More on the Carrington Fire

(Please see additional update at bottom of post)

I haven't heard anything about how the Edmonton Police are progressing with their investigation into the fire at the Carrington Seniors Residence, apparently considered an arson.

However, I did receive an email from a man who claimed to be a first responder at the fire and he made some interesting observations backed up with pictures. It seems that the sidewalk immediately outside one of the fire exits was being replaced and there was an excavated trench about 8 inches deep. For seniors with various levels of capabilities, to exit down 3 or 4 flights of stairs, then to try to cross this trench at 3am seems a bit scary. Many of them just couldn't get across the trench without help. It raises an obvious question about the fire code which I'm not qualified to answer. The rule of thumb is you do not block an escape route in any way. The details were forwarded to the Fire Inspector for consideration.

Immediately after the fire, the entire complex was sealed off and fenced. The author of this email claims that he went back the next day and the trench had been filled in. Its a strange allegation. If true, what would be the reason for filling in a hole on a condemned building?

Please keep in mind that the photos are somewhat inconclusive and there are no photos at 3am, at the time of the evacuation. I have no way of knowing if this story is true, but it does concern me.

I would definitely like to see these buildings made easier to get out of. I'm very grateful to these people who responded at the time and prevented loss of life. But some things about the evacuation plan still don't seem right to me.

Update (July 30,2009)

I misconstrued some of the details Jim had sent in previous emails, so here is his latest email point out a couple of my errors:

I read your latest blog and have to point out some errors...

"the sidewalk immediately outside one of the fire exits was being replaced and there was an excavated trench"

not true, there was no work being done, the sidewalk/trough was built to funnel water to the sewer, now the system wont work because the sidewalk is above the sewer feeder trough. It was built that way and had been there for approx 10 years.

"The author of this email claims that he went back the next day"

not true, I went back 3 days later (Wed June 3rd/8:30pm) to find the sidewalk/trough had been back filled and the courtyard had been soden,by 11am Friday there was a sidewalk installed and the staircase had been changed from a wooden one to a concrete staircase.

I just have to keep the facts straight.

Please recommend this post

Brief Moon Landing Thought

Once my Mom gave me a present. It was a copy of the Edmonton Journal of July 21 or 22, 1969 with the breathtaking picture of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon. It seemed an odd juxtaposition with the Journal's banner in old style Gothic font.

I took it out to show it to someone one day only to find out that my nephew had found it and had used it to color and scribble on. I wasn't really mad. My nephew was quite young and didn't understand the importance of the paper.

The irony of the moon missions is that it forced humans to look inward and ask those big questions about our purpose and place in the universe. To think about those kind of questions while also looking at the scribblings of a child is not a bad thing.

PS Could have been my niece. Still doing the chronology with my slide rule. Please recommend this post

Boutilier Should Resign

I wasn't planning on blogging about Guy Boutilier getting punted by Big Daddy. To be honest I find the internecine feuds of Alberta conservatives to be as about interesting as potatoes with no gravy.

There is a tangential issue relating to populism and the basics of what elected official are supposed to be doing for us. However, we've known for over two decades or more that the Alberta Progressive Conservatives are not a populist party. There are far more glaring examples of Alberta's need for democratic reform than a feud between these two C students.

If I were Guy Boutilier, I would resign my seat immediately and force the Premier to call a by-election in Ft. McMurray. Also, I would tender my resignation over the phone. Maybe even by text or Twitter.

Think about it. The Party would have to go into Ft. McMurray and would have to confront an angry riding association. They would no doubt have to disband Boutilier's riding association and create another one loyal to Big Daddy. Good luck with that. That town is pissed off. The entertainment value is unlimited.

In the lead up to the by-election the Health Minister could go to Ft. McMurray, hold a Town Hall and explain why they don't need a long term health care facility, and he could make amusing segues in the Q&A about how he didn't go to Harvard and didn't graduate with Barack Obama. *Sneer*. Assuming there was no riot or heckling by seniors.

I always hate to be the one that shrugs my shoulders and say, Hate to say it but I told you so. We need some change here.... Please recommend this post

Irregardless

I just heard a man on the radio use the word irregardless, an evil word used more and more these days. Worse, the man was an instructor from Mount Royal College. He may be a full Professor by now given the recent regulatory changes and the College's elevation. Nonetheless I regard the use of this word as careless and perhaps even illiterate.

Since the early 1900's the word was flagged by dictionaries as incorrect. Over time this has eased a bit to now where many dictionaries describe it as merely non-standard.

Language, like Lutefisk, is dynamic and organic, not static. So I won't be surprised if eventually irregardless becomes a first class word. Even if that does happen, I would hope that teachers will mark down use of the word on the grounds of poor style.

Wikipedia claims that irregardless is a portmanteau of irrespective and regardless. This might be true, but I hope not because generally I find portmanteaus very clever and they've often been very good to me.

Irregardless is a double negative and the prefix adds no value to the word at all. Its main appeal is that when spoken it sounds more sophisticated than regardless.

I demand that this word be put under house arrest. Please recommend this post

Cronkite: Dignified and Professional

Everyone is reflecting on their memories of Walter Cronkite. I'm not surprised by the massive outpouring of respectful grief. My main impression is that he was an incredibly poised man who dealt with massive social upheaval in the 1960's, assassination, Watergate, a violent and unacceptable war in Vietnam - in a calm and dignified way.

My own vivid memory is being home from school sick when JFK was killed. I remember sitting in the dark living room on a typical Edmonton November day. I remember Cronkite reading the death announcement and he was barely able to hold it together.

I don't have much of an appetite for nostalgia - the 1960's and 1970's were horrible in so many ways - however, I do think journalism has really gotten smaller, more reactionary, and in some cases more hysterical. Please recommend this post

American Health Care Debate

I'm not an American yet I'm getting fatigued by the ongoing debate over the American health care system. So much stupidity and prejudice on parade. I hope Americans get a better system under President Obama so the average person doesn't have to choose between a simple procedure or owning a home. Or suffering silently then dying.

Here's a video of NY State Senator Tom Duane giving an impassioned and angry speech about people dying needlessly. Via Blabbeando.


Please recommend this post

Shocked But Not Surprised

When you have a radio station that caters to middle age guys who are predominately conservative, what could go wrong when you start a drive home show conversation about aboriginal issues?

On the way home I tuned in briefly to hear the tail end of a conversation about aboriginal property rights and the Indian Act. The two hosts made a segue to the story about the makeshift border crossing re-opening on Cornwall Island. One of the hosts made the comment, and I'm paraphrasing, that the Mohawks obviously don't want armed guards because they're afraid they'll be shot trying to smuggle cigarettes.

Even for talk radio, I found this unusually inflammatory. I guess this is why these people want to end the Human Rights Commissions, so they can make this kind of talk normal and mainstream.

The background to this, I think, is the fact that the Tsuu Tina nation recently rejected a half billion dollar offer from the City of Calgary and the Province to build the south-west ring road through the Nation's land. This rejection has certainly led to a lot of negative commentary about Tsuu Tina, and aboriginals in general. Please recommend this post

This Just in...Woman's Tennis Sexist

This article about woman's tennis was making the rounds on Twitter today, and to be honest it didn't surprise me much. It seems the centre court matches at Wimbledon are not decided on seeding or talent so much as the looks of the players. I was looking at this picture of Serena Williams and I couldn't help but think what a wicked athlete she is. Those biceps...

If you remember, Anna Kournikova was never ranked higher than 8th in the WTA, and never won a Grand Slam, a Major, or an Olympic Medal. Yet she was always on centre stage courts, got huge endorsements and transitioned into a successful modeling career.

I want to see the best players in the marquee matches. I want to be challenged and to think about what athletic excellence means.


PS. ESPN still holds a hottest female athlete online constest every year. Seems a little outdated to me. Frat boys, what can you do. Please recommend this post

Download This

Download the MP3 and share it. Pass the link around to all your friends. Maybe even your ex-friends. Not to mention future friends, casual acquaintances, parole officers, one night stands, and so on.

