Give me one good reason

With a typical Steve Jobs hyper-launch the world was introduced to the Ipad. A ten inch display, an enlarged Iphone but without a phone, what can it do? That will be the question for those people willing to lay out $400US for the cheapest version or $829Us for the full kit. As a non smart phone user I cannot appreciate the value of the "apps" that abound but even if all of the thousands available for transfer to the Ipad were moved over I still fail to see a use for this pad. After all can it translate scribblings with a stylus into intelligable text, can it take a picture, and in Canada can it use the 3G network? Not yet!
I remain to be convinced of its usefullness - I am a sceptic - convince me otherwise.

Postscript, thanks to Wally and his browsing of Youtube - a non political use of the Hitler clip; he, Hitler, doesn't like the Ipad either. Watch it here

What a bunch of hot air!

Lou Rinaldi delivered a dubious retort to a very intelligent question on Monday night. Cllr Stan Frost asked why the province was being inconsistent by banning municipalities from offering bribes to business but allowing bribes to doctors. Rinaldi replied:
"Our government has looked at every possible way but, at the end of the day, we don't want to tell municipalities how best to spend their money. Under the present law, there's nothing the province can do."
Well Lou change the law you have done it before: bicycle helmets, no stunt driving, no cell phones or smoking in cars and the list goes on. So long is the list of measures that curtail individual liberty that the Premier is known by some as "Premier Dad".
To handcuff municipalities with a doctor shortage and then tell them that in order to attract doctors it is OK to bribe them is reckless fiscal policy that wastes local ratepayers money. We don't want to spend this money but some Councils are convinced that it is the only way to get them here. There's an election this year Lou, some may remember this remark as political nonsense and vote accordingly.

Guest Post

Deb 'Connor

Stockwell Day at Treasury: OH NO!

Recent news that Harper has shuffled Stockwell Day into the Treasury Board, where he will wield the knife on program cuts, has me worried. With Flaherty whispering in one ear sharing tactics learned from his former boss, Mike the Knife in Ontario, and Harper in the other reminding him of their Reform roots, this will be bad news for all the widows and orphans out there, not to mention the immigrant population, the unemployed, the homeless and anyone else too dumb to be rich in this country.

With corporate taxes and taxation of the wealthy at a historically low level in Canada, this callous government is vowing no new taxes, despite the ever growing deficit they created with their dubious stimulus programs. Announcing that beating the deficit means cutting programs exclusively, they have just eliminated a worthwhile source of revenue without a thought of the consequences.

So what sort of programs are they likely to target? Looking at where these guys come from, it's a safe bet that programs and services that protect women's health, like access to abortion, and immigrant settlement will be vulnerable; so will education, research, First Nations, poverty reduction (such as it is at the federal level), and the regulatory framework we rely on like meat inspection. That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure readers can add their own lists of potential victims of the upcoming federal cuts.

Secretly, I suspect old Stock and the boys are relishing the thought of the havoc they will wreak on Canadians when he starts waving his axe around. They probably figure having a huge deficit is worth it for the fun they will have decimating all the services and programs they hate anyway with the deficit as their ready made excuse.

And just what did they do with all that stimulus program money? Will we ever get to find out if we got what we are about to start paying for, for years to come?

More reflections on the protest

This protest will be the subject of many post-mortems. But as far as I am concerned it was a huge success in one thing - the apathetic body of Candians twitched. And even more importantly the arcane topic of the Canadian Constitution is being examined. Who is supreme Parliament or the Ruling Party? This document tracks the number of people who attended the Country-wide ralllies. The numbers are not important because the very action was. Political scientists and management consultants will tell you that a letter to the editor/Council represents 50 like minded people an appearance and personal statement is good for 500. What does the act of 25,000 determined people fighting freezing temps represent in the court of public opinion?

A very disturbing trend, and one that should come back to bite the Ruling party is the attitude embedded by the statements that Government is working well without Parliament. Both Jason Kenney, a public Minister, and the PM have said this in the last three days. Wow what strange statements! Does that mean that if this attitude is left unchecked then we will have Parliament doing nothing else other than ceremonial constitutional requirements? It also should be noted that constitutional requirements appear to be lacking these days, the request for proroguing parliament was in the form of a phone call, not a personal visit.

