MEN IN HATS

I see a trust trend. 

Men in hats vs. no hats.

Who do you trust..with your food & water & the truth

MISSING WIKI-INFORMATION!!

The wiki article on Melancthon seems rather scant.

There is WAY more stuff going on in Melancthon than wiki would have you believe.

Take a look and see if you can spot the missing information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melancthon,_Ontario

(HINT: location of a proposed 2,300 acre 200 foot below the water table open pit limestone mine, MORE turbines, unique soil, our water systems, etc, etc)

Since wiki works on the principle that anyone can enter factual information, (hint toHoB&K-that means true), have at it.....

I DARE YOU

I dare you to listen to this latest Hobo Wally production and:

NOT Laugh out loud (and I don't mean lol I mean really freaking LAUGH....OUT....LOUD)

NOT be humming it all day

NOT email it to Rick Mercer

And finally NOT nominate it for a Juno.

HIGH-LAR-E-US but so sadly true.

Gotta go, I have to watch this again...and again...and again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76urC3_XYxQ&feature=youtu.be

StoMp-RUNNING FOR A CURE

There are over 350 runners/walkers/bikers registered for today.

They start early, about 8ish.

They are running/walking/biking for a cure for a horrific disease: corporate greed and stupidity.

So come out and cheer them on, spend the afternoon listening to music and in the beer gardens, stop by the NDACT booth to see what is new and then at 5, walk across the parking lot and partake in the famous Honeywood Beef BBQ.

A DonnaT. UPDATE

Thanks to D.T. for this update:

"Once you destroy this land, you don't get it back." NDP MP Peggy Nash after touring the farmland threatened by the proposed mega quarry on July 25, 2012.


This has been another incredible week in the fight to stop the mega quarry. Wednesday's tour of the region by four Toronto-area MPs and their constituents was a huge success, as the politicians and city folks walked the fields, forests and rivers threatened by the project.

NDP MPP Jonah Schein, who is also the party's Environment Critic at Queen's Park, joined the tour and said "To see it, smell it, taste it...it's a good reminder that our food security is at risk."

Broadcaster Dale Goldhawk was on the bus and interviewed the politicians during the bumpy ride back to the city.

The link to the podcast of those interviews is below.

In it you'll hear MPs Craig Scott, Peggy Nash, Matthew Kellway and MPP Schein reflect on their day spent in Melancthon.

All of them were greatly impressed with the Vander Zaag, French and Armstrong farming families, as well as with the stunning and vulnerable landscape they had walked and toured for hours.

http://www.goldhawk.com/2012/07/26/gfb-podcast-melancthon-mega-quarry/

Many of you will remember our friend Hobo Wally, the charming singer who brought us the first mega quarry song "Come Walk With Me" last year.

He has a new song that's just been released on YouTube. Check out "King of the Hole". Very funny and catchy. You'll be singing it all day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76urC3_XYxQ&feature=youtu.be

Hope to see many of you at the Stomp tomorrow. The weather looks great and the beautiful land we're trying to protect awaits you!

Cheers D.T.

ODIFEROUS SCENT OF SCANDAL

Here is another article about HoB&K associated with yet another scandal.   I mean it isn't as good as their nonsense when they worked for the cigarette industry or the US government and the contrived Iraqi babies being murdered in their incubators, but....pretty good....

Paul Calandra, the MP for Oak Ridges-Markham, attended and received money at two private fundraising parties that included people connected to two of the bids under consideration by the CRTC, which reports to Canadian Heritage.

In late March, one of the applicants, WorldBand Media Inc., owned by CEO Prabha Selvadurai, hired Hill and Knowlton to lobby Canadian Heritage, the CRTC and members of Parliament on its proposal for a new talk-radio station.

The Globe has learned that just over two weeks later, on April 10, a private fundraiser took place in the basement of a suburban Markham, Ont., home owned by Mr. Selvadurai’s sister, Kirupalini Kirupakaran. Dr. Kirupakaran has pledged to the CRTC that she will invest up to $2-million in WorldBand Media should it win the competition. About $22,000 was raised at the event. Mr. Calandra also received a contribution at another basement fundraiser from the head of a second company competing for the prized spot on Toronto’s radio dial.

The April 10 fundraiser was attended by Mr. Selvadurai, along with several members of his immediate family. Former Ontario Tory cabinet minister David Tsubouchi, who sits on WorldBand’s board of advisers, attended, as did five others who have pledged to invest in the proposed radio station, which would be called Touch FM.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/competing-bidders-for-radio-spot-donated-money-to-tory-mp/article4439785/

StoMp MAP

Here is the map for the StoMp event this Saturday.

