OK lets go again

Don't tell me that the Canadian Jewish Congress is just another lobby group. Read this story and discover that all the snivelling pol Braunnosers are off to Toronto to rub noses (??) with Bernie Farber and his gang. Just how much power this group has is demonstrated by the people speaking to it. Name another "lobby group" that gets this kind of turnout!!

The first op-ed piece that makes sense

One of the problems of short term fixes is that they become long term problems and the issue of EI exhaustees is such a problem. The Preem of BC, I'm not a fan of this guy, has published an op-ed piece in the G&M here that talks about what happens next. What will the thousands of people who began their claim last year do this year? His solution - have the province pay what it would if they were on assistance and the feds top it up. For the first time we a pol making sense. If you want a functioning society you have to pay for it. And as for blaming the deficit on EI what a bunch of fatuous nonsense. If the government, of both stripes, hadn't stolen the EI money years ago then the deficit would have been a lot less.

Our cultural correspondent, Mr W Keeler has published an excellent review of what our young artists are up to - and it all good. Check it out here

Another one for the cynics. here is a story about Larry Summers, the guy Obama put in charge of the bank mess. Charged to fix the mess he helped create. This time around a story surfaces that he is now profiting from his own work as Obama's Mr Fix-it"

Are they "bulldogs" or just a pain in the arse? That is the question posed by the latest letter by Mr John Dietz, from Port Hope to Port Hope Council. Mr Dietz has, as his hobby horse, the affairs of the Port Hope Harbour Commission. This Commission is surrounded in secrecy because of its very makeup. Deemed to be an independent entity owned by Council it is not sure whether it rports to Council and Mr Dietz is determined to find out. Not only that because the meetings of the HC are held in secret he wants find out just what they are up to. But is does pose the question of the lead: when do bulldogs become pains in the arse - depends just who is being asked the questions!

Where have these people been?

The Cobourg Beach Society, website here, has emerged to lead a way in attempting to create a shoreline public park from the factory Creek to the Water Filtration Plant - good for them, but I have to ask "where have you been?" Nobody heard of them until they released information about themselves in the furor about the nasty lady and the older gent with the walking stick. Upon investigation it was discovered that they have a website and have had one since the 27th of January. Mr Cairns, the present spokesperson has written one letter that I'm aware of and has obviously kept the existence of this group quiet. But like all good PR people, the fracas has illuminated the issue, he is taking advantage of it and urges people to go to Council on Monday June 1st. I just hope that they don't have the indecency to ask what Council did with Pat Stanley's presentation in 2007 when Council diligently listened to her talk about the same thing.

Any sane and thinking conservative must be really in trouble reconciling their core beliefs with the current PM's way of leading the Country out of the deficit and into majority land. Yesterday things became more bizarre in Ottawa, as if they could, when in answer to Iggy's demand that he fire the Minister of Finance the PM answered. “I can't fire the Leader of the Opposition. With all the tapes I've got on him. I don't want to.”. Harper of course was referencing the fact that the Con war room has been trolling the world for any mention of Iggy and his media background. I can just imagine spotty faced fifteen year olds being let loose with a couple of million dollar's worth of mutimedia equipment and charged to troll the internet using key words and metadata tags to assemble the dirt. What can they find that you and I can't find by going to Youtube.com and searching on "Ignatieff"? But even sillier, what will they do with it all? I would put one silly pic of SH against all of the musings of a Harvard Prof or an English journo (both fishing holes for the Cons) and the silly pic would win the pile of public disdain. The silliest pic so far is the one on the right.

Congratulations. It was reported yesterday - BT on CITY, that the owner of Gig's Music Store on Division St N had won the big house lottery with the BMW in the driveway. Makes the rest of us kick ourselves for not buying more tickets, but at $100 a pop one would do, and in this case it did!

Remember when the Puffster actually worked for a living?

One of the last pieces that the Mike Duffy CTV worked on was a set of interviews during the last election wherein Stephane Dion was ridiculed because he muffed a couple of "facetimes". The Puffster then started to run them and the rightwing press couldn't get enough of them. Well in this story the interview has been ruleded unfair and violated broadcast codes,

The only conclusion that I can draw!

The only conclusion that I can draw from this news - GM forced into bankruptcy by bondholders - is that Obama and Harper conspired to smash the Unions. If the bondholders aren't forced into concessions by Obama and harper/clement.maguinty then why did they set up the union for a haircut? Smash the union that's why. If Obama is so union friendly where is his "card check" legislation? Nope the neo-cons did the workers in and it was set up to be so from the beginning.

gatherings

In this email, copied from another site in cyberspace it shows that the authorities are taking the case of the "Nasty woman at the lake" very seriously, well at least the email says so. But what can they do? The Police have already spoken to the woman about her conduct. The woman, presumably has told the Police that she will defend her position and her land, against trespassers. Unfortunately under the law that's what all beach walkers are at that end of the beach - trespassers.

The really unfortunate part about this is that years ago, when Tremaine Terrace was being built the Town secured public access to the West side of the Factory Creek and now access to the rest of the beach going Eastward is not possible. There could have been a solution years ago before the "nasty people: bought the place - the Town could have bought it and severed off the access, but it didn't. But it should now be Town policy to do just that in future when lakefront real estate properties are put up for sale.

