The Rumors of my Death have been Greatly Exaggerated

Alive and Kicking

Gail Shea is a Paper Tiger

DFO gives up on Newfoundland and Labrador, they abandon fisheries research and waits for us to die.

When we take the reigns and decide to do it ourselves DFO minister Gail Shea says she welcomes Newfoundland and Labrador doing it's own Fisheries research providing we get her permission.  What is it called when a person does none of the work but demands to have final say?  I am not sure if DFO imagines itself to be our masters or our pimps.

It's like hiring a painter to paint your house, they prime the walls and leave, 61 years later they come back to demand a say in the colour.

All Gail Shea has to offer is a rubber stamp.

No Shrimp Worries for the Big Apple

After the ordeal with Crab everyone is saying - "Wait until we talk shrimp!" but The New York Times says there are lots of Shrimp and good pricing?!  Why are we sitting with clenched butt cheeks over the upcoming season? 

Bay Roberts Worse Place to Live in Canada?

According to MoneySense - Bay Roberts is the worse place to live in Canada?! Anyone who has overlooked the bay from their marvelous pavilion would likely differ!
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/moneysense/1558/canadas-10-worst-places-to-live

Bishop's Falls makes top 5! Hockeyville 2010

Thanks to the overwhelming support of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians everywhere Bishop's Falls has made it to the top five of Hockeyville 2010.  That comes with a nice little monetary prize which the arena in Bishop's can certainly use.

Don't give up yet!  We have a chance to make hockeyville history and finally bring the show to Newfoundland and Labrador!

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeyville/community/1019/en/
1-866-533-8066 01 (plus a two digit confirmation code when prompted)

Bishop's Falls IS Hockeyville

Please give us a few votes to bring Hockeyville to the home of the mighty Exploits and some of the most passionate hockey fans on the planet Bishop's Falls.


http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeyville/community/1019/en/

1-866-533-8066 02 (plus a two digit confirmation code when prompted)

Miss Newfoundland and Labrador - Courage

There are two sides to the seal hunt issue, sure, but the faceless cowards that use hateful actions and language; attacking this spirited girl, need to look inside themselves.

Through it all Miss NL has been tremendously couragous, realistic and steadfast.

A clip from The National:
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/story/2010/02/02/national-saragreen.html

UFO! No You F.O.!

Ed Hollett who calls himself a humble e-scribber appears on the NTV Pre-news as Newfoundland and Labrador's UFO expert.  Wow! I would not have guessed that UFO researcher was on his CV.  Maybe he is right, maybe the south coast UFO is just a plane.  I ran it by my own staff of experts here at NewfoundlandinCanada.  Here is what they discovered.  First off an enhancement of the original image shows three distinct lines of light and dark (a fusilage and two wings) as well as two distinct vapour trails (from the wings).  My expert Dr. Shagov concludes Mr. Hollett may be correct that this is indeed simply a commerical plane.

I had to dig further, as is my nature.  I had Dr. Shagov enhance the photo to the greatest possible enhancement (CSI would envy the talent I have here).  What she found was even more surprising than Mr. Hollett's epiphany...

Why the secrecy?  This is in fact a PeTA plane! Sent from New York for the PM's visit to St. John's.  PeTA was reluctant to give details as to the cargo but an insider informs NewfoundlandinCanada it is in fact a load of Tofu Pies and Wingnuts from New York.  The delivery obviously had to be expedited because tofu pies that are past their freshness starts to smell like puffin farts, and like the delicate orchid, wingnuts do not keep well in captivity.

So there is is, nuff said about the Harbour Mille Missle.

Nuff Said

"Never increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of words required to explain anything"
William of Ockham (1285-1349)

"Be brief"
BornNBred 2010

Just Like the Good Old Days

Protests at the Colonial Building in St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador. Harper has the great luxury of deciding if and when he wants to work. Who is his boss anyway?

Prorogue-ie Anyone?

