 © 2010 Dave Lepitre LAKE MEMPHREMAGOG ~ SOUTHERN QUEBEC


MUCH ADO TO-DO LIST Posted 09.01.10 ROSS MURRAY Good morning, children. Here are your instructions for today. Please read carefully. Make sure you are
fully awake. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

LETTER FROM THAILAND #6 -- FROM BORDER TO BORDER AND BACK
AGAIN Posted 08.30.10 Student Emily Murray of Stanstead, Quebec, is teaching English to refugee children
from Burma in neighboring Thailand for the next six months. Ms. Murray recently graduated from Champlain College in
Lennoxville, Quebec. She has a good eye for detail and a way with words, as you will see. This is her 5th LCC
report...

JOHNNY MUSTN'T GRUMBLE Posted 08.29.10 JOHN MAHONEY Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin have it right -- Restore Honor

VIDEO GAMING & LIFE SKILLS Posted 08.27.10 FRED RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Earlier this summer, Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin published a photograph of the Laflamme
supermarket's interior in 1959. The store was busy, with numerous check-out clerks and bag-packers who carried bags to the
customers' cars for tips. Where have those summer and after-school jobs gone? Where are today's kids and young adults who
might have found part-time jobs like these? Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post,
and the Pontiac Journal.
SENIOR MUSINGS ~ PRESERVING THE
PAST Posted 08.26.10 BARBARA FLORIO
GRAHAM Many seniors get involved with genealogy after they
retire. But it's important to capture the memories of older family members while they're still able to
communicate. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost
Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

I GET COLUMN QUESTIONS Posted 08.24.10 ROSS MURRAY And it's time for some answers... Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be
reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

GENEALOGY: YOUR ANCESTRY Posted 08.21.10 DAVE LEPITRE Dave's latest Your Ancestry column and history photographs are posted regularly on the LCC.

YES, INDEED -- LET'S ALL SPEAK MORE FRENCH Posted 08.17.10 I really enjoyed Fred Ryan's Speak more French article and it is sad but this way has been around for a long
time. I grew up in the Eastern townships of Quebec. My mother came from the Leeds/Thetford Mines area and she could speak
some French but never did. My paternal grandmother was French but was not allowed to speak it in the home.

SPEAK SOME FRENCH, S.V.P.! Posted 08.14.10 FRED ryan SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Most important is our belief that bilingualism is one of our region's strongest assets.
Outaouais' bilingualism has a natural flow as people switch between English and French. Fred Ryan is the publisher of
Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

JOYS OF CAMPING REDUX Posted 08.12.10 ROSS MURRAY There was a brief possibility of hope, a vista of joy, a burdenless future -- or at very least a weekend
camping without the dog. Instead, we now have a medium-dog-sized hole in our tent. Ross Murray is a freelance writer
living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

CANUCK DISCOVERS GHANA: JOURNEY TO
NAVRONGO Posted 08.11.10 LEO
GERVAIS It is here where you really see the divide between the
developing world and our so called developed world: Millions upon millions of Ghanaians subsist daily on less money than we
spend on a double-double from Tim Hortons. Leo Gervais teaches journalism at Concordia University in Montreal.

ANNUAL ABENAKI POW WOW CELEBRATED IN NORTHERN
VERMONT Posted 08.07.10 GORDON
ALEXANDER EVANSVILLE, VERMONT | "No bumper stickers? No
flags? What kind of a pow wow is this?"Karen Redfeather of Chelsea, Vermont, was laughing when she met her friends on
the tribal reservation of the Abenaki Clan of the Hawk's 19th annual 2-day Inter-tribal/International Pow Wow here on
Saturday, a few kilometers from the Canadian border Saturday. Redfeather used come to pow wows with her tent that featured
inter- tribal bumper stickers and flags, but took a year off to travel.

SETTING SIGHTS A
LITTLE HIGHER, PUSHING A LITTLE HARDER Posted
08.07.10 FRED ryan SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The Quebec Summer
Games are in full swing across our city, including here in Aylmer. This is a grand opportunity for all of us to catch great
competitors in action, no matter their age -- and to get a glimpse of Quebec's future Olympians. Anyone who has the time
should take in a few games, trails, races, and matches -- there may never be such a convenient chance. Fred Ryan is the
publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

THE
REVEALING CROP TOP Posted 08.05.10 ELISHA
PORAT In the sweet summer of 1963 I stood picking grapes in the
kibbutz vineyard, while a long black car belonging to the diplomatic corps climbed with royal calm the path leading up
between the vineyards to the packing shed. Elisha Porat writes on a kibbutz in Israel.

SHORT-TEMPERED IN CANADA ABOUT THE LONG CENSUS FORM Posted 08.03.10 ROSS MURRAY Absolutely
everyone in Canada is talking about the Conservative government's decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form questionnaire
in the Canadian census. There hasn't been this much chatter since Revenue Canada revised the RD310 Statement of Fiscal
Inclemency. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

LETTER FROM THAILAND #4 --
CONTINUING ON IN OUR RINGY-DINGY WAYS Posted
07.31.10 Student Emily Murray of Stanstead, Quebec, is teaching
English to refugee children from Burma in neighboring Thailand for the next six months. Ms. Murray recently graduated from
Champlain College in Lennoxville, Quebec. She has a good eye for detail and a way with words, as you will see. This is her
4th LCC report...

CANUCK
DISCOVERS GHANA: INTRO Posted 07.28.10 LEO
GERVAIS After meeting and also teaching many Africans over the
years and eventually marrying one, my knowledge and fascination with the Dark Continent grew and so here I am in Ghana, the
home country of my wife Hetty, to see the country close-up and visit her family for the first time with our two-year-old
daughter Phoebe (who is, of course, half African). Leo Gervais teaches journalism at Concordia University in
Montreal.

