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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2009 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It Torch time Rural Actons Emily Boycott was one of the sports stars in- vited to participate in the annual Special Olympics Festival on Tuesday in Toronto. Boycott, a world champion athlete in rhythmic gymnas- tics, was part of an ensemble of athletes who performed Ris- ing Up by an award-winning choreographer. Boycott, whose dad taught at Acton High, will also be a special guest as Burlington celebrates the Olympic Torch Relay through the city. Emotions Anonymous Need help coping with stress? Want to live a healthier emo- tional life? A new Acton chapter of Emotions Anonymous may be able to help with its 12-step program designed to aid people who want to be emotionally well. The groups first meeting is January 3 at 7 p.m. at 39 John Street (beside St. Josephs Church parking lot.) Members attend for various reasons in- cluding depression, anxiety, relationship issues or other emotional difficulties. Meetings are free and an- onymous. Call Robert or Donna at 519-853-2972 for more in- formation. Clinic help thanks Kudos to Halton Hills for helping Canadian Blood Ser- vices stage its donor clinics in Acton and Georgetown last year. The Town recently re- ceived a letter of thanks from Canadian Blood Services (for- merly the Red Cross) for its support through the Municipal Assistance Program that helped with 469 units of blood being collected, saving the lives of 1,406 patients. Board elections Burlington trustee Bruce Jones has been re-elected, by acclim- ation, as chair of the Halton District School Board for another term. This is Jones second term as chair. Janie Hames was ac- claimed as vice-chair. Mother Goose coming Rhymes, songs, stories and parent/child bonding will be the focus of a free 10-week Parent- Child Mother Goose program beginning at Actons Early Years Satellite centre in the Band Hall. Two trained facilitators will lead the kids and parents in a fun and interactive program that shows parents how to calm a fussy baby, make new friends and enjoy time with their baby. The program will run Tuesday mornings from 10 to 11 a.m., be- ginning January 5. Call Jennifer at 905-873-2960 to register. Stars of the Town Charles Landsborough coming out of the Tannery and George Hargrave riding in a truck with a refrigerator through Acton are just two of the local residents captured on black and white film between 1946 and 1949 by the Reverend Roy Massecar in his Stars of the Town series. Rev. Massecar supplemented his church stipend by filming everyday life in small towns in Ontario and then inviting the stars to screenings and selling copies of the films at town halls and community centres. His film footage was donated to the University of Western where it was converted to DVD format and offered for sale. Locally, Ralph Landsborough has a num- ber of copies, which are $20 each. He can be contacted at 519- 853-4478. wetlands, marshes, mangroves, and estuaries play an important role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Other life forms in the open ocean assimilate carbon through their diets, which is then stored in the sediments of the deep ocean when the life forms die and sink to the bottom. This carbon will be stored for millennia. Protecting more of these valu- able ocean ecosystems will help control climate change resulting from excess carbon in the atmos- phere and will also help restore the capacity of these areas to support marine life, particularly fish. Given that over three billion people depend on marine fish for protein, we should do all we can to ensure abundant fisheries for the future. Canada can play major role on this issue. We must protect the valuable ocean ecosystems within Canadas jurisdiction and we must be a global advocate to set object- ives for conserving and managing the Earths marine resources. We have tremendous opportun- ities in Canada to do our share. The coastal estuaries and sea grasses on Canadas West Coast and the great delta of the Mack- enzie River are just two of many places where our government could do a lot more to ensure protection and recovery of these environments. The need for additional conserv- ation of our oceans is undeniable, the benefits of doing so are be- coming more evident every day, and the opportunity is before us. All we need now is for govern- ments to acknowledge the leading science, like that presented in the Blue Carbon report, and to get serious about investing in strat- egies that will put us on a more sustainable path. The Ocean... Continued from Page 6 Something is obviously mis- sing from newspapers and T.V. these days. Gone, thankfully, is the hysterical reporting on the H1N1 Clinics. In my opinion, this was a manufactured crisis prompted by the federal govern- ment and abetted by the major media to sell advertising space. I reject their holier than thou attitude that they were simply performing a public service. I still shake my head at the line ups in the cold and wet that occurred when the clinics first opened. Granted, the organiza- tion might have been better but local public health agencies were caught off guard. Hope- fully lessons have been learned and different procedures have been enacted in case of a repeat next year. While many Canadians have received the shots many others havent. In fact the Feds find themselves with hundreds of thousands of doses that theyre trying to sell off to other coun- tries. This in spite of full page ads taken out featuring the head honcho at Health Canada exhorting Canadians to get vac- cinated. I have no opinion on whether or not the massive vaccination is a good or bad idea. Nor am I in any position to offer any med- ical advice other than remedies my Grandmother passed down. If you want a cure for warts give me a call. Be prepared, it involves burying a toad in the backyard by the light of a full moon, or something like that. But on modern medicine, old wives tales just wont cut it. The lesson to be learned here is to avoid the next stampede promoted by the press. The old saying ` believe none of what you hear and half of what you see certainly applies in this case. There is not doubt the H1N1 virus was a significant health issue. I can remember, as a kid, that getting the flu was a very serious illness. Houses where someone had the flu were strict- ly off limits. These days most people know to stay home, stay warm and, in the vast majority of cases, the flu passes quickly. This is not to disregard people who were sick for weeks on end. Fortunately they are the excep- tion to the rule. We still have more flu season to come. Take necessary pre- cautions to stay well. I favour Neo-Citran and gin followed by an early night with extra blan- kets to sweat it out. Failing that working, I lay on the couch and whimper. Men are big sucks when theyre sick. I havent had the flu in years, thanks to my ro- bust genetic ancestors, I found whimpering gained me a little sympathy, very little. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** A major kerfuffle up in Ottawa just before they recessed for Christmas revolved around the alleged torture of prisoners taken in Afghanistan by Canadian sol- diers and turned over to Afghan authorities. This all came to light as a result of a report by Foreign Service Officer, Richard Colvin who was stationed there. I have always supported our troops in their missions at home and abroad. Still do. To set the record straight, there is no sug- gestion our people were torturing anyone. Rather, the allegation is that Canadians turned over pris- oners to Afghan authorities who were suspected of torturing their own people. Im not saying this is right but thats a huge differ- ence. What bothers me is that polit- icians here at home are making some outrageous suggestions about our valiant soldiers. These same people, who are obviously trying to make cheap political points, would pee their pants if they ever had to confront combat situations our people face every hour of every day. Our soldiers are following the rules of en- gagement (ROE) laid down by the previous government years ago. I almost drove off the road when I heard one of these sanc- timonious twits on the radio. He proposed that since our people took the prisoners pictures that proves we knew they were in danger of being tortured. The picture was a cover-your-ass at- tempt at proving we didnt lay a finger on the prisoner. Didnt this twit realize that Afghanistan is not an orderly society like ours. Few people carry identification, many are in the country illegally. Our people take their pictures so they have some means of identifying whos who. Troops cant ask for a driv- ers license or passport because they dont have them. I am so sick and tired of fat cat politicians trying to second guess the folks on the ground. These are the same ones who cry crocodile tears when one of our people come home in a box? Question yes. But let the professionals run the war. Damn hypocrites. Prisoners of Public Perception PARTY PREP: Preparations are underway for the family New Years party at the Town Hall Centre that will feature fun for all ages including a bell ringing Newfoundland New Year at 9:30 p.m. for the kids, and another bell ringing at midnight. In party mode are, from left: Isabelle, Evan, Ben, Nolan, Shannon and Jen. Front: Anthony, Frank and Leah. Submitted photo