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The Dunstan Times Webnews

z old newsof 2009

Tuesday, Feb 2 
Wednesday, Feb 3 
Thursday, Feb 4 
Friday, Feb 5 
 
Forecast
Isolated flurries 
Isolated flurries 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Variable cloudiness 
High
-3 °C
-1 °C
-3 °C
-1 °C
Low
-9 °C
-6 °C
-11 °C
-11 °C
Probability of Precipitation
60 %
60 %
10 %
30 %

 Police officers present parts of the retrieved inscription from the Auschwitz Birkenau entrance, during a press conference in Krakow, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009. The infamous inscription "Arbeit Macht Frei" from the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz Birkenau was stolen Dec. 18, 2009 and retrieved by the Polish Police three days later.Poland will formally seek Sweden's help in investigating the theft of the "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free") sign from the Auschwitz memorial, confirming that Polish authorities suspect a Swedish link in the crime.

Boguslawa Marcinkowska, a spokeswoman for Krakow prosecutors, says her office will send a formal request for help Wednesday to the Swedish Justice Ministry in Stockholm.

Polish media have been reporting that the theft was commissioned by a collector living in Sweden, but investigators have not confirmed that.

The sign was stolen earlier this month and found two days later cut into three pieces. Police have arrested five men whom they described as common criminals who likely stole the sign on a commission from abroad.

 Jay Leno took time on his prime-time show Monday night to discuss the late-night chaos at NBC from his point of view. Jay Leno turned serious on his show to discuss the late-night chaos at NBC, telling viewers that he'd been doubtful about launching a prime-time show but was prevented by NBC from going to another TV network instead. Leno, in explaining events from his standpoint, also said Monday that he had told NBC he'd return to the "Tonight" slot only after Conan O'Brien rejected the network's plan to put both men on in late night. NBC continued negotiations Monday on an exit deal with O'Brien that would clear the way for Leno to reclaim the 11:35 p.m. EST slot occupied by "Tonight," which he hosted for 17 years before turning it over to O'Brien last spring. The network is ending its prime-time experiment, "The Jay Leno Show," because of low ratings and affiliate station complaints.
 
Thursday, Jan 21 
Friday, Jan 22 
Saturday, Jan 23 
Sunday, Jan 24 
 
Forecast
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Sunny 
Mixed precip. 
High
0 °C
0 °C
0 °C
2 °C
Low
-10 °C
-4 °C
-7 °C
-2 °C
Probability of Precipitation
10 %
10 %
0 %
60 %
How are you helping to prevent the spread of H1N1?
Washing hands with soap and water 12%
Using hand sanitizer 8%
Coughing into my arm 3%
Staying home more willingly if sick 3%
All of the above 62%
None of the above 12%
 
Wednesday, Dec 16 
Thursday, Dec 17 
Friday, Dec 18 
Saturday, Dec 19 
 
Forecast
Isolated flurries 
Cloudy with sunny breaks 
Variable cloudiness 
Cloudy with sunny breaks 
High
-3 °C
-6 °C
-3 °C
-2 °C
Low
-7 °C
-9 °C
-9 °C
-9 °C
Probability of Precipitation
40 %
30 %
10 %
30 %
Dark-skinned Jesus upsets Italy’s anti-immigration party
A nativity scene featuring a dark-skinned Jesus, Mary and Joseph that has gone on display in a Verona courthouse has created heated debate in a city with strong links to Italy’s anti-immigration Northern League party.  “History teaches us that baby Jesus and his parents were very probably dark-skinned,” Schinaia told Reuters. “This nativity belongs to a universal Christmas tradition that brings together the whole of Christianity in celebration.”
Chris RockChris Rock's title troublesso chris rock has incited ...Chris Rock - Comedians ...
Chris Rock asked if he could model for the grown up Jesus statue and would I am sure mutter something about crazy white "crackers"! The nativity has caused heated reactions in the rich northern town, where resentment towards foreigners has spread as the number of immigrants, particularly from north Africa and eastern Europe, continues to rise.
Cops save drowning toilet bowl baby
Helping the public in times of need, these cops catch bad guys and save a baby’s life — all in a day’s work for two Winnipeg police officers. The unidentified cops are being hailed for reviving the unresponsive newborn a few seconds after its mother gave birth squatting over a toilet in the bathroom of her family’s Flora Avenue home Sunday afternoon. Heather Richard, 32, said she didn’t even know she was pregnant.
                  Philippines volcano oozing lava
The Philippines' most active volcano oozed lava and shot up plumes of ash Tuesday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes and face the possibility of a bleak Christmas. Lava cascades down the slopes of Mayon volcano in Legazpi city, Albay province, at dawn Tuesday.
YESMEN STRIKE AGAIN! The Yes Men claim their latest ruse was a joint operation "between groups from developed and developing nations to highlight the relationship between the two," an issue they said should be stressed at the United Nations climate talks here. Their elaborate ruse made headlines around the world, and even fooled major media outlets. The prank began with a news release bearing Environment Canada letterhead claiming Canada was dramatically revising its carbon emissions targets. The news release purported to quote Environment Minister Jim Prentice saying the deeper Canadian reductions were a response to developing nations. A little more than an hour later, a second release came out, criticizing the first as a fake and again quoting Prentice. It called the first communique "the height of cruelty, hypocrisy and immorality." But it too was a phoney. The group subsequently issued a third phoney news release, this time with a link to video of faux Ugandan reaction to the fake Canadian policy change. Past targets of the Yes Men have included U.S. President George W. Bush, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the World Trade Organization and Dow Chemical.

christmas card causes kaos...The card shows a child with ginger hair sitting on the lap of Santa Claus and reads: "Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones." The supermarket giant  Tesco apologised if the card had "caused any upset" to people with red or ginger hair -- often the butt of rude jokes. Davinia Phillips, whose three young daughters all have ginger hair, complained when she read the offending card at a store in York. "It's discrimination, pure and simple. I have shown it to a lot of friends and they are all disgusted by it. I just don't find it funny at all," she was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying. She added: "If it had been about a black child or an overweight child, the store would have been shut down by now." She said the cards had been removed from several stores in her area.

TRUE GLUE REVENGE!~Two women accused of seeking revenge on a cheating lover by gluing his penis to his stomach have reached plea deals. Forty-eight-year-old Therese Ziemann, was accused of doing the actual gluing. She pleaded no contest Monday to reduced charges of disorderly conduct and misdemeanour battery. Her sister, 43-year-old Michelle Belliveau, pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct.  The women allegedly lured the 37-year-old Fond du Lac man to a motel and tied him to a bed in July.  A third defendant pleaded not guilty last month to false imprisonment. A false-imprisonment charge against the man’s wife was dropped earlier

NASA's new infrared space telescope was launched into orbit on Monday on a 10-month mission expected to reveal previously unseen objects ranging from near-Earth asteroids to some of the most distant galaxies in the cosmos.The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, was carried into a polar orbit 326 miles above Earth by a Delta II rocket that lifted off before dawn from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California. "All systems are looking good, and we are on our way to seeing the entire sky better than ever before," said William Irace, the mission's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. The $320 million instrument is designed to scan the entire heavens for the infrared radiation, or glow of heat, given off by objects that are too cold, too far away or too shrouded in dust to be seen by conventional visible-light telescopes. Scientists say the spacecraft's detectors are about 500 times more sensitive than those of the last infrared sky survey in 1983, and are capable of producing photograph-quality images of the objects they find. Among phenomena likely to be uncovered are large numbers of failed stars called brown dwarfs -- balls of gas many times smaller than the sun that lack sufficient mass to trigger their own internal stellar engines. Optically invisible, brown dwarfs are thought to be more numerous than actual stars in the nearby universe. Some may reside even closer to Earth than the nearest known star, Proxima Centauri, about 4 light years away. Closer to home, WISE is expected to find hundreds of previously uncharted asteroids and comets in the neighborhood of Earth's orbit, revealing more about the inventory of such "near-Earth objects" and their composition. At the farthest reach of its gaze, WISE will be able to illuminate and peer through the dense haze that has obscured some of the most distant and powerful star clusters in the universe -- a class of objects called ultra-luminous galaxies.Located 10 billion light years from Earth, these galaxies are believed to be super-incubators of new stars, shining with more than a trillion times the light of the sun, though most of that light is emitted in infrared.

From the Southern Hemisphere, Orion is oriented differently, and the belt and sword are sometimes called the Saucepan, or Pot in Australia/New Zealand. Orion's Belt is called Drie Konings (Three Kings) or the Drie Susters (Three Sisters) by Afrikaans speakers in South Africa,[2] and are referred to as les Trois Rois (the Three Kings) in Daudet's Lettres de Mon Moulin (1866). The appellation Driekoningen (the Three Kings) is also often found in 17th- and 18th-century Dutch star charts and seaman's guides. The same three stars are known in Latin America as "The Three Marys."
Bill Buxton, a researcher at Microsoft, has a collection of tablets and touch screens that he keeps in his office in Toronto. Quietly, several high-tech companies are lining up to deliver versions of these keyboard-free, touch-screen portable machines in the next few months. Industry watchers have their eye on Apple in particular to sell such a device by early next year. Tablets have been around in various forms for two decades, thus far delivering little other than memorable failure. Nonetheless, the new batch of devices has gripped the imagination of tech executives, bloggers and gadget hounds, who are projecting their wildest dreams onto these literal blank slates. The drumbeat of tablet product introductions has already begun. In June, Archos, a French consumer electronics company, began selling a small touch-screen tablet running Google’s Android software. Later this month, it will introduce another tablet that runs on Microsoft’s Windows 7, which has built-in support for touch screens.
Gamma-ray Bursts
(GRBs) were discovered by American surveillance satellites in the late 1960s. These satellites were looking for gamma rays coming from possible clandestine Soviet nuclear tests, but instead found brief but intense flashes of gamma rays coming from random directions in space. To this day GRBs remain one of the greatest mysteries of modern astronomy. Despite lasting only a few milliseconds to several minutes, they are the brightest gamma-ray phenomena known, outshining all other sources of gamma rays combined. "An individual GRB can release in a matter of seconds the same amount of energy that our Sun will radiate over its 10-billion-year lifetime," says GLAST Deputy Project Scientist Neil Gehrels of NASA. Astronomers have made considerable strides in recent years in understanding GRBs, progress that can be directly attributed to a series of spectacularly successful space missions. The Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on NASA's Compton Gamma-ray Observatory detected several thousand GRBs, and showed that they come from random directions on the sky — which strongly suggested that they are not of galactic origin and must occur at great distances. In the late 1990s, the Italian/Dutch BeppoSAX satellite was able to pinpoint the location of several GRBs, which enabled X-ray, optical, and radio telescopes to monitor their afterglows. This was a crucial development, since it enabled astronomers for the first time to measure distances to bursts and observe how they interacted with their surrounding environments. The now-defunct HETE-2 satellite and the currently operating NASA Swift satellite have significantly extended and improved these capabilities, and have lofted our study of GRBs to new heights.
image of the aftermath of a gamma-ray burstThe gamma rays are produced by shock waves created either from material colliding within the jet, or from the jet slamming into surrounding material. 

 This illustration depicts the turbulent aftermath of such a collision.

GRBs lasting less than 2 seconds (short GRBs) may originate from a variety of processes. But despite the new revelations from Swift and other missions, many crucial questions remain unanswered. What types of stars die as GRBs? What is the composition of the jets? How are the gamma rays in the initial burst produced? What is the total energy budget of a GRB? How does the central engine work? How wide are the jet opening angles? How do the jets interact with other material to produce the gamma rays? Swift has actually complicated the picture by showing that GRBs are much more diverse in their properties than astronomers had imagined prior to the spacecraft's launch in November 2004. As the saying goes, "If you've seen one GRB, you've seen one GRB." In fact, some GRBs don't seem to fall into either the long or short category and the origin of these "hybrid bursts" remains shrouded in mystery.  "It’s amazing that gamma-ray bursts are so powerful that a small detector you could hold in one hand can observe them from distances of billions of light-years."
SNORING CURES!...don't kick hubby from the bed, now you can treat him instead. Here are some ways and methods to cure snoring:Breathing exercise –Take several deep breaths in order to relax the throat and make breathing normal again.Decongestants – There are instances wherein the cause of snoring is nasal congestion. Here, the person tends to breathe through his mouth which may trigger snoring. Taking decongestants will free any blockage and relieve the person from snoring. Anti-allergy medications – There are some allergies that result to the enlargement of adenoids. Taking regular exercise and proper diet can reduce the weigh and stop snoring, not to mention other health risks associated with obesity.Change of bed position – There are occasions wherein snoring is the result of wrong sleeping position. Sometimes, sleeping with too many pillows can stretch and narrow the air passage. Use one pillow to avoid it. Also, lying on the back can cause snoring.  So, to maintain a good and healthy life, the person should stop or reduce smoking and alcohol intake, which in turn can cure snoring.
Review medications – Antihistamines, sleeping pills, and other types of medications can worsen snoring. Regular sleeping habits – There are two periods of sleep: the REM sleep where the person experiences frequent dreaming and deep sleep, and the Stage 1 sleep which should only be experienced during falling asleep but can also be experienced several times if the person is sleeping poorly. Saltwater nasal droops – Nasal congestion caused by mucus can disrupt sleep and can cause snoring. To prevent this, saltwater nasal drops can be used to flush out the mucus. There are over the counter saltwater nasal drops available in drugstores. However, you can also make it on your own. Dissolve ¼ teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of sterilized water.  It is important therefore to know the exact cause of snoring before taking any action
 HYPE AND PANIC!
A dose of the H1N1 vaccine is prepared at the Wayne County Department of Public Health, Friday, Oct. 16, 2009. The county administered the vaccine to first responders. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)Buzz about swine flu on Twitter is stirring conversations about how people get health news. 
Buzz about swine flu on Twitter is stirring conversations about how people get health news. This is what we know.
H1N1 priority groups: Pregnant women. Children from six months to five years of age. People who live with children under 6 months of age. People under 65 with underlying medical conditions. Immuno-compromised people. H1N1 vaccine shortage warning
Delivery of H1N1 vaccine to the provinces will slow a bit over the next couple of weeks because the manufacturer was asked to make special batches of the product for pregnant women, Canada's chief public health officer said. Editors note: This shortage will also create panic. This information needs to be put in context; one must realize that 36,000 people die from flu-related symptoms each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 115 confirmed cases of the H1N1 type of influenza since September in Greater Toronto area, 68 of which were reported last week according to a Dr. David McKeown. That is less than one percent of the population. That is not an epidemic to me, and why the big push by media on a still data shy product. 

Ruth MacNeur, a consultant with Mount Sinai Hospital, receives her H1N1 flu vaccine on Monday in Toronto.Ruth MacNeur, a consultant with Mount Sinai Hospital, receives her H1N1 flu vaccine on Monday in Toronto.

here is another example of panic hyping:

Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital has been hit with an outbreak of the H1N1 flu... Editors note: three became ill last Friday.
 

The reigning Miss England has relinquished her crown after being accused of a fight in a bar. Pageant organizers say Rachel Christie has also withdrawn from next month’s Miss World competition in South Africa. They said in a statement that the 21-year-old heptathlete will now focus on clearing her name and training for the 2012 Olympics

KIWI KORNER One of the additional three finalist entries shows 'party central' in full swingLifeguards across the upper North Island have unfurled the flags and dusted off their famous Speedos for a "cracker" start to another surf lifesaving season.

One of the additional three finalist entries shows 'party central' in full swing. Photo / SuppliedSupervision and surveillance are the key messages from Surf Lifesaving. Photo / Chris Gorman  Piha Surf Lifesaving Club captain Tony Featherstone said perfect weather on Saturday drew big crowds and suggested it would be a long, busy season."Other than the water temperature, [Saturday] was like a midsummer day. It was a cracker. Summer is definitely here."Fine but partly cloudy weather continued yesterday, but some rain is forecast for today.Piha had had 1000 people at its peak, but lifesavers had little work as few swimmers tempted the chilly waters, Mr Featherstone said2009

 
Wednesday, Dec 2 
Thursday, Dec 3 
Friday, Dec 4 
Saturday, Dec 5 
 
Forecast
Isolated showers 
Rain or snow 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
High
8 °C
3 °C
1 °C
-1 °C
Low
2 °C
-3 °C
-6 °C
-7 °C
Probability of Precipitation
40 %
40 %
10 %
10 %

Almanac
Sunrise
& Sunset
Normal Low
Normal High
Record Low
Record High
 7:32am
 4:42pm
 -5 °C 
 3 °C 
 -17.8 °C
in 1940
 15.6 °C
in 1970

 Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk gestures as he rests inside a vehicle of the Russian Space Agency shortly after his landing in the steppe near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan.Bob Thirsk is back on Earth after spending a record length of time in space for a Canadian astronaut - an experience he has described as an exhausting but exhilarating six months aboard the International Space Station. The Russian spacecraft carrying Thirsk and two crew mates landed in Kazakhstan, in central Asia, after deploying parachutes to slow down its descent to a soft, upright touchdown at 2:17 a.m. ET on Tuesday. "It was a long journey and the thing is that they are safe on the ground," Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency, said moments after the hatches on the space capsule were opened. "It is a great thing." Thirsk was the second of the three to be hauled out the top of the round re-entry craft, which landed in a field of knee-high brown grass about 80 kilometres southwest of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan's barren north.

 
Colts Cheerleaders
The Indianapolis Colts continue to plow through their NFL season and remain unbeaten with  11 wins and 0 losses.
Liberals will support HST bill, Ignatieff says
Michael Ignatieff says federal Liberals will support legislation to implement a harmonized sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia, despite previously bashing it as a job-killing "Harper sales tax." Some MPs fear a backlash from voters in the two provinces, who are becoming increasingly angry about the prospect of paying more for a host of goods and services. Others fear alienating the Liberal governments in Toronto and Victoria, whose campaign machines will be vital to the success of federal Liberals in the next election.The Bloc Quebecois is also likely to support the legislation, leaving only the NDP to vote against it. NDP Leader Jack Layton is hoping to parlay consumer anger over the tax into votes for his party.

here today gun tomorrow.....OPP are seeking public assistance to help them find an unmarked cruiser, containing an officer's service firearm and ammunition, which was stolen from a Long Sault, Ont., residence overnight. Police say they were called about the theft at 1:30 a.m. this morning. An investigation showed that an off-duty officer had parked the OPP vehicle in her driveway in early evening Monday. She and her family retired for the night. At approximately 1:30 a.m., the officer awoke to find that her home had been broken into and the OPP vehicle had been stolen from her driveway.The unmarked OPP vehicle is described as a 2005 Chrysler, four door, silver, Ontario plate number AXBV 712. The officer secured her .40 calibre Sig Sauer issue firearm in the vehicle in a secured lock box. The lock box also contained three magazines with ammunition, handcuffs, and pepper spray

Marines to be first wave in new Afghanistan plan
President Barack Obama is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to be deployed over the next six months.
Obama formally ends a 92-day review of the war in Afghanistan Tuesday night with a nationally broadcast address in which he will lay out his revamped strategy from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He began rolling out his decision Sunday night, informing key administration officials, military advisers and foreign allies in a series of private meetings and phone calls that stretched into Monday. Military officials said at least one group of Marines is expected to deploy within two or three weeks of Obama’s announcement, and would be in Afghanistan by Christmas. Larger deployments wouldn’t be able to follow until early in 2010. With U.S. President Barack Obama unveiling a new strategy for Afghanistan, NATO commanders are putting Canada’s military command in Afghanistan in charge of the tactically vital Arghandab district north of Kandahar city. The move will put an additional U.S. battalion and an Afghan National Army kandak, a unit similar to a battalion, under the control of Brig. Gen. Dan Menard, the commander of the Canadian contingent known as Task Force Kandahar, by the new year.
Michael Jackson's white jeweled glove is on display at an auction preview in New York, Nov. 17, 2009. The glove, which Michael Jackson wore at the 1983 Motown 25 Television special during which he premiered the moonwalk to the world, sold for $350,000 at a memorabilia auction Saturday, soaring far past pre-sale estimates. Michael Jackson's white jeweled glove is on display at an auction preview in New York, Nov. 17, 2009. The glove, which Michael Jackson wore at the 1983 Motown 25 Television special during which he premiered the moonwalk to the world, sold for $350,000 at a memorabilia auction Saturday, soaring far past pre-sale estimates.
JOHNSON EXPOSED BUT IGNORED
Palin book goes at McCain but not her son in law Levi Johnson...Sarah Palin’s new memoir describes heart-wrenching anguish about her teen daughter’s pregnancy playing out before a national audience. However the 413-page tome doesn’t contain a single reference to the father of her grandson, soon-to-be Playgirl model Levi Johnston.
 The Same Pooh Bear, But an Otter Has Arrived
An illustration from “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,”  the first authorized Winnie-the-Pooh sequel. “Return to the Hundred Acre Wood,” with 10 stories, is by David Benedictus, an English writer whose work includes several novels. Illustrations are by Mark Burgess, an English writer and illustrator of many children’s books. Published by Dutton Children’s Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, “Return” has a robust first printing of 300,000 copies in 16 languages. It will be printed simultaneously in Britain by Egmont Publishing. Dutton published the first four books in which Pooh appears. “Winnie-the-Pooh” was published in 1926, followed by “The House at Pooh Corner” in 1928. Illustrations are by Mark Burgess, an English writer and illustrator of many children’s books.
 
Wednesday, Nov 25 
Thursday, Nov 26 
Friday, Nov 27 
Saturday, Nov 28 
 
Forecast
Light rain 
Mixed precip. 
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
High
9 °C
4 °C
5 °C
5 °C
Low
6 °C
3 °C
2 °C
0 °C
Probability of Precipitation
90 %
60 %
30 %
30 %
DEAR DEER!
 deer24/11/09.Police captured a deer that was loose in downtown Toronto . The deer had been sitting in a garden near Bay Street and University Avenue for several hours before police moved in to tranquilize and move the animal. Officers also used a Taser on the deer, a move that drew an outcry on social networking website Twitter that started just moments after the weapon was fired.

Montreal Alouettes (16-3) vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders (11-7-1)

Sunday, November 29 - 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt on TSN

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake, right, battles for the puck with New York Islanders forward Tim Jackman, left, and defenseman Andy Sutton, center, as Islanders goalie Dwayne Roloson watches for the loose puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Toronto. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette) Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake, right, battles for the puck Josh Bailey scored the overtime winner as the New York Islanders stole a 4-3 victory from the Maple Leafs on a wild Monday night at Air Canada Centre.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York, the attorney general announced Friday.
A photograph taken by the International Committee of the Red Cross of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed this year in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The detainee's family released the photo to a Web site, www.muslm.net. A photograph taken by the International Committee of the Red Cross of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed this year in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
... ...
Rosenthal: Lee talks Game 1
Cliff Lee speaks with Ken Rosenthal after his complete-game win over the Yankees in Game 1. Plus, hear from Phils offensive star Chase Utley.
Marijuana dispensaries are legal in Denver, but they are not all created equal.....Westword, an alternative weekly newspaper in Denver, has the standard lineup of film, food and music critics. But in what may be a first for American journalism, the paper is shopping around for a medical marijuana critic. The idea is not to assess the green stuff itself, but to review the dispensaries that have sprouted like, um, weeds in Denver this year. “We want to see what kind of place it is, how well they care for you and also how sketchy the place is,” said Patricia Calhoun, editor of Westword. “Do they actually look at your medical marijuana card? Do they let you slip some cash under the counter and bypass the rules?” Last week, the paper published a call for a regular freelance reviewer with a real, doctor-certified medical need — asking each candidate to send a résumé and an essay on “What Marijuana Means to Me” — and received several dozen applications within a few days.

... ...