PULLING OURSELVES UP
BY OUR EYES AND EARS Posted 07.23.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Pontiac's industry faces problems.
Competition is a big one - -studio tours are everywhere, and the market for art and culture is immensely fragmented. These
difficulties merit help from everyone, not just those directly involved--like most industries. There's a limit to artists'
boot-strapping abilities. Apart from public attendance and purchases, help must include support from our mayors and councils.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

WHAT WOULD
GAGA DO? Posted 07.21.10 ROSS
MURRAY In retrospect, maybe holding a Lady Gaga-influenced book
reading wasn't such a good idea. The legal fallout alone is going to tie me up for months. Ross Murray is a freelance
writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

SENIOR
MUSINGS ~ AVOIDING THEFT Posted
07.20.10 BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM Have you ever had your wallet
stolen? Or lost your cellphone? How about leaving your camera behind at a restaurant? Barbara Florio Graham is the author
of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

HAITI 6 MONTHS LATER ~
FROZEN IN TIME 1.5 MILLION STILL IN TENTS AND UNDER TARPS Posted 07.17.10 Sasha Cramer, co-founder of
SOIL, writes this painful report from Port au Prince, Haiti. If you don't read anything else today, read what she has to say.
She is, I believe, one of those good people who truly cares for others and works tirelessly to make their lives
bearable.

LETTER FROM THAILAND
#2 Posted 07.12.10 Student Emily Murray of Stanstead, Quebec, is teaching English to refugee children
from Burma in neighboring Thailand for the next six months. Ms. Murray recently graduated from Champlain College in
Lennoxville, Quebec. She has a good eye for detail and a way with words, as you will see. This is her second LCC
report...

THE GROOM'S
VIEW, OR WEDDINGS FOR DUMMIES Posted
07.07.10 ROSS MURRAY Weddings are girly. Not exactly a
revelation, but it hit home recently while preparing for my nephew's wedding, around the time I was hanging the
ribbons. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

WEDDING SEASON,
MARRIAGE FOR LIFE? Posted 07.07.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The pomp within a beautiful old
Anglican church certainly impressed me with the sanctity of this sacrament. At the same time, I couldn't help but recall that
only half of all marriages survive. The priest kept using the word "eternal" -- hadn't he read the
statistics? Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

REMEMBERING WHAT WE AMERICANS JUST CELEBRATED ~ JULY 4, 1776 Posted 07.06.10 FRANK BERNHEISEL The introduction above is followed by a list of 18 grievances against George III. One of which was that
George III would not allow immigration reform. The more things change...

LETTER FROM
THAILAND Posted 07.05.10 Student Emily Murray of Stanstead, Quebec, is teaching English to refugee children
from Burma in neighboring Thailand for the next six months. Ms. Murray recently graduated from Champlain College in
Lennoxville, Quebec. She has a good eye for detail and a way with words, as you will see. This is her first LCC
report...

WELCOME TO
McMELBOURNE, QUEBEC! Posted 06.30.10 ROSS
MURRAY I'm mightily miffed about this McDonald's in Melbourne,
Quebec. Ostensibly outraged, even. The situation hardly seems fair. I mean, what about the rest of us living in small,
commercially fragile towns across Quebec’s Eastern Townships? Where's our McDonald's? Ross Murray is a freelance writer
living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

STILL PEDALING TOGETHER AFTER 70 YEARS Posted 06.28.10 GORDON ALEXANDER RICHMOND, QUEBEC | Wilfred Lancaster's vintage CCM bicycle won't give up on him and he won't give up on it. They
have been road-mates for more than 70 years.

REPORT FROM
LIMA, PERU Posted 06.27.10 VANESSA
HERRICK LIMA, PERU | It is World Cup 2010, and I
find myself here in Lima Peru. Oddly, I was in the middle of the Amazon jungle in Bolivia for World Cup 2006 -- I had to ride
on the back of a pick-up truck with friends to a tiny village that had a TV satellite signal to watch the finals. We sat
outside on a sun-bleached terrace, drank pitchers of cold beer full of lemon slices, and ate greasy chicken while Italy beat
France.

PASS A CARBON TAX Posted
06.24.10 FRANK BERNHEISEL The carbon tax should take effect
immediately and initially produce a 50 cent per gallon increase in the price of gasoline and diesel fuel. Then the carbon tax
should ramp up over ten years to result in $7 a gallon gasoline in today's dollars.

A LONG, HAPPY
LIFE? Posted 06.22.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | We are bombarded with suggestions and
directives on how to live healthier and longer. There are rules apparently for every aspect of our lives: from how much sleep
we need to our all-important exercise and eating habits. The self-appointed (usually) experts tell us how much romance and
intimacy we need, our stress levels, red wine, caffeine, vitamins, alcohol, and how much time we spend in our gardens, with
our cameras or out fishing -- every thing we do seems to affect our life spans and health. Fred Ryan is the publisher of
Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

 PAPAS ON PARADE Posted 06.18.10 ROSS MURRAY "Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the 52nd Annual Father's Day Parade. I'm Dick Harmon with
my co-host Fanny Aspwich, coming to you live from beautiful downtown Berwick. The sun is shining, and we're all set for
another prodigious procession of patriarchs pounding the pavement." Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in
Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
  |  | BOOK LAUNCH! YOU'RE INVITED! LCC Columnist Ross Murray "You're not going to eat that, are
you?" Wednesday, June 16, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Colby-Curtis Museum in Stanstead, Quebec Saturday, June 19, from 2 to 5 p.m. Uplands Cultural & Heritage Centre in Sherbrooke (Borough of
Lennoxville), Quebec. The book is a collection of
'true and mostly true tales' from Ross Murray's newspaper columns and is delightful...often confessional...his many takes on
family life, community, holidays, politics, and Canada. Come meet Ross, help celebrate his first work...and buy it...buy
several copies. |

WHAT WOULD
MAKE ME HAPPY Posted 06.11.10 ROSS
MURRAY No. 6. Scientists discover that people who played in
their high school band live four percent longer than all-star high school hockey players. Plus, their spouses are three
percent hotter. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

GOOD NEWS FROM THE
MEDIA Posted 06.10.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | If newspapers, facing a hundred new
sources of news, are going the way of the Gutenberg press, and if today's young people are plugged exclusively into e-mail,
Twitter, and Facebook, then Quebec’s recent community newspaper convention near Montreal didn't happen. Fred Ryan is the
publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

JUDGING
THE JUDGES Posted 06.07.10 FRANK
BERNHEISEL There are 33 states in the U.S. that elect state
judges. Youse got a problem wit dat? Yes, a few. For one thing, the opportunity for corruption is high.


