Ottawa’s ‘green-bin’ program and Orgaworld: an open letter to journalist Rob Snow

December 23, 2010 — xanthippa

Hi Mr. Snow!

There are some very important questions we need to learn about Orgaworld – how they got awarded the contract and what type of due diligence was or was not done leading up to this.  Forensic audit should only be one step in this process.

I wonder if there is a clause in the Ottawa ‘deal’ with Orgaworld which would permit us to cancel the contract without penalties (to us):

  • IF Orgaworld fails to produce ‘usable’ compost?
As per The Toronto Star, the compost Orgaworld produces from the Toronto ‘diversion program’ is so toxic, it would kill any plants growing from the soil it was used to ‘enrich’.
The sole reason for the green-bin program is to produce compost that can be used as fertilizer. 

If independent tests show that the compost Orgaworld produces is so toxic that it cannot be used as fertilizer, would this constitute ‘non-compliance’ and/or ‘breech of contract’ by Orgaworld?

  • IF Orgaworld is caught shipping some of the materials from the green-bins to be disposed of as garbage?
In Toronto, whose program is admittedly different from ours, they estimate that up to 22% of the materials Orgaworld accepts is not composted, but burned or dumped in landfills.
Is this standard practice here? 

What percentage of the ‘Ottawa green-bin materials’ we think is being composted does Orgaworld dispose of as ‘garbage’?

We are paying much more for ‘composting’ than we would be for ‘garbage disposal’:  if Orgaworld does not actually compost a certain percentage of the material, should they not refund us that percentage of the fees we pay them?

Would ‘not-composting’ materials we pay them to ‘compost’ constitute ‘non-compliance’ and/or ‘breech of contract’ by Orgaworld?

  • IF any of the materials (finished or not) Orgaworld releases from their plant is found to contain active pathogens which should have been rendered inert in ‘properly produced compost’?
The Toronto Star had found that some of the compost produced from the Toronto program which had been sold as ‘finished product’ actually still contained some live germs which should have been killed in a ‘proper’ composting process.  (To be fair – it does not specify if it was Orgaworld’s product or another manufacturer’s.) 

In an separate incident, it was found that Orgaworld had dumped tons of semi-processed bio-matter – ‘unfinished’ and in various stages of decomposition in places like gravel pits, farm fields and city-owned land without preparing these places to accept bio-waste.

This is an active threat to public health!

Rotting food contains bacteria and other micro-organisms which are toxic to us, humans.  The composting process kills these infectious agents, so that by the time the finished compost is spread on land, the deadly pathogens are neutralized and cannot enter the drinking water system and/or cling to the produce grown in that soil (like, say, e-coli contamination of spinach…).  Some pathogens can become airborne, causing people who inhale them to become ill.

The ‘accelerated’ processes in use in the modern ‘composting factories’ rely on a highly controlled and regulated environment to achieve the composting process which kills these deadly germs. (In the natural, non-accelerated composting process, this takes years and this is why our ancestors had exact composting practices instead of just dumping rotting food on their fields.)

If the bio-matter is dumped outside of this controlled environment before it is completely turned into compost, these pathogens will still be active and pose a serious danger. 

(In addition to the ‘leaching’ and ‘airborn pathogen’ dangers, this could lead to a type of decompostion during which Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is released:  this ‘greenhouse gas’ is 240 times ‘stronger’ than Carbon Dioxide (CO2)!)   😉

Would endangering public health through disposal of only partially-neutralized bio-waste constitute ‘non-compliance’ and/or ‘breech of contract’?

Which brings me to some questions:

What is the quality of the compost Orgaworld produces from the Ottawa ‘Green-bin program’? 

Has anyone tested it?

If so, who?

And where?

How independent are the testing facilities?

The Orgaworld’s Ottawa composting factory had a fire a few months ago.  Fire/smoke is an indicator of ‘improper composting practices’.  Has there ever been an investigation to ascertain which ‘best practices’ were breached in the composting process and caused the fire and how the resultant product will be impacted?

