- Finance Spokesperson Roy Schneider: Playing with tax numbers and wishfull thinking
Date: 9/3/00 6:17 AM
From: greaner@yahoo.com
Hi Mario,
I am always glad to see that you are keeping up the good work, and the Gord Nystuen item is right on!
However I want to make sure you don't really think that SHIN is dormant just because the gov't and the media have been keeping it out of the spotlight.
They bragged about not needing any more money cuz they still had some of the second $20 million left not too long ago.
Also they are working at a frantic pace to fast track the records into digital form and to incorporate procedures that cannot be undone within the day to day workings of the faclities currently and so to be involved.
FYI
Greaner
Date: 3/26/00 10:09 PM
Received: 3/26/00 11:09 PM
From: Elaine Huber, ehuber@telusplanet.net
To: timothy@ftlcomm.com
Hi! I was just reading your March 23 article, I do not understand this
nursing shortage thing that the governments keep going on about. I am a
nurse and fortunately have a secure (I hope) full time job, but that does
not mean I do not keep looking at the ads. Maybe they would not have such
difficulty finding nurses if they advertised and were offering full time
permanent positions. Saskatchewan and Alberta (where I live) are always
complaining that they can not recruit, I wonder why!!
Take a look at this site:
http://www.canadianrn.com/jobmart/jobmart.htm
and they certainly are not advertising in The Canadian Nurse magazine or
the newspapers. Most people are not willing to relocate for temporary or
casual or part-time employment. The nurses I know that have moved south
did so for full time permanent jobs (with benefits) they are not about to
come back here for anything less. I know a lot of nurses that are working
part time and/or casual at two or three different facilities in order to
make a living, some of them hardly have a day off because if they turn down
a shift here or there at one place because they are already booked
somewhere else or need a day off, the facility they turned down just does
not call them anymore. Some nurses moved on to different fields and have
full time, secure employment and others have started their own businesses,
they have no reason to trust their old employers.
The healthcare employers made the employees the scapgoats for their
mismanagement and now they wonder where they have gone! How dare nurses
want to be compensated for their work? Are we not supposed to be like
Florence Nightengale? As I recall, unlike most of us, Florence came from a
wealthy family and she did not have morgage or a family to support or a
student loan to pay back.
There I feel much better!!!
Elaine
Kevin Goes to California
Date: 7/10/99 7:46 PM
Received: 7/11/99 1:32 AM
From: Kevin McIntyre, kevin@mcintyre.org
To: timothy, timothy@FTLCOMM.comHi Timothy
That was really neat you printed that in Ensign: I saw a few errors where I left out a word or two, I did actually use my spell checker for a change and the gramerical errors were intentional. I'd sent a letter out earlier this week
summarising an article on home prices and commuting from the S-J Mercury news but trashed my copy: I wrote to some who received it to see if I can get it bounced back. There were some very interesting points in it about the 'burbs moving into rural Ca and how the locals felt.
I'm getting settled into the new routine: Sandra's townhouse isn't the most w/c accessible so getting out isn't independant as it was before: we have discussed buying a single level unit instead of this bi level: real estate transactions here wrap in 7 days max: we saw a thing on tv where people in the area bid on home sight unseen. - And I thought the Hawaiian market was expensive.
Cable modems won't be in this area for a year, DSL is here now and with a garrunteed 384 download and a possibility of a 1.5m speed all depending on distance from the switch. The cutoff is 17,000 feet, we are 15,600. For $50 a month we'll pick it up next month: Sandra is a power user for work and we can run both machines off a hub.
I don't have my scanner hooked up yet - haven't found a place for it yet. We took a dozen or so pictures on the road including a white one ton dually lowrider on the freeway. This thing sat as high as a Toyota Corolla. Seeing old cars in showroom condition is as common as seeing traffic lights. I appreciate the history of that. Just another day in California!
Traffic moves good here, wide lanes, 3 to 6 wide on the freeway, 2 to 3 on expressways and surface streets. The limit on freeways is 65, 45 on expressways and 30-35 on streets. Actually no different than 8th street in YXE at rush hour only here they know how to use signal lights and when a light turns yellow they don't go into warp drive. Before I left I fully serviced my cooling system but when it runs over 85, the traffic stops at long lights, my van heats. The engine is just to closed in. First on the list is an electric fan for the front of the rad tied to the thermostat. Once I get rolling it cools but it rides right next to the red far to often. I stopped at Pepboys but once they heard the word "diesel" they got weak knees: jeez, a fan is a fan for heavens sake!
Digital cable: almost as good as my C band dish!
TTYL,
/kevin
Great Website
Date: 6/12/99 8:54 PMHello,
My name is Blair Alderton from Tisdale. I have just recently stumbled across your website and wanted to let you know that I am very impressed. The up to date content, photos, information and design are first class. Great work!
I find myself checking your site almost daily now, as I have learned more about the community through your electronic medium, than the local print mediums. Not only that, but it is a lot brighter not only visually, but informatively.
The potential for sharing local information timely, accurately and colorfully through this type of medium is encouraging.
Just wanted to let you know that it is nice to see the bright side of a community again.
Cheers,
B. Alderton
b.alderton@sk.sympatico.ca
ThanksDear Sir ,
- My name is Alex Nita,MD and I am a GP in South Africa .
I want to thank you for all the information contained in the Ensign web
site.
I found it very useful to form an idea about life in Canada and in your
area .I am thinking of relocating to Nipawin ,and your web site really
helped making my mind .
Many thanks again ,
Alex Nita ,M.D.
PO Box 13156
Empangeni
3880
South Africa
Tel/Fax +27 351 925367
Health articles
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 1999 03:28:15 -0600
From: Greaner <greaner@geocities.com>
To: mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
I was very impressed with some articles I saw at the North Central News site. http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/
Health care is my pet peeve. If you have a list of good reference links for health history blunders here in Sask. I would like to see them.
Thanks for any attention you might give this message. I have a tiny web page about healthcare just now if you are interested. http://www.angelfire.com/sk/healthgaffes/
EnjoyEditors Note: We would prefer not to include letters in our letters section that do not have real names attached. We have published this one because the author has given us both his email address and his web page site but this is an exception.
Tough Cookie
Date: 3/2/99 2:08 PM
From: Norman P. Roach, padraic@sk.sympatico.ca(passing this one along)
The elderly man was at home, upstairs dying in bed. He smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate
chip cookies baking.
He wanted one last cookie before he died. He fell out of bed, crawled to the landing, rolled down the
stairs and crawled into the kitchen where his wife wasbusily baking cookies.
With his last remaining strength he crawled to the table and was just barely able to lift his withered arm
to the cookie sheet.
As he grasped a warm, moist, chocolate chip cookie,his favorite kind, his wife suddenly whacked his hand with a spatula.
Why? he whispered, Why did you do that?
"They're for the funeral.", she replied.
Ensign
Date: 2/21/99 2:08 PM
From: Norman P. Roach, padraic@sk.sympatico.ca
Tim,
Your on-line paper is so darned interesting I think I'll cancel
Maclean's. Not only are your articles thought-provoking ... the folks
who write you have more to say than does Peter Newman.
Keep up the good work!