If U can't walk, run or bike, then take your lawn chair, cooler full of liquid refreshment and pick a shady place on the route to watch and cheer on the 300 plus participants.

Here is a confidential tip-even though dogs aren't allowed, I would expect the poopies would appreciate a cold bowl of water along the route.

ALL QUIET ON THE BAUPOST FRONT

Haven't heard much from Seth Klarman, Baupost, Highlands, HoB&K or the guy with the pistaschio, I mean mustachio.

Funny thing though-I thought a train wreck

would have been much louder!!



MORE INFO ON SToMp EVENT

This Saturday is the first annual “StoMp the Mega Quarry” Walk / Run / Bike / Watch event in and around Honeywood.

Join us to appreciate the beauty, bounty and community of the land at risk.


The Woman-In-Charge is Maria Burton, a professional race co-ordinator who wanted to put her skills to work to help raise awareness and funds to ensure that fresh food and clean water are made a priority in Ontario.

StoMp is being held on the same day as the Honeywood BBQ to bring the entire community together in fellowship of participaction, music and food. All are welcome.

The itinerary is as follows:

When: Saturday, July 28, 2012

Where: Honeywood Community Centre, 706114 County Road 21. North of Shelburne, east of Redickville/County Road 124.

Parking: County Road 21 just east of Redickville (northwest corner of CR21 and Mulmur/ Melancthon Townline). There will be a shuttle to take you to the arena.

Time: 8:30am – 3pm followed by Honeywood Community

BBQ 3pm-8pm.

Race Departures: 8:30am – 10:15am

BBQ, Beer Tent, Music & Party: 11am – 8pm

Note: Shuttles will run until 4pm only so make sure you move your car closer if you are staying for the evening.

Food: To ensure that there is enough food for all, it is advisable that you order your food in advance:

Paypal Registration: http://www.ndact.com/index.php/stomp-the-mega-quarry/bbq-sign-up

OR

Fax Registration Form: http://www.ndact.com/images/stomp-the-mega-quarry/stompregistration_0307.pdf

Fax to 519-925-2866

Be sure to wear comfortable shoes and to dress for the hot weather.

Further information and race registration is at http://www.ndact.com/

Look for the Stop the Mega Quarry info booth … I hope to see you there!

DB
Working to StoMp the Mega-Quarry!

P.S. For those of you interested in making a weekend visit, take note that the Elvis Festival in Collingwood would be a great event for Sunday http://www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com/

And for a B&B experience like no other, right on the Pine River, check out Uffen's Trout House!!!
http://www.bbcanada.com/robuffenstrouthouse

TRUER WORDS ....

"If God were testing us,

he couldn't have found a more challenging place."

"Worst place in the world for an open pit mine."

"There's no such thing as a 'no-risk' mine"

Those familiar-sounding quotes are not lifted from our fight over the proposed mega quarry, but from a similar controversy in Alaska. Check out the PBS article below. It seems we are far from alone in tackling mega mines that threaten vital water and food resources.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/environment/alaska-gold/treasure-hunt-the-battle-over-alaskas-mega-mine/

And tune in tomorrow morning on AM740 to hear Beaches-East York MP Matthew Kellway speak to Dale Goldhawk about Wednesday's bus trip to Melancthon. He's on the air between 11:30am and noon. Feel free to call in, if you wish!

Cheers,
DT

SToMp THE MEGA QUARRY

Found this on http://www.ndact.com/index.php/stomp-the-mega-quarry/race-details

The fundraising event for NDACT is next Saturday.

SToMp the Mega Quarry and Give Ontario's Food and Water a Fighting Chance.

Walk, run or bike, then eat, play ball, listen to music, then eat again at the famous Honeywood Beef BBQ.

You can look forward to seeing celeb's there...no no, NOT the Jim Cuddy's and Jeremy Taggart's and Andy Barrie's and such (although they do turn up, you may see them cleaning tables!!) but the REAL celebs-the NDACT Board, current and past.

And ladies, you may even get a peek at the pink shirt!!! 

But come to think of it, maybe he should start wearing a grey shirt.... you know a 50 Shades of Grey...just saying....

DO NOT MISS THIS EVENT!!!

SOME LOCALS ARE LOOKING FOR A GUY

To find out the story about what happened to 401 Farm Owned Power, take a look at the last few Melancthon Council agendas.