Update: Forgot to mention the MP3 has no DRM. It is intened to be shared freely. Please recommend this post

Carrington Fire Apparently Arson

My 80 something mother had been living at the Carrington Assisted living apartments in Edmonton. She lived in the building on 106st and 40th avenue. On May 31, in the middle of the night, the building went on fire and over 200 seniors were out on the street. Miraculously, none of them were hurt. The EFD, EPD and passers by did a great job in making sure everyone got out in time.

The western wing of the building went up in flames and was destroyed completely. The east wing where my mother's suite was, was thoroughly damaged by water. None of these seniors will return to the building as it is condemned and it is unlikely any personal effects can be recovered.

The Carrington facility at Riverbend was under capacity so they took in most of the displaced seniors on short notice. However, imagine the circumstances of having no personal possessions, no furniture. This was a highly traumatic event for people who shouldn't have to deal with something like this at their age.

TV's and couches can be replaced by insurance. But family bibles and love letters from the 1940's are gone forever.

The City of Edmonton announced this morning that the fire is believed to have been deliberately set and the EPD is investigating. The fire was briefly discussed in the AB Leg QP a few weeks ago, relative to fire code adherence and evacuation protocols. As expected, the Government said everything was fine.

Check with the Salvation Army or Red Cross in Edmonton to see if they still need donations of money or personal effects. Or phone Riverbend facility at (780) 433-2223 to see if they still need anything.

Update: Edit for Clarity. The Whitemud facility burned down. Most Seniors were relocated to the Riverbend facility which was under capacity. Please recommend this post

Unintended Widget Side Effect

I've been using the newest version of blogger templates for a few months now. Generally I like them better. These templates support some custom xml tags that allow easy integration of generic widgets. If you look to the right you will see a widget that displays a list of blogs and their latest post, with the leading text. I like this widget and don't mind promoting other blogs. I you want your blog over there drop me a line and tell me I'm the sexiest person you've ever seen.

The side effect is the text from other blogs gets built into my html on the server side when the page is built. Then google ends up indexing it as if it were my content. So if you google some phrase you may end up on a blogger site and be mystified why you were sent there. The widget updates content quite frequently.

I'm not sure if this is considered a bug or not, or just a weird side effect of dynamic content. Depends on your viewpoint. Please recommend this post

Lying For Jesus. Part...Sorry Lost Count

I was surprised when I mistyped my blog URL and found out that a wacky Christian cult had registered www.rwmcbean.blogpot.com to host their dubious bible studies. The web site titled LIFE IS A TEST.ORG looks a bit suspicious to me. It could be a spam/spyware repository, or maybe there's even a back door to child porn. You never know these days. You never know with these type of people.

Anyway, I dropped them a note in their contact form and like clockwork their Jesus-bot responded:

Dear rwmcbean,

We want to thank you for your guestbook message.
The administrator has to revise your message first, therefor it is not visible yet.

Your entry ( Today at 03:08 ):
---------------
your choice of URL makes you a liar and a thief.
---------------

our guestbook:
---------------
http://www.bibledesk.com/cgi-bin/firebook/firebook.cgi
---------------

best regards,
i-dreams.net Gästebuch Team

It raises some ethical questions, but I'm not really angry. I just think its kind of ironic unethical people are cranking out bible studies.

Do you think I'm being too hard on them? Please recommend this post

Eds new BFF

The one and only sentence in the press release: Premier Ed Stelmach met with His Excellency Lan Lijun, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Canada.

In keeping with the opaque operations of the GOA, God only knows what Ed is discussing with the Ambassador of China. After Bill44, I may be better off not knowing. But they do look happy together.

Could be they're discussing China's stake in the Alberta Oil Sands.

Maybe Ed is reassuring the Ambassador that he will never ever be in a photo op with the Dalai Lama.

Maybe they're discussing ways to subvert human rights, environmentalism, or how to kill citizen engagement. China does a pretty good job of terrorizing people into silence. Maybe they're not discussing the Tiananmen Square massacre that didn't occur.

Or maybe, with the Chinese Government taking over the GM Hummer division, they're discussing plans to build a Hummer that runs on Bitumen.

All lame sarcasm aside, the fact is we'll never know what goes on in that office. Ed Stelmach campaigned on a new era of transparency, but it turns out he has a different dictionary than everyone else.

Please recommend this post

Ashamed

I stayed up late to listen to the final reading of Bill 44 in the Alberta Legislature and to follow the Twitter feeds from #ableg and #bill44.   About 1:30 MST the bill was passed 35 to 7.  Half the PC Caucus didn't bother showing up. The Premier came in late just in time to vote and didn't listen or participate in the final debate.  As an additional insult to the Opposition members they invoked closure, which may have saved them a whole ten minutes.  Petty and undemocratic.

The 7 opposition members raised one compelling argument after another against this horrible law. The government provided nothing useful, and tossed out brainless cliches like the silent majority and severely normal Albertans.  That's the problem when you govern on the advice of special interest groups, you pretty much have to turn your brain off.  

When they started talking about natural families it was a dead give away they were pandering to homophobes, but homophobes who chose to stay in the shadows.

Bill 44 is indefensible and I'm ashamed.

Please recommend this post

Time to test Torture Theory

The alleged murderer of Dr. George Tiller, who is now in custody, may be part of a larger terror cell planning more killings. Presumably the supporters of torture in the war on terror would agree that torturing this suspect would be prudent, and would help settle the debate over whether torture is an effective tool.

I say waterboard the man. See if there are any other ticking time bomb snipers out there.

Yes, I'm in a *great* mood today, thanks for asking. Please recommend this post

Children of a Stupid God

...he's our child and is a very very bad boy...

Please recommend this post

Dear Brain

I really hate it when you walk by some thing 20 times a day and your brain chirps at you we really ought to do something with that thing,  and you talk back to your brain ok ok,  maybe tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes and you remember and you say to your brain,  where's that thing we were supposed to do something with and your brain says,  what thing?  and you say that thing we saw 20 times yesterday.  And your brain say, no idea what you're talking about hummina hummina hummina....

I also hate it when I wake up at 4am with a brilliant idea that's going to revolutionize some software project I'm working on. Before noon the next day I will have mentioned it to someone only to have them tell me what a completely shitty idea it is.  I know they're right.  They know I know they're right.  They know I was up at 4am "thinking".  I vow never to be a visionary again, and to only do dull and repetitive work.

Thank you for your forbearance.  Please proceed to the next item in your reader. Oh,wait. The McGarrigles and Emmylou Harris:

Please recommend this post

Karma and the Prop 8 Ruling

On the same day that the California Supreme court released its ruling on the request to overturn Propisition 8, the Alberta Legislature continues to debate Bill 44.  There is some irony there and both Twitter feeds are fascinating and highly emotional.

The key issue in the California ruling is the sad reality that referendums can be used to alter the State's constitution, even in areas that affect minority rights.  This is basically what the Reform/Alliance party wanted for Canada. 

If there's any sunshine in this ruling, its that payback is a bitch.  The precedent has now been set and can actively be used by liberals just as well as conservatives.  If a referendum is passed demanding all Christians die their hair read, so be it.  No recourse.  

And I'm sure they wouldn't try to overturn such a thing in the courts, because as we all know they're against judicial activism.

The other good news is that gay marriage will be legal in California eventually, definitely within 5 years. Its too fundamental to be held back

Please recommend this post

Peter Lougheed: Just Visiting

As mentioned from time to time on this site, Alberta's most pivotal Premier of the modern era was shockingly absent from Alberta and shockingly returned to get elected to the Alberta Legislature. Shocking. It could be that Stephen Harper has overlooked his bio, or he just hasn't got around to slandering him yet. Harper's probably kind of busy that way.

