Gordo is hell bent on

Gordo is hell bent on wrecking Hydro and nothing we can do about it until May 2013...but if he sells it now people will forget like they did with BC Rail, threatening to sell it is what cost him the election against Glen Clark, then he 'long termed leased it' when he won the following election..

The outcome was set long ago just knowing the parties involved

"No real social change has ever been brought about without a revolution... revolution is but thought carried into action. ...[for] if voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." ~ Emma Goldman

I have nothing to add.

Globalization Drones

Those who preach this constant need for competition globally, are the problem. The only way for their ideas to work, is to steal from the taxpayer supported capital and make it their own. In the olden days, it was called invasion and plundering. Now it is done without violence, using the democratic political system.

Thieves, the lot of them.

Why a I not surprised?

It is nice to actually see proof of what I have suspected for several years. Campbell and company are deliberately out to destroy any shred, of any crown corporation in the province. If they manage to convince at least a few of us that these corporations are losing money, then they think that they can sell them off to their friends with impunity. Look at BC Rail.

Just how much more damage can the man do before we can get rid of him?

It's interesting how the

It's interesting how the recent Clean Energy Act does not allow BC Hydro's expenditures for energy export to be passed on to BC Hydro ratepayers.

Why would they do that?

Heart-breaking. There is

Heart-breaking.

There is an argument to be made that people of BC get what they deserve because of voting Gordon Campbell repeatedly into office. Personally, I find that to be too harsh. No-one deserves what Campbell delivers.

Dismantaling for Privitazation!

I have said that ever since Gordo got elected. I knew he would sell off BC Rail(I had a some insider information in 1997). When he kept saying before the 2001 election he wouldn't sell a old Shakespearean quote came to mind, "He doth protest too much". This so called "man" (aka coward) has systematically dismanteled our province since 2001 and is dolling it out to his elite multinational buddies like it's his to give away. Since he has been blurbing about how green the province will be, just look at his environment policies, RoR to name one and there are lots of others. I will be working on the recall this November. I just wish I lived in Hansen or Gordo's riding.

I saw this happening years

I saw this happening years ago when the Liberals came up with this IPP ponsi scheme. What the Liberals have/are doing here in BC is no different than what has happened in other countries and have been orchestrated by Goldman Sachs. In Croatia that countries assests were sold off mainly to German interests and in the end everybody was poor as a church-mouse. In New Zealand a good and viable communications company was completly gutted. With these revelations about BC Hydro now put down on paper, I'm just wondering how the rest of BC will react? Just wonder if the Bill Good show will talk about it sometime this week? Naw, they don't have the balls.

All a consipracy of the corporate thugs.

A bunch of investors who want access to B.C.'s energy potential make a political donation to the BC Liberal party. They get contracts to deliver power for an inflated price the consumer will pay for the next thirty years. These contracts are approved by the political hacks on the BC Hydro Board under direction from the Campbell. Once the term of the contracts run out these private investors do not need to sell the energy to B.C. but they have guaranteed access to out transmission lines so they will sell to the highest bidder and we the BC idiots will be forced to compete with the U.S. for that power. While all this is going on the business interests get lower cost Heritage Power and we subsidize their operations.

We wonder why out energy costs are going up and BC Hydro's financial strength is put at risk as well as our lower energy cost advantage. BC Hydro is to become a two-bit player in the energy needs for BC's future.

The tragedy is that you can't seem to get these crooks charged as criminals. Maybe Bill VanderZalm can take this on as his next challenge before all the damage is done and irreversible according to NAFTA and FTA.

This is Gordon Campbell's twisted legacy for BC.

Our Political Apathy Keeps us Enslaved

No, Campbell, will not resign, but the only hope for social justice is in our hands.
It is ultimately our own fault that, empowered by us, politicians do what is beneficial for their corporate sponsors.

We need to keep the power of political decisions in our hands perpetually in stead of giving it up to a few politicians on "elections day". We need to elect only political delegates committed to legislate only our choices, not theirs. Then and only then, we will have "Perpetual Direct Democracy", as proposed on www.nowpollng.ca

Campbell - a private agent

From 2001 when the Campbell Liberals first formed government they appear to have been working for the interests of private corporations to the near exclusion, and at the expense, of the public. It is becoming blatantly clear that Campbell has been robbing us blind of our resources and our crown corporations. No wonder he was a guest at the Bilderburg gatherings. Politics have just reached another low.