 
Saturday, Nov 14 
Sunday, Nov 15 
Monday, Nov 16 
Tuesday, Nov 17 
 
Forecast
Variable cloudiness 
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny 
Sunny 
High
13 °C
12 °C
8 °C
7 °C
Low
5 °C
4 °C
0 °C
-2 °C
Probability of Precipitation
10 %
20 %
10 %
0 %
North Korea's military warned the South that it was ready for battle over a disputed sea border, issuing a new threat on Friday that raised tension as U.S. President Barack Obama started a major tour of Asia. tv news showing the second Yeonpyeong sea battleA man watches a televised news showing file footage of the second Yeonpyeong sea battle between the two Koreas along a disputed sea border in 2002, at the Seoul railway station November 10, 2009. REUTERS/Choi Bu-Seok  
The two Korean navies clashed on Tuesday in their first violent skirmish in seven years, and since then the North has issued harsh daily statements demanding a South Korean apology and warning that the South will “pay dearly” for the naval incident. The Koreas have accused each other of violating territorial waters and firing the first shot in the skirmish, which left a North Korean ship badly damaged.
Obama said in an interview that North Korea's nuclear and missile programs posed a grave threat to Asian security and Pyongyang should return to dormant disarmament talks. The North's military said in a message carried by the state's KCNA news agency that it did not regard as valid the naval border set unilaterally by U.S.-led U.N. forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which was halted by a cease fire. Its military pledged "to take merciless military measures to defend" what it saw as the correct line. A day earlier, North Korea said the South would pay "an expensive price" for firing at its retreating patrol boat. The sea border has been the site of two deadly naval battles between the Koreas in the past decade. There were no reported causalities from the gun fight on Tuesday.
  TALKING FOSSILS.......

Paleontologist Richard Forrest measures the jaw bone of a fossilized pliosaur found on the southern coast of England in Dorchester, England, Tuesday Oct. 27, 2009.
PRIME TIME!Harper responds I don’t like to watch Canadian news .......and hear what Allan (Gregg) and everybody else is saying about me. My hobby is to watch politics elsewhere.” Gregg, a pollster and CBC pundit, was in the audience. Industry Minister Tony Clement was aghast Thursday when asked about Harper’s news viewing habits. “I’m sure he does” watch Canadian news, Clement said outside the House of Commons. Told of Harper’s assertion, Clement was frankly skeptical. “We’re news junkies, all of us are. Come on. You know what we’re all about.”
... 
fire explosion BIG BANG BOOM
Motion detecting camera catches staff on a smoke break and by chance also a nearby house  in mid-explosion. One person has life threatening third-degree burns and three others are also in hospital after an explosion destroyed an Amesbury-area house Wednesday night. Unconfirmed reports suggest the fire may have been the result of careless smoking and an amateur furnace repair job.
At a news conference, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, praised Iran for moving forward on agreements reached at a meeting last week with the United States and its allies, even while cautioning that his agency had “concerns about Iran’s future intentions.” President Obama’s national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “for now, things are moving in the right direction,” citing the forthcoming inspection and discussion on uranium exports as evidence that the new effort to deal with Iran was gaining momentum. But some administration officials expressed private skepticism that Iran would ultimately prove willing to allow the kind of widespread inspections that the United States and its Western allies have in mind. They want the inspections to include several facilities that American and European officials suspect could be part of a string of covert facilities built to supply the newly revealed enrichment center near the holy city of Qum. Getting inspectors inside Qum is the top priority on the Obama administration’s Iran agenda, officials said. The administration had demanded that the facility be opened within two weeks of their meeting with Iran on Oct. 1. Instead, Iran has offered a date 24 days later, and exactly a month after President Obama, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain stood together to announce that their intelligence services had seen evidence Iran was putting equipment into the site, tunneled under a mountain and inside a Revolutionary Guards base.
... 

Peel police officers started walking the beat in a plan to increase visibility and effectiveness in the downtown core. Apparently this includes searching peoples property for no apparent reason as happened on August 31, 2009 when a friend Matthew was walking along quietly minding his own business when four street officers and two patrol cars pulled up and began to ask him to empty his pockets. Friends, the law is quite clear on this issue of personal privacy. Unless the officer suspects you of committing a crime he may not search you. If he asks you, you do not have to oblige him. He then must decide if he has grounds to arrest you which in this case they didn't have. It was a simple case of harrassment. Mike Milne stepped in and and stood with Matthew. When Matthews cigarettes fell to the ground Mr. Milne picked them up for him. The officer said what are you drunk sir to Mr. Milne. Are you having trouble standing? This was an undeserved and slanderous comment. No I have no trouble standing! Oh this guy is just an aggitator. It took 8 Peel officers only ten minutes to violate  a citizens rights and to demean another, remarkable work boys. Now I see how they have no time to clamp down on the rampant crack trade!                               Six officers will provide 20 hours of coverage a day, from McLaughlin Road to the west, to Kennedy Road in the east, Vodden Street to the north and Clarence Street to the south, according to Insp. Mark Marple. They will be frequenting the lanes, parking garages and public areas talking to residents and enforcing "lawless public behaviour" which includes loitering, drinking, vandalism and other crimes.

Richard Heene, his wife Mayumi and their sons Bradford, Falcon and Ryo are pictured here with a homemade helium balloon in the background in this undated publicity photograph from the ABC reality series "Wife Swap." The homemade balloon tracked by rescuers.
Richard Heene, his wife Mayumi and their sons Bradford, Falcon and Ryo are pictured here with a homemade helium balloon in the background
Richard Heene, Falcon Heene, Balloon Richard Heene action figure

We should have seen this one coming. Richard Heene, much better known these days as "Balloon Boy's dad," has been made into an action figure. Oxford, Conn.-based Herobuilders.com--whose action figures include Sarah Palin, Elliott Spitzer, and Joe the Plumber--is newly out with the Heene model. It sports a T-shirt with an arrow that points upward and the text "I'm with stupid." Attic box, confused 6-year-old boy, and gaggle of reporters not included. The action figure costs $34.95, which seems a bit pricey given that you can get an entire Balloon Boy Halloween costume kit from Canadian company Plantraco Microflight for just $20. That paraphernalia includes a 38-inch-diameter silver helium balloon, an "As Seen on CNN Sticker," and a 10-foot string. Larimer County Sheriff's investigators presented their Balloon Boy hoax case to the District Attorney's Office Monday, meaning charges against partly admitted masterminds Richard and Mayumi Heene could be filed any day now.The D.A. "has requested additional information and will be making a charging decision as soon as we have had an opportunity to complete a careful review and analysis of this case," read a statement from the Larimer County office. While 6-year-old Falcon Heene raised suspicions Oct. 15 with his "for a show" comment that his parents never believed for a second he had crawled into their homemade weather balloon and drifted away, the jig really appeared to be up when a search warrant document released Friday revealed that Mayumi had confessed all to investigators. Meanwhile, the Heenes and their three children are holed up in their Colorado home, where the front porch is dotted with flowers and messages of support for the family. Authorities have said they won't be bringing any charges against the three minor Heenes, but Richard and Mayumi could be facing counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, attempting to influence a public servant and conspiracy

 
Tuesday, Nov 10 
Wednesday, Nov 11 
Thursday, Nov 12 
Friday, Nov 13 
 
Forecast
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny 
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
High
11 °C
8 °C
8 °C
12 °C
Low
3 °C
-2 °C
-2 °C
5 °C
Probability of Precipitation
20 %
0 %
20 %
20 %
200 KPH KILLER IN COURT
A convicted fraudster facing charges in a deadly Finch Ave. W. crash appeared in court three times yesterday -- with dried bloody cuts on his head, blood encrusted on his fingernails, and a bandage on his left hand.
 Crews responding to a collision late Saturday found a van split in two by the impact of a speeding car. Three people — a wife, daughter and family friend — were killed in the crash. The driver of the second car faces charges of causing death and impairment.
Police said that a BMW estimated to be going about 200 km/h slammed into a van with five people inside it on Saturday night at Finch and Tobermory Dr. Three were killed, two survived with critical injuries. Luskin, a Russian immigrant, faces a total of 16 charges in connection with the crash. Among the charges Luskin faces are three counts of criminal negligence causing death, three counts of impaired driving causing death, three counts of refusing to supply a breath sample causing death, and failure to comply with a court order. Roman Luskin, 21, is no stranger to the courts. In August 2007, he was convicted in a Kingston courtroom of five fraud-related charges stemming from an ATM scam perpetrated in a Kingston Scotiabank a year earlier. Two years later, Luskin also faced six charges -- one of which was a refusal to do a breathalyser test -- that were either stayed or withdrawn in May 2009 in York Region. The stayed charges included two failure to comply counts and the refusal to provide a breath sample. The withdrawn charges were one count of fraud, one count of possessing instruments of forgery, and a failure to comply
 
Friday, Nov 6 
Saturday, Nov 7 
Sunday, Nov 8 
Monday, Nov 9 
 
Forecast
Sunny 
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny 
Variable cloudiness 
High
3 °C
12 °C
14 °C
13 °C
Low
-4 °C
2 °C
7 °C
4 °C
Probability of Precipitation
10 %
20 %
10 %
20 %
Toronto's top cop denied yesterday police struck a deal to get a veteran shoplifter's jail sentence reduced for testifying against a "vigilante" shopkeeper. He said a prosecutor sought a 90-day sentence, but a defence lawyer persuaded the judge to consider the thief's agreement to testify.
Saturday, Oct 24 
Sunday, Oct 25 
Monday, Oct 26 
Tuesday, Oct 27 
 
Forecast
Cloudy with sunny breaks 
Isolated showers 
Cloudy with showers 
Isolated showers 
High
14 °C
11 °C
11 °C
11 °C
Low
8 °C
3 °C
3 °C
6 °C
Probability of Precipitation
30 %
40 %
40 %
40 %
Last night, at approximately 8.30 p.m., 2 F-16s collided in mid-air over the Atlantic. The collision occurred about 40 miles off Folly Beach, near Charleston. The Air Force and the Coast Guard named the missing pilot as Air Force Capt. Nicholas Giglio from the 20th Fighter Wing of Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.
Two F16 jet fighters like this one crashed during night training exercises off the South Carolina coast. 
 Colorado and FAA authorities were trying to determine how to safely bring down an experimental balloon-powered aircraft which floated away from home. The flying-saucer-shaped craft can potentially rise to 10,000 feet."
The parents of a boy at the centre of an internationally-televised hoax could be facing felony charges according to their lawyer. The ordeal of six-year-old Falcon Heene captured worldwide attention when it was thought he was trapped in a helium balloon floating high above Colorado. The homemade device drifted for approximately 80 kilometres before landing in a field. But it turns out the boy was never on board. Instead, he was hiding in a box in the attic above his parents’ garage. Richard Heene, the boy’s father, allegedly emailed a friend about using a similar balloon stunt as part of a PR campaign.
Heene and Robert Thomas allegedly discussed how they could pull it off, and now investigators want to speak with Thomas.
 

Angels punish YanksAngels (© Stephen Dunn /Getty Images)
Wild one in AnaheimALCS Game 5 is not for the faint of heart. It contains huge rallies, lead swings, a manic seventh inning and a heart-stopping finish. Brian Fuentes closes against the Yankees, and his Angels are still alive. Angels 7, Yankees 6

Rio defeats Madrid in final vote for right to host 2016 Summer Olympics Rio fans celebrate after their city made it through another round for the nomination of host city for the 2016 Olympics at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, Oct. 2, 2009.                                                        

 This is a map of the world that shows the co-circulation of 2009 H1N1 flu and seasonal influenza viruses. Seven countries are featured, including Canada, Brazil, Chile, England, South Africa, Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand. For each of these countries, there is a pie chart that shows the percentage of laboratory confirmed influenza cases that have tested positive for either 2009 H1N1 Flu or other influenza subtypes. Other influenza subtypes are being reported more commonly in the countries within the Southern Hemisphere because the flu season has already started there. South Africa and New South Wales, Australia have an asterisk next to them because the seasonal influenza strains that are circulating in these countries are mostly H3 subtype influenza viruses. A dose of the H1N1 vaccine is prepared at the Wayne County Department of Public Health, Friday, Oct. 16, 2009. The county administered the vaccine to first responders. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)           Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq says two million doses of the swine flu vaccine have been shipped to the provinces and territories to await final sign off from Ottawa. The vaccine is undergoing regulatory approval before the federal government gives the green light to start the H1N1 flu shots. "As the vaccine rolls off the production line, it is being shipped to locations across the country," Aglukkaq said Monday. "Two million doses have been shipped to provinces and territories and more will come this week. Of course, it will be released once it has completed the approvals process and that process is well underway." The Public Health Agency of Canada has said it is aiming to have the vaccine available in early November. Aglukkaq and Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, wouldn't confirm reports the federal government is expected to approve the vaccine as early as this week and have it ready for distribution within a couple of days. "Given we're within a very short period to the time that we've always talked about being ready before the beginning of November, I think it's important that we get the assurance from the regulator about the confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine," Butler-Jones said. Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has a contract to produce 50.4 million doses of pandemic vaccine at its facility in Ste-Foy, Que. But there are concerns about the new vaccine, which contains adjuvants, or compounds that boost the immune system's response to vaccine, allowing smaller doses to be used. There's currently no licenced flu vaccine containing adjuvant in Canada, although adjuvants have been used for years in Europe in flu vaccine targeted at seniors. There are no data on the use of so-called adjuvanted flu vaccine in pregnant women, which may add to the already high degree of reluctance many pregnant women feel about taking any medication or therapy. There is also little data on the safety of the additives in vaccines given to children. Though it had first said it would only buy adjuvanted vaccine, the federal government later ordered 1.8 million doses of vaccine that does not contain adjuvants for pregnant women and young children. But the doses shipped this week contain adjuvants. The vaccine without adjuvants needs to be formulated and packaged separately from the adjuvanted vaccine, which is why they are being shipped separately, Butler-Jones said. He couldn't say when the vaccine without adjuvants will be shipped. "At the moment it's too soon to say. Again, it's still going through quality testing, all of those kinds of factors, so we don't have a specific date yet," he said. Despite not having shipped any non-adjuvanted vaccine, Butler-Jones urged pregnant women to get the shot. "The risk to pregnant women from contracting H1N1 are much, much higher than any theoretical risk posed by adjuvanted vaccine," he said.  "And many countries are using only adjuvanted vaccines for everyone, including pregnant women." The House of Commons health committee is scheduled to hear from vaccine maker GlaxoSmith Kline and other health officials later this week. Houston, which had the NFL's first confirmed case of swine flu last week, had several players become ill before Sunday’s game against the Raiders but did not confirm any other cases of swine flu. Safety Eugene Wilson sat out with an illness and running back Chris Brown was available but not feeling well and did not play. Linebacker Xavier Adibi was also ill but played on special teams. We predict a league epidemic where playing is more important than containing a killer virus.

Pandemic flu widespread in 27 states

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that 27 states reported geographically widespread influenza activity for the week that ended Sep 26, up 1 state from the previous week. In addition, 11 children died from pandemic H1N1 flu, compared with 3 the week before. There have been 60 confirmed pediatric deaths from the virus since the outbreak began. Pandemic H1N1 flu is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the United States and northern and northwestern Mexico, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. Activity is starting to increase in Europe and parts of Asia but is slowing in most of South America and Australia. So far the WHO has recorded more than 4,100 deaths, an increase of at least 130 from the previous week. About 85% of reported specimens were the pandemic strain... Seasonal flu shots and H1N1 risk...There appears to be no increased risk of severe disease from the H1N1 virus among people who received seasonal flu shots, saying the "evidence, so far, is reassuring." But the federal government, provinces, territories and researchers are reviewing preliminary, unpublished research that suggests people who received seasonal flu shots may be at twice the risk of getting a case of swine flu that doesn't require hospitalization. More information about this research may be released to the public next week, Butler-Jones said. Studies in other countries have not shown an association between the seasonal flu shot and getting swine flu. Some provinces have delayed giving seasonal flu shots to most people, partly because of the unpublished Canadian research and partly to avoid confusion. Pregnant women, health workers, children, and adults with chronic conditions should be first to roll up their sleeves to get the swine flu shot when it's ready. That's the recommendation of the Public Health Agency of Canada, which released its priority list for flu shots today. Dr. David Butler-Jones -- Canada's chief public health officer -- said those groups are most vulnerable to the H1N1 virus and should be vaccinated first. Vaccinations are expected to start in November. That's weeks behind the United States, which is aiming to start inoculations in October, and Europe, which expects vaccinations to start this month. But vaccinations could begin sooner if the virus surges before the flu shots are ready and health officials are convinced the vaccine is safe. This situation report provides an update to the international situation as of August 21, 2009. As of August 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) regions have reported over 182,166 laboratory-confirmed cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza virus (2009 H1N1) with 1,799 deaths. The laboratory-confirmed cases represent an underestimation of total cases in the world as many countries now focus surveillance and laboratory testing only in persons with severe illness. The 2009 H1N1 influenza virus continues to be the dominant influenza virus in circulation in the world. Decreases in disease due to 2009 H1N1 continue to be reported from South America and parts of Australia.                       There is no vaccine available right now to protect against novel H1N1 virus.  However, a novel H1N1 vaccine is currently in production and may be ready for the public in the fall. As always, a vaccine will be available to protect against seasonal influenza. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners* are also effective. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.

British Columbia became the first Canadian province to restrict trans fat in restaurant food starting Wednesday, but as critics point out, the restrictions on the unhealthy fat won't apply to packaged food sold at grocery stores. "We want healthier food choices to be the easier choice," said Ida Chong, Minister of Healthy Living and Sport, in a statement released on Tuesday."Consumers won't see or taste the difference in the meal they've ordered, but with restrictions on industrially produced trans fat, they will be eating foods that have been prepared using healthier ingredients," said Chong.         Food safe but not the wildlife A male grizzly bear on the loose in Fort St. John, B.C., had to be shot by authorities concerned about its potential danger to humans.A male grizzly bear on the loose in Fort St. John, B.C., had to be shot by authorities concerned about its potential danger to humans.

People's Republic of China turns 60     

ex-president to serve 6 years for wiretaps, bribes.....A Peruvian court has sentenced former President Alberto Fujimori to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to authorizing wiretaps and bribes to politicians, journalists and businessmen. The 71-year-old politician already faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison after a special Supreme Court panel sentenced him to 25 years for crimes against humanity for authorizing military death squads. Asked if he accepted the sentence Wednesday, the ailing Fujimori stood up and said "I move to nullify." The court has convicted Fujimori of ordering his former spy chief to secretly wiretap 28 politicians, journalists and businessmen, bribe 13 congressmen, and buy off a TV station and a newspaper editorial board.An undated handout photo shows Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in 2006 while serving at an Israeli border base.An undated handout photo shows Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in 2006 while serving at an Israeli border base....Israel said Wednesday it will release 20 female Palestinian prisoners in exchange for video proof from Hamas that a young Israeli soldier who has been held captive for more than three years is still alive.The agreement marks the first movement by either side in the negotiations over the release of Sgt. Galid Shalit, who was captured in a June 2006 Hamas-led attack on an Israeli border base. Hamas has been demanding the release of hundreds of prisoners in exchange for Shalit, while Israel has made Shalit's freedom a condition in many of its talks with Hamas. Shalit, 19 at the time of his capture, has not been seen since and has not been visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross, although letters from him and an audio recording have been released. In a statement Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it expects captors to release a recent videotape of the soldier in a deal set for Friday. Israel is expected to return the 20 female prisoners in exchange for information about Shalit, confirmed Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas's militant wing. The video is expected to be about a minute long, according to a Hamas news website

  The Leafs were pounded 6-4 Saturday night by the powerful Washington Capitals to begin the season winless in two games. The Leafs aren't co-ordinated as a defensive group yet. Each defenceman, for example, isn't quite sure what his partner is up to, and the newcomers, Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek, are over-compensating to make their presence felt. Second, the absence of reliable goaltending, a problem more than three seasons old, makes players perform in uncharacteristic ways. So what we think we might know about the Leafs after two games – Lee Stempniak looks much improved, added toughness doesn't mean much if the other team won't engage, Viktor Stalberg clearly does belong – really doesn't mean much. Nothing, you see, can be known until the goaltending is sorted out. When you allow only 51 shots in two games and give up 10 goals to lose twice, you know you have a problem. By comparison, Detroit is admitting it may have a problem between Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard after losing twice to St. Louis in Stockholm, and the Wings goalies gave up only nine goals on 53 shots. Some of it is about goals-against averages and save percentages, but goaltending is also a feel, something that creates an atmosphere around the team. If the netminding is sound or even better, excellent, players compete in a comfort zone, knowing they can make an error here or there, and they tend to relax and gel better as a unit.Three practices for the Leafs this week should help iron out some of the defensive confusion, although it is remarkable they spend all that time in training camp and then start the season looking so unfamiliar with one another.
 
Harper government survives confidence vote...Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Ont., Thursday October 1, 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Dalai Lama wears a white cowboy hat and holds fur mittens and an eagle feather presented to him by native elders after arriving in Calgary, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009. The House of Commons voted 144-117 on Thursday against a Liberal motion to bring down the minority Conservatives. The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois supported the motion while the Tories opposed it and the NDP abstained. The NDP has served notice that it will prop up the government at least until legislation worth $1 billion in enhanced benefits for the unemployed is passed.
 
Wednesday, Oct 21 
Thursday, Oct 22 
Friday, Oct 23 
Saturday, Oct 24 
 
Forecast
Cloudy with showers 
Isolated showers 
Light rain 
Cloudy with showers 
High
12 °C
15 °C
12 °C
14 °C
Low
9 °C
10 °C
8 °C
5 °C
Probability of Precipitation
40 %
40 %
80 %
80 %


While accepting criticism that his government was "lax" in overseeing the billion-dollar initiative to generate electronic health records, McGuinty said he will not call for a public inquiry into the eHealth scandal.
Hundreds of crashes on Alberta's icy roads The first major snowfall of the season resulted in one fatal collision in Calgary, while hundreds of out-of-control motorists crashed on Alberta's icy roads

Marijuana brownies mistakenly eaten for Thanksgiving
A Kingston man faces drug-dealing charges after a family member munching on drug-laced brownies ended up in an ambulance. Police officers were called to a home late Monday afternoon to help paramedics. A man told the emergency personnel that his family member passed out after eating brownies baked with marijuana. Police saw two large plastic pails full of pot and several large plants. A 39-year-old man is charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

LEAF LAUGHS!!!

Ron Wilson's next move to try and wake up the winless Toronto Maple Leafs is to give his players the day off. The Leafs coach benched two of his top scorers in favour of rookies and was forced to start third-string goalie Joey MacDonald on Tuesday night and still wound up with the same kind of result -- a 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.Even though that left Toronto sitting dead last in the league, Wilson is sticking to his plan of having everyone take Wednesday off. The team has just one game over the next 10 days and he's intent on using that time to lighten the mood."First of all, we've got to relax here a little bit -- maybe just do a complete reset," said Wilson. "The worst has already happened up to this point (with) how you could possibly start a season. We're not going to practise all of those (upcoming off-days) -- it might seem logical to practise and work on everything, but we've got to just relax here a little bit and step away tomorrow.Colorado Avalanche defenceman Brett Clark (right) is congratulated by teammates Darcy Tucker (centre) and Wojtek Wolski (left) after his goal during first period NHL action against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday, October 13, 2009.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn) "(We'll) try to have a little bit of fun on Thursday and go from there."After starting 0-5-1, there's only one direction to go.Former Leaf Darcy Tucker played a big role in the latest setback, scoring a goal and adding an assist in his first game back in Toronto since being bought out in the summer of 2008. He was thrilled to make an impact.

