| Mar 12, 2009


Back to HomeLetters - March 12, 2009Letters: March 12

Lessons of History, G Balogh

Communications Towers, Nancy Miller

Sydenham Safe Water Association, Don Wiskin

Re: Roots of Empathy, Sid Allcorn

Re: Driller Confirms 15 Drill Holes, Helen Gomez

Re: Limestone Hits Granite, Helen Forsey

Fly Your Flag, Hali Foster

Respect Our Flag, J.P. Pare

Re: Driller Confirms 15 Drill Holes, Wanda Recoskie

Rebranding Tay Valley Township, Hali Foster

Lessons of History

It is said that those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it. There are some lessons we can glean about the recent American experience in failure to recognize honest and correct monetary principles.

President George Bush’s legacy is likely to be as the president who tanked the economy before leaving office. President Andrew Jackson fought against the establishment of a national bank in the 1820s. President Abraham Lincoln defied the Special Interests and issued

Greenback dollars rather than rely upon third-party issued monetary instruments, and it is held by some that one reason that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated was that he issued Presidential Executive Order #11110 directing the U.S. Treasury Department to print four and one-half billion dollars in Silver Certificates (i.e., paper money backed by silver) much to the chagrin of the privately chartered Federal Reserve Bank that had an unconstitutional monopoly on currency issuance since 1913.

The current crisis in the money markets is not first of all financial, but is fundamentally a constitutional crisis with monetary consequences. Article one, Section ten stipulates: “No State shall...make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts....” Monetized Debt is to money as incest is to family. And President Bush, like a

Greek king with the stench of hubris all about him and his empire, violated one of the cardinal precepts of America’s Republic and the primary cause the founding fathers fought a war of independence: the desire to avoid national bank indebtedness in favour of an honest monetary system.

Violation of this principle, like the biblical warnings against false weights and measures, is so egregious as to attract a fiscal tsunami.

Any attempt to shore up the false system is just one more finger in the dike. And the rains will come, and wash away the foundation. And great will be the collapse, thereof. There is no lasting profit from fiat currency, the product of greed.

On August 23, 2007 you published my letter in Frontenac News in which I stated, "I predict a financial catastrophic event will come forward this fall or winter--a planned shakedown designed to push us all into greater acceptance of the U.S./Mexico/Canada merger." (North American Union)

Well, this event happened one quarter later than my prediction. This is all a matter of record. However, we Canadians are asleep at the switch and are walking into the coming tsunami - food shortages, currency and bank failures - the controlled chaos which is the chemistry in which the new social order is being designed. And the glue that binds it all –fear - is increasing daily.

It is time for each of us to consider what is the "glue" that holds us together, our purpose for living. And like that lingering tune of long ago, I think it prudent to "Put your hand in the hand of the man that stilled the water..." the author of history itself, Jesus of Nazareth, who alone holds the key to surviving the cataclysm that is coming. Not a quick fix, but a way of life. Faith in the true saviour of humanity, not the "Obamanation" foisted on us by our media controllers. Wake up!

G. Leslie Balogh, Mountain Grove

Re: Communications Towers

It is encouraging to have area residents voice their objections to the proliferation of communication towers along our highways (Pat Maloney - Feb.12 and Colin Beckingham - Feb.19)

Although the aesthetics are indeed an issue, a much greater concern arises from their function - transmitting microwave frequencies. This may not have been as great a concern a decade or more ago, but combining the growing number of both cell phone and wireless internet towers, along with background radiation from various devices in our homes, schools and offices (cell phones, wireless Smart Meters, computers, cordless phones, compact fluorescent bulbs and video game systems, etc.) we are in an ever-increasing electro-smog - whether we like it or not.

The telecom industry and Health Canada will tell you that emission levels comply with established safety standards, but these standards are no longer relevant to current technology. Canada Safety Code 6 exposure limits are 0.1 milliwatts/ cm2. This is expected to rise exponentially by the end of the decade, as more and more wireless technologies are approved by government, then marketed. They already exceed this limit in the more populated areas of Ontario.

In 2007, an international working group of scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals, The BioIniative Working Group, released their report on electromagnetic fields and health.

