I passed a man on the sidewalk today who was still wearing a poppy. Maybe he just neglected to remove it from his coat after Remembrance Day, or maybe he figures we shouldn’t signal our remembrance of veterans only in the week or so leading up to the annual ceremonies at Riverside Park.

If that’s the case it’s a nice gesture. Somebody brought it to my attention earlier this week that Americans don’t wear poppies the way we do in Canada and the U.K. I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about that, but it’s true and it’s surprising, given the overt patriotism normally exhibited by our American friends.

They not only don’t wear poppies, they don’t understand why we do. When it’s explained to them, they get it. Our tradition of wearing poppies is a wonderful thing, a very visible sign that we truly have not forgotten. Almost everyone wears a poppy — indeed, it’s considered a social faux pas if we don’t.

By the way, the ceremonies at Riverside Park this year were terrific. Each year, I feel very moved by them. The flypast by the 419 Squadron, the first in several years, added something special. The heart quickens a little when those jet trainers fly overhead at exactly the right moment in the program.

It wasn’t Groundhog Day, but Kamloops South MLA Kevin Krueger came out of hiding today to announce new regulations for off-road vehicles. These regs are overdue and the provincial government deserves credit for finally listening to several groups — including the UBCM, local chamber of commerce, and off-road vehicle dealers — who have long been urging that something be done.

However, when Krueger and fellow MLA Terry Lake appeared in City council chambers soon thereafter to present some awards at council’s regular Tuesday meeting, Krueger was silent. Instead, Lake did all the talking.

Maybe Krueger was all talked out from his earlier announcement, or maybe he decided he’d just let Lake have some mike time to share it around. Who knows? The whole “where’s Kevin” thing remains a mystery.

It’s 10 o’clock in the morning and I’m standing in the alleyway behind the Alliance Church.

It must be Friday, and this must be another flu clinic.

Something is terribly, terribly wrong — nobody is mad. Nobody is complaining; nobody even shows any signs of impatience.

A pleasant guy wearing a fluorescent vest comes along with a sheet of paper and asks those of us at the end of the line if we fit the required H1N1 vaccine demographic for the day: under 65 with chronic illness; caregivers of same; six to 59 months, and so on. If not, there’s a second list for the regular old seasonal shot: 65 and over, etc. etc.

At the bottom of the sheet is the hopeful announcement, “Watch for more clinics.”

I ask him a couple of questions and he moves along the line. Another guy shows up with a fresh garbage bag for the can that has accumulated a pile of paper coffee cups, snackbar wrappers and other flu-lineup litter.

People are chatting with one another in groups of threes and fours, strangers who quickly become comrades of a sort. We’re all on an H1N1 mission.

“They used to have flu clinics at the mall,” one gentleman — whose name I’m pretty sure is Jim — says to me by way of striking up a conversation. “I don’t think they do that any more.

“I remember one time,” he continues, “a lady passed out and they had to call the ambulance. I think they stuck the needle in a vein or something.”

Those in earshot don’t find this story particularly encouraging, but another fellow, wearing a maple-leaf toque and an overcoat, is prompted to explain that he lives near the hospital and the ambulances are keeping him awake at night.

“I asked them if they could stop the sirens when they drive past my house but they said, ‘no, we’ve got patients in there.’”

Then he laughs, adding he’s just back in town after living in Chilliwack and Penticton, and Kamloops sure has changed since the last time he was here.

“How long were you away?” I ask.

“Six months,” he says.

A few minutes later, we emerge out of the alley to the side of the church.

“Hey, we’re in the sunshine now,” declares a mom pushing a stroller with her young daughter in it.

“At least we’re in the sun,” someone else agrees.

My new friend with the flu-clinic story tells me he’s 77, then starts in on some new stories about when he used to work in Norm’s Attic, at the KXA, and other places in town.

“I was working with a guy at the KXA one time,” he says, “and he offered to drive me home. He’d had a few too many beers on the job but I said OK, and we get stopped by a cop who asks him if he’s been drinking and he says just one beer and the cop makes him blow and he blows way over the limit. Some people just don’t listen when you tell them not to drive when they’re drunk.”

He was working at Woodward’s one time, he begins, but the man beside him cuts in, “I remember Woodward’s before the lottery corporation was there….”

“I was in a casino one time,” says Jim. “I found a whole bunch of silver coins in a slot machine and I said, ‘Where did these come from?’ and I took them to the cashier and turned them in and then a woman comes along saying ‘has anybody seen the money I forgot in the slot machine’ and, well, was she surprised….”

