Gasoline Shortages Expected To Climb

ONTARIO IS RUNNING OUT OF FUEL

Ontario motorists are beginning to feel the pinch of high fuel costs, and big shortages again.

A refinery fire has led to a supply reduction of Ontario fuel. Stations across the province have wound down operations with over 25% of Esso stations now closed throughout the region, and many others expected to follow suit.

Prices are now hovering around the $1.00 a litre mark, prices not seen since the US southern states were battered by Katrina.

After reading this, I'd say, go and buy a hybrid car folks!

Gloves Come Off In Quebec

RHETORIC HEATS UP IN QUEBEC PROVINCIAL ELECTION

Quebec Premier and Liberal Leader Jean Charest and Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair have pulled out the big knives this election.

Quebecers have of late refused the notion of another referendum, and Charest is busy driving this message home to the electorate by using fear tactics. He has told the population that if they vote PQ they will subject Quebec to unnecessary hardships as transfer payements from the feds will be cutoff.

Undoubtedly scary, but nonetheless a lie.

Mario Dumonts' "Action démocratique du Québec" is coming in close to second place according to the polls. The latest poll shows the ADQ at 24%, with the PQ at 28%, and then Liberals at 36%.

Cheney Survives Explosion At US Base In Afghanistan

SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS AT LEAST TEN

An overnight attack on the main US base in Afhganistan has killed at least 10 people with as many as twenty others injured.

US Vice President Dick Cheney was staying at the base overnight after a surprise visit to the region yesterday. He was there to warn troops and government leaders that the Tal;iban wouold be making a spring offensive as soon as the snow melts.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but it is unknown if Cheney was their intended target or if the attack was coincidental.

Jewish Defense League Argues Against Mosque

INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATION SPEARHEADS MOVEMENT AGAINST MUSLIM MOSQUE

A mosque that is being planned for the Toronto suburb of Newmarket was labelled a potential "house of terror" yesterday at a meeting partly hosted by the Jewish Defence League, whose members have themselves committed terrorist acts.

Meir Weinstein, the JDL's Canadian head, helped put on a "town hall" meeting to raise questions about the Newmarket mosque's connections with Imam Zafar Bangash.

The controversial imam has promoted sharia law and vigorously defended Iran's fundamentalist regime and Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist movement.
But Weinstein found himself on the defensive at the meeting over his own group's violent past.

Weinstein alleges that Mr. Bangash is under watch by CSIS and suggests a local politician may have taken a bribe from the Muslim congregation for his support of the mosque. The event was titled "House of Worship or House of Terror," and featured several speakers: Mr. Weinstein, Ron Banerjee of the Hindu Conference of Canada and John Thompson, a terrorism expert with the Mackenzie Institute think-tank. No Muslim speakers were invited. Some debate.

I wonder to myself what would happen if someone held an anti-jewish seminar here? I'm pretty sure that there would be harrassement from the jewish league or Bnai Brith or something if one did, so I ask these people, do they not feel as though they are accountable to the laws of hate crimes themselves? Is it not just as hateful to promote such an event as what the JDL held this past week?

It is little wonder that we have so much animosity between races when we have people like this Weinstein guy promoting hatred against non-jews. I think the law is not very even handed on this issue. Fearmongering is not the answer to the problem of race relations.

Help! We need a couple of good folks to help write this week(or permanently)

Needed...A Few Good people To Contribute Stories.

Anyone interested in penning a few items for this blog will be glady accepted. This week I will be taking time off to write a story for a federal publication related to politics.

Next week, we'll be back.

email your story to jim@ladygodivas.ca and I will ensure it is published, and credited to you.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Terror Laws

9-0 RULING FORCES CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO RE-EVALUATE THEIR LAWS ON TERROR

For more than four years now, a guy named Mohamed Harkat has called a Canadian prison his home, until yesterday when the Supreme Court of Canada ordered his release.

Harkat, arrested in 2002 by authorities using a "security certificate" was granted his freedom after the supreme Court ruled unanimously that the certificates were a direct violation of his rights and freedoms as granted under the charter of rights.

He was held by using "secret evidence" against him and was denied the right to a fair trial as determined by the charter.

Parliament was given one year to draft new legislation or the law would collapse entirely.

The CONservative government has stated that it will agree to revise the current legislation, but Public Security minister Stockwell Day stated that he was glad the courts upheld the "idea" of using security certificates against suspected terrorists in relation to national and international security.

These national security certificates, a provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, allowed the government to present secret information to a Federal Court judge and the information could not be viewed and challenged by the accused or his lawyers.

As a result of this "secrecy' it was impossible that a detainee could have a fair trial as it was impossible to gain insight into the evidence collected by the government that was being used against them.

Justice BeverleyMcLachlin, writing for the courts, said this secrecy violated the "fundamental right to fair trial enshrined in the Constitution"."Such scrutiny is the whole point of the principle that a person whose liberty is in jeopardy must know the case to meet. Here that principle has not merely been limited; it has been effectively gutted," McLachlin wrote. "How can one meet a case one does not know?"Security concerns cannot be used to excuse procedures that do not conform to fundamental justice ... that is the bottom line."

The impact of this court challenge will be far reaching and will direct the way that we as Canadians decide our future and the fight against the war on terror. Our Western governments have had difficulty gaining direction on this matter for fear of trampling human rights, just as this case has pointed out to them.