They document serious scientific concerns about current limits regulating how much electromagnetic radiation is allowable from various sources. The report concludes that existing standards for public safety are inadequate. Biological effects have been found to occur at levels lower than what we get from wireless internet (Dr. Olle Johansson, Dept. of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Sweden). This report and other information and research on this topic (which you won't get from the telecommunications industry) can be found on www.weepiniative.org (Wireless, Electric Electromagnetic Pollution).

Check it out before you jump on the "broadband wagon'. We need to be cautious, applying the "precautionary principle" and choosing wired options wherever possible, particularly around our children.

Nancy Miller

Sydenham Safe Water Association

I would like to extend my deepest apology to the SSWA. I had written an article just over a year ago where I said I thought they were seemingly inactive. I was very wrong. The members of the SSWA have been doing more in the background then most of us knew. The biggest benefit that the SSWA has done for all residents involved was to get all of our individual cost reduced for the pipe in the ground, and for that they deserve a very large applause of gratitude. The SSWA has also been very active in reporting on the THMs in the water, which is very important to us with small animals and children.

No matter what the politicians try to put past us, the SSWA is right on them. As I stated earlier, I apologize for my previous statements and I believe the founder of the SSWA would be very proud of their efforts.

Don Wiskin

Re: Roots of Empathy

I was a high school counsellor/ math teacher for 32 years and supply teacher for 13 years. I now have Parkinson's Disease and have lost various abilities, however I have managed to create with a computer and self publish my first book.

I used Empathy a lot in my counselling to help teenagers. I still train PSW students in the use of it as well. It is a main theme in my novel. Now the reason for my letter is to stop any more spending on the program called "Roots of Empathy"

I do not know any more about the program except what your article of February 5/09 tells me, but the fact that  $23,000 has been spent on training plus I don't know how much on the

653-page curriculum should be of some concern to the tax payer .

Perhaps an analogy will suffice here. Suppose you thought that everyone should learn the meaning of basketball. Now let's build a 1000-page curriculum document and charge lots for training and the book so that the program would have lots of credibility. Let's look at headings like Team Spirit or Attachment or Authentic Communications, etc.

Now suppose someone comes along and asks: “How well can they now play?” Oh we don't care because we were able to teach them more valuable stuff.

I hope you get my point. Do you think a conversation with a 7-month-old boy will train a grade 1 student in any empathy skills that even an adult has trouble learning, to say nothing of learning the real differences between sympathy, empathy, pity etc.?Now the goals are admirable but if they really are then let’s teach empathy and basketball too and send some of the $23,000+ to help the kids in Africa to live beyond 5 years old!!!

Sid Allcorn, http://sid.allcorn.ca

Re: Driller confirms 15 drill holes (Feb 12, 2009)

Why does it not surprise me to learn about the duplicity of the government, the courts and Frontenac Ventures? Drilling before anyone knows about it. Drilling before people go to gaol to prevent the drilling, while not a word is said. Frontenac Ventures did not think to mention it! Feed us all another round of B.S.!! Our only hope now, is to pray that the scoundrels find nothing worthwhile mining for, and that the recession hits them (Frontenac Ventures) worse than the rest of us. Let us fervently pray for their imminent and complete bankruptcy!

Helen Gomez

Re: Limestone Hits Granite (Mar 5, 2009)

Thank you for your article about the recent meeting at Clarendon Central School in Plevna. I too want to see our school kept open and thriving, for all the reasons that are being so eloquently and passionately expressed by my northern neighbours. But there's an even bigger reason.   

In a world where the economy is in crisis and fossil fuels are running out, the way of the future will be rooted in local communities. We will all have to do more of our work and learning and living close to home, without driving miles to central facilities. We will need to take advantage of the skills and resources in our own communities, as well as those now magically available to us through the internet.

The tired old idea that "bigger is better", the mistaken notion that urban models should apply everywhere, never made sense in the first place. The tide of centralization and amalgamation has already done a great deal of damage, and it continues to threaten our local schools and libraries, our small businesses and churches and health services. But that tide is about to turn.

More than ever, the maxim: "Think globally, act locally" is coming into its own. "Accommodation" should mean strengthening local institutions, supporting solutions that are community-based, modest in scale, and sustainable. Unless our school boards and library boards and other public bodies realize this and change direction accordingly, they will be leading us down a steep path to destruction.

Helen Forsey, Ompah

Fly Your Flag

This week, four Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan.  Two of these brave young soldiers were based in Petawawa, just a short drive north of the community from which I live and work.  We often see military vehicles passing along our stretch of the highway and  I wonder how honoured they feel when the see the sad state of the Canadian flags flown upon their route.

