The British Columbia government commissioned independent investigator Peter German to produce a report on the role of laundered criminal money in the province's white-hot real-estate bubble, centred on the city of Vancouver; German's report found that last year alone, CAD7b was laundered through BC, with much of that money going into property (as well as luxury cars and casino gambling). Read the rest

British Columbia -- ground zero for the opioid epidemic in Canada and long a principal point of ingress for heroin -- pioneered the harm-reduction approach with the world's first safe injection sites; now addiction researcher and MD Mark Tyndall wants to go further and end accidental overdoses from fentanyl and other additives by giving registered addicts access to an armored, biometrically controlled "opioid vending machine" that dispenses prescribed amounts of hydromorphone pills without subjecting addicts -- whose lives are often chaotic due to homelessness and the need to steal or prostitute themselves to avoid dope-sickness -- to a bureaucratic process at a pharmacy or clinic. Read the rest

Chris Woods sez, "In light of today's STAR WARS news please check out my STAR WARS-inspired museum-show of paintings.

SANDSTORM will show at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, BC in the summer of 2013."

My paintings over the last twenty-four years have looked at the far-reaching effects of mass-produced culture on the individual. They have appeared twice on the cover of Adbusters Magazine and in eighteen solo exhibitions in Canada and the United States since 1988.

Recently, I was invited to exhibit my work at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford, BC. This show, set to run in the summer of 2013, represents the first time in my twenty-four years as a visual artist that I have been asked to mount a solo exhibition in a museum setting.

Woods is looking to raise $14,000 on Indiegogo to pay for his living expenses, materials, and new tools.

SANDSTORM: One Fan's Elegy to the Original STAR WARS Trilogy Read the rest

Hey, Vancouver and Victoria! Today I wrap up my Pirate Cinema tour weekend in Van with an appearance for the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Centre for Digital Media at 11AM at the Great Northern Way Campus, then I jump on a sea-plane and head to Victoria for a talk tonight at Bolen Books at 7PM. Tomorrow I'll be flying to Seattle for a pair of appearances there (University Bookstore at 1215h, Elliott Bay Books at 19h). From there, it's on to Toronto for a talk on-stage with China Mieville at the Harbourfront International Festival of Authors, and then I'm in Boston for the Boston Book Festival. Here's the whole tour schedule. Read the rest

Greg from the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association sez, "The BCCLA is releasing its 'Electronic Devices Privacy Handbook' (PDF) on Monday. It's a know-your-rights guide and a how-to manual designed to help you keep your data and devices secure when you cross the border into Canada. If you're in Vancouver, BC, handbook author Greg McMullen is giving a talk to officially launch the handbook on Monday, March 5 at 12:30 at UBC Law." This is a very interesting document -- did you know that you don't have to unlock/decrypt your password for Canadian border officials without a court order (though they'll happily ghost your hard disk and try to brute force it, and Greg adds, "you might also get arrested (or refused entry, if not Canadian) for failing to provide your password if they are feeling especially mean")? Read the rest