Wednesday, October 20, 2010
BC Rail and the MacKenzie-Berardino-Dump - a highly suspect act in itself
.
By BC Mary
My friends, we need to talk.
There are 88 media items waiting to be posted here ... 88 "news" reports from "accredited" journalists who are paid wages for their work.
As long-time readers know,The Legislature Raids was launched in May 2006 for the very simple reason that almost nothing was being reported by the "accredited" journalists in Big Media. Even then, we could see that some people wanted the topic to die.
A group of us, commenting on The Tyee, realized that the BC public would never know what happened to BC Rail ... the way things were going. First, there was moaning and hand-wringing. But then someone said, "Dammit, we can't just lie down and die! We could start a web-site on BC Rail and gather the news ourselves!" And we did. The Legislature Raids was one of those web-sites (blogs).
Many people have read this blog regularly, for 4-1/2 years. Readers from all corners of the province, of Canada, and beyond, have studied the BC Rail Trial on these pages. Certain key people in the BC Supreme Courtroom for Case #23299 have said how important this blog has been. And when that mock trial was brought to a crashing halt on Oct. 18, 2010, the jury (salut!) got the URL for The Legislature Raids.
I hope that all readers have been strengthened in a continued determination to "open the books" on what actually did happen 7 years ago when BC Rail slipped from public ownership into private pockets.
Why should they bother, you ask.
Because that railway is vitally important to the province we love. Just as BC is special, so was BCR special. BC Railmen have died, proving the point ... that the cliffs and chasms of Lillooet BC aren't the same as the prairie flatland trackage. British Columbians know this very well. Bozos from Montreal or Texas, not so much.
Whereas BCR was capable of bending to the needs of shippers in towns and communities from Vancouver to Fort Nelson, the rail service has deteriorated since the CN takeover.
With BCRail, the needs of British Columbians came first. With CN in control, a different dynamic is in play. Unless we can bring pressure to bear, British Columbia's future appears as a transit-way (Pacific Gateway!) in which resources are hauled (as fast as possible) out of the province "devil take the hindmost", while cheap goods produced by slave labour are hauled in for BC retailers. Small towns and villages in BC are road-kill. We can see it already. They say it's the cost of doing business. And now, Prince George is Crime Capital of Canada; Victoria is rated 2nd in Canada.
Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett first called it "The BC Rail Case", not the Basi-Virk-Basi case. It was National Post which called it "The BC Rail Political Corruption Case" which seems to fit best. And the corruption, in my view, isn't confined to the three Accused. We saw one of its last, desperate acts when a united front led by Anne MacKenzie and Bill Berardino, dumped the most important trial in BC history and the compliant media stood by, watching this, and pronounced British Columbia "cleansed".
Like hell.
Truth is: British Columbia is in worse shape than we ever imagined. "He's shortening his witness list." "He's been called to Toronto and it's not his fault." said the Honourable MacKenzie. All the while, they lying to us; they were in bald-faced negotiations. And Big Media reports this simply as Basi & Virk admitting guilt. Sickening, sickening treachery.
And now we come to what I need to explain to my readers. Here's what happened.
Early afternoon on October 18, 2010, the first news arrived from a Citizen Journalist who had been in BCSC Courtroom 54. He told me that the trial was over.
Unlike the Ontario trial of Col. Russell Williams, which made certain that the public understood that horrendous trial ... the judge and Prosecution on the BC Rail Case seems to assure us that the essence of the BC Rail trial will be virtually closed, unless we keep pushing. We have even heard rumours that all BC Rail evidence is to be destroyed almost immediately. Plus Basi and Virk had to sign a non-disclosure agreement before making off with that $6million.
If BCSC and the Crown Prosecutor (read Campbell) have their way, we will never learn the truth, i.e., never see the FULL deal between BCR and CN. And there isn't the slightest doubt in my mind that the people who are most happy with this development were the ones who ought to have been charged. As for the ones who proclaim "Now BC is cleansed!" they are wearing shades of brown.
