p39

My Personal Journal
Page 39

Oct. 6th. 2008; Today is a nice but cool sunny day. Early this morning I saw white fog was over the lake as the cool air mixed with the warmer lake water. I noticed parked vehicles were covered in a sheet of white frost. Today I drained all the gas from the tractor and outboard motor, changed the oil and took out the battery and prep these for winter storage. Good news! Police have arrested a suspect in the abduction of that seven-year-old girl from an Edmonton park, investigators confirmed the news to CTV News today. The suspect was arrested without incident inside a north Edmonton home early this morning. He is currently being interviewed by investigators, though no charges have been laid thus far. A press conference has been scheduled about this case later in the day. Parents in the Edmonton park area can breath a sigh of relief that the kidnapper was arrested. Meanwhile, the family of Anastasia Whetton said she is doing well despite the traumatizing ordeal she went through less than 24 hours ago. The family of the little girl are extremely happy that Anastasia is home safe and sound. Thanks to the quick response of the Police, I might add. According to Investigators, they learned the suspect had abandon her at a restaurant a few hours later after a gas station employee became suspicious. Witnesses tell CTV News the girl was dropped off with $10 and a note saying she needed to be brought back to Edmonton and given something to eat and drink. Sounds to me that the kidnapper must have got scared, or had changed his mind about abducting the little girl. He must have given the little girl the $10 bill and wrote a note to help her get back home, then dropped her off at the restaurant and then took off, leaving the little girl behind. Despite what happened, the suspect will no doubt be charged with kidnapping, and the Police will want to look into this man's past history as a possible child molester.
Scotiabank and TD bank economists thinks that the Canadian economy won't see any growth until late 2009. Even at that point there will be only a gradual recovery. Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter said prices will continue to take a beating over the next year, dragging Western Canada's formerly booming economy in particular down with them. Porter told the audience at the Economic Club that it's tough to provide an accurate outlook on the economy given the unpredictability of capital markets. "Trying to do a economic forecast in this kind of turmoil is a bit like trying to put a value on your house while the kitchen is on fire," he said. "You just don't know how long the fire is going to go on for, or how much damage it's going to do". Despite a gloomy economic forecast, at least oil dropped to trade around the US$90 mark. That should give people a break on their gasoline/diesel and heating costs.
Is this happening here in Canada? According to the news media, vandals had targeted Liberal and Conservative supporters over the weekend, in Ontario and Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia, a homophobic slur was spray-painted on a number of signs picturing Liberal MP Scott Brison, an openly gay politician. Rocks were thrown through the windows of two campaign offices in Halifax, one belonging to Liberal candidate Catherine Meade and the other to her Tory rival, Ted Larsen. In Ontario, the vandalism took a dangerous turn. People found that their car brakes had been tampered, others had their phone and cable lines cut. Properties were defaced with anti-Liberal slogans. At least 30 properties in two Toronto ridings were vandalized over the weekend, police reported. What the heck is going on here. Cutting brake lines on people's cars is not a mischievous act. That sort of thing can put people's lives at risk. What idiot would do such a horrible thing. This is not a joking matter. Canadians are entitled to express their political opinions without any kind of repercussion. We are not in Kenya or some other third-world country where people have no regard for law and order and run amuck and cause such chaos! This is not the Canadian way of doing things. In all my years, this is the first time I have heard such a thing happening during an election. Of all places, here in Canada!
The latest national Canadian Press/Harris-Decima poll shows the Conservatives leading with 32 per cent, followed by the Liberals with 25 per cent, the NDP with 21 per cent, the Green Party with 12 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois with eight per cent. The Conservatives are down from 34%, Liberals are down from 30%, NDP are up from 19%, The Green are up from 7% and the BQ are down from 10%. There seems to be great fluctuations among voters from what we see here. At the rate this is going, no matter how you cut it, we are going to end up with a very weak government come election day. That is not a very good sign. Well, we are still a week before people cast their ballots, anything can happen between now and then. We will have to wait until the votes get counted before we find out what the true outcome will be.
