Vancouver Secrets

Just Call The Election, Steve…

photo credit: kagey_b

Prime Minister Stephen Harper seemed almost certain to call a general election next week to decide who will guide Canada.

It’s a great idea.

Although the election and candidates will be about as exciting as watching lawn bowling, holding an election alongside of the US election would let Canadians in on the fun.

We might be able to get rid of Gilles Duceppe, leader of the separatist opposition Bloc Quebecois. I always wonder what would happen if a traitor ran in the US…

Jack Layton, leader of the leftist New Democratic Party, also needs to go. With no possible chance of ever getting elected, it’s a wonder how the NDP has survived all these years. Note that the Riders have only won a Grey Cup when Conservatives have been in power in Sask.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion has proposed a tax grab similar to the National Energy Program they blessed us with in the last economic collapse. This is good for at least 10% more votes for Harper.

It’s time for change - as Barack Hussein Obama would say.

Best of all, it’s time to trounce the Liberals before their wacky carbon tax plan can see the light of day.

Here’s a video for more information on how the election will be decided:

The Oil Companies Profit From Gustav

photo credit: TopTechWriter.US

Not to miss an opportunity to take advantage of Vancouver drivers, the oil companies have jacked our gas prices again - and will continue to do so throughout the week- in anticipation of Gustav’s arrival into the Gulf of Mexico.

New Orleans is the likely target, and it almost looks like a repeat of Katrina.

Vancouver wins the prize for most expensive Canadian gas, despite oil prices being lower by almost $20/barrel since the peak.

As I wrote last week, they forgot to lower the price when oil dropped to $115/barrel from $145 - but were quick off the line to raise them when it went up to $120. In fact, they raised prices before trading was over yesterday.

We now face prices above 1.44/litre - when they should be around $1.25-1.30/litre.

How high can they go?

Only greed will dictate.

In hurricane prone areas they have laws against this - it’s called price gouging. Raising prices to take profit from disasters is frowned upon.

Here in Vancouver it’s a fact of life - no matter how distant the disaster is.

Can You Say “Fore”?

photo credit: jalalspages

If you want to join the Vancouver Golf Club, you’ll need to speak English.

A few years ago they instituted the policy after prospective members - in particular East Asian immigrants - started applying with the help of translators.

“We ask them to go away and take language courses and reapply,” says the club’s general manager, Brent Gough.

The LPGA Tour plans also institute a policy that would suspend players who aren’t fluent in English.

The LPGA policy, which will sanction women golfers for not speaking English in pro-ams, trophy presentations and media interviews.

Human rights and legal experts agreed the Coquitlam golf club is likely within its legal rights to limit membership.

What next?

Requiring people to speak English as a requirement to immigrate to Canada?

I’m anxiously awaiting the response from French-Canadians…

Listeria Hysteria

photo credit: Glynnis Ritchie

With the recent news about Canadians dying because of Listeria, it might be helpful to explain exactly what the disease is… 15 people have died already from Maple Leaf Foods deli meat.

What is listeriosis?

Listeriosis, a serious infection caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, mainly in Maple Leaf Deli meats. The disease affects people of advanced age, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems.

What are the symptoms of listeriosis?

Fever, muscle aches, and sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea. If infection spreads to the nervous system, symptoms such as headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or convulsions can occur.

Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness; however, infections during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery, or infection of the newborn.

How great is the risk for listeriosis?

• Pregnant women - They are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis. About one-third of listeriosis cases happen during pregnancy.
• Newborns - Newborns rather than the pregnant women themselves suffer the serious effects of infection in pregnancy.
• Persons with weakened immune systems
• Persons with cancer, diabetes, or kidney disease
• Persons with AIDS - They are almost 300 times more likely to get listeriosis than people with normal immune systems.
• Persons who take glucocorticosteroid medications
• The elderly
• Healthy adults and children occasionally get infected with Listeria, but they rarely become seriously ill.

How does Listeria get into food?

Listeria monocytogenes is found in soil and water. Vegetables can become contaminated from the soil or from manure used as fertilizer.

