May 2016
In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act
— George Orwell, English essayist, novelist, and satirist (1903 - 1950)
Police claim 'coincidence' in murders of two
witnesses in the Flint poisoned-water scandal
27 April 2016, Flint Michigan — Two witnesses connected to the Flint water crisis were found dead within days of each other in April — but authorities swear there’s no connection or conspiracy in the tragedies.
A friend found Matthew McFarland, a foreman at Flint’s Water Treatment Plant, dead in his Otter Lake home on April 16, according to MLive.
Just three days later, Sasha Avonna Bell — one of the first to file a lawsuit over the city’s contaminated water supply — was shot and killed in a double murder.
Canada is back in the affordable housing game
Providing hundreds of millions in varied support
Ray Sullivan is the executive director of Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, a nonprofit housing corporation. This article first appeard in Centertown Buzz.
OTTAWA 15 April 2016 — With the recent release of the federal budget and the province’s update to its Long Term Affordable Housing Strategy, Centretowners may be wondering whether this will mean that we’ll see more affordable housing in our neighbourhoods. Here’s an overview of where we are now, and what is on the horizon. (More)
Travel
By Dennis Carr, Contributing Editor, on an 'excellent adventure'
Vietnam by bicycle, rowboat, and ferry (Part 2)
Eating local: from serious challenge to gourmet delight
In the morning of our fourth day, Joe Nguyen, our Marco Polo Travel guide, met us at the hotel and we drove to his suburban home where the van, Hugh the driver and the mountain bikes awaited us. We loaded up and drove for a few hours along modern highways until we turned onto a rural road leading to the village of Hoa Binh and the start of our bicycle ride. While waiting for the ride to begin, a few local children gathered about, observing us with polite curiosity but keeping a safe distance from the strangers. When George brought out his soccer ball (he never travels without it) the ice was broken and he and the kids, with Hugh joining in, passed the time with a pick-up game. Soccer is a universal language.
Finally we started to pedal. It was a challenging ride but we were excited to be on the move and dazzled by the spectacular and (to us) exotic scenery. The roads were well paved and ran high above the Da (Black) River valley offering spectacular views of karst rock formations. Along the way we observed a hydro dam construction site, water buffalo being led along the road by little kids, stilt house villages (including one under construction and women carrying of straw baskets of bamboo and sugar cane. (More)
Saudi arms deal signals 'Middle East betrayal'
Trudeau's promised new approach looks much like Harper's policies
But the stunningly stupid decision to go ahead with a $15-billion sale of light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia has the potential to expose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a phony.
You could hardly design an issue so perfectly fitted to reveal a government with a progressive public face contradicted by a ruthless disregard for human rights. It raises the question of whether the spin doctors simply misjudged the extent of public revulsion or whether there is something deeper going on. Is it really just about jobs or is there a hard-nosed commitment, inherited from the Conservatives, to a backward Middle East foreign policy? (More)
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"There is a state which beheads, and even crucifies, its citizens ..."
Don't miss this BBC video secretly taken that exposes
the brutality of the Saudi regime and its link to 9/11
Assad party wins expected majority in Syria vote
Dissmissive U.S., West, favour only elections they win
Agence France Presse
17 April 2016
Syria's ruling Baath party and its allies won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections last week across government-held parts of the country, the national electoral commission announced late Saturday.
In a widely expected victory in polls labelled a "farce" by Syria's opposition, President Bashar al-Assad's Baath movement and its allies ran under the "National Unity" coalition and won 200 of the parliament's 250 seats.
Syria's national electoral commission published the names of all candidates who had won seats in the April 13 vote, according to Syria's state news agency SANA.
Every candidate on the 200-strong "National Unity" list had won. (More)
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Your donation — be it $10, $25, $100 or whatever you can afford — will help ensure we will be able to get you the accurate information you need to understand the rapidly-changing world around you, news and analysis you won't get from the corporate-owned mainstream media.