Norm Roach
Date: 2/17/99 12:25 PM
From: KNAGGS, J, JEAN, MRS, jk@its.uct.ac.za
Hi TIm,
I'm busy reading your online paper. Can you remember the story behind Shrove Tuesday? I sort of think it had something to do with a baker making pancakes when the bakery set alight and he ran to the church for help still flipping pancakes.... Do you know what it is? Our church doesn't celebrate this, but the one church I went to in Grahamstown did - it was fun.
Jean Knaggs
User Support Services
Room 319.3 Level 3A Computer Science Building
University of Cape Town
South Africa
- Date: 1/31/99 12:02 AM
From: Torance Tornquist, tornquist@sk.sympatico.ca
Timothy...dare you to publish this...
Hold on a minute...Whoa...What's going here?
While it is, no doubt, true that NewSask, with it's limited resources and guidelines, cannot be all things to all persons, for many budding entrepreneurs, they are the only game in town.
That NewSask staff, directors and programs aren't perfect, only reflects the reality of our world and our community. All programs have limitations and must, to survive, live within guidelines.
Let me assure you, Edwin and Timothy, that there are within NewSask, very dedicated and effective staff, the directors of the corporation volunteer hundreds of hours annually in their best effort to make this structure (handed down from senior government) serve a huge area and hundreds of potential and actual clients.
Confidentiality regarding financial transactions prevent "showcasing" by NewSask to illustrate the many success stories. That there are failures is again a reality of life, particularly when this office is very often a "lender of last resort".
Consider the question, "Why do we have to have organizations, such as NewSask?" Clearly the larger financial institutions, including Credit Unions, are not accessible to a large part of the regional population. The presence of NewSask, SBLA, SIEF, ABC and many other structures that provide some form of financial services indicates systemic problems in our community, province and country. These are often set up to cure symptoms and don't cure our economic ills. NewSask actually coordinates, partners with and opens doors to the other sources of financial support including the traditional banking services.
May I recommend that Timothy, Ed and Judy meet for coffee, make up and determine to look for the positive aspects, consider the larger picture and determine what each can continue to contribute to improvement and where you may expand or enhance your presence. Each of you have a strong social conscience and control resources/tools that may be used for the enhancement of our region.
- Timothy, you control a powerful voice that reaches many influential people, your broad experience and maturity can be a positive and strengthening force.
- Edwin, you know how the system works and have a wide network of contacts both within the region and this province. Your wide experience is valuable.
- Judy, you deliver programs and direct a good staff. Your board has opportunity to influence some parts of the internal working of government. You also are part of a large network of people who have significant resources and power.
Give it a try. Go on from here. Don't keep scratching scabs off old wounds. You might get infection and never heal.
We all strive for perfection. God bless you and all those you contact, serve and reach. Let's all be able to smile and prepare now for a new life in heaven together.
Best regards,
Torance Tornquist
Date: 1/31/99 11:50 PM
From: larry fisk, larry.fisk@uleth.ca
Hi Tim,
I have been reading your messages, and also some from Bert, Marie read the family story that you put up and asked me for some clarification , about your uncle Bert who I found out be be Albert James Longhurst, husband of Beatrice, I was thankful for "A FLIGHT TROUGH TIME '' The Wawota & District History, pubished 1994, my mother got the two books for me.
I am so glad to see the family story, I have been gathering Fisk family history for years now and have some very interesting stories, including the last will and testament of Great Great Grandfather Samuel Fisk. I have been in contact with a distant cousin in Calgary who Gathered a lot of information too. He just got on the Net, this fall so it is nice to comunicate with him too. Finally I have been writing a history of my young live as I remember. My son thinks the title "lives of the old man " is funny, its 22 pages and should not go over 30. I plan to print it up with the old pictures of the farm and family
I liked your observations about trucking and I have a paralell though. It's the many many courier vehicals that come to our town, I think there are at least six different companies that come here, and the way they all can afford to come, in addition to to post office, I wonder what happened, for the post office to loss all that busness, I suspect it has to do with strikes and the power struggle with the unions. Anyway, maybe you will think about all that.
Larry & Marie
Date: 1/27/99 8:07 AM
From: Mike Townsend, mtownsen@sahali.sd73.bc.ca
Hi Tim;
Loved the pictures of Cassiar!! And yes I would like to see more.
It brings back many very good memories of my time in Iskut. I was in
Cassiar only once when I first applied for and was interviewed by Northern
Lights College. All things of value had been removed and it really was a
ghost town. We were let into the community by a security guard. All that
summer and much of the next winter, Alberta house-moving companies on the
roads, going east and south, were a constant reminder that the community
was slowly dissolving. Later there was talk that a New Zealand company was
going to come in and mine the tailings mountain that you had to go around
as you drove into Cassiar. I don't know what ever came of this.
Talk to you later.
PS The community at Good Hope Lake was often referred to as "No Hope Lake".
Driving though it on the way home from Watson Lake was a very depressing
vista set in a world of beauty and magnificence.
Mike Townsend
Go Tell It On A Mountain
Date: 12/12/98 8:09 AM
From: Edwin Wallace, ewallace@brendarenfarm.com
To: timothy, timothy@ftlcomm.com
I think you have expressed in a very short sentence the sentiments of most people who have approached these sham operations such as NEWSASK. NEWSASK; a generic name for such nonsense, described in the most generous terms, is
the front for government pork barreling. This modern day version of the old payoff is as self serving. It creates an illusion of activity. It does provide some limited employment for the likes of Ms. Childs. It makes actual help to "political insiders" possible while maintaining the ruse of public respectability.
That Ms. Childs and NEWSASK reacted so strongly to your mild indictment only suggests to me that their awareness of their own impotence and/or phoniness is widely apparent or suspected - even to them.
I personally would not by cowed; nor do I think you will be intimidated by these antics (Her letter.) and I would suggest you take this issue to an even wider audience than your own very excellent web site.
The very best Holiday greetings to you, your family and friends,
Edwin
Saskatchewan: Healthcare Reform and new Economic Policies, Part 4:
- A person experience: Incompetence & Corruption of the SAHOSHA Retirement Plan Administration
Received: 12/7/98 6:36 AM
From: Randy Langard, rlanggard@sk.sympatico.ca
December 6, 1998
Our firm acts as solicitors for Hewitt Helmsing. Mr. Helmsing is referenced in an article by Mario deSantis, entitled: "Need of Transformational Changes in Saskatchewan". This article appears in your website as: http://www.fltcomm.com/ensign/desantis17/healthcare4.html.
Frankly, this article is defamatory. At one point the article says: "...Mr. Helmsing along with other healthcare leaders were corrupting the SHA pension plan and misappropriating public funds." These are strong statements. There is not a shred of evidence in the article to support them. In fact, no such evidence exists. Our client demands that this article be deleted from you website and that an appropriate apology be published.
Mr. deSantis obviously has some sort of axe to grind arising out of his former employment with SHA. He is using your website to further whatever his objectives might be. His statements about Mr. Helmsing are unsubstantiated and actionable. Unless appropriate steps are taken by you to deal with this situation, both Mr. deSantis and your organization risk the prospect of costly legal proceedings.
We look forward to your response within the next 7 days.
