Everything Is New

Several interesting items for you to consider. All of them are shiny new too. Uncirculated until now.

THE MIGHTIEST CABINET MINISTER OF THEM ALL

Perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part given his vicious attacks on Sandra in the past that were designed to pressure her into submission. But oh boy, did Gord Henderson ever blow it in his column on this one. Did he ever misunderstand what happened to Sandra Pupatello! Queen’s Park understands but clearly those in positions of influence in Windsor don’t.

Sandra is now the Minister of International Trade and Investment. That now makes her the MITI (pronounced “mighty”) Minister, a powerhouse in the Cabinet.

Think traveling the world is unimportant in getting new jobs:

• “Granholm sees progress in Japan visit
  BY TOM WALSH • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
  
  Gov. Jennifer Granholm concluded a three-day visit to Japan today, saying there is “a very good likelihood” that at least nine of 23 companies she met with will decide in the next few months to create jobs in Michigan by locating or expanding in the state.
  
  “We did more prospecting this time, meeting with companies we hadn’t visited before, particularly in alternative energy, battery and wind power companies,” she said in a telephone interview from Nagoya.”

What Gord neglected to mention is that this was also the Premier’s way of slapping down our Mayor. The way I heard it was that adding Revenue to Dwight’s portfolio review doesn’t do all that much although it appears that way. However, what it means is that Dwight’s position as the guy who controls Windsor provincially has been solidified and that’s bad news for our Mayor.

It is pretty clear that Dwight who has said “THE MAYOR IS WRONG. THE MAYOR IS WRONG” and Eddie cannot tolerate each other, especially after Eddie snubbed Dwight’s pre-budget meeting.

There is no doubt that Sandra’s function in the past was to be Eddie’s Queen’s Park friend. Or was it babysitter…someone who had to be close to him to figure out his next vision and to try to understand what his agenda was. Given her function and the creation of a new Department, she will have little time to tolerate his foolishness and now, the Premier does not care either.

Councillor Valentinis can continue to cry about why Windsor is treated like the plague by the Senior Levels.

IS A NEW AUTO PLANT COMING TO WINDSOR

Forget the nonsense about the electric car. That is not a Windsor’s future notwithstanding this story:

• “When the first electric cars reach showrooms in 2011, Windsor intends to be the first municipality in Canada to have public charging stations available to keep them rolling down city streets.
  
  The day after General Motors unveiled the production version of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car, Enwin Utilities and the City of Windsor announced they are laying the groundwork to create the infrastructure for the Volt and its competitors.”

It is hardly a profit maker for Enwin in the short term at least but rather a cost generator

• “Larry Burns, vice-president of research and development for General Motors, said GM started warning utilities, architects, city planners and others last year that they should start thinking about creating infrastructure to accommodate the electrification of the car.”

The arrogance of it… the taxpayers should pay for the infrastructure, not the auto companies! The heck with it, charge the auto companies. It's just like the border. Build a billion dollar bridge for their Just-In-time systems so THEIR costs are reduced.

However, I gave you a little hint about this in one of my BLOGs recently.

• “However, when the Cooke study comes back saying that canals are feasible, as we know the study will, expect the Mayor to make his big announcement. Rather than replacing our streets with more asphalt so that cars can travel over them and pollute the atmosphere or so that Montréal to Tijuana international trucks can go to the Ambassador Bridge, our Mayor will announce that he has demanded of the Senior Levels millions of dollars of infrastructure money so that all of the downtown major streets can be dug up and used as canals!”

Do you remember as well that the Windsor Port Authority

• “is holding preliminary discussions with the largest commuter ferry operator in the United States, which is seeking to begin a commuter service across the Detroit River."

That won’t work. How you get the commuters from the ferry terminal to their place of employment? Buses! Nope, people need to be able to travel on the expressways to get to their final destination.

Ahhhhh. Do you see what I am getting at?

We need a vehicle built in large numbers that will be able to traverse the street canals of Windsor for all of the thousands of families that will flood this area because of our new exciting, rejuvenated downtown. We need one as well for people to cross the Detroit River and allow people to drive in Detroit to get to their jobs. Moreover, Eddie needs a way to generate revenues in case the volumes at the Tunnel are decreased. He needs a spot where he can charge people for crossing over to the US, say at a downtown marina.

Do you get my drift… Windsor is going to be building a new plant for the Amphicar! That company effectively folded in the late 1960’s:

“No 1968 model year Amphicars were directly imported into the USA. This was because of the U.S. Government's EPA and DOT regulations that went into effect beginning with 1968 model year vehicles. This caused a major financial disaster for the Amphicar Corporation since the USA represented about 90% of all Amphicar sales.”