What we, as taxpayers, should be wary of is any deal that reduces taxes for property owners just because they give us an easement. And if there are deals like this floating around the public must know how much the deal is, not just a resolution passed at Council "authorising the Mayor and the Deputy Clerk to sign such a deal"

In the meantime all we as citizens can do is to hope that the pending legislation, in the provincial Parliament passes. This is just not a Cobourg problem - remember the case of the burnt fence at Wasaga beach a few months back? Municipal pols are quite powerless in this case if land-owners are not cooperative, despite what they may say.

From: “Stan Frost”
Date: May 26, 2009 2:04:01 PM EDT (CA)
To: “‘Greg Hancock’”
Subject: RE: Beachfront

Hi Greg,

I attended a meeting this morning with the Mayor, Police Chief, CAO and Town Directors concerning this issue. Yes we ware taking this very seriously and action will be forthcoming. I cannot say more at this point.

Stan

A black bear was spotted in the Elgin/D'Arcy area on Monday, not surprisingly as BBs have been seen to live in the woods at the Southern end of N'land Forest just up on Hwy 45. I just hope that this time around the Police handle the bear a little more sensitively than the last time we had a BB in Town. A few years back the Town Police Service became impatient about the way to handle it and a certain Sgt, who is still a Sgt., shot it out of the tree much to the disgust of the animal lovers on scene.

Talking yesterday about the new world record for a craps roll, I just happened to be at a Casino yesterday, I had to have an interview with US Border Agency about a FAST card, in Fort Erie, and decided to drop in at the table at NF. Seeing it was a $10.00 table it kinda made me aware of just how much money was at stake. My roll lasted the average 5 rolls but the guy after me made three points and rolled for about 18 so I made my money back and won enough for dinner on the way back!

A tussle at the Shoreline

All are commenting about this, a story that an older person hit another older person over the head with a walking stick when the first one trespassed on the second's one's beach and a heated discussion ensued.
This is a common story one person in particular, a person who moved in a couple of years ago has made it her mission in life to shout, scream, wave and generally become abusive towards people that encroach on her property. I would say get another life but she won't. So confrontations occur often and much Police time is wasted on this.
The Question here is the one posed by John Draper in his commentary yesterday "Why isn't Council doing something?" It's not as though they haven't worked on the file. I know that much legal opinion exists and we have yet to see the results. I know that discussions have taken place with a few of the owners with the potential of lower taxes for access being the topic. But no progress - why. If we can, at Council, agree to commit the taxpayers to a multimillion dollar project like the Community Centre and revamp a road allowance into a four lane highway in about six months and approve it all in six minutes speed can be achieved. But why not on this file? I would suggest that the mayor get into the act complete negotiations or at least make a public statement that explains the impediments to a free beach or else he runs the risk of the Boardwalk becoming known as "Delanty's Folly" - a road going to nowhere - just like some of the present Council!

One of those, "I wish I was there moments. In this story a new world record for a roll at a craps table was set. Just wish I had been there to participate. My normal record is roll once, set a point, put some money on the table and then seven out - LOSE!. The average roll on a table before the seven appears is about 5 so a hot roll is usually about 50 or sixty rolls., most players are happy with about 30. With an average of 60 rolls per hour the average roll goes down as payouts increase. A roll that took 4 hrs and 18 mins and only 154 rolls there must have been a whack of money being paid out to slow down the average.

Monday

First the news that not only are the Harperites considering changes to the EI, and will release the ideas today, but the "we are the only ruling party" Libs are considering an election over the changes. A couple of things. Firstly the libs despite what they say are not ready for an election, secondly the country doesn't want an election, thirdly there are 83 MPs who will qualify for the gravy train next Spring. They will have been in the House for six years and then the pension kicks in. Besides apart from the Community Colleges and the retraining industry, who are just drooling with the thought of more money for their overpriced and inadequate training seats, who else will benfit from changes to EI. Certainly not the unemployed. "Training for what?" is the buzzword. Can anyone remember back in the 80s when training money was flowing like an outdated six gallon flush toilet what people were being trained on? Wordperfect that's what! and how many unemployed got to use WP - not many. But it did make the government feel good about throwing money towards people who were forced to get out of the house for a few weeks.
So what are the hot retraining courses this depression? The main one is the old standby that always works - Personal Support Worker. Kudos to the union for getting the wage levels up so that anybody who takes a short course on how to change Granma's diaper and help out at the nursing home can at least earn a living wage. The people who do this type of work, PSW, can never be paid enough as they are doing the jobs that the majority of us wouldn't even look at and they deserve all the thanks from us they can get. But it's a sad commentary on our society when it's the only identifiable training that an unemployed person can get that guarantees employment.

This really bugs me, but when I heard that the commercial building on the corner of Swayne St and Division St, in Cobourg, was going to remodeled into 14 units of low income housing I was cheered. But now the true plans have been revealed I am more than a little disgusted. The Northumberland Services for Women have been working with the developer and now have assumed management of the building - very good. Except that the low income units are not universally accessible to the people on the waiting list. This is happening because the units are going to be used for "second stage housing". Mike Harris killed off the "second stage housing" in the 90s and there's been no money since. To use low income housing funds for this program is a perversion of the policy and should be condemned.
There are now 14 people on the County housing list who will never get to move up 14 places faster because of a bureaucratic manipulation of policy - shame.

