Kash Heed is being charged by Elections BC, PERIOD!

Yes friends, another Friday trash day...First off with the HST referendum, it`s obvious to all now.....Christy Clark will be calling a early June Election...

Just think about the optics and why it makes sense......The HST, we were told the referendum was being moved up to June/24th/2011...Now the referendum ends July/22nd/2011 with counting not complete until sometime in August...So what did we gain, 1 month over the original referendum date in September!

The Government review of BC Hydro being conducted by three bureaucrats in the BC Liberal Government, not a single one of them know anything about electricity or electrical infrastructure, they are doing a review but they too won`t be reporting back until the end of June or July 2011.....

So the HST vote has been delayed until the end of summer, the hydro review has been delayed, well, the reporting back to BCers has been delayed....Why the delays, Christy Clark has no intention of removing the HST or altering Gordon Campbell`s treasonous energy sell out to the private sector being subsidized by $billions of taxpayer dollars..

So Christy Clark will be calling a June election before any of these matters are resolved, Christy Clark thinks she can con the public into giving her a 4 year mandate before the HST ripoff is resolved and before BC Hydro lays the boots to BC ratepayers in an effort to raise money for the private for profit IPPs...

Who will fall for this bullshit...I can hear Christy cluck cluck Clark now.....Trust us, we will abide by the HST referendum results, we will slash the BC hydro rate increases, all details to be made public after the election, that`s what is going on here.

Now as for Kash Heed being exonerated today...That is false, the oh so special prosecutor said it is unlikely to get a conviction to stick too Kash Heed, that folks is not an exoneration...

Kash Heed is still being charged by Election`s BC on a multitude of charges, Kash Heed awaits his BC Supreme court date where Kash Heed is playing the Bambi defense(I`m too stupid too understand the rules)....That doesn`t wash, to hell with the special prosecutor, Kash Heed will be stripped of his MLAship for failing to file accurate accounting of his campaign...Barinder Sall and Dinesh Khanna are going down with Kash Heed...Election`s BC has not dropped their charges against Kash Heed, the special prosecutor has no standing on the charges Election`s BC has filed, the BC Supreme court also has no authority to let Kash Heed out of his electoral duties, this friends is another critical error by Christy Clark, by her not asking Kash Heed to resign she has reinforced everything that Gordon Campbell did, Christy Clark is sweeping the same garbage under the same rug, this is not leadership, same old same old BC Liberal corruption.

If you need more information on how dirty KASH HEED IS....CHECK THE RIGHT SIDE-BAR!

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Ekos polling has the Conservatives maxed out and falling, Majority Thoughts Gone!

 

 Below is cut n pasted from the Ekos polling web site

 TIGHTER RACE AS BALLOT QUESTION COMES INTO SHARPER RELIEF - April 6, 2011

A CHECK-UP AND PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION OF OUR TRACKING SYSTEM
[Ottawa – April 6, 2011] – While we are completing the calibration and analysis of our new election tracking system, we thought we would offer up a preliminary picture of how the campaign is evolving. Beginning very early Friday, we will be rolling out the results of our new tracking system with our partners at iPolitcs. There are some interesting findings which we will share today and we want to signal some of the more interesting diagnostic analysis that we are preparing for week end. We are also sharing a specific test we have been conducting on whether Elizabeth May should be included in the national election television debates, contrary to the current decision of the broadcast consortium.
The focus of our tracking system is to give readers the best possible understanding of how the parties stand, how things are evolving, and a sense of what this might mean in terms of the ultimate decision on May 2nd. In order to do so, we are going beyond the tracking of simple vote intention to look at how that looks among those voters who are most likely to actually vote. We are also looking at how fundamental confidence in the country and the current government are coalescing with the dominant issues of the day to produce shifting voting patterns. This will entail looking at things such as voter “loyalty” and mobility since the 2008 election as well as the firmness of one’s vote and the leaning tendencies in the case of those who would consider other choices. We also consider “certainty” of voting and the level of “enthusiasm” one has for one’s current choice. We will be releasing a first cut at this approach early Friday but today we will be offering up some initial ingredients and a sense of what we will be focusing on at the end of the week.
Contrary to the erratic impression from reading the welter of various polling reports out there, the race appears to be evolving in a relatively orderly pattern with a clear logic. Immediately after the government fell it saw a boost from its roughly 7-point advantage to a formidable 11-point advantage. This lead remained relatively flat throughout the first week of the campaign with the Conservative Party ending the week with a sizable advantage with important strengths in Ontario and more-likely-to-vote older voters. So where have things evolved since?
Currently, the Conservatives have a somewhat less decisive lead of around 9 points but a number of factors suggest that this is a much less comfortable position than at the end of last week. Notably, their fairly stable and significant lead in Ontario has largely dissipated with major implications for their overall seat outcome. While they haven’t changed much in Quebec, the Liberals may be seeing something of a spurt in Quebec (possibly at the expense of the Bloc). This bears careful watching as the federalist forces have been ineffectually scattered across federalist options in earlier polling. This leads to the other key preliminary finding.
Canadians are showing an almost paradoxical strengthening of confidence in the country (probably driven by economic confidence ) at precisely the same time as they are showing an erosion of confidence in the current federal government. This gap is particularly pronounced in Quebec.
We also see a dramatic shift in the dominant issues of Canadians as issues of ethics and accountability have leapt from a dormant last place position to most important issue. Putting these findings together with other trends, we may be seeing the master ballot question of this election coming into sharper relief. The country is fine, economy good (particularly for Conservative supporters): but the federal government is not and this rising concern with the managerial style of the current government is particularly acute outside of the Conservative base. So increasingly two powerful sentiments are clashing: “everything is fine and why risk the adventure of rocking the boat with a new government” versus “things may be fine but the government isn’t and it’s time for a change of management”. We need to look no further than the burgeoning concern with “ethics and accountability” to understand why this issue is becoming a central focus and why the Conservatives appear to be backing up from majority to what would now be a diminished minority, which, according to the Conservative Party’s own election gambit, would produce a change of government. In terms of the prospects of a majority it seems that is looking more elusive. Not only has the race narrowed somewhat but the Conservatives have fallen back badly on second choice, which the NDP lead on and the Liberals have risen as a second choice.
There is good news in the poll for the Conservatives as well. They have clear and formidable advantages on “commitment’. Their supporters are by far the most loyal from the last election, the most likely to have no other choice, the most like to be certain to vote, the least likely to change their mind and the most enthusiastic about their choice. All of these are important and clear advantages. It may, however, be that what makes the Conservatives so strong also makes them so limited in their ability to grow. Consequently, if Canadians take Stephen Harper at his word that anything short of a minority will mean a change in government, the current forces may well be coalescing to produce that very result. At this stage it appears that the ballot question is becoming increasingly clear to voters. The final result is extremely uncertain at this point but the majority outcome is looking increasingly unlikely

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As predicted, the Federal Conservatives started at a high point in the polls and day by day their numbers faltered, here in BC Federal Conservatives are squirming on the HST...Michael Ignatief has been on fire, Harper`s cold dead eye messaging is falling on deaf ears.....Ah...Poor Harper, too bad about that majority thingy...Next time put people first and let corporations wait 5 years...You are done Harper, you will be lucky not to lose at least 20 seats...Time for you to resign Harper.

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

I along with BC First Nations will Lay down my Life to Stop Enbridge, $%?$ BIG OIL!

Very interesting, as of late I haven`t been talking too much about the environment, it`s the political season after all but by no means have I taken my eyes off the environmental issues and occasionally I hear a little sound bite (like the one on CNN last night) that makes both my ears and toes tingle...

But before I fill you in let me remind you of the past....This post will have lots of cut n paste, bear with me and please read the details...