On my short drive to work I pass several Canadian flags and two thirds of them are in various states of disrepair.  Some are faded, some have loose seams trailing off the end, some are shredded to pieces.  Is this a reflection of how we feel about our country?  I certainly hope not. 

 The Canadian Hertiage website gives some details about flag protocol, including the following:  The National Flag of Canada is a symbol of honour and pride for all Canadians, and as such, should be treated with respect.  This means that it should only be displayed in a manner that befits this important national symbol.  When the flag is displayed horizontally or at an angle from a window or balcony [or attached to a sign], the top of the flag must point outwards.  The National Flag of Canada should always be flown on its own mast - it is improper to fly two or more flags on the same mast.

 I challenge everyone who flies a Canadian flag at their home or business to immediately replace those flags that are in poor condition.  Lets show our soldiers, our neighbours and our visitors that we are proud Canadians.

Hali Foster

Respect Our Flag

I am a retired soldier who has made North Frontenac his home for the last eight years. It should be no surprise to your readers that for  all soldiers flags have a special meaning. I would very much appreciate that you publish the following text.

Flags stir up emotions in us that few other symbols can. That piece of cloth with its own exclusive design and colors of your nation is a symbol of who we are, what we believe in and where we belong. People respect the symbolism of the flag, whether it is that of their country or another country's. Flags inspire pride and respect. For that reason protocol demands that any flag we fly be kept in perfect condition at all timesWhenever I drive around our beautiful country I feel a stir of emotion every time I see our national flag flying. Lately, however, I have noticed a number of flags in various state of disrepair being flown. I can only assume that whoever put those flag up in the first place shared our pride in our country and what it stands for. But after this initial show of pride, they have lost interest and/or simply failed to notice that their flag had become torn, ripped or faded. This is a blatant lack of respect which can easily be remedied by the simple act of removing the flag. A bare flagpole offends no one.  Remember that disposing of a flag must be done with respect, normally by burning it in private. (Burning a flag in public can easily be misinterpreted and you could end up with more problems then you already have.) Also, under no circumstances should you dispose of your flag in the garbage.

Flags are relatively inexpensive to purchase and you can find them on sale at various times of the year. But if our unstable economy causes you concern and prevents you from purchasing a new flag, you might want to try giving a call to your member of parliament. I have recently found out that, when they take office, every member of parliament is given a number of Canadian flags to dispose of as they see fit and that, when they run out, they can go back and get more. They could always ask their counterparts from the elected members of the Block Quebequois for their supply. (I cannot see any of those boys running around Quebec giving away Canadian flags).

Remember that a flag in poor condition is at best a sign of neglect and disrespect and can provoke deep resentment from those who witness it. I for one would think twice before doing business with anyone flying a poorly maintained flag and I hope you would too.J.P. Pare

Re: Driller confirms 15 drill holes (Feb 12, 2009)

While there are those who understand Frontenac Ventures Corporation only drilled a total of 15 holes in 2008 - let me assure everyone that there has been much more going on at the Robertsville uranium exploration site between the summer and fall of 2008. As a matter of fact - all necessary trees have been removed and many trails and roads built in readiness for the vigorous 2009 drilling program.

After overlaying the injunction map proposed drill holes onto the Ministry of Mines and Development enlarged section of the Mining Claims Map dated January 17, 2009, which I ordered from Ministry of Mines and Development in Sudbury - it appears that not one drill hole is on any of the withdrawn mining claim areas which are mentioned in the Memorandum of Understanding between the government and Algonquin Nations.

Frontenac Ventures Corp. is planning to go full steam ahead with all of their original plans that were formed before the injunction came. It is also no surprise that many of the drill holes are located right next to many water sources - lakes, streams, creeks, ponds etc.

We are all extremely happy the unjust lawsuit against the Algonquin Nations is dropped - and all court costs for each band has been paid in full for them.

George White, in a recent publication in the Frontenac News, advised no core samples were taken.....why then did Downing Drilling Co. state - core samples were drilled by their company?