The first of the roosting chickens are home. This story out of Los Angeles, but I'm sure that the Toronto Star will be following with a similar story soon, talks about applications for early retirement sharply increasing. Yep, to nobody's surprise older unemployed workers are dropping like flies when their weeks run out and applying for pension. At least a couple of thousand in this area alone in the last year. And the trend will continue. SO more pressure on the taxpayers left in the system and less commercial activity for the merchants - hey pensioners are cheap and don't spend money - so much for the economic recovery!

Bill Maher on the Video page here

Really avid readers will notice that theBurdReport now has another author (see top left) - Bill Hayes - yet to contribute but he has put up a nice pic of himself even with a Peter C Newman hat on he looks like the writer he is - looking forward to seeing posts - welcome aboard.

I'm sure that this is not the last word

Those who are intrigued by the UK scandal over MP's expenses and the fallout should click here The "Daily Telegraph probably got more than it bargained for when it started to bash the Labour Party for the transgressions of its members - after all they are the governing party and the DT, a rabidly right wing newspaper, would do anything to push the conservative party line. But when the conservative MPs were identified as the most flagrant offenders they, the DT, reverted to journalistic balance and assembled a page for the masses. This page is the "Scandal for Dummies" - click on it , it is entertaining. John Prescott, who is a heavy chap, actually claimed for two replacement toilet seats. One Tory MP clamed for a 3000GBP duck hoose in his garden and one stately home owner claimed for the cleaning of his "moat".

Another clip for from the "Daily Mail" it details the response from an angry Tory MP click here who claims that people are just jealous of his big house. Not jealous I would say just fed up with helping to pay to run it!

You can't make this stuff up, this story outlines the 13 people, some people hold responsible for the Bush torture implementation and policies. The defence of conservatives and "realists" against some of the wilder theories about world events is that those theories are too fictional - don't sound true. Well sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and the positions advanced by some to show that Obama is in the pocket of Wall St manipulators and that nothing has changed to make the lives of "ordinary" Americans despite rhetoric and claims from Obama will be shown to be true. Just ask yourself in two years time just what has changed?

And a piece from Noam Chomsky here

Garth writes a story for me, plus and an invitation for you!

Garth Turner has outlined why the GM fiasco reaches beyond the neo-con claim that the government is paying $400,000 for each GM job and therefore the money is wasted. In this story he talks about the dealerships, the people who work there and the loss to the community in lost sponsorships.

Thomas Pontiac/Buick stays; Spencer Chev/Olds goes. GoNorthumberland.net is reporting (1745 on May 21) that's the result of the letters that GM sent to their dealerships. The news could have been a lot worse if Thomas had splurged on a new building the way GM honchos had wanted them to. President Bill Campbell appears to have made a wise business decision by stalling GM. This way he can now work a deal with Bill Spencer, if Spencer wants to get out of the car business, for his new facility expand the business and some of Spencer's employees may get a job with an expanded Thomas.

OK here's the deal, I would like others to contribute news, and some opinion, to the site and am willing to open up the site you, the readers. Blogspot has the capacity to accept multiple authors. I am willing to experiment and let others contribute. The rules will be simple -

1. I will not edit the post before submission, authors can rule on their own content
2. Content rules: must be of interest to local readers, must reflect good taste and decorum, must not be repetitive in nature (one, two at most posts about the same thing) supplementary posts must only supply new information not the same point.
   
3. I will have veto on a contributor only if the posts go bad and reflect badly on the BurdReport

If you have some thing to say that needs to be in public send me your name and tell me that you want to be an author. We will take it from here. let's build a community based on local news and opinion.

How do I get a job like this?

The HKPR Health Unit has released a list of restaurants who have been awarded "Eat Smart" badges. Without releasing the criteria for such badges they are as good as useless. Do they sample all the meals, study the menus or just sniff around for cockroaches?
Looking at the list only two establishments in Port Hope got a badge: Mr Sub and Subway. The rest of the County was well represented. I can imagine that the owners of the fine restaurants in PH don't think much of this award. Anyway back to the lead, I would be perfect for the job of EatSmart tester. According to the love of my life all I ever do is eat junk food, ergo I can recognise it and any place serving it will not get a badge!

Have you driven about the Beer Store lately? Because if you have you will notice that when you go to drive North on Division from Munroe there is a new sign facing you. A "No right turn on Red". Wondering about this, I travel this intersection daily and hadn't noticed it until a passenger pointed it out to me, just who ordered this and when did this take place? I phoned the Police, thinking that a change in traffic signs might have something to do with them. Deputy-Chief Cromlish (deputydave) told me he knew nothing about it so it hadn't been placed there as a result of being a dangerous intersection. I then phoned Public Works and spoke to "I have been here so long I am part of the furniture" Ted MacDonald, the major domo of traffic. "Yep we did it!" he said. Acknowledging that the funny shaped intersection is a bugger to put lights on he said, "You can't have it both ways, either make turns from Park St illegal or allow the pedestrians priority on the arrowed green light from Munroe!" "This way it is safe" Telling me that this is the last change to a $100K project the traffic controller was only installed last week. This installer allows a Pedestrian walk to operate on the green arrow. Now we all know that every single driver who turns on a red knows that the pedestrian has the right of way - don't we? But just to be sure Ted put up a sign disallowing right turns on red.

