Climate What ?

I’ve had it with climate change, and so have the birds, as far as I can tell. The long cold winter period of 08/09 has frayed my nerve endings, and this spring period would benefit only Polar bears, to my way of thinking!
It’s the first time the Sears Fall & Winter catalogue is in sync with the season. Now, just that fact should have tipped me off . I can’t recount any normal, bright, spring-like days - except days when I had a medical appointment. The days are longer, but you can’t sit out at night to enjoy them without a Buffalo robe. I’ve put in my bedding plants between frost, showers, and strong wind gusts. The plants are screaming “Take us back to the greenhouse,” and I can hardly blame them. They fear the frost warnings as I do! If this continues, I’ll be looking for a Clinic that can inject me with some Inuit genes, so I can survive the upcoming summer.
Yes, I know Calgary was blanketed with snow and freezing temperatures, but I have no empathy to spare for other regions of Canada at this moment. We're all in this together.
Last Friday I volunteered at the local Threshermen’s Heritage Day, only to be awakened by the furnace fan kicking in. Looking out, I viewed kids and adults wearing winter garb ... (probably from Sears).
Here we are, with the year almost half over, and no B.T.U. to be had anywhere. It has affected and delayed local seeding, bedding plant operators, golf courses, garage sales and the like. I’m not totally ungrateful for residing in this country, because in the BIG scheme of things, this is merely a speck of sand in the ocean of issues.
I just realize that I don’t have the patience of Job.

"Mikhail Lennikov

“I have a simple, straight forward, democratic solution regarding the “Mikhail Lennikov” issue. We Canadians like to consider ourselves a fair minded people, and in that light, I propose we have a VOTE on this matter as to whom we would prefer to have as a true Canadian citizen, and who to drop from the following group of 4.

1. Steven Harper - Prime Minister

2. Janson Kenny - Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

3. Peter van Loan - Minister of Public Safety

4. Mikhail Lennikov - landed immigrant

In the spirit of the Reform/Conserative movement, I feel this is a fair and equitable solution that a public vote could determine. Along with the cold weather in many parts of the West, it seems Mr Harper also wishes to resurrect the Cold War of yesteryear with Russia. His two cabinet ministers, ages 41 and 46, would only have experienced cold Cokes during this period. Slim on cold war events but adept at attack ads and U.S.S.R. tactics borrowed from the 20th century, they forge blindly on. So it is up to the remainder of us who felt the effect of the Cold War period to sort this matter out for these young bumpkins. Mr. Kenny has to stop hiding behind the Court order he can sidestep, and Mr Harper must cease and desist using K.G.B. tactics to discredit Michael Ignatieff, just because his parents were Russian immigrants.

Cast your ballots, folks!

The Lois Club!

