Right in the centre - Olympics opening ceremonies not surprising but very disappointing
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- Published on Saturday, August 3, 2024
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
The world was looking forward to seeing the beginning of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It鈥檚 still a great show but the opening was severely smeared by a crude and lewd portions of the Opening Ceremonies.
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Right in the centre - Discerning right from wrong
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- Published on Thursday, July 25, 2024
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
I used to tell my kids, 鈥淎sk yourself if it鈥檚 right or wrong and if it鈥檚 wrong, don鈥檛 do it.鈥� I still think it鈥檚 good advice but in the 40 years since I used spread that advice, there鈥檚 been a deluge of change about what is right or wrong.
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Right in the centre - It doesn't make sense
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- Published on Thursday, July 18, 2024
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
I have been accumulating a number of things in my mind that don鈥檛 make sense. I am sure you could add many more to the list
A recent report notes that B.C. produces more wood pellets than any other Canadian province, and production is 鈥渄ominated鈥� by a U.K.-based company Drax, which owns the world鈥檚 single-largest wood-burning facility. Drax also owns, or partially owns, eight of B.C鈥檚 12 pellet mills and is responsible for 80 per cent of the province鈥檚 exports. Anther report noted that Drax gets paid a huge subsidy from the British government to burn these pellets to make steam to make electricity. Why? Because the government has decided that wood pellets are better than coal. Really? Britain produces coal so how can wood chips make more sense than coal when the trees have to be cut, the wood has to be chipped, then pelleted. The pellets have to be trucked to a railhead, shipped by rail to a seaport, shipped by sea to England, unloaded and then put into a huge furnace to make steam so an electrical generator can make electricity. Now please tell me why that makes sense?
Right in the Centre - Historical Foundations (repeat)
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- Published on Thursday, July 11, 2024
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
The following column is a re-run from July 2023. Whether it鈥檚 a review or new to you, I hope you enjoy the history and I welcome your comments.
When we look back through the archived pages of our newspapers, we get a bird鈥檚 eye view of how things were done over 100 years ago. Some things really stand out.
Perhaps the first thing that jumps off the pages is the lack of what would today we call 鈥減olitical correctness鈥�. Opinions and humour back in the day were pretty much unbridled. There was no filter on the editors鈥� typewriters 100 or more years ago.They said whatever was on their minds and sometimes their comments very bluntly called out politicians and citizens alike.
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Right in the centre - Some uncomfortable truths
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- Published on Friday, July 5, 2024
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
Former US President Ronald Reagan said once, 鈥淭he nine most feared words in the English language are, I鈥檓 here from the government and I鈥檓 here to help.鈥�
How true that is. Generally speaking, when governments get involved, they screw things up. The modern day economy is littered with examples. While well intentioned, most government initiatives are inefficient, expensive and misguided. But as a wise friend of mine pointed out after reading this column, big businesses screw up badly too. Big tobacco companies as an example.
