Williams issues ultimatum to AbitibiBowater over severance

"Newfoundland and Labrador's premier issued a new ultimatum Thursday to Abitibi-Bowater, saying his government won't compensate the company for the assets it expropriated last year unless it makes severance payments to its Grand Falls-Windsor workers."

Hahaha, hahaha, hahahaha: Moron! Danny, I thought you were a lawyer?

Remember the ABC campaign? Buddy Face!? Whatshisname up along? Yes, yes Harper! well he had a rope that he held in his right hand, and at the end of that rope, Newfoundland and Labrador was hog tied where it has been since 1949. We were being sheepishly, but protectively towed along with, but at the arse end of, Canada.

We were making slow progress, but Danny got greedy too fast, and Stephen said.... Wait now! who transfers what to who? The answer was obvious, Ottawa didn't, don't and won't need Newfoundland and Labrador! So what did Steve do? He dropped the rope, he set Newfoundland and Labrador adrift.

I suppose the result gave Newfoundland and Labrador the right to boast of two political Guinness Book Records. First with Rideout beng the shortest lived Premier, and the shortest lived "have" status.

Let us be honest, like the young folk say, by keeping it real. Anyone who can fire up an electric power tool, swing a hammer, square up a wall plate, run plumbing, electrical wires, pour concrete, operate heavy equipment, install floors, doors and windows are working everywhere in Canada but Newfoundland and Labrador.

Steve has it made, Newfoundland and Labrador in a crunch, while he lands an income tax wind fall off the backs of Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans working off of the island. Nothing magic here, no big feat, but with it, he is able to tell Danny to "kiss his ass".

This is all relative in the Grand Falls scenario, Williams can talk the talk, but I am sure he can't walk the walk on this one.


Brudder

Treatment groups slam N.L. for youth clinic location

Groups that serve people with addictions say the Newfoundland and Labrador government is putting politics before patients, by locating a youth treatment centre in central Newfoundland.

Why wouldn't they say that? I happen to agree with these groups, the Liberal opposition and anyone who can understand the contradiction of locating this facility in Grand Falls.

I understand the dilemma that Grand Falls is in right now, but I am not sure placing this facility there, will be of any kind of economic resolve or give any economic empowerment to the individuals affected by the mill closure, and most certainly no long term benefit.

Realistically, can mill workers as they are treat addictions? How long will it take for any of them to receive social work, psychology, counseling and the many other diverse degrees, coupled with the experience and confidence it will take to treat the most vulnerable.

Do the residents of Grand Falls realize that this decision will have no personal impact on them? This is a specialized service that will require specialized personal. What it will mean is a recruitment of professionals to come in and take up residence in your town, and at the end of the day, mill workers will still be hurting.

Truth is, it is a political move, and even the most politically illiterate amongst us would agree that it is, what is most scary however, is the denial by the provinces most esteemed politically elected.

Heck! Wiseman's rebuttal to Yvonne Jones, leader of the official opposition, on that thought yesterday, nearly had me convinced that he was telling the truth; then I noticed once again, that weasel like look in his face, blood pressure on max and the big turnaround to the PC caucus, where he looked for that spring loaded neck nod and the Elvis Presley lip lock on the faces of his colleagues, in a show of support for his argument. That was enough for me! It does not matter; Blue, Red or Orange, this call is half arsed, the endorsement stupid and the justification totally political.

A story of my own, and by comparison, I was part of a Rural Development Business Plan Team several years ago, where as part of my job I had to write a proposal to the Federal Government, for a grant/funding project to repair a harbour breakwater, and to build an extension on the existing fisheries wharf.

The need, usefulness, and economic benefit of the project was articulated flawlessly, and as well, I identified and demonstrated the safety and hazard issues with the current system, and these were presented in video format. In short, the RFF was denied, there were no visits from DFO, no inspections, inquiry or surveys, just short and to the point no!

Not to be out done, I took the very same proposal, changed a few particulars, along with the location and excluded the previous video tapes. I did however add a topographic map of the new location, otherwise, we'd used the original proposal in more than 90% of its original design and we tried again.

Three weeks later, and with great surprise when we received the letter of approval, and for 80 thousand dollars more than what was requested.

There was a huge irony in all of this however.... this entire project was proposed for a site that sat approximately 15 miles away from the nearest water source! I am quite sure I made my point on that.

The very words "Build New" makes me hurl. The Avalon is entrenched with unused physical assets and infrastructure that can accommodate this need!

We have a health care facility in that of the Health Science Centre for example, with entire wings that were once patient rooms now dedicated to junk and storage rooms. We have several such white elephant assets, without tenants or customers.

On a more social and psychological side of the argument, children who are being treated for addictions out of St. John's, are reported to be from the city and surrounding area. It has been reported that these same cases account for more than 70% of all cases treated in the Provence. These recovering teens need to be near their parents, and at the very least if they are in-patients in the first place!

Transportation, accommodations and lack of access to necessary secondary supports already established in St. John's, and ones that will be required for a successful recovery, are all key issues with placing this facility in Grand Falls.

There is a need for further thought on this, it starts with you!