Raymond Lahey, former bishop of the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia, is facing child pornography charges.Raymond Lahey, former bishop of the diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia, is facing child pornography charges. Raymond Lahey, the former bishop of the diocese of Antigonish, is known as the man who oversaw a $15-million settlement with people who said they had been sexually abused by priests in the diocese dating back to 1950. He was returning to Canada from the United States when he was arrested at the Ottawa Airport last week after members of the Canada Border Services Agency performed a random check of his laptop computer. Lahey has been charged with distributing and selling child pornography. No court date has been set. Ron Martin, the lead plaintiff in the class-action suit that led to the settlement Lahey brokered, reacted with shock when reached by phone. Martin said he needed to speak with his lawyer and declined further comment. On Saturday, Lahey, 69, announced his resignation as bishop of the Antigonish diocese, which the Vatican accepted.
 Glimpses of Solar System's edge A bright ribbon of hydrogen atoms marks the edge of the solar system, where the Sun's wind meets emissions from the rest of the galaxy, researchers reported on Thursday. They used telescopes aboard the orbiting Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft or IBEX to look toward the heliopause, which is the boundary where solar wind meets galactic wind at the edge of the solar system beyond Pluto. Researchers combined images from IBEX with data from the Cassini spacecraft, which is near Saturn, and said it completely alters their ideas about what this border area looks like."The IBEX results are truly remarkable, with emissions not resembling any of the current theories or models of this never-before-seen region," David McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, who led the research, said in a statement."We expected to see small, gradual spatial variations at the interstellar boundary, some ten billion miles (16 billion km) away. However, IBEX is showing us a very narrow ribbon that is two to three times brighter than anything else in the sky."It consists of hydrogen atoms that were once charged but which have been neutralized, they reported in five separate reports in the journal Science.The researchers say the findings can tell them about the interstellar cloud through which our Milky Way galaxy is moving and which the galaxy will leave in about 10,000 years.
The World Health Organization declared a pandemic of H1N1 swine flu on June 11, 2009. public health officials throughout Canada are braced for the upcoming fall flu season, with many worried the H1N1 virus - also known as "swine flu" - could spread. The Public Health Agency of Canada began running public service television ads on swine flu prevention on Monday. The federal health agency is spending $2 million on the latest ad buy, but the advertisement itself was produced by the Ontario Ministry of Health and has already been showing in Ontario for about two weeks. An Ontario Health Ministry spokesman said the spot cost the province $1.2 million to create and broadcast. However the Public Health Agency of Canada did not reveal the ad buy or its cost last week, despite direct media questions concerning H1N1 marketing budgets and television advertising. "This 30-second television ad is a clear example of the commitment of all levels of government to provide Canadians with information they need to protect themselves," Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a release Monday. The Public Health Agency of Canada has said it has a marketing budget of $6.5 million to inform Canadians about the virus and how to best avoid infection.  Cases are mounting in Australia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan and Chile. "We are satisfied that this virus is spreading to a number of countries, and it is not stoppable," WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan said in making the formal announcement of a Phase 6 alert, which signifies a pandemic. Swine flu has entered a new phase in Ontario as the virus continues to spread in some communities, a provincial health official said Thursday. As of Wednesday, the number of reported cases in the province had jumped 25 per cent in the past three days. Since Monday, 179 cases were reported, mostly in the Greater Toronto Area, bringing the province's total to 894. One person who died was a man in his 40s from Winnipeg who had no other underlying medical conditions. The other was a woman in her 40s from the NOR-MAN health region in northwestern Manitoba who did have significant underlying health issues.   Dr. Kettner said health officials will analyze the fatal cases to see whether anything can be learned that could improve prevention or treatment, but stressed there is no reason to suggest negligence, ill-preparedness or anything else of that nature caused the deaths.  think the response to this pandemic influenza has been remarkable." There were 74 more cases of the virus confirmed yesterday, bringing the total in this province to 226. Of those, Kettner said "the vast majority" display only minor symptoms, although 31 people are in intensive care on ventilators due to the virus.
See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available. Are square A and B the same color? They are. Are too. To verify this, click here to see them connected. The above illusion, called the same color illusion, illustrates that purely human observations in science may be ambiguous or inaccurate. Even such a seemingly direct perception as relative color. Similar illusions exist on the sky, such as the size of the Moon near the horizon, or the apparent shapes of astronomical objects. The advent of automated, reproducible, measuring devices such as CCDs have made science in general and astronomy in particular less prone to, but not free of, human-biased illusions.
 
Tues, Oct 6 
Wed, Oct 7 
Thurs, Oct 8 
Fri, Oct 9 
 
Forecast
cloudiness 
 showers 
 cloudy periods 
Light rain 
High
14 °C
13 °C
15 °C
12 °C
Low
6 °C
11 °C
7 °C
7 °C
Prob of Precip
30 %
90 %
0 %
80 %
A main road in the downtown area of Fagatogo, in American Samoa, is seen flooded by water from a tsunami on Tuesday. A resident walks past debris in a playground and a tennis park left by the tsuami that struck Pago Pago, American Samoa, Tuesday Sept. 29, 2009. (AP / Fili Sagapolutele)A main road in the downtown area of Fagatogo, in American Samoa, is seen flooded by water from a tsunami on Tuesday  South Pacific tsunami kills 119; death toll to rise
Residents of Samoa and American Samoa are recovering from an earthquake and an ensuing tsunami that caused at least 119 deaths and has left hundreds of others injured in the South Pacific. The death toll from tsunami waves spawned by a powerful earthquake in the South Pacific will likely rise as emergency crews continue to assess the devastation in the region, officials said WednesdayOfficials said the massive tsunami that swept ashore in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, flattening villages and sweeping cars and people out to sea, has left at least 119 dead and dozens more missing. Power and communication outages remained Wednesday and officials said they were still struggling to determine the extent of the damages and casualties. Tuesday's quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn about midway between Samoa and American Samoa. At least 83 deaths have been confirmed in Samoa, another 30 people were killed on American Samoa and six in Tonga, according to officials.

 
Saturday, Sep 26 
Sunday, Sep 27 
Monday, Sep 28 
Tuesday, Sep 29 
 
Forecast
Light rain 
showers 
Light rain 
Light rain 
High
16 °C
20 °C
16 °C
13 °C
Low
10 °C
14 °C
11 °C
8 °C
Prob of Precip
90 %
40 %
80 %
60 %

  President Obama walks to his seat as he chairs the United Nations Security Council meeting at the U.N. Headquarters on Thursday. .President Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday...President Obama walks to his seat as he chairs the United Nations Security Council meeting at the U.N. Headquarters on Thursday.The United States does not view continued Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as legitimate, President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly,  in his first visit to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, made progress Wednesday on two key issues, wringing a concession from Russia to consider tough new sanctions against Iran and securing support from Moscow and Beijing for a Security Council resolution to curb nuclear weapons.U.S. President Barack Obama is to bring together Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a face-to-face meeting in New York City on Tuesday. However, White House officials aren't expecting a breakthrough to restart peace talks, given the lack of common ground between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. U.S. envoy George Mitchell failed last week to bridge the gap between the two sides on the issue of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory. Obama has asked Israel to freeze all settlement construction, a condition for Abbas to resume peace negotiations, but Netanyahu has committed only to a partial halt.

Yes if possible try to respond to this letter to the editor

Attention to all supporters of human rights in my circle.....sending out an SOS email with my girlfriends attached letter. Cops came into her home one night 20 months ago which is actually what I want to  focus on in her document. In December 2007 swat and a dozen cops came into her apartment took her 14 year old daughter charged her with abuse held her in Maplehurst for a month in jail released her;she was found not guilty of any wrong, but still the child is being held by CAS. No lawyer and in severe shock she is being burnt out more and more daily Do you know how bad most men take it when defrauded of their rights to see their kids...I know, I am one. Well a caring good mother takes it many times more imagine a loving sensitive Jamaican woman ... can somebody step in and help ?
EL STRANGE’E UNO...

ONE STRANGE CITY       BY WINSOME V. HURDITT   The problem started in Ottawa and it later became , that my mother was silently murdered. I moved to Brampton to start my life over and the same people came back again. MICHAEL MCMURCHY, SGT MONICA CHRISTIAN, SHAWN HILLIE, LARRY HILLIE, OSKER HILLIE and then  came many others in the group. December 11,2007, I was set up and I went to jail. While one dozen and a half police officers, five social workers, four security guards and other people, showed up at my door that night. My little daughter was deliberately taken away. Some one took my little  daughter and gave her alcohol to drink. They left her on the side walk in the middle of winter. They also try to prostitute her and some how, might have change their mind. She still have no recollection, or maybe she does not want to talk. After that night, someone pretend to be a good Samaritan and brought her to CAS. January 30, 2008, I was set up again and put back in jail. While I was in jail, my big daughter Nicole was also violated in her sleep. I did not get out until February 26,2008. My charges was later find unfounded. I was found not guilty in high court, but still I am having trouble getting my daughter back. This all  has to do with my former landlord, his wife and his friends. One of his racist friend started spreading lies about me. In the past Michael McMurchy  and his friends have used my name to prostitute other women, but this time they are picking on my family directly. For the past year and seven months, several murder attempts have been made on my life. I have been under serious terrorists attack, both bio- psychical, emotional, chemical, spiritual and other attacks. My friends have been publicly picked on and humiliated. This has taken a serious toll on my family. My little daughter Veneice V Hurditt  is still where CAS placed her, but it has taken a serious toll on my big daughter Nicole Brown. I have constantly called Peel police and it has not stopped. These people are some of the people that were and partly still picking on me; even my own lawyer. Mark Skirsky, Lawyer Jeff Shabes, Chief Justice Kerrigan Browning, Chief Justice Whilkie and many others. Since this started , twelve friends of mine are all dead: #1 Mrs. Samaroo, #2 Helmut Regis, #3 Mark Kirkman, #4 Valerie Fraser, #6 Charles McLean, #7Heather Weston, #8 Wayne Garbutt, #9 Ken Mouser, #10 Clifford Taylor (Tex ), #11 Glen Boyle, #12 Gordon Dickie, Ralph St Louis and Keith Cookson. I am at the end of my rope, and hoping that my family does not get murdered off. This has become unbearable. I am hoping for help to stop the crime , the stocking and the possible murder of my mom.    

A giant squid collected by NOAA on July 30, 2009 off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico is seen in a handout photo. REUTERS/NOAA/Handout  A giant squid collected by NOAA on July 30, 2009 off the Louisiana coast U.S. scientists in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly netted a 19.5-foot (5.9-meter) giant squid off the coast of Louisiana, the Interior Department said on Monday, showing how little is known about life in the deep waters of the Gulf. Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico.The squid, weighing in at 103 pounds (46.7 kg), was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel.The giant squid, which did not survive the rapid change in water depth when brought to the surface, was preserved and sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History for further study.

Governor General Michaelle Jean has announced 60 new appointments to or within the Order of Canada. Hockey great Wayne Gretzky is promoted to a Companion of the Order, as is Calgary Flames part owner Harley Hotchkiss. Paralympic champion Chantal Petitclerc and retired Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache are new Companions of the Order. Former Liberal cabinet ministers John Manley and Anne McLellan and one-time Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry are named Officers of the Order. New Members of the Order include singer Carroll Baker, TV science host Jay Ingram, and Madeline Ziniak, national vice president of OMNI Television

 
Thurs, Sep 10 
Fri, Sep 11 
Sat, Sep 12 
Sun, Sep 13 
 
Forecast
sunny 
 cloudiness 
cloudiness 
Sunny  
High
23 °C
20 °C
22 °C
24 °C
Low
12 °C
12 °C
14 °C
13 °C
Prob of Precip
10 %
30 %
30 %
20 %

Layton: PM must 'reach out' to avoid electionLayton: PM must 'reach out'      Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has already signalled his party will move a motion of no-confidence or vote against the Conservative government at the first available opportunity. The first chance for the Liberals to introduce their own no-confidence motion is on Oct. 1. Speaking in Halifax, Layton said it is up to the government to work to find common ground in a minority Parliament."The prime minister has a responsibility to understand that he cannot govern alone," Layton said. "If Mr. Harper wants to avoid an election he must reach out to other parties. If he fails to do so, then we have an election."Layton insisted his party has publicly presented its position on employment insurance, pension protection and limits on credit card interest and ATM fees in the House of Commons.

 
Friday, Aug 28 
Saturday, Aug 29 
Sunday, Aug 30 
Monday, Aug 31 
 
Forecast
Cloudy with sunny breaks 
Light rain 
Isolated showers 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
High
19 °C
21 °C
19 °C
18 °C
Low
11 °C
15 °C
12 °C
11 °C
Probability of Precipitation
40 %
70 %
40 %
10 %

 
 
 
A large flag flies at half staff outside the house used by President John F. Kennedy as the 'summer White House' near the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. (AP / Stephan Savoia) A large flag flies at half staff outside the house used by President John F. Kennedy as the 'summer White House' near the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. BOSTON — Mourners gathered Thursday at the Kennedy compound in Cape Cod for a private Mass commemorating Sen. Ted Kennedy. Among those arriving were his nieces Caroline, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, and Maria Shriver, daughter of his late sister Eunice. After the Mass, a motorcade was to leave for Boston and pass sites that were significant to the senator on the way to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, which he helped develop. His body will lie in repose there until Friday, a Senate office statement said. At the end of a barricaded road leading to the Cape Cod compound, a bouquet of white and yellow lilies lay on the lawn of David Nylan's vacation rental, and a U.S. flag flew at half-staff in Kennedy's memory. Nylan, 38, of Malden, said people have stopped near his house to leave flowers since Kennedy died Tuesday at age 77 after battling brain cancer. Some have asked Nylan and friends who are sharing the house to lead them down the road to view the Kennedy house.
U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's body will travel more than 70 miles (110 kilometres) from his Cape Cod home Cape Cod Sailing Charters and Hyannis Port Sailboat ExcursionsRIANA ricrnas.comto Boston to lie in repose in a presidential library he helped develop in tribute to one of his slain brothers
Mourners gathered Thursday at both ends of a 70-mile route of a motorcade carrying the body of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy from the Cape Cod home where he spent his final days to the presidential library bearing the name of one of his slain brothers. The late senator's loved ones — including niece Caroline, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, and son Patrick, a Rhode Island congressman — arrived before noon for a private Mass at the family compound in Hyannis Port. Shortly before the motorcade left, clapping could be heard in the house and family members emerged onto the porch, some holding hands, others talking and laughing.
Kennedy championed workers’ rights   His passion for the working class was “heartfelt,” recalled Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, who worked with Kennedy on the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee as labor counsel in the mid 1990s. “The wonderful thing about him is he cared personally about these people.” In a similar minimum wage fight in the 1990s, when Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., controlled the House and Bob Dole, R-Kan., the Senate, Kennedy was able to raise the wage from $4.25 to $5.15 an hour by being an “absolute obstructionist,” said Eisenbrey. “Every time Republicans tried to do something, he’d attach a minimum wage increase to it. They ended up having to filibuster their own legislations, and finally they gave up,” he added.
Image: Sen. Ted Kennedy

Senators and Supreme Court justices join Prime Minister Stephen Harper to listen to Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean give the Speech from the Throne in January.
Senators and Supreme Court justices join Prime Minister Stephen Harper to listen to Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean give the Speech from the Throne

Former NHL coach Jacques Demers, who in 2005 revealed he had hidden his struggle with illiteracy, journalist Linda Frum Sokolowski and Tory loyalists were among a slate of Senate appointees announced Thursday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper named nine new members to the upper chamber. Demers, who led the Montreal Canadiens to a Stanley Cup in 1993, has been working as an analyst for the sports network RDS, which announced Demers's Senate appointment on its website. "I was contacted for the first time July 13 by someone in the prime minister's entourage," Demers is quoted as saying on the website. "This person told me I was one of Mr. Harper's choices and he wanted to know if I was interested. "I answered that I would be very honoured to be a senator. Mr. Harper contacted me a few days later."

 
Thursday, Jul 30 
Friday, Jul 31 
Saturday, Aug 1 
Sunday, Aug 2 
 
Forecast
Chance of thundershowers 
Cloudy with showers 
Mainly sunny 
Thundershowers 
High
24 °C
22 °C
25 °C
22 °C
Low
14 °C
16 °C
14 °C
16 °C
Probability of Precipitation
40 %
70 %
0 %
40 %


NO PLACE  FOR RACIST DISGRACE

Recently our roving reporter Mike Milne got caught up in an anti-racist demonstration out at Main and Vodden. Recent racist grafeety urged him to pick up a sign and protest with a sign that states BRAMPTON HAS NO  PLACE  FOR RACIST DISGRACE!. Quite the title! Milne says he summed it all up with his slogan that to him “says it all”  BELOW: Milne is seen with one of the many supporters who turned out.

RCMP Bust Nets Alleged 50 MillionRCMP Bust Nets Alleged 50 Million Dollars In HeroinThe newly formed Airport Drug Unit was called in when Canada Border Services officers spotted what appeared to be a shipment of heroin weighing just over eight kilograms. It was allegedly inside a container of household goods that came into Pearson Airport. Instead of seizing the drugs, investigators followed the shipment to its delivery point. Project Onboard led to a search of several Toronto-area addresses. There, the RCMP allegedly found another 100 kilos of the drug hidden in machine parts from Pakistan. The RCMP says it believes the heroin originated in Afghanistan and was destined for a Toronto address, three  have been arrested and charged with drug importation and possession: Ali Martaza, 35 Nazma Martaza, 34, and Al Saadat, 50

Via Rail And Union In Arbitration, Full Service ReturnsVia Rail Canada train service resumed Sunday afternoon after the company and the union representing more than 300 striking engineers reached an agreement to end a strike that paralyzed passenger service across the country, arbitration is expected to take several weeks before a collective agreement is signed. He said the quick conclusion to the strike was due to its significant impact on tourism and travel during on of the busiest travel periods of the year. Via trains normally carry about 12-thousand passengers a day. Andrews confirmed that clients inconvenienced by the strike will be eligible for some form of compensation. "We are currently looking at some innovative and tangible ways that we can say sorry to our customers," he said. Via issued a news release Sunday night offering a 60 per cent discount to customers who purchase tickets for trips until Dec. 14, 2009. But the tickets must be purchased no later than Wednesday night.

CITY STRIKE HURTS THE VULNERABLE.....On June 24TH, 2009, Brian DuBourdieu went to The Seaton House men's
shelter in downtown Toronto, to get something to eat and a night's sleep.
Instead, he ended up spending the night in the emergency room of St.
Mike's hospital!

Alledgedly an assault took place after Mr. DuBourdieu asked for something to eat from the city management who are staffing the shelter during the current
strike. He was assisted to the hospital by a friend,
where he was treated for his injuries, including torn cartilage and
ligaments in his knee. There is a strong likelihood he will need surgery
to repair the damage to his leg caused by the repeated kicks.

Bernard Madoff lost his Manhattan penthouse Thursday, July 2, 2009, when U.S. Marshals took possession of the US$7 million property and forced his wife to move out. U.S. Marshals arrived at lunchtime, bringing a court order giving them control of the swanky living quarters.The building in midtown Manhattan in New York where Bernard Madoff and wife Ruth own a penthouse apartment is seen in this aerial view on March 22, 2009. (AP / Mark Lennihan) The building in midtown Manhattan in New York where Bernard Madoff and wife Ruth own a penthouse apartment is seen in this aerial view on March 22, 2009.

  

C.J. LaFrance
Monday June 22 2009


Sending a message... As of Monday morning, participants in the 10th annual Relay For Life event at the Brampton Fairgrounds raised $233,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. Donations are still rolling in from the 12-hour overnight relay walk held June 19 to 20, and officials expect the final tally to sit at roughly $260,000. Here, candle luminaries spell the word ‘HOPE’ in the bleachers at the Brampton Fairgrounds where the local relay was held.

Poll...Do you support Premier Dalton McGuinty's plan to implement full-day learning for 4- and 5-year-olds, starting next year? 1,237 responses YES: (53%) NO: (41%) UNDECIDED: (5%)
Another Couple of Fireballs! A daylight fireball over Texas on Sunday, Feb. 15th, triggered widespread reports that debris from a recent satellite collision was falling to Earth. Those reports were premature. Researchers have studied video of the event and concluded that the object was more likely a natural meteoroid about one meter wide traveling more than 20 km/s--much faster than orbital debris. Meteoroids hit Earth every day, and the Texas fireball was apparently one of them. There's more: On Friday, Feb. 13th, people in central Kentucky heard loud booms, felt their houses shake, and saw a fireball streaking through the sky. This occurred scant hours after another fireball at least 10 times brighter than a full Moon lit up the sky over Italy. Although it is tempting to attribute these events to debris from the Feb. 10th collision of the Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 satellites, the Kentucky and Italy fireballs also seem to be meteoroids, not manmade objects. Italian scientists are studying the ground track of their fireball, which was recorded by multiple cameras, and they will soon begin to hunt for meteorites.Fireballs this bright belong to a rare category of meteors called superbolides. They are caused by small asteroids measuring a few to 10 meters in diameter and massing hundreds of metric tons. Superbolides trigger seismic detectors on the ground and produce waves of infrasound that can travel thousands of miles.  light (8th magnitude) around now.

See Explanation.  Clicking on the picture will download
 the highest resolution version available.
Earthgrazer: The Great Daylight Fireball of 1972

 
Tuesday, Jul 28 
Wednesday, Jul 29 
Thursday, Jul 30 
Friday, Jul 31 
 
Forecast
Risk of thunderstorms 
Cloudy with showers 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Cloudy with showers 
High
26 °C
24 °C
24 °C
24 °C
Low
18 °C
16 °C
12 °C
16 °C
Probability of Precipitation
60 %
40 %
10 %
40 %

 
Friday, Jul 10 
Saturday, Jul 11 
Sunday, Jul 12 
Monday, Jul 13 
 
Forecast
Sunny  
chance of storm
 cloudy periods 
cloudy
High
27 °C
24 °C
20 °C
21 °C
Low
14 °C
18 °C
12 °C
14 °C
Prob of Precip
10 %
80 %
10 %
20 %
Big Rig Hijacked In Mississauga Big Rig Hijacked In Mississauga ... Officers are on the scene of a suspected truckjacking which apparently started at an LG Electronics plant in Mississauga and culminated with the suspects abandoning the rig near the 401 and Leslie street and taking off on foot.


President Barack Obama, backed by a group of energy business leaders, speaks about job creation in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 2, 2009. On the eve of a trip to Moscow, Barack Obama scolded  Vladimir Putin on Thursday for keeping "one foot in the old ways of doing business." By contrast, he said Putin's hand-picked successor, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, understands that Cold War behaviour is outdated.

  A Real Whopper!
The most massive black hole yet weighed lurks at the heart of the relatively nearby giant galaxy M87 is two to three times heftier than previously thought, a new model showed, weighing in at a whopping 6.4 billion times the mass of the sun. The new measure suggests that other black holes in nearby large galaxies could also be much heftier than current measurements suggest, and it could help astronomers solve a longstanding puzzle about galaxy development. If a radical new "braneworld" theory of gravity is correct, then scattered throughout our solar system are thousands of tiny black holes, each about the size of an atomic nucleus. Unlike their larger brethren, these mini-black holes are primordial leftovers from the Big Bang and affect space-time differently because of their close association with a fifth dimension.

  Scientists think it makes up the bulk of matter in the universe, but it can neither be seen nor detected directly using current technologies. Candidates range from light-weight neutrinos to invisible black holes. Some scientists question whether dark matter is even real, and suggest that the mysteries it was conjured to solve could be explained by a better understanding of gravity.

 NASA engineers think they have pinpointed the cause of dangerous hydrogen leaks that prompted back-to-back launch scrubs for shuttle Endeavour, and they plan to conduct a fuel-loading test by the first of July.  ."They have good confidence that they know what the problem is and how they can fix it," Kennedy Space Center spokeswoman Candrea Thomas said Saturday. Endeavour and its seven astronauts have to launch no later than July 14 to get to the International Space Station and complete a complex assembly mission before the arrival of a robotic Russian space freighter carrying critical supplies. A delay past July 14 would push the launch to July 27 and have a significant ripple effect on a station assembly mission set to launch Aug. 18 on shuttle Discovery. 

Brampton Flower City Parade... ...was a must see in downtown Brampton last weekend (Sun. June 21st.) Our roving reporter captured this shot while dodging kung fu displays inches from his noggin. Great work Mike!

