Palestinians now allowed access to their underwear

Our world is complicated and tragedy abounds, yet amidst all that, there are moments of humour, even in the occupied lands of Palestine.

This weekend is the beginning of Ramadan, the annual month-long celebration during which Muslims fast to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran. In honour of Ramadan their Israeli overlords have decided that Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza will no longer be considered "terrorists" or "security risks." Palestinians will be allowed to travel to Jerusalem to pray, visit their relatives beyond the normal barriers and even visit the Mediterranean Sea. This niceness is often bestowed upon the Palestinians during Ramadan. I'm not sure what difference Ramadan makes in the labelling of citizens, but apparently it does to Israel.

To announce this generosity, The Commander of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories took to facebook with a video. He spoke to his audience in Arabic, though there might have been a few pronunciation problems, as reported by Samah Salaime on +972:

The high point of the video was when he announced "Intu btiqdaru truhu al-basat." Meaning that Palestinians can freely reach the underwear. What? We have access to our underwear!? Finally, God is great, Ramadan kareem, thank heavens. Every Palestinian who wants to is now able to wear and touch his or her underwear without having to go through a checkpoint, undergo a search or receive an entry permit.

On my second listen, I realized the commander meant to say "buses" rather than underwear. 

So yes, "buses" and "underwear" are different things. Palestinians are given permission to visit their own land, families and mosques, as if they were foreign tourists with a one-time 30-day visa. The humour lasts only a few minutes while the reality of occupation seems to go on forever.

Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

The Transit Referendum.... The results?

So. Maybe I've missed something. I've been away as my faithful reader knows.

The 2015 Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite, otherwise known at the transit referendum, was held by a mail-in ballot and voting closed at 20h00 on Friday, 29 May. Simple enough. I voted and encouraged others to do the same, regardless of their position. We are told that about 45% of eligible voters made the effort. Not bad, all things considered.






I have a question: Where are the results?

It's been almost three weeks and ... no results. Unless I've missed something of course. Entirely possible.

It takes less than an evening for our nation to count, by hand mind you, an entire federal election. With a few minor exceptions we get it right in every constituency. The Excited States marvel at our abilities. There they use all sorts of mechanical devices and it sometimes takes days. And even then they don't always get it right.


So why aren't the results from the Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite available from Elections BC? On their website they say,"Counting and reporting of voting results is expected to last a number of weeks, depending on voter participation in the plebiscite."  Really? And what does a number of weeks mean exactly? Four? Five? When our political masters tell us?

How hard could this be? Or am I missing something?

Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.2015 

Trudeau's Real Change is turning orange

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau announced a 32-point plan today, called "Real change." Much of it is old politics as usual.




Trudeau offers some good things, like promises to reinstall the mandatory long-form census, to reopen the veterans' service centres that Harper's Conservatives closed recently, and to end "political harassment" of charities and "muzzling" of scientists.

Stupidly, he plans to up-end the democratic process within 18 months of being elected. The Liberals would form an all-party committee to study different electoral systems and make recommendations. He promises to provide Canada with a new voting process, all within 18 months of the forming a government. Really? In Canada? We'd be lucky to have the committee in place within 18 months. Oddly, in December, Trudeau was given a chance to support changing the electoral system, but instead voted against an NDP motion to make the 2015 the last first-past-the-post election, and its recommendation to use MMP, or mixed-member proportional representation.

Trudeau promises more free votes in Parliament, though the whole thing is rather vague. There is a plan to create a non-partisan Senate, whatever the hell that might be. Trudeau offers no clear evidence of wanting to create an accountable Senate, nor an elected Senate, nor even an effective Senate. Old politics gussied up to look like something new.

Trudeau would create an all-party national security oversight committee to monitor and oversee the operations of every government department with national security responsibilities. This was one of the major criticisms of Bill C-51 yet the Liberals joined with Harper's Conservatives to foist this terrible bill upon Canadians. Is this a flip-flop, a correction, or the recognition that he lost a lot of voters when he joined hands with Harper on C-51?

