"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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Sunday is Remembrance Day and our country will fall silent at 11 a.m. in successive time zones to honour those who made the supreme sacrifice in defending our democracy. Of course we include fullest respect for those who returned wounded in mind and/or body. War is hell and we cannot but hold in high esteem those who have shown the courage to fight our country’s battles in armed conflict.— 425 words.
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Day Three
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh....
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Richard Kaulbars, 42, is a brilliant, Ottawa-born Canadian standup comic and a television comedy writer, including children’s shows. On Wednesday, November 6, he was the guest speaker at a general membership meeting of Ottawa Independent Writers. Mr. Kaulbars teaches a graduate level course in comedy writing at Algonquin College. Here following is his insightful analysis of the serious business of comedy in today’s rapidly changing world of entertainment. True North presents his talk verbatim. Enjoy. — 4,556 words.
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At 86 Rosaleen Leslie Dickson has a keen mind, a sharp wit, and the energy of one half her age. Rosaleen effectively wields the power of words. She’s an active, leading member of a number of organizations including the National Press Club and the Ottawa Independent Writers. When Rosaleen speaks or writes, everyone pays attention. Her remarkable career as a journalist and as an author continues to have an international personal-level impact. — 859 words.
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An 18-year-old in Finland shot and killed eight people at his school on Wednesday. The killer, Pekka-Eric Auvinen, then committed suicide by turning his .22-calibre gun on himself. Although gun violence is very rare in Finland, the country has the highest rate of firearm ownership in Europe and the third highest in the world, behind only the United States and Yemen. Why do so many Finns own firearms? — 474 words.
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Steve Jobs may be the undisputed grand master of technology hype, but when it comes to numbering operating systems, he's oddly self-effacing. With Leopard, the new version of OS X, Apple has nudged the version number forward from 10.4 to 10.5. Most companies would assign such a teensy increment to an update with a few minor bug fixes, but Leopard includes more than 300 new features by Apple's count. — 1,396 words.
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DETROIT — Ford Motor said Thursday that it had lost $380 million in the third quarter, slipping back to a loss after a surprise profit in the second quarter. Executives said that they also expected a loss in the fourth quarter and that the company might post a small loss for the year. But Ford essentially broke even on its operations and said its restructuring plan was on track. — 743 words.
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By David Sessions
Slate Magazine
As a politically interested evangelical, I'm constantly surprised to find that newspapers know more about my political feelings than I do. I haven't even picked my presidential candidate yet, but, it turns out, I'm supposed to be frustrated and dissatisfied with my options—and my peers. — 1,168 words.
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By Maureen Dowd
New York Times
WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush came to the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday for a Second Inaugural do-over. Here is the text of his revised speech: — 828 words.
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By Simon Romero
The New York Times
CARACAS, Venezuela — In a country moving toward “21st century socialism”, the beneficiaries of government largess here are still people like Nicolás Taurisano, a businessman who dabbles in real estate and machinery imports. He is the proud owner of a Hummer. — 1,035 words.
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By Jim Holt
The London Review of Books
Iraq is 'unwinnable', a 'quagmire', a 'fiasco': so goes the received opinion. But there is good reason to think that, from the Bush-Cheney perspective, it is none of these things. Indeed, the U.S. may be 'stuck' precisely where Bush et al want it to be, which is why there is no 'exit strategy'. — 1,986 words.
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By Edmund L. Andrews
The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress on Thursday that the economy was going to get worse before it got better, a message that received a chilly reception from both Wall Street and politicians. — 932 words.
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North Americans are not taking enough vitamin D, a fact that may put them at significant risk for developing cancer, according to a landmark study conducted by Creighton University School of Medicine. — 624 words.
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By Martin D. Weiss
Money and Markets
Almost instantly, on the news ...
The greenback plunged to new all-time lows against major currencies: The euro hit $1.47 ... the pound topped $2.10 ... the Japanese yen soared nearly two cents ... the Canadian dollar rocketed to $1.10 — a new all-time high ... and the Swiss franc hit new highs ...
Oil roared to a new all-time high of nearly $99 per barrel...