The balance between mainting security on the worlds largest undefended border(aside from the US side that is peppered with military, border patrols and gunboats)and the protection of fundamental human rights will be as difficult a decision as any government could be expected to make. The decision makers will require an agility to manouver between these fine lines, and all political parties should be fully involved in the making of decent non-ideological legislation that will protect our citizens and visitors, while condemning the perpetrators of terror to a certain defeat. Canada is a phenomenal country with a diverse population that represents the entire worlds' population. With such diversity I find it tough to see that our governments unilaterally make decisions without the benefit of public input. Perhaps if they cannot allow the public into their "cabal" to assist in defining Canadas' direction, they could at least ask all elected members to participate fully in formulating the great plan.

It is only through a collective effort that they will find the answers, and move us into a "safer" state, while protecting the interests of people.

jim bender, woodstock

Environmental Survey of Sally Creek/Burgess Park areas Points To A Requirement For More Studies

GOFF COMMUNITY COMPLEX EVENT WAS POORLY ATTENDED BY THE POPULACE LAST NIGHT

An open house held at Goff Community Complex that was held in order for the public to ask questions of the various report authors was poorly attended by our city dwellers last night.

I would have thought that with the public furor over the developement of Sally Creek and Burgess park there would have been a better turnout.

I guess it is lucky for us that the Environmental study pointed to discrepancies between the developers of Sally Creeks' report and the report commissioned by the City of Woodstock.

In particular was an area that the developers stated was a white pine grove, turned out to be Black Walnut, and Butternut(which is rare in the wild here). The developers' own study seems to be full of holes, and full of errors.

Their people misidentified flora and fauna in a huge way.

According to the people responsible for the study they claim that there should be a freeze on developing this area completely as it would have a massive negative impact on the upswell water sources(artesian wells), remove a huge amount of biomass from the local filtration system, and would reduce water flow into the creek area as the artesian wells are to be bulldozed over for a nice fairway.

The archaelogocial study yielded a few interesting finds. An old shotgun shell marked CANUCK CANADA was found, as well as an arrow point that was approximately from the 6950-6500 BC era. As well, many shards of old european pottery styles were found. The conversation with this person was interesting, and gave me a new understanding of the archeological field of work.

Too bad we couldn't have dragged a few more people out for this one.

Letter from City of Woodstock Regarding Missing Info Energy Report Pages

LETTER FROM CAO PAUL BRYAN PULHAM REGARDING MISSING INFO ENERGY PAGES

Info Energy Meeting On It's Way!

As posted on Dave Nadalins' Blog!

Mark Tuesday March the 28th on your calender as Woodstock residents
will finally get insight into the series of events surrounding
Woodstock Hydro Holdings and its subsidary Info-Energy.The meeting will
take place at Woodstock City Council Chambers and while planning for
the meeting is ongoing, the details should be finalized by the time I
appear as a delegation at Council next Thursday, March the 1st. The
hope is that Navigant report author George Bedard will be present along
with Mayor Michael Harding and members of Council, members of Woodstock
Hydro Holdings, former Directors of Info-Energy and all related
individuals to deliver a concise and accurate account of events.It
certainly is a dissapointment that Council did not endear to Jim
Bender's request for the long sought after meeting but the olive branch
is still extended for them to endourse the meeting and have it
sanctioned by Council as it was committed to by the Mayor.This meeting
is imperative for the City to move on from this issue and restore
confidence to the political process in Woodstock.Credit is given to
Bender, Paul Plant, Bill Downing, Brian Currah, Trvor Birtch and many
others for their constant pursuit of accountability on this issue.

_______________________

Everyone should plan on attending council next session, and everyone should plan on being there for this one.

Whether or not the players come out to play remains to be seen.

No witch hunts...just a good fact finding mission, and the mission should be that we as ratepayers should never become involved in private enerprise in this manner ever again if there is no accountability, clarity or even accuracy from the people who were supposedly "watching" out for us.

Kudos to Tait, Sobeski and Gerrie for saying they didn't see anything wrong with a public meeting. Perhaps you won't make any friends in the administration, but you will at least benefit from the respect of ratepayers.

Stand up for Woodstock and the folks that pay the bills here!

According to The MNR, Developing Sally Creek/Burgess Park Is NOT in The Publics' Interest.

ACCORDING TO THIS COMMUNICATION THAT LORI LEBLANC RECEIVED, THIS DEVELOPEMENT SHOULD NOT OCCUR UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.

A letter that Lori Leblanc recieved from a representative of the MNR.

According to this person, it would appear as though the requirement to stop this developement exists based on specific regulations pertaining to land use, environmental, the protection of woodlands and the flora and fauna in the area is within our grasp. The developer has destroyed trees in the area and this is in direct contravention of the provincial policy statement of 2005.

Thanks to Lori for providing me with this information and I will attempt to load up the images that were provided as well.

Jim, thought I would pass this on to you and Angie, received this today from MNR today.

Lori
Greetings Lori,

I spoke with Erin Sanders yesterday who indicated you had called her to convey some concerns with a proposed golf course development of the Sally Creek area of Woodstock. I will not be able to attend the public session coming up on Thursday, but I wanted to pass along some information that may be useful to you. The Oxford Natural Heritage Study identifies the woodland corridor in the Sally Creek area along the west side of the Thames as Significant Woodland. Areas of Significant Woodland are protected from development under the Planning Act through application of the Provincial Policy Statement (2005) and the Oxford Official Plan. As a result, developments can not be approved unless an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) is conducted that demonstrates that no negative impacts will result to the Significant Woodland as a result of the proposed development. Negative impacts include those that would affect the natural woodland feature or the ecological functions for which it was identified.

I’ve attached a copy of the Woodstock land use schedule from the Oxford Official Plan. Since the area in question is designated as ‘Open Space’ a golf course may be considered to be a compatible use in the area if it can be demonstrated through an EIS that no negative impacts will occur to the surrounding significant woodland. If the development results in significant clearing of trees for fairways, buildings, etc. it is my opinion that the EIS would have great difficulty in demonstrating no impacts to the feature.