Before his political career, in the 1950's Lougheed went to Harvard (make sour ewwy face) to obtain an MBA. Although he was a stellar student in all respects he did flunk out of How to Talk With a Parisian Accent. He just wasn't good at it. And it was an elective. In the summers he worked for an oil company in Oklahoma. He saw first hand what happens when the oil and gas runs out.

After returning to Alberta, Lougheed ran for office in the mid 60's, again shockingly, and then won the landslide election of 1971, in spite of his presumptuousness in getting an education.

Going, coming, going, coming. "Education." These elitists are all the same. I can hardly believe a true Albertan would act that way.


(I suppose I'll have to mention I'm being sarcastic. But I'm only using a very small font.)

Please recommend this post

Some Calgary Photos

Some cheap photos from around Calgary. If you have a slow connection come back in 10 minutes.



Some Squirrels on a rare piece of grass downtown.



Some Tamil protesters on the steps of City Hall.




Olympic plaza. Just finishing off an all day kids festival.




Teatro's Restaurant lunch specials. They're offering a dinner for 2 for the price of a barrel of oil. Nice Calgary gimmick, but might put a few execs off their appetite.





"The Bow" continutes rapid construction, even after uncertainty about financing. The smaller building planned for the east side of the plaza won't get built for now. This was the building that was supposed to house the arts communities, public spaces, and a daycare.



Not sure what they're building here, on the 32 avenue edge of the University of Calgary. There seems to be construction all over the campus. Conservative University in a Conservative riding? Nah, just a coincidence.



A traffic jam on Country Hills Boulevard at 9pm. Grrrrr. And I had to P. Please recommend this post

630Ched Manipulates Anger Over Tori Stafford

There's a death penalty poll up at 630ched.com. It deliberately coincides with the horrible news regarding Tori Stafford.

The usual inflammatory bullshit forms the question:

With little evidence Canada's "soft" treatment of hardened criminals is working, is it time to bring back the death penalty for cold blooded killers?

There are too many fallacies there to properly deal with in brief, but please go over and vote.

When four RCMP officers were killed in Mayerthorpe Alberta, then Premier Ralph Klein said it was no time to talk about gun control. I guess reform types like Bob Layton are into situational ethics when it comes to exploiting victims for cheap politics.

It makes me angry that 62% of Edmontonians would consider bringing back a medieval
barbarism like the death penalty. Please recommend this post

Vote Yes for BC STV

I wish I lived in BC so I could vote in tomorrow's election. I would definitely vote yes for the STV democratic reform. I hope it passes and incites citizen rebellion all over the country.

We are becoming increasingly linked with the world through globalization and immigration yet our political systems both provincially and federally, are rapidly falling behind the emerging standards elsewhere. We can no longer claim that we are leaders in this field.

If STV passes it may spread eastward, but it would likely fly right over Alberta looking for more fertile ground. We know without a question the the Alberta Progressive Conservatives oppose any kind of citizen engagement or electoral reform. In a place where a little over 50% of the vote gets you all but 7 of the seats, why change?

Speaking at a constituency association meeting, Ed Stelmach(R) had this to say:

But I will be perfectly clear that if some want to make changing our system of elections to a “proportional representation” system, put me on the record opposing it. As the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, I will not make it my legacy to get more NDP or Liberal members elected. If they can win on the ground, or in the hearts of Albertans, then fine.

(Original PDF transcript of speech available on request)

Electoral reform requires ruling parties to take a chance and act like statesman for once. Its a very rare opportunity. Take it while its offered. Please recommend this post

Sean Avery's Therapy didn't Take

A few months ago Sean Avery was suspended for saying adolescent things about Dion Phaneuf and Elisha Cuthbert. After his suspension and league mandated counseling the Dallas Stars put him on waivers and the New York Rangers picked him up. It seems he got ripped off with the counseling thing. I remember him doing interviews and being all emo about how serious he was about fixing himself. I thought this kind of dysfunction would probably take more than a few visits to some vocational guidance counselor to unravel the long term issues. Will the Rangers or any team sign him again next year?

The way the hockey world socializes young men, from a very young age, no doubt leads a few of them to become dysfunctional.

Please recommend this post

Poll Crashing du Jour

Dr.Dobson's national prayer day poll is being crashed by PZ Myers. A lot of us support prayer in its various forms, however you can easily see the indirect question here which is about supporting an inhumane organization that sees no separation between church and state, and views gay people as less than human. Please recommend this post

Ted Morton Hates Women's Rights

Apparently Dr.Morton attended a pro-life rally on the Alberta Legislature property after a press scrum. May be covered later on the CBC Edmonton news. Please recommend this post

Calgary West Keeps Anders With Reverse Onus

The Conservative Party in Calgary West sent out just under 100,000 ballots to determine if a nomination challenge should be held. Although Conservative opponents of Rob Anders won almost all positions on the riding board at the last AGM, they faced an uphill battle. For one thing the challengers allege the incumbents withheld membership lists so they could not contact people. Another problem was the requirement of a 2/3 majority if the vote occurred.

But here's the nice part. If you did not return your ballot you were counted as a no vote. Reverse onus, just like the Cable Companies or a terrorism suspect. Harper is obviously protecting Anders because they share an almost identical world view.

Obviously I don't want these people anywhere near Canadian Democratic reform.

I really don't care if the Conservatives run Rob Anders or Donna Kennedy-Glans in the riding. Same problem different face.

The real challenge in Calgary West has not changed: take the riding away from the Conservative Party. And to do that you will need a coalition candidate and an electoral agreement among 3 parties. Please recommend this post

Ed's Fake Outrage. Or Inherit the Tory Wind

Ed Stelmach stormed out of the Legislature today because of a poorly thought out taunt by Liberal MLA Dave Taylor. Taylor's reference to the Scope's Monkey trial went over the head of Stelmach. Although the taunt was ill-advised it did have its own wit. When Taylor was a talk show host on the local Corus station he routinely talked over the heads of the mostly conservative audience.

Later in today's session, Taylor apologized. Hopefully the Health Minister was watching and learning.

I'm surprised that Stelmach has not yet flown into a rage over Ezra Levant's comment about Lindsey Blackett being an uppity token. Waiting... Waiting...

The hackneyed shenanigans of Question Period aside, I have really deep concerns about creating a new category of human rights that have to do with parental objections to school curriculum. Parents have had this right since the 1960's. Any one my age clearly remembers the first sex ed class where the kids with chin beards and bonnets got up and left.

If I understand the legislation correctly students who are exempted from, for example, evolution theory in biology class, cannot be punished academically. This will create a huge dilemma for the teacher and the curriculum writers. If you follow the strategy of creationists in the United States, their goal is to get public school boards and public post-secondary institutions to put Creationism on a peer to peer level with Biology, Chemistry and Geology. "Parental rights" will no doubt lead to curriculum dilution or injection of pseudo-science. At which point the Government will conveniently shrug its shoulders and say human rights, what can you do.

The whole thing is deeply suspicious, and occurs at a time when Alberta schools need to be better managed, better funded, and when our scientific literacy needs to be raised.

I do not trust the Alberta Government on issues like this. They are poor strategists and never see the coming train wreck. Please recommend this post

Maude was Better than Golden Girls

When celebrities like Bea Arthur die it gives us pause to think about our own journey. The TV was on a lot when I was growing up, and it was the backdrop to every stupid decision I made. Sort of creepy that way.

I came of age in the 70's. People in my age group generally think TV was better in the 70's than the 80's. To me the 80's on TV was a horrible pit of narcissistic despair.

All in the Family was the first show I really remember that made me think about the world. Maude, who was originally Edith's cousin on AITF, was the first feminist I ever saw. They gave Bea Arthur the Maude show because she was too large a personality to co-exist with Archie. Apparently Carroll O'Connor had a fairly big ego.