It's not as if we hadn't known -- all along, from June 2006 -- that dismissing the trial was a possibility. So that wasn't a shock. The awful, disgusting truth hit me full force when I turned to Big Media for their take on these momentous events. Because, ordinarily, I would've posted links to ALL points of view. But as I looked at one, two, three "accredited" journalists, I saw the same old stuff, only worse. They're saying We're cleansed! Be happy!
With that, I felt waves of revulsion against the very people who ought to be telling the truth.
"No," I thought. "Not today." No damn way could I touch what one reader had already called "a steaming pile of crap".
I decided at noon on Oct. 18, that -- on such a day -- only the Citizen Journalists (unaccredited by a media deeply embedded in our putrified judicial system), would bring their point of view forward on these pages. I waited for Robin Mathews, then added Rafe Mair, then Peter Ewart from Prince George, and finally a telling line from National Post which called some of these "accredited" persons "the compliant press". That entire National Post column in fact is an indictment of the mischief done by the "accredited" press to the best interests of British Columbia.
With that line-up, I was able to feel proud again of what citizens in their honesty have accomplished so far.
Next day, I tried to read Big Media again. Well ... first up, came that nauseating Vancouver Sun editorial which pronounced BC cleansed of its sinners (Basi, Virk, Basi ha ha!) and advised us all to be happy again. "No," I thought. "No way will I promote this line of crap."
And today, Day #3, that's how it stands, on the MacKenzie-Berardino-Dump -- a highly suspect act in itself. Corruption has its own special smell ... a deeply offensive rotting stench which warns of DANGER. Which cries out for remedial action.
Good journalism is essential to an enlightened democracy.
I don't know if I can ever tolerate what in B.C. is the debasement of the honourable profession of journalism. But also, I don't know if my readers can tolerate seeing only the Citizen Journalism which has developed around a topic (BC Rail) even though it is so clearly our very own field of interest. Let me know.
All I know right now, is that there are 88 Google-Alerts waiting to tell me more of the rotten lies of Big Media, Where in 2006 it was almost impossible to find any news of what happened to BC Rail ... today there are eighty articles by "accredited" reporters all lined up, eager to cheer on the destruction of public assets in British Columbia.
No . damn . way.
By BC Mary
My friends, we need to talk.
There are 88 media items waiting to be posted here ... 88 "news" reports from "accredited" journalists who are paid wages for their work.
As long-time readers know,The Legislature Raids was launched in May 2006 for the very simple reason that almost nothing was being reported by the "accredited" journalists in Big Media. Even then, we could see that some people wanted the topic to die.
A group of us, commenting on The Tyee, realized that the BC public would never know what happened to BC Rail ... the way things were going. First, there was moaning and hand-wringing. But then someone said, "Dammit, we can't just lie down and die! We could start a web-site on BC Rail and gather the news ourselves!" And we did. The Legislature Raids was one of those web-sites (blogs).
Many people have read this blog regularly, for 4-1/2 years. Readers from all corners of the province, of Canada, and beyond, have studied the BC Rail Trial on these pages. Certain key people in the BC Supreme Courtroom for Case #23299 have said how important this blog has been. And when that mock trial was brought to a crashing halt on Oct. 18, 2010, the jury (salut!) got the URL for The Legislature Raids.
I hope that all readers have been strengthened in a continued determination to "open the books" on what actually did happen 7 years ago when BC Rail slipped from public ownership into private pockets.
Why should they bother, you ask.
Because that railway is vitally important to the province we love. Just as BC is special, so was BCR special. BC Railmen have died, proving the point ... that the cliffs and chasms of Lillooet BC aren't the same as the prairie flatland trackage. British Columbians know this very well. Bozos from Montreal or Texas, not so much.
Whereas BCR was capable of bending to the needs of shippers in towns and communities from Vancouver to Fort Nelson, the rail service has deteriorated since the CN takeover.
With BCRail, the needs of British Columbians came first. With CN in control, a different dynamic is in play. Unless we can bring pressure to bear, British Columbia's future appears as a transit-way (Pacific Gateway!) in which resources are hauled (as fast as possible) out of the province "devil take the hindmost", while cheap goods produced by slave labour are hauled in for BC retailers. Small towns and villages in BC are road-kill. We can see it already. They say it's the cost of doing business. And now, Prince George is Crime Capital of Canada; Victoria is rated 2nd in Canada.