Everything Campbell touches turns to coal

In the beginning Mr. Campbell said everything his government was going to touch was going to turn to gold in the new era in BC. Unfortunately this hasn't been the case as what is Campbell's claim to fame but ensuring big business and banks don't have to play by the rules and pay their taxes as Campbell figures the lowly tax payer should pick up the slack.

Whatever the Campbell gang

Whatever the Campbell gang have done has turned to gold alright, the question is, in whose pockets that gold ended up?

Which is also the big lesson of history.

Ed Deak.

Everything the Campbell government has touched

since 2001 has rotted. We haven't got until 2013 to stop them. Our only hope is Recall in the Fall. If that doesn't succeed there will be nothing left to save. It's already pretty iffy.

HST and BC Hydro

I see HST as merely a test by the BC Liberal government as to how far this governemt can go against the will of the BC people in his mad and disasterous plan for the PEOPLE of BC in destroying its infrastructure. If HST squeaks by, so will his other plans. Stand up and be tested.

B.C. Electric/Hydro

Does anyone remember the "birth" of B.C. Hydro? How did it come into this world? The facts have been erased because ~ it is a sad story.

Reprivatize BC Hydro - save some rivers

Turn around the argument that Mair uses on the wisdom of expropriating BC Electric so WAC Bennett could build the Peace dam - if it hadn't been "socialized", the Peace wouldn't have paid the environmental price. Now, if its possible to reprivatize BC Hydro and ONLY build projects with NO public subsidy or feed-in tariffs, maybe fewer bad IPPs would be going ahead.

Gordon Campbell is true white collar crime. part II

It's a stretch but here goes; What if the HST, the way it was done and the attention it is getting was by design. Designed to keep our eyes off BC Hydro, the biggest and most important asset next to our Provincial lands. To keep us busy while it is sold or given away piece by piece to the interests Gordon Campbell really represents. you read it here first. JVR

Energy

Time to stop wasting our time with these ridiculous forms of energy! What is our govenrment doing for the advancement of LFTR reactors. When enough people hear about the already existing technologies. You will ask the same question I am. Whats the holdup? A system could plug n play from any one of these future Hydro plants that will likely be shut down. Do a bit of research. See if you think this is worth mentioning to EVERYONE! Australia, China, Japan, even Russia are looking at this as a solution. Australia even has a plan to supplement its closing energy facilities and replacing them with LFTR's. Then selling their coal resources to the rest of us who fail to act on this solution. Canada used to be a leader in green. I dont think so anymore. Its becoming farely apparent more money and control is available to them selling us solutions like fossil fuels. Search Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactor. By the way. 1oz of thorium generates enough power to generate the energy needs for a home for 2yrs. Canada has the 4th highest concentration.

recall for many reasons

BC Hydro is only one reason gordo should be recalled and asap. We now pay 9% more for it and where does the prfit go?? gordos pocket maybe ??
Can anyone tell me if we are still giving or npt getting a fair price for hydro to the USA?
I agree with the idea that gordo and gang would use the HST could be a distraction meant to take our focus from other serious thing gordo maybe trying to pull off but then so does harpo use this method of Shabby behaviors that are calculated manipulation of what is being done to us,behind closed doors.
I think now is aa good time as any to dub hanson groucho So now we have gordo harpo and groucho
One is trying to destroy canada = we know thats harpo But we are severly feeling the impact of gordo and groucho and gang
lets see how a civilized country - one where if you had problems there was help available is turned into a place where only big money gets help. Now most people can't afford the help needed.
there are changes to
hydro health education seniors services
medical services
rehab services to those who need extra help that is not totally medical
immigrants get more than our own citizens in welfare and health services
giving jobs to other countries etc

Gordo

B C Hydro is going too go the way BC Rail went gut it and then sell it off that is Gordo's way he must have some people from the United States that are friends of his wanting too buy pieces of BC Hydro so that they too can buy it up and sell it back too us for mega bucks.

jnew.......The public pays

jnew.......The public pays for everything, regardless who owns what. Investors don't bring anything, their purpose is to take and all investment has to be repaid by the public many times over.