 
Thursday, Jun 25 
Friday, Jun 26 
Saturday, Jun 27 
Sunday, Jun 28 
 
Forecast
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny 
Sunny 
Light rain 
High
26 °C
26 °C
26 °C
23 °C
Low
18 °C
16 °C
14 °C
16 °C
Probability of Precipitation
20 %
10 %
0 %
90 %

 
Friday, Jul 3 
Sat, Jul 4 
Sun, Jul 5 
Mon, Jul 6 
 
Forecast
cloudy 
Sunny
sunny 
 sunny 
High
22 °C
21 °C
21 °C
22 °C
Low
14 °C
13 °C
12 °C
13 °C
Prob of Precip
30 %
10 %
0 %
0 %
NKorea fires missiles; launch toward US feared
North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its east coast Thursday, a possible prelude to the launch of a long-range missile toward Hawaii over the July Fourth holiday. Foreign tourists look at a map of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang beside a picture of a North Korean rocket, which was fired in April, on display at a South Korean observation post in Paju near the border village of the Panmunjom, South Korea, Thursday, July 2, 2009. (AP / Ahn Young-joon) Foreign tourists look at a map of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang beside a picture of a North Korean rocket, which was fired in April, on display at a South Korean observation post in Paju near the border village of the Panmunjom, South Korea, Thursday, July 2, 2009.
 
Man, Jag, House. Man Drives Jaguar Through His Own House To Avoid Crashing Into Traffic    A homeowner had to make a tough decision on Thursday. The trouble started when he was backing out of his driveway and noticed that the gas pedal on his older model Jaguar was somehow stuck, accidently put the car in drive and proceeded to crash into his own home.  The car, and his garage, both received extensive damage. The driver was unhurt.
Picket lines have formed at several locations on the first day of a strike by about 24,000 civic workers in Canada's largest city. Two CUPE locals, representing 6,200 outside workers and 18,000 inside workers, walked off the job just after midnight. A range of services, including garbage pickup, city-run daycares, recreation centres, ferry service, and summer camps are affected. Essential services, such as police and fire, are not affected. Reports say police were called a garbage transfer station early today when pickets prevented supervisors from leaving the facility. The supervisors were also prevented from driving onto the site, but were allowed to park outside and walk in. A spokesman for Toronto's mayor says David Miller is being kept apprised of bargaining, but not taking an active role. Local 416 president Mark Ferguson went further called an offer from the city on Sunday night "complete garbage" and a "vicious attack" on the union membership. The key issue is that employees want to keep 18 sick days a year which can be banked and cashed out at retirement. But the City wants to create short-term disability programs instead.
Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources (R) speaks with Associate Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Serge Dupont (C) during a meeting in Toronto, June 18, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Cassese  Sexy Lisa Raitt, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. Raitt, who came under personal attack recently for calling the shortage a "sexy" issue, and saw it as a way to advance her political career, said on Thursday that AECL is still sticking with its timeline despite speculation it could take much longer to fix the problem. MDS Nordion, which markets the isotopes worldwide, urged the government and AECL earlier this month to consult with international experts in hopes of reactivating the Maple project.
 
New hydrogen leak grounds shuttle again
They waited almost an hour after the leak appeared, trying to fix it through remote commands, before calling off the pre-dawn launch attempt just three-and a-half hours before the scheduled launch time. The seven shuttle astronauts were not yet suited up for the launch. Officials say the leak occurred in the same place as one that cropped up Saturday during fuelling for Endeavour's first launch attempt, in the hydrogen gas vent line that hooks up to the external fuel tank.
Rival demonstrations pour into Tehran streets
Thousands of people waving Iranian flags and pictures of the supreme leader massed Tuesday at a rally organized by Iran's clerical regime in an apparent attempt to reclaim the streets hours after saying it would recount disputed presidential ballots
As many as four people have been stabbed at a Mississauga school this morning, Wed June 17th. St. Joseph's Secondary School, near Creditview Rd. and Eglinton Ave., has been placed under lockdown again, while police investigate the 8:30 a.m. incident. It appears students were involved in an altercation on school property, Peel Regional Police said. At least two victims were transported to hospital, one via air ambulance. A teacher was injured trying to break up the fight, but was not taken to hospital, according to Peel Region Paramedic Services. There are reports two suspects are in custody.
,

Brampton Flower City Parade ... a must see in downtown Brampton last weekend (Sun. June 21st.)Our roving reporter captured this shot while dodging kung fu displays inches from his noggin. Great work Mike!

H1N1   A 6-year-old Brampton girl with swine flu died only a day after she began showing flu-like symptoms. The child, who attended Roberta Bondar Public School, passed away a week ago and it was only discovered after she died that she had the H1N1 influenza virus. The exact cause of death has not yet been determined, but the virus is known to have been a contributing factor, Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference yesterday.
The child got a fever and began vomiting on Sunday, June 14, and died the following day. An autopsy was performed and lab results revealed last Friday she did indeed have the virus. She is the fourth Ontarian with the virus to die. Quebec health officials released a statement late yesterday afternoon to announce two new deaths in the province. They gave no details and did not return calls. The deaths of the two Quebecers and the Brampton girl bring to 16 the number of Canadians to die after contracting swine flu.

 An amazing Mars discoveryMars (REUTERS)This is reconstructed landscape showing the Shalbatana lake on Mars as it may have looked
Scientists find the first hard evidence of the 'key to life' on red planet.mages from a camera called the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate water carved a 30-mile-(50-km-)long canyon, a team at the University of Colorado at Boulder reported. It would have covered 80 square miles (200 sq km) and been up to 1,500 feet deep, the researchers wrote in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. There is now no dispute that water exists on the surface or Mars -- robot explorers have found ice. There is also evidence that water may still seep to the surface from underground, although it quickly disappears in the cold, thin atmosphere of the red planet.
other spacey stuff....
The waning moon is seen over Amman, June 8, 2009. REUTERS/Muhammad HamedLaunch of the Atlas V rocket carrying the LRO and LCROSS spacecraft Image above: NASA's LRO and LCROSS spacecraft on top of the Atlas V rocket launch from Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. An unmanned Atlas rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday carrying a pair of probes to map the moon and hunt for water. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is NASA's opening salvo in a new program aimed at returning astronauts to the moon by 2020. The orbiter is designed to map the moon's surface in unprecedented detail, with particular attention to the relatively unexplored polar regions.
Engineers work on the the Endeavour's external fuel tank. NASA has deferred the launch of its shuttle Endeavour for the second time in less than a week due to a nagging hydrogen leak whose cause experts are struggling to figure out.  Photo:Nasa Video/AFP  Engineers work on the the Endeavour's external fuel tank. Canadian astronaut Julie Payette has returned to Houston to wait for her next chance to blast off for the International Space Station after the second hydrogen leak in less than a week grounded the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Mathieu Caron, a mission control supervisor at the Canadian Space Agency, says the next chance to launch for a link-up with the space station is "no earlier than July 11." "The objective remains to fly the full 16-day mission with the five space walks because the mission is jam-packed with robotics and space walks," Caron said.   "The mission managers are trying very hard to maintain the mission as it has been designed." He says NASA engineers will have to take another look at the leak which caused the latest delay. They waited almost an hour after the leak appeared, trying to fix it through remote commands, before calling off the pre-dawn launch attempt just three-and a-half hours before the scheduled launch time. NASA is up against a 2010 deadline for carrying out its final eight shuttle flights, all of them trips to the space station. The White House wants the three remaining shuttles retired and the space station completed by the end of next year.
Actor David Carradine Dead Of Apparent SuicideKung Fu PilotDavid Carradine
 This Oct. 26, 1985 file photo shows David Carradine, right, and Brandon Lee practicing a fight sequence in Los Angeles for a sequel to the television series "Kung Fu." Actor David Carradine Dead Of Apparent Suicide. David Carradine, who became a household name after starring in the 1970s TV series 'Kung Fu' was found hanging in a hotel room in the Thai capital, Bangkok.  It's believed that the 72-year-old committed suicide. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday. The popular actor appeared in more than 100 feature films, but was best known as the travelling Shaolin priest, Kwai Chang Caine, form the Kung Fu series.  The show aired between 1972-75. He later played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," and returned to Hollywood spotlight once again as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill."
Ovechkin Big Winner At NHL Awards Show  Even though the NHL awards changed venues, the same man remained in the spotlight. Alex Ovechkin captured the two most prestigious honours in hockey for the second straight season on Thursday, winning the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and the Lester B. Pearson Award as the players' choice for the most outstanding player. It was only fitting that the league's glitziest player be the centre of attention during a jazzed-up awards night. Ovechkin came ready for the occasion, walking the red carpet at the Palms with a Vegas showgirl on each arm. He also boasted of winning US$500 while playing blackjack before the show got started. "I have chips in my room in the safe," said Ovechkin. "Losing is not for me." He hasn't done much of that during a splendid NHL career. The Washington Capitals sniper also took home another Rocket Richard Trophy for leading the league with 56 goals. After accepting the Hart from teammate Sergei Fedorov and Grammy Award-winning singer Michael Buble, Ovechkin stepped to the podium and indicated that he'd happily exchange all the hardware for a championship. "Next year, Stanley Cup will be ours," said Ovechkin.
 
Thurs, Jun 18 
Friday, Jun 19 
Sat, Jun 20 
Sunday, Jun 21 
 
Forecast
Light rain 
showers 
showers 
Sunny
High
19 °C
21 °C
20 °C
23 °C
Low
15 °C
14 °C
16 °C
16 °C
Prob of Precip
90 %
40 %
70 %
20 %
 
Fri, Jun 5 
Sat, Jun 6 
Sun, Jun 7 
Mon, Jun 8 
 
Forecast
Sunny 
Sunny 
showers 
Rain 
High
20 °C
19 °C
16 °C
16 °C
Low
7 °C
10 °C
9 °C
11 °C
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 . President Obama waves to the audience, after speaking at Cairo University in Cairo, Thursday, June 4, 2009. In his speech,  Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims", declaring that "this cycle of suspicion and discord must end". In a gesture to the Islamic world, Obama conceded at the beginning of his remarks that tension "has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations." " I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," said the president, who recalled hearing prayer calls of "azaan" at dawn and dusk while living in Indonesia as a boy.Obama said the actions of violent extremist Muslims are "irreconcilable with the rights of human beings," and quoted the Qur'an to make his point: "be conscious of God and always speak the truth ..." "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism - it is an important part of promoting peace," he said. "Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist," he said of the organization the United States deems as terrorists. "The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people," Obama said
Witnesses To Tiananmen Square Recall 'Massacre' On 20th AnniversaryReports from Abroad
20 YEARS LATER....Tiananmen Square  Chinese police aggressively deterred dissent on Thursday's 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square, ignoring calls from Hillary Clinton and Taiwan's China-friendly president for Beijing to face up to the 1989 violence. Foreign journalists were barred from the vast square as uniformed and plainclothes police stood guard across the area which was the epicentre of the student-led movement that was crushed by the military on the night of June 3-4, 1989. Security officials checking passports also blocked foreign TV camera operators and photographers from entering the square to cover the raising of China's national flag, which happens at dawn every day. Plain clothes officers aggressively confronted journalists on the streets surrounding the square, cursing and threatening violence against them. The repression on the mainland contrasted starkly with Hong Kong, where organizers said 150,000 people gathered in the city's famous Victoria Park in the largest commemoration on Chinese soil. Police had no immediate crowd estimate. A former British colony, the territory has retained its own legal system and open society since reverting to Chinese rule in 1997. "It's time for China to take responsibility for the killings," said Kin Cheung, a 17-year-old Hong Kong student. "They need to tell the truth." Officers and police cars were also stationed outside the home of Wang Yannan, the daughter of Zhao Ziyang, the Communist party leader deposed for sympathizing with the pro-democracy protesters, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. Wang heads an auction firm and has never been politically active. In a further sign of the government's intransigence, the second most-wanted student leader from 1989 was forced to return to Taiwan on Thursday after flying to the Chinese territory of Macau the day before in an attempt to return home. Wu'er Kaixi, in exile since fleeing China after the crackdown, told The Associated Press by phone he was held overnight at the Macau airport's detention centre and that being denied entry on the Tiananmen anniversary was a "tragedy." The student leader who topped the most-wanted list, Wang Dan, was jailed for nearly seven years before being expelled to the United States in 1998. In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said in a statement Wednesday that China, as an emerging global power, "should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.Participants rest next to a mock North Korean missile during a rally, held by conservative right-wing Korea Freedom Federation denouncing North Korea's nuclear test and its missile launch, at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul on Thursday.
Participants rest next to a mock North Korean missile during a rally, held by conservative right-wing Korea Freedom Federation denouncing North Korea's nuclear test and its missile launch, at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul on Thursday. Curtailing the North's financial dealings with the outside world is being considered as part of UN punishments, along with freezing company assets and enforcing an arms embargo, according to UN diplomats.
World's Largest Passenger Plane Makes Perfect Landing At PIA MondayWorld's Largest Passenger Plane Makes Perfect Landing At PIA Monday. On a day that began with the world holding its breath waiting for word about a missing Air France Airbus A330, Toronto played host to a much different kind of event from one of that company's more celebrated planes. Monday is the day the world's largest passenger jet, the Airbus A380, made its first ever landing at Pearson International Airport. The airliner has been used before, but this is its inaugural landing here and it was the first time you've been able to see it in the skies above Toronto. It was hard to miss. The double-decker Air Emirates craft is capable of carrying almost 500 passengers, has enough room on it for a gym, a casino, a beauty parlour, double beds, a shower and can even boast stores inside so you can go shopping as you fly.
Playoff time well under way and TSN's experts are weighing in with their predictions. Front and centre is Maggie the Macaque from the Bowmanville Zoo, who has become a postseason fixture at TSN. This, however, will be Maggie's last season making picks as she is retiring after the playoffs.
Marian Hossa (Photo: Jim McIsaac/Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) Pavel Datsyuk (Photo: The Canadian Press) The Detroit Red Wings may not be getting the emotional boost they were hoping for heading into Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final. Forward Pavel Datsyuk skated with the Red Wings' "Black Aces" on Thursday leading to speculation that the Hart Trophy candidate will miss his seventh straight game.

first visitor from beyond earth

The sunspot's two dark cores are each about the size of Earth, and they are crackling with B-class solar flares. During years of Solar Max (e.g., 2000-2002) we would consider such activity minor, but now, during the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009, it merits attention. The magnetic polarity and high latitude of the sunspot identify it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24, expected to peak in 2013. This makes sunspot 1019 a sign of things to come. Readers with solar telescopes should take a look.

Fifty years ago in Westminster Abbey, where English kings and queens have been crowned for 900 years, Elizabeth was made Queen of the British Empire on June 2, 1953.
In Westminster Abbey, Elizabeth triumphantly receives her crown. - Television, 21:37 The Archbishop of Canterbury administered the Oath, and presented "Queen Elizabeth, your undoubted Queen," meaning by hereditary right. The people responded with shouts of "God Save Queen Elizabeth." The procession of the royal coach through Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace was a spectacle unlike any England had ever seen.
Another untendered contract surfaces at embattled eHealth OntarioEHealth Ontario CEO Sarah Kramer has defended previous sole-sourced contracts as necessary due to urgency.EHealth Ontario CEO Sarah Kramer has defended previous sole-sourced contracts as necessary due to urgency. Sources say eHealth CEO Sarah Kramer signed a contract worth more than $600,000 to headhunting firm Egon Zehnder International to recruit high-ranking employees for the agency.The letter of agreement is dated Feb. 5, but sources say a verbal deal with Kramer was reached in November, the same month Kramer took office. The eHealth CEO has defended nearly $5 million in sole-sourced contracts doled out in the agency's early months as justified due to the urgency of getting the ball rolling on Ontario's electronic health record system, set for release in 2015, sources say the agency had access to two headhunting "vendors-of-record" at the time, raising questions about why it didn't continue using those companies. Either one could have done the job under existing rules on contract tenders. Egon Zehnder International was given the job of recruiting vice-presidents to replace some of the nine who were fired during the first four months, plus filling several newly created positions of senior vice-president.

Accenture was awarded three sole-sourced contracts worth $1.3 million, two when Kramer was not yet hired but advising the board of directors and the third a couple months after she took office on Nov. 3, 2008. Also in question are ties between the board of directors chairman Dr. Alan Hudson and a consulting firm that was granted about $2 million in untendered contracts. Sources describe Hudson as an old colleague and mentor to Courtyard Group's founding partner Michael Guerriere. Courtyard received contracts from Cancer Care Ontario when Hudson was head of that agency.

Friday, May 29 
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Forecast
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Isolated showers 
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NEW TAX LAWS

PAY NO TAX FOR TEN YEARS

CLAIM IT LATER, PAY @ ONLY HALF THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT!

 

 

 

PASS DA PASTA!

Brian mulruney said the reason he asked to meet Karlheinz Schreiber in a hotel room in Zurich was discuss among other things this wonderful new product non fat pasta. To recive $300,000 to help promote it, well, it must be some hwell of a kind of pasta. No. The day airbus sold air Canada planes, mulruney called Ducette who then called Schreiber. They met later  for a coffee and envelope. But would someone please tell him to stop repeating himself. Over and over and over again. Actually do what I did . Record the hearings and playback @ one times the speed. Takes a lot less time without the um and ah and don’t refcalls I hear.Still, I really would  like some of that pasta too.

BRITAIN IS BRIAN OR DIRT IN THE HALL

 The Britain account really is the code word  refering to Brian. However its not all his money, he is only the projects name. brian Mulroney probably was only the tip of the airbus iceberg of the slush that “trickled down”. You get it?

 

 

Mr mulruney claims he spoke to a Chinese official at a dinner about giving weapon money for the UN to Mr Schreiber. First they had a commander of a UN bvase overcrowded with stuff they were thinking of giving away. Next they talked with Bill ??dd who sat next to Mulroney at the dinner in question. He never heard any such talk. Also as Ambassador to China he would have heard the fallout of such a breach of protocol. He would have had been advised by  Foreign affairs before hand. Lies upon lies.

Former PM Brian Mulroney's first questioner will be his own lawyer, Guy Pratte. The two have spent hours preparing not only for Pratte's questions, but also anticipated grillings by lawyers for the inquiry and Schreiber.Brian Mulroney was on the defensive Thursday over not divulging his business relationship with Karlheinz Schreiber when he was asked under oath about his relationship with the German-born lobbyist during a 1996 legal hearing.FRYIN LYIN BRIAN The lead lawyer at the Oliphant inquiry grilled Brian Mulroney Thursday over his sworn testimony at his Airbus lawsuit in 1996, accusing him of not painting the full picture in describing his relationship with Karlheinz Schreiber. Richard Wolson questioned the former prime minister in Ottawa about the testimony he gave in Montreal during the discovery process of his lawsuit against the federal government over the Airbus affair.Lead Counsel Richard Wolson had former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on the defensive at the  Oliphant Commission on May 14, 2009.

Lead Counsel Richard Wolson had former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on the defensive at the Oliphant Commission on May 14, 2009.

He suggested Mulroney wasn't being completely open when describing the relationship he had with Schreiber because he didn't mention the commercial arrangement he had struck with the businessman.

"You're not quite fulsome in your response," Wolson said. Wolson pressed Mulroney, asking about his response to the question of whether he maintained contact with Schreiber after he left office. Mulroney responded in 1996 that from time to time he and Schreiber had met for coffee, but didn't discuss their business relationship or the three cash payments Mulroney received in 1993 and 1994 at three hotels. no one knew about it but you and Schreiber and [Fred] Doucet and someone in Germany. That's why it never came," Wolson responded. Mulroney said under Quebec law, he was under no obligation to volunteer any information. But Wolson asked Mulroney why, if he wasn't there to volunteer information, he testified that Schreiber had retained former Liberal cabinet minister Marc Lalonde. "How do you explain the difference? You're volunteering information about a retainer of Mr. Lalonde, not having been asked, but you don't say anything about your retainer [with Schreiber]?

Poll on  Mulruney  

"I like him better than I used to 19%                                  

  schreiber3A former aide to Brian Mulroney says he has "no memory" of a memo written to Karlheinz Schreiber confirming that Airbus planes had been delivered to Air Canada. Fred Doucet, who was a chief of staff to the former prime minister, was testifying yesterday at a public inquiry, led by Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, that is probing business dealings between Mulroney and Schreiber, a German Canadian businessman.A memo entered into evidence from Doucet to Schreiber on the number of planes Air Canada purchased is dated Aug. 27, 1993, the day that Mulroney received his first cash payment from Schreiber for lobbying on behalf of a proposal to build German-designed military vehicles in Canada."I have no memory of this memorandum at all," Doucet said, referring to the memo to Schreiber confirming that "34 Airbus have been purchased and delivered to Air Canada."The Oliphant inquiry is probing the Mulroney-Schreiber dealings with respect to a proposal in the early 1990s by Bear Head Industries to build light-armoured vehicles in Canada. Schreiber was chair of Bear Head Industries, a subsidiary of Thyssen AG. Schreiber says he paid Mulroney $300,000 to lobby for the project in 1993-94. He claims the deal was struck just before Mulroney stepped down as prime minister, although the money didn't change hands until later.Mulroney has admitted taking $225,000 from Schreiber but says he violated no federal ethics rules. Evidence yesterday touched on the so-called Airbus affair of the early 1990s. Federal lawyers at one time alleged that Mulroney and Schreiber were involved in a kickback scheme surrounding the 1988 purchase by Air Canada of Airbus jetliners.Mulroney successfully sued the then-Liberal government over that claim and was awarded $2.1 million in compensation in 1997.Doucet told the inquiry a heart operation several years ago affected his memory, but inquiry counsel Richard Wolson suggested his memory was good when recalling details that bolstered Mulroney's position.Oliphant said that while he was not charged with opening up the Airbus affair, he is expected to investigate the payments to Mulroney and where the money came from."One of the questions I am called upon to answer is why certain payments were made to Mr. Mulroney by Mr. Schreiber ... it seems to me that the commission would be remiss if it failed to examine what is behind these letters," he said.

Friday's PM Rush Hour Could See Commuter Chaos DowntownFriday's PM Rush Hour Could See Commuter Chaos Downtown...Friday rush hours are usually pretty bad in the heart of the downtown core. The one that's coming this week could be even worse than usual. As you're looking to escape for your weekend, a series of events will make it that much harder for you to avoid the gridlock. The biggest crush could well be around the Metro Convention Centre, where heavy security will be in place for the arrival of former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Both are here to make speeches but expect plenty of protestors to gather outside and have their say, too, creating troubles on the streets around the facility. The worst of it will come when they arrive, with the event lasting from about 3pm-6pm, but security preparations will be in place well before that.  A bike race affecting the routes around the St. Lawrence Centre - including Front and the Esplanade - will have access to some streets blocked from 4pm to 11pm. Thousands of people are expected for the Toronto Criterium, which is actually three separate races around a specific route. See the affected area here. While all that's going on, the limping Jays are finally back home after their worst road trip in history. They'll try to reverse an 0-9 record in a key rematch with the Boston Red Sox. The terrific early showing for the team has caused a high demand for tickets and big crowds are expected, further swelling the number of people downtown. That means if you haven't picked up your tickets or plan to try to get some at the last minute, you're likely to experience delays at the Rogers Centre. Officials are asking those who don't have their admissions yet to arrive early or risk missing some innings. It's the perfect storm of events and it means getting out of the city on the last workday of a long week may take even longer.
  A South Korean Marine stands guard in alert on Yeonpyong Island, western South Korea, Thursday, May 28, 2009.
A visitor walks near the mock North Korean Scud-B missile, extreme left, and other South Korean missiles on display at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, May 25, 2009. North Korea announced Monday that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, weeks after threatening to restart its rogue atomic program.The U.S. and South Korea put their military forces on high alert Thursday after North Korea renounced the truce keeping the peace between the two Koreas since 1953.

