Tom Young

The response to Canada’s “Do Not Call List” has apparently been overwhelming, but fear not — the list will never fill up and there will always be at least one place for your phone number. 

I’m also told there are actually people in our coverage area who do not know anything about the list.  I have to wonder under what rock they’ve been living?

It’s been all over the radio, it’s been all over TV, all over the Internet, and it’s even been in several newspapers.

If you still don’t know about it — here’s a brief explanation…

If you’re as sick as millions of Canadians are about getting large numbers of unsolicited phone calls at the precise time your strip loin comes off the barbeque, then you can do something about it.  You can simply call or go online to register your home phone, cell phone or fax numbers.  Thirty-one days after you register, you should notice a sudden drop in those aggravating, “I want to send you our latest credit card” calls, among others.

It’s not going to stop them all.  Public opinion polling firms can still call.  Political parties with their hands out can still call.  Even companies you’ve done business with in the past can still call.  Registered charities can still call.  And for some totally unexplainable reason, newspapers looking for new subscribers can still call.

It’s a real easy process, here’s how to do it…

Those who want to register a phone number can go to www.LNNTE-DNCL.gc.ca or call 1-866-580-3625.

This may go a long way to solving unsolicited phone calls, but watch out for more junk mail in both your real and virtual mailbox.

And, if at first, you don’t succeed… You all know the rest…

I’m Tom Young.

It’s election time in Canada, Tuesday, October 14th — That means election signs are popping up in every corner of every municipality across the country. 

So, what does it mean?

It means the idiots, fools, and goofs are out trying to take the signs down as quickly as the election volunteers can put them up.  It would be most interesting some day to sit down with an idiot or fool or a goof and ask him or her, “why?”

What kind of person would vandalize an election sign?  Let’s think about it for just a minute… Someone with low self esteem, who is recognized by the other members of their family or their friends as being an “idiot.”

If you had the name of some person ever found guilty of vandalizing election signs and asked their friends about the conviction, I’m sure the answer they’d give you would be somewhere along the line of, “I’m not surprised…”

Do you suppose these sign vandals are university educated?  I suspect not.  Do you think they might have graduated from high school?  Probably not.  Is it likely sign vandals have high paying jobs and are well respected in their own communities?  I’m betting not.  Do you suppose your local sign vandals will among the first to vote on election day?  Ah… no.

Why then do they do it?

Because they are just plain stupid.

A four-by-eight foot election sign costs in the vicinity of 145 dollars to produce.  Add the cost of the lumber and the time of the volunteer to make it and place it — and you’re looking at about 250 bucks — per sign.   So, I suppose wrecking 250 dollars worth of somebody else’s property is a way to get your jollies.

I can only hope one or more of the sign vandals in each community is found out, charged, convicted and fined.  Wouldn’t it be appropriate for the courts to order sign vandals to wear sandwich boards and walk around in their community with lettering that says: “I’m the sign vandal who wrecked candidate so-and-so’s signs…”

But we can’t do that in this country — because to the vandal — it would be too embarrassing, and who wants to be embarrassed?

I’m Tom Young.

It wasn’t the first time I’ve been on radio or television from coast-to-coast, but of all those many times — it certainly was the most interesting.

For Tyler McLean, who is the executive producer of the “The Afternoon News” and myself, our show on Tuesday, (which was simulcast on CPAC, The Canadian Public Affairs Channel) was more than just a little extra work, and the conditions under which we were working might be described as a little less than ideal than what we’re used to as far as work space is concerned.

When the CPAC crew arrived Monday afternoon, the amount of equipment they brought with them was unbelievable.  By the time it was all over, the nine guys had set up more cameras, more lights and wires than you could possibly imagine for such a small space. 

The day of the broadcast, besides the two permanent cameras which are always here, we had two additional cameras with accompanying camera men plus all our of our radio equipment in a studio that at best, feels like only ten-by-ten feet.

