Oh, you guys weren't joking?

Photo from the Winnipeg Free Press

Last night in the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward, which is populated by 42,135 people, Thomas Steen was elected councilor. It was a close race by a mere 216 votes between him and Shaneen Robinson, the NDP endorsed candidate who split the vote with left-leaning Rod Giesbrecht. This doesn't represent a stable confidence, in my opinion, but what can be done?
Having attended the candidate forum that took place at the Elmwood-East Kildonan Active Living Centre on October 20, I considered Steen's candidacy a joke. I'm not trying to be rude but the evidence he provided me with that night was rather damning.
When asked whether he was for or against re-zoning the Kelvin Community Centre, he responded with "Yo." The other candidates answered with a normal yes or no.
I spoke to him and his campaign manager earlier in the evening and they told me about a legitimate crime prevention plan that has had good results elsewhere. This plan being to implement a community officer in the neighbourhood to become familiar with its residents and be able to provide them with a personalized form of help. But this plan never came out during the forum. He eluded to the fact that he had a plan and it was more than just a pretty face, with his comment "a plan with long term results that don't just look attractive but actually work."
Do the residents of the Elmwood-East Kildonan ward really want a councilor that doesn't know how to articulate his thoughts?
After each candidate debriefed their plans for infrastructure, crime and safety, housing, and all other areas of importance, it was closing time. The candidates were given a timed two and a half minutes to summarize everything they said and convince the crowd that they were the right choice. However, Steen used up his time rifling through his papers, attempting to find what was written down for him to say.
How did he win the popular vote? Is Terryn Shiells, a classmate of mine, right when she says it was a popularity contest because he is the former captain of the Jets? Will Thomas Steen really be able to bring back the Jets? Highly unlikely, that if the Jets do return to Winnipeg that it will be from the efforts of Steen.
Anyways, at the end of the forum last week, I had heard Steen's halted Swedish-accented speeches that held little experience with the English language in comparison to Robinson's practiced emotion-evoking speak and I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen in Elmwood-East Kildonan on October 27.
Apparently I was wrong. I guess I just always thought that politicians were also wordsmiths...?
Check out Steen proving his point with his fists and not his words,

Muriel Smith: Personality Profile

Photo from: Manitoba Federation Of Labour

As Muriel Smith leans forward in her chair at Bread & Circuses Bakery Cafe, the sun glitters off the dove necklace her late husband designed and had made for her in 1976. It is still in perfect condition. 80-year-old Smith’s face is gently lined from determination and laughter. These lines represent the tough and tender approach she takes to her personal and professional life.

“I’m not caught up in labels,” says Muriel Smith, first female Deputy Premier in Canada in 1981 and winner of the Governor General Award in 2007 in Commemoration of the Person’s Case. She has been called many labels in her life: ecological humanist, passionate feminist, flag burner and baby killer. Smith has taught herself how to avoid becoming too emotional in her career as a politician.

In 1975, Smith was elected as the first female leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP). She has been involved in many social action groups: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Nations Platform for Action Committee Manitoba (UNPAC), Manitoba Action Centre on the Status of Women, Human Rights Commission of Manitoba, National Council of Women of Canada. Smith contributed to the establishment of many essential government funded and human rights programs.

Growing up, Smith lived in the isolated town of Britannia Beach, British Columbia. “I was always curious about what lay beyond the mountains,” she says of growing up in such a remote area. Her blue eyes soften as she speaks of her father, an engineer, who was always very supportive of her mother’s dream of gender equality. Her mother’s influence encouraged her to become involved in breaking down traditional barriers between the genders.

As a younger woman, Smith claims she would have been too sensitive to work in politics. But since she became involved in social action groups and the NDP, she realized that she was not alone in her aspirations for equality among all people. “Groups like The YWCA- A Turning Point For Women taught me how to be more comfortable in groups and how to act on what is happening in the world. I am no longer as self-conscious or individualistic.”

“Many women become like men when entering politics, cold and power-hungry, like Maggie Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Whereas I had my own style, I managed to bring a mixture of both male and female qualities to the table.” Smith says she learned much about emotional reasoning and logical thinking from her father. She was able to combine the lessons from him with her experiences in the social action groups to further form her tough and tender approach in her professional life.