LOTS of letters from locals who bought into the concept-they would have control of where to cite the turbines, they would control the entire process because they were good people who believed in what they were told.

THEN reality set in and ....well you can read the rest as to how the Chinese became involved.

BUT if you happen to know where a guy named Paul Boreham might be, I would imagine there are some people looking for him. 

He seems to have blown away like dust in the wind.

DAVID VANDERZAAG'S REMARKABLE PRESENTATION AT THE ARA HEARINGS

My name is David Vanderzaag.

Good afternoon, members of the committee, and thank you all for taking the trip up.

Thank you for being members of the committee.

It reinforces—I’m an optimist—my belief in government and democracy. It’s great to see you here.

I am a third-generation farmer with four sons and grow potatoes on an 800-acre farm directly adjacent to the proposed mega-quarry site.

I’m here to tell you this afternoon about the very unique nature of the soils on this 15,000-acre plateau. It’s a story that is not understood, and that is why I am here to do so.

This is a message that is lost today because only 1.5% of the population in Canada are farmers. By comparison, in 1930, one third of the population farmed.

How can the 1.5% be heard, and watch over and protect this resource that we all depend on, a resource that is under so much pressure?

It is a huge challenge.

My background is unique and gives me an acute appreciation for this land.

I grew up on a potato farm in Alliston and moved to Shelburne 14 years ago when we found this farm for sale.

I also am fortunate enough to operate five potato equipment dealerships in Michigan, Ontario, New Brunswick and PEI, and have visited farms all over the world.

This experience has given me a great appreciation for how blessed we are with prime farmland of this quality.

My father moved from a farm in Holland to Canada.

Before then, my grandfather won a lottery before the Second World War that allowed him to move from a small farm in North Holland to one of the new reclaimed polders.

During the Depression, in order to make that land good enough to farm, teams of men turned the soil over six feet in depth by hand to put the sand on the bottom and the loam on the top.

It’s something that occurs naturally right here.

In Holland, they spent millions turning water into farmland, the very opposite of what could happen just north of where we are sitting.

They had experienced hunger and knew that creating farmland and securing a food supply was in the national interest.

My principal argument is about land use planning and what makes sense for our society as a whole. I will attempt to explain to the non-farmers in the room why this land is unique and vital.

Describing it is like trying to describe a masterpiece you cannot see, but I will do my best, so let me explain in laymen’s terms what makes this class 1 ag land so special. It has 7 main characteristics:

(1) Its soil type is loam.

(2) It’s stone-free.

(3) It’s flat.

(4) It’s uniform. Each 100-acre block is the same.

(5) It’s contiguous. It is one large 15,000-acre block of the same soil type.

(6) It’s well drained.

(7) And its location: you get 28 inches of rainfall, a moderate climate, and we’re 90 minutes from five million people.

Any two or three of these characteristics alone would make land good.

This land rates “excellent” on all seven of these characteristics.

Let me explain.

Soil type: At the one extreme you have sand, like you find on a beach.

It can be worked easily but doesn’t hold water or nutrients very well.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have clay.

If it is heavy enough, you can make bricks from it.

Clay holds moisture and water but cannot be worked very easily.

It gets lumpy and can remain wet for far too long.

What we have is honeywood loam.

It is the best of both. It drains well like sand, yet holds water and nutrients like clay and it works smoothly, like butter in your hands.

It’s ideal for growing crops that grow in the ground, like potatoes.

Loam soils are exceptionally rare. Root crop farmers scour the province trying to find it and pay a premium when they do.

As the saying goes, “Good land breeds good farmers,” and the most expensive crops.

Where there is loam you will find high-value veg crops.

Potatoes, for example, gross $3,000 to $4,000 an acre while grain would gross $500.

Sand soils can grow vegetable crops, but it is not as sustainable for the environment.

Sand requires more fertilizer and requires much more water, all resources that are expensive and scarce.

Number two is that it’s stone-free.

This is self-explanatory and rare.

It is very important and a huge advantage when growing a root crop like potatoes that need to be separated from the earth.

Stones damage crops and equipment.

Almost all potatoes grown in Michigan, New York, New Brunswick and Maine—four important major growing areas—fight with land that has as many stones as it has potatoes. Just this characteristic alone makes us the envy of these regions.

Number three, it’s flat.

Hilly or rolling fields are difficult and dangerous for machines to work. Hilly land also erodes easily. When it rains, the high spots lose their topsoil and dry out, while the low spots drown out and get too wet.

In New Brunswick, for example, farmers use terraces every 60 feet around hills in much of their potato land to combat this.

