Something is stinky 'round here

You have to wonder if we got our money’s worth. It cost more than $14million to find out that Brian Mulroney apparently fudged the facts a little about getting money from a German operative by the name of Karlheinz Schreiber. In the report released today, the Commissioner (whose name quickly will be forgotten) said that the 1993 and 1994 cash dealings between the former first minister and Schreiber were “inappropriate.” No surprise there! He also found that Mulroney’s failure to disclose those business and financial dealings was inappropriate. Simply put, Mulroney, in his business and financial dealings with Schreiber, failed to live up to the standard of conduct that he had himself adopted in the 1985 Ethics Code.” If there is anyone in this country surprised by those results, chances are they are a die-hard Mulroney fan or exceptionally naïve. The only question for me is why did we have to endure a $14million circus to learn something we already knew? If you chose the answer “because Stephen Harper wanted to distant himself from Mulroney even further,” you win the prize. It will be delivered in plain brown envelopes in a fast food restaurant somewhere in downtown Canada where there are no surveillance cameras!

Danny Williams — Master of his own Destiny

Taking a few days off to go visit friends and family and not lugging the laptop with me meant that I missed a few things, including this interview in the National Post with Danny Millions. It was in the weekend edition a week ago, but is still a good read about Canada’s most popular politician. Read on me hearties! :-)

Economic climate depression ...

As if the weather in St. John’s isn’t depressing enough these days, comes the news that the federal government is going to spend a BILLION dollars on security for the G20 leaders’ meeting in Toronto coming up in a couple of weeks. I realize there are many important issues for these leaders to discuss, but a BILLION dollars???? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy an island somewhere (preferably in the Arctic), equip it with NORAD-like defense systems and use that as a permanent meeting ground for the leaders? Once you made the investment in infrastructure, then you wouldn’t have to go around building all these fences. If you were smart, you could get someone like the Swiss Guard to police the place and your problems would be solved. Except of course for the idiots … those who like to spray paint things and destroy things, all in the name of being able to have freedom of speech. Glad to hear that the Toronto police made an arrest in connection with the vandalism there of bank properties earlier this week. If he’s convicted, he should be forced to clean up the property and bring it back to its original state and then he should be forced to clean some of the streets in the city, all the while wearing a large ball & chain … and then, he should go to jail … the right and fitting home for anarchists who believe violence is an answer.

Matthew Osmond strikes again

I know there’s a lot of excitement around the Republic of Doyle and Mary Walsh’s new movie, but there’s a young video producer in St. John’s who deserves as much attention as the more seasoned performers. His name is Matthew Osmond and he’s a member of the Salvation Army. From what I can tell, he’s also the originator of SATV, the Salvation Army’s TV Channel on YouTube. I first heard of Matthew via John Gushue’s blog Dot Dot Dot . He produced “Sally Back”, a parody of Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake and so far it’s had about twelve thousand views … nothing compared to some of the so-called viral vids, but for a kid from St. John’s working with a Mac computer, I think he’s done pretty well. It got him an interview on CBC and mention in a few blogs, including this one. Now, he’s produced a promo video for an upcoming Salvation Army conference in St. John’s. Matthew says, "This video gives a glimpse of St. John's and the 6 Corps in the immediate area as promotion for the Salvation Army's Atlantic Congress and Commissioning held in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada on June 18 to June 20, 2010." You can check it out by clicking here or scrolling down to the bottom of the screen where I’ve embedded it for your viewing pleasure. His marriage of music and image is extremely well done. I’m not a member of the Salvation Army (lest someone think I’m proselytizing) but I am a fan of this Osmond kid. I think he has enormous talent. More power to him.

If you don’t have anything to hide, then why are you sweating?

Everything I hear from friends is that while the Members of Parliament are saying they “feel” their spending should be open, most of them are saying “don’t let that woman near the books.” That woman, of course, is the federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser who wants to take a look at parliamentary spending including the way the MPs spend OUR MONEY. What does that tell you? They saw the audits conducted in Newfoundland Nova Scotia and are running scared. At least Stephen Harper is happy because it’s taking the focus off his mismanagement of government. Bottom line is the MPs don’t have the guts to let their spending of OUR MONEY be examined by the Auditor General and her staff because it would appear they’ve been playing in the pork barrel for a little too long. As public outrage builds, they soon won’t have a choice. My advice: jump rather than be pushed, because if you are pushed into it, then it’s going to leave a sour taste in the mouth of every voter with a memory come the next election. Surprisingly I haven’t heard a universal vote of approval for an audit from our Newfoundland & Labrador MPs … wonder what they’re hiding?

