28Apr 2010 by R&O No Comments
Marijuana in America

Marijuana in America

Business, Economy, Observations, Of Interest, Politics, The Law
Most, if not all residents of British Columbia are aware how BC Bud has prospered in this province from it's early beginnings in the Gulf Island hippie communities to the present multi-billion dollar underground industry. Our bud is know the world over for it's quality and potency. But what about the United States? Ah...yes, our friends to the north. Well fear not as they have a thriving industry of their own whether the FDA, FBI and local law officials like it or not. First...a bit of history: Up until 1883, cannabis hemp was the largest agricultural crop in the world, grown for it's various byproducts such as paper, oil and rope. In the late 1930's Canadian and worldwide hemp producers were competing directly with that greedy jackass William Randolph Hurst…
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27Apr 2010 by R&O No Comments

Editorial Changes

Business, Entertainment, Of Interest, People
It appears that the editorial page of The Province is no longer sporting the cartoons of either Bob Krieger or Dan Murphy. I won't miss Krieger's lame attempts at humour but most of Murphy's cartoons and writings made me laugh out loud. It's unfortunate that The Province Editors have decided that both must go but I suppose it's a sign of the times as newspapers continue to position themselves with the online news world. Most of Kreiger's simplistic cartoons were biased and pathetic attempts at social and political satire which, in my opinion, rarely worked. I did, however look forward to and read Dan Murphy's cartoons and outrageous musings with plenty of guffaws and head nodding. His material was usually spot-on and lambasted politicians, do-gooders and local celebrity wannabe's without…
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14Jan 2010 by R&O No Comments

The Israeli Method

Business, Observations, Of Interest, Politics
Air travel security is reaching a level of absurdity and everyone is paying the price except terrorists and upper-tier politicians. We're being subjected to probes, scans, pat-downs, interrogation and intimidation just because we have chosen to travel by air. Every new terrorist incident results in more and more ridiculous rules and procedures at our airports but the sad fact is that it's grossly inefficient and target the innocent passenger rather than the dedicated Jihadist pin-head that make air travel scary and unpredictable. Our governments hire an army of sub-literate, socially inept security personnel who root through our personal belongings, scan our bodies and send us to interrogation rooms if we act remotely suspicious or have the audacity to complain. It's time something was done but who can do it and…
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26May 2009 by R&O No Comments

TV Wars

Business
Shaw Communications Inc. is running a series of print, tv and online notices bemoaning the fact that Global TV, CTV and CBC are demanding fees to carry their broadcasts and asking for the public's support. The broadcasters have been turned down twice by the CRTC and are taking another kick at the can in the hopes of extracting an additional 6 bucks per month from cable subscribers for their marginal programming. To be honest, I watch very little local content and am content with the high quality programming on HBO Canada and a few of the specialty channels. Shaw Communications and Rogers Communications evenly divided the cable television pie years ago, one controlling cable in western Canada and the other in eastern Canada (I still can't believe that was actually…
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