What are the provisions in the Ottawa-Orgaworld contract for non-compliance/breech of contract?  What are the penalties specified?

Are these provisions/penalties ‘similar’ to the ‘industry standard’?

How does this compare to the ‘standard’ for other ‘City contracts’?

How does this compare to the ‘standard contracts’ in the private sector?

Who is responsible for the oversight?  What are the terms and conditions?  Are they being fulfilled?

Who is responsible for any action should there be non-compliance/breech of contract?

Where/how can citizens (especially taxpayers) monitor this process?

Mr. Snow:  you are an excellent journalist who often interviews our City Officials as well as all kinds of other interesting people.  Would you, please, find the answers to these questions?

If you do find any answers to these questions – or any other relevant information – I would be very happy to publish all of it on my blog.

Sincerely yours,

Alexandra,
blogging as Xanthippa

References (in case the links get stripped out from the text):
http://www.thestar.com/iphone/article/660864
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/660862
http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/orgaworld/

Click to access 382500-11.pdf

http://www.ehow.com/list_7313994_hazards-composting.html
http://www.pma.com/resources/issues-monitoring/food-safety/key-learnings-real-world-terms
http://www.extension.org/article/28585
http://www.owma.org/committees/members.asp?mode=d&org=244
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Smouldering+compost+sends+firefighters+Orgaworld+plant/3427666/story.html

Posted in corruption, debate, politics, science, society, technology. Tags: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Thomas Sowell says: read this

December 22, 2010 — xanthippa

Thomas Sowell is one of the smartest people on the nets.

Really.

And, he highly recommends ‘Justice, Denied’ by Quin Hillyer published by ‘The American Spectator’:

‘Under attorney general Eric Holder, the Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) is dangerously politicized, radically leftist, racialist, lawless, and at times corrupt. The good news is that it’s also often incompetent. This means the Holderites can bungle their leftist lawlessness so badly that even the most reticent of judges are obliged to smack them down.

The abuses by the Holderites are legion. They range from DOJ’s infamous abandonment of the already-won voter-intimidation case against several New Black Panthers to multi-faceted assaults on traditional standards of voting rights and obligations; from a growing list of lawsuits deliberately destructive of border security and citizenship laws to outrageously race-based bullying tactics; from efforts to undermine military discipline and state sovereignty on homosexual-related issues to the dangerous obsession with terrorists’ “rights” to the detriment of national security; and, finally, to the selection of judges openly contemptuous of the existing law-all while dedicated to a vision of judge-imposed “universal justice” based not on the text of American statutes but instead on the reigning cultural standards of coastal and international elites. While doing all this, the Holderites operate the least transparent DOJ in decades, treat congressmen and independent agencies with contempt, and claim breathtakingly spurious “privileges” against disclosure of public information.

This isn’t law enforcement and it isn’t justice, but instead is subversive of both.’

Posted in corruption, freedoms, opression, politics, society. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Ron Paul says what I said: the airport groping and x-raying has to stop!

November 18, 2010 — xanthippa

Listen to the man:

  • private property should be protected by private individuals – not the government
  • remove immunity from government agents to grope us and take x-rays of us:  if an ordinary citizen does not have the right to do something, then the government does not have that right either
  • the duty of the government is to protect our rights – not to abuse them in the name of safety
  • buying an airplane ticket does not mean you are relinquishing your rights
  • we are not safer by sacrificing our liberty

Sound familiar?

He also points out something I have said in comments to other blogs, though not blogged here:  putting a loaded gun into the cockpit has been much more effective at curtailing air-terrorism than all  the airport procedures put together!

