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July 28, 2008; More rain this morning with an overcast sky with drizzle. July has been a wet month and it is almost gone. Where did it go? July went by so fast. I still hope to get some camping time this summer. Hopefuly, August will be a dryer month. Did you notice that diesel fuel cost more than gasoline? I recall that diesel fuel had always cost a whole lot less than gasoline. What a swich! While surfing the Internet for the latest "News" about what is going on with electric cars, I came across this CBC News article dated: Friday, November 2, 2007 which stated that Transport Canada approves 100% electric cars. According to the CBC News article, Transport Canada confirmed it had authorized a Toronto-based electric carmaker to produce a vehicle for the Canadian market. It appears that electric cars like the ZENN (zero emissions, no noise) has finally received the National Safety Mark, a legal label that indicates the vehicle meets Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Transport Canada says it will be up to the individual provinces and territories to legislate where the vehicle can be driven. Currently, British Columbia is the only Canadian province to allow electric vehicles on their roads. The Zenn electric car is considered a low-speed urban vehicle with a regulated maximum speed of 40 km/h. It's designed for areas like the city core and secondary roads where speed limits are 50 km/h or less. The Zenn electric car can seat two people and is roughly the size of a Mini-Cooper, which is built in St. Jerome, Que. It would sell for approximately $14,000. Presently, the Zenn cars are sold in the U.S.A, Mexico and Europe. Given this news, how is it that Ontario Premier Dalton McGinty has still not allowed electric cars on Ontario roads? It appears that the Liberals are not as keen to be involved with the "Green Revolution" as his Liberal Leader, Stephane Dion claims to be. Now I think that is being morally hypocritical. Especially when Canadian consumers are looking for ways to save money on gasoline or diesel fuel.
According to CTV News, Quebec has already made two cars available to consumers -- the urban-friendly ZENN (Zero Emissions No Noise) and the heavier Nemo. Motorists will only be allowed to drive them on public roads with a posted speed of 50 kilometres. The move is part of a three-year pilot project sponsored by the Quebec provincial government. At the end of the term, if the project is deemed a success, then the government will have an option of extending the vehicles' run for an additional two years. However, each Quebec municipality has the right to opt out of the pilot project, said Real Gregoire, spokesperson for the province's transportation ministry. In the meantime, Ontario is still studying the use of low-speed electric cars. Ontario has commissioned an independent safety study of low speed electric vehicles, but is not yet ready to follow Quebec or British Columbia in allowing the environmentally friendly cars and trucks on the province's roads. The main concern is that low speed electric vehicles meet only a handful of the 40 safety standards required by Transport Canada, and Ontario wants to determine exactly what safety features may be required on the nearly silent vehicles. If these people were smart, they would give preference to these low speed electric vehicles over the high speed gas driven vehicles which are the cause of a great many road deaths. I doubt that a vehicle going at a top speed of 40 km/h will be the cause of as many road kills as those high speed vehicles that are presently on our roads today. Slow down and Live.
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July 30th, 2008; It is raining again after the nice sunny day we had yesterday. After listening and reading about how good and better the new Cuil (Kool) search engine is suppose to be, compared to other search engines, like Google, I decided to spend some time to test those bold claims. After having spent a few hours testing Cuil to see how good it is, frankly, for all the hype and boasting being made about Cuil, I found it greatly inferior to what Google and other search engines can deliver. I would not even add Cuil to my list of search engines because of its inferior quality, despite that Cuil's search index is suppose to span 120 billion Web pages. All the boasting made by Anna Patterson, I think were made prematurely. Personally, I will stick with Google and other search engines before I even consider using "Cuil" search engine again.