Ron Gould
Acting District Planner
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Aylmer District
615 John Street North
Aylmer, ON N5H 2S8
ph. (519) 773-4750
email: ron.gould@ontario.ca

Lets' all send this guy a letter and ask for help here. It is imperative that we protect these lands in order to ensure the future generations' access to natural areas in Woodstock.

Say no to big developers!

Movement to Ban Pesticides is Gaining Incredible Steam

PESTICIDE BAN WILL MOVE INTO PLACE WITH PRESSURE HERE.

Letter to the Sentinel-Review

Will Woodstock move to limit or outright ban the use of pesticides?
The national movement to ban the use of pesticides is gaining steam. Nearly 50% of the Canadian population is now covered by a pesticide ban of some sort, and every day we hear of another city wisely coming on board to protect its' peoples before the lawsuits start. The amount of pesticides used annually worldwide now exceeds 2.5 million tonnes with the vast majority of those chemicals being used in North America. Pesticides come in many forms. Bactercides are used for the control of bacteria. Fungicides control fungi and oomycetes, herbicides for weeds, insecticides for insects,miticides for mites, molluscides for snails and mollusks, Nematicides for nematodes, rodenticides for rodents and virucides for the control of viruses. Mix them all together and you get a humanacide.(okay, a fake word but it sounds like something sinister...and it is.) These chemicals and their agents have been around for more than 4500 years in some form or another. In ancient times the Sumer region was well noted for its' usage of sulphur dust to protect crops. By the 15th century man began to experiment with mercury, lead and arsenic as a pesticide. Could you even imagine eating a meal made from vegetables and grains grown in this manner? No wonder that people in those days lived a life of about 28 years. Our local and national community could do without these products. When it comes down to it, a ban is in order, and nothing less. In Peterborough, Ontario they banned the usage outright, and there was no time to get in line. It was a done deal, with no arguing.(except from the lawn care companies that had something to lose.) I suppose if I was in the chemical business I too would be begging for mercy. I do not feel sorry for these lawn care companies, just for the people that may lose their jobs, but then again, new ones will be created by people who have the smarts to go out and find user friendly treatments for their lawn services. The times they are a changng, and the lawn companies need to get in line with this changing perspective nationally. It is impossible for these lawn companies to control "overspray", and it is impossible for them to control where their chemicals and poisons land. The chemicals leach from your neighbours lawn, into the environment, or onto your property. It does not matter that one property owner may wish to not use these chemicals when the neighbours on each side of them are out there poisoning everything to death. One person I spoke with last night (at a meeting of the Green Earth Campaign)said that her neighbours have skull and crossbones erected on their lawns after treating them, while her property has a nice organic sign. She said that while the neighbours sprayed, her home smelled like a chemical factory, and it stayed that way for several days. Point is, if you can smell it, then the chemicals are not staying where they should, and these companies that spray them everywhere should be held liable for that. If it rains, the runoff will hit your property. If your pets go near the chemically laced lawn, lick or eat the grass, they will die or become incredibly sick. Recently I had the opportunity to attend a meeting of the local IPM(integrated pest management committee) which deals with pesticides and their management at the local level. It was the inaugural meeting of the new committe struck after the November municipal elections. This committee has been stacked against the people since its' very inception about 6 years ago. This committee(which is a direct offshoot of council) is populated by special interest groups.. The main players are a chemical company spokesperson who apparently is now retired and is interested in not banning these things, but making sure hysteria doesn't take over, and a manager of sorts from the Nutri Lawn company, who during this meeting stated that people would just go out of town and drag the chemicals back to Woodstock therefore a ban is useless. The third player is a golf course person who is not for a ban, but is thinking more along the lines of lets educate the people. Education does not work. The vast majority are in no position to take the time to examine this themselves, but if a ban was put in place, they too would stop using these things. This committee which has met for 6 years now, has consumed almost $60,000.00 of ratepayers money and has not made any difference to this situation. They have produced a pamphlet. I have not met one person who has seen this pamphlet aside from the members of the "committee'; themselves. How can it make a difference when its' stacked with the players they have? Bob McFarland is probably the only guy on the comittee who really has the community interest at heart, but for him its' pretty easy to be pushed around by the chemical guys in charge. I am of the opinion that the committee is a waste of resources, time and money and should be dissolved immediately as it is on the wrong track and is stacked with chemical industry players. Lets put fast food restaurants in charge of transfat reductions, or big oil in charge of carbon emissions. This committee is guarding the henhouse with the fox! The way the committee talks, it could be another generation before this ban takes effect here, even though the ban is spreading like a wildfire across the nation. These guys say the evidence is not conclusive for them, no doubt, it wouldn't be for me either if I was making a living spraying death and destruction everywhere. I wonder to myself, do these people have children? Do they plan on it? Would they let their kids roll around their toxic lawns? Would you pour your kids a glass of toxic kool aid?(turn on your tap and thats' what you are getting folks) Do they care that these chemicals are killing the human population through gentic mutations and other horriffic illnesses that are spreading through our communities? No, not until it directly affects them. I liken the use of pesticides to a person spraying "RAID" down their own throats for mouth wash. It'll kill the bugs, but its' taking you with it, and if it doesn't you might be able to get your offspring a good job in a freak show waving with their extra arms.Come on Woodstock, let's get this thing moving. The IPM won't be doing it for us. If you love your kids, and want to leave a clean world behind for them, jump on board this fast moving train and give the city a call and voice your concerns. 519-539-1291, that is the number you want to call. The public needs to pressure the officials in charge to make this change. The chemical guys will not help any of us. Or better yet, come and join us for a night at a real committee that is really interested in seeing these destructive agents removed from our local environment. There are a myriad of ways to control pest outbreaks, and it's pretty easy to get down and pull a weed or two, in fact I think it is a really easy thing comapred to loading your loved ones up in a casket, or taking them to the regional cancer clinic, or having a prosthesis made for kids that were born with no arms or legs. The evidence is real, the stuff is bad, it's time to get rid of them from the Woodstock landscape.Say no to pesticides, before they kill the human population. Want to help? Call us, email us or just be there to show your support.Jim Bender519-537-8144Connie Searles 519-421-3914