Yours truly,
Randy Langgard
Stewart Johnson Langgard
Editors note: Below is Ensign's response to the above message:
December 7, 1998
- There is a point of view or perspective that enters into this issue Mr. Langgard,
as counsel for Mr. Helmsing it is your duty to defend and portray him as your client,
in the most favourable light. So your assessment about Mr. Helmsing as
"There is not a shred of evidence in the article
to support them. In fact, no evidence exists."
could hardly be considered as impartial. Whereas Mr. deSantis was in charge of the pension plan when he alleges that Mr. Helmsing was
"not happy with their salaries, mismanaged the
SHA Retirement plan by not paying their compulsory
share of their pension contributions and in so
doing they caused the misappropriation of public
funds."
I am not a lawyer and certainly not a judge, but if I were asked to believe your statement as a paid representative of a person who is known to be extremely wealthy, that there is not a shred of evidence to substantiate some allegations, or should I believe a fastidious accountant who was in charge of the pension fund at the time in question and documented his allegations by having sent letters to officials since then pointing out what he considered a misappropriation of public funds. I am inclined to think, and I believe it is reasonable for me to do so, that the accountant's allegations are much more believable.
The issue is that I have no malice toward this individual, I would love to be able to report that he was wrongly maligned and apologise for having cast any shadows on his character. But your statement does not address Mr. deSantis' allegations that in the fall of 1981 Mr. Helmsing did not pay his compulsory share of the pension fund.
I suspect that you have not read all of Mr. deSantis' articles and if you only look at the article mentioned, you might feel that his remarks are unsubstantiated and actionable, but it is reasonable for me, as an honest individual, wanting to see that true statements are known, to consider them as matters that relate to the meaning of "corruption". As stated, I am not a lawyer and nor am I an accountant, so Mr. deSantis' comments that not paying a person's contribution to a pension fund is "corrupt", I take that at its face value with the understanding that he knows what that term means in this specific situation.
If Mr. Helmsing paid the compulsory contributions to the pension fund in the fall of 1981 or at a later date to correct the matter, then I would be very pleased to retract fully the statements made by Mr. deSantis, but if he did not make those compulsory contributions, then Mr. deSantis' statements are true, and it is you who are guilty of defamatory remarks also published in Ensign about Mr. deSantis as I have dutifully published your letter to me, in letters to the editor.
I want only to be fair, I published Mr. deSantis' articles because they substantially seemed to point toward a systematic problem in our provincial conduct of this vital portion of government. Similarly, I have published your unsubstantiated remarks, because I think it is fair that the other side have a right to defend themselves if they are not perpetrators of some serious wrong doing.
Sincerely
Timothy W. Shire
Policeman's Funeral - Was It Appropriate?
- Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 17:15:15 -0500 (EST)
From: Gabriel L Nathan - 02 gnathan@muhlenberg.edu
Dear Mr. Zunti,
I have to congratulate you, Mr. Zunti, you've really done something quite unique with your article on the appropriatness of Undercover Detective Brian Hancox's funeral; you're the only person in the world who's ever written something that made me physically ill. I'd be remiss if I did not tell you that your article was perhaps the most unsympathetic, obnoxious, ill-conceived, pompous, and vomitous piece of journalizm I've ever read in my life. Obviously you have not a clue in your thick head what law enforcement is all about. When a young man or woman, married or not, with children or not, gets killed because he or she is simply doing their job, because they wear a uniform or a piece of silver on their chest that makes them vulnerable, that makes them a target, that is unusual. People usually aren'y sought out, butchered, assassinated because of a job they do. Policemen, upon graduation from their various academies, are asked to do unthinkable things every day, and, every Friday, they essentially get shit upon with their lousy checks. you're a journalist, (and not a very good one, from what I've just read), and you get paid more for sitting at your computer and being obnoxious and provocative once a week than a 24 year old young man who never knows if he's coming home for dinner after work. Who are you to judge police officers? Who are you to determine what mourning strategy is appropriate? You're nobody. Let me tell you something about the police funeral, let me educate you on what it means. First of all, the mass gathering of law enforcement officers is a comfort to the officers of the department where the slain officer was killed, as well as a major comfort to the widow and children of the slain officer, if there are any. But, most importantly, this immense gathering of armed police officers is a warning. It sends a message of paramount importance to the world. It says something to the person who killed this officer and to any other potential cop-killers out
there; "Look. You may have killed this one, but you didn't get us. You can never kill all of us. We are the police. There's only one of you, and there's ten thousand of us. Think of killing a cop? Think again." It's a message of solidarity, of grief, of pain, anguish, suffering, and beauty, and you are nobody to question it. Who's paying for all those police officers to attend? Who cares? Who's paying for John Glenn to jump around in space and play golf with moonrocks? I don't hear anybody questioning the importance of that. I have a bit of advice for you, Mr. Zunti, the next time you feel compelled to spout off your lofty views on an issue you neither understand nor care about; don't. We'll all be better off. - Sincerely,
Gabriel L. Nathan
Muhlenberg College; Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Editor's Note: Mr. Gabriel is under the impression that Mr. Zunti is a paid journalist which is not the case, all writers who's work appear's in Ensign do so voluntarily and with no remuneration whatsoever. Mr. Gabriel is entitled to his opinion and we are pleased to share it with you, but at the same time we cherish the right in Canada, to be able to express an opinion freely and openly.
Colima Mexico On Volcano Alert
- Date: 12/2/98 8:04 PM
From: Jennifer Shire, pi0075@campus.col.itesm.mx
The Americans want to send a big thank you for putting stuff up on the net about our adventures, and their families really appreciate it too.
The volcano erupted last Sun. It spit out a lot of ash and small stones but it did damage close to it. I actually didn't even know it happened. It happened at night and I didn't see or hear it. There was lava but it just covered the sides of the mountain and didn't reach any major towns and no one was hurt. My Uncle Derald called Dad the other night becuase he heard there was another eruption in Mexico. That one was about 50 km outside of Mexico City and was the volcano Popocateptl. It just blew out a lot of smoke and ash but no lava. The said the 2 eruptions were unrelated but I don't thinks so. This whole area is unstable and they're still a little worried that soon ours could just up and explode really badly all of a sudden.
My closing ceremonies and graduation are tomorrow and the school is throwing a big party for us. My papers were really easy and I only had 2 and my Spanish exam was a little tough though.
I'm going to spend this weekend in Manzanillo and then I'm off to Mexico on the 9th and I will be home on the 13th. So see you soon.
Love Jen
Editor's note: The listing that NewSask objects to is:
A consise single page site that explains the functions of this business intended to support business development in the area. Actual experience with this corporations suggests that their claims are somewhat over stated. These folks are a big help if you don't need help. However, you might find just what you are looking for if you are developing a business, perhaps FTLComm's experience with this agency was an exception.
Because of the implied threat of a lawsuit Ensign has removed the listing from the Tisdale Web site list because the comments are true and therefore there is no way to modify the statement that would make it acceptable to the corporation.
Workers Compensation Board, Using the System
Date: 11/20/98 5:31 PM
From: desantis, mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
Gordon's letter provides a feeling of hopelessness in dealing with our mega and pseudo private agencies. I really don't know what to do; there is nothing to do personally; the only thing which is left is to enforce the law.
The WCB is breaking the law by not allowing the Provincial Auditor to audit its books, and the Government is not exercising its administrative duties when it doesn't allow the Provincial Auditor to do his work. The same situation is occurring with the Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations (SAHO). In the Spring of 1995, I talked to the Provincial Auditor, Mr. Wayne Strelioff, and he stated that SAHO falls under his jurisdiction as well. Today, SAHO is handling over a billion dollar of Saskatchewan money (refer to the pension and disability income plans for healthcare employees) yet it has no public accountability.
