17/Jul/2001 NORTH DAKOTA TO GO AHEAD WITH WATER DIVERSION PLAN North Dakota plans to go ahead with a controversial water diversion plan that could cause flooding in Manitoba. cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/07/17/ndakota010717

david & diana nicholson says

do see W-N MergerNotes and W-N race for Mayor

July 18th, 2001 sooncome Calendar

David and Diana Nicholson

Wednesday-Night #1011

July 18th, 2001

PRELUDE

David started the evening by showing some footage July 4th celebrations, complete with fireworks, flags fluttering and Martin Sheen declaiming. It was pointed out that “Mr. President” of West Wing earns $100,000 per episode, considerably more than George W. Bush. (Editor’s note: He also does a better job!)

Judith Patterson made her apologies for not being present when Dr. Fred Lowy, Rector of Concordia was at Wednesday Night a couple weeks ago. She said that even if she had duct tape over mouth that would not be enough to restrain her from expressing her disgust at the University closing some departments, and their plans to consider closing Physics and Chemistry.

Gerald Ratzer introduced his fourth cousin Gabrielle Ratzer, who is visiting from Vienna. Gabi teaches Primary school teachers, and also English and Gymnastics, and has a keen interest in sports such as golf and skiing. This is her first visit to Canada, and she is planning to take in the Stratford Festival and see Niagara Falls with other members of the Ratzer family.

AIDS AND AFRICA

Dr. Nobby Gilmore reported on his recent trip to Europe. He has been in London at an impressive conference held at Burbeck College on Canada-UK studies, including economics and politics. He was also in the Netherlands for a World Health conference on the delivery of AIDS drugs to Africa. In general, money was not considered to be the primary obstacle as funding would be forthcoming from the UN/US/Canada etc. Some 40% of the African population is infected, and there is great concern about a generation of orphans. While drugs and treatment are available, there are serious infrastructure and delivery issues. It has been estimated that between $5 billion and $9 billion per year will be required to deal with the problem in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. The drug companies are willing to forgo their royalties which will reduce the annual cost of treatment to some $600 as compared with some $20,000 per person in the U.S. The goal is to have one to two million additional people undergoing treatment per year, until some 35 million are being treated.

MENINGITIS AND QUÉBEC

This was contrasted with the just-announced decision of the Quebec government to find $100 million in new money to vaccinate children between 2 and 21 against meningitis. It was noted that there cannot be mandatory vaccination, so the entire population will not be protected and, as meningitis is a contagious disease, the question is how much protection does this programme offer? It is anticipated that it will save some 25 lives. Dr. David Mitchell pointed out that 25 fatalities do not constitute an epidemic and at $4 million per saved person – this may not be money well spent. It was suggested that there are many other ways to spend this money that may be more effective. Preventive measures with education and research in coronary disease or cancer would save many more lives. David Nicholson pointed out that there are some 120,000 Alzheimer patients whose quality of life could be greatly improved. Susan continued this thought by saying that society makes a value judgment that kids are worth more than the elderly. But, the root of the problem is also environmental. If the $100 million were spent to improve the water (PCB removal from the Lakes) and air quality in Quebec, many of the problems with cancer and allergies would be greatly reduced.

7/21/01 8:00 PM MENINGITIS VACCINATION FOR YOUTH TO GO AHEAD Health Minister Remy Trudel has announced Quebec is going ahead with a campaign to vaccinate all Quebecers from the ages of two months to 20 years against meningitis. The program is expected to cost about $100-million. montreal.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2001/07/17/vaccine010717

Wed 7/18/01 6:57 AM Meningitis vaccine plan has big if: official
By: NICOLAS VAN PRAET Barely hours after announcing a mass vaccination campaign against meningitis across Quebec, health experts admitted they were worried that not enough people will be treated to make it all worthwhile. The government, which will launch the Quebec-wide immunization campaign starting in mid-September, is predicting a swell of outbreaks and more deaths if it doesn't act.

Mark Roper

Wed 7/18/01 8:00 PM MENINGITIS VACCINATION IS WELCOME NEWS Montreal's public health department is welcoming news that the Quebec government has announced a province-wide vaccination program against meningitis for the province's young people.

Wed 7/18/01 8:00 PM MENINGITIS VACCINATION FOR YOUTH TO GO AHEAD Health Minister Remy Trudel has announced Quebec is going ahead with a campaign to vaccinate all Quebecers from the ages of two months to 20 years against meningitis. The program is expected to cost about $100-million.

WATER

FARM SUBSIDIES AND WORLD FOOD DONATIONS

President Bush has made public pronouncements to the effect that he will insist that Canada sell bulk water to the U.S. Video footage showed drought in Alberta, floods in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and the water levels on Lake St. Louis being some 2 feet below normal. Does the Federal Government have an obligation to help the farmers?

One third of farmers did not apply for crop insurance and other farm subsidies. The U.S. and Europe heavily subsidize their farmers, but in such a way as not to contravene WTO and EU regulations. The Canadian approach is considered a subsidy and this should be changed to follow the US model more closely. Some of the farms are not productive, and the current sale price may be below the production cost. Canada has marketing boards for wheat, milk, eggs, etc. that aim to control and keep the prices high so that the farmers do stay in business.