Madam Justice Elizabeth Bennett first called it "The BC Rail Case", not the Basi-Virk-Basi case. It was National Post which called it "The BC Rail Political Corruption Case" which seems to fit best. And the corruption, in my view, isn't confined to the three Accused. We saw one of its last, desperate acts when a united front led by Anne MacKenzie and Bill Berardino, dumped the most important trial in BC history and the compliant media stood by, watching this, and pronounced British Columbia "cleansed".
Like hell.
Truth is: British Columbia is in worse shape than we ever imagined. "He's shortening his witness list." "He's been called to Toronto and it's not his fault." said the Honourable MacKenzie. All the while, they lying to us; they were in bald-faced negotiations. And Big Media reports this simply as Basi & Virk admitting guilt. Sickening, sickening treachery.
And now we come to what I need to explain to my readers. Here's what happened.
Early afternoon on October 18, 2010, the first news arrived from a Citizen Journalist who had been in BCSC Courtroom 54. He told me that the trial was over.
Unlike the Ontario trial of Col. Russell Williams, which made certain that the public understood that horrendous trial ... the judge and Prosecution on the BC Rail Case seems to assure us that the essence of the BC Rail trial will be virtually closed, unless we keep pushing. We have even heard rumours that all BC Rail evidence is to be destroyed almost immediately. Plus Basi and Virk had to sign a non-disclosure agreement before making off with that $6million.
If BCSC and the Crown Prosecutor (read Campbell) have their way, we will never learn the truth, i.e., never see the FULL deal between BCR and CN. And there isn't the slightest doubt in my mind that the people who are most happy with this development were the ones who ought to have been charged. As for the ones who proclaim "Now BC is cleansed!" they are wearing shades of brown.
It's not as if we hadn't known -- all along, from June 2006 -- that dismissing the trial was a possibility. So that wasn't a shock. The awful, disgusting truth hit me full force when I turned to Big Media for their take on these momentous events. Because, ordinarily, I would've posted links to ALL points of view. But as I looked at one, two, three "accredited" journalists, I saw the same old stuff, only worse. They're saying We're cleansed! Be happy!
With that, I felt waves of revulsion against the very people who ought to be telling the truth.
"No," I thought. "Not today." No damn way could I touch what one reader had already called "a steaming pile of crap".
I decided at noon on Oct. 18, that -- on such a day -- only the Citizen Journalists (unaccredited by a media deeply embedded in our putrified judicial system), would bring their point of view forward on these pages. I waited for Robin Mathews, then added Rafe Mair, then Peter Ewart from Prince George, and finally a telling line from National Post which called some of these "accredited" persons "the compliant press". That entire National Post column in fact is an indictment of the mischief done by the "accredited" press to the best interests of British Columbia.
With that line-up, I was able to feel proud again of what citizens in their honesty have accomplished so far.
Next day, I tried to read Big Media again. Well ... first up, came that nauseating Vancouver Sun editorial which pronounced BC cleansed of its sinners (Basi, Virk, Basi ha ha!) and advised us all to be happy again. "No," I thought. "No way will I promote this line of crap."
And today, Day #3, that's how it stands, on the MacKenzie-Berardino-Dump -- a highly suspect act in itself. Corruption has its own special smell ... a deeply offensive rotting stench which warns of DANGER. Which cries out for remedial action.
Good journalism is essential to an enlightened democracy.
I don't know if I can ever tolerate what in B.C. is the debasement of the honourable profession of journalism. But also, I don't know if my readers can tolerate seeing only the Citizen Journalism which has developed around a topic (BC Rail) even though it is so clearly our very own field of interest. Let me know.
All I know right now, is that there are 88 Google-Alerts waiting to tell me more of the rotten lies of Big Media, Where in 2006 it was almost impossible to find any news of what happened to BC Rail ... today there are eighty articles by "accredited" reporters all lined up, eager to cheer on the destruction of public assets in British Columbia.
No . damn . way.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
And, like I was saying:
Alison has left a new comment on your post "BC Rail Political Corruption Trial. Oct. 18, 2010....":
Gary Mason, this morning :
"Attorney-General Mike de Jong confirmed Monday that he gave final approval to the controversial arrangement with Dave Basi and Bob Virk.