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The Old Man's Last Sauna
'Life is scary, frustrating and sometimes funny. All of these themes are explored in Carl Dow’s collection of short stories, told with the pristine elegance that we haven’t seen since the likes of Stephen Leacock or even Pierre Berton.'
— Award-winning author Emily-Jane Hills Orford
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The shame of the Jesuits: Practiced, condoned slavery
Now suffer a steady moral decline from 'intrinsic evil'
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It's official: How much Putin and his ministers earn
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Hillary and Republicans use ancient voting machines
to swindle millions of electors out of their voting rights
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Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, died at 34
Evidence reveals neither aliens nor KGB guilty
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Messy desks encourage creative thinking
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Almost everyone unhappy with life
is unhappy for the same reasons
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West turns blind eye as ISIS occupies Lebanon
Only force able to fight ISIS is branded 'Terrorist'
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ISIS sex slave survivor:
'They beat me, raped me, treated me like an animal'
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Libya’s painful lesson: Obama learned nothing from Iraq
'Hillary Clinton was very much responsible for the disaster'
YOU'LL FIND ALL THIS AND MORE BY CLICKING HERE FOR
 True North Perspective publishes in
the best traditions of Canadian journalism
If you think it's too radical, please rea
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Editor's Notes
Hilary Clinton is the candidate of the war machine
Money and blind prejudice drown out simple truth
Here is what Retired U.S. Marine Eleanore Whitaker had to say to one who was promoting Hillary Clinton in her run for president of the U.S.
"You forget she was almost kicked out of law school for lying and cheating. She was removed from the Watergate investigation for lying. She was removed from her "prestigious" law firm for corruption. She then had a personal server illegally when she was secretary of state and sent classified material over the unsecured network. Also you forget Whitewater, another criminal exercise. She deserves your vote anyway, but no others. I of course hate to bring up Libya, but what the hell are the lives of Americans worth when it comes to that skag you think is qualified?"
Of the many women who support Hillary Clinton because "I am a woman" most are ignorant of the fact that she played the leading role in the destruction of Libya where women had the right to free education, where, if qualified, they won scholarships to study in any country of their choice, and when on marriage, they were given a new car and a $50,000 U.S. grant. (More)
Op Ed
A sober view from the right
Obama continues the shameful cover-up — all for oil'
25 April 2016 — Why are we talking about 9/11 almost 15 years after the fact? Because the moneyed elites and globalists who stalk the halls of power continue to provide cover for the financial and logistical backers of the attacks and have great financial interest in keeping the truth suppressed.
President Barack Obama and most in congress – particularly the Republicans — continue to stymie efforts by the families of victims to sue the Saudi Arabian government. Those families have for years been fighting to sue the Saudis for their role in the events of 9/11. And for many of them, it is not about the money as much as it is getting to the truth.
The effort to run cover for the Saudi – and Israeli and Turkish and Egyptian and Pakistani and U.S., as former FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has revealed – complicity in the attacks began immediately by the George W. Bush crime cabal. The 9/11 Commission report was a complete whitewash, as Commission Co-Chairman Senator Bob Graham has said repeatedly. (More
The Binkley Report
Alex Binkley is a foremost political and economic analyst, whose website is www.alexbinkley.com. Readers will be aware that his columns in True North Perspective have foreseen political and economic developments in Canada. In this edition ...
Food price worries and government inattention
Consumers are worried about the rise in food prices and the lack of attention the issue receives from governments, says a public opinion poll released by the Angus Reid Institute.
Statistics Canada says that food prices increased by 3.9% between this past February and February 2015, double the overall inflation rate. Although the poll provides insight into how consumers have responded to the increase by modifying their purchases to save money, its section on their assessment of the political response to the situation missed an important step.
The poll found 53% of those surveyed rated rising food prices as one of the most pressing public issues and 36% said it was a concern while only 11% said it was one of their least important worries.