While Canada's economy is slowing down due to skyrocketing oil prices which is driving the cost on everything else higher. The high energy prices is no doubt hurting tourism and corporations are forced to restructure their business. Bell Canada Enterprises had announced it needed to shed 2,500 jobs, and Air Canada wants to eliminate 600 jobs. Statistics Canada reported an unemployment rate of 6.2 per cent. Most of the 39,000 jobs lost were based in Ontario, where Ontario's unemployment rate is at 6.7 per cent, which is above the national average. High energy costs continue to take its toll on the competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. I recall that it was the U.S.A. who had pushed for NAFTA and Free Trade to be implemented, which we have seen had a devastating effect upon the Canadian and U.S. economy. We have lost most of our manufacturing to countries with a cheap labour force. While Canadians need to adjust to the high energy costs, and the outsourcing of Canada's manufacturing, our economy is still in far better shape compared to the American economy which is in a disastrous condition.
Looking at what has happened since NAFTA and Free Trade had been implemented, I would not be so eager to get involved with anything that has to do with that North American Union (NAU) pact which American President George.W.Bush and some of our Canadian politicians are pushing to implement. A North American union between Canada, Mexico and the United States is based upon in structure to the European Union. This would merge our Canadian economies with the U.S.A. and Mexico with the new "North American" currency, called the Amero. Would you want to be taking on the awful debts of the U.S.A. and Mexico? Canadians would be totally insane if we did that, given that we are trying to bring down our own deficit. For a long while, the North American Union concept was being planned and implemented in secret, until it leaked out and became well known to most Canadians and Americans. Lately, it had become the topic of debate during the 2008 American presidential campaigns and the subject of various U.S. Congressional resolutions designed to thwart its implementation. Despite that, both U.S presidential candidates, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain are in favor of the New World Order globalization plan. There are also many groups in Canada which rightly believe the North American Union pact will erode Canada's sovereignty and independence. This north American union pact is part of, and tied to the New World Order globalization plan which most of our Canadian politicians seem to be foolishly in favor of. Frankly; I would not touch it, go near it, or have anything to do with it. But that's just my own point of view.
July 31st, 2008; For a person who enjoys to have his daily cigarettes, I was highly disappointed by the stupid act that was committed by two of Canada's biggest tobacco companies for having got themselves afoul of the law by breaking Canada's excise tax laws. Now these two tobacco companies had given those no-smoking tobacco morons more ammunition against their tobacco products and their companies, by having participated in the act of contraband cigarettes. Catherine Doyle of Imperial Tobacco Canada said. "We acknowledge we violated this section of the excise act." All of the no-smoking morons are relishing over this and are having a field day as the tobacco companies are taking another hit to their reputation and their products, because of this. I can fully understand why these two tobacco companies got involved in the contraband scheme, given that our Federal and Provincial Governments have placed undue huge amounts of taxes on their tobacco products which amounts to plain extortion. But what these two tobacco companies had done was quite illegal under the present excise tax laws, and they should not have pursued that tactic to counter the Federal and Provincial Governments extortion racket. I can think of other ways that would have been quite legal, to get around the unfair Federal and Provincial Government taxes (which amount to extortion), that are being placed on tobacco products. This only shows how bankrupt, inept or unimaginative those tobacco company executives are when they resort to tactics that would bring shame upon their company which led them to break Government excise tax laws and run afoul with the law.
Now I am finding out that Ottawa is bribing tobacco farmers to the tune of $300 million to give up their long established tobacco farms and grow alternative crops. The announcement was made by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, in Delhi, Ont., a farming town in the heart of Ontario's tobacco belt -- a fertile band of farmland dotted by fields of squat green tobacco plants and drying kilns which are used to dry and cure tobacco leaves. The money for this bribe money is coming from the huge fines which was levied against the two Canadian tobacco companies, by an Ontario judge. So our Government is in the extortion and bribe racket. I wonder if our Governments are involved or have any connection with the Mafia or the Hell's Angels, being that they are using racketeering tactics.
