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Post by lmtengs on Feb 26, 2011 19:08:44 GMT -8
Christy Clark has been named Premier of British Columbia and leader of the BC Liberals. She won by about 400 votes. Second place was Kevin Falcon, third George Abbott, and coming in last, Mike De Jong. I believe it was 400 "points" not 400 votes. Thanks for catching that, John Above post changed.
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Post by Retrovision on Mar 8, 2011 13:32:11 GMT -8
Weighted vote, yes.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 9, 2011 14:39:57 GMT -8
One thing I really appreciate about this forum these days is that it seems to be about the only place in cyberspace or the media where I don't see any references to Charlie Sheen.
Oops. Sorry.
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Mill Bay
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Long Suffering Bosun
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Post by Mill Bay on Mar 9, 2011 15:23:47 GMT -8
One thing I really appreciate about this forum these days is that it seems to be about the only place in cyberspace or the media where I don't see any references to Charlie Sheen. Oops. Sorry. I think he should get banned for that!
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Mar 10, 2011 9:25:54 GMT -8
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 14, 2011 18:09:06 GMT -8
When Michael Moore remarked recently that the 400 richest Americans have more accumulated wealth than the bottom 150,000,000, I thought... well, okay, that's Michael Moore. I like the guy and I've seen all his films, but he is somewhat prone to hyperbole. But the numbers have been run by economists, and there seems to be reasonable grounds to say that yes, 400 people have as much money as half of all Americans put together- 150,000,000 people. What's worse, the share of the pie enjoyed by the mega-rich is growing, while so many others see their incomes shrinking. Something to consider as we watch the attack on Wisconsin's public sector workers, and as WSF's employees give back some of their contract. www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/mar/10/michael-moore/michael-moore-says-400-americans-have-more-wealth-/
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Post by lmtengs on Mar 18, 2011 20:22:21 GMT -8
For all those who have not yet had the opportunity, or have had the time but haven't bothered to watch the film Hotel Rwanda, I encourage you to do so. I saw it this past week for the first time, and watching it is really an eye-opening experience on the Rwandan Genocide. It's actually quite a frightening movie, not in the traditional 'OH MY GOD THE MONSTER'S GONNA EAT ME' sense, but more in the 'What if that were to happen here, to us?' kind of sense.
It's a great movie, never a boring moment, and you should all head on out to the video-rental store to fetch yourself a copy.
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Post by Scott on Mar 18, 2011 22:10:37 GMT -8
For all those who have not yet had the opportunity, or have had the time but haven't bothered to watch the film Hotel Rwanda, I encourage you to do so. I saw it this past week for the first time, and watching it is really an eye-opening experience on the Rwandan Genocide. It's actually quite a frightening movie, not in the traditional 'OH MY GOD THE MONSTER'S GONNA EAT ME' sense, but more in the 'What if that were to happen here, to us?' kind of sense. It's a great movie, never a boring moment, and you should all head on out to the video-rental store to fetch yourself a copy. I thought it was a very good movie too. Interesting Canadian connection, as Romeo Dallaire was the commander of the UN mission there.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 18, 2011 23:02:45 GMT -8
For all those who have not yet had the opportunity, or have had the time but haven't bothered to watch the film Hotel Rwanda, I encourage you to do so. I saw it this past week for the first time, and watching it is really an eye-opening experience on the Rwandan Genocide. It's actually quite a frightening movie, not in the traditional 'OH MY GOD THE MONSTER'S GONNA EAT ME' sense, but more in the 'What if that were to happen here, to us?' kind of sense. ...and on the same cheerful topic, the CBC this evening ran a documentary called 'Famine and Shipwreck', or somesuch, which detailed what has often misleadingly been refered to as the Irish potato famine, but would more properly be called the English genocide and ethnic cleansing of Ireland. Not a topic I'm unfamiliar with, but still shocking, when you consider that a nation which fought the genocidal Nazis had themselves been directly responsible for the deaths of a million Irish a hundred years prior, not to mention the attempted destruction of their culture and the forced emigration of another million. Gives context to anti-Anglo feelings which persist in some sectors of Irish society even to this day.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Mar 19, 2011 9:44:59 GMT -8
For all those who have not yet had the opportunity, or have had the time but haven't bothered to watch the film Hotel Rwanda, I encourage you to do so. I saw it this past week for the first time, and watching it is really an eye-opening experience on the Rwandan Genocide. It's actually quite a frightening movie, not in the traditional 'OH MY GOD THE MONSTER'S GONNA EAT ME' sense, but more in the 'What if that were to happen here, to us?' kind of sense. ...and on the same cheerful topic, the CBC this evening ran a documentary called 'Famine and Shipwreck', or somesuch, which detailed what has often misleadingly been refered to as the Irish potato famine, but would more properly be called the English genocide and ethnic cleansing of Ireland. Not a topic I'm unfamiliar with, but still shocking, when you consider that a nation which fought the genocidal Nazis had themselves been directly responsible for the deaths of a million Irish a hundred years prior, not to mention the attempted destruction of their culture and the forced emigration of another million. Gives context to anti-Anglo feelings which persist in some sectors of Irish society even to this day. It was a genocide. Coincidently Rosie O' was on "Who do you think I am," (or close to it) last night. She traced her Mother's