“Most Canadians don’t believe rising food costs have captured the attention of politically elected leaders,” the poll said. Even those who don’t rate food prices a priority “say the issue deserves more care.” (More)
Rogers takes an advertising beating as viewers drop
No Canadian Team in NHL playoffs
spells trouble for the telecom giant
Bobby Orr was airborne with his arms fully extended in celebration right after he scored his famous Stanley Cup winning goal in overtime while being tripped as he flew past the front of the St. Louis Blues net, resulting in one of the most iconic photographic images in hockey history. The date was May 10, 1970.
No Canadian-based team (and there were only two in 1970) qualified for the NHL playoffs that year, something that would not happen again until this year. Well before the 2016 NHL playoffs began, we knew that the Stanley Cup would remain in the United States for a 23rd consecutive year.
In November, 2013, the NHL and Rogers Communications, one half of the much despised duopoly (along with Bell) of national Canadian telecommunications companies, announced a 12-year, $5.2 billion agreement for the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights for NHL games (portions of which Rogers sells to the CBC). As we approach the end of year two of the agreement, Rogers shareholders may be thinking that the company probably overpaid for these NHL broadcast rights. (More)
Bits and Bites of Everyday Life
The crossroads of our lives
By Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair
True North Perspective
Alberte Villeneuve-Sinclair is the author of The Neglected Garden and two French novels. Visit her website to learn more www.albertevilleneuve.ca.
1 May 2016 — There are moments in our lives where we find ourselves at a crossroad, afraid, confused, without a roadmap. The choices we make in those moments can define the rest of our days.
Have you ever given any thought to the pivotal moments of your life, the ones that had a major impact on you and the ones that were life-altering? I took the time to explore these crossroads while on vacation in Barbados.
In his book, Self Matters, Dr. Phil McGraw proposes an exercise where he invites readers to examine ten defining moments of their lives, seven critical choices and five pivotal people that helped shape them. I decided to share a few items with you in the event that you would be interested in examining the experiences and the people that have shaped your life. (More)
Mexico roundup by Isabella Tandutella, Contributing Editor, Mexico City
Witness links Mexico federal police
to the disappearance of 43 students
15 April 2016 (RT) — Two federal law enforcement officers may have been involved in the September 2014 disappearance of 43 Mexican students in the southern state of Guerrero, according to a witness.
The Mexican Human Rights Commission which has been investigating the case obtained witness testimony suggesting that federal police officers had been at the scene and did nothing when local police abducted the students.
Forty-three students from Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School went missing in the city of Iguala on September 26, 2014. Local police and a number of officers from the town of Cocula stopped a bus and subsequently handed the youths on board over to the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel who killed and cremated their victims. The cremation took place at a dump in Cocula in an enormous fire. (For more and graphic video click HERE)
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From the Desk of Darren Jerome
A continuing update on the war against WikiLeaks transparency
Please be advised that the below is not just the same old thing. By clicking on it you'll find the petition in support of Julian Assange and discover fascinating on-going reports and videos related to one of the most important events in modern history, and the desperate attempts to put a lid on information that everyone should know. Don't miss this special opportunity to stay informed.
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In over-sight we trust?
Here's how many US surveillance requests were rejected in 2015
The FISA Court has only rejected 12 requests in more than three decades
By Zack Whittaker
Zero Day
30 April 2016 - A secret court that oversees the US government's surveillance requests accepted every warrant that was submitted last year, according to new figures.
The Washington DC.-based Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court received 1,457 requests from the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to intercept phone calls and emails.
In long-standing fashion, the court did not reject a single warrant, entirely or in part. (More)
From the Desk of Nick Aplin, Contributing Editor
What starts with 'F' and ends with 'K'
A first-grade teacher, Ms Brooks, was having trouble with one of her students. The teacher asked, "Harry, what's your problem?"