Search Is On For 7 New Wonders Of The World

21 RUNNERS UP IN THE SEARCH FOR THE NEW SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD

HTTP://WWW.NEW7WONDERS.COM

Here's the latest description of the runners up for the "New 7 Wonders Of The World".

ACROPOLIS, GREECE: A million people come here each year to see the marble temples - including the ruins of the columned Parthenon - and statues of Greek gods and goddesses dating from the fifth century B.C.
ALHAMBRA, SPAIN: The palace and citadel, perched above Granada, was the residence of the Moorish caliphs who governed southern Spain in splendor until 1492, when the city was conquered by the Christian forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, ending 800 years of Muslim rule. Stunning features include mosaics, arabesques and mocarabe, or honeycomb work.
ANGKOR, CAMBODIA: The archaeological site in Siem Reap, 192 miles northwest of the capital Phnom Penh, was the capital of the Khmer (Cambodian) empire from the ninth to 15th centuries. It served as administrative center and place of worship for a prosperous kingdom that stretched from Vietnam to China and the Bay of Bengal. The 12th-century ruins include Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.
CHRIST REDEEMER STATUE, BRAZIL: The 125-foot statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms overlooks Rio de Janeiro from atop Mount Corcovado. The statue was built in pieces in France starting in 1926, and shipped to Brazil. A railway carried it up the 2,343-foot mountain for the 1931 inauguration.
COLOSSEUM, ITALY: The 50,000-seat amphitheater in Rome was inaugurated in A.D. 80. Thousands of gladiators dueled to the death here, and Christians were fed to the lions. The arena has influenced the design of modern stadiums.
EASTER ISLAND, CHILE: Hundreds of massive stone busts, or Moais, are all that remains from the prehistoric Rapanui culture that crafted them between 400 and 1,000 years ago to represent deceased ancestors. Some statues are over 70 feet tall. They gaze out on the south Pacific Ocean more than 1,000 miles off the Chilean mainland.
EIFFEL TOWER, FRANCE: The 985-foot tower, built in 1889 for the International Exposition, symbolizes Paris. Made almost entirely of open-lattice wrought iron and erected in only two years with a small labor force, the tower - Paris' tallest structure - demonstrated advances in construction techniques, but some initially criticized it as unaesthetic.
GREAT WALL OF CHINA: The 4,160-mile barricade running from east to west is the world's longest man-made structure. The fortification was built to protect various dynasties from invasion by Huns, Mongols, Turks and other nomadic tribes. Construction took place over hundreds of years, beginning in the seventh century B.C.
HAGIA SOPHIA, TURKEY: The soaring cathedral, also called the Church of Holy Wisdom, was built in 537 B.C. at Constantinople, today's Istanbul. In 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, it became a mosque with minarets. When Turkish President Kemal Ataturk turned it into a museum in 1935, Christian mosaics covered up by the Muslims were revealed.
KIYOMIZU TEMPLE, JAPAN: Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera, which means Clear Water Temple, was founded by a Buddhist sect in 798 and rebuilt in 1633 after a fire. Drinking from its three-stream waterfall is believed to confer health, longevity and success.
KREMLIN AND ST. BASIL'S CATHEDRAL, RUSSIA: Onion domes with golden cupolas surrounded by red brick walls are at the heart of Moscow's Kremlin, a Medieval fortress converted into the center of Russian government. The Kremlin once symbolized Soviet communism. The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed on adjacent Red Square features nine towers of different colors. It was built by Czar Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th century.
MACHU PICCHU, PERU: Built by the Incan Empire in the 15th century, Machu Picchu's walls, palaces, temples and dwellings are perched in the clouds at 8,000 feet above sea level in the Andes overlooking a lush valley 310 miles from Lima.
NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE, GERMANY: The inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, Neuschwanstein is a creation of "Mad King" Ludwig II of Bavaria, who had it built in the 19th century to indulge his romantic fancies. Perched on a peak in the Bavarian Alps, the gray granite castle rises to towers, turrets and pinnacles and contains many paintings with scenes from Richard Wagner operas admired by Ludwig.
PETRA, JORDAN: This ancient city in southwestern Jordan, built on a terrace around the Wadi Musa or Valley of Moses, was the capital of the Arab kingdom of the Nabateans, a center of caravan trade, and continued to flourish under Roman rule after the Nabateans' defeat in A.D. 106. The city is famous for water tunnels and stone structures carved in the rock, including Ad-Dayr, "the Monastery," an uncompleted tomb facade that served as a church during Byzantine times.
PYRAMID AT CHICHEN ITZA, MEXICO: This step pyramid surmounted by a temple was part of a sacred site in an important Mayan center on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It is built according to the solar calendar. Shadows at the fall and spring equinoxes are said to look like a snake crawling down the steps, similar to the carved serpent at the top. An older pyramid inside features a jade-studded, red jaguar throne.
PYRAMIDS OF GIZA, EGYPT: The only surviving structures of the original seven wonders, the three pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs 4,500 years ago. Nearby is the Great Sphinx statue, with a man's face and a lion's body.
STATUE OF LIBERTY, NEW YORK: The 305-foot statue in New York Harbor has welcomed immigrants and symbolized freedom since 1886, when it was dedicated as a gift of the French government.
STONEHENGE, BRITAIN: How and why this circular monument of massive rocks was created between 3,000 and 1,600 B.C. is unknown, but some experts say the stones were aligned as part of a sun-worshipping culture or astronomical calendar. Today it is a major tourist attraction. Druids and New Age followers gather here every June 21 to celebrate summer solstice.
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, AUSTRALIA: Situated on Bennelong Point reaching into Sydney's harbor, the opera house was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon and opened in 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II. Its roof resembles a ship in full sail and is covered by over 1 million white tiles. The building has 1,000 rooms.
TAJ MAHAL, INDIA: The white marble-domed mausoleum in Agra was built by a 17th century Mogul emperor for his favorite wife, who died in childbirth. The architecture combines Indian, Persian, and Islamic styles. The complex houses the graves of the emperor, his wife, and other royalty.
TIMBUKTU, MALI: Two of West Africa's oldest mosques, the Djingareyber, or Great Mosque, and the Sankore mosque built during the 14th and early 15th centuries can still be seen here in the northern Sahara Desert. Founded about A.D. 1,100, Timbuktu was a flourishing caravan center in the Arabic world and a leading spiritual and intellectual center in the 15th and 16th centuries, with one of the world's first universities.
The New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced during the Official Declaration ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007

