Muskrat Falls - Wing-n-it!

There's a new restaurant in town - Wing-n-it!

Not the one on Kenmount Road that is popular with the people.

The unpopular one down the street -the Muskrat Falls Wing-n-it one.

A greasy diner featuring a free and even greasier buffet compliments of the taxpayers.

Hard on the digestive system.

Hard on the pocketbook.

Hard on the NL conscienceness


Speaking of wings, according to one source
if you are a food company (in the States at least),
that wants to sell chicken in the shape of wings, it must have the real deal on it.

Otherwise, the law says you have to call your product "WYNGZ".

A.k.a  The Fake Wing

Which brings me back to the Muskrat Falls debate on December 5th.

In House of Assembly jargon, it's called A "Private Member's Resolution" - sponsored by no one less than the Premier who envisions  a masterful and comprehensive debate on the most momentous project in our province's history -on one SINGLE afternoon.

But there are other terms for this "debate"

Like WYNGZ ...
Fake
Bogus
Pretense
Charade
Sham
Scam
Definitedly, not fine dining ...

The end result?
Indigestion
Uneasiness
Embarrassing
Shocking
Unscrupulous
Unimaginable in a democracy

A guaranteed $10 Billion project - UNPOPULARLY and IMPROPERLY  debated on ONE unremarkable afternoon in the people's House of Democracy.

What did we expect from a Premier who stated in a 2010 Telegram interview "Getting to Know the Premier" ...

She says she’s not the kind of person who envisions things 10 years down the road, but prefers to live in the now." “If you live your life more in the moment, the rest of it will work its way out,” she said.

Yes, there's a new restaurant in town, but it's been upgraded to

Wing-n-it PLUS!

Humongous Debt? "Don't Worry. Be Happy!"

Reading the paper sometimes inspires one to spell secrets.

In response to Pam Frampton's "Muskrat Falls Reports you have not Read" tongue-in-cheek article in the Weekend's Tely, I too am compelled to release yet another report  (and press release)  on Muskrat Falls obtained through Access to Information before the Dark Ages i.e. Bill 29.

Muskrat Falls will Bring Us to the Fiscal Cliff" - BUT WHO CARES?"

"Today Government is proud to release yet another report into how we will incur humongous amount of debt, collectively and individually, if Muskrat Falls is dammed and our green energy reaches no one but our Blue Schooner neighbours."

"It's a new world out there folks and we are just going with the flow.

"Furthermore, there's lots of catchy phrases to back up our position.

"Debt is a natural phenomenon"
"Debt is everyone's friend"
"Make peace with debt or it will kill you"
"Ah, let the youngsters pay for it"
"What matters is government's assets, not it's debt"

"And you know how we like to quote when it suits us. 
Now, we had to reach far back a few years for this one, but I think it is solid foundation for our $10 Billion investment once the bills are all added up.

Our national debt may be a national blessing : the debt is public wealth, political union, protection of industry, secure basis for national currency, the orphans' and widows' savings fund (1865)

Yes, we believe in the power of debt and  we have the power of a majority government to say "It's our debt-way or the highway folks".

"Just relax... trust us ... don't worry, be happy; after all, we have no history of debt or a really bad deal for our province."
-30-

I don't know much about provincial debt; but I know enough that my daughter and son would be pretty pissed if my credit card is maxed out when I leave planet earth and they have to pay for it.  

Especially when so many people were warning me I was recklessly playing so close to the fiscal cliff when there were other options.

The "Double-Double Standard " - A Government Special

Everyone knows you can go to Tim's and order a "double-double".

Now you can rely on Government to get a "Double-Double Standard" .

First, take the mumbo-jumbo out of MHA Keith Russell and what do you get? - a suspension.

Yes, but only a suspension from Hockey NL - not from his government duties - not on your life.

What does government policy recommend they do with bullies in school? - yup, suspend them.

Get the double-double standard?

Today a school bus driver in NS was suspended from his job for cursing in front of children. 

The day mumbo-dumbo one got suspended from his cursing duties, he was still warming a seat on government's side of the House.

Mother Hen was protecting her own while clucking how inappropriate her bad chick was.  Cluck Cluck... meanwhile a young soul was sent home "suspended" from Leary's Brook because she engaged in "inappropriate school behaviour".

How can Mother Hen go back into any school  for her photo opps and face those that she tells  "Act like I say, not what I do!"

Double-Double Standard is increasingly becoming the hallmark of this government.

"Yes, you lot on low, you need to take a pay cut, so I can plump up the cheques for my own chick-a-dees."

"And of course, government entities throughout the kingdom have to slash budgets - King Nalcor needs a shhhh...-slush fund."


Watch out Tim's - there's a "double-double" re-branding coming soon
from the renegades on the hill.  

A new drive-through that serves only the self-serving.

A Legacy of Misery for our Daughters and our Sons

I did it for my children's children.

Years from now when the second worst deal in our
province's history is loading them and their generation
down with unimaginable debt, perhaps they can take some consolation that
a family member was at that great protest.

The People's Assembly
on that cold day on November 18th, 2012, in front of the Colonial Building.

I envision one day it will be a much-talked about historical event;
and I will tell my grandchildren why I was there...

I was there to say
No way!

I was there to say
You cannot ignore my say!

I was there to say
Who do you think you are?

I was there to say
Where is the truth and the respect?

I was there to say
Your need for a political legacy project cannot supersede our collective good

I was there to say
It is my grandchildren's investment - they want me to look at the contract.

I was there to say
If nothing else- where is your conscience as a Newfoundlander and Labradorian?


I was there to say
There is another way ...