(OK – I’ve gone further in my comments on other blogs, if not here:  if every adult passenger were required to be certified in the use of firearms and carried a loaded gun on the airplane, we would not only be much safer, we would also be empowered to protect us and our families instead of being treated like cattle waiting for slaughter, hoping it’ll happen later rather than sooner!  It’s about time we started accepting the responsibility for our own safety instead of hoping someone else will do it for us .)

H/T:  Dvorak Uncensored

Update:  MDs and scientists warn that the full body scanners are unsafe and were not properly tested

Posted in corruption, freedoms, opression, society. Tags: , , , , . 3 Comments »

More on airport ‘security’ procedures

November 16, 2010 — xanthippa

People who give up freedom for security will get neither.

This phrase – in various permutations – has been attributed to several different people:  perhaps because it is very true.

Last week, I posed questions about the propriety of the current procedures we are asked to submit to at airports in the name of security as well as an audio of an interview with a woman who, along with her children, was subjected to what amounts to sexual assault during an ‘airport security check‘.

Since the state derives its rights from us, citizens, nobody – not even when they are acting on behalf of the state – has more rights than any other citizen:  because if ‘regular citizens’ do not have the right to touch you in private areas of your body, then they cannot delegate this right to the State and its agents.  Therefore, if a touch is assault if another person on the street touched you that way, it is assault if a TSA or another agent of the State touches you that way.

This week, there is renewed debate on this topic following a YouTube video of a guy who refused to enter the full body scanners telling the TSA agent:  “If you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested.”

Here he describes the encounter in his own words. (H/T –TheRawStory)

Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is the flat assertion by the TSA agent that by purchasing an airline ticket, every citizen  is voluntarily surrendering their rights and freedoms…

And – even after the police and TSA agents escorted him out of the screening area on the instructions of their supervisor’s supervisor because he chose to not proceed with his travel plans, he was told that as a condition of leaving the airport, he had to go back to the screening area and submit to the patdown!

From his blog (my emphasis) – this conversation is taking place after he was escorted out of the secure area by the police and got his ticket refunded:

‘He informed me that I could not leave the airport. He said that once I start the screening in the secure area, I could not leave until it was completed. Having left the area, he stated, I would be subject to a civil suit and a $10,000 fine. I asked him if he was also going to fine the 6 TSA agents and the local police officer who escorted me from the secure area. After all, I did exactly what I was told. He said that they didn’t know the rules, and that he would deal with them later. They would not be subject to civil penalties. I then pointed to Mr. Silva and asked if he would be subject to any penalties. He is the agents’ supervisor, and he directed them to escort me out. The man informed me that Mr. Silva was new and he would not be subject to penalties, either. He again asserted the necessity that I return to the screening area.

…

‘I asked if tried to leave if he would have the officer arrest me. He again said that no one was forcing me to stay. I looked him in the eye, and said, “then I’m leaving”. He replied, “then we’ll bring a civil suit against you”, to which I said, “you bring that suit” and walked out of the airport.’


A few very interesting points in there….

  • the TSA agents, nor their supervisors, ‘knew the rules’ – according to the person who claimed to be in charge of the airport security
  • nor did the police officer on-scene
  • these officials were not going to be penalized for ordering the passenger to do the wrong thing – yet the passenger was liable for following their orders
  • the passenger faced a choice:  disobey the orders of the police officer who told him to leave the secure area OR face a $10,000 fine and a civil lawsuit
  • “You are free to leave – but if you do, we’ll sue you and fine you $10,000!”

No wonder everyone is talking about this incident!

But, that is not all…

Then there is that report of an airline pilot who was traveling with his teenage daughter and overheard the person who checked their bags say into a mike to the people running the full body scanners:  “Heads up –  got a cutie for you!” The daughter found the following patdown ‘invasive’…

When the video of the little girl (perhaps 2-3 years old) being ‘patted down’ while screaming hysterically that she does not want to be touched that way surfaced,  we were told this was an isolated incident of a child which got cranky and just went hysterical for no good reason.  yet, perhaps this child’s instincts were not as wrong as all that:  now we learn that  pedophiles have been shown to be applying to become TSA agents who perform the ‘patdowns’ on children…

Sounds to me like this child is telling us the Emperor is wearing no clothes!