When something is paid for from taxes, at least the public has some say over what and how things are handled and the prices paid.

Privatized services ALWAYS cost more monetarily and the public can not question anything because the owners will sue for defamation.

We have this story going on here, in this area, over the old people's residences. The motto is " Pay and shut up"

I can remember the BC Electric and Black Ball Ferries days and anybody who'd wanted to bring them back should have his or her brains tested.

Ed Deak.

We have the Cheapest Electricity on Earth

So paying marginally more we would guarantee the future of this croown and public jewel, and higher rates would also enable us to

1) provide economic incentive for REAL conservation. (Get rid of baseboard heating and "always on" building and parkade lights!) People in high cost electricity jurisdictions really understand conservation. We don't here in BC.

2) build a renewable energy industry that will bring us back into the 21st century. Solar PV, and other new renewable technologies.

Yes we have clean hydro, but we don't have unlimited water. We have a centralized system that when it fails it fails big. (And it fails in every minor windstorm due to overhead lines)

We should be mixing more "distributed generation" into our grid. Solar PV on the roofs of the buildings that consume the energy rather than transmitting it 500 miles and losing 15% of the energy in transmission losses. It also provides more energy security and a high job producing sustainable industry of the future. Feed in Tariffs will attract capital investment into the province... all good economic news.

The Real Test

of any politician is simply this - look st what is accomplished, not at what is promised. The corollary follows automatically - the name with which the politician identifies cannot be presumed by the electorate to be correct. Harper is no 'Conservative' and Campbell is no 'Liberal.' Both are self-serving egoists who brook no opposition, but move incrementally to advance their personal agendas.

Solar panels are still

Solar panels are still expensive and you will need to create them burning what?..more coal? What about storage? Still expensive and unreliable. Search LFTR. Maybe spend some time lookng at the 80-20 rule. LFTR's and renewable resources. More realistic for the forecasted human growth rates and continual thirst, but lack of supply of energies. Water supplies are slowing being ruined and depleted. Why use it for power when drinking is far more important. Search a LFTR. Listen to where the information coming from. Then come back and tell me why we should focus on Hydro as anything more than temporary solution.I really dont want to sound as though preaching. I am sorry if you feel I am. For me though. This is the most singular brilliant re discovery of my lifetime. I will be devoting whats left of my life to it. Starting with back to school. Im pretty sure one of these will be in Canada within ten years. Short of any polictical agendas. The US is considering 250mil in R&D I believe for 2011. Just do yourself the curiousity of having a boo. Wikipedia, Google, any search engine. Just search LFTR and tell me we shouldnt be doing this. Theres enough info just to shoot nothing but holes in in the state of things. Im on day 4. God and determination willing I will play a part.I am sorry at the state of things. Yes. Its being carved. So. So we continue being the problem or the solution? Make your voice heard. As you are. Cheers.

What's next?

BC Hydro is done like toast. And if the Lieberals can survive recall there next privatization project will be the wholesale sell-off of our public forests. They will sell the TFL's at bargain prices to whoever can open their cheque books the fastest. We will see foreign ownership of large tracts of our public forests all in the name of re-vitalizing our forest industry. Lets export Campbell and his cronies not raw logs.

BC HYDRO

This BC Hydro scenario is akin to the FOX being in charge of the henhouse and the farmer not being able to do anything about it. The FOX is forcing the farmer to buy his own eggs from the FOX while the FOX is giving the farmer's hens away to his fox buddies ( Builderbergs, Rothchilds, Arab princes and other foreign investors ) until there are no more hens left in the henhouse. If the farmer wants to have hens in his henhouse then he has to again buy the hens himself ( Site C Dam ) but will NOT be able to get free eggs from his own hens. The FOX will still be in control of the henhouse and the farmer will still be forced to pay even more for the eggs, even though the farmer has already paid for the hens and the henhouse. The FOX buddies will NOT be paying for anything but will be raking in huge profits and paying NO taxes--no PST---no GST---NO HST---NO income taxes---since foreign investors do not pay any Canadian TAX. The farmer will STILL be responsible for the upkeep of the henhouse and the feeding of the hens, but will have to pay the FOXES for the eggs he uses. This scenario sure reeks of the old FEUDAL system and the MAFIA. Campbell and Harper are putting Canadians deeper and deeper into DEBT while they are giving away to foreign investors all public resources, utilities and services. If Canadians do not wake up, the FEUDAL and Mafia eras will be back again. Woe be to the peons ! !