It is uniform.

The farms here are of a uniform soil type throughout each 100-acre block.

This is very rare as well.

On many fields I have worked, the soil will change within the 100-acre area from clay to clay-loam to sand, all within the same farm.

Each farm on this plateau is the same from front to back, which is very rare.

On top of that, it’s contiguous.

This 15,000-acre plateau is contiguous.

It is not only uniform throughout the 100-acre block; the complete 15,000-acre plateau is essentially the same from field to field.

I can’t emphasize to people who don’t farm how rare this is.

It’s something that we have special right in our backyard.

By comparison, the Holland Marsh is about a 7,500-acre block.

Our plateau is twice the size and all in one block.

That’s the reason that I feel it’s important; because we really do not appreciate how what we have is unique.

If there’s one point I can get across today, I would like to

make that point.

Well drained: The 200 feet of karst limestone aquifer beneath the fields holds a tremendous amount of water and also maximizes drainage.

The limestone provides an open bottom that protects veg crops from flooding and damage from heavy rains.

A vegetable grown in the ground cannot sit in standing water without rotting.

We have had cases of nine inches of rain in the spring, but within 24 hours all the free water had dispersed into the karst and underground river systems.

By comparison, the land west and east of this plateau needs tile drains strung 20 to 40 feet apart to accomplish the same. But tiling doesn’t come close to doing the same thing.

Location: We are only 90 minutes from Canada’s largest city and five million people.

We are blessed with an average of 28 inches of rainfall a year.

Compare this to regions in the US which do not get enough rainfall and depend solely on irrigation for their water.

For example, the Ogallala aquifer runs under eight states, from Texas to South Dakota. Its volume of water is equal to that of Lake Huron.

That region provides one fifth of the US ag harvest and has been over-pumped, and there are estimates that that aquifer will be depleted in 25 years. There are warning signs of what’s coming ahead.

Now that you see what characteristics make this land unique, we have seven out of seven—seven excellent ratings out of seven.

Just how scarce is this class 1 type of land, the highest-quality land available?

An analogy that I can do to help you understand that is that if the province of Ontario were a 100-acre farm, only three-and-a-half acres of that 100 acres would be farmland and less than one thousandth of an acre would be vegetable land, growing the highest-value, highest-tonnage crops per acre.

As far as land use planning goes on our 100-acre farm, why destroy the most valuable one thousandth of an acre when there are 96 acres of non-farmland available, or the poorest class 4 to 7 farmland at minimum?

While I’ve tried my best to describe this soil and its rare qualities, you have to see it. Considering what is at stake—the magnitude of the proposed mega-quarry on this very land—I would like to invite you to visit our farm so we can show you what we are talking about: where your food comes from and how unique this farmland is. Individually or as a group, you owe it to yourself to see first-hand. You owe it to Ontarians.

This discussion is about stewardship.

Farmers cannot do it alone.

The farmer’s voice and our knowledge are getting crowded out by the 98% who don’t farm.

The stewardship of our land is a responsibility that must fall on all of us and, to a much larger degree, our elected officials, who provide leadership and set policy.

I applaud the government for the steps taken so far—the environmental assessment that has been ordered for this unprecedented application and for the review of the ARA.

Thank you.

But now is the time to take the next step.

Now is the time to call for a moratorium on all aggregate applications involving prime farmland until the flawed ARA is revised.

It is clear that there are problems with the act.

Prime farmland is not protected under the ARA, and that must change.

There is no downside to taking the time to get it right.

I close with a final quote from Franklin Roosevelt back in 1937: “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”

Those wise words are more valid today than ever.

Thank you for your time and attention.

edit note: this is who he is doing this for:

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER FOR NDACT

The 4th annual NDACT golf tournament raised $18,600.00, another significant drop in the BIG bucket of legal and other experts required to win this war.

My personal thanks to everyone who attended, donated silent auction items, worked tirelessly and of course ordered the perfect, if a triffle too hot weather.

Special thanks of course to all current and former members of NDACT, who have stayed the course, steady and true and are, quite frankly, winning this war.

The new facility at the golf course looks great and I know the original Bateman (personally donated by Mr. Bateman) will look great on RCM's wall!!

THE MOST OFFENSIVE STATEMENT OUT OF THE ARA REVIEW HEARINGS I HAVE READ TO DATE

"I worked for the Ministry of Natural Resources through the 1980s as an inspector under the Pits and Quarries Control Act, and I was involved in the development of the Aggregate Resources Act.

Since 1989, I’ve been consulting….