Remember the Exxon Valdez oil disaster, to this day Exxon Mobile has never paid its fines levied against them...
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A short bit of Exxon Mobile history
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The Exxon Valdez: 1989-98
In 1989 Exxon was no longer the world's largest company, and soon it would not even be the largest oil group (Royal Dutch/Shell would take over that position in 1990), but with the help of the March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster the company heightened its notoriety. The crash of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound off the port of Valdez, Alaska, released about 260,000 barrels, or 11.2 million gallons, of crude oil. The disaster cost Exxon $1.7 billion in 1989 alone, and the company and its subsidiaries were faced with more than 170 civil and criminal lawsuits brought by state and federal governments and individuals.
By late 1991 Exxon had paid $2.2 billion to clean up Prince William Sound and had reached a tentative settlement of civil and criminal charges that levied a $125 million criminal fine against the oil conglomerate. Fully $100 million of the fine was forgiven and the remaining amount was split between the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund (which received $12 million) and the U.S. Treasury (which received $13 million). Exxon and a subsidiary, Exxon Shipping Co., also were required to pay an additional $1 billion to restore the spill area.
Although the Valdez disaster was a costly public relations nightmare--a nightmare made worse by the company's slow response to the disaster and by CEO Lawrence G. Rawl's failure to visit the site in person--Exxon's financial performance actually improved in the opening years of the last decade in the 20th century. The company enjoyed record profits in 1991, netting $5.6 billion and earning a special place in the Fortune 500. Of the annual list's top ten companies, Exxon was the only one to post a profit increase over 1990. Business Week's ranking of companies according to market value also found Exxon at the top of the list.
The company's performance was especially dramatic when compared with the rest of the fuel industry: As a group the 44 fuel companies covered by Business Week's survey lost $35 billion in value, or 11 percent, in 1991. That year, Exxon also scrambled to the top of the profits heap, according to Forbes magazine. With a profit increase of 12 percent over 1990, Exxon's $5.6 billion in net income enabled the company to unseat IBM as the United States' most profitable company. At 16.5 percent, Exxon's return on equity was also higher than any other oil company. The company also significantly boosted the value of its stock through its long-term and massive stock buyback program, through which it spent about $15.5 billion to repurchase 518 million shares--or 30 percent of its outstanding shares--between 1983 and 1991.
Like many of its competitors, Exxon was forced to trim expenses to maintain such outstanding profitability. One of the favorite methods was to cut jobs. Citing the globally depressed economy and the need to streamline operations, Exxon eliminated 5,000 employees from its payrolls between 1990 and 1992. With oil prices in a decade-long slide, Exxon also cut spending on exploration from $1.7 billion in 1985 to $900 million in 1992. The company's exploration budget constituted less than 1 percent of revenues and played a large part in Exxon's good financial performance. Meantime, Exxon in 1990 abandoned its fancy headquarters at Rockefeller Center in New York City to reestablish its base in the heart of oil territory, in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. In 1991 the company established a new Houston-based division, Exxon Exploration Company, to handle the company's exploration operations everywhere in the world except for Canada.
At the end of 1993 Lee R. Raymond took over as CEO from the retiring Rawl. Raymond continued Exxon's focus on cost-cutting, with the workforce falling to 79,000 employees by 1996, the lowest level since the breakup of Standard Oil in 1911. Other savings were wrung out by reengineering production, transportation, and marketing processes. Over a five-year period ending in 1996, Exxon had managed to reduce its operating costs by $1.3 billion annually. The result was increasing levels of profits. In 1996 the company reported net income of $7.51 billion, more than any other company on the Fortune 500. The following year it made $8.46 billion on revenues of $120.28 billion, a 7 percent profit margin. The huge profits enabled Exxon in the middle to late 1990s to take some gambles, and it risked tens of billion of dollars on massive new oil and gas fields in Russia, Indonesia, and Africa. In addition, Exxon and Royal Dutch/Shell joined forces in a worldwide petroleum additives joint venture in 1996.
Yet Exxon was unable--some said unwilling--to shake itself free of its Exxon Valdez legacy. Having already spent some $1.1 billion to settle state and federal criminal charges related to the spill, Exxon faced a civil trial in which the plaintiffs sought compensatory and punitive damages amounting to $16.5 billion. The 14,000 plaintiffs in the civil suit included fishermen, Alaskan natives, and others claiming harm from the spill. In June 1994 a federal jury found that the huge oil spill had been caused by "recklessness" on the part of Exxon. Two months later the same jury ruled that the company should pay $286.8 million in compensatory damages; then in August the panel ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion in punitive damages. Although Wall Street reacted positively to what could have been much larger damage amounts and Exxon's huge profits placed it in a position to reach a final settlement and perhaps put the Exxon Valdez nightmare in its past, the company chose to continue to take a hard line. It vowed to exhaust all its legal avenues to overturn the verdict--including seeking a mistrial and a new trial and filing appeals. In June 1997, in fact, Exxon formally appealed the $5 billion verdict. Exxon seemed to make another PR gaffe in the late 1990s when it attempted to reverse a federal ban on the return to Alaskan waters of the Exxon Valdez, which had by then been renamed the Sea-River Mediterranean. Environmentalists continued to berate the company for its refusal to operate double-hulled tankers, a ship design that may have prevented the oil spill in the first place. In addition, in an unrelated but equally embarrassing development, Exxon in 1997 reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in which it agreed to run advertisements that refuted earlier ads claiming that its high-octane gasoline reduced automobile maintenance costs

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So there you have it, huge profits and a fight to the bitter end refusing to pay fines and penalties and just through inflation alone the punitive fines laid on Exxon Mobile have been gutted to nothing...Yet there is more on Exxon mobile and big oil.....Have a gander at this.
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ExxonMobil to settle Exxon Valdez fine with State Governor – a former Exxon lobbyist

10 March 2011

ExxonMobil will settle its $100 million fine for the Exxon Valdez spill out of court with the federal and Alaskan state governments after being granted a reprieve from a US District Court Judge. This is despite State Governor Sean Parnell being a well-known ex-lobbyist for ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil: One of the world's largest publicly traded companies, its 2010 revenues amounting to over $383 billion

The US judge responsible for levying record fines against ExxonMobil two decades ago has refused to reopen the case to seek further penalties for continuing damage to Alaskan fisheries and wildlife.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989 was the worst oil spill in US waters until last year’s Deepwater Horizon disaster. (Unsurprisingly, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson has today condemned BP for its role in the April 2010 spill. Yesterday, BP’s CEO Robert Dudley claimed that the incident was not a “one-in-a-million occurrence” and that industry-wide changes are needed.) The Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of oil into the sound and contaminated about 1,300 miles of coastline.

The settlement sought for nearly 20 years was $5 billion. By June 2009, ExxonMobil had paid $900 million including interest (Exxon only paid 75% of the $500 million punitive damages eventually awarded), less than one fifth of what was originally sought and after 20 percent of the plaintiffs were deceased. In the fine’s clause was a further payment of $100 million for any lingering impacts of the spill.

Monday’s ruling by US District Court Judge H. Russel Holland means that ExxonMobil will not be forced to pay the $100 million sought. A settlement between federal and state governments looks more likely and, if the record of the Alaskan Governor is any indicator, with yet another reduction of the fine on the cards.

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell: Former lobbyist for ExxonMobil

Current Governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell, worked at law firm Patton Boggs between 2005-2006, representing ExxonMobil against plaintiffs including Alaskan state prosecutors. It was Patton Boggs who managed to reduce Exxon’s original $5 billion punitive damages by more than $2 billion in December 2006. Before that, Mr. Parnell served as Director of Government Relations at ConocoPhillips.

Sean Parnell is not only a vocal critic of President Obama’s ‘red tape’ against oil drilling in Alaska but served under Sarah Palin as Lieutenant Governor when the federal government reopened the settlement agreement seeking further funds from Exxon for remediation. Under both Sarah “Drill Baby Drill” Palin and Sean Parnell’s leadership, Exxon’s fines have withered away. Neither Alaskan administration has bothered to take the company to court or pressed for money.

Professor Rick Steiner, who has long campaigned against irresponsible oil and gas drilling in Alaska, had sought to re-open the original 1991 settlement. He was understandably disappointed with the ruling: “”He’s the judge that approved this provision 20 years ago, and for him to disavow any responsibility for it now is pretty astonishing

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You see folks, what would happen when there is a giant oil spill on our Northern coast?..Who would pay, not Enbridge, their oil is on land and in a pipe, they wouldn`t be held legally responsible, Oil tankers carrying ships at most can get $500 million dollars worth of insurance, that is the maximum, and if it happened to be some Liberian registered oil tanker the odds of finding anyone willing to pay is slim and none, hell, we can`t even get money out of oil giants sitting on $trillions in cash, they would rather fight than settle, they have lawyers on their side, judges and law makers in their pockets, and through attrition and plaintiffs dying off and the passage of time alone reduces any settlement costs.......

And so you might be asking, why Grant are you bringing this up now...What better time, before I expose the reason of this post I would like you to read another example of big oil screwing over a Nation, this time the victim is Ecuador, the have attempted to sue Chevron 10sof $billion for destroying the environment, but guess what, Chevron pulled out of Ecuador and the LAW...Some LAW claims Ecuador only has standing in a court room in Ecuador, in other words, now that Chevron has left Ecuador there is no way to sue the company short of kidnapping Chevron executives and dragging therm back to Ecuador to face criminal charges against the people and environment.
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Chevron granted injunction against $18 billion Ecuador fine

10 March 2011

It’s been a bad week for environmental activists in the Americas. In two cases of citizen groups and even states turning the screw on major oil companies, both Chevron and ExxonMobil were granted reprieves from US District Court Judges.