Brudder

Eastern Health 'should be shot' over cancer test handling: Williams

Danny Williams said today that Eastern Health 'should be shot' over cancer test handling:

Danny let me say to start: If somebody should be shot . . . and as it is you are commander and chief, you are the only one with the gun . . but yet so far you have refused to squeeze the trigger, Why?

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you have not done so already, follow the post title to read the coverage on CBC.

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams lashed out Monday at the province's largest health authority, accusing Eastern Health of downplaying revelations that it had missed dozens of breast cancer patients in a massive retesting exercise.

I am not sure what the real agenda is for Williams, but if his outburst was sincere my hat tips to him. Throughout the entire breast cancer ordeal, it looked as if not enough was being done by his office to curb the idiocy being portrayed by Eastern Health.

Fridays release that 38 more victims were identified, turned into 43 by today! Yet another signal that Eastern Health "DO NOT" have it right just yet.

Danny finally agrees with me, and if you look back at several of my earlier posts I have reiterated what the premier said today "They've learned absolutely nothing," said Williams.

Meanwhile Pat Pilgrim Chief operating officer for Eastern Health said today; "We apologize to our patients for that. We wish that we could undo that," said Pilgrim. Pilgrim you dumb nut, arrogant, false hearted bitch, you can't undo dead. I just hope before they shoot you, they cut off your boobs and pickle the rest of you and company in battery acid. You make me sick, you wench of a woman!

We apologize, for Christ sake.... you are apologizing to mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and niece's, the only problem with that is, they can't hear you nimrod, they are dead!

You're damn straight I am pissed, and whats more scary, is that most of you hiding or with something to hide are woman.

Start shooting Danny, I am behind you on this one.

Brudder

38 more breast cancer patients in N.L. needed retesting

"The Newfoundland and Labrador health authority at the centre of a breast cancer testing scandal says it has identified more than three dozen additional patients — including 24 now dead — who should have been retested in a review of hormone receptor tests."

I dare say it's fair to believe that no one would be too surprised by this latest "New or not so New" revelation with this story. I would have believed we would have long since passed the time where debating what went wrong before and after the Cameron inquiry yields us any true understanding or better still, acceptance of what happened.

This is testimony of negligence however is at it's best.... 36 more people, 24 of which are already dead as a result of complete incompetence, and many would think ignorance and arrogance by a government and Health Care authority that failed far to many innocent and vulnerable women. Totally ridiculous, Health Care in Newfoundland obviously needs a huge overhaul, more than the extra 300 million dollars announced, to prevent this type of gross negligence from ever happening to another family again.

Ok, that said! Who pays? Who receives and who is accountable? Is, we are sorry from Eastern Health or the Government enough? After all, this latest news release is somewhat a confession isn’t it? Eastern Health is ultimately saying; people died, here and we allowed it, we killed them! Ladies and Gentlemen these women put their faith, lives and liberty in the hands of a trusted entity, an entity that ultimately failed them.

We are not talking about a mistake that would be more acceptable had it been on one person where the fallout is between patient and physician, but no, we are talking about 424 patients so far, with that number expected to increase. We are talking about wrongful death, pain and suffering! We are talking about government and Eastern Health tossing millions of dollars, that has been pre-determined in back room deals, where patients and or families are offered this quiet money, with the general hope of government and Eastern Health that this will all go away soon.

I remember reading a few stories over the years where both Canadian and U.S soldiers had come under fire by the military legal systems they were policed by, for wrongfully firing on and killing civilians in urban warfare!. We are talking about city street war in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, wars where collateral damage is inevitable. Yet, countless soldiers representing global peace will spend years in military prisons for making a mistake.

I believe it would be fair to assume, these oncologists, lab techs and biochemist all conducted there tests, completed their work without fear of an AK-47 pointed at their head or an IED planted under their chair! But yet these lab and office soldiers are able to walk away without consequence and remain worry free from any judgement from having made continuous and continued errors they made, not once, not twice, not three times ladies and gentlemen, but rather 424 and still counting times!

What divides groups and civic enforcement from one or another? Recently a local fisherman was found guilty for not having provided the necessary equipment on his vessel, equipment that could have saved lives during a sinking of his ship! Another company charged and convicted for sending sent out a piece of heavy equipment that had a breaking issue, creating an accident that took one life on Duckworth Street. The list goes on.

Here we are five years later, Eastern Health blamed faulty equipment and wrong testing practices that allowed for the errors to be made, and each and every person responsible for these mistakes escape consequence. My dilemma with this is simple, if the lab director or any number of authority figures knew the equipment was faulty, why did they allow it to be used? They would have known these errors were likely and people would possibly die?

In the case of the contractor who allowed a piece of equipment to hit the streets with bad breaks, and as a result a person was killed, suffered the charges along with the driver of the equipment for having known, but ignored the dangers of using faulty equipment. The penalty was huge for both!

I am not so much questioning the errors as earlier stated, it's old news really, and outside of tossing too few millions at the repair required, nothing has been or will be done to insure the safety of our provinces vulnerable in the future.

However, I am certainly confused at how easy we as a populous are to accept the process used to determine guilt or innocence. The legal process here in this case appears to be compromised and managed by higher authority, even beyond our Chief Justice.There is room here for charges, who will lay them?


Brudder