Three small children are sitting on the curb making a game of tossing gravel into the roadway. A 30-something dad behind me is calling home, providing a running update of his exact location and an estimate of how long it will be before he gets into the clinic.

Turns out he’s a place holder; it’s his son who’s getting the shot, and his wife and boy are at home waiting until he gets close to the front door before they hop in the car, drive lo the church and make the switch.

Seems like a pretty good strategy. Except, “he was really cheesed off when I told him he’s getting a needle,” he says of his son’s reaction to the prospect.

“We’re almost at the corner,” says a guy in a camo ball cap.

“I’m guessing we’ve got quite a few corners to go yet,” I venture.

“Yep, I’d say,” another agrees.

A few steps behind us, a 40ish smoker steps a couple of paces out from the line and lights up. Not for long; a volunteer sees him and quietly suggests he move to the other side of the parking lot — his place in line won’t be lost.

Somebody decides the Blazers would be a good topic, and it takes on an inevitable slant. “How many in a row have they lost so far?”

“I dunno, seven at least, maybe more.”

“That new guy they’ve got coaching doesn’t seem any better than the last one.”

“Well, he hasn’t won any games yet, anyways!”

And we all share a good chuckle.

“Was anybody here asking for a chair?” an IHA staffer is asking as he carries said chair down the line. “Someone said a lady needed a chair.”

The young dad in back of me pulls a ham sandwich out of his pocket with a big grin and chows down, thankful he came prepared.

I check my watch. Shortly after 11. I decide to reconnoitre, moving out and down the line, soon reporting back that we have at least a half dozen more corners to turn before we reach the front door.

“We’re gonna need a lot of hot dogs on Remembance Day,” says Jim. “I remember one time….”

It’s about two hours this morning from the back of the line to the door. There are good-natured moans when the gatekeeper steps in to cut off the next group. Eventually, of course, everybody makes it inside, waits a few minutes in the hallway, and is ushered into the gym where a dozen-plus tables are set up like an assembly line.

There are sounds of children crying, scenes of information being recorded, needles going into shoulders, and a general hubbub. Organized chaos.

In an adjoining room, there’s coffee. Some of those who have spent a friendly couple of hours in the lineup sit together for a few more minutes of conversation but soon go their own way, exiting out the side of the church.

For a couple of hours on a Friday, it wasn’t about the politics of health care, about long lineups and inadequate parking and about complaints of poor treatment.

It was a time to meet some new people and talk to them as though you were gabbing over the back fence with a neighbour. Oh, and there was a flu shot in there somewhere, too.

Kevin Krueger is an excellent MLA who has done a whole lot of good for this part of the world, but sometimes he should put a sock in it. Kevin, who has been invisible in his own riding for the past while, emerged yesterday with a letter to the editor blasting federal NDP candidate Michael Crawford over the so-called Logogate controversy.

Now, it happens that Crawford belongs to a party that doesn’t have a whole lot of relevance in the big Canadian picture of things. The cow would have to jump over the moon before the NDP came close to forming government. And, yes, Crawford has lost two federal elections and is heading for a third.

But, gee, give it a rest. The NDP are not some evil thing out to destroy the universe. It happens to be a party with questionable policies that haven’t gained a lot of traction in this country. To listen to Kevin, though, the NDP is an abomination, and Michael Crawford — well, to use Kevin’’s words, is “a perennially failed candidate.”

Crawford should, says our MLA, be “ashamed” of himself for criticizing Conservative MP Cathy McLeod for having her picture taken with a fake cheque.

Now, it’s true the photo opportunity of which Krueger speaks wasn’t a big deal. The photo shows McLeod, Krueger, MLA Shirley Bond and other folks presenting the “novelty” cheque in Valemount. The names of Krueger, Bond and McLeod were all on it.

For MPs and MLAs to put their own names on these cheques is tacky, to say the least. Kevin is probably sensitive about this because of his own participation. And a legitimate question would be why, if McLeod “doesn’t do cheques” as she has proclaimed, she did this one. The fact that it was Bond, and not McLeod, who did up the cheque with McLeod’s name on it really isn’t here nor there. If you don’t do cheques, you don’t do them.

