Just another Pan of Toutons. A short Video of a hike we took along our Seashore. We stopped to cook a pan of Toutons on an open fire and the Grandkids enjoyed the outing.This part of our Seashore at Cape Ray may soon see changes. A Subsea Cable,180-kilometers long will send power from Cape Ray in southwestern Newfoundland to Lingan, N.S., in Cape Breton.

 

The 2012 Cains Quest is now History. Details of the winners and Teams scratched can be found here by clicking on the Link.  

My Cousin and her Husband,Team 39 made it to the Finish Line. Coreen made History by being the first woman to compete in that competition and to be able to finish in an event which usually sees more then 50 %  of the Teams drop out before it's over is quite an accomplishment. Info at times was hard to get, but each Team could be tracked all the way through the Journey by following the GPS Trackers on the Machines. Unfortunately CBC covered it like most other stories from Labrador. With very little or no coverage. An event such as this deserves much more coverage and hopefully the folks in Labrador will send their voices of disapproval straight to CBC in St. Johns.

From the CBC News website today:
Hopefully CBC will keep us updated on his progress.

Innu man crosses Labrador on foot for diabetes

An Innu man from Sheshatshiu, N.L., began a 300-kilometre solo hike across barren wilderness Wednesday morning to raise awareness about diabetes in aboriginal communities.

Michel Andrew, 27, set off on foot from his home in the Innu community, towing a sled packed with traditional gear, intending to walk across hundreds of kilometres of Labrador wilderness along a snowmobile trail. His gear includes a tent, snowshoes, bucksaw and a caribou blanket to sleep on, but Andrew is taking no canned or processed food.

"So we're hunting rabbits or porcupine or partridges or something on the way, on the trail there," he said.

Andrew said he blames the widespread diabetes among aboriginal communities on processed foods, and that's why he will eat traditionally along his hike.

First Nations communities have rates of diabetes as much as twice the national average, according to studies.

Seeing friends and family members struggle with diabetes is what spurred Andrew to undertake the hike and attempt to raise money for research into the disease in aboriginal people and to bring awareness to communities at risk.

He told CBC News he believes Innu, especially young people, need to get back to traditional ways, such as walking everywhere and eating a more traditional diet.

"People used to go down the country, a lot of people. I don't know why they stopped. They stopped and they got this diabetes," he said.

The planned route will take Andrew from Sheshatshiu, near Happy Valley-Goose Bay, to Natuashish on Labrador's north coast, tracing a traditional route Andrew's grandparents used to travel.

"This trip is important for me because of my grandmother and my grandfather used to walk," Andrew said, describing the long distances his grandparents travelled on foot between communities at Natuashish, James Bay and Sheshatshiu.

"This trip, I'm going by myself, my grandfather used to walk by himself. He was busy hunting by himself.… I feel great, I've done this stuff all my life, I'm used to this stuff."

Andrew is not worried about the long journey or the freezing winter conditions he will encounter along the way, but he is worried about diabetes spreading through young aboriginal people, as young as 10 or 11, and he said he hopes his walk will bring attention to his cause.

Andrew expects the trip to take three to four weeks.

Fruit sparks outrage in Labrador

OK,let me make it perfectly clear. The fruit in question is a melon that was priced at $55 .41 at the Labrador investments store in Nain.More on the Melons here.

A Tribute to an old friend.

One of the best write ups i have seen on the NL Wild Blueberry is featured on NL Interactive's March feature. An article by Sharon Martin gives the reader quite a bit of information on the provinces Blueberry - Vaccinium angustifollium.

Lets make a deal

The Auditor General of NL is saying, "there just isn't enough audit coverage."Were paying doctors in our province for services they never performed. In one instance a Psychiatrist over billed the province almost a million dollars for services they didn't perform. He/she wants to repay half that amount for the non existent services and the province wants to cut a deal for $600,000 leaving them with $400,000 for something they never did. The CBC News article points out similar cases. The ordinary Joe like myself can only look at the big picture and shake his head. Maybe we didn't need all that extra revenue from our vast natural resources in this province to be a so called "have province," but better bookkeeping. What we do need right now is for the Auditor General to keep digging and more staff if needed. Ross Wiseman says it is necessary to negotiate with the Physicians to recover the money. Great plan there Ross! I'm sure they'll agree to pay back a portion of it and keep the rest they never worked for! Dr. Joe Tumilty says it best."The good Doctor says the physicians won't participate in the audits unless they have a say in how much they pay back. Maybe the ordinary Joe like myself should have a say in the matter.I say,if they don't pay back every dollar for services they never performed,charge them with thief and try and suspend their medical licenses.

Black Tickle
A town on Death Row

At times here i actually wonder if my community will survive another decade and at least several times a year i ask my wife should we at least consider moving to Port Aux Basques, a nearby larger town. The 15 minute commute irritates me at times and i am sure it does to others here as well. We have just over 300 residents and i suspect almost 100% employment because of work in nearby communities. Outside the daily commuting we do and no real clean source of drinking water, life here is pretty good compared to how the people of Black Tickle,Labrador have it today. A recent article and video in the Globe & Mail shows how the people of this small island community in my province are trying to survive each day. So today i ask all my Blog viewers to click on the link and look at the situation the people of Black Tickle face daily.

Just looking at some of the news articles on the Auditor Generals report from last week. It shows that a MHA claimed mileage from St. John’s to their district as 700 km, then, in 2004-05 increased this to 800 km and claimed 54 trips, and in 2005-06 increased this to 900 km and claimed 43 trips.” Continental drift i suspect! In 1990 i started in Home Care and could charge 22.5 per kilometer when i had a client in my vehicle. In 2007, my travel allowance is still 22.5 per kilometer and my trips are the same distance.

Mr. Bill Matthews who use to be a provincial MHA before he went federal claimed receipts from restaurants in one location (18 of 19 in St. John’s) which were dated during a period where private vehicle mileage claims submitted by the member indicated he was on travel status in another location (18 of 19 in his Grand Bank district). I suspect that may of been part of the ombudsman syndrome disease that was rampant at that time.

One of our MHA's might of been a cross dresser with thousands spent on ladies clothes and perfumes. If so, i just hope he gets a bit of help before he goes on to become a Transsexual.

Bill Murray if you happen to stumble across my Blog, i would just like to wish you well and don't blame you for what's happen here in NL recently. I suspect it's the criminal element you associated with.

NF Interactive

A Blog today to thank the NF Interactive crew for posting a story of my community Cape Ray about to have its first Come Home Year Celebration. The NF Interactive web site has been on the go since 1996 and have received several web awards during that time. The site has many features including an online store and years of archived photo galleries dating back to 1998. A few of the other features that i particularly like are the Daily photo gallery where a contributor can send a snapshot and hope to have it displayed. Another is the Puffin Post Online Pub where members can post daily and keep in touch with fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Here posters can start threads showing off their own little section of the province or engage in a friendly chat. So click on the links today and view NF Interactive website. Who knows?You may just want to stick around and be part of it. I'm glad i did!