Doug Bonesteel - Candidate for Councillor - Ward 2 ... Lambton Shores / Grand Bend

I asked Doug Bonesteel some questions.

Hi Doug!

I have a few questions of you regarding issues:

What is your position with regard to the proposed sewerage system for Grand Bend and Southcott Pines?

What is your position with regard to commercialisation of the Grand Bend beach area?

What is your vision of the future for Grand Bend?

Thank you,

Arthur Lake

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends!  May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Reply from Doug:

Arthur, thank you for your email. I'll try to be as brief as possible with my answers to your questions.

1. Sewers for Zone 3

As a member of the original Zone 3 Community Group I stand by their mission statement of finding an ecologically appropriate and sustainable waste management system for this area through an accountable, public process. We should continue to test the groundwater and initiate a septic inspection program that makes sense. I would also suggest that we ask the Ontario Ministry of the Environment to have one of their hydrogeologists conduct unbiased, blind groundwater testing both in Zone 3 and the village to compare groundwater results. Perhaps, this would shed some light on the need for a collections system in the first place. I am firmly opposed to the low pressure grinder pump system that the municipality has suggested as the preferred collection system in their Environmental Assessment application.

2. Commercialism of the Grand Bend Beach

I believe that the people most impacted by council decisions should have input well before any decision is made, circumstance permitting. There are varying degrees of commercial activities that could be permitted in public places e.g. would people object to a single hot dog vendor on the beach as opposed to the volleyball proposal. The entire PVB volleyball proposal should have been handled much more effectively. Municipalities should communicate any business decisions affecting the lifestyles of their citizens well before any decisions to proceed are made to the point of no return. This is where you can connect people back to their community. I believe that the municipality needs to consult with the public about their vision of what recreational and commercial activities they feel are suitable for a public beach (by laws permitting). People in various communities need to be contacted on a regular basis to determine how they feel their municipal government is performing and demonstrate that they have listened to what has been said. Elected officials and bureaucrats should never take their ratepayers for granted. I have a suggestion in my last answer as to how the next council can accomplish this.

3. Vision for the Future of Grand Bend

I would hope that no one would disagree that we live in a very special place in Ontario. Like anything of value it needs to be cared for and tended to as a communal venture. I think the vision for Grand Bend should come from the local people. As an elected official it's my job to see that their wishes are carried out. I believe that regular town hall meetings could connect ratepayers back to their council. Council needs to hear how they are doing, and not just every four years. I've knocked on hundreds of doors in Ward 2 to date (it's my goal to knock on every door before the ballots are mailed) and I've met a lot of interesting people. Many of these people have indicated that they would be willing to serve as volunteers on advisory committees for the municipality to deal with matters in economic development, recreation, finance, waste management etc. This is a meaningful way of connecting citizens back to their local government. We should never adopt an attitude that we don't have time to deal with our residents' concerns. That's what local, grassroots government is all about. I have heard a number of people suggest that a shuttle service on main street in the village would alleviate car crowding, noise and air quality, parking issues (including metered parking rates), create summer jobs and add a carnival atmosphere to the town (it works well in Denver for instance). Others have commented on the need to have store fronts and signage in the village reflect a consistent theme.

Arthur, we could chat for hours on all of these issues. I hope that my answers have given you some indication of the type of councillor that I will be if elected. We all need to work hard to keep this special place an attractive and affordable one in which to live. Thank you for your interest.

Doug

Hi Doug!

I like your answers which come close to what I had hoped.  Would you mind if I posted them on a friendly blog page.

Thank you,

Arthur Lake

Doug's Response:

By all means, Arthur. I appreciate you asking in advance. Openness, transparency and accountability begin at home. Thanks for taking the time to care.

Doug

Attitudes towards Pollution and the Quality of the Environment

As one gets older, there is a sense of detachment that is often difficult to describe except that it is the absence of the rush or high of youth. When we are young, our attitudes to messiness and being dirty relate more to what we are about than to what we remember as "shoulds", those things our parents tell us we ought to do. We are more likely to have our own "shoulds" as standards that young people feel and sense.

I can remember effluent of colourful water flowing into the local river. It was beautiful, but I knew there was something wrong about it. Essentially, the adults had not got their "shoulds" right. We read that young people are keeping youthful attitudes long into their adult years. Does this mean that their attitudes towards the environment never grow beyond what they were as children, being into whatever it was without thinking about consequences for others very much, or will young people bring a fresh approach to their environment by being observant of what makes it messy and dead looking. Turds floating in the river or harbour waters for example. How do they get there? We know they should not be there, but have the adults got their "shoulds" wrong again.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Syd Fletcher Mayoral Candidate for Lambton Shores, Ontario a place that includes the community of Grand Bend

Syd Fletcher is a candidate for Mayor of Lambton Shores, a city that is not a city, but a municipality that is a strange concoction of different communities, some that go together and others that seem strange together. It is a home to the environmentally friendly and to those who should be more environmentally friendly, a place of joy and community, and a place where wild animals meet humans on their front door?

Syd posts his email address and invites questions, so I thought I would ask him what was on my mind at the time ... Yesterday.

I am pleased that this candidate has ticked my boxes for what I am presently thinking about commercialisation and sewer systems.

Good on him!

RT, a nickname I use because I like art and my name is Arthur. I am also known as Woosh to some, since I am a bit of a head full....

On 30-Aug-10, at 11:47 AM, Woosh wrote:

Syd!

Thank you for putting yourself forward as a candidate for Mayor of Lambton Shores.

As a potential voter, I would like to know what your positions are regarding commercialisation of the front at Grand Bend and regarding the development of a sewerage system for Grand Bend.

Any information you can give of your vision for the future of Lambton Shores would be welcome.

Thank you,

Woosh

On 30 Aug 2010, at 03:11 PM, Syd Fletcher <promise@xcelco.on.ca> wrote:

Hi Arthur:

Re: Commercialization of the waterfront at Grand Bend

Commercial interests should not be allowed on the waterfront. It needs to be left open to the public.

One time events such as the Summer Games sailboat racing should be allowed as they would draw people to the area.

If the Ministry of the Environment mandates a sewer system for subdivisions in Lambton Shores then we would have no choice in the matter and would have to proceed.

There should absolutely be no thought of a 'grinder' system - ever. It is a poor solution at best.

My understanding from Carl Belkie is that the Ministry has no intention of mandating a sewer system. I also understand from the meeting on Thursday night that the present council has applied for a grant to do the sewer. If that does come through (and I cannot believe that that will happen before the new council comes in) then it would be the new council's position to say politely, "We made an error in applying for this grant. We will not be accepting it. We have found that we cannot afford to put up the balance of money that would be needed for the project."