What wasn’t revealed in his conversation with reporters was the fact the two men, who pleaded guilty to leaking secret government information in exchange for cash and other financial benefits, had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get the $6-million reprieve."
So as taxpayers, we're now paying Basi and Virk not to talk to us.
Alison has left a new comment on your post "BC Rail Political Corruption Trial. Oct. 18, 2010....":
Gary Mason, this morning :
"Attorney-General Mike de Jong confirmed Monday that he gave final approval to the controversial arrangement with Dave Basi and Bob Virk.
What wasn’t revealed in his conversation with reporters was the fact the two men, who pleaded guilty to leaking secret government information in exchange for cash and other financial benefits, had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get the $6-million reprieve."
So as taxpayers, we're now paying Basi and Virk not to talk to us.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
BC Mary comment: OK, I'll gladly eat my words. Grant Gough at Powell River Persuader has sent me this outstanding -- no, wait a minute -- it's really just a normal piece of good journalism, which we're not accustomed to seeing -- journalism which doesn't just cave in and grovel before the gang, journalism which keeps on asking the difficult questions.
Bravo, The Province! Much appreciated!
Editorial
The Province - Oct. 20, 2010
Where are we as a province or a country when senior government officials can accept more than $75,000 in inducements and no one goes to jail? Do our judges even understand any more the concepts of "right" and "wrong?"
And how can the courts call it a "fine" when the same crooks are merely returning their ill-gotten gains? If the average person fails to declare some income, a fairly minor crime, even they are forced to pay the lost tax plus a 100-per-cent penalty as punishment.
And what sort of government do we have in B.C. when our top justice official, Attorney-General Mike de Jong, can agree to pay the crooked officials' $6-million legal fees as part of a deal between a supposedly independent special prosecutor and the defence lawyers? What is the point of hiring an independent prosecutor in the first place, if at the end of the process the attorney-general — a politician in the very government whose integrity the case brings into question — will be needed to approve such a massive carrot in the plea bargain? Have the payment of lawyers' fees ever before been part of such an arrangement?
And is there anyone in B.C. not suspicious about how all of this could suddenly happen after seven years of legal proceedings on the eve of former finance minister Gary Collins and other Liberal insiders being forced to take the stand?
Were this happening in some third-rate banana republic it would be shocking enough. That it is occurring in our beloved province is appalling beyond words. You're wrong Mr. de Jong. An inquiry into this sordid affair is needed.
Read more HERE:
Editorial
The Province - Oct. 20, 2010
Where are we as a province or a country when senior government officials can accept more than $75,000 in inducements and no one goes to jail? Do our judges even understand any more the concepts of "right" and "wrong?"
And how can the courts call it a "fine" when the same crooks are merely returning their ill-gotten gains? If the average person fails to declare some income, a fairly minor crime, even they are forced to pay the lost tax plus a 100-per-cent penalty as punishment.
And what sort of government do we have in B.C. when our top justice official, Attorney-General Mike de Jong, can agree to pay the crooked officials' $6-million legal fees as part of a deal between a supposedly independent special prosecutor and the defence lawyers? What is the point of hiring an independent prosecutor in the first place, if at the end of the process the attorney-general — a politician in the very government whose integrity the case brings into question — will be needed to approve such a massive carrot in the plea bargain? Have the payment of lawyers' fees ever before been part of such an arrangement?
And is there anyone in B.C. not suspicious about how all of this could suddenly happen after seven years of legal proceedings on the eve of former finance minister Gary Collins and other Liberal insiders being forced to take the stand?
Were this happening in some third-rate banana republic it would be shocking enough. That it is occurring in our beloved province is appalling beyond words. You're wrong Mr. de Jong. An inquiry into this sordid affair is needed.
Read more HERE:
http://www.theprovince.com/Editorial+Inquiry+needed+Basi+Virk+scandal/3697779/story.html#ixzz12vGg8mRu
Comments:
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BRAVO Mary!
Let's take our cue from France: a general strike.
Shut off the taps to the lucre that sustains the Gordo Gang of Thieves.