Animals can carry the bacterium without appearing ill and can contaminate foods of animal origin such as meats and dairy products. The bacterium has been found in a variety of raw foods, such as uncooked meats and vegetables, as well as in processed foods that become contaminated after processing, such as soft cheeses and cold cuts at the deli counter. Unpasteurized (raw) milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk may contain the bacterium.

Listeria is killed by pasteurization and cooking; however, in certain ready-to-eat foods such as hot dogs and deli meats, contamination may occur after cooking but before packaging.

How do you get listeriosis?

You get listeriosis by eating food contaminated with Listeria. Babies can be born with listeriosis if their mothers eat contaminated food during pregnancy. Although healthy persons may consume contaminated foods without becoming ill, those at increased risk for infection can probably get listeriosis after eating food contaminated with even a few bacteria. Persons at risk can prevent Listeria infection by avoiding certain high-risk foods and by handling food properly.
How can you reduce your risk for listeriosis?

• Thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources, such as beef, pork, or poultry.
• Wash raw vegetables thoroughly before eating.
• Keep uncooked meats separate from vegetables and from cooked foods and ready-to-eat foods.
• Avoid unpasteurized (raw) milk or foods made from unpasteurized milk.
• Consume perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible

How do you know if you have listeriosis?

There is no routine screening test for listeriosis during pregnancy, as there is for rubella and some other congenital infections. If you have symptoms such as fever or stiff neck, consult your doctor. A blood or spinal fluid test (to cultivate the bacteria) will show if you have listeriosis. During pregnancy, a blood test is the most reliable way to find out if your symptoms are due to listeriosis.

Can listeriosis be treated?

When infection occurs during pregnancy, antibiotics given promptly to the pregnant woman can often prevent infection of the fetus or newborn.

Babies with listeriosis receive the same antibiotics as adults, although a combination of antibiotics is often used until physicians are certain of the diagnosis. Even with prompt treatment, some infections result in death. This is particularly likely in the elderly and in persons with other serious medical problems.

Hope this helps…

Petro Canada Is Ripping Us Off

photo credit: JoshMcConnell

You’ve heard it before…

When oil prices rise, the price at the pump goes up within a day.

When oil prices drop, it takes weeks for the adjustment.

It’s a way the oil companies gouge us both ways - up and down.

Why hasn’t there been a government inquiry into this?

Oil peaked at around $140/barrel and gas went to $1.45/litre in Vancouver.

Now that oil has dropped to $115/barrel, you’d think that gas would be in the $1.14-$1.20 range.

It’s stuck at $1.40 - meaning they are ripping off consumers by 75 cents per gallon.

This would cause an uproar anywhere else.. out here, nobody seems to notice.

Between the oil prices being artificially raised each morning and the overcharging, the oil companies should be getting a lot of heat.

Instead, we pay whatever they demand and become poorer through our silence.

Obama lin Biden

photo credit: San Diego Shooter

Obama probably just handed McCain the presidency today.

Everyone thought Barack Obama would pick Hillary Rodham Clinton as his vice president,  because he needs the backing of the 18 million or so voters who supported her. It would have been the smart move.

Obama chose a man who, months ago, dropped out of the race after he failed to garner 1 percent of the Dem’s vote. . .

Obama’s poll numbers have plummeted and Biden will do nothing to help raise them.

Here’s why:

1) His platform of “Change” is not helped by Biden - Biden was for the Iraq war and represents the same things they have criticized McCain for.

2) Biden’s past comments will haunt their campaign. You can count on his future ones to create problems. Just three hours after the Obama campaign sent out its text announcement, the McCain campaign rolled out its first ad this morning, using Senator Joe Biden’s own words against Obama.

3) Can’t keep raising McCain’s age as an issue.. Biden is only a few years younger.

4) Biden has spent most of his life in the senate - and has nothing to show for it. He has served on two key committees, both as chairman and ranking-minority member. One dealt with judges and constitutional law and the other with foreign policy.

Last, not falling in line with the “Clinton” camp may bite him also. They undermined Kerry last election and will do the same this time. Hillary wants in next time, and Bill needs to make up for losing it for her.

The next few moths will make for great TV.

Just wish Canadian politics could be this interesting…

All This At $10 A Pack

Smokers have it bad all around in Vancouver. First, it’s a small fortune for cigarettes. Then, following the letter of the law, you should be smoking in the middle of the road.

