By Alex Binkley
True North Perspective
Originally written for Canadian Sailings

OTTAWA — The Arctic will always freeze over during the winter but it's rapidly losing the towering multi year ice that has kept all but the most specialized ships at bay for centuries, says Canadian Arctic researcher David Barber. — 455 words.
______

From the Desk of Dennis Carr, Sustainable Development Editor

Good news on American carbon emissions

What had appeared to be hopelessly difficult is happening at amazing speed

By Lester Brown
StraightGoods.ca

Lester R. Brown is the president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization - see www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/plan_b_updates/2009/update83 and www.earthpolicy.org/index.php?/books/pb4 for more information.

For years now, many members of the U.S. Congress have insisted that cutting carbon emissions was difficult, if not impossible. It is not. During the two years since 2007, carbon emissions have dropped 9 percent. While part of this drop is from the recession, part of it is also from efficiency gains and from replacing coal with natural gas, wind, solar, and geothermal energy. — 1,253 words.
______

Kidnapped and tortured, U.S. court denies Maher Arar's appeal

CBC News

Syrian-born Canadian Maher Arar has again been denied the right to sue the United States over his deportation to Syria, where he was tortured. During a September 2002 stopover in New York, while returning to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia, Arar was detained by U.S authorities, who were acting on information from Canadian security officials. Based on the erroneous Canadian information that Arar had links to al-Qaeda, the U.S. deported him to Syria, even though he was carrying a Canadian passport. — 452 words.
______

Olympic private security force raises concerns

'Where are they finding these bodies?'
'Certain facets of security screening can be overlooked in a rush'

CBC News

With 100 days to go until the opening of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, questions are being raised about the process used to hire thousands of private security guards. The company contracted to find 5,000 security guards for the Olympics, Contemporary Security Canada (CSC), announced Tuesday that more than 90 per cent of them have already been hired. But security experts told CBC News they're concerned about the screening of applicants. — 484 words.
______

From the Desk of RCAF Lt. Col. (Ret'd) Harold Wright

The Seven Wonders of the World

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids;
2. the Taj Mahal;
3. the Grand Canyon;
4. the Panama Canal;
5. the Empire State Building;
6. St. Peter's Basilica; and
7. the Great Wall of China.

But while gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper. And it turned out she had some very different ideas ... — Click here to share in her unique vision (191 words).
______

Are some airlines just too dangerous to fly?

A new study calls for standardizing aircraft maintenance across the globe, but until then, the answer just might be yes

By Richard Korman
Miller-McCune.com

In the first days after it fell into the Indian Ocean in late June, Yemenia Airways Flight 626 appeared to be a typical example of slack practices by airlines operated from Africa and the Middle East. — 1,415 words.
______

Health Watch

Restless vagina syndrome

'... convincing women to feel distress is a key component of the drug company strategy to market a multi-billion-dollar pill that will cure billions of women of what may not ail them.'

'The companies and clinics that narrow the range of sexual normality to porn industry standards suffer their own disease. Symptoms include: a compulsion to concoct illnesses and then develop drugs to treat them, and vice versa.'

"Maybe the best approach is not ineffective, over-hyped drugs with nasty side effects, but an end to disease mongering and a strong dose of comprehensive sex education," says filmmaker Canner. Her film hits female erogenous zones that pharmaceutical fixes can't find: your brain and your funny bone.

By Terry J. Allen
InTheseTimes.com

It's not your fault, ladies (and certainly not your partner's), that you don't orgasm every time you have intercourse, or that you lack the libido of a 17-year-old boy. You have a disease: female sexual dysfunction (FSD), and the pharmaceutical industry wants to help. — 741 words.
______

H1N1 overplayed by media, public health: MDs

About 200,000 people die in Canada every year from all causes combined, including about 4,000 from seasonal flu.