In the States there have been cases of farmers being paid not to sow a certain crop. There is also a problem of poor distribution, and lack of planning on a worldwide basis. Canada produces lots of wheat, but many of the poorer nations have rice as a staple. Donating wheat and rice to poor countries may not be in their best interest, as the donation reduces their self-sufficiency.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SALE OF WATER

Judith Patterson continued to explain some of the discussions taking place at the Climate Change conference. Selling ice or icebergs to the America is not a sensible solution as the Artic icecaps have a moderating influence on the climate, and the salinity balance in the oceans is negatively affected by the lack of fresh water being trapped and removed by human activity.

Comrade Harry Mayrovich pointed out that in any debate on water, we must remember that the resources of planet Earth are finite, and we should not consider one shot deals with the US to solve a short-term problem. The whole field of conservation and preservation of world resources should be discussed at the United Nations.

Susan Eyton-Jones Education is important. If the schools explained the finite nature of our resources and encouraged children not to waste water, food, etc, and take a moderate, conservation approach – this would be to the advantage of the next generation. At a conference in The Hague there were excellent demonstrations on how to save water with relatively inexpensive techniques and equipment. In hot parts of the world, hydroelectric dams have problems because of high evaporation rates and silting up of the dams. In the case of the Colorado River only 4% of the water makes it to the Pacific. Trying to grow grass in the Arizona desert is a poor use of water resources. In and around the Aral Sea (as well as in the Southwest of the U.S.), rice and cotton are being grown, and these are well known to require large amounts of water.

David Mitchell recently viewed the Rocky Mountain Trench, which some Americans have proposed as a way to deliver large amounts of water from the Yukon to the States. The Great Lakes are down about two feet below normal. While there are fluctuations depending on rain and snowfall, bulk water sales to the States would cause serious problems. If the flow in the St. Lawrence is reduced, seawater will encroach back up the river and cause agricultural and other problems. The aquifers have been built up over thousands of years, and mining of this “old” water, will not be replaced in the short term. Naya bottled water from a spring near Mirabel in the Laurentians has been extracting large quantities for sale around the world, and now has a depleted aquifer. Gabi Ratxer said that in Austria there is excellent Alpine water, that is now being bottled and sold in places like Dubai. In the States, where increasing numbers of people are moving to the Sun Belt, it is clear there will be an increasing demand for water. Gerald suggested that if we can a reasonable, high price then water should be sold. When the price of both gas and bottled water reach a dollar a litre, people will think about conservation of both!

It is both disturbing and distressing that the needs of the US seem to take precedence over all other world needs. Whether it is a shortage of water, refusal to sign the Kyoto agreement or the development of a missile shield, endangering world stability and the world eco-system and alienating Russia and EU countries.

HOLLY JONAS - PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

After much anticipation, Holly Jonas’ first book entitled “In Their Own Words - Canadian Choral Conductors” is in print and available locally at The Double Hook. One of the very first copies was delivered to Wednesday Night. Holly’s accomplishment was enthusiastically received and applauded. Diana read Holly’s touching and graceful dedication of their copy.

To Diana and David,
In gratitude for what “Wednesday Night” has done for the larger Jonas family….
It is so appropriate that this book is about conductors. When David is at the helm of a “Wednesday Night” session, is he not conducting? Is he not orchestrating? Watch how he brings in his “human instruments”, one after the other, striving for a certain balance, harmony, connectedness, phrasing, colour and rhythm! He knows when to terminate the “solos” and how to reach the CODA. Meanwhile, his multi-talented concert-master (mistress?) Diana keeps everything groundedd, attends to the fine details and smoothes out the process. Fine musicians both. HHJ

STEM CELL RESEARCH

Video clips on the debate in the U.S. Congress led off the discussion on Stem Cell research, and the ethics of working with frozen embryos. Realistically, the concern about this research is idle debate, as the research will go ahead, and the US could be left behind.

The subject is inevitably linked to religious teachings and individual concepts of Ethics. There are still so many questions unanswered in this debate that it is difficult to arrive at a substantiated conclusion. Therefore, most initial reactions are based on whatever the individual’s understanding of the definition of Life – usually derived from teachings of his or her Church.

As the discussion evolved to the influence of different national cultures on questions of this nature, and the clash of those national beliefs at the level of wider political entities, a question was raised about the effect on public policy of the free flow of people and their respective cultures in Europe. Gabi confirmed that Austria has rules and laws to cultivate their culture, language and dialects. Germany and Austria want to be unique. Austria has had a great influx of people as a result of the breakup of Yugoslavia. There are concerns that have been raised by Joerg Haider(49) (the leader of Austrian right-wing Liberal Party) about the ability of their health system to cope with this influx and still give good service to the native Austrians. This is a result of Haider’s sense of what concerns many Austrians have, but normally do not express.

Dr. Judith Patterson

...So my promise to you is that I will be there and I must ask you to promise me that you won't invite me to stay past 11 p.m. OK?
love Judy

Thank You

Judith Patterson closed the evening by thanking Gabi Ratzer for taking time out of her holiday in Canada to join the discussion. [JP did a grand job DTB]

QUOTES OF THE EVENING:

• “Ignorance of the facts never stopped anyone from having an opinion!” GR
• “The biggest problem in the world is the US!”
• "This is not an endless or boundless supply of water. It's a gift from the glacial ages."
• "Nothing is wasted in nature. It is human society that is busy squandering water."
• "Resarch must not stop!"

What is Wednesday-Night? Diana T. Nicholson

David Nicholson

Notes by Gerald Ratzer Edited byDavid & Diana Thébaud Nicholson

click for big photo of Eric McConachie the Ratzers, Gerald & Gabi | 600x424 Photo by David Nicholson