No word yet for the local GM dealers about just which one is going to disappear. Cobourg has two - Thomas Pontiac-Buick and Spencer Chev-Olds. Talking informally to a local GM salesman he agreed that consolidation will take place. But who will be the top dog; Thomas or Spencer?

For those who have been following it

The British House of Commons's financial scandal. There are so many facets to this that I don't where to begin, but I will point readers to the commentary by the infamous George Galloway in this morning's "Guardian" George's opinion is that the establishment did him in to cover up the problem and finish the deal with a scapegoat. The Speaker was an easy target because he used to be a working class shop steward from the "Gorbals". The "Gorbals" is the notorious slum area of Glasgow. A bit of history. It is alleged, and referred to by GG, that the system of MP's expenses was developed to offset the politically sensitive subject of MP's raises. Allowing MPs to claim for a second home and then not policing the system properly was a recipe for 'fiddling'. Add into the mix that the majority of MPs have never had a real job in their lives, the MP selection system is done by Party Central, only rising to the job by virtue of being an MPs aide somewhere or being a star candidate and then being placed in a Riding. This lack of industrial integrity and the age group that most of the miscreant's came from fostered the feeling of entitlement. The fact that MPs of all parties did it shows that greed and lack of ethics had replaced the feeling of 'public service'.
The resignation of the Speaker will not quell the public demand for vengeance. The general public is on a feeding frenzy for MP's scalps. In fact political scientists and pundits are now scared sh**less that extremist parties will be the beneficiaries of diverted votes. The first test will be elections for the European Parliament this summer.
Talk about life imitating art: one of the summer programs on PBS last year was a series from England called "The Amazing Mrs Pritchard" (Wikipedia) The manager of a supermarket , fed up with the local area politicians decided to run for office and became the Prime Minister leading a feminist party. The series depicted her election and the subsequent trials of office. In the end the family scandals, unknown to her when she first ran, were too much and she resigned and went back to Yorkshire. But the parallel is going to dangerously similar when all kinds of ordinary people decide to run as independents, or join a new party yet to be formed.

In another related story, the fury is unabated over the Speaker's resignation. In a story from the Daily Mail, the establishment, led by the Lords of the Lords, are demanding that a disgraced commoner not receive the obligatory peerage given to any Speaker when they leave office. Amazing how these chinless wonders still can sway public opinion to their side - the aristocracy. Even more amazing that the Brits would even listen to them.
The principal proponent of the ban is Lord Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby. One of Thatchers henchmen, elevated to the Lords he has obviously very quickly acquired the attitudes of the hereditary peers - that of "we know what best for the working man, and we are here to decide for you!" The sooner we have elected upper houses the better, both here and over there!

Check out the video page - another Jesse V clip.

Back to work!

Tonight's Cobourg Council meeting will be interesting, there is a bylaw coming up to establish a "Tree Preservation Policy". Good job then that the Deputy Mayor has just finished chopping down a healthy Maple tree on his own property; because , I am told, that the leaves annoyed his wife. After tonight tree chopping on your own property will probably be illegal!

John Dean was a discredited aide to President Nixon, but he does know how the Government of the USA works. In this piece he opines that the civil servants - read career bureaucrats - got to Obama about the release of the torture pics that he promised to release but now won't.

Just one last word on the GM situation. Last Thursday the TO Sun published the results of it editorial board meeting, which took place in Oshawa. One of the stories they heard was from an angry pensioner who blamed the Province for the legacy costs. The situation for him was that he had to contribute 15% of his wages to the pensions. The Company was supposed to do the same but because Bob Rae, in the middle of the last recession gave GM, and others, a "pension holiday" Company contributions were suspended or severely reduced putting the plan into deficit. By making 15% contributions he had little opportunity to contribute to an RRSP. because of reduced pension room So now he is faced with a reduced pension plan because of Provincial laxity and the federal tax rules. No wonder he is POd. Everybody thinks he is on the gravy train and the Province is telling Ken Lewenza to make more pension cuts, when the real culprits have been the last three provincial Premiers!

This skydiver left it a bit late to open his chute and crashed after a 6,000' drop. Check out the video page and look carefully.

If you happen to listen to your MP in the next week?

The story below just got bumped out by the sequel. The document to the right and the links to and from the originating story have vaporised into cyberspace. Broken links and removed source material ... wonder who got the wind up about this? and who got the job of rewriting the May Caucus document? Just in case the Con cyberpolice start tracking the doc down in the middle of the night I have stashed it and can pull it out any time to check against Mr Norlock's delivery at will.

If you happen to listen to your MP in the next week just check the speech against this - an eight page speaking note for delivery by the Cons in power when they get back in the Ridings. Boy things must be getting back if this kind of caucus document is being leaked.

Maybe we should consider ourselves lucky with this proposal: a plan to fingerprint people who haven't been charged and then make them request the removal of prints from the system, instead of automatically being deleted after a period of time. In the UK ID cards are coming and with the arrival are some pretty big offences against civil rights: everybody will be fingerprinted to get one, all ID cards when used will be linked to the tax database and ID cards will be used to track financial transactions. Horrifying to a civil libertarian.