'By the time all the dust has settled on H1N1, somewhere between 200 and 300 people will have died [from H1N1] in this country'

By Terry J. Allen
CBC News

Public health officials and journalists have overstated the importance of the swine flu, a former Ontario chief medical officer of health says. Dr. Richard Schabas, chief medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties in eastern Ontario, said the H1N1 influenza outbreak needs to be put into proper perspective. — 494 words.
______

Calculating from the Desk of Robert Jones

Test your brain with the amazing Chocolate Calculator!

This sure-fire method will melt away after 2009

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway -but the Hershey Man will know!

YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH! This is pretty neat. — 210 words.

In case you missed it ... and always worth repeating

Winston Churchill: Give us the tools and we'll finish the job

Let's say that news throughout human time has been free. Take that time when Ugh Wayne went over to the cave of Mugh Payne with news that the chief of his group had broken a leg while chasing his laughing wife around the fire. That news was given freely and received as such with much knowing smiles and smirks to say nothing of grunts of approval or disapproval. — 688 words.

War, and peace, and Obama's Nobel

By Noam Chomsky
InTheseTimes.com

Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the author of dozens of books on U.S. foreign policy. He writes a monthly column for The New York Times News Service/Syndicate.

The hopes and prospects for peace aren't well aligned — not even close. The task is to bring them nearer. Presumably that was the intent of the Nobel Peace Prize committee in choosing President Barack Obama. The prize "seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership," Steven Erlanger and Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote in The New York Times. — 1,079 words.
______

Clinton's visit to Pakistan reveals negative tension over Afghan war

'There were claims that U.S. servicemen and contractors — both sets, armed — were strutting around their streets in a high-handed, proprietary manner. There was criticism, as well, of the use of drones (unmanned aircraft). They have taken out 13 top targets including Betullah Mehsud, the leader of Pakistan's Taliban and, in the process, it was said, have killed several hundreds of civilians.'

"What is actually terrorism in U.S. eyes?" Clinton was asked. "Is it the killing of innocent people in, let's say, drone attacks? Or is it the killing of innocent people in different parts of Pakistan, like the bomb blast in Peshawar two days ago? Which one is terrorism, do you think?"

By Ernest Corea
InDepthNews.net

WASHINGTON DC — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent public relations push (Oct. 28-30) in Islamabad and Lahore brought into open the distrust that bedevils the relationship between Pakistan and the U.S. The tone was generally polite but comments sometimes were on the borderline of hostility. The spirit of those exchanges was captured best by Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent of NBC News, who was an on-the-sport observer. — 1,386 words.
______

Not your parents' labour movement

Why the Republic Windows sit-in failed to inspire other worker actions

The current passivity of unions reflects the evolution of American political culture, which has been shaped by corporate and right-wing hostility to workers' rights and unions

By David Moberg
InTheseTimes.com

Workers of Chicago-based Republic Windows and Doors captured the nation's attention when they occupied their workplace for six days last December. Their employer gave only three days notice of the plant's closing and showed no intention of paying their accrued vacation pay or two months of back wages, as is legally required after a notice of closing. — 1,347 words.
______

Heeding George Kennan's wise advice

Former CIA analyst says war in Afghanistan is unwinnable

By Ray McGovern
TruthOut.org|Op-Ed

Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. He was an analyst at the CIA for 27 years, and is on the Steering Group of VIPS.

I can't remember how many times I have said that the US military adventure in Afghanistan is a fool's errand. The reaction I frequently encounter includes some variant of, "How can you blithely acquiesce in the chaos that will inevitably ensue if we and our NATO allies withdraw our troops?" While the "inevitable chaos" part is open to doubt, the question itself is a fair one. By way of full disclosure, my answer is based largely on the fact that I asked the equivalent question 43 years ago regarding a place named Vietnam. Been there; done that. — 2,127 words.
______

British man provides photo for his own wanted poster

By Kylie MacLellan
Reuters

LONDON — A British man on the run from police sent a picture of himself to his local paper because he disliked the mugshot they had printed of him as part of a public appeal to track him down.

South Wales Police had issued media with the photo of Matthew Maynard, wanted by officers investigating a house burglary, as part of a crackdown on crime in Swansea.

