charles converts a Mormon to blogging?????...lol

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.

My walks around the bridges are getting longer and I might add it’s a very nice walk. I picked up a new hat at St.Mary’s Lasting Impressions.



Do you wish to have work down on a hat or Jacket? This is the place to go!!!!


Afterwards, I began my walk towards home.

I noticed two guys on the sidewalk and quickly recognized them by their Uniforms.

They were Mormons!!!

I had the music on and I was cruising away.

One of the guys tried to chat with me but I just kept on trucking.

I quickly came to a sudden stop and had a change of heart.

I decided to have a chat with the two guys.





Of course they were from Utah U.S.A.! They quickly realizes that they had a little problem? They stop a guy with ADHD and of course stories I do have . . . lol . . .

I asked them if they knew what was a blogger?

I was surprised they didn’t?

I explain to the guys blah blah blah....

We discussed the issue of religion for a few minutes and I’m sure we’ll meet again. < Not if they see me first! >...lol..

One guy wanted to take a pic with his camera so he was nice enough to play along by wearing my new blogger hat!!!!

So? What do you think of their religion?

Myself, I’m a Catholic and I believe that I will die one?

I have been debating the issue of the way they treated the black population for years.

Did you know in the 50s they believe that blacks would only go in heaven as Slaves?

All this change in the 80s when someone received a message from God that Blacks should be allowed in the Mormon Faith.

But the sad part is the guy who got the message threw his whole family off a 12th floor building and committed suicide himself. But that’s history now and Blacks are allowed to pray with the Mormon religion.

As for the two youths who stop me on the streets?

They sounded like nice people.






What do you think of their religion?

THE IRVINGS OWNS THE MEDIA OLD GERMANY STYLE AND WHERE'S DAVE FRANCIS THESE DAYS???

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.

Charles,


I thought you might just LOVE THIS ONE!!

http://www.newsguild.org/gr/index.php?ID=1765
The Guild Reporter Guild News January 23, 2004
New Brunswick’s ‘Goliath’ hit hard by Guild’s ‘David’ By Deborah Richmond, TNG Canada Web Editor

In a “virtually unprecedented” ruling, an arbitrator has found in favor of journalist David against New Brunswick's media Goliath, awarding the type of damages for harassment and mental suffering that normally would be associated with a human rights case.

Nelson Roland, legal counsel for TNG Canada/CWA, calls the awards of $5,000 in aggravated damages and $20,000 in punitive damages to Dave Francis, a senior reporter at the Moncton Times & Transcript, “a stinging rebuke of the Irvings”-the powerful industrialist family that owns the newspaper, as well as most other media outlets in the province and a significant chunk of its corporate sector.

“I have never seen (punitive) damages like this. It's extremely rare. Usually you see it in human rights cases,” says Roland, a veteran labor lawyer who has been involved in the arbitration for more than a year.

Francis, who had served as president of the Moncton Typographical Union in the mid-'Nineties, has been struggling with clinical depression for the past decade. As outlined in testimony before arbitrator Geoff Bladon, management began to harass him in September 2001 by axing his two weekly columns, removing his byline from a number of stories, suspending him for three days and demoting him from associate editor to reporter, with a corresponding cut in wages.

Ordered off work by his family physician in mid-October, Francis filed a series of grievances alleging harassment, intimidation and discrimination. In early December, concerned that his grievances might not be properly processed because the union's president had been laid off, Francis attended his first union meeting in three years-and was acclaimed as the local's new president. But that simply prompted the newspaper's notoriously anti-union management to turn up the heat.

Over the ensuing months, managers monitored Francis's activities in the community and on behalf of the union and invented and exaggerated events in their reports to the sick-leave plan's administrator, Canada Life. The fabrications were designed to support their contention that Francis was not disabled, leading to the termination of his benefit payments in mid-January 2002.

