Readers write -- Sorry Boss!

Hello, boss I cannot come in to work today. There was a moose born on my front lawn and the mom won't let me out of the house!!!!

Meaghers Grant is about 40 miles west of the Halifax

Baby Moose 12 Hours Old - Born in the middle of downtown Meaghers Grant, Nova Scotia.

The mother picked a small, quiet Neighborhood, and had her baby in a front yard just of John Grant Back Road, at 5:30 am.

What an awesome place we live in to see such a sight.

Makes it really tough to use your front door.

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Coldstream Technical Committee Meeting

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Selected articles -- Morning Star,February 14, 2010.

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I believe most of us know for whom we are working: our constituents.

It is us who receive complaints from the taxpayers when they are dissatisfied with service. It is our duty to address their concerns and rectify those concerns. Sometimes they do write to the Editor of this paper but most concerns come directly to us.

The facilitator's first report can be accessed here.

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Water Devolution -- Kate Bouey, SUN FM

The dispute over Greater Vernon Water devolution is back in the hands of the BC government, according to Mayor Wayne Lippert. This comes after an arbitrator's decision against Vernon's partial withdrawal from the system. Lippert says Vernon wanted a full withdrawal in the first place.

He says the city is now looking to Victoria to decide whether Vernon can fully withdrawal from the water management system. Lippert acknowledges this could be a slow process. He also points out that the regional district can now remove a big item $300,000from the 2010 budget.

Coldstream Councillor Pat Cochrane says it's a "victory for Coldstream.'' Cochrane hopes all sides will continue talks to work out their problems. Lippert says no group -- except Vernon -- has brought any solutions to the table.

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Interesting comments by Mayor Lippert. Mayor Garlick presented an excellent proposal on behalf of Coldstream but, I suppose, if one chooses to ignore that proposal than it is only Vernon that "has brought any solutions to the table".

Here is Vernon's proposed solution:

"Director Lippert advised that the City of Vernon had discussed the possibility of weighted participant voting on Greater Vernon Water matters as an alternative to water devolution. He further advised that the City wished to hear from other participants in the service before taking a position on the matter" (Minutes of the September 16th, 2009 NORD Meeting).

In other words, Vernon would have graciously agreed to discontinue the devolution process if they had full control of the utility. Obviously, the proposal was unacceptable to the rest of the participants.

It is my personal opinion that the Minister would not agree to full withdrawal due to the complications involved with such withdrawal.

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Selected articles -- Morning Star,February 10, 2010.

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Pregnant Man Thomas Beatie Expecting THIRD Child

Thomas Beatie, known to the world as the pregnant man, is expecting his third child, according to MomLogic.com.

Beatie, a transgender male, made international headlines when he wrote an article for The Advocate in March 2008, announcing that he was pregnant and legally male. Thomas, formerly known as Tracy, a beauty queen from Hawaii, had kept his female reproductive organs in hopes that he would someday have children. His sexual reassignment surgery was in 2002.

"Hiding a pregnant man is like hiding an 800-pound gorilla," he wrote in The Advocate. "Nancy and I wanted to tell our story from our own mouths before it got out."

A beaming Thomas and his wife Nancy appeared on Oprah in April 2008, where he stated that he and his wife are able to have intercourse. Although he had not had phalloplasty (the creation of an artificial penis), his testosterone treatments had grown his clitoris into a small penis.

The couple used a sperm donor to conceive. Their first child, a girl named Susan, was born by natural childbirth on June 28, 2008.

After baby Susan's birth, Thomas told People "She's so precious, I just can't stop staring at her...Just holding her is the best feeling in the world." He also bragged that he didn't have a single stretch mark.

The pregnancy didn't prevent Thomas from being a model husband. TMZ photographed him whacking weeds in his Oregon lawn weeks before giving birth.

In November 2008, Thomas, , who is now 35 or 36, told Barbara Walters that he and Nancy were expecting their second child. The couple had their second child, a boy, by natural childbirth on June 9, 2009. Nancy breastfed both children.

Thomas and Nancy began dating when Thomas was 24.

MomLogic.com has photos of the happy family.

Last month a California man named Scott Moore announced he was expecting a baby in February

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Antwerp Springs Water Source - BOIL WATER NOTICE downgraded to WATER QUALITY ADVISORY

Antwerp Springs Water Source - BOIL WATER NOTICE downgraded to WATER QUALITY ADVISORY (read more)

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Water Devolution -- Arbitrator renders his decision.

Apparently, some browsers were unable to access the arbitrator's verdict. Thus, here is the scanned product!

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Water Devolution -- Arbitrator renders his decision.

The Arbitrator adjudicating Vernon's request to partially withdraw from the water utility has rendered his decision. You can read the decision by clicking here. Comments later.

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Council Meeting, February 8, 2010

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Selected articles -- Morning Star,February 7, 2010.

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Saints bring first Super Bowl title to New Orleans

It was over when ...

