Sunday, February 14, 2010

 

BCRail: Twilight of the sociopaths




From Salt Spring News

All hierarchies have inevitably become top-heavy with psychopaths


I have often recommended Salt Spring News (online) for its depth of investigation into vital issues which impact upon us as humans, as a nation, or in the global context. Today's Salt Spring News can help us understand the global phenomenon  allegedly represented in Colonel Russell Williams, commander of Canada's  largest air base, the man arrested on charges of murdering women. 

In my view, this kind of fearless investigation may also help us to confront the baffling events which have brought the Province of British Columbia down to the status of a pawn in a high-stakes poker game, where citizens are tenants in their own rich land, where baffling events keep adversely affecting our future -- as if there's no cohesion between the people and their government.

We were told to rejoice when our vitally important railway -- 3rd largest railway in Canada -- was sold for $1Billion which, at the moment, we can now see is the amount being spent merely for policing the 17 days of the Olympics. 

The Speech from the Throne in one line  told us on Feb. 9 that, while these Games and this policing are going on, the premier will be trying to stuff BC Rail, with properties worth Billions, under the mattress in the Ministry of Transportation -- the very Ministry which botched the BCR-CN deal in the first place.  Without consultation. And with a crazy story about doing it to save money. Throwing away an enormous treasure to save money! Is this insane? 

Again and again, we hear it:  Is this insane? You be the judge. Go HERE for the full presentation. I have excerpted only this segment:

Twilight of the Psychopaths

by Dr Kevin Barrett

 In On Killing, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has re-written military history, to highlight what other histories hide: The fact that military science is less about strategy and technology, than about overcoming the instinctive human reluctance to kill members of our own species. The true “Revolution in Military Affairs” was not Donald Rumsfeld’s move to high-tech in 2001, but Brigadier Gen. S.L.A. Marshall’s discovery in the 1940s that only 15-20% of World War II soldiers along the line of fire would use their weapons: “Those (80-85%) who did not fire did not run or hide (in many cases they were willing to risk great danger to rescue comrades, get ammunition, or run messages), but they simply would not fire their weapons at the enemy, even when faced with repeated waves of banzai charges” (Grossman, p. 4). Marshall’s discovery and subsequent research, proved that in all previous wars, a tiny minority of soldiers — the 5% who are natural-born psychopaths, and perhaps a few temporarily-insane imitators—did almost all the killing. Normal men just went through the motions and, if at all possible, refused to take the life of an enemy soldier, even if that meant giving up their own. The implication: Wars are ritualized mass murders by psychopaths of non-psychopaths. (This cannot be good for humanity’s genetic endowment!) ...

Behind the apparent insanity of contemporary history, is the actual insanity of psychopaths fighting to preserve their disproportionate power. And as that power grows ever-more-threatened, the psychopaths grow ever-more-desperate. We are witnessing the apotheosis of the overworld—the criminal syndicate or overlapping set of syndicates that lurks above ordinary society and law just as the underworld lurks below it. In 9/11 and the 9/11 wars, we are seeing the final desperate power-grab or “endgame” (Alex Jones) of brutal, cunning gangs of CIA drug-runners and President-killers; money-laundering international bankers and their hit-men, economic and otherwise; corrupt military contractors and gung-ho generals; corporate predators and their political enablers; brainwashers and mind-rapists euphemistically known as psy-ops experts and PR specialists—in short, the whole sick crew of certifiable psychopaths running our so-called civilization. And they are running scared. It was their terror of losing control that they projected onto the rest of us by blowing up the Twin Towers and inciting temporary psychopathic terror-rage in the American public. Why does the pathocracy fear it is losing control? Because it is threatened by the spread of knowledge. The greatest fear of any psychopath is of being found out. ... Psychopaths go through life knowing that they are completely different from other people. They quickly learn to hide their lack of empathy, while carefully studying others’ emotions so as to mimic normalcy while cold-bloodedly manipulating the normals.

