Ontario Community Newspapers

Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, On1868), 20 Jun 2001, p. 9

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Telegdi‘s tenacity is impressive, but his cause raises speculation n June 1815, Prussian Field IMatshall Gebhard Leberecht von Bluecher showed up at the famous battle of Waterloo to save Wellington _ from _ defeat by Napoleon‘s armies. Bluecher had previously _ been _ beaten _ by Napoleon not far from Waterloo, but he refused to pack it in, and marched his forces into more fightâ€" ing. Little he knew that, almost two centuries later, another tough fightâ€" er would carry on in his style, albeit at another Waterloo. Andrew Telegdi‘s tenacity in his efforts to change the Citizenship Act Defeat the tyranny of the automobile i is proposed to widen that part Iof Columbia Street which at preâ€" sent is a pleasant treeâ€"lined resiâ€" dential street, destraying the trees in the process. However, some simple figuring should have caused this proposal to be trashed. For the length of the road in question is about 1.3 km, and by comparing â€" the â€" transit _ times (excluding waits at stopâ€"lights) for the present situation with that of the proposal, it turns out that the time saved is about 2.6 minutes. (The The buck stops with city council he growing scandal over the I cost of the Millennium Park is a classic example of an old adage, namely, never assume that anyone knows what they are doing. Whether caused by ignorance, stuâ€" pidity, misrepresentation or a comâ€" bination of all three, the Waterloo taxpayer will undoubtedly have to foot the bill for a blunder of monuâ€" mental proportions. Coun. Morty Taylor was recently reported to have stated that the buck must stop with city staff but he is absolutely wrong. The ultimate responsibility for the You said it WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE CITY OF WATERLOO? QUESTION NaMRA is all the more impressive as very few people nowadays stand up and fight for their convictions. The cause, upon which his deterâ€" mination is lavished, is another matter. One principal intent of the Citizenship Act is presumably to establish a general framework for the removal of criminal elements of foreign origin from Canada, and one might wonder if Mr. Telegdi would unwittingly wish to throw out the proverbial baby with the bathâ€" water. The _ specific _ cause _ that Mr.Telegdi embraces with solliciâ€" assumptions are: a present rushâ€" hour speed of 20 kph, and a hopedâ€" for speed of 60 kph). _ In other words, in order to save a motorist 2.6 minutes of sleep, and allow supper to be served 2.6 minâ€" utes earlier, it is proposed to spend large sums of our money to create another bleak speedway like bridgeâ€" port Road or Erb Street. And in any case, the possible time saving would only occur a couple of hours a day, at rushâ€"hours. As for the proposed cyclingâ€"lanes running of any city lies with the mayor and council or, in this case, the former mayor and council who approved the agreement. The responsibility of staff is to advise. The responsibility of council is to act on or reject such advice. If an investigation reveals that city staff did not fully understand the terms of the lease then they should never recommended its acceptance. Similarty, if the former mayor and council felt that the conâ€" ditions were not crystal clear they should have had the contract studâ€" "How about we eliminate govern ment?" "I think the uptown should be more of a pedestrian area, with storeâ€"front shops." O THE CH Doug Skinner COMMENT tous fervour gives rise to much speculation. We could assume, for instance, that had the Axis powers won World War II, the subject of Mr.Telegdi‘s crusade could have become a prosperous builder and developer, having been given a genâ€" erous piece of property for his wartime services. If so, then his career would have been different from his Canadian career only in the sense that instead of paying wages and benefits, he would have had access to slave labour. along the route, the suggestion is 30 years too late, for when University Avenue was being widened, Coun. Shortreed _ suggested _ installing cyclingâ€"lanes along it The then council, in its wisdom, and no doubt advised by planners, turned down the suggestion. ied by an independent accounting The Millennium Park was origiâ€" nally slated to cost $16 million. The total cost amortized over the next 30 years now stands $227 million. Not only will this result in a significant tax increase but it will severely impinge on council‘s ability to proâ€" vide funding for muchâ€"needed arts programs. The public has every right to be angry and to demand It is high time that the council exercise its function of protecting the quality of our city by defeating the tyranny of the automobile. "The one thing that was missing was a cinâ€" ema. Now that they‘re opening one beside Conestoga Mall, peoâ€" ple won‘t have to drive to Kitchener to see a "I‘m happy with the city the way it is, especially with all of its greenspace and Meaghan Brown G. Alan Turner, David A. Crow, Tom Fahidy, Peter Lee id you hear the one about the "trashing of the White House" Dand the "looting of Air Force One" said to have been perpeâ€" trated by the departing Clinton administration? Great story, wasn‘t it? Too bad it never happened. A group called Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has revealed that the story was 100 per cent Republican spin, eagerly repeated by conservative punâ€" dits (including former aides in the Reaganâ€"Bush administration) who wanted to show "the difference between a morally comproâ€" mised Clinton presidency and a more dignified, honourable Bush administration." 