http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/Home.aspxRob explores all the key issues that hit the headlines on the Rob Breakenridge Blog. It's your glimpse into what's happening right now. Send in your comments and take part. en-usCopyright 2013, CHQR-AMWed, 22 May 2013 20:36:50 GMTWed, 22 May 2013 19:00:28 GMT1http://emmisinteractive.comMy latest Calgary Herald column looks at the issue of water fluoridation and whether city council needs to revisit its 2011 decision:  Word last week about a worsening situation in Calgary with regard to  children’s oral health is certainly disconcerting, but sadly, not at all  surprising. Trying to predict the implications of a particular government policy can be  an imprecise science. However, when it came to the 2011 decision by Calgary city  council to halt water fluoridation, the implications were actually fairly easy  to predict. It remains unclear what benefits council expected we’d realize. Frankly, the  decision was about as puzzling as any we’ve seen in recent memory. Water  fluoridation had been approved by voters in 1999, and the practice was in  keeping with the best medical and scientific advice. The evidence is pretty clear on water fluoridation, which the U.S. Centers  for Disease Control and Prevention has listed as ...http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10547880rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10547880Wed, 22 May 2013 19:00:28 GMTAn unbelievable situation unfolding in London where a man believed to be a British soldier has been beheaded in broad daylight in a city street. Police are reportedly treating this as a terrorist attack. Even more remarkable is the emergence of this disturbing video apparently showing the attacker - bloody hands and all - explaining his actions to a TV camera. Chilling:  http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10547885rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10547885Wed, 22 May 2013 18:48:29 GMTAs detailed here and here, it's been a remarkable few weeks for Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. He arrived back on earth Monday after his stint as commander of the International Space Station - the first Canadian ever to do so. Today, we heard from Hadfield himself as he answered questions about the mission, the adjustment to life back on Earth, and what comes next for him:  http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545795rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545795Thu, 16 May 2013 22:28:10 GMTAfter firing an instructor following a controversial piece of performance art the cafeteria, the Alberta College of Art and Design has un-fired the instructor: Another twist in the saga involving that chicken beheading at a Calgary college.The Alberta College of Art and Design has agreed to reinstate Gord Ferguson, the teacher who was terminated for allowing the student to go through with his so-called "art project" in the school's cafeteria back in April.In a statement, the college says the decision wasn't meant to be about academics or artistic freedom, but that perception was created.It goes on to say that both ACAD and Ferguson regret it all happened and that there are lessons to be learned, including discussions and debate with students and the community. The full statement can be read here. Not to defend the stunt itself, but as I argue in today's editorial comment, it was ...http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545279rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10545279Thu, 16 May 2013 04:29:28 GMTI once wrote a column suggesting that Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was a neo-prohibitionist organization - that they often seem to be as opposed to drinking itself as they are to drunk driving. In fact, the founder of MADD has described the organization thusly. Officials with MADD Canada took exception to my assertion, and pointed out that some of the examples I provided were specific to MADD in the US, not MADD Canada. Well, if MADD Canada is determined on proving that they are not neo-prohibitionist, they have a funny way of showing it. Just for point of reference, as I note in this column, we have driven down tobacco consumption rates and reduced the harm associated with tobacco consumption without addressing the retail model of tobacco. There is no government monopoly of tobacco retail in Canada and no anti-tobacco organization that I'm aware of supports such a move. ...http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544488rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544488Tue, 14 May 2013 18:10:14 GMTAs noted here, it's been a remarkable run for Chris Hadfield as the first-ever Canadia commander of the International Space Station (more here, here, here, and here). But it all comes to an end tonight as Hadfield leaves the ISS and returns home. Watch it live here:    And here:   Streaming video by Ustreamhttp://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544072rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10544072Mon, 13 May 2013 20:56:29 GMTThey don't call him the "coolest guy in space" for nothing. Astronaut Chris Hadfield has been an amazing ambassador for Canada - and ambassaor for the Canadian space program - during his tenure as commander of the International Space Station - a mission that had a little drama thrown in, too. To top it all off, Hadfield brings us this:  As an added bonus, the Calgary Stampede manage to land him as parade marshall for this year's event.http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10543570rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10543570Mon, 13 May 2013 03:30:40 GMTAn amazing story in Cleveland where three women who had been missing for a decade all turned up alive. The three had apparently been abducted and held against their will in a Cleveland house. Three brothers are in custody facing charges. This is the 911 call from one of the women, Amanda Berry:  Here's a fascinating interview with the hero of the story, Cleveland resident Charles Ramsay who heard Amanda's screams and kicked down the door to free her from the home: A tragic sidenote to this remarkable story: Amanda's mother died in 2006 heartbroken and convinced her daugher was dead. According to a friend of hers, a visit with famed "psychic" Sylvia Browne was the breaking point. In 2004, Louwana Miller had traveled to New York to be on the Montel Williams show and ask Browne about her daughter. Rather than simply say she didn't know, Browne declared that Amanda was dead, ...http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541305rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541305Tue, 07 May 2013 19:23:17 GMTMy latest Calgary Herald column looks at the controversy surrounding the donation from Daryl Katz to the Alberta Tories: In what was otherwise a challenging week for them, the Alberta Tories were relishing their “vindication” courtesy of Elections Alberta and its investigation of a rather large and controversial donation to the party. The report from now-retired Chief Electoral Officer Brian Fjeldheim found that the $430,000 bulk donation from billionaire Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz and associates was not in violation of Alberta’s election law. That law limits individual and corporate donations in an election year to $30,000 but the $430,000 was divided among 17 entities and therefore deemed to be legal. It should hardly surprise us that the party responsible for the law is adept at navigating it. Nor should it surprise us that the party which benefits most from the status quo would wish to retain it. Premier Alison ...http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541321rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10541321Tue, 07 May 2013 15:44:31 GMTAlbertans are by now pretty used to partisan shots back and forth between the Tories and the Wildrose Party. The Tories have not really faced this kind of threat at all during their 40-plus years of governing the province. The Wildrose, meanwhile, certainly smell blood with the government's approval rating tanking. Furthermore, we're all pretty used to seeing kids used as political props. Whether it's politicians reading to kids, or announcements being made in front of a backdrop of children, kids make for good photo ops. But what we haven't seen is a politician actually trying to sell a partisan message directly to kids. Well, before yesterday we hadn't seen it. Premier Alison Redford was at an Edmonton school making yet another announcement of new schools. The Premier was surrounded by dozens of schoolchildren who were sitting at her feet. And with this captive audience of eager young people, Redford ...http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10540463rob.breakenridge@corusent.com (Rob Breakenridge)http://www.newstalk770.com/Blogs/RobBreakenridge/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10540463Sun, 05 May 2013 21:25:00 GMT