http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/Home.aspxBob Laytons Blogen-usCopyright 2013, CHED-AMSat, 18 May 2013 07:39:49 GMTThu, 16 May 2013 17:18:01 GMT1http://emmisinteractive.comIt’s Friday, let’s have a look in the mailbag.  About the arena deal: Richard doesn’t like it but it’s a done deal so he’ll take his frustrations out at the ballot box.  Lorne says the arena will be fantastic for Edmonton and area.  About the election pollsters being so wrong, again, Bill says maybe they can only get in touch with people like him and his friends who make sport of telephone surveys.  NewDivide says pollsters are as annoying as telemarketers.  Wendy says she never tells them the truth.  Paul says people tend to speak ideologically but vote pragmatically.  About the forced teachers’ contract, Mike says the government obviously has its own agenda.  He thinks this will be their last term and he voted for them.  David says school budgets are way too big and there are too many fiefdoms.  Matt doesn’t like the way the education minister undermines elected ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545593info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545593Thu, 16 May 2013 17:18:01 GMTA couple of decades ago I started a small DJ service.  Not having much money, I bought the least expensive speakers I could get.   Once out of the store and set up in public they looked cheap and I soon discovered they didn’t have much range.  Half-way through a dance one side blew out, and I was left with moving one speaker to the middle of the stage. Embarrassed, I bought the most expensive speakers on the market.  They were big.  A thousand watts.  When I got home I felt sick.  I now owed payments and interest that were not justified with the few bookings I had.  I set up for the next dance. They sure looked good on stage.  Before I had even started the music, a man came up to book me for his event.  “But, you haven’t even seen my show, “I said.  “Don’t need to,” he ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545330info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545330Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:03 GMTIt was just a little over a year ago we were asking the same question in Alberta that they are asking in British Columbia today: How could the polls get it so wrong, again?  This was supposed to be the big upset election.  Some polls had the NDP in office by a landslide.  18 to 20 percentage points were popular numbers, although the day before the election that lead had shrunk to a still winning 9.  But, it still didn’t happen.  Pollsters are 0 for 2 in just over a year.  So, why is that?  Do people bothered at suppertime not tell pollsters the truth?  Are pollsters missing a portion of the population?  Landlines are becoming landfill, and pollsters can’t get to you on your cell phone.   Are the polls too cumbersome, not able to turn on a dime when social media causes a sudden u-turn as a candidate says something stupid?  ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544795info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544795Wed, 15 May 2013 13:15:04 GMTThe heavy provincial hand that has come down on post-secondary institutions and doctors and pharmacies is now crushing opposition from school boards and teachers.  The Alberta government is bringing in legislation to implement a new labour deal for its 40-thousand dedicated teachers.  Education Minister Jeff Johnson says the move is necessary because a majority of teachers and school boards have ratified the framework deal.  He claims to have the support of 97% of the people affected.  He calls it support.  That might be a little generous.  Look what happened to the STAR Catholic board in Leduc. They dared to disagree with the province.  They rejected the deal.  That earned them a special meeting attended by Minister Johnson.  They “revisited” the decision and this time, enough voted in favor to eke out a 5-4 decision caving to the minister.  The board says this is not a question of the trustees having ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544216info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544216Tue, 14 May 2013 10:12:51 GMTIt’s Friday, let’s have a look in the mail bag.  About the hundreds of people who emailed council to get the arena job done, Lorne says email volume can be manipulated.  He’d like to see a referendum.  Richard agrees, saying the only people against that are the ones who know they’d lose.  About the number of children in foster care, David says we only hear about them when they die.  He’d like to hear about it when children are removed from horrible situations in the first place.  About what we should be teaching students in High School, Lorne says public speaking would be a big help.  Dave wants us to get back to the 3 R’s and morals.  Kate wanted to be in a shop class but they discouraged her, saying it wouldn’t be good to be the only girl in the class.  