Harry answered, "I'm too smart for the first grade. My sister is in the third grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should be in the third grade too!"
Ms. Brooks had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.
While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to the principal what the situation was. The principal said he would give the boy a test. If he failed to answer any of his questions he was to go back to the first grade and behave. She agreed.
Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreed to take the test. (More)
Classic Quiz
By Mark Kearney and Randy Ray
Mark Kearney of London, Ont. and Randy Ray of Ottawa are the authors of nine books about Canada, with best-seller sales of more than 50,000. Their Web site is: www.triviaguys.com
Questions
1. True or false? No one has ever successfully swum across Lake Erie.
2. This province was the site of the highest recorded temperature ever in Canada at 45C. Which province was it?
a) British Columbia b) Ontario c) Saskatchewan d) Quebec
3. Name the province that joined Confederation on July 1, 1873
_______________________________________
Randy Ray, publicist / speaker agent / author
www.randyray.ca - www.triviaguys.com
(613) 425-3873 - (613) 816-3873 (c)
O Canada! Getting to know you!
This is one of a series on the heartbeat of Canada
The world’s worst Nazi spy
The German agent caught by Canada in 12 hours
20 April 2016 — The first clue was the weird banknotes the stranger used to pay for his hotel bill.
To staff at the Carlisle hotel in New Carlisle, QC he presented oversized $1 bills that had not been in regular circulation since the First World War; the modern equivalent of handing over a fistful of pre-loonie $1 bills.
He said his name was William Branton of 323 Danforth Avenue in Toronto — an address now occupied by a women’s wear boutique. He said he had arrived in New Carlisle by bus that morning, he said he wanted to stop in for a quick bath and breakfast before continuing on to Montreal.
But the first bus into New Carlisle would not arrive for another three hours. (More)
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-- PBS journalist Bill Moyers.
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Media Watch
Clinton Cash: New film based on book exposes corruption
of Bill and Hillary Clinton: history's top money-gangsters
Clinton Cash, a documentary based on the Peter Schweizer book that the New York Times hailed as “the most anticipated and feared book of a presidential cycle,” will premiere at a special distributor screening at the Cannes Film Festival 2016.
Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich (published May 2015 by HarperCollins) dominated headlines for months as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall St. Journal and others confirmed the book’s investigative revelations of foreign donors and companies funneling tens of millions of dollars to Hillary and Bill Clinton. As Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig wrote in the Washington Post, “On any fair reading, the pattern of behavior that Schweizer has charged is corruption.”
Schweizer is editor-at-large of Breitbart News. The author of four New York Times bestsellers, including Clinton Cash, and Throw Them All Out, Schweizer’s investigative reporting has been covered by virtually every major U.S. media outlet, including: 60 Minutes, The New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, CNN, Forbes, Newsweek, Fox News, Politico, MSNBC, myriad others.
Clinton Cash investigates how Bill and Hillary Clinton went from being “dead broke” after leaving the White House to amassing a net worth of over $150 million, with $2 billion in donations to their foundation, wealth accumulated during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure as Sec. of State through lucrative speaking fees and contracts paid for by foreign companies and Clinton Foundation donors. (More)
US reporters ignore first journalist tour of liberated Palmyra
RT.com
8 April 2016 — The Russian military have given access to journalists from 11 countries to the liberated Syrian city of Palmyra. Moscow noted the absence of American journalists in the group.
The group of 27 media professionals from Germany, Italy, Belgium, China, Serbia and other nations were transported from the Russian military base in Khmeimim to Palmyra on Thursday 08 April. (More)
Iconic photo of alleged shortage-ridden
Venezuelan supermarket taken in New York
April 11, 2016, Caracas, — A report by the Spanish website FCINCO has revealed that a photo widely circulated by international media as a depiction of chronic shortages in Venezuela was actually taken in New York in 2011.