Smith married her husband in 1952 when she was 22 years old. Before having their four children, they spent a lot of time abroad, attending school and working for a year in England, traveling through Pakistan, and the Netherlands. Smith says, “I think the fact that I was able to see so much at such a young age opened my eyes to how people are treated all over the world, not just in Canada.”

Each of Smith’s four daughters expresses admiration for their strong, motivated mother. “She is loved by many because of who she is and because of what she lives by, both publically and privately,” says daughter Carolyn Smith. The youngest of four, Cathy, speaks highly of her mother’s passion for lifelong learning. “She is always reading something new that she can learn from and contributing her thoughts to various groups to which she belongs.”

Member of feminine social action groups UNPAC and UNIFEM, Tara Pratt, says, “Her house has more books than you have ever seen in your life.” Pratt often meets at Smith’s home for UNPAC gatherings and is always in awe of her book collection and passion for learning.

            Smith fingers the dove pendant hanging around her neck, making sure it is perfectly in place. She says, “Most men had viewed the idea of equality between the sexes as losing power. To me, the outcome is more complex, resulting in the loss of the illusion of romance and the idea of marriage forever.”

"You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies..."

The Social Network movie, based on the creation of Facebook, was released on October 1 and quickly rose to the #1 movie at the Box Office. The movie follows the story of Mark Zuckerberg from just before he was approached to design a social networking site called harvard.edu and decided to use a similar idea (different algorythyms though) to create his own social networking site called The Facebook(later changed to Facebook).

One quick thought:

-I think it is crazy how similar Mark Zuckerberg and the actor who plays him, Jesse Eisenberg look.

I think Mark Zuckerberg was portrayed in a mostly negative light. But I didn't find this negative light to be one that completely de-humanized or ostracized him. What I mean by this is that while Zuckerberg treated his (ex)girlfriend horrible pre and post breakup, didn't treat his friends with a proper level of respect, prioritized success above all other things, I still feel like I saw glimmers of a real human being beneath his cold exterior. And I didn't leave the movie hating his guts. Examples of real human behaviour: when he went to apologize to Erica about the website and moments when he was in mediation or building the website with his (ex)best friend/business partner, Eduardo Saverin. Perhaps this is my own personal necessity in finding something good/redeemable about everyone or maybe others felt the same, but at the end of the movie I felt bad for him. Yes, he only had to pay off a few people and the billion dollar corporation that is Facebook is still his. But it seems like he paid his prices in a different way, which at the end of the movie seemed to affect him as he sat alone with just his computer for companionship. Zuckerberg did treat many people in his life like garbage and that did portray him as a cold individual and I believe that to be the goal of those who made the movie.

If I were Zuckerberg, I wouldn't really expect this movie to hurt or help the website too much. Facebook is already used by so many people who are already so attached to "creeping" on others and staying in touch with old friends/family that they wouldn't delete their account. I don't think it would help too much because I believe those who are interested in seeing the movie are already Facebook users, like most of the population, so it won't cause those people to join. Ultimately, I think that too many people are already members for this movie to have done any damage or good.

I don't think that the donation made by Zuckerberg to the Newark school division was poorly timed with the movie release date, however honesty about the timing would have been nice. But maybe that's just my amateur public relations perspective on the subject. It's likely that Zuckerberg knew the movie was going to shine a poor light on him and was trying to do a bit of damage control. For someone whose personality was portrayed in the movie as being all about results and doing things as soon as possible, I can't picture Zuckerberg being the type of person to wait around. He seemed like the kind of person that was all about timing. I can understand how another's persons response may be negative though, especially one who is more knowledgable in the public relations field than myself. I don't know if Zuckerberg's response will have much of an impact on those who use the website, as I think too many people use the website for it to be damaged in any way until the next trend comes along. As for an impact on himself, I think the movie will have portrayed him in the way people will remember him-cold. His dishonesty about the timing probably confirmed my suspected idea that he believes he can outsmart everyone else, which doesn't necessarily further my warmth for him. If I were Zuckerberg, I think I would seek some type of therapy to try to suppress those feelings of supreme superiority. And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

It was hilarious when Zuckerberg stood up at his school hearing about his hacking into the security systems and asked for recognition.

DISCLAIMER*** I sincerely apologize is this blog post is rambly and nonsensical as I am working on three hours of sleep and feel a bit rambly and nonsensical. Don't judge me for my overly emotional take on Zuckerberg's character either.***

Would you change if it would make a difference?

