I must say, I have been hugely disappointed with my favourite news talk radio: CKNW. First Christy Clark, whom I thought gave up politics and went into broadcast media, gave up her show on CKNW to return to politics to run in the Premier race. And she won! Much thanks to her popularity on the Christy Clark Show. I must admit, I wasn’t a fan of her views and takes. I would credit the success of her program to her remarkable radio voice. Like wow!

Anyhow, what has been disappointing me about the radio station is how they swing from side to side like media whores! Oh right, that’s their job! First, they jumped on Vander Zalm’s bandwagon when he fought and successfully challenged the HST to bring us the upcoming referendum; then they come across some UBC Law student with Econ background, named Chris Thompson, with a video that was his initiation into the Liberal party if anything. I heard the host (I think it was Bill Goodman?) commending and applauding this kid on a “job well done”.

Then callers phoned in complimenting and congratulating this kid for setting the facts straight! I didn’t rush to watch the video right away. But it made me wonder is there some underlying principle, mechanism, calculation that could make this possible? Is paying HST on pretty much everything we consume is better for jobs and the economy, including our personal pocketbooks?

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As the weeks draw nearer to the referendum date (which is just shortly after our Canucks win the Stanley Cup), I have been wrestling with what I should vote come June 13-July 22. (Yup, it’s a mail-in referendum.) Increasingly, television ads and more programming on CKNW are providing a stronger voice in favour of the HST. Not to mention the 2-point reduction in the HST rate as announced by Premier Christy Clark. *shudder*

All of sudden, fightHST side seems to be losing its fight, its luster. Or is it?

The pro-HST ads boast: “HST: Good for jobs. HST: Good for BC.”

Hmm… Okay, how so?

Well, for starters, go to their website to learn more: www.hstinbc.ca and decide for yourself.

If trying to make sense of the numbers and their argument is intimidating to you, you can opt to watch their stickman videos instead.

Here’s one video:

Stickman: Day in the Life from HSTinBC on Vimeo.

Like seriously, these stickman videos are made for elementary school kids!

Okay, so I come from a family of engineers and bankers, but somehow I was asleep when God was giving out the math gene. I was, however, highly present when He gave out logic, good judgment, and common sense.

You don’t have to be an economist to figure out everything costs more for the consumer under the HST. The argument for is that this tax shift will ultimately benefit the consumer down the road because when businesses will pass on their savings by reducing prices and/or by hiring more workers.

Uh huh. Right….

So back to my disappointment with CKNW, and among callers and youtube comments boasting and praising economists and their superior intellect to understand the mathematical complexities of something so simple such as a tax shift from businesses to consumers. And the radio host was inundated with the smoke and mirrors to challenge the logic behind the message.

First of all, Chris Thompson is neither an economist nor a lawyer. He is a student. Albeit with an Honours degree. Now studying law. Clearly, here’s a young man who is proud of his academic achievements… But nonetheless, he’s just a student with no real professional training so he really has no merit to make much of a dent in the debate. And if you haven’t seen the video already, there isn’t any real substance. Just, well smokes and mirrors.

Anyways, my point is, don’t be fooled by titles. Or intimidated by numbers. You don’t need to be present during the handing out of math genes to sniff out a government’s desperate taxing schemes.

The funny thing in a capital society is this high regard for economists. Woooo…. Economists….

Economists use applied numbers to explain something so theoretically implausible thus it usually never happens in reality. Basically economists are crappy fortune tellers because they try to explain/predict the future using shallow and simplistic theoretical equations that makes them wrong every time. Why? Because the laws of probability and chance, among other variables in the equation is way beyond anybody.

Seriously, don’t buy into an explanation as fact just because it came from a perceived “expert”. Even if you don’t understand it. And especially if it goes against your personal judgment and common sense.

To learn more and to come to your own conclusions on this political mess, read both sides…. But don’t stop there! Read from other general sources like Wikipedia. Look up some economics terminologies. Visit the CRA site. Learn more about what the VAT really is.

As for me, I’m still researching before I come to a conclusion. My thoughts so far: there will be winners and losers under the HST. It just depends which end of the spectrum you fall under.

I will leave you with a few links… You will have to find more on your own. And if you’re intellectually lazy, well, there’s the stickman videos for ya.

Here they are:

The man who picked the first bone: Bill Vander Zalm’s fighthst.com
**The FightHST Debate Tour will be at the SFU Wosk Centre for Dialogue today at 7:30PM.

Here is the study Chris Thompson based his video around: The Truth About the HST.pdf

Also check out taxpayer.com. Also find articles from Vander Zalm’s report that was debunked in Thompson’s video, including this one by economist, David Murell, Ph D: Impact of HST ON BC.pdf by

Chris Thompson’s passionate site all about how wonderful the HST is: www.fightfighthst.com

Here’s the link to the BC government site (with all the stickman videos for those who don’t want to read): www.hstinbc.ca

And lastly, where would the world be without Wikipedia? Here’s an article on the Value Added Tax (VAT) (which is the same tax as the HST).

Tags: Bill Vander Zalm,Chris Thompson,Christy Clark,CKNW,fight fight HST,fight HST,GST,HST,Liberal party,PST
Categories: business, in the news, money, politics, rants, video
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“Animals in captivity debate refueled” was the latest headline sparked by a recent death of a baby beluga whale, Nala, at the Vancouver’s Aquarium. This is the seventh baby whale to have died at the aquarium. This death has also prompted more calls to end the ongoing captivity of whales and dolphin in Stanley Park. The cause of the death was an “accumulation of fluid in the lungs”, and also found were two small stones and a penny swallowed by the baby whale.