HOW TO MAKE
FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PIRATES Posted
06.04.10 ROSS MURRAY It's easy to make friends when you're
little. It goes like this: "Hi. I'm Bertha. I'm five." "Me too I'm five. I'm Jeremy. Can I come to
your house?" "Okay. But let's play in this sandbox first. No, wait! Let's get married." Ross Murray
is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

GRAFFITI: A CRIME OR
AN ASSET? Posted 06.02.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | One Quebec businessman told the Aylmer
Bulletin that "if graffiti is a crime, it's up to the police to stop it. If the police can't, why should businesses --
the victims of this crime -- be forced to bear its burden?" Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin,
The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

FUN
STUFF IN WASHINGTON Posted 05.31.10 FRANK
BERNHEISEL Of course the big news is in the Gulf of Mexico and
Afghanistan but we should not let the fun little stories pass us by.

SCANDALS OF THE LITERARY KIND Posted 05.28.10 ROSS MURRAY News item:
Children's author Robert Munsch reveals cocaine use, alcohol addiction. "My children love his books, it will break my
heart to tell them the truth but as their mother I have to. Our family will not idolize those who do bad things. The press
makes stars out to be 'gods' after they overdose on drugs or cheat on their wives, but we will not!" - Sara Landriault,
president of the International Family Childcare Association Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He
can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

CAN THINGS BE TOO
BIG TO FAIL? Posted 05.20.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | What is the most "too big to
fail" is our planet's climate. Since it covers everyone, its failure will damage everyone. Why is Ottawa mobilizing for
banks and global corporations, but not for global climate? Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The
West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

MY NEW
BOOK Posted 05.17.10 ROSS
MURRAY Books have been on my mind a bit lately because (here
comes the shameless self-promotion) I have a book coming out next month. It's a collection of columns that appeared over the
years in the Stanstead Journal, Log Cabin Chronicles, and The Sherbrooke Record. This is how a lazy person writes a book
without actually writing a book; it may take eighteen years but it gets done. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in
Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
QUEBEC: A HAVE-NOT
PROVINCE? Posted 05.12.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Then another question jumped to mind:
Where is my province's stimulus spending? Where are our billions of tax dollars being spent? Are they being siphoned off via
the kick-backs and wheeling-dealing we've been reading about from Montreal and Quebec City? Fred Ryan is the publisher of
Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

CAP'N
BLOOD SAILS AGAIN Posted 05.11.10 GORDON
ALEXANDER Bringing to memory his legendary swashbuckling
namesake from a 1935 Buccaneer movie Captain Blood, Captain Brian Blood of Ryegate, Vermont, is back on Lake
Memphremagog this sailing season.
PSYCH
STUFF Posted 05.06.10 ROSS
MURRAY For example, individuals who can't stop themselves from
making crude jokes, fart noises with their armpits, and leaning too close when they talk to others (with food in their teeth,
no less) are most likely suffering from Obsessive Repulsive Disorder. Treatment involves regular doses of Howdyagetsogross
and a strict regimen of bathing. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

I AM DOG. I EAT
HOUSE. Posted 04.28.10 ROSS
MURRAY Hello. Hello hello HELLO! I am the dog and I am eating
the Family's house. I will tell you about it when I stop jumping on you. I know it is wrong because the Man keeps yelling at
me. But he is always yelling at me. He does not understand that I am jumping on you because you will not bend down to let me
lick you on the mouth, so I must make myself tall. Just a taste. Yes, yes. Hello! Hello! Ross Murray is a freelance writer
living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

THAT GENERATION AND
OURS Posted 04.22.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | "The Man" was a popular
enemy, although everyone defined him in a different way. To many the Man was the corporate world of markets and bottom lines,
suits and ties, long hours in cubicles. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.

GOOD
EVENING, EASTERN TOWNSHIPS! YOU'RE A WONDERFUL QUEBEC AUDIENCE! Posted 04.20.10 ROSS MURRAY Our children are
somewhat appalled that Deb and I are going to shows, let alone shows with the rock and the roll and the noise and the tight
pants. I don't think it's so much they disapprove of us going. It's that they disapprove of us going without them. Ross
Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
 STEREOTYPES, EH? Posted 04.15.10 FRED RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Because I'm as habitual a stereotyper as anyone -- jokes involving my Irish ancestors
especially, plus other stereotypic inanities -- I can't shake my finger at anyone. But the extremes to which stereotypes are
being pushed today merit our concern. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.

SENIOR
MUSINGS ~ CAT TALK Posted 04.14.10 BARBARA
FLORIO GRAHAM But the time comes when a dog is no longer
practical. Dogs have to go outside, regardless of how treacherous the weather. They are more expensive to feed and need to be
professionally groomed. Obviously, the ideal pet for a senior is a cat. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five
Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

READING
ENCRYPTED ENTRAILS Posted 04.11.10 ROSS
MURRAY The key to interpreting the Encryption Oracle is not to
take the responses too literally. They are signs along the pathway to enlightenment. Normally, a priest or shaman would
ingest a mild psychotropic drug before interpreting an oracle. I, however, have only caffeine to go on at this
juncture. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY
TO CHILDREN Posted 04.08.10 LILY
RYAN IN THE PONTIAC, QUEBEC | "I told my mother that I
didn't want to go to his apartment because I feared a fire," but it was only twenty years later when she remembered the
real fire at her father's apartment. It was a fire in his pants and he asked his own daughter to pull down hers, and join him
in bed. Lily Ryan is the editor of the West Quebec Post.

AH
DOUBLE-DARES YA TO CROSS THIS STREET! Posted
04.05.10 ROSS MURRAY I am pleased to report that Operation
Window Dressing at Derby Line, Vermont/Stanstead, Qweebec is unfolding as planned. We have successfully fomented a climate of
fear and anxiety in the community through our vigilant efforts to thwart the pernicious crime of not entering the United
States where we say so. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

PONTIAC, BIG-HEARTED
QUEBEC COUNTRY Posted 04.03.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | We are a land, a region, and a city of
immigrants: all our families have come from somewhere else, at some point. Even aboriginal people were on the move,
migrating. So why are many people upset with immigrants today? This is a serious question, and Quebec has been at the
forefront of the whole world in dealing with it and related questions. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer
Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

SENIOR
MUSINGS ~ DOWNSIZING Posted 04.01.10 BARBARA
FLORIO GRAHAM Moving out of the family home into an apartment
always poses the same questions. Which things are you willing to part with? What will fit into smaller quarters? Barbara
Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and
Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

THE LAST BIT
OF CHEESE Posted 03.25.10 ROSS
MURRAY "Which food would be hardest to give
up?" "Is beer food?" Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

FEDERAL FEAR TACTIC
TOO TRANSPARENT TO FOOL WEST QUEBECERS Posted
03.20.10 LILY RYAN IN THE PONTIAC, QUEBEC | Mr. Harper would
rather have Canadians locked up in their houses for fear of 'crime,' too busy watching TV to care about the business of our
nation. Lily Ryan is the editor of the West Quebec Post.

