Fiberals Fudge The Truth About Employment

BC Politics

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Political columnist David Schreck reports in a September 10th entry on his website Strategic Thoughts.com that government ads boasting about B.C.’s employment growth paint a far from accurate picture.
“Released on September 10, just 4 days before Financial Minister Gary Collins’ First Quarter Financial Report is due, Statistics Canada’s August Labour Force Survey doesn’t seem to be ‘on message’ for the Campbell government. Since July the unemployment rate increased from 7.3% to 7.7%, and employment fell by 14,500. Over the Labour Day weekend government ads boasted about B.C.’s employment growth. Less than a week later the numbers came in showing B.C. in 9th position in terms of employment ‘growth’, and in 5th position in terms of unemployment.”
“The Labour Force Survey is a telephone survey of households which, as its name suggests, measures the labour force. Its notion of employment includes self employed and unpaid household workers. The Survey of Payroll Employment, Earnings and Hours is a survey of employers. It measures paid employment. B.C. has not done as well in terms of paid employment as it has in terms of the much broader Labour Force Survey definition of employment. The most recent Survey of Payroll Employment, Earnings and Hours is for June. It shows B.C. in 7th place in May to June job growth. Growth in paid employment in B.C. has fallen behind the average for Canada for the three years since Campbell’s New Era began.”

Who knew that early

Video & DVD

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Who knew that early September was a dumping ground for otherwise unwatchable movies on DVD? Here we’d hope to offer you something to keep you occupied during the course of these cool late summer evenings, while the rains fall fitfully and the nip of winter has become more than a promise. Tis not to be, though, and more’s the pity.


LADYKILLERS

One of the great movie disappointments earlier this year, this interminable Coen Brothers remake of the distinctive 1955 British classic black comedy about a bumbling gang of thieves is just about the most tedious, longwinded and uninvolving piece of Southern fried pseudo parody that one could possible imagine from the otherwise generally talented filmmaking team. Tom Hanks is wasted in the bizarrely Shakespearean role of Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, PhD, while the remaining cast members are full of exaggerations, insincerity, and lack of believability. An unfunny, overly stylized mess, this will be the last DVD on the shelf that you’ll want to rent.


THE-PUNISHER

From bad to worse, take the skull t-shirt away and this franchise could be any cookie cutter revenge flick. As the violence takes over, we are left with a protagonist whose genius for sadism makes the villains look like schoolboys pulling the wings off flies. Thomas Jane’s Frank Castle is nothing more than a weapon, a gun that keeps going off til its chamber is empty. When he’s spent, so’s the movie — but not the audience, which couldn’t care less about anyone on the screen. If you loved the Dolph Lundgren oeuvre, then this DVD is for you. Otherwise, give it a miss.
More DVD releases: Kevin Smith’s relatively watchable Jersey Girl lands on store shelves, as does the egregious Soul Plane and the exasperating The United States of Leland. To leave you on a high note, VanRamblngs offers Mayor of the Sunset Strip, a fascinating and sometimes sad documentary about a curious little man and America’s obsession with celebrity.
One final note: Andrew Morrison of Times New Roman Online sends along the information that as an alternative to renting the DVD of Robert Greenwald’s Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War you can watch it online. Just click on the link provided. Thank you, Andrew.

FOX Down for the Count? Next Great Champ Takes a Dive

Television

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JULIANNA-MARGULIES

SCRUBBING IN: Former ER star Julianna Margulies will check into a different hospital for a November sweeps guest role on Scrubs. Tom Cavanagh (Ed) will also appear on the show, reprising his role as J.D.’s (Zach Braff) older brother for two episodes scheduled for October. Margulies, a six-time Emmy nominee for playing nurse Carol Hathaway on ER (she won the award for best supporting actress in a drama in 1995), will play a malpractice lawyer who catches J.D.’s eye.


JOHN-LEGUIZAMO

FOX MAKES ROOM FOR LEGUIZAMO: Emmy winner John Leguizamo is working with FOX to develop a comedy based on his life. The show would follow Leguizamo as he juggles his responsibilities as a husband and father with the demands of his career. It’s said to be cut from similar cloth as the old Danny Thomas show Make Room For Daddy. The project has a script commitment from the network. Leguizamo will star in and executive produce the show with writer Peter Murrieta (Greetings from Tucson), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
FOX’S NEXT GREAT CHAMP A CHUMP: The series première of FOX’s The Next Great Champ met with a resounding thud as the reality entry finished a distant fourth place in both households and adults 18-49 in the 9:00 / 8:00c hour (3.5/6). CBS took Tuesday top honours with a repeat of Navy N.C.I.S. and new episodes of Big Brother 5 and The Amazing Race 5 (7.0/11). NBC was second (5.6/10), followed by ABC (4.6/8).
CBS ANNOUNCES ORIGINAL SUNDAY MOVIE SCHEDULE: Kirstie Alley, Peter Falk, Anne Heche, Rosie O’Donnell, Christina Applegate, Diane Keaton, Jack Palance, Faye Dunaway and Ellen Burstyn are just a few of the stars set to appear this season on CBS’ Sunday original movie franchise, the only regularly scheduled one of its kind on television today. The Futon Critic has published the full list of CBS’ original Sunday night movies.

Something(s) New and Something Old

Web & Tech

TECH-TUESDAY


The Need For Speed: Alienware Releases a P4 4GHz


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Want the hottest computer on the block? Have a ramped up Pentium IV 3.6 GHz, but it just ain’t good enough? Well, games system specialist Alienware has hot-rodded one of its desktop PCs with a homegrown version of Intel’s Pentium 4 processor that runs at 4GHz. Because overclocking a processor can cause it to overheat, the desktop also includes a special liquid-cooling system devised by Alienware.
The launch lets fans get a jump on getting a machine with a 4GHz chip. Intel recently pushed back introduction of a 4GHz Pentium 4 to the first quarter of 2005, having earlier announced plans to introduce it this year. The fastest current Pentium 4 runs at 3.6GHz.
In addition to the 4GHz Pentium 4 and a liquid-cooling system, the most basic Area-51 ALX desktop comes with 1GB of RAM, a CD-burner, ATI Technology’s Radeon X800 graphics card, a 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 rpm hard drive and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS High Definition sound card.
Pumping up the machine with 4GB of RAM, nvidia’s GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics card, twin 74GB Raptor hard drives and a DVD-burner increases the price to about $5,700 U.S.
Microsoft Faces The Music


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In one fell swoop last week, Microsoft announced a new service, new software, and new hardware — a trio that aims to change the way you buy, manage, and transport music. MSN Music is a direct competitor to online music services such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Windows Media Player 10, a major update, is the jukebox for MSN Music and other audio and video services. It also syncs with more than 75 portable devices, including the new Zen Portable Music Player (pictured).
Question of the Week

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How can I totally remove Norton SystemWorks? I have tried most of the recommended methods, but when I try to reinstall it, the PC says that it is already installed and takes the process a bit further, but none of the tools work. It is worse than a virus!? — Submitted by: Mike Ricci, Burnaby, B.C.

ANSWERGIF

Unfortunately, Symantec Norton products have various hooks in the Windows system registry and elsewhere that are not removed even if the Windows Add / Remove feature is used. Instead, you’ll need to download special removal tools from Symantec in order to completely remove Norton SystemWorks from your PC.