announcing: go to March for Arch 2!

Because of various problems, too complicated to anyone to explain, this blog no longer works for me, and I have continued on a new one called
http://marchforarch2.blogspot.com.
Come on over!

Another observation from Tom Eschak

Tom says that the Afghan people will always give a little warning to them that there will be a suicide bombing or attack coming shortly. Sometimes it's a kid holding a stick and pretending it to be a gun and shooting at them. Or sometimes the kids hold their thumbs up at them. Usually the Canadian guys notice that there are no people around. No people on their farms or no people in the close vicinity. (Because they are clearing out getting ready for a bombing.) Sometimes they notice a guy with a cell phone. A cell phone means that they are usually communicating with other bombers and they are planning on doing an attack.

(Tom's mother tells me that it is rare to hear from her son: the Canadians are out in the mountains, far from any communications. The only time Tom has managed to telephone was when he is at the "base". These snippets your Blogress is entering here are from only 2 conversations Tom has managed to have with his family since the beginning of August.

We have no idea where Tom and his company are - this is secret - but the Oct 23 Western Standard has a story on a major attack conducted against the Taliban. Code named "Medusa" this was "by all reports a tremendous success, with the combined forces killing upward of 1,000 enemy combatants, a quarter of the regional Taliban force..." Tom has said that "the Canadians were the leaders in the Medusa Operation that aggressively went after the Taliban, and they 'set the standard' for the operation....

Tom's mother, Marj Eschak, has been asked by the Canadian Legion to participate in the November 11 celebrations here in Whitehorse. If she lives in fear for her son's welfare, she also has great pride in his courage, and his service to Canada.

the summer of 2006 was a great summer...

but just wait for the next one!

Yukon Party Party next Saturday, Oct 28 !!!!!!

MESSAGE FROM YUKON PARTY EXECUTIVE

Hello!

The Yukon Party Executive is hosting a Yukon Party Appreciation Night on Saturday, October, 28th, 2006 to coincide with the day's celebrations of swearing in our MLAs and Cabinet Ministers. We've made history folks and we can be proud of our team for gaining a second mandate from the Yukon electorate. So let's get together to show our support and to celebrate in our success.

The dinner will be held at the Westmark Whitehorse, cocktails start at 6:00 pm and dinner at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $50 and there are only three hundred of them, so get them before we run out! Contact myself, Alexia McKinnon, by responding to Yukon Party Info , or calling 393-2470. Marie Cox is also selling tickets and can be reached at mariedon@northwestel.net or 668-4679.

For those of you from out of town, the Westmark is offering a room rate of $89 per night. When making your reservation with them please call 1-800-544-0970 and ask for the “Yukon Party Event Rate”. You can also e-mail your reservation to khunt@HollandAmerica.com

Also, please join the MLAs as they are sworn in as Legislators on Saturday morning 11:00 am at the Government building. Then join them again as they are sworn in as Cabinet Ministers that afternoon at 2:00 pm again at the Government Building. A short reception will follow, then it's on to the evening celebration!

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. It'll be a great evening of fun, as we share stories, reunite with friends and no doubt have a chuckle or two!

Have a safe and great weekend and remember to order your ticket!

Lexi

Alexia McKinnon
Yukon Party Secretary

Swearing in of the new Government

The new government will be sworn in - by the Queen's representative, the Commissioner - next Saturday, October 28th.

At 11 am, all the MLA's will be sworn in, in the Legislative Council Chambers.

At 2 pm, the Cabinet Ministers will be announced and sworn in, in the foyer of the YTG. It is at this time, and not before, that we will know who gets what portfolio.

Both events are open to the public.

the sun rises about 9-ish now.. and

Shirley Ford's letter to the Yukon News

Shirley Ford sent this letter to the Yukon News, but they haven't printed it yet, so your Blogress leaps into the breach!

The Editor, Yukon News,
Regarding Richard Mostyn’s article “Imagine tomorrow and sweat!”
The Yukon News made a brutal attempt to influence this election and went completely over the line. Is it right to print an editorial the Friday before the election on the front page encouraging people not to vote for the Yukon Party? I wonder how some of the people in Porter Creek South feel considering the riding was determined by only 6 votes?

Richard Mostyn said ‘We’ have decided that the Yukon Party does not deserve a second term. Who is ‘we’? Are Yukon News employees and reporters required to vote in a block? Or is he speaking about himself and the owners of the Yukon News, with their cozy ties to the Liberal Party. There’s a glimpse of their idea of ethics and accountability. Fair and balanced reporting during an election should be expected for the good of the Yukon. I wonder how the many small business people must feel who voted for the Yukon Party. They continually spend hundreds and thousands of dollars advertising in the Yukon News. They have to because the Yukon News virtually has a monopoly into the communities. Through past governments the News has secured sweetheart advertising deals for government ads (taxpayer money). Go figure. They are using your private sector and your government taxpayer advertising dollars to push their political agenda. Your own money is working against you.

The Yukon News has made its bed during the election, now they are going to have to lie in it. Imagine tomorrow, Mr. Mostyn, and sweat, because hopefully it will be with a lot less advertising dollars from the small business sector.

