by George Le Masurier | Mar 4, 2017
If you hate the same things, you might fall in love
How did Valentine’s Day turn out for you? Not so good? You might want to try the new dating app called Hater. It’s based on the premise that long-term compatibility depends more on the things you hate than what you love.
The scientific basis behind the app comes in part from a 2011 study by psychology professor Jennifer Bosson published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. The study argues for the merits of shared negative attitudes, which are more likely to create lasting bonds than mutual likes.
And politics plays a significant role. According to a recent Reuters poll, 13 percent of U.S. couples have called it quits over the presidential election. One 73-year-old California woman divorced her husband after 22 years of marriage because she felt betrayed that he voted for Trump.
Courtenay Mayor Larry Jangula pops his cork over the CVRD
Courtenay Mayor Larry Jangula exploded into an angry rant recently about wasteful spending at the Comox Valley Regional District. He’s not wrong.
For example, the CVRD plans to overspend on a number of patchwork sewerage system projects. It wants to build a controversial new pump station in Comox, when the CVRD’s own financial analysis shows that upgrading the Courtenay #1 pump station is the better and less expensive option. That alone could save millions of dollars.
CVRD data also shows that in the long-term it would be less expensive to expand the existing Comox pump station at Jane Place than build a second one.
And the CVRD has designed a system to replace the HMCS Quadra sewer outfall at a cost of more than $1.7 million dollars. The province’s most innovative septic system designer says the CVRD’s design is overbuilt, and estimates an alternative solution could cost less than a half-million dollars.
Taxpayers should ask their elected officials why they aren’t pressuring the CVRD to rein in these costs.
It’s immigrant entrepreneurs who make America great
According to the National Foundation for American Policy, immigrants are just as likely to be successful leaders in business as people born in the U.S.A.
The think tank says immigrants have founded close to half of the startup companies estimated to be worth more than $1 billion. That group includes Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian immigrant, and Sergey Brin, a refugee from the former Soviet Union, who co-founded Google.
Reason No. 1069 why we should start over on another planet
Princess Diana campaigned to ban land mines and to remove those left behind long after conflicts have ended. Former First Lady Michelle Obama promoted exercise and healthy diets to stem the growth of childhood obesity and early onset diabetes in America.
Melania Trump, on the other hand, sees her First Lady role as a money-making opportunity. She’s suing a British tabloid for $150 million because it reported that she had once worked for a modeling agency that was actually an escort service for wealthy men.
How did she justify the $150 million in damages? She claims the report has damaged her “opportunity … as an extremely famous and well-known person” to make millions of dollars selling jewelry, clothing and makeup while serving as “one of the most photographed women in the world.”
by George Le Masurier | Mar 3, 2017
The National Trust for Canada has just released a report that over the last 30 years Canada has “shockingly” lost over 20% of its historical buildings. (At almost 100%, Comox definitely exceeds national standards.)
Shakesides and Baybrook are victims of the same national ignorance that undermines Canadian identity and the legacy of our national and provincial history. The issue of heritage preservation is non-partisan, as every new Canadian citizen is told, “the preservation and protection of Canadian heritage is a Canadian citizenship obligation.”
Thanks to the efforts of the Conservative MP for York-Simcoe, Peter Van Loan, a progressive bill to provide tax credits for heritage is now before parliament. The National Trust for Canada urges all Canadians to tell elected officials to support heritage:
“Bill C-323 – An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (Rehabilitation of Historic Property) – proposes to create tax credits for historic places. This Bill presents an historic opportunity to tell elected officials from every political party that Canada’s historic places matter.” This would remove costs from the operation of a museum at Shakesides – as per Mack Laing’s explicit will.
For Canada’s 150th anniversaryeven Premier Christy Clark is now also generously making potential funds available for the restoration of Shakesides:
“Canada 150: Celebrating B.C. Communities and their Contributions to Canada”, Peter Fassbender, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development said, “Arts, culture and heritage are at the core of British Columbia’s cultural identity. We have a wealth of stories to contribute to Canada 150 and an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our province. Investing in long-term cultural legacies will support our communities in sharing B.C.’s stories for generations to come.”
There is obviously no end of federal and provincial funding available to restore Shakesides, and comply with the terms of the Mack Laing Trust. So, could somebody please explain to the public why Mayor Paul Ives and Comox Council are so hell bent on destroying national heritage a Shakesides in the very year when Canada is supposed to celebrate 150 years by protecting and restoring national heritage?
Who are these people, these Canadians who destroy our heritage? And why the complicit silence of our would-be MLAs: Ronna Rae Leonard, Jim Beninger and Ernie Selletin? Silence is approbation, of national heritage vandalism.
“Tell elected officials”: “Save national heritage at Shakesides.”
LOYS MAINGON
(HeritageBC Award 2016)
Courtenay
by George Le Masurier | Feb 9, 2017
America’s fast-food president likes it clean
Seventy-year-old U.S. President Donald Trump loves fast food. Big Macs. Buckets of KFC. Slices of pizza. And he hates exercise, which he doesn’t do often. America’s Fast-Food president isn’t setting a good example in the fight against childhood obesity and early onset diabetes.
Why does he eat so much fast food? In his own words:
“I’m a very clean person. I like cleanliness, and I think you’re better off going there (McDonald’s) than maybe someplace that you have no idea where the food’s coming from. It’s a certain standard,” he said.