Or was Eddie's trip to London supposedly to meet with the Red Bull people a phony too. If GM is cutting sponsorship of the Super Bowl ads why would they invest millions in an air race? Perhaps Eddie really went to see the Gibbs Technology people who build the Aquada. After all, we have still never seen his holiday press release about his Red Bull meeting:

They are based in the UK! The concept work for the vehicle was undertaken in Detroit in 1997 and 1998.

This is not your father's Amphicar for heaven's sake! It's the world's first High Sspeed Amphibian capable of speeds of over 100 mph on land on over 30 mph on water. It is a natural for Eddie because it is "leading edge" technology and innovation that the developers claim will change the face of travel as we know it. Just wait until Eddie builds the first hybrid transport truck too that can cross the river! That will fix the Bridge Company.

Now you truly understand what the canal deal is all about. Now you know why Eddie was so interested in the Engineering Complex and bringing it downtown. That was going to be his worldwide centre of research for these type of vehicles. The shovel ready land at the airport was going to be location of the plant. The onion exporting from the airport… just a cover for exporting these vehicles to cities like Venice in Italy.

As long as Eddie makes it difficult for cars to use the Ambassador Bridge, then the waterways between Windsor and Detroit will be packed with Amphicar or Aquada water/land vehicles.

How the worm will turn too. Just watch as Eddie runs to Sandra, begging her to be his super salesperson across the world. And in her new job, Sandra is a salesperson par excellence. As she said in the Toronto Star:

• “He [McGuinty] needs a salesperson that's all over the world because that's where our potential is for investment ... as well as access to new markets for our companies," Pupatello said in an interview yesterday…
  
  "What's more difficult is our guys going out there in a whole new ... worldwide market, which we see is becoming so much smaller. We need to help our companies get into these new markets."
  
  Pupatello acknowledged she has a daunting task, but said she is passionate about it. "When you're in sales, you've got to believe what you're talking about and I'm telling you I believe in my province."

Now you are in the loop too.

MY NEW JOB

The Windsor Star needs me. They are having a tough time as are all of the traditional media in this down economy. Oh no, I do not want to take over when Gord Henderson retires as was rumoured sometime ago. No, I need to do something that will make me feel fulfilled and for which I can use my legal background.

As part of my CV and as justification for what I am going to propose, I hope the Editors noticed that a good part of the grass was cut on Dougall Avenue after I posted the picture on my BLOG of all of the weeds in the newly planted almost $1M WOW-FACTOR GARDENS. Not all of it yet and I am not sure how they will get the weeds out but I will leave that to the Parks Department.

You will of course remember the grass cutting on my median literally a day or two after I posted BLOG photos and of course my huge success

• “Parks Department Responds to Super Naysayer”
  
  Gateway to Willistead Stands a Chance
  
  ‘Ed Arditti, exalted Blogmeister behind Windsor City Blog, went to bat for Old Walkerville residents. He convinced city authorities that it was time to take care of at least one of their mandatory albeit more mundane obligations; controlling weeds on city property. After all...It's the little things that make a big difference.”

That was outlined on the BLOGsite of the Mayor of Monmouth.

Here is what is going on in the Star’s sister newspaper in Ottawa. Where do I send in my resume

• The Public Citizen
  Got a problem and want it fixed? Hugh Adami sticks up for Citizen readers
  Published: Sunday, September 21, 2008
  
  OTTAWA-What drew me to journalism many years ago was its long and celebrated tradition of citizen advocacy.
  
  The newspapers that stuck up for their readers, that helped them navigate government bureaucracy, that got parks cleaned up and forced businesses to be good corporate citizens were the places I wanted to work.
  
  I still do, which is why I'm taking on the role of The Public Citizen, a new column that will explore the problems you see in this city, and find the answers on how and when they will be rectified.
  
  Undoubtedly, there will be a city hall connection to many of your frustrations. There is evidence that local government and many of its agencies aren't working as well as they should be and that municipal infrastructure is falling apart. And since amalgamation almost a decade ago, municipal matters have never been so complex and so aggravating for the citizens of Ottawa. Something as simple as getting snow-removal crews to stop dumping boulder-sized chunks of ice and snow on city-owned evergreens in front of your home can take years…
  
  I care about the city as much as you do and want to improve the way things work here. This paper is here to help.”