The North also accused the U.S. of preparing to attack the isolated communist country in the wake of its second nuclear bomb test, and warned it would retaliate to any hostility with "merciless" and dangerous ferocity. Seoul moved a 3,500-tonne destroyer into waters near the Koreas' disputed western maritime border while smaller, high-speed vessels were keeping guard at the front line, South Korean news reports said. The defence ministry said the U.S. and South Korean militaries would increase surveillance activities. Pyongyang, meanwhile, positioned artillery along the west coast on its side of the border, the Yonhap news agency said. The Joint Chiefs of Staffs in Seoul refused to confirm the reports. The show of force along the heavily fortified border dividing the two Koreas comes three days after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test and fired a series of short-range missiles. The test drew immediate condemnation from world leaders and the UN Security Council, where ambassadors were discussing a new resolution to punish Pyongyang. U.S. President Barack Obama called it a "blatant violation" of international law.

 

PARIS - The Church of Scientology could be dissolved in France if it is convicted in a trial that opened Monday in a Paris court, where the group and seven of its French leaders stand charged of organized fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity. French Scientology Church branch spokeswoman Danielle Gounord, arrives at Paris court house, Monday, May 25, 2009 The group, considered a sect in France, has faced prosecution and difficulties in registering its activities in many countries. The trial comes more than a decade after one of the three plaintiffs originally filed a complaint against the Church of Scientology. A young woman said she took out loans and spent the equivalent of close to US$30,000 on books, courses and "purification packages" after being recruited by the group in 1998. When she sought reimbursement and to leave the group, its leadership refused. Investigating judge Jean-Christophe Hullin spent years examining the group's activities, and in his indictment criticized practices he said were aimed at extracting large sums of money from members and plunging them into a "state of subjection." The investigator questioned what he called the Scientologists' "obsession" with financial gain, and the group's practice of selling vitamins, leading to the charge of "acting illegally as a pharmacy." Patrick Maisonneuve, lawyer for the Church of Scientology in France, dismissed any organized fraud, although he acknowledged there could have been individual abuses.

 A Komodo dragon moves out of a toilet at a visitor center on Rinca island, Indonesia.  Komodo dragons have shark-like teeth and poisonous venom that can kill a person within hours of a bite. Yet villagers who have lived for generations alongside the world's largest lizard were not afraid - until the dragons started to attack.

The stories spread quickly across this smattering of tropical islands in southeastern Indonesia, the only place the endangered reptiles can still be found in the wild: Two people were killed since 2007 - a young boy and a fisherman - and others were badly wounded after being charged unprovoked.

Komodo dragon attacks are still rare, experts note. But fear is swirling through the fishing villages, along with questions on how best to live with the dragons in the future.

Main, a 46-year-old park ranger, was doing paper work when a dragon slithered up the stairs of his wooden hut in Komodo National Park and went for his ankles dangling beneath the desk. When the ranger tried to pry open the beast's powerful jaws, it locked its teeth into his hand.

"I thought I wouldn't survive... I've spent half my life working with Komodos and have never seen anything like it," said Main, pointing to his jagged gashes, sewn up with 55 stitches and still swollen three months later. "Luckily, my friends heard my screams and got me to hospital in time."

Komodos, which are popular zoo exhibits from the United States to Europe, grow to be three metres long and 70 kilograms. All of the estimated 2,500 left in the wild can be found within the 1,810-square-kilometre Komodo National Park, mostly on its two largest islands, Komodo and Rinca. The lizards on neighbouring Padar were wiped out in the 1980s when hunters killed their main prey, deer.

The giant lizards have always been dangerous, said Rudiharto. However tame they may appear, lounging beneath trees and gazing at the sea from white-sand beaches, they are fast, strong and deadly.

The animals are believed to have descended from a larger lizard on Indonesia's main island Java or Australia around 30,000 years ago. They can reach speeds of up to nearly 30 kilometres per hour, their legs winding around their low, square shoulders like egg beaters.

When they catch their prey, they carry out a frenzied biting spree that releases venom, according to a new study this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors, who used surgically excised glands from a terminally ill dragon at the Singapore Zoo, dismissed the theory that prey die from septicemia caused by toxic bacteria in the lizard's mouth.

"The long, jaded teeth are the primary weapons. They deliver these deep, deep wounds," said Bryan Fry of the University of Melbourne. "But the venom keeps it bleeding and further lowers the blood pressure, thus bringing the animal closer to unconsciousness."

Four people have been killed in the last 35 years (2009, 2007, 2000 and 1974) and at least eight injured in just over a decade. But park officials say these numbers aren't overly alarming given the steady stream of tourists and the 4,000 people who live in their midst.

"Any time there's an attack, it gets a lot of attention," Rudiharto said. "But that's just because this lizard is exotic, archaic, and can't be found anywhere but here."

Still, the recent attacks couldn't have come at a worse time.

The government is campaigning hard to get the park onto a new list of the Seven Wonders of Nature - a long shot, but an attempt to at least raise awareness. The park's rugged hills and savannahs are home to orange-footed scrub fowl, wild boar and small wild horses, and the surrounding coral reefs and bays harbour more than a dozen whale species, dolphins and sea turtles.

Spacewalking astronauts equipped the Hubble Space Telescope with the first of two new science instruments Thursday, launching the first overhaul of the 19-year-old observatory in seven years.The crew of the Atlantis will perform five spacewalks as they work to refurbish, restore and renew the Hubble space telescope."It's a great Hubble day," said Grunsfeld, a 50-year-old astronomer who is making his third visit to the iconic science instrument, the most by any astronaut.

"Pretty cool," said Feustel, a 43-year-old geologist and rookie astronaut, as he followed Grunsfeld from the shuttle's airlock. "Fantastic."

The seven Atlantis astronauts rendezvoused with Hubble on Wednesday, capturing the 13.2 meter telescope with the shuttle's robot arm and mounting it upright in the cargo bay.

No Bail For Toronto Man Accused Of Sending Nuclear Technology To Iran Toronto Man Accused Of Sending Nuclear Technology To Iran
There's no chance of bail for a Toronto man who's accused of trying to send nuclear technology to Iran. Mahmoud Yadegari, 35, will remain in jail as his trial continues, judge Sheila Ray ruled on Monday. Yadegari was arrested last month and charged under the Customs Act and Export and Import Permits Act. He is also accused of violating United Nations sanctions on Iran. The eight-week investigation was sparked when Yadegari allegedly purchased ten pressure transducers from a company near Boston. The transducers, which are legal, can also be used to make enriched uranium. As the RCMP and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security looked into the case, they allegedly found that Yadegari was trying to send the shipment to Iran without the required export permits.

cyd_bendigo.jpg
      Clyde is located  in an area known as The Dunstan named by an English surveyor, John Turnbull Thomson. He was the second white man to enter the region in the spring of 1857. It is believed he used the name Dunstan because the mountains reminded him of his birthplace in England where Dunstan means “a stone on the hill” Thomson was probably inspired by the schist tors dominating the landscape.

      Originally known as Upper Dunstan, Clyde like many Central Otago towns and settlements owes its existence to gold which was discovered in the region in 1861. Two miners, American-born Horatio Hartley and an Irish immigrant to the United States, Christopher Reilly, tried their luck near the entrance to the gorge where Clyde now lies. Their fabulous gold strike in 1862 started the Dunstan Gold Rush and within a year up to 40,000 miners were digging along the banks of the Clutha River, then known as the Molyneux . By the end of the first year, the field had yielded close to 2,000 kilograms (70,000 ounces) of gold. By about 1870 traditional mining methods at the Dunstan field came to an end and gold was extracted by sluicing and dredging companies (at one stage about 30 dredges operated on the Clutha River between Clyde and Alexandra).

      Although Clyde began life as a “canvas” town, permanent structures started to appear within a few years when the occupants of tent sites were given the opportunity to buy the title to their land. In May, 1865 the Post Office officially adopted the name Clyde, named after Lord Clyde, the Commander of the British forces during the Indian Mutiny. A year later it was proclaimed a municipality after sixty-one people signed a petition calling for local government representation. The town was the administrative centre for the district until 1989 when it was relocated to nearby Alexandra.
http://www.promotedunstan.org.nz 
Clyde, Central Otago, New Zealand

Tuesday, May 26 
Wednesday, May 27 
Thursday, May 28 
Friday, May 29 
 
Forecast
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Cloudy with showers 
Cloudy with showers 
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High
16 °C
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9 °C
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 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arrives to attend a regional summit meeting with officials from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, being held in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, May 24, 2009. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is calling for a face-to-face debate with his American counterpart Barack Obama at the United Nations.

The offer by Ahmadinejad came at a news conference in Tehran today as he stepped up his campaign for his re-election in the June 12 presidential vote.

If returned to office, Ahmadinejad says he wants to meet Obama during the UN General Assembly in September to debate "world issues and the way toward peace."

Ahmadinejad is in a four-way race against a fellow hardliner and two pro-reform candidates.

 Evening Post,  2 January 1906, CABLE NEWS.  THE NEW ZEALAND FOOTBALL TEAM MATCH AGATNST SWANSEA. A CLOSE GAME. LONDON, 30th December. There was -fine weather to-day for -the football match New Zealand v. Swansea, the last of tho scheduled games in the tour of the colonials in Britain. About twenty thousand spectators were present. Swansea put a strong team into the field, and the game was stubbornly contested from start to finish. W. J. Wallace, of Wellington, potted a goal for the colonials, and Scrine scored a try for Swansea, the game ending, after a splendid struggle, in a win for New 'Zealand. In the first half the Welshmen kept the visitors strictly on the defensive, attacking strongly almost the whole timo the spell lasted. The only score they managed to obtain, howover, was a try by Serine — the result of a fine passing rush. Davis took the kick, but failed to convert. In the second half the Welshmen renewed their aggressive tactics and kept the all-blacks hard pressed, until Wallace relieved the situation by dropping a fine goal. When the ball was in play again Swansea maintained the pressure till the end, but the New Zealanders played a fine defensive game and prevented further score, the game ending New Zealand 4 Swansea 3

MATCH AGAINST A FRENCH TEAM. (Received January 2, noon.) PARIS, Ist January. The attendance at the match, New Zealand v. France, numbered ten thousand. The ground was heavy. The New Zealanders pressed their opponents throughout the first half, except for an occasional breakaway, and scored three goals and one try to Prance's one try. After the interval, the Frenchmen were quite outclassed, 'but scored a brilliant try,' which was converted. Wallace placed two of tho four goals obtained. Abbott and Tyler scored one try each. The match ended : — New Zealand ... :.. 38 France 8 The Premier has received the following message: "New Zealand defeated France by 38 points to 8 — four goals and six tries. Wallace 'scored three tries ; Abbott, Hunter, arnd Harper two each; and Glasgow one. The ground was icebound. It was a very amusing game."

THE AMERICAN TRIP. PREMIER'S OFFER ACCEPTED. The Premier's offer that tha co-lony shall pay the cost qjf the return of the New Zealand footballers via Canada and the States — to give the players a treat, aad to mark the colony's appreciation — was considered by the Management Committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union at a meeting to-day. Present : Messrs. G. F. C. Campbell (in the chair), R. M. Isaacs, G. C. Fache, A. Laurensoh, Wm. Coffey, and N. Galbraith. It was decided to accept the offer, and to cable the manager of the team (Mr. Geo.'Dixon) informing him to that effect, and suggesting" that the team play matches in Canada and America en route, and that the team leave San Francisco on 15th February. This arrangement will give the players three or four weeks in Canada and America. The cablegram contains congratulatory references to the team's brilliant performances. The Committee also decided to send a message to the Premier expressing its high appreciation of the .Government's generosity.

 
Friday, May 15 
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Sunny 
Light rain 
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny 
High
18 °C
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8 °C
13 °C
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6 °C
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0 %
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ARLO COMES TO BRAMPTON“Alice's Restaurant” cover
Album cover for the original 1967 album, Alice's Restaurant
The former church where the story begins, located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The building later became the Guthrie Center. The restaurant itself is roughly six miles north in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

The church, originally built as the St. James Chapel in 1829, was enlarged in 1866 and renamed Trinity Church. Ray and Alice Brock purchased the property in 1964 and made it their home. The building has had several owners since the early 1970s. [5]

In 1991, Guthrie bought the church that had served as Alice and Ray Brock's former home, at 4 Van Deusenville Road, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and converted it to the Guthrie Center, a nondenominational, interfaith meeting place.[6]

The church's exterior is covered with white vinyl siding with the original cornerstone dedications still intact. There are two public entrances, a ramp for disabled guests on the side of the building and another consisting of two large wooden doors. The entrance from the side leads directly into the chapel. The front entrance leads into a living room with couches and a kitchen to the left. Bathrooms are located down a straight hallway to the right. Above this hallway is a sign that says " One God - Many Forms / One River - Many Streams / One People - Many Faces / One Mother - Many Children -Ma".

In the main chapel area there is a stage for performances set up with microphone and other audio inputs. On the stage, in the rear center, Officer Obie's chair sits as a reminder of the arrest. In the rear of the chapel there is a set of stairs and a loft which holds a shrine dedicated to multiple religions and also contains a viewing loft. Also, there is a door that leads to a set of private rooms in which Alice and Ray once lived.

In recent years, the Guthrie Center has become a popular folk music venue, hosting the Troubadour Concert series annually from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Musical guests have included John Gorka, Jaane Doe, The Highwaymen and, of course, Arlo Guthrie. The annual "Garbage Trail Walk", retracing the steps of Arlo and folksinger Rick Robbins (as told in the song), raises money for Huntington's Disease research. On Thanksgiving, the Center hosts a "Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat" for people in need from the local community.

Killer Bramer, Jody Lampro, Jeannie Burns, Arlo Guthrie, Marie Burns, Abe Guthrie, Annie Burns

The NHL and its fans are in for a treat as Sidney Crosby's Penguins and Alex Ovechkin's Capitals faceoff in the second round. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images) The NHL and its fans are in for a treat as Sidney Crosby's Penguins and Alex Ovechkin's Capitals faceoff in the second round.Not that the NHL would ever admit it cheers for certain teams, but the league must be beaming at the results of the playoffs so far. Because in terms of marketing the sport to casual fans, Gary Bettman and his buddies are looking at a huge summer.

The only Stanley Cup final permutation right now that doesn’t result in huge media coverage – let’s call it the ‘nightmare scenario’ – would be if Anaheim met Carolina. This is not meant to besmirch these two great teams; they simply don’t have the name recognition that draws in the ESPN crowd.

Even by the most liberal calculations, however – that is to say, not handicapping two low seeds against teams that ‘should’ beat them in the next two rounds – there is only a one-in-16 chance the Ducks and Canes meet in the final. Otherwise, a huge pool of viewers is available in nearly every other scenario.

In the Western Conference, you have two Original Six teams from big sports markets: Detroit and Chicago. As an added bonus, both teams come pre-packaged with feel-good stories: The Wings are the defending champions and the NHL’s marquee franchise right now, while the Blackhawks are riding a crest of local goodwill as fans return to rock the home arena after decades of neglect. With both teams facing off in this season’s Wrigley Field Winter Classic, casual fans already have a base of familiarity to work from, too.

And if not the Original Sixers, how about Vancouver? The Canucks are now Canada’s last hope at ending a national losing streak of 15 seasons and Canadians tend to pull for whichever team north of the 49th parallel remains, so northern ratings would be huge. Coupled with the fact Vancouver is one of the nation’s biggest cities and has a fan base growing even more rabid as success on the ice echoes 1994 and you’ve got a good situation.

The embarrassment of riches in the East is just as palpable. The Washington-Pittsburgh series guarantees either Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby in the conference final and their second-round death match alone will bring in big headlines across the continent.

Having Ovechkin in the final would be tremendous for NHL marketers, especially since his personality and on-ice skills are so translatable to viral forms such as YouTube. If Crosby can bring his squad back to the final for another go, it would be just as satisfying.In the Western Conference, you have two Original Six teams from big sports markets: Detroit and Chicago. As an added bonus, both teams come pre-packaged with feel-good stories: The Wings are the defending champions and the NHL’s marquee franchise right now, while the Blackhawks are riding a crest of local goodwill as fans return to rock the home arena after decades of neglect. With both teams facing off in this season’s Wrigley Field Winter Classic, casual fans already have a base of familiarity to work from, too.

 
Frank Gonis sits in his daughter Ashley's room in Montreal on April 15, 2009. The girl, now 10, was allegedly abducted by her mother two years ago.Frank Gonis kept Ashley's clothes and toys even though he had the heart-sinking realization that somewhere out there she was outgrowing them. So every once in a while during the two years his daughter was missing, Gonis went and bought new clothes and toys that he knew she would like. She would outgrow those, too. Two years ago, Gonis filed a missing child report after his ex-wife disappeared with their daughter, who was 8 at the time. Then one day last week, Ashley ran away from her Vancouver home and walked for hours on her own to call 911. Her father said yesterday that if Ashley had not done so, he might never have seen her again. "She was gone, but she's never left, too, in some ways," Gonis said in an interview from his Montreal home where his daughter's room is exactly as she left it when he last saw her in 2007. "I have everything she owned, her crayons are here, her drawings are here. Her toys are here. I kept buying her new clothes, new toys and some of them won't be right any more."  The Montreal construction worker hopes to see Ashley in Vancouver by this weekend. One of the first things he'll tell her, he said, is that everything she left behind is still waiting for her back home. Ashley is in ministry care after she walked along Vancouver's bustling east side to find a payphone at a SkyTrain station to call for help. Vancouver police say the dark- haired, dark-eyed girl began her journey on the corner of a quiet residential street. She walked for more than 50 blocks and seven kilometres, a journey that took her three hours. Ashley walked past Vietnamese noodle houses, Filipino groceries, TV repair stores, Dairy Queens and 7-Elevens to reach one of Vancouver's busiest transit stations at East Broadway and Commercial Dr. When Ashley got there around noon Friday, she picked up a payphone and called 911. Transit police arrived within minutes. "Even though she was scared and alone, she knew that if she was in trouble to call 911 for help," said Const. Tom Seaborn, with the transit police. "It's so busy there that we're always within minutes." Ashley told the officers that she was from Quebec, had been living in British Columbia with her mother and was fleeing from an abusive situation. After her name was entered in a database, police saw that a Quebec warrant had been issued for Ashley's mother for taking the girl out of the province without permission. Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said investigators with the force's child abuse unit interviewed the mother. "Vancouver police have determined these allegations are unsubstantiated," he said. "There is no criminal investigation on our part." Houghton said Vancouver police have no jurisdiction to arrest the mother because warrants issued by Quebec courts are enforceable only in that province. Montreal police applied yesterday to extend the warrant for Araceli Bravo, the girl's mother, Canada-wide so she can be brought back to Quebec to face possible kidnapping charges, said Const. Lynne Labelle. Labelle said that had not been done earlier because there was no reason to believe Bravo was outside Quebec. "We knew that the girl was with the mother and we had no reason to believe her life was in any danger," said Labelle. "That may be why the warrant wasn't more widely open."  Ashley's father said he has no idea why her mother would take her to B.C. where, Montreal police have told him, the two have been living for the past two years. Gonis said he believed his daughter was in hiding with his former wife in the U.S. or Spain. "I know that she has changed but I can't wait to get to know her again," said Gonis. Some certainties remain. She loved animals and jumping on her bed.  Her bravery, Gonis said with awe in his voice, was never in doubt. As for him, Gonis said he hopes his little girl remembers a father who never gave up his fight to find her.

 
Tuesday, May 5 
Wednesday, May 6 
Thursday, May 7 
Friday, May 8 
 
Forecast
Isolated showers 
Isolated showers 
Light rain 
Scattered showers 
High
15 °C
17 °C
16 °C
17 °C
Low
5 °C
8 °C
11 °C
11 °C
Probability of Precipitation
40 %
40 %
80 %
60 %

 Barack Obama was up in arms yesterday after a low-flying plane skimmed low over New York for a White Office photo shoot, provoking fears and memories of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the city.
 
The jet , which serves as Air Force One when the president is on board, spent half an hour circling the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan's financial district on Monday morning leading to concerned office workers evacuating buildings. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the stunt "insensitive" , while President Obama was said to be "furious". The idea behind the photo opportunity was to capture theBoeing 747 with a historic landmark in the background, in this case the Statue of Liberty. The director of the White House military office, Louis Caldera, yesterday apologised. He said: "Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that … it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption.
 

 LEVEL FIVE.sorry folks, until we see whats up with the H1-N1 we will continue to post updates...... we contend that while most media slogs a story to death this is an important story. Reminds me on April 28 2009 I saw a journalist stick his mike up to a pig as part of his swine flu story. The porker grunted away as it came forward thinking to eat the mike. More responsive than ex-Prez George! Perhaps he was the town mayor! The number of swine flu victims topped the 1,000 mark on Monday 4/5/09 as the UN's most senior health official warned that a second wave of the virus could be far worse.
 Heightening concern of an outbreak prompted Ontario to partly activate its emergency management centre, which co-ordinates the provincial reaction to extreme events, such as a flu pandemic. The news on the weekend that the bug appears to have been transmitted back to pigs in Alberta has raised a new level of concern. Experts are saying it's perfectly normal for these kinds of things to happen and that the pigs are recovering nicely. But it's that kind of back and forth inter-species transmission that leaves open the risk of the virus mutating again, being given back to humans in a new form and potentially returning as a more deadly strain than we've yet seen. There are more than 800 cases of the flu around the world in countries ranging from the U.S. and Ireland to New Zealand and Israel. Outside of a Mexican toddler brought to the States for treatment, no one outside of Mexico has died from the disease.
FEVERED REACTIONS About 25 Canadian students have been quarantined in China amid fears about the potential spread of swine flu in the densely populated country. The students, believed to be mostly from Quebec universities, had boarded a plane in Beijing. When they got off the plane in Changchun they were met by health officials who took them to a room at the airport to have their temperatures taken, Martin Deslaurier, a University of Montreal student, told CBC News in an email. Deslaurier said that no one in his group had a fever, but they were still informed they would be placed in quarantine for seven days. They were first taken to a dormitory at a local university before being moved to a hotel on Sunday where they are the only guests, Deslaurier said. The group has been told they aren't allowed to leave the facility and meals are being provided, Deslaurier said. The students must undergo medical examinations each day of the quarantine, he said, which will last five more days. Canadian officials in China have declined to comment on the quarantine and have directed all questions to Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. The ministry has not yet commented. Deslaurier said the students were in China to study Chinese. They have been told by officials that the quarantine is a provincial measure and not part of a national plan by the Chinese government, he said. Hans Troeddson, a World Health Organization official in China, told CBC News that although the quarantine cases are inconveniencies for travellers, China is not doing anything wrong. It is up to each country to determine how it attempts to control the outbreak of the disease, Troeddson said. What China has done so far is in accordance with its policies, he said."It's really up to each country and should be in accordance with their own regulations and legislation on public health and protection of the population." 
Iran has killed wild boars at their zoo though negative H1N1
 Williams said he doesn't believe there is reason yet for the public to worry because most cases in the U.S. and Canada have proven to be quite mild. Goel noted that all the province's pandemic plans were predicated on an influenza strain emerging out of Asia, not North America. "So it's much closer to us and so I think we have to just bear in mind that this is hitting us much faster," he said. Earlier yesterday, Premier Dalton McGuinty advised people not to panic because Ontario's public health system is in a strong position to react thanks to its experiences with the SARS outbreak in 2003. "First of all, stay calm," McGuinty said. "There's a real concern here, there's no doubt about that, but it's not a cause for undue alarm." Tamiflu is effective in combating swine flu if the treatment is given early enough.
This is an example of media influence. We still don't know much about this virus and panic sets in flamed by media hype.
Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precautionary measure against the spread of swine flu even though no cases have been reported here yet, the Health Ministry said. The move immediately provoked resistance from pig farmers. At one large pig farming centre just north of Cairo, farmers refused to co-operate with Health Ministry workers who came to slaughter the animals and the workers left without carrying out the government order. "It has been decided to immediately start slaughtering all the pigs in Egypt using the full capacity of the country's slaughterhouses," Health Minister Hatem el-Gabaly told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Egypt's overwhelmingly Muslim population does not eat pork due to religious restrictions. But the animals are raised and consumed by the Christian minority, which some estimates put at 10 per cent of the population. Health Ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman estimated there were between 300,000-350,000 pigs in Egypt

10,000 Tamil Protestors Create Commuter Chaos

As Many As 10,000 Protestors Create Commuter Chaos At Union Station During Afternoon Rush Hour  It was an amazing sight, all the more so because it stayed so peaceful. "There are probably thousands, tens of thousands of Tamils here all trying to bring some attention to their cause," "You can see them on the street corners here trying to hand out pamphlets just to let people know what they're actually talking about."He believes they more than achieved their aims. "Their message is 'stop Tamil genocide in Sri Lanka.' If that's what they wanted, that's what they're getting right now.
Tamil Demonstration To Continue With Human Chain On TuesdayTamil Demonstration To Continue With Human Chain On Tuesday
Monday May 4, 2009
Pot Activists Descend On Queen's ParkPot Activists Descend On Queen's Park
Queen's Park was packed with tens of thousands of pro-marijuana activists lighting up for the third annual Toronto Freedom Festival. About 250 cities around the world took part in the marijuana march - London, Paris and New York among them - but the one here was the largest.Most of the protesters argued smoking pot should be legalized, with some saying it's essential for their health."It's important for me because I've suffered a few injuries and it helps me with my pain and it helps me to sleep. I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome as well," revealed Kim Sutton. Despite the large numbers of people illegally smoking pot, police took a hands-off approach at the gathering. "Because of the number of us here and the size of the crowd, we have to use our discretion," explained Sgt. Sean Narine of Toronto Police.
 Raul Castro has dismissed Barack Obama's policy changes toward Cuba as "minimal" and says it is up to the United States, and not Cuba, to do more to improve relations.