family back via Quebec to Ireland and the potato famine. If you are interested in the topic it is a good watch too. To simply say this was an Anglo genocide is not quite accurate. All during the famine, food continued to be exported for one reason, $$$. The Irish landlords/gentry/clergy all share as much blame or more, as the Anglos. The Irish poor were among the poorest of the poor. The 10,000 land owners (including bishops) prospered as a result of the famine. Fields that no longer were needed for tenant farmers and low value potatoes were turned into pasture for high value livestock or grain if the ground was suitable. These landlords didn't starve. When they realized the money that could be made, they accelerated the pace of forced evictions. Houses weren't just vacated, in many cases the eviction teams were told to render the houses inhabitable so the poor wouldn't return. An Irish relative was one of the gentry. He only partially redeemed himself when he later began to sponsor some tenants for assisted emmigration. No doubt many of his tenants had joined the ranks of the dead as there is no sign of him extending help. The conditions in Ireland was only the first hurtle these destitute people faced. A visit to Grosse Ile in Quebec gives you the Canadian experiece of many of the Irish immigrants who needed to be quaranteened after being in the diseased ridden work houses and coffin ships. The same with the Irish Potato Famine museum a block away from ground zero in NYC. Both very sobering visits but ones I would highly recommend. *Story warning and note re. Rwanda . If you are intrigued, read Romeo Dallaire's book on Rwanda. I was in Washington for a conference and a client/colleague and I wandered into Borders to look at books (she was looking for some decorating book recommended by Oprah ) and upstairs Gen. Dallaire was giving a talk and signing books. It was very moving and during the Q & A my client stood up in a teary voice said you make us proud to be Canadians. Afterward he came up and chatted with us and immediately struck us a real quality person and gentleman. A week later at the new Ottawa airport terminal the book store wheeled out a trolly of his books and he sat signing them while we waited for our Toronto flight. He remembered my face and asked where he knew me from, so I pulled out his book with the signature from my briefcase said, Georgetown Borders. He grinned and said, ah yes the proud Canadians. One of those people you never will forget meeting.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 19, 2011 18:54:15 GMT -8
It was a genocide. Coincidently Rosie O' was on "Who do you think I am," (or close to it) last night. She traced her Mother's family back via Quebec to Ireland and the potato famine. If you are interested in the topic it is a good watch too. To simply say this was an Anglo genocide is not quite accurate. All during the famine, food continued to be exported for one reason, $$$. The Irish landlords/gentry/clergy all share as much blame or more, as the Anglos. The Irish poor were among the poorest of the poor. The 10,000 land owners (including bishops) prospered as a result of the famine. Fields that no longer were needed for tenant farmers and low value potatoes were turned into pasture for high value livestock or grain if the ground was suitable. These landlords didn't starve. When they realized the money that could be made, they accelerated the pace of forced evictions. Houses weren't just vacated, in many cases the eviction teams were told to render the houses inhabitable so the poor wouldn't return. An Irish relative was one of the gentry. He only partially redeemed himself when he later began to sponsor some tenants for assisted emmigration. No doubt many of his tenants had joined the ranks of the dead as there is no sign of him extending help. I saw some of that Rosie O'Donnell episode. She was obviously moved by the conditions her forebears faced in that wretched poorhouse. One of the best aspects of the current interest in genealogy is the connection that people are gaining to history by finding out their family's role in it, and the conditions they lived through. I think I'll stick with my assertion of English culpability in the famine. Many of the 10,000 big land owners were English in origin and owed more of an allegiance to the British crown than to anything Irish. Many didn't even live in Ireland. The English were completely aware of the extent of the famine and did nothing to stop the huge exports of Irish produced crops and meat, while the people there were dying. The land ownership laws and the theft of small properties from Irish farmers when they went to the poorhouses was also partly an English initiative. Then there was the horrendous dehumanizing of Irish people in the English press, and often in Parliament and society as a whole. It's much easier to let people die when you don't see them as fully human. There was the famous statement about the blight being caused by God, but the famine being caused by the English. I suppose we have to be careful using words like genocide, lest we diminish the experience of people who've unarguably had such a thing visited upon them. Still, even if there wasn't a conscious attempt to kill a million people, the effect of such awful neglect and cultural, commercial, and legal imperialism was just the same in the end. Interesting to note that 10,000 relatively wealthy people controlled the assets in a land of nine or ten million. 170 years later we have the American situation- verified by a number of economists- where 400 people have more wealth than 150,000,000 combined. The more things change... I agree with you about Romeo Dallaire. He's pretty much the expression of how a lot of Canadians would like our country to be, and of how we'd like others to see us.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Mar 20, 2011 7:26:20 GMT -8
For those interested the first flight of the passenger version of the latest Boeing 747 family, the 748i, is taking to the air at 9:45am PST. Probably live on some of the Seattle stations as well. www.newairplane.com/Quite the beast and I look forward to seeing it live. Now having seen Big Momma (Airbus 380) dozens of times, I must say the aircraft hasn't grown on me at all. However the B748i will likely look every bit as good in person.