BC Hydro's Demise.

It amazes me to no end how the people at large address matters which should be of their utmost concern while getting paranoid over nothing. When Gordon Campbell was caught wheeling it, drunker than a skunk, in Hawaii, celebrating his election victory, he should have been fired, dismissed, recalled, name it what you want. When he befouled the integrity of BC Rail he should have been charged with, and stand convicted of planned and willfully enacted sabotage and gone to jail for a very long time. When it now happens what very learned people had forecast months ago, that BC Hydro will be defunct in a short time, allowing private suppliers, mostly foreign to charge 40 cents for a kilowatt of electricity, Mr. Campbell should be charged with high treason and face the firing squad.

And here the people in so-called 'real life', having forgiven the man his telltale slovenliness in Hawaii, having agreed (acquiesced?) to let him get away with his inner circus's largess at helping themselves to taxpayer's money as much as they could carry, having allowed this man's outrageous money grab, the carbon tax, in the midst of the highest fuel prices ever, but stopped dead at the idiotic HST, that, to them was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The latter due, no doubt, to the fact that there are, officially, 52% of Canadians classed as 'functioning illiterates', V.S.P.'s, (Very Stupid People), who, among other handicaps, just can't figure that 5 + 7 = 12.

In the mid 90ties a single German lawyer went to his Supreme Court with a charge that the country's property assessment laws (similar to ours then) are unconstitutional because property tax is not charged equally on all property, as well, charged on property which is not (at time of assessment) the property of the person. Well, he won. Today in Germany, property tax may only be charged on the bare square meter of land, whatever the owner puts on his land, be that a tent, or a shopping center, is out of bounds to the authorities.

I merely bring this to attention to show courage, personal, individual courage.
With all the $500.00/H, $2,000.00/H lawyers and law corporations, in this country, all those Libertarian Associations (Tax Payer's, Liberty Ass., Civil Rights Ass., etc., etc.) there is none who feels called upon to act, none of strengths, none of pride, no one filled with fury and rightful outrage to take this man Campbell on and sent him to jail? Even this UBC professor, at the end of his lament could only muster a: "why are you doing this Mr. Premier?". Do you, do we, all British Columbians, really want to let this man go with a: "resign now, Mr. Campbell?", so he goes, moves to Hawaii and enjoys the rest of his life on a fat BC taxpayer's pension. Yeah?

Well, in that case hear his toast to you: "Thanks a Lot, Suckers!".

Economist calculates BC Hydro on path to ruin

And isn't this what the BC Liberals set out to accomplish from the first day of their mandate??? And how much more destruction do the BC Liberals have to cause before they are finally VOTED OUT OF OFFICE???

They can be voted out of

They can be voted out of office, their owners, the multinational corporate mafia, the Bilsderbergers, Trilaterals, etc. are not going to let the opportunity to set up a dictatorship in BC and across Canada, under Harper, slip out of their hands that easy.

They'll be back under a new name, new leader and a tremendous propaganda campaign and win again.

In any case, the problem is not really the Campbell gang, because all they're doing is realizing long standing Fraser Inst. and university economics departments policies for total collectivization of the world's economic system in the hands of a gang of criminals. For the sake of "efficiency", of course, killing democracy and any degree of public control.

Without the scriptural crap taught in our universities as "economics", the political pimps of the rulers of the world wouldn't have a chance.

The Fraser Inst. has been advocating the sale of all Crown lands and even the lakes and rivers, ever since they were set up as a PR agency, disguised as a ":prestigious, conservative, economic think tank" in the mid 70s to sell the idea of total control .

When we look at the policies of the BCLib/Socred/Reform/CRAPP/Conservative coalition, we can see the footprints of the Fraser and CD Howe, etc. advertising agencies all over them

Ed Deak.

