Working Hard to Safeguard Paddling Assets for All Canadians

All about Whitewater

All about Whitewater
A Blog about River Preservation and the need to protect our free flowing whitewater resources

Saturday, December 24, 2011

It was possible then, it is possible now

I think it is vital to study our history and learn from it, and to use our knowledge of the past to prevent the despicable past from repeating itself.
As you look at these images taken from the landmark BBC series "The Nazis: a warning from History" consider what is going on today in North Korea.


This scene looks remarkably similar to the one extracted from the National Geographic series: Inside North Korea.




The people by fear or faith idolized their leader and in each case it led them to murder and suffering.

Unlike the Italians who themselves deposed Mussolini and turned against the Nazis, where do the North Koreans have to turn?


And today the issues in our society are very similar. When we are well fed, and our jobs are secure we become apathetic in our democracy. This merely means that the marginal benefits from resisting the status quo do not outweigh the marginal costs.

Only in the middle east, particularly Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya and soon Syria where life has become unbearable do we see the population finally rise up. The status quo has become unbearable. The marginal cost of resistance is finally exceeded by the perceived marginal benefits.


In effect the work of resistance will set them free.

There will be a cost.


Meanwhile back in Canada, the conscientious objector is marked as the lunatic fringe but by God, I have no doubt that it is all of our responsibility, in a democracy, by the power of rule of law, to be ever vigilant.

The price for not doing so is too great.

As predicted by Gerald Celente, this has grown to be a worldwide phenomena. Time Magazine has identified "the Protester" as man of the year.




Currently in Russia, the disgruntled electorate, sensing blood, and indignant about a perceived rigged election are taking to the street.

And again in Greece, but for different reasons, the IMF's attempt to sell off Greeces heritage assets and islands, anything of value really to impose austerity.
Notwithstanding, a debt so large that it cannot be repaid, will not be repaid.


Back home in North America, the glimmers of protest manifested themselves in the Occupy Wallstreet movement, which then led to the Occupy "your"street movement.
The meaning is clear: the status quo is not acceptable. Rule by the 1% will no longer be tolerated by the 99%



They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45,
by Milton Mayer explains why many appear to be such whipped dogs today. What happen? Here is a quote:

"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn't see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even talk, alone; you don't want to 'go out of your way to make trouble.' ... In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, 'It's not so bad' or 'You're seeing things' or 'You're an alarmist.'

"These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic... the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That's the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked... But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C?"

The only difference is that they won't only becoming after Jews this time.


The above as cited in:b http://lewrockwell.com/wenzel/wenzel154.html

Friday, December 23, 2011

About the 489 Billion Euro Bail out from the European Central Bank...

"It may be presented as a good deal, but borrowing at 1% to get a 5% return is not all that attractive when you have a 50% chance of an 80% haircut... "

from http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com

"Why the U.S. was downgraded…

• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

"Let's now remove eight zeros and pretend it's a household budget…

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385 "

posted by – Anonymous within the Stansberry Newsletter

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Banks borrow at 1% - lend at 5%

Nice work if you can get it...

The ECB lent long-term money to European banks at 1% interest. Those banks can then pay down their existing short-term debt to the ECB or invest in longer-term European sovereign debt and collect 5%-plus.

Banks borrowed money nearly $500 billion.

The ECB (European Central Bank) got its money for this european style of quantitative easing by printing it out of thin air.

Buy Gold, Buy silver!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Photo by Derek Folmer - simply kayaking

Taken outside the bird sanctuary in Montreal, paddlers on their way to see "Big Joe"


Spin City (from surf city jan and dean)

I bought a second hand kayak and they call it a Honcho – (Spin city here I come)
Though its not very cherry its still got me feeling macho –(Spin city here I come)
It don’t have much leg room, or a place to stow
But that boat still gets me where I wanna go…

Cause I’m going to spin city gonna pull some blunts
Yes I’m going to spin city gonna spin some stunts
Well I’m going to spin city though theres lack of funds
I’ll still go to spin city then go drink some suds

Two boats for every guy (gal)!

