Toilet seats; To the moon; Good beef; Eggs travel; Fuming on fuel; Chicago School; Lotto draws; Get off fence; Dance partner; Who to blame; It’s not ‘allow’; Nervous deer
Toilet seats
A social worker and family counsellor has responded to a woman’s letter in his column at length (WP, Jan. 15) describing an approach she may use to have her husband lower the toilet seat.
I wonder how he would have responded had the letter he received read like this: I think every man in the county will send you a six-pack if you solve our problem. How do we get our wives to put the toilet seat up? No matter how many times we ask them, or whatever rewards or punishments we use, toilet seats are still left down. Do you have any suggestions?”
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Since the population is roughly comprised equally of males and females, whether a toilet seat is up or down does not appear to be the issue here.
The issue is with the individual who experiences frustration, exasperation, annoyance, anger, even rage. Why?
That is the issue that needs addressing by a counsellor with a person having unnecessary emotions. Toilet seats are hinged.
– Dick Barnes,
Adams Lake, B.C.
To the moon
Our federal minority government was recently forced to yield to opposition pressure and come forth with an expensive economic bailout plan, a scheme that will most likely fill eastern coffers long before we see results in the West.
Once again, Quebec and Ontario will receive massive funding for high tech development based on promises of electric cars, high tech fuels and a better light bulb.
Every time I see Michael Ignatieff on television, I recall a tall dark handsome Quebec gentleman who pulled into my dad’s filling station in the summer of 1970.
He drove a shiny new Mercedes, sported a striped suit that would have been Trudeau’s envy, and spoke eloquently in both French and English.
No longer had I proceeded to fill his car, he in turn proceeded to tell me that within a year or so, gasoline would be obsolete and the new fuels they were developing in Quebec would permit us to travel to the moon.
Keep in mind that this was about a year after Apollo 13 had landed, or should I say “lunared” Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon.
The plan was simple. The promoter and his colleagues were amassing a large sum of capital to build a giant spacecraft that would take us to outer space. The highlight would be a one day landing on the moon.
For the mere sum of $2,500, (in today’s dollars, that’s over $15,000,) my space age travel agent would reserve a seat on the ship that he described as “a huge flying saucer.”
Needless to say, my dad stepped into the deal, reminding me that my commitments to GMAC and the payments on my new Chevrolet pickup should get priority over a trip to the moon.
The gentleman shook my hand, drove away, and I never saw him again. Ten bucks says he got elected to Parliament, and eventually made his way to the Senate.
Gasoline is still popular, and private passengers have yet to land on the moon.
– John Hamon,
Gravelbourg, Sask.
Good beef
It might be cool to be Canadian.
Last fall I entertained two American hunters, among others, or should I say they entertained me.
They told me they were looking for sandhill cranes. I was surprised as the skies around Outlook were full of all the brands of fat pea-filled geese.
They told me they preferred sandhill cranes. They called them “ribeye of the sky” and even preferred them to beef. They called geese “flying carp.”
I told them they had better try our Canadian beef before returning to Nevada.
Another group from Colorado told me these old hunting grounds in Colorado where he took his sons hunting last year is now a subdivision of 70,000 Californian imports. They told me to appreciate my open spaces. I do! And I value their friendship.
I confess that U.S. corn fed beef is equally as delicious as our barley fed Canadian beef, albeit a slightly different flavour. Those two good old boys must have been raised on desert beef.
Back to cool. I believe we should be able to compete with U.S. beef, if the rules are fair and equal for all. Canadian bacon has always been in high demand for breakfast on both sides of the border. When money is tight and export dollars and markets are so important, who will be there to watch? Who gets credit for the best of the best or the worst of the worst?
I saw in the years of BSE how Canadian cattle sold for a song while boxed beef exports broke all records. Billions were lost by Canadian producers and billions made along the food chain.
We do not control the packing business. It is U.S. owned by a very few. How can producers on both sides of the border stop from being skinned?
The packing industry is now U.S. on both sides of the border. Canadian producers are at risk. It’s always harder to win a game when your opponent makes and changes the rules during a game.
– Miles Moore,
Outlook, Sask.