There’s little patience for smokers as demonstrated in this video. The anti-smoking Nazi goes after a guy who’s smoking outside of a spot where they smoke pot without interruption.

You need to be 6 meters from a doorway to smoke… or, oddly enough, inside the Amsterdam Cafe.

If you really want to smoke, you’ll be safer taking in the Vansterdam Pot Tour

From the good’ ol days…

The Smart Car- I’d Really Like To Know

In this video, he asks some of the questions I’d like to know.

Do Smart Car owners enjoy owning the car?

Is it really worth $20,000 plus? Golf carts are running around 5K.

Is it true you get mild whiplash when changing gears?

Do the gas savings justify the loss of space and comfort?

Wouldn’t you rather have a motorcycle? If mileage is your goal…

Thanks in advance for letting me know.

The Olympics - Are They A Trap?

I thought there was something odd about the Beijing Olympics… :}

Never trust the Chinese government.

The Taliban Sucks!

photo credit: Stuck in Customs

The Taliban issued a dire warning to Canada on Sunday: if it does not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, insurgents will continue to target Canadians in the country, as they did earlier this week in an ambush on female aid workers outside Kabul.

Note they attacked women…

Let’s hope we don’t pull a Spain here.. and run away after the upcoming election. The media’s headlines help strengthens their credibility. “Dire” warning? Not one story that counters the threat - all report it in a way to frighten Canadians.

Giving in to these losers is a sure way to empower them. A “surge” would be a good response.

The other way to read the threat is that like Al Qaeda, the Taliban is on the run and losing power fast.

Canadian Armed Forces are very capable of dealing with these losers… go back to what you were doing.

All You Can Eat Sushi

photo credit: insk0r

All you can eat sushi is one of the great benefits of living in Vancouver. Sushi for reasonable prices and not crappy buffet quality. Enjoy…

Here are my top 4 (excluding Richmond):

Robson Sushi Japanese Restaurant

1542 Robson Street, Vancouver - (604) 684-3778
2 reviews, directions, and more »

Tsunami Sushi

238-1025 Robson Street, Vancouver - (604) 687-8744
10 reviews, directions, and more

Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant

20-1128 West Broadway, Vancouver
(604) 677-0426
Links: Map

Shabusen Yakiniku House (Burrard)

755 Burrard St, Vancouver
Tel: (604) 669-3883
Links: Map

Whew! Canada Gets a Couple of Medals

photo credit: Shutterhack

I was getting tired of email coming in each day…

email like:

Mongolians rejoice at first-ever Olympic gold

Then Canada finally snagged 1 of each today… vaulting us to 29th spot.

A couple more and we’ll pass Georgia if they are still a country by the end of next week.

Something is wrong with Canada’s Olympic program - at least from a return on investment basis.

I’ve heard that we are more of a Winter Olympic country - so why is Norway, Switzerland and even the Netherlands blowing us away.

Lets go Canada…

85 Million for Homeless

photo credit: Laura Grace

According to this Globe and Mail article, the government will be spending another $85 million on helping the homeless with shelters - and this is only the amount listed and doesn’t include welfare already given (average $969/person), or existing project costs.

So let’s say conservatively they are spending $100 million on new projects.

Divide this by the estimated number of homeless in the east side - 2,592 - according to this count.

This works out to $40,000 per person.

Average salary in Vancouver = $51,628 (family).

Interesting…

The average Canadian spends $11,200 a year on housing. Government-run supportive housing where residents get social services, such as counseling costs $28,000 a year.

You’d think that with the kind of money they throw at the problem, there would be a decline in homelessness…

You’d be wrong.

In the US, homelessness has been in decline. The number of chronically homeless people living in the nation’s streets and shelters has dropped by about 30 percent — from 175,914 to 123,833 — from 2005 to 2007.

The US project called “Housing First” is working… I’m hoping that Vancouver is going in this direction.

Vancouver is doing at lot in preparation for the Olympics - hiding the embarassment of the homeless situation seems to be top priority now.

Need a $77,000 Pay Raise?

photo credit: estherase

Gord Campbell’s Liberals showed their true Liberal roots this past week… slipping in a pay raise on a late Friday afternoon, so the media coverage would be muted by Monday.