The entire episode gave us an insight into what Canadians coast-to-coast are actually thinking about the October 14th election.  The calls from western Canada certainly indicated Stephen Harper will have little trouble winning in places like Saskatchewan and Alberta.  However, other callers told us what we already know — he is not universally loved throughout Canada.  It was an opportunity for our regular listeners to hear what others are saying from around the country.

Obviously, since I was on the air — I didn’t have a chance to see the show, but now I do.  CPAC has sent both Tyler and I a DVD copy of Tuesday’s “Afternoon News.”

If you didn’t have a chance to see Tuesday’s show, you can find it here, digitally archived on CPAC’s web site: 

http://www.cpac.ca/forms/index.asp?dsp=template&act=view3&pagetype=vod&lang=e&clipID=1899

Just copy the above link to your browser and enjoy.

I’m Tom Young.

The Cable Public Affairs Channel, or CPAC — is a 24/7 political channel, a joint venture of all of Canada’s cable companies (Cable for Canadians) and is designed to give Canadians an inside look at politics and how it plays in Ottawa.

Most Canadians, depending upon the number of channels they have on their cable TV, have access to CPAC.  During this election campaign, CPAC staffers are travelling coast-to-coast presenting various radio talk shows live from a number of different venues.  This election campaign, “The Afternoon News” is honoured to be among those programs chosen for simulcast.

This Tuesday, September 16th — from just after the News at Noon until 3:00 PM Atlantic — it’s our turn.  As you might expect the focus that day will be on the general election campaign.  I’ll have as my guests — a political scientist, a spokesperson for Harris Decima Research and representatives from Canada’s four major political parties.

Some of them will join me live in the studio, others will be on the phone and you’ll have your chance to show Canadians from coast-to-coast that Maritimers don’t have to take a back seat to anybody when it comes to talking politics.

The show will give viewers a inside look into our studio and will also aim to show you what’s involved in the day-to-day operations of a three-hour daily radio phone in talk show.

On a lighter note, being on coast-to-coast is going to force me to make a drastic change in my wardrobe.  Under normal circumstances when there is no snow on the ground, I normally wear shorts.  However, I have consented for this show only to wear long pants — but don’t look for socks.

So join us Tuesday, it wont sound much different from our regular show, we’ll just have a much wider audience than we might normally have.

Think of an intelligent question and call us at 1-866-411-0889.

I’m Tom Young.

Also, for listeners who found today’s conversation with author Bob Kull as interesting as I did — His book, “SOLITUDE — Seeking Wisdom in Extremes — -A Year Alone in the Patagonia Wilderness” will soon be available nation wide at better books stores.  Bob Kull also has a web site which details his almost one year venture to a remote uninhabited island on the rainy, wind-swept coast of southern Chile.  You can visit at: www.bobkull.org

Anybody who has ever flown welcomes a bill of rights for airline passengers. 

I’ve had my share of experiences, not so much in the air but on the ground — but whatever I’ve experienced doesn’t come close to an experience that one of the members of our staff had on a trip to Africa earlier this year.  It was absolutely something she had to do and she counted the trip down to each of us over the three months prior to embarking.

What would an airline passenger’s bill or rights have done for her?

During her trip she missed a total of five flights — either because her flight was late, the next flight was overbooked and she got bumped.  She was told about the travel time: Saint John, NB to Africa = A day and-a-half.  The reality was Saint John, NB to Africa = Four days.

Not surprisingly, the airline managed to lose her luggage, so for the first seven days of her trip — she wore the clothes she left home in.  She even endured showering in them so that people near by were able to get close.

While in the wild, she was told her luggage had been found, and for only another $350, they would deliver it to her while she was somewhere in the African desert.  She spent 22 hours at an airport in Nairobi, Kenya waiting for the proper connections.  She described the entire episode as a “horror show.”  It was just — “awful.”  What would an airline passenger’s bill of rights do in this case?  All she suffered from were delayed or cancelled flights, the airline being over booked and being bumped, and lost luggage.