McLeod deserves some credit for taking some sort of stand on these things; it’s unfortunate more Tory MPs don’t do the same. However, consistency is a good thing. She was under no obligation to participate just because Bond pulled out the big fake cheque for pictures. It kind of dilutes your argument when you say you won’t do something but then just go with the flow.

Crawford, of course, engaged in his own hyperbole, blasting McLeod fpr “crass” partisan politics and demanding she apologize. Like that would happen.

Everybody deserves to be a little embarrassed over this, and Kevin added to his own with his strident reaction.

If Barack Obama did it? Peter Milobar did it, so did Terry Lake. Stephen Harper is a master at it. If they can do it, can I?

Well, yes we can.

When he was running for president, Obama made major use of the Internet to support his candidacy and solicit support. Others have done likewise. Today, I do the same.

I am running for Local Columnist in the annual Kamloops Daily News Readers’ Choice election, and I ask for your support. I call it the Mel For Columnist campaign.

I have a three-point platform:

I will not write about my kids, well hardly ever.

I will not bore you, except when I have to try to explain the federal government’s formula for handing out stimulus infrastructure spending.

I will not bring up this subject again, until next year.

Voting is easy. Go online at www.kamloopsnews.ca and click on Readers Choice. Read the rules, including the one that says you can vote for me as many times as you like. Also important is that you must fill in 50 per cent of the categories to be eligible. Also important is that you only have until Thursday of this week.

Now, scroll down to category #41 Local Columnist. Enter my name. Now do at least half the others — it doesn’t matter much what you put in those ones, at least not to me.

Submit. That’s how easy it is. Alternatively, you can use the old paper ballot, such as the one published today on page B10. There are some neat prizes, too.

And I thank you kindly for your support.

Mel.

Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

I love cyclists. Honest.

Some of my best friends are cyclists. I’ve never had the urge to run over any of them with my truck.

My wife Syd is a cyclist. I love her dearly, and I’ve never had the urge to run her over, either.

And I definitely do not now, nor have I ever, wished to run over Mr. Idiot.

This is why some of the reaction to my recent column about driving in Kamloops — including some blog comments and a couple of letters to the editor — has been instructive. One might think, if you didn’t know me, that I’m a highway terrorist, using my old pickup like an IED to strike fear into any cyclist I come across, to deprive their families of their breadwinners.

No. I didn’t just arrive from another planet. I understand and admire the fact cyclists are out there keeping fit and helping the environment. I view them with respect, and I treat them that way. Most cyclists understand common courtesy, have a general knowledge of the rules of the road, and harbour a healthy sense of self-preservation.

Others, though, should find some other form of exercise, something where they don’t come in contact with other human beings.

This will be a shock to a few of those who’ve let me know what they think of me. But, is it just possible that sometimes a cyclist is at fault?

I’m still doing some research based on one letter to the editor that suggested I need a lesson in the Motor Vehicles Act. From what that person indicated, I’m pretty sure there’s a section in there that says something like this:

“a) the operator of a bicycle may, at his or her convenience or whim, ride in the wrong lane, and all oncoming motor vehicle traffic shall drive off the road if necessary to avoid collision.

“b) should an accident occur, all fault will belong to the driver of said motor vehicle.”

Don’t get me wrong; I can understand the concerns of the cyclists. According to Freakonomics, a study in Toronto showed that out of 2,752 crashes between cars and bikes, 90 per cent were caused by motorists doing dumb stuff like running stop signs, turning into the cyclist’s path, or opening a car door.

On the other hand, the 10 per cent caused by cyclists likely had to do with them not paying attention, assuming a right of entitlement to the roadway, or simply ignoring the rules of the road.

This at least partially explains the pandemic road rage that exists between cyclists and motorists. A good place to start in trying to do something about it would be for everyone to acknowledge there are stupid people who do stupid things on the roads, no matter what their mode of transportation (and this includes pedestrians, by the way).

Clearly, something has to be done about this war. I did a little Googling, and came across some of the things cyclists and motorists do to each other. I’ll list five apiece, to keep it even Steven.

What cyclists do to bug motorists:

1. “Cycling in the middle of the road so they can’t get past us.

2. “Leaning on their car while they are waiting at a traffic light.

3. “Cycling two (or three, or four) abreast.

4. “Skipping a red light — while the poor motorist is sitting there waiting for the light, just bomb straight by him.

5. “Cycling slowly when there is no room for them to overtake you. They must love it.”

And motorists:

1. “The Rude Right — Turning right at an intersection in front of a cyclist traveling the same direction.

