When I first heard about the Canadians Stand Up to Gas Gouging Group on Facebook, I thought to myself (in a very judgemental tone), 'oh these ridiculous people, don't they know that gas should be expensive? maybe $1.31 is closer to true cost of gas. isn't it about time that we stopped getting the 'free ride' sheesh, doesn't anybody know anything?" How high and mighty of me, right? Well, I redeemed myself when I turned down the judge-o-phone and drilled a bit deeper.

I went to the Gas Gouging Meter which, I was taken by surprise to learn, is a project of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, an organization I happen to hold in very high esteem. What I learned there led me to think: if one could swallow a set of judgemental thoughts, I would....it turns out that, "With today's crude oil price of $62.86 USD per barrel and the US dollar at $1.10 CAD, the price of regular unleaded gasoline in Vancouver should be 94.8¢ per litre at normal profit margins. At a price of $1.30 per litre, you are paying 35.2¢ per litre in pure excess profit. Across Canada, an extra margin of 35.2¢ per litre generates an additional profit of 35.2 million dollars per day."

And while I am not advocating for cheap gas so that we call all gallivant around carelessly in our cars while the planet gets dirtier and dirtier,

If you are truly interested in changing the world, then you need to understand who controls it.  From my perspective from the research I've done in the following report, those who create the money supply are in charge.  The following link starts in the middle of the report - at the core - dealing with how money is created, how this process is abused, and offers some suggestions to the reader

I was speaking with two homeless gentlemen who had just been order to move their tent from the location on Gladys Avenue where they had erected it.

Today we got some great news: the government of British Columbia announced that it would, indeed, keep its promises regarding the region. There's already a piece on the Vancouver Sun's website about the decision: