When listening to the radical “free market” arguments of the Gordon Campbell’s and Stephen Harper’s of this world, it’s important to, you know, remember the actual facts. Facts such as the era of greatest economic growth was one with “high marginal tax rates, generous minimum wages, and strong unions.”

"This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I've seen in the 19 years I've been in Washington." 

House Minority Leader John Boehner, November 5, 2009

That bill, of course, is not the Patriot Act. LOL

Here I sit watching GOP Senators and Congressman give speeches before a crowd holding signs with graphic images of Dachau. A crowd that organizers say will  later on storm the offices in Congress…on this, Guy Fawkes Day.

Let's repeat that…GOP officials are speaking to a crowd that plans on storming the Congress building. On a day that commemorates rebellion.

All this over health care.

SMELL.THE.FREEDOM.

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Over at Anti-CivicScene, former Sam Sullivan Chief of Staff Daniel Fontaine flags an alarming development:

With the release of next week’s council agenda, the corks are popping over at CUPE headquarters now that former BC Federation of Labour operative Councillor Geoff Meggs has introduced a motion to pull Vancouver out of the regional labour relations bureau.

My goodness, what nefarious scheme are the union thugs up to this time?

By doing so, it is hoped they will succeed in getting higher wages and greater benefits for their members.

OH NOES!

Jonathan Ross at anti-CityCaucus takes care of, one might even say eviserates, the accuracy of  both facts and characterization contained within Fontaine’s post. But there is a broader aspect that’s worth mentioning too: Fontaine and his buddies at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business are concerned about a problem that doesn’t exist and their solution will exacerbate a serious problem that does. Labour costs are not out of control in British Columbia. In fact, over the last 25 years the median income has plummeted in this province. This despite the fact GDP has grown. Where did the wealth from this growth go? Well, those in the upper-income brackets – like those represented in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business – have done quite nicely during this time period, thank you very much. One might even they’ve done nicely in a historically unprecedented way.

Income inequality has grown in BC, and income inequality is a serious problem for society as a whole. If CUPE manages to leverage the “whip-saw” effect to spread the wealth around more equitably, and if that helps wages in the private sector rise, then that’s a good thing for everyone.

Too, I’m sure Mr. Fontaine declined the 17.5%+ raise that non-unionized City employees received.

Environmental protestor Jeh Custer apparently has been caught adding blood to his face for an interview with CBC following yesterday's Bill C-311 protest on Parliament Hill. Utterly self-defeating.

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• Bears will ice…you!
  What

What’s not mentioned is the bear completed a perfect triple-axel right before the incident:

The bear, who was wearing ice-skates when the incident occurred, attacked 25-year-old circus director Dmitry Potapov, dragging him across the ice rink by his neck and nearly severing one of his legs before relenting.

Link: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/skating bear kills Russian state circus/2137660/story.html

The City of Vancouver has made available some of it’s archival films on Youtube.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/VancouverArchives

Gallery of some of greatest hits of professional political hoaxers’ The Yes Men:

Link: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/2009/10/political-activists-and-pranksters.php?img=1&ref=fpb&ref=fpblg (via shareaholic)

Another shout out to the Straight: An excellent overview of the climate change denialist industry. Funnily enough, funded by industry:

Hoggan, the author of Climate Cover-Up, told the Straight by phone that average people need to gain a greater understanding of the issue to avoid being misled by the media, which echo the claims of industry-financed groups. He described these campaigns as “manipulation of the highest order” and “Darth Vader public relations”, suggesting that consulting firms can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars by coming up with simple phrases like “junk science” or “clean coal” to downplay the issue.

Link

Are the viaducts viable?

Link: http://www.straight.com/article-265325/city-puts-georgia-viaducts-future-play# (via shareaholic)