Dear God

Last month you took my favourite musician Prince.

Last week you took my favourite boxer Muhammed Ali.

This week you took my favourite hockey player, Gordie Howe.

I just want to let you know that my favourite presidential candidate is Donald Trump.

Sincerely yours,

Part V: Hard Rock Cafe @ 30.96 Hastings: Annual Rock and Gem Show : Children Activities too: June 25th & 26th

Hastings Centre Rockhounds Annual Rock and Gem Show

You are invited to attend the Hastings Centre Rockhounds Annual Rock, Gem, and Jewellery Show on Saturday June 25 and Sunday June 26.

The show is held in the gym at the Hastings Community Centre, 3096 East Hastings Street, Vancouver. Admission is by donation.  Hours are 10 am to 5 pm each day.

We are very proud to show the public our unique and beautiful treasures our members have crafted with their own hands.  Each piece represents skill and patience along with a bit of creativity. We will also have various demonstrations in cabochon making and Jewellery making. Stop by and see how the craft is done!

Along with our members' tables, we have invited others in the rock and lapidary community to sell their products that are of interest to our hobby. You will find rough rock, mineral specimens, slabs, tools, finished products like tumbled stones and jewellery, as well as books and findings.

The Silent Auction, Grab Bags, and Spin and Win ensure that everyone can go home with something special.

We offer fun for the entire family and children can partake in a unique experience and take home their own hand made crafts. This year we will be continuing the highly popular soapstone carving and tumbled stone picture frame making. See our brochure for details on these activities: children's activities brochures.

Our concession table has lots fresh and tasty goodies available to indulge the senses and satisfy your taste buds.   Playing with rocks always work up an appetite.   Our annual show is also membership drive which connects us with people who may become active new members in our club. We welcome your interest and questions.

Please make plans to attend our show and bring all your friends and family since everyone is welcome. We look forward to spending time with you.

Children Activities

Club Website

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Past Posts

Part I Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings  Mike Ma MetalWorks Forum; Torch Fired Enamelling; SilverSmithing 

Mike Ma
 Part I Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings  MetalWorks Forum; Torch Fired Enamelling; SilverSmithing  

Mike Ma
Part II Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings  Torch Fired Enamelling; Silversmithing; Blacksmithing

Mike Ma
Part VI Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings  MetalWorks Forum:  Mike Ma

Part III Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings   Books

Part IV  Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings  Days of Old, Days of Gold

Part V Hard Rock Cafe 30.96 Hastings  Annual Rock and Gem Show : Children Activities too



Hastings Centre Community Rockhounds

Far fewer pedestrians die from jumping off bridges than pedestrians being struck (killed) by cars. Politicians Answer ....

The Answer: .... Build suicide prevention fences on bridges ....  instead of providing treatment at Riverview.

Moot point here, but if the impact of a pedestrian falling onto the still waters of either Burrard Inlet or False Creek and doesn't kill them, but they are found to have died by drowning, then that statistic (drowning) is not included in official reports because it falls within one of the three realms of "natural causes, suicide, or homicide".

If the point of installing suicide prevention fences on Metro Vancouver Bridges is to save lives why doesn't the three levels of government go the extra kilometres and  fence in the interfaces between pedestrians and motor vehicles?   Streets and Sidewa lks.  One example: Stanley Park Causeway

Huffington Post
Each year in B.C., about 65 pedestrians don't survive a collision with a vehicle.

The Pedestrians that do survive end up at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) with cameras rolling.  And if they don't survive?... its not like ICBC will step in and do a complete rebuild like they'll do with the car that caused the death, or will ICBC just write-off both?

Knowledge Network:  Emergency Life and Death

Sampling of Burrard Bridge's Suicide Prevention Fences and Nettings:

North Shore News
More people jump to their deaths from the Lions Gate Bridge each year than any other bridge in the province. They continue to do so despite a recommendation more than five years ago from the B.C. Coroners Service to retrofit the five bridges where people most commonly jump to their deaths with some kind of suicide barrier or netting.

In 22 years between 1991 and 2013, government statistics point to 78 people ending their lives on the Lions Gate Bridge. 

CBC
 About one person a year dies from suicide by jumping from the Burrard Bridge, according to Vancouver Coastal Health.

