I love you. How many times have those endearing words led to trouble? Perhaps it is a mark of the soulless, acquisitive times in which we live that an anonymous piece of e-mail, a Trojan horse of cyberconfusion disguised as hope, could bring government offices to a standstill.

More than computer experts, the designers of the

most recent virus to paralyze the connected world are experts on human nature. The success of their prank was that the message was irresistible. It played to our most vulnerable side, the need to be loved.

However, that need is also the most resilient. A disappointed heart is just part of life. And it would be a sorry world indeed if we were all too jaded to warm to the words, "I love you."

The problem isn't with our hearts, it is with our computers.

It's a sure sign that summer is heading our way when we get the news that organizers of Raven Mad Daze are gearing up for the annual summer solstice celebrations.

Set for June 16, the popular street party offers residents a chance to shop until midnight and merchants, a fun-filled venue to sell their wares.

But like most years, organizers are desperately short of volunteers to help out.

So, if you're not doing anything, get out there and volunteer. You just might have fun. Time of need

It almost be a miracle if the Keewatin Regional Department of Health and Social Services's review turns up anything most people in the Kivalliq don't all ready know.

Our nurses are overworked and often find themselves with too much responsibility resting on their shoulders.

Despite the public rhetoric, expense guidelines often surround emergency calls.

Let's face it, it's expensive to medevac people out.

Best be sure it's an emergency situation, or else you'll be facing the supervisor, all too often pervades the thought process of those on the frontlines.

The same can be said for the lines of communication between tired doctors who make it known they're looking forward to a weekend off and the nurses who must make the call on whether to disrupt the doctor's break.

The regional executive director Dr. Keith Best has tried to remedy the problem since coming to the Kivalliq, but gaps in our medical safety net are still one of the issues we face living on the last frontier.

We must wait for Dr. Best to conclude his review before finding out if the nurse on call erred in her assessment of Stephanie.

But, more importantly, whatever the outcome of his review, we must continue to raise our voices and demand the Nunavut Government does everything in its power to increase the level of health care in our region.

Only constant belligerence will result in a system finally being put in place dependable enough to prevent situations like this from happening again.

As citizens, we deserve no less.

Cracking down

Police and addictions workers across the Kivalliq must be shaking their heads in disbelief at the sentence handed down this past week to a Rankin Inlet woman convicted of drug trafficking.

Regardless of the amount of drugs and money found on the woman when she was apprehended, one day in jail and a couple of weeks of community service sends the wrong message.

Unless you live in a cave, everyone has heard the amount of money drug dealers in our communities are making.

Such puny sentences tell our young people crime does indeed pay, as long as you don't carry too much "stuff" on you.

Drugs and alcohol are a huge problem in our region and it's time for our courts to hear the same message we do.

Drugs ruin lives and the only way we're going to slow their availability is for our courts to hand out stiffer sentences to those who bring them into our community.