Cap and Trade vs. Carbon Taxes

Lorrie Goldstein shares his thoughts on the political nonsense going on here in B.C.

Mike in NYC

My friend, Mike, just sent me this photo from the top of the Empire State Building:

Journalist Arrested on Campus of USC

Journalist John Ziegler was arrested yesterday on an American university campus. Click on the image below to watch the video. FYI the arrest begins at 8:55.

Dennis Miller on the O'Reilly Factor

Round #1: Canucks Win Game #1 ! ! !

Cautious optimism grips the city of Vancouver!

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:

Susan Boyle: Never Judge a Person By Their "Cover"

Embedding isn't possible with this video but you won't regret watching it here.

The Minimum Wage Debate

This afternoon I was riled by a debate on minimum wage that I heard on CKNW, which you can listen to here (starting at 36:00). Many of the callers irritated me so much that I sent the host, Jon McComb, this e-mail:

I am now hearing with increasing regularity the following refrain from NDP callers: "If a small business can't afford to pay more than the minimum wage then maybe it shouldn't be in business." Have A-N-Y of these people ever tried running their own businesses?!?!? Why do I think not. As someone who has - three of them to date, I'm more than a little insulted by this comment and the assumptions behind it. These people seem to believe that:

1. Pretty much anybody can start their own business and be quickly on the road to riches with little to no effort.
2. There's absolutely no risk to running one's own business.
3. The only necessary requirement to being a business owner is insatiable greed and a desire to "step on the backs" of working people.

Does the majority of your audience actually believe such socialist claptrap?

As a small business owner, I work hard and struggle every single month. When one of my ventures failed, I was personally stuck with a fairly large debt, which I'm still paying back today. In my career, I've paid people as low as $11 per hour and as high as $XX per hour. Those are my personal truths. I don't complain about them normally but when I hear such despicable language about business owners coming out of the mouths of my fellow British Columbians, the hairs on the back of my neck go up.

One thing's for sure: If the minimum wage is raised then it will have a cascading effect upward on all other wages throughout out society. And that in turn will drive the prices of everything up as well. Do I want more people to live a prosperous life? Absolutely. Do I think that raising the minimum wage will help in this regard? Absolutely not.

A Dog and His Master

"Confidential sources have revealed that the Obamas' new dog, Bo, is getting special training with his own teleprompter."

Shooting Down the Mistruths About Sarah Palin - Episode #87,431

I've been having a debate of sorts with a fellow from the UK. He left a rather nasty comment on a video of mine, taking some rather egregious shots at Sarah Palin. I knew the statements he was making to be absolutely false, so I decided to show him the error of his ways. It's not my intention to reshape his political views but hopefully he'll learn a small lesson about backing up one's statements with facts. Shown below is what I wrote him.

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You're in the UK? I frequently listen to BBC London. Based on what I hear from the many callers - their words, not mine - your country is doomed unless it dramatically changes it's walk down the socialist garden path.

Ditto for California by the way. And in case you're going to tell me that Schwarzenegger is a Republican, in fact he's a RINO and is very much governing like a UK Labour Party minister.

Let's go through your points:

1. You stated that Palin thought Africa was a country. In fact, it was a McCain policy advisor named Martin Eisenstadt, who leaked out this Palin comment. There's one problem though: Mr. Eisenstadt doesn't exist. Please read this.
   
   
2. You stated that Palin pretended to know what the Bush Doctrine was. I saw the interview with Charlie Gibson. That's not precisely what happened, was it? In fact, what transpired was that Palin was seeking clarification from Gibson about what he meant by the term "Bush Doctrine". You think that makes her an idiot? The originator of that term was Charles Krauthammer. Here's what he had to say about the Gibson-Palin discussion.
   

Do you now admit that you were wrong in both cases?

I assure you that it's not my intention to ridicule you. But I'm an engineer and build software for a living. Plus I'm half-German. So forming my opinions based on facts is part of my DNA. And when I draw conclusions based on false facts, I admit I was wrong and apologize.

As for Jon Stewart, you're convinced that he attacks both sides with his humour? Sorry, can't agree with you there. Like most of the American media and Hollywood glitterati, he has never and I predict will never take any substantive shot at Barack Obama.

Like you, I am far from religious. BUT I am absolutely fed up with people thinking they can use Christians as their new preferred kick dog. As I've said to several ex-friends, who I've lost over this issue, "You would never say such things about Blacks or Asians or Jews or Muslims. But because they're Christians, you somehow think they're fair game. I have some dear old friends who are devout Christians and so when you make such jokes I view you as personally attacking them and their beliefs."

Anyway amigo, as I stated earlier, it was not my intention to ridicule you. But I do hope you take the time to FULLY research your statements before you make them in the future.