On this same day, an on-line Angus Reid survey of more than 6,000 Canadians was published and found that among those who are likely to vote, 36 percent support the NDP, 33 percent support the Conservatives and only 23 percent support the Liberals.

Approval ratings for the three major party leaders suggests ever more increasing strength for the NDP: Harper has declined to 37 percent (down 5 points), Trudeau is down to 43 percent (down 6 points), while Tom Mulcair's approval increases to 54 percent (up 6 points).






Mr. Trudeau told his crowd today that Canadians think all politicians are the same, "But I know it's not true... We need to show Canadians that real change in possible." He's right. It's just that the face of change looks like Tom Mulcair.

Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

A picture says a thousand words... Good news for the NDP

A picture says a thousand words:

The Conservatives are down. The Liberals are down. New Democrats are up.

Less than a year ago, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau were comfortably leading in the polls... Today, the party is losing steam and in danger of dropping out of a three-way race with its erstwhile floundering opponents.

Éric Grenier of ThreeHundredEight.com

In British Columbia, since mid-February, the NDP has gone from 22 percent to 31 percent, while the Liberals have dropped from 34 percent to 27 percent. Across the nation the NDP have gained polling numbers in every region, while the Liberals have seen support decrease in every area. For the most part, the Conservatives have held their support, though it has softened. Importantly, they are now down slightly in Ontario, where again it is the NDP that shows growing strength.

We are now four months away from the election. The vote in British Columbia is set to be important beyond words on election night. The rest of the country will be waiting on our results. Voting Liberal or Green, especially in BC, will only help elect another Conservative government. And no one wants to do that.

Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.

Full polling numbers and analysis at www.ThreeHundredEight.com

Chemainus ~ Murals and ... is that all there is?

We had spent a weekend at Lakeside Gardens on Salt Spring Island and decided to head home to Vancouver via Nanaimo. We had time to kill, so after a coffee in Crofton, we drove along the scenic coastal highway route to Chemainus.







Chemainus is famous for its murals. Famous in a big way apparently as it gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor and other social media. It actually conjured up images of Tubac, Arizona for me, but off we went.

Chemainus started in the mid 1850s as a logging town, and it prospered, more or less, with the boom and bust cycle of forestry, until the early 1980s when its large sawmill closed. That mill was replaced with a smaller one, and the number of well paid union jobs was reduced from over 600 to about 140. Part of the problem came as a result of global competition for forest products and part from the illegal placing of tariffs on BC forest products to the United States, proven again and again in multiple court cases which were always ignored by our friends to the south. But that's another story.

A variety of people, including the mayor and council of the time, came upon an idea to use murals to tell the history of the town and district, and to attract tourists; tourists with money to spend in eco-friendly stores, restaurants and fast-food outlets. Today there are about 40 outdoor murals in Chemainus, of varying themes and quality, and lots of gift stores, eateries and antique shops. Chemainus has been successful in diversifying its economy, but the high-paying union jobs have been replaced with entry-level positions. Still, the town survived,  and prospered, and the alternative might have been dire indeed.


Of note, is the impressive Chemainus Theatre. It was constructed in the early 1990s by an enterprising and community-minded group of Christian fundamentalists, or so it appears from their published history. The theatre has become part of the tourist appeal of Chemainus and it draws an audience to a populist mix of mainly musicals and further contributes to the town and the region. It enhances the image of arts and culture in a forestry town, and that's a good thing.













The name Chemainus comes from the native shaman and prophet Tsa-meeun-is. Legend has it that the man survived a massive wound in his chest to become a powerful chief. His people took his name to identify their community, the Stz'uminus First Nation, formerly known as the Chemainus Indian Band.





The First Nations people are depicted on several murals, though their place in the Chemainus of today is not readily apparent in the shops, restaurants or on the streets. The same was true in Tubac, Arizona.

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2015 by Jim Murray.