U.S. authorities now have the power to seize and detain travelers electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones, and make copies of their contents at an off-site location, under newly disclosed customs policies. The new policy gives border agents at any point of entry into the United States the authority to also take documents, books, pamphlets and hard drives. The items can be seized from anyone crossing the border and may then be copied and shared with other government agencies, according to Department of Homeland Security documents dated July 16. "Officers may detain documents and electronic devices, or copies thereof, for a reasonable period of time to perform a thorough border search," the policy says. "The search may take place on-site or at an off-site location." Where might that be, Guantanamo Bay? Is this not considered an invasion to a persons privacy? I would think that somewhere along the line, this kind of authority is trampling upon the Canadian and U.S. Constitution. But then again, U.S. President George W. Bush is a globalist who do not give a rip about the US or Canadian Constitution. Remember what he said about the US Constitution? Quote; "Its just a god damned piece of paper", which can be ignored at will according to him. At least someone is going to do something about this travesty. U.S. Senator Russ Feingold told the Washington Post he finds the new policies "alarming" and said he plans to introduce legislation that would make grounds for border searches more rigorous. What is our own Government going to do about this? Oh, I almost forgot. They have the PRB 194E which is the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights in which they can do what U.S. President George W. Bush is doing. Our Canadian politicians are globalist and are already in bed with the New World Order. Even now, "Big Brother" is watching everyone with great scrutiny. As this trend continues unabated, it won't be long before we are into another Hitler era with its gestapo style police state where our rights and freedoms will continue to be eroded or greatly curtailed.
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August 5th, 2008; Yesterday, I had to come back from a camping trip. At around 4 or 5 pm, Buddy had come out from a swim and had made his way into the tent and promptly laid down on my sleeping bag. By the time I had noticed what was going on, the sleeping bag and sponge mattress was drenched from Buddy's wet body. So I decided to break camp and head back home. It was just as well, because the weather forecast was calling for severe thunderstorm for our area today. What we got was some rain with lightning but no thunder. The month of August is beginning to look like it will be just as wet as June and July. There is a chance that we will get some thunder showers by Wednesday evening. Then more rain on Saturday to Monday. I have just been informed from a friend at Temiskaming Lodge via by e-mail, that John LaBlanc had passed away on August 1st. John was a good friend who loved fishing. Even now I can see John scoot along down the street in his electric wheelchair with a fishing pole, bait bucket and a lunch in hand. I had heard that John was sent to the hospital on July 30th when I was doing volunteer work at the lodge. John had to be taken to the hospital on other occasions, but he would always return at the lodge, none the worse for wear. John will be missed by many people who had known him. I am sure John's mother, his sister and kinfolks must be grieving pretty bad for he was very special to them. I will also miss him as a friend. John was only around 40 years of age, he was in his mid-life. It is at moments like these, one comes to realize just how fragile and short life really is. All the more reason one needs to focus on what is really important in a person's life. Tomorrow, I will help people at Temiskaming Lodge do their shopping at the Mall. I heard that the price of oil and gasoline has dropped down quite a bit. I knew the oil industry was cutting its own throat through their greed and gouging tactics. I wonder if the price of everything else that had gone up with the price of fuel will also go back down? I highly doubt it. Once prices has gone up, they tend to stay at that level. But who knows? If people put up a big stink over it, prices might come back down then.
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August 7th, 2008; Today we had some thunder showers with streaks of lightening flashing here and there. Looks like I will not be doing any camping this week. The weather forecast calls for more rain for Friday and right on through to Monday. I read in the news that the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan had passes the 500 mark. While 88 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in the country since 2002 CE. How many more American and Canadians need to die before their respective Governments say, enough is enough, and bring their troops back home? This is looking more like another Viet-Nam as the months and years go rolling by.
I have noticed over the years that those who claim that we are in a rapid Global warming scenario seem to be confusing the issue with air pollution. Global warming and air pollution are two separate issues. I am in favor to cut down on pollution. Especially the pollution coming from the exhaust of all gas or diesel driven vehicles because it is the main contributor to emphysema, lung, breast and even some form of skin cancer. The Prime Minister of England wants to see more electric cars on the road as well as in showrooms. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the car industry leaders that there is a "once in a generation opportunity" for everyone to consider green alternatives and promised the Government would take the lead in creating incentives for electric and low emission vehicles. This is something that Canada should have been doing all along. Instead of dragging their heals on this issue. But it seems that most of our Provincial governments are finding excuses to stall, by having to take more time to study this matter, while other countries are going ahead and opening up huge opportunities for technological innovation. Are Canadians going to miss the boat on this issue and lag way behind?
