TRUWinnipeg.org

I believe ever so more on the power of postive thinking and that we become what we think.

So it goes like the previous post that if we believe that Winnipeg cannot afford a rail rapid transit solution, then that’s what’ll happen. As I have experienced for the past 30 years in talking with Winnipeg Transit drivers, they can be the most negative when it comes to the vision of rapid transit for Winnipeg. The passengers have always been a step ahead of the drivers, and some at WT itself who are pushing basically for the Southern Freeway as a busway.

But…

Going back to the power of intent…

We have the power to affect change at the spiritual level and making things happen there….

If we can see, in our mind’s eye, $1,000,000,000 being handed from the Prime Minister of Canada to the Mayor of Winnipeg, and these funds will be put towards a rail transit line here….then it WILL happen.

Just see the image below passed from Harper to Katz at a press conference at Confusion Corner… Or if envisioning actual dollars is easier for you, think of that.

Don’t let the negativism brought on by the BRT crowd tell you that Winnipeg cannot afford better. Just clear that thought out of your mind, and focus on what you really want — a rail rapid transit line serving the Pembina and of course the Osborne areas between the U of M and downtown.

See yourself walking towards the stairs or escalator of the Station at Confusion Corner right at the island where people catch the 16, the 58, etc… See yourself walking thru the turnstiles and putting your transit pass into the machine, and heading towards the train platform. See and hear the noises and the other people also waiting for the subway train right under Osborne St. at Confusion Corner. See the train’s front headlight coming towards the platform and hear the clickity-clack as it gets closer.

SOURCE: Pirate Alice

Winnipeg currently has $600 million saved up for the project, and Mayor Katz has said repeatedly that he doesn’t want BRT either….So he has the WILL to build rail rapid transit here.

And if we combined the $600 million with this new $1,000,000,000 for rapid transit here, that would make $1.6 Billion. Then Winnipeg could afford to put some or all of it underground, rather than wait a few decades like Calgary has done, by avoiding building under 7th Ave. downtown.

Do it now. Don’t become your fears.

Our minds (our eternal consciousness) really are powerful things…In fact it is THE most powerful part of us, and stays with us after we die…Use it.

See also:

Steve Pavlina - Cause-Effect vs Intention-Manifestation

On Canada Day I saw streetcar 596 that was created by Danny Schur as a smaller replica of streetcar 356, I was reminded by a dream I’ve had for the past 15 years that goes like this.

I am walking to my regular bus stop in River Heights at Grant Ave. late at night when I spot ahead a missed streetcar riding along some tracks that were recently laid.

The interesting thing about the tracks and streetcar are that they are a trial line, and that they’d soon be removed a few weeks later, even though they are put into the ashphalt roadway. Sounds kind of costly to do if it were done that way.

And sure enough a few days later when I looked for the tracks and the streetcar…it was gone again, only to be replaced with the bus. The trial was over and then a report was made, and then this Grant Ave. streetcar line would be rebuilt again, possibly in the next year, maybe more perrmanent this time.

In reality we don’t have any streetcar plans, but a few years ago the CentrePlan included one that would replace the Downtown Flyer bus and would link up the various nodes of downtown and the adjacent areas like the Exchange District and Provencher Boulevard with Broadway-Assiniboine residential area. The cost of a streetcar line 10 years ago was estimated at $30 million. Nothing was done to advance that cause.

But seeing that this rapid transit thing is happening, and I really don’t support it as a BRT…but regardless…If like in that reoccurring dream, a trial streetcar route would be implemented along Grant Avenue between say Kenaston and the Pembina/Stafford loop and being a rail vehicle it would make sense for it to travel along the median lane and not on the curb lane as buses do, the turning radius would be easier to accomplish between Grant and Stafford St. as a rail vehicle as compared to doing it as a bus.

I do believe in the ‘power of intent’ (mind over matter). It is what happens when you see your goal at the end and can ’see’ how it will be in the end.

It works with natural clouds. On a day where there are a set of small puffy clouds, focus one of your eyes on one of them and start to imagine it getting lighter and less dense, and smaller. A small cloud thin cloud will disapper within 1 to 2 minutes. A larger one in about 10.

Another example relates to this website. I was sitting down relaxing and trying to use the ‘power of intent’ to imagine what it would be like to ride the Wilson subway between Confusion Corner and Polo Park. I started off by ‘walking’ down the stairs at the transit island (where the 16 goes) and thru the turnstiles and waiting for the train to come. I could see and hear the sound that one hears as I was in Corydon Station. As I was riding, I used my voice to make the station names come up…”next station…River”. I added the whoosh sounds of the subway train travelling under Osborne Street, and also there are these two small pipes on the right hand side of a subway tunnel. I don’t know what function these pipes have, but one thing about them is that they are never even. They bob up and down by a half a foot or so. I added the sound of the doors opening and closing, the electronic chime that indicate to passengers that the doors are about to close, etc… The whole experience.

