Sex, Lies and...Weed

    I've been thinking a lot about current events lately. During my hours driving as a courier I've been tuning into AM 980 CKNW, Vancouver's News and Talk station. Three major topics have been dominating the discussion on the airwaves. Vancouver council's decision to regulate the over ninety medical marijuana dispensaries in the city proper, a direct affront to the Feds.  Two, the landmark Supreme Court ruling in the US of A legalizing gay marriage in all fifty states, and three, the Provincial government's scandalous firing of eight independent drug researchers three years ago which is now coming back to haunt them.

   I'll tackle the huge news about gay marriage first. I wrote a piece a while ago about my view on same sex unions [https://www.facebook.com/notes/daniel-conchie/god-is-my-judge-christians-and-gay-marriage/10153073681769079?pnref=lhc] and my opinion hasn't changed. What is interesting is seeing the wide array of reactions on social media.

  There is obvious joy and celebration, and general exuberance. A sense of vindication, if you will. I appreciate the fact that so many gay couples feel liberated and I can't help but feel happy for them. On the flip side is the sense of disappointment, moral outrage, and defeat felt by many conservative christians, Republicans and anti - gay activists. I can relate to that too since I was raised in that school of thought. Marriage is between a man and woman, homosexuality is a sin, and Christians are grieving on God's behalf as this is yet one more indication that the world is going to hell.

  My point of view is this: There are gay couples who genuinely love each other, have been in a relationship for years and have just been waiting, hoping, for a legal precedent to affirm their relationship. This is their day and I share their joy. There are also christians, who genuinely believe that God says that homosexuality is an abomination and yet are loving, gracious people who don't treat gays as second class citizens, respect them as people and yet firmly believe that they are living in sin. This ruling breaks their hearts, and I sympathize with them.

  On the opposite side of the fence now are the vindictive, militant, thin skinned, close minded gay activists who see this as just one more step to world domination. I may be hyperbolizing just a little but the fact is there are many such people out there who if not completely, certainly come close to meeting that description. The same can be applied to the extreme right, notably Westboro Baptist. These sorry excuses for human beings have nothing but hate in their hearts and on their minds, and will only believe justice is done when every single homosexual is roasting in hell.

  It may appear that I am of two minds about this, and that could be true. However, I see that the world is changing for better or for worse depending on your point of view and as a christian, the best thing I can do is not go out kicking and screaming but rather stay true to myself and my faith, and abide by Christ's greatest rule. LOVE. IF YOU STICK TO THAT ONE RULE, EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE.

    As Ellen Degeneres tweeted: Love won.

                ....AND LOVE WILL WIN.

                                            __________________________

   Changing topics now, let's explore this marijuana kerfuffle. Bruce Allen said it best on his Reality Check bit on CKNW. I'm paraphrasing...the fact that there are over ninety medical pot shops in Vancouver is ridiculous. There isn't a need for that many and there is an excess of supply vs. demand.

   Bruce is in favor of medical marijuana, and believes that the city is doing the right thing in regulating it if only to weed out the less reputable dispensaries only in it for the money.

  Another point of view expressed by Sean Leslie is that visitors to Van City could be forgiven for believing that pot is legal here when it is still a nationally banned controlled substance. The VPD aren't going to arrest anyone for smoking a joint and generally turn a blind eye to the dispensaries except in cases of public safety being compromised. As he said, marijuana is in de facto legal in Vancouver.

   I admit I've smoked a few joints in my time and huffed on a bong. The two fold results of that experimentation were that it didn't do anything for me ninety percent of the time and I became very paranoid one evening, an experience I don't wish to repeat. I couldn't care less for recreational pot nowadays and believe getting high is just a big, dumb waste of time.

   The therapeutic benefits of pot for people suffering from cancer, seizures, anxiety attacks and terminal pain are documented however and nothing to laugh at. When comparing a joint to many medications out there with a shit load of fucking nasty side effects, and the only side effect of weed is drifting off blissfully into a haze of relief, I find it hard to argue against it.

    Rona Ambrose, the Federal Health Minister would disagree however. In short, she's expressed deep disappointment with Vancouver city council for in effect condoning an illegal substance and has given repeated calls to the VPD to enforce the law and bust all these dispensaries littering the landscape. The police refuse to listen to her and the majority of opinions expressed about Ms. Ambrose and by extension the Federal Government are as follows: Wake up, you're out of touch, you have nice hair but nothing underneath, it's impossible to have an adult conversation with the Feds about drugs, the world is changing but they are hopelessly out of step and they are oblivious to the realities of BC, Vancouver in particular.

