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Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, On1868), 28 Jun 2006, p. 9

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Unfortunately, I think that young adults and children these days are filling their minds with unnecessary and nonsensical information. Who cares about Brad and Angelina‘s baby? Although these programs are indeed interesting, it sickens me how people seem to be more conâ€" cerned about Brad Pitt and Angeliâ€" na Jolie‘s new baby than the 12 milâ€" lion AIDS orphans in Africa, or how over 80 per cent of our rainforests have been destroved. would like to bring something to Ithe people of Waterloo‘s attenâ€" tion. Over my Grade 8 year here at MacGregor public school, from talking to many teachers, friends and classmates, I have realized that only a small percentage of students read the newspaper or watch the news on television. From watching television and flipping the channels on a regular basis, 1 have noticed a huge growth in the (amount) of celebrity news and entertainment shows. â€" _ Doesn‘t PETA have better things to do as two new kittens enter the fold Does your family mind that you write about them? Not if they want to eat. No, I‘m kidding. My wife sometimes warns me not to write about certain things, which I wouldn‘t do anyway, but I think she‘s convinced I‘m about to go over the edge. And the girls are pretty decent about everything. They all have a good sense of humour. And of course, they‘re comfortable with the fact they‘re all borderline crazy. â€" It‘s not that our house is any more insane than yours, it‘s just the window 1 peer through has some slightly twisted glass in it. We, as a society, are spending As far as 1 can tell, my job is to flash signals from third base, that some (OK, most) seem to conveniently ignore. That‘s OK, they‘re a fun group and most of the time are reasonably competitive. Plus it‘s great to see so many young women, and some slightly on the other side of young, (to put it delicately) still playing the game. Truth or Fiction: Yes. Most of the stoâ€" ries are true. Or all the stories are mostly true? "Based on real life events" as they say in the movies, is probably the most accuâ€" rate way to put it. That didn‘t last too long. A group of young women have put a team in the Kâ€"W |p Women‘s Fastball League, and they asked A me to help. ML irst of all, thanks to all those people who take Fthe time to say some very nice things to me about these weekly ramblings. Some people even find them funny. Or do they mean peculiar? I‘m not sure. Nonetheless it‘s always good to hear something nice. __And in response to all that, 1 figured 1 would answer a few lingering questions people have had. Retirement: OK. Stop reminding me. I wrote back in the winter how I was missing the annual rite of spring of me in putting together a girls‘ fastball team. Plus it‘s my way of coping with the horrendous Until the Hilton sisters spend their fortune on trying to reverse the effects of global warming, I‘m just not that interested in what they have to say. What I believe we can do to raise awareness in our community is to advertise environmentally friendly products, or just to make a conâ€" scious effort as human beings to spend our time making our world a better place to live, and helping othâ€" ers in their time of need instead of trying to keep up with celebrities‘ lives. Realizing that this is a problem in our country and world is the first step to making a change. I am inspired by reading articles about young adults in our commuâ€" nity who are doing great things for our society, just like the saying goes, we should "Think globally, but act locally." way too much time and effort focussing on trying to catch up on the latest celebrity gossip, when we should be trying to fix the million problems with our modern world. COM Thank goodness the donations people send to your group are being put to such good use, like trolling through North American newspapers to find another opportunity to send out a stupid note. * Hear more of Brian‘s thoughts on life with the KOOL Morning Crew every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on Waterloo radio station 105.3 KOOL FM. Of course, people should get their pets spayed and neutered. That was the entire point, you dough heads. l ___| ...oh, and a side note to the People AN for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, RKE who of course sent a letter to the editor of the Chronicle a couple of weeks ago after the first mention of the cats. Please don‘t send another one! _ What a waste of time and effort! levels of estrogen in the house. And your wife? Diana is the most understanding person in the world. But even after 27 years (all of them happy for me, her, well perhaps not so much!), at least once a week she looks at me as if I were insane. This, I find, keeps things fresh. And every day I think I got the better part of the deal, so it‘s all __ And what about the kittens? Yes indeed we are pleased to announce that Guy, the trampy London cat has given birth. Two kittens. Actually, there was a third, but it sadly did not make it. 5 Hannah Kunert Waterloo Sigh I had to remind them they were kitâ€" tens, not people, but 1 was quickly shoved aside, as just another insensiâ€" tive man. However, everything is good, and both Billy the Diabetic Dog and Tequiâ€" la the Unfortunately Named Cat seem very pleased. Quite an exciting day. Who knew young women in their 