Here’s their contact information if you want to give them a word or two. Take a moment and e-mail or phone them and tell them to open up the books because it is OUR MONEY. Send them a copy of this blog if you want. Maybe that will help to sharpen their perspective which, at the moment, is seriously skewed.

Andrews, Scott, Avalon (Liberal)

Telephone: (613) 992-4133

Fax: (613) 992-7277

EMail: Andrews.S@parl.gc.ca

Web Site:* www.scottandrews.ca/

Byrne, Gerry, Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte (Liberal)

Telephone: (613) 996-5511

Fax: (613) 996-9632

EMail: Byrne.G@parl.gc.ca

Web Site:* www.gerrybyrne.ca/

Coady, Siobhan, St. John's South-Mount Pearl (Liberal)

Telephone: (613) 992-0927

Fax: (613) 995-7858

EMail: Coady.S@parl.gc.ca

Web Site:* www.siobhancoady.ca

Foote, Judy, Random-Burin-St. George's (Liberal)

Telephone: (613) 992-8655

Fax: (613) 992-5324

EMail: Foote.J@parl.gc.ca

Web Site:* www.judyfoote.ca/

Harris, Jack, St. John's East (New Democratic Party)

Telephone: (613) 996-7269

Fax: (613) 992-2178

EMail: Harris.J@parl.gc.ca

Russell, Todd, Labrador (Liberal)

Telephone: (613) 996-4630

Fax: (613) 996-7132

EMail: Russell.T@parl.gc.ca

Simms, Scott, Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor (Liberal)

Telephone: (613) 996-3935

Fax: (613) 996-7622

EMail: Simms.S@parl.gc.ca

Web Site:* www.scottsimms.com/

MEN ARE JUST HAPPIER PEOPLE ...

NICKNAMES:

• If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah.

• If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.

EATING OUT:

• When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.

• When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY:

• A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

• A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

BATHROOMS:

• A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel ..

• The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

ARGUMENTS:

• A woman has the last word in any argument.

• Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FUTURE:

• A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

• A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS:

• A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

• A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE:

• A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.

• A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP:

• A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.

• A man will dress up for weddings and funerals..

NATURAL:

• Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.

• Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING:

• Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

• A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

SO, send this to the women who have a sense of humor and who can handle it ... and to the men who will enjoy reading it.

Would it be different if Danny lived in Labrador?

I’ve been listening with interest to the debate over the air ambulance situation in Labrador. The Williams government announced the decision to move the air ambulance from its current base in St. Anthony to Goose Bay. The decision *apparently* was based on a report prepared by that-perennial hanger-on Wes Drodge back in March. (You can read the report by clicking here.)

There are three recommendations within the report connected to staffing:

**Recommendation # 2: There should be a second MFS Team stationed in Happy Valley Goose Bay to accompany the air ambulance aircraft to be located there.

**Recommendation # 3: The Aircraft Flight Crews and the MFS Teams must be sufficiently staffed to provide a 24/7 level of service.

**Recommendation # 4: There must be aircraft available to provide a 24/7 level of service.

Now I heard Jerome Kennedy in the news yesterday say that when a medevac is required, the plane will have to fly to St. John’s, pick up a medevac crew and then go back to get the patient. Quite frankly, that is the stupidest thing I have heard Kennedy say. I’m not sure what thinking is going on with the Minister of Health or his staff, but they need a serious kick in the rear. A medevac team requires some special skills, but nothing greater than an emergency room or ICU nurse. Throw in a physician for good measure and you have a flying ICU team.

This whole air ambulance mess needs to be cleaned up before someone else dies because of lousy service. I wonder what the situation would be like if Danny Williams was from Labrador?

Why should we believe her now?

Not sure about you, but I’ve had about enough of Helena Guergis and her money grubbing spouse. Lots of talk about last night’s EXCLUSIVE interview on the CBC where the teary-eyed Guergis said she had no idea of why she had been turfed from the Tory cabinet and the Tory caucus. There’s all sorts of speculation as to why Harper gave her the boot, but one thing I do know is that Harper, despite evidence to the contrary, is not stupid. You have to know that before he told his staff to get Helena on the blower, he knew what he was doing and why. For him to make an automatic referral to the Mounties also suggested that there is more here than meets the eye. Chances are the call was preceded by a pretty high level meeting in the PMO before the decision was made. The Harperites have insisted all along that the Conservative party lawyer fully briefed Guergis on the allegations. There is a feeling that neither Guergis nor her spouse have been completely upfront about what went on … if indeed that is the case why should we believe her now?

Happy Mother's Day!

The celebration of Mother’s Day dates back all the way to ancient times, but the idea of the celebration was first kicked around in 1872. Julia Ward Howe, author of the words to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” proposed Mother’s Day as a day dedicated to peace. Howe’s "Mother's Day Proclamation" written in 1870 was one of the early calls to celebrate Mother's Day in the United States. It was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War; it also was tied to Howe's feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.