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Oct. 8th. 2008; Update on that man who had kidnapping the little seven-year-old girl at the Edmonton park. Police officers have charged the 44-year-old Danial Todd Gratton, with sexual assault, sexual interference, uttering death threats, kidnapping, and abduction. Investigators say the same man had approched two other girls in another incident two days earlier. The man had offered to take two ten-year-old girls for ice cream at a nearby restaurant. One of the girls got inside the man's vehicle, and they drove off, taking the girl a short distance away and then sexually assaulting her. Investigators say the man then returned the girl where he had picked her up and dropped his victim off. He then threatened to harm her if she should tell anyone. This person is unquestionably a child molester. Disturbing details emerged about Gratton's past. In 2002, he was convicted of sexually assaulting six different children between 1996 and 2000, including 70 times on one young girl. He served six years in prison for those crimes, and was designated as a long-term sex offender at the time of sentencing and release from prison. Gratton had been released earlier this year. His risk to reoffend convinced corrections officials to impose a long-term supervision order on him for ten years after his release. Given this is the case, that so-called supervision order had not prevented that child molester from harming other little girls. People in Edmonton must be relieved that this person is off their streets and is in Police custody once again. Given the new information about that pervert, people must be very angry to find out that the Court system had let such a person the freedom to molest and sexually assault more little girls, given his long history of sexualy abusing little girls ranging in ages between seven to ten-year-olds. Now it is up to the Court to handel the case to make certin that such a person will never molest or harm any more little girls again.
According to CBC News, a report detailing what it had cost Canadian taxpayers on Canada's Afghanistan mission will be released tomorrow. Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page was tasked with tallying the cost of the Afghan war since it began six years ago. Page will table his report, entitled The Fiscal Impact of the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan, on Thursday at about 11 a.m. I recall that Liberals and Conservative governments got us into this Afghan mess. They were in favour to send our Canadian troops to Afghanistan shortly after the U.S. led invasion had toppled the Taliban government. The Conservative government has previously estimated that the total cost of Canada's Afghan mission to date, has cost Canadian taxpayers around $8 billion dollars. All party leaders had agreed to allow the release of the report, despite concerns it could sway how Canadians cast their ballots on Oct. 14. Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan's volatile province of Kandahar. It will be interesting to find out the actual amount that Afghanistan war has cost Canadian taxpayers, not to mention the lives of our Canadian troops that were lost or were severely wounded.
Canadians have see politicians give alluring promises that are being paid from taxpayers own money. Some are willing to spend more money than what is actually on hand, and put taxpayers into greater debt than they already are in. Some, like NDP Leader Jack Layton can promise the moon because they know they have no chance in hell, so to speak, of becoming the Government of Canada. Speaking about NDP Leader Jack Layton, given what he had been saying during this election, it made it easy, at least for me, to dismiss that party as a viable candidate to become the Government or even become the opposition party. The NDP poll standing verifies that. The Green party is so low in the polls that their chance to become the Government or opposition leader is nil. That only leaves the Conservatives and the Liberals. Neither one are showing a strong lead according to the polls. Who ever we get to be the next Government, it will be a pretty weak one, given the way people are voting, according to the latest polls. The parties have only five days left to make any kind of headway. I suspect that most people by now have made up their mind who they will vote for come election day. Someone will have to pull a huge blunder in order to effect any kind of change from what we see in the polls. Who would be stupid enough to do that now, at this late date to election day? Given this is the case, Canadians had better be prepared to batten down their financial hatches, as we try to ride out this economic storm, which is looming to become a full fledge financial hurricane.
I see in the news that the British government is now partly nationalizing major banks, with their 50 billion pounds ($87.5 billion) bailout plan. British taxpayers are forced to take a stake in this financial bailout plan, in a bid to shore up the financial sector, which had created the problem in the first place, and are now being hard hit by a world financial crisis they had helped to create. So what do financial pundits and advisers say in order to get out of this financial mess? They want consumers to buy, buy, and keep on buying, in this throw-away society while putting consumers at risk by racking-up large amounts of debt in which high interest rates can be charged on their credit card and bank accounts. The entire economic system is built on that foundation, which is already showing sings of cracking and is now crumbling here and there.
Now that those "Smoke Free" campaigners have place a ban for smoking in many areas, such as a in vehicles carrying kids under age 19, a ban on smoking on hospital grounds, a ban on smoking in provincial parks, a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, workplaces and a ban on smoking at outdoors restaurant/bar patios, a ban on smoking in long-term care facilities, a ban on smoking in multi-unit dwellings, a ban on smoking in foster homes and now they want to put a ban on smoking in all forms of vehicles. This is what happens when people who smoke, willingly submit to these smoke free advocates and do not fight back for their rights. These same "Smoke Free" campaigners would not think to ban all gas and diesel driven vehicles while they breath in those toxic fumes because it would be a great inconvenience to them. What a bunch of hypocrites!
