James Younger

James Younger is clearly an unintelligent, uneducated, low functioning twit. It would appear that his only real cause, and therefore the only topic that he has devoted any "intellectual" time to, would be the very narrow spectrum of municipal issues that would confront him on a trip to the corner store. In plain speak, the only things that really bother him are those that get between him and his slurplee. He only wants the slurplee-stoppers (problems) to go away rather than address the issues at hand. 

My question:

What’s your vision for future real estate development in our municipality?

And he replies:

#2 The real estate market is down and no one is borrowing money to build at this moment. This is predicted to last a few years. The new houses that are being sold are selling for less. I predict many builders moving into other work.

Okay. So what does this have to do with what direction the city might allow in real estate development?

My question:

What direction do you see the downtown revitalisation going in? Box stores, strip malls, megaplexes or locally owned unique small businesses?

His reply:

#5 How people build on their land once it is approved is up to them.

I give up. That doesn't even make any sense.  --> Me imagining this man getting any votes to allow him participation in city wide decision making.

While I don't agree with the political ideals of some candidates, I don't think they would be acting in bad faith. Not true with Mr. Younger who has such a poor grasp of any civic issue (not to mention the English language) that it could not be said that he has anyone's best interest in mind beyond his own.

Well that was fun. I'm glad to get that off my chest.

James Younger for Nanaimo City Council?

A few more quoted gems from Mr. Younger:

When I bought my house in “the hood” the appraiser and building inspector informed me that my quality of enjoyment of my house would be affected by were it was and how close it was to the street. I knew what they meant when “cracker jack “drove his dads car into my house.[...]

I will not support buildings over five stories. If that means I support shopping like sprawl that is better than a city full of high-rises. Once your city vista is full of high-rises you never get that small town look back. My research indicates five stories is the best for density avoiding high-rises.
I am opposed to city sprawl but only elected council members have a say in that. If the current economic trends continue new housing starts will drop dramatically reducing sprawl.
More building downtown would be attractive if the city payed for geo-tecks. It cost over $1000
for multiple geo-teck inspections to replace a eight by eight [8x8] front deck. If the costs for inspections required by city are this high for a deck what does it cost on a lot in the area. That is not incentive to build it is extra costs. We all know that there is coal slack in the area.

No really, I'm not making these quotes up.    What is the significance of a deck to the issues at hand? Should I hazard a guess that Mr. Younger is running for city council because he wants to do something to his deck and the current building code and/or a building inspector is not allowing him to? 

"So Mr. Younger, do you have an election platform?" "Yeah. Let me show you my deck."

I would enact a bylaw requiring new social services
not locate in the south end/ Nob hill area. Instead of a bylaw saying that social services can locate were-ever.{like this council did.]

Uh, wut?

Tipping with Take Out?

We don't eat out often but there are a few restaurants in town we like to patronise. It would be impossible to mention eating out in Nanaimo without mentioning the fabulous Thirsty Camel downtown. The Thirsty Camel however is not to subject of today's posting. I wanted to write about Amrikko's Indian Grill located in Departure Bay.

Buying a meal from Amrikko's always leaves me uneasy and yet I love Indian cuisine and there is little other choice in town. It may not be as amazing as Indian meals you can get in bigger cities but it's the best we have here in Nanaimo. 

You may ask yourself how I could ever eat at Amrikko's after what I have to say next but the only way I can explain is to reiterate that I love Indian food. On more than one occasion I've driven to Amrikko's on my way home from somewhere and ordered take out. While waiting for my food I have seen truly appalling food safety practices by at least one employee working at the front counter. Not washing hands between dealing with money and... anything else including a snotty nose, picking up with bare hands dropped ice cream meant for a customer and continuing to serve it, various other drops of things to the floor and also served to customers, touching of straw ends and glass rims, ice scooped out of bin with hands or the glass itself.... there is too much to mention from what I've seen in brief moments waiting for my food to be prepared. I don't know, maybe there's a certain expectation on my part that ethnic restaurants are supposed to have some level of unhygienic practices. Maybe not very PC but truthful at least. I'm laughing here because there really is no excuse to keep eating at a place that proves itself to not meet basic health and safety standards in at least the front of the restaurant.