NY District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan did as ESG Insider predicted – it ruled that the total $18 billion fine levied by the Ecuador Government against Chevron cannot be enforced in the United States or anywhere outside of Ecuador. This leaves the Ecuadorian government in a quandry, as Chevron now owns no assets in Ecuador.

Judge Kaplan said that Chevron faced “imminent” and “irreparable” harm to its business relationships and reputation. Kent Robertson, a Chevron spokesperson said, “The Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ lawyers should not be allowed to benefit from an Ecuadorean judicial system that does not provide due process and from a judgment that they have procured through fraud and corruption.”

Last month, Judge Kaplan issued a restraining order against the plaintiffs, claiming that there are questions over the legitimacy of the proceedings in Ecuador and whether corruption was involved in the final decision. Chevron claims that the proceedings in Ecuador are part of an extortion scheme, despite the fact that the final fine is far less than the $113 billion initially sought by plaintiffs. As per the terms of the penalty imposed last month, the fine rose to $18 billion after Chevron refused to issue a public apology.

As per the March 7th injunction, Ecuador cannot seize any of Chevron’s assets before the racketeering case against the plaintiffs has concluded. This case, of course, is taking place in New York. Today, Chevron appealed against the ruling in Lago Agrio, Ecuador. No fine can be levied during the appeals process.

Karen Hinton, a spokesperson for the Ecuadoreans and a defendant in the racketeering case, said on Tuesday: “This decision is a slap in the face to the democratic nation of Ecuador and the thousands of Ecuadorian citizens who have courageously fought for 18 years to hold Chevron accountable for committing the world’s worst environmental disaster.”

Ecuadorian prosecutors claim that 18 billion gallons of toxic waste was leaked into the Amazon basin between 1972 and 1992 by Texaco, which was bought by Chevron in 2001. Independent researchers from Sweden’s Umea University claim that, in total, over 30 billion gallons of crude oil and toxic waste have been discharged into the Amazon basin by oil companies.

The injunction granted by Judge Kaplan can be viewed here.

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How much proof do we need that the oil companies will screw us after a big spill, they will talk and talk about spills never happening but what happens when the inevitable oil spill happens...Note to Enbridge and every other pipeline whore...You want a pipeline...A super-fund of $100 billion dollar minimum must be held in trust by a citizens group that has full control over all the money, Enbridge must sign legal waivers that cedes the money to the citizen group for dispersal to the affected groups, waivers also must be signed preventing any law suits in any courts filed by either the oil companies or Enbridge.....You still want to play Enbridge, have you got a  $100 billion dollar pile of cash handy?...I think not, get back too us when you have the money!....But seriously, time after time big oil gives both Governments and the people the finger, in Bopal a court ruled that the CEOs in charge of that deadly gas disaster were responsible for deaths of townsfolk, 30 years later a court finds them guilty, the CEOs and management have appealed, they are all in their late 70s and 80s or dead...Meaning they will never pay, now what was it I heard that spawned this post....

Do you remember the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the negligence on BP`s part, remember all the ads they ran promising to clean it all up and make people whole.....We ll guess what, BP has filed in court, BP wants their fine to based on how many days the oil leaked, not the amount leaked, you might wonder what the big deal is...Well, under the current fine regime BP will be fined anywhere from $5 billion to $20 billion for the gulf spill...BP is suing to have it reduced to a mere few $million dollars in fines, BP is claiming innocence, the drilling company is claiming innocence as well, this will be another decades long court battle with BP paying nothing and taxpayers paying for the court...Oh indeed, millions for ads of pristine watersheds while lawyers for big oil wait for litigants to die...Here is the shocking story from British Petroleum..

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HOUSTON, April 6 (UPI) -- BP wants its fines for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster calculated on how many days the leak flowed rather than how many barrels leaked.
In court filings in Houston federal court Tuesday, the oil firm responded to a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit filed in December that estimates 4.1 million barrels spilled after the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010. The well was capped July 15 and permanently sealed Sept. 19.

GALLERY: Photo timeline of Gulf oil spill

The federal government says it will seek civil penalties of $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel based on whether willful negligence is found. BP denies willful negligence and says fines should be set at $32,500 for each day the well flowed.
That system would yield fines from $2.8 million to $4.9 million, depending on whether the capping or sealing date is used. The per-barrel system would mean fines of $4.1 billion to more than $20 billion.
BP's partners in the well, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and MOEX Offshore, a unit of Mitusi, also filed papers denying negligence or willful misconduct

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/04/06/BP-wants-favorable-spill-fine-calculation/UPI-37201302108843/#ixzz1It4qkOH1

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Time after time big oil loots, pillages and poisons the environment, and who pays, not big oil, people pay with their lives and health, when is enough enough.... Go stick you pipeline up your ass Alberta, or if you wish you can connect one end of the pipeline to Stephen Harper`s Asshole.


The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Christy Clark`s HST Gamble.

Well it definitely appears that Christy Clark is plotting something for us voters, Keith Baldrey was tooting Clark`s horn on Global news and even Christy Clark herself didn`t deny the possibilities of a snap election in the short interview and sound bite they ran.....

And what I also found interesting is ....During the last month Global/CKNW/CTV referred to every NDP member who was part of the so-called baker`s dozen as a "Dissident" or rebel and we know what they called Jenny Kwan over the last month..."The Wrath of Kwan".."Party destroyer"...Those are the names I can repeat here, however now that Jenny Kwan has endorsed Global and the BC Liberals choice for leader Mike Farnworth the references to the evil Jenny Kwan have stopped, no longer does big media and the BC Liberals want to attack Jenny Kwan for endorsing Farnworth, the powers that be don`t want to upset the apple cart, Global news has been drooling over Farnworth, for now Jenny Kwan will not be mentioned but if Farnworth gets the leadership nod once the election writ is drpped both Jenny and Mike will be dragged through the mud together, family values against Mike and the wrath of Kwan, Christy Clark the single struggling mother versus the alternative guy Mike Farnworth.....If Kwan had endorsed Dix or Horgan the media would have pumped it for all it`s worth....

Back to this snap election buzz, the only thing I can see going on that would prompt Christy Clark`s rush to the polls...

#1)The BC Liberals are so worried about John Cummins as new BC Conservative leader that they don`t want to give them a year or more to gather up credible candidates to run in all 85 ridings.

#2)With Harper not getting his majority and probably losing seats in BC will not promote or help BC Liberal party unity, Clark may be worried about party unity and possible break up, especially with Iggy rising in the polls.

#3)The HST referendum is on June 24/th......Chris Delaney and Teileman came out with a new study today reinforcing everything we have said about the HST, it`s a job killer that harms not only consumers but Government too......Here is why Christy Clark wants a Provincial election early in June of this year......The HST...I`m priviy to some legitimate polling numbers on the HST and it`s going to go down in flames on June 24th...To cheat a way to victory for the pro-HST side would require fraud on such a massive scale, the numbers are that lopsided and the HST will be voted gone.....

There in lies the problem for Christy Clark, Gordon Campbell would send in his corporate buddies to file a law suit and use the referendum act to over throw the vote, and or Gordon Campbell would exact severe revenge on the public for not drinking his Kool Aid, but what would Christy Clark do?

The public the day after the HST vote want to be told when the HST is gone, they don`t want to be played, if the Province twiddles it`s thumbs and waffles while not doing anything on the HST except stall for time the public will become very angry very quickly, if the big business lobby files a court challenge after the referendum vote again the public will freak, the returning of monies to Ottawa will definitely cut into Christy`s $1 billion dollar slush fund...

But if Christy Clark waits until after the HST referendum vote to call a Provincial election would be suicide unless the HST was gone, if Christy Clark just blows off the HST referendum results and plays the 5 year deal card and promises when the budget is balanced to lower the tax she would be toast....

Therefore my gut tells me that Christy Clark wants to call a snap Provincial election before the HST referendum which if she won a majority she would have 4 more years to deal with the HST, if Christy Clark waits until after the HST referendum she will have to act on that((that being the will of the people)......

Is Christy Clark going to roll the dice on a snap election, I think it`s very risky, however if she waits until after referendum vote but still hasn`t dealt with the HST in any way except some sorta stall game , well that would come up snake eyes for sure....

And as I sit here musing about the possibilities, those big business bullies want that HST, Bill Good is throwing everything including the kitchen sink to promote the HST, every forestry and mining mouthpiece are whining of the consequences of removing the HST, nobody is whining for consumers out $2 billion dollars every year with this hideous tax.......

So as I mused and pondered this time I answered my own questions as to what Christy Clark will do....

Christy Clark knows too that the HST is going down to a big defeat, so if Christy Clark was really truthful about eliminating the HST after the referendum she should wait til then to call an election, imagine this headline on June/25th/2011.....

HST is defeated, Christy Clark makes executive order, Old Tax System is returned starting July 1/2011.