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Oct. 9th. 2008; This morning, I was surprised how warm it was outside, given that the sky is so clear that I can see all the stars above, shining brightly. There is not a bit of frost around. I was wondering if the poll standings in Ontario has shifted any since Oct.4th. I looked back to the Oct 4th Poll standings in Ontario which was ; Conservatives were at 35%, Librals at 37%, NDP at 22% and the Green at 6%. The Oct 9th Poll standings in Ontario show that the Conservatives are holding steady at 35 per cent, Liberals at 31 per cent (down 6), NDP at 24 per cent (gained 2), and the Green Party at 10 per cent (gained 4). Bloc Quebecois is not running in Ontario. On the National front; The latest Canadian Press/Harris-Decima poll gives the Conservatives 32 per cent, up one percentage point from the day before. The Liberals are five points back, remaining at 27 per cent for a second straight day after their rise from previous days. The NDP are at 19 per cent, the Greens are at 12 per cent and the Bloc Québécois at eight. The latest results represent interviews with 1,275 Canadians and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The latest numbers show that the Conservatives are heading back up again after their downward slump from previous days.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to eat, distribute or sell Sherwood brand Pirate's Gold milk chocolate coins imported from China. The candy is being recalled after testing positive for the industrial chemical melamine. Canada doesn't allow the use of melamine as a food ingredient. The candy is sold in 840-gram containers containing 240 pieces per container. They bear the designation UPC 0 36077 11240 7 and the lot code 1928S1. The candy is sold across Canada by Costco and may also have been sold in bulk packages or as individual pieces at various dollar and bulk stores across Canada. CFIA says that if the original product identity and UPC code is not evident, consumers should check with their retailer to determine whether they have the affected product. Retailers and importers have been asked to remove the candy from sale. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the candy in this country. Although the health risk associated with these products is considered low, the federal advisory was issued after an investigation into milk and milk-derived products from China that may have reached Canadian store shelves.
This news story reminds me of an insident I once had with a bear. A man in British Columbia, was attacked by a bear. Jim West, 45, was out walking last Saturday morning with his two dogs near 70 Mile House, about halfway between Kamloops and Williams Lake, when he came face to face with an angry mother bear. According to West, he tried to kick the bear in the face, instead of backing away. The bear then attacked him, knocking him to the ground, and West soon found himself on the losing side of an ill-matched fight. West then rolled onto his stomach and clasped his hands at the back of his neck, a posture recommended by most field guide manuals. The bear tore into West's skull at the back of his head, then bit him on the left side of his body and left arm. At that point, knowing he would likely soon be dead unless he fought back, the injured West managed to get to his feet and picked up a large stick and proceeded to defend himself by hitting the bear on the head. The bear was stunned and just stood there. Before the bear had a chance to regain its composure, West struck the bear over the head until the bear was lying flat on the ground and there was blood coming out of her nose. The five-foot-nine man eventually crushed the bear's skull with the stick, killing it. West then walked a kilometre and a half to a local lodge, where he was transported to hospital. The gashes in his body took 60 stitches to sew up. The incident surprised even conservation officers, who say West is lucky to be alive. While West regrets the death of the bear, he believes he did what he needed to do to survive. I can not help wonder what were West's two dogs doing while all this was going on? While I was in BC, I came across quite a few bears. I had been able to back away from those bears I had stumbled upon who were close to me without any incidents. On one occasion, I had stumbled upon a bear while prospecting deep in the B.C. mountains. I had tried to back away from this one big bear, but the bear charged at me that I had no choice but to shoot it. There were no cubs around. Had I not have had my rifle, I would have had to use my knife or use a large stick if there was one on hand. I was 80 miles as the crow flies, from the nearest settlement. I would never lie down as West had done, when encountering an angry bear. All too often one hears of people being attacked by bears and they had no gun to protect themselves. They end up getting brutally mauled or killed by a bear. That is something one always needs to keep in mind when a person is hiking through the woods.
Well, Canadian taxpayers are now finding out how much the Afghanistan mission has cost them. According to Canada's parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, the total cost of Canada's mission in Afghanistan will balloon to more than $18.1 billion by 2011. A far cry from the estamited $8 billion the Conservatives had thought it would cost. But their estamate was based upon from 2002 to 2008, and not to 2011. Still, it is a lot more than they had estamited. The cost to Canadian taxpayers amounts to about $1,500 for every Canadian household. Page said the report is the first "comprehensive" costing of its kind for the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. It looked at the costs of running military operations in Afghanistan, aid and reconstruction efforts and long term costs of taking care of veterans. I do not think this figure includes the cost of military equiptment they had to purchase to fight in this war. Page's report was due last month, but concerns that it might interfere with the election, led Page to a delay the release of this report. However, critics said Canadians deserved to know the mission's price tag before heading to the polls next week. Page said on Thursday all parties agreed to the report's release during the election period. I hope the next time something like this ever happens again, the Liberals and Conservatives won't be so quick to jump on someone's else's bandwagon again and commit themselves to a war that is not theirs to fight. Next time, that is if there will be a next time, our politicians ought to ask the Canadian taxpayers first, if they want to take part in any war. After all, they are the one's who are going to be paying for it. Both in money, and in the lives of their young men and women.