So, where does hope live then?

OK, so we agree the political system has been co-opted by the mob, or at least by their philosophical heirs. Where can we go from here?

Mr. Deak's arguments are convincing and compelling, and they give weight to the advancement of technological possibilities, though I think you really don't believe that power will ever voluntarily pursue those possibilities to correct the imbalances you so eloquently define for us.

The only solution this attitude permits is for humanity to somehow achieve and maintain a population on the planet of maybe two billion souls, tops. And also, as a side condition, that in doing so we lose none of our present access to that technology.

I think it would also help if a high proportion of psychopaths and sociopaths were lost in the process, since it seems likely that much of our present difficulty stems from the tendency in bureaucracies to select them for advancement.

So, we agree that power has tended to corrupt, and even become irrational or insane. We agree that the future is bleak, unless one or more determiners change.

How do we go there from here? Short of insanely trying to reduce the population by two thirds, I mean.

Revolution

To answer Bailey. Revolution. It worked before and it can work again. We are slowly being driven into that corner by these physcopaths and sosiopaths. I know it sounds quite extreme but I think that's where it will end up eventually. Haper is preparing for it. New prisions we don't need, upgraded military equipment, testing security stratagies at the G8 and 20 meetings. This is the path they are taking us to. They want the confrontation and they are using every subliminal way they can to test the stratagies.

These people are physopaths and will go to any extreme to remain in power.

Which determiners can change?

Let's talk about this ruthlessness advantage. In any hierarchical structure people who are vicious and cunning enough to plan the destruction of those above them and not get caught doing it rise high and fast to positions of power.

I believe they do it because, realizing on some level that they are insane, they seek power to protect themselves from being locked up. It's easily seen that our society reveres money and power to the point that the rich are never convicted of anything, except occasionally financial misconduct, and likewise never have their mental health questioned.

Would it be possible to formulate laws that would detect such behavior, define it as deviant, and limit the amount of damage such unfortunates can do to society as a whole?

Then, there is the irregularity of accounting procedures Mr. Deak is frequently pointing out. The failure to account all the real costs into the price of commodities, especially resource based ones. The cost of cleanliness, safety, real social and labour costs and lost opportunity costs for whatever resources are dedicated to a purpose could, I would think, be somehow included, couldn't they?

How would that be done?

There are a number of

There are a number of different accounting methods proposed to replace the fraudulent GDP system. The GPI, or Genuine Progress Indicator is just one of them

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine_progress_indicator

As far population numbers are concerned, how do you fight faiths and religions ?

The fastest growing religion, and populations are now the various Muslim sects, planning to take over the world with their numbers.

"Because it is written..........."

Armed revolutions usually and traditionally, put worse criminals into power than what they replace.

Unless it is a revolution of minds, demanding democracy and human rights, based on logic, they can be very dangerous.

Ed Deak.

BC Hydro

For those of us who watch politics, it's been obvious since he was first elected that Gordon Campbell has only wanted to dismantle anything in the public domain that could be financially beneficial to his corporate friends. The best way to do that is to drive it to ruin, as he has done with BC Hydro, BC Rail and our beloved health care system which is also under attack and open to privatization. Unfortunately, most people still believe him, and expect him to be an honourable man.

It makes me think of the joke about the three storybook characters out for a walk: Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, and Superman. They come upon a carnival. Passing a tent, they see the sign: Strong man contest. Superman goes in thinking he has a good chance, comes out a few minutes later with the trophy. They see another tent: Beauty contest. Sleeping Beauty goes in with the same optimism, comes out a little later with her trophy. Then they pass a tent with the sign: Biggest liar contest. Pinocchio is sure he's a winner here. Goes in and comes out all dejected a little later. "Who the hell is Gordon Campbell?"

The population variable is contingent on efficiency

You.re right of course. Religious idiocies are not one of those determiners hat can be changed easily, God nose.

However, The only reason we are insupportable in such numbers is that we are so wasteful. If we stopped eating the future at such a rate in order to make those psychotics we were talking about so obscenely rich, no doubt we could sustain a larger population.

