Transport Canada will be investigating the work of Professor Lapierre in the building of the bridge to PEI. Well, of course. Here is a man with no qualifications involved in a huge project, and one in which a mistake could cost lives. The wording of the press release is interesting. They say they don't expect to find anything - BECAUSE HE WAS WORKING WITH A GROUP OF QUALIFIED SCIENTISTS WHO WOULD BLOCK ANY FOOLISH SUGGESTIONS. That certainly doesn't suggest any trust in Professor LaPierre.
But, just in case....
Compare that to the reaction of our provincial government which has given him not only input, but control of many projects in which improper advice could cause environmental damage, economic damage, and even human lives.
Oh - he's a nice man who wouldn't do that? Was it nice to seriously reduce limits and areas where trees timber could be harvested? What effect has that had? Did anybody gain advantage becaise of that?
And that brings us to Mr. Irving's very unwise Letter to the Editor about what great f riends he and Professor Lapierre are. Lelt's see - a man routinely gets appointed to important positions on government projects in which Mr. Irving, his good f riend, may have interests.
This is a serious matter. This is one hell of serious matter.
If I claimed my doctorate was in medecine and, on the base of that, carried out heart surgery, I'd end up in jail.
Prof. Lapierre was used to discredit advice from Dr. Cleary, the province's chief medical officer. He knew he was unqualified to do that. Indeed, even if he had the qualifications he claimed to have, he would still be unqualified to contradict medical advice. He knew that.
And now we learn he was also a splended friend of Mr. Irving. (Mr. Irving, don't you have advisors ono these matters?)
Any government with any integirity at all would have ordered an immediate and very serious investigation. It could very well be - it almost certainly is - that people's lives are at stake here. And even if there weren't, there are almost certainly massive charges of corruption that could emberge..
But it's not going to happen. Mr. Alward is doing his usual imperonation. of a limp fish doing its last flops as it drops into the fisherman's creel. Both he and Mr. I rving babble about the wonderful things Lapierre has done for the province - without naming any of those wonderful things - and without being qualified, in any case, to judge the quality of his work.
In the face of the seriousness of what has happened, the Liberal leader continues to do his imitation of a Barbie doll though without, alas, a bust. And both the NDP and the Greens have been inexplicably dozey.
There is every possibility that your lives, your dhildren's lives and their children's lives have been put in danger so that somebody can make higher profits. The voters of this province are the most passive I have ever seen.
I understand why they're passive. This is a province in which the rich have manipulated the people and its governments (and its newspapers) for their own profit.. And it's province small enough so that anybody who makes too much noise about it can suddently be out of a job.
But the only way out of the abuses and the looting that are daily in this province is to stand up.
By the way, this story does not appear in the Irving Press. Of course not. It took them days before they got around to mentioning the Lapierre's misrepresentation in the first place. Every story we've had on this began with CBC - not with the Irving Press, not with private radio or TV. It was CBC, the one Norbert sneers at, the one Harper wants to get rid of.
__________________________________________________________
Gwynne Dyer's column is important because results of a recemt amd massive report on climate change were very badly reported - giving the impression they concluded that climate change wasn't happening. That's not surprising. There are some very powerful and wealthy people in, For example, the energy industry and in journalism, who don't want any action taken on climate change- It would hurt their profits.
But if you follow this story over the past week, it is evident that some of the brighter lights in the news business have realized that the message had NOT been that we were out of trouble. Indeed, some fear that we may already have passed the point of no return. This excellent column by Dyer reflects the thinking of those brighter lights.
_______________________________________________________________________
Brent Mazerolle has a column on people who use the social media to spread their ill-informed and cowardly ideas. I guess I qualify in that category.
Yessirree, here's an earnest and up front Brent Mazerolle who has devoted himself to a professional journalism world that tells nothing but the truth.
Come off it, Brent. You are devoted to being a spin doctor in a world of journalism that is made up heavily of propandists and professional liars. And you work for one of the worst examples of that breed.
As to anonymous comments, I print all but the obvious trolls who come my way - which means I print 99% of the comments that are anonymous. And most of them are anonymous because this is New Brunswick where anyone who exercises his right to speak is likely to find himself out of a job.
Tell you what, though, baby, I would be willing to publicly debate you on this (or any other topic you can name.) And you can have the whole editorial staff right up there with you to help out. And I won't call myself anonymous.
________________________________________________________________________
On the Faith Page, rhe sermonette is the best I have seen in that spot. Yes, I know I've alway said that they stink - so being the best could be no big deal. However, this one is not just the best. It is also an excellent one. You may not agree with it; but it's well worth thinking about.
As for the list of church events, they remind me of how Jesus used the synagogue as a place to discuss, to debate, a place of intellectual exercise. That tradition of the synagogue as a place of discussion is common in most of the Jewish world to this day. When I lived in Montreal, for example, I could expect to be invited to speak in thirty or more synagogues in the course of any year. (I still have my very own yarmilka (skullcap). But even one Christian church a year was a rarity. God forbid that Christians should go to church to use their brains.
If Jesus were to check out his churches' activities in today's Times and Transcript, we would have a verse added to The Bible, "Lo, and the women were selling pies, and there were in that place auctions and fashion shows....."