In the same way that I listen to the BBC through the Internet, I hope I can make two recommendations to you:

• http://DennisMillerRadio.com
• http://DennisPrager.townhall.com

I don't agree entirely with what either man says all the time, but I do find them both to be interesting most of the time. Listening to them may provide you with a little balance over the Left leaning media you seem inclined to solely follow.

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Incidentally, I currently don't have much confidence that Sarah Palin will be able to get past the "stupid white trash moron" moniker that the MSM very deliberately gave her. I don't agree with this assessment, of course, but I don't deny that it is present in the minds of many.

To demonstrate how incredibly corrupt the MSM has become, Katie Couric is actually getting an award for her attempts to destroy Sarah Palin's character. Of course, that's not the way it's being portrayed but that is precisely what occurred. John Ziegler has further thoughts here. Apparently he attended the "ceremonies" today and was arrested! It's my understanding that he'll be appearing on Dennis Miller's show tomorrow.

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" - The Who

The United States of America was founded in 1776 because the hard working citizens of what was then a colony of England, grew tired of unaccountable, irresponsible government.

Today Tea Party demonstrations are occurring all over America. These are heartfelt protests against over-taxation by all levels of government. Make no mistake, the protests are also against both the Democrats and the Republicans.

And how does the Obama Administration, purported to be more open to dialogue than ever before, respond? By coordinating with the Homeland Security Department they now control and issuing a new document a few days ago entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment". If you think the timing of this is mere coincidence, you're in more denial than Larry Craig thinking he's straight.

Even some people back in Jolly Olde' England are aware of how insipid this is. Imagine if this were occurring in a different country: A government controlled security agency, with more power than the police, releases a highly politicized report a week before scheduled citizen tax protests, insinuating that some of these protestors may be "Right Wing Extremists". This is the kind of thing that occurs in places like North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and the old USSR and has served as a highly effective way to shut up opponents, even if such opponents are protesting peacefully and democratically.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. 233 years later, Americans are facing a very similar tyranny once again. Scary times ahead.

The Internet is Often a Funny Place

Amy Alkon very kindly posted a photo of mine on her blog. It then generated a string of comments. I don't disagree with the first one but think the last one is absolutely brilliant!

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Yes, a stunning natural setting. However, under years of socialist governments Vancouver has become a drug-infested, crime-ridden, over-taxed and expensive city with a huge gang problem and lots of murders. A nice place to visit, if you are lucky enough not to get caught in the cross-file and don't mind the panhandlers and general filth, but not a place to live or raise a family, and a horrible place to try to run a business.

Posted by: DB in AB at April 15, 2009 8:42 AM

Sorry, should have read "cross-fire". Next time I'll preview.

Posted by: DB in AB at April 15, 2009 8:43 AM

"Cross-file" When bureacrats die in a hail of file folders

Posted by: lujlp at April 15, 2009 8:46 AM

Aircraft Carrier

My friend, Mike, is visiting NYC right now and sent me this photo from the Intrepid aircraft carrier.

Disturbing Video from France

The following video has been suppressed from all servers in France:



Here's one account of the incident and here's another.

Navy SEAL Snipers

Article about Richard Phillips' rescue

BC Election: Early Polling

A new poll on B.C. politics was released by the Mustel Group today. Here are some key findings:

My 3 top political issues for some time have been these:

1. Free Speech (not covered by this poll)
   
2. Law and Order
3. The Economy

So it's a no-brainer as to who I'm going to vote for. Doesn't mean I'm entirely happy with the provincial Liberals, because I'm not. But getting the NDP back in power will not do anything positive in the areas that are most important to me.

On the basic "Who would you vote for question?" the poll returned these results:

• 52% - Liberals
• 35% - NDP

That's a 17% gap. First, I don't believe it could possibly be that large. Second, I think that public perception of such a large gap will only hurt the Liberals, as many of their lukewarm supporters won't bother to go out to vote.

Karine Blais R.I.P.

Two Views of the Stanley Theatre

The Obama Administration and Homeland Security

Michelle Malkin reports on a very disturbing new report issued by the U.S. Homeland Security Department. Is it any wonder why there has been a reported rise in gun ownership? Indeed, it might seem preposterous right now that the Obama Administration would target specific Americans it has a political disagreement with. Let's see, a few years from now, if it seems as crazy!

Tech Improvisation

I had to setup the computer sitting on the floor. But it doesn't have a CD-ROM drive and purchasing one for it is out of the question because it's a unique slimline model that would cost more than the computer is worth!

So what to do? I removed the CD-ROM drive from another computer, put a different data cable into the target computer, and connected the two together. Because the power connector for the drive is not the same as that available from the target computer, I just kept it powered from the borrowed machine. Lo and behold, it all works! Though ultimately it'll have just a hard drive and no CD-ROM drive.