Golden Girls had excellent writing, biting sarcasm, and chemistry that reminds me of Seinfeld. However, if I have to watch re-runs I'd watch Maude any day. The episode I remember the most was when Maude discovered she was pregnant and there were several episodes about abortion. Strangely enough, in some ways TV was more liberated back then.

Please recommend this post

Blogging Should be Fun

I was thinking today about a time when blogging was fun for me. Before everything became a right-left hate fest. Before Stephen Harper came along and completely ruined my sense of Canada. Before Jason Kenney made me feel like a foreigner in my birth country. Before there was a daily fire hose stream of things to be angry about. Before people started waving flags like fascists and threatening to beat up people who didn't sing the national anthem the way they wanted. Before the Conservative Party and the Media killed the idea of Peace Keeping and overtly militarized our culture. Before Liberal bloggers decided that "Alberta" and "Calgary" needed to be the subject of bigoted diatribes.

It will probably get better. Things usually do. Hey, did you know that they have an International Rutabaga Curling Championship. Please recommend this post

More Alberta Sterilization

Whenever I see the words Alberta and Sterilization in the same sentence I think of Alberta's eugenics program the Alberta Social Credit Party thought up in the 1930's. This program was ended by Peter Lougheed in 1972.

But no, this time it had to do with another controversy about patient care and proper sterilization. A clinic in Calgary began charging $5 or $10 fees to patient to cover the expense of sterilizing instruments used during the patient's visit.

Naturally there was a negative reaction. By the end of the day the College of Physicians & Surgeons ordered the clinic to stop collecting this fee.

What surprised me about the social media reactions, and the MSM reactions is that few really understood the background of this problem. In early 2007 a small town Hospital in Vegreville Alberta was found to be following insufficient sterilization techniques. Further investigation revealed that a significant number of patients were probably infected with HIV/Aids and or Hepatitis. The Government has yet to reveal any figures on how many innocent patients were infected. As far as I know, no one was fired.

As a result of this and other similar problem, the Government began a lets get really really serious about sterilization now program. This resulted in Clinics being forced into buying more modern equipment. Hence the Calgary Clinic trying to find a way to cover its costs.

My question is fairly simple. How can a modern Health Care System, populated by well educated medical professionals fall down on something as basic as germ control. The two basic problems are transparency and management. In 2007 no one really knew the extent of the sterilization problem and could not find out. The Health Board that ran the Vegreville Hospital was made up of Political Appointees. The Government protected its appointees, who were ultimately accountable.

I don't really see where anything has changed since 2007.


Some links:
CBC Clinic Charges Sterilization Fee
Vegreville Hospital
Some other possible related links Please recommend this post

Alberta Libraries get $9 Million Dollars

I woke up this morning at 5am for no particular reason. Apparently this is a sign of old age or something. I blearily and misguidedly checked my email and news feed quickly - something I have repeatedly told myself is inadvisable before noon.

I read the CBC headline that the Alberta Government was announcing another $9 million dollars in funding for Alberta's public libraries. My brain translated the headline to "Alberta Liberals". I thought it was strange, and in the stupor I was in I spent the next couple of hours thinking weird thoughts like where did the Alberta Liberals get $9 million dollars. Will this level the playing field? Is that a lot of money? Where are my pants? etc etc.

I woke up later and realized how very confused I was. Libraries. Not Liberals. Not that I wouldn't want the Alberta Liberals to get $9 million dollars. If the Alberta Liberals had $9 million dollars they could buy the next election and deport Stelmach.

In spite of our affluent societies our libraries need more than $9 million dollars. For example, all the libraries in Calgary have had a public wireless network for a few years, but few of them have places to plug notebook computers in. Retrofitting to online collections is now also a big trend with libraries and expensive. And then there are all those literacy and reading programs, and ESL tutoring - all done by volunteers.

I'm glad they got the money, especially during a time when the Alberta Government has absolutely no idea how to manage money and resources.

This additional funding takes some of the burden off me to continually pay those hundreds of dollars in late fees. I hope they spend the money wisely and not on silly christian novels about the rapture or Miss Marple DVD's. Please recommend this post

Rare Methadone Clinic Killed By Aldermen

The Second Chance methadone clinic, which has been operating for some time in an industrial area of north east Calgary will be forced to close its doors. The Alderman of the area used zoning BS to force the closure of the clinic.

Not only that, when the clinic was close to finding a new location in south east Calgary, the Alderman for that area apparently strong armed the prospective landlord into backing out of the lease.

Whereas the City of Calgary apparently has an unlimited supply of cash and time to play these games, the clinic has no resources to defend.

What are these Alderman thinking? How many votes will they gain in exchange for creating extreme hardship for about 500 hard drug addicts.

There is only one other methadone clinic in Calgary, downtown at the Sheldon Chumir Clinic. But since it is run by Alberta Health, those 500 addicts cut adrift would likely not get any help going there. I guess they'll end up in either the remand centre or an emergency ward.

I really think this will have some negative outcomes for Calgary.

h/t to CBC Calgary Story. Please recommend this post

Didn't see the punch line coming at all

And as a result, I spit juice all over my precious little notebook.



I thing I've crossed over into lazy blogger bing bong town. Please recommend this post

Hail The New Nationalism

Last week Calgary's Mount Royal College inadvertently drew the attention of hyper-nationalist goons by thinking out loud about whether to fly a Canadian Flag in a building operated by the Student's Association.

The building used to have a huge flag hung from the roof, but it was taken down for renovations. When the renovations were complete the issue of hanging another flag was discussed. One student expressed the view that the flag was exclusionary. The student for what I now see are understandable reasons, made the comment anonymously.

As a post-secondary institution they should have an open and honest discussion about hanging the flag. Many of those students are probably history majors who are familiar with the various fascist movements of the 20th century and know the basic components of fascism, including flag waving and the coercive worship of external symbols.

Although Canada isn't a fascist state yet, more and more I grow uneasy seeing the immense amount of ugly mob pressure to fly a flag or sing anthems. Erik Millett, a school principle in New Brunswick, and who dared to change the anthem singing schedule of his school, was harassed, bullied, and threatened with violence and death. Now he can no longer continue in his job because he is too traumatized. (link)

If the non flying of a flag, or the non singing of an anthem makes you threaten someone's life, you're not a real Canadian, barely a human being, and you should get help. Or just fuck off to some third world country where you'll socialize better.

Of course the shrill moralistic bullies at the Calgary Herald had to wade into the Mount Royal debate, even though it was an issue the students can easily work out on their own. The title of the op-ed Fly Our Flag says it all. Its an imperative. An or else demand. In a low point, even for the Herald, the op-ed author rips the anonymous student who made the original comment:

Finally, it is the flag of a people who believe men and women have the right to speak their opinions without fear, and therefore unlike the Mount Royal complainant, need not hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

The funny but sad part of that unnecessary attack is that the editorial is unsigned. However, given its dumbness, meanness, and the non-nonsensical meandering style, I would bet it was written by Corbella.

The usual pile of thugs, commenting in the online edition, demand that the student go back where he/she came from. That, without knowing anything about the origins or national identity of that person.

The Canadian Flag means a lot to me. I feel a lot of positive emotions whenever I see it flying somewhere. And that's in spite of Stephen Harper ripping the fabric of this country apart. What I won't do is wave the flag in someone Else's face and force them to worship it. Please recommend this post

Law Abiding Gun Owners

Case 1:

Last weekend Brian Knight, a farmer near Bashaw, Alberta saw three men on his property at 2am. Two of the men fled in their vehicle, the third fled stealing one of Knight's Quads. I fully understand how frightening this might be, and the criminal code does allow reasonable force to be used in self defense.

However, Mr.Knight jumped in his vehicle and chased the Quad thief down the secondary roads, shooting at him and ramming him with his truck. The thief was shot and sent to hospital. The RCMP arrested Knight and charged him with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, assault and dangerous driving. The other 2 thieves were caught and charged.