So, Get back to work and make the Constitution work the silent majority has demanded it.

BTW scan this video for any political hacks, few seen just ordinary folks who braved the cold.

Oooops, couldn't resist this one

A report on the NorthumberlandToday's online edition about the local libs AGM had this picture and a caption. Pity the paper mixed up candidates and parties. I know Stan Grizzle used to be a Liberal, and an NDPer but is now the Green party candidate. But I hope Kim Rudd doesn't get ribbed about this too much today, might take away the impact of her speech today.

This just in from the Cobourg Rally

Deb O'Connor
Anti Proroguement Rally Rocks Downtown Cobourg

Today's rally, held in front of a locked door at MP Rick Norlock's Cobourg constituency office, was an unqualified success, as up to 150 people of all ages, shapes and sizes joined together to express their displeasure at the prorogation of Parliament by Stephen Harper's government. With so many there, at some points the roadway was impassable for cars.

The event, loosely organized by our local Council of Canadians president Elma Parker and Port Hope lawyer Wilf Day, kicked off with the crowd singing O Canada. Although this wasn't a partisan event, candidates for the liberals, NDP and Green Party had a chance to say their piece, all of them in agreement that Harper and his gang have flaunted their contempt for Canadians with this second self serving and dishonest prorogation and need to get back to work now.

While speakers raised several issues that generated their anger towards this government's arrogant leadership, two that resonated were the shutting down of the enquiry into Afghan prisoner abuse and the government's contempt of Parliament in refusing to hand over documents to that enquiry as directed by Parliament.

While some brought home made signs saying "Prorogue Harper" and "Get Back to Work", many more echoed these sentiments by chanting them in the crowd. One person could be heard shouting "Coalition" with murmurs of agreement coming from some of the assembled.
The mood was upbeat and positive despite the frigid temperature and clouds, with many expressing gratitude and pleasure that so many of us had come out to deliver the anti-proroguement message to our MP's darkened door.

Closing with a rather more energized rendition of O Canada, the skies cleared as many of the participants jumped into various vehicles to join the Peterborough rally

Overall, despite feeling some vindication and joy about the large size of the crowd, it is safe to say people are angry, very angry, at this government and it's sleazy dishonesty. If the rallies elsewhere are as successful as Cobourg's was today, it will be hard for Harper to continue telling us we don't care. Believe all of us today, we care very much, and intend to make sure Harper starts listening to us or he will pay the ultimate price for a politician, banishment from power.


Thanks Deb, I had to work. But if this is the norm Harper and Norlock and the Ruling party will be hard put to ignore it as "just the usual troublemakers"

Making no apologies here for the repost

A couple of blogs, and the Liberal party no doubt, have published this YouTube clip of Bob Rae singing a parody about Prorogation. Reading between the lines a tweet from Senator Smith signalled the fact that BR was going to sing; and he did. I just wish that if the event was planned the camera sightlines could have been planned more efficiently.

A philosophical difference?

Acivism or slacktivism is the phrase used in an opinion piece in the NNews here . Isn't it interesting that we have the supporters of the Ruling Party slagging the Facebook groups for not being inovolved, in a real sense, and now we also have a word coined to describe the action - slacktivism. The use of Social Media and web 2.0 has been a great part of the discussions in my circle, can the web make a difference in people's lives, does the web encourage or discourage social interaction? Can we get the basement dwellers away from their computers and into face to face conversations? The answer is obviously Yes. The Northumberland "tweat-ups" are coming together on a regular basis and the attendance is growing. I am sure that all types of people meet there and the Dairy Queen certainly wasn't like an episode of the "Big Bang Theory". The facebook group, opposing prorogation now has over 200,000 members and as the sceptics will point out not many of those will attend the upcoming demos. But that's not the point. All parties who depend on votes should be soiling their drawers at this point because if over 200,000 people, who would not normally be drawn to political activity can come together so quickly just think what might happen when you don't even have to leave the basement to vote.

Slacktivism is not Slacktivism

A postscript
Just found this piece by Shilo Davis, an organisor of the facebook writing about the impact of Facebook on modern politics - very insightful.