Why not? The legions of homeless and couch-surfers in BC grows daily. Cutting funding of services at the low income earner end, tax relief for the high rollers... This is just what inspired Canada's first general strike in Winnipeg early in the last century.
The only difference now (in BC) is that the public railway is no longer there for the hobos/homeless to ride. They'd be shot by the private company's (CN) security force.
Let's take our cue from France: a general strike.
Shut off the taps to the lucre that sustains the Gordo Gang of Thieves.
Why not? The legions of homeless and couch-surfers in BC grows daily. Cutting funding of services at the low income earner end, tax relief for the high rollers... This is just what inspired Canada's first general strike in Winnipeg early in the last century.
The only difference now (in BC) is that the public railway is no longer there for the hobos/homeless to ride. They'd be shot by the private company's (CN) security force.
# posted by 
: October 20, 2010 at 8:54 a.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 8:54 a.m.
Mary, all I can see from every angle, looking at ALL the players from RCMP, the BCSC, government, and the defendants themselves is utter and total corruption...so rank and apparent that the SCoC must be able to see it too. If not smell it all the way to Toronto. What they're saying without actually saying it is; "we can do any damn thing we want, to whomever we want, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."
Why can we not have another citizens initiative on whether or not a Public Inquiry will be held - immediately. That would entail forcing the retention of ALL information by prosecution and defense...and likely require more digging into governmental black holes.
We must have one - NOW. Not later. And it must have actionable consequences as part of it.
STAND UP BC! STAND UP AND TAKE BACK WHAT HAS BEEN STOLEN, TAKE BACK OUR INTEGRITY AS CITIZENS, OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS CITIZENS, OUR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS. If we have to tear BC apart at the seams, and start again - Let's Do It.
INITIATIVE TIME!
Why can we not have another citizens initiative on whether or not a Public Inquiry will be held - immediately. That would entail forcing the retention of ALL information by prosecution and defense...and likely require more digging into governmental black holes.
We must have one - NOW. Not later. And it must have actionable consequences as part of it.
STAND UP BC! STAND UP AND TAKE BACK WHAT HAS BEEN STOLEN, TAKE BACK OUR INTEGRITY AS CITIZENS, OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS CITIZENS, OUR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS. If we have to tear BC apart at the seams, and start again - Let's Do It.
INITIATIVE TIME!
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 8:57 a.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 8:57 a.m.
1 pm PDT Globe and Mail's Mark Hume will have on-line discussion regarding BC Rail (includes Bill Tieleman). Pre-broadcast questions can be submitted as well as during conversation remarks.
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 9:32 a.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 9:32 a.m.
"the two men, who pleaded guilty to leaking secret government information in exchange for cash and other financial benefits, had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get the $6-million reprieve."
Aside from the fact that this sort of agreement should be (and may be) ILLEGAL, it pretty well PROVES that the two brown men didn't act alone. If they acted alone, what could they possibly say that would affect anyone else. It ain't like they are gonna be sharing proprietary information with Burlington and Northern about how to operate a Railroad.
No, the criminals who pose as the BC liaR government, are using OUR money to buy the silence of two creeps with not a shred of ethics. But then apparently there is no room in the Campbell Crime Family for anyone with a shred of honour!
Only the greedy and venal need apply!
BTW how is house arrest any kind of punishment if it allows leaving the house for work, family occasions/events, exercise and legal consultations. What are they not allowed to leave home for?
Oh I guess they aren't allowed to go out at night and break into womens' homes ala Colonel Williams and wear the resident's underwear - pretty much anything else goes though, I guess! They are still negotiating about whether carrying on cousin Jas Coke Biz falls under the category "work!"
Aside from the fact that this sort of agreement should be (and may be) ILLEGAL, it pretty well PROVES that the two brown men didn't act alone. If they acted alone, what could they possibly say that would affect anyone else. It ain't like they are gonna be sharing proprietary information with Burlington and Northern about how to operate a Railroad.
No, the criminals who pose as the BC liaR government, are using OUR money to buy the silence of two creeps with not a shred of ethics. But then apparently there is no room in the Campbell Crime Family for anyone with a shred of honour!