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August 8th, 2008; Today it is raining for pretty much the entire day. That is the kind of day it is turning out to be. It is not a hard rain, more like a steady light rain. Enough to want a person to stay indoors. I read on the Internet that a charter bus from Houston, Texas had slammed onto its side and then skidded off a freeway near the Texas-Oklahoma border line. 40 people were on that bus. 12 people had died on the scene and two had died while being treated in hospital. At least six of the wounded were in critical condition. The passengers were a group of Vietnamese Catholic worshippers on their way to an annual pilgrimage at a Missouri church. The right front tire of the bus had blown out, but officials were still investigating the cause of the accident. Some pilgrimage that turned out to be.
A man was arrested on August 4th, after attacking people during the Vancouver Pride celebrations. The man ended up in police custody following a series of violent attacks in the midst of an otherwise peaceful gay pride celebrations in Vancouver. According to police reports, the incident began when a 31-year-old man was chased into the street by a shop owner after allegedly stealing a drink from a corner store on Davie St. in the West End of Vancouver. The owner of Tutti's convenience store, Reza Khalaj, said the man was wearing a black wig and black glasses and was carrying a hammer and a handgun. He then began attacking people in nearby restaurants and bars with a hammer, beginning at the Majestic restaurant and lounge. Six people there were struck with the hammer, including one who was knocked unconscious. "He ran to the Majestic, and he started hitting people with the hammer," Khalaj said. "I saw the black gun in his hand, and he started … just smashing the people with the hammer." The man then moved on to a nearby restaurant patio, where he struck two women and a man. He also pointed an imitation handgun at a man who tried to subdue him, said Vancouver police Const. Jana McGuinness. Nine people were taken to hospital with injuries, none of which appears to be life-threatening. The man faces 17 charges, including assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon and a count of theft under $5,000, police said. The owner of Majestic, Vince Marino, said; "It was an amazing day," he said. "People were just enjoying themselves. It was probably one of the best Pride Day we've had. And it's just been sort of a sad way to end it. It was a terrible way to end an otherwise jubilant day. Hundreds of thousands of people had attended Vancouver's annual gay pride parade.
I recall that during the 2008 Pride Day Parade going on in various cities around the world, homosexuals have received a lot of bad press and a great deal of flack from Christians and other religious groups. Take the one that took place in San Francisco, special-interest groups like the Christian "Americans for Truth" came out and really lambasted homosexuals during their "Pride not Prejudice"; Pride Day Parade. Here is what they said about that event. "What honor can there be in protecting the public practice of heinous perversions and nudity in the city's streets? The shame of pandering politicians is transferred to the cops who were intended to be guardians of the law and public order," the Americans for Truth organizer's chief, Peter LaBarbera said. His organization "Americans for Truth" is one of the few in the country to call officials from San Francisco on the issue of the obscene behavior, including public acts of sex, documented during the festival in late July. "One San Francisco policeman told our volunteers that the police were instructed not to make arrests for indecency on the city streets at "Up Your Alley" - but merely to 'contain' the activity to the street fair, which encompassed several city blocks," Americans for Truth reported. "San Francisco's extreme political correctness has turned cops into impotent Perversion Protectors," the group said. Americans for Truth organization said the events included whippings, public sex between men, and even advocacy for slavery, with one man wearing nothing but cuffs and chains. "Homosexual activists mock and deride "Americans For Truth" relentlessly for exposing sordid realities like 'Up Your Alley' - and showing you what happens when sexual radicals come to dominate a major city. They don't want Americans to see this side of their agenda … But we must face reality and come to grips with the truth that "rights" based on aberrant sex are not genuine civil rights, Peter LaBarbera said.
After having read that article, I read what other people had to say on this matter to get both sides of the story. Here is what a person who was there had to say about the 2008 Pride Day Parade in San Francisco.