I believe that we need to take a very strong look at the process of consultation that is being used to make decisions about major projects such as the sewage system and the water lines which were put into the former Bosanquet Township area. Firms which have a vested interest in proceeding with a project should not be allowed to be the main 'opinion' on said projects.

We need to set up a system of community committees which would (in conjunction with council) come to a consensus on future projects - e.g. if a committee of residents and business owners had had appropriate say in the design of the main street in Grand Bend, I have no doubt that it would look considerably different as opposed to those who like things to 'look pretty' instead of 'pretty and utilitarian' for the people who are using them.

Finally, we need a council and bureaucracy which understands the difference between the 'letter of the law and the intent of the law'. The example I use here is in the treatment of the young couple who were starting up a trucking business just to the north of Forest. The planner told them that they had to pave all around the building and put in curbs. They asked if they could be given a couple of years grace, until the business was started. They were told, "No, it has to be done right now." They took the issue to the OMB which agreed totally with them and said that the municipality was being high-handed with them.

I'm hoping that the new council will begin to deal with issues using common sense, thinking more about people than about projects.

Good day to you sir! Hopefully this helps you understand where I stand on some of the current issues.

Respectfully,
Syd Fletcher

On 30-Aug-10, at 9:10 PM, Woosh wrote:

Hi Syd!

I like your answers and would ask whether I might post them on my blog with favourable comments by myself!

Arthur

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Syd responded:

Certainly.
Syd

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rain fall upon your fields
And until we meet again
May He hold you in the palm of his hands
(Irish blessing)

Syd's blessing above.

And mine follows:

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

One can buy UBS 3 external hard disks in Paris, but where is it in North America?

Why does innovation these days take place where you least expect it, well, at least, out side of America?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/186877/hps_first_usb_30_laptop_ships_others_on_the_way.html

http://www.trustedreviews.com/laptops/news/2010/02/08/Dell-Unveils-First-USB-3-0-Laptop/p1

Oh! You may not have heard about USB 3?

http://www.eetimes.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4201089/USB-Explained-An-Introduction-to-USB-and-Its-Future

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Intel's Strategic Changes (Health, Security, Mobility, Smartphones)

In the early 1980s, Intel and Microsoft had a strategic alliance that has done the companies proud. We are now 30 years on looking at another wave of innovation in the industry that has progressed from awkward boxes on one's desk to smiling videos in one's hand. The future has health needs of the world written all over it. So, is Intel devising a winning strategy to bridge the gap between the many sick around the world and the medical professionals. Only time will tell.

The great chip maker Intel is moving forward with the times by implementing an integrative strategy:

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2010/08/02/ge-intel-to-form-new-healthcare-joint-venture

http://newsroom.intel.com/community/intel_newsroom/blog/2010/08/19/intel-to-acquire-mcafee

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703618504575460721131232894.html?mod=djemalertDEALS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infineon_Technologies

http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4205890/Intel-likely-buyer-Infineon-wireless-semiconductors

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

A Review of Superconnect a book by Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood

After a few chapters of this book, I was saying to myself that the concepts presented were in other books that I have read. That being so, the book is an excellent collection of key concepts which most people would like to understand about networks, hubs, connectors, super connectors and hubs, etc.

The book is easy to read in a few days. It provides a huge number of everyday examples so the average reader will have no trouble understanding the ideas presented.

It will make a good reference book to be read several times.

Beneficial reading. Buy the book or get it out from your local library!

http://www.superconnect.org/

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/superconnect-by-richard-koch-and-greg-lockwood-1989586.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Superconnect-Power-Networks-Strength-Links/dp/1408701715

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Gordon Brown Smile

We all love to watch politicians because of the antics they get up to in pushing forward their agendas. In the UK the Gordon Brown smile is famous and produces spasms of stomach wrenching laughter as people try to cope with a very human reaction to a politician many began to loath:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/29/bush-white-house-grave-doubts-brown

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

A World of Inequality between Sexes! Can love be present?

Such we read about the shoddy and often violent way that men treat women that we must wonder whether much love is actually present in these societies.

Were a "man" to love a woman, he would wish and allow for her to develop to "full human potential" with all that that means in participation within the community, to even become a "leader" within society.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/29/afghanistan-election-campaigners-shot-dead?CMP=EMCGT_300810&CMP=EMCNEWEML961

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Oil Industry's Quest to Leverage Technology for Oil Reaches Dangerous Extremes

As in the case of the financial sector with it's foray into more and more leveraged products, the oil industry is leveraging it's technology to dangerous limits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/business/energy-environment/30deep.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Leveraging involves the taking of risks by using methods vulnerable to catastrophe. For a while leveraging may work, but ultimately it is likely to produce the monster disasters like that witnessed in the Gulf, international banking and in the US property markets.

Firms leverage first because they can and they can do so without accounting for the full risks. Because returns are very high and can cover penalty payments when things go wrong, it is still attractive to leverage beyond present boundaries. Were the external costs properly assessed and those charged to the investors, it would not necessarily reduce the amount of leveraging because of the second factor which is that those that leverage are playing with other peoples money. Accountability is secondary!

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The key variable in determining whether a septic system serves well could be the size of lot on which the system is placed.

http://cincystreetcar.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/infrastructure-allows-greater-density/

Let in the sewerage system engineer and let in the cookie cutter home developer who cares little about the environment and produces homes to the minimum standards. Noise and light pollution results as tightly packed communities experience the trauma of citification, places where people don't know each other and don't talk to their neighbours that often.

http://www.ccwpc.org/index.php/cape-cod-water-protection-collaborative/about-the-collaborative/78-comparison-of-costs-for-wastewater-management-systems-applicable-to-cape-cod

Developers with limited amounts of land want to pack people into small lots and will almost invariably call for a sewerage system because of the environmental damage small lots and household density will cause. A prelude to packing a region more densely could be to introduce a sewerage system in order to allow a developer to pack people together in tiny box like homes rather than spread them out within the woods.

Licensing systems can provide a means of thinning out population density in order to preserve natural habitats and the environment.

http://www.water.rutgers.edu/Fact_Sheets/fs533.pdf

The profit incentive thus for engineering consultants getting business from governments in municipalities, from other engineering companies and from land developers or owners of smaller lots will be to push for sewerage systems.