Knight's illegal and dangerous over-reaction could have killed a neighbor, a police officer, or even the thief. If you think a Quad is worth more than a human life then you are a sick human being. Worse than the thief actually.

Not surprisingly Knight is being turned into a folk hero. Apparently we're supposed to admire people with loose screws who take off down the highway shooting at petty criminals. One more reason to believe that Corus talk radio is sick and pathologically irredeemable as a social media.

I guess this is why the Firewall letter writers advocate for kicking the RCMP out of Alberta and replacing them with an Alberta Police Force. If you had a local police force that reported to the Alberta Tory party then you could just ignore inconvenient parts of the criminal code. One of my favourite movies was Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night. Good story, bad model for policing.

Case 2:

Dr. Ted Morton probably thought he was being funny with this photo op:



He obviously didn't listen in gun safety training. You never ever ever point a gun at anything unless you are intending to shoot it. Never.

It sends the wrong message and most of the people who adore Morton are laboring under some serious deficits as it is. Its not funny. Its irresponsible. And I also get the subtle political message. Thanks.

Consider also that the Alberta Government, under Morton's initiative uses tax dollars to promote hunting as a life style. Because you can never have a big enough intrusive government that spends public money to tell us what's fun.

Case 3:

A man in Edmonton very nearly shot his balls off playing with his gun. Better his balls than his wife or two young kids. He then wasted the time of the Police claiming a burglar had shot him.



Say no to dismantling our gun laws and registries. Please recommend this post

Dear Minister Kenney

Dear Minister Kenney,

A month or so you flippantly assured an audience that everything would be fine with the economy because Stephen Harper was a trained economist. That kind of thing must play well to your uninformed fan boys in Ontario, but many of us scratched our heads. Aside from being completely wrong about the direction of the economy you probably well know that Stephen Harper never actually worked as an economist. I understand his MA work was mostly in the area of political communication. By the way, I have a lot of respect for people who undertake graduate education, that is not really the issue. I think it is another example of ridiculous political language being used to mislead people.

On another topic, Dr. Tom Flanagan, Myron Thompson and Dr. Ted Morton are all Americans who emigrated to Canada. It occurs to me that these three have really not integrated well into Canadian culture.

Dr. Flanagan apparently doesn't know that our forefathers signed legally binding treaties with aboriginal people, or that those same aboriginal people actually value their indigenous languages and cultures. Most school children know this.

Mr. Thompson apparently believes homosexuals should not be allowed to be teachers, that sodomy should be re-criminalized and that capital punishment should be re-instated.

Dr. Morton seems to be an antigay activist who was also one of the principal authors of the Firewall Letter, which I'm sure you're familiar with.

It doesn't seem to me these men have integrated really well into our way of life. I'm sure you'll want to review their files.

I'm sorry to hear your car was broken into. Perhaps the thief was looking for that elusive Canadian identity you think everyone else should conform to. Please recommend this post

Insomnia and Art

I was up late looking at various art on the interweb tubes and came across M.C. Escher's Hand with Reflecting Sphere For some reason this drawing always reminds me of Christmas. Weird how things get wired in your brain. Its one of my favourites among Escher's many works that pushed the viewers perceptions of the spatial.

I find it amazing how he can so accurately reproduce the reflection. Please recommend this post

The Bishop of Death and Ignorance

Via CBC Calgary,

An annual fundraiser held by local Catholic teachers in support of an international AIDS charity is on hold after Calgary's Catholic bishop objected to its promotion of birth control.

For the last five years, the Calgary Catholic Teachers' Association has held a fundraiser during Lent for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which supports women and children living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, and also runs campaigns to prevent the deadly disease.

More and more you read these stories with an astonishing sense that this can't possibly be happening. This was the same Bishop who obstructed the Gardasil vaccinations of young women because he imagined it would turn them into sluts. (I fully supported parental consent. That was never the issue.)

I'm not sure how much money the teachers could raise for Stephen Lewis, maybe its not all that significant in the bigger view. However there is an issue here of ignorance and religion based cruelty. Death is not an acceptable outcome for some poor person merely because of their choice of birth control or life style. It would be petty and ignorant, and in some cases illegal, for me to let someone die merely because I disapprove of their life.

Religious institutions sometimes act like cults. They need to be turned upside down so authorities can be held accountable for promoting death over life.

If those educators cannot raise money for a more than worthy cause, then I sure hope they are allowed to teach their students about AIDS/HIV both from a social and scientific point of view. We can't afford another ignorant generation.

Link: The Stephen Lewis Foundation

Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me. Please recommend this post

Wild Rose Anthology.

Another great Anthology of short stories written by Alberta writers. The collection is edited by George Melnyk and Tamara Palmer Seiler both academics and authors based at the University of Calgary. Nice to see the U of C get noticed for something other than pro-war think thanks.

The contributing authors include: Ninoxkyaio, Mary Schaffer, Fred Stenson, Monica Hopkins,Georges Bugnet, Illia Kiriak, Christine van der Mark, Kerry Wood, Henry Kriesal, George Ryga, W.P. Kinsella, Andy Russell, Howard O'Hagan, Sheila Watson, Sid Marty, Thomas Wharton, Rudy Wiebe, Katherine Govier, Cherly Foggo, Sam Selvon, Joy Kogawa, Robert Kroetsch, Aritha van Herk, Myrna Kostash, Hiromi Goto, Hugh Dempsey, W.O. Mitchell, Emma Lee Warrior, and Thomas King.

There's a few authors here that are new to me. Thomas Wharton and Christin van der Mark are authors whose novels I now want to read. van der Mark wrote her first novel Due Season in the late 1940's and was probably overshadowed by W.O. Mitchell who wrote Who Has Seen the Wind around the same time.

I like Alberta and Canadian fiction. They usually hit a sweet spot when they are well written and are set in your own back yard.

ISBN 1-55238-079-3 Published by University of Calgary Press.

Possible maybe related posts. Please recommend this post

Edmonton Oilers Fans March Discontent

Its like this every spring for Oilers fans. After the last 2 disastrous losses the Oilers must get at least 6 points in their remaining 8 games to make the NHL playoffs. Unlikely I think.

There are 5 teams competing for the last two play-off positions. It may come down to the last game of the year. It doesn't help that the Oilers play back to back games with the Calgary Flames. The Flames have a lock on their playoff spot but they derive motivation from beating Edmonton, especially if they can knock them out.

A more likely scenario is the Oilers will be edged out by the result of games they don't even play in.

It might be better if they don't make the playoffs. They are due for a major restructoring and its probably time to try some new approaches. When you think about it, all the 80's feel good nostalgia and banner raising, as inspirational as it is, has not done a single thing to improve the on ice product. Please recommend this post

Mob Mentality Trumps Free Speech

An Edmonton comedy club has cancelled upcoming appearances by an American comic who mocked the Canadian military on the Fox Television show Red Eye.

Doug Benson was scheduled to do five shows at The Comic Strip in West Edmonton Mall next month, but owner Rick Bronson cancelled the gigs after the club received some unsettling calls and emails.

"Too many of them were too threatening in nature," Bronson said.

Before Benson and his partner started trashing the Canadian Military on their overnight Fox shock show, Benson should have checked his itinerary for his stand-up act. He was scheduled to appear at a comedy club in West Edmonton. He might have also observed that Edmonton hosts one of the largest military bases in Canada, which is within artillery distance from West Edmonton Mall. Also, lets not forget there are more than a few grieving military families in Edmonton.

I thought that the Canadian response to Benson's clownish show was a bit much. This is what Fox does. They bait people to get a response. In this respect they are not unlike the Toronto based National Post or the Toronto based Sun Media. They are half wits that can't really contribute anything so they push buttons.

The manager of the club had no choice to cancel the act, however it would have made good theatre to see Benson try and manage an Edmonton crowd. This is the ultimate test of every comedian, to win a crowd of obnoxious drunks.