2. “The Close Shave — Cutting dangerously close to a cyclist. Some cars deliberately try to intimidate cyclists with the ‘close shave.’

3. “The Loony Left — Turning left at an intersection in front of a cyclist traveling the opposite direction.

4. “The Bike Blockade — Parking in the bike lane.

5. “The Hail Mary — Attempting to pass a cyclist when the visibility of the road ahead is poor.”

We’re all guilty of carelessness once in awhile, but let’s not be guilty of purposeful and dangerous acts of hostility.

Just as I ask not to be judged by the stupidity of other drivers, I don’t judge all cyclists by the actions of one so-and-so. In the spirit of reciprocity, I’m willing to give Mr. Idiot the benefit of the doubt — I would like to believe he was just stressed because his Spandex was giving him a wedgy.

Maybe, on another day, he would have acted un-idiot like. So, I will do my best to stop calling him names in my sleep.

I hereby change his name to Mr. Having A Bad Day. Peace out.

mrothenburger@kamloopsnews.ca

www.armchairmayor.wordpress.com

I don’t get around much anymore, so this morning’s official opening of the Kamloops Airport terminal renos was the first time I’d been out there in quite awhile. Very nicely done, I must say. Finally, the building gets not only much-needed space but some attractive decor.

The project was a long time coming — it was noted at the ceremony that it spanned three mayors, a couple of MLAs and at least two MPs.

Earlier this week I mentioned that Kevin Krueger was not at last Saturday’s Business Excellence Awards. Neither was he at the Keystone Awards, and he’s been a no-show for quite a few other things. But, I said, surely he would be there for the airport do.

But, no Kevin. He was busy in Vancouver with another big announcement down there. Well and good, but I don’t recall another cabinet minister who has been so invisible in his own riding. And it’s not as though Kevin is new to cabinet — in his previous posts he still found time to make it back to town once in awhile.

Enjoyed a very pleasant luncheon Tuesday with the Changping delegation in town for the day. Though I hadn’t met most of the delegation previously it was, in a sense, a chance to renew acquaintances with our “friendly city.” As you may know, Changping is a district of Beijing, and we signed an agreement with them in 2005 to foster business relationships.

I was there on behalf of the chamber of commerce this time, but the new Changping mayor, Guan Chenghua, was well aware of the history of the agreement between Kamloops and Changping. During lunch I had an opportunity to talk with him at some length, and he’s an articulate, intelligent, charming man.

Though progress in developing business opportunities via the city-to-city agreement has slowed in the past couple of years, there’s a determination to get things moving toward facilitating connections between Kamloops and Changping business people.

There’s a small cultural component to the relationship, but primarily it’s about business, and there are plenty of opportunities in that respect. For example, while Kamloops has a very respectable high-tech sector, Changping is light years ahead of us, with an amazing science park, incubator programs and much else. We can learn much from them.

I gained the impression that Mayor Guan wants to diversify the Changping economy, including manufacturing, and that’s one of our real strengths. (We have some 120 local fabricating and manufacturing companies.)

Guan has only headed the Changping government for three years, and a meeting with our own new mayor Peter Milobar was worthwhile. In the long term, of course, we have to move away from delegations to direct business-to-business relationships.

Kudos, by the way, to Anita Grover of Venture Kamloops, who did most of the work on arrangements for the visit.

The 24th annual Business Excellence Awards went off without a hitch at the TRU Grand Hall on Saturday night and it’s safe to say a good time was had by all. More than 300 people enjoyed a great dinner, the self-effacing emcee style of Leo Bagio, and the parade to the stage for the trophies.

Some of the key awards: Business of the Year to Absorbent Products (Peter Aylen), Business Person of the Year to Doug Wittal, and the President’s Award to Brant Hasanen.

In past year’s, this event has required considerable stamina to make it through. But the chamber of commerce has been working on this the past couple of years, and Saturday night it was wrapped up at 9:30. That’s an hour and a half less than some other years.

All in all, very well done. Interesting to note, though, that once again MLA Kevin Krueger was AWOL. Kevin has been invisible at a number of major public events since last spring’s provincial election, letting Terry Lake fill in for him. As I noted in an earlier post, this may be by design in order to let newcomer Lake get some attention.

I will be shocked, though, if Kevin isn’t in attendance at this Friday’s official opening of the new airport digs.

Armchair Mayor column, Kamloops Daily News, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

Just supposing we had too many old railway ties. Too much garbage. Too much waste from slaughterhouses.