You see that hypothetical headline, if Christy Clark did something like that right after the HST referendum her political stock would soar in value, however if and when the HST is defeated and the legislature isn`t even sitting, and if the Clark Liberals whine and pout and don`t even open our legislature until the fall, if the Liberals delay, stall, warn and or continue to press for the HST Clark will become even more hated than Gordon Campbell, heck, even if the big business lobby goes after the referendum results the same public backlash will occur, snake eyes or box cars....My gut tells me that Christy Clark Liberals are lying about the HST referendum and abiding by the people`s wishes, she will call an early June election in an attempt to get a new 4 year mandate before they stiff the public, however if Christy Clark waits until after the HST is voted gone she will have to remove the tax and that will certainly upset her Federal Conservative Relatives.

And I wonder about the obvious, if you were really an honest politician, have the referendum and dump the HST fast, return our PST exemptions and become popular, then call an election, it`s a no brainer unless.......Unless the BC Liberals have no intention of ever removing the HST.

This should be very interesting!

The Straight Goods
Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Who the Hell is Jack Mintz?

As you know I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I don`t apologize for that, this post I started the other day and I`m not sure what happened but I lost it, hours of work gone, the first edition was better, whatever, who cares, well......

Sometimes I feel as if big media has deliberately targeted me, I wrote some harsh rebukes of Jack Mintz after he wrote that 12 page $12k report on the HST, his apparent flip flop, but more importantly who the hell was Jack Mintz and when did the university of Alberta suddenly become recognized for their economic graduates, during the heat of the HST petition last year not once did Jack Mintz crawl out of his hole and stand up and defend his imaginary 10 year forecast....Yet in this last week alone.....

The same Jack Mintz was on with Michael Smyth on CKNW last Tuesday at 2:00 pm to 2:30pm....I was traveling, I heard the segment at the ferry terminal, I thought wow...Michael Smyth returns to the airwaves, the last radio voice out there that rails against the HST and tells the truth about the hideous tax, so I wait in anticipation of this segment and to my surprise, Jack Mintz wasn`t appearing on the Smyth show to talk about the HST, Mintz was appearing to attack Jack Layton`s plan to cap bank rates on credit cards, Jack Mintz warned of retaliation from the banks if you limited the interest they could charge, Mintz called Jack Layton an idiot and he fear mongered about banks no longer  issuing credit cards, new fees would be put on everything, in other words Jack MIntz was sent out te defend record bank profits while consumers drown in debt, the same Jack Mintz who wrote the 12 page $12k report on the HST, a report made up of predictions and false data.....Even the 12 page Mintz HST report leaves an out, Mintz ends by saying "It will take at least a decade before we see any negligible results from the HST"...

The Mintz/Smyth segment, there was something staged about the segment, number 1...Michael Smyth was slamming Jack Layton over his credit card interest rate cap idea and he agreed lock stock and barrel with Jack Mintz, Smyth didn`t play devils advocate with Mintz he reinforced the corporate record and laughed at the NDP, it was a sick segment, Smyth went even further by blaming consumers, Smyth said ....

"If the interest rate was lower people would be deeper in debt...Don`t people have themselves to blame,....Blaming everything on the big bad banks is typical NDP...

I guess Smyth has never seen all those TV ads promoting credit cards, low starter rates, rewards, no pay til later, all the beautiful people using credit cards, and add the fact that you need a credit card to rent a damn room for the night, who takes cash....Oh indeed, the bad old consumer using credit cards....Real classy garbage Smyth.

Michael Smyth agreed 100% with Jack Mintz on keeping credit card interest rates at what...25%..29%...31%....No, that`s not usury eh Smyth, but what really blew my mind was....Michael Smyth had on his show Jack mintz and Smyth never even mentioned the HST, not even a whisper on the HST, in fact ever since Michael Smyth has returned from his hiatus he has dropped the Christy Clark gloves and forgot about the HST....Bill Good continues to promote the HST and is featuring Falcon tomorrow on the HST....Also Smyth has a war room panel on Mondays(today) and last week, it`s a regular feature through the Federal election, on this panel is no other than Brad zubyk, Christy Clark`s co-campaign manager(The panel consists of three people, one representing each of the big three federal parties)..Zubyk represents the Federal Liberals....

Not once this week or last did Michael Smyth raise the specter that Zubyk(Federal Liberal) was and is still part of Christy Clark`s Provincial campaign team, I guess Michael Smyth doesn`t see a conflict of interest sitting in Christy Clark`s old time slot and featuring Clark`s Campaign manager as a regular guest without making the connection with the general public and BC Conservative voters....And still that Jack Mintz episode lingers in my mind, what happened to Michael Smyth on his hiatus, since his return he has defended high interest from the big banks, he`s attacked teachers, he just hammered and mocked the Federal NDP, he let Jack Mintz off the hook and never even asked him a single word about the HST.....I guess what I wrote about Smyth when he was on holidays was true...Remember this ..
Michael Smyth has been sent to the Goebells school of mind retraining and depending on the success of purging Smyth`s cognitive brain cells and replacing them with NDP hatred and BC Liberal talking points will determine whether or not his voice returns to the airwaves...
Ok, let`s give Smyth the benefit of the doubt, he forgot who Zubyk works for and he didn`t know who Jack Mintz was......When pigs fly.....Last night I turned on the CBC National, they have some fact checking thing on election promises made by the parties, yesterday the Federal Liberals brought out their platform.....And to my amazement, the CBC presented no other economist but Jack Mintz to bash Iggy`s family plan.....The same Ahole who wrote a dime store HST report, the same bozo who defends 20% plus bank interest rates is put forward as a ligit economist...

Are you kidding me..The Univeristy of Calgary....CBC for shame....The Conservative plan that offers a pipedream when the budget is balanced in 5 years while corporations get money now, that`s credible according to Mintz but Federal Liberals plan is fiscal jiberish, .....For Gawds sake, Jack Mintz sits on 1/2 dozens boards of directors, he`s with Shell Oil, Western Forest products and investment companies, his interests are vested, it`s a conflict of interest and CBC should be ashamed of themselves for presenting Jack Mintz as a non-partisan economist...Sheesh!.

Jack Mintz was the self claimed expert on the HST...Now he knows what`s best for YOU and that is sky high bank card rates.......And now his expertise has moved to long term Government projections...There is something wrong when the media of the middle left uses the same economist as the media on the right.

But what I wanted to talk about was the HST and corporate greed, as you know BC has done nothing but shed jobs since the HST, prices up on everything and corporate profits are through the roof, in watching election coverage on CPAC I learned that Electrolux Canada is pulling out of Montreal, they were given huge tax breaks but Memphis has offered more, the key factor for Electrolux leaving is the labour pool, in Memphis they can get skilled labour for $11:50 per hour and less......Montreal has the HST, Electrolux made $14 billion dollars last year and they are still consolidating, Electrolux despite record profits are bailing on towns and communities and fleeing to the cheapest labour pool.....Read the below cut and pasted story,,,,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 From Robert Gibens, Montreal Gazette

Montreal's loss is Memphis's gain. Electrolux AB, the world's second-biggest home appliance maker, said yesterday its decision to shut its l'Assomption plant by late 2013 and shift production to a new $190-million factory in Tennessee is final.
L'Assomption, off the eastern tip of Montreal Island, loses its principal private-sector employer and 1,300 jobs. Electrolux will hire 1,250 employees in Memphis to produce new-generation built-in and specialty kitchen appliances in a new 700,000 square-foot plant.
Memphis city and county have provided the land in the Frank Pidgeon Industrial Park at no cost. They are putting up $20 million U.S. each for such infrastructure as roads and sewers and the state is kicking in another $92 million, local filings said. Another $400 million will be invested by suppliers.
The new plant, starting up in mid-2012 and slated for full production in 2013, will mesh closely with Electrolux's existing kitchen-range plant in Springfield, Tenn., with a workforce of 3,000.
Kevin Scott, president of Electrolux Major Appliances North America, based in Charlotte, N.C., said the Swedish parent was seeking to reduce its manufacturing costs in North America as part of a six-year global restructuring designed to save $500 million U.S. annually and meet growing competition.
Memphis won out over Mexico and other locations because of its low cost structure, skilled labour pool and favourable logistics, he said.
"Decisions like this are never easy, but this time it was clearcut because of the extensive support we received from state, city and county ... the choice will strengthen our position in North America," he added.
Quebec government sources have indicated they knew in advance of the impending l'Assomption plant closing. Electrolux had owned it for about eight years, sources said.
It once produced aircraft parts before being turned over to kitchen appliances under several different owners. Electrolux narrowed the plant's product line to "slide-in" ranges and several other cooking appliances.
Dave Chartrand, the senior International Union of Machinists and Aerospace Workers official responsible for the l'Assomption workforce, denied charges of union intransigence.
Chartrand was in Quebec City to negotiate provincial help to offset the closing's community impact -worse than the recent Shell Canada refinery shutdown.
"A new manager took over three months ago with promises of improvement, because Electrolux had seriously under-invested there, and we offered to help find ways to pare operating costs," he said.
"On Tuesday, Electrolux executives from North Carolina arrived and abruptly announced the closure, saying it was a head office decision and final ... they wouldn't listen when we met them later."
He said Memphis, in a state hungry for jobs, won mainly because of its low pay structure -reportedly averaging $13.50 an hour, plus benefits.
Electrolux said it announced the closing early to minimize the community impact and will co-operate with the union and the province to set up placement and other services. It said it will take a $124-million charge to cover the Montreal and other closings.
Electrolux had sales of $14 billion U.S. last year -from refrigerators and dishwashers to air-conditioners and vacuum cleaners -and employs 51,000 globally. It announced yesterday it would shed another 800 jobs in Europe within the next two years