But we'll probably never know since scores of goons in Edmonton made threats of violence resulting in the cancellation. They're probably keyboard cowards, but small businesses can't afford the risk.

So who has a worse pathology? The brain dead TV host or the guy who threatens violence? Please recommend this post

David Hockney's Lost Seasons

David Hockney is one of my favourite artists and photographers. He had planned to paint a series of four paintings of a stand of Beech trees near his home in Yorkshire England. Each painting was to be done in a season of the year.

The Winter and Summer paintings (above) were completed. When Hockney went to paint the next in the series he found that the stand of trees had been cut down. When I read the story I wanted to weep because I love art, photography and the dwindling number of pastoral settings.

It doesn't seem likely to me that the stand of trees were economically significant. Hopefully the owner got their 30 pieces of silver. Please recommend this post

Red River Rising

In the summer of 1997 I took a summer holiday, my first vacation in a long time. I left Calgary and camped my way down through to Sioux Falls, South Dakota because I wanted to see the Black Hills and visit a friend there. I would say I was probably fairly self-absorbed and disconnected from what was going on in the world. I had no idea of the extent of the Red River flooding that summer, and of the devastation in the Dakotas and Manitoba.

I spent the night in Sioux Falls and left early in the morning intending to drive straight to Winnipeg. I stopped for gas somewhere and found out that an elderly couple had been killed by a tornado the previous night not at all far from where I camped. The dude looked at me like I was a moron when I told him where I had camped. Note to self: Get a good camping radio, or at least check the weather warnings.

I had to pick up a few things so I stopped in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Map. I couldn't believe what I saw. They were dealing with the after math of the Red River flood when a fire broke out in the downtown area. The water problems made it almost impossible to fight the fire and a lot of the downtown businesses burned down.

It looked like a war zone and I didn't stay long. The people there were so distressed and worn out. I learned one thing about Americans. Whether they are red or blue they are one tough people. Ditto for Manitobans.

When I got back to Winnipeg and got an aerial view of the devastation and got caught up on the news I found it really astonishing. Mostly I felt pretty angry with myself for being so aloof and not being able to help in such a situation.

Right now they are sandbagging around the clock in Fargo, in a desperate attempt to get that few extra feet or inches that will save their properties and businesses. I wish I were there. Please recommend this post

Libertarian Lobbyist Can't Reason Well

Where, exactly, does the QR77 newsroom find these people:

The city's Plan It Calgary document, which promotes high density residential development in the downtown core as well as some other areas such as the Brentwood and Anderson LRT stations, has come under scathing attack. Randall O'Toole, senior fellow with the libertarian CATO Institute, says there isn't anything in the 50 year plan he likes. The $6 million strategy calls for more residential development in the downtown core partly because it will cut down on automobile use. But O'Toole says driving to work isn't such a bad thing. He says in a couple decades vehicles may be far more energy efficient and produce fewer emissions per mile than transit. O'Toole says people should be able to choose where they want to live - not be told by politicians. O'Toole was the keynote speaker at a Canadian Homebuilders Association meeting in Calgary on Wednesday.

Scathing? Oh, I'm so afraid of the Libertarian Lobbyist.

I live in the Brentwood neighborhood and there is a growing opposition movement to the city's plans to add 10,000 new units in an already congested area. I havent't decided how I feel about this yet. But I definitely don't think of it as a libertarian issue. And it is rather silly to think we can continue to add cars to the road commuting into downtown. Downtown Calgary has no space for more parking and is developing out existing parking locations in favor of office space. Its a weak point anyway, because fewer and fewer people can afford to pay the exorbitant fees to park.

Is it a libertarian priority that we double the lanes of the freeways into downtown every 10 years?

No politician is telling you where to live Randall, that's a fairly obvious lie designed to create right wing hysteria. It will probably work. Godless communists building condo's etc etc.

Its fairly easy to see this is not about political philosophy or freedom, its about lobbying for land developers. Please recommend this post

Calgary Did Not "Host" The Aryan Guard

Via LetFreedomRain blog:

What does little ol' Calgary and Israel's Um al-Fahm have in common? Both are towns that hosted right wing hate marches, one in Israel the other in Calgary.

This comparison is wrong and dishonest on so many levels I hardly know where to start. Calgary did not "host" the Aryan Guard rally on 21 March 2009. They organized it on their own and were vigorously opposed by anti-racism Calgarians who confronted them.

We have a lot of problems in Calgary, but ugly displays of racism are available in any Canadian city.

This type of comparison makes me think of Doug Benson and Greg Gutfeld talking about our military. Meanwhile, In Um al-Fahm Israeli Arabs are being harassed, denied basic rights (like voting), and being threatened. Furthermore, the Israeli nationalists harassing the Um al-Fahm Arabs are doing so with the approval of the government. Please recommend this post

The Cycle of Hatred

If your going to wear a t-shirt like this, put the cartoon on the front so people can look into your eyes.

What kind of parent would take their kid to write slogans on a tank shell? There goes all our hope that the next generation will be better at making peace.

Please recommend this post

Anti-Racism Rally - Calgary

Canadian cities are generally not like European or even American cities in the sense that we do not have a long memory of conflicting ideologies waging bloody battles in our streets. During the Vietnam war and the Civil rights movement there was almost constant violence in American cities as protesters clashed with police, or political rallies got out of hand.

I went downtown today add my humble presence to an anti-racism rally not really knowing what to expect, but thinking that Calgary has generally been a really peaceful city. I knew ahead of time that there would likely be a clash between the anti-racism rally and the Calgary chapter of the Aryan Guard.

The anti-racism rally started at Calgary Hall with a strong police presence and a vibrant atmosphere. I would say the crowd numbered around 300 and was demographically quite young. In the meantime the Aryan Guard coalesced their members in the North East and came downtown shortly after 3pm. They began marching from 10st West toward City Hall but got pinned down at the C-Train station at 7th Avenue and 5th Street. At this point they had no where to go with anti-racism protesters and police on all sides.

Eventually the police broke a line for them and they headed north to 6th Avenue. This is when it turned ugly. There was throwing of objects and veteran Calgary Sun columnist Rick Bell got injured with the end of a flag pole. A few arrests and other minor injuries.

A bus was brought in and the Aryans were shipped out of downtown.

At the end of it I'm left scratching my head as to where we are heading in our urban culture. And it comes at the end of a week when our buffoon of an Immigration minister thought out loud about how immigrants need to integrate. I cant help it - I think that mentality is a direct play into the hands of racists. Please recommend this post

Ed "AIG" Stelmach

An excerpt from David Swann's latest blog post:

Our member from Edmonton Goldbar – Hugh MacDonald – looked into pay bonuses this week and was shocked to learn that last year about $40 million was given out in bonuses! These bonuses were given primarily to senior government employees like Deputy Ministers and Directors of Boards and Commissions. These are people who are required to work on behalf of all Albertans, not just their Minister. How free can a senior official be if he is getting thousands of dollars in bonuses based on pleasing the Minister? Tens of thousands of dollars on top of salaries of $300,000 to $400,000 per year- and all this at a time when our economy was tanking!

While the AIG executive compensation scandal was dominating the news cycle the story of Senior Alberta Tories getting $40 million dollars in bonuses was floating beneath the radar.

Its probably worth noting that these civil servants are vetted very carefully for their loyalty to the leader and to the party. In other words, the $40 million in bonuses is really another form of partisan patronage. Not unlike the lotteries system apparently.

Bad timing when you just announced you can't seem to find a couple of million dollars to make the office of the Auditor General a bit more effective.

Its ok Ed, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'll continue to pay my provincial taxes so you have enough money to play a third world big daddy. Please recommend this post

New Mini Dinosaur Species Found Etc.

It had razor sharp claws and its teeth may have been the terror of Alberta 75 million years ago — among animals smaller than a squirrel, that is.

The kitten-sized predator identified by paleontologists at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta is the smallest carnivorous dinosaur ever found in North America. The next smallest meat-eating dinosaur ever found on the continent was about the size of a wolf.