The will be a protest Jan 23 in front of the Colonial Building to protest the fact that the prime minister of the country we find ourselves a part of decides if and when he wants to go to work

Colonial Building
St. John's, NL
1pm Jan 23, 2010

Speakers, Mary Walsh, Pete Soucy, Lana Payne

Help Haiti - Quick and Easy

Texting the word HAITI to 45678 from any Rogers Wireless or Bell Mobility phone donates $5.

See the Salvation Army site here for this initiative

http://www.salvationarmy.ca/2010/01/14/salvation-army-to-accept-haiti-relief-donations-via-text-message/

Newfoundland's Wizard Promoted from this Realm

Look into the lighthouse, the lens flares back into your eyes. It is a lens built with all the craftsmanship and thought of an engineer but yet never truly tangible. This was the world of The Wizard, Ron Pelley. Art that at once showed you how a fraction of light could pull detail from the most mundane surface of wave beaten cliff; yet brought you to see the finest detail of the silvery scaled salmon, or the translucency of a dragonfly wing casting its fragile shadow firmly on the rippling surface of blue water.

When the Wizard was stricken with crippling arthritis he transformed. The man that was reborn had traded tradition for innovation, paint for pixels and a brush for a mouse. But a wizard with a new wand is nonetheless still a wizard. I had the great pleasure of visiting this artist's study as he showed me the method of digital art. I saw the 3D wire images and textures. What could not be seen though was the magic that placed all of that mathematical form and function into our minds such that it evoked such familiarity. The scenes were real, the characters have personalities, the food has taste, and the canvas emotion. This is the magic that Ron Pelley could conger.

On the 27th of December he ascended from this realm taking his secrets with him, but leaving us with a renewed wonder in the world around us.

There is a place where the berries are fresh and the flowers bright. A lonely soul waits for the evening train, as the locals play pool across from the station. On the coast a lighthouse keeper fries some brook trout and sets an eloquent table of colourful dishes and flowers for one. Outside his window the sun sets; before dropping into the gray evening cloud it floods the sea with one last moment of brilliance.

Thank you for letting me into that world Ron. Thank you for making me believe again in magic. I will look curiously into the Fresnel lens whenever I see a lighthouse, hoping to see that which is beyond, to perhaps catch a fleeting glimpse of the Wizard.

Soul of the artist, and biker bud,
Darren

http://ronpelley.mosaicglobe.com

The Cod are Back! (But it's not ours anymore)

Portuguese Minister Antonio Serrano announced the renewal of fleet access to Canadian waters. (Photo: MARM)



Some 13 vessels of the Portugal fleet will once again operate in Canadian waters and fish 1,070 tonnes of cod as of next year, thanks to the re-opening of an area administered by the North West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO).

“After 11 years [of the zone being closed], we recovered the quota of NAFO cod,” said Portuguese Fisheries Minister Antonio Serrano.

The Portuguese boats set to work in NAFO waters have an average capacity of 900 tonnes of fish.

Apparently the Cod are back - and anyone but the Newfoundlander and Labradorian can have it. Gail Shaea was quick to dispute that. Apparently Canada's Fishery Minister and the Portuguese Fishery Minister have a different take on things. They both seem happy enough though.

When Portuguese Cod fillets show up in Sobeys Gail Shea will be the first to get her fee and chee. So we may not be able to fish for our own cod, but maybe the white fleet will come ashore and buy a bottle of bakeapple jam or a wooden outhouse ornament - so at least we have that.

R.I.P The Fighting Newfoundlander

WWF NAFO and Newfies (unabashed)

I hate the word Newfie and refused to use it on my original piece on the Community Linkages blog. This version though is presented straight up

In the world of fisheries there is a widely accepted belief that the best to manage the resource are those closest to it. This is the simple concept behind what is commonly referred to as "Custodial Management."

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated: "Since 2005, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) had advised Canada to drop the NAFO agreement, because it does not protect the fish at risk, such as cod and flounder, and instead to adopt "... a new Regional Fisheries Management Organization." Canada's response was to officially adopt NAFO. The WWF stated last year that NAFO undermines the recovery of the cod fishery."

Indeed our current Prime Minister Steven Harper promised it.