In Third World countries the word evokes images of emaciated bodies clothed in rags, living in squalor next to open sewers. In wealthy nations like Canada, poverty is more nuanced. We have food banks and homeless shelters. But we also have children who are unable to go on school trips because their families are struggling to pay rent. We have people who don't visit friends because they can't afford TTC fares. And others who don't have the right clothes to wear to a job interview. So what does it mean to be poor in Ontario today? Canada doesn't have an official poverty line. But the McGuinty government's promise to come up with a way to measure poverty and a strategy to reduce it has bureaucrats, politicians and poverty activists scrambling to come up with the right definition. Patricia McKenzie has no cable or Internet. She doesn't even have a television. She has had to give them up for a far more basic staple: Food. An unemployed 38-year-old, McKenzie says she has gone days without eating and has often had to choose between paying the rent and paying for groceries. Thus, the Dawes Rd. resident likely would find no surprises in a new University of Toronto study that suggests two out of three families in the city's lowest-income neighbourhoods are unable to even get enough to eat. " 28 per cent of those were in a category that we would call 'severe food insecurity,'" says study co-author Sharon Kirkpatrick, who helped conduct the research as part of her U of T doctoral thesis. "They had indicators like cutting or skipping meals and going a whole day without food being the most extreme," Kirkpatrick says. The research is reported in the current edition of Canadian Journal of Public Health. "What this study is really showing is that even though we have lots of food programs available in our communities, like food banks ... there's still a great degree of unmet need," Kirkpatrick says. "This really points to the need to address the roots of the problem. It's not a food problem, it's a poverty problem." The study surveyed 500 families in 12 neighbourhoods designated in a 2004 United Way report as being among the city's poorest. Each household had children and rented their living space. Some relied on income from Ontario Works or provincial disability programs, but most were employed. "We didn't expect to find that two in three (households) would have trouble accessing adequate food," says Kirkpatrick, who is doing post-doctoral work at the University of Calgary. The study was conducted between October 2005 and January 2007 and Kirkpatrick says the economic downturn has exacerbated the problem. The study chose its subjects based on income levels that fell below Statistics Canada's low-income cutoff and the levels vary based on the number of people living in each household, Kirkpatrick says. A family of four living on an income of less than $40,000 a year, for example, would be considered poor, according to the StatsCan criteria researchers used. Industry Minister Tony Clement. A dirty little weasel yesman we used to call a brown-noser. He has gone way up the ladder of success since he was a lousy lying careless MPP here on Main St. Brampton. He claims America does not understand the "Game" of this recession. Look poo-nose it is not a game okay! Probably in your mind it is, but this is real life ; real people suffering. Hope you get caught doing whatever dirty disgusting things you do just like Lyin Mulruney!

GOVT. POSITION...The Canadian Auto Workers union must make more concessions to ensure a proposed cooperation deal between Chrysler and Italian auto company Fiat goes through, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Thursday. He said the union and Chrysler must forge a new agreement within two weeks to allow the Fiat deal to go ahead. If there is no agreement, Ottawa has the right to call its loans to Chrysler, he told reporters. Clement said he understood Fiat's demand the union cut costs further. "We expect that the CAW has to recognize that in order for Chrysler to survive in this country that Chrysler has to be competitive with the rest of the Canadian market," he said. Chrysler has until the end of the month to forge an alliance with Fiat to qualify for long-term U.S. and Canadian government aid. Labour talks between the company and the CAW are due to start next Monday. "There has to be a CAW-Chrysler deal in the next two weeks – the clock is ticking – in order to allow for Fiat to continue with its partnership with Chrysler," said Clement.

PERVERSION IN THE COURTS....By Justice Eleanore Cronk handing what amounted to a one-day prison term to a man who admitted strangling a pregnant sex-trade worker, an experienced Ontario trial judge fashioned a "just sentence" that in no way devalues the victim's life, the province's highest court ruled yesterday. In a 3-0 decision yesterday, the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected arguments that the prison term imposed on Wayne Ryczak – 30 months on paper – was outside the range of appropriate sentences for manslaughter, adding the decision to credit him generously for time in pre-trial custody is entitled to "considerable deference" on appeal. "They failed my daughter big time," Alice Dort said yesterday from Nova Scotia.  While Justice Stephen Glithero's sentencing decision sparked protests and turned Ryczak into a poster boy for the Harper government's campaign to end "two-for-one" sentencing credits, the appeal court said it fits with sentencing principles dictated by the Criminal Code and shows sensitivity for the life and death of Stephine Beck, 29. Beck's partially exposed body was found dumped in the snow on a street in Vineland, Ont., March 4, 2007, shortly after one of Ryczak's neighbours saw him carrying it. Writing for the court yesterday, Justice Eleanore Cronk noted the evidence did not establish conclusively that strangulation was the sole cause of death and showed Beck had potentially lethal levels of cocaine in her system when she attacked Ryczak in his trailer.

a

NASA's Swift satellite and an international team of astronomers have found a gamma-ray burst from a star that died when the universe was only 630 million years old, or less than five percent of its present age. The event, dubbed GRB 090423, is the most distant cosmic explosion ever seen. This image merges data from Swift's Ultraviolet Optical, blue and green, and X Ray, orange and red, telescopes.
This image merges data from Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical (blue, green) and X-Ray (orange, red) telescopes. No visible light accompanied the burst, which hints at great distance. The image is 6.3 arcminutes wide. "The incredible distance to this burst exceeded our greatest expectations.Image showing expanding halo around the neutron star SGR J1550-5418 Swift's X-Ray Telescope (XRT) captured an apparent expanding halo around the flaring neutron star SGR J1550-5418. The halo formed as X-rays from the brightest flares scattered off of intervening dust clouds.Artist's concept of gamma-rays flares from SGR J1550-5418 Gamma-rays flares from SGR J1550-5418 may arise when the magnetar's surface suddenly cracks, releasing energy stored within its powerful magnetic field.
DEAD SEA SCROLLS JIHAD? 
A scrap of non-biblical Hebrew text from the first century CE, originally discovered in 1956.
A planned Toronto exhibit of ancient Middle Eastern manuscripts is threatening to plunge Canada, along with the Royal Ontario Museum, into the thick of the long-running conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Beginning in June, the ROM will host a six-month exhibit of the famed Dead Sea Scrolls, organized in co-operation with the Israel Antiquities Authority. But top Palestinian officials this week declared the exhibit a violation of international law and called on Canada to cancel the show. In letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and top executives at the ROM, senior Palestinian officials argue the scrolls – widely regarded as among the great archaeological discoveries of the 20th century – were acquired illegally by Israel when the Jewish state annexed East Jerusalem in 1967. "The exhibition would entail exhibiting or displaying artifacts removed from the Palestinian territories," said Hamdan Taha, director-general of the archaeological department in the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.  "I think it is important that Canadian institutions would be responsible and act in accordance with Canada's obligations." The Palestinians say the planned ROM exhibit violates at least four international conventions or protocols on the treatment of cultural goods that were illegally obtained. Both Canada and Israel are signatories to all of the agreements, the Palestinians say. The letter of protest sent this week to Harper was signed by Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian Authority and its second-in-command. The letter to the ROM bore the signature of Khouloud Daibes, minister of tourism and antiquities. "I'm just hearing about this issue," William Thorsell, CEO of the ROM, said yesterday. "I do understand the Palestinians are making an issue of the ownership. But I'm quite certain the scrolls fall within the parameters of the law."
Minimum Wage Increases Tuesday, Will Rise Again Next YearMinimum Wage Increases Tuesday, Will Rise Again Next Year
Hourly earners, take note. The minimum wage in the province increased Tuesday and it will go up again in 2010. The rate is now $9.50 an hour in Ontario. That's an increase of 75 cents over the previous total. Next year, we'll see another 75-cent bump, bringing the payout to $10.25 an hour. Last week, Premier Dalton McGuinty had hinted that the 2010 wage hike might be cut due to the faltering economy. He changed his tune on Monday after much pressure from both the legislature - the opposition parties criticized his about face - and the street, where minimum wage earners in the province accused McGuinty of thinking only about the "big guys."
Minimum Wage Increases for General and Specific Job Categories:
Minimum Wage Rate February 1, 2007 March 31, 2008 March 31, 2009 March 31, 2010
General Minimum Wage $8.00
per hour
$8.75
per hour
$9.50
per hour
$10.25
per hour
Students under 18 $7.50
per hour
$8.20
per hour
$8.90
per hour
$9.60
per hour
Liquor servers $6.95
per hour
$7.60
per hour
$8.25 per hour $8.90
per hour
Hunting and Fishing guides

$40.00: per day: 

$43.75 per day $47.50 per day $51.25 per day
$80.00 per day: $87.50 per day
$95.00 per day
$102.50 per day
Homeworkers 110 per cent of the general minimum wage 110 per cent of minimum wage 110 per cent of  minimum wage 110 per cent of  minimum wage

 
Friday, Apr 24 
Saturday, Apr 25 
Sunday, Apr 26 
Monday, Apr 27 
 
Forecast
Mainly sunny 
cloudy periods 
cloudy 
 showers 
High
22 °C
25 °C
26 °C
21 °C
Low
4 °C
17 °C
17 °C
7 °C
Prob of Precip
30 %
10 %
20 %
40 %

Early Gridlock Warning: DVP To Be Closed All Weekend Gridlock Warning: DVP To Be Closed All Weekend
It's an annual rite at this time of year: spring cleaning. And no one is going to hate the chore more than drivers this weekend. The Don Valley Parkway will be closed for more than 48 hours this Saturday and Sunday, leaving those trying to get downtown facing the usual commuter chaos.

 Street racing! Fun, Wow! 

In the Greater Toronto Area, street racing  seems to be centred in the area of Peel between Orangeville and Brampton, spilling over into nearby areas of York Region around Kleinburg and Woodbridge. A driver clocked at nearly 190 km/h on the Gardiner Expressway Wednesday lost his licence and his 2006 Audi A3. At least 798 drivers have had their licences suspended for extreme driving on Toronto streets since March 23, the Ministry of Transportation says. In the latest case, a patrol officer noticed the 34-year-old suspect heading westbound near Kipling Ave. at a high speed around 10 a.m. The Audi was travelling at 186 km/h, almost double the Gardiner's 100-km/h speed limit, police say.  

WANNA HAVE SOME WHEEL FUN! THINK ABOUT IT FIRST!


C.W. Jefferys students leave school after classes yesterday. A teen was arrested after he was caught with a loaded handgun while being questioned by police and the school's principal.

 A CANADIAN /CANUCK
VANCOUVER VICTORYCanucksGame 1 turned out to be just that and the Canucks, who took seven minor penalties in the first two periods, felt somewhat fortunate to emerge with a 2-1 victory.
Canucks centre Mats Sundin Roberto Luongo passed a three-deep ring of reporters and six TV cameras surrounding Mats Sundin

Quebec offers $120M loan to AbitibiBowaterQuebec offers $120M loan to AbitibiBowater as a temporary measure to help the company while under bankruptcy protection.

 
Thursday, Apr 30 
Friday, May 1 
Saturday, May 2 
Sunday, May 3 
 
Forecast
 showers 
 showers 
sunny 
Sunny 
High
16 °C
17 °C
13 °C
16 °C
Low
6 °C
8 °C
3 °C
2 °C
Prob of Precip
90 %
90 %
0 %
0 %

 
Friday, Apr 10 
Sat, Apr 11 
Sunday, Apr 12 
Monday, Apr 13 
 
Forecast
Sunny
Sunny  
 sunny 
 cloudiness 
High
8 °C
7 °C
7 °C
10 °C
Low
-2 °C
-3 °C
-4 °C
-4 °C
Prob of Precip
10 %
10 %
0 %
10 %

WAKE UP CANADA BIG BROTHER NOW HAS YOU COMING AND GOING.....Police are free to search through a person's garbage without a warrant, even if it means crossing a residential property line, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. In a 7-O ruling today, the court said a former national swim star had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the trash set outside on his property. Beyond searching for evidence of a specific crime, law enforcement officials would be free to collect information for databases of personal biological information. In extreme cases, they might consider collecting trash in troubled neighbourhoods to construct profiles of people living the community. Patrick argued that snooping through his trash constituted an unreasonable search and seizure. While agreeing that police did not violate Patrick's Charter rights, Justice Rosalie Abella broke with her fellow judges in characterizing the privacy interests at stake in the case. "The home is the most private of places," she said. "Personal information emanating from the home that has been transformed into household waste is entitled to protection from indiscriminate state intrusion." "Household waste left for garbage disposal is 'abandoned' for a specific purpose – so that garbage will reach the waste disposal system," Abella said. "What has not been abandoned is the homeowner's privacy interest attaching to personal information. Individuals do not intend that this information, such as medical or financial information, will be generally accessible to public scrutiny, let alone to the state."

And if not convinced yet...Big brother could be coming to a bus shelter near you!

James DeanOnce the habit of the rich and famous and cool characters like Joe Camel, Marlboro Man and classic film stars, cigarettes now hold the reigns as the biggest social faux pas going.
Can't smoke outside buildings or inside casinos. Bingo halls and bars are out. Can't light up under umbrellas on restaurant patios. Even some of the most smoke-friendly European cities have stubbed out leisurely ciggies in their espresso-savoring hangouts.
Been at an airport lately? Long gone is the inside smoking room. Many airports now have a small outdoor shelter to hold smokers. They pack into a see-through box thing and kind of look like creatures at a zoo. Soon they (they being the Big Brother government types) might go so far as nixing that after-sex ciggie. Now that would be something.
But, before entertaining such ridiculous cruelties, Toronto may soon be clamping down on tobacco as the TTC mulls over an idea to ban smoking anywhere new transit stops. The space between smoker and transit stop being proposed is 10 metres. Seeing as there are 10,000 bus and streetcar stops across Toronto, trying to clamp down on this would be a very interesting experiment indeed. Dish out those tax dollars people because we've got to bust those naughty tobacco-loving criminals! This plan is about as useful as paying guys to troll around city parks in search of family dogs running off leash. Forget Toronto's thriving gang activity, shootings of innocent bystanders, drug deals, drunk driving deaths, child abuse and animal cruelty cases, someone's smoking near a bus stop! Get him!
Yeah, that's a biggie. Does the city really need to pay out more fat salaries to monitor this nonsense?
A BIG MONEY SHOWDOWN
1st witnesses to testify at Mulroney-Schreiber hearing A judge on Friday rejected Brian Mulroney's bid to delay an inquiry into the former prime minister's dealings with businessman Karlheinz Schreiber. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant ruled hearings will begin on March 30, not two weeks later as Mulroney's lawyer Guy Pratte had requested. The first witnesses at hearings that will delve into the business relationship between former prime minister Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber will testify on Monday in Ottawa. Former Conservative cabinet minister Bill McKnight and former Liberal cabinet minister Marc Lalonde will be the first witnesses. Mulroney's former chief of staff, Derek Burney, and Beth Moores, the widow of former Newfoundland premier and Mulroney confidant Frank Moores, will testify on Tuesday. A ruling by Justice Jeffery Oliphant clarified the legal terms of the inquiry last week and allowed the hearings to go ahead. Oliphant indicated he intends to cast a wide legal net in assessing the business relations between Mulroney and Schreiber. But the inquiry, which was ordered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will not come to any conclusions on criminal or civil liability. The inquiry will look at the money Mulroney received from Schreiber, who is facing extradition for tax, bribery and fraud charges in Germany. New Democrat MP Pat Martin said the hearings would give Canadians the chance to get answers about the money. "I think we're finally in a format and a setting where we can expect answers," Martin said. Martin acknowledged that the House of Commons ethics committee accomplished little in getting to the truth of the dealings between Mulroney and Schreiber. "If we hadn't taken action, Karlheinz Schreiber would've been wheels up and sitting in a jail in Germany and this opportunity would've been lost to us forever," Martin said. In testimony to the federal ethics committee in 2007, Mulroney said he received cash payments from Schreiber after he left office in June 1993. He said he was paid $225,000 in three instalments, and that the money was payment for his efforts as an international lobbyist on behalf of Thyssen, a German company. He has acknowledged waiting until 1999 to pay tax on the money. Schreiber has argued that the total was $300,000, and that the arrangement was reached while Mulroney was serving his last days as prime minister in 1993. Schreiber, who appeared before the ethics committee on four separate occasions, said Mulroney did nothing to earn the money. Schreiber is expected to testify on April 14.

MORE DIRTY COPS.....Fantino Abused Power, Documents Allege. Fantino Abused Power, Court Documents Allege
The latest round in Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino's fight to have an adjudicator removed from a disciplinary hearing goes before the courts Monday amid fresh allegations that the province's top cop abused his power and acted unlawfully. The new allegations, contained in filings with the Ontario Court of Appeal, stem from a criminal probe into a police officer who was a defence witness at the misconduct hearing Fantino initiated against two other senior officers. The criminal investigation began in January, three months after now-retired provincial police Insp. Keith Messham inadvertently disclosed a privileged document during the discipline process.  "The commissioner, in commencing a criminal investigation of (ret.) Insp. Messham, has again attempted to punish a defence witness," according to the defence's factum filed with Appeal Court. The document also shows the probe prompted the two other officers to complain about Fantino's behaviour to the deputy minister of community safety and the province's integrity commissioner. The complaint, which has not been proven, alleges Fantino "engaged in unlawful acts of reprisals against defence witnesses," according to the factum. The Messham probe came as a Divisional Court panel was still weighing a Fantino request to force retired justice Leonard Montgomery to step down as adjudicator in the misconduct case. In a letter to the lead investigator filed with the Appeal Court, Messham's lawyer Scott Fenton called the probe of his client a "gross misuse" of criminal investigative power. "The decision to direct a criminal investigation against Insp. Messham (ret.) appears to be part of a broader pattern of misuse of authority by the commissioner of the OPP against current and former senior officers who the commissioner perceives are disloyal, recalcitrant or disrespectful of his authority and his particular methods of enforcing discipline," Fenton wrote.  On Monday, the Appeal Court hears yet another attempt by Fantino to have the hearings put on hold while he fights to have Montgomery removed as adjudicator. The disciplinary case arose when the high-profile commissioner charged Supt. Ken MacDonald and Insp. Alison Jevons, formerly with the provincial force's internal standards branch, with misconduct and deceit under the Police Services Act.  The two officers had reviewed how police responded to a domestic dispute involving yet another officer in 2004 and concluded proper process was not followed.

BUDDY CAN YOU SPARE ME A JOB?More Than 61,000 Canadians Jobless In March Canada is shedding jobs at a rate not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980s, as March saw another 61,300 workers join the ballooning ranks of the unemployed. The loss brought Canada's official unemployment rate to eight per cent, the worst in seven years. Statistics Canada noted that since the peak in October, employment has fallen each month for a total of 357,000, representing 2.1 per cent of the work force. That is the most since 1982.  "Losses in March were widespread across a number of industries, most notably in manufacturing, finance, insurance, real estate and leasing, construction and natural resources," the agency said Thursday. Economists had been expecting another poor jobs report with about 55,000 jobs lost.

Vancouver Web Editor Last Canadian Standing For World's Best Job Last Canadian Standing For World's Best Job.  Erik Rolfsen is hoping his third visit to Australia will be a charm as he heads Down Under, one step closer to landing what's been dubbed "The Best Job in the World." Rolfsen, online news editor for The Vancouver Province, made the final short list of 16 candidates vying to become caretaker of Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef . The winner will receive a six-month contract worth 150,000 Australian dollars - around C$134,000 - to live in a three-bedroom house with views of the Whitsunday Islands while writing a blog to promote the area. The caretaker will also be expected to capture moments for a video diary and photo gallery. The 39-year-old father of two is the last Canadian left standing in the contest, which started off with a pool of nearly 35,000 applicants. Rolfsen was among seven Canadians who made the top 50 finalists shortlisted last month for the job. The public had the chance to view video applications from the top 50 finalists on the job ad's website and vote for their favourite to become the lone wild card entry. Rolfsen took a playful approach in his video, which featured him watching "Finding Nemo" to learn more about the Great Barrier Reef. He will now join the top wild card vote-getter, Clare Wang of Taiwan, and the remaining 14 finalists chosen by the tourism board of Queensland, who will be flown to Hamilton Island next month for interviews.

The Slow Birth Of The Electric Car Slow Birth Of The Electric Car....The electric car company, Tesla Motors, plans to unveil a new prototype this week, the Model S. Judging by the early photos leaked on the Internet, it will have all the sleek, sports-car looks the company is known for, but with one very important difference: the price tag. Unlike Tesla's US$109,000 electric Roadster, the new car will cost less than US$50,000, the company says. That's still pricier than your typical four-door family car, but cheap enough for Tesla to move beyond selling cars to Hollywood celebrities and start courting the all-important mainstream customer. So far, Tesla is little more than a fringe player in the auto industry. It has a 1,000 person wait list for its Roadster, but that says as much about how slowly the cars are being built than it does about demand. Since its launch in 2006, Tesla has delivered just 250 Roadsters, which it now makes at a rate of 20 per week. Tesla is also not making money yet, and late last year had to borrow $40 million from investors. It says it could be profitable by later next year.

