Elmira Maple Syrup Festival

Today is the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival.

Letter On Lucy's Child

There was a letter to the editor in my local paper on Monday about the September 21 article of the fossil of "Lucy's Child" in the Nature Magazine.

The writer says scientists are not only the smartest people on the planet, they are also the funniest. He says the picture on the cover of the National Geographic looks more like an ape.
And he found hilarious the comments: "The [scientists] have already begun making striking discoveries, including a tiny throat structure that suggests ... her wails probably sounded more like a chimp than a human baby" as hilarious.

Obviously, this person does not know anything about anthropology like the scientists do. And humans are apes, look it up an encyclopedia.

Bill Clinton Is A Sinner

This is a letter to the editor about Bill Clinton coming to Kitchener for a fundrasier at the "Roman" Catholic Family Counselling Centre. The author is upset because Clinton is an adulterer and he vetoed legislation that banned partial-birth abortions in the third trimester, twice.
He says that he cannot support politicians who "promote policies attacking human life and human dignity." He plans to be present to wave to Clinton from behind his pro-life sign with my rosary in his hand.
I wonder if the author approves of current American president, who is "pro-life," including vetoing a stem-cell research bill and approving the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon?

Blessing Same-Sex Unions

The Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada voted 197-75 to allow individual congregations to decide whether to bless same-sex couples who are committing to lifelong relationships. Opponents tried to reverse the decision at the Waterloo convention because the synod does not have the jurisdiction to conduct the vote. They pointed out that a virtually identical motion was voted down at the church's national convention in Winnipeg last year. The rules allow a synod to ask the National Church Council to refer the issue of jurisdiction to a church court, but
delegates in rejected a motion to ask the National Church Council to consider the matter.

Before a Lutheran pastor can bless a gay couple's union, the pastor must consult the bishop and get a two-thirds majority approval from the congregation.

If the church council decides on its own to refer the jurisdiction question to the church court, pastors will be asked to refrain from blessing couples until there is clarity. But bishops do not have the authority to veto decisions made by synod delegates, so pastors might decide to go ahead. However, it will probably be September before the congregations can meet, discuss and vote on the whether they will allow the blessings.

Rev. Raymond Schultz, the church's national bishop, said he believes jurisdiction over same-sex blessings resides with the national church. He views the Eastern Synod's vote as an act of civil disobedience akin to the civil rights movement in the United States which fought for equal rights for African Americans during the 1950s and 1960s.

I am amazed at how quickly this has changed the ELCIC. My family goes to the ELCIC's church in Elmira. My aunt was a theologian teacher at the Lutheran Seminary in Waterloo. Before she died in 1997, she was researching on Paul's views of homosexuality and the ordination of gays as clergy. If she were she alive, she would not believe how the acceptance of homosexuals in the church has come a long way in a short period of time.

Roundabouts in Waterloo Region

Since last year, several roundabouts (often found in Europe) have been constructed in the cities. There is one being built in between Waterloo and Elmira on the 86. The road closed due to the roundabout and the bridge being rebuilt over the Conestoga River. Truck driving companies have been complaining that the roundabout is to small for trucks. Also, horse and buggies will have travel down the road through a pipe undeneath the road. But the pathway they have built seems to be not wide enough for buggies going opposite directions of the same side of the road. I hope that the engineers know what they are doing because this is a major route not an oridinary street in the city

Natives Occupying Land

Last week, the Ontario Provincial Police tried, unsuccessfully, to remove some Six Nations natives from a residential development in Caledonia, Ontario. The police may have been asked by the developer to invoke a judge's decision to get them out and ended up arresting 16 people. Some of the protestors armed themselves with two-by-fours and crowbars. Now, the natives have set up barricades around the site.

Several years ago, there was a similar protest at Camp Ipperwash just north of Sarnia. Native Dudley George was shot and killed and there is an inquiry into his death. There was mention in today's paper that natives might protest a bridge that would be built across the Grand River in Kitchener to create a road from the city to the aiprort. This is despite that there are no native reserves in the region.

The natives better stop and think what they are doing. They have been asking the federal government to help with water quality in the reserves and I think iit is time that there should no longer have special rights in the Constitution when they abuse their rights.

College Teachers Strike

With the Ontario college teachers, librarians and counsellors on strike, there are no negotations planned between the colleges and the union.

In an ad on Wednesday, the colleges state that the teachers are the highest paid in the country and will have a 12% increase in pay with the deal. The teachers say that they want smaller classrooms and more time for prep like they had in the 80s. Maybe, they should take a pay cut so there would be more money for more teachers, more resources and more funding.

Elmira Downtown Changing

Elmira's downtown is changing. The Stedman's store, a small department store, that is closing will be turning into The Bargain Store. The owners decided to close because of big box stores in Kitchener-Waterloo. Recently, a burger restaurant closed and a diner continues to sit empty. With several dollar-type stores and the thrift shop opening in the downtown and a boarded-up hotel, Elmira's downtown is unattractive to people like me.

But the biggest problem might be that most stores are not open on Sundays, only the grocery and convenience stores are open. Stedman's was not open on Sundays nor is the hardware store and the drug store. With, at least one grocery store opening soon at the south end of town, more commercial development and the big box stores that are short drive away, the town's downtown will have improve its image as the town grows.