Management's behavior, arbitrator Bladon wrote, amounted to “outrageous” and “sinister” conduct, including distribution of false and misleading information “deliberately intended to wrongly deprive the reporter” of his short-term-disability (STD) benefits.

Moreover, the arbitrator noted, “the employer was aware in the Fall of 2001 that Francis had to sell his house because of (his) precarious financial position and yet it set out to put an end to his sole source of revenue through his STD benefits.”

Such conduct constituted the “intentional infliction of mental suffering,” he added.

“Some of the things they did were beyond belief,” said Francis. “The lies and distortions were meant to harm me as much as possible, and nothing else. And the arbitrator saw that.”

Still outstanding is a lawsuit filed by Francis against Canada Life over its handling of his disability claims. “As great as this decision is, we still have the civil lawsuit to settle, and we're hoping for more damages,” Francis said. “The fact is, what the company did has resulted in the destruction of my credit rating and what we've won so far doesn't make up for that.”

**********************************************************************************************
The Guild Reporter Guild News 'Stinging rebuke of the Irvings' April 23, 2004
http://www.newsguild.org/gr/index.php?ID=1871

A reporter whose grievance arbitration exposed “outrageous” and “sinister” management conduct at the Irving-owned Moncton Times & Transcript has departed the paper after winning a financial settlement.

Dave Francis, who in December was awarded both aggravated and punitive damages for harassment and mental suffering, was also compensated for the short- and long-term benefits denied him after he took sick leave from the New Brunswick daily in the fall of 2001. (See January 23, 2004 Guild Reporter.)

As part of the deal the Irving family, which has a near-monopoly on newspapers in the province, agreed to forgo a judicial review of the arbitrator's ruling. In turn, Francis dropped a civil lawsuit against Canada Life, the company's insurer, which had refused to pay his long-term benefits.

The arbitrator's ruling, which union officials called a “stinging rebuke of the Irvings,” stands as a public record of how the powerful industrialist family deals with workers who don't meekly submit to the company's authority.

TNG Canada/CWA Rep David Esposti said a “window of opportunity” to achieve a settlement for Francis arose during the seven months of contract talks that produced an agreement the local decided to accept.

“I see the settlement as a victory for the little guy even though, of course, the settlement stipulates it is in no way an admission of wrongdoing,” said Francis. “I hope my actions will help others if they must fight similar battles of their own. Nobody, regardless of their wealth or power, has the right to inflict damage on others-not even the Irvings or the people they hire.”

Photo: Dave FrancisDave Francis is thrilled by the arbitrator's ruling and awards,but won't onsider the battle won until there's some money in his bank account.

http://www.tngcanada.org/EN/news/2003/031227_monc_francis_arb.shtml

Arbitrator's awards to reporter ‘a stinging rebuke of Irvings' 27 December 2003

A Moncton journalist who took on the Irving empire has won 'extremely rare' and significant punitive damages

Moncton Typographical Union | TNG Canada Local 30636

In a "virtually unprecedented" ruling, an arbitrator has found in favour of journalist David against New Brunswick's media Goliath and awarded the type of damages for harassment and mental suffering that normally would be associated with a human rights case.

Related Reading

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Lies, distortions, intrigues, private detectives, a rude and hostile publisher, a not-so-merry medical-go-round, and a poisoned work environment populate the pages of the arbitrator's ruling. It's a disturbing tale of how a media empire can make life sheer hell for the employee who refuses to meekly submit to grossly unfair treatment.
Nelson Roland, legal counsel for TNG Canada/CWA, calls the awards of $5,000 in aggravated damages and $20,000 in punitive damages to Dave Francis, a senior reporter at the Moncton Times & Transcript, "a stinging rebuke of the Irvings" — the powerful industrialist family that owns the newspaper as well as most of the media and much of the province's corporate sector.

"I have never seen (punitive) damages like this. It's extremely rare. Usually you see it in human rights cases," says Roland, the veteran labour lawyer who has been involved in the arbitration for more than a year.