And then, somebody came along and said, “I have a technology that can get rid of all that stuff. It’s called gasification.”

“But,” you say, “what about all those dioxins, and fine particles and all those other things with the scary-sounding names?”

“Well, consider this,” the guy says. “The New Year fireworks display in London, England, produces more dioxins than all the incinerators and waste-to-energy plants produce in one year.”

“Really?” you say. “So that must be one heckuva fireworks.”

“Sure, but did you also know that cooking food on a barbeque for two hours results in a higher dioxin exposure than being near an incinerator for several years?”

“I definitely did not know that,” you say. “What else?”

“One hour of emissions from a gasifier stack is equivalent to the emissions of 20 vehicles travelling two miles at a steady speed. Cooking on a gas stove or frying food such as bacon results in higher exposure than does a gasifier performing badly.”

“What a crock!” you might say.

But what if I told you all the stuff I’ve just quoted from an imaginary gasifier proponent actually are paraphrased from a presentation to Metro Vancouver by Prof. Jim Bridges, the eminent expert on toxicology and environmental health, whom I also quoted in this space a couple of weeks ago.

Bridges is not a cheerleader for waste incinerators, but he does have some pretty interesting things to say. How much of it applies to the Aboriginal Cogeneration plans for a gasification plant to get rid of old railway ties I don’t know, because I’m not qualified to say.

I doubt there are many true experts hereabouts, actually. And yet, everybody talks like one. Why look at practical solutions to our growing waste problem when we can promote well-intentioned but somewhat romantic notions of total recycling?

Naturally, we need to challenge the claims on both sides of the issue so if you’re skeptical of the fireworks or barbeque statements, question them.

Bridges, it turns out, testified a dozen years ago that there wasn’t enough evidence from animal tests to link smoking to lung cancer. That revelation isn’t likely to bolster his credibility, but he now says scientists have a better understanding of the link in humans. That’s not to say Bridges is any less credible than incineration opponent Paul Connett, who has crusaded against fluoride.

As to the ACC proposal, I wrote down a few questions and sent them off to the company, based on concerns some people have raised, and got back the following answers from vice president Mike Agostinelli:

1. Opponents do not believe there will be no air emissions. Can you address this?

“There will be no air emissions from the gasifier. The syngas produced by the gasifier is cleaned and used in two internal combustion engines. Each of the two engines will have their exhaust discharged through a 12 m high stack (28 cm diameter). Occasionally, cleaned syngas is routed to an enclosed burner (start-up, shut down phase). Emissions of criteria air contaminants were given in the technical report at the time of application, in grams per second. Assuming the enclosed burner runs five per cent of the time, the annual emissions, in tonnes per year are:  sulphur dioxide = 0.4; carbon monoxide = 8.6; oxides of nitrogen = 14.4; volatile organic carbon = 1.6; respirable particulate matter = 0.2.  

“Perhaps the reason why the opponents don’t believe the numbers is because they are so small and the project itself is truly a small power project.”

2. How much liquid and solid waste will be produced, and what will it contain?

“The water discharged from each system (1,700 tons/year per unit) will meet the City of Kamloops sewer-use bylaw. Approximately 600 tons/year of potash (solids discharge per unit) will likely be sold. ACC has a contingency plan that will include sending the potash to a licensed landfill, if a customer is not found. ACC’s goal is to reuse as much of (the) rail ties as possible either as a fuel for our engine or as a environmentally safe bi-product.”

3. They are concerned about possibility of fire in stockpiled ties. What safety measures will you take to avoid this?

“The ACC site does not typically store ties; we stage our tie processing so that as ties are received, they are inspected, any steel is removed from the ties, then the ties are chipped (through a chipper with dust suppression) and directly loaded into a truck. No chipped ties are stored at the site. The ACC site is equipped with a fire protection and suppression system. The Kamloops fire department has visited our site and has not reported any violations.”

I’m sure there are many other questions but it just seems to me we should seek answers rather than jumping to the conclusion something won’t work.

Let’s set aside dreams of the ideal wasteless society, and think practical. If there’s a better way of doing things than what we’re doing with our waste right now, I’m of a mind we should at least consider it and analyse it.

If someone out there can challenge Prof. Bridges and engineer Agostinelli with something other than a lot of stuff about the collapse of democracy and the demise of civilization, please do. But, at least, let’s think about it.