 Pedestrian drowning statistics? 

BC Drowning Report

 Includes only preventable (unintentional) deaths, not deaths due to natural causes, suicide, or homicide.

BC Coroners Service Child Death Review Panel
A Review of Road-Related Pedestrian, Cyclist and Boarder Deaths in Children and Youth
2005-2014

A net would have been a more efficient means for the prevention of suicides happening on Bridges.

As it is all that has to happen is to take one step ladder, or one part of an extension ladder, and just for safety, .... handcuff it to the fence.  Then wait for the police to arrive, meanwhile all the traffic would be at a standstill.

If Right To Die is Good for Canada, why hasn't China and India pursued it?

Behind the Smile: $50,000 Stipend and change

Why has McLean's made the point that former B.C. MLA Judi Tyabji penmanship is an unauthorized biography of the B.C. Premier?

Unauthorized???  vs Authorized, there's a difference?

Q: I’m considering writing a biography about someone relatively famous in my hometown. I’ve noticed that biographies fall into one of two categories: authorized and unauthorized. What’s the difference?

A:  The difference between an authorized biography and an unauthorized biography is this: An authorized biography is written with the help/cooperation of the person whom the book is about and an unauthorized biography is not.

In an authorized biography, the author typically holds interviews with the subject of the book, the subject’s family members and friends, co-workers, etc. The author is privy to information only attainable from the subject of the book. So, let’s say you wanted to write Brian A. Klems: Man, Writer, Softball Champion and wanted it to be an authorized biography. You’d contact me and ask for my blessing and cooperation, getting as much information as you can directly from me (and those around me). If I were deceased (yikes!), you’d need the blessing of my estate.

Also, depending on level of involvement, sometimes the subject will get a shared byline and possibly a share of the book’s revenue. Issues like that can—and should—be addressed before the book is started.

On the flip side, if you call for my help and I tell you to buzz off, you have two options: 1) to actually buzz off or 2) to go ahead and write the biography anyway without my help. Here you’ll have to gather info on your own from public records and other resources, but you won’t have to make any professional compromises or financial concessions.

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MacLeans

 Christy Clark bio goes beyond the smile

Former B.C. MLA Judi Tyabji pens an unauthorized biography of the B.C. Premier

Nancy Macdonald

June 4, 2016 

....... She described for Tyabji the moment she was able to turn it around. She was swimming in the cold Pacific Ocean, near her family cabin in B.C.’s Gulf Islands. “For the first time, I felt overwhelmed, thinking that I just didn’t know how we were going to win the election.” She’s always been a nervous swimmer, she admits, wary of the creatures beneath her, and of the open ocean after her father’s and sister’s near-drowning in a boating accident. “I remember swimming and thinking, I don’t know if I’m going to win the election, but it all depends on me, and I’m not going to be scared about the outcome,” she tells Tyabji. “I’m going to let go of all my fear about it.”.    In that moment, she “stopped being afraid.  ......

 

 ..... The biography was unauthorized, but it’s not clear the premier will appreciate the help.  ......

A pedestrian tunnel beneath the Upper Levels Highway at Philip Avenue bars powered wheelchairs but favours Long Boarders

Looking North

Who would have guessed that at Philips Avenue, a block east of Capilano and intersects with the Upper Levels Highway there is a tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists.   Then along came the regulations regarding accessibility for all.  

Triple Barrier, Looking North

One enterprising wheelchairian ducked the bars but his headrest slammed into them and tipped the whole unit over backwards.....   911

Triple Barrier, Looking South

The pedestrian tunnel is large enough to accept motorcycles, and that's the purpose that some motorcyclist did  .... with STRAIGHT exhaust pipes announcing their presence.  Department of Highways responded with the Bars.

Two to the West, one to the East, North and South ends, hip height of an adult.  (Gas Tank level)

And then along came the LongBoarders.......   with nothing to stop them, not even the fear of being run over by cars, nor considering the safety of surprised pedestrians outside.

Looking South, downhill

From our perspective there could be another use for that tunnel, a toll for Smart Car owners....except for the barricades.