Buyer Beware Team: Hayley Brigg, Jennifer David, Richard Baschak, Adam Campbell, Sara Harrison

What if you knew that the cleaners you used on your clothes, dishes, and countertops were the source of contamination in Lake Winnipeg, a place that has likely been your vacation spot as a child?

Products, like the dish soap under your sink, contain excessive amounts of phosphates and cause algae build up in Lake Winnipeg, the second largest lake in Canada. It isn't just dish soap that taints the wellbeing of our lake, hard surface cleaners and laundry detergents do too.

Environment Canada created a program called EcoLogoM, which labels certain products that meet certain eco-friendly standards. Lake Friendly, a labelling program in the Interlake region, bases it's criteria from the same standards. Lake Friendly's goal was to decrease the effects the harmful ingredients in household products have on Lake Winnipeg. Our goal as a Buyer Beware team was to provide awareness to consumers that these alternatives exist and test the differences between them and the commonly used cleaners.

We started by gathering information about the Lake Friendly products, choosing our eco-friendly brand of products and popular brand names to test the differences in effectiveness. Our group conducted our experiment at Hayley's house on Sept. 30. Each group member contributed some cleaning products or staining products and Jennifer brought a delicious lasagna for lunch!

After we had the lasagna, we left the remains of tomato sauce to dry on our plates while we went to work staining our white t-shirts. The stains included grass, car oil, wine, ketchup, and mustard. Prior to the experiment day, Hayley had spread tomato sauce around the stove.

The cleaning part of the experiment happened in two locations. Adam and I went to Bunty's Laundromat  to test out the laundry detergents and Hayley, Jennifer, and Richard stayed behind to test the dish soap and hard surface cleaners. Richard was in charge of video recording and photography during the experiments.

The dish soap results after the experiment ranked Nature Clean as first, Sunlight in second, followed by Dawn and then lastly, Palmolive.

The laundry detergent experiments finished with Tide in an astonishing lead, No Name brand in second, followed by Gain, and lastly, Nature Clean.

The hard surface experiments ranked Vim Oxy-Gel as first, Nature Clean in second, Mr. Clean in third, and Lysol in last place.

After the experiments, we conducted surveys and further primary research, like contact with a chemistry professor from the University of Winnipeg. The surveys told us that consumers are primarily concerned with effectiveness when purchasing a product. They claim they would be more eco-friendly if the option were comparable in price, effectiveness, and accessibility.

The Nature Clean dish soap and hard surface cleaner were comparable in price and effectiveness so they would be a favourable alternative for consumers. However, the Lake Friendly laundry detergent ranked in last place for effectiveness, making it an unfavourable eco option for washing clothes.

The purpose of our buyer beware was to inform the public of eco-friendly options to household cleaners. Having done the research, we can confidently reccommend Lake Friendly dish soap and hard surface cleaner that does not sacrifice effectiveness and is not subject to a major increase in price. These alternatives would help save Lake Winnipeg from the algae build up that threatens the wellbeing of the body of water. 

We would have to warn the consumer, however, that the Nature Clean laundry detergent was not up to the same standards of effectiveness and could not confidently reccommend this as an eco-friendly replacement.

To see more photos from our experiment, like the dishes, laundry, and stovetop, please click HERE.

My Meet and Greet With Sidney Crosby in Winnipeg, MB

Friday night was a big night for me. Not only did I blow my car's alternator in the middle of route 90, which actually angers a lot of people, who glare as they pass instead of offering a helping hand, but I also had my picture taken with the fabulous Sidney Crosby. Sigh. I want to be clear though, this blog post has nothing to do with the young female obsession with Sid. I'm more of a LeTang girl myself. BUT I won't pass down a good photo opportunity with the heart throb of many. So I'll just paint this little picture for you:
My friend, Nikki, and I are on our way to my brother's birthday party and after the whole broken car/tow truck scenario, we were a couple hours late. I'm also not the person to show up at a party empty handed. So once we made it back in to Winnipeg from towing my car home (back to Stonewall), I made a point of hitting Safeway to grab some snacky type foods. So as I'm strolling through the Safeway bakery section in my hockey gear (as you can see in the picture, though the picture is not of me-we decided to go matchy that night), I bumped into a familiar face. Not familiar because we've met before, but familiar because I replayed his winning goal in the Winter Olympics multiple times while he pointed into the video camera....at me obviously. 
Anyways so there we were, getting our picture taken together. He didn't say much, he seemed a bit board (omg funny word pun, me).** However, the picture of myself and him went mysteriously missing after it was taken... I blame Nikki. It is quite possible she's not the sharing type.
I thought I would share that lovely photo opportunity with all who care to take a look. Although this particular photo is not of me, I sincerely believe that somewhere the photo of myself and Sidney Crosby remains as apparently nothing can really be deleted these days.
**DISCLAIMER** This may or may not be the real Sidney Crosby.

Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis duel it out at RRC

Yesterday morning the Creative Communications (and other) students had the luxury of hearing Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis lay out their plans for Winnipeg on the table. Well... Judy did. Katz mostly relied on the past (on what he had done) or what is a possible plan. Judy had lots of plans to tell us about, most of them including community centers. Many of my colleagues had the opportunity to ask the candidates questions directly, hoping to get a direct answer. Or half direct, I guess. I've heard this rumour that politicians have a knack for ALMOST answering a question.

Hailey Brigg questioned Judy's plan to give ex-inmates and ex-gangmembers jobs in the city to keep them away from criminal  activities. Brigg brought up a valid point that many non-criminal members of the community are unemployed due to a lack of jobs available or don't make much more than minimum wage. She wondered why these people who have committed some kind of offense should have the advantage over those who haven't. At this point, Judy more than likely started talking about her beloved community centers again.

The two candidates acted like in person examples of those commercials you can find on tv in the States where the candidates bash each other. Instead of acting like professional adults, Judy and Katz continually pick at each other. Moments like these were cause for Richard Cloutier to say" You can feel the love in the room today."

Anyways, throughout the community center babble and the factfactfact chat it became clear to me that Katz was winning the crowd in this forum. 

Despite the cattiness and the poor professionalism at times ("Thanks, MOM") it was a great experience!

What I learned at the forum:

Katz owns the Goldeyes... (heehee just kidding, already knew that)

Montreal is a kick ass place to live and we should strive to be just like it

Judy thinks the helicopter was bad investment on the part of the city

Katz and Judy agree that a teen curfew is not the answer to violence downtown

Oh and did I mention that Judy loves community centers? She wants to rejuvenate them... a tad bit curious after 45 million dollars was invested into community centers around Winnipeg. 

Please Complete This Survey About Your Cleaning Products

Lake Winnipeg:
- is the 10th largest body of freshwater in the world
- covers 24,000 square kilmoeters
- is the second largest watershed in Canada

However, Lake Winnipeg has developed the worst algae problem of anymajor lake in the world. (Canadian Geographic magazine Nov/Dec 2006).

This algae is the result of excessive nutrients flowing into the lake from a variety of sources. Human activity contributes to this directly and indirectly in several ways, from runoff from agricultural fields, feed lots, urban lawns, golf courses, waste and household cleaning supplies/detergents that contain large amounts of phosphates.

Every year, about 8,000 tonnes of phosphorus enters the lake along with over 90,000 tonnes of nitrogen.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

How Redneck is Too Redneck?

I think I have the answer to that. Last night while I was driving North on Highway #7 between Abas Esso and Stony Mountain was when I found my answer- to be exact. Travelling East on a gravel road, steadily approaching the highway was a tractor with its bucket up high. It wasn't that he was going to drive his tractor on the pavement, don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with tractors/farm machinery on the highway as my father is a farmer and I feel for those guys sometimes what with their "WIDE LOADS."
But this tractor had something large and long hanging from its bucket. And I really mean large. As I drew closer I knew it was the body of something. The way it was swinging in the wind. What struck me as really.. bizzare about all of this is that it was like.. prime time highway driving time and people and kids were on their way home. And this guy is just idling on the edge of the highway in his tractor while some dead carcass is swinging from his bucket. I went from thinking this creature was a cow, to a werewolf (damn you Twilight), to finally realizing that it was a dead Alpaca. So, obviously, being the budding blogger that I am, I did a swift Uturn at the next intersection and sped to catch this wild man and his dead Alpaca. I managed a really horrid picture that is absolutely nothing to brag about. But I wanted everybody else to see just how much redneck was too much redneck.