Ann Jarvis of West Virginia also pushed for a national day to honour mothers. On the second anniversary of her mother’s death, Jarvis asked her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia, to celebrate a day to honour mothers. Her mother had died on the second Sunday in May. The church obliged and the following year, the city of Philadelphia joined in the celebration. Thanks to a campaign by Jarvis and her supporters, by 1911 almost every state in the USA celebrated Mother’s Day.

Other countries also celebrate Mother’s Day, but some on different days. In England, Mothering Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Years ago, when I was studying in Europe, a classmate and I discovered that folks in that country were going to celebrate Mother’s Day. We rushed to the card shop, got the cards, airmailed them back to Canada and telephoned (an expensive proposition) to cover the bases … only to discover Mother’s Day was a few weeks down the road back home.

Anyway, if you’re a mom on this day, Happy Mother’s Day!

What a wonderful blog world! :-)

In the words of a co-worker, this has been a ball-busting week which explains the lack of postings here. Just too wiped through most of the week to even contemplate sitting down and putting some words on paper (or whatever happens in this cyber world!) One thing my “absence” has made me aware of is that I haven’t been reading my fellow bloggers posts either. There is a treasure trove of content in the blogs which belong to the Newfoundland Labrador Blog Roll. I’ve complimented Stephen a few times for his work in bringing together so many diverse blogs but I continue to be amazed. Just scroll down to the list on the right and see the titles. Some of my favs include Charlie’s Hash where Charlie is taking on the question of how we fit into this reality; The Other Side of Sixty where the Wild Web Woman (I know it’s supposed to be *Wise*) is reflecting in verse on a mother long gone; Rant & Roar where John Meaney captures in cartoon some of the top stories of the day; Random Thoughts...From Clarenville where fiddle playing Lisa keeps us up to date on what’s going on in Clarenville and along the way provides a yummy recipe for banana muffins. There are so many others. All wonderful examples of creativity and commitment. It takes commitment on the part of all bloggers to put the words together – and I find I learn so much from reading these other blogs. To each and everyone of you, including the *Wild* Web Woman, I say thank you!

CEO salaries to drive health care in Ontario

The Ontario government has come up with a new idea in terms of hospital management.  Chief executive officers at Ontario hospitals will soon see their salaries tied to performance targets that are supposed to result in better outcomes for patients. The government says it will make health-care providers and executives accountable for improving patient care. The government says it will move to what it calls a patient-based payments system of hospital funding, based on the types and volumes of patients hospitals treat. There will also be new initiatives to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and re-admissions and the unnecessary use of diagnostic equipment. It sounds good but what happens if the pressure is put on medical staff to get patients out of the hospital faster than they do now because the CEO’s salary is on the line? Will it mean that sick people will be sent home sooner than they should be? And will it mean that physicians will be expected to reduce the number of tests they order to accommodate the CEO’s personal drive for more money? As we’ve seen with Eastern Health recently, there are serious management issues that go right to the top. Such a system here might only accentuate the lack of depth at the top levels of Eastern Health, including the CEO Vicki Kaminski. Here’s hoping that if such a system were introduced here, none of us would be forced out of the hospital so as to ensure the CEO got a bonus.

We deserve a break today!

So much gloom and doom in the news ... I thought today should be different ... so, a musical moment to brighten the clouds ... enjoy

Customer service in St. John’s sucks

I realize that’s a rather bold statement but it is my experience of retail service in the city. When I go into a retail establishment, I expect a decent level of service in return for my spending money there. When I am met with indifference, rudeness and, in many cases, a complete lack of knowledge of the product inventory, I have to wonder why many of these places stay open. There are exceptions but there are few of them in my experience. Much of it goes back to an earlier post I had here about the lack of engagement on the part of so many people today.  They lack fundamental social skills. A classic example for me a few days ago was the Subway sandwich store on Kelsey Drive. (Calling it a restaurant would be hyperbole) It was almost as if I had to try to keep the young man working behind the counter focused on what he was doing between him bantering with his female co-worker and watching cars in the parking lot; when he wrapped the sandwich and put it aside to return to other customers, I had to ask if I could pay for it NOW. Is there not an attempt on the part of management to train these people in even the most rudimentary customer service skills? I realize these minimum wage jobs are not the best in the world, but the employees fail to make the connection between my purchase and their salary. Often, those who expect tips fail to make the connection too. In my world, minimal service equals no tip. I doubt if they ever stop to consider why there was no tip … probably put it down to “cheap bastard”. If any retail business owners are reading this, take the time to teach your employees customer service; otherwise I simply won’t be back.  Oh yea, one other thing: teach them how to say THANK YOU.