It does not pay to be a waffler

President Obama has learnt the hard way just how painful it is to be a conciliator in politics. He wakes up today to find his health-care policy in tatters. A Senatorial election, in Massachusets, held to replace Ted Kennedy has elected a Republican. How did this happen in a State with 63% of its registered voters Democrats? Easy Obama, has waffled and pandered to anybody who can be bought and has also has no fixed policy positions. Whilst almost threequarters of Americans favoured the "public option" in his health care bill he nixed it. When his major backers wanted to carry out the campaign promise of labour reform he nixed it. Just what does this guy stand for? he can't even close Guantanamo Bay on time.
The only people pleased about this election win are the Republicans and the Progressives. That should tell him something - when he only has the mushy-middle (and they change positions a lot) he is in real trouble. Just remember the BurdReport warned you about this guy!

Rocks and Senses a new contemplative park area?

The wind was taken out of the sails of the supporters of the status quo in Victoria Park last night by a pre-emptive strike in the form of a $20,000 makeover of picnic area A, the East end of the park.
This area of the park is a source of woe to the residents of the area as it is perceived to be overcrowded and overused. Tales of picnic tables being earmarked at 7am, large tents being erected for shade and general complaints of noise and cooking smells were also raised. Well, Council has decided to try to and shut the residents up by effectively banning all people from the picnic area by converting the area to a passive park filled with "low-maintenance bushes and shrubs". Town staff quoted the move "as a completion of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan". This is untrue as the Plan's landscaping plan shows nothing of the sort of radical gardening that will take place. Even the workplan is silent on this move. However CAO, Stephen Peacock, when questioned about the change in plan and policy said, "Although the plan may not show the changes Council has the power to implement changes to it"
The end result is that the Town has shifted picnic patterns from the East end to the hitherto underutilised West side of the park. But in adopting other changes, that of chaining down picnic tables and only allowing two tables to be coupled together and forcing large groups to apply for "picnic permits" in order to book tables, both enforcement nightmares and cultural clashes are inevitable.
But will the residents, and obviously Council, be happy with the proposed changes. One resident, Bill Thompson of Church St, (seen in pic) wasn't as he questioned the Deputy Chief of police about the "No tolerance" policy that will adopted in the area of parking and other violations in the area. He was not mollified by the official answers and remained sceptical and agreed to pursue his claims of the police not being responsive last year. Other taxpayers questioned the definition of "groups" and wondered how large families will fit into this grouping. Deb O'Connor whilst telling Council that they should be spending more on garbage containers worried about the "over-regulation" of the park by the institution of so many rules. "Let's not forget that people go to the park to have fun!"
Another debate sprung up about the definition and use of "shelters". These shade creating devices will be permitted only if they are not sealed devices, for as the law-enforcement people put it, "We must be able to have a clear line of sight in the area, for emergency situations." and also "to stop the hiding of alcohol and small children."
All in all Council and staff will now be able to claim that they have started on a process of managing the area, whether they will be successful is debatable and yet to be proved but the shifting of picnickers away from the East of the park to the West of park and instituting restrictive picnic table rules is a dubious piece of social engineering designed to keep the Bay St residents happy. But as the parking rules on Paul Currelly Way haven't changed much there will still be traffic problems. And as we have seen in the past because towing and ticketing rules can be applied arbitrarily and subject to political pressure, a consistent policy may be hard to apply.
What was not mentioned was the impact of large festivals on the recreational choices for Cobourg. For as we know when the Waterfront festival and to a smaller extent RibFest come to Town without the East end of the park being available we now have handed over the park to non-picnickers; is this fair and how will the Town handle it?

The first of many speculations

A deep throaty kind of guy phoned me last night to explain some recent moves in Port Hope. The political front is now in the jockeying stage, everyone trying to line up at the start line for November's municipal election. Anyway the key to the conspiracy theory is Linda Thompson, the current Mayor. She has announced that she will run but the gnashing of teeth and the blowing of brains swirls around the position of Deputy Mayor. In Port Hope, unlike other Towns the position is declared after the election by a vote of sitting Councillors. The current line up for the position depends on the re-election of former mayor - Rick Austin - to the Council. Rick who is feeling some financial pain after bailing out his disgraced son, now slugs bread at the No-Frills store in Cobourg. His long expected appointment to the local JP's job evaporated at his son's trial. Now he wants back in, even if only for some spending money. If he gets back in LT will be pushing for her old buddie, RA, to be DM. The conspiracy gets deeper as LT's other big buddy - Rick Norlock - will be placing her in the PC candidates slot, he controls the local executive board, in the next provincial election. If she wins, good ole boy Rick returns as Mayor. In the meantime we have the sight of Jeff "I want my own police dept" Lees frothing at the mouth at the prospect of RA coming back on Council and taking his beloved DM's job. This is driving him to find political allies very quickly. And at the same time we have former Councillor and perennial candidate John Floyd asking all his buds in his facebook page, "How about John Floyd for Mayor?"

