AIDAN IS RUNNING FOR CLASS PRESIDENT.

BIOFUEL A BIGGER THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT THAN GASOLINE

Global deforestation to clear land to make room for cash crops used to make biofuels is accelerating the pace of greenhouse emissions.

Apparently the cost/benefit studies of biofuel failed to consider land use change. Two recent studies that were published in the journal Science are advising governments to reconsider the accelerated growth of the biofuel industry.

Originally it was believed that plant based fuels would be much better for the planet than fossil fuels because while they grew they absorbed as much carbon as they later produced when being burned. As a result they offered a great reduction in carbon emissions.

It turns out that this formula was just a tad oversimplified. Countries like Brazil have aimed to become the biofuel producers of the future. In the attempt to build the industry, forests have been cleared to make room for crops to supply the emerging industries. Less rain forest equates to far less capacity to absorb carbon. The cropland does not absorb anything close to the rainforest that it replaces.

We now have a situation where a potential carbon reducer has become a carbon amplifier. If you want to read more about the reports and the implications of the additional carbon, check out yesterday's story in the New York Times by Elisabeth Rosenthal or go right to the source, Science.

ONTARIO NEEDS TO WORRY ABOUT ONTARIO

A fiscal federalism expert told a packed meeting of the Empire Club in Toronto yesterday that Ontario cannot continue to bankroll the nation. David MacKinnon says Ontario has been in a slow decline since the 1960's and has not kept up with the provinces it has been supporting through equalization.

But Ontario taxpayers still funnel billions of dollars to supposedly needy provinces like Quebec, Manitoba and those in Atlantic Canada – even though those regions actually enjoy "gold-plated public services" compared to those here.

"In Nova Scotia there are 32 hospitals and, in P.E.I., eight – 40 hospitals for a population of 1 million. In the city of Vaughan, just above Toronto, there isn't a single hospital for over 200,000 people," noted MacKinnon.

The Toronto Star covered the speech.

DEFENSE MINISTER HILLIER

"You have to be confident that what you're doing is right and that the sacrifices are actually going to mean something. Is that on my mind? Damn right it is." - Rick Hillier

While out running errands for work this morning I overheard an interesting conspiracy theory being discussed by a group of men enjoying coffee at an East End coffee shop.

The skinny of it was that General Rick Hillier is going to run as the Conservative candidate in St. John's East. He would lead the charge for the Conservatives across the country. Apparently an ABC campaign over Harper's broken promises on the Atlantic Accord would not materialize in an election about Canada's continued role in Iraq. They figured that even Danny Williams might not mess with a fellow Newfoundlander with the status of Hillier.

Now this a group that are capable of spinning a yarn, but in the past I have gleaned a few good stock tips from them.

Hillier has certainly shown he knows how to handle the media and set out an agenda. He has occupied centre stage on the war in Afghanistan and has been vocal on other military issues. A few months ago there was much speculation that Harper was going to drop him as Chief of Defense Staff but it never happened. He has been accused of overstepping his authority and has amassed a great deal of respect from politicians, citizens and the armed forces.

Unstoppable. Immensely persuasive. Steeped in Newfoundland charm. Magnetic leader. All words I have used to describe Hillier.

There is one little question, is he the Canadian equivalent to a modern day Robert McNamara who sold Presidents JFK and Johnson on Vietnam?

THE AFGHAN DILEMMA

The mission in Afghanistan may be the issue that triggers a federal election. No federal party seems to have a firm position on when the troops should be withdrawn, with the exception of Stephane Dion. The problem is, Dion has some dissent in his ranks which makes presenting a uniform face on a pull-out next year hard to do.

Robert Thibault, Liberal MP for West Nova, leads a group of hawkish Liberal MP's who want Dion to endorse a continued combat role for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. He is joined by two others, Etobicoke North MP Roy Cullen and British Columbia MP Keith Martin. Thibault's riding includes the Greenwood Air Force Base and Martin's includes the Esquimalt navy base. The Chronicle Herald provides some insight into this emerging story in today's edition.

In her Ottawa Citizen column, Susan Riley says Dion should not look for a common ground with the CONservatives that may not even exist. I say Dion should demand that Harper let Canadians decide whether we are in, or out.