These groups will raise their profitability because of economies of scale. In other words the more densely they can pack houses together the more profit they make and the less space the household owner has to grow a family.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11241&page=54

Sewer systems are thus bad for home development where the family is trying to enjoy the environment and the natural preservation. They destroy the environment by packing too many households into too small a space. Rather than leave a beautiful environment for families to enjoy developers create compounds of houses with small gardens and poor outlooks. Trees are cut down, small lakes are filled in and nature leaves. Small birds have to depart because they cannot hear other birds talking to them. All nature is squeezed out as the bulldozer changes the environment into a densely packed cookie cutter development.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Soils and Septic Systems

Soil and septic systems work together. the chances are that if you already have a septic system conditions formthe system were appropriate at the time of installation. However, conditions do change, and the water table may for example rise:

http://www.septicdesign.com/homeowners/soils-and-septic-systems/

http://ohioline.osu.edu/aex-fact/0742.html

Checking your soil type is important:

http://www.johnstonsmith.co.uk/fact4.html

Septic systems are by no means inferior to sewerage systems and can be far superior:

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1475/eb1475.html

http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/ssom_advanced-01.html

We should not kid ourselves that septic systems could not fail. A good discussion of what causes failure of septic systems is set out below in the following link:

http://if-srvv-edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss114

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Nudity in art

Much of the time when I am not writing about Wuh Lax, I am painting images in many media. The rise of the Internet means that there is an immense library of material to stimulate artistic efforts.

I think of myself as a pretty normal human male with pretty normal appetites of all sorts. Where I differ from the mainstream is in my opinion in my appreciation of artistic form. I, for example, think a nude painting whether of a male or female, or several humans in the nude is art.

I am interested in such art both from the aspects of how it was created, what it symbolizes, how it informs me, and how in stimulates. I don't think the human form should be hidden away, even though I know conventional wisdom suggests otherwise, and the evidence might suggest the viewing of nudes is erotic and addictive hence potentially dangerous to one's health and social relationships. That's the theory and it is pretty sound.

Nude and erotic art is frequently almost pornographic, but not quite. The line between art and pornography is pretty variable over time and across locations. Much depends on age and maturity. But, since young people these days are staying immature for longer one wonders. They seem to be developing physically sooner, but mentally later. That should alert us to the inappropriateness of the figure as an art form to be placed before children.

As a child myself once, I was not alone is viewing library books and nursing magazines for the odd glimpse of a the nude form. I jokingly admit that what got me heavily in Freudian psychology before the age of eight was the discussion of sex in almost all of his writings. Who didn't want to know why another kid wet his bed?

There is, nevertheless, in society a strong reluctance to breach the gap between the reality that our views of sex are socially determined and have nothing much to do with how we feel or wish to feel. Hence, we see so many people addicted to sex and pornography as a secret rite of passage which can lead to many deformations of character and premature aging.

That last comment might shock you, but it's probably the case that too much preoccupation with sex leads to physical changes that promote maturity prematurely. If sex becomes an addiction, it may very easily lead to premature death arising from natural causes, such as disease and abuse of one's body.

Religions vary in their attitude towards sex and nudity. We have the Roman Catholic church and the Moslem religions abusing their roles as guardians of the peace and of cooperation and sound thinking. By being obsessed with nudity, they detract from good policy. I have seen it proven that to deny one the pleasure of what is normal leads to an overcompensation psychologically. Hence, we witness the abuses of the Catholic and Moslem religions as regards the human body and it's appropriate care and beautification.

The fact that the disease of sex addiction afflicts many men of the church and the moslem places of worship should come as no surprise. That in the Moslem community women are treated as men's sex objects should also not come as a surprise. It's all in Freud!

Now those religions that work with the human body explicitly have a somewhat different take, and seem to be more in tune with human needs in an open environment that is loving and caring. We can all see the pleasures of the body, such as the sight of the reproductive organs and so called carnal knowledge are for us to enjoy. This is not to mean that we form addictive behaviours, but that we become more in tune with our bodies and potential social relationships that could derive.

My reality is that the people of whom I write in the Wuh Lax series belong to social arrangements very different from our own present day arrangements. Their attitudes towards sex, children, and families, were very different from what we have today. Woman, for example, had multiple sexual partners and children were a group responsibility. Thus, men in many cases did not know whether they were the father of a specific child. Some men would ignore their responsibilities and would sell children off as slaves for the Romans to abuse.

Art and nudity are very closely related. The earliest art forms such as found on the island of Gozo in the Mediterranean, represent women of enormous size as a fertility symbol. That reproductive organs appeared in art in early societies should not surprise us. We should be more surprised that archaeologists hid these paintings from us because they themselves were shocked by them, as in the case of digging up Pompeii art.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Secrecy, Addiction and Ignorance Are Joint Catalysts For Conflict

Little Jack of five years comes up to me typing away and says, "Arffer, you are in trouble. You are in trouble." He looks down at my socks and eyes the big toe sticking out of the one on the right.

I say to Jack, "Well, thank you Jack. That's very kind of you to point that out!"

I say to myself that I wish everyone were so open with me. Then returning to my writing, I have a strange notion about how little is said about more major problems until they burst out into open warfare.

The human is a creature that has cravings and appetites. If not kept in check, they grow within. The human is a hedonistic hub in which desires arising from chemical changes within produce greater and greater, more and more, cravings. Without satisfaction, these cravings can come to dominate a person's mind so much that they are a fabric of their very being.

When people with the same hidden cravings get together as a hub of activity then we can have problems of a major sort. It's groups that keep secrets that cause conflict. The craving drives the secrecy which drives the group towards actions that go beyond the group into the world. Within the group remains a sort of ignorance about what is actually going on, a sort of denial of what percolates to drive the group forward.

In the end, hedonism within a group can lead to conspiracy, excessive allegiance and ultimately to actions and behaviors that predispose the members of the group to premature death.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Is Canada Doing Better than Australia?

We often hear how well the Canadians are doing during the present world crisis period. That Canada was doing so well even became rhetoric during the recent British National election. Professor Stiglitz below comments on the Australian economy. Can we see similarities? Of course we can!

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz128/English

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Do Democracies Perform Better?

There is something to be said for young people who learn to think for themselves rather than let their parents decide. Traditions are important, but the best traditions may be those that support the family while raising children to be independent. Such it is with democracies that we may see greater progress coming from communities that allow children to develop quickly and take on responsibilities sooner in life. That women in such societies are given a grater role is self evident.

More at:

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rodrik46/English

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Waking up to the Challenges the Migration of People and Technology

People compare what happened during the Great Depression with what is happening today.  For a discussion of the causes of depression:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression

In my view, we have evolved economic systems based on the fear of another great depression.  We have central banking systems that give us more tools to avoid the scourges of rapid asset depreciation.  But, we are still vulnerable to a major depression arising out of excessive over investment during a period of enormous demographic change.  