Surprising Cast Appears Set For New Three Stooges Movie New Three Stooges Movie on it's way! What a revoltin' development! Or so you might think with the news that the cast of a new Three Stooges movie seems all but set. Reports out of Hollywood have confirmed only one name for sure. And you may not believe some of this casting. Oscar winner Sean Penn has been signed to star as Larry Fine, the so-called middle Stooge with the curly hair just made to be ripped out by Moe. It will be his first comedy since 1989. So who's in charge of this notorious threesome? It's said to be none other than Benecio Del Toro, who will play the noggin cracking, skull pounding, hammer knocking, bowl haircut-wearing leader of the trio. But perhaps the most amazing cast member will be a man who's badly in need of a hit after a series of less than blockbuster starring roles: Canadian Jim Carrey (top left) is said to be all but confirmed for the pivotal role of Curly, although he may have to gain 40 lbs. and be shaved bald to fit the role. Can he do it? Soitanly!
Tuesday, Mar 31 
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VANCOUVER –RCMP on trial at Inquest.  A Mountie denied Wednesday he collaborated with his fellow officers to "cook up" a fabricated story to justify why a Polish man was Tasered five times at Vancouver airport in 2007. The officer was responding to allegations put to him by Don Rosenbloom, a Vancouver lawyer representing the government of Poland, the country Robert Dziekanski left to come to Canada. He died at Vancouver International airport shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, 2007. The lawyer accused Millington of colluding with three other officers involved in the fatal incident, intentionally misleading homicide investigators and continuing to lie on the witness stand. "You and your fellow officers collaborated to fabricate your story in the expectation that it would justify your conduct to your superiors. Do you deny that?" Rosenbloom asked. "I'm suggesting that you and your fellow officers intentionally misled ... investigators and you continue to lie under oath at this commission. Do you deny that?" Rosenbloom charged. Millington said it never happened. Asked why all the officers to testify so far made similar mistakes in their recollections of what happened, Millington replied: "I don't know." He denied Rosenbloom's suggestion that the officers who dealt with Dziekanski made "terrible mistakes" and did not act in a prudent manner. "I didn't think he was going to die," Millington added. He said he spent 10 seconds trying to ask Dziekanski for his passport and identification. "He moved away and ended the communication." He said he zapped Dziekanski with 50,000 volts when the agitated man grabbed a stapler off a counter and held it in his hand in a threatening manner..... the video says otherwise. Millington, who had never used a Taser before or since, said he repeatedly pulled the trigger because Dziekanski was struggling with other officers trying to get his hands handcuffed behind his back. Millington said Dziekanski turned blue shortly after he was handcuffed. He died at the scene. The fourth officer involved in the incident, Cpl. Benjamin (Monty) Robinson, won't testify until March 23, when the inquiry resumes after a two-week break. The inquiry is being followed closely in Poland, said Marcin Wrona, the Washington D.C. bureau chief of TVN Poland, who has been attending the inquiry this week. He noted that Polish prosecutors are investigating the incident. "If a Polish citizen dies abroad, Polish prosecutors can conduct their own investigation." Walter Kosteckyj, representing Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, said outside the court police testimony has undermined public confidence in the RCMP. Kosteckyj, a former Mountie, said the inquiry has found police notes and statements were riddled with errors. "They won't admit they were in error," he said, accusing the officers of giving phony explanations that defy common sense instead.The RCMP realizes the level of public trust in the force has dropped as a result of evidence emerging at the Braidwood inquiry, . Monday's inquiry, which heard testimony from RCMP Cpl. Monty Robinson, the senior commanding officer in the early morning hours of Oct. 14, 2007, when Dziekanski was Tasered five times and died minutes later. "We're going to work extremely hard to get it back to a level we would like to see," RCMP said. A reporter raised the fact that all four officers involved in the fatal in-custody death have admitted their police statements were wrong in describing the events that led to Dziekanski's death. "Why have these officers not been fired?" a reporter asked."how things can be rectified" if deficiences are found. Excerpts from study by National Technical Systems,Test Report 4119608.SRC: Four units  that were tested generated currents above the +15% limits Taser International recommends that a daily “spark test” should be conducted by police officers once every 24 hours or prior to the start of their shift. The purpose of this spark test is to verify that the Taser device is working properly and the battery is adequately charged, and because: “There are components in the high voltage section of the X26 that are more reliable when energized (“conditioned”) on a regular basis”...The reduction of ventricular fibrillation threshold due to repetitive extrasystoles is an important aspect of our electrical safety analysis. Going indirectly from a normal cardiac rhythm to ventricular extrasystoles and finally to ventricular fibrillation requires less current than going directly from a normal cardiac rhythm to fibrillation. This reduction of threshold due to repetitive extrasystoles is not taken into consideration by the proponents of the Taser device who base their safety analysis on the effects of a single pulse (Green model, Peleska model), or consider a stream of pulses as a sinusoidal current. Considering that a strict application of the risk assessment method described in the IEC60479-2 Technical Specification suggests that X26 Tasers with intermittent, abnormally high output can have a significant probability of cardiac arrest when the barbs impact the chest in the vicinity of the heart and the current impulses trigger premature cardiac contractions, we recommend: A moratorium on the use of older X26 devices.

An Ontario judge has handed a senior member of the Hells Angels nine years in prison for ordering associates to deal cocaine. Gerald (Skinny) Ward was found guilty of directing the commission of a criminal offence for the benefit of a criminal organization. The 61-year-old founding member of the Niagara Hells Angels chapter had pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and possessing the proceeds of crime. Court heard Ward directed five other members and associates of the Hells Angels to deliver four kilograms of high-grade cocaine to a former member of the Oshawa chapter of the gang who became a police agent. Justice John McMahon says Ward was clearly behind the drug transactions. McMahon said 14 years is an appropriate sentence for Ward, but credited Ward with five years already served in prison since his arrest in September 2006.

GST And PST To Become HST As Ontario Budget Ups Your TaxesGST And PST To Become HST ...It's official - The GST and the PST are about to be joined in what some taxpayers say is an unholy union that will cost them a lot of money. That was the major announcement confirmed as Finance Minister Dwight Duncan rose to deliver the long awaited recession-fighting budget at Queen's Park Thursday afternoon. As was widely expected, the government is following the lead of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador by harmonizing the 5 per cent GST and the 8 per cent PST into one blended tax - the HST or harmonized sales tax - that will add 13 per cent to a wide range of items and services that weren't covered by the provincial levy in the past. Ottawa will give Ontario $4.3 billion in assistance to ease the difficult transition. The change means another blow to drivers - they'll pay even more for gas, as the new charge will up the taxes they'll have to shell out after every fill-up. Your morning cup of coffee will eventually cost you a bit more. So will airfare and taxi rides. The government will be softening the blow a bit by sending out three cheques totaling $1,000 to families earning less than $160,000 a year. If you're single and make $80,000 or less, you'll get just $300. The first cheque will come in June 2010, the second before Christmas of the same year and the final payment will arrive in June 2011. Critics are already calling it a shameful tax grab at a time when the economy is in tatters and people are already short of money! 
 
budget highlights.

  • Provincial sales tax to be harmonized with the GST as of July 2010, spreading the tax to a number of goods and services not currently subject to the PST.  Small range of goods and new homes under $400,000 continue to be exempt.
  • Sales tax increase to be offset by special rebates totalling $1,000 for families with an income below $160,000; singles with an income below $80,000 to get $300
  • Sales tax change estimated to save businesses more than $500 million a year.
  • Sales tax credit and property tax credits enhanced to save taxpayers more than $1 billion a year by 2011.
  • Lowest provincial income tax rate falls from 6.05 per cent from 5.05 per cent on January 1st, cutting taxes by up to $205 dollars per filer and $379 per child.
  • Deficit forecast at $3.9 billion for 2008-09 and $14.1 billion for 2009-10. Total deficit to hit $56.8 billion by 2015.
  • $27.5 billion to be spent over two years to improve roads, hospitals and schools, creating and maintaining more than 300,000 jobs.
  • $700 million over two years to be spent on skills training.
  • Business taxes to be cut by $4.5 billion over three years starting July 2010.
  • Cost-cutting measures include a pay freeze for MPP's for 2009-10 and cutting the size of the Ontario public service by five per cent over three years.
  • Total program spending in 2009-10 up $11.1 billion to $99.6 billion.
  • Economy forecast to shrink by 2.5 per cent this year but rebound to 2.3 per cent growth next year and 3.3 per cent in 2011.
 
Nickelback arrives at the awards show.
 Nickelback arrives at the juno awards show.

The energy at more than 100 pre-Juno parties and performances, and the screaming fans who lined the red carpet show were a great practice run for the 2010 Olympics — and a wildly successful one. GM Place was jammed to the rafters with fans and industry folk for the Canadian music industry's biggest celebration of the year. (Actually the industry folk were on the floor — the fans were in the rafters.) In a very un-West Coast display of unabashed delirium, fans lined a red carpet outside GM Place’s Gate 10 for hours before the show. There was plenty of screaming and hair shaking when anyone stepped out of a limousine, although because most of the musicians dressed down and everyone else — including many fans — dressed up, the hair shaking might have been as much from confusion as from excitement. But if there was any fear that new artists wouldn’t be able to blow away the smoke from Nickelback’s explosive opener, the first award, Songwriter of the Year, settled the matter, with the award going to City and Color’s Dallas Green. Loverboy got a standing ovation as they took the stage for their Lifetime Achievement Award, and their appearance, complete with spouses and some slightly abashed looking teenagers in the audience, showed that the best old rockers just never go away. Ultimately what was missing from this year’s awards was the spectacular single break-out act, the Feist, the Nelly Furtado or Sarah McLachlan, but like a mother giving goodie bags at the end of a birthday party, the Junos had something for everyone. Even without a breakthrough artist — someone with enough record sales to please the industry and enough edge and originality to thrill the new generation of music-lovers — it was a night where old school met new school and everyone got along.The Stills joke around backstage after winning the New Group of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year at the Junos.

On March 10, 2009 Warner Music Canada will release The 2009 JUNO Awards compilation album. The project is a joint venture between Canada’s four major labels (EMI Music Canada Inc., Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., Universal Canada and Warner Music Canada) and The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS).

A large tree frog, Nyctimystes sp., with enormous eyes that was discovered in a rainforest in Papua New Guinea's highlands wilderness in 2008 is shown. (AP / Conservation International, Steve Richards) A large tree frog, Nyctimystes sp., with enormous eyes that was discovered in a rainforest in Papua New Guinea's highlands wilderness in 2008 is shown. brilliant green tree frog with huge black eyes, jumping spiders and a striped gecko are among more than 50 new animal species scientists have discovered in a remote, mountainous region of Papua New Guinea.

The discoveries were announced Wednesday by Washington D.C.-based Conservation International, which spent the past several months analyzing more than 600 animal species the group found during its expedition to the South Pacific island nation in July and August. Of the animals discovered, 50 spider species, three frogs and a gecko appear to have never been described in scientific literature before, the conservation group said. The new frogs include a tiny brown animal with a sharp chirp, a bug-eyed bright green tree frog and another frog with a loud ringing call. One of the jumping spiders is shiny and pale green, while another is furry and brown.

Jimi Hendrix died in London, England in 1970 at age 27. He had only made three records.Jimi Hendrix STILL IN THE NEWS A demo tape of Jimi Hendrix playing 14 acoustic songs, recorded in 1968 and traded to a neighbour, is to be auctioned in April. Hendrix gave the tape to Carl Niekirk, who owned a photography studio beneath the late rock icon's London flat. The green box contains 1,800 feet of quarter-inch tape recorded when Hendrix was working on his third album, Electric Ladyland. "It was a constant stream of people coming and going and partying," Niekirk told the Independent newspaper, recalling the guests included Beatle George Harrison. One day, Hendrix asked Niekirk whether he could borrow some sugar. When the photographer handed over the ingredient, Hendrix gave him the tape. "Because I asked him, he just gave it to me," Niekirk said. "As simple as that." Niekirk eventually passed the tape on to his sister, who owned a pub in London. And that's where it was stored for years in a closet until Mark Sutherland and Paul Jackson, owners of London's Cafe Music Studios, bought it for a "nominal fee" 10 years ago. On the tape, Hendrix covers Bob Dylan, plays Tears of Rage and All Along the Watchtower, which appeared on Electric Ladyland. A few tracks include an unidentified harmonica player. The auction will go ahead April 28 on the site famebureau.com, with bids expected to reach between £50,000 to £100,000 ($88,700 to $177,400 Cdn). Hendrix — known for his scorching version of the The Star-Spangled Banner as well as hit singles such as Foxy Lady and Purple Haze — asphyxiated in his sleep on Sept. 18, 1970, in London. He was 27.
Toronto Turns Out The Lights For Earth Hour From concerts, to stargazing, to playing board games by candlelight, Canadians found lots of ways to switch off the lights to participate in Saturday night's global Earth Hour. In Toronto, the iconic CN Tower slipped into darkness at 8:30 p.m. ET, along with many of the skyscrapers in city's financial district at 8:30pm local time, Toronto joined . We were one of nearly 4,000 other cities in 88 countries participating in the World Wildlife Fund-sponsored event. Some of the city's most iconic symbols - including the CN Tower, Toronto City Hall, and Honest Ed's infamous 23,000 light bulb sign at Bloor and Bathurst Streets - took part in the campaign. Now in its second year, the WWF aims to draw attention to climate change by having everyone reduce their electricity use for 60 minutes.This year, a lot more Torontonians got involved, reducing the city's energy consumption by 15 per cent during the event. Last year, electricity demand dropped 8.7 per cent.
 
 
 
 Canadian researchers have uncovered an internet spy network, based mostly in China, that has hacked into computers owned by governments and private organizations in 103 countries. The findings released Sunday follow a 10-month investigation by researchers from the Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. The group was initially asked to look into allegations that the Chinese were hacking into computers set up by the Tibetan exile community, but their work eventually led them to a much wider network of compromised computers. Once the hackers infiltrated the systems, they installed malware — software that sends and receives data. By doing this, they were able to gain control of the electronic mail server computers of the Dalai Lama’s organization, the group said. The researchers said the spy network, dubbed GhostNet, infiltrated at least 1,295 computers, many belonging to embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices, as well as the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centres in India, Brussels, London and New York.
  Image of Jupiter aurora in UV by the Hubble Space Telescope. Bright streaks and dots are caused by magnetic flux tubes connecting Jupiter to its largest moons: Io: bright streak on the far left . Ganymede: bright dot below center, Europa: dot on the right.

 

Friday, Mar 27 
Saturday, Mar 28 
Sunday, Mar 29 
Monday, Mar 30 
 
Forecast
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Light rain 
Isolated showers 
Variable cloudiness 
High
11 °C
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8 °C
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  Earth Day...this Saturday!  Turn out the lights for one hour this Saturday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging citizens around the world to join WWF's Earth Hour to demand action on climate change. In a video-taped address, the Secretary-General said that Earth Hour — which takes place on Saturday 28th March — promises to be “the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted.” WWF's Earth Hour is being hailed as the biggest ever global movement – a vote for the future of planet earth. Hundreds of millions of people are expected to take part by switching off non-essential lighting for an hour. Cities from Las Vegas to Sydney, from Cape Town to Beijing will go dark for an hour.Gordon Kubanek, left to right, Frank de Jong and Chris Bradshaw hold candles below the unlit Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Saturday, March 29, 2008, in observance of Earth Hour. Gordon Kubanek, left to right, Frank de Jong and Chris Bradshaw hold candles below the unlit Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Saturday, March 29, 2008, in observance of Earth Hour.
City Will Pay You To Pretend To Be HomelessCity Will Pay You To Pretend To Be Homeless
Three years after the city released the results of its first Street Needs Assessment on Toronto's homeless, they're at it again - and they need your help. There's a controversial plan in the works to pay participants who will pretend to be homeless for one evening. The volunteers will receive a Visa card loaded with a $100 honorarium for their work.They don't have to dress up, but they do have to attend a training session and answer all survey questions. They'll act as a control group for those conducting the assessment, scheduled for April 15. The researchers are true volunteers and will not be compensated for their time. The Street Needs Assessment has come under fire from community organizations, who argue the money spent on the study should go to other endeavours like housing. "There's no methodology that's been used anywhere in the world that gives us reliable numbers," countered Michael Shapcott of the Wellesley Institute. "So in the end what they're doing is spending a few hundred thousand dollars - or more - to find out stuff that we already know." In 2006, the city says it counted 5,052 homeless people on April 19th. Officials noted, though, that the number doesn't reflect the number of "hidden homeless" who may be staying with friends or family temporarily.

Woman Keeps Wits About Her To Escape Carjacker In MiltonWoman Keeps Wits About Her To Escape Carjacker In Milton
A 30-year-old woman is alive and well and lucky to be able to tell her tale after she took evasive maneuvers to avoid a carjacker in Milton on Monday. Halton Regional Police say the would-be victim was coming back from a shopping trip in a plaza at 820 Main St. South around 6:30pm when she got into her car in the parking lot. When she looked up, he was there - a stranger standing over her, threatening to harm her if she didn't do exactly what she was told. She began sliding over into the passenger seat as he got into the driver's side. But instead of simply stopping there, the quick witted woman kept going, quickly opening the door and tumbling out of the other side of the vehicle, screaming for help from passersby. She was also smart enough to have grabbed the keys, leaving her attacker alone in a car that wasn't going anywhere. Her befuddled assailant dashed away in the other direction and disappeared. Now cops are looking to stop this would be wheel-man before he tries it again. The suspect is described as: Latin American, 30-40, 5'8" with an average build.He was wearing sunglasses, jeans and a bomber style brown and green plaid winter jacket. The victim was shaken up but physically unharmed

Chinese Craft Whacks the Moon

Chinese lunar explorer

The Chinese people are often stereotyped as being inscrutable, meaning "difficult to fathom or understand." And that about sums up my reaction to yesterday's news that the flight controllers at the Chinese National Space Administration intentionally sent the Chang'e 1 orbiter crashing into the Moon. Xinhua news agency say, ground zero was 1.50° south, 52.36° east. That's a nondescript tract of Mare Fecunditatis about 90 miles (145 km) from the crater Messier. The spacecraft, which carried eight experiments, rocketed toward the Moon on October 24, 2007, and had been in lunar orbit for 16 months. And it was beefy, weighing in at more than 2 tons. That's comparable to the mass of a Centaur rocket that NASA's hopes to drill into one of the lunar poles later this year, along with the LCROSS spacecraft. Chang'e 1's impact undoubtedly made a sizable splash that should have been observable from Earth.
So here's what I don't understand: (1) The end came at 8:13 Universal Time, which is 4:13 p.m. in Beijing's time zone. That means the Moon was up, but sunset was still about two hours away — not ideal conditions for lunar observing. (2) The near-side impact site was in daylight, yet the crash would have been closer to the terminator, or even in shadow, just a couple days ago. So why pick March 1st and not February 27th? (3) NASA officials are lining up an army of telescopes to try to record the LCROSS finale, now scheduled for early September or thereabouts. Wouldn't it have made sense for Chinese scientists to alert their Western colleagues of Chang'e 1's impending crash? At the very least, it would have been a useful test exercise.
It seems everyone is talking about the impending blockbuster Watchmen these days, positioning it as "the end of superhero movies" or "the beginning of a new era in superhero movies" or debating how faithful to the original comic book it'll really be. Based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' 1986 groundbreaking graphic novel — the only one to make Time magazine's "100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present" — Watchmen introduces an alternate timeline where superheroes walk the earth, for better or worse.http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.vancouversun.com/wa.jpgThe alternate universe of The Watchmen breaks out
TO 175 Timeline Part 2: Back To The Future: The 1900s ArriveTO 175 Timeline Part 2: Back To The Future: The 1900s Arrive
Toronto celebrates its 175th birthday on March 6, and leading up to the big event we will be posting stories, photos, and video about this city, past and present.

Front and Bay After The Fire, 1900: The industrial revolution is underway and Toronto is in the centre of the action, as the city becomes a major commerce and business town. Population is now well over 200,000. April 19, 1904: The Second Great Toronto Fire Some 55 years after most of the city was destroyed by fire, the downtown core was ravaged again, ironically in the same month as its devastating predecessor. December 2, 1905:  We Love A Parade  Who would ever have thought that something so huge could grow out of this? It's the start of the big Christmas holiday merchandising season and Eaton's is looking for a gimmick to set it apart from its competitors. The solution: get Santa Claus to arrive at Union Station and walk with the celebrated first family of retail to their store at Yonge and Queen St.   

The very first Santa in 1905For some reason, this silly simple stroll caught on and got the company the publicity it was looking for. From then on, it got more and more elaborate, adding a horse drawn carriage, footmen and trumpeters. These were the roots of the Santa Claus parade, an annual tradition in Toronto that has been going non-stop for more than a hundred years Nov. 12, 1931: The Carlton St. Cashbox Opens It hadn't been that long since the Toronto St. Pats morphed into the Maple Leafs. Clearly, the owners were on to something profitable. Now they need a good place to play that the team could call its own. Enter Maple Leaf Gardens, a storied building near College and Yonge which would become to many the hallowed hall of hockey in the world. The land itself was purchased by Leafs managing director Conn Smythe from Eaton's for $1.5 million, a lot of money back then but still said to be below the real value. In an unprecedented rush to get it done, the entire place was built from start to finish in an astonishing five months and two weeks. It opened on a November night at the height of the Depression with a game against the Black Hawks. The price of admission for the best seats: $2.75, spare change today but pretty pricey back then. The Leafs lost their first game 2-1 in their new home - some things never change - but the legacy they set there won't fade for generations.They wound up winning 11 Stanley Cups in that building, including one in the first year and their most recent - if you can call 1967 recent. But the Gardens would become known for so much more than just hockey. It was the main place for concerts, shows, and even political conventions, and famously hosted both Elvis and the Beatles. Other sports events called the place home, too, including weekly wrestling bouts and the famous George Chuvalo-Muhammad Ali fight in on March 29, 1966. And of course, there was the yearly visit of the ubiquitous Ice Capades (below.)

March 30, 1954: The First Toronto Subway Opens It wasn't really very long and if you didn't live near Yonge St., it took a long time to get there. But Toronto moved into the modern age with the opening of its first subway line, which only ran from Eglinton to Union. The hype surrounding the unveiling of the underground railway had been building since construction started in 1949. But its roots really stretch back to WWII, when gas rationing forced thousands to use the system to get anywhere. The profits generated help fund the subway that would come later.

 

In a mission that may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself, NASA on Friday prepared to launch a telescope that will search our corner of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets.
Kepler will look for planets passing in front of their parent stars. Such events are called transits. Kepler will look for planets passing in front of their stars. Such events are called transits.
The Kepler spacecraft is scheduled to blast into space on top of a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida just before 11 p.m. ET. "This is a historical mission. It's not just a science mission," NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler said during a pre-launch news conference. "It really attacks some very basic human questions that have been part of our genetic code since that first man or woman looked up in the sky and asked the question: Are we alone?" Kepler contains a special telescope that will stare at 100,000 stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of the Milky Way for more than three years as it trails Earth's orbit around the Sun.

Car Freezes To Driveway As Cold Spell Finally Ready To Break By the end of the week, we could be into double digits and well above the norm of 2C. It can't come soon enough for one GTA family. A water main break - another frequent problem in these conditions - led to an incredible scene in a Scarborough driveway. As the liquid poured out onto the pavement, it trickled onto a driveway in the Highway 2 and Midland Ave. area. When the tenant came outside in the morning, she was in for a huge surprise. The tires of the vehicle had frozen to the driveway and the rest of the surface was a sheet of ice, imprisoning the car where it sat.

Man Succumbs To Injuries After Being Hit By Brampton Transit BusMan Hit By Brampton Transit Bus Dies. A 33-year-old man has died after being struck by a Brampton transit bus near Queen and Main Street North. It happened just before 8:00pm Tuesday.   Peel police closed off the intersection of Main and Alexander for the investigation.  The victim's name hasn't been released.

Subway Shoving Suspect Back In Court Friday As Footage Of Takedown SurfacesTTC Talks Barriers In Wake Of Subway Pushing
TTC Talks Barriers In Wake Of Subway Pushing. It's a plan that's already in place in Tokyo, Paris (pictured), London and other major transit hubs, but could subway platform barriers soon be coming to Toronto? In the wake of a terrifying event Friday that saw two teens shoved onto the tracks at Dufferin Station, it's looking more and more likely. "There are security reasons for doing it, safety reasons for doing it - but also efficiency reasons," noted city councillor Joe Mihevc. But it won't be happening anytime soon. Right now trains are manually controlled, but safety barriers require an automatic system, which won't be installed for another seven years. "We are at the beginning of installing that system on the Yonge-University line, and that won't be ready till 2016," Mihevc revealed. And that's if they're implemented at all. One big barrier to the barriers is the price: it would cost the cash-strapped system anywhere from $5 million to $8 million per station to implement the devicesSubway Shoving. The  idiots at TTC want to put up barracades! This will cost millions per station, but then people with a loose screw or two will push you into traffic. putting up barriers is dumb. We don't erect nets to catch crashing planes! The obvious answer to me would be to identify dangerous people and have their movement restricted.
Adenir De Oliveira  the 47-year-old accused of pushing two teens off a subway platform at Dufferin Subway Station last Friday, and allegedly attempting to topple a third youth. The suspect, who was tracked down by a TTC collector and several other bystanders, stood quietly and said nothing during his short time before Mr. Justice Patrick Sheppard. The story has horrified commuters across the city, after a man apparently snuck up behind five friends waiting for a train at the Bloor-Danforth station during rush hour and tried to push them over. Two fell, and while one escaped injury, the other wasn't so lucky - the train wound up running over his foot.