1 personally have huge problems with the Clinton record for different reasons, but political bias doesn‘t excuse the printing or broadcasting of what amounts to lies. _ The Air Force refuted the looting story within weeks, but the stories about the White House vandalism continued to be repeatâ€" ed for months. Then, on May 17, the General Services Administration (GSA) released statements indicating that the transition was actually rather routine, and that "the condition of the real property was consistent with what we would expect to encounter when tenants vacate office space after an extended occupancy." Earlier in May the General Accounting Office (GAO) had reported that "there was no {White House) record kept of any cords being cut or any damâ€" age to computers or copiers. In general there was no proof of anyâ€" thing matching the allegations." The official investigations had been ordered by Congress at the request of Representative Bob Barr(Republican, Georgia) after the first es media accounts by Fox News, which Coee 5 included the following pearls of journalâ€" ANOTHER istic integrity: _ _ ___ _ _ uigaty * Brit Hume (1/25/01): "By the way, I the reported vandalism in those White % House offices now includes power and M phone cords cut... trash dumped on floors, desk drawers emptied onto floors, I pornographic pictures left in computer . [@® printers, scatological messages left on f voice mail, and cabinets and drawers T ** glued shut. And the Washington Times reports that the presidential 747 that flew | Bill and Hillary Clinton to New York on SCOTT | inauguration day was stripped bare. The | plane‘s porcelain, china... and silverâ€" [ PIATKOWSKI ware, and salt and pepper shakers, blanâ€" kets and pillow cases, nearly all items bearing the presidential seal, were taken by Clinton staffers who went along for the ride. The Washington Times quoted a military steward as saying that even a supply of toothpaste was stolen from a compartment under a * Sean Hannity (1/26/01); "Look, we‘ve had these reports, very disturbing reports â€" and 1 have actually spoken to people that have confirmed a lot of the reports â€" about the trashing of the White House. Pornographic materials left in the printers. They cut the phone lines. Lewd and crude messages on phone machines. Stripping of anything that was not bolted down on Air Force One. $200,000 in furniture taken out." _ *Fred Barnes (1/27/01); "Now, you know what else helped Bush have such a good week? It was the contrast with the Clintons‘ sleazy departure from the White House, which is a hot story in itself... You had the trashing of the White House itself. We don‘t know how much, but the typewriters, the voicemail, the graffiti on the walls and so on, reflecting, I think, a real bitterness that they should not have reflected, at least in that." + * Bill O‘Reilly (1/26/01): "I mean, the price tag right now is about $200,000, so that‘s a felony right there." _ s FAIR notes that, while Fox News covered the GSA investigation, it failed to acknowledge its own special role in reporting false alleâ€" gations as fact. FAIR reports that "Fox News Channel played the story bigger than almost any other outlet. On Jan. 26 alone, the vandalism was discussed at least 10 times on various Fox shows, usually at a fevered pitch." Most other media outlets were much more cautious in reporting the story and gave it far less promiâ€" nence, but public perception was clearly that the trashing and looting had occurred. Missing the real story Of‘équa.l importance is the question of what was not being reported while journalists were wasting their time chasing unfounded rumours. at http://www.projectcensored.org). They could also have been reporting on the direct connections between members of the new Bush administration and corporate lobbyists paid to influence them. In some cases, officials are making decisions on issues that they lobbied on in the very recent past. For example, the Center for Public Integrity reports that "the president‘s decision on carbon dioxide emissions was routed through the legislative affairs direcâ€" tor Nicholas Calio. In 1997, Calio‘s firm was paid $420,000 to lobby on this issue by Tenneco Automotive, which is one of the largest auto exhaust systems companies in the country." Now that is a story that could justify the use of terms such as "looting". They could have been reporting on any of the 25 underreportâ€" ed stories listed in the annual report of Project Censored (available ANOTHER VIEW | PIATKOWSKI | [eocmmmmmmmmmmemmmmd

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