When it appeared in the South Wales Evening Post, the 23-year-old sent the newspaper a replacement photo of himself standing in front of a police van. They obligingly printed it on the front page.

The police thanked him for helping them in their appeal, saying: "Everyone in Swansea will know what he looks like now."

China, British BP sign Iraq big oil deal

George W. Bush invaded Iraq in an oil grab designed, in part, to prevent Chinese access to the world's third largest crude reserve. Now we see China and British oil major BP sign a joint contract with Iraq for development of one of the world's biggest fields. A telling backfire on those who have more guns than brains.

ChinaDaily.com (Agencies)

BAGHDAD — China's CNPC and British oil major BP Plc on Tuesday signed Iraq's first major new oil deal since the 2003 US invasion, snapping up a development contract for the Rumaila oilfield, one of the world's biggest. — 437 words.
______

Who the hell would vote for the Cuba blockade?

Even Hillary Clinton's spokesman is wondering

Granma.cu

Which are the only two countries that voted with the United States at the U.N. to continue the blockade against Cuba? In a press conference after the condemnation of that U.S. aggression against the island for the 18th year running, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly was left speechless by a question put to him by a journalist. — 449 words.
______

British essayist says Fidel Castro, Gabriel García Márquez
were two most important Latin Americans of 20th century

Granma.cu

MEXICO CITY — British essayist Gerald Martin said here Monday, October 26, that the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez are, in their respective spheres of influence, the two most important Latin American figures of the 20th century. — 208 words.
______

Millions of Venezuelans engage in grassroots democracy
as 8,000 candidates vie for 700 delegate seats at PSUV congress

Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela: 'It is valid that there are different visions ... in the framework of the socialist project. What we seek is that such disputes do not turn into a knife fight or (other violent) confrontation, this is what I am asking of everyone and I think the party is maturing in that sense.'

By Kiraz Janicke
Venezuelanalysis.com

CARACAS — A total of 70,501 socialist "patrols" (local branches of 20-30 members) participated in the process for nominating candidates over the past week for delegate elections for the First Extraordinary Congress of the PSUV, according to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. — 799 words.
______

Latin American tigers?
Ecuador, Bolivia show that small developing countries can pursue
independent economic polices and stand up for their rights

By Mark Weisbrot
The Guardian

Among the conventional wisdom that we hear every day in the business press is that developing countries should bend over backwards to create a friendly climate for foreign corporations, follow orthodox (neo-liberal) macro-economic policy advice, strive to achieve an investment-grade sovereign credit rating so as to attract more foreign capital. — 1,025 words.
______

Italian judge convicts 23 Americans in CIA kidnap case

By Colleen Barry and Victor L. Simpson
The Associated Press

MILAN — An Italian judge found 23 Americans and two Italians guilty Wednesday in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terror suspect, delivering the first legal convictions anywhere in the world against people involved in the CIA's extraordinary renditions program. — 851 words.
______

Ousted Honduran leader seeks clarification of U.S. position on coup d'état

CBC News (The Associated Press/The Canadian Press)

Ousted president Manuel Zelaya is asking the Obama administration why, after pressing for his reinstatement, it now says it will recognize upcoming Honduran elections even if he isn't returned to power first. In a letter sent to the U.S. State Department on Wednesday, Zelaya asked Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton "to clarify to the Honduran people if the position condemning the coup d'état has been changed or modified." — 511 words.
______

Despite altitude sickness
Tibet to open fourth civil airport on July 1, 2010

ChinaDaily.com.cn (Xinhua)

LHASA — The Gunsa Airport in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is expected to start operation on July 1, 2010, to become the fourth civil airport on the "Roof of the World", local authorities said Tuesday. — 236 words.
______

American board sets three-year student program to study Mandarin
CSIS bright lights scorn teaching Chinese as mere propaganda front

By Britt Combs
The McDowell News

In December, three McDowell County School representatives will travel to China. The voyage is part of a deal that will see at least two — possibly three — teachers of the Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language fully funded to teach in McDowell school for three years. — 1,162 words.
______