When you look around, how many people do you see? Okay then, how many gals do you see? Now, discreetly call out the name “Lois”. Any response? Probably not, because the use of the name Lois has been declining over the decades since the 1930’s. Today’s crop of baby girls tend to get names like Destiny, Trinity, Harmony, and Summer. But that doesn’t mean the “Loises” of the world are taking this lying down.
No sireee! They have formed "Lois Clubs" across the globe, have their own logo, and are having the time of their lives. This club is made up of a group of women with a name-in-common, who meet four to five times a year for lunch. Most of the Loises are at an age where they no longer want to bake cookies for sales or become active in social issues. They just want to meet for lunch with other women named Lois, because as they say "I never met a Lois I didn't like."
They enjoy the company of other women who also are named Lois. They have suffered from the harassment of nicknames, and the misspelling (Louis, Louise, or Lewis) of their simple four-letter name.
The magic of this concept is evident in the growth of the loose knit organization. The first Lois Club started in Minneapolis in 1979, when a woman named Lois met with an insurance agent who was also named Lois. Each Lois had a friend named Lois, and the "Lois Club" was born, just because they thought it would be fun.
An alert local “Lois” dad, listening to the Peter Gzowski show on CBC radio in 1997, where the Lois Club concept was being featured, took down some details, and turned the information over to his daughter Lois. At that time, Lois Dudgeon was working for the 1999 Winnipeg Pan -Am Games and met a Lois Howard there. From this encounter, the Manitoba version of the Lois Club was launched, with Lois Dudgeon and Lois Howard, both of Winnipeg, as the co- founders.
On May the 9th, 1998 at the Charterhouse Hotel in Winnipeg, now the “Home of the Lois Lunch”. the first gathering of Manitoba Loises occurred. Of the 90 initially invited, 36 attended this first annual lunch.
Subsequent lunches that draw around 40 Loises, are now held every April. From a membership of 275 in Manitoba, they come from as far away as Snow Lake and The Pas. Each lunch has its own theme - ranging from fashions, to bring a friend, to shopping. The Loises range in age from 7 to 90, and all are welcome. They were in the 2005 Corn & Apple parade, in 2007 they scooted out to Grosse Isle, and in 2008 gathered at Roland for additional outings. They model and wear blue “Lois” T - shirts at their functions. At these events they socialize, catch up on each other's lives, and form friendships with new members. The Manitoba gals have an honorary “Lois” named Brenda Horton, who produces “Lois’ brand spices & mustards under the Lois Fine Food Brand.
So there you have it, a group that still likes to have fun! How did I stumble upon this information? Well, it just happens that my niece “Lois”, is co-founder of the Manitoba Branch.
(And don't forget the most famous “Lois” of all, “Lois Lane” of Superman fame!)
Loises are nice people to know.
Now, if you are a "Lois", or know a Lois, then call Lois @ (204) 822-6207.

Click here>>>>http://loisclubs.com/pub/history.html

Canadian

It may not rank up there with the Battle of Waterloo, the sinking of the Titanic, or Custer’s Last Stand, but it will rank high among the Canadian Curling establishment and its fans for a long time to come.

That would be none other than Kevin Martin’s loss to the Scots in the 2009 Ford World Curling Championship at Moncton. How could all these talented Canadian teams, the men’s, ladies, and juniors all go down in the same year? Kevin Martin, the unbeatable juggernaut, Jennifer Jones, the comeback gal - but it was not to be. Any money on Martin seemed 100% safer than the stock market, but as baseball great Yogi Berra once said “It ain't over 'til it's over.”

Such was the case in the 10th end of the Canada vs Scotland game. They took as much time as committee members to discussing their options, and then, like a committee, Martin ditched his 1st rock, and stunned the nation. Then came up short on his last rock while his entire team curled 5% better throughout the game. Curling country at that moment was blown away, if not a little angry.

But fear not, my sidekick Terry, and I have a solution to this dilemma.

A few changes will be required at the Canadian Curling Association level, but we don’t see that as an issue. It could be done by bringing in a few T.V. game show features. Using the lifeline strategies of “Who wants to become a Millionaire” we would offer 3 lifeline options:

1. The 50-50 option, whereby 2 rocks that are in play from each team could be removed, causing less consternation for all.

2. The audience result screen would indicate their preference for: a draw, take out, bum up, or guard. This would help in clearing out the cobwebs in the skip’s mind.

3. Call a curling buddy (one with a Blackberry), so he/she can size up your dilemma on their tiny screen, and then advise you where the closest Liquor Mart is should you blow your shot.

Does it have possibilities? You bet!

Because these options would surely favour Canadians, we could once again dominate the World Curling scene.