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Oct. 11th. 2008; The latest poll have the Conservatives at 35%. They had gained 3% since Oct.9th. Liberals are at 28%, they had gained 1%. The NDP are at 19 %, they had remained nutural. The Green Party are at 9%, they had dropped 3%. The Bloc Quebecois are at 9%, they had dropped 1%. It looks like Stephen Harper and the Conservatives will continue to be a minority Government. Canadians have opted for the Conservative Government to remain weak, at a time when we really need to have a strong Government to get us through the tough economic times that was brought on by a faltering US economy.
On Monday, it will be Thanksgiving Day. It is a time in which people give thanks to GOD, or for the good things one has. On this Thanksgiving Day, I thank GOD for the good health that I have. I thank the people who have made my life here in Temiskaming Shores, a very pleasant one. I thank all those who had participated in the restoration of my eyesight. I thank GOD for Buddy, my dog, who is a dear companion and friend to me. I thank all the people for their kindness, the help and generosity they have bestowed towards me. I thank GOD that we have made it through another year without undue hardship. Yes, this year on Thanksgiving Day, I have much to be thankful for. May everyone have good things to be thankful for, on this Thanksgiving Day.
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Oct. 13th. 2008; Update on the election polls. Ever since the election was called, not one party had really made a big impact upon the voters during the entire election, according to the polls taken from Canadians. The poll figures throughout the election campaign stayed at relatively the same amount of spread between parties, despite at times the figures had fluctuated up and down for all parties running in this election. Indications from the latest polls today, shows the Conservatives will continue to be a minority Government. Even Stephen Harper concedes to that outcome, given what the polls are showing. It appears we will be in the same quagmire, of having a Government that will be greatly hampered as it had been prior to the election. This election will not have changed the political situation as the Conservatives had hoped for, unless the polls are proven wrong when the vote counts are counted and revealed after the voting booths have closed. Looking back during the early 60's when I had started to vote, generally speaking, the polls pretty well reflected the mood of Canadians, with only a few exceptions, when the polls were totally off base from the actual vote count. Will this election be one of those rare exceptions? Who knows? Get out and vote tomorrow and lets find out. May everyone be able to have a happy and grateful Thanksgiving Day.
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Oct. 15th. 2008; Yesterday it was quite windy but warm, but the wind had died down by six o'clock. This morning it is 3°C with cloudy skies and the tempature is expected to rise to 13°C by mid-afternoon. On the election front, I was not surprised that the Conservatives party only to manade to be a minority Government once again, given what the polls indicated near the end of the election campaign. The Conservatives party had really blew it, "big time" in Quebec, on that "Arts" issue. Quebecers are very much involved in all aspects of the Arts, which in Calgary, where Stephane Harper comes from, it is not such an important factor in western culture. I was greatly surprised that the Nickel Belt, The Sue, Sudbury, Trimmings and most of Northern Ontario had chosen to vote for the NDP, despite the fact that they had been low in all of the polls. The people who voted for the NDP had to know they were throwing their votes to the wind. NDP Leader Jack Layton was naively aiming to be the Canadian Government, despite the low count in the polls. He said that he had given his best effort, but once again, his best effort was not good enough. He had flunked badly. As for the Liberals, I feel sorry for Stephane Dion because I believe he is sincere in wanting to do what is best for Canada. But I think what had done him in, was Al Gore's retroric about "Global Warning", and his notorious Carbon Shift Tax. I have no doubt that the Liberal party will want to seriously consider if they want to keep Stephane Dion as their leader after their poor showing in this election. Stephane Harper had managed to strenthen the Conservative Government from 122 to 146 seats. But will that be enough to keep him in power? That is anybody's guess. I find it sad that only 58% of Canadians, who were elegible to vote, had voted in this election. After this election, I think that all politicians in Ottawa would do well to keep in mind that most Canadians will not want another forced election. It is time for politicians to set aside their partisan attacks and make Parliament work for the benefit of Canadians and for Canada this time around.
So what has been going on in Israel during the Jewish New Year? Well, residents of the Samaria town of Havat Gilad (Gilad Farm) have accused border police of carrying out a violent attack on civilians on Monday afternoon, shortly before the beginning of the Sukkot holiday. The victim of the attack had moved to the town of Havat Gilad recently and has never been involved in quarrels with Arabs or police, making the motive for the attack unclear. Witnesses attempted to film the event but were attacked by other border police officers. Other officers stood nearby and watched the attack without making any effort to restrain their companion. The officer who initiated the attack took pains to conceal his identity, but a witness was able to take a clear picture of his face, allowing them to identify him as Khaled Hugi Gah. Residents have filed a complaint against Gah and his commander via the Judea and Samaria Human Rights Organization.