MLA J. MacPhail: May 17, 2004: Hansard: Mount Polley: BC Liberals zeal for cutting red tape may impeded proper environmental and regulatory oversight

A little bit of history for Mount Polley:

J. MacPhail:  (Opposition Leader)(May 17, 2004)

I think the minister mistook me for David Anderson.

           We were, though, in the 1930s and forties, price setters, and now in British Columbia we're price takers, not price makers. There was an example from the 1990s about mining, and it proves to be very insightful in relation to the growing economy. In June of '97 the Mount Polley mine was completed. Private sector investment–built, it took over 12 months and $115 million of investment. In September of 2001 the mine had to suspend operations because commodity prices had plummeted. Now those commodity prices are back, and hopefully this mine, which was built on time and under budget, will be put to useful production as well.

           What does make me a little bit nervous — and it's only a cautionary note here — is that as we know full well the mining industry is about commodity prices. We have to be ever so cautious not to throw the baby out with the bathwater and have a zeal for cutting red tape that may impede proper environmental and regulatory oversight, and then somehow be charged with improper activity in those areas in the world market.

           Certainly, a responsible, productive mining industry is a necessity for B.C. What we must do, though, is move forward to a modern, sustainable industry and not to the past where communities were devastated.

Highly likely, as Likely, British Columbia found out when the tailings pond broke because of the zeal for cutting red tape that did impede proper environmental and regulatory oversight......

Nova Scotia's Irving Shipbuilders OWNs Seaspan's North Vancouver Shipyard

How do we know this to be a FACT?

In amongst the East Coast Irving Shipbuilders Inc. Website is a 'C' Class British Columbia Ferry departing from the Horseshoe Bay terminal in West Vancouver.  In the background is Bowen Island to port, and Gambier Island to starboard.

http://www.irvingshipbuilding.com/uploadedImages/Slides/Feb1716-MEOPAR.jpg

When MP Justin Trudeau crossed the floor was it to join the Conservative Vote or the Party?

Winston Churchill did it in 1904 and then crossed back again in 1924... but not as a Prime Minister
 

Crossing the floor: Wikipedia

In politics, crossing the floor is when a politician changes their allegiance or votes against their party in a Westminster system parliament. Crossing the floor may be voting against the approved party lines, or changing to a second party after being elected to a first party.

CBC
 

In video from the House, Trudeau is seen wal king toward Brown in a crowd of MPs in the Commons aisle, taking his arm in an apparent effort to move Brown toward his seat. While doing so, he encountered Brosseau, who was also standing in the aisle and was seen physically reacting after the contact.

"I was trying to start the vote, the prime minister grabbed my arm. I immediately told the prime minister to let go of me — now," Brown said in a statement released later. "Immediately afterward, the prime minister went back down the aisle of the House to confront other members of opposition parties."

"I later told the prime minister he should NOT have gotten out of his seat," Brown added.

Translink Seabus: Beats, Meets or Fails Transport Canada and Canadian Coast Guard Standards?

Muster Stations  Transport Canada

Instruction upon departure, ..... is supposed to take place without any distractions eg. electronic wizardry, ear phones, cell phones, computers...   Every day thousands of Metro Vancouverites take the Seabus from the North Shore to Downtown and never has there been a moment of fear, which speaks well for Translink's safety record but what of the disaster scenarios.

Schools and Hospitals are required to have emergency evacuations, at least once a year.  Has the Seabus fleet tried? Passengers trying? Cyclists bikes blocking the life preservers under the seats at the bow and stern and the Children's life jacket lockers?

Should the 'Exit This Side' display be on during the whole crossing or only upon arriving?

The video instructions are all about How To properly don a life jacket.

Obviously the point of having Muster Stations is to ensure that the quickest means of egress from a vessel in distress is to save lives with a minimum of fuss.

There are NO lines drawn on the Seabus Vessels carpet indicating which is YOUR Muster Station.

Muster Station on Otter II
   Left side / Port side on Red Background

Muster Station on Otter II

  Right side / Starboard side on Green Background


For landlubbers: lump less letters together as opposed to more letters:
 Port/Left/Red    vs    Starboard/Right/Green

The one thing that is common to both are the trash cans blocking the Muster Station areas.  In a case of emergency where are the trash and recycling bins moved to?

