CBC is reporting that Canada will not participate in the U.S. backed war against Iraq.

I’m not smart enough to understand this war and the reasons for and against, but setting all that aside, it takes guts for Prime Minister Chretien to not join the U.S. war bandwagon.

I may even be feeling a titch of patriotism.

Won’t have to move to France after all.

Keeping in mind that I would handily win a contest for “person least likely to quote from the Bible in any situation,” here is John 17:21 (King James Version):

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

I mention this because it is the biblical citation referenced in the first logo of the World Alliance of YMCAs, in 1878; the reference remained there for almost 70 years.

From the time I was eight until the time I was sixteen, I spent almost every Saturday morning, and a good portion of every summer, at the Hamilton YMCA on James St. In more ways than I can count, the ‘Y’ helped me become the person I am today; I owe the organization a great debt of gratitude for this.

One of those “more ways than I can count” is that the ‘Y’ is where I got my start as a typesetter. In those days the “page” was large rolls of newsprint end-runs from the Hamilton Spectator and the “ink” was thick watercolour paint. And the subject of my “typesetting” was usually large banner for some YMCA function or another. But it’s where I caught the typographical bug that stays with me.

The transition of the YMCA logo from 1878 to the present day represents one of the masterstrokes of graphic design of the last century.

This original logo was a circle overlaid the Greek letters X and P (Chi and Rho, representing Christ), in turn overlaid with the Bible open to John 17:21.

By the 1890s, the use of a red triangle — with each side representing one aspect of the YMCA’s world: Spirit, Mind and Body — came into common use.

By World War One, a simple red triangle, overlaid with a blue bar with YMCA set through it was in use (top right), and by the 1950s, this red triangle was combined with the original logo, with a second ring added (middle right).

The masterstroke comes in the transition, in the mid 1960s, to the logo that is in use to this day (bottom right), with the red triangle set beside a bent solid black bar so that together they form the letter ‘Y’.

This logo takes the best feature of the historical logos — the red triangle, Spirit, Mind, Body — and updates it without diluting it. The result is a potent symbol that, says the YMCA, is recognized by 97 percent of Americans.

Councillor George Trainor responded as follows to my query about his opinion on a ban on cosmetic pesticide use with in the City of Charlottetown:

Municipalities have the responsibility to provide their citizens with access to clean and healthy parks and open spaces. Due to increasing concerns about the potential hazards of pesticide usage on public greenspaces many municipalities are seeking ways to reduce or eliminate the non-essential use of pesticides . The City of Charlottetown is one of these municipalities.

The largest applications of pesticides in most municipalities occurs on turf surfaces such as sport fields, cemeteries, park lawns and road corridors. I think it is prudent that the City focus on a small number of significant targets, such as the above, for action.

It may also be prudent for the City to consider a model such as the “Integrated Plant Health Care” model which is defined as ‘An ecologically based approach to establishing and maintaining developed and natural landscapes in an urban environment. It integrates an understanding of living systems, urban stresses, human needs and horticultural principles in developing maintenance solutions that are environmentally sound, healthy and sustainable.”

In this model human needs are considered as part of the equation. A model such as this promotes the development of solutions that addresses both the need for landscape facilities and for pesticide reduction/elimination. It notes the concept of education as being critical and suggests that a new class of “Eco-Gardener is required in order to address the growing need for sustainable, economical landscapes that meet the needs of a community.

In this model there are five stages to adopting an effective IPHC: Inventory current practices, Evaluate and prioritize options, Implement, Monitor and maintain, Plan organize and communicate. Hopefully this is the Model that our City will follow, we need more information, the direct needs and impacts on human beings have to be considered as key challenges and goals.

Thanks to Councillor Trainor for taking the time to respond.

Ten years ago today, the first version of NCSA Mosaic was released. Ten years ago tomorrow, I arrived at work for the first time at the PEI Crafts Council.

It has been an interesting journey.

The trusty desk chair I purchased from Ritchie Simpson almost five years ago is starting to fray around the edges — not surprising given that I sit in it almost 8 hours a day.

So it’s time to upgrade.

As I know others who read here are similarly desk-bound, I’m soliciting opinions on ergo-chairs, especially ones that can be purchased (and sat in, pre-purchase) in Charlottetown.

The chair previous to this one was a “high back tilter” that was once owned by the ill-fated Atlantic Island Airways. I purchased it at auction. Before that one was a tiny secretarial chair at the PEI Crafts Council that assisted me in nearly blowing out my carpal tunnels. Chairs are important.

Actress Lynne Thigpen died Wednesday night.

Among many, many other roles, Thigpen played Grace Keefer on All My Children from 1993 to 2000. The start of her role on that show was the heart of the time I was a rabid fan of that soap opera (i.e. taping show when away from home so as to not miss an episode, etc.)

More recently, she was the reason (the only reason) to watch the television drama The District. She also played The President in Bicentennial Man, and had roles in Novocaine, Shaft and The Insider.

She will be missed.

Yesterday I lauded Councillor Philip Brown for his call for the banning of cosmetic pesticides in Charlottetown. I also mentioned that he was the only Councillor to publish his email address on the City of Charlottetown’s website.

Within the hour, I had a note from Bruce Garrity, another City Councillor, noting that he had just had the City publish his email address. I emailed him back and asked for his take on the banning of cosmetic pesticides. Last night Bruce responded.

What’s more, when Bruce’s email address was added to the list [PDF file], so were the email addresses of the Mayor and all Councillors but Clifford Lee, Daniel Redmond and Mitch Tweel.

This isn’t disarming Iraq. But all politics, they say, is local.

There are 10 wards in Charlottetown. There are now two councillors (at least) on the record supporting this ban. I’ll email the rest, and ask them for their positions. Watch this space.

If you are not a regular viewer of Eastlink Television (aka “Cable 10” in Charlottetown), you may have missed the fact that Kevin O’Brien has taken over from Elmer Williams as host of the Tuesday evening call-in programme Point of View.

I liked Elmer as host: he wasn’t pretentious, he ran the show well, and he was good at engaging his guests. Kevin’s equally up to the task, though, and this is especially impressive as, to the best of my knowledge, the sum total of his television experience before he assumed the host’s chair was, well, nothing. Of course he did play the lead in Brigadoon (or was it South Pacific?), and that must count for something ;-).

Be sure to tune in next Tuesday night if you’re around a cable outlet.