 
Friday, Mar 6 
Saturday, Mar 7 
Sunday, Mar 8 
Monday, Mar 9 
 
Forecast
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Isolated showers 
Light rain 
Mainly sunny 
High
12 °C
10 °C
14 °C
3 °C
Low
2 °C
0 °C
2 °C
-1 °C
Probability of Precipitation
30 %
70 %
80 %
20 %

 'Just get the hell out of here' Single Female Voter struck out Wednesday because of bad timing. McGuinty (Canadian Press)

Television comedian Geri Hall's attempt to mock Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty at the provincial legislature fell flat when she interrupted him fielding reporters' questions about job layoffs. In character as Single Female Voter from the CBC show "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," Hall was attempting to poke fun at McGuinty's new rule requiring reporters to stand five feet back when they question him. "I'm going to come a little bit closer and you tell me when you feel nervous," she said. "I get your point OK, because if a pack of guys I didn't know approached me every day, shoved their stuff in my face and expected me to just stand there while they recorded it, I'd be a little freaked out too." But there were few laughs as Hall vainly attempted to get McGuinty to hug one of the reporters after she walked into the middle of questions on U.S. Steel's decision to shut down the former Stelco mills in Ontario.

NOT A NICE STYORY ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT....
turn away if you are squeamish.....
GET AHEAD ON GREYHOUND...........
Accused Found Not Criminally Responsible For Beheading on Greyhound BusAccused Found Not Criminally Responsible For Beheading on Greyhound Bus
A man who believed he was following God's orders when he stabbed and beheaded a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba has been found not criminally responsible. Justice John Scurfield said Vince Li's attack on Tim McLean last summer was "grotesque" and "barbaric" but "strongly suggestive of a mental disorder." "He did not appreciate the actions he committed were morally wrong. He believed he was acting in self-defence." Scurfield said Thursday. Both Crown and defence psychiatrists had testified at Li's trial that he was suffering from schizophrenia and believed God wanted him to kill McLean because the young man was a force of evil. Li was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded not guilty. He will be institutionalized without a criminal record and will be reassessed every year by a mental health review board to determine if he is fit for release into the community. The decision brings an end to a trial that barely lasted two days and only heard from two witnesses - both psychiatrists - who testified Li is mentally ill and didn't realize that killing McLean was wrong. McLean's family has dismissed the trial as a "rubber stamp" that is allowing Li to get away with murder. They are vowing to now turn their attention to fighting the law that allows people who are found not criminally responsible to be released into the community once they are deemed well without serving a minimum sentence in jail.
'Suspicious' Fire Break Out At Two Brampton Construction Sites'Suspicious' Fire Break Out At Two Brampton Construction Sites
Peel Police are looking into whether suspicious fires set at two Brampton construction sites may be connected. The first blaze broke out at about 3am at a site on Laurelcrest St. near Queen St. and Highway 410. Three townhouses in the process of being built went up in flames. Nearby homes had to be evacuated but fortunately there were no injuries. About half an hour later, flames shot into the night sky at another townhouse development on Airport Rd. near Mayfield. Again though, there were no injuries reported. Indications that an anti-urbanization group which has been terrorizing construction sites in the area for years are responsible.
Tamil Protest Stops Traffic In Downtown CoreTamil Protest Stops Traffic In Downtown Core. About 1,000 Tamil protesters blocked traffic into a downtown intersection Monday night where they had gathered to protest what they call genocide in their homeland. The rally was organized by Tamil Canadians who are upset over Sri Lanka's crackdown on Tamil rebels. But as the crowd swelled, people spilled into the intersection of Front and John streets. Officers from several divisions were called in to help control the peaceful crowd, which soon started to disperse.
  
"I am honoured to accept the first Distinguished Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute..."
-Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking to Regularly Visit Perimeter Institute as Distinguished Research Chair

WATERLOO, Ontario, Canada,  Dr. Neil Turok, Director of Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), is pleased to announce the appointment of internationally regarded scientist Prof. Stephen Hawking to the position of PI Distinguished Research Chair.   Prof. Hawking will conduct regular stays at PI in coming years, beginning in the summer of ’09, and says, "I am honoured to accept the first Distinguished Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute.  The Institute's twin focus, on quantum theory and gravity, is very close to my heart and central to explaining the origin of the Universe. I look forward to building a growing partnership between PI and our Centre for Theoretical Cosmology, at Cambridge.  Our research endeavour is global, and by combining forces I believe we will reap rich rewards." In announcing that Prof. Hawking will visit PI for extended periods each year, PI Director Neil Turok said, "The appointment marks a new phase in our recruitment that will see leading scientists from around the world establish a second 'research home' at Perimeter Institute. I am delighted that Stephen has agreed to accept the first of a projected 40 such visiting Chairs. We look forward to hosting Stephen in Waterloo, Ontario, to benefiting from his wise mentorship and guidance which has been so successful in Cambridge, and to the many stimulating scientific collaborations which will undoubtedly emerge." About Prof. Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking has held the post of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge since 1979.  The chair was first held by Isaac Barrow, and then in 1669 by Isaac Newton. In his work, Dr. Hawking seeks to better understand the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein's General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory, the other great scientific development of the first half of the 20th Century. One consequence of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear.  Another conjecture is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science. Stephen Hawking has three popular books published; his best seller A Brief History of Time, as well as Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays and most recently in 2001, The Universe in a Nutshell. Professor Hawking has twelve honorary degrees, was awarded the CBE in 1982, and was made a Companion of Honour in 1989. He is the recipient of many awards, medals and prizes and is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

  Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president. Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a “shout-out back” by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor-in-chief. “How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief,” Quesada said. “It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We’re all thrilled with that.” The comic starts with Spider-Man’s alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas. Parker decides “the future president’s gonna need Spider-Man,” and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor. Obama thanks him with a fist-bump

a page from Spider-Man comic book featuring President-elect Barack Obama

 
Thursday, Feb 19 
Friday, Feb 20 
Sat, Feb 21 
Sunday, Feb 22 
 
Forecast
 flurries 
 flurries 
 flurries 
 cloudy  
High
-3 °C
-5 °C
-4 °C
-5 °C
Low
-9 °C
-11 °C
-10 °C
-11 °C
Prob of Precip
60 %
60 %
40 %
10 %
Obama Visit Designed To Remain Harper's ShowCanadians May Get Chance To See Barack Obama During Ottawa Visit After All
Canadians May Get Chance To See Barack Obama During Ottawa Visit After All. It seems you just can't keep a lid on all that Obama love. Police forces involved in planning for the American president's visit next Thursday are relaxing their security plans a bit to let some of his fans in on the action. Details are still being worked out, but the RCMP will set aside some space on Parliament Hill for Canadians who want to catch a glimpse of Barack Obama when he arrives and leaves. Ottawa police are also planning for the adoring crowds. Supt. Charles Bordeleau says there'll be a massive police presence along the city's roads to help direct the crowds who want to send a wave his way. It's a switch from the days when police were planning for angry crowds of protesters greeting the American president. Obama Visit Designed To Remain Harper's Show. The Opposition leader has been banished to an airport hangar. The TV cameras are being kept away from Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean. And the involvement of cabinet ministers remains a state secret. The logistical arrangements for Barack Obama's Canadian visit have relegated all Canadian actors to the sidelines save for one: Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Prime Minister's Office provided long-awaited logistical details Tuesday for the U.S. president's visit. That briefing session suggests Harper will seek to establish close personal ties with the popular new president - and to make sure it gets noticed by Canadians. The prime minister's spokespeople spent nearly as much time Tuesday pointing out personal similarities between the two leaders as they did discussing the issues to be raised Thursday.
In 2009 we celebrate the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), a worldwide education and public outreach effort to honor the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo. A primary goal of IYA is to "expose as many people as possible to the wonders of astronomy."  Informing everyone about the nature of the universe was a goal that Galileo pursued at risk to his livelihood and his life. In his hands the telescope became the instrument of an intellectual revolution. His observations of the moon, his discovery of the moons of Jupiter, and the resolution of the Milky Way into "...a mass of innumerable stars ..." transformed people's view of their place in the grand scheme of things.
MARS ALIVE! NASA says a surprising and mysterious belch of methane gas on Mars hints at possible microbial life underground; it could also be coming from changes in rocks. The presence of methane on Mars could be significant because by far most of the gas on Earth is a byproduct of life - from animal digestion and decaying plants and animals.

Hugh Hefner, centre, poses with Playboy's 2008 Playmate of the Year Jayde Nicole of Port Perry, Ont. Canada.

 
Tuesday, Jan 27 
Wednesday, Jan 28 
Thursday, Jan 29 
Friday, Jan 30 
 
Forecast
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Isolated flurries 
Isolated flurries 
Isolated flurries 
High
-8 °C
-6 °C
-5 °C
-3 °C
Low
-12 °C
-11 °C
-12 °C
-9 °C
Probability of Precipitation
20 %
40 %
60 %
60 %

 
After the inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol, Barack and Michelle Obama walked part of the way down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.

Thursday, Feb 12 
Friday, Feb 13 
Saturday, Feb 14 
Sunday, Feb 15 
 
Forecast
Rain-snow mix 
Variable cloudiness 
Sunny with cloudy periods 
Variable cloudiness 
High
3 °C
-3 °C
-2 °C
-1 °C
Low
0 °C
-9 °C
-11 °C
-7 °C
Probability of Precipitation
60 %
20 %
10 %
20 %

Water Main Break Sends Waves Of Water Gushing Down Into Union StationWaves Of Water Gushing Down Into Union Station. In the words of Bette Davis in All About Eve, 'Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.' The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority issued a flood warning for the city Wednesday as 25 millimetres of rain is expected over the next 24 hours. Most of it was expected to arrive before midnight. The GTA spent the day melting down in the highest temperature ever reached on February 11th. The 8C we hit in the early morning hours - it was just after midnight - already exceeded the 7.3C set back in 1981. And forecasters were convinced we'd get to close to double digits before the inevitable downturn arrives. But it comes with a price and we were paying it after sundown. Environment Canada issued two weather warnings for most of the province, stretching from Windsor all the way to Ottawa - and including the GTA. One is a rainfall caveat that could see heavy downpours and even a rare February thunderstorm hit the area. The precipitation we're expecting will easily smash the 10 mm that made 1981 the previous soggiest day in history. It could come down at a rate of 5 mm an hour during the worst of it. In fact, it's already hit Toronto. Hard. City crews blocked off Etienne Brule Park along the Don River. "The ice churns are immense and some can take out trees. So, I mean if you look behind us ... and there goes the flood in front of us," outlines area resident Kenny Hill. A parking lot near the Old Mill that had the unfortunate luck of being located alongside the Humber River was fully submerged Wednesday afternoon.
GRAMMY FEVER
LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Singers Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift present the Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album award to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss during the 51st Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center
Obama Focusing On Winning Support For $820 Billion Economic Stimulus Package  Ridiculous Warning Label Leaves Company With 'Egg' On Its Face
 IT ALL COMES DOWN TO HOW MANY EGGS IN YOUR  BASKET
silly warning labels have become commonplace in a world where spilled hot coffee allows lawyers to sue fast food outlets for thousands of dollars in damages. But even authorities think one company went too far. According to England's Daily Mail, the Happy Egg Company has boldly printed this warning label on a 6-pack carton of the product it's named after: "Allergy Advice: May Contain Eggs
By retiring, Brett Favre saves the Jets about $13 million in salary cap room. Brett Favre, who 11 months ago retired from the N.F.L. in a tear-filled news conference only to return for another season, has told his agent to tell the Jets he is retiring again after 18 seasons.Brett Favre informed the New York Jets on Wednesday he will retire after 18 seasons, ending a record-setting career in which he was one of the NFL's premier quarterbacks.

The 39-year-old instructed agent James (Bus) Cook to tell the team of his decision, six weeks after Favre's only season with the Jets ended in disappointment as New York failed to make the playoffs.

In an e-mail to ESPN, Favre said he has no regrets about ending his career in New York and praised owner Woody Johnson, general manager Mike Tannenbaum and fired coach Eric Mangini.

Guns Found Within Half An Hour Of Each Other At Two Toronto Schools Guns Found Within Half An Hour Of Each Other At Two Toronto Schools. What is going on in GTA schools? For the third time in less than a week, guns have turned up on local campuses, this time within half an hour of each other. The first incident took place around 9:30am Monday when an officer on patrol at Marc Garneau C.I. on Overlea Blvd. stopped two students leaving the school. One was allegedly in breach of some court-imposed conditions. The second is accused of carrying a loaded revolver. The age of both kids: just 14.
OBAMA, ACT ONE: In maybe his first act as President a judge grants Obama's Request To Halt Omar Khadr Proceedings At Guantanamo Bay Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to shut down Guantanamo Bay, or 'Gitmo' as it has become known, and now detainees not considered dangerous could also be sent back home. Omar Khadr's war crimes case at Guantanamo Bay has been put off for 120 days, following a request by U.S. President Barack Obama. In his first few hours in office Tuesday, Obama ordered prosecutors to make the adjournment request while he figures out what to do with the Canadian prisoner and 244 other Guantanamo detainees. A day later the military judge presiding over Khadr's case agreed to postpone it for the time being. Khadr's defence team didn't oppose the motion. Khadr is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July of 2002. He was only 15 years old at the time. 

Tuesday, Feb 10 
Wednesday, Feb 11 
Thursday, Feb 12 
Friday, Feb 13 
 
Forecast
Cloudy with showers 
Light rain 
Rain-snow mix 
Isolated flurries 
High
8 °C
11 °C
2 °C
-1 °C
Low
-1 °C
6 °C
-1 °C
-7 °C
Probability of Precipitation
70 %
90 %
70 %
40 %

 
Tues, Feb 3 
Wed, Feb 4 
Thurs, Feb 5 
Friday, Feb 6 
 
Forecast
flurries 
 cloudiness 
 flurries 
cloudiness 
High
-6 °C
-14 °C
-13 °C
-3 °C
Low
-10 °C
-18 °C
-20 °C
-12 °C
Prob of Precip
60 %
20 %
60 %
20 %

GROUNDHOG DAY!!!

COLD GRIP TO LASTFuture Of Minority Conservative Government Still Unknown As Parliament Resumes Gwen Gilbert, mayor of the town of South Bruce Peninsula, listens as Wiarton Willie makes his annual winter weather forecast in Wiarton, Ont., Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. (Dave Chidley / THE CANADIAN PRESS) Gwen Gilbert, mayor of the town of South Bruce Peninsula, listens as Wiarton Willie makes his annual winter weather forecast in Wiarton, Ont., Monday, Feb. 2, 2009

 A groan arose from a large crowd gathered in Wiarton, Ont., to hear Wiarton Willie's prediction when the furry forecaster made it known there would be six more weeks of winter. It was clearly not the answer the crowd of about 200 people, some wearing groundhog noses or carrying signs pledging love for Willie, wanted to hear. There were a few cheers at the prospect of a long winter, but most people looked disappointed - and cold - and then shuffled off to work on a Monday morning. He emerged from his den just after 8 a.m. ET and saw his shadow, which according to groundhog lore, means more winter is in store. Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam also saw his shadow Monday morning. The groundhog was roused by a town crier and the skirl of bagpipes at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, about an hour north of Halifax. Had they not cast a shadow, as has been the case for Willie the previous four years, it would have signalled an early springNo such luck this year, said Mac McKenzie, who founded the Wiarton Willie Festival 53 years ago. He said Willie's never wrong. "Not Wiarton Willie," said McKenzie, 82. "He always is bang on - and I use the expression bang on loosely, but that's the way it is." He said he can't argue with the groundhog's gift of foresight, but wishes the pronouncement had been different. "This has been the worst winter we've had in years," McKenzie said. "Snow, snow and more snow. So we want less snow next year. Shubenacadie Sam, Nova Scotia's furry season forecaster, spots his shadow as he emerges from his enclosure in Shubenacadie, N.S. on Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. Sam is anticipating six more weeks of winter with a storm heading to the region on Tuesday. How Did Groundhog Day Begin?/Groundhog List 

Sam and Willie's U.S. cousin, Punxsutawney Phil, also predicted six more weeks of winter when he stepped into the Pennsylvania sunlight.

His forecast was announced in front of thousands of revellers gathered at Gobbler's Knob, about 100 kilometres northeast of Pittsburgh. German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 - the Christian holiday of Candlemas - winter would last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early.

 Ignatieff said his party would not seek to bring down Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minority government. The Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc had joined forces to bring down the government in response to the Conservative government’s economic update last fall. Former Liberal leader Stephane Dion was the one who signed onto that coalition, before resigning and handing the reins to Ignatieff. He noted the budget contains a number of concessions forced on the Conservatives by the Liberals and other opposition parties. The New Democrats and Bloc still appear intent on voting against the budget, scheduled to come before the House of Commons soon. However, without Liberal support, the New Democrats and Bloc do not have enough votes to oust the Tories.

Back-to-work legislation aimed at ending a 12-week strike at York University in Toronto has passed in the Ontario legislature. That means about 45,000 students will be able to return to their studies at Canada's third-largest university.They've been out of class since Nov. 6, when 3,400 teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants walked off the job.The union backed off its threat to challenge the legislation in court. Union officials say the students have already paid a heavy price for the strike.

The 43rd edition of the American football Super Bowl has been won by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23. The Pittsburgh Steelers set a record by winning the Super Bowl for the sixth time in a row.

For a long time, the Steelers enjoyed a comfortable 20-7 lead, but the Cardinals managed to catch up in the fourth quarter. However, a touchdown by Santonio Holmes 35 seconds before the end sealed the victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

US rock star Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band performed during half time 

Barack Obama Forced To Take Second Oath Of Office After Mistake Marred His First TryObama Take Two. In a week of so many firsts, there's now been another one in Washington: U.S. President Barack Obama has retaken the oath of office he so publicly accepted in front of thousands of people on Tuesday (left). The unusual move comes after a bizarre series of mistakes that marred the declaration the day before, when Chief Justice John Roberts and the new leader mixed up the words to the time honoured pledge.  It's supposed to say "I ( the president's name) do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Roberts put the word 'faithfully' in the wrong order, it threw off the carefully rehearsed Obama, who immediately tried to repeat the error and wound up getting ahead of the judge.

Above: The perigee full moon of Dec. 2008. "A cold wind was blowing as the Moon set over a neighbor's farm,"

 

 
New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, died of heart failure on January 11, 2008. He was 88. Fashion police (Yahoo! Lifestyle)

 Several hundred thousand people gather on the National Mall on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 in Washington, during the " We Are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.
Martin Luther King Day Takes On New Meaning With Obama's Impending InaugurationBarack Obama Attends Star-Studded Concert Held In His Honour
Martin Luther King Day Takes On New Meaning. The third Sunday in January, known as "King Sunday" in Atlanta after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., easily could've been called "Obama Sunday" this year. King's words again filled the pews and pulpits at black churches across the country on the eve of the federal observance of what would've been his 80th birthday. Only this time, they found new weight with Barack Obama's pending inauguration as the nation's first black president. Many black preachers touted the moment - the 23rd federal observance of King's birthday falls on the eve of the inauguration - as a mark of America's progress toward a racially just society!Video News DirectorWatch
 
 
 Authorities Suspicious After 2 Men Found Floating In Ice Cooler On Ocean 25 Days After Boat Sank
 Two fishermen from Myanmar claim they survived nearly a month in shark-infested waters floating only in a large ice cooler (top right). The pair says their boat sank in heavy seas off Australia's northern coast on December 23rd and they were forced to get into the only thing left afloat - the cooler. Since this story first surfaced earlier this week, questions and eyebrows are both being raised at the incredible tale. How did the ice chest make it through the monsoon and cyclone season Down Under? How were they able to avoid shark attacks at a time when those predators are very active in the area? What happened to the other 18 crew members they claim were with them on their doomed Thai fishing vessel? The 22- and 24-year-olds were suffering only from dehydration and a few bruises and weren't carrying any I.D. The pair told authorities they were indentured workers forced to toil onboard the vessel before it sank in a storm off the coast of Indonesia. Investigators are checking out their story to determine if they're truly remarkable survivors or two men trying to beat Australia's immigration laws. Whatever the case, they're living in much better conditions now than they were last week. The pair is being temporarily housed in a hotel while experts question them and their story.
  His "Bushisms" have become the stuff of legend, a mangling of the English language at once so bizarre and so absurd that it will stand in stark contrast to the polished oratory of his successor. Here then, is a final look at some of the great sayings of George W. Bush.
 
"I heard somebody say, 'Where's (Nelson) Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead. Because Saddam killed all the Mandelas." -- George W. Bush, on the former South African president, who is still very much alive, Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2007
 Please don't misunderestimate them. "I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."
Dec. 16, 2008 "You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President."
Dec. 1, 2008 They have no disregard for human life."
July 15, 2008 "Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people."
July 4, 2008"I don't particularly like it when people put words in my mouth, either, by the way, unless I say it.""All I can tell you is when the governor calls, I answer his phone.""You know, when you give a man more money in his pocket -- in this case, a woman more money in her pocket to expand a business, it -- they build new buildings. And when somebody builds a new building somebody has got to come and build the building. And when the building expanded it prevented additional opportunities for people to work.""As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured." "More than two decades later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way.""Give my chance a plan to work.""My concern, David, is several.""I've reminded the prime minister-the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship.""Those who enter the country illegally violate the law.""We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job."This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table.""I think it's very important for the American President to mean what he says. That's why I understand that the enemy could misread what I say. That's why I try to be as clearly I can.""President Bush is holding his last press conference.Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." 'I don't know why you're talking about Sweden. They're the neutral one. They don't have an army.'' "Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy level of our children are appalling." "The vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." "I'm the master of low expectations." "First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill." "One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end." "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." "I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."  "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." "I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." "And one of the things we've got to make sure that we do is anything." "We've tripled the amount of money - I believe it's from $50 million up to $195 million available." "I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." "They underestimated America. They underestimated our resolve, our determination, our love for freedom. They misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the Commander-in-Chief, too." "Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better." "Arbolist . Look up the word. I don't know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it's an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees." "You know, sometimes when you study history, you get stuck in the past." "I'm sure you can imagine it's an unimaginable honor to live here." "For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.'' "I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well." "I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure." "Laura and I are proud to call John and Michelle Engler our friends. I know you're proud to call him governor. What a good man the Englers are." "Never again in the halls of Washington, D.C., do I want to have to make explanations that I can't explain." "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." I think we agree, the past is over." "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" And finally some famous last words that seem all too appropriate as George W. Bush fades into history.  "There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it."


President-elect Barack Obama says choosing the first dog is narrowing down. WASHINGTON GOING TO THE DOGS Picking the first dog is harder than it seems — but it the race could be narrowing down. President-elect Barack Obama said in an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that choosing the right dog is harder than selecting a Cabinet member. "We're closing in on it. This has been tougher than finding a commerce secretary," Obama told George Stephanopoulos. The hotly debated dog question, Stephanopoulos admitted, was submitted by the future first daughters — Sasha and Malia — before the show, which is broadcast from the Newseum. "I heard they were taken straight to the first dog exhibit and while you were getting made up, they went into the control room and played director and producer," Stephanopoulos said. "And they actually gave me a question they want me to ask you. You know exactly what it's going to be." Obama's response: "Uh oh." "They seem to have narrowed it down to a Labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound," he said. "Medium sized dog, and so, we're now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up."