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Electrolux+jobs+moving+Memphis/3986071/story.html#ixzz1Ib667eRe
 ____________________________________________________________________________________________

What happened to the HST creating jobs, Harper wants to slash the corporate tax rates even further, they are already the lowest rates in the G20 There is no HST in Memphis, explain that....And when other Nations continue to match us then what, a race to the bottom, look how much money Electrolux is making, they didn`t even blink an eye when they left Montreal, who can live in Montreal on $10 dollars per hour, the corporate goodwill displayed by Electrolux is shocking.....

When I heard this Electrolux story my ears started tingling, a Deja Vu type thing was happening, where did I hear this story before, I was sure Electrolux pulled this crap before and then....Yes, I remember, Electrolux had a major operation in the state of Michigan, in Greeneville Michigan, the state offered Electrolux $80 million dollars per year in tax breaks if they would stay but Electrolux said...NOT ENOUGH...They left, Electrolux pulled up stakes and moved to Tijuana Mexico, the labour was so cheap Electrolux couldn`t afford not to move, to HELL with Michigan...Read the cut and pasted dirt below from that 2005 Electrloux stab in the back(shocking story)

____________________________________________________________________________________________

UAW and state offer the farm to Electrolux – which closes its factory anyway

Electrolux, the world's largest manufacturer of household appliances, announced in mid-January that it would close its Greenville, Michigan, factory in 2005 and would move production to South Carolina and Mexico.
Workers in this small Western Michigan town have been producing refrigerators and earlier, iceboxes, for 127 years. A few years back, Electrolux bought the company. Now, with the stroke of a pen, this profitable plant will throw 2700 workers out in the street, devastating an entire community.
According to Electrolux's own financial records, the Greenville factory was profitable. But Electrolux wasn't getting the higher than six per cent return on investment Electrolux has declared it must have.
The company had toyed with the union and with state officials. It demanded tax breaks in excess of legal limits in Michigan. It demanded concessions of $24,000 per worker per year, which could only have been achieved by violating federal minimum wage laws.
The UAW tentatively agreed for workers to give up $12,600 per person a year. This proposal never came to a vote, since the company had already decided to close the Michigan plant.
Giving up concessions was not going to save jobs. It never does. Michigan had already given "incentives" of 8.7 million dollars to Electrolux for "job creation" in the past. Despite the announced 2,700 job cuts, not one state official has asked for that $8.7 million in "job creation" money back!
Instead the state, which claims to be in a budget crisis, "found" still more money to offer Electrolux: 121.2 million dollars more in tax breaks and grants.
Since 1998, Electrolux, with headquarters in Sweden, has cut over 40,000 jobs – one third of its workforce. It has closed or sold 29 factories and 50 warehouses – some in the U.S. in New Jersey and Colorado, others in Europe.
The CEO of Electrolux explains: "We have grown through acquisitions over the last 30 years or so and bought 450 companies. ...We had duplicate facilities and redundant personnel."
This is the real story – using the profits made off workers' labor, the company bought up hundreds of other companies, then combined the work and shut some down. And, of course, in all of this, they squeeze more work out of fewer workers. When the shift of Michigan jobs is done, Electrolux plans for the same work to be done by 700 fewer workers!
The downward spiral won't stop until the day workers attacked like this decide to dig in their feet.
During the period that negotiations were going on to keep the jobs from leaving Michigan, the UAW and state officials kept all of the outrageous details secret. This prevented the possibility of workers organizing a determined fight against these monstrous demands made by the company.
Now that the news is out, it will take at least 2 years for the process of closing the plant to be completed. The workers in Greenville can still decide to make a courageous fight against this company's decision. In Western Michigan, since 2000, nearly 20,000 layoffs have been announced. The Electrolux workers have allies who could join them to stop business as usual.
Giving in to Electrolux's demands didn't stop them – but a determined fight could

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

There is more on that 2005 betrayal here......Why is no one talking about the big picture, manufacturers are fleeing to the lowest common denominator, CHEAP LABOUR.....Big new investment in resource extraction doesn`t equate to more jobs, it equates big modern robotic hardware that eliminates human productivity,  BC has lost jobs and when I hear Pat Bell on the radio today....He just returned from China, well guess what, China wants to buy more BC Coal, but China doesn`t want a middleman, China wants to create two major underground coal mines in BC, they want to own them and operate them, we don`t have any underground coal mines in BC, China has hundreds, they also have the mining deaths, why doesn`t China only want to secure the supply, the answer is money and control and also it would result in job losses.....Another step towards foreign National governments running and controlling resource extraction in our country, the Canada line with its foreign workers, the tree planters in the interior and now Pat Bell musing about china setting up shop in BC extracting vast tracts of coal....And what carbon tax are the Chinese paying?

Why isn`t our legislature sitting, shouldn`t someone be talking about the day after the HST referendum, shouldn`t someone be asking Harper about what happens when BC says no, when are we really going to discuss the job killing consumer tax, the vote will come, the tax will be voted gone and the BC Government will do exactly what and when...

Lie after corporate lie from big business on the HST, you see the pattern, the public falls deeper in debt, taxes raised through guile, all around the world Governments are taking from the people while lowering corporate rates, and as their $trillions pile up with yearly record profits, well, one by one the voices of dissent are consumed by the powers that be, no, I won`t look into the light....

Someone needs to ask that question of christy Clark, someone needs to remind Michael Smyth who Jack Mintz and Brad Zubyk are.......

Or perhaps Michael Smyth thinks he can fake it and toe the line.........Ah, but who`s paying attention Smyth?

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Is David Hahn Actually Moses?

I made a trip into the big smoke last week, duty calls, friends, family and a little bit of entertainment.....


Living on the Sunshine coast requires me to ride on our fandangled top of the line new and improved BC Ferries....Well, I like to get to the ferry terminal early park and relax and not worry about missing the boat, at Langdale I was so early I was  first and the front of the row, I was two hours early so when the ferry came I was put on the upper deck and was right up front, right out into daylight again(The upper deck, the first few cars go from under cover to a little area out in the open air).......What a view and I get full radio reception, nothing in front of me but Howe Sound and it was dead calm, the ferry I was on had to be 40 years old, the ship pulled away from Langdale like it had the previous 40 years that I had rode it, I don`t bother going upstairs to the passenger deck anymore, well rarely, the same old ferry food, hamburgers and slop, more food varieties than 30 years ago but the never the less, the cafeteria has operated selling coffee and grub forever and the change there is negligible, the ship approached Horseshoe Bay and I was driving the ferry in my mind, just past Boyer Island I ease off on the throttle, I use the momentum to almost coast into the slot, as we enter the shoot I ever so slightly engage the forward gear and about 20 feet out from contact I put it in reverse and give a little shot of gas, the boat lurches a bit and comes to almost a complete stop, the last forward bit of momentum carries the ferry gently forward where it gives a little bump to the dock, I then engage the forward gear and press the ferry to the ramp and use a little forward push to keep it there while both people and cars unload and reload.

I have made this same voyage hundreds of times, nothing has changed, same route, same technique, same food, same schedule, the departure Bay- Horseshoe bay run has less sailings today than of years past, Tawaassen to Duke point run is unchanged, what I am talking about is how some idiots in the media and in Government put David Hahn on a pedestal, the man is a rude American who has mocked the paying public, he has ordered the Ferry Corporation to rip the public off, $1.2 million in pre-paid passes ripped up by David Hahn and he has no remorse, remorse would be nice but Hahn doesn`t exhibit remorse he exhibits disdain, scorn and anger towards the paying public, the $million dollar per year man for what?

