Friday, July 3, 2009, Vol. 4, No, 32 — 183
"True North is for opinion makers"
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By Les Perreaux
The Globe and Mail
MONTREAL — Abousfian Abdelrazik is back on Canadian soil a partly free man, but his lawyer says mysterious people are watching his every move and he may seek a court injunction to stop it. — 644 words.
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By Carl Dow
Editor and Publisher
True North Perspective
JUPITER, Florida — Conservative financial analyst Martin D. Weiss, PhD, says California's fiscal disaster is about to create massive volatility in the stock and bond markets. As readers of True North Perspective will know Dr. Weiss for years predicted the economic recession/depression that has struck the American economy and dragged the world down with it. — 534 words.
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Carl Dow, True North, Station E, P.O. Box 4814, Ottawa ON Canada K1S 5H9.
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Friday, July 3, 2009
True North Perspective
Vol. 4, No. 32 (183)
One reason that there is no public alarm about the stupidity, cruelty, and bungling of the CSIS is that the media tends to give only sporadic attention to this rogue government department. Another reason is that the public has short memories. True North Perspective has concluded that the time for a change is long past due. — 377 words.
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Letters to the editor
(Editor's note: the following letter was printed in the Toronto Star on July 1, 2009, in response to a column ("One rousing Canadian cheer for stern U.S. border boss") by Liberal Senator Colin Kenny printed on June 29th.)
Re: One rousing Canadian cheer for stern U.S. border boss, Opinion June 29
I agree with Senator Colin Kenny. In fact, we do not need the bungling RCMP and the tape-destroying CSIS. We should allow the FBI and CIA to operate freely in Canada so that more of our citizens may be rendered without help from our security services.
We will save all the money we spend on our security apparatus and our trade with the U.S. will go on unhindered, as if there were no borders. Who cares about sovereignty, if we can maintain our standard of living? After all we live in a proud and free country.
I am proud to have Colin Kenny as a member of that august body.
Without him the terrorists would have killed us all and taken over my Canada.
Yusuf Patel, Mississauga
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By Alex Binkley
True North Perspective Contributing Editor
Originally writter for Ontario Farmer
Michael McCain gets a lot of credit for taking responsibility during last summer’s Listeria crisis and, by default, becoming the public face of food safety in the process. — 458 words.
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By Staff Writers
The Moscow Times
Two Canadian NATO diplomats have left Moscow after the Foreign Ministry withdrew their accreditation in a tit-for-tat expulsion of two Russian diplomats from Russia's NATO mission last month, Interfax reported Wednesday. — 644 words.
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By Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair
TrueNorthPerspective
Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair is the author of "The Neglected Garden and two French novels. Visit her website to learn more www.albertevilleneuve.ca.
Everyone, summer is finally here! It took long enough to show up. So now it's time to enjoy a more carefree schedule, stop and smell the roses, spend some time relaxing on the patio or porch, read a good book or your favorite magazine, sip ice tea or an ice cold beer... So am I the only one who is still running with a full schedule, trying to get everything done? I'm a retiree, right? — 698 words.
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From the Desk of Alex Binkley, True North Perspective Contributing Editor
By Ben Eisen
Policy Analyst
Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Troy Media Corporation
Ben Eisen is co-author of The Environmental State of Canada — 30 years of Progress.
During the last federal election, the Conservatives skewered then Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s proposed carbon tax as a “tax on everything.” The Tories argued such a policy would place a significant strain on household budgets, curb economic growth, and contribute almost nothing towards the stated goal of the policy — to combat global warming. — 698 words.
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From the Desk of Alex Binkley, True North Perspective Contributing Editor
By Ron Wallace
Dr. Ron Wallace recently retired as Chief Executive Officer of a Canadian-US defence manufacturer. He has worked extensively internationally, including the Arctic regions of Canada and Russia, where he gained experience in northern engineering and environmental research.
Assertions of sovereign interest by nations are empty without the ability to enforce laws and maintain security in the territories so claimed. Hence, issues of northern environmental protection, security and sovereignty are inextricably bound together. Although it may seem a trivial observation to some, in order to assert sovereign control in the Arctic, and to ensure environmental protection in this special place, Canada has to be there. Like a three-sided conceptual triangle, sovereign control, military security and environmental protection each contributes one to the other. — 746 words.
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On Canada Day, 11 Canadians living in the United States shared what they miss most about home for the New York Times.
Until 1982, Canada Day was known as Dominion Day. I always thought that had more of a ring to it. Beyond the zippy alliteration, it reminded us citizens that our domain of orderly domesticity was graced by the dominant power of our "Dominus." And the rights granted therein to us by the glorious English crown through her colonial appointee, the right honourable governor general. — 1,800 words.
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By The Rev. Dr. Hanns F. Skoutajan
I have just zoomed in on Google Earth. I do this frequently to see the topography of this world. My destination is often an oval shaped lake in northern Saskatchewan. From there I move the pointer north and close in on a field. A narrow fringe of trees cuts the field in two and where it ends I can see a small area of disturbed ground. This is all that is left of what was once a farm. — 656 words.