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Post by lmtengs on Mar 20, 2011 8:39:53 GMT -8
The Live broadcast has started, and I'm tuned in
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Post by Freeland on Apr 2, 2011 23:54:34 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Apr 14, 2011 22:12:17 GMT -8
I know some of you guys live out in or near Delta, and I was wondering if you had any opinion on this big mall they want to build out by the ferry terminal. I'm not exactly sure where it will be build, but it will be on the First Nations land. From what the reports say, the mall will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in BC. I'm not sure if I like the idea. First of all, it will probably draw away business from the main drag in Tsawwassen and the Ladner town center. Secondly, I just don't see how it could be successful. Are people going to drive to the far corner of Greater Vancouver to go shopping? A mall of that size will need a tremendous amount of people coming to make it viable. Sure, you have ferry traffic, but people are usually rushing to make the ferry or heading somewhere else once they're off. If people are going to drive that far to go shopping (ie. from Surrey, Richmond, Vancouver), I think they'd rather head over the border to Washington and save 20-40% on their shopping bill. So much for the high dollar lowering our prices eh? (amazing how companies always pass on savings to the customers - off topic) On the other hand, if it did become popular, it could lead to improved transit services to that area. And it might lead to some high-density residential development too, although I doubt that's what Tsawwassen residents want. Do they even have a say in all this? www.delta-optimist.com/business/puts+projects+fast+track/4607802/story.html
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mrdot
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Mr. DOT
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Post by mrdot on Apr 15, 2011 14:58:39 GMT -8
:)some of you will know that after my ferry years, and a degree at UVIC, my second career was in town planning, the bulk of it being for the town planner in Delta/tsawwassen, and some of it involved leasion with tsawwassen first nations, there have been many proposals floated in recent years, the latest is this mega mall, which may or may not see the light of day, we will see! Planners hired by the first nations have floated many proposals, however the monatary value often doesn't transpire as projected,ie their tsawwassen shores condo's were a bit of a bust, and their have been several other trial baloons, so we will see on this one? many of the planners I met along the way, were not unlike the caracter reviveing our ferry authority, and with similar price tags! :)mrdot.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Apr 21, 2011 22:17:33 GMT -8
I've been skeptical of the Canucks' ability to duplicate what they did in the regular season in the playoffs. Some teams thrive in the slightly less intense 82 game season, and wilt under the pressure of the playoffs. Witness the inability of most first place finishers to carry on to the Stanley Cup.
Has there ever been a team, outscored 12-2 in two games, which went on to win the Cup? They look like they have theit tee times booked already.
Prediction: No matter what happens in the last two games against Chicago, this Canucks team is a group of pretenders. I'll be delighted if they prove me wrong.
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Post by dofd on Apr 21, 2011 23:14:02 GMT -8
After the the third game I say NO! After this game?!!!!!
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mrdot
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Mr. DOT
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Post by mrdot on Apr 22, 2011 9:29:09 GMT -8
:)while this is a forum dealing with marine matters, I will note that concern is mounting on the Cannucks putting their ship on an even keel! I remember in my youth, the Maple Laughs winning three cups in a row, and I think in the regular season they only managed fourth place in the old six team league, but come playoffs they came alive, so history repeats itself! as for marine matters, evergreen fleet's posts of the old motor princess, I will have to dig out my motor princess/pender queen file of drawings, she was an ugly duckling, but a pioneer, all the same! :)mrdot.