For the better part, it worked.

It’s enough to make the average BC resident wish their was a Conservative party in the province.

Seems it takes a pay raise of 43% to “keep the brightest minds”. With decisions like this, one wonders if there are any bright minds in this government.

Liberals gave B.C. members of the legislature salary increases of 29% earlier. Front-line provincial government workers in B.C. won 2% raises this year.

Try to defend this when contract time time comes around.

With Health Care costs running at 50% of the provincial budget, one wonders where this money will all come from.

Maybe a Carbon Tax?

We Pay For Fox News

photo credit: Ben Werdmuller

In Vancouver you must pay extra to watch Fox New channel - despite it having more US viewers than all other cable news channels combined.

CNN is free - along with BBC and Al-Jazeera, making you wonder why the political bias is so pronounced.

Fox’s airing of right-wing viewpoints could be the problem… but even Venezuela carries the channel, so one needs to wonder if the CTRC is afraid of any viewpoint other than CBC’s.

It’s time to free information in Canada, and with Canada’s shift towards the center, Fox should be part of the same basic cable package as CNN. If anything, it woud raise the bar on news in Canada, and force the other news channels to raise the bar on their news.

Coquitlam And The 3 Bears

photo credit: wildphotons

The Three Bears aren’t so friendly these days:

Bear attacks Coquitlam woman in her garden

Bear shot after breaking into Coquitlam home

Third bear shot in BC city in a week

Our garbage pick-up is so bad here, that it’s cost us three bears and almost killed a woman. How it got to this point is a good question, and  how to fix it is even a better one.

Maybe people will stop putting the garbage out at night… and maybee the garbage pickup will get done a little quicker.

The odd thing is that we really aren’t allowed to throw most things out. The recycling Gestapo has really tough rules, so we try to follow them the best we can.

Unfortunately, the recycling pick-up may or may not happen on any particular day. This is from the company we pay huge fees to.

So don’t blame the bears - the crappy weather this year has really lightened the berry supply. 

Blame the garbage men.

Save Money By Buying Gas At Night

photo credit: richpix 

The gasoline price gouging has gone on long enough in Vancouver - stations raise the price each morning and drop them later in the day. The average increase is 16-20 cents a gallon surcharge for the convienience of buying gas in the daylight.

I asked a sampling of station managers why they do this, and all replied that they are instructed to by head office. This happens at all stations and defies any kind of logic.

The only way to stop the oil companies from ripping us off (as if $6 a gallon isn’t a rip off on its own) is to let them know this unethical practice is common knowledge - don’t buy gas during the day.

Plummeting revenue from the lack of sales during their daylight rip-off will get their attention…

By the way, the same goes for beer - did you know they charge more for cold beer? Buy the warm only.

H&M and Boobs

photo credit: Chim Chim

Today Vancouver moms visited into H&M -a fashion clothing store - to breastfeed in support of Manuella Valle.

Manuella was breastfeeding her two-month-old child, Ramona, when a store employee asked her to use a fitting room.

“She told me to mind that there were children around”.

“I would love for them to explain to me like a two year old, what is so offensive about me feeding my child,” said one mom, who joined the protest.

H&M spokesperson Laura Shankland says the company is sorry.

Looks like another protest is ready to get going in London, Ont., where a woman says staff at a La Senza store chastised her for breastfeeding.

“I felt violated… you would eat your big mac in public, why can’t my baby eat his big mac in public,” the woman said.

Two lessons here:

1) Don’t piss off a new Mom when she’s got a boob out.

2) Boobs are plentiful in Vancouver when you need to protest.

Vancouver Will Pass Montreal In Olympic Debt

photo credit: kevindooley

It took Montreal 30 years to pay off it’s Olympic games - Vancouver is shaping up to blow away the record.

In 1976 the games left Montreal with a $1.5-billion debt, and oddly enough much of the debt was serviced through a special tax on tobacco. (At $10 a pack, not sure you can add more tax to raise any money here.)

Montreal projected the games cost to be $300 million.

The B.C. provincial government claimed the cost of the Olympics wouldn’t exceed $600 million. Estimates passed $2.5 Billion a while back and it’s still going strong. Best of all the B.C. taxpayers are on hook for at least $1.5 billion.