A group called No Whales in Captivity is hoping that the Vancouver Park Board will allow Vancouverites to vote on the issue of keeping whales in captivity by including the referendum question on the ballot in the next civic election in 2011.

Interestingly, the debate was rather split down the line among callers to the CKNW radio show. I was fascinated to hear the rationale from those who sided in keeping animals in captivity. Their arguments for were either for education or for (affordable) entertainment. One caller cited the educational value by allowing children to see these animals live in person so that they can aspire to working with animals later on–particularly endangered species. Another caller justified the need for keeping the whales because most families could not afford the whale watching experience offered by local tour companies. The cost to do so could be upwards to a thousand dollars per family. A thousand dollars for a family trip whale watching may actually be cheaper than taking the family to watch the Canucks play!

Whatever the excuses are, I don’t see any real justification to keeping any animal in captivity. Perhaps it’s because I never was astonished as a kid being at the zoo or aquarium. Actually, the aquarium is pretty cool, but that’s about my excitement towards these tours. I remember dreading field trips to the zoo as a child. I didn’t care to see the lions, rhinos, elephants, crocs… Nothing piqued my curiosity. I was more intrigued watching them on the wildlife documentaries on TV than seeing them in the flesh lying in one spot at the zoo. There is nothing exciting and majestic about seeing animals in artificial environments. And how does all this translate to saving the animals?

June 22 was two years since George Carlin passed away. This recent debate reminded me of stand-up he did on “saving the planet”. I couldn’t agree more.

Tags: aquarium,canucks,george carlin,vancouver,video
Categories: humour, in the news, rants, video
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This is too funny… and INCREDIBLE!

Just watch!

Tags: chinese,music,video
Categories: arts & entertainment, humour, video
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This was forwarded to me by a friend. It is really refreshing to see other forms of talent other than singing and dancing. A breath of fresh air and the artist is extremely pleasing to the eyes.

This video shows the winner of “Ukraine’s Got Talent”, Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment.”

Take time out to see this amazing piece of art.

Tags: video
Categories: arts & entertainment, video
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And the next best performance at the 2010 Grammy Award goes to Pink for her high-flying singing act. (Oh my, that was campy… The Gazela is kicking in.) But in all seriousness, I think that was the most love Pink has ever received. (She got a well-deserved standing ovation.) Okay, so you’ve probably seen twirling acrobats at your local fabulous clubs and all… But the more thought I put into it, Pink is one ballsy chick! And she pulled off the routine flawlessly. Hats off to Pink.

I also loved 21 Guns by Greenday.

And then there’s Taylor Swift’s atrocious duet with Stevie Nicks. Okay, I understand that Taylor is a young and bright songwriter, but the girl can’t sing. (Where is Kanye to set the record straight?) Now to Beyoncé, it seems as if marriage life has crossed into her music. I don’t know, is she singing or nagging?

Tags: 2010 Grammy Award,21 guns,Beyonce,Greenday,Kanye,pink,Stevie Nicks,Taylor Swift,video
Categories: arts & entertainment, music, video
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Okay, I must admit, I know very little about and have no business to blog about celebrities, pop music, the Grammy’s, and even television in general, but I’ve found a new level of respect for Lady GaGa after watching her perform at the Grammy’s with Sir Elton John. She rocked that stage and she was amazing even alongside the great Elton John covering his classic hits! Lady GaGa is amazing beyond words. I knew I missed out when she came to Van… Damn H1N1!

By the way, is it just me or does Lady GaGa sound like a mix between Christina Aguilera and Amy Winehouse. She also reminds me of Donatella Versace in that green outfit.

Categories: arts & entertainment, music, video
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I am all zonked out from a day of tanning and over-eating at the beach… I will share the PM’s message on this day of Confederation. I know, how lame, eh?

Happy Canada Day!

Tags: Canada,Canada Day,PM,prime minister,Stephen Harper,true north strong and free
Categories: video
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Here’s a fun video that was thrown in a forum by a number of frustrated designers. Myself, though not an artist but a consultant, I do understand their frustrations. In this tough economy, many firms are not hiring and rather outsourcing for small projects and piecemeal work. Many artists are looking to find and juggle a number of small projects and contract work to stay afloat. For this reason, piecemeal work should expect a higher hourly remuneration than for ongoing work. But often many clients are small business owners or entrepreneurs with little resources.

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Tags: clients,communication,consulting,contractors,designers,developers,freelance,vendors,web development
Categories: business, humour, money, on the job, rants, technology, video
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So, I went to see Diana Krall last Thursday night. What can I say, amazing singer, pianist, and band… but the overall experience was lousy. I had a hunch that it was going to be a bad experience and I was right. A week prior, I saw Diana Krall featured on her husband’s show (Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…) as a guest.

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Tags: Diana Krall,jazz,music video,orpheum theater,smug crowd,vancouver,vocal
Categories: arts & entertainment, music, rants, video
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A sneak peak at U2′s latest video. Shot in North Africa.

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Tags: africa,Bono,morocco,music video,U2
Categories: arts & entertainment, music, video
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