Column

Photographer Arlette Hatcher captured this image of the Applewood Valley Granfondo that started at the Eagle Acres farm near Fort Langley on Saturday, June 4. (Langley Advance Times files)

PAINFUL TRUTH: Fear of weight loss drugs

Being thin isn’t a virtue – it’s mostly luck and privilege

 

Cocaine – still illegal. (Black Press Media files)

PAINFUL TRUTH: Face value is not enough

A press release about legal cocaine quickly took on a life of its own

 

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange as the Federal Reserve makes an announcement regarding interest rates in New York, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Seth Wenig

PAINFUL TRUTH: Finance has become very weird

Financial engineering is where the money’s at, even if it doesn’t make sense

 

A Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle is displayed during the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 50th Anniversary Technology Symposium and Showcase in Riverside, California, on Thursday, May 17, 2018. Bloomberg photo by Dania Maxwell

PAINFUL TRUTH: Best technology is boring

Cool, sexy technology turns out to be mostly an annoyance

A Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle is displayed during the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 50th Anniversary Technology Symposium and Showcase in Riverside, California, on Thursday, May 17, 2018. Bloomberg photo by Dania Maxwell
As the cost of food continues to rise, grocery chains in Canada are reportedly making record profits. It’s time for the CEOs of these companies to explain themselves, says the federal New Democratic Party. (Unsplash photo)

OFF TOPIC: Bread or cake, the rising cost of food is giving me indigestion

How do grocery chain CEOs square skyrocketing prices with massive profits?

As the cost of food continues to rise, grocery chains in Canada are reportedly making record profits. It’s time for the CEOs of these companies to explain themselves, says the federal New Democratic Party. (Unsplash photo)
Maybe if we painted double-decker buses red it would help? This bus was used to promote the film “To Sir With Love” at a previous St. George’s Motoring Show held by the Langley Area Mostly British (LAMB) car club at the historic Fort Langley Community hall. (Langley Advance Times files)

Painful Truth: What’s the magic carrot to lure us out of our cars?

I believe in public transit, but I still own a car

Maybe if we painted double-decker buses red it would help? This bus was used to promote the film “To Sir With Love” at a previous St. George’s Motoring Show held by the Langley Area Mostly British (LAMB) car club at the historic Fort Langley Community hall. (Langley Advance Times files)
Office towers, condos and apartment buildings are seen in downtown and the West End of Vancouver, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

PAINFUL TRUTH: The internet made us small

Being online is a new way of feeling alone in the crowd

Office towers, condos and apartment buildings are seen in downtown and the West End of Vancouver, on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Abbotsford News.
Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Abbotsford News.
A dump truck works near the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta on June 1, 2014. Thirteen years after Canada first signed an international agreement to eliminate “inefficient” government subsidies to the fossil fuel sector, and four years since launching a peer review with Argentina to identify what subsidies exist, the federal government is still working to define what an inefficient fossil fuel subsidy actually is. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

PAINFUL TRUTH: Change is coming, ‘just’ or not

If you fight the just transition all the way, you’re going to lose

A dump truck works near the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta on June 1, 2014. Thirteen years after Canada first signed an international agreement to eliminate “inefficient” government subsidies to the fossil fuel sector, and four years since launching a peer review with Argentina to identify what subsidies exist, the federal government is still working to define what an inefficient fossil fuel subsidy actually is. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Toy robot on a desktop, man working on the computer in the background. Symbol for artificial intelligence, chatbots or social bots and algorithms

PAINFUL TRUTH: AIs and the age of digital lying

We made computers that are more like people – they make stuff up

Toy robot on a desktop, man working on the computer in the background. Symbol for artificial intelligence, chatbots or social bots and algorithms
Jessica Peters is a reporter with the Abbotsford News, and an invasive cervical cancer survivor.

OPINION: Cervical cancer awareness didn’t seem important to me, until it was

January is cervical awareness month and a time to understand how devastating the disease really is

Jessica Peters is a reporter with the Abbotsford News, and an invasive cervical cancer survivor.
Traffic backed up in Langley. (Langley Advance Times files)

PAINFUL TRUTH: We live at the mercy of the auto century

Everything has the cost of cars buried in it

Traffic backed up in Langley. (Langley Advance Times files)
(Langley Advance Times files)

PAINFUL TRUTH: Back on the economic roller coaster

Property prices are going to be a little unstable, maybe for longer than we’d like

(Langley Advance Times files)
Books on the shelves of the Fraser Valley Regional Library branch in Langley City. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

PAINFUL TRUTH: Christmas means books

Reporter Matthew Claxton writes a weekly opinion column

Books on the shelves of the Fraser Valley Regional Library branch in Langley City. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
The Legion Veterans Village project is seen under construction in Surrey, B.C., on Saturday, November 6, 2021. The project is led by the Royal Canadian Legion B.C./Yukon Command, Whalley Legion Branch 229 and Lark Group and will be Canada’s first centre of excellence for veterans and first responders focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health as well as mixed medical and rehabilitative services. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

PAINFUL TRUTH: Real estate boom and bust creates future problems

Gluts and shortages keep coming in the housing market

The Legion Veterans Village project is seen under construction in Surrey, B.C., on Saturday, November 6, 2021. The project is led by the Royal Canadian Legion B.C./Yukon Command, Whalley Legion Branch 229 and Lark Group and will be Canada’s first centre of excellence for veterans and first responders focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder and mental health as well as mixed medical and rehabilitative services. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Abbotsford News and a big fan of Father Christmas.

COLUMN: The magic of Christmas isn’t so unbelievable, is it?

A deep adoration of Santa Claus and everything he represents has led to a life of loving Christmas

Jessica Peters is a reporter at the Abbotsford News and a big fan of Father Christmas.
The Sardis Library on June 23, 2022. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

PAINFUL TRUTH: Libraries are an essential service

Please, don’t ever suggest we start charging money for library services

The Sardis Library on June 23, 2022. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
Congestion on the approach to the 232nd Street overpass. (Langley Advance Times files)

PAINFUL TRUTH: Family affects jobs and hiring

Our society has changed – and jobs aren’t changing to keep up

Congestion on the approach to the 232nd Street overpass. (Langley Advance Times files)
Condos under construction in Langley. Backyards not included. (Langley Advance Times files)

PAINFUL TRUTH: The death of the backyard is coming soon

We need to rethink public space, since private greenspace is getting rare

Condos under construction in Langley. Backyards not included. (Langley Advance Times files)
The Twitter logo is displayed outside the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Bloomberg photo by David Paul Morris

PAINFUL TRUTH: Where is the public square?

We’ve redefined public speech since the advent of the internet

The Twitter logo is displayed outside the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. Bloomberg photo by David Paul Morris
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