Ontario Government Starts Website Devoted to Deadbeat Parents

DEADBEAT PARENTS TO BE EXPOSED ON NEW MINISTRY WEBSITE

http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/mcss/english/pillars/familyResponsibility/debtors/index.htm

A Statement From The Family Responsibility Office
Good parents pay support orders to help their children. You can help Ontario children and families by helping us find missing, irresponsible parents who have defaulted on the payments owed to their kids.
The individuals posted on this website are registered with the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), but have not made their support payments and cannot be found.
We have tried to find these individuals through various trace and locate efforts. They have not made their support payments for at least six months. Our legislation and regulations set out more information.
The FRO will continue its efforts to find these individuals through all means possible, and if successful will remove the posting from this website. But in the meantime, you can help.
Any information you have that can help us find these individuals can be sent anonymously to the FRO through this website, or by phone, or by fax, or by mail.

____________________________________

This is a good idea when it comes right down to it.

I have always wondered why people fail to pay their support payments. When these people were married or living common-law, they were paying the bill to raise these kids, and when they divorce, they feel they do not have to take care of their kids any longer. It's about time the government moved to enforce these payments.

Too many children live in poverty as a result of divorce.

The Worlds Largest Developer

NATURE:THE WORLDS' LARGEST DEVELOPER

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-3339531684220239405&hl=en-CA

Here's An old Video Of Woodstocks' Warehouse Fire on Mill Street

A Clip I just posted to Google Video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4036907534435333682

Just a clip I had in my camera...thought we'd upload it to the net and let a few folks have a look.

A letter I sent to the Sentinel Review Today

In regards to the council meeting held last Thursday where I presented a request for a public meeting on the issue of Info Energy, I'd like to say only one thing.(although i'm sure it will develope into several more things) Mr Heaslip made the argument that there was a witch hunt of sorts going on, and that the company was private and had no obligation to communicate anything to the ratepayers, legally, and that the money for the company did not come from us. He did not tell us whose responsiblity this was, just that he wasn't responsible. Well, I beg to differ. There is no "witch hunt" as Mr Heaslip argued, as well, the startup funds came from a public source,(indirect or direct, it really is all the same and only a matter of how one chooses his words)and finally, we, the community, were promised this meeting, so why on earth all of the effort to prevent it from taking place? Fact is, many pages of the Bedard report and Info Energys' rebuttal are absent from the city website. This was admitted to in council when I pressed them on the issue. As well, in the interest of government transparency and clarity, I would think that having a meeting, might just clear the air, instead of denying it, and arousing even more suspicion. If everything is all that Mr Heaslip cracked it up to be, than someone needs to explain what the problem with a public meeting is? I just chalk this one up to another bout of political verbal diarhhea in the form of a promised meeting from an elected official. Even the minister responsible for municipal affairs, John Gerretsen said there should be a public debate on the matter when I contacted him recently.(this was confirmed in a letter I submitted to council as well last week.) So, I wonder, why when even the minister for the OMA says, there should be a debate and discussion, by what power of authority does the esteemed Mr Harding feel that he can nullify that very request, when he in fact is the one that promised it?

Jim bender

CONservative Government Witholds Funds For Homeless

CONSERVATIVES DECIDE HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY ARE NOT ONE OF THEIR PRIORITIES

Alternate title: The Poor don't vote so why feed them?

The Canadian federal government(referred to as the "New 1 Year Old Government) has decided homelessness and poverty are not an important issue to them, so they witheld more than $70 million in winter funding for those types of programs although the needs of the homeless have not diminished.

Harper government officials were pressed to explain why the funds weren't spent on soup kitchens and emergency housing but came up empty handed. Instead, a government spokesperson stated that the person reposnsible for the audit report did not seem to understand what they were doing, and that the $70 million will be much smaller by March 1, 2007.

Audit officials at Human Resources said in a written statement that the Goss Gilroy finding “has not been validated with departmental financial information and is subject to change.”

So...my thought on this is as such.

Why would they have an audit report completed...without divulging all of the departmental details? it seems rather odd to me that they would hire the consultant, and then spend resources attempting to debunk the report generated by the auditor.

Fact is, homelessness and poverty are massive issues that will require a concerted effort from all parties to overcome. Canada is one of the wealthiest nations on earth, and to think we have kids and adults sleeping in parks, going without food is disgusting.

The parties all know that these people will not be out to vote for them anytime soon, so the effort they place into the issue is relative to the votes they hope to gain.

Like I said at the start of this, the poor don't vote, so who gives a shit.

And that is the answer to why the money was kept in the New Conservative Governments' coffers.

Shit...just a thought...maybe this is how they're paying for all those we hate Dion ads?

Harper Calls Dion "Soft On Terrorism".

CONSERVATIVES MUST BE SWEATING BULLETTS BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF SMEAR THEY USE

The Harper government is seen as having more interest in spending time worrying about the opposition than they are in governing the country.

Stephen Harper came out swinging against Stephane Dion again yesterday, but this time on the issue of terrorsim.

Harper, busy making himself into the champion of law and order in specific by appointing favourable judges, complained that Dion was "soft on crime" because he was against the appointment of right wing hardliners to the judiciary.

Dion called the attack as being that of a weak government full of fear for the opposition that was attempting to divert attention from some of its' ideological programs.

I imagine that we will have a few months more of this crap styled leadership from all of the parties in the run up to the next federal vote.

Ontario Well On It's Way To Meeeting Kyoto Targets

ONTARIO WELL ON ITS' WAY TO MEETING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS CUTS

Ontario expected to meet kyoto targets after seeing a 29% decrese in greenhouse gases as a result of changes made to coal fired energy plants in Ontario.

Dwight Duncan, Minister responsible for Energy, stated yesterday that Ontario deserves full credit for achieving emissions cuts that are now slightly lower than 1990 levels.

Canada needs to reduce its' emissions to 6% lower than 1990 levels in order to meet the targets by a date of 2012.

Opposition members rallied against the government and issued a statement that they beleived the targets were met as a result of dwindling manufacturing, and a reduction in power usage throughout the province as a result of cooler summer temeperatures last year, but according to the Ontairo Liberal government, that is just not true.

Duncan reitierated that the province came more into line with the agreement after closing one of its' coal fired power plants(Lakeview) last year, and fine tuning nuclear plants to become more efficient in the production of electricity for the Ontario markets.

The increased usage of wind and solar energy has as well reduced the reliance on dirty energy therefore moving Ontario into a cleaner state.

John Tory, CONservative opposition leader stated that he beleived it was all smoke and mirrors and that the McGuinty government has actually achieved nothing.

Live video Of Woodstock Council Meeting Feb 15, 2007

CITIZEN BENDER ADDRESSES WOODSTOCK CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 15, 2007

The video Rogers couldn't capture.

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=7606182139779438813&hl=en-CA

Woodstock CIty Council Fails to Address Concerns of Taxpayers

COUNCIL PRESENTATION INCLUDED REBUTTAL FROM HEASLIP OF INFO ENERGY INC.

I don't think it is worth paying much attention to what happened last night, so much as it is worth to note that someone arranged for the attendance of Mr Heaslip.

Heaslip made a rambling presentation that exceeded the allowable time frame by several minutes. He touched on how this is turning into a "witch hunt"(and yes it should as there are witches in that barn), and that the facts of the case are being dragged down by innuendo and misconception.

Heaslip complained that it was a private company with seed money and that they fully expected to lose money during the startup. He said the business model was highly speculative and that the business itself was based on a speculative energy market.

No where in this guys presentation does he mention that the money came from the public to begin with...from Woodstock Hydro.

Therefore what Heaslip says is prime bullshit in regards to how this had no effect on the resident ratepayers. The initial startup money came from us, and we have a right to demand that these actions be investigated.

I made my presentation to council by starting off on the idea that there are pages missing from the report, and that the public demands to know the total number of pages in the report.

After making that short introduction I spoke about the lamentable fact that these companies are not reposnsible to us, and that as a taxpayer, this is not acceptable. I asked for a frank and public discussion on the matter, but to no avail.

The speech was taken as information.

Heaslip asked that my comments be struck on the grounds that the money was not city money.

Three councillors defended my speech, Gerrie mentioned that if a public meeting was needed to clear the air they should have one, and Deb Tait also felt that a public meeting was in order, and that there was no reason why the air shouldn't be cleared.

The next step will be to strike a citizens committee.

Liberals And Tories Are In A Dead Heat Nationally According To Poll.

DESPITE TWO WEEKS OF NEGATIVE ATTACK ADS, TORIES STILL UNABLE TO MAKE IT ABOVE THE LIBERALS

Decima research survey clearly shows that despite weeks of personal attack ads on the opposition Liberals, the Tories have no where to go but down.

The Decima survey gives the Liberals a one percentage point lead nationally, 33 per cent to 32 per cent - which is within the 3.1 percentage point margin of error.

The largest gains for the CONS were in Ontario where at the start of February they were trailing the Liberals by 18 percentage points. The poll shows some gains with the CONS trailing the liberals by 4 points in the Ontario polling.

Next month Harpers' government will face a confidence test as it introduces its' budget for the next year.

Harper is working hard to increase funding for Green initiatives before the budget is released.

I kind of look at it this way.

Given the fact they have not spent anything on the environment, it would be failry easy for them to say they are going to do this...survive their budget, and then just cut the programs again after making it through the budget. Harper has not come to terms with the idea of global warming and climate change so I find it hard to believe he would change his mind now.

I put this all down to more pre-election posturing.

Federal Auditor Releases Annual Report

FEDERAL AUDITOR POSTS HER ANNUAL AUDITOR GENERALS' REPORT

Sheila Fraser, Canadas' Auditor General has released her annual report on the state of the nations' operations.