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Used in gardens, farms, and parks around the world, the weed killer Roundup contains an ingredient that can suffocate human cells in a laboratory
By Crystal Gammon and Environmental Health News
ScientificAmerican.com
Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup's inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells. The new findings intensify a debate about so-called "inerts" — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. — 1,650 words.
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By Jason Leopold
TruthOut.org
Two years before the invasion of Iraq, oil executives and foreign policy advisers told the Bush administration that the United States would remain "a prisoner of its energy dilemma" as long as Saddam Hussein was in power.
That April 2001 report, "Strategic Policy Challenges for the 21st Century," was prepared by the James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy and the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations at the request of then-Vice President Dick Cheney. — 1,733 words.
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By William Rivers Pitt
TruthOut.org|Perspective
William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of two books: "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know" and "The Greatest Sedition Is Silence." His newest book, "House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation," is now available from PoliPointPress.
It began more than six years ago with a lie, followed by another lie, and another lie, and then two more, ten more, a hundred, a thousand, an avalanche of lies from heads of state and hatchet men and well-fed media types more interested in getting the interview than in getting the facts.
It began with lies like this: — 1,074 words.
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By Anatoly Medetsky
The Moscow Times
LUKoil said Wednesday that it would be interested in bidding again for the rights to develop an Iraqi oil field a day after its offer placed third in a tender for West Qurna-1. — 455 words.
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By Ali Gharib
Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON — After 30 years of enmity that closed off most lines of communication, the recent crisis in Iran has suddenly engendered a boom of U.S. interest in the Islamic Republic. — 1,208 words.
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Workers fight back against Wells Fargo for closing their factory and they win! Now other workers take on the fight
By Mike Elk
AlterNet.org
This week, workers at Hartmarx Factory won a major victory against Wells Fargo, as Wells Fargo agreed to keep their factory open. The story of the Hartmarx workers had drawn national attention as they threatened to occupy their factory if Wells Fargo closed it. Their victory yesterday represents a major triumph in the growing trend of factory sit ins that started last December when workers, members of United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE) occupied the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago. — 809 words.
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By James Suggett
Venezuelanalysis.com
MERIDA — On Tuesday Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proposed multi-national military, economic, and legal measures to restore Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to the presidency and bring an end to the military coup d'etat that began last Sunday, if planned diplomatic measures fail. — 860 words.
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By Barak Ravid and Cnaan Liphshiz
Haaretz.com
The U.S. administration has not been successful in securing commitments from Arab countries to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, a senior source in Jerusalem said Wednesday. — 523 words.
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By Maureen Dowd
The New York Times
Stay focused, ladies. Here is The Practical Guide to Help Spurned Political Wives Survive Old Problems in the Era of New Technology. — 845 words.
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By Mike Allen and Michael Calderone
TruthOut.org
Washington Post Publisher and Chief Executive Officer Katharine Weymouth said today she was cancelling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where, for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few": Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper's own reporters and editors. — 913 words.
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Marines will try to clear insurgents from Helmand River valley before Afghan presidential elections on 20 August
By Richard A. Oppel
The New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan — Almost 4,000 United States Marines, backed by helicopter gunships, pushed into the volatile Helmand River valley in southwestern Afghanistan on Thursday morning, reporting little resistance from Taliban fighters, whose control of poppy harvests and opium smuggling in the area provides major financing for the Afghan insurgency. — 1,048 words.
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By Barak Ravid
Haaretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell will meet in two weeks to reach a final agreement on settlement construction in the West Bank. — 497 words.
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'Whereas we are religious, we're living the life of total dedication to Christ, and out of that flows a profound concern for the good of all humanity. So our vision of our lives, and their vision of us as a work force, are just not on the same planet.'
By Laurie Goodstein
The New York Times
The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition. — 1,432 words.
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Child was already dead when paramedics arrived at her home, said local official
By Staff Writers
Associated Press
A 12-foot (3.6-metre) pet Burmese python broke out of an aquarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl in her bedroom today at a central Florida home, authorities said. — 359 words.
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The new film Food Inc. is a shocking look at the health, human rights and the environmental nightmare that lands on our plate each meal
By Tara Lohan
AlterNet.org
It turns out that figuring out the most simple thing — like what's on your dinner plate, and where it came from — is actually a pretty subversive act. That's what director Robert Kenner found out while spending six years putting together the amazing new documentary, Food Inc., which features prominent food writers Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation). — 2,989 words.
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By Tim McElreavy
CarnalNation.com
Men can improve the quality of their sperm by quitting smoking, eating a well-balanced diet, and exercising — just not too much. Oh yeah, having a lot more sex will help the little swimmers swim more swimmingly, too. Two studies presented this week at the meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam provide evidence on how to get more bang for your buck, reproductively speaking. — 437 words.
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Australian wallabies are eating opium poppies and creating crop circles
as they hop around "as high as a kite", a government official has said
By Staff Writers
BBC News
Lara Giddings, the attorney general for the island state of Tasmania, said the kangaroo-like marsupials were getting into poppy fields grown for medicine. She was reporting to a parliamentary hearing on security for poppy crops. — 248 words.