Now here’s the amazing thing.

Two days later I get this e-mail from the Canadian Trade Index which says that they saw our link to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce and would we please add a link to the CTI on TRUWinnipeg. The CTI is a Canadian directory of infrastructure parts — piping, tubing, etc…They describe themselves as “has grown to become Canada’s leading online industrial sourcing tool for manufacturers, exporters, distributors and service companies.”

I don’t think it was a coincidence that I got this e-mail so soon after visioning riding the Winnipeg subway. It’s just too odd.

And I believe the purpose of putting the link to CTI is so that someone else ahead will discover it and find a way to bring rail-transit here to Winnipeg. Perhaps they will discover some equipment supplier who will be able to supply a part cheaper than that person had originally thought it would cost.

If enough Winnipeggers started to do likewise and could ‘vision’ a network of modern streetcars operating once again through Winnipeg streets, it WILL happen.The same goes for a Winnipeg subway…While they have begun to dig it as a BRT project, I truly believe it’s still not too late to move this to an LRT/subway type project.

There WILL be a way found to do so.

JIM JAWORSKI

See also:

Streetcar 356 Restoration - Poll

Canadian Trade Index

Transit Riders’ Union of Winnipeg:

I totally agree with you and believe that the downtown part of the rapid transit should be built underground from the start and no other system considered for the central area.  Other parts of the system could be built underground as finances permit.

Gordon Linney

http://waverleywest.blogspot.com/2009/06/wheres-pathway-in-brt.html

It is interesting that the City has seen fit to not include a bicycle path into the current plans their building for this Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor.

But we do agree with the cycling groups like Bike to the Future that Osborne Station is mis-located in an inaccessible spot and really should be moved underground closer to Confusion Corner itself, or better yet…moved to Morley, where the Mr. Wilson planned the Pembina-William subway line to be. Without the  station at Morley or nearby, it is slightly more difficult to serve northern St. Boniface. And let Osborne transit traffic along the Osborne-Chalmers line.

http://blogwinnipeg.com/?p=134

By Paula Kelly

How we get around in the City of Winnipeg, in fact, how we travel anywhere, is a seriously hot topic right now. For another interesting perspective on local transit, I recommend checking out the Transit Riders Union blog which advocates the revival of the subway system design proposal by renowned civil engineer Norman D. Wilson for Winnipeg in 1959. I didn’t know that a subway system had ever been seriously entertained in Winnipeg, but somehow I’m not surprised. We know how to dream up big ideas.

In fact, the blogosphere is crackling with responses to a civic initiative called Speak Up Winnipeg.com which consists of a real-time dialogue between our city and its citizens on the very issues that have become part of our everyday conversation such as urban design, sustainability, arts and culture, and transportation. It’s fascinating to see the effort to build a consensus and establish what Winnipeggers want for their city and how to get us there.

The posts and comments on Speak Up Winnipeg.com seem to reflect a real hunger to achieve something extraordinary for this city. I particularly appreciate the information offered up on various posts which describes the urban progress of other cities, offering them as a model for our own future growth.

The point is, we are passionate about this place. That’s where it starts. And I like to believe the debate itself is what really matters, a sign of healthy engagement in our community. The challenge is that we’ve been doing this for many decades, and many plans, like Norman Wilson’s subway system, have come and gone without ever taking shape in the real world

Will it be different this time? Will we see a more dynamic, more accessible, more innovative city in the next 5, 10, 20 years? I’m hoping.

What do you think?

From the City’s own SpeakUpWinnipeg.com, a mandatory citizen involvement process that doesn’t really listen to the citizen’s input. Here is a chance to inform more Winnipeggers about TRUWinnipeg’s vision of our city, not the United Nation’s version espoused in the Agenda21 depopulation plan (aka sustainable development) covertly being promoted by City officials.

Opening Night Event - an overview of the task at hand, with an educational presentation followed by an engaging activity that encourages Winnipeggers to share their perspectives. Target audience: general public. Purpose: listening session / community input focused, biggest event. Tuesday, June 23, 5-7 p.m.

Visioning Workshop - an interactive event that combines elements from image preference surveys and intimate small-group dialogue. Target audience: general public. Purpose: listening session / community input focused. Wednesday, June 24, 3-5 p.m.

Topic-Based Working Groups - stakeholder focus groups that address topics involving Land Use Pattern, Downtown, Transportation, Parks, Urban Design, Infra-Structure, and Planning Processes. Target audience: stakeholder groups. Purpose: develop strategies on individual topics. Daytime events June 23 - 26, see schedule.