Now when I’m sitting in the eddy and I’m waiting in the line up (Spin city here I come)
And its hot and its hazy and the boaters’ getting’ fed up (Spin city here I come)
I’m not gonna blow my cool - I’m ready to go
And if it gets too damned sticky then just go for a roll!

Cause I’m going to spin city gonna have some fun
Yes I’m going to spin city gonna get some sun
Well I’m going to spin city - not the only one
I’ll still go to spin city ‘least if my car still runs

Two boats for every guy (gal)!

Now that boat seems to vibrate when I’m crossing the eddy line - (Spin city here I come)
Then my Honcho just starts spinning like its freestyle time -(Spin city here I come)
I don’t do a thing cause it just finds me the groove
Like a hotrodding engine that’s a revving to move

Cause I’m going to spin city just like every one
Yes I’m going to spin city though I’m out of funds
Well I’m going to spin city - cause its lots of fun
I’ll still go to spin city til my days are done

Two boats for every guy (gal)! Oh yeah!

kayaky


Big Joe

Theres a little surfing spot down by the bird sanctuary
The waves are big and they're fat and its a little bit hairy
You've got to line up your boat with some trees - then say go ...
and hope the line you just took doesn't treat you unfairly

Well there's boils in the eddies, and current is pushin'
You've got to hustle to the middle or its surf you'be missin'
Cause the mighty St. Lawrence won't be giving much thought
To your little kayak or any fresh air that you've got.

Surf across that wave and spin away all summer day its the latest craze

Yeah the riots are there cause they're all Montrealese
They make those stinkin play boaters seem so hot so balsey
There's another one surfing the wave on the left while
They go out two at a time to the pit and the pile ...

When you're all done surfin you can blow off the wave train
hit the river sized eddy and start all over again
Theres a platform on the river and they're getting some sun
cause after playing all day they're plain tuckered from fun

Surf across that wave and spin and play all summer day its the latest craze

Gone surfin' at Big Joe- Just Spinnin' in Joe's hole
No cares for tomorrow -Gone surfin' at Big Joe

kayaky

THE US DEBT CLOCK

I've circled the active numbers as at 1500 2012 12 20

I think the problem is fairly obvious....


Watch the numbers whirl yourself at http://www.usdebtclock.org/

DEBT CLOCK


Whats all this about Kim Jong Il?




The first woman sets the pace: one by one, out of a thousand they follow the "need to praise the Great General"





First you have to understand: you don't understand North Korea - at all.

To get a glimpse at the lunatic fringe that is at work, first look at this National Geographic Documentary - ostensibly about eye surgery, to really get a handle on the cult of personality, and the state of fear that exists there.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/national-geographic-channel/shows/explorer-1/ngc-inside-north-korea.html

Then be afraid, very afraid. They have a 1 million man army, they still think they are at war with the US, they have nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them.

Isn't this why we followed the American Dream? The alternative is North Korea.


Now the "Great Leader" is dead and his son, Kim Jong Un has "taken over". But Korea is filled with people, like the ones in this clinic, seeing for the first time in many years after cataract surgery who direct, either by belief or fear, all their thanks to the posters on the wall not to the physician team that restored their sight.

Its frightening.


What would they not do for their newly appointed wing nut?

Some like this last gentleman, don't hide their animousity.


After years of state control, fear and indoctrination, mind control, there is no distinction between mind control, fear or belief.




This is the embedded feature in its entirety. The National Geographic Society has done a tremendous job preparing this material - I highly recommend you watch it.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Family Holiday 2104


Things are going to get basic. Multiple jobs to make ends meet, coallescing families, changes in diet, clothing and pastimes, less free time, possibly debt slavery.

Canadian Rivers

Canadian Rivers
I speak for river users too!