JUSTICE FOR PERVEZ

The Independent out of the UK is quoting Afghan President Hamid Karzai as promising to ensure that justice is done in the case of 23 year old Afghan journalist Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, who has been sentenced to death for downloading an article about women's rights.

Karzai says he has discussed the matter with American and British officials who expressed concerns over the fate of the young journalist. No word of any concerns from our government being expressed.

Mr Karzai insisted it was a matter for his country's courts to deal with. He said, "This is an issue that our judicial system is handling. I can assure you, that at the end of the day, justice will be done in the right way."

I gather that it does not hurt that Karzai, who has not discussed the issue in public before, had some unexpected dinner guests yesterday. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Afghanistan unannounced.

VIDEO GAMES AND TEENS - THE DEBATE RAGES ON

There has been an ongoing debate at my house over the past couple of years about age appropriate video gaming and movie watching. As Aidan, who is now 8, gets older, the younger kids are more exposed to things that we might not have permitted with Aidan.

Video games are tough to police. You can never be sure what game they are playing at a friend's house. We watch the ratings and try and remain in the E for everyone realm. That said the occasional Tony Hawk game gets played around here.

Boys seem to be a little rambunctious as a rule. They like to tumble, wrestle and fool around. We have to watch this. A study out of the United States today claims that video games normalize killing and increase aggression in some children and young adults.

"Exposure to violent video games, even E rated video games, increases aggressive thoughts, increases pro-social behavior and increases general arousal," said Dr. Greg Snyder, a psychologist at Omaha's Children's Hospital.

Snyder said exposure to violence in video games can desensitize a teen to the real thing.

Research suggests that violent video games can make children feel different. A brain scan of a teenager who has just played what was deemed a nonviolent video game was compared to the scan of a teen who had just spent 30 minutes playing a violent game. Indiana School of Medicine researchers said highlighted areas in the brains showed increased activity in the areas involved in emotional arousal.

Research from Iowa State University, Kansas State University and the National Institutes of Health reached similar conclusions. Compared to teens who played nonviolent games, those who played violent games had a lower heart rate and lower galvanic skin response when they were exposed to videos of real violence, the studies showed.

The video game industry notes that the research also finds that teenagers have similar responses to violence in movies or TV. The industry said no one can prove a definitive link between virtual violence and the real thing.

ELECTION CLOUDS GATHERING

The rhetoric is heating up in Ottawa where the federal CONservatives continue to operate a minority government like a dictatorship. Give us what we want or else. It is a complete failure of leadership on the part of the governing party.

The Liberals are not going to support the CONservatives on the Economy, the Environment or Afghanistan. Harper swings into dodge with his shiny star pinned to his chest and blames the opposition parties for the lack of progress on legislation. He conveniently forgets that his government sabotaged the legislation last fall by shutting parliament early because Question Period was getting a little too hot.

The Conservatives have hit the glass ceiling and have been allowed to govern for long enough. The Liberal brand is still solid. People voted Conservative last time because they felt they had no other choice. Show people that we have a plan, that we are standing on our principles - Canadian principles - and folks might just start believing again.

The issues are good for us. People are grumpy about the weather and the Christmas bills. Let them take it out on Harper. Let's just not allow the CONservatives to bully us around again and force them out to the polls.

PETTY PILFERAGE

When I was a kid growing up in St. Bernard's there was no major crime. A little hunting (for a meal) out of season was about as bad as it got. If a fella was unfortunate enough to get caught by the wardens chances were the community would band together and help him pay the fine. If someone's house burned the community helped build a new one. If some one was sick the community helped the family. Seniors were referred to as uncle or aunt, as a sign of respect. It was just the way it was.

One thing for certain, the lowest type of person was one that would steal from his neighbour.

Snow is serious business in Newfoundland and Labrador and it is not just the snow that can get ugly this time of year.

Amongst the usual crime in the city like robbers, car thieves, arsonists, con artists and dope heads is the most vile, disrespectful villain of them all, the snow shovel thief! I could put myself into the mindset of a robber. He or she has very little respect for other people's goods. They may even legitimize what they do by saying insurance covers the loss. They take other peoples goods to sell for some sort of profit.