Evolution seems to have produced mini versions of almost everything. It could be some kind of beta testing. Little men. Little dogs. Little Hobbits. Dinosaurs that nibble your ankles. You only get to go big if you can prove your design is effective.

Researchers have named the creature Hesperonychus Elizabethae.

In other evolutionary news, a large python ate a Maltese Terrier and flaunted it to the dog owner as a large coconut shaped bulge in its midsection. Snakes have midsections. While the bereaved women stared in disbelief a dingo made its way around the other side of the house looking for the baby. It surprised me that a Terrier could be taken down like this. This doesn't speak well for their ongoing evolution. I blame domestication. The Terrier probably thought the snake wanted to play.

Please recommend this post

The Palin for President Flash App

This interactive flash app that satires what it would be like if Sarah Palin was President has been making its way around the blogosphere. Its a perfectly good waste of time. Not many things crack me up these days but this is truly funny and creative.

Don't forget to click on the bridge to nowhere. Please recommend this post

Ask Me No Quesions

Wendy McNeil is my latest favourite artist. I love this video and the lyrics to the song which are dark and make me think of a few people in the news lately. She reminds me a bit of Leonard Cohen, although comparing one artist to another isn't always fair.

And she has wickedly toned biceps, probably from playing that accordion.

Please recommend this post

Sure I Read War and Peace...*Cough*

The BBC has conducted a survey of the books most people lie about having read. The top two are George Orwell's 1984 and Tolstoy's War and Peace.

It never occurred to me that people would lie about having read a book. It seems risky if the person you're talking to says what did you think about what Bolkonsky did on page 738? Then you're screwed.

I can sort of understand why people lie about War and Peace. Its one of those quantity over quality things. You read that huge book, wow your smart...lets have sex...

I tried to read War and Peace several times but I found it quite tedious and not a very engaging story. Sorry if you're Tolstoy fan. I generally dislike long novels, the exception being Lord of the Rings which I couldn't put down.

Orwell's 1984 puzzles me a bit more. You can read it in one sitting and its totally captivating. In Alberta most people had to read it in high school as I did. I re-read it a couple of years ago and found it far more interesting. Bush and Harper made it seem more prescient.

Other books on the list include James Joyce's Ulysses and Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary. I tried to read Ulysses but got lost in the plot. Call me a plump stately Buck Mulligan. All that shaving... My excuse for not reading Madame Bovary was my promise to myself that someday I would read it in the original French. Also I read Woody Allen's short story the Kugelmass Episode which kind of ruined it for me.

Try not to lie about the books you've not read. That kind of thing makes me crazy. Please recommend this post

Polytechnique the Film

I was listening to Jian Ghomeshi interview Denis Villenueve about Polytechnique. The main thing I took away from the interview was that the movie will focus on the women and their families rather than the killer. This will probably be disappointing to MacLeans Magazine and Mark Steyn who would have preferred an emphasis on the Murderous Muslim Hordes® swarming on our demographic horizon. Or, how uppity women-folk are these days. Sorry, went off there a bit.

Its not an easy story to tell and the film wont make a lot of money since it won't be shown by many movie chains. There's something about the story of this tragedy that brings out the absolute worst in media commentary. For that reason alone it deserves to be shown widely.

Keep telling this story. Throw it in the face of the mainstream misogynists. Please recommend this post

Populist Twittering and Courtesy

You may have read the story. On tuesday the speaker of the Alberta Legislature verbally reprimanded six MLA's for use of Blackberry's during question period. The presumption of twittering was presumed.

By tuesday night and wednesday it turned into one of those stories that fired up the blogosphere for an interesting debate about new technologies and politicians.

I wasn't really surprised that a few people came out against the speaker and in favor of the MLA's being allowed to use their devices while in the session. At first I agreed then I disagreed. I think anyone who uses a pda or a notebook in a meeting is showing a basic lack of respect for their colleagues. Few companies would tolerate this in a boardroom meeting.

Some bloggers made the argument that the MLA's were consulting with their constituents therefore it was a valid used of technology. The idea that Tory MLA's are such enthusiastic populists that they would be so desperate to Twitter with them during a legislative session is improbable beyond reason. This is not a populist party. They may be talking to their hair dressers, their stock brokers, or perhaps tipping off insider land speculators on upcoming expropriations. Just don't tell me they're talking to constituents or advancing public interest.

They're being rude. Please recommend this post

Quick Brief Thought On Patriotism

There are times, admittedly rare, when burning a flag, refusing to sing the National Anthem, or vomiting on some famous public monument is this highest form of patriotism. Pick your spot carefully. Make it count. Please recommend this post

Alberta Minimum Wage Raised

Alberta will be raising its minimum wage, from $8.40 to $8.80 per hour effective April 1, 2009. This puts Alberta slightly above the mid-range mark but not by much, and Alberta will fall lower after at least four other provinces implement their planned increases.

This rate is a lot better than the wage during the Klein years. Back then the argument was that you could not raise the min without killing jobs and the economy. This argument was repeated ad nausea everywhere and was generally accepted.

The media in Calgary at least, tends to dwell on the cost of the increase to business without giving much attention to the social factors such as the high cost of living. I honestly don't know how someone would live in Calgary on $8.40 or $8.80 per hour.

I wanted to provide an example of what this increase might mean to a typical small business.

An employer with 10 full time employees at $8.40 per hour, all at minimum wage, will pay 375 hours per week. (37.5 hours per employee.) They will pay a gross payroll of $3,150. If you factor 1.5 for employees contributions to EI and CPP the payroll becomes $4,725.

The same payroll at $8.80 costs $4,950, a difference of $225. So for this company the additional payroll will cost them $1,000 more per month.

To the employee this will mean a wage increase of $60 per month, or about $45 after withholding taxes. It might not mean much to many of us, but if you're in this wage bracket it might mean being able to keep your apartment or not.

Every business is different. Some won't be able to cover the difference and will cut back hours or layoff. Others will cut in other areas. Keep in mind that wages are a business expense that reduces the amount of corporate taxes that are paid. So its hard to say what the final cost really is.

Ain't life wonderful in the big city. Please recommend this post

Curious About Harper's History Lesson

I'm curious to know when and how Stephen Harper arrived at this curious epiphany about not being able to win the war in Afghanistan.

Was it last Thursday at 3:14 AM? Was it in 1984?

I think it is an important question. When did he know this? Which books did he read? If he knew this before the Conservative Party came to power and escalated the Afghanistan mission then he traded ethics for politic posturing and death.

If he knew before the insufferable General Hillier went all jingoistic then he was negligent in not forwarding those history books to the General to read before he spoke.

I remember listening to General Hillier and thinking what it must have been like to have been a Soldier in 1914 listening to some General blather on about what a great adventure it will be and how you'll all be home by Christmas. It didn't turn out that way then our now.

Hopefully Harper's next historical epiphany will be about R.B.Bennett and the Great Depression. Can't wait. Please recommend this post

More Liberal Bashing of "Albertans"

The Calgary Herald reported today that the Alberta Government was giving about 1.5 Billion dollars in concessions to Oil & Gas Companies to stimulate drilling in these dark times.

In response to this story a liberal blogger wrote the following:

How stupid can Albertan’s[sic] get?

The government in perpetuity has now decided since they couldn’t afford the slogan change on vehicle license plates they would instead keep the oil drilling industry “STRONG” by making the oil and gas, FREE.

This is how common sense works in hillbilly, all conservative, Alberta.

I can't really defend Stelmach's plan's to roll out cash to the Oil Patch. But I do know that the decision wasn't made by Stupid Albertans. It was made like all decisions here are made, by the Premier behind closed doors. I don't know what's meant by hillbilly, obviously an insult to all of us Albertans, regardless of how hard we work to get Stelmach and Harper out of office. We're not all Conservatives here. A lot of us don't support the Tories and their dumb ideas.

