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if you built it, they will come

Posted by  on 4 March 2009, 3:00 pm
…and that’s probably what the solicitor general is hoping for. as it seems, the solicitor general’s plan is to build a maximum security prison right in the middle of burnaby (one of the cities making up the greater vancouver area), across from bcit (british columbia institute of technology – post-high school education facility), down the road from a high school, nearby numerous business (such as electronic arts, ibm), houses and yes…right besides a highway (yes, we still call canada no.1 a highway). apparently…numerous (the number 80 was thrown out there) sites were analyzed…and the solicitor general concluded that the area right across from bcit in burnaby is an apropriate site to built such a facility…i guess it should benefit the criminalistic students at bcit if they want to have first-hand experience…as they will simply just cross the road and visit the facility…brings a whole new meaning to the question ‘why the student crossed the road’.

a website has been made to inform the public about this, no burnaby prison, where one can get information about meetings, the current petition and what else can one do. on top of this, i must admit…i am very impressed with the steps the burnaby cityhall have taken…they have not only opposed the plan…but passed a vote to re-zone the area…such that no prison can be built on it. way to go to the cityhall, the mayor and wheover else was involved…this most likely won my vote in the next elections…

now onto the solicitor general…what in the world was he thinking? build a maximum security prison…in the middle of a city? usually these facilities should be build on the outskirts of cities as to minimize contact with society….why should society be punished twice? then again…no better way to decrease land value around the center of burnaby…but by building something like this.i guess as long as it’s not in his back-yard…he doesn’t care. let’s not forget than when the plans to build the new skytrain line to richmond were being debated…the ‘creme of vancouver’ opposed the line to go through some specific areas…even though that would have cut costs down since there were tracks there already…and it would have made it easier to move students and other workers to ubc (yes bias on my part). however…if the skytrain was a problem for them…how can the solicitor general imagine a prison won’t be a problem if built in the middle of a city?

i also guess it makes perfect sense…the prison guards can use public transit to get to work…so decrease on car emissions?

from 80 sites…the field in the middle of burnaby seemed more appropriate? what were the other fields?

what’s the point of a new prison if our current justice system lets most offenders walk? shouldn’t that be a more urgent matter…deal with what seems a broken justice system…rather than impose a maximum security prison in the middle of a metropolitan area?

this is the same goverment that’s looking to get re-elected in a couple of months…keep up the good work!!!

Filed under politics, safety, vancouver. Tagged , , , , ,
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new bridge…

Posted by  on 7 February 2009, 9:07 pm
in order to decrease congestion on hwy 1…our province’s will charge a $3 fee for crossing each way. let’s put this in context a bit…i am talking about the proposed new bridge for hwy, instead of the undersized portmann bridge. last i recall, they proposed an expansion to the current bridge…something i’d agree would probably help the congestion. now it seems, a new bridge is in order! i fail to see how that decision came about? given the next bridge over (patullo bridge) is not only about half the size of the portman, but has recently suffered two fires, it looks as if it’s going to crumbly any day now (new west bridge is falling down…falling down…), and esthetically…it looks like crap!

so, to cope with the price (recent reported figure was about $3 billion) of building a new bridge…a toll fee will be added. yes, $3 each way…i guess the morning starbucks for all those drivers coming westbound will just have to be forfeit. how is this going to decrease congestion? well, one way comes to mind…most people won’t drive over the new bridge…yes, they’ll probably either skytrain (i guess that’s the only ‘good’ outcome out of this) or use the other bridges…i can only imagine the extra gridlock coming from surrey towards either new westminster or richmond. let’s not forget, the other bridges take drivers way out of the way, increase the amount of stopping at red lights, drive slower, and most likely cause a nice pattern of a ‘stop-&-go’ traffic….in simpler words…at least based on my current understanding of the situation.. it will definitely increase combustion emissions. so…decrease congestion on hwy 1 (with apparently the intention of decreasing our carbon footprint) will probably not happen.

let’s return to the $3 toll…so, hwy speed around these parts is 90km/h. driving to work at that speed (one would only wish) and the have to stop at the bridge, take out the $3 and pay the fool that works there. i guess it will increase job opportunity in this financial crisis by 6 jobs? maybe? oh well, at least the goverment is creating jobs (oh wait…our unemployment rate is just over 7% at this point…about a year and a half ago…was around 3.5%). that’s not going to create congestion though, require everyone to stop, take the coins out (and probably receive change given we don’t have a $3 coin) and then start up again. thus, forcing people to stop will decrease congestion…our liberals never fail to impress us with their logic… probably some people will decide it’s too much, and if they won’t want to take other routes…which will not only waste more time and gas…but indirectly increase the chance of accidents (hey…look at that icbc will probably have an increase in profit for the next few years…yet again)…

they’ll probably skytrain. damn, but wait there’s only 1 line out of surrey…park-and-go around the stations is usually limited if at all available…and the skytrains (even though they run quite often) are usually pretty full. again, thumbs up to the liberals…try to force people to use another undersized public service (ahh…and there we are again…translink will probably profit from the increase as well)… but wait, if people will refuse to pay, refuse to drive out of their way…or simply refuse to use public transit…they’ll probably have to either move closer to work, find work close to home…or work from home. moving closer to work (thinking they might move towards vancouver)…will probably…actually most likely help increase home prices…stunning!…financial crisis, lowering home prices, banks losing since people are not buying…and the liberals find a way to indirectly ‘suggest’ that we should move closer to work…i’m just waiting for the environmental pitch for the move…b/c i’m sure it’s coming…

so…yet again…elections coming up…shortly…the liberals find another way to help business prosper…make another decision with ‘the public’s interest’ in mind…and i’m just ‘guessing’ here…that they’ll win again come spring?

Filed under opinions, vancouver. Tagged , , , , , ,
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…the change

Posted by  on 20 January 2009, 9:14 am

well…it’s the 20th of january…2009…the day of ‘change’ has finally arrived. the inauguration of the new president of the united states will commence today. stars and record crowds have been announced in washigton…however, all this attention leads me to question if this will actually work. i guess i need a bit more proof than a ‘yes we can’ speech. after-all, it’s still the same united states, even if a new president will start his ‘job’ today. i wonder if he will be allowed to bring change…i guess we’ll have to wait and see…

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