Oddly enough the above is not what sparked this posting. I've actually thought of writing this exact post after each time I've had take out from Amrikko's. There seems to be an expectation from staff when paying that a tip be included when all I'm doing is picking up food. No service as been offered and from what I've now seen they'd have to pay me a tip to eat in the restaurant. I'd always be wondering if I was going to slurp up my straw a shard of glass from my drinking water or walk away with the cold the young woman at the front counter had and was spreading on everything she touched. 

There is always a feeling I get when they look at the approved bill rolling out of the interact machine that they're annoyed and disappointed that I haven't included a tip. I didn't always have this feeling. It started after a time I went and the young woman at the counter took it upon herself to fill out the beginning of my transaction on the handheld machine for me. She asked me what I wanted to leave for a tip. At this point I hadn't realised what she was doing and I confusingly said "uh, none?". She certainly wasn't happy about that. I took the handheld machine to okay the amount and punch in my pin etc only to find that she had done most of the punching in. I continued and just hoped she was charging the right price. Ever after it seems the "cheap no tipper" became my stigma much to my amusement. 

I have actually tipped for take out food in the past but after some conversation about it with friends realised how silly it is to tip like I would if I was eating in but without getting any of the service you tip for. Amrikko's is the only restaurant in Nanaimo I've been to that seems to expect a tip with take out. Perhaps they don't pay their employees enough that they must rely heavily on this extra gratuity.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone eligible to vote will get out there tomorrow and cast your ballots in the Federal election!

I'm making turkey supper tonight. I'm making entirely too much and am considering seeing if anyone doesn't have plans tonight to come over and help us eat this feast! Who doesn't have plans though?

I'm making my turkey Elton Brown style starting first with brining it overnight. For the brine I brought to a boil 1 cup cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 16 cups vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 1/2 tablespoon allspice berry (I omitted because didn't have on hand), 1/2 tablespoon candied ginger. Simmer and stir occasionally. When all dissolved (the ginger doesn't totally) remove from heat and cool. Add 16 cups of cold water and the turkey. Brine overnight or the morning of cooking. Turning halfway if it's not fully submerged. 

To make cranberry sauce bring to a boil 1 cup orange juice (or water) with 1 cup sugar. When it's simmered for about 5 minutes add a package of cranberries and simmer another 5 minutes. Let cool and put in the fridge until supper time.

I start the giblet gravy in the mid morning by adding the neck and giblets to a pot of water, bringing to a boil and simmer most of the day or until much of the water has evaporated. Later when the turkey is cooked I'll add this liquid to a roux (a couple tbsp of butter melted and mixed in a couple tbsp of flour stirred on stove until slightly browned) and turkey drippings. From there I'll season it with pepper, garlic powder and other seasonings adding more stock if needed.

To prepare for the turkey I simmer in a small pot 1 chopped red apple, 1/2 small onion, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 cup water. Assuming we eat at 6pm and baking the stuffing after the turkey (6.5 kilos) I'll be putting the turkey in the oven at 3pm. Before this time I preheat my oven to 500' and take the turkey out of the brine (throwing that away) and give the bird a good rinse before putting it on a carrot and celery rack on my roaster. Then I pour the apple/onion aromatic mixture with 6 sage leaves, a few sprigs rosemary into the turkey before popping it in the oven to cook for 30 min at 500'. After the 30 minutes, take it out of the oven and cover double thick with tin foil and turn the oven down to 350' for another 1.5- 2 hours or until it reaches 161 degrees.