Today, thanks to new information technologies, we are on the brink of unmasking the psychopaths and building a civilization of, by and for the normal human being — a civilization without war, a civilization based on truth, a civilization in which the saintly few rather than the diabolical few would gravitate to positions of power. We already have the knowledge necessary to diagnose psychopathic personalities and keep them out of power. We have the knowledge necessary to dismantle the institutions in which psychopaths especially flourish — militaries, intelligence agencies, large corporations, and secret societies. We simply need to disseminate this knowledge, and the will to use it, as widely as possible. Above all, we need to inform the public about how psychopaths co-opt and corrupt normal human beings. One way they do this, is by manipulating shame and denial — emotions foreign to psychopaths but common and easily-induced among normals ...

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What I'm suggesting here is that Beautiful British Columbia is in the grip of something which most of us don't understand. But it's something we do recognize. Well, that's Step #1: recognize the problem.  Discouraging though it is, coming face to face with the core problem,  it's a whole lot better than trying to agree that everything is OK ... that "There's nothin' to see here, folks ... just keep movin' along, thank you."

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Comments:
I'm quite sure that we have a few in seats of power in BC who fit the textbook definition of psychopath, to say nothing of sociopath.

No naming names though, they know who they are. So do we.
 
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I hear what you're saying, Leah. There's been a puzzling undertone of heartless cruelty in many government policies, right from the start.

I remember the shock in 2001 when the new government of Gordon Campbell canceled the program which provided Talking Books for the Blind "to save money". It "saved" so little, it was ridiculous; and pointlessly cruel.

The cruelty of it is what I remember - especially when Gordo gave a big tax break to his corporate friends.

I think (from memory) bus passes for the elderly were discontinued too ... such small aids for the less fortunate. I wondered, at the time, what kind of person even thinks of doing such mean-spirited things as public policy and yet, there he was -- doing it -- it has gone on ever since. Hospitals. Ministry of Children & Families.

And is it so terribly different to have rampant unemployment throughout BC while the 5-ring circus in Vancouver is costing Billions?
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Doctors and lawyers top my list of those who have unchecked power - and are therefore encouraged to follow their baser instincts. They're all "self-regulating" professionals. Hah. A few years ago, Australia, New Zealand and Britain did away with "self-regulation" precisely because of the corruption that it fuels.

Also, look at the rise of the para-military (cops, security guards, border patrol, etc.), especially in BC. Citizens are being attacked more and more, especially by cops. The cops and media claim it's just mistaken identity. Mistaken identity!? Exactly when is it proper for cops to attack and beat senseless anyone, even if they are investigating a possible crime? It's not mistaken identity, it's unchecked power to do whatever they wish because they know they face no meaningful sanction.

The media hides this from the public too. On January 31 in Victoria, a woman was going into a mall to buy her 16 year-old daughter a birthday present. Two cops from the Saanich Police conducting a seat belt check ran after her and tackled her to the ground as she was entering the mall. They claim she ignored their request that she stop. She says she didn't see them ask her to stop.

She and her husband contacted a local TV station and I saw the one airing of this story. She's a tiny woman, and she explained how these two beefy cops accosted her from behind, in the dark just outside the mall doors, threw her to the ground, put handcuffs on her -- and get this, charged her with assault! The mall's security camera showed the cops running towards her like she was some armed and dangerous person.

In the TV interview, this woman looks so shaken by the whole thing – shocked really. I recognized immediately that she experienced the same thing I did when we were attacked for no reason by the police. (Long, complicated story, so won't go into it here. Suffice to say there's no point in placing any trust in the provincial Police Complaint Commissioner either - they all lie. As one lawyer told me, the police are "professional liars." Unfortunately, I've come to realize now that that describes many lawyers too.)

The TV clip about this woman who was attacked by police stated that she and her husband wanted people to come forward if they could help. I emailed the TV station to ask if they could put me in touch with the couple. I never got a response from the TV station, and the story was buried. Never ran again. The Times-Colonist newspaper never even mentioned it. Nothing.