20‘s were so nuts about kittens? Really, they hovâ€" ered around the house all day, talking about being grandmothers, and aunts. All I am trying to say is let kids be kids. Don‘t make them grow up too fast because if that happens, so many good futures will be going to waste. Kids and even teens are now not allowed to do what their parents or older siblings did as children. Today‘s kids have to find their own things to do. The only problem is that they are hanging out in the streets, vandalising and lots more. You see, not letting kids grow up makes them behave worse, and then when they become parents they won‘t be able to share all of those memories. All they will remember is being in the back of a police car or their criminal record. owadays kids are growing up Nnot having fun and missing out on their childhoods. One thing 1 remember as a kid growing up was that every weekend when 1 went to my dad‘s house, we would always play road hockey or basketball on the street. Let kids be kids IV 19 Ryan Yantz Waterloo Sean Strickland has served as a public school trustee, city and regional councillor. He hosts a public affairs show on Rogers Cable 20 Thursday nights at 7pm. To reach him email sean@seanstrickâ€" However this project needs to slow down. It would be foolish for the city to proceed unless they knew the Y was going to be a true partner. Recent speculation that if the Y can‘t do it the city will build it anyways sounds more wistful than practical. Once approved the city will be committed to leasing the land for 99 years. Hopefully council will take longer than three weeks to consider the proposal Meanwhile city staff want a green light from council on July 10. I know the city is anxious to get a shovel in the ground for the library. (I have some sympathy for the Library board whose expansion plans have now somehow become inextricably linked with variables much out of their control). Ouch. After much fanfare last week the west side recreation/library project seems to be unraveling. The YMCA has indicated they don‘t have the $6 million in the bank and would like more time (likely August or September) to see if they can come up with the dough and/or determine the feasibility of the project. By theyway, a local NDP supporter in speaking with me last week was incensed that if it was not for their party bringing down the federal government this past winterâ€"the Liberals would have passed their national childâ€"care program and this whole issue would have been resolved satisfactorily for all Canadians. Childâ€"care advocates have long lobbied for a national dayâ€" care program and many feel that given the realities of federal politics the opportunity for a national dayâ€"care program may have been lost forever. Let‘s hope this isn‘t the case. Full stop needed for YMCA/library project I suspect after all the noise is made two things may happen 1) the province will find some or all of the required money or 2) the province will stick to their original position. If this happens more teeth gnashing and posturing will occur but eventually the region will come up with the money, and so they should. Unfortunately the latest flap over the province pulling back on the funding for our regional day care is not a spot I would choose to draw a line in the sand on. While regional councillors and staff are miffed at the shortfall in the allocation, councillors should stand up to the province, but at the same time make sure they find the $1.8 million to keep the subsidized childâ€"care proâ€" gram viable. Even though it is my last column, I still can‘t pass up the opportunity to state an opinion or two on a couple of issues. Every now and again municipal councils get upset with how they are treated by senior levels of government. This group of community minded citizens are encouraging people to get involved in municipal politics, organizâ€" ing debates and running a website. If you want to learn more about the municipal election, please check out www.mywaterlooregion.com. I am also encouraged by the spirit of debate and discourse that occurs every day in the City of Waterloo and I am particularâ€" ly pleased with the ongoing nonâ€"partiâ€" . mm san work of the voter support commitâ€" Thanks to the Waterloo Chronicle, my editor Andrea Bailey and especially to my readers who always remarked that they read the column and who would also send along some emails. Hopefully after Nov. 13 my views will still be heard but in a differâ€" ent forum as I will soon be registering as a candidate for regional council in the upcoming municipal election. Thanks again it has been a pleasure and an honour to write "strictly speaking" every week. Voter support group doing a great service to the City I have never been known to be at a loss for words, but to write them down, and hopefully in semiâ€"coherent sentences, every week was a task that I was unsure of at first. Thankfully, after a while this space never became a task but rather something 1 looked forward to doing every week. After being in politics for so long and then to be on a hiatus of sorts it was nice to have an column where I could still offer my views and perspective on a wide range of issues. is is my final column. I can‘t believe how quickly the time I has gone since I started writing this column two and a half years ago. I must say when I first agreed to do a weekly colâ€" umn I did so with much trepidation. Until next time _

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