    I can just picture Harper and his close associates discussing the debacle and saying, "Geez, what a pain in the ass BC is being. The majority of Canada agrees with our hardline approach to drugs, and we're not going to lose any votes on the issue, but pothead Vancouver is flouting a sensible law and in effect giving us the finger. Can't we just march in and quash this irritating rebellion?"

   Now just to be clear I am not a pot advocate. I don't smoke it, and dislike its skunky smell. I do believe though that are real benefits to medicinal pot and that the Harper government should start thinking outside of the box and seriously consider treating this issue differently, because it sure as heck isn't going away and with it already legal in Washington and Colorado its only a matter of time before the rest of the dominos start to collapse.

                                    ____________________________________

   Finally a story that quite literally gives me a chill about the Provincial government. Three years ago, eight researchers conducting tests on prescription medicines were summarily suspended, interrogated and fired all because of a suspected data breach. The people targeted were highly professional, experienced, intelligent researchers with supposedly ironclad contracts backed by the BCGEU (government employees union). Now anybody in a union or experience with one knows how difficult and how many hoops have to be jumped through to fire a union member. All eight firings were conducted in a manner more reminiscent of the Homeland Security approach to terrorists, with all legal rights suspended. I mentioned interrogation and yes, no two ways about it, every single person was grilled, so much so that there was a reported case of an extreme anxiety attack which forced one of these "interviews" to be halted.

   One of the terrible outcomes of this kangaroo court was the suicide of one researcher after he was sacked.

     A two year investigation followed conducted in house by the government with the report given to the RCMP to confirm whether any of these researchers could be criminally charged. Within the last day or two, the RCMP came back saying there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by any of the researchers. This in effect topples the leg the government was standing on by way of refusing any comments due to the fact that the matter is under investigation.

    An open letter was sent to Terry Lake, the Provincial Health Minister written by the researchers and sister of the one who committed suicide stating that they would forgo any privacy concerns and be completely open to a public inquiry to find out why and how this all went down.

   Ever since this scandal broke, the government has steadfastly refused, denied and flat out said no to any possibility of a public inquiry. Their excuse: We apologized, reinstated some of the researchers, paid out settlements and basically washed our hands of this. A public inquiry would be lengthy, costly and have a slim chance of coming to a satisfactory resolution. Oh yeah, and it would compromise the privacy of a select few civil servants. My guess? These civil servants are to blame and the government's shielding them.

   This facade crumbled just a little though after the RCMP stated that there was no wrong doing on part of the researchers, and guess what, the government didn't give the RCMP any evidence for the entire two years other than the report.

    Terry Lake has now said he's leaving the door open to an independent public inquiry though he still has concerns about cost and privacy.

    This whole debacle just sickens me. The rottenness of politics exposed and the subsequent ass covering, lying and total disregard for people and their livelihoods is a disgrace.

    I hope a fair, timely and definitive investigation is conducted and the lily livered, shiny shoed, shirt and tie bureaucrats responsible for ruining these lives are caught with their pants down, red handed and severely disciplined for their callousness and pure fucking vindictive evilness.
  

Defamation, Really?

          My attraction to blogging is twofold. It has unlimited potential by way of being able to write anything I desire and I can be completely biased. On that note:

        The saga of Laura Robinson vs John Furlong. Ms. Robinson, a freelance journalist took it upon herself to discredit and bring upon Mr. Furlong what she perceived as justice in writing an article detailing reports of him abusing children, which allegedly happened forty years ago at Immaculata School in Burns Lake.

       Now, I've kept abreast of this story since the beginning. I didn't know much about Ms. Robinson, and from all accounts, the article in the Georgia Straight seemed legitimate. I personally didn't have much affinity for Furlong and basically thought he was another boring executive, a talking head, a figure head who got way too much credit for the Olympics. When the news broke about these abuse allegations, I thought, okay, a fearless independent journalist has brought another creep his just deserts.

      Later on I read an article in Vanity Fair about Laura Robinson. I got a much clearer picture of who she was. In my own words, she struck me as a crusading, anti-authority, anti-male activist who threw away many opportunities for a stable career to pursue a vendetta against who she thought was the devil in the form of public male figures in positions of authority,  John Furlong being among them.

     That being said, there are folks out there who would say, "yeah, so? I fully believe in what she stands for. There should be more people out there taking up her cause."

     Fair enough. The results of the various lawsuits, failed criminal investigation, and latest testimony in the defamation lawsuit Ms. Robinson brought against Mr. Furlong tells a different story though. Let me back up here. The woman who initially wrote this article, defaming Furlong, and by all accounts poorly researched and suffering a lack of due diligence is suing the man she defamed for defaming her. Huh?