OH, THOSE
TEACHER PED DAYS Posted 03.17.10 ROSS
MURRAY Parents like to gripe about PED days, and in Quebec we
have more reasons to gripe than parents anywhere else in Canada. That's because Quebec school boards allot 20 PED days per
academic year, the most of any province. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

MAN, YOU'RE NOT A
FEMINIST? Posted 03.13.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | When we get to complex rights, like
equal opportunities for education and jobs, the collateral damage caused by poverty, racism, misogyny, and bigotry can be
enormous. These mean that many women do not effectively have the same rights as most men, because they are unable to exercise
those rights. Poverty, illiteracy, and racism affect men also -- all the more reason for men to support the International
Women's Day, yes, and all the more reason why every man, especially every father and grand-father, should aspire to become a
feminist. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

HEALTH CARE E-MAILS TO MY SENATORS Posted 03.11.10 FRANK BERNHEISEL It has been sixty
years since Harry Truman tried to get universal health care passed in the United States. That is long enough and the issues
are clear; let’s get a significant improvement in health care done, now.

GIVE ME A
BREAK Posted 03.09.10 ROSS
MURRAY Why do we have to go anywhere? Since when does March
Break have to be this family vacation in the middle of the school year? Who's responsible for this? The travel industry? The
City of Fort Lauderdale? Hallmark? Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

OWNING THE
PODIUM Posted 03.05.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | For a couple of hours every day during
those two weeks, we forgot our problems and the troubles afflicting the world. We let men and women from China and Korea,
France and Germany, the US and Russia, from all around the world, show us the rewards of single-minded focus and incredible
daily hard work. The Games may be telling us that such focus and such effort could also help us solve those problems of the
world that we were able to ignore so briefly and which are now making their way back into our awareness. If young men and
women can put the daily difficulties of growing up aside while they work towards their goals, can't we adults do the same
thing? Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

HELP ME, I'M
NOT IRISH Posted 03.02.10 ROSS
MURRAY I know I don't know a lot about a lot of things. Usually
this is perfectly fine. There's no handicap in going through life without knowing, for instance, the history of Winnipeg,
mainly because I don't care about Winnipeg and, frankly, Winnipeg doesn't care about me. Ross Murray is a freelance
writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

MUSKRAT
JOHNNY'S SWAMP FLUTE Posted 03.01.10 JOHN
MAHONEY COBDEN, ONTARIO | More than 400 years ago Muskrat Lake
was home to the Nibachis, Algonquin people who lived along the Ottawa River. These days, few here remember that other people
lived here before, much less their name. John Mahoney has published the LCC since March, 1996.

SWEET TALK A
FUTURE Posted 02.26.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | A new game is sweeping Canada, at
least rural Canada, a game without the special effects of X-boxes and video gaming, but a game with real consequences. It is
the game of re-imagining our communities that have had their mills, plants, mines, and factories closed. The Pontiac is right
up there with the best of these rural gamers. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec
Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

YOUR
WINTER OLYMPIC QUESTIONS ANSWERED Posted
02.22.10 ROSS MURRAY Why the Winter Olympics? The Winter
Olympics are also a means of distracting the population from the cold days of February and from controversial global events,
such as, in the case of the current Olympics, Canada's participation in the largest air assault in Afghanistan. Afghanistan
is not competing in Vancouver but is expected to be a contender in the 2012 summer games in the 500 Metre Fleeing From
Gunfire Relay. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

WE CAN CHANGE THE
WEATHER Posted 02.16.10 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Is "government" or even
"society" as bad as everyone says? One message we soak up with the air is that "government" is, at best,
a necessary evil, and usually nothing but some form of extortion and self-aggrandizement by politicians, those who do the
governing. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

SENIOR
MUSINGS ~ HIGH COST OF QUEBEC HEALTH CARE Posted 02.12.10 BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM I had no
choice. In early 2006 I began looking for a new doctor, and phoned the CLSC for help. I was told my name would be put on a
waiting list, and given priority because of my age and the fact that I take five prescription medicines for five different
medical problems. They never called me back, although I continued to phone every few months to make sure I was still on the
priority list. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost
Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

THE REPUBLICAN HEALTH CARE BILL Posted 02.10.10 FRANK BERNHEISEL As I mope around
the house nursing my cold (eye, nose, and throat infections -- hooray for modern antibiotics and walk-in clinics, even though
you pay out of pocket and out of program) I am musing on health care. Yes, America has really good and maybe the best health
care, if you can afford it.

MY CAT SAVED MY
LIFE Posted 02.05.10 Berit Lundh writes a follow-up letter about her recent heart attack in Oslo,
Norway.

AMERICANS, DON'T BE DISTRACTED Posted 01.25.10 FRANK BERNHEISEL The people of
Massachusetts elected Scott Brown to fill the vacant seat in the U.S. Senate and you would think that there had been a
cataclysm and that everything that had been done in the last full year -- where health care was debated, discussed and
dissected -- was negated and the President Obama was dead meat. So let's not be distracted by Scott Brown's win, let's pass
the health care bill and move on to other important matters. How do we do that? Easy, the House of Representatives passes
the Senate bill and the President signs it Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.