Only the greedy and venal need apply!
BTW how is house arrest any kind of punishment if it allows leaving the house for work, family occasions/events, exercise and legal consultations. What are they not allowed to leave home for?
Oh I guess they aren't allowed to go out at night and break into womens' homes ala Colonel Williams and wear the resident's underwear - pretty much anything else goes though, I guess! They are still negotiating about whether carrying on cousin Jas Coke Biz falls under the category "work!"
Hi Mary
I'm in total agreement here. What needs to be done in this province now is that "citizen Journalists" should continue to dig up information on this giveaway. We already know that the internet bloggers are fast overtaking the MSM. And I believe that the more pressure we put on them the faster they will either start actually reporting (as opposed to pimping) or they go broke.
Just in my work with the HST I have discovered hundreds of people in the Cariboo that are opposed to this giveaway. I have put them onto not only your blog but Koots, Grants, Ross K,Laila, Norman, and many other bloggers that should be read on this matter.
So I for one will continue to attempt to get to the core on this travesty. When time permits I will contact people directly on some of the information I have collected. I will get to the truth on what I have.If there is any information you have from me that hasn't been published but you think should,now that the smoke and mirrors crap will be completely disappearing in the MSM, feel free.
Right now as you know my time is consumed in a big way for the recall campaign but I will post when I can. And will certainly comment here and at other blogs.
In closing Mary, I want to thank both you and Kootcoot at the House of Infamy for getting this started for inspiring me to start my own blog, and for my making three trips to the courthouse
Thankyou, Gary Edwards
I'm in total agreement here. What needs to be done in this province now is that "citizen Journalists" should continue to dig up information on this giveaway. We already know that the internet bloggers are fast overtaking the MSM. And I believe that the more pressure we put on them the faster they will either start actually reporting (as opposed to pimping) or they go broke.
Just in my work with the HST I have discovered hundreds of people in the Cariboo that are opposed to this giveaway. I have put them onto not only your blog but Koots, Grants, Ross K,Laila, Norman, and many other bloggers that should be read on this matter.
So I for one will continue to attempt to get to the core on this travesty. When time permits I will contact people directly on some of the information I have collected. I will get to the truth on what I have.If there is any information you have from me that hasn't been published but you think should,now that the smoke and mirrors crap will be completely disappearing in the MSM, feel free.
Right now as you know my time is consumed in a big way for the recall campaign but I will post when I can. And will certainly comment here and at other blogs.
In closing Mary, I want to thank both you and Kootcoot at the House of Infamy for getting this started for inspiring me to start my own blog, and for my making three trips to the courthouse
Thankyou, Gary Edwards
Mary, for 4 1/2 years, you have been nurishment for a truth-starved electorate. You have read tens of thousands of articles and posts. You have scoured and scanned newspapers and blogs and made appropriate commentary on other blogs as well as the MSM. I hold you in highest esteem. I read that Mason article, myself, this morning. Straight away, I came to your blog to see if you had it for this blog. You had, of course. Let's see if our gutless MSM in BC will put this latest revelation - Basi and Virk being paid by way of having house arrest and legal fees erased to keep quiet. What insanity! How can the Gordon Campbell government hold together? Have they not one MLA who has the fortitude to stand up to Gordon Campbell by saying publicly that they have had enough. Can they not denounce deJong for inking the deal? What a travesty!
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 10:00 a.m.
Hi Mary,
I understand your dilemma; the MSM handling of this makes me want to puke too. I'm not suggesting propagation it is good or even the right thing to do, but one argument in favor of publishing along with dissenting views it is that you would be demonstrating something sadly lacking in the MSM of late: balance and objectivity. See, my concern here is that this decade long spree of pillaging has had an unintended consequence - it lowers the bar on what is acceptable behavior. In other words, what our politicians do and what the MSM does has become semi-normalized, to the point where any one who behaves fairly, honorably, etc., (in short, all the values a civil society holds dear) is taken for a weak sucker, and stupid, too. That really worries me, because if we lose those values, we really are lost. See, I think stifling dissent is the ultimate sign of weakness. So I'm not saying "Go ahead, publish the MSM stuff and let people make up their own minds" - but I don't believe the public is as stupid as the spinmeisters believe, and I do believe that most British Columbians have the ability to distinguish fainess, balance and objectivity from PR crap. Perhaps I'm naive, but it's something to consider.