He report has in the past identified serious shortcomings in government operations, and most notably, was responsible for the release of information on the former liberal governments' ADSCAM scandal.

This year she noted that many programs and agencies had made gains in their management, especially since the 2004 report which identified massive misspending allocations in the government and its' public works ministry.

Some interesting comments on several operations were noted however.

In the coast guard report, Fraser noted that the special operating agency within the Fisheries Department does not function as a cohesive unit, has not developed national service levels, its equipment breaks down constantly and the plan to replace its aging fleet is behind schedule and poorly managed.

Fraser was also dissatisfied with work on the social insurance number card by Human Resources. The quality of data in the Social Insurance Register is questionable and there are muddled policies on how other government departments can use the SIN number.

Apparently there are 3 million more Social Insurance Numbers than there are citizens of Canada.(that can't be good)

Parks Canada improved on its record for preserving heritage buildings, but other departments (National Defence and Public Works) are poor custodians of our heritage according to the report handed down by Fraser.

Dozens of People have called in To Say: LETS GET THIS INFO ENERGY MESS CLEARED UP NOW!

DAY OF RECKONING DRAWS NEAR

The debate over the issue of Woodstock Hydro and its' subsidiary Info Energy is finally coming to a head.

On Thursday evening at a meeting of council we will present to them a request to move this issue to the forefront instead of in a closet somewhere.

This issue is large and revolves around accountability and the actions of the board of directors and the chairperson, and when they were made aware of these huge losses as posted by Info Energy.

This is a matter that requires public consultation, and complete public access to all of the information contained in the Gearge Bedard report.

The local newspaper, the Sentinel Review has published numerous stories on ths issue, but yet the mayor refuses to "come clean" on his first hand knowledge of the losses.

My take on this is that anyone who sat on the board in the past, and did not report to the city the losses(we are the prime shareholders..all of us taxpayers), is completely responsible for failing to perform their duties as a member of the board.

The positions of directors and chairperson should be an open vote. There should be no "backroom" dealings that place anyone on this board without a public consultation process.

The fact that this utility is not responsible to we taxpayers is disgusting, and the fact that the mayors office has purposefully witheld the pertinent details of this fiasco, puts the mayors judgement onto question.

I have been told that this mayor has twisted enough arms to make himself the Chairperson of the board again.

When this issue comes to council on Thursday evening I will demand the mayor not vote on the issue as it is a conflict of interest for him to vote on the matter while he is on the board of the privately held company.

Once more, thanks people for all of the phone calls and emails. Yesterday was a very busy day with a huge number of callers concerned about this issue and what the mayors' office was and is aware of. With any luck, and a ton of public pressure we might be able to bring this to a conclusion of sorts.

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh Suffers Heart Attack

LIBERAL MP IN GOOD CONDITION AFTER SUFFERING A HEART ATTACK YESTERDAY

Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh suffered a minor heart attack yesterday morning while in meetings on parliament hill with other MP's.

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett(a doctor as well in her former life)came to Mr Dosanjhs' assistance throughout the ordeal.

A spokepserson for the MP, Lisa Crawford stated, “Because of his quick thinking and that of those around him, and the excellent work of the medical professionals who attended to him, that process was averted.”

Dosanjh underwent a procedure yesterday that removed a small blood clot and he is apparently resting comfortably. There is no word on when he will return to work.

PICKERING STUDENTS POST BULLYING OF DISABLED CHILD ON YOU TUBE

PICKERING STUDENTS APOLOGIZE AFTER POSTING ABUSE OF DISABLED BOY ON THE INTERNET

A group of elementary students in Pickering has apologized to a disabled child(yeah, we're sure it was a big heartfelt apology) that they kicked around, tripped, verbally abused and then posted video of on the internets' "You Tube" service.

School board trustee Chris Braney says he was contacted several weeks ago about the matter by the parents of the disabled child.

"It was disturbing enough it prompted me to do something quickly," said Braney. He said the school board cyber-bullying policy, which was already in the works, is now being fast-tracked and is expected to go to the board Monday. While Braney would not reveal the ages of students involved, he said the victim suffered a stroke due to complications from strep throat when he was 7 and is partially paralyzed.

The attack was filmed on school property. Once parents of the attackers were informed of the situation, they removed the video from the internet service.

The trend of kids making videos and posting them on th internet is not new. The issue has gained some steam in recent months as more kids have access to video cell phones, their own computers, and a willing host of parents that do not pay attention to what their brats are doing.

Videos posted in the past on you tube have included student fights, attacks and personal attacks, and students have used the site to launch attacks against school administrators.

The unfetterred access to computers and the internet by children is ridiculous. Using the internet as a babysitter is ridiculous.

The fact that some physically healthy children(obviously not mentally healthy)would choose to pick on and attack a disabled person is sickening and I hope their parents kicked their asses, but chances are they didn't.

This is a sad commentary on the state of the environment

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0207/0207gwsupport.htm

Read this following story and tell me that it doesn't make you sick to read this kind of nonsense!