These public agencies don't use plain language as is the duty of public agencies; instead, they use their own contorted language to protect their own agency's interests-the Providers of Services-and if you don't like what they do you have one private recourse: the courts! The paradox is that we have public agencies using public money and which operate like private businesses; this is an absurdity!
There is a bad smell of nepotism and corruption, and this smell permeates many big businesses and professionals. We cannot trust
actuaries, lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats and politicians; where do we go? Let us begin in allowing the Provincial Auditor to do his job and audit both of these public organizations: WCB & SAHO.
Mario deSantis
Date: 11/13/98 9:27 AM
From: James Leier, kelsey@sk.sympatico.ca
I only know that Prince is known as "The Artist"
and often referred to as the Artist formerly known as Prince. Which
comes complete with a symbol not contained in the fonts on my computer.
DJL
Date: 11/13/98 6:58 AM
From: Richard Tapp, rtapp@camtech.net.au
Hi Tim,
.... it was I who drew Lanny's attention to the 1950(2) Plymouth article (but to any misinformation that may have been supplied to you.) BTW my information supports Lanny's proposition that the '57 Chrysler product styling (the forward look) was a huge success. '57 sales were superb. But it was all downhill from there. Lanny mentioned build quality but i have read that they
rusted inside a year!
Regards,
Richard Tapp, Adelaide, South Australia +61 8 8271 6504
Southern Soaring League, RC Soaring, RC Electric, AUS 9380, LSF1280
1929 Plymouth Roadster, 1949 MG TC, 1969 Reliant Scimitar GTE
Chrysler Restorers Club, Sporting Car Club, MG Car Club
Received: 11/10/98 2:32 PM
From: Art Mira manitoba@home.com
On Tue, 10 Nov 1998 10:42:25 -0600, in sk.politics you wrote:
>Yesterday sports fans you will have noticed that the news group server was off line for a while and some found that sk.politics had disappeared.
Nice to see that you haven't disappeared...;->
Things just haven't been the same here in Winnipeg since Rose and Mills exercised their (heavy handed) usenet fiat...
I just finished having a peek at the Ensign. Nice piece of work, and a hell of lot more interesting and entertaining than the so-called news
pap being served up on the Shaw/Wave/@Home/CNN/CBC bunch...
Your story on the Plymouth brought back a lot of my own memories about the '52 Chev I managed to 'inherit' from my dad, not to mention my old dream of finding a reasonably priced '50 Nash in working order. Now that was a boat to cruise in!!
Art Mira
The Bathtub Admiral
Received: 11/10/98 7:03 AM
From: LANNY KNUTSON plybul, plybul@techplus.com
Imagine, I get an e-mail from a member in Australia alerting me to a Plymouth on the 'net and I discover it's in the next province! ("1950 Plymouth," FTLComm--Tisdale--Nov. 2/98) It's always good to see old Plymouths honoured in such a way. However, I have a few comments.
First of all the car is a 1952 Plymouth not a 1950 model. While the basic body was the same from 1949 to 1952, the front end was substantially changed for 1951. The '51s and '52s were virtually identical except for trim details. The '52 had a round medallion on the
hood as does the car in the picture.
I have had a similar 1949 Plymouth since I purchased it in Regina in 1975. Since its complete rebuild in 1983, it has given me more than a 100.000 miles of summertime service taking me as far west as Victoria and as far east as Montreal in Canada; Washington state and Massachusetts in the States and as far south a Arkansas. I started out with a used engine (from a combine) in 1983 and replaced it after 60,000 miles in 1991. The current rebuilt engine is now nearing 50,000 miles and there's no need of a valve job yet.
Actually, Chrysler's long lived flathead six was considered a high-revving engine for a valve-in-block type powerplant.
I usually drive the car at a steady 65 miles per hour on the highway and I could cruise consistently at 70 if I ever get the front suspension properly set up. So, from first hand experience, I take issue with your comments about these cars needing valve jobs every 30,000 miles or "after only a few hundred miles at speeds of over sixty miles per hour."
Although the engine does turn over a bit more slowly when hot, it never fails to start and usually fires on the first turn. The only time I had trouble with it starting when hot was that first summer of 1983. I had mistakenly installed 12-volt battery cables, which are of a thinner gauge and cannot carry the amount of current the proper 6-volt cables can. Once the proper cables were installed, the problem was solved.
Also, it was not the radical styling of the tailfinned '57s that almost destroyed Chrysler. The styling was so stunning, it had General Motors scrambling to respond. They trashed their bulky '58 models after only one year and came out with their own radically tailfinned cars in 1959. What nearly destroyed Chrysler was the poor build quality of its '57 models which were rushed into production three years early to get a styling leadership jump on the competition (Plymouth's 1957 sales slogan was "Suddenly it's 1960"). The poor quality control problem caused by this rush job was such a high price to pay that the corporation is just now, 40 years later, beginning to overcome it.
I am the editor of the PLYMOUTH BULLETIN, the magazine of the Plymouth Owners Club. The 56-page periodical is published six times a year and sent to more than 3600 members worldwide. Membership, which includes a magazine subscription and free advertising, is $18.00 US per year, sent to our Membership Secretary, Jim Benjaminson, PO Box 345, Walhalla, ND 58282-0345, USA; fax (701) 549-3744; e-mail benji@utma.com
LANNY KNUTSON, editor
The Plymouth Bulletin
Box 414
ERICKSON, MB R0J 0P0
phone: (204) 636-2353
fax: (204) 636-2646
email: plybul@techplus.com- Editor's note: Thanks Lanny, I am really pleased to be corrected, there seemed to be something funny about the car and I couldn't put my finger on it, my very first car was indeed a 1950 Plymouth and I realised there was a difference but I suspected it may have been that chrome piece around the gas filler which I suspected might be after market stuff. As a young person my 50 Plymouth was the wrong car for me, it was my driving habits that lead me to require the head gasket and valve jobs. I will dig out the pictures of it and show it off. Mine by the way was the straightest car I ever owned. I used to see how long it would track down the road without the need to touch the wheel and it was always over a minute. My second car was a 57 Plymouth.
What about Porcupine Plain?
-
Received: 10/19/98 6:20 PM
From: Honeybrook Ltd, gerald@honeybrook.co.ukDear Timothy,
Do you have any plans to include Porcupine Plain on your site? We moved from Porcupine back to England in 86 and over the past couple of years I have become very interested in the internet. It was nice to find your site with news that is interesting to people who no longer live in the area, especially the photos of the recent snow.
I do a site for our town Kidderminster (population about 60,000) if you are interested - http://www.kidderminster.com . I am also developing a site for a primary school in the town, Comberton First School - http://www.kidderminster.org.uk/comberton - and though it would be interesting for the kids if we could get our kids' message board busy with messages from kids in your area. Just a thought.
Keep up the good work.
Regards
Gerald Majumdar- Editor: Absolutely Gerald, on several occassions I have set out to do a "hometown" series page on Porcupine Plain and in each instance I have been side tracked. I fully expect to get a page focusing on Porky but at this time I am not sure when that will be.