Eggs travel
I was astonished to read (in the January 2009 Alive magazine) that Canada imports 21 million dozen eggs or egg products (annually), mostly from the U.S.
Immediately I began wondering whether those hog producers who have recently been forced out of business are looking to refill their barns, perhaps with chickens.
At the same time, I noticed that we export an equivalent amount of eggs, mainly in processed form. This going back and forth business seems to be the norm for a lot of our imports and exports.
Why isn’t our produce moving across Canada instead of north-south?
I understand it has to do with transportation, namely the price of fuel, but would it not make sense in the long run to handle our own?
With the United States not wanting our “dirty oil,” that leaves us to use our own fuel, so why not haul our own produce east and west?
I know there is an egg quota to be considered for more than 300 chickens, if I remember correctly. Why not open up the quota to account for all those imports?
Might I be correct, or partially correct, in that those exports of mainly processed eggs involve those very same eggs that were imported?
Like a lot of our products, maybe we should be handling more of the commodity within our own country.
– L. Feldberg,
Wetaskiwin, Alta.
Fuming on fuel
Re: Alberta farmers must register for cheaper fuel. This is geared to put any smaller farmer out of the farm and not to save money.
Any farmer that needs to save $36 in road tax on the road and cannot pay that bill should not be farming.
I have farmed for 60 years now, 52 in Alberta on 144 acres of land and have made a good living off this land. I saw no need to work off the land and helped subsidize feed barley growers, also subsidize livestock growers with cheap good hay.
You are going to tell me that at 79 years of age, I should keep pace with the young guy that is filling the truck with purple fuel. Get lost.
Our land is paid for and I am farming 50 acres of hay with clear fuel. If I have to, it will take a sheriff to force us off the land if the large farmers do not want us to farm anymore.
Shane Jarokosky looks much younger than me so there is no reason why he cannot make $40,000 on 160 acres of land. He does not need any kind of subsidy. And just wait and see if I will not be made to pay tax to cover the subsidy that (prime minister Stephen) Harper has just said he is going to pay the large farmers. …
– John Pokorney,
Tilley, Alta.
Chicago School
Newspapers have printed many commentaries based on the economic downturn. It is easier for the writers to decide what went wrong with the economy than to sort out what should be done to fix it.
The economic fundamentalism of the Chicago School, featuring Milton Friedman, held that an unregulated market was best because it worked on entirely rational principles. The United States government with Allan Greenspan as its adviser endorsed the Chicago School policy, as did industry and some governments around the world.
A speech writer for U.S. president Barack Obama had him refer to the “culture of greed and scheming” that exists today. It is this culture which definitely throws a monkey wrench into Friedman’s economic ideas.
Some people are so indoctrinated they will not believe the system has flaws. Allan Greenspan now says that was the wrong policy to follow when he was giving advice to government.
The idea of deregulation and privatization is so entrenched in our minds, our government leaders are not likely to find the proper solution for turning the economy around.
The aid the U.S. government made available was not as effective as it should have been, because the Bush administration, set in its old ways, had delayed passage of the aid package. …
Governments have been telling us it is necessary to cut back spending. We have seen cuts to people things like health care, education, agriculture, the arts, culture and to seniors. When it came to the financial institutions including banks though, it is interesting that governments instantly found billions of dollars to bail them out.
They did it the wrong way, of course. Borrowers, or in other words taxpayers, were not protected the way they were expecting, but the top people, those who guided the banks into the problem, got millions in bonuses.
Notice too, some solutions suggested by our own provincial government show it is no better.
Those who promoted the neoconservative philosophy have trouble deciding what went wrong. Should those same people be in charge of changing our system? Come to think of it, do we know any politician capable of doing the job?
– Lorne Jackson,
Riverhurst, Sask.
Lotto draws
Some time ago I wrote a letter to Western Lottery Corp. to ask them why we do not see the lottery draws. They said we do not use the machine that drops the balls. They said it cost too much.
They use a computer for the draws. They waste thousands on advertisements. You can turn on TV in a U.S. station from Chicago. They make four draws in less than 10 minutes every day….
We used to win sometimes $10 to $80. Now, never.
I don’t trust a computer. It has no mind. Everybody in Canada should see the draws. A computer can be set.