Gold exploded to within two dollars of its all-time high of $850 ...
And the entire CRB commodity price index launched like an ICBM! — 2,698 words
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On November 11, Canadians everywhere will remember the people who sacrificed their youth and in many cases, their lives, during the wars of the 20th century.
It’s the ideal time to reflect on the role played by thousands of ordinary people who were called upon to do extraordinary things during times of military conflict.
On this Remembrance Day, the following 11 facts, prepared with input from the Canadian War Museum, Veterans Affairs Canada and the Royal Canadian Legion, will provide some additional insight into the wars Canada has been involved in and the significance of this special day.
In honour of our armed forces past and present True North will add Remembrance Day facts until they total 11 by our Friday, November 10 issue.
1. Private George L. Price was the last Canadian killed in action before the Armistice took effect at 11:00 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918. He was shot by a German sniper only minutes before the Armistice ended the First World War.
.2. Men weren’t the only ones to die for their country in the Second World War: approximately 50,000 Canadian women served and 81 were killed. Six were with the Royal Canadian Navy, 25 were in the army, 32 in the Royal Canadian Air Force, 10 with nursing services, and eight in the Canadian Merchant Navy.
3. In John McCrae’s famous 1915 poem ``In Flanders Fields,’’ Flanders refers to the northern Dutch speaking part of Belgium; Flanders Fields is the battlefields where some of the heaviest fighting took place during the First World War.
4. Until 1931, Remembrance Day, originally known as Armistice Day, was celebrated on the same day as Thanksgiving, which took place the Monday of the week in which November 11 fell. However, in 1931, following a decade of lobbying by veterans’ organizations, the government renamed Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, and placed it on Nov. 11, the anniversary of the day the First World War ended.
5. Money raised during the Royal Canadian Legion’s annual Poppy Campaign assists veterans, ex-service people, their dependents and charities with medical assistance and equipment, meals, transportation, shelter, clothing and disaster relief.
.6. During the First World War, the Ontario community of Berlin changed its name when the loyalty of its large German-Canadian population was questioned. The city’s new name was Kitchener, named for Lord Horatio Kitchener, a British war hero who at the start of the war was appointed Secretary for War by the British government. He died in 1916 when his ship was sunk.
.7. The remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier next to the National War Memorial in Ottawa, were taken from near Vimy Ridge in France. The soldier died in the First World War and was returned to Canada in May 2000. The tomb honours more than 116,000 Canadians who have sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace and freedom.
.8. The Peace Tower was not always the Peace Towe. After a major fire in 1916, the Centre Block and tower at Parliament Hill were rebuilt. When the cornerstone was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1919, the 92.2-metre tower was known as "The Tower of Peace and Victory." In 1927, it was officially named the Peace Tower following correspondence between the tower’s architect and Prime Minister Mackenzie King.
.9. Canadian pilot Wally Floody was known as the “architect of the Great Escape” from Stalag Luft III in the Second World. Floody, who was born in Chatham, Ont. and spent time in Kirkland Lake, Ont., used his knowledge of mining techniques to design and engineer the tunnels used in the famous escape.
.10. The “D” in D-Day is a general military term for a day on which hostilities, an operation, or an exercise commences, or is planned to commence. So, the first day after D-Day would be called D-Day plus one, the second, D-Day plus two and so on. Though June 6, 1944 is the most famous D-Day, the term was also used in the First World War. Some sources also say the D can stand for the word “day”, while at least one source claims it can also mean “debarkation.”
.11. The two minutes of silence gesture was adopted after the First World War to commemorate those who fought and those who died. It is still used on Remembrance Day to remember those who have given their lives in war. It was adopted in 1919 when King George issued a proclamation.
Mark Kearney of London, Ont. and Randy Ray of Ottawa, are the authors of eight books about Canada, including ``Whatever Happened To…? Catching Up With Canadian Icons.’’ For all the books of this best-selling duo visit their Web site at: www.triviaguys.com
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Harold Wright, Doctor of Punology, says, When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
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Archives
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Carl Dow, Editor and Publisher
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Harold Wright, Contributing Editor
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