The first of many - I fear

President Obama, in a big decision today tossed one of his major platform planks on the pyre. By upholding the Tribunals at Guantanamo he has disappointed many who voted for him.
"What happened to President Obama's confidence in the U.S. justice system's ability to try detainees? He himself said that 'we need not throw away 200 years of American jurisprudence while we fight terrorism.'" asked Amnesty International's executive director Larry Cox in this story ?
I just hope that this will not be the first, of what I fear to be, many expedient political decisions in Obama's reign. The decisions made so far appear to be more on the side of the 'ruling elite' than the for the people who voted for him. A sad trend. Making a mockery of the chant, "Yes we can". maybe we can but choose not to!

And if you think that is bad read this story about the "Immediate Reaction Force" (IRF) in Guantanamo.

Next time the Boss tells you "that the quality of your work is the best and you are the most productive in the system" don't interpret that as praise in any form just tell the Boss -"Didn't do the GM truck plant workers any good did it!"
So yesterday they shut the truck plant down and in this report from the TO Star the job loss is staggering, about 2,000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs. Real estate prices have fallen and the local economy is hit hard. Alright for those who look on it as justice because, "those guys earned too much" but for the intelligent ones who worry about the big picture, they don't have a clue what's coming next. The Deputy Mayor of Oshawa said, "We want to become or do something like Waterloo has done," Pidwerbecki said. "We know there will be ups and downs during the next few years, but I think the community will survive that." - We think don't know but in the meantime? (my words) Even that fat obnoxious loudmouth Denis "I hate the CAW" DeRosiers acknowledges the severity of the situation, "The impact is quite devastating," industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers said.

The big deal of the year is sitting at Home Hardware, on Division St. Low flush toilets are not a big deal anymore but this line is. The standard low-flush uses 13 litres per flush, this new style uses half that amount - 4.8 litres per flush. Using a new design this toilet can flush the poop with half the water. The design also eliminates the problem that besets every water utility - flapper leakage; no flapper no leakage.
Three models of toilet are offered and three prices prevail: the MSRP, the sale price and the sale price reduced if you are a LUSI customer. The cheapest model is priced at $99. So how long will it take to pay for this model with the promised savings kicking in? Looking at my water usage over the last year I used 77 cubic metres. That is 77,000 litres, daily usage is 216 litres and if we, only two of us in the house, each flush five times per day poop water equals 48 litres at 4.8 lpf new toilet and 130 litres at the present. So the potential savings are 82 litres per day. We spent 45 cents a day for the past year on water. The cost per litre per day at 130 litres is .0035 cents per litre so if we put in a new toilet we save .287 cents per day. A yearly cost savings of $102.17.
Simple decision new toilet costs $99 plus tax; payback equals twelve months. Bruce Craig of LUSI told me that the budget is $100,000 and that will buy about 600 toilets so get up there fast.

Good news for Cobourg, Provincial money for doing the right thing - switching light bulbs, and then a surprise from the light bulb maker - the sniff of jobs. Confirming that the Company is looking for a place to site a research facility and then possibly a manufacturing plant. Although it is hard to believe that a Chinese manufacturer would shun low cost manufacturing, it may be plausible - still I'm from Missouri!

The puzzle may be solved when the Cobourg staff release a report about the complex planning situation encompassing the growth of Cobourg, the new Official Plan and the application for a 265 acre development with 1702 planned dwellings.
The facts are clear. Cobourg is in the middle of a new Official Plan that has many constraints placed upon it by forces outside Cobourg. A developer has applied to build many houses in an area that may not be allowed to be built upon, by the application of the new OP, and the confusion of a local committee responsible for advising the Council on planning matters.
When the application to build (the Rondeau application) came before the Planning and Advisory Committee the committee was in the middle of another matter - the review of the Oficial Plan (OP). In the review the committee had been wrestling with the directive from the Province to focus development within existing Town boundaries. Research indicates that up to 11,000 people could be living inside that boundary if development was directed to those areas. So when the Rondeau application came before it discussion centred on its merit - why approve a build outside the boundary when all policy is directing them to build inside the boundary? But because the Rondeau application had been in process since before 2006 Provincial policy indicates that the new OP cannot be applied to it. But this is where it gets sticky for Council. Area C, the development area outside the boundary which has been planned for a population of 16,000, needs to be serviced. To service the area properly Sewage Treatment facilities need to be upgraded to the tune of $7.3 million. Only the Rondeau application has the right to build all the others yet to apply may be refused because they are outside the boundary. If that is the case then the servicing costs for the Rondeau development may be horrendous, if the ST needs to upgraded. Those costs are going to be paid for from development charges - in other words developer pay, perhaps they will not be able to afford the project?.
There were so many unanswered question on Monday, even the public meeting set up to discuss the application took two and a half hours, that the Council tossed the whole thing back to Staff . There was not even a motion from the Planning and Advisory committee recommending or disapproving the application. I hope that the staff can sort out this confusing situation.

There is a very interesting video on the video page. Jesse Ventura, former Navy SEAL and the ex-Governor of Minnesota (Ind) is being interviewed by Larry King about Dick Cheney and "waterboarding" Jesse gives a spirited interview where he outlines his disdain for DC.