The now iconic photograph, which shows a woman in a supermarket gazing at empty shelves, was reposted by news outlets hundreds of times over the last three years as evidence of Venezuela’s economic crisis.
However, a closer examination of the photo demonstrates that it was taken by Reuters photographer Allison Joyce in a New York supermarket on the eve of Hurricane Irene with the caption, “A shopper passes by empty shelves while looking for bottled water at a Stop and Shop at Rockaway Beach in New York, August 26, 2011.” (More)
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves couldn’t have been blunter on how the present system works. At a Morgan Stanley investors’ conference last month, speaking of the Trump campaign, he said, “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” And then he added, “The money’s rolling in and this is fun. I’ve never seen anything like this, and this [is] going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going.”
We know, roughly speaking, what Moonves and his ilk make of the frenetic onscreen world their employees present us with — a world of relative inconsequence that is often, at one and the same moment, horrifying, fascinating, stupefying, shocking, terrifying, enervating, saddening, and even, if you happen to like Donald or Ted or Hillary or Bernie, sometimes uplifting or hopeful. The question is: What are we to make of it?
The most obvious thing that can be said is that it leaves us painfully unprepared to face, or grasp, or begin to deal with the actual world as it actually is. (More)
Health Watch
As if holes in new jeans were not enough, teenage girls
now want labiaplasty to get the perfect designer vagina
Young women seek knife to sculpt parts still growing and changing
27 April 2016 — Never underestimate the power of beauty myths to manufacture inadequacies where before there were none. A little over a decade ago, labiaplasty — the partial or wholesale removal of parts of the labia minora, aka the inner vaginal lips — was a relatively obscure plastic surgery, compared with nips, tucks and lifts to various other parts. In more recent years, the number of women opting for the surgery has grown exponentially. Now very young women — girls still in their teens — are requesting the procedure in numbers growing so quickly that even some practitioners are concerned. (More)
Sex
The Numbers May Surprise You
How much time do couples spend when having Sex?
People usually overestimate the amount of time it takes
12 April 2016 — If you’re a non-scientist, you might have once asked yourself, propped against the bedhead after disappointingly quick intercourse, how long does sex “normally” last?
A scientist, though, would phrase the same question in an almost comically obscure way: What is the mean intravaginal ejaculation latency time?
I know there’s a lot more to sex than putting the penis into the vagina and ejaculating, but the rest is not always easy to define (kissing? Rubbing? Grinding?). To keep things simple and specific, we’ll just focus on the time to ejaculation. (More)
Science
Underground ‘hot spot’ may melt Greenland’s icy heart
RT
5 April 2016 — A 1,200-kilometer-long, 400 kilometer-wide geothermal “hot spot” located under Greenland’s glacier could cause the three-kilometer-thick layer of ice covering the central-northern part of the massive island to melt, scientists say.
The study, carried out by an international team of geoscientists, suggests that almost half of central-northern Greenland’s ice-covered area is melting from below. The anomaly is caused by a “hot spot” in the Earth’s core, or mantle, which is also responsible for triggering volcanic activity in Iceland.
The water flowing from the “hot zone” has also formed rivers that accelerate the ice’s 750-kilometer flow into the North Atlantic, according to the study published in Nature Geoscience magazine. (More)
Finance
President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
set stage in 2012 for Panama secret tax-haven swindles
15 April 2016 — In 2012, President Obama and Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State, sold the U.S./Panama Free Trade Agreement as a fix for Panama’s secret tax haven and money laundering operations. Obama asserted at the time: “Thanks to the leadership of President Martinelli, there have been a range of significant reforms in banking and taxation in Panama. And we are confident now that a free trade agreement would be good for our country.”Last week, President Obama appeared to be singing a different tune. Obama said that activities like those exposed by the release of the eleven million plus Panama Papers were a result of poorly designed laws. However, some analysts say that the relevant regulations were not exactly poorly designed, but were skillfully concocted to facilitate certain privileged interests. (More)
