Vapid Journalists & Reporters

Parts of Saskatoon are quickly devolving in precisely the same manner as Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Why? Because they're following precisely the same misguided drug policies as Vancouver adopted long before.

Here (beginning at 7:00) is a brilliant discussion between Charles Adler and John Gormley.

When asked how the media could have been so fooled away from any semblance of common sense, Gormley responded (@ 12:50) : "You've got intellectually vapid journalists and reporters." Without realizing it, he was including two of CKNW's "finest": Bill Good and Christy Clark - both of whom have been longtime supporters of Vancouver's failed drug policy.

Tammy Robert, who works with Gormley at CKOM in Saskatoon, has numerous photos on her blog. Well worth checking out!

Out here in Vancouver, one of the few voices of sanity has been David Berner:

Facebook, Twitter, Etc.

David Berner let go with a good rant about the current crop of social networking tools. I added my thoughts:

I'm actually on Facebook. I resisted for a long time but a very pretty Italian woman from Montreal convinced me to join. Hey, I'm weak, I'm weak!

With that said, I view it as a simple social networking tool, not a whole lot different than e-mail. And in point of fact, it has sparked several new friendships amongst my friends, which otherwise wouldn't have ever likely occurred.

As for Twitter, I have a special term for those who are obsessed with it! (It won't take you long to figure out what that might be! LOL)

Being a technology guy, I fully understand the power of Twitter to keep a vast number of people updated instantly but I refuse to accept that it's necessary or even useful to do so. Those who have convinced themselves that the world needs their regular updates is truly in need of a good psychologist!

What's much more disconcerting to me are those people we all see out in the "non-virtual world" who can't seem to muster even 30 seconds of continuous silence and time to ... wait for it ... think. Listening to them talk on their cel phones almost always illustrates the truly shallow thinkers that they clearly are. I surmise that the text messages they send out are even more emblematic.

I'm not looking forward to the future when these same twits (there, I said it!) are the ones responsible for paying the taxes to pay for the services in society when I'm retired.

Two Views on Gay Marriage

David Berner is a well known media personality in Vancouver and someone who I've felt honoured to have met a few times in my life. On some issues we very much agree whilst on others we don't at all. Gay Marriage happens to be one of the latter. Here's something he recently posted.

Here's the comment I left him:

David, the issue of gay marriage is low on my priority list. It was made legal here in Canada and hasn't directly affected my life at all. And I wholeheartedly believe that gay couples should have all the same benefits, etc. of heterosexual couples.

But if I was given the choice to vote on it, I would vote 'No' for gay marriage. If you or your readers think this makes me a bigot then c'est la vie.

I heard someone recently suggest that all liberal democratic societies have a built-in self-destruction mechanism. Years ago I would have thought this to be nonsense but now I wonder if the concept of unlimited rights for everyone and a determination to never discriminate against anyone in any way is taking us down a very slippery slope.

Let me pose some questions to you which I hope you will take the time to think about carefully before responding to.

1. Do you believe, in the interest of non-discrimination, that a man should be able to have any number of wives?
   
   
2. Do you believe, in the interest of non-discrimination, that an adult child should be able to marry their mother or father?
   
   
3. Do you believe, in the interest of non-discrimination, that a brother and sister should be able to marry each other?
   
   
4. Do you believe, in the interest of non-discrimination, that a 6'2" tall man, who states that he believes he's a woman, should be able to wear a dress & makeup and stand in the girls bathroom at a local school or swimming centre?
   
   
5. Do you believe, in the interest of non-discrimination, that the concept of separating boys and girls into different sports leagues is completely outdated?
   

I'm most interested to read your answers. Please note that if you don't agree with all of these initiatives that more than a few people would call you a bigot and believe you to be absolutely wrong.

The Public vs. the Private Sector

David Berner has just published a long, but interesting article.

Here's the comment I left him:

Superb post, David. Very comprehensive and tackles the prime issues our society is struggling with these days.

I, for one, have no problem with a mixture of public & private involvement in our society. Two primary tenets guide my thinking: Accountability and Competition.