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By Claudia Ciobanu
Inter Press Service
BUCHAREST — On May 26, the U.S.-based Center for Investigative Reporting published 'The Price of Sex', a vast multi-media project by photojournalist Mimi Chakarova who spent nearly seven years doggedly unraveling the web of sex trafficking. — 1,167 words.
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By Lidia Okorokova
The Moscow Times
A Sberbank security guard accused of stealing a record 250 million rubles ($8 million) after holding up his own armored truck has been captured in an underground hideout in a Perm forest, police said Wednesday. — 1,167 words.
The short story, The Old Man's Last Sauna, a groundbreaking love story, in the Friday, April 24 edition of True North Perspective, concludes the collection titled The Old Man's Last Sauna, written by Carl Dow. On Friday, April 17, you'll find O Ernie! ... What Have They Done To You! The series began Friday, February 20, with Deo Volente (God Willing). The second, The Quintessence of Mr. Flynn, Friday, February 27. The third, Sharing Lies, Friday, March 6. The fourth, Flying High, Friday, March 13. The fifth, The Richest Bitch in the Country or Ginny I Hardly Knows Ya, Friday, March 20. On Friday, March 27, One Lift Too Many, followed by The Model A Ford, Friday, April 3. The out-of-body chiller, Room For One Only, Friday, April 10. The series closed Friday, April 24, with the collection's namesake The Old Man's Last Sauna, a groundbreaking love story. All stories may also be found in the True North Perspective Archives.
Harold Wright, Doctor of Punology, sez:
"A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it."
True North Canuck Fact of the Day
The horse race starting gate was designed in the early 1900s by Philip McGinnis, a racetrack reporter from Huntingdon, Quebec. It prevented arguments caused when horses started prematurely.
Trivia compiled by Randy Ray and Mark Kearney, authors of nine books about Canada. For more fabulous facts, visit their Web site at: www.triviaguys.com.
Money and Markets
By Claus Vogt
MoneyAndMarkets.com
The Baltic Dry Index, which measures the freight rates for dry cargo traveling by ship, hit an all time high of 11,793 on May 5, 2008. Then it plunged to 663 on December 5, a decline of 94.4 percent. It was as if trade was coming to a standstill. However, freight rates soon started to recover … — 1,170 words.
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By The Rev. Dr. Hanns F. Skoutajan
In my childhood memory I have a picture of a cluster of wagons some covered with canvas others were like small houses. Beautiful horses grazed nearby. They would be hitched to those wagons and the little colony move on. In the evening I could hear the sounds of violins playing haunting or lively tunes. These were the gypsies or Roma that we hear a good deal about these days. — 1,097 words.
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Musings
By Barbara Florio Graham
True North Perspective
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings. Her website is www.SimonTeakettle.com.
I subscribe to an excellent newsletter from the Target Marketing Group in Philadelphia. Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense is fascinating reading, whether or not you're especially interested in marketing, public relations, or business savvy, which are the topics it covers. — 515 words.
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The Book End
Author Brad Meltzer answers critics of his latest novel, The Book of Lies.
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Ottawa author Randy Ray and his co-author Mark Kearney of London, Ont. have published their ninth Canadian book, The Big Book of Canadian Trivia, which is now available in stores and on the authors' Web site at: TriviaGuys.com.
The latest Ray-Kearney effort is best described as a "greatest hits" book that contains the best Canadiana from their previous eight books, plus a considerable amount of new material.
In one big book readers will find all the trivia and facts about Canada they need to know: there are stories of important Canadian artifacts and history including what became of Canada's World War II spy camp.
All regions and provinces are covered, as well as important Canadian figures like John Molson, Elizabeth Arden and Russ Jackson.
If that isn't enough there will also be pieces explaining whatever happened to such Canadian icons as the last spike, labour leader Bob White, hockey tough guy Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, the first skidoo, swimmer Marilyn Bell and the first Tim Hortons donut shop.
Some items are "classics." Others are little known facts. Approximately 25% of the material has never before appeared in print.
This fascinating Big Book brings together for the first time in one package the most notable facts and trivia from the archives of the trivia guys' collection.
The Big Book of Canadian Trivia is published by The Dundurn Group of Toronto.
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Prolific best-selling Ottawa author and publicist Randy Ray has developed a website to promote his publicity services, which he offers to authors, publishers and companies. Mr. Ray has helped many clients get their message out across Canada on CTV, CBC Radio, CH-TV, A-Channel and Global TV, and in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Halifax Herald and many Ottawa-area weekly newspapers. Mr. Ray's web site is: www.randyray.ca. He can be contacted at: (613) 731-3873 or rocket@intranet.ca.
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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.
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Archives
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Carl Dow, Editor and Publisher
Geoffrey Dow, Managing Editor
Yvette Pigeon, Associate Editor
Benoit Jolicoeur, Art Director
Ian Covey, Director of Photography
Carl Hall, Technical Analyst and Web Editor
Contributing Editors
Alex Binkley
Anita Chan, Australia
Rosaleen Dickson
Tom Dow
Bob Kay
Randy Ray
David Ward
Harold Wright
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