GOUGING

There are more symptoms to this economic turndown than mosquitoes on a good Manitoba summer day. All the theories of the economic gurus, pundits, brokers, and panhandlers are being shot to pieces like so many clay pigeons at a skeet shoot. Well, just pick a theory, any theory, and you will surely have uncovered another symptom of the current economic quandary. I say quandary as it is defined as: “a state of uncertainty or indecision as to what to do in a difficult situation.” Wonderful!
The big words being used now are "bailout" and "stimulus". I think this was so brilliantly explained in our previous e-mail article of Feb 23 /09.
My spin on all of this has to do with “gouging” and its multiple meanings, such as skimming, scalping, pilfering, inflating, and ripping off, of the general public and each other in all manner of forms.
Let’s begin with entertainment and sports ticket purchases from Ticket Master. These are redirected from the main Ticketmaster site to a subsidiary that charges more. Most jurisdictions do not allow the sale of tickets for more than their face value (dreadful). Then you have the various agents of the Lottery Commissions across Canada thinking they have more entitlement to winning lottery tickets than you do. They are employing all sorts of schemes telling you that you didn’t win anything, and are cashing in your winnings. (dreadful). Then you have badly managed muli-billion dollar sports franchises that have owners/managers that must have all been auctioneers in a former lifetime, the way they outbid each other for players. Baseball’s Rodriguez and the Yankees agreed to a 10 year, $275 million contract. This contract is the richest contract in baseball history. Okay, so this is in the good old U.S.A , but you get the picture. That’s probably equal to the G.N.P. of Vatican City (dreadful). Back to basics and your average home buyer, if there is such an animal anymore. All housing prices literally went through the roof because buyers didn’t know a fixer upper from India’s Taj Mahal. They threw money at realtors like it was wedding confetti, and the realtors treated it in the same way, brushed it off and looked for the next naïve victim. Thus realtors, mortgage lenders, and insurance companies benefited big time, when caution was deleted like a virus from the English language and dictionary, along with prudent business acumen. (dreadful). Then you have that other North American favourite the “Oil companies” whose explanations defy 99.9% of the rest of the world’s logic on petrol pricing. Filling our gas tanks over the last few years, gives us first hand exposure to their scheming methods. They operate as State/Nations unto themselves and have the ability to cripple any country or the World at their pleasure. They were well on their way prior to the 2008 fall economic collapse. With their steadily increasing gas prices, they brought the entire economy to a dead halt on their own, without any help from any other economic engines (dreadful). Then we have the high roller investment sellers and brokers whose only vested interest, it seems is their commissions. It doesn’t really matter what is sold, as long as it pays a commission. It can be anything from junk bonds and stock, to off shore crap shoots, not to mention the pyramid investment operators (dreadful). We need go no further than our own community, Morden, for this phenomenon. When the pipe liners arrived, all matter of goods, services, and accommodation suddenly became dearer. Current tenants were tossed out of their rooms and suites, for the higher paying pipe liners.(dreadful). We are all, to varying degrees, guilty of this gouging virus, and there seems to be no solution. Does it sound like I’m on a rant? Indeed I am. Let’s hope we see our way through this man- made mess.

A public open letter to:

Mr Doug Wurch

Director, MTS/Allstream Retail Planning & Development.

Why do you continue to hit on, and harass, the five to six hundred customers in the Morden area who, do not wish or intend to pay your silly punitive $1.50 service charge? Are you not receiving full payment from them now? Has your Buffalo public relations section run roughshod over the entire MTS/Allstream operation? You would think by now, you would have come to realize it has been nothing but a total failure. Banks also have service charges, but we have the option of using alternative banks. No such luck with land based phone service in this area. You snuffed that out by buying up Valley Cable. Sending out monthly harassment notices to customers, at approximately $300.00 a month to recover $900.00 worth of illegitimate service charges, would seem absurd to a majority of business service providers. What do you hope to gain by employing these draconian tactics?

950 on your dial

With the passing of American icon (?) Paul Harvey, I thought it timely to suggest that perhaps now would be the time to have a Canadian commentator and observer be a part of Southern Manitoba’s airwaves. In this regard, I contacted Golden West Broadcasting, as they had aired Harvey’s news comments and The Rest of the Story on CFAM 950.
With approximately eight hours of the day devoted to eight American show hosts and pastors, I felt this was not an unreasonable stance to take. Mr. Elmer Hildebrand, C.E.O. of Golden West responded to my e-mail, and indicated that their focus is on local news with an experienced news staff.
Fair enough, but what does this have to do with attempting to showcase Canadian commentators, with their observations and insights? Mr. Hildebrand’s response was, “ On the national scene in Canada we have not been able to find anyone with the standing of a Paul Harvey...even though we have been looking for one for decades”. Pretty feeble effort on your part I’d say. We have local talent, but no national talent? That type of pontificating is more than the average intelligent Canadian mind can comprehend. Good Day!