Now if only Cobourg could be so hot and heavy.

Oooops

Just mistakenly rejected todays comments, clicked to reject one and all were tagged. So please resubmit, if you can. The important one was a reminder about the Meeting at Town Hall about the beach and its use in the summertime - tomorrow at five pm

Is Area "C" dead?

Area "C" is the land to the east of Town from Brook Rd to Workman Rd which has been part of Cobourg's modern expansion plans. The Secondary Plan that outlines this expansion calls for 16,000 people to live in the area and would effectively double the size of the Town if implemented.

In a motion before Council tomorrow evening the Council will adopt a recommendation from the Planning Advisory Committee to adopt the the County's Growth Management Study - "Places to Grow". This report recommends that Cobourg only expand by 3400 people, 1100 jobs and use 88 hectares of greenfields in the next thirty years. Despite the impediments of expansion - a servicing cost of $7.1 million, that will be paid by developers, and the slow growth of the Town a couple of developers are still trying to make it work. The land on the North side of King is owned by Schickendanz, a local builder of homes and other development lots are being held by speculators. Even the latest approved subdivisions in the North end of the area are rumoured to be for sale at any time. So now the developers have doubts about expansion. With the PAC's motion, which will be incorporated into the new Official Plan perhaps sane taxpayers can at last put the boots to this meglomaniacal plan. The cost of maintenance for the new area, if it was ever built would bankrupt us.

Haiti

OK it's been three days now and when is the water going to get to the masses? With all of the media and the high priced planning available why have we not seen pics of water distribution? People will die if not watered within three days, so where is it?

Reports of aid blockages at the airport and harbour do not feed one person. Where is the actual relief on the ground? Why haven't we used helicopters to drop aid into inaccessible areas. If we can get tons of stuff with congested air traffic to sit at the airport, why can't we get choppers into the area. As an armchair quarterback it seems pretty easy to me - fly a couple of squadrons from the US, island hop and get them in there.

Just a couple of thoughts from a frustrated person fedup with the media pumping out pics of the dead and dying. And just to add fuel to the fire and add a bit of politics how come there are unsubstantiated reports of SAR techs being bumped off the first plane out of Trenton to make space for journos?

Taking to the streets

Local activists have mobilised. In an email received today, which states:

Some of us are planning a quick rally in front of Rick Norlock's office Jan. 23, and those who wish will then car-pool to Peterborough for their rally. Since it's at 1:00PM, I guess we'll leave at 12:10, and gather around 11:45.

An open invitation has been extended to all. Please address all enquiries to Wilf Day And as well as the ruling party facing opposition the Facebook group Canadians against proroguing Parliament has now grown to 185,156. Not quite an Iranian revolution yet but respectable.

Update - Saturday 16th, it now seems that the Greens are being mobilised as well, to join the demo at Norlock's office. Party members received an email from the local green to join those already committed. Good for them but sadly will only make the first commenter in a previous thread happy to see one of his two observations come true:

John Draper said...
How many of the protestors will be die-hard NDP and Liberal supporters who would never vote conservative anyway? My informal survey says that most people simply don't care.

It appears that plenty of people care 195,124 people have joined the Facebook protest already!

Is the County going to buff up Hector McMillan?