SENIOR
MUSINGS ~ NEW COLUMN Posted 01.22.10 BARBARA
FLORIO GRAHAM I've managed on my own by installing a stair-lift
to access the basement, which is not only ideal for anyone with mobility problems, but also enables me to carry things up and
down the stairs without danger. Falls are the most common reason why seniors are hospitalized, so anything we can do to avoid
falling is crucial. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to
Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

THE FEMALE HEART
ATTACK (A PIECE FOR WOMEN Posted
01.19.10 BERIT LUNDH On December 30th, as I went to work to
open the Canadian Embassy here in Oslo, I was overwhelmed by acute earaches and a peculiar feeling in my chest. I'd had these
earaches for a couple of months, on and off, and except for the fact that I'd never had an earache before, didn't give it
much thought. This was more intense however, so I did what I had to do and went home. Berit Lundh writes from Oslo,
Norway

THE LCC
ARCHIVES The links on the Archives page will take you to the
various index pages or to the listings of many of the LCC's numerous contributors. There are beaucoup files and it's still in
development. If you note that something of import is missing -- or if you catch a '404' -- please let me know.

QUEBEC: FIRST
ACCOMMODATING IMMIGRANTS, NOW EUTHANASIA Posted
01.15.10 FRED RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Our province's public
consultation on "reasonable accommodation" of immigrant minorities received a lot of criticism because it seemed to
be little more than picking at a scab -- and because it gave a soapbox to a lot of hysterical people who only vented their
fears. It seemed to promise something -- social accommodation of minority cultures -- that could never be guaranteed.

QUEBEC'S
'STANHENGE' CIRCLE OF STONE COMPLETED Posted
01.08.10 GORDON ALEXANDER STANSTEAD, QUEBEC | The North
American version of England's ancient Stonehenge is a in a field less than a quarter of a mile from the US/Canadian
Border. The project was inaugurated in 2009 on September 20, the day of the Fall Equinox).

A LOSE-LOSE
PROPOSITION Posted 12.29.09 BARBARA FLORIO
GRAHAM You tell the BBB you already gave her the upgraded
motherboard and reinstalled Windows without charge, and she has nothing to complain about. When she protests, providing
screenshots showing the botched reinstall of Windows, you have your lawyer send her a letter threatening to sue if she writes
about the experience. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to
Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

DEAR
SANTA Posted 12.24.09 ROSS
MURRAY We would like to express our grave concerns about
SantaCorp's hiring policy. A review of the employee roster shows a glaring lack of diversity. There appears to be an almost
fetishistic adherence to hiring vertically challenged individuals with malformations of the ear. While SantaCorp should be
applauded for its willingness to hire people with differences, the exclusive nature of these hires is of concern. Ross
Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca

PASS THE US HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL Posted 12.20.09 FRANK BERNHEISEL Why is the US
health care bill 2000 pages long? Because that is the way we do legislation in the U. S. of A. Specifically, Congress does
not choose to enact legislation that lays down principles, guidelines, and criteria. They try to spell things out in detail
to make sure that those faceless bureaucrats in Washington to not run amuck and do something rational. Frank Bernheisel
writes from the Washington DC region.

AN EXPENDABLE
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT Posted 12.16.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Prime Minister Harper was sent to
Ottawa by Calgary. He has encouraged the tar sands. His party all of sudden had enormous funds at its disposal -- they could
afford a continual election campaign, and their attack ads outside any campaign testify to their cash reserves. Fred Ryan
is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

POEM: THE WATERMELONS OF KAKUN Posted 12.09.09 ELISHA PORAT Elisah Porat makes
poems on a kibbutz in Israel.

DO YOU HAVE A STREET
LIKE THIS IN YOUR TOWN? Posted 12.03.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | They reach up to 200 km per
hour," the police veteran said, and he has the experience to estimate speeds. "It's only a matter of time before we
have a fatal pile up." Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac
Journal.

NOT SO
FUNNY Posted 12.01.09 BARBARA FLORIO
GRAHAM Unfortunately, TV seems to rely much more on the lower
levels. Even shows geared toward kids contain sexual overtones, and there doesn't seem to be a stand-up comic whose act
doesn't contain four-letter words and references to sex, alcohol, or drugs. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five
Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

DOGPATCH -- IT'S
EVERYWHERE Posted 11.24.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | A friend refers to a crossroads on
Highway 148 as "Pontiac's latest tourist attraction -- Dogpatch!" He thinks he's humourous, but driving up from the
urban areas, which is the route most tourists take when coming to almost any spot in the Pontiac, his wisecrack isn't funny
at all. This stretch of highway is no secret; it's in the Municipality of Pontiac, where Rue des Dominicains meets Highway
148 Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

MEDITATION ON
NOVEMBER 11 Posted 11.11.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | This year's Remembrance Day finds us
-- Canada, Quebec, Gatineau, Aylmer -- in an unusual situation. We are a nation at war, not peacekeeping; we are fighting on
behalf of our NATO allies, not for our own defensive interests; our military is finally awash with funding, judging from
appearances. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac
Journal.

DISTRUST IS A
DANGEROUS DRUG SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Public distrust of politicians is headed over the edge. The current H1N1
vaccination effort is an example of how this distrust hurts everyone. Conspiracy theories and rumours of corruption have
become subjects of conversation, like the weather, but when this distrust becomes so extreme that people fear the vaccine
more than the flu itself, we've got problems. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec
Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

POOR H1N1
VACCINATION PLANNING SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | We'd be justified in wondering if the H1N1 flu is as serious a threat as
we're told. Obviously, if the health ministry officials aren't treating it as a major threat, why should the rest of us?
Isn't it their job to assess these threats? Two clinic for the entire city does not indicate a major threat. Fred Ryan is
the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

A GOAT NAMED
BOBBI Posted 10.22.09 BARBARA FLORIO
GRAHAM An 11-year-old boy in Kenya is the proud owner of a goat
named after me. This initiative is called the Get Your Goat program, and is designed to provide destitute families in
African countries with milk for the children as well as providing baby goats so other families can benefit as
well. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps toBetter Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost
Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

CANADA'S
LONGEST COVERED BRIDGE BEATS OUT NEW ENGLAND'S LANDMARK Posted 10.19.09 GORDON ALEXANDER The 1,282 foot
Hartland Covered Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada, is the longest covered bridge in the world, way longer than the
450 foot Cornish-Windsor Bridge spanning the Connecticut River in New Hampshire/Vermont, reputed to be the longest covered
bridge in the United States. Gordon Alexander is a Vermont-based writer/photographer.