And, a few weeks ago, a police sergeant with the Victoria Police, the brother of cabinet minister Ida Chong was charged (again) for violence. Last year he attacked a citizen crossing at the lights while he (cop/brother) was sitting in his car at the light. He was off-duty/not in uniform. The cop/brother got out of his car, and in a fit of rage, beat this pedestrian up - for no reason! Now, a month ago, this same cop (brother of Ida Chong) has been caught on videotape beating a man in the Victoria police cell (he was the officer in charge). That story is gone from the media too after briefly surfacing.

In the U.S., these things are exposed. In Canada, especially BC, the media is complicit. In the U.S. dirty cops get fired. Here they get promoted and put in charge of even more vulnerable people where they can beat them without the public being around to witness anything.

Just wanted to thank you again Mary for spreading the word. Trying to do my part too. I'll make the Salt Spring News a regular stop from now on too.
 
Here's another story that's "been disappeared" from the Internet:

Student Clayton Wilson questions police-complaint process
By Charlie Smith
Georgia Straight January 7, 2010

A Simon Fraser University graduate student with no criminal record has alleged that he was beaten up by Vancouver police without justification. Clayton Wilson also claims that, after he filed a complaint, an officer in the Vancouver Police Department’s professional standards section conducted a “very condescending, unfriendly, and aggressive” interrogation of him on December 29.

“Having been subjected to an interview, I can say with firsthand experience that there is no way they can be impartial,” Wilson told the Georgia Straight in a January 2 interview at a Main Street coffee shop. “It’s a complete interrogation. Every question…seemed to be based on an assumption that what was in the report, the officer’s report, was true, and what I said was false.”

When asked about Wilson’s complaint on January 5, Vancouver police spokesperson Const. Lindsey Houghton told the Straight by phone that the department has an “open and accountable relationship” with the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. “We don’t generally comment on ongoing internal complaints for fear that we may end up biasing or tainting the process somewhat,” he said.

Houghton noted that the officer in charge of the professional standards section, Insp. Mario Giardini, had held a news conference on January 4, at which he announced that Sgt. Darcy Taylor had been charged with assault with a weapon in another case.

Wilson claimed that the Vancouver police have not been forthright with him. He said the problem began on May 11, 2008, after he returned a Co-operative Auto Network car to a parking spot on Manitoba Street near West 16th Avenue. He said he was holding an umbrella and fiddling with a vehicle lock when a car swung around the corner. The driver accused him of trying to steal something. “He kept shouting and we had a verbal altercation,” Wilson recalled. “It wasn’t pleasant.”

Unbeknownst to Wilson, the man called police. Wilson walked to a friend’s home on Ontario Street. He said he was standing on the porch with an open umbrella when he was suddenly confronted by plainclothes officer Jeb Breckenridge shining a flashlight in his face from the bottom of the steps. Breckenridge ordered Wilson to drop the umbrella and talk to him. Wilson said he came down the stairs and asked why. At this point, Wilson alleged, another plainclothes officer, Arminder Gill, ran at him, kicked him, knocked the umbrella out of his hands, grabbed his shoulders, and kneed him in the torso three times while abusing him verbally.

“I was, you know, completely shocked,” Wilson said. “He more or less threw my upper body back up, swung me around, threw me in handcuffs, and then told me to get down on my knees with my face on the ground. The whole time, I didn’t resist at all.”

Wilson said Breckenridge and Gill have maintained that they identified themselves as police officers, whereas Wilson claims they didn’t. He was booked on obstruction of justice, but the Crown later stayed the charge. Wilson added that a neighbour came out to help him, not realizing that the men were police. The neighbour suffered a broken thumb, and was charged with and later acquitted of assault, according to criminal lawyer Phil Rankin, who represented the men.

Rankin told the Straight by phone that neither of the men knew at first that they were dealing with police officers. “They [police] do things in such a violent and ferocious manner that who knows what registers in people’s heads?” Rankin said. “They shock everybody, and it’s unnecessary.”

Wilson claimed that the experience left him feeling humiliated.
 
Well BC is on one hell of a bender for the next two weeks and nothing is going to dampen this illogical piss-up, especially with government, media and the corporations managing the entire public thought process.

In order to bring home those Gold Medals ... at $200-500 million per medal, we are prepared to surrender of our rights and freedoms and our quality of life for decades to come.