The auditor-general pegs the Games’ total budget at $4.3 Billion. About $1.8 billion of that will be recouped from Olympic revenues.

Ottawa will contribute $607 million and local government $389 million, leaving B.C. taxpayers on the hook for about $1.5 billion, the report estimates.

Some examples of surprises still to come:

- Security - 1 Billion - original estimate $175 mil.

- The Canada rapid rail line - way over budget (plus the destruction of Cambie Street small business worth millions)

- A $150 million US currency blunder (organizers delayed entering into currency hedging contracts).

- The sports facilities are all in trouble - no one dares to publish the actual overruns. They were given $110 million earlier to cover cost overruns. Expect these to be at least $200 million.

Projects being done for the Olympics (but not included in the budget):

- the $775 million Sea to Sky Highway

Good news: The $1.3 billion in infrastructure and other costs, including some serious cost overruns reported in the past, are mostly accounted for in its general budget. This means we get to start paying for these now.

This is starting to sound like the way the Gov’t has handled my favorite company - ICBC.

They should have hired Calgary to look after the management.

Best of all is that nobody is responsible for reporting to the public on the overall cost of the Games.

If you have a link to any finance reporting on the games, I’d be very happy to get it… the Province seems to be the only one privy to any details.

Your estimate of what the final tally?

My guess is $3 Billion in debt. $1.5 Billion if we’re lucky.

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Personal Stash Limits Raised In Vancouver

photo credit: hungaro phantasto

A provincial court judge has thrown out charges against a man stopped by Delta police last year and found to have four garbage bags in the backseat full of marijuana plants.

The judge ruled that police had seriously violated the man’s constitutional rights because there were insufficient ground to search the man’s car, even though police could smell recently burned marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Great news for resident pot smokers (and large volume dealers)… not only don’t you have to worry about the smoke billowing out the windows as you drive, but the police can’t touch your 10-20 lbs. of personal stash sitting in the open in your back seat.

Makes you wonder which way the judge leans, and what it’ll take to have the justice system give police the tools to do their job.

The shooting are a result of the non-enforcement of the laws. What’s the worst that can happen if you happen to gun down a competitor?

Here’s a another example:

A provincial court judge in Abbotsford has thrown out weapons and drug charges against one of three Bacon brothers after questioning a search warrant. Jonathan Bacon, Godwin Cheng and Rayleene Burton were arrested in 2005 after police seized crack cocaine, marijuana, handguns, silencers and cash in an Abbotsford home.

So what does one need to do to get thrown in jail for drugs in Vancouver?

I guess when the government gives you free needles, injection hotels, free crack pipes, you get a free pass for anything drug related.

When the inmates have taken over this west coast asylum, you’ll know how it began.

Another Day, Another Foot Washes Up

photo credit: KT Lindsay

According to news reports, a right foot was found inside a shoe by a woman walking along the beach on Sunday morning.

Five feet so far have washed up on shorelines along islands in British Columbia in less than a year.

All previous were right feet wearing socks and shoes, and two of them were size 12.

The last one was found on May 22 on Kirkland Island in the Fraser River.

Police are still trying to see if they are linked… speedy detective work as usual.

Any theories? It’s odd they all are right feet…

150 Years Old - Vancouver’s History

photo credit: Mikey G Ottawa

You’d think after 150 years there would be a lot to talk about, historic events that would capture imagination, and the web would be full of articles.

Some interesting sites inform us that Vancouver was know as the city of squatters for the first 100 odd years… and quite a few riots. Vancouver was named after Captain George Vancouver who spent only one day on the site.

Other notable achievements include the first Hudson Bay Store, the “Arena” that opened its doors in 1911 - Canada’s first artificial ice rink opens to the public, and we’re still waiting for the Canucks to win the cup.

I’ll probably end up on page one of Google, as there doesn’t seem to be a lot to talk about. You’d think Vancouver would have more sites covering important events from the past 150 years…

Being 150 years old would set the founding date at 1858. But the Dominion of Canada was not established until 1867, which puts Canada at 141 years old. The province of B.C. joined Confederation in 1871, so the province is really only 137 years old.

So how do they come up with 150 years?