That demographics have come to the rescue of the American economy many times arise from what used to be known as the safety value, a gap between what could be done migrating westward and the opportunities such migration afforded to a troubled eastern side of the continent.  

We still have the safety value, but in our modern world it is migration of technology in one direction and people in the other.  People will migrate to industrial economies and the technologies of industrial economies will migrate to places where there are loads of people.  Both migrations have the enormous potential to be destabilizing.

 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fan16/English

On the one hand places receiving people will need to build homes, while on the other hand places receiving technologies will also need to build homes as more and more people are housed in cities.  Thus demographics and the housing markets of our modern economies will be severely impacted quite apart from changes in money supply, land prices and environmental conservation.

While we talk about energy prices, we see how money in the form of liquidity and the demographics in the per household management of that liquidity can have a major impact on whether or not we experience a major depression.

We know that population growth rates and land prices are critical forces for human discomfort quite apart from energy prices.  We are presently observing rapid development in all the key forces of discomfort.

  http://hubpages.com/hub/What-Bad-Financial-Policy-can-Bring-Weimer-Germany-in-the-1920s

We need to wonder and research how the modern world will cope with the impact of major shifts in the migration of people and technology.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends!  May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Homes such as these going for half price

This is my daughter's home in Berryville, Virginia and it is up for
sale at half price. At $320 k, the half price is sitting on the long
term trend of house prices and is affordable. That the price should
have been more is an aberration, an outrage! Many people have to sell
their homes to satisfy the developers and bankers greed! The banks
knew what they were doing and still placing the younger generation in
a n impossible situation. With inflation, you are forced, as a young
person or family starting out, to participate in order to have your
foot in the door. That is why it is so evil and so socially
destructive. That divorces arise and children are affected is
entirely predictable.

Cycling in Grand Bend

The one thing that I like about summers in Grand Bend is the cycling.
There are so many places to go that are with the forest canopy and by
the beach. Healthy and fun at the same time, there is bot much that
can beat cycling.

Personalities, Causes and Mayoral Roles

Is Good Governance Self Serving?

What I have seen is that the local political world is fairly complex.  Normally, I would sit on the sidelines and say that it does not involve me.  Assuming a neutral role, however, may be in special circumstances a disservice to oneself.  Thus, one has to be self serving at least some of the time in situations where it becomes unavoidable.   

Who decides that it is unavoidable?  Good question!  It's a two way street.  We all need to be self serving a little, but let us not mistake serving others with self serving.  

Nevertheless, it takes one to know one and the present mayor of Grand Bend is apt to present an overstated case in favor of a number of things.  Far be it for me to regard many of his comments as inflammatory or even self serving.  How in the world would I know?  Perhaps, he is serving what he regards as the better interest, but I am in a position to understand what is just wrong and point to a better way to go about things and be picky about honesty and openness in governance.  

Being a mayor is awesome in itself, but the current Mayor needs to have more style.  His projection of himself as a fair and honest dealer is in shambles.  He stands naked before us in his blindness to the fact he has no clothes of consultation and cooperation.

Mayoral Representation and Consultation  

In my view, and in serving myself, we hear much from the Mayor that is false, and we hear much less of what is self evident were he to see himself as others see him.  The situation is mostly about personalities.   That is not to say one should raise personalities to the forefront of a debate.  The issues are important, but they should never be accepted as a done deal when they affect so many people and so many other related things, such as fair dealing, honesty, openness, consultation, service to the community, service to the environment.  

There are many ways to approach interpretations of consultation.  That many were not properly consulted on the issue of sewers is now pretty evident to many people.   

Am I self serving if I object to the fact that I was not properly consulted on something that will impact seriously on my sense of what is right for the environment at my doorstep?  Sorry!   If it comes back to personalities, then such an affront to what I consider fair play will not be taken lightly.  And, it should not be taken lightly.  

After all, in some less fortunate communities changes at one's doorstep become matters constitutional for which people fight to the death.  Are they self serving?    

I am particularly conscious of the mayor's rather bold comments concerning the wisdom of a new sewerage system covering Grand Bend.  He exaggerates the benefits without being smart about the negative consequences.  Rarely, do I meet such narrow mindedness, so it is a displeasure to be sure!  

I would not think any one could ever have voted for him.  however, there are many bright people in the community that did and that puzzles me.   Well, they can correct for past errors and change their minds.  There are some good candidates up to the task of being a Mayor and being better at it.   It does not detract from what has been the current Mayor's personal way has become my present  nightmare and yours.  So, we are all agreed.  A change towards more openness and consultation would be a vast improvement on what we presently have and I don't really want to go there.  

Consequences of Having a Bad Mayor

Being a good mayor is not about spending more and more money and having successful projects.  It is about understanding the electorate and bringing people together within the community.  Nothing should move forward without most people buying into it.  Thus, people need to be informed.  That is a vision of democracy.  One in which people collaborate together and cooperate rather than compete.  They collaborate because they are aware that it is correct to do so.  It fits the circumstances to work together on important issues such as sewers and commercialization.

But, that is not the main issue as I understand the Mayor has left quite a messy situation and lots of ill feeling within the community, and yes, it seems, it is time for him to pack up his Mayoral role and from what I have seen it is not too early.  Who will pick up the sad discardable pieces that he leaves behind and deal with them effectively, I wonder who?

Sewers

It is sad that ordinary people who voice their opposition to costs they cannot bear should be disparaged within the community.  That is just plain wrong.  

Let's get rid of the sewerage project until we have much more unanimity of purpose about it within the community.  If we don't we will almost certainly be driving in completely the wrong direction.

I cannot for the life of me see why there is so much rush.  

This is a time to continue the research into what is appropriate and it is not the time to be spending money on consultants without imagination.  

I have never seen a community so divided over rubbish.  

We could save much wasted money by dumping the sewerage project into a black hole somewhere.  Would that I could build a black hole for it, myself. 

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends!  May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Some pointers for controversies in Grand Bend, Ontario

Daily Commercial News: http://dcnonl.com/

Grand Bend Strip: http://www.grandbendstrip.com/

The Lakeshore Advance: http://www.lakeshoreadvance.com/

Grand Bend Topics: http://www.topix.com/ca/grand-bend-on

The Observer: http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2720842

Woosh: http://www.woohs.blogspot.com

Main issues:

1. Commercialization and volleyball...
http://www.lakeshoreadvance.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2718278

2. Good Governance:

http://woohs.blogspot.com/2010/08/citizens-for-good-governance-in-lambton.html

http://www.lakeshoreadvance.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2668140

http://www.lakeshoreadvance.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2716320&auth=Peter%20Coleman

http://woohs.blogspot.com/2010/08/democratic-process-environmental.html

http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2720842

3. Sewers:

http://www.sarniathisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2697793

http://www.lambtonshores.ca/living/index.htm

http://www.bsra.ca/priorities/20090515_bluewater_resident_info_GBSTF.pdf

http://www.sarniathisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2697792

http://www.lakeshoreadvance.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2534011

http://dcnonl.com/article/id40329

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Turning Human Waste into Energy and Bioproducts! Are Septic Systems and Sewers Already Obsolete?