"I'm just relieved to finally have a decision after such a long battle," says Francis, "and I just hope we don't have an equally long battle trying to get the company to pay.

"I look at this as a triumph not just for myself, but for others at the newspaper who are fighting their own grievances. Still, to think this employer will learn a lesson from this is probably hoping for a bit much."

"Maybe at the very least, they'll think twice about doing this to someone else," adds Francis. "This company has virtually no respect for its employees, and likely never will. And I'd like the public to know that."

Francis, who had been president of the Moncton Typographical Union from 1995 to 1997, and was pressed to take up the post again in December 2001 — when he was about six weeks into sick leave — presented evidence that his activism only served to turn up the heat from management at the notoriously anti-union company.

Arbitrator Geoff Bladon awarded punitive damages to Francis, who suffers from depression, because of the "outrageous" and "sinister" conduct of management, which created and distributed false and misleading information "deliberately intended to wrongly deprive the reporter" of his short-term-disability (STD) benefits.

Further, "the employer was aware in the Fall of 2001 that Francis had to sell his house because of (his) precarious financial position and yet it set out to put an end to his sole source of revenue through his STD benefits."

"That conduct constitutes harassment" and the "intentional infliction of mental suffering," writes the arbitrator, who also notes that the company was aware of Francis's previous bouts of depression that date back to his Twenties.

Francis observes that "some of the things they did were beyond belief. The lies and distortions were meant to harm me as much as possible, and nothing else. And the arbitrator saw that."

In awarding aggravated damages, Bladon cites the "exacerbation of the depression" and the "financial consequences of the termination of the benefit entitlement" in mid-January 2002. The company had approved initiation of the year-long entitlement the previous October, then terminated the payments without warning.

"There can be little doubt that the withdrawal of the grievor's sole source of income would have had a substantial impact on his financial well being," Bladon finds.

The arbitrator orders the company to make nine months' worth of disability payments, with interest, to Francis.

"This is a wonderful victory," declares Arnold Amber, Director of TNG Canada/CWA. "It was certainly worth fighting for because there was a lot of injustice in the way (the Irvings) handled Dave Francis."

David Esposti, the TNG Canada Rep who oversees Eastern Canada, is elated at the ruling and says it is vindication for Francis: "They screwed him over big time."

The arbitrator heard evidence that the "screwing" began in September 2001, when management axed two weekly columns then being written by the highly regarded journalist, removed his byline from a number of stories, suspended him for three days, and demoted him from Associate Editor to reporter with a corresponding cut in wages.

Francis, who was suffering from depression, was ordered off work by his family physician in mid-October. His grievances alleging harassment, intimidation and discrimination were filed at the end of that month. In early December, Francis attended a union meeting during which he was acclaimed to the position of local president, which was vacant as the result of a layoff.

Over the ensuing weeks and months, managers who were monitoring Francis's activities both in the community and on behalf of the union, invented and exaggerated events in their reports to the sick-leave plan administrator (Canada Life) to support their contention that Francis was not disabled and that the termination of his benefit payments in mid-January 2002 was justified.

"We're very happy for Dave," says Rod Allen, the current president of the Local. "It's been a long and miserable fight for him these last few years."

"We hope (the ruling) is a signal to companies everywhere that stress-related medical leave is to be taken seriously," he adds.

Lawyer Roland, who expects the company to seek a judicial review of the arbitrator's ruling, notes that Francis is still off work due to his illness and is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

The reporter is grateful for all the support Roland has given him: "Nelson deserves a lot of credit for hanging in there during what had to be a frustrating case for him as well. He did a great job."

Francis also has an outstanding legal dispute with Canada Life, which administers both the short- and long-term disability plans for the newspaper. The insurer ultimately declared Francis ineligible for LTD based on the false and misleading information provided by management at the Times & Transcript. The case is currently before the courts and it remains to be seen what impact, if any, the arbitrator's ruling will have on the insurer's position.