Why then do we now find ourselves with a NAFO convention that not only does not give us custodial management but in fact does the opposite - deferring management away from Newfoundland and Labrador and even away from Canada. Instead marine management in the Northwest Atlantic now will be handled by NAFO - primarily European Nations who just last year banned our seal products and as the WWF eludes to above, consistently overfish their own quotas.

Why would Harper defer management of the 200 mile limit to European Nations and take it out of Ottawa's jurisdiction?!

Here my friends is the frank and honest truth. Someone has to keep an eye on the Newfies and Ottawa doesn't want that kind of expense. Even if that means having the panty-hose Spanish trawlers like the Estai policing Newfoundland and Labrador.

That's the mindset. Ottawa is not going to stand up for the Newfie and the EU believe us to be barbarians who savage baby seals.

If you are certain of only one thing be certain of this: If we as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians want to rise about the image of the Newfie we need to stand on our feet and be heard. No one is going to stand up for a Newf but Newf.

Prime Minister Opens the Waters to Foreign Vessels

Join the growing coalition against Harper's dicatorial stance on NAFO.

Harper stands against the majority of MPs, all seven Newfoundland and Labrador MPs, fisheries experts, municipalities and Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of all strips. Our outrage falls on Harper's deaf ears.

We have to be louder, we need your voice: email info@clccnl.ca

The New Border Breach - The 200 Mile Limit

Canadians should know their government is pushing through changes to Fisheries policy that will allow Foreign nations a say inside out fisheries zone off the East Coast.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians need to stand together to get this message out before it is too late.

www.fisheriesforum.ca
newfoundland-labrador.net
email: custodian@newfoundland-labrador.net

Paradise Recycles

What do you do if an election comes up dead even? If you are the town of Paradise you dump the Pepsi bottles out of your recycle bin, throw both gents in there and see who pops up. The result may be Paradise's first truly recycled mayor.

Feds on the Rails

Every spring Home Hardware produces a flyer selling a very nice well priced hummingbird feeder. Only problem is that the island of Newfoundland has no hummingbirds. Sure there may be a scattered vagrant Ruby-Throated around Pasadena but that poor little creature is only visiting, and if one were to appear in Torbay he might likely be accompanied by a lion, tinman, and scarecrow. None-the-less they ship those humming bird feeders. That's the sort of head-scratcher that happens when Newfoundland and Labrador is perceived from a distance.

Not to pick on Home Hardware, it's the same thing with Walmart for example. On a particularly humid day this summer I remarked to a Walmart greeter "Bloody hot in here isn't it" (actually it was "Friggin' 'ot id-nit", but accent aside...) The blue vested lady replied, "we called the mainland - they won't let us turn down the heat." True! Local Walmart's don't have their own thermostat! But that's the way it goes isn't it: Can't trust a Newfoundlander to know what a comfortable body temperature is.

Someone, somewhere else calling the shots. That brings me to mother Ottawa. I get a flyer in my mail touting how great the federal government is for investing in rail transportation. Remember trains? They have them everywhere else in Canada except for Newfoundland. We did have trains, railway stretched from coast to coast, routes used for shipping paper to Botwood, a turnabout in Bishop's Falls. We put pennies on the track during recess, and when we heard the whistle we ran like hell to the nearest butman (that's what we called the piers on the tressle - Googling the word is a bad idea).



What happened to the trains? We traded the federal government's financial input into the rail system for some infrastructure money to upgrade highways. So it is difficult to applaud the fact that the rest of Canada is getting money pumped into its railway. It is even more difficult when the Conservatives send me a nice picture of a train to rub it in.

The investment in the railway is one that by default we cannot take advantage of in Newfoundland and Labrador. Given that Ottawa's has nar a clue when it comes to NL may I suggest we use our portion of investment into the TransLabrador Railway. It's a little different than VIA, it uses transport trucks instead of trains - but if a name change is what it takes then long live the TLR.

I think a great promotion would be to offer a free hummingbird feeder with every VIA Rail ticket. We can use the new TransLabrador Railway to ship all of those hummingbird feeders back west. It's a win win.

The Prime Minister Makes a Stand