GIANT SNAKE, TINY
CONSCIENCE Posted 10.16.09 FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The recent discovery of a giant of a snake
(at least to us), dead in a ditch on Terry Fox Road, was a shocker. Living as we do on the edge of Quebec's vast boreal
wilderness, not to mention Gatineau Park, we are used to animals wandering in among us -- bears, coyotes, raccoons, deer,
maybe a moose, none are strange to us. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.

DOG-WALKING IN
CAIRO Posted 10.11.09 KATHLEEN
SAVILLE We turned left on Sharia Mansour Mohamed, towards the
Serbian Embassy, whose sideways are nice and wide though with few patches of dirt. I've found those little patches of dirt
around the trees, framed by the sidewalk bricks, the best places for Sandy to investigate. The Serbian Embassy must know that
Zamalek dog walkers instinctively gravitate towards such sidewalks as theirs are bereft of trees. Sandy is only warming up on
the Serbian sidewalks though, sniffing her way pass the guardhouses. Rower Kathleen Saville teaches and writes in Cairo,
Egypt. She can be reached at ksaville@acuegypt.edu

DON'T WORRY, BE
HAPPY. REALLY. Posted 10.06.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | It's so easy to lose sight of our own
goals, or of even setting life goals for ourselves, so we seem to stagger from one crisis to the next (especially if we're
dependent on the media's 'news' reporting); we can't stop running just to stand still, and yet when we are standing still
we're too nervous or fear-struck to look around, to appreciate a sunset or hug a child. We're lost in each day's
shuffle. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

MORE THAN 300,000 VIEWERS AND COUNTING LCC's 'BABY LAKE
MONSTER CAPTURED' ON YOU TUBE If you haven't yet viewed it yet, you can join the more than 304,000 folks who have.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNFMHKIT0-s
Seeing is believing, eh? Or not.

MUST WE SEEK ANOTHER
PLANET TO CALL HOME? Posted 09.26.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Who can we trust? Ourselves. The
missing component in this puzzle is us, behaving like stewards of our back yards, of our farms and fields, forests, and
oceans. We can become informed and committed. And one good start is to turn down cut-rate canned salmon, tuna, and "BC
Smoked Salmon" from China. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the
Pontiac Journal.

IS THE LEADING
CANDIDATE THE APATHY PARTY? Posted
09.26.09 LILY RYAN IN THE PONTIAC, QUEBEC | However, the
elephant in the room is this: only half of Pontiac's Liberal members bothered to vote on Sunday. Lily Ryan is the editor
of the West Quebec Post.

IT'S "NEW
POLITICS" IS IT, CANADA? Posted
09.18.09 FRED RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | This new form of
campaigning has each party saying absolutely nothing about its own plans -- that's trivial and self-serving. Now, each party
rejects the Vision Thing, projects, and platforms, and concentrates exclusively on attacking the other party and its leader.
This refreshing change means we get the truth, finally. No more charades. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer
Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

THE ESSENTIAL
EARLY INFLUENCE OF MUSIC Posted
09.16.09 BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM Research has shown that music
is an elemental part of our consciousness, and existed in early man before speech. Music teaches the brain how to integrate
the right and left sides, helping us see things beyond the obvious. Certainly that's a significant element in innovation,
which is one of the goals of higher education. Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better
Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings www.SimonTeaKettle.com.

NIGGER! NIGGER!
NIGGER! Posted 09.14.09 JOHN
MAHONEY That's what US Rep. Joe 'You Lie!' Wilson -- aka
Addison Graves Wilson, Sr., Republican of South Carolina -- really yelled during President Obama's health care address. And
that's really what all the crazies are screeching at Town Hall Meetings, parades and protests, on YouTube with their code
words... John Mahoney has published the LCC since March, 1996.

A CAIRO
COMMUTER IN RAMADAN 2007 Posted
09.05.09 KATHLEEN SAVILLE On Sharia Sheikh Rehan, the
roadway is nearly deserted. The early evening lighting is pleasing. The buildings along Sheikh Rehan are of the French
colonial era and the twilight softens their dirty brown facades to a soft tungsten lighting that is reminisant of Cairo in
her heyday as "The Jewel of the Nile" in the early 1900s. Rower Kathleen Saville teaches and writes in Cairo,
Egypt. She can be reached at ksaville@acuegypt.edu

WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT
AN ELECTION, CANADA? Posted 09.01.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | We now have a party system that is
largely regional, in which no party has an agenda that appeals to the entire country, and so each election results in a
minority government. And we haven't had a minority leader with vision broad enough to unite the other parties. Fred Ryan
is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

US HEALTH CARE ALREADY RATIONED Posted 08.26.09 FRANK BERNHEISEL In the U.S. of A.,
we have a long history of rationing health care. The reason triage came into the English language in 1918 is because
the casualties of WWI were so high they swamped the medical facilities. It is the same in every war and disaster. It also
occurs in local emergency rooms, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC
region.

NOT THE BRIDGES OF
MADISON COUNTY New bridges or hypocrisy & hot air? Posted 08.24.09 FRED RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC |
Imagine the letters to the editor and talk-show calls-every Ottawa commuter up on their hind legs lecturing us on being more
accommodating, working together, and protecting the environment from the pollution of thousands of idling cars. Fred Ryan
is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

A ROW ON THE
NILE Posted 08.21.09 KATHLEEN
SAVILLE CAIRO, EGYPT | Clumps of water lilies float by the
boat. A working felucca crosses the river ahead of me, ferrying people from Gezira Island to the Giza side. I row on,
entranced by the smooth motion of the oars as I push them forward and with a flick of the wrists, drop the oar blades in the
water. Since I'm going with current, the pull through is easy and the oar handles are back in my lap ready to be pushed away
over and over. The waves are minimal, barely a ripple to contend with. Rower Kathleen Saville teaches and writes in Cairo,
Egypt. She can be reached at ksaville@acuegypt.edu

WHOSE LIGHT? WHOSE
SOUNDS? WHOSE LAND? Posted 08.16.09 LILY
RYAN IN THE PONTIAC, QUEBEC | Driving through Ottawa on a
recent Saturday night, we noticed a hubbub of activity at the Parliament buildings. My daughter gleefully called for us to
stop -- how could we drive by this festival? We stopped, not knowing what "festival" it would be. Lily Ryan is
the editor of Quebec's Pontiac Journal.

