by Sean Orr | Slurry in a hurry: Residents calling it an environmental disaster: tailings pond breach at Mount Polley Mine near Likely, BC. This raises the question of how likely was this event? Also, dear corporate media, this might be a good time to bring up the spectre of tax breaks and subsidies for mining corporations in BC.

Satyricon: Convicts to replace B.C. teachers says Christie Clark. Almost as good as this: Miss USA 2011 — Should Math Be Taught In Schools?

Related: Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell tied for worst premier of B.C.. You can do it, Christy! Break the stalemate!

Another poll: British Columbians are not too optimistic. You know what they say, when you’re chewing on life’s gristle, don’t grumble, give a whistle! Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

Rationalization is everything: When context is everything. Wherein mayoral candidate Lapointe compares a photo-op to de-sensitize the public to gay men kissing with a corporate publicity stunt. I mean, heaven forbid there is something in your past *cough masturbation video cough* that you might need to answer for. “We do not take a hostile view to homosexuality”. Oh great! What a marvellously progressive stance for a journalist to take! “Would it be different today? Of course. Society has thankfully evolved.” With no thanks to you.

No mainstream media outlets are reporting that local mothers and families are currently occupying MP Don Davies to protest Canadian support of the Israeli offensive in Gaza because Wayne Gretzky’s daughter’s boyfriend is a badass who clearly needs to get his act together or the damn wedding is off.

Related tweet of the day:

Journalism. That’s it. That’s the joke.

— Somebody Someone (@stuves) August 4, 2014

Metro Vancouver’s homeless community less transient than commonly believed. In which the Vancouver Sun spoils the lifelong image I’ve had of them riding the railroads playing harmonicas with polka-dotted bindles on their backs.

On being and nothingness: The floating life of affluent ‘transnational’ migrants. “New demographic: They are ‘global elites’, but such quasi-immigrants often lead unsatisfying, complex lives”. Oh well, as long as they aren’t happy. That’s all that really matters.

Listing of the day: Trendy 3 storey building with ground floor retail for sale. That either makes the following ironic or incredibly prophetic…

Cube Living: “On February 19 Grünenfelder began a limited release of micro-properties measuring 1 cubic foot. This innovative product addresses the stagnation and endemic unaffordability of Vancouver’s real estate market. In developing a spatial commodity that can be purchased in very small units, Cube Living is able to offer affordable properties at prices under $50! Micro-properties are an accessible solution to the inflated real estate market crisis that threatens to push Vancouver’s economy into decline”.

How Vancouver’s traffic nightmares hurt all of B.C.. Hmm, how about making public transit free?

Price weighs in with a fair counterpoint: “We have next to zero tolerance for failure in our transit system if it happens even once or twice a year, while accepting the daily failure of a road-based system where every vehicle is a weak link. Each weekday, helicopters provide live images of accidents and back-ups; radio reports on the delays that affect thousands”.

Bonus: Most hated teams in the NHL by province, country and continent.