Arabs and Israeli "Peace Now" groups pillaged a Jewish outpost called Churshah, located in Samaria. Churshah is close to the community of Adei Ad which was established ten years ago. The residents of Churshah number about a dozen Jewish people. Arabs and Israeli leftists had burned holy books and killed a puppy after tricking the residents into going away to protect a nearby olive orchard. The attack on Churshah took place at around 8 A.M., under the cover of fog. The attackers numbered at least 20 Arabs and a few leftist-anarchists. The perpetrators had parked their car in the nearby village of Turmus-Ayah, south of Shilo, and reached Chursha by foot. They then proceeded to burn and destroy the makeshift living quarters and meger furnishings, and killed a dog called Kacha, a mixed-breed female Caucasian Shepherd puppy. Kacha's carcass bears signs of violence and she seems to have been bludgeoned to death.
The rioting by Muslims which took place in Akko had been well planned. It do not take a big brain to figure out that when an Arab motorist had deliberately entered the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in Akko, blaring Arab music from his car radio on Yom Kippur, during one of the Jewish holiest days, knowing full well that this would greatly upset the Jewish residents. When the man was stopped and asked to turn off the loud Arab music, the Arab man snubbed his finger at the Jewish residents and had refused to turn his radio down. Soon, stones were being thrown by Jews at the Arab-owned car in which violence erupted soon afterwards. Hundreds of Arabs drove into the predominantly Jewish neighbourhood of Akko and rampaged the Jewish neighbourhood, smashing dozens of cars and some 30 shops were vandalized. Arabs threaten that they would kill any Jews they found on the streets. The incident quickly developed into a mass riot as hundreds of Jewish people gathered together and went into the Arab district of Akko, and torched Arab homes. Clashes between Arabs and Jews resumed after Yom Kippur had ended, as hundreds of Jews and Arabs demonstrated and confronted police near the train station in eastern Akko and near the city's northern housing projects. Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni censured the Yom Kippur riots in Akko asserting, during a meeting with city mayor Shimon Lankry, stating that citizens cannot be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Police Commissioner David Cohen stated on Monday, that 64 people, 27 Jews and 37 Arabs had been arrested as a result of the Akko riots, and that there are 34 people who are still in custody. Hamas party whip in the Palestinian Authority legislature Mushir Al-Masri, fired up the Arab masses with his promise that, "The moment of victory is coming closer, and the day will soon come when soldiers of Hamas and the Al-Kassam Brigades will liberate Akko. 10,000 Arabs had been trained to take control of the Israeli Galilee city of Akko. The terrorist organization held a mass march in the Gaza city of Jebalya, expressing solidarity with the Arab residents of Akko. That statement was no doubt in reference to the recent statement that the "Dream of a complete land of Israel for Jews is over", made by outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Hamas, which violently overthrew Fatah and took control of Gaza last year, now threatens to take control of the Israeli Galilee city of Akko. The terrorist organization held a mass march in the Gaza city of Jebalya, expressing that they will "Liberate" Akko from the Jews. The Arab meaning to "Liberate" means to kill all the Jewish people and steal their land. See how effective those "peace" talks are which has been instigated by US President George W. Bush and Ehud Olmert, "Palestinian" President Mahmoud Abbas and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni. See what happens when the Jewish people have a traitor sitting in their PM's residence calling for the end of the Jewish nation. This is what happens when Jewish politicians cower like a bunch of snivelling, pathetic morons in sealed rooms moaning and groaning about Jews being killed and fired at with rockets while they are talking about peace with their enemies who know nothing but violence. The culture of most Muslim "Palestinian" Arabs in Gaza and Israel is one of tribalism, and their minds are filled with hate, violence and murder. What a way to start off the Jewish New Year! Is this the signs of the times that is setting up the pattern of what is to come during the new year in Israel?
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Oct. 17th. 2008; This morning it is quite cool with more rain in the forecast for our area. Looking at the latest news, it seams that somebody is detonating explosions next to gas pipeline near the town of Dawson Creek in northeastern B.C. The natural gas pipeline is owned by EnCana and carries sour gas to their Steep Rock gas plant. Natural gas is called "sour" because it contains hydrogen sulphide, a toxic substance which is deadly if inhaled and has to be removed through a treatment process at the plant before it can be used in gas stoves and heaters. RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields said the blast is a serious criminal matter but he declined to call these explosions an act of terrorism. I find it strange that the RCMP police officer dismiss this as an act of terrorism, given that handwritten letters were given to newspapers and a TV station in Dawson Creek calling for EnCana Corp. and other energy companies to shut down their operations served by the pipeline. The letters stated that EnCana Corp. and other energy companies have until Oct. 11, 2008 (Saturday, 12 noon) to close down their operations … and leave the area until further notice. "We will not negotiate with terrorists, which you are, as you keep on endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our homelands," the letters said. A former CSIS strategist David Harris says the weekend explosion on the pipeline fits the description of terrorism, despite what the RCMP police are saying. According to a news report, Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom suspect that it might be people from the Kelly Lake Métis community, which is about 40 kilometres away from where the targeted pipeline is located, that is to blame for the pipeline explosions. Lekstrom said people's safety is a concern because the area near the pipeline is used by hikers, hunters, and outdoorsmen. Police would not comment on whether the blast had any connection to a recent theft of a huge cache of dynamite from a work site in nearby Chetwynd in July. The RCMP investigation is being conducted by members from the force's explosives disposal unit, the forensic identification section and the integrated national security enforcement team.