GETTING SERIOUS
ABOUT SAVING EVERYTHING Posted 08.12.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | So why if the present recession is so
much like the Great Depression are we seeing virtually no creative and progressive thinking or experimentation? What we
are getting from our leaders and thinkers are lame attempts to prop up the old order, the very order that generated the
crash. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

YES, OBAMA IS
GUILTY Posted 08.06.09 JOHN
MAHONEY Of course he is. Just look at him. President Obama is
barely half white. John Mahoney edits the LCC.

CANADA'S NATIONAL
CAPITOL EYESORES Posted 08.05.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The bridges connecting Gatineau and
Ottawa, apart from the new and small Champlain Bridge, would not be acceptable even in Espanola, Ontario, they are such
embarrassments Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac
Journal.

ARE VOLUNTEERS A
DYING BREED? Posted 07.28.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | These warnings are not empty. As our
population ages, volunteers are aging and are retiring. As those who volunteer have noticed, it is often the same people who
step up to the plate, time and time again. There comes a point when they tire (and when they tire of watching most of the
population not contribute). Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac
Journal.

HEALTH CARE? DO SOMETHING! Posted
07.24.09 FRANK BERNHEISEL Coming to work, GOP Rep. Eric
Cantor of Virginia was on CSPAN radio talking about health care and how President Obama did not say much yesterday in his
press conference on health care. He went on about how Americans will not give up their sacred right to choose their own
doctor, etc. Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.

BIG GAME
HUNTER, ME Posted 07.22.09 JOHN
MAHONEY The Powers That Be don't allow elimination by lead here
in Cobden on the Muskrat. That puts me in the armed but not dangerous category.

SHOPPING IS NOT A
RELIGION Posted 07.15.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The idea that Aylmer should have more
parking lots, more stop lights, more malls is part of the thinking which has produced North America's urban sprawl nightmare.
There are alternatives to more sprawl. Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.

OUR
HOME GEOTHERMAL HEATING-COOLING PROJECT Posted
07.12.09 FRANK BERNHEISEL Kathy and I are having our house
converted to geothermal heating and cooling. The way this works is that a heat transfer fluid, similar to the
antifreeze/water fluid in a car, is pumped down the wells and either picks up heat or deposits heat -- depending on whether
it is heating or cooling. Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.

POEM: THE NAKED TRUTH Posted
07.09.09 BERIT LUNDH Berit Lundh makes photographs and
writes in Oslo, Norway.

DOING THE SAME THING
AGAIN AND AGAIN Posted 07.07.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | One positive to have come out of the
current economic troubles is the concept of behavioral economics. The economics profession has now noticed that we are not
exclusively rational decision-makers in the marketplace. We often act against our clear best interests (buying lottery
tickets) and let ourselves be talked into agreements that are based on vanity or greed, rather than on rationality. Fred
Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

THE
VISION NOT YET FULFILLED Posted
07.05.09 FRANK BERNHEISEL Despite the fact that this is a
terrific country to live in and the land of opportunity, it is not yet the land of equal opportunity. A child born to
family in Mississippi has twice the chance of dying before reaching one year, as one born in Minnesota. If life is one of
those unalienable Rights, for which our government was instituted to secure, why the gap between our statement of our vision
and our performance? Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.

HOUND DOGGING
IT Posted 07.01.09 JOHN
MAHONEY Got dandelions? Thistles? Hate poison? Too creaky and
twisted to get down on your arthritic knees and grub the suckers out? Sisters and brothers, assemble right over here and pay
attention:

STANLEY
FEFFERMAN: CD REVIEW Posted 06.30.09 STANLEY
FEFFERMAN KRISTY CARDENALI, MY ROMANCE

NEWSPAPERS: GOING
ELECTRONIC, OR JUST GOING? Posted
06.25.09 FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Yes, the
telephone and paper have yet to be exceeded by modern technology, although they are certainly being added-to. They're no
longer the only game in the industry. Which is true for the newspaper industry itself. No new media has co-opted all of
newspapers' benefits, but they have certainly added to our industry's reach and services. Fred Ryan is the publisher of
Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
IN CANADA: NASTY
DOES AS NASTY IS Posted 06.15.09 FRED
RYAN SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | My wife and I were stunned by our
first view of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attack ads on Canadian TV directed against Liberal Michael Ignatieff. The ad
was sarcastic, personal, and nasty. There was nothing of policy, of issues, or of priorities. "This is the work of a
bully," commented my spouse, and she captured in that word, "bully", the real message of the ad. Fred Ryan
is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.

THIS IS THE BEAR-FACED
TRUTH Posted 06.08.09 ART
GREAVES NORTHAMPTON, MA | It's Saturday afternoon and I'm
sitting in a chair in the driveway, facing my garage, and reading the instructions on how to operate my new cordless lawn
trimmer. Suddenly, there's something breathing hot air on me and smelling my arm. I look to the left and I'm looking a very
large female black bear straight in the eye.

ARCHIVES: 9 POEMS BY L. E. HOGAN Posted 04.04.09 LINDA HOGAN L. E. Hogan is a
Vermont-based writer/photographer.

ON
BLOWING MY BRAINS OUT, DAILY Posted
03.21.09 JOHN MAHONEY Earlier this year I tried to reconnect
with my inner flute. It felt so good I began to do it every day.

JOHNNY,
I'LL SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU Posted
01.01.09 JOHN MAHONEY Johnny and I go way back. We started
this journey together in the Great Depression, in the autumn of 1935. Our mothers used to walk us in our prams, most likely
to keep us quiet, and to keep their sanity. John Mahoney edits the LCC from Cobden, Ontario.

HONG
KONG POW EDDIE CAMPBELTON TURNS 90 Posted
09.24.08 GORDON ALEXANDER RICHMOND, QC | Edward
"Eddie" Campbelton never thought he would get to be 90 -- or even much older than 24 Ð when he was taken prisoner
by the Japanese army in Hong Kong on Christmas Day, 1941. Gordon Alexander is a Vermont-based photojournalist.

