A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Surviving Flurries & The Economic Arguments For A Latté Pipeline

15196102692_e766fd55f8_o

by Sean Orr | Thanks a latté: Board of Trade president says pipelines — not lattés — boost economy. And the chortles abounded, the free market dinosaurs guffawed, and the fat cats oinked with glee. And yet, the irony of late capitalism is such that the service sector employs way more people than pipelines do. So let’s build a fucking latté pipeline right through Iain Black’s presumably massive backyard.

From one smarmy white dude to another: Sorry, Vancouver: The rest of Canada needs pipelines. Nope. Sorry, Gary Mason. The rest of Canada needs better quality jobs, not the same neo-liberal promises of trickle-down economics. The only people that need pipelines are the CEOs of the pipeline companies. Idyllic little bubble? This from a sports writer who believes in misandry.

I mean, fuuuuuuuuck.

Lesslie Askin, 71, shocked to be deemed a Kinder Morgan terror threat. Odd how the ancient storage tanks she was photographing elicited no terror threats themselves…

Wonderbucks closure sign of struggle for independent retailers in Vancouver. That Wonderbucks is a barometer for struggling retailers is weird, but ok…so is Commercial Drive.

Meanwhile, B.C. forecasts larger-than-expected budget surplus. Translation: “Foreign buyers aren’t a problem. Oh shit, nevermind. Ka-ching!” Expect more pork-barreling followed by extreme austerity. The cycle continues and we never learn.

Swine barrel more like it: B.C. allocated 10 times more to fight swine flu than fentanyl crisis. If only fentanyl overdoses were contagious…

Christy’s contempt of facts is rivalled only by He Who Must Not Be Named: B.C. government provides 3 different fentanyl spending estimates in 3 days. “Only in BC can the Premier put $5.77 million into the spin cycle and come out with $43 million” – Sue Hammell.

Tent city evictions reprehensible without support for residents. “Tent cities are no solution to Vancouver’s housing and opioid crises, but they’re a critical form of harm reduction in dire circumstances…” Amen.

Related: Girl who recently aged out of government care dies in Surrey tent.

It-could-happen-here of the day: This artist collective is not to blame for the fire. Oakland’s housing crisis is. That’s why organisations like Safe Amp are so important.

It makes this article eerily prophetic: The irony of having to hide to exist.

Despite being the very fabric of the so-called culture that “our” spokespeople claim to champion (and use to decorate their rhetoric with), the arts community are among the ones who have slipped beneath the cracks, toiling in that “dead time” that isn’t being noted by anyone above the surface.

Lexicon of the day: Flurries. “Nothing causes panic in a Vancouverite more than the threat of flurries. While the rest of Canada regularly deals with massive dumps of the white stuff, we’re crippled by it”.

To wit: Snow Causing Morning Chaos in Metro Vancouver. Be careful out there.

There is 1 comment

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.