In the M.O.U. it is stated that FVC is willing to use Ministry of Mines and Development "Best Practices". According to Mr. Ramesh Mandal of the Min. of Mines and Development, Senior Geologist at Sudbury, best practices are to fill and cap the drilled holes - all of them. Why then does the M.O.U. state that "geologically inactive" holes will be filled? Mr. Mandal explained geologically inactive means "not enough uranium to be economically viable". So then, it begs the question - what does FVC plan to do with the "geologically active" holes (the ones with enough uranium to be economically viable).

Leave them open to vent radon gas, leave others to leach radioactive contamination into the aquifers? The publication also stated that Downing Drilling Co. had no plans to drill at the present time - is that perhaps because it is WINTER? We are not a bunch of dummies - we can read between the lines.

Another discrepancy is that a report is supposedly to be forwarded to the Min. of Mines and Development as of March, 2009. The last report was due Oct. 2008.

I was advised to call Min. of Mines and Development in January for a copy of the report (which is privileged under the Access to Information Act). When I called I was advised that Frontenac Ventures Corp. had requested and was granted an extension to November 2009 for all reports on activities performed at the Robertsville Exploration Site - including the ones that were due in 2008, and subsequent obligatory reports in March, and Sept. of 2009. The report then cannot be obtained by the public until February 2010.

Another discrepancy in George White's statement from Florida is that money is now very scarce -10 times worse. What he failed to impart is that there are fully funded government subsidies (our money) free of charge to Junior Exploration Companies - of which Frontenac Ventures Corporation is one.

Jamie Fairchild advised at a presentation in 2008 that they have vigorous plan spanning a period over the next 10 years. They already have a 21-year lease on much acreage east of Crotch Lake.

The Memorandum of Agreement states nothing about FVC trucking in water or removing the contaminated water and trucking it back out. Where then, everyone should be asking, is the water going to come from that is used during the drilling process? More importantly - where will it be dumped into? Our creeks, ponds, steams, lakes, and wetlands are precious components making up the Frontenacs, Highlands and surrounding areas. It breaks my heart every day when I wake up to the realization that so much destruction and devastation can be allowed - and we stakeholders around this area, as taxpayers are actually owners of the Crown Lands with our tax dollars - but are powerless to do anything about it. We are not eco-terrorists, nor active environmentalists - we are eco-conservationists - trying to save our environment and a safe place for the children to raise their families.

Open pit mining would look like the destruction taking place on the oil sands. Take a look at the National Geographic pictures - they have a good reason for printing them - and these pictures cannot be denied.

When nuclear reactors start having problems - you bet you better be worried. If the fuel rods start heating up - they will erupt causing a nuclear explosion. If nuclear is so safe - why then do uranium spent fuel rods need to be totally encased in water for 7 years to cool down and then encased in sealed air containers for another 3 years before being buried deep underground - which locations have yet to be determined because of the radioactive contamination? As far as medical isotopes are concerned - there are other ways to produce them other than using weapons-grade uranium. As far as for money greedy people and power hungry non-conservationists (like the ones in the US with 20 room homes containing bowling alleys and movie theatres, 10 bedrooms and 7 baths etc.) and people who have no conscience about having every light in their home on and using every appliance at the same time - it's not more energy that is needed - it is having a conscience and being more responsible that is needed; then there would be enough power for everyone.

The entire Memorandum of Understanding between the Algonquin Nations and the government can be downloaded from www.ccamu.ca website (Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium) -lower portion of the home page and proven facts of the dangers of exploration and mining of uranium can be downloaded from www.ccnr.org website.

Wanda Recoskie

Rebranding Tay Valley Township

Tay Valley Township (TVT) is "rebranding" signs in eight hamlets. (Perth Courier Weekender, January 30, 2009).

TVT is replacing signs, not yet weathered, with decorative new signs. Not so long ago, the current signs branded the hamlets with TVT's new image including a new logo and controversial name.

In 2007 and 2008, TVT installed six large plaques, which tell some history of the original townships and old settlements.

The new signage has a heritage theme, but the primary goal is the promotion of tourism.

If council is really serious about the heritage of this rural area, then it should demonstrate much more pride in the three old townships. Simply place "Bathurst Burgess Sherbrooke" in caps below the wavy line in the logo.This arrangement respects the original townships that comprise TVT. The old names have been associated with this rural area since the early 1800's. The words anticipate, in just a few years, the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the pioneer settlers.

Finally, this revised image respects the ancestral homes of the descendants of founding families who still live here and throughout Canada and United States.

Sincerely,

Catherine McCann

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