Useless facts about electric cars B.C. will pay you to drive
The B.C. provincial government this week announced a $40 million investment to encourage people to drive electric cars. In addition, residents can save up to $11,000 if they trade their old car for an electric one.
The province’s Clean Energy Vehicles for B.C. program offers up to $5,000 for an electric vehicle purchase, and the non-profit B.C. Scrap-It offers and additional $6,000 dollars towards electric vehicles purchases. Vehicles priced above $77,000 are not eligible for purchase incentives.
Here are some electric car facts:
• The first cars ever made by Oldsmobile and Studebaker were electric.
• Electric cars outsold gas models by 10-to-1 in the 1890s.
• The world’s first automotive dealerships sold electric cars.
• Self-starters were introduced in electric cars 20 years before gas vehicles.
• The very first speeding ticket was given to the driver of an electric car.
Sarah Palin coming to Canada? We say (big gulp) No betcha!
There’s a rumor that President Trump might appoint the weird and absolutely nuts Sarah Palin as the U.S. ambassador to Canada. Aside from the fact that this makes many people want to throw up, she doesn’t speak Canadian or any of our other official languages.
Ottawa Citizen columnist Andrew Cohen wrote, “In Canada, Palin would have to learn to speak one of our official languages. She would have to live in a land of naïfs who favour immigrants, gay marriage, the United Nations and NATO.”
Let’s take a big gulp ourselves, and hope this is fake news, or an early April Fools joke.
Cumberland celebrates its heritage, while Comox destroys theirs
Heritage Week in British Columbia starts next Monday and runs through Sunday, Feb. 13 to Feb. 19. The Village of Cumberland will celebrate its history starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 18th, with the 13th annual Heritage Faire at the Cumberland Recreation Institute Hall. The Faire revives the spirit of a folk festival in the 1950s focused on the diverse heritage of Cumberlanders.
The Town of Comox, on the other hand, doesn’t have any heritage events planned that we know about. They just have anti-heritage events. Like the Town Council’s recent unanimous decision to beg the B.C. Supreme Court to release the town from the obligations it agreed to 35 years ago in accepting famous naturalist Hamilton Mack Laing’s property, house and money.
In spite of pleas from Heritage B.C. — the sponsor of Heritage Week — the Town of Comox wants to tear down Laing’s house, Shakesides, and use his money for other purposes.
by George Le Masurier | Feb 9, 2017
Proud of Washington state for first to sue Trump
I am so proud of my friend and Governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee, for denouncing President Trump travel ban on Muslims from certain countries. And for Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson for leading the nation in suing the Trump Administration over its actions against immigrants. And my birth-state of Minnesota joined the suit two days later.
A federal judge ruled in favor of the lawsuits and people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.
“Judge Robart’s decision, effective immediately … puts a halt to President Trump’s unconstitutional and unlawful executive order,” Ferguson said. “The law is a powerful thing — it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the president of the United States.”
I’m proud to have been publisher (and editor of our editorial page) of The Olympian, the only major daily newspaper in Washington state that endorsed Inslee for governor when he first ran in 2012. We also endorsed Ferguson. Both turned out to be excellent choices.
(The Olympian Editorial Board in December 2014, from left community members Jill Severn and Larry Jefferson, Gov. Jay Inslee, Publisher George Le Masurier, columnist John Dodge and state house reporter Brad Shannon}
by George Le Masurier | Jan 27, 2017
The Decafnation officially launches a new look and added features today. We’re most excited about the new Photography page, which will feature candid, historical images of some Comox Valley person(s) or event every week and the story behind the picture. Readers can help identify the people and add their own related stories and memories through the comments section. You’ll also notice a stack of toggles on this page, which we call Social Studies that will change throughout the week. Just click the caramel-coloured icon to open the content. Let us know how you like the new Decafnation. And don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook.
We’ve start the Photography page off today with four historical images, including Dave Hardy at his home in Cumberland and pictures of some unidentified singers at a Renaissance Fair and some early youth football players. Share these posts with your friends by clicking the Facebook icon to help us add meaningful information to these photographs.
In the photograph at top: Molly Guilbeault getting ready to start her shift at the Leung’s Grocery lunch counter.
by George Le Masurier | Apr 7, 2016
Welcome to decafnation, a community of thoughtful, calm people.
In a world already overpopulated with incivility, think of decafnation as a refuge from high anxiety. Instead of a triple-shot, pulse boosting caffeine assault on your nervous system, our writing aims to give you the milder buzz of a decaffeinated beverage.
But don’t let the coffee metaphor mislead you. You’ll find passionate writing and strong opinions here. We’ll take on controversial topics. We’ll explore the edges of unconventional ideas. We’ll welcome a wide range of guest contributors.
We won’t accept content that bullies, or opinions not honestly held. We’ll delete comments that attack people rather than ideas. We’ll push the trolls back under the bridges.
The vision is to create a gracious space. A place where people can share well-considered commentary in a respectful atmosphere. Where authors know that readers are open to diverse ideas. Where people invite the stranger into their midst, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political sensibility. We are people who want to understand how the world looks from behind the other person’s eyes.
But, wait, there’s more. Decafnation will also publish photography that tells a story, and we’ll expect photographers to include that story with their images. There will be reviews of books, music, art, film and pop culture. And we’ll include links to other interesting articles and websites.
So, if you want to calm down and chill out while thinking seriously about things, this is the place to be.