What? I looked up Ferndale News and got this bigoted link to a special-interest group's website. Pride is a big event for Ferndale, which brings a ton of money and publicity to the area. It's a very positive event and this article severely misrepresents problems. How many arrests were made in previous years? Does the "reporter" have pictures or proof of lewd acts? No, only some out of context comments from a "newsletter." Not newspaper, mind you. An illegitimate/biased news source citing another illegitimate/biased news source does not equal journalism. Please remove this ("Americans for Truth") story and replace it with the truth - which is that Ferndale does have a large gay population, and also a better economy and level of community involvement than most other metro-Detroit cities, partly because of this annual celebration!
Another person had this to say about Gay Pride Day Parades, from Michigan, U.S.A.; I have been going to this event for years and never saw any inappropriate nudity. This may be not the case in other large cities like Toronto, San Francisco and Chicago. Michigan is small and low-key. Many local families attend the Gay Pride Day Parade, Straight and Gay people. This (Americans for Truth) story is more likely propaganda generated by the (Christian) American Family Association. By the way, straight people are known to be found half or fully naked on public places. Ever heard of public beaches full of Nudists?
A report from around the world; Tens of thousands from across the country typically flock to America's gay Mecca for the festival, a virtual holiday in San Francisco. The parade traditionally opens with a blocks-long contingent of "Dykes on Bikes" - lesbians dressed in leather driving loud motorcycles. While he said the parade will still celebrate "having a great time and living out loud," D'Alessandro expects the mood to be more traditional this year than in years past. "It's not this subculture. It's mainstream," he said of the pro-marriage mood. "You can go to Macy's to pick out your china, you can go to Shreve's to pick out your rings, and you can go to the Four Seasons and pick out your reception room." Gay pride events were also planned for New York, Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Honolulu and other cities. Overseas, extremists throwing rocks, bottles and gasoline bombs attacked the first ever gay pride parade in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. Police in riot gear made about 60 arrests. No serious injuries were reported among the 150 or so marchers. About 500 people marching in a gay pride parade in Bruno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic, were attacked by a group that threw eggs and shouted abusive slogans, said leading gay activist Jeri Ramada. Revelers in Portugal carried a giant rainbow flag through the capital of Lisbon, thousands marched in Mexico City, and half a million danced through the streets of Paris to a soundtrack of disco mixes, choral music and accordion tunes. In India, where homosexuality is illegal and taboo, gay activists were to hold demonstrations Sunday in the cities of New Delhi, Calcutta and Ban galore. About 3,000 gays marched through Jerusalem without incident, protected by 2,000 police officers. The original Gay Pride Day parades had commemorated the Stonewall uprising of 1969, a series of battles between gays and police in New York city which was widely considered the beginning of the gay rights movement. The Gay Pride Day parades began the following year in 1970.
Personally, I think homosexuals have received a lot of bad flack from mostly narrow-minded religious groups. But I think the gay community does more harm to its own image and cause with these sort of "Up Your Face" or "Up Your Alley" type of propaganda. Go ahead and have a parade and demonstrate your solidarity, but don't dress up as a bunch of freaks or run around almost naked making rude gestures. I have seen "Gays" acting like as if "anything goes" attitude and really make a spectacle of themselves by flaunting their "Gay-ness" in rather crude, demeaning manner. If the whole idea of having a Gay Pride Day is that you want to be accepted by society as being as "normal" as any other people, then show people that you are the kind, decent, caring type of people that you are, who want only to be treated as equals, with the same rights, freedoms and benefits as the "heterosexual" population enjoys.