And Another One Bites the Dust
Received: 10/19/98 10:11 AM
From: desantis, mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
Tim:
Excellent article. We still have a business and political leadership supporting entrepreneurs who become rich at the expense of others. TSG's payroll cheques bounced and this is a sign of bad will; yet their commitment to a vision, integrity and trust are splashed everywhere, in their advertising and policies. When do these entrepreneurs stop lying along with their political friends?
Sincerely,
Mario deSantis
NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN ASKATCHEWAN:
- The biological origin
of cognition and implications for Education
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 19:08:06 +1000
From: "Lloyd Fell" pfell@northnet.com.au
Thanks for the message and for the links in your interesting paper which I have had a look at tonight. I thought the paper layout and the whole web site was outstanding - so bright and clear to follow.
Congratulations. I forwarded your message to Joy also.
Best wishes
Lloyd Fell
http://www.northnet.com.au/~pfell/index.html- Editors note: Professor Lloyd Fell teaches at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW, Australia
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 20:36:09 -0200
From: Elizabeth Murphy elmurphy@calvin.stemnet.nf.ca
Subject: new age thinking
Great article-I just read it quickly. People need to be more aware of these issues. maturana of course-is only one of many people stating " that there is not one objective reality," -all non-positivists would argue this. It is part of a constructivist ontology & epistemology. Thanks for the reference at the end as well.
The more time you spend on the net -the more you will read about this. It has become a sort of a new-age philosophy now I guess. Discovering it has meant a lot to me in terms of how it has affected my thinking. If you delve into it enough youwill see that it has bearing on the way we relate to others, the way we communicate, think and see the world.
Elizabeth Murphy
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/~elmurphy/emurphy/home.htmlEditor's note: Elizabeth Murphy is a Principal in Quebec and a Phd. student.
9/23/98 8:20 AM
Mike Glass, hrdc@main.nlnet.melfort.sk.ca
I have checked out your site, Timothy, and I think it's great! It fills in a number of gaps for the folks in this region. Just to let you know
that I have added links to your site from the Melfort HRC Web Site (http://www.nlnet.net/hrdc) from both our "What's New" page and from our "Community Partners and Partnerships" page. (After the nice things you said about our site on your "Melfort Sites" link to us, how could we NOT link to you?)
Regards,
Mike Glass
HRC Melfort
mikeg@main.nlnet.melfort.sk.ca
9/15/98 6:09 AM
Mario deSantis, mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
Tim:
It is Sept 15/98 7:00 AM and I am getting addicted to your web site. As I got your pages on the monitor screen I saw your beautiful picture of a little girl on a tree; and your brief description of what that little girl represented warmed my heart! You made reference to the process of growing, of becoming, and the creativity which is intrinsic in all of us by being different. Congratulations to the little girl and to your good morning.
Mario
Regina Police Shoot and Kill 15 Year-Old
9/13/98 11:23 AMMike Townsend, mtownsen@cln.etc.bc.ca
Hi Tim;
That was an extraordinary piece of writing on the shooting incident in Regina. Good job Tim!
Sometime ago there was a mildly retarded man, well known in the neighborhood, brandishing something which could have been a knife, around some teenage girls. While no one was really frightened there was cause for concern. The local garage owner, having witnessed this, phoned the police. I arrived the same time as the cops. It was wild! Both had their guns out right away before the situation was adequately assessed, screaming and scaring the shit out of everyone at the garage, and proceeded to brutalize both verbally and physically this poor man. It was a tense situation turned insane by these two crazed cops. They took this guy away without so much as a word to the shocked people standing by or even the owner of the garage who made the call. Talking with the garage owner, he said if he had known what was about to take place he would have never made the call to the police. They are out of control Tim! If I was young and native I would be very scared knowing full well I was living in a war zone with a clearly defined enemy. And of course if you are an activist and living in Vancouver you are only marginally safer if the focus for your protest is a friend of the PMO.
Mike
Sa-Hali Secondary School
Kamloops, BC
Canada
mtownsen@cln.etc.bc.ca
http://members.xoom.com/Bagtown/
(Best viewed using Internet Explorer 3.0 or better)
==========================================================
"Hopelessly lost, but making good time!"
==========================================================
9/12/98 7:44 AM
desantis, mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
Tim:
I appreciate your feelings expressed in your article regarding the senseless killing of a 15 year old boy by a Regina police man. You point
out that the police is trained to aim at the larger part of the body of an offending threatening person and kill, rather than to deal with the
many alternatives available which don't include killing. This incident shows that the Regina police has a lot of education to do for their officers before they can provide an effective contribution to our communities. The killing is the result of a black and white (and in this case shoot and not-shoot) mentality which presently permeates many facets of our society.
Thank you for being able to read your article,
Mario
Excellent points you make Tim. I would take exception to your suggestion that we not blame the police because that (shooting to kill) is how they are trained. At all times reason should hold sway over military training for police who are always in contact with the civilian population they are hired to protect.
I am disgusted with this needless killing. I can only assume that those several cops accompanied by police dogs were and are so totally chicken shit that their minds cease to function in face of a relatively non lethal situation - for the cops.
Two shots! Good God! Why not one to the kids leg, that would have put him down, he was only fifteen (Now 16 - he aged a year since yesterday.) But of course our hero was a flustered fool with a semi automatic weapon and on top of that a damn poor shot when excited.
The truth of the matter is that the cops will suffer for this murder. The public may not speak out to any great extent - they are after all, as you pointed out Tim, weaponless in the face of armed, trained killers - but the public's loss of respect for law enforcement will haunt them in future.
There was reason to believe that the youth was off medication for a mental disorder. Some way to cure the health care problem! The mother apparently blames the health care system rather than the cops - that poor soul should hold them equally to blame.
More routine screening for mental stability should be carried out in all police forces - not just when signing up such potential killers.
I'm Edwin(Editor's note: Edwin Wallace is a farmer from Stewart Valley, just North of Swift Current. Edwin's message was posted on the sk.politics news group )
9/8/98 10:05 PM
James, james@tisdaleschooldiv.sk.ca
I understand that you are a Macintosh reseller and are going to do anything you have to to make a sale but I think that your statements in the article Tisdale Shared Library are grossly inaccurate.
"Unfortunately though the library's computer equipment is less then a year old it is all inferior Windows based machines making them difficult to use and sadly antiquated in this day and age."
Inferior Windows based machines? Come on. I've used both Windows and Macintosh machines and, yes in 1984 the Mac was a vastly superior machine but as the market shows the PC has since passed the Mac in price, usability and functionality. Difficult to use? What's the market share of Macs to PC's right now? Why would so many people buy PC's with Win98 if it was hard to use (besides Apples marketing blunders)?
"Though the computers are the sort of equipment we at FTLComm used over a decade ago the furniture is modern and extremely functional. "
As we are both are professionals in the industry we both know this is a lie. Yes, 10 years ago the Mac did have a GUI while the PC folks were punching away at DOS. But the Macs of 10 years ago, or even 1 year ago had nowhere near the functionality of today's PC's. I'm sure if you have the computing power of even a P166 10 years ago we would have all been worshiping you as a god.
I am not saying that the Mac's of today are bad computers. Nor am I saying that PC's are perfect machines (far from it). I am saying that each machine has it's strengths and weaknesses and that I find your statements extremely biased and inaccurate.