    This after all the cases against her were dropped, and the alleged criminal conduct of Mr. Furlong wasn't proven in court.

    The nail in Ms. Robinson's coffin is all the witnesses defending John Furlong in the trial against him, and basically calling Ms. Robinson a (my own words) bitch with an axe to grind.

    If Laura Robinson fully stood behind her article and firmly believed in her sources and the legitimacy of said article, why the hell isn't she taking her lumps and moving on with life, admitting she made a mistake as proven by the courts. Instead she insists on dragging herself and Furlong further through the mud to redeem what vestiges of self respect she has left.

   Know when you've been beaten, Laura, and stop hanging onto your vindictive ideals for dear life. Perhaps if you do, you'll realize the world doesn't revolve around you. Maybe you realize that if you drop your campaign, you'll see that you have nothing left. I sincerely pity you if that is the case, because that is a truly terrible place to find yourself.

    

  

Dodge Ram Rave

 Addicted to bass, I stare into the space left by the car in front of me

Through the windshield tinted by necessary shades I see the horizon skyline

Postcard buildings turn into towering walls of downtown valleys 

 I am enclosed in black steel and dark glass, protected from the noisy crush of frenetic activity, the radio provides the soundtrack to the escape from humanity

I drive down an alley tattooed with graffiti, a man stares up at the big truck from a mattress stained with reality

He realizes his life will end shortly if he doesn't move his ass, and scrambles frantically 

Bump, bump, bump...bump, the tires crush the pad and I yell sorry 

Responded to with a middle finger accompanied by a voice slurred by a mickey of whisky 

The Hemi growls, and a ethereal voice carries me through the city, rolling with the beats of a chill melody

The dream comes to an abrupt stop, I have to park and exit my truck into the roiling kinetic energy of the city of prosperity and poverty 

These two titans, one spiffy, the other slovenly, battle constantly 

The wealthy retreat in their Benz's and Bentleys, and cower in their penthouses, and seaside villas dodging the relentless attack of the down and outers and their supporters, "This is villainy, cold and calculating in their ignorance of DTES's state of emergency!"

I feel the pain, and despise the gain, but am I complicit in it, as I roll through in my black and shiny....

Ram, happy in my "middle class" serenity - just as long as my satellite radio maintains its connectivity?

My Dad

       My Dad loves John Wayne. The gruff talking, charismatic cowboy who deals with problems with a gun, his fists or a one liner. Perhaps because John Wayne reminds me of my grandfather. All three men share one thing in common: charisma. Now my dad is not a suave Hollywood star, and he doesn't use guns, and I've never seen him in a brawl, but he is a people person.

      As a kid, this was fascinating, irritating, and a learning experience. Often as a family, we'd be in a restaurant or a grocery store or somewhere in public and he would strike up a conversation with a stranger. "Who's that?" I'd ask my mom, "I don't know," she'd reply. 

     We'd usually be the last ones to leave church after the service because he always had one last person to talk to.

     I met some unique individuals as a kid because of him. I remember parking on the side of a busy street or highway once, hopping a fence, and trekking into the woods to visit a man who'd set up a tent amongst the trees.

    It was in some ways a secure feeling knowing that no matter who we met, my dad would know what to say. Growing up with such a gregarious man however, when I was painfully shy was difficult sometimes. I found that it was easier to relate to my mom than him, and seeing a side of him which he reserved for his family and didn't reveal to others. 

    He was a very public figure and I was a very private person, and I regret to say that for some years I came close to hating him. Despite that there was always a underlying respect which didn't waver. Despite his many faults, he was and is someone to look up to.

    As a father myself, I see many similarities in how I relate to my son. I realize my son will not like everything I do and sometimes even hate me with youthful passion, but I hope he'll see despite my many faults that I truly love him. 

    The same goes for you, Dad. You are a hero. Not without weaknesses or faults. Our journey has been rocky but I still have that security knowing that no matter who you meet, you know what to say or do and that is something I take strength from and emulate.

                                         

Not Another Blog!

     I remember when blogs were the Big New Thing. Everybody and their dog had one. It was all the rage. Eventually they became yet another over saturated fad. Some people became rich and famous because of them though and some became national and international web destinations.

    Now I'm writing one and though thoughts of fame briefly flitted across my brain, I don't have any grandiose expectations. Usually Facebook has been the media of choice for random musings, but it does have its limitations.

    I'll try to write often, as both a creative exercise and a outlet for thoughts, and I will strive to be usually thought provoking, occasionally controversial and always inspiring.