Mission Statement – True North is not for everyone
______
"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.
______
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.
______
Don’t go near here on Friday . . . there’s a gouger lurking, with a very greedy eye on your hard-earned money.
This was the story that broke yesterday: Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq. He said maintaining “resource security” in the Middle East is a priority. This is what True North has said all along: the Iraq adventure had nothing to do with spreading democracy, or Iraq weapons of mass destruction — plain and simple it had to do with seizing control of the sea of oil that lies beneath the sands of Iraq. — 563 words.
______
I enjoy the True North newsletter, particularly its focus on interesting news articles and under-reported news that State authorities and big-business would like to keep under-reported. This is why I find your championship of "No Gas Fridays" to be somewhat troublesome. While promoting a particular social issue seems to be somewhat out of sync with the broader True North mandate, it's your party and you can cry about any issue you want. Lord knows there are lots of good causes to promote; I'm just not sure the inalienable rights of automobile drivers is one of them.
If we assume for the moment (which I don't) this is an issue worth championing, it strikes me as being a particularity ineffective strategy. As another writer has noted, people will buy gas on another day. Social activist groups have had some experience promoting "buy nothing days" and they have not had any impact on our society's purchasing patterns s far as I can tell. Higher gas prices can have positive results - greater conservation of resources and reduced automobile driving. There are many, including myself, who would argue that the problem is not high gas prices but rather the ownership and control of the resource.
More importantly however, the campaign diverts attention from more important considerations related to foreign ownership of Canada's oil and gas resources, the lack of national oil and gas self-sufficiency policy and the importance of energy conservation and sustainable community development in a rapidly warming world.
Just thought I should share. Keep up the good work.
Dennis Carr
Ottawa
______
Bubba died in a fire and his body was burned pretty badly. The morgue needed someone to identify the body, so they sent for his two best friends, Cooter and Gomer. — 161 words.
______
Click on the above and find the Man from Hades in the photo. Win a free subscription to True North. Good luck.
______
If you don’t drink enough water, you could end up with excess body fat, poor muscle tone, digestive complications, muscle soreness -- even water-retention problems. — 504 words.
______
Canada’s two largest provinces are taking expensive steps toward alleviating pollution by automobiles. A result will be the creation of next generation high-paying jobs.
. . . and then, believe it or not, a report on an air-powered car! French automaker MDI has come up with a clever solution that’s affordable and produces zero emissions to boot. How did they do it? The car is powered by air! — 992 words.
______
‘In turn, women habituated to religious privilege and influence in the pre-Christian era eagerly lent their expertise and energy to the early church. But with one male god in sole reign in heaven, women’s direct connection with deity became suspect, and they were methodically edged out of formal religious power.’ — 1,286 words.
______
‘Why on earth do people keep saying, "There but for the grace of God …"? If matters had been very slightly different over the past weekend, the streets of London and the airport check-in area in Glasgow, Scotland, would have been strewn with charred body parts. And this would have been, according to the would-be perpetrators, because of the grace of God. Whatever our own private theology or theodicy, we might at least agree to take this vile belief seriously.’ — 1,131 words.
______
The Central Intelligence Agency last week released a large cache of documents describing long-ago secret missions at odds with the agency's charter as laid down in the National Security Act of 1947. The documents were compiled in 1973 and are referred to within the agency as the " family jewels" (see below). Among the weirder adventures they relate is the enlistment of Johnny Roselli, a member of the Las Vegas mob who "had connections leading into Cuban gambling interests," to poison Fidel Castro (see Page 2 and Pages 4-8). — 453 words.
______
A $54m lawsuit over a pair of pinstriped trousers that went missing from a Washington, DC, cleaners was thrown out by a judge last week. It had attracted worldwide ridicule. The fact that the case was brought, not by a random loony, but by a former judge has added to the sense that something is wrong not just with America's litigation laws, but with the kind of men and women Americans choose to sit in judgment over them. — 811 words.
______
A longtime confidant of the Bush and Cheney families describes the dangerous influence of the vice president. — 837 words.
______
This article addresses not only Rudy Giuliani’s Catholicism but also accusations against Monsignor Alan Placa, Rudy’s best friend and business associate. Placa is accused of sexual abuse of four minors and of being a key figure in the Rockville Centre Diocese’s cover up of sex crimes of priests against minors. — 6,708 words ..
______
U.S. . President George W. Bush has become dangerously steeped in ideas of Armageddon, the Apocalypse, an imminent war with Satanic forces in the Middle East, and an urgency to construct an American theocracy to fulfill God's end-of-days plan, according to close observers. — 6,975 words.
______
This helps to keep us informed as to what is being said in the hard-copy print world. — 1,006 words.
______
In a 1940 speech, Adolf Hitler said Canada’s low population density made it an easy country to run. Said the Führer: “No matter how stupidly one managed one’s affairs in such a country, a decent living would still be possible.”
Trivia compiled by Randy Ray and Mark Kearney. Visit their Web site at: www.triviaguys.com
______
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.
Link not working? Story not loading? Can't click on the links? Got another computer problem? Never fear! Carl is here!
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.
______
Archives
______
Carl Dow, Editor and Publisher
Yvette Pigeon, Assistant Editor
Benoit Jolicoeur, Art Director
Carl Hall, Technical Analyst and Web Editor
______