each of us on one another.

We’re increasingly angry, & turning on one another, instead of developing lasting solutions & lifting each other up, and this is an engineered phenomena. Indeed, one never hears the rich attacking the rich for being too wealthy; there’s only the guttural, snarling sounds of the average dog biting  and ripping into one another.

People who complain & attempt to enslave workers to lives of poverty or barely above poverty, an existence in which they can merely dream of having any piece of a rich person’s life, do nothing productive. It’s not helpful or productive to wag their finger and berate the average worker, when the REAL money, and the REAL power, lie in the hands of those who lurk behind the scenes.

Some of the well-off are more public than others, such as BC Ferry CEO David Hahn, who doesn’t deny his million dollar income, nor the multiple gold-plated pensions he’ll have to survive on when he leaves BC Ferries. But most people of his pay scale or higher, ( according to Statistics Canada there are many of them) prefer to enjoy themselves in privacy, carrying on as though money is absolutely no concern, because for them, it isn’t of any consequence. They have the money for  new high-end luxury vehicles, to spoil themselves on exclusive vacations every year, without worry, because to them these expenses are the equivalent of you or I having a coffee or tea at Tim Horton’s or Starbucks.

People need to examine their own behaviours, they need to take a step back from the mosh pit , and the flash mob mentality which is looting the stores of society.  It’s imperative to stop arguing, to stop the fighting over what amounts to the last, 12th cookie of the dozen.  Because while people are busy doing that, the other 11 cookies are already being eaten by the ultra wealthy.

Let’s find a different place, the tolerant, supportive, compassionate, and welcoming spot Canadians used to occupy, when Canada ranked among the best places to live in the world, and provided aid to anyone in need, whether domestic or foreign.

Let’s be innovative, fair, & respectful, and seek to create a more just society, a society in which everyone’s contribution is recognized, valued, and think of the bigger picture.  To attack the average worker, the average, family, the average person, is small and reduces each of us to snapping, barking dogs.

Let each one of us be the master, and the driver in our lives, picking up hitchhikers stranded by Canada’s cold, heartless, and ruthless Conservative agenda, and insist on decency and fairness for all.

Everyone deserves to share, when we live in a country that has  12 cookies in the first place.  Let us all share in this wealth.  And learn to bake even more cookies, for there’s always another hungry mouth to feed.

the pursuers

rippled and ripped
down he digs
until nearly spent
hazards and traps
he embraces them all
never admitting
he wouldn't last
the pursuers snap at his heels
through flickers and splash
it's grips his chest
now it's really real
there is panic and fear
and though he's always made his own fate
this time it is too near
he can't dismiss public opinion
not catcalls
or the pointed chill
his boots aren't quite digging in
the airways are raspy and thin
he is but a product
overwhelmed by his environment
he has a built-in life span
unless he trades them in
brawn and brain back to the land
for a second chance
to be not just a man
but one
with sun and garden