British Columbia especially has been betrayed and abused by its local media who for a quick big-buck has rewritten history.

Soon media will get their reward when the public realizes they have been grossly lied to over the last decade by a supposedly free and honest press.

So when the party ends and the financial, social and political hangover begins, we can say we mortgaged our future for the next three-decades to pay for three-weeks of media-induced insanity.

-30-
 
My God, Satan (pardon the illogical pun), I thought of you when I read the following story.

It arrived in my mail from a ListServ ... so I hope the news of it gets around because, don't you remember Gordo's one-line promise in the Feb 9 Throne Speech about upgrading the electricity grid between BC and California?

Talk about a complicit media ... BC isn't included in this Washington guest-list but (does a leopard change its spots?) we can be 99% certain that Gordo will be there ... here's the news report:


The Canadian Press has reported that, "Canada's premiers will get a moment in the spotlight (on February 20) at the influential National Governors' Association winter meeting, a gathering that often serves as a guiding policy light for both Congress and the White House."

"It's the first-ever meeting between the association and its Canadian counterpart, the Council of the Federation.

...Regional premiers and governors often get together to discuss common issues, but it's unprecedented for all governors and premiers to sit down in a formal setting at such a prestigious event in the U.S. capital."

Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador will be represented at the meeting.

"Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall is co-hosting an event during the meeting entitled Common Border, Common Ground, focusing on touchy Canada-U.S. issues that include trade, border security and energy."

The Edmonton Sun adds that, "Promoting secure energy exports will be the main focus of a trip to Washington, D.C., for Alberta's international and intergovernmental minister (Iris Evans).

"Also on the agenda is promoting the importance of open trade with the U.S., officials said Thursday."

A Council of the Federation media release notes, "The mission will focus on trade and border issues, as well as on energy and the environment."

The Globe and Mail reports today that, "Border issues and trade will top the agenda, including the Buy American deal..."

The Canadian Press article is at http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20091218/Meeting_US_091218?hub=EdmontonHome.

The Edmonton Sun article is at http://m.edmontonsun.com/news/Alberta/12846141.1.

Brent Patterson The Council of Canadians www.canadians.org/campaignblog

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Oh. And did you notice what's happening to Greece today? Sure, they're broke and heavily in debt like every other nation I can think of ... but they're also out of ready cash ... and, get this:

the EU is thinking about (a) not helping Greece, and more's the point (b) kicking Greece out of the European Union altogether.

Why? Why is Greece treated differently? Well ... Greece has a Socialist government. Democratically elected, mind you: but definitely not Members of the Right Club.
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Mary, you might want to check out a story regarding Greece in today's Huffington Post. I'm not sure the problem is so much that Greece is a socialist country - as much as it is that Greece trusted Goldman Sachs! It appears that Goldman Sachs is at the helm of yet another financial disaster...maybe the EU is trying to protect themselves from what appears to be a very long, and corrupt arm in finance?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html?hp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-johnson/greece-derails-is-europe_b_461090.html

To think government types in Canada are going to become part of financial talks in the US, without the scrutiny of citizens is enough to set my hair on fire! Some of the comments following the articles are eye-opening.
 
I'll be bookmarking the Salt Spring News too. That article reflects my thoughts about power in BC as well. Monday Mag has a good article too about private security firms in downtown Victoria, they actually harrassed a journalist. They are playing their end game now, globally.
 
Thanks, Leah ...

Many countries trusted Goldman Sachs including the USA,

but the test will be whether the EU treats all nations the same

or only those which have elected socialist governments.
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Something I've noticed is how, since 2002, big U.S. corporations have become increasingly involved in BC's electricity system.

First Accenture in 2002.

More recently, General Electric, with its partnership with Plutonic. They have huge IPPs under construction and more in the planning stage.

Now I read that Morgan Stanley is opening a power trading floor in Vancouver.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Powerex+traders+jump+rival/2475855/story.html
 
Hugh,

Thanks ... you're spot-on. And there's that innocent line in the Speech from the Throne,

about how Gordo intends to upgrade the electrical grid heading south.