Will the move to hire a project manager for the 2nd bridge project in C'ford help Hector McMillan in his reelection and if it does why should the rest of the County have to pay for it? Mayor Hec' admits that the proposal to fix the bridge has run into difficulties. He says that the steering committee is not informed, the residents are not informed and the whole project needs better management. Wasn't this project being noisily touted by King Hec' as the only thing to do when he wanted to bulldoze several houses and build a new road to service the bridge? Didn't the Council vote for Hec's project? So who mismanaged it - yep you guessed King Hec'.
But the County rides to the rescue. In a closed meeting, which could be called illegal by some, the County suddenly agreed to hire a project manager to supervise communications and coordinate the engineering studies fore the project. Now who will claim the credit, especailly in an election year when his one opponent to date, an experienced politician moving from Port Hope to C'ford - Bob Fudge - says the bridge will be a campaign issue.
Hey I don't mind Hec' playing politics but when Cobourg's taxpayers will be paying 23% of the PM's wages it's a bit too much.

A couple of questions

As we get into the nuts and bolts of the Community Centre design/build a couple of questions pop up for me. One is the amount of time that the high-priced consultant will spending on the job. His CV, if I remember, gives his full time occupation as a position at Queens University and Partner in the Fundraising Company. That means he really will not be available to give good effort until school is out in April. The other is the methodolgy being adopted here. According to the timeline reported by NNews "The campaign plan breaks down into four phases and Phase 1 has just begun, inviting major donors to donate over $100,000. After May, those who want to donate $50,000 or more will be invited to give. In September, the committee will be looking for donors at the $10,000 level, before opening up the campaign to everyone in the community. Phase 4 begins in April, 2011, and that will be when the campaign ends and volunteers focus on collecting the donations and getting the facility built on time."
So a list has been made up and mailed to all potential donors assessed by the committee as being able to donate $100,000. Lots of luck on that one, can anyone think ofhand just how many companies/businesses/individuals are willing to pony up a 100K? Then anybody approached after May will be thinking "gee you guys think that I am only worth 50K, I'll just keep that extra back in my pocket" A peculiar concept - 'means testing' in reverse! So if at the end of the year you get an invite for money just remember the committee is only doing it because they think you have less money than the people being asked earlier in the year. A very dangerous way of raising money. If the committee thinks you have money you will be asked and if they don't know or just guess wrongly then you will probably be asked as an afterthought.

A guest post

Grahame Woods

If you shop at Cobourg’s Metro supermarket, you might have noticed how little the management of the store cares for the well-being of its staff. You might recall how, under its previous A&P ownership, the store had an enormous, expensive, and ill-conceived facelift, with no consideration given to the cashiers and staff working at the service desk adjacent to the exit at the west end of the building. Now, in the throes of a bitter winter, those employees, bundled up and chilled to the core, have to withstand the biting winds each time a customer leaves the store. In the redesign no thought was given to this concern. All management has to do is look at the Staples store to the east to see how to fix the problem. One cashier told me she’s afraid to complain out of fear of losing her job. This in Cobourg in 2010? It’s shameful.

Another prorogue mention

Pundits are divided about the internet movement concerning the proroguing of Parliament. There is a group called "Canadians against proroguing of Parliament". This group started off as two and then merged. The online membership, as of now - 7.41am Tuesday - is 165,283. This number has now surpassed the number of Canadians who signed up online to demonstrate against the Coalition, last year. Opinion is mixed about the efficacy and influence of this group. A better demonstration will be the rallies planned for January 23rd. There are rallies planned for Peterborough, Belleville and Oshawa. Check out the details here. The Peterborough details are here, this group has 144 members already.

Now you know where to vent you should be there, a gathering of people is far more impressive than just writing letters to the ed!

Back to the Prorogue

On December 31st I sent the following email to our esteemed MP RN.

"Mr Norlock
I note with dismay that your back to work date has moved from Jan 25 to march 3rd. Could you please explain just what you will be doing in that time to advance your constituents concerns?
yours sincerely.
Ben Burd "

In a two page letter from an untitled person who signed himself, on behalf of RN MP, dated Jan 7th I was informed of all the good things that the Ruling Party has done for us. Not one answer to the question posed. Today on "Cramahe Now" Bob Owen has published a "presser from the said MP RN which lays out the schedule for public consultations. here it is:

Public meetings will take place on:

January 16th, 2010
10:00am-11:30am
The Oddfellows Hall, 243 Victoria St. Campbellford On.

1:00pm-2:30pm
The Multipurpose Room City Hall Quinte West, 7 Creswell Drive

January 20th, 2010
4:00pm-6:00pm
Rick Norlock’s Office, 277 Division St. Cobourg On.