(Well, actually, this is worse:  at least the naked Emperor was not groping anyone!)

Posted in corruption, freedoms, society. Tags: , , , . 5 Comments »

“I’m a Denier”

November 10, 2010 — xanthippa

H/T:  The Reference Frame

Posted in corruption, Humour, politics, scientific fraud. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Videos from anti-McGuinty/Watson rally in Ottawa, 23rd of October 2010

October 24, 2010 — xanthippa

UPDATE: new videos are being added, as they are being posted (….and the duplicate video has been replaced by the one that was meant to have been posted.)

Yesterday’s anti-McGuinty/Watson saw a smaller, but dedicated, group of honest citizens express their disgust at how these corrupt collectivists are ruining our lives.

Though I could not be there myself (my ‘technical difficulties’ are still putting a damper on my mobility), VideoManOttawa has posted the following videos:

Update:  More videos, as they are being posted

Posted in corruption, politics. Tags: , , , . Leave a Comment »

Video from last Saturday’s anti-McGuinty rally in Toronto

October 18, 2010 — xanthippa

BlazingCatfur has the scoop!

Posted in corruption, politics. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments »

Anti-McGuinty rally in Ottawa on the 23rd of October, 2010

October 16, 2010 — xanthippa

Debbie, Shirley and Ruth are at it again!

WHEN:     Saturday, 23rd of October 2010

WHERE:  Dalton McGuinty’s constituency office, 1795 Kilborn Ave., Ottawa

TIME:       11:30 am to 1:00 pm

(Though, if the media show up with their cameras, they do so 19-15 minutes early… and report the number of protesters based on that!)

In Debbie Jodoin’s words:

Let’s send him a very strong message that we are tired of being taxed to death.

 

That just about sums it up…

So, if you are not happy with the McGuiny gang and how they are wrecking Ontario, come out and be heard!

 

Posted in corruption, politics, society. Tags: , , , , , . 1 Comment »

Anti-McGuinty rally in Toronto on the 16th of October

October 15, 2010 — xanthippa

On the premise that late is better than never (I’ve been off-line for a while – my apologies), here is some interesting information for anyone who is sick and tired of the McGuinty regime and their abuse of power, here is information I received from Debbie Jodoin regarding a protest in Toronto.  She’s organizing bus transpo from Ottawa to the rally.

Without further ado, here are Debbie Jodoin’s words:

Are you tired of the high taxes and constant boondoogles by the Mcguinty government!
If you are then please join Debbie, Shirley and Ruth on a most exciting adventure to Toronto on Oct 16th
! We will all meet at 12 30 pm at Nathan Phillip Square at the Winston Churchill statue!
The Rally will begin at 1 pm sharp

Busses will leave from Ottawa contact Debbie Jodoin gran737@gmail.com if you need to go down via bus from Ottawa or be picked up along the way to Toronto!

Please feel free to forward this message far and wide!

Posted in corruption, politics. Tags: , , , , . 2 Comments »

Prostituting the legal system….

September 29, 2010 — xanthippa

Yesterday, a Toronto judge struck down as unconstitutional three laws which many Canadians regarded as the key legislation against prostitution.

I have been rather preoccupied in publishing the responses Ottawa Municipal election candidates have sent me as an answer to the questions I asked them (it took me about 50 hours to develop the list of questions itself – I was not about to slack off on posting any and all responses I got to it!!!).  As such, I have not really had much of a chance to see the reactions to the ruling…..  In other words, my ‘take’ on it is not influenced by having noted any of the reactions to it ‘out there’!

Well, the government which governs the least, governs the best!

The legal situation, as it was before this ruling, was ridiculous beyond belief!