The inherent problem with public sector *anything* is that there is inherently no competition and - the way things are setup - almost always little to no accountability. I lay the latter failing primarily at the feet of public sector unions who protect the incompetent and thus spread this dysfunctional cancer throughout the organization.

2008 has shown us that Accountability and Competition seem unimportant to many large private sector industries too. This is unfortunate. For there is no worse mistake for government than to offer large companies corporate welfare.

My Comments to David Berner

David Berner is back from his vacation and blogging like crazy! Here he posts the thoughts of a regular contributor named Victor. Here was the comment I left him:

Welcome back, David, welcome back! And little did I know until now (Saturday afternoon) that you've been blogging up a storm!

I agree wholeheartedly with everything Victor said. And especially now, that the public funding removal idea (which I actually support) has been laid to waste.

Precisely on what basis do the Liberals and NDP and their separatist brethren now have for discarding a democratically elected government just 46 days ago?

You hinted on another post that there's not enough of an economic stimulus from the Conservatives. Poppycock I say to that, David! Canada is in much better shape than any other G8 country. Our banking system is not in trouble. So on what prudent financially sound basis should the government be "injecting" billions of dollars into the economy? As a Western Canadian, you can't possibly be supporting the idea of giving the Big 3 automakers and the Quebec forest industry any more money, can you?!

What our pretty GG should do is declare an economic stimulus plan by forcing the parties to hold another election. That'll inject $300 Million into the pockets of Average Joes and Janes across the country. Then let the people of Canada decide how they feel about the Liberals & NDP ignoring the mandate of the people recently delivered.

But I expect what she will do is let the Cabal of Trois rule the roost. If this doesn't have serious negative repercussions that may even shake the foundations of unity in the West, then I'll be shocked.

David Berner's Special Day!

Today is the birthday of a great citizen of Vancouver! Happy Birthday, David!

A Suggestion for the CRTC

Today, Canada's Global TV laid off 560 employees, or 5% of its workforce. I feel absolutely terrible for those who lost their jobs. One of the things this will effect is no more local staff in Kelowna. Instead, their news will now come from Victoria.

This got me wondering . . . if another company could provide a solid business plan to the CRTC, assuring them that they could profitably run a television station from Kelowna, shouldn't it be in the CRTC's mandate to immediately give them this opportunity?

The privilege of being a broadcaster in Canada seems to have been taken for granted the past few years. Locally here in Vancouver the most noticeable example in my mind is the radio station, CKNW. They let go of the brightest and most tuned in to the community, David Berner, and now have mediocre, yet high-paid talent in Bill Good, Christy Clark, and Philip Till. (For the record, I think Jon McComb is superb!) This is combined with the fact that the amount of minutes of advertising per hour has increased dramatically. All of this is happening on extremely limited public airwaves, which are essentially leased from you & I. Were the best interests of Vancouverites put at the top of the list with these changes? I think not.

Getting back to Global, I do have empathy for their financial woes but if another entrepreneur could run a local station more profitably, clearly paying their people less, but providing local coverage, then wouldn't it be in the interest of the citizens of Kelowna for this to occur?

Just Imagine . . .

David Berner is an acquaintance of mine. He's a good fellow and I agree with him on many issues. But not the current U.S. election. Here's his latest post.

Now look through the comments, keeping in mind that many of his readers hail from Metro Vancouver. Specifically be sure to look at the one underneath of mine:

David, it's called inbreeding. Lil miss creepy, from Frozen Armpits Alaska hasn't a clue about the real world and retreats to her Hollywood version of the USA and when that fails, she retreats even further to the Bible and her narrow interpretation of it.

God help us all if she were to be president. It would give new meaning to the sad Secret Service joke, If President Bush (Senior) dies in office, shoot Dan Quail.

This is what passes for liberal intelligentsia in Canada. Now, just imagine if a person ever made such a vile comment about Barack Obama.

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YouTube Version (direct link) :

Important Editorial on Drug Abuse

David Berner has some important things to say about drug abuse and the failed program called Insite that was supposed to help drug addicts but instead is continuing to extend their addiction. Please read it. And if you live in Canada then write your MP and share your thoughts on the issue.

Incidentally, on many other issues Berner vehemently opposes the Conservatives. But on this one, he thinks they're absolutely correct. And he has much more practical experience in the area than the so-called academics who have near zero street smarts.