James Deptuck
Computer Services Coordinator
Tisdale School Division
james@tisdaleschooldiv.sk.caEditor: Mr. Deptuck's accusation that I am somehow miss-representing the truth is a rather unfortunate choice of words. If you check out what I have said about this issue in the past you will discover that my views are a very strong personal belief based on the very low ability I witness when watching PC customers attempting to carry out any simple task with their so-called "computers" and it would be unseemly to represent such an opinion as a lie.
Mr. Deptuck is quite right in pointing out that our business does sell Macintosh computers and we have in the past sold non-Macintosh equipment but since the release of the Macintosh G-3 we can not with a clear conscience recommend such equipment now. Our company actually presented to the Tisdale School Board a bid for the lab that was developed prior to the construction of the new school and that bid was both Macintoshes and non-Machintosh. However, our company was not invited, even though we had engaged a large corporate partner to assist us, to place a bid for the equipment that was installed in TMSS.
It is not sour grapes that moves us to condemn the bad equipment in the school or in the Library, because I would say the same if we had sold the very same equipment. On the first day the teachers went to work this school year, I visited six classrooms, two of the six rooms had non-functioning computers, it is reasonable to assume that if on the first day of school one in three machines is out of service, then it should be down hill from there, which means less then two thirds of the equipment in the school is working on any given school day.
Timothy W. Shire
9/3/98 7:38 AM
Mario deSantis, mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
Tim:
I am usually short of words; but I can't help to say how resourceful you
are,... what a timed research!
Mario
8/29/98
Mario deSantis mdesantis@sk.sympatico.ca
Tim:
Excellent work and food for thoughts. Our social economic system is
rigid and sometime artificial. We have been thought to operate as
speculators, that is sometimes we make money at the expense of others.
We must change this entrenched speculative and short sighted way to
think.
Mario
9/3/98 9:42 PM
Joanna Erbach, griffon@macrepublic.ml.org
Dear editors at North Central Internet News,
As a co-editor of the Macinations user group newsletter, I am looking for
an article on the new iMac. I would like permission to use parts of the
iMac! Whoa! article (August 12). Credit would be given to North Central
Internet News when the newsletter was printed. Is that okay?
Joanna Erbach
griffon@macrepublic.ml.org
8/28/98
Mark Suggitt msuggitt@bfsmedia.com
have to share this...
best email signature I've seen in a long while:
>Windows and DOS: A turtle and its shell.
>Windows 3.1: The best $89 solitaire game you can buy.
>Windows NT: Insert wallet into Drive A and press any key to empty.
>
>How do you wanna crash today?
well, it beats my signature anyway ...
______________________
Mark Suggitt
msuggitt@em.ca
EM Internet Services Inc.
______________________
:)
8/28/98
Corey DietzEnjoy,
- Corey
corey.dietz@cableregina.com
http://www.cabler.com/corey/
(Dilbert is the work of Cartoonist Scott Adams and the images Cory has sent us above
are from this week's calendar. If you try "dilbert" in a search engine you will be amazed
at the number of sites that will come up! TWS)
Susan Morgan of Wolf Creek Miniatures and Look Way Up
8/27/98
Michael Townsend, mtownsen@cln.etc.bc.ca
Hi Tim;
Your HyperCard type stuff is really neat!! I recall you were doing some really wonderful stuff with HyperCard years ago. Walk throughs, just excellent demos of schools and other things. Some of my kids did some neat stuff along the same line last year using HyperStudio. The potential is enormous. Both the car ad and the harvesting sequence are great.
Hey, what is it with these sun flowers anyway? A guy down the street from me has colored ones that reach the top of his house. It must be the year for them although none will be worth what "Leo" did. (You caught the owner of those sun flowers at kind of an inopportune moment eh? Ha.)
Those horses were weird. I will keep your suggestion in mind. But planning for the departure of Bear is something that I keep well away from any concious thoughts. Speaking of bear, we came across one last night on our walk by the golf course. He was just above the trail we walk on when returning home. If I had not seen him as early as I did we could have ended up in some trouble. Because of the very dry summer many are coming down to the city in search of food. The apples are plentiful and many leave their garbage out in just plastic bags providing easy pickings for these hungry bruins. But as many as 4 have been shot around town in the last 3 or 4 weeks. Terrible! I don't know whether I told you this before but I know the origins of the abominable snowman. They are just bears. When we lived in Iskut we came across a mother grizzly and her two cubs late one spring very high on a plateau. Like fools we followed them for awhile until she started slowing down and possibly circling around behind us. Anyway, the point of this is the tracks left in the snow were almost identical to an adult human walking with two kids barefoot in the snow. On the trail Bear and I walk on now, it is very dusty because of the lack of rain and sure enough, those same barefoot human-like tracks were there. Bear's nose as very active and his behaviour became very strange so we had to leave. I think his hunting instincts were aroused.
Talk to you later.
Mike
8/13/98
Michael Townsend, mtownsen@cln.etc.bc.ca
Hi Tim;
Just finished my regular visit to the Ensign site and got caught up on all my computer and small town Saskatchewan news. I liked the Shand article even though I have never been there. The way you wrote it and the pictures; it could have been about just any little town. Good job!
I went on a mission to Mission this weekend. They had the "Old Time Drags" which included cars that were '70 and older. My friend from Surrey, who I have mentioned before, readied his T-Bird and decided to run it and see just what it was now capable of. I took another Panorama camera and got
some good shots. If I can get them scanned at school, I will send them along to you.
The weekend started with a bit of a smoky start as the Green Mountain fire was burning with a great deal of ferocity closing the #1 to Cache Creek for a while. It was nice to get out of the smoky air for a short time but as you know the air of the lower mainland is not much better.
I made my way downtown from Surrey via the SkyTrain and did the usual things I like to do: visit the library, stroll around downtown; Granville, Robson, and Gastown, and have a few beer with the junkies and crack heads on east Hastings. While in Gastown I got caught up in a "Legalize Grass" rally. They were a rather interesting group of pot smokers, colorfully dressed, from all age groups and economic circumstance. But before I got to Water Street where the rally was taking place, I was accosted by at least 5 junkies trying to sell me a veritable smorgasbord of illegal substances. Now what I found really crazy was the presence of at least 30 cops controlling the rally but not one hassling the junkies selling. The rallyers were seemingly harmless, well mannered and organized. But on the other hand, the junkies were ready to dust me off because I expressed no interest in buying. You could see it in their eyes, the absence of anything other than the eternal search for more drugs. One does not walk these streets without a confident street swagger. But maybe, to the cops, the ones in the rally were more dangerous. The ones in the rally were tampering with the order of things, threatening change, where the junkies were just doing their job with a routineness that the cops had become comfortable dealing with. They had video cameras in vacant buildings around the square as well as on the street. It showed a great deal of fear on the part of the cops. The cost to the city and the people of Vancouver must have been enormous.
Saturday and Sunday were spent in Mission with hundreds of wonderful, fast, loud, powerful dragsters. It was great as the pictures will attest. Terry did quite well but never broke 14 seconds or 96 mph. We stayed overnight at the track, met many hard core racers, most my age actually, and got my fill of cars for awhile. But I think I overdosed on Octane and thunder. The quiet of Westsyde is very nice to come home to.