When liberal bloggers write smears like this they sound just like Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter.

I tried to leave a comment on the blog but it was never published. Please recommend this post

Religious Literature In Public Libraries

I laughed a bit when I read this this Daily Mail article twisting a simple story about a Muslim society in the UK requesting that the Koran be placed on a higher shelf. Apparently Muslim scholars believe the Koran should always be on the higher shelf to show respect.

The Library responded by putting all religious texts on the uppers shelves. This caused a predictable counter-reaction from some Christian groups who now claim to be persecuted victims. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

I think the Library made an acceptable compromise, although it wouldn't bother me either if the Library just ignored the request. The Dewey decimal system works fine and there is a strong argument to be made for pragmatism.

If you made me the Librarian I just might slap warning labels on those books that they are not suitable for children. Some of the stories in ancient religious literature are violent and sexist. And its fairly obvious that religious texts nurture severe bigotry in some people

The story does show how a simple request from one group gets turned into a whole Christian vs Muslim war of Civilizations controversy. Mark Steyn would be proud. The rest of us find it tiresome.

I'm in favor of Libraries stocking primary religious texts and I'm in favor of people reading the Bible and the Koran at least once to complete their general education. My own Library has a fairly diverse collection of primary religious texts. I also know there is a subtle pressure to stock some fairly ugly religious literature.

I wouldn't want to be a librarian these days having to use public money to purchase materials, and probably getting angry letters and phone calls from unbalanced people who aren't seeing their kind of books. Or mad because they see something they don't like. Please recommend this post

Harper Less Classy Than Nixon

Is it just me, or do you agree that Stephen Harper is completely afraid of Canadians engaging in any kind of Barack Obama adulation. I'm not really into hero worship but it was hard not to notice that in the lead up to the Presidential Election Barack Obama was eliciting a certain kind of enthusiastic response that has been noticeably lacking in our politics for some time.

I can't remember an American President who was so widely popularized in foreign countries, except perhaps John F. Kennedy. Reagan did get cheered at that SS cemetery in Germany but I think those were mostly neo-Nazis. (Obligatory Reagan joke.)

Our photo archives are full of Trudeau and Nixon meeting and talking in front of the media. The two loathed one another but they did meet out in the open. My point is I think what Harper is doing is unprecedented and without class.

Can you think of any other democracy where the Head of State is not allowed to greet a foreign leader in the open presence of a free media?

Does Stephen Harper fear Obamamania will infect Canada? Please recommend this post

Ignatieff's US Connections and More Fake Patriotism

Joan Bryden via the Canadian Press gave us a Valentines Day present, another article about Michael Ignatieff. Ignatieff went to Harvard and met some people. Some of those people are now in the Obama administration and the relationships might prove useful in the future. What strikes me about the name dropping is the fact that Obama's team appears to have some brain power, unlike the previous team.

Of course you can't talk about Ignatieff without quoting some flack who reminds us that he worked outside Canada:

As for Ignatieff's connections to Obama's inner circle, Teneycke scoffed: "It is not surprising, given that he spent most of his professional life in the United States, that he would know more Americans than Stephen Harper, who's spent his professional life - in fact, his entire life - living in Canada."

Teneycke went on to ask the author if she liked his clown shoes.

It doesn't bother me much that Ignatieff taught at Harvard and worked in the UK. I think it is far more important where your mentality lives. Mr. Harper has spent his whole career living in an intellectual slum.

Peter Lougheed went to Harvard to get an MBA. After that he worked in the United States for some time for Gulf Oil. Yet most Albertan's considered this as part of what made Lougheed an historical leader for Alberta. Strange how that works.

Expect to hear a lot about Ignatieff's career path in the next election. Conservatives don't campaign on real issues. When you can use fake patriotism to divide people mission accomplished.

I also look forward to the day when political spokesmen can answer a question, any question with out obnoxious self-loathing snark. Please recommend this post

Bush Coming to Calgary

Media outlets are reporting that former US President George W. Bush will visit Calgary on March 17, 2009 to speak at a private function. All I really know about it is that it is co-sponsored by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and seems to have an aura of secrecy.

The secrecy part is in keeping with Bush's history of living in a bubble and only talking to friendly hand-picked, carefully screened audiences. If I remember correctly his campaign events were by invitation only and people had to sign loyalty oaths to get in.

I wouldn't pay to hear Bush speak. He is one of the dullest and least comprehensible speakers in an entire generation. What a waste of an evening.

Calgary has hosted many conservative icons in the past including Margaret Thatcher, George H.W. Bush, Dick Cheney, among others. Not to mention a whole bunch of other B-Circuit speakers. The City of Calgary with its subjective and arbitrary VIP protocol may or may not give Bush a White Stetson.

History has a way of judging its actors and I could care less is some people in Calgary want to have one last toke of Bush worship.

Cliff at Rusty Idols is suggesting that on March 17 we all take our old shoes down to the Telus Convention Centre and pile them up at the front of the building. That would be a cool thing to see. While I'm undecided about this type of action, it is a passive non-violent expression of protest against the Bush legacy. It would be a good if the world knows that not all Calgarians are ditto heads.

Aside: Spell check suggests replacing Calgarians with Vulgarians. Bush's communication style speaks to the original meaning of the word vulgar. Please recommend this post

Some Serious Pathology With Those Folks

via Pam's House Blend:

Take a look at who John McCain and Sarah Palin were palin around with:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9375

Schadenfreude is an overrated emotion. These stories make me sick. May we not forgot that there are real victims behind these creeps and it's not just politics.

But still, does the Party of God check references? Please recommend this post

On Getting Blown Off Course

This just in:

The federal government must "stick to the course" outlined in its massive economic stimulus plan despite the "bad news" of Canada shedding 129,000 jobs in January, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday.

The prime minister made the comment in New Brunswick when asked about Statistics Canada's report on Friday, which said the country's unemployment rate shot up by 0.6 percentage points in January to 7.2 per cent. Almost all of the job losses were in full-time work.

When you are a dull thinker, mean spirited, value ideology over facts, of course you would not change your plans in the face of changing evidence.

I'm starting to believe that Stephen Harper's personality and lack of intellectual agility will do us some long term harm. Please recommend this post

Terry Gilliam awarded Bafta Fellowship

Finally. The British Academy of Film and Television has awarded former Python and Director Terry Gilliam with a fellowship. This is the highest recognition the UK film industry can bestow.

The word genius has been devalued in our society, especially when it comes to popular culture. Yet Gilliam is a genius. I clearly remember sitting in my mother's basement watching PBS and stumbling on Monty Python's Flying Circus. It was Edmonton, I was always bored and we couldn't afford drugs. I remember the between skit animations like these ones and was hooked forever.

Even though I grew up on Mad Magazine, National Lampoon, Robert Crumb and the Golden Age of Hanna-Barbera cartoons there was nothing like Gilliam. His animations were slick, fascinating and made me pee.

Gilliam's list of movies that he either Directed or helped write is fairly long so I'll only mention my favourites:

Monty Python & The Holy Grail
Meaning of Life
Brazil
Fisher King
Twelve Monkeys
Jabberwocky

The rest on the list I either haven't seen yet, or didn't connect with.

Gilliam has had a fairly rocky relationship with main stream studios because he prefers big budgets and has an artistic vision that doesn't always translate into big revenue. Apparently J.K. Rowling wanted Gilliam to direct the Potter films but the studio vetoed. I would give several body parts to have seen Harry Potter directed by Terry Gilliam. Considering that the movies they made were utterly boring and unimaginative. Like Disney's disastrous production of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, a pedestrian director can ruin a perfectly good story.

I understood Gilliam a lot better after I watched the documentary Lost in La Mancha which chronicles the disaster of Gilliam's failed attempt to make a movie about Don Quixote. Its worth watching and perfectly captures the difficulties in translating a vivid imagination into a work of art. Please recommend this post