Nord Stream clears 2 major hurdles

The Moscow Times (Reuters)

STOCKHOLM — A plan by Russian-German consortium Nord Stream to build a gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea cleared two major hurdles Thursday as Sweden and Finland signed off on construction in their waters. — 335 words.
______

Political rightwing lunacy ignores reason, logic, and facts
U.S. house resolution claims Venezuela state sponsor of terrorism

By Stephen Lendman — Global Research
Venezuelanalysis.com

CHICAGO — At a time of growing US poverty, hunger, homelessness, and despair, imperial wars without end, and the Obama administration even worse than its predecessor, Venezuela is a model participatory democracy. — 1,095 words.
______

Cuba recognized by the U.N. Human Rights Council

Granma.cu

On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), presented on February 5 and 9 of 2009. On that occasion, the Cuban delegation was headed by Justice Minister María Esther Reus and current Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. — 257 words.
______

Science

The human brain at work ... at work

'One of the things organizations need to do is respect the deeply social nature of the brain. People are not rational, they are social'

By Martin Langfield
Reuters

NEW YORK — The modern workplace is an emotionally charged landscape of constant threats and unconscious fears that can addle or even destroy our brainpower, according to three recent books on neuroscience. — 722 words.

Become a True North 10 per center

True North Perspective invites our readers to join us in celebration of our 200 series, that began with our last edition.

Ten per cent of 200 is $20. If all readers were to send in $20, it would help ease us back from the edge of financial desperation. We need the nourishment. We are happy to rely on our readers to provide. Please take time to give this request a key moment of attention by mailing your 10 per cent to:

Carl Dow, True North Perspective, Station E, P.O. Box 4814, Ottawa ON Canada K1S 5H9.

From the Desk of Vernon Pineau

Steep decline in Americans' belief in Global Warming

By Dina Cappiello
HuffingtonPost.com

WASHINGTON — Americans seem to be cooling toward global warming. Just 57 percent think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer, down 20 points in just three years, a new poll says. And the share of people who believe pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures to rise has also taken a dip, even as the U.S. and world forums gear up for possible action against climate change.— 976 words.
______

China's new model of 'model workers'

'Some online posters have even sarcastically suggested new selection criteria such as being good at flattery, able to win the hearts of leaders and being skilled at self-promotion.'

By He Na
ChinaDaily.com.cn

Oilman Wang Jinxi, father of hybrid rice Yuan Longping, bus-ticket seller Li Suli, astronaut Yang Liwei, hurdler Liu Xiang. These seemingly unrelated names have one thing in common — they have all been designated a model worker.

Model worker is an honor bestowed on people who have made a significant contribution to the country through their hard work. It was one of China's most prestigious honors under the old planned economy.

However, with the country's rapid economic and social development, the criteria of what defines a model worker have undergone a sea of change. — 948 words.
______

From the Desk of Mike (The Hammer) Garvin

While auto industry clamours for freeer consumer loans
China, with eye on personal debt burden, moves slowly

By Li Fangfang
ChinaDaily.com.cn

Carol Ma could never imagine that she would own her second car, a BMW 525i, so soon. "Just after the salesman introduced BMW's auto financing service to me, I made up my mind straight away at the 4S store, attracted by the easy acquisition process of the car, convenient financing procedure and favorable interest rate," said Ma, a 31-year-old Beijing lawyer. German luxury carmaker BMW was the first among 10 auto-financing companies to initiate the "zero interest rate" promotion campaign in China in September 2008. After paying just 30 to 40 percent of the total, customers could drive their BMW car away and pay the rest without any interest in the following months. — 911 words.
______

What if we tried some enthusiasm?

'Once in a while, I get into a funky mood. It's usually caused by the fact that life isn't always fair. People cheat, steal and lie about it. They manipulate the truth. What can I do when there's a case of "this stinks"? I try enthusiasm!'

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.