WHERE SHOULD I GO NOW
THAT I'M GONE? Posted 09.14.08 MARY CAMPISI
FERREE For a long while I thought I would like a burial site in
Boulder, Colorado, somewhere beneath a shady tree. I would leave instructions to have my casket specially fitted out: a glass
window, a small fan for ventilation, and a shelf I could sit on. My plan was to have my casket put upright in the ground so I
could see out and keep an eye on things. I finally dismissed that idea as too macabre, even for Boulder.

VANESSA HERRICK'S LAST POST FROM KOSOVO She's back in Montreal,
healed from the mugging, and ready to rock and roll -- read on...
THE FAILED WAX
JOB Posted 09.10.08 VANESSA
HERRICK PRISTINA, KOSOVO | When I arrived back in Montenegro
from Kosovo last month I was frazzled, stressed, and exhausted. I had an hour to get ready for a party at the American
ambassador's house. I shivered my way through a shower and loved it as it was yet again 44 degrees in Podgorica. I then
decided I would quickly wax my legs quickly before heading out. Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from
Pristina, Kosovo.

AN
UNEXPECTED TIRADE Posted 07.30.08 VANESSA
HERRICK PRISTINA, KOSOVO | I have a good friend, someone I
adore, someone who has helped me enormously since I have been here who explained to me recently that Karadzic is not really a
bad guy. I was speechless. Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.

A
CHURCH, DARK AND LOOMING Posted
07.08.08 VANESSA HERRICK PRISTINA, KOSOVO | In my
neighborhood there is what appears to be a burnt-out shell of a church, perhaps partially re-built, with bricks jutting out
at odd angles, no windows, barbed wire at the entrance and surrounding the perimeter. It is an ominous looking place,
untouched by the signs of ruin, no graffiti, no loiterers, no litter. People speed up as they walk by and no one stops to
look. Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.

MUGGED
AND BLOODIED IN KOSOVO Posted
06.26.08 VANESSA HERRICK PRISTINA, KOSOVO | I turned,
assuming it was a neighbor, and there was a young guy standing about three feet from me. He grabbed my arms and shoved me,
hard. As I fell, he took off running with my bag. Unfortunately, I was standing on a concrete walkway and I landed on my
face. Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.

MEETING
SPIDERMAN IN MITROVICA, KOSOVO Posted
06.19.08 VANESSA HERRICK MITORVICA, KOSOVO | Mitrovica is
much less wealthy than Pristina. It reminds me of Bolivia, an odd mix of half-finished buildings and lively bustling
sidewalks. Bolivia however, for all it's madness, was free of tanks full of French troops, and there were no convoys of
American jeeps...and the guns...the guns in Kosovo outside of the city...guns everywhere. I have never seen so many
guns. Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.

UPDATE:
REPORT FROM KOSOVO Posted
06.17.08 VANESSA HERRICK PRISTINA, KOSOVO | Did you know
that if you drink four litres of Diet Coke, eat four blueberry muffins and a tomato sandwich, and do not move from your desk
for more than a total of eight hours out of forty-eight, you can more or less produce a newspaper by yourself? Vanessa
Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
WATERCOLOR
EXHIBIT: ROSEMARY MILLER Reposted
03.08.08 ROSEMARY MILLER Rosemary Miller was a talented
artist who, in her later years, made her home in Stanstead, in the Quebec-Vermont border. These are some of her watercolors
of her adopted community.

WATERCOLOR
EXHIBIT: LUIGI TIENGO Reposted
02.16.08 LUIGI TIENGO A native of Italy, Luigi Tiengo makes
his home part-time in Quebec's Eastern Townships. He is an industrial designer, a self-taught builder/pilot of an
experimental aircraft, and an avid cylist. These paintings were inspired by his many journeys along the Tomifobia River Bike
Path.

BORDER HISTORY
PHOTO Posted 02.11.08 DAVE
LEPITRE Dave's latest Your Ancestry column and history
photoraphs are posted regularly on the LCC.

PHOTO STORY: SEARCH & RESCUE TRAINING MISSION Posted 01.31.08 TIM DOHERTY Canadian
troopers from a Search and Rescue Team out of CFB Trenton (Ontario) make a snowy landing at Fairview Farms in Lennoxville, QC
on Tuesday, January 29. The low-level SAR training mission was conducted with a Canadian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft.
Fairview Farms is operated by Brian Herring, who is a licensed general aviation pilot and maintains a small personal airstrip
on the family farm.


QUILTS FROM THE
'STITCH IN TIME' EXHIBIT Posted
10.02.07 PHOTOS: KEVIN CHAMP There were some 200 quilts from
North America and Europe in this exhibit held Sept. 29-30 in Rankin, Ontario. Organized by quilter Val Champ, the colorful
exhibit of historic and contemporary quilts was part of the Rural Ramble held each year in Ontario's Ottawa Valley to
celebrate rural living.

JUNK ART #3 - THE 'WAY
THINGS TURNED OUT Posted 04.28.07 BOB
GERVAIS LONDON, ONTARIO | "I am bowled over by the talent
exhibitedhere by the students. The creativity on display is exactly the kind of thing thatthis city needs to attract new
people, new blood, and new business." Look at how they have used smaller pieces of metal to reflect the toughness of the
rhinohide -- this judging is not going to be a cakewalk."

JUNK ART #2 - THE 'WHY'
OF IT Posted 04.21.07 BOB
GERVAIS LONDON, ONTARIO | "I suppose we could figure it
out but suppose it's between $50,000 and $100,000. That's not what it's about -- what makes it all worthwhile is the look on
the faces of the students as people and as artists, after the judging. They have been recognized for what and who they are;
they are no longer simply number, or streams of ciphers in the educational mill. They are real."

JUNK ART #1 - BEAUTY
LIES WITH THE BEHOLDER Posted 04.14.07 BOB
GERVAIS LONDON, ONTARIO | When you drive by the front of John
Zubick Ltd.Scrap Metals on Clarke Road here, just a bit north of Gore Road, you can't help but notice the pedestals
silhouetted against the Western sky. On each pedestal is astark, angular figure made from scrap metal.


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 JANE DOES THE LAUNDRY
 GALLERIES
 BAGBALM WEBSITE
WINTER SOLSTICE This is one of 30 short poems in the chapbook Placing No Markers by
Jason Krpan. You can download the book for free at Bookfellows.
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