The time has come for a vast reconsideration of the methods of disposal of human waste. The fact is that human waste can be turned into products that will produce business profits and make people rich. The sad thing is how far behind the attitudes of Canadians still are. We need to push our council and households for small scale units to produce energy from bio-waste not collect it for old fashioned treatments that are obviously on the road to obsolescence. Waste not want not!

It is time that we are getting onto this bandwagon of innovation. We claim in Ontario that we know how to produce clean water from dirty water. It's time we created the energy and clean water from pee and sludge that will see you and me in a community that is free from septic systems and sewers. This is not an unrealistic expectation for the next decade, so why are we still stinking thinking about sewers. It's like an alcoholic that does know the effects of stinking thinking.

We know the farmers here around can potentially pollute our rivers with many toxins more so than the villages and beach homes. The farmers should be made to re-examine their role in environmental development not destruction. Similarly, we should be given assistance to produce energy rather than pollutants out of individual households. It only takes innovations in conversion products to transform forever the way we manage farm effluent, toxins and sludge.

It would make you pretty sick to feel that you had spent millions on a sewerage system yourself that benefits those innovating in the energy field. At the very least, you would want to be paid for your human waste and waste water. Water can be filtered and sold. You pay for it so you should be able to earn an income from it. As it stands people give this energy source the push just the same way cattle do.

That is changing. As I write, a friend is initiating the first steps to innovate in the UK a system of using agricultural sludge and other bio-matter to create energy products. There is money in human waste. Farmers use it, but don't tell you. The bio-energy industry is in it's nacient steps, but before long the sewerage problems of past generations could be history as we transform a potential pollutant and source of disease into clean energy.

In its simplest form, we have what Sintex has done to create units for production of energy from biogas:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/26/news/international/kahn_biogas.fortune/index.htm

More complicated systems to create energy are envisioned in the United States. Just think how communities and households could alter the landscape by producing products that would be good for the environment and dramatically reduce bio-pollutants.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/converting-human-waste-to-energy-here-today-dung-farms-booming/19162953/

The Canadian Company Dyomotive has plans to turn human waste into oil:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/nov/29/energy.ethicalliving

The BBC Science team reports on the potential:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/768672.stm

The list of potential products from human and animal waste is quite long:

http://buildaroo.com/news/article/vw-bio-bug-energy-human-waste/

The bright sparks in urban communities are catching on, as in San Antonio, Texas:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0937395520080910

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

If you like photography!

This is where the photo community real takes off

http://www.fotocommunity.de/

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends!  May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Various Critical Letters Concerning Proposed Sewer System in City of Lambton Shores

I apologize for the confused state of the following blog. It arises in part from the poor quality and lack of completeness coming from the services of information dissemination afforded by the city of Lambton Shores.

I have not been able to find the letter on line which states that serious money is now being sought for development of the sewer system:

Blank and awaiting a copy? Transparency!?

The most important document seems to have been assembled by Dillon a company located with a London, Ontario office. Has Dillon done other work for the municipality / city?

This loads to a single pdf file of 444 pages in my iPad and includes responses of some people in the Southcott Pines neighbourhood.

Each time that the file provided by the municipality is separately viewed, the download into the viewer requires about ten minutes to download so I have read many articles on the environment in the New Scientist during that time. Wow!

That the single pdf file should also be broken down into about twenty smaller files is self evident. Few people otherwise would have the multitasking needed to study the many interesting papers and letters included seriously.

I don't recall myself receiving an invitation to comment on the project and still at the end of August 2010 have not received such an invitation, but the letter to me may have been returned to sender, which is really rather rare, but not beyond the stretches of some imaginings.

I think that I am better informed to comment now having been appraised of the environmental destruction that would accompany installation of any other system than the septic system within Southcott Pines. I am still agonizing over the trees that have already been wantonly removed nearby!

I almost count the trees in this area and would propose that they be individually identified and a protection order requested for each one. I have planted more than 50 new oak trees on my property and will gladly supply acorns to those wishing to plant more. The deer have eaten away at one maple. Yet, the maple is alive and I believe still a blood red symbol of Canada and should not be arbitrarily cut down, even by a deer!

We remember the human fallen who gave of their blood for the values inherent in the tree forests of Canada that some people seem so intent on destroying through unaffordable unsustainable development. How many more shells of failed businesses do we want to see in the province, and indeed Grand Bend. What a depressed sight it is! And, so much unemployment and lost careers. Is there no planning authority or national trust?

My opinion is that the city should not interfere with the fragile ecology already established in Southcott Pines, however, well intentioned. I would favour a new system of planning control modeled on that in the United Kingdom and I do take umbrage at the comments suggesting that people in the neighbourhood are somehow less eager to support environmental issues, especially the idea that they are abusive.

It is said that my now deceased mother once climbed a tree in Kincardine to stop it from being wantonly destroyed by municipal workers cutting away to keep busy and have an excuse to be paid a wage, and it still stands on the corner of Durham and Huron Terrace Streets.

I believe I should be provoked into a similar reaction were the proposed project for Southcott not be cancelled. Many people are with me on this. Some are suggesting action is almost inevitable.

That anyone would say we are abusive is clearly outside the realms of credibility and demonstrates as stupidity beyond comprehension, or just plain ignorance. How many thousands of new trees would be planted in association with the sewerage system I would ask, but I guess the response of Dillon would be to leave that to nature. I see no costing for replacement trees as this would be rather expensive.

My response is to ask for a examination of the lack of forests along the waterways of the watershed feeding into Grand Bend and around the fields and especially around the main agricultural points of effluent into the feeding rivers and streams.

