Friday, March 11, 2016

More News Stories For You


 
One of the things that I like doing is writing articles dealing with various matters that I have read or heard about and wish to share with you, dear reader.  Instead of writing a long article, what I try to do is to select an important part of that article and then let you see it as I give my comment on it. 

Here are some articles that I found interesting that I now wish to let you know about. 

CITY OF WINDSOR WANTS TO OUTSOURCE JOBS 

I don't get it. Why would the City of Windsor want to do this considering what happened only a few months ago. Are certain Senior Officers effectively telling people that they will be ignored and have their decisions changed if they don't do what these Senior people want: 

"The original motion to contract out caretaking services was defeated on November 16, 2015, after some public and a lengthy debate.  

The City of Windsor is once again considering outsourcing its caretaking work. 

A report prepared by administration suggests the city could save more than an estimated $900,000 annually by outsourcing the work at several facilities. It will be presented at council Monday night." (CBC News March 4, 2016 

CUPE stated the following which makes good sense to me: 

"The original motion to contract out caretaking services was defeated on November 16, 2015, after some public and a lengthy debate. 

After more than two tense hours of presentations and debate, the motion was defeated 6-5. 

"We live in a democracy. Council spoke and voted to invest in public services by keeping the caretaking services in-house," Rob Kolody, president of CUPE Local 82, said in the same release. "One cannot just revisit an already defeated motion within weeks and repackage it and reintroduce it to council within months of a defeated decision so it can be approved. This is not how democracy works." 

ANOTHER MESSY TOLL-FREE PHONE NUMBER 

My wife was doing some work when she received a toll-free phone number phone call. As seems to be quite common with these numbers, it rings but when answered there is no response. She may say "hello" several times so that the caller can hear her and respond but quite often there seems to be no one on the other side and the call just ends all of a sudden on its own. 

When my wife searched the "888" number to see who the caller was, there was no one who was connected with the phone number. It is not the first time that this happened to her and it gets rather annoying to be disturbed this way. 

In any event, she decided to try and track down the phone number and used the site "Caller Complaint" to do so.  Using their section "Fight Back Against Annoying Telemarketers!" unfortunately did not help out. As you can see, there was no connection to any company so she could know who contacted her. 

Here is their section dealing with this Company. (We deleted the actual phone number) They know nothing about it or its phone number:

 
Regretfully, expect these kinds of phone calls to keep on coming. At least, what happened is better than actually talking to the people who work for companies such as this.

A NEW OUTER SPACE DISCOVERY 

It is truly remarkable. Many of the stories that the media reports with respect to matters coming from outer space are so awe-inspiring. Take a look at this one: 


"Astronomers just saw farther back in time than they ever have before  

To look through the lens of a telescope is to peer back in time.

The light we view through it has spent hundreds, millions, even billions of years crossing the vastness of space to reach us, carrying with it images of things that happened long ago.

On Thursday, astronomers at the Hubble Space Telescope announced that they’d seen back farther than they ever have before, to a galaxy 13.4 billion light years away in a time when the universe was just past its infancy."

Apparently, it is quite a significant site to examine:

"Since the light from GN-z11 has traveled 13.4 billion years to reach us, that means it’s been traveling for 13.4 billion years, so its source must be 13.4 billion years old."

It appears as if it is one of the first galaxies ever to be discovered so far away 

 

WHY IS WINDSOR NOT INCLUDED

I must admit that I do not understand why the Province did not include Windsor as part of its new plan. In my opinion, I think it is probably because they think that all we know about is the automobile industry and nothing else so why bother with us:

"The provincial government has designed a region focused on research and development that stretches from London and Waterloo through Toronto to Ottawa, according to the 2016 budget released Thursday afternoon.

The Innovation SuperCorridor is touted as “Canada’s most innovative region, with dense pockets of startups, research institutions and world-class talent...”

“I was disappointed that Windsor wasn’t included in that consortium because I believe we have a lot to offer,” said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens. “In this city we have a huge manufacturing cluster that already exists. It’s been our bread and butter in this community and we’ve got a world-class university right here.” (Carolyn Thompson, Windsor Star February 26, 2016)

It seems that no one outside of this City understands that we are very progressive in this area. I wonder what this Mayor is doing to change that and to make outsiders aware of how advanced this Area is:

"Matt Marchand, president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Windsor does have a strong tech sector and many successful entrepreneurs.

“If the message about our great entrepreneurs and tech sector hasn’t reached the ears of Queen’s Park, certainly it’s our responsibility to make sure that happens and it happens in a very aggressive and meaningful way, sooner rather than later,”

I saw this interesting story which is just another example of how the rest of the Province ignores us:

"young people are being told, “if you can’t find a job, create one,” said Arthur Barbut, the Accelerator’s managing director. “That’s where the next big push in jobs is going to come front,” he said, adding his organization has shared that pro-entrepreneurial message with thousands of local high schoolers."  (Doug Schmidt, Windsor Star March 2, 2016)

It is a nice suggestion to have but we also see in the article how we are ignored. What is anybody here going to do to change this:

"The city and the province “absolutely” need to increase support for Windsor’s Accelerator at 720 Ouellette Ave., said Natyshak. Given the types of innovative companies and organizations already active locally, he said it was “a big mistake” for the Liberal government not to include Windsor in its budget announcement last week of an Innovation SuperCorridor whose southern terminus is London.

“Hearing your (city’s) name in the provincial budget means a lot,” said Natyshak. By not mentioning Windsor, he added, “you’re sending a signal … that this is an area that doesn’t deserve a lot of attention.”

Places like the Accelerator and the jobs they create, he said, help the host city with greater economic diversity and make local economies more resilient.

“It’s a missed opportunity to not see the potential that’s there in Windsor and Essex,” said Natyshak." 

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