What has David Hahn done Harvey Oberfeld?....Did he build the new sitting at the dock most of the year ferries, did he hire his own work force, has he transformed BC Ferries into anything they haven`t already been for 50 years, are there new ferry routes, new record travel numbers, did David Hahn design the terminals, can anyone tell me one thing that David Hahn has done that would warrant a $1 million dollar plus pay package running a Government monopoly? BC Ferries now have a $1.5 billion dollar debt, the interest rate on that money is several points higher than the Province could borrow at, but as a private corporation they pay higher interest rates, ridership is down, ridership is about affordability and a strong economy, Hahn deserves to be ripped for his economic performance first, he failed and on public relations and charm he scored zero.....Yet the media put Hahn in some fictitious reality where failure gets churned and spun until it`s called success....Absolutely laughable how the media slurped up Hahn juice when the simplest of looks would reveal a bankrupt company going the wrong way..

And when tired hacks criticize John Horgan for saying that he thinks David Hahn should be put on latrine duty scrubbing floors and toilets is a bit rich, according to Harvey Oberfeld that isn`t very premier like, according to Harvey Oberfeld not only should Horgan never be premier for being so childish he claims that Gordon Campbell and or Christy Clark would never call people names, those two are far more premier like compared to the amateur Horgan...

That`s the problem with age(for some)..They become senile, what did Christy Clark call 720,000 people who signed the HST...It was Taliban Harvey, you hear me Harv...TALIBAN....And how about Gordon Campbell and his lies, I would have preferred Campbell calling people names and telling the truth, Gordon Campbell is the most corrupt premier to ever rule this Province but that`s okay with Harvey Oberfeld because Campbell never called anyone any names(Unless they were NDP).....

Of all the things one could write, Harvey O writes about Dix calling voters the mushy middle and Horgan for calling out Hahn who in my opinion should be taken out back for a real paddling, mano a mano yet Harvey Oberfeld gives his compadre Farnworth a free ride, I`m not going there but the post was a pathetic soft Farnworth endorsement while throwing poutine at Horgan and Dix....

I am sick n tired of the observations through the looking glass, now don`t get me wrong, Harvey Oberfeld writes some good stories but he makes these statements as if he lived in a bubble for the last decade, for example Harvey O wrote a story saying that Christy Clark should deal with the contract-less paramedics, anyone with connected brain cells would agree with Harvey O about the paramedics but then he ruins the story by making statements like this.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

But I do KNOW one thing …to take away ANY public servants’ right to strike or protest or even negotiate an agreement, and IMPOSE a legislated settlement WITHOUT MANDATORY BINDING ARBITRATION is simply wrong. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! And that’s exactly what happened to BC’s paramedics in Nov. 2009 under Bill 21.
It is dictatorship at its worst.  Denial of fairness and justice.
BC is not Wisconsin; BC is not governed by right-wing  Republican or Tea Party extremists; most British Columbians of every political stripe  DO have a sense of fairness and justice. And to force people to work under imposed working conditions, wages and lack of basic rights is simply wrong

____________________________________________________________________________________________
I highlighted one part in bold....Where has Harvey been living, Freedom of information has been gutted, courts are financially out of reach for both litigants and defendants, Gag laws, bills that stripped town`s rights away..BCUC gutted..The environmental assessments have been corrupted, new police powers, the shredded HEU contract, BC Rail corruption trial, Kash Heed, Gerry mandering, Translink given the power of taxation, theft of gaming grants, treatment of seniors and the autistic, shuttering schools and lies lies and more lies and I haven`t got into the skyrocketing BC Debt, run of river, hydro rates and the HST lie.......Yet Harvey believes we don`t live under a right wing Republican like Government, Christ Harvey half the Campbell Government should be jailed, Falcon, Bond, Bell, Kreuger, Bill Bennett and every other damn lying BC Liberal have called any and all NDPers every name in the book, not just names but fabricated lies about the 90s when the truth of the matter is in the 90s....

GDP was higher in the 90s under the NDP than Campbell`s decade....Employment numbers were higher in the 90s...Business investment was higher in the 90s...More housing starts in the 90s....More net migration to BC in the 90s...Lower debt and smaller deficits in the 90s, all facts, all provable, all ignored from media stooges and looking glass inhabitants yet these same paid idiots come crawling out of the woodwork to attack John Horgan for taking a jab at David Hahn....Oh the humanity.....What next Harvey, cancer survivors can`t run for premier, hair too long, poor eye sight, Irish ancestors, what next damn it?

At least my motives aren`t disguised and hidden under a garbage filled post.

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Op-en

The Transformation of Michael Ignatief

Can you feel it people, the message from the Conservative machine is falling on deaf ears and someone is on fire, it`s not always easy to be a pundit or talking head but that`s what makes it interesting, occasionally even I have to shake my head and say .....What the hell happened, who is this guy and where has he been hiding....

Stephen Harper and his campaign bubble, does Harper even believe what he`s saying, there is something different this time with Harper, he`s robotic and sterile, maybe because we have seen this play before but I don`t think so, his corporate tax cuts, prisons and fighter jets or the three heathen mafia option that includes the Bloc, families and fragile recovery are standard buzz words with  Harper's speeches but they don`t seem to be resonating, his words are definitely not resonating with me, Harper peaked in the polls the day the election was called and he`s been plunging into purgatory ever since and I don`t see anything that pulls him out of this funk, Harper is campaigning in a bubble, everything is so scripted, so uniform it feels flavourless and stale,  will the fall be big enough for Harper to lose his grip on power, i`m not sure about that, yet.......

And there`s Jack Layton, he too is saying the right things, cut taxes, health care, educations, end subsidies to big oil and go at the banks, I applaud Jack for his effort however as much as his mind may be ready for the fight clearly the body signals emanating from Jack speak volumes and the polls seem to be confirming my concerns, there are three dynamics going on simultaneously in this Federal election, the NDP is showing weakness at the top, physical weakness through Jack Layton himself, that damn prostrate cancer treatment coupled with hip surgery have taken a big toll on Jack and there is no offense meant by me in saying it, it`s what I see..

Stephen Harper, cold dead messages being delivered by a robotic replublictron disguised as a human being, maybe it was his pathetic promise of a tax cut 5 years out if the budget is balanced, in that same time frame big profitable corporations would receive $60 billion in tax cuts....That is 30 years worth of his family tax cuts, that 5 year out proposal was too cost about $2 billion per year, I stated it last week, it was a fatal move that told you everything you needed too know about Harper`s agenda and pretend concern for real people....

The second dynamic going on is traditional NDP supporters are in such fear of a Harper majority they are switching horses in ridings where their guy can`t win but their vote can help the Federal Liberal beat the Conservative, I believe many are thinking the same way, the thought of a Federal Liberal Government is less threatening than a Harper majority and the third dynamic happening is no other than a transformation before our eyes, the transformation of Michael Ignatief from distant elitist to one of us, a human being with human failings, now don`t get me wrong, I am no Federal Liberal and still hold anger against Trudeau, Cretian and Martin, while the Mulroney and Harper Governments have equally failed in my mind, my leanings Federally are still with the NDP however I too may slide Red, maybe because I believe the NDP can`t do worse than the established parties, my vote in my riding will be strategic......Back to Michael Ignatief.....

I can`t explain what is going on in simple words it`s like Iggy has decided he has nothing to lose, what we might be seeing is the real back room friendly Michael Ignatief, the smug look is gone, the persona of knowing what`s best because he`s an elitist has been dropped, the man is laying out his soul on the campaign trail and it comes across as real and it`s resonating with voters, both with traditional Federal Liberals and people afraid of Harper....

I don`t know why but I believe Michael Ignatief, do I trust the Federal Liberals, not whole heartedly but I trust them more than the Conservatives, who I will vote for is still up in the air, it won`t be for Harper.....

I know many of you won`t be thrilled with this assessment but sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due, Michael Ignatief is on fire and he hasn`t even launched his platform, that starts tomorrow, what Ignatief has done is lay his feelings and soul out there for all to see, it`s as if he was at a family function with nothing to hide, not very often can the one man make the difference, the old Iggy was dead before this contest even started the new reborn Iggy is stealing the show and on his way to changing the Federal landscape, you faithful may want to disagree, honesty works for me

A tip of the hat to you Mr. Michael Ignatief...........Honest feelings and a big sky platform, laid out there for all to see, a winning strategy.

(PS...It appears that the Horgan express is picking up steam, they`re starting to notice)
The Straight goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Vaughn Palmer and the BC Liberals are Peeing Their Pants Over John Cummins

What a good week and it`s only Monday, Stephen Harper and his harping about a coalition threat that includes the Bloc, a one day story that has backfired on Harper, but after today`s event any thought of a Federal Conservative majority all but ended .....

I`m talking about Harper promising family tax cuts 5 years from now, that is if the budget is balanced, yet his $10 billion dollar per year corporate tax cuts are on, not in 5 years but now!....That was a fatalistic mistake, people are cynical of politicians and their promises at the best of times but this lame empty promise 5 years from now smacks of hypocrisy, can you imagine, by the time this pipe dream comes to fruition people`s children will be married and have their own kids.

