The Black Rod

We appreciate the emails from concerned readers who have asked, where have we been?  Working diligently on Project X. Thank you for your tips. It took the train wreck known as Manitoba Hydro to get us to set things aside and get back into the arena. Manitoba Hydro has applied to the Public Utilities Board for another hike in rates. This year they're asking for a rates to go up 3.95 percent. Something about that number seemed odd. But what? It didn't take long to answer the question with a clipping from a Canadian Press story posted two-and-a-half years ago. "Manitoba Hydro's CEO says customers can expect rate increases of about 3.5 per cent a year for the foreseeable future as the Crown-owned utility builds new generating stations while export prices are soft."  ( CP, Sept. 19, 2012 ) So Hydro's minimum rate hike has climbed by almost half a percent a year.  And that's  after the plan to build Manitoba's biggest generatin...

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!!! What's wrong with all you people? Don't you know that this warm weather is a harbinger of doom? Haven't we been told over and over again for the past 10 years that global warming will bring the end of mankind? That Mother Earth herself is at risk? And here you are, celebrating the early spring, raking your lawns with gusto, taking your dear children for walks when you should be praying for another six weeks of harsh winter to preserve the world for those very offspring. Fie, we say. Fie. Oh well. There's nothing we can do but clear our desks of the clutter that's piled up this gorgeous month and write our annual March Madness issue. Spring Romance The Green Party knows the end is nigh. But its too busy plotting merger with the Liberal Party of Manitoba, or so we were told earlier this month. Talk about madness. Who in the world cares about what the Green Party and the Liberal Party are doing? Zero meet zero. ...