Last week, I wrote an article for AOE (Arts Ottawa East). I was asked to start with the books that had most influenced my life. I wrote about The Diary of Anne Frank and how it had given me the opportunity to commit my adolescent feelings to paper, how it had given me the chance to test my views of the world. For the hypersensitive girl I was, it was a godsend! I understood Anne Frank and wanted to emulate her writing. — 818 words.
______

Spirit Quest

Remembering Kristallnacht

By The Rev. Dr. Hanns F. Skoutajan

November 11, 1918 is well known the world over as Armistice Day. On the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour of that day weapons were silenced and a truly bloody conflict, in which many Canadians lost their lives and many more their health, came to an end. The Great War was touted as "the war to end all war." However the peace that followed proved to be a mere intermission until hostilities once more erupted 20 years later. — 743 words.
______

Naked girls reading

'That she was tall, trim, and not wearing a stitch of clothing meant very little by the end of her reading, compared to the stark beauty of Joseph Heller's devastating prose.'

By Steven Padnick
Tor.com

"I probably shouldn't say this," Gigi LaFemme said as she approached the mic, "but I'm actually really nervous. So I'm picturing you all naked." And the crowd erupted with laughter. Because Gigi, like all of the women on stage upstairs at Madame X on Friday night, was wearing only high heels and body glitter. It was the New York premier of Naked Girls Reading, a salon reading series founded in Chicago earlier this year that has already spread to five cities across the US, and is about to make its international debut. — 677 words.
______

The Reading Room

Aspers got value for money in commissioned bio

Book Review:
Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper,
Canada's Media Mogul, by Peter C. Newman

By Marc Edge
The Canadian Journalism Project

Peter C. Newman's Izzy: The Passionate Life and Turbulent Times of Izzy Asper, Canada's Media Mogul, is an authorized biography that sheds less light on its subject matter than on its legendary author's reporting practices, according to Marc Edge. Edge is the author of Asper Nation: Canada's Most Dangerous Media Company, an examination of Canwest Global Communications and its founding family.

Peter C. Newman is an icon of Canadian journalism. He was editor of the country's largest newspaper, the Toronto Star, in the 1960s. As editor of Maclean's, he led Canada's news magazine to weekly publication in the 1970s. His seventeen books — from his biographies of Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker (1963) and Lester B. Pearson (1968) to his trilogies on the Hudson's Bay Company and the Canadian Establishment — have helped define Canada. Newman was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1978 and was promoted to the rank of Companion in 1990. Now 80, he recently signed with Random House Canada to write a biography of Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. — 1,911 words.
______

The Glass Teat

"The horror! The horror!"
CBC News gets an extreme makeover

By Peter McNelly
The Canadian Journalism Project

Peter McNelly has been teaching broadcast news to Ryerson journalism students for seven years. He spent 20-years as a producer, editor and manager at CBC in both television and radio news, and as a training consultant for CTV News.

Last Monday, CBC Television News re-launched itself with a slick new look and a bracing new format. The result was shocking. Not the changes themselves — the CBC had been telegraphing them for months with a new emphasis on hard news coverage and live on-the-scene reporting. — 1,022 words.
______

The Big Book of Canadian Trivia now in stores

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.

In case you missed it ...
The Old Man's Last Sauna
A collection of short stories by Carl Dow

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.

Website may be path to success
for authors, publishers, and companies

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.
______

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
Geoffrey Dow, Managing Editor
Yvette Pigeon, Associate Editor
Dennis Carr, Sustainable Development Editor
Benoit Jolicoeur, Art Director
Ian Covey, Director of Photography
Carl Hall, Technical Analyst and Web Editor
Randy Ray, Manager, Business and Publicity

Contributing Editors
Anita Chan, Australia

Canada
Alex Binkley, Ottawa
Dennis Carr, Vancouver
Rosaleen Dickson, Ottawa
Tom Dow, Sudbury
Bob Kay, Montréal
Randy Ray, Ottawa
Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair, Ottawa
David Ward, Ottawa
Harold Wright, Ottawa
______