Just my two cents worth - and that's about ALL it's worth.
I understand your dilemma; the MSM handling of this makes me want to puke too. I'm not suggesting propagation it is good or even the right thing to do, but one argument in favor of publishing along with dissenting views it is that you would be demonstrating something sadly lacking in the MSM of late: balance and objectivity. See, my concern here is that this decade long spree of pillaging has had an unintended consequence - it lowers the bar on what is acceptable behavior. In other words, what our politicians do and what the MSM does has become semi-normalized, to the point where any one who behaves fairly, honorably, etc., (in short, all the values a civil society holds dear) is taken for a weak sucker, and stupid, too. That really worries me, because if we lose those values, we really are lost. See, I think stifling dissent is the ultimate sign of weakness. So I'm not saying "Go ahead, publish the MSM stuff and let people make up their own minds" - but I don't believe the public is as stupid as the spinmeisters believe, and I do believe that most British Columbians have the ability to distinguish fainess, balance and objectivity from PR crap. Perhaps I'm naive, but it's something to consider.
Just my two cents worth - and that's about ALL it's worth.
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.
Thanks BC Mary for not linking all that big media crap! It really is just unbelievable what is being said and what isn't being said. I feel sick about it.
I wanted to share that i did read somewhere this morning that Basi said publicly his conscience is clear and that he was thinking about how much more of his life he would waste having to fight in this case. I would suggest that most of us, finding ourselves in similiar circumstances to Basi and Virk, would have made the same decision. Governments have unlimited resources, human and financial and they can manipulate courts like no one else. I see these tactice employed often, with First Nations specifically in court cases and treaty negotiations - delay, defend, deny - until the government gets what they want and they most always do, especially when the prosecutor and judge are on-side politically.
BC is a travesty and most ordinary citizens are too busy working ridiculous hours at their tenuously-held jobs trying to pay for that shiny new condo or two they've purchased in the past few years at an exorbitant price to get informed and involved in the destruction of democracy and the rule of law in our beautiful province.
So much has to change and I wonder what it will take. My thanks to you for all you do. And rafe and bill and this morning, especially to Peter Ewart for a little hope.
mk-kids
I wanted to share that i did read somewhere this morning that Basi said publicly his conscience is clear and that he was thinking about how much more of his life he would waste having to fight in this case. I would suggest that most of us, finding ourselves in similiar circumstances to Basi and Virk, would have made the same decision. Governments have unlimited resources, human and financial and they can manipulate courts like no one else. I see these tactice employed often, with First Nations specifically in court cases and treaty negotiations - delay, defend, deny - until the government gets what they want and they most always do, especially when the prosecutor and judge are on-side politically.
BC is a travesty and most ordinary citizens are too busy working ridiculous hours at their tenuously-held jobs trying to pay for that shiny new condo or two they've purchased in the past few years at an exorbitant price to get informed and involved in the destruction of democracy and the rule of law in our beautiful province.
So much has to change and I wonder what it will take. My thanks to you for all you do. And rafe and bill and this morning, especially to Peter Ewart for a little hope.
mk-kids
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 11:19 a.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 11:19 a.m.
Curly,
You miss the point. It's hardly correct to say that BC Mary is "stifling dissent" (for godsake!) when I'm saying that
I can't take it any more! I won't be forced into their mind-set any longer.
But Holy Ratzinger, Curly, it's all there for YOU to wallow in Big Media's propaganda.
I don't think you realize that I have to spend HOURS each day, searching out and reading news reports. For the moment, I'm giving myself a break before it makes me physically sick.
.
You miss the point. It's hardly correct to say that BC Mary is "stifling dissent" (for godsake!) when I'm saying that
I can't take it any more! I won't be forced into their mind-set any longer.
But Holy Ratzinger, Curly, it's all there for YOU to wallow in Big Media's propaganda.
I don't think you realize that I have to spend HOURS each day, searching out and reading news reports. For the moment, I'm giving myself a break before it makes me physically sick.