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Post by lmtengs on May 1, 2011 19:09:57 GMT -8
Just thought people might like to know, Osama Bin Laden is DEAD. It's breaking news on a few TV stations as I post this. Haven't seen any online reports yet. Edit:Here's our first news story I've found: abcnews.go.com/Blotter/osama-bin-laden-killed/story?id=13505703There's more, go to the linked story to read the next three pages of info.
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on May 2, 2011 7:55:00 GMT -8
Just thought people might like to know, Osama Bin Laden is DEAD. It's breaking news on a few TV stations as I post this. Haven't seen any online reports yet. My first reaction to this was that, although the popular media driven social cult, down in the states, especially, may hype this up for as long as they can and milk it for as much as it's worth, I don't really see how it affects all our lives at this point. We've been living with this state of terror infused paranoia for so long that even the death of the so call 'master mind' will do nothing to alleviate the current culture of the world, the over extension of security measures and defensive powers, nor will it mean any kind of return to 'normalcy' in terms of all the extra security barriers being taken down, the fences removed, airport security won't become any more friendly, and unofficial policies against photography will likely continue to be enforced. Suffice it to say, this now changes nothing! It is just now a media grab, a pop political culture fashion, and I wouldn't even put it past the current US administration to use it as a currency towards buying themselves a second term since they can now proclaim to the world they are the ones that finished the job, and ended the war on terror and saved our society from its self-created paranoia and apprehension.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on May 2, 2011 9:53:34 GMT -8
Just thought people might like to know, Osama Bin Laden is DEAD. It's breaking news on a few TV stations as I post this. Haven't seen any online reports yet. My first reaction to this was, who cares??? And it still remains the same. Though the popular media driven social cult, down in the states, especially, may hype this up for as long as they can and milk it for as much as it's worth, I don't really see how it affects all our lives at this point. We've been living with this state of terror infused paranoia for so long that even the death of the so call 'master mind' will do nothing to alleviate the current culture of the world, the over extension of security measures and defensive powers, nor will it mean any kind of return to 'normalcy' in terms of all the extra security barriers being taken down, the fences removed, airport security won't become any more friendly, and unofficial policies against photography will likely continue to be enforced. Suffice it to say, this now changes nothing! It is just now a media grab, a pop political culture fashion, and I wouldn't even put it past the current US administration to use it as a currency towards buying themselves a second term since they can now proclaim to the world they are the ones that finished the job, and ended the war on terror and saved our society from its self-created paranoia and apprehension. Barack Obama was very clear last night that he wasn't trying to sell this killing as the ultimate victory over terrorism. He was realistic about the continuing danger from forces like Al Qaeda. I disagree about this meaning nothing. You're right- all the security concerns, real or imagined, will still be there, and no one's life will change much. But the killing of this vile murderer is a victory that Americans are very much justified in celebrating. Crimes such as his should never go unpunished. Whether you can cheer the fact that it took ten years to find one man, when he was all the time in a country that is supposedly co-operating militarily and intelligence wise with the U.S., is another matter. But last night, I could identify with all our American neighbors who took to the streets in celebration.
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Post by Mike C on May 2, 2011 17:37:06 GMT -8
Speaking as someone who lost a family friend in the attacks, let me tell you that this is certainly nothing less than a victory for American and Canadian forces and citizens fighting terrorism.
Although there are times when I don't totally agree with the decisions that are made regarding the execution of the continuing anti-terrorism effort, I do feel that the outcome was definitely for the better.
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Post by lmtengs on May 2, 2011 20:53:27 GMT -8
Although there are times when I don't totally agree with the decisions that are made regarding the execution of the continuing anti-terrorism effort, I do feel that the outcome was definitely for the better. ...except for Al Qaeda's simple but frightening comment this morning: "We will get our revenge."
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 2, 2011 21:45:09 GMT -8
Speaking as someone who lost a family friend in the attacks, let me tell you that this is certainly nothing less than a victory for American and Canadian forces and citizens fighting terrorism. Although there are times when I don't totally agree with the decisions that are made regarding the execution of the continuing anti-terrorism effort, I do feel that the outcome was definitely for the better. 9/11 hit me hard. The WTC area was my home base when I was in NYC, every two weeks staying in the hotel right across the street or two others a block away. My morning coffee trek, took me to the Starbucks inbetween the towers. I don't feel the elation, but more like a bit of relief. If the number two guy is also taken out or faces justice, I will probably feel a bit more relief as well. The sadness and indignation I felt has faded but not my resolve to support. However, I still have the feeling that the danger might be less but has not gone away.
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