Talk to you later. Hope the temperature is moderating somewhat.
Mike
8/2/98
George Fedak, f.fedak@sk.sympatico.ca
Thanks for your interesting article on our repairs that we have
undertaken west of the saan store, I had mentioned when you visited the
job site that I had a page on the net, if you are interested please feel
free to add it to your page.Our address is
www.seedman.com/MotherEarth.html We sell world wide and have over
5000 varieties of unusual and hard to find seeds.
Thanks
George Fedak....Mother Earth Seeds
Regina, Crime Capital of Canada
8/2/98
Will Chabun, wchabun@sk.sympatico.ca
Mr. Shire:
Below is the fourth or fifth article on the crime rate that ran this week in the Regina Leader-Post:
Fretting over crime figures
A week after Regina's fifth homicide and a week before a 14-year-old was charged with carrying a sawed-off shotgun into a local bar, Regina learned it has a crime problem.
The news came July 22, in a Statistics Canada survey of 25 Canadian cities. It showed the city had the second-highest violent crime rate and the worst property crime rate in 1997.
Combined, that put Regina into the No. 1 spot in total criminal offences last year: 14,500 crimes for every 100,000 people.
While Opposition politicians complained about living in the nation's "Crime Capital," acting police chief Clive Weighill issued assurances that Regina is a safe community.
Is it?
Angeline Rus had great expectations when her family rented a house in north-central Regina in May, one block north of Dewdney Avenue. She and her husband put in new kitchen floors and painted the walls, because they planned to buy the rental property.
"I expected to move in and build a home for my children to grow up in," she said.
Three months later, she's given up. They're moving to Edmonton to escape Regina's crime problem.
Rus is almost an indirect victim of crime. Her car hasn't been stolen, although she now parks it on the front lawn so she can keep an eye on it, and no one has broken into her house.
"Not yet," she said.
Rather, people have littered on her yard, neighbors have partied too loud and too late, and her van window has been smashed in.
"I've seen a lot of young kids running around, doing whatever the hell they want, because they can. Where are their parents?"
Rus has been worn down by the constant parade of small annoyances and the ever-present threat that something more serious could occur at any moment.
And that has led her to conclude this is not a safe city to raise her children.
A summary of Regina's crime problem reveals several truisms:
* Property crime is undoubtedly bad here, but it is declining (down 9.5 per cent in 1997);
* Regina's violent crime rate is not as bad, relative to other cities, as the survey would suggest;
* Crime, especially violent crime, is linked to social problems that afflict low-income neighborhoods and it tends to find its victims within the same group;
* The city has a youth crime problem.
Crime statistics are problematic. For example, if Regina has three murders one year and four the next, homicides have increased 33 per cent.
Also, they measure the crimes that are reported, rather than committed.
Prostitution was down 72 per cent in the first six months of 1998, according to the Regina Police Service. Of course, prostitution hasn't declined: police have simply redirected their limited resources and are not
busting as many hookers and johns this year.
The most troubling figure in the StatsCan survey was the finding that violent crime jumped 29 per cent in Regina -- far and away the biggest increase in that category, anywhere in Canada.
That translates into about an additional 800 assault cases in 1997. Just over half of them can be attributed to the city's "zero-tolerance" policy toward domestic assaults.
That means that, if the police go to a home and believe one spouse has assaulted the other, they'll arrest, whether the victim wants to co-operate or not.
As Weighill has stated, these crimes were being committed before: they just weren't being reported. Consider that in Thunder Bay, the only city with a higher per-capita rate of violent crime than Regina's, the police force practices an even more aggressive zero-tolerance policy.
The founder of the National Shared Parenting Association -- a Regina-based fathers' rights group -- believes the policy relies upon a "guilty until proven innocent" approach that leads to unfair arrests and, in the process, inflates Regina's assault numbers.
As proof, Randy Liberet points to his own experience. He's been in and out of court repeatedly facing charges that stem from his acrimonious divorce and continuing custody dispute.
Each charge against him adds to the city's assault statistics, even when the charges don't lead to convictions. He wants the courts to prosecute women who report fictitious assaults.
However, the executive co-ordinator of the Saskatchewan Action Committee on the Status of Women suggests that, even with a zero-tolerance policy, there are still many cases of spousal abuse that go unreported.
"Is (Liberet) suggesting that, because maybe one or two women were misusing this legislation, the majority of those who need it ought not to use it?" asked Kripa Sekhar,
Then there's the other 400 new cases of assault last year that weren't domestic. Weighill cited increases in several categories, including assaults by youths.
The most disturbing was the 19-per-cent jump in assaults in which the victim didn't know the assailant. "That brings concern to (us). That's 81 cases," Weighill said. More often, the victim knows his attacker. That's obviously true in domestic disputes, but it also means that most people are not in danger of being attacked on the street by a stranger.
In fact, some of the more violent incidents in this city relate directly to drug trade disputes, as was the case with the shooting of two Apollos motorcycle club members last year.
The StatsCan figures compare apples and oranges, said Larry Toupin, deputy chief of operations for the Regina Police Service. "There's only six places from across Canada to report figures to (StatsCan) on the basis they want."Regina was one of them, he said.
It's true that youths comprise a big part of Regina's crime problem. A case in point is the city's notorious car theft problem, which is finally showing signs of tapering off. (Across the country, total youth crime was down seven per cent in 1997.)
"We've probably got 90 to 100 people responsible for the majority of them," Toupin said. And most of those are young offenders who want a joy ride.Thus, a $25,000 automobile is stolen and wrecked because some teens don't have anything to do.
Asked if youth crime is getting worse, the veteran cop suggested it's the nature of youth crime that has become more disturbing, not the frequency.
"When I hear about an 11-year-old picked up in a stolen car, I mean, that was unheard of 15 years ago.
"A lot of people think police control crime," Toupin said. "It's driven by unemployment. It's driven by poverty. It's driven by the disintegration of the family unit."
He referred to the 14-year-old boy charged this week with trying to rob the Jolly Roger bar with a sawed-off shotgun. "Where's the parents there? Where's the support structure for these kids?"
There are signs the involved parties are seeking solutions. The "community policing" philosophy has led to a neighborhood mini-station in the Core-Ritchie area, with another to follow in north-central -- a
neighborhood that occupies seven per cent of the city's land mass yet suffers 22 per cent of its crime.
This year, the provincial Justice Department has freed up money for the larger cities to hire more police officers to tackle both organized crime and repeat offenders.
The Social Services Department has many programs for young offenders and their families, including one that counsels parents in how to take a more effective role in managing their children. But these responses take time and won't soothe Angeline Rus and the many citizens like her who simply want better results now.
"For the person who's been paying taxes for 25 years and suddenly their bike is stolen, they say, 'Hey, I want a cop here right now,"' Toupin said.
Toupin compared a crime with an iceberg. The police respond to the actual incident, but that's like the 20 per cent of the iceberg that's above water. Who's dealing with all those pressures and social problems under the surface?
"I get the sense that there's many agencies out there trying to help, but there's so many we're tripping over each other."
(Mr. Chabun is a contributing writer to the Regina Leader Post)
7/8/98
Mark Suggitt msuggitt@bfsmedia.com
Mark and Carol Suggitt were also married on July 4th in Regina.