.
Please don't get sick Mary! I feel like I belong to a family of like minded people.When this is over(if) lets have a PARTY!
All Mary is saying Curly is that she is going to STOP linking to GARBAGE! You of course are welcome to wallow in all the sewage you can take.....
Just don't expect Mary, or myself to hold you by the hand and lead you to it. If anyone is too dumb to google garbage, oops, I mean craphead, oops I mean Campbell, or Basi or Virk, etc. and find it themselves, they may be too stoooopid to read it anyway!
One political stance I would recommend is that anyone owing BC Student Loans, refuse to pay, just send a letter saying that if they can pay $6,000,000 to Basi, Virk and their legal team to shut up - they can pay you for having gone to school and leaving them alive for at least the amount of time you were busying learning stuff - oh yeah and you are allowed to share the knowledge you gained at school - no gag order yet on education (unless you are in Texas and talking about evolution or other fantastic sci-fi theories)!
Just don't expect Mary, or myself to hold you by the hand and lead you to it. If anyone is too dumb to google garbage, oops, I mean craphead, oops I mean Campbell, or Basi or Virk, etc. and find it themselves, they may be too stoooopid to read it anyway!
One political stance I would recommend is that anyone owing BC Student Loans, refuse to pay, just send a letter saying that if they can pay $6,000,000 to Basi, Virk and their legal team to shut up - they can pay you for having gone to school and leaving them alive for at least the amount of time you were busying learning stuff - oh yeah and you are allowed to share the knowledge you gained at school - no gag order yet on education (unless you are in Texas and talking about evolution or other fantastic sci-fi theories)!
Sorry, Mary/KootCoot - I don't mean to imply you're stifling dissent, and I know the MSM stuff is out there in spades and I'm as appalled by it as the next person. (And Kootcoot, please don't imply that I'm stupid or that I require handholding to sort these things out, because the fact is, you don't know anything about me or the struggles I've had with this government and its idiotic policies). The point I wanted to make was simply that it's a dilemma: a civil society demands that people play by mutually accepted rules, but what do you do when confronted by a political party that is prepared to completely jettison those rules and win at any cost? Either way, civility and accountability are as much a casualties as our railroad and our other losses, and I find that very disturbing.
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 3:50 p.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 3:50 p.m.
Mary, You have been an inspiration thank you for all of the work yourself and others on this blog-space have done to keep democracy on life support. The fetid stench spewing from the legislature like the bp oil spill can no longer be denied, and those that do reveal themselves for the charlatan and shills they are.
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 4:17 p.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 4:17 p.m.
Why don't we all resolve to get BC Rail back...come hell or high water--?
# posted by : October 20, 2010 at 5:24 p.m.
: October 20, 2010 at 5:24 p.m.
Sorry Curly, but perhaps I misunderstood your point. But I would like to re-iterate, I am 110% with Mary on this idea of REFUSING to even link to the crap put out by greasy Les Leyne, Keith Balderdash, Gordo's court butt-lick Palmer, and the rest of the so-called accredited wastes of dead trees.
I will still mock them,and link to deserving pieces like Mr. Hutchinson's in (gasp) the NatPo the other day - the rest of them I will display their warts to show their arrogance and venality, but anyone who wants to find their crap in their original sewer will have to find it on their own.
I also find the loss of both accountability and civility disturbing - and I'm done even trying to be civil (though some may say I never tried very hard to begin with)- I'm done making the slightest effort and if I wasn't 500 miles from the creeps we are discussing I'd probably be getting arrested daily for spitting on people (sic) AT THE LEAST - or strangling, or ?
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I will still mock them,and link to deserving pieces like Mr. Hutchinson's in (gasp) the NatPo the other day - the rest of them I will display their warts to show their arrogance and venality, but anyone who wants to find their crap in their original sewer will have to find it on their own.
I also find the loss of both accountability and civility disturbing - and I'm done even trying to be civil (though some may say I never tried very hard to begin with)- I'm done making the slightest effort and if I wasn't 500 miles from the creeps we are discussing I'd probably be getting arrested daily for spitting on people (sic) AT THE LEAST - or strangling, or ?
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