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BC Mary, you say that Greece is tapped out of funds, headed for ruin, AND has a Socialist Government.

Observation: Socialist Goverments and lack of fiscal know-how, business savy, responsability seem to go hand in hand.

Take our own leader of the Opposition. James would have minimum wages raised to benefit a few, but to the peril of others, namely private sector employees and employers who in turn would and do reduce staff in response to higher operating costs associated with a higher wages. This is not a myth. This is the Truth of micro economics.

Greece, IS one of the most corrupt places to do busines on earth, never mind in the EU, where it leads all others. That is a direct result of a corrupt civil service, lead by, you guessed it, a socialist govt. Dont take my word for it. Google the topic yourself and see the truth. Dont let your emotions toy with you.

Let Greece fail. Maybe the people will clue in next time and elect a law abiding govt that knows a thing or two about fiscal responsibility and economic reform.



www.helleniccomserve.com/biteoutofcorruption.html
 
Olympic miscellenea:

Because my connection has been iffy these last few days and my mind is cluttered with Olympics coverage observations, here's a few, though most are on a different tangent than preceding posts?

CTV and its proxies Rogers SportsNet and TSN have been plugging the premiers and prime minister unwontedly throughout the coverage. I just watched the medal ceremony for Alexandre Bilodeau and during the lusty singing of the anthem there was a shot of John Furlong and Gordon Campbell, with the latter belting out the anthem as if it were a drinking song, also evidently doing it for the cameras; Furlong was discreetly mumbling. There was a shot of Jean Charest somewhere, maybe in the coverage of the actual moguls event, but it was more of a discreet clip of him and not a sell-job as all of Campbell's appearances have been....the distasteful crowding of the lens by Campbell and other premiers at the Clara Hughes medal ceremony was vulgar, vulgar, vulgar. In Bilodeau's case, the athlete isn't even from Campbell's province - so why show the Preem at all?? It's not the PAB's doing, bear in mind - it's CTV's.

Similarly during the Opening Ceremonies there was repeated needless shots of Stephen Harper, looking pleased and powerful. But he's not the Head of State and if anything the camera should have been more on the G-G, who is. Campbell likewise was goofily waving the flag as if he were standing on Iwo Jima - and while Nancy was smiling next to him I swear I caught a glimpse of Lara behind him...

the question is, what are these goofs doing in the VIP box at all. And what was the reason the heads of state of the Four Host First Nations were seated late? Could be they wanted to be seated last, could be they were given a hard time by security, could be they got lost finding the box. But why weren't they escorted properly, if so? There might be coverage of this in your local media, I don't see it out here in Nova Scotia....
(cont)
 
Yatzee,

Don't let a few facts get in the way of a good story.

Gosh, I would never have guessed that socialism itself could be this bad, if you hadn't explained it.

So ... let me get this straight: somehow the decisions Gordo is making is because of socialism?

Or are you only telling me I should fear the New Democrats because they might be "socialists"?

Make yourself a nice cup of herbal tea, Yatzee, and think this through again. And remember Mary's Law: Partisan Politics Never Fixed Anything!

Also, would you please check out what this topic is all about?

See ya.
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One of the odd consequences of this Olympic adventure by the people who brought us Basi/Virk may be devastating to Whistler Blackcomb. It would be a worldwide media perception that BC's coastal mountains have very poor (if any) snow for skiing and boarding. Overcoming THAT tourism perception (nightmare) even PAB couldn't handle! The security expenditure remains completely ridiculous, so far the BILLION dollar apparatus has blown up a fishing rod at the North Shore Seabus terminal. Expect them to pull a few stunts in the next 10 days, they know they overdid it by half a billion of the public's money.
 
During the lusty singing of the anthem there was a shot of John Furlong and Gordon Campbell, with the latter belting out the anthem as if it were a drinking song, also evidently doing it for the cameras; Furlong was discreetly mumbling. There was a shot of Jean Charest somewhere, maybe in the coverage of the actual moguls event, but it was more of a discreet clip of him and not a sell-job as all of Campbell's appearances have been....the distasteful crowding of the lens by Campbell and other premiers at the Clara Hughes medal ceremony was vulgar, vulgar, vulgar. In Bilodeau's case, the athlete isn't even from Campbell's province - so why show the Preem at all?? It's not the PAB's doing, bear in mind - it's CTV's.