7/1/98 9:52 AM
Wayne Duncan, duncw@sk.sympatico.ca
Hi Tim
I haven't chatted with you for quite sometime now. I heard your
interview on CBC Radio this morning. I am very interested in looking at
your pictures of Saskatchwan towns. It is subject that has been of some
interest to me for some time however I have never pursued it to the
extent you have. I would like to visit your site and look at the
pictures however CBC did not give the address and they do not have it
linked to their site like they said they would so I would appreciate it
if you could email me the address.
When you talk about towns that are now gone from the face of the map it
brings to mind the small hamlet that I first attended school in. It was
called Huntoon and was located in SE Sask halfway between Stoughton and
Midale. It was once home to Gerald Bouey the former head of the Bank of
Canada. I had the opportunity to travel through the area a couple of
years ago. There is virtually nothing left except for a couple vacant
houses which I still recognized. The school has been demolished and the
area is basically incorporated into some farmer's pasture land.
It was interesting walking around the area. I remember where just about
everything used to be situated. One site I found very facinating was
the spot where the old curling rink used to sit. I found pieces of old
curling stones which I loaded up and now have as decorations and
conversation pieces in my flower bed. There were a number of other
artifacts laying around the area such as old pots and pans, and other
utensils from the rink concessions. You could still see much of the
foundation for the rink. It brought back many found memories of my
early days in the 1950's. I particularly remember the last bonspiel
ever held there. I forget the exact year but my uncle had decided it
was time for me to take up the game of curling at my insistance of
course. I would have been 8 or 9 at the time and it was in early
spring. Well he entered a rink that included me. We were scheduled to
play on the Friday evening. Well I was so excited and could think of
nothing else all day long. But as nature would have it we started
getting unseasonably warm weather that day and by game time the ice was
in no condition to play on. The warm weather continued and the bonspiel
had to be cancelled. The rink never did reopen and I never did get to
curl in the rink.
Well so much for my memories. I look forward to receiving the address
for your site.
Thanks
Wayne
Framed content
6/11/98 9:17 AM
From: Doug Lacombe, StarPhoenix
Timothy:
It has come to my attention that your NCIN site
(http://www.ftlcomm.com/ensign/) has links to various Saskatchewan
newspapers that are in the Sterling newspaper chain. A quick look at
your site revealed that these links put our content within your frames.
That is a violation of copyright and is not acceptable. We would be more
than pleased if you would link to our sites directly with no framing. I
can only speak for The StarPhoenix, however I'm sure The PA Herald, The
Regina LeaderPost, The MooseJaw Times Herald, The Lloydminister Times,
and Yorkton This Week Enterprise would have the same opinion.
Please adjust your links to those papers to target the topmost frame
(full browser view) or remove the links.
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation
--
Doug Lacombe, Electronic Media Manager, The StarPhoenix
doug.lacombe@saskstar.sk.ca, Ph: 306-664-8341 Fax: 306-664-8208
Visit the newly redesigned StarPhoenix website at
http://www.saskstar.sk.ca
Personal home pages at http://www.lacomm.sk.ca/doug/ and
http://www.lacomm.sk.ca/lacomm/
Editor's comment:A second message about this same issue was received June 11 but
it had a fake return address and name. We will not reprint messages
here that are annonymous, or where their source is unknown, as you the
reader should have the opportunity to respond and communicate
directly with the message sender.
As to the issue of presenting news papers within our frame, it
would appear from Mr. Lacombe's comments, that he does not view
this practice favourably and Ensign has no intension of being
offensive to the newspapers or anyone else for that matter. So we
will in due course re-organise the site so that a single button will
take you to Saskatchewan newspapers and from that page the
newspapers will open in their own window as opposed to a frame.
The pressure of doing business and creating new content each day
does not permit a format overhaul until the appearance of June 14th
issue. You will notice that unlike the newspapers, Ensign has
additional new content every day and the site itself is updated often
more then once a day.
I would welcome any input you might have about format changes
and the inclusion or exclusion of various information sources
to aid you in your daily information chase. It is our hope that you
will go to Ensign first, check out its daily stories, and then check
out provincial, national and international sources directly from
Ensign orWebworks.
Timothy W. Shire
SaskTel's Internet Problems Continue
June 5
from: SaskTel
Over the past few months, we have been experiencing problems with the
server that provides our email service. This is related to the heavy
usage the server is experiencing - over 140,000 messages a day. SaskTel's
technical staff have taken a number of actions to increase performance
through memory upgrades and software enhancements. However, we do
recognize that in order to meet the demands of our customers, we need to
make more major changes.
SaskTel is pleased to inform you that the SaskTel executive has approved a
$2.3 million dollar, over three years, upgrade for our email server. By
August of this year, you will see improvements in the reliability and speed
of the email service.
Thank you for your patience in this matter, and we apologize for any
inconveniences you may have experienced. SaskTel values your business, and
is striving to meet your needs. We hope that with this announcement we can
continue to provide you the high quality Internet access service you have
come to expect from SaskTel.
July 23, 1998
from: Richard Tapp,rtapp@camtech.net.au
Just discovered your Ensign site.
Wanted to send a comment about NSF cheques.
Could not find a link to send e-mail to you.
Could not find one on the home page or the letters page. They were probably
there, but I could not find them, so perhaps others would have difficulty
as well.
The comment I was going to make is that in Australia, the practice of
charging fees on returned (NSF) cheques has swung around. The tendency now
is for only the drawer to pay a fee, but a very substantial fee, A$30 -
A$50. Previously the fees were paid by both drawer and depositor, and were
perhaps A$8.
I don't know anyone who disagrees with this change, obviously because I
don't know anyone who draws NSF cheques and talks about having done it!
Regards,
Richard Tapp, Adelaide, South Australia
RC Sailplanes, RC Electric, Graupner/JR MC20, AUS9380, LSF1280
1929 Plymouth Roadster, 1949 MG TC, 1969 Reliant Scimitar GTE
June 3
from: Murray McEwan, mcewan.machining@sk.sympatico.ca
I do not feel much sympathy for the NSF cheque writers as you do. You forgot to mention how many NSF cheques you are currently holding, while waiting for the owners to come knocking on your door, pleading forgiveness for their oversight and thanking you for your patience. Ha, fat chance that will ever happen.
The problem with the law against writing NSF cheques is that using it to collect is far too much trouble on small payments. By the way, if you are so charitable on behalf of the NSF chequewriters, why would you want them criminalized with legal action? All we merchants want is to get paid for our goods. I believe that writing NSF cheques may occassionally be due to an oversight, but is more often due to carelessness or perhaps outright dishonesty.
I would like to know why the banks are able to sluff off their ridiculous charges for NSF on the payee of the cheque. I have never considered that I am in any way responsible for accepting someone's cheque. It is their order to their bank: let them haggle over it. The bank is in a lot better postion to collect than the rest of us are.
June 1
from: Dennis Miller,caleigh.miller@sk.sympatico.ca
Although I do not condon nsf cheques or the writing of them, I do also
believe that in this case, both parties are equally quilty. For as much
as it is against the law to issue a cheque without funds it is equally
illegal to advertize in this fashion. In fact the chances of a
conviction are probably better for the second crime than for the first.
Call it unfair but our system protects the rights of all people and
provides a legal source of recourse for the merchant, "who hungry for
sales is willing to take a cheque for services rendered".