Why is the provincial park forest waste to be transported out of the park? If anything the park should set an example of a self sufficient system that is sustainable. That the park is now part of a city system is not a good enough answer for any thinking individual.

http://www.lambtonshores.ca/Docs/Zone%203%20Project%20File.pdf

This is the FINAL NOTICE OF COMPLETION hidden away and only named as such as a file. how would one know unless searching diligently for it?

http://www.lambtonshores.ca/Docs/Zone3_FinalNoticeofCompletion_EXTENDED_Summer2010.pdf

The following is the letter from the Ministry to the Municipality:

http://www.lambtonshores.ca/Docs/lttrtopropsgrandbend.pdf

Water tests:

http://www.lambtonshores.ca/Docs/0811321160-L18Aug1710-groundwatermonitgrandbend.pdf

Most of this interesting stuff is posted by the Municipality on:

http://www.lambtonshores.ca/living/index.htm

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Who do you book with? Vacations, Hotels, Flights

My favorite is:

Expedia

http://www.expedia.co.uk/

Try...

Active Hotels

http://www.activehotels.com/wl/servlet/search/freshSearch.do?trkref=SMU

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Problems Associated with Economies of Scale in Food Production and Distribution can be Disease and Death

I have mentioned in an earlier blog how I feel the FDA has let us down. My new idea is that the FDA become an insurance agency to cover the population for all the errors the economies of scale people in the industrial food and drug make. Thus, if a person is ill from a bad drug or food the FDA pays for damages to that individual.

To recover from the cost of errors the FDA then would charge the firms of the many industries responsible as natural citizens. Taxing companies this way would help defray costs of errors presently born by private individuals. These costs are what lead to an unfair distribution of incomes and to poverty. In short, a fair system would cover the costs of externalities of errors made by industries and firms that lead to costs born by you and me.

Who has paid for the efforts to protect the community from the swine flu virus. While I am sure the industrial farmers would say that they are guilt free, I am not sure that I would accept that. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence to suggest that scaling up in food processing is going to cost us consumers dearly while the industrialists escape to Hawaii or Switzerland! Just a daily perusal of the papers shows us what the problem is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/us/27eggs.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

In short, all industry wants to become like a publishing company earning surplus value from economies of scale. While this sounds a bit basic eighteenth century economics, it is none the less very evident.

No substantial profit can be made without achieving economies of scale. Publishing is the way to make profit. It is why the business of farming has become almost indistinguishable from Microsoft Corp.

Everyone wants to run their business as a publishing company in order to get those economies of scale.

Why do you think so many businesses are migrating to China?

Unfortunately, the economies of scale invariably lead to gross inequities in the distribution of incomes and to concentrations of power in the hands of publishers.

We should also take time to think how those creatures on the production lines feel. An example would be university students in America. Curricula are so badly designed these days that students come off the production line without the ability to think.

And, what about food, such as wheat products which are making people ill. Stores that want to be publishing houses for the popular products that poison children. Don't get me started on that one. We are missing the element of responsibility and accountability, here folks! Shoving it all onto the consumer is not fair. It is in fact sickening, and someone should be liable.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Insurance, Home Maintenance and Sewer Systems

Insurance is basically of two forms. One is maintenance of a physical system and the other is financial coverage for the potential liabilities of that system. For a sewerage system insurance needs to be thought of in very broad terms to cover each unit the community is responsible for while at the same time seeing individuals are properly covered both in maintaining their system and in protection from financial loss.

Obviously, the more complex the system in a community the greater the operating and the financial cost to the community as a whole and to individual households making up the community. Both sets of costs need to be covered, but it is the individual households who pay for the community costs as well!

What follows is a link to a really good home maintenance guide on line. It covers sewer and septic issues:

http://www.reliantinspectionservice.com/sample%20reportFolder/home-maintenance-information-from-your-inspector.pdf

The community eventually gets into the management issues for sewers in the area:

http://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/proc05/papers/pap1378.pdf

A good discussion about winterizing your home:

http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/emergency%20government/Individual%20and%20Family%20Contingency%20Planner.pdf

General plumbing information guide:

http://www.theplumber.com/handbook.html

The pump and grind system from and engineering perspective:

http://www.pump-zone.com/articles/439.pdf

A very good discussion of alternatives to pump and grind as well as overall:

http://www.uri.edu/ce/wq/NEMO/Publications/PDFs/WW.ChoosingSystem.pdf

Another discussion focusing on pressure sewer systems:

http://www.awwoa.ab.ca/pdfs/PresSewer.pdf

A description of what to expect if you get and pump and grinder system:

http://www.hagerstownmd.org/utilities/Wastewater/grinderpump.html

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Snap Crackle and Pop of the Wheat Genome

Scientists have decoded the gene structure of wheat. As someone already allergic to wheat should I be concerned.

I would say no because having more information out there might help the world understand what it is about wheat that results in wheat allergies and celiac disease, the leaking gut of the community that produces all those tiny red dots below the ribs. Check yourself!

Most people may not know they have wheat sensitivity or allergy. They may lose their hair and not know it is due to the shampoo. They way gain weight and not know it is due to wheat in sausages. They may feel uncomfortably bloated, gassy and winded and not know it is due to donuts.

For my thinking, though I like the idea of discovery and the possibilities that more information could lead to strains of wheat that don't cause celiac disease, I am aware of the dangers resident in food innovation.

That is why good back to what we ate as primitive peoples may be more of a solution to famine issues than discoveries making giant industrial wheat producers more money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/27/AR2010082700858.html?wpisrc=nl_tech

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Remember that the Two Enemies of a Sound Economy are Inflation and Debt

It may sound trite, but inflation and debt are closely related. As it happens, inflation has been improperly used as a method of reducing debt burden. What results from inflation is more debt. The problem many countries find themselves in now is that mucking around with the variables in the money equation is seen as a solution to their problems. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Mucking around with the money supply and interest rates can produce the liquidity trap as it is called in economics. It is a situation of low interest rates and no growth. It may also be a period of deflation which is ironic given that too much money is at the root of inflation. Excess liquidity may also be an indicator of a sound economy waiting for technology and innovation of the creative destruction of Schumpeterian forms to lead activity out of a slump in productive investment.

The fact is that George Bush and the Federal Reserve Bank's lack of understanding about the dangers of a war economy have America investing in the wrong goods and services. The war economy like no other economy leads to depression if for no other reason than business focuses too much on satisfying the needs of the military at the expense of the peaceful community. Rather than innovating with new environmental solutions US industry is still caught up in the military economy.

People are waiting for the diamonds in the haystack of solutions to what ails an over-invested lack lustre boring economic scenario. Meanwhile new military innovations are keeping the US economy afloat. Yes, people are very bored with the economy because it is not giving up it's secrets easily. Hidden away within the activities present in the industrial landscape are gems waiting to be discovered. Investors want to know what these gems are. They are poised to act with a fury that no one will escape, but they cannot act if they don't know! Such is the dangerous flux of the US economy. What we want to see is rapid innovation in energy saving technologies led by Detroit. The leveling of land in the city for agriculture did not escape me!