After the turkey is in the oven I make the stuffing (this can also be premade ready to be cooked). Butter a 15 x 10 baking dish. Melt 3/4 cup of butter in a deep skillet and add 2 chopped med onions and 3 chopped celery stalks sautéing for 3-5 minutes. Add 4-6 cloves of garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cracked pepper, 1 tsp of each thyme, rosemary and sage, 1/2 tsp savory and 1 tbsp poultry seasoning. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans). In large bowl add about 9 cups bread crumbs, mixture from skillet, 2 beaten eggs and 1 cup warm broth. Continue to mix and adding broth (at least 4 more cups) until mixture is moist. It shouldn't be too dry because it still needs to bake. Transfer to baking dish and cover with buttered foil for 45 min when turkey comes out on 350'. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.

I'm also making mashed potatoes, peas and possibly maple glazed carrots. Mmmmm.... so good!

Less than a week until the 2008 Canadian Federal election.

I'm really interested in what's going to happen with the Federal election next week. I haven't posted all that I wanted to with my various thoughts throughout the campaigning but I thought I would share some of my somewhat random thoughts in the few minutes I have free here.

NDP. I read a few blogs that are obvious NDP supporters. I always read with interest despite the fact that I would never vote NDP, federally or provincially. I enjoy the fact that people care about politics and issues more than I do about who someone actually supports.

Is it me or is Layton looking really old all of a sudden? Sorry but I've really been wondering! I'm not an NDP supporter for a lot of reasons but mainly because they gain support by promising to prop up labour interests in this country without accepting the reality that our country is in desperate need for a change in the way we think and do things. It's not enough to promise to protect "jobs" in failing industries when the nature manufacturing and resource extraction is changing rapidly. People in these industries should be looking elsewhere for real employment security instead of waiting for bail outs and clinging to paradigms that have changed long ago.

Liberal. I wouldn't call myself a Liberal supporter but I find myself enjoying Dion more as time goes on. I watched some of the Liberal leader's race awhile ago and thought what a surprise it was that Dion came out on top. He didn't seem to be the right leader. Almost like he wasn't politician-like enough. He seemed too much like a real person. Ha. Turns out I like that kind of politician and feel like I can trust him more. I like the promise of systemic change, even if it's hard for some Canadian's to swallow. I think Dion could lead us through a period sweeping changes and still maintain the common values that Canadian's seem to share.

Conservative. I'm not sure there's much to say on this front. Economy economy economy. Having the economy as a prominent feature on your election platform (such that it is) is really only paying lip service to a beast that is largely out of their control. Our government, whoever they are can not significantly change the economy in any immediate fashion. It's gone the direction it has because of the policies and agreements (read: Free Trade) made in the 80's and 90's. I don't think it's such a bad thing in the grand scheme of things for the economy to wane. This could provide the motivation for us to look into the future and decide what we want our country to look like. 

Ideally, I'd like the government to start thinking less globally and consider what would be good for Canada not having to fear whatever the world economy is doing. Less exporting of jobs and resources and less importing of food...... I'd like to see Canada move in a more self sustainable direction. I have no confidence that a Conservative government would do anything in the interest of Canada apart from lining their own pockets as well as the wealthy and of those who own big business. I've said it before but I'll say it again. I don't think profit for the wealthy should be the bottom line.

Green. What's interesting to me about the Green party is their ideology. Their platform shows them to be quite financially conservative (small c). Many peg them as left when they are actually a pleasant mix landing themselves in the middle. I hope that the Green party can at least keep one seat in Parliament and offer their different yet very pertinent perspective to our government.

I admit I'm very turned off of one part of their party platform and that's the interest in legalising marijuana. I suppose that could be a whole separate posting ranting about how un natural marijuana has actually become, how physically damaging it is to use. While I may not be opposed to a little discreet personal use I absolutely disagree with allowing it to have mainstream acceptance.

Bloc Quebecois. I have almost nothing to say about the Bloc except that I think they are just as important a voice to be heard in Parliament as any of the parties. Even if they are only running in one province they are speaking for a large population of our country and therefore an important part of what makes up our government.

So who do I vote for? In the past I've felt a kinship with the favourite Canadian pastime of political apathy leading me to vote against the party I liked least. This year I'm happy to say that I feel like I have two real choices. I could gladly vote for the federal Liberals or Green party. Sadly where I currently live neither are favoured to be hitting that finish line first. 