This story beats my daughter’s story of her trip from St. John’s NFLD, to Saint John, NB when she never did get her luggage until after she returned to her home.  Her suitcase, untouched, was located at the bus station in Bathurst, NB.  No one from the airline has been able to come up with a logical explanation into how it got there.

The federal government has set down minimum standards for compensating passengers with bad experiences.  One has to wonder what the maximum standards would be? 

At least it’s a step in the right direction.

I’m Tom Young.
The following poem, entitled Why We Fight, was written in Afghanistan in 2006 by Cpl. Andrew Grenon of Windsor, Ont., one of three Canadian soldiers who died Wednesday in an ambush in the volatile Zhari district.

It was released yesterday by members of Grenon’s family.

***

WHY WE FIGHT

I’ve often asked myself why we are here. Why my government actually agreed to send troops to this God-forsaken place. There are no natural resources. No oil, gold, or silver. Just people.

People who have been at war for the last 40 plus years. People who want nothing more than their children to be safe.

People who will do anything for money; even give their own life.

I look into the eyes of these people. I see hate, destruction and depression. I see love, warmth, kindness and appreciation.

Why do we fight? For in this country, there are monsters.

Monsters we could easily fight on a different battlefield, at a different time. Monsters that could easily take the fight to us.

Surrounding these mud walls and huts is a country in turmoil. A country that is unable to rebuild itself. A country that cannot guarantee a bright future for its youth.

Why do we fight? Because, if we don’t fight today, on THIS battlefield, then our children will be forced to face these monsters on our own battlefield.

I fight because I’m a soldier.

I fight because I’m ordered.

I fight, so my children won’t have to.

***
The following info comes in response to several inquiries regarding our Tuesday interview with Susan M. MacDonald, the author of “BALANCE — Nature’s Way to Heal Your Body”

Her book is published by New World Publishing in Halifax, and is available at book stores across Canada.  Susan’s web site is: www.jtwnaturalhealth.ca

For the sake of this blog,  I’m setting up an imaginary scenario…

Tyler McLean and I have a contract with our company that says we don’t have to work on Labour Day.

Our boss phones the Wednesday prior to Labour Day and says: “We have an equipment problem and you guys are going to have to do The Afternoon News on Labour Day, live, on the radio — and for doing it — we’re going to give you four times your regular pay and we’ll reduce the show from three hours to two hours.”

Tyler and I are going to say: “Listen, we’ve got a contract — and we’re not going to do it!  In fact, we’re so angry, we’re going to ask others members of our staff to join us on a picket line on Monday to show people passing the radio station how unfair our employer is.”

Does this sound to you like the real world?  Of course it doesn’t — but to some it is the real world.

I’m talking About the International Longshoreman’s Association, the guys who work the local docks.   It seems a huge cruise ship was booked to come to Saint John on Labour Day and three members of the Union were required to tie the ship up to the dock, move the gang plank against the hull to allow many hundreds of passengers to disembark and then repeat the process some hours later.

Total work time = about three hours.

In their contract, it requires eight hours pay at four times their regular rate.

Rumours say those who worked would be payed roughly seven-hundred dollars for the three hours of work.  We’re told that many of them found this to be in contravention of their labour agreement and so — tourists in Saint John were greeted as they stepped off the ship to a number of placard carrying longshoremen complaining how unfair it was that some of their members actually had to do some work on Labour Day.

I’m sure this entire thing looked as ridiculous to the tourists as it did to most Saint Johners.

How many people who are reading this blog would refuse to work for three hours on a statutory holiday for over seven-hundred dollars?  Both Tyler and I would have changed our minds about going live on the air on a holiday Monday for the Afternoon News and told our boss we’d actually do the two hour show for 695-dollars as most people with half a brain would have done.

I haven’t been able to figure out yet whether those who were doing the picketing on the docks in Saint John were there because they were angry about breaking the contract or because they weren’t picked to work and take home the money. 

I almost could have sworn it was 2008.

I’m Tom Young.