The Federal Government will be seeking responses from Canadians on a number of questions, including:

1. Are there measures in the Economic Action Plan that should be revised? Measures that should be extended? Measures that should be ended prior to their planned retirement date? Are there areas where funding should be shifted to meet changed priorities?

2. Our government has outlined a plan to eliminate the deficit as the economy stabilizes, without drastic spending cuts or increases to taxes. If warranted, we will slow the growth of direct program spending in future years to ensure balanced budgets. In what areas should we focus spending growth restraint?

3. To what extent has Canada's Economic Action Plan been effective in stimulating activity in their industry, sector or community?

4. What suggestions do they have for improving the effectiveness of the Government's stimulus measures or the speed of their delivery?

5. What steps should the Government take to improve the competitiveness of the Canadian economy and ensure that Canada continues to attract investment and create jobs once the recovery is achieved and the Economic Action Plan is wound down?

Note that the meeting in Cobourg will take place at his office, which is only big enough to hold a meeting for less than a dozen. Also note that he is seeking answers to questions, nothing about receiving suggestions or opinions from constituents. So now the challenge is up to you, the angry people. Go and see Mr Norlock at these places. and if the locations are not large enough to hold the number of people who wish to speak to him, force him to change locations. But do so at your peril any sign of organisation will be decried as "political activity sponsored by .... insert name of hated organisation here...."

I think this is funny, does that say something about me?

Southampton man cut free after getting privates stuck in steel pipe (From Daily Echo)

'Day-to-day' issues covered in closed session, Macmillan says - Northumberland Today - Ontario, CA

'Day-to-day' issues covered in closed session, Macmillan says - Northumberland Today - Somebody should inform King Hec that "day to day" issues are not proper for an in-camera session. Never mind that the resolution to pass the consensus was held in open session the topic being discussed, the 2nd bridge in C'ford, should have been in open session and with adequate notice to the affected taxpayers. The Chair Warden Peter Delanty should have known better!

I couldn't resist this

This story explains that our esteemed MP Rick Norlock is going to setup Town Hall meetings for the Parliament hiatus, just so that he can demonstrate he is working, not goofing off, when Parliament is not sitting. He intends to hold "Town Hall" meetings so that he can hear from his constituents. He wants to hear what they think about the economy, pension reform and anything else that might be on their minds.

Wow what an opportunity, let's see all the angry people, you know the ones that signed up for facebook sites objecting to the proroguation, get out and tell Mr Norlock just what they think. At the least the nominated candidates should be present to tell him what they think should be done in this period of minority parliament. Even the donut shop yackers with an opinion should put their money where their mouths are - so all you opinionated folks line up at the mics and tell Mr Norlock just what is on your mind.

One item from the COW meeting on Monday

There will be a motion to buy three acres of land from the landowner at the Kraft lands for the building of "the Kerr St extension" at Monday's Committee of the Whole meeting. This is a road that will eventually bisect the Town in an East-West direction and relieve traffic pressure on University Ave. It is also another bag of public money being handed over to the developer. He really is making out like a bandit on this deal! The way the report is written leads one to believe that perhaps the Town may be paying too much.

This road plan has been in the works for many years and is outlined on many Official Plans and if it is in private hands, as opposed to just being an easement on title of the Kraft deed, the land is totally useless to the owner because the Town has earmarked it for a road. The price being paid by the Town is $40,000 per acre, not bad for useless land but a little high for a road. Especially when the building of the road brings many benefits to the landowner abutting the road. The Development Charges schedule quotes the cost of the road, from William to Division, as $3,796,700 (2006 figures) the benefit to existing taxpayers is $1,852,200 a 48% - 52% split. The land in question is one third of that project

If the Kraft lands abut the road the benefit to the landowner will be immense, a guaranteed entrance to his land from a separate road, no congestion at the main gate anymore and the opportunity to open up the Northern section of his land. In this light is the rate of $40,000 an acre fair to the taxpayer when given the circumstances an argument could be made for the land to be given to the Town for increasing the value of the Kraft land?

Just a question from an overloaded taxpayer!

Hate to do this but I'm off again

yep Mexico this time, just a quick cheap flight and then a stay downtown in a boutique hotel. Won't be posting as much as I did last time but maybe some. See yah on the 12th