Just came across this, an account of a "blogger" hanging out in Bildeberg watching the rich and powerful make up the rules for those others to rule the world. This page details all of his posts since May 13. Start reading from the bottom up. Warning, a couple of the links may not work -play around on the page.

A Wednesday mixture

How about that Ruby Woman? Kenny Rogers sang a song about it (Ruby don't take your love to Town) and yesterday the MP Lady from Brampton, spoke about it - love that is. "Whenever anybody came to my house I showed them love and respect!" she said at a kangaroo court in Ottawa. Ruby Dhalla, a one time Bollywood North actress and full time chiropractor - cal me Dr. Dhalla, was being interviewed by the ethics committee for alleged bad treatment of her servants and not much love was being shown by anyone.
Now who set this up? Some blame Jason Kenney the Minister of MultiCulturism, who is trying to make inroads and waves in ethnic communities. With alleged promises of new passports and sponsorship the two caregivers (servants) made some allegations about being underpaid and overworked. The Tories jumped on it and dragged RD into court (!) and Iggy has written her off and the whole mess was televised. At the end of the day the chair of the committee told the press that he had heard two different accounts and didn't know who to believe. So what was achieved? A big smoke screen for the other more substantive committee hearing down the hall.

The other meeting down the hall; Mulroney gets his dates wrong and totally screws his case. In the committee room down the hall from RD BM was bombasting his way through a performance led by his lawyer, answering all the setup questions and paving the way for the deification of brian and the satanisation of KarlHeinz. Admitting he took the money, in cash, and not once but three times, he said that he kept it all secret because he didn't want to open up the "Airbus situation" and sully his reputation. The "Airbus situation" was a defamation case that he won in the 90s. The problem with the statement, "I did it to protect my reputation [and not link it to Airbus]" was that he took the money TWO years before the "Airbus situation" ever happened. Oooops - I can't wait to see what the KH lawyers do with that one.

A big win for the most underrated pitcher in baseball today. Roy Halliday of the Toronto Blue Jays creamed the opposition Yankees in a 5-1 complete game. Pinch me, the Blue jays are winning lots of games.

More on the costs of building a Community Centre in Cobourg. A couple of days ago a local letter writer - Martin Partridge, of Cobourg - wrote a letter to NT.com wherein he exposed the fallacy of the CAO of Cobourg's statement that the CC could be built "With little cost to the taxpayer" Partridge in his letter here pooh-poohs the idea and says that all the money is the taxpayers, not just the Cobourg contribution. Following it up with an email to him where I asked him if he was fer or agin the idea he replied with this.
"I am completely against any major capital investments in Cobourg until we see where this economy is really headed. My view is that the seniors should use some available Cobourg space at modest cost, the existing indoor skating rinks should be improved but not replaced, the Y should cope for the foreseeable future with its recent enhancement, and the lawn bowling site should be left exactly as it is. I think both the times and existing public sentiment cry out for belt-tightening, not pie in the sky expansion. Feel free to post the above, citing my name if you wish."
This is probably the majority opinion around Town, I wonder when the majority will get an opportunity to express it?

More about planning, this time from Ottawa. Yesterday two noteworthy events happened, one was a rally outside of City Hall demanding that no expansion beyond the Urban Boundary take place and the other was a committee discussion where Ottawa councillors supported the idea of not building beyond the boundary. I report this because the opinion of the Ottawa Planner relates to a situation here. The story is here but this is what the Planner said, that is important.
"Ottawa council could avoid a series of fights at the Ontario Municipal Board by holding the line on its urban boundary, according to its top planning lawyer. Tim Marc says changes to the provincial Planning Act since 2003 have strengthened the city’s hand in controlling development. If any urban expansion in the official plan is permitted, the revised plan can be appealed to the provincial board, which has the power to overrule city land-use decisions. However, if no expansion is approved, no appeals can be made to the board." (Ottawa Citizen)
So in the application before us in Cobourg, on the East side of Brook Rd. the Cobourg Planners may want to look at this opinion - I hope so, before the whole mess costs a lot more money than we need to spend.

If you think some of the stuff I write is personal and caustic look at this one. Based in Ottawa it appears that nobody knows who owns the website, either way a lot of people are hitting it every day.

Another puzzle for those interested in Cobourg's planning

Last week we reported that the Director of Planning for Cobourg was bemoaning the fact that the Provincial Planning Statement hadn't allocated enough growth to Cobourg. Stating that Cobourg's projections were twice as much the allocation and mused about how Cobourg could get more. Well on Monday evening a Special Meeting to discuss the rezoning and planning amendments to a new area of Cobourg is being discussed. A Numbered Company has submitted a plan for 600 acres of development. Mixed housing, commercial, schools and parks - the whole enchilada.
The snag is that it is outside of the "Built Boundary". This line on a map is something that the province has demanded the Town produce. The line on a map shows the existing Town development line and the areas outside of it. The Province has demanded in its intensification policies that the Town should be infilling the vacant lands inside the Town before going outside the line. The discussion of what's in and how we handle it is part of the Official Plan Review scheduled to be finished soon. So How does this application to build outside the line fit with the new OP? That's the discussion going on! Can we approve development outside of the line when the policies determining future development outside the line haven't been set yet?
The Planning & Advisory Committee hasn't got a position on this yet and some on the committee think that any development not inside the line is premature and shouldn't be approved. Others are thinking that because we don't have policies that development is allowed. A real cockup! But the bottom line is that if this application goes through the Town is committed to millions in infrastructure upgrades and future maintenance for ever. So what will Council do?

