The Newest Strain Appears: Reallyfreakingoutitis Disease

Karma.

I saw this definition of Karma which I found interesting:

• "In Buddhist teaching, the law of karma, says only this: `for every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful.' A skillful event is one that is not accompanied by craving, resistance or delusions; an unskillful event is one that is accompanied by any one of those things. (Events are not skillful in themselves, but are so called only in virtue of the mental events that occur with them.)
  
  Therefore, the law of Karma teaches that responsibility for unskillful actions is born by the person who commits them."

Have you noticed, there are no Greenlink type demands or outrage by the Mayor and Council when the City is the polluter. Therefore responsibility falls on Members of Council for what may follow.

Let me give another example of what I mean.

There are apparently, according to one of my readers, many other medical conditions which a politician may suffer if they sniff Detroit/Windsor Tunnel vehicle exhaust that comes spewing out of our heritage Tunnel Exhaust Building in the heart of downtown or existing medical conditons can get worse:

• "Ed, I can’t resist getting on the bandwagon with this one. I’ve heard that toxic fumes can also cause:
  
  Selectivememorosis
  Poorjudgmentococcis
  Insensitiviticulosus
  Countercountycoliosis
  Footinmouthdisease
  Unaccountabursitis
  
  This is more fun that a stupid Monopoly game"

And then after doing some online surfing I would guess

• "More research indicates the following debilitating conditions resulting from toxic fumes:
  
  Acutecupeantibodies
  Canalcololitis
  MDOTridiculosis
  Indianroadrunnerapathy
  DRICtunnelvision
  Overactiveconsultationhormone
  Blackberryaddiction
  Spendingsanitarium"

Well you get the picture.

However, it appears that Freakingoutitis can grow rapidly into Reallyfreakingoutitis if the appropriate steps are not taken to contain the disease. Here are additional symptons which may indicate the spread:

1) I can say whatever I want and I dare you to prove otherwise

You would think a guy who is so at home with the new technology would remember about video tape and digital recordings and would remember that they are being used now in the Community. Check out the deferral comments on Chris Schurr's BLOG http://chrisschnurr.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/municipal-day-care-request-for-deferrals

2) Blame it all on the Councillors

• "Some Windsor councillors also expressed shock at claims by Mayor Eddie Francis he attempted to get council to defer a decision on the fate of the two county daycares, but wasn’t successful.
  
  Francis told reporters Thursday he attempted to get council to defer a decision on Tecumseh and Amherstburg’s daycares."

Except here is what a Councillor said in reply

• “I was surprised to hear that,” said Coun. Drew Dilkens. “That was the first I heard of his being interested in deferral for those locations. The support would have been there if he actually put that motion forward.”

Edgar did not do so as the video on Chris Schurr's BLOG makes perfectly clear

3) ALWAYS blame it all on the Councillors. ALWAYS.

• "Francis called it a “politically convenient argument” to raise the issues of deferral several days after the meeting and day care decision. Any councillor could have brought forward the motion for deferral to meet with the county and failed to do that during the meeting.
  
  “No other councillor put that motion forward,” he said.

Uhhhh, Edgar, things are getting problematic with you.

Councillor Lewenza did on his first deferral request. Just listen to the video. He wanted the deferral for a meeting with the Province, the County, the School Board, parents and Community groups

And on the second deferral Motion until the beginning of March, he wanted community consultation and a discussion with the County to look for new ideas

4) Whew I owe Councillor Hatfield one now

He was the one who put forward the absurd concept of inviting Opposition parties to the meeting to guarantee that there could never be a consensus.

Why didn't he suggest that for Greenlink? Hmmm, not possible. After all Edgar snubbed John Tory too.

Hey not my fault if the daycares closed down because of my friendly amendment.

5) It's only the County

Edgar must live in a dreamworld

• "He said the relationship with the county will not be harmed based on the way the city handled the daycare issue."

From the The Amherstburg Echo:

• "County council blasts city regarding daycares
  
  AMHERSTBURG — Essex County council blasted their colleagues from Windsor over the lack of input the county said they had in the matter of daycare centre closures...
  
  At their meeting last Wednesday night, members of county council pulled no punches in their assessment of the move.
  
  Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara said he watched the five-hour "debacle" and believed it was a "done deal" heading into the meeting. He questioned what, if any, notice or input the county got into the matter and believed the issue of municipal daycares showed how Windsor views such partnerships.
  
  "It is Windsor only and it only matters what (Windsor) wants," accused McNamara. "Shame on them. This is unacceptable for our partners to tell us on social services matters 'we don't need to talk to you guys.' It's unacceptable."
  
  McNamara called the Feb. 1 city council meeting "a sham" adding "they were closing them no doubt about it."
  
  Parents in Amherstburg and Tecumseh "deserve better," he added...
  
  LaSalle Deputy Mayor Bill Varga said he was "disturbed" about how things transpired and also called Windsor's council meeting "a sham..."
  
  "Not that we had any authority, at least we would have participated in the decision that was made and voice our opposition," said Varga.
  
  Agreeing the decision was Windsor's to make, Essex Mayor Ron McDermott called the city's meeting a "fiasco" and said he was "P.O.'ed at them.
  
  "I'm really upset with the mayor and city council," he said.
  
  Warden Nelson Santos agreed no one is questioning the city's authority on the matter, but noted the county has similar authority over land ambulance. He said the city was brought to the table when discussing restructuring of ambulance services.
  
  Santos will send a letter to the city outlining the county's concerns. He agreed that the city has no legal obligation to consult the county but "this is not about doing the legal thing, it's about doing the right thing."
  
  Tecumseh Deputy Mayor Tom Burton wondered why Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis didn't ensure the matter on an agenda of a joint city/county meeting.
  
  "It's unfortunate my residents are going to pay the price for his arrogance," said Burton.
  
  "It doesn't look good for the relationship between the city and the county," added Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain."

6) Why aren't they mindreaders

• "In a letter to Santos dated Jan. 29, Francis stated he wanted to "express my concern and surprise" that despite communication between administration of both the city and county, "it has been publicly portrayed that there has been no communication between the city and county on this issue."
  
  Francis wrote that the city has provided reports to county council as well as appearing at county council meetings since the city was put in charge of social services in 2000."

That's true....they should have known, without any recent consultation as confirmed by Ms Warsh, that because something happened a third of a decade ago, the same would happen out of the blue today:

• "He said county politicians and administrators were aware of the possibility of the two county day cares being closed, dating back to 2007 when the city-operated Leamington day care was closed."

Perhaps instead the County foolishly thought that the City was doing what was required of them in the 2005 Daycare report to cut losses.

As for Administrators talking:

• "Francis said the CAOs of the city and county did have some advance discussion of possible closures of daycares.
  
  County CAO Brian Gregg said he received notice about the same time as The Star was reporting it publicly."

7) I needed an extra 3/4 million for consultants

• “All knew the decision had to be made. Deferring this would only have added to the uncertainty and caused further delay.”

Gee, a whole bunch of people did not want the decision made even though Windsor's preliminary budget had already cut out the money.

• "Going into Monday night's five-hour debate on closing municipally operated daycares, Francis said preliminary budget documents prepared by administration had already taken into consideration anticipated savings from the shutdown of those facilities.
  
  The closings are targeted for Sept. 1, affect 125 union and non-union positions -- seven of those are currently vacant -- and net $743,572 in annual savings for the city."

8) Let's talk now after we made the decision

• "Francis further stated the city would "make ourselves available" to further discuss the matter and work with the county."

To show goodwill and good faith, just pass a Motion to Reconsider and then pass a one month deferral! But of course, that won't happen.

It's the Edgar-style. It is hilarious to watch. In fact, to have fun with Edgar learn about his mannerisms and play against them on purpose. Just watch that kill button on the microphone system flashing on and off to know you got him.

He just cannot back down ever. It would mean that he made a mistake, something that is impossible since he is the great Planner. He has to have it his way. Even if the consequences are horrific--like setting back City/County relations for a decade---he just does not care. Edgar can never ever admit that he was wrong or that he made an error.

Never retreat. Bluff it out. The Messenger is always there to spread the Word. In reality, he compounds problems and compounds them. He makes everything worse. Why can't he just deliver the straight goods instead of playing these game? What is so hard about it?

A number of County Mayors I am told who genuinely liked Edgar, now see what he is like. Perhaps some Councillors who were shocked at how they were blamed by Edgar now see it too.

Edgar just did it to himself.

It's Karma.