This person who is walking down your street in broad daylight and just walks away with your shovel is a particularly cruel being. They are causing unknown torment and stress. A crime of opportunity to torment people in their moment of need. Imagine, people cannot leave their shovel outside unattended for a few minutes to retreat indoors to warm up!

This petty pilferage is low on the scale of crime but it is such a nuisance.

WHAT IS A EURO-GAME

Friday night is game night, barring fevers, chills, ear infections and bloody sore throats! I talk about the games I like to play and often post reviews. The genre of games fall into the "German style game" or Euro-game as we call them on this side of the pond.

Euro-games were originally called German games and are sometimes called designer games because the designer’s name is printed on the box.

Euro-games are defined by short playing time, simple rules, no player elimination and some degree of player interaction, where your move can affect your opponent(s). For me, the main difference is that you have meaningful choices.

Almost everyone’s heard of Monopoly but this type of roll-and-move game gives you very few choices and no sense of control. You roll two dice and move where they send you. Now your choice is buy or don’t buy or trade. If you already own the property you have the choice to build or don’t build.

Now let’s see…what if you rolled three dice instead? You can use any one die for your move, another die to earn you money and the third to fine an opponent. Now you have choices. And what if, at the end of your turn, you were given the chance to invest in someone else’s monopoly? Yes, every time Uncle Fred collected rents for the Boardwalk/Park Place monopoly, you would get a small percentage for each share you held. Of course, the investment price is more for the more expensive monopolies. Now you have even more choices.

This is just a simple example of what I mean by choices. In a Euro-game, the choices you make decide your fate, not the roll of a die.

Another prominent characteristic of these games is the lack of player elimination. Eliminating players before the end of the game is seen as counterproductive. Most of these games are designed to keep all players in the game as long as possible, so it is rare to be certain of victory or defeat until relatively late in the game. Some of the mechanics, like hidden scoring or scoring at the end of the game, are also designed around this avoidance of player elimination.

These games appeal to a wide range of ages, though generally not young children. The audience includes casual gamers, who play with family and friends, as well as more serious hobby gamers.

Not all German-style board games are German, and not all German-style games are board games. As a result, various other names have been offered for the class. Eurogame is a common, though still imprecise, alternative label.

Now my quest continues to introduce these great games to others so I can expand my regular group of people to play with.

OPINION LEADERS: CAN YOU SPELL BETTER THAN A 5TH GRADER

Learning from mistakes
CHRISTOPHER VAUGHAN
The Georgian

Family Literacy Day was recently celebrated in Bay St. George with a large number of students, teachers, parents, community leaders and politicians praising the benefit of being able to read and write.

With this large number of positively minded people in our communities, we might get a warm and tingly feeling deep inside that illiteracy is becoming a thing of the past - and our children are on the right track to being entirely self-sufficient members of society.

Perhaps we should think again.

A Grade 5 Social Studies test inadvertently made its way into the Georgian office last week.

At first glance, the student who completed the test seemed to be a testament to our modern education system - they received a grade of 100 per cent.

It was jovially passed amongst the office staff, to see who was as smart as a fifth grader.

However, upon closer inspection, the test revealed a not-so-rosy view of academia.

In one section, there was a climate graph, followed by a list of ten questions. The student had to answer with single word answers.

To one question, the student wrote Jully instead of July. In another, the student wrote Febuary instead of February.

In another section, the student spelled the word closer as clooser, south as sout, John Cabot as Jhan Kabbott, Newfoundland as newfounland, and premier as premmer.

The student wrote the first premmer of the province was Joey Smallwood, and stated the current premmer was Danny Willams.

It was quite startling that the teacher marked each of these misspelled answers as correct without bothering to highlight the spelling errors.

It should also be noted three answers [worth two marks each] on the test were marked wrong. Perhaps the geography teacher could use a lesson in mathematics: three times two is six; which meant the student rightly scored 94 per cent on the test, not 100 per cent as indicated.

One can only wonder how a child in school can learn from their missteps, when the educator is not pointing out their mistakes.

A teacher, regardless of subject, should correct a student's errors and be able to complete simple mathematical equations.