Urban Design Walking Tour - an opportunity to discuss the best and worst of Winnipeg urban design during a walking tour through key neighborhoods. Target audience: members government who will be making urban design decisions, and key real estate players. Purpose: education focused, with feedback loops. Wednesday, June 24, 10:30 - 12 p.m.

Asset Mapping Workshop - a collaborative work session for interested stakeholders to develop specific action ideas and begin forming work groups. Target audience: elected officials, city staff, and other agencies and institutions involved in community building either professionally or with heavy-duty volunteer interest. Purpose: implementation focused. Friday, June 26, 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.

Closing Night Presentation - an overview and summary of the work done during the charrette, and point the way to the next steps. Target audience: general public. Purpose: summary of visioning. Friday, June 26, 3 - 5 p.m.

Location: Winnipeg Art Gallery

…shouldn’t it ask this man to pay for it?

David Rockefeller. Photo Courtesy of Businessweek.com

And even though Mr. Rockefeller is part of the top end of the elite of the world, he cannot do anything about his aging… He looks like a very sick old man. Even the elite cannot buy their own youth back.

See also:

PrisonPlanet.com - David Rockefeller the puppetmaster!

As part of the City’s “Our Winnipeg” (a possible name replacement for Plan Winnipeg) there are certain reoccurring themes that is the citizen involvement module.

The website is broken down into several categories:

• Sustainability
• Competitiveness
• Communities
• Safety & Security
• City of the Arts
• City Building

The Police have a diffilcult job; they are tasked with infinite duties & responsibilities and now the Police in England are being asked to do something out of the ordinary.

According to the Telegraph Police officers in England are being ordered to use megaphones to shout crime prevention advice at residents who leave their doors or windows open. Officers have also been instructed to go into unlocked properties and alert homeowners to the security risk - even to the point of waking them up if they are asleep.

It is all part of a scheme that will see them patrolling the streets with the megaphones, shouting at homeowners to ensure their properties are properly protected.The move is part of an initiative to crack down on summer burglaries.

Would you like to see the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Service start thinking “out of the ordinary”?

The Safety & Security page suggests that Police should have the extra responsibility to actively monitor doors and windows of people’s homes to prevent burglars from entering. This is such a stupid idea because it should be left to the individual citizen, and in a society that was truly free, this would be the case. However, we are not really free peoples.

This is just part of the Orwellian (1984) “police state” that the super rich of the New World Order want to see — a completely surveillance society built on neighbours that tattle, and on the Police who view the streets from the red light cameras.

The people of the New World Order WANT us to become totally dependent and USED TO having our government look after us, where in reality this is just a slippery slope to the Fascist state.

No people, it’s up to YOU to lock your doors. It’s up to YOU to make sure your windows are secure not only from burglars, but just common sense to keep the inclement weather out.

Other modules of the city’s long term plan include so-called “sustainable development” which is a term defined by Agenda21 for a large world depopulation program set up by the United Nations in 1992.

See also:

TRUWinnipeg.org - Sustainable Development - What IS That?

United Nations - Agenda21

– JIM JAWORSKI

The City hosted an Open House event at the Masonic Temple at Confusion Corner, providing detailed drawings of the Southwest Rapid Transit line, due to be finished in 2011.

The attendance was described as “sparse” by TRUWinnipeg, as there were perhaps a maximum of 70 attendees that passed through the front entrance of the building between 4 and 8 p.m. today.

During this time, TRUWinnipeg took the opportunity to proselytize the Wilson subway plan, Winnipeg’s very first rapid transit plan conceived 50 years ago and forgotten, until it was transcribed and republished onto the Internet in 2004.

Winnipeg Transit again promoted its BRT Wednesday, this time at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, and TRUWinnipeg was there again to make more citizens aware of the Wilson subway plan, which is several magnitudes superior to BRT. Only about 70 citizens attended; some who attended the Monday Open House went to the Wednesday session.

– JIM JAWORSKI

In the major cities of North America, the ‘net-savvy (which includes most people under 50) consult Yelp.com, perhaps the internet’s leading user-review website, before getting a haircut, installing a set of tires, finding a cup of coffee, and certainly before dining out.

In 2008 Yelp! arrived in Canada, and while it’s caught on somewhat in Toronto (where a Community Manager has been hired to manage that city’s reviews), Winnipeg remains a minor player in the Yelp! scene. While as of this writing 206 businesses have been reviewed, most have been written about only once, with the most-written-about receiving only four reviews.

We at TRU Winnipeg have found Yelp! to be an invaluable service during our travels and seek to spread the word about its incredible benefits to consumers—the particularly since the more people use it, the more useful it becomes.