It seems that in many places in BC, voters confuse provincial and federal politics. And rightly so thanks to our provincial Liberals actually being a Conservative (big C) party. I imagine this makes things a bit harder for the federal Liberals. We live in a world that is increasingly dominated by the actions of political and religious extremists. Canada is a multi cultural society and centralist politics will address the needs of the greater proportion of the population in these extreme times. It's unfortunate that people feel that they have to vote in such a polarised fashion. Neither hardline conservative nor leftist government will fully address the needs of the province or the country. 

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Vote for the Environment

Cathedral Grove being logged by Island Timberlands!! Speak up!

This happened this last weekend but I thought it was worth forwarding for others who haven't heard yet...

Wilderness News, Oct.4, 2008
Cathedral Grove being logged by Island Timberlands! Speak up!

Yesterday, logging began by Island Timberlands in Canada's most famous old-growth forest, Cathedral Grove, near Port Alberni. Millions of tourists from around the world have visited Cathedral Grove within the 300 hectare MacMillan Provincial Park while driving along the highway on the way to Port Alberni and Tofino. However, significant stands of giant Douglas firs and redcedars remain outside the park boundaries on lands owned by Island Timberlands. Incredibly, the company began greedily logging in these unprotected parts of the Grove yesterday and plans to continue until it logs 7500 cubic meters - over 200 logging truck loads - of old-growth forests in the Grove. The logging will even be visible from the highway.

Island Timberlands is a logging company owned by a Bermuda-based corporation, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, which was created recently by its parent company Brookfield Asset Management as an offshore investment firm that would be exempt from Canadian taxes and the enforcement of Canadian civil judgements.

There will be two protests for Cathedral Grove:

This Sunday, Oct.5, at 11:00 am at the Cathedral Grove parking lot in the provincial park.

And Monday, Oct.6, at 11:00 am in front of Island Timberland's Northwest Bay Division office on the Island Highway in Nanoose Bay at teh corner of the highway and Northwest Bay Rd.

BRING SIGNS.

Where is Premier Gordon Campbell in all of this? Where is the federal Harper government and the other politicians when it comes to logging in the most famous ancient forest in Canada?

Update:

Cathedral Grove Logging Blocked by "Frogs" and "Mice"

Early Monday morning, Vancouver Islanders placed a symbolic roadblock across an active logging road in Cathedral Grove next to MacMillan Provincial Park. Volunteers with Friends of the Grove (FROG) warned Island Timberlands contractors that others in the forest are prepared to interfere with logging operations by playing "cat and mouse" with the loggers.

Volunteer Seamus McCormack said the tree-cutting crew left the area at 9:30 am on Monday. "[The contractors] said they were just coming to get their truck so we let them in. When they drove back out, they said the company told them they are not going to log this block right now." McCormack said it was not clear whether the company was pulling out because of protests that began Sunday or for other reasons. The volunteers will continue to guard Cathedral Grove, he said.

"Cat and mouse" is a civil disobedience tactic that involves slipping into an area being logged, announcing one's presence, and disappearing again. Fallers are required for safety reasons to stop work if people are in the area.

Meanwhile, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) held a rally at the Nanoose headquarters of Island Timberlands at 1420 Island Highway. FROG and WCWC are demanding more protection for the ancient
cedars and firs at Cathedral Grove, and they denounced Island Timberlands' plan to cut down the forests alongside the Cameron River and MacMillan Provincial Park

MacMillan Park includes part of Cathedral Grove and some of the largest trees remaining on Vancouver Island. The grove provides habitat for Roosevelt elk and other rare species, but logging leaves the giants vulnerable to blow-down and erosion.

In 2006, a two-year-long treesit defeated a provincial plan to build roads, parking lots, and trails through Cathedral Grove. A BC Supreme Court justice declined to issue a court order to remove protestors camped out in the treetops, and the province eventually scrapped the parking lot plan.

The Nature Trust of BC is negotiating with Island Timberlands to acquire another section of the ancient forest grove adjacent to the park.