August 11th, 2008; Today it is cloudy but warm. I had volunteered to go with the Temiskaming Lodge residents to a boat trip on Lake Nipissing at North Bay, Ont. Temiskaming Lodge (Jarlette Health Services) where I volunteer, is a long term care facility. Kathy Ruddy, who is the Lodge Activity/Volunteer Director, became our Van driver today. We had another volunteer to help us with the Lodge residence. After we had loaded the Lodge residents on board the Lodge's special van, we headed for North Bay. The other volunteer had brought a guitar along with her and we had a grand time as we had a sing-a-long while driving through the beautiful countryside. When we had arrived at North Bay, we made our way to the Government Dock where the Chief Commanda II was docked. We all got aboard the Chief, which is a large twin hull vessel which made a one and half hour cruise on this occation, where we cruised around the four main Islands on the lake. I checked to see where all the life jackets are stored, where we were, just in case. We had a fabulous lunch on board the Chief Commanda II in their large cabin on the main deck. After lunch, we went out to the bow of the vessel, to see the sights. Quite a few people were on board with us. It was a real nice sunny day to be on the water. Everyone had a real grand time. When we got back to the dock, we had a pleasant drive back to the Lodge with more sing-a-longs. We arrived back to Temiskaming Lodge just in time for the residence supper hour. Cathy drove me home on her way to New Liskeard. Buddy by now was real glad to see me after having been gone for most of the day. I took Buddy out to do his thing, and then made some supper which consisted of pork chops, baked potatoes and corn and to top it all off, with some black coffee and a cigarette. What a find day it turned out to be. Anyone who wants a pleasant day on the water can get on the Chief Commanda II at the Government Dock, North Bay, on Lake Nipissing. Their phone No. is (705) 494-8167. You can take a 3 or 6 hour boat cruise. You can cruise Lake Nipissing, up to the Upper French River, and on the south shore of the lake. The Tour includes a film presentation. Trips are made during mid-May to Labour Day.
August 12th, 2008; Today was a warm sunny day. I was going to take the canoe out for a run, but a lady had called and asked me if I could have a look at her computer. From what she told me when she tried to log on to her computer, the damage was quite extensive. From what she had told me, it sounds like she had inadvertently deleted a system file which prevents her to access her windows XP program. She told me a friend of hers had told her about me and recommended to see me. When I had checked her computer, the windows program would not come on. I tried to undelete what she had deleted but I could not retrieve some of the lost files. She did not have a Windows XP disk when she got the computer. Unfortunately, she did not have a saved system disk or have an XP disk to re-load into her computer. All I have is Windows 98SE. I told her that I could load the Win98SE disk so she could surf the Net and do her e-mails. I told her to think about it, if she wanted to change to that system or try someone else, like Reg and Darcy at Tammarack Ltd., in Haileybury. They have a Win XP disk and can retrieve her lost Win XP operating system. Kathy at Temiskaming Lodge was having a sausage/corn roast today around 4 PM for the Lodge residents and had asked me if I could help out. I went over and helped with the sausage/corn roast. Everybody there had a good time. We had an open fire in a fire pit, and the Lodge residents had Bar-B-Q sausages or wieners, with corn on the cob, and they roasted their marshmallows on the fire pit. Kathy Ruddy, the Lodge Activity Director, does a lot for the residents to set up programs to entertain them and get the residents involved in many activities. The Temiskaming Lodge residents are fortunate to have such a dedicated staff. During the sausage/corn roast, we saw a huge plume of black smoke billowing up into the clouds somewhere north from the Lodge. We did not know what had caused the fire. According to the huge black mushroom like black smoke we were seeing above the rooftops, it must be something serious. Later we had heard that the smoke might have come from the Haileybury Marina. Maybe a boat had caught on fire. I never found out what it was by the time I got home. Maybe I will hear about it on the late night news. I had a good time helping out the staff and the Lodge residents, it was a good day. Update on that fire; While I did not get any news about that fire from the news media, the people around town told me that a motorboat was heading for the Haileybury Marina when it caught on fire. One lady on board was burned lightly, and all the people on board had managed to escape the blaze by diving into the water and swam to shore. The boat had developed a gas leak around the carbrator and had caught on fire, before the boat exploded and eventually sank near the harbour entrance buoy. These people are extreemly fortunate that this did not occur in the middle of the lake, for Lake Temiskaming is a big lake. These people are fortunate to have come out of this alive. This is the reason it is always a good idea to have life jackets on, when in a boat. You can never tell what might happen, even in larger boats where people tend to think they do not need to wear their life jackets. Ever tried to put on a life jacket while in deep water? It is not as easy as one might think, if they have never done it. I recall other incidents where people get into trouble, even at dockside. Like when they fail to vent out the gas fumes from their enclosed engine compartment before starting the engine. Boating regulations state to always vent out the engine compartment with the vent blower before starting an engine in an enclosed engine compartment, which is a no brainer. But despite using plain common sense, some people will just never learn and put an end to their vacation and their lives. Lesson is never take things for granted.