The Queen is not amused!

The Queen is not amused!
http://www.ispeakforcanadianrivers.ca/

The Damned Dam - 2005 -

The Damned Dam - 2005 -
22nd Annual Kipaw Rally has modest turnout. - 23rd does better

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

The Ashlu river: it could happen to you

Whitewater Ontario

Whitewater Ontario
Working Hard to Protect Canada's Paddling Resources

Whitewater Ontario - Mission Statement

It is Whitewater Ontario’s mission to support the whitewater paddling community through the promotion, development and growth of the sport in its various disciplines. We accomplish this through the development of events, resources, clubs, and programs for personal and athletic development, regardless of skill level or focus, to ensure a high standard of safety and competency; We advocate safe and environmentally responsible access and use of Ontario’s rivers. Whitewater Ontario is the sport governing body in the province, and represents provincial interests within the national body Whitewater Canada and the Canadian Canoe Association http://www.whitewaterontario.ca/page/mission.asp

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican

Kipawa, Tabaret, and Opemican
If Hydro Quebec is not actively pursuing Tabaret what is that bite out of Opemican for?

Kipawa Dam: After

Kipawa Dam: After
Laniel Dam at 2006 Rally

Where is the Kipawa

Where is the Kipawa
Kipawa flows into lake Temiskamingue, running from Kipawa Lake, under hwy 101 in Quebec

Kipawa Dam

Kipawa Dam
laniel dam at 2004 River Rally

Tabaret is a Bad Idea

About the Kipawa



The best thing paddlers can do to help the cause of the Kipawa:

1. attend the rally and bring others including non paddlers to attend and buy beer and have fun

2. write your MP /MNA and raise the issue and post your objections -1 letter = 200 who didn't write

3. Write Thierry Vandal the CEO of Hydro Quebec strongly opposing the 132 MW standard decrying the use of "diversion" as the most environmentally inappropriate method of power production

4. Write Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec protesting that either the algonquin or the tabaret project will eliminate all other values on the Kipawa River by turning it into a dry gulch.

5. See if you can get other allied groups interested by showing your own interest, ie the Sierra Defense Fund, Earthwild, MEC, and so on.

6. Demand further consultation

7. Currently we are at the point where we need to sway public opinion and raise awareness.

However, if all else fails, don't get mad, simply disrupt, foment, and protest . The Monkey Wrench Gang.

Have you read Edward Abbey?

Important Addresses
CEO,Hydro Québec, 75 boul René Levesque, Montreal, P.Q., H2Z 1A4Caille.andre@hydro.qc.ca



Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Two)

Les Amis de la Riviere Kipawa is poised to use an application to the Federal Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus to ensure the Minster does what he is supposed to do, protect the public's right to navigate the water control structure at Laniel, Quebec using the Navigable Waters Protection Act. (see http://www.kipawariver.ca/)

In the now gutted Navigable Waters Protection Act lay the means by which the Minister of Transport could keep the public right of passage down our great Canadian Heritage, our rivers and streams which are threatened especially by resource corporations and power brokers such as Hydro Quebec.

These powerful entities continue to petition that 'this' river or 'that' stream is not navigable and therefore not protectable.
I don't say that dams and bridges should not be built, only that if they are, historical navigation rights should be considered and preserved by making reasonable accommodations for recreational boaters.

It is the Minister of Transport, in exercising the right to allow or disallow work on or over a navigable waterway is what keeps boats and recreational boaters plying our waterways.

To many recent cases launched in the Federal Court concerning the Navigable Waters Protection Act, most recently the case of the Humber Environment Group of Cornerbrook Newfoundland versus the Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper Company indicates that the important oversight is not being faithfully performed. Have we really come to the point now where we must say "such and such a stream is one foot deep, possessing so many cubic feet per second flow and so on?" The answer to this is... YES!