Even actually applying the technologies we already know about in some rational way would go help a lot in reucing the damage we do.

An example

If Mr. Campbell's host, Bill Gates, were to divest hmself of all but a reasonable income, let's say 100k or so, the surplus could feed Africa.

But it doesn't does it. Instead it buys public railways without the consent of the owners.

At the 1994 Cairo conference

At the 1994 Cairo conference on population the only dissenting voices to birth control and population reduction have been the Catholic and Muslim Churches and economists under the leadership of the late Julian Simon, who maintained, either that the "Lord will provide", or in the case of Simon, that endless growth is an economic possibility.

So, .what are the numbers since the broad "concensus" at that conference ? Up or down? So much for politicians and economists.

Even here in Canada we keep hearing that with the aging population there won't be anybody left to do the work. Or shall we say "compete"?

http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/populatin/icpd.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Simon

Ed Deak.

running commentary

I am continually baffled at the subject matter of the articles on this site.
Now, assuming that there is truth to articles such as this one which are indicating this perversion of our democracy by our so called elected leaders.
I can't help but wonder how it came to pass that they think that there demented style of top-down leadership is reasonable...
On top of that, blatantly ignore the will of the people who entrusted them to play that role in society.
How undemocratic.
If all this talk about the influence of private interests is true, then obviously they are the root of the problem and legislation should be set in place to mute those voices when it comes to public policy.
Given that modern government's role is to organize society in such a way that it seeks to operate in the best interests of its constituents AND given that the influence of private interests hold no such obligation, the two should be isolated within the context of all matters that concern public well-being.

again, baffled
though this seems to be a recurring theme.

You are so right THEBURDENOFCULTURE

As long as there is nothing wrong with making large donations to a political party which then does your bidding and actually provide monetary benefits to you through your business or whatever means nothing will change. It is frightening to think that the courts which are there to protect us have never had to wrestle with such blatant conflicts of interest. One could almost class them as very celverly hidden bribes.

Until such quid pro quo is made criminal nothing will change.

Campbell will be long gone before 2013

Yes Campbell swore he had the touch, and mean while this is a man who is so out of touch with the people it is amazing he managed to win another election a all.
I believe the Liberals are having a convention in the fall and what is first on the agenda is a new leader who wants to take the fall. Campbell has worked real hard doing his best to get rid of government and in its place put a CEO in a public company who can get down to business of getting every red cent CEO could out of the public without any interference from government is the irony of it all.

Skywalker

It is a new age where party members don't have to have a big bankroll to be a contender in an election as technology has taken it up a notch allowing a diversity of contenders to enter the political race. Fresh faces with new ideas istead of guys like Campbell are just to easy to read as bubble once gets many in trouble as recession looms then bubble twice to prevent a fall will soon be the end of it all.

We constantly read and

We constantly read and comment about the shambles BC and Canada have become. We are under the rule of two men who claim to be Liberal and Conservative, but who, in reality, are neither. Harper is a reformer and Campbell, I have no clue. I don't know how we change voter apathy, how we get people to care about our future. I am in a constant state of despair or rage, or both, as to what we, the people, have allowed to happen to this country/province. I cannot see the way out of this mess. I'm always saying Up the Revolution, but in reality I don't know where to begin. I'm also sick of hearing myself say it, because the sad fact is, it won't happen and probably wouldn't help save us anyways. I resent the hell out of Harper and Campbell lieing about the banners they run under. I resent Carole James for sitting on her butt saying and doing nothing. It is probably unfair to feel that way, because like us, she doesn't have any control over Campbell and his henchmen and what they are doing to BC. I resent the hostility I feel towards the general public because I think they are the dumb and dumber. If they can't watch hockey, drink beer and go to the mall, not much else matters. So, the thinking people will continue to rail against the injustices and get nowhere. Maybe when we are all living in poverty, taxed to the max and unable to house or feed ourselves adequately, will the general public wake up. Maybe that's when a real revolution will start. I don't know. I just know I am sick of the entire system and my lack of knowledge of how to fix it.

Vote anyway.