If the Yukon News is so intent on substantially influencing the outcome of an election, maybe its owners or the editor should run in an election or work hard for a candidate of their choice, like decent people do in a democracy.
Shirley Ford
Ford Farms, Whitehorse, Yukon, 633 4342

CORRECTION: Shirley tells me that the Yukon News DID carry this letter today. My apologies for the error. You must understand, though, that your Blogress does not read the Yukon News, and has not done so for many years. As a result, I am a happier and wiser person, along with the Prozac, of course.

where is Archie?

well, your Blogress does not know. However, the word is, the Yukon Party people are 'caucusing' and preparing to be sworn in as members of the legislature. When? Your Blogress does not know that, either. Oh well.

a tiny light in the darkness?

Yesterday, the first furnace oil delivery of the season came to the home of your Blogress.

Now, back in the dawn of history, ie, Feb 2002, this stuff cost 43.65 cents per litre. What with this and that and other World Events, said Stuff cost your Blogress 88.40 cents per litre in May, 2006.

The cost on October 17, 2006?? 78.70 cents per litre.

This is not the time to throw open the windows and breathe the crisp fresh winter air, of course; but I'm not ready to double up on the woolly underwear, either.

There is, by the way, a great word to describe the atmosphere of a room that has been thoroughly insulated against the cold for some 6 months, in a pathetic attempt to 'save on fuel.' This word means, "thick, stuffy, smelly atmosphere, especially that of a crowded, poorly-ventilated room." Its misfortune is that it sounds like one of our 4 letter words, which is why it is not popular today. The word? "Fug." It SOUNDS exactly like what we can all recognize, come March, doesn't it?

That thing at the Fish Lake cutoff...

If you go to this Alaska government site, and click the following: Map View... Haines/Skagway... Cameras... South East Alaska ... Camera.... you will see photos of the South Klondike Highway Summit taken within the hour. Also, at the same Site you can also access a nice little explanation as to road conditions on most of the roads in Alaska.

This is possible because of something called "Road Weather Information System". And you can see our own Yukon version beginning here at the Fish Lake Road: that is what that miniature tower with electronic doodads is all about. It comprises (1) pavement sensors in travel lanes; (2) atmospheric sensors next to the roadway; and (3) digital cameras to show weather and road surface conditions. Thus road surface temperature, de-icing chemistry, moisture, subsurface temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction and precipitation are all measured, all the time. This information is constantly transmitted to a central server, work stations, maintenance offices, etc.

There are 2 other stations in the Yukon being established, also in the Whitehorse area, on high-volume parts of the highway (Meadows Golf Course and Lewes R south of Whitehorse).

In so doing, Yukon is joining a comprehensive network forming throughout the North American continent. Allan Baranyk, of our own Yukon Highways Dept tells me that Yukoners will eventually be able to get the same real-time level of road information as is now available on the 511 Alaska site.

The cameras, by the way, are not capable of capturing/recording vehicle speeds: Each active camera is polled 1- 4 times per hour, capturing a single still image each time. The ADOT&PF temporarily archive these images for a time period not to exceed 2 days.

another message from Tom

This is another part of Tom's conversations with his sister, this time from 3 October:

"They were back at main base because their vehicle had been hit by a double land mine. Every one of them were knocked unconscious. Nobody was hurt but they were all out for differing times. He came to with two of his buddies on top of him. He said he was feeling around in the dark to see if they were bleeding or injured. They were ok. They had to abandon the vehicle - 18 tons blown into the air by a double land mine. So they had to jump far out of the vehicle to ensure that they didn't land on any other mines. They had to wait for replacements before they can go too far, so they called back for reinforcements and then came back to the main base.

They are back on the base and will get some sleep time. He said it's two weeks since they were at the base. That was the last suicide bomber that their platoon came in contact with. They will be out again within 24 hours. However, they can sleep, wash their clothes and get some real food....

He said they got mail and the most touching were the letters they received from the little Brownies. He said that the letters made them feel like heroes. They were really proud to be getting letters from the Brownies. It hit home to them...

Rumour says....

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when a Political Party loses an election, that Party's factions turn on each other. And so it seems to be here, in the Yukon.

Rumour says that the Yukon News and the Yukon Liberals are... shall we say... "dissatisfied" with each other. After devoting pages and pages of free space, predicting the delights of a Liberal majority while at the same time describing the Yukon Party in ... shall we say... "negative" terms.... and doing so for the entire month of September... what does Arthur Mitchell and his team do?? Fail. That's what. Fail. Considering the intellectual firepower involved in all this scribbling... well... can you blame that brave little band of 'reporters' for being 'let down' by a bunch of losers???

And on the other hand, we have the spectacle of the Yukon Liberals losing to the Yukon Party. Why?? Couldn't the Yukon News have shown just a wee little bit of .... say .... "nuance" in their election coverage?? Why, by October 9th, it had become a laughing stock of the Yukon ... and ... darn it .... dragged the the Yukon Liberals down with it.

That's the rumour, anyway.