It seems second-tier blog, BeyondRobson, has launched a full-on assault of Vancity Buzz via this post. Lead by their leader Sean Orr, his cronies have attacked posts Woodwards Set To Revitalize Gastown and Liberal Policies Leading to Economic Prosperity.
Some of the solutions Orr has offered in improving the Downtown Eastside seem compelling, however, let's dissect them:
"build more treatment beds away from the DTES (NIMBY)... build a mental health centre..."
-Many smaller ones being sprung up all over the city as we speak including this Triage one in Money J Skeets' neighbourhood
"tax the Port of Vancouver (the source of the drugs) to pay for it"
-And hurt one of the most important industries in our province? Also, things are a little more delicate with regards to the Port with the HA running the show there. It's tough to impose policies on them.
"create a mental health task force that looks at policing the mentally ill (See VPD report)"
-Ask any criminology professor at SFU or UBC, task forces don't work. Important staff and resources are diverted to task forces away from important line officer and administrative positions. This hurts the police force's effectiveness. A better solution would be to merge several police departments, creating a Regional Police Force. With the merging, this eliminates the need for unnecessary task forces since there is now fluid communication over municipal borders. Then, perhaps, you can think of creating more targeted task forces.
"raise the minumum wage (see Soft Gentrification)"
-See posts about minimum wage... Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4
"make the area more condusive to artists, rather than shouting down venues who have parties to pay for their ridiculous rent"
-If I ignore the grammar, I like this. It's on Gregor Robertson's platform.
"de-criminalize prostitution"
-I like this idea to a certain extent. However, which political party is going to touch this?
"offer incentives to developers who incorporate social housing components into their designs"
-This has already been done, to as far as Richmond. Ask the Suburban Don.
Some other solutions which Orr has presented include, "...stop allowing slumlords to evict SRO residents, abolish the 3 week welfare rate, re-instate the Mental Health commissioner... re-instate the Federal Housing Program." I can not delve into these solutions at this time.
Regardless, it seems most of Orr's solutions are either already in the process of being implemented or already have been. Before the cronies of BeyondRobson decide to attack Vancity Buzz again, they should try to come up with some strong alternative solutions rather than just bickering about the context in which we present our ideas. Furthermore, Sean Orr is in the running for asshat of the month.
Vancity Buzz Attacked by Sean Orr of BeyondRobson
Posted by Vancity Maverick | Thursday, August 14, 2008 | Announcements, Politics, Vancity Maverick | 16 comments »
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Sean you and your henchmen just got owned!
Good job Maverick! (Stupid name though)
Owned? Maverick just agreed with most of Orr's comments. Pshah.
Exactly, Chris. There's more substantive content in any one of Sean's comments on this pathetic site than there are in the entirety of the posts. Moreoverm he's forced not one, but two contributors to engage with him on his terms and concede ground to him, drying up even further the puddle that is the shallowness of their "perspective". It's pretty clear from where I'm sitting who's owning who. And as for Sean declaring "war", these bozos are hardly worthy adversaries. He's not long for here, and neither is this "henchman" of his.
Chris and jb, I believe you missed the point. Sean Orr did not present any fresh, new solutions. Most of what he offered is already being done. All he does is complain and bicker about how there's no change occurring and how the world sucks. Truth is, this province is in better shape than it's ever been.
haha. yes "raising the minimun wage" is REALLY going to help the DTES. the absurdity of this hurts my brain. who reads beyond robson anymore? leaving the mentally ill, alcoholics and drug addicts to rot on the streets is "progessive" in the best place on earth.
Doesn't anyone believe in survival of the fittest anymore. Fucking morons, those who fuck up financially should have to pay the price. The government should not bail any of these people out with handouts.
Beyond Robson sucks ass.
And to all you Sean Orr cock smokers, why don't you present some ideas maggots. All you do is agree with that douche bag.
"second-tier blog"
That was really funny. Coming from a third-tier blog, I have a feeling it wasn't meant to be. I say this only after having read some really poorly written articles here. Kick it up bit and someone might take you seriously.
Sean may be skeptical, cynical or sarcastic but he is often right. Done mistake the approach for the content.
Thank you Sean for highlight this blog. You guys at BR need to stop whining. Jesus.
@ Torpedo, I get the sense that this a blog not to be taken seriously. I find them funny and somewhat informative. Thats their act. It might not be for you but who the fuck are you anyways.
"those who fuck up financially should have to pay the price"
Does this apply to Natives who were raped at Residential Schools? Does this apply to people born addicted to heroin? Does this apply to single moms? Does this apply to mental health?
If survival of the fittest actually existed, the fat, balding, white ponces who run the world would be strung up in a second, while the binners, the doomed, the downtrodden, would thrive.
"Doesn't anyone believe in survival of the fittest anymore. Fucking morons, those who fuck up financially should have to pay the price. The government should not bail any of these people out with handouts.
Beyond Robson sucks ass.
And to all you Sean Orr cock smokers, why don't you present some ideas maggots. All you do is agree with that douche bag."
Funny, I think BR just linked an article relevant to the above anonymous post: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/local_idiot_to_post_comment_on
Thanks anonymous. Your anonymity is very mysterious. If they didn't want comments then why allow them. Rock. Lift. Crawl. Under.
Wait,
Did you guys actually delete the controversial posts? Really?
You should all come down to the Sweatshop tonight and have it out in person. Cheap beer and I promise some of those hipster girls will flash you their tatas if you ask real nice.
"Doesn't anyone believe in survival of the fittest anymore. Fucking morons, those who fuck up financially should have to pay the price. The government should not bail any of these people out with handouts."
It is the ‘Social Darwinist’ comments like this that reveal your true racist naivety. I think that you might want to critically assess your mental state. Speaking of ‘states’, supporting the neoliberal state is nothing new. Why don’t you take your ‘Thatcherian’ mentality and support the invasion and exploitation of ‘third-world’ countries in a very racist ploy to ‘whitewash’ the globe into embracing western political concepts (psuedo-democracy for one or what Alain Badiou calls “authoritarian opinion”) and capitalism.
As for this quote: “why don't you present some ideas maggots?” … I must say, well, very dialectical of you. Social Darwinism and Neoliberalism are certainly not new concepts. Social Darwinism was espoused by Nazi Germany as a tactic and reason for their imperialistic war. Neoliberalism is the democratic means of imperialism where “at best it refers to a patient re-education, at worst to the right of military intervention by democratic paratroopers” (Badiou, 2005, p. 78)*. So, perhaps you should be obliged to come up with some enlightening comments that do not support racism, idiocy, or the further retardation of our social-fabric. Anonymity is a great way to participate in e-democracy too, isn’t it?
* Badiou, A. (2005). Metapolitics: Abrégé de Métapolitique. Verso.
Definitely come on back to my neighbourhood and keep acting like complete douchebags. People get piped at Abbott and Hastings all the time. (Make sure you get really drunk at Livestock. It'll hurt less, at least until the next day.)
@evh Livestock is a sneaker store you fucking dickhead. Go back to your goat fucking sessions asshole.
Good on you for noticing that Livestock sells sneakers. Did you notice that they also throw parties, darling? Last year's block party would have been great if it weren't for all the idiots in ironic trucker caps pissing all over the sidewalks and the like. And people think the reek of urine in our alleys comes from the homeless...
smooches, evh