If this isn't the case, we run the risk of continuing the illiteracy cycle and sending out into this world a generation without some of the basic skills they need in order to survive.

05/02/08

LANDMINES AND PROMISE

The Nation has a couple of really good articles on the current political landscape in the United States.

Katerena Vanden Heuvel delves into the potential land mines awaiting the Democrats as the delegate fight gets uglier. The superdelegates and the seating of Michigan and Florida delegates worry her. She suggests the DNC map out a solution to ensure that back room deals do not determine the nominee.

The editorial entitled "Obama's Promise" argues that the close, dragged out and divisive race for the Democrats is a good thing. Ideas are being discussed and debated, new directions are being considered and when the nominee is chosen the party will be going in the right direction. Of course they are endorsing Obama and give him credit for re energizing the Democratic party and carving out a new place for the party in the political centre.

PROVINCIAL OPINION LEADERS: ROOTS OF THE WORKER SHORTAGE

Now decisions must be made
The Western Star

The minimum wage hearings wound up last week and the provincial government has plenty to chew over. Presenters gave politicians lots of ideas about how this province should proceed from here in setting a minimum wage.

The issue was always important to those who were at the bottom of the wage pile ...but it has now become vital to our whole society as we attack problems with our contracting workforce.

There is already a shortage of workers in this province and businesses are suffering because of it.

Signs in shop windows looking for workers have become the norm and not the exception as people from Newfoundland and Labrador pack up and head west looking for a better life.

Another contributing factor is our aging population.

Workers are retiring and there are few younger people to replace them.

Raising the minimum wage isn’t the panacea for all the problems with our shrinking workforce but it is a key ingredient that must be settled. 05/02/08

PROVINCIAL OPINION LEADERS: MORE ON SNOW TIRES

Not another law
EDITORIAL
Northern

A call is going out to make it mandatory for every vehicle owner in the province to outfit their car, truck or van with snow tires. The Opposition Liberals raised the issue a couple of weeks ago and since then it appears the suggestion is gaining some momentum. The basic premise of the idea is that if everyone equipped their vehicles with snow tires, our roads and highways would be considerably safer.

While it's certainly a good idea to put in place mechanisms to ensure that our roads are safe, introducing legislation that would make such a requirement law isn't one of them. Is it really necessary to add another law to the overly crowded statutes? Of course not.

Anyone who has ever driven a vehicle anywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador during the winter months is well aware of the hazards. Climatic conditions are such that there's usually a mixed bag of weather just around every corner - snow, sleet, freezing rain, black ice and glitter. Faced with such uncertainty, it's common sense to install snow tires and to take the extra step of getting them studded. Drivers want to be confident that they can deal with any situation that comes their way.

But there's more to being safe on the road than installing snow tires. Drivers shouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security just because their tires have better grip with the road. Speed is perhaps the major factor in winter driving; slowing down and taking into consideration road conditions, visibility and the distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you can't be overstated.

Rather than engage in an expensive process of making a new law, Government Services Minister Kevin O'Brien would be better off putting in place an awareness campaign on the benefits of snow tires. Preaching to the converted isn't the answer. Concentrate on those in the minority who are blindly standing behind their all-season tires. There are a lot of attitudes that need to change when it comes to winter driving, but dealing with them through education is still better than introducing another law we don't need. 04/02/08

PROVINCIAL OPINION LEADERS:DEBT CLOCK FAILS TO INTIMIDATE

Interesting to note that the Labradorian ran the Northern Pen's editorial suggesting that the pre-budget consolations be scrapped in future. The weekly that serves Labrador West shares a sense of cynicism about the process. What really surprised me was to learn that Labrador City Mayor, and Chair of the Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, and fairly well known Progressive Conservative Graham Letto criticized the process.

Path of good intentions
THE AURORA

Sometimes even the best of intentions can end in disaster.

Whenever a new project or initiative comes to light the first question many ask is: what's the intent? In most cases, the idea behind a thought is pure as snow, but there are some projects that deserve a second glance before making it past the drawing board.

A ticking time clock is one such example.