_______________________________________________________________
Current events will meet at the Moncton Library on Tuesday, at 7 p.m. This may be the last one. I realized a long time ago that New Brunswickers were afraid, genuinely afraid, to discuss current events in public. I've noticed the such a thing as public discussion in this province is almost nil even in election campaigns. I've tried for two years form a current events group. . But attendance has normally been zero to three or four.). I get a far bigger audience with a blog.
But, just in case....
Compare that to the reaction of our provincial government which has given him not only input, but control of many projects in which improper advice could cause environmental damage, economic damage, and even human lives.
Oh - he's a nice man who wouldn't do that? Was it nice to seriously reduce limits and areas where trees timber could be harvested? What effect has that had? Did anybody gain advantage becaise of that?
And that brings us to Mr. Irving's very unwise Letter to the Editor about what great f riends he and Professor Lapierre are. Lelt's see - a man routinely gets appointed to important positions on government projects in which Mr. Irving, his good f riend, may have interests.
This is a serious matter. This is one hell of serious matter.
If I claimed my doctorate was in medecine and, on the base of that, carried out heart surgery, I'd end up in jail.
Prof. Lapierre was used to discredit advice from Dr. Cleary, the province's chief medical officer. He knew he was unqualified to do that. Indeed, even if he had the qualifications he claimed to have, he would still be unqualified to contradict medical advice. He knew that.
And now we learn he was also a splended friend of Mr. Irving. (Mr. Irving, don't you have advisors ono these matters?)
Any government with any integirity at all would have ordered an immediate and very serious investigation. It could very well be - it almost certainly is - that people's lives are at stake here. And even if there weren't, there are almost certainly massive charges of corruption that could emberge..
But it's not going to happen. Mr. Alward is doing his usual imperonation. of a limp fish doing its last flops as it drops into the fisherman's creel. Both he and Mr. I rving babble about the wonderful things Lapierre has done for the province - without naming any of those wonderful things - and without being qualified, in any case, to judge the quality of his work.
In the face of the seriousness of what has happened, the Liberal leader continues to do his imitation of a Barbie doll though without, alas, a bust. And both the NDP and the Greens have been inexplicably dozey.
There is every possibility that your lives, your dhildren's lives and their children's lives have been put in danger so that somebody can make higher profits. The voters of this province are the most passive I have ever seen.
I understand why they're passive. This is a province in which the rich have manipulated the people and its governments (and its newspapers) for their own profit.. And it's province small enough so that anybody who makes too much noise about it can suddently be out of a job.
But the only way out of the abuses and the looting that are daily in this province is to stand up.
By the way, this story does not appear in the Irving Press. Of course not. It took them days before they got around to mentioning the Lapierre's misrepresentation in the first place. Every story we've had on this began with CBC - not with the Irving Press, not with private radio or TV. It was CBC, the one Norbert sneers at, the one Harper wants to get rid of.
__________________________________________________________
Gwynne Dyer's column is important because results of a recemt amd massive report on climate change were very badly reported - giving the impression they concluded that climate change wasn't happening. That's not surprising. There are some very powerful and wealthy people in, For example, the energy industry and in journalism, who don't want any action taken on climate change- It would hurt their profits.
But if you follow this story over the past week, it is evident that some of the brighter lights in the news business have realized that the message had NOT been that we were out of trouble. Indeed, some fear that we may already have passed the point of no return. This excellent column by Dyer reflects the thinking of those brighter lights.
_______________________________________________________________________
Brent Mazerolle has a column on people who use the social media to spread their ill-informed and cowardly ideas. I guess I qualify in that category.
Yessirree, here's an earnest and up front Brent Mazerolle who has devoted himself to a professional journalism world that tells nothing but the truth.
Come off it, Brent. You are devoted to being a spin doctor in a world of journalism that is made up heavily of propandists and professional liars. And you work for one of the worst examples of that breed.
As to anonymous comments, I print all but the obvious trolls who come my way - which means I print 99% of the comments that are anonymous. And most of them are anonymous because this is New Brunswick where anyone who exercises his right to speak is likely to find himself out of a job.
Tell you what, though, baby, I would be willing to publicly debate you on this (or any other topic you can name.) And you can have the whole editorial staff right up there with you to help out. And I won't call myself anonymous.
________________________________________________________________________
On the Faith Page, rhe sermonette is the best I have seen in that spot. Yes, I know I've alway said that they stink - so being the best could be no big deal. However, this one is not just the best. It is also an excellent one. You may not agree with it; but it's well worth thinking about.
As for the list of church events, they remind me of how Jesus used the synagogue as a place to discuss, to debate, a place of intellectual exercise. That tradition of the synagogue as a place of discussion is common in most of the Jewish world to this day. When I lived in Montreal, for example, I could expect to be invited to speak in thirty or more synagogues in the course of any year. (I still have my very own yarmilka (skullcap). But even one Christian church a year was a rarity. God forbid that Christians should go to church to use their brains.
If Jesus were to check out his churches' activities in today's Times and Transcript, we would have a verse added to The Bible, "Lo, and the women were selling pies, and there were in that place auctions and fashion shows....."
_______________________________________________________________
Current events will meet at the Moncton Library on Tuesday, at 7 p.m. This may be the last one. I realized a long time ago that New Brunswickers were afraid, genuinely afraid, to discuss current events in public. I've noticed the such a thing as public discussion in this province is almost nil even in election campaigns. I've tried for two years form a current events group. . But attendance has normally been zero to three or four.). I get a far bigger audience with a blog.
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