Similarly during the Opening Ceremonies there was repeated needless shots of Stephen Harper, looking pleased and powerful. But he's not the Head of State and if anything the camera should have been more on the G-G, who is. Campbell likewise was goofily waving the flag as if he were standing on Iwo Jima - and while Nancy was smiling next to him I swear I caught a glimpse of Lara behind him...

the question is, what are these goofs doing in the VIP box at all. And what was the reason the heads of state of the Four Host First Nations were seated late? Could be they wanted to be seated last, could be they were given a hard time by security, could be they got lost finding the box. But why weren't they escorted properly, if so? There might be coverage of this in your local media, I don't see it out here in Nova Scotia....

But here's a thought - why were two Canadian political leaders and their families and entourages seated in the head-of-state box? If President Medvedev of Russia was in the house (and he may well have been), he should have been seated there too, likewise V-P Biden as Obama's proxy. but if protocol doesn't call for all heads of state to be in the VIP box, then here's a further thought: that alone could be why Obama chose not to show, i.e. it would have looked bad to be seated in the general boxes as Biden was, i.e. his presence would have outshone Harper and Campbell, obviously, and having him next to them (and Medvedev) in the VIP box might have been complicated huh? Never mind that he would know that any photo-op with him and Harper or him and Campbell would be of political benefit to two men who are clearly his political enemies (or closely allied to his political enemies).

(cont'd)
 
There was a snub of the Crown in the Opening Ceremonies, apparently a decision of the (American) producer of the show. At the Salute to the Monarch passage, only one line of God Save the Queen (not one verse) was played and then it shifted to some kind of quasi-O Canada medley; and showed Harper instead of Michaelle Jean. There was one funny bit where I swear an IOC official seemed to be making needless chatter with the G-G, i.e. "hitting on her" a bit, and she didn't look happy about it; but maybe he was telling her about the demonstrations outside.

What happened with the Biden motorcade anyway? I saw one tidbit on CNN that there were too people injured in an "incident" involving the motorcade. Was it a protest?

Does the judging for the medal in national-team choking get awarded based on a points total, or is it just awarded on a ratio of number of brags of gold medals-that-are-ours vs actual medals won?

Oh, and about the Accenture thing, and maybe this is important. How is it that Governor Schwarzenegger got to carry the torch on its last day? Were the governors of Washington and Alaska and other neighbouring states afforded the same privilege? Could it be that Schwarzenegger dropping his efforts to shut down the BC film industry a few years ago had anything to do with why California's interdiction of Accenture doesn't apply to its contracts with BC Hydro? And isn't it odd that one of the big players in that film industry is Vancouver Film Studios, which is one of David McLean's most notable holdings - and a company which would have effectively gone south, maybe literally, if Schwarzenegger had continued holding the Hollywood studio industry's anti-BC position?

There should be an IOC rule banning the Olympic Broadcasting Network from featuring politicians in the coverage, unless their presence is directly newsworthy in some way (their presence itself not being newsworthy in and of itself).
 
Yatzee, right-wing governments in Greece have been every bit as corrupt, often moreso, than socialist ones. And they've also shown more of a penchant for using force against the population (remember the Colonels??).

Blaming the left for the crimes of the right is an old game in Greece, as in other countries.
 
Skookum, it was my understanding that the producer of the opening ceremonies is Australian - I know he produced the Sydney ceremonies.
 
Yatzee said:

"Greece, IS one of the most corrupt places to do busines on earth, never mind in the EU, where it leads all others. That is a direct result of a corrupt civil service, lead by, you guessed it, a socialist govt. Dont take my word for it. Google the topic yourself and see the truth. Dont let your emotions toy with you."

Greece may have a problem with corruption, but I'm sure if we dug deep enough we'd find we have nothing to crow about when it comes to that. Mind, it's probably easier to get information about Greece's corruption from the Greek government - than it is to get the truth about Liberal corruption from BC's FOI branch.