In support of global warming
By Bruce Walkerweb posted February 12, 2007
The world is undergoing a wonderful change, and we conservatives should stop trying to convince robotic Leftists that this change is natural – part of the cycle of our planet – and should instead begin to speak of the glorious future ahead. Is the planet warming? Yes! It has been either cooling or warming in cycles for many millions of years. Does mankind have anything to do with this? No, but if Leftists want to believe it, then we should make the case that everything we can do to accelerate global warming should be done.
If the globe warms a few degrees, the benefits for mankind and for the environment will be enormous. The earth's population is increasing fast – not in the modern industrial nations and not so much in the demographic giants of China and India – but the population is growing fast in areas which are becoming overcrowded.
Global warming will largely solve the problem of inadequate space. Canada, the second largest nation in the world, has enough land to house several entire nations if there were only enough warmth. Russia, the largest nation in the world, has even more land which can be used for people – and the demographic trend of Russia is slow or declining, so Russia will not be filling up those open lands with Russians. Global warming, and the unfreezing of these virgin lands will create an enormous amount of hope for billions of our planets peoples who are now trapped in poor, overcrowded and unproductive lands.
Huge areas of the world that are currently uninhabitable will become inhabitable. The poor will be the beneficiaries, and they will not only gain materially but psychically from the pride of ownership of land. The congestion of cities – one of the biggest social and health problems of our age – will end as people from crowded, nasty, ugly coastal cities move to open farmland and countryside, in touch with nature and living a free and independent life.
One of the most serious problems facing the growing population of the world is an adequate amount of freshwater. Global warming is a tremendous boon to mankind (and to wildlife) in solving this problem: seventy-five percent of the freshwater of our planet is now trapped in glaciers and ice caps, and our technology is insufficient to melt those. Global warming, however, will do that in a slow, predictable way. Pure, clean and abundant water – one of the most precious and essential resources of the healthy and happy lives of all people – we will soon have in increasingly happy amounts.
In fact, we may have enough freshwater than desert areas currently uninhabitable may be able to bloom again. How many problems in the Middle East would be solved if the deserts of Sahara, Arabia and elsewhere were blooming gardens of fruit, flora and grain? How many people could leave the urban hotbeds of radical hatred and instead farm a plot of what had been the Saharan Desert on his own farm?
As the sea rises, some cities will have to rearrange their structures, but that is hardly a calamity. Does anyone really believe that our coastal cities could not be made better and prettier? In fact, the very "problem" of rising waters could lead to some of the best changes in our coastal urban areas. New Orleans has long been below sea level. Some of the most exquisite cities in history – Venice, Stockholm, Amsterdam – are built essentially on water. Far from "destroying" New York or Los Angeles, a long term and well planned construction project to provide for the cities being above the waters can, if we simply wish it, turn ugly urban blight into beautiful cities filled with nature and natural "blue belts" replacing artificial "green belts."
Warmth is energy. Global warming will, quite naturally, increase the amount of alternative energy available to mankind. The need for heating will decline. The melting ice caps and glaciers will provide vast opportunities for centuries of hydroelectric power. The radiant heat of the warmer earth will be able to be converted directly into useable power, and just when our technology is finding more and more effective ways to derive energy directly from heat.
The environment will be better as well. The number of trees on earth will increase as the glacial areas of our planet recede. Trees are natural purifiers of our air, and we will all breath cleaner and fresher area as global warming enriches our lives. The water will become purer as well, because the water in the melting ice caps is much purer than our rivers and lakes today.
What can we do to hurry these new edonic age? We should begin by doing all in our meager power to help the planet warm. Repeal all wrong-headed treaties, statutes and regulations which were intended to stop global warming and encourage that behavior which helps warm the planet. Can any of us alone do much to make this happen? Probably not. But we owe it to the planet, to our children, and to the environment to do all we can to hasten global warming.

Bruce Walker has been a published author in print and in electronic media since 1990. He is a contributing editor to Enter Stage Right and a regular contributor to Conservative Truth, American Daily, Intellectual Conservative, Web Commentary, NewsByUs and Men's News Daily. His first book, Sinisterism: Secular Religion of the Lie by Outskirts Press was published in January 2006.
http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0207/0207gwsupport.htm

© 1996 - 2007, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved.

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AND NOW FOR MY COMMENT ON THIS SICK OPINION.

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The global crisis that has enveloped the world in the way of climate change and global warming has brought up some interesting discussions from a gigantic portion of the global population.
One of the saddest discussions I've heard recently, is a commentary by author Bruce Walker, on the possible benefits of global warming. It is a preposterous ultra-conservative notion that this global issue is not man-made.
The recent report from the United Nations highlights in specific the relationship between our existence and the changes the world is going through physiologically.
Mr Walker in his most recent comments states that he believes the world will benefit from this warming as it will open up new lands for habitation. He argues that Canada has a huge frozen landmass that is far too cold at present to live in, but should the world heat up, these lands may become useful.
He thinks that Russia may be able to attract new citizens instead of the free for all state of decline it is presently experiencing. He forgets entirely the connection between Russias' political instability headed by Vladimir Putin, and that exodus of peoples.
His argument as posted on the "Enterstageright.com" website is incorrect in many areas. It is a sad commentary on the state of the universal CONservative movement.
The notion that as a result of global warming that we will increase our usable arable land mass is false. He claims that as a result of rising waters, people will just move inward. As quoted directly from his recent treatise, he states;
"The congestion of cities – one of the biggest social and health problems of our age – will end as people from crowded, nasty, ugly coastal cities move to open farmland and countryside, in touch with nature and living a free and independent life."
He attempts to have us all believe that we will be free and independant of all of those big city constraints, if the tides rise and flood our cities. His rambling statement is of no value.
The issue is the outright scientific fact that coastlines are being submerged, and along with those coastlines, the villages and towns and cities that depended on those very coastal waters for their existence. along with that, as seen by Hurricane Katrina, will be the outright mass deaths of thousands upon thousands of people in those regions.
Walkers' thought that the world will suddenly be filled with clean water, and an abundance of it, could be correct, but I think we will be too busy swimming and drowning to want to drink it.
Although not every scientist on earth agress with how this will affect us, they have all agreed that we are responsible, and their prognosis while not uniform, is frightening for all of us and the future of the human race.
Give it a read for yourself and you'll think John Baird and Stephen Harper took their environmental policy from this guys' work.