Drew Brees was the Super Bowl MVP with a 114.5 passer rating.
(Ben Liebenberg /NFL.com)

Saints CB Tracy Porter stepped in front of Reggie Wayne, intercepted Peyton Manning's pass and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown to give New Orleans a 31-17 lead with 3:12 remaining in the game. The Colts were unable to rally in the final minutes, giving the Saints their first Super Bowl championship

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Accepting political freebies? – by Castanet Staff

Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd will not be attending the 2010 Vancouver Olympics on the backs on corporations or anyone else.

Members of the media, including Castanet, have tried to determine whether the mayor has received an invitation from the BC Lottery Corporation to attend events as their guest.

“I have made no plans and will be making no plans to attend the Olympics or Paralympics, except to cheer on our Canadian and Kelowna athletes by watching from home,” Mayor Shepherd says.

Mayor Shepherd says she received an invitation to attend a reception during the Games, but has sent her regrets. She has not received any tickets to Olympic events.

The story came to light over the weekend when Chilliwack mayor Sharon Gaetz announced she had received an invitation from BCLC to be their guest at the Olympic games.

The package included tickets to hockey, figure skating, speed skating and the opening and closing ceremonies.

Gaetz says she refused the offer, saying she believed it to be illegal and unethical.

BCLC has sent invitations to government officials in 20 B.C. communities.

The City of Kelowna was given two pairs of tickets for its participation in the GamesTown2010 online contest and the Olympic Torch Relay, all of which were donated to Kelowna residents who participated in these programs.

“If I was planning on going to the Olympics, I would have requested tickets to purchase,” says Mayor Shepherd, whose policy is to personally pay for tickets or fees unless attending events in an official capacity on behalf of the City of Kelowna.

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Selected articles -- Morning Star,February 5, 2010.

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Don't hurt my guitar!

True Story.

Musician Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines. They damaged his treasured Taylor guitar ($3500) during a flight. Dave spent over 9 months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar. During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for YouTube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded: "Good luck with that one, pal."

So he posted a retaliatory video on YouTube. The video has since received over 7.5 million hits and been featured on CNN. United Airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal."

Taylor Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has lead to a sharp increase in orders.

Here's the video ....

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Why is Saudi Arabia buying up African farmland?

The Christian Science Monitor highlights an April report by the International Food Policy Research Institute entitled "'Land Grabbing' by Foreign Investors in Developing Countries." The report details purchases of farmland in developing countries by China, South Korea, India, and a handful of gulf states.

Saudi Arabia recently purchased 500,000 hectares of land in Tanzania and Indian companies have bought land in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique.

Another analysis of the "land-grabbing" trend released in June by the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization and two other agricultural research groups examines more closely the potential positives and negatives of the purchases.

Increased investment may bring macro-level benefits (such as GDP growth and improved government revenues), and may create opportunities for economic development and livelihood improvement in rural areas.

But as governments or markets make land available to prospecting investors, large-scale land acquisitions may result in local people losing access to the resources on which they depend for their food security – particularly as some key recipient countries are themselves faced with food security challenges.

And, as Devindeer Sharma from India's Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security told the Telegraph on June 28, there is a high chance of a local backlash and investors will have to avoid a neo-colonial image:

"There are 80 Indian companies trying to get land in Ethiopia, and it's all to be imported back to India. The government of India has been encouraging them," he said, and warned of danger if famine returned to Africa.

"If food is being shipped out and poor people are dying, what will happen? There would be riots," he said.

Thoughts? Is the investment good or bad for the recipient countries?
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Is Canada vulnerable? According to a recent discussion on CBC's Almanac, Canada has some of the cheapest agricultural land in the world and ripe for similar exploitations.

Think about it!

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Readers write -- ‘Freedom to Read Week’ Celebrates Freedom of Expression

Freedom to Read Used Book Sale
February 3, 2010

Lumby Freedom to Read Week invites Canadians to celebrate freedom of expression February 21-27 this year.

Even though freedom of expression is a Charter right, restrictions are sometimes sought. Under the headline, “To ban a book, to erase history” on October 6, 2009, the National Post newspaper reported on a complaint by a parent against Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The same article reported that Margaret Atwood's “The Handmaid's Tale” survived a similar request in 2009 to remove it from the Toronto high school curriculum.

Each year Lumby United Church participates in Freedom to Read Week by hosting a used book sale. Any book you find on the sales tables that is on the Challenged Book List at www.freedomtoread.ca is free. As well, bring a book featured on the Challenged Book List to the grand opening at 9am to participate in our display.

The Freedom to Read book sale will be on Saturday, February 27th from 9am to 3pm at Lumby United Church. Everyone is welcome.

Anyone wishing to donate books to the sale may drop them off on Friday, February 26 from 6-8pm.

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Contact: Nick Hodge
Phone 250 547-6202
Fax 250 542-1744
Lumby United Church
PO Box 463
Lumby, BC V0E 2G0

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Selected articles -- Morning Star, January, 2010.

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