Photo by Reuters

Photo Op

During his recent Latin American tour, U.S. President George W. Bush tried to put his best foot forward. However, in this stopping-for-the camera at a carrot-bagging location, it’s pretty clear by the look on their faces that everyone is unhappy with the occasion.

President George W. Bush has completed his tour of Latin America, which the U.S. president had hoped would help shore up Washington's position in the strategically crucial region. However, in the final tally, his visit was a miserable affair: Mr. Bush failed to resolve a single important question, and his every footstep was dogged by anti-American protests. Towards the end of his trip, the American president could even have suffered wounds to more than his morale if not for the hospitality of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.  — 1,011 words.
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Cartel in the cards
"Gas OPEC" to be created in Doha in April

Kommersant News Service has learned that last week some of the world's leading natural gas exporters reached a final agreement on the creation of a so-called "gas OPEC." The consortium of gas-rich countries, which at the moment includes Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela, and Algeria, is due to be formally organized in the Qatari capital of Doha on April 9. The appearance of such a powerful player in the energy arena will undoubtedly meet with an extremely negative reaction from the United States and the European Union. — 1,865 words.
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Prosecutors demands explain
delay in Litvinenko Inquiry
‘I have big problems’ victim told his son

British prosecutors' demand that British investigators unearth more information before prosecutors proceed with the case of dead security services agent Alexander Litvinenko may explain why Russian authorities have been barred from coming to London. — 282 words.
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Militants chop ears
off Afghan drivers

Suspected militants chopped off the ears of two drivers supplying fuel to a U.S. military base in Nuristan province of eastern Afghanistan, an interior ministry spokesman said Sunday. — 89 words.
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India workers allege slave-like
conditions by U.S. employer

More than 300 East Indian workers employed by a U.S.-based marine fabrication company have alleged that they are being treated like 'animals' and have formed a committee to raise their concerns against the firm. Indians working for Signal International LLC, based in Mississippi and Texas, have alleged that they are forced to live and work in slave-like conditions and are unduly exploited.  — 336 words.
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Background on action in The Horn of Africa
‘This is not a war between Ethiopia and Somalia’

Demgogue jumps from Marxism-Leninism to Buddhism

Analysis by Mohamed Hassan, a former Ethopian diplomat, he is a university professor in Brussels, Belgium. In 2003 he wrote a book. L’Irak face à l’Occupation (Iraq eye to eye with the occupation) with David Pestieau. The book on the war in Iraq has been published in French, Dutch,  Spanish, Italian, German and Turkish. This thoughtful essay reveals startling developments that lead to another avoidable humanitarian crisis. — 2,892 words
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True North Canuck Fact of the Day

Canadian invented ‘Beatlemania’ to describe frenzy

No “Yeah, yeah, yeah” without Canada?  You bet.   Sandy Gardiner, an Ottawa journalist, coined the phrase ‘Beatlemania’ to describe the frenzy created by the 1960s British rock group.  He came up with the term while covering The Beatles during a trip to Liverpool in the Fab Four’s early days.

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, “The dead batteries were given out free of charge.”
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Rest assured, True North is not spam
and will not harm your computer

We have been getting reports that True North is being marked as Spam or Bulk mail, and other reports that subscribers are saying that they get an error when clicking on our links that says this website may be harmful to your computer and personal information. For the Spam and Bulk mail classification, more information will come in a future issue once we have compiled an extensive list of email software and webmail types. As for the errors that you get when clicking on the links, just bypass them for now by clicking on the yes, continue, or allow buttons inside the error message. This problem stems from the fact that we do not have a www address yet, as there is not sufficient financial backing for the  True North project. The underlying reason why your email program is telling you this is that many of the identity theft cases that start online go through these types of links, requesting personal information such as credit cards, account names and passwords, etc…   True North does not request any information on its website. If you need to send in information, you should send it to our email address truenorthnews@gmail.com. We only require email addresses, and if you want to, you could also send in your name. We do not ask for any other information at all.

If you have any further questions or concerns about accessing any of the newsletter's features or links, contact myself, True North's Webmaster Carl Hall chall2k5@gmail.com   and I will be happy to respond as soon as possible. If asking a specific question about your email software, please include what operating system you use (Windows, Linux, or Mac), and what email software you use (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, or Mail on the Mac), this will help me solve your problem as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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Carl Hall,
Webmaster
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Archives
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Carl Dow
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"Why wait for spring?
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Carl Dow, Editor and Publisher
Yvette Pigeon, Assistant Editor
Carl Hall, Technical Analyst and Web Editor
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