The Careful way
The Collaborative way
The Truthful way
The Transparent way
The Democratic way
The People's Way!


Not the Millionaire's way
The Misinformation way
Nor the Screened way
Or a Single Party's way
But the People's Way.
The Proper Way.


And I will tell them as much as I was there to protect their future,
Con O'Brien captured it best when he sang

"we'll all be on the hook ...
A legacy of misery for our daughters and our sons"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iew_L4uWU
yes, all in the name of an "ungodly mess" called Muskrat Falls.

But not if the People's Assembly and all of us
can halt the current government
from taking out a credit card in each of our grandchildren's names,
crushing their future before they even figure out how to be born ...

Back then, I will tell them, Government only had one thing right
The POWER is in OUR hands.
And that, great-ones, is another good reason I came to be there on that historic day.

Never Forget and Ever Protect ...

Early this morning I dropped my son off at The Reserves.

A bright red poppy stood out against his green military uniform.

His unit is participating in the Remembrance Day ceremony.
 
On the return in the car, Terry Penney sang "Normandy in Newfoundland Tonight",
a powerful and vivid song inspired by a Newfoundland solider (Mr. Les Ginn) reliving the nightmare of his time in the Second World War.

"In some ruined Catholic Church- just beyond the walls of God was hell and blood and hate ... and as the moon lit up the foreign sky, he heard himself say to a comrade, ... I wish Normandy was Newfoundland tonight."

http://www.myspace.com/terrypenney/videos/normandy-in-newfoundland/46739007

"I see his face reflected by the light ... and sixty years haven't killed what is in his eyes, it's Normandy in Newfoundland tonight..."


The specialness of the day finally settled deep down inside me.

Mixed with the poignancy was a deep realization 
-  no, we are not suppose to ever ever forget,ever ...


To those who have served and those now serving,
no amount of gratitude and acknowledgement can repay the debt,
but each year on November 11th, it doesn't stop us from trying ...

And in other ways, we honour your sacrifice and fight any attempt to dilute the gifts of freedom and democracy left with  us to protect.

That is why we all should

ask questions
engage in debate
demand information
probe into the hidden
protest against injustice
speak without fear
stand on principles
seek a truth beyond just the facts

So there will never be any more Normandies in Newfoundland.

On this day and evermore,
the Power truly is in our Hands
to both never forget and ever protect ...

Forgetfulness - The Personal and The Political

What was it I meant to do when I went downstairs into the basement...?

I forget!

A common malady these days...at my age

Early Alzheimer, dementia, too much on my plate, too much vino...?

Yesterday, I heard that high blood pressure can whittle down the memory.

Another excuse for my forgetfulness. Great! (or not!)

Which reminds me of something
I'd rather forget - the current Government.

They too have forgotten alot -

The longer
they warm their butts in the majority of seats in the House of Assembly,
they forget about

Accountability
Accessibility
Connectivity
Colloboration
Promises
Principles
The almighty Trust Factor ...

There is no doubt that the current government can be diagnosed with
an acute form of political Alzheimer

They have forgotten about
Decency
Democracy
Commitments
Communities
Coolness
The Fishery
Rural Regions
Respect
Small schools
Little souls ...like Kalleigh


Someone needs to remind each of those government's peeps that

When you lose touch
YOU LOSE!
(no matter how many seats you have in the HOA
-the House of Assembly)

Government has forgotten it really means
House of ACCOUNTABILITY

Which proves that when you age,
you run a greater risk of forgetting a lot of meaningful things ...

Personally - its not entirely controllable ...
Politically -  all you have to do is remember what you stood for;
and then you won't forget ....

Dazzling Eclipses & Less Dazzling Political Dances

The Deaf, Dumb and Blind Kid |The Sequel?

Funny thing about life, you don't always pay attention to what other people think is a priority.

Take the Muskrat Falls debate - or lack of a debate, as the government on high decided today.

When questioned by CBC last week, close to 15 people could not tell you what" DG-3" stood for.

Nope, it was not a new oil, nor a new drug, nor a new hair straightener, or even a new robot.

It was a new set of figures that was to spark more fire and details into the debate on this momentous project in our province.

A project that will figure as largely in our future as Upper Churchill Falls project does now- because  both are bad deals that disfigures us as a province and a people.

But do people really care or get it - or likely have time to dwell on it?

NO

Other than the political-phytes, most people have too much on their daily plate to truly care about all the he said/she said on this complex matter.

And that is exactly what government is banking on, taking advantage of, gleeing in...

They know most of us are in zombie land as we are multi-tasking like ol hell to get through life to truly pay attention.

But more likely it's because most people know this government doesn't care about what people think. They are gung-ho with their own agenda and the legend they have to honour.

The public knows in its heart of hearts that this government is one step ahead with the PR war and has already sanctioned this project.

They know enough that enough money has been spent that there is no going back.

This government doesn't want to clear up the fog surrounding this project - they want to keep us firmly enwrapped in it.

When you are losing your argument, there is only way ahead -  
play to the "deaf, dumb and blind kid" syndrome 'cause he an't going to know what is going on right?

Wrong!

In the 1975 musical movie "Tommy" ", that "deaf, dumb and blind" guy became a paintball wizard....and rose to be a superstar of sorts after he was cured of his deaf, dumb and blind psychosomatic affliction.

So, here's the moral of the story

Let's not go "deaf, dumb and blind" on Muskrat Falls.

It's our responsibility to be cured of this affliction so we can defeat the arrogance and warped path of this government; 

And save us from the worst deal in our province's history - part 2.

Sequels are never pretty...