There’s death, there’s taxes and there are well-meaning people who are going to be upset about pits and quarries proposed in their countryside.


Fundamentally, we have to remember that aggregate is an essential resource.

It can only be extracted where it occurs.

It belongs in rural areas.

One of the priorities for rural areas is to provide resources. 

In many ways, aggregate is like agriculture. There must be a priority for these uses in rural areas.

Despite what you’ve heard, fortunately, there is no need to choose between aggregate and food.

The conflict between the two resources is not overly severe and we’re not going to starve,

James Parkin, MHBC Planning July 9, 2012 ARA review hearings"

Minebusters editorial comment:
WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT...
WHAT A MAROON

I don't make this stuff up people, read it for yourself: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/committee-proceedings/committee_transcripts_details.do?locale=en&Date=2012-07-09&ParlCommID=8958&BillID=&Business=Aggregate+Resources+Act+review&DocumentID=26492#P61_3817

SUMMER TIME AND THE LIVING IS EASY

For Geriatric Jorden who has once again not filled a committed deadline as set by Council, summertime may be easy, but taking money from Melancthon taxpayers is even easier.

The most recent "deadline" that Council set for him: June, 2012: draft OP to MMAH.

If you want to see all the OTHER missed deadlines, just google his name on this blog.

He started the OP in 2001 and to date has produced more excuses than results.

What kind of benchmark/performance measure is acceptable to Melancthon ratepayers?

AND MORE CRAP FROM THE AGGREGATE INDUSTRY

PARIS - Dufferin Aggregates says it is willing to pay the estimated $1.9-million cost to upgrade the road past its contentious gravel pit north of Paris.

But Andrea Bourrie, director of planning and regulatory affairs for Holcim Canada, Dufferin's parent firm, made clear Tuesday to Brant county councillors that the municipality must be responsibility for any upgrades to roads anywhere else in the proposed routes of heavy trucks moving between the pit and customer locations.
.......
Brant Mayor Ron Eddy brought up concerns about other roads the company's trucks will take, but Bourrie interjected.

"We run a business, Mr. Mayor," she said. "There is $1.9 million coming out of my right pocket. There needs to be something coming into my left pocket."

READ more about how the aggregate industry really treats their 'COMMUNITIES:
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/07/10/dufferin-draws-line-on-road-upgrades

NAH, THEY COULDN'T BE AFTER OUR WATER......

http://drought.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/drought.html?map=%2Fwww%2Fdrought%2Fweb_pages%2Fdrought.map&program=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmapserv&root=%2Fwww%2Fdrought2%2F&map_web_imagepath=%2Ftmp%2F&map_web_imageurl=%2Ftmp%2F&map_web_template=%2Fdrought.html

MAP OF WHERE THE WATER IS...

AND IT AIN'T SO MUCH IN

SETH KLARMAN'S COUNTRY

OUR NEIGHBOURS TO THE NORTH

The Council of the Township of Southgate has decided, with NO pre-consultation to their citizens or First Nations (oh oh), that their economic future depends on trucking on contaminated soil, composte and offal material and untreated human waste, to be deposited on a site less than 350 metres from a school...on the HALDIMAND TRACT.

How do I know there was no pre-consultation?  The Closed Meeting Investigator made that pretty clear in the TWO closed meeting investigations he did.  You can read the scathing report at this link, pages 112 to 145.
https://southgate.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=18613

View video:
http://vimeo.com/45343943

The citizens are going to need help with letters opposing this, and soon.

I will keep you posted.

And if you think this doesn't concern you, you better be sure you are NOT on the haul route......OR drink/and/or use water from the Grand River.

Untreated human waste, offal material, that arrives in a tarp covered truck with a "spongy cake like" material, right past your home and business.......be ready to write those letters.

For information on the entire crappy situation go to these links:
http://opirg.org/southgate/home.html
https://www.facebook.com/pages/STOP-the-Bio-Solids-Plant-from-Being-In-a-Town-or-near-Housing/282799498412223

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

You can't always get what you want...even if you are Seth Klarman aka Baupost.

IMAGINE

Someone said no to Baupost... to all that money.....

Read all about it:

New York State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick threw out the complaint by Walnut Place LLC (AKA BAUPOST) and related entities in March, saying the lawsuit was“premature.” An appeals court in Manhattan today upheld the dismissal, saying the complaint was barred by a clause in pooling and service agreements that “plainly limits” the right to sue.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-28/walnut-place-loses-bid-to-revive-bank-of-america-lawsuit.html