"As great as this decision is, we still have the civil lawsuit to settle, and we're hoping for more damages," says Francis. "The fact is, what the company did has resulted in the destruction of my credit rating and what we've won
so far doesn't make up for that."

Looks like Chico....

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Looks better on her......

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Beautiful night for a walk.....

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Shawn Graham Ministers new way of transportation????

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Enjoying the warm weather.....

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THE IRVINGS AND CBC SIDE BY SIDE?????...lol

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.

PART FOUR OF THE SIX MONTH PROTEST IN FRONT OF THE NEW BRUNSWICK LEGISLATURE!!!!

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.

Are you readers reading this? Should I continue the series or just put a stop to it? Let me know?




A girl came and chat with me. Her name is Hylene Daigle.

She was dressed like a native and I found her very friendly.

As many of other people that I chat with, she had her say and move on.

But in this case? It was different!

Hylene showed up the next day to tell me that she’s going to Montreal for one month and a half.

I told her - Bon Voyage!

She gave me the keys of her apartment and told me that I could have a shower and shave there!

I was surprise and said - You trust me???

You don’t even know me???

She answered - Anyone who fights for the kids can’t be that bad!





It was around one mile away from the tent but it was wroth it!

It was a nice place in a fancy neighborhood < lots of million dollar homes in that area>

I could have slept over night but I couldn’t!

Every 2 to 3 days, I would walked on the trail of the Capital and continued till I hit the generous girl place.

Once I arrive at her kitchen?

There was a note on a cold beer that said - Happy Cinderella Drink me! My god? After being in that heat for the past week?

I really enjoyed the cold beer.

You see? As a protester? I am not allowed to drink alcohol.

The minute that the Legislative staff smell beer from my breath?

The protest would be over very quickly!

I can see the head lines now- Drunken Protester arrested in front of the Legislature.

She was so nice that she also gave me a nice watch!

She also gave me a book so I could write a daily update. < Which I did! >

I never had a watch but I would find that little gift very helpful!

I found out as a protester? I wasn’t really prepare for a long stay.

All I had was 2 pair of pants, t-shirts and blanket!

During the next few months, the citizens would step forward with gifts and suggestions.

The Liberals started to come around my tent.

People Bernard Richard, T.J.Burke, Shawn Graham, Abel LeBlanc,John Forran, Rolan Hache.

I remember on one instance, I was relaxing in my tent and someone
shouted for me.

He had a coffee for me. I asked for his name and he said - Rick Doucet!

I quickly said- Oh..You’re the guy who took Sheldon Lee place!

He replied - You know your politics!

I seen Sheldon for one last time in June and it sure was nice to see him.

I remember the year before, me and the honest guy had long conversations till midnight on all type of issues!

Rick has big shoes to fill and he knows it!


During the evening, I heard some music but I didn’t really know where it came from?

The music came from 2 blocks away from the Legislature.

It was from Officer’s Square.

My God? What a big different between King’s Square in Saint John and this one.











All summer long there was all kind of activities in that location.

I mean everything imaginable was there.

Kings Square in the Loyalist City is dead and I wonder why?







I’ve been calling his show as
a regular and now we meet in person.

I noticed that many people came to shake Dennis hand to say that they
enjoy his show.

The funny part was when Dennis
introduce me as Charles from Saint John! They all heard me on the show.

I don’t really know who got the more attention? Dennis or Me?..lol.

The fireworks were great and everyone seem happy.

The next morning, I woke up
and found out that I lost my lighter.

I knew the odds weren’t great for me to locate my lighter again and

I gave it a good try and went back to Officer’s Square.

The place full of garbage from the evening before.

Someone scared me!

I noticed a guy popping his head
out of a dumpster like a Jack in the Box.

He had a card board over his head.

I asked him what was he
doing in the Dumpster?




He told that he’s been there
since 2:00am collecting empty bottles.

He told me that he collected around $82.00 but later on in the after
the amount would go up to $92.00.