And of all places to announce such foolery, Harper announces this in BC..Big mistake, how many lies from Gordon Campbell, how many lies from Christy Clark, I won`t sell BC Rail, I won`t tear up contracts, Gordon Campbell just gave us a tax cut and then took it away before the ink was dry, Harper and Campbell foisted by crook the job killing HST on us BCers and the gall to promise a tax cut in 5 years from now, if the budget is balanced, just what we need, a contest seeing who can promise the most outlandish things far off in the future....I hear Iggy is promising free education for all Canadians when he uncovers 10 trillion pounds of Gold buried under the Parliament building, and Jack Layton is promising unlimited health care and guaranteeing everyone lives to 120 years of age, contingent on getting the patent on the "fountain of youth"....I am of course kidding on those last two promises, the point I am making is Harper has no idea how angry BCers are, how many Campbell promises have been broken, the Golden decade, 5000 more NEW acute care beds, the Surrey memorial hospital has been promised 11 times, Harper and his advisers have done themselves in......Even the lamest of voters know a bold faced lie when they hear it, that coupled with corporate tax cuts retro-active, well....Too bad Harper, you just blew it...

Corporations are sitting on $trillions in cash, in fact corporations haven`t had so much cash in 45 years or more, Corporations have banded together to hoard cash until Obama is gone to guarantee the economy keeps tanking, the third world war is here, corporations against the public, Rio Tinto brought down the last Australian Government over a new super profits mining tax and here is another American company threatening to leave a US state if taxes are raised, threats, money hoarding, let them go, let all those corporate bastards go to China, they can play twiddly winks with Pat Bell...

What prices have been lowered since the HST was jammed down our throat, where are those promised jobs, BC has shed so many damn jobs we are now the unemployment leader of Canada, second only to the Maritimes who have had the HST since 1996, last Saturday there was a 4 hour, 3 hour and 4 hour waits heading south at our BC border crossings, all those Canadians filling up with gas and buying goods and services at a huge savings across  the line, Alberta retail is booming thanks to BC buyers, and I read another interesting story today, the reason it caught my eye is....


I too have been complaining about corporations reducing the sizes of goods we normally buy through guile, the jar, bottle, container looks the same but they hold less product, big corporations are doing this on purpose, rather than raise their price they are reducing what you get and charging you the same old price,

A deliberate attempt to hide food inflation, no wonder I`m losing weight!

But what I really wanted to talk about was John Cummins becoming the Provincial BC Conservative leader, John Cummins has a few redeeming qualities, he`s against the IPP rape of river scam brought in by Gordon Campbell, he`s against the disease carrying farmed fish, he`s very strong on the environment, and John Cummins...

Scrares the CRAP(for Gary E) out the BC Liberals, the dreaded split on the right scenario is coming true, the BC Liberals are already in trouble without the split on the right but with John Cummins speaking to run of river ripoff, wild salmon and environment, also the BC Conservatives are running in all 85 ridings, this my friends has guaranteed the death of Crusty cluck cluck Clark and the hated BC Liberals, it`s all over and now with a Federal election here, Christy can`t call a Provincial election, after the Federal election we have the HST referendum vote, Crusty won`t want to call an election around that and in the meantime the BC Conservative party will be growing in strength and quality candidates, Crusty had the rug pulled out from her, for without a Federal election she would have called a snap election while her blossom still bloomed, now the Rose is gone and the skunk cabbage has shown it`s face, it`s a lose lose for the BC Liberals....And I love it!....

So even before John Cummins announces his intentions tomorrow at a scheduled press conference the number 2 BC Liberal stooge has come to try and muddy Cummins up, that`s right folks, Vaughn Palmer came out with another one of his classic back handed smear jobs, you can expect Balderdash to follow suit on his next drivel column and I expect this Friday on the Dull edge of the ledge that Cummins will be dragged through some more mud....You can literally read the BC Liberal fear in Vaughn`s column, you can see the pages shaking as Vaughn wrote them, Vaughn Palmer is painting Cummins as a HST supporter, he may well be but that argument won`t fly, Cummins will advocate for a made in BC tax system not the Federal version of the HST, like Quebec, they have an HST but they call all the shots, they have tax sovereignty, they set their own rate, Quebec never sold out, I heard John Cummins say those things when he had a dust up with Christy cluck Clark on her radio show,( the audio vault no longer goes back any further than one month)...But that didn`t stop Vaughn Palmer in trying to put altered words in John Cummins mouth...

I can read Palmer, woodless Good and Balderdash like a book, their amateur hacks, their liars, stooges, BC Liberal paid pimps, the BC Liberals are running scared, everything timing wise has gone awry for Cluck cluck, a Federal Election, then the HST referendum and not to mention Jane Thorthwaite in court on April12/2011...And Kash Heed waiting for the BC supreme court to shoot him down...And then there is that matter of...

Christy Clark has no mandate, our economy is tanking, radiation is landing on our Province and say what you will it definitely hamper tourists from coming here, especially with those reactors all but exploding, they will have to be buried in concrete but that will take time, the international atomic agency will continue to downplay the threat, never the less the reactors are finished and tradewinds will bring the radiation here, thus further harming our beleaguered tourist industry, more job losses, bigger deficit, BCFerries and Hahn, sluggish movie industry and another world recession taking place, good luck with that......New Sensation!

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

John Horgan Continues to Rail Against the BC Liberals Treasonous Energy Sellout

HORGAN CALLS ON COLEMAN TO EXPLAIN HYDRO RATE REVIEW

(The latest campaign release from the Horgan Express)



March 28, 2011
VICTORIA—NDP leadership candidate and Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan today called on Energy Minister Rich Coleman to provide the public with details of his plans to review proposed rate increases at BC Hydro. Horgan made the call after BC Hydro adjourned a recent rate increase application hearing at the BC Utilities Commission Friday just as it was about to begin.
“British Columbians can take some comfort that government has finally realized that increasing residential electricity rates by 50% will have a devastating impact on BC families,” said Horgan. “But throwing BC Hydro and the BCUC into chaos, maintaining cabinet secrecy, and making up energy policy on the back of a napkin is no way to develop a sound path for guiding our most important Crown Corporation.”
On Friday, BC Hydro informed the BC Utilities Commission that it must reconsider plans to increase electricity rates because government had initiated some form of ministerial review. BC Hydro told the hearing that it did not know the timing of the ministerial review, by what mechanism government and/or B.C. Hydro will affect the outcome of that review in an amended application, or how the public will have input into the process.
“When the House last sat ten months ago, the BC Liberals passed energy legislation without any meaningful debate,” said Horgan. “Now the latest Energy Minister, the fourth in nine months, is making energy policy on the fly. Perpetual chaos is not the way to build a province."
In February, Horgan released his energy policy that included:

• Placing a moratorium on new run-of-river power projects,
  
• Implementing an energy plan that puts conservation, environmental protection, and the interests of all British Columbians first,
  
• Reviewing all existing power purchase agreements to ensure they are in the public interest and take action to correct deficiencies,
  
• Restoring the BC Utilities Commission to its role providing independent review and oversight of all private power projects and billions of dollars in other capital spending exempted by the BC Liberals’ energy plan

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Of all the NDP candidates John Horgan is by far the best communicator and debater, maybe for a change the NDP will choose a candidate who knows how to speak, ...Adrian Dix uses the word "Right" in every sentence, just like Sean Holman, it`s absolutely nauseating hearing Holman and Dix using the word "right" after every sentence  and Farnworth is the man of umm and eer, Farnworth is a good man but he really needs to go to a public speaking class and learn to talk without umm and eer.

Without the ability to light up a crowd with speech and words....Horgan has that ability.

I am not trying to be nasty, I speak from my heart, I know what I hear and how candidates sound....

John Horgan, not only is he the best speaker, best debater, most qualified ....But  most importantly John Horgan is scandal free, if Adrian Dix gets the nod the election is over, ...I personally think Dix is a good man and would do a good job but with his bulk membership and sacks of cash coupled with his moral breakdown under Glen Clark when he falsified and back dated a memo is just too much to overcome....

This election, we must as New Democrats come together and put forth the best candidate, we can`t supply the BC Liberals and their media minions any ammo....

Global News has the video archives of Jas Johal chasing down a running away Mike Farnworth on standby ready to flood the airwaves, in fact I wrote about it a few months ago, when Global was celebrating their 50 anniversary...

They ran some clips of what THEY called news highlights of the last 50 years.....It was a Friday morning....The clips in order were..

Clip 1) Jas Johal chasing Mike Farnworth  asking him about Bingogate.

Clip2) Clifford Olsen getting arrested.

Clip3) Harvey Oberfeld going after Bill Vanderzalm.

Clip4) Bountiful scenes with Blackmore.

Clip5) Clip 5 believe it or not, Global News ran the Jas Johal tape again of Jas chasing down Farnworth.

Think about that series of clips Steve Darling and Global news ran that morning ....They attack Vanderzalm, and they place Farnworth between the Bountiful polygamists and Clifford Olsen...

Global news at the bequest of Gordon Campbell was trying to harm the Zalm because of the HST petition and trying to link the NDP with every disgusting criminal in the Province, there was no clip of Gordo`s drunk driving apology, no clip of the BC legislature raid, no clip of the thousands storming the legislature grounds in the response to Gordon Campbell lying and tearing up contracts, none of those stories can compare to Jas Johal asking Farnworth about Bingogate!

And that folks was before the NDP leadership race had even started, Global news has no dirt on John Horgan.

I was so offended by Steve Darling and Global news for such shoddy partisan bullcrap, think about it, Jas Johal asking Farnworth about Bingogate as a highlight!...Oh the humanity, right up there with Carole James making wimpy gutless stooge reporters upchucking on a bumpy airplane ride....I was so offended I wrote a post about it that day

Life is such that the past does come back to haunt, it`s unfortunate that Dix and to a lesser extent Farnworth fall into that category, we don`t get do-overs and politics is a blood sport.

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

BC Liberal Clean Energy Act, Designed to Clean Out Your Wallet!

This letter was sent sent to me from Rafe Mair folks, this letter in simple terms describes exactly what the treasonous Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals(all) have done too British Columbians. Perhaps Christy Clark can ask her boss Patrick Kinsella to explain how we benefit from getting ripped off by General Electric and Plutonic power?

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Who's fool are you?  BC power fraud

 Karen Gibson

Courtenay, BC

 Dear Editor,

 A fantastic letter written by Terry Burt of Comox on BC power (March 25).  I for one will not be amused the next time I'm bent over to plug in my vacuum cleaner thinking of the position that the BC government has adroitly manoeuvred us into.  People need to inform themselves otherwise you won't have a right to complain when this compromising position becomes uncomfortable.

People in the Comox Valley should be cringing at the thought of paying more for electricity.   BC Hydro produces some of the cheapest clean energy in the world.  However, this cheap clean energy is now being put at grave risk by Independent Power Producers. 

How is this possible? The answer is simple, the finger points to the Clean Energy Act.  The Clean Energy Act mandates that BC Hydro be committed to long term inflation adjusted contracts that are currently paying Run of River power producers premiums of 300% or more than the Pacific Northwest wholesale market price for mid-winter, the time of maximum electricity demand.  However, unfortunately most of the power from Run of River IPP's comes during the spring run-off when BC Hydro has a massive surplus of generating capacity.  This adds insult to injury!  Why are we paying a 300% premium for power we don't need?  

Your next thought might be "let's sell the power".  Noble and fiscally prudent idea, however, the continental US our biggest trading partner has a mind boggling amount of new wind power that has created a supply glut on the market. Now, our power that BC Hydro is purchasing for  the extravagant sum of approx. $100/MWh from private power producers is  worth a mere fraction of that on the open market.  To make matters worse we are contracted to pay that inflation adjusted $100/MWh for the next 30 to 40 years.  Current market forecasts predict that wholesale electricity prices won't exceed $80/MWh for the next 20 years.   We now face the near term prospect of paying considerably more for our hydro than the power will be worth 20 years from now!

You might say this makes no economic sense!  I whole heartedly agree as does Marjorie Griffin, a Political Science Professor at Simon Fraser University and former BC Hydro Board Member.  She was recently quoted to say that Independent Power Producing contracts "make no sense...they are sometimes as much as 30 times what BC Hydro can sell the power for.  BC Hydro isn't at fault.  BC Hydro would never have chosen to do this because it makes no economic sense."  It is important for all BC citizens to understand that they are currently BC Hydro shareholders, customers and guarantors of all debts to the corporation.  

As shareholders of BC Hydro we need to demand that the noose of the ill-conceived Clean Energy Act be cut from around our necks and scrapped.  The BC Utilities Commission must be reinstated with its full authority to arbitrate on behalf of the ratepayers against future legislation of this type.  Our new Energy Minister Mr. Coleman and Premier Clark would be well advised to attend a course at SFU under the tutelage of Ms Griffin to learn how to calculate "economic sense", a concept that eluded the Campbell government.

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The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

How Many More Lies From the Bullshitter Craig James Do We Have to Endure?

You know friends I just can`t believe how many lies the BC Liberals have told, our attorney generals are liars, every BC Liberal is liar, crooks and thieves, we will talk about them a little later for now I want to discuss the bold faced lies spewed out of Craig James`s mouth, you remember him, the Gordon Campbell appointed flunkee to Elections BC....

What am I talking about, I`m talking about how Craig James is on the record(before the Federal election writ was dropped) as saying...

With BC having fixed election dates it`s virtually impossible  for Election`s BC to prepare for an election without 6 months notice....snip

The Federal Government theoretically  has fixed election dates too....The Federal voting and Provincial voting takes place in the same damn voting booths!

Bill Good, Balderdash and Vaughn the Pawn Palmer and all the CKNW radio voices have repeated Craig James`s lies!

We were told about the enormous amount of work and preparation required to hold an election and that BC can no longer just call an election and be ready in a month, these lies were all spawned by the successful anti-hst petition that 720,000 BCers signed....Craig James claimed there was no way we would be able to hold a referendum vote without 6 months notice and now.....

And now the Federal writ has been dropped and we will be heading to the polls on May/2/2011, a mere 5 weeks from now, so perhaps some young investigative journalist might ask Craig James where his Federal counterparts  found the power of a immortal God to pull off this amazing feat of holding a Province wide election with a mere 5 weeks notice, I would suggest that an old investigative journalist could ask Craig James that question but they don`t exist in BC, the Balderdash`s and Palmer`s and Sean Leslie`s of BC won`t investigate anything let alone ask any biting questions.

Which brings me the June 24th mail out ballot on the HST referendum vote, how is it that we have to wait until June/24th/2011 ...3 months away from now, how come we can have a Federal Province wide election in 5 weeks and we have to wait until June 24th/2011 to vote down the HST...A BC Election official last week on the Simi Sara show stated...

The mail out ballot would take several months to set up, it`s a real challenge getting the ballots ready, a Provincial election would require even more time to prepare, since BC has fixed election dates Elections BC no longer has the ability to arrange voting spots through out the Province in a rush..

Well, what happened Craig James, where did the Federal Election people find the power to move mountains and part the seas to pull this amazing feat off? A Province wide election in 5 weeks,...It`s a miracle friends, the Feds must be Gods, a Greek God wielding the power of Zeus and Moses combined!

So how come it takes months to send out a mail out ballot, the question is already drafted, the printers could have the ballots printed in days, I guarantee you folks that the mail out ballot could be drafted, sent out and returned in a month at most and if the need was there it could be done in 2 weeks so for Craig James and Elections BC to continue on with these lies is an insult to everyone in British Columbia, it`s also a pox on every media`s house for not asking Craig James how the Feds can make miracles happen but Elections BC can`t even get a mail out ballot out to BCers without several months notice.

Back to the mail out ballot, Gordon Campbell changed BC`s Election law and criteria to be able to vote 2 years ago, having worked the polls I am very familiar with it, people had to bring in ID(Identification) Hydro bills and phone bills and verify not only who they were but where they live, there was outrage by a few of the protectors of Democratic rights over that move, people who were homeless or couch surfing were disenfranchised from the voting process by this move, it made it very difficult for people down on their luck too be able to vote, it was another move designed to give an edge to the wealthy elites, no wonder our voting numbers continue to fall.....

So now with a mail out ballot we have no idea if one family members fills out and signs every ballot, we have no idea who will be sending in ballots, we will have no idea if every riding will receive the ballot, remember the BC Liberal membership PIN number mail out fiasco?....Multiply that mail out by a factor of 50, instead of mailing out 50,000 pin numbers now we are talking about mailing over 2 million ballots, who will be blamed if things go wrong, Canada post, Elections BC, will strong NDP ridings get the same mail delivery as West Vancouver, will ballots for the yes side be bought by corporations, will employees be offered prizes for ceding or surrendering their vote, after the BC Liberal membership fiasco can we really trust a mail out vote or online vote....

My suggestion to to Bill Vanderzalm and the no HST side is to demand that the Ballots be mailed out 2 months in advance of the June 24th date and allow voters 2 months to return the ballot....Government does it all the time, from tax forms to medical requests to the licensing process...

There is no way in hell me and my fellow BCers will allow the BC Liberals and Craig James to screw over the voters again, if there isn`t 100% faith in the process and if something goes wrong I wouldn`t want to work in Elections BC...I believe employees would run for fear of retaliation by voters who have been pushed too far!

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open