According to a CMA (Canadian Medical Association) report, 21,000 people will die in Canada from pollution in 2008. The report claims that up to 21,000 Canadians will die this year due to air pollution, with 3,000 of those deaths due to short-term exposure to smog. These figures are some of the key findings in the first large-scale report on the impact of air pollution across Canada. It finds that by 2031, almost 90,000 Canadians will have died from the acute short-term effects of pollution and more than 700,000 will be dead from long term exposure. In the long-term, the repost said, the harmful ingredients contained in air pollution can weaken the muscle cells in artery walls, particularly in the heart, causing a number of cardiovascular problems and potentially death. I am surprised that they had not blamed all those deaths only on smoking tobacco, like these people tend to do. I have for a long time believed that most of the lung cancer and cardiovascular problems was mainly due to pollution from industrial and automotive exhaust gases. Its time these people got off the backs on people who smoke tobacco products and put the major blame where it belongs.
The current rift between Russia and Georgia is very serious. The conflict started when the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia had declared they wanted to break away from Georgia, and become part of Russia. North Ossetia was an autonomous republic within Russia. The region won their independence from Georgia after the 1991-1992 War for Independence. In 2006, the de facto independent republic of South Ossetia held a referendum for their independence. 99 percent of the votes were in favor of their independence from Georgia. Most of the South Ossetian people have always been pro-Russian, and had taken Russian citizenship. The fact is that the South Ossetia and Abkhazia people were fed-up with the Georgia Government and want to break away from Georgia. It was the Georgian government who had first launched attacks against South Ossetia. Georgia can hardly be surprised that Moscow got involved in this conflict since Georgia had been shelling and rocketing South Ossetia, which had Russian troops within the territory of South Ossetia. Russia's Defence Ministry said that they will protect their peacekeepers and Russian citizens. I see that U.S. President George W. Bush had told Russia to end its armed conflict with Georgia after Moscow's forces had advanced deep into its pro-Western neighbor's territory, ignoring Western pleas to halt. Bush said "Russia has invaded a sovereign state and that such action is unacceptable in the 21st century". Look who is talking! What a hypocrite! Was it not U.S. President George W. Bush, who had invaded the sovereign state of Iraq? And to make matters worse, he did it under false pretense! Him speak with a forked tongue, as the First Nation people would say! Personally, I think Canada should stay clear from this dispute before Canada gets sucked into this ongoing battle through that lying wonder (Christian) hypocrite, U.S. President George W. Bush.
U.S. President George Bush has come out and stated that the actions of Russia over the past week was an act of bullying and intimidation, and was unacceptable. That the recent actions of Russia had damaged its credibility and its relations with the nations of the free world. Look who is talking, of all people! Russia got involved in this conflict only after Georgia had launched a major military offensive against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, to regain the region. Despite the fact that the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia had democratically elected to secede from Georgia and come under the rule of Russia. It is estamited that 2,000 people have been killed, most of them Ossetians with Russian passports. Russia had sent its troops into the two breakaway states, Ossetia and Abkhazia, to protect the people who had remained loyal to Russia. Moscow then drove out the Georgian fighters. The Russians then pressed into Georgia itself, setting up in the key city of Gori. It is unlikely the two separatist provinces will ever want to become part of Georgia now. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had accused Russia of using disproportionate force and of violating Georgia's territory. Now where had I heard that before? Oh Yes, The UN had made such statements when Israel was trying to defend itself from the constant barrage of rocket fire coming from so-called "Palestinian" Hamas-Fatah Arabs in Gaza. Israel had been accused of bullying and intimidation, by the UN crowd for trying to defend the Jewish people from Arab terrorists who are trying to drive the Jewish people out of Israel. Seem's to me that the "free world" has a habit of talking from both sides of their mouth!
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