Shouldn't the Muster Stations be clear of ALL obstacles at all times?

Which crew member has the duty to move them out of the way in an emergency?  Other than the daily news ..... newspapers being handed out before boarding in the morning, is there really a need for four garbage bins on board when there are more bins on the floating terminals, and are they subject to Canadian Coast Guard regulations along with Transport Canada regulations?
TransLink has 'Rules and Regulations' are for land base activities, but there's nothing published for the sea based activities.

  Sep 18 2009 - Rules and Regulations


Transport Canada   Minimum Standards   Safety 

Burrard Otter II

 We were asked to put these plastic booties on. I think it was so we wouldn’t puncture the raft.

December 1, 2009, 9:00 am

The new SeaBus does a rescue exercise!

The Burrard Pacific Breeze enters the west dock on the north terminal.

I got to participate in a rescue exercise with the new SeaBus yesterday morning!
SeaBus staff ran through its man overboard procedures, and ran a huge group of people through its emergency evacuation process. All the SeaBuses do these exercises every year! And we all were quite thankful for sunny weather yesterday, since we all had to sit in a rubber raft and get towed to shore.
The new SeaBus will hopefully be in service this December — it’s awaiting certification from Transport Canada, and this exercise was part of the federal tests.
Here’s some photos of the day, and a sneak peek of the new SeaBus interiors!

Everyone gets ready for the exercise.

Staff from TransLink and CMBC volunteered for the exercise, and a big group of students from BCIT’s Marine Campus also joined in. Here we are meeting near one of the docks in the North Terminal.
A video of us boarding the new SeaBus! The seats are lovely!

The middle of the SeaBus.

The centre of the SeaBus features two long rows of seats now.

Plastic booties!

We were asked to put these plastic booties on. I think it was so we wouldn’t puncture the raft.

Near one end of the SeaBus.

The seats at the front of the SeaBus. Notice the “Exit This Side” LED displays!
We sailed around in circles for a little while. An inspector from Transport Canada was on board, inspecting the engines and other things.

SeaBus's little friend!

One of the SeaBus folks explained that a small boat is kept on shore to help out when a SeaBus has any issues. For this exercise, the boat was following the new SeaBus, and it towed our life raft to shore when we all evacuated.

The man overboard exercise.

SeaBus staff performed a man overboard exercise. (Nobody actually went overboard, but they did run through the procedures.) The marine attendant was hooked to the SeaBus via an anchor in the doorway. I also saw blankets pulled out on board to warm up the person overboard once they were pulled in.

Life vests under the seats!

Then marine attendants guided us through the evacuation routine, and we all pulled out our life jackets from under the seats. They needed a bit of tugging but we got them out!


PS
The reason for COMPASS cards..... missing body counts

Do NOT Shake, Rattle or Roll when it comes to Releasing 'Ralph' c/w radioactive tracking 'toe nail' polish

Wikipedia

According to Rubio, "The most widely accepted hypothesis for the evolution of the rattle is that the rattle is a warning device for predatory animals that might be a threat to the rattlesnake. It produces a signal to drive them away."

The rattle is composed of a series of hollow, interlocked segments made of keratin, which are created by modifying the scales that cover the tip of the tail. The contraction of special "shaker" muscles in the tail causes these segments to vibrate against one another, making the rattling noise (which is amplified because the segments are hollow). The muscles that cause the rattle to shake are some of the fastest known, firing 50 times per second on average, sustained for up to three hours.

At birth, a “prebutton” is present at the tip of the snake's tail; it is replaced by the “button” several days later when the first skin is shed. However, no sound can be made by the rattle until a second segment is added when the skin is shed again.  A new rattle segment is added each time the snake sheds its skin, and the snake may shed its skin several times a year, depending on food supply and growth rate.

Rattlesnakes travel with their rattles held up to protect them from damage, but in spite of this precaution, their day-to-day activities in the wild still cause them to regularly break off end segments. Because of this, the age of a rattlesnake is not related to the number of rattles on its tail.

One of the differentiating features of males and females is the males have thicker and longer tails (because they contain the inverted hemipenes). Also, the tails of males taper gradually from the body, whereas the tails of females narrow abruptly at the vent.