Voting in a new party cleans the "old boy" system out, and voids deals in progress that aren't finished yet, and also shifts capital to new avenues (that can be good or bad depending on which party and what you believe).
It is necessary in a multiparty system to vote for a party with a chance to win. Don't waste your vote. The electorate does not listen to losing parties. Losing parties are funded to take votes from winning parties (by their opponents). Vote smart.

That's fraud too

ken-skead says the Liberals will fund 'losing parties' to take votes away from their opponents. We have seen reports surrounding recent elections here that raise suspicion that they may have done just that, funded Green Party candidates to split NDP ridings, with the result that the Liberal candidates won the ridings with a small minority of the votes cast.

In my view for a political party to contribute donated money, or to encourage their contributers to contribute to other parties is such a betrayal of Democratic principles as to approach fraud.

Fraud is the gathering of benefits one has not earned through deception.

I cannot stress enough that political power carries access to large amounts of money, and to the means to hide the crime.

Even to the power to change the laws and delete the regulations so as to render the crime unpunishible.

We absolutely must make it an offence to fail to disclose a contribution or gift to a candidate or a party from a person or an organization of any kind.

All sources of funding for all parties or causes must be disclosed, and all contributors must be prohibited from doing business or receiving any benefits from the government or the candidate they funded.

This loophole has amountd to legalized bribery, and bribery, like fraud is a crime. It absolutely must be closed, if we are to stand any chance of restoring any level of control or reigning back the rampant corruption in the Western Democracies.

This secret funding of all sides by private interests who then feel they own the public interest has been the single most effective weapon by which we have been and are being looted every single day.

Education

is the answer. Not education which instructs you how to make more money, but tells you how to do it honestly. Not education which says your worth is determined by your earning ability but which shows you that money will not buy you happiness nor contentment. Not education which says there is only "winning" but which gives you credit for your best effort in fair competition Not education which stresses unnecessary competition but emphasizes the advantages of co-operation.

Revolution may seem like the solution to many problems but it always carries a very high blood price. Population control sounds sensible but will never be practiced by a species like us humans (simians all) until we learn to practice charity to the extent of our personal disadvantage. Most large families are acquired in lieu of "insurance" to protect individuals from destitution in old age.

But circumstance are now such that global warming is going to initiate a crisis in our civilisation with subsequent revolution, population control and education (too late) descending upon us like the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Observation

The results of the Clean Energy Act will make the Fast Ferries look like a bargain.

Stats Can just released July's cost of living numbers and in their report they state that hydro rates have gone up 36.7%. I assume this compares our hydro rates of July,2009 and July,2010. I don't know if commercial customers get lower rates than the public does, but if they have been similarly impacted, Campbell & Co have screwed over a lot of their supporters as well. Or is it possible that this the reason we are having the HST forced upon us.

So, Bailey, how do we stop

So, Bailey, how do we stop the rampant fraud? I completely agree with you. But, we have no power. I never miss an opportunity to vote but nothing changes and things get worse. I know it is like this all around the world. Greed and the worshipping at the altar of the dollar bill is civilization's downfall. You can't depend on the education system to fix it. They are down sizing that all the time and churning out the dumb and dumber at an amazing pace. The media doesn't have the guts to point out the truth and those who do, don't have enough clout to make the necessary changes and wake people up to the reality.

I think Des is right. Revolution will begin with climate change when the water runs out or kills your crops with floods etc ad nauseum. It will be survival of the fittest and I only hope the fit are the intelligent ones who will create a civil society. One needs to see hope somewhere.

That would be sad

I understand. Human nature seems so fixed, and everybody feels so powerless and discouraged, except the money fetishists who feel exhilirated. Even believe that the deity must approve of their sins and crimes, because they are so richly rewarded with money for them.

It doesn't give much scope for hope. One finds oneself devising fantastic scenarios that might not turn out so harsh, just to keep it alive.

Here's one.

Large effects often flow from small causes. In Argentina once, a grandmother put on a white babushka and made a placard of her disappeared grandson, with the words, 'Where are the disappeared?' and went for a walk in the park across from the government buildings. Soon there were other grandmothers with other pictures on their signs, all wearing white scarves.

One of the most ruthless govenments on Earth soon fell.

I know there were other causes, the Faulklands, the loss of corporate sponsorship etc., but the Grandmothers started it, and focused the attention of the world. And made it very hot for the neo-Nazi generals.

