Mission Statement - True North is not for everyone
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Editor’s Notes

The Bush ‘We Care’ slogan will not placate

survivors of millions killed by US puppets

 

Sorely missing from media reports on last weekends visit to Latin America by George W. Bush is information of substance. We got plenty of coverage of demonstrations but too little background insight. For the leading media outlets Hugo Chavez is the man to be wary of, if not the man to hate. However, if we’re going to be wary of him, or to hate him, in style, we need to be informed. Otherwise our negative expression will lack the kind of class that is worthy of us. —246 words.
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Laughter in the court
of Judge Harold Wright

Judge Wright hears an argument for an arrest warrant for man who deserted from the army 51 years ago. — 80 words.
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Chavez uses oil to squeeze
IMF out of Latin America

Christopher Swann of Bloomberg says Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is squeezing the International Monetary Fund out of Latin America, the region that once accounted for most of its business. IMF lending in the area has fallen to $50 million, or less than 1 percent of its global portfolio, compared with 80 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, Chavez has used his oil wealth to lend $2.5 billion to Argentina, offer $1.5 billion to Bolivia and hold $500 million out to Ecuador. — 859 words.
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Venezuela banks thriving
despite Chávez bravado

Mark Turner, Latin America equities analyst at Hallgarten, writes in The Banker that despite all the hue and cry of alarm about the Bolivarian Revolution of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan banks are both calm and thriving. Turner tells us that “ . . . this controversial figure has been misrepresented in English-speaking media and the case for uncompensated confiscation seems flimsy under closer examination. Expropriation invites retaliation from injured parties, and Venezuela has too much international exposure to imagine itself in a socialist vacuum.”  — 657 words.
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Catholic bishop would marry church
to Chavez ‘Bolivarian revolution’

According to Hugh O’Shaughnessy writing in The Tablet, “The recent pastoral letter of Bishop Mario Moronta Rodríguez of San Cristóbal will not have gone down well with the more prosperous members of the flock in his remote Andean diocese, nor indeed with the rich in Venezuela as a whole. His message went directly counter to their bitter and sustained criticism of the democratically elected and popular President Hugo Chávez and his promotion of what he calls "twenty-first-century socialism". — 1,306 words.
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Bush dodges Chavez questions
despite repeated prodding

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — President Bush may have gotten good at evading questions, but on last week's five-country Latin American tour, but it became more difficult and much more blatant. "Hugo Chavez suggested that you are afraid to mention his name," asked a U.S. journalist yesterday,  "so are you?  and how much of a threat is he to United States interests in the hemisphere?" Rather than respond or decline to answer, Bush changed the subject. — 1,002 words.
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Lula urges Bush to respect status
of all Latin American countries

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called upon his US counterpart George W Bush on Friday in Sao Paulo to cooperate in Latin America's social development while respecting the 'political decisions of each state.' — 426 words.
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Venezuela and Argentina
strengthen regional integration

While U.S. President George W. Bush visited Brazil and Uruguay, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez made a brief visit to Argentina to strengthen his plan for regional integration, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).  Continuing the process of integration between the two countries, Chávez and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner signed several bilateral agreements regarding agriculture, the energy sector, and the creation of the Bank of the South. — 625 words.
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Chavez signs law-decree
for monetary reform

Tuesday evening, March 6, during his radio program Aló Presidente, President Chavez signed into effect the law for a reform of the country’s currency, such that as of January 1, 2008 three zeros will be eliminated from the denomination. The reform is supposed to simplify accounting and increase confidence in the currency. — 488 words.

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True North Canuck Fact of the Day

Local boy makes Oscars

Louis B. Mayer, the film producer who grew up in New Brunswick, is responsible for creating the Academy Awards.  To avoid labour union problems in Hollywood, he introduced awards for people in the movie business, which became known as the Oscars.

Trivia compiled by Randy Ray and Mark Kearney. Visit their Web site at:   www.triviaguys.com
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Harold Wright, True North's  Doctor of Punology, says,  “To write with a broken pencil is pointless.”

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Carl Dow
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"Why wait for spring?
 Do it now . . ."

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Carl Dow, Editor and Publisher
Carl Hall, Technical Analyst and Web Editor
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