"We can have the Community Centre for little cost to taxpayers" so saith the CAO of Cobourg, Steve Robinson. In this story, the account of a mayor's breakfast (any linkage to a dog's breakfast is mischievous), the CAO explained that because of the Town's investments (Council's Play Money) the final price may be very low. OK if that is true the BR will have to change its stance from a negative to a positive. Being negative was natural because we had not been told that we could get a $30 million dollar facility for next to nothing. Now that we are being told, and it's in the words that many tourists can identify with - "Almost free!", we are going to be more supportive.
In fact we are going to be so supportive that our attitude will be it must not cost a dime in taxpayers money. Following the Robinson principle the money will come from gas tax rebates, 33 cent dollars, dividends from the town's investments and if there is the need for any more there must be a financial contribution from the groups who will benefit - the hockey groups, the soccer groups, the lawn bowling groups and the YMCA who wants to privatise it. Put those monies together and we now have a free facility!

The politics of growth

At the Mayor's breakfast the other day Director of Planning, Glenn McGlashon, told the assembly that under the provincial growth Plan Cobourg will be getting 30% of the total. That policy limits growth to designated areas and slower growth to the rest. Obviously Northumberland County, which is a rural rump, in the eyes of the Province, is not a high priority and has been allocated 12,000 new residents and 3,000 jobs between 20007 and 2031. Break that down to a yearly basis and you see just how stupid these bureaucrats are. Cobourg, according to the pointy-heads in QP will be allowed to grow by 3600 people and 900 jobs in the next twenty years. Cobourg's optimistic dreams, developed by consultants, have projected 9,300 people and 2,300 jobs for the same time period. Joining Council many years ago I was told by "housing guru" Don Kirkup, "Cobourg has historically built 175 houses a year." And that has not changed one iota over the past fifteen years, despite bursts of activity in the housing sector. SO, multiply that projection by twenty years and then add in 2.2 persons per house a realistic population projection will emerge - 7700 - the number of estimated jobs is unknown to me but the Cobourg Development people will tell you that there is a slight climb each year. We now know that the population will grow but who's numbers are correct and why do they matter?
Growth is a municipal phallic symbol. The more a Town grows the better the leaders feel and their positions of local pride are justified. Never mind that houses are taking over green fields, never mind that taxpayers money is subsidising the builders activities - just build the damn houses and we'll all feel better! But there is a downside and that is the evergrowing need for taxpayers money to subsidise the results of that building. Roads have to be plowed, Sewage plants have to be expanded, (even though the County Study has shown that Northumberland has more capacity than demand), and more residents expect services that will to expand to accommodate them, witness the demand for more space at the Seniors Centre.
But back to the political dispute between the County and the municipalities and the hard place that the province has placed Northumberland County in. Northumberland County is only one of two Counties that does not have an Official Plan. So why should the Province waste much time and effort in Growth policies in Counties that have no structure to handle Growth? Secondly, like little feuding Emirates, the seven Municipalities all want the same thing - a disproportionate slice of the pie. The rurals don't want the urbans to get the growth and the urbans feel entitled to get it.
Finally it appears that the Provincial Statement has no teeth, as a local developer told me yesterday, "If the Town has the capacity to accept growth and the builder wants to put his money in who's to stop him?" Good question, no answer.

Morning relief - check out this collections of pics, titled "The ten worst losers in sport" here

Good? news for the local real estate industry. Dave Chomitz has posted the April stats here but for those who like pics here is the visual stat. Click on the image for a larger size.

Another tired political excuse?

The admistrator of the Golden Plough is leaving and this is what the CAO said in announcing it.
"C.A.O Bill Pyatt says Lonergan wants to spend more time with his family and is considering a return to teaching or consulting in order to achieve that goal." (report from gonorthumberland.net)
This tired and worn out political phrase is usually put out by others to describe the involuntary leaving or forced resignation of a colleague. What is it that the Director of the Golden Plough has done that deserved an quick exit and how much will it cost the County in exit packages? This man was a big honcho in Private Sector Nursing Home Management before coming here and if he didn't have a bulletproof contract I'd be very surprised. Never mind I understand that his replacement, who comes cheaper, will move into a very swanky office rehabbed at great cost amid budget cuts for the facility.

Howcum we are being stiffed by the Americans? First the application of the "buyAmerica" rules by the State administrations, the classic example of the plastic pipe in Camp Pendleton California and now the mighty mouse, I wish I was five feet tall - Gary Bettman the NHL Commissioner. Jim, I own RIM, Balsillie wants to buy the Phoenix Coyotes out of bankruptcy and move it to Southern Ontario. A simple procedure but what would be hard is owning an NHL franchise and not being allowed to play in the league. Bettman controls who plays and he doesn't like Jim the RIM, and it shows. Stay tuned.

One of the named and Shamed strikes back

Michael Savage here strikes back about being banned from the UK. I have also put the video up on the video page for your education.
"Well, I don't know who this pork eater is, but I have a question for her. I hear she is the Home Secretary of the former England. When has this witch heard my show, since it's not syndicated in England? When has this witch listened to my program in England? And which show or shows is she referring to?"