Greece's corruption appears to have been covered to a great degree by Goldman Sachs, whose home is in a CONSERVATIVE country. Unless of course you want to call the USA a socialist country as well. Oh yeah, that just happens to be the country that our own version of Conservative (Gordon Campbell) is hell bent on giving whatever is left of BC to. Sorry, I forgot he's got the BC economy under total control! No problems here.

Now run quick and see if you have any socialists hiding in your closets, or under your bed. And don't let your thoughts toy with you.
 
Greece had the olympics in 2004. Maybe that's why they're in debt.
 
February 16, 2010 8:47 AM
Skookum, kootcoot is correct,
the producer of the opening ceremonies was Australian.
I find at this particular time with the Olympics being here, and with the topic of Greece going bankrupt, amusing and a little bit ironic.
Why has no one as yet, attached blame to China for manufacturing a cheaper Olympic flame? Thereby affecting Greece's GDP. Seems to me China is being blamed for most other financial woes.
Myself,Ill put my marbles with China. (Yes BC Mary, I know were off the topic)
 
My bad about the producer, I guess because of the Salt Lake connection I took him as American; but as I recall, the production company was outsourced to a US firm. Either way, the observation that it is Canada as seen from outside, through the filter of our national propaganda agenda-writers, that the show was about.

Apparently on 980 am this morning there was a complaint that the event wasn't multicultural enough, i.e. that there was no Chinese content. In the fiddling section alone, there were at least 20 cultures (Hungarian, Finnish and Ukrainian and other fiddling styles were included) and other than the overtly Celtic/Quebecois/Metis content in that section, and the aboriginal content (comprising about 200 cultures) I didn't notice any favoritism towards any one culture (other than the official "we are Canada" one); why spotlight any one culture unless it's common to the national experience/identity (and fiddling actually is). Apparently a dragon dance would have mollified someone's sensitivities about not being given pride of place; I did think the show was amazingly balanced in that regard; if nonetheless hackneyed and cliched....where were the chainsaws to rip down those huge trees, after all? Clearly logging culture wasn't included in the program....

Something else I noticed, or think I noticed - the MacDonald's hockey commercial - "do you remember where you were?" (eating a hamburger, apparently) when Canada won at Salt Lake.....the vista of Vancouver in the last scene doesn't have the right mountains, I think, behind the city skyline...and the city skyline seems to have a few towers missing (Park Place, the Shangri-La, Harbour Centre for starters). It's not even Vancouver's real skyline - but I'm pretty certain the mountains in the backfround aren't Cypress and Grouse, they're digitized parts of Wedge and Weart, up north of Blackcomb....apparently the real BC isn't good enough for MacDonald's....and oh yeah, in the Coca Cola commercial the statement is made "Let's show them whose game it is", the answer apparently being Coca-Cola's....
 
Park Place - I meant the Wall Centre
 
The world knows we don't get it.

Where is the Press in BC?

After less than seven days of Olympic madness the information estate has either gone on vacation "anywhere" to avoid reporting on the Olympics or like the bulk of them ... have become Campbell/corporate fart-catchers for VANOC.

We have long expected our politicians and their business sector bosses to be in this for profit blow-job mode but now it's hard to tell Gordon Campbell from Rick Cluff at CBC radio.

If that's not bad enough, throw in the cheap and very phony patriotism being pushed by the legions of faded alcohol-fueled sportswriters over Canada's first gold medal win.

Canadians used to mock and deride Americans for their in your face flag waving but at this point "we" are on all fours with the flag pole running through us like a whole pig on the barbeque.

But it seems the media in the UK and US have our number and our newly found 3rd rate jingoism.

If we are trying to convince ourselves we are top dog we are doing a very good job, but to the rest of the world we are just another bunch of village idiots and rectal passages.

For me, the rest of the world has it right and we really are a bunch of semi-frozen penises.
 
Yatzee:

You are a guest here. As my guest, you are expected to show reasonable courtesy toward others.

Your latest comment is not only rude, it's completely off topic, and you're trying to promote your private political point of view. It has been rejected for those reasons.

Try again.
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