After the poor showing by the Liberals in this election, some people in the news media are saying that Stephane Dion will step down as leader of the Liberal Party. But Liberal officials are denying reports that Stephane Dion is planning to step down as early as Thursday. Dion avoided the subject of his future as party leader in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's federal election, in which his party lost 19 seats and received only 26 per cent of the popular support. The Globe and Mail said that senior Liberal party members have reported that Dion faces pressure to declare quickly that he will end his leadership and let the party start procedures to replace him. I feel sorry for Stephane Dion because I have no doubt he is a good person. But given what has happened in this election, he would be better off to step down. After all, why would any person want to stay as leader, if the majority of the people had rejected his platfome? There is no need for Stephane Dion to be ashamed for what he has accomplished during his political career. Maby it is the right time to think about retiring and enjoy his free time with his family and grandchildren.
What the heck is going on with all the recent contamination in our food sources? We have seen an upsurge of contamination in our food sources in recent years. Now we hear that there is an E. coli outbreak in Ontario which has effected 93 people. If this continues, people are going to be afraid to buy food from anyone. According to CTV news, an E. coli outbreak in northern Ontario, regional public health unit says the outbreak appears to have originated to a fast-food restaurant, Harvey's Restaurant, although the source of contamination is not yet known. Health authorities report that laboratory tests confirm 15 cases of the potentially lethal strain of E coli O157:H7 poisoning has occurred in North Bay, Ont. People affected by this E coli contamination range in ages from five to 84, with some receiving hospital treatment while most are recovering at home. The bacterial strain is the same one that afflicted the town of Walkerton, Ont., way back in May 2000, killing seven people and sickening about 2,500 people. In the case of Walkerton, the outbreak was traced to contaminated municipal tap water, but water has been ruled out in the North Bay case. It appears that people who are handling food are being pretty sloppy about it. People in the food industry had better take notice to this wake-up call. This is becoming a serious matter! With all the tecknowlagy we have on hand, one would think that someone could have invented a gadget or machine where one could pass food through it which would kill all forms of food contamination before it is passed onto consumers. Even having a gadget like that in a home would be good to have. People would then feel a lot safer about eating the food they had bought. Come on you Nerds, lets get on with it, invent something.
Update on Stephane Dion: Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is expected to announce on Monday afternoon that he will resign as party leader at a press conference in Ottawa. There has been a growing chorus of MPs who are calling for Dion to step aside. Dion, hasn't been seen in public since conceding the federal election on Tuesday night, which is quite understandable given what some Liberal MPs are saying. Dion knows that he may not survive a May leadership review vote. This is the main reason he had decided to step down. At least there is a kind Liberal millionaire who is very gracious to pick up the tab, or most of it, for Stephane Dion election campaign which no doubt had cost a lot of money. While I may not have accepted his Al Gore "Global Warning" rhetoric and Green Shift tax plan, I respect Stephane Dion. He is a gentleman in my book.
