It has been a very long time since I have posted here-too long – and I hope you are all safe and well. I’m well, healthy and happy but today’s post holiday clean up and reorganizing led me down memory lane for a bit, when I came across the old Duel columns, media clips and segments from CBC and CKNW. I knew I had to come and check in after so long. Do I miss writing? Sometimes. But I’m very happy working with elders now, a part of our collective communities that saw the worst of times during the pandemic. Will I ever write again? Perhaps one day, if time and opportunity allowed. 😉
For now, I’ll wish you the best of 2023, however you define that. Be well my friends!
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
Welcome to 2023 Laila! Let’s hope that it’s an improvement on its predecessor. Rather ominous out there, what with Russia, Climate Change and political unrest in the Excited States. And we haven’t had enough precip to rule out the possibility of forest fires.
Chin up , plug away and hope for the best!
Good to hear you’re alive and well. I do so miss your column. 😢
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You can sure say that again….
If you had told me 4 years ago exactly what you wrote above, plus a multi year pandemic, I would have believed the climate change aspect but shrugged at the rest. Heat dome changed a lot for many people. As did the massive floods and slides of late 2021. Putin was the wild card , and now North Korea flexing is one to watch as well.
Even more concerning is inflationary impact and the continued supply chain issues from overseas due to various factors. 2023 will be hard for many and communities need to really come together to make sure no one is left behind.
Me? Built a pantry, expanded the garden and have an array of local producers to support. Greenhouse going in shortly for early spring planting. $6.00 lettuce is insane!
Glad to see you still fired up, it’s been a long time …lol
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You are sorely missed as the state or crony journalism has almost replaced the Webster/Mair standard of journalism, where real news was just that and not press releases from government.
We are now dangerously close to the age of 1984, where unnews is the news, pablum, fish-wrap, it is all the same.
Even the Tyee is sinking under the weight of cronyism and is afraid to tackle the real stories in BC, lest it upsets the NDP and big labour.
Vague Palmer, BS Baldry and a host of nameless people pretending to be journalists are turning a blind eye to the real ills plaguing out province/country.
The quill awaits you, do not wait too long.
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It is nice to see your words again 🙂. I do admit growing issues call to me and yet I still feel the futility that became predominant when I was actively engaged. Nothing seems to change and the public has been so trounced by demands of covid, inflation and more. The gap between rich and poor is now a bottomless chasm , with perhaps a single rope hung precariously between the two sides that few can navigate. Climate extremes are showing everywhere and yet we see people still shocked when it happens to them, their home, their area. Governments have failed to engage people in a way that helps them prepare for the reality that they will be on their own for sometime when it eventually does hit. Look at Lytton after the fire and other communities devastated by the atmospheric river that took out the Coquihalla. When the media disappears, the public forgets.
Sigh. So much to be said and yet Evil Eye…who is left to listen?
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Who is left to listen?
I am absolutely gob smacked how far our mainstream media have retreated into this politically correct world, where no one is to be offended.
Reporters are afraid to report the truth, as politcal groups have no end of highly paid spin doctors to fudge the truth to a point that Orwell himself could not write about.
A minor victory was the recent story about the Stanley Park Train a fixture in the park since the early 1960’s. The train also served as a venue for charity as the firefighters charity fund depended heavily on the train (it was reported that their revenue was off by half because the train did not operate) to generate much needed income.
The official excuse before Christmas was that the train was old and expensive to maintenance and parts were scarce.
HUMBUG
The train in question is a Chance Rides C. P. Huntington Train, which is still in production. Chance rides makes carnival rides and spare parts are not rare, in fact plentiful. The problem is (from my sources) absolutely no maintenance was done on the train all year and it failed inspection. It seems the parks Board management wants to rid the park of the train. Probably far too fun for them.
I sent letters to a lot of officials and no response but last night on CTV News…………
https://globalnews.ca/news/9404180/stanley-park-mini-train-questions/?fbclid=IwAR3v19L2_S-ddnSFwRE6rqziQLuPL-LlXZ4JSTVdY6zx3tTn5hGSTnZc0ZY
……………..again retold the story with the reporter quoting exactly from of my Emails. The Parks Board has remained mute. A minor victory.
But park train rides are small beer compared to the major ills the befall us.
2022 was a “Bastard Year” for the Eye, with over 40 friends, spouses of friends, rugby mates, neighbours, transit types and finally just a few days before Christmas, a favourite Aunt, passed away.
2022 was also the year that some family history came to light which has completely changed what I was told or led to be believed, into a rather chilling story so long buried.
So, as life, the Eye will continue to reflect opinions that may not be politically correct, but give a different point of view than our current colonial and self loathing little world we have devolved into.
I will also continue to pursue the blogs of Farrel, Hoberfeld, Glavin, the Gazetteer, and several more for real insight and of course await your next post I check regularly.
Here is a little nugget, in (I have self censored the location due to particular issues), near where the Eye resides, we have pensioners in their 70’s dumpster diving for food because their pensions do not stretch in the new inflated economy. There is now a small and dedicated group of rebels who, with a nod from some store managers are allowed to take stale dated goods vegetables, etc., which would be crushed, late at night to distribute to the financially embarrassed. There are now three families who daily make soups and dinners for pensioners literally living on the edge, who are not on assistance and are falling through the cracks. I have been told that 20 to 25 people now rely on this charity!
For this 67 year old, this more than embarrassing, this what my Canada is turning into and no one, not one politician gives a damn. If I had my way, I would ban any elected official from holidaying outside the country until there are solutions.
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