About the terrible roads, Ken says it ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10542588info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10542588Fri, 10 May 2013 08:56:33 GMTFrom time to time someone will call me to complain about something the city is doing.  It could be anything from garbage pick-up times to snow clearing to the building of another multi-million dollar project.  I always ask what their city councilor had to say about the issue, and too often the answer is, “I don’t even know who my councilor is.”  They’re not even sure who they voted for last time, if they even voted.  I wonder if anyone had to look up the name and email address of their councilor before weighing in on the arena question.  Some councilors got 6 to 800 emails.  Some messages were for the arena, some against, but all basically telling them to get the job done, one way or the other.  Council was visibly affected by this written outpouring of citizen concern.  The mayor mentioned it, as did some of the councilors.  ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10542252info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10542252Thu, 09 May 2013 09:18:13 GMTWe talked last week about the parole hearing for the man who killed four football players from Grande Prairie, and how the families of the victims hope they don’t have to drive to Drumheller to object to his release.  A video conference would be nice.  They haven’t heard back yet.  The same thing has just been asked of a judge in Saskatoon.  It’s the case where a man was murdered, and his family lives in Ontario.  They can’t afford to travel to Saskatoon and pay a hotel bill for a couple of weeks.  They asked if the judge would permit the trial to be live-streamed to a courtroom in Toronto.  The judge said no, because it would set a dangerous precedent if other people wanted the same thing. What if they did?  What’s wrong with live-streaming a trial using a web cam or whatever to give the victims a break?  ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10539994info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10539994Thu, 09 May 2013 09:15:15 GMTIn Manitoba, they’ve been hearing about the death of a 5 year old aboriginal girl, Phoenix Sinclair. She had been in and out of foster care and given back to her mother, who sat and watched as her boyfriend beat the child to death.  They buried her and kept collecting the welfare payments.  Social workers visited the home, never saw the child, but assumed everything was O.K.  It is often the case that aboriginal children are in the care of white families.  There is now a call from inside the native community for aboriginals to take care of their own children.  My wife and I once cared for a young aboriginal girl.  Unhappy with life in Edmonton, she called for someone to come and take her back to the reserve.  Her aunt came, heard her complaints, including having to wash her hands before meals, and noted she was properly fed and clothed and in school.  Even ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541431info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541431Wed, 08 May 2013 12:34:00 GMTIt is interesting to watch the provincial government’s moves when it comes to education.  Post-secondary institutions took a financial hit that they say could see jobs lost and class sizes increase.  Not as many schools are being built as you had expected.  At the same time they are increasing educational spending in other areas such as preparing students for the trades.  Eleven million dollars over three years to help more students earn class credits that might also lead to jobs.  High school students in Edmonton have already had a head start in everything from hairdressing to automotives to carpentry.  This new money will open up opportunities to become a welder or a cook or even open the door to engineering.  This is a good plan in a time when so many in the trades are retiring and we look to foreign workers.  When, as Paul Simon said, I look back ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541123info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541123Tue, 07 May 2013 10:34:05 GMTYesterday, I gave a 93 year old woman a ride home in my car.  She is frail and we hadn’t gone far when she remarked on the state of Edmonton’s roads.  She’s never felt them this bad.  Even where they’ve been patched, it’s still too bumpy to be acceptable for a capital city.  At the same time, I get a letter from Maxine, who echoes the sentiment of many others who wonder why the city looks at spending money we don’t have on so many things just to make us look good.  Do you think she’ll be upset if her councilor votes to go ahead with an arena, without cash in place?  She’s concerned about talk of spending money to build a beach with no water.  Not worthy of city funding, says Maxine.  I won’t even get into all the letters about the Talus Balls.   Others wonder why we ...http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10540517info@630CHED.com (Bob Layton)http://www.630ched.com/Blogs/BobLaytonsBlog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10540517Mon, 06 May 2013 10:03:57 GMT