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Oct. 19th. 2008; Today it is cool and windy. But after this bit of news, I think that Canadians are going to feel a bit cooler, and it will not be on account of the weather. Prime Minister Stephen Harper closed the Sommet de la Francophonie in Quebec City on Sunday by announcing a $100 million aid package for developing countries to fight climate change. Harper said his government has always been committed to finding a solution to global warming and understands that some poorer countries don't have enough resources to do the same. Just this weekend, I was watching one of W5 (W-FIVE) re-run programs. It was a documentry which showed the great amount of disrepair that are in those subsidized housing buildings managed by TCHC in Toronto. W5 had informed TCHC about the mould on the floors and ceilings, leaky roofs, crumbling walls and apartments filled with bedbugs and cockroaches and garbage piled so high, it is blocking fire exits to some of the buildings managed by TCHC. With 60,000 apartments, townhouses and houses, the Corporation is the largest provider of social housing in Canada. TCHC is called the worst slum landlord in Canada. During a review of properties across the city of Toronto, W5 found many of the buildings are run down and in dire need of extreem repair . TCHC admits there is a problem with the state of the buildings and acknowledge the repair bill is currently upward of $300 million. But they say they simply don't have the money required to invest in the repair of the buildings. Derek Ballantyne, the CEO of TCHC, says the problem started in 2001 when the province of Ontario got out of the business of socialized housing and downloaded their stock of 30,000 housing units to the City of Toronto. Ballantyne says the Corporation has lobbied both the provincial and federal governments for funding needed to make the repairs, but with no success. It seems that Harper has money to give away to developing countries to fight climate change, but has no money to help Canadians who have to live in such horrible living conditions as was shown by the W5 documentary; Canada's Worst Landlord. Hummm, No sooner do Harper get back in office, he freely gives out $100 million of Canadian taxpayers money away to other countries because Harper believes in Al Gore's climate change rhetoric! Frankly, I have to wonder if Harper has a secret political death wish to end his political career. He is going about it the right way if that is what he wants. If Harper keeps this up, he is heading for a rough ride given the economic slowdown. We may be heading for a new election in less than two years. It will be interesting to see how long Stephen Harper will last this time around, given the present mood of Canadians who are seeing their hard earned money going out to other countries, when there is a great need to provide help to people within our own country. I always believed in helping our own people first, before looking elsewhere to help people in other countries. There are plenty of Canadian privet organizations who are already helping people in foreign countries.
Taliban militants stopped a bus travelling in southern Afghanistan, and captured some 50 people who were on board. An Afghanistan general reported that the death toll amounted to 31 people who were killed from the attack. Six of the dead were beheaded in a separate area of Maywand from where the other 25 bodies were found. The rest of the Afghan civilians who were on board the bus were set free.
On Vatican Radio, the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, condemned Israel for defending itself against repeated unprovoked attacks by Palestinians on her soil and Pope Benedict XVI in his Sunday address said that Israel's reprisals cannot be justified. I wonder what would Cardinal Angelo Sodano and his head "Honcho" would say if Palestinians started lobbing rockets on the Vatican. Killed its citizens with human suicide bombers? It's easy to talk when they are not being attacked by those "Palestinian" Arabs! The Vatican has rejected Israel's criticism that Pope Benedict XVI failed to condemn Palestinian militant attacks against Israel in his recent remarks. The Israel foreign ministry said the pontiff's speech would be interpreted as "granting legitimacy to terrorist attacks against Jews". Also in the news is Peter Gumpel, a senior Vatican cardinal who is in charge of the procedure of declaring Pius XII a saint, declared that Pope Benedict XVI will not visit Israel despite being invited to the Jewish state until an inscription accompanying a photograph on display at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. The inscription states that the Catholic Pope, Pius XII kept silent during the Holocaust. Since the sainthood issue of Pope Pius XII, diplomatic relations between Israel and Vatican have been pushed too far in the wrong direction, by other issue other than the Pius XII's status and the Vatican's stance during World War II. Other issues include a commitment for Israel to regularize the Church's status in Israel, and relieving it from having to pay taxes. Relations between Israel and the Vatican were established after World War II by a committee including three Catholic and three Jewish historians who were appointed to try and bridge the difference between the two sides' versions of what had happened during the Hitler era. But shortly after the committee was established, the committee's work was halted due to the Catholic Church's refusal to grant the historians access to its archive, excluding 11 volumes of diplomatic writings, which would shed light on the 49 questions the committee sought to find its answers. Dr. Minerbi was one of the historians who had rejected to serve as a member of the committee, due to the refusal to let the panel review the Vatican archive. Aharon Lopez, who served as Israel's Ambassador to the Vatican between the years 1997 and 2000, believes that a solution to this dispute will not be found until the Vatican grants access to its archive and resolves questions regarding Pius XII's tenure prior to and during the Holocaust.