The housing market ain't it. Surprise! Surprise! The population is aging and there will be so many natural deaths to satisfy housing demand without building new homes. Perhaps, a new round of divorcing would help! If the economy continues the way it is that divorces will happen and the recover could result from broken families splitting into more and more households as they did during the Reagon recession in the early 1980's and the collapse of the banks in Texas. Will we see it unfurl that way?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/27/AR2010082702066.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Debate about Sewers In Grand Bend and Neighbourhood Perceptions

I want you to listen to this TED talk because it has important insight into why we often misunderstand our neighbours:

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.htm

At the heart of the debate in Grand Bend about sewers and the new CFGG group that wishes to participate in the political process is the question of choice.

Some feel that their elected representatives went beyond their civil roles when they made the choice of sewer system for Grand Bend based on the recommendations of a third party, namely the Dillon Corp. Others complained that the company assigned to research alternatives did not really consider very deeply the choices available, and especially the choice that the community had already made historically which favored septic systems.

In the future, the community will have to make choices, and it is a big question whether households will be given the opportunity to participate in those choices and take them on board. It really does matter in Canada that people have the freedom to choose for themselves. It is a cultural value that people here will fight vigorously for.

That the issue of which sewer system revolves around choice is quite apparent to me because of the discussions I have had with a number of very bright people of different cultural backgrounds.

Please view the following TED talk and see whether you might alter your view as regards the political process affecting which sewer system is chosen in Grand Bend.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.htm

Now having viewed the video on your computer or iPad, you may feel as I do that what has happened in Grand Bend is a matter of how different people might view the question of choosing which sewer systems and where. The fact is that there are many choices wrapped up in this single choice.

Overall, I am convinced that individual households need to have the freedom to make their choice whether or not it is the correct choice. Thus, I am in favor of the septic system since it is my choice. However, I do realize that there are authors who say that the government should decide for me which system to implement. My response to that is that it is too radical a departure from my original understanding of what would be my choices in the future. It is so radical a departure that I would feel greatly justified in pursuing the matter in a Court of Justice.

The issue then becomes one of whether the Court would decide in my favor given that it is the Government that is limiting my choice. In response, I would feel that it is the government 's role to respect my choices in matters that represent radical departures from what I am expecting when I engage in a long term commitment to manage my property in a reasonable citizen like way. As a citizen, it is my responsibility to make choices that do not detract greatly from other peoples enjoyment of living close to me. Thus, as a good citizen, I would not do anything to endanger them like having a large bonfire in the back garden which could get out of control and start a serious forest fire.

Thus, it is that the choices a government might wish to make are limited just as my own choices are limited. Both I and the government have the moral responsibility of not departing too radically from what would endanger the people of e community. I would argue that it is the government's responsibility to refrain from taking choices away from households where they can make effective decisions and ones that protect the community.

Where governments go wrong is where they assume they can make choices for citizens beyond what is expected by the citizenry. Thus, to take away environmental responsibility from households would be a bad step and would open up the destruction of the role at citizens play in researching choices and in making them based on their role as good citizens.

We are not a dictatorship in Canada and we honor our citizenry and the education system we have that enables that citizenry to make good and wise choices, household by household.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Horrors of Speaking in Front of People - Costs and Benefits of Speaking Out

Last evening at the town hall meeting for the CFGG, I was especially struck by hardship cases of the local residents who were adversely affected by the major improvements to the town's services.

Every time the village has a major improvement, it is likely that the benefits and costs will be spread unevenly.I have worked for governments on projects before and I have worked on some infrastructure projects around the world.

Before a large project relative to the size of a community is undertaken, there needs to be economic, engineering, financial, technical, feasibility and environmental analyses. Some people confuse economic and financial analyses. They are almost totally different. These days economic analyses need to be done in conjunction with environmental assessments and environmental economic assessments. These can be also very different.

Economists are particularly keen these days to evaluate the costs and benefits of what are termed externalities. Externalities arise with projects and they can be the undoing of the benefits of projects, for example if a project requires a wood to be cut down this would have externalities for the people near the wood and the creatures occupying the wood.

Engineers generally are paid to be bad economists because they don't examine externalities carefully and frequently limit their economics to the effects associated with the price mechanisms. That the loss of vegetation results in changes that cannot be easily priced or compensation paid means that such aspects are ignored.

Waste products are dumped and both people and the environment suffer outside the price mechanism. Most environmental damage occurs outside what traditional economics and engineering would consider as important.This is at the root of the enormous damage done to the Ontario environment over the past fifty years. Much of the damage is not paid for by those doing the damage. There is a big debt to be paid, but no one is handed the bill. This again is because people are not made accountable for the predictable results of their actions.

Large projects are enormously destabilizing for creatures and people without a voice, the underrepresented population who must ultimately bear the cost of other people's profits and income. That the world suffers from over investment is almost a truism. So much has been created and done in the name of progress which we have to correct. These environmental and social costs are almost never recovered, but should be. It is just plane wrong that the weak and poor suffer at the hands of those claiming the benefits of so called progress.

Thus, when at the town hall meeting, we heard from at least three people say that the costs of the sewerage project were underestimated, it was good to have this break the surface of people's understanding. If one has any conscience at all, one has to feel for the many less well off people in the community that are harmed by projects others benefit from, but who never pay the full price. It was good for these people to speak out because they and their families and the families of their offspring will ultimately bear most of the costs.

We wonder why some people remain poor relatively. Well this is why. It is the disproportionate distribution of costs to a community so that the real costs fall on those less well off and least able to voice their objection. Some, like the forests full of life, stand silent until they are decimated. Of course, the beneficiaries of large projects, the engineers in fancy vehicles and the politicians want these projects because they are blind to, or put their blinkers on, to the full costs and damages.

They would not, I can assure you, want to pay for them out of their own pockets, and it is not good enough to pay token attention to these important costs. In some other societies, the many externalities must be given greater weight because of the relative numbers of people affected.

It is in developing countries, such as Canada and Quebec where the costs are not reaching the surface of consciousness. Notice that I did not ignore the externalities of the project of Quebec. Notice I said Quebec, and this is because Quebec is a developing country. It may not have it's independence, but that is by choice. It is a country developing within another country called Canada. It is like the country of Scotland developing within the country of United Kingdom, developing within the country of the European Union.

In societies where social costs are ignored by the beneficiaries, there can come about a violent redress of the imbalance, a restructuring of the playing field, a social and environmental disaster that can be avoided by a more disciplined approach to development that gets everything out in the open on the table and discussed by all those that may participate. Openness and transparency are thus at the heart of democratic progress and development and without openness violence to the environment and to people results.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Keeping to The Facts

Often heard in political discussion is the phrase 'keep to the facts'. It is as if some need were satisfied by being logically tight and only talk about things you know about. Such left brain side assumptions about what is best in discussions surely must be missing the point about discussions at any time.

