Stephen Harper-above the Law?

Well the big story in Canada right now is all about Ethics. The very idea of moral and ethical behaviour of our publicly elected MP's was a key issue in the last election, and now even before Parliament is called to session, this issue is front and centre. This time however it is the Conservatives and Liberals in question, not just the Liberals.

Ethics is a very grey area, not black and white, which makes this current issue even more complicated and very controversial. Politics has always been ethically "grey" with regard to lobby groups, election donations, the Senate, appointments, etc. And to have David Emerson cross the floor to the Conservatives was not an illegal move, nor being appointed to the Cabinet. Nor was Belinda Stronach's move to the Liberal party illegal. But there is a very large difference between the two cross-overs.

Belinda left the Conservatives because of their parties policy on Gay marriage, thus becoming a Liberal and voted for Gay Marriage. So this move was a personal moral conflict. Now the NDP and the Conservatives do bring up a very important point: Why did she, knowing the parties position on Gay marriage, run as a Conservative in the election? That is ethics my friends and having this investigated is very valid.

David Emerson left the Liberals not on ethics but on business. This is really different than Belinda's move. David is a well respected business man in BC, and has many friends in very high places in the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC), and the Trade Boards of BC, and moved over so that he could head up the Ministery of Vancouver 2010, Pacific Gateway, and Trade. This is where the question lies; Did he move over because of his personal lobby groups and did the Conservatives "get" any favours from the business groups as a result? Or even before the election?

So you have two very ethically challenged appointments and crossovers which should be investigated. But the biggest and most concerning thing about these events is that Stephen Harper has refused to co-operate with Mr. Shapiro on the grounds that his appointment is challenged but the Belinda crossover was not. Valid point, but to break the law and not cooperate with Shapiro is flat out irresponsible of a man who only a month ago, swore on a bible, to up hold all laws in this country. This is the concern, that we have a PM who thinks he is above the law? Stephen Harper could have asked to have a different person investigate, or send this to committee. But to not even ask this or let anyone investigate anything at all gives rise to this question; Is he actually hiding something?

When the ethics commissioner first called this investigation, I was concerned about why call Stephen Harper's appointment and not Paul Martin's earlier 'Belinda-gate". But since Mr. Harper's lack of respect with the Rule of Law, his ethics as well as Emerson's are now in question and this MUST be investigated. With Emerson recently in Vancouver and not having the decency to talk to or meet with any of his constituents, and to put up a "police fence" at all of his"public" engagements, it only adds to the idea that both Mr. Harper and Mr. Emerson are hiding something. Why not hold a by-election? With now over 20,000 signatures to recall Emerson, I think the riding wants to be heard.

We can only wait and see what will unfold in the next few weeks leading up to the House back in session, and when that happens, Stephen Harper and his party will likely have a rough time. Already the Bloc, the NDP and the Liberals have all come forward and said they have formed a block against the Conservatives as a result of the "Ethics-gate". So we may be back to the polls in April, when the Conservative budget gets voted out. I for one, can't wait.

Image courtesy of www.parl.gc.ca

Luna the Killer Whale is Killed!

One of the weirdest news stories in BC has come to an end. Luna, the very affectionate and rather-bothersome killer whale was killed today by a US tugboat. Over the past 5 years, Luna has been popping in and out of the news because in Nootka Sound in 2001, Luna got separated from his "pod", and as a result, he began to live in various harbours in Nootka, causing issues with boats and residence.

The Department of Fisheries in 2004 tried to re-locate Luna out of the shipping lanes and harbours of Nootka but the local Native band, the Mowaat-Muchalaat band, stepped in and protested the DFO move. They claimed that their cheif's soul, who passed away days before Luna was first sighted in Nootka sound, was in Luna and that no one should move him.

The DFO aggreed and the matter was settled. Luna came up in the news every few months with a boating accident, residence complaining of him or shipping lanes affected, type news story. And the DFO warned people that Luna will die as a result of his affection for humans and boats.

Well they were right, no details have been released, but feel free to read the article.

Rest in peace Luna.

Image courtesy of www.vanaqua.com

The Best Sushi in Kamloops

Well I decided to venture out yesterday to a sushi place near Milestone's called Arigato Sushi, which I was told by a co-worker, was really good.

First a little history, thanks to Justin and Tina, I love sushi, and living in Vancouver all those years, you are accustom to really GOOD sushi. So my hesitation to eat sushi in Kamloops, where the ocean is 3.5 hours away, and the city is 90% white, was very strong; and validated by a bad experience that Tina and Justin had when they ate sushi in Kamloops (not at Arigato).

So I go to this Arigato Sushi, which is in the "Chapters Mall" on Hillside Dr. because the craving for sushi was overwhelming and I have to have IT! The restaurant inside was really nice, and of course in full Japanese manner, the sushi cooks welcomed me when I entered. Now with sushi, I find that price really isn't the big factor, but taste and quality of the fish is most important. And let me tell you, Arigato Sushi has it all going on; flavour, quality, service, everything. Although the price was a bit more than what I would pay in Vancouver, the quality of the sushi was infact on par or better.

So I want to let you sushi lovers out there that when you are in Kamloops or driving by, good sushi can be found here. And for you locals, get out and try it! Sushi is healthy, looks good, and is a very civilized way to eat (not to metion very fast). I would highly reccommend the Spicy Tuna Roll and the House Green Tea is the best I've ever had.

Patriot Act used in Libraries!