David Berner's Special Chicken Recipe

My mom insisted I try out some chicken she had made. She then informed me that it was "David Berner's Special Recipe". I asked her how she knew that. Apparently he gave out the recipe on his radio show a few years ago and she copied it down.
I've long known that Mr. Berner has inspired and informed countless Vancouverites but little did I know that this extended to their kitchens! Hopefully he can enlighten us all on this fabulously tasty chicken!

Update from Master Chef Berner himself:

I can tell from the photo that the dish shown is not exactly the recipe I was using, but that's the beauty of cooking. You take an idea and wing it...especially with birds. (Oy...)

Pour a little oil in a pyrex pan.

Cover with chicken legs and thighs, skin on.

Cut up two lemons into eighths and simply place them in, amongst, on top of and between the pieces of chicken.

Break apart a few complete garlic cloves and place those many pieces, skin on, amidst the chicken.

This is a comically simple preparation. You are basically putting chicken, garlic and lemon into a pan.

Heat on a low (say, about 225-250 for an hour or hour and a half, depending on your oven and how your cribbage game is going) and then, raise the oven to 375 for about 15-20 minutes. If you like, you could even put on the broiler for 5 minutes to brown a bit.

Take out and serve as is with veggies.

Eat the garlic cloves and pieces of lemon whole! They are wonderful!

The chicken is enough to make you crazy...

The Globe and Mail's Series on Drug Abuse: Part 2

Margaret Wente's second column on Vancouver's drug addiction problem appeared today. This one focuses on the heavily biased "research" that supports Insite and other government funded organizations. Here's an interesting snippet about all of the "research" that has been done:

Garth Davies teaches research methodology at Simon Fraser University's school of criminology. He recently published an evaluation of all the research literature on safe-injection facilities, including Insite. He wasn't impressed. "[They] are too often credited with generating positive effects that are not borne out by solid empirical evidence," he wrote. "As a result of methodological and analytical problems ... all claims remain open to question."

In other words, just like a corrupt casino in Vegas, the fix was in with this "research" before it ever started. Those doing the "research" know what results they want and strangely enough, they get the data that supports their own bias ... and keeps on funding their initiatives too.

So many of the people involved with Insite et al are nothing more than con men running a back alley shell game. Yet they've convinced enough suckers that keeping the lives of poor drug addicts extended in the same miserable state is the best we can do. Here's one such sucker. He cites the presence of The Four Pillars: Harm Reduction, Treatment, Prevention, and Enforcement. The writer is either willfully ignorant or outright lying. For as David Berner has frequently and accurately said, what we actually have is one pillar and 3 matchsticks.

I know we can do better. It likely means forcibly incarcerating drug addicts - not in a jail, but in a proper medical treatment facility, thousands of kilometres away from the Downtown Eastside. But watch the outcry if that were ever to happen. You'll hear cries of "human rights violations". When they occur though, ask yourself whether these people really care about the welfare and future of the drug addicts or are more concerned about the funding and full employment of the social programs in place now. Follow the money, kids, always follow the money!

David Berner's UK Trip

And so it begins ... Mr. Berner has embarked a journey around assorted parts of the UK. He's graciously keeping us back home well informed about his trip here. Though I completely understand the technology of the Internet, I still can't get over how amazing it is that someone can be communicating in real-time from the other side of our large planet. The Internet and cel phones have certainly changed travel forever and not necessarily in an entirely positive way for those doing the traveling. But absolutely great for those of us not on the trip.

Berner's Driving Queens

David Berner is a Vancouver media personality and fellow blogger. He's famous for many things, one of them being that he seems to be more cursed than anyone else to have unfortunate run-ins with crazy female drivers! From now on, I'm going to refer to such women as "BDQs", short for "Berner's Driving Queens".

Today, I encountered one. I was walking along Granville Street, between 13th & 14th Avenue, when I came upon a 40-something blonde yuppie screaming at a parking meter checker, a young Asian fellow. Normally I have no sympathy for these parking enforcement people but this situation was somewhat different.

