I Keep Telling Myself…
Vancouver is the best place to live.
Old one from Rick Mercer.
The good news is that real estate is going down fast. Now you can get a 400 sq. ft. apartment for under $300K.
And Then I’ll Bring World Peace.
Vancouver’s new Mayor Gregor Robertson will not only head our city for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but he also promises to solve an issue that has no one has been able to fix.
“Job No. 1 is calling together an emergency task force on homelessness and working on solutions to getting people off the street into a safe place to live as quickly as possible,” said Robertson, a 44-year-old businessman and former MLA, who won the Mayor contest in a landslide.
“We will bring out brightest minds together and end homelessness in Vancouver,” said Robertson.
You’d think that with an average expenditure if $44K per homeless person, they’d manage to at least get them a room.
The East Hastings area is the fastest growing area of Vancouver… it attracts the homeless from across Canada due to the the quality of drugs and services down there.
Good Luck Greg, you’ll need it.
When Does The Warming Begin?
Here’s a good documentary on the Great Lie of Our Time.
It’s over an hour long, so grab a coffee.
I’ve been a skeptic for a lot of reasons… and in case I’m wrong, Vancouver could use a good warming - it would do a lot for the economy.
Only 5 more months of winter to go out here.
Whoo Hoo! I Have Hulu
One of my great frustrations when I moved from the US to Vancouver was not getting access to US websites as a US resident.
In some cases, like iTunes, I want to be seen as Canadian. (It costs less with the dollar plummeting.)
Being seen as a Canadian resident means losing access sites like to Hulu. Hulu can’t be watched in Canada as it’s network sensitive. The TV powers don’t want us watching it, so they’ve blacked it out.
Hulu has a lot of the top shows and HD programming - all for free. With a HDMI link from my Mac to my flatscreen, I can now watch all the shows I like, when I want. It’s almost like TIVO on demand.
I found a work-around called Hotspot Shield - it creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop (or iPhone) and their Internet gateway. With it, you to access sites in the US and be seen as being in the US.
Another great feature of Hotspot Sheild is that when you are on a public network or wireless hotspot, it prevents snoopers and hackers from viewing your email, instant messages, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.
The Hotspot Shield security application is free to download, uses VPN technology, and is dead simple to install and use. Mac or PC.
Happy Hulu’ing. Get it and then check out my favourite show (Not available in Canada):
Putting on the Ritz
Construction was halted on Vancouver’s premier property yesterday…
Advertising signage around the site was missing and construction trailers had been removed from the site.
Bob Rennie, who markets the project, said 50 per cent of the condominium units were pre-sold.
“I’ve just been instructed by Holborn (building’s developer) to make it clear that it is a suspension of construction until they go through redesign,” Rennie said Tuesday.
This makes it the tenth development canceled lately, causing a wee bit of concern in Vancouver’s booming high rise development.
But, as we all know, the Olympics are coming. Prices for condos should continue to rise.
Get out and buy before it’s too late.
(Ritz homes are priced from $2.5 - $10 million. Penthouse pricing available upon request)
Why Ruin A Good Thing?
One of the great things we looked forward to when we moved to Vancouver was that we could once again buy Old Dutch potato chips… especially their one-of-a-kind BBQ chips.
I grew up down the street from the Old Dutch plant in Regina. The workers would give us chips whenever we stopped by and most of us wanted the BBQ.
Someone genius at Old Dutch decided it was time to change the recipe and introduce a new “bold” version of the BBQ chips and do away with the old.
Wrong move Old Dutch.
The original recipe was a sacred as Coke. The new is a watered down version of the American BBQ flavor.
Old Dutch, you’ve ruined the best BBQ chip ever.
Please bring them back…
It’s Official - BC Is Conservative
photo credit: M-J Milloy
Nearly half of B.C. voters - 46 per cent - cast their ballots for Conservative candidates, up from 37.3 per cent in 2006. If you take Vancouver out of the equation, (where the Conservatives won), the other half of BC voters overwhelmingly voted Conservative.
Overall, 61% of all seats went Conservative - remove Vancouver and you have 86% of seats going to Harper.
It’s time this reality is taken into account in BC - the people aren’t as radically left as they have you believe.
Let’s hope this translates into the local political scene.
Is The Media Really That Biased?
photo credit: ♥♥peppersmom♥♥
Welcome To The Harper Derangement Syndrome.
Search Google news for Stephen Harper and you’ll see exactly how biased the media is against him.
The top of the Goggle results start with this quote:
“Last night, Stephane, you panicked,” … “Your platform says we will spend billions of dollars we don’t have and go into deficit. (You) will raise taxes that will kill jobs”
Keep in mind that most people don’t read the story - just the headlines…
The media is actively campaigning against the Conservatives and Harper - giving the equivalent of millions of dollars of advertising to the other parties.
I expect this in Vancouver where we have two newspapers owned by the same company… but you’d think that there would be one newspaper in Canada that isn’t far left.
Which leads me to question:
What are the papers in Canada so afraid of that they would compromise their integrity this way?
Isn’t the media supposed to balance coverage of the parties?
The papers are partisan hacks, and lack the balls to objectively look at what’s best for the country.
The NDP will crush the economy, the Liberals would return Canada to cronyism while holding us back through socialism, and the Green Party would take us back a century.
The Conservatives will move Canada forward globally, get government out of legislating behavior, and open Canada for business… I don’t see that as a bad thing.
Or, is it because Harper is from the west?
Would You Quit Drinking Bottled Water?
One of my pet peeves is my wife buying bottled water, even though we live in one of the more pristine areas of the world.
Vancouver is planning on launching a marketing campaign aimed at getting more people to turn on the tap when they’re thirsty, Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson said.
That’s a better way than a new enviro-tax to get you to change your ways…
When you buy water here, you pay a deposit and a recycling fee. (What’s the difference you ask? Good question). That alone should be enough to make you at least refill your bottles.
You’re paying as much for bottled water as gas… skip the Smart car and drink tap water.
Airlines Giving Us A Break?
Westjet and Air Canada Have finally decided to give us a break.
They’re dropping fuel surcharges on their flights.
Now a flight from Calgary to Vancouver has only a 50% surcharge:
One way Seat Sale Fare to Abbotsford $109.00 CAD
Nav-Ins $18.00 CAD
GST-HST $7.58 CAD
AIF $20.00 CAD
ATSC $4.67 CAD
Total Taxes, Fees & Surcharges $50.25 CAD
Total: $159.25 CAD
In July, with the surcharges, this flight was $125. ($50 before taxes and surcharges.)
Thanks.
Too bad I really don’t want to spend any money right now…
Burning Through Billions
I thought it was expensive in Vancouver…
So far this week the US fed has committed:
AIG= $85 billion
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac=$200 billion
Federal Housing Administration to refinance failing mortgage into new, reduced-principal loans with a federal guarantee, passed as part of a broad housing rescue bill= $300 billion
Local communities to help them buy and repair homes abandoned due to mortgage foreclosures= $4 billion
JPMorgan Chase & Co for providing financing to underpin trades with units of bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers= $87 billion
Financing for JPMorgan Chase’s government-brokered buyout of Bear Stearns & Co in March=$29 billion
Outstanding loans to banks issued through the Fed’s Term Auction Facility, which was recently expanded to allow for longer loans of 84 days alongside the previous 28-day credits =$200 billion
TOTAL= 905 Billion
What’s our GDP here in Canada?
Hang on for the ride…
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