Our reality is most often that there are no true facts that can be applied to the issues we must face almost hourly. What is true in any event other than filtered facts. And, what filter have we applied to the facts to make them true. This is not to say that we don't want to have information out there and in full view for all to see.

But, experience says that it's important to have all the information out there including the facts so that we can see what are potential facts and potential filters for those facts. All facts must go through filters before they are presented and that is what the discussion is really about, the filters.

It would have been better to say that one wants all the information filtered my way because I want good and useable news for me.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

At last Someone at the Wall Street Journal is getting it Right

I have been saying that the situation facing Britain, Canada and America is far worse than they will ever admit. These countries may not default, but there are other ways creditors can be screwed:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Identity Crisis that is Grand Bend

At the Citizens for Good Governance CFGG meeting tonight at the school in Grand Bend, Ontario, we collectively suffered an identity crisis. It is my humble assessment that the good governance issue is far more important than I could ever imagine. The citizens of Grand Bend are collectively being abused by an electoral and governmental system that is not up to the task of good governance.

In my view, the municipality acts of Ontario are somewhat lacking and instead of leading to good governance, they are leading to the self destruction of communities and bad governance. Reformation of the parliamentary system may indeed be needed because larger governing bodies may suffer from the same weaknesses as the municipalities. The whole province may harbour pockets of communities that may be governed corruptly.

Having lived in Quebec during the time of Duplessis, It would not be the first time governing bodies abused their electorate and the whole system was fundamentally deficient.

It seems that even if the majority of people are against some thing in Grand Bend, they can be forced to accept it, because they live within Lambton Shores, a municipality that has more authority. Yes, quite! And, it has more scope for bad government, or corrupt government.

The issue of sewerage systems is an environmental issue, but the identity of those being forced to change to an environmentally inferior system is at risk. It's like a city closing down a forest because it does not like trees. Yes! You my reader can understand that a city that closes down a forest because it does not like trees is not good for the forest.

In Grand Bend, a community within a city is being force into making changes that will alter the character of the village. Just the process of change will destroy a struggling community spirit of the village, pitting people against each other, and will cut into the forest to make changes that it claims are an improvement, but which village says it does not need, nor want. The city also says that the village must pay for these unwanted changes. In essence, the city is a bully, is environmentally destructive and fails to meet the challenges of good governance.

An earlier comment in my blog pages was that sewage systems engineers can come to govern a community. This notion was taken from someone with long experience in fighting an ineffective sewerage system. This person, a lawyer, claimed that no one else knew more about sewer systems.

The identity crisis facing Grand Bend is happening because of the linear thinking process that governs the projections into the future of trends that cannot continue without fundamentally altering the character of the Ontario environment.

When villages should be villages, the community has now to behave like a city. This is a recipe for disaster. A village needs to be a village if the community is to pull together.

One could be forgiven if one thinks that the shit methods of the city and it's problems are being foisted on an innocent village community and a sewer of a problem is destroying it's spirit.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Use Google Voice on Your Iphone!

This I have not yet tried, but you see the Iphone on this Google page:

http://www.google.com/mobile/voice/

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

Free Telephone Calls Using Google and Flash - What Next Apple?

Google's new free phone service lists Flash as a requirement. Does this mean Apple Iphone users are excluded? No! Apparently not!

http://www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?answer=115067&cbid=-18pk27qyp1tad&src=cb&lev=%20answer

See discussion in:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/25/AR2010082504174.html?wpisrc=nl_pmtech

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.

The Democratic Process, Environmental Politics, and Choice of Sewer Systems in Grand Bend

At the heart of the debate in Grand Bend about sewers and the new CFGG group that wishes to participate in the political process is the question of choice.

Some feel that their elected representatives went beyond their civil roles when they made the choice of sewer system for Grand Bend based on the recommendations of a third party, namely the Dillon Corp. Others complained that the company assigned to research alternatives did not really consider very deeply the choices available, and especially the choice that the community had already made historically which favored septic systems.

In the future, the community will have to make choices, and it is a big question whether households will be given the opportunity to participate in those choices and take them on board. It really does matter in Canada that people have the freedom to choose for themselves. It is a cultural value that people here will fight vigorously for.

That the issue of which sewer system revolves around choice is quite apparent to me because of the discussions I have had with a number of very bright people of different cultural backgrounds.

Please view the following TED talk and see whether you might alter your view as regards the political process affecting which sewer system is chosen in Grand Bend.

http://blog.singhanuvrat.com/miscel/ted-talks-sheena-iyengar-on-the-art-of-choosing

Now having viewed the video on your computer or iPad, you may feel as I do that what has happened in Grand Bend is a matter of how different people might view the question of choosing which sewer systems and where. The fact is that there are many choices wrapped up in this single choice.

Overall, I am convinced that individual households need to have the freedom to make their choice whether or not it is the correct choice. Thus, I am in favor of the septic system since it is my choice. However, I do realize that there are authors who say that the government should decide for me which system to implement. My response to that is that it is too radical a departure from my original understanding of what would be my choices in the future. It is so radical a departure that I would feel greatly justified in pursuing the matter in a Court of Justice.

The issue then becomes one of whether the Court would decide in my favor given that it is the Government that is limiting my choice. In response, I would feel that it is the government 's role to respect my choices in matters that represent radical departures from what I am expecting when I engage in a long term commitment to manage my property in a reasonable citizen like way. As a citizen, it is my responsibility to make choices that do not detract greatly from other peoples enjoyment of living close to me. Thus, as a good citizen, I would not do anything to endanger them like having a large bonfire in the back garden which could get out of control and start a serious forest fire.

Thus, it is that the choices a government might wish to make are limited just as my own choices are limited. Both I and the government have the moral responsibility of not departing too radically from what would endanger the people of e community. I would argue that it is the government's responsibility to refrain from taking choices away from households where they can make effective decisions and ones that protect the community.

Where governments go wrong is where they assume they can make choices for citizens beyond what is expected by the citizenry. Thus, to take away environmental responsibility from households would be a bad step and would open up the destruction of the role at citizens play in researching choices and in making them based on their role as good citizens.

We are not a dictatorship in Canada and we honor our citizenry and the education system we have that enables that citizenry to make good and wise choices, household by household.

Will ye no think kindly on those who would be your friends! May the sun shine with your thoughts, today, and happiness grow in your heart! May you allow yourself some peace of mind.