– Jack Pawich,
Cartwright, Alta.
Get off fence
With the recent Canadian Wheat Board director elections showing a complete sweep of Saskatchewan districts by pro-single desk candidates, it would appear the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has some decisions to make.
APAS has taken no official position on the survival of the CWB.
However, with pro-single desk candidates taking over 60 percent of the vote, it would appear APAS will either have to join the majority, oppose them or sit on the fence and become irrelevant.
To date, APAS’s fence sitting position is somewhat confusing.
If you claim to be the farmers’ agricultural voice, wouldn’t it make sense for you to have a position?
Given the results of the director election, would not that position be to support and defend the last and the largest, farmer-controlled commercial organization?
The recent director elections have sent a clear message that the majority of farmers still want a single desk monopoly. If that isn’t visible to everyone but Stephen Harper, then the leadership at APAS cannot continue to say they represent farmers.
With a new APAS president being elected, one would hope that new leadership would also arrive. If APAS could enjoy a majority of more than 60 percent of rural municipalities joining, then it would be in a lot stronger position than it is now. Any hesitancy in becoming involved in the CWB debate would probably signal a fear of repercussions from the federal Conservatives or the provincial Saskatchewan Party.
And people thought democracy was alive and well in Saskatchewan!
– George E. Hickie,
Waldron, Sask.
Dance partner
These comments are in response to the recently announced stimulus budget.
The money allocated to agriculture should have gone into a farm income support fund. This could have helped struggling livestock producers whose industry has never really recovered from the 2003 BSE crisis.
If directed in this way, the money would have stimulated the general economy very quickly. Ground level producers would have used the money to pay outstanding bills and bought much delayed inputs.
Instead they have announced a real hodge-podge of programs….
These margin-based programs do nothing for the average livestock producer. At best, they have partially bailed out a few corporate hog operations.
This administration just does not get it. We do not need more convoluted programs that in some cases are nothing more than make-work projects for civil servants. The party in power must never have heard the old saying, “you should dance with the one that brought you.”
Well, western Canadians and especially farmers have brought the Conservative party as close to a majority as they are ever likely to get. Maybe as farmers we need to look for a new dance partner.
– Henry Martens,
Cartwright, Man.
Who to blame
The sky is falling. That is what everyone is saying about a coalition government. If we learned to listen instead of walking off the nearest cliff, it would be wise.
The only reason the call by the three parties to fail the present government was (because) the prime minister was going to cancel the election refund to the opposition parties. That simply means they would all be bankrupt and would no longer be a burden for him.
What leader of any opposition party would like to be prime minister of this country, when the auto industry is failing, the stock market is failing and in general terms, the country is in recession?…
Agriculture has just come through another year of record fuel and input prices, only to have those items drop in price after harvest was over. We see the rail companies fail to haul grain and the government has done nothing.
Unemployment figures show a downward trend. You look at the projection, there is only one, possibly two, provinces that show any stable environment… who do the unemployed blame but the government
Now if you were the opposition parties, would you take Mr. Harper’s place? No way….
If we look at history, any leader facing the woes of a nation will in all likelihood lose the next election.
– Bob Thomas,
Regina Beach, Sask.
It’s not ‘allow’
Arrogant and pompous to the end, (federal agriculture minister Gerry) Ritz’s comment on farmer support for a single desk CWB, “time to step back and allow farmers to make those decisions,” is a parting slap across the face of the Canadian farmer.
Allow? It was never a decision for the Canadian government to allow anything.
In the end and despite gagging and unfair funding, their attempt to pirate away control of the CWB was thwarted by the little guy; the people who proved that they had the power to control their own destiny.
Shame on you, Mr. Ritz, and shame on all those bought and paid for organizations whose spokespersons are now seeking other priorities as a means of justifying their special interest paycheques.
– Gerry Ruchkall,
Winnipeg, Man.
Nervous deer
It is fitting that the photo on the front page of the Feb. 5 Western Producer originated in Alberta.
I don’t think that was a morning frolic. I think they are nervous.
Deer are regarded by most people in the same manner as senior citizens are regarded by our health- care system: nice to have around, but there are too darned many of them.
– Carmel Ellis,
Grimshaw, Alta.
