"News is what (certain) people want to keep hidden. Everything else is just publicity."
— PBS journalist Bill Moyers.
Your support makes it possible for True North to clear the fog of "publicity" — and keep you informed on what's really happening in the world today. Please send your donation to:
Carl Dow, True North, Station E, P.O. Box 4814, Ottawa ON Canada K1S 5H9.
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Join True North No Gas Fridays and hit back at Big Oil price gouging. When enough drivers make the point that they’re “mad as hell and won’t take it anymore” Governments will act. You can count on it. Protect yourself with True North No Gas Fridays.
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Take care, beware, don’t go near that thing on Friday . . . there’s a gouger lurking, with a very greedy eye on your hard-earned money.
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To fulfill True North’s mandate to keep you informed and entertained I study news sources from the political left, centre, and right, and back again, doing my best to separate the wheat from the chaff. —637 words.
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I'm Really enjoying your work!
I would suggest some type of instant (i.e.. internet bank transfer) method of donations so that when gratitude inspires readers to act, those with short attention spans can have the opportunity to act more immediately.
Thanks!
Mitch Drzymala
Calgary, Alberta
True North readers are always right. — Ed.
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I think True North is terrific. You really fulfilled your mandate for me with the piece on Iraqi labour unions, a story I never saw in the Toronto Star (the paper I switched to after the Globe went neo-con a few years ago). There could hardly be a more poignantly grotesque indication of what's really going on over there and who it's supposed to benefit than the way the workers were menaced by the Iraqi army and U.S. jets. Are there any new developments to report?
Tom Dow
Sudbury, Ontario
This issue of True North has the latest on Iraqi oil. We’ll keep you up to date. — Ed.
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Judge Harold Wright has no time for testimony that strays from heart of the case. Here are just some of the facts that he must give serious consideration. — 162 words.
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Toy manufacturer Mattel recently recalled nearly 19 million Chinese-made toys, including 436,000 toy cars containing lead paint. That was only two weeks after yanking nearly a million of its Fisher-Price toys for preschoolers due to lead content. Why would a toymaker ever use lead paint? — 448 words
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Ford of Europe will offer its customers ultra-low CO2 alternatives for selected car lines with the launch of a new range of Ford ECOnetic models. Potential buyers will be able to get a glimpse of these vehicles at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. — 654 words.
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U.S. Sen. Larry Craig was arrested in June for soliciting sex in an airport bathroom, Roll Call reported recently. According to the police, Craig had "tapped his right foot … as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct." — 818 words.
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The Conference of Defence Associations would like to draw your attention to the spate of recent media reports about the so-called “return” of the Russian Bear, and to highlight the issues involved in analyzing such a phenomenon and what it means for Canada. — 1,559 words
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Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity says, “It is as though I'm back as an analyst at the CIA, trying to estimate the chances of an attack on Iran. The putative attacker, though, happens to be our own president. — 1,959 words.
The Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive air strikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians' military capability in three days, according to a national security expert. By Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times UK — 599 words.
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‘In a dramatic speech, John Edwards fired a major broadside against corporate America and, more significantly, "corporate Democrats," — the likes of which hasn't been heard from a viable candidate with national appeal in decades. . . . John Edwards is becoming a very different kind of candidate, and his growing message of empowerment and attack on the corporate class may prove to be the most interesting story of campaign 2008.’ — 1,123 words.
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We have two pieces on the Iraq oil situation. The first is on a new pipeline from northern Iraq through Turkey that will soon be opened under heavy guard. The second deals with what is likely to be a fierce debate in Baghdad as parliament reconvenes this month. While it’s predicted that the bill will pass, significant opposition will be voiced against production sharing agreements favoured by international oil companies.. — 1,207 words.
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The U.S. Venezuela Solidarity Network offers this sentence-by-sentence deconstruction of the Washington Post editorial as a public service to educate serious readers on important issues of U.S.-Venezuela relations and the campaign to derail the process in Venezuela to use its oil wealth for the benefit of its poor majority. — 2,449 words.
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Politics were personal for the three cousins who led Russia, Germany and Britain to war in 1914, according to a new book by Catrine Clay. — 1,256 words.
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A former police officer and a friend got a surprise when the Peruvian woman they thought they were kidnapping on a Moscow street turned out to be a pre-operative transsexual. — 293 words.
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The constellations of Andromeda, Hydra and Vulpecula are now just a mouse click away for amateur star-gazers, following the launch of Google Sky. — 704 words
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China said on Monday none of its massive foreign exchange stockpile was invested in the teetering U.S. subprime mortgage sector, while a top EU official predicted the crisis could crimp but not choke off economic recovery. — 733 words.
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American football fans can thank us. Students from McGill University introduced the game of rugby, with its oblong ball, to their Harvard counterparts in 1874 who up to that time played only with a round ball. The Americans were so taken by the game they adopted it and it eventually evolved into the football now played throughout their country.
Trivia compiled by Randy Ray and Mark Kearney. Visit their Web site at: triviaguys.com
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Mark Kearney and Randy Ray, prolific writers of Canadian best sellers, have produced a perfect book for the beach blanket season. Entertaining and informative, it will make you feel good about being a Canadian.
If you have any problems with accessing the newsletter or problems with your computer, send an email to Carl Hall chall2k5@gmail.com , and he will be more than happy to assist you.
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Archives
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Carl Dow, Editor and Publisher
Yvette Pigeon, Assistant Editor
Benoit Jolicoeur, Art Director
Carl Hall, Technical Analyst and Web Editor
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