The honourable Mr. Justice John A. O'Keefe, ruled that it had not been shown that the river was navigable. How convenient was that to the Minister? But either the Minister of Transport acts to protect our rivers and streams as a public right or he does not and that means rivers and streams currently enjoyed by kayakers and canoists.

Enough of the cheating, and double-talk. Canadians! our rivers and streams are our own, lets urge the Minister of Transport and the our government to protect them.

Peter Karwacki

Tabaret is a Bad Idea (Part Three)

10 Reasons WhyTabaret is a Bad Idea1) Tabaret is too big. The station is designed to useevery drop of water available in the Kipawawatershed, but will run at only 44 percent capacity.We believe the Tabaret station is designed to usewater diverted from the Dumoine River into theKipawa watershed in the future. 2) The Tabaret project will eliminate the aquaticecosystem of the Kipawa River.The Tabaret project plan involves the diversion of a16-km section of the Kipawa River from its naturalstreambed into a new man-made outflow from LakeKipawa. 3) Tabaret will leave a large industrial footprint on thelandscape that will impact existing tourismoperations and eliminate future tourism potential. 4) The Tabaret project is an aggressive single-purposedevelopment, designed to maximize powergeneration at the expense of all other uses. 5) River-diversion, such as the Tabaret project, takinglarge amounts of water out of a river’s naturalstreambed and moving it to another place, is verydestructive to the natural environment. 6) The Kipawa River has been designated a protectedgreenspace in the region with severe limitations ondevelopment. This designation recognizes theecological, historical and natural heritage value ofthe river and the importance of protecting it.Tabaret will eliminate that value. 7) If necessary, there are other, smarter and morereasonable options for producing hydro power onthe Kipawa watershed. It is possible to build a lowimpactgenerating station on the Kipawa river, andmanage it as a “run-of-the-river” station, makinguse of natural flows while maintaining other values,with minimal impact on the environment. 8) The Kipawa watershed is a rich natural resource forthe Temiscaming Region, resonably close to largeurban areas, with huge untapped potential fortourism and recreation development in the future.Tabaret will severely reduce this potential. 9) Tabaret provides zero long-term economic benefitfor the region through employment. The plan is forthe station to be completely automated andremotely operated. 10) The Kipawa River is 12,000 years old. The riverwas here thousands of years before any peoplecame to the region. The Tabaret project will change all that.

Problems on a local River?

  • There is more to do as well but you have to do your research and above all, don't give up.
  • IN the meantime prepared a document itemizing the history of navigation of this spot and its recreational value. Use the Kipawa river history of navigation as a guide: see www.kipawariver.ca
  • Under the Ministry of Environment guidelines you have a set period of time to petition the change under the environmental bill of rights, you may have limited time to take this action. But it involves going to court for a judicial review of the decision.
  • 4. contact the ministry of natural resources officials and do the same thing.
  • 3. contact the ministry of the environment and determine if they approved the project
  • 2. determine if the dam was a legal dam, approved under the navigable waters protection act.
  • 1. research the decision and timing of it to determine if an environmental assessment was done.

Minden Ontario

Minden Ontario
Gull River Water control at Horseshoe lake

A History of Navigation on the Kipawa River

Prior to the environmental assessment there was no signage at the Laniel Dam

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!

T-Shirts Area: These are available now!
Send $25 and a stamped self addressed envelop for the Tshirt, and for the bumper sticker, a stamped and self addressed envelope with $5.00 for the bumper sticker to Les Amis de la rivière Kipawa, 80 Ontario St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1K 1K9 or click the link To purchase a Les Amis "T" contact Doug with the following information: Number of shirts:Sizes: Ship to Address: Method of Payment: cash, cheque and paypal, Shipto address:

Bumper Stickers Now Available

Bumper Stickers Now Available
Get your bumper sticker and show your support for the Kipawa Legal Fund ! - send $5.00 in a Stamped, self addressed envelope to: Peter Karwacki Box 39111, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 7X0