Just a thought here, but, no rattlesnake is a perfect, they don't all have rattles that we love to hear as a warning shot to jump, flight or fight.  Predominately, the rattlesnakes that end up being hunted down, do have rattles.   Evolutionary ????? elimination of the 'fittest' rattlesnakes will be replaced by the rattlesnake without a rattle.

No warning, more deaths, no flight, no fight.

Of course not all of the rattlesnakes with rattles will ever be hunted down to extinction, but evolution is a funny thing.....

John Horgan: Does anyone in the Premier's staff receive stipends from the B.C. Liberal Party? Christy Clark: I take it he's talking about me.

Remuneration definition:  money paid for work or a service.

Remunerative definition:  financially rewarding; lucrative

Brian Bonney?????   Received 100% of his salary from his OIC appointment in the Premier's Office during the Ethnic Scandal in 2013 (still before the courts) but then the in-house investigator, John Dyble, saw to it that BC Liberal Party Leader Christy Clark ..... cut a cheque and handed it over to Premier Christy Clark to deposit in the BC Treasury...... because Bonney was only working 50% of the time for each entity.  ouch....  Are there any other skeletons in the closets?

 http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/67_2014

 Outside Remunerative and Volunteer Work 

Political staff may hold jobs outside government, carry on a business, receive remuneration from public funds for activities outside their position, or engage in volunteer activities provided it does not:

• interfere with the performance of their employment duties;

• bring the government into disrepute;

• represent a conflict of interest or create the reasonable perception of a conflict of interest;

• appear to be an official act or to represent government opinion or policy;

• involve the unauthorized use of work time or government premises, services, equipment, or supplies; or

• gain an advantage that is derived from their employment with the Province of BC. 

Political staff who are appointed as directors or officers of Crown corporations are not to receive any additional remuneration beyond the reimbursement of appropriate travel expenses except as approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

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 Merv Adey's Post  @ BCVeritas.com

"Chief Ken Rea made the request directly to me" - Christy Clark

Which led us to see if there was another Brian Bonney working both sides of the table

 @

Hansard Blues

 Blues (Updated Thursday, May 12, 2016 12:50 PM)

J. Horgan: I thank the Premier for that.

There's a regulation change: regulation 211/2014, B.C. reg 67/2014, Public Service Act, Standards of Conduct for Political Staff Regulation. It says "Outside remuneration and volunteer work.

Political staff may hold jobs outside government, carry on a business, receive remuneration from public funds for activities outside their position, or engage in volunteer activities provided it does not interfere with the performance… bring the government into disrepute, represent a conflict of interest…" and a number of other caveats as well.  I'm wondering if the Premier can advise if any of her staff hold outside positions.

Hon. C. Clark: I'm not aware of any staff members violating the code the member has talked about.

J. Horgan: That wasn't the question. The question was: do any of her staff hold outside positions?

Hon. C. Clark: Not that I'm aware of, if I'm understanding the question correctly.

J. Horgan: The question was…. After reading the regulation change that said that political staff may hold jobs outside…. Maybe I'll be more specific. Does anyone in the Premier's staff receive stipends from the B.C. Liberal Party?

Hon. C. Clark: I take it he's talking about me.

I'm not aware of that happening in my office with any staff members.

J. Horgan: If I can be clear, then, the Premier does not believe that any of the staff working in her office receive stipends from the B.C. Liberal Party. Is she aware of any of the staff in her office holding any other positions, running a business or a consultancy?

Hon. C. Clark: No.

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Are we waiting for the other shoe to drop? 

Ben James works for whom?   

https://twitter.com/legb4wicket

a Ben James works for us!!!! in the Government Caucus or is it the BC Liberal Party

Director of Communication

Ben James bad mouthing Members of the Legislative Assembly??? on our dime??  Madam Speaker, Madman Speaker.....

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Who else uses Twitter in the Office?

Shane Mills

Lorne Mayencourt

Brooke Cannon

Jordan Grimsud

Tracy Grimsud

Dave Paulson

Doug Secord

Marc Wang

Morida Weatherly



MLA David Eby on Ben James (not an MLA but paid for by taxpayers from Christy Clark purse) 

Publicly funded BC government Director of Communications .... Ben James