"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Monday 25 March 2013

Monday morning... Odds and Sods

A purple crocus blooms at my door. Cardinals in my garden are no longer hiding in the cedar hedge Black-capped chickadees have bent to the ground the last stems that stood throughout the winter. Temperature hasn't changed much but birds and plants know what's what. I am finally on the mend from a weird kind of flu that resisted all efforts to hasten its departure. Blog postings normally occupy my day. T.V.news and features have helped to while away the hours. Some things I've noticed. Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears to be having one of those professional image makeovers. Last week, he and Mrs Harper helped elementary school students have a conversation with Chris Hadfield,Canadian Commander of the space station. To-day, the prominent couple will welcome a giant pandas couple on their arrival from China on five year loan to Toronto zoo. No doubt the pandas will appreciate the attention. We'll await with bated breath the next warm and fuzzy occasion planned for our edification. The new Pontiff was chosen. Seems like a nice man. Cardinals have been engaged explaining to the media what changes the world can expect and what not. It got me thinking. About the wisdom of immature girls starting birth control pills for use throughout their re-productive lives. About fetus aborted because of Down's syndrome. About third trimester abortions. I thought about why women want to be priests. I wrote a post about the appearance of two Lakeshore Mayors appearing before the committee of inquiry into cancellation of two gas-fired hydro generating plants after construction had begun. I referred to one as Burlington Burton Turns out he was probably the Mayor of Oakville. That made me decide to check out what the Ontario Legislature Channel has to offer. I'm watching it now. OMG. it's tedious. The few members present keep shifting about to fill the seats behind speakers to look like everybody is on the job. I have the sound turned off. My grand-daughter Stephanie is going through her basket of seeds to decide which to start,ready to set out when the weather gets warm. I think we will have to plan some raised boxes. One of my readers doesn't understand why I'm not writing about a jazz festival in Aurora that may not be,instead of of the cancellation of the hydro generating plants. Well, we all have our priorities. If jazz festivals are felt to be a critical need in the community, by all means my commenter should certainly write a post on the subject. I am content to leave the field clear. Nothing in my experience entices me to engage.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Christoper is covering the Jazz Group although he can't figure out what they are doing either. Don't expect too many ' non- entitled ' residents really give a rat's patooey.

Anonymous said...

"Christopher" turtled ... again.

Anonymous said...

Catherine Marshall is punching above her weight in the Auroran this week in her attack on Alison Collins-Mrakas. Alison is not a paid commentator on politics. She was unpaid for her broadcasts & is unpaid for her articles. She is in charge of Ethics at York University and recently was honoured with the prestigious President's Award by her peers.
Really, Ms Marshall should know better.

Anonymous said...

As usual Catherine Marshall sucks air.

Must be the company she keeps.

Anonymous said...

Granted, 10:31 AM, but Ms Collins-Mrakas is hardly a neutral. The back-and-forth between the various factions in this town can be so tiresome.

Anonymous said...

For someone who is "in charge of ethics", I find her one-sided perspective off-putting.

The problem with media in this Town is that there is no "news" to be reported. Everything is written with an editorial spin that clouds the reality of the issue.

The Banner is tagged with being pro-Morris, pro-Dawe.... the Auroran is pro-Buck, anti-Morris... there is no honest discussion.

Grace said...

Glad to hear that you are on the mend Evelyn. Take care.

Anonymous said...

I am puzzled about why Catherine Marshall feels it is necessary to explain, in caps no less, what went on at a Council meeting that we could all watch and/or read about in the Auroran. Actually the letters from the 3 councillors seemed excessive. A C-M merely commented on the weirdness. Do they think Aurorans are that slow?

Anonymous said...

Gosh, 3:21 PM
You must be reading different papers. I have seen Brock Weir & Alison both give credit where it is due, regardless of ' side'. In fact, sometimes I get annoyed but realize that we do need to hear/read both versions. Can't comment of the Banner as there was only the one reporter who tried to find a balance & was red-lined. We do not read it now.

Anonymous said...

Chris Watts made a good point in in letter to the editor in The Auroran this week about the email addresses of councilors. If any councilor is conducting Town business they should be using their Town email address and advertise it as such. By using a personal email address to correspond on Town business it gives the appearance that the correspondence is behind closed doors and is then personal between the 2 parties. Of course anyone would still have the option to contact a councilor through their personal email if they use one but it shouldn't be advertised that way when the councilor is representing the Town's business. If you contact them through their personal email it shouldn't be considered Town business and would be more like campaigning communications for the next election.

Anonymous said...

It's really not worth getting further into whatever happened behind the scenes with Lucid, the Town, the councilors, etc. But I believe much more happened then the general public knows about. I'm not at all pro-Lucid, pro-Jazz+ Festival or any other music festival as I think the Town spends a disproportionate amount of time on these issues. If someone wants to put on an event the Town should have guidelines and standards that apply to all. But for some reason it seems as if someone or some people had it in for Lucid as it didn't just fall apart it was crushed. And Lucid was considered fair game and played against because it wasn't the jazz festival. Life in Aurora still goes on whether there is a festival or not.

Anonymous said...

Once again, Ballard is twitting bilge. He claims Morris was awarded her costs. A mere fraction of the costs she demanded - wanted more than Mayor Ford's lawyers did - were given. Not to her, but to her lawyers who will likely fight it out with Aurora's insurance people. Councillor Ballard truly rides his legal armchair erratically.

Anonymous said...

The Banner is pro-Dawe? Not the one I read - it is firmly in the Morrisite camp, especially since it lost the Town Noticeboard contract. It seems like former Banner reporter Chris Ballard has a synergistic relationship with the paper.

Anonymous said...

Evelyn - please add some paragraph breaks - it's tough to read a wall of words...

Anonymous said...

8:33.... I made a comment about this at the beginning of the previous term. I send/receive email for my job with my employer's email address. Anything with that address holds my employer accountable. I also send/receive email with my personal account for everything else. I also carry two Blackberry devices to make sure they are distinct.

If I got an email from a councillor with his/her personal email address - or even worse with a @hotmail/@gmail/@yahoo, I dismiss them right away.


Anonymous said...

11:25 AM
I didn't know Ballard had ' written ' for the Banner. Only that he he had edited one issue of the Auroran & filled it with great photos of Herself. Is that what he means when he refers to himself as a ' journalist ' ? A kid taking a co-op course could write for the Banner.

Anonymous said...

8:33....

He has posted an entry in his blog about this topic.

However, I hope that he has upheld the copyright laws of this country... he has posted a cartoon on the blog that clearly has copyright information and a place to secure reproduction rights but no where does he acknowledge that he has received those rights.

Hello Pot... meet kettle... welcome to the world of publishing!

Anonymous said...

3:24 PM, Mr Pot Kettleblack obviously read your comment and has substituted another cartoon (w/ attribution).

Anonymous said...

March 28, 2013 at 11:03 AM

Mission successful - There's a long-winded disertation now about how he was right and others are wrong.

"I love it when a plan comes together!"

Anonymous said...

He is using the "They are doing it too, why don't you yell at them." defence to justify that he posted a picture that said to not copy with out permission > regardless of some US-based quasi-legal web site that he quotes. What a maroon.