I recently went to Los Angeles to visit my brother, who lives and works near Irvine, CA, and on my plane trip home (commuter flight from LAX to San Fran) I had the pleasure of sitting beside an American Librarian for Oregon State. She was an amazing person, very well spoken and loved what she did. She was proud of her career and that she, and many other librarians, are really voicing their concrens publicly about the Patriot Act and George Bush, and becoming "national guards" for free speech and the right to information.

She had a pin on which caught my attention, and it said "Anarchist Librarians" or something like that. So our conversation started with the pin and went from there. She pointed out that in America right now, many librarians are concerned over "scary" changes to the freedoms and rights of every American, particularly with the Patriot Act. ACLU points out many attacks on rights in libraries, most disturbing is the FBI and CIA are allowed, under the Patriot act, to pressure and "get" information from Librarians, including all information a person has looked up and what they looked at when they used the public computers. Section 215, where this provision is in the Patriot Act, also has a nasty clause which puts a manditory gag order on anyone with access to this information and that any person wishing to view the information collected, are also under a gag order. It goes even further to state that the gag order on Section 215 CANNOT be removed by a court of law.

This attack, along with countless others including the US goverment creating a censor list of websites for public computers in libraries...you know a place where you have access or I guess limited, um lets see, only if George says so? Librarian.net, Anarchist Librarians, and many other organizations created by Librarians have been critisised for speaking out against the government and called, Right Wing, Left Wing, Commuist, Anarchist; everything under the sun. Why? Because they are standing up for freedom to information and freedom of ideas. Does this make sense?

Having to call themselves "Anarchist Librarians" so to point fun and mock the NeoCon Freedom Death Machine is great; I love the fact that a profession which has been stereotyped as a quite, submissive and "old lady" job is standing up and fighting for what they believe.

So tell people about librarians, and go to your local library and thank them for what a great job they are doing, and most importantly, thank them for watching out for your civil liberities and rights.

The Best Wings in Kamloops

To anyone living in Kamloops, or if you drive through, take note: Bailey's Pub on the corner of York and 8th, a block from my house, serves the best wings. On Wednesdays they have a deal of .25cent wings, and you can choose from 12 different types. Great food, really good service!

And quietly America loses freedoms?

Watching todays news on CBC News World, the top story is that the US Congress today passed and accepted the Patriot Act, with no conditions! And suprise, suprise, no where on CNN, or any other US news website or TV show is there a mention of this Earth shattering vote. You can find it on CBC, BBC, the Financial Times and various other international news sources, but funny no American sources ran with the story. This bill lets the President and his top agencies to wire tap your phone and any phone they THINK you will use, gather personal information, video record, and detain people without court or personal consent. It also allows the US government to collect data of ANY person logging in, sourcing, downloading, or purchasing anything from an American Corperation. Which means you buy a 4L jug of milk at COSTCO, and George Bush knows it, if he feels like it.

Now this Patriot Act was in place since 9/11, but the key thing here is that 16 sections of the original bill had conditional wording and conditional acceptance, which were suppose to be reviewed in 4-6 years in the Congress and Senate. These conditions were put in place because, suprise suprise, people feared how much power the bill gave to the Executive. But without any review of any of the conditional points, the Congress passed the Patriot act with no changes, or very little.

It is a real disturbing trend these days, that "due to the threat of terrorism" governments pass bills and laws which are curtailing an individuals civil liberties of right to privacy. Yesterday, the Japanese government passed a law which starting this year, ALL people entering their boarder, including flying over the country but not landing, have to be FINGER PRINTED and PHOTOGRAPHED.

I hope that Stephen Harper doesn't fall into this trap and buddy up with the Patriot Act. You can see the writing on the wall, political pressure from the US to "stream-line" the boarder and create "fortress-America" will force Canada to accept the very same laws the US pass. All in the name of neighbourly love. One word: SCARY.

Anyone see 24 on monday?

First, let me start off by saying that I don't watch alot of TV but the show "24" is the show I follow and watch. It is all filmed so that each episode is one hour out of the 24 hours, and each season is 24 episodes...you follow? Good! So this is now season 5 and long story short, they killed (SPOILERS) off a main character, and a very well liked character called Edgar. Now we haven't seen him actually being put in a body bag, we just saw him collapse after a toxic nerve gas was pumped into the CTU headquarters and hundreds of people fell, hit things, collapsing, very dramatic like. So he may be ok....Jack Bauer will save him! Anyways see ya Edgar, you will be missed. The photo is of the character Edgar killed off on Monday. :(

So I urge people to watch 24, it is on the Fox network and it's on Mondays at 10pm. Great writing, great characters, and a whole lot of fun!

Image courtesy of www.fox.com/24

Welcome

Hello to everyone who visits, this is of course a blog, and this is my first one. I tried before but got really lazy and didn't update the thing. But I have made a commitment to myself that I should do this because I feel that my story needs to be told and I think others would like to hear it. I'm embarking on a journey in May, like every year, because I work in the Exploration mining industry in BC. I work as a head cook and first aid guy which is a very rewarding career choice and enables me to see BC for free!

I'm currently working and studying in Kamloops, working at Milestone's and studying Business at TRU . I have a girlfriend who is an amazing person by the name of Jenni and she lives in Campbell River, BC. We've been friends since high school, but have become quite close over the last few months-stayed tuned for more updates!

I love the outdoors, really enjoy photography, and well enough about me, I have to get back to studying Economics.

The photo is me in the Mandy Valley near Bob Quinn Lake in northern BC. Thanks for stopping by, see ya!