She was telling him "how outrageous and unfair" it was that he had issued her a ticket. I'm not clear whether her meter time had expired but she was definitely being cited for letting her car insurance expire. You might think that it had just expired at the end of January and she had forgotten to renew it. I looked at the rear license plate, where the car insurance sticker is prominently featured on every B.C. registered car. It had, in fact, expired LAST JUNE!!!

This silly twit, this hot-air bag of self declared importance, had thought nothing wrong with taking her yuppified Jeep, a potential killing machine, out onto the roads of Vancouver on a wet & snowy day WITHOUT ANY INSURANCE!!! Had she hit anyone or anything, said victim would have had no automatic recourse to seek damages from her without going to a whole lot of trouble.

Dear Ms. Arrogant Self-Absorbed Windbag, you should count yourself lucky with just getting a ticket. If I were a cop encountering you, I would have had your car impounded and you possibly arrested ... just for being the complete asshole that you proved yourself to be today!

David Berner on Vancouver's Misguided Drug Policy

Here's a video I shot of David Berner last Friday. Because of technical constraints, I had to break it down into 4 parts, though there's a new feature on YouTube that allows one to sequentially play connected clips. In any case, David's message is a very important one that I wish more people in Vancouver would listen to!

David Berner Speaks on Vancouver's Misguided Drug Policy

Yesterday, at the Arbutus Rotary Club, I listened to an excellent talk by David Berner about Vancouver's misguided drug policy. Here are some photos:






A full video will be coming soon...

David Berner's Latest Article

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Our drug addicts need real treatment, not mouthpieces for their crack pipes
David Berner
The Province
04 Jan 2008

Would you cross the street to give a drunk a clean shot glass? Of course not. But that only means you have better instincts and more common sense in your pinkie finger than all the geniuses in the Ministry of Health. Yesterday, this newspaper... read more...

Tech Tags: The Province newspaper Editorial

David Berner: Vancouver Province Editorial #2

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Let’s stop pushing policies that turn women into drug-addicted chattel
David Berner
The Province
16 Dec 2007

No sooner had the Pickton verdict been aired than every wiseacre in town felt compelled to add his wisdom to the mix. Most pointed to the obvious fact that the verdict does nothing to alleviate the conditions that allowed these monstrosities to... read more...

Tech Tags: The Province newspaper News

David Berner: Vancouver Province Editorial #1

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It’s time to say goodbye to the worst city government in living memory
David Berner
The Province
07 Dec 2007

Kim Capri called the other night. Kim is a Vancouver city councillor. It was 8:23 p.m. I was finishing my fruit cocktail and watching a rerun of “Law and Order” on Bravo. Kim told me that she liked me very much and was terribly disappointed in... read more...

Tech Tags: The Province newspaper News

David Berner speaks out about Vancouver's Misguided Drug Policy

"The sound quality is poor but the message is crystal clear: David Berner, a well known broadcaster, writer, and actor in Canada's West Coast city of Vancouver, speaks out about the city's misguided policy on drug use and drug users. Having started SUCCESSFUL drug treatment facilities himself, he knows of what he speaks and everyone, within and without of Vancouver should be listening."

I filmed this with my little digital camera at the October 31st meeting of the Chinatown Rotary Club. It took a while to clean up the sound quality to what is now legible. I filmed as much as I could until the memory card was full.

If you have your own blog, please strongly consider posting this video as well. We need to get the message out that the current drug policy in Vancouver is NOT working. You can obtain the HTML code here. And contact David through his blog if you would like to get him speaking at one of your events on the same subject.

David Berner on Vancouver's Misguided Drug Policy

This afternoon I attended one of those most thoughtful, profound talks I've heard in some time. The Vancouver Chinatown Rotary Club had guest speaker, David Berner, in to talk about his views on the city's badly misguided drug policy.

Besides being an exceptionally engaging and interesting speaker, Berner had some important, common sense things to say about a subject that he is very familiar with. He pulled no punches on his views of politicians, past and present, especially Mayor Sam Sullivan.

I have a long video of the first part of his speech, but need to get the audio cleaned up first. But here are some photos I took.






You should also check out the Odd Squad website. They're a video production company founded by 2 police officers, and are making films to get across a deeper understanding of what's really happening on the streets of Vancouver.