At the recent pre-budget consultations, Finance Minister Tom Marshall came armed with ammunition to showcase the province's dire financial position. As people talked about what they thought the government's priorities should be for 2008-2009, a large clock ticked away showing how much interest was accumulating on the debt.

By the time the almost three-hour session concluded in Labrador West, about $200,000 was racked up, and while government may argue it's an effective awareness tool, many others in the province felt it was a low blow.

Lab. City mayor Graham Letto hit the nail on the head when he said it could intimidate and no one will ever know if it stopped concerned residents from bringing their issues forward. He also made a valid point when he said the province could have easily had a clock highlighting how many young people were leaving the province or how much money was being added to the municipal deficit.

The clock, mixed with the minister's speech before the consult about the importance of paying down the debt, felt like presenters were being browbeaten into standing on the side of government. Even if people believed the debt wasn't an important issue, they may have been reluctant to say it in fear of being reprimanded for their opinion.

Before even starting the day, Minister Marshall's right-hand man, Bob Constantine, laid out the rules explaining reading from prepared text was discouraged because quite frankly government officials could read and presenters were asked to keep their discussion short - five minutes was preferred. This year's consults weren't permitted to be a wish list - it was supposed to encourage dialogue on both sides.

Though no one was interrupted mid-speech, the gallery was very aware of the time and some very important issues may very well have been missed in the process.

The whole debacle reeked of Danny Williams' style of leadership with his my-way-or-the-highway attitude and the new format might need a massive overhaul in 2009.

PROVINCIAL OPINION LEADERS: ANOTHER OPINION ON SNOW TIRES

Snow tires should not be mandatory
BY GEORGE MACVICAR
The Southern Gazette

It’s a no brainer. If you plan to do a lot of winter time driving, especially on the highways, you should equip your vehicle with four snow tires and, if need be, with studded tires.

Snow tires do provide better traction and road handling for motorists.
But, for those drivers – seniors, low-income earners and social service recipients – on fixed incomes buying two sets of tires for different seasons becomes a financial burden.

Drivers who limit the amount of winter driving they do on the highway or stay close to home in their own communities, setting out to drive only when conditions allow, should be able to navigate their way through the snow and ice without snow tires.

It comes down to what’s really needed and sensible?
Is it necessary to have a 52-inch television screen in your home, if you can only afford a 32-inch?
Is it necessary to purchase a $2,000-$3,000 computer when all that’s needed is a $500 model?

Sure, you can’t put a price on safety but that’s not the point. You do what you can in a sensible manner to achieve a safe result.

In recent months, St. John’s area police have reported numerous accidents on the outer ring road. Officers stated it’s not the average vehicle involved but SUVs winding up on their roofs in ditches, because drivers thought they were invincible in these vehicles and refused to drive to road conditions.

These larger 4 X 4 vehicles, equipped in many cases with all terrain tires, are not ‘the be all and end all’ to winter driving.

For individuals and groups to advocate governments make it mandatory vehicles be equipped with snow tires during the winter months is an extremist move.
During a CBC Marketplace report last week on snow tire usage in Canada, a Department of Transport official admitted 85 per cent of drivers in this country use ‘all-season’ tires on their vehicles year round.

What sparks calls for issues like mandatory snow tires are alarming incidents such as the death of eight people – including seven teenage boys – in New Brunswick last month. There was even a call to ban 15-passenger vans from public usage, especially school activities.

Admittedly, one incident of any kind like this involving death is one too many.
But New Brunswick police are suggesting the driver of the van lost control long enough for the vehicle to slip off the edge of the pavement, and when he over compensated to get back on the pavement his van slide into the path of a tractor-trailer truck. This could happen to any driver, any vehicle and with or without snow tires.

Winter time driving demands the operator of the vehicle be focused on first and foremost ‘defensive driving’ – a year round attitude; not drinking and driving; wearing a seat belt (along with all passengers); a properly maintained vehicle and driving according to road conditions.

If that means travelling 30, 50, 70 kilometres an hour and not the posted speed limit of 90, 100 or 110 km, then so be it.

Safety begins between the driver’s two ears! Not through government legislation, which people can always skirt around if they want. Just read the Auditor-General’s report last week about violations of the law.