And they didn't have to kill anybody. Try to picture the grandmothers in helmets with Uzis instead of babushkas and snaps of their grandkids. Do you think it would have gone so well?

When revolution succeeds, the revolutionaries become the politicians, and take power for themselves by force. I'ts why revolutions so often have such bad outcomes, the powerful bad guys recreate the powerful good guys in their own image, and so it goes.

In bad times, revolution is tempting, but violent action leads to violent results. It is just too unlikely to turn out well.

Technological change is becoming profound, and the bad guys know it. New oil-free designs are suppressed, China has driven out Google, because people were googling stuff, and finding out the truth.

They wouldn't have done that unless they were scared of it. And they should be scared.

The cure for lies is truth, not death.

Bailey

I fervently believe that the truth shall prevail. As much as I want revolution I do not want bloodshed. I am so naive that I think a revolution where the "leaders" listen to the people and carry out their wishes is a possibility! Despite the despair and rage I feel. I remember the Argentinian grandmothers and what they accomplished. It should be that way always but it seems the crimes are happening at such a pace we can't keep up. That is what scares and frustrates me the most. There is something every day, if not here, then somewhere else in the world. The majority of the world population just want to live in peace and harmony. Why we allow the monsters to run and control us is beyond me.

I live on an Island and have been fantasizing about how we could become almost self-sufficient, break away from BC/Canada and live amongst civil people, which most of the Islanders are. Yeah, I know, dumb and naive!

Thanks for your replies. Food for thought.

THE RAPE OF B.C. HYDRO IS A BEGINING

One of the most profitable, well run, and efficient crown corporations in this province is ICBC. Were it not for their reserves being pillaged by the government they would find it necessary to lower our rates further. Unlike BC Hydro the ICBC holds no real assets to sell with the exeption of the real estate they hold. I remember well when one of our "new governments" took control and payed off all of the twenty year mortgages (complete with penalties) on the land and buildings of ICBC then jacked the rates to pay for it. Even then they wern't able to kill the golden goose, much to the chagrin of the private insurance companies.

BC Hydro is an asset that, like ICBC could be run as an asset for the people of BC. (Wacky's dream) Should we sell it we lose. If ICBC'S land buildings and assets had been sold instead of being payed for, we would not now have a crown corporation that pays millions of dollars a year into the provincial coffers.

BC Rail while making substantial profits spent large (and necessary) amounts of money on infra-structure upgrades. they did this knowing full well that their projected profits would more than cover the expense. Somehow Gordo and his minions were able to do to BC Rail what a previous government couldn't do to ICBC. So now all of our investment in infrastructure, as owners of a crown coporation, are being spent by a forien corporation for the profit of "their" shareholders. As we the people still own the rail line we could well be sued for not maintining it once it becomes too expensive for Gordo's american friends.

So lets sell Hydro to California (last I heard they still haven't payed their bill) while we, the rich British Columbians proudly maintain the highest rate of child poverty in north america.

Go Gordo go. I don't think even you have the cajones to do the water thing. Lets leave that to our next group of elected pillagers.

BC Hydro

I quit reading the Vancouver Sun in the mid-90s when a Fraser Institute report was plastered on the front page. Amongst a number of recommendations, was one to privatize our most successful crown corporations, including BC Hydro.

A couple of years prior to the Enron energy scandal, BC Hydro was making money on the electricity grid exchanges market. That money came back to BC energy users in the form of lower rates.

It seemed that government wasn't supposed to be involved in the free market active buying and selling of energy shares. instead, we got P3s, some of which have been very successful and others not.

Overall, they may have saved money in the short term, but probably cost us all much more in the long term. Unlike public institutions, that have relatively more transparency in their activities and expenses, P.3s and private companies are much more opaque.

Splitting up BC Hydro into 3 components with all their unequal baggage was a big step toward decline. Giving the P3 process priority over crown corporations was another step. What next?

Why do Gordo's pseudo liberal antics with BC Hydro have so much in common with Harpo's attacks on the Canadian wheat board? Why are they so intent on destroying these particularly useful public organizations? (Somewhat rhetorical)