Apparently in 1858, Sir James Douglas became the first governor of the new “Colony of British Columbia.” That same year Douglas also appointed the first public servants (now known as Government Agents) to collect taxes and issue licences in the new colony.

Vancouver also became know as the city of squatters for the next 100 odd years… and quite a few riots.

What the province is really celebrating is 150 years of British Columbians paying taxes. Very appropriate as the tend has continued unabated for all these years.

Here’s 150 years in a nutshell:

• One of the events that pushed the founding of BC was the discovery of gold in the interior Cariboo region of British Columbia. The region was being overrun by thousands of gold seekers and there was an urgent need to ensure that the sovereignty of the area was maintained and that there was law and order in the goldfields. Tax was invented.
• The first wave of Chinese immigrants to Canada moved north from San Francisco in 1858. They came to British Columbia to prospect for gold on the Fraser River. Working as gold miners, laundrymen and market gardeners, they also became teamsters, coal miners, salmon canners and servants. Mainly men, they had left their wives and families behind in China; much of their Canadian earnings was sent home to care for their families. Now they all are here… Personal tax was invented.
• Today they have taxes for environment, sales tax, gas tax, personal and property tax, disposal fees (taxes), recycling fees (taxes), government insurance (the most clever of taxes), property transfer fees (tax), and the list goes on and on.
• They are spending $6.6 million  to support activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the colony of British Columbia during 2008. More tax money needed.

So I’d like to wish the government of BC a happy 150 years… and the tradition of finding new and creative ways of taxing BC residents.

A Mountie Always Gets His Man

photo credit: nikki_tate

From Steven Smart of CTV.ca

This year marks another first for what has become a key event on the city’s summer calendar.

For the first time, the RCMP will be officially entering the Vancouver Pride parade.

The Mounties say it’s important they’re seen to reflect the communities they serve.

“We want to show the overall community that we support the gay community as well as supporting that contingent of this community that works within our rank and file,” said RCMP Sgt. Tim Shields.

Parade organizers and participants say this is a big step.

“That’s awesome, you know, they say every Mountie gets his man,” said Ken Boesem, a regular participant in the parade.

“For a long time it’s sort of been an oppositional thing between the culture gay society, gay culture, and the police force,” he said. “There’s sort of a fear of the police because it’s been outlawed or against the law so it’s kind of building bridges.”

But don’t look for the 12 RCMP officers taking part to get too wild.

They’ll be shying away from the more provocative parade displays. But given how big a step it is for the Mounties to even be in the parade, it’s not likely anyone will mind.

Pride began some 30 years ago as a small local march and has grown into a nationally and internationally recognized parade and festival bringing more than 400,000 people into the streets of Vancouver’s West End. In the last three decades Pride has grown into the one of Vancouver’s premier events and Canada’s longest running parade.

The Pride Parade starts at 12 pm, August 3, at Robson and Thurlow, heads West down the hill to Denman street, follows Denman to Pacific and then finishes at Sunset Beach. The route map is here.

If you’re not one for parades…

Pride Festival
Sunday, August 3, 2008   12:00 - 6:00PM
Sunset Beach Map: Google Map
Price: Free for all

Celebrations continue after the Parade at Sunset Beach festival site. Expect a crowd that reaches over 80,000 people in the park listening to the live music on the Vancity Festival Stage, with a Pride beer garden.

Motorcycle Insurance

photo credit: WorldWideMotorcycles

Just got back from my friendly ICBC insurance broker, where I went to get BC insurance on my motorcycle.

I drive it a few times a month - and have owned it for 10 years.

Knowing BC insurance rates are ridiculous, I opted for liability only (the minimum required). After all, how much damage can I do with a motorbike?

The rate for 1 year- $1,200!?!

I can drop it for those winter months you don’t normally use the bike to save money… the rate goes up to $120/month.

So, as I can’t drive my car and motorbike at the same time, you’d think they’d give me a break. No such luck.

For a comparison of how far out of wack ICBC is, hop over to a national insurer in the US. Use an American zip code (try 33333 - Florida).

I have been paying $150 per year.

It’s time BC residents start asking questions of ICBC, and why a monopoly would overcharge by so much.

Something is terribly wrong.