05/02/08

ROMNEY OUT OF THE RACE

Mitt Romney has suspended his bid for the Republican nomination. It's now a two-man race between John McCain and Mike Huckabee, although Huckabee is not regarded as a threat.

According to Republican Party rules, the suspension of a campaign means state parties decide how the candidate's delegates will be allocated.

The Democrats will not be happy with this news. Clinton and Obama would rather have faced Romney in November than McCain.

Go to CNN for more.

CLINTON CAMPAIGN IS FINANCIALLY CHALLENGED

With neither Clinton nor Obama in a position to claim the party's nomination, the race will continue on for weeks and months, perhaps right into Denver. We have had a few discussions here at P&P about what this means for each campaign.

The Globe & Mail ran an article yesterday that touched on a political reality. Campaigns need one thing more than delegates, they need money to feed the campaign. You cannot contest each primary and win more delegates if you're out of cash. The longer this race goes, the more money each candidate will need.

It seems that Obama has the upper hand when it comes to replenishing his coffers. In January his campaign raised $32 million from small and large donors while the Clinton campaign raked in less than half that amount at $13.5 million. Hillary has reportedly just pumped $5 million of her own money into her campaign.

With some anticipated defeats coming in the next two weeks for Hillary in Louisiana, Hawaii, Wisconsin and the so called Potomac primaries, she could very well be rifling through the furniture for spare change before primaries in vote rich Texas and Ohio.

A SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY

I heard an interview with Willie Nelson last week in which he espoused the belief that the 9/11 collapse of the twin towers was a controlled implosion. I thought, yea another wacko from Waco. However, the more control over personal freedoms and privacy that government takes, the more conspiracy theorists appear sensible.

CNN is running a story on the FBI's ever expanding biometric database. The Bureau, in an attempt protect people from criminals and terrorists, is close to awarding a $1 billion, 10 year contract to create a database that will compile an array of biometric information from palm prints to eye scans.

Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI's Biometric Services section chief, says the database is "important to protect the borders to keep the terrorists out, protect our citizens, our neighbors, our children so they can have good jobs, and have a safe country to live in."

Civil liberty and privacy advocates are getting unnerved by the Orwellian moves. I fall somewhere in the middle - on one hand I feel like only those with something to hide need worry but when I consider the mess government has made of enforcing no-fly lists it makes me think, too much control and where does it end?

In the meantime, Willie, get your taxes in on time this year. Chances are that you're being watched.

REACCESSING THE MISSION

Today our Defense Minister, Peter McKay is making his official pitch to NATO allies for more troops to assist with the mission in Afghanistan. I wonder if he or any other Canadian authority has spoken to the Afghans about Sayad Parwez Kambaksh's dilemma. He is the 23 year old journalist who was sentenced to death two weeks ago for downloading and distributing an article that questioned some aspect of Islam interpretation of women's rights.

Before we go committing more troops for a longer stay it would be reassuring to know that they are not there to prop up a judiciary that is ignoring the Afghan constitution and going against freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Does the Canadian Government have a position on Sayad's circumstances? I am only one citizen, but if we are putting our troops' lives on the line to uphold Islamic fundamentalism that allows for a reporter to be sentenced to death for distributing a paper, than we need to be reconsidering what we are doing there at all.

DOWN SYNDROME BOMBERS

News that Hamas has returned to its cowardly suicide bombing campaign reminded me of some comments I wanted to make about a couple of suicide bombings that occurred in Baghdad over the weekend.

If these bombings and the murder of innocent bystanders is not horrific enough, it would appear that al-Qaeda is running out of unwitting martyrs and is now praying on mentally disabled people and turning them into human bombs.

Last week the islamo-fascists kidnapped two young down syndrome women, strapped explosives on a remote control timer and send them into a market. At the designated point they blew them and 90 others to pieces. Could I be more disgusted, no. I though perhaps my sensitivity levels had hardened to the point where it would be hard to give me a good jive. This revelation literally blew me away.

I did a little research and it turns out that the use of mentally ill people has been in play in Afghanistan for quite some time. A 2007 report found that a substantial number of suicide bombers in Afghansitan suffer from mental problems. According to a Time article that examined the comedic efforts by the Taliban in employing suicide bombers. Apparently four out of ten attacks only result in the death of the attacker. It turns out that the Taliban regularly recruit or co-opt the deranged, the mentally unstable or people on drugs as suicide bombers. The practice is occurring in Israel as well.