More evidence for the sceptics

One of the problems that Obama faces when he tries to convince the world that he is on top of things is the apparent problem of his top men at Treasury being seen as the main sources of the Financial problems. he also is faced with a growing perception of double standards in dealing with the Financial crisis and the resulting fallout in the general economy. This story just convinced the sceptics that the fix was in and the crooks are still in charge.

This story is a wonder, I said to myself, "Is Pete Seeger still alive - apparently so" and still impressing. I found a youtube vid - look on the video page for it here - stirring!.

How a brave cashier foiled the robber

This story details the robbery on Sunday night at the Esso Station in Cobourg. What was not told was the actual conversation between the Cashier, a veteran of many years midnight shifts, and the robber. A man described as 5'3'' and young walked into the store, waves a knife around and said, "Give me all of your f*****g money. The Cashier, who shall remain unnamed, replied, "We don't have any f****g money now F off before I call the cops!" The robber tried once more, "Give me your money." The Cashier again replied., "I don't have any f*****g money, F off before I call the cops!" At that time a trucker came in and the robber fled. This cashier deserves an award for the bravery displayed.

Named and Shamed

The UK has banned 16 people from the Country since October. Read the story of who they are and why they were banned. And George Galloway had nothing to do with it.

A visit to the Council meeting

Went to Council meeting last night, something I usually don't do, the disdain emanating from the elevated Throne that the Mayor sits in is palpable right back to the bench that i was sitting on. However bypassing that a couple of items stood out.
In the section called "coordinators' reports" this is where councillors can get up and talk about anything they have done and is considered information for the others who weren't privileged to be at the same meeting/event, Councillor "I have a terrible haircut," Bob Spooner dropped this bombshell (probably not even realising he had). "I was privileged to be at the Y's AGM the other night and was astounded to learn that the Y has 442 volunteers supporting the work of the Y. Without them the Y couldn't function without great cost to the taxpayers!" Did he just say that? No Bob the Y wouldn't function without volunteers it would just collapse, the taxpayers have nothing to do with this Private organisation except to provide a subsidy to the building. Members support the Y not taxpayers. Now with an opinion like Bob's floating around it is understandable that the public and private perceptions of the Y are confused.

The other item, the one I went to see was the approval of the money resolutions I noted last week. BTW Ian Davey did get back to me and provided the exact amount of money being applied for - a total of $34,450,000.
8.04.33hrs DM Broc rises to read the motion
8.06.45hrs DMB explains that his motion only asks for money for the Community Centre, the decision to build comes later
8.07.45hrs Coun. Mutton asks if we made the application date and an exchange takes place about the online application process. Apparently DMB met with the Poobah from Ottawa _ Rick Norlock and mentioned to him that the process was brief, RN said don't worry the bureaucrats will be getting back to the applicants to flesh out the applications, Yep we made it.
8.09.10hrs voted and carried.
8.09.10hrs DMB rises to make another motion authorising the application for the rest of the money.
8.09.35hrs DMB defends the decision to build Kerr St because it will be needed to handle traffic to and from the Community Centre!
8.10.15hrs vote called for
8.10.35hrs voted and carried.
So there it is folks how to apply for thirty five and half million dollars- all in six minutes.

Sunday

Let's celebrate Journalists' Freedom Day today. In this story Olivia Ward of the TO Star reprises the lives of three dead brave writers. Quoting pieces from a book by Terry Gould Ward pays tribute to those who knowingly write in the face of certain death.
"These are not foreign correspondents who were caught in the crossfire," says author Terry Gould, Vancouver-based author of Murder Without Borders: Dying for the Story in the World's Most Dangerous Places. "They're people who took a stand in their own countries and hometowns. They were warned they were going to die, but they were not afraid to speak the truth."Gould's book chronicles the life stories of Vega, Hassan, Garcia-Esperat and other high-profile journalists who refused to be silent and paid the ultimate price."They knew they had only three options: agree with the aggressors, stay silent, or continue to expose the crimes," the author says. "They knew they would be the first to fall, but they believed something good would come of it."

Read this load of crap from Warren Kinsella and you will understand that those of us who are not Liberals are repulsed by the arrogance of those that are. In his blog here he lays out the return of the Messiah and the welcoming back of the "Canada's Natural Governing Party" - nauseating! So Iggy is now leader and all the pols wrath will be directed on the BQ and the NDP for not granting the NGP its wish for an early election. Another year of whining from the Liberals about not being allowed to get back into power. Perhaps if they, the NGP, would tell us what they wanted to do instead of bleating about them not being the Cons and should be elected because they are not, then people might be interested in turfing Harper.

Now for the biggie. here is a copy of a snippet of the agenda for Monday evening. This is how you spend many many millions of dollars, write it in a vague bureaucratic way and then get to vote on it with as few details as possible. But the advocates will say, as Bob-"I can see clearly now"-Spooner did the other day, "We are not voting on the money we are only applying for it!" True Bob but who will dare to vote against the money fairy when it arrives?

May Day - remember this

The Winnipeg Strike remembrance day is today for an historical perspective click here to go to the CBC's video for a retrospective.