The logic – if one can call it that – of the laws surrounding ‘prostitution’ in Ontario was so twisted, it is about time they were struck down!

‘Prostitution’ itself was not illegal in Canada.  Perhaps it was because even the lawmakers understood that their jurisdiction does not extend to governing our bodies (OK – they still need to figure this out with respect to what I choose to put inside it, from sugar or salt of hydrogenated oils to any other chemical compound), perhaps there is something else – I am simply not legally informed enough to know this. The fact remains that Ontario had no law which made ‘prostitution’ ‘illegal’.

However, there was a catch….

There were three laws which made it illegal to:

  • enter into a contract regarding prostitution (solicitation)
  • to accept, as payment, money earned through prostitution (living off the avails of prostitution)
  • to practice prostitution indoors (operate a house of prostitution)

Yes, for many people whose religious beliefs condemn prostitution, the term is highly charged.  If so, I would like to invite you to simply replace the term with something which will permit you to evaluate the legal situation more impartially.

Again, I stress that this is NOT to be an evaluation of ‘prostitution’:  only of the legal mess ‘governing’ it.  These are two separate matters.  One is a matter of morality – something each person should arrive at their own conclusions about.  The other is the quality (or lack thereof) of laws Ontario and Canada have on this activity.

This ‘exercise’ is only meant to address the laws themselves – not the practice they address.

So, we have:

  • an activity which is not illegal

BUT

  • entering into a legal contract regarding this legal activity is illegal

In what world does THAT make sense?

We also have

  • a perfectly legal activity

BUT

  • even though it does not present any greater danger to participate in said activity indoors (like, say, storing bbq-gas-tanks would), it is illegal to have an indoor place to participate in it

D-ugh!?!?!?!

Again, this is a logically inconsistent law.

Oh, I understand the intent of it!  After all, when it is -40 degrees outside, being forced to perform sexual acts outdoors tends to shrink the practice….

But that is, at best, a dishonest law!  The lawmakers knew they could not get away with outlawing the practice, as it would breech a person’s inherent rights to do with their own body as they please, so they try to slime their way out of it!!!  Shame on them!

And, perhaps most ridiculously, we have

  • a perfectly legal activity to earn income

BUT

  • it is illegal to spend any money earned this way AND it is illegal for a person to accept, as payment for services rendered, any money earned through this activity by their customer

In other words, if a prostitute hired a book-keeper, and this book-keeper accepted (as payment for her/his services in providing bookkeeping) money that their client earned through prostitution, it is the book-keeper who had committed an illegal act!

Of course, book-keepers are not the only ones who could be criminally charged not because of anything THEY did themselves, but because their clients earned their money through one specific – perfectly legal – activity!!!

If a prostitute had a cleaning-lady, the cleaning-lady (or cleaning-gentleman:  I once knew a couple who earned their living this way together, so I want to make sure to be inclusive here), this person could ALSO be facing criminal charges.  NOT for something he or she did  – but because of the specific legal way their boss earned the money he or she paid them with.

Same goes for cooks, babysitters, body-guards, hairdressers, or any other service provider.  WHAT they did was irrelevant.  HOW their client earned their money could  make them face criminal charges!

THOSE WERE BAD LAWS!!!

(…and that is using very mild language….)

Aside:  Please, remember ‘Xanthippa’s First Law of Human Dynamics’ – each and every law (or rule) WILL, eventually, be applied to its maximum potential illogical extreme!

Under these laws, a lawyer who was hired to represent a bank-robber – and was paid with illegally acquired money – would NOT be breaking the laws…..but a lawyer hired by a prostitute and paid with LEGALLY EARNED money COULD face criminal charges!!!!

However you look at it, these laws were in serious need of being struck down.

So, what about the morality of prostitution?

What does THAT matter?!?!?!?

Governments must NEVER be permitted to legislate MORALITY!!!!

Posted in corruption, freedoms, human nature, society. Tags: , , , . 2 Comments »
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