I guess these cowards are running out of gullible young men and women who are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in return for a one way ticket to paradise. They have no respect for Islam or for human life.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE FROM KRYPTON TO FLY

I have not had a dream about flying in a very long time. When I was a kid, dreaming about flying through valleys and landing on roofs seemed to be a fairly common thing. I am not sure I want to get into a debate about what Freud would say about these dreams. All I know is that they were of the super hero variety of flight and every now and than I would have to land and rediscover how to fly all over again.

Where is this going? No, I am not looking for some free dream therapy! I saw this really cool video on YouTube this week that showed people with wingsuits flying through mountain gorges in Europe. They sort of look like bats. They jump off bridges, cliffs or helicopters and glide to the bottom. I have never seen anything like it and am very envious. This I would love to try.

NO MORE WAITING...IT'S HERE

O just in case you missed it. The American economy has slid into recession. No more anxiety about it happening because it has happened. They are there. The economic woes extend much deeper than just the housing and manufacturing sector. CNNMoney ran this story on what some expert economists are seeing.

Look forward to more drastic actions from the Feds to try and end this before it actually sets in.

For the record the National Bureau of Economic Research is the official arbiter of whether the economy has entered recession. But the NBER typically does not declare a recession until well after one has begun.

16 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A FEMALE VOTER

The New York Times had a great article called "16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter" that I think should be essential reading for pundits, politicos and politicians of all stripes. The author is Linda Hishman.

Enjoy, and thanks Brandy for pointing it out to me.

Keep the comments coming. My stat counter tells me people are reading but comments make the effort worthwhile. Be real interested in hearing people's opinions on this one.

The Article.

YES WE CAN

A treat for the Obama supporters and another great use of a new medium.

NEW DIAMOND SHREDDIES: YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING.

I was driving up Logy Bay Road yesterday evening after getting my hair cut and noticed this big billboard sign for Shreddies cereal.

Being the father of three boys, I would like to think I know a few things about cereal. I am a granola or Corn Flakes kinda guy. Unless I have time to mix up a batch of Red River. Anyways the boys are always wanting to try the latest cereal that is getting plugged on Treehouse or YTV. I can still remember the Sugar Crisp commercials of my youth. These commercials had reach.

New Diamond Shreddies, wow. It is a great marketing gimmick. Nothing new at all but the campaign makes you take a second look and reflect on how change for the sake of change is something we have come to expect. A brand new paint job and it is as good as new. A little updating.

Those old square Shreddies were boring and not at all appetizing. Now these diamond ones, well they are something else.

A great marketing campaign. I love it.

THE PRICE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS IS UP

Milk prices have jumped upwards in Newfoundland and Labrador. I figured it would not be long as I had noticed prices had jumped in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Monday.

This comes as another big jump in costs associated with running my home. Home Heating Fuel and Gas prices keep jumping, year after year. Today I am paying 10 cents more for each two liter of milk I purchase. Considering all the other spikes in grocery costs associated with transportation, my 2007 dollar is purchasing me a lot less in 2008.

My boys love milk. We go through about three two-litres every two days. So that works out to about nine or ten a week. The increase in the price of milk also means that yogurt and cheese will be more costly.

I keep saying that we are lucky that we can afford to take the hit, but what about families that cannot. If the Provincial Government really wants to help parents, a program that ensures all parents can afford to put milk, fresh vegetables and fruit on the table is overdue. $1000 for having a baby seems pretty shallow when many cannot afford to feed the kids well after they have them.

All I know is that with high milk prices more and more folks will be cutting back on milk and finding less healthy substitutes like soft drinks and sugar-rich fruit juices which will just lead to more child obesity and type II diabetes. But hey that's down the road, so why would any government concern itself with that now.

COTTON SWABS CAN KILL

I have been battling this bug/flu for a week now. Just when I think it has passed, it boomerangs back to show me who is the boss. A sore throat, sinus infection and an earache are its hallmarks. Normally I would