Speaking about Israel, it looks like the Israeli leaders are seriously considering a Saudi peace plan.The Saudi peace plan is offering a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for lands captured during the 1967 war. As if the Arab world do not already control a major portion of the Middle East! Never-the-less, Defence Minister Ehud Barak is totally in favour for it. Barak said it may be time to pursue an overall peace deal for the region since individual negotiations with Syria and the Palestinians have made little progress. Barak said he has discussed the Saudi plan with prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni, who is in the process of forming a new Israeli government, and that Israel is considering a response. Well, good luck! Boy, are they going to need it. According to Herb Keinon of The Jerusalem Post, senior Jerusalem officials dismissed on Sunday a sudden surge of interest both here and abroad in the Arab Peace Initiative, saying it was a function of both a diplomatic peace process that has stalled, and the transition periods in Israel, the US and the Palestinian Authority. Whenever the peace process stalls, there will be those who will pull out the Saudi plan," one senior Israeli official said. "And the Saudis have an interest in pushing this out there now, to put on a 'constructive face' with which to greet the new US president." The Arab Peace Initiative, based on the Saudi peace plan of February 2002, calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories taken in the Six Day War, including east Jerusalem, in exchange for normalizing ties with the Arab world. It also calls for the return to Israel of Palestinian refugees and their descendents. The plan seems to be all the rage in recent days. President Shimon Peres reportedly talked with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef about the need to go for a regional agreement, not just a bilateral one with Syria or the Palestinians, while King Abdullah II of Jordan told Spain's El Pais daily that the plan provided a genuine opportunity for a peace settlement. In Britain, The Guardian newspaper ran a story entitled "Time to resurrect the Arab peace plan." Labor Party head Ehud Barak also got into the fray, telling Army Radio on Sunday he discussed the plan recently with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during their coalition negotiations. At least the Israeli people know exactly where Defense Minister Ehud Barak stands on this issue and his willingness to cut-up and give large parts of the nation of Israel away.
What else is in the news? French President Nicolas Sarkozy has teamed up with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who is proposing a "radical changes" to the global capitalist system. No doubt he has a New World Order financial system in mind which will include some sort of cross-border mechanism to monitor the world's 30 biggest financial institutions. Sarkozy has floated the idea of reforming rating agencies and even exploring the future of changing the various currency systems into a global one. In Brown's view, what's needed is nothing less than a new version of the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that brought together Allied leaders and established a post-World War II global monetary and financial order, laying foundations for the International Monetary Fund and a currency exchange regime that lasted for three decades. "This is a defining moment for the world economy," Brown wrote in Friday's Washington Post. "The old postwar international financial institutions are out of date. They have to be rebuilt for a wholly new era". Now where have I heard such an idea like that before? Oh yes, I recall that I had said something to that effect some 30 years go. It sure has taken some time for that idea to finally catch on.
As for the US election, I think that Barack Obama is going to win that one. Frankly, it really do not matter who wins the US election, John McCain or Barack Obama, because both men are backed up by the same NWO crowd. Barack Obama is younger, he has recieved a far greater amount of money to spend for his election campaign, which shows whom people favor the most. Here in Canada, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion announced today at the much anticipated press conference in Ottawa that he will stay on until the next Liberal party convention, when he will step down so the party can choose a new leader.
Britain's National Archives has released 1,500 pages of documents pertaining to UFO sightings in the country between 1986 and 1992. The 19 files, which were posted on the archives' website Monday, largely debunk a host of UFO sightings but many also remain unexplained. It is the second batch of UFO files that Britain's military has put out this year. David Clarke, a UFO expert who has worked with the National Archives, said a total of 160 UFO-related files are expected to be made available to the public over the next few years. The problem with this entire UFO debate, is that for every real legitimate UFO sighting that is being reported, there are hundreds of people who muddy up the water, so to speak, by giving bogus UFO sightings. Among the newly released documents, there are legitimate UFO sightings that can not be explained. Among the newly released documents, that can be considered legitimate was an investigation that was conducted after Alitalia pilot Achille Zaghetti spotted what he thought was a missile. Zaghetti's jet from Milan was arriving at London's Heathrow Airport on the evening of April 21, 1991, when a flying object streaked across his field of vision. "At once I said, 'look out, look out,' to my co-pilot, who looked out and saw what I had seen," Zaghetti wrote in his report. "As soon as the object crossed us I asked to the ACC (area control centre) operator if he saw something on his screen and he answered 'I see an unknown target 10 nautical miles behind you."' The investigation later ruled out a missile - but it never provided further explanation. Another disturbing sighting in 1991 was reported by crew aboard a Gatwick-bound Britannia Airways Boeing 737, who saw a "small black lozenge-shaped object" zipping past about 90 metres to the left of the aircraft. The airport confirmed seeing an object on its radar and clocked it travelling at 190 kilometres per hour. Air traffic controllers quickly warned the next aircraft to turn out of the object's flight path, although by then the object had disappeared from view. In another investigation from the files, were four passengers on a Hamburg, Germany-bound Dan Air 737 on June 17, 1991, spotted "a wingless projectile pass below and to the left of the aircraft" as the flight climbed out of London's Gatwick Airport. "It would seem to have passed fairly close by as the passengers were able to see it quite clearly," the Civil Aviation Authority wrote. Other sighting report of UFO's reaching speeds past Mach 10 or more, that a craft can change direction on a dime, hover and then disappear at lightning speeds we have yet to reach. Such sighting that are credible that defy all human explanation leave us with the conclusion that we might not be alone in the universe, as we had supposed.

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