He explain to me that he only makes around $264.00 a month and this is
the only way that he can survive.

In the Capital, a person can go at the Soup Kitchen twice a day and ate all they want but in the Loyalist City?

You have one meal a day and that’s it!

Why does some people go hungry in one City but the same City in the same Province gives out lots of food!





Same goes for our education system?

We live in 10 different Provinces
but it looks like we live in 10 different countries.


Kids with ADD/ADHD or other mental disabilities are treated better in certain Province.

Why is that now?

I would find out the answer months later.

As for this Province?

Yes, we live in 6 different Cities but the help for the poor is better than others?

I wonder why?

I always told the homeless in the Loyalist City?

During the winter months?

They should move to Fredericton.

The Fredericton Emergency shelter is a place were many adults as a child were force on Ritalin and these days are on heavy drugs.

The shelter and the Soup
Kitchen is located in the same building.

I believe that I know the reason. It’s located around one mile
away from the Legislature and when they see the young trouble kids in that area.

They tell them - Listen you
can drink your alcohol behind the building at the shelter and smoke your joints.

You can eat all you want so therefore you have no rights to be in the other end of town.

Mind you, I did noticed a few
homeless walking near the door of the Legislature late at night.

They were looking for butts in the ashtrays of the Government building.

Since the politicians can afford tailor made? They presume they will throw up a 3/4 tailor made smoke.

There’s one rule that I
always set forth.

I’m always polite with the
homeless because I know that if I’m rude to them?

They would do some damage to my tent.

If I got my smokes?

I’ll always give them one!

You see them late in the evening
collecting empty bottles in the garbage cans near the
streets.

Only once I notice a person emptied the whole garbage on the sidewalks searching for bottles.


These are very polite poor people and they do their best to survive. It’s very difficult to survive on $264.00 a month!

GOD'S MINUTE!!!

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.

THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION--WHOM SHALL
I FEAR? THE LORD IS THE STRONGHOLD OF MY LIFE---OF
WHOM SHALL I BE AFRAID?
( PSALM 27:1 *NIV )

Dear Charles,
Do not let the events of the World today, or the in the future,
cause you any fear. For it is written: THE LORD HIMSELF GOES
BEFORE YOU AND WILL BE WITH YOU; HE WILL NEVER
LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU. DO NOT BE AFRAID; DO NOT
BE DISCOURAGED. ( DEUTERONOMY 31:8 )

After all, IF YOU MAKE THE MOST HIGH YOUR DWELLING
---EVEN THE LORD, WHO IS YOUR REFUGE---THEN NO HARM
WILL BEFALL YOU, NO DISASTER WILL COME NEAR YOUR
TENT. FOR HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING
YOU TO GUARD YOU IN ALL YOUR WAYS; THEY WILL LIFT
YOU UP IN THEIR HANDS, SO THAT YOU DO NOT STRIKE
YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE. ( PSALM 91:9-12 )

Therefore, HAVE NO FEAR OF SUDDEN DISASTER OR THE
RUIN THAT OVERTAKES THE WICKED. For; THE LORD'S
CURSE IS ON THE HOUSE OF THE WICKED, BUT HE
BLESSES THE HOME OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
( PROVERBS 3:25,33 )

So Charles, BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS. DO NOT
BE AFRAID OR TERRIFIED BECAUSE OF THEM, FOR THE
LORD YOUR GOD GOES WITH YOU! Amen.
( DEUTERONOMY 31:6 )

With My Love & Prayers,
your servant Allen
[ Prayer Requests---Contact Us---Bible Study---*Donations* ]
[ Audio---Subscribe---Change of Address---Unsubscribe ]
at: http://www.godsminute.org
Apostle Paul Ministries, P O Box 55996, Hayward, CA 94545
(c) Copyright 